#Alaska Leigh

[wornoutspines]

Dead Boy Detectives | Teaser

First teaser trailer for DC's #DeadBoyDetectives, a new series part of #TheSandman universe and it will feature a member of the endless. #Netflix

Writers: Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner (Comics) Creator: Steve Yockey Stars: Max Jenkins, George Rexstrew, Kassius Nelson, Briana Cuoco, Ruth Connell, Jenn Lyon, Caitlin Reilly, Yuyu Kitamura This looks quirky and a bit cheap, however, if the writing and acting are solid this could be very fun and spooky. Coming in 2024 on Netflix If you want to support this site, help by getting me coffee from…

[alaskaleigh]

ALASKA by Farrah

[therunawaykind]

don't wanna break up again

Pairing: Leigh Shaw x GN!Reader

Word Count: 3.8k

Genre: Pinch of angst? fluff

Warnings: None unless you hate the names Leigh & Danny in the same sentence quite a bit

A/N: Long time no see! (again) writer's block and just simply getting the inspiration and motivation to write have been fucking dreadful these last few months. I dunno what was going on. Hopefully, all things going well this is my slow return to posting regularly again on here. If not then whoops you'll see me again at some stage. Who would've thought Leigh Shaw and Ariana Granda was gonna be my breakthrough for writing stuff not me that's for sure. This is my very loose interpretation of Ariana Grande's 'don't wanna break up again' I saw someone say it was very Leigh x Danny coded then this transpired. I hope I have done this some justice I imagine my writing abilities are a bit rusty so bear with me and I hope you all enjoy!

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If there was one thing Leigh was certain of since Matt’s death it was how complicated and difficult her life had become, ranging from devastating revelations to do with Matt and his teacher co-worker Nina, living with a Jules who is now a recovering sober alcoholic, dealing with her mother Amy with her previous breakdown she had where she moved to Alaska which subsequently led to her breakthrough of wanting to travel and basically just live somewhere else that wasn’t in Los Angeles, that wasn’t home.

In addition to that after Leigh’s breakdown after choosing to leave with Jules to go to Vietnam, she ultimately decided just to stay living in their family home whilst both Jules and her mother left for however long they decided. Leigh also decided to take over Beautiful Beast for Jules until she was ready to come back…if she ever did but nonetheless she couldn’t let all of Jules’ hard work go to waste. And last but not least the absolute travesty that of her and Danny whatever that thing is, it’s complicated, messy and above all else unhealthy all over for the both of them. Not to delve too much into the ups and downs of their….thing the latest situation ended up with Danny punching a hole in the wall of Leigh’s home, to sum it up in a simple phrase “People don’t slam their fists through walls when things are going well.”

The one positive and healthy yet still slightly complicated thing in Leigh’s life which happened unexpectedly was well… Y/N. Granted one of the only aspects that made it complicated was the fact you were her “student”, you both met due to you attending Leigh’s classes at Beautiful Beast, the friendship, and conversations which ended up evolving into more flirtatious conversations did just happen out of nowhere unexpectedly. The downfall of the whole friendship between you both was when Danny surprised Leigh at the entrance of Beautiful Beast one night to take her home…then you caught Danny kissing her which again took Leigh by surprise. That night and predicament in question had truly shocked Leigh because from what she knew and understood during that time, it was during one of her and Danny’s off moments, their pause a break essentially.

But in good Leigh fashion the second she saw Danny she started overthinking and thought she interpreted something wrong or missed a certain something, whilst simultaneously thinking this was Danny offering an olive branch and showing her they really can make this work, they can be good and healthy for each other….how wrong she was. So understandably from then on you started to distance yourself and pull away from Leigh after that by not talking, hanging out or texting as much. Unbeknownst to Leigh any hope you had of having some sort of relationship with her plummeted very quickly after that. 

Leigh knew whatever they had going on wasn’t good for either of them and would never last, it was a cycle they couldn’t break….well she couldn’t break. It was a lifeline for them both, the last small bit of connection they both had to Matt in some way. On one hand, Leigh had this negative and toxic relationship that she couldn’t leave, she couldn’t escape it. Somehow it always kept dragging her back in no matter how many times night and day it had her distraught, crying and attempting to soothe herself. On the other hand, Leigh had this seemingly hopeful, positive and healthy relationship she could have with you.

But before she even tried to give that relationship a chance she had to try to get out of this fucking cycle she couldn’t seem to get out of and no matter how hard she tried. Whenever she asked Jules for advice on the relationship, much to nobody's surprise always went something like this. 

“Leigh you need to end this thing with Danny and go no contact with him at least for some time, this is not healthy for either of you. I mean come on Leigh he punched a hole in the wall at our house. Let me remind you when I was living with you Leigh after mom left, just how many times I’d hear quiet sobs from your room, you talking to yourself to make yourself feel better and reassure yourself everything was going to be okay, that everything was gonna be fine. And I couldn’t get in because 1. You’d lock the door, 2. You wouldn’t respond when I asked if you were okay and lastly, when you did,  you’d just say you were fine, you were okay. Once one of you starts to feel happier and healthier the other drags the other one down simply just by being around.

I know you don’t want to go through another break-up or heartbreak….but you’re doing it to yourself constantly by staying in this with Danny or maybe…. You keep going back to this thing with Danny because you don’t want to hurt him and his heart completely. And if you do fully disappear from his life because to him you're his last link to Matt and right now you know full well you are leading him on and have him believing you two can have some semblance of a future together no matter how complicated it may be. I know this is a weird way to word it but… I think you know Matt wouldn’t want or like Danny to be experiencing this level of hurt and anguish as much as he is, not even specifically with you just with anyone.

But let’s not forget just how much you did hurt Danny initially when he was staying away from you and you wouldn’t let it happen. You forced your way into his life because you needed him to love you. Who knows maybe some ways down the line in the future when you’re both fully healed or at least somewhat…you two can be friends and have that last link to Matt. But also do remember that doesn’t mean you have to stop contact with Matt’s mother…. You can still have a link to him in some shape and form.”

That’s what she’d deal with, she knew and understood completely what Jules was saying yet she couldn’t bring herself to do it….unfortunately. She wishes Danny would end up being the person to end it but the chances of that happening are slim to none. But with the possibilities that awaited her on the other side of things…she knew what she had to do, end things with Danny then she had to get the friendship with Y/N back to what it was, and she had to show you that you weren't going to be just some rebound, that she saw a future with this relationship she saw it going the distance. 

When she thought about the aspects of the relationship she had with Y/N the only way Leigh could describe how she felt…was how she felt when she was with Matt. With you, it finally felt like Leigh had gotten the best and good part of herself back that as Leigh put it Matt had taken with him when he died. It felt like she could finally breathe again and live her life to the fullest. Fortunately for Leigh yet quite sadly when the friendship between you both was at its best Matt left her alone, and Leigh’s recurring what she would consider nightmares of Matt and Nina living out the life she lived with him finally stopped.

Now all she had to do was start the process and uncomplicate her life which starts with talking to Danny.

As Leigh anxiously approaches the door to the apartment she knows so well, she nervously wrings out her hands and fingers. She had texted Danny the night before asking him if would it be okay for her to visit in the morning to talk to him, as Danny eagerly agreed to her calling over she realised at that very moment he was expecting a very different conversation. She hesitantly starts knocking on the door muttering to herself “You can do this, you can do this. You have to do this for yourself, Danny and everyone else in your life but most importantly you and Danny.” After a few seconds, shuffling could be heard behind the door as Leigh took a deep breath in, in an attempt to calm herself down and get all of her feelings under control.

Once the door opened a weak nervous smile spread across her face, Leigh quickly scans Danny trying to figure out how he really is, as she sees him start to step out and lean in to give her a quick kiss but before anything of the sort can happen Leigh quickly steps in and gives him a quick hug as she states “so is it alright for me to come in?” as she smiles quickly at him. Danny’s face scrunches up in confusion as Leigh quickly pats his stomach as she steps past him into his apartment, he lets out an exasperated sigh and throws his head back slightly and he turns around to walk into his apartment closing the door behind him. 

When Danny finally turns to face Leigh he can’t help but notice her looking around his apartment and the constant nervous fidgeting with her fingers, her hair and her neck. He sighs to himself “Alright Leigh what is this about you said you wanted to talk.” 

Leigh jumps slightly as she spins around to face him “ I- well- yeah you’re right I did, I did.” rubbing her now sweaty palms off of the side of her jeans and slowly sits herself down on Danny's sofa. Taking a deep breath in and bringing her hands up to her mouth “I- I can imagine from the way I’m acting and just how difficult it is for me to start this conversation and say what I actually want to….that you already know what this conversation is about and where it’s heading.” Hearing a quiet sigh beside her Leigh glances quickly out the side of her eye seeing Danny leaning forward slightly with his head down and forearms leaning on his knees. “But Danny this thing has to be stopped, I- we’re both hurting each other continuously whether we realise it or not. I mean need I remind ourselves of the punching a hole in the wall situation.”

That got a small chuckle out of Danny as he shook his head slightly clicking his tongue. “And I mean it wasn’t just you Danny, I forced you to be around me when you didn’t want to, in our own little ways, we were selfish when it came to this situation. Now I know I stated and promised you before that I would never have a life that didn’t have you in it…but whilst we’re both still healing and dealing with our grief that obviously still hasn’t gone anywhere. We do really need to not be in each other's lives anymore, no contact, no talking in any shape or form no stupid lil emoji texts anymore.” 

Biting his lip and sitting back Danny exclaims “But Leigh that’s EXACTLY what you’re doing, you’re leaving, you’re having a life without me! You obviously think and believe you don’t need me!” 

“I’M NOT LEAVING YOU, I’M NOT HAVING A LIFE WITHOUT YOU”

“LEIGH THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE DOING CAN YOU NOT HEAR WHAT YOU’RE SAYING” 

“DANNY!” scoffing to herself and shaking her head as she calmly states ”See this, this here exactly happening right now is why we need to take a step back from each other. We can’t even have a normal conversation without blowing up and ending up yelling at each other. The only time we aren’t killing each other is when we’re having sex and- and even then since we had that conversation in that casino resort we both know Matt is still weirdly on our minds during that. I- I think no matter how much we try or maybe want some sort of actual loving relationship with each other…it’ll never work. The only thing we ever can be to each other is friends.” Leigh shakes her head and licks her lips slightly “Just a friendship. Because we are hurting each other and ourselves from the inside out. We have to heal by ourselves, without the other in our lives and move on. And hopefully at some stage down the line whenever we’re both happy and healthy we can get back in contact with the other.”

Leigh smirks as she sways from side to side “Cause I can’t lie Danny I think we’d be pretty kick-ass friends together don’t ya think.” She grins as she nudges Danny with her shoulder, clearing his throat and nodding “Yeah- yeah I think we would be. And I can’t lie I get what you’re saying I understand hell I see it completely. It- it is just a difficult thing to let go of even if it is just for a little bit.” 

Biting her lip and rubbing Danny’s arm “I get it, Danny I do believe me but you still have your mom. You both can get through this together because it was just as difficult for her to… You are all she has left. And I’ll- I'm staying in contact with her or at this stage more like getting in contact with her more considering she still is my mother-in-law or ex-mother-in-law anyways specifics isn’t the important thing here.” 

Danny laughs slightly and nods “Yeah, yeah she’d like that.” Both sit back against the sofa in silence basking in the reality of what now has to be undertaken the reality of it hitting them simultaneously. Rubbing her hands anxiously up and down her legs as she slowly drags out “rigghtt I guess- I guess I better go now and leave us both to our journey of healing, growth whatever you wanna call it.” Leigh laughs as she mumbles to herself “god I sound like my mother” She walks to the door with Danny right behind her as Leigh opens the door she turns around and smiles at Danny as they both embrace each other in a hug for the last time till…who knows how long. Both pulling away slowly and giving each other a subtle nod as Leigh steps out through the door as it closes behind her softly. Leigh takes a deep breath in, the grin spreading across her face going unnoticed by her as she starts to descend the steps of the apartment building.

Leigh was never nervous or anxious when it came to teaching her exercise classes though apparently today was the exception, as she anticipated your arrival. Leigh smiles moving back and forth on her feet as she greets all of the students walking in through the door to her class, anxiously waiting to get a glimpse of your bag, shoes or something as you come through the front door. Considering since you distanced yourself from her she’s noticed you haven’t attended classes all that regularly. Leigh’s eyebrows raise in anticipation as she sees the front doors open happily letting out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding as she saw a glimpse of your bag and shoes come into view. Giddily she lets a grin spread across her face and she nervously picks at her nails seeing you approach the entrance “Hey Y/N it’s nice to see you again, I’m glad you decided to attend and come today.” 

Taken aback by Leigh's greeting and striking up a proper conversation with you after so long did genuinely take you by surprise but couldn’t stop the smile on your face “Hey Leigh, yeah I can’t lie I missed attending these classes I’m sure I’ll get back on track from now on.” Both smiling at each other as you walk past her into the class much to Leigh’s amazement you turn around and say to her “Leigh if I can just say you look great...you just look happy and healthy. Whatever you’ve done or are doing keep it up it suits you.” With her mouth wide open Leigh messily nods and stutters out “I- I will- I-  Thank you very much, I will be sure to keep it up.” Leigh turns around to the door to hide and mutters to herself “Idiot”.

Much to her relief though the class was a success and she didn’t stumble or trip over any more of her words whenever she got closer to you throughout her class as she moved around the room. After the class finished Leigh quickly grabbed her towel off the floor wiping the sweat off of her as she said goodbye to everyone, in her peripheral vision she could see you deliberately taking your sweet ass time packing away all of your stuff. Biting her lip she attempted to suppress the smile taking over her face. 

As she said goodbye to one of the last students she sauntered across the room towards you as she started fiddling with the towel around her neck. “Sooo Y/N” you glanced up at her as you were putting on your shoes “What's up Leigh?” 

She smiles at you abashedly as she scratches her head “I just wanna say sorry and give you a quick apology for anything I said or did that created that distance and made us pull away from each other. Because- because for that length of time, I really did miss seeing you and your face around here but I’m glad to see you back now.” Nervously scratching the back of your neck “Yeah umm I just-” shaking your head slightly as you let out a breath “I just had some stuff I had to figure out and work on to clear my head a bit and- unfortunately, sadly to do that I kinda had to step away and distance myself from you and well all things relating to you. But I- I think I’ve figured it all out now.” 

You can’t help but notice the hopeful glint in Leigh’s eyes and smile “Oh really? A positive figure it out I hope?” 

Grinning and nodding confidently “Yeah- yeah it does seem that way.” Both of you stare at each other smiling to your heart's content as both of your eyes scan the other person. You clear your throat as you can feel the heat rising to your cheeks and glance around the room “Anyways I should probably head off and leave you to clean up the place or whatever it is you have left to do around here.”  Leigh absentmindedly nods her head but ultimately starts panicking as you pick up your bag and wave goodbye to her, she quickly sprints after you saying between breaths “Or or- or albeit this isn’t a very nice offer for you to ask-” you raise your eyebrow at her “What is it, Leigh?”

“Um, do you wanna hang out here with me and help me out around here if you aren’t busy? I just- I’ve just missed hanging out and talking with you and thought this might be a nice way for us to catch up.”

“Y’know you are right it isn’t the nicest or most glamorous offer I’ve ever heard but I have missed talking to you Leigh so I’ll stick around and help my favourite fitness instructor out.” 

Leigh whips her head around to face you and stumbles slightly as she starts moving the spare barres placed around the room “Wha- what do you mean favourite fitness instructor? I’m your only fitness instructor.” Smirking over at Leigh as you roll up the extra yoga mats “That you know of, could’ve tried out other places whilst I was MIA” 

“HEY!” Leigh exclaims as she throws a cloth at you 

Laughing at her reaction as you catch the cloth “I’m messing, I’m messing you would be correct, you are the only fitness instructor I know and one that I go to.” You hear a quiet yet stern “good” in response as she goes back to cleaning, laughing and shaking your head in the process.

Since then you and Leigh have practically been inseparable, it was as if nothing had ever happened. She had explained to you fully what went and was going on with her and Danny currently..more like what wasn’t going on. Even though you had said to her repeatedly she didn’t have to that it was none of your business. But you reassured her it was for the better, she made the right decision, she’s doing better because of it and you could only hope the same for Danny. Leigh now had you over at her house….for what she told you would be a quiet night in with both of your favourite takeout foods and as many movies and TV shows as you both could handle.

Which now that you were here was not the case at all. Leigh had gotten the bright idea, the brainwave or as she put it a breakthrough. She felt that the whole house needed to be redecorated and refurnished as it reminded her of sad, difficult and complicated times and she couldn’t stand being reminded of those moments any longer. So who were you to say no to helping her out yet again. As you were sat on the floor dismantling all of the old furniture with Leigh, you saw her peak her head out from the other side “Again I’m sorry about this, it seems like none of my hangouts recently are that exciting and it involves you always having to work.” You laugh and shake your head “Leigh honestly it’s okay I really don’t care what I do as long as it’s with you. But hey it’ll be a nice bonding time for both of us, be a little glimpse of what it’s like if we were to ever live with each other I guess.” You scratch your head and hurriedly get back to dismantling the furniture as you realise what you said. “Did you just say living together?” 

“Psshhh me say that? No never? Must’ve heard things, Leigh.” 

“Mhmm okay sure.” What you didn’t notice was Leigh moving over to you slowly on her knees but jumping slightly as you felt her place her arms on your shoulders in an attempt to get you to raise your head to look at her. Glancing up at her you see the silly little smile on her face “I may not be ready for that yet but I’d like to think we’d end up living together at some stage in the future.” 

Staring at her wide-eyed “R-really?” Leigh grins and nods her head as she whispers against your lips “Really.” Grinning at each other as you both lean in to place kisses on each other's lips which quickly turn into little pecks as Leigh slaps your thigh “Alright let’s get back to work this house isn’t gonna refurnish and redecorate itself. And this furniture certainly won’t dismantle itself.” 

Chuckling to yourself you playfully salute towards Leigh “Aye, aye captain.” 

[lyralit]

books for every song off of reputation

...ready for it? - ☆ All of Us Villains, Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman

end game - ☆ Our Violent Ends, Chloe Gong

i did something bad - ☆ Foul Lady Fortune, Chloe Gong

don't blame me - Six Crimson Cranes, Elizabeth Lim

delicate - Scythe, Neil Schusterman

look what you made me do - ☆ If We Were Villains, M.L. Rio

so it goes... - The Afterlife of Holly Chase, Cynthia Hand

gorgeous - Legendborn / Bloodmarked, Tracy Deonn

getaway car - Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

king of my heart - Looking for Alaska, John Green

dancing with our hands tied - Once Upon a Broken Heart, Stephanie Garber

dress - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

this is why we can't have nice things - ☆ The Secret History, Donna Tartt

call it what you want - Legend, Marie Lu

new year's day - ☆ These Violent Delights, Chloe Gong

(bonus) i don't wanna live forever - ☆ The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab

[stonebutchery]

Lakey's Smash or Pass: Leigh Whannell Edition

Axel from The Matrix Reloaded (2003) dir. Lily and Lana Wachowski

Being a Matrix franchise character, I've loved Axel long before I ever started giving a shit about Leigh Whannell as an actor/screenwriter. I love Axel so much, I would do everything and anything to save him. If I were a character in this universe and a resident of Zion, I would try to get him to stay home and never embark on the Vigilant. Do not doubt my commitment. I need him alive, I need to be his lover. I care about him.

Verdict: SMASH

David from Saw (2003) dir. James Wan

There is absolutely nothing and no one that could keep me from pouring all of my energy and time and love and care into helping David defend himself legally after the events of the Saw proof-of-concept short film. I actually explained everything I would do if I were his defense attorney in this post. I don't really want to be his lawyer, though. I want to be his boyfriend. I want to be the one that posts his bail if possible... and, if not possible, I would come to visit him as often as I was legally and physically able to just to give him someone to talk to. I want to show up for his trial dates as moral support. I want to let him move in with me when he's finally acquitted and needs someone to lean on. I want to hold David. I want to hug him. I want to kiss him, kiss him softly. On the cheeks and neck and lips. I want to fuck this man. I will reset him, re-calibrate him, via prostate orgasm. I want to shatter his world and put it back together... who said that...

Verdict: SMASH

Adam from Saw (2004) dir. James Wan

I care very deeply about Adam. I would take care of this dude. I honestly just want to support him. I'm very aware of the fact that I have a service-oriented loyalty complex like some kind of human PTSD dog and I embrace that fact about myself. I love Adam like a really close roommate or a best friend or maybe an ex-boyfriend I'm on really good terms with and I still care a lot about platonically. I want to let Adam freeload. I want to let him move in with me and not pay rent because he needs the support and he's too depressed to care for himself lately. I want to wash his hair. I want to do his laundry with mine, I want to cook and share meals with him, I want to gently pressure him into calling his mom back because I want to see his situation and mood improve. I'd volunteer to go with him to appointments of any kind to be his advocate in any medical, business, social services or whatever setting. I'd know I'm not responsible for him but I'd want him to know he could lean on me when he needs it. But I don't really want to smash. It wouldn't be a non-option, but I'd much rather talk to him about politics and art over some dinner in our shared apartment.

Verdict: PASS

Spink from Death Sentence (2007) dir. James Wan

Anyone who actually, genuinely knows me knows that Michael Scofield from Prison Break was one of my first guycrushes... Not the actual first, but certainly one of them. Spink is the same kind of twink as Michael Scofield. Looks aside, he thinks he's tough and hard while compensating for shortcomings and vulnerabilities. I find that insanely attractive. I want to be the one who gets him off speed, I want to be the one who talks him into leaving the gang and fleeing to Canada or Alaska with me without police intervention so that he doesn't have to make deals he's uncomfortable with that will end up costing him his freedom and an actual chance at a fresh start. Where was I going with this? Doesn't matter. I'm smashing that twink.

Verdict: SMASH

Matt from Dying Breed (2008) dir. Jody Dwyer

I can't, in good conscience, say that I would smash Matt, at least not on his own. Conditional smash. I'd want to be Matt and Nina's third. I don't want to get in the way of what they have. I think they're both so adorable. And, yes, I think they're both attractive and sweet. They clearly care a lot about each other and respect each other and show each other affection in a boundary-sensitive way. Because I live in denial, I also live in a fantasy world of my own interiority's creation in which Nina and Matt escaped their captors and managed to survive and they make it back to Ireland and I would absolutely be ready and willing to be their support person. I want to be their third, also in a roommate-like way, or maybe as a domestic partner? But I absolutely care about them and I'd do anything for them. The old "it's rotten work / not to me, not if it's you" and all that. Trauma-informed bisexual polyamory. Love wins.

Verdict: SMASH

Specs from Insidious (2010) dir. James Wan, Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) dir. James Wan, Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) dir. Leigh Whannell, Insidious: The Last Key (2018) dir. Adam Robitel, and Insidious: The Red Door (2023) dir. Patrick Wilson

Jesus Christ, I am so fucking crazy about Steven "Specs" Fisher. I lose all composure when I see him. His dorkyass endearing nerd aura drives me insane with lust. I have never needed anything as badly as I need to flirt with him and make him feel special. Not to be NSFW but I will also note that I am a trans Specs truther and want it to be known that I can, would, and will eat this man out. I will handjob finger this man to several orgasms. As a stone butch service top, I'm a giver only so he doesn't have to worry about reciprocating, anyway, if that's a going concern. Sorry for how crude I sound, I just want to make this man cum.

Verdict: SMASH

Donovan from The Debt Collector (2012) dir. Rich Ceraulo Ko

Goddamn. I need to spot him from across the room at a dive bar punk show, make my way over there, tell him he has beautiful hands, pretty eyes, and a cute face, offer to buy him a drink, ask him if he wants to come back to my place, and hook up with him.

Verdict: SMASH

David from Crush (2013) dir. Malik Bader

Truth be told, I've never seen Crush. He looks like a nice enough guy. I wouldn't not smash... but he's definitely not at the top of my list.

Verdict: SMASH

Clement from The Pardon (2013) dir. Tom Anton

Given the fact that Clement Moss was, in fact, a real man who actually existed and really did try and fail to defend an innocent woman from being sent to her death by electric chair in the 1940s, I must respectfully pass.

Verdict: PASS

Doug from Cooties (2014) dir. Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott

Come with me on a little journey of imagination, will you? Imagine, with me, a desolate world where a rapidly-spreading virus has taken possession of a significant percentage of children across the country, the catastrophe quickly spreading to the rest of the world. Trust me, human encampments are popping up to defend against the zombie scourge. Think of one of the many enclaves of surface-dwellers in Fallout. Think of a camp like that where survivors have situated themselves advantageously, they function communally, and welcome clean, virus-free outsiders regardless of whether they can pitch in to help or not. I like to imagine I'd be keeping myself safe in a fort or a settlement like that, and I like to imagine that Doug and the band of teachers traveling together would be taken in by such a place, sanctuary rule style. Doug? Doug is a hard pass for me, sexually and romantically, but he seems like he could really use someone to talk at. So imagine, one last time, a group of adults prepping nightly communal dinner from non-perishable foods (we are 100% making some meatless chili with canned beans, corn, and other veggies and seasoning it well so that everyone has some comfort food before bed)... and, while I'm working the gas stove, keeping a big ol' batch of the vegetarian chili hot to serve, I let Doug take my chair and sit down and ramble and infodump away while I dish out servings to our comrades. Doesn't that sound nice? And, yes, believe me, I'll be trying to reform some of his wayward misconceptions about everything. I can't outright discard him. It may have been for comic relief but we're TBI buddies, so I empathize. He seems like a well-meaning dude with some issues that can be smoothed out, autism-to-autism communication style. So, respectfully, I pass.

Verdict: PASS

Gavin from The Mule (2014) dir. Tony Mahony and Angus Sampson

Good fucking grief. Gavin Alastair Ellis. Gavin would absolutely hate me for it but I would not be afraid to scrap, punch, bite, and claw Ray in order to lay claim over Gavin… and, listen, we can make the polyamory thing work but only as a throuple composed of two people who hate each other but who both love the person who serves as the keystone member of the relationship. That's the only way this is going to work. Ray's a sweet dude but he is not my type, not for this. Realistically, we'd probably be on very friendly terms because I do think Ray's alright… but I need Gavin in such a deeply carnal way so bad it makes me look stupid. Oh my God. This slut made me cry.

Verdict: SMASH

Larry from The Bye Bye Man (2017) dir. Stacy Title

You couldn't get me to feel anything for this man even if you forced me to at gunpoint.

Verdict: PASS

Matt from Keep Watching (2017) dir. Sean Carter

I need to fuck him sloppy... by the way, if you even care.

Verdict: SMASH

Jatt from Legend of the Guardians (2010) dir. Zack Snyder

This is literally an animated owl from a piece of children's media. DISQUALIFIED.

Verdict: HARD PASS

[urfriendash]

fall tbr

i don’t think i’ll be able to read all these but these are all the books i’d like to read this fall :)

if he had been with me by laura nowlin (p)

six of crows by leigh bardugo (p)

the atlas six by olivie blake (p)

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid (p)

the goldfinch by donna tartt (reread) (p)

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde (d)

the four agreements by miguel ruiz (p)

looking for alaska by john green (p?)

the ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins (reread) (p)

carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu (d)

the book thief by markus zusak (l)

this is my autumn playlist so far:

[breezeoddity]

I decided to make an introduction post, so here we are.

Hi! I'm Yana.

I'm 18 y.o. and I just started my med university. I LOVE photography, reading and posting silly little things about my favorite characters.

I'm a sapphic woman and that's all you should know 💗

English isn't even my second language, so forgive me for that.

Some photos by me (I use Canon EOS 60D). Most of the time I photograph my friends, nature, libraries and exhibition.

My favorite artists:

Taylor Swift (I'm a swiftie first, human being second). #FolkmoreStanTillIDie #champagneproblems&cowboylikemeEnjoyerforlife

Chappell Roan

The Beatles

David Bowie

Hozier

Boygenius

The Amazing Devil

The crane wives

my Spotify

My favorite movies:

Before sunrise

Dead poets society

Into the wilds

Roman Holiday

Robin Hood (1973)

Pitch Perfect

my letterbox

My favorite series:

Stranger Things

Looking for Alaska

Gilmore Girls

Supernatural

The Vampire Diaries

Good Omens

The Office

The L word

My favorite books:

Harry Potter (I know a marauders fan when I see one)

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Grishavers by Leigh Bardugo

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Also I'm a huge fantasy reader and I adore books by George Martin, Robin Hobb, Andrzej Sapkowski and Robert Jordan

my Pinterest

I don't know what to say at the end, let's be friends I guess??

[triviareads]

Hi, do you happen to have any fave recs for a heroine in disguise trope? It can be e.g. a heroine that wants to seem mousy/inconspicuous at first sight (Cat in Married by Morning) or perhaps a heroine with secret indentity (Chase in Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover)....? I know it's more common in historicals but it can be modern rom com too. Thank you in advance!

Hi! Sorry for the delay. Here are the ones I could think of off the top of my head:

The Wolf and the Wildflower by Stacy Reid: The heroine's been disguised as a man her entire life because her mother didn't want to go through childbirth again so she lied and said she was a boy to her husband. She's now a psychologist and is invited to help this WOLFY DUKE who's been in the wilds of Alaska for years and needs help getting reacclimated to society. I can confirm he susses her out as a woman within moments of meeting her and by susses her out he SNIFFS her out.

The Courtesan Duchess by Joanna Shupe: Exactly what it says on the tin; the hero and heroine are married but have been estranged for years. Her situation is getting pretty desperate so she disguises herself as a courtesan and goes to him in Italy where he's been fucking around for like 8 years and tries to seduce him into getting her pregnant.

The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh: The heroine asks the hero to take her to all his demimonde haunts so she disguises herself with a wig and makeup as "Salome".

Her Husband’s Harlot by Grace Callaway: Another heroine who disguises herself as a prostitute to find her husband except he doesn't recognizes her and she ends up getting devirginized in a brothel........ and then goes back for a repeat experience.

Her Wanton Wager by Grace Callaway: This heroine really tries to slap on a mustache to go meet this underworld gambling hell owner so she can persuade him to let go of her brother's debts, except obviously the hero recognizes she's a woman in 10 seconds after ripping her mustache off.

Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt: She's THE GHOST OF ST. GILES, also, she does disguise herself as a boy because it's easier to be a boy on the streets; the hero is soooo confused and sooooo turned on by it.

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe: She attends a costume ball/mildly an orgy as Madame de Pompadour and hooks up with the hero who is conveniently dressed as Louis XV. Neither of them recognize each other as their betrothed until the hero called it off quite recently.

Hyacinth by Minerva Spencer/S.M. LaViolette: Another heroine disguised as a man; in this case, she's quite the card shark and wants to get into the good gambling places so she can earn back her family's fortune. The hero figures out it's a disguise but kind of plays along and teases her, culminating in him asking her to jerk off with him in a voyeur room 💀

His Valet by S.M. LaViolette: So our modern understanding of this MC is that they would be nonbinary but Jo does refer to herself using she/her pronouns. This disguise here is twofold: she dresses in masculine clothing and works as the hero's valet, and because she really wants to be with the hero, she disguises herself as a woman and pretends to be a prostitute so she can sleep with him. It's WILD but LaViolette handles it with a lot of care.

One Kiss to Desire by Grace Callaway: The heroine purposely makes herself look uglier/older so she can get the job as the hero's housekeeper.

Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd: Another heroine who disguises herself to look uglier/older; the hero actually specifies it as a qualification for the governess he's looking to hire for the child he BOUGHT to make himself look more respectable; apparently the good-looking servants keep throwing themselves at him because he's soooo hot so he needs a complete uggo to serve his purposes.

[onepiecc]

Modern Verse- All my muses

Leigh: Growing up with just his father, he wanted to become a detective officer solving crimes. He was a good kid and teenager involved in sports and in the top ten of his graduating class of high school. Sadly he was home alone a lot due to his father being a policemen and always being called into work. Still that didn’t discourage Leigh as he worked on becoming a detective for the police force. When he was in his twenties his father was killed in the line of duty and left Leigh all alone as he knew nothing about his mother. His father never told him who she was and just said she passed on so he thought she died. Inheriting his father’s house he ended up getting a pet black cat that only had three legs for companionship named Bats.

Sedna: She is a female of Native American heritage. The female was born and raised in Alaska by her parents that taught her about her heritage and ancestry. The ravenette became a conservator restorer and travels internationally. She loves to uncover ancient history and restore artifacts that were damaged over the centuries. Her job as a conservator-restorer is a professional responsible for the preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts, also known as cultural heritage. She owns a little pomsky dog named Toklo.

Nyssa: Her mother was a part of the acrobats of a traveling circus and she was raised alongside them until she turned 10 . She expressed interest in pageants and modeling so her mother encouraged her while she still learned aerial ballet and acrobats to perform as a talent. She was scouted by a model agency from a young age of 14 and quickly rose in fame. Nyssa is a famous and popular model worldwide as she is also working in pageants as she wants to join the Miss Universe contest. She dyed her hair a light blue as she feels like it’s her signature color.

Stella: She is a backup dancer/singer that has come from humbled origins. Her mother died while giving birth to her. Then her father was an alcoholic with horrible gambling problems. However she met Gild Tesoro and together the pair ran away to pursue their dreams of being in the entertainment industry. She rose alongside him as he became a popular singer which he hired professional instructors for Stella to learn to sing and dance. The blonde practiced for nearly a decade before making her debut. Unknowingly her lover was involved with sketchy partners and corrupted people in the Black Market. This caused her to become a target and she was almost killed in something that was staged to look like an accident. As she recovered from the burns on her body, the doctors said it was more than likely she would never walk again. Stella saw Tesoro less and less after that as he quit the entertainment industry to become a powerful figure in the underworld. However she was able to make a recovery and learn how to walk again. But she broke up with Tesoro and started her own path within the entertainment industry and became a popular backup dancer and singer for popular artists.

Cosima: She comes from bloodline of a royal family. She is Dutchess after the passing of her father and brother. Cosima does have a god complex and sees herself as higher then most other do to her royal blood but she is also a very smart businesswoman. She has connections all over the world from famous politicians to underworld connections.

[critical-quoter]

July Books

I had a bit of out-of-town traveling and flying. I would like to attribute this to the amount of books finished, but frankly, my reading speed has no true rhyme or reason. **Also, I've far surpassed my reading goal for the year!**

Throne of Power - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Throne of Vengeance - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Come Back for Me - Corinne Michaels ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Black Ties & White Lies - Kat Singleton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bromantic Puckboy - Eden Finley & Saxon James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Freed - E. L. James ⭐️⭐️ Sing for Me - Brittany Ann ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hollow Heathens - Nicole Fiorina⭐️ Bridesmaid for Hire - Meghan Quinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Queen of the Night - A. N. Stauber & Molly Briar ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Slice of Hell - Clio Evans ⭐️⭐️ What I Should Have Done - R. L. Atkinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rivalry - Lisa Suzanne ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Soulmate Equation - Christina Lauren ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Broken Vows - Catharina Maura ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Home Game - Odette Stone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Come Break My Heart Again - C. W. Farnsworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Accidentally Ours - Erin Hawkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Key to the Dark - Alexa Michaels ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Her Soul to Take - Harley Laroux ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sight of You - Ashley Mack ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Things I Should Have Said - Kelsey Humphreys ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Her Soul for Revenge - Harley Laroux ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Faked - Karla Sorensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Mindf*ck Series - S. T. Abby (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One Pucking Love - Ellie Wade ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Keeping Her - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Saving Him - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Reason Why - Lacy Channell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not My Coach - Pru Schuyler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ready for You - Samantha Leigh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Morally Corrupt - Veronica Lancet ⭐️ Forget Me Not - Karissa Kinword ⭐️⭐️ In the Light of Sin - Juniper Nye ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scoring Chance - Teagan Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lord of Bones - Aiden Pierce & R. K. Pierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Watching Ames - R. Handler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scandalous - L. J. Shen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Man - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Flawless - Elsie Silver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stolen Heir - Sophie Lark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Butcher & Blackbird - Brynne Weaver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Chalet Love in Alaska - Ellyne ⭐️⭐️ Skin of a Sinner - Avina St. Graves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartless - Elsie Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tailgates and Twist of Fate - Haley Rhoades ⭐️⭐️ Irresistible - Willow Aster ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dom - S. J. Tilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shattered Veil - Deborah Garland ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ King of Sloth - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fallen Star - Heather Ashley ⭐️ Mile High - Liz Tomforde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leather & Lark - Brynne Weaver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Hit - Julie Weaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Holdout - Jacqueline Snowe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Comeback Pact - E. M. Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

61 books total books read for July 2024

[hazellvsq]

i don't really think this is supported by the canon and i'm kind of ripping from leigh bardugo's grishaverse for this but i hc that gaea is the reason hazel became as powerful as she was bc she was forcing hazel to actually develop her powers and push them. so when i'm writing hazel in alaska physically she's not doing super well she's exhausted and hungry and depressed but this is the first time she's ever realized what she's capable of and she's got this strange feverish look to her at all times bc she's finally controlling her curse instead of it controlling her and for the first time she has nothing to lose. but obviously that control is under the direction of a being hazel could never defeat so her greatest show of power is going to be her last.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By JENNIFER PELTZ

September 11, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are looking back on the horror and legacy of 9/11, gathering Monday at memorials, firehouses, city halls and elsewhere to observe the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.

Commemorations stretch from the attack sites — at New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania — to Alaska and beyond.

President Joe Biden is due at a ceremony on a military base in Anchorage.

His visit, en route to Washington, D.C., from a trip to India and Vietnam, is a reminder that the impact of 9/11 was felt in every corner of the nation, however remote.

The hijacked plane attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives and reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.

"On that day, we were one country, one nation, one people, just like it should be. That was the feeling — that everyone came together and did what we could, where we were at, to try to help,” said Eddie Ferguson, the fire-rescue chief in Virginia’s Goochland County.

It’s more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Pentagon and more than three times as far from New York.

But a sense of connection is enshrined in a local memorial incorporating steel from the World Trade Center’s destroyed twin towers.

The predominantly rural county of 25,000 people holds not just one but two anniversary commemorations: a morning service focused on first responders and an evening ceremony honoring all the victims.

Other communities across the country pay tribute with moments of silence, tolling bells, candlelight vigils and other activities.

In Columbus, Indiana, 911 dispatchers broadcast a remembrance message to police, fire and EMS radios throughout the 50,000-person city, which also holds a public memorial ceremony.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts raise and lower the flag at a commemoration in Fenton, Missouri, where a “Heroes Memorial” includes a piece of World Trade Center steel and a plaque honoring 9/11 victim Jessica Leigh Sachs.

Some of her relatives live in the St. Louis suburb of 4,000 residents.

“We’re just a little bitty community,” said Mayor Joe Maurath, "but it’s important for us to continue to remember these events. Not just 9/11, but all of the events that make us free.”

New Jersey’s Monmouth County, which was home to some 9/11 victims, made Sept. 11 a holiday this year for county employees so they could attend commemorations.

As another way of marking the anniversary, many Americans do volunteer work on what Congress has designated both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

At ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris is due to join the ceremony on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum plaza.

The event will not feature remarks from political figures, instead giving the podium to victims’ relatives for an hourslong reading of the names of the dead.

James Giaccone signed up to read again this year in memory of his brother, Joseph Giaccone, 43. The family attends the ceremony every year to hear Joseph’s name.

“If their name is spoken out loud, they don’t disappear,” James Giaccone said in a recent interview.

The commemoration is crucial to him.

“I hope I never see the day when they minimize this,” he said. “It’s a day that changed history.”

Biden, a Democrat, will be the first president to commemorate Sept. 11 in Alaska, or anywhere in the western U.S.

He and his predecessors have gone to one or another of the attack sites in most years, though Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama each marked the anniversary on the White House lawn at times.

Obama followed one of those observances by recognizing the military with a visit to Fort Meade in Maryland.

First lady Jill Biden is due to lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.

In Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked jets crashed after passengers tried to storm the cockpit, a remembrance and wreath-laying is scheduled at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown operated by the National Park Service.

Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is expected to attend the ceremony.

The memorial site will offer a new educational video, virtual tour and other materials for teachers to use in classrooms.

Educators with a total of more than 10,000 students have registered for access to the free “National Day of Learning” program, which will be available through the fall, organizers say.

“We need to get the word out to the next generation,” said memorial spokesperson Katherine Hostetler, a National Park Service ranger.

[historyhermann]

RWBY Volume 9 Spoiler-Filled Review [part 1]

RWBY is an anime-inspired science fantasy action-adventure series, using computer animation, which has run for eight seasons, known as "volumes". Originally created by animator and writer Monty Oum, in 2013, and continued after his death in 2015, RWBY is the flagship series of Rooster Teeth, a digital media company and subdivision of Warner Bros. Discovery. As a warning, this review will discuss death, suicide, blood, torture, animal death, physical (and emotional) abuse, and other related themes.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-first article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on April 26, 2023.

This young adult animated series primarily centers on the four primary protagonists: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, with the series name deriving from their forenames. Set in a fictional world named Remnant, these characters, and others, train to become warriors (huntresses or huntsmen), so they can save the world from monsters known as Grimm, which are driven by fear and dedicated to destroying humanity.

Apart from the aforementioned protagonists, others, such as Ozma/Ozpin/Oscar Pine, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen, Robyn Hill, and Jaune Arc, help them fight against evil forces. Uniquely, the series has theme songs, primarily by Casey Lee Williams, at the beginning of each volume, which foreshadows what will happen, making the show unique in its own way.

The show's ninth volume is unlike the previous volumes, which had a classic conflict between good vs. evil, intricate story telling, horror elements, and character development. That is because the protagonists are stranded in a magical land known as the Ever After. Even so, they retain a semblance which allows them to have superpowers-of-sorts, so they can either manipulate objects, disorient people, use super strength, or have other abilities.

Morally grey characters are inherent to RWBY, including the Ace Ops or General James Ironwood. In contrast, Cinder Fall breaks from the strict dictates of her leader, Salem. The latter, and her enforcers, are determined to do anything to achieve their goals, even engaging in human experimentation. This interlinks with the blood, gore, and death of some characters.

The series' large focus on sci-fi and magic elements goes beyond characters like Penny Polendina (voiced by Taylor "Pelto" McNee), a cyborg girl, and scrolls which record and receive messages. Arguably, in this volume, the series has received a "directional reset" and ended on a strong note, even setting up a possible volume 10.

One of the most controversial parts of RWBY, up to the current volume, has been its LGBTQ representation. There have been lesbian couples, like Saphron and Terra-Arc, and lesbian characters who have crushes on the protagonists, as is the case for Ilia Amitola (voiced by Cherami Leigh). This was strengthened by the role of May Marigold, the first trans character in the series, in Volume 8. She was voiced by trans female voice actress, Kdin Jenzen. She did not appear in Volume 9 and Jenzen has been critical of the company's practices. This volume is the last one that Jenzen will be working on, as she was reportedly laid off from the company.

Some fans have held out hope that the Bumbleby ship (Blake and Yang) would become canon, especially after Arryn Zech, Blake's voice actress, confirmed her character as bisexual in May 2020. This came to pass in this volume and there have been hints of other possible romantic ships, which I'll discuss later in this review.

One of the strengths of this series is its visuals, which have improved dramatically from the first volume, and its voice actors. Furthermore, although the fandom of this series can be toxic, the show's fans have come up with colorful ship names. This includes femslash ones, such as Baked Alaska (Yang and Neopolitan), Blood Mint (Ruby and Emerald Sustrai), Freezerburn (Yang and Weiss), Ladybug (Ruby and Blake), and White Rose (Ruby and Weiss), even though some of these are problematic.

The surreal nature of RWBY's ninth volume makes it fundamentally different from the canon-adjacent anime series, RWBY: Ice Queendom. The latter focused on Weiss Schnee, especially on how she needs to "unlearn her white supremacist thinking" and become a better person. There was a non-binary character named Shion Zaiden (voiced by Hiroki Nanami, and Jenzen in English). It was confirmed in an interview with the show's staff and producers. Unfortunately, similar characters have yet to appear in RWBY, even though both series share fight scenes, strong visuals, and soundtrack.

RWBY is somewhat complicated by issues that Rooster Teeth has dealt with over the years. For one, actor Vic Mignogna, who voiced Qrow Branwen until Volume 6, was removed after accusations of sexual harassment. Ryan Haywood and Adam Kovic were either involved in scandals which related to their leaked nude photographs or grooming underage fans, in the case of Haywood. Furthermore, anonymous reviews focused on a negative crunch culture at Rooster Teeth, especially at their animation division, leading to the resignation of Gray Haddock (creator of gen:LOCK), head of this division, as a result.

Former hosts of Rooster Teeth programs stated that they received racist and sexist abuse from the audience. Jenzen argued that an upper manager engaged in transphobic and homophobic abuse. This was followed by other employees posting similar stories. In response, the company released statements arguing they were taking steps to improve the work culture, review pay parity, and even replace the entire Human Resources department, while reducing the number of shows being produced. These issues were compounded by the arrest of then-vice president of Rooster Teeth, Michael Quinn, for assaulting his wife, in November 2019.

In terms of RWBY itself, fans previously claimed that the show queerbaited after the death of a character in the show's seventh season, believing that Qrow Brawnen and Clover Ebi were canon. In reality, the series never directly showed them together. The argument that Clover's death is queerbaiting, is like saying Wednesday did the same by not making the friendship between Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair a romantic one, despite the false insistence of fans that it was canon. As such, it is no surprise that some see RWBY as a lost cause and not worth supporting.

From my perspective, I think that regardless of these issues, and the fact that Rooster Teeth seems to be a toxic work environment, RWBY still has value. This is because of the hard work of the animators and writers, known as CRWBY. In fact, I would argue that the latest volume is the strongest in the series up to this point and it has some of the best animation. Although some may balk at the show's style, or even claim that the protagonist's clothing constitutes fan service for the audience, the reality is that the show's style makes it stand out, apart from any other action-adventure science fantasy.

Unlike previous volumes, the ninth volume premiered on Crunchyroll on February 18, as part of "a one-year exclusive release with Crunchyroll", and it will then release on the Rooster Teeth website in 2024. This is a big deal because the series is primary show for Rooster Teeth and its streaming platform of the same name. So, it may portend the end or reduction of the platform.

Whether the worst for Rooster Teeth comes to a head, I'm not sure. It seems very likely that the show will receive a tenth volume, which may be the final season. I would be very surprised if RWBY is not renewed, as it has generated a lot of buzz, has generally strong ratings on Crunchyroll, and, undoubtedly, has thousands of people watching each episode.

The ninth volume of RWBY is captivating. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang try and find themselves, and anything they have lost. There are new characters like a talking mouse named Little (voiced by Luci Christian), the Curious Cat (voiced by Robbie Daymond), which fulfills a specific role in a land which has many characteristics of Alice in Wonderland, and enemies such as the jabberwalkers (voiced by Richard Norman). Little later becomes Ruby's emotional support animal of sorts.

I was further drawn into this volume by the story of Alyx, her brother Lewis, the Rusted Knight, and the Curious Cat. This was weaved together artfully, with the audience knowing as much as the characters about the real story as the series went forward. This included the revelation that Juane became the Rusted Knight and was reportedly betrayed by Alyx (voiced by Shara Kirby). He became trapped in the Ever After for over 40 years, causing him to become a "mature" older man, who has a steed named Juniper.

The volume interrogates Juane's hero complex. It breaks down when the town of the Paper Pleasers is flooded (possibly mirroring what happened to Mantle in Volume 8) and he can save none of them. He admits as much in the seventh episode, saying he "not ok" or "right". In some ways I see a parallel between Juane (voiced by Miles Luna) and General Ironwood (voiced by Jason Rose). Juane seems to be just as tired and angry at people, thinking he is "saving" people by making "hard choices". Ironwood is different as be became an unhinged military dictator who turned against the protagonists.

Even more than any previous volume, this 10-episode volume of RWBY has a specific focus on Ruby. She begins a downward spiral, although her sister, Yang, repeatedly tries to ask her what is wrong, often to no avail. Understandably, she is further shaken when her friends are shrunk to miniature size. She begins to have so much self-doubt that she isn't sure is a huntress/hero anymore.

This volume shows the extreme pressure Ruby is under as team leader, as she puts the needs of others ahead of her own. This is shown directly when she can't even use her weapon, Crescent Rose, in the show's seventh episode, after having flashbacks to traumatic events from the previous volumes. This is almost akin to the Steven Universe Future episode where Steven Universe tells his friend's mother about all the childhood trauma he has experienced over his life time.

Getting back to RWBY, at the end of episode seven, Ruby has a breakdown, asking why she has to be the leader. She criticizes everyone else for not devoting time to solve her problems, for helping Juane's "make-believe" friends, and seeming to disregard what she is going through. I thought it was interesting that none her teammates push her over the edge, but Juane, who has experienced as much trauma as her, ends up blaming her for everything that went wrong.

Although Juane has a valid point, it is wrong of him to put the blame on her entirely. In addition, Ruby's plan in Volume 8, to use the staff of creation to create paths to evacuate citizens from Mantle to Vacuo, clearly opened them up to a lot of danger. But, its failure wasn't entirely her fault. If Cinder hadn't asked about Ruby's plan, thanks to magic lamp, it might have been successful. Even so, they seemed to ignore the advice from the genie, in the staff of creation, who told them to "not fall".

This reality mattered little to Ruby, who felt overwhelmed by everything, and fled, shocking the rest of her team. Having Ruby snap at her team in the ways she did was inevitable based on what has happened through the previous seasons. In fact, she was already under a lot of stress by the end of Volume 8 and almost lost her life multiple times over.

In watching this volume, I am reminded of the mental health struggles of Steven in Steven Universe Future and Steven Universe, and Julian Chase in the ever-problematic gen:LOCK. However, it is different for Ruby. In the eighth episode, she pushes away Little and faces Neopolitan, a mute villain-of-sorts in a mansion, with Neo bringing back ghosts of Ruby's past to torture her. Through Roman Torchwick, Neo "says" that she will enjoy seeing Ruby break down.

At the end of the same episode, drinks a cup of tea, poured by Neo, with a leaf from the ever-powerful tree. She appears to end her own life, staring into the eyes of her sister, Yang, and feels that the world would be better without her. As this happens, her teammates remain in shock over what she did.

This serious tone of RWBY is only part of the show's mature, and distressing themes. It is coupled with death, loss, destruction, and horrific creatures such as the Grimm, which are attracted to those who are afraid or scared. Although such beings don't appear in this volume, the above scene is followed by the Curious Cat possessing Neo for his own ends. The devious cat sees Neo as an "empty host", and the cat-as-Neo is a being which Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jaune fight in the last two episodes of this volume.

How RWBY depicts suicide is fundamentally different from how it is depicted in the continually controversial gen:LOCK. The latter featured all of the characters killing themselves, then each becoming the equivalent of a swarm of locusts to defeat the enemy. In the case of Ruby, there are questions as to whether she ended her own life, or she only engaged a suicide attempt.

The final nail of Ruby's descent into a dark place, Neo, is more than a villain. She is not completely heartless, even though she terrorized Ruby into the drinking the tea and killed Little with a twist of her heeled shoe. By the end of the volume, it is clear that she  may have some form of redemption or will become an ally-of-sorts to the show's heroes. Ruby even says that Neo will find herself, one way or another, as she falls back into the Ever After.

In terms of the tonal shifts in this volume of RWBY, they were not as well-executed as they could have been. At the same time, it should be remembered that a lot has happened in a short period of time, leaving Weiss, Blake, and Yang, especially after Ruby "ascends", without much time to process to process everything. Furthermore, it would be inaccurate to say that Ruby's teammates don't care about her, as they clearly do, in more ways than one.

The volume was effective in connecting the previous volumes to this one, with an emphasis on the themes of self-acceptance and self-love. Ruby exemplifies this directly. She isn't sure what choice she wants to make, even as those outside the tree, like Yang, Weiss, and Blake, accept whatever path Ruby wants to go down. At one point, Ruby thinks she might be doing more harm than good, looks at all of the possibilities in front of her, and grabs her mom's weapon. In the end, she embraces herself. This isn't as much change as some had been expecting, but it is a powerful message that you are enough, without a need to remake yourself.

The ever-present tree in this volume is shown to be a place of rebirth and rejuvenation, which does not simply resurrect and kill someone. Instead, ascension isn't death, but it is change, and that is the role of the tree. This is connected with the theme of this volume that you should not condemn yourself for mistakes you make, but accept them and learn from them. In fact, when the Curious Cat, which is vulnerable after the tree's leaves released him from Neo's body, argues that humans are weak, confused, incomplete, and break everything they touch, Weiss, Yang, and Blake disagree, saying Ruby is none of those things.

The volume nine finale of RWBY was one of the best episodes, giving background, but tying up loose ends, even talking about how the Ever After was created. It brought together the aforementioned themes and it ends with the characters walking through the portal to a place they are needed most: Vacuo. It was a fitting end to the series, if this is the last episode ever produced.

There is more about of RWBY's ninth volume, especially when it comes to LGBTQ representation, which put it on the map when it comes to all the representation in series this year. Episode 6, entitled "Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds", was written by Eddy Rivas, and directed by Kerry Shawcross and Yssa Badiola. The latter was known for her short-lived series, Recorded by Arizal.

This episode built upon previous interactions between Yang and Blake, with flirting or blushing at one another in this volume, and in previous volumes. Everyone is trapped in a Punderstorm, a literal and metaphorical crossroads, with individuals only able to get out if they either solve the problems or wait until the storm passes.

In one of the best-constructed and well-done queer romantic scenes I've seen in an animated series, Blake and Yang admit their feelings for each other, as the music swells, then kiss. Significantly, the characters almost express the feelings of the fandom, with Weiss and Ruby surprised to see them linking lips, while Juane says that it "feels like I've been waiting forever for that". It is something which many fans of the Bumbleby ship had been waiting for.

While the scene was hinted in the volume 9 poster, it was no substitute for the scene, which excited fans over the canonization of Bumbleby, including on the show's subreddit. Even the Bumbleby's subreddit was exploding with new content. It could be said that the episode set a high standard for women-love-women romance.

It is only rivaled by the developing yuri story within the recently ended yuri isekai The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, or the queer romance encapsulated within She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Dead End: Paranormal Park, Arcane, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Helluva Boss, Craig of the Creek, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Steven Universe to name a few recent series with prominent representation.

The episode itself generated discussion from the show's roundtable and even on All Good and No Worries, a Rooster Teeth show hosted by Barbara Dunkleman (voice of Yang), in an episode in which she talked with Arryn Zech (voice of Blake). In previous years, Zech and Dunkleman often hinted at this ship, stating their support for the ship, as did actor Kara Eberle (who voices Weiss).

The life of Zech somewhat mirrored her character, as she accused her ex-boyfriend, prominent actor Bob Morley, of verbal and emotional abuse, and said that Morley was furious when he learned that she was bisexual. Blake had been with an abusive ex-boyfriend of her own named Adam Taurus, who wields a chokutō and a gun, and attempts to take over the White Fang, peaceful organization originally aimed at improving conditions for the animalistic Faunus, a group of cat-like people.

In the penultimate season six episode, "Seeing Red", Blake and Yang kill Adam together, and touch their foreheads, which some see as a sign of romantic affection. Blake is also a bisexual character, like Zech is real life. In addition, during the discussion with Zech, Dunkleman admitted she is "not fully straight", but is "for the most part...fairly straight", while Zech talked about the struggles of dating as a bisexual woman.

It is clear that the romantic relationship between Blake and Yang was always planned, despite brutal shipping wars claiming otherwise. The canon nature of Bumbleby flies against those claiming the show's crew was queerbaiting. In fact, some made similar claims about the slow build-up of the romance between Marceline the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time, whose relationship, known as Bubbline by fans, was canonized in the series finale "Come Along with Me". It is not known if the CRWBY would ever an hour-long episode about Bumbleby, akin to the Adventure Time: Distant Lands episode "Obsidian", which almost exclusively focused on Bubbline, but would be great if that occurred.

The episode six scene was reinforced in other episodes: Blake and Yang fight together in tag team style, Yang protects Blake at one point, or Ruby sarcastically says she is "happy" for Blake and Yang getting their "feelings sorted out" when she has her breakdown at the end of episode seven. More powerfully, in the final episode, Blake and Yang walk through the portal door back to Vacuo holding hands just like Korra and Asami Sato in the Legend of Korra series finale.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Continued in part 2

[mydancinglady]

How I turned from being a Joan Crawford hater to a fan

Like many people, the first references of Old Hollywood that I ever heard were on Drag Race. Especially the ones that I took the most attention of were in All Stars 2 (Alyssa Edwards and Alaska): Joan Crawford, Mae West, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

Alyssa’s Snatch Game always got my attention and I wanted to understand all the references. So after reading what Mommie Dearest was about, I decided to watch it. It was an… Experience to say the least. I had a literal headache from it. I barely knew anything from the book, so I took everything that I saw as the pure truth.

My initial idea of Joan was that she was… a sociopath. A manipulator, an abuser, an insane woman. But since the movie was really a lot for me for the first watch, I didn’t dwell on it much after it. I just kept that image of her like “that crazy actress”.

A month later, I decided to watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, since I was so curious about Bette Davis acting, and the plot. This was the first Old Hollywood movie I ever watched, and I’m so glad it happened like this. I fucking loved it, and I was immediately drawn to Bette. I wasn’t really impressed by Joan’s acting and to be fair, I had a huge negative image of her. So I already went with that on my mind.

Just like that, I started to get into OH movies, for now, only Bette’s movies. I was really hypnotized by her acting and persona. I quickly became a fan of hers (and I still am). She was unique, brave, and ahead of her time.

One day, I mentioned this to one of my friends (who is a Vivien Leigh fan), and she told me she loved Joan. I was puzzled, quickly telling her about MD. She told me I should investigate more into it, that she actually wasn’t really like that. I was very skeptical about that. 

I gave her a shot as an actress and I watched Mildred Pierce. From the get go, I was comparing her to Bette, immediately thinking she wasn’t as good as her, that she was boring, and didn’t deserve that Oscar. Clearly I was still judging her harshly, and I thought she deserved that treatment. 

But nonetheless, there was still something that intrigued me about her. So I gave her one last shot and I watched Possessed (1947). And all my criticism about her as an actress soon finished after that. She blew my mind. I really underestimated her and what she could do.

Still, in my mind, I couldn't stan her fully because of what I thought she had done in her private life. So, I started to do some deep research about who she was, and to my surprise, and just like my friend told me, everything was completely exaggerated. 

I started reading books, watching interviews, documentaries, reading documents, letters and information that started to clear up everything for me. It was an obvious example to me, that sometimes we don’t have to immediately believe the clickbait titles, the rumors and misinformation that people like to spread across the internet.

Joan Crawford it’s probably one of the most misunderstood celebrities ever. She wasn’t around when she was accused, so she couldn't defend herself (like Bette did when she had her troubles with BD). I’ll leave links here, so you can check on your own and make your own conclusions.

Joan was raised by an abusive mother, unloved, and without a father. She quickly had to take care of herself, because no one was going to do it for her. She had to work since she was 9, cleaning bathrooms to have an education (which she couldn't finish after all). She became a dancer because she was determined, and got to the place she always wanted to with her own work.

From being a poor and abandoned child, she became one of the biggest stars in cinema history. Without money, without a diploma, without anyone’s help. That to me, was incredible, and as a woman, it gave me the strength to overcome anything. If she could, why can’t I?

She took care of her family until the end of her days, even when they didn’t even support her in the first place. She was always generous to everyone around her, and gave everything that she could to her children. 

She was involved in business, she produced movies, she wrote books and tried to better herself every day.I don’t think at all she was perfect, or that she was an angel. But it is clear to me that she was never that person that everyone thinks she is. 

In reality she was really insecure, self conscious, seeking love and validation to feel that she was doing things right. Seeking what she never got when she grew up. And even though she really wanted to reach perfection, which she felt she had to be, because she made herself believe she wasn’t good enough. That she could be discarded in any minute if she made mistakes.

To me she is not Mommie Dearest, she is not Queen Bee. She is just a woman who fought hard to be someone, and with the few tools -emotional and professional- that she had, made the best of it. 

As a conclusion, I wanna say that maybe we should think of why she was so easily targeted as a crazy, abusive, hysterical woman without doubting or confirming the information we are spreading of someone who’s dead. As a matter of fact, there’s a ton of cases of male actors who did actual terrible stuff in the industry, and never had the same negative image as Joan. 

I’m sorry if I made any mistakes in this post, I’m not a native english speaker. Hope my opinion is easy to understand.

[songoftrillium]

NPC Spotlight: Julie "Bites-the-Bully" Lykos

Human-Born Philodox Black Fury Elder, 41, Zedakh, Elk Prairie Sentinels

CW: Blood. Julie appears in 1975 as a well-built woman in her early 40s, 5'10", 193lbs, with a split brow, wiry, curly hair, and expressive, sage-colored eyes. Her face is deeply pockmarked with old scars that extend to cover most of her upper torso around her shoulders and cheeks in particular, making her facial features particularly pronounced in their expressiveness and her utter inability to hide what she's feeling. Her eyes tend to disappear behind a big lopsided smile when you can trick her into grinning. She often is seen wearing levis, bowling shirt or tank top, and one of her dad's WWII flight jackets.

She is most often seen in public working at Aloha Lanes at nights on the weekends, where she can make space for marginalized groups of weird kids like herself to socialize in safety on weekend nights while keeping up an appearance of being a part of the rural community of Trillium. Among garou she makes space for her own packmates and advocates strongly on behalf to ensure their voices are heard, whether from the traditional garou at the sept of the swift waters, to the traditional garou at sept of the trillium glade. She lives in a mobile home, in Steelhead springs with Dr. Esme "Leaping-Ghost" Marshall, Human-Born Theurge Child of Gaia Athro.

From a very young age, Julie was on the road traveling with her military family, but when the second world war broke out, she moved to Seattle to live with her aunt. Julie was always what her dad liked to call a "bent nail", a comment that had him fretting for her well-being. This reality followed Julie through her younger years. Generally speaking, the bent-nail got pounded. Most places Julie went, she never had much of a chance to get an impression long enough to get attached to anywhere, and nowhere did she ever truly belong. By the time she was in public school in seattle where all the kids already knew each other, Julie seldom went a week without coming home to her aunt's arms in tears. Unable to find other recourses, she spent a good portion of her teen years working malt shops, diners, whatever service industry job you could imagine, that's what Julie did. She was determined to go to college, get her degree, and move far away. She always dreamed of seeing alaska's wilderness like she read in her paperback novels, and felt like Seattle was always just beyond the reach of the world's wildest places.

When Julie hit puberty, the war ended, but not before it claimed both of her parents. In school, differences between her and the other girls only worsened. Her jawline hardened, and she started putting on muscle at the drop of a hat. She grew taller than most the girls at her school, and the worst of the bullying she faced was from other women. In short, Julie's self esteem was gone, and she was deeply depressed. When the bullying reached a head, Julie wound up having a breakdown at her school. Her aunt, ever-attentive, pulled her out of school and let her finish her education through homeschooling. In reality, she just let her ward have space and autonomy. Julie found an escape in reading. She especially loved Ursula K. Le Guin, and Leigh Brackett . By all measures, Julie should be the one with the strength to defend against everyone at the school, and none of the desire to do so.

But also, Julie had a plan. All those years she worked sweating in the service industry gave her what one would've needed back then to completely pay for her college, and rent a little studio apartment to herself. And Julie believed that at last she could put her childhood behind herself. Things went well for the first year, new class settling into their year at the school, she felt like she was finally able to let go of some of that bottled up anger, and then, on a hot, dry summer evening, she had her first change in the middle of the food hall at Evergreen college. And what it was wasn't some kind of new bully against her, no, it was seeing someone dump their drink on the head of another student, and before she knew it she was in the woods, panicked and her front covered in blood. Her aunt and a few members of the faculty were there, all kinfolk.

She is best known among the garou for fighting for The Fanum during the War of Chicago. In the aftermath of that conflict, Julie befriended Colleen "Shamisa" Fetner. Working with the Sept, the war started bloody, but ended with an uneasy peace between The Fanum and Sept of the Wind Catchers. Each working in tandem through Julie's efforts to unify them had The Fanum assaulted the Camarilla and sabbat simultaneously.At the end of the war, many garou died, including Julie's own pack mates, but every last known vampire in the city of Chicago were completely obliterated.

When Shamisa answered a calling to mentor a late changed garou in Seattle, she and Julie traveled there together. Julie lives in a trailer at Steelhead Springs just outside of Trillium with Esme. Opossum, a patron spirit of adaptability, has formed a strong bond with this Black Fury, and has followed her from her first pack to the Sentinels, which she now leads. Her stubbornness for her pack to be heard by the Red Talon Sept is what eventually led to Sept of the Trillium Glade opening itself to the rest of the garou nation, and among her pack and other Black Furies, Julie is respected for both her discipline and emotional intelligence, despite being very plain-worded.

Time spent living with Esme has drawn the two of them closer, though Julie hasn't been able to find the right words to open her heart.

Reason Level 5, Gnosis 7

Description: Reason appears to be a partially broken labrys that's had one of it's blades shattered off. It's undergone a refurbishment with a new, short throwing axe handle, affixed on the other side with what looks like workshop hand tooling to clamp the ornate head to a utilitarian wood handle. On the handle is a sloppily woodburned word that can be barely read for the grime of use as 'Reason'. The spirit of a Freebooter named Iona "Kinslayer" is bound into this axe.

System: The signature Labrys of Bites-the-Bully, constructed during the War of Chicago in collaboration between the Sept of Jupiter and Sept of the Wind Catchers out of Julie's Mentor's Labrys when she and her Labrys were destroyed while defending the anchorhead. Attacks with Reason are difficulty 7 and to Strength + 3 aggravated damage. Activating this Fetish causes it to dramatically lighten in weight, enabling it to be thrown by anyone with a Strength of 4. Reason may be caught on it's return arc with a successful Dexterity + Athletics difficulty 7.

"I'm sure they'll listen to Reason"

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

23 books I wanna read in 2023

Tagged by the awesome @empress-of-snark

Like you, these are also books I already own and need to get to reading lol

Paper Towns by John Green

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Crave by Traci Wolff

Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Wonderland by Emory Frie

Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Doctor Who: Stealers of Dreams

The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

City of Ghosts by VE Schwab

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

The Ex Hex by Rachel Hawkins

Immortality: A Love Story (it's still on preorder; just waiting for it lol)

I tag: @manus-multae-cor-unum @strangelock221b @muffin-n-waffle