#I’ll have to go through and find the screencap of it

[mvnces]

decker having lil bunny teeth … his front teeth being just slightly crooked … pls 🥺

[jazzandpizazz]

daily dose of granada holmes: watson’s face says a lot here. he’s watching sherlock straighten put a fire poker with his bare hands so I guess I understand

december 8, 2022

[dqmeron]

some quick info: ↳ this is specifically for the screencapping method. i use mplayer osx extended to get my caps, but there are a few other programs you can use as well. i’ll specifically be going over mplayer here. ↳ i’m using ps 24.4.1 on a 2020 m1 macbook air

[tysm to @kyubinz for looking this over and adding some things ily]

☆ feel free to send me an ask/message with any questions you have! ☆

「 setup 」

1. finding videos

one big thing to remember is that the overall file size of your video will impact the quality of your gif. the larger, the better. i almost never use anything below 1080p, and try to use 2160p whenever i can. 4k video downloader is the program i use for downloading videos from youtube, it’s free to install and works great! because of how large some files can be, i always store any media on my hard drive. i highly recommend using one if you plan to keep lots of files on hand. 

.mkv files are best, but .mp4 works fine as well (.mkv files are usually bigger aka better quality).

2. getting your screencaps

after downloading mplayer, go to the top bar and click file > open. open the video you’ll be screencapping. 

you can either drag the little time indicator or using the arrow keys on your keyboard to move to the spot you want to capture. the > key can also be used to move forward frame by frame. to start capping, pause the video and press shift + cmnd (ctrl if you’re on windows) + s to take a screencap. i usually just hold it down until i’ve gotten all the screencaps i need. 

by default, screencaps go right to desktop. you can set up a folder for them to go to automatically by going to settings > general and then selecting a spot in the menu under “interface”, but i just let them go to desktop and then sort them into individual folders so they’re easier for me to find while i’m giffing. in general, i try to stay under 80 frames so my gifs fit into tumblr’s 10mb image size limit. 

3. importing screencaps into photoshop

to import your caps into ps, go to file > scripts > load files into stack. this window should open:

click browse, and navigate to the folder with your caps in it. select all of the caps you want to import, and then click open.

click ok to create a file with your caps, and then wait until it’s finished loading your caps into the layers tab. once they’re loaded in, this is what your screen should look like:

(if you aren’t seeing the timeline at the bottom of your screen, go up to the top bar and go to window > timeline)

click create frame animation, then go to the hamburger menu at the top right of the timeline and select make frames from layers. once your frames have loaded in, select the same menu again and click reverse frames. play through your gif to make sure everything looks good. 

if you were to save your gif at the speed it’s set at now, it would be way too fast. to fix this, you have to set the frame delay. do this by selecting all your frames in the timeline using shift click, and then clicking (on any frame) where it says “0 sec”. select other from the menu that comes up, and you should get this popup:

the general rule of thumb for gif frame delay is 0.05 seconds. there are some cases — certain animated movies or video games, for example — where other delays are best, but for the most part, 0.05 is what you want to use (0.05 can slightly slow gifs, and sometimes using 0.04 better matches the clip's original timing. this is really a "train your eyes" thing, and picking the best delay gets easier as you gif for longer). you can set this by typing the number into the text box and then hitting the ok button or enter on your keyboard. 

at this point, i’d go ahead and save your file. you can go to file > save in the top bar, or just hit cmd/ctrl + s on your keyboard.

「 making your gif 」

1. sizing

after your frames are ready, the next thing is to size your gif. to crop your gif, press c on your keyboard to open the cropping tool. white borders will show up around your gif.

before doing anything, i would suggest making sure “delete cropped pixels” is unchecked. this will allow you to drag your gif around later if you want to reposition. you can find this option at the top of your screen. drag the borders on either side until you have the area you want selected. mine looks like this:

once you’re happy with your selection, hit enter on your keyboard to finalize it. 

the tumblr image guidelines require gifs to be 540px across (here’s a post detailing this). to change your gif’s image size, go to image > image size in the top bar. you’ll get this popup:

instead of setting the width right to 540, i’ll be setting it to 544, and then trimming down the edges using canvas size. this makes the quality just a little better, and also prevents any weird borders being made around your gif on the off chance photoshop decides to add them. this isn’t necessary at all, you can absolutely size right to 540, but i just like doing this. if you choose to do this, open canvas size right after you set image size (image > canvas size in the top bar), and trim your width down to 540 and your height down a few pixels as well. 

2. sharpening & other filters

sharpening is essential for good-quality gifs. the first step to this is converting our timeline from frame animation to a video timeline. select this little icon in the bottom left of your screen:

this is what your timeline will look like now:

you can use the little slider with mountains on either side to change the width of your frames in the timeline for easier access when editing. now that we’ve got all this set up, we can sharpen! i use this action pack to sharpen my gifs in addition to a few of my own settings (here is a video on how to install actions into photoshop). go to window > action in the top bar if you aren’t seeing the action tab. 

i’ll be using the sharper action from the pack. to use an action, select it from the list and press the little play button at the bottom of the panel to apply it.

in addition to this, i usually also add unsharp mask at 50% amount with a 0.5px radius:

there are a few other filters than can be helpful when giffing:

a. add/reduce noise noise (aka grain) can be added with “add noise”. go to filter > noise > add noise.

these are the settings i usually use, but the amount depends on the gif (i don't ever go over 3.5 for the most part):

(if you want a grain effect but moving noise doesn't work for the gif, you can also add a grain overlay and then mess with blending mode and layer opacity until it looks how you want)

reduce noise can be used to remove some of the pre-existing grain on a clip. go to filter > noise > reduce noise. here are my settings:

leaving reduce noise on its own at 100% is a bit too much, so double click this icon and change the opacity (i usually do around 45):

b. gaussian blur if your clip is a bit pixelated, gaussian blur can help with smoothing it out a bit. go to filter > blur > gaussian blur. my settings are 1 pixel radius w ~20% opacity (this changes based on the gif).

3. coloring

time to color! i want you to keep in mind during this section that everyone likes different colorings, and this is just my process! please don’t feel pressured to follow exactly what i’m doing, the best way to find what you like is to just mess around and experiment!

i like to start off with lighting adjustments: brightness/contrast, levels, exposure, and curves. 

a. brightness/contrast i usually start out with this first, just because brightening the gif right away helps me start thinking about how i want to color! here are my settings:

b. levels/curves levels and curves can either be used interchangeably or together. i usually use levels to adjust lighting and curves to adjust color values, but i’ll go over using both for lighting as well as using curves for adjusting color values. 

for both of these adjustments, i use the eyedropper tools to pick out white and black points. for levels, the top eyedropper tool to the left of the graph is used to pick out a black point. i do this first. use the tool to pick a spot on your gif that you want to be the base for black values. for me, that’s the shadow inside rey’s hood. the bottom eyedropper tool picks white point. use the tool to pick a spot on your gif that you want to be the base for white values. i chose the outside of rey’s hood. make sure you’re doing this on a new levels adjustment layer.

now, on to curves. you can either use the same eyedropper method or manipulate the graph directly. using the eyedropper is the same as levels, so i’ll just go over graph manipulation. 

shade lightens as you move to the right along the x-axis of the graph — black is the far left, white is the far right, middle is the midtones. generally, i don’t work with midtones.

i’m going to use levels for this gif’s lighting, and curves to adjust color values. here’s how to do that:

curves can be used to adjust the amount of a certain color in different lighting areas of a gif. for example, i can specifically decrease the amount of green in the gif’s whites. to edit these values, select the rgb drop-down menu and adjust them one at a time. here are my final graphs:

c. exposure this one’s pretty straightforward. the exposure slider adjust general exposure. the offset slider adjusts how dark your dark points are, and gamma correction can be used to lighten/darken scenes as a whole. here’s my settings:

d. color balance color balance is used to adjust overall tint of a clip. this is in general pretty simple, but i do want to point out that using the shadow and highlights tabs in addition to just the midtones can really help. here’s my settings:

e. channel mixer channel mixer is one of my favorite tools in ps, especially for coloring scenes that are a pain in the ass without it. to avoid taking up too much space, here’s a great tutorial covering channel mixer. here’s my settings:

[at this point, i’m noticing my gif is still a bit darker than i’d like it, so i’m adding just a bit of brightness/contrast to fix it. there’s also a patch of blue over one of rey’s eyes, so i’ve used a hue/saturation layer to get rid of that bit and masked it to her eye. i’m not going to go over masking here, but there are lots of great tutorials out there!]

f. selective color selective color can be used to adjust the amount of specific colors within a color. for example, if i were to go into the red tab and take out cyans, the reds would become more red. if i were to add yellows, the reds would become more orange, etc etc. this can be especially good for color manipulation. for this gif, i’d like to make the background more blue, so i’m going to use selective color to do this. here’s my settings:

g. color lookup color lookup uses 3dlut files to remap gif colors (it’s a preset — think instagram filter or something similar). i don’t always use these, but when i do, i almost never leave them at 100% opacity. color lookup is great for giving gifs a film-type look if you want to do that, it’s got loads of different options. here’s my settings (adjustment layer is set to 20% opacity):

atp i’m pretty much done with coloring! i usually end up doing a few extra little lighting adjustments at the end. for this gif, i added some brightness/contrast at +8. i’ve also noticed that my gif’s looking a bit grainy, so i’ve added some noise to lean into it. this is usually the way i fix it, but you can definitely do reduce noise/gaussian blur as well if you don’t want a grainy look. 

here’s my fully colored gif + a process gif (fast images warning):

「 saving gifs 」

1. frame rate

one thing you may have noticed is that my gif is looking a bit choppy. photoshop has a tendency to mess with frame delay after gifs are converted to video timeline. here’s how to fix that.

select all of your layers and convert them to a smart object (right click > convert to smart object). next, click on the hamburger menu in the top right of the timeline and go to convert frames > flatten frames into clips. now we need to change the timeline from video timeline to frame animation. click the little 3 boxes symbol in the bottom left corner of the timeline:

go to the hamburger menu again and select make frames (this is the same one you used earlier), then go through your frames and delete any duplicates. the first frame usually needs to be deleted specifically. once you’ve done that, set the frame delay back to 0.05 the way you did earlier. 

2. exporting

once you’re happy with how your gif looks, go to file > export > save for web (legacy). 

these are my export settings, but feel free to experiment with the menus where i have selective and diffusion selected, different settings work best for each gif. in general, most gifmakers only use selective/adaptive and diffusion/pattern because they generally work the best for tumblr. before saving, make sure your looping option is set to forever:

gif size for tumblr has a 10mb limit. my gif is under this, so i don’t need to make any changes, but if yours is over, you can either delete some frames from the beginning/end of your gif and/or adjust the height of the gif (width needs to stay 540px so your gif doesn’t get stretched/compressed on tumblr, but height is fair game). 

here's my final gif!

happy giffing, and please don’t hesitate to send me any questions you have! ♡

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Aaron Hotchner & CM Content Creator Spotlight

Good evening, loves! I hope you are all having a good start to your week. I just wanted to take a moment to shout out some of the amazing content creators that I see putting out the most breathtaking, content related to Aaron and Criminal Minds in general.

The fact that we get this content, for free, never ceases to amaze me. I’m lucky to interact, read, and view your work every day. It really does help my writing and makes my days a 100 times better. And an extra special shoutout to my moots (y’all are so keen! ❤️) Please check these awesome people out and give them a follow if you are so inclined. I will continue adding accounts to this list as I find them. See the list under the cut [accounts not listed in any order]

Creators who Write for Aaron & the BAU All fics mentioned are linked

@criminalskies - They have lots of Aaron-centered fics that are so comforting.

My favorite work of theirs: “In Your Orbit” Part I and Part II. I still haven’t recovered from these. 

@luveline - She has lots of Aaron content and some Spencer fics as well. She also posts for other fandoms like Stranger Things and The Mauraders. Her use of tone and diction always blow me away. 

My favorite work of hers: “If Things Go Bad”

@little-diable - A truly prolific writer! The consistency in style is incredible. She also writes for Harry Potter and Peaky Blinders (thank you, thank you, thank you!)

My favorite work of hers: “For You, always” [18+]

@softhairedhotch - He shares lots of Aaron head canons and ideas that get my writing juices going. 

My favorite works of his: “cold case” and the “Trans masc Aaron headcannons” ← This is still making me want to give him a hug and go to a pride parade with him and Jack!

@ssahotchnerr - When I read her stuff I just kick my feet and scream into my pillow. Her Aaron stuff sends me. I love the fics with fluff so much. 

My favorite work of hers: “Sleepless” 

@winterscaptain - To say that her series A Joyful Future actually changed my life is an understatement. I go back to it again, and again, and again. I’ll link the master list here (link) but if you want to literally feel like you are really married to Aaron, then give the series a read. 

I like all of Tali’s work, but I’m extra partial to “Though and Though” and “Berry Hill”

@itsrainingreid - I’m still pretty new to this blog, but the fic “Ride” [18+] sold me instantly. I can’t stop thinking about it. I look forward to reading more of your work. 

@mandarinmoons is a very sweet Spencer Reid fic writer! All of their stuff is amazing and comforting! I like their story Office Romance

Creators that share Screencaps and Inspo 

@milla984 A L W A Y S comes through with the Aaron screen caps. Literally my hero!

@hotchs-big-hands [18+ account. Minors DNI!] Her nsfw Aaron inspo content does things to me. 

@hotch-girl The way I keep saving her pictures like I need to have the whole set. [I need the whole set]

@sadgirlzluvdilfs [18+ account. Minors DNI!] A generally lovely person who always posts/reposts good Aaron/Thomas content! It's a joy to hang out on her blog.

@hancydrewfan Always shares the Emily content I need. 

@littlecarmine Has amazing CM photos. Always clear and good quality. And they share photos of the whole team!

@pennyspearl Amazing vingate-esque photos of the whole team. Their pictures are such a vibe!

Creators that make Prompts and also Write 

@imagining-in-the-margins It was her Meet Cute Writing Challenge prompts that got me writing again. I cannot thank you enough for that. Her prompts have really helped me get my writing mojo back.

Criminal Minds Artists

@k1ngari

@lilliesthings Soft pastel aesthetic of Spence, Em, Garcia, and Derk. What more could you ask for? Nothing in my book.

@weirdlybeans Super cute art of Hotch! I love their work!

@hannaloony So cute and cozy digital art. I want all of your pieces as prints!

Creators that share the Dark Academia Aesthetic [my aesthetic] 

@optimistic-nihilist

@peacefulandcozy Maybe more soft academia / mori kie than dark academia, but I still find it very aesthetic!

@flowersforfrancis Always shares great dark academia content

@shakespearesdaughters I use their images with almost every mood board I make. I would be helpless without them.

@cafekitsune has the cutes text breaks and dividers on here. Her work has been a gamechanger for my page. Please check her out if you are into aesthetics on your blog! Remi I love you so much.

Text Break Banners by @cafekitsune

[teaveetamer]

Take I just read on Twitter with over 200 likes: “I think the thing about edelgard discourse is most of it isn’t started by edelgard fans. it’s started by people who can’t read going “edelgard is a fascist who is evil and wants to genocide rhea” and then those people going “ugh fucking discourse” when a dozen people go “wtf””

Thoughts?

I’m sure they honest to god believe that lmfao. I’ll be real anon, I don’t really expect much from the group of people who can quite literally read someone saying “using genocide rhetoric is bad” and somehow turn that into “you think Edelgard fans deserve to be genocided!” even after numerous ELI5 level clarifications. Like we have achieved a level of disconnection from reality that I did not think was humanly possible.

I’m certain that any of the numerous people like myself who have received death threats, gotten their (sometimes completely unrelated to Edelgard) posts screencapped and reposted, and had pro-genocide rhetoric left in their notes unprompted from the Edelgard stannies can attest to the fact that the Edelgard stannies fucking love starting shit. I have never met a group of people more violently opposed to the idea of “don’t like, don’t read” and leaving people who disagree with them alone.

They can do all the impression management they want. 95% of the fandom is sick of their shit and hates their guts. The only reason they don’t get even more pushback for it is because they have demonstrated that they are the type of people who are willing to stalk you, go through your social media account to try and find personal info they can use, brigade you, sexually harass you, engage in sexist, ableist, racist, etc. rhetoric to insult and demean you, deny you your identity, appropriate your struggles and throw them back in your face, lie about you being a real life groomer, pedophile, or rapist and spread those rumors across multiple platforms, engage in pro-genocide rhetoric, and like I probably forgot something because they’ve done so much shit I can’t even keep track, and who wants to deal with that? I think most of the fandom is just quietly hoping they’ll burn themselves out and move the fuck on from from the series so they can finally leave us all the fuck alone.

[corruptimles]

Anime North 2023 💀👍

More highlights and photos under read-more

I originally was going to have my Spamton plush with the ‘CRIMINAL’ sign but his head was too big and would make him fall

scene punk Rainbow Dash cosplayer passing by as I was strapping Reigen to my chest and saying I look amazing

people yelling ‘criminal!’ when seeing the Reigen plush

the two tabling that specifically said ‘Reigen in jail!’ (I bought a Mob pin from them)

the person who only took of photo of Reigen plushie, not me

migraine and forgot ibuprofen but Im so so strong and brave (my vision was going in and out all day)

seeing a golden guard Hunter cosplayer and we both pointed as a first reaction

another Hunter cosplayer who was a photographer so they asked for different poses

accidentally approached a table thinking the person was talking to me (they weren’t)

buying mp100 merch from a table and letting them know I was changing to Reigen later so they asked me to come back when I do

coming back and a lot of pointing and thumbs ups

being thankful I decided to bring two cosplays to switch between because wearing the coven scout cosplay meant 2-3 layers on my legs and I was melting

I walked HOW MUCH?

being in a different cosplay so it doesnt feel as weird circling the same tables over as I do

uu-chan!!!

I even thought to myself earlier that day “I wish I had an uu-chan”

people that specifically took selfies with me rather than just me (I find it endearing)

someone complimented my cosplay then asked to punch my Reigen plushie whoever you are, I felt that punch in my hand, I hope you had a good day

my eyesight is bad, and the sun made seeing my phone harder, so I kept accidentally taking videos instead of photos

didn’t want to keep the cosplayer waiting though so I opted to just screencap the videos later

two at a table called my attention for my Reigen cosplay, said I was the only Reigen they saw I said “well there’s TWO here” and pointing/posing with the plush they lamented that their Mob pins sold out just before I arrived it’s the Mob pin I bought earlier too so I let them know I actually bought it before in a different cosplay the recognition at the Reigen plushie and yelling “Reigen in jail!!” “yes, but he’s been freed!” just some silly cheering about it

anyway shout-out to @warddraws​​ because I think I’ll be using this Mob pin often

the guy that accidentally hit my shoulder:

this Miku

debating buying a poster I was staring at for a solid minute, coming back for it later and the artists being like “Reigen’s back :)”

seeing a sans and reigen magnet parody poster, panicking when ppl behind me started talking about it and heard “..he looks like-”, and sped-walked away

forgot to come back to that table.... I didnt get to actually look at their merch im sorry

I really don’t know why I felt so self-conscious there cuz I thought the poster was hilarious??

also lamenting a beautiful MP100 print I saw that was sold out, and pretty Hanzo merch because I have enough Hanzo

watched people playing DDR and being impressed and afraid of ppl that are good at it

someone who was cosplaying Mob but changed before we met (which is still :() but called my cosplay ‘crisp’

scribbled down requests from my friends when waiting (reigen kicked out of walmart) (reigen as a coven scout)

reigen gets burger king

is burger king

now scrolling through the Anime North tags and yelling at merch I didn’t see what I was there that I would’ve bought

alas

my legs are still dead but this was one of the most fun AN trips I’ve had actually

[ageless-aislynn]

My frens! If you know your Mass Effect: Andromeda, then you’ll know what this GIF means.

I finished the game! 🤗🥳🎉✨

Some important things of note: (SPOILERS, if anybody cares about a 6 year old game 😉)

I ended up taking 120 hours but, let me tell you, that was with me playing as thoroughly as possible. I did every single task, even the ones where you had to find randomly spawning things like datapads. 😐 Fortunately, thanks to some helpful people on Youtube, I learned that several of those tasks could be sped up by controlling load zones (so you find a datapad or whatever, drive away, drive back and voila, hopefully a new one has spawned in! Sometimes you had to actually fast travel or leave the planet and return to get a new spawn, other times that would totally bork things. It was a process of discovery, lol).

I’m not going to play it through like that again, even when I start over as Scott, but it was fun to take the time to really explore on my first “visit” to the world of Andromeda!

Fina-frickin’-ly, lol! The big guy played it close to the vest for a lot longer than I was expecting but, well, our love is now true, official and documented! Something I thought was really hysterical, though? Even after you’ve committed to Jaal, which eliminates the option to flirt with anybody else, I STILL had the flirt option for Drack! So, of course, I had to go ahead and take it, Jaal would just have to understand that Drack is an unstoppable Krogan love machine that NO ONE can resist. 😇😛😉 It was all good, though; Drack let me down easy and Jaal never mentioned it.

Though I did wait until Jaal wasn’t, you know, standing right there. Because I have manners and stuff. *nodnods* 😉

(NOTE: This is a screencap, not a GIF, just so you don’t wonder why it’s not loading, lol) I was SUPER DUPER SAD to learn that I can’t get this look for Scott on his own playthrough. The default face can’t be customized. 😥 ZOMG, I WANT THIS SCRUFFY BEARD LOOK SO VERY MUCH. 😥 I miiiiight see about customizing one of the other faces to look as much like the default face as possible if you can have a scruffy beard. If not, then clean-shaven it will be. *HEAVY SIGH* 😛😉

And speaking of Scott, this actually managed to be something I didn’t know was coming: (SO I’LL MARK THIS WITH ITS OWN SPOILER WARNING, JUST IN CASE) I thought he’d probably wake from his coma by the end of the game but I was FLOORED when I was suddenly playing as Scott and he had a pivotal role in the final fight! 👀 It hit me as hard as an invisible drink, I tell you!

Hee, for some reason, her drink glasses would randomly not appear several times throughout the game, I dunno why. But that’s not as bad as the glitch that I got thankfully only once where THE GROUND did not spawn in and so she got stuck in a cycle of falling to her death, restarting, falling to her death, restarting, falling, restarting, etc. etc. 😱😱😱 That sucked rocks through a straw big time! 😡

I still kinda laugh at the fact that, because I missed that you can customize your brother or sister, I ended up with customized Sara and default Scott as twins, lol! On Scott’s playthrough, I’m going to customize Sara to look like this Sara, though, just ‘cause. 😎 Also, I find it interesting that their dad Alec changes to match your main character, so if I use default Scott, I’ll have default Alec where as Sara’s Alec matched her look instead, lol. Oh well, clearly Original Pathfinder Ryder™ was a man of many talents! 😛

A few other fun things...

This is how Peebee showed up when I changed my loadout, lol. You can see Vetra is following me because she’s my Best Girl™ but Peebs (I love it when she starts signing her emails like that 😉) is just hanging out up there! I finally had to get in the NOMAD and then back out again to get her boots on the ground!

Sara has a radio-like music player at her bedside in the Pathfinder’s quarters and it has my friend THE DANCE PROMPT, YES! (You can’t see it here because I had to shorten the GIF for size limitations. 😕😉) Sara is also modeling both her casual and her sport’s casual looks for y’all as she breaks out her best moves! 😎👍😉

Next, because I’m sure the entire Internet is dying of anticipation to know my next move... 😛😉

Since I’ve learned of my other friend, Manual Save, I kept some points so I can go back and...

...take Peebee up on her friends-with-benefits offer. And back up a bit farther to do the same for Liam after Sara helps him move the couch. 😛

Here’s Liam and Jaal giving Sara both Thoughts™ (’cause, hey, she’s been in cryosleep for 600 years and a girl’s got neeeeeeeds, ya know!) and Anxiety™ (’cause she’s the leader of this crew and, fellas, ZOMG, this is Not Professional®) 😂

However, the next full romance I want to do (and am going to back up alllll of the way to when Sara gets the Tempest or thereabouts so I don’t miss anything) is going to be...

...Vetra, my love. I just freakin’ adore her, what can I say? She was my constant through all of the missions, it was always me, Vetra and somebody else. She’s a total badass but also endearingly a little insecure and with a literal spiky exterior that covers a sweet, caring heart. Nothing but the best full-on romance for my Turian sweetheart! *fist thump* (Can you guess who I already know my fem!Shep will be romancing in the ME trilogy? Three guesses and they’re all spelled Garrus Vakarian... 😂😉)

I still would like to romance Suvi but I get the feeling she’s going to take more work like Jaal did because her flirt options dropped almost immediately as soon as I stopped selecting them. Peebee and Liam, for example, offered flirt options right up until my romance with Jaal locked in, even though I hadn’t selected one for a while. So there’s that to consider.

For Scott, he’ll definitely be romancing Avela because, as we all may recall...

Also, it’s a short-lived romance so he can probably find time to also romance somebody else in that one playthrough, if I’m feeling it. (I honestly was surprised at how much I ended up loving Gil, so maybe we’ll give that a try, either here or elsewhere?)

But, of course, the full-on romance for Scott is going to be...

Cora. I legit went *SQUEE* out loud when she kept asking about or mentioning Scott to Sara. *furiously waves Scott/Cora shipper flag* It made me feel kinda like she might’ve had a wee little bit of a crush on her Pathfinder’s son (when Alec was her Pathfinder, of course) but she was keeping it professional and all that. I dunno, that might just be me and those darn shipper glasses that tend to fly out of nowhere and land on my face all the time...

LOL!

Also, somebody at some point will be romancing Reyes because, and please pardon my language, but he’s the epitome of a sexy mofo. 😳😛😂

You also get a glimpse that there’s more to him than meets the eye. The only thing I was disappointed in was that, while I intended to choose him over Sloane, I REALLY disliked that the only way to do that was to promise Sloane you’d have her back and would keep things fair... then you let Reyes assassinate her via a sniper shot. But if you save her, you’re choosing her to “rule” Kadara instead of Reyes. *frustrated sigh* I let her get assassinated but I felt bad about it. Not about my choice but just at how it came about. (Cora also called me out on that later, to not forget that he’d had an unarmed woman killed after promising her a fair fight... 😬😥)

In conclusion of my long-winded rambling, I loved this game a LOT. Was it perfect? Was the animation sometimes WAY WONKY? No and yes. But I was here for the chance for some romance and RPG along with my combat and I really enjoyed that aspect a bunch! I’m sorry that they won’t be continuing Andromeda’s story because I would’ve liked to see more of the Tempest and her crew. As it is, though, I’ll just be content believing they’re out there saving the universe and having more adventures!

I’ll eventually be moving to the OG trilogy and I’m definitely looking forward to that! But for now, thank you, Mass Effect: Andromeda, for 120 hours of fun game time and here’s to many more!

[threeticketstodubrovnik]

Three Tickets to Dubrovnik

Follow the story of Michelle (The Prankster), Alejandria (The Geek) and Natalie (The Traveler) as they're invited in Dubrovnik to Assist Goran Visnjic in his ultimate quest to find the perfect Erik The Red Screencaps from The GVD Fansite 🤣

Alas for Goran, the three young women are quite the infernal trio and they come with their fare share of adventures and hilarious situations in which Goran wasn't prepared for 🤓

Chapter 1

As soon as he had seen this Instagram post about these Erik The Red Screencaps, where he had been tagged, Goran absolutely needed to find the best ones to publish on his instagram! After all he had commented on that same post with the following words “I’m stealing these…. “ Sending the admins of GVD in utter shock the morning he had commented on the GVD Instagram!!

Of course, the women and men in the Goran fandom were truly impatient for Goran to publish these screencaps and he knew it, the pressure was heavy on his large shoulders, but he was so busy! He had to repeat for The Ekvinocijo Play, and he could barely find the time to sleep, so finding the best screencaps to publish on his Instagram had proved to be a rather hard task!!! Michelle, the admin of Goran Visnjic Daily had posted too many of them, and he was lost! He clearly needed help!!

He knew he could count on Zrinka and Goran Grgci, his co actors partners in The Ekvinocijo play. At first, it proved to be funny for Zrinka and the other Goran, but when Mr. Visnjic arrived each morning on the set with his iPad, asking his partners in the play to help him choosing for the best screencaps, Zrinka and Goran two couldn’t take it anymore...

“...But Please! I need to find the best screenshots!!! She posted way too many!! How do they do this anyway??? She’s so fast! She posted the first episode, like two days ago, and now she’s almost done with screencapping all the episodes I’m in!!” Zrinka didn’t know what to answer when Goran reacted, all agitated, in panic, not able to find the perfect screencaps!! They were all good, but he couldn’t publish all of the 2224 screencaps available at the GVD Website’s gallery!!

“Goran, we already went through all the episodes gallery on the website, and we pointed out which ones to post, but you said nah!” As Zrinka was on her way to retrieve a piece of clothes for her costume, Goran gently grabbed her by the arm.

“Come on, one last time!!!” He tried to convince her with his charming smile, while lending her the iPad. Even though Goran was a sweet guy, Zrinka couldn’t take it anymore.

“Goran? We have to focus on the play, we’re going to play in front of the public in two weeks!! Time is passing by!!” Goran sighed when he realized that Zrinka didn’t want to help him anymore… She had already spent the whole week searching with him for the best screencaps, but to no avail… Goran couldn’t decide which one to pick up and enough was enough, thought Zrinka.

“Fine, I’ll ask Goran Two!!” Goran Grgci had been given the nickname Goran two since they were two Goran in the “Ekvinocijo” Play, and Mr. Grgci was fine with it, he even thought it was funny… Until he saw this tall dark haired man with the mean mustache coming his way with the small iPad in his hands.

“Urghhh…” Goran two knew what was coming… He shook his head, all desperate when Goran displayed a large grin on his face as he came closer to him.

“Care to help me man, with the screencaps???” Even though Goran had this puppy look on his face, it didn’t work on Mr. Grgci… 

“We’re having a play to repeat Mr. Visnjic, it’s not the time for choosing these Screencaps of yours…” Goran sighed again when he saw that Goran two was just like Zrinka, not offering his help for the quest of the best screenshots of Erik The Red…

Finally the day passed by without Goran asking again to his partners to search with him for the best screencaps to publish on his instagram, until Dinner time had struck in Dubrovnik… This time Goran pointed out different screencaps on his iPhone, but Zrinka and the others didn’t feel like it again..

“Aww come on big man, give up… We already pointed out the best screencaps…” Zrinka chuckled loudly as the second glass of wine was starting to do its magic…

The next day, the actors from Ekvinocijo gathered together before the arrival of Mr. Visnjic… Zrinka had even hidden Goran’s smartphone, so he’d arrive late for the practice, giving time to Zrinka and the others to discuss her plan and ideas.

“Ok guys! We have to do something, Goran won’t stop bothering us with his screencaps and I just can’t take it anymore!” The other actors shook their heads as well, agreeing with Zrinka.

“We did help him, but to no avail, he’s undecided on which screencaps to use and I think the best solution is to hire this woman!!” Zrinka displayed the picture of the young short haired blonde woman she was talking about on her smartphone…

“Michelle! She’s the perfect choice with helping Goran, because quite frankly, I’m about to go crazy! I love Goran, he’s a sweet guy, but it has to stop!!” Of course the men and women from the Ekvinocijo play had no idea who this woman was, but Goran Grgci and Zrinka had come across her by visiting the Instagram and Website of Goran Visnjic Daily… Michelle was the main admin at GVD, she was a 25 years old woman from Quebec, and had a steady job at a car dealership and Zrinka had seen on her personal Instagram that she was off for a whole month during the summer. Her vacation started two days ago! It just couldn’t get better!!

“I will contact her and convince her to join us in Dubrovnik!!!!” Goran Grgci shook his head, content with Zrinka’s idea…

“Ahem!” Mr. Visnjic surprised the crew of Ekvinocijo by clearing his throat as he arrived on the exterior set where the actors were practicing. Oblivious to the fact that Zrinka and the others were in reality planning something secret behind Goran’s back…

“Anyone has seen my iPhone? I’ve been looking for it, but I can’t find it at all!” Goran looked concerned as he couldn’t get his hands on his iPhone… Zrinka and Goran two pretended they hadn’t seen it as they distanced themselves from Mr. Visnjic..

“Alright, I’ll check on later… I guess!” Goran Visnjic was disappointed, he so wanted to find the perfect screencaps, but there he was, standing tall with nothing to publish for the fans on his Instagram…

The group practiced during the day and when Zrinka had the chance to walk away from the set, she quickly returned to her hotel room and tried her luck with contacting Michelle, the admin of Goran Visnjic Daily on Messenger. She had found her Facebook account since it was linked to her Instagram as well.

Michelle was on her way to get her Mountain Bike out of her apartment when of all sudden, a call from her Messenger entered. Not used to receiving calls from Messenger, Michelle quickly removed her Oakley Sunglasses and curiously looked down at her iPhone… Her blue eyes widened, almost unable to fathom what was going on as the name of “Zrinka” was displayed on the screen.

“Hello??” Michelle answered the call and carefully said hello on the phone.

“Am I speaking to Michelle, the woman behind Goran Visnjic Daily??” Michelle quickly sat down on her couch, almost on her way to end the call, afraid it was some kind of fraud.

“Who Am I speaking to???” scared, Michelle demanded who was the person on the other end of the phone. Zrinka could see that the young woman was rather suspicious and it was totally normal.

“I’m Zrinka Cvitešić, a friend of Goran Višnjić, we’re both playing in “Ekvinocijo” as Zrinka tried to reassure Michelle, this last one quickly ended the call at the mere sound of Goran’s name.

The short 25 year old woman couldn’t believe it.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!!!” muttered Michelle

Zrinka moved her smartphone away from her ear as she realized that Michelle had hung up.

“Michelle? Are you still there?” Zrinka sighed, desperate as the young woman ended the call rapidly. She decided to try one more time to reach Michelle, but with a video call instead this time, so Michelle would recognize Zrinka and see that it’s ok.

The message tone surprised Michelle one more time and the young woman accepted the video call.

“Please, don’t hang up Miss! Recognize me?” Asked Zrinka, to Michelle. This last one nodded her head and saw that it was really Zrinka.

“I just need your help for something very easy, concerning Goran!” When Zrinka informed Michelle that she needed of her help, the blonde woman lifted an eyebrow, wondering what she was talking about.

“Ok, I’ll make it short… Goran is looking for the ultimate Screencaps of Erik The Red, and he just can’t find the perfect screenshots!!!! He has been bothering us with this since the day you posted the firsts screencaps of Erik The Red On your GVD Instagram! I swear, he brings his iPad with him and asks us to pick the screencaps where he looks his best as Erik The Red! I’ll be honest, we just can’t take this anymore! Everyone is drained and Goran seriously needs someone to help him with this”

Even though it sounded quite far-fetched, Michelle burst out in laughter at the mere sight of Goran, bothering everyone on the set of Ekvinocijo with The Erik The Red Screencaps. She tried to focus on Zrinka on the video call, but it was hard…

“I’m so sorry, I’m not laughing at you, this is just… So funny!!” Zrinka couldn’t blame Michelle, it was indeed hilarious. Zrinka even flashed a smile at Michelle, and was hoping she’d accept to help them with Goran.

“Well, look I can try and send Goran the best screencaps…” It was Michelle’s idea with helping Zrinka… But the 45 years old woman had another plan.

“Oh no… I want you to come to Dubrovnik, you’ll meet Goran and sit with him on a computer and finally choose for good those damn Screencaps!” Michelle wasn’t sure she had heard right… Zrinka could tell that Michelle was confused and overwhelmed in the video call.

“What? Uh?? No, No! I just can’t!! I mean, I can’t come to Dubrovnik and help Goran!!” There was no way for Michelle to travel to Dubrovnik and help this 6’4” Mustache male with those screencaps, it was delirious.

“I can’t!!!!” Michelle quickly informed that she couldn’t and Zrinka asked why.

“Is your Passport still up to date?” Michelle nodded her head at Zrinka’s question.

“Well, in this case you can! It’s your chance to Meet Mr. Visnjic, take a selfie with him and assist at the Ekvinocijo Play in Dubrovnik. You can’t say no to this!!” It’s true, she couldn’t say no to this, but she didn’t want to live this experience by herself.

“Alright, I’ll come, but I want my friend Alejandria and Natalie to come with me as well. I’m not meeting Goran by myself, no way!!” Zrinka chuckled when she saw how shy Michelle was…How cute, she thought.

“Don’t be scared of Goran, he won’t bite you!” Joked Zrinka while winking at Michelle. If Michelle wanted her friends to come with her, Zrinka would do everything she could to make this possible.

“Fine, they can come, but you girls will have to share the same hotel room!” Michelle couldn’t care less to sleep in the same hotel room as Alejandria and Natalie, as long as they had their own bed, it was just a detail.

“Ok, I’m in…” Zrinka had convinced Michelle to come to Dubrovnik… But Michelle hadn’t asked yet Alejandria and Natalie to come with her.. As soon as Zrinka ended the video call, Michelle rushed herself to her tumblr account online, messaging Alejandria in panic.

“GET READY GIRLS, WE’RE GOING TO DUBROVNIK!!!!” Michelle was so high on all the emotions going through her that she had a hard time explaining to Alejandria and Natalie what had just happened…

@accio-baqat 😂😂😂😂

[psychewritesbs]

Right.

So... apparently there’s fans who believe that Athrun loved Lacus and that is why the memes about Kira stealing girlfriends exist. But I must admit I never got the impression that Athrun ever saw his engagement to Lacus as anything more than a political alliance that was in everybody’s best interest.

And watching GS again I have to say I am doubling down on my headcanon because... well...

Their dynamic is so...

Basically Athrun is so not emotionally available to Lacus... like at all. 

It’s so Scorpio of him to put up emotional barriers any time she tries to get close. Like in the screencap above where he actually refuses her touch and walks away from her.

And I get the sense that in the early episodes of GS Athrun didn’t understand what it meant for him to want to open up to someone and to actually want to be  present in a dynamic with someone. 

His dynamic with Lacus was something that was an expectation set by others after all. So there’s an element of forced interaction between the two of them.

Yes, there’s all the haros he’s given her, so there is definitely a sense of Athrun expressing something about his inner self through the creation of objects that he then gives her. 

It’s just that given the current state of their interactions early on in GS + the fact that their engagement is very likely the result of a desirable political alliance because of their respective fathers, there’s an element of “doing what a good fiancé would do.”

I’ll not deny that he very likely cares for Lacus. I think it’s completely undeniable actually--the haros being evidence of it.

It’s just that in a situation such as theirs where they are initially forced to interact with one another because they are to be married someday, I imagine both Athrun and Lacus came into this engagement thinking “ok this is who I am supposed to marry” instead of “ok this is who I want to marry.”

And so the basis for their dynamic is this forced interaction that they both have to make work because other people have told them it needs to work. Both Athrun and Lacus then brought their own personalities into the dynamic in an attempt to meet this external expectation.

I also have to say that as a fellow water sign, I can’t imagine that Athrun found it satisfying to not feel an emotional resonance to Lacus. I say that because if he felt that emotional resonance, his attitude towards her would be different.

Instead, he appears to be annoyed by her...

Hell, he didn't even seem to want to go on a rescue mission to find her when she disappeared and was picked up by the Archangel.

And even if the marriage wasn’t arranged by their parents (I don’t remember honestly) and Athrun and Lacus are childhood friends and he proposed to her...

He’s kind of a cranky and mean fiancé to her if I’m honest...

I love Athrun but that was a dick thing to say, Lacus was worried about him and he turns his back on her and gives her a nasty answer. 

It doesn’t surprise me that Lacus ended with Kira because, unlike Athrun, Kira was able to meet her emotionally where she was at.

So I think that’s why later on in the story Athrun says that Lacus is his ex-fiancé because he was an idiot. He simply had not realized what he wanted because he was doing what was expected of him.

Living to fulfill other’s expectations without looking into one’s heart is always a recipe for disaster and unhappiness.

I think this is my third time watching GS (I swear just how I only read Soul Eater for Soul and Maka, I only watch GS for Athrun and for asucaga) and it’s really cool to be able to discern Athrun’s character arc at its early stages because part of his growth revolves around overcoming his daddy issues so that he can open up emotionally.

Ah, of course, I have to say that this ramble is inspired and influenced by this fantastic analysis that I found on the topic by someone else who agrees that Athrun cared for Lacus but didn’t love her in the romantic sense.

I have to admit that seeing how Athrun behaves with Lacus and comparing that to how he behaves with Cagalli is a dead giveaway of the state of his relationship with Lacus.

Anyways. 

Is there anyone out there in this fandom that still nerds out about this stuff?!!!!!!!!!

[xjinkiesx]

Question- What racism is there in SDMI? And how does SDMI only exist because of HP Lovecraft? That just doesn't make sense.

Good Day.

I did, admittedly, spend quite a lot of time last night thinking about your questions and figuring out the best way to address them. The best way I found was from the beginning, which is a perfectly good way to start according to Julie Andrews, so let’s just jump on it.

Screencaps from SDMI are either taken myself from archive.org’s postings of the episodes, or from mysteryincoutofcontext. Other pictures/screenshots were sourced from Google.

And this is going under a Read More because it’s a long read.

Real quickly, however, I’ll amend something that I learned while gathering my sources. I incorrectly called Abigail Gluk and Pericles’s robot creations Kriegstapobots, coming from mixing the German word krieg (war) and the term Gestapo, who were the former secret police of Nazi Germany. The term they use, however, is Kriegstaffelbot, combining krieg as well as staffel, meaning squadron. 

Okay, so into the meat and potatoes of your questions. Let us start with my statements of racism. I may, ultimately, be missing some instances, as these were just the ones that came to my head initially. What I also realized while researching for this reply is that I may also simply be misinformed. I am white. How I see things as being racist may or may not be correct, and the final judgement should be made by people of the cultures that these are directed at. My best work is simply to point out where things can be improved.

The racism in SDMI comes in the form of jokes. There is nothing outwardly malicious stated or displayed that I can remember. Frankly, I am not going to sit back down and rewatch every episode just to catalog things for the sake of this reply to make sure of that. I hesitate to use the term microaggression out of fear of incorrect usage, but I do honestly feel that is what a lot of these boil down to.

Honorable mention to Angel Dynamite (Vivica A. Fox) who I cannot in good faith say is an example of racism but knowing the social conditions that created her character is honestly well worth looking into. Angel Dynamite is heavily rooted in the Blaxploitation genre, popular in the late 60s through the 1970s, with some notable inclusions going up until as recent as 2021. The genre is deeply rooted in the Black Power movement, with characters that are often fighting “The Man”, a nebulous and white power that is attempting to keep them subdued. There are a lot of stereotypes and high romanticization of the Black experience in this genre of film, as well as a lot of generalizations made. I feel like knowing the history behind her character archetype is worth more than boiling her down to “racist trope or not”. What I did find interesting is that Black Dynamite, the film and adult animated series that parodies Blaxpoiltation, was also distributed by Warner Brothers around this era. Her name may be a nod to it, but I could find nothing concrete on this.

Angel is, however, subject to at least one possible microaggression that I can remember. In Season 1, Episode 14, “Mystery Solvers Club State Finals”, Principal Quinlan makes a statement about how Angel is “robust” for a woman. Women of color have a history of their femininity being downplayed or weaponized, and this phrase coming from a white woman just, to me, seems a little off.

For good measure, a screencap:

Who I can more definitively point out as being a caricature is Lady Marmalade (Cree Summers) from Season 1, Episode 23, “A Haunting in Crystal Cove.” Played for comedy, she is a heavy parody of the Creole South, with her design likely taking inspiration from actual Voodoo practitioner, herbalist, and spiritualist Marie Laveau, shown below:

Lady Marmalade’s name comes from a song by the same name about a man who visits a New Orleans prostitute, made famous in 1975 by Patti Labelle. This is, ultimately, not what I find out-of-pocket. It’s the characterization. She's a borderline Mammy in her delivery, and the character’s “comical” portrayals of Voodoo – a very real and cultural practice primarily performed by members of the Diaspora – are not flattering. 

SDMI is not terrible with its portrayals of Asian characters, which genuinely surprised me. Like many things in SDMI, you can see where the creators chose to wear their inspirations on their sleeves. From Showa Era film to more modern martial arts films, they take heavy inspiration and do so in a mostly respectful way. 

Chen’s Coffee is the thing that keeps me from giving it a full pass. Of all the designs for a Chinese-owned coffee shop, they went with this:

Call this one a stretch if you will, but I really feel like they could have done better on this design. Crystal Cove is a tourist-trap town, and gimmicks are certainly a thing, but this really just seems to be too much. Even the Chinatown sign seems overly done in a “Get it? He’s Chinese!” way.

Bonus points for Mayor Jones calling a traditional Peking opera costume a “Geisha” in Season 1, Episode 18, “The Dragon’s Secret”. It’s a completely different culture, though Mayor Jones does have a pattern of using inappropriate one-offs as jokes. The full line, since I wasn’t able to get a screenshot with subtitles of the full scene: “Why do we have a geisha tied up in here? You know they belong downtown in Crystal Cove’s Geisha House of Terror.” Partial screencap with subtitles:

The last instance of racism that I can think of immediately is from Season 2, Episode 11, “Dance of the Undead”. In order to infiltrate a Hex Girls concert on the yacht of a Sheik, Shaggy and Scooby go under-cover. They’re harem girl outfits. 

This is very much a joke context: Shaggy is explaining how, because this is a Sheik, it’s obvious that they dress up like this to get in. When they get in, everyone is dressed normally, and they stand out. It’s a decision they made informed by racism and Orientalism, and it backfires to them. In a show of good faith, I like to think that this is critiquing past cultural disguises of the duo that have not aged well. This one from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (1970), Season 2, Episode 2, “Mystery Mask Mix-up” where they made this… choice. It reeks of Micky Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

We have come a long way since 1970, obviously. The fact that the joke is how wrong and out-of-touch the two are to think the disguise would work shows that. However, acknowledging something does not excuse it. There were many ways they could have disguised themselves to get onto that boat. The fact they went for the racist one is the ultimate problem.

                                                           xXx

Before we get into the second aspect of your question, I need to be pedantic and point out a difference in our wording. In my tags, I said: “Not to mention that the entire universe it [SDMI] exists in exists because of HP Lovecraft.” Your question is: “And how does SDMI only exist because of HP Lovecraft?“ Why am I bringing this up?

Because wording matters here. Part of SDMI’s charm is that it takes from multiple different sources to create its universe. It is a love letter to horror as a whole. From Hellraiser to The Hills Have Eyes to Twilight Zone to Alien, SDMI pulls from these iconic pieces and puts them together into something that people can enjoy even without knowing the origins. To me, that’s fantastic! It’s part of why I love it. So much referential content relies on the audience having a background with what it is referencing. SDMI does not do that.

However, the difference between our two statements is that I am stating that SDMI is a genre piece, whereas your question is attributing everything to a singular person’s work. That simply is not what I was saying and, to me, seems like an argument in bad faith. My wording could have been clearer; I was attempting for brevity due to tags, and did not think that anyone would be going through my tags, as this is a small and pretty inactive rp blog. Whether the misquoting was intentional or not, it does point to a breakdown in communication.

With all that said, let us address how SDMI is an entry into the genre of Lovecraftian/cosmic horror, and what that means regarding the genre’s namesake.

                                                          xXx

H.P. Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) was an American writer. I do not need to tell you at this point that he was a man with some very flawed ideologies (don’t google his cat’s name). He is best known for the Cthulhu mythos, and delved into ideas that were not common in horror at the time, which created an entirely new subgenre. Victorian and Naturalist horror at that time was very much grounded in the person: The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Hounds of Baskerville, Dracula. If we want to go into the themes that create the horror in these pieces, that is a whole different ball of wax, but do feel free to ask if you’re interested.

Lovecraft’s interests regarding horror were based on the unknown. The ever present “what if”. The uncertainties that manifested into things that were utterly terrible and terrifying. Yes, a lot of this was rooted in his xenophobic beliefs and sheltered lifestyle. One can argue that he got better as he grew older: his wife, Sonia Greene, was Jewish, and did help to alter his antisemitic beliefs. There are a lot of people who argue that Lovecraft’s beliefs were simply in line with the era he grew up in. If you ask me, I doubt it. Severely. As a society, we have a way of using hyperbole to try to show how much better things are currently than they used to be. While ideologies come and go, the idea that everyone before the Civil Rights movement were a monolith of Extreme White Racists just does more harm than good and dehumanizes our ancestors.

Anywho, once the subgenre picked up and more persons began to add to it, the name became less synonimous with Lovecraft himself and took on the name “cosmic horror”. I actually really like this title more, as it doesn’t restrict the subgenre to a singular person.

So, what does this have to do with SDMI? Let us look at the hallmarks of cosmic/Lovecraftian horror.

Per Wikipedia (yeah yeah, faliable source), Lovecraftian/cosmic horror “...emphasizes themes of cosmic dread, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries...”. Cosmic dread here means “the result of hyperawareness of our own minuscule nature within our universe” (Puzzlebox Horror). 

Frankly, I cannot better summarize the core themes of SDMI’s ongoing plot better than that list, save to add “the power of friendship” onto the end. 

In the realm of aesthetics, the color green also tends to get attributed to cosmic horror thanks to Lovecraft’s use of it specifically with Cthulhu. One of SDMI’s more striking visuals, to me, is the near- consistant use of a green wash or green backlight up until the final episode after Pericles is defeated and everything goes to “normal”, and then returns after the gang set off to Miskatonic University.

Which... we get to talk about Miskatonic University.

Remember how earlier I mentioned that SDMI does not require the watcher to know everything it references to understand the show, but certainly adds to the piece if you do? This is one of those moments where knowing what Miskatonic University is gives a whole new context to the work.

Prior to the team going, they speak with Harlan Ellison, who was not just a character in the show but an actual author of cosmic horror and is known best for his short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967). He even voiced himself in the show. Harlan Ellison’s voicework in SDMI was one of the last things he did in film and tv before his death in 2014. Ellison puts a bookend explaination on the idea that multiple dimensions exist, multiple timelines, etc., which the show had been exploring in a Baby’s First Theoretical Physics sort of way. This itself has a place in cosmic horror, fitting in that “risks associated with scientific discoveries”, as they have changed everything they know thanks to destroying the Evil Entity that had been manipulating Crystal Cove, and it does fill them with a sense of cosmic dread.

Ellison afterwards states he has enrolled the four of them into Miskatonic University, the gang repaint the van, and tavel off to Arkham, MA. 

Yes. That Arkham. The Batman one. This is where it came from.

Miskatonic University is a fictional institution created by H.P. Lovecraft, and a lot of his stories, as well as subsequent author’s creations, use it as a setting. It’s an Ivy League school, on par with Harvard and very popular with the Old Money of the area, as well as those interested in occult sciences. 

From the Wikipedia:

Because of the name-dropping of Miskatonic University, the universe of SDMI outside of Crystal Cove is incredibly expandid upon. I honestly recommend just taking a look at the Wikipedia article just to see how many different pieces of media interset at Miskatonic University, and from there see what they are about, and what they delve into, because it is fascinating how that informs the universe that this show now exists in.

And that universe, whether we like it or not, started with H.P. Lovecraft.

                                                         xXx

It’s 2:46pm right now, meaning I have been working on this for almost four hours. I hope that this reply has answered your questions and informed you of the meaning behind my statements. 

I invite you into my inbox should you have further questions, but do ask that you do so with respect and curiosity. 

I hope this finds you well, and you have a wonderful day.

- xjinkiesx

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

BTS from A Reprieve From Thought :DDD

Fic Specific Asks!

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

sorry this took ages, I forgot about it in my drafts 😅

so first of all I think it’s worth noting that this is in a general darklina doc titled this lol

for my other BTS fic thing I read through the entire fic and made comments through out so I’ll just do the same thing here. it’s uh pretty short PWP so let’s see how this goes…

minor thing but a few people have read this as a continuation of the canon scene set in his cabin and that’s not actually the case! with the set up I was trying to establish that it’s more of a missing scene during the rest of time they’re hunting the sea whip

also him not looking up is not entirely a power play lol he’s just a nerd

this I was trying to mimic the book vibe where extended descriptions of the Darkling just make it feel like she’s staring at him for a very long time.

I was thinking he’s poring over one of the journals

so a couple things, I always interpret the Darkling as uniquely and uh tbh sexually fixated on the amplifiers on Alina and like what they represent. he’s just really weird about it!!

anyway I also just forever find the implication that he doesn’t need an amplifier, but his power only makes things fucking worse really interesting? all that power and it’s completely useless! I think he’s definitely bitter about it.

anyway the first book also makes it really clear that she does not have fuck off insane power like him? to the point where I also doubt she would turn out to be immortal tbh! I find the implication that he’s basically manufacturing an immortal companion for himself really fascinating. lbeyond the baseline of having a very unique power, their experiences probably would not be similar at all but he’s just that desperate for them to be.

mostly self explanatory, but generally there’s not much room in the canon book for her to feel much betrayal? or sort out whatever burgeoning feelings she may have had for him before things imploded dramatically. I think in reality it’s just a writing issue sjfjfkhg but you could read it as her refusing to really view anything that’s happened through an emotional lens.

so this is some unacknowledged and unwanted hurt coming to the foreground. like “so you did like me a little 🥺”

and also that annoys her! which is why she’s more like “lololol you’re attracted to me? embarrassing! aren’t you embarrassed!” which is the trajectory that leads to her kissing him first.

SO while she is playing a very immediate petty game, he experienced a mental record scratch and went straight to omgomgomg *soulmates*

I think he is being sincere with her here. he’s just like are you finally ready to abandon your petty qualms and obey me without question and come back to my side??

I think he’s a very emotionally starved and obsessive character and simultaneously hardcore resents her for both bringing this out in him but also that she doesn’t meet his predetermined idea of what the object of his obsession (the fated sun summoner and his like immortal companion) should be like.

and Alina’s just like ………..huh?

I’m not going to screencap the entirety of the making out portion but shdhfgf I’ll be real with you, anon, I get so tired of describing the physicality of like kissing or sex. I literally got so bored I repurposed some descriptions from another fic for another ship I wrote ages ago and altered it to fit this scenario. I don’t think any of the original text is at all recognizable/there’s barely any left tbh after editing but I did need the jumping off point in order to not just be like “uh… kissing… more kissing?”

so this starts an entire bit where he’s nagging at her lmao and she’s mostly… not cool with it really but willing to play along if he gets her off dhfjffg but then he’s like “you betrayed me” and she’s like “okay hold the fuck up who made who massacre an entire city of civilians???”

anyway, more minor note at the time of writing, and still currently, I felt like the dialogue line about mentioning silken sheets was more my own writing style bleeding through rather than like perfectly IC word choices but I ran with it because I liked it lol

lol he takes any excuse to power trip. I mean he does already make her beg in canon 🤷‍♀️

she’s ready to go with it a little for role play/kink purposes but he’s pushing it lol.

sorry she’s going to have a fucking crisis (lol literally) after this!!!! I don’t think the actual plot trajectory would change much though. she’s probably going to feel worse, he’s going to be speaking in even more insane double entendres. but that’s about it!

[entamewitchlulu]

my current favorite thing to do when i need to Make Something but can’t get myself to work on current projects is what i like to call

~*~* the randomized picrew cast game *~*~

i’ve been making a handful here and there and i thought it was fun so i wanted to share my process in case anyone else enjoys the idea :) screencaps and such under the cut, but to tempt you, here is one of the casts + premises i’ve come up with using this game!

[image id: two picrews beside each other. one depicts a person in a black suit with a scary smiling mask. the other is of a white girl with blond hair in pigtails and yellow eyes. wearing a feminine dress. the masked character is labeled The White Lich and the girl is labeled Bunny Delacroix. /end ID]

Premise: Bunny is an ordinary middle school student, until she accidentally walks through the wrong door and ends up in a horrific world of nightmares and monsters. Luckily, she is rescued by a strange and terrifying being known only as the White Lich. Bunny doesn’t know the Lich’s reasons for rescuing her, but with no one else to trust in this terrifying world, she has no choice but to travel with the silent masked being as she tries to find her way home. /end ID]

So! First thing I do is I go onto picrew. Then I go to the Discovery page.

Then I either open up a random number generator, or I grab some dice, whichever I feel like doing at the moment. The discovery page usually has 12 recently created picrews at the top of the screen so I focus on those.

First, I randomly generate how big the cast is going to be. 5 is my hard maximum; at max it gives me enough characters for a protag or two, 2-3 supporting characters, and an antagonist, or a larger slice of life cast, whatever. But more than 5 gets unwieldy, so I stick to that.

Ok, so for this example, I’ve decided I get 3 characters in my cast. So then I roll to see which of the twelve most recent picrews I’ll use. I usually use a different one for each character for some Variety, but you can do them all in the same picrew too if you want to make sure they all have the same vibe.

[image id: a webpage displaying 12 different picrews. The 6th, 11th, and 12th are circled. /end id]

Okay so I’ve got my picrews! I open up all three and start with the first one.

[image id: a picrew page. There is an image of a person looking at the screen, and below them, a series of faceshapes to chose from. /end id]

picrew link

Now I go through each page, one at a time, and use my dice or random number generator to decide which option to use. For example, on this page, I’d roll a 4 sided die (or use a number generator) to pick a face shape. Then I’d roll a random number for a skin tone. Keep going until you have a finished Guy.

Question: why not use a built in randomizer button?

Answer: Most picrew don’t actually have a randomizer option, despite the die there. I think it’s an opt-in feature. And when they do, you end up getting this kind of weird vomit character that doesn’t have much cohesion. Doing it one page at a time lets you see the character develop as you go, and it also allows for the following home rule I gave myself:

The home rule: you get up to 4 vetoes on anything added to the character. If you don’t want your character to have three different hair colors, you can veto it. If you don’t like an accessory, you can get rid of it. If you don’t like the chosen hair color, you can change it. But you only get 4 changes. You can use them as you go, or you can finish the character all the way through then go back and make up to 4 changes. I do both depending. This helps the character have some design cohesion.

The other potential home rule: if you’re using dice, you won’t always have a dice that matches the number of choices in a picrew. So sometimes I’ll let myself consider any number higher than the available options as a “you get to pick this one” option.

And that’s it! You go through all of your chosen picrews until you’ve got some Dudes.

here are the other two picrew links i used

[image id: three picrews. the first depicts a light brown skinned woman with short, curly red-brown hair and some faint wrinkles. She has no pupils or irises, and one of her sclera is black. She has yellow leaves in her hair and is wearing eyeball earrings. She appears to be in a wheelchair and is sitting in an autumn background. The second is more of a chibi style. It depicts a person with brownish-grey skin, dark magenta eyes, glasses, and black hair with short bangs. They are wearing a black cloak that pokes up as though here are animal ears underneath, and are surrounded by a scene of candles and spiderwebs. There is a plaque beneath them that says “not anyone.” The third is a darker skinned woman with reddish-magenta hair and eight brown eyes like a spider’s. She is wearing her hair in an intricate ponytail with big white flowers in it, and seems to be wearing a large black witch’s hat. She has a low cut dress and a string of pearls around her neck, and there is a butterfly against her face that is partially see through like glasses. There is also a glowing pink symbl on her forehead. The first woman is labeled Lilura Le Doux, the second is Starla Grimm, and the third is Carlyn Keeling. /end id]

And this is where the fun part begins! Now that you have your characters, you get to figure out what their relationship is to each other, and what kind of story they might have to tell. Looking over these characters I’ve made, I actually feel like they have a lot in common design wise. There’s something witchy and magical about each of them, and they all have some features in common that makes me think they could be related. Maybe sisters?

So my story for these ladies would be something like this:

Though close as children, it’s been a long time since sisters Lilura, Starla, or Carlyn have seen each other. Each proud, powerful witch is busy with their own jobs, their own relationships, their own goals and dreams, and over the years, they have grown apart in more ways than one. But that all changes when Lilura stumbles across a plot by the witch elders to bring back a dangerous beast in order to bolster their waning power. Now on the run, Lilura will need all the help she can get. With her sisters as her only allies, the trio must race against the clock to foil this dangerous plan and make it out alive. But with tensions rising high and their old squabbles about magic, life, and how each should be lived causes them to butt heads - can they get along long enough to save the world?

And that’s the random picrew cast game!

At this point, you can do whatever you want. Write a story about your new characters, draw some pictures of them, make a comic, or be like me and just squirrel them away in a vault to probably never think about again <3

But it’s a fun little creative exercise, and I thought it was worth sharing! Obviously, all of the rules are malleable. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

If y’all do it, please share your new casts! I’d love to see them or hear if this is useful to you, or if you have any suggestions for how you make the game work for you :)

[mirielwebster]

How to Send in a Word Suggestion

It’s a classic scenario: you’re playing Fire Emblem, having a grand old time, when suddenly the dialogue presents you with a word you’ve never seen before in your life. Sure, you could just look it up in a dictionary like a boring person... OR you can be a real champ and send me an Ask with the following:

A screenshot of the dialogue containing the word.

The game and chapter where the word can be found (plus the particular translation, when applicable). You can also give narrative context if you feel inclined.

Just to be safe, please also specify what the word is.

I’m playing the old-fashioned way. Can I send you a potato-quality image of my GBA screen?

If it’s not too potato, go for it. If you’re not sure, another option is to find a playthrough of that chapter on YouTube, scrub through until you find the line you’re looking for, and screencap it.

Also, just send me screenshots with hard words! I’m gonna need to fill my queue one way or another. Of course, I’ll reach out to the folks on Reddit and Twitter as well for ideas. It’s important that this blog have screenshots for an optimal viewing experience, rather than just the plain text of the transcript and analysis.

Anyway, I think that covers it. Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

[corneliushickey]

‘rhys ifans/ralph fiennes erotic leg massage hypnosis kink thigh wound cunnilingus?? what is HAPPENING... ‘ please please explain this

my friend i wish i could tell you that something other than exactly what i just said was happening but i was being completely straightforward

i was watching the king's man (2021) which i expected to be bad but which exceeded every expectation i had for it by being unbelievably worse

there is a scene where rhys ifans (as rasputin) gives a bad parody of cunnilingus to the scar in ralph fiennes' (as the duke of oxford) thigh. it's played for laughs but it isn't funny. fiennes really commits to the sincere eroticism angle but ifans is doing like... monty python.

i cannot stress enough how much i don't recommend you watch this movie because it is a giant waste of time. i found it a waste of time and i have a crush on rasputin (irl guy), otto hightower (fake guy, rhys ifans with a scraggly beard) and like every other british guy in this movie (ralph fiennes, charles dance, tom hollander). none of this made any of it worth it. it retains none of the charm of the original film or its sequel and makes no meaningful lore contributions. it is badly written, paced, and acted, and i found shola (djimon hounsou's character) to be a really racist trope and also the singular person of color in all two hours and eleven minutes.

i stopped watching it about an hour and ten minutes in because rasputin dies at exactly the halfway mark and i had no interest in watching past that. i’ll be honest with you he might come back? idk i didn’t care enough to google it or to skim through the rest of the movie trying to find out if he does.

that said i've screencaped the entire exchange for you. it is much better this way. under the cut bc this is so image heavy.

i've skipped some set up but they go to a private room and there is a drawn out exchange about fiennes taking off his trousers.

anyway this is what i mean about fiennes leaning into the eroticism... it’s giving “i thought i was a fucking faggot” “you are.... but you’re bisexual” which in some ways is what all of fiennes’ roles give all the time. that’s why i like him so much.

please listen to me when i tell you how much better the screencaps make this than what it actually is. 

if you know about the myth of rasputin's assassination this whole like... i think it's ten minutes? this whole scene is full of "ha! i know that reference"s. but like in a grim weary sigh kind of way.

here’s him eating the cyanide filled almond cake. ha! get it? i know that reference. fiennes is staring at him with a sort of raised brow through this but then ifans like... in a spat of monty python/borat sort of comedy just like crushes the entire half cake into his mouth really violently which i’m not going to screencap bc i can’t watch it without covering my face with both hands. here’s the aftermath.

while taking these screenshots i realized how inconsistent rhys’ eye makeup is? either they didn’t have a script supervisor or they didn’t care. i mean, or they made the change deliberately because these scenes are lit differently. but it’s funnier if we assume the first option.

anyway. here’s the thigh wound cunnilingus. i had to watch this so many times to get these i hope you appreciate it.

there’s slightly more after this but the gist is that ifans hypnotizes fiennes in a fit of ecstasy to reveal his secret intentions to influence the tsar (tom hollander), and then when he has all the information he needs he stops but miraculously fiennes’ leg is actually fixed

if you have hbo max and you want to watch this despite all my warnings not to the time stamps are 0:43:00 to 0:58:33 for the whole exchange, from them arriving at the winter palace to rasputin dying

[cieyarutii]

✨✨✨

I love going through the reblog tags on my posts because half of them are people being like “omg yaaayy sparkles! i love this!” the other half is people being like “what the FUCK is going on here” ✨

I’ll tell you what the fuck is going on here

✨✨✨ 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓬 𝓫𝓻𝓸✨✨✨

thanks for the love and the confusion ✨

i have lots of screencaps to edit, just been kinda exhausted with life lately ✨

I’m more active over at @ruedefaux ✨

You can also find me here: https://twitter.com/Ruedefaux https://twitter.com/cieyarutii

✨ ✨ ✨

[notasapleasure]

EastEnders run (2000-2001), Part 1/4

COME GET YOUR (so many) (bad quality) SCREENCAPS, BABES

I’ve split this into four parts (1: four episodes, 2: three episodes, 3: three episodes, 4: the two episodes from 2001), and posting the rest of the parts may be interrupted by other recaps if I need a break from Albert Square... Apologies for the many unexplained references to long-standing EastEnders characters. I have walked through the shame I thought I was already free of and come through fully cleansed and at peace: yes, I remember this era of the soap fairly well.

---

God the visceral response I have to the theme tune like 'switch it off switch it off flee the room!!' I mean I do remember phases where I saw it regularly - Sonya's surprise baby, Ian Beale being miserable, Frank wearing nothing but his spinning bow-tie...

I'm still traumatised.

I am only here because young Chook is described as a heart-throb. And it's accurate.

Fuckkkkk me i am slain

Jack Robbins’s first appearance was on 17 August 2000, his second on 21 August, but unfortunately those are two of the three episodes I couldn’t find on YouTube. if I turn them up later I’ll do another post for completism’s sake.

22 August 2000

He’s following his ex. Jury’s out as to whether we’d call it stalking yet.

Oh look it's Ian Beale! God, maybe I saw this when it aired? Scary thought.

So from what I understand, Chook is Jack, whose ex, Sandra has moved back in with her ex (big menacing guy I forgot his name - BEPPE! Blast from the past Beppe). Jack's desperate to see Sandra and talk about things. There's something iirc about Sandra being unable to have kids and Jack being ok with that, while the guy she's with doesn't know. Squick potential: high.

(Steps' cover of Tragedy is playing in the background of a scene and I just. Astral projected to the Smash Hits awards 1998 hhhhhhh)

Ooh Jack's going for a lunchtime pint with menacing boyfriend Beppe. Aren't you a copper, Jack?

IT'S MARTIN KEMP! GOLD -GOLD - ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOUR SOULLL YOU'RE INDESTRUCTABLEEEE ALWAYS BELIEVE IN....

Ahem.

I'd hit that too.

The video quality is tragic, I'm sorry...

Having a cheeky fag outside so he can catch Sandra and get her name taken off the paperwork on his flat :')

Looks like all three of them are going for a pint after all! Sandra doesn't want to, and Jack's not exactly receptive to those vibes...if you love her that much have you considered respecting her wishes, Jack?

Beppe is asking if he doesn't have a girlfriend! Awks. Just fucknmng. Ficking. Fuck. Fucking look at him though

It's a sore point. Beppe gloats about Jack the lad getting stung.

"Look, if you really wanna know, we were living together. But she left me."

🥺🥺🥺🥺 Sandra what's wrong with you love???

Beppe tries to help by pointing out that he and Sandra split up and then got back together "for good" so there's hope for him yet!

Beppe please note how little you are helping

Drinking a tiny glass of wine (or gin?) and smoking fags (indoors! This is like archaeology!) And though Sandra told him to go, he gets another round in and says it's the only way he can get to talk to her.... Sandra: "There's nothing to talk about!" Don't be a creep babe.

Beppe volunteers his whole afternoon if Jack needs to work through anything :')

Ah yes, Beppe and Sandra already have a kid - Jack says it must be hard just having the one when Beppe says they're trying for a second.

The expression of a man who knows that ain't going to be possible and can't say a thing about it:

Jack.exe has encountered a problem and needs to shut down!

Video rentals! History in action!

Beppe's so worried about his dear friend Jack. Hasn't seen him for years but he doesn't like seeing him like that.

Jack honey, I'd like you a lot more if you weren't behaving so much like a stalker standing in the rain outside Sandra and Beppe's place. Banging on the door and yelling.

She doesn't 'owe' you squat, dude :(

Oh mai gawd TAMZIN OUTHWAITE. this is. This really is the Era.

He wants to know why she just up and left with nothing but a note, says he gave her the space she asked for but doesn't know why she's here with Beppe now. She says it's because of the kid (who we haven't even seen crol).

"Maybe I wanted to be with Joe too!" Soft. Kicked puppy whine. We could have tried for custody, visiting rights, all very noble and then again SHOUTY. >:(

*squirts him with spray bottle*

Bad. I don't care if it's compulsory on EastEnders. Behave yourself.

He does, a bit. Can't understand why it matters that Beppe still loves her.

"After all I've done he still loves me."

"After all you've done? Sandra he's the reason you left in the first place."

:((

Sandra tells him she always loved Beppe even when they were together and, I repeat myself from Casualty: "Look, Lise, you can pinpoint the exact moment etc etc" :(

"You really reckon you love this guy?...So why are you lying to him? You promised him another kid. How you gonna do that?"

Jackolas I am warning you about your tone and I have the spray bottle at the ready again >:(

He just sound ls a bit defeated now when she asks what he's going to do next, but immediately asks "What are you scared of?" when Sandra is cagey about telling Beppe she can't have kids anymore.

Jack was there for her when she had a miscarriage and hysterectomy, and can't understand why she'd stay with Beppe if she's afraid he'd leave her on finding out :(

Sandra, quite rightly: "This is not about you!"

But he's very attached to the baby they didn't get to have and he thinks she's blaming him.

She refuses to leave Beppe, he refuses to be left by her etc etc round and round again. It's believable I guess but oof.

Also fucking weirding me out how much Sandra looks like Felicity Jones...

And now he's acting like it's "all because I couldn't provide you with a kid" yiiiiiikes

*furiously spritzes big man with squirty bottle but has to cover her eyes because it's not like that kiss was BAD I mean -*

I’m so sorry for the image quality, lighting, camera angle, etc etc.

I will just say that the way he breaks the kiss, by taking her shoulder and pushing her back, is identical to the way he breaks the hug with Cassian in Rix Road, though :3

"You tell Beppe it's not him, it's me you love."

Sweetheart you are SMOKING but that is no excuse. I think Sandra and Joe need some space away from all of you, and I'm certain this would have been my feeling if I saw this in 2000 because I never liked the big shouty men of EastEnders.

He did get the bombshell line before the credits though, so kudos young Chook!

24 August 2000

One assumes Jack is not, in fact, leaving. Well he's certainly not going to leave if Sandra's the one calling him 👀

God look at all these people having their lunchtime pints! (Yes that was jealously you detected in my tone)

Sandra, helping yourself to a man's fag while he's smoking isn't a neutral gesture, just ask Merab and Irakli...

She's mainly worried he'll tell Beppe about things and he's no fucking gent about it, saying why should he keep quiet *reloads spray bottle*

(I feel like a PI taking long lens snaps of these two on the park bench smh)

"I don't care what you say", no matter how nice what comes after this is.... it's not something you should be saying to express your love here 🙃

She does kind of agree that there's still something though. "Can't have it all, can I?"

I already knew I had no maternal instinct but if I could go and live child-free with *gestures* then I'd say that's close enough to 'having it all'. [N.B. *gestures at husband* I do actually Have It All]

Sandra: "Please don't mess things up for me."

And.... it's probably just because he hasn't said anything for a bit, but that scene left me sympathising with him more. Sandra hasn't exactly handled the break-up well and expecting him to 'not mess things up for her' when she's just messed up everything for him is a bit rich.

We've interrupted this programme for a theological discussion of euthanasia!

Also yeah, Tamzin Outhwaite early bi crush, for sure.

There's plenty of other entertaining stuff in this episode (oh god what am I saying) but no more Jack!

4 September 2000

Seeing Ian Beale happy brings such a feeling of foreboding. This can't last, mate.

Here's the infamous Joe! Sandra and Beppe seem happy. How nice for them.

Phil Mitchell and your face like a slapped arse! I forgot you'd be here too!

Lunchtime drinks with his best mate Beppe! Oh Jack...:/

Jack love, if you can't handle seeing your ex back with her previous guy, maybe stop going for drinks with said guy in the only local drinking establishment :')

Smoking sure is a filthy habit when you look like that doing it (don't @ me)

Ooh, Jack's in CID, specialising in illegal gambling. Fancy!

Beppe leaves the table and Jack looks at Sandra: "This must be fate..."

"Why don't you just drink up and go, eh?"

He pulls SUCH a face at this but the video quality is horrible.

Oh lovely, now Beppe's inviting him to come round and hang out with him and Joe while Sandra's out. Just form a polycule already guys!

Ohhhh Jack, back on your bullshit

Leave her alone! Sympathy has expired - I'm getting the spray bottle again....

Oh Laura :( pleasure derived from seeing Ian Beale happy: eliminated. Billy's slut-shaming Mel, Sonya's Backstreet Boy-bangs boyfriend is going to get her knocked up...all the men are AWFUL. Actually Beppe is one of the only well-behaved ones right now. Yikes.

21 September 2000

The 5 September episode isn't up on YouTube so, we're on to 21 September, how will I ever catch up?

Oh, little Mo and co have moved in!

Mate, are there no buttons on that shirt?

Sandra thought he'd gone for good. "What made you think that?"

I DON'T KNOW DUDE. MAYBE BECAUSE SHE KEEPS ASKING YOU TO LEAVE

I mean ok, following her to the launderette is bad, stop it Jack, but then again:

"If I fell apart every time you decided to drop in I'd be a right mess wouldn't I?"

You're a stronger woman than I am Sandra 🫡

Presumably he has gone away for a bit because he asks if she fell apart when he left - to which she says he doesn't have the right to ask that sort of question anymore. It's like watching a fight in a nursery playground smh.

Thank u YouTube gods for the slightly better quality video this time

He's applied for a transfer to Bristol and says she and Joe should come with him. He thinks she's 'hiding behind' Joe, because she won't try for custody and would "rather play 'appy fam'lies wiv Beppe than wiv me!"

Sandra says that's not true, which uhhhh isn't exactly going to put him off

Rights for Sonya's big thighs! Actually she was so important to me for that.

Ohhhh Sandra's subtly quizzing Ian's property lawyer about custody cases...

Frank's getting in on the All Men Are Awful act, and Dot's really getting into her crisis of faith, wow! We're trying out some Biblical textual criticism, go girlies! (Aww, old Ethel has died since last episode - and it sounds like Dot helped her). Blimey Dot Cotton having a Shakespearian soliloquy alone in the church sure was A Scene! They did not have to go that hard!

So let's lighten things up with a bit of teenage larceny :)

Dot's turned herself in for murder. This isn't Jack related, I'm just. It's wild, ok?

---

End of Part 1! Can’t believe how much more enjoyable this is than like....any modern police procedural. Jack’s scenes are pretty repetitive, and because I haven’t seen the first two episodes he’s in I don’t know if we ever see what his life with Sandra was like. He talks about how nice and normal it was, and I can imagine the kind of desperation he shows if she’s really acting like a cultist who’s gone back inside, but it’s really not clear enough that that’s what’s going on, so he does come over as somewhat too intense and entitled. Pretty, though. I’ll give him that. My one piece of constructive criticism? All those buttons undone and no chest hair - I don’t believe it for a minute. I will track down whoever waxed him and wax every inch of their body and douse them in dettol.