#and me having such an excellent history in picking the best stuff to start with the first sonic game i ever played was sonic forces and boy

[forgotmynametag]

That one time the wholeass sun came careening down

[st-just]

ive seeeen you mention listening to history podcasts before, are there any that youd recommend? I have looked at whats out there but a lot of the popular ones I saw seemed to be rather dubious if you get me

So an assortment off the top of my head

Mike Duncan's stuff is both generally very good and also the inspiration of 90% of the history podcasts I listen to, so useful for cultural literacy if nothing else. (He podcasted his way into being a bona fide public intellectual for a moment there!) History of Rome is exactly what it sounds like, a narrative history from the mythical foundation of the city to the fall of the Western Empire (getting much more detailed and in depth as it gets into the imperial era). Revolutions is an anthology on what can be called the great revolutions of the modern western world, with series on the English, American, French, Haitian, Spanish American, German/Italian/French again (1848), French round three (Paris commune), Mexican and Russian (also includes a semester-length intellectual history of 19th C europepan leftism) revolutions. First two series are fine but it really gets good with the French Revolution and the Haiti series is some of the best pop history I've listened to or read. Also doubles as just a decent history of the long 19th century in Europe.

Tides of History is the only one of this list that feels like it has an actual production budget and more than one person working on it as part of their actual job. The host is the other guy whose podcasted himself into being a bit of a public intellectual (would rec his substack!) The downside of having a budget is most of the older stuff being locked behind a paywall, which is a shame because the early seasons are some of the best approachable history on the late medieval and early early modern period in Europe I've heard or seen. The current season is about the late bronze age world, and continues to be excellent.

History of Byzantium is explicitly an attempt to pick off where Duncan left off and follow the Eastern Roman empire from the fall of the west to 1452 (it's still in progress, now well into the 13th century). Also much like History of Rome, it starts off fairly general and vague but gets much more detailed as it goes. The general narrative history is intercut with semi-regular interviews with academic historians about the subject of their expertise for more in depth and probably rigorous discussion.

Speaking of Byzantium and Friends is hosted by one of the more prominent working byzantinists and consists of absolutely nothing but that. Much, much more academic - there's a level of assumed background knowledge to get much of anything out of the episodes, and and a level of academic inside baseball, but accurcy-wise this is the podcast I trust most out of all of them.

History of Japan is, again, what it sounds like. One of many podcasts begun by a grad student probably procrastinating working on his thesis that has lasted long enough for him to graduate, get married, and settle into a full time job. Vast majority of episodes are 20-30-minute mini-histories on, say, the biography of a particular political figure or part of a mini-series on the spread of Buddhism or something (plus a few much, much longer series on e.g. the Meiji Restoration). Currently in the middle of remaking/expanding a series that's a general high-level survey of Japanese history to celebrate hitting episode 500.

Criminal Records shares a host with it, but is (intentionally) less rigorous and much more bantery (having two hosts helps, them being married presumably good for the chemistry), also technically a true crime podcast - specifically about weird crimes and legal cases throughout history. My favorite episode is the one on the oldest surviving court case in the record from ancient Sumeria.

The History of the Crusades and it's sequel Reconquista continue the trend of admirably self-explaining names. They're nearly-entirely narrative and political histories, so if you're not interested in crowns, marriages and wars probably give them a pass, but very granular and detailed as they go. Crusades finished after the fall of Jerusalem and then a follow-up about the Albigensian Crusade, Reconquista currently still ongoing (in the 11th century at the moment, I believe).

Pax Brittancia is the one I just finished binging as depression-ameliorating background noise and what I've been posting about recently. Another begun by a grad student avoiding their thesis who has since become a doctor (who had previously completed a podcast on the history of witchcraft, which I have not listened to). It's ostensibly a history of the British Empire, beginning with the Stuart Dynasty (and personal union with Scotland) and moving forward with sufficent attention to detail that after five years and change it's objectively just a very in depth history of the Wars of Three Kingdoms (incl. causes and aftermath). Includes many, many interviews with established historians, including a whole series on Covenanter Scotland and whether its rise should be considered a Scottish Revolution. The narrative just reached Cromwell's inauguration as Lord Protector.

[batsplat]

do you have any favorite tennis matches? what's your favorite player and rivalry if you have one?

(note, I will be leaving both agassi + sampras out of this post as they have already been discussed in a fair bit of detail on this blog, though I might at some point make a post specifically about their matches. obviously they'd be pretty high up in all three categories with regards to favourite matches, players, and rivalries)

I have a lot of favourite tennis matches!! I'll throw a few of them under the cut, but honestly give me half a chance and I'll go on forever. my all time favourite tennis match is the 2003 us open semifinal between justine henin and jennifer capriati. it is available in full on youtube and I think you should watch it even if you have only the slightest interest in tennis. this is a match you need to experience for yourself and I will not spoil the result, but it features basically everything you could ask for:

very high stakes, both in terms of being a slam semi and for both players involved. it's an interesting stretch of henin's career, plenty of controversies that season and the potential for a rematch with countrywoman clijsters in the final. capriati during her noughties career revival had FINALLY managed to overcome her issues in late stages of slams and had won three of them... but her home slam at the us open was the one she wanted to win most of all. a history of semifinal choking she was attempting to conquer in front of her home crowd - fighting a woman six years her junior who had already tasted slam success that year

two very different personalities, the cold and calculating henin against the ferocious and passionate capriati... both not strangers to a little bit of gamesmanship, and of course you see that on display in this match too. keep an eye on the poor line judges

two contrasting but similarly engaging playstyles, the boisterous force of capriati coming up against henin's lethally elegant all-court game. henin's one handed backhand better than sex question mark. it's a great stylistic match-up, and produces some excellent tennis across the entire span of the match. just SUCH a great watch, like I really cannot speak highly enough of the level on display

a highly involved crowd who want their home favourite to win SO BADLY and are more than happy to do anything to help her cause. gets a bit wild, like the best us open matches tend to do

some truly insane momentum switches, many prompted by psychology and some prompted by physicality. one player's body starts letting her down in the final set in pretty striking fashion. one player's mind plays havoc with her, possibly even more memorably so. a very dramatic finale

the cruelty of tennis on full display. a match where you suffer for both players, who both want it so badly and are visibly fighting demons on the court. truly, truly brutal for the loser

I love this match so so much. I know it's very on-brand to direct you to a match from over two decades ago, but I promise you. it's worth it. sometimes the old stuff is the best

and do I EVER have a favourite player and rivalry!!!!!!

MY GIRLS. okay, look, they're both extremely retired and had their last match in 2010 BUT it is still my favourite rivalry!!!!!!! here, have another bit of my output for them:

wE hAvE aLwaYs ProTEcTEd tHis iMAge oF friENdShip tHat nEVeR eXistEd istgggggggg NOTHING WAS BROKEN BETWEEN US BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING TO BREAK

if you've ever heard someone be extremely annoying about federer's game, you probably can imagine what I sound like talking about henin. she's got my favourite backhand of all time, I genuinely think it is a work of art. I love how she moves, the way she unleashes on balls on the run, I love how she gets into the court in such a lithe and precise manner to pick up the next ball. I love how effective the serve is despite her height (number one commentating cliché for her lol, she's short we get it). the slices, the gorgeous drop volleys, the laser straight forehand... and again, the backhand. when she takes a swing at that thing and fucking pummels it past her opponent, stretches her wings to make the ball soar, it's just truly my favourite shot of all time. there's a specific backhand crosscourt on-the-run pass she hits in that aforementioned us open semifinal where... yeah. what can you even say. better than sex full stop

and well... okay, look, I am AWARE a lot of fans still hate her and I do get that she won't be everyone's cup of tea. but y'know. sometimes you just have to support women's rights and wrongs, and I do think some of the criticism of her is also a bit overblown. she's a cheater, yes, I won't argue with that. but I think sometimes cheating is interesting!! she really really really really needed to win, she was cold and ruthless about it - but also, I'm sorry, people would NOT have hated her quite so much if she were a man. and I'm also not saying a sad life story justifies cheating etc etc, but I do wish people were a bit more interested in why she needed to win so badly. she also has the number one athlete attribute that makes my brain go crazy - a deeply conflicted relationship with the sport itself. always caught between running towards and running away from tennis... yeah. god

the single best resource in tennis is a website called tennisabstract, it really is fantastic, I've contributed a bit to their match coding project before and definitely will again when my schedule's freed up a bit. I have a lot of time for the guy who runs it, I really do. there's this series he did, tennis 128, where he listed the top 128 players of all time according to his metric and wrote a piece for each of them... and I think they're all very interesting, it's a great project. but. there's a good chance henin got the most negative write-up of the lot, in a way I have to admit I take issue with. some excerpts:

well, tough luck. I don't care. the lgbt community has forgiven justine henin. look at what a cute tomboy she was as a teenager:

look at her holding a bird trophy:

wifey

the other half of that rivalry is her fellow belgian clijsters. very much a case of two narratives haunting each other!! do not separate!! anyhow, she's another player with a game I absolutely adore, these big scything groundstrokes but ALSO plenty of variety, like we're not talking a dull baseline basher here. and the movement!! sliding on a hard court is STILL pretty rare in the women's game, so it's very much seen as something associated with clijsters and clijsters alone:

life changing thighs is what I'll say

clijsters was everything henin was not - warm, popular in the locker room and with fans, a cheery outgoing personality who always had plenty of people rooting for her. she was also seen as too nice to win. and there are few things on this planet that get me going more than a choker. than somebody who just... freezes in the most important matches of her life. which for a while there had a nasty habit of involving henin, because of course they did

clijster's another one with a really fascinating career arc, one that is inextricably linked with henin's story - and thing is, she did get her happy ending. she's the feel-good story, proof that even chokers might be able to make it in the end. she conquered her demons... one of the very, very, very few to do so. she changed the narrative of her career completely. now I DO hate how this kinda... low key gets implicitly used as another stick to thwack henin with, this kind of, ooh!! look!! you can be a good person and be successful too!! which! idk. god forbid we root for a flawed athlete now and again. but I think this does a disservice to clijsters - not least because she WAS pretty nasty about henin in a way she wasn't about basically anyone else. henin and clijsters are more than just sinner and saint... don't let tennis fans tell you otherwise

and yeah, the two of them obviously had a bit of an emotionally tortured rivalry. belgium cooked up two insanely good tennis players born exactly one year and one week apart, the only two players of that stature the country has ever produced. they made each other better and they made each other worse. friends and enemies and something in between... and in the end, fundamentally inseparable. citadels have been built on less

anyway tbh I'm not going to pretend like anyone is summoning up that kind of narrative juice these days, but obviously I still have my faves. as regular blog readers may be aware, my favourite current player is this washed string bean who mostly just loses to more talented players and throws tantrums these days. I'll support him until his time runs up though. medvedev's got this fantastically unorthodox game that I could dissect all day, he's the smartest top player, he's funny as shit. his game should never have worked and he has no right to be as successful as he is. I could hold a lecture series on his forehand. I'm very much a pusher-inclined fan... I like counterpunchers, I like players who run around a lot and defend, and I also like tacticians. I was a pretty early adopter because I love a quirky playstyle and weird technique, which was then affirmed with the miami 2018 debacle (iykyk). but there was a moment I knew I would be his fan for life, and if you are a tennis fan you can probably guess what's coming:

"so I want all of you to know, when you sleep tonight, I won because of you" I fell in love

never ever has he let me down on the drama front. his "oops I did it again" basel 2018 instagram post, his "I think I killed someone? my apologies" from us open 2020, "if I die, who'll take responsibility" from olympics 2021, the "it's easier to enjoy life when you have no brain" paris 2021 monologue, the yawn at turin 2021, stomping on the ground davis cup 2021, the "his father can talk every point" ao 2022 rant, "I'm gonna pee as slow as this court" from iw 2023, when he got rid of the singles stick monte carlo 2023 plus the "look at yourself in the mirror" press conference comment, "vamo vamo vamo" from uso 2023... I could keep going. "shut your fuck up" has become a part of my vocabulary icl. I love his press conferences and watch a lot of them, just consistently a very interesting guy to listen to. he is unfortunately sort of hellish to follow as a fan, but y'know. sometimes it's not just trophies that make the journey worth it (cope)

women's tennis, my actual faves have basically disappeared from the scene this year so I'm not even gonna dignify them by mentioning their names. I am pretty ride-or-die for dasha kasatkina, a useless pusher who's also the wta's highest ranked lesbian and makes a vlog with her girlfriend I definitely recommend. I like her tennis a lot in all its horrendous pushing, she's very sweet and fun and produces an obscene number of cute photos with her girlfriend. beyond that, I suppose I am basically a swiatek and sabalenka fan this year, I find both of them highly engaging in different ways, I love how they're like... actually very good but are also seemingly constantly fighting demons. basically the two most compelling players in the game currently TO ME. I'm really really enjoying their rivalry, my main complaint is that I wish they played more (praying iga's new coach fixes her during the off-season). they produced by far the best match this year, madrid final, which I'd also absolutely recommend. but yeah, I generally vibe with all the top players of the women's game, if to differing extents!! really strong era at the minute that also promises to keep getting better. we pray

anyhow. a few more favourite matches - I'm going to try and hold myself back, because I really could go on forever. a lot of the old matches I watch are from noughties wta, but I'll limit myself because I'm aware this really is probably of interest to nobody and give just a further two - sharapova/henin wta finals 2007 and venus/davenport wimbledon 2005. both pretty normie picks, but sometimes the normie picks are normie picks for a reason

for my sins, I do have a few big three matches in fairly regular rotation, typically on in the background when I'm working. main ones are djokovic/federer us open 2011, djokovic/federer wimbledon 2019, djokovic/federer wimbledon 2014, and djokovic/nadal roland garros 2021. I also have a bunch of murray matches in rotation but I tend to mix it up for him more... my other go-to run is all of leylah fernandez's pre-final us open 2021 matches, which are just consistently bonkers in the best possible way. there's a few other recent-ish matches I really like to revisit, like iga/sublanko madrid 2023, fernandez/osorio monterrey 2022, kerber/juvan strasbourg 2022...

and then, of the more recent-ish men's matches, pretty obvious where my biases lie. medvedev/djokovic cincy 2019, med/wawrinka uso 2019, med/nadal atp finals 2020, med/thiem atp finals 2020, med/djokovic uso 2021, med/sinner atp finals 2021 (conceptually hilarious match), med/faa ao 2022 (go-to flight match, this one), med/tsi ao 2022, rune/djokovic paris 2022 (and honestly that whole rune run), med/zverev monte carlo 2023 (don't feel great about including this but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it), rune/sinner monte carlo 2023, rune/foki madrid 2023, med/alcaraz uso 2023 (I promised I'd sing the american national anthem if he won that match so that's a voice note that still exists out there)... and so on

I could keep going, but I'll cut myself off here. and end things with my personal favourite instagram post tennis has produced. from after the aforementioned rune/foki madrid match:

'personally I hold nothing against the Spanish people' dw king I'll do it for you

[newlabournewromantics]

okay so i'm not british (i'm just a teenage girl hungry for knowledge 😔✊) but i watched one video and as a result i've been consuming an insane amount of new labour media for the past week even though i've never been interested in uk politics besides keeping up with global news LMAO i genuinely wanna know more so where do you think i should start with books films etc 😭

hiii!! excellent question id be more than happy to help! this will be sort of an overview with general recs for newlab beginners (why am I treating this like its a profession omg) so just lmk if you want more specific recs + I've highlighted my favs

books (from the outside)

(by from the outside I mean written by people not directly involved in newlab, so historians/journalists etc)

the two classic newlab texts are servants of the people and the end of the party, both by andrew rawnsley from the observer. provide nice, extensive but not overly fussy histories of newlab from opposition to 2010. good balance of gossip and actual information!

my personal favourite is rivals by james naughtie (bbc reporter), I find the prose in it far more compelling than any other book on this list.

brown's britain (robert peston) is also very good!

you've mentioned that you're not from the UK, so I really really really would recommend reading a book/a few articles on the broader history of the British Labour Party, just so you can understand why newlab was so revolutionary. I quite like keeping the red flag flying

autobiographies/diaries/books from ppl directly involved:

(these will inevitably be more biased)

the new machiavelli by jonathan powell is my absolute favourite self-written newlab book - and you might learn some stuff ant machiavelli whilst ur at it so this is an essential imo

my life our times by gordon brown is another one I really enjoyed, although it's less gossipy than some of the other books on this list. admittedly I do agree with basically everything gordon brown has ever said so this is a very biased review, but I would give it a go!

obviously alastair campbell wrote a load of diaries. I would be careful with which volumes you choose to get - go for the ones published 2010 and onwards bc he made the choice to omit stuff from the first few volumes he published so that it wouldn't' hurt gordon's premiership. also, they're really long and really extensive, so pick which volumes you want to read based on which specific period of newlab you find yourself drawn to!

as a comms/polling fan (boo) I really liked unfinished revolution by philip gould, but this might not be the best book to start with.

damian mcbride's power trip (more diaries) is also interesting

big fan of point of departure by robin cook asw!

I found tony's books excruciating to read but that's bc im crazy and think I know the inside of his mind like its my own so they might be good for you. his new book is FASCINATING but only in the sense of it exposing how big his messiah complex is. don't read any of his books if you're not down to hear about sex and/or technology.

oh a note: mandelson has written books but I don't like him so im not going to recommend them <3

tv/film

tony and gordon aren't really all that into big heartfelt chats about newlab, esp not together, but a few good docs have been made

blair and brown: the new labour revolution (bbc, 2021) - this is a classic, it's where I got my newlab start as a tender sixteen year old politics student u can't beat it! watch this one first

the blair years (bbc 2007)

out of the shadows and we are the treasury (here and here)

blair's thousand days (1 2)

if you're into tbgb, please please please watch the deal. I don't like much of the michael sheen as blair content, but the deal (2003) is so good.

if you want me to rec bits of tv from the newlab years that I think r cool and worth watching then send another ask and ill tell u! but obv theyre not much use if you're just getting into newlab :)

alastair did interviews with tony and ed miliband 6/7 years ago. not all about newlab, but very interesting to watch and observe the dynamics!

podcasts

matt forde of the political party has done interviews with a lot of newlab figures, from tony all the way to the more junior spads. I especially like the joint one he did with ed balls and alastair campbell, and the first tony one. these r less good for actually learning facts about newlab but really like listening to them as a way to sort of get into these ppls heads and observe them in a more casual setting. also a gordon interview asw !

if you can bear listening to george osborne talk (I can but others r more sensible) then political currency is also a good place to get lil tidbits of newlab gossip, bc ed balls is one of the hosts and he's super messy he loves chatting abt gordon.

ideology/boring stuff etc!

ok u can ignore this section if you want but these r some books about the ideology that underpinned newlab - I think it's fascinating!

the third way by giddens (literally the newlab bible and I think the only theory that blair took seriously)

crosland’s the future of socialism!! influenced gb and caused so much internal labour drama so evidently its excellent

if you want a really interesting essay on Iraq I recommend this

podcast on centrism that touches a lot on clinton/newlab/blair etc

oh and just for fun!!!!! here's a playlist of all the songs written canonically actually irl about tony blair.

lmk if you want any other recs!!!!!

[ro-botany]

hi! since you asked for questions…. any recommendations for how to get started digging into Grima Lore and Headcanons for someone who has only very recently discovered an interest in Grima?

Oh!! Hello anon, welcome!! You're absolutely in the right place for this. We've got so many posts about Grima in this little corner of the fandom.

I'm going to assume you have some familiarity with Fire Emblem Awakening - knowledge of the plot and who the major players are. If you aren't familiar though feel free to poke me about it and I can try to summarize for you!

Hmm... how best to ease you in....

For a brief overview of what is strictly canon, Grima's wiki page ain't a bad place to start. Good refresher of relevant story.

Moving into theorizing and headcanons...

Well, I'll shill myself first. :P My post about Parallels Between Grima and Frankenstein's Monster is, I think, a good spot to dip your toes in. It touches on some backstory and covers themes that pop up a lot in these parts; Grima's agency or lack thereof. There's also an Extended Reblog Chain with further discussion on those subjects.

I would be remiss if I didn't include Dawn's Robin = Grima Reincarnation essay. Robin and Grima being the same person is foundational to so much of the theorizing I'm about to link. Basically required reading lol.

Beyond that introduction... I'll direct you to felikatze's excellent Grimleal Studies Masterpost, containing links to a TON of cool theorizing and analysis by various authors; as well as Dawn's Masterpost of her own writings about the guy. Those should give you a TON to chew on. All of it is interesting imo, but the bolded links in Feli's post are good first picks. There's a good mix of subjects there, from in-universe history to interesting real-world parallels to deep dives into characters' psyches to wacky fantasy biology.

Lots of stuff not found in the masterposts (due to being more recent) can be found in my "grimleal studies" tag, also.

I hope you enjoy the reads!! Grima definitely can seem like a relatively bland big bad evil guy at first, but if you chew on him for a bit a lot of flavour comes out.

Also, consider this an invitation to send me asks about the guy whenever you want, I'm always down to talk Grima lore 👀

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Cartoon Network era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of the mid-late 2010s Dimensional era (shame they didn't get the best treatment and exposure on the channel, being the point when Cartoon Network was overplaying Teen Titans Go and pushing most other shows to the side) shows you've seen like: We Bare Bears, The Powerpuff Girls 2016, Mighty Magiswords, Ben 10 2017, OK KO Let's Be Heroes, Apple & Onion, Craig of the Creek, and Summer Camp Island?

We Bare Bears: Ice Bear though I loved them all. And as for thoughts, I really need to go back and watch all of this show as it was really good. Relaly solid. I think I just was in that hole of "If the status quo dosen't change I dont like it" which is still mostly true, it is kinda annoying to have a series long arc of someone wants to get a girlfriend with panda and not.. doing anything with that. But it's very clearly mostly slice of life shenanigans. ALso seems to have ended well

PPG: SIlico as he seems neat.. but I watched maybe one episode of this. I wasn't intrested, everything I heard was bad and looking back it seems half assed.

Mighty Magiswords: Yet another one from this era (and the last) I need to go back to, a true classic. Character wise I love Porhias for his voice and whole vibe. Though Vambre's legs will always have a place in my heart... moving on.

Ben 10 Reboot: Kevin having a bootleg omnitrix. This one I didn't see much of and while I may watch it some day for completions sake... it seems mid. Not as messy as ultimate or omniverse with some growth and really intresting ideas, but not nearly as intresting as the og or alien force seasons 1 and 2. It's firmly in the middle: trying hard to be funnier, inoffensive, but as bad as omniverse could get in it's worst moments... it had ambition. 2016 takes a much needed fresh start and just kinda... does a weaker version of the first show without the charm or real stakes or neat jack kirby-esque art style.

OK KO Let's Be Heroes: It's like asking me to pick my children you monster. But i'd have to go with Professor Venemous. He's a compelling villian, and while I feel we coudl've gotten more post shadowy figure takeover out of him (and may give him just that some day), he's an intresting villian whose bisexual as hell, clever and whose motivatoin and history with characters is great. The cast as a whole is though as this is the best show of the bunch here, though it has close compettition and you can probably guess who. It's fun, has well done character arcs, great action at a time Cartoon Network hated doing acction scnees (it's why SU got the shit end of the stick for a while and why this show ultimately did not last) and ended on one hell of a final episode (The actual climax is mixed but still pretty good given the time constraints). An all time classic and one of the best show's cn's put out and certainly one of my faviorites.

Apple and Onion: Onion, though ti's bittersweet given the whole Grahm Lihean thing. God dammit richard. A great show I wish i'd watched more of, really sweet and chill and like most of these as you pointed out , given the short end of the stick for teen titans not for me.

Craig of the Creek: Another all time faviorite and one I need to watch more of including the full story arc. But what i've seen of the story arc is excellent and the show as a whole is great, the recess successor I didn't know I wanted. It's still largely i'ts own thing but it's hard not ot see "Kids in their own elabroate clicks with terriotirY" and not think recess, but going way bigger than it's more grounded cousin. It's still clear most fantasy stuff is just the kids imaginations, but it dosen't hold back a fantastic show with a stacked roster of characters, a truly great world that just gets better and better, and a lot of nice character growth and moments. I'm not ready for it to end and boo HBO MAx for not wanting one of thier most succesful shows to go on. Favorite is JP. Eaisly. he's the boy.

Summer Camp Island: I"ve barely seen any of it I hear it's great and once again they screwed it over badly.

[snooze-mode]

Getting to know your mutuals

Well, it finally happened. I got tagged in a game. Thanks for the tag, @prince--esque !

What's the origin of your blog's title?

Admittedly it's the product of an in-joke, where I'm called The Eeper by one of the guilds I'm in on another game, because I have a costume set that's themed around being sleepy (Think a night cap, slippers, carrying a teddybear in one hand and a pillow in the other for a shield and weapon respectively). The actual title on my blog is just me being stupid and referring to myself as a bitch and being generally witchy.

Favorite fandoms:

I guess at the moment, Destiny 2. But that is ENTIRELY the lore side. or more specifically the group here on Tumblr. I stay WELL away from Twitter and Reddit, good lord.

OTPs + Ship names:

Gonna expose myself here but fuck it: Pearl & Marina - Pearlina (Splatoon). You can't tell me them cephalopods ain't gay as shit.

Favorite colors:

P I N K.

Favorite game:

Hmmm... I'd have to say Gravity Circuit as of right now. I've 100%ed that thing multiple times over now. Good music, good gameplay, good art. I love it (Hence why I still have some of my fanart for it as my header!)

Weirdest habit/trait:

I have that wombo combo of Autism and OCD. I think an easier question is to ask which of my habits is normal.

Hobbies:

Drawing & Writing mostly. Used to do so much more when I was younger but I got that burnout something fierce.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Honestly? A showrunner. I have so many stories I want to tell. I know I'm doing a degree in Politics but I'm an art school dropout at heart.

Something you're good at:

Bead weaving. Picked it up on a whim and had a lot of fun with it. Should probably bust out my loom again at some point

Something you're bad at:

Dancing. Good lord am I a terrible dancer, as much as I wish I wasn't.

Something you excel at:

ohhhh fuck this a hard one for someone with self-esteem issues good lord LOL I guess... I guess really like my writing? I don't feel like it's the best but I always scored high on creative writing assignments and some people seem to like some of the stuff I write?

Something you love:

Christmas time. I am not religious, but I love seeing all the lights go up, the food, the markets. It makes the long, wet and dark winters in the UK a little more bearable, I guess?

Something you hate:

People who take what they have (mostly money) for granted. I've always ended up in places wherein I'm mingling with people from higher economic statuses than me and it is... needlessly frustrating to see how frivolous they can be with what money they have, knowing how hard it is on the lower rungs.

Something you collect:

Couple of things I guess. Pretty rocks (I'm not beating the magpie allegations), plushies and pins, and I'm looking to start collecting theatre programs on the rare occasion I get to go see a musical!

Something you forget:

To take time to love myself. I'm far too guilty of running myself into the ground physically and mentally.

What's your love language:

Gift giving!!! I'm such a bitch for it, if I have the money I WILL go extra extravagant with gifts. I love getting people things to show them that I'm thinking of them, whether that be something they've mentioned off-hand or something I know they need.

Favorite movie/show:

Movie-wise? Probably either Into The Spider-Verse or How to Train Your Dragon. TV show? The Owl House.

Favorite food:

Hands down, Pizza. I will go feral for that shit.

Favorite animal:

Peach-faced Lovebirds or Plains Hognose Snakes! I've always wanted one or the other as a pet but unfortunately I live in a pet-free property and my family are staunchly dog-only people :(

Are you musical?:

Used to be. I played Guitar at one point, and used to be a Cellist in a youth orchestra. I also sung in a choir at one point, but my voice is shot from throat surgeries and I don't know if I'll ever be able to recover from them, lol.

Favorite subject in school:

Biology or History!

Least favorite subject:

Maths. Not even a competition. Numbers never made sense for me.

What's your best character trait?

Probably either my empathy or my stubborness, but both are double-edged swords. I'm extremely headstrong and hate quitting or not seeing a goal through to completion. That's why I'm on like my 5th year of undergrad rn, I've had so much shit get in the way. Buuutttt that makes it hard for me to seek help. I'm also a very high-empathy autistic, which is great in interpersonal stuff but I also cry at basically everything, like the time I saw a pigeon with no feet. I have no control, I'm just always in my feelings.

If you could change any detail of your day right now, what would it be?

I wish I was at my flat instead of my family home :')

If you could travel back in time, who would you like to meet?

Not sure, to be honest. Maybe my grandmother? I was named after her and I share my birthday with the anniversary of her death.

Recommend one of your favorite fanfics:

Honestly? Kinda cheating but @/Tigerspite's The Ouroboros Cycle and Two Way Mirror. Mind the ratings on the former! (Nothing explicit, but still rated M!)

If you got this far then, hi, sorry about all that! I'm... a bit too shy to tag anybody, because I'm very new to the fandom space and don't really feel like I'm close enough to any of my moots to tag them bhj,sbdjssd. I'd like to get to know you more, I'm just shy!!!

[spaydekingcayde]

woah I was tagged in a mutual game by @kroganloveinterest !! I am tagging my evil husband @meat-pvppet in this as well as my good friends @sovenderegn and @plagueprince and anyone else who’d like to do this.

What is the origin of your blog title?

Danse macabre — a French phrase meaning “Dance of Death,” is an art trope originating during the late medieval period that seeks to reminds us of the universal nature of death. The header I have to match is an example of such a piece — from 1493, by Michael Wolgemut (pictured below). It’s also a composition trope, as in Camille Saint-Saens’ composition that was also covered by the oh hellos in dear wormwood.

Favorite fandoms?

none I hate all you bitches (joke)

in all seriousness I’ve liked what the destiny community is, but I don’t really fully engage with any other fandom outside of it because I’m a narrow interests autistic lmao.

OTP(s) + ship name?

Unironically, Nebula + Cayde. Yes I know it’s oc/canon, idgaf gargle my nuts lol. nebbycayde is what I call them, and they’re the sole reason why I carrion icarian by Hozier was my number 1 Spotify wrapped song for 2024.

I’m also very very fond of their polycule, but there’s too many of them to condense into one ship name lmao.

Favourite color?

not purple (it’s purple)

Favourite game?

destiny (I have not seen the sun in weeks) (I also like sea of thieves)

Song stuck in your head?

…I’ve never had anything quite like a moose. (Primarily because my group was singing it tonight)

Weirdest habit or trait?

Not too sure? I do skin pick and bite my nails but that isn’t really “weird,” because a lot of people do it. I make a lot of clicking noises but that depends on if you consider vocal stims a weird autism trait.

Hobbies

Ploughing yer mum.

In all seriousness I enjoy writing and researching and picking up very specific knowledge about things, as well as re-enactment and the community stuff that comes with it.

If you work, what is your profession?

I have a major in Jack with a career in Shit (I do Nothing)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Astronaut! launch me up there.

But also a medieval scholar and general medieval history nut.

Something you’re good at?

getting bitches

In all seriousness I’m not too sure!

Something you’re bad at?

socialization

Something you excel at?

Slowly but surely procuring information about things and spewing them back to people, and I’m also Very literate I love reading and writing and comprehending literature

Something you love?

my husband : 3 and also my friends and my family

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff?

Destiny lore! But also Viking stuff and medieval history!

Something you hate?

insert obligatory edgy “myself” response. but the hatred I feel for myself is microscopic and nonexistent in the face of my hatred for cooked egg whites and their texture.

Something you collect?

Rocks, bones, pelts, all variants of trinkets and plushies!

Something you forget?

everything. every fucking thing

What’s your love language?

Food, physical touch, mutual infodumping, showing people things!

Favourite movie/show?

Unironically Nosferatu (2024) is really good, it’s the one I remember seeing most recently. I love Robert eggers

Favourite food?

Varies! but I like sushi, especially grilled eel.

Favorite animal?

Big list! But I’ve been particularly fond of coyotes as of late.

Are you musical?

No, I wish I was. I hope to change it though! I used to sing before I started T but it’s changed my voice so I’m hesitant now.

What were you like as a child?

don’t remember was probably annoying

Favorite subject in school?

English and literacy!

Least favourite subject?

math. I have a learning disability and was abused for it by my teachers

What’s your best character trait?

bitches love my autism swag

What’s your worst character trait?

I dunno. not that I’m perfect or anything but because if I think of one (1) of my flaws I will go on a terrible doom spiral and spend the rest of the night feeling like I’m the worst person on the planet.

If you could change any outcome of your day what would it be?

Nothing really! I just wish I wasn’t so tired at Yule today.

If you could travel in time who would you meet?

I would like to explore the medieval period! I also want to fight Saxo Grammaticus and also stand before Dante Alighieri in my cunty Dante getup (booty shorts with abandon all hope ye who enter here in glitter, tank top with no. 1 Virgil fan on it. Laurel wreath, stripper heels with “DANTE” on the fronts in glitter) just to watch that Italian disintegrate. and also because I would convince him to sign my copy of the divine comedy like meeting an author at a celebrity book meet

Recommend one of your favourite fics!

my own (they don’t exist 100% yet)

[marvelandponder]

15Qs and 15As!

Thanks for the tag, Marvel, this sounds fun! Tagging: @smallcrystals, @digikate813, @eddiescorner, and @bevinbrand if she feels like it :) Don't dox yourself on the 'where were you born' question tho, y'all. We're better than that. Are you named after anyone? Two people! My Uncle Stephen and my Nana (maternal grandmother). My brother was named after my dad's high school best friends

When was the last time you cried? I think the last time was a couple weeks ago watching anime. I love a good cry, I've embraced that that's how I express a lot of emotions

Do you have kids? Nope! I'd like to someday, but all in due time.

What sports do you play/have you played? I'm not a team sports kind of girl anymore, but I played soccer as a kid and really enjoyed that.

Do you use sarcasm? Usually only obvious sarcasm. Bevin and I will often use excessively obvious sarcasm with each other to express love. A little linguistic game we play with each other. We never enjoy spending hours and hours on the phone together. So unlike us! Where would you get that idea?

What is the first thing you notice about people? First thing? I feel like my anxiety is charge of that: looking out for how friendly they seem, what they laugh at (if they do), how approachable they might be. I had pretty bad social anxiety disorder from like 14 - 22ish and human beings tend to do the social thing once or twice.

What is your eye color? Hazel! Looks brown but up close you can see there's a lot of green around my pupils, too.

Scary movies or happy endings? My media diet is heavily skewed towards happy endings but every now and then, nothing satisfies like a good tragedy.

Any talents? People know I like the writing thing! I'm also learning to draw now and picking up guitar again for the first time since before uni!

Where were you born? A hospital about... 30 - 40 minutes away from me? I don't live in that city anymore, and haven't since I was 3, but we stayed in the same general province!

Don't dox yourself, folks!

What are your hobbies? Writing, drawing, guitar, going for bike rides or walks. Geeking out by myself or with friends! I'm also starting to learn some German and pick up a few more cooking skills.

Do you have any pets? Nah, wish I did. My living situation doesn't allow for it. But my dad has a dog who I love so much and get to visit! And my sister has two cats who used to live with us that are excellent cuddlers.

How tall are you? Uhhhhh I think 5'11? To use ancient Tumblr Lingo: Tol, not smol

Favorite subject in school? In Elementary - Middle School, it was English, because reading and writing. In high school, Psychology, Legal Studies, Guitars, History, or Writer's Craft

Dream job? Cool question, I'mma over-complicate it! For my career, it's either one of two things: Creative and/or helping people. Add another axis onto that: Stability vs. freedom. I like stability. It helps me feel happy and builds self-esteem to build stuff up. So since most of the creative jobs I'd be down to try have a lack of stability (and often crappy working conditions), I decided to start with stability and helping people! My current job is actually the goal I set for myself to get into in 5 - 10 years. So. Whoops! Got in early! I can't stay beyond this year (covering a mat leave) but wow has it been good experience. And it's cool shit that I like to think supports people in building something good for themselves.

Not a ton of creativity though, and so what's cool about life is that the time horizon isn't just right now, forever. The job I'm in now is a dream job of mine based on the criteria I set out (stable, treats me right, and helps people), but I have other dream jobs I'd like to also try out!

For example: I'd like to become a published author! And I'd also like to learn storyboarding to maybe try being a storyboards artist someday, or some job in animation.

What I like about the job I have now, too, is that I still have enough energy in and around my job to have a life outside of it. So I can build the creative skills that'll lead to cool stuff and opportunities down the line.

Having multiple dream jobs I think is realistic. And just kinda fun to not only achieve one thing, but look forward to what else I can do!

[pbandjesse]

Celia just left! It was so nice to have her over. Today was a bit exhausting though. Mostly because it was warm. But wearing a linen dress was absolutely the move. Like yes I could have been in less clothes but the dress was pretty cool and I was able to be fairly comfortable all day.

I slept alright. Not the best. I don't remember James leaving for work. But they would let me know when they were safely there. For some reason the alert I had set to tell me that isn't doing it right now which is annoying but it's fine.

I would get up at 745 and was dressed and out the door by 8. I had permed my lashes last night and the glue was not completely off of my eyes which felt very strange. I would have to peel it off because I wasn't supposed to get water in them for 24 hours. The new brand I got for sure was an easier time. The glue worked better. But it left more leftover glue on my lids which was weird. I don't think they are as intense but that might have just been the type of lid guard thing I used. Next time I'll try one of the other sizes.

I would get to hunt valley to pick up the crew. And we ended up having a really really excellent conversation. About history and war and media. Like it was such a good conversation. I told them I was listening to a podcast about Thomas Jefferson and why he sucks. And that lead to talking about history repeating itself. Which lead to talk about the current genocide in Gaza. And that eventually lead to American Gods, the show, and how black characters were represented. It was just really awesome. Ray said he would take a class to listen to me and I was very very flattered.

It would be a very productive day. I let Heather know I did not need a crew and would be working at my laptop. Callie was currently at my desk so I was a little flustered not knowing where to start quite yet. Kieran accidentally elbowed me in the head. Oops. But then I got my table back and got to work.

I mainly was working on the name tags and the layout for printing those. I would have 70 done by lunch. I had some people helping with adding the lanyards on but mainly this was my project. Some people's were funny like "your majesty" "queen" and while I still printed those Elizabeth says they have to have their actual name on the other side. We have to be the fun police a bit I guess.

It was nice to get away from my computer and I went up to arts to sit with friends and talk. I told some of the girls the story about me and James getting engaged and all the tragedy and drama around that. My dad being in the hospital. My sister passing away. The first day of camp. My first time sleeping at camp. Just so much happened. It was nice to tell the story though.

Merrin also told me about Jorge!! Jorge from last summer. They are dating now and apparently he still talks about me all the time. I can't wait til he's back. He's great. I cannot wait to have his group in art again.

I would have lunch in the office and sit with Callie. I read my book while she worked on forms. And eventually she would head back to painting at the latrine. And I would go up to arts to unpack boxes with Jeci. The boys were nice enough to deliver all my supplies for me. It was super helpful. And it was just nice working with Jeci. He is very sweet.

And it was nice to get all the materials sorted for my projects. I think I have everything now and it makes me feel really ready for the year.

I had really hoped that my lesson writing and supply buying would alleviate the pressure on the other specialties too but so far that's only half true.

Aaron still wants to do some of his own writing but he did say today he's expanding on my lessons. Good. It's not even that I care about my lessons so much vanity wise, but I just don't understand stressing yourself out writing new stuff. I'm just worried that he's going to burn himself out.

I had been sorting beads for an hour but then our new staff member, Corrina, came and I was thrilled to meet her. She is going to be the early American culture teacher (EAC for short) and she is a teacher already so she's going to do great. I showed her around camp. We sat down and looked at the binder I made. She said she was very impressed. And that was very flattering. We would walk all around and chat about the program and camp itself. When we got back to the office we ran into Kieran and he would drive us around the rest of camp on the gator. Eventually dropping me off at the art building. Corrina would walk back to the chickee to investigate her materials and he would stay with me for a bit to talk about the program and the changes. Both positive and negative. Things he is worried about and things we might change. And like I keep saying. I will change whatever. But there is only so much I can do if they want all these new programs. Like I can't make more time in a day. Im doing my best with the hours of the day I have.

But it was nice talking and venting about the weird stuff. But then it was 430 and it was time to go.

I stopped at the office (in my car) and said bye to Alexi, Elizabeth, and Heather. Checked about my plans for tomorrow and then was off. Into absolutely horrible traffic. Almost an hour!!

I listened to my podcast and tried to just enjoy the beautiful clouds. But I didn't want to be in the car anymore and was so happy to be home.

When I got inside James was listening to their podcast. I gave them a big kiss and went to say hi to sweetp. We put Crabcake outside. I cleaned the frog tank of some dirt and snails. Noticed that one of the frogs is shedding and it looked like he was wearing a little hoodie. So cute. Then I went to wash my face and put new lotion on before I went to sit outside with a pretzel stick and a soda.

Crabcake was making a whole lot of noise in the tank outside. Silly boy.

While I was out there I had decided to text Charlie and he actually texted me right back. It's been forever and I miss him dearly. We exchanged some pictures about our lives right now. He's in New Mexico and while he went through some tough times he's finding his way and things are beautiful right now. I'm so happy to hear that. I really hope I see him soon. Summer camp memories are always going to be intertwined with him for sure.

I was just enjoying laying on the swing. But then Celia was here! I was excited to have her meet Crabcake. She has some feedback about the enclosures. Thankfully already stuff I knew needed improvement. I told her about my grater plans for both inside and outside enclosures. And we all just sat on the ground chilling and talking. It was fun.

Eventually we flipped a coin if James would come join us for dinner (tails: James tags along, head:James heads home) and it was decided me and Celia would go alone. And James would stay home and do James things.

We went to mystic burrito. A place in highland town I wanted to try. I got their cheesey loaded nacho style French fries. She got the same but actually nachos. It was nice to sit and talk but I was also tired and struggling to hold the conversation at times. So it was really nice to just sit and listen to her talk about her job and working at a state park. Running into a childhood friend. The sexual dimorpha of sparrows. Creating a program about the Susquehannok people. It was really nice to listen.

When we got back to the house we had popsicles on the couch while James played a video game. We talked about books we like. And I bought a little series on eBay on her recommendation. It was a calm evening but also just really fun.

She left before 930. She should be getting home now. I went and took a shower while James got Sweetp inside and got our bed all ready for sleep. Where I am going to go to now.

Tomorrow is the last day of the week of work projects! It still feels like there is so much to be done. But also we did so much. I hope it is a good and productive day. Wish us luck. I love you all. Good night!!

[st-louis]

hiii could u tell me what u like about metal music? was there one band or song that got u hooked on the genre? i'd love to be able to appreciate it or even like it, but i find it kind of impenetrable tbh!

so some of what i like about it IS the impenetrability and the fact that you really have to dig in if you want to learn about it. and i've always liked loud/extreme music even from a young age.

i got into it through punk and like the CLASSIC classic heavy metal like black sabbath, judas priest, iron maiden, mötörhead, etc. while that stuff is pretty fun it's not like...very extreme or ultimately even very interesting to me.

from there, i got into a specific genre of doom/stoner/sludge, things like electric wizard (although they later turned out to be like crypto nazis which was SUPER disappointing because dopethrone was one of my favorite albums of all time :(). other good bands in this genre are hebosagil and vile creature

and then i slowly started getting into black metal. i think what really appealed to me was the variety you get even within the sub-genre, the rawness of a lot of it, the rebellion, just the feel of it. idk how to describe it just the whole history, including the unsavory bits, was really fascinating to me. you know when you just hear something that SOUNDS like you? that was how finding this music was to me.

again i can't really pick out ONE song or band that did it, but here are a few black metal-related songs on my "perfect songs" playlist, idk if any of them will appeal to you but this is like a pretty broad example of the sort of things you can find:

agalloch, "black lake niðstång" (the buildup to the part around 14:30........ the best)

spectral wound, "woods from which the spirits once so loudly howled"

véhémence, "l'étrange clairière: partie ii"

havukruunu has excellent pagan black metal

batushka, "yekteniya 1"

anything by vermilia, her whole latest album (also pagan black metal but more atmospheric and less warlike than havukruunu)

afsky's latest album is great

ellende's ellenbogengesellschaft is like a beautiful sweeping epic

but like part of the appeal is that there's so much. there's all of that stuff and then there's like really raw stuff like pa vesh en or even black 'n roll like misþyrming. if i want to dig, there's no limit to what i'll find (most of what i listen to is in this subgenre so this is really just a few bands off of the top of my head). idk, i just really enjoy everything about it except for the fact that i have to vet the bands to make sure they aren't n*zis and even then i miss some sometimes. :|

[seancamerons]

Sean 😊

i have 3 of these. will say sean is my favorite. thank you. all this is under a cut bc i kind of went lengthy. 💕💙

he died in the army. (self explanatory)😥😥

he and emma reunite in the future bonus: emma is divorced or separated and working toward a divorce, spemma as amicable exes and they naturally pick up from a more mature pov/grown a lot separately and grow more fond between their history and mutual feelings and such and are in much better places in their life. best case scenario. perhaps sean attends janny's wedding and is the best man, emma is naturally manny's maid of honor (manny was emma's) and spinner got ordained bc jay can't marry himself who also was ordained and even tho spinner/manny were amicable exes as well and despite spemma not working out all remained friendly with little animosity </sorry habitual tangent the happy ending. down the road even emma and sean move in together and start their new lease make up for lost time could have a semiopen ended ending happy tho. but implied of happy days to come. this is my favorite end!

i do have a stretch one, this is a crack theory hear me out on!!

so basically he falls in love with army!anya. ok i don't have a lot of knowledge about army life or whatever but this is my crack theory and i have limited knowledge based on things I've heard and stuff so yeah.

and to make it a little more interesting, up the ante - he is her boss its kind of frowned upon or forbidden. when for starters for instance she's new girl on the block and freshmeet they don't get on so well. she is newbie. she's also an attractive girl a little girlie and the other girls in their group don't jive so well. she has 1 or 2 people in the group she's friendly enough with. sean initially doesn't like her at all. anya is no push over and isn't giving up and is determined to get better. sean is constantly at every turn making an example out of her of what not to do, she's embarrassed but that only drives her to work harder and strive for perfection or excellence. she doesn't wanna imress him, she's not a fan either. so the feeling is pretty mutual.

she even thought if she was in danger, he'd leave her behind, or not help her if she needs it or if her life depended on it. he always caught her doing things wrong, he'll always call her out on it. he's pretty cactus like and she's like a baby kitten, or a balloon that his pickly thorns pop. she's lost her temper got demerits (or strikes which lead to meetings and write ups) seems like he has it out for her and his mission is for her to be sad. he once made her cry bc she confronted him for this laundry list of things and he brushed her off and told her she's a coward and she should go home that she's hopeless. she did consider that, but she didn't want to disappoint herself or her parents.

pre anya he didn't have a hard time learning and being accoustome to habits and routine so with sean moving up the ranks sean is a lil closed off, bossy, moody, and demanding and anya initially hates him!

he's always catching her doing the wrong thing and making her do the work, but it's cause he believes in her. he's also like it or not attracted to her even though they have little in common.

so one night the rest of their army colleagues are out at a bar in the city to cut loose and have a good time. it had been a hard week for everyone including anya. they have some drinks and get to talking. sean surprises her when he defends her honor at the bar and decks the guy for trying to do something (use your imagination)

or possibly anya has a ex out wherever they're stationed the romance they had turned sour or ended somehow unrelated and stuff and he grabbed anya by the arm and demanded to take his hands off her in so many words or to leave her alone, she doesn't want to talk. sean read the situation pretty well. did i mention he's built?

the guy gets tough, but sean's tougher. so he becomes more persistent, insults sean and he comes over and sucker punches him bc she wasn't listening and neither was he when sean initially walked over to stick up for her (not like she needed his help considering) and wham! he's on the floor and then sean tells her to run and he takes her by the hand on the count of 3 they flee to another place closer to base like a park after dark before curfew so they have some time to sober up, grab a bite to eat before they get back to base.

he finds out that for anya and sean, it's a small world. they're both from toronto and attended the same school at different points like a few years apart (perhaps she was a middle schooler when he was in school at dcs or he was in wasaga that period of time but eventually got ged after his short stint in jail and we know the rest!) and any told her story and he was so impressed how she was able to pick her self up. he asked if she knew his mentor mr. simpson and she filled him in a bit on him. sean and Simpson still talk but at that point it been a few months with their busy lives and all but he admired that she didn't give up on herself and when things got tough, like sean always did and how his temper often got him into trouble. she heard stories his reputation for that stuff. she admitted she was afraid of him when she made the connection with first impressions. she proved him wrong, and is quick to call his bluff. they are team mates without sports and dating would be wrong on a lot of levels but the trust, attraction, and stuff.

he knows he can't give her preferential treatment, he wont hold her hand and he wont go easy on her, and no one was the wiser, sometimes they'd be able to get away and fool around and spend nights away on leaves or vacation far away, and when they're still working or on the clock or whatever behind closed doors they can be what they want and then in the world its like they are well behaved and model soldiers and so on. they get by. he knows he can't like be public with her, no kissing/pda, no sex, not too much alone time, getting caught can't emphasis CANNOT happen but they can talk when they can,he'll always help her and maybe he wont be so mean to her and realize he was once new and trained her like owen did more to grow into and hone skills she'll use in the future regardless! he wrote her recommendation letters for a college so she can get accepted to a university to study some topic she's interested in idk what anya would study so open ended!!

for a time they had a secret romance, no one ever found out about and then they bode time until it was free, coast was clear. for the first 2 years of their relationship it was a double life tho no one knew and they kept it that way but they hated it too because they'd really fallen deep for one another no matter how hard they tried to fight it/deny it and were mutually invested by then. they had goals, future plans and were supportive but they always promised they'd get through it together whatever it took. (ha see what i did there!) they taught each other a lot in their time once they got over the ihateyoustage and critical beginning. from the night at the bar she saw him in a new life. she'd judged him so quickly. they worked well as a team and everyone was proud of anya too. she was thriving in her new life. she was also happy. happier than she had ever been, she had true companionship and comradery. she made a lot of friends and got to try many different jobs. she never gave up. came out of her shell.

things improved obvi between sean/anya and the rest of her career seemed to flourish and promotions and opportunities came pouring in and eventually she had to pick and choose what to pursue and what to choose and sean would back her 100% in any way he can.

and much later down the line the chips fell where they did and they were able to be in a relationship because he was no longer her boss at that point and it wasn't such a risk and they moved in together and on a family weekend anya introduced her to her parents. mama approved of her. they were free to be who ever they wanted to be. I'm a sucker for love. I'm a sucker for happy endings but yeah. that's the sean/anya crack fanon/heancanon! haha idk props to rachel who is on here as @reggiephantom who idk maybe 2 years ago and i went back and forth talking about this headcanon/story idea.

thanks for the ask/message!💌

-

💌 ask me about a degrassi character/fictional character to rewrite/expand upon

[rhxpleys]

a ramble on rhea's reign

i have been ruminating on rhea's booking recently, but recent events on raw, plus a bit of news from fightful, has really got me thinking and well. i think rhea's reign is going to be LONG.

totally incoherent thoughts are below lol

so. she has been sparsley used in a wrestling capacity--especially post backlash--falling primarily into a manager role, which for people like me who really love to see her wrestle, is annoying as hell... but i digress. her insistent interference with dom's matches in particular works in a narrative capacity--because it ultimately shows that dom cannot get a win without her. she is frequently involved in the mens side of things by proxy of being apart of TJD, and whilst it was fun for a while, people are really starting to get annoyed by it--myself included. but ultimately, it keeps her name in people's mouths and she is on tv every single week. the numbers she pulls on social media are excellent, she gets great crowd reactions, has some of the best selling merch--like, the girl is ooooover.

(i do wish that they would pull the trigger on some intergender stuff with her--because rhea has been vocal about wanting to make history--and she has experience with it from RCW... but anyway.)

i have wondered, for a while, what the deal was here? but given some recent bits of info from fightful it's becoming a bit clearer. it seems that rhea is minimising her time spent in the women's division so that the scene outside of the title can flourish--and that seems pretty obvious now that becky/zoey/trish, is The women's story on Raw. The women's tag stuff on RAW has especially gotten a lot more time recently... and i would say that a lot of that is to do with rhea happily taking the backseat and only really being invloved with TJD stuff.

She is seemingly unconcerned with is going on with her own creative which is fairly honourable (also, A Choice imo)... and given how much Rhea is liked backstage, how often other women want to work with her, how often she is put over by other talent, how that comment about her allowing her opponents to get more offense in would-be squashes, how often she appears all over RAW? Yeah, doesn't surprise me how she has opted for this atm--she's too fucking nice, and tbh, a consumate professional. (during the royal rumble, rhea bumped and sold like a maniac for every woman who got in the ring...... it is really a wonder she's in the position she is? nope) BUT... does it piss me off that she is being used in this way? oh yeah. but after becky ripped her a new one the other evening in a delicious promo, i don't envision it being like this for much longer (i hope). becky (theoretically) getting into her head about being a 'main event sidepiece', and how she isn't worthy of the title, and then in a promo from the week prior she gets sort-of put down by raquel... like, my goodness, finally, a bit of set-up for some stuff down the line? crazy.

rhea, the "dominant" champion actually having to prove herself to would be competitors is an interesting narrative, given that she is THE division heel? fun, her character work in TJD has been great--lets do more. ...and then rhea, despite being the champ, is not being treated as the main-eventer in her own faction--and i think bringing up a bit of bitterness on her end would be a good idea.

(and oh my god... when she or dom eventually turn on one another? sgdhjjddjdjddk) people are blaming this on her knee and saying that she should be stripped of the title (LOL)... which i think is kind of hilarious and disingenuous given that nattie has been deadlifted into a riptide all over the house show circuit, and that she can just casually pick up damian's big ass. you cannot do that shit if your knee is absolutely fucked. girl has been working with these injuries since she was a teen by the looks of it, and well, it hasn't stopped her yet.

but ultimately... i think this is going to be a slow burn reign. and given that we are three months in and rhea has done nothing but piss people off, it can only improve. they're not throwing the women's roster at her to beatdown, because who is she going to wrestle for the next 'x' amount of months if everyone is already beaten. they're only lightly teasing her feuds with raquel and becky, and they're reaaaaaally dragging out this nattie feud. competitors need to be built, and RAW, despite what certain IWC members say, has plenty of women who can go toe-to-toe with rhea--and best believe, rhea can--AND WILL--go out of her way to make her smaller opponents look credible.

Candice, Indi, Zoey, Piper, Tegan, will all make great opponents, but there needs to be some investment in them, and we have actually seen this with Zoey in particular. Becky and Raquel (and maybe Trish) are currently the big two (three)... but i am also hoping for Beth Phoenix to turn up again--and that is a match that Rhea is on record wanting quite badly.

(i am also expecting some roster jiggery at some stage because the Smackdown side is absolutely crammed with all the upper-card gals...)

anyway, they aren't firing on all cylinders yet--because this is going to be a long reign imo. they aren't exhausting all the feuds right off the bat, because there is a real risk of burnout if it all goes a bit too fast.

right, that's all i got. this is too fucking long already.

[cartograffiti]

August '24 reading diary

Lots of novellas and lots of fantasy this month, mostly continuing series!

Sheine Lende, the prequel to Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe, was just wonderful. "Shane" is a Lipan Apache teenager in the 70s in an alt Earth setting with fairy rings and animal ghost magic. Shane helps her mother run a search and rescue operation, but when her mother vanishes while searching for a pair of missing siblings, Shane steps up to find all three with the help of her friends and family, no matter where in the world, or beyond it, they've been transported. Little Badger writes with a lot of beauty, effective emotion, and specificity in characters and worldbuilding. I wolfed it down.

Novella o'clock started with Seas and Geetings by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. They've been doing a series together of books about people in entertainment falling in love through the social hub of a producer who makes both porn and feel-good Christmas movies for a cypher of the Hallmark Channel. The mains of this novella are a bit peripheral to that, the best friend of one main (a lifestyle brand goddess) and the bodyguard of another. Lots of fun, they manage to be both a power couple and very messy, it's screwball comedy and they're obsessed with each other in a fun way. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I understood more of the Twilight jokes in the plotline of a parody musical being staged on the cruise ship, and it took a while for me to warm up to the sex scenes because mommy kink does nothing for me, but intellectually I really appreciate it in an f/f book.

A very long book: Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, a cryptic, sometimes dense, horror novel about... Well, it's about a family in Virginia that discovers their new house keeps gaining rooms, and doors into a seemingly endless labyrinth, and it's also about the history of the home videos they took there, a blind man who wrote a manuscript analyzing the film, and a young tattoo apprentice who analyzes that. Some of the text exhausted me with the sheer volume of citations (I think mostly or entirely fictitious) and self-analysis between the different layers of the narrative, and I was a lot more interested in the house than anything else. The unusual formatting completely worked for me, though, with pages of text placed to physically enhance the experience, sometimes forcing me to rotate the book. I can see why it has a large following of fan analysts, and I'm glad to have formed my own impression of it!

Two Penric & Desdemona novellas from this year that I hadn't gotten my hands on yet, Demon Daughter and Penric and the Bandit. Excellent new installments dealing with the problems of very young sorcerers and very young demons (paired together accidentally, naturally), and Pen and Des doing a little fetch quest with a soft-hearted criminal who doesn't realize he's not the one with the upper hand. You can read these chronologically or in pub order, but either way, not starting here.

A really solid disappointment this month in Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. I'd been interested in her books for a while, but I won't be picking up any others now. This was inoffensive, but remarkably predictable, and the characters in their late 20s and early 30s consistently read to me as people 10 years younger. It was also imho far too long for the amount of plot.

I was also very minorly disappointed in The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older. This is the second Mossa and Pleiti mystery about Holmes and Watson-ish girlfriends in space, and I liked this case, but the personal storyline was about Pleiti feeling insecure in their rekindled relationship, which I didn't find as fun as book 1.

Picked another Agatha Christie to read at random, in the ongoing project to read/reread all her stuff. This one was By the Pricking of My Thumbs, a particularly creepy Tommy and Tuppence case in which they try to hunt down an acquaintance of a recently deceased aunt, only to be drawn into retirement home gossip, organized crime, cold cases of murdered children, a quest for a location in a painting and its artist, and a secret room. Not in my top tier of Christies, but very fun.

And two more of the very silly and very scary cosmic horror detective adventures about Whyborne & Griffin! This time Fallow, which is about fungus horror (yay! yippee!) in Kansas, exploitation of people who hit rock bottom, and homophobia; and Undertow, which is another f/f novella about Whyborne's secretary Maggie having an adventure with Persephone the fish-woman while they're away. It's about whaling and xenophobia and murder, but it's also very much about monsterfucking, and JL Hawk had the vision to make in monsterfucking from both women's perspective, which is simply correct and ideal, thank you.

[snickerdoodlesandsausages]

You are not dumb and have probably tried many things, but here’s what has helped me:

I absolutely cannot do intermittent goof-off rewards. I’m either in Work Mode or I’m not, and I can’t let myself out of Work Mode before I’m done or it’s over.

I often find it easier to get started if I have to accomplish a certain amount of Task before I have to leave to go do a fun thing that I will be sad if I have to cancel. It works best if it’s that day, but a day or two out can still work ok if the thing is exciting enough.

The fun thing can be seeing a friend or playing a video game or watching an extra episode or three of a show before bed, the important thing is that there is a limited period of time I have to accomplish the work and the promise of free time/friend time as the prize. If you have control over deadlines, try to give yourself ~half as much work as you think you COULD accomplish if you were Properly Dedicated, as it will decrease the chances of panic and despair and increase the chances of Extra Free Time, which is a) wonderful and b) will allow you to recover from adrenaline-fueled hard stuff, which takes a lot out of you.

I think there are 2 reasons this works for me:

1) race -> adrenaline for me, which is the only thing other than dopamine that will get me to do stuff, and

2) the thought of Infinite Work immediately makes my brain rebel. I need rest and playtime and if I don’t schedule enough of it every week and hold it as sacrosanct as any work obligation, I will take that time when I’m not supposed to have it. It’s ok to have goals, but “a year’s worth of work in a month by hyperfocusing for 8 hours a day” is not realistic and is a great way to get burnt out and injured if you somehow do it, and is a pointlessly discouraging way to think about yourself and your work if you don’t. Buying myself time to goof off with maximum delight and intention is much more motivating.

Another thing that helps is if I go to another place to work where I only have my work stuff, so that I can’t immediately act on thoughts of “I should really do my laundry” or “do I have enough milk in the fridge” or whatever, and I have to work around whatever I forgot to bring. Forgot my charger? Guess I have to get this done before my battery dies. Don’t like this song? I’m not in charge of the playlist anyway.

A third thing that helped when I had to do Infinite Notes for a history class was timing how long it took me to read and summarize each paragraph and work to get my times down. I started at 5 minutes, then worked my way down to 4 then 3 then sometimes I could do it in 2, WITHOUT doing it any worse; I learned how to pick out and write down what I actually needed to know much faster.

If there’s an equivalent “task that takes 5 minutes or less that you have to do a bunch of times” for any of the steps of Draw Comic (plan poses for one panel? Line art of one object? Flat colors on one object? Idk but you probably do) you might give it a shot. Don’t relax your standards, but I guarantee there is a bite small enough that you can do it right in that amount of time. You’re not here to churn out mediocre garbage, you’re here to achieve excellence efficiently. When you’re done, take 30 seconds for a deep breath, food/water, fix your posture/stretch, then dive right into the next one and try to do it faster and better so that your momentum doesn’t die.

Racing is a really tiring way to work, so don’t heap too much on yourself. Don’t do more than you need to meet your deadlines, and don’t work ahead without plans for your time off.

Does anybody know any faster ways to get yourself into Work Mode? The way I try to slowly build up momentum by allowing myself to just do nothing uninterrupted until the urge to get work done comes naturally doesn't work because my Doing Nothing can and will get interrupted, so it's like trying to build a card house while locked in an elevator with five ferrets who hate it in the elevator and want to get out but don't understand that you have to build the card house in order to open the door, so they keep knocking it over because they're bored and anxious and keep stopping you from doing what you all want to get done.

[absolutebl]

BAD BUDDY - Ep by Ep Snarkfest

Not sure if this will be a trash watch or not, but are you ready for this? 

But first... I thought it might be fun to see what my predictions were back in 2020 when GMMTV first announced this show. 

I should acknowledge that I publicly stated, many times, that I thought Nanon would NEVER do a BL. So this is me eating crow: 

DEETS! 

Origin: Book (Behind the Scenes) adaptation of a enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, Romeo & Romeo, secret relationship, university sports setting y-novel 

MDL Listing | Trailer 

Wait I’ve seen them do BL before? Seriously? Fine. Nanon Korapat in My Dear Loser+ like everything GMMTV not BL. Ohm Pawat in He’s Coming to Me, Make it Right 1&2, Dew the Movie, The Shipper + like EVERYTHING BL.

Side dishes: Drake (My Tee, 2gether, 1000 Stars) and Marc (My Gear and Your Gown)

My 2020 Predictions: It’s from GMMTV with BL director Backaof attached (1000 Stars, He’s Coming to Me, Dark Blue Kiss, Still 2gether), so it’s gonna happen. Both actors and director have a history of picking quality projects with decent scripts, and production values are likely high. Should be excellent but low heat. Ohm will have his shirt off a lot.

Shall we begin? 

Episode 1 - Oh well, fuck me, it’s actually great

They had me the moment Pran took his earbuds out and put them carefully into a case before going into battle. This show is fantastic. 

Officially, as of this moment October 29, 2021, I’m declaring there to be too many gay engineering students in BL for me to keep track of anymore. Bad Buddy has defeated me. It is the gear the broke the smock-covered back. 

Pat’s little sister is my spirit animal I LOVE HER. I’m sorry tho, I can’t call her Pa, so I’m changing the spelling to Pah henceforth. (It’s Thai to English, all spelling is merely a figment of your deranged imagination anyway.)  

The pace was great, this was a FAST moving opening episode. Ironically, that means I’m now concerned about pacing - a lot happened already, how are they going to daw this out into 12 eps unless it’s super slow burn? Then again, this is based on a Y-novel, so should be better than normal Thai BL (although the horrible looming shadow of My Gear and Your Gown is RIGHT THERE) so trust is thin on the ground.

All that said, we are off to a GREAT start and so far I’m loving this show. (I would have bet good money Ohm would be topless first, tho.) Also, yes we all GOT the Romeo & Juliet bits GMMTV, thank you for clipping us upside the head with those. Is Drake actually playing Tybalt? In which case, who’s Mercutio? (Randomly: does the kid playing Wai look like Heeseung from Enhypen to anyone else, or is it just me?) 

How cute was that bit where they subverted the wound tending trope though? Pran was like “You must be joking.” I got quite a chuckle out of it. 

Little to no seme uke with these boys, which is good, suits the actors’ dynamic. 

Looks like GMMTV is gonna both start (1k*) and end 2021 on a high note. Fingers crossed. Honestly it just so nice to have them back in the game. 

Episode 2 - Damnit, It Continues to be Good

The first quarter of this ep, with them trying to keep their friendship groups apart is so flipping funny. And then I remembered, the best of 2gether was when it did stuff like this. (That drunk scene with Fong flipping his shoe, Gunsmile in the dolly, and Tine driving air still makes me laugh). GMMTV’s stable excels at this stuff, it’s how School Rangers kept going all these years. And Ohm and Nanon are two of the best. It makes me feel like I am in safe hands when they do a montage run like this. 

Also, seriously, the amount for flirting these two do over text is off the chart. And should we talk about the epic eye fucking? Eh, probably not, it speaks for itself. Or doesn’t speak per say... just eye fucks. 

Epic Eye Fucking is the name of my punk band.

Amused to see the combined the mistaken identity game with the rooftop trope. Oh and post-it love note, haven’t seen that trope in a long while. 

I hate hate hate the scene with Heeseung - sorry, Wai - at work at the bar. Which means i really hate Pat’s friends now too. In fact I hate all their friends, this is a blanket statement - GMMTV rectify thyself. I want to love friendship groups in BL, not hate them. V annoying. I hope they all get booted from school for egregious shed collapsing. 

FOLK my love! I have missed you. 

NO SINGING. Thailand, we have talked about this at length! 

So they were separated eternally for being in a band together? 

I get it. They were singing in a BL. I’d have done it too. 

Meanwhile tickle is apparently a good word in every language. Although in Thai strawberry will forever be my favorite. 

BL = closing elevators on the good stuff since Cherry Magic. 

Episode 3 - Is this the one true scion of SOTUS?

I’m getting a serious “inheritor of our SOTUS forefathers” feel from this show (NOT a bad thing) but I’m not entirely sure why. It’s not the narrative, maybe it’s more an aura of confidence that’s the result of a combo of capable acting & solid production? Maybe you lot can help me figure this out? 

How smooth was the guitar pick student ID flirting action? Also a never before seen love offering. Adorbs. And then Pat paying for both their noodle bowls later. 

Boy is GOOD. 

Also, word’s second most handsome pick. First one? Here: 

I love Pat & Pran’s dynamic, it’s this perfect combative competitive flirtation. Reminds me a bit of PeteKao at the beginning of Kiss, although with less of an edge to it. 

Also reminds me of grade school. Honestly, when is Pat just gonna pull on Pran’s pigtails and dip them in ink? Break a slate over his head?* 

* (10 points to anyone who gets that reference.) 

This is a damn good script. 

It lets Pat, in particular, push right up to the edge of confession and then backtrack or turn it into a joke constantly (maybe intentionally, may unconsciously). This has the effect of jerking Pran around, but not maliciously. It means, i think, if they ever are going to actually get anywhere as a couple it’s gonna have to be Pran who really makes the first move, since he’s the only one who has the overt capacity for sincerity. 

It’s very clever. Makes me wonder if the original y-novel was this well done or if this is part of Ohm and Nanon’s dynamic coloring their characters. 

Question for y’all. 

Is “fighting with chopsticks” the new euphemism for “dueling with swords”? 

Asking for a friend. 

Oh and here’s a reminder, because I keep needing it with Pran’s friends. 

Apparently Episode 3 feels compelled to do a major TROPE DUMP. 

The appearance of the meet me in the library trope made me especially happy. Romance in libraries is a favorite setting. Also them pressed together in the elevator thing is fun, doesn’t pop up often in BL these days (Cherry Magic excepted). Plus some more predictable BL tropes: 

side eye, 

look of love, 

stare from a close distance, 

black & white striped shirt, 

lie on ground, 

central aperture framing, 

head pat, 

and so forth. 

On a serious note, the way Pat & Pran’s friends are driving them right back into the corners that their families did as children is really fucking sad. But it sure makes for excellent external tension. 

Looking forward to another week of all I care about is Friday, and not for the normal reasons. 

Episode 4 - annoying friends remain annoying

Look they’re starting to really bother me in an imma fast forward kinda way, they’re no longer adding to the story. Although it is fun to see them tricked into working. But I like to see anyone tricked into working. Leave me alone with a child and I’ll have them conducting regression analysis in about half an hour. (That is NOT a euphemism.) 

Pat wandering into Pran’s room and then just grabbing a book and setting up residence made me think that these two are also a puppy/cat pairing. 

I like the not-a-faen-fatale but more a friend from their past who knows who they are to each other. Cute twist on a tired archetype. Also I am fining myself basically delighted whenever Pat’s sister shows up. Why are sister characters such fun in BL? 

Yes but also... tiny impossible but very cute girl ship has set sail! 

Okay but how many times is Pat gonna call Pran cute or his boyfriend in this one episode? I mean boy actually couldn’t flirt any harder. And then to pretend he likes a girl. Tut to the tut tut. 

Pacing on this one continues to be excellent I’m still excited for where the next one is going. So far, this show is a win. 

Meanwhile someone asked me to go into why Nanon’s acting is so amazing, so I donned my professional-esk hat and had a stab at it here. 

I’d like to see them start redeeming the friendship groups at this point. Pat’s should try helping him win the girl and Pran’s shoudl recognize his misery and try to cheer him up. They can remain at odds with each other, but we (the audience) really need to like them more now. 

See you next week! Same Pat time, same Pat place. 

Episode 5 - they boyfriends

These two are basically boyfriends already. I can’t take the morning routine cuteness: pet names, ordering each other around the kitchen, stealing food. 

Thus the terrible date with The Girl (TM) was appropriately terrible and meanwhile... 

So Pat finally figures out his feels, isn’t jelly of a girl (is jelly of a boy). I kinda like that the jelly is being used to determine identity rather than just as a dumb plot device. 

This is a clever little romance. 

Thank goodness we only had to listen to one song tho. 

Meanwhile Pat is like, oh shit did we actually fall in love in high school and I never realized it? I love this kind of trope. Himbo alert! Big dumb bi boy utterly out of touch with his feelings is just too delicious. Also Ohm got to be subtle for a change, showing this whole remembering of old heartbreak just with nuances of facial expressions at the music concert. 

Question: At the Wai Pat confrontation scene, how did Pat end up on the ground? Did he just decide to fall down in the middle of a fight? I’m confused. 

Finally... GREAT FUCKING KISS.

Look I was gonna give kiss of the year to SamYu (and I still will because, frankly, Taiwan is just better about this stuff) but this one was REALLY good. Much more than I expected of GMMTV, although not from Ohm. 

We all knew he could kiss like a dream from Make it Right, and he was fricking 16 in that series. Apparently some things DO improve with age. 

Anygay, VERY nice boys. Thank you. 

And then Pat’s face. That tiny lost smile: absolute joy and then crushing disappointment in knowing reality won’t let them be together - almost in the same breath. Beautifully done. 

(A DM ask about this kiss has made me natter more so here it is...)

THAT KISS 

I don't analyze the experience of BL as a watcher all that much (more just type out my snarky reactions) but I was asked, so here’s more about Ohm and the kiss. 

I think that smile was a bit of everything: euphoria at having his feelings returned but also the hopelessness of their situation and also a brave front and also first love nerves. It was very complex. Ohm knocked it out of the park this ep but I've seen Dew so I had absolutely no doubt he could do it. 

I love that the director and story had Nanon carry the weight of the emotional burden for most of the first half of the show and now suddenly Ohm has picked it up. It's very cleverly done and could only happen with two extremely good actors.

I do think we are in for a very bumpy ride going forward as a result though. Both of their reactions to the kiss are foreshadows. 

How will they cope with the pressure of friends and family and secrecy if/when they are in a relationship?

Will they smile or wince or both, like Pat? 

Will the joy of first love be enough to keep them on the metaphorical rooftop together? 

Or will one of them run, as Pran did?  

If production is smart with the talent (and clearly they ARE), we'll get flip flopping of who carries the emotional burden of the narrative for the next 5 eps or so until The Dreaded Episode 11 (TM). 

Pacing is different in this BL though (this kiss came early) so DOOM might descend at ep 9/10 or even sooner. It’s hard to predict, this one. Yet another reason just to sit back and enjoy the ride. 

EXTRAS 

Pat & Pran’s language with each other: pronouns, honorifics, and endearment/insult teasing. 

More about the kiss and the dialogue on the rooftop and queer identity. 

Moving on from The Kiss That Broke The Internet. 

Episode 6 - Show Me the Seme 

I was thinking Bad Buddy was pretty much was not going to have a seme/uke dynamic (Thailand’s skipped it before), but in this episode we got us a classic seme active pursuit vrs tsundere uke resistance - so I guess for now, we back to normalcy.

Director Aof pretty much dropped in half the tropes of the Thai BL arsenal into this one episode, so my heart is full, but I think that was mostly to keep the pacing on point since this ep didn’t advance the story much: 

touch my lips and think of kissing, 

beach frolic, 

close stare, 

crash into me, 

drag baby around, 

boys contemplating water. 

The parents are whack immure arses but hay, Love Sick started that nonsense - it’s a grand Thai tradition. 

I kinda love Pat showing up on the bus. I literally said, “You little shit” while I was watching. Also, how much do I love Ohm’s “I’m a self satisfied little shit” face? SO MUCH. 

The dealing with sulky boyfriend at the marketplace was adorable, because of course Pran likes the bits of Pat that are most unlike himself, like the sunshine teasing. And Pat is just learning how to activate that to get his boy into a better mood. 

We ended with the best confession that isn’t a confession meets flirting but make it ridiculous scene in BL. It was great. Pran basically said, 

“Boy, you wanna piece of this, you gotta court me proper.” 

It was adorbs. Also, his smile when Pat calls him his boyfriend in the stinger = fantastic! 

Finger licking good, one might even say. 

I am anticipating these two giving us one of the best and most dramatic public claiming sequences ever. 

Don’t disappoint me, Bad Buddy.

Next week.... secret boyfriends trope launches at last. 

Episode 7 - Oh They Trope-Verse Seme-Switches! 

Okay I figured it out with this episode, Pat & Pran are classic example of no seme/uke, they’re also classic trope switches. I’m glad that’s settled in my brain now. 

I’ll talk about how I came to this conclusion in a moment, but FIRST... we need to talk about these two: 

I’m not sure GMMTV has the guts to give us a full on GL sub plot, but they are absolutely setting one up. But then they throw Wai with a crush on Pah into the mix, so ??? 

This will get v messy for Pran & Pat no matter which direction Pah goes with her choices. Which is very clever of the writers. I love it. I am ALWAYS in favor of clever writers. And you know I like messy. So I’m looking forward to wherever this sub-plot goes, GL payout or no. (Although I recognize there are gonna be some seriously disappointed tumblr rants if there is no actual GL.) 

Pran unleashing his pent-up flirt is a thing of beauty. Also the not-dating dating musical montage was adorable. 

Okay, so, secret boyfriends gave us all the tropes in this one, interestingly if you assume Pat is the seme from the last ep, these all largely subverted that dynamic. 

your relationship with that water bottle (standard seme execution, but I think they just wanted Ohm’s shirt off) 

wound tending (subverted) 

caged wall lean (subverted) 

the library assignation

sponge bath (turned into product placement, very clever GMMTV) 

baby is a messy eater (subverted) 

(Here’s the post where I talk about how certain tropes in BL basically “belong” to either the seme or the uke and that we should pay very close attention when the dynamic is flipped because the narrative is very much trying to tell us something about the motivation and complexities of the characters. A pair that does this while maintaining seme/uke but using it to show us how very soft that dynamic can be are SolorGui in Oxygen.) 

And then Bad Buddy used the cheek kiss, boyfriend peck kisses, and makeup removal trope to show Pat & Pran both pretty much doing this to each other at the same time. That’s basically screaming out that these two are narratively verse. 

So yeah, I’m calling it for no seme/uke in this BL. In fact this episode could be a master class in how to use BL trope expectations to counteract seme/uke standards. It was basically Thai BL undermining Japanese live action yaoi. It’s kind of like: 

Look at how far we have come! These boys will use your tropes for a verse agenda, thank you very much! 

Which I of course flipping loved. (You see what I did there - FLIPping?)

You know what else I loved best in the world? This line: 

You know why? 

Because it reminded me so entirely of Seryo in Seven Days: 

You know I love anything that reminds me of Seven Days. 

Yet again Bad Buddy kept the tension up with no slump in engagement despite this being (on paper) a pretty basic filler episode 7, thin on narrative. I must applaud them. I’m looking forward to more secret boyfriends next week. But I do think someone is gonna find them out. The question is... who? 

In other news: the mom character, instead of gay for you, she’s homophobic for you. Thank you thank you. Trope abuse is my forte. 

Episode 8 - Shirtless Secrets 

Finally the episode where Ohm spends most of it shirtless. The gay gods applaud you, GMMTV. 

So right, the breakfast in bed was so adorable. These two are the biggest flirty teases ever, Pat & Pran are both such good secret lovers. 

The fucking holding hands thing is going to wreck tumblr for days. Are you happy? I hope you’re happy. GMMTV what have you done to us. 

Odds on a shot of Pat miserable and cuddling this T-shirt after the inevitable break up? Come on, you know they wanna do that to us. 

I love the character trait of Pat being obsessed with the way Pran smells, speaking as someone whose partners have historically been dictated almost entirely by smell. 

Meanwhile the lesbians got the wound tending and the shrimp peeling trope - a rare but very important one, IMHO. (Thank you AePete. Incidentally the Thai polite style of peeling shrimp, with a fork and spoon, actually works REALLY well. I taught myself how to do it and am now a bit of a fan.) 

I actually don’t have a trope board for this one since it’s pretty rare. 

And we ended on tension. 

Did I say already that this show is written like, and reminds me a bit of, fan fiction? The way it’s paced, very nice. 

Episode 9 - Wooing a Friendship Group (or 2)

I thought this episode would have a lot more doom, I was pleasantly surprised by how soft it was. A ton of cute tropes were casually dropped: hair dry, face cradle, significant hand hold, the lying loom, boys in black & white stripes. Still, Pran’s friends, especially Wai = the biggest arses. I wasn’t sure they could redeem Wai’s character (and I’m still not sure they did although they gave it their best shot). 

Look, I’m only gonna say this once. 

If you make it hard for someone to come out, you don’t get to blame them for hiding themselves. 

Doesn’t matter what form that coming out takes (secret relationship or queerness). There are countless ways to demonstrate trust-worthiness and allyship, especially around your friends. The onus is on us to be the safe person, not them. 

Nanon playing crestfallen is ADORABLE though. 

Did you hear Korn use “nong” in this scene to mock flirt? It’s very very funny if you understand the implications of the term “nong” under the context of Korn & Pat’s friendship (equals and age mates) and Pat pretending to be jealous of Wai in order to cope with how much Wai is hurting his boyfriend. Korn is doing it to cheer him up. It was sweet and hillarious. 

Who knew Korn would turn into the biggest PatPran shipper? 

Meanwhile Pat chucked his crown into the ring for Bi King (gonna take a lot to dethrone Neo, Leon & Na, though.) 

Pat = Pransexual 

(Shut up, I am beyond chuffed with myself.) 

This is, in part, GMMTV making an obvious effort to correct for some of the great sins of SOTUS in particular and the BL genre in general (gay for you, wifey terminology, punching down humor, and poor GL rep). Marvelous that they are using their flagship show and its massive platform to do so. We of the Queer Normalization Brigade salute you. (Our uniforms are FABULOUS.) 

The GL ship got pushed a little out of port. 

Do I think there might still be some issues with the GL supply chain? Why yes, yes I do, but it’s still very nice to see an attempt made at delivery. (See what I did there?) 

Anygay, we got the friendship groups to come around and now... the parents! How much you wanna bet this drive the break up? Also I really hope the boys uncover a really good reason for the breach between the families, it’d be a lot better if they gave us a solid external stressor. 

I got faith though. 

Episode 10 - Wai’s Lesbian Redemption

Honestly this ep started with the public claiming sequence to end all public claiming sequences. This may win this trope category for all time. 

I really appreciate the continued efforts to keep this drama light - much lighter, in fact, then it has any right to be. I think I have laughed out loud in pretty much every single episode. 

Similarly I appreciate the ridiculous care and thought they are putting into crafty product placement. It’s almost like they are making fun of the way this was handled in 2gether. I wonder if it will spawn more of this kind of mockery in other Thai BLs going forward? 

There is a literary technique called light housing, which is when writers take a flaw or inconsistency in a text/narrative/plot, and instead of trying to burry it, they highlight it and call attention to it, sometimes with 4th wall breaking, sometimes by ostentatiously turning it into a plot device or pivot point. The way Bad Buddy treats product placement feels like that. There’s this attitude of “well if we must include it, instead of trying to hide it let’s make it a party. It becomes less clumsy and shoehorned in (like in Kdramas or other Thai BL) and more an extra playful perk, like a cheerful garish bauble. 

It suits the Thai style to approach product placement this way. 

Could we talk about the Wai giving up on Pah sequence? 

Good, ‘cause we’re gonna. 

Far be it for me to turn the lesbian arc into a chat about the straight dude in the mix, but that’s what is about to happen. (Probubly my most anti Bechtel moment, ever.) 

First of all, Pat’s attitude is aces, let’s just put that out there. For an older brother to say about his younger sister (in Thai culture), “I’m gonna let her make her own romantic decisions” Is fantastic. And maybe wouldn’t have happened if Pat hadn’t been through his own conflict over romance and identity.  

But we gotta talk about Wai. 

This was actually one of the best redemption arcs possible for Wai’s character and one of the most queer moments we’ve gotten in what has been, so far, one of the queerest Thai BLs I’ve ever seen. 

There is along and very storied history of straight dudes (patriarchies, whole cultures) not believing in lesbian relationships because “real love” and “real sex” must involve a penis. Gay sex and relationships have historically been treated as taboo, disgusting, or sickening - but valid. Lesbian relationships and sex on the other hand, have mostly been treated as laughably impossible or inconceivable. 

In the past, this lead to things like Boston marriages, where women spent lifetimes together as partners and were tacitly permitted to do so simply because "romantic love and sexual interest between two women is simply not possible.”  

(When I harp on about queer being a feminist issue, this is one of those aspects.)

So the way Wai just instantly notices and believes that Pah has a crush on Ink and that this crush is not only valid but OUTRANKS his own is INSANE. Like never before seen on screen. 

He accepts that it is Pah’s right to like whomever she wants, and if the one she likes is a woman, that’s not important because it’s just as valid of a choice. 

I can’t tell you how important this kind of scene is in film. And how much it redeems his character. 

This is a HUGE queer statement being made by this narrative. It’s unprecedented. And it’s specifically one of lesbian support. 

Also it goes up against BL notions of the prioritization of a crush over mutual affection. Wai backing down is a way of saying not only is queer love as valid as het love, but that a crush is less important than the return of feelings. 

Meanwhile, Ink’s stink eye is the best.

Ink asking for permission is even better. Gotta love consent. Not to mention cheek & forehead kisses. 

Also the return of dark room romance! 

Anyone else getting PickRome vibes? 

Back to the main story:

Of course it all turns out to be the sins of the father. What did we expect? 

Although, honestly, it’s a bit rich (pun intended) for someone in such a fancy-pants outfit to be complaining about having her life ruined. Things seemed to have, frankly and fashionably speaking, turned out okay for Pran’s maa. 

Next week is ep 11, but who the f knows with this show? It seems to be specializing in non-standard BL behavior patterns. 

Episode 11 - Doom Light

A sort of achey wistful episode 11, because we know, right along with the characters, that Pat & Pran’s attempt to escape the family strife is, in fact, doomed. 

This whole honeymoon sequence (including the shoehorned allegory about Junior not wanting to go back with his mom + Uncle wasting his life on ideology) is just another one of those coming of age moments. Running away and still staying part of the world isn’t really possible, even if you don’t like the world or can’t fit into it (the world doesn’t like you). 

For me the saddest part was at the end when Pat & Pran stand in front of their respective homes crying, because the idea of going home should feel good, and safe, when for both of them it’s the opposite. That is such a queer experience - it was like a gut punch. 

And suddenly this show is reminding me of I Told Sunset About You. 

I’m now going to speculate on the time jump final ep. 

If they really are going to go there, that is a VERY Kdrama tactic. Under the auspices of the tropes of those dramas (and not BL) the following can happen:

the ending is left up in the air but slightly implies that they get back together (see Something in the Rain) 

they get back together in the last 10 min of the last ep, in what feels like a super rushed job (see most het romance Kdramas) 

we return to the Japanese roots (of both BL & Kdramas) and Bad Buddy doesn’t end with an HEA, but instead with them still apart and a sentimental romanization of lost love

In this last tactic, the romantic glory is vested in the unchanging nature of the memory of having once experienced the true passion of youth. The two characters often reminisce about their past over drinks together. I have been known, at my most acerbic to call this “Arthouse Smackdoodle.” 

Now, I am open to being surprised.

In fact, please surprise me. 

Because I don’t like any of these 3 options. In my personal opinion, Kdramas are unquestionably weak around endings. 

On the other hand, with the increasing quality of the BL and companion talent, production values, and performances we must acknowledge the silly frivolous fluff is going to lose against the compulsion to be taken seriously. Especially in a narrative like this one, that doesn’t have a compelling story, just compelling acting and directing. 

So I’m not sure if I should be legitimately scared by the Episode 12 teaser. Or if I’m being expertly manipulated to be scared. Or if I am betraying trust in Bad Buddy by being scared, even though it clearly wants me to be. 

ARGH. 

Honestly, this whole series journey has been a bit much for me. I’m happy Bad Buddy is ending next week not because I didn’t like it, but because I like it too much. 

I need less stress and more poor quality Thai pulp bullshit BL in my life. 

I know, I know. Be careful what you wish for. Paint With Love is still airing. 

Episode 12 - Glory Be, They Stuck the Landing! 

In which Tumblr collectively decides if BB can’t stick the landing, we riot. We did not get off to an optimistic start. I hate hate HATE the Kdrama time jump in the final episodes trope. If you’re gonna do a reunion romance you should do it from the start. I don’t like it when he has to go away and find himself by writing a novel, or solving a mathematical proof, or any of that rot. 

It’s the equivalent of saying to the audience that the characters found something more important then their love for each other, yet we just watched a whole fuck-off drama about how important their love for each other was. You can’t do us dirty like that. 

Oh look! I’m FINALLY ranting about this show and I am less than 2 minutes into the final episode. Only it’s not really this show at all. Squirrel! 

Fortunately, as they have been doing all along, Bad Buddy subverted this trope too. 

Take THAT Kdramas! 

Pran apparently landed in Singapore. (Don’t make them speak English, please.) 

Singapore is one of my favorite places on earth. That view out Pran’s window is of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, I've stayed there! Here's what the Singapore Strait looks like from the roof at sunrise (it’s my phone backdrop).

This has been your moment of glob trotter reverence. 

I return you to your regularly scheduled waffling.

I actually liked the bit of Pat getting together with old friends. It reminded me of exactly that kind of thing in my own post-uni days, and the three on screen together are good. Made me wish I'd gotten more of that friendship dynamic all along. Jimmy really is a great addition to the GMMTV stable. I'm looking forward to his BL this year. (Did you know he's a doctor as well? Apparently.)

The reunion

Did I tear up at the longing glances across the room? Of course I did. I am, after all, a sap. Plus both actors are so good at emoting. However, the high school reminiscing at the reunion was too drawn out for me.

That said, I was happy to have been tricked for the first half of the episode. 

They did long distance and stayed secret lovers the whole time. Nicely twisted but a bit too much audience manipulation. It’s going to fail on rewatch potential. Better than the other options, tho.

And then... the hanging photos trope. Been a while, a rarely used one but fun to see. Reminded me of Dark Blue Kiss and PeteKao’s secret anniversary - a sweet call back from GMMTV to one of their other “keeping it in the closet” romances. (Great, now I want do a DMK rewatch.) 

T-shirt memory sniff... called that one.

Also that’s a v cute subversion of the punishment trope, Pran.

The horsing around and wrestling ending was pitch perfect for this couple and this drama but also pleasingly unusual for a romance story. 

Bad Buddy really tread the line between BL and queer romance and I kinda adore them for that. 

This is a special little drama, and how lucky to get to start the year this way. 

The bar has been raised, Thailand. 

In the end, I loved Bad Buddy. 

The family struggles and friendship group made it a little bit difficult for me to take at times so I am not certain how much I’ll end up rewatching this one. We shall see. 

However, the acting was really excellent and the ending was unexpectedly satisfying if not typical romancey. For now, I am giving Bad Buddy a solid 9/10  - 9.5/10 if I did that because of all the queer affirmation and effort put in to specifically subvert damaging Thai BL tropes. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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