#This can be de aged Danny if you want or not lol

[puppetmaster13u]

Another Prompt in Memes?! Yes.

[halfagone]

Quick Q: How many fanfics that have annoying you the most with the cross over with Danny and Batman with the bat kids-(if we cam called them kids, lol)?

To be honest, I have read a lot of them or so into the crossover, yet the fanfic I had see so far, are half ok, not over use with “Danny’s bio father is Bruce and his mother is whatever they use as the mother, plus how Danny got into the Fanton’s family, etc.”

I'm gonna take some advice from a friend and reply to this ask with a good faith interpretation.

I won't lie, there are some fics that are just not for me. But I also don't want to stop anyone from enjoying the fic tropes that they love. Yes, there are a lot of "Bruce Wayne is Danny's bio father" fics, but there are also a lot of Titans Tower AUs and you can bet your ass I will devour those fics like a dying man in the desert. The reason there are so many fics with the same trope is because people enjoy those stories, so why wouldn't they want to write more of them?

Sometimes tropes will be hit-or-miss for me. Jazz/Jason are hit-or-miss for me, summoning fics are hit-or-miss for me, de-aged Danny fics are hit-or-miss for me. But I never get annoyed that there are so many of them, I just have to learn to be more selective with my reading choices. And that's one of the great things about having a wide selection of the same type of story- you get to be a little picky. You can go: "Oh I'm not in the mood for this right now" or "Oh I like this interpretation more, I think I'll stick to these kinds from now on".

And if it's still not for you, then it's not for you! The one trope that I can never seem to get into is Dan Phantom Redemption fics. Most of that stems from how much I adore him as a villain and reflection to Danny. But I have good friends that like to explore his character that way. Good for them! I might not read it, but they understand not to take it personally.

At the end of the day, I'm a fanfic writer too. If I want to read something so specific that badly then I should take it upon myself and write it. Would it be easier if someone else wrote it for me? Abso-fucking-lutely, but it goes back to respecting 'to each their own' and leaving it at that.

[nancyheart11]

vbhjasbhkjbka I got tagged by 2 amazing writers!!! thank you @skyward-floored @ajscico

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

9! (though i have one i'm planning to post tomorrow ;)

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

54,472! though without others words in Dad squad it's closer to 45,000

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Legend of Zelda and linkeduniverse mostly these days. Occasionally write a tiny bit for Danny Phantom

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Blush of Dawn My longest fic by far and the one that made me get into writing fic for the first time since middle school! It's about Twi getting turned into a shadow beast :)

Baby Breeze A tooth rotting fluffy fic featuring De-aged Wind and Big-bro Twilight. Was supposed to be a one-shot and whoops now i need to come up with a third chapter XD

Warriors nervous breakthrough What if Warriors had such bad nerve damage from the war it caused problems? also featuring a fun hc for the beginnings of the Yiga.

A hero hiding in Wolf's clothes My Wolf form reveal to the Ordon family fic! Colin is so sweet that it has stumped me on how to move the plot forward for months.

The Many Misadventures of Dad Squad The fic that I expected to be #1 quite honestly, mostly written by the wonderful @skyloftian-nutcase! it's got slightly possesed son/god Dad, tired of everything Dad, and Farmer/Renegade Dad!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes!! I love love love comments and i'll tell you right you kudos and comments are the only reason i'm going to finish Blush, since they remind me people enjoy my thoughts and efforts!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably the Dad Squads chapter where Rusl passes out thinking that his son is in chains or muzzled while feeling like a burden to the other Dads. Could also be a 3 sentence fic lol.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Sky's encounter with kitten kind which is so fluffy it has Comfort/No hurt as a tag

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no, I have gotten weird comments, but they are just people who are really excited about things.

9. Do you write smut?

Nope! and i'm not planning to start

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yep! usually Dp x Dc since those are the writing prompts I see cross my Dash.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

also no, though i would explode with happiness if that ever happened.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yep! the Dad Squad series is a fun mashing pot of different amazing Writers (Lofty definitely does the most writing for it because she's an amazing writer with brilliant ideas)

14. What’s you’re all-time favorite ship?

this year has been Rusl and Uli all the way, but a romance that i adore would have to be Galen and Rose from Princess of the midnight ball.

15. What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A funky 1000 words of pure emotional hurt I wrote at 3 am on a bad night.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotions i think. I love writing the way your stomach swoops from a drop or your throat goes tight and hot and heavy with shame :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

everything else.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it would be really cool! I am not confident in my ability to do it at all though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Does my Dad's old DnD campaigns count? if not either Harry Potter or DP (luckily those fics will never see the light of day cause oof they made no sense)

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I love Blush of Dawn but don't want to annoy people with my ideas when i could be ... finishing the fic so they can read them in a more engaging form with clearer flow.

no pressure tags @unexpectedstormy @hermitdrabbles56 @telemna-hyelle @gemglyph and anyone else who wants to!

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @the-real-azalea-scroggs! Had to wait until I was of my phone because doing these is a nightmare on mobile lmao

1. How many works do you have on A03?

18 as of a few days ago!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

60,763! Which is. Only a fraction of the word count in my Docs folder. Be prepared.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I mainly write for The Legend of Zelda; specifically Linked Universe! In fact, that's all that's posted on my Ao3 currently, since my fall into that fandom began with me uploading there! Pre-Ao3 I wrote for Black Cat (Anime/Manga), Megaman NT Warrior, various Pokémon things, Assassin's Creed, Yugioh, Final Fantasy XIV and Octopath Traveler! Some of these I still write privately, but I haven't gotten around to re-posting any.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Whistling on Deaf Ears - My longest fic on Ao3, focusing on Wild and Twilight's friendship and how good intentions can lead to disaster.

Iconoclasm - Warriors deals with the room full of portraits in Cia's palace. The Chain also deals with it, but with a bit more fire.

Deserving - Twilight finally tells Rusl that he was the wolf in the village during TP, but that also means dealing with some heavier topics. Colin half overhears them and forms his own conclusions.

Something Greater - The start of the "Hyrule can see magical auras" series! In this one we deal with Legend and his many rings.

Ocean Magic - Mermaid Legend and Zora Time have a race and then fight one of the Big Octos from WW! Fun times.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one!! I love comments, they give me an excuse to ramble about my fic more!! I am always down to ramble about every single insignificant detail of any line and/or section. If you ever want more background info about one of my fics, look to the comments! So please, I adore comments, I treat them like treasures, not responding to them would be a CRIME.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

There's no contest; Inevitable, my (so far) only MCD fic.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm, that's hard to quantify. I usually try to end fics on a hopeful note regardless. I'd say possibly either Deserving, where Twilight reconnects with his family, or Shimmering Blue, Striking White, where Time meets the Fierce Deity settled down on Satori Mountain and they both get closure.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no! I've been blessed with mostly amazing and patient readers, even when my upload schedule isn't the best.

9. Do you write smut?

No, not really. I've attempted it, but I'm too asexual for it lol

10. Do you write crossovers?

Very, very rarely. Mostly privately, and only very specific ones. Only a single one has had an actual plot, so far (more on that one in question 15!).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also a nope! I tend to write for smaller fandoms, where these things don't tend to happen a lot!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! But it's been a while. Over a decade, in fact! I tried to find the fic to link it here, but it was on the German fanfic website fanfiktion.de, and my friend who posted it back then must have deactivated her account, because it's nowhere to be seen (I still have the Word file though!). It was a Multi-Crossover that started as an RP in a forum, and we took turns turning the RP into prose one chapter each. "If a Hero Turns to Dark" was its title. We were edgy teenagers.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Hissssss. Bad question. Shoo. They are all equally important!! But it's probably TenRose from Doctor Who.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

One of the very few crossovers I've ever worked on; a crossover fic between Assassin's Creed and Doctor Who, that I have mapped out in both chronological and timeline order, and yes, those are different. I only ever wrote about a quarter of it, since my primary audience of it disappeared when we graduated. I doubt I'll ever pick it back up properly, and if I do it'll probably go through heavy rewrites first since it's so old. Finishing it is a nice thought, but realistically, after 9 years it'll never be high priority enough for it to actually happen.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially arguments, and emotional impact. I've been told I do really well making characters feel alive and believable! Also I like to believe I'm decent at setting a scene and giving it the vibe I want it to have!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with dialogue tags when nothing much is happening besides the talking. I always feel it's too bland, and fall back on the same phrases. My scene transitions could use some work too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done this with Japanese phrases, because I was a massive weeb. Usually I followed them up with their own translations, though; I'm not the biggest fan of footnote translations, unless they are properly linked to. Simple dialogue tags are my favourite way of indicating a language switch.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Black Cat the Manga/Anime! It's a series about an assassin turned bounty hunter trying to live a life separate from his murdery past, but getting dragged back into things by still wanting to avenge his best friend's death. The series has a special place in my heart and my bookshelf, it left an imprint on 13-year-old me that will never leave.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Jailbreak, uncharacteristically enough! It's one of the only fics I never got stuck in once. Writing it was a great feeling from start to finish. I love writing all of my fics, but that was a special few days.

Tagging @ahrva @nowhere-to-go-but-down @silvercaptain24 and @aeghina! And anyone who wants to do it, really, go wild

[void-writing]

One Batfam and Danny interaction that just came to me:

Danny, pointing fingers: How come that you can control those powers already?! It took me months not to clip through the walls!!

Whether or not said Batfam member really has as much control over their new, Danny-given powers as Danny at first believes is a different matter. XD It's about his outrage.

Hahaha lol.

I haven't gone into power shenanigans yet (that'll probably be an extra story somewhere down the line) but my thinking is that the Bats had a fairly easy time with their powers because 1) superpowers aren't that unusual in the DCU, so they have not only real live points of reference but people they can turn to with questions, and 2) they really only have to deal with 1 power whereas Danny was dealing with 3+ simultaneously.

Of course, I haven't shown it yet but like Danny, the Batfam's new powers are largely stuck in the "on" position if they aren't passive, and even then there's something of an adjustment period.

Dick floats if he's not mindful of it and now frequently hovers over his bed when he's sleeping, The Exorcist style. He kind of just lets himself do it when he's alone or in the company of other Bats or heroes, so it's not too much of an issue so long as he's not seen doing it in pubic as a civilian.

Jason is going to have a hard time getting needles through his skin now, so he better be careful about exposure to airborne chemical weapons. And also getting yearly vaccines.

Tim's astral projection doesn't necessarily mean that he's fully resting. The energy is more split between his astral form and his physical body, so the longer he spends in astral form, the less restful his sleep is. Also, the activation of his power depends on how tired he is when he goes to bed. If he's exhausted enough, he'll just sleep normally and not project at all.

Damian definitely melts a few things in his hands when he's not careful (canon seems to portray ecto-blasts as heat-based attacks, so I'm going to roll with that even though Danny is definitely more ice-affiliated).

Cass slips into the shadows a little too easily sometimes.

Steph sometimes ends up blocking herself with her own shields.

Barbara has to be mindful of what her new telekinesis grabs onto and from what direction it's coming from.

Kate is fortunate that her duplicates can't make duplicates, otherwise she'd have a harder time hiding it.

Duke definitely underestimates his own strength for a while after the abrupt buff. He may not have super-durability, which would enable him to punch through things or crush them without hurting himself, but he does keep accidentally pushing and pulling things too hard. Doors are tricky for him for a bit XD

Bruce regularly keeps blinking out of the visible spectrum, if not the entire detectable spectrum all together. Basically, his power has two settings: plain vanilla invisible (where he's just not detectable on a visible light spectrum), and Super Invisibility (where he just plain stops being detectable period). He can only maintain Super Invisibility for a few minutes continuously before it starts to wear him out (and you can bet that every time he uses it, Clark is sending him a "you good?" text or just straight up calling him to make sure he's okay XD). Of course, his power wants to be "on" all the time, so he has to be mindful of keeping himself within the visible spectrum, lest he just blip out of peoples' perception for a while.

And a note on Alfred's power: He's not going to "de-age" past his prime. I'm putting his age in CiM at around late 70's, early 80's. What his new power is doing is walking his physical body back towards the top of the "physical aptitude" curve, so he'll look like late 50's, early 60's instead of his actual age, but it won't go further than that. And most importantly, he'll feel like he's in his 50's again too :)

To note, when I say "Alfred is immortal now" I mostly mean that he doesn't age anymore. He can still be killed or fall ill, but time no longer wears on him like it used to (and really, as far as CiM is concerned, time was the only real threat to Alfred''s continued presence, so functionally, he is immortal now lol).

One thing that I do plan on writing later is that Jason and Duke spar a lot both for training and for fun because their powers kind of balance each other. Jason can take Duke's hits and Duke can wrestle Jason on fairly equal standing.

But we will be seeing Danny's reaction to the Batfam's swanky new powers fairly soon :)

[habibialkaysani]

flarrowverse characters in marvel netflixverse

(wow um I found this in my drafts and I don’t know how long it’s been here for but I figured it would be worth posting given I want insp for my lauryssa fic. not to mention I am possibly making a series of gifsets with these characters just fyi)

so I have had this idea in my head for ages, and I have actually started a multichapter fic (called the devil in star city) starring laurel as matt and nyssa as elektra. but I kinda wanted to flesh it out a bit and see about the other characters in both universes. this is mostly because I am suffering from writer’s block but also because it would be cool to think of netflix marvel characters and their flarrowverse counterparts.

so ofc laurel lance is matt murdock, bc that au is practically begging to be written anyway. the obvious comparison is the fact that they’re both vigilante lawyers but I think it goes deeper than that. they both question morality a lot and are sensitive people. they also both felt like they were abandoned by their mothers to some extent (dinah lance and maggie murdock) and relied more on their fathers (quentin lance and jack murdock). a lot of the time they found they had to pick up the pieces of their fathers, in different ways. 

they both have best friends that are also their professional partners (and this is where I headcanon joanna de la vega as foggy nelson - I think because both matt and foggy and laurel and jo have really great banter, which is welcome among the whole legal back and forth, and because they make formidable teams legally speaking). and both laurel and matt are (in my head anyway) head over heels in love with born assassins, which is why nyssa al ghul is my elektra natchios. and I think with both mattelektra and lauryssa there is some bad history between them, but in the end, laurel and matt never stop standing by nyssa and elektra and they never give up on them. I also have talia al ghul as stick, because I think talia and nyssa would have had a similar dynamic to them if they found each other as adults and talia decided to train nyssa. 

I think for me, tommy merlyn is karen page - because I am currently writing the third chapter of aforementioned fic, which is set in an aa meeting. I don’t know karen from the comics that well, but I know that in the show she does deal with addiction, so I kept that theme and am looking forward to exploring it further. plus I just love the idea that tommy is the damsel in distress who is saved by laurel lance and joanna de la vega, attorneys at law :) that and I think there was good chemistry with tommy, laurel and jo in season 1 of arrow and that was something I wish we could have seen more of, scenes with the three of them.

outside of daredevil, I kinda love the idea of oliver queen being danny rand, and shado being colleen wing, mostly because she has a dragon tattoo on her shoulder and colleen is known as daughter of the dragon :D not to mention I think it would be gr9 for ollie to be taken down a peg or two and reminded of his privilege the way luke did with him in defenders.

I lowkey want sara lance to be jessica jones and have thea queen be trish walker. mostly I can literally picture sara looking at laurel (not knowing that’s her sister) with a scarf around her eyes saying “you look like an asshole” and laurel replying “it’s your scarf”. 

I realllllly love the idea of cisco ramon as claire temple. like can you imagine him finding laurel in the dumpster and laurel waking up and being like “who the hell are you?” and cisco just sighing exasperatedly saying “I’m the lucky guy who pulled you out of the garbage”. cisco works at starling general hospital in the emergency room and like claire he’s an er nurse and the unsung hero of starling and central city.

john diggle is definitely a contender for luke cage, but my misty knight is still unclear. maybe dinah drake? like that would be a lot of fun lbr. and she’s already a pretty badass cop so it would be cool. or maybe it’s just because I still love spartancanary and want them to hook up at least once ;)

mckenna hall is most definitely the brett mahoney of this universe - the one just being tired of all the goddamn superheroes in starling city but who also is reluctantly thankful for them at times. :) 

lena luthor would be an excellent jeri hogarth imo - mostly because she gives off sapphic vibes, lol, and has the capacity to be morally grey in an interesting way. 

[relaxandlaughatyourself]

Ika Wong was on Reality Recaps March 22, 2019 to discuss bbcan7.

The full interview will be posted on youtube soon. This is a small recap.

Eric wants Ika on the challenge, but Ika says she couldn’t do it.

Anyone she talked to preseason who has changed a lot? Damien she didn’t like, but he is one of the most likeable guys. She’s surprised he won the power both times. Eric also says that Canada feels connected to him, ika says he’s a great representative of First Nations.

As a BB fan, what’s it like getting to have the inside track with her access this year? It’s an extension of her experience, it’s really cool doing it for now. She wants someone else to experience that too. Eric says to let them experience it in 10 years.

Her theory on the blood veto? She thinks you get an advantage but you get blood on your hands, whatever choice you make, the HGs will know it was you.

If she could insert Dem, Cass and Karen in the game, what three would she knock out to put them in? Cass in place of Kyra, working with Chelsea. She changes her mind, Cass and Karen for Kiki and Este, she finds them dull. For Dem in place of Mark, she doesn’t like him.

Karen doesn’t like gamesplaining, Ika’s problem with it is when they have things wrong because they say so much crap but production will show us the one thing they said that was correct.

Differences in plans between bbus and bbcan? Bbus shows her who they’ll be in the house, that’s why it’s easier for her to choose who she’ll root for. Bbcan wants to be politically correct and don’t give her as much, more concerned with image.

Not necessarily a fan of Adam and Sam but they are being themselves and she can appreciate that as a past player, they’re giving them content to talk about.

Should Sam distance herself or include herself in others deals? They’re already targets, even if she got out Adam somehow, she’ll still be a target.

In bbcan history, showmances go far, so should Sam and Adam be targeted now? She has a soft spot for showmances now, so people should use it to their advantage, it’s two votes. Take them out during a DE, but use them before then. The pretty boys see Sam as a threat not an asset.

First to be evicted out of the pretty boys? Anthony or Adam, Mark has better outside relationships, and Dane too.

Pretty Boys is such a bad name, if she had to name them, it would be A Mess.

Eric says that in Canada, guys not having teeth is hot, what does ika think? She asks Dem and he says the teeth thing is more him being goofy and it is a bit of respect, he has friends like that who take their teeth out for fun. Ika says Dem has all of his teeth and Eric says to keep it that way.

Thoughts on Cory’s challenge? Ika thinks she did it well but it sucks she had to, it was so early. Everyone seems to have forgot about it.

Kiki and Mark, is there a showmance? She doesn’t know, doesn’t see it, but she also said she’d never get into one. Kiki would use anyone and anything to get anywhere.

Ika swears that she did not fake her reaction to the rabbit, she didn’t know she was afraid of bunnies. BB did not ask their fears, she probably would have said bugs, never would have thought bunnies. She’s fine with puppies, they just can’t have red eyes, she doesn’t like cats. She secretly judges people who own cats.

Someone asks if she’s required to watch live feeds, she says no, not sure why she would be, she doesn’t watch but will update on Twitter and sometimes put them on.

Most disloyal HG? Dane. And maybe Mark, he cares about himself.

Person in the house who’s most likely to shred a letter from loved ones? Kiki, she wants to be badass.

Thoughts of HOH not playing in POV? She doesn’t like it, should be able to defend your nominees. Ika likes the original rules.

How did she like delivering Wendy’s? She was embarrassed to be in the outfit but it was fun. Did she get a frosty? She didn’t get any food.

What was up with Kevin’s hair? Ika says to ask Kevin and Pili.

Which hg would she align with? Kiki and Este possibly because they’re loyal. Damien needs some guidance and needs someone to trust. Maybe Chelsea too, she thinks she’s smart.

Would ika play again? She says no, she played twice, she gave enough of her and we’ve seen enough of her.

Would she do an all star season? She feels like it’s in her best interest to not. She doesn’t talk to many BB people, and their job would be to get her out. She had fun the last two times and if she went back, she thinks she would be targeted right away. She’s just not in the BB world as much, going in she wouldn’t have established relationships.

What about cbbus and Canada vs US? No. She says she’s not a celebrity, Eric asks if she’s seen the celebrities...

If her kids wanted to, they should. But she knows about the things after and the things people don’t know and she would be scared for that for them.

What one twist would she implement? She wants to bring Pandora’s box back.

She thinks Eddie will go far because he’s not seen as a threat.

Ika doesn’t like how Kailyn lied about her age, every house is different so her reasons weren’t totally valid. She likes that she showed up and played her heart out.

F2? She rolls her eyes and laughs. She can see Este, by the time people see her as a threat it’ll be too late.

Who does she want to leave in the double? One of the pretty boys and one of the boring people.

Wouldn’t have liked being in the house with a psychic. She was shady. She really only liked dem, Karen, Gary, Cass and Dallas early on.

Favorite bbus and bbcan players of all time? She can’t choose just one, there’s different reasons. Dr Will, Danny Donato, the original badass. Rachel Reilly. Josh. Janelle. bbcan, she is more biased because she also knows them and it taints her from giving a true opinion on game player only, she’s biased in her opinion. Ika says she will say Demetres.

Any plans on getting married? “That’s a question for demetres, cause I’m not asking him.” Ika asks Dem if he’ll marry her, and he says yes. Ika says that he’s put on the spot, but Dem says he’s not even on the screen, he’s not on the spot. Eric: “I hear guys like that, being out on the spot on the internet.” So Dem comes on screen and she grabs him by the neck, and shakes him and asks if he’ll marry her, and he chokes out yes.

Did she know the mooch was not a real player? She thought it was weird and she still doesn’t believe he wasn’t a real player.

Someone comments that her interviews are incredible, and Eric agrees, says the start of the season wouldn’t be the same. She thanks the fans for engaging with the interviews.

Ika says she would love to have a partner in the interviews, like Cass and Gary, Eric says to pitch it and she says she did lol

Ika thanks the fans for always supporting her and having her back, the unconditional love.

He brings up her YouTube channel and she says she didn’t want to plug it because they’re not consistent. Eric says everyone needs to watch the chicken nugget challenge. He says it was so funny how she just let Dem do it.

Eric says when jury starts they’ll have her back on.

[itwasanangryinch]

3...2...1... Happy New Year!!

For the first (?) time, I’m actually going to make and complete a New Years meme, because fuck it, I had a good year. I’m also going to put much shorter answers for last year since I had wanted to do this then, but then... didn’t.

Favourite new (to me) band: Against Me!     5 favourite songs:

The Ocean

White Crosses

True Trans Soul Rebel

I Was a Teenage Anarchist

Norse Truth

I’ve known about Against Me! since lead singer Laura Jane Grace since she came out as trans in 2012 with her Rolling Stone profile, but I hadn’t heard any of their songs until a couple of years ago. This year was the first year I really got into her music (both here and with The Devouring Mothers) after reading her biography Tranny while on vacation in Melbourne.

Runner up: Miss Guy and the Toilet Boys, seen for the first time at Wigstock 2.Ho

2017′s answer: Ataru Nakamura, the very, very talented trans performer who played Yitzhak to JCM’s Hedwig in Japan (and because of the staging, also played Hedwig for the non-singing part of the script.)

Favourite new (to me) city: Melbourne, Australia.

If you had asked me last year, my answer would have been Tokyo, Japan and this year’s is my favourite for much the same reasons: Melbourne is very easy to get around, very fun to walk around, and I got to see the wonderful John Cameron Mitchell perform there.

Melbourne is absolutely beautiful with so many shops to explore and a free (within the few square blocks I mostly kept to) public transport system.

Runner up: Sydney, Australia. Very similar to Melbourne and might have been the favourite if I had been able to stay there longer, but.... schedules.

2017′s answer: Toyko, Japan. For the reasons listed above. I could actually see myself moving to Tokyo at some point. Not right now, but possibly eventually.

Favourite concert: John Cameron Mitchell: The Origin of Love, Brisbane

This year I have seen this concert seven times in addition to one very abridged show in Portland, Oregon to go along with a double header of Hedwig and How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

On this particular date, the band gelled really well; John was in a great mood, great energy; the crowd was incredible..... Everything just... Worked. (Even tho this was the concert I had the least amount of interaction with John afterwards, lol.)

Definitely looking forward to seeing where John takes the performances for his upcoming stateside tour and at a later, yet to be announced, time in Japan.

Runner ups: (aside from the rest of the OoL tour), Rocky Horror with Mason Alexander Park, Taboo 15 (with Mason), Alice Cooper, and Wigstock 2.Ho where I finally got to see NPH performing as Hedwig.

2017′s answer: Hedwig and the Angry Inch: October 14th, evening. Tokyo, Japan.

In my estimation, this was the best of all of the Hedwig concerts. By this point, everyone had performed this in front of an audience twice before and the show from beginning to end gelled really well. Again, there was an incredible energy between the band and the two lead performers and the audiences for all of the Japan shows were great. From beginning to end, this one was the best.

From about the Tommy monologue til the end, the final Tokyo show (Oct. 15th) was the best because there was this crackling, alive, angry energy that had an almost dangerous feeling to Exquisite Corpse and was the only show (surprisingly!!) where I cried at the delivery of my favourite line “Then love the front of me.” On that show, with the exception of Exquisite Corpse, I cried from that line til John started the encore song, ‘The End of Love’ and I had only stopped there because I had completely forgotten he was doing an encore song.

Favourite movie: Black Panther

I’ve been waiting literal years for this movie to be made and there was not one thing to be disappointed in in its final rendering in my opinion. I realize that unlike a large portion of the audience, this movie was very much not reflective of my experiences and at no point would I claim to be represented by it as anything other than a nerd and a comic book fan.

Being a fan of the Black Panther for years has meant having tone deaf comic lines, sidelined animated stories, and much less content, merch, and even cartoon adaptation than some of his paler counterparts. So to see a film that was technically and narratively perfect being rendered so beautifully and taking the box office for many, many weeks was a wonderful way to start this year.

Runners up: Deadpool 2, Bad Samaratian, and does How to Talk to Girls at Parties even count for this year if I saw it last year in Japan??

2017′s answer: a strong tie between Transpotting 2 and HtTtGaP. T2 because it was so much better than I could have ever hoped it to be. It married themes and footage from the first film perfectly to the characters’ lives 20 years on. It gave me hope for an eventual Hedwig sequel in terms of quality because based on interviews, they share a similar tone in terms of ageing characters. Plus Danny Boyle’s cinematography was truly beautiful with the use of shadows, call-backs, foreshadowing.... A true equal to the most iconic of Scottish films.

HtTtGaP because well.... John Cameron Mitchell’s direction mixed with an alien invasion set against punk rock and the Queen’s jubilee? How could I not love it? To me, it’s a strong second to Hedwig in terms of quality and netted my absolute favourite review via the BBC (‘This is one of the worst films ever made’, trust me Beeb reviewer, if that were true, cinema would be a far more enjoyable art form.)

Favourite vacation: Australia

Long story short: I met my favourite actor five times. It’s very rare in this life that you can actually tell an artist who influenced your life in a very meaningful way just how much their art and they as a person mean to you. This year, after seeing JCM perform live eight times and on video, no lie, thousands of times, I had the chance to actually do this. And unlike how I was worried about for the past three years, I wasn’t actually nervous to talk to him at all. Part of that is that he is a very easy person to feel at ease with, very comforting presence.... And part of it was that during the first Australian show I went to where I’m dressed as the very first Squeezebox Hedwig, John lay on top of me as part of the final number. How could I be scared to talk to him after that introduction??

Runners up: going to see Taboo 15 in New York with my best friend and touring the David Bowie Is exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum (March), going to see Wigstock with Risa. Technically, I ditched work to be able to go, but.... 10/10, I would do it again. I saw a lot of amazing performers for the first time, had a chance to chat with Mason again, and saw the tour de force that is Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig and Lena Hall as Yitzhak.

Hopefully next year, the Hedwig section will be able to be longer. (Or maybe Yitz will perform by himself. Or multiple Hedwigs. Or just the entire Hedwig script delivered at the end of a seven hour drag festival pre-show.)

2017′s answer: Hedwig in Japan. Not only did I get to meet my friend @miyacantdecide for the first time in person, I was able to see the wonder that is JCM as Hedwig live. Even when he’s not delivering the script, his presence as Hedwig is truly something else. And having seen him perform as himself (but in a version of her makeup) this year, I can honestly say that She has a completely different stage presence to Him and how incredible of an actor to be able to deliver such radically different interpretations of the same material and songs??

Outside of Hedwig, I can honestly say that I came back from Japan a changed person. Better in so many ways than I was a year previous. Almost completely made whole again after past traumas (and completed a year later on a different trip.)

2017′s runner up: seeing RENT 20 live. I had a blast hanging out with my mother most of the days and the RENT 20 cast? Holy shit. What talents. Cried from ‘I’ll Cover You (Reprise)’ til the end of ‘Finale B’. Just goes to show: it doesn’t matter if the show’s set in December and it’s hot As Fuck outside if you have a talented cast bundled up in sweaters for 75% of the script.

Favourite album: Golden by Kylie

Not only does pop’s most talented princess talk about her recent breakup with Joshua Sause (sp?), there’s themes of her ageing as this year our princess turned 50. While I agree with reviewers that this isn’t her best musically or vocally, I find myself replaying this one over and over on my stereo and headphones more than almost any other album this year. Favourite song: a toss up between Shelby ‘68 and Low Blow.

2017′s answer: Pollinator by Blondie. It had been two years since the release of 2014′s Ghost of Download, but unlike Ghost’s offerings that went largely unnoticed by me at the time, every single from Pollinator got me more and more hyped not only because of the excellent music evident on songs such as Fun, Long Time, and Doom or Destiny, but collaborations with artists such as Raja (on the video for Fun) and Joan Jett (the aforementioned Doom or Destiny), the honey-thick entrancing song Fragments, and the wonderful Love Line.

This year has been weirder, queerer, and more wonderful than any year yet on record. I’ve been to a number of technically-but-not-really drag shows, revisited some of my favourite artists in concert, met two of my favourite Hedwigs, and saw four total Heds perform.... I’ve read and learned more about the queer experience that not only deepened my understanding of my larger community, but of my own experiences and how they fit within the community. I’ve become more confident being out to coworkers and customers at my job....

I had the pleasure of meeting two of my close friends @hedwig-in-a-jukebox and @fdelopera in person (with plans to meet up again early-2019) as well as making some new friends.

Here’s to an even better 2019! Onwards and upwards.

[surveyhoursss]

150.

Character survey:

Your name is unusual where you live.

People often say you are attractive.

You tend to deny compliments that you get.

Other people of your same gender are jealous of your looks.

Your natural hair color is unusual or rare.

Your natural eye color is unusual or rare.

You strongly resemble a certain famous person.

Despite poor eating and/or exercise habits, you are still thin.

Sometimes people worry that you're anorexic, but you're not.

You are cross-cultural. (your parents are from two different countries).

You are half- or part -Oriental.

Even after getting dirty or sweaty, you still look good.

You smell good without cologne, perfume, et cetera.

You have at least one scar with an interesting story behind how you got it.

You have at least one scar or birthmark that is plainly, obviously visible, but doesn't make you look ugly.

When you stare at people or off into space, they almost always (A) feel like you're staring into their soul or reading their mind, (B) think you're up to something, or (C) feel like you know something they either don't know or don't want you to tell.

You don't often get sick.

You often dress impractically (i.e. show up looking gorgeous to a charity event or marathon, somewhere you'd usually dress sloppy and casual).

You stand up for others, even if it means risking your own well-being.

You are brave or daring to the point of recklessness.

Your beliefs are extremely, radically liberal.

You are sarcastic and witty.

You are disrespectful to authority, but only when they deserve it.

You are punished more harshly than others.

You have Antisocial Personality Disorder.

You have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder).

You are SELF-DIAGNOSED with ADD or ADHD.

Animals love you.

You have a pet cat.

You consider yourself above average intelligence.

You have a glamorous occupation (i.e. lawyer, executive, anything artistic or theatrical, et cetera).

You are a legal adult, have not reached retirement age, and don't have to work for a living.

You fit a certain stereotype (nerd, goth, hipster, "popular" person, et cetera).

You have a very good singing voice.

You play at least one musical instrument.

You have exceptional artistic talent.

Sometimes it seems like you're psychic or telepathic.

You are fluent or near-fluent in more than one language.

You succeed at almost anything you put your mind to.

Your Plan A usually works.

Most everyone underestimates you.

People are jealous of your abilities. (only linguistic skills, I'm not the talented goddess that my close friends are lol)

You have learned martial arts (any kind).

Your parent(s) or guardian(s) aren't (or weren't) very strict.

You possess an important family heirloom.

Your parents trust you, for the most part.

You have a lot of friends and/or are "popular.”

You are angsty.

Certain circumstances of your childhood were strange or unusual.

You suffer "rebellious princess syndrome" (feminism, extreme tomboyishness, et cetera).

You have lied, exaggerated, or de-exaggerated in some of your answers in this quiz to avoid seeming like you're bragging.

TOTAL: 24/50

~ ~ ~

RESULTS

1-9: CAMEO

You're not the sort of person who could be the protagonist of a book or movie, but you're certainly the sort of down-to-earth, matter-of-fact person I'd like to be friends with. You're the "filler characters" who make books and movies possible and probably have their own cool stories going on in the background that we don't know about (but we sure would like to!). Unless you answered "yes" to the bonus question, in which case, you liar, go take the quiz again.

EXAMPLE: Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Mai or Ty Lee from Avatar: The Last Airbender

10-19: PROTAGONIST'S BEST FRIEND OR ANTAGONIST'S RIGHT-HAND (WO)MAN

You're more the "protagonist's best friend" than the "protagonist." But that's okay, because the "protagonist's best friend" usually ends up being everyone's favorite character anyways. Why? Because you're the guy everyone can relate to - and, more importantly, you're often the comic relief AND, at times, you're what keeps the plot chugging forward. This category also contains the heroes who have to try extra hard to save the day, like, harder than the average hero (an offhand example of this is Megamind).

EXAMPLES: Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, Jack Harkness from Doctor Who

20-29: PROTAGONIST OR ANTAGONIST

You're a good, healthy medium. In a nutshell, you're worth paying attention to: dramatic, but not melodramatic, and different, but not overwhelmingly so. I...should really write a longer description for this, but I'm really tired, so I won't. Just...skip to the examples.

EXAMPLES: Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dan Phantom from Danny Phantom

30-39: EPIC HERO

An "epic hero" is the protagonist of a story that fits the general "hero's journey cycle.” Epic heroes tend to act a tad more on the unrealistic side (maybe melodramatic, perhaps not always reacting to situations like a normal human being, doing arguably stupid things for the sake of a good cause and in the name of courage / honor / love / family / friendship), but they make up the bulk of really good stories out there. Why? Because epic heroes are interesting, they're dynamic - epic heroes are who we wish we could be, but never actually could be.

EXAMPLES: Harry Potter from Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, any protagonist who falls into an obvious trap in order to save someone they love

40-51: MARY SUE

Congratulations - you are a perfect (or near-perfect) specimen of human being. Can I have your autograph? But really. Mary Sues are annoying as hell in fiction BECAUSE they're perfect - they're that person you'd give anything to switch lives with. You know. THAT person. There's only one person in existence who generates more jealousy than a Mary Sue, and that is Batman. Because he's Batman!

EXAMPLES: Lily Evans from Harry Potter, Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, Annabeth from Percy Jackson & the Olympians

[djesusgetnaked]

100 questions

@missmendelsohn did it, and I just woke up and need to do something unproductive, so here I am !

1. What is your nickname? Swannou, Swanny. Pretty classics after Swann, I guess. Little Shit, too (kinda relate to this one a bit too much).

2. How old are you? 23 in 6 days. 

3. What is your birth month? June baby.

4. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini (the best, fight me on this).

5. What is your favorite color? Purple. Sexiest color ever.

6. What’s your lucky number? 8.

7. Do you have any pets? Yes. I kinda have a cat at my mother’s, a cat at my father’s, but mostly I have MY cat living with me and she’s the best. (Brb, I need to cuddle her now.)

8. Where are you from? Paris, France.

9. How tall are you? 5′5″

10. What shoe size are you? 7. I have very long feet ahah.

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? In my living flat I have three. But in total I have... like eight ?

12. Are you random? Totally. I’m random and chaotic. You never know what’s going to happen in my brain. Hell, I don’t even know.

13. Last person you texted? A friend.

14. Are you psychic in any way? I don’t know how to answer to this one. It may seem that my grand mother has some weird powers or I don’t know, and it runs in our family, but I never believed in those things. Though I’m a really intuitive person.

15. Last TV show watched? Law and Order: Svu & Friends. Yes at the same time. I can stare at pretty ADA Barba, and relax with Friends when SVU is too hard.

16. Favorite movie? Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino.

17. Favorite show from your childhood? I’d say... Les mystérieuses cités d’or, I don’t know the title in English.

18. Do you want children? Nah. Already have my little sister and my little brother, I’m fine. (But I’ve already have my kids’ names, so… you never know !)

19. Do you want a church wedding? Nope nope. I don’t want a wedding at all, and even less a church one.

20. What is your religion? None.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Too many times for my liking. I hate hospitals.

22. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law? Tricky question ! It seems that I’ve trouble doing legal stuff, but funny enough I’ve never been arrested. I’m a white female who’s cute, I’m okay with the cops.

23. How is life? Life is a bitch. Queen of the bitches. 

24. Baths or showers? Showers in a daily basis, but I need a bath once in awhile. 

25. What color socks are you wearing? One is blue and the other is purple. Because my socks are orphan and almost never match. 

26. Have you ever been famous? I’m famous in my head, does it count ? But I was pretty popular in school.

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? As I want to work in the cinema area, it’d be great please.

28. What type of music do you like? I’ve been raised with rock and punk. I also like alternative, pop, blues, jazz, electro, dubstep. I’m kinda open to anything (but I have a hard time with rap and reggae).

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yeeees. It’s the best !

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 6 ahahah. But it’s too many for me, I just use 2.

31. What position do you usually sleep in? I really don’t know. I’m too knackered when I fall asleep to notice.

32. How big is your house? Very very small. I don’t know how we manage to live at three in this.

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? Nothing. I’m sleeping for breakfast, and I’m too poor to eat (I swear it’s true, I eat once every two days, I’m starving please help).

34. Have you ever left the country? Yup.

35. Have you ever tried archery? Yup again.

36. Do you like anyone? Hmm. I don’t know ? I have some crushes, but liking really strong anyone, I don’t think so.

37. Favorite swear word? I’m a very vulgar person (and I use fancy words at the same time). Putain (the f-word in French) is kinda an easy one. My favorite is maybe “nique ta mère la pute” (please don’t try to translate this one). And I get pretty inventive like “bordel de cul de nouilles” (this one is more funny than very vulgar) or “oh bordel ta grand-mère en string de guerre sur qui je fais du rodéo” when I hurt myself (this one is absurd too).

38. When do you fall asleep? Between 3am and 6am. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

39. Do you have any scars? Many.

40. Sexual orientation? Bisexual.

41. Are you a good liar? It really depends on the situation, but I can be. I’m good at inventing believable stories, but my eyes are too expressive. 

42. What languages would you like to learn? Spanish.

43. Top 10 songs?

44. Do you like your country? Yes and no. Paris is a beautiful city, can’t deny that. But I want to get out of here. 

45. Do you have friends on the web? Oh yes. FRIENDS EVERYWHERE MY FRIEND.

46. What is your personality type? ENTP and ENFP, it changes when I do the test several times.

47. Hogwarts house? Gryffondor, and so proud of it !!

48. Can you curl your tongue? No, and I’m very complexed about it ahah (no it’s not true).

49. Pick one fictional character you can relate to. Danny Rayburn, hands up. For so so so many reasons.

50. Left or right handed? Both eheheh, I write with the left, but also can write with the right. And I almost everything with both.

51. Are you scared of spiders? Spiders are my friends.

52. Favorite food? Humans. Soup and ham.

53. Favorite foreign food? I’d say vietnamese food, but I’ve been raised with asian food (as my father is Cambodian).

54. Are you a clean or messy person? Most a clean than messy, even if I can be lazy and just do nothing. But my roommates are very messy, so it’s a messy place.

55. If you could switch your gender for a day, what would you do? Ahahah I would so do the helicopter dick. But I wouldn’t do anything different from what I usually do. I’m a woman, and proud of it, but I relate more to a man. Idk, it’s weird.

56. What color underwear? My boxers are currently the American flag, so blue and red and white.

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? 20 minutes, with a shower.

58. Do you have much of an ego? Oh yes... I don’t think I’m arrogant or what, but I have a big ego.

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? I don’t suck or bite lollipops, unless I’m trying to tease someone.

60. Do you talk to yourself? No I don’t.

61. Do you sing to yourself? When there’s music playing.

62. Are you a good singer? SKIP THIS ONE. NO. I’M AWFUL.

63. Biggest fears? Slug, pregnant women (I know it’s weird, but have you seen Alien ? okay), and being abandoned. 

64. Are you a gossip? A few years ago people gossiped about me, and it didn’t feel good at all. It was awful. People are mean. So no, I don’t.

65. Are you a grammar Nazi? Kind of, but I try to shut it down because people don’t like it.

66. Do you have long or short hair? Very short, boyish style.

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? Lol no. I can’t name the regions of France so...

68. Favorite school subject? It depended on the year. Sport, English, Italian, Math, Biology, History. I liked school.

69. Extrovert or introvert? Extrovert, without a doubt.

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? Yes. But I have trouble to breath. 

71. What makes you nervous? Life. Lol it’s sad.

72. Are you scared of the dark? I love dark.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? I used to do it a lot. I still want to. I don’t do it because I don’t want to get punched.

74. Are you ticklish? It depends on the person, but mostly no.

75. Have you ever started a rumor? Ne-ver.

76. Have you ever been out of your home country? Yes.

77. Have you ever drank underage? Oh yes. Turning 18 didn’t change a lot for me.

78. Have you ever done drugs? Yup.

79. What do you fantasize about? Being fucking happy.

80. How many piercings do you have? None.

81. Can you roll your R’s? Really really bad. My accent in Italian is awful.

82. How fast can you type? It’s funny because I type with only two fingers (my indexes), like old persons and it makes people laugh. But I type really fast though. 

83. How fast can you run? It’s been awhile since I’ve run. But I used to run very fast.

84. What color is your hair? Black. Very very dark hair.

85. What color are your eyes? Brown, and very dark too.

86. What are you allergic to? Insect bite. It’s ugly.

87. Do you keep a journal? Nah. My writings talk for me.

88. Are you depressed about anything? About life. I’m borderline and bipolar, so I’m kinda depressed like all the time ? Ahah.

89. Do you like your age? No it sucks. Like I’m still so young but everyone excepts me to have a perfect built up life ? Wtf.

90. What makes you angry? Being woken up because my roommates are too noisy.

91. Do you like your own name? Yes.

92. Did you ever get a foreign object up your nose? What ???

93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? A cat, a dog, a panther, a baby lion, a llama.

94. What talents do you have? Writing, I guess ?

95. Sun or moon? Both.

96. How did you get your name? My parents are good with giving names.

97. Are you religious? I’ve been raised with catholic values, but no I’m not.

98. Have you ever been to a therapist? Too many.

99. Color of your bedspread? Dirty.

100. Color of your room? Messy.

It was so long. Not tagging anyone, just do it if you want.

[42inchtv]

Some Thoughts On The Best Movies Of 2019

Honorable Mentions: “Always Be My Maybe” (dir. Nahnatchka Khan), “Avengers: Endgame” (dirs. Joe and Anthony Russo), “Her Smell” (dir. Alex Ross Perry), “The Highwaymen” (dir. John Lee Hancock), “Joker” (dir. Todd Phillips), “Knives Out” (dir. Rian Johnson), “The Laundromat” (dir. Steven Soderbergh), “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese” (dir. Martin Scorsese), “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (dir. Jon Watts), “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (dir. J.J. Abrams), “Toy Story 4″ (dir. Josh Cooley), “Triple Frontier” (dir. J.C. Chandor), “Under the Silver Lake” (dir. David Robert Mitchell), “Waves” (dir. Trey Edward Shults), “Yesterday” (dir. Danny Boyle)

10. “High Flying Bird” (dir. Steven Soderbergh) Steven Soderbergh loves process movies, films where collaboration has to take place in order to achieve a set goal. So, heists. Almost all of Soderbergh's movies have a heist element in the text -- often literally, as with the "Ocean's" franchise or "Logan Lucky"; sometimes deeper, as with "Magic Mike" or "High Flying Bird." This new Soderbergh joint is a fucking blast -- and right from the start, with Andre Holland rat-tat-tatting his way through a fancy lunch with an NBA rookie who's still wet behind the ears (Melvin Gregg, good stuff). On the face of it, "High Flying Bird" is a heist movie, one where we watch Holland's Ray and his dogged former assistant (Zazie Beetz) use shoe-leather to stop an NBA lockout and make themselves a lot of money in the process. But its deeper reading is about a disrupter trying to disrupt again without falling behind the curve (it might as well be about Soderbergh himself). The ideas presented in "High Flying Bird" are so modern its almost as if Soderbergh has seen the future, one where athletes democratize sports in the way so many other fields have been democratized by social media. The production and release of "High Flying Bird" -- it was shot on an iPhone and dropped on Netflix -- are timely too. Soderbergh continues to get over on all these guys, doing it better and faster than most people half his age. Maybe he loves heists so much because he's made a career out of pulling jobs on the unsuspecting for 30 years.

9. “Booksmart” (dir. Olivia Wilde) A classic right out of the box, even in spite of the ponderous discourse surrounding its release. “Booksmart” takes the one-crazy-night structure and core relationship of "Superbad" and mixes it with the heart and sincerity of "Lady Bird" to create a coming-of-age movie that transcends gender and time and finds room to turn Beanie Feldstein into a giant star. This is a god-level performance, paying off what everyone hoped would happen after she played the beta in "Lady Bird." She's the alpha here and tears the movie to shreds. Give her a goddamn Oscar.

8. “Parasite” (dir. Bong Joon Ho) There is always another bottom. “Parasite” starts as one kind of movie and becomes another and the deftness with which it transitions is but one of the many delights buried within what has become a landmark release. Two things to note, before hitting the next blurb: first, the ending montage is unforgettable, quite literally as I’ve often replayed it in my head during quieter moments; and second, the score is the best of the year.

7. “Little Women” (dir. Greta Gerwig) Bigger in scope and bolder in construction than “Lady Bird,” Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women” stamps her as one of the best filmmakers working today. No one is able to be as honest in depicting complicated human feelings and as unafraid to portray outright empathy amid conflict. The only downside to Gerwig hitting the rarefied air of an auteur is that she doesn’t seem to want to act anymore. But we’ll take the role switch if there are more movies like “Little Women” on the horizon.

6. “Marriage Story” (dir. Noah Baumbach) Noah Baumbach is never really mentioned when conversations turn to best directors; he’s always felt a tier behind the Tarantinos and Scorseses of the world. But given a second thought, it’s hard to imagine why. Baumbach has been knocking out four-star movies since the ‘90s and “Marriage Story” might be his best. (Thanks to Netflix, it’s also by far his most widely seen; my parents even watched this one.) The divorce drama turned meme generator is typical Baumbach: smart people arguing about life with a bite that doesn’t shy away from showing the underside of humanity. But it feels like his most complete film, a perfect marriage of his earlier cynical work and his buoyant Gerwig period. It goes without saying but let’s say it anyway: Adam Driver is remarkable in this one, giving the best performance of the year. But Scarlett Johansson matches him scene for scene, a reminder of the raw talent she displayed during the “Lost in Translation” years when she was basically Andruw Jones for actors.

5. “Hustlers” (dir. Lorene Scafaria) From the opening tracking shot -- an unbroken take that follows newbie Destiny (Constance Wu in her best performance yet) as she tries to scratch together some cash during her first night at the klerb -- Lorene Scafaria makes her case for a Scorseseian tribute previously done best by Paul Thomas Anderson. But “Hustlers” isn’t a mere riff on “Goodfellas” or “Boogie Nights,” it’s a Trojan horse packed tight with big statements on the long-lasting ramifications of the 2008 financial crisis, the bonds of true friendship, and the way parenthood literally changes the mind of a parent (”motherhood is a mental illness,” Jennifer Lopez’s Ramona says twice during the film, first with a laugh and then later with a tear). It all culminates with a finale that doubles as a punch in the gut, with a monologue delivered by Lopez that should replace Ben Affleck’s juicy dialogue from “The Town” for aspiring actors on YouTube. Through it all, Scafaria controls every frame and sequence with confidence and ease not portended even by her previous solid work. It’s some masterful stuff, as is the way she’s able to tease out powerful performances from her motley crew of actors: Cardi B (lol sure), Lizzo, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Wu, and, of course, J.Lo, who does Robert De Niro in “Goodfellas” better than anyone else who has tried since 1990.

4. “Us” (dir. Jordan Peele) Oh, hey, “Us” is awesome. A “Twilight Zone” riff mixed with a greatest hits of references (including but not limited to “Scream,” “Jaws,” “The Shining,” “Signs,” “Funny Games,” “The Cabin in the Woods,” and “C.H.U.D.”) that throws a bunch of big, lofty ideas into the batter. Chief among them: How the ruling class must be taken out by the disenfranchised and how the disenfranchised, after wresting power from that class, will not go quietly into the night. (Alternate take: Bury the unwoke person you were as a youth before they can come back and ruin your life.) It all works so well — thrilling and hilarious, often at the same time. Lupita Nyong’o is otherworldly here (best actress 2020) and Winston Duke does an outrageous Jordan Peele impression that should please dads everywhere. Highest praise: During a year when we celebrated the greatness of 1999 movies, “Us” would rank up there with the best of the lot.

3. “The Irishman” (dir. Martin Scorsese) I've never thought to cry while watching a Martin Scorsese movie. That's not the kind of filmmaker he has been previously -- and even the movies he's made that pack an emotional wallop do so with almost surgical precision. Perhaps he's getting softer in his old age, or maybe I am: on my third viewing of "The Irishman" (but really, let's call it what it is: "I Heard You Paint Houses"), I teared up on more than one occasion. The elephant in the room after its release became Peggy and the wrongly perceived lack of agency given to her character. But watching how her relationship with Frank unfolds from birth to death with so few words is the movie's greatest trick. The first time we see Peggy, as an infant, she casts her big eyes on dad; those same glances -- angry, heartbroken, disgusted, pitiful stares -- make up their entire relationship. Only once does Frank experience something similar: after he kills Hoffa (a 20-minute sequence that features little dialogue and no music; we stan), Frank is next shown watching from a church pew as Bill Bufalino gives away his daughter at the altar on her wedding day; it's an act of fatherly love and joy that he'll never experience, not after what he's done hours before. Frank knows it too; just look at his face. A fucking masterpiece from our greatest filmmaker.

2. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (dir. Quentin Tarantino) Speaking of masterpieces: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is Quentin Tarantino’s best movie in 20 years and his most introspective ever; cinema’s former enfant terrible has finally grown up. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” grapples with what happens when masculinity runs its course and when one generation loses prominence to the next. But it’s also just super hilarious — filled with moments that are best described as lol. This is the best performance Leonardo DiCaprio has ever given. It’s a remarkable tight-rope walk: he's an actor playing a slightly worse actor who himself is giving a performance and then having to also give another performance as the actor he's playing? As his sidekick-slash-lifemate, Brad Pitt is so effortless that it's almost redundant to praise him. And while there are other delights to enjoy among the cast (Margaret Qualley, Julia “tha God” Butters), let’s highlight Margot Robbie: She finds such warmth and grace within Sharon Tate that it's hard not to leave the film feeling a tremendous amount of sadness and regret. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" might rewrite her history, but the real world did not. Unfortunately, this legend was never printed. But at least it exists in the movies.

1. “Uncut Gems” (dirs. Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie) What if the last 30 minutes of "Goodfellas" was actually 120 minutes and starred an all-time Adam Sandler, Mike Francesa, and Kevin Garnett, and prominently featured Billy Joel's "The Stranger"? The Safdie Brothers wrote and directed my fever dreams and it resulted in the best movie of 2019, 2018, 2017. This is a landmark; why bother writing anything else?

[inlibrislibertas42-blog]

More Teen Wolf Plot Holes!

Part 2 to this post:

Derek’s “evolution”: As soon as Derek re-ages his wolf has yellow eyes instead of blue, and then he slowly starts losing his wolf abilities (Because apparently now your eyes being blue is tied to your strength, not having killed or your level of guilt?) Also, did de-aging trigger the evolution somehow? Why? We know various other people who could do a full wolf-shift, supposedly without going through this bizarre process.

Then Derek spends a period of time losing his powers, thinking it’s something Kate had done to him… (and again, we know other characters who could full shift: Talia and most notably Laura. If losing your wolf was part of the “evolving” process, how would Derek not have known about it?) And then somehow dying triggers the final state of his evolution? Did Laura and Talia (and Malia, etc) die as well? Or was the timing a coincidence? And somehow evolving cures the fact that he spent at least a few minutes being dead from blood loss?

Actually nothing about his evolution makes sense, and none of it was explained.

Healing: The amount that a werewolf can heal changes a lot depending on the needs of the script. Ex: Derek’s impaled in s1 by Peter (as a beta) and is completely fine an episode later. The tips of Derek’s claws go into Boyd’s chest in 3A and he’s done.

Braeden: In 3A Braeden has magic –(she touches Lydia and Allison’s arms and brands an image of the Nematon onto them) and when she comes back later it’s never mentioned again (The writers really should think about writing down card for each character about whatever special powers they are giving them so they don’t forget about it). Braeden also has scars up her throat from an alpha’s claws, which apparently didn’t turn or kill her. Kate has her throat clawed by an alpha, and it did.

Malia: I already talked about it but her being able to be in high school with a nine year old education really bothers me. Even forgetting that she spent 8 years in the wild, she should literally be in fourth grade and there’s no way a couple months’ worth of offscreen studying would have caught her up sufficiently. Seriously, whyyyyyyyyy? Howwwww?

Also, Malia’s age, as shown on her birth certificate, makes her 13 years old when we’re introduced to her. However, she’s apparently supposed to be 17 or so, the same as the rest of the characters.

Ages and time in general (nobody knows how time or calendars work in the writing room, do they?): There’s a discontinuity between birthdays given in the show and external materials, such as the TW calendars (which are said to be the real-life ones, ya know, the ones everyone uses). The ages listed also suggest that basically everyone will be graduating at 19 years old, which is incredibly uncommon, and especially odd considering Allison made a big deal about being “older” than everyone else in s1, which wouldn’t be true according to what we’ve been shown.

Important detail: Allison is freaking out at turning 17 years old during her sophomore year in s1, because she hates being “so much older” than everyone else. Lydia turns 17 only several weeks later during s2, in March of their sophomore year.

Meredith is the Benefactor: So many issues and just… how does a banshee magically control computers and printers?

Stiles & the pack after the Nogitsune: Everything he did while possessed… How have they not delved deeper? How has nobody shown the nightmares, the panic attacks, the trauma of the entire pack, the grieving process?

The pack is a bunch of kids, god dammit! And when you’re a kid, a goddamn breakup almost kills you, let alone watching your best friend/close friend being possessed and killing people and watching your ex-girlfriend/girlfriend/best-friend/close friend die in front of you!

Like, this makes me so mad! Like… NO! I don’t care about gory scenes and epic fights if you’re not giving me the aftermath of all that. If you’re trying to be realistic, if you’re trying to put all these supernatural creatures in real life, then give me real reactions and consequences! Don’t just give me a time jump and tell me they forgot about it and moved on. (arghhhhhh)

Paige: Ok, a serious question now: WTF happened after Paige’s death? ‘Cuz like, bites and scratch marks from giant wolves are hard to hide and miss… So… What did her parents thought when they saw her body?

I’m assuming that, ya know, someone found her body, called the police, took her to a morgue so they could find out what the hell happened… Did they just told her parents it was a “mountain lion”? Did they buy it? Didn’t they… I don’t know… questioned Derek, her at-the-time boyfriend? Didn’t they questioned why was she, an apparently perfect student and perfect kid, at the school in the middle of the night? Alone? Like???? Does anyone knows? Do the writers care?

Other important details that we won’t ever have answers for:

Why was Danny writing a paper about telluric currents for a chemistry class? Wouldn’t this topic be more adequate for a physics or geography or geology class?

Also, why was Lydia’s mom subbing a biology class for Harris when he taught chemistry?

How does Ms. Morrell works at echo house and beacon hills high yet no one has brought her up on child endangerment?

Why did Jennifer needed to poison Danny, considering he doesn’t interact with Scott that much and his paper on telluric currents wasn’t being taken seriously?

The overwhelming lack of funerals and wakes and memorials (teen wolf is on a very short timeline, where the fck are all the funerals?).

Why some werewolves can survive impalement multiple times and others get killed by things even a human could conceivably survive for at least a while (see: Boyd’s death vs Peter surviving getting his throat slashed).

How the hell did Peter pass a credit check to rent an apartment after being either comatose or dead for the past 6+ years? And, because I’m talking about Peter, how the heck nobody cares that, you know, a comatose patient with little to no chances of getting better simply got up and started walking and talking? Like… he just left! No questions asked. A freaking patient disappeared from the hospital, his nurse got killed and nobody comes asking for answers?

Where is Isaac’s CPS case manager? Who was he living with? Derek? Ms. McCall? Some random people? How did Chris got away with taking him to France (and leaving him there)? Did he adopted/fostered him? Why didn’t Isaac, Chris or Derek ever mentioned this?

Where did those japanese internment camp messages on Allison’s phone come from and why was Allison’s phone turned off for that entire episode?

Seriously, what the hell is up with Deaton?

Why aren’t there any security checks and security guards posted at Beacon Hills High? With the amount of missing, dead, hurt (and much more) students, that school should have police at the door, police patrolling the hallways, cameras everywhere and a very strict policy of no backpacks/bags and sharp objects within the school perimeters!

How could Malia just walk out of Eichen House all by herself. Was she just like, “lol, I’m a minor and checking myself out ‘cause that’s how it works”?!? Also, if there’s no key to that cellar door in Eichen House, how does everyone but Stiles get in so easily?

How is the Beacon Hills hospital still open, it should have been sued to hell and back by now, with all the people disappearing from it, being murdered in the hallways, and bodybags plus bodies going missing from the morgue!!!

Do Boyd and Erica’s families know their children are dead? Are they still “missing”? Like, after all this time, they are probably presumed dead, right?

How have any of the kids not failed all their classes yet? I mean, between not dying, lacrosse, dramatic + romantic moments and fighting the bad guys, how do this kids have time to do homework, study and go to school? And why the heck the school doesn’t call their parents about their kids constantly leaving the classroom, just like that? Without any permission or anything?

Why does Derek not know ANYTHING about what werewolves can do? We know he was born one but he didn’t know how to train a bitten wolf, or if it was even possible; he never showed them how to do the healing trick, which leads me to suspect he didn’t even know anything about it until Scott or Isaac showed him; he didn’t know Peter was the Alpha; didn’t know Paige could die from the bite; didn’t know some humans might not WANT the fucking bite; or that burying Peter wasn’t enough to keep him from coming back from the dead. Basically, DEREK DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING, EVER!

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompts 228

"Dad."

"I am not your father, ghostling- and you cannot attempt to use that to take my sword."

"… Mom!"

"Oh Realms help me, No-"

[halfagone]

Hi! I really like your recent fic! I have a question though. Do any of your fics include the fanon trope pit madness in it? It’s fanon that I find really triggering so I would appreciate you telling me :)

Hello! :D

That's super great to hear! I'm really glad you enjoyed that one. I put blood, sweat, and tears (okay, maybe not blood but mostly definitely tears) into that one.

I do have some fics that lean into the concept of Pit Madness, but if I'm remembering correctly not many of them actually feature Jason undergoing the effects of Pit Madness. All this is to say: I use it just so that I can cure him of it, explore some crossover worldbuilding, and that's basically it.

Sorry this is gonna be super long, lol

Nonetheless, I would recommend staying away from my fic Reverence, because while that AU is not really about the Pit Madness, it does involve it as a plot device and how it alters his mindset and the like, so... Yeah, maybe stay away from that one.

But as I mentioned, I do have fics where I include that Pit Madness only so that I can cure him of its effects, which I'll name here in case you'd like to avoid them. I'll also give you an idea of how much the concept is involved in the fic itself.

Eldritch Toddler - There is one scene in the fic where de-aged!Danny calms the Lazarus Pits inside of Jason, but there is no situation that actively aggravates the Pit Madness, and besides that one scene there is one other mention of it and then it's never really relevant again? However, this fic does also include slight body horror, so you might also want to keep that in mind.

down the rabbit hole (goes the throne) - We haven't really gotten to the point in the fic yet where Jason's Pit Madness becomes A Major Problem TM but if you're not interested in the trope, then I would recommend avoiding this fic regardless just to save you some time and in case you do end up liking the first few chapters, but then can't even finish the rest (which will come! ...eventually) because of the trope.

Now! This is where we get into the tricky part. lex luthor's ascent from supervillainy to fatherhood also includes the Pit Madness as a thing he has, or more accurately HAD. Basically, and this isn't really a SPOILER at this point in production, but chapter 15 is where we get the first hint of the Pit Madness but he's cured of it by chapter 17. (Keep in mind, as of me posting this reply, we have reached chapter 80.)

HOWEVER. This fic does include references to comic canon events that are often portrayed as being caused by his Pit Madness. Such as:

The several beheadings by his hand at the start of his career as Red Hood

His attack on Tim in the Titans' Tower

His attack on Tim during the Battle of the Cowls

In general, this fic does explore and discuss how much Jason's Pit Madness actually altered his conscience and how much characters can attribute these effects to his questionable actions.

If you're not interested in any sort of reference to the Pit Madness, however, then I would stay away from all of these fics.

Reverence is Rated M, so I feel like that's a sign for readers already.

Eldritch Toddler is Rated T, but it's basically this fluffy story about Danny getting temporarily de-aged, and the Batfam falling in love with his toddler-self.

down the rabbit hole (goes the throne) is also Rated T, but more like bordering on Rated M side of things and- yeah, this fic gets very Dark.

lex luthor's ascent from supervillainy to fatherhood is Rated T but individual chapters can and WILL have their own trigger warnings, and it can be likened to an emotional rollercoaster, and there are graphic events (as in: violence, blood, and injury) in this fic.

ALSO. I would recommend staying away from:

trust no one (trust me)

bloodlines

Off With [the Demon's] Head

Because all of these fics' plotlines are still being finalized, and I cannot promise you if they will involve Pit Madness as a concept. (bloodlines specifically is very likely to, so please be mindful of that.)

If you don't feel inclined to read any of these fics now that I've given you a basic idea, then do not fear! It's more important for you to protect yourself and your mental health than to read these works.

I hope this super, really long response helped. :) Have a lovely day!

[penelope-and-wonders]

Replies

@igglemouse replied to your photoset:

Ahhh my favorite mustache T_T

The Sisterhood of Eternal Mustache of Luke just got the honorary member ♥

@romeo-and-simulet replied to your photoset:

professor Broccoli?

Well, originally they were Professor Bracaloni, but I decided it would be funny if Ferns mispronounced it :D

@shaysugar replied to your photoset:

I like this little detail of them doing chores/gardening together while having a casual talk. Really bring the reality in

I’m so happy you like it!!! Thank you!! ♥ I mean I always worry it’s not exciting enough but I never know how to go without ‘cause life kinda consists of moments like that, and they kinda determinate characters?? And make them whole?? I dunno, I’d miss them if I didn’t have them in my story, that’s for sure!

@shaysugar replied to your post:

Where do I sign? I'm in XD Mustaches for the win

There’s no formal signing in procedure actually. You just need to stand in the center of the biggest town square that is near you and yell ‘OH DEAR LORD I LOVE ME SOME GREAT MUSTACHE’. After that you may consider yourself signed in! If you also get yourself a husband/wife that day, the Sisterhood will take the credit xD

@shaysugar replied to your post:

pretty sure a lot of that skill comes from your journalism skills :D And age too, cuz that's what I realized after reaching 30s. Age is wisdom

Well yeah, actually I agree with you. My studies gave me a lot. I know it’s kind of popular to say that Uni gives you nothing, well at least in Russia it’s quite popular, but I think Uni gives you as much as you want to take. As for the wisdom, yeah. Being 30 I’m totally different person from being 25. A went through a lot of changes during that period of my life, and I grew a lot. I actually love being 30. I didn’t love being 14 or 20, although I enjoyed those years. But now I know I love my age.

@shaysugar replied to your post:

^yes! And I didn't even know that until Luke was stached

That clearly was Providence that told me to stache him! :D

@tinwhistletoo replied to your photoset:

Just chillin' with her dad!:)

With her dad and his mustache, hehe! I’m sorry. I had to do this... xD

@tinwhistletoo replied to your post:

Support groups?? I haven't gotten the memo! I need one of those support groups!!

Why would you need a support group? It’s me who needs a support group considering what you do with me with your stories! T_T We need something like Anonymous Tinwhistletoo Readers. Hello, my name is Daria, and I follow Jana on Tumblr.

@tinwhistletoo replied to your photoset:

I love Ocean!!:)

And I love you ♥

@tinwhistletoo replied to your photoset:

Oh! Oops! Misread it - it's Ronk!!!

Why are you laughing at ‘Ronk’? It’s very masculine to my ears! Do you Swiss people call something of interest ‘a ronk’? Genitals maybe? Do tell me the truth please :p

@neopixiesims replied to your photoset:

Didn't know Luke likes soaps

He doesn’t! He’s just spending time with his daughter who likes soaps. He doesn’t even realize she’s watching a show, hehe!

@neopixiesims replied to your post:

WHO THE EFF WAS SENDING YOU HATE?!

LOL, Nicks, that was anon hate, how do I know who did it? If I did, it would ruin the anonymity of the thing xD It would ruin the whole  concept xD Oh! I Know! I found the way to ruin anon hate now!!!

@neopixiesims replied to your post:

1big 1 small... that's what she said

Err... I don’t get it?? It’s like there are two penises around, one big and one small? xD

@neopixiesims replied to your post:

Soooo you do like staches....

Danny mustache too. Don't forget Dan the stache man

I do love Luke’s stache. I do love you despite us being apart, and over, and all this shit. I do not like Danny’s stache. Whatever you say, whatever Jules says, Danny was and always will be a soulless commercial slut to me. Nothing will change that. Nothing. Even the plushie. Even the drama man. Although... drama man may be able to change it ‘cause he’s all-powerful!

@oakglow replied to your post:

Yes! Fayce! I knew it would stick ����(fern and jayce emojis)

Yeah! Originally, we had two option, ‘Fayce’ and ‘Jern’, but everybody liked ‘Fayce’ more. I liked ‘Jern’ better though ‘cause I associated it with ‘gems’, but Fayce won so I fell in love with it ‘cause I always fall in love with the option I have ‘cause this is the way of enjoying life and not being sad about it being all wrong LMAO

@simsomedia replied to your post:

Dude no one sends sunshine hate. If you do I will beat you. Just no, not my sunshine.

You know what? I thought about it and realized that maybe it wasn’t that bad?? I mean, I’m thirty, I’m quite mature to know this hate won’t affect me if I don’t let it affect me, but at the same time this person who sends this hate has to feel some relief from all the hate they feel so I kinda help them feel better?? Although I have to admit, that’s awful and really sad when you need to send someone hate to feel better :(

@furiouslydecaffinated replied to your photoset:

I loooooove them!

And I love Emilia and Yulian T_T Please, don’t hurt my babies T_T

@neutralsupply replied to your photoset:

Yas Nutella the Argyles know what's up

I was one of those who “don’t love” Nutella... Then I got myself a jar and stopped to lie to myself...

@neutralsupply replied to your post:

You have a thing for a lot of things Daria

YES! This state of mind’s called ‘joie de vivre’! :p

@neutralsupply replied to your post:

3 small posts means I can like them THREE TIMES AS MUCH!! Yeeeeeey MORE LOVE FOR DARIA!! ❤️❤️

That is because Zina is generous and gives Daria a lot of love, but there are stingy people that rather give one love instead of three loves. Three loves! Can you imagine?? You give three loves away, and it feels like you are out of love now!

@simwithsparkles replied to your photoset:

I think he will definitely charm her!!

I dunno, he still has this bad boy look... Plus, he hasn't had a lot of experience with moms that are not drunk or high... Meaning I haven't actually decided on Ocean’s attitude toward Jayce yet LOL

@simwithsparkles replied to your post:

You are magical to me!! ❤

This is great 'cause you 100% magical to me!!! ♥

@buckleysimss replied to your post:

I adore your replies. You're always so thoughtful and sincere in what you say. ♥

OMG, thank you so much for saying this! I never knew what to say to people who didn’t know me from when I was like five. I mean what do you say to people that are nice to you, and you care for them but there are no years and years of common memories and togetherness between you? And then one day I realized that for some reason people are okay with me just expressing myself, you know? They also seem to be interested in weird stuff I’m saying like for example why do you think all aliens are bald and not furry, I mean Alf was furry? I mean sometimes they look at me like I’m a bit crazy but that’s not a bad look, that’s like, oh how sweet this crazy person is xD

@buckleysims replied to your post:

I would join! I am always hungry, and I really like muffins. And mustaches. ;)

You know what? I just realized how one can promote mustache as a new world trend! You just need to make a co-promotion for mustaches and muffins! It would be a fun bundle to sell to audience!

@simmingswimmingly replied to your photoset:

Best mom award goes to Ocean

Or maybe she’s so good, and calm, and kind because she hasn’t actually met Jayce yet? Who knows what’s coming for them? Not me, that’s for sure xD

@cowardlypixels replied to your post:

i got fun parent!

Congrats! That’s a good one! May a be your kid? ‘Cause I’m not sure if I want to be my own kid LOL

@authenticdragontears replied to your post:

Lmao I got relaxed parent!

LOL This one is interesting! I wonder if it’s even possible to be a relaxed parent? I can’t even imagine it but hey, I am a strict one after all xD

@authenticdragontears replied to your photoset:

That is absolutely gorgeous, awe-inspiring! Can I live there??

In which capacity, my dear? It’s Fern’s house after all xD

@simlishanddreams replied to your post:

You're so mean! LOL just wait till your toddler decides to chomp down on a sibling.

Hey, lady! I’m not mean, I’m strict, there’s a difference! LMAO

@simcataris replied to your post:

COF don't we all have a thing for daddies?? COF

Surprisingly not, not all of us! But I’m glad we are on the same page here :D

@eslanes replied to your post:

Oh god yes! I think giving a stache had the opposite effect!

I’m afraid some heretics still aren’t on our side... But I assure you, it’s the question of time, they will find the right way, the way towards Luke’s Stache... :D

@eslanes replied to your post:

Um I disagree, your stories are the best!

Thank you so much, sweetie!! I really really like your story too!! ♥ ♥ ♥

@eslanes replied to your photoset:

I completely approve of the misbehaving

But of course you do, my little rebel :p

@tabbyrh replied to your post:

Honestly I'm such a big fan of your writing that I'll read however you post. Sorry I know that's not helpful but it's true!

OMG, thank you so much, Tabby! Your words make me so happy!!! I mean it means a lot to hear a compliment from such an experience writer as you!!! Thank you, sweetie!

@mdianasanders replied to your post:

Short/small. I tend to skip long posts and think I'll read them later, but in practice I never do (I would make an exception for you though)

I’m blushing like crazy now!!! Thank you for doing an exception for me ♥ Being an exception is one of the most pleasant thing in life, hehe ♥

@josiesimblr replied to your post:

I think you're such a compelling writer, either choice would make your readers happy! But I prefer one long big post, I feel it keeps the flow smoother and is more coherent than small posts where you kinda have to backtrack to catch up. But I do like to see my fave Simblrs post frequently, so there's that lol.

You called me a compelling writer, I’m cryinggggg T_T What? Why? How? No one ever called me a completing writer! It feels like it’s the best complement ever!!! Thank you so much!!! And I agree with you, that is exactly why I find long post more comfortable?? suitable?? for storytelling.

[almightyeyebrows]

Tag

I was tagged by the cutie @shitnoire

Rules: copy/paste, replace answers and tag people

a - age: 20 (fun fact: i’m the youngest of all my friends) (another fun fact: I feel like I’m the oldest though)

b - biggest fear: failure

c - current time: started at 11:06pm on Feb 26, 2017 & finished at 3:54pm on Feb 27, 2017

d - drink you last had: tang

e - every day starts with: a well-balanced breakfast

f - favorite song: 

(my current playlist bc I can’t choose just one)

A Night To Remember - Shalamar

And She Was - Talking Heads

Because Of You - Ne-Yo

Boyfriend Material - Ariana Grande

Buscame - Sergio Y Estibaliz

Celos - Fanny Lu

Comme Des Enfants - Coeur De Pirate

Comment De Dire Adieu - François Hardy

Corazon De Papel - Diego Verdaguer

Cornerstone - Arctic Monkeys

Crocodile Rock - Elton John

Danny Says - The Ramones

Diplomats Son - Vampire Weekend

Down - Jay Sean

Down Under - Men At Work

El Secreto De Las Tortugas - Maldita Nerea

Eskimo Kiss - The Kooks

Get Lucky - Daft Punk

Golden Baby Cœur De Pirate

Gossip - Starlight Girls

Heard It On The Radio - The Bird And The Bee

Hey Baby - Dahlia

I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones

In A Sentimental Mood - Duke Ellington

It’s Working - MGMT

Le Temps Est Bon - Isabelle Pierre

Lolaila Carmona - Napoleon Solo

Love Building On Fire - Talking Heads

Meet Me Halfway - The Black Eyed Peas

Muchachita - Miguel Gallardo

M79 - Vampire Weekend

Oh Honey - Delegation

Pelo Suelto - Gloria Trevi

Piel - Sergio Y Estibaliz

Piña Colada Boy - Baby Alice

Que Chasco Me Lleve - Juan Gabriel

Radetzky March - Johann Strauss

Rock With You - Michael Jackson

Runaway - Steve Means

She’s A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Song For Dan Treacy - MGMT

Sunset Lover - Petit Biscuit

The Hustle - Van McCoy

The Saltwater Room - Owl City

This Girl - Laza Morgan

Vamos A La Playa - Los Joao

Versace On The Floor - Bruno Mars

Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles

Where Is My Mind - Sunday Girl

Youssef - Mon Côté Punk

1812 Solenelle - Peter Tchaikovsky

(I just rly lob music okay) (if you know all of these songs then you can see my music taste is all over the place lol) (also! if you listen to any of these bc of me let me know!)

g - ghosts, are they real: um yes??? No need to ask, this is a Fact™. As someone who’s seen and been touched by ghosts I can firmly say they’re Real™.

h - hometown: all of California, I’ve moved a lot throughout this state so I don’t have one definite hometown

i - in love with: myself?? If you’re asking me if i’m in a relationship the answer is no

j - jealous of: nothing/nobody at the moment

k - killed someone: If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. (So no, I haven’t killed anyone)

l - last time you cried: Don’t know, I don’t get emotional often

n - number of siblings: a younger brother

o - one wish: to abstract to write down in full detail~

p - person you last called/texted: my Bruh™

q - questions you’re always asked: don’t have any

r - reasons to smile: I’m me :))))

s - song last sang: Concierto Para Enamorados - Karina (if you don’t know this song look it up! It’s such a cheerful, fun song to sing along to)

t - time you woke up: about 8am

u - underwear color: blue

v - vacation destination: Las Vegas & the Disney parks in California! No matter how many times I go to these places I always enjoy it throughly and return refreshed & counting down until my next visit.

w - worst habit: procrastination probably

x - x-rays you’ve had: Standard x-rays done by the dentist & x-rays done when I used to be a frequent patient of the Children’s Hospital

y - your favorite food: favorite ingredients: barley, black beans, lentils, jalapeños & potatoes favorite dishes: gorditas & migadas

z - zodiac sign: Virgo! (100% mean to brag but it’s the best sign) (also i’m such a stereotypical Virgo)

I tag @jurassic-mixtape and anyone else who wants to do this~

[fmlfpl]

Lineup Lamentations - GW1

Our Transfers, Captains, Benches, and Starting 11s for the week.

WOW HOLY SHIT GW1 IS HERE!!!!!! OK let’s do it. Let’s just ship these lambs out there -- sorta feels like sending your child out to university... Here are our GW1 full squads:

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

OUT: N/A

IN: N/A

GK:

Alisson an actual Friday morning tinker in. My wife, my lovely wife, looked over at my computer screen and pointed to Ederson saying "I don't like this one.” Last time she did this was during fantasy world cup when she pointed to a one Robert Lewandowski. Naturally I ignored her, with a grin, thinking heh you're fucking dumb you don't even know the rules of football. Little did I know the joke was on me. Well, universe, I have rectified this situation. Alisson is in, will make more saves than Ederson anyway, and, freeing up a City spot for a potential attacker is a little bit cool. Idk.

DEF:

Am on the double pool with Robbo and aforementioned Alisson. Robbo doesn't need much explaining.

Mendy is in, another who hasn't left in a while.

Fat ass fuck Luke Shaw is in my team. I don't want to say much about it. Little bit of diversification and looking at my team I have 0 short term punts so seems I can afford one. It is cool to have the best left back in Europe according to his manager in my team anyway I think? Having a United defender is deece, but fucking hell Luke Shaw. Dunno how I got here. God help me.

MID:

Mo is in, obv.

Eriksen I have stood by through thick and thin. Looking forward to enjoying his steady stream of points.

Ozil I have also somehow managed to keep in through all the tinkering. In the end, he makes me happy. One of my favorite players in the world I just can't get enough of the mantis king. Very nervous about the opening two fixtures for him, but after that, should be smooth sailing. Really hope he just gets 1 assist in first 2 just to keep me calm. We'll see. Overall I just feel like he's going to have a quality season like old times, get assists, get baps, not get illnesses. One time. 

Fourth guy is Jota. Had to have the soup of the day. Helder felt okay and I had him in for a while but in the end the downgrades in defense felt palatable in order to get me into the Jota / 6.5m midfield bracket. Expecting big things for the young lad Diogo this year.

FWD:

Kun is in. Love love love him.

Arnie is in. Love love love him.

Couple great guys just ready to get fantasy points. Really not a ton to say about the lads. Arnie despite bad fixtures I still expect to be in there with some goals hitting on the counter. Feels fine. Kun is Kun.

I have Aboobs Kamara in as third forward. The farthest thing from possible nailedness but could get a couple starts early doors...which is when I need him with bad couple Palace fixtures. He's been good in preseason so let's see if that can translate.

Very annoying with an attacker going against almost literally every one of my four clean sheet possibilities, but, sometimes that's how they line up. Low ceiling for GW1 here...but marathon not a sprint....right? Fack.

CAP:

Mo. Never in doubt.

BENCH:

Stek... Stek is whatever. Ownership is almost 5%..a bit high..but at least he's actually second choice on a somewhat good team which is more than can be said for the other 4.0 GKs.

4.5m midfield is actually a sinkhole of fuck this year. I spent more time than I usually do figuring out which to go for and the wheel has spun and landed on sir Phillip of house Billing. Very nervous about taking up a precious Huddersfield TOWN spot..lol..but he chipped in a couple assists in preseason and appears to have a spot until / unless he loses it. Not as if they have a stacked squad with much comp anywhere, so we'll see. He showed some flashes last season of some quality, so he's in. Really due to lack of another better option.

Last two guys for my bench this week are Sakho and Wannybiz. Dropped my love Patty van Aanholt down to Mom for money, but Mama will be solid. Bap machine should be a solid option for the first couple months as long as he doesn't die. Hopefully Wan keeps his spot and gets a couple price rises in the early going. Will probably not start him much but could see a couple games where I opt to throw 2x Palace defenders out there.

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: N/A

IN: N/A

GK:

David de Gea.

I had him in last season from I thiiiink GW6 onwards and it was just the absolute best thing ever. Loads of cleans, loads of save points, and even some bonus points... Having a nailed top GK on the nailed biggest bus in the league driven by the world’s biggest bus merchant in the league seems good... Though I gotta admit paying 6m for GK feels a little disgusting...

United on the outside look kinda like a fucked up disaster mess but I’ll believe it when I see it. They’re still the second most expensive squad in the league by a large margin managed by Jose Mourinho. I think they’ll be fine...

On top of that I know that I probably will not want any United mids or fwds in my team looking ahead versus the opposite feeling for Liverpool / City mids and fwds which makes slotting DDG in ahead of Alisson / Ederson feel a little bit smarter there too.

DEF:

I’m a leftback fanatic. Completely love’em. Here we are then:

Mendy is in for me after being fit and positive in the community shield. There’s relatively no competition whatsoever for his starting place which feels amazing and even if there was Walker started basically every match when he was fit, doesn’t seem like Pep rotates fullbacks like Poch does... Love City for a ton of cleans again this season and if Mendy can replicate the form of his three starts last season then we can expect a lot of attacking intent to go alongside those cleans. Love it.

Robbo won the hearts over all Liverpool supporters (like me) last season by just being a complete psycho animal workrate beast while putting in great deliveries and defending well also. Best LB in the prem last season and I don’t think anybody in their right mind would dispute that... Liverpool defense was fantastic once VVD settled in and should be even better with a world class keeper in there too now. Robbo both put up terrific attacking stats and passing the eye-test with his crosses, overlaps, and scampers into the box. Been in my squad since day 1 and has not moved an inch.

Bavies was a late arrival as I shifted away from Bailly and then Smalling and then VVD to eventually land at Ben Davies... With Rose out rumors still flying and Poch’s complete and utter distaste for Danny I feel like Bavies is moving quite nicely towards locking down the spot as his own. As is, he didn’t play in the World Cup and was the guy last season... Spurs are kind of messy and have a lot of away fixtures but I feel like away Newc, away Man. United, away Watford are all pretty decent clean fixtures sprinkled in with home Fulham... When Bavies was regularly starting last season few defenders had more attacking intent. Sorta puntish but let’s get some huge double digit hauls Benny.

MID:

This week I’m rolling out 5 mids because I don’t really like the Palace fixture (Wan on my bench) for a cleansheet.

Salah has not moved since the first day of FPL opening. Easy pick there.

Ozil I waffled in and out of the side playing with Aubz, Mkhi, Laca, Rambo, etc etc because my love of Arsenal attack is very real... In the end Mkhi/Laca make each other not nailed, Rambo is still kinda knocked as usual but I have an eye on him, and Aubz I couldn’t lock down a team I felt good about with all three of Salah, Aubz, and Kun and Mo and Kun were nailed into my side. So here we are Ozil the god.. Hopefully Emery puts him in a good position to succeed and he can have a huge bounce-back year with a chip on his shoulder to waggle his cock in the faces of those racist German fucks.

Jota is almost beyond soup because we’re both so high on him and a ton of people have him in... It feels to me like we’re getting a really seriously good player here in Jota who is essentially OOP forward. He may not start centrally regularly - surely sometimes he will - but he’s also not a “wide winger” he’s very much a left sided forward or wide forward/striker so it’s still sort of out of position. Wolves should be pretty good and pretty fun and Jota is the main fucking man. At worst there are tons of dudes at 6.5 slot to pivot to.

Lucas Moura found his way into my team as I came off of the teet of Mkhi and Bernardo Silva I found the Brazilian butt of Lucas quite comforting... He’s just a good punt to take. He’s always had good attacking numbers, good underlying numbers, and Spurs are obviously a top 6 team... With Son off to the Asian Games after GW1 Lucas should have this spot nailed down for at least a month or so and with pretty good attacking fixtures I like the punt here a lot. It’s definitely a punt but there are a lot of guys to pivot to when the time comes and he’s a good player on a good team who is nailed. Ticks a lot of boxes.

Lastly gonna roll out Cairney this week. If I think it’s a bad fixture for a Palace clean then surely I feel better about starting Cairney then Wan-B this week... Cairney is a good guy, we expect him on pens, and Fulham -- while they have their problems defensively -- should be a pretty good team going forward. Better then a lot of people expect I think... Fulham also reinforced the midfield with two really good CDMs to play behind Cairney to let him just push forward and pull the strings which to me is really positive. 5.0 for what I expect to be a nailed #10 on a middleish quality attacking team... who knows Cairney may just be a starter for me for a lot of the season... Or he might be awful and Fulham might suck and then he’ll be on my bench :).

FWD:

Kun has not moved for ages. Unfortunately he braced in the community shield and his ownership went up like 20%... but still yeah. He’s great. Best City attacker to own by a lot for me.

And I settled on Arnie too. I went off Chaz, I flirted with Tosun and even King, but in the end I’m going Arnie. The stats are so good. And I love Pellegrini and some of the transfers of West Ham and mostly I love the new Arnie we saw last season. From the moment he was playing striker on, a new Arnie was born who even when he blanked looked an incredible, unstoppable force. Some bad fixtures and some good fixtures I reckon Arnie is a set and forget at this time. Go on Arnie.

CAP:

Duh.

BENCH:

4.0 keeper I spent almost no time thinking about I just went with Hamer because I don’t know Huddy only have two guys listed and Lossl isn’t that good and whatever....

Kamara is the obvious 4.5 forward. I don’t think he’ll start many if any games especially with Fulham also bringing in Vietto but Kamara came off of the bench 22 times last season for Fulham which is nice to see... So even when he does not start he seems to be the attacker of choice to be brought on to change a game / get a return. About as good as you can hope for for a 4.5 forward.

Wan-Bissaka excellent pick, should be starting 4.0 defender on a solid side.

And sleeper last guy on my bench this week Trent Alexander-fucking-Arnold the legend god... I got to a point in my team where I could afford to cover Trent with both Cairney/Wan-B for a week or two whatever he needs and then after that once he gets in -- and I expect Trent to start the majority of matches -- he’s a ludicrously good value pick at 5.0, arguably best value pick in the entire game. Let’s not forget when he’s on the pitch he’s not just a marauding RB on a top team who will keep lots of cleans but he’s also on a lot of corners, indirect FKs, AND direct FKs... Just great. And a local lad too. <33333 Trent.

GO ON BOYS!!!!