#I've seen the show like 20 times so it's basically a plot hole

[advluv4life]

I'm really confused on Dae's scholarship because usually a scholarship pays for classes, not room and board- but he said his scholarship covers his room and board not his classes 'cause he had to have tuition paid for before classes started but he lost his room and board when he didn't get first in class... So, what exactly is his scholarship and how does it actually work?

How can he be required to be first in class to have a scholarship that won't even pay for his classes?

[faun-the-fawn77]

New Short Story Idea?

Okay so when I finish the Rengoku fic in my drafts I kinda wanna start a mini(?) story of something that has been in my mind for a bit now.

I've been reading a lot, and I mean A LOT, of fanfics centered around isekai!reader x various and now I want to do something similar! Who doesn't love a modern girl falling into a world they love? This post will be the first of two. There will be a poll below so you can vote for what it asks!

Now, onto the plot(?) of the story.

We got modern girl waking up in new world. The part of the timeline? I kinda wanna start it near where the trio are at that mansion with drum demon. I'll have them wake up in the forest nearby and wander towards the noise. She's adventurous and the way she woke up into the KNY world is maybe she went out into the forest she normally goes and its an alice in wonderland situation where she falls into a hole and after falling for so long she passes out. She has a backpack that she usually takes with her so its got essentials. I haven't really come across any fics where the reader has like their phone or anything modern with them except for their outfit. I think it would be interesting if she had her phone and of course other modern things in her pack. Maybe food from her time, water bottle, battery pack with cords, polaroid camera(?), another set of clothes, and MAYBE a few of the KNY manga. It'd be cool if the art inside the books disappeared and were just blank? OR they stay the way they are and they show Amane who describes the scenes they open up to to Kagaya? And then he and his family is kind of the only people who know that she knows the future and he trusts her to let things take its course but she obviously will save the ones that she wants... cough cough rengoku cough cough... anyway!

it'll just follow the plot but with a new character from the modern world who spouts nonsense(Gen Z slang cause it would be funny seeing their confused faces when reader/oc starts dropping words like "rizz" and "gyat"). Maybe have that language barrier as well. Make reader/oc learn japanese(she'll only know the basics at first and definitely every curse word cause thats amazing). The few manga she has with her? Lets say she has volumes 18-20. Amane chooses the 20th volume to skim through.

Now, for the characters main characteristics(?) I guess. The obvious one being her breathing style. I would have gone with my main thing and choose ice but it's kind of generic cause i've seen quite a bit of fanfics with the reader/oc having that breath style. I kinda wanted to go with a more animal-like one like Obanai. He's the only one who has a style that's animal related and it would be amazing if we could get someone else who has an animal breath style. I actually might make three posts and have this one be about the breath styles to choose from.

Yeah, we're gonna do breath styles first so I can get an image of reader/oc's personality.

Poll below:)

I was gonna go for ten but I think these 8 are the most interesting to me. Dragon is actually calling to me but thats because I've been watching a lot of Game of Thrones...I'm actually putting it off because I've heard that the "Red Wedding" is the worst thing to ever witness and while I have not been spoiled for it, the reactions I have seen from people who were watching it for the first time made me scared but also insanely curious. If it really is bad then I feel prepared but that's because I'm going with it being as bad as me watching all three Human Centipede movies at a not appropriate age to watch said movies. That was off topic, I'm sorry.

Vote away! Next post will be to choose if you want it to be an "x reader" or an OC that I can create cause I love doing that and it makes me happy and gives me a chance to pick up my Apple Pen again.

The last poll will be the love interest(s). Do we want one or all? We will see>:)

[gillianthecat]

Between Us - episode one an intrepid reporter watches, without having seen UWMA

Going in, I know next to nothing about this show. I have the tag filtered, and I haven't read the summary or seen the trailer. I did see part of the first episode of Until We Meet Again, but as far as I remember these characters weren't in it. The only information that has made it through the cone of silence is that either the characters or the actors are named Win and Team, one of them is blond, and they did a bunch of product placement in UWMA, possibly with Lay's chips. And I'm not very positive about any of that being true.

summary after watching: For me, this show is holding up on its own. It turns out I did remember more about the beginning of UWMA than I thought, but I feel like Between Us would work even if I didn't know UWMA's basic premise. Yes, Pharm's flashbacks would be confusing, but they're also confusing for him so I don't think that would make the episode too confusing overall. There are a lot of things I still don't know, but it feels like normal episode one information still to uncover, not plot holes because the show is assuming I already know the story. And, up to a point, I would rather have less information than too much, so I appreciate the mystery. I was surprised by how prominent Dean & Pharm's story has been so far. I expected it to be more background. I wonder if its going to stay this prominent, or if it's more to set the stage. Overall the show feels very professional and... not expensive, but adequately funded. The production values all feel pretty high - lighting, sets, editing, soundtrack, cinematography - and the acting is very good. It all makes me trust these storytellers know what they're doing. So yes, I am hooked. I can see why y'all have been so excited about this show. I will definitely keep watching.

Below are my notes as I watched. I took a lot so they're beneath the cut.

So. Diving in.*

*pun unintentional at the time, but appreciated now post-viewing

- I like this parallel morning opening. Blondie with the tattoos is hot, pushing back his hair to the rock soundtrack. Actually they're both cute. I like the alarm clock cliche, although Mamoru from Kabe Koji wins with his 20 plus clocks, and Wah from Why You... Y Me? still beats this guy with his paltry single alarm clock.

- The cool kid and the chaos boy? That's my first impression.

- Hmm. Swimming pools may be important? based on the opening credits.

- Aw. A crash-into-you with an adorable het couple. Including whats-her-name (Sammy?) from those other shows I can't recall. Were they in UWMA too? (Don't answer that.) Interesting that they get to meet each other first, before our main couple.

- ooh... A one sided pining situation? or love crush at first sight? I can't tell yet.

- And here comes That Fucking House 2.0. I guess I knew four things about this show- I'd heard she was in it too. (Do you think there is stock footage of the exterior that all these shows are using, or do they each shoot their own?)

- Wait, is that Santa?! He looks so different, I mostly recognized him by voice. I'm still not sure, I haven't gotten a good view of his face yet.

- Ah. Team at least is a swimmer. That makes sense with the pool footage. And now I've figured out their names.

- I like Team's dorky new friend group! I don't always like the comic relief characters but so far A, Bee and Sea seem fun. (Also love the names joke.)

- I feel like I just saw this pool in something but I can't remember what show.

- I think I like Win's friend group dynamic as well. Whew, that's a relief. I also like Win's slight mysterious brooding air. And the way he looks at Team, with the heavenly music on the soundtrack. (so I guess it is crush at first sight? rather than long term pining?)

- so far I've gathered Team is a first year and Win seems to be a sophomore or a junior, but my instinct is junior. (I don't know if the U.S. terms apply in Thailand.)

- Team seems like a sweetheart so far. Is Win making this announcement about scholarship students not being guaranteed a spot in a "I like you. Get out of my school" kind of way, or is it just a coincidence? Either way, its stressful. Athletic scholarships are a fucked up system in general.

- Oh Pharm! He's the main guy from UWMA! I recognize him. I (obviously) have no idea where we are in his story.

- My guess is that Pharm and Manow were his friends in UWMA, but A, Bee and Sea are new for this series.

- Win looks so cool, even his sauntering walk. I totally would have had a crush on him in college.

- Oh! I was about to get excited about their first real interaction but they were just teasing us.

- Is Win basically raising his brothers? He acts like it.

- It is Santa. He seems so different here somehow.

- Tul looks vaguely familiar, but I'm not sure from what.

- Hmm, what is going on with Team? Why is he being mopey?

- I continue to really like the way Win looks at Team, and how they show Team as totally oblivious.

- oh. That's why this whole thing with Manow is familiar? I think I did watch this part of UWMA where they watch the swim tryouts. So I guess Pharm's love interest is one of the other guys on the swim team? I honestly can't remember what he looks like, or how they met. Ah, I guess this must be him staring love struck. It's slowly coming back to me. (Are these scenes reshot? or are they using footage from UWMA?) Ah Dean, that's right. I did know his name at some point. So far I'm finding him more intriguing here than I did in the little bit of UWMA that I watched.

- oh yes, I remember that Pharm was in the cooking club too. It's slowly coming back. Maybe I did watch a little more then I thought.

- These hints of Dean and Pharm's story are working for me. Perhaps they're just there as a treat for UWMA fans, but I'm enjoying them as well. But I do know the basic premise of UWMA, I suspect I would be more confused if I didn't know the whole second life thing.

- Also, I was not expecting this much of their story. It really feels like a side couple, rather than a couple whose story is over and done with. Which perhaps makes me expect that the makers intend this story to stand on its own - that Between US and UWMA are supposed to be parallel pieces, rather than a main show and its companion.

- There is a lot more attention to Pharm & Dean's story than I was expecting though. Which isn't a problem, I was just expecting them to be more background characters. And this is making me want to watch UWMA more than seeing the beginning of that show did.

- Aw, what a good friend Team is. And Win thinks so too. Yet again, I like the way Win looks at him.

- So far I have No Idea what Win & Team's story is going to be - what their conflict or obstacles will be. But I don't mind, I'm still intrigued.

- Is Tul played by the same actor who played the horny roommate in Love By Chance? If so, he's certainly been typecast, poor guy. I did like him in LBC though.

- They finally interact! I love how Win is always tracking Team with his eyes, while Team remains basically oblivious to existence. Ignoring him, not in a mean way, just in a only aware of him as a generic swim team leader way.

- Ouch. The make up artists here are good.

- Win. What is your deal? You obviously have a crush, why are you so mean to Team to his face? I am Intrigued.

- Dean comes across as such a weirdo, omg.

- Interesting that it feels like In learning more about the setup of Dean and Pharm's relationship than about Team & Win's. I admit that I'm getting a bit impatient with it. Part of the reason I dropped UWMA is that I didn't find Dean's actor that compelling and I still don't (so far, that could change).

- Ah, some insight into Team: "You never let anything be important to you!" I do like his and Dean's friendship.

- Um, WHAT is Team's friend (I can't remember if he's A, Bee or Sea) wearing as a pendent? It looks like a piece of fried chicken.

- oof this porn watching scene is so awkward. Poor Team. It does all feel realistically adolescent though.

- Ok, wow, I was not expecting THAT. I like it though.

- on shit, and Team's following him!

- oh I really like this sex scene. See BL, consent is sexy. The way that Win, keeping tight rein on his very obvious desire and arousal, makes sure that Team wants this, that he knows what he's doing. It is Very Hot. And their chemistry is fire. I also like how cool kid Win has his post-shower fluffy unstyled hair, making him feel much more vulnerable.

- I don't know if it's intentional, but I like the contrast between Pharm and Dean's literally destined love, and this thing between Team and Win, which feels like it could be any college hook up. Yes, Win has had his eye on Team for a while, but as far as I can tell, Team took little notice of Win until his porn induced horniness drove him into Win's arms. And Team I really don't think was planning this, he just got aroused by win's arousal and gave in to temptation. I just like the arbitrary feeling of it against the backdrop of the heaviness of fate.

- I still don't know what their story is going to be. And honestly, if I wasn't being an intrepid reporter I probably wouldn't even try to figure it out, I'm just intrigued by them and their dynamic and content to see where it goes. But since I am doing these reports, my first guess is that they're going to continue to hook up in secret, outside the bedroom Win is going to pretend Team doesn't matter to him, and Team will slowly fall in love and get hurt by this. I'm not very attached to this theory, but it's the best I've got so far.

- Thinking about it, so far I actually know very little about Win and Team as characters. But the actors have made them both compelling enough that I'm intrigued, and want to know them. I feel like my initial impression of Win as "cool kid" is probably correct, but I'm not so sure about Team as "chaos boy." He seems a little more organized than that, a bit innocent but not too naive, kind but not saccharine. He seems a bit of an average everyman in fact, but not in a boring way.

Ok! That's it for now. I probably should go to bed, but I want to watch episode two instead. The nice thing about starting a few weeks behind is I don't have to wait.

[selfawarejester]

5 shows that make me happy:

I was tagged by @magellanicclouds, thank you so much! So, in no particular order, 5 shows that make me warm and fuzzy on the inside! (Mostly cartoons, but whatever)

1. Teen Titans (2005)

This was one of the shows that I watched when I was a little bby, and I loved it! The character development, the dynamics, the soundtrack, the humor — 20/10, definitely recommend watching. The way it flicked from stupid banter about waffles to real life issues like racism, identity and so much more was so amazing to me as a tiny tot. Also, ROBSTAR FOR THE WIN!

2. Ben 10 (including Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, Omniverse — NOT the Reboot, because I haven't watched it yet so I dunno what's going on there.)

Benjamin Kirby Tennyson was my first ever crush, and he will always hold a special place in my heart. These characters were amazing, and intelligent, and funny (and so not heterosexual, but that's a different post) Sure, there were certain aspects they could have done better (BenKai, Benlie, BenElena, basically Ben's relationships as a whole) and there were some plot holes, but overall this was a mind-blowing show; when they needed to be witty and funny, they were very much so. When they wanted angst and sad stuff, they were tear-jerking. When they wanted something disturbing, they brought it. The aliens and lore were (mostly) incredibly interesting and engaging. Nice artwork, lovely soundtrack and I like that up until Omniverse, they didn't treat any of Ben's relationships as the one that would last forever because, like, he's fifteen/sixteen. He's gonna date for a bit before settling down. And outside of fanon, he isn't some womanizing superhero douchebag, he just plays at being arrogant and is honestly super clueless around women.

You can see how much I love it from this long para. 10,000/10. (Wink, wink)

3. The Flash

The show that brought me into the Arrowverse. The earlier seasons were the best, hands down. I haven't watched s6 fully yet, but it won't compare to S1 I know already. The characters go through so much trauma, and it's never talked about, but god, these actors bring their A-game! I never fail to get misty-eyed at the emotional scenes they deliver. Their humor is on point, and sure, some storylines seem recycled, but hey Barry screwing up the timeline never gets old! 10/10.

4. Castle

*Pterodactyl screaming* Caskett was the one that introduced me to shipping characters! No ship will ever, ever come close to Caskett for me, because that's the kind of relationship I want to have: one of mutual respect, adoration and a-grade banter! Their chemistry was off the charts, and the story was amazing (excepting the last seasons) because it was centered around the female lead, for the most part, despite the male lead being the name of the show. The cast had great dynamics, and great character development, and I've watched it 20-30 times and I can watch it again easily.

5. The Mentalist

Simon Baker's Patrick Jane is the one of the most charismatic assholes I've ever seen and I love him (He's not as obvious as bastard magician John Constantine <3). His mind games never cease to amuse and piss off his team. He's wicked and incredibly intelligent, and he wants you to know. He's always ready to make a fool out of someone while drinking tea and subscribing to borderline/full on illegal feats that make his police co-workers scream and pull out their hair. His tragic backstory consists of a dead wife and child, which is an overdone trope, but they carried it off well, and Baker delivers a sobering performance each time. I like that they didn't pursue the main relationship until he gets justice for them. While I don't like the conclusion to Red John, the characters are able to hold their own against Simon Baker, charismatic and interesting in their way.

I know people were expecting Lucifer (I love buddy cop dynamics, and I love his development but also, he's literally one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, next to y'know, GOD and I'd like to see more of that), Arrow, Agents of Shield, Merlin and The Originals (they kinda biffed it at times, but mostly very good (except Klaroline, screw that mess)) but yeah, it's these guys!

Tagging @catxsnow @justagirlinafandomworld @spacesnappy @mrs-chief Hope I didn't double tag anyone!

[thedreadvampy]

please keep talking abt wrestling. i've kinda fallen into this hole recently and, since you're cool af, I would love to know whatever you have to say about it

Well I mostly watch AEW although I was very into Progress before the pandemic (which is a London-based indie promotion that's also basically the feed source for NXT UK) but idk whether or in what state Progress will come back not just bc of the pandemic but bc this year's wrestling abuse scandals involved a lot of their management and core roster so they've had to really reshuffle.

anyway that's an unnecessarily grim diversion let's talk AEW (I'm a few episodes behind bc I watch on Zoom with my pals and it's easy to fall behind while trying to line up our schedules, we're gonna watch Winter Is Coming tonight)

This blog's opinions are:

Women's wrestling is severely underrated and that's the fault of the promotion not the fans, AEW has a phenomenally talented women's roster with a big fan following but consistently gives them no air time, very little space to develop plots, one match per episode that the commentators half-ignore, and only ever one plot at a time. I love Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose and Britt Baker as characters but there's a huge women's roster of compelling characters who only ever show up on Dark or for a single bout not tied into any particular plot on Dynamite and it's very wearing. When they launched AEW they made a big deal about equal pay for the men and women's rosters and paying the same regardless of gender and fan status, purely based on card position, but that means absolutely nothing if there's only ever one women's match and it's always at the same mid-card position. Sorry to open on a negative but it makes me so mad that WWE, the company which is notoriously misogynistic and whose director had to be shown Asian schoolgirl porn to accept that the audience would find Japanese wrestlers "sexy enough" to put in the ring, is somehow a better venue for women's wrestling than AEW. like fuckkkkkkkkk just treat the women's roster like you would the men's!!!!

on which note, AEW Heels, the Paid Fanclub For Women Who Like Wrestling, is the most half-assed attempt to court the female wrestling audience I've ever seen (and I watched WWE's Revolution pay-per-view where the line was 'isn't it nice that the men have allowed women to have their own PPV thanks to all the men who made this possible'). like ok I COULD give you money to Be A Female Fan OR, wild concept, you could do more than one women's match per episode on your flagship show and not relegate the women's tag title to YouTube

Relatedly, There's Too Much Wrestling. As you can probably tell from the fact I'm 4 episodes behind on Dynamite, I struggle enough to fit 2 hours of wrestling into my week, but AEW also expected me to keep up with Dark, BTE, and sometimes other side projects? and now also Impact and NWA and sometimes NJPW. and then if I want to recognise big names they're bringing in I would also have had to watch WWE which like. there's even more WWE than AEW. idk I'm a completionist and it's simply not possible to watch All The Relevant Wrestling bc that would be like. 20 hours a week and I have a job and a life and stuff. like I watch AEW Dynamite and BTE and that does me.

this is all very negative but I love wrestling! I got into it a couple of years ago and it's absolutely incredible to me I love the artistry I love the athleticism I love the creativity and the fun people have with their characters. and the reason I gave up on WWE as soon as AEW started up is that it feels so much like the wrestlers are given space to play and to find the stories they want to tell.

MJF is a DELIGHT he's like one of my favourite heels he's so loathsome and so much fun! and there's like a really good consistent emotional core to his overall storyline of desperate insecurity I'm so into it and I'm so hype about when inevitably Wardlow's gonna turn on him. I love the resonance of his relationship with Cody vs his relationship with Wardlow and also the extremely strong gay unrequited love vibes that keep popping up here.

Hikaru Shida is AMAZING I love her. did u know she makes her own ring gear and learnt to speak English pretty much from scratch when she joined AEW a year ago and is now cutting full promos in English? also her facial acting? 😘👌👌👌👌

Sonny Kiss is phenomenal I hope they're on Dynamite more bc not only is she a phenomenal character in their own right but when she started tagging with Joey Janela their in-ring chemistry actually made me LIKE Janela for the first time. also it warms my heart that JR, despite being kind of an old fogey, is regularly correcting other commentators on their pronoun use and vocally acknowledging that Sonny is nonbinary.

honestly JR does just warm my heart in general like he visibly struggled early on with getting out of the 2000s mindset on Female Wrestlers Are Sexy Divas and he accidentally misgendered Nyla Rose one time but he's been really open to criticism and often gone to bat for the trans and queer members of the roster. he seems like a nice guy and I'm glad he's here, which I didn't think I'd be saying a year ago yk?

I know I already said this but Chris Jericho is a phenomenon. he just makes everything FUCKING FUN every story he tells is wild and hilarious. The Inner Circle gives me life (on this blog we stan Ortiz) and his beef with Orange Cassidy was pure gold.

Also Matt Hardy is here!!!! I love Matt Hardy, I think his Ultimate Deletion match with Bray Wyatt was what made me realise how fun wrestling can be and he always brings the creativity. He's been through a lot of shit in his life, I'm really happy that he's able to work with a promotion that gives him room to be as hogwild as he wants because Matt Hardy's great strength is being absolutely off-the-chain weird. I love him.

Speaking of Matt Hardy and the Inner Circle have you seen the Stadium Stampede from this summer? honestly worth buying the whole PPV just for that it's wild choice after wild choice for 45 minutes it might be the best wrestling match ever. idk if I like it better when Matt Jackson Northern Lights suplexes Sammy Guevara the entire length of a football field, when Matt Hardy chases Sammy with a golf cart, the whole bit where Adam Page just goes off and gets drunk in a bar and has a brawl with Jake Hager, the bit where Proud & Powerful try to drown Matt Hardy but every time he goes underwater he comes up in a different costume and persona - holy shit it's just amazing it's everything I love about wrestling

Moving away from AEW, the best wrestling storyline I've ever seen is Progress' story with Cara Noir and Ilya Dragonov. They're both phenomenal wrestlers but also the raw power and emotional weight of the story? it's simple but it's heartachingly beautiful I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the second of 3 matches in the story and I was nearly in tears it's so theatrical and balletic???? Check it out if you can it's in Progress' video archives (those are all pay-to-watch though. I think they're also on Amazon Prime for American viewers?)

Cara Noir is probably my favourite wrestler, although Nyla Rose, Charlotte Flair, Chris Jericho, Luchasaurus and Adam Page are all up there. He's just the most phenomenal physical performer and he really gets how much theatre is in wrestling, his facial acting is impeccable and he's not afraid to take hard bumps and really sell. also he just seems like a very sound person out of character (touch wood), he's very principled and takes his work and the wellbeing of his colleagues really seriously which is what you want in a wrestler

[falsebooles123]

Well Fuck I Just Lost that last half hour of blogging and memes- Diary of a big ole gay 12/10/22

Hey whores guess who accidentaly pressed CRTL-Z on my computer and erased everything.

yeah so I'm a little pissed so your getting a fast and hot recap of what I;ve been watching.

Last night I watched Backstage and Bumping in Broadway both from 1919 added because someone somewhere felt there brief drag scenes made them important to queer cinema and when I made this list I was too stupid on the subject to disagree on there queer import. Everything else is as fallows

Hamlet(1922) - Asta Nielsen is a femboy hamlet its basically the worlds first bishonen comedy (I'm gonna have to sit down and add all the versions of Twelth Night to my plalist now.) it has a lot of queer energy but ultimately ends with the classic, "Hey babe I got tits so its totally cool that you were gay for me"

Manslaughter (1922) - Lietrich Joy, (remember that name) is a DANGER GIRL and shes having fun drinking and doing the pogo sticking, entil her daddy dom whos just honestly way to arosed by the fall of rome convincts her of manslaughter, tbf she did murder that cop but he didn't have to be a dick about it. This film actually does have two lesbains kissing in it. but its also in a fantasy sequence thats using lesbianism as a way of signeling the moral decay of the debached roman orgys so I mean we don't that. However this is the most explicet level of homosexual activity actually shown up to this point which is kinda sad.

Salome (1922) - this shit literally makes me want to be a drag queen because I don't see anybody on RPDR serving gibson girl realness. Salome is a film that was supposedly made my an entire cast of fags, dykes, and glitterqueens and it is the very definition of camp. This rumor comes from Kenneth Anger of all people and is based on a play by Oscar Wilde. So yeah this is peak gay culture but nobody actually kisses. (at least nobody gay Salome makes out with the head of John the Baptist but what else is new)

The Clinging Vine (1926) - Leatrice Joy is literally the most butch women I've ever seen and I would die for her. Lesbians please watch the first 20 minutes of this film. Then she has a fem makeover and the last 2/3 of this film are boring, and normyhet, and shes in love with the worlds most stupiest man. like he is so dumb.

Sex In Chains (1928) - credited as one of the "Gay-Themed Films of the German Silent Film Era" this film is basically a couple being so fucking horny all the time that they just fuck the newest hole they can find. one of those holes is a dude. You get more fade to black but in this one, (unfortunently not with the awful version I watched), his prison wife also shows up with flowers, then they just kill themselfs together in a joint suicide. Yeah the ending was a lot.

Laurel and Hardy in Liberty (1929) - This was from the 80s queer cinema article I found, (I need to blog about the resources at some point but tomorrow I'm taking a break from this and just watching netflix and working on my journals), basically they just keep trying to switch pants for plot reasons and people think there tyring to suck and fuck on the street.

Lot In Sodom (1933) - An experimental film based on the story of sodom and gomorah from the bible, honestly giving kenneth anger vibes.

Ok whores for some reason this entire article has now stressed me out so I'm gonna do a little bit more research and watch some short films on my watchlist to mellow out the night. Love you and thank you for helping me through this

[allanamayer]

My year in fiction.

As with previous years, this post was brought to you by Bibliocommons’ Completed Shelf. Fuck yeah opt-in datasets.

So, I fucked up this year a little. This was the year that I finally converted to ebooks. It helped that I got a new phone and it is a sight more conducive to e-reading than my previous device. It was also convenient, pandemically, and convenient, collection-wise. A lot of libraries have significant scifi and fantasy collections in digital but not physical. And you can use your library card here to sign up for access to five separate public libraries' digital collections.

So how I fucked up was I didn't have my borrowing history saved on the ebook app for about six months. And I have terrible recall and unless I was raving about the book on social media then I have no idea if I read it, finished it, hated it, returned it in disgust five pages in, etc.

Regardless, let's proceed.

This year was much like previous years - lots of rereads and very few new releases. Many fiction and basically no nonfiction. I did some reading themed around books-that-got-adapted-into-TV, because let's face it, this was a TV year.

I haven't even seen The Last Kingdom, but my partner was telling me I would like it, so to spite him I started reading the ebooks. Then they were so delightful he got interested and bought the physical books. Now he's slightly ahead of me in the series and I'm reading some other Bernard Cornwell books instead.

I watched all of the Hannibal TV show and really truly hated the ending, and then read all the books to figure out where all the weird tonal shifts and abrupt storyline conclusions were coming from. Having read all the books (except the weird final early-years one), I still don't know.

Continuing along my usual historical fiction, I enjoyed Gillian Bradshaw's reenvisioning of some Arthurian stuff. All five of my libraries only have the first two books, not the completion of the trilogy. Go figure. Nor do they have other titles of hers, or I'd be talking about them too.

This was easily and by far the best book I read in 2021, and I'll be buying a copy to reread it soon. What can you even say about The Corner That Held Them?

Viper Wine was a really incredible read. It's so imaginative and such a wonderful crossover between the historical fiction I love and the arty modern stuff I bemusedly tolerate and the scifi I feel very strongly about one way or another.

Good segue Allana!

Mem is a very clever scifi, almost classic in that it takes just one interesting innovation and extrapolates some completely melodramatic societal shit from there. But it's also quite modern and very well done in its way.

Hench was good but also terrible? It is basically all the same questions that the Venture Brothers tv show asked years ago - and that The Boys is asking now, and etc. It had some excellent societal extrapolations and quite a few plot holes and annoyances.

The Wisteria Society was so totally bonkers I don't know what to say. I'm not entirely sure I liked it? Even though I had fun reading it?

Other stuff that's even less recommendable:

I read the Robert Galbraith (JKR) gumshoe books. For some reason Crave has only one season of the TV adaptation, and it's the most recent one, so I started that and got all excited about Holliday Grainger being in them. If you think the TV show is forcedly tawdry, I've got some news for you about the books.

I attempted to read some memoirs and some lightly-fictionalized accounts of life in the CIA after I watched a few seasons of Homeland. Nothing to write home about.

I skimmed probably 20+ different nonfiction books about modern witchcraft of various kinds (urban! green! uhhhh, I dunno, digital! or something) just to see what the kids these days are even pretending it all is, you know? Results: disappointment.

I read the Phantom Of The Opera! The actual book! It was ... something.

In rereads:

All the Becky Chambers, plus a new one I think? What is time.

Some not-insignificant amounts of Jane Austen & LMM.

Did I read the Harry Potters from the shelves? Probably.

I capped off the year rereading Reservoir 13 from Jon McGregor to remind myself that he is good, after trying and failing at his new one, Lean Stand Fall. (Sorry.)

I started to read Double Fold again, the first time since grad school, to see if I thought worse of it now that I'm so much more annoyed by non-GLAM-people telling GLAM people how to do their jobs. Didn't get far though.

[xx-obliviousfantasy-xx]

Roasting Myself

Quick note:

Okay so bc I'm writing this on my phone, I can't take a photo of the document history to show you the stupidness. I apologise for that, but just try to imagine the fricken like... Stupidness.

Edit: The original version is on Wattpad still so nvm I'll be adding both Wattpad and Google Doc screenshots, but I did not have as many dates on Wattpad so only for some sections will I use Wattpad.

Edit: My photos keep going to the bottom. Idfk what to do whatever I hate Tumblr with a burning passion.

~~~~

So, I gotta vent about my stupidity.

Okay so the time frame I set back in 7th grade for this book idea I have is completely stupid. What I wrote didn't make any actual sense because I contradicted it. Which makes sense, because I was stupid. But doesn't, because now that I'm older, I should've caught it.

The story is called 3044(Destined Stars). I definitely stole that last part from something. I thought it was the game Mystic Messenger but it's not. The more I think about it, the more it seem like it though.

The problem is that with how far away 3044 is, it doesn't even make sense for humans to be how they are then, or even be alive tbh. I'm pretty sure they'll be extinct by then. I don't even know big we'll last 200 more years tbh. Or even 50.

Another problem, is I still do that thing where I fucking forget there's a bunch of numbers in between and skip up. So basically, with how I write the dates, I made the years really far apart with the dates and shit. Like REAAALLLLY. Like from being 10-ish years apart to skipping ahead nearly 1,000. Because I am a dumbass and didn't think "Wow this doesn't make any effing sense. This makes some of your events very insignificant because of evolution, and your characters old as dinosaurs."

(But I'm just now remembering I did day Humans live longer, which, could be taken to interpretation but besides the point.)

To better understand:

I literally had the dates like 2070, 2080, 2090, to then, 3000, 3010, 3015, 3025.

Like... That jump was so fucking huge but I didn't realise.

But because I was attached to the makeshift title I gave it, because it came from my friend's favorite number (but because I have issues with flipping numbers I found out was wrong later in after naming the story. I have still kept it that number though even years after),

Instead of doing the easy thing, I wrote in the stupidest, most confusing, complicated thing ever.

And then, after reading through my dates again and actually doing the math, it was like "Wait a second, this doesn't make any sense because this event started before this character (Hyacinth) was born, but after this one (Aleya) was two years old" or something like that. Idk. Like... It's wonky because my characters are certain ages in the story, but, by the date I set things, they happen waaaay too before they were born which would mean they'd stop mattering so much.

But thankfully, I thought recently, why don't I just f-ing make the dates that date? What's the reason for all of the complicated stuff?

(Also, I think I was gonna change the date again which is why it still makes no sense.)

( But then something happened. Idk. I honestly might bring the ages down again bc it makes sense. Because... The time still doesn't make sense because I'd have to age Hyacinth up.)

Generally, I just placed some events out of sequence. Like, I said space cities finished construction before they even started building them. Idk, it was a fucking mess and one of the first things I wrote confused me a lot because I was like "Did I delete something?"

It also made Aleya reaaaally older than Hyacinth because I set a significant date in her birth 15 years before the date of the story so it either

Aleya is 24 and Hyacinth is 20. It was 18 and 21 before,

I just- Oh my God. So, I'm deleting that, and going to make it better. Also I accidentally made the Earth 3044 years old, when, that's absurd. I said the Earth aged faster in that Universe, but that's too fast. Like- I just- wtf?

But the year is also 3044.7b2? Is that for the universe? See it just doesn't make sense. Idk how it made sense in my head. The Earth is 3044 years old but the Earth is not the age of the universe right now so why would the Earth be the age of the universe unless the Universe reset itself entirely and made everything come back at the same time?

And then I said that after that war, the first alien race I talked about plus some other planets, created a treated together.

I think I remember that at first a lot of planets were sucked into a black hole but spit out and made again but faster? Idk. It's so confusing.

(That's when I wrote it on Wattpad and how it was before the rewrite below)

Then there is this dumb contradictory mistake I made again because I said a certain race of aliens with a very awful name was first to contact the Earth at a certain time and helped them and create a treaty,

It's just so messed up and it's because I:

1) Didn't check some of my SEVENTH GRADE WRITING EVEN THOUGH IM IN NINTH NOW,

However I then wrote a different one with a less awful name did before that and went to war with them. As seen above and below.

2) Didn't check my Math, and-

Also apparently the whole story is being told but a space child who created Earth by accident and has grown find if her creation. Also one of the things I changed that made it complicated was saying that 3044 was the number of times Earth restarted. But I forgot that part because I constantly skim over that part.

3) Am still writing it in a bad Tumblr/Wattpad fanfic manner instead of a genuinely good writer pov.

Like... It's genuinely so bad that idk how it didn't click in until now. Maybe it's because after watching a nearly 2hr video about how bad Yandere Simulator and Yandere Dev is, and then two reviews of Onision's books I've already seen, I began to be very afraid of being on the same level as them in terrible production of anything.

I'm going to to fix this and re-plot it and then re-writes it because this is horrible, even for a first draft.

My incompetence a m a z e s me.

My understanding of math scares me.

[stileshale]

What are your thoughts on teen wolf? especially writing wise? I have stopped watching regularly around 3b and I wasn't too convinced by what I've seen here on tumblr about the rest of the episodes, in particular 6x10...

i will always have a special place in my heart for the characters i love that the show gave me. i still blog about teen wolf, i write fic, and i enjoyed s1-3a. saying that, i don’t particular enjoy what the show became, or look back on the experience i had as a fan with much nostalgia (i think we were v much used and abused as a fandom online, for sure). i love my part of fandom, though.

short answer about the writing... it was terrible because

1) there was a complete lack of planning and follow through

2) we love this idea/actor/theme for 30 seconds but oops now we don’t

3) they completely misused their social media as a way to a) explain away/correct plot holes in their own writing and b) encourage viewers to watch a show they implied to be many things that it turned out to... not be any of

long answer

as a disclaimer here, i watch a lot of tv, i watch stuff on cbs, abc, fox, cw, bbc, tbs, p much something from every network, and i’ve seen the highs and lows of writing through comedy, drama, medical, supernatural, and everything inbetween. i’m not a professional writer, i am only a consumer. i have, however, over the nearly 20 years of watching shows as a fangirl (where i’ve been into something i follow religiously, and then later became involved in online forums) honed my tastes and opinions. on average i watch 15 shows a week, last year it would have been 21 around february time, but i’ve cut six shows including 3 i started this fall and dropped because of writing issues similar to that of teen wolf, or it just got terrible, either way). i have totally tried to rationalise what teen wolf did and i just... can’t. 

to elongate

1. the whole “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach is terrible. the best thing about breaking bad was that everything was planned to the very minute details. lost only picked up again when they were given an end date and suddenly had to come up with a plausible endgame. every season teen wolf has started off with a new plan, a new theme, and then it’s fallen apart because they’ve quite clearly changed their minds about something and either dropped it completely (they’re especially bad about dropping characters and never speaking of them again, or even acknowledging they were there in the first place), or made up new stuff to fit their new plan (scott is the true alpha so he can move mountain ash, kate is a werejaguar

not to mention they’ve joked about not being able to keep up with their own timelines, unsure how old any of the characters are, forgetting the characters have school/work/should be in prison, introducing siblings, changing history, forgetting actual canon...

2. kinda leads on from 1. where they would introduce an idea or a character and then totally lose interest and instead of trying hard to give them depth or something to do or going somewhere with the concept, they’d just drop it? see, parrish as a hellhound, kira as a kitsune, even way back when with stiles as a spark, a cool idea for thirty seconds to fit in with the plot and then... whoops it never happened, what are you talking about there was never a whole season about japanese culture, that season was about stiles conquering his internal battle with his own psyche telling him he’s never going to be good enough because we always make his dad out to be a total dick to him (surprise, his dad’s called noah, which we know you’ll hate because we dragged it out like some sort of magical plot twist, and also HIS dad is a dick so it’s okay he’s always told stiles he’d rather have had scott as a son) WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT FOXES FOR? THERE WAS NO FOX. THERE WAS NO TREE TRUNK. BANSHEES? THE FUCK? LYDIA JUST SCREAMS EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE AND SOMETIMES HAS MAGIC POWERS. but then doesn’t. pfft it doesn’t actually matter.

 or worse conveniently fix it/disappear it. it was tiring to watch and be confused and wonder why they were treating you like an idiot as a viewer. like the show is on mtv sure, but at least awkward stuck to a clear timeline. awkward covered where characters vanished to. we never actually even got clarification on basics like... why did deaton never want to help derek in season one... even though he was the hale emissary? what did emissaries have to do with anything by the next episode as nothing ever happened with that whole theme... why did stiles have a magic spark... where did cora go... how did she come back and how did the alphas find her before derek... why did the alphas originally start a war with derek, kill off his pack but then decide they didn’t want derek and just wanted scott... why did scott let deucalion walk off into the sunset? WHY IS PETER STILL NOT IN PRISON FOR THE MURDER OF HIS NIECE? these questions are all like three seasons old but that’s all i have and they still bug me. i can’t believe the show has never covered any of these huge issues. it’s lazy. everyone likes consistency, nobody likes writing leaving this big wink like “you don’t really care about this do you???”

again, with the big deaths, the characters they did kill off all had opportunities not to die, they could have had different endings, but each time their death was used to create man pain, probably one of the many reasons i’m not as big on male characters (they always need something to prop them up and make them more heroic and tragic in the long run), and that writing? erica, boyd, allison, was cruel and unnecessary. it did nothing for the show, and it lessened the writing. it actually made it worse when they tried to defend it, because they’d been going on about it for so long before hand as if it was a new and exciting toothpaste they’d all just gotten “now even whiter than before/now with even more death!!!”

the fact they hadn’t planned out a season without stiles (despite knowing dylan was out) and so instead of giving all of the other characters a chance to grow and learn and develop they literally wrote a whole season about stiles (after all of 3b, and from what i can tell most of s4 and s5 was about stiles). every character seemed to be focused on this missing person. the whole season was based around a character that wasn’t even on screen. and all because std fans were promised a big beautiful season of std??? gutted.

3. leading to point three! teasing your internet fanbase with ~thrilling and huge deaths to look forward to all season! using tumblr to answer questions about the plot holes/characters/encourage you to watch for the return of characters and not actually ever going through with it on screen. the teasing. the baiting. the flat out refusal to learn from your own viewership (when more than happy to use their gifs, use their images, their fanfics and their ideas) and then act as if the fanbase are the ungrateful ones. to try and join in with memes and tbt and a bunch of other infuriating actions that made even the actors uncomfortable. the tweets, the writers creating more drama even now, six seasons in, jeff saying “oh yeah if hoechlin had stayed on we’d have tortured derek some more with a fake julia (????? dick) haha i hope the internet doesn’t kill me for that one” as if we’re a bunch of deranged lunatics instead of just fans of a character that deserved better? like he knows what’s up. he’s a grown man. he knows they fucked up, in so many areas, and yet he’s just not willing to learn from it, or acknowledge it, he’s just always said “well if they don’t like it, they shouldn’t watch”... 

i guess we didn’t.