#(even though i think they've canceled the movie now)

[taylorsabrina]

can't decide if i should dress up as snow white or barbie for halloween like every girl in the world.

[serpentarius]

been trying to wrap my head around the cancellation of "Our Flag Means Death" and why it hurts so fucking much. lots of folks who are much more eloquent than I have summed it up perfectly, but I still think it’s important I add my voice to the matter. 

It really, really sucks that the hurt is being compounded on us every time another queer/minority-led show gets prematurely cancelled. and for a long while, we also had to deal with the many shows that deliberately queerbaited us, which was a shitty and traumatic experience unto its own. And even though we’ve largely surpassed that early-‘00s-flavoured brand of queerbait now, mainstream queer media is still predominantly white-led. With the cancellation of OFMD, we've lost one of the very few intersectional queer shows in the mainstream. Shouldn’t we be beyond asking for crumbs at this point? Shouldn’t we get unabashedly intersectional shows helmed by and starring queer, BIPOC, and trans folks without them being axed for no rhyme or reason?

It’s exhausting at this point, honestly. OFMD has done so well in terms of viewership and engagement and fan response—almost entirely due to word of mouth and little thanks to the Max marketing team, mind you—and even still the show got cancelled? Can they make it make sense????

For me, the thing most akin to this OFMD situation was when Sense8 got cancelled. And yes, the fandom fought, and we eventually DID get a movie that wrapped things up years later! That gives me hope for OFMD, that maybe another network will pick it up, or maybe they’ll be able to make a movie someday. But what makes me sad about cases like Sense8 is knowing that the creators still had to force the narrative around the amount of time they were given. That the corporate overlords who only care about numbers and profit dictated how much time they had to wrap up their story.

And it fucking kills me that DJ only wanted one more season. One more season to complete the vision.

I'm just so mad that queer people are constantly being jerked around and used for profit and then left high and dry. And then we're given excuses like "oh there's no budget" or "oh there's not enough viewership, that's all it is". like, sure, maybe those are contributing factors, but then I look at all the useless garbage shows that have little viewership and high budgets that keep going forever and then I think "hmmmm, the math ain't mathing." It's fucking transparent; the corporations can spew all they want with their rainbow capitalism and talks about diversity, but the evidence is clear, and they can't convince me homophobia/racism/transphobia/etc. is not a factor in these decisions.

Anyways, back to OFMD. OFMD made me fall in love with fandom again. I drifted away from fandom for a while in my 20s, and while OFMD wasn't the first fandom that drew me back into the madness, it's certainly the largest. The sheer amount of creativity both within the show and outside of it has blown me away; I've read some of the best fics, seen some of the best art, and witnessed some of the most incredible creativity from people in this fandom.

And let's not forget the role of the show's creators and how they've interacted with us fans. They made us feel seen. And made us feel loved and valid, even when we were being weird and loud and horny. It's so fucking rare to see that. But they understood; understood that the show they made was for us, for any of us who've been marginalized or made to feel Othered or different or stuck in life or unsure of our identities. And they gave us so much love for it.

The story... man. The unique combination of quirky humour and bright visuals and dark, introspective moments, the gorgeous costumes and soft, lovely, unabashed queerness, and veteran actors and new actors all getting to shine, brilliant comedic actors getting to show off their dramatic chops and vice versa. For me, seeing Rhys Darby - an actor I've loved for a long time, but who I never thought I'd see in a leading role - getting to be the romantic lead in a queer role? And seeing acclaimed director/producer/screenwriter/actor Taika Waititi play opposite Rhys, as an indigenous Blackbeard? Fucking incredible. OFMD Edward Teach you will always be famous to me.

Anyways... despite my long ramblings here, I still don’t think I've been able to get to the root of WHY exactly this show has inched its way under my skin and stayed with me in the way it has. Maybe I'll spend years trying to understand it. But I DO know that it's in part to do with seeing both older queers AND a diverse range of queerness onscreen, in a way that I've never seen in media before. I DO know that OFMD has forced me to look inwardly, and allowed me to realize some important things about myself. About my own queerness, my own identity, things I'm still figuring out. I've cherished being able to see myself in Stede, in Ed, and each of the crew members. In Roach’s love for cooking, in Oluwande’s ability to mediate; in Jim’s quick temper, in the way Izzy builds walls to guard his heart. In Buttons’ quirkiness, in Wee John’s sass, in Frenchie’s ability to turn pain into humour; in The Swede’s silliness, in Lucius’ bluntness, in Pete’s soft heart beneath the skepticism. Lastly, OFMD has inspired me. To create, to write, to draw, to devour other peoples' works and worlds while I sit in sheer, overflowing joyousness at their talent.

so yeah. the news of this cancellation is upsetting and hurtful and disappointing. And it's making us cry, and it's making us grieve, and may make us hollow and numb at times because we've lost yet another thing we love so deeply before it was meant to go. It's so much more than "just a TV show". It means more to us than any passive mindless idiotic mind-numbing bullshit - because even though there's a time and a place and a purpose for that type of media, it's the thought-provoking work, the work that creators pour their entire hearts and souls into, that hit us deep in our own souls. The work that changes our lives. The work that has the ability to save lives, as I know OFMD has done for so many. 

please know I'm sending immense amounts of love and strength to those of you who are also hurting. we'll get through this, one way or another, and I'll keep up with the hope that we'll get more someday; but in the meantime, I'm holding you tight. ❤️️🫂

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

ARCEE (TRANSFORMERS) (CW: Transphobia)

1.) Transformers has had a troubled history with female transformers as a whole. They didn't really even exist until Season 2. And while they've all gotten the short end of the stick until recently, Arcee, who kinda ended up The Main Girl (sorry Elita) has gotten the brunt of this mistreatment. Mostly talking G1 here.

Toys kept getting cancelled over and over even though she's a main, important character of Season 3. She didn't get a decent widely available toy that actually resembled her G1 version (first one was a Botcon exclusive Blackarachnia redeco which I disqualify because convention-exclusive spider is not what I was looking for, and Binaltech is just kinda a pink and white robot who looks nothing like her, just with her name slapped on) until 2014. I wish I could use bold here, because there's no such thing as uppercase numbers. Before that, you just kinda had to look at the toys from other canons and squint because Hasbro doesn't think the pink girl toy will sell well.

And misogyny present in the fiction? A lot can be summed up in a couple words, namely, "Furman, why?" While most people go with his excuses of not believing in Cybertronian gender, it really comes across as him seeing men as the default, neutral state of being, and women as something that must be explained. Poorly. Explained very poorly. Not to explain things in Tv Tropes terms, but I have to, it reeks of the 'Men Are Generic, Women Are Special' https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial trope.

Let's get us started with Prime's Rib. Oh my goodness, Prime's Rib. So, Furman doesn't believe in Cybertronian gender (and male is seen as default), and this has reflected in his writing. He's going along perfectly fine writing his dudes in the US run of the Marvel comics, Arcee entirely ignored… but what's this? The connected UK comic has her. He can't just ignore her. So, well. He needs an explanation. Explaining a plot hole isn't bad. It's how he did it. Arcee was created in response to a feminist mob who was mad Cybertronians were all guys. I don't think I need to explain this one.

I'm too tired to explain her treatment in IDW now. Something something unnatural attempt to introduce gender into a genderless species, something something, really weird uncomfortable treatment, it's a long story and I'm not an IDW expert, read the TFWiki page for Spotlight: Arcee.

I'm sure there's more in other media, but I've blathered on way too long and I'm starting to get frustrated and tired and AGH FURMAN WHY. He's gotten better, too, definitely not judging his present self over comics that are from many years ago, but asdfghjkl

Ok fine, one more thing. This isn't G1 but Michael Bay stated in interviews that he gleefully killed her movieverse version off specifically because he didn't like her. It's not NECESSARILY misogyny motivated. I wouldn't deem it misogyny coming from a different director with a different film series. Transformers writers have had personal beef with random characters which they wished to unceremoniously kill off before--Animated Beachcomber comes to mind, even if the writers never got the chance. But it's also Michael Bay's Transformers we're talking about here. Can you blame me for thinking that?

Arcee has gotten better treatment in recent years. Furman's clumsy attempts to explain Arcee's gender in tbe IDW run were slowly retconned into some pretty decent trans rep by other authors, she's really just come into her own as a character. But it was a long and rocky road to get there, and I believe we all need to acknowledge that.

2.) Was initially introduced in the 80's transformers movie only after being strong armed by Ron Friedman, being the first female presenting robot to be seen in the show. bright pink, cause, ya know, female. has the most romantic involvement of any transformer ever across all transformations media, cause, ya know, female, and god forbid she be her own person when hasbro can stick to her to Some Guy. she was made trans in the 2005 continuity and was immediately made berserk as a result. marvel made her a freak science experiment to shame feminists. why does the robot have curves when no one else does istg

i love her too much to stand by idly while she's treated this way

3.) hasbro keeps trying to convince people that her and elita-one (another pink fem character) are actually the same. "who cares same lore different names. what do you mean they're different characters?" and constantly flips their lore, designs, and names around with every single FUCKING continuity ie transformers rise of the beasts where they use arcee's design but call her elita-one SMASHES MY HEAD INTO THE WALL bro there's a whole group of autobots called the "female transformers". i don't. there's so little female representation in this series that hasbro decided the best way to fix it would be… segregation, ig. arcee is apart of it obviously. elita-one leads it. reminds me that i should (and maybe sick a couple friends on this poll) make a submission for elita because JESUS CHRIST hasbro fucked her up also apparently in some continuities arcee is trans. upon getting bottom surgery it fucking. idk how turns her berserk?? it's so weird. mind controlled/sleeper agent in like half of the fucking continuities for some reason. in every single one of these continuities she either gets with Springer or Hot Rod and ends up betraying them. every single time why does the robot have boobs

NAOMI MISORA (DEATH NOTE)

1.) I know everyone is gonna submit Misa but honestly she had it worse.

She gets introduced as this competent lady who's gonna help find Kira but then she just, decides to show some teenager her real ID as a show of trust and whoops that's Kira.

Also part of her introduction was her fiance going "You don't need to worry about this tracking down the killer nonsense, you're gonna be my wife, you should just be worried about raising kids in the future :)" or some shit. And it's barely addressed, because she just fucking dies.

2.) She was the only woman in the series to show any level of competence. She figured out more about how the death note works from some small context clues than L did in considerably less time. She was apparently so competent that the author decided to kill her off despite initially planning to make her a main character, fearing she would distract from the L and Light rivalry.

3.) the victim of “writer doesn’t understand women and also hates them” disease. Like, seriously, the author of Death Note could only imagine a female FBI agent as the fiancée of another, more senior FBI agent. The main character Light kills her fiancé Raye Penber (in honestly a really tightly written and cool episode) and so she tries to figure out who killed her husband. Unlike Raye who only figured out that Light was Kira as he was dying because Light basically told him, Naomi figures it out a lot sooner so oops guess she’s gotta die because she’s too good at her job.

[randomfoggytiger]

From Vicki Gabereau Show, 23 October 1997

Vicki Gabereau Show (Canada), 23 October 1997 - This show is a Canadian talk-show. DD talked about the brouhaha over his wanting to leave Vancouver

I'm from Vancouver and I remember this story well! The problem wasn't just that he wanted to leave Vancouver, it was that everyone thought he was a super liar and a coward for blaming his wife who was in Los Angeles, as if there were no airplanes at the time and as if she was starring in Friends… the show she was on - a piece of crap that was nowhere near the success of The X-Files - had even been canceled. She was occasionally seen in Vancouver and everyone thought she was very nice and beautiful. People said that the real reason he left Vancouver was because he wanted to be - and rightly so - in Hollywood, close to better opportunities for his career, especially in the movies, as television at the time wasn't as powerful as it is today and science fiction was even more marginalized. Today Duchovny must find it hilarious how he, a literature graduate, could shoot himself in the foot in his interviews by wanting to make up stories instead of being honest.

I don't think he was being dishonest. From his perspective, that was what got him in trouble.

David had already talked about-- though he didn't understand-- the "arrogant actor who always got his way" angle that spawned itself at the time; but that was an abiding media narrative before the Vancouver weather comment. The latter exploded him into the stratosphere of picked-over conversation, to such extremes that CC had to come out and make a clearing-the-air statement--

In an interview by phone from Los Angeles Sunday, Carter admitted that he had promised Duchovny and Anderson that the show would not stay in Vancouver indefinitely.

Duchovny told several U.S. talk-show hosts late last year that he would sooner quit The X-Files than spend another year away from his wife, Naked Truth actress Tea Leoni, but Carter denied the actor had forced his hand.

“It’s important to remember that we originally intended to film the pilot [in March 1993] in Los Angeles,” Carter said. “When we couldn’t find a good forest, we made a quick decision to come to Vancouver. As it turned out, it was three weeks that turned into five years. The benefits of being in Vancouver were tremendous, and now, five years later, it is my home away from home.”

--multiple times.

As I was reading "older" interviews, I found Gillian and Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter and the other writers and actors on The X-Files, too, thought the anger directed at David was because of his weather jokes. They truly all believed this perspective; and figured it took off because Vancouver jumped from offense at his comments to miffed blame for the show's relocation.

They've stated this many times; and I can't disagree, to be honest: David was upfront and honest (sometimes too much so) in the five years leading up to his weather comment-- he was moving after his contractually obligated time or quitting the show-- before Tea became involved. (It was Chris, in fact, who dragged his feet and tried to dissuade him and Gillian from moving. And, when the show relocated, it was CC who mourned the move.)

Gillian also stated to the press, multiple times, that she was happy to leave Vancouver-- that California was home, that she was lonely, that she was going through hard times, etc.-- but no one was listening to her. It wasn't until I deep-dove into old articles that I realized how happy she was to leave; and that she insisted on relocating just as much as David did. (Wikipedia still, to this day, backhandedly cites the move as David's fault for wanting to be in Cali with Tea; but neither DD nor GA nor CC nor their contracts support this narrative.)

Further, I've read old Vancouver articles: they, too, fussed at him about the weather, sometimes with the criticism about him (quote-on-quote) leaving the show for his wife, and sometimes without. The weather really did predominant the talking points, no matter how people took it or what angle it was reported on.

If you were already known as the "arrogant" guy on The X-Files set-- which is especially delicious to a press that likes to paint cliche narratives instead of the full, funky truth-- being blamed for something changing on the show wouldn't be new. The fervor over weather was what threw David and his X-Files cohorts for a loop.

Those are my thoughts, anyway~

[rageprufrock]

Just out of curiosity, now that things have developed, what is your current opinion of the BOC "crisis" situation? And what sort of action would you have advised in the face of a possible intentional smear campaign? Is silence still the best option, and does publicly bringing legal charges, etc. help or hinder in that case?

Not to mention you then have the incredibly public "surprise" announcement of another performer separating from the company ...

My instinct would be to say, "there is no crisis right now," because none of the noise actually breaks though to the signal ratio--like the production company is rolling along, concerts are happening, the movie is being filmed, etc. All of the other stuff is just that, noise, and irrelevant to them since the parties are no longer affiliated with BOC in a business capacity. This is where I'd counsel a client to practice forbearance: if you have the stones and the liquidity, you can grit your teeth and keep your head down long enough that you can get through almost anything. Most examples of this aren't great--see: any of the men who were rightfully canceled and now making their comeback after two or three years of silence--but this can also work well for people who just had a massively public disgracing and needed the zeitgeist to move on from having them be social media's main character of the day. (This is also why so much of the advisory on crisis comms is actually just to shut up, because doing so gives people the opportunity to forget about you, and someone else to put their foot in it and move the narrative along.)

But in truth, at this point, I don't think any of us know enough about what's going on to make any wise commentary--which is exactly as it should be. I should be forced to say, "who the fuck knows," when it comes to the inner workings of most things, because it's none of my business!

I'll say that Jeff leaving BOC was an interesting one, but that I most likely would have handled it the same way, and for a couple of reasons:

You can say you're a family, but this is still at its heart a business enterprise, and any one of them should be clear-eyed enough to look out for themselves first and foremost--people leaving to pursue their own projects or make transitions that make the most sense for them is inevitable, and we shouldn't act like it isn't.

That said, they're all trauma bonded from the whole experience of filming KinnPorsche, and clearly friends in addition to coworkers, and to have told them in advance of the show to give them private time to prepare would have seriously affected their performance at that final show, which I think would have been both a disservice to their fans but also unfair to them after all the work they'd put in.

Telling them several days or even weeks in advance--as surely this had been in the works for a while, with at least the seniormost members of the exec org knowing about the transition--wouldn't have worked either, because the more people know a secret, the less of a secret it is. Especially given the recent kerfuffle, it's critical to position it as a friendly departure, and to message it as a bittersweet but joyful next adventure, and not Jeff fleeing from the smoking remains of BOC. Given the timing of everything else going on, holding until it got the main stage at the closing event of their concert series makes sense: it feels deliberate, it feels intentional, it feels cooperatively planned, and it feels like they're sending off a beloved colleague and friend with all their best wishes, and on the biggest stage they can. It projects the right message.

All that said, no plan survives first contact with reality, so even if they've retained the most terrifyingly smart crew of publicists at this point, it still wouldn't protect them from the unexpected. In this case, the literal sweet baby angel child they're raising in that whorehouse being overtired and overamped and crying because his TV boyfriend is leaving and taking Barcode's coconuts with him.

[asgardian--angels]

I love your blog title. I love that when DJenks made his announcement this month, I went into the tags all morose and accepting defeat, and I saw you there still ready to fight, not giving up, ready for a marathon. Truly, that means SO much to me. A little bit of hope is a powerful thing to have, and we need people who are determined to keep that flame burning bright. So happy to have you in this fandom. You really do make a difference. 💕

Aw, thank you! I really appreciate it. And yeah, I'd almost forgotten about my blog title, which I've had for over a decade, and how hope really does embody me and everything I do.

The streaming landscape is in upheaval, things are changing by the week - even since our turbo-cancellation was announced, two other shows (cancelled for much longer) were saved. Like others have been saying, we were all mentally prepared for a marathon and realistically I don't think anyone can just call everything off after just two months when so many shows have to fight for years before getting a movie deal. I respect David - he told us that news so that we'd know that there's nothing more we can accomplish right now by shouting at streamers, and that we did make a difference. There WERE interested parties, we proved we were lucrative. But that does not mean the fight is over, it just means we need to change tactics and pivot to keeping the fandom active and vocal in the long-term, and bide our time until shifts in the industry open new doors for revisiting OFMD (like David Zaslav leaving, or Max going under, or another merger). That might be six months, or it might be six years. What I am certain of is that there's so much love and passion for this show from the cast and crew that everyone would be down to get the gang back together for a season 3 years down the road.

Basically, I have no doubts the fandom will persist - this fandom is composed of very enthusiastic and artistically talented people who have an unending well of inspiration to draw from. What I do think needs to be done though, that I'm seeing wane a bit on Twitter, is to ensure we direct that noise; most people have stopped using OFMD hashtags, which means our posts won't get noticed. Something that has been great is just how vehemently the fandom has gone after Max on pretty much every single promotional post they've made in the past few weeks - check any of them out, and you'll see 95-100% of the comments are OFMD fans using #DontStreamonMax and #FireDavidZaslav , plus the great new tagline 'Sell The Show, Let Us Go'. That is something that I feel is critical we keep up, as I think one of the most powerful means of influence we have right now is to hold this industry responsible for the cancellation of queer content and just quality content overall. That's one direction we can really put our might towards - toppling the WBD empire faster. Other things we can shout for are a physical release, 'The Jenkins Cut' of s2ep8, deleted scenes/bloopers, merchandise, etc. Max is being absolutely idiotic right now in a way that shoots themselves in the foot, because they're holding onto this IP that could have been their lifeline for keeping subscribers and stock prices up, and not only did they cancel it but they're not even maximizing on the rights they refuse to sell by promoting it or making merch of it, anything that could continue to bring in revenue for what they KNOW without a doubt is one of the best performing shows they've ever had on their platform. Them trying to forget OFMD exists is the nail in their own coffin, because it's the only reason a whole lot of people ever did business with Max in the first place.

So, the long and short of it is, I'll never stop having hope for the return of our show! David said we got the attention of this industry, and we've proven our worth. It's just a really unstable landscape right now, so we need to be patient. It's annoying to see these streamers invest in less successful and more expensive shows, but I think they're all panicking to stay afloat even though they're not making decisions that could help them there. The dust needs to settle. If we can show that there's still a loud and passionate fanbase in a year, in three years, then they will revisit us. We need to keep calling out WBD and Max, we need to keep using hashtags to be heard, and just try to settle into a rhythm that we can maintain long-term. We still have a bunch of BTS to see from Samba, and we will have WJW with David at some point. I think it's important that we DON'T request any season 3 info from him, because that's what jeopardizes the possibility of that storyline then ever getting made. I'm seeing some people on Twitter start to burn out or fall into a state of sad acceptance and if you need to do that for your health, that's fine. But I don't want that mindset to spread throughout the fandom. Our outlook, our words, do have the power to become reality - if we sit back and wave the white flag, then that seriously hurts our chances of ever getting the show back. But if we can carry on like it's just a season hiatus, continuing to demand the question 'ok so WHEN *taps watch*' then our insistence can help make season 3 a reality.

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Media Machine

There are three upcoming things that I just ... do not get.

Cruella 2: Yes, the movie that mostly only got talked about because it literally established Cruella de Ville's origin story as "Dalmatians killed my parents" and became a meme ... is getting a sequel. Why? How? I mean, I thought a Villain Origin Story Prequel for Cruella de Ville was stupid to begin with, riding on the coattails of Maleficent (who had a much more compelling origin story, thanks), but a sequel? Disney, if you have to give us Villain Origin Story Prequel Movies? GIVE US URSULA THE SEA WITCH FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID! Don't give us a sequel movie of the origin story of a woman whose sole motivation was supposed to be, "I want a spotted white fur coat and snow leopard's too expensive so I'll make it out of puppies".

How To Train Your Dragon Live Action Remake: Oh, come on. Half the beauty of that series was the character design. And you want to make it all just ... live action people? Do you have any concept of how boring that is by comparison? And I still don't get why. Like ... the movie's right there. I have it on DVD. It's still awesome. We don't need live action remakes of everything, for fuck's sake. Half the time, the live-action (or at least photo-realistic) version is just ... this soulless husk of the animated one. See for example ... Aladdin, The Jungle Book, The Lion King... (I'm not sure how I feel about The Little Mermaid but ... lemme put it this way. I don't care what colour skin Ariel's actress has, but if they make Ursula some slender waif, I'm going to be pissed. I mean, I get the issues involving villains being fat or otherwise conventionally unattractive, but the Ursula in the cartoon version owned her deal and made it ... frankly, sexy. So really, no, leave her fat and living her best life.)

Watchmen: The Animated Series: ...dear. Fucking. Gods. The Zach Snyder version was ... okay, but they really did tone Rorshach down. Like, a lot. But from what I saw of the trailer for the animated version? They put him as a centre-stage hero in the style of Batman. Did the jackasses who wrote the premise for this even read the comics? Sure, some guys decided that Rorshach was the GOAT from the comics, but they had a tendency to be ... well, in the same basic family of incel that Rorshach himself was as a character. That got whittled all the way down in the Snyder film, and now they've got Cartoon Rorshach acting like Batman. No one needs, wants, or asked for this. Alan Moore must be spinning in his grave. (No, I know he's not dead, but have you met Alan Moore? He's totally the type to sleep in his own grave.)

Gods, no wonder studio execs think they can replace writers with AI. So much of this seems to be entertainment by marketing committee while good shit gets cancelled Because Reasons. Though I guess they're at least somewhat less obvious about "Give us something that we can get a merch line out of" than they were in the 80s, because no one is getting a line of action figures out of Watchmen because there is only so far they can sanitise it. (I think. The trailer gives me some concerns in the "We animated just enough of the Zach Snyder film to get people watching and then just turned Rorshach into Batman" sort of way.)

[pinkboxess]

1, 20, and 45 for the book asks!

1: Best book you've read so far this year

I stopped keeping up with logging my books in Goodreads (it was starting to feel like pressure to meet my goal and log progress) which is to say that I don't even have a perfect memory of what I've read....but I think I'm going to give the award to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I am a big Hunger Games fan and I really enjoyed the prequel. Snow's inner dialogue is absolutely hilarious-- it's very clear how narcissistic he is, but I find it funny how it comes out. He's a sassy boy. Also, the way Collins is able to tackle these enormous themes about the nature of humankind--making her books sit in conversation with famous historical theorists while still being written for a younger audience-- is really remarkable. I have so much admiration for her as an author.

20: Where and how do you find new books to read?

A few different ways. Some books I read because they've become popular enough for me to encounter them in the wild, so to speak. People talk about them in the various circles I'm part of so I hear about them and get interested. Other times I just go on my library's website and browse the available e-books for whatever looks interesting.

A third less-common way is through my colleagues, since I work in libraries. But for the most part we don't actually just sit and recommend books to each other 😂most of the work is geared towards managing the library on the back end instead of participating in using it.

45: What books would you sell your soul to get a TV or movie adaptation of?

So, The Mysterious Benedict Society did get an adaptation in 2021, but it was canceled after an under-funded season 2 and then removed from Disney+, meaning there is now no legal way to access it.

So my (bit of a cheater) answer is to simply bring back the existing adaption, but re-do season 2 since I didn't end up liking it very much, and then do a season 3 based on the third novel in the series.

As for some other contenders...

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -- as a TV show. I feel that book adaptations are always better as shows vs. movies because there is more time to follow the plot of the novel and include things without having to cut half of what makes the book good.

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf I think would be STUNNING visually if done well. Although, after googling to check, it appears there is a movie adaptation done in 1983! I have not seen it, though.

This is not part of the question, but these are my favourite book-to-screen adaptations that I think were done brilliantly:

A Series of Unfortunate Events Netflix TV adaptation of Lemony Snickett's middle-grade series

Orlando film adaption of Virginia Woolf's novel

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? film adaptation of Maria Semple's novel

And, as previously mentioned, season 1 of the Disney+ adaption of Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society, which is no longer viewable outside of sailing the high seas.

[the-resurrection-3d]

rambling thoughts on the finale now that I've watched it again (spoilers, of course)

Even as I was watching initially on the discord, I was shocked by how quickly things were going by -- Luz gets murked not even 25 minutes in, for instance. I've been thinking over the series's cancellation -- I've seen it argued Dana should have cut more stuff out, but in fairness, it's hard having to make drastic cuts in a short amount of time, especially when cutting out certain characters would have meant redoing plot elements, not to mention skipping over or rewriting entire characters' backstories.

I think about Luca vs Encanto -- Luca had a lot of ideas pulled out, whereas Encanto very obviously tried to cram an entire mini-series into one movie. I like Luca better than Encanto for a bunch of different reasons, but I have to ask, Should you try to tell a simpler story better or a truncated story as best as you can? The answer seems apparent, but there is something to be said about Dana putting as much as she could on the table and all but outright asking fans to enjoy rebuilding her vision in their own. It's one thing when certain characters and ideas can be taken and made their own standalone stories, but not everything can, and given the state of the animation industry, the chances of that new show happening would've been slim, anyway.

A show like The Owl House -- a queer story cut short by a company that funded homophobic politicians while chasing woke brownie points for good publicity -- feels like the best-use case for Jenkins's idea of fanfic as repairing culture, as fans are now left to take this obviously compromised text and show our love by doing the reparative work of trying to fill in the cracks. Even if you don't engage with the fandom much, your perception of the text is still informed by these cuts, so there really isn't a reason not to think of the show as the sum of its canon and your own reparative fandom experience.

I compare TOH to SU a lot in my head, and the reason I'm willing to be so forgiving towards TOH for having a lot of dropped threads and blank spots is because, unlike SU/SUF, I don't feel like the creators wasted their time. Arguably there are episodes in season one that can be cut, but it's nothing like SU, which spent just so many episodes across every season prioritizing Steven's relationships to the humans in Beach City and neglecting its actual main cast, only for SUF to then stand up and admit it was all for fucking nothing.

Speaking of SU, though, the Collector fucking off back "to the stars" at the end gave me similar vibes to Spinel leaving with the Diamonds, though I will give SU the point here. Literally why is the Collector leaving when they've just NOW found a support system and friends? When their powers would be immensely helpful for rebuilding the Boiling Isles? "to the stars" TO SEE WHAT. WHOM. even on my first watch I thought this was fucking lame.

My main issue is that I felt like there was a big Belos-Luz beat missing, especially when their confrontation in the throne room was just him saying "oh you can't beat me." I would have rewritten that line, at least. I needed just a little extra, especially since he ended TTT with telling Luz he's doing this "for the good of [her] soul." I loved the death scene though (he's so mentally ill <3), as well as Arin Hanson's Titansona responding to Luz asking if they're "just as bad" as Belos with "do you smoke crack?"

[somethingshifted]

I could image a film working today, what with all the adult animated shows like Legend of Vox Machina, Hellova Boss, Bojack horseman, and Harley Quinn, and I think that's what netflix was going for, when I look at Jamie's storyboards for cracker island it feels way more grittier and scary, I'd love the idea that gorillaz was making a documentary(mockumentary in our world) but was hijacked by celebrity zombies (or in cracker islands case celebrity cult members) throughout the documentary, and its worked kinda like a parody of a found footage horror film (think of the Scooby Doo blair witch project parody but more mature). but unfortunately we'll never get a film because Netflix is just like any of capitalistic money hungry corporation that will gut there animation team for a quick buck. (i have the strong opinion that a gorillaz film or even an album with heavy lore hasn't worked not just because they had too many ideas but because of capitalism too)

the climate's better for a gorillaz animation now compared to 2003, yeah. and i completely forgot about the mockumentary angle though they were throwing out a ton of ideas... i'd like that more tbh! gorillaz has a good amount of b-horror film references it can work. though flashing cult imagery in relation to hollywood or celeb worship culture and making an entire movie about it requires a very fine line to be tread.

i do agree with your strong opinion. they have a lot of ideas and not a way to fund it properly, and asking tv or movie companies for help is a surefire way to get your project manhandled by corporations who want to dumb it down and make it palatable for everyone else. which, they avoided with dreamworks via backing out, and were saved i guess by netflix dropping them. i really do want to hear what the script was since they were in the middle of writing it and celebrity harvest got to have some tidbits dropped here and there. damon said cracker island was created after the cancellation so it wouldn't be a wild guess to say it was related to whatever new plot they had... certainly explains the story-book level information dumping. BUT that's me making shit up rn as i wait for info

and on the heavy lore-based album part, i don't know! it could work or it couldn't. i personally think they work better in an episodic style, maybe you can see how it railroads the characters if they go down a heavy lore style, it can be stifling for a band like gorillaz where the style changes when new ideas and world events crop up which is why i prefer the band stuff to lore stuff... of course referencing past events/history between the members is always great, but it gets kind of heavy handed when the crazy events of plastic beach occurred and its been like, 3 albums of 2D and murdoc having tension but bouncing back to being friends then suddenly referencing the kidnapping and shit, and since PB didn't feature much of noodle and russel talking they've stagnated since then. if they can avoid that kind of stuff i'd be all for it. (it's hard to sum up my feelings on recent stuff between 2D and murdoc because they like don't hang out as much anymore

[moonstone27ls]

Hollywood /media is weird

Random thought.... I dunno if its hollywood or media or people in general. But I've noticed they are picky when whom to shun/or "cancel". No I'm not trying to be "woke" just some stuff seems basic.

Why am I thinking about it. Lately I've been reading CBR articles and lately they've been boosting Jeepers Creepers. Yes I know its Halloween month... butttttt...

We've all acknowledge some movies we avoid. Now I admit if I'm remembering right they're boosting Rosemary's baby too. So maybe its a "separate the art from the artist"... but I dunno.

Its just I find it strange for example P.Diddy for example he's done so much thats terrible and we haven't even got to trial yet. So yes naturally yes, we ignore the hell out of him.

But Kevin Spacey's been accused of touching boys... and Hollywood instantly forgave him. Like INSTANTLY, with no hesitation. Even though there's been proof he had predatory behavior.Actors want him back, they put him in a PSA for sex abuse victims. Drake Bell WAS actual caught/proven to be predatory but we forgave him(well I assume those who saw the documentary).

But I bring those ups cause it feels CBR is ignoring why nobody is talking about Jeepers Creepers... its cause HELLO PEOPLE THE DIRECTOR WAS A ACTUAL CONVICTED PERVERT!

Why we bringing this movie back into the limelight? And no the director ain't dead, I checked. But again I dunno. I just feel uncomfortable knowing what he is, to give this movie attention.

But then what do I know.

[maroonghoul]

Summer of Slashers: Part 4

I've been busy this past week or so. Though I was able to watch three more to qualify for this, and that's going to have to do until August. One of them is, of course, the recently released...

MaXXXine (*Spoilers*)

I guess it's debatable whether this counts as a Slasher now that I've seen it. But the way I see it, X is the closest in this trilogy to a proper slasher, Pearl is one of the American Psycho/Christmas Evil variation, and this one is a neo-noir/neo-giallo. All of subgenres very closely connected. So close enough in my book.

So the good news is, this movie didn't do what I feared it was going to do and make Maxine a killer. I said when I was talking about Pearl that it would've been derivative. What we got instead was more interesting in comparison, in that not only is her capacity for violence consistent from how this character was last time we saw her, but the moral failings she does seem to have offers a more nuanced message here.

Was it a bit obvious to anyone who's seen the first movie that her controlling preacher dad turned out to be the killer? A bit. I was thinking either him or Pearl and Howard had a secret love child coming for revenge. But for me, it was predictable to the extent that was actually still satisfying when it was revealed to be him.

He and his followers at the end of the movie representing the religious conservative insanity going crazy around this time, especially with their cries of Satanic Panic over the most innocuous things. Not to mention, them thinking Hollywood being a hotbed of all the "evil" things they've come to fear. Kinda gave me WNUF Halloween Special flashbacks. (Spoilers for that too, I guess).

But what I found interesting is that, if you're at least paying attention to this movie, the movie industry really isn't that much better. It's care for the human lives ruined and lost in the process is performative at best, and dismissive at worst. (Really, Elizabeth? You had to criticize Molly's acting talent mere days after she's dead? No, it's not canceled out by the moment of silence you just did). Capitalism, like religious fanaticism, treat the masses as just pawns to sway while offering the false idea being you can be special enough to deserve unending praise. It's just that one of them doesn't draw the line of trying to include those of less traditional gender and sexual roles, amongst other things.

Really, the dad's real grievance is that it did his job, using and keeping Maxine under control, better then he ever could. Sure, she's "free" now, even if she's hardened to work in an environment that teaches her not to care for anyone but herself. It's just more opaque that she still has a master to serve in the first place. All this pursuit of artistic expression we've seen in all three films, has left every character either dead or dead inside.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Light side-note, this movie contains I think my favorite meta reference of any movie about making movies: the Universal backlot. Sure, they relatively empty here and they don't call out what movies and shows they're used for. But seeing places like the Courthouse Square and New York Street; it almost feels like stopping by your home town, in a good way. Bonus point for including the Psycho set as a sort of red herring foreshadowing. And speaking of which...

Psycho II (1983)

The original may be the grand...mother of the genre (I regret nothing), even if it's absent of a lot of the tropes we know and love. This not only has more of them, it also almost completely flips the script on who's actually psychotic and who isn't. Norman's character development here mirrors nicely with the original film, with in that one him being Mother is a reveal, and here it's the end of a character arc. ("It's like poetry. They rhyme."). Though the reveal of who the real killer was is a bit out of left-field with the motive, if it wasn't going to be Norman this time, there had to be some hell of a reason, I suppose.

High bar of comparing to the original aside, I can see why this might be a harder watch then the previous one. While that one is a descent into darkness in a way, this one starts as a false promise of the end of darkness, only through sabotage from multiple parties, to letting it come back in. Depressing and less fun. Seriously, was the doctor the only one really on Norman's side in this? This is especially hard hitting after Reagan closed a massive amount of the psychiatric hospitals just a few years before. Maybe that was the inspiration for this.

So yeah, this ended up being the good kind of sad, in a weird way. Also, maybe a little less transphobic??? I would have to think about it.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Yep, the original. This is the only movie on my list I've seen before. This year is it's 40th anniversary and plus there was a screening in town.

You would think this is yet another movie where it's hard to say new stuff about it. I could almost repeat everything I said in my Slasher post a year and a half or so ago. I'm not sure what I have here is new, but it's what I took away from it in this day and age. Ten years later, I'll probably have something else.

The scenes that got the biggest reaction in my screening were none of the scenes involving Freddy, which is crazy enough. But the scenes with Nancy fighting with her mother. I can chalk that up to being surprising to anyone who only knows this movie through pop culture osmosis, but I highly doubt that considering the amount of people there who were in costume. Maybe it's also because it hits a little close to home. The idea of an alcoholic parent, and one you either have to hide stuff from or try to get through to them. Sorry Mom, but protecting your kid from a killer one time doesn't cancel out the negligence you're doing now. Hell, the latter's more what you expect only the parent to do, so it's even less impressive. Again, this shows the consequence of cutting back on psychiatric help on an economic scale, and not just for Nancy, it seems.

It's such an uncomfortable sit 90% of the time everyone dismissing Nancy, whether through disbelief of the supernatural or toxic masculinity in Glen's case. Hot take here, but it's so bad that even Freddy being either his 1st or 2nd most scariest here (Compared to New Nightmare maybe), he's still almost comic relief, in a ghoulish sort of way. Sure, all his time with Tina stops being funny at all really fast. But he seems to really take his time with Nancy. Like this Freddy's not even interested in using his powers to come up with ironic setpiece deaths for his victims yet. He genuinely seems to like the chase. Like a homeless person similar to the one that terrified Wes Craven as a kid; he'd rather show off a trick to the kids...before he kills them.

Maybe, in a sick sort of way, that's why he really took off even with the younger crowd. "Oh look, an adult paying attention to me and actually creating something related to my interest! And bonus points, making sure I don't have to live in the 1980s anymore!" He was always kind of a goofball with infectious energy, wasn't he? Which makes it all the more bewildering there has not been a new movie these past 12 years. Hell, maybe these past 12 years were the actual consequences of no new Freddy movie, not what New Nightmare's about. Sure, Pennywise filled in the gap. But it just doesn't feel right that almost every other slasher villain made a comeback in the past 5 to 10 years, except him and Jason. At least with Jason, his spirit is kept alive with parodies and homages like the one that came out earlier this year. A New Nightmare wouldn't really have to break new ground. Just one that feels like it has the amount of effort and creatively of the previous movies would feel so good about now.

Also, stop trying to make him a child molester. They made the right call cutting that from the original movie.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony's Stupid Daily Blog (719): Tue 5th May 2024

This morning I booked my hostel / train tickets to London for the end of May when I go to see Jane's Addiction. Unfortunately I am going to have to travel there via coach because Trainline are charging £152 for a return ticket which is fucking ridiculous. Why do I still have to pay full price for anything given what a good person I am? Literally every time I go to McDonalds I agree to round up my order and give the extra pennies to charity surely that should be worth a discount on my train tickets every now and again. To be fair when I travelled there on a coach to see AEW's All In the seven hours really did fly by so perhaps the same will be true of this trip. I'll just listen to podcasts for the whole trip and every hour I'll read another twenty or so pages of the book I take with me. It's also probably a smarter move to travel on a coach because there's always the chance that the train drivers may decide to go on strike yet again in order to raise the extra £2.00 per week to pay for the Only Fans pages they've subscribed to so they don't have to cancel their InfoWars subscription.

I re-watched the iconic comedy movie This Is Spinal Tap. It's still hilarious all these years later and the influence it had on comedy in the years since its release is undeniable….but…I don't think it's the perfect comedy movie everyone else seems to think it is. The one complaint I have about the movie is that the three central characters don't seem to feel any kind of embarassment whatsoever even though the situations they find themselves in would be absolutely soul destroying if they happened to you or I. I suppose it makes sense given that they are rock musicians and are probably so egotistical (and possibly high on drugs) that embarrasment probably doesn't even register with them any more but I still say the comedy could have been ramped up if they had them acknowledge just how humiliated they were. Or better still just do what they do in The Office and every time something embarassing does happen then cut to the director or the person the band are interacting with and show them looking absolutely redfaced on behalf of the band.

I went to check my Facebook but it said that I had been logged out. I tried to log back in but it said my password was wrong even though "FUCKTRAINLINE" has been my password ever since I first started buying train tickets to go to gigs. Even after attempting to change the password I was still receiving a notice telling me that the change couldn't be made at this point and to try again later. I checked on Twitter and saw that many others were complaining about not being able to get into their Facebook either. This was a relief because I was worried that I'd been hacked and the hacker had done something horrible on my page, something like message Kevin from the call centre and tell him that I never meant all the insults I've hurled at him over the years and I actually think he's pretty swell (although if this had happened I like to think that Kevin's immediate reaction would have been "Anthony must've been hacked").

[jonathanbiers]

some argyle and steve besties/hair thoughts: similarly to steve, argyle takes Very good care of his hair. the process isnt as extensive as steve, but hes careful with it. its his baby. so, steve and argyle start hair care buddies, eventually starting a tradition of picking a day every month thats reserved for hanging out and doing hair care, or trying out new styles on each other (these days also include other spa activities like face masks and nice robes). sometimes eddie joins them if he can be convinced (which isnt that often fjhbd) and afterwards they get high and watch stupid movies, just de-stressing and enjoying each others company

i saw this while i was at work and it made me smile so big i can't even tell you!! this is so fucking cute. i think steve and argyle would be GREAT friends this is so far up my alley okay i have some things to add though

steve is the one who introduces argyle to skincare past the basic 'just wash your face.' the moisturizers, the masks, all of that. and argyle's got pretty good skin already but this makes it so soft and smooth

argyle in turn introduces steve to hair oils! argyle's hair is so long that at a certain point just conditioning doesn't cut it, it's really hard to keep it from getting dry, so he started using them. when steve complains about some of the styling products he uses drying out the ends of his hair, argyle is like listen man i got you

it's widely accepted among the lot of us that steve is touch-starved, right? well this is such a great way for him to just. receive some platonic physical affection. he'll brush argyle's hair and then argyle will comb his, one time argyle gave him a hot oil scalp massage, they'll joke around and nudge each other around, argyle catches on to how much steve likes just being touched and he always greets him with a hug now. if he notices steve's particularly stressed or down, they'll cuddle while they watch whatever movie.

they end up coming out to each other and confiding about their crushes on eddie and jonathan, and reassuring each other that no, they do have a chance and should totally go for it!

they try out new styles on each other, yes, but a lot of them are silly! one time, argyle gives steve liberty spikes, and steve teases argyle's hair and tells him he looks like one of the guys from the metal bands eddie likes

one day steve is braiding argyle's hair and he just seems kinda down. argyle asks him what's wrong, and steve wistfully explains that he wishes eddie would let him braid his hair like this. the very next time they're able to convince eddie to join them, argyle all but bullies him into letting steve do just that. and if steve doesn't notice the way eddie blushes when steve's hands are in his hair, argyle sure does, and he tells steve next time he sees him alone that he's got to make a move already!

no matter what else they've got going on, no matter what plans have to be moved around, hair day is sacred bro time to them, and they never ever cancel it. at most, it might get pushed back a few days.

[spaceorphan18]

And Here's What You Really Missed : Heather Morris Interview and Preggers Recap

Okay... so I'm very behind on all of these podcasts, I'll probably be doing these two at a time since it takes a while to listen and write up notes.

Also... you guys, I've been labeling the show wrong this whole time. It's -- And That's What You Really Missed. Ah well, it's fine, that way no one from the show can find it when it's googled.

***

Heather Morris Interview -

Discussion about how she came to the show - worked for Beyonce, and Zach Woodlee (Glee's Choreographer) had her come on to help teach the Single Ladies dance. Never had an audition with RM because it was cancelled twice, and was more or less just incorporated into the show.

Discussion about her first day - and how she essentially pooped her pants on her way to the show, and threw her dirty panties outside her car window and kept going.

Mentions that Heather's inspiration for Brittany came from a character from Mean Girls.

Discussion about her eating disorder, and how Naya was the only person who reached out to her.

(Lots of discussion around Naya, and the gratefulness about how she was able to speak her mind.)

Discussion about her family life and how they shaped her and her work ethic. She works hard, but keeps her head low and tries to stay out of things (almost to a fault).

Discussion about how fame was really hard -- she had put in the work to be famous, but once there, wanted to go back to being private. (They discuss how the attention thrown on her was a lot like how it was with Chris -- and how Heather is a very private person who had a hard time with being a public figure.

Discussion about how hard the show was to do -- and how tiring. They recall a time during Rocky Horror where it was 1am, and Heather wasn't well -- and Kevin surmised that if Heather isn't well, than none of them were.

Discussion about mental health - and Heather going to therapy (I do appreciate the positivity surrounding the subject).

Discussion about being pregnant while on the show -- more or less, that it was crazy that she had to do it, and she also had to fight to get off the show for the end of her pregnancy.

Discussion on various reality shows they've all been on - The Masked Dancer (which Heather won), RuPaul's Drag Race (which Kevin and Jenna were one), and a mild shade at Dancing with the Stars - where Heather didn't get far, but also got a lot of flack about because she was a professional dancer.

Heather's favorite numbers: U Can't Touch This (it was fun!), River Deep Mountain High, Jump (though apparently Jump was the worst because it was so hot.

Least favorite: Hello Goodbye (Because you shouldn't touch classics) and Bad Romance (the costume was the worst.)

She talked about how working with Naya was amazing, and it was always a treat get to listen to hear her sing.

And... that's pretty much it. It was a lot of stream of conscious discussions. They didn't really dig in deep to any of the topics, but kind of let the conversation flow somewhat naturally.

***

Preggers Recap -

The fact that I just listened to this podcast and don't have a lot of firm moments probably says something. It's a lot of gushing and a lot of just recapping the plot - and Kevin and Jenna are cute, but not much noteworthy.

They break the plot down into three parts -

Babygate - the part that's a majority of the episode, but they don't have a lot to say about it - other than they think Terri is a horror movie character (she is - now that I think about it). Also the line from Kendra about the baby being black is a nod to Jessilyn Gelsig's character from Niptuck.

Beyonce Gate - they discuss a bit about the Single Ladies dance, and Jenna talks a little about having to put that together. They mention Chris changing the costume to be more Kurt-like (which, hilariously, is a well known story around these parts). Also - the slap to Tina's butt was an improv.

They both have a lot of affection for the story line (me, too!) - even if it is campy. They really praise Mike O'Malley's Burt - who keeps it real and honest among a show full of crazy people.

They text Ryan to ask him if Kurt's coming out was based on his life. Ryan says no -- it's what he wish had happened. Which I think is fascinatingly insightful. Kevin and Jenna go into a discussion about how the show represents idyllic situations as a way to show positivity for the gay community. Jenna also likened it to wanting to see more positive adoption stories - since she is adopted, and things she sees in media are always negative.

Sue's story - They talk about Lea wanting to have a Celine Dion song, and getting one. Jenna was also asking for Celine Dion songs, but didn't really get to do one. (There was also a story about how Lea asked for a Celine song, and was given the wrong one -- I'm so curious as to what this was.) Also, Jenna shares a few stories that I think they talked about on their Showmance podcast -- the first being her dislike of the spider necklace because she doesn't like spiders and the second being Matt's advice on not doing theater acting for the camera.

They also discuss Tonight - and how it's going to be a running gag that Tina doesn't get songs. (Jenna jokes - with some truth behind it - that Tina's lack of things to do is what made her crack.)

Cringiest Moment: All of Sandy and Figgins commercial for the socks.

Worst dance move: none. Everyone was awesome.

Best Song: Single Ladies

Best Line: My body is like a rum chocolate souffle... ;)

Best performance by a prop: the spider necklace

Things that didn't age well: The quote about the baby being black.

Things that did age well: Burt coming home to watch deadliest catch.

Shit we found on TikTok: They talk about the recaps of their podcast on TikTok and do a couple of shoutouts. They also acknowledge the plot hole (?) about Karofsky being on the hockey team and football team. So - they have a voice message from Max Adler - who talks about coming in originally for a one time thing being a hockey player. And when they called him back - they had to make him a football player.

(Omg - so, not only does Kevin peruse TikTok all the time for Glee content, but he's asking people to send him stuff, too. I am /so/ glad I'm not on TikTok -- I just would never want anyone from the show to see my content. Eesh.)

[acciowests]

For the Elucien Halloween au, could you please do one where Elain is helping Lucien put on his face paint for the night since they've decided to stay in and give out candy to the trick or treaters. And Elain makes a joke about how he should have dressed up as a giant pumpkin since it would match his hair. It also doesn't have to be smut! :)

just some fluff and a lil making out tehe, enjoy!!

Paints and Pumpkins

WORD COUNT: 1234

SUMMARY: It's Halloween night and Elain and Lucien are getting ready to hand out candies to hyped-up children. Only, Lucien is a little stubborn when it comes to his face paint and a little accident, while rather humorous, makes it worse.

"Lucien Vanserra," she cried, holding the paintbrush tightly in her hand. "If you move one more time I'll stop and you'll have a half-done face."

Elain had officially been trying to paint her fiancé's face for 45 minutes. It was Halloween, the artificial lamp light filling the room as she sat straddling his legs, eager to finish the skull face paint that matched his skeleton costume. He let out a sigh, smudging the black paint on his lips as he spoke, "I told you not to bother in the first place, kitty."

"Stop calling me that," she hissed, holding his jaw tightly with her other hand. "And you can't be a skeleton without the face to match so hold still."

Halloween wasn't her favourite holiday, not when there was Christmas and birthdays to celebrate, but since being with Lucien, she'd learned to love the spooky season. Their house was decked out properly in black and orange decorations: pumpkins, spiders, fake cobwebs and witch's cauldrons. They'd practically bought the whole Halloween section in Target. While Elain usually liked to dress up as a princess or mermaid (something overly feminine that made her older sister roll her eyes) she'd gone with a classic black cat this year—hence the nickname kitty which she already despised. She'd gotten the tight, black leather suit from Nesta, adding a tail and ears, and painting on the whiskers and nose. She'd gone for sexy, seeing as this was her first Halloween whilst engaged, but she'd ended up still looking rather innocent. Lucien hadn't seemed to mind though, had pressed a kiss to her hair and moved to slip into his costume for the evening.

"A skeleton is basic anyway, and I don't think kids care about face paint," he replied, remaining still despite his unimpressed tone.

With her sister heavy in her first pregnancy, the annual Halloween party that Feyre and her husband hosted had been cancelled. Elain had been more than happy to skip the night, but when Lucien had brought up his trick-or-treating idea, she couldn't say no. Not when they'd likely have tons of candy and chocolate leftover in the morning, plus she was excited to see all the children in their costumes. She was going to be an aunt soon after all.

"Of course they do, face paint is the coolest thing to them. They're going to love you, baby," she grinned, content in her work as she leaned back and added the finishing touches.

She'd painted his whole face white to match the bone colouring, adding black contour, blacked-out eyes and nose, and stitch-like marks across his lips and out slightly onto the cheeks. She grabbed two cans from her bag, one a black hair spray and the other dry shampoo. "Black or white hair?" she asked, setting the cans on the table behind them.

Lucien had already tied his long hair back into a tight bun. He settled his hands on her thighs, rubbing his large palms up them as he titled his head. "Black? It will hide my natural colour more."

She nodded in agreement, taking the hair spray and beginning to shake the can. She loved his red hair, the natural orange colour had been the first thing she'd noticed about him. She remembered wanting to run her fingers through it and considered herself lucky that she got to do it every day now.

"You know," she started, chest brushing his as she lent up close, holding one hand over his forehead so the spray wouldn't ruin the paint she'd just done. "You should have been a giant pumpkin for Halloween, you have the hair to match."

The house fell into silence, the subtle playing of a horror movie leaking from the front room being the only noise. She lent back slowly, looking down at her fiance who had raised his eyebrows and looked at her with such a grumpy face that she couldn't help but laugh. "What?" she giggled, beginning to spray the black into his hair.

He wrapped both arms around her waist, tugging her closer. "You think you're so funny, don't you?" he muttered, breath warm against her neck.

"I don't know what you mean," she grinned, happy he couldn't see the smug look on her face as she finished spraying, brushing some strands with her fingers and staining them black. "You'd make a very hot Jack-o'-lantern."

"That's it."

Before she could lean back and see what he'd meant by that, he'd stood up, her thighs slipping around his waist automatically as he lifted her. He simply turned before putting her back down, butt against the table as he pressed her gently against it. She dropped the spray from her hands with a small squeak as Lucien pressed his mouth to hers. She'd be more worried about the stain possibly on their floor if he hadn't brushed his warm tongue against her mouth, tasting the chocolate they had snacked on before getting ready.

"Lu," she muttered and wrapped her hands around his shoulders as he began to kiss down her neck. Her thigh wrapped around his back, feet rubbing his leg as he felt his way down to her hip. He had begun to unzip her suit, lips kissing the softness of her breasts when he looked up and laughter spilt uncontrollably from her.

His eyes went wide as he sat back, looking at her with utter confusion before he realised. She imagined her face somewhat matched his. Face paint was all good and well, that was until you smudged it. He slowly sat back completely, collapsing into the chair as she sat up, leaning on her palms. "I look ridiculous don't I?" he sighed, reaching for one of her hands.

"Afraid so, babe," Elain chuckled, giving him her hand, despite the black spray that was sure to transfer to his own hands. She now noticed the fingerprints she'd left along his neck and couldn't help but blush.

"All your hard work," he pouted, and she wanted nothing more than to squish his cheeks together. "We should wash this off before—"

The doorbell rang and the light laughter of kids flooded through the open porch window. She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh and failing terribly. She slipped from the table, walking toward the front door and reaching for the pumpkin basket that held all their trick-or-treat snacks. "What are you doing?" Lucien whispered, coming up behind her.

"Our first trick-or-treaters of the night require their candy, dummy," she whispered back, reaching for the handle.

He pressed a palm against the door frame and circled the other around his face in question. She only smirked, leaning up close to brush a chaste kiss to his lips. "I thought kids didn't care about face paint," she replied with a wink, repeating the words he had said to her only moments ago.

After rolling his eyes, he stepped away with slight reluctance and turned as she opened up the door wide. Three kids stood on the step, their parents at the end of the driveway. There was a princess, the little girl adorable in her golden dress, and what seemed to be two knights on either side with cardboard swords on their backs. Lucien complimented their costumes and she offered them the basket, happier than ever that they hadn't just decided to spend the night in front of the tv.

* * *

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