#also go listen to the beths they're GREAT

[saltyoaktree]

Thinking about seemingly unrequited tedependent...

Song: Happy Unhappy by The Beths

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

Gossip

Masterlist Word count: 550 Arthur Morgan x Fem!Reader

Summary: You know that John likes you. You know that Arthur likes you. They know about each other, but the others don't. Gossip spreads and, what feels like a ticking time bomb, turns out to be unconnected. 

---------

'I don't think he knows,' Abigail says as she sits, knitting with Mary-Beth and Tilly while watching you and Arthur talk. John has gone out hunting with Charles to learn how to use a bow as he is useless with it. Arthur had asked Charles to do so but Abigail suspects he had other motives for getting John away from camp.  'I think he does,' Tilly argues with a grin, 'why else would he ask Charles? Everyone knows John is too impatient to learn how to use a bow.' She's got a point, Abigail figures.  Things had been weird ever since you joined the gang. Sadie had found you in Valentine and recognized you as an old friend. In fact, the friend who set her up with her husband. She told the others you seemed lost and needed some place where people have your back. Most were sceptical but your turned out to be a hard worker and a great hunter, bringing in huge game for the camp whenever you went out. Dutch had almost considered letting you take a wagon along so you could bring enough to sell it.  That great aim of yours also pulled in different attention. Both John and Arthur became more than smitten with your friendly and kind demeanour. Mary-Beth had suggested that Arthur liked you for your kindness and willingness to listen while John liked you for your viciousness and rough edges. Both great attributes that make you who you are.  'Well, either way, they're both fools,' Mary-Beth claims, ending the argument.  'Do you think she knows,' Tilly questions.  'For sure she knows,' Mary-Beth answers as all of them watch you gently touch Arthur's shoulder as he makes a joke not worthy of the laughter that comes out of you.  'She's really toying with them, ain't she,' Abigail grumbles. Despite liking you quite a bit, she fears what it might do to the gang if Arthur and John are pinned against each other. It's a bad predicament to be in and since the year that John left the gang is still a sore spot for Arthur, Abigail fears things might explode with the littlest of meddling. When her and John put an end to it, she was slightly relieved, but this is just insanity. 

'Do you think they know,' Arthur questions you. You shake your head with a grin.  'No, they probably think I'm hopping between you two. They wouldn't be gossiping about us as much if they knew.'  'Fair point.' He puts a gentle hand on your waist to pull you closer and watches at the jaws drop across camp.  'Are you trying to rile them up, cowboy,' you tease as you take a step closer to him. He shrugs. You roll your eyes and press a kiss to his jaw. 'Come on, let's go join Charles and John.' Arthur looks over at the women once more as he leans towards you.  'If only they knew about Charles.' You shove him away with a laugh.  'Oh, stop it. I liked you better when you were still being shy about liking me.' 

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Character Q&A - AdVenture (parahuman edition!)

We've heard your opinions about running into parahumans, so I was curious how you all think either you or the other AdVenture members would've fared as masks? Maybe who'd go hero and who'd go villain?

Prii: Villain? Grant.

Beth: Grant.

Shauna: Grant.

Grant: Grant.

...what?

-

Prii

Uh, me as a mask? That'd be something. I don't know. I'd like to think I'd try my best? I'm not really an action hero type of person though. I like film-making, not sure I'd be great as the star of the show. Well—obviously right now I am kind of the showhost but, we both know that's different from being a mask. Also I really wouldn't like having to listen to the DPR. Rules and constraints and all that. I've been trying to get away from those since I was a kid.

I think Beth would be a good hero. Like, she'd try to downplay it but her heart's always in the right place. She cares a lot, which is more than you can say for a lot of so-called heroes. They're in it for the celebrity. Beth wouldn't be. Shauna, uh, I don't know if Shauna could handle the stress? She'd mean well but burn out, I think.

[MC] I could go either way. Not that I think they'd be a villain! I just don't always know what's going on in their head. They're great at things they're passionate about so it sort of depends how into it they get.

Grant... Grant would talk a big game that he'd be a bad guy, but I don't think he's got it in him to be worse than like... a nuisance. With the right (wrong?) powers he'd be a total menace, but I mean that in a trolling type of way, not a 'striking fear into the populace' way. Still, when it came down to it, I know he'd do the right thing.

Beth

Prii would... try. They would try to be a hero. They would try to be good. That counts for a lot, I feel. Heroes do not hold an inherent sense of morality and justice. It does not simply come with the mask. If Prii became a hero, I do not doubt they would get over their head, perhaps not make the perfect decisions at all times, but nor would anyone need to steer them along and keep them from walking down a dark path. They would do that for themself.

Grant is just the opposite. Absent anyone to keep him on the straight and narrow, he would dive headlong into petty crime, I'm quite certain. Out and out villainy? I'm not going to say that; if I thought so little of him then I would refuse to spend time with him. He'd certainly make a nuisance of himself.

Shauna would... need to find firmer convictions. I believe she would have the heart to be a hero, but I'm not sure she would be able to stick with it. To make hard decisions, and to handle the scrutiny of the public eye. She is a sweet person. The kind of person the world chews up and spits out. [MC] has the grit to be a mask, but I don't know that they have the motivation. It's hard to be certain what drives them at times.

As for myself... of course I would not resort to harming others for personal gain. Conversely, I'm unsure that the heroing lifestyle would be for me. Power begets responsibility, but I have my own goals in life. The concept of my future being preordained because I obtained powers does not sit well with me.

Shauna

Oh! We'd be the coolest superhero team! We could go from AdVenture as urban explorers to AdVenture: the saviours of the city!

Prii's great and they'd work super hard at heroing if they were a mask. I'd um, I'd worry that they would be too fixed on doing their own thing though. Like the DPR isn't always the best but they'd been doing hero stuff for a real, real long time and that experience has gotta count for something. Beth would be like the scary kind of hero! Yeah sure she's always rolling her eyes and calling the rest of us out for things but that's 'cause she cares. She's way too responsible to sit out of the action if she has powers.

Grant is...

Grant, I think is putting on a show a lot of the time. Like that he's this ultra cool guy and nothing fazes him and that he's wayy too much of a bro to care about stuff like this. But um, he does. He does care. He does stuff that he can dodge credit for or if he's gonna get credit he plays it up in this way where he's kinda, downplaying it by exaggerating it? Like you say thanks and he goes "don't worry about it, you just have to worship the ground I walk on", and then you laugh and you kinda stop thinking about how he went out of his way for you.

Which, well, so what I'm getting at is that I think he'd hero while pretending like he wasn't. Like he'd 'just happen' to be there to stop a robbery. Or find a reason that he 'didn't have a choice' to help out. That kind of thing.

Maybe I'm treating it too much like a story, but... yeah.

And [MC] is a good person. I know they'd be a hero.

For me, um...

I know being a hero isn't easy. And I know that I'm not... I'm not always confident or strong or um... good enough. But I feel like, if you know people are getting hurt and it's in your power to do something about it then you've gotta—I'd have to try, you know?

Grant

Prii would try to be a hero so hard it wouldn't even be funny. They like attention, and attention for doing good things? They'd be there instantly. Dork.

Beth already has a stick up her ass about, I dunno, everything? Which is to say that yeah clearly Beth would be into heroing work as well. Would prolly be really good at it too. She's got that single-minded view on things. If there was a chain of command she'd listen 'cause of course she would. Some people are built for it.

Is [MC] built for it? Dude, I dunno. [MC] is a mystery box, and I dunno what they'd do when the chips were down. They'd do something at least. Not the passive type.

Shauna. Shauna Shauna Shauna.

She'd talk herself into being a hero. Right place, right time, right... mentor, I think she'd do ok. There's steel in our girl, even if she doesn't always show that backbone. But people underestimate her. Shauna's out of her comfort zone 24/7 and she still shows up to everything, still does her best. I heard that matters for heroes.

Me... come on, you think I'm gonna give you the inside scoop? If I get powers someday, I don't want anyone knowing what I'll be doing with them!

[softpine]

I just remembered you haven't seen Twilight but I'm going to ask anyway! Do you know what teams your characters would be? Like team Edward or Team Jacob? Oh! Actually I'm also curious what Fandoms would they be in? I recent realized im a Bielieber

oh i have seen the first twilight movie!! i just wasn't a fan. but it was my best friend's favorite series so i do know a lot about it! was anyone actually team jacob? he's like gale in the hunger games. the only reason anyone would actually prefer them is because they're Not the main love interest (sorry to any galeheads out there...)

anyway now i want to imagine what fandoms each of them would be in, so:

🎭 caroline: well, she's a great artist and a monster fucker.. i don't think i have to spell out what she was doing online fjkjsdsj and she loved comic books as a kid, so i feel like at the start of the MCU madness she was really hype and then she got more and more angry with the state of things

💬 beth: she's written some star trek fanfiction more highly researched than her master's thesis and she loved nsync because what is a baby dyke without her emotional support boy band / comphet crushes

🎸 danny: music is the obvious answer, but i'm not familiar with musical history so i can't go into detail 😭 but his dad introduced him to bob dylan and taught him how to play guitar, then he learned piano, then he taught himself how to produce his own music from scratch. this was in the 90s btw so it wasn't very easy to learn. also he used to seriously follow skateboarding

⛅ mikaela: she loved old school country music from female artists like tanya tucker, reba mcintire, loretta lynn, etc. she's less interested in modern country but she looooves shania twain. and she's worked nights (first as a bartender, then a nurse) for most of her life, so she got really into daytime soaps

🌲 asa: he's literally the only one on this list where i'm like...... stumped. he doesn't pay attention to anything online, celebrities, music (he'll listen to whatever), movies (doesn't care), could never commit to watching a whole tv show, etc. he's very floaty and daydreamy? lmao he just doesn't have the headspace to get attached to fictional media like that

🎥 finn: we know he's always been a harrison ford fan boy and in any universe where he survives past the 80s he's a huge nirvana fan!! (if he and jules had a son, they would've named him kurt... he's deeply serious) he's also read every stephen king book that came out while he was alive. he was a big reader in general, particularly horror

🧸 stevie: canon seth rogen super fan, has seen every adam sandler movie (every last one of them) and i knowww she knows the fnaf lore... as soon as she finishes a show/movie she likes to find the weirdest fan art to terrorize her followers. also loves musicals and wants to see cats on broadway someday (a girl can dream)

🎀 elaine: she loves following celebrity news but she watches them like animals in the zoo; ie. she's observing from afar, she has no personal stake in them. she's a frequent flyer on gossip forums like fauxmoi. she was on the ground floor of lipstickgate and was SEATED for dramageddon. and she had a serious twilight phase

🎨 jada: SOMEONE on this list had to get assigned supernatural... i'm not saying it just to say it, i really think she would connect with (early seasons) sam what with the dead mom... fear of losing their humanity... having powers they don't understand... a hot girl manipulating them to use their abilities in sketchy ways... yeah. i'm sure she has favorite contemporary artists (painters specifically) that she'd be able to talk about on end but sadly i don't know anything about that world 😭 oh and she's kind of obsessed with hate-reading booktok books to feel alive

🏈 casper: sports count as fandoms and i don't want to hear a word about it!! his team is the patriots but he's kind of a fairweather fan (maine doesn't have an nfl team so he doesn't have that state loyalty factor). miley cyrus is his problematic fave forever but he's kind of a pop girlie in general

💋 coco: in high school she was a speedcuber if that gives you an idea of what we're working with here.... she grew up with pokemon, naruto, dragon ball z, she collected trading cards, etc. she still likes anime and video games and stuff, she just doesn't have the time to get invested like she used to, and it makes her sad because it reminds her of her late best friend liam. she makes time to play fortnite and minecraft with his little brother and she plays other games on twitch sometimes. has done a LOT of cosplay. she's a huge nerd basically

[bettsfic]

craft essay a day #11

took a couple days off because i got a plot bunny for a fic that turned into a short story that turned into a novella that turned into a novel but might still be a novella depending on whether i want the main character to commit a murder or if i just want everyone to have a good time.

"The Sword of Damocles: On Suspense, Shower Murders, and Shooting People on the Beach" by Anthony Doerr, The Writer's Notebook II: Craft Essays from Tin House

beginner | intermediate | advanced | masterclass 

filed under: plot & conflict, structure, pacing, process

summary & my thoughts

in 2017 i was at tin house and i went to Anthony Doerr's lecture on simile. i use the word "lecture" loosely; it was closer to a performance. the guy's got great energy. i was so inspired by his lecture that i skipped the next one and returned to my room to start writing a new story, one that would go on to get published, win an award, and become my writing sample for the next four years, including my PhD application. i think that story was so successful in part because i wrote it only as a way to practice what Doerr had taught me about the work of similes. in fact in put so many similes into this story that when i workshopped it later, my professor wrote a little note in the margin that said, "not everything has to be like something else."

i wrote the thing to practice similes, and i ended up taking all the similes out. so it goes.

later, i attended Doerr's reading. having an audio processing issue, i'm really not a fan of readings. i would be able to listen if i could just look down at my phone, but that's rude so i end up only really getting disparate sounds and the occasional fleeting mental image. so i sit there in the back, bored and wishing i could process sound without requiring a second sensory stimulus.

with Doerr, a miracle happened: somehow, there was something about his sentences and paragraphing that made me able to understand what he was saying. for a brief, shining moment i understood the cultural obsession with podcasts. he was reading an excerpt from a short story, and i was hooked. and then it ended on a cliffhanger. so, being in the back, i left right before the end of the event and bought his book, hoping that when i asked him to sign it, he would tell me where i could find the story.

i was first in line. i gave him the book to sign and asked about the story. he said sorry, it wasn't published and probably wouldn't be. devastating. as he was signing my book, he looked at my badge which had my name and listed my genre as creative nonfiction. he asked what project i was working on. i was somewhat taken aback by this (because his line was now a mile long and also why would he care?), and told him the truth: "i'm writing a memoir on fanfiction."

over the years, i've been pretty open with just about everyone regarding how cool i think fanfic is and that i write it. it's not something i'm ashamed of and i'm generally not afraid of being judged, because it's an awesome and wonderful thing that exists in the world, and anyone who thinks otherwise has no idea what they're talking about and probably isn't someone i care to know. i've talked to dozens of authors, editors, and agents about fanfic and for the most part receive mild and polite curiosity as they attempt to align what i'm telling them with what they know of publishing. ultimately i'm sure they dismiss it, but for a beautiful couple minutes, i introduce them to something new.

(not a single person i've ever spoken with has known anything about fanfic. to us it seems so huge, but in literary circles, some people haven't even heard the word fanfiction.)

Anthony Doerr's eyes went wide. he gasped. he glanced around as if having a grand epiphany and said, "everything is fanfiction, isn't it? everything is inspired by something else."

"yes!" i said excitedly, appreciating that he and i are both excessively, possibly offputtingly, enthusiastic people. he signed my book, For Beth! A fellow writer. Your fan, Tony.

unfortunately his line was getting even longer (that's what happens when your book wins a Pulitzer i guess) and we had to cut our conversation short. a week later when i got home, i cracked open his book (all the light we cannot see) at, i don't know, 8pm maybe, and didn't go to bed until 5am when i finally finished it.

which is all to say, what Anthony Doerr says about writing, i listen to.

his essays are a lot like Mary Ruefle's in that he kind of talks about and around a general topic, and as such, this essay is a bit hard to summarize. in the vein of Wayne Booth he also leans heavily on dissecting block quote examples, and so this is a very long essay.

he begins with a disclaimer: "i'm an absolutely terrible writer of suspense. i use up most of my sentences describing trees or snow or light." i actually lol'd at this because i use his short story "The Hunter's Wife" in my lesson plan on developing imagery, and specifically refer to his detailed descriptions of trees, snow, and light.

he introduces the idea of "suspended suspense," or the moment of the story at its apex and relishing in the length of time it hovers there.

"I'm more interested in measured, proportionally handled suspense; the kind of suspense that makes you simultaneously want to skip forward a few paragraphs and to find out what will happen and dwell for as long as possible inside the slow blister of rising action."

he goes on to pull my favorite move of any craft essay: elaborating on the etymology of the term he's discussing, in this case "suspense," which comes from the latin "pendere" which means "to hang."

he talks about the idea of a plot being the thing in a story that is always ticking down to zero, and then compares storytelling and the concept of an obstacle to sports games and the reason people watch them.

"One way to look at games, tournaments, and seasons is that they are essentially highly formalized structures designed to produce obstacles. Why? Because obstacles are delay, and delay produces compelling narration."

Doerr believes that the draw of suspense is the ability to create a kind of anxiety outside of reality where one can feel emotions within the safe bubble of narrative structure. the story, after all, must always end, but life continues on.

he elaborates on two ideas in relation to suspension: interruption and diminishing returns. he cites a study which declares that humans crave interruptions in anything lasting. taking a break at work, for example, or an intermission at a play.

"Maybe interruptions—slowing down scenes just at their most pleasurable—are a way of making the sensations of vicarious anxiety and longing feel acute to us for as long as possible."

of the law of diminishing returns, he says that humans "crave newness" and that part of the allure of a break is to make new something pleasurable and familiar. for example, savoring chocolate by eating it slowly.

"...a huge percentage of writing your most climactic, emotional scenes is about learning to go very slowly. One has to learn to trawl the attention through the texture of the dream."

while all of this is great in theory, it doesn't really address the practicality of writing the damn thing. my favorite rule of thumb is "when the action is hot, write cool," an adage from Debra Gwartney that is certainly prescriptive but something i always keep in mind regardless. action hot, write cool is more or less what Doerr is saying. he's saying, slow down and take your time, while Gwartney is saying, the way to do that is to create narrative distance. my go-to example is the climax of the personal essay "The Fourth State of Matter" by JoAnn Beard, in which we become so distant from JoAnn's point of view we reach into the point of view of someone else.

climaxes are my least favorite thing to write. once i reach them, i skip all the way to the end of the story and write backwards, until the only thing left to write is the climax. i can't say whether or not this is effective advice, because i simply can't do it any other way. if there's a better way, i don't know it.

but i do have something you can try when you finally have to buckle down and get it done:

climaxes are generally the most emotional and visual part of a story. it's where the internal conflict meets up with the external conflict, and therefore you're dealing with both interior narration and sensation, and external movement of bodies in space. you should not expect yourself to handle all of these things at once. you only have one brain, and these sorts of scenes take two brains, maybe even three (how can you expect yourself to be inside your character's perspective while also standing outside of it to direct the action?), and so sometimes you have to layer them.

for your first pass on the climax: work on blocking only. all you're doing is rendering bodies in space. who are the characters in this scene, where are they in relation to each other, and what are they saying. how do they get from A to B interpersonally and/or physically? let's say your characters are finally having their first kiss. you have two bodies that have to go from not touching each other to touching each other. you potentially have some discussion between them. don't worry about dragging it out at this point per Doerr's recommendation. just get mouth A against mouth B. this is more or less only a light pencil sketch of the scene.

second pass: you've focused on the movement, now you go in and add the static details involving the sensation of the kiss and any other external detail your character is attending to, like an airplane flying overhead. most writers like to elaborate on what a person tastes like, which personally i think is weird and unnecessary because i as a reader don't really need to know what someone had for lunch, but whatever. you do you.

third pass: interiority only. my favorite way to pace out a climax is to allow your narrator access to time. allow them to think into the past, into something we don't know yet, or have them realize something, or whatever. let them think. you're controlling the mind of your narrator; use that to your advantage.

if you need to, make a pattern of it: blocking sentence, external sentence, internal sentence. movement, feeling, thought. of course, you're going to revise the shit out of this whole scene later hopefully and so you'll be able to move things around and rewrite as necessary. but in terms of just getting the whole thing onto the page, i find this layering technique pretty useful.

craft essay a day tag | cross-posted on AO3 | ask me something

[rae-and-mezo]

Tell me some more about Iris<3

I've fallen back into it and am currently reviving a couple of my ocs for Hl

Skskjsijduj GLADLY

her profile is still in the works but like eh

First of all, I'm going to explain this sheet, what she and these characters have in common.

1. Evelyn Hugo!

Evelyn does not give a shit who's in her way. If she wants something, she will get it. That's all there is too it. Evelyn asks Monique something along the lines of "when are you going to learn to grab life by the balls and take what you want from it?" She also is very well aware she isn't a great person and lives up to it. Never once does she deny it, and prefers the spotlight to be on her. Iris is exactly this.

2. Annabeth Chase

All Annabeth has ever wanted was to be seen and loved. She wants the world to notice her. In the second series Annabeth talks about how she never will be more than the brains, and if that's what it takes to be loved, then that's okay. Iris feels this way too. She feels like she will never be more than the adrenaline junkie of their little group, and that's fine. Also, Iris could relate to Annabeth because like, what are healthy coping skills??

3. Rose Dawson

I know this is an odd choice. But here's the thing. Iris is literally based off of Rose. Even her appearance! Rose is a spitfire, a loaded pistol. Her rage especially is what makes me think of Iris. The way she punches the guy in the face when he won't listen to her, and when she blows the smoke in her mother's face when told not to smoke just screams Iris. And also, I can just picture the scene where she smokes the guys cigarette and finishes his beer. She's batshit crazy y'know? And fearless. Which are two things Sebastian will tell you about Iris lol.

4. Emily Prentiss

Emily is infamously unafraid to get what she wants. She's harsh, unapologetic, and impulsive. The woman lived an entire life undercover in Europe! I think Iris could be this person as well, given the circumstances. Like Emily, Iris does not have any problem taking down the bad guy to save who she wants. Also, Iris is not afraid to take the blame or jump in for someone in need. And they're both heavily Lana del Rey coded-

5. Beth Dutton

Crazy. Beth's role throughout the show is the crazy, brutal, harsh and nasty woman unafraid of anything. Knuckles are always black and blue, and her words hurt just as much as her punches do. Iris and Beth both are not afraid to say things so disgustingly horrible. They don't think about consequences. Their tempers fly off the handle. Iris's jealous streak is just as bad as Beth's as well.

6. Rowena

This one is harder to explain. Rowena is very...evil. she has redeeming qualities of course but her role in the show is to be irritatingly evil. She's also very powerful. Iris isn't evil per se but she's unapologetic in her flaws.

Headcanons

Born to Die- Paradise Edition, would be the soundtrack to her life if I'm being honest. Carmen is her theme song.

She's very elegant but her words are v i l e. Like she swears too much for someone modern, let alone a Victorian lady.

You will hardly catch her out of her high heels

Her patronus is a tiger

She loves the grotesque. Catch her trying to get a better view of a dead bird, admiring a painting of a dead man. She just thinks the horrifying has a certain beauty.

Straight A (E?) Student and the teachers just love her. However, most of the students don't. She's too bitchy lol.

Does not hold grudges oddly enough. Like she's willing to put aside the past for everyone but her family.

She's a halfblood, but she was adopted. So all her siblings are muggles.

She's a descendent of Gryffindor!

Despite her gift with dueling and transfiguration, she can't do shit outside of that. The only reason she is passing anything else is because Sebastian gives her his notes.

Sebastian is a little scared of her. She likes that.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Bring Back Madison Post + Norman Posting Bethyl!

A couple of things to point out today. I'll start with the shorter of the two. Yesterday, Norman posted a reel from Still in his Instastories. Yay!

It will still be there for part of the day today, if you want to check it out, but then it will disappear.

The next thing lots of people were sending me yesterday was this post from @feartwd on IG. It's about how/why they brought Madison back.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fear the Walking Dead (@feartwd)

Here was my first reaction to it, which I sent to a follower on IG:

I think this is a hint. Sure, Madison had some fans who wanted her back, but not nearly as many as Beth. There was so much more “bring Beth back” after Coda than Madison ever had. I think this is them hinting that it could be true of other characters too.

And then my fellow theorists talking about it. I had not read their conversation yet when I wrote the above, but I had to chuckle because I did right after, and chimed in as you'll see below, and we all came to the EXACT same conclusions 😊:

@galadrieljones:

Hey friends. Interesting post from Fear AMC today. Am interview with Kim Dickens claiming that it was really due to the fan base and their vocal outcry to “bring back Madison” that the showrunners decided to bring her back.

Is this true? Look maybe there are like three dozen rabid Madison fans out there.

Interesting to me, because Beth had an actual real outcry that made national news, and ppl still actually do ask Emily about it, and they have been bringing Emily back to TTD as a fan favorite for years.

Is this tptb casually letting fans know that they listen and respond?

Once again, I can’t imagine the outcry was that big for Madison. I love Fear but frankly it’s just not that popular, and Madison was just not that good of a character.

@wdway:

I really don't think we can even compare the reaction between Beth and Madison death it's like day and night. The other thing is that Fear/tptb did not want Madison's being alive as a huge surprise remember last year, they announced it months in advance. The only unknown was when she was going to show up. The viewers had to wait till the very end of the season to see her. No surprise, no shock at all. In reading comments during that time there were just as many people if not more who didn't care for her character and didn't feel she needed to return as there were that were happy to see her.

@galadrieljones:

Yeah, if anything it seemed to inspire a lot of indifferent to slightly happy reactions. That said I see tons of ppl who are hopeful to see Alicia again.

@wdway:

Agreed. I'm one of those who is looking forward and hopeful of seeing Alicia again.

@galadrieljones:

Me, too!! She could be doing anything. I hope she’s gotten into some deep stuff with the CRM lol (I just want more info , but also, I liked her.)

@wdway:

I'm looking forward to watching Fear early on Thursday but I'm torn as to what I expect or hope to see. I don't expect to see any real hints of Beth because we're going to go into it with a time jump. There was be a lot of filling in information just from that happening. At the same time though they're not having a long season so they're going to have to finish the entire series in what, 12 episodes total?

@galadrieljones:

This random guy’s reply to the tweet about Madison being back made me happy because immediately I was like, “Hmm yeah would be a great idea to bring Emily back after Melissa pulled out of the spin-off” LOL

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I’m LOLing bc I hadn’t read this yet, but someone sent me this post on IG and I had the exact same thoughts as you too. Shocker, I know.

Did 60K people sign a petition to bring Madison back? Did Gimple receive—what was it? 5000 or was it more like 20000–spoons from fans, demanding she be brought back? Nope. Only Beth. I honestly think they’re forcing the Madison story a little bit because they want it to be a template for Beth. That’s fine, but they’re definitely inventing more fervor than is truly there.

@galadrieljones:

Madison’s entire thing was “No one’s gone until they’re gone.” They’re absolutely using her to normalize radical returns of “dead” characters lol. And like I’m sorry I think that tag was totally astroturfed to make it seem like there was an outcry so they could use that as an excuse. Madison has been gone for many years. There’s no way to investigate that tag (#bringmadisonback) and to see how popular it actually was!! Just imagining tptb talking about the public outcry for Beth and how they finally listened after all these years. They’re extremely excited to have Emily back on set and can’t wait to reveal what’s in store for her (and Daryl)

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Agreed! It’s been a long time in coming. Part of the reason I can’t wait for Fear is bc I’m sure Madison’s arc will be one great big template for Beth’s. Yay!

That's all. Just wanted to point out the suspiciousness of it. And could it possibly be significant that these things are being posted literally days before the final season of Fear starts? Hmmm. 🤔

[crookshanks23]

Season 1, Episode 27: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

Favorite moment: "Can I put the mustache on?" I love Mr. Mustache. Such a great energy to bounce off of Ron.

General thoughts:

So, this is an episode I haven't listened to a bunch. Not sure why, but this was a great reminder of some things and funnier than I remembered. Lots of laugh out loud moments.

Not a huge fan of the intro on this one, but it does hit home this aspect of Glenn's character. For as chill as he is, I forget that he's a conspiracy dude.

Darryl's deep Patrick Warburton voice is great. And the origin of the "Tax Day" euphemism. Wild dad facts again overall this episode.

I had completely forgotten that they brought up the shield again (which I mentioned in my post on the previous episode). Good thinking on their part to ask Erin. What a crazy item. I love that someone took the time to make an item that wouldn't be helpful to them. They could use it to hurt someone else, but I don't think the shield comes back after this.

And Vince is back! Their relationship is hilarious. And Doctor Not Me? That came up earlier than I remembered. This whole conversation with Erin is great. I love early Erin-Darryl heat.

It's interesting with the whole, "I can't tell you about the kind of magic because if you know it makes them more powerful." I don't know if this really comes to fruition? It's hard to tell because of the way the reveal happens in the next episode of who the purple robes are. Would they have been less powerful if they hadn't revealed who they were? I guess we'll never know. Just another piece of Daddy Magic that I don't quite get.

Then, a good chunk of the episode devolves into a discussion about what they're going to do with the mercenaries and what plan they're going to use to get into Ravenloft. This is most of what I remember of the episode, but I had forgotten how bat-shit crazy (and cool) some of these plans were. Also, Freddie's use of the electronics from Fry's was great. There are a lot of "now what, Anthony?" turns in this episode, which makes the last 20-30 minutes of this hilarious.

This whole plan and reveal with Scam is just wonderful.

Some highlights from the end:

The reveal and addition of Mr. Mustache.

"This was supposed to be the big climax. I had so many dreams..." Anthony says as Beth and Will debate whether Clifford the Big, Red Dog is a Kaiju and promote their Twitter accounts. Man, I had forgotten how funny this episode is.

"Hey Anthony, can you say your rolls more into the microphone?"

Poor Scam Likely. It was a really clever plan.

Next time - one of my favorite reveals in the whole fucking show.

[samanthaaaachan]

2022 Albums of the year!!

1 - Deep in View by Cola

My favorite album of the year. This is what I wish all post punk was like. Theres a clear pop influence here that drives every song and just makes it a joy to listen to. I'm tired of the sad, ominous dirge of post punk (looking at you UK) and this is the completely opposite direction. The instrumentation is fantastic especially the drums. These songs just move you forward and to dance. I really hope we hear more from Cola and more music in this vein in general. Plus I saw them this year and they were great.

Nothing on here quite reaches the peaks of Beautiful Blue Sky by their former band Ought but wow its so so fun.

Favorites: Blank Curtain, At Pace, Gossamer, Water Table

2 - Blue Rev by Alvvays

Idk what else needs to or can be said about this album and Alvvays in general. Impeccable is the first word that comes to mind. The songs are tight, fun, rocky, power-pop bangers. I mean what more can you want from Alvvays? They're falling into that Beach House category where they don't really branch out much because why would they? They're perfect at what they do. That being said I do love some of the newer directions they've gone like the shoegaze influences and especially how psychedelic they get on songs like Very Online Guy (which sounds like if Kevin Parker somehow ended up playing bass in Alvvays).

Just listen to this album 100 times its perfect, its great, I don't know what more you can ask of Alvvays at this point.

3 - Expert in a Dying Field by The Beths

Power Pop! Power! Pop!! Its so back. A lot of what I said for Alvvays applies here too. I love The Beths the guitar work is awesome and Elizabeth Stokes is one of my favorite song writers nowadays. Every song is so fun to listen and sing to. I really preached to everyone about this album because its so good. 2am is one of my favorite album closers ever. What a beautiful, beautiful song and my favorite song this year. It still gives me chills after listening to this album probably a dozen times this year.

Do you feel it? Feel it like you did back then? 2 a.m., we were pounding the pavement And I wonder could we be that way again? Still awake, talking late in the kitchen

4 - Cave World by Viagra Boys

This album was such a surprise! I like Viagra Boys (I mean who doesnt love Sports?) but I didnt expect this kind of album from them. They've always been good but this album is unique and has such a voice. Its the most topical of all the albums on here with all its references to vaccines and adhd and everything. Its all all tongue in cheek (I'm 99% sure lol) but it puts the album in a really fun place. All of the electric and poppy and rocky influences make this such a joy to listen to. I kind of thought Viagra Boys would fall into the sea of post punk bands and put out solid albums every 3 years but this is one I'm going to keep going back to again and again. I'm really excited to see what they make next. Also I neeeeeed to see this live. I haven't seen them yet and they canceled their show near me.

5 - God Save the Animals by Alex G

Is Alex G emo? Why not? This album is a new direction for Alex G after his kind of maximalist House of Sugar and Rocket it returns to more stripped down guitar and keyboard sound. I love the way he writes songs they're sad but hopeful? The lyrics are almost all dark but the instrumentation is so optimistic and you know the people in the song are trying despite their failures. Its very real plus its fun to listen to. Runner is somehow the best country song released in years while emo at the same time. I'm really happy that Alex G put this one together as he's a very important artist for me and means so much. He's so talented and really puts it all together on God Save the Animals.

6 - Nicks and Grazes by Palm

7 - Horeshit on Route 66 by The Garden

8 - Stumpwork by Dry Cleaning

9 - Super Champion by Otoboke Beaver

10 - Stalled Flutes, Means by Asian Glow

Honorable Mentions: Forget Your Own Face, Wet Leg, Dreams (by Elephant Gym), PRE PLEASURE, Big Time, and Emotional Eternal

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

9/26/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription part 3

And so then there's this organization of the work, and everybody has this place that they're doing. Like everybody commits to helping, and they all have Their specific section. I personally would not want to be repairing the dung gate, but Mel Kaija, he he's the ruler of the district of Beth Hakerem. He repairs it, he rebuilds it, sets up its doors, bolts it's bar. So all these men are committing to rebuilding this. And then when San Bullet, he hears about this, he's angry and greatly enraged. He mocks the Jews, he says in the presence of his associates, What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it by themselves? Really offer sacrifice so they finish it in a day. Are they going to revive the Stones out of the heaps of rubbish, burned ones at that? Kind of like you're gonna rebuild this with the ruins? And he's like, look, if a fox were to walk up, this is gonna break it down. And so he says we are despised and we should, Like that this should not be happening. But they rebuilt the wall. The wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. They were determined to make this happen and so then and then kind of the reality sets in of like, wait, you know, this is we didn't really like, clear this out first. There's so much rubbish and our enemies are really not wanting to see us succeed. And Nehemiah just tells him, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the word who is great and awesome and he's going to fight for you and your sons, your daughters, your wives and your households, which is just such a beautiful and powerful reminder that we all can, That we all really need to hear in any given point, right? And so then Nehemiah starts dealing with a whole other set of issues, right? It's like, things go well for a second. Everyone is like, I'm on board and we're we're doing this. And then there's some part of fear that sets in this doubt and then this belief that you can't do it, Can't trust the Lord. Have to do it on your own. Someones Greater, bigger, more powerful. We're terrified. And, We were slaves even though we've committed to doing this, We’re we're having all kinds of issues, like we're not into this anymore. And he starts hearing word of all the complaints, all the dust, the grumbling, the impression, and he calls it out and he's like, listen, we restored this, We worked together, So that our people could have a place of restoration. Let's chill. Let's repent of this. Let like May God shake out everyone from the house and from property does not perform this promise. And so he's a man who knows, When enough is enough, what's going on? His heart is for restoration and he had this team of people who were really dedicated. And then what happens? It's like, The moment things are in this, yeah, the balls rolling, we're going, we're doing well. Uh, somebody complains and just his disgruntled and then you know that person has they come back and say, listen. You got to get out of your head. We gotta trust the Lord, like remember who he is. And to be that person I feel like is, is. It's a great leadership quality, but man, it's also exhausting too, to be the person who's like, stop, stop, like get out of this, Let's shake it off, Let's go for a run or something. Like let's get this out of our system. Let's trust the Lord, Because he's faithful.

[jonsa101]

Max Goodwin and Randall Pearson: The Well-Meaning, Incredibly Self-Centered Leading Men We’ve Grown to Love.

Hey fam! Like I said, I’ve been writing a ton of meta lately and this is another one that’s just been sitting in my drafts. It’s basically a This Is Us and a New Amsterdam meta which is something I haven’t done before but something I want do more of. In my Game of Thrones days I used to write a lot of meta about shows and characters that had similarities so this is fun for me. I hope y’all enjoy this. ALSO THIS HAS SPOILERS FOR BOTH SHOWS!!!!!!!

Without a doubt the two most popular shows on NBC is This is Us and New Amsterdam. And what’s not to love? They’re both emotionally driven, heartfelt, shows that focus on incredibly deep and complex topics. Though one show focuses on family dynamics and the other focuses on the healthcare system, these shows are very similar in more ways than one. Case in point, Max Goodwin and Randall Pearson. The more I watch these two shows, the more I realize how these two characters are so alike!!! These two men are kind-hearted, well intentioned, individuals who genuinely want to make some sort of positive difference. They are incredibly ambitious and always have “bright ideas” and “goals” they want to accomplish and somehow they’re able to meet those goals without ever having to sacrifice their wants and needs. By every definition these men are the “main characters” or the ultimate “protagonists.” These are the folks that we are supposed to root for. At the same time, though these men have many traits to be admired, when you truly look at it both of them can be incredibly self centered and selfish especially when it pertains to their romantic partners and love interests. No matter how appealing you make these characters out to be these men clearly fall under the Behind Every Great Man trope.

The Behind Every Great Man trope has been used countless of times throughout Cinema and TV History that I’m sure that I don’t even have to explain it to you but for the sake of this meta this is how it’s defined.

“Behind Every Great Man...stands an even greater woman! Or in about a hundred variations is a Stock Phrase referring to how people rarely achieve greatness without support structures that go generally unappreciated, and said support structure is a traditionally female role via being the wife, mother, or sometimes another relation. This trope is specifically about a man who is credited with something important, but owes much of his success to the woman in his life.”

This trope usually has a negative connotation (and rightfully so) because the man who often benefits from this is an asshole and unworthy of this type of support!

For example:

Oliva and Fitz

Cristina Yang and Burke

Cookie and Lucious

Ghost and Tasha

There are countless others but these are a few of the couples that come to mind for me. Randall and Max aren’t comparable to any of these men that are listed above but they are still operating under the same trope. It just looks nicer because Max and Randall are inherently good and inspirational. They are the heroes of the story. I would even argue and say that both men fall under the Chronic Hero Syndrome trope which is defined as

“Chronic Hero Syndrome is an "affliction" of cleaner heroes where for them, every wrong within earshot must be righted, and everyone in need must be helped, preferably by Our Hero themself. While certainly admirable, this may have a few negative side-effects on the hero and those around them. Such heroes could wear themselves out in their attempts to help everyone or become distraught and blame themselves for the one time that they're unable to save the day. Spending so much time and effort saving everyone else can also put a strain on the hero's personal or dating life.”

Just because Max and Randall have these incredibly inspiring aspirations, is it fair that their wives and love interests are always expected to rise to the occasion and support them. Is it ok for their partners to continuously sacrifice their wants and needs because they love these men? 

Let’s dive into it. 

Truth be told, Beth Pearson, Helen Sharpe and Georgia Goodwin had to endure a GREAT DEAL to emotionally support the dreams and aspirations of these men while sacrificing so much of themselves in the process. In media we often see women sacrificing so much of their wants and needs out of love for these male leads and rarely do men do the same thing for their romantic partners and love interests. All three of these women clearly fall under the Act of True Love trope defined as

“The Act of True Love proves beyond doubt that you are ready to put your loved one's interests before your own, that you are truly loyal and devoted to them. Usually this involves a sacrifice on your part, at the very least a considerable effort and/or a great risk. The action must be motivated, not by morals or principle or expectation of future reward, but by sheer personal affection.When your beloved is in dire need of your help, or in great danger, and you do something, at great expense to yourself, for the sake of their safety, their welfare, or their happiness, thus proving beyond any doubt that you put their interest ahead of yours.”

Over the past few seasons we have seen all three of these women truly live up to this trope without any true consequences or accountability from the men they’re making all these sacrifices for. For example, in Beth and Randall’s marriage, how many times did Randall spring an idea on Beth without truly talking to her or considering her wants first? Everyone thinks these two are an ideal couple but she has endured A LOT for Randall.

Randall has spontaneously quit his job, moved his dying biological dad into their home, bought his biological dad’s old apartment building, fostered and adopted a child and also ran for city councilman outside of his district. In all of these decisions, Randall “consulted” Beth about it but at the same time didn’t really consult her. In a way there has always been this expectation of Beth to just go along for the ride with what Randall wants. Is anyone else exhausted from reading that list?! That’s a lot for partner to endure and lovingly support. But Beth has endured and has been Randall’s rock through it all!!! What worries me is that the one time Beth spoke out about her wants and needs of pursuing dance again, he couldn’t match the same energy she was giving him and eventually it led to world war three between them. Though things are looking up in their relationship  and he’s starting to support her more, has Randall nearly given to Beth as much as she’s given to him? Absolutely not!

Similar to Randall, Max also had a wife who was a dancer. in fact, she was a prima ballerina. Unlike Randall and Beth, Max relationship with Georgia was rocky from the start. When we were first introduced to them Max and Georgia were separated and rightfully so. Georgia was never Max’s first priority. The hospital always came first in their relationship. He couldn’t even dedicate a full night to her for their proposal. In order to “save” their marriage they decide to have a baby and they both committed to taking a step back in their careers in order to do so. The problem was Max didn’t keep his side of their commitment and took a job to become the medical director at the biggest public hospital in the U.S. She gave up her career to start a family and he totally and completely betrayed her trust. So throughout season one we see them trying to rebuild their marriage but even in the midst of trying to rebuild a marriage based on trust and mutual respect Max still keeps things from Georgia. For several episodes he didn’t tell her that he had advance stages of throat cancer. He only told her when Georgia asked him to move back home. That’s fucked up! Then throughout their pregnancy he was never fully there for Georgia because he was either to preoccupied with the hospital or himself. At the end of it all, Georgia died tragically at the beginning of season two and really had nothing to show for it in her relationship with Max other than her daughter Luna.

Now let’s bring Helen Sharpe into the fold. While all of this stuff was going on with Max and his wife in season one, Max was developing a deep friendship, borderline emotional affair with Helen. Their relationship started out with Helen being his oncologist. As the new Medical Director of New Amsterdam, he swore Helen to secrecy about his diagnosis so that he could still run the hospital. Through that secrecy they eventually formed a deep bond but as his cancer got worse his secret was let out of the bag. He realistically needed someone to step up and run the hospital when he was going through chemo and though Helen already had commitments she stepped up and became his deputy medical director. Somewhere along the lines Max and Helen started developing feelings for each other. As Helen becomes aware of those feelings, she made a choice and decides to remove herself as Max’s doctor. He BITCHES about it but eventually accepts the boundary she’s clearly trying to set. Mind you, as this is unfolding, like Max, Helen is also in a new relationship with her boyfriend Panthaki. As Max’s cancer seems to be getting worse with his new doctor, she goes back on her boundary and decides to be his doctor again. This pisses her boyfriend off because he could already peep the vibe between them and he breaks up with her. When we get into season two, Max’s wife died and Helen set him up in a clinical trail (with a doctor she previously fired) that’s helping his cancer.  Unbeknownst to Max, this doctor ends up holding his life saving treatment plan over Helen’s head and in order for his treatment to continue she gives this doctor half of her department!

Helen has sacrificed a lot for Max and now in season three she’s finally prioritizing her current wants and needs first! Like Randall, Max is starting to turn a page and is starting to support Helen and truly listen to the wants and needs that she has. All of this is good but my question is did any of these women have to sacrifice so much for the men in their lives to get a clue?

Why is it that this is a trope we see in media time and time and time again? Even if these men are good, why don’t we still keep these male characters accountable when they put their significant others in these situations that are clearly not fair? I’ve watched countless tv shows and I’ve seen a lot of tv couples but I think I have only come across one couple where the male counterpart has selflessly loved his significant other and has always put her needs above his own. 

That character my friend is none other than PACEY WITTER

I might be mistaken but I think Joey and Pacey are the most popular ship in tv history and honestly, rightfully so! This is only example I can think of where the male in the relationship so willingly puts the wants and needs of his partner first. It is a completely selfless and sacrificial love. He never wants to hold her back and he never asks her to compromise her wants or needs for him. That’s why I think so many women love Pacey because in a sea of TV relationships, Pacey Witter is a fucking unicorn.

So to wrap this up does this mean that I hate Randall Pearson or Max Goodwin? No! I adore them. I love both of their characters so much. I just think that when we see the media continuously play out the sacrificial wife/love interest for the sake of their male counterparts, it should be called out. I’m all about sacrificial and selfless love but it should come from both sides.❤️❤️❤️

Anyway I hope y’all enjoy this! As always my DMs are opening here or on Twitter @oyindaodewale

[christiloveit]

🎬 10 things i hate about you

🎧 nothing but thieves

📚 the saddest book you’ve ever read :”)

Heey sweetie! 🧡 thank you!

🎬 Ugh, I love this movie so much! Sometimes I put it before going to sleep and I always end up watching everything! 😭 And crying. Heath and Julia are just perfect! I love when he meets her at the club and screams SO SEXY and everybody looks at him. 😂

🎧 omg, I never took my time to listen to their music before. So I read your ask while I was working and putted their TRNSMT concert, and thank you! I really enjoyed, they're great! So far Soda is my favorite, do you have any other songs recs? 😍

📚 hm, so. I'm a cancer sun and I cry a lot. 😂 I think the book I've cried the most while reading it was Little Women. My eyes still waters when I think about Beth. Also I've cried a lot while reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. And yeah, Order of The Phoenix and Half Blood Prince, hm and The Deathly Hallows. From the Order of The Phoenix is just downfall. 😂 (in terms of crying)

Drop an emoji in my ask box plus a title and I'll tell you my opinion about it

[if-i-could-grow-wings]

Best Quotes of 2021

This is my annual list of my favorite quotes of all the books I read this year! There might be more than one from some of the books because I couldn't decide 😌 They're in the order I read them in and I indicate with emojis whether I read the physical book 📚 or listened to the audioobook 🎧 I've also included my star rating. Enjoy! 🎆

1. "If you truly love me in return, accept me as I am. If you can't accept me as I am, maybe you need to rethink your definition of love." - Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. "Darlington liked to say that dealing with ghosts was like riding the subway: Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home." / "You couldn't keep sidling up to death and dipping your toe in. Eventually it grabbed your ankle and tried to pull you under." / "A dead man in the girls' bathroom was a lot less scary than a living one." / "If she died, her petty heart wanted to know who to haunt." - Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. "First, a story ends when it ends, and not a moment before. If you are unhappy with this ending, make a new one." / "Do not underestimate the strenght it takes to be kind in a world as cruel as ours." - A Song of Wraithd and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. "That's the way with old friends, you understand each other when there's not enough words out there for everything that should be said." - The Switch by Beth O'Leary 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5. "If you need to sell your soul in your quest to make things better, then you'll never succeed." - Rebel by Marie Lu 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

6. "Life doesn't have to be so planned. Just roll with it and let it happen." - To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

7. "When you lose someone and it still hurts, that's when you know the love was real." - P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. "Never say no when you really want to say yes." - Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

9. "That's the key, isn't it? To know the darkness will always remain, but how you choose to face it, handle it...that's the important part. To not let it consume. To focus upon the good, the things that fill you with wonder. The struggle with that darkness is worth it, just to see it such things." - A Court of Silver Flames by Saraj J. Maas 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

10. "Just because some people actually work for their money doesn't mean they are beneath you." - Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

11. "Calling a dead body 'not quite ideal vessel' is rather like calling the sewers of London 'not that bad a holiday destination.'" - Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. "Behind every fortune lies a great crime." - China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐

13. "Maybe the gift of being human is that we do not give up - even when all hope is lost." / "I will always seek to make it summer for you." - Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. "It had been so long since he'd wanted something to happen instead of wanting something not to happen." - Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

15. "We should have been let to live." (This is my own translation as this book hasn't been translated to English) - Lukitut ("Locked") by Salla Simukka 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

16. "Sometimes, the thing that at first appears flawed can end up being the most perfect thing in the world for you." - Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

17. "This is what it means to live. To choose a path and face the cpnsequences." / "A wife is always second to her husband, and I don't see the merit in settling for second place." - The Damned by Renée Ahdieh 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

18. "The problem is that people don't act. The problem is that I don't act. I just sit here, doing nothing, assuming that someone else if going to make things better." - Solitaire by Alice Oseman 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

19. "We can't come apart like this. We're not made of pieces that come apart." / "This was my life to find love. The truest love. The biggest. But it isn't my life to have it." / "How can I convince him that we're a good thing if he doesn't believe in good things?" / "I never thought I'd be the first thing you ever gave up on." / "I need to replace every single person in my life with someone more functional, is what I need." / "I'm and "I love you" gun with the safety off, a finger constantly on the trigger." - Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

20. "Every story needs a villain. I just wish mine didn't come in double." - Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐

21. "But so far this was the third worst day of my life, and that January was probably buried where they put the old Taylor Swift, so what I actually said was "Could you turn off your sad-boy angsting soundtrack?"" - Beach Read by Emily Henry 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

22. "I'd tear the wings off an angel to fly this cage. I'd claw the sky to carve my name into this earth." / "What a world this would be, were it not held wholly and solely in the grip of stubborn old men." / "Your past is stone, but your future is clay." / "Apologies. I'm being a bitch again. Altough Mama did tell me: In life, always do what you love." / "We carry the greatest burdens not on our shoulders, but in our hearts." / "Your sister said to tell you the witch is loose." / "Aim your heart at the fucking world." / "Dim days grow dimmer still, bleak nights bring bleaker thoughts. And as the landscape about you changes, so does the limit of your spirit." - Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

23. "Maybe I should have followed him: but somehow it went from too soon to too late, without the right moment in between." / "I didn't know happiness was that simple." - The Binding by Bridget Collins 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

24. "I am shipping you with the boy you met when you were supposed to be shipping relationship relics to your last boy." - What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (I've read this before and this was my favorite quote then too)

25. "Maybe some songs are just unruinable." - Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

26. "Love should never ask you to give up the things that make you different. The truths that can only be told about you, and nobody else." / "A book captures a story within its pages. Not like a specimen pinned out lifelessly for display, but vivid and alive. A whole world lies within the cover, a life waiting to be lived by each new reader." - Aurora's End by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff 📚, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

27. "You're the point of every story." / "It's up to you right now to figure out what risk will make your heart happiest." - Here's to Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera 🎧, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[backslashdelta]

Becky my beloved <3

how are you? how's everything going?

how would you rank Noah's songs? (including both solos and duets) 👀

sending you a virtual hug!! hope you're having a delightful day 🧡

Hello Myle! Thank you so much for asking me this! I'm always thankful for the opportunity to spread some love for my man Puck!

I've categorized the songs as solos or duets for ease of reference, but also I might be wrong for some of them lol I didn't pay super close attention. Also, I'm just accounting for how much I enjoy the song itself, not the context within the show. Anyway! On with the ranking:

I'm the Only One [solo]

Glory Days [duet]

Fat Bottomed Girls [solo]

Only the Good Die Young [solo]

Sweet Caroline [solo]

Big Ass Heart [solo]

Mean [duet]

Need You Now [duet]

School's Out [solo]

No Surrender [solo]

Keep Holding On [solo]

Loser [duet]

Just Give Me a Reason [duet]

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town [duet]

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah [duet]

Lady Is a Tramp [duet]

Beth [duet]

Waiting for a Girl Like You [solo]

Hot for Teacher [duet]

One Love (People Get Ready) [duet]

Fight for Your Right (to Party) [duet]

The Rain in Spain [duet]

I am... very surprised at how low Only the Good Die Young and Sweet Caroline is, actually. And there are a lot of these songs that I kind of forgot existed (including my top two ranked songs, which they're so good, how could I not remember??).

Thank you so much for asking me this question! It was really great to get the opportunity to go back and listen to these and spread some love for my favourite football player :)

[thesearchforbluejello]

Imagine a "Star Trek: Lower Decks" style sitcom in the Stargate universe. Stargate: SG-47... the crew that follows up on all the really boring planets SG-1 goes to once and never again. They always debrief with Walter instead of the General. They annoyed the Nox once and now they show up to pull pranks on SG-47 in revenge. Minor Goa'ulds catch them and are depressed they're not SG-1 or someone more important so they just release them.

My notifications ate this ask; I don't know when it's from, but I'm just seeing it now. Please accept this totally unedited bullshit fic as my apology and thanks for how hard this ask made me laugh. I'm definitely not supposed to be writing a final right now. And I know you said minor Goa'uld but like I couldn't resist this opportunity. Also, me, using a minific to talk about my obsession with what the hieroglyphs in a Goa'uld ship could be? More likely than you think.

​A Soldier, a Linguist, a Botanist, and a Biologist Walk into a Ha'tak

Major Lissa Cannon emerges from the event horizon into the bright, clear sunlight of P4X-737. She takes a deep breath and immediately sneezes. "Great," she says.

Dr. Jess Abubakar passes her on the right, heading down the stone stairs of the gate platform without hesitation. "Better get used to it," he says with a cheerfulness that she doesn't-- and any reasonable person wouldn't-- share.

"Jess, I swear to God," Dr. Beth Rosenberg says as she follows him down the steps.

"You're just salty you have to help us collect samples," Jess counters, more affable than Cannon would have expected anyone to be before she actually started working with him.

Beside her, Dr. Chris Richardson just gives a wry smile before heading down the stairs after their teammates. Cannon sneezes again.

"It's the pollen!" Jess says as she joins the group. "Initial samples brought back by SG-1 indicate that it's at least twice as potent as anything we have on Earth."

"How is that a good thing," Cannon gripes even though she'd sat through the briefing and already listened to Jess and Bill Lee go on about how important it could prove to be.

"I mean, just think of the possibilities!" Jess says, more than happy to repeat himself. "We could synthesize new antihistamines, or even make existing ones more effective. We could develop new crops that are potentially more resistant to blights or unfavorable growing conditions."

"Yay," Beth says, drier than the climate on this planet has likely ever been.

"You're just mad because there are no indigenous people here to talk to," Cannon points out.

"You could talk to the plants," Jess says.

"Studies have proven that talking to plants encourages growth," Chris adds, soft-spoken as always.

"I'm not talking to the plants," Beth says.

"Why not?" Cannon asks. "With this much pollen in the air, after a few hours they might start talking back."

"Oof, like when SG-7 was on P8Q-984," Jess laughs. "That's not an experience I want to have for myself."

"Those were spores, not pollen," Chris corrects amiably as the team starts into the forested area beyond the field in which the gate sits.

"Sentiment's the same," Jess says.

Cannon hears a rustle in the undergrowth and raises her P-90, her team stopping immediately in defensive positions behind her. After a moment of nothing but birdsong and her own breathing, she relaxes. "Must've been an animal," she says.

"SG-1's initial exploration didn't indicate any indigenous animals on the ground," Beth says.

"Well, that's why we get their leftovers, because everything is just 'initial,'" Cannon points out. She takes the lead as they continue between the trees, rifle still ready in her hands just in case.

"Bloodthirsty squirrels is not on my extraterrestrial exploratory bucket list," Jess says.

"Yeah, mine neither," Cannon agrees. She's barely got the sentence out of her mouth when she hits a force field, face-first. "Motherfucker," she tries to say, a natural reaction, but the syllables come out muddled because her face is suddenly very numb. She drops to a knee and raises her rifle, looking for whatever danger has to be in the forest with them. Around her, her team drops the specimen cases they'd been carrying and raise their own weapons. They're not armed for this; SG-1's previous mission and the UAV surveys hadn't revealed anything dangerous enough to warrant coming through armed with anything more than Cannon's P-90, a couple of flash-bangs, and an assortment of 9mils and zats carried by her and her teammates. Except for Cannon, they're scientists, not soldiers.

"Lower your weapons," a voice commands from the trees.

"You lower your force field," Cannon calls back.

"I think not." Around them, Jaffa begin to materialize from the forest.

"Fuck," Cannon says.

*

The Jaffa strip them of their gear, tossing their vests, holsters, and packs in a careless pile on top of the specimen cases they'd dropped when the force field had initially gone up. They're surprisingly respectful about it, which Cannon almost laments because she's pissed off and ready to fight, even if she knows it's a fight she won't win. She watches their gear disappear from view in a flash of light as they're beamed up to a ship she knows must be waiting above.

Gold walls and a polished floor illuminated by dim lights materialize around them. Another group of Jaffa is waiting. One of their captors reports to a man Cannon assumes is his superior. She tries to pick of bits and pieces she recognizes from the language but doesn't get much.

"Wait," Beth says, "can you say that again? That's word isn't in the lexicon we've been developing."

The Jaffa looks at her sidelong in confusion before his superior barks an order.

"This way," he says. The Jaffa behind them push the team roughly forward.

"Yeah, I heard him," Cannon says, her face still numb and her words muddled, "relax."

They spend the next several hours sitting in a cell. Beth whips a notebook out of one of the pockets of her pants and starts making notes on the glyphs in their cell.

"Does that actually say anything?" Jess asks. "I've never been on a Goa'uld ship before."

A chorus of variants on "yeah, me neither" precede Beth's answer.

"It does, actually, though most of it just repeats. A lot of it is just vague, seemingly formulaic stories of someone's victories and conquering and blah blah blah, but the name has been chiseled out," she says, tapping a glyph that's clearly been destroyed deliberately.

Cannon turns her head against the wall from where she's sulking with her arms wrapped loosely around her knees. "Why?"

"My best guess? Whoever owns this ship now stole it from another Goa'uld and had their name erased. Think damnatio memoriae."

"Huh," Jess says, setting his hand of cards down to Chris's obvious annoyance. "But they kept the part about the victories?"

"Why not? Obviously they had someone spend all the time necessary to do this to the whole ship, so keeping the rest saved a hell of a lot of work. Plus, if they bested the guy this ship used to belong to, that's quite a flex." Beth shrugs and goes back to writing in her notebook. Jess picks up his cards again and Cannon can tell by the barest quirk of Chris's lips that they have the winning hand.

"You know what I'm thinking about right now?" Cannon says. "Mashed potatoes."

"Ugh, the mashed potatoes in the mess taste like plastic," Beth says without looking away from the wall.

"I know; once I start eating them, they're so disgusting I just can't stop myself. It's like the flavor gets grosser with every bite."

"They're not bad with the roast beef," Chris says.

"That's because the roast beef is the only palatable thing the mess serves besides jello," Jess points out.

"It was lemon chicken today," Cannon sighs. She rests her head against the wall again. "My vest had all my granola bars. What could these guys possibly want with us," she complains.

"Do you think they've realized that we're only number 47 because they want any potential enemies to think there are more SG teams than there really are?" Jess asks.

"I don't know," Cannon says stiffly, "but say that again a little louder and I'm sure they will."

Jess holds his hands up in placation, tipping his cards towards Cannon. Chris is about to destroy him with that hand.

"Well," Cannon sighs, "the good news is that I can feel my face again."

Heavy footfalls sound in the hallway and Cannon stands, shifting her weight to ease the stiffness in her legs. Beth hurriedly stuffs her notebook back in her pocket and Chris and Jess shove the cards into the pocket of Jess's pants.

"You will come with us," the Jaffa says.

"Sure," Cannon says as she leads her team after him. "I don't suppose you guys have any snacks on board this thing? You've got to eat, right?" He doesn't answer. "Didn't your mom ever teach you to share?"

The Jaffa ignores her and leads them into an open room with a throne at the fall wall. Ba'al surges to his feet as they enter. "Fool," he spits at the Jaffa beside him, who Cannon recognizes as the leader of the group that had captured them. "This isn't SG-1."

"My lord--"

"Who are you?" Ba'al interrupts.

"Major Lissa Cannon, leader of SG-47," she says, raising her chin.

"Forty-seven," Ba'al says in disbelief.

"We're a science team; we were studying the flora of P4X-737 when you so rudely interrupted."

Ba'al just looks at her. "You're scientists."

Jess raises his hand. "Doctor."

"Doctor," Chris agrees.

"Major," Cannon says with a shrug.

"Doctor," Beth says.

"I've seen this episode of M*A*S*H," Chris says.

"I did also once make a baking soda volcano for a sixth-grade science fair," Cannon adds.

Ba'al sits back on his throne, crossing one leg over the other and resting his elbows on the arms, looking the picture of a carefree megalomaniac.

"Bring them back to the surface," he orders the Jaffa with a lazy wave of his hand, without so much as raising his arm from the throne. "Finish studying your plants," Ba'al says, "I have no use for you."

"That's kind of rude," Cannon says.

*

The Jaffa drop them on the planet's surface and beam back up to the ship. Cannon pulls her vest off the pile, slings it over her shoulders, and pulls a granola bar out of the pocket. She rips it open and stuff it into her mouth, chewing as she zips her vest and secures her holsters around her legs.

"That was easier than I expected," Beth admits.

"Sometimes I think the only reason the Goa'uld try to capture SG teams is just because SG-1 pisses them off so much," Jess adds.

Cannon snorts at that. "Let's get our samples and haul it back to the gate before the mess runs out of mashed potatoes."

"You realize that's extremely unlikely, right?" Chris deadpans.

Cannon shrugs and stuffs the wrapper of her granola bar into her pocket. "Even so, let's get a move on."

[literaticat]

Many people in the kidlit community seem to be upset about Beth and Emery today. I have no idea what they're talking about. Can you enlighten? Thanks!

This is actually none of MY business, and I’m sure it’s also none of YOURS. But since piecing together partial information is like a game of telephone and it just gets MORE garbled - here’s as close as I can come to a hopefully non-biased explanation of this weekend’s twitter crisis. 

* An author (Emery) wrote a since-deleted twitter thread about his experiences with ableism in the publishing industry, citing recent agent experiences. He specifically named his former agent (Beth) as having not been, from his perspective, able to make accommodations for his ADHD -- BUT ALSO, very specifically asked followers NOT to “cancel” or “dogpile” or anything else to Beth -- the example cited was a for example pointing out a systemic problem in the industry, and how even extremely progressive and generally great people can have areas where they are not-so-hot, and this kind of thing is quite common in publishing. 

* Some people on the internet (would you believe it?) DIDN’T LISTEN, and instead of having a thoughtful conversation about Systemic Ableism in Publishing and what might be done about it - - rather, dogpiled and harassed Beth.

* Some other people on the internet (if you can imagine it!) felt THEY needed to PROTECT Beth -- so THEY dogpiled and harassed Emery, who locked his account.

* Beth said, along the lines of, “The situation in question was different from my perspective -- But I can’t talk about clients or former clients business.  I DO think that ableism in publishing is a conversation worth having. So let’s disentangle those two conversations”, basically. 

* Emery unlocked his account to say, basically, I’m deleting all those tweets and stepping out of the fray, I think this is too important a conversation that is being eclipsed by my personal drama.

* Some people are still going to be mad at one party or the other, for some reason. I mean -- OK. That’s the internet for you.

And that’s what you missed on Book Twitter.