#My favourite French comedian!

[salvadorbonaparte]

German woman on the telly just pronounced John Mulaney like John Moolahné

[mermaidsirennikita]

I don't usually read college romance books because they don't work for me. But I love Kristen Callihan so I read her Game On series. And it's so good. I love all the books but the hook up is my favourite. You should read them if you haven't. If you have though, can you recommend some contemporary romances. God knows I only trust your recommendation. We have similar tastes.

I have read those, and I enjoy them quite a bit! Also not a huge fan of college romances (though I guess, to be fair, those dip out of college fairly quickly) but I like those, especially the first two. (The Friend Zone is my favorite of the bunch—and I typically dislike friends to lovers.)

Some great contemporaries (outside of erotic romance, which is like... my favorite kind of contemporary, lol):

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. I really like this one! It's a genderflipped When Harry Met Sally retelling with an uptight chef who just wants to settle down with someone and a freewheeling standup comedian. They meet when they realize that they're both sleeping with the same woman, are sorta enemies for years, then become friends after her marriage falls apart. It's funny, it has heart, there's a lot of "the lines of this friendship are ridiculously blurred". Again, a rare friends to lovers that works!

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn. This is Kate's most recent release, and while I do like Georgie, All Along and totally get the hype, this one is probably my favorite I've read of hers (I'm not SUPER well-read with Kate yet though, I need to work on that). It's about sisters who go on this road trip with a famous podcaster and her protegee (who happens to be a HUGE ex football player who's quiet and secretly has heart aplenty) to find their mother, who ran off with a notorious conman years ago. There's a lot of like... quiet romance in this one. Very original, too.

Alexis Hall is always a rec of mine, but Glitterland is one of my favorites of his. It's a m/m romance in which a snarky, jaded formerly successful writer hooks up with a glittery sparkly random and then they accidentally spend a weekend together, and sort of unintentionally end up in a relationship despite being total opposites? Super emotional and super hilarious. One of my favorite depictions of bipolar disorder.

Forget Me Not and Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto. Ooooh so good. Forget Me Not is about a wedding planner who's very afraid of emotional intimacy having to work with a florist she used to hook up with (before she broke his heart) on a high profile wedding, and Not Another Love Song is about rival classical musicians competing for the same first chair spot. While he's obsessively composing songs about her. PERF.

Chef's Kiss and Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. Chef's Kiss is about a broke woman getting roped into helping this French guy who's like, the heir to his giant rich restaurant family, complete this ancestral cooking challenge... And they're fake dating... And he's paying her to be his fake girlfrined... It's wild lol. Another bonus: they're both trans, which is super hard to find in romance. Triple Sec is a poly romcom about a bartender who starts dating this sparkly lawyer lady, with the twist being that the sparkly lawyer lady has a spouse and they're very ethically poly. But then the bartender and the spouse also start having some unresolved tension... GREAT. Love this one. Very hot, very emotional, but also funny? Really into TJ Alexander.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez. A recent release, in which a librarian who's long been in love with her best friend finds out he's gotten engaged... And then walks in on his BROTHER rehearsing a spiel to the new fiancee, confessing his love. Which leads to her fake dating the brother, which leads again to them being in a real situationship. Great book, has some awesome stuff about library issues happening right now, some of my favorite plus size rep in a while, and... he tosses her around a bit.

I looove Kylie Scott. In general, recommend her Stage Dive series about a rock band and their loves and lives. My favorites are Lead and Deep, but I'd recommend reading them in order for the full effect—those two especially have some payoff factors. I also really like her recent lightly magical contemporaries, like The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck (the heroine is told she's dying imminently by a psychic who also gives her a lot of other accurate predictions... including the name of her soulmate, and a man with that name just showed up, and he's the gruff ILLEGITIMATE SON OF THE KING OF ENGLAND LMAO).

Kennedy Ryan is one of my favorite authors—her All the King's Men duology is a rather dramatic, high stakes contemporary (the heroine is a Navajo activist turned political consultant who finds herself running the campaign of a billionaire's son... after having a torrid affair with his brother years ago). I also looove Reel, which is about a famous director finding his muse in an up and coming actress as they fall in love on set.

Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy's Christmas Notch series is finishing this September, and I can't recommend them enough. You can read them close to the holiday or not, but they're basically these super hot, super funny, and super emotional romances about sex workers, Hallmark-style Christmas movies, and this weird little Christmas-themed town. Some of my favorite contemporaries ever.

Tracey Livesay's Duchess books are so fun!! Must be read in order, kicks off with American Royalty, which is about a nerdy, camera-shy, uptight Prince of England organizing a charity concert which calls in a famous American rapper... and the attraction is ELECTRIC. It's been pitched as "what if Harry and Meghan were Harry and MEGAN (Thee Stallion)" and honestly... accurate in the best possible way.

Annika Martin's Billionaires of Manhattan series is soooo funny, yet they also come through with some emotional serves? The Billionaire's Wake-up-Call-Girl is still my favorite, though I also love The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee. And in general it's really fun.

Reckless by Stella Rhys is so good! I should really read more of her. It's basically about a boss and his assistant/Girl Friday/work wife beginning a situationship after she finds out her fiance is cheating on her. The plot isn't revolutionary, but you FEEEEL a lot and it's super hot.

Of course I love Helen Hoang's books, starting with The Kiss Quotient. So very good. I'd also recommend Angelina M. Lopez, especially Lush Money. And if you want more Kristen Callihan, her VIP series is also really good (I'd skip the first book though personally—Managed, however, is FABULOUS).

[jyndor]

Do you read Rogue One fanfics? If yes what are your favourite? I don't know if I want read any because I love movie and movie ending but if some writers do it justice too or change middle parts I curious about it 😄

of course! In addition to this list here, I have some more fic recs! I have so many faves from many different angles - everybody lives delusional canon divergence fic, aus, canon sad rip to my heart everybody dies fic, etc. these are aus so yay

resistance is built on hope by chronicolicity, world war ii UNREAL resistance au, this is a fucking 200k+ fic that deals with the French resistance mainly but of course contains topics related to fascism, racism, etc. it's rogue one rewritten in this era, but it's a little better tbhhh imooo lol because we spend more time with the characters and saw is not slandered and cassian!!! oh my god cassian. all the characters are fabulously written but this version of kay actually may be my favorite in any fic. I mean don't hold me to that BUT

by stardust and moonlight by @imsfire2 is a magical fantasy fic where cassian is cursed to live by day as a wolf except when the moon is out, and he stumbles upon witch jyn's house. it's a beautiful love story and a beautiful story in general.

only women should be funny by @shu-of-the-wind​ with jewish!jyn and cassian as a lenny bruce type in this marvelous mrs maisel au which oh my god lol there are two rebelcaptain comedian aus on ao3 and this is the superior one (the other is written by me lol). this deals with racism, sexism, antisemitism iirc, etc.

never had a shotgun (shot in the dark) by ev0lution is a race car driver au idk it’s just really great, works so nicely

the tiger shark and the sun by b_else is a really great fusion of avatar the last airbender and rogue one. they’ve tweaked the world a lot to be more representative of the characters in rogue one, but it’s really well done. deals with the usual suspects: racism, fascism, imperialism, sexism, etc.

pikes peak, july 4 1901 by whatsinausername is a great underrated historical au dealing with a real life event in us history. period typical racism and sexism, but it’s a relatively light, uplifting fic.

the sun in splendor by @shu-of-the-wind​ is incomplete but its a fusion of asoiaf and rogue one/star wars and i love it so dearly. features light of my life shara bey.

shadow preachers by @andorerso​ yeah this is a treat and a half, cass and jyn are monster hunters and IT HURTS

let the cat out of the bag by @andorerso​ lol honestly any of these writers i would say you should read all of their fic but my girl sissi has like so many fun little au fics, but this one is great and hit me from the moment i first read it. it’s just fun! jyn’s fwb cassian charms the shit out of her cat, who hates everyone. it’s based on a reddit story iirc. love it. rated M, has the sex.

I will do more soon but yeah these are aus that I like

lmao sorry you deactivated before I answered rip

[lameravigliadoro]

I'm a English native and I'm learning French I can have a short conversation in French but I'm really slow and takes time to understand some words. I used to be in French classes in highschool (I'm going to be a senior in highschool when it starts up) what would you recommend for me to use to help learn more? I'm currently using droplets and Duolingo for studying (Droplets for vocabulary and Duolingo for grammar, reading things like that) what would you recommend for me to use thats free or doesn't cost that much? It would help a lot thank you

Hi!

Duolingo and Droplets are good resources for starters.

there are several things you can do if you want to go further.

Check out RFI (Radio France International) : You'll find free listening and reading resources abt French speaking news. I highly recommend you listen and then read the podcast episodes of LES MOTS D'ACTUALITÉ (words that are the news - they will explain the origin and meanings of 1 word that is relevant these days in France). but be curious and check out the rest, they have lots of good stuff.

Read news articles for free on official news website France Info, RTBF (Belgium). you'll find some free articles on Le Monde, Libération, Le Parisien, etc.

find lessons and exercises on Francaisfacile.com to get a better understanding of grammar, conjugations, tenses, etc.

Read 19th Guy de Maupassanant's (King of French fantastique genre) short stories on Wikisource. Highly recommend "La Main" ("The Hand", kinda horror, but really famous)

-> when you're more confident abt reading novels in French, just search for any 19th writer + Wikisource and you should be able to find their works in full for free. My favs are Zola, Balzac, Victor Hugo (Les Misérables' writer !), Flaubert, Dumas (Les Trois Mousquetaires' writer !), George Sand, Stendhal (esp La Chartreuse de Parme) etc.

if you have doubts about how to say something like a native, ask someone on HiNative you'll always have some French speaking ppl to help you.

- Familiarise yourself with spoken French with youtube/podcasts/etc (anything that's material for listening skills). If you're on youtube you can check channels like

Vogue France and their street style, with subtitles and lots of fashion and slang vocab! I used it in my French lesson and it worked quite well.

Yes Vous Aime was a comedy skits channel, with French subtitles. They did parodies, you can check it out!

Paul Taylor is a British stand up comedian. He's doing skits and specials in both French and English, and he's honestly perfect at grasping and vulgarising French oddities either in the language or the french society.

Clément Viktorovitch and his weekly analysis on French politics/news on Franceinfo. As you may already know, we're very passionate about our political life in France. so you can get used to the vocab have a gist of it with these chroniques radio.

Karambolage - it's a bilingual channel (German & French - l'amitié franco-allemande is a big thing! 🙂) that explains social, cultural differences between the two countries. You can find illustrated explanations of Le Verlan, expressions like "Monter à Paris" etc etc. It worked so well with my students! they found it easier to understand.

Damon Dominique is a language American youtuber and he's good at explaining and vulgarising French grammar and slang. Sometimes you gotta look at a foreign point of view :)

Konbini (especially their Club Lecture, Vidéo Club where famous authors/film directors show their favourite works, their inspirations and talk abt it, you probably won't find any subtitles tho)

and ofc you have dozen of french youtubers like Squeezie, Seb, Lena Situation, Aurélien Prévaux, Zen (talkshow) etc.

And when you're more confident, you can pick a day when you'll try to think only in French, another day when you'll translate what's written on your food package/friends convos/emails etc etc

put your phone settings in french, follow vocab accounts on Instagram, follow French ppl on social media so that you get accustomed to read in French on a daily basis.

and find a book to read in french, or fanfics if you're into it, anything that'll make you read in French :)

I hope that answers your questions! and sorry if it looks like too much, I'm getting back at a language I used to learn in high school too, it's not easy and it takes time. so take your time with French, I just put everything I thought might help in the first months/first year!

good luck! bonne chance !

[freeuselandonorris]

15 questions 15 friends

i was tagged by i thinkkk @bright-and-burning and @481boxboxbaby absolutely ages ago, sorry it's taken me so long to get to this!

Are you named after anyone? no! my mum liked the name sophie because it means ‘wisdom’ in greek and she’d lived in greece for a while.

When was the last you cried? i had a little sob watching the ‘life and death of lily savage’ documentary on itv the other week because i am still so, so sad about paul o’grady dying, i adored him. as a kid, my favourite comedians (who i saw on tv) were julian clary and lily savage. half their jokes flew over my head but that dog was always in me!! anyway, as for real sobbing crying… i’m actually not sure? it was a while ago for sure. may it stay that way 🙏

Do you have kids? nope, and i won’t be having them. people used to tell me i’d change my mind once i got older and now i’m 35 and still have not experienced a single maternal twinge.

What sports do you play/have you played? i don’t play any kind of competitive sports and have avoided them for most of my life (i have extremely poor hand-eye coordination, hypermobile limbs and rubbish lungs. i’m not built for speed) but i do pole fitness and have done for about three years now, i’m not great at it (see above) but i loooove it and it’s gotten me way more hench than i was.

Do you use sarcasm? i used to use it constantly as a defence thing but less so these days. i do still use it though yeah.

What is the first thing you notice about people? sometimes i have this thing where the first second i meet someone i have this weird shine effect where i know they’re going to be a very important part of my life (good or bad). it’s only happened about three or four times but it’s always been right. on a more prosaic level: eyes, smile, body language.

What is your eye color? blue. it’s quite bright.

Scary movies or happy endings? scary movies!! love a good horror. i don’t like jumpscares or found footage/haunted doll whatever ones, but i love the nasty shit: video nasties, torture porn, french extreme, pinky horror, faux snuff, that kinda thing. i don’t want them so much these days but i was pretty obsessed for a while.

Any talents? i’m good at writing and drawing/painting, and i’m quite practical in the sense that i can fix things and build things, like i LOVE building flatpack furniture. i think my main ‘talent’ though is just that i can pick things up quickly. if i’m shown how to do something, generally i can do it pretty well quite quickly and i don’t need to be shown lots of times, and i’m good at being given a starting point and figuring things out from there. i think that’s the ‘talent’ i use most in life, certainly in work anyway.

Where were you born? north-west england.

What are your hobbies? writing! painting, drawing, reading, gaming, pole, strength training. i also have the classic ADHD thing of picking a new thing to be obsessed with for a month and spending a fortune on it three times a year.

Do you have any pets? no :( my mum has a lovely big useless fat cat called bandit though who i have shared custody of, she just can’t live at my flat.

How tall are you? 5’8’’ or 172cm

Favorite subject at school? art and english. i also quite liked what we called ‘tech’ which was like woodwork, metalwork, product design type stuff.

Dream job? i do not dream of labour. fr though i don’t really have one and never have, apart from maybe writer or artist but realistically i think i’d end up hating them if i had to rely on them to pay my bills. i thought about trying to get into motorsport jobs for a while but the hours look long, the pay is terrible, the atmosphere for femme people is…mixed, and i’d have to move halfway across the country. so yeah idk. universal basic income now!

not tagging anyone bc i'm so late to the party on this lol, but if you haven't been tagged and want to be, lmk and i'll tag you!

[buriedself]

"  we're  going  to  be  taking  a  lie  detector  test  today.  you  will  be  hooked  up  to  the  machine,  and  we  will  ask  you  a  series  of  questions  -  whether  you  tell  the  truth  or  lie  is  up  to  you,  but  the  test  wil  be  able  to  snitch  out  any  lies."

"     should've put the monitors on my prosthetic.     "     a joke that's only obvious by the smile that stretches across his face.     "     let's get this shit over with.     "

"  to  start,  what  is  your  first  name  and  what  city  are  we  in  ?  "

"     we are in new york.  my first name is vicente, but i'll also respond to chente, vee, vic, vice, [INFORMATION CENSORED FOR FIFTEEN STRAIGHT SECONDS], and  sixty-six.     "

"  thank  you.  how  are  you  feeling  today  ?  "

"     annoyed.  i got dragged out of bed by my agent for this.  i don't even know why i still have an agent.  jesus.  siri, remind me to do something about my agent.  thanks, siri.     "

"  understandable.  how  about  an  easier  one  -  what's  your  favourite  colour  ?  "

"     sentinel will send a sniper out for me if i don't say dark purple and silver, so let's settle on red, yeah  ?  red bull red, not ferrari red.     "     

"  and  your  favourite  film  genre ?  "

"     cheesy romance.  hallmark, if i have to be specific.  there's just something about those holiday specials that you can't get anywhere else.     "

"  let's  see  -  what  is  one  thing  you  wouldn't  be  found  without ?  "

"     headphones or airpods.  even if i don't have my phone, it gives the illusion that i don't want people speaking to me.  yup, i wasn't playing anything the day that picture was taken, but no one spoke to me.  they do their job.     "

"  keeping  it  light,  what's  your  drink  of  choice  ?  "

"     there's a certain je ne sais quoi to boxed red wine.     "     vicente butchers the french and is proud.

"  which  of  the  following  have  you  attended,  and  would  you  attend ?  "

bold  what's  been  attended,  italicize  what  would  attend  /  attend  again.

the  ballet.  the  met  gala.  the  horse  track.  the  race  track. ("seriously?" "a hundered percent. take it or leave it.") a  yacht  party.  the  opera.  the  orchestra.  a  broadway  show.  a  shakespeare  production.  a  concert.  a  comedian.  an  (  american  )  football  game.  a  soccer  /  football  game.  a  documentary  film.  a  film  premiere.  a  polo  game.  art  museum.  wine  tastings.  nyc  sightseeing  tour.  celebrity  sightseeing  tours.  haunted  tours.  charity  galas.  fashion  shows.  fashion  week.  disneyworld  /  disneyland.  a  basketball  game.  a  hockey  game.  a  baseball  game.  a  boxing  match.  a  cricket  match.  the  golf  course.  the  olympics.  

"  oooh,  we're  jumping  into  something  a  bit  heavier  now.  what  is  the  one  thing  you  want  to  achieve  in  life  ?  "

"     i'd like to see the drivers i mentor and train get a championship.  if sentinel is watching this, i don't care about the constructor rankings, i just want them to win for themselves.    "

"  who  knows  what  the  fates  have  in  store.  how  do  you  feel  about  reputation.com ?  it's  all  anyone  seems  to  be  talking  about  lately.  "

"     yeah, here's what i think about that.     "     vicente curls the fingers of his prosthetic hand down so that the middle one is the only one left up.     "     i'm too damn old for that crap.  i'm washed up, but i'd rather have them pick on me than pick on the kids.     "

"  everyone  is  entitled  to  their  own  opinion,  i  guess.  what's  the  weirdest  /  craziest  headline  you've  read  about  yourself  there  ?  "

"     [INFORMATION CENSORED DUE TO COARSE LANGUAGE]     "     on screen, for viewers at home, a screenshot is shown of a tabloid site with the headline  'this was the most humiliating day of vicente cortez's CAREER. he'd have more of a chance of winning a sixth world championship now than he did twelve years ago,' dated two years back.

"  what's  something  you  are  currently  working  on  ?  "

"     strategizing new race tactics along with formulating some upgrades to the cars.     "

"  i'll  look  forward  to  it.  one  last  official  question  -  and  it's  an  easier  one.  cats  or  dogs ?  "

"     i've always had dogs, so i feel like that's a clear win.  waldo, my dachshund, just turned ten a week ago.  everyone say happy birthday waldo.     "

"  personally,  i'm  a  dog  fan  anyday.  anything  else  you'd  like  to  add ?  "

"     no. thanks. if you excuse me i have some people to talk to very urgently..     "

"  well,  thank  you  so  much  for  joining  us  today  ​​​​​​​-  can't  ​​​​​​​wait  ​​​​​​​to  ​​​​​​​have  ​​​​​​​you  ​​​​​​​back  ​​​​​​​with  ​​​​​​​us  soon."

[arianadevareux]

Show some love! 📺💖

Tell me ten of the most niche characters you’ve ever searched “x reader” fics for, and then share this with ten of your favourite people

Oooh this one's fun! Also ily anon.

I usually look up more character x oc, so I lumped it all into one! I also excluded the things I've looked up just for the fuck of it* and only included characters I looked up because I'm attracted to them.

Capricorn from Inkheart (the movie, as I haven't finished the book yet.)

Senji from Deadman Wonderland

Habit from Everyman Hybrid

Charles Lightoller from Titanic

Moira from The Princess (2022)

Greg Davies - the actual real life comedian. Bonus: David Mitchell

Mac's Dad from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Comte de Reynaud from Chocolat

Andy French from Mission Hill

Deacon from Water World

*Looking through my AO3 history and uncovered "Martin Luther King Jr. gets busy with the green M&" so like I don't think that counts.

I'd give anything to be given a list from everything I've read fanfic. Like gimme my MSN boards history. My Quizilla history. I was lookin up some shit on there.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

For a while, I’ve been telling myself I’m too focused on the specific Chocolate Milk Gang era, and even when I watch later comedy it tends to be stuff by people who originated in those early 00s, and I should get into more recent stuff made by younger comedians. This week, I decided to ignore that entirely and actually go to the generation before the CMG.

There’s a bit of a gap in the comedy I’ve seen, covering, approximately, the years between Blackadder and the beginning of the 21st Century. Not that nothing is in that gap. My Armando Iannucci obsession has taken me through On the Hour/The Day Today/every other Alan Patridge thing, some of which were in the 90s. Then there were Iannucci’s other 90s radio things. Brass Eye was 90s. Spaced was 90s. French and Saunders/Vicar of Dibley/Absolutely Fabulous was 90s. Technically Mr. Bean was 90s, though that still feels too much like a children’s show to count alongside the rest of this comedy. So I guess when I put that all that together, it’s clear that it isn’t a complete gap in my knowledge.

But still, there are a bunch of really fundamental 90s things I’ve never seen or heard. Various Chris Morris things. Everything Eddie Izzard’s ever done. All of those things with Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall and those other related people, which I think was actually 80s, but was entirely left out when my dad spent my childhood introducing me to 60s, 70s, and 80s Britcom via audio CDs and DVD boxsets. And until last week, everything by Lee and Herring.

There are a few reasons why I’d never sought out the Lee and Herring stuff before, all of those reasons being easily summarized by the words “Richard Herring”. Of my few reasons to not go looking for Richard Herring things, I’d say one is defensible, and the others are not really.

I’ve never really liked him. I first saw him on season 10 of Taskmaster, which came out in Fall 2020. It was the first season that came out after I got into the show, so the first one I watched as it aired, instead of all at once. And I didn’t have any good reason to dislike him. I just found him annoying.

I think I found him annoying because he was trying too hard, which is weird, because normally the Taskmaster contestants who try too hard are my favourites. I love the overly competitive ones who take it really seriously and care too much. But it felt forced with Richard Herring. Like he was trying to play a character of a guy who’s trying too hard. Which I think made me dislike him even more because of how partial I was to the overly competitive contestants, since my attachment to that style made me more annoyed about someone taking that style and doing it falsely.

I don’t even think it really was false. He’d been trying to get on the show for ages, I think he actually did care a lot about winning. But it’s like he needed everyone to know how much he cared, and the fact that he actually did care meant he really wanted to be seen a certain way, so he was forcing it too much. I don’t know, that’s the best way I can explain it and it probably still doesn’t make much sense. He also just wasn’t as funny or as likeable as Johnny Vegas or Daisy May Cooper or Mawaan Rizwan, which is how we’re actually supposed to judge Taskmaster contestants.

But it was fall 2020, I had still only recently had COVID rip actual sports away from me and was using Taskmaster pretty hard to cope with that, so I was watching it half like a comedy show and half like a sport. And I disliked Richard Herring both as a comedy character and as a contestant in the sport called Taskmaster. I so wanted him to lose. When Daisy May Cooper’s bridge fell down in the final seconds of the final live task to lose her the task and therefore the season, I swore at the TV exactly as I would if I were watching a real sport and the person I supported conceded a point, which was both extremely frustrating and rather liberating, making me remember that I could still access that feeling even in the depths of 2020 when sports were gone.

Then Richard Herring turned up on the Taskmaster podcast, as the winner always gets to after the final episode, and he was so cool about it that I almost felt bad for rooting against him so hard. He fully acknowledged that Daisy May Cooper was the people’s champion, the fans liked her more and justifiably wanted her to win, she’d been really entertaining all season. He had some nice back-and-forth on the podcast, some good explanations for some things that had annoyed me, and was funny.

Later on he came back on the Taskmaster podcast, was again entertaining and good with Ed Gamble and had some interesting analysis, and he talked about how he’d recently had cancer, and what it was like to think he might not see his kids grow up. That made me feel bad again for having disliked him so much, because he was just a bit annoying on a TV show once, obviously I don’t want him to die of cancer.

And then… you know what? I can’t be bothered to find the source again, so I'm just going to find my old post instead. A couple of years ago, I came across something, and I already wrote about it here so I won’t write it all out again. It’s an issue I’m particularly sensitive about, because I coach teenagers, and I see how common it is for creepy adults (almost always creepy adult men – in my many years of coaching teenagers, I can think of maybe two instances of adult women being creepy toward them, and more instances than I could begin to count of it happening with adult men) to be interested in them, and I see it from their side. I’m the one they talk to about how uncomfortable it makes them, I’m the one who sees how it makes them anxious about just living in the world, I’m the one who gets to know them as people and wants to protect them and it makes me have a probably over-the-top powerful hatred for anyone who could ever see them the way creepy adults see them.

I mean, I think it’s an entirely reasonable view for me to think that adults trying to fuck teenagers is wrong. But I also know that there may be some grey areas that I don’t recognize because of my experiences. Grey areas like it might not be the end of the world for an adult man to just look at some girls who are legally of age but technically teenagers (ie. 18/19, what he called them in the original post, though as I said I’ve absolutely seen adult men look at a girl they don’t know and intentionally overestimate her age, they guess that maybe she’s 19 even though she’s clearly younger, because if she’s 19 they’re allowed to stare at her, even though 19 is still young enough for it to be creepy if adult men stare at them, just because they’re old enough so you won’t get arrested for it doesn’t mean she’s old enough so it’s actually okay). I'll go so far as to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was joking in the second quote, about thinking they might be even younger, charitably assume the reality is they were clearly 19. But even if I do that... still not okay. Still not okay. Still not okay that the fact that they looked like teenagers is what he liked, unless that in itself was some sort of joke I'm not getting.

So that’s not much of a grey area, but it is one a bit, I guess, as the story didn’t have him actually approaching the girls or anything like that. The actual grey area here, I think, is whether it’s fair to hate someone forever because of one story they wrote in one blog post over fifteen years ago, and repeated once, in just one page out of their entire autobiography (a page that was, to be fair to Richard Herring, taken out of context – though the blog post fucking wasn’t). Not even something he did fifteen years ago, since he didn’t actually do anything in the story. Just something he wrote about thinking.

So… there’s my sole defensible reason for disliking Richard Herring. It joins a number of other, less defensible reasons, all similar to why I originally took against him on Taskmaster. Since then, I’ve seen him on a few other TV shows, I’ve heard bits of his stand-up in various other contexts (never seen a full show, he just sometimes turns up on stand-up shows with multiple people), and I’ve never much enjoyed his presence. I don't find him particularly funny. I find him annoying for reasons I can’t quite define, and therefore can’t defend, and stopped feeling the need to defend when I came across that old blog post and then had a defensible reason for my dislike of him.

Oh, I do have another reason why I never sought out old Lee and Herring stuff, despite how much I like Stewart Lee’s stand-up, and this is the least defensible one of all, even worse than “I found one of them mildly annoying for no good reason”. Which is that when I got into On the Hour and The Day Today, I was looking up the team behind them. Saw some names I knew: Armando Iannucci, the reason I was there. Chris Morris, Brass Eye guy whom I know has done other exciting stuff but I’m not familiar with much of it. David Quantick, guy I’ve heard on Radio 4 sometimes. Peter Baynham, guy I know from some other Iannucci radio things. Graham Linehan, let’s just pretend I didn’t see that name so I can go on enjoying this stuff.

And Lee and Herring, on On the Hour but not The Day Today (actually I think Linehan and the other Father Ted guy replaced them for The Day Today, as I recall in a memory that I can’t be bothered to Google so I might be wrong), they were on the team but left due to “disputes”. Which put in my head the idea that there was a split between the rest of that writing team and Lee and Herring, and I think my brain subconsciously took away from that: “Armando Iannucci was on one side of a dispute, Lee and Herring on another side, Armando Iannucci has never done anything wrong, therefore I don’t like Lee and Herring”.

I say this happened subconsciously, and that’s important, because I want it clear that I’m not stupid enough to have decided this consciously, because it makes no sense whatsoever. Mainly because it was presumably some sort of legal or management dispute, not a fight with Armando Iannucci directly. They were clearly still on good terms with those guys, I’m sure there are many examples proving this but the first to come to mind is that years later Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris were both significant features of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Also, okay, I guess there’s an argument that Armando Iannucci may have done one or two things wrong in his entire life, Charm Offensive had its high points but also some low points, Avenue 5 had great moments but fell far short of its potential especially in season 2. Consciously, I know all this. Subconsciously, I think I may have seen they were on the wrong side of a dispute with a creative team that made something I liked, and decided I don’t like them then.

So that’s an incredibly indefensible reason to have never sought out the Lee and Herring stuff, while I was going through what I thought of as Britcom “staples” throughout 2020/2021/2022 – that when I think the term “Lee and Herring”, I have a vague and undefined aversion to it in my head, that I think might have originated from that. From a dispute I know nothing about that probably came down to some legal or financial technicalities that have nothing to do with anything personal or creative.

There's my list of reasons. Some are good, some are not. Really, one is good and the others aren't. Last week, I heard a recording of some of the jokes from the Lee and Herring catalogue, thought it was very, very funny, wanted to get the jokes properly and hear what else came from there, so I've decided to watch Fist of Fun, and then This Morning with Richard Not Judy. And just, you know, not think about the teenage girl thing. Like I do when I watch Noel Fielding. It turns out everyone in the world is terrible, we try to enjoy comedy anyway.

...I started writing this post several days ago now, but I kept stopping because I've been sick and didn't have the energy to write a bunch of stuff, and then I had to go to work and things. This took me so long to write that now, as I get around to actually posting it, I've actually finished season 1 of Fist of Fun. And have downloaded the radio series of that and Lionel Nimrod, because my sense of completism is already telling me I can't skip those. And I'm going to write about what I thought of it, but first will post this, to have a record of what I was thinking before I started it and when I didn't really know what to expect.

This is going to be a thing now, though. That's what I'm doing next. Not finding younger comedians. Finding double acts consisting of two old white guys from the pre-Chocolate Milk Gang generation. First Ince/Legge and now this. God, I hope Michael Legge has never written a blog post about wanting to fuck a teenage girl. He's written a lot of blog posts over the years. Someone tell me right now if any of them were about wanting to fuck teenage girls, so I can know that before I get any more attached to him than I already am.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (466): Mon 26th Jun 2023

Unlike yesterday where I was on shitty stow for the entire day, today I immediately got pulled aside and sent straight down to shipping. I could have French kissed this guys penis right then and there because I’m now at the stage where doing any amour of stowing just fucks with my head. Although I’m happy that I’m apparently getting moved to shipping full time I imagine that I will occasionally have to go back on stow when they’re low on staff. For six weeks last Christmas I did no stowing at all as I was needed on pack so I imagine that when Christmas comes around this year (assuming the Russians haven’t taken over and replace Christmas with whatever their version of Christmas is…Putinmas I imagine) I will be sent from shipping to pack once again but that’s fine with me since pack and shipping are my two favourite processes. To be honest I’m surprised that they haven’t moved me from stow to another process already since my rates on pack are always significantly higher than my rates on stow. It makes me think back to school where they kept badgering me about focusing on my English, Maths and Science and I kept on pointing out to them that I was only on track to get a D- in all three of these subjects but in Food Technology I was on track to getting a D+ so why not just let me focus all my energy on that? They didn’t bite…and I ended up getting an F in all four subjects anyway.

I had to avoid the internet all day so I wouldn’t have the results from Forbidden Door spoiled but it was worth it because AEW and New Japan put on a hell of a show last night. I never thought I’d say it. It MJF really carried Tanahashi in their title match. Tanners is really starting to show his age and the extent of the injuries to his knees since MJF had to slow down to accommodate The Ace and at certain points had to make himself look bad by selling for moves that Tanners could only put half of his energy into. Unless Tanahashi takes some time off to get his knees looked at then I’m afraid to say don’t think he’s ping for the squared circle.  Punk vs Kojima was really entertaining and Punk did a good job of playing up to the hostile crowd. I think he’s accepted that certain people are just going to see him as the bad guy and rather than just ignore it like Cena and Roman Reigns he’s just going to go with it which I think is the right move. Sanada vs Jungle Boy Jack Perry was entertaining enough burnout still looked out of place to have an upper midcarder just be rewarded with a title shot because he was the first to public ally accept an open challenge (even if it was clear he wasn’t going to win the belt). Luckily though it all worked out for Jack as they had him turn on Hook after the match solidifying his heel turn. I think this was definitely the best move as his character has felt stale for a while and there has definitely an audible fan backlash for a while now so I think it was for the best to have him embrace the hate and go a different direction with his character. This will be the true test of whether he truly benefited from the tutelage of Christian Cage. The Elite vs BCC ten man tag match was great with plenty of drama although it looks like the feud between these two factions is still going to continue which is starting to make my dick itch because this feud should have ended a while back…in fact I dare say the BcC should have ended a while back because Regal isn’t even there anymore. Ospreay vs Kenny Omega (who I’ve recently realized is the spot of British comedian Seann Walsh) was amazing. Fully deserving of the seventeen stars Meltzer is inevitably going to award it. I especially liked the ending of Callis helping Ospreay win because it gives Ospreay some added heat for when he returns to Japan and also helps set up the Omega vs Takeshita feud. Sting, Darby and Naito vs Jericho, Guevara and Suzuki was predictably disappointing. Naito has been Randy Ortoning it for a few years now and I wouldn’t be surprised if he called it quits before long. Sting messed up a few spots and as much as it pains me to say it I think it’s a good think he’s hanging it up this year. When he first came to AEW I enjoyed it because although he could only do the basics he could still bump but now he can’t even do that anymore. Finally Okada vs Bryan Danielson was everything longtime fans of both athletes were hoping it would be and more. Some great technical mat work, lots of close calls with both almost hitting their finish and both men going out of their way to make the other look good. Sadly it looks like Danielson suffered a broken arm in this match but he managed to finish the match because of course he did and it looks like he’ll only be out for a few weeks.

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

058 of 2023

What’s your favorite accessory?:

My wedding ring.

What is the last article of clothing you bought?:

Yet another hoodie.

What does that article of clothing look like?:

Black with white sleeves, such a 90s vibe.

Which is better: candy necklaces or Ring Pops?:

What is Ring Pops?

What’s your favorite kind of soda?:

Coca Cola.

What program do you use to play your mp3s on?:

I use Spotify.

If you’ve taken the SATs (or PSATs/ACTs/etc), what was your score?:

I don’t know what it is.

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?:

Jesus Christ, what.

Do you honestly care how much the woodchuck could chuck?:

Not at all.

What time do you wake up every morning?:

It depends, but usually around 7am.

What was the last movie you rented or bought?:

I don’t waste my money on movies.

Do you play Dance Dance Revolution?:

Hell no.

If so, what’s your favorite song to play?:

N/A.

What do you think of the Kool-Aid man?:

I’ve never seen it and I only know this thing from American forum users.

Do you like Dane Cook (he’s a comedian)?:

I barely recognise him.

Have you had a song in your head today? What is it?:

For a change, no.

Have you ever humped someone to greet them in school?:

What?

Who would you rather have sex with: Prince or Billy Idol?:

No, thanks.

What was the last concert you went to?:

Shuriken II.

What is the next concert you are going to?:

Not planning to go to any.

What is your favorite board game?:

I’m not that into board games, but maybe Monopoly.

Do you think Jade Puget is really awesome?:

I’ve never heard of them.

What’s your favorite punctuation mark?:

Question mark. It could easily describe me.

What foreign language do you take in school?:

French and English, both mandatory.

Have you ever read any of the Chronicles of Narnia series?:

No, I’m not interested.

Do you hate Harry Potter as much as I do?:

Not hate, but not like either, and I’ve lost all respect to the author.

How many times have you seen the movies in the Star Wars series?:

Zero.

What is your favorite anime?:

None.

Do you own a lava lamp? Blacklite? Fiber optic lamp?:

There’s a lava lamp somewhere in our house, but it’s not mine. I’d like optic fiber lamp, though.

Do you write it as “favorite” or “favourite”?:

Favourite. British English is more natural to me.

How many bracelets do you own?:

Some rubber ones that I don’t even wear. I’d like a chain bracelet, though.

How many bracelets are you wearing?:

None.

What’s your favorite flavor of Pocky?:

Never tried any.

What’s your favorite way to wear your hair?:

On hair gel or wax. I don’t like it lying flat on my head.

What brand of gum do you most often chew?:

Mentos. I bought the lemon flavoured one in France and I’m in love. Too bad it’s not available in Belgium.

Do you believe in the Zodiac somewhat?:

Not at all.

What’s your Zodiac sign?:

Taurus.

What’s your Chinese astrology sign?:

Horse.

If you were to attend an art school, what subject would you major in?:

Photography.

How old is your PC?:

My laptop is 3 years old. Almost 4, honestly.

Do you have any 16-bit video game systems in your house? (ie Sega Genesis):

Does the NES emulator app in my laptop count?

When was the last time you got some film developed?:

20 years ago? Not sure about this question.

What was on that roll of film?:

How should I remember?

If you were to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would it be of?:

This little triangle on my collarbone.

When you turn 18 (or already have), what did/will you do on your birthday?:

I hit 18 almost 15 years ago and I remember I was sick.

Can you use a hula hoop?:

Maybe I can, but do I want to? Nope.

What is the longest distance you’ve ever walked?:

10 kilometres. No problem for me, I walk a lot every day.

Do you wear eyeliner?:

No, I don’t.

Has anything been bothering you physically lately?:

Some neurological things last year.

How about mentally?:

Anxiety, but I got antidepressants and seems like they started working.

Do you already have an idea of what you wanna do for college?:

I graduated years ago.

What’s your favorite kind of fruity candy?:

Wine gums, if ever. Something like Haribo.

How long do you think you could do jumping jacks non-stop?:

I don’t know, not gonna try.

What do you usually use your tokens on at the arcade?:

I don’t go to such places.

What’s your favorite kind of fruit?:

Strawberry.

What’s your favorite kind of Coca-Cola or Pepsi (Vanilla, lemon, lime, etc.)?:

Vanilla. Too bad it’s not available in my country :( at least it is in France and I live about 60 kilometres from the border, so no problem for me.

What do you think of eyeball jewelry?:

...what? It doesn’t sound appealing at all, anyone really does such things?

What kind of deodorant do you use?:

Axe. Really. XD

Have you ever had a lemonade stand?:

Not a thing in my country.

What’s your favorite font?:

Typewriter or what’s the name again, but I love it.

What size and color do you use with it?:

Standard. Or default.

What’s better: glitter or rhinestones?

Rhinestones.

If you were given a $50 gift card to an art store, what would you buy?:

I live in the euro zone, I would have absolutely no use of dollars gift card.

Do you like taking pictures of yourself?:

No, I don’t. I just shoot my outfits sometimes, but without face.

Are you fairly photogenic?:

Haha no.

What was your first job?:

Fruit picker as a summer job, aged 16 to 20.

If you could have wings, what kind would they be (bird, insect, bat…)?:

Shitbird aka pigeon. I would freely shit on the cars of my neighbours.

What do you order at your favorite fast food place?:

I don’t really eat fast food.

What kind of sauce do you get with chicken nuggets?:

Barbecue is the best for that.

Do you like making sandcastles at the beach?:

I’m not that skilled in this XD maybe I liked it better as a child. We liked to make small pools of sea water that were getting warm from the sun, and then lie in them.

If you had a tricycle/big wheel when you were a kid, what did it look like?:

Apparently a green tricycle, but I barely remember it.

Did you have streamers in the handlebars of your bike?:

It’s the first time I hear about something like this. No, I don’t and I wouldn’t want to have.

Would you put streamers on your bike now?:

Nope. It looks girly.

What is your favorite McDonald’s toy you’ve ever had?:

Never had a toy from there.

What was your favorite toy that you broke when you were a kid?:

I don’t even remember.

How do you like your hamburger?:

With fish or chicken instead of beef.

What’s your favorite kind of juice?:

Orange and optionally apple, but it has to be 100% and without pulp.

What is your favorite belt you own?:

I don’t wear belts. I probably should, my trousers are all too big for mre XD

What is the most obscure thing you’ve found at a thrift store?:

Nothing particular.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen while taking a walk?:

Somebody’s underwear hanging on a tree. Like, how?

How often do you go for a walk?:

Almost every day.

What does your discman look like?:

I’ve never had a discman.

What is your favorite kind of Pop Tarts?:

Not a thing here.

When was the last time you colored in a coloring book?:

25 years ago or something?

If you were able to sell your soul to someone, how much would you charge?:

No, thanks. My soul is mine.

What would you buy with the money?:

No.

What instrument’s sound makes you smile?:

Piano, violin, cello, harp.

Do you like to be tickled?:

Hell no. I’m oversensitive.

Does tickling turn you on?:

Nope. unless I’m being accidentally touched I’m not gonna say where, but it’s a normal reaction that has nothing to do with attraction.

What brand of condoms do you usually use?:

Durex, I guess.

What was the last CD you bought that you really liked?:

Spectre by HRFTR. I use Spotify, but I bought physical copy as well, to support these guys.

When was the last time you had a papercut?:

Long time ago, but I remember how painful they can be.

Who’s one person you absolutely hate and why?:

I don’t hate anyone. I’m just not fond of some people.

What makes you think a person is absolutely obnoxious?:

Bragging about things, pretending to be smarter than everyone around, patronising, personal jokes with people they’re not even friends with, know-it-all attitude (don’t even tell me how to do my job if you have no experience in it!!!).

What was your favorite Pokemon?:

Purrloin. Such a cute kitty.

Did you watch the Power Rangers when you were little?:

I did, but I was never really into it.

What’s better: Ben and Jerry’s or Dairy Queen?:

I don’t even know Dairy Queen at all.

If you could go over to someone’s house right now, who’s and why?:

My parents because yes, check your grammar, by the way.

Are you good at playing ping-pong?:

I was decent, but it’s not my favourite sport.

Do you like to chew on things?:

Very much so. Even on my own nails, although nail biting is pretty gross and I’m aware of it.

What’s a nervous habit of yours?:

Biting my nails, I just said. Also, biting my lips sometimes.

Do you like to paint your nails?:

I see no reason why I would.

Would you be able to fit in a kiddie pool?:

Probably. I’m flexible and rather slender, so.

What makes you giggle with glee?:

Many things, but I can’t mention anything from the top of my head.

When you read the comics in the paper, what do you go for first?:

I don’t read comics.

[litgwritersroom]

One in a Million

S4 | Bruno/MC, Youcef/MC | 3800+ words | @tammyisobsessedwith

Best friends Bruno and Youcef meet up only to discover the girl's they're seeing have a lot of suspicious things in common...

Written for Suzi's bday 💕

The afternoon sun glinted off the door when Bruno walked into the pub, a nearly perceptible spring in his steps matching the wide smile on his face, both obvious signs to even the most casual of observers as to his general good mood ─ not that that would be an uncommon sight. After all, one would usually count on Bruno Kaminski to have a smile on his lips and a joke at the tip of his tongue.

The man sitting at one of the high tables in the back was more observant than most and he also had the added bonus of being one of Bruno’s best friends, so his eyes tracked his progress towards him with interest. While it was true that he could always expect the comedian to present to the world his rather goofy and sunny disposition on any given day, it seemed there was something else behind the energy surrounding him today.

“Youcef, my boy!” Bruno greeted him with a huge grin, clapping a hand warmly on his shoulder before taking the seat opposite him.

His friend merely raised an eyebrow back at him, a barely-there smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Boy? You do remember I’m two years older than you, yes?”

“Alright, my good sir. Excuse-moi, monsieur.” Bruno said gamely in an exaggerated French accent.

“Although many people would be hard pressed to know it, as I’m obviously far more mature.” Youcef rolled his eyes gently before bringing his glass of sparkling water up to his lips.

“Mate, don’t start on me with the whole grumpy Frenchman routine already,” Bruno said dismissively with a laugh even as he signalled a waitress over.

“Why not?” He challenged, his voice soft and a gleam visible in his dark eyes. “You’re obviously about to get into your bad comedian routine.”

“Oh-ho-ho, touché.” Bruno made a silly sort of half curtsy before he turned to the waitress who approached their table.

Youcef watched him indulgently with a small smile even as his friend joked easily with the waitress before placing his order. The pub was one of Bruno’s favourite dives, not really the sort of place that Youcef would frequent these days, but he always made an exception for him whenever their busy schedules would align and they had time to meet in person. He supposed that for someone watching them without any context they made an interesting duo, one so unlike the other ─ Youcef with his carefully bleached and coiffed hair and obviously expensive yet subdued clothes, Bruno with his colourful patterned shirt and blow-dried hair with the ridiculous (in Youcef’s opinion) frosted tips. 

And it was true that they might have never met if it wasn’t for the fact that they had the same agent, Valentina Castillo, who had introduced them during an event that her PR firm had organised a few years before. Despite having such different personalities and against all odds the two of them had become fast friends.

“So tell me, mon cher.” Youcef said once the waitress had left their table. “What has put you in such a good mood hmm?”

“Life is good, my friend!” Bruno said cheerfully. “I’m halfway through my tour and most dates are sold out. There’s a couple of interviews scheduled for next month and I’m also itching to try out some new material at the clubs when it all winds down.”

“I’m happy for you.” Youcef told him with a quiet and sincere smile. He knew how much Bruno had dedicated to his craft in the last few years and how he was sowing all the rewards of his hard work. “You deserve all the good things coming your way. Although it does make me fear for the state of Britain’s collective sense of humour.” He added the last jab with an obvious teasing smirk.

Bruno took no offence at the words and simply gave him a wide grin in return, as after many years he knew that Youcef’s teasing, dry humour was his own brand of love language. 

“Yeah, things seem to be going so well. Almost too well.” He said, his eyes darting away and a small sigh escaping.

“Oh?” Youcef merely intoned, raising an eyebrow at him before taking another sip from his glass.

Bruno’s light blue eyes darted back to him and he seemed to try to suppress the smile overcoming his lips before giving up on that losing battle. “Yeah. So I met a girl. And mate, I swear, I think I’m in love.”

The French man couldn’t help the small, low chuckle that escaped and the slight shake of his head at hearing those words. Bruno himself couldn’t stop his own laughter as he looked back at him. Right then the waitress breezed by and put a pint of beer before him and the two just enjoyed a moment as they silently clicked their glasses and sipped their drinks.

Youcef didn’t doubt what his friend said, although he would debate that between the two of them they had very different definitions of ‘falling in love’. For as long as he’d known him, he saw Bruno falling in love almost as easily as breathing. A cute girl at the crowd watching his set, a salesgirl at a store when they went shopping together, a new assistant in the PR team handling his affairs, a bartender at a club when they’d go out, one of Youcef’s model friends when he’d come out to watch one of his fashion shows. Bruno just wore his heart on his sleeve and the poor little thing would flutter in excitement, never worrying if his hopes and dreams were about to be smashed to pieces before anything had even really happened.

Which was the complete opposite of how Youcef would go about things. Ever since Camille, he’d hide behind his armour of smouldering good looks, high fashion clothes and lavish lifestyle, easily engaging others in physical intimacy while keeping his heart hidden behind locked doors and avoiding any type of real, heartfelt intimacy. Well, at least that was what he’d been doing in the last few years until…

Anyway, he shook his head to get out of his own thoughts and focus back on his friend. He could see Bruno was bursting to share the story with him and Youcef should have time to tell his own tale later. “Tell me all about it. Have you actually gone out with her yet?”

“Oh ha ha.” Bruno replied easily, a sardonic eyebrow raised, but his lips still sported a smile. “Yeah, I know you’re always making fun of me for my ‘love at first sight’ tendencies and how I say I’m in love with a different girl every week, but I’ll have you know I’ve actually been going out with her for two months now.”

“Really?” Youcef asked, watching him with interest, as it seemed like this time there was something substantial behind the words his friend would usually throw out rather carelessly.

“Yeah,” Bruno replied, his eyes and smile sparkling. “We both have busy schedules, so it gets tricky but we meet up every chance we get. When I’m on the road we just chat for hours on the phone after I’m done with my set and honestly… I’ve never felt like this before.” He said, a happy sigh escaping his lips, a serene, contented expression taking over his features.

“That sounds great.” Youcef gave him a small smile back. “How did you two meet?”

“She pulled me up for a chat after one of my sets at the stand up club.” Bruno explained. “At first I couldn’t believe she was really into me, she’s just so bloody gorgeous! And she’s smart, too. Way too smart for me. Went to Oxford and now works as a manager at a big pharma company.”

“Oh?” Youcef merely said, one eyebrow twitching up momentarily. Something stirred deep down in his stomach as he heard those words, but surely they wouldn’t mean anything? Lots of people went to Oxford and worked at pharma companies in the city.

“Yeah, I know, not the type of girl you’d think would be into me, right?” Bruno said easily with a smile. “But she’s genuinely one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met. We can chat about anything for hours. And she could give your model friends a run for their money, too! Picture this: light tanned skin, deep blue eyes that shine brightly like sapphires, golden hair as smooth as silk.” He said in an exaggerated tone, making wide hand gestures as his description veered into waxing poetic territory before continuing in a less joking tone.

“She even got a beauty spot near the corner of her eye that makes her look like those golden age movie stars. She’s about 5’7 with legs that go on for days and her hips…” He let out a breathy sort of chuckle as he shook his head a little. “I don’t wanna get crass, but man, her hips drive me crazy.”

“Sounds like a real bombshell.” Youcef commented softly, a barely visible frown forming a line between his eyebrows. The more he heard about this girl, the more he felt like an unpleasant feeling was spreading throughout his body, but he didn’t think his friend had noticed anything strange in his demeanour so far.

“Tell me about it!” Bruno said with another light laugh. “She’s always dressed to perfection when we go out, I can’t believe she’s willing to be seen in public with an idiot like me.” He chuckled in that self-deprecating manner that was a signature part of his humour. “But to be honest my favourite look is when she’s at home just lounging about, her hair up in a messy bun. I feel like no one else gets to see her just like that, you know? So relaxed as she just scrolls through her phone, biting on her lip and running a finger on the pendant with the letter S on the golden chain around her neck. I swear, she never takes it off, it’s almost like a part of her, like the tattoo she has on her ribs of the moon and stars that she got— "

“─after her name.” Youcef completed the thought before he could stop himself, the two of them speaking the words in unison.

“Yeah,” Bruno said, giving him a somewhat amused and confused frown. “How did you know? What, did you become a mind reader since we last saw each other?”

Youcef just stared back at his friend for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Merde,” he murmured softly under his breath before taking a sip as he avoided his eyes. As the glass hit the table with a dull thud, his fingers slipped into his pocket and he pulled out his phone. “I can’t believe this is happening, but…”

He could feel Bruno’s eyes watching him in confusion and Youcef swallowed with difficulty before turning his phone over and showing him something on the screen. He could see the moment realisation dawned on him, but a part of his friend was still confused as his mouth hung slightly open and he pointed a finger at him. “Hey, that’s my…” Bruno’s voice trailed off, his brow furrowing. “Youcef, why do you have a picture of my girlfriend on your phone?”

“I swear to you on my life, mon ami, I had no idea.” Youcef said, his voice coming out softly but his eyes were shining earnestly. “I met her a couple of months ago at an after-party for a fashion show and we’ve been seeing each other ever since.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Bruno said, his voice deadpan and still considerably calm despite his words. “So my girl and my best friend…”

“She never said she was seeing anyone else.” Youcef was quick to say, rather defensively. “In fact, I remember her specifically saying she was single when she approached me, asking if she could buy me a drink.”

Bruno blinked dazedly at him for a moment. “That’s the same thing that happened to me.” He paused and saw his friend just nodding back at him. “She’s been playing us both.”

“It would appear it is so, yes.” Youcef said with a long sigh.

“Oh man…” Bruno whispered, leaning back on his chair and running his hands over his face. His fingers went into his hair and he avoided his friend’s eyes for a moment before asking. “Was it just like a casual sex thing or…?” He trailed off with a shrug, as he knew most of Youcef’s relationships tended to be like that.

“I…” Youcef said, his mouth hanging open for a moment as he debated on how to answer this, but he’d always been brutally honest to a fault and it wouldn’t do to lie now, even if a part of him wished it weren’t true, if only to protect his friend. But he also knew Bruno had a tendency to forgive too easily and he deserved to know the truth. “Honestly? No, not for me. And up until now I had thought not for her, either.”

“Shit.” He closed his eyes and hung his head for a moment. “I really thought she was the one, y’know? Well, what are the odds?” He said with a smile that somehow managed to be sardonic, rueful and heartbreaking at the same time.

“Most unlikely.” Youcef said quietly, his lips pressed on a thin line.

“I guess this is it, then.” Bruno let out a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. “I knew this was too good to be true. She was like one in a million.”

They remained in silence for a few moments, just sipping their drinks as the shock washed over them. “What are you going to do about it?” Youcef asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bruno shot him a look, the corner of his lips turning up in a rather humourless smirk now. “Well, seeing as the ground still hasn’t opened up to swallow me whole, I guess I’ll have to do all the legwork myself and just… disappear?” He finished with a shrug.

“What?” Youcef asked sharply, a frown marked between his eyebrows. “Why should you have to hide away?”

“Uh, to spare myself from the pain and utter humiliation?” The comedian raised an eyebrow at him as if that should’ve been obvious. “I mean, I know I joke a lot about this kind of stuff on stage, but even for me this is a bit too much.”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re not the one who did anything wrong.” Youcef insisted in a firm tone. “In fact, we should both confront her and say our piece.”

“Hard pass.” Bruno retorted promptly, his words coming out along a short bark of laughter. “Hi, have you met me? I’m the least confrontational person, ever.”

“And you know I don’t suffer fools gladly.” The French model insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I believe in honesty and openness, and what she did to the both of us is… detestable.” He said, a sneer forming on his lips. “She should at least hear that we figured her out and will no longer be pawns in her game.”

“Oh man.” Bruno whispered, looking up for a moment as if asking for strength from some deity above before running one hand over his face and looking back at his friend. “Yeah, I know, you’re right. Fuck. How do we do this?”

Youcef’s sneer morphed seamlessly into a smirk then. “When we made plans to meet today, you mentioned you were coming back into town earlier than planned. Does she know?”

Bruno shook his head. “No, I was gonna surprise her later.”

“Well, we can still do that.” His friend said, a gleam visible in his dark eyes. “I’ve been texting her and we had arranged for a dinner date tonight. How about you join us hmm?” He suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Slowly, a smirk also took form on Bruno’s lips and he nodded back.

They made the arrangements and parted ways to get ready for the night and to put their plan into action. Normally Youcef would make a point to pick her up if they were going out, but he made an excuse of a last minute meeting with his manager and said he’d meet her at the restaurant. She agreed to it quite easily, unsuspecting that anything was amiss.

That night, the two friends were sitting at the bar in the lounge area of one of Youcef’s favourite restaurants, watching the entrance avidly until they saw her walking in through the front door. Youcef could see the pang of pain cross on Bruno’s face as they just observed her for a moment. She did look quite exquisite, golden hair pinned up and a few loose strands elegantly framing her face, the golden chain with the delicate S pendant gleaming just above her modest cleavage, her hips swaying tantalisingly as her dress swished around her legs, the deep blue of its fabric no doubt highlighting her bright sapphire eyes.

She went straight to the maitre’d who had been instructed to lead her to a secluded table on the back near the window. Both men looked at each other and traded a nod before downing their drinks and Youcef pushed off against the bar, heading towards her first.

“Youcef, darling.” She said, a dazzling smile forming on her full lips as she saw him appear suddenly before her.

“Bonsoir, bébé.” He said smoothly, leaning in and kissing both her cheeks before taking a seat in front of her. “My apologies for meeting you straight here. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“No, not at all. It was perfect timing, I just got here.” She said with an easy smile, reaching across the table to take his hand.

“Good.” He said, his smile sharp. “I hope you don’t mind, I ran into a friend at my meeting and invited him to join us.”

He looked up just as Bruno approached them, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers, looking like the very picture of casual coolness despite how nervous he had been earlier. She looked up as well, her eyes widening a little as he stood next to their table.

“Hello.” Bruno said with a smile, his voice somehow coming out way smoother than they’d expected.

“Oh.” She said a little breathlessly, blinking up at him for a moment. “This is your friend?” She glanced at Youcef before reaching her hand towards Bruno. “I think I know you. The comedian, Bruno Kaminski, right?”

Youcef let out a loud, humourless laugh then, drawing attention to himself. “Ah chérie. Are you seriously attempting to say you don’t know him?”

She looked back at him with a frown, withdrawing her hand as Bruno never reached for it. “Well, I know who he is, but I’d never met him before.”

“Really?” Bruno scoffed in disbelief. “You’re gonna keep denying it even now?”

“I swear, I don’t know what you’re─”

“Hey! There you are, you dropped your phone in the cab—"

The three of them looked up as another person approached their table, hand outstretched with a phone in her hand and suddenly they were all frozen in place. Bruno did a comical double take as the woman drawing closer to them was the exact spitting image of the one sitting down at the table, only this one had her blonde hair cascading in gentle waves down her shoulders and she was wearing a business casual black dress.

“Bruno?” She said, brow furrowing as she realised he was standing next to her. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” Bruno repeated in an utterly befuddled state. “I think I might be having a stroke, that’s what. Am I seeing double or, or — what in the world is going on?” He said, reaching for a chair and shakily sitting down.

“Wait, you thought—" The woman sitting at the chair said, interrupting herself as she pointed from Youcef to Bruno before both women looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Bruno, this is my sister, Selena.” The woman standing said, once their laughter had subsided, gesturing from the man still sitting in apoplectic shock towards the woman who was sitting down.

“And Youcef, this is my sister, Stella.” The one who had been introduced as Selena gestured from the French man towards the woman standing next to her.

“What?” Bruno said rather dumbly while Youcef could only raise both his eyebrows as he took them in. “I mean… What?”

“Twin sisters?” Youcef asked, his soft voice not quite masking the shock he was in.

“Yes.” The women said in unison, smiling and nodding at them.

“But your uni, your job, the necklace, the tattoo—" Bruno said, still spluttering in disbelief.

“Yes, we went to the same uni and work at the same pharma company now. I’m a product manager in the marketing department.” Selena said, still with a smile before gesturing with a hand at her sister. “Stella is a project manager in the clinical research department.”

“And we got matching necklaces for our 18th birthday, then we got the same tattoo on our ribs to represent our names.” Stella picked up on the explanation. “Moon and stars? Selena and Stella?”

“Mon Dieu,” Youcef whispered, still a little dazed but shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. “This is quite unbelievable.”

“No shit,” Bruno muttered under his breath. “I mean, what are the odds?” He said, before his eyes found Youcef’s and they both burst into laughter.

A little while later the four of them were sitting at the table, laughing together and having drinks after placing their dinner order.

“I remember you said your sister was your best friend,” Bruno commented, a smile etched on his lips and he shook his head a little as he held Stella’s hand over the table. “But you never said she was your identical twin sister.”

“I’m sorry,” Stella said, laughter in her voice as she squeezed his hand. “I swear it wasn’t on purpose, I really thought I had mentioned it.”

“Well, I’m really glad this whole thing turned out to be nothing but a huge misunderstanding.” Bruno said, his clear blue eyes sparkling as he looked back at his girlfriend.

“Despite the confusion, it’s actually great that we happen to be dating two guys that are already best friends.” Selena said with a smile, glancing from her sister to Youcef.

“It certainly leads to less chance of having awkward double dates or family functions.” Youcef said with a nod, bringing Selena’s hand up to press a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

“I wasn’t even thinking about all of that,” Bruno said, a huge grin on his face. “You two have just given me the best material of my life.”

They all laughed at his remark, raising their glasses to toast to the future set of jokes he’d get to tell on stage and thankful that in the end everything had worked out perfectly for all of them.

[count-lero]

A sudden thought came recently to my mind: why haven’t I ever spoken about my favourite portrayal of one mischievous Austrian statesman on the big screen? I’ve actually seen several interpretations of Metternich in different types of media but only one won me over completely after some time of contemplation. 🎥

Thus, let us turn to a movie called “Der Kongreß tanzt” (“The Congress Dances”)! 💃

This intriguing product of German cinematography was originally filmed in 1931. The movie focuses on - who could have guessed! - on the events of the Congress of Vienna (mostly imaginary but still). It stared many leading German actors and comedians of the time and was promoted as a response to the success of the American cinema in Europe.

Here’s how Wikipedia’s article expands on the whole drama:

“Der Kongress tanzt” is a particularly well achieved move in Ufa's attempt to challenge US supremacy in the European film arena, taking advantage of the introduction of sound. As such, the studio released the movie in three different language versions (MLV): in German, in French as Le congrès s'amuse, and English as Congress Dances. Lilian Harvey played in all three versions, as she spoke all languages; Henri Garat replaced Willy Fritsch for the French and English versions.

Ufa spared no efforts: the cast reads like a who's who of German film, from the top billers of the day to heavy-weight comedians - even the supporting cast is made out of stars. The sets were lavish and top talent made up the entire technical cast.

Despite the ambition and the auspicious beginning, Ufa's challenge to US supremacy never materialized, both due to the strength of the Hollywood majors and to the constraints Germany's creative film and performers would suffer from 1933 onwards.

As you can see, the destiny of this movie is quite an upsetting one… But there is one review mentioned in the article which strikes me right to the heart. 💔

"This truffle of cinema unfolds its flavours like a heavenly feast for the anonymous millions it is dedicated to." Lichtbild-Bühne

That truly is the state of this film in the eyes of the public. It won’t be interesting for the major part of the audience, even if the audience enjoys cinema of the old times, simply because this movie is about history at it’s finest! Of course, the original creators did their best in an attempt to adapt the plot to the taste of general public, removed a lot of notable historical characters who would seem excess for the storytelling and oversimplified the relationships between certain political figures but it still requires some level of immersion in the historical context…

That’s why for those who are invested in the period of Napoleonic wars this movie may be a treasure. Or a complete disaster, perhaps! :)

I’m obliged to feature the “disaster” part here because of those oversimplifications I mentioned earlier, immense problems with costumes (especially uniforms and women’s clothes) and appearances (as usual) of certain historical characters (for example, the man in the posters above is… emperor Alexander I, even though his moustache makes him look much more like Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm III; the resemblance is almost shocking!). Also, the plot focuses mostly on an idle love affair between emperor Alexander with the charming lady next to him and many other possible plot lines were left behind for the sake of it…

Still one of the best parts of this movie remains the same, in my humble opinion: it is an incredibly talented and dashing German actor Conrad Veidt playing the one and only - chancellor Metternich! 🇦🇹

I guess, the only thing I can say about this cast in particular is that Veidt was… just… someone extraordinary. 👁👄👁

Hence, I’m simply going to recommend you this movie wholeheartedly (if you haven’t watched it already, of course), as you’ll be able to savour it’s lively comedy, lovely music and wonderful acting of the Pleiad of old German cinema stars!

To sum it all up, I’ll leave few more screenshots of Metternich and his entourage for you to enjoy. 🤲💗

P.S.

Also, like… those cuffs… Oh (boy) prince…

Das Ende~ 🎥

[chillwildwave]

1. My favourite member is Robaire since we almost share the same traits: we speak French, we both love singing and dancing and we are also quite helpful, I also love him just because I find him attractive.

2. It has always been Robaire if I’m being honest.

3. Robaire is an extreme perfectionist and often cusses in French whenever there’s a malfunction on stage.

4. Jesse’s adopted father was in fact an artist who taught him how to paint and observe the world around him in the name of art.

5. Tae Young spends his time on his makeup before getting on stage.

6. Aaron Z is a massive fan of Micheal Jackson, when he was young, he went to his concert!

Aaron T did in fact have dreams of being a comedian but due to his bad jokes, he gave that dream behind to become a member of 4Town.

7. 1: U Know What’s Up, the confidence they send is unreal along with their vocals, the intro and the 1st verse are my favourite parts.

2: Nobody Like U, the song that started it all, the early 00s vibe this sends is just ethereal, Im especially obsessed with Aaron Z’s rap verse, it just hits!

3: 1 True Love, this song shows how talented these members are, from Robaire’s unexpected high note to all the harmonies, Im especially in love with the music video.

8: I ship Jesse and Tae Young since they do have this big bro, lil bro dynamic evidenced in the manga.

9: I remember during my final school play where I hat to play the lead singer of a boyband version of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan, and my teacher asked me to perform “Nobody Like U” from 4*Town, from that moment, my heart fluttered. During the performances, everyone in the audience even snag the song while they were leaving the play, especially when I went back to class, some students started singing the song whenever they walked passed me which shows that they really did enjoy my performance! I did to! And I’ll never forget that day!

10: I read the manga, my favourite chapter was True Crew since I was in love with Z’s personality and he and Robaire’s friendship really connects with me since it does show why Z despises Ro and he tries to make him feel better despite hiding his overachieving side.

11: 1: Nobody Like U - “Let’s call em what it is, it’s a masterpiece!” That line just slaps!

2: U Know What’s Up - “U wanted it, I went for it and baby I got it!” The vocals just send me!

3: 1 True Love - “Nobody Else” these HARMONIES… Come on, you can hear the pain in their voices!

12: My favourite scene was when Mei introduces the boys, it was actually fun to get to know why she loves the group so much by showing each individual personality of each member- I specifically couldn’t stop staring at Robaire’s smile when he came on screen, from that moment, it was love at first sight!

13: I would actually want to make Aaron Z the lead character since he struggles through a lot as seen in the manga and it would be great to see him have his point of view of his experiences of fame and how his rivalry with Robaire will affect the rest of the group!

14; Robaire: The Little Mermaid 🧜🏿‍♂️ Isn’t it obvious?

Tae Young: Snow White 🕊️🍎. The way he fosters animals sends Disney Princess vibes.

Aaron Z: Rapunzel 🪮🗼. I guess his shy personality translates well with this story.

Aaron T: Red Riding Hood ♥️🐺🌳. This definitely makes sense for his outgoing enthusiasm.

Jesse: Cinderella 🥿👑🧚. This screams Jesse because of his dual struggle of being a father and a member of a boyband.

15: I was thinking they could have some 4*Town Barbie dolls that sing when you raise their hand or maybe some T shirts that say out one of their lyrics from their songs.

16: If they made a next album, it would be a more mature take as most of their songs would be about clubbing, love, and the life of being a celebrity so that they could share their experiences with the 4*Townies.

17: The diversity and inclusion of each member, I mean, it’s refreshing to see others be seen within these characters whether they’re Black, mixed, white etc.

18: To be honest, I love that amount of creativity that we hold and the love we have for this group in order to keep their legacy alive and live on through the hearts of millions!

19: I do a lot of art in my spare time, I’m currently practicing some animation for my college course on September.

20: All For You is definitely my favourite from their discography, just because the harmonies sound out of this world especially when my favourite part comes up when they sing “since you’re no one else I’ll be around and I’ll never leave you!”

21: Sunflower because I think it personally suits them!

22: Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake just because I can definitely hear his voice on this specific track!

23: I would make a series that focuses on each member of the group to gives us a look at their individual personalities and how they prepare for the show (maybe some footage of dance rehearsals, studio sessions and some vlogs about their lives.)

24: Aaron T and Z cause they just remind of siblings from the amount of vibes they give!

25: “Girl I Love Ur Jeans” I’ve been willing to hear this for a long time as I believe it would have a similar vibe to Nobody Like U but with a bit of an edgy side and a rap verse between Z and T that I really want to hear!

26: Not really. Just the themes of brotherhood, fame, friendship and parental expectations.

27: @4townie since I’m obsessed with the series, I love their content and they seem like a friendly and creative person, I really enjoy reading their headcanons as well!

28: Yeah, I enjoy it very much as a way to bring the fandom alive from the dead as well as combining it with my other aspirations like drawing and writing to share my artistic side as well.

29: I would at least create a chapter where we get Aaron T’s backstory and Robaire’s backstory to know why he’s an overachiever and why it bothers Aaron Z.

30: Not really.

31: I’d get along well with Robaire and Jesse since we both have artistic sides to us, we also have a fond love for performing in front of people!

32: Not much, it’s great the way it is!

33: Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC, Gots To Be by B2K, Larger Than Life by Backstreet Boys.

34: My message is that I’m grateful for the amount of love we have for the group, emphasised by our creativity, passion and support to show that we’re not going anywhere, and don’t forget… I know something big is happening, I just know it!

Welcome one and all to the… 4*Town Ask Game! Where you can answer questions to emphasise your love for the entire 4*Town fandom and to also bring the hype of my fanfiction that’s coming up soon.

How it’s going to work: I’ll write the questions on this post, make sure to read them carefully as a way to fully answer the questions in detail, once you've read them, reblog to answer the full questions and make sure that the words are appropriate as I don’t tolerate hateful behaviour. And don’t forget to share this to others so they can share the love for this group as well! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Who is your favourite member and why?

Who was your favourite member previously?

Share with me a headcanon on Robaire 🌹

Share with me a headcanon on Jesse 🎨

Share with me a headcanon on Tae Young 🕊️

Share a headcanon on The Aarons (Z and T)

What is your favourite 4*Town song and why? (Include your Top 3.)

Who do you ship from the group and why?

What was your first memory of 4*Town?

Did you read the manga? If so, what is your favourite chapter and why?

Name me your top 3 favourite lyrics from each 4*Town song🎵🎶

Do you have a favourite 4*Town scene from Turning Red and why?

Since I’m working on the “4*Town: Unfiltered” story, who do you want to be the main protagonist and why?

If you could imagine each 4*Town member in a fairy tale or any story, which one would each member be in and why?

What type of merch would you buy if 4*Town had merchendise?

For their next album, what concept would you want it to be and what songs could you include and why?

What do you like the most about 4*Town and why?

What do you love most about the entire fandom?

Do you do art or any other activities?

Can you tell me your favourite song from Robaire and Aaron Z’s discography? (You can sing the song’s lyrics as well.) And if you don’t know what I mean, I’m talking about the songs from my headcanons.

Pick a song for Tae Young and Jesse if they were a duo.

Pick a song for Aaron T if he went solo.

If you had to make a series or a spin-off of 4*Town, what would you include and why?

Do you have a favourite relationship from the group and why?

Which unreleased song from the group are you willing to hear and what are you expecting the song to sound like?

Are there any more themes or genres for my fanfiction that I should explore? It would be nice if you gave me any suggestions, please.

Do you have a favourite blog from the fandom and what do you like about them?

Do you enjoy sharing 4*Town content? Why or why not?

If there were any changes in the manga, what would you change? Why or why not?

Any unpopular opinions on 4*Town?

Which member do you think you’d get along with the most? Why or why not?

What are you expecting the fanfiction to look like to you when it gets released on Wattpad? Any form of plot? Character development? Conflicts?

Which songs remind you of 4*Town? Why or why not?

And the final question: Do you have a message for the whole entire fandom?

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: Great to see you back and posting again. I know you have a very British sense of humour and so I was wondering if you ever saw American comedian Dave Chappelle’s special ‘The Closer’ on Netflix? I don’t know if that is, as you Brits might put it, ‘your cup of tea’ but it has caused a huge flashpoint in the culture wars against wokedom here in the US. Appreciate your thoughts as a cultured outsider. 

All humour is ‘my cup of tea’. I’m not sniffy where I get my sip of laughter brew. It can be drunk from many cups. I enjoy the literary ironic humour of PG Wodehouse, Anthony Powell, and Evelyn Waugh for example to other literary comic writing from Douglas Adams to Tom Sharpe. All very British I know.

But I also grew up in a family saturated on generations of Cambridge Footlights humour (Cambridge University’s famed comedy club) that partly spawned Beyond the Fringe, Monty Python, Not the Nine O’Clock News, Fry & Laurie etc. John Oliver also cut his teeth at Cambridge at the Footlights before he went over the pond to better things. I used to go to the ‘smokers’ (stand up comedy nights) as often as I could when I was a student there. I’ve gone to the odd comedy show but these days I may just listen to an audio especially when I am travelling a lot as I am on a plane for my work. But I love British comedy of Armando Ianucci and Richard Curtis & Ben Elton (the guys behind the Blackadder series) to new faces like Evelyn Mok (a Swedish-Chinese third culture kid).

But I enjoy comedy in other languages for example in France I’ve relied on French friends here in Paris to take me to comedy shows to see Blanche Gardin, Florence Foresti, and Yacine Belhousse for example. And I’ve gone to great lengths to see Eddie Izzard - one of my favourites from behind the bars of my english girls’ boarding school days - do gigs in French.

I also love American humour. As I said, I’m not sniffy about which nation’s humour is better. It’s such a silly waste of time. If it makes you laugh then that’s as pure as it gets. Sure, I don’t like the mainstream canned laughter TV shows that you often see but then we have the same in the UK. But I love 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn 99, Rick & Morty, Community etc. With stand ups I’ve enjoyed comedians who make you think whilst you’re spilling your guts out such as George Carlin and Bill Hicks. And of course I’ve also liked Dave Chappelle.

I got more than a few asks in my inbox about Dave Chappelle’s comedy special ‘The Closer’ and what I made of it. I really don’t want to focus on the toxic politics of this whole drama but focus instead on the nature of humour instead.

I did watch it on a plane on my lap top. I think the air stewardess in my business class flight thought I needed a sedative because I got a severe case of the giggles. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud out of respect to the sleeping passengers near me. I just couldn’t help myself. I wet my knickers laughing so hard. Oh, was that too much information? Hmmm.

Overall I loved the show. The one part that did give me pause was when he told the heartfelt and tragic story of his transexual friend, Daphne, who took her own life because of either issues in her life or because of online bullying from her own trans community. He made that story funny and ultimately bittersweet. It would be inhuman not to relate to Chappelle’s pain in losing a friend and also the life story of Daphne herself. That whole story was very loving, compassionate, poignant. Oh and also very funny.

And yet in the fall out of the show, no one has talked about that. About Daphne in particular. Chappelle did more to humanise the transexual community to the mainstream with that one story than the shrill rantings of the transexual extreme activists.

Dave Chappelle. Arguably one of America’s greatest living comedian. Hilarious and humane, brutal and true. It’s true I don’t get all the cultural references but what I love about Chapelle is his craft. This is an artist committed to his craft. He is a master at it. He himself said he laughs at the jokes of racist stand up comedians because he may not agree with the content he does respect the craft.

Do I agree with his politics or his views? No, not always. He can say cutting things about women, about white people, about the LGBT people, and just about everyone else. He makes fun of everyone. What is the problem here? It’s just jokes. Damn funny ones too.

I’m sure I don’t agree with his politics. But I don’t have to but I can laugh at his jokes because they are so beautifully crafted and have a ring of truth, otherwise it wouldn’t be funny.

Humour has been on the minds of thinkers for centuries. As Peter McGraw and Joel Warner explain in their insightful book, The Humor Code: A global search for what makes things funny,  “Plato and Aristotle contemplated the meaning of comedy while laying  the foundations of Western philosophy… Charles Darwin looked for the  seeds of laughter in the joyful cries of tickled chimpanzees. Sigmund  Freud sought the underlying motivations behind jokes in the nooks and  crannies of our unconscious.”

We tend to see comedy through the romantic lens of the  one-off inspired comic whose unique view of the world is entertaining.  But the focus on the individual witty voice misses the gigantic,  political nature of the task of comedy. Comedy isn’t just a bit of fun.

We don’t laugh at things unless they cause us very serious problems at  other points in life. We can see this in the standard category of jokes:  about relationships, family, sex, money, impotence, bowel movements, identity etc. We  laugh most readily around things that in other ways are very  distressing. A good joke invariably has a relationship with darkness,  anxiety and pain.

I’ve always valued humour in people as a precious gift. I love having a laugh and even more if it’s at my expense because I firmly believe humour should be an equal opportunity offender. Moreover what I love about enjoying a good joke is that one the singular properties of certain comedy when done well is the  freedom to explore ideas in an unconventional or counter-intuitive way,  to subvert society’s norms.

No one does that better than a comedian. No one does it better than Dave Chappelle. As the great George Carlin put it, “I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.“

Being British we’re always raised to enjoy making fun of ourselves and we enjoy nothing more than to see the self-righteous smug and the boorish taken down a peg or two. It’s just who we are. Most other Europeans are the same. I’m very sure this true elsewhere too if my many travels and experience of living in other cultures is anything to go by.

However I didn’t know the real importance of dark humour until I actually served in the British army and found humour as a form of therapy to deal with stress and situations of life and death with my army brothers and sisters. Our shared jokes were so extremely off colour and un-PC that we would dare not repeat them in polite and respectable company. But that kind of shared humour served a crucial importance as any soldier will tell you. By mocking dangerous things or the situations you might find yourself with others, humour can embolden us.

Dark humour helpfully paints what is potentially very frightening as deeply absurd and ridiculous.This was often when we junior officers would look at each other in confused bewilderment at the thinking and decision making of some of our clueless senior officers before we would lead our soldiers on a battlefield mission in Afghanistan.

The comic perspective fills a central need of every society; it enables  us to cope much better with our own follies and disappointments, our troubles around work and love and our difficulties enduring ourselves.  Comedy is waiting to be reframed as a central tool behind the creation  of a better world.

Comedy offers us a way of having a better  time around things which, otherwise, can feel pretty disastrous.  Ideally, in the utopia, comedy and its therapeutic potential wouldn’t be  left to chance. Humour would be deliberately cultivated as a benign  response to a range of entrenched difficulties. Previously, certain  countries had an elaborate carnival season devoted to enforced comic  activities. For a brief time, the weak could boss around the powerful,  priests and nuns were supposed to hold obscene rituals in their churches, serious people were required to get  drunk and throw bags of flour over each other’s heads. Humour wasn’t  just left to those who felt so inclined: it was a kind of duty.

One of the most enduring theories of humour arrived courtesy of the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. It asserts that humour is ostensibly about  mocking the weak and exerting superiority. While this is clearly the  function of some comedy – anyone who has flinched at a comic’s lame  attempt to poke fun at, for example, disability will attest to this –  it’s a relentlessly bleak and far from complete explanation of the  purpose of humour. It’s better for a comedian to punch up then down.

It’s a charge that has been leveled at Dave Chappelle for his many jokes about different groups who have invested a great deal in their identity and also exert their own social and political power. But does he really do that? I don’t think so.

The mainstream media critics publicly hated his comedy special, but the ordinary audience overwhelmingly loved it (if rotten tomatoes metric score of 96% approval is anything to go by). It’s clear that many in the mainstream media had not really watched the show or gave an accurate account. Indeed the mainstream cultural critics in the US and in the UK prevented its readers from knowing that a debate was even happening, let alone what it is really about. If the argument about gender theory is mentioned at all, it is dismissed as a bunch of “anti-trans” bigots - aka “TERFs” - hurting a beleaguered and tiny minority, for some inconceivable, but surely awful, reason.

One of my favourite conservative writers (and who happens gay), Andrew Sullivan, also happens to be a leading scholarly authority on a little known British conservative philosopher, Michael Oakeshott, who was a huge influence in my thinking, Sullivan put it really well, as he always does:

“Chappelle’s final Netflix special, The Closer, is a classic. Far from being outdated, it’s slightly ahead of its time, as the pushback against wokeness gains traction. It is extremely funny, a bit meta, monumentally mischievous, and I sat with another homo through the whole thing, stoned, laughing our asses off — especially when he made fun of us. The way the elite media portrays us, you’d think every member of the BLT community is so fragile we cannot laugh at ourselves. It doesn’t occur to them that, for many of us, Chappelle is a breath of honest air, doing what every comic should do: take aim at every suffocating piety of the powers that be - including the increasingly weird 2SLGBTQQIA+ mafia - and detonating them all.

The Closer is, in fact, a humanely brilliant indictment of elite culture at this moment in time: a brutal exposure of its identitarian monomania, its denial of reality, and its ruthless tactics of personal and public destruction. It marks a real moment: a punching up against the powerful, especially those who pretend they aren’t. Bigoted? Please. Anyone who can watch this special and think Chappelle is homophobic or transphobic is either stupendously dumb or a touchy fanatic. He is no more transphobic than J.K. Rowling, i.e. not at all, and the full set masterfully proves it to anyone with eyes and ears.“

It’s hugely reassuring to see the  ‘powerful’ laughing at themselves - in this case the LGBTQ+ community’s more shrill and self-righteous social justice warrior activists that brook no public criticism of their conduct against women and other critics who don’t have the power to fight back. It is a trusim to say that finding oneself comical is a token of  maturity. It means being able to see one’s faults, without being too  defensive about them.This, I argue, was one of the messages of Chappelle’s comedy show.

The thing that intimidates us isn’t  actually power. It’s power that looks like it’s going to be inhumane:  insensitive, unkind power. So we’re intently interested in things that  reveal a mature, kindly sort of power.

Humour often provides a mechanism whereby  the powerless (or at least the less powerful) can give constructive but  pointed feedback to the powerful. Whether the powerful - in Chappelle’s view that would be the trans and social just warrior crowd - can take social commentary masked as a joke says a lot about their level of maturity.

Humour, as one neuroscientist friend of mine put it, is a form of psychological processing, a coping mechanism that  helps people to deal with complex and contradictory messages, a response to conflict and confusion in our brain. Humour that is in bad taste or cruelly targeted at particular groups may  generate conflict, but humour is also our way of working through  difficult subjects or feelings. In this sense the comedian’s role is not validate our feelings but to make us think.

As a classicist, I may be speaking outside my lane when I talk about medieval history (I would suggest pinging @oldshrewsburyian​ who is an actual medieval historian and the kind of professor who cares about her profession in these cynically consumer driven times (she also infectiously shares my love of bollywood and historical detective fiction). But as I understand it in olden days, the idea of the court jester –  in effect an officially licensed and salaried comic – was built on the importance  of humour to the mental health of the powerful. Even if in the council  room or around the dinner high table, the leading people didn’t feel much like joking, the jester was required to make barbed, witty and perhaps  mocking remarks to deflate pomposity and restore sane perspective. Of course a lot has changed. These days the high table may not be occupied by the feudal elites anymore but by an outwardly more egalitarian society.

Who can disagree with the fact that all of us - leftist, conservative, revolutionary, traditonalist, straight, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, colour, and creed - are not in need of our self important egos and the pompous bubbles they inhabit from being burst open from time to time?

If we live in a world where everyone demands equality, in other words to sit at the same high table, then we also sign up to be equally ‘offended’ by the court jester, however fair or unfair it may feel.

The shrill of cancelling a comedian is not the answer if we find a joke offensive. We have the right to protest because that is the flipside to our right to free speech. We can protest by...not laughing. It really is that simple.

I’ll end by saying you won’t get very far in life if you don’t learn how to laugh at yourself. So much of life will pass you by if you don’t stop and see how absurd one can be. I’ve always lived by that and those are the kind of friends I like to surround myself with. Because only self-centred narcissists take themselves seriously.

Thanks for your question.

[dagss]

I forgot to ask l. who are your favourite french actors ? Regardless of the field they work (TV, cinema, web, theatre, etc) qui sont tes préfères ? Et qui tu voulais voir en Dix Pour Cent Saison 5? (I hope m'y grammar is not terrible in there 😌)

that's such a hard question i crush on so many actors plssssss

but the first one that comes to mind is definitely marina foïs, i dream of having her on dix pour cent she's such a bicon & a milf........ she would actually get me invested in the show ksjksj

loml i just love her so much she's a comedic genius with a mean lesbian energy™ i-

obvi i pretty much dedicate this blog to antoine de caunes, also known on tumblr as "the eurotrash guy that isn't jean-paul gaultier", he used to be super big on french television as a talk show comedian/host, then he directed some movies & acted in a few stuff, now he has a radio show and he's so gorgeous, can you believe this man is almost 70??? lies. liesss. edouard baer also has the same vibe but he's a more "serious" actor (in the sense that he has way more acting credits and he's also super active in theater). both of them make me laugh so hard & they're also super talented with words??

i'm just gonna write down a bunch of other people's names because i don't want to make another super long post when i'm just gonna gush over them ksjksjskj but also:

alain chabat (literally a father figure to me, he's a comedy genius and invents such stupidly inventive concepts, it's amazing. i think his movie RRRrrrr!! is the funniest piece of french culture ever)

omar sy (i grew up watching his hilarious sketches on tv and now he's gone international & acts in super huge stuff, i'm so proud of my baby)

pierre niney (he's probably the one french actor from this generation that i just know is going to remain an official icon™ of french cinema, like in 30 years he's gonna be as big as belmondo or delon, for sure. his acting is so incredible??)

virginie efira (she's the loml, she started out on tv as well and now she's making it big in hollywood, good for her!!! she's probably the cutest, most genuine person in french cinema and she deserves the world)

eleonore costes (she's mostly in web contents and she writes a lot of interesting ones too, & also actresses are super rare in comedy on the web in france, idk if it's the same in other countries but anyway, lolo costes is the 1 french content creator that always comes to my mind first)

i have a lot of other favs but yeah i'm gonna stop there kjskjsksj most of those people are or have been involved in comedy work for a while, i believe that's my fav genre in french cinema for now,,, (also drama actors are often super problematic so i rarely like them 💀)

[i-may-be]

hi! i would love a romantic and platonic matchup for haikyuu and mha if it’s not too much trouble<3

my names is casey, my pronouns are she/her and im 17! i don’t have any preference with gender or anything so just go wild! there’s also not anyone i wouldn’t mind being matched with! for my personality i am pretty introverted at first but i get progressively clingyer💀 not in a text u every five mins way but where im very physically affectionate. speaking of physical affection, that’s my love language! it’s hard for me to express my feelings into words, i would much rather hugs! my mbti is infj or isfj, not sure. my only major kin is sugawara koushi!my enneagram is 1w2 and i relate to it very heavily. im a perfectionist, and i set unrealistic goals, and though it’s gotten better over quarantine, i still push myself to my limits and have a hard time knowing when to stop. also this is going to sound horribly cliche but i injured my knee while playing volleyball and then pretending i was fine and refusing to get off court. in volleyball, my position is middle blocker and i am 176cm. ive always loved fruit since i was a kid and my favourite food is probably watermelon! fun fact about me is that the only thing i can drink is water because fizzy drinks hurt my tounge! also my taste buds are like crazy strong, to the point my food has to be made perfectly (ie by me) or i will know:/ id say my fashion sense is very light academia and baggy clothes with jewelry. my favourite song is probably anything mitski, she holds a very special place in my heart. two of my favs are because dreaming cost money, my dear, and last words of a shooting star. im not a huge movie watcher, but my sisters favourite is spirit away and I’ve watched it with her so many times i just say it’s my favourite too. speaking of my sister, i love her death. being an older sister is part of my identity and whoever i date has to love her too!!! my ideal date is probably a picinic or library, somewhere quiet we can sit and talk, maybe watch the sunset or the stars. for my ideal relationship i would need someone trustworthy, who i know would be 100% loyal. i also appreciate humour and people who understand my level of mocking loving sarcastic. and for the very important question, i would die a hundred times over to live in london. not just to tour, but to live. my dream city 💕 my hobbies are piano, learning french japanese and asl, volleyball, and world geography! i would love to travel as much as humanly possible. things that make me smile are when people braid my hair, and reach out to hold my hand. i also love messy sketches, and people talking about anything their passionate about. i never get bored with teachers rambling about their families, or people just sharing their opinions. this is probably unrelated but i remember when i was 14 i opened the door to these church people who just kept talking about ‘our lord and savior’ but i just couldn’t bring myself to close the door on them, they just sounded so passionate and i had to hear them out. they left about 45 mins later and i got a pamphlet. thank you so much for putting up with my rambling lol, hopes this isn’t too much trouble!

hello! thank you for chosing this blog for your matchup <3

HAIKYUU

PLATONIC MATCHUP: Kenma Kozume

HOW YOU MET

Ok ok ok, your volleyball teams are getting food after a match away- idk they did that when I did sport- and you both so happen to be at the same resturaunt right?? Right, super chill innit!

SO you're both in a similar area, having fun and all, when your groups start to mingle because teens get bored, and boom next thing you know Kozume is being dragged over to socialise by yamamoto and the gang innit.

He is very much awkward and a little grumbly but he sometimes says things and some of them are haha funny so boo-ya win for nekoma for having comedians.

There aren't many scenarios where you would meet him otherwise, but when your teams are good at volleyball in your game, you kind bump into each other sometimes and just grow more familiar with each other and boo-yah let's go.

RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS

I feel like you'd both have very different view on things, but it'd be spunky and fresh so who doesn't want that? Mega oppsites but besties type-beat. I'm not sure why but I feel like he'd lowkey talk shit to you for no reason, not about anything in particular, just about a game he's frustrated with or Kuroo being annoying.

He is the cat following you around. If you're at a gathering together, he just trails behind you. Praying to anyone who talks to you, Kozume has some of the most expressive annoyed/disgusted faces- he doesn't even hide it from you. Praying for whoever tries to flirt with you because he thinks that shits out of the world. Will try to minimise it if you like the person, but do not expect him to if he's left in the dark. President of the Casey protection squad.

I feel like you'd both be able to find a better balance of work productivity and taking care of yourselves with each other. He'd definitely notice any injury you have and have you off any court just so you can rest- full 24 hour supervision. Switch around, you would probably motivate him to be more productive in hobbies besides gaming, like volleyball or school stuff idk. It's honestly really sweet how you can both balance each other's productivity levels well.

HANGING OUT

You two going clothes shopping, perfect. You both have very similar styles, and relatively similar sizes(he's 170, 6cm smalled so that's not much and it depends on body proportions). I feel like you would influence his style a lot. Not sure why but I have this idea that he would give you those cheap jewlery packs whenever you go out. Might steal a couple he really likes, but it's yours for the most part. Not sure why but he's into fashion, so prepare for a nose scrunch if your outfit doesn't match, he likes patterns and nice colour schemes, I think he's got it from playing aesthetically pleasing and pretty games.

Picnics... definitely picnics. I think he forgets to eat sometimes, either that or he struggles to eat full meals, so having picnics with sandwiches and strawberries and cookies, I think it would be something that would help him eat more without it being too much for him. That was kind of an unrelated rant- but Kozume would really like picnics, even if he grumbles about it when it's being organised. Prepare to have a daisy chain necklace everytime you have a picnic because he thinks they're fun to make!

Predictable, but video games! I think if he was to find a particularly good multiplayer storymode games, you'd be his first call. Likes to share his thoughts with you while gaming, share stats and stuff idk. It's honestly really chill and he finds it fun to talk to you about it, probably because you're such a fantastic listener.

ROMANTIC MATCHUP: Hitoka Yachi

HOW YOU MET

Her mother left her in the lobby of a hotel while she was doing classy fashion designer business woman things like discussing a fashion shoot or smth but the point is she was in a hotel lobby and your family were at the hotel for a family gathering dinner.

Maybe it's just me but I feel like it's so much easier to talk to people when you have a friend already with you, so when you ended up talking to Yachi with your sister the conversation wasn't entirely awkward.

You noticed she was very lonely and the three of you just ended up walking around the hotel together looking at the cool interior and old feel that a lot of hotels have for some reason??? might just be a thing with the hotels I've seen, who knows.

Anyway, the later the night the more you loosen up, and by the end of the night you found yachi's mother speaking with your parent/guardian and having a nice little chat like adults do. Long story short now when you recognise each other on the street so do your respective guardians.

RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS

Your younger sister becomes her younger sister in seconds. I feel like Yachi has always wanted to be an older sibling at heart, and there is no way in the seven seas she would let go of that chance. She's an absolute sweetheart, I feel like your little sister would adore when you bring her over!!

Her way of flirting so so adorable and shy I can't even begin- The scenario inwhich there's a song on and she sings the lyrics of a romance song while looking at you. Any kind of romance song too- 5sos "You look so perfect standing there" or pulling out a hozier "we should just kiss like real people do" idk bro. When she found out you were a huge fan of Mitski her friends were instantly swomped with messsages on help to gather the courage to sing "i want you" or something idk. Singing songs as a love language fr.

oh you sunset watchers and moon lovers. I think your thing would be sending the moon to each other as a goodnight or something. Maybe it's just my attachment to sunsets because I can see a very pretty sunset from my bedroom window, but they're so gorgeous. You two waiting for the sunset before you both seperate home, or one of you is staying over and you mark it as the time you go make brownies or something who knows.

HANGING OUT

okokok, but you two having picnics and whatnots, but also your pre-picnic prep where you bake together and make sandwiches. I love the idea of yachi baking with her s/o for some reason, I just think it's a must for any romantic relationship she is in. No fr you guys bake the best treats together I will not take any criticism I would eat anything you both bake. Give all of your picnic leftovers to me please I am not allergic to anything.

House dates, at yours or hers. She likes the feel of homes, I'm not sure how to explain it but I know it. Even going out for the day and then returning to the house. I feel like she would even feel more comfortable in her own home if you came over more, and you would even find something she'd lost just laying around your house after she forgot to take it with her. Yachi and the association of home>>>> I will not be opening this conversation for argument.

I am going insane this one got me so hyped for no reason but LEARNING LANGUAGES TOGETHER!!!! you two exchanging notes and speaking in that language to improve your own comprehension would be such a vibe!! I find it really hard to learn languages without speaking in the language with someone, so I am claiming Yachi as someone who also learns languages like this so!! yeah!!

MY HERO ACADEMIA

PLATONIC MATCHUP: Denki Kaminari

HOW YOU MET

I'm not entirely sure why but Kami feels like the kind of dude you always hear about in drama or just having a lot of friends. but you never see him in public and the only way you'd get a chance to meet him is through a mutual friend. I don't know if anyone else has this kind of dude in their area but I do.

But I digress- you both met through a mutual friend. He may have flirted with you a tiny bit but then realise you're not his type(he won't stop crying over punk people leave him be) and just layed off.

I think you both had your first proper conversation because he found you doing piano very cool and had questions and went on and on despite not knowing much, just going of off what you told him and recognising the piano in songs he likes.

Probably got one of your socials from the mutual friend and texted you a lil until you both met up with a group of friends again. This happened progressively more until one thing leads to another and bing bong you're both closer and meeting outside of the friendgroup, we love progression.

RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS

Type of mf to make edits of his friends. He'd have so many videos and pictures of you, and some you didn't even know were being taken(loves to show them to you though, so there isn't a video/picture he's taken that you haven't seen dw). He's also unironically good at editing??? You have some of the edits he's made saved to your device because he just makes them so aesthetically pleasing and chill.

ALSO gets progressively clingyer. People who have seen you friendship progress think it's funny because you both were previously more tame with physical touch but now whenever you watch something together or hang out there are arm grabs, cuddles and hugs galore.

Similar to Yachi, but your sister is now his. Type of sibling to tell the younger santa isn't real but beat up anyone else who tells them santa isn't real. He's actually a sweetheart when he's not using humor as a coping mechanism.

HANGING OUT

Type to call you late at night and go "I have a great idea" and that great idea is going to a 24 hour shop and buying plushies and really low quality toys. Either that or you both wander around the shop for an hour(depending on the shop size) and come out with nothing but a bottle of water. I think he likes to see what shops have for no real reason, and he likes to bring you along because you're chill, who wouldn't wanna bring you along.

not sure why I chose this for both or your platonic matchups but playing video games together. Very passionate about mario lore, I can feel it. It's honestly really sweet because he's always just so happy to be playing the game. Definitely a group hangout thing, but ends up having a 1-on-1 convo with you at some point while the others do there celebrating and serious gaming or whatever type of gamer they are idk.

Has asked you to teach him how to play volleyball and is positively horrific at it but still enjoys playing with you. He has the strength for it he just isn't good at focusing on technique. Has flirted with atleast one of your teammates after coming to watch your games. Can get very derailed while playing too, very easily distracted and has probably been hit in the face after a good ol' shocked moment.

ROMANTIC MATCHUP: Mezo Shoji

HOW YOU MET

Type of guy you've known since you were like 3 from school. Like he was just always kind of there, and you both vibed a little bit and wahoo colouring and stuff 2 y/o education fr.

You both really became good friend when you were like 15 or something, like the dude in your class who's just chill with everyone and doesn't get into beef. Most are stunned that he isn't in a relationship because he's so cool aa.

Ok that was a rant on about nothing, but I standby what I said. Anyhow, you both have such funs and laughs and boom kachow feelings oh my gosh these feelings are like nothing I've ever felt before. unless you've had a s/o you liked a lot of course.

But you both became super comfortable in each other's company!! Honestly you're both just so cute and it feels like the couple no one can really dispute because someone can see Shoji looking at you and they go "Oh my gosh this mf is whipped"

RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS

Hand grabber. He doesn't even play with your hand or anything he just snatches it up in his and it feels so very nice and warm. He doesn't mind if you play with his hands but he probably won't play with yours. He doesn't tease a hand hold either- like how some people pinky lock or something- he just takes your hand.

I think he would be very good at enforcing the idea of letting yourself be freed from perfectionism(the way I explained that was not perfect) He knows how to subconciously enforce ideas that are better for your mental health and stuff. You can actually tell he's doing it with other people. Very good at choosing his words and takes his time to answer people. He's such a sensitive guy gosh.

Not sure what it is with me and associating Shoji with hands, but he would write cute stuff on you hands. From cute cat doodles to little reminders and stuff- like writing "i love you" or "take care of yourself" and drawing little hearts. I think notes in general he just likes to give you. It's a hyperspecific little gift giving thing he does.

HANGING OUT

Chillest vibes. I think he likes to take his time when he's talking. The best person ever to fall asleep listening to because he's just so calming and comforting!! Very levelheaded conversations together, anywhere and everywhere. Doesn't at all mind your friends thirdwheeling because he likes to hear people talk to!! Honestly I feel like you would manage well on your own and with a group because he's very good at having a presence with people. Big hugable bear. Gosh.

oh my gosh Shoji playing volleyball, this is a curse. He is so tall this is unfair. Anyway also middleblocker behaviour. I'm not entirely sure how it would work with his quirk situation, would it be considered cheating?? I dunno bro, not sure how his quirk works as a hero but he'd figure it out he's like one of the top students I think.

library dates.... yes.... he's a smart guy, very good at focusing on studying, but who doesn't love discussing the material, and I think you would both be very objective for the most part, with lil sprinkles of personal feelings to give it some pazazz. Not sure why but he would study such cool topics, like I feel like he would know a lot about African mythology for no particular reason, it's just cool innit. Loves sharing his cool little interests, but you opening up about yours also makes him go <3