#Brighton surrealism

[strangebookseye]

The Path To Strange Books: Spoken Word Adventures In Legendary Brighton Arts Venues Part 2

In 2005 I became resident storyteller at the Alternative Folk Nights in Brighton’s Duke of York Picturehouse cinema, where unsuspecting cinema goers were treated to my surreal monologues and stories. These evenings took place in the bar and were organised by Felicity Beckett who often provided music. Here she is… Flick also made the cool and cute flyers. Here are a few of them: I remember…

[melaelettrica]

Sparkstember 2024, day 21 - Exotic Creatures of the Deep. 'Exotic Creatures of the Deep,' digital collage.

This is strictly speaking a repost, as Nia and myself ended up using it to advertise our last Sparks watch party on A Steady Click Click Click.

Since, however, it was originally conceived for Sparkstember, I will shamelessly share it again. And after all, nothing could be more exotic than our heroes standing on Brighton pier in their swimwear. 😂

[starpros-sunshine]

We're so not gonna survive Fine's climax event??? The boys are on a family vacation????

They are,,,,,,,

[garciapimienta]

JULIO GOLAZOOOOOOO

[mickyschumacher]

[ICE CREAM CAKE!]

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: you and lando have a pretty healthy relationship; communication is a breeze between the two of you. and while that seems good, it doesn't help lando is horny 24/7. even the beach isn't safe from him.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 18+ (minors dni), established relationship, some fluff, blowjob, slight handjob, breastplay, poor humour LMAO aka old creepy mens' dicks, no time concept lol, basically lando time!

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: bf!lando norris x fem!reader

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 3k+

𝐀/𝐍: now playing: ice cream cake – red velvet! OKAY YES IK I HAVE REQUESTS BUT I HAD WRITER'S BLOCK TILL THIS OKAY? is it not obvious by the word count? 😭 alexa, play 'easy on me' by adele :( also new banners after i messed around one day! ♡︎ // proof-read-ish!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

You had met Lando two years ago purely on accident. You were at a coffee shop in Brighton, he was visiting a friend there. You ordered a hot chocolate and he had ordered a long black. Somehow the both of you had swapped cups and were wincing at how sweet or bitter the drink was.

Lando had turned his cup around to see who the cup belonged to. Upon seeing your name, unlike a normal person who would ask the barista for another cup or a refund, he had shouted your name across the room.

Lucky for you, you were the only other customer there since it was a slow day. Nevertheless, you looked up in shock. Who yelled out your name? Why? How did they know your name?

You actually purposely avoided eye-contact with his table just in case he was some weird guy. But Lando got your attention after telling you from across that room that you had some sweet taste in drinks.

You raised a brow. Was this some sort of new catcall you didn't know about? But then you had caught the barista's handwriting on 'your' cup. Lando, Long Black.

You scrunched your nose at the cup and looked at him. "You're quite bitter."

It was at that point when Lando had got a clear shot of your face and found his heart racing faster than normal. You were pretty, no gorgeous, no beautiful, no... surreal. Your face was contorted into a grimaced expression at his order which he found amusing. You looked like, what he still claims to this day, part of the shop's couch. The couch was brown and you were wearing a brown sweater.

Honestly, Lando couldn't find the whole situation anymore endearing. So with whatever confidence he had leftover, he walked up to your table and smoothly asked, "Can I get you a sweeter one with my number?"

Now this was when you first had probably got a look of Lando. He had a certain... boyish charm, if you will. The wide grin, sparkling blue eyes, face dotted with the odd freckle or beauty mark. To say he was attractive was an understatement. He looked like one of the main characters in the rom-coms you would binge when you needed a pick me-up.

You said yes. Obviously.

And here you were, two years later. At the beach with Lando, Charles, Carlos, Daniel, and their partners. You were all caught up with F1, always available for Lando. Your perspective of him had changed quite a lot since you had met him. In a good way, of course.

You initially saw him how a lot most of his fans and the media see him. A comedian by day and a moodmaker by night. Always smiling and cheery. Positive and optimistic. But the reality was that Lando struggled with the mental and physical aspects of F1. He didn't always have the confidence and he was stressed and depressed.

But as Lando always said in his interviews, he had found you.

'The best thing that had ever happened to him,' according to Lando himself.

Anyone could see that the two of you loved each other with your entire beings. Neither of you left any stone unturned in your relationship. Most people were jealous of your relationship. The drivers, the media, and especially the fans.

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

━━━━━━━━━━━

One thing about Lando that you had learned quite soon after your first time together was that Lando was insatiable. He was sex-driven, horny, full of lust, aroused... all the words in the dictionary for a man like this... 24/7.

One day, you asked him why. Lando only responded with pulling you closer to him, leaving a trail of kisses from your jaw and down to your neck, and saying "You."

You wouldn't say anything did it for him. No in fact, it was specific things that he couldn't take his mind off once he thought about it.

Take right now for example.

Carlos had decided to treat everyone to ice creams, ice lollies, and juice on your trip to the beach in Playa de Bolonia. Innocently and naively, you had chosen the pink ice lolly out the chilly bin. Lando had also not thought anything of it.

Rather Lando had being eyeing you with every spare glance as you were wearing his favourite bikini, the one he had bought you for Christmas as a prank gift in the nice British winter thinking it had been the funniest thing ever. Obviously, he thought you were going to were it but another thing you had learned was that Lando's humour quite often was unmatched and spontaneous.

The bikini itself was simple. An orange, of course, two-piece. The top was held up by two moderately thin straps and hugged your breasts quite nicely. The bikini bottom was as normal as it could get, clinging to your hips. On top of it, you wore a white thin-laced cotton coverup, loosely tied together.

You would say it was an average beach look. Lando would disagree. It was as if God himself had carved you and decided to put you on Earth as reparations for the bad in the world.

But back to the point.

As mentioned, Lando hadn't really thought of the ice lolly. He was too busy trying to get Daniel back with a water gun. Like you said, boyish. It wasn't until he had finally got him back and decided to go sit down with you and grab himself some ice cream.

But when Lando sat down and looked at you, his mind had suddenly turned into shambles. There you were. Under the shade, peaks of sun shining on your skin, holding that pink ice lolly to your mouth.

Lando wasn't quite sure what was worse. The faint pink colour similar to his cock or the way your tongue travelled down the length of it to collect the melting sugary liquid. Or how your lips pressed up on the tip of the ice and pressed down to take an inch more of it into your mouth as if it was his own cock.

To make matters even worse for him, you had failed to capture some of the melting droplets. Lando keenly watched as they fell to your bare part of your chest and even had landed right where he knew your nipple was. His eyes widened ever so slightly and his breath paced when you frowned at the event and used your finger to wipe the sweet liquid off your skin and into your mouth. Some of it had gone too far down, probably pooling near your breasts like he imagined.

What sent him overboard? When you had spotted the stain on your bikini top over your nipple and attempted to rub it away, only making the stain worse and a small bump for your pebbled nipple.

Lando gulped nervously, pants incredibly tight. He closed his eyes and held his hands over his newly-formed hard on, wishing that his mind wasn't full of everything he had just seen. Your lips... your breasts... the way your eyes looked down at the popsicle... if only that was his cock....

"Lando? Dude, do you need to go to the bathroom?" Pierre's voice cut through the air.

Lando snapped his eyes opened and your eyes looked over to your boyfriend.

"W-What?" The British male queried with slight panic. He was not getting caught with a hard-on in front of his friends... there was no way in Earth...

Pierre raised a brow, gesturing to his pants. "You're ice cream is all melted. You need to take your eyes off Y/N at least sometimes, Lando, otherwise you'll never finish... your ice cream, that is," He teased.

You looked down at Lando's pants where his hands laid, covered in the white vanilla ice cream-turned liquid. You and everyone let out an amused laugh at Pierre's joke, shaking your head.

You stood up from the sandy grass you were sat on, dusting yourself off. You extended your hand to Lando, "Come on. I bought extra stuff in the car. Honestly, I thought you were going to lose your trunks by Daniel pantsing you in the water but I guess not."

A howl of laughter came from Charles and Carlos while Daniel cursed himself for not doing it.

Lando blinked, pulling the finger at his fellow drivers. He sighed, grabbing your hand and awkwardly standing up from the area, managing to cover up his bulge swiftly.

The two of you headed to the car as Lando briefly threw out the sticky wrapper and stick into a bin nearby. You opened the boot of the car, grabbing his trunks. "Jesus, could it get any hotter today?" You asked, closing the back door.

"It really couldn't," Lando mused, walking hand-in-hand with you, making you release a groan.

"Lando... now my hand's all sticky, you idiot," You complained, trying to pull apart from his hand.

Lando rolled his eyes, arriving to the empty males changing room. He was about to enter when he saw you stand outside and not follow him. "What are you doing? Come in."

You narrowed your eyes. "It's a male changing room. I'm not going in. What if there's some old man trying to change? I do not need to be scarred for life. My DMs is enough, thanks."

"First of all, there's no one here," Lando stated before shouting a loud 'Hello' into the room, making you redden with embarassment. "See? Secondly, I'm sorry, let me get this straight, your DMs are full of old men's dicks?" Lando looked at you incredulously.

You grinned, shrugging. "It's called being a woman, Lando. You wouldn't get it."

Lando rolled his eyes once again, grabbing you by the arm and dragging you into the changing room.

The room was the opposite of most changing rooms. It was tiled well, clean and fresh as opposed to musty, damp and with paint-chipped walls. There were also no leaky taps or showers or even any graffiti. It was slightly comforting to know that at least people respected some of their public rooms, even in Madrid.

"Wait, also, what if I get old? You don't want to see my shrivelled dick? It should turn you on!" Lando asked with a dramatic gasp.

You looked at your boyfriend through the mirror with a dumfounded expression. Turning, you threw his trunks at his face. "Go change," You laughed, shaking your head.

Lando grinned underneath the trunks as you turned the tap on to wash your sugar-coated hands.

Lando had removed his trunks, left naked with his hard, reddened cock slapping against his stomach, and was about to put on the new ones when a thought passed his mind.

You paused your hand-washing and froze when you felt Lando's arms wrap around your stomach, pulling you close to his bare body. "Lando," You yelped, feeling a shiver cross your body, "What are you doing?"

Lando peered down at you through his thick eyelashes. He tucked his chin into your shoulder, placing a brief kiss. "What?" He asked innocently, "I'm just washing my hands. I can't get the new ones dirty either."

You watched through the mirror as he pressed his body into you, washing his hands under the tap, ridding the tackiness on his hands.

You sucked in a sharp breath, feeling his cock push into your backside. It was bare, you realised, as the heat spread into you. Your eyes flickered to Lando through the mirror, squinting at him. He wasn't...

Lando caught your eyes staring hard at him. "Don't look at me like that," He whispered into your ear, a loose grin hanging on his face. His wet fingers travelled to the poorly tied lace coverup you wore, undoing the knot with ease. The coverup fell against your shoulders, revealing your bikini and body in all it's glory.

"You have to clean up as well," Lando shrugged, eyes fixated on you through the mirror. "You made a mess," He murmured, wetting his fingers with the water once more before placing it against your chest.

You pressed your lips tightly, feeling his fingers drive down your skin and underneath your bikini top. Lando's fingers brushed your hardened nipples, making you shudder under his touch. His fingers trailed across your breasts, wiping away any of that sticky residue that you had missed. Bringing his fingers to his mouth and taking a wide lick of them, Lando grinned at you. "You know... I can't stop picturing you sucking my dick like that ice lolly. Never thought I would be jealous of an ice lolly."

You couldn't help but smile in amusement. You pulled away from his hold and turned to face your boyfriend. "Yeah?" You hummed, hands trailing down his chest. Lando had been working out a lot more these days for F1; compared to before his abs had become more prominent and toned. You loved Lando no matter what he looked like, but there was something about the way his skin flushed when you touched his torso.

Lando's breath hitched as your hand had ever so naturally found it's way to his cock. His cock, if you could say it, was pretty. It was average in length and with a nice, filling girth, stretching all of your holes wide.

Your fingers brushed across the tip of his head, just grazing his slit. You could feel Lando jolt in your hands as he muttered, “Fuck.”

You opened your mouth, letting a drop of saliva full into his cock. Hand wrapped around it, you gently rubbed natural lube up and down his shaft. Lando’s jaw clenched at the warm liquid nestling around his cock, letting a sharp exhale through gritted teeth.

Slowly you sunk down to your knees. The tiled floor was cold against your burning skin but it didn’t matter: you were too focused on what was right in front of you; cockdrunk. Your tongue darted out to swipe your lips before pressing a light kiss to his cock. Lando could feel himself twitch, aching to be in your mouth.

He watched as your lips opened like they did on that ice lolly. Going down in his cock, your lips stretched and your mouth hollowed.

Lando groaned at the warmth surrounding his cock. He bit down on his lip, watching his cock disappear into your mouth. Your eyes were on him as you sucked him, teeth barely grazing his skin.

"Fuck, you look so pretty like this, Y/N," Lando sighed out, "On your knees for me. I can't imagine the mess you made between those legs of yours, hmm?"

You moaned in response, sending a vibration around his cock. You briefly pulled away from him, making Lando grunt in slight annoyance at the loss. "These lips, my pussy.... all yours," You winked at him before returning to his cock.

Lando tensed at your words, letting a grin overtake him. "Yeah? Let's see about that throat, baby?" His hands reached your half dry and half damp, salty hair. Wrapping those long tresses around his hand and wrist, he tightened his grip. He could feel you open up your throat as he guided his cock down the tighter tunnel.

Lando's rasping groan made you clench your thighs, holding a barrier to the wetness leaking at of you. You could feel him begin to move his hips, beginning to push his cock into your throat.

Fighting the urge to gag around his cock, you tried hard to relax your cheeks and mouth, allowing every inch of him to be seated in your throat.

He flickered his eyes to you. Watching you take him in his mouth was a pleasure of its own. Your big eyes were glassy with tears of arousal and a haze of lust, sweat and saliva lingered at every edge of your skin, and your lips were puffy and red. Trailing his eyes further down, he spotted your bare neck in dire need of kisses, but that wasn't the most striking thing about it. It was the slight bulge of his cock in your throat making it's presence known.

Jesus...

Lando instinctively closed his eyes upon feeling your hands touch his balls. You rubbed them gently, feeling your head bob at an increased rate to match the sudden pace of Lando's cock in your throat.

"Fuck, fuck... I..." Lando moaned. "I'm gonna cum!" Lando hissed out, feeling a familiar bubbling feeling overcome. His thrusts become harder and faster, your nose flushed with his skin.

His moans became irregular and higher, chasing his release. "Fuck...." A guttural groan fell from his lips. Hot, salty white strips of his cum coated the inside of your mouth, swirling around after each drop was sucked from your lips. Almost painfully, Lando removed himself from your mouth. His chest rose up and down as he breathed out heavily.

An admiring smile came from Lando while he pulled you up to meet his face. He pushed your sweaty hair back. "That mouth of yours is evil," He narrowed his eyes playfully.

"You should shut me up then," You quipped back, sticking out your tongue that still had his cum on it.

Lando's eyes sparkled with amusement before he brought his lips to yours, darting his tongue into your mouth. The urgency in the action was understated. God, he could taste himself in you. His hands encapsulated your waist, flushing your barely clothed body to close his naked one. Your own hands travelled everywhere across his chest as the two of you kissed each other.

The muffled moans from you made Lando want to hear them out loud. Slowly he moved from your lips to your jaw. "Let me hear you, baby," He breathed out, placing smaller kisses as he reached your neck.

You let out a small whimper, neck tilting so Lando could get more access. Lando grinned at the sight of your bare neck, leaving small little nibbles across your skin. His lips eventually became settled in an area between your ear and collarbone, beginning to suck at your warmth.

"Lando," You moaned, "No, the others will realise."

Your refutes were ill-attempted even for yourself. You were dazed at the suction of his lips. His nose buried into your neck while he created a fresh layer of purple against your sun-kissed skin.

Lando released himself from your neck, eyeing down his creation with a smirk. "There. If they couldn't tell from your hair, they'll definitely know now."

You narrowed your eyes, turning to the mirror only for your eyes to widen in shock. "Jesus fucking Christ, Lando," You peered at the big purple brown splotch on your skin. "As if the 20 minutes we've spent here wasn't enough," You whined.

Lando laughed softly, standing behind you with his arms around your waist and chin resting on your head. "Well... if you make it through the shame, I can't wait to properly fuck you when we get home. You must know how much I love the way you look when I’m inside you."

Your head fell against his chest with a pout. "Why not now?"

Lando grinned before pressing a kiss to your head "Like you said... it's been 20 minutes."

© 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑

[zeondraws]

Fellas, year is almost overrrr and it feels kinda surreal what I went through to reach this point.

I may feel nauseous rn but...! Today was a good day, my friends family and other relatives of her came today. I showed them my budgie too, he may be getting blind but people were able to hold him on their hands.

I haven't felt such joy in a while, I don't know how to put it. I remember the first years when I stayed at my friend's place around Christmas or so. It was fun but I was still dealing with other stuff that stressed me out. Especially last december was extremely stressful for me.. I mentioned it in another post? I think?

I unpacked some presents I got today. There was one special present in it, where I still can't believe of owning it.

!!! SWTD themed Christmas Jumper! Like?? Wow!! Still bewildered that one got sent to me, I mean this game is so much fun and I'm so darn obsessed analysing every detail of it whenever I can.

I literally played through it again on my PlayStation, I usually don't play such games multiple times but this one? It just hit me the moment I saw a Let's play of it. The first one I saw was from IGP, I really enjoyed him playing it, even tho Rennick JUMPSCARED me the first time I saw that scene.

First few times playing this game I got nightmares from Gibbo or my heart was racing while I ran away from Rennick. I don't know why, Gibbo's sentences haunted me so much. The pain in his voice was unbearable. (Same with O'Conner)

Trots still gives me the creeps, like he just has that aura on him. However, jumping over Trots is also very funny. And Muir's level I can now play in my sleep. I think 1/3 of my hours shown on steam is just me messing with Muir. It's currently at 154 hours played.

And Roper... my beloved *shakes my fists* poor wee man. He did nothing wrooonggggg. Sobs loudly. Foaming at the mouth and hoping there is more lore of him in the artbook. The wait will soon be over. I'm so excited.

But... I just wanna say thank you again to the devs and publishers for this awesome game. It very much helped me be able to get through the day for months. Considering it came out when I was still in a bad work environment, constantly getting bullied. I kept rewatching Playthroughs to stay calm.

I think I related to Caz a lot too, even if everything was basically falling apart around him, he kept going. Ofc he sadly couldn't get a happy ending in the end. But I just try to remember to keep going. Even if I needed to endure my old job for a bit longer, until my new job started.

It bring me so much joy being able to learn more about the gaming industry and the programs used to make such games. And ofc datamining the game and looking at every little detail. May it be the smallest thing such as a file called "CazYeet" or finding an entire unused level that was scrapped. Or even Muir's hit by prop sounds! My eyes WIDENED when I heard them.

I sometimes check artstation on multiple occasions, just to see if something new popped up. And whenever it does, I do a little mental happy dance.

(Petition to make an april fools update where the hit by prop sounds are enabled/JOKE)

Maybe one day I can finally switch over to the entertainment industry, but I need to teach myself so much first. I still wanna go to art school so badlyyyyy. I can already see I won't feel ready enough until I'm 30 or so. Although I'm going to be 23 in 2 days- I still have to practice so many skillsets ajshajsjaksnaksnksks *explodes* but I shall avoid spiralling in my thoughts.

I think I appreciate games so much more now, I still want to try out a bunch of them. But I firstly have to work on some swtd related projects. I'm definitely planning on making a big analysis video next year, which sounds terrifying, I need to practice talking in recordings first. ;a; But I can't forget to visit events too, I need to try out so much stuff;;;;

Okay before I ramble on endlessly... Just, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

@thechineseroom-brighton @wearesecretmode

I hope it's okay if I tag, I know I talk like a river at times, but since I'm a very emotional human being I usually like sharing my thoughts.

I wish the the fandom and devs a Merry Christmas and a great start to the New Year. May everyone heal from past wounds and form new positive memories.

Have this drawing of my OC Kirsten holding bird Roper in his arms.

[pseudophan]

soooo how many times have you seen them irl then

simultaneously so excited to answer this yet aware it makes me sound extremely annoying i'm sorry i will be checking my phannie privilege

uhh both of them nine times, just dan five, just phil once. or both ten and just dan four if you count seeing phil in the audience at london wad lmao

full list in chronological order: summer in the city 2015 (when they got their silver play button for danandphilcrafts lmfao), dapgoose london (you can see me in the recording in like the upper corner of the audience looking so bored, i swear i was actually having the time of my life), the boncas (i definitely never mention this one..), interactive introverts brighton, milton keynes, london and manchester (anyone remember when i sat right next to phil's mum throughout all of ii manchester what the fuck was that about), dan at london pride 2019 (surreal experience), phil at that random dog show/convention he attended (i told him i'd just dropped out of uni and he said aw thats great and then almost walked directly into me later as i was minding my business having no idea he was there), we're all doomed london and oslo and then both of the extra london wad shows he did back in february for the recording and lastly terrible influence antwerp and oslo

i also narrowly avoided them at a muse concert once when it turned out they'd been sitting in our section or the section right next to ours the entire time and we had no idea, though the worst almost encounter was pj's space trip tour (amazing show btw) because that room was SO SMALL and while dnp arrived after it started and left before it ended to avoid being spotted the knowledge that they were sat so ridiculously close to us the entire show haunts me to this day

[spacerangersam]

Well, think i've decided on a hospital for my top surgery. Its the easiest to get to, its got the most information immediately available on their website, the surgeon has really good reviews... Still gonna do some research and sit with it for a bit before deciding for good but like. Quite frankly there's only two places that are easily accessible, and one we could get to at a push that we were only really considering because it's Brighton but... yeah. Kinda surreal to be actually sitting down and planning this after years of only dreaming. It's honestly daunting, but I was kind of scared about starting hrt and that obviously turned out great. It's just a bit more daunting because its surgery and any kind of surgery scares me. This is probably all a bit tmi but hey, if I can't yap on my blog where can I?

[mapsofthelost]

MR HOBBS

There are quite a lot of painters who live in Brighton, and Mr Hobbs is not one of the successful ones. He's been skirting the edges of the art world for decades, turning up at openings, especially if there's wine, having the odd painting in a corner of an unprestigious local exhibition, disappearing for a year or two then popping up again, at a gallery event or at a party where everyone assumes someone else invited him.

No one knows him as anything other than Mr Hobbs, and people in the art world don't know if he's shy and very formal, or whether it's an affectation. The default assumption is of course the latter.

He is obsessive about subject, which is not that remarkable but does mean that he gets called 'the doorman' as a nickname when people are gossiping and being cruel, so quite often, and sometimes in his hearing because he's not important enough not to offend. Every painting includes a door, internal, external, large, small, but always a door.

In the last few years all his paintings have been of a landscape within which a door stands, jarring and surreal. An English meadow, the arctic tundra, a mountainside, all competently but unexcitingly rendered. And somewhere, standing without anything to hold it up, a door.

Mr Hobbs has stopped going to openings, even with good wine, and it's a long time since he's been seen standing against a wall at a party, holding a glass, not talking to anyone.

When his landlord finally gets tired of the rent not being paid, and clears Mr Hobbs' grim little flat, he will throw all the paintings stacked against walls in there into a skip. Finally, after a lifetime of trying, Mr Hobbs learned how to paint a door that he could open and walk through, and he will not be back in this world. He's somewhere far more exciting, and through a series of surprising events, he's become a king.

[0nelittlebirdtoldme]

Acquired this beauty in Brighton. It is vampiric, monstrous, erotic, surreal, gorey and beautiful. Huge "Jonathan's stay on castle Drac" vibes but with a twist - and some strange and blood-hungry beasts...

[tornrose24]

After finishing rewatching all of The Ghost and Molly Mcgee, these are my thoughts.

I think this is the one time in who knows how many years I’ve been invested in something that came from Disney. I haven’t seen this kind of passion project in a long time and sadly I don’t know if I’ll ever see that magic again for awhile, considering how Disney itself has suffered with many poor choices.

As for the show, a lot hits different when you know how it ends. Certain moments become a lot more meaningful with that knowledge.

I’d say first season was the better of the two. There was far more at stake and the story was building up to its climax in numerous ways compared to season two. The threat of The Chairman and the discovering of the duo’s friendship is very much felt in more episodes compared to Jinx.

Scratch’s character development is really noticeable in season 1, but in a way Molly’s is as well, given how one learns to open up and learn kindness and optimism while the other also needs to learn to open up in other ways, as well as grow into the wise, yet still optimistic teenager she becomes at the end of the show.

Season two… the stakes aren’t as great here. As stated by others, the Chens are overall not given much as a threat for season 2, and Jinx is used too sparingly so the penultimate season does feel a bit rushed. I honestly would have taken out some episodes from this season and replaced them with ones that could have addressed this, especially had the creators known they’d only get two seasons. Though of course they did not when starting out and it’s surreal to think that–had things gone right–we’d be waiting for season 3 right now.

However, I’m still sticking to my initial thoughts regarding ‘The End.’ I still don’t think it was necessary for Scratch to forget Molly.

The first problem is that this plot point is already one a lot of us are familiar with (I’ve seen it quite a lot in my case). Doctor Who used it (before it got changed), Spiderman No Way Home used it to a painful extreme, and Gravity Falls temporarily used it in its own finale. There’s a novel called ‘Just like Heaven’ that is a more romantic version of TGAMM, and it ended with memory loss as well (though the movie has a happier ending). I feel sad, but I also feel angry, which leads to my second problem.

Molly and Scratch’s friendship is the heart of this show. We were entertained and moved by it, as well as how far they would go for each other. So when Scratch forgets, we feel Molly’s pain as observers to her and Scratch’s story. We want Scratch to live his life as a human, and we wanted him to go out and see the world, but he should NOT have had to forget Molly in exchange. I know we always have to say goodbye and that there are some people who were special to us that we might/will never see again, but dear lord, being forgotten is a certain type of pain that hurts even worse. 

Rewatching/remembering certain scenes is now more painful, knowing now that Scratch will forget them. Him saying that he’d hate to forget Molly was too cruel. When I was getting cloer to revisiting ‘The End’ I was feeling reluctance to continue on, and not just because I was almost done with the re-watching. When Scratch merged back with his body and the screen turned to white, I had to fight the urge to shut the episode down and pretend things went differently. That’s how much it hurts when it’s not just a casual viewing. I know these characters ultimately belong to someone else, but I wouldn’t want to put them through that kind of suffering.

Had I been in charge of the show, but kept the idea of ‘taking risks is what makes if worth living,’ I would have used one of two different endings. One where its the same, but Scratch remembers Molly. The other would have been a time skip, when Scratch returned to Brighton with Adia and he reunited with Molly who is a little older but is still the girl he knew.

But… I do appreciate the small ray of hope that was given. That Scratch’s behavior as a human and certain use of words–as well as calling Molly by name despite supposedly never hearing it before-fuels a lot of hope that one day Scratch will remember and he will reunite with Molly one day. That even a few writers proposed a reunion story where Molly hugging Scratch would trigger his memories to come back gives me hope that there's still a possibility in that story. (If anyone tells me I'm stupid to be thinking those things, please don't because I care about those characters THAT much.)

Until then, we have aus, what ifs, and fan fics to fix that.

So… I don’t know when I’ll rewatch the whole show again, given the emotional toll. I’ll still revisit some episodes and scenes. But I’m grateful that Disney allowed this show to exist–it deserved more love and attention. If this had to be the very last good thing to ever come out of Disney, I’ll take it.

[strangebookseye]

The Path To Strange Books: Spoken Word Adventures In Legendary Brighton Arts Venues Part 1

My spoken word adventures began in 1999 at the now legendary arts cinema Brighton Cinematheque on Middle Street where Mel Absolon organised cabarets consisting of short films and performances. I performed wearing an oversized top hat with holes for eyes and mouth in the spirit of DaDa and Cabaret Voltaire. These were eclectic, exciting events. I remember a compere who became increasingly naked…

[coelestiuminfernum]

rewrite my understanding of faith - sebaciel fanfiction

28k words | WIP | Rated E

Ciel and Sebastian’s imagined trip to Brighton wherein they disguise themselves as newlyweds. Fake relationship plot with resolved sexual tension and cross-dressing.

“The room is silent. Ciel focuses on the glow of the candle as Sebastian slips the main dress off his shoulders and lets it drop unceremoniously onto the ground. He feels a slight chill in the room as he digs his fingers underneath the petticoat and grazes past the dip in his hips.

Ciel fights the urge to gasp. The devil was fucking with him.

The cotton petticoat meets the floor, along with the crumpled up dress. Despite the fact that Sebastian has bathed and undressed him every day for nearly four years now, Ciel feels strangely vulnerable to be standing here in nothing but ladies undergarments. It feels surreal—just the two of them, in this honeymoon suite. He curses himself for letting his head go there, wishing, wanting almost for it to be real.”

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm July episode synoses!

Saturday,July 8

“All Shark No Bite” – With Mom and Dad out of the house, Molly, Darryl and Scratch watch a scary movie.

“Nin-dependence” – When Grandma Nin is no longer able to live on her own, Molly and Sharon take care of her.

Saturday-July 15

“Like Father Like Libby” – Libby and her mom go on a road trip to visit her dad, who she hasn’t seen in years.

“Dance Dad Revolution” – Pete uses social media to bring attention to important issues but gets swept up in internet fame.

Saturday, July 22

“Jinx!”– When Jinx jinxes Scratch, he and Molly must find a way to undo it. *Media personality and actress Liza Koshy returns as Jinx.

“Let’s Play Turnipball!” – Molly vows to score Brighton’s first win against Perfektborg.

Saturday, July 29

 “The Ghost IS Molly McGee” – Molly and Scratch agree to a body swap when they are forced to deal with their own discomfort with feelings.

“All in the Mind” – When Scratch breaks out in a bad case of bubbles, he and Molly take a surreal journey into his mind to find a cure

Source: https://www.dgepress.com/disneybrandedtelevision/pressrelease/july-2023-programming-highlights/

[denverneumann]

The dry tears that stained Denver's face itched. The bloodbath had been brutal. The cameras now followed a District One girl, Brighton, as she ran through the tunnels in search of her husband. Wrong way, she thought. That's a dead end. It was surreal - Denver knew every inch of the Arena intimately. She'd been in those tunnels. She'd made that exact incorrect turn. Brighton began to circle back and the screen switched to another tribute, in the corridors before you got to the turnstyles, now absent of the glass cases of artifacts. Denver wondered if they'd been destroyed, or if they'd been stored in the museum so short a walk away from all of this death.

To think, to her it had once meant glory. It had once meant honor. A unifying respect for the history of Panem. The singular most important part of their culture. How wrong she'd been.

Darkness was falling in the Arena, just as it was in the windows around Denver. In what was standard for the winter in the Capitol, it was only mid-afternoon now, even if it felt like an entire day had passed since the launch. The tributes were getting the same sunset, and presumably the same sunrise. The tributes were right down the street. And with their uniforms, it may as well be the distance between base camp and the front lines in Seven. Once again, surreal.

Denver stood to refill her glass - it was water, because she didn't think she could handle anything stronger right now, but stopped when she saw the figure standing in the doorway. Monty. Denver smiled, her shoulders relaxing and her breath calming. It was Monty.

"Hell of a thing, isn't it, this Arena?" she asked him.

@montgomery-cannon

[musicarenagh]

Find Your "PARADISE" in Oblivion with P0STERGIRL P0STERGIRL, the Brighton-based purveyor of sardonic art-pop, has dropped a new single, "PARADISE," and, honestly, it's the kind of track that makes you want to simultaneously dance and ponder the heat death of the universe. I think I need new shoes, too. https://open.spotify.com/track/2RM0f0UWF7JumJR9gCxnhI?si=726ed2382cac472e "PARADISE" apparently grapples with optimistic nihilism, which, at first glance, feels like ordering a sugar-free ice cream sundae topped with existential dread. P0STERGIRL, draws inspiration from physicist Brian Cox (because who doesn't find particle physics inherently catchy?) to delve into the sheer absurdity of it all. It's that strangely comforting, albeit darkly humorous, acknowledgement that nothing really matters. It is, to use one the genre definition, an indietronica song, but also some king of anthem. The music a sonic layer cake of Indie-pop glitter electronica that is all so...cheerful, almost manically so, as it celebrates, or laments the end. [caption id="attachment_59128" align="alignnone" width="768"] Find Your "PARADISE" in Oblivion with P0STERGIRL[/caption] The core message? We're all going to kick the bucket, so why not embrace the void with a cheeky grin? Reminds a film ending... what was it? The lyrics explore this yearning, not for a fluffy cloud heaven, but for the ultimate escape hatch: oblivion. Non-existence. It's not about angels and harps; it's about the sweet, sweet release of no longer having to worry about, you know, anything. Did I pay rent? This release feels like the musical equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting – surreal, a bit unsettling, but ultimately captivating in its strangeness. Did I leaved the oven on? The idea that our worries and memories will vanish along with us isn't presented as tragic, but, some how liberated. So, P0STERGIRL seems to ask us that question. "Paradise" found, perhaps, not in eternal bliss, but in eternal nothingness? Where do you find it? Follow P0STERGIRL on Bandcamp, YouTube, Instagram, Website, Facebook, TikTok