#10/10 would recommend and will be doing this again

[curiousorigins]

Yeah, I had this whole period of a few years where I was working a near full time retail job, going to college (over full time via credit hours) and commuting around an hour-2 hours each way depending on when in that period and if I happened to get my favorite bus driver. (he shaved a full 20-40 minutes off of my 2 transfers commute.) Pretty much I had time for nothing especially when you factored in that I get motion sick, so I couldn't manage to do homework on the bus (I could at best manage audio language tapes... as that talk to text stuff was bad then and I have audio processing issues) and I wasn't sleeping well. (I've fallen asleep in a moving vehicle twice in my life for longer than 2 minutes. Once after a full 2 weeks of not sleeping for about 5 minutes (according to friend who was driving) and another on the bus during this period. And yes I was awoken because the bus returned to the bus service garage.) and had to actively play rock music (complete with an audio effects CD on shuffle which was the surprising boon to my playlists. I will never create a Mix CD/Playlist without random animal noises and sirens again.) in order to prevent myself from falling asleep in public and leaving my body to the whims of strangers around me.

So funny thing about this period of my life... whether due to the lack of calories. (no required meal plan as part of tuition as I was commuting to school and thus college not obligated to prevent student starvation. However it was a community college and thus real awesome at providing free food opportunities to those willing to follow their nose/rumors of free food with enough free time between classes to indulge.) lack of sleep, financial stress (I mostly save a few minor grants self-funded my schooling... ending with less than $1,500 debt my final semester despite going to college in the U.S. [highly recommend community colleges. However don't do this. I almost died so many times. I got an ulcer that led to 2 weeks of internal bleeding and missed 2 weeks of work and like 10 years+ fearing many foods. Getting a loan in this case would have been smarter. Yes even with how student loans are.] my grades also couldn't keep up and I lost any academic related funding as well. Including eventually the student loans. I pretty much had a major mental health crisis on top of very horrible health crisises... that for a period at up approximately 6 hours of my none-free-time but actual doing homework/studying/relaxing [If I ever had a chance] time. Don't do it.

Anyways I learned to eat one handed. We were raised in a set the table and use utensils with the proper hand etc household... so yeah for me this was a college-age learned skill. I learned to scarf down (already had to a degree. God bless ovrcrowded public schools where) ANYTHING in less than 10 minutes provided I was hungry enough. To eat (sort of neatly) when walking. To chug 44oz of water etc in about 5 minutes. (My job consisted of unloading trucks in lack of climate control in near one of the hottest places on earth for 3 months of the year. Funny thing, also near the coldest for near the same period of time annually. And I was always at risk of passing out from dehydration. I literally hardly peed during this period because I was sweating enough to keep up with the minimal gallon of water/sport's drink etc I was drinking per day.)

I also had started getting into art and social media. (I actually briefly was making minor waves.) and the only time I had to draw consisted of my breaks and meal breaks at work (because again I got motion sick in moving vehicles). I was drawing, inking, and painting in watercolor 25 days a month, completing an average of 25-40 paintings during that month. Work was the main area where I had wiggle room to socialize, so I was often, drawing/painting in the breakroom while stuffing my face with as many calories as possible (I was unloading trucks and at the height of my families' weirdly high metabolism) while talking. So I was penciling/drawing/finalizing an average of 10-15 minutes (while eating), inking in 5-10 minutes and painting in 15-25 minutes/day. (While eating). Oh and because there literally wasn't a schedule where I could possibly eat a meal at home 5-6 days/week; I also developed absolute zero shame to munching whereever I was, no matter what was going on (though little kid me was ahead of the curve because PBS used to broadcast surgeries on Sundays and I was fascinated. And would have my lunch/dinner watching them and only once they were wiggling around intestines while I was eating spaghetti and had a bad brain sensory visual textural experience. Otherwise I was good to go.) [as an aside, this includes that poor person who was 'pregnant' for a few decades, via the rare ectopic pregnancy that doesn't cause a patient to go septic, who's surgery ended up being broadcast on PBS for some reason... I would assume exploitation to pay for the surgery itself. That's called

(Trigger warning for link above: Many examples of very late term incomplete pregnancies that are identifiably human fetuses that are not compatible with life. Stopped living often decades before they might have been born had the embroyos implanted elsewhere. Frozen in gestation. Images within that could be disturbing to those mourning a miscarriage, actively pregnant, suffering infertility issues etc. Please do use your best judgement and do not click the link above if you're not in a place where one could take their time, energy etc to emotionally deal with such a disturbance.)

But yeah I can eat in pretty any condition. Not super cleanly... mostly because I don't care. My Dad hates going out to eat with me and has to remind me that I won't have successful dates (while I'm not interested in dating anyone) because of how I eat. While I say, "Might as well eat like a pig on the first date, not that there will be dates. Because this how I eat. If they can't stomach it. Then I'm saving us both some hassle." And quickly too. I can't manage to hold my breath while swimming/diving or do that weird pushing breath out to prevent water in your nose thing. But I can breath while I'm actively drinking and eating. I can also eat while talking while not telegraphing that I have food in my mouth via sound or sight.

Those are just some of the few unintended skills I ended up developing, perfecting out of genuine necessity and survival. And no, I don't ever want to live like that again. I respect myself too much to out myself through it. Of course when I decided I'd take commissions at conventions while selling my art, these are skills that I started to purposefully develop.

Jobs don’t always limit the skills you learn to the job itself. For instance, when I worked at Red Robin, they’d offer 30 minutes for an unpaid lunch, or 15 if you wanted to get paid the whole time. If you think that��s extremely shitty join the club.

As a result of wanting money I got really good at eating quickly so I could use my break to read or relax. I’ve always been a fast eater but when I worked there I learned how to eat an entire burger and fries in under five minute while keeping up a conversation. This is not advisable for good digestion, eat slow and chew your food.

There’s a balance to not talking with your mouth full and eating extremely quickly and it was a regularly used skill for years. When I worked at a sex shop I bragged about it once to a coworker.

She watched me with a timer going after I told her about it and we got burgers. I chatted with her the whole time. I was done in four minutes forty seconds.

Afterward she looked haunted and commented, “It was like watching a snake unhinge it’s jaw but you never talked with food in your mouth!”

More recently my beloved and I were catching up with a friend over lunch. I had a sandwich while they’d gotten falafel plates. We were having a lovely chat but after I finished a story our friend said, “I don’t want your food to go cold while you talk!”

I was surprised. I’d been deliberately talking more so she could eat. I turned to show her my empty sandwich box. Both she and my beloved were stunned. It was like I’d performed a magic trick and made my sandwich disappear because neither had even noticed me demolishing it like a snake unhinging it’s jaw.

[uzucake]

how do you practice observing? do you usually practice drawing what you remember from memory or with references? i want to try to be able to draw more freely from imagination as well. i love your art!!🍃

When there is a piece of art that makes me feel a certain way, it motivates me to remember it. I have not had any issues with recalling things. I understand not everyone works this way, and is different.

Since I'm not sure how the majority of people work. It is hard to give advice on what to do to require a photo memory. While growing up, using a reference was seen as cheating. I had to learn this method, so I would not be seen as a cheater. I would see the image, reference it, then redraw it without using the reference ever again. This method was taking an image as reference, then recreating it again but without that reference as a guide. I would then check back to see how close I was to the original image. Moving forward, I would not use that image as reference again. But continue to recreate the image myself as I've stored it in my memory.

There was an image of a character named Sora, from an old Kingdom Hearts II manga. I really liked this panel as a child. I observed and copied it once. I took that memory and would draw the image again anytime I could, without having the reference. The last time I've seen this panel, or have drawn the image was over 10 years ago. Here are my attempts now on recalling my memory -

I want to make it clear that there is no shame with using reference! My method of learning came from a place of guilt and stress. I highly recommend that you use as much real life reference as possible, but I can understand feeling trapped. I'm always trying to watch and observe things as hard as I can, then draw what I can remember. I personally feel learning how to draw without reference is skill that takes a lot of work, but is very rewarding for freedom.

[waylamia]

Little Crawling Things (and Equally Fragile Feelings)

recommended listening: With You by Priscilla Ahn

Caleb is looking for beetles. You are being very brave about it.

reader experience notes: reader is MC but is not addressed by name in this fic, reader is not physically described, reader is 10 and Caleb is 12

content warnings: bugs <3 (barely researched beetles), a very minor injury (cut on hand)

approx. 1.6k words

The summer breeze sways the leaves of the maple you are under, you focus your attention on the little roving spots of light the movement creates. It's a better thing to watch for than-well, the alternative...

Stood up straight but not too straight, your posture intentionally, deliberately relaxed. Teeth biting into your tongue, the inside of your cheek, just enough to calm your nerves. Not enough to be noticed or to really hurt. You have put on a very good show, keeping your composure as you have, against what you are up against. You don't know what it is about little crawling things that makes you so jumpy.

"It'll be hard to see any emerald ash borers with the leaves as vibrant as they are. But that's not gonna stop us from trying!"

Caleb is looking for beetles. You are being very brave about it.

You stand a fair distance from the tree's trunk, where Caleb hunches, closely inspecting the bark for signs of damage. You take to inspecting him for any signs of fear, of hesitation. You find none. And if Caleb isn't afraid of all the bugs and their buzzy wings and their wiggly legs than you need to stop being a baby and be 'not scared' too. That's just how things are with you two. It only took a few short months of safe and calm and together and home for you to fall into this pattern. You are always looking at him. Looking to him. For the right thing to do, the right way to behave, the answers to the questions you haven't asked yet. If you were to look away from him and down at your feet, now, in the dirt before that swaying tree, you would see them stood in his barely bigger footprints. You watch his face and think about what you will say when he asks what you're looking at, he always asks.

The wind picks up and takes his hair with it, he huffs as a hand reaches up to press it flat against his forehead, you fail to suppress a giggle at the scene. His eyes snap to you, warm, like this morning, before the sun got too high. He smiles when he sees you, quick and soft like the breeze. You smile back like a stirred leaf. "Got something on my face?" You shake your head, huffing out a little laugh at your correct prediction. You open your mouth to answer before closing it again. You have yet to come up with an excuse.

"Just... looking." You kick at a pebble at your feet, careful not to disturb yours and Caleb's shared tracks. He chuckles, grin taking on a playful edge.

"You know, you're gonna have a hard time seeing anything from aaall the way back there..." His eyes squint-in a way you will soon come to recognize as knowing- his smile widening as yours drops. He pats the dirt at his side, like you often do for the particularly skittish street cats. "Come on, come here." You are a tree yourself, rooted in place.

'You're not a baby. You're NOT a baby.' You repeat to yourself, willing the breeze to stir up some courage, but the voice in your head is drowned out by the hum and chirp of the cicadas. "Hey." You jolt out of your thoughts, surprised by his proximity. He dusts his hands off on his cargo shorts before reaching out to take one of your own. You squeeze, he squeezes back. "It's okay." Your eyes dart to his. Soothing circles are rubbed into the back of your hand. "It's okay. I'll show you." He tugs gently at you and your roots come up easily. A few short months and you know you trust him, intrinsically.

The sticky air has glued your palms together. That's what you think when you reach the base of the tree and he doesn't let go. His free hand points to a recess in the bark just above your head. "Look." His fingers trace something that you cannot see, you stretch up on the tips of your toes. You release your hand from his to lean into the tree for support, little hops to see inside the little cave. Caleb laughs, and you feel yourself floating, the sensation so familiar you don't even pause for it. The recess reveals the tree's exposed insides, lots of swirly lines in newly exposed bark. His finger traces the path of it. "That's an emerald ash borer. The moms lay the eggs, then the eggs burrow into the tree. That's what those marks are." You ooh and aah, following his tracing finger with your own as you process the information. Your brow creases.

"Does it hurt the tree?" You look down at him, then at the earth, and gently kick your feet. Caleb thinks, hand on his chin as he lets you down.

"It... does." He watches your shoulders fall. "But it's a part of the ecosystem here. In other places, they can be a problem-an invasive species-but here they have predators that-" He pauses. Looking past you and not at you. You turn to see what he sees, which is more maple trees. "Look." When you turn back his eyes are skyward, face dotted with light spots, like freckles. you follow his gaze, squinting at the leaves. "This tree is super healthy and strong, a couple of little bugs aren't going to slow it down." Gran and Caleb have both told you bedtime stories. You've noticed that when Caleb tells one, the ending is always happier. You don't know why you're remembering that now. You frown as you rest a hand on the tree, patting softly.

"You're way way bigger than some little beetles. You'll be okay." you hum to no one in particular, to the tree maybe. "You're okay." Soothing circles rubbed into the bark. You feel Caleb's eyes on you, but you're used to that. What you are not used to, is the tickle-y feeling on your arm. Your entire body goes stock-still. Eyes widening and heart pounding as you move your gaze down... down...

You jerk away from the tree with a shriek, a sudden pain in your opposite hand only increasing your panic. As you back away, flailing aimlessly, a piece of root catches your heel and sends you crashing to the ground. In all your distraction with swirly shapes and floating and Caleb you had forgotten that you were out here to find bugs. "Get it off get it off get it OFF." You continue to thrash, unaware that the equally startled thing has already taken leave from its uneager perch. Unaware too, of Caleb watching it go, catching it in his hands. He cups the creature in his palms, careful not to give it a wide enough opening to take off once more. He tilts his head, first at it, then at you.

Frightened tears have welled up in your eyes, and embarrassment threatens to send them streaming out. You pull your knees close, head tucked in and body made small. You think that maybe you are a baby after all.

"Hey." Caleb crouches behind you, hand patting your shoulder, before moving to sit at your back. Long legs bracket yours, like he's using his body to build a house around you. Safe and calm and together. his hand takes yours, the one that hurts, and he turns it over carefully. Ah, you cut yourself on tree bark when you got scared. "You're way bigger than a beetle." His head rests on your shoulder, you sniffle. His other arm, with the hand closed in a fist, scoops yours up to rest, lengthened, at the height of your shoulder. "Palm up." You trust him intrinsically. You open your hand. He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slow, you copy him without really thinking.

His hand is held out just beside yours, facing up, fist closed. He opens it and you gasp, pushing yourself back into his chest as your extended hand shoots defensively back into your own. The beetle sits docilely in his palm. He hums softly, opposite hand rubbing soothingly at your idle arm. "You don't have to be afraid of anything." He squeezes. Nudges your cheek with his own. You take a deep breath and let it out slow. You trust him. You extend your arm once more, palm up. Three short squeezes on your arm.

"I'll tell you what's safe..." He brings his opened hand close to yours, so the sweat sticky sides of them touch, and nudges the shiny green, crawly thing into your open hand. You tense, closing an eye to get some illusion of distance and pushing back against the boy behind you. Whether in an effort to get away or simply to ground yourself, you haven't the capacity to be sure. Caleb shushes you, arm dropping to his side to balance you both, the other still tracing winding shapes into you. You start to settle, even as the little thing walks across your palm, even as you shake for fear of it.

"...and I'll protect you from what isn't." Your heart picks up another beat, one you won't have a name for for a long time. All you know, for now, as the bug gets bored of you and flies away, is that when Caleb is around, you are safe.

And you are home.

author note: first calebmc fic yippeeeeee. I heart tenderness and protectiveness and having someone to trust…. I have a very specific vision for a calebmc series and cannot WAIT to get into it. Caleb nation please accept me into your loving arms I NEED people to be obsessed about him with. ok I have to go to work now love you bye. <3 (i pinky swear I will proofread this later lmao)

[pucksandpower]

I am from NY, but my mom is from there and my grandmother lives in Paris still and when I visit her we always go to her friends restaurant, Le Paris Italie. 29 Av. d'Italie, 75013 Paris, France. (It is a French restaurant)

Good food, not too expensive, and the owners are very nice but I’m pretty sure they don’t speak much English. I’ve seen other people just point to the menu to order but if you want to try speaking French they are so kind about listening.

Also, not too far away is my favorite boulangerie: Boulangerie Brun. 193 Rue de Tolbiac, 75013 Paris, France. And Boulangerie de Fatima has good sandwiches, 10 Rue Küss, 75013 Paris, France.

Plus bars you could go to: La Folie en Tête, 33 Rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013 Paris, France. Taverne de la Butte, 13 Rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 75013 Paris, France. L’AfterBulles has really fun wine tastings, 35 Rue de l'Espérance, 75013 Paris, France.

Hope you enjoy your time in Paris! These are all somewhat near where my grandmother lives, near the edge of the city, and I feel like her neighborhood and these places are bit more off the beaten path. With the exception of her friends restaurant, it’s super close to Place d’Italie but it’s not touristy.

Other things I would rec that are still really fun but a little more touristy:

1) If you’re there on a weekend go to the market at Place d’Aligre. You can find some great food there!

2) try to go to Sacré Cœur earlier in the day, like 8 am. Fewer people so the view is better, plus the church is beautiful inside and you can spend longer with fewer people.

3) people always highly recommend it but I personally don’t think the galeries Lafayette is that crazy, maybe around Christmas for the tree but for me that’s it.

4) Églises Saint-Louis offers concerts and it’s the other « island church » in Paris. It’s not on the same island as Notre Dame, but it is beautiful inside and if you go for an evening concert the sounds are amazing!

5) Musée Rodin is one of my favorites that I don’t think gets enough love. It’s a sculpture museum, and it’s right next to Hôtel des Invalides which is where Napoleon’s tomb is.

Again, hope you enjoy!!!

Thank you so much! This is so helpful ❤️

We are staying in a hotel in the 8th arrondissement, which I know is pretty much the tourist area, but I still really want to find some local gems so this is absolutely amazing!

I did book private tours for three of our seven days there because I think there’s some things that can be better explained by a guide (I’m a huge history nerd), however I want to use our free days to explore the city on our own and of course also do some shopping 😅

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm in Love (SMAU ft Lando Norris) part ii

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons

series: part i

end of January, 2025

1st week of February, 2025

[Excerpt from Red Carpet interview]

Hi Y/N L/N! We're so glad to see you here. First of all, congratulations on your win at the Australian Open.

“Thanks so much! I’m really excited to have started the year this way.”

We’re excited too – and very happy that you could make time to come here to London for this. Your calendar must be incredibly full.

“I do try and always have a week off after the Grand Slams at least, but the WTA Tour schedule has definitely filled out over the years. It’s always a bit of a puzzle to both ensure I can play enough, win points, and at the same time strike that right balance in terms of fitness.  Both mentally and physically.”

And yet you’re adding work for yourself by not only being a top athlete, but now also a brand ambassador for Dior. What made you want to do this?

“It’s a really cool opportunity to just play dress up from time to time, to be honest. Plus, I love that they recognise athletes and sports can be high fashion, too. I always think of how incredibly inspiring Serena Williams is, both on and off the court for breaking boundaries and for showing that sports and fashion can go really well together.”

Did you get any time to relax at all?

"Weirdly, this almost feels relaxing to me, because of how much time you have to carve out and focus on yourself – without any performance target attached to it. But I’ve also taken some time to hang with my friends and family."

You’re turning 27 this year as well, and you’ve been a pro athlete for almost 10 years now. Obviously last year wasn’t the best for you, performance wise. Has that made you reflect on what those performance targets will look like in the future? What’s something you’ve learned in that time?

"I mean, the main goal for me would be to achieve a Career Grand Slam – and just play the best tennis that I can possibly play. And in terms of what I’ve learned, I would say that it’s to choose your friends, your team very wisely. Sometimes I’ve regretted missing major events, and sometimes I’ve regretted giving people too much room in my life. You need people who help you keep that balance.” People who keep you grounded, who tether you. Because being a pro athlete means you have to be really selfish from time to time, and it means sacrifice. I don’t see my baby niece as often as I’d like, for example. But it’s just the way it is."

2nd week of February, 2025

3d week of February, 2025

[Transcript excerpts of Quadrant video]

“Alright so we’ve got our pro-athletes here, ready to battle it out in a game of Wii Sports,” Max starts, quickly introducing Lando and Y/N.

“You are going to lose so bad, Norris,” she says.

“Oh I see, we’re already starting the trash talking,” he retorts. “Haven’t even started the game yet.”

“That’s half the fun, isn’t it? Are we also going to play Mario Kart after this, just to see if Lando has what it takes to beat me on there?” Y/N asks eagerly, turning to Max.

“No fucking way, you always cheat!” Lando exclaims, with Y/N heard protesting in the background. “No I don’t, I just use the shortcuts that exist in the game! That is legitimate!”

(...)

“Birdie gets a birdie,” Lando cheers, though Max quickly chides him for encouraging the competition. “What? It’s not like she’s going to do it again, she’s terrible at this game,” Lando adds, motioning at the otherwise abysmal golf score that Y/N’s Mii character has racked up.

“Hey! She is right here, and she is currently in the lead after winning the bowling and tennis already.”

(...)

“Do you feel good about beating up a girl?” Y/N pouts, after losing the boxing match between her and Lando. He immediately makes a face, spluttering out an indignant “no!” that elicits a laugh from Y/N.

“Alright, that’s enough from both of you. With Lando’s win, it’s now tied again with only baseball to go. We’ll allow you both to consult your coach before starting this next round.”

They both turn to their coach for the day, one of the other Quadrant members, before taking their places – Wii Remote and Nunchuk in hand.

“You ready?

“Ready,” they nod, looking incredibly competitive. They even try and push each other to mess up their scores, devolving into a tickle fight halfway through. “No, Y/N stop, stop, I can’t - I’m crying,” Lando laughs, face red with tears streaming down his face.

“Does that mean I win?” She looks up from where she’d all but tackled Lando onto the ground, but then Max just shakes his head.

“It’s very close – but you’ve got one more pitch to go. You’re gonna need to let Lando hit it, or at least try to.” As soon as the words come out of his mouth, he blanches. Y/N rolls her eyes but starts uncontrollably giggling nonetheless.

“I regretted it as soon as I said it,” Max apologises profusely, but the camera zooms in on Lando who’s trying to hide his face behind both his hands, wheezing as Y/N tries to stand up and compose herself. Once they’ve finally managed to continue, it’s Lando who has the tiniest edge over Y/N.

“Ugh, well. This better not be a bad omen for me this season, but I guess I’d quite like to see you win the championship, Norris.”

“That’s actually very sweet,” he slings his arm around Y/N’s waist, then cracks open the champagne and pours it out over the two of them, with Y/N shrieking loudly at the cold, stickiness.

"So glad that's not part of tennis traditions."

4th week of February, 2025

[Excerpt Exit Press Conference]

“BBC Sport here. Your track record on hard court against Iga is not the best, now with 4 wins and 5 losses. How does that affect your training moving forward?

"Well, it was really close – so I feel like those type of numbers don’t really mean that much when it comes down to just a handful of winners or errors. Iga and I have played each other quite often, and she’s just an incredibly strong player. There’s a reason she’s had a long run at #1 and has returned to that spot for now.

In terms of training, I mean, we’re moving to gravel soon so it’s a completely different ballgame. Literally. We might run into each other again at Indian Wells, so of course we’ll come up with a plan – but my focus is already shifting towards the next Grand Slam, to be honest.”

Question from ViaPlay. Indian Wells is of course known for being the Grand Slam of the West and it’s one of the few 1000s tours where both ATP and WTA players meet. Last year, you entered into the mixed doubles with your then partner. Is that something you’d consider doing again in the future?

"Thanks for the question, but no. I’m playing singles, I’m not ready to mingle – I’m ready to pringle."

Will you actually have time to pringle, as you say? Or is it straight back to training for you?

"I’m going to spend a few days just hanging out, especially because I now have an extra day off all of a sudden. So I’ll try to make the most of that, then switch gears. Thanks."

A/N: Hope this uploads from the airport!! lol - next part coming March 14th, featuring Indian Wells, an interview faux-pas by Y/N, and of course some very fast cars 👀

♥ likes, comments, reblogs are always very much appreciated ♥

taglist: @linnygirl09 @julesbog @midnight-and-books @sarx164 @obxstiles @freyathehuntress @vhkdncu2ei8997 @berrnuu

[lazyypumpkin]

The Vourdalak 4/5 🌟

•hazy, dreamlike and sort of theatrically campy

•atmosphere reminds me of some of my favorite 70’s fairytale movies

•visually a very pretty movie

•it’s low key silly and at the same time not silly at all

•protagonist belongs in horny jail

•had to have too much of a close look at his butt, automatic star deduction

•piotr my beloved

•is this truly a four star watch? Idk man but I do indeed have a newfound obsession with piotr as a character

SPOILER ALERT PROCEED WITH CAUTION

•would be mad about kill your queers™️ but tbh everyone gets murked

•sdenka going off to munch on some noble frenchmen is not a bad ending tbh

•justice for piotr, they too deserved to gnaw on some nobles

(I do wonder if not escaping while being undead is maybe also meant as a sort of kinder fate? Since vampirism in this movie seems to be a metaphor for generational trauma and grief. But like, as a gay I naturally wanted to see piotr have a happy ending, idk the urge to write fanfic about the siblings escaping as vampires and terrorizing the french court is strong)

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) 3,5/5🌟

•It’s a very pretty movie, mostly watched it bc I like looking at Isabelle Adjani’s face

•that shot where she runs through the plague infested city and people have their last meals is stunning and I love it immensely (some shots looked like a vanitas painting and I appreciate that very much)

•got a little bored about 2/3rds in and I hate Klaus Kinsky, that’s why the rating isn’t higher

•that being said Orlok is specially pathetic and whimpery in this one and I did like that lmao

•he is like a sad cat left outside in the rain

•everyone has a german accent and the acting us very campy, nearly boosted this to four stars bc I loved how unintentionally comedic it was

•I was yesterday years old when I found out that this movie apparently has two versions??? One in english and one in german??? I must watch the german version now to see if it’s very different

•could have been gayer

Nosferatu (1922) 4/5🌟

•a classic

•love me some dracula silent film fanfic

•watched this with a friend last summer and laughed my ass off bc we kept doing silly little voices and sound effects to read the title cards aloud 10/10 would recommend

•low key started my obsession with silent films

•watched it again two weeks ago in cinema with a musician playing live synth music to it and it was absolutely insane,, I fell in love with it all over again

•I know we all know the classic shot of his shadow going up the stairs and it’s iconic for a reason but can we talk about that scene where orlok’s hand creeps up ellen’s body and closes around her heart?? It’s probably my all time favorite ever

•one thing I didn’t like was how orlok sometimes just looked like he was walking around in the sunshine, I used to think oh let it be it was made in the 1920’s but other murnau movies handled night time scenes SO much better

•that being said this movie is insane when u consider it was made in a time where being a director was basically just fucking around and finding out (as in the classic conventions of cinematography were not yet established)

•orlok is a silly little goober and so is Knock, they’re cute little grandpas (perhaps with some weird hobbies) and I want to adopt them and lovingly feed them flies in a terrarium

•in summary, insane movie, everyone who loves vampires should watch it NOW

Vampire movies I have been watching to keep me sane until season 3 of iwtv (part 3)

Next up are the achillean (or vaguely homoerotic) vampire movies

The Lost Boys (1987) 4/5🌟

•Very fun, very 80’s

•characters with a lot of potential (can see myself writing mental fanfic about this one)

•cool visuals& lots of pretty, long haired men in cunty little outfits

•if you liked the whole stranger things pre teens on bikes solving mysteries thing you’ll love this

•if you liked the vampiric motorcycle coven aspect of s2 of iwtv you’ll love this as well

•it’s a cult classic for a reason but I personally hated the ending

•should’ve been gayer but also it’s very homoerotic

Dracula (1931) 3/5🌟

•really beautiful& atmospheric set design

•loved the costumes, specially for dracula’s brides

•Bela Lugosi’s so pretty 😭

Like genuinely no wonder the man has a whole bauhaus song about him

•They told Bela Lugosi “serve count” and he understood “serve cunt” instead

•did not go into much depth with the characters imo and was kinda xenophobic (but I guess that last point is to be expected given the source material and the time the movie was made)

•obviously ended up rooting for hot dracula (lmfao surprise) specially bc all the human characters were so boring

•could’ve been more homoerotic

•not my favorite vampire movie but would definitely watch it again bc it’s just fun

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) 3/5 🌟

•pls don’t crucify me over the rating I know this one’s beloved by many it just wasn’t for me

•5/5🌟 for costume and set design though like the movie is heavenly to look at

•a little too long and convoluted tbh I did feel a bit bored at times with the story

•didn’t really buy the romance between any of the characters

•another VERY hot dracula like I’m a certified man hater and yet I was simping hard

•homoerotic beard shaving scene

•fantastic blood sucking scene single-handedly made my rating go up from 2,5 to 3 stars lol

Interview with the Vampire (1994) 3,5/5🌟

•pls don’t crucify me over this rating either I just didn’t feel like I enjoyed myself as much as I should’ve throughout this movie

•this is one of those pieces of media that’s both gay and homophobic at the same time, like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are no homo-ing all over the place

•made think Tom Cruise in a blonde wig is attractive and I’ll never forgive them for that

•it’s kind of amazing seeing Kirsten Dunst act circles around two grown men

•despite me being very critical I actually do like this movie a lot I just also think it doesn’t do the characters and their complexity justice

•very pretty set design and costuming, visually this movie is gorgeous

[alien-girl-21]

.

[rhythmmortis]

kh1 is the best kh game because it lets you go Creature Mode

[stiltonbasket]

3 for the ao3 wrapped please 💜

The work I'm most proud of is my Bingqiu baby fic, may she be a light to you in dark places (when all other lights go out). (Podfic by @kickit-kick here.)

I started brainstorming an SV canon divergence fic with Luo Binghe as movie!Arwen from LOTR in February or March--but since I already had several MDZS projects in progress, I decided to shelve the LOTR AU and come back to it after completing one of my existing WIPs.

In April, I realized that I could use the Arwen!Binghe plot to fill a prompt for the SV Gotcha, so I got to work and managed to complete the fic in about two months. I'm very happy with how the story turned out, but finishing it within nine-ish weeks was a very welcome plus!

However, none of this would have been possible without my wonderful illustrator, @habunnn. A great deal of the fic came about thanks to their art; I wrote the passage about Tianlang-jun biting baby Hengxia to soothe her while she was teething because Habun drew a cute sketch of TLJ biting Hengxia's cheek, and the final chapter (where Hengxia celebrates her third birthday) was written because of Habun's illustration of Bingqiu and Hengxia cuddling outside the bamboo house after her birthday party. The fic was originally supposed to end with Hengxia's birth: but since we had art of toddler Hengxia, I had to write an extra chapter to go with it!

[callmemerry00]

I just think that his suspenders and stupid mop hair are neat

[justablah56]

do you guys ever think about when it's dark at night . and I close my eyes . I can see you there . only one who doesn't hate me . I think I dreamed it all . got your drawing on the wall . I just feel so calm . held by your aaaaarms . why are you so far . awaaaaaaay .

[mandalora]

Stolen from amidonexor, no one asked me either

[my-dark-happy-place]

Life of the Spider (Draft) by Halsey is genuinely the saddest song I have ever heard and 90% of all music I listen to is sad.

I fully get why Halsey didn't manage to fully record it in the studio and consequently why it's on the album as a draft.

[merthurians-prat-and-idiot]

I'm reading episode codas for 7x04/7x05 spec and all the bi buck goodness & I keep thinking "aw this is brilliant I wish they would do this on the show!" And then I suddenly remember- "oh they did, they actually did, its canon- he's bi!"

Like it keeps hitting me that it actually happened & I keep finding myself grinning like an idiot every time I think about it.

Every so often - "hey, guess what- remember- Buck is bisexual! Its real!"

[cleverpaws]

my version of the billsona thing everyones doing. it's literally only just occurring to me as i type this out that i could have called them cipherpaws god fucking dammit errm but anyways. little guy. he's nonthreatening!

[kaytub]

finally doing the evil artstyle challenge and my god my eyes HURT.