#and I haven't read/watched much of it to have a solid understanding of it

[fishnapple]

What can bring true satisfaction to your heart?

Let's end this year by hearing what your heart yearns for. And also trying out my new AAB (Animal Advisory Board) set for divination ✨️

This is a general reading meant for multiple people. Take only what resonates and leave out the rest.

Your feedback is much appreciated. If you find the reading resonated with you, leave a comment, I’d love to know 🎐

About me | Masterpost Book a reading with me - KO-FI (→ personal reading)

ORANGE

On the surface level, what feels like satisfaction for you is recognition for your hard work. You feel a sense of lack when it comes to your material possessions, that that sense of lack can affect your sense of self greatly. You could feel that the more you have, the more confident and safe you are, you find safety in a familiar physical world. Working, earning money, and then being recognised for your effort can elevate your "worth" in this world, or so you believe. And being worthy is the solid proof of existence and meaning. But you will soon find that in chasing success and recognition, you risk burning out and losing your vitality, your jest for life. Being too focused on a goal, a task can narrow your perspective and make you feel like life is just a race, a competition. You want to show your best, to be known as the most hard working person, the one who contributes the most, the one who can take on any tasks without fear, the one who shines the brightest. Life seems like a stage where you have to perform constantly, even when you're alone, your actions are being observed by an invisible audience.

But your inner self disagrees with that approach, and it will demand a change from you. You can't keep running in "the race" forever because there's simply no race for you to run, just a life for you to be in and to live. A part of you is sleeping, latent inspirations are trapped inside without the means to be expressed. It's quite contradictory, on the outside, you look so busy and active, always doing something, but on the inside, the energy is stagnant and inactive. This feeling will continue to pile up until you can't take it anymore and want to burst out, to take off. The feeling of true freedom, of flying for the first time will open up a floodgate inside you, you will begin to nurture a different perspective, you will want to slow down your run and look around, suddenly you will find so many interesting things around you that you haven't noticed before.

By being free, you will also have a different view on relationships. Your heart yearns for freedom, freedom to be yourself, and freedom to love. You will want to bond deeply with people, to seek comfort in the emotional sense, not in the physical sense anymore. You seek true understanding, of yourself, of the other person and the world you live in. Deep connections can bring the most satisfaction, something that you might have been oblivious to up until now. You won't seek recognition from the general crowd anymore, you will seek the transparency of being seen completely by a loved one.

WHITE

For this group, I see a lot of images about predators attacking prey. This can mean that you are having contradictory thoughts and feelings inside yourself, like an inner critic, always watching and judging your every wish and action. This creates lots of unnecessary fears in you, you're held prisoner by your own mind. You desire many different things, or said in a different way, many different things can bring you satisfaction, but they can be at odds with each other. The solution for you is to go ahead and do them anyway, no matter how much your mind protest or try to "talk" you out of it, which sometimes can be in a really aggressive way. Your mind can create visions of people ridicule or criticise you for your decisions. What you need to do is triumph over those visions, shoo them away, and just do what you instinctively feel drawn to do and then see for yourself, with you own eyes, the actual outcome, only then will you have solid "proof" to chase away those intrusive thoughts in your mind. For you, getting over your myriad fears will be your biggest achievement and satisfaction. For every victory over your fear, no matter how small, you deserve to get a pat on your back. Be gentle with yourself, but firm enough to give yourself a chance to grow.

About your many desires, one is about receiving and giving love. You might just focus on romance and dating right now, without much serious thought about a long-term commitment and building a family with someone. But in the future, when you allow yourself to grow more and gain new perspectives, the thought of commitment will naturally arise in you. You won't just desire love and affection alone, you also desire a place to call home, a place where someone will be there to welcome you. You will want to nurture someone, and be nurtured back, work for the connection, and see your effort grow into a deep bond. You're working hard right now, but mostly to build your own foundation, later in life, you will want to work hard to build that foundation with another person. Your heart will flourish in the nurturing environment of a steady relationship.

For now, just focus your energy on getting to know yourself, every nook and cranny. Come to your rescue when your mind begins to nag, especially when you want to rest and contemplate hidden things behind the veil of mundane life. Use your resting time to let your mind explore foreign subjects, coax it gently when it tries to resist learning new things. The more you explore, the more your mind will soar, the more your heart will feel tranquil and happy.

PINK

Does the question of whether the person you're attracted to romantically can also be your friend ever cross your mind? Or the question of whether that person can truly connect with you on a mental level? I see the people who chose this group are ardent lovers. The kind that would focus their all on a connection, passionate and gripping. You might be the person who loves falling in love, the feeling of romance and relationships brings you great joy. But the pitfall here is that you tend to idealise the other person and the connection to the point of overlooking some glaring incompatibilities. On a surface level, a person might seem fun and physically ideal to be your partner, but let some time pass and look closer, you will find that you don't really connect on a more deeper level. A telling sign would be that conversations are lacklustre, there's an uncomfortable silence between you, the subjects of the conversation are superficial. In the long run, this can create dissatisfaction in the relationship.

What you might not realise is that a deep bond, especially forged over many conversations, is essential to your feeling of overall happiness about life. Friendship matters, even love should be built based upon friendship. Having many people who you can call friends is actually more satisfying than having many lovers, friends who come from many walks of life, from all around the world. Having a group of close friends who can go on adventures with you, who can nurture you, who can build you up, who can make your mind buzzing, who can be your family, that's what brings true satisfaction to your heart.

Can you see the stag nipping at a tree while the peacock is facing the opposite direction? I think right now, the way you express yourself can be like a form of reaction to the specific person whom you're interacting with, rather than just communicating who you are in general. In conversations, you might try to act more cool, showing the best of yourself in order to build a favourable image, which is what all of us do to some degrees, consciously or not. But this shape-shifting energy can be detrimental to really connect with the other person. Instead of letting the other person provide you with 'nutrition' for your mind and heart, you're busy impressing them. This can happen in all your interactions, whether with strangers, acquaintances, friends, family, lovers. You should take a more relaxed approach, allowing the words to seep into you leisurely, building friendship as if growing a tree, then you will have a flourished heart.

GREEN

The word 'Success' has a lot of meanings to you, and all meanings have weight that defines your life. For you, being successful doesn't have to be about earning lots of money of being famous, though that is a part of the 'Success' that you pursue, it's not all. You want to leave behind your legacies, the proof that you exist, the proof that you have lived hard and well, that your life has meaning.

Throughout your life, you will encounter various stumbling blocks that require you to reinvent yourself, like ascending a stairway, each step bring your higher, closer to your ideals. You're willing to change yourself, to bring about a complete overhaul, allow yourself to play various roles, don many masks, life is a big stage and you're a magician, a jester or a seller, who always has something to dazzle and sell to the audience. This 'performance' is not fake or disingenuous at all, it's what you're born to do, to achieve prestige and finally reach the top of the stairway.

You have a core that's very malleable and agile, constantly moving, though it can help you be flexible and move through situations with ease, it can create an inner confusion. You feel like you have to be at all places, here and there, never settle down, forever swimming, nothing can hold you down and keep you in one place for long. This fuels your desire to find an anchor in the physical world. To know what you've done, what you've achieved, where you need to go. You need external structure and stability so that your internal spirit can swim freely. You can move a lot, but you need to feel a sense of home wherever you're. And that's not easy to achieve. But you have the knack to connect instantly with people, you can make the most distant stranger your friend in no time. The more people surround you, the safer you feel. Community and sense of camaraderie soothe you nomad heart. As long as you have people around you, everywhere can be your home.

And in that hope will you work your magic, working tirelessly to build your foundation. Even though your spirit is a nomad, constantly moving, you have trouble letting go of things and people, gradually, the stuff you pack with you gets more and more heavy, slowing you down. The challenge for you is to learn when to let go, to travel light. What your heart truly wants is the feeling of ascending the ladder, of knowing that you've done something meaningful and left a mark, of giving away the fruits of your labour, not the feeling of possessing and holding on to as many things as possible.

[lurkingshan]

Love in the Big City: A Proposal to Extend the Discourse

Many of us have been anticipating this full length drama adaptation of the beloved novel by Sang Young Park for months, and when you watch the trailer above, you can see why: this is a queer story through and through, written semi-autobiographically by a queer man in South Korea about his own experiences, and then lovingly and determinedly made into a live action drama to bring his story to more people. It's a landmark show in the Korean media landscape; nothing of its kind has been made before. And that is exactly why the show is drawing harsh backlash before it even airs. It's too honest, too heartfelt, too steeped in empathy and understanding for the nuances of the queer experience in a suppressive society, and that scares people who want to continue shoving queer folks back in the closet.

As a result of this backlash, the story, which mirrors the novel by being structured in four parts with a different director and focus story in each set of two episodes, is being released in one giant episode dump to ensure that it all makes it onto air. Sang Young Park himself confirmed that conservative groups in South Korea are trying to prevent this show from being seen, and he is fighting to keep promoting it and will ensure its release on October 21st. It will air on TVING in South Korea and on Viki for the international audience.

The best thing we can do to fight back against this kind of censorship is to watch the show loudly, to write and make art about it and celebrate it, and to do that for more than just a couple days. Earlier this year, @bengiyo and I started the Love in the Big City book club to read the novel with friends in anticipation of this drama's release. For four weeks we coordinated weekly discussion posts to correspond to each part of the story, and we intend to do the same with the show. Given what's going on with attempts to suppress this story, I want to open up that invitation beyond those of us who are participating in the book club to include anyone who wants to watch and talk about this show, regardless of whether you've read the novel.

So here's the proposal:

Beginning Monday, October 21st when the show drops, we'll each watch the show on whatever cadence we like (personally, I will be watching two episodes at a time with breaks in between, because that is how it was made and intended to be seen)

Regardless of when we each actually watch it, we will post weekly starting on Mondays about each part of the story in turn. So the week of October 21st we will post art and meta and reactions to Part 1 (episodes 1 and 2), and each subsequent week we'll post about the next part (or each set of two episodes).

Ben and I will also write up and post book club discussion questions each Tuesday that will be more about the adaptation to live action and comparisons to the novel. Anyone who has read the book is very welcome to respond to those even if you haven't been in book club with us previously.

My hope with this proposed schedule is that we can keep discussion of the drama alive for a solid month and give it its full due. Tumblr is a crucial part of the fandom ecosystem and I want to do our part to ensure this show isn't buried. This is a complex story with so much nuance, and if we binge and forget about it in a few days, we cannot do it justice. I want to support Sang Young Park and so many others whose stories have been forced under wraps by this kind of oppression, and I would love it if you all would join me.

[cosmerelists]

Superpowers That Other Cosmere Fans Seem To Have (That I Do Not)

Inspired by this post, which is also #1 below. :D Basically, this is a post about amazing powers that I've noticed OTHER Cosmere fans seem to have, which I definitely & absolutely do not possess.

1. A Powerful Lack of Secondhand Embarrassment

I start with @lerelene's superpower, which is that they don't get secondhand embarrassment from the "And for MY boon" scene. That is VERY powerful indeed. I can barely reread that scene, and my brain is hiding behind a very large fan the whole time.

2. Recognizing Worldhoppers

I feel like some fans are reading along, when suddenly a character who is "kind of short, really" or who uses some slightly odd idiom is mentioned, and they say, "Ah HA! I see you, Worldhopper!" That could not be me. Unless the Worldhopper is, like, a major character in another book or is explicitly named, I've never recognized one in my life.

3. Understanding the Physics of Investiture

I'm not even sure physics is the right term? But, like, I know that there are underlying principles governing investiture and how it manifests cosmere-wide and I, uh, do not understand much of anything about that. I'm picking up on the fact that investiture turns black and oily (?) when it's wonky, but that's all I got.

4. Asking Sanderson Amazing Questions at Cons

Closely related is the superpower that some fans seem to have of coming up with really wild questions about the inner workings of investiture: like what happens if Nightblood drinks the Dor or how Hemalurgy can steal a Bond or....stuff. Interesting stuff that makes Sanderson hand out a RAFO card or just give a delightedly nerdy answer. I dream sometimes of asking one of those questions but frankly, I wouldn't even know where to begin.

5. Reading Everything Sanderson

I consider myself a pretty serious Sanderson fan, but I haven't even finished the Cosmere! Just missing White Sand, which I feel like isn't super uncommon, but still. There are people who've read all of the Cosmere AND the non-Cosmere books and probably Wheel of Time too. I think that is incredibly impressive. I will probably never do it all.

6. Keeping up with the WOBs

I'm actually not sure if this is a superpower that few have or just something that everyone else is doing that I don't, but....I can't keep up-to-date with all of the Words of Brandon. I don't watch the videos really and I've never been to a con. Every now and then people say things on the internet about, like, a Worldhopper Ball or MLM Renarin Day or something and I gradually pick stuff up. But I am definitely not on top of any of that.

7. Keeping the Timeline Straight

People who can even keep the in-book timelines straight impress me, but even more impressive are people who can keep the Cosmere-wide timeline straight. If you gave me two Cosmere series and asked me which is earlier chronologically, I'd probably shout "OH MY GOD IT'S HOID" and run for it.

So...what's YOUR Cosmere Superpower?

[roseyrays]

✰ a valentine’s night; lighter lorenz x reader ✰ a small drabble

NOT PROOFREAD

2nd person pov; reader’s gender is not mentioned so anyone could read this!

reader and lighter met during chapter 4 with the proxy and became friends after that so basically this is a friends-to-lovers type of fic

warnings: might be ooc but it's a x reader fic so lol, 5/10 writing cuz I just popped this idea out of my ass but despite that

enjoy!! ♡︎ and happy valentine’s day lighter nation 🩷🩷

────୨ৎ────

February 14th, Valentine’s Day, a day filled with love and couples going on dates around New Eridu

[name] though? Their plans for the rest of the day are:

watch movies, draw, probably sleep and whatnot

just like every year.

────୨ৎ────

It was a pretty cozy evening as you settled onto youtlr bed with a facemask on, and hair tied back with a headband. Dressed in comfortable pajamas enjoying a cup of ramen while watching a movie you rented from Random Play

The movie was a cheesy romance movie that had pretty solid reviews online

“Damn, they have such poor communicate skills…”

You were about 30 minutes into the movie when the bell suddenly rang making your head turn to the door

“Who could be here on Valentine’s Day? I didn’t order anything…”

You thought as you got up and headed towards the door “Coming!!! Who could it be? Maybe it’s the proxy or something…”

“Hello-” And you never could've guessed who it was when you opened the door

“Hey-”

“LIGHTER??? What are you doing here??” You asked, pointing your finger at the tall man in front of you.

“Well hello to you too…Can I come in?” he asked, You haven't noticed it yet, but he's hiding his hand behind his back as you gesture to let him in.

“Uh..what are your doing here? Especially out in the evening…” You asked sitting down on a small chair in your apartment your eyes laid on Lighter as he sat down on your couch, his arm still behind his back

“What you hidin there?”

“Oh this?” he said, his face began to turn slightly red as he pulled his arm from behind his back, he revealed a single red rose. “It’s not much but…since today is valentine’s day I thought that maybe we could…you know..hang out..?” He anxiously bit his bottom lip, his cheeks and ears flushed with a rosy hue as he awaited your response, hoping you’d say yes

“Wait…are.. you asking me out?” You felt a warmth spreading across your cheeks as you gently pointed to yourself “Like.. A Date???”

“If that's what you want to call it, then yes, I am asking you out.” He responded this time with a charming smile on his face.

“So is that a yes or no?”

“I- um..s-sure!! I mean why not? I'm not doing anything this evening so..” You pause taking a moment to breathe “It’s a yes.” You affirm your answer with a smile.

“Also uh let me take a moment to change..” you say standing up with a nervous grin and gesturing your hands to your pajamas making Lighter chuckle

Slowly walking towards your closet you hear Lighter say “you look cute tho” making your cheeks ten times redder

“Don’t say that..”

“It’s true tho.. and here take the rose..” He gently steps closer to you, a rose in hand, his expression warm and understanding.

“Thanks..where did you-”

“I got it from a flower shop nearby as I was coming over to your place.”

────୨ৎ────

And here you are currently linking your arm around your crush’s best friend’s arm as you walk together. Your head resting on his shoulder with the rose on your left hand.

“So where are we going?” you asked slowly lifting your head up to meet his face.

He turned to look at you with that sweet smile of his “Hm I don't know..where do you wanna go? You know this place more than I do.”

Thinking “Maybe we could get some drinks then we could stop by somewhere for fresh air and a quiet chat..”

“I like the sound of that..” He says, pushing his glasses up.

“Shouldn’t you take those sunglasses off? It’s nighttime.” You ask with a slight chuckle.

“Nah..”

While walking, you both stopped by some shops, looking around and not planning to buy anything, but you still kept some money inside your bag just in case...

But you did stop by this one shop where a kind middle-aged woman makes flowers into clips, so you turned to Lighter and asked if you could turn the rose into a clip for you to wear and he nodded with a smile

“There you go, you look beautiful,” He complimented after helping you put the rose clip in your hair. His hand softly caressing your [colored] locks

You let out a gentle chuckle, feeling a warmth spread through your cheeks as you look up at him “Thanks…”

You both walk around the shops a bit longer, hand in hand, before purchasing some drinks and trying to find a quiet place to sit and chat.

After a while, you spotted an empty bench in a quiet area, so you both went directly towards it.

Sitting down you and Lighter didn't say a word to each other yet as you gazed up at the stars, the clear night sky wrapped everything in a gentle beauty, offering a moment of solace and wonder. Lighter smiled at you and then looked up at the night sky.

“The moon is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” He spoke with assurance.

“Yeah..” You replied firmly, your gaze fixed on the sky Before you turn your attention to the man beside you, take a moment to consider his feelings. “Ah Lighter I forgot to ask..why did you come all this way just to ask me out? Is there something you wanna.. talk about” you ask slightly biting your lip

He turns again to look at you before looking down with an obvious blush on his cheeks “Actually yes..there is something I wanna ask..”

“Pftt like what? You like me or something? “ you say with laughter not knowing that is the truth

“Yes.”

As soon as those words came out of his mouth you stopped laughing and slowly turned to look at him “wait what..?”

“What?” He responded with a smile “What did you think I went all this way to your place just to ask you out?”

“Because I was lonely tonight..”

“Well I mean yeah but I came all this way just to say these words to you, I uh really like you [name] and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you so..

Will you..-“

“YES!” you shout, immediately tackling him into a hug making him yelp

────୨ৎ────

You were currently back at your place after your date with Lighter aka your now boyfriend as you lay together in bed

You asked him how he got the balls to ask you out or even confessing to you in the first place

He replied with saying that the girls helped him out and even Billy encouraged him with his confession

Caesar even offered to make an a whole ass confession full of declared love but all Lighter wants is a quiet confession, just you and him together

And it made your heart swell with joy as you hold his hand staring at each other with warm smiles

He decided to sleep at your place tonight not wanting to leave you just yet making your heart beat even faster

The night ends with you and him cuddling in bed, the stars never fading, keeping their shine as you both slept your hearts away. ♡︎

────୨ৎ────

author’s notes: okay so half way through writing I kinda lost motivation 💔 so that’s why the ending is kinda meh

But I wanted to write a lighter fic for Valentine’s Day and yesterday I forgot that it’s tomorrow so I had to quickly pull this out of my ass and start writing so yeah.. heh

I hope you enjoyed! Love you all and mwah!

[notmorbid]

the americans: season 2.

dialogue prompts from season two of fx's the americans.

it's good to have the same enemy.

why would you open a closed door?

i've never been very good at waiting.

here, i'll read your palm.

where the hell have you been all these years?

the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

what does a person do for fun in this town?

congratulations. you're the first person i've met who wasn't exactly as they seemed.

i understand why ____ trusted you.

i'm not really supposed to talk about it.

i need help. did you come to help me?

i wish i could stay with you, but i have to go. you're gonna be okay.

we're here to help you. call any time.

how are we gonna live like this?

we'll get used to it. like we got used to everything else.

you didn't have a choice.

how long have you been watching?

i want to help you. let me help you.

i'm glad you're safe.

lying will not be tolerated.

none of this is your fault. do you understand that?

you're still alive. that's a good sign.

maybe you're never really solid.

i wanted to see the world, but i wound up here.

how can you be so nice?

is it okay if we just take things kind of slow?

i don't know why i told you. i'm so sorry.

don't 'honey' me.

i see something you're not able to see. you're afraid.

you're back, but you're not back.

i don't want to lose anyone else.

do i seem like i need sympathy?

would you stop being so reasonable?

i'm not interested in your best. i need results.

i can't tell if you're being kind or naïve.

you're easy to talk to. i'm really surprised.

i'd forgotten the heart-stopping thrills.

i know the look. i've used it myself.

let me put on my 'surprised' face.

i don't have anything to give you. i wish that i did.

i've never seen you scared before.

how can you read right now?

you never know what people are into.

i'm not allowed to change?

do you do that with ____? is that how it is?

you ever had anything you would die for?

i don't want to lie to you. i'm not a liar.

this business can be lonely.

you look like a spy in an old movie.

keep a tiger as a pet, it's still a tiger.

can't be too careful, nowadays.

it's hard to feel safe anywhere.

close your eyes. what do you see?

i see how you can develop a jones for that sort of thing.

you were my secret power.

don't you enjoy any of this? sometimes?

it's nicer here, yes. it's easier. it's not better.

i won't make promises i can't keep.

i need to be done with you people.

get that _____ out of my house.

it's not like i haven't been thinking about it nonstop.

once i did it, it seemed so easy to keep doing it.

i'm a good person, you know that. i'm good.

pick a card. any card. put it anywhere.

it's not cheating. it's called magic.

you think it's easy for me, what i do?

being a grown-up means doing things you don't want to do, all the time.

i thought we were through the hard times, you know?

i can't always be as honest as i would like.

i'm not afraid of the different sides of you. i love all of you.

you know you're everything to me.

either you didn't want to see it, or you just didn't care enough to pay attention.

i'm not here to be saved.

i see that you're in pain.

i wasn't really sleeping.

there are some things in life you can only handle yourself.

you're going to be eaten alive out there.

i'm glad to see you're adjusting to reality.

how much longer are you not gonna talk to me?

please don't ask me anything you don't want to know.

_____. you can say the word.

what's it like to be a hero?

i think the three things a person should focus on every day are health, growth, and community. don't you?

i made a promise to look out for you.

i said i'd be honest with you, and i will be.

i just want to be sure you're being careful.

i love the way you love me.

you don't get to take anything with you.

i'm glad your parents let you come.

being a parent is hard, but so is having parents.

i don't really understand computer stuff.

this is a long road to travel.

maybe you just don't know me as well as you think.

that must have been hard.

there's something wrong with you.

this is what i really look like.

these backwoods roads can be pretty confusing.

people like us don't have a lot of people to talk to.

[odessa-2]

Titbits and analysis 🖖

As promised, some more titbits from the Con yesterday in Melbourne as well as my interpretations. Prior to attending yesterday, I told myself to keep an open mind and attempt to leave any biases behind (even after having seen the funeral pics). Clean slate. To try and view Sam, the event, questions, and subsequent behaviours objectively.

I'm the sort of person who feels energy and is affected by it and in some ways governed by it. The energy of people, both individually and collectively. The energy of a group. I tend to couple this with objective analysis, which forms the basis of my conclusions about people and situations.

I applied this method yesterday in attempting to understand and view Sam, the OL money 💰 machine and everything else. I also just wanted to go there and bask in the audience and enjoy myself....and....I did like it Jamie.

So first thing I noticed off the cuff was how experienced Sam was in handling questions, and the women, and tailoring his behaviour to suit their desires. He was charming, charismatic, approachable, a skilled professional. I saw the veneer. I felt the veneer. I also saw and felt that he is a pretty decent bloke under that veneer. A man with a solid work ethic, who is mild mannered and working with purpose in his life.

I observed that his handler or Convention agent or whatever he is, Steve, was in full control. He managed Sam's performance in a sense. He asked the questions and even set the directions for some answers. Sam is controlled. I didn't like Steve. I didn't get the best vibe off him. Infact, I got a bad vibe off him. I observed that everything was a performance. Scripted to a large degree. The Single Sam narrative was pushed by Steve. Hard. It was a performance. That much was clear to me.

So Sam chose to mention that he was in Austria skiing 2 weeks ago....blah blah...something about singing a Ronan Keating song. So the script tells everyone nice and early that he is NOT with Caitriona ✅️

Later on in the panel, he mentioned that he "was at the theatre in London the week earlier" watching a play. Huh? Getting his timeline confused? Interesting titbit, I thought. Who would he go to the theatre with whilst in London? Who else likes to go to the theatre? Who have we seen him go to the theatre with before? Ding ding ding!!

One of the first things he spoke about (umprompted) and imo was part of his speaking program, was that Caitriona is back home in Scotland doing prep work and will be directing this season. He said that he spoke to her recently and that she is cold and miserable back home. No one seemed to give a shit. The women were there for their Jamie. Sam read the crowd. He understood.

Sam tried to bring Cait into the conversation again saying something like "Where's Claire?....Caitriona isn't here". Again crickets from the audience.

He said that he auditioned with a lot of Claire's, but they couldn't find the right fit and that nobody was as brilliant as Caitriona.

It sounded like he genuinely missed her.

He spoke of his audition with Cait, saying they were very physical and were almost wrestling each other. He said he was sweating all over her and that his sweat was on her. The crowd still only wanted to hear about their Jamie. I think Sam relished in being cheeky in saying that she wore his sweat that day.

Someone asked about "how do you kiss and make out with a costar and then just carry-on. Isn't it awkward"? Sam responded generally initially, saying that there's lots of checking in with the person and apologising afterwards (in a joking fashion). Then that prompted him to start talking about Cait saying that he has also "snotted" all over Cait and exchanged many body fluids with her (in an acting context presumably)and that there's nothing really left to do together that they haven't already done. I was like "whoooaa wtf Sam?". Shooketh that he said that really. The silence from the crowd was palpable. They really didn't want to hear about Cait and Sam and their shared bodily fluids whilst 'acting'. He is THEIR fantasy man. Not Caitriona's. Silence from the audience. Sam already knew that the crowd were Sam onlies but he loved telling this story. Relished in it imo. He loved the double entendre. It was an unrehearsed, unscripted conversation as it resulted from an audience question. I concluded it was an act of defiance on his behalf. That's what it felt like to me.

Steve the convention agent guy, was always bringing it back to Single Sam. "I worry how are you going to get a date" said Steve. With Sam understanding the prompt ...."I worry too" says Sam. Bachelor narrative secured ✅️

Steve spruked the Bachelor narrative again to Sam's thirsty and adoring fans....."Sam you remind me of that old show where everyone has to guess which bachelor is going to come out of the mystery door". And that's when I knew with 100 percent certainty that the bachelor talk was a ruse. It was so contrived and performative. I smiled to myself. The women in the crowd were eating it up.

Another thing that stood out to me was when Sam was searching for the right terminology when talking about Cait. "My......co star" huge pause.

"I love you Claire" is the line he randomly chose to say when explaining his acting.

When asked how he has time to foster friendships and spend time with his family he talked around it. Avoided the question and kept it about his friendships saying that they are strong friendships that endure. He diverged and started talking about how he still has his core friendships that he had when he was bunking and sharing an apartment/house with them in London when he was younger. The veneer was up. Inpenetrable.

At another point in the panel Sam asked "How many Sheila's are there here"? LOL. I found that amusing.

Now this next part captured my attention the most. It had a weird feeling (energy) around it . Sam gave off a weird energy. Almost hostile. Again that's just what I felt.

Someome from the audience named Toni with an "I" was selected to ask a question. I can't remember what the question was but Sam made a really big deal about her being named Toni. "There's always a Tony have you noticed"? Why is there always a Tony"? He said. He didn't want to drop it. He placed a little too much emphasis on it. I was laughing silently but Sam's double entendre didn't go unnoticed by me. Everyone else was clueless or at least that's how it appeared to me. Was that an Easter egg dropped by Sammy?

Asked about what does he do for self care, he seemed to struggle answering that too. He talked in circles about his way points hike and how he's learning how to live in the moment. There's that wall again.

There were many other things discussed of course but I thought I'd focus on the things that shed light on his situation and that resonated with me.

So my closing Analysis? Sam is controlled. He peforms. He caters. He's intelligent and in tune with people and aims to please but is private. Sunday just reaffirmed and solidified my beliefs. Caitriona snatched up that hard working gem of a man quick smart!

[ozzgin]

Hi it’s me again 😁. I wanted to try to request something but it’s very specific so if you don’t like the idea or just don’t have the time you can just put it aside 😅.

It’s another female predator story but in this one reader is a preator that was born black with white markings which is seen as a bad omen ( i don’t think it’s real in the Yautja culture but let’s just role with it ). Reader was abandoned by her family and was found by a family of thanator ( you know those fierce alien panther from avatar ) so she was a savage and knew how to hunt without any tools from a young age. Her grandmother, a strong and important matriarch, found her and took her back to their planet. But reader doesn’t really have contact with her kind except for her grandmother and her thanators and she hunts alone a lot of dangerous enemies ( like xenoporph queens ).

I’m totally making the even up but let’s imagine it’s mating season and there is a huge a tournament to help yautjas find a good partner. Like wrestling, shooting or small combat matches… It’s time for the females to compete, reader is participating cause her grandma asked her ( she wants grandpups 😂 ) and is wrecking the events and catches the interest of many males. Especialy after the one on one fight where she would use a lot of her natural features and thanator fighting style ( we don’t really see them using there claws, feet or teeth a lot and it’s disapointing cause those are mass murder weapons). The males are enamoured and quickly process to begin the courting but reader doesn’t really know how to act with males and she never really paid it much attention before cause she’s usually hunting or founding and taking care of new alien pets companions. I bet the males are amazed with this unique and strong ( and kind of inexperienced 😏 ) female yautja.

Thanks for reading this ( long ass fuck to be honest 😂😅) resquest and i hope everything is alright for you, 😘 bye.

You'll have to excuse potentially wrong assumptions as I haven't watched Avatar and have no idea what it is about 🥲 buut otherwise I just detailed around your ideas, they’re pretty solid and I didn’t want to tamper with them more than necessary

Predator Headcanons: Predator Reader in Tournament

Featuring a Yautja female with an unusual background.

Everything happened so suddenly. Your peaceful like among your family, uprooted within seconds. One particular day and out of nowhere, a bizarre vessel hovered over Pandora's forests, alerting everyone in its vicinity. The intruders that teleported down caused even greater confusion: they looked just like you. Yet you couldn't understand their odd clicks and guttural noises, nor did you trust the intricate holograms and machinery pointed in your direction.

After what felt like an eternity - and with the help of a translator - the uninvited guests announced their purpose: to retrieve you and bring you back to Yautja Prime. Nonsense, you thought at the time. There's no "back" when your home has always been on this Planet. Despite your protests, you'd quickly learned that your hunting expertise was no proper defense against their foreign technology and so you begrudgingly accepted the proposal.

The first few months were, plainly put, depressing. The matriarch - you'd soon learn she is your remaining family - insisted on keeping your integration a secret at first. Many factors were still unknown to them: would you be able to learn their language after so many years? What about defending yourself against other Predators? Yautja communities are ruthless and unforgiving, and the matriarch could not risk killing off her only successor.

Thankfully you proved yourself efficient enough with your skills. Growing up in the forest has honed your senses, perhaps to an even greater degree when compared to a Predator who relies on modern weaponry. Impressed with the outcome, your grandmother decides to register you for the Grand Tournament. What better way to reveal the return of her long-lost suckling? You don't know what it entails, but the time spent hunting xenomorphs has gotten quite monotonous. You'd take any challenge to entertain you.

The gate opens and you step inside the ring without hesitation. There's a moment of silence, followed by suspicious murmurs from a confused audience. Unbeknownst to you, the patterns you're donning are not only a rare occurrence among the Yautja species, but a bad omen as well. The males are studying your movements carefully. It's not just your appearance; Your fighting stance is unusual, resembling a wild animal. And, as the end of the match quickly follows with an effortless win on your side, they're certain of one thing: they've found their mate.

You raise your first victoriously and don't even notice the predatory stares. Nor do you comprehend the sudden gathering of males that has formed towards the exit, awaiting your return. What's the meaning of this? You glare at the matriarch, and she responds with a smirk. You'll figure it out soon enough.

[fivessuit]

I finished that essay I was telling you guys about!

TLDR for those of you that haven't seen my blog, I had to write a paper in the form of an open letter. This means that I had to write in response to someone that has a different view than me. I chose to respond to someone's blog on here! Thank you to @dontspoilthis for sending me the post that I ended up using in the paper! For privacy purposes I will not be including the blog name however. Here it is for those who want to read it :)))

Exploring Lila's Decision: An Open Letter to a Tumblr User

Hello [insert blog name here].

I have read your tumblr blog post about how you believe Five Hargreeves and Lila Pitts make a good romantic pairing. While I disagree with your statement, I do think that it used solid evidence from the show and was well thought out. With the last season of The Umbrella Academy having come out a little under nine months ago, people are still very much talking about season four and voicing their opinions on it. This show has been well loved for over six years by many of us, and has fans all around the world. Five and Lila are both exponentially strong characters, therefore when we saw them get together on screen there were some mixed reactions from all parties; everyone had something to say about Five and Lila’s relationship. 

Based on what I read in your post, you believe that Lila decided to marry Diego, Five’s brother, out of convenience. Additionally, you say that Lila wanted to create the family that she never got to experience as a child. Both the Hargreeves siblings as well as Lila had very callous upbringings, many days filled with training and mastering their powers. This made it so none of them experienced a real parental figure or family. At the end of season three, we see the Hargreeves and Lila go their separate ways, all powerless, and at the beginning of season four we see a time jump of five years and where they all end up. This shows that life for all of the Hargreeves sucked after they lost their powers and they had to be real and functioning members of society. This made it so, according to you, Five and Lila’s normally explosive personalities made them be a good pair throughout this season. They had the most chemistry, as well as they realized how similar they both were when they got stuck in the subway together for seven years. 

If you take everything else out of the equation, I too would fall in love with somebody if I had to spend seven years trying to survive with that person. That part is not unrealistic. Also, I think that over the years we all have grown attached to these characters and genuinely want them all to be happy in the world they find themselves in. Especially Five, who spent forty five years alone and then had to awkwardly transition back into society in the body of a child. Some argue that Five falling in love with Lila was out of character. However, you and I agree that Five would absolutely act in his own self interest after fighting for so long. He is old, tired, and lonely. He craved love and affection (which was shown when he fell in love with a mannequin in the apocalypse). I do see where you are coming from when you say real world love is unpredictable and messy, and that these two characters acting this way made them feel more real. In different media we often wish to see characters feel the things we want to feel, therefore watching Five and Lila fall in love despite societal norms was liberating in a way. 

While I do understand and respect your view, I would like to bring in points that might not have been considered previously. When filming the fourth season, Aidan Gallagher, who plays Five, was nineteen years old. However, there has been tension building between Five and Lila since season two of the show, this was well before Aidan was of legal age. This, combined with nineteen year old Aidan and thirty four year old Ritu (who plays Lila) having a non-rehearsed kiss, makes me reasonably uncomfortable. I totally understand being an actor and intimate moments being part of the job. However, I do believe that this is a bigger problem in all of Hollywood with actors having huge age gaps and being forced to be intimate. Additionally, the writing of this romance feels a bit like trying to get us as an audience on board with a condemnable act: cheating. Sure, Lila was miserable in her marriage. However, she should have broken off the marriage way sooner instead of cheating on Diego with Five. The way the show panned out, it seemed like we were supposed to focus on this new found love between Five and Lila and just ignore the heinous act being done to Diego. The writing for Five and Lila’s affair came entirely out of left field and had nothing to do with what was set in previous seasons for Five’s character arc. The main writer for the show, Steve Blackman, said himself in an interview that, “[He] felt that Five had to have a love story” (Blackman). From this interview, it seemed that the writers didn’t have an exact plan for who would be Five’s love interest, therefore making this affair feel forced. The way that this was executed showed that the writers had little care for what was already written for Five, Lila and Diego. The whole point of Lila and Diego’s relationship was that they worked and talked through issues they had. When Five and Lila return to the family after escaping the subway, we do see the realization set into Lila that her relationship with Five was strictly situational, and she did miss both her children and Diego. While it is on brand for her to be hard headed and stubborn, as well as putting her own needs first, she does realize that she made a mistake. Finally, Five and Lila’s relationship is the most unrealistic due to the fact that for an entire season, Lila was trying to kill Five after she found out that Five killed her birth parents. This was never expanded upon or resolved for the entirety of the show. Therefore, it seems a bit odd that Lila would essentially disregard this to be with her parents' murderer.

Moving forward, I think that while we may not agree on Five and Lila as a pair, I think we both can agree that them getting together was important for the storyline. Diego realizes he hasn’t been putting enough effort into the marriage, and Lila puts her needs first. However, I don’t think that Lila is in love with Five. He was a convenience and an accessory to her going back to the thrill of the hunt. She loved the sensation and the situation, she did not love him. Lila having an affair with Five acted as a hurdle in order to further the character development of all parties involved.

If you made it to the end, let me know what you guys think!

[stabbyfoxandrew]

hiii

i love the little sun emojis hehe

i haven't read the latest Mafia Front parts yet (dishonor on my cow, but school is killing me) but i'm saving them for tonight after studying. my little treat : )

could i request dealer's choice between Mafia, Arson Neil and Angel Neil? i'm sorryyy, i can't pick

thank you and have an absolutely lovely tgr release week(end) <33

WIP Wednesday (2/19) | Guardian Angel Neil AU (Part 276)

Everything goes wrong.

From the moment they step into the Hemmick's home, everything is tense. Nicky's parents can't tell Andrew from Aaron, they barely understand who Kevin is, and they seem to have absolutely no interest in their son's life either. It's all a complete shit show. If only someone could've predicted this! Oh wait, Andrew did. He tried to stop Nicky from doing this, from re-breaking his own stupid, squishy heart but no...

Luckily Andrew doesn't have to participate in the very stilted conversation. He lets Aaron carry it and stares at Neil instead. The angel had followed him into the house like there was a place set for him at the table, like he was a guest, like he belonged here too. (None of them have ever belonged here.) But Neil didn't let that stop him from taking up residence in the corner and rambling about the time he'd spent in Montreal. Andrew listens intently, blocking out the humans at the table in favor of his angel's story.

No one pays him much mind. They’re used to Andrew zoning out when he’s deliriously bored. And everyone seems to understand that a bored Andrew is slightly better than any other kind, so they allow him to sit out.

They're halfway done suffering through Maria's cooking when Neil goes stiff and gives Luther an intense look. His eyes are twin blue flames in his skull with how bright they’re glowing, he stares at Luther for a solid minute and Andrew doesn’t know what he’s seeing. Neil turns this look on Nicky's mother a moment later then gets a bit fidgety. Antsy. Like he's about to rip out of his skin. After three weeks of watching Neil exist around the others, Andrew recognizes it from game nights and days when the team watches their latest matches. It's sort of the way Neil gets when he's having a rough time keeping himself invisible.

"Go." Andrew tells him in a whisper. As much as he'd love to parade his own personal angel around in front of these buffoons, he won't risk losing him for it. Even if it would be hilarious. Andrew wonders if they would be afraid or if they would fall to their knees, trying to worship something holy. (Neil gets enough worship, Andrew thinks. He doesn't need any from anyone else.)

When Neil doesn't move, Andrew clears his throat and says it aloud, "Get out of here."

Everyone in the table freezes up, turning to look at Andrew just as Neil nods and poofs away. Andrew’s not sure where he’ll go, probably to the roof. Silly bird.

"What?" Kevin asks beside him, the first to break the silence. Andrew blinks at him.

"I said 'let's get out of here'." Andrew lies. He turns to Maria, whose face he can stand slightly better than her husband's. "Nicky's grades are up, he's a college athlete chasing a difficult degree, he's in a relationship with someone who loves him more than you two ever will. Why are we still sitting here, Nicky?"

"Andrew, you said you'd try." Nicky says, looking downtrodden.

"Oh no I didn't. I said we would come. We're here, aren't we? Why not get to the point so I don't have to pretend to eat this dreadful slop anymore?" Andrew sits back in his seat, waiting for an answer. He doesn't get one from Nicky, but Aaron at least seems to find it funny. Or perhaps he's choking to death on whatever it is the Hemmicks have served them.

"Ignore him," Nicky finally says. "He doesn't mean it. You know he's loopy and all."

"Ouch, my feelings."

[scrimblescromble]

I know other people have done this but here's my very long rambling about how I'd improve the moonstone Cassandra arc, because I've been thinking so much about it recently. If someone else has said this, then great minds think alike, because I haven't actually watched or read anything about other people's opinions about it.

Most importantly, I do love Cassandra. What did they do to my girl type beat.

First, it's important to consider why Varian arguably works better as a villain:

Your honour he is a CHILD. He's 14, while Cassandra is like 23. While neither of their actions are good, and you can do stupid things as an adult, Varian was a child failed by the system.

Varian's arc is a sudden turn to villainy, but it still has backing. Not only does he go through a massive ordeal to try and get help for his dad, but he was turned away in the middle of a snowstorm for reasons that were not explained to him very well, and had a promise broken all at once. If it was just the issue of the promise, then it wouldn't be as solid of an arc; but we can see how it would develop to be a lot worse. His failure is also an ongoing sore spot for the character.

Cass' arc is supposed to be more slowburn, but it's still mostly heralded by remembering Gothel. It's meant to similarity compound her history of feeling snubbed and overlooked, but rings more hollow, as she targets the one person who doesn't do that. The issue isn't the turning point, it's that they treat the straw that broke the camel's back as the whole weight. Again, characters acting illogically is fine, but not when it's this extreme.

After being thrown out, no-one goes to check on Varian. This is critical, because I believe that if Rapunzel had turned up to Old Corona, he would have crumpled and not had a villain arc. Even if it didn't work. However, everyone treats him poorly after that, even wondering what he'll do with the withered remains of a healing flower??? Like, yes, you shouldn't kidnap a queen, but also maybe don't treat a hurt child like he's dangerous?

His big plan in Rapunzel's Return is also... to erase everyone's memories so they can be friends again. He doesn't want to kill anyone, doesn't even want to hurt everyone, even after having months to stew in his anger in prison.

Now, I don't hate Cass' arc, and I feel like all the pieces were there, and maybe not fit together quite in the right way. And I would like to say all the things I like about it, and why it works in the ways it does:

When she kidnaps Varian, she specifically says that she doesn't want to hurt him, and only cages him when he's talking sense into her. I think the main reason she shoves the cage away is so she doesn't have to listen anymore.

Obviously Once a Handmaiden is amazing at showing a Cass who wants to return to Rapunzel, one who understands her side of the story. And other moments throughout, when she questions, but Zhan Tiri pulls her back in.

Crossing the Line. Enough said.

What I would change/ didn't hit in the right way:

Cass quite clearly sets up motivations in Crossing the Line that really don't feel like they get brought up enough again. Especially the "I never got the chances you were given" idea. The main motive they seem to push is the Gothel line...

On that, the Gothel line of reasoning just doesn't make enough sense to me. Cass knows how much Rapunzel is haunted by being locked up, and probably knows the whole story (from her "was it your idea to push her out a window" line), and so she would know that Gothel never loved either of them. If she were a more emotional character, I would buy it, or even if they went more of just hurting from being abandoned instead of the victim-blamey route

Basically, I think that it should have been more of the whole "I worked hard for what I have, and it never takes me anywhere" idea expressed in Waiting in the Wings and Crossing the line. There's still ideas of it ("What I want, I'll take and keep"), but I actually think it could have been taken further. There's a lot of subtext about class in the show, and the power the royal family holds vs literally everyone else, even the Princess' best friend.

I would make Cass throughout the season seem more and more comfortable than she ever was in Corona, even compared to when we see her fight. In Corona, she was the Captain of the Guard's daughter, the Princess' handmaiden; always expected to behave properly and never quite allowed to unleash her full potential.

Maybe there's a part where she expresses that she might want to give up being a handmaiden and instead be something else; thus she argues with Rapunzel, who doesn't want to lose her best friend. That wouldn't be the angle Cass was going for, but she admits defeat in the fight.

Early on, we see she's having nightmares. Flashes of her life with Gothel, rigorous training in her teen years. They leave her haggard and snappy sometimes, but she wouldn't know where to begin if she wanted to explain it.

As their time on the road draws to a close, she knows that they're going back to Corona. She and Eugene worry about what will happen to Rapunzel when she touches the moonstone, but on a personal level, she knows she'll have to shut herself in again; and wonders if "alone but free" would be better.

Her decision to touch the moonstone isn't fully decided - but as she sees Rapunzel reach for it, she moved faster. We see her face, surprised at herself at first, but then determined, as she pulls it to her chest. Now, she's decided on this path.

At first, she doesn't actually intend to go back to Corona. This new life shouldn't be about Rapunzel; but Zhan Tiri convinces her to return, that taking the moonstone wasn't enough. Soon people will come after her for it, and besides, she's struggling to control the moonstone. Similar to the show, but with more of her pushing away the idea of seeing Rapunzel again at first. She tries to get back that spark she had on the road, but the rocks sometimes appear when she doesn't want them to, and it's not fun when everyone's scared of you.

"Be Very Afraid" has a good idea with Rapunzel sensing Cass' fear through the rocks, although I'd also add Cass sensing Rapunzel's fear of her losing herself, and of losing her. I would take out the fear about Cass destroying Corona. However, I would actually move it to after Cassandra's Revenge.

Islands Apart would be slightly modified. The Captain had previously, upon hearing about Cass' turn, leaves Corona to track her down. There's a hint of their encounter in a previous episode. Basically, instead of searching for Rapunzel and finding the island, he blindly believes he can bring Cass back, and turns to denial.

I feel like Cassandra's Revenge should be fine to be relatively untouched, although I'd add more moments of her seeming to be putting on bravado she doesn't actually feel. We get this with her not wanting to hurt Varian, and that is the feel of Nothing Left to Lose; but I want more when Rapunzel is there as well. Conflicted looks before sending "death" blows, even refusing to look when she squeezes Eugene with the rocks. More Zhan Tiri in her ear, constantly, nattering.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole "making her tower out of the remains of Rapunzel's". Like, it fits the character, but it does harken back to the Gothel arc. I reckon it's fine honestly. Symbolism about how she has trapped herself in this situation

I need something more about class in there, and power dynamics. Rapunzel having to defend people who stand up to power. She reflects on the way she's been treated by those who have power over her, but now considering Cass, who's been through similar things: both raised by Mother Gothel, and then gaining overbearing dads.

Varian expresses sympathy with Cass, even after Cassandra's Revenge, and tells Rapunzel, because he's also been there. Eugene was literally about to be executed for being a thief, without a trial. He also admits the conversation him and Cass had, worrying about Rapunzel touching the moonstone. Maybe he says something like "if I knew for certain that touching that stone would have hurt you, I couldn't have promised not to take it myself".

They all reflect on how free and happy Cass seemed on the road, even in moments of danger. How unhappy she actually seems in her decision. "If you love it, let it go."

Back to Cass; after the newly moved events of Be Very Afraid, she worries she's losing control. First, the Moonstone chipped, she lost to Rapunzel, and now she knows that her mask is slipping. This is what motivates her search for the Mind Trap - she pretends that it's power, but really, all sense of safety has been lost to her.

Tale of Two Sisters does rub me slightly the wrong way. There's no way that Cass didn't know before this that Gothel was a piece of shit, and the one nice moment of the music box, even if Rapunzel had hid it, wouldn't have changed that she clearly didn't love Cass enough to not abandon her. I would still have the events happen, but when Rapunzel tries to talk sense into her about Gothel, she explodes about every other issue. "It was never about my mother! Are you selfish enough to think that everything's about you?"

In Once a Handmaiden, the catalyst for her abandoning Zhan Tiri would instead be more to do with her realising how pushy she was being about taking over Corona - which Cass never wanted. She wanted control over herself and freedom, not to rule. In her anger, she even breaks down her own tower, before returning to Corona.

The whole ordeal with Project Obsidian still happens, although that actually doesn't make her snap. She points her sword at Varian, but at his confusion and apologies, even dropping the weapon, she sighs. "Some things don't change, do they?"

Instead, what makes her snap is someone actually expressing that idea of "once a handmaiden". She realises that coming back to Corona means more restrictions, and even though she is a bit miserable like this, she doesn't want to lose that freedom. Maybe someone mutters something about "knowing her place", and she snaps - maybe the rocks at first react to her emotions. Although taking over Corona was never her goal, it clearly feels good to unleash her full power.

Plus et en Vous would also be pretty much the same, but Rapunzel would explain what she realised a while ago; that she doesn't need Cass to be her handmaiden again. In the same way Cass freed her from the confinement of being Princess, Rapunzel frees Cass from the responsibility she's held for so long. "I shouldn't have been blind to your happiness, Cass. I assumed if you were unhappy, you'd let me know... but when has life ever been that simple?"

Those are the main points I think, although another big change I'd make is her not suddenly talking with the Evil Voice. I know it's a kids show, but the outfit and pointy black rocks should show that she's the bad guy. And I know Varian also does it, but he's literally just in his edgy phase.

Also I know this isn't too different from her actual arc. One of the main issues is there's too many episodes where Cass just doesn't feature?

TLDR: Less Gothel, more class issues. The decision to take the moonstone was a little bit impulsive, but then she had to commit.

[artficlly]

au ideas & rambles

heya, i've been kinda busy the last few days and haven't had time to write so i thought i'd make up for it by posting some fic/au ideas i haven't had the chance to write for bucky x reader. some of these are months if not years old. if you have any favourites you'd like to see or some ideas/suggestions feel free to reply/reblog or send me an ask <33

tfatws!bucky x fem!reader au after a mission gone wrong, bucky and sam are stranded out in the middle of nowhere. it's dark and raining, they're tired, injured and hungry. they just happen to knock on your door seeking shelter for the night. (vague ideas but thinking that the reader moved back home to take care of a sick parent and maybe run her childhood farm?) sub / different version of this plot could be: clint is in way over his head running his farm on top of super hero business and laura being pregnant. he hires a farmhand - you - to help him out and live on the property. what you were not expecting was for dishevelled heroes to turn up on the doorstep looking for a place to stay or a place to hide out.

post-endgame!bucky x librarian!reader au you’re the caretaker/librarian of an ancient, enchanted library that guards the memories of the dead. (my thoughts being each book represents a person and you can read or maybe view their memories) bucky stumbles upon it, desperate to make sense of his fragmented mind and remember those that he killed as the winter solider. you are tasked with helping him find these memories and watching him relive them as he watches (from their perspective) how they were killed. - "i need help remembering. i need the see the memories of when i was him." - "then you've come to the wrong place. i guard the memories of the dead, not the living. and you're very much alive, aren't you?" - "the winter solider is dead." - "no. he lives within you, like how you lived within him. i can help you understand, but i can't undo what has been done."

lord!bucky x bastard!lady!reader - regency au your father was never a loyal man. he was a rake, everyone was in agreement. but that did not make him a cruel man. you were born a bastard, daughter of a housemaid. your father, who had never conceived a child due to his wife being barren, decided to take you on as his child regardless. you were taught to be a proper lady under his guidance much to his wife's dismay, but under one condition, no one would know of your existence until you were ready to debut. but after his sudden death before your 16th birthday, you expect to be given a small amount of coin and a swift dismissal from the place you called home. much to everyone's horror, your father left the title and the estate to you - on one condition. you must marry before you turn 24. now, years later, after hiding from society and counting down the days in dread, your birthday is quickly approaching. that is until a meddling lord barnes, your neighbour and fathers friend, has become determined to see you wed, after realising you need serious help and guidance in the world of society you were kept secret from for so long.

demon king!bucky x witch!reader - fantasy au you are a witch, banished from your coven for practising forbidden magic (blood magic) - injured and chased by witch hunters, you run into an abandoned house and put up wards to keep yourself safe. little do you know, bleeding to near death on the rotted floor boards, this house is a safe house for demons - they use the building as a portal between hell and the overworld and you've made a mess of things by putting up a ward. determined not to die by the hands of these demons, but also not eager for the witch hunters to get past your wards, you strike a deal with the demon king.

guard!bucky x love witch!reader - fantasy au - vague emma vibes you are a match maker, a love witch, a sex witch. you help people find love, fall in love, solve relationship problems - but one problem, you can't find love yourself. your father is a wealthy lord, determined to marry you off in an arranged marriage. you love your fool of a father, but you can't stand for him sending you off in such a way! you have a tendency to find the love in everything, running away and throwing away everything for men who don't truly love you in return. your father has had enough, and hires his personal guard to hunt you down and bring you home. much to your dismay, your arranged marriage is going ahead whether you like it or not! that is... until your future husband runs away with his forbidden male lover. you can't help but see the humour in it, but still, you are upset. not even the one you were arranged to be with loves you. will you ever find love? maybe not, you think, until that bloody personal guard your father hired to stop you from running off again starts looking particularly promising...

figure skater!bucky x figure skater!reader - modern au you were the best of the best, set to win golds at the olympics as a solo figure skater... that is until you have a life changing fall on the ice. after recovering from splitting your skull open, you receive a scholarship for a college and you're ready to get your life started again... but there is one issue. your scholarship depends on you being a part of a paired skating team to compete, represent and promote the schools ice sport program. deep down you're still terrified that you might mess up a jump and crack your head open again - maybe this time fatal - and what doesn't help is that your partner, bucky, has a major fucking attitude and a tendency to turn up late. even worse? your coach, tony stark, doesn't seem to care and you're beginning to suspect he's a barely functioning alcoholic.

rower!bucky x coxswain!reader - modern au, straight up yellowjackets rip off lol your college has an elite male rowing team, and they're set to go to nationals. only problem? their coxswain isn't allowed to go and represent after a public, drunken meltdown that made the internet and the news. as a last resort, they recruit you, a female coxswain whose team didn't quite make it to nationals. on the flight over, your plane crashes, and you're left stranded in the wilderness with a bunch of pissed-off and injured male athletes. it's up to you all to survive until you are discovered and rescued. (likely would go down a culty/witchcraft route where the reader becomes some kind of priestess that they worship?)

rival band!lead singer!bucky x lead guitarist!reader - modern au (trigger warning for sa - rewrite of face the music) you used to be the lead guitarist in a band, that was until the lead singer and boyfriend to your best friend sa's you at a party. you disappear off the face of the earth, hoping to avoid those you once knew and start your life new. years later you move back into the city, and your roommate invites you to her boyfriend's band gig. much to your horror, her boyfriend's band is your old enemy and rival band. and they definitely recognise you. you think maybe it is time to disappear again, forget the past and run away. but as the truth of what happened at that party begins to unravel, you realise that maybe those who were once your rivals are now the closest thing you have to friends.

i have a lot more on the back burner but maybe i'll do a part 2?? lmk what you think <33 tysm if you read this far

[lightofraye]

Countdown - My Review

There will be spoilers ahead. Keep this in mind as you read. I will place it under a cut to spare those who haven't watched the show.

I will be sharing this from the perspective of someone who loves storytelling, as someone who hopes to also break into the industry as a writer/screenwriter. Yes, I could be deemed an "amateur" as I'm not professional. Keep that in mind as we progress.

Now the cut.

I've watched all three episodes already. Overall, this is what I've felt:

Music-wise: Really... really didn't mesh well with the show. I felt the soundtrack just kind of jarred. I don't know if that was just what they had available to them on the budget, what they could license, or what. Just did not match well.

The Location Titles: There was something about the way those texts floated across the screen that absolutely bugged me and I don't know why. Reminded me a tad too much about how Captain America: Civil War's location titles occurred and how gigantic those had been and how those bugged me and viewers as well.

Story-wise: Way, way, way too rushed. The first episode's introduction of Darden, Milo's character, barely gave us a chance to care about him, to understand what his purpose was--his little looking around bits didn't clue us in at all as to what was going on, honestly--and the phone call felt too impersonal with his wife. If they really wanted us to feel for him? Should've shown us with his wife in the morning, giving her a kiss goodbye, a quick interaction with his son, plus maybe a look at something or other to care about what his mission, his purpose, had been that morning.

Plus, the chase, the fact the bad guys had been so open? Really? That... stupid? Really? You want me to believe they were that intelligent, that devious, and yet killed a cop in plain sight? That isn't intelligent! That's absurd! (Please, I beg you, read the Evil Overlord's list!) Um. Okay.

And yet, the task force resolved Darden's so-called money, were convinced he was in fact a good guy, within an episode. That... was too pat. Too easy. No, no, no! What?!

Okay. Let's suspend that....

But I feel like the show jumped way too quick into gathering the task force. I would've loved to have seen more about it. For instance, perhaps Blythe doing his own version of Nick Fury of approaching each one. Like meeting Meachum at the hospital or something after being pulled. After Oliveras being chewed out for what she did. Then we'd see what Finau did to be blacklisted by his department. Evan. Keyonte.

Because that's just it--each one were blacklisted, unwanted, by their departments. Why? Meachum is clearly a wild card and does things that the department is clearly fed up with. Given what he's dealing with health-wise, he doesn't care if it means saving lives. Oliveras, well, she's suspected to be using--but she gets the job done, so narcotics is stuck between a rock and a hard place, apparently.

But what's Finau's "crime"? He seems solid. Evan? Same thing. Keyonte? Same. Hell, Damon Drew? His son was killed by a drunk driver--why the hell would he be blacklisted by his department that they wouldn't care if the task force went up in flames and he went down with it??

Blythe also worked with Meachum before? Okay.

But there's a lot of... inconsistencies, too much skipped over and sped up.

Blythe feels very one-dimensional. He's so much of a mystery. I would've loved to have seen how Darden's death justified a whole task force. What led up to it? More behind it. This was too fast, too much skipped over.

Oliveras, in the third episode, given how she's behaving, you can guess she was high. That brick she took to "spare a few kids"... well, looks like narcotics was right to be suspicious of her. What I wanna know--why wasn't Finau surprised by her sudden switch of mood? Meachum?

How did Blythe know Meachum was going to pull that trick with the car before he did it at the border crossing? Was this established beforehand and we missed it?

What was, I'm not joking here, the point of the shower scene, outside of objectifying the fuck out of Jensen Ackles? Which--by the way--irritated the hell out of me? Poor guy can't escape being objectified. That was something just about nearly all of his so-called fans talked about since the show was released.

The writing feels very all over the place, with a lot of shakiness, and far too much heavy-handedness on 9/11. I get it, just about all of those characters--except Evan and Keyonte--are of that generation. But it felt weird to throw 9/11 in now when it's not as relevant. It probably would've been within 5 years of those events. Not... 20.

Not to mention, why was Drew on the scene? Up until that moment, he wasn't on the field. Why now?

Dear Derek Haas--this... no. Not good. Nope. You're not building enough with the backstory, not enough intelligence with the bad guys, not enough depths with the characters.

The acting is pretty good. I don't agree with others--I don't see Dean in Jensen as Mark Meachum. Mark is definitely not Dean. (Dean never cheated, for one, though yes, he like Mark are anti-heroes--bending the laws or doing what's right despite being told what to do instead. That's their only similarities. Otherwise? I'm not seeing it. Folks, this isn't me being a Jensen fan--my own daughter, who isn't a Jensen fan, didn't see it either.)

I see sparks between Evan and Keyonte--which I feel is good acting, given Elliot is gay in real life. Finau and Meachum have a kind of buddy-buddy friendship. I loved how Finau just shook his head at Mark when Oliveras shot Mark down. Blythe... we need more of him; right now, just too one dimensional. Drew's backstory broke my heart.

I had an outright snort and laugh at the prison transport in episode three. So much so, my daughter had to ask me to rewind and show her because my reaction drew her attention. Then she laughed herself.

The show has potential. It's just not being done well. I don't know if if Haas was rushing it without realizing he has 13 episodes to do a good build up or what.

We'll see how it goes for the next 10 episodes.

[emotionallychargedtowel]

Since you're familiar with tokusatsu actors and their journeys into BL, what kinds of careers historically have tokusatsu actors had as they start to get more credits and mature?

Thank you for the ask! This is a great question. It’s something I’ve been curious about for a while, as you know.

I never get tired of this gif of Seto Toshiki (a Kamen Rider alum with two BLs under his belt) eating cake. (It's from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, which he starred in with Iijima Hiroki of Our Dining Table fame.)

Oh, I should probably say at the outset that I'm talking about the suit transformation type of tokusatsu shows here. Technically the category is broader and also includes kaiju movies, but I'm focusing here on the kind of tokusatsu series in which human characters (or human-like ones) transform into masked heroes. I think that's what you had in mind, Ben, and it's the type of tokusatsu that tends to overlap with the BL world.

Another thing you'll notice is that I'm mostly going to talk about men here. Tokusatsu has been making some progress as a genre when it comes to gender equity, but it still has a long way to go. And since most of the progress that has happened, like the increase in female Riders, has been in the last few years, the actors who played those characters haven't had much of a subsequent career yet.

Now, to your question.

Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out a way to really look at this systematically. So, definitely take my conclusions with a grain of salt. (If anyone reading this knows more about this or has thoughts about how to get more/better info, I'd love to hear them.) The main source of information I have--aside from just soaking stuff up from watching tokusatsu shows and reading toku fans' tumblrs, of course--is looking at toku actors’ entries on MDL and seeing how many roles they’ve gotten, if they’re “guest,” “support,” or “main” roles, and trying to find out about the type of shows and movies they’re in.

One of the biggest weaknesses to this approach as an American viewer is that it's usually hard for me to tell what constitutes a popular or prestigious series or film even if I go to the listings for specific shows/films. I should also note that one thing that biases my “data” (to use the term loosely) is the fact that I’m more likely to look up this information about actors I like. Well, occasionally I’ll also look at info on some sample of actors out of curiosity, like a bunch of lead Ultraman actors’ subsequent careers or something like that. But it's usually more random.

A little background. As you're aware, tokusatsu roles often go to younger actors who don't have much previous experience. They tend to function both as a way of getting a foothold in the industry (building a resume, starting a fanbase, etc.) and as a way of learning on the job. Part of the reason they work so well in this regard is that they have long seasons. Ultraman seasons are typically around 25 episodes long, which is pretty long compared to many shows in Japan, but Kamen Rider and Super Sentai seasons are usually around 50 episodes long. This means two things: a toku part gets you a lot more of the aforementioned work experience than you'd get in other genres, and it provides a solid year of consistent work with additional work to follow (particularly hard to come by in Japan's entertainment industry, from what I understand). The additional work is substantial, too. There are typically post-series TV movies and touring live shows and there are often guest spots on other series in your franchise.

When it comes to landing other roles, as in other types of media, it makes a big difference what type of role you had. This is stating the obvious, I know, but there are some specific ways this works with tokusatsu series, and it relates to who ends up in BLs and in what capacity. So, all of the big three tokusatsu franchises are pretty ensemble-based but they still have distinct leads and some degree of a hierarchy of roles. Ultraman has the strongest leads, Kamen Rider has lead/title Riders and secondary (and often tertiary) Riders, and Super Sentai shows are especially ensemble-y (the word sentai basically means "squad," after all) but they always have some kind of group leader.

When I look up subsequent work by tokusatsu actors who had sizable roles in their toku series--lead roles, or other parts that are what MDL would call "main" roles--what I see most often is a lot of supporting and guest roles in a variety of TV shows and some films. You can usually find a smattering of lead roles as well, but if you look closely they may turn out to be smaller productions (but not always). When it comes to the number/frequency of credits, there's a lot of variation but an average case would be 2-3 such credits per year. Like I mentioned above, it's hard for me to tell how desirable/prestigious/well-paying those guest and supporting roles are. But they don't usually seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel or anything. So, yeah. Lots of these actors have different paths, but this is what I see most frequently.

Given how challenging it is to make a career out of acting in Japan, this is nothing to sneeze at. Despite its relative influence, the Japanese entertainment industry is still comparatively small, and there are only so many opportunities. In that context, regularly getting guest and supporting gigs constitutes a pretty uncommon level of success.

Could these folks support themselves on this amount of work? I often see just a few credits per year, so maybe not. But when I like one of these actors enough to follow them on socials, it usually seems like they are supplementing those parts with other stuff like stage plays, toku fan appearances, modeling gigs, or other types of performance including music. Even with these different sources of income, some probably still can't live on their entertainment industry pay alone. But it appears that some can.

So that's the most common thing. One less common outcome is leaning really hard into being a tokusatsu actor for life. It's not typical to get significant roles in multiple toku shows, but it does happen. And some actors manage to play the same character in a lot of post-series movies, miniseries, etc. stretching out for years after their actual series. For example, Tsuruno Takeshi, who played Ultraman Dyna's human host Shin Asuka, has been in ten different Ultraman things including his main series, a short series, a lot of TV movies, and a special. Dyna aired in 1997, and his last appearance as Asuka was fairly recent, in 2016. That's almost a 20-year span. Yet Tsuruno has never had a non-Ultraman main character part. (Though this is partly because he seems to have focused more on his music career and related variety show type things post-Dyna.) There are even some actors who are tokusatsu superfans whose whole career plan is centered on the genre from the get-go.

For those who are looking to branch out, there are a lot of trajectories. So I'll try to talk about some of them through a few examples.

Takeda Kouhei

You probably knew I was going to bring him up. On Kamen Rider Kiva, Takeda's character was important but not the lead (he played the main character's father in the 1980s, in a timeline that ran parallel to the present day one). That was in 2008, when he was 22. Nine years later, in 2017, he was in Kamen Rider Build, in which he was the "tertiary" Rider. This character was a potato farmer-turned-antihero. As tertiary Riders go, he was pretty popular. But Takeda seemed to be mostly hovering at a certain level at that point. Then Old Fashion Cupcake happened. It's significant that he went from playing supporting characters (albeit important ones) to a lead character in OFC. It's also helpful that OFC came out at a point when the prestige of BLs was on the rise. It seems like Takeda has had more consistent and larger parts since then. The difference isn't night and day or anything, but it's observable.

If you look at Takeda's Build costars, Inukai Atsuhiro and Akaso Eiji, here’s what you'll find. Akaso has a similar trajectory to Takeda's only somewhat steeper. His role on Build (the secondary Rider) was a bit bigger, he seemed to get slightly bigger roles overall after Build, and Cherry Magic gave him a significant boost from there. Inukai had a bigger upswing early on followed by slower growth that still had him outstripping both Akaso and Takeda. From what I can tell, his “data” more closely resembles that of Yamada Yuki, who I’ll talk about in a second, though they have different niches.

Suda Masaki

Suda Masaki was only 16 when he played the main rider in Kamen Rider W in 2009, which is unusually young. (W has a unique premise where two different people inhabit the same Rider, so Suda played a lead rider but so did his costar Kiriyama Renn.) From what I can tell, he seems to have had a pretty organic path to larger and larger roles while varying genres and styles quite a bit. At this point he's definitely a very respected actor. (One interesting bit of trivia: Hagiwara Riku has said Suda is his biggest acting role model.) He's won two Japan Academy Film Prizes and been nominated three more times. I don't know of a more successful ex-tokusatsu lead. Actually, I looked him up for this post to fill in some details and found out for the first time that he also has a pretty successful career as a jpop musician. It's almost annoying that he's that talented in yet another area.

I don't see any indication that Suda has ever played a queer character, though he has definitely done some pretty bromantic stuff. He did kiss a man once in a drama series, but it was for plot reasons and was 100% played for laughs in a gross way. He also played a gender nonconforming character in the 2014 live action version of Princess Jellyfish. (Another bit of trivia: when another live action adaptation of Princess Jellyfish was released in 2018, the same character was played by another former lead Rider, Seto Koji from Kiva.) I wouldn't put it past Suda to play a queer character, if it was for a highbrow movie or something analogous to what Nishijima Hidetoshi has done in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, but I'm also not holding my breath.

Yamada Yuki

A less extreme case. Yamada was on Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. He was the blue member of the team, a soldier-turned-pirate. It may have helped Yamada along later on that Gokaiger is an especially popular Sentai series. Post-Gokaiger, Yamada didn't have any sort of big breakout role that I can find. It just seems like fairly soon after Gokaiger, he started having significant roles in TV dramas and has pretty much continued from there, with some upward momentum but no huge changes. When he was in a drama with Akaso Eiji recently, his part was first billed and a smidge bigger. Yamada's trend line seemed to have a biggish upward swing early and then just a slight slope from there. But I just saw him in something different: he plays the younger member of the minesweeper crew in Godzilla Minus One. I wonder if that will mark any sort of shift for him.

Yamada hasn't played any queer characters as far as I can tell. His Sentai role was shippy as hell, though. It's a tradition among Sentai shows that subtext-level queer ships happen between the red and blue team members, and that's exactly what happened in Gokaiger. Sometimes the subtext pretty much became text. If magazine images from that time are any indication, their relationship seems to have been a promotional angle for the show. There's even one where they seem to be in some kind of high school AU that looks like it's straight out of a BL.

what about women?

I tried looking up a few women I know from tokusatsu roles while I was looking up these and other dudes. Some of them were still in the business, at least. Some were getting the same trickle of guest and supporting parts a lot of men do after a tokusatsu show. A few had a slightly bigger trickle. But many of them seemed to have disappeared from the public eye entirely. Not only are women underrepresented in tokusatsu, and not only are their roles often relatively small and two-dimensional, but it doesn't seem like they get even a slight career boost after these roles.

It's possible this will change for some of the actors who got bigger, more interesting toku roles in recent years. Here's hoping!

The changing relationship between tokusatsu and BL

The relationship between tokusatsu and BL has been changing as BL gains more prestige, like I alluded to when I talked about Takeda Kouhei. There was a time when they seemed to be pretty analogous in terms of how hard it was to get a role and how effective they were as rungs on a career ladder. If you went from being a tokusatsu side character to a BL lead (like Takeda), that was a step up, but only because you were shifting from a supporting spot to a lead one. Tokusatsu leads usually didn't usually do BL or, when they did, only played straight supporting roles. I think it was seen as a lateral move. But now, BL is becoming a very established next step after tokusatsu. It's like BL has moved up in status so that the consensus is that it's above tokusatsu on the ladder, but just by a little bit. It's also kind of an organic transition since we're seeing more queer ships in tokusatsu that, while they mostly happen on a subtext level, are close to being canon (and in some cases, arguably already are). It occurred to me while I was writing this that there's also another type of role that is in a similar zone of accessibility and prestige to both tokusatsu and BL. It's a franchise, not a genre, but with so many movies and such huge casts it almost functions like a genre for the purpose of this discussion. I'm talking about the High&Low movies. If you're a fan of tokusatsu or BL, you'll see actors you know in every High&Low movie and if you're a fan of both, you'll see tons.

Case in point: Here's our ol’ pal Yamada Yuki. He's in quite a few High&Low installments. If only he’d do a BL and complete the trifecta! The only person I know of offhand who’s done a tokusatsu show, a BL, and a High&Low role is Takeda. I bet there are others, though.

the new (?) prestige tokusatsu

There's another piece to this I should probably point out as well. In recent years there have been some more high-budget, prestigious takes on existing tokusatsu properties. First, Anno Hideaki, who's best known for the Evangelion anime series/films, put out three live action features that are new, well-financed takes on three big tokusatsu properties: Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, and Shin Kamen Rider.

Last year there was also a Kamen Rider series geared toward adults that had higher-than-usual production values called Kamen Rider Black Sun. It did that “you can tell our show is for adults because it's all gritty and grimdark" thing, which I'm not a fan of. But it definitely had its points.

Really distinguished actors starred in both the Shin movies and Black Sun, including Nishijima Hidetoshi, who's about as distinguished as it gets. Nishijima was in both Shin Ultraman (in an important supporting role) and Black Sun (as a co-protagonist--and he's the biggest highlight of the series). So these are examples of toku media that are too prestigious to be a springboard into the industry for most actors.

This seems to be a new phenomenon, though I could be wrong about that. I don’t expect the trend will continue at this pace (after all, so much of it is attributable to Anno alone and I don't think he'll continue down this path indefinitely), but I bet some other shows/movies in this vein will come out sooner or later.

Here’s Nishijima doing a henshin sequence. He does these moves with such commitment. Is there anything he can't do?

before tokusatsu

As I was writing this, it got me thinking about what actors do before their tokusatsu roles as well as after. It's not uncommon for toku roles to be someone's debut, but that's not really the norm. Even when it is, most of those actors were doing something in the realm of performing or modeling beforehand. I don't usually look at this sort of information as much as I do later roles when I'm investigating toku actors I like. So I looked up some people to try to get a sense of where the actors tend to have done before their toku parts.

There's one starting point that a whole bunch of tokusatsu leads share: winning the Junon Super Boy Contest. When I first saw references to it, I thought, OK, this is some kind of national talent contest. I guess there are probably lots of them. But when I looked for others, I didn't see anything come up. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places or using the right search terms. But I think maybe this contest might be pretty unique in Japan.

It's run by a magazine called Junon and, well, if I describe how it works it's going to sound really familiar to you and anyone else who's seen Utsukushii Kare, because it's pretty much exactly the contest Kiyoi participates in. Like, if it's not what Nagira Yuu was thinking of when she wrote that part of the UK novel, I'll eat my shoe.

A ton of tokusatsu leads won, placed in, or made it to the finals of that contest. The Tokupedia fan wiki even has its own page dedicated to the contest with links to various winners' toku characters. The majority of Junon Super Boy contestants who ended up in a toku series went to Kamen Rider, but there are some Sentai dudes as well and at least one Ultraman lead.

So I guess if Kiyoi had won that contest, he probably would have ended up on Kamen Rider or something. Weird.

Inukai Atsuhiro and Iijima Hiroki both won that contest. Those are the only two Junon Boys (that's what people call the contest winners) who became tokusatsu actors and were on a BL that I know of right off the top of my head. But it seems likely that there are other toku-and-BL or just BL actors who won, placed, or made it to the finals of this contest.

Other dudes who ended up on tokusatsu shows started out in other ways. Some were simply signed to agencies as actors. There's a fair number of them who were in idol groups. (Though when an idol/ex-idol is looking for a gig as a transition into acting, BLs seem to be a more popular choice.) Some mostly did modeling prior to their toku series. Some already had quite a few acting credits, though usually not very big ones. Although he's a Junon Super Boy winner, Inukai had eight other acting credits before Kamen Rider. Takeda had the same number, and he started young--his first credit is for a TV show that came out when he was 10 (though it took another six years to get a second).

I also looked up some women who've had prominent roles in tokusatsu shows, including more recent ones. The most frequent things I found when I looked for information on their pre-toku careers were that they had been models or idols (or both). It's also not uncommon for women in toku roles to be former or present gravure models--basically models who pose in bikinis or comparably revealing outfits.

The coolest thing I found was that Imoto Ayaka, who played Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne, was an award-winning ballet dancer. Which is not only incredibly cool but makes a lot of sense in terms of preparation for a tokusatsu hero role.

I mean, just check out this henshin.

Well, this has gotten ridiculously long. Sorry about that. I may have gotten a little carried away. But thanks again for the question.

And now, I have something to write for @wen-kexing-apologist...

[crossdressingdeath]

Morrigan as the self-proclaimed "elven lore expert" doesn't even work with a human Inquisitor because she doesn't really know what she's doing. She brings to mind someone who discovers some ancient room, and the mere discovery of it makes her think she's special. Bonus points if she also found some trinkets, and by finding them, she considers herself the rightful owner and "expert" on all things about them. Like, no real knowledge, just a desire to preserve ancient stuff that she has no idea what it does. A human Inquisitor should be able to question her knowledge like any Dalish elf, but no one is allowed to, so.. she gets to flaunt her non-existent knowledge and it is irritating.

It's an annoying thing that applies to a lot of DAI's writing, where... Morrigan being so full of herself and thinking that stealing one book from the Dalish made her smarter than them could've been fine as a character flaw! Hell, the game even gently nudges at that with the moment where if Quiz has the arcane knowledge perk—which has the description "A detailed study of magic and the places and creatures that interact with it"—their training allows them to immediately clock that the Well has a magical geas on it, something Morrigan is completely flabbergasted by because she had no idea. There's also a moment earlier where Morrigan is confused by the presence of wolf statues outside the temple; Lavellan and Solas aren't, but if Lavellan explains why the Dalish do that Morrigan completely dismisses it as silly Dalish superstition and so meaningless even though "okay this is the reasoning that has been passed down to me, so it's the best guess I've got for why my ancestors did it" is in fact way better than anything Morrigan can figure out (which is... nothing), a solid line of reasoning to follow, and a decent guess in general. We haven't heard the full reasoning at this point but based on what we know about Solas and Mythal and the Evanuris the Dalish story probably isn't far off the mark! But instead of any acknowledgement of that Morrigan's complete dismissal of Lavellan's explanation as worthless superstition that has nothing to do with the decisions of Lavellan's ancestors is allowed to stand unchallenged.

And it really drives me nuts that the game just lets Morrigan's claim that she's a real expert stand, because it could have been really interesting if they'd done something similar to what they do with Solas's spirit friend where Lavellan can understand the dialogue but no one else can because it's in elven. It makes sense for a human, dwarf or Qunari to take Morrigan at her word; they're told she's an expert, and elven religion and magic aren't things they likely would've studied. But Lavellan should absolutely be able to recognize she's full of shit. Especially mage Lavellan, I will never be over the fact that Dalish mages are priests but mage Lavellan has nothing exclusive to them to say about visiting the temples of their gods (not that Lavellan in general gets to say much about visiting Evanuris temples but y'know). I made a post a while ago about how great it would be if Solas and Lavellan could fuck with Morrigan by lying outright about what the writing in the temple says and watching her go along with everything they say because she absolutely cannot read more of it than the ancient elf or the Dalish elf who seems unusually fluent in the language (and unusually fluent for a Dalish elf is insanely fluent for anyone else) and doesn't want to admit that she can't tell what it says.

At the end of the day Morrigan is an "expert" just because very few people know anything about the eluvians. I don't know how active the Veil Jumpers are at this point in the timeline, so the only people I can say with confidence understand anything about them (discounting ancient elves like Solas and Mythal) are Merrill and Briala. And I mean... Merrill repaired and purified a Blighted eluvian on her own (Morrigan, for context since The Last Court was taken down and not everyone played it, required the help of the incredible Serault glassworks and her eluvian wasn't even Blighted as far as we know) and Briala from what I understand (still haven't read TME, I keep meaning to) controlled a decent chunk of the network for at least a while. Both of them make Morrigan look at best unimpressive in comparison; look at them, and then remember that Morrigan's claim to knowing more about the eluvians than the Dalish is that she found one and fixed it... using a book... that she stole... from the Dalish. It's a combination of the bad vibes of this human woman claiming she knows more than the elves about their own history, the fact that the only knowledge we've seen her collect on the subject is one book that she stole from the Dalish, and the way Quiz can show her up with basically zero effort and the game just brushes past that without acknowledging that it's a massive blow to her credentials. If they'd acknowledged that she clearly doesn't know as much as she thinks she does or had her admit that to some extent she's figuring it out as she goes (and fucking listen to the people around her who know more than her, the way she belittles the Dalish when Lavellan offers an explanation for why there are Fen'Harel statues at the temple—which is more explanation than Morrigan offers, by the way—really makes me want to punch her) it would've been fine! Either acknowledge that her being so sure she knows best is a flaw in her character instead of trying to pretend she's right or have her admit she doesn't know what's best but does know more than a lot of people and wants to help as best she can; the way they handled it is just incredibly messy and really put me off ever seeing her in a game again.

[gffa]

Hi :)

I'm a pretty new SW fan, not because I didn't like the movies/hadn't seen them but because I grew up thinking it was extremely nerdy and would often feel awkward trying to bring up anything related to SW.

Fortunately I've finally reached and met awesome people who love SW just like I did but I feel like I lost A LOT of important stuff and there's so much content to the saga that it's extremely overwhelming for me to even think about diving into the whole SW universe and catch up.

I've been following you for a bit and your posts are just extremely interesting to me but again, sometimes I'm a little confused about certain things and so I wanted to ask you if you had any recommendations about where to start catching up (besides the movies which I will be binge watching soon hehe)

Hi! Welcome to Star Wars fandom, I hope you're having a good time! And around here we embrace being as nerdy as possible--I mean, fandom is such a mainstream thing these days, but I still like to embrace being a nerd about things because it leads to a lot more happiness, to just be silly and having a good time with the thing that tickles our brains.

But, yes, it is pretty overwhelming when you're first arriving, I still remember when I first came back to SW several years ago, having really only watched the movies as a kid, and there was All This Stuff and it seemed impossible to ever reach the deep end of the pool, and that was before the last seven years of books, games, movies, comics, etc. came out! I will hopefully set your mind at ease with this, though: The vast, vast majority of content that Star Wars puts out isn't anything I would consider "essential". It's wonderful, fantastic stuff! But a lot of us have just been around so long that we're combing through the finer details of supplementary material, rather than those being absolute Must-Read/Watch To Get A Feel For Star Wars.

My recommendations for How To Get A Feel For Star Wars is basically, start with the animated series and the live action series, they're the second layer of foundation in the Star Wars building, all the comics and novels and such will be built on them, and in this order: - The movies, this is the foundation on which everything else will be built. - The Clone Wars, season 1-6 are part of George Lucas' story and they're pretty essential (at least in this corner of SW fandom) to understanding wtf anyone is talking about or even watching many of the live action series. (Season 7 is fine and should be watched! It's just not part of Lucas' Star Wars.) - Star Wars: Rebels, starts off light-hearted but really is one of the best developed shows and does a lot of connective work between the prequels and the original trilogy. - The Mandalorian, set 9 years after Return of the Jedi, this show just massively blew up and while each season is slightly less well-done than the previous one (imo), it's well worth watching for wtf fandom is talking about half of the time. (The Book of Boba Fett is somewhat optional in this corner of fandom, but imo worth the watch. Generally, it should go Mando s1-2 --> TBOBF --> Mando s3.) - Obi-Wan Kenobi, because this corner of fandom lost our goddamned minds about it and still haven't gotten them back. - Andor, which is a really great show and, as long as you've watched Rogue One first, you'll follow along just fine. Does some solid connecting the dots between the prequels and the originals, but not as much as Rebels did. - Jedi: Fallen Order, you can look up a "movie" version on YouTube for the story of this game, which is a really good plot, has some great new characters, has some genuinely effective cameos, and will be referenced fairly often in other materials/in fandom.

If you're not feeling overwhelmed by All The Star Wars You've Consumed, I would personally suggest going for the comics next, over any of the novels. The novels are great! But the vast majority of them are self-contained and meant to be supplementary material even more than the comics, which get to tell bigger, more connected stories. I always suggest starting with: - Star Wars 2015 by Jason Aaron + Darth Vader 2015 by Kieron Gillen, both of which are really, solidly fantastic stories about the timeframe just after A New Hope, like there are so many absolutely banger lines that came out of these comics. I won't spoil them, just know that I think these were legitimately good comics, not just legitimately good Star Wars comics. (The first six issues of each series are meant to be read concurrently, but after that, you can just pick one and read in that specific title.) - Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 2017 by Charles Soule, which is set in the immediate aftermath of Revenge of the Sith. If Gillen's Vader keeps the mystique of the originals Unknowable Darth Vader, then Soule's Vader is more about the absolute BATSHIT DRAMA that is blending Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. This series is BANANAPANTS in the absolute best way. - Obi-Wan & Anakin 2015 by Charles Soule, which is a five-issue mini-series set between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and is both stunningly beautiful art and a solidly good plot that survives fairly serious analysis of. It's got some great worldbuilding details, but even more I like it for the look at why a young Anakin chooses to stay with the Jedi Order.

The one book I will recommend--for a list aimed at getting you caught up on what fandom is referencing--is the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover, that book is quoted constantly, and I'm not sure any other SW book has ever been as good as it is.

I feel like this is the best set of reading to get you familiarized with the source material that tends to come up the most! There's lots more that's really good, but once you get through the above, you can let me know what era or characters you're most interested in or if you have a specific question about something and want to see where it comes from!

But there's one thing to address and you're kinda going to have to figure out how to approach it on your own. 😂 There is a ton of stuff in SW fandom that's ostensibly from a book or a comic, but the version in fandom often comes from those who never actually read the books/haven't read them in a long time or are just picking them up from other fic and meta.

For example, the AgriCorps or Melida/Daan get referenced in fic and in posts all the time, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading the Jedi Apprentice series (I mean, I'm not your mom, feel free if you want to!) and often times how they're used in fic is not how they were used in the source material. Or the clones speaking Mando'a comes from the Legends books by Karen Traviss and she is a whole big can of ugly worms (both what she wrote and her IRL politics), as well as much of what she wrote was overwritten/discarded when The Clone Wars came out, but fandom likes the idea and so they put that into their fics (as they should, if they like it!). The idea of Mace using the lightsaber form of Vaapad is from Legends sources (the best source probably being the Shatterpoint novel by Matthew Stover, I'd guess?), same for his ability to see "shatterpoints" in the Force, which aren't part of Lucas' continuity or Disney's continuity, but fandom enjoys using them to flesh out Mace's character. This will get you started and, if you're looking for something more specific, feel free to ask, I enjoy these kinds of question--and don't feel you have to stick with any of the above if they're not fun for you. This is meant to be enjoyable, it's meant to have a good time, there's no wrong way to consume Star Wars media! <3

[calypso-apologist]

i'm curious, since you mentioned disliking Rick Riordan, do you dislike Percy Jackson, too? are there other Greek mythology media you like/dislike?

and also, any other authors you have beef with?

i have a complicated relationship with pjo. i don't hate it and i did enjoy the hbo/max series.

although i got jumpscared by Lin-Manuel Miranda because WHY IS HE EVERYWHERE I GO. this man haunts me like Todd Haberkorn and Troy Baker, i swear, no matter where i go, at least one of them is there FOR SOME REASON. (no, i don't hate them, but i do bluescreen when i recognize them because AGAIN???)

back to Percy Jackson, i haven't read the pjo books, but i've read most of the Heroes of Olympus series (i believe i just didn't finish the last one) and i do own the Percy Jackson's Greek Gods book, which I do relatively enjoy. i was pulled into it by an ex "friend" that was a fucking cunt but that's besides the point.

my biggest problem with Percy Jackson is that sometimes, it feels like Riordan didn't do enough research on some things or just didn't really care. for example, Ares apparently being a bully to his kids to the point were Clarisse feared him (which he did somewhat remedy later, i think, but it still doesn't sit right with me). or using the Roman version of the Medusa myth. or the Calypso thing.

i really enjoy the premise of Percy Jackson, but there are some decisions Riordan made that really annoy me, especially since a lot of the 'Percy Jackson version' of gods/myths have altered the understanding of some people. it's a bit tiring to explain to some hardcore pjo fans that actually, x is in the actual myth and y is the Riordan version, since many of them (at least the ones i've encountered) don't want to listen and will view Riordan's version as absolute truth.

so while there's a lot of things i do like about pjo, there's just too many things i don't enjoy to fully like it. i don't dislike it, though. i'm somewhat neutral about it, i just don't really like Riordan all that much.

for other media, i will say i also have a complicated relationship with Blood of Zeus. i've watched season 1 in one night and really enjoyed it, although of course there were some choices that i found questionable and some narrative decisions that made me a bit less enthusiastic about it, but all in all, season 1 was really solid. there weren't really any extreme mischaracterizations that i can remember, the designs are mostly really cool, it wasn't groundbreaking, but it was good.

then... season 2 came and i just... i can't bring myself to watch it past episode 3. the Hades-Persephone-Demeter dynamic is absolutely horrible to me, even if the Hades-Persephone dynamic is pretty well done and even somewhat cute sometimes. i'm not a huge fan of how Hades is written, but he's not terrible, i suppose. though i do think that suddenly giving Seraphim a love interest just for the sake of manipulating him was rather meh in terms of writing, it feels a bit out of nowhere just to give him a motivation for this season (at least i don't recall her appearing in season 1, so i might be wrong here).

and THEN came the Ares and Persephone thing which is what made me really not want to finish this show. Ares wasn't their best character in season 1, but seriously? while yes, by modern standards Ares did do some questionable things (for example with Phylonome), but he was relatively chill when it came to 'lovers' by the standard of the times (at least compared to other gods, i guess), so making him this... weird fucking creep towards Persephone was just absolutely fucking dreadful to me. it felt almost as bad as a certain manhwa that i despise with my whole being and was only really done to make Hades look better. that was the moment they've lost my interest. i still plan to finish it eventually and i can only hope season 3 is better because season 2 really made me upset.

as for any other media, i am still to watch Kaos (i think that's the title) on netflix, but i can really recommend the mythology book made by the dragonology guys. this one. it was my introduction to the mythology and i still look back at it fondly to this day, fourteen years later.

as for authors, if jkr, john boyde, that bitch who wrote daddy's little toy and all the "Auschwitz Romance" authors (especially Hether Morris) have no haters, it means i'm dead.