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depressedraisin · 9 months

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Parklife (1994) and Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (2018): What does it mean to be an album of the times?

At face value Blur’s third studio album Parklife, released in 1994, and Arctic Monkeys’ 2018 release Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, their sixth, are very very very different albums. One the Britpop classic, the other a widely divisive experimentation -- they don’t even seem like they could hang out in the same sentence together. Then what the fuck am I on about?

Both albums are individually iconic in the respective band’s discographies -- with Parklife Blur conquered the heights of the Britpop war and firmly cemented its place in British music history while TBH&C marked a pivotal turn in style for the Monkeys, which in my very humble non-musician opinion, will make it historic sometime in the future. If you have spent as much time as I have overthinking the lyrics and pondering over interviews of another British rock band you are hyperfixating on though, you might see something more connecting these two albums. Written about 20 years away from each other, in wildly different times, the two weirdly enough, have these faint threads tying in their themes and subject matters.

Damon Albarn, the principal author of Parklife, described the album to NME as, “a loosely linked concept album involving all these different stories. It's the travels of the mystical lager-eater, seeing what's going on in the world and commenting on it." Rings a bell? That’s extremely TBH&C coded! That one has often been called a concept album based on a luxury hotel and casino on the moon with various eccentric characters and their stories, wryly commenting on issues plaguing life in the 2010s.

Parklife was a kind of a study of middle class English life of the mid-90s. With an extremely catchy pop soundscape and cheeky-cockney-laced lyrics about London parks and bank holidays, it became a quintessential symbol of Cool Britannia. They say the album never took off in the States because it was so British. In the years since, however, the band has described it more as sarcastic critique rather than a celebration of Britishness. Going through the lyrics with a fine toothed comb with that in mind then, you can feel the impatience a bunch of 20s somethings were feeling with the ideal 9-to-5 picket fence lifestyle as well as exhaustion with the hedonistic decadence of youth in the backdrop of an unpopular Conservative-led economy in decline. A similar, if updated for 30 year olds in 2018, sentiment can be sensed in the absurd surrealism of the lyrics of TBH&C. What do you do when you are fed up with tribulations of life and the ghosts of mistakes you’ve made along the way-- you fuck off and escape into whimsy of science fiction.

The political context of the time when Parklife and Tranquility Base were released does matter. Opens up another perspective to reading the album. It’s quite a stretch but bear with me.

The 90s in the UK began with Thatcher resigning and the Conservative government which dominated the 80s, becoming increasingly unpopular. There was a recession plaguing the early years of the decade. Britpop happened smack dab in the middle of this, and it was all about reacting to grunge and shoegaze and bringing back what is essentially British back to its music scene. Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Elastica (Justine Frischmann is the queen of Britpop btw) -- and ofcourse, Blur, were reviving guitar pop, singing in working class accents and about working class life and bringing back memories of the Swinging Sixties. Though each drawing from a wide variety of influences, these bands were becoming the face of a wider movement in music, art and youth culture. The political scene took note.

In the mid-90s, the Labour Party led by Tony Blair quickly aligned itself with Britpop and Cool Britannia. Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn were being courted by politicians , label execs getting party membership invites, headlines went like “What’s the Story? Don’t vote Tory”. Britpop soon acquired nationalist undertones --- never forget Brett Anderson showing off his twinky waist with Union Jack in the background and “Yanks go home!” headline.

By the end of the 90s, when Britpop had begun crumbling, the economy had recovered and Tony Blair was in Downing Street.

TBH&C and the Monkeys in general, perhaps have less political currency. When they burst onto the scene with their Sheffield accents and garage rock riffs in the generally stable pre-2008 economic climate, the Arctic Monkeys did occupy the space in British pop culture left vacant by Blur and Oasis in the wake of post Britpop, at least for a time. Their debut broke the record of being the fastest selling one, which used to be held by Elastica previously. The Monkeys were indie rock darlings in the UK and with 2013’s AM, became darlings in the US (and Tumblr) as well. Tranquility Base though, came out in a whole different world.

2018 was a fucking atrocious time, to put it mildly. The world was in total freefall inching rapidly towards disaster, which ultimately culminated in the pandemic of 2020. Trump had been elected in 2016 and 2018 was arguably one of the peaks of his shitshow. Over in the UK, Theresa May and her Conservative Cabinet were deep in the quagmire of Brexit negotiations. (Gotta note that Turner has said he voted against leaving in the referendum. Albarn is of course, a very vocal critic of Brexit.) Right wing governments were coming into power everywhere it seemed like, the climate crisis took on a new sense of alarm among the larger public - and things only spiralled in the years following. I can’t think of another album which could accurately capture the sheer fatigue of seeing outrageous headline after headline, how desensitised we had all become, how disillusioned with life- in a mason jar like TBH&C has.

That’s what makes an album legendary doesn’t it? You listen to it and immediately remember what living at the time was like. Even if 1994 was 10 years before I was born.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s look at the two albums a little more closely.

Some lyrics which give me very similar vibes:

sexual hedonism // start treatment (tbh&c) and girls & boys (parklife)

mundanity of relationships // four stars out of five (tbh&c) and end of century (parklife)

the performativeness of middle class activism/social work // tranquility base hotel and casino (tbh&c) and parklife (parklife)

losing friends and losing touch // the ultracheese (tbh&c) and badhead (parklife) - now these aren't really similar, but i feel a connection. in my bones trust me bro. the whole "i'll grin and bear with it" thing about badhead is very reminiscient of the sense of insouciance about life that haunts tbh&c....almost??

the myth of america // the ultracheese (tbh&c), golden trunks (tbh&) and magic america (parklife) - magic america is making fun of reagan era the american dream while a disillusionment with the glitz and glam of life in la is pretty much consistent throughout tbh&c

a pathological dependence on technology as escapism // jubilee (parklife) and start treatment (tbh&c) - digital cameras and the internet and tvs were taking baby steps into invading our daily lives back in 1994, and by 2018 we were all fully under the vice grip of tech addiction. this parallel i find particularly funny so.

astronomical references // far out (parklife) and star treatment (tbh&c) - alex james, the blur bassist wrote and sung far out about his love of space. it's a pretty nice parallel hey.

For the last one, let's talk about Tracy Jacks from parklife. I couldn't really draw a direct parallel with a song from the other album, but that song spiritually fits right in I feel. An average Joe in the throes of a midlife crisis, teethering so so close to the edge and one day just snaps - that's a character one would expect dwells in the lounge of the Tranquility Base Hotel to drown themselves in the decadence and escape from all their shit, when all is said and done.

Now what's the concluding point of all this rambling. I don't know lolz. Y'all just read a thousand words of nothing.

Just kidding. Actually I read somewhere Damon Albarn was inspired by the 1989 novel London Fields, a science-fiction adjacent black comedy set against the backdrop of an impending nuclear crisis, while writing Parklife. That kinda rung a bell. (Yes, I did wonder if Alex has read this)

I just wanted to see if we can find any interesting connections parrallels or references between Parklife and Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino. I dunno if I've been successful in getting any point across, or it's just pointless waffling on. But one thing that did get confirmed to me once again, these two albums are really the Albums of Their Times. Captures the zeitgeist in such a specific but unique in their own ways, it's really wonderful.

And also studying the legacy and impact of AM with reference to other musical outfits is always fun. I think we can all safely say that AM is well on their way to capturing a seat in the pantheon of great British bands, where somewhere in a corner Blur also sits. Damon Albarn is a fucking legend of course -- from the pretty posh boy of Britpop he has gone to becoming one of the most versatile, experimental and prolific songwriter/composer in the contemporary music scene. He is apparently working on the music for an Goethe's fragmented libretto of Magic Flute Part 2. How many rockstars do you know have composed operas - how fucking dope. I wanna hope that we'll get to see Alex exploring crazy paths in music like this, he definitely has the potential. This whole exercise would probably have made more sense with one of Damon's post-Blur works, his first solo record Everyday Robots or even Blur's last album The Magic Whip, but I started this essay so had to finish it.

Maybe another day eh.

#arctic monkeys #blur #tranquility base hotel and casino #parklife #lyric theory #extensive rambling #rolling stones or nme pls hire me i just wanna be paid to infodump and overthink about my favourite albums #damon albarn alex turner collab PLEASE i can't die without seeing one happen

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bereft-of-frogs · 2 months

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friday roundup + a list

I follow a few people who do monthly reading/etc updates and I have always enjoyed reading them and been slightly jealous that I couldn't seem to stick too it, it always felt too overwhelming for the end of the month and I'd put it off, but! idea! combine with my little friday list posts which I'd also stopped doing because I was afraid they were boring so...combo might be interesting enough for me to keep doing them!

reading:

Cabin at the End of the World - Paul Tremblay: I liked this one, especially how, similar to The Pallbearer's Club, you end the novel not really knowing what was real or not and the point is it doesn't matter what was real, only how the characters understood reality.

Bloom - Delilah S Dawson: For book club. It definitely had it's issues (it didn't start off super well), but it was short and captured that fun Hannibal-like energy, where the foreshadowing is super obvious and you're just like noooo nooooooooo girl don't eat it! (I was gratified to get to the acknowledgments and find it was indeed inspired by Hannibal.)

(in progress) Lord of the Rings: Keeping on track with the one-chapter-a-day read through for Lent! We just finished The Two Towers today, onto Return of the King tomorrow.

(in progress) (phone book) Light of the Jedi - Charles Soule: So I'm trying to keep one book going on my phone (a 'phone book' lol) to prevent doomscrolling, and right now I'm rereading the High Republic series and continuing on. I fell behind after Phase 1 ended, but I'd really like to catch back up. Light isn't my favorite of this series and it's not my least favorite -- tbh I stopped reading after Phase 1 because I hated Midnight Horizon that much, I'll be skipping that one on this reread -- I read a review when it first came out that said it felt like the whole novel was inciting incident and I think that's exactly it, it has to do a little bit too much to establish the setting and characters, and never really feels like it gets going. Besides, I tend to like things a little crunchier, so some of the optimism of the start gets kind of grating for me personally. Much prefer the followups and the aftermath, but this isn't bad and it's certainly better than doomscrolling!

(in progress) Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka : This is so good. It's so good. I waited a while for the library hold and it was 100% worth the wait, it has that literary fiction style that I really love in my genre fiction on occasion.

watching (tv):

The Bequeathed (Netflix): Didn't live up to my expectations, but that might be on me because I read a review that erroneously called it a 'creature feature' and I was like 'damn, there's going to be a creature, that's crazy, when's the creature showing up??' There was no creature. And the solve to the mystery wasn't that interesting either. Meh.

(in progress) Silo (AppleTV): This show is surprisingly good, as I posted early this week. Like. I heard about it from a true crime podcast ad read, and just kind of watched it because I have a free AppleTV trial and a crush on Rebecca Ferguson. It wasn't meant to actually be good, but...it is??? It's really engaging, and I think shows how much good acting and direction can elevate a script. The ending of the last episode I watched was objectively kind of silly, but it was so well done you felt like it was super serious. Damn though, this is totally going to be the thing that gets me to keep paying for AppleTV because there's going to be another season. Damn. This is how they get you.

watching (film):

Dune Part 1 (2021): I made everyone watch Dune Part 1 in preparation and also it was my birthday and they could not say no. I think my mom made it....15 minutes? but my dad and I had a great time

Dune Part 2 (2024): I was so on top of the IMAX tickets for this, I refreshed that page a hundred times last monday to get the perfect seats in the mid-center and then I did not BUDGE for all 3ish hours of this movie. It was. So good. There was one shot that legit made me feel like I was on a roller coaster. I think I'm going to go see it again next tuesday. It was so good.

video game update: Still stuck on Dead Space. Still stuck on Cult of the Lamb. I'm figuring out how to balance side quests and the main storyline with KOTOR, which is progress, and on my perpetual Fallen Order playthrough I just did the sad Venator side quest and then got to Dathomir for what would have been the first time if I was not always so set on immediately getting the double-bladed lightsaber upgrade.

craft update: I'm two short rows away from being done with the short row section on my sweater vest. Infinity scarf has been derailed because I tangled a skein of yarn so badly it's probably going to take hours to fix it and I need that color to keep going. So. Tabled.

weekend list:

work (boo) - but work has been pretty slow and fridays are my wfh day so the below items will probably partially get done while I'm on the clock

laundry (also boo) / tidy

it's going to rain all day so the secret goal of friday is really just not to leave my house

work on current long wip which, yes, I did end up restarting -- or rather just starting the second draft earlier than I expected. I was going to push through and have a full rough draft before I started the second but it was really rough and I think now that I have 1) the most self-indulgent scenes, 2) all of the 'plot exposition' scenes written it was time to start going in order and straightening out inconsistencies and repetition.

I finally got an HDMI splitter so I can use the PS4 and get un-stuck on Cult of the Lamb (I haven't checked on my cult in so long!!), I just need to reorganize the wires

maybe untangle yarn. maybe. but I think that's going to wait for sunday at the earliest. I need some cooling off time, but once I can look at it without rage, I think it's just a matter of putting on a movie and being patient

go for a run

I hope this is....mildly interesting at least, if not feel free to block the lists tag XD have a good weekend! <3

#lists lists lists #long post

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boxwinebaddie · 3 months

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when you feel up to it, can you let us know how the rest of the ravesey hate went?

hello, my darling!

yes, i can!

i will, however, just to keep myself sane and my fingers from hurting, have to give these updates to you...in parts.

i am predicting to finish the ravesey hate, i will need at least four parts. this is part one. it is not written very formally at all, it's spelled very wrong and is kind of a mess. but it's info!!! and i hope it thrills u! these updates and the lore means a lot to me <3 so i really really hope that you like it. please *rp vc* let me know if it pleases and sparkles.

but now,

without further ado...

please enjoy the worst part of your day,

and rem(ember )

to smile, pendejo ;)

okay, so Technically chapter six was supposed to end with this dialogue, but i was under a lot of duress writing chapter six because i was trying to rush it out ( of anxiety ) so i didn't have time to write or develop the bottom actions or dialogue.

ergo, this is how lucky ( or unlucky who knows? not you guys yet ;) ehehe ) rm chapter 7 starts out. ( i will re-link 6 for y'all soon...i still kind of hate the way it's written and y'all were not supposed to get ravenstan pov this early, but the context is important and stan was so fucking cute in it like he's so pathetic and dorky, i'm luv him c': )

anYWays! context for this dialogue is kyle setting his phone up to surprise facetime ike, but instead of kyle answeing it, it's raven ;)

nOT THE FOOT CREAM LMAOOOOO *jersey vc* it'S ORTHOPEDIC!!! >://// screaming crying n throwing up!!!!

which is what ike and co. are doing!!!

they are in ikes bedroom, which is FULL of cd stuff, btw.

there's a poster of old og cd on the wall because they haven't taken new promotional pictures so i think it's kenny with slightly shorter...black hair? or some kind of undercut moment? ( i canonized asian kenny btw they are fione as hell pls kiss me ken ), jimmy in the skull shirt w the drum stick behind his ear, thot foulkinson w/ foreboding fuccboi energies and raven of crimson dawn ofc, his hair is red which u know indicates manic episode!rae he's sticking his tongue out w the silver ringed, nail poilsh fingers bent into the rock&roll symbol, fishnet shirt...u know the drill, he looks like a wh0re.

but yes, so they're in ikes crimson dawn shrine bedroom, there's four other kids with him whose names we do not know. so we have ike, who i will describe in a second, we have a gothy boy sitting next to kyle with jet black hair, black lipstick, eyeliner, the whole shebang. we have a girl with red hair -- she seems quieter and studious. there is a girl with dirty blonde hair and she seems very vivacious and bubbly. she is smiling very wide and waving. and there is a popular blonde boy in a letterman jacket, scowling, looking unimpressed by this surprise celebrity guest appearance. i am sure you have ur guesses.

anyways x 2 kyle is about to strangle ike and try to justify his freaking lame ass embarassing ass Orthopedic Foot Cream delivery when he stops mid word, leaning in, hand on hip, eyes wide, Mad As Hell, like "isaac moisha broflovski WHAT THE HELL DIDJA DO TO YA HAIR?!"

because, girls, gays and theys...ike broflovski's hair...

is bleached raven of crimson dawn...Blonde. ;)

so ike is giving mini raven of crimson dawn, he is wearing the old crimson dawn teeshirt with the blood moon rising on it, even did raven's really bad chrome nail polish. tbh he looks more punk rock than the kid sittin next to him who is def more trad, romantic goth.

but yes, ike tells kyle he literally Just Did It while they were waiting for a part of their project to come together ( it does involve cd later, but not at this very moment ) and kyle is grilling the living shit out of him Older Brother Style all like mom is going to kill you and put your head on a spike, ike!!! i cannot believe you!!! this is sooooo...

and ravenstan is like "SICK, dude!" then kyle gives ravenstan the scary ass new jersey forest green laser eyes and stan as raven gulps and is like "Sick...ening. I am...Sickened, Ike. That is very irresponsible of you!" like mouthing 'i'm lying, so cool' winking at the camera jshdjsahdl stopping every time kyle looks over...smh they're married.

also i said Stan As Raven because jerseykyle notices that raven of crimson dawn immediately sounds like the guy that hit on him at the concert again in front of everyone. he does not sound like the cute, super embarrassed, flustery boy that was falling all over himself and advocating for plant rights. like, he switched up the second that camera came on. rae is also nervously fidgeting with his dress pants and breathing laboriously. additionally, he's taking Very Large swigs of his box wine in a...way that is...Concerning...like its a coping mech.

jersey kyle is sussed out by this, both the voice thing and ravenstan's pretty habitual drinking/how that seems to relax him immediately. the voice thing he assumes was just a weird fluke or something, kyle figures he imagined it anyways because raven kind of sounded like stan for a second which, clearly was a ptsd hallucination bc evil raven of crimson dawn...is not his wonderful, lovely stanley marsh...clearly.

also, why the fuck does he care about raven of crimson dawn??? he does Not care about crimson dawn obviously! he sips his wine lmao

okay, moving right along, raven of cd tells kyle...sigh...doing the voice committing to the bit smh...that he heard that it's ike's birthday, and while he'd love to give him vip tickets for him and the other five to one of his new york shows/fly them out free of charge n have them stay in the crimson dawn manwhoresion like a spooky haunted hotel.

i'll give you details on the cd manwhoresion in a diff post because there's a chapter that takes place largely within it for...Reasons.

but yes, he Wants to do that!!! however, all the shows around there are 18+ and its ike's seventeenth bday ( he's a little younger than everyone else bc he's a genius like kyle and skipped a grade ) and ravenstan doesn't want him to miss Hannukah.

( which, yes kyle does think its kind of sweet that raven must have remembered that kyle said that he was jewish and also that he cared that ike spent that time with his family...raven of crimson dawn does take another large box wine swig when talking about family...lol rip )

i also do think he slips a little...when i tell y'all stan is not that good at pretending to not know who kyle is like, smh, even if i didn't tell y'all that, you probably would have figured it out...but he basically says something like Your Mom Would Totally Go Postal

and kyle is like uhhhh how do you know that? and hes like AHAHAHAHA well you said she'd be mad about lil bro's blonde hair! trying to back pedal ohhhh my god. that placates kyle only slightly.

but they are moving right along, too fast to dwell on anything, also this is about ike...not them. speaking of ike tho, he seems super bummed and is like "i don't need to spend hannukah here!!! lmao!!! kyles not even coming like he misses it every year anyways!" totally throws kyle under the bus to spend time w/ celebPretty raven smhh

buuuuuut x2 ( and its a big butt if ur kyle <3 ) raven of cd is like "well, don't worry he's gonna be there, because i had a back up plan." and raven of cd whips out this piece of paper and winks and waves it. ike and goth boys eyes widen like they know Exactly what that is omg.

in the raven of cd voice he starts reading:

"dear crimson dawn ( especially raven ),

stan totally winks at him and kyle rolls his eyes lol.

the letter then goes onto explain that his birthday is coming up and more importantly, it's his winter formal. and that every year, the same super whack band from when his dad was in high school plays at their show. its a bunch of old dudes who totally do not shred. ike says that it's probably a long shot and that raven and cd are super famous and doing super cool, super famous band boy things, but asks him if they'd be willing to play at their high school's winter formal.

he also says that he has a big crush on someone and was working up the nerve to ask them...there is a gendered word on there...ike looks distressed like omg pls don't say it and raven just winks @ him again.

( i love you, ravenstan omg. )

and speaking, ofc, of lovely ravenstan, he tells ike that Crimson Dawn Will Be There, Little Man. Rock And Roll. Ur Only Seventeen Once. ;)

he also says that he's gonna fly kyle and the blondies squad out with them...you know...so now kyle can be with his family on hannukah.

very generous, raven! thank you! KYLE IS FREAKING OUT HES LIKE HELL NO HELL NO ABSOLUTELY THE FUCK NOT!!!! and raven is like woops too late, adios, amigos! and remember its always darkest...

*ike and squad vc* Before Crimson Dawn!!!!

ravenstan hangs up and kyle is trying to KILL him like are you fucking Insane??? you can't just play at my little brother's winter formal??? and raven stan is like...oh i think i can, new jersey! also he's fkn right bc kyle's totally stuck going now bc ike looked super excited and raven basically told ike that kyle would be there...fml.

but ravenstan is like "Speaking Of New Jersey, i will have those tickets booked for a week before the dance so you have time to be with your family/settle in..." kyle cuts him off by laughing and ravenstan is like metal eyebrow raise "what's so funny" and kyle is like "you think ike lives in new jersey?" and raven like *squints more* "you literally have a new jersey accent, new jersey? don’t you..."

and kyle is like "i did live in jersey, crow, but when i graduated high school and started college, my family had no reason to stay up there anymore ( doesn't explain ), plus my dad got a Business Opportunity. so they moved back home..."

"To South Park, Colorado."

ANDDDD LHDSHDLSHDk OHHHHH MY FUCKING GOD!!!! when i tell you ravenstan was STRESSED!!!!! he was like wtfwtfwtf like internally screaming help help help!!!! he thought kyle lived in new jersey???? because the last internet stalking of kyle ( while outdated ) placed him in FUCKING NEW JERSEY?????? oh my gooooood bitch!!!!!

so obviously, we don't have this pov, but basically stan is putting the pieces together and he's like fucking hell, that was literally hs firkle, filmore, tricia tucker and...he doesn't know who the blonde girl is but honestly he's so stressed out he's like i probably just forgot her name.

so he's like *voice crack* "sOUTH PARK, COLORADO????!!!!" fml fml

jersey is like "yeah...south park, colorado. you got a problem, crow?"

and ravenstan is like AHAHAHAH!!!! "no!!! no problem...at all! haha!!! can't wait to visit, this will be so fun! to go where i--i mean you grew up!!! haha! wow! whew!~"

*fucking kills the boxwine and cracks the crazy red heart glass vial necklace and inhales very deeply* he's still shaking btw like FUCK

and kyle is about to finally grill him about what is clearly raven of crimson dawn's serious drinking problem and ask what the weird vial is and why he's inhaling it when....

kyle...gets a waft of something.

and is like...

"…crow, do you smell Burning?”

and both their eyes go WIDE and they're like

"tHE LASAGNA!!!!!!!!"

AAAsaaaAAAAAAaaa

*bebe stevens vc* And Scene.

so that is part one ur welcome to ask me questions about it, but if they belong in extremely far in the future parts or like would spoil a lot of the surprises in these ask message updates, i will...not answer them. i am sorry if it feels like i'm ignoring you, also, i have 100 asks.

BUT I HOPE THIS WAS FUN!!! thank you for being flexible!!!!! i know it's not the same as getting a real update but hopefully you are stoked on finally getting some information! i will edit this so its more coherent later, i promise! if you want to rest of the parts, pls lmk.

also...if you feel up to it...if you could tell me how you feel abt this? like if you thought it was cool or liked it or didn't like it? lmao...i'm nervous smh smh smh skdhslkahds.

-uncle nina, serial fanfic spoiler / the ravesey gay agenda

#rm spoiler #ravesey hate #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #are we stoked did we like it lmao lmao #there is like three more parts #the next part will be the rest of seven #and the two after that cover chapter eight of the hate #BUT I HOPE WE LIKE THIS SORRY ITS WRITTEN BADLY #BUT LMAO I AM OBSESSED #MY BOYS MY BOYS MY BOYS #ravenstan fucked up literally so bad he is literally screaming and crying and throwing up like Lifes So Fun Lifes So Fun lmaoo #he is in hell he is burning in arson fake dead boy hell #SPEAKING OF BURNING #NOT THE LASAGNA #tfw ur so distracted by ur very hot blonde celebrity hate boy doting on ur little brother and remembering hannukah that the lasagna #that u were literally not going to eat anyways rip jerseys ed and hate of mushrooms STARTS BURNING OOOOF #anyways like and subscribe #please if its not too much trouble ur welcome to treat my ask box or the comms of this post like ao3 #if it pleases and sparkles or it sucks so much ass lmk lmao #be brutal its okay

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miaslame · 1 year

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Journal Entry #5

Dear Journal,

It’s beeen a while since I last wrote. I think a combination of business and depression have lead me to forget the one thing I love to do most when the stress comes. Write. I’ll make sure to share all of the updates - be prepared.

Firstly, I have an amazing new boyfriend. His name is Emmanuel but I just refer to him as E to everyone. He is kind and sweet and always wants to make me happy. I love that about him. I always wanted a boyfriend who would be just obsessed with me (in the good way of course) and one who wants to take care of me. I am grateful to him and everything he does for me everyday and I know that he has a million things he has to be doing other than me but he always finds a way to make me happy.

Secondly, I am still in l** ******* living and working remotely so that has been a lot of fun. I am currently looking for some a n** j** but let’s keep that under wraps. I don’t want to rise any suspisions at work right now.

Thirdly, I am still having issues with saving and keeping money. But, lord knows I am trying. I REALLY want to get out of this constant instant spend money scheme I have been born into. It’s so fucking hard though. How can I just not spend it when it barely comes to me? Even, when I feel like I am just getting the basics the money just somehow slips away from me. And, I don’t want my boyfriend and my friends to always know me as the girl who never has any money it’s getting tiring. I am going to try really hard and start saving come my mid-month paycheck where I have only utility bills, phone bill, and a few small streaming service bills - one I could get rid of.

Next, Levi is leaving for Europe today (she’s actually probably already at the airport) and I am still said I couldn’t make that trip with her but at the same time I think it’s great that her and Said are going as a couple out of the country just the 2 of them. (which just brings me back to my money struggles and my dead beat mom who wont leave me alone) She’s gone 4/7-4/18. I will be pet sitting Alanis from 8-12 while she is away. I’m happy for her. I’m happy she finally got her trip together and that she’s doing what she wanted and it’s with her boyfriend too. I think now after being in a happy relationship I get what she means now when she just wants to buy everything for her man. I see something and just get so happy thinking about how happy E would be once he sees it. Even if it’s a bag of chips. LOL.

Chris will also be out of town from 4/13-17 as he is going to Coachella with alot of our mutual friends. I did have a way to go to Coachella with Abel but things just did not seem to work out as Abel and I are in such a weird phase of our friendship. We barely talk but that doesn’t mean I don’t value it. The thing I am most jealous about is mostly that he will get to see Frank Ocean and that is probably going to be my biggest regret since Frank will most likely not be doing any more shows in the future. I think that will haunt me forever. Truly.

Ashley and I are hanging out this Sunday and going to the butterfly pavillion at the Natural History Museum. I am excited to see her and I know she needs someone to distract her as well after her papa’s partner’s passing. I know it’s hurting her too and I just want to be there to make her laugh and see her smile and do what I can do as a friend for her. I haven’t experienced death first hand so I can’t relate to her but I know it must be difficult. But, I am happy to be her friend. I want to do more for her. I don’t know what that looks like but I hope I figure it out.

Lastly, Karla and I are on the outs and aren’t really communicating. Which, oddly enough is fine with me. We were never really friends to begin with and we are also 2 completely different people. Our roommate situation wasn’t even supposed to last this long tbh. But, my next goal is to plan a b-day trip for E and I (for his bday in Sept) and then possibly move in together (at some point) but I may be moving in with Chris first. He also wants to move out for his own sake. We both are just in not ideal living situations at the moment.

It’s April 7th and if you asked me how I feel over all I would say “okay”. I am not good nor bad and I am happy to be alive with good friends and an amazing boyfriend but I just wish I could change my ways. I want to save money and to keep it and save up for the things I want and not go shopping and return the clothes when my money starts to run low. I want to not binge spend and eat and just enjoy myself. Please someone tell me how ti trick my brain into not spending. I just want to always have money in my bank account. I hate seeing the overdraft notification.

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rataltouille · 3 years

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GOD COMPLEX: WIP INTRO

[this is my original work, do not use / repurpose / plagiarise in any form]

GENRE: literary fiction; sometimes surrealism / fabulism.

STAGE: drafting / editing / polishing [each story is at a different point]

RECURRING THINGS: unhinged teenagers doing unhinged things. angry queer narrators. brown people with ambiguous religious beliefs. self inserts, you say? what makes you think that?

SO WHAT IS THIS?

good question! i ask that to myself all the time!!

okay so god complex is a collection of ALL my short stories. essentially every single short story i’ve ever written is a part of this project. and because i’m needlessly complicated, this is where things get confusing:

god complex is NOT my first short story collection [said first collection is unnamed and will have 13 select stories].

god complex also includes stories that may go into potential future collection(s).

god complex contains the other stories, ones that will go nowhere for various reasons [most being that they’re just,,, bad].

i made a venn diagram too because i’m insane:

i spent too long on this so you better have understood this mess 😪/j

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?

chaos! very fun narratives with extremely experimental and whacky form, told mostly by angry unhinged women!! my first ever cult story!!! [long overdue tbh]

first off i want to talk about the process. as mentioned, this is a wip and is nowhere near completion [so far i’m still in the drafting stage and out of all the short stories i’ve written so far, only four or so of them fit the vibes that i’m beginning to get from collection #1].

second off, considering they're all short stories that will be very different from each other + will be in different stages and drafts, i’ve decided to continue with introing each story with its separate post [like i did with saltwater, helium throat, etc] and then making update posts whenever i’ve got stuff to talk about [like how the editing or whatever’s going]! let me tell you here that editing is hard and my first drafts go through a Lot Of Fun Things so you can see me breakdown live :)

third, i don't work with a set theme and don't really start a collection knowing how it’s going to go. rather, the more i write for it the more it starts to take shape [which is why naming my first collection is so difficult because nothing seems right for it so far]. god complex is so varied that i wouldn't really say it has a “vibe”, but from what i’m planning to put in collection #1 so far, i’m beginning to understand it a bit more, and so far my only conclusion is that it involves unhinged people doing unhinged things [which is kind of my trademark ig], and also reckoning with your past at the Worst Possible Time. also everyone is queer because of course they are what else did you except.

WHAT HAVE I GOT SO FAR?

this list will be updated as i naturally write + more stories.

SALTWATER: narrated by the ocean, we follow a toxic couple as they reach their breaking point and drive into the ocean.

HELIUM THROAT: a bitter woman visits her hometown years after her sister and father’s connected deaths, to meet her estranged mother after she moves into her childhood house.

IT’S GENE MAGIC AND/OR TURPENTINE: a listless college student is called back home mid semester after her entire family dies from mysterious causes, and is left in an empty house with nothing but noisy neighbours, cigarettes and a shoulder demon to keep her company.

and of course wip intros are incomplete without a moodboard so:

that’s essentially the entire vibe of it godbless <3

everything about this project is tagged as god complex, the short story intros as god complex intro and the writing updates as god complex update. you can send me an ask / message me if you’d like to be added to my taglist or have any questions about the project. and that’s about it for now!!

#writeblr #am writing #wip intro #wtwcommunity #crabappletracking #ofcolourtracking #atlastracking #the way i wanted to do an aesthetic intro but instead made whatever the fuck this is...#guys it’s okay i’m insane.jpg #god complex

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spnwatch · 3 years

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Season 1: The Rankings

WOW it’s been ages since I’ve posted here. But before moving on to s2, I wanted to talk about my TOP TEN FAVE EPISODES.

Something that surprised me about spn now i’ve finally watched some of it is how variable the episodes are in terms of quality. They’re not afraid to experiment either, and that flexibility is probably one reason this show lasted so long. Some things worked for me, some things didn’t. ANYWAY these are my opinions etc. just from a first time watcher!! 1.) Episode 6: SKIN. This episode, man. Where to even begin: I could be here all night. Suffice to say that the sequence where the shapeshifter sheds his Dean skin to “Hey Man Nice Shot” is just. Chef’s kiss. For the first time, the true depth of Dean’s self loathing truly came to the fore. How socially outcast he knows himself to be, all that hidden shame, that resentment he harbours towards Sam for having (potentially) a way out of the hunter life, coupled with his desperation not to lose him to the “normal world”: somewhere that Dean knows he can’t follow him. After so much posturing and bravado, that inner parodox was SO interesting to witness - he SHOOTS HIMSELF at the end -- and, for me, really steered the character into more *~ thematically complex territory ~* All the songs were good tbh. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida? Yes. 11/10

2.) Episode 11: SCARECROW. There was just so much going on in this episode, but the thing I liked most was the setting. It looked so good!! Autumnal and pastoral. After a couple of (in my opinion) not very good-looking episodes, it was a real breath of fresh air. I also loved Sam in this episode: he looked so small standing by the side of that road. I fully understood the argument, but I also loved how dean just... called him intermittently to update him on the case?This episode really drove home to me how alone they are, how they really have no-one but each other. It also really highlighted how far Sam has drifted from episode 1: he’s on the fringes now, too. All too quickly backsliding into the role of rootless grifter, an identiy he’d tried so hard to claw his way out of. Also, there’s a tome. 10/10

3.) Episode 12: FAITH. This. Episode. Slaps. To be honest, this is probably technically the masterpiece of the season in terms of plot, visuals, antagonist, music etc. but w/e it’s my list. Right off the bat Dean is dying and he’s like it’s fine Sammy, I’m not even mad about it, which is fucked up but then what is more fucked up is that his dad doesn’t even come when Sam leaves him a message? Dean seems to view dying as like. A thing grownups just have to do sometimes. Like jury duty. It’s extremely,extremely sad. Anyway I love the drama of Sam smashing apart the altar, I love the big tent, I love the “don’t fear the reaper” montage. It’s all, quite simply, a *~cut above~* 10/10

4.) Episode 7: HOOK MAN. I don’t know if I was meant to love this episode so much?? I just really, really liked it. I loved the central mystery, and I thought Sam in particular really shone when it came to dealing with the townsfolk and the afflicted girl. It was one of the most thematically coherent episodes when it came to tying the monster to sublimated fear, in this instance, sex and sexuality! Damn do Americans have a weird relationship with sex. And not just with women; this episode really shone a spotlight on Sam’s sexuality wrt his guilt over Jess, his desire for normality, his coltish nervousness in Lori’s presence. There was SO. MUCH. Bonus points for ugly mid-2000s fashions. 10/10

5.) Episode 3: DEAD IN THE WATER. This was the first episode which really made me sit up and go, oh, okay. I can see why people lose their minds over this show. When it’s good, Supernatural just. Shoots a volt of pure catharsis straight into your chest. This was also the first time I really sat up and took note of Jensen Ackles’ acting chops. There’s just so much going on with him every time he’s onscreen, and each little paradoxical turn he gives to Dean’s character is a joy to witness. It was a visually beautiful episode, with a strong supporting cast. The moment I saw her in her silky lavender nightgown, twisting up her unrealistically perfect chingoin, I wished to marry Amy Acker’s character. I know she doesn’t come back to spn but she should’ve!! She should’ve!! 10/10

6.) Episode 5: BLOODY MARY. I’ve heard tell of this episode being a bit of a fandom classic, and I support it. The last few minutes at the end? When Sam sees Jess at the side of the road in that slow panning shot, to the Rolling Stones song Laugh I Nearly Died? It was just... I think it changed me as a person, honestly. This show. It’s lower down on the list for me because how how freaking dark the lighting was at the end, but that might have just been the poor quality stream I found. But yeah, I really liked the plucky teen girl who helped them; I was pleasantly surprised to see a glamourous queen bee-type portrayed as smart and competent, and remain alive by the end. Gold star for you, spn. I know it’s all downhill from here. 9/10

7.) Episode 15. THE BENDERS. First off, I have to give it points for the production design on that house. My brother was of the opinon it would’ve made a good video game enviroment (according to him a lot of spn is akin to a video game which... yeah). This episode also made me really acutely feel for Dean. Could it be because I’m an older sister and this was a literal nightmare scenario? Perhaps. But again what really came to the fore was the single-mindedness with which Dean acted. Sam being dead was literally not an option for him. On a lesser show that might have been left as a given, but the time was really taken to give an almost sinister intensity to Dean’s thoughts and behavior. Some really pretty car shots too. 9/10

8.) Episode 17: HELL HOUSE. What can I say about this? It’s just fun. I love the two conspiracy guys, I love the sibling prank war, I love the concept of a monster created by shared belief. The set design was cool, as was the montage at the beginning where they’re interviewing all the witnesses. It’s a briskly paced and lighthearted episode, which was a breath of fresh air and welcome break after last episode left the Winchester boys abandoned by their father. Yet. Again. Ugh. Throw the whole dad away. 9/10

9.) Episode 19: PROVENANCE. Haunted painting! Haunted! Painting!! This is a simple lil episode but it receives points for Sam and Dean’s best and least convincing disguises thus far -- art dealers -- and a fun, sweet love interest for Sam. He’s so bashful! I thought she was smartly written and I especially liked that she took a more active role and actually helped them solve the case than other side characters we’ve seen so far. I also liked when they were standing over the grave and she was like wow, your lives are really fucked up... it’s true wtf these poor guys?? Anyway 8/10

10.) Episode 14: NIGHTMARE. This spot was a real toss-up between this and SOMETHING WICKED, but NIGHTMARE just edged it out because of the strong supporting character Max, as well as the sheer conceptual power of psychic Sam. Something about the way Dean treats his brothers latent psychic powers as... kind of a concern, but ultimately about on a par with him developing, like, a shellfish allergy, is hilarious to me. They have so many problems, it’s just low priority! Sorry Sammy. But what really clinched this episode for me was the three second-ish sequence where Sam shoves the dresser free with his mind, Dean gets shot in his vision, and Sam bursts into the room. Brilliance. Someone call the x-men. My heart was in my mouth. BIG minus points however for the extensive heart-to-hearts. It was just too much for me. It went on for so long. 7/10

This certainly is a show. I see that now. Anyway. Onto season 2!

#supernatural #long post #supernatural s1 #some dishonorable mentions: ep 4's frankly insulting attempt to convince me a flight attendant would allow the winchesters to drag a man off #and perform an exorcism on him #ep 8 for its Many Crimes #ep 22 when dean said that can't be dad #he told me he was proud of me!#JAIL #JAIL FOR SUPERNATUAL

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cant-think-of-anything · 3 years

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About Cordelia's body type: The only thing I'm sure about from the books is that in the books she's tall and has big breasts (which was why the corsets didn't fit, I think?) but I think she's also described as curvy which is kind of vague as a descriptor. I also went with mid size and muscular, but cannot be sure that was CC's intention?

Honestly the lack of plus size characters makes me wonder why, since although much of CC's representation is not great, she does add diverse characters, but there aren't really any plus size characters as far as I know? Except maybe Dru but I'm not sure about her either. Hopefully the flower card update will give some clarity about that.

It could be explained with all shadowhunters being very active, but you can be active and still fat.

We know for certain that she's more muscular and tall, based off of descriptors it seemed canon that she was midsized, but her descriptions are sort of confusing

Dru is canonically plus sized, we know that for sure, but she's the only other one that I can remember.

I don't know if the flower card is going to be very reliable tbh

#honestly it's hard to tell what size most of the characters are #the way they're described isn't very clear about it

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theteapotofdoom · 3 years

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Rereading something good is always fun because no matter how many times I've already read it, it seems that every time I end up picking on something new that I missed the previous times. Maybe it's just because I'm stupid and cant pick up on all the subtext in one read lol. So maybe it's just me but chapter 14 felt like a season finale of a show to me, like how a few conflicts which had been here since the beginning finally ended like tomura's exhibition contest and stuff and the whole thing about things not being the same and everyone reminiscing on the past and thinking "what now" its interesting! Also I finally picked up that sako and kurogiri seem to be having some problems? Maybe regarding marriage? This makes me think that we'll maybe get to see some black magic angst or a wedding or both ? I'm really excited anyways

Just a reminder of how much I love this fic and you ❤

Thank you so much!!! Your messages are always so sweet and full of details, I love them so much! I'm absolutely going to finish the fic no matter what, but it's the messages and interactions like yours that truly keep the motivation strong! :D

It might sound a little narcissistic, but getting to talk about my ideas and writing process with you all is one of the best feelings in the world! I'm truly sorry that I don't update very regularly, but it makes me super happy to know that there are people out there who are still passionate about this story and love to talk about it!

And yes, you're completely right, it does feel like a season finally of the sort! It's interesting that phrase it like this because I often think about how Something Good (like most fics tbh) is more of a serialised story than a fully-fledged novel. It has a more episodic nature since each chapter has its own little story. So you could probably say that chapter 10 (the kiss) was a first season finale (or mid-season break) and that the latest chapter was another finale! I really like this, I like that the fic has different "seasons" with different themes and relationships being explored.

The whole "what now" theme of the latest chapter was both very fun and very melancholic to write, there was a kind of meta subtext. Things have changed for the characters, but also for me the writer, and probably for most of the readers as well. I often re-read early chapters to check continuity stuff, and it's often a little bittersweet. I was a fully different person when I started this fic XD

As for the Kurogiri/Sako subtext ... I won't say too much because of potential spoilers, but you're definitely on the right track about a lot of things >:D

Thanks again so so so so much for all your kind messages, for you patience and your support! :D

#fic: something good #shigadabi #my hero academia

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kittyprincessofcats · 3 years

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She-Ra S5 E07 - Perils of Peekablue

There might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post!

I’ll start by saying upfront that I pretty much consider this to be the weakest episode of season 5 (or at least one of the weaker ones), even though it does move the plot along significantly. The main reason is that, as I said before, I don’t care about the group on Etheria as much as the group in space (with the exception of Scorpia and possibly Spinnetossa), so an episode like this - even though I get why it’s important - just won’t interest me as much as what the gang in space is up to.

That said, it’s not a *bad* episode or anything. Let’s get into it:

- The entire beginning scene where Adora tries to transform into She-Ra and the others keep interrupting her is absolute gold and I love everything about it. Especially Catra, OMG! The way she shows up and actually asks “Are we messing with Adora?” - She’s not even pretending to be helpful and I love that she’s bonding with Glimmer and Bow over “messing with Adora”. And how she then just flings herself onto Adora’s lap and brushes Adora’s face with her tail while cheekily saying “Yeah Adora, concentrate!” - brilliant, absolutely brilliant 🤣. And I also love how Adora doesn’t even try to push her off and actually holds her. These two are too cute.

- I also wonder if the “You can’t let distractions keep you from transforming” line was intentional foreshadowing for Shadow Weaver telling Adora that Catra’s a distraction.

- I like Catra’s new outfit! Well, it’s pretty much just her old outfit with a few adjustments. But still, nice! And she looks really cute with short hair.

- I feel like this beginning scene is pretty much here for two reasons: It sets up that Entrapta is trying to reach the rebellion on Etheria, which will be relevant at the very end of the episode, AND it shows Catra’s new outfit, so we can have a new opening now.

- Changes in the opening: Time for some really exciting mid-season opening changes! Catra’s missing from the villains’ card for the first time ever. Instead, Horde Prime’s hands are now closing around a glowing orb (I assume that’s meant to be the heart of Etheria). At the part where Catra and She-Ra fight, Catra now has short hair, She-Ra is in her new form, and instead of a snarl the fight ends with a soft smile between them (I’m not crying, you’re crying. Best opening glow-up ever! 😭). In the final heroes’ shot, Adora back to being She-Ra instead of Adora, but this time in her new form. And Catra is *finally* in the heroes’ shot as well. GOOD STUFF. (In general, I just LOVE that they actually kept updating the opening in the middle of the season. That is SO cool. But the change that really gets me is how they updated Catra and Adora’s fight, because that’s been the same since the beginning of the show and now it’s SO SWEET.)

- Okay, so my biggest problem with this episode is that the plan to find Prince Peekablue seems... kinda dumb? So they’re planning to sneak into an underwater soiree undercover and abandon everyone else at the camp to find a “hermit” no one has seen in ages because he might know where Adora and the others are? As a plan it just seems far-fetched. I get that they want to warn Adora and company that Prime is chipping people (they don’t know that Adora’s group already knows that), but how would finding Peekablue even help them achieve that? He could tell them where Adora and the others are, but... that’s it. It’s not like he can also magically communicate with Adora or anyone else. And didn’t Swift Wind tell the others last episode that Adora’s coming home and that he can feel her coming closer? So shouldn’t they already know that the group in space are on their way home? (Granted, Swift Wind told that to Micah, Frosta, Spinnerella and Netossa - but I’m assuming the rebels communicate with each other and Micah would have also told Mermista and the others?) I mean, idk how much time supposedly passed between these two episodes, so maybe it’s been a while since Elberon? Also, when did they even figure out that Horde Prime is chipping people? Last episode, Micah still said they had to “figure out what that was”. And if they know about the chips now, it might have been a good idea to check the necks of everyone at camp right away - though to be fair, they maybe didn’t realize how the chips work yet. And yeah, I am nitpicking here (and obviously the rebels have to mess up so things can go south this episode, so I guess they have to make some bad decisions.)

- That said, I love all of their outfits! And I like that Scorpia’s alias “Lynda D’Ream” is a reference to the 80s cartoon.

- Netossa’s lucky that she wears an outfit with such a high collar - makes it hard to put a chip on her neck. (Also, idk if I’ve said this before, but I love Spinnerella and Netossa’s character designs and outfits. They’re both fashion queens.)

- Just the fact that it really is Spinnetossa’s anniversary and Netossa thinks that’s why Spinnerella is acting strange - I mean, what are the odds?

- “They are my people! Which means that most of them have sworn revenge against me at some point.” Okay, that is pretty funny. And getting to meet all of Sea-Hawk’s exes was pretty funny, too. (Yeah, officially they’re not his exes but just people whose ships he set on fire... but come on, the subtext isn’t really subtle here.) And I love the whole running gag of him and Mermista fighting all of them behind the bar counter with Mermista doing most of the work and getting more and more annoyed with it - but when they’re finally done, it turns out there’s also someone there that *she* doesn’t want to see, because she set their ship on fire. Comedy gold.

- Scorpia is me at a party :( I also find it super hard to socialize and get into conversations with strangers. Very relatable there.

- I also love how the sweet flowergirl Perfuma has absolutely no problem blending in with a bunch of criminals.

- “You’re amazing. You have the biggest heart and you could do whatever you put your mind to.” Aww. I’m glad someone told Scorpia that!

- “You should do things not because you’re good at them, but because they make you happy.” That actually is some really good life advice. People should keep that mind in general.

- (I love how Sea-Hawk and Mermista are carrying Admiral Scurvy away in the background while Scorpia and Perfuma are having their heartfelt talk 🤣.)

- “Repeat after me: I can do this. I can do this.” “Perfuma can do this.” 🤦 I feel bad for laughing, but... gosh, Scorpia has some serious self-esteem issues.

- Okay, time for an unpopular opinion: I’m... not that into Scorfuma. There’s nothing wrong with it and I’m not against it or anything, but it just doesn’t particularly grab my interest. That excited feeling you get when you ship something just... isn’t there for me with them, sorry.

(I kinda felt like I had to explain/justify myself, so I started to write a small essay on my ships here that doesn’t really have anything to do with the episode. Feel free to just skip this part.)

I consider myself a multishipper and while my #1 OTP is definitely without a doubt Catradora, I also really have a soft spot for Scorptra (to the point where I’d say it’s probably my #2 after Catradora). And, to make it short, Scorptra vs. Scorfuma is one of those “fanon vs. canon” things for me, where what you want to see happen in canon isn’t necessarily what you find exciting or interesting to explore in fanworks. Obviously Scorptra was never going to be canon because Catradora is a thing, and I’m perfectly okay with that. And in canon, Scorpia getting out of a toxic friendship, moving on from her unrequited feelings, and finding love with someone else (who treats her right) is the right message to send, so I’m glad that’s where the show went. But when it comes to enjoying a ship in fanon (which is what I consider “shipping” to be), then I don’t pick my ships based on how healthy they are in canon, but on how much their dynamic fascinates me and just on whether that certain spark that makes me like a ship is there or not. And in that sense, Scorpia’s dynamic with Catra, which was explored over the course of 4 seasons, is just infinitely more fascinating and spark-inducing to me that her relationship with Perfuma.

And even beyond Scorptra - if I had to ship Scorpia with someone other than Catra, my first pick would be Entrapta. (Yes, I do ship Entrapdak, but like I said - multishipper here. Also, Entrapta has two hands!) And my first pick for who to ship Perfuma with would be Mermista because I like their bickering and I have a thing for opposites attracting.

Anyway, I’ve been rambling about ships for too long now. The bottom line is: I’m fine with Scorfuma being canon and it makes sense that they fit together since they’re very similar people. I don’t dislike it, I’m just not as hyped about it as many people seem to be. On with the episode now, please!

- “I guess I don’t know what a hermit is after all.” Yeah, Peekablue was giving off Double Trouble vibes from the beginning, tbh.

- I love how Netossa is competitive even at planning anniversary surprises.

- Perfuma loudly supporting Scorpia when she ends up on stage is a super nice moment, though. And Scorpia’s performance? Amazing!

- I wonder if Double Trouble made up that whole “She-Ra in space” vision because they were pretending to be Peekablue and just got it right by accident, or if they actually knew that much from their time pretending to be a clone. I wonder how much time they spent as a clone and what exactly they saw.

- Scorpia realizing it’s Double Trouble and then tricking and unmasking them was an amazing moment. So much for Scorpia not being smart!

- I was so excited to see Double Trouble again! Tough it makes me a bit said that they refered to Catra as their “cash kitten”. While they never made a secret out of being in it for the money, I kind of like the idea that they did care for Catra after all. (Do I just ship everyone with Catra? The answer is yes.)

DT: “I know where your friends are. And I’ll tell you - for a price, of course.”

Perfuma: *grows flower arm canon*

DT: “... Fine.”

😂😂😂 Love that.

- “It makes for a very dull audience when everyone’s mind-controlled.” Okay, but that really is a good reason for Double Trouble to help the heroes out without really changing their motivation. They’re still a Chaotic Neutral who doesn’t particularly care about morals - but it would make for a very dull audience if everyone was mind-controlled.

- “Prime is angry. She-Ra showed up and stole his little kitten away.” Like I said before, I LOVE that that’s the reason why Prime’s so pissed in the first place.

- The confrontation between Netossa and Spinnerella is so heartbreaking, but when she said “show me your neck” it again made me wonder why they didn’t check everyone’s neck at camp before.

- “What a shame we can’t be together... in Horde Prime’s light!” Ooohhh, it’s so creepy and angsty, I love it!

- And Mermista’s chipped as well because obviously things have to go south here.

- The parallel confrontations at camp and at the soiree are really cool scenes. I especially like the Spinnerella vs. Netossa fight. And Micah’s chipped as well, because things have to go wrong and Glimmer mentioned being “a day away from meeting her dad” - so obviously that has to be ruined now, too.

- “A little help? I need to lift my hand to the heavens.” Gosh, I love DT.

- Scorpia’s sacrifice made me tear up 😭. (When I first watched it, I was scared she was actually going to die and not just get chipped - I’d never have forgiven the show for that.)

- Can we talk about how strong Netossa actually is? She fought off both Spinnerella and Micah by herself, made a big enough net to cover all the chipped people, and got herself and Frosta out of there safely - I don’t want to hear anything about her powers not being strong again.

- “Happy anniversary.” Noooo, now I’m crying again... 😭😭😭 It’s so sad, but so romantic... (I really love that this season gave Spinnerella and Netossa more screentime. And I’m always here for some angst!)

- And finally, Perfuma is able to contact the group in space and warn them about the blockade. I really like that scene. I like that Perfuma specifically says “You need to stay away”, since we know what happened last time someone told Adora that. And the whole grim mood of Perfuma apologizing and saying the rebellion is compromised, the shaky pictures, the connection cutting off, and then the shot of the ship all alone in space and the silence - amazing. Basically, this episode was “things go very wrong on Etheria, and now the group in space has a serious problem”.

This was a good episode, overall. Like I said, the main reason I consider it weaker is because I care more about the group in space, and they were only here for one scene in the beginning and one in the end. But this was still pretty solid. It had some funny and sweet moments, and then some really cool and dramatic scenes in the end. And of course, it was a very important episode for the plot because things are now really not looking good on Etheria. My favourite moment was Catra sitting on Adora’s lap in the opening scene, though.

[Previous episode] [Next episode]

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chateautae · 3 years

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lmao the anon who has a lot of tips and "questions" seems rude and controlling. I dont want anyone else to tell you what to do because you are you, this is your own story and it feels really special to us readers if the story comes from you because your mind is ~exquisite~ and one of a kind. Mid has to be one of the greatest arranged marriage fics that i read. I have to say it's perfect and realistic. I could read it all over again until I turned into dust.

Anon… I’m going to be candid and say you just said something I needed to desperately hear right now.

Tbh I was having a whole breakdown concerning this story and almost.. abandoned it. I feel like I can’t write mid without consistently thinking it’s not good or it’s not reaching people’s expectations so I keep agonizing over it’s quality. I was having so much trouble with this current scene and honestly I wanted to just stop the story all together. Ik many people wait for this story and throw around all these lovely comments and such but it’s so so daunting, I feel like there are so expectations and I feel so much pressure idk why. But I forgot this is my story, and I will write it how I want to. I keep getting scared I’ll write something in a way where it won’t sound good to a reader and it’s just eating at my mind. I can’t focus on this story, I feel locked down and shackled to it.. like I need to write it for others or else people will get upset with me and demand updates.

I started questioning my ability to write it, almost like someone that creates an AI and it suddenly gains a conscious of it’s own. Like I’m writing myself into a corner I can’t get out of. Idk why it feels like I’m losing my control on the story, like idek what I created anymore. I sound like I’m rambling probably, but I think I need a break from this story after chapter 12 because I’m close to just losing my sanity over it. I cannot write it without a million expectations clouding my mind and it’s becoming almost agonizing to write. I feel like I’m suffocating writing it, so just thank you for saying this. I needed it, needed to hear someone tell me they’re here but they like the way I write my story, and calling it my own because I always feel so dictated by expectations and that pressure hinders how I write.

I’m sorry for ranting but this is the truth, I feel like I’m enslaved to a story idek know anymore, and while I have fun writing it it’s still such an agonizing process thinking I need to update or people will get mad at me.. sometimes I have anxiety attacks writing the story. Idk, I’m just a mess concerning this story rn and probably don’t make sense, but I guess it signifies how lost and out of control I feel with this story now. I’m scared to take a break thinking people will hate me for it. Idk… I’m lost.

#sammy files #inbox #anon #fic: maybe i do

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yikesharringrove · 4 years

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Hi!! I was just curious about Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship in your mango series! I was wondering if Nancy was an alpha? If she is, does that mean that Jonathan is a Beta or an Omega? Kids??? I have so many questions and am way too invested in this tiny part of this universe lol Please feel free to make this into a part with Steve and Billy talking to them about pups and bonding if you would like.

Masterlist

Part 29

I realized I literally haven’t mentioned the Wheelers this entire time rip to them I guess

Also I’m using this part as background to everything esp how Billy and Steve got together. Also no monster au I guess? tbh this part just made me realize NONE of this series is thought out

I literally never established a timeline, so I’ve decided it makes more sense for Billy to come to Hawkins earlier. You’ll see lmao. (this started as a little nonsense thing so the timeline of the whole Mango series is so whack pls no one try and do the math)

+I had traumatic emergency surgery on my uterus several years ago, so I’ve based all of Steve’s stuff on that

Steve dated Nancy Wheeler for about a month.

He was always drawn to fiery alphas, liked when they had sharp tongues, weren’t afraid to speak their mind. He liked ‘em smart.

Nancy seemed perfect to him, but Nancy didn’t like how much work omegas were. They needed constant reassurance of love, so much touching and cuddling, and that’s just not how she operates.

They had been casually dating for about a month early in her sophomore year when he asked her to spend his heat with him. She knew that meant he was serious about her, and let him down as gently as she could.

He didn’t take it too hard, and even invited her to a party he was throwing at his big empty house.

That was the first night she really talked to Jonathan Byers.

Their families had always been close, and they had been uncomfortable acquaintances for a long time, but she found him making a pip out of an apple, sat in the kitchen with him and got stoned for the very first time.

They were sitting close to one another, leaning closer, about to kiss when there was a splash outside, there was screaming.

They rushed out to see Steve Harrington, wet and shaking in the cold November night air, doing CPR on, on Barb.

He yelled at Tommy H., told him to call an ambulance.

Barb looked bad. Her lips were tinged blue, her skin pale.

She sank down next to her. Jonathan gently touching her back.

Most of the kids ran when they heard authorities were coming.

She held Barb’s freezing hand until the paramedics arrived.

Steve hadn’t stopped doing CPR the entire time had heard Barb’s ribs crack and splinter from the force.

The paramedics called it.

Steve was never really the same after that. He had become more withdrawn, had quit the swim team and stopped throwing big parties, he started babysitting Dustin Henderson, ended up babysitting most of the party soon enough.

He was still nice to Nancy, would ask her and Jonathan to hang out sometimes. She always thought he was sweet that he was a big heart. Hell, she sat there while he did CPR on her best friend for twenty minutes, but it was easier with Jon. As a beta, she didn’t have to be someone she wasn’t just to keep him from emotional breakdown.

But then Billy Hargrove rolled into town in the beginning of the summer, was all California golden, a big imposing alpha, and she began seeing less and less of Steve.

She thought it was just a summer fling, Billy didn’t seem like the type to stick around for very long, didn’t seem like the monogamous type.

Steve had a bad habit of trusting alphas too quickly, had been with alphas that just wanted to be able to say they’d fucked a male omega.

They were so uncommon, and usually these alphas were just curious, knew male omegas were the only presentation identifiable at birth due to their genitals, had wanted to see for themselves.

But Billy stuck around, starting hanging around Steve wherever he was, joining him when he spent time with the party, or with Jonathan and Nancy.

Billy was starting to grow on her more, as she watched and realized he loved Steve, that he wanted to be as clingy as Steve needed.

They would go on double dates sometimes, and Billy would pull Steve to sit on his lap just as often as Steve would plop himself on Billy’s lap. So she guesses they’re kind of a match made in heaven.

And then Steve got pregnant.

And she expected Billy to run for the hills, but he didn’t. Got kicked out of his house for Steve, changed his whole world for Steve and their pup, and at this point, they were four years in, had two happy pups and we in the process of moving into their first house.

She and Jon hadn’t even talked marriage yet, let alone bonding, were focusing on getting through school.

They had both gone to New York without even consulting one another, decided they didn’t want each other’s college choices to affect the other, that they should pick the best school for themselves.

When they revealed to one another, Jon showed her his acceptance to NYU, his dream school, while Nancy had handed him her Columbia letter.

She got regular updates from Steve, letters stuffed full with photographs and weekly reports. She contacted a bakery local to him to send him a cake when he called and excitedly told her that he had finally gotten his GED, had dropped out of high school in the February of his senior year when he got kicked out of his house, when he was the talk of the whole damn town.

“Letter from Steve.” Jonathan placed the rest of the mail on the counter, ripping open the envelope. “He put in updated pictures of the girls, look.” Nancy cooed over the photos. There was a gorgeous one of all four of them at the beach, Steve had infant Zara strapped to his chest, Billy was holding Mina. It was so cute. “He said they finished painting the house and should be moving in this week.”

“He mention how he was doing?”

“Of course not, have you met him? The only reason we actually knew he almost fucking died was because Billy called us.”

“I guess you’re right.” She was still flipping through photos. “Oh look at this one!” It was Steve caught mid laugh while Mina was doing him hair behind him. “We should go out to California soon to see them. Especially once they’re in their house.

“I’m gonna write Steve back, maybe we could go for New Year’s, or something.” She smiled up at him, stretching on her toes to kiss his jaw.

“I think that sounds nice.”

Mina was currently in the process of showing Jonathan every single toy she owned.

His lap was full of plastic food, blocks, dolls, stuffed animals, books, everything. She was talking excitedly about her little toy Camaro, the one that looked just like Daddy’s!

Nancy was just laughing as Jonathan nodded along patiently. He talked to her like she was an adult, asking her details about each toy in a very serious voice.

Steve slowly set himself on the couch. His abdomen still sore from surgery a few months ago. He was holding Zara, all dressed up in a little onesie that looked hand-knitted.

“How are you doing?” Steve rolled his eyes. Jon and Nancy kept asking.

“Nance, I’m fine. Just sore is all.” He kept dodging her real questions. She knew that the doctor had told Steve there was a chance he wouldn’t be able to be pregnant again, knew it was probably weighing on him. She just looked back and Jon.

“How is Mina doing with Zara? I remember when Mike was born I wanted nothing to do with him.” Steve laughed, bouncing Zara a little.

“She loves her. I swear if she could get me and Billy outta the picture, she would rather raise Zara on her own.” Zara gave a little choked off wail. “Sweet Pea, you are fine.” He put her on his chest, patting her back. “How’s school and everything?”

“It’s good! Jon’s going to end up graduating a semester early, so he’ll be finished by this time next year.”

“Oh, wow. Good for him!”

“I hear you left work, how’s that going?” Steve shrugged.

“They could only offer me one month of leave, and with the surgery and everything, I needed much longer. But you know I don’t mind staying home with these two. I mean, Mina’s in full day preschool now, just Monday to Thursday, but Zara is pretty fussy, so it’s okay. Once she’s not breastfeeding anymore, I’ll probably find a new job.”

“And Billy’s school is going okay?”

“Oh you know him, just overachieving at every stage. He had to cut back on his hours at the garage, he got a really nice internship at a law firm in town, and he’s actually getting paid for it.” Billy had been studying pre-law at UCSD, wanted to go into some kind of prosecution, possibly specialize in domestic cases. His internship was more personal assistant work to one of the partners of the firm, but it was better money than the garage, and something to beef up his resume a bit more.

Steve could hear the garage door beginning to rumble and whine as it slid up.

“Speak of the devil.” He smiled at Billy as he came in, kicking off his shoes. Mina sprinted up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, standing on his feet as he walked over to everyone.

“You talkin’ ‘bout me, Pretty Boy?” He picked up Mina so he could perch on the armrest next to Steve, giving him a kiss.

“All good things. Kind of.” Nancy doesn’t think she’s ever seen Billy Hargrove in a suit. He loosened his tie, had take off his jacket to place into the coats closet, was currently rolling up his crisp sleeves. She could see edges of a few tattoos. She knew he and Steve had each gotten each others initials on their shoulder blades, adding the pups initials underneath them both. Apparently Billy was beginning to work on sleeves. “How was work?”

“Eh. Same old.” He shrugged, putting Mina down to go back to “playing” with Jonathan. He lifted Zara from Steve. “How are you doin’, Nancy? How’s the Big Apple?”

She waved a hand non-noncommittally. “Oh, it’s good. Jon’s working for some underground paper, shooting for punk shows.” Billy grinned.

“Well done, Byers. I’m sure your kid brother’s plenty jealous.” Jonathan laughed.

“He’s come up for a few of the shows he’s really wanted to see. Which is to say most of them.” The timer went off from the kitchen. Steve went to stand, only to have Billy push him back down, handing Zara back to him.

“Sit tight, Pretty Boy. I got it.” Steve rolled his eyes, but smiled softly at Billy all the same.

“He was a nightmare when we were moving in, wouldn’t let me lift anything over ten pounds.”

After dinner, Steve and Billy tag teamed putting the girls to bed.

It was kind of amazing to watch. Billy got Mina dressed for bed as Steve fed Zara, then they swapped, Steve made sure Mina brushed her teeth while Billy changed Zara, swapping again so that Billy could read a book to Mina and Steve rocked Zara to sleep.

They were so practiced and efficient, both girls were asleep with half an hour.

“You get a lot of practice with the bedtime thing. I mean, it’s every night.” They were sitting on the back porch, on patio furniture that had apparently been a gift from Claudia Henderson.

It was a perfect night, the Southern California air was just chilly enough to warrant a sweater, but perfect for just being in.

“There’s a park a few blocks that way that’s doing fireworks, we should be able to see them from here.” Steve had poured them each some champagne. Steve and Billy were sitting one the chairs across the little coffee table between them.

They chattered through as the clock ticked down, getting closer and closer to 1989.

Ten seconds to midnight, Billy helped Steve stand up. Five seconds to midnight, Jonathan was digging in his pocket.

The fireworks began as Steve pressed his lips to Billy’s. Nancy turned to do the same, choking on a gasp as she saw Jon down on one knee. Steve shrieked, scrambling for a camera.

“I wanted this to be the first thing I did this year.” Billy was grinning like an idiot, Steve was taking picture after picture, his big eyes full of tears. “I know you want to establish our lives before bonding or having pups, and that’s okay, we can just be engaged for a couple years, whatever you want.” Nancy had one hand in front of her mouth, tears dripping down her cheeks. “Whatdya say?”

“Oh my god, absolutely yes!” Billy and Steve cheered as Jon stood up, kissing Nancy before sliding the ring on her finger.

#yikes writes #mango #me before this part: I have never heard of the Wheeler family ever in my life #harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove abo #steve harrington x billy hargrove #billy hargrove x steve harrington #omega steve harrington #alpha billy hargrove #mpreg

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nuclidic · 4 years

Note

Given that a lot of us are stuck inside with all this COVID-19 stuff, do you have any good TimKon fic recommendations to keep us more happily occupied?

Haha yes! I have this list from years ago but it is way past time for an update.

Disclaimer: these are just things I like, please heed all tags and warnings etc. I'm also not reccing any WIPs because unfinished fics kill me every time.

Crystal Clear by Merit andAnd I'll Tell You No Lies by caecily

Two short takes on soulmate tropes that have to go first because I love them so much, I love soulmate aus, Tim and Kon are soulmates, the end.

Where There's a Wish by LeeayreBeing Robin’s vessel is hard enough: the exhaustion, the life-threatening late night activities, the bruises and bullet holes and broken bones. Trying to hide all that from his incredibly suspicious, incredibly hot new roommate while maintaining his studies and placating his parents? Tim has never had it so hard. Especially since said roommate doesn’t actually know he’s Superboy.

So the setup for this is unusual, I'm not sure if it's based on anything but: superhero identities are Personas, independent (basically magical) personalities created by the wishes of a person or groups of people who act through hosts that have the will to manifest whatever that persona does. Basically: Robin is an independent persona, Tim shares his body with him and when Robin manifests the costume and all the gadgets appear. It's explained throughout the story, but just in case you start it and are like wtf is happening. This possibly should go in the thirds section because the actual pairings in this are: Robin/Tim, Red Robin/Tim, Tim/Kon, Red Robin/Tim/Kon, Red Robin/Superboy, and Red Robin/Superboy/Tim. Red Robin can also be kind of dubconny so watch out for that if it's a concern.

Wing Beats in Reverse by firefrightJason Todd is the third Robin, not the second, growing up in shadow of Tim Drake's death. Despite this, he still manages to form strong bonds with his new family. Especially Damian, who wishes to atone for his past mistakes with Jason's predecessor. But when he's fifteen, a mysterious red hooded figure kidnaps Jason from the rooftops of Gotham, and after that his life will never be the same again.

A Robin reversal AU (ie Damian is the eldest, Dick the youngest) that's Jason-centric but of course that doesn't lessen the Tim angst. Or the Kon angst when he finds out Tim is alive. Hopeful ending, but it doesn't fix everything.Other pairings: JayRoy, StephCass (barely)

Time Flies by by LaroyenaJon Kent is Superboy. Tim's gut instinct tells him that's wrong.(Timkon fix-it where reboot!Tim misses Kon like a phantom limb. And then he gets him back.)

Sometimes you just need to cry over the lack of Kon in your life and this fic provides the PERFECT excuse. Heartbreaking and then happy. (Also brings Colin back UNLIKE DC.)Other pairings: implied Clex

Not Completely Powerless After All by ChimaeraKittenNobody was quite prepared for the kid who runs the company to visit, but they manage, in fact, they might be pleasantly surprised; they weren't expecting him to be nice. Of course, they weren't expecting him to be a possible ninja either, but you gotta take the good with the bad.

Outsider POV!!! I have never watched Powerless so you definitely don't need to be familiar with it, this is just a glorious casefic told by someone who doesn’t know it’s a case.

Matters of the Heart by DMWith Clark off-world as an ambassador to Earth, Conner has to watch over Metropolis. Though it should be straightforward, there appears to be something amiss with seemingly random crimes happening around the city. Conner has a hunch that they’re connected and calls in his best friend to help. But as the two of them spend time together working the case, Conner realizes that his feelings for Tim might not be what he had thought.

A long casefic with feelings, basically everything I ever want.

Stumbling Home by bewaretheboojumIn his mid-twenties, Tim moves back to Gotham City after several years living abroad. He's feeling adrift, unfocused and a little off balance as he tries to re-establish a life in his home town.Kon is a fireman by day and superhero by night. When mysterious fires start cropping up in Metropolis, all signs point to arson. Who better to help him get to the bottom of this arson case than Tim? And really, it seems like Tim could use the distraction...

Another casefic with older TimKon. I didn't like the initial setup with Tim having abandoned his friends for years but it won me over in the end.

the honesty in your body by LaroyenaLuthor's tech saved Kon's life at the cost of his mind. Tim must take a feral Kon across space to restore his humanity... which is just as difficult as one may think.(Batman Omegaverse AU: unabashed TimKon porn detailing their original get-together in their early teens to their definite get-together in their late teens. But mostly porn.)

Yep, this is mostly omegaverse porn and it's excellent and I love it, I really don't know what else to tell you.Other pairings: BruDick

I'm Alone Here, I Think by unluckylokiSuperboy is fighting robots in San Francisco and remembers something that wasn't.There's a new priest in the Naxos temple appointed by Dream of the Endless.Kon is missing something. Tim is missing everything.One day Krypto practically drags Superboy to a remote island in Europe and there's a dark haired guy smiling at Kon like he knows him.Maybe he does.

Sandman crossover but I haven't read Sandman in 500 years so you don't need to know most of it. Kind of identity porn, but more...fraught. Excellent Tim angst (there...might be a pattern here) and I'll be honest I'm not very into all the witches and stuff but overall very enjoyable.

Nowhere But Forward by MishaBerryIt shouldn't have happened the way it did.When Kon finds Tim in Paris, it leads to a night that neither of them will ever forget, for better or for worse. Tim is then forced to confront something he's been denying about himself for a very long time, and Kon begins to question some things about himself. The road ahead is full of twists and turns, but there's nowhere to go but forward.

I really love long fics, but tbh I found this started to drag a little towards the end. I still enjoy it overall with delicious Tim angst.

Plus One SectionSometimes when pickings are slim we can try food we wouldn't normally eat, and sometimes it's delicious. Which is to say these are fics with Tim/Kon/Another Person. Don't go any further if this upsets your OTP soul, I completely understand.

TimKonBartTroika by glitterandlubeThis is kind of written like crack and definitely won't appeal to everyone, but it's a fix-it of preboot where instead of living with the Kents in Smallville and becoming the country boy of Teen Titans (2003) Kon moves to Gotham and then scores with Tim and eventually Bart. Follows the previous canon's timeline almost to the start of Red Robin. Some (honestly warranted) bashing of Steph but also of Lois Lane (???).Also contains explicit Tim/Dick.Other pairings: Clex, JayDick

TimKonCassieTrymmetry by glymrWhy do they feel like something's missing?

Set in a universe where Kryptonians form triad soulbonds. Kon and Cassie have both always been thinking about Tim when they're together, and after Kon comes back they can no longer deny it. They have to find Tim. I wish this was ten times longer.

JayTimKon

Heart of the Hoard by firefrightJason is a knight on a mission to save a captive young woman from a cruel and vicious dragon. However, when Jason reaches the keep the girl is kept in, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems with his quest. For starters, Lady Timothea is actually Lord Timothy, and - as Jason soon discovers - he's hardly a prisoner in his tower.

Perfect because Kon is an ACTUAL DRAGON though it does lean on his YJ cartoon characterization.

I (Don't) Want to Believe by chibinightowl and strikeyourcolors

FBI agents Tim Drake and Conner Kent are sent to Arkham Heights High School to investigate a series of unexplainable incidents that have both staff and students on edge. Tim's firmly of the opinion the school is haunted while Kon is positive the occurrences can be explained in a more reasonable manner. After all, he doesn't believe in ghosts.Right? Right?

Horror casefic where Tim had a previous thing with Jason but also a thing with Kon so sharing is the way to go, especially when you're more (or maybe just equally) concerned about being murdered by ghosts in a haunted former asylum.

Okay I am stopping now because otherwise I will continue forever. I hope this satisfies some hunger.

#timkon #fic recs #missdirect #jaytimkon #timkonbart #timkoncassie #long post

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betelgeusing · 3 years

Text

I’m caught up on the Stand here r some opinions (OBVIOUSLY spoilers thru episode 6)

good:

Glen Bateman, Tom Cullen, Nick Andros, Larry Underwood casting/rewrites/adjustments

(Jovan Adepo deserves full credit for me not only tolerating Larry but actually liking him most of the time cause hoo boy I hated his guts in the book)(also!!! he played Teenager Michael Murphy in The Leftovers and it’s TRIPPING me out because he is OLDER than me and I never would have guessed it watching that show!!!)

(also it’s SO nice to see Brad Henke playing a teddy bear of a guy bc he is shaped like a friend but I’ve literally only ever seen him play absolute monsters)(I luv Tom Cullen)

dayna jurgens best character in the book best character in the series

I wasn’t sure about Owen Teague as Harold bc book Harold is overweight and pimply and kind of greasy and off-putting and Owen is skin and bones and good-looking but he projects creepy and sus very well. he is doing my boy Justice

speaking of, odessa young REALLY sells "girl stuck with a creepy guy who has an unrequited crush on her" like you can feel the discomfort and borderline contempt streaming from her pores

appreciated the rewrites of Rita to make her whole deal not horribly sexist and weird (same goes for most of the women tbh). Heather Graham did great

updating it to 2020ish works well. Glen vaping all the time = legendary

they did a good job of trimming and conflating some of the stuff so the story stays focused. things they cut MOSTLY weren't super important

alex skarsgård scissors stab neck smeared in blood sexy

J! K! Simmons! CAMEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

meh:

james marsden is fine (actually better than I expected in this) but he always fails to excite me. gary sinise in the OG miniseries was a better vibe for Stu and they should've gone for someone with more of the everyman energy. Marsden looks like a catalog model and doesn't seem to be able to bring an observable personality to his roles (sorry man)(on a more positive note this is why he was a perfect Scott Summers)

Whoopi Goldberg is a fine actress and apparently in contrast to a lot of critics I’m actually fine with her casting but mother abigail is SUPER under-used and way less developed than she should be-- we know literally nothing about her outside of her occasional appearance to scold and/or guide and that lack of personhood plays heavily into into the “magical negro” trope which. ugh. at least in the book she had a ton of backstory and family and stuff to do outside of “be the magical prophet for everybody else”

I love the whole Skarsgard family and am always happy to see one of them. that said, Alex lacks Randall's bouncy gleeful chaos energy and sheer malevolence. also he whispers all the time and I'm not sure what that choice is all about (no lbr that’s just an askars acting habit and outside of Eric from True Blood it’s not a great one)

bad:

not enough dayna screen time

pacing is weird and makes it really hard to get invested. starting at the free zone in Boulder and only jumping back to how they actually started/how they GOT to Boulder in pieces every episode feels really disruptive. not that it’s hard to keep track of, but it’s hard to really feel anything for anyone with such a disjointed narrative. the trip to Boulder is half the novel and it’s super important for establishing character dynamics, rivalries, motivations and personalities and if you meet these people mid-story after their arc is half finished and only get fragments of the VERY IMPORTANT ESTABLISHING STORY every now and again it feels like being robbed of setup and then payoff? idk. I hate it. I think they should have started at the beginning and gone thru chronologically, the story works way better that way

for that matter, playing all coy and mysterious with Randall and only showing Vegas for the first time in episode 5?? when the book has us there every step of the way? I don’t need a 1:1 adaptation but I do think following Vegas developments is super helpful re: understanding stakes and how much of a threat your enemy is, and with so little focus ON the enemy, it’s just not scary?

SPEAKING of Vegas what the actual hell. apologies for going “but in the book!!!” so many times but literally in the book Vegas would be a very appealing prospect for just about anyone. there’s electricity, there are supplies, there’s peace, there’s structure and organization. iirc Dayna is even tripped out on her recon mission because she makes friends with people and is struck by how normal and decent everyone seems? WELL this adaptation just threw that out the window and just went full fledged hedonistic sin bin full of just deeply unpleasant people that are more caricatures than characters. everyone there sucks turds. lacks any kind of depth. HUGE swing and a miss bc it hits so much better if you’re like “these are largely decent people lured in by the promise of stability, making moral compromises because they’re scared and trying to survive and Randall’s leadership is a huge temptation” vs “every single person here would roofie my drink and not feel a twinge of conscience about it”

every single choice made with regards to Nadine. badly miscast, robbed of the kickass witch’s streak aesthetic, set up as a consummate villain from the beginning (her constant struggles with her fate are totally omitted till it’s way too late for them to be in any way believable), relationship with Larry is basically nonexistent, and the planchette incident from her childhood is revealed much too early so it’s devoid of any real sense of horror (portrayed as a catalyst for lifelong villainy rather than a late-in-story revelation that she was set on a path against her will). done right she’s complicated and sympathetic at least until her complete heel-turn, in this series she’s just 2d and dull

randall beating bobby terry to death instead of ripping him apart with TEETH was a stupid change made to spite me personally. I mean can you IMAGINE how good that scene could have been

#overall: enjoyable! with huge caveats #the stand

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kurou3gi-blog · 4 years

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Everything got weird in 2019 for Ks and exo. First baek said on a show that Ks was strong and Jm didn't like him saying that. Then baek says that everything will be back to normal with the return of Ks. Why did he say that? What power Ks has to bring normality to a group practically undone by s * m. And we know that Ks is one of the members most badly treated by s * m.

**Warning full on nonsense and wrong grammar talkative**

Tbh I think all of ekso except jd are so audacious boys than most of us think they can be even esm... XD

They loved to throw the troll thing that esm say “Don’t do that!!” to us when all of them on limit break mode and extreme need to send some hints to us when eksol or some of eksol on crisis mode about ekso case XD

I still remembered how jm shouted the bitchy words out loud to blame krys once during live speech on music show when they are facing a tsunami after wave after krys left ekso a few weeks...

And how he streamed ig live and tried hard to say something to us after soo entered the military....<<But at last I think both of them changed mind on mid way...

Especially... How he say about that capitalism.... With that face mode and action XD

And think of how bh can’t keep the secret about new album songs or choreography when he on extreme hype and haul mode... Especially how he leaked about kd more than ones at free time on stage that made jd tried to do quick time event to stop his mouth XD....

+Don’t forget how bh tried to tease cy’s foots with his foots during ekso showtime filming...

+How he told us about how lsm reacted to his plan...

Then....

Think of how lay try to present that he still ekso all of time... We are far, but still are one...

I think how they try to catch time to say to us like that is the one of how to show that they are deeply care in eksol like what they say all of time....

If they don’t know what most of eksol think about them in details... It’s hard to see them choose to insert some words in to those sentences...

I think they want to comfort, console and solace us to calm down... Or spoiling for more excite by chance.... If esm still do nothing with those cases... Like if you don't do it, I will do it... With our ways that... A bit harm...

Then about “what power Ks has to bring normality to a group practically undone by s * m.”

I think soo has deep impact with ekso and eksol than most of us think he has....

Turn back to wolf pre-comeback period....

When soo got first crisis injure....

We knew he admitted hospital...

And on that time I thought that we may probably not see him again until he leaving the hospital and we can do only waiting for esm updating... Same as what esm do most of times.

But like we see...

esm had set the hospital bed visit scene to show us about soo’s symptom condition at that time... Like they wanted to make us sure that he fine and stop us to complain them about his injure condition...

Then think of his second injure at jp concert stage...

Some jp twit acc on that time had spread the photoshop pics and claimed that those pics were secretly taking when he was receiving treatment at the hospital. And one of those acc had posted about his condition and claim that she is the nurse at that hospital....

Then... Think of ztao and ji’s injure case...

+ His leaving rumors on early of 2019...

I knew we knew that we often hear the rumor about someone in esmtown need to go... And most of those kind of rumors just ended with esm ignored them or short announce that they just recontacted...<<Even some of them not re... Or announced with themselves that they already resigned...

But only soo leaving rumor on 2019 that made esm sent jd to solve it with extreme clear by + the explanation of soo’s contact statement to make us more sure that esm have time at least 3 years after that to put soo in quarantine with them...

Think of how many of eksol explosion that can press esm to do like these...

And about soo in other ekso members’s mind...<<I used “other members” words because I not include ji... And I think you knew why XD

I think if you knew more about soo&ekso since their pre-debut period...

You should not asked me like that...

Before that crack issue on 2016... We can see a lot of how soo take care of ekso on stages and variety shows even on bts clips and fan cam clips...

Even china line especially lay had talked about how soo takes care of their illness and healthy...

And I don’t think those words are script if we think of how lay tried to aboard day by day for seeing soo enter the military only.... Even he too busy on that time...

Then... The one of most epic moments in my eyes...

Turn back to when lulu left ekso a few weeks and most of us worried about hunnie’s mental after none of his update....

Until we see him went out side to take dessert time with cy and soo...

Tbh I no wonder much if we see he went with only cy or 3p with kai or ztao or jm... Like we knew that cy take care of him since trainee period and how esm tried to show us how maknae line close to each other on ekso showtime...

But on that tragic time he chose to went with soo...

And it seems like a start time point to see hunnie take a break time or relax time with soo...

+How jm sent his black card to soo on ekso showtime...

+How soo omma took babies nini and hunnie to get driver's license...

I think soo knew how to crowd control with back up style...

If jm is the tank of ekso...

I think soo may carry and support of ekso...

ppl think that the top influencer just on front row...

But sometime at the back of those influencers....

The invisible influencers are leading them like an unseen mind console leader...

Hope you understand my poor eng - -”

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faelune-home · 4 years

Text

FFXIV Write 2020 #23: Shuffle

(A/N: Kind of a follow on from what I implied in my last ffxivwrite prompt from yesterday, but now fleshed into an actual fic, since that throwaway line gave me the spark to write this in the first place. Focuses more in on a broad allusions to miqo!Fu’s other jobs, with a bigger segment actually featuring some Astro focus.

Player wise, I’m trying to level them all for the fun to try them all, and for the Amaro mount. Character wise, miqo!Fu definitely only specialises in Bard and Dancer and a little bit Red Mage, but she’s tried everything. Some parts click and other parts less so. She can heal in a pinch if you need it at least.

Prompt def focuses more on the astro side of things with card shuffling, but I’d like to think of it like ‘shuffling through her jobs’ as well. Mostly focused on Alphi’s perspective of my WoL tbh.

I guess as a final comment, just one part of the fic to mention; Alphi being more uncertain about the Dark Knight job is kind of a mix of the wildness of the job itself and how miqo!Fu takes to it, and still some early characterisation of his own mixed in. It’s something that would balance out as miqo!Fufu gets more skilled with the job and less feral as she evens out with Fray, as well as a closer growing friendship.

Set mid Heavensward before the Aery, no spoilers mentioned. Being pre-Dancer unlock level and story wise is also why it stars with saying the favours the bow only.

Word count: 1363

@ffxiv-writers)

Though she favoured the bow, Fufu often liked to dabble in other trades. When questioned about it, she simply said the experience was good for her, expanding her repertoire of available skills should she ever need them.

Even after the hurried exodus to Ishgard, she yet made trips outside the city, returning with reassurances that she was fine, that she’d been careful around the cities, even if she hadn’t even entered them herself. Though it hardly placated him, Alphinaud couldn’t help but still be curious at her studies, even if she treated them like a simple pastime.

The weapons and tools she accrued in her gifted room at the manor for a start -- enchanted crooks and bejeweled staves, sharpened katanas and rusty knives, a serrated axes and magnificent broad swords as tall as himself that seemed to pulse with a heavy energy that made him dare not touch them.

He had once almost tripped over a pile of tomes left in the corner of the room, initially mistaken for library books until he opened one and found the familiar arcane symbols within.

“You’re studying arcanima?” he had asked her after the discovery.

To Alphinaud’s disappointment, she’d grimaced and replied, “A little, but don’t ask for any demonstrations. I’ve been at this for weeks and I’ve only the other day figured out how to summon a basic beginner’s Emerald ‘Buncle.”

He bit back the offer to teach, not wishing to push the miqo’te if she already struggled with the simple elements of the craft.

Nevertheless, she put in the effort to learn and practise her trades all the same. Some few times, the boy was actually able to see her work; one such case was their return to the manor after the trial by combat and her visit to the Archbishop. She’d offered to heal his wounds, and for all she derided herself as a novice, he was well within minutes, scratches stitched together, and the ache in his sides from the grip of the chains faded to nothing.

Another, more terrifying case that still plagued his mind was her rescue of him from a wild bear while traversing the frozen highlands toward the old mill. Where the bear seemed to materialise out of nowhere, Fufu had appeared even quicker, one of those broadswords in hand to gut the bear and cleave it almost in two. The dark spark in her eyes, the way she bared her teeth at the animal, hovering protectively over her friend.

Though he would never say he wasn’t grateful for the safeguard that day, to see her so unlike herself - the woman normally so cheerful and friendly suddenly so hostile and twisted, even aimed at another - he almost would prefer her more harmless surprises such as her sneaking in the shadows to frighten him over seeing that again.

Still, Alphinaud wouldn’t ever tell the girl that. Nor would he wish her to cease in her training. She had the right of it that the skills would be a boon to her someday, plus there was a certain feeling of delight at seeing her so enamoured with a new craft.

He got acquainted with another of her fresh hobbies during a period of downtime in Ishgard. A surprisingly tepid day for the frosted city, he’d been left idly waiting in the Pillars for word from either Cid or Tataru -- for either the Manacutters to be ready for Fufu and Estinien’s perilous journey into the Aery (One that he wished to join them on, but had ruefully accepted their advice that he remain behind), or word from Ul’dah and the next step in finding the Sultana and restoring order to the government.

He almost had nothing else to do but wander and wait, too roused at the events still to come to consider sitting still. His roaming feet took him aimlessly through the city, past the markets, the hoplon, and hurriedly away from the Tribunal, until he came to a stop by the airship landing. A fresh wind blew over the polished stone, bringing a chill back into the upper reaches. At least with Ironworks engineers buzzing around the landing, anyone could alert him to an update from Cid with a quick linkpearl call. Better to remain there for convenience.

Yet just as the thought crossed his mind, a hand shot in front of his face, a fan of cards spread in the grip, the backs facing him. He stepped back suddenly, spooked at the gesture, only to bump into someone behind him, who giggled, “Pick a card, any card!”

Reassured at the familiar voice, he turned, Fufu herself adjusted the card fan to press it flat against her chest, hiding the fronts. She gave him a broad smile then held it out to him again.

“What’s this for then?” Alphinaud asked, looking carefully at the cards then at the woman’s attire -- a white robe and tan long boots, and some decorative gold frames perched on her nose.

Her ears flicked playfully. “A little something I’ve been practising in my spare time.” He spied the card holder hanging from her belt, and the edges of a globe attached to her back. The design of the cards had already seemed passingly familiar, and now he was a bit more certain.

“Is this astrology? I’m aware the Ishgardians use it to monitor the Dravanians, but this bears a resemblance to the Sharlayan variety.” While not a field he was interested in, the study of the stars and use of magicks in healing was a speciality of his home, he could still recognise it in passing. Perhaps the rumours he’d heard of a Sharlayan dignitary being in the city and telling tales of ‘odd star magic’ had some weight to them. Fufu’s grin widened.

“Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. Pick one!” she insisted, bouncing impatiently on the spot. Finally deciding to amuse his friend’s whimsy, he plucked one from the centre of the deck. A tree.

“Well then, what does this mean?” he inquired, showing her the card while she shuffled the remains. Slotting them back into her holder and taking it back, Fufu stared intently at the image, humming loudly as she thought.

“I can foresee,” she droned, voice dipping deeply in exaggeration, making the boy chuckle, “fire and lightning, and wild winds! But! I also see us all safe back here in Ishgard.” She nodded sagely, a serious look on her face, until she grinned, breaking the effect.

“Is that truly what the stars say?” Alphinaud asked with a mirthful tone, clearly entertained at her theatrics. The miqo’te blinked, pocketing the card into her holster and shielding her eyes to look at the clouded skies, answering, “I’m not actually sure, I can’t see the stars.”

Then with a sheepish chuckle, she added, “And I’ll confess the whole star reading thing hasn’t sunk in much. I don’t get it. But I’m good with the magics! I don’t need to worry about the fortune telling stuff. Not now at least.” She planted her hands on her hips, confidence radiating. Despite her positivity, Alphinaud couldn’t help but sink, thoughts returning to what was yet to come.

“Would I be a poor player if I asked if that was to reassure me? Given the upcoming mission?” He was proud, he’d admit, but she was his friend, and their extended travels through the Dravanian wilds had seen them grow closer. He liked to think at least. He was less afraid of openly admitting to worrying for her.

Her tail flicked. “Maybe a little. But I know you only want us both to be safe.” She turned back to him and ruffled his hair, his protests weak at the act. It was already a habit of hers, dare he think he was adjusting to it. Yet before he could voice his objections to the act, he stopped, seeing her stare intently at him. Then she smiled.

Her smile was warm and comforting, all traces of teasing or exaggerations gone. “We’ll be fine, I promise. No need to look to the stars to say that.”

He hesitated at first. Then a nod. “Of course. I trust you completely.”

#ffxivwrite2020 #ffxivwrite #alphinaud leveilleur #heavensward #keeper of the moon miqo'te #my wol #fufu faelune #astrologian #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #my writing

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