#YES it's another marianas title what are you the marianas title police?

[dvp95]

pieces of something good

pairing: dan howell/phil lester rating: general tags: coffeeshop au, meet-cute, fluff word count: 681 summary: The guy is in front of Phil in the Starbucks queue again. Bingo squares: coffeeshop

read on ao3 or here!

The guy is in front of Phil in the Starbucks queue again.

It's strange, because Phil doesn't have a set routine that brings him here during specific timeframes, but he's ended up standing right behind the same man at least twice a week. He hadn't paid much mind at first, honestly, because who pays close attention to strangers in Starbucks? But then it kept happening, and Phil found himself noticing more and more.

He's tall and lanky - like Phil - and he slouches forward to play app games while he waits - like Phil - and he often orders a caramel macchiato with almond milk - like Phil - so it only stands to reason that Phil's mind starts cataloguing the differences instead.

The monochrome clothes, for one. The way his painted nails tap at the back of his phone to the tune of whatever's stuck in his head. The soft lines of his cheeks, indented whenever he smiles at the barista and flushed pink with the icy winds outside. He's extremely pretty, and Phil is always so distracted by looking at him that he stumbles awkwardly up to the second register.

It's stupid, Phil knows, to have an idle crush on a complete stranger, but. It's also easier, is the thing. He can't be disappointed by a guy being rude or boring or straight if he doesn't know anything about him and has no intention of introducing himself.

So he's behind the guy in line again, sneaking glances at him while he checks his emails, when the line shuffles forwards and Phil trips over... something that was there, he's sure, even if it's not anymore.

"Oops!" he squawks on instinct as he knocks into the stranger's shoulder. "Sorry!"

Big brown eyes blink at him, and Phil feels a flush creep up his neck at having the man's attention for the first time.

"That's alright," the guy says. His voice is soft around the edges but not particularly quiet, and the way his vowels form tells Phil that he's not a Manchester native.

It should end there, really. But Phil's eyes drop to the shirt that the man is wearing under his thick black jacket, and he can't stop himself from saying, "Oh, so you do know what a colour is, then?"

A bark of a laugh is surprised out of the man's mouth, and Phil is treated to a wide grin when he looks back up from the pale pink jumper. He looks a little quizzical, but not overly bothered by Phil's eyes on him.

"Hardly," he says. "Seems like you've got enough for both of us."

Phil looks down at himself and shrugs. He's never been very good at coordinating, he just wears what he likes.

"Maybe so," says Phil.

The guy laughs again, and Phil really likes the sound of that. The line shuffles forwards again, giving him an opportunity to turn back around and ignore Phil.

He doesn't. Instead, he glances at his phone and back up at Phil, still smiling faintly. The dimples in his cheeks and the bags under his eyes are so telling. Phil wants to learn more, but he knows it isn't his place to.

"Hey," the stranger says. "Want to buy me a drink? Make up for your two left feet?"

It's a cheeky move, but Phil doesn't mind. It's not like he has anywhere to be, and if this all goes terribly then he can start going to the Starbucks a few blocks away. He ducks his head with a little grin and nods, stepping up to wait beside the guy instead of behind him.

"I'm Phil," he offers.

"Dan," is the response. Phil thinks it suits him, somehow.

"What am I buying for you, Dan?" Phil asks, as if he doesn't already know. As if he hasn't been hyper-aware of everything he's seen Dan do in this queue.

Dan gives him a little smirk, like he knows exactly how aware of him Phil has been.

"Caramel macchiato with almond milk," he says. A beat goes by, and then he adds, "Same as you, isn't it?"

[backslashdelta]

what songs do you associate with your fave glee characters/ships? besides what they actually sang on the show :P or what do you wish they couldve covered?

also i was just scrolling thru your blog then it was suddenly hi, degrassi! i always get excited when i remember im not the only gleek that also watches degrassi lol

Oh this is such a fun question, thank you!

Before I answer: Degrassi, yes! Degreassi is actually sort of what got me into Glee, weirdly enough. When Glee was first airing I didn’t watch it, but I watched Degrassi Next Class a few years ago, and then one day I saw Glee recommended to me on Netflix, and I thought “You know what? Glee seems sort of like Degrassi, I might like it. Maybe I should give it a shot.” So I did, and  now here we are lol. So, thanks Degrassi!

Anyway, on to your question! I listen to music nearly constantly, but I don’t usually just hear a song and get reminded of a specific character or ship, or imagine how it would sound if a certain character covered it. That being said, I do have some associations, most of them a result of fanfiction or playlists that have been made for a specific ship/fic/whatever. So, here we go!

Paper Rings by Taylor Swift. This is just a Klaine song, I don’t think there’s an argument here, right? The box scene? It’s Klaine.

Dying in LA by Panic! at the Disco. I would commit a felony if it meant I could listen to Darren Criss sing this song. It’s a Blaine song. It’s just such a good song and I can imagine how well Blaine would sing it in my head and I need it.

Literally any of Rihanna’s songs I associate with Blaine. I made a post about it once. On that note, I associate pretty much anything by Katy Perry or P!nk with him, too.

Grace Kelly by MIKA. This is a Kurt song. One day it occurred to me that Kurt should have covered MIKA, and I could absolutely see him doing this one.

Porcelain by Marianas Trench. Obviously this is Kurt (also Klaine, but more specifically Kurt), if not for the name alone. But also @blangstydays​ has talked about it a bit, and I even made it into a gif set! Go easy on me though, I just started learning to make gifs so there’s lots of room for improvement.

Bad Habit by Ben Platt. This is both Klaine and Kurtbastian to me. Klaine because of the “sing to me instead” lyric and @heartsmadeofbooks​ fic (which I still have not read and yet I still have this association, so good job Laura), and Kurtbastian because @20xbetterthanu​ has it in their playlist for AWIT and @blangstydays​ has it in their playlist for IWOAK.

A Drop In The Ocean by Ron Pope. This will never not be a Kurtbastian song, because A Change In The Weather by cacophonylights exists.

Ever After by Marianas Trench. This is a Kurtbastian song. @porcelain-nightbird made me an amazing Kurtbastian playlist as a gift that includes this song, they made a gif set for my birthday with lyrics, and oh, the lyrics, I just... yeah. This song is amazing, and it is Kurtbastian. Here’s a post with some more thoughts on that, prompted by an ask @gorgxoxus​ sent to @porcelain-nightbird​.

Every Breath You Take by The Police. This was supposed to be a Kurtbastian duet and I will die mad about it. There’s even a clip of Grant Gustin singing it!

Collide (acoustic) by Howie Day. Another song in the Kurtbastian playlist @porcelain-nightbird​ made for me. I knew about the song before but had kind of forgotten about it, but now that I’ve been reminded I will always have that association.

I also have some associations based specifically on my own writing. I’ll leave them under a cut, though :)

The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists. Is choosing an entire album cheating? I have decided that no, it is not. But, in particular, The Hazards of Love 1, 2, 3, 4, and Won’t Want For Love, I associate all of these with Klaine because of a series I’m writing. The series isn’t even Klaine friendly a lot of the time (though some of it is...? It’s confusing lol don’t ask), but it will always be associated with Klaine for me now.

Don’t Miss Me? by Marianas Trench. This is a Klaine song for me, again because I used a lyric for a fic title.

California Gurls by Katy Perry. Klaine, because it’s Katy Perry, but also because of a lyric I used for one of my fic titles.

Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy. This is Klaine. I used a lyric as a fic title, again. Titles are hard. Lyrics are easy.

Lost? by Coldplay. Klaine, same as above.

What A Catch, Donnie by Fall Out Boy. This is specifically a Blaine song, and it’s because I had him sing it in one of my fics. Surprisingly there’s something on this list that isn’t a title for one of my fics!

Mr. Brightside by The Killers. This will forever be a Kurtbastian song for me because, yet again, I used a lyric from it as the title for the first Kurtbastian fic I ever wrote. This is probably the strongest association I have (from my own writing).

Echoes of You by Marianas Trench. Kurtbastian. Do I have to explain why at this point?

[smalltowndetective]

31 Days of Wayhaven-Wolf

@31daysofwayhaven

Trying to write Unit Alpha when we’ve had only one scene with them is a bit tricky, but I hope you like it! :)

Ao3 Link

Title: Confusion

Pairing: Mason and Mariana

Words:1.2k

“You’ve got to be kidding me”, Mason heard Adam groan.

               “The Agency thinks it best if their two top Units work together on this mission”, Agent Gonzales continued as he had not spoken, “This decision is completely out of my hands”.

               “Oh, come on Adam”, Mariana broke in, a smirk sliding on her face, “Afraid they’ll show you up?”

               Adam gave a growl in response to that, and Mason could feel a smirk on his own face, and he gave her a nod of approval.

               “It’s only for one mission”, Nate broke in, “It’s not a permanent situation”

               Before Agent Gonzales could say something else, the door behind them swung open, and they all watched as Unit Alpha came bounding in the meeting room.

               “Hope it hasn’t been too boring without us”, Maaka grinned, turning to Mariana.

               “We’re not all emotionless statues”, she answered, her lips curving into a mischievous smile, and Felix gave a bright laugh at the statement, “Some of us have plenty of fun”.

               She turned to Mason as she said so, giving him a wink, and he gave her another smirk in return.

               Adam was not as pleased with the statement, visibly tensing up, looking like he wanted to be absolutely anywhere else.

               “Can we just get this over with?”

               “Eagar, are you?”, Tane said, and Agent Gonzales finally broke in.

               “We do have a mission that needs to be done, we can leave this talk for later”

               “That sounds good to me”, Lesedi said, giving her a warm smile.

               Nate gave a sigh of relief, and they all looked to Agent Gonzales.

               “I’m sure all of you know about the kidnappings going on”, she began, “The Agency has reason to believe where they might strike next”.

               “And why does this need all nine of us?”, Adam interrupted, “Unit Bravo is assigned to Wayhaven, that should be more than enough”.

               “They want to make sure that nothing gets through the cracks”, she continued, “This has nothing to do with anyone’s skill. It is simply a precautionary measure”.

               Adam sighed, and he turned to look out the window, but he did not seem to have anything else to say.

               “You’re going to need to increase patrols around the downtown of Wayhaven”, Agent Gonzales continued, “All of the previous kidnappings happened there, and it seems that the culprit is comfortable in that area. “I’ll let you decide how you wish to do so, and I have already spoke to Mariana about what the police station needs to do”.

               “Is this actually going to help anything?”, Felix interjected, “We still don’t have any idea who to actually look for”.

               “It’s better than nothing”, Nate answered, and Agent Gonzales gave a nod.

               “I’ll leave you to it then”.

               She left, and the two teams were now left together.

               “So, are we actually going to be able to do something?”, Tamiko said, breaking the silence that had fallen.

               Lesedi laughed softly, “Yes”, and then she turned to Mariana, “You know this town better than any of us, perhaps you could start?”

               She gave a look of gratitude in return, but she also looked back to Adam, who to Mason’s surprise, gave an affirming nod.

               “Wayhaven’s downtown is set up quite simply”, she explained, “One central point in the center, with jutting paths in four directions. It’s not large by any means, and to patrol the full way around it doesn’t take long for me, so it definitely shouldn’t for you guys”

               “How long are we supposed to be patrolling for?”, Maaka asked.

               “Agent Gonzales said until further notice”, Mariana answered.

               “Then that is what we do”, Nate nodded.

               “With 4 paths, we could split up into our normal units”, Adam said, a certain stiffness in his voice that had still had not disappeared since learning they were working with Unit Alpha.

               “Works with me”, Lesedi agreed, “We’ll take the first patrol in about an hour”

               With everything sorted, the group started to disperse, Adam leaving at the first opportunity, and before Mason could make his way over to Mariana, Tane got there first.

               He suppressed a growl in his throat, and it annoyed him to why it upset him. Mariana was not his by any means, why did this bother him?

               “Congratulations on the treaty”, Tane said with a sultry tone in his voice that Mason decided he hated, “Not that I expected anything less from someone like you”

               The flirtation was obvious, and he fully expected Mariana to run with it. He knew she had the same aversion to serious relationships that he did, why would this be any different?

               And for the life of him, he did not understand why he wanted to step in.

               But Mariana’s response was the complete opposite of what he expected.

               “Thank you”, she said simply, giving him a nod, and there was a certain firmness to her voice as if she was telling him that flirting with her would get him nowhere.

               He was not quite sure to take it, and it just someone left him even more confused.

               Tane looked to Mason, and then back at Mariana before continuing, a different tone in his voice, “I’m sure your team is happy to have you”.

               “They better be”, she remarked, her sarcastic tongue taking full focus, “I didn’t almost die for them for nothing”.

               Tane laughed, “Good luck with it all, Mari”

               He then made his way back to the rest of his team, and Mariana came striding up next to him.

               “You normally tear your cigarettes in half, or is that a new thing, sunshine?”

               He looked down at the cigarette in his hand, which he had taken out but never lit, it now in two pieces in his palm.

               I didn’t even notice I did that. Weird

               He shoved the pieces in one of his pockets, and he hesitated to say anything else.

               “You seem rather tense”, and even though her tone was light, from the way that she knit her eyebrows together, there was true worry as well, “You doing okay?”

               He brushed it off, “I’m fine”.

               Mason’s whole head was a whirlwind of emotions that he did not understand, and he could not get Mariana’s interaction with Tane out of his head, and why how she handled it made happy was beyond him.

               “Of course, you’re free to try and work out the tension, sweetheart”, he purred, but it was almost hesitant, and he was unsure as to why.

               As if noticing his pause, Mariana gave him a softer look, but said anyway, “I would be thrilled to. But we got a mission to complete”.

               He almost groaned at that, but she added afterward, “The time will only make it all the more worth it”.

               “I’ll hold you to that”, he said, and she gave him a devilish grin in response.

               “You know I always keep my promises, sunshine”.

               But what had started as a sarcastic pet name for him had turned to do something different, and while it shocked him to hear it without sarcasm, he was starting to like it.

               She gave him another grin, and he allowed this new warm feeling to course through him, even for just a moment.

[ibilola]

Disclaimer…RANT!!!

Complaining about my country is not exactly the most pleasant activity I partake in, I prefer watching cartoons and sleeping but due to tension, immorality and several other sordid issues at their peak with contributions from various angles, I thought we could join the conversation.

I’m pretty sure everyone knows how much I love ranting, today is not any different so bear with me. Today’s rant would come from different sections, but all pointing towards one subject, which is HYPOCRISY. And after the investment of so much thought and anger, I’ve reached the conclusion that we’re all hypocrites. Yes, we; me, you, all of us.

That being said, let’s get this on…

So, Falz, the reputable Bahd Guy recently dropped a 9 track album which he rightly titled MORAL INSTRUCTIONS considering the extents to which moral decadence is addressed on the viral album. Sorry to send your hopes crashing but we won’t be discussing about anything on the album because for obvious reasons one blog post can’t effectively encompass the issues addressed on the album, what we would rather be talking about is what happened around the album, the reactions, the discuss, in summary, we would be talking about the pros and cons of the album, well, of course, excluding the political aspect that was already partialy addressed in the previous blog post.

Album’s Official Art

Track List

What is the difference between a thief and a ritualist? What is the difference between a drunk that abandons his family and middle-class woman beater? Is there any real difference between a prostitute and a cyber criminal? Why is the homosexual more of a sinner than a serial adulterer?

Ponder a bit and remember the time you justified the sin of another man while crucifying another , the time when you shifted the conversation from the rapist and asked questions like ” why was she wearing a short skirt?”.

To me, there’s no difference between types of sins. To you, there might be.

But if you agree that there are different types or categories of sins, then you are a selectively righteous person and I’m not sorry for saying it (sincerely).

They talk about me like they past perfect Like they present pretty, like they future flawless Like this world ain’t got drug addicts and alcoholics Rapists, robbers, dealers, murder, extortion Like me being gay is so f*cking important We all sinnin’ n***a, I don’t give a f*ck what you call it The only man that can judge me is the man above Too much hate y’all need to open up a can of love Why you mad man? Somebody give that man a hug

…Kween (Freestyle) by Young M.A

One boring afternoon of the previous week, on the street of Instagram, I stumbled upon a video, it was one of a guy talking about…guess, you are right, he was talking about Falz’s album, he was making inference about the aspect about Transactional sex and how it has grown to become a norm among young Nigerian girls, well, he made so much sense because I was able to watch till the end, I was impressed so I commented “kudos” and I thought I should read through the comment I stumbled upon a particular comment by a lady, let’s call her Miss Led, Miss Led’s comment had already amassed 180+ replies in just over 1 hour, I was curious, this was Miss Led’s comment;

Absolutely trash, I stopped watching when he said the most involved in transactional sex are girls, Sexist f*ck.

That leads us to our next section, Avoiding the Real, whether be it AVOIDING THE REAL TRUTH, AVOIDING THE REAL QUESTION, AVOIDING THE REAL SITUATION or basically AVOIDING REAL LIFE. Miss Led was quick to ignore the real situation and talk about something that over 90% of those that replied her comment agreed upon that girls are the major victims of transactional sex, she was quick to label the post sexist, basically she was misled.

In one way or the other many of us are exactly like Miss Led, we ignore the real issues and face less important issues probably in the hope that the issues ignored would somehow solve itself.

It affects our day-to-day living; I’ll rather clear my email than write a new story, I’ll rather scroll through Instagram than reply those important messages on Whatsapp; I’ll rather sleep than read. Many of us would pick the sexist comments than the call for a change of narrative, some would rather follow tradition than use their brains, some would rather talk than think, we would rather ignore than try to change.

So I put it to you, are you guilty, would you rather choose the relatively meaningless activities or work on making everything around you better.

  If everyone around you is your friend, then you have a big problem –Anonymous

Some people have tailored themselves to be only capable of saying things to please other people, the truth, they believe, is irrelevant. Many of us say what people want to hear and not what we believe for several reasons, the most notable is the fear of how our message might be received, so we play safe and lie to impress.

I’m not saying make enemies, but we all know that unless I’m pretending, lying, cheating or being deceitful not many people would like me (it’s not like they do now, but who cares).

Believe me when I say this is one of the worst character flaws. Stay true to your truth and values.

He said we had to give them some change, I was amazed and asked why and he replied, “well, that is how it is“…Till this day, I would probably not understand why it is that way but what I have come to realize is how he wasn’t only the one who said it, everyone says it, even the average 8 years old who has been exposed to the working of the underground would blot out unrestrained “na so e bi oo” (that’s how it is) and it would make you wonder if we were born into a society where we just had to accept whatever was or was to be like it was etched in stone then plunged into Mariana’s trench so that no one would ever be able to rewrite it again. It’s like we are only puppets in the hands of a drunken puppeteer (a failed system) and like the novel puppets we dance to whatever tune given, but is it meant to be?

A police officer stopping a lawful commuter to demand money shouldn’t be labelled normal under whatsoever circumstances. An immigration officer demanding for money to offset missing or unavailable immigration documents should not be normal, no it shouldn’t, it should never be like that.

We should change the narrative and begin to refuse things that have been normalized if this country were to rise back to its position of grandeur.

The unfortunate thing is that even though some of us know this is the wrong way to live life, we still go with the flow. I believe that even if it’s just a small percentage of individuals that decided to be different, to be trustworthy, to be sincere, to be genuine, we can achieve a lot. Not just talking and ranting but acting.

Is it supposed to be? No! But that’s the reality.

It only becomes a reality when we choose to accept it…

So what are you picking?

One of our greatest problem is hypocricy, how do you think we can curb it?

Have a great week.

Soye.

Welcome to the land of hypocrites...let's talk a walk. Disclaimer...RANT!!! Complaining about my country is not exactly the most pleasant activity I partake in, I prefer watching cartoons and sleeping but due to tension, immorality and several other sordid issues at their peak with contributions from various angles, I thought we could join the conversation.

[words-that-form-a-rainbow]

Pantomime, and the problem with (Hollywood) diversity

Title of book: Pantomime (Micah Grey, #1)

Author: Lam, Laura

Would I recommend: Yes

Synopsis (From goodreads.com): Gene's life resembles a debutante's dream. Yet she hides a secret that would see her shunned by the nobility. Gene is both male and female. Then she displays unwanted magical abilities - last seen in mysterious beings from an almost-forgotten age. Matters escalate further when her parents plan a devastating betrayal, so she flees home, dressed as a boy. The city beyond contains glowing glass relics from a lost civilization. They call to her, but she wants freedom not mysteries. So, reinvented as 'Micah Grey', Gene joins the circus. As an aerialist, she discovers the joy of flight - but the circus has a dark side. She's also plagued by visions foretelling danger. A storm is howling in from the past, but will she heed its roar? 

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As if it wasn’t clear from the first two book reviews I’ve written on this site (Which you should totally go read and share, by the way), I tend to read books that include a lot of representation of all sorts, both LGBT+ and otherwise. And though I like to be optimistic the majority of the time, I am, as everyone should be, critical of them, because if the mainstream catches on to all this, would you rather them see some beautifully crafted, incredibly written prose about our struggles and lives, or that one gay sonic fanfiction you wrote when you were twelve? Yeah, me too.

But even if you are a lot more casual in your enjoyment of media (Which I wish I could be, at this point), it isn’t hard to notice to different levels of diversity certain minorities get over others. Now, I’m not trying to start any kind of war, because even the most represented groups are horribly outweighed by the straight whites of the West, but come on. There’s nothing wrong with effeminate gay men, or (Usually dead) lesbians, or sassy black women who say “Aw hell naw” like it’s the only thing keeping society as we know it afloat (Which isn’t wholly from the truth, actually), it can get a little tiring after a while, especially when you see another series or book written by someone who either a) has never actually met a gay person in their life, and/or b), is horribly fetishistic to a certain group and completely excludes literally anyone else, like those women who think gay men are their taboo sinners, yet find Sapphic women and trans folk predatory (They’re so gross).

And to be honest, I’m tired of it. And I know a lot of other people are, too.

And that is why I was (Very happily) surprised when I read Pantomime, the first of the Micah Grey trilogy, by Laura Lam. And do you know what it has? A queer main character who is neither gay nor perfectly attractive, and whose identity isn’t the only facet of their character! Oh boy, I felt like a kid in a sweet shop. And then I felt a kind of sadness, that we, as a community, were celebrating the fact that a character was, y’know, an actual character and not just a walking stereotype. This is the bar we’re setting for ourselves. This is the bar the mainstream has made us set.

And hell, I’ll shout from the rooftops with praise for any kind of media that raises it. Even if it’s by just a little.

So a big part of what I liked about Pantomime was the main character, Micah Grey (Also called Gene in some parts of the book, but as they almost exclusively choose to use Micah to refer to themselves, I’ll use that), who is, one of if not the first intersex character in a novel, or at least is certainly the only one I know about. Now a lot of you may be going, “Oh, gee, Scotty, I know all about them Ells and Gees and Bees, but what the hell is an intersex?” And that, is precisely the problem.

If I were to answer the question scientifically, an intersex person is one who is not born entirely male or female, biologically. They make up around one percent of the population, (Which is around 80 million people, and about twenty percent more people than the entire population of the UK, so don’t even dare try to tell me that it’s too small of a number to care about), are not the same as trans people (Which is all about gender identity), and yes, exist, either as having both sets of genitalia (Like Micah does), or any other mix, for example being born with XYX chromosomes, wrong amounts of hormones, etc…

But you don’t care about that, right? You wanted a book review, not a biology lesson. Fair enough. But my point is, this is the representation we need. An actual character, with unique identities and struggles and strengths that many people go through and can relate to. Because fuck political correctness, diversity within media just straight up makes it more interesting, as well as eliminates the feeling of many, many people feeling excluded from the little penthouse party Hollywood have got going on for any kind of shithead, as long as you’re cishet and white and can make a lot of money. Just fuck the rest of them, right?

Sorry, I just… the Harvery Weinstein thing happened this week, and though I’m not a huge film guy generally, I knew this guy was at the top of the food chain. And the fact that it happened for years… let’s just throw the whole Hollywood out, to be honest.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. Back to Micah.

What I liked about the way Lam portrayed them is that she struck a nice balance between the aforementioned, “Let’s make their identity the only part of their personality/development,” and the even less accurate idea of them having no struggles with other people and, just as importantly, themselves. Throughout the book, they find themselves torn between their given identity of wholly female, and the identity they chose as male at the circus, which is where most of the story takes place. And although the main reason for them running away from the circus is to avoid corrective genital surgery (Which, yes, is a real thing, and also yes, is done on a lot of people without their consent, usually when they’re much younger than Micah), and even after their intersex identity is found out by some of the other characters, they still use the same name, they never directly state if they strictly identify as one or the other, (Bearing in mind this is only the first book of three, I’ve only just started reading the second), which is also why I choose to use they/them pronouns throughout this review.

It’s done well, really. Generally speaking, the more conflict and challenges the character faces at the beginning, the more satisfying the overcoming is at the end, and their feelings never felt out of place, or rushed. Good job, Lam.

The bisexuality of Micah is also an interesting talking point, particularly how it develops not only their sexuality but also their gender identity. Their first real love interest, Aenea, not only makes them realise their bisexuality, but also questions the masculinity within them, highlighting an interesting talking point about a subconscious idea in society that, even within the LGBT community and/or people who completely negate labels of gender altogether, we still conform to the traditional, heteronormative ideals we try to break away from. There’s always the question asked of who’s the man and woman in the relationship. There’s always the assumption that trans people are straight. One of the girls always has to wear a suit and a dress at the wedding. It’s stale, you know?

And while some people might criticise this arc for perpetuating that idea, I would argue more that it shows the way a lot of LGBT people do still think, subconsciously, including me, even though I, like many others, know the whole idea is stupid and archaic. It shows how ingrained heterosexuality and heteronormativity is in us, no matter who we are.

It also shows change in Micah - that their identity in every sense is constantly changing and evolving to fit new people and situations, that gender is a fluid sort of concept to them that isn’t really one hundred percent labelled by them, which can be and is what many people choose to be. And to be honest, that’s just plain nice to see in a queer character, since most stories begin at the point when the character has finished that kind of emotional journey, or play it off like they’ve known precisely who they were all along (Which is another ridiculous stereotype, by the way. Stop expecting kids to be able to figure that out by themselves, or even care about it. There are more important things to them, like getting hyper off of ridiculously sugary drinks and making sure they catch that Pikachu.)

I like it a lot, can you tell?

One criticism I have (Which isn’t really one, but more of a concerned prediction), is that it’s a particularly concise story, meaning, generally, it doesn’t leave a lot open. Yes, Micah is on the run from the police with a character called Drystan, (Who is a gay man who conveniently explains what being gay means, but he’s somehow made clowns seem a lot less scary to me so I’ll allow it), which is an intriguing enough continuation, but apart from that, there’s not a whole lot to go on. We haven’t had much development of any of the other places, every character we got to know is either dead, (Sorry Aenea, I did like you), vaguely left at some point in the novel, or is too minor to really give any kind of mention. I’m scared that Lam will either waste her time for a few hundred pages by treading water in the shallow end of the pool, or try to set up a whole new roster of characters while completely abandoning the old ones, essentially destroying the relationships and need for a lot of the interactions in the first book, (Which, if we’re going with the swimming pool analogy, would be like getting out of the water and jumping out of the nearest window into the Mariana’s Trench with bricks tied to her legs).

But we’ll just have to wait until I read it, won’t we. Hopefully not long, eh? (No, not long, is the correct answer. You can at least try to humour me, you know. You’ve read the whole review so you must like me a tiny bit. Tiny tiny bit? Maybe?

Hm… I hope she does do the second one, to be honest… or surprises me with some kind of magical third option, but I’ve learnt that you get brownie points on the internet if you’re constantly cynical. Not that it matters. The inevitable passage of time will consume and leave us all behind, eventually, letting us to fester wondering, was it all worth it? Were my shitty book reviews a valuable contribution to human society, in comparison? And what even was the point of this system in the first place? Why do we even bother to try to be more than savages, or even calculate that yes, we are living, when it will do nothing but further realise the emptiness and complete loneliness of the vacuum of space? Or what if-

Sorry. It’s been a rough week. See you next time.)

[dvp95]

quiet on widow’s peak (1)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up  tags: paranormal investigator, youtuber phil lester, dan howell is not a youtuber, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 3.2k (this chapter & total) summary: Phil's got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story. Bingo squares: met on tumblr

new wip? NEW WIP.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

The wind is loud in this one. That's frustrating, and it makes Phil's job a lot harder, but he can't control the weather. Be cool if he could. He does his best to level out his voice and the background noise of Mother Nature before he settles in with his good headphones and really cranks the volume.

It's even more annoying to listen to the alternating crackle and whistle right in his ears. Phil has dealt with worse during this whole process, though, so he finds the strength to power through it. He listens to the full thing three times, scribbling a few timestamps down on a Post-It pad as he does. He takes a break after that, does some stretches around his tiny bedroom and tiptoes out to get a snack without waking the whole damn house, and then he's right back in his apparently ergonomic office chair to subject his ears to more of this nonsense.

Wind, wind, and more wind. And sometimes just Phil's own voice. Nothing of note.

Phil is about to give this video up as a loss altogether when he hits one of the final timestamps and... can't figure out what that noise is.

For the first time since he opened this file, Phil grins. He exports the clip and plays around with it in Audacity. Some videos are always more fun than others, and Phil had felt like he was slogging through this one until now.

"Do you hear that, Theodore?" Phil murmurs. The tiny cactus on his desk, thankfully, does not respond.

It sounds like a person. It sounds like a person, whispering, and it definitely isn't the wind, and it isn't Phil's own voice, because he's in the middle of a question in this clip.

Phil might just be going crazy from sleep deprivation or wishful thinking, though. He pulls out his phone and texts the only group chat that doesn't cause him anxiety, which is comprised of the housemates that he actually gets along with. Anyone up? he asks, adding a single eye emoji for good measure.

Even though it's gone two in the morning, he gets immediate responses from all of them. A string of vaguely dirty emojis from Chris, a simple yeah from Sophie, and a cheerfully morbid did you know that insomnia leads to an early death? from PJ.

Wanna listen to a noise for me?

Within three minutes, Phil's bedroom is full of people in various states of sleepiness. All of them are in ridiculous pyjamas - including Phil - and PJ's hair in particular has taken on a mind of its own. Phil's room isn't really big enough for all of them, so there's some awkward shuffling before PJ claims the office chair. Phil sits at the foot of his bed with Sophie and Chris on either side of him, pressed close against each other's shoulders. It's a good thing he likes these people.

"I mean, it isn't the wind," is PJ's confident opinion. "Did you have anyone with you?"

"No, it's just me and my camera against the world," says Phil.

"No need to be a twat," Chris informs him. He taps at PJ's upper arm, impatient. "Let me have a go, then, if there's something there."

Chris is famously bad at hearing things in white noise, but PJ acquiesces the seat easily enough. Phil laughs, watching them do a weird step dance around each other in the small space between Phil's bed and desk.

"I can't hear any specific words," PJ says as he flops down across Phil's pillows, making himself comfortable. Phil just nods, because neither can he.

"How d'you know it's a person, then?" Sophie asks. Her voice is probably the only one soft enough for the hour. Their other housemates hate them for their frequent all-nighters, but Sophie is kind and quiet enough that she slips under the radar.

"You'll see for yourself."

When Sophie goes to respond, Chris interrupts in a hilariously loud voice, as if he's forgotten that having headphones on doesn't mean they can't hear him. "It's some kind of ghoulie or ghostie! I can barely fucking hear it, Philly, why didn't you mic it?"

"Why didn't I mic the ghost?" Phil asks, bewildered. Naturally, Chris doesn't hear him.

Sophie taps Chris on the shoulder and stands, leaning over his shoulder as she takes her turn listening to the sound clip over and over. Chris spins in the chair a few times and gives Phil an unhinged sort of grin.

"You got something this time," says Chris. He sounds like he's having just as much fun as Phil is, now that there's actually a thing to listen to besides his own voice and the loud, loud wind.

"I think so," says Phil. "Why didn't I mic the ghost?"

"I'm saying it would make your job a lot easier if you mic the ghost, yes."

"If I could mic a ghost, I'd be a millionaire."

"Then you better get on it, eh?" Chris laughs, spinning a bit faster. Phil has never seen the man sleep. It's a little bit worrying.

"Sure," Phil says, giving up on trying to teach any logic to someone who's clearly long lost their hold on it. "Next time I spend all night in a graveyard, I'll mic any spirits that might be hanging out."

"Shut up," Sophie tells them, mild.

Chris mimes zipping his lips, wrapping an easy arm around her waist, and PJ laughs.

For the first few months they all lived together, Phil had struggled to keep up with whatever dynamics were going on between the three of them, but he's long since given it up as something he's not going to understand.

After a moment of quiet, Sophie nods. "I hear it," she tells them. Even with the headphones on, she's quiet. "It's not words, I wouldn't put any subtitles over it."

"Yeah," PJ agrees. "Just let your audience duke it out in the comments like they always do."

"Thanks, guys," Phil says, feeling a sort of warmth sink into his shoulders. He notices that Chris is pulling up another application and half-heartedly protests. "Chris, you don't need to edit this one for me. I still haven't paid you for the last video." Or the one before that. Or the three or four previous. Phil has it written down somewhere.

"Don't be stupid," Chris hums, already clicking around erratically. It makes the editor in Phil want to scream, but he has to admit that Chris manages to find more weird visual stuff to isolate than he could on his own.

"I feel bad," says Phil, chewing his lip.

"I've told you," says Chris, "you can pay me back in chores and sexual favours."

PJ's slippered foot knocks against Phil's hip, and he grins brightly when Phil turns to him. "You know, I do have a bit of a laundry backlog."

"Funny thing, that," says Sophie.

Biting back a laugh, Phil shakes his head. "Alright, alright. Everybody leave their laundry in front of my door tomorrow."

"That's a no on the beej, then?" Chris asks, raising a single eyebrow and pointing dramatically at Phil. It has been near two years of this, and Phil is still too afraid to ask if it's a joke.

It's not as if Phil's answer would change if it wasn't a joke, because he's not interested in Chris, and he's especially not interested in becoming entangled in whatever nonsense his housemates have gotten themselves into. But, still, he might be kinder about letting Chris down if he were being genuine.

"That is a no," Phil confirms. "But I will wash your pants."

"Kinky," says Chris. He turns back to the screen and makes an incomprehensible hand gesture. "This is pretty shit. You know that, right?"

Yeah. Phil does know that. It's getting harder and harder to have the same optimism in every video that he'd had when he first started recording his wanderings around the supposedly-haunted places of Rossendale. He'd brought the camera with him when he left, but might have left that optimism behind. Phil only kind of believes in supernatural things - the way he only kind of believes in giraffes or true love - but it's been more fun than anything else to pick up a camera and try to find some evidence.

He's been doing this since he was nineteen, though, and he's getting a little bored by the formula of it all. Go into a haunted place, try to communicate with the spirits, pick up some garbled words or creepy noises, highlight visual oddities like orbs, and let the internet tear it all to shreds. Honestly, he'd have more fun making proper horror at this point in his life.

Phil shrugs and pulls his knees up to his chest. He wants to hide away from the sympathy in Sophie's eyes, from Chris' blunt words. "Yeah. I'm getting kind of... I don't know. Restless."

"Maybe you should ask people to submit things again," PJ suggests. "That went well last time."

It had, actually. Phil had needed to sort through a lot more ridiculous stories and obvious hoaxes than usual, but he'd found some nuggets of gold in all that hay. Or however that saying goes.

"People did like having their stories read out," Phil says slowly. "I'd just need to be extra sure that nobody's, like..."

"Ripping off r/NoSleep," says PJ.

"Yeah, exactly."

"We can help," Sophie says, and Phil could cry at how easily PJ and Chris agree with her.

He really doesn't deserve to have such great people around him. They've got work and lives of their own, but they're always happy to spend time crowded around Phil's computer listening to weird noises together. Phil sometimes wonders what they get out of it. Do they just like helping him, the way he has fun holding the boom for PJ's films or testing Sophie's concoctions? Or are they just as fascinated as Phil by the weirdness of it all? Do they want to see the cool instances of paranormal activity, too? At this point it feels nearly impossible to ask.

"That's going to be a lot of washing pants for me," Phil sighs. He doesn't know how to thank them, not when they always just wave it off.

"Sure is," says PJ. "But you should... ask the audience!"

"Your Chris Tarrant is pretty good," says Phil, only a little surprised by it. PJ's voice is as much of a tool to him as the rest of his body, and it's one he's always been skilled with. The impressions still tend to catch Phil off guard sometimes.

PJ tips an invisible hat. "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week."

At his friends' not so gentle encouragement, Phil makes a few posts on his socials to ask his followers for new creepy things to explore. It might be the middle of the night in Brighton, but he has a feeling that Chris isn't leaving his desk until he's found every instance of an orb or strange shadow in the fifty minutes of currently uncut footage.

It seems like Sophie is on the same page, because she excuses herself to make tea for everyone. PJ leans over Chris' shoulder and watches the clips without sound, his lips moving as if he's murmuring to himself.

Sometimes this feels more like a group effort than Phil is comfortable with. He's never been very good at asking for help. As grateful as he is, he still itches with the need to take back control of the situation. He uses the slow trickle of fan submissions to distract him from that feeling, because all three of them do make his videos better when he stops being so possessive over his footage. Phil flops onto his back and scrolls through the incoming emails, tweets, and Tumblr messages to see if there's anything promising.

For the most part, the answer is a resounding no. Some things are blatant lies - there are countless ripoffs of films or novels that Phil happens to be familiar with, a few things swiped from creepypasta or subreddits, and his usual amount of conspiracy theorist fans insisting that some high profile person or other is a lizard - but most of it, to Phil's dismay, just doesn't grab his attention the way he wants it to.

Sophie comes back with tea and snacks. She leans her head against Phil's shoulder and watches him cycle through his apps, fact-checking idly and sighing every time something easily proves to be a hoax. Her hair smells like coconut and she makes a soft humming noise every time she lifts the mug to her lips. Her presence alone, small and warm and supportive, is enough to keep Phil from throwing his phone across the room and having a right sulk about how his career is in a tailspin because nobody makes ghosts like they used to. At some point in the night, Sophie's breathing evens out to the point that Phil thinks she's asleep, but then she reaches out to tap a tiny finger to his screen.

"What's this, then?" she murmurs.

Phil has been zoned out entirely for at least fifteen, and he blinks back into reality. There's a new message in his Tumblr inbox, one that seems like it must be over the character limit for asks. He must have submissions turned on or something, that's the only possible explanation for an actual essay being sent to him. It's barely broken into paragraphs with very little punctuation and no capitalization, and Phil has been staring at screens for far too long to try and parse this on his own.

"Can you please make sure this isn't, like, the entire Bee Movie," Phil asks, handing Sophie his phone with only a slight twinge of anxiety. He trusts her not to go snooping, but. Still. "I need to pee."

"Mhm," Sophie hums, already apparently lost in whatever stream-of-consciousness has been dropped into Phil's inbox.

The floorboards in this old Brighton house creak, and Phil has always envied some of his housemates for being able to sidestep the noises. It doesn't seem to matter how long he lives here, how much he tries to avoid making any noise, it's like the floorboards are determined to creak under Phil's weight. He winces as he passes two bedrooms whose occupants surely don't appreciate creaking outside their doors at such an ungodly hour.

At least he doesn't run into any walls this time. The nightlight in the bathroom at the end of the hall is the only thing lighting Phil's way, and he tends to stub his toes on absolutely nothing in this kind of semi-darkness.

When he makes his - very, very creaky - way back to his own room, he's bewildered by the scene that greets him. PJ and Chris have joined Sophie on his bed, and all three of them are poring over Phil's phone as though they're looking at a map to the Holy Grail.

"Hello," Phil says slowly, closing the door behind him. It creaks, too. "You aren't going through my pictures, are you?"

"No," Sophie and PJ chorus without looking up.

"You got nudes on here or something?" Chris asks with a mild sort of interest, clearly also too engaged in Phil's phone to put his all into the flirting.

"I don't," says Phil. It doesn't sound convincing, even though it's true, and he waits for Chris to tease him about it some more. When he doesn't, Phil has to admit that he's curious. "So I guess it isn't a meme or something?"

That makes them look up, in almost comedic synchronicity. Sophie blinks a few times, as if she's coming back to herself. She holds out Phil's phone and shakes her head.

"It's not a meme," she says. "And near as we can tell, it's genuine."

Phil joins them and takes his phone back, adjusting his glasses. His bed really wasn't made for four people, but his housemates have never had any personal space amongst themselves, and Phil isn't one to say no to human contact when he isn't getting it anywhere else.

The message is just as hard to read as it was at first glance, but Phil puts his brain to work. If his friends are reacting like this, it usually means he's in for something good.

hi ok so the thing is that this is completely ridiculous and i dont think its what youre looking for at all but theres a building near my uni thats got a ton of stories around it and it only started happening like this year like it isnt an old obviously haunted type of place but theres a lot of weird shit that goes down there so i found all the references to it online that i could and ive summarized them here (w/ sources ofc im not a dick) and its all just this side of strange so it seems like the sort of thing you might be interested in ok here we go SO

And it goes on like that. Phil feels his eyebrows raising as he clicks the provided links in the following walls of text, which are exactly what they're advertised as. Not a single rickroll in there. Just a handful of posts on Reddit and Facebook and independent blogs about various experiences people have had with a particular abandoned building in -

"I know this place," Phil says, surprised. He looks up at PJ's grin, Sophie's wide eyes, Chris' palms rubbing together in exaggerated interest. "I've been to parties here. Well, okay," he corrects himself before his friends can do it for him, "I've gone with Martyn to parties here and left early."

"Yeah, it isn't far out of Manchester," PJ hums. He bounces in place a bit, like he's suddenly energized enough to go jump on the soonest train up north.

"It didn't seem that weird," says Phil. "It's been a few years, I guess, but it wasn't even that scary."

"Sounds like it's only just started, though," Chris pipes up.

Phil isn't sure how much he likes that. The idea of a place he's been a few times, half an hour from his childhood home, being so suddenly full of haunted activity feels... weird. Still, it's catching his interest in a way that nothing else has in months, so.

"I'll look into it some more tomorrow," he decides, glancing at the time. His brother is probably still awake, to be honest, but Phil doesn't want to be that guy asking 'hey, do you remember the Wilkins place?' before dawn has even broken. Again. He has definitely done that sort of thing in the past. "I'll have plenty of time while I do, what, seventeen loads of laundry?"

"Something like that," PJ laughs. "Want us to clear out?"

As nice as the company and help has been, Phil still feels a rush of relief at the concept of being left alone again. He nods, still scrolling idly through the Wilkins place submission.

It hits him, very literally, too close to home to ignore. He wonders if his fan knows that, if this is somehow an elaborate prank that will end up just wasting Phil's time, but he's too curious to leave it alone. He'll just have to ask around, see if anyone else has heard these murmurings.

Til then, maybe he ought to try and get some sleep. Phil's computer, still open on the editing software, tempts him.

Well. What's another couple hours at this point?

[dvp95]

thank you for consistently putting marianas trench lyrics on my dash! haha (I was so confused at first why so many people starting naming fics after mtrench lyrics this year and then realized they were the same person lmao as a fellow deppy and mtrench fan I just wanted to say hey)

JFJFKFKFK yeah no it's just me babey! they're in my top 3 artists of all time and for some reason they just Fit with the way i want to portray dnp!! thank you!!!!!

[smalltowndetective]

31 Days of Wayhaven-Sharp

A big thank you to @31daysofwayhaven for putting this all together! I can’t wait to see what all comes is posted this month!

Tried something a bit different with this prompt, hope you guys like it!

Ao3 Link

Title: Sharp Contrast

Paring: Mason and Mariana “Mari”

Words: 1.1k

Now and then, it hit Mariana just how different her life was now.

               Before the murders a few months ago, most days after work she would go straight home, maybe go out with Tina on the weekends, and she resigned herself to a routine. Structure helped her focus, and she did not appreciate anyone messing with that.

               Apparently, though, Rebecca and Murphy had other plans.

               She was now a liaison of a secretive Agency that she did not trust, and as much as she tried to settle into it, Mariana was starting to doubt she ever was.

               At least the team was worth sticking around for.

               Unit Bravo had become a constant presence in her life, and something she was becoming more and more sure that it was a good switch. She had immediately bonded with Felix over their shared sense of humor, and had really gotten to know Nate as more then a teammate, and even though she did enjoy pressing Adam’s buttons, there was the start of a mutual respect for each other.

               And then of course, there was Mason. He had no problem fanning the fire that burned between them, and she had no qualms about throwing it right back, but recently, there was a change, a softer look between the two of them, and it was not displeasing, far from it. But it did leave her unsure about the future of the two of them, but she tried not to think about it too much.

               If it is meant to burn or die away, only time will tell.

               But Mariana was not with the team now, instead in her office, waiting for Captain Sung to come in and see her about the police station’s budget, and he was really not someone she wanted to see.

               Usually, Mariana gave him the respect that his title gave him, even quieting her normal knee-jerk reactions. But their last conversation where he seemed to think that her priorities were going to change to Wayhaven because of her job at the Agency had left a sour taste in her mouth.

               So, when she heard the door of her office open, assuming that it was Captain Sung, not looking up from her desk she said, “Don’t you normally knock?”, the words coming out before she could stop them, but she decided she was still mad enough to not apologize.

               “I don’t know, do I sweetheart?”

               The familiar voice made her look up, to see Mason, and trying to ignore the shivers that his gaze gave her, she grinned, “Quite a surprise to see you here”.

               “Just a surprise?”, said Mason, a smirk on his lips.

               Mari rolled her eyes, “What are you doing here?”.

               “Adam needed someone to get you”.

               “Is something wrong?”

               “I don’t know”, said Mason, “He just said he needed someone to get you”.

               “And you volunteered?”, Mariana asked, “I’m impressed, sunshine. Didn’t think you had it in you”.

               Mason scoffed, his grey eyes never leaving Mariana.

               “I do have to meet with Captain Sung soon. How soon does Adam need me?”, she continued, getting back to the point.

               How would I know?”, Mason said.

               Mariana sighed, and decided to go ahead and wait for Captain Sung for a little longer, still having a job to the station.

               “Just give him a few more minutes”, and she got up from her desk, giving into the urge to move closer to him.

               “A lot can happen in a few minutes”, Mason smiled smugly, and Mariana let her hand run down the traces of his jaw, and he pulled her closer into a kiss.

               She returned it fully, snaking her hands to his lower back while his hands went to her hair, thankful that the blinds in her office were closed, letting the passion pass between them, and Mariana was sure she never wanted it to end.

               The knock at her door had other ideas.

               “Ignore it”, Mason muttered, before kissing her again, but Mariana gently broke it off.

               “I really would like to”, she said, giving him a grin, brushing a lock of his hair out of his face, and went to open the door.

               It was indeed Captain Sung this time, and trying to find the professional bone in her body, said, “Good morning Captain”.

               “Yes, good morning Detective Gonzales”, the man said, and he turned his head to Mason, a bite in his voice “I would like to talk to the Detective alone, Agent”.

               Mariana noticed Mason roll his eyes, but he left, looking back at her once before leaving, and shutting the door behind him.

               She closed her eyes in an effort to save the moment before, and then turned her attention back to Captain Sung, walking back to her desk, “I have the report for the budget for this year”.

               “Oh, good”, he responded, not really paying attention to her, “But that’s not the only reason why I’m here”.

               Mariana felt frustration rise in her stomach, but she fought to keep her voice level, “Then why are you here?”

               “I wanted to discuss what you do with that team”.

               She raised an eyebrow, not expecting that, “What do you mean by that?”

               “You’re listed as a member now of that Unit that now lives here in Wayhaven. How did that happen?”

               She shrugged, “After the murders, my mother offered the job, and I accepted it. In order to protect this town, having backup was the logical choice”.

               Captain Sung paused for a moment, “I suppose I can’t argue with that”.

               “Why do you ask?”, Mariana said, wondering what brought this on, “The team isn’t causing any trouble to the town, are they?”

               “No, it’s not that”, Captain Sung confirmed, “Most people seem okay with having them around. It’s just- your father was also involved in the Agency like you are now. I suppose I just want to know how you are taking it all”.

               Mariana was immediately remined of her argument she had with Rebecca about how she balancing her two jobs, but she shrugged her shoulders, “I believe I am taking it well, but honestly, I’m not certain”.

               She was still surprised that he mentioned her father at all, having never heard of him speak of her father before.

               He does little more than nod in response, but he walks over to her desk, and takes the file for the budget off of it.

               “If you ever need help with any of this Mariana”, he said, “You know where to find me”.

               With that strange sentence, he left the room, the file tucked under his arms, and Mariana closely followed behind him to go find Mason.

               “You took forever”, he groaned as she walked back over to him.

               “Sorry, sunshine”, she grinned, “Hope I was worth the wait”

               She moved forward to just slightly more then a peck on his lips, and she tried to ignore the feelings inside of her as he smiled into it.

               “Definitely”

               Mariana gave him another grin, and they walked out of the station together.

               My life may have been completely turned on its head, but it ain’t all bad.