#I remembered that Diane wanted to be included

[that-girl-cupid]

@damiedantediane

[poedays]

Specific things about my Listeners (because why not)

This includes: Angel, Babe, Sweetheart (Redacted Audio), and Knight, Ranger, and Seer (CastleAudios).

—- —- —-

Angel:

Cassidy Shaw | She/They/He

- ‘I / Me / Myself’ by Will Wood is her song, she listened to it when it came out and obsessed over it. Cass is a certified Will Wood fan and it is a part of their personality.

- Makes jokes about having dropped out of high school, and to this day no one knows if they’ve been joking or not.

- > At times David has believed they aren’t joking simply because of some of the questionable things they get wrong.

- Has wing tattoos on her shoulder blades as an homage to their pet name.

- Got David to teach her how to box and is really passionate about it.

Babe:

Ellis Talbot-Ettore | He/Him

- Has Italian heritage and parallels Ash’s terrible skills in cooking.

- > The two have had little homemade pizza nights and Asher admits that homemade is better than Max’s, but he still orders out a lot for the wings mostly.

- Goes to the gym pretty regularly with the mantra ‘have to work out to be able to carry Asher’. Ellis used to just think this as a joke but after the Inversion he’s really focused on this in a trauma way.

- Wanted to be a firefighter when he was growing up. He had the friendly demeanour and passion, but somewhere along the way he was pushed towards a more scholarly career.

- Is really interested in Venus-Flytraps.

Sweatheart:

Calvin ‘Cal’ | They/He

- Makes Calvin Klein Jokes.

- Has an iron deficiency but forgets to take their pills so they end up crashing a lot of the time. Work at the department does not help with the sleep schedule nor remembering things before or after work.

- > Milo often goes with them to get iron infusions. The department covers most of their health insurance to make sure no one complains about any side effects of how things are run.

- When they were growing up, phasing through things made them throw up due to some sort of motion sickness.

- Has an older sister that begged them not to join the department and whenever the two see each other work is a bitter topic of conversation.

—- —- —-

Knight:

Wilson | He/Him

- Does not introduce himself as Wilson, or anything to do with his actual name. He just says ‘my friends call me knight’ and that’s that.

- > Claire and Beth call him Will.

- He has ‘if lost, return to Claire Greene’ sewn into the collar of his shifter clothes and when he shifts the little sash around his back paw (see castle’s post about the shifter clothes) says the same thing.

- Has been defenestrated by Beth once or twice.

- Have had half joking, half completely serious conversations with Evie about enjoying being called ‘puppy’.

- > He will never outright admit it because he knows somehow that Claire and Beth will find out and make fun of him for it.

Ranger:

Ava | She/Her

- Literally no one calls her Ava, it’s nickname after nickname after nickname. Except for Diane, Diane calls her Ava and no one else has that privilege.

- Was in Girl Scouts.

- Her parents forbid her to cut her hair short when she was growing up so when she moved to Glenwood, she cut it all off to a pixie-cut.

- > She runs her hand through her hair when she’s stressed.

Seer:

Mallory ‘Rory’ | They/She

- Rory and Beth confine in each other about having old people names: Bethany and Mallory sound like a lovely pair of grandmothers.

- Is Wasian and learnt how to cut up fruit in those really specific ways as a skill to ‘impress a future suitor’. When Beth found out she may or may not have laughed at them.

- Likes to braid Beth’s hair when they’re in a group setting -> if Beth’s just talking and Seer’s hasn’t got anything to say they just end up putting little braids in Beth’s hair.

- Sometimes their visions bleed into their dreams and when they wake up they can’t tell what was real and what their mind just made up.

- > They have really lucid nightmares.

[celticcrossanon]

Hello Celta, Long time no see. I hope all is well.

I’m writing to bring you some juicy gossip from 1. Bookworm2 on YouTube, 2. a jailing of a sugar, and 3. lady C will be unmasking ugly after all and 4. Meghan regrets telling kids she’s the most bullied.

Bookworm does have some far reaching long term contacts at the palace and elsewhere in the US., truly people in the know. When you publish my ask I will attach her latest video. Allegedly Archwell, is rumoured to be under investigation by the Feds and IRS. There’s the matter of the missing millions from Archwell, and failure to declare it. BUT BUT BUT there’s also the matter of the Harkles, Meghan in particular uttering death threats across state lines, as part of an FBI cyber bullying investigation. This latter charge relates to the extreme bullying and harassment Catherine underwent during her cancer diagnosis and treatment. Catherine allegedly received some really nasty death threats while she was secluded from the public, at the height of the ‘Wheres Kate’ psychodrama online. Remember William went to visit M15 and it was publicized everywhere?? Two card readers, Mad World Tarot included, did a reading that showed the 3 of pentacles card, involvement through a third party. I wonder if they were able to trace the financial angle ie payment from Archwell. Or one of the third party, ie the death threat poster, probably squealed about his motivation and bosses. MWT saw William’s energy behind this. They truly thought online threats were untraceable. Consequences people consequences.

Avid Gardener and Trevor Coult on YouTube has the woman accused of trying to bomb Buckingham Palace brought up on charges against them. She made the threat on Twitter brazenly and openly. She’s also issued death threats to Avid and her husband and had bullied Trevor out of his charity job and home. She’s been named in the press as Diane Durham, 62, and she’s an immense sugar. Stupid woman pleaded not guilty after first admitting everything. It moves on to the high court for sentencing. I think the police are concurrently investigating the YouTube harassment claims. She stands to lose her house to Trevor in damages. I have no sympathy. Consequences people consequences.

On a related topic Lady C will most likely take go fund me to court because of the illegal reopening of her money raising drive for Mr thomas Markle Snr. She alleges that someone with connections had go fund me reopen the fundraiser after it was closed as per her contract with them, and called the newspaper to accuse her of fraud, all within the space of a few days. First she threatened the newspaper with a lawsuit if they ran the story, and then she threatened go fund me after they tried to brush her off, by telling her they couldn’t identify the member of staff of go fund me due to privacy reasons. She’s not having it AT ALL. And will see them in court. She strongly hints that she suspects Meghan and Harry are behind it, again through third parties. They want to damage her reputation and get her off YouTube. I think they mistakenly identified Lady C as a pushover. Don’t they anything about her life? lol. Consequences people consequences.

There’s also a threat by the UK bullied staff to be released from their NDAs to speak on camera about Meghan’s Bullying Report buried by the Queen. This, after she went to some girls charity last week. and claimed to be the most bullied person in the world. I bet she’s regretting that now. Consequences people consequences.

They both must be sweating bullets. No wonder Harry is nowhere to be seen. I hear a rumour he’s either in Australia to harass his father, or he’s in the UK hoping to be named counsellor of State while dear old pop is away. Harry is so dumb, all he cares about are the perks of the BRF and never about the consequences of his actions. He’s thicker than a brick.

There you go. It’s quite a lot, and I hope sooner rather than later they face justice in some form or another.

Hi AnonymousRetired,

All is very well with me, thank you for asking.

Thank you as well for sending in such a lot of lovely gossip. It looks like things are starting to move against the Harkles. Like you, I hope that all the perpetrators face justice, and sooner rather than later.

Videos referred to in the gossip (I hope these are the right ones): Note: I still need the ones from Lady C

Bookworm 2

Avid Gardener

Trevor Coult MC

Mad World Tarot

[christinaroseandrews]

A lot of people are talking about how Disney didn't get nominated for their flagship 100th animated feature, Wish. Which is a big deal, I am not disputing that. This was a stellar year for animation and the academy had a glut of good options that did not include Wish. (I would have liked makoto shinkai's Suzume to be nominated but...)

But I want to talk about something else that is probably sticking in Disney's craw.

None of their Animated movies, in particular Wish, were nominated for "best original song."

Starting in 1940 with "when you Wish upon a Star", Disney's animated features could be counted upon to receive a nomination for best original song often winning the Honor. This includes movies such as Bambi; Saludos Amigos; Cinderella, and that racist mess that Disney would like you to forget, Song of the South. Even during the years after Walt's death a bunch of songs were nominated from things like Pete's Dragon and The Rescuers. But it wasn't until The Little Mermaid and the animation Renaissance that Disney's almost stranglehold and expectation that they're animated films would get nominated for an Oscar for best song really came into the forefront.

Take a walk through the best song nominations from 1989 to now and pretty much the majority of Disney and/or Pixar movies put out in those years has a best song nomination. There are a few exceptions, there always are, but generally when Disney includes original songs in its Animated properties it gets nominated.

That makes this year so odd. Disney technically has a nomination with Diane Warren's song for Flamin' Hot, which I suspect has more to do with the fact that the academy loves to nominate Diane Warren and then never give her the Oscar. ~_^ The big thing I noticed was that there were no nominations for Wish or even Elemental. And even more crucially, there was no one setting up a hue or cry that these movies (particularly Wish) didn't get nominated for best song.

Wish had all of the ingredients to be both an Oscar Bait for best animated feature and best original song. And the academy ignored it.

And frankly, I think this is 100% deserved. Wish was an okay movie. It wasn't good it wasn't bad it was just okay. And it's songs were forgettable.

Worse than that, in my opinion, they were unsingable. And what I mean by that is the songs were so complex so lyrically and musically difficult that a four-year-old in a princess dress would struggle to sing them. There were too many jumps and the lyrics were incredibly tongue twisty and they even sounded difficult for an accomplished singer like Ariana DeBose to sing. Seriously, the chorus of This Wish has so many jumps and drops that it is almost impossible to stay on key and also follow the melody. The music is just there.

When I walked out of the theater, I couldn't remember any of the songs. I still can't. And as most of my friends can tell you I have a bloody musical memory. I remember songs.

The first time I saw Barbie, I had three of the songs (What was I made for, I'm just Ken, and Pink) wrestling for dominance over who was going to be my earworm for the day. The same thing was true with Frozen, Moana, Encanto, beauty and the Beast, and even Tarzan. I still can't remember the music from Wish at all. To even write this, I had to go on YouTube and listen to the songs. And after listening to them, I still can't sing them. But just typing "I'm just Ken" has put that song in my head.

So rather than just celebrating Wish being excluded in a very good year for animation (it was so good, y'all) we should also be laughing and pointing that the Disney's attempts at getting a best song nomination for that movie also went unheeded.

Because I sure am.

[jamroses]

Maybe in another life, pt 2

word count: 600 warnings: still none ? summary: Diane tells Todd a huge secret about her life and who she is in the cave. tags: dead poets society, neil perry, todd anderson, charlie dalton, knox overstreet, gerard pitts, steven meeks, richard cameron, anderperry taglist: at the end :3 note: im still a HORRIBLE writer so any constructive critism is welocome !

-

Todd felt like his world had just shattered for the second time, why didn't his friends understand? He was just trying to help, but it seems he had only made matters worse. 

He turned to face Diane, who he remembered was still in the cave. 

“I'm so sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen. God, I feel so stupid.”

He felt tears starting to stream down his face.

“Oh Todd, you couldn’t have known this would happen. You were just trying to help, I'm sure they'll see that, we're all grieving.” Diane spoke softly, 

When Todd looked up at her, she saw his tear filled eyes, she saw the pain in his eyes. 

He was crying as though he had lost a lover, not just a friend.

Todd's sobs grew louder, and more tears streamed down his face. Diane got up and sat down next to Todd. She took him in his arms and he didn't resist. He cried into her shoulder as she held him. Not saying a word, not even knowing, Todd thought, 

how much Neil really meant to him

-

Some time had passed, and the sound of rain falling through the trees onto the soft leaf covered grass could be heard from outside the cave. 

Diane slowly got up, “Todd it’s getting late, I’ve got to get back to my hotel.” 

Todd frowned, “You’re staying in a hotel? I thought you’d be staying with your parents.” 

“They uh, don’t really like to associate themselves with me anymore. I’m surprised they even told me about Neil.” Diane answered. 

Todd was confused, “What?” 

Diane sighed and sat back down again, “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you but you have to swear not to tell anyone else, or to judge.” 

“I swear,” Todd looked serious, “Dead Poets Honour.” 

Diane smiled a little;

“About 3 years ago I met a person, 

They meant a lot to me and we spent a lot of time together. We were roommates at first, then we became friends, we sat together at lunch, did our homework together, gradually we became best friends, spent every waking hour together, and eventually, we fell in love.”

She paused and looked at the cave wall in front of her, 

“We couldn’t tell anyone of course, it would ruin both our families. So we tried to hide it, we were good at it, of course. Until we weren’t. One day, I decided I should write to Neil to tell him about Her. I was so excited, 

I was so in love. 

But in my excitement I had forgotten that all mail sent to Welton has to go through the parents, so naturally when my parents got mail they opened it, to read what was inside before sending it to Neil. 

And that was the end of it, I was shipped off to England to go live with a great-aunt I had never heard of. Completely cut off from everyone here, including Her.”

“Are you going to visit her while you’re here?” Todd asked, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She was like him, she knew what it was like to have the thing you love most ripped away from you. 

Should I tell her?

“I can’t, my parents said if I ever try to speak to her again, they’ll disown me. I can’t risk that, not right now.” 

Diane looked heartbroken, and Todd's heart ached. He wished he could help her, since her love was still alive. He felt he should try and do anything in his might to help her. 

But first he would have to tell her his secret, 

his and Neil’s secret.

“Diane.” Todd spoke softly, “What if I told you I was in love with you brother?” AAAA HERE U GUYS GOOO SORRY IF ITS A BIT SHORTER SKDHFJSDGFDSG

@fromhusk @zymogenn @poetrusic1959 @sihfce @please-hear-me-out (lmk if u want me to add u<3)

[weaselbeaselpants]

I really dislike Chaggie being compared to Jally. I ship both, but....

Jack and Sally aren't a couple in Nightmare til the very end. Jack only comes around once he's literally been shot at and forced to see things out of his fantasies for once and realize that other people really do love and support him; like Sally. The entire rest of the time Jack's stuck in his own mind. Sally's in love with Jack but she's actually not supportive of his Christmas and even tries sabotaging it because she knows what he's doing is wrong even if it took an unexplained visionflower for her to get that hunch first. Her line is literally "although I'd like to stand by him" not "I support him even if I really don't want to". And in the end not only is Sally vindicated by being right like Santa says she is, but Jack suddenly realizes what she's done and falls for her right then. YMMV on how good a couple they'd actually make ((they aren't Diane and Mr. PB; eat shoot Lindsay Ellis *annoying cries*)) but that's what's cute about Jack and Sally: Sally does her pining maturely (stalking not included) while Jack instantly falls all over in love with her because he's Jack.

I understand there are different interpretations w people think Jack was always in love with Sally but obviously I digress and have always kind of disagreed with that reading, as did the writers of TNBC. Because, if you did have a version where Jack was always feeling something romantic towards Sally, or WORSE, was in a relationship- you would get Charlie x Vaggie.

If I'm right (seasoned hazbinnies feel free to correct me on this) Charlie and Vaggie were not written to be lovers initially but later retconned into being later into the writing process....which shows. I think promo stuff from back then called the two just "friends" and Vaggie and Charlie don't act very romantic. As I just laid out and as any shipper of Jally could tell you it's not hard to make that kind of dynamic cute and quirky. The problem is it isn't even THERE.

Vaggie is apparently Charlie's girlfriend and I guess just also believes in the hotel but is skeptical of it, though I wouldn't consider that on par w Sally who was straight up gonna poison Jack in one of Caroyln Thompson's earlier scripts. Especially given that she's an angel this could either work for or against her character but Vaggie seems more like an agent then a loving bestie, even. I think I remember one of the spin off comics for Hazbin which had Vaggie just straight up admitting she's doing the hotel plan because it makes Charlie happy and she'll do anything Charlie wants.

To be honest, it reminds me more of Dr. Mrs. the Monarch from Venture Bros going on about how/why she puts up with Monarch's shit when he doesn't listen to her and it's because he has "passion for a villain"...the difference is that in that case you can kind of get where Mrs. the Monarch's coming from in her emotions. With Vaggie, well, guess that's a sin of not having all the details of her feelings laid out yet. I mean, when you ever get Vaggie's feelings. Such little work about your main couple in comparison to Angel or Alastor.

AND THEN CHARLIE? You can really tell she wasn't written w Vaggie as her gf in mind.

Boy howdy I REALLY HOPE for the series that Viv and co listened to some of the crew complaints and gave Charlie a more empathetic and supportive vibe because ho mah gawd and I mean this as someone who ships them- Charlie is a HORRIBLE girlfriend in the pilot.

Again, thematically, Jack has the excuse of being in a manic depressive episode and also not knowing Sally very much at all in TNBC. He sees her as just another one of his Halloween Town friends who's especially talented but doesn't even realize she and the rest of the town cares. He's not listening to her when she comes to warn him because he's self obsessed. He's nice to her but also passive cause that's how he is at that point of the story, even if he's gentlemanly about it. Compare to Charlie who, while always adorable Didneyprincessesque, is dismissive of Vaggie's concerns, anger, fears and reform while she's not only aware of Vaggie's feelings WHILE BEING IN AN APPARENTLY COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP WITH HER is concerning. And that's before you get to Charlie not noticing Vaggie getting tossed around by Alastor right in front of her.

It'd be different if Al does his weird smarmy shit and Charlie is uncomfy but only stiffens up and shows her actual strong side to him when he touches Vaggie- "HEY! Don't you lay a finger on her!" but no, nothing.

I ultimately get what Viv wants and is going for by comparing Charlie and Vaggie to tnbc, but I think in practice in the pilot it fails because it

was never planned out to be a couple

they're supposed to be a couple but Charlie and Vaggie aren't all that romantic

they're supposed to be a couple but Charlie isn't very supportive or even defensive

People give Jack a lot of shit (rightfully, in the video games) and give the movie and Jally shit for being a "bad fit" but I again vouch for them not only on the grounds of tnbc being complete and at home in it's own skin. The rest of the franchise not so much, but the movie and the writers of the character know what kind of person Jack is and have his redemptive quality be that he falls for Sally; I love him and Sally both as characters but also as a couple for that reason. I'd feel totally different if Jack, say, was Sally's bf throughout the film and acted the way Charlie did. I can be critical of TNBC and I think some of Jack's writing is flawed and could be better, but y'know, I will defend it pedantically like I'm doing right now.

With Charlie and Vaggie, I ship them because they're my favorite characters from the pilot but dayum. I'm the kind of hermitshipper who's able to sustain myself off scraps and headcanons and even I'm saying these two need some work. Cuz they do. They need A LOT of work. And better writers.

If Chaggie is ''endgame'' in the final season then I hope "A Happy Day in Hell" is just an outlier scene or it's going to be retconned that they aren't lovers yet because if not- oh Vaggie! Get urself a Hasani Walker comic and fast my gurl you need it.

[skinnypaleangryperson]

Things Rick canonically does with the person he's in love with:

1) Get stuck in a trance while endearingly and lovingly looking after his family and the person he loves and trailing along right after.

2) Hod back his partner's hair when they're vomiting and have drank too much, holds them after.

3) Does the most humble and romantic, authentic things like sit on the side of a bench wall engaging in small talk and each other and enjoying nature. When you remember the kind of creatures and species that he could associate himself with, this is only even more endearing. When you consider what he could accomplish as a person if you wanted to considering what he's capable of, this is even more humbling. He literally chooses to spend his time like this, despite the fact that he could literally basically be living as a narcissistic controlling God if he wanted to.

4) Bringing out his cocky jaded on the edge side despite how humble and sweet and salty he can be and engaging in witty banter and still being an insane impulsive drunk. Diane is perfect for him evidently, which isn't surprising considering the spaceship thing!

5) Ro the most over the top extravagant things like create an entire robot in the period of only a couple of hours over something as small as a little mistalk between his partner. And this one especially melted me-can you imagine the amount of time and effort and concentration even with his intelligence it took just to make his partner a simple dancing robot just to apologize after something that most people would just forget about the second that it happened?

He really does give the entire world to his partner almost to a tragic degree and that's part of the reason why how much he loves Diane and her fate is so heartbreaking-not because of the fact necessarily that she died in and of itself but because of the fact that Rick is the kind of lover that will give everything down to the core and pretty much almost instantly the second they're back in his life even after decades, the same way that he did with Birdperson. That kind of heart only exists in fairy tales-and now apparently also adult swim cartoons.

6) Reaching out across the table and a little bit awkwardly but ultimately incredibly sure in his intentions and feelings and taking the hands of his partner and pretty much instantly being upfront about how he feels. I could sense that he was nervous what just saying a lot for someone like him and he pulled it off well, but he wasn't entirely sure about himself.

7) Getting dressed up sharply and taking his partner out to dinner-literally no matter what the circumstances are in terms of his health, including death.

I always knew that Rick was an overdramatic melodramatic, overly sensitive and incapable of healing trauma queen in a lot of ways (I say this endearingly because I am as well and that's part of the reason why I'm so attached to him as a character) but this really solidified that he will go above and beyond for his partner literally no matter what occurs or what that means or requires from him. It's almost tragic, just for the fact that he wears his heart honestly and gives so much in and of itself.

[dongslinger--420]

Thoughts on the chicken for days episode?

I used to skip it on all my rewatched of bojack after maybe my third rewatch because I think I got it in my brain that it was an unimportant dumb episode. But then on my last rewatch I made the effort and realised that it's actually better than I remembered. Still dumb lol. But not "bad dumb." It's like the Todd episode before the Actual Todd episode.

And I'll big admit that the joke in this episode where people keep asking Becca the chicken questions and taking her varied buck sounds as legit responses got me xD

Hi! Before I get onto anything else, I'd like to ask you to please not use the word "dumb" on my blog. I really don't like that word and I've mentioned it a couple of times before, but I understand that you probably didn't know, so I'd just ask you to not do it again.

Moving on to my actual answer, I have two things that I'd like to talk about in regards to Chickens:

1. Social commentary

I'm vegan, and so is Raphael Bob-Waksberg, although I'm unaware as to whether the writer of the episode, Peter Knight, is. As a result, this episode functions as a commentary in favour of veganism, and when I first watched the episode, this really struck me, because it was the first time I had seen this in any show.

Yes, this is a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, and as a result they couldn't make a one-on-one comparison (on that note, I would love to watch an episode that shows how they reached this conclusion in the first place). However, the comparisons that they do make are generally handled very well. Many people do think that eating animals is justified simply because they are of lesser intelligence to humans. Yes, the livestock in this episode are bred to be of lesser intelligence, but the justification is still there. Many organisations (including the RSPCA) refuse to acknowledge the hypocrisy of eating animals while claiming to care for them, using the fact that it is legal as justification. And lastly, it tears into the whole concept of "humane slaughter", by taking the stance that as long as anyone doesn't want to die, no slaughter is humane (in addition, it also talks about how people who work in slaughterhouses are traumatised, which is another reason not to fund them).

All in all, it achieves its purpose just as well as any other social justice issue this show covers, and it's INCREDIBLE to me how Bob-Waksberg and Knight were gutsy enough to cover a social justice topic that is far from the dominant ideology. It frustrates me to no end whenever people say that "this episode was fucked up" because the real life equivalent is just as fucked up! Please unlearn your cognitive dissonance!

2. Character work

It's interesting that you mention Todd in this ask because I consider the episode as being more focused on two other main characters: BoJack and Diane.

BoJack's overall arc this season is heavily connected to Kelsey, because Kelsey reminds him of two people: Herb and Beatrice. The Herb comparisons tend to come later on in episodes like Fish Out Of Water, so I'm going to be focusing on Bea here. Bea's personality is established to us in Brand New Couch, where we see how her abuse and undermining of BoJack has affected him. Chickens functions as a development of this, with BoJack's shitty upbringing meaning that he is naturally drawn to older people who are cold to him. As a result of this, BoJack spends the entirety of this episode trying desperately to impress Kelsey, while she continues to give him the cold shoulder. And here's the kicker: Kelsey genuinely believes he's incredible. Everyone, including us, already knows this, because why else would she have hired him? He never needed to impress her. And as a result, the fact that he spends so much time trying to impress her is deeply tragic and ironic. He doesn't even learn how she feels about him until four episodes later. No opinions change at the end of this episode, because it's the second of three acts in this overall story arc.

Diane's utilitarianism is given much more focus this season than in the previous one. It was briefly touched on in Yesterdayland, but in this episode she is directly forced to face the sad truth that she is a failure in her own eyes. First, she meets Irving, who reminds her deeply of herself when she was younger, and she realises how little she has achieved since she was Irving's age. Next, she gets branded as "the maid" when running away with Todd, thereby causing Irving's opinion of her to lessen as she realises how much she is actually useful for. Finally, the episode ends with the bittersweet notion that actually, Diane didn't do anything. Against her best efforts, Diane was completely powerless to save Becca, and Chicken4Days continues to go even stronger. Nothing is resolved in this arc, with the brief exception that she forms a genuine connection with Todd, as well as earning Irving's approval on her own terms. The issue doesn't go away, and two episodes later she tries again, even harder this time, only to be faced against the entire world, and eventually be forced to give in.

Chickens is a silly buddy storyline that hides a DEEPLY tragic core, in which seeds are spread for two major character arcs for us to uncover.

[dgtn]

Hey all! So I wanted to take a few to introduce myself. Another blogger did this a few days back and I was just like omg I need to do that too!

So my name is Diane and I am at midlife now in terms of age. I have been married for over 20 years and have 2 amazing kids, a young man and a daughter.

We live in Tennessee. I love so many different genres of music - my playlist has everything from BTS to Carrie Underwood, Troye Sivan, Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Aretha Franklin…you name it…it’s probably on my list!

Outside of BTS and Jikook I love spending time with my family, health, fitness, and making jewelry, and yes that includes BTS themed jewelry of course 😏

My favorite shows to watch are crime dramas and anything sci fi. I’m a huge Star Wars fan (I still remember going to see A New Hope when it came out!)

I have 5 fur babies- 4 dogs and a cat. We also have a gecko.

I am a cancer survivor, coming up on 8 years now. I've also had brain surgery - crazy crazy!

So now that that’s out of the way….let’s talk BTS.

I’ve always heard the saying: you don’t find BTS, BTS finds you when you need them. This is true for me too (more on that later ).

I discovered BTS when I heard Butter for the first time back in 2021. I thought it was a catchy song and wanted to know more about the band behind the song. And so it began. I looked up BTS on the internet and the first member I came across? Jimin of course. My first thoughts were my god he is gorgeous. And his voice - are you kidding me! I’ve been around a long time and I have never heard a voice like that! So of course I needed to know more. Next came Jungkook. Uh….wow! That man is beautiful too! And his voice! I mean come on!!!! I had never heard of kpop before BTS so I had no idea about the world of kpop or any of its inner workings.

So into the world of BTS I dove. I went on line and started watching their music videos and started listening to more of their music and really really liking it. I slowly discovered the world of BTS online; Bangtan Bombs, In The Soop, Lives, Run Episodes, etc. Of course, watching all of these...I started to wonder, what's up with Jimin and Jungkook? Definitely caught a different vibe from them. So.....started watching jikook videos. Then, I discovered GCFT - and that sealed the deal for me. No looking back from that point. I remember the first time I watched it (yup, like yourself Ive watched it way more than once!!!) I was blown away and my reaction was "these 2 are in love with each other".

I absolutely love love love Jimin and Jungkook (as I’m sure you can tell from my blog!). I love them as individuals and I love them as a couple. They have something SO very special together and I just get so much joy out of seeing their relationship now and how it has grown over the years. They went from seriously crushing on each other in the early days of BTS to being in a long term fully committed monogomous relationship. I do believe that they are in this for life and have committed to each other for life. What that exactly looks like I'm not sure as they are still "In the Closet". My hope for them is that one day they will be able to show us their love for each freely and openly.

So getting back to BTS and how they found me when I needed them. I am officially mid life, in my 50's. I have always been a stay at home mom. My son is high functioning autistic. Throughout his schooling we really struggled with finding the right fit for him academically. When we moved to TN we eventually decided to home school him which became a huge priority of mine. Homeschooling was not easy. When he graduated high school it was such an accomplishment. I will admit that it also left me very emotionally drained. Being a mom in general is really hard (best job in the world!!!). We always put our children first before everything else; it's just what we do.

As my children have grown and continued to become more independent I actually started thinking about what I want to do for me. It's a foreign concept because as a mom I've never really thought that way. That was right about the time I discovered BTS (see where I'm going with this?). Their message of love yourself, take care of yourself, was something that really resonated with me. I know it might sound crazy but that "glow up" that some people have experienced through BTS happened to me too. I have found the time to "love myself" as BTS says. I am really putting myself first for the first time in my life. I am still here for my family 100% but I am also finding the time to take care of myself :) I am on that journey to find balance in my life and BTS has most definitely played a big role in that!

I absolutely love BTS as a band and as individuals. I have really enjoyed getting to know them and I look forward to sharing my love of BTS and jikook with all y'all for years to come :) I have met some wonderful people through Tumblr; some of whom I have become very close to and consider dear friends; and I feel so grateful and blessed to have these peeps in my life. I am really excited to see what the future holds for these 7 incredibly talented young men who came into our lives.

One thing for sure, The Best is Yet To Come.

Xoxo 😘

[loge2718]

A bit of my Call Of Duty OC Grace's backstory

Dian "Grace" Indri Wijaya

This is a conversation she had with her mom after she beats up the neighbor kid after he bullied her younger brother

Growing up her mom wanted her to be a lady basically, and since she is quite tall, her mom really hoped that Dian would be a model

Dian on the other hand, chose the opposite of what her mother wanted her to be, and joined the army after graduating high school

✨Giving my OC a mommy issue cause why not✨

Translation:

Dian, how many time should I lecture you about this… being a woman means that you must be soft, polite, seat down like a lady, proper and kind, understands fashion, and when you grow up please be a good cook

Dian remember! I'm tired of always lecturing you… A woman should not be rude, doesn't hurt people, espcially fight people, or hit people like you did!

Okay Dian? Remember this!

"Yes mom"

Disclaimer: ✨Everything here is fictional✨ that includes her special forces uniform (I haven't dig deep enough yet so that I can know what badges she would wear - just imagine that this is an alternate universe where Indonesia's special forces wore that type of uniform lmao). Also, if I do draw her again, I wanna focus on her KorTac affiliation instead of her past in the army

[likeaflameinthenight]

what do you guys think of your family : D ? like . . uh um siblings, parents, kids, and id say nephews and nieces if you both didn’t have well . only about . 2 . i think . . ( you don’t have to include all of them by the way, rock ! i think that’s about actually 13 characters for both dian and nyx, so you can just do one of them too if you’d like ! make sure to take care of yourself, love you < 3 )

(Hi hi hi Apri!! Sorry this'll be a bit long haha but I hope it's alright!! I love you, too <3 <3)

Nyx's Thoughts on his Family:

Haneul: Baba. He burned strong but bright like a white dwarf star. Even more stubborn than Dad and somehow more protective, too. He never quite managed to hate us, the damn bleeding heart. Faolán: Dad. Quiet and stern, the moon shining down in the night, silvery protection no matter the cost, as long as you were part of the pack. Loyal and determined, looked a lot more serious than he actually was. Castor: I never asked you to die for me. I never wanted you to die for me. Maybe, you were able to find Kyo again. I hope you don't regret throwing it all away for me, of all people. Aurien: Darling sister, I love you so much. I know I am not the best at showing it but I pray that I have done enough to demonstrate the lengths to which my affection extend. Mori: I never have quite managed to understand my littlest sister. This is my failing rather than anything she ever did. I don't know how she manages but she's so hot, that somehow she's cold. Asahi: Born as the sun crested over the horizon, you brought with you a new stage in my life and I love you so dearly. I'll never know what I did to make you hate me so but I do know that I deserve it, you are not one for emotional decisions. I'll always miss you, my beloved daughter. Yami: Just like him, you are a burning flare in the darkness. You don't hate me and somehow, that's worse, because you don't care for me at all. You want to leave me and your father behind. I wish I could do something to make you reconisder but I cannot stop you, I wouldn't dare. Natsuki: My little moon, you are so much stronger than you know. You don't remember how fiercely you fought to survive when you were born, but look at you now; You stand, facing the future without flinching. I hope that I am not a hindrance to you.

Dian's Thoughts on his Family:

Cam: Why did you have to lie to me? Why did you hide from us, in the end? I could have helped you. I would have helped you, if only you let me. Flor: My precious little fool. You were never meant to die and so, it is only fitting that you haunt my every step, my every movement. I cannot help but regret the way I failed you. Oli: The jester's other half, mirror image escaped from the warped glass. Always overlooked, yet you shine so bright when you are given the space. I am happy that you are able to blaze your own trail, now, that you stand on your own. It it better that you do not remember me, I wish you all the best. Faisal: If only I could say that I don't know why you hate me but I can't, not without lying through my teeth- I understand all too well the depths of your loathing. Someday, you will be able to escape from my shadow. All I pray is that it comes sooner rather than later. Yami: Every time I reach out to you, you jump away, as if you are burned by my touch. Every time I see you, I see a reflection of myself, a reflection of him. Do you know how painful it is, to see him in your face? Do you realize how much it hurts to see you face me, with such disgust in your eyes? All I want is to know what I did, all I want is to fix it. Qiu: You are a bitter kind of miracle. Sometimes, it seems as though you really should not have been born, with the suffering that weighs heavy on your bones, and the pain that you never meant to cause. Nonetheless, I am glad you survived. Minh: The spitting image of your parents, I wonder how you manage it, so quiet and fierce like Zhuli, so caustic and witty like Faisal. I won't get too close but I hope it is alright, if I watch you from afar.

Admittedly I only went with direct blood relations, including in the modern au, as otherwise Cas, Auri, and Qiu wouldn't be included. Nevertheless, for any characters that are in the main ALNST OC canon, that is the universe these thoughts are from (Nyx's thoughts on his children would not be so mournful, were it the modern au, also, Mori isn't his blood sibling in the modern au, and Han isn't his bio father, so).

Tagging @lookatmysillies (for Castor), @sotogalmo (for Flor!) and @pinkcocopuff-aqualoid (for Oli) but everyone else either belongs to me or to you, Apri! haha so I hope that's alright :) love you lots thank you for the ask <3 <3

[zalrb]

Hey! so what did you think about Claire on the bear? I've seen some people call her a mary sue, a mpdg, a pick me which feels a bit much to me lol. I generally agree w people who say that she wasn't fleshed out and felt out of place bc of how carmy viewed her. My only thing is she never felt like an ER Doctor. Her career was supposed to be equally demanding so it should've affected their relationship in some small way at least but she kinda just seemed available for him at any given moment.

One of them I can see an argument for, the other two no. So before I get into the one I can see an argument for, I really need people to understand that these terms actually mean something. They're not blanket descriptors for female characters who annoy you and while we're at it, just for initiumseries, I'm going to add for the record that there aren't male versions of pick mes and manic pixie dream girls because these stock characters (or in the case of a pick me, viewpoints,) are rooted in misogyny

A Pick Me is specific

A Mary Sue is specific

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling [...] She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end [...]

Like even Nathan Rabin who coined the term MPDG apologized for doing so because it keeps being misused:

I feel deeply weird, if not downright ashamed, at having created a cliché that has been trotted out again and again in an infinite Internet feedback loop. I understand how someone could read the A.V. Club list of Manic Pixie Dream Girls and be offended by the assertion that a character they deeply love and have an enduring affection for, whether it’s Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall or Katharine Hepburn in “Bringing Up Baby,” is nothing more than a representation of a sexist trope or some sad dude’s regressive fantasy.

It doesn't make sense that a character as nuanced and unforgettable as Annie Hall could exist solely to cheer up Alvy Singer. As Kazan has noted, Allen based a lot of Annie Hall on Diane Keaton, who, as far as I know, is a real person and not a ridiculous male fantasy.

From what I can recall, nothing about Claire is "Pick-Meish" or "Mary Sueish", she explains that when they were kids and a girl broke her arm, everyone was freaked out except for her because she wanted to understand the injury, that is not Pick Me-ish.

This is Claire

not this

The fact that she has six months left on her residency doesn't make her a Mary Sue.

Now with regards to being an MPDG, these are the characteristics of one:

That day in 2007, I remember watching "Elizabethtown" and being distracted by the preposterousness of its heroine, Claire. Dunst's psychotically bubbly stewardess seemed to belong in some magical, otherworldly realm -- hence the "pixie" -- offering up her phone number to strangers and drawing whimsical maps to help her man find his way. And as Dunst cavorted across the screen, I thought also of Natalie Portman in "Garden State," a similarly carefree nymphet who is the accessory to Zach Braff's character development. It's an archetype, I realized, that taps into a particular male fantasy: of being saved from depression and ennui by a fantasy woman who sweeps in like a glittery breeze to save you from yourself, then disappears once her work is done.

She isn't quite the "pixie" part of the trope, I don't think she's whimsical enough for that, instead I would say she's the "insufferable female lead in an indie" trope (love this!)

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because she does kind of just appear or sweep in to Carmy's life and has this history with him

and instead of giving Carmy her number, she asks for his, therefore the narrative places the onus of initial pursuit on her

she's been carrying this torch for him since they were kids

and her role is to be someone in his life that makes him feel good, that takes his feelings into consideration,

that gives him peace

that urges him out of his shell

that shows him another way he can be and feel outside of the restaurant

while we basically know nothing about her outside of that role.

What makes this iteration more complex than others is not Claire, it's not that she's a fully fleshed out character and we see more than a glimpse of her life and it's not that we get to know about her personally because we don't really, what we get is this

which just goes back round to Carmy and his complicated relationship with food and cooking anyway

the subversion lies with Carmy and how he needs to heal and still has a lot of unprocessed trauma that doesn't go away because Claire entered his life, the show shits all over the typical outcome of the MPDG coming into the male protagonist's life and making it all better.

I'm not saying that they did that purposefully as in they're trying to say something about MPDG, like I don't think the show purposefully framed her as one or views her as one, I think they just wanted to show how deep-rooted generational trauma is and how it presents itself and how it affects your current relationships and it ended up being subverting an MPDG-esque trope for the male protagonist.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, I haven't slept and it's like 5 AM lmao.

[homosexuhauls]

Diane Clarke was just 10 when she went through two life-changing losses. First, she lost her mother, who was stabbed to death in her own home. Then, she lost her father – the person who had killed her mother.

Pauline Benton, 32, was killed by her husband in 1978 after she told him she was seeing another man. Her death followed a “loveless” marriage in which she was allegedly controlled by her husband, who treated her as though she was a “possession”.

“When we got to the top of our street and there were blue flashing lights, I knew something was up,” Clarke tells The Independent. “All the neighbours were outside the house. There were ambulances and police cars there.”

The now 56-year-old recalls trying to go into her home in Cannock, Staffordshire, but being sent to her neighbour’s instead. Frustrated that nobody would explain what was going on, she had to wait until the next day for her grandfather to tell her news that no child should ever have to hear.

Clarke’s father was charged with her mother’s murder, which he denied, but he admitted manslaughter. He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to three years in prison.

Clarke visited him in jail while living with her mother’s parents. Then, when he was released, she and her brother went to live with him again. As a child who could not fully understand the magnitude of what had happened, Clarke wanted to live with her father again, but now desperately wishes she had remained with her grandparents.

While Clarke’s situation may sound deeply shocking, she is not alone. Men who kill their partners in the UK automatically hold on to parental responsibility for their children – even if they are in prison. It means they remain in control of their children’s lives – including choosing where they live, and deciding on their healthcare needs, for example – unless a court removes parental responsibility.

Jade’s Law

With families up and down the country facing this situation, Labour has lent its backing to Jade’s Law: a proposed piece of legislation that would withdraw parental responsibility from a mother or father found guilty of murdering their child’s other parent.

In its current form, the proposed law – named after 27-year-old Jade Ward, who was stabbed and strangled in her home by her ex-partner Russell Marsh as their four young sons slept – would not cover a situation like Clarke’s, because her father was convicted of manslaughter, not murder.

But the mother of two, now a domestic abuse campaigner, is calling for the law to be broadened in order to cover both crimes when domestic abuse is involved.

‘Play fighting’

Clarke tells The Independent that her mother met another man, which she saw as her “way out” of the toxic relationship with Clarke’s father. It was when she finally plucked up the courage to tell her husband the truth that he turned violent.

A newspaper cutting about the case describes how Benton’s husband – “incensed” at hearing of her six-month affair – “plunged a bread knife into her chest”.

“It was sold in the newspapers and in the court as she asked for it because she had an affair,” says Clarke.

Court reports said Clarke’s father was a “normally placid man”, but a social enquiry report used in the case, seen by The Independent, quotes Benton’s father describing him as a “jealous man” who tended to treat his wife as “a possession”.

Clarke remembers how her father, who was married to her mother for 15 years, would physically fight with his wife until she would go into the bedroom crying. Her father would refer to this as “play fighting”, she says.

“My relationship with my mum wasn’t good, because my dad was getting me to mock her and abuse her as well,” she recalls. “So when he killed her, I missed my dad more than I missed my mum.”

While her father was in prison, Clarke spent her time looking after her mother’s parents, who were “wrapped up in their own pain”.

“They were on Valium. They were drinking,” Clarke recalls. “I was looking after them. They’ve lost their daughter, their daughter has been killed, you know – they’re devastated.”

She says nobody checked to see if she was coping when she started at a new school, and recalls the “traumatic” experience of sitting making a Mother’s Day card, which she addressed to her grandmother.

“I was getting bullied at that school by this time, as well, because I was getting more and more vulnerable. I didn’t tell anybody I was being bullied.”

‘I was having nightmares’

Living with the man who had killed her mother wasn’t easy. Describing the situation after he was released from prison, Clarke says she played the role of mum, doing the cleaning, washing and cooking, and feeling “desperately, desperately alone” while doing so.

“I was having nightmares,” she adds. “Somebody was trying to kill me in the dreams. I’ve always thought ‘I’ve got to be careful what I say or do, because what if he kills me?’ And even though he’s an old man now, I still have that fear.”

After leaving school, she “hit rock bottom”, getting into a relationship with a violent boyfriend and making an attempt to kill herself. Clarke is still vaguely in touch with her father, but effectively considers herself an orphan.

“If I saw him in the street, I would try and avoid talking to him,” she says. “But if I came face to face, the inner child would just be happy and pleasing and say hello and be respectful towards him, because that was the way I survived when I lived with him.”

Speaking to The Independent about Jade’s Law – which was debated in parliament at the end of last year – Ellie Reeves, the shadow minister for prisons and probation, urged the government to take action.

The Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, who leads on violence against women and girls in the justice team, said: “It is shocking that, as the law currently stands, killers retain parental responsibility after murdering their child’s mother – enabling them to continually abuse and assert control over their children even from prison.

“Labour has called for Jade’s Law to automatically suspend parental rights for fathers who have murdered their child’s mother. This will put the rights of victims above those of perpetrators, and work to end violence against women and girls. That is how we will prevent crime and protect families.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told The Independent: “Judges are required to put the welfare of children first, and can effectively remove all rights and powers from a parent who has murdered the other.”

Responding to the Jade’s Law petition, the government said it recognises that in situations where a parent is convicted of the murder of another parent, the process can be “onerous”.

Dr Adrienne Barnett, who specialised in family law while practising as a barrister for more than 30 years, told The Independent it is “incredibly rare” for a father’s parental responsibility to be withdrawn, “even in the most heinous and harrowing circumstances”.

Hazel Mercer, of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, says the families she supports after domestic homicide find the fact that perpetrators still have parental rights “highly traumatic”.

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

[it-happened-one-fic]

500 Followers Playlist Starter Pack: The Twisted Wonderland Version!

Thank you so much!!! I'm afraid I don't have time to do a full event (Christmas and all that jazz) but I did want to say thank you to everyone so I came up with this! I have a habit of listening to music while writing so I used few songs (I aimed for four each but didn't always make it) from my playlists to form sort of a starter pack under the cut! Again, thank you so much!!!

(NOTE: The links go to Youtube)

Genshin Impact Playlist Starter Pack

Riddle Rosehearts: 

New Rules - Dua Lipa 

Come Along - Pentatonix 

Oh No! - MARINA 

Black Roses - Charli XCX (includes cursing) 

Trey Clover:

Sugar Sugar - The Archies 

Gambling Man - The Overtones

Home - Philip Philips 

Honey Bee - Blake Shelton 

Cater Diamond:

The Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles  

Call Me - Blondie 

Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris (feat. Florence Welch)  

Dance the Night - Dua Lipa 

Ace Trappola:

Troublemaker - Olly Murs (feat. Flo Rida) 

Jessie’s Girl - Rick Springfield 

I Think We’re Alone Now - Tiffany 

Fire Alarm - Castlecomer 

Deuce Spade:

Waiting for a Star to Fall - Boy Meets Girl

Somebody to You - The Vamps

Hey Look Ma’ I Made It - Panic! at the Disco

Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley

Leona Kingscholar:

Send Them Off! - Bastille

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea - Fall Out Boy

We Don’t Have to Dance - Andy Black

Power Over Me - Dermot Kennedy

Ruggie Bucchi

Roll To Me - Del Amitri

Two Princes - Spin Doctors

The Way I Are - Timbaland, Keri Hilson, & D.O.E

Follow Me - Uncle Kracker

Jack Howl

Silver Night - The Rasmus

I Really Like You - Carly Rae Jepsen

Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx

I Will Never Let You Down - Rita Ora

Azul Ashengrotto:

Material Girl - Madonna

Stay With Me - Sam Smith

I’d Really Love to See You Tonight - England Dan & John Ford Coley

Diamonds - Sam Smith

Jade Leech:

Curses - The Crane Wives

She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

Staring At You - Diane Birch

Break the Ice - Britney Spears

Floyd Leech

Out of My League - Fitz and the Tantrums

Bad Word - Panicland

Rag Doll - Aerosmith

I Was Made For Dancin’ - Leif Garrett

Kalim Al-Asim

Golden - Harry Styles

Budapest - George Ezra

Boogie Shoes - KC & The Sunshine Band

I Should Be So Lucky - Kylie Minogue

Jamil Viper:

Can’t Remember to Forget You - Shakira & Rihanna

Power & Control - MARINA

Just One Yesterday - Fall Out Boy & Foxes

Move Your Body - Sia

Vil Schoenheit:

You Make Me Feel - Cobra Starship (feat. Sabi)

Vogue - Madonna

Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

Pretty in Pain - Diane Birch

Rook Hunt:

The Look of Love, Pt. 1 - ABC

Come To My Window - Melissa Etheridge

I Will Follow Him - Peggy March

Happy Together - The Turtles

Epel Felmier:

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (cursing)

Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver

Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner

So What - P!nk (cursing)

Idia Shroud:

Something About Us - Daft Punk

Come Inside of My Heart - IV of Spades

He’s So Shy - The Pointer Sisters

Heavy In Your Arms - Florence and the Machine

Ortho Shroud:

Electric Angel - Hatsune Miku

One More Time - Daft Punk

Malleus Draconia:

I Found - Amber Run

Deeper than the Night - Olivia Newton John

Disturbia - Rihanna

Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

Lilia Vanrouge:

I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round) - Alicia Bridges

Raise Your Glass - P!nk

Saturn - Sleeping at Last

We are Family - Sister Sledge

Silver:

Fireflies - Owl City

(They Long To Be) Close To You - Carpenters

When You Say Nothing At All - Allison Krauss & Union Station

Son Of Man - Phil Collins (From Disney's Tarzan)

Sebek Zigvolt:

The Glory of Love - Peter Cetera

Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Shout - Tears for Fears 

[preferablywithcastles]

Chateau Chenonceau, The Unique Jewel of the River Cher

AXP Photography (Pexels) Today we talk about one of the most beautiful castles in France, Chateau de Chenonceau on the River Cher. How did the cold rivalry between two women eventually bring about the most visited and photographed private Chateau in all of France? How did one of these woman turn a remodeled fortress from the 1200s into a completely unique river spanning marvel, and how did the other woman top that? And fireworks? Imagine it's the 1500s and you've never seen fireworks before - we'll talk a bit about that too. Welcome to Preferably With Castles, where I like to showcase a great place to visit - often a castle - and then give you some practical information in case you decide to make the trip. I initially thought I was going to show you some pictures and say 'Look at the pretty castle', but medieval art and architecture is a passion of mine, and suddenly I was days in on researching French history. Friends, the forecourt to the Chateau stretches out before us, and we have to go look.

The original structure of the Chateau de Chenonceau was known as the Manoir de Chenonceau, built by the Marques family in the 13th century. Sitting serenely on the banks of the river Cher, even without all of the later renovations it must have been a stunning place to see.

Skip ahead 3 centuries and we come to Thomas Bohier, who was a tax collector for King Francis I. He was so wealthy (and that’s when you comment below ‘How wealthy was he?’) - he was so wealthy that he and his wife Katherine Briçonnet purchased the Manor of Chenonceau outright from the Marques family. As much as I’d love to see what that original structure looked like and show it to you, putting a lot of AI generation into these videos is not a goal of mine. But it was something like this: The main building (though un-renovated), the original part of the guard tower and no structure on the water. And also all those trees and flowers - those are new too.

Giblert Sopakuwa Thomas and Katherine purchased the Manor in 1513, but they weren't content to simply live there. They spent the next 9 years renovating. They turned the ancient fortress into a modern chateau. They also used the foundation of the ancient guard tower and turned it into the Tour de Marques in tribute to the previous owners. I don’t know about you, but I can't count the number of times I’ve wanted to go buy an ancient fortress and turn it into a pleasure palace, but somehow I've never had the funds.

Unfortunately for Bohier's son Antoine, the abbot of St. Rouen, he didn't have the funds either. After Thomas and Katherine’s death in 1524 and 1526 respectively, Antoine only held on to it until 1535, when his debts compelled him to sell it to King Francis I. After Francis I’s death in 1547, the chateau went to his son, King Henry II. Now you remember I mentioned two women who didn’t like each other very much. These two women were Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers. Diane de Poiter’s was Henry II’s favorite mistress (which begs the question, how many mistresses weren’t his favorite?)

The other woman, so to speak, was Catherine de Medici - Henry's wife.

So imagine how Catherine felt when Henry gave this magnificent palace as a gift - not to her, but to ‘her’. To explain what transpired between the two women as simply as I can, Diane was the woman Henry doted on and gave gifts like an entire chateau and enjoyed sweeping political influence during Henry's reign. Catherine had children.

This was fortunate, however, for the chateau, because both women went to considerable lengths to enhance it. Diane herself made some major renovations to the chateau and the surrounding site - most notably beautifying the grounds with gardens, and constructing the arched bridge across the river (though this did not include the two story gallery, just the bridge itself.)

The gift of the chateau, and the money spent on renovating it, was wrapped up with the political power Diane wielded by being the king's favorite - it wasn't enough to be his mistress and a financial drain, she also influenced the Treaty of Boulogne, the alliance with Scotland, military campaigns against the Hapsburgs and Italians, the appointment of political figures, the receiving of additional grants and lands to give to her political allies, and, wild as it sounds, as a devout Catholic, strengthening - of all things - the church's influence in France.

You can imagine Catherine's resentment, which was well documented. But, to come to her role in the chateau's history, in 1559, Henry II died. And bearing him all those children worked out in the end, because she was now the queen regent, and mother of the heir, Francis II. At this point she had the personal power to force Diane to relinquish Chenonceau for the measly Chateau Chaumont. Now, I kid, but look at this place. As far as getting rid of your rivals goes, that’s an incredibly sweet deal. Diane did, however, have a lot of power and influence at court, so simply banishing her (or worse) was not an ideal option. Moving her to Chaumont got her out of the center of court life as Catherine began exerting her own influence.

instant shots (flickr) I asked at the beginning how one woman could top the other. Catherine topped Diane by literally topping Chenonceau - she had a two story gallery ballroom built on top of Diane's bridge. Beyond that, she expanded the gardens (which became known as the Catherine de Medici gardens, not the Diane de Poitiers gardens), and wholeheartedly worked to make Chenonceau a hub for lavish royal events and court life. It really was destined to be one of the most cared for Chateau in the country, and to this day, people the world over come to see why.

Speaking of those lavish royal events, that brings us back to the other main point I mentioned in the intro - the fireworks. When Henry II died in 1559, Catherine would briefly be queen regent, and then in 1560, their son Francis II was crowned king. In that same year, Francis II married someone you may have heard of - Mary Queen of Scots. So, what do you do when your son becomes king and gets married? You throw the biggest party you can, which is exactly what Catherine did. And how did she make that party truly memorable? By presenting a thrilling innovation that England and Italy had already seen, but France had not - fireworks. This event marked the first time fireworks were displayed in the country of France, and even though we now have regular opportunities to see them every year, they’re still awe-inspiring. Imagine what it would have been like to get to see them for the first time ever in your entire country, from the vantage point of one of the world's most beautiful settings. To this day, the Chateau de Chenonceau is the most visited chateau in France, save only for the Royal Palace of Versailles. There is a lot more to the history before and after the renovation of the manor house that became the Chateau, but that's more than we'll cover here, and would be excellent reason to go see Chenonceau for yourself.

discopalace (flickr) Now as always let's help you get started on trip planning, because we all want to go see Chenonceau now. Right? I only have so many ways to say 'This hotel was great and that restaurant was great', so I'm going to present the information differently. Where you could stay: Château Hotels (STAY IN A CASTLE!) Château de Pray Rating: 4.5/5 #LuxuryStay #HistoricChâteau #FineDiningLocation: in Amboise, 12 km from Château de Chenonceau Château de la Bourdaisière Rating: 4.0/5 #ElegantRooms #Gardens #HistoricCharmLocation: in Montlouis-sur-Loire, 22 km from Château de Chenonceau Château de Chissay Rating: 4.0/5 #MedievalChâteau #Pool #GourmetRestaurantLocation: in Chissay-en-Touraine, 5 km from Château de Chenonceau

Bed and Breakfast: Le Clos Mony Rating: 4.5/5 #CharmingB&B #ComfortableRooms #WarmHospitalityLocation La Maison de Famille Rating: 4.5/5 #QuaintSetting #HomemadeBreakfast #FamilyFriendlyLocation Le Relais Chenonceaux Rating: 4.0/5 #Cozy #GreatLocation #TraditionalLocation And of course, if you’re anything like us, you look at potential AirBnB’s. There are quite a few in the area, one as low as $69 that still looks beautiful. I will talk about AirBnB until they make me an affiliate. Eating while at Chenonceau: L'Orangerie du Château 4.5/5 #GourmetDining #ElegantSetting #FineWine Auberge du Bon Laboureur 4.5/5 #LocalCuisine #CozyAtmosphere #HistoricBuilding Le Bistrot de Louise 4.0/5 #Bistro #TraditionalFrenchFood #CasualDining 0.2 miles Dessert: La Boulangerie de l’Abbaye 4.5/5 #DeliciousPastries #Bakery #LocalFavorites 0.2 miles

Other places you can visit on this trip: ZooParc de Beauval 4.5/5 #TopRatedZoo #FamilyFriendly #AnimalEncounters 24.14 km Place Plumereau, Tours 4.5/5 #MedievalArchitecture #Cafes #VibrantAtmosphere 28.97 km Château Royal d'Amboise 4.5/5 #HistoricCastle #LoireRiverViews #RoyalHeritage 17.7 km Château de Chambord 4.5/5 #RenaissanceArchitecture #ExpansiveGrounds #Iconic 46.67 km Château du Clos Lucé 4.5/5 #LeonardoDaVinci #HistoricalLandmark #Inventions 17.7 km

Day Trips Tours, 33 km Saint-Gatien Cathedral 4.5/5 #HistoricSites #GothicArchitecture #StainedGlass Hotel Oceania L'Univers Tours 4.5/5 #HistoricHotel #ElegantRooms #CityCenter Château Belmont Tours 4.5/5 #LuxuryHotel #Gardens #Spa Hotel Mirabeau 4.0/5 #BoutiqueHotel #Cozy #CentralLocation Blois, 46 km Château de Blois 4.5/5 #HistoricCastle #RoyalHeritage #Architecture Novotel Blois Centre 4.5/5 #ModernHotel #CentralLocation #Comfort Hotel Anne De Bretagne 4.0/5 #CozyHotel #HistoricDistrict #Comfortable La Maison du Carroir 4.5/5 #B&B #Charming #WellDecorated Orléans, 107 km Sainte-Croix Cathedral 4.5/5 #GothicArchitecture #HistoricLandmark #JoanOfArc House of Joan of Arc 4.5/5 #HistoricalMuseum #JoanOfArc #CulturalHeritage Empreinte Hotel & Spa 4.5/5 #BoutiqueHotel #Spa #LoireRiverViews Hôtel de l'Abeille 4.0/5 #HistoricHotel #Charming #CityCenter Best Western Hôtel d'Arc 4.0/5 #ModernAmenities #CentralLocation #Comfort

©2024 Google, Image Landsat Thank You For Reading! And that's my look at Chateau de Chenonceau. I am no bot or ai, I'm just someone who loves traveling with his family, especially to medieval sites. So until next time, may all your travels be happy, healthy, safe - and preferably with castles! Do not hesitate to send me messages with more current information. I can only research so much for passion projects. Please take the time to do additional reading about anywhere you visit to ensure you feel safe. For short a short form video about Chenonceau: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preferably_with_castles/ Pinterest: https://ie.pinterest.com/preferablywithcastles/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@preferablywithcastles X: https://x.com/castlespref For longer form voiceovers: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-3-9S8_RUHhdezoyFQe_A

(If you don't see anything about the current post on these sites, give me a couple days. I do the blog posts first, and editing takes time.)

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: Running Up That Hill

I've never seen any episodes of Stranger Things, but I've learned bits and pieces about it from Tumblr/the internet, and of course I heard about its usage of Running Up That Hill (which I did know a little bit already) in season 4, which had the song shooting up to the tops of music charts, breaking a record for the longest time for a track to reach Number 1 spot on the UK's official Singles Chart (as well as the oldest female artist to get there).

Voiceplay's video for their cover of Running Up That Hill was released on the 2nd of July, 2022, and like the other "trendy"/popular song featured in a piece of recent media that they covered that year, it features Ashley Diane! So let's go! 😁

Apparently (if I'm correctly remembering the comments I read about it), Voiceplay used mops to cover the floor with a thin layer of water (which had to be done multiple times during filming), to get a cool reflective effect that would give the vibes of "The Upside-Down" from the series.

(And as always, shoutout to Eli for the lighting design!)

Ayyyy

Eli is going double-denim (very 80s) with his jeans and denim jacket combo, and his "Hellfire Club" shirt is merch from Stranger Things! Ashley is wearing a cute crop top, and I love her hair and makeup here. Cesar's got a button-up shirt and a maroon jacket (which I kinda want for myself tbh), Layne's wearing ripped jeans (like Eli) and a kinda-patchwork-pattern button-up (which I also want), and Geoff... is doing The Least again. 😆 His "80s-style" outfit is a plain black/grey shirt, jeans, and a barely-noticeable jacket/jumper tied around the waist. I do love him but I can't help but (lightheartedly) call him out sometimes. 😂

Love the eyeshadow! 💜

Cesar is absolutely vibing at the start of this and I love him

Lighting change!

And again!

When your multiple superhuman abilities include lighting control /j😝

(Also notice the water droplets around/near Layne and Cesar's feet?)

Cool 3D-glasses-like visual effect!

Man she's so pretty (Voiceplay videos spoil me sometimes, they really do)

"Let me steal this moment from you nowwww"

(Trust Geoff to get a low-key dark line of a song and make it even darker/spookier! 😄)

Lighting change again!

As if I was going to talk about the visuals for this video without talking about this moment! So extremely cool, even if you're not into Stranger Things. No clue how they managed to pull it off, but very well done!

The guys' reactions are all absolute gold, of course 😂 ("what should we do?" "I don't know, just keep singing!")

Based on the very-fixed and very-specific shots we get of Ashley while she's "levitating", I'm guessing this was more done via clever editing and post-production work rather than anything like harnesses to actually lift her in the air (not sure if Voiceplay/Pattycake Productions would have the money or resources for that anyway), but still, absolutely brilliant job, and what a way to elevate the video! 😉 (couldn't help myself 😁)

3D-glasses effect again!

I honestly wonder whether or not it was difficult to hold those expressions and not break character, while still singing/vocalising

The last frame of the video, right?

Wrong!

This is the actual last frame (before the Patreon credits), thanks to a very quick bonus scene that Voiceplay decided to include. They sure do have a flair for the dramatic, don't they? 😄

Shoutout to Layne for both the arrangement and video for this one! Voiceplay continue to knock it out of the park, every time, without fail. They know how to do songs justice, while still putting their own spin on it, and it always works so well!