#It took less time and tasted just as good imo

[noctilu-uca]

YEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH

Demolished .

Also part of my dinner ig

Making cinnamon rolls stay tuned everyone

[prettyboykatsuki]

Hey, I've been trying to make butter chicken for a really long time and no matter what I do the food cart in my city makes it better. I was wondering if you have a recipe that you would like to share since you said you're really good at making butter chicken. Totally okay if you want to keep it private or just not respond to this ask. Also, I love your writing. Long time fan.

HI!!

i was supposed to answer this last night but i took my melatonin super early and fell asleep on accident. i do have a recipe to share and i saw a few people were interested. im not very good with writing down like... formal recipes i cook by heart so to speak so i hope thats alright

but also thank u!! i see u in my notifs a lot so i was happy to see your ask

FANGS BUTTER CHICKEN RECIPE:

a couple of things to know prior, making a really good curry usually takes a long time. im not one to be super picky on authenticity but if you're wanting to eat something super delicious it will take you upwards of an hour ++ some, start to finish.

ingredients for chicken

chicken breast / chicken thighs (i normally use a little less than two pounds of chicken thighs, boneless and cubed)

yogurt for marinade, about a half to three quarters cup

a tablespoon of premade ginger-garlic paste or equal parts of fresh ginger and garlic

about two teaspoons of garam masala, and one teaspoon of cumin, coriander, chili powder, tumeric and salt

FOR THE CHICKEN: it's up to preference what cut of meat you want to use for butter chicken, but i personally used cubed chicken thighs that i manually clean the fat off of.

in my opinion, the biggest difference this will make is in the marinading process. if you are using chicken breast, i would recommend marinating for up to twenty four hours. if you're using chicken thighs, you can get away with less time. but you need to marinade your chicken up to at 30 minutes.

mix everything together and set aside until ready.

ingredients for the sauce:

one large onion, medium diced (about a cup and a half)

half a head or garlic, finely chopped (i use a lot but you can use less)

some freshly chopped ginger or a tablespoon of garlic-ginger paste. about a tablepoon.

tomatoes (roughly two cups)

for the tomatoes, there are various substitutions you're welcome to make. most restaurants used crushed, canned tomatoes but if you're wanting the smooth texture without blending - used jarred tomato sauce as your base.

with whatever type of tomato you use, you will have to adjust for acidity and sweetness. i use a mix of fresh tomatos and tomato paste for depth and adjust for acid with sugar.

if you are using jarred tomato sauce or canned tomatos, you will need about a cup and 3 quarters or 14ozs of liquid over all.

if you are using a fresh tomato and paste combo like me - i recommend about a cup and a half of diced tomatoes and a 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.

spices including, 2 teaspoons of garam masala, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of coriander, chili powder to taste and a table spoon of pre-packaged butter chicken spice mix.

you will also need kasoor methi powder or fenugreek powder which imo is not optional

NO MORE than a half-teaspoon of fenugreek

salt to taste

sugar to taste (i use about a tablespoon)

for seasoning: while i use the teaspoon measurement here - it's more important you understand the ratios. im much more heavy handed with my spice mixture because i make it according to my own tastes and i like strong flavors.

i used pre-packaged spice mixes to add flavor but if i dont have it i wont use it and use about a teaspoon more each of the plain spices.

the one thing you shouldn't skip imo is the kasoor methi aka fenugreek powder. this is probably the thing most people are missing butter chicken at home. it's savory and mildly bitter, a bit like fennel and its what gives it a very classic indian flavor

3/4 cup of cream + 1/2 cup of milk (you are welcome to use one cup of cream if you like a thicker gravy, but i prefer a thinner one. you can also replace the milk with half and half)

a little oil to coat the bottom of my pan (a teaspoon or two)

3 tablespoons of ghee (or 2 tbps of butter + 1 tbsp oil)

cilantro to taste (optional)

if you can find ghee or make it at home, i would highly reccomend using it over butter and oil. ghee makes a huge difference to the flavor profile.

while i say 3tbsps, i would say be heavy handed and use enough to cover the pan. this is a fat heavy dish as is.

ONTO THE COOKING PROCESS:

first: you will want to grill / char your chicken. you can pick what method you use for this. i use a searing hot pan (i use a dutch oven for this entire recipe) and little oil to get the best cook.

fry the chicken on high heat until charred and take it off once all sides are cooked. DO NOT OVERCROWD YOUR PAN. it will released too much water.

set aside the charred pieces. the chicken will finish cooking in the sauce.

NEXT, THE SAUCE

after you've cooked off the chicken, turn your heat down to medium, drop your ghee and your onions and cook until totally soft

this will take roughly 15 minutes of stirring and watching.

once the onions are translucent and halved in size, drop in your garlic and ginger

cook until fragrant. i like to go a little under ten minutes

add in your spices here (EXCEPT THE KASOORI METHI). this step is crucial

the key to good desi curry is understanding the process of bhuna, which is essentially frying your spices together for optimum flavor. you will want enough oil in your pan to fry / cook the seasoning which is why i say you might want to be heavy handed.

stir your spice mix with your onions, garlic and ginger - making sure it doesn't stick and burn in the process. let it cook until very fragant.

i let it go for a few minutes but if you don't cook often, a minute or less will be okay. too long and the spices will burn.

(i also like to add a pre-emptive amount of salt at this stage but you can salt afterwards)

next, add your tomatoes. if you are using tomato paste, add it before you add your other tomatoes and let it fry for about a minute to soften and cook down the taste

if you are are using jarred sauce or canned tomatoes feel free to toss it all in at once.

THIS IS IMPORTANT BUT LET THE LIQUID COOK OFF YOUR TOMATOES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

i would recommend up to twenty minutes if possible, being careful it doesn't burn on the sides. the sauce will change color as a result, turning a deep brown / red and that's when you know it's ready. the pan should feel almost dry.

if you like a blended sauce - now is the time for you to take out from the pan and blend with a little water *

i do not like a completely blended sauce, so i will instead use the back of my spoon to crush up my tomato and onion mixture as much as possible once cooked soft enough.

THIS IS NOT TRADITIONAL OR COMMON. but i prefer a bit of texture in my sauce and once soft enough i find the sauce still turns out silky smooth.

after you sauce is blended / smooth, add in your cream mixture, your sugar, and fenugreek powder, and cook your chicken for another few minutes

usually a little under 10 minutes for thighs and around 8 minutes for breasts if you're picky about timing.

turn your heat off and wait for the curry to stop boiling before adding in chopped cilantro

AND YOU'RE DONE YIPEEEEEE. serve with white basmati rice or naan/paratha of course 🫡

OTHER GENERAL TIPS:

the seasonings i list are intentionally light handed but i honestly use about double of everything above, so if you find that the taste is too light for you after cooking - fry more seasoning in oil in a separate pan and add it afterwards.

depending on your preference, you might like a thicker or thinner gravy. if you prefer it thinner, add more liquid (preferably water or milk) and if you prefer it thicker, feel free to just use one or the other.

be careful during the spice frying process and watch like a hawk if you dont anywhere else, because the burning will make it bitter.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ASKS IF YOU WANT TO TROUBLE SHOOT!!!

[laufire]

I watched under the red hood recently so maybe 🔥 + Jason in it?

nice 😃

first of all, in order to discuse this, I need to establish the Really Big Changes between that movie and comics canon because... yeah, they're huge lol.

in the comics, Bruce and Jason's relationship had been fracturing in his last days as robin, because Bruce suspect Jason of pushing a rapist with diplomatic immunity from a balcony (the comic leaves this ambiguous. I prefer it this way). with terrible timing, Jason finds out that the mother that raised him wasn't his biological mother, so he sets out on a search for new family. after a whole international quest, he finds her... and she gives him up to the Joker in order to cover her *check's notes* embezzling crimes. the rest is history.

Jason is not brought back by the Lazarus Pit (and Ra's certainly wanted nothing to do with him lol). he awakes one day on his coffin because of comic-typical nonsense (alternate version of superman punched the world?? and it "set things right" because Jason was never "meant" to die). he digs his way out, gets hit by a car, gets taken to a hospital, stays in a comma, awakens but ~catatonic, escapes and wanders the streets stealing and sharing food with the homeless... then a league ally finds him, Talia al Ghul is informed, and takes Jason under her wing. when he's not healing fast enough for Ra's tastes and he wants to take Jason a way to the farm, Talia throws him into the Pit without Ra's permision.

in their final confrontation, Bruce is far less calm and doesn't throw the batarang to Jason's hand: he throws it to his neck, with potential lethal force, to fully stop him. then the Joker blows things up. it's kind of implied that Jason dies, but maybe the same magic (there's a purple light thingy?) took effect, so he eventually returns to annoy Dick in New York and briefly turn into a tentacled monster. that's not relevant here though.

oh, and Black Mask didn't need to free the Joker. he was already chilling in some amusement park, as he does. while Batman did... eh. who knows.

there are other, less important changes. because comics are weird and quirky and inherently hard to adapt in a way general audiences will take seriously. a very funny one is that the assassin Jason kills when he and Bruce are fighting side by side calls himself Captain Nazi.

okay so. I have MIXED FEELINGS about the film, precisely because of these changes (well, minus the Captain Nazi one, but that is REALLY funny of Jason, imo). I like it a lot... but I'm also bummed it removes Talia's importance... and that it backs the post-death narrative pushed by DC that Jason died because he was "reckless"/eagerly violent as Robin... the changes pertaining Bruce... and most of all, Jason's resurrection (again, I get it's comics-weird. But I really like the digging-out-of-one's-grave's motif!! and it could've easily been left ambiguous - the characters in the comics have no idea of why Jason came back, so. it could remain a mystery!).

and as I said, re: Bruce. sometimes I'm annoyed because the changes seem designed to make Bruce seem less... objectionable lol. other times I'm curious because the changes because they suggest a very different person in some key ways that spark my imagination in fic-related ways. depends on the day!

but overall it's a good film and a more than competent adaptation, that REALLY showcases my perfect son who never did anything wrong in his life xD, that portrays him as competent (very important to me), and that hits just the right spot when it comes to all my Jason and Bruce-Jason FEELS. and teeny tiny robin!Jason was adorable.

(I'm very happy the fandom outgrew its phase of fancasting Jensen Ackles as Jason though. what a travesty).

Send Me a 🔥+ a Topic, and I’ll Tell You My Honest Opinion About It

[sometimes-sleeby-octopus]

They are almost all I think about at the moment and I just started thinking about this specifically sooo

Smiling Friends Headcanons:

Things the Main 4 Would Do Together And How Often (Part 1)

1. Clubbing/Hanging Out at a Bar - They’d go about monthly or less, mostly just for drinks, but I think they’d get silly and dance a bit on occasion.

2. Card Games/Board Games- They’d do these at least twice a month based on the chess board in the show. I think they’d like games like Uno, Monopoly, and Sorry the best. Even though it brings out the evil in them (/j; They’re just competitive about it; I imagine them jokingly saying stuff like“fuck you” (Charlie) “you bitch” (Glep) “asshole” (Alan) “son of a gun” (Pim) when they lose or get fucked over LMAO)

3. Puzzles - They’d complete about two of these with 1000 count pieces a year I think. It’s either relaxing or frustrating for them and no in between, so anymore than two would be rage inducing and in poor taste. The worst would be the circle puzzles (I imagine Alan shouting “WHO TOOK MY FUCKING EDGE PIECES” [they fell under the table] [Charlie tells him to fuck off] [glep talks shit] [pim is cringing] [it’s a whole thing] [the pieces aren’t discovered for at least an hour] [once they’re found, bickering resumes])

4. Video Games - It’s brought up somewhat often in the show, so I think they would play weekly or twice a week at least. Fighting games like Super Smash Bros are definitely a preference, but I think they’d enjoy things like Mario Cart and Mario Party sometimes too. They’re a little competitive, but mostly chill overall. Lots of high fives and fist bumps go around regardless of who wins. Maybe a bit of playful rage for fun, but nothing too sincerely angry (honestly they’re more chill about it than the board games in my head).

5. Fishing - This is either a yearly thing or they only do it once. Some crazy shit like a shark jumping on the boat or the boat sinking would happen and then they would swear to never do it again. Other than that, I think Pim would be into it, Alan would be super into it and have all the gear, knowledge, and stuff, Charlie would be chill about it, and Glep would just enjoy looking at the water. It would be relaxing assuming there’s no incident or intense weather.

6. Visiting the Zoo - This would be an annual occurrence where they’d go when it’s not so busy. Their favorite exhibits would be the following: Pim would love all the birds like Macaws and the Koalas (they like to sing and hug (respectively)!!! So cute!!!), Alan would love the wildcats like Lions and Panthers (I feel like his previous favorite would be the bugs, but after the incident where he got crucified, he wouldn’t like them so much anymore since they’re small and potentially violent like the bliblies; Also he gives cat lover vibes), Charlie would like the frogs and apes (for the memes and alpha male vibes), and Glee would adore the llamas and camels (they spit just like him). I also think they would be really into collecting those souvenir coins you make with a quarter and a penny and get one each after every visit.

7. Visiting Cheese Factories - This would also be an annual occurrence courtesy of Alan. They’d go to different ones, but a favorite would probably be the Tillamook factory! (I can speak personally when I say their ice cream and cheese are sooo good and I think they would be Alan/Smiling Friends approved; Their free self-guided factory tours are pretty cool too imo!). There would be no complaints because there are free cheese samples and Alan would pay for ice cream for everyone. Also it just makes Alan happy, so Pim, Charlie and Glep are glad to tag along and pitch in for stuff like souvenirs and gas money after going a couple times and knowing they like it too! I have also thought about their favorite kinds of cheeses and ice cream (not put together for clarification, just separately): Alan would be into Swiss and Coffee Almond Fudge, Pim would like Colby Jack and Carmel Swirl, Charlie would be a Medium Cheddar and Mudslide kind of guy, and Glep would like Provolone and Mint Chocolate Chip.

All of this is assuming they have time, of course, which means they can freely cancel this stuff or postpone it because life is crazy bro. And they have full time jobs. And I still have more stuff that I think they would do, so some stuff that they do more often would probably alternate.

[cofeeban]

What I ate

I re-read some of my text posts from 2017 era and it made me leaughf

I am just going down through the highlights of that era (college time 2017-2018) for my food choices. First off we have the best thing ever.

Panda express

This consisted of at least 10% of my meals. At the time I was going to college and there's a panda express right next to the math building too and I had classes there so like what else did the universe expect from me. I always got orange chicken with chow mein and veggie spring rolls. If I was feeling crazy I'd sub out the veggie spring rolls with the terriyaki chicken. What was less good was that I felt like I always had to walk a mile just to find anywhere to eat that trash. I am pretty sure I couldn't or chose not to eat at the math library and I hated eating around other people so it took me a while to find a quiet place to eat. I remember walking up the stairs up to a building until I got to the roof access several times just to eat in peace. I once ate in a bathroom stall. I don't really like noise. Now any time I eat panda express I think of this era.

Pancakes

In Persona 5, a video game I played in 2017, my man Akechi mentions pancakes because he loves them. Put simply that's all the impetus I needed to make probably hundreds of pancakes. Granted it didn't start until late 2017 and all the way till the end of spring 2018. At first, I used box pancakes and found they tasted like gum after you had been chewing for an hour. I was disgusted but also pancakes that bad were the drive for me to try to make pancakes so good. So, I followed a recipe online and made minor adjustments until I had perfected the pancake. I was making pancakes every other day because I was so eager to make a good-- NAY-- GREAT PanCake. I'm proud that the people I lived with thought they were good and that I also had a problem with pancakes and they talked to me about it a few times. My next goal is to make hazlenut pancakes. #oneshot but not fanfic the game

other

Those are really the only iconic things I could think of in that era. I abandoned my place in a picket line to get the rick and morty Szechuan sauce at McDonalds. I got two, one for me and one for my cousin who was gonna visit. There was a Chinese place that I ate at that was so cheap and gave huge serving sizes. The only problem was that they would literally close like every 3 months because of failing health inspections. Yeah, it wouldn't be a surprise to see cockroaches abound when you walk in, but imo the food was worth the risk. At least I'm still alive to tell about it.

[jaegonsmoon]

So….I love shovel talk fics…so plz indulge or ignore me I beg of you…so omega aegon becomes engaged to alpha jace…it’s early days both are very shy still….aegon has somewhat of a reputation so the blacks wanna make sure aegon treats have right haha…but don’t go about it in a honest or healthy way haha instead finding aegon one by one (unknowingly caus they didn’t discuss who would do it so they just all took it on themselves lol) to give him a shovel talk if he ever hurt or shamed jace to the courts…aegon is at first unfazed but it starts to get more and more kinda worried and scared about these being potential death threats lol eventually have finds out and tries to nail his fam to the wall and read them the riot act about messing with Aegon and how he will kick their ads if they threaten him again��..but then aemond finds about this and feels like he needs to potency his omega brother and their greens family legacy so he tries to huddle the greens together to his jace a shovel talk if their own but it comes off less creepy and threatening and more cringe cause Helena and Daeron don’t inspire fear with their very presence like aemond does so that dude is literally carrying them through the talk with jace haha

You know, lately, in my head the handful of times I think of Daeron I’ve been picturing him with a personality that it’s both, Aemond and Aegon’s mixed. Which makes him both, competent but such a little shit (and occasionally stupid, it runs in the family). I just know he’s standing at the back, sarcastically backing up Aemond’s threats while being infuriating. Helaena, bless her heart, she just stands there nodding accordingly and I just know that after Aemond is done threatening to carve his guts if he hurts their brother, Helaena hugs Jace excitedly telling him how he’ll do great. Even Daeron groans cuz yeah, that pretty much undoes all their effort.

As for the blacks shovel talking poor Aegon, he’s a nervous wreck. I think one of the reasons Aegon drinks so much it’s because he has Alicent’s anxieties, he’s fragile in them and he discovered alcohol at a young age, which resulted in that calming those thoughts and restlessness. This comes from the show too, imo, when he’s just draining cups and grimacing the whole time. He hates the taste, but he wants it does to him… so… that being said— He’s been sober since courting Jace. He is well aware of the reputation he had started to gain for his unbefitting behaviour for an omega. Jacaerys was the embodiment of a true alpha and a noble prince, he needed to make himself worthy of him.

So what those threats did to him was not… exactly good. He was scared, he wouldn’t deny it. He was anxious, he wanted Jace. He needed him. He loved him already and they were only courting. Jace, he—whenever they were together he was such a gentleman, so caring and attentive. His eyes were only for Aegon. Aegon. The one everyone whispered about but never truly cared for. No thoughts, no affection, nada. So excuse him if he felt like vomiting at the thought of losing the one thing that was willing to give him a shot at happiness in his life.

He takes to picking at the skin on his fingers, gets a taste for it. Aemond is the first to notice because their mother still does it, all the time. He doesn’t say anything about it at first. But one day, after being shovel talked once more, Aegon is in pure distress, his cuticles are bloody and he’s sobbing. That’s when Aemond confronts his behaviour and that’s when he finds out.

Jace, oblivious to all this, gets this awkward talk and is like “Okay… I thought I was making my intentions with Egg bright and clear, I don’t truly understand.”

And that’s when Daeron, done with all their bullshit, “Fine, just tell your family to stop threatening Aegon over breaking your heart already so he doesn’t end up eating his fingers in a distressed fit.”

“Threatening?!” That does more than Aemond’s whole shovel talk, because Jace is furious. He confronts everyone and tells them that while he knows their intentions are in his best interest, they need to back off and leave them alone. That they’re doing more damage than good and it’s affecting his omega.

He goes to Aegon then, taking his hands in his. Planting kisses all over them; over the messed up skin of his fingers. Dropping a thousand apologies and telling him that he has nothing to worry, that he’s got him and nothing would make him change his mind; he won’t let anything bad happen to him, ever.

[triviareads]

Tastes Like shakkar sounds so good! What are your top 5 books with brown or desi characters?

I enjoyed Tastes Like Shakkar a lot more than I was expecting, and have relentlessly been shilling it ever since. It's such a solid romance, the sex was good, a lot of the desi family stuff (the concept of being a "family manager") really hit, but it never took away from the main romance. Also, it's always nice to feel "seen" in the books you read even though it's pretty rare for me, but since this was specifically about Indian-Americans in the NY-NJ area, I really felt that.

Here are books with desi rep apart from Tastes Like Shakkar that are in my top 5:

Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai: I debated putting my other fave by Alisha, Serving Pleasure, on here but Wrong to Need You portrayed a less-troubled desi family dynamic than Serving Pleasure so I'm picking this. Sadia is a widowed single mom grappling with her attraction to her brother-in-law, Jackson who's just returned after a self-imposed exile related to a mysterious fire. The restrained tension between these two is so hot (ok maybe not entirely restrained; she doesn't recognize him when he first returns and nearly has sex with him lol). Also, Sadia, like Jiya below, subverts the passive Asian woman trope on multiple levels, and based on the dynamic between her and Jackson.

I also liked how Sadia's large, close-knit Pakistani-American family was portrayed; they may not see eye-to-eye all the time, but they love one another and are willing to learn and compromise.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert: Zafir Ansari is truly a prince among men; him and Dani go viral for his rescue of her, and they start fake dating so his football charity can get some positive attention and donations. I like how Zafir was the romantic one among the two of them (and is a Bollywood romance fan, predictably), and is also great in the sack so... a winner, basically.

Also, Talia wrote this lovely exploration of grief (Zafir lost his dad and brother) and this really sweet relationship between Zafir and his SIL, and his family as a whole which I appreciated.

Sink or Swim by Tessa Bailey: I know Tessa has gotten a lot of flak for her portrayal of Latinx characters (which, deserved imo), and she's otherwise by and large stuck to writing white characters, but I can't deny she did pretty damn good job of writing Jiya and her family, who are desi, in this book. Here are my full thoughts on this.

The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert: Friends to lovers AND probably one of the only unrequited love books I'll ever recommend only because I love Jasmine so much (even while she's STRUGGLING to figure out that yes, Rahul has had feelings for her ever since she deflowered him on the... I wanna say library floor), and Rahul Khan is adorable and a stern, stern man who can absolutely get it. Similar to Zafir above, Rahul's dad also dies during the book (there's a lot of flashbacks) and Talia portrayed Muslim funeral customs and just the general family dynamics thoughtfully and in such an emotional way.

Hard Way by Katie Porter: lol my problematic fave because there are a few things that are just so weird in terms of rep: For one, the author keeps putting Sunita, the heroine, in "indian inspired" clothes, for example, some kind vaguely described professional suit inspired by a saree? Like, this woman is an attorney who works for a United States congressman. She's probably wearing a regular-ass suit like the rest of the people in that office. Also, her nickname in law school was the "Ice Queen of Bangalore" which was meant to be microaggressive, but the nickname literally makes 0 sense to me since she was raised in AMERICA, and considering half the Indians I know can't make the connection between being Kannadiga and possibly being from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, what are the chances these white mfs can, right? And the weird thing is, she narratively sort of "reclaims" her nickname, but it was such a cringe one to begin with and I don't even know why the authors bothered to put it in in the first place.

BUT Sunita is the only Kannadiga heroine I've ever read (I am. kannadiga, to clarify), she's a martial artist, she's struggling to work out her marriage with her husband (I'm a sucker for that shit), she's good with being kidnapped and zip-tied straight from the grocery store by her husband because it's a mutual fantasy, and she attends yakshagana performances (also very personal to me and my family)! Do you know how rare it is to see any of these things as far as brown heroines go? Maybe I have a lower bar for South Asian rep because there are so few romances that have South Asians who don't hate themselves/the culture AND have good sex scenes, but hopefully that will change as time goes on.

[ingravinoveritas]

Hey, it’s me again.. I took a little time off to elaborate all of this, I went through various stages of disappointment, sadness and anger, but now I’m feeling better (even though it left a bitter taste in my mouth).

I did read all of the comments and reblogs to your posts, they made me cry (in a good way!) and I started to feel less alone indeed, a heartfelt thanks goes to them, definitely ❤️ this is what a fandom should be, whether it is Good Omens’ fandom or Neil Gaiman’s fandom (well I hardly see myself becoming part of his fandom now, even though I like some of his works, i.e. The Sandman).

The fact that he’s a writer is the reason why I weighed his words so much, otherwise I would have thought “okay maybe it was a poor choice of words and didn’t mean that”.. He knows exactly what he did instead, he used his skill with words against someone who barely speaks his language. This was unfair and unnecessary on so many levels imo.

About my ask, in my mind this was a point of view that maybe could’ve been useful for him to consider. I asked that in his interest, I mean, at the end of the day it’s his series, not mine. He didn’t even try to understand, instead. The point he’s missing with Staged is that Staged is not any series, it’s a series where the main characters (the two couples, but there’s also Ty in the third season) are supposed to be the actors’ real personalities and relationships (“supposed to”: I know they’re still fictional), so seeing all of them together in a scene of any series (not only Good Omens) would feel like breaking the fourth wall to me. I know it’s not something that everybody would experience, but definitely some people would. The nepotism thing is kind of connected to this, but mostly I’m really concerned about David Tennant being accused of that (the first “joke” was already there at Basingstoke). I mean, if Georgia had accepted the role and Olive had passed the audition, there would have been four members of his family involved (I know Peter Davison is an accomplished actor, but he’s also part of the Tennants family portrait, especially talking about Doctor Who), they’re just two for now, but the fact that Neil said that in a hypothetical season three, he would like to offer Georgia and Anna a part… The risk was there again. Maybe he thought that it would please the fans who always idolise them no matter what; this part of fans is really loud, but that doesn’t mean that they’re the actual majority. Also, this doesn’t mean that I hate them either, I would never do something like this out of hate, I’m not so miserable.

In summary, I just wanted him to read and consider that, I wasn’t really interested in an answer, tbh. It’s not like I was expecting something like “yeah, this is nepotism on my part! Thanks for asking xx” (though… That would’ve been a funnier response). As I said previously, this might have been an impulsive decision, and even a naïve one.

(1/2)

Hello, Anon. I'm back from my work trip and finally not entirely exhausted, so now I can answer your Ask and all of the other Anons still waiting in my inbox.

I'm glad to hear from you again, and that you are feeling better. I very much relate to what you said about having a tendency to blame yourself for everything, because I do the exact same thing. But there is a difference between blame and responsibility, and while you are responsible for choosing to ask Neil that question, you are not to blame for how he chose to respond to it.

You mentioned not being sure what to do now, and thinking about sending him Crowley's line about asking questions (which is also something that I thought of when this whole thing happened). My personal suggestion would be not to message him at all, as there really isn't anything else that can be said and I think it would probably just give you more anxiety worrying about if/how he'd respond again.

The thing to keep in mind is that Neil is who he is. Being a writer does not automatically make someone better or smarter than anyone else--Ernest Hemingway was an abuser and a drunk; Hunter S. Thompson was, well..."LSD-soaked madman" is putting it generously; F. Scott Fitzgerald's relationship with Zelda made Kanye and Kim K. look Amish, and the list goes on--but what I think has happened with Neil is that there is such a hype around who fans perceive him to be...the "image" of Neil Gaiman as opposed to the actual human Neil Gaiman. What we have now had a glimpse of is the actual human, and that for as calm and cool as Neil always seems to come across, there are clearly things that can still ruffle his metaphorical feathers.

I don't know if you've visited Neil's blog again, by the way, but just a few days ago, he responded to this Ask which I and everyone else who read it would most definitely categorize as "creepy"...and yet he answered it and did not call that person out the way he did with you. What that tells me is that what happened with you was not because of anything you did, but because Neil read it the way he did. And there could be so many other factors at play as well--the fact that he is in the middle of a divorce, the effects of the Writers' Strike and what that will potentially mean for GO 2--that ultimately contributed to his mindset while answering.

The other thing I will say is that I've already seen part of your concerns come to life, as following the release of the GO 2 opening credits, some fans were insisting that the order of David and Michael's names in the sequence and David's name supposedly appearing first (as opposed to Michael's in the S1 credits) was a reference to Staged:

In actuality, both David and Michael's names appear at the same time (but Michael's is less visible due to being in the sky). Neil even seemed to confirm this when someone recently asked about it. Not only that, he did not mention anything about Staged at all, which in all likelihood means it was probably not a specific reference. But seeing fans rush to this conclusion seemingly validates what we've been saying all along, and when I saw it, I immediately felt annoyed. For me, Good Omens and Staged are two very different things, as well as entirely separate things, and I categorically do not like the feeling of looking at anything related to GO and thinking of Staged. Only my opinion, of course, but there it is.

Finally, regarding the nepotism situation, one thing I've also noticed is people saying that this is somehow brand new, or that no one cared before GO 2. As I've mentioned previously, I became a fan of Michael's and "got into" him before I did David, so I will fully admit to being less knowledgeable around the nepotism issues there (Ty in ATWI80D, Georgia getting a part in DW because of Peter, then producing YM&H). But I can say with absolute certainty that concerns of nepotism with Anna were being voiced years ago, as far back as the first season of Staged and then right through to her being in Last Train to Christmas in 2021. So this is not remotely anything new, nor related only to GO, but to every role AL has had (Staged, LTTC, and Sandman), all of which she has gotten because of Michael.

I would also encourage people to read this post from last year on @invisibleicewands' blog for some very insightful tea about nepotism. One commenter is a former actor and shared some extremely interesting information in the notes in particular, of which I'd like to share a few:

I'm very willing to bet that all of the above--especially the part about casting directors and casting practices--are things Neil already knows, and are at least part of what caused his disproportionate response to your question. Because if this is something well-known and common to the industry, you are very likely not at all the first person who has brought this up to him, as well as the fact that four members of the same family (David, Ty, Peter, Georgia) nearly ended up in the same season of one show (GO season 2).

Could Neil have had enough and just snapped? Sure. We all have our limits, our quota of what we can handle at any given time, in any given day. And he would have absolutely been well within his rights to ignore your question entirely. That he read it as being "not in good faith" tells me this is a subject that's come up before, and has led to him being on the defensive. Which, again...also understandable. But the fact that Neil--who is a writer, who has spent an untold amount of his life writing about all sorts of things in painstakingly detail-- couldn't parse a fan asking a genuine question or distinguish it from an attack is not okay, and neither was his choice to respond so condescendingly and set you up as a target for the larger fandom.

But you already know all this, Anon, so let me stop before I repeat myself too much. I am just glad that you decided to write to me again, and that you took such comfort from both my words and the folks who commented on my post. I am sorry that the whole thing has left such a bitter taste in your mouth (though understandably so), but with all the wonderful new things we've gotten in the last few days (opening credits, the new poster), that thankfully gives us happy things to focus on instead.

Sending you lots of love again and the hope that you will continue to feel better and not let this take away your excitement for GO 2 entirely. Thanks for writing in! x

[m-madeleine]

hi! for the end of the year asks: 1, 3, 9, 14, 22, 24?

Hiiii!

1. How many books did you read this year?

Officially 33, although counting is difficult because I interned in publishing this summer and read some books that weren't out at the time. I keep thinking of more books I finished half a year ago. There's one that's announced for February and I guess I'll be counting it for this year instead??

Then there were also a couple that I technically finished, but am not counting for my goodreads challenge for Reasons, like I was basically skimming because of fast review deadline...or found so artrociously horrible I don't even want it to stain my account lmao. And that last one, I did the final edit for, so I know how bad it was even after multiple professional editing rounds :P

3. What were your top five books of the year?

In no particular order

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (EL!!! El, the girl who was born to be evil and fights tooth and nail to stay good out of spite T-T) (Also I realized I operate nigh daily on the exact same level of vigilance as a kid in a school that will KILL YOU and that's....a lot)

The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane (chill nonfiction about hiking and sailing mostly around Britain)

Shadow Girls by Carol Birch (girl's schools and ghostssss)

The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell (two girls bury their own parents in their backgarden; macabre in the best ways, grim but full of love)

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (essentially a fictional true crime case where you actually get the satisfaction of unpeeling all the layers through a round dance of POVs, left me Pondering for daysss)

Bonus: Along the Trenches by Navid Kermani (a travelogue that gets into the nitty gritty of the history and politics of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus) (I've only gotten halfway through, but I have to mention it NOW because it's amazing and Kermani has been cemented as my non-fiction crush)

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Not really! I def felt a taste for dark stuff this year though.

For the opposite of Getting Into, I had to read a lot of r0mance novels and new adult fiction for work, and mmmmmmm no. No shade, I did enjoy a couple, even though I'm not sure I would've finished them if I didn't have to. But they're just so formulaic T-T I need my books to have a kick.

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Worked hard on finishing In Männerkleidern by Angela Steidele. It's somewhere between an academic work and a conventional biography? The subject is a working class AFAB person in early 1700s Germany who lived sometimes as a woman and sometimes as a man, had a really interesting life, married a woman but eventually got busted and executed for "sodomy with a woman".

I think Steidele is pretty solid about dealing with the transman or lesbian or?? controversy potential, refers to the main character as whatever gender they were presenting as at the time and when discussing the possibility of interpretation at the end gives evidence for and against all possibilities fairly imo.

You're usually not gonna catch me reading history stuff outside uni, but this was a treat.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

Mansfield Park!

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Oh yea. For one, a lot of that was involuntary through work, often you'll only get a 50 page sample, sometimes the rest isn't even written yet.

One thing for work I DNFd more or less voluntarily was What Doesn't Kill Us by Ajay Close (sent in for translation licensing). I actually loved it and for the first and last time felt that famed editor "This is MY manuscript and I'm FIGHTING for it" feeling. Buuuuut it's very dark and visceral and I wasn't in a great headspace at the time, so I kind of just quiet quit on it during my last week. I did still write it a recommendation for as far as I got.

Outside of work, The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker. Only took me a couple pages to realize it was based on Mary Bell. I actually thought it was very well done, but it was tough to read just because of the subject and even flipping forward didn't help. I don't think I'll go back to it, I feel like I kind of know what it was doing and where it was going and I liked it, but don't need to experience it page by page.

[elcorhamletlive]

no one asked but here are some of my thoughts on the one piece live action show

the things I didn't like:

Nojiko not knowing about Nami's scheme and plan. I get that it was probably a way to raise the odds and emphasize Nami's loneliness, but to me it cheapened their relationship and took away one of the most touching moments in the manga, when the reason for Nojiko's tattoos is revealed.

humorless, stoic, sexy man Zoro. of all the characters it was the one adaptation that didn't work for me, and Zoro is one of my favorites so it was a bit frustrating. the actor gives a good performance, but whereas the rest of the crew is a perfect translation of their manga selves to the screen, Zoro feels like a fundamentally different character. which is unfortunately because the mix of goofiness and badassery is what makes Zoro so engaging. here's hoping that he's allowed to emote more in season two.

in a similar vein as the previous point, I wasn't a fan of all the "Zoro and Nami exhasperated over Luffy" scenes. imo making Zoro so mature changed the dynamic of the crew and made his relationship with Luffy ring a bit hollow, even when the show wanted me to be emotionally invested in their bond.

Mihawk's introduction makes him come across as way less of threat than in the manga. I get cutting Krieg because they had less time and ultimately I don't think it was a massive loss, but having Gin show up destroyed and hyping Mihawk up is sooo much more effective than just showing him in the middle of a battle.

Nami was also a bit too serious for my taste, but I'll chalk that up to East Blue being when she's still not fully comfortable with the crew yet.

this is the most nitpicky annoying thing but. Arlong was too small. like obviously realistically speaking the actor is jacked but he does not give off the same threatening air that he does in the manga when he's towering over everyone.

the things I liked (most of it!):

from a plot perspective I think they were very smart and strategic about what to cut, they managed to trim everything to make it fit in eight hours and it worked. having Koby and Helmeppo throughout the season was a great way to keep the story from feeling too episodic, and they're both really well cast and I loved watching them. They are in love

removing the jokes on Alvida's appearance: yes. Overall I think they did a good job translating the humor, keeping the absurdness and silliness while also removing what wouldn't fly very well in live action.

Luffy should have been Brazilian but Iñaki Godoy is truly a finding, his performance is top notch and I can't imagine anyone else playing the role. Also in the "might have been created in a lab specifically to play their role" category are: Jacob Romero (there was not a second Usopp was on screen that didn't fill my heart with joy), Craig Fairbrass, Peter Gadiot, Aidan Scott.

special bullet point for Buggy because yeah. you have already heard that but my god he is THAT GOOD. SO much fun to watch.

another special bullet point for Taz Skylar. I didn't mention him in the list above because I guess you can say that technically Sanji is significantly different in the LA than in the mange, but tbh the change was for the better. amping up his charm and giving him a wannabe womanizer vibe was the perfect choice. his chemistry with Zeff was amazing (that one second in which they're fighting and you can see Sanji mouthing along to what he's saying because they've had this fight so many times before? CINEMA). their goodbye broke my heart.

Baratie might have been my favorite arc. and it's a really good arc in the manga so I'm amazed by how much they got it right.

Usopp/Kaya kiss!!!

obsessed with the absolutely random flirting between Zeff and Garp. old men yaoi stays winning

Koby and Luffy's hug was everything I didn't know I needed. also Koby getting drunk. just... Koby.

usually I'd find "omg they did it exactly like the manga panels" kind of a meaningless compliment but the scene where Nami asks for Luffy's help hit me like a brick. it was perfect.

their vows at the ending of the season gave me chills. Watching this show was so much fun and made me relive the excitement this story gave me as a child; a lot is said about an adaption having to capture "the essence" of the original which is of course super vague, but however you interpret it, I think it happened here. This show has so much heart and passion and is just a joyful, fun thing to experience. I can't wait for next season

[aturnipsingularity]

Turnip, what's YOUR album of the year if you had to pick one? Pitch it to me, infect me with ur music taste

Okay, so I can't pick just one, so I'll throw a handful of my faves that I discovered this year into the ring. The most recent would be Eternal Blue by Spiritbox. Underrated alt/prog metal band, and I haven't heard a whole lot of others talking about them. I really like the way the first couple of tracks blend together, and the lead vocalist has an amazing voice. She has this really melodic singing that meshes well with her death growl. I also really like that there's a good mix of slower songs with the harder music. There's a lot of good variety, and the pacing is really nice.

Favorite song: Silk In The Strings

I also finally listened to The Death of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens this year. I had heard a couple of their singles before, but I hadn't checked out the full work until recently. I was really glad I did, because it's amazing. Lots of bangers in there, 10/10 would recommend. I really enjoy metal/post-hardcore in general, but the synths and electronics give the music a really nice boost to the energy (see one of my fave albums of all time -- Trauma by I Prevail). It makes it really punchy, and I love that!

Favorite song: ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE or bad decisions

I also want to recommend Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token, because I was very hyped for it to come out this year. However, I was let down a little bit and do have a few reservations about the album in general. I think it's great. The vibe of it is really ethereal, and I appreciate the fluidity of the songs in terms of tone and sound. But, it suffers from a lack of variety in tempo. A lot of the songs are slower, and the sequencing itself doesn't lend any room for picking up the energy it loses after the first 5 songs. I also hate the songs Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. They don't feel like they belong. At all. They feel like filler/billboard top 100 and less of this otherworldy, almost ghostly sound they're trying to go for. It also took me a few listens to come around to Ascensionism and The Apparition, but I do really appreciate those songs, and I really quite like them now. It's a really good album that took a few misteps. The Summoning is so good, though. There's a reason it's their most popular song. If you're going to listen to it, I would recommend listening in the following order, because it's the best one I've found for right now. Although it's also not perfect by far, and you can hear the tonal shift after the first three songs, I think it feels a bit more balanced. I can't say I'm quite satisfied with it, but it's still a lot better imo

Drop Are You Really Okay? and DYWTYLM. Don't put them in the playlist.

1. Chokehold

2. Vore

3. The Summoning

4. Aqua Regia

5. Ascensionism

6. The Apparition

7. Granite

8. Rain

9. Euclid

10. Take Me Back to Eden

Favorite song: Euclid or Chokehold

And a small honorable mention to these albums that I finally got to listen to, but don't have enough thoughts on (yet) to rant about:

So Much (For) Stardust by Fall Out Boy

Rain City Drive by Rain City Drive

The Click (Deluxe Edition) by AJR (don't judge me I really like them)

Opal (original soundtrack) by Jack Stauber

Frontiers by Journey

Empire by Queensrÿche

4 by Foreigner

I really should have listened to the older albums sooner, but I just never got around to it -- even though I know multiple songs from each one.

I'll eventually talk about all of the other entries on this list, as well as my all-time favorites (not listed) and the other couple of recents I have yet to finish. Mostly just because I like talking about music lmao but today is not that day. Also you have to tell me about your music taste now!

[bluinary]

Imo it's the desire to experience a fantasy that motivates these comments. In these people's eyes, The Nice Guy At Work should either be perfect and emotionally mature with no character development needed, or he should crash and burn and prove himself an incel for the audience's satisfaction, while Retsuko learns to be happy alone. But you're right; folks forget that Aggretsuko's main thesis is teaching us how to *accept reality*.

If you're looking for love in your 20s-- which Retsuko is-- no man within a healthy age range of you is going to be fully formed and as emotionally healthy as, say, Kristoff in Frozen II. You're supposed to grow together, which Retsuko and Haida do.

Also, examining the "nice guys" trope Retsuko and Haida may fall into, people fail to examine Retsuko's reasons for saying "no" to Haida, or Haida's reasons for "pursuing", which he never really did after he got what felt like a clear "no". He's not just some dude from work-- he was in Retsuko's inner circle for quite some time. Maybe she felt like she "didn't know him that well," which she said a lot, but in actuality, she spent more time with him than everyone except Fenneko. The context seemed more leaning toward the feeling that Haida was her work friend, and nothing more, which was a boundary Retsuko placed.....for what? (Bear with me here.)

Because she knew that giving someone from her department a try would maybe be more difficult and risky, yet simultaneously boring, than dating, say, a mysterious dude from her Driver's Ed class. It would also be less exciting, because she *already* knew a lot about Haida. And let's be real; Retsuko's big character arc, in addition to gaining her confidence and her voice without exploding, is mainly about her losing her taste for whirlwind hijinks. Remember that her plan in S1 was to "get cute", find a rich guy, get married ASAP, and then leave her boring, crappy accounting job for good. But she grew to realize that her boss, while an asshole, wasn't the Devil himself. Tsunoda wasn't the workplace Succubus she imagined her to be, just predictably shallow in some areas of her personality. Kabae was more than a nuisance; Tsubone held a lot of wisdom to offer. Even Anai had a chill button. A steady job wasn't a bad thing. And throughout her development, Retsuko had to also reasses her relationship with Haida. Because while her "no" meant "no", and Haida took it as such without cutting her off as a friend, Retsuko had to change how she saw him as she did with all of her coworkers (save Fenneko) in order to grow as a person. And, while frustrated with some of his flaws, she saw that Haida was fundamentally kind, mostly easy-going, and extremely dependable when she needed a friend. Maybe not as exciting as Tadano, or seemingly mysterious as the Space Cadet, but Haida was an ideal long-term partner. Retsuko just had to grow up a bit to see it.

And that message isn't for Nice Guys. Remember that the Aggretsuko brand was made specifically for us-- young, disillusioned women in our 20s who needed something a bit more relatable than, though just as cute as, Hello Kitty. And as someone who's been with a *lot* of dudes, the message rings true: compatibility doesn't lie in excitement. And while we should make our voices heard, the world will also feel like a much kinder place when we see everyone around us as human beings instead of caricatures or tropes. This also explains the lack of focus on Retsuko for the last few penultimate seasons; she had a HUGE arc accomplishment when she finally gave Haida a chance. Not for him, but for *her*. Being someone actively looking for a long-term partner, Retsuko's mental state and worldview was almost always reflected in one way or another by the man/ men she was dating in each season. Including the Otome men who made her broke. When she was finally able to cut through her own excuses for not giving a perfectly great potential partner an honest try, knowing that he could provide everything she truly wanted and needed, Retsuko broke through the last hang-up on her main character arc of the show: accepting reality. And these last few seasons, while she isn't perfect, she still maintains that development as she's slower to rage at little things, is still vocal about her wants and needs, and sees almost everyone around her as a necessary piece to the life she enjoys. She's found an amazing balance.

And as for Haida-- we're seeing a mostly static, already seemingly well-rounded character have his own arc. The important thing, I think, is that Retsuko isn't *responsible* for Haida's growth and development, even if she sometimes feels like she is bc she cares so much. Haida ultimately comes to his own conclusions, fosters his own growth, and works hard with the motivation of being a worthy partner for Retsuko. It's not the fantasy of him being the Perfect Man for their entire relationship, or somehow rescuing Retsuko from the issues she began the show with, but their relationship is mutually supportive and insanely healthy. And ykw...healthy is boring 😂 I saw someone saying "they don't do couple stuff", like what did they expect? Good relationships are boring and functional, and that is what Retsuko and Haida are. We can write fluffy, spicy, or angsty fanfic to fill in the gaps. But making their relationship more "interesting" would serve no purpose to the story. Though ofc, I wouldn't complain over a tag-team karaoke rage at Haida's dad, lol. (But even that didn't happen bc of great character development, bc being healthy and well-adjusted is.....say it with me.....boring 😂😂😂).

All of this to say: OP you're right and you should say it!!!

SO Ive seen several people say that Haida and Retsuko's relationship dident work this season due to their poor relationship skills and miscommunication. But I would argue that their relationship does work.

It works in that even after the two-way lying and miscomunication and tax fraud, their relationship still stands.

You guys have to remember that being in a relationship -- a true relationship -- is a big fucking hurdle to jump through. Yes, Retsuko had been in other relationships before, but this the first true relationship that has had any weight to it.

Throughout the 4 seasons we saw Retsuko's other relationships crumble to dust over the tiniest things.

Retsuke was a unmotivated wet napkin of a person and when he didn't commit to the relationship that Retsuko wanted, Retsuko told him and broke it off.

Tadano was a good egg, but Retsuko ultimately discovered that both Tadano and herself had conflicting future relationship goals --Retsuko wanted to get married and start a family, but Tadano wasn't interested in getting tied down (he said so himself, he though that marriage was a waste of time, and that hurt retsuko because one of her dreams through the entire series was to get married and settledown to have a family)

and the same thing happens with Haida and Inui. Like, they were a very cute couple and possibly would have gone somewhere, but Haida's feelings for Retsuko would have (for lack of a better word) stained the relationship. Inui saw how much he loved Retsuko, and very maturely, decided that she couldn't compete for his affections. So like, she cuts it off before it begins. Like, knowing that your relationship would have gone down hill due to uncontrolable outside influences and then cutting it off before it could get worse is a mature thing to do.

Also I've seen someone say that Retsuko was passive about the entire tax fraud and I'm like???? she wasn't???? She knew very well that her boyfriend was keeping secrets from her, and when those secrets were confirmed that her boyfriend was doing company-wide tax fraud for the CEO, instead of taking it to the Japanese national news, she formulated a mission impossible heist plan with all of her co-workers in order to get the information needed to confirm that they were infact commiting tax fraud in order to get the CEo fired and then had a talk with her boyfriend about how what he was doing was wrong. Like, she took the step and called him out and that untimely gave Haida the confidence to step up to the CEO and call him out on his bullshit????

Like how is that passivity????

And everyone needs to know that Haida in the thick of it as well. Like his paranoia and fear wasn't something that came out of no where. Hadia said so himself that anyone else in the company had a fair chance of getting fired due to budget cuts and low profits, and so the pressure to succeed was growing. People were getting pressured to quiet left and right thanks to the new CEO. Mr. Tone was demoted then forced to quiet a job he really loved; Kabai was forced to quit as well from a job she really liked because everyone was making her feel worthless for having a family to take care of instead of being at work.

and when Haida showed that he had a good chance with his new accounting software to succeed and NOT get fired, he took that chance to rub elbows with the new CEO. And not only that, but thanks to the new CEO, the company was falling behind and had to commit tax fraud in order to stay afloat, and again DUE TO NOT WANTING TO BE FIRED AND DEEMED WORTHLESS TO THOSE AROUND HIM, Haida took up tax fraud in order to survive. On top of wanting the praise that he so badly needed. There were multiple times where Haida laments that Retsuko is on a whole new other level than him, and that he feels like he just one of the fanboys in the crowd. In the season, when he sees that Retsuko has restarted her screaming channel and has started growing back her following, that feeling comes back. He really does love Retsuko so much and wants to be where Retsuko is so badly but he feels as if none of what he's done in life fits with Retsuko's life.

Like, for christ sake, Retsuko is the ex-girlfriend to the aggretsuko version of Mark Zuckerberg who also one-hit-wonder pop idle star who nearly got murdered by an incel and Haida is a wanna-be British rock band bass guitar player who does accounting by day who still lives in his parents' apartment complex rent free (lucky bastard)

and on top of all that, there was Retsuko's lies. Like, his suspicion and jealousy was not unjustified??? Like, wouldn't you feel the same way if you saw your significant other lied in front of your face about what you were doing, arrive home in the fancy-ass limo of their ex-boyfriend and then notice that said ex-boyfriend FLIRTED BACK AT HER????? on top of using the pet nickname that he gave her when they were dating???? Like him calling Tadano out on his not-really-flirting-but-kind-of-is-flirting-flirting was no unjustified????

AND EVEN AFTER ALL OF THAT MESS OF DRAMA, THE END OF SEASON 4 CONFIRMS (though some would argue that its very ambiguous) THAT THEY'RE STILL IN A RELATIONSHIP. EVEN AFTER THE TAX FRAUD AND MISCOMUNICATION AND NEARLY THROWING YOUR SIGNIFICANT OUT THE WINDOW, THEY'RE STILL GOING OUT.

this is what Gori's soulmate app said about Haida and Retsuko. Even after so much shit, they're able to keep going to work on each other.

Aggrettsuko has stated that multiple times that romance is not a fairy tale, and that it takes work and that you may not get it right on the first time or the third time, but its good to keep working at it.

And Haida and Retsuko are working on it 🥺

[imustbenuts]

Different anon, reading your Delicious in FE asks had me and my partner wondering how you'd cook Mila because of her weird hair wings. So I guess: Mila and Duma? Can't have one without the other.

felt a little under the weather sorry for the late reply!!

i have in fact answers for this.

mila

id imagine tastes a lot like mossy chewy veggies and vermicelli and tofu. she looks almost like what i would think of dryad if less leafy and woody, and is responsible for her people never going hungry ever again (tm). so mila probably touches the ground and an apple tree grows, touches a person wishing they have a pair of mega melons instantly have a pair of mega melons

but bc she technically isnt a dryad and more of a dragon, parts of her are going to taste like meat even though its veggies. which is. cool actually! that means its vegan time!! 🍽️🍽️

i actually have a cooler idea than lab grown meat though: mianjin! or seitan. mila is probably just full of this. dont even have to wash or pound her to get this labor intensive vegan food.

so these things are actually gluten, processed from wheat and the likes. their texture is super duper close to chicken, and are extremely good at soaking up whatever juices you throw at it. fry it, steam it, they can take it. monastic buddhist monks have been munching on these things since 6th century in china, and ive even eaten once prepped to look exactly like sashimi

its fucking play dough faux meat.

anyway! so with parts of her being mianjin, her hair part would probably be like long beans or even moss. theres one particular Black Moss that i ate a lot as a kid being served it, but apparently have been over harvested due to. dumb shit culture reasons. (eating it is believed to bring fortune and money. they kept feeding me that shit.)

so! my recommended milla prep method is vegetable stir fry, actually! make sure to grab all the veggies like carrots and brocolli and mushrooms and plenty of oyster sauce, mirin, vinegar, and ginger and go to fucking town mixing her in. :3

shit so good it can be eaten as finger food >:333

Duma

id imagine duma would be some creature thats really hardy and built to survive in places with lots of prairie and plains. but hes ripped as hell, strong as a tank and has the mentally of strongest means bestest

so. maybe hes like. a bison. the king of bisons. the biggest beefiest gym bro who somehow converts his gains from fats and protein non-existent.

i know the duma we know in fe:echoes is a dippy sad mess but imagine if that was bc he lost his way in the mountains without cell reception bc he made a bad investment, lost his house, drank too much, got into a couple of fights with cars and trains, lost, and mila took off with his $60,000 car he paid off by running some crypto grift and got mega cancelled for it

regular duma is a bona fide bison. the duma we saw is not.

step 1: get his ass. step 2: shred his ass into thin slices. step 3: dry his thin ass and then grab a bunch of berries and then recook his ass in his own fat. BAP BAPABAPABABBABABABP done.

with regards to regular duma, the only way to pay proper respects and follow his path imo is to become one with him so thoroughly even nature shakes upon our footstep as we train in the wild. see what he saw. fend of cars with our bare hands and pecs. eating him. slowly. bit by bit....

because duma has become... the ultimate survival food.

Pemmican. ✌️

combined together they are a force of nature. we shall become as gods. can't go wrong with ultimate survival meat and ultimate veggies

[fernweh-s]

I wonder if there a fan edit timeline of just homelander becoming more n more unhinged. I’d totally watch that as a recap when the next season drops

Have you ever seen American Gods / Preacher / Legion. If so what ya think of them.

Just knowing it’ll be be made gets me excited cuz it’s like a little treat for future me. Idk when it’ll drop so maybe it’ll slip my mind untill they announce it n then I get double the excitement like omfg I remember when they were talkin about it n now it’s dropping.

Well of course he would batman and the joker have always been two side of the same coin so they had to make him the overpowered cliche n Barbatos was definitely way cooler. The BWL has cool design but not a fan of his story just very predictable even the brain switching like such a cliche terrible writing all to snuff Barbatos 🙄

N making constructs he should be able to make n tapping I to that darker dimension just A1 writing.

Same with Red Death homie strapped him on the Batmobile like a hood ornament n obliterated him 😮‍💨

Doombreaker shouldn’t even been in the line up tbh so unnecessary. They shoulda gone with something else.

Omfg your the first person I’ve met/come across to have heard of it let alone read it. You seem to have good taste so now I’m extra excited to start it.

You laugh now but I’m so serious, everytime I see shark related things irl I be whispering to myself Chichimatul

Lmaoooo I'm willing to bet that there is definitely one out there somewhere. 😂

I've seen both American Gods and Preacher! I loved Preacher; I really liked all the characters. American Gods was another of those 'its just okay' for me at the start; I initially wasn't really v attached to the characters (besides Mad Sweeney lmao, he was an INSTANT favorite), then by seasons 2&3 I was more invested and tHEN THEY WENT AND CANCELLED THE SHOW.

Lmao exactly! I'll probably honestly forget too by the time it finally drops, so it'll def be a treat for future me also. 😂😂

Yeah; I liked BwL's design (although personally, I would have preferred if he had Bruce's actual body type instead of basically looking like the Joker cosplaying as Batman, like, he's just supposed to be a Jokerized Bruce Wayne, so why was he so skinny and lanky like Joker??—I whipped up a little 'how I'd have preferred he look' concept before:

all the main elements of BwL, just [what I consider], to feel more Batman-y, and less, 'Joker playing dress up as Batman', lmao) and even his concept was a cool one—a Batman driven to Joker levels of madness? Heck yeah, sign me up, but DC definitely took the idea and made him more than what he should have been imo. Esp, again, when Barbatos was RIGHT there, being so much cooler!! Also, yeah, the brain switching was sUCH bad writing, especially since we ended up with basically TWO BwLs after! Since we have the original, now running around as 'Darkest Knight' after the ol' brain-switcheroo, and then when we had Batman use the Black Lantern ring to raise an army, BwL's original body was among the people he reanimated, and, despite NO LONGER HAVING A BRAIN ANYMORE it??? was still basically BwL somehow??? That was when I was just fully DONE with the whole event and like 'okay this is ridiculous, please wrap it up already' lmao. Like it went from such a cool concept to just, okay this is dragging out and just bad writing now.

Yesssss!!! His 'dark constructs' were honestly SO cool!!! I really that wish we'd had stories more of him, instead of BwL taking center stage and Dawnbreaker and the other Dark Knights basically being reduced to like, his lackeys (which was so dumb imo, like they're ALL Batman(/batwoman, in The Drowned case), they should have been more equal. 😤😤

For real!! The Batman who became Red Death doing what he did to the Flash was absolutely brutal. (And the fact that Barry was still present afterwards and basically trapped in there with him, constantly trying to get Bruce to come to his senses 😭😭).

HE REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE!! Like, I get that they wanted a counterpart for everyone on the JL, but for Superman there really were SO many better choices to choose from who they could have combined with Batman!! I still maintain that a Cyborg Superman or a Metallo version would have been SO cool, but there're plenty others that would have been neat too: a Brainiac/Batman mash-up, or a Livewire or Silver Banshee one. Heck, even a version of Batman combined with Parasite would have worked and been cooler than what they gave us!

😆 I hope you enjoy it!!

Lmaooo. 😂😂

[overlookedfile]

So I thought I'd take the time to update again before the poll ends and use it as an opportunity to respond to some of the commentary.

Under a cut, for length.

I told him. He wasn't sure how to respond, so he just blushed and asked what I wanted him to cook for dinner. Lol

I fully support reminding your bf that he's desirable by loads of people. 🥰

1. We're polyamorous, so the married thing isn't the obstacle you think.

2. There is more gap between mine and my husband's ages than there are years in which you've been alive (according to your bio), which is infinitely more concerning than the gap itself, imo.

3. Props to you for going to bat on your mom's behalf. She's clearly got a great kid. 👍

I have really bad depression (on top of the neuro-spiciness) and even when I'm at my worst he still manages to find ways to make me laugh. So, yes, he absolutely things he's the most hilarious man on the planet. (Sometimes he's right. Mostly, he's just my dork.)

I would love to share some of those pictures, such as the one with ropes and strategically placed cool whip, but his hobby-job (as opposed to his day-job) frequently involves coaching minors and it's a concern of his that such a picture could be used to ban him from the sport if the wrong person took exception to finding it. So, regrettably, I can not share just how good he looks in dark blue rope, or on his knees, or...

Don't forget to rehydrate. 😁

Do you know my husband? Because that is 100% what he would like to do every single day if he was allowed to. He's 6'3 to my 5'4" and he still likes it best when he's the little spoon.

Warning: There's a 99.99% chance he'll fall asleep while watching any movie, which only results in more snuggles. Most of the time he lasts until the popcorn runs out, but not always even that long. Also, he has horrible taste in movies. We're talking things like Hawk the Slayer, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and Robot Jocks. *shudders* The number of bad movies I've watched because of him. 😜

He's obnoxiously sweet, sometimes. You got any idea how hard it is to lose weight when your husband goes out of his way to buy your favorite snacks, cook your favorite meals, and even brings said meals to you when you're too busy with work to get it yourself? Ugh, so obnoxious! /jk

(Seriously though, I gotta get in better shape. The mechanical injuries I already have can't take the strain and neither can my mental health. Now to just find the willpower to tell him to cook less pasta...😅)

I've seen him without a beard/scruff exactly 3 times since we met. It looks just plain wrong when he doesn't have facial hair.

Okay, my gut reaction was to wonder if you accept commissions, because that actually sounds awesome. His reaction was to make a joke about the time he tried to draw a donkey and it came out looking like a camel. (We now say, "Oh look, a donkey!" every time we see a camel, be it a real one or one on tv or a plushie or whatever.)

He's got some wild ones. It's kinda fun for me sometimes to see what I can find for him while I'm out shopping. I got a whole bunch of Jerry Garcia ties for him one time and he really likes those.

~ ~ ~

He spontaneously sent me the following two things today when I didn't expect to hear from him because he's off at the hobby-job this weekend.

I love my dork. ❤️🥰❤️

Thank you, again, to everyone for the votes and comments. They've made him smile so much lately and that's a gift beyond countable value. We treasure all of you. Also, thank you for giving me the opportunity to hype him up and remind him of some of the good still in the world.

❤️ We treasure all of you. ❤️

Poll submission: My husband

Yes, he agreed to this, mostly for the lols. He said he thinks everyone is going to pass.

He's a dork who stands 6'3", weighs about 300 lbs, and has a thick 8.5" dick

We've been married 15 years, but he still blatantly ogles every time he sees me changing clothes and offers to bring me tacos in bed when I'm not feeling well. Did I mention he has big hands? ❤️

[anything-viva]

Africa, You Spin Me Right Round, Eye of the Tiger, & Like a Virgin for that 80's ask game

africa: favourite 80s music video?

as much as it's memed nowadays, take on me has such a cool concept!

you spin me round (like a record): favourite modern cover of an older song?

ooh this is hard... house of the rising sun by lauren o'connell is so haunting, i like it

like a virgin: share a controversial opinion.

ok i'm going to put this under a readmore bc it got wayyy too long, rambly, and disorganized. it's about ai art lol

im going to leave the ethical issues of data collection and copying art styles out of this. those are two other whole cans of worms... instead im going to tackle the "ai art isn't art!"

imo "art" is communication: you need an idea and to interpret how to convey it. any stricter of a definition cuts out too many other things that we know are art. the solution isn't to raise the bar of what is considered "art", it's to have taste. does that mean ai art has inherent value? NOPE! i don't think art has inherent good or bad value, it's just another means of expression.

i think the genesis of ai art is like the rise of photography during then late 1880s. photography was similarly demonized as cheating. instead of mixing the paint yourself, it "let the machine do all the work" (sound familiar, digital artists?) but as we know now it takes a LOT of effort and artistic interpretation to make a good photograph. it just uses a different skillset. to make a good piece of ai art requires a lot of phrasing and writing. like if someone spends a lot of time crafting a prompt, then yeah i'd say that's decent. HOWEVER!! just typing in, idk, "princess peach" to dall-e is roughly the artistic equivalent of a stick figure or a blurry photo of the moon you took on your iphone. (tbh... the ai example i used is even less art than those.) you still have to construct the stick figure's lines and arrange them the way you want. you still have to decide how to hold the phone when to snap the photo. and with ai, you you still have to choose to depict a subject and how to do it. it's not very good nor original, but it's still interpretation on some level. does that make it good? FUCK NO. even if the result is technically impressive, i'd still consider it basic.

i think the "if you ask a subway worker to make a sandwich, did you make the sandwich?" argument doesn't apply to ai art bc another human made that sandwich. ai isn't human, it's just a tool. imo, the subway worker is a human, so they made the sandwich. but does the camera own the photo you take?

ai art is eventually going to become respectable like photography. and when photography got popular, yes a lot of artists (particularly realists) lost their jobs, but the craft survived because artists adapted! since ai art is so polished nowadays, artists are going to have to do the opposite. they're get weirder, messier, and most importantly more original. like i said, anyone can type "princess peach" into dall-e and get a million bland results. in order to survive, we're gonna have to figure out what makes our perspectives unique and push that to its limit. we'll make things a machine can't dream up on their own. this isn't the death of art... at least, not yet.