#Could add some compelling drama

[loriache]

Laishuro is like. It is absolutely just true that laios is into him. And toshiro absolutely admires laios despite finding him frustrating and difficult but I just dont know under what circumstances he wld reciprocate... the circumstances make any kind of "Relationship " difficult since obviously laios can't actually go east and marry toshiro no matter how much he wants to... immediately post canon I feel like toshiro would feel like his interest switching to laios would be disrespectful to falin. But after that, maybe a few years down the line he comes to stay for a diplomatic visit... seeing laios bloom as a leader (something he's always been taught to value), with both their social skills having been tempered by time and maturity... I think toshiro is kinda Elizabeth Bennett core in that seeing the merits of how laios treats people under his power would hugely compel him. And seeing how laios still absolutely lights up to see him, even after all that time. I think he'd find it flattering. so they maybe have a fling... and then their letters, which from laios' end were already Incredibly Borderline Inappropriately Intimate get even more so. The historian who gets their hands on them definitely has a field day

[twopoppies]

Are the any new fics (within the last couple months) that are good? I’m in a reading drought and I feel like I’ve read every Larry fic there is :( I got so desperate I even thought about looking into f/m fics..

NOOOOO NOT THE HET FICS. DON’T DO IT. 😆

I think I’m just going to use your ask to post my year-end favorite fics. Hope you don’t mind.

It’s been a tough year for me, and I haven’t gotten to read a ton, but these are all excellent.

Secrets, Santa? By @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 19K) disaster gay Harry in all his bumbling, endearing glory still manages to make his incredibly hot boss (Louis) fall for him. This one has snappy dialogue, great internal monologue, and scorching smut. I’d expect nothing less from this author.

your lips in the low light by etherealbliss / @givesuethemoon (E, 21K) It’s been a long time since I read a Larry Uni AU, and this one checked all the boxes. This author managed to really capture the immaturity and obsessive emotions of university age lovers arguing and breaking up, and making each other jealous, and fucking and fighting some more, and ultimately making up. Harry is bratty and sensitive and Louis is dense and long-suffering and they’re perfect for each other.

Scorpions et Madragores by Stria / @nooradeservedbetter (E, 23K) Read the tags and author’s note on this one because there are some themes that could be triggering. This is a dark fic and Harry is a pretty creepy vampire, but the story is very well told and there’s a happy ending.

2 a.m. texts by everysingleday / @sun-lt (T, 30K) This was very sweet and very funny and had just enough sexiness (although I wouldn’t have minded more. LOL!) Link is to a download.

The Doppel Effect by yeah_alright / @uhoh-but-yeah-alright (T, 6K) the concept for this fic was so original and a really compelling read, I can’t help but hope the author gets inspired to continue this ‘verse.

Danger I Can’t Hide by CelticSky (E, 227K) This one’s got all the tension and drama you’d expect of a World War II story—life and death high stakes, friends and lovers unexpectedly torn apart, battles and heroism, plus the added stakes of classism and homophobia—then add a slow burn, high risk, scorching love affair spanning years. If you want a story that’s complex and fantastically researched, plus lovers to root for, read it. It’s long. But I couldn’t put it down. When I finally did, I picked it right back up and read it twice more. It’s that good.

one conversation by fondleeds (NR, 1K) This really is just a couple of scenes, and the story is open-ended, but, if for no other reason, read it for the beautiful way the sentences flow. My notes on every fic of theirs begin with: “I wish I could write like this.”

Night Shift by banaanipoika (E, 9K) This was incredibly sexy and beautifully written. I loved that there was such a unique setting with so much descriptive language making me feel like I could smell and feel everything in that hospital room.

On The Pull by @homosociallyyours (E, 4K) Short, but really sexy and just the right amount of bittersweet and hopeful. Loved the characterizations and the smooth writing. So few people write canon Larry these days so this was a nice change of pace.

Devil in my brain, whispering my name by @lunarheslwt (E, 9K) i i thought this author struck a great balance between the dirtiness of a demon defiling an angel and the way the angel gave in to his desire to be defiled. Super sexy.

pull you closer (kiss me harder) by @sunshineandthemoonlight (E, 6K) This was absolutely beautiful — just the perfect amount of tension and wistfulness to make me tear up. But then it was sexy and full of hope at the end. I loved how Louis supported Harry and gave him exactly what he needed (and really, H gave Louis what he needed, too).

[lurkingshan]

Dead Friend Forever is a Marvel of Mystery Writing

I haven’t been watching Dead Friend Forever live, because I am not always that into the slasher genre and I figured I would wait to hear whether it holds up before jumping in. I admit, I was a bit dubious about a drama sustaining a slasher narrative for 12 entire weeks and didn’t want to spend time on something that might be too shallow to sustain and would end up falling apart. I basically told bestie @wen-kexing-apologist to vet it for me and holler if I needed to start paying attention. And a few weeks ago, they started poking me with increasing intensity, along with a few other friends, because the writing was holding up better than they could believe. I started asking questions, and once @ginnymoonbeam mentioned that Sammon was the writer, it all started to click and I dove into a binge to catch up.

And they were right! This show is excellent, and its strength is sourced in an incredibly strong script from a writer who knows how to construct a longform mystery. Because it turns out, that’s what this show actually is. How do you sustain a slasher for 12 weeks? By embedding a deeper mystery within the slasher framework and pacing your story so that the entire middle delivers a backstory narrative that is even more compelling than the current events. This show is expertly structured to grab your attention and then get you deeply emotionally invested in the coming bloodbath, which is crucial for a slasher to feel like it has any stakes. Let me also note that the excellent writing here is supported by extremely smart direction and editing and some standout performances from young actors. I am going to focus on the writing here because that’s what I do, but it should be said that this whole production is all around excellent. 

So let’s talk about why the writing in Dead Friend Forever works so well! Great drama mysteries should support two kinds of engagement from the viewer: 

no thoughts head empty engagement from the people who just want to be pulled along for the ride and be constantly surprised

red string board theory engagement for the people who enjoy finding clues and trying to solve the mystery in advance. 

It’s actually really fucking hard to thread this needle as a writer, because it requires seeding strong enough clues that attentive viewers could reasonably guess some of the big reveals, but not giving away so much that you are unable to surprise them. A reveal in a good mystery should have you saying “oh my god WHAT” and “of course, that makes perfect sense” at the same time. And the best mysteries support the viewer being able to go back and rewatch, find new meaning they missed the first time, and realize every single thing that happened adds up. A tight mystery has no loose ends and no false steps; it never lies to the viewer, it only works to draw your attention where it wants it at any given point in the story.

Dead Friend Forever does this masterfully with several of its reveals, but I will highlight the biggest example: the reveal of Phee and Non’s relationship in episode 7. In the first four episodes of the show, the story lets us in on a few crucial facts: Phee is newer to this friend group (along with Tan and White), he was not present for whatever went down with Non three years ago, he has some kind of fucked up not!friends with benefits relationship with Jin that involves lots of sexual tension and dick biting, and he seems interested in figuring out what the hell happened once all these dudes start acting crazy about the videos. The string board theorists had enough to go on there to reasonably guess that he was intentionally trying to uncover the truth—but not why—and the no thoughts head empty crowd could just vibe, enjoying his scenes with Jin and wondering how exactly he ended up hooking up with him and getting involved with this group of people he doesn’t even seem to like.

Once we get to the backstory and see Non’s narrative, additional clues emerge, like the existence of both an older brother and a mysterious sweetheart that is only saved as [heart emoji] in Non’s phone. No thoughts head empty is over here going huh I wonder who they’re gonna be and hey when are the rest of the characters going to show up; string board theorists now have two clear options for how Phee could tie in to Non’s story and why he might care enough to investigate, but no one knows for sure. So when the show ended episode 6 with Phee running into Non’s room and began episode 7 with The Most Effective Five Minute BL Of All Time, everything clicked into place. No thoughts head empty got to experience a very pleasant shock moment, the string board theorists got to feel satisfied that they figured out at least part of the reveal, everyone got to enjoy an unexpected shot of romance in the middle of this stressful narrative, and there were still parts of Phee’s motives and involvement with this group that we didn’t understand and would require additional reveals. That is great mystery writing in a nutshell.

And it’s not only the mystery construction that makes the writing here so smart. It’s also the way Sammon is weaving in tons of social commentary, embedding Thai cultural and religious values, incorporating complicated crimes with lots of players in the mix that somehow don’t get confusing, and drawing complex and nuanced characters whose choices and behavior you understand even if you find them abhorrent. It’s not easy to make a viewer both despise a character and still care what happens to them; when you write a story about despicable people you run the risk of inspiring apathy in the audience, which is a death knell for a mystery. We have to be invested for this story to work. We have to feel deep empathy for Non to the point that we fully support axe murdering his bullies, but we also have to be interested enough in the bullies and why they behave the way they do to watch 12 weeks of them running around being awful to each other and harming everyone in their paths. And Non, too, gets to have real complexity. He is not a perfect little Mary Sue who never does anything wrong. He makes big impulsive mistakes, and seeks attention and affection from the wrong people, and lies to the ones he loves, and doesn’t always ask for help when he needs it. He is a flawed human being and that’s so important, because he is the center of this story and we need him to feel real.

In conclusion: holy shit. I tip my hat to you, Dr. Sammon, and I am very excited to be on this ride for the final four episodes. 

[creation-help]

Advice and tips on how to make your character feel more genuine/real

- Pettiness and shallowness. Obviously it can manifest in different ways, but IRL everyone has at least one or two little things that they're a bit surface level and "Just because!" about. Be it clothes, how they do certain rituals, what color m&ms they prefer ect ect. It can be little details or even major characteristics, and depending on which (and what) they are, it can be really telling about the character! Plus, it just adds a little extra depth and fun. Some examples including but not limited to: Being fussy over getting their clothes wet or dirty, only preferring some items because they look good, insisting on doing some action or tradition exactly a certain way, disliking an aspect of a thing or a person because they just don't like it, and so on. Obviously the big worldview points like morality and beliefs are very important, but when you've figured those out, take a moment to think about the smaller, everyday things your character feels about the world around them. No matter how good or wise a person is, they'll still always have some little thing that they can't give some profound noble answer to. Use this to your advantage to explore your character's shortcomings or flaws!

(In the same vein, Pet peeves is another detail that can flesh out a character!)

- How does your character perceive things? What do they notice about people first? How would they talk about, or describe another person to someone, if asked? How would they describe themself? And why? Just some things to consider. If your character maps out all the little details and deeply analyzes everything they see, it'll show in their interactions very differently than, for example, if they have the perception of a cabbage and are more oblivious than the love interest in a teen drama that the writers are stretching out for five seasons for no reason. Ykno.

- Additionally: what's their opinion of the people around them? Or if you've already mapped that out, what's their opinion of people they've never met before, or people who aren't in their immediate bubble, friends of friends, relatives of relatives, neighbours, or celebrities, mythical/historical figures and so on. Delve into hypotheticals sometimes, it can help you exercise your knowledge of the character. Even if none of these encounters or situations would happen in Canon.

- I'm sure you've already figured out what your character is most passionate about, ykno, whatever drives the story and impacts their relationships with other characters. But how about stuff they really don't care to think about? Just shrug? Not interesting? Doesn't pay attention to this? What is low on their priorities? It doesn't have to be negative (but can be!), it can just be "Meh", or something your character hasn't even noticed before, simply because it's not in their thoughtscape to think about.

- Does your character have any of those "What? I thought everyone did that/thought that/was like that!" - things? What do they take for granted, or weren't aware isn't a universal experience? Did they have a wildly different experience with something that most other characters hadn't even thought of? And yes I understand this is good for exploring trauma and other angsty things, but besides the obvious, think about maybe something that could be related to your character's species/living environment/abilities/opinions ect. This is great for exploring cultural differences, and anything that takes place in a fantasy setting. Very useful for villains and heroes alike! It's insightful. Everyone has small little perceptive differences or big and small thoughts that for some reason just haven't been properly challenged yet. Or brought up even. For whatever reason. Explore maybe what that reason could be, and figure out why it's been unchallenged for so long.

- Imperfections. Little divergences. It's fully possible to write a compelling and genuine feeling character using just archetypes, if you really explore them deeply. And whether you're doing that or not, think about the lines and molds you've set your character into, and let them spill out of them a little bit. Can be one huge aspect or one teensy detail, but make some diversion. Some crack in the picture. Doesn't have to be a flaw but can be! Just have some little aspects that set them apart and make the character themself. Get weird with it. Getting weird is one huge way you can truly make a character stand out and feel more unique and, oddly enough, genuine and real. Actual people have little oddities or things that don't line up with everything else about their person. And again it doesn't necessarily have to be anything big or shocking, in fact I'd argue it's even better if sometimes it's just a small, very ordinary, humanizing detail. Maybe unexpected, or maybe just something that doesn't factor into the surface image your character has. Think about characters similar to yours that you see often. What traits do they all share, or most usually have? Think about the kinds of people your character is inspired by. What are they often like? Make a diversion from that. Make multiple even? It can be the most random thing but think about it, even if you threw a dart at a wall of sticky notes, really chew out what this little thing says about your character. And focus on little cracks, imperfections, diversions and other odd details of your character. Over time they can grow bigger, or maybe not.

- Keep a clear picture of who your character is. Sounds obvious but I'll elaborate. Your character will obviously change and develop over the time you're working on them and whatever story events take place but I think it's very important to keep in mind who they fundamentally are. Basically I'm saying that try to keep them in character, yes even if you did drastic character development, you can still show that it's the same person in other ways even if one of their core traits was flipped. Be aware of what things will never change about your character no matter what they'd go through. Keep some consistency. Consistency matters alot in making a character seem genuine and, ykno, a good character. Even if that consistent trait is that they're inconsistent! The character can be that, yes, but as their creator, you should still keep sights of what's consistent for this character, you feel? If your character is a glunk of slime that slips out of it's container constantly and subsequently molds into whatever situation it gets put in, that's not really a character, that's.. Idk, plot device..? I know this may sound contradicting to my previous point but I fully think that, and this one can and should coexist.

You need to simultaneously be aware of the ways your character will differ from something and be fluid, and the ways your character will not bend, and cannot become. It's simply a matter of knowing their boundaries and restrictions, knowing which way they can lean and which way not. Obviously this'll be up to you as their creator, bc yeah you're allowed to drastically edit your character if you feel like it's for the better, but try to commit to that change then. Don't let the character slip from your hands, or let the story bend them into whatever shape it needs to make the plot go forward. Your character, and more importantly you, should be in control of that.

I emphasize the point of you controlling your character and not the other way around also. I've seen some character owners slip into "Well it's just what the character would do! I can't help it, it'd be out of character if they didn't do x!" even if the thing is completely awful, doesn't fit, or would ruin an aspect of the story. A smart writer will know how to work with your character's traits in a way that prevents them from running off the tracks and becoming their own little gremlin, while also complying with the story. Respect your character's.. Character, while also respecting yourself and the point of the story. This is even more crucial if it's a roleplay character, by the way..

I'm just saying, find ways to write the story in cooperation with your character. That means knowing what situations to avoid and which ones to steer for, in order to keep your character functioning with the plot and other characters. Sometimes you simply have to prevent some event from happening, or some characters from ever meeting, for the sole reason that it wouldn't make the story work the way it should. Or the way you want it to. You hold the pencil, be aware of what that means

[rabbit-surfboard]

Fictional podcast recs

One of my friends got into audio drama and I just sent them a whole list of recommendations to go through, I thought someone who follows these tags might also appreciate it and perhaps have some more to throw in. I resisted the urge to throw in the little blurb about audio dramas as a weird little medium and their tropes that I wrote up. It was something to the effect of nodding at how the medium has rapidly been improving since Welcome to Nightvale started, also how a lot of the tropes that tie the medium together are products of the indie podcast scene being accessible and primarily based in audio. Also at how well horror works in the format. Those paragraphs went unsaved but writing first about the medium in general helped me to reflect on a lot of the things that make audiodramas appealing or repulsive to me for discussing each show in brief beyond just explaining what they're about.

All recommendations are tagged for the tldr.

Fiction podcast recommendations in no particular order:

The Magnus Archives

Horror

The biggest criticism I ever had of this podcast’s voice acting from episode 1 turned out to be a relevant plot point. This thing is probably the best of the best, but I would never recommend it to someone unfamiliar with podcasts because the listener only notices a plot hook somewhere between episodes 20-40 and that’s daunting in the face of a 200 episode show. Getting sucked in rewards you with 200 episodes of thoughtful content and a great explanation for most of the weird things this show chooses to incorporate.

Old Gods of Appalachia

Horror

Fantastic production quality on this ongoing show. Many seasons with interconnected lore and a hell of a narrator. It’s not my personal favorite but it’s quite excellent.

Red Valley

Found footage mystery

One of the newer shows I’ve gotten into, Red Valley is well-crafted. It becomes compelling very quickly with a rapid pace that slows down to land in a neat spot for a while so you can savor the cool parts. The production quality is excellent and the two main voice actors have excellent chemistry. The third and final season is currently being produced.

The Silt Verses

Horror

Often compared to American Gods, this newer podcast made by an experienced team is doing a lot of creative and fresh things at once. The magnificently fucked up religious system of The Silt Verses is both a neat plot vehicle and cleanly works as a criticism of late stage capitalism, where many podcasts like to jab at capitalism this one is much more pointed in its commentary. Episodes are long and very well produced. All the credits in the third season have been mostly diegetic and add flavor to the world.

Archive 81

Found footage horror

Slow to start but by season 2 the production quality and plot are among the best in the game. Unfortunately, on an extended hiatus.

Ars Paradoxica

Science fiction, historical

Very well produced considering its age, this is a highly regarded show among people who follow the medium. Excellent time travel mechanics here. The plot drags a bit by the end because time travel stories must violently contort themselves into a conclusion, but the first season or two are fantastic and it’s always nice to have an ending instead of interminable hiatus.

Caravan

Gay demons n stuff

Showed up, did magic and gay shit, disappeared and went on hiatus probably with some kinda unsatisfying cliffhanger seeing as I don’t remember the plot. Could I recommend it in good faith? Not until they at least cough up season 2. I don’t remember it being bad and that alone is notable for the medium.

Mabel

Gothic horror

This is the deepest cut on the list except for maybe Caravan. Lesbians pine at each other for increasingly complicated reasons, eventually devolving into them doing datura and then spewing cryptic poetry together for the rest of their days. The production quality is fair. The slow windup and creepy house are American-gothic af. This show has had a few hiatuses, but each time it comes back significantly more intriguing.

Welcome to Nightvale

Goofy spooky news broadcast

Old and iconic, not very consistent. Sometimes explores emotional, tense, spooky, or funny scenes well, but the show is really focused on being local news for an ooky spooky desert town because Cecil is damn good at his job. Don’t come here looking for plot, it’s a fun vibe and I don’t know that anybody’s ripped it off and notably improved on this classic. Above average production quality for its time which improved through the years.

Alice isn’t Dead

USA road trip, horror

Made by at least one of the Nightvale writers, totally different show with a lesbian trucker making wry observations of some magnificently twisted shit seen around the United States. The producers know how to run a show, so the production is pretty good.

Tanis

Found footage horror

Tanis is not good. However, it was the first fiction podcast to make me ask “Is this real?” and hesitantly believe it for a frankly embarrassing number of episodes. The stories in the first season were interesting and the lore is just some big-tent conspiracy style of cramming a bunch of fun Wikipedia research into what turns out to be an increasingly nonsensical plot. Every season after the second, I return to hate-listen and am gaslit into thinking the show might low-key rock a few episodes before the finale, which is routinely frustrating and makes sure to throw out any good plot points Terry Miles comes up with. The acting is routinely terrible, and the frame narrative allows lazy and frequent retcons, ruining what I think is a good premise. Also it’s incomplete.

The Black Tapes

Horror

Terry Miles started this show before Tanis began releasing about 5 months later. I think of it as one of his earlier works because it behaves like Tanis with an added layer of cringe from a time waster of an awkward romance(?) between the two main characters. I couldn’t finish this show. You won’t see this recommended as often as it used to be online because there’s many better shows now, but this used to be a big deal. There’s a bunch of memes making fun of the annoying cadence of the characters’ speech and iconic sponsorship reads in both this and Tanis. If you’re interested in some cringe atop your creepypasta podcast, the two are interchangeable.  

Rabbits

ARG investigation

Not as horror focused as Terry Miles’ other shows, the cringe is dialed down and the show is better for it. Tanis and The Black Tapes are more well known, I think the only reason more people don’t think about this one is because the first two don’t inspire trust in the production or narrative quality of this show, but I remember it being fine for a season. I have not gone back to catch up now that more is out.

Malevolent

Horror

Inspired by The King in Yellow, one man performs two voices and verbally abuses himself with aplomb. Having a blind main character with an extra voice in his head is a frame story I haven’t heard yet (unless it came up in the magnus archives and I don’t remember), the concept works out great for the frame of a podcast to deploy the environmental imagery that foley cannot communicate. It also prevents the podcast trope of lengthy exposition about visual surroundings from sounding awkward or potentially impacting someone’s character development to show setting.

Wolf 359

Comedy, science fiction

A crew of whacky characters is stuck in deep space, hanging out and researching a star. Since that’s not actually very interesting they crack jokes and fuck around for a slow burn until interesting stuff happens. Good but not great, this one is long and satisfying and a bit less heavy than all the horror this medium often focuses on. Decent production quality.

The White Vault

Found footage horror

I lost patience with this podcast even though the overarching story seemed very cool – it progresses very slowly yet appears to grow bigger and more confusing instead of deigning to answer basic questions for a frustratingly long drag through the first four seasons. I worry that this frustration may be the point and the Patreon gated stories are the drivers for this tendency towards the confusing patchwork of ideas this show communicates. The production quality is good though.

The Left Right Game

Found footage horror

Genuinely great reddit creepypasta got turned into an overproduced podcast – I say “over” in comparison to the voice acting quality because it’s kind of impossible to sell some of the lines, which makes sense considering the source. Brief, complete, punchy, interesting, and just a little odd to hear such a clean production but a creepypasta this fun deserves the effort.

Wooden Overcoats

Comedy

Surprisingly good production quality for its age, and also a refresher from the usual tropes of the medium. Just a chill sitcom about a funeral parlor in a small town. I haven’t finished this 4 season show yet but its good.

The Black List Table Reads

Movie script readings

Some movie scripts just short of making the cut to be turned into a full Hollywood production were well liked enough by a group of film nerds that sat down to act them out as a podcast. Half of the episodes are interviews with screenwriters, and the other half see a script read all the way through by actors. They’re all rejected for different reasons so there’s a pretty broad spread of genres. My favorites were Blood From a Stone and Balls Out.

[secondhandsorrows]

Some Vital Scenes to Include in a Romantic Subplot, Pt. 2

Back at it again with part two of some scenes to consider adding for a romance subplot. Before we get into it, just a brief reminder that everyone’s story is different. Take that as you will. I find these helpful for planning and keeping a solid foundation for a compelling romance. There's probably a lot more I'm missing out. Some of these tips, I'm thinking, could even be helpful for writing a platonic friendship, in cases like making mistakes or helping each other through tough times.

If there's anything you would like add or share about this process or some of the things that have helped you, let me know! ~

- Moments of intimacy:

This is rather similar to our last point about flirting, but what I’m trying to get across here is the things that are not said. The unspoken. The unmentionables, if we wanna go there. But I’m getting ahead of myself… this is the kind of scene that can be built up gradually as the romance between your characters grows and deepens. Moments of intimacy in a romance subplot involve deeper and more meaningful interactions between the characters, showcasing their emotional closeness. They include physical closeness, such as hugs, touches, or moments of shared proximity. 

It doesn’t have to be all touchy-feely, either. These scenes also might include gazing at the stars, a shared adventure, a sudden desire to reach out but chickening out at the last second, or a quiet moment of understanding during a tough situation. These gestures can convey a sense of comfort or safety. Intimate moments can also build anticipation and tension in the narrative, where readers may eagerly await these little, momentous moments as they read and become more invested in their relationship. 

- Helping each other out:

Nothing get me more invested in a romance than those moments where the characters offer support, assistance, or guidance to each other, thus reinforcing their bond and showcasing the strength of their connection. Also, while helping each other, the characters can also encourage independence and growth in each other. They can encourage each other’s goals and aspirations, allowing each other to maintain their own unique identity within the relationship. 

The characters could also perform acts of kindness, be it big or small — showing to the other character how much they care without explicitly stating it. There’s an element of vulnerability that can be explored here, in which the characters share experiences and insights good and bad — offering each other solace during hard times and joy during the best of times. 

Some examples!

- Character A solving a problem in a way that only they would know or character B wouldn’t have thought of in the first place. 

- Character B being understanding and listening without judgement to A’s opening up and venting.

- Character A offering support and clear-headed advice to B, who tends to get irrational. On the other hand, B standing up for A and protecting them from harm. 

- Character B teaching a new, valuable skill to A, thus providing great opportunity for them to get closer and connect. 

- Mistakes or misunderstandings:

Like many others, I’m not a big fan of miscommunication in romantic arcs … unless they’re resolved quickly (because they tend to be predictable, sometimes, or just frustrating when there's every opportunity for them to reconcile but they're ignoring it because drama).

Ahem. But, characters should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. It’s realistic, because who hasn’t made a mistake at least once in their life? Not every budding relationship is ever perfect. It’s rewarding to see characters learn from their errors and work towards a mutual understanding or reconciliation. This helps to show their emotional maturity and resilience, especially if its gradual or important for their character arc.

Narrative elements that introduce complications (often arising from bad impressions, flaws, insecurities, awkward moments, mistakes, or even just being at the wrong place at the wrong time) can add tension to the relationship while providing space for growth. When used right, this can add deeper strength to your characters’ bond as they eventually overcome the bumps along the road of romance. It’s always interesting to see how characters might react in certain situations, for better or for worse. This is also a great point as to force your characters to confront their true feelings and be able to recognize them or communicate them better.

- Declaration of feelings:

Finally! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! This is the special moment where one or both characters express their romantic feelings for each other, marking a significant turning point in the subplot that often dictates how the story would then play then on out. Think about how you want your “declaration” scene to play out and what emotions you want to invoke. Is it elation? Anguish? Confusion? Excitement? Sadness? I mean, not every declaration scene has to be perfect. It all depends on the story you’re wanting to tell, how focused you want your romantic subplot to be, and what your characters are like. 

Also consider how your characters are feeling in that moment and what brought them there. Have your characters been waiting for this moment for a long time now? Is it risky? Easy for them to declare their feelings out loud? Could it also be just not the right moment, so hopefully later their love will be fully understood and reciprocated? Just some helpful things to consider. 

[he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle]

Top 5 Beloathed Tropes, in No Particular Order

Hi beloveds. Because of a recent certain episode of what had previously been a favorite drama, I feel compelled to share some hate. Hate for these godawful tropes!

Noble Idiocy - This is when one character sacrifices something dear to them (usually their relationship with another character) out of the mistaken idea that it's somehow better for everyone this way. LISTEN UP PEEPS! It's a lie. It's so disrespectful of others, especially if it's a breakup. It's assuming that you know what is best for them, that you know what they're thinking and feeling better than they do, that you know what they'll want. All without ASKING THEM or letting them make their own decisions. You know what this signals to me as a viewer? That your relationship is doomed to failure even if you eventually work through this stupidity. Why? Because if you're willing to do this once, what's to stop you from doing it again? Your worldview is inherently flawed in a deeply selfish way, particularly because you're passing off your selfishness as sacrificial "love" and "respect" when it is the opposite! I no longer trust you! In summary: don't sacrifice your relationship/work/happiness because of stupid reasons that you could easily work through with some decent communication!

Time skips for the ending. - Time skips can be a valuable narrative tool. They can give a character who just endured something dramatic or traumatic time to become stable again. They can provide a fluffy epilogue to a fluffy ending, demonstrating to the audience that a year later everyone is still happy. But time skips are evil if they come in the penultimate or final episode just to add drama, and they're particularly evil if they relegate character growth offscreen. THIS IS WEAK WRITING. This is wanting to correct a character flaw without doing the work to show me HOW it gets corrected. It's especially egregious if it's a character flaw called out by the narrative in prior episodes because then I have an emotional investment in seeing it resolved, and THE WRITERS JUST STOLE THAT FROM ME.

Intentional Miscommunication - Let's just call this what it is. Lying. It can be well done (and even humorous) if the main character is trapped in a lie by circumstances beyond their control and they must perpetuate that lie for Reasons. Think Unintentional Love Story and Business Proposal. These often begin as low-stakes lies of omission because a character doesn't know yet how involved they'll become in the other's life. But it gets dumb as fuck when it either drags on beyond a couple of episodes (think Twins) or involves an intentional outright lie (I'm looking at you, Last Twilight). Dear TV writers, as a good rule of thumb, please resolve all misunderstandings within the length of an episode. And if the entire plot happens to be built on a lie, at least make it accidental rather than intentional. Why? Because someone who intentionally lies to others, particularly someone they claim to love, is no longer trustworthy. If you throw this trope in at the end of the drama, I'm no longer going to believe these characters can have a Happily Ever After no matter how happy you show me they are on screen.

Mean/abusive tsunderes. - Everybody loves watching a cold or reserved or grumpy character come out of their shell and bloom. But stop making tsunderes who are downright mean or abusive! Particularly ones who miraculously fix fundamental character flaws as soon as they're loved by the right person. Do tsunderes right, please! They're supposed to begin the story coming off as harsh or severe, but it's supposed to be for a good reason that engenders sympathy once we (and the other main characters) understand them. They're not supposed to actually be abusers! And it's the worst kind of storytelling to show their abusive nature magically changing because they feel in love. All this tells me is that as soon as their fluffy in love feelings dissappear, their abusive nature will reappear. I actually fear for their romantic partner.

Amnesia. - I hate it when all the character growth gets undone by this magic trope. Not only is the amnesia portrayed on screen usually totally medically inaccurate, but it's just lazy and dumb to use this for drama instead of something more realistic or believable. I can only think of three stories that did this well -- Jack O'Frost, Naughty Babe, and Crazy Love. In those stories, the amnesia (if real) was momentary, but then they pretend it is still there for valid sympathetic Plot Reasons. I also don't mind if it's the literal setup of the plot, ie the whole story is about a character with some form of amnesia adapting to their new life (think: Momento, 50 First Dates, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). But please stop throwing it into the middle of stories just to be Dramatique™

@lurkingshan This is for you! Thanks for your Last Twilight rant spurring this on.

[canmom]

dog day

went down to a local queer film thingy today and saw Dog Day Afternoon, in which Al Pacino plays attempted bank robber John Wojtowicz (nicknamed 'Sonny' in the film) who in 1972 ended up running a hostage situation and siege he really didn't intend to be in - someone who's a bit of a cause célèbre in these parts because honestly what's more iconic than robbing a bank to pay for your trans wife's bottom surgery?

(this is the real Wojtowicz during the event)

as a movie it's absolutely really solid. Pacino definitely does a fantastic job giving us a sympathetic portrayal of the increasingly harried Sonny trying to juggle all the competing elements of the robbery - reassuring his partner Sal, negotiating with the cops outside, managing the hostages. on a pure narrative level, it's a great screenplay, both full of escalating tension and capturing the humour of the unlikely camaraderie that forms between the robbers and their hostages. they get a lot out of the contrast between mundane concerns (not swearing) and the extreme situation, and it generally works really well.

the film portrays Sonny accidentally stumbling into being a folk hero - his televised calls in which he mentions the Attica massacre, and interactions with the crowd outside, becoming central the narrative that forms around the attempted robbery. it's compelling stuff even today - indeed the whole sensibility of it, the sympathetic bi and trans characters, the sympathy for all the characters, felt very modern.

speaking of, not really quite knowing the timespan of Al Pacino's career (I've still seen very few of his movies), I kinda assumed this movie would have been made, say, a couple decades after the robbery. so I was very impressed with how well it nailed the 70s period aesthetic... which turns out to be for a very simple reason, this movie was made in 1975, just three years after the events it portrays. which is wild to me, don't filmmakers normally wait a bit for it to be less 'the news' before they fictionalise the events? anyway it was a big deal in its day, scooping up a bunch of oscars.

this makes it quite interesting to look back because it really is a slice of how people felt about shit back in the 70s - as edited by the filmmakers of course, but every sentiment in this film is a genuine 70s sentiment by definition, right? the justified distrust of the police, the highly political gay angle, that's all shit we're hashing out today still. all these characters feel very much like real people out of their depth, and it's interesting to read about the process of filming it involving a fair amount of improvised elaboration.

anyway that all has the fascinating consequence that Wojtowicz was alive and watched the movie made about him. apparently there was a whole campaign to get the film screened for Wojtowicz in prison, which meant he could make a critique of it. as a result, he could write to the newspaper criticising their portrayal (via wikipedia). evidently the filmmakers took quite some liberties for drama - Wojtowicz calls it 'about 30% accurate'.

for example they portray him as still having been with his cis wife 'Angie' (irl, Carmen) at the time of the robbery, and add a fictionalised meeting with his mother where she is dismissive of Angie for weight etc., suggesting that it's somehow her fault that Sonny should go and do something as unseemly as have a relationship with a trans woman. as I took it, it's a portrayal of his mother's prejudice which the film broadly rejects - but in any case, all of that was just straight-up made up for the film, presumably because of the drama that the trans wife vs cis wife angle brings. in reality it seems that Wojtowicz separated from Carmen two years before the robbery, and he disputes her characterisation in the film (he's actually quite rude about the actress who portrays her, who to me looked like a regular-ass woman).

A third scene shows me speaking to my female wife, Carmen, on the telephone. (The actress who portrays her in the movie is an ugly and greasy looking women with a big mouth, when in real life my wife is beautiful and very loving wife.) I did try to call her, but the F.B.I. cut the phone lines and air conditioning before I could get to speak to her on the line. I did not like the horrible way they tried to make her the blame or the scapegoat for everything that happened, especially because of the Gay aspects involved. (...) First, the actress playing my wife, Carmen, made her look horrible and inferred that I left her and winded up in the arms of a Gay man because of her. This is completely untrue, and I feel sorry for the actress for having to play such a horrible role.

this is perhaps something of an aspect where values drift between when the film was made and the present. to us the idea that 'cis woman is ugly/unloving so guy is gay' is just laughable homophobic nonsense, something that the mother or the unfortunate estranged wife might believe but clearly not true - but Wojtowicz apparently felt that was a plausible editorial angle being suggested by the film, which he needed to correct.

but honestly it's Sonny's partner Sal who truly gets the short end of the portrayal stick here. he is pretty much set up with death flags from the early on - he's got greasy hair, he's taciturn, glowering, religious, kinda ignorant, and the one who's actually willing to go through with killing the hostages - in contrast to the charismatic, beleagured Sonny who definitely is framed as being in over his head and not likely to actually do it.

so when Sal's killed abruptly at the end of the film it's essentially framed as tragic but kinda inevitable, the only way they were going to get him to stand down. according to Wojtowicz, he was actually already immobilised when the FBI killed him, and Wojtowicz disputes that it was necessary to kill him.

the only photo I have of the real Salvator Naturile is a grainy police mugshot which is inevitably far from flattering! in this portrait he has somewhat similar hair to his film portrayal but the actor in the film is 39-year-old John Cazale.

the film has the main FBI goon (truly the most FBI looking FBI goon you've ever seen) warn Sonny that they're going to kill Sal; Sonny hides this from Sal as the group make their way to the airport in the bus he demanded, allowing Sal to be tricked into lowering his weapon so the FBI can suddenly kill him and arrest Sonny. the way the film suggests it played out, Sonny implicitly figures out that flying to maybe Algeria was not really on the cards, but makes an effort to keep the ball rolling all the same, to stop Sal from killing anyone and perhaps from some delusional doublethink hope they'll all manage to fly away in the end.

the real Wojtowicz was pretty appalled at this implication. he writes:

Now to one of the most despicable parts of the film. In it they hint very dramatically that I made some kind of a deal to betray my partner, Sal. It hurt me that the same F.B.I. who cold-bloodedly killed an 18-year-old boy can be depicted as having me help then. This is not true and there is no human being low enough in this world who would let the F.B.I. kill his partner in order for him to survive. It can be labeled as just Hollywood trying to sell a movie or just to increase the drama, but I call it sick.

Wojtowicz's trans wife Elizabeth Eden is portrayed in the film with a male name 'Leon', by Chris Sarandon. As I read it at the screening, the film portrays a time the line between 'gay' and 'trans' was far less clear-cut; Sonny is declared a 'homosexual' for his relationship with 'Leon', and refers to her with male pronouns despite calling her his wife. This appears broadly to be accurate: in Wojtowicz's letter, he refers to Eden as Ernie, and calls her his 'male lover'. He praises Chris Sarandon's performance, writing:

I feel he did it perfectly. If in real life Ernie had said those things and done those actions, he would have done them exactly as Chris did them. In the telephone scene between Pacino and himself his performance was unfathomable and a tribute to his mastery of an unbelievably difficult role. I was moved to tears by it because the realism was there and so professionally done.

the film paints 'Leon' as not supporting the robbery and actually wishing to escape from the increasingly erratic and violent Sonny - there's a compelling scene where they speak on the phone while the cops tune in. but is any of that actually true? Wojtowicz doesn't defend himself from any of that portrayal in the letter beyond briefly saying that 'some of what they both said ... were true statements of facts', even though they weren't discussed during the actual robbery.

all these inaccuracies notwithstanding, some good did come of the film for the main couple. consistent with Wojtowicz's stated intent, the film portrays Sonny as motivated in large part by paying for Leon's bottom surgery (in the film they call it a 'sex change operation', and the suggestion seems to be that Leon will only be a woman after that), and a scene near the end sees Sonny dictating. in reality, the filmmakers paid Wojtowicz $7500 for the use of his story (though he says they had agreed to give him more and did not honour that deal), and he used some of that money to pay for the real Elizabeth Eden's bottom surgery so... in a sense robbing a bank does pay, if you do it in a stylish enough way to get a movie made of you!

looking back on this whole thing nearly 50 years after the event... both the main characters portrayed in it are dead. Elizabeth Eden died during the AIDS crisis in the mid 80s - by that point Wojtowicz was out of prison and was able to give her a eulogy. Wojtowicz himself made it to 60, dying of cancer in 2006. both seem to have lead pretty regular lives. and now what remains is this movie, which found in their lives a suitably dramatic 125 minutes of screen time, where they could both come to represent something bigger.

most films I tend to watch depict entirely fictional events, so it's interesting watching a film which purports to portray something real. I end up thinking about all the ways in which turning it into film makes it artificial, simplifies people into characters. the way camera angles and lighting are arranged to inform us of a character's emotional state. the way the chaotic events are organised into a series of arcs of rising and falling tension, the rhythms of tense confrontations on the street and quiet moments inside the bank, the sense of space it creates between the outside (full of crowds and cops with guns where every movement is risky) and inside (where people can, ironically, play around with guns or have mundane medical problems). everything gradually escalating as new problems arise and their consequences play out - and all the boring hours of the robbery are elided, but still suggested by the changing costumes and lighting.

sifting through the chaos of life and making narrative out of it is what films do of course, and this film does it better than most, but it's weird to think about that. to try and imagine what it would be like to have a film made out of me, what dramatic choices they would make. biopics of 'great people' are well established, but this is a film about pretty ordinary people who did something kinda crazy once, and about the systems that they acted within.

very interesting movie, definitely holds up very well, much to think about. big shoutout to Small Trans Library for screening it, really looking forward to whatever they have for us next in a couple weeks.

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 7 thoughts

let me tell you, i have been anticipating the funeral drama in this episode for WEEKS and it absolutely did not let me down.

as always i am happy that we got to see some of the dragons but i would have loved even more. where is syrax! i want to see her all grown up!

i’m glad we got the velaryons mourning laena, but it really did make me wish that we’d gotten to see more of her alive. laenor is clearly grieving his sister, but i honestly don’t think they ever had any significant scenes together.

corlys and rhaenys with their grandchildren was really sweet, i especially loved seeing rhaenys comfort rhaena and baela at the funeral.

helaena targaryen continues to be a weird little girl and i support her!

i love the idea of making aemond care more about helaena than aegon does, it’s a good characterization bit and also incredibly evil (cannot wait to see Certain Events that happen as a direct result of aemond’s actions utterly ruin their relationship).

why was this episode so dark. i could see everything but it was really gray :(

however i did like the part where everyone was standing around awkwardly after the funeral, the interpersonal drama was delicious.

matt smith and emma d’aracy have great chemistry, all the staring they did at the funeral made me SO impatient for them to actually interact, and their conversation on the beach was fantastic. 

loved getting to see them confront all their thoughts and feelings about each other that have built up over ten years. i’ve always found their relationship compelling to watch even though it’s obviously. you know. incestuous. it’s just fun to watch! and i feel less “step away from the underage girl” now that rhaenyra is older.

i know harwin strong is dead and never coming back but i’m still glad that we got to see jace mourning him and rhaenyra talking about their relationship.

a brothel …. a shack on the beach … daemon i am literally begging you to bring rhaenyra somewhere actually nice on your next date.

the scene of aemond claiming vhagar was both funny and awesome, the visual of this tiny little kid riding a huge old dragon and screaming his head off was hilarious but the moonlight dragon ride was very cool.

truly family solidarity as exemplified by the targaryen-velaryon kids is when your cousin that you just met for the first time that day wakes you up in the middle of the night to tell you your uncle stole her dead mom’s dragon so you go beat him up together!

i like the added detail that rhaena was planning to claim vhagar, it adds even more betrayal to aemond taking her instead.

is house of the dragon actually an extended psa about the dangers of giving young children knives? maybe so!

mom rhaenyra looking after her kids and making sure they’re okay is very important to me :)

honestly, i felt pretty bad for aemond in the big confrontation scene, he was kind of a jerk to the other kids but it can’t be fun to get yelled at by your dad when you’ve just lost an eye.

i absolutely LOVED the tension in that scene and the way that it built and built until alicent just went for it and tried to stab rhaenyra. characters going completely feral and unhinged in the BEST and alicent dropping her mask of cordiality and screaming at rhaenyra was so, so good.

viserys your parental favoritism is reeeally showing…

the scene between rhaenyra and laenor was wonderful, i’m so glad the show made it clear that even though they have their differences and have been basically forced into a marriage together they still care about each other and their kids a lot.

loved that larys was like “hey alicent want me to stab a kid’s eye out for you? :)” and alicent was like “no dude i’ll actually TELL you when i want you to kill someone.” she’s learning!

there were 3 dragons when the boat was sailing away, does that mean helaena has already claimed dreamfyre?

when rhaenyra and daemon started talking about getting married i was SO worried that i was going to see them engage in some not chill behavior together and kill laenor so i’m glad that didn’t happen.

i do have to respect this show for avoiding another bury your gays by having laenor fake his death but. uh. is anyone ever going to tell corlys and rhaenys that their son isn’t dead?

the valyrian wedding between daemon and rhaenyra was really cool but tbh i was kind of laughing at them passionately making out with tongue in front of their kids.

i say this every week but i am VERY excited for next week, looks like we’re in for even more family drama.

[fauxkaren]

Lovely Runner - 10/10

The Platonic ideal of a fantasy romcom K-drama. Like... holy shit this was so good. The leads were so charming and had great chemistry. The way the story unfolded and reveals happened was so satisfying. The time travel aspect actually held together logically (or at least like it wasn't so egregious that I noticed it and it detracted from the experience). The soundtrack was amazing. The secondary characters were cute. There were fun comedic moments and also some genuinely moving emotional scenes. A lot of dramas will stumble at the finish line, but Lovely Runner absolutely sticks the landing.

Right. So. What is it about? I will do my best to lay out the premise, but I promise that the show itself does an excellent job of holding the viewers hand so it never feels confusing. The show opens in 2009 with Sol in a rehabilitation hospital after an accident where she lost use of her legs. She is angry and despairing until she hears a radio interview with Sun-jae, the vocalist of a rookie band that gives her hope and a desire to keep on living. Fifteen years later, Sun-jae is a wildly successful celebrity who is unhappy in life and Sol is a Sun-jae Super Fan. When Sun-jae dies by suicide, Sol is devastated and while clutching a watch of his that she'd bought at auction, Sol travels back in time to her body in 2008. Given the chance to change the future, Sol is determined to do so.

The show explores the 'what-ifs' of life. What if Sun-jae never suffered the career ending injury that caused him to leave swimming behind and started him on the path to stardom? What if Sol can avoid the accident that paralyzed her? But maybe some things are fate and cannot be avoided. And if you can change one thing, how could that create a domino effect that impacts everything else? The writing is so tight as it takes the audience through reveals and the timelines so I never felt lost or confused.

And like it's not just the writing that is excellent. The two leads are SO GOOD. They have great chemistry (which the show is NOT afraid to lean into!) and are compelling individual characters too. Kim Hye-yoon especially sparkles on screen as Sol. Outside of the leads, the world is populated with memorable minor characters that add even more life and fullness to the world. It was absolutely a joy to watch and I cannot recommend this highly enough. The only downside is that, in the US, Lovely Runner is not on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon so I uh... I had to sail the high seas to watch it. (It was on Viki but I was NOT about to subscribe to yet another goddamn streaming service.)

[qhoaaaa]

Yippee surprise fic of (my rendition of) Fool!Milo x Sweetheart!

I'd like to imagine this Milo is still a little flirty but also hardened/wary around others by a particular event that is mentioned in the fic 👍🏽

This was meant to be a ramble on how we could get a chase with Fool!Milo but then i was like fuck it let me make a fic instead (and add drama lol)

"Don't need to hear your heartbeat thuddin' from anyone else but me..."

Fool!Milo/Sweetheart - 18+ - MDNI

CW: Fighting, Aggression, mentions of a death

Sweetheart, at the dead of night, running over a plain hill. The moon towering over them in a cloudless night, a hiss heard that echoes in their mind. A blur too fast for them to catch, its not of a Stealth. The wind picks up, and they fall to the ground. They summon any kind of defensive magic they can, hoping a surge of electro magic would stop it. They raise a hand in front of them, closing their eyes, the rush of magic collected at their palm. They're about to release it when they feel a hand wrap around their wrist.

That familiar core signature, husky and near animalistic, they know him. They dissipate the magic, feeling it fade into their body. Their eyes open, seeing his blood-red eyes glow around his pupils, grey surrounding the iris. The red is bright against the grey-blue night, almost comforting and warm. They've spent many nights with him, time has blurred into years, and they wouldn't change it for anything.

They hear a gentle huff from him, his hand squeezes their wrist, "Hey, Sweetheart... are you okay?"

That accent, music to their ears, compels them to answer, "Yes..."

He helps them up, dusting them off, "What's going on, what happened?"

They pull their sleeves up, "I thought you were some intruder, didn't expect a chase!" A soft thud as they pat his shoulder.

He clicks his tongue, "You call that a chase? That was barely a sprint, what are you talking about?" He stops to kiss their cheek, sighing before continuing with a smirk on his face, "And if there was anyone, I know damn well we both could've handled them. I mean, shit! Me with my speed and these fangs, and you with the stealth! We're fucking invulnerable, Sweetheart!"

They smile at him, feeling his hands snake their way to their waist, him looking up at them, the moon reflecting in his eyes. They place their hands on his shoulders, squeezing, then moving a hand to his cheek. He doesn't break eye contact, looking at them softly, pressing his face into their palm.

He opens his mouth, pressing the tip of a fang onto their palm. He's getting the instinct to nibble on them, despite not needing to feed, he just wants his fangs on their skin. He smiles and kisses the area, but stops when he hears something. He pulls away from their hand, staring blankly into the dark bush of trees.

"Out there, in the forest. You ready for an actual chase, baby?" He squeezes their hand, and they let it fall to their side, staring into the trees, trying to figure out what he heard. Was it animal? Human? Empowered or Unempowered? Could they fight back? Would they want to?

"Not sure I'll catch up to you."

"Eh, you don't gotta. Just be with me. Come on, I got the scent. I might be feeling a little peckish tonight."

As he turns, they grab his arm, "What is it?"

His hand goes over theirs, "Just a wolf, uh, shifter, guessing they might've lost their way to their pack. Let's say we redirect 'em, huh?"

"Milo..."

"I know. I won't feed, you got all the blood I need, baby."

They have the urge to roll their eyes but his words and tone are genuine, comforting, grounding.

He gives them a toothy grin, fangs poking into his lips, "You'll keep me in check anyway. Nothing wrong with a vamp needing his own protector, huh?"

They huff, "Let's get this done with, then. A wolf on your territory isn't something you need, considering how much of your scent is out there."

"Our territory. Our scent. This place is just as much as mine as it is yours, Sweetheart. Don't forget that."

They watch as he gets closer, his hand wrapping around the back of their neck as he presses his forehead against their's. They hear him take in a deep breath, taking in their scent, then exhale. After a few seconds, he presses an innocent kiss to their neck. They giggle and pat a fist at his shoulder, "Let's get going, before you drain me on the spot."

He scoffs as they take a few steps forward, a goofy smile on their face, "I would never! You know me! All my cues and shit!... Unless you're wanting to be bit, I can make an arrangement for that... Yeah, definitely."

"All your cues, huh? Yeah, let's go before you tackle me right now, I can already see it-" They chuckle as they raise their hands up in the air, mimicking a screen.

"Okay, okay!" He huffs and catches up to them, and they start sprinting down the hill. He matches their pace pretty quickly, "I'll go left, you go straight, they're in pretty deep so I don't think they know this area much. You know what to do after that, Sweetheart. I'll meet with you back home."

The two share a confident glance before Milo sprints further, reaching the trees before they do. He stops, watching them cloak before he goes any further. He tracks their scent, whispering to himself, "Just one guy but it's still risky. A wolf and a Stealth... Come back to me, baby. I don't need to hear your heartbeat thuddin' from anyone else but me."

Even when they're cloaked, he still catches onto them. Their steady heartbeat, small huffs when they breathe as they run, and the ever so slightly heard crunch of the twigs underneath them. Everything of them calls to his senses, to protect and to admire. He trusts them with all of his undead heart, his veins could practically run with their blood with how much they've offered themselves to him. It's all been willingly, and he would repay that if he could. They're his lifeline, he won't take blood from anyone or anything else unless he needed to, if he was forced to. And he hopes it never comes to that.

Milo starts to run again, letting his Sweetheart creep up onto the shifter. He stays in the darkness of the trees, feeling their heart thud from so far away. The shifter has been walking for a bit, as if trying to memorize the area. They're in their wolf form, coat brown as the earth under them. Milo swallows, glaring at the wolf and their jaws, their giant form is nearly as big as his Sweetheart. He nearly has the urge to take down the wolf himself, but with them nearby, he wouldn't risk it. The wolf has their nose to the ground suddenly, picking up on a new scent. Milo's ears detect animals and insects, birds and any other living thing that might take the wolf's attention. But they're too close.

Milo's stalked up to the wolf by now, watching them with caution. And then, a twig snaps. His breath hitches in his chest as the large wolf quickly turns around, snapping and baring their teeth. Milo can hear his Sweetheart's heart, beating quickly, their veins pumping, the wolf sniffs the air again. Milo can hear them trying to slow their breathing as the wolf is now looking in their direction. He takes a few steps forward, the wolf turns their head in his direction rather quickly. They take a few steps towards Milo, practically staring into his eyes if the wolf had enough conviction to find out what the noise was. Staring into the trees, the wolf suddenly bolts in the opposite direction.

Milo lets out a low, irritated hiss as he gives chase, the wolf seems to be faster than him for now, with no energy wasted in the beginning of a chase. Milo's attention is fully on the wolf in front of him, needing to reach them, to get them out of his and Sweetheart's territory. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees the wolf get shoved forcefully into the trees, unable to get up by an invisible force. Milo watches his Sweetheart fade into view, on top of the wolf, using all the strength they can muster to keep the giant shifter down. Milo watches their elbow keep the jaws shut, a front paw locked in place in between a leg and the other pushing deep against the wolf's belly. Their free hand threatening to break a back leg, grip tightening as they demand for the wolf to shift into their human form.

Milo is amazed at their strength, and also terrified at what they can do. Guess DUMP has some... intimidating tactics in terms of restraining people, and gigantic wolves in this matter. Milo recovers and walks up to them, keeping the wolf down against a tree. The wolf stops struggling once they catch Milo's scent, a wary eye not leaving his figure. He places a hand on Sweetheart's shoulder, and they relieve some tension on the wolf, but still having control over the situation. He kneels next to them, staring at the wolf. Sweetheart turns to him, giving a face that begs the question, "What do we do?" It's tacit, Milo raises his brow at them quickly, and they keep the wolf down, "Keep going."

"For the last damn time, shift back." Sweetheart growls as they keep the pressure on the wolf's leg, "I don't need to use much force to break this. We just need to know which pack you're from."

The wolf yelps at the pressure, and glances back at Milo to Sweetheart quickly. Milo pats their shoulder, and they let go of the wolf. They stand up, stepping back but bringing some electro magic to their fingers in case this gets crazy. They analyze the wolf, every movement of their muscles as they stand. The wolf huffs, standing still, glaring down at the vampire whose still close. They feel the small bits of electricity zap at their fingertips, the magic swirling around their hand, yellow and white flashes, waiting to be released. Milo's own stare at the wolf almost makes them stand down. Almost. He doesn't want to trance them, but if they get those teeth anywhere near them, they'll pay for it.

The wolf looks around, breaking contact with Milo. The pair watch as the wolf's paws tap on the ground, but Milo wouldn't expect them to snap at his Sweetheart. They barely step back in time before the jaws could catch around their head, and in retaliation, the Stealth unleashes the stored up electro magic. The wolf starts running at the crackle of lightning, the first bolt barely missing their tail. Sweetheart keeps their arm up, holding it up with the other, repeatedly sending bolts of electricity to try to apprehend the wolf.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?"

"Go!"

They nudge their head in the wolf's direction, fierce eyes telling Milo to tred on without them. He nods, quickly gaining speed and catching up to the wolf. Once Milo's close enough, he reaches an arm out to try to grab at their fur, but he barely misses. He tries again, getting closer and finally grabbing the wolf's skin, twisting the fur in his hand. Immediately, the wolf tries to turn back and nip at his hand, but trips and Milo quickly grabs at them. As they tumble on the ground, Milo feels the giant wolf get smaller. He no longer feels fur against him, but cloth. Milo restrains the shifter, holding down an arm behind their back, the other around their neck, and a leg tight around their knee. They fight back, bashing their elbow against his torso.

"The hell was that? What the hell was that?! They told you to shift back, how stubborn could you be?! If it's unknown territory, you don't come here! Our scents are all over, how could you not tell?!"

The shifter shivers against him but they don't say anything, a low growl from their throat is the only sign of a threat against the vampire.

Milo questions again, "What pack are you from? We don't take too kindly to wolves anymore, so spill."

Sweetheart finally catches up, circling around Milo and the shifter, charging up their electro magic again. They glance at Milo to let them go, and he does. The shifter warily gets up, Milo doing the same. They heal the slight bruising on their neck, clearing their throat.

“Why don’t you want wolves here?”

Milo scoffs, narrowing his eyes at them, “That’s rich. You not from here or something?”

Sweetheart continues for him, “His… our King was killed. Betrayal from our wolf allies during a Summit. That’s all you need to know.”

“What pack did it?”

Sweetheart is about to answer but Milo interjects, walking in between the two, “That’s enough. Your scent doesn’t give off who I thought… get outta here. And uh, sorry for the roughhousing.”

“I’m a wolf, I’m used to it,” they say before taking a few steps forward, “How do I…?”

Milo sighs, “Keep running ‘til you don’t smell us anymore.”

With this leniency, the shifter quickly leaves.

Milo groans, Sweetheart walking to him to rub his upper arms soothingly, “You okay?”

He looks up at them, “You know I don’t like mentioning that…”

“I know, I’m sorry Milo, but they needed clarification. It seemed like they never heard what happened, so they’re possibly alone. But we don’t have to worry about them anymore, let’s go home.”

Milo mumbles the word again, home. If he wasn’t stuck in that damn house, confined to the shadows, forever aching to see the sun, he could actually have a home with Sweetheart in the city. Instead, his duties and loyalty to his mother, his Queen, forbid him. He smiles as he feels Sweetheart bring a hand to his cheek, raising his head to look at them. They know he’s stuck in his head, and they want to help.

“Hasn’t all that running made you hungry yet?”

He smirks at them, but thoughts of hunger lead to cooking. Milo misses cooking, that passion of making something full of flavor and love, now meaningless due to his thirst for blood. Now, he only cooks for Sweetheart. Whatever they want, he’ll make it, but it feels bittersweet. They squish his cheeks, making him smile, thoughts fading away.

“Yeah. You offering, baby?”

“Maybe I am.”

He places a hand over their wrist, “Where do you want me? Wrist or…?”

“In bed.”

Milo chuckles at their tone, sweet and teasing. Wanting. Wanting him, even as he is now. Needing him without the stuff that was taken from him. Loving him even as he thinks of himself as half of the man he was. Those thoughts break again as he feels Sweetheart tug on his shirt, already walking the path towards home.

They bite their lip as Milo gently kisses down their neck, he’s rushing to get their top off, making small rips in the fabric that he painstakingly notices. He doesn’t want to be too rough with them, considering his strength. He hates it, he wants to touch them with all of the need in him, but sometimes the strength is too much. Once the top is off, he gently pushes them down on the bed, comfortable sheets making them relax their shoulders. Seeing them relax always helped calm his nerves, and seeing them shirtless is definitely helping.

He straddles them, looking down at their bare torso, fingers grazing down their stomach, “Such soft skin… Claimed by my bite far too many times, and I’ll do it again…”

He leans down, kissing all over their chest, feeling and hearing their blood rush and heartbeat like a song.

He mumbles against their skin, “Mine… all mine to mark, to sink my teeth into, to never let go… my forever…”

They make a soft moan as his lips move up their jugular, a hand of his moving down underneath their bottoms, playing with their flesh, gentle yet strong fingers flickering and rubbing against their soft spot. He feels their thighs clench and release at the feeling, it’s just how their body reacts to him, and he savors it.

After a few more kisses, his hunger catches up to him as he mouths their neck and jaw, “Mmm, fuck… can I bite now, Sweetheart? Your blood sings to me, I need your voice to do the same, please…”

They both sigh in pleasure as Sweetheart bucks their hips into his hand, Milo bites his lip, quivering, “Fucking hell… do that again, you look so beautiful… I can handle a bit without your blood for a few seconds, if it means, hmm, means to hear you moan like that again.”

They nod, lidded eyes staring deep into his with a small smile on their face. Another graciously earned moan as Milo moves his hand with skill, prolonging the pleasure for them. This slow pace become agonizing to Milo, he needs their blood, he needs their pleasure, he needs to feast. He gives them a long throaty, shaky groan, his need spoken without words.

They bring a hand to his lips, fingers loosely pulling his bottom lip down before cupping his jaw, “Bite me.”

He tries to restrain himself, leaning down with vigor as he opens his mouth against their neck again. Their orgasm comes quick within the first few seconds of his teeth sinking into their skin. Their blood fuels him, but it also causes blood to rush somewhere else. He pulls his hand out from their bottoms, both hands grasping the sheets as he groans against their neck. He feels their legs wrap around his waist, nice and tight, a simple whimper of his name and he’s tumbled into his own orgasm as well. With a wet pop, Milo soon removes his mouth from their neck, kissing the punctures and licking any stray blood.

“Want… fuck, you taste so good, mmm…. But, do you want me to heal it?”

They shush him, “No, you’re probably high on my blood, let me do it…”

Milo laughs as they bring their hand to their neck, rolling it and then healing the punctures. He watches the skin clear up, before pressing a few more kisses. As they relax, Milo rubs his head against theirs.

“You are so good for me, Sweetheart, letting me feed on you like this, I love you so much.”

They smile up at him, giving him a proper kiss on his bloodstained lips, “I love you too.”

Taking advantage of his buzzed out state, Sweetheart moves him to lay on the bed. He lands with a soft ‘ooph’, closing his eyes and the pair immediately cling onto each other. They cuddle into him, and the last thing Sweetheart hears him mumble before sleep takes them…

“You make this life worth living…”

[mppmaraudergirl]

Thank you so much for emphasizing the importance of the platonic friendship between the Marauders! I have always been torn about Wolfstar because while they do make sense in a way and unlike some other ships *cough* Jegulus* there actually have been hints about them in canon. But since we know that in the 1st wizarding war Sirius and Remus were mistrusting each other, I feel like the only way they could have happened was during Hogwarts times and then had a bad break up in 7th year. But somehow I could never imagine how that could have happened without the deep, beautiful platonic relationship that defined the Marauders suffering from it. There would have been so much drama and Pete and James would have constantly been caught in the middle. Same with Jegulus. Dating a best friends sibling is always problematic, but since Sirius and Reg had such a difficult relationship already, James dating his actual brother would have ruined this found brotherhood between James and Sirius

I'm gonna try to not write an essay response to this (lol). On top of being the number one fan of platonic Marauders friendship, I really struggle to see Sirius in a relationship. I could actually get on board with post-POA Wolfstar, but the school years are hard for me because of all we see during the war.

First off, I think the relationships you grow up around have an immense impact on you as a person. So I think Sirius would not see marriage as a union of love, but one of duty, a requirement to continue the bloodline and all of the "power" that came with that. Ignoring that he'd probably reject that notion while he was rejecting everything about his birth family's lifestyle, I just don't see him having interest in it. I think partly because it was presented to him as transactional ("You will marry a girl of worthy blood status and sire an heir"), but also because we see a restless energy in Sirius and marriage would be just another thing to tie him down when he sought freedom. This is a dude who'd rather have lived in a cave eating rats than return to his childhood home even years later. He charmed a motorbike to fly. He wanted to be free to be himself, not who he was born and raised to be.

Obviously this is painting with a broad brushstroke. After all, Sirius could absolutely date without marriage as the endgame but I just don't see him simping or fawning over another person, whether that be Remus or anyone else (I think back to SWM where the girl was eying him and he couldn't give two shits about it. He was looking for James!). I consider Sirius to be aromantic or just outright uninterested in making a romantic connection. Boy really needed some counseling and healthy mentorship in his life, and while I do think he saw that with the Potter family dynamic (familial and romantic), I'm not sure at 16 that would have been enough to ready him to be anyone's partner.

Anyway. Give me all of the platonic ride-or-die Prongsfoot. The boys who'd go to the ends of the earth and back for each other. If you read my works I'm sure this comes as no surprise. And just to add: I do see how people find it compelling to work through the drama of a Wolfstar breakup or the dating best friend's brother dynamic in J*gulus, but I'm generally not sold on it and not particularly interested in it for these characters.

[roo-bastmoon]

The Great Radio Debate: Roo's (limited) Understanding of this Issue UPDATED

Disclaimer: Sensitive topics are discussed below the cut; please do not incite drama, speak hate, or engage in bullying. This is a collection of my thoughts about what is currently happening with regard to Jungkook's single SEVEN and the implications it could mean for Jikook and ARMY. If you click below this cut, you are assuming responsibility for your own behavior and agreeing to engage with my blog and others respectfully, or you will be blocked.

We now by know that Jimin's music was not promoted to radio. We know this because when we went to request it from various major radio stations, it was not an option in the drop-downs; we had to manually type it in. Being "sent / promoted / serviced to radio" means a compressed file is sent from the company to radio stations so DJs can play high-def spins that are universally compatible with their station's set up.

None of Jimin's songs for Face were serviced:

The airplay audience was the lowest for any song this decade:

The controversy around Jungkook's SEVEN began last week when one DJ tweeted the following:

As we now know, "serviced to radio" means they sent a compressed file (which they SHOULD have done for Like Crazy English Version, but didn't). They did service to radio for Butter and Dynamite and it was a huge help. Even Yet to Come was serviced, so it cracked Top 50 on the charts, but none of Face's songs were sent, which makes zero business sense any achievement on that chart amazing.

Because even when serviced, it doesn't guarantee spins... "Add" means they hope radio stations will add the song to rotation:

But then the DJ had to go and say this:

So they have already sent SEVEN to the radios, hoping for spins. And now one person is publicly saying the song absolutely will get spins immediately. This heavily implies payola, because why else would a song without demand or requests immediately spin multiple times on everyone's shows the second it was released?

I feel (I, Roo Bastmoon, personally think and feel) Seven is being pushed this way for two reasons:

Billboard's recent changes around what kind of sales (physical, digital, bundled) will counts on the charts puts songs without radio play at an extreme, nigh-insurmountable disadvantage; even with excellent streams (which are heavily culled and filtered), it will be hard to break into the top 50.

Additionally, Taylor Swift's Speak Now re-release has dropped this week and will be gunning for the charts next week when Jungkook debuts, and that is a personal problem for Scooter Braun.

For those not familiar (as I surely wasn't; I live under a rock), Taylor Swift felt compelled to leave her old management company back in 2018. To do so, she had to abandon the rights to any original music she made with them. They kept her masters and sold them off to Scooter Braun.

Each time someone wanted to play one of her original songs, they had to ask his permission and pony up money for a license fee. Scooter Braun also managed Kanye, and I'm sure everyone knows the Beyoncé is the Greatest of All Time award show fiasco that led to some bad blood between those two artists, so it added insult to injury for Taylor.

Taylor has now re-recorded everything and released Speak Now: Taylor's Version. Of COURSE her fans are motivated to support her and get every single song they can into the highest position on the Hot 100 for as long as possible... and frankly, I am not a Swiftie but I can't blame them because if someone did that to BTS, I'd make it my life's mission to chart them as a big Fuck You, too.

But it does put a lot of pressure on Jungkook's single, because now it's very likely been weaponized in a personal dick-measuring contest where Scooter is concerned. Not sure if I mentioned it but I truly hate that man so I'm not sure I can be impartial when talking about him but I will try.

So Jungkook's single has been set up so far with pre-orders on iTunes and compressed files to radio, which is a first for any member's solo work. He also has a debut stage on Good Morning America, which has a huge range beyond k-pop.

So far, none of this is foul play. It is a company doing its best to represent and set up the best conditions for its artist under changed circumstances. You can make a case for favoritism, clearly, but at the end of the day, companies are about making profits and sometimes they grossly underestimate what has potential and what the market wants.

The issues fans are facing now around Seven lie in:

1) the neglect around Jimin's Like Crazy English Version, which is still so stable that it could be smashing charts if only it would get radio play so this just seems to make zero business sense and be more of a slight than anything else, so Jikookers are left wondering what that means for the relationship and,

2) the fear that Hybe America under Scooter Braun has abandoned BTS' founding values and taken the easy way out by paying to play on radio, which would severely damage credibility that BTS worked so hard to build as an organic, fan-driven success.

I think we'll have to wait to see how many sales, streams, and spins Jungkook gets to figure out if payola was likely. Maybe that one DJ was tweeting his own assumptions like they were facts. Or maybe Hybe has now decided to do payola. If that is so... not gonna lie, I will be extremely disappointed. I will need to take a break and figure out what this means for me as a fan.

The next question is how much did Jungkook know about all this? There seems to be two camps of thought here: one says the boys are involved in every step of the way and choose everything that happened around their releases.

(I know Jimin is very humble but I HIGHLY doubt he ever said to his company "Please rush my release in between other releases so I get physically sick trying to keep up with it; please never restock my physicals in WeVerse and don't send a file for the English song I studied for to US radios; and please also never post about my world record nor celebrate my albums' success in any way; yes, I worked 10+ months on this very personal opus but I absolutely don't want any of that." I very, very much doubt the ways Face was handled after Hot 100 #1 was Jimin's choice. This also makes me doubt if all the ways Seven will be handled will be Jungkook's choice.)

The second camp of thought is that the artists have absolutely no say in the marketing and promotion styles of their work, and that they are kept out of sales matters altogether. And here's the limit of my understanding, because I've not seen or read much on Hybe / BigHit's strategic plans around distribution for either BTS' group or solo works.

(Side Note: I have seen them set up TXT for a Billboard Top Ten, only for their collab to come in at #135, which shows a gross misunderstanding of their market right now--as well as disregard for their artists' feelings and reputations. My heart goes out to those boys; they worked hard.)

But drawing on my own experience decades ago when I used to work in entertainment out in LA, I can tell you, even as Chief Editor, plenty of my media content was changed without anyone informing me--back-cover blurbs, cover designs, release dates, shelf talkers, pop ups, print runs, print houses, store placements, advertising, interview articles--at some point in my former career, all of those things got changed around and I found out after the fact, on my own projects. Which pissed me off but I'd signed NDAs and couldn't do a single thing about it. And the authors / creators didn't know until *I* had the hard job of informing them. And they couldn't do anything about it because they were under contract.

So I think the level of members' involvement in solo works is somewhere in between. I think as artists and performers, BTS members can have a great deal of say in their look, styles, lyrics, choreo, merch, and venues. But not total say. Definitely not deciding-factor say.

I think the company can make them water down their lyrics, change up the choreo, and flat-out tell them no when it comes to music videos, performance venues, pretty much anything budget-related. They don't even have to explain why; it's their budget and their bottom-line. (In the old days, it seems like the members could freely express opinions around the works and even challenge management when it came to creative content. Maybe that is still true.)

As far as Jungkook's involvement in Seven's style, we have a stylist going on record about how some of the options were their ideas and that Jungkook had a lot of input on the look and feel, so it was a mixture:

For this reason alone, the fact that things like mud were added to clean pants or spikes to a jacket after Jungkook had input makes me truly feel this was his way of honoring Jimin and Face. It just seems like something our Jungkook would do--he may not always say it, but he's always watching Jimin-ssi.

As for sales and marketing strategies? The boys may never get looped in. Or they may be told the plans, but not invited to give input. Or they may sit down and plan it all out to the last detail with each department. I genuinely don't know. And because I don't know, I will not be assuming the worst of Jungkook or any member until I have all the facts. That is anti behavior, in my mind, and I just cannot stomach it. I can never bring myself to believe the worst of anyone until they fully and consistently show me that's who they are.

We've spent ten years with these guys. They are flawed human beings, yes, but not cheats, not assholes. I think they omit plenty of details but I don't think they straight-up lie to us. I don't think Jungkook would ever look his staff and executives in the eye and say "Yes, I want you to illegally pay money under the table so this single will top the charts." Jungkook is competitive, but also a stickler for fair play. You spend any amount of time watching Run, and the only time he "cheats" is when he wants to be with Jimin (lol) and he's pretty endearingly obvious about it; guy has almost no game face.

Okay but joking aside, I'm honestly very worried for JK. It sort of feels like he's being set up. Many questions have arisen over the stylistic choices for Seven. There's the fan frenzy around having a hot female protagonist in his video. And now the question about how much radio play Seven will get, and why. That's a lot of controversy to hang on a young man's shoulders. Especially in light of the recent book that's come out, in which it's clear now that the company and the artists are aware of hate-trending hashtags in English. GOD THAT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

To me, it feels (it feels--as in, my gut is telling me this; I have no receipts) like the company is using JK to experiment with a different way of doing business--a way that may stray from their founding values.

And there's so much potential for this to blow up in JK's face. There are solos who will insist he's stealing Jimin's style. Antis who will insist he's cheated on the charts. Insecure shippers who will lose their minds if anything flirty goes down with Han So-hee on screen. K-poppies, Swifties, and local racists all insisting on undermining his creativity, talent, and character because they fear the competition.

This release on Friday has the potential to be a blood bath. And I just don't trust the company to have his back and take ownership of their part in this, if so. From everything I've seen about Jungkook, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

My biggest question mark is how Jimin will respond to all of this. If he comes on live one day and says in a flat tone something like: "I was really surprised to see how similar Jungkookie's concept was to my own." or "How interesting that Seven got sent to radio--good for him, good for him. I wonder how that happens?" Then I'll take that to mean Jimin wasn't looped in on JK's plans and he doesn't feel great about it; that won't sit well with me.

Then again, if Jimin raves about Seven and plays it on live or joins JK in New York and mentions how flattered he was that they share the same style, how they click, how proud he is of JK's hard work and asks please ARMY give it a lot of love? Then I'll infer he was definitely looped in, this is a homage, and JK's actions were always above board. I will assume that because I will never doubt Jimin's integrity. If Jimin approves, I will approve. Jimin has earned my complete trust.

So this week is a very tense one (for me at least). But it does provide quite the distraction from the stress tests and specialist consults I have lined up, I'll give you that. Never a dull moment. (I am so ready for this fandom to have some dull moments.)

In the end, I'm going to chose to believe in the very best of our members until there's solid evidence to think otherwise. As of now? I think the only dirty cheater in the mix is the music industry at large. I know the entertainment world is corrupt, but Jesus, they are so blatant about it all.

Anyway, we may not get radio data for several days or weeks after the initial drop date, so I'm prepared to hang in there for a good bit. And if there is evidence of payola and JK knew about it... I'm gonna need time to process that and figure out where I go from there, as a Jikooker, as an ARMY. I will honestly be shocked.

One thing you'll never see me do is spout hatred for human beings. I will likely rant about the company. And there are plenty of people Scooter Braun that I viscerally dislike. But I'm making a commitment now not to spread dehumanizing hate speech on the timeline.

That's not what BTS or Jimin would ever want. That's not what I want for myself, especially if my days in this life are limited. I don't need that kind of toxicity or karma.

Am I furious about all the crap that's gone down for Jimin (and other members too, to a lesser degree)? You bet your buttons, as my Nana used to say. I could rage and froth all day about it.

But I also remember who came online over and over to say Jimin's name, play Jimin's songs, mimic Jimin's interviews, giggle at Jimin's video clips, and invite Jimin into his life.

And based on moved lamps and dog scratches and Jimin bulking up, it's likely Jimin has accepted those invitations.

Whenever we do get to glimpse Jimin with Jungkook, he seems as endeared and besotted as he always has.

I trust Jimin to know if someone did him dirty, and to act accordingly. I do not believe any aspect of the Jikook relationship is performance.

For those reasons, I'm gonna be withholding judgement until all info around Seven comes in.

I hope you will too, but I understand if you feel differently and I'm not on this Earth to judge other people's viewpoints or experiences. I just ask that if you want to be friends with me here, you try to be civil in your words and actions, even in the sway of big feelings. Every person behind the screen is a work in progress; we are all fighting invisible battles; there are many sides to each story.

All any of us can do is our best with what we are given. Let's wait and see what Jungkook (and Jimin, and the company) give us.

If you made it this far through my ramblings, kudos! I welcome ideas, so feel free to comment--but just remember, rudeness will be removed. There's no space for meanness on my blog.

Love and deep respect to you all,

Roo

UPDATED:

So, it would seem the DJ who is hyping JK's Seven is also open to playing Like Crazy. This would imply it's been sent to some radio because before I remember he tweeted that he needed the compressed file in order to play it on his station (I am sorry I didn't save that link but he was talking about Hobi and Jimin if I recall, back at the time!).

UPDATE 2:

The radio stations that took requests (including the one mentioned above) back at that time were playing the music video version available to the public, not a compressed file sent by the company:

And when I check on this linktree of top radio stations in the US, Like Crazy does not come up as any option in rotation. I have to manually request still, after four months of being stable on the charts.

So if Jungkook gets immediate spins and requests immediately come up in rotation... is that because radio stations really love Jungkook? Or is this a company "networking" deal? (And in any case, would JK be involved in that aspect?) Everything still remains to be seen. Let's be patient and try our best not to assume the worst.

Many thanks for JMDBJK for mentioning in the comments the likelihood that a title track would be sent out, which prompted me to go look soon as I could get to my computer. I really do value anyone willing to take the time to help me learn more info about this industry!

[nakedmonkey]

i knew night country wasn’t gay but based on the gifs i saw i definitely thought the leads were exes lol even when i finished the show i never bought either woman as straight tbh. not just because the actresses are lesbian/bi irl the energy and chemistry between them screamed dyke drama lmao. anyway i watched the first ep of under the bridge expecting something similar but the main story and real life case are so harrowing and devastating i can’t finish. i almost wish cam and becca’s storyline was in a different show because based on the gifs the chemistry is wild.

oh man....Night Country...will keep this strictly a UTB post, but, yeah...

Re UTB, I get where you're coming from. I personally didn't know it was based on a real case until after the first episode when I started pulling up interviews etc. and I don't know why they made the creative choices they did with creating Cam for this adaptation and pairing her up with Becca, but they did! And they're here, having all kinds of on-screen moments, so i understand why people are gravitating toward them. They're very compelling!

I mean, look, add this to the endless list of tv shows and films based on real life cases with, some might say unnecessary, love stories and even graphic sex scenes, more graphic than what we've seen in UTB tbh, that have nothing to do with the actual case. I think we also have to keep in mind that the narrative this show is basing itself on is Rebecca Godfrey's, and her book. So, this show is a fictionalized account of HER life and her experience writing this book and yeah, True Crime adaptations can be sleazy, but I think the UTB team is (so far) taking great care in also propelling the story of Reena Virk's horrendous murder forward, and not just her murder, but the events leading up to it, of her family, her home life, the racism that lead to her murder, and I think that's great and necessary.

In my opinion, there are worse ways to get eyes on a show that is doing a great job at telling a story that could easily be overlooked.

All this to say, I get where you're coming from. It might be hard for some people to enjoy Rebecca and Cam, when we are also watching the events leading to Reena's death unravel, but the Rebecca x Cam of it all is just tumblr fodder. Reena's story is being told respectfully and with the backing of her family as far as I know, and i think it's still worth watching for that alone. If you ever decide to revisit it, at least up to episode 3, they're doing a great job.

[ellynightray]

Okay. So.

Since we're heading into the finale I decided to just put it out there. I haven't exactly been that much into the whole CX-2 discussion and I honestly don't know if they're going to address that or not but since everyone has been making predictions and we have so many theories... I really wish (if he's addressed at all in the finale) that CX-2 turns out to be Cody.

It simply just makes sense from a narrative standpoint and I had a whole discussion about it with my bestie and it just would make sense and bring just the right amount of drama and angst to the finale of The Bad Batch + it could be an amazing plot point of a future clone series if they decide to go with that.

Cody is not only a person known by the members of the bad batch but he also has a connection to Rampart (who's with them on Tantiss for the finale. I just can't imagine him being there for no reason, that would just be so random??) and Rex (if he somehow appears in the finale). There's a storyline there, spanning from the previous season with Crosshair asking about Cody and Rampart telling him that Cody's gone awol, there's Echo who would probably be deeply hurt and confused if it was Cody who was on the other side, actively targeting them and there's even the fact that Cody is pretty freaking tough to beat and so is CX-2 from what we've seen. If Rex somehow gets to Tantiss, then there's of course that as well, but even if he doesn't there's enough reasons. Cody knows them personally and they know him, some of them have a history with him (Crosshair, Echo) and I just can't get it out of my head that Rampart is there and he was the last one to know sth or say sth about Cody, like I'm sorry but it would simply make sense. Plus knowing what CX-2 did on Teth, it just adds more pain to this.

And him being CX-2 doesn't take away from any of the future projects because this here, now, this is the beginning of the fight with the empire. If they can save him (in a future series focused on Rex, Gregor, Wolffe and co. for example) then that leaves the door open for any of our aus and for the producers to do whatever they want with him in future projects (including the scrapped tatooine husbands). Him being CX-2 not only doesn't take away from anything but it also adds some beautiful drama, angst, pain, suffering, whatever you want to call it and it could make the reveal so much more interesting and compelling!!

Of course I know people want it to be Tech but... As much as I miss him and love him and I would want nothing more but for him to be there with them, I don't want him to be CX-2. It would be, for the lack of a better word, too obvious and too boring. Plus I don't want that for him. I also think it's just too late for him to be revealed as CX-2, that kind of thing should have been done earlier, not in the finale, especially when we have so many other loose ends we need to tie in. I just think, as much as I hate it, that his death was meaningful and brining him back to life would take away from the finale of the 2nd season and from the journey the others are on, ever since his sacrifice.

So yeah. Whatever happens in the finale, I enjoyed the ride and our little game of 'guess who' with CX-2~~

—————————————————————

Edit:

Well shit.

[lixenn]

Xanxus and throwing stuff

It’s my time to chuck some random KHR headcanons into the wild!

For context: I wanted to write this scene, but during the process several questions came to mind which somehow spiralled into even more questions and now I have a whole new headcanon that’s taken over my brain because of course I do.

I won’t bore you with all the nitty gritty background details. I will just jump right into the good stuff, which in this case is me wondering about Xanxus and his habit of throwing stuff.

Especially I was focussing on Xanxus throwing alcohol.

Because look: We all know Xanxus loves throwing stuff at people be it alcohol, food or whatever else is at hand, but have you ever wondered if there’s some criteria on what he throws? Again with the alcohol, does he just randomly throw bottles on peoples head? Does he just use what is in his immediate vicinity?

And you know what?

NO! I DON’T FUCKING THINK SO!

Because that would be too easy! Where’s the drama? The unnecessary detail? Why think that Xanxus just throws random alcohol when we can make things complicated and develop a whole alcohol throwing language for the lols.

So here we fucking go:

Disclaimer: I don’t drink, so I know shit all about which different types of alcohol would fit certain criteria. So, I’m just going to use vague descriptions for now. If anyone who has a clue about alcohol wants to throw in their two cents and tell me what alcohol would actually fit certain descriptions, PLEASE hit me up so I can add it.

Anyone who interacts with Xanxus for more than 10 minutes will immediately notice his compelling urge of dousing people with alcohol at the slightest provocation. What people don’t know is that Xanxus actually uses different types of drinks for different groups of people.

If you’re just a random minion that pissed him off, he’ll throw the cheap stuff. Not something that’s really horrible but it wouldn’t taste great either. Just generic alcohol you could easily get at the local supermarket, basic shit for basic people, y’know?

Now, if Xanxus absolutely hates someone’s guts (looking at you there, Iemitsu) they will get hit over the head with the most vile alcohol that’s available. Stuff that tastes like horsepiss, something that’s barely fit for human consumption (and might actually be just rubbing alcohol with a shitty disguise) but people buy it anyways because it’s a quick and easy way to head straight into lalaland.

But if Xanxus likes you… hoooo boy, that’s a different matter entirely. Of course, he will still throw stuff because this is Xanxus we’re talking about here, however now he will throw the fancy shit, like expensive wine that’s been handed down for decades in the family (showing my lacking alcohol knowledge here). And if he really reaaalllly likes you *sideeying Squalo* he will reach for his favourites because he shows affection via violence and deeply obscure gestures that no sane person could ever comprehend.

He also has a go-to alcohol of choice when he’s in a really bad mood, so it doesn’t matter what alcohol category you were originally in, if Xanxus is grumpy he will only throw this specific type of alcohol and nothing else. As for what type it is: I’d say it’s just alcohol he personally can’t stand, like there’s nothing really wrong with it per see, but he either has a bad memory associated with it or he just hates the taste so he will never drink it.

That’s it from me and my super specific alcohol throwing headcanons. Any questions, comments and incoherent screams are welcomed with open arms.

Have a nice day and keep being awesome!