#aussies are my fave of course

[kwanisms]

Kinktober 「10:02」 — s.mingi

» ateez menu | mingi menu | kinktober masterlist «

➮ werehyena!Mingi × fem!reader wc: 4k summary: Y/N hasn’t been intimate with her boyfriend but not by choice. Every time she tries, he always ends up pushing her away and its starting to affect her confidence. After an argument, Mingi finally blurts out just why he's been pushing her away this whole time. genres/themes/au: angst/fluff/smut; supernatural, horror, thriller; non idol au, monster idol au warnings: adult dialogue, female reader, supernatural and horror themes, mentions of: food consumption, insecurities, past trauma, breakups; sexual content (18+ mdni), see smut warnings under the cut! taglist has been moved to reblogs join my taglists! taglist for kinktober is CLOSED. Strikethrough means I cannot tag you. MINORS WILL BE BLACKLISTED & BLOCKED. AGELESS BLOGS WILL ALSO BE BLOCKED.

a/n: i promise the next thing i write for Mingi will make him dom. I already promised @yoonguurt and i will keep that promise but here is some sub mingi for the sub mingi enthusiasts lol also, if anyone is curious, i'm using STRIPED HYENAS as a reference for his werecreatures. NOT SPOTTED. Spotted hyenas are fucking insane to learn about. seriously, if you're curious, look up spotted hyena reproduction. it's literally unreal. anyway, the next part is for Chris' birthday and includes our fave aussies from stray kids! notice how i said aussies 😉 stay tuned for that and as always, this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. for entertainment purposes only.

smut warnings: teratophilia (aka monsterfucking), facesitting (m receiving), mommy kink, oral (f receiving), handjob (m receiving), sub!Mingi, dom!Reader, use of pet names (hers: mommy, ma’am; his: baby boy, sweetheart, etc), and I think that’s all but let me know if I missed any. kinks: facesitting + mommy kinkdialogue prompt: ❛❛ Sit on my face. ❜❜

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When you first met Mingi, you were intimidated by his presence, taking him as a very imposing and menacing but once you got to know him, you discovered it was merely in his looks alone. Standing at 6’1 with broad shoulders, he was a physically imposing man.

Adding to that aura of dominance was the fact that he wasn’t entirely human. You learned early on that Mingi was a werecreature. Specifically of the hyena variety. It was something you were new to, having never met another werecreature before him.

When things shifted in your relationship with him from platonic to romantic, Mingi was quick to let you know everything he felt was important about his condition. When he transformed, when his heat was, and what he usually did during his transformation and how long it lasted.

When his first transformation since making your relationship official happened, you had seen him the day before, making him a variety of meals for afterwards as you knew he would be too tired and weak to do it himself. His first cycle passed by without issue and soon it became part of your monthly routine to go over the day before, check on him, make him a week’s worth of meals and kiss him goodbye until you saw him a couple days later.

For almost a year, this was the norm for you. Something that had also unintentionally become the norm was not being intimate with Mingi. At all. Sure you’d kissed and even made out but as things got heated, Mingi always managed to push you away, trying to change the course of the evening or even leaving before you got a word in.

You’d never gone beyond a few lingering touches and it was slowly chipping away at your confidence and self esteem. It made you feel unwanted and unattractive despite being the center of male attention when you went out with your friends to the clubs once a month.

You didn’t want the attention of some random guy at the bar trying to buy you enough drinks to forget your own name and end up in bed with him only to regret it the following morning.

You wanted the attention of your boyfriend.

You’d tried speaking to Mingi about this, expressing your concerns but each time he managed to change the subject, steering it in an entirely different direction and avoiding the conversation altogether.

You didn’t expect sex from him. Of course he could have very specific reasons for not wanting to have sex with you but it was the fact he wouldn’t discuss it with you. All you wanted was a reason, something as simple as he wasn’t ready and you would drop it but you didn’t even get that.

And so, after being rejected all day on one of your rare days off, you wanted to find out why your boyfriend didn’t want to have sex with you.

You let out a sigh, keeping your eyes on the TV as you sat on the couch with Mingi sitting a cushion’s distance away, his massive frame taking up the opposite side of the couch from you. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, noticing the way his eyes were wandering your body, focusing on the exposed skin of your thighs.

He often would look but never touch. You wanted so desperately for him to touch you in more ways than guiding you out of his way when he was trying to pass you or cupping the back of your head so he could kiss your forehead. You want his hands everywhere.

You heard Mingi clear his throat and you quickly focused your gaze back on the TV. You had no idea what was playing, having lost interest in it a long time ago as you were too busy fantasizing about your massive boyfriend’s hands all over you.

“I’m gonna grab a drink. You want one?” he asked as he got up from the couch, towering over you. “Sure,” you said softly as he nodded and moved around the couch to the kitchen behind where you sat. You heard the fridge open and close and a few moments later, he returned with two cold cans of cola, handing one to you and sitting back down.

“You don’t have to sit all the way over there,” you said as you cracked open your can and took a sip. Mingi turned to look at you wide-eyed. “Oh, uh I’m okay over here,” he said nervously. You set your can down, settling back against the couch, disappointment settling in your chest. “Fine,” you muttered, picking up the remote and changing the channel.

Mingi turned to look at you, taking in your profile as you flipped through channels until you exasperatedly tossed the remote onto the couch between you. “You pick something,” you snapped, not looking at him. Your tone made him recoil internally, wondering why you were upset.

He picked up the remote and flipped through the stations until he found something to put it on. He set the remote on the coffee table as an uncomfortable silence fell over the two of you. He could tell you were thinking hard, something bothering you but you were working out a way to bring it up.

Mingi hated this. He hated fighting with you. He hated the silent treatment. He hated denying you. Earlier, when he’d arrived and sat on the couch, you had joined him while dinner was finishing cooking in the oven. What started as a few kisses turned into more as you straddled his lap, kissing him deeply as you started to grind against him. 

Mingi wanted more than anything to let you have him right there on the couch but he was reminded of his past experiences. His previous partners who became weirded out upon learning that a man so strong and physically large was so submissive. He’d never been one to be a leader or in charge of anything and that extended to his preferences in the bedroom.

His relationships in the past failed because of his inability to take charge in not only the bedroom but in the relationship as well. He wasn’t comfortable with it but he really, really liked you, possibly even loved you, and he didn’t want to mess this up. He’d forced himself to take charge in some scenarios but he felt so out of his depth. 

And when it came to intimacy with you, he wanted more than anything to be intimate, to give into his more carnal desires but his past trauma held him back and he ended up pushing you away just like earlier. He’d quickly pushed you off him before things go get too far and luckily for him the timer on the oven went off and he was saved for a little while longer.

He knew it was no way to conduct things and that he should have a serious conversation but he just never seemed to be ready because he felt that things would end if he was honest with you. He was trying to prolong the inevitable.

“Do you not like me or something?”

Your question caught him off guard as your words hung in the air, waiting for his response. He turned to look at you, taking in your profile as you sat there, arms crossed over your chest, one leg tucked under you. “What?” he asked stupidly. He shouldn’t have done that. He should have immediately refuted your claim but he was just so taken aback.

“Do you not like me?” you asked again, turning to look at him. Mingi hesitated. Of course he liked you. He loved you. His brows knitted together in confusion. “Of course I like you,” he replied, turning in his seat to look directly at you. “Then why do you always do this?” you asked.

“Do what?” Mingi asked, knowing it was the wrong thing to ask. He knew what you were talking about. Your eyes narrowed. “Always push me away when we start to get intimate.” Mingi felt his stomach sink, the same feelings of anxiety and dread that he always got when this topic came up, rising into his chest.

It was starting to get hot in the apartment. He needed fresh air.

“I need some air,” he said getting up.

“No,” you said, getting to your feet and following your boyfriend. “We’re not doing this again!”

Mingi sighed as he stopped abruptly, making you run into him before he turned. “I can’t have this conversation with you, really,” he said. “Why?” you asked, feeling a pang in your chest when he turned and started for the door. Panic rose up inside of you as you watched him grab his keys from the counter as he passed it. You don’t know what came over you but you weren’t about to let this go.

“Song Mingi, if you walk out that door, we are through!!”

He froze, hand on the doorknob as your voice rang through the apartment. His shoulders visibly relaxed before he turned to look at you, a look of shock on his face. “You’d break up with me over this?” he asked softly. You threw your hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know what you expect me to do!” you all but shouted at him.

“I’m trying to have a mature conversation with you but all you’ve done is shut me down. I just want to know why you don’t want me!” you said, the corners of your eyes burning as you fought back tears. “I… don’t want you?” Mingi asked, sounding confused. “When have I ever said I didn’t want you?” he asked, walking back into the living room.

“You didn’t have to say it!” you countered. “Every time we’re intimate, you always push me away before it gets too far. I could understand if you would explain to me that you aren’t ready or it was something else but you won’t even entertain a conversation about it with me!” You blinked away the tears and turned away from him, not wanting to let him see you cry.

“What else am I supposed to think?”

Silence fell over the two of you, punctuated only by the sound of the TV, forgotten in the midst of your argument. Maybe it was better to just let him go, let this all go. Maybe you’d be better off. You loved Mingi, you really did, but you never signed on for all of this. You knew getting involved with him was going to be a learning experience after he revealed his nature as a werecreature but to you, that was nothing.

The silence was broken by the sound of Mingi’s keys being set on the counter and the floor creaking as he walked towards where you stood. You felt his arms wrap around you, warmth from his body enveloping you as he rested his head on yours. “It’s not because I don’t want you,” he murmured, finally speaking.

“I want you so bad I can barely stand it,” he added. “I just don’t want to scare you off.” You turned in his arms to face him. “How would it scare me off?” you asked, looking at him with a confused expression, brows knitting together. “Because,” Mingi started, his voice faltering. “It’s embarrassing,” he continued. “You thought I would judge you?” you asked. Mingi shrugged.

“It’s happened in the past. The people I’ve dated didn’t want…” he trailed off. “Didn’t want what?” you asked, trying to coax it out of him. He sighed, throwing his head back to look up at the ceiling. “Someone like me,” he blurted out. You reached up, cupping the back of his neck and forcing him to look down at you. “What does that mean? Someone like you?”

“I’m not very… confident,” he started. You snorted. “Now that’s a damn lie,” you retorted. “You’re the most confident man I know,” you added. Mingi shook his head. “Confident is the wrong word,” he admitted. “I’m not… I don’t like to be… in charge.”

Realization dawned on you and you let out a sigh. “You’re not dominant,” you stated. Mingi nodded, shutting his eyes and bracing for what you assumed was some sort of angry response. It nearly broke your heart that he felt he had to lie and hide this from you because of the reactions of his past relationships. You could understand his hesitation. But you weren’t like his previous partners.

“Mingi,” you started, grabbing the front of his shirt when he tried to turn away. “Yah,” you said sternly. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you!” the tone in your voice must have surprised him. You’d never sounded so commanding before. At least not to him. “Yes, ma’am,” he answered quickly.

“I wish you had just told me, instead of hiding it from me,” you explained, cupping his cheek. “If you had told me, we could have solved this a lot sooner instead of tiptoeing around it.” Mingi leaned into your touch. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I thought that if I told you, it might make you leave me.”

You pulled him into a kiss. “I almost broke up with you because I thought you weren’t attracted to me,” you said softly. “This is why we need to communicate,” you continued. “I’m not like your previous partners, you know this.” Mingi nodded, pressing another kiss to your lips. “I know,” he murmured. “And I never should have compared you to them. I was just…”

“Scared,” you said. “I get it. It can be hard to break that cycle of trauma.”

“It’s not weird though,” you continued, taking his hand and pulling him towards the bedroom. “I don’t mind taking control,” you added, smiling at him as you pushed the door open with your back. “How about you lay down and let me take care of you. How does that sound, baby?”

Mingi nodded wordlessly as you guided him over to the bed, turning so you could push him down onto it. He landed on his butt with a soft oof as you moved to shut the door and returned to him. “Let me take care of you,” you repeated, slowly kneeling in front of him, hand sliding down his chest to the waistband of his sweats.

You slipped your fingers under the elastic pulling it forward slightly before letting it snap back against his stomach, making him gasp. You chuckled softly as you grabbed the sides of the waistband and started tugging. He lifted his hips, letting you pull the material all the way down his thighs and to the floor where it pooled around his ankles. He sat in his underwear, waiting for your next move.

You could see he was starting to grow hard but you knew Mingi’s body, even if you hadn’t seen it fully. You knew that your boyfriend had a massive cock and from what you could see now, half hard, you were correct in your assumptions. You pressed your hand over the bulge in his boxers, making him his, a shudder run up his spine as his eyes fluttered shut.

“Does that feel good?” you asked, stroking him slowly, watching his expressions. “Y-yes,” he whined, hips starting to roll up into your touch. You could feel him growing harder and harder by the minute and decided to take it a step further. You slipped your hand into his underwear, pulling his cock free from the material. Wrapping your fingers around the base, you started to slowly pump your hand up and down.

“Fuck,” your boyfriend hissed. “Feels so good, babe.”

You let go, spitting into your hand and resumed stroking him, your saliva working as a lubricant and moving faster with ease. He was almost completely hard by this point. “Babe, please,” Mingi whined. “What is it?” you asked softly, your speed never faltering as you looked up at your boyfriend. “I wanna be inside you,” he whined, hips bucking.

You clicked your tongue as you slowed your hand for a moment. “No, baby,” you answered. Mingi whined again, shaking under your touch. “Please, mommy,” he gasped and you felt your cheeks burn. That was a new one. You’d never been called that before but you weren’t about to comment on it. Not when you wanted to focus on making Mingi feel good. You could discuss it later.

“Sorry baby,” you said softly. “Only good boys get their dicks wet.” Mingi whined, lifting his head to meet your gaze. “It’s literally wet right now,” he countered but you shushed him, stroking him faster and making him remove his shirt. He did as you asked, tossing the tee to the floor. 

“Please, baby. I’ll be good, I promise,” Mingi begged. It was tempting to give into him but why the rush? “Not tonight, baby boy,” you cooed. “Maybe in the morning.” You continued to stroke him, his hips bucking up to meet your movements as you drew him closer to his high.

You felt his cock throb and twitch in your hand and you knew he was close. “Just a little more,” you cooed. “Be a good boy and cum.”

As if on command, Mingi let out a moan and you angled his cock away from you, watching as thin ropes of his milky white cum shot out of him, landing on his toned stomach, contrasting with his tanned skin. You continued to pump him slowly, making sure to squeeze every last drop out of him.

“What a good boy you are,” you said sweetly as you got to your feet, ignoring the gusset of your panties sticking to you as you climbed onto the bed. “I bet that felt really good, didn’t it?” you asked, to which he nodded. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” you said, starting to get up but his grip on you was strong. He muttered something that you couldn’t make out.

You leaned over to hear him better. “What was that, baby?” you asked. “You need to speak up.”

“I said,” Mingi started, licking his lips. “Sit on my face.” You let out a chuckle. “It’s okay, baby,” you said softly, caressing his cheek. “You don’t need to do anything. We can clean up and go again tomorrow if you really want to.” Mingi shook his head. “No,” he said, grabbing your wrist, moving to lace his fingers with yours. “Please, Y/N,” he whined. “P-please, mommy. I want you to sit on my face!”

You stared at him, nibbling on your bottom lip for a moment before you relented. “Fine,” you said. “But no cleaning or wiping your mess away until I cum, do you understand me?” you asked, leaning over to look into his eyes. He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

You got off the bed, tugging your shorts and underwear down and letting them fall to the floor, stepping out of them and then returning to Mingi on the bed. He waited eagerly as you straddled his chest. “Before we do this. You have to tell me if you can’t breathe. Tap my thigh three times if you need air,” you instructed. Mingi shook his head. “I don’t need air,” he replied. “I just need your pussy on my tongue, right now.”

You reached behind you, grabbing his sensitive, soft cock. He let out a whimper before nodding. “Yes mommy,” he said quickly. You let go and scooted forward until your knees were on either side of his head. Mingi’s hand moved up to cup your ass. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “Just sit down.”

You lowered yourself onto his waiting tongue and let out a moan as he immediately wrapped his lips around your clit, teasing it with the tip of his tongue, the room filling with lew slurping sounds. You reached down, combing your fingers through his hair gently. You felt him flatten his tongue against your clit, licking up and down slowly before he started to circle the nub with the tip. 

You let out a moan, eyes fluttering shut as he continued to make out with your sex, ignoring the wetness that seeped from you onto his lips and chin. He could careless and lapped away at your core, fingers digging into the plush of your ass, pulling you down and close as possible.

His tongue traced down to your hole, teasing the entrance before he pulled you flush against him, his tongue wiggling into your pussy. You let out a gasp, feeling his nose bump against your clit as he tasted everything you had to give him. His tongue slipped out and was back on your clit, flicking against it in quick succession, each flick making your body jerk violently as he built you up to your climax.

Your fingers in his hair tightened as your hips started to move involuntarily. Mingi gently pushed you up slightly. “Yes, ride my tongue,” he murmured, slurring his words before pulling you back down on his flat tongue, letting you grind against him. You let go of his hair, leaning over to place your hands against the mattress as you started to roll your hips, grinding your clit against his tongue.

Your body shook, thighs squeezing his head as your orgasm washed over you, a wave of euphoria spreading throughout your body as you continued to ride out your high. Finally, you shuddered, feeling the effects of your exertion in the burning of your thighs but also in the sensitive bundle of nerves your boyfriend was still licking slowly.

You finally pulled away, lifting off his face and swinging your leg over to kneel beside him. The lower half of his face was coated in your release, shining in the low light of your bedroom.

“You are a mess,” you said with a chuckle before getting up and heading into your ensuite bathroom to grab a clean washcloth, wetting it with warm water and returning to the bed. Mingi held out his hand but you pushed it away and started wiping his face clean before wiping down his stomach, cleaning it of his release. 

Once you were satisfied he was no longer sticky, you tossed the towel into the hamper as Mingi’s arms circled your waist, pulling you onto his naked lap and smiling up at you with a very tired and lazy smile. You felt his cock prod at your thigh and you chuckled, running your fingers through his hair before kissing him. “You’re hard again,” you noted between kisses.

“Mmm,” he hummed in answer. “I could go again,” he offered. “But I’m also very tired.” You nodded. “My thighs are burning,” you admitted. “How about we rest and then maybe later we can go again. Maybe I’ll even let you fuck me,” you said, pulling him into a slow, languid kiss that was messy and nothing but tongue. “Have I been a good boy?” he asked, perking up slightly, making you laugh.

“Yes,” you answered. “You’ve been a very good boy,” you added. Mingi pulled you into a kiss, grabbing your hips and pushing you down so his cock pressed against your clit. “I could go right now,” he said eagerly. “You won’t even have to do anything,” he added. You cupped his cheek, pressing a kiss to his lips. “If you promise I won’t have to lift a finger,” you said.

Mingi nodded excitedly. “I promise!” he said eagerly. You nodded, nose bumping against his. “Alright,” you replied, kissing him and pulling back, resisting the urge to laugh when he pouted, trying to chase your lips. “Show me what you can do, big boy.”

Keeping his hold on you, Mingi shifted from sitting to his knees and laid you back against the pillows before removing your top, dropping it to the floor and cupping your chest over your bralette. He kissed down your chest, pushing your bralette up and taking one of your nipples in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it before kissing down your stomach, moving your legs over his shoulders as he drew level with your cunt. 

“Will you let me fuck you without a condom?” he asked suddenly. You reached down, brushing his hair back. “One step at a time,” you said. “Make me cum with your mouth and then we’ll discuss condoms afterwards. Sound good?” you asked. Mingi nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

You nodded, leaning back against the pillows. “Don’t worry about rushing,” you reminded him.

“We have all night.”

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[focusontheheart]

Meet the Team - Pseu

You can also find @picksleydust on: Twitter @ pseuboo

Ahoy friends, from the Land Down Under. I’m a fandom artist who spends my days as a barista and painter and nights hunched over my computer drawing or my ps5 playing something. Should I get more sleep? Yes. But we all know it doesn’t work like that. In 2017 a good friend of mine was constantly insisting I had to play Horizon, and that I would enjoy it, but I was so down the BotW rabbit-hole I was a bit blinkered. I also didn’t have my own PlayStation. But in the year 2020, my then GF had a PS4 she wasn’t using and let me borrow it and that’s when I played Zero Dawn. I adored it and the story but I never fell into fandom because I personally didn’t see Aloy with anyone in the first game (maybe Petra…?) and so I continued on until I caught the Spicy Cough on the release week of HFW and played it endlessly while hacking up my soul. And of course, at one point I was sucker punched by my sweet, earnest and rather poetic Marshal of the Tenakth and the rest is history.

See the Q&A with Pseu below the cut!

Q: What is a favorite piece of work you've done (i.e. completed, working on, in concept)?

I think my commissions and my comic adjacent pieces are my faves, but honestly, I don’t think I’m the best to judge, I can be a little harsh on myself. Most of my work is inspired by the strange goings on in the different channels over on the Kotaloy Server. I really enjoy drawing facial expressions and fun poses as well as funny comics and tableaus that amuse me.

Q: What are some of your favorite tropes to write, draw, or read?

My old desire for enemies to lovers is strong, but this fandom has further kindled a love for subservient men who love their feral wives. I’m also very keen on accidental marriage and “oh no there’s one bed” tropes, but who isn’t >_>

To draw? I’m basically one big rubber arm, if you can make it appeal to me then I will draw it with gusto.

Q: What is an unexpected thing or fun fact about you?

I live in one of the HOT parts of Australia but I’m originally from the frigid Northern hemisphere in Scotland. Ironically though, I feel like it was my destiny to be Aussie. I love beaches (including the sand), hot weather and vegemite with all my heart.

Q: What has been your favorite thing about working on this project so far?

Honestly, I have really enjoyed working on the sprites for this game.  My main inspiration here is the other incredible artists and writers in this fandom. I’ve never been part of such a kind and encouraging one before and while I can only speak for the Kotaloy crew, I have found a frankly staggering number of amazing people in the general fandom. Y’all keep me going, I swear.

[lizalfosrise]

Hey Rise, it's AK favorites time again. Give me your best defenders. Gameplay, personality, aesthetic, whatever.

Alrighty! Let's place this under a cut:

Launch Faves:

Spot - I see full kemono in Arknights I black out and go feral good yes very nice. That healing smokescreen remains very helpful, and he's just a real solid bro. His VA caught my eye too, since I was watching Raildex that year so I'd been hearing him quite a lot.

Cuora - Roaming baseball turtle is Fucking Invincible. HOMERUN!! Her module lore story was pretty nice in a sledgehammer-to-the-heart kinda way given it was her memory issues + her baseball&bat's origin. Incredibly solid and the first elusive 4-blocker saving our asses and storing up Pure Gold Ingots in the Factories. Homerun indeed.

Croissant - Really cool and fun character (we got her southern US drawl back hooray) with the interesting gimmick of being the push-stroker(they can never live this naming scheme down) defender. Problem? S2 says yeet 'em! No problem boblem. Niche and therefore undervalued at the earlygame, but Integrated Strategies with the Force+2 manual obtained must've made some fun shenanigans.

Gameplay:

All the Fortresses, honestly. They're great in character, in aesthetics and I greatly enjoy having their long-range bombardments. Firewhistle's brought us Burn procs and it's delightful to watch the bonus damage pour in. I can be trusted with the Londinium Self-Defense Artillery cannon emplacements.

Don't use 'em enough but they're fun: Duelist and Sentinels - Aurora is cute and has access to Cold proc manipulation tactics (plus that claw-shaped staked, slim tower shield is a work of art); Liskarm has been a faithful SP battery pistol-shooting down aerial threats while Blitz has the flashbang spam going for him.

Guardians are lifesavers, of course. Gummy's frying pan bonk stuns every third hit can actually be incredibly useful. Blemishine is a far better pick than Nearl due to her Sleep mechanics and yknow, 6* bulk/Skill 3 (she's cool to borrow as a support unit but I don't have her fully invested). Saria is pretty solid here and with regards to character&story, but at the same time I never actually E2'd her until mid-Dorothy's Vision because I finally experienced her Skill 3 and needed her to be beefier for a map clear (or several) that event.

General:

Horn - "YOU WANT TO TOPPLE ME?! BY WHAT?" Episode 9 was so great, and then we suffered a Manfred to the Self-Defense Artillery. That CG towards the end of Ep9 with a heavily-injured Horn pulling the S3 glare at Mandragora after auto-rocketjumping Bagpipe away was phenomenal. Incidentally a major part of why if you have taste you'll understand that Horndragora is the superior toxic yuri pairing rather than suffering that watery tart of a catgirl. I'm more enamored with that heavy-duty shieldcannon though, naturally. The Victorian Army gets all the cool gunlances eh? That VA olive green drab is a wonderful colour scheme too, really. The overheat flame vfx during S3 are a delightful detail on the chibi sprite and for that reason though I'll get that (somewhat mismatched) Lady of the Lake skin, I won't equip it often. But S1/S3 were absolutely outstanding during IS2.

Asbestos - The most tsuntsuntsuntsuntsuntsuuuuuundere foulmouthed foul-tempered vkei-ass Aussie salamander is just so iconic, bless her. Funky and rad design, personality and until Shalem appeared, the only Arts-shotgun shielder. Trying out her Skill 2 in IS2 was pretty fun since I only rarely used her prior honestly. The details gone into fitting her entire theming around asbestos are so so good.

Mudrock - Initially I wouldn't use her due to the 35dp cost buuuut I reached the point where 'This is fine actually' after a while of wanting to properly invest in her and yeah. Fucking incredible with sneak-healing via Perfumer. Spin2Win is forever relevant! We need a skin that brings back the full hazard suit towering over most other chibis though. Really good as a character, her parts in Twilight of Wolumonde were what made that event remotely bearable to me.

Her fellow Juggernaut companion Penance is likewise extremely good in aesthetics, character and as a unit.

Eunectes - Same deal as above, I actually haven't used her so badly she's not actually E2 yet. But I think she's incredibly gorgeous and a very cool Forgemaster. The Acahualla Trio are very, very fun! Summoning her upgraded Raging Ironhide must be a real lovely feeling given how much of a nuisance it is to fight.

Nian - Unemployed. Commando. The only Sui fragment I have at E2. Fellow spice fiend. Many noteworthy things can be said. I greatly enjoy her. We need to see more of the situation with training up Purgatory now going forwards in that storyline. Love that her E2 splash shows the(or at least, her) bestial Sui form has a maw in the chest.

Shoutout: Ace - He would've been male 6* Defender, absolutely, the way he tanked Talulah 1v1 during the Chernobog Exfiltration long enough for every surviving RI Operator to redeploy disengage & evacuate. Legendary guy. There's no Elite Operator covering the Defender class as a Temporary Recruitment in Integrated Strategies, so personally I feel like that's where he might've been.

[brasideios]

top ten favorite bands/musicians tag game

I was tagged by @mini-uzzy @aeide & @sleeplessincarcosa Thank you my dears 🤍

This is really difficult, but lemme see...

Joelistics - an Australian hip-hop artist, his solo work is about politics, story-telling, and is very self-reflective. Seamans Lullaby, In the Morning and Days are my absolute favourites. He was also the lead MC in the band TZU (pronounced tee-zed-you) and they made four albums which contain additional gems - Mondays and Coming Round are top tier. I've been following his work since the early 2000's (when Aussie hip-hop began, really) and it's so interesting tracing the development of his (and TZU's) music. It started very light and upbeat and grew steadily dourer and even a touch bleak by their final album. It says a lot for the times, and what growing up in this country is like, honestly. Very relatable.

Urthboy - another Aussie hip-hop artist with all the hallmarks of our brand of hip-hop. He is often upbeat - like Knee Length Socks, Shruggin' and Long Loud Hours are all great stories and/or cheerful beats - but he sometimes writes these stunningly intimate tracks - Daughter of the Light, which is an homage to his mum, or Natural Progression are good examples. He was (is?) also in the band The Herd. They are more politically focussed - the most famous song being 77% - a song that absolutely sizzles with anti-racist anger.

The Black Keys (of course) - I'd been aware of their existence for years and years (Gold on the Ceiling and Lonely Boy were everywhere at one point) but I had never been into it. Which retrospectively, is weird because I always like blues music, though I always skirted around the edges of it. What really grabbed me in the end was Howlin' for You, which began haunting me during last year. I'd wake up in the morning with that song in my head. So, I went digging for more, and an obsession was born. Personal faves include Crawling Kingsnake, Sinister Kid and Tighten Up - but there are so many great songs to choose from.

Editors - They are industrial rock (I think it's called) out of England, These guys are possibly my favourites of all time. Their music talks a lot about love and death in really interesting ways - it's a mix of rock, melancholy acoustic tunes and electro. Their album An End Has a Start is where I began, but The Back Room and The Weight of Your Love are brilliant albums. I'd single out All Sparks, Formaldehyde, and The Phone Book as their best, but it was a hard choice.

Kings of Leon - I was totally obsessed with their music around 2010 and I still passionately love several of their songs. Arizona, Knocked Up, King of the Rodeo, Waste a Moment, and Find Me are always going to be on a list of favourite tracks.

Talking Heads - I grew up in a musical household, in the sense that there was always music playing, mostly my dad's music. He was a young dad - 21 when I was born - so he was still very into popular music at the time (though definitely not R&B which was just starting to reach us in the late eighties. I often wonder what he would've made of Aussie hip-hop if he'd lived to hear it... anyway.) Talking Heads were big in my childhood, and I still really love their music - new wave is so fun and at times silly, I'm totally into it. Songs like Love for Sale, Psycho Killer, The Lady Don't Mind, And She Was and Girlfriend is Better are such cornerstones of my musical taste, I can hardly imagine who I'd be without them.

Dire Straits -Sultans of Swing is a forever favourite. It's one of those songs that reminds me really strongly of my dad. He had this silly way of singing the line 'it ain't what they call rock'n'roll.' I also really love Brothers in Arms and Romeo and Juliet.

Pink Floyd - the song Wish You Were Here absolutely defined a time in my life and sums up something about myself for which there are no words. The whole album (of the same name) is such a journey - even though I've always found Shine on you Crazy Diamond incredibly creepy. I also appreciate the album The Wall as a musical journey. Comfortably Numb, One of my Turns and the various iterations of Another Brick in the Wall are so, so good. Part 1 speaks to me on a cellular level.

Danheim - The soundtrack to my writing activities for years and years now, I couldn't make a list without mentioning him. I don't know the names of the tracks because I listen to whole albums at a time. They're all good. For some reason though, the song Glitnir is known to me as a particular favourite.

Heilung for the same reason as Danheim - though with Heilung, I've watched the full LIFA show like a thousand times; and I passionately love the song Norupo.

This is a very shabby, on the fly list - and I'm sorry for my inability to write anything short 😅

I'm tagging with zero pressure @liminalspacecowboah @i-gotta-get-normaller @myriath @woodsman2b @el-zorrito and anyone who I've undoubtedly forgotten who wants to jump in.

[thedeliverygod]

Stray Kids ATE review

I've listened to it 3 times so my opinions are still open to change I guess but here goes

Mountains: honestly... I was a bit disappointed by the unveil and upon listening to the album a few times, it's still only just "okay" to me. It's just kind of...boring? It has SKZ's sound but its just... meh for me. Honestly I feel this way about a good chunk of the IN Life album too, for example, so I'm kinda glad I got into skz later on. This seems to be a very unpopular opinion from what I've seen but oh well lol. But I do get what SKZ is saying when they they can picture fans chanting lines from it.

Chk Chk Boom: It's a bop; the MV is great and it's catchy as heck. However, I will say that personally it doesn't hit as hard as LALALALA or S-Class. I think I didn't want to admit that as first because of course I always want to hype new albums up as much as possible but I think that's the truth I've come to.

JJAM: I loooove this one. I love it's playfulness and how the song breaks down the subunits or the rachas as we call them. I didn't hear the squelch sound effect until my very last listen though and I feel like that was kinda unnecessary lmaoooo but oh well

I Like It: My fave song on the album tbh. I like that it has kind of the more mainstream sound they mentioned that they played with but kind of backed off from in the intro video. But also it has that like very odd/spooky instrument that gives it those "off vibes" so it is like kinda the musical representation of the red flags the lyrics are giving off LOL. I'm with IN on this one; I totally don't see why people would enjoy situationships but this song is enjoyable as hell for sure.

Runners: The aussie bros wrote this song so I feel like I'm biased right off the bat for that [also the fact that you know the song is 100% English and I don't have to search for lyrics]. The pre-chorus has my entire heart; both in terms of sound and the lyrics themselves.

Twilight: such an unexpected song!!! What a smooth, classic listen. Everybody's vocals shine and it's just another masterpiece by Han.

Stray Kids: so I've only been a Stay since late 2022, but I've watched the survival show & Kingdom & a fair ton of other content. Obviously there's still a lot that I've missed, but this song still makes me emotional regardless. I'm so excited that I've joined this journey with them and I can't wait to see where they go from here. Also it was mentioned that this could be a closing song at concerts during the intro video and I think that would be perfect.

Chk Chk Boom (Festival Ver): tbh I think it would be more fair to call this a club remix or something like that cuz lolol. It will definitely get people hyped. Also, as a nerd, I feel the need to mention part of the song reminds me of some parts of NEO: TWEWY's soundtrack but that's just me.

[hanjisungz]

britt!! you're so right about hall of fame and megaverse.. the performances leave me on the floor.... jdjdjjd as a french person i'm happy about this jdjdj 😳 i can maybe teach you some french words someday 🫶 and yes you're right about miroh album, i love boxer and maze of memories the most! 💕 and to answer your question, i think i stayed true only to skz i fear . i had hyperfixations on a lot of groups such as ateez (i know you like them!), day6, bts of course... these days i started to listen to nct again after unstanning for so long haha (mostly dream). and about txt! i wish i liked their songs more, you know what i mean ☹️ because they are so so good!! but idk why i just can't get to stan them, i really love their more 'rock' songs and btw you reminded me to listen to their new album omg and imma say it's so good?? - bunny anon 💓

en fait, j'ai appris le français à l'école donc j'en sais beaucoup !! je ne l'utilise pas souvent donc je ne le parle pas aussi couramment qu'il y a quelques années hehe 😋🫣 french is one of my favorite languages and one of my faves to learn !!

oh that's understandable !! i also get hyper fixations very often but for some groups (like skz, ateez, oneus) it's just stuck for me ya know ?? jcmsmcksm WAIT I FEEL YOU ABT NCT !!! i lowkey only follow dream but i still listen to all of 127's old stuff i just don't really stan (tbh idk if i ever did, i feel like i just enjoyed their music/a few members but didn't fully stan LMAO)

i get that abt txt too !! honestly i don't stan, some of their songs are really good i just couldn't get into the members or anything, i agree, i Love their 'rock' type songs and have quite a few on my playlist !!

[joey-potters]

@maya-matlin asked me my Top 5 Teen Dramas and at the time I pretty much forgot most of what I enjoy watching so here is a more accurate list lmao 

1. Dawson’s Creek

2. One Tree Hill

3. Dance Academy (Australian Dance Show)

4. Skins UK 

5. Blue Water High (Australian surfing show) 

[kaantt]

Donc je disais top ten crushs de littérature

Saint Loup bi icon je l’aime je le cheris

Melchior Gabbor problematic fave

Julien Sorel i can fix him

🥴🫣😩 Valmont he so fine,,,,

Miranda de tempest ??? she so ???

Basil Hayward my sweetie didn’t deserve any of this

Brigitte de la conf parce que musset did not in fact treat her right and I CAN

madame de saint simon ultimate milf

ophelia my leetle meow meow

et hamlet aussi IM PROBLEMATIC I KNOW

Saint Loup I mean OF COURSE an icon really we love him here!

Et un personnage de l'éveil du printemps! Un!

No babe you can't...

YOU CAN'T FIX HIM EITHER

Je suis OUTRÉE que ton crush de la Tempête soit Miranda et pas Ariel

Yeah he deserved better

Musset never treated ANYONE right

Attention si tu t'approches trop d'elle Louis va te casser la figure

Poor little mew mew indeed

Hamlet belongs to Horatio and you KNOW IT

[akajustmerry]

hi Merry, i hope you’re having a pleasant week! i just wanted to thank you for recommending fire island on your blog; i finally watched it and it’s soooooo good. The marisa tomei charades scene might be the funniest thing i’ve seen in years 👍

i was just wondering if you had any recs for other movies with a similar kind of vibe/comedy? Specifically the whole ensemble cast & being a movie about friendship as much as finding love. If not no worries, I just love hearing what you have to say about film. Thanks again, and I hope you have a great weekend 💙

heyo!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed fire Island!!! Truly it's so lovely!!

I hope you're having a nice weekend too! sorry I didn't answer this earlier I wanted to think about similar recs, but tbh fire Island is pretty unique in its balance between romance and friendship. Of course it is based on pride and prejudice and so that'd be my go to especially Bride and Prejudice (2004) but!!! I did think of a few that are also similarly nice movies about lots of different kinds of love!

Ellie and Abbie and Ellie's Dead Aunt (2020) - Aussie coming of age rom comedy about a girl who's dead gay aunty starts haunting her so she can help her ask her crush out.

Plan B (2021) - teen comedy about 2 best friends of colour trying to buy a morning after pill after one of them loses their virginity at a party. there's also a nice gay romantic subplot

the other woman (2014) - one of my favourite comedies of all time about a woman who finds out the man she's been seeing has a wife and she and the wife team up to find out what other shit the guy's up to. there's also some romantic subplots that are nice

some like it hot (1959)- here me out, this movie really has the same queer chaos level in so many ways. very much about friendship and romantic love and how both are worth risking everything for!

the half of it (2020) - fire Island is to pride and prejudice as this film is to Cyrano! coming of age dramedy about a teen girl who gets hired by a boy to write texts to the girl they both have a crush on. The romance is lovely, but my fave part of this movie is the friendship between the main character and the main guy

the breaker upperers (2018) - comedy about 2 women who are besties and run an agency for ppl who wanna hire someone to break up their relationship. Hilarious, insane, all about the power of platonic love and there's a bit of insane romance in there too.

The boys in the band (2020) - so this one is a little left field, and it's a little darker in places (tw for 70s era homophobia) but if you're looking for that sorta intense, hilarious, complex banter among gay men this is the OG in many ways. It's based on a play about a group of gay men at a party discussing their relationships both platonic and romantic. again, does get heavy so it's more of a dramedy but I love it a lot and thought about it a lot while watching fire Island.

Hope these are all good 💕

[justice4canyonmoon]

Could you write something about Harry being really insecure about his body so you lay him on the bed and praise him? You kiss every insecurity he has and he starts to love his body a lot more

Hi! I wasn't quite sure how to approach this at first, but I think that I figured something out that turned out to be pretty good! I hope you enjoy it!!

Warnings: talking about body image and online trolls, non-sexual nudity, a bit of cursing ig, mostly fluff and a touch of angst

WC: 1.2k

Harry didn’t get it.

People all across the world thought he was attractive. He was considered a heartthrob. He was nominated for awards like “International Crush,” “Best Look,” “Aussie’s Fave Hottie,” and “Best Male Hottie.” Celebrities had crushes on him, people praised him for his looks, and all of his past partners made it very clear how attracted to him they were.

So why couldn’t he feel that way about himself?

For every person that loved him, there was another that hated him. Another one that said he was ugly, that he should cover every mirror in his house, how they didn’t understand how anyone could think he’s handsome. Those comments echoed in the chamber of his mind constantly, affirming his own thoughts about himself. Every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he just… wasn’t happy. And whenever he voiced these thoughts, people looked at him like he was crazy. “How could you think that?” they would say, “you’re super hot.” And that was that. No real encouragement, nothing that would actually help him with the self-destructive thoughts that plagued him every day. It was like no one believed that he could have insecurities. But he did. Everyone does.

It was another day when he was feeling down on himself. His girlfriend was in the shower, and he was getting dressed in their room. He reached for a t-shirt and was about to pull it on when he looked at himself in the mirror. Harry looked over his torso, trying to search for what other people saw in him. For what magazines saw when they claimed him as one of the sexiest men alive, and for what millions of men, women, and everyone in between saw when they thirsted after him. But his search came up empty. All that he could see were the flaws in his body, the things that he hated that perhaps no one else saw. A deep frown was etched across his face before he even realized it, and he barely registered that tears were starting to spring to his eyes. He scrubbed those away quickly, not wanting his girlfriend to see him like this, but he couldn’t erase the frown or the crease in his eyebrows.

It was then that Y/n exited the bathroom, wrapped in only a towel. As she was picking out her clothes from their dresser, she glanced into the mirror and saw the look on Harry’s face as he was clutching his shirt in his hand. Growing increasingly concerned, she set her clothing on the bed and swiftly walked to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head between his shoulder blades.

“Are you okay, Harry?” she asked softly, “you look upset about something.”

“‘M fine,” Harry lied.

He could feel Y/n frown against his skin, “You don’t need to hide from me, Harry. Whatever problems you’re having, I’m here to help you. Just like you help me.”

He faltered for a moment. What if she reacted like everyone else? If she just told him he was attractive and left it at that, without showing any true support? But he decided to voice his insecurities anyway. Y/n was the best partner he had ever had. No matter what version of himself he brought to the table, she was always there for him to lean on, and she loved him unconditionally. Maybe it would be okay.

“Well, ehm, I jus’... don’ really see what people see ‘n me, I guess. Like, people see me as this international heartthrob and I jus’ can’t understand why, ‘ve never seen that in m’self, y’ know? Never found m’self handsome or anything like tha’. And f’ everyone that compliments me, it feels like ten say that ‘m ‘ideous. Sometimes, it jus’ affects me more than other times, and it jus’ came to m’ mind a little more as I was gettin dressed this mornin,” Harry explained, looking at the floor so he didn’t have to see himself in their mirror.

“Harry,” he heard from behind him, “can you look at me, please?”

He turned around slowly, his hands beginning to tremble as he looked Y/n in the eye. Her expression was soft and sympathetic as she gently cupped his face in her hands.

“Baby, I completely understand where you’re coming from. I had a lot of trouble with my body image when I was a teenager. But I promise you, Harry, that you are absolutely stunning. You take my breath away every time I look at you. I know that people love to talk shit online, especially about famous people that they don’t know, but those people are completely insignificant. Only listen to people that lift you up, even if that means ignoring yourself. Getting over hurdles like this isn’t easy, but I can promise you that I will be by your side 100%, and I will do everything I can to help you love yourself as much as I love you. Stopping the negative self-talk that you’ve been giving yourself for years may be difficult, but I hope that if I tell you how amazing you are every day, maybe you’ll start to believe it. You’re so beautiful, Harry, on the inside and on the outside.”

The tears that were in his eyes earlier now started to drip down his cheeks. His heart was so full, it felt like it was going to burst. How did he get so lucky?

“Darlin,” he whispered, his voice cracking, “I-I don’ even know what t’ say. I love y’ s’ much. Thank y’. Y’ support means the world t’ me. “

She smiled warmly, wiping his tears away with her thumbs, “Of course, my love. I’ll always be here for you, and I’m gonna tell you each and every day how fucking beautiful you are.”

Harry wrapped his arms around her tightly, desperately needing her touch. Y/n happily reciprocated, holding him in an iron grip, hoping that he could feel how deeply she loved him. Then, an idea struck her.

“Honey, can you do something for me?” when he nodded, she continued, “could you lay on the bed for me?”

He nodded again, pulling away from her embrace and lying down on the satin sheets. She clambered on top of him, gently pulling off his pants. Harry looked at her, confused. She smiled at him, placing a soft kiss on his lips before moving her attention elsewhere. Her lips darted across his body, planting sweet kisses over the skin. A kiss was pressed to his thigh, another to his bicep, and yet another to his stomach until she was sure she covered every inch of his body. With every loving gesture, she whispered a new complement.

“You are beautiful. You are loved.”

Slowly, in that moment, his insecurities started to fade away. All that Harry could focus on was the gentle press of lips against his skin, and the loving comments that danced across the surface. He began to believe them too, that maybe he truly was handsome. That maybe he could find a way to truly love himself. He knew that that moment would take a long time to get to. It wouldn’t happen overnight by any means, but with the help of his therapist, his incredible girlfriend, and the other people in his life that were important to him, he could complete his journey to self-love and start to see himself the way that Y/n saw him.

[incorrectskzquotes]

whats ur fave skz player? I'm a drive truther

Drive is an excellent choice and you're so valid!

My fave has been Streetlight since it came out! There's just something so special about streetlight for me! If they ever release it on spotify it'll be all ill listen to! Although for a long time my faveourite was Zone cause i mean, of course it was! It's still my second fave! the māori in it sold it for me (though chan has very very aussie pronunciation of the upane in zone lmao)

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Thanks for answering my question. Taken down was probably not the right phrase, more like writers I loved just stopped and talked about the "vibe" and how it wasn't enjoyable but not explaining much more than that.

And then there's been some tragedy, like the death of Ethan Day, who wrote Sno Ho, one of the funniest books I've ever read. Some writers at a signing I went to said it really affected them.

Some of my faves, like Anne Tenino and Marie Sexton are out, and they were wonderful.

I loved (name redacted, but she was the #1 author in LGBT for quite a while), what a great writer, but I followed her on social media and she seems like an unpleasant human, so I don't even follow her anymore to see if she has new books. I can usually separate the art from the artist, but she made it difficult.

I read a lot of YA, so I don't think I want to know how awful behind the scenes is for the writers.

I guess I would want writers to know that there are people out there that love them and I hope they know that and it's sad they aren't writing anymore, but I wish them the best.

DW: Ethan Day was not only a talented writer, but he was also one of the nicest and warmest people I’ve ever met. He was also one of the organisers behind GRL, so his death really did effect the whole community. I think a lot of people who were close to him lost a lot of their joy in doing what they did when Ethan passed. 

And then we got a pandemic, of course, and that’s been a struggle for a lot of people. Not just with it being a pandemic, which is rough enough, but with the isolation and the stress of the whole situation. Sometimes it’s hard to shut that off and find your muse! 

I think too that the community used to be smaller, and it’s grown exponentially in the last few years, so it probably has lost a bit of that feel where you know everyone and everyone is your friend. I was also a step away from a lot of that since I’m stuck on the other side of the world in a different timezone--all us Aussies and Kiwis are over here doing out own thing, lol! But I can see that it could feel like the vibe has changed. 

Ultimately, I think there’s nothing happening here that isn’t happening in other genres. I think it just seems magnified sometimes because we were such a small community! 

[bellasbookclub]

How it all started: G and M's original "better books for Bella" DM conversation

[July 26th, 2022]

G: you know how Bella lists all her favorite books and authors in Midnight Sun? what books would you recommend Bella base her personality off of instead?

Like, what favorite books would you give Bella to make her more interesting or fit into the story better?

M: G my dear! Bella's booklist is very very classic lit you read in high school or universal children’s books. BUT in her defense she mentions a couple sci-fi authors.

full (700-word) conversation continues under the cut

I think she was sleeping on the pillars of YA lit. I have an affinity for Isobelle Carmody as an Aussie, I think Alyzon Whitestarr would be a VERY Bella book

I think her uninspired takes on Austen and Brontë are pretty on point for Bella. But frankly the ONLY Brontë I personally like is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and that is NOT a Bella book at all. I think Wuthering and Eyre are on point for Bells, it's the red flags she loves

Honestly I think she would be way more into fantasy, I don't understand why she would embrace immortality and be so excited for it otherwise.

Like, maybe a little bit of my mans JRRT at least as a child. The Hobbit is GREAT for silly immortals. I could see her and Renee reading it. But like L J Covey in To All The Boys I think she should also be hugely into the Romance Genre.

I think P&P checks out as a Classique, and Jane Eyre and Wuthering, kind of set her up to be taken in by Edward's brand of Romance. But some funner ones like Alyzon (I wish) The Hobbit, hell, I'd love for some non-fiction too! Simone de Beauvoir has a truly moving recounting of watching her mother die

I think that would set up Bella's fear of growing old and dying (can't believe they never touched on the fact that Bella's paternal grandparents were so old and Charlie had to take care of them like???)

Also maybe SUPER controversial but I like to think she's a VC Andrews fan. Like Heaven definitely, maybe she wouldn't like what Neiderman has done since

G: M you psychic how did you know

this list is from yesterday

M: Shut uuuup this wavelength is strong and loud!!

G: I was mostly going through thinking of how I would de-genericize Bella’s list, because a big part of it truly reads like Stephenie Meyer just googled "classic books for girls" and ctrl+ved that

M: yeah but classic is classic for a reason. Also I thought Steph did an english course in college and was prolly using that

[Here they go on a tangent about Christian themes and racism in the Chronicles of Narnia and how as kids they both enjoyed the books despite rather than because of said stuff]

G: anyway you just know if Bella had based her entire identity on the du Maurier gothic instead of the Brontë gothic she would be so much sexier and more confident

M: She might have even had an iota of self-esteem!! du Maurier is for bad bitches

G: I think I'm gonna end up having to research Stephenie Meyer's Austen opinions…“Emma Woodhouse is so full of herself" is the biggest red flag like ok Bella we get it, you're ugly

M: Her opinion on Emma is so basic, like tell me you’re not like other girls without telling me you’re not like other girls. Her distaste of Emma reeks of jealousy. Maybe someone wanted to have confidence in herself. Too foreign for her to comprehend

G: EXACTLY

I'm gonna have to research whether that's just an in-universe Bella opinion or if Stephenie Meyer truly believes basic self-esteem is that much of a Sin, because Yikes. also, way to miss the entire very simple point of Emma

[August 1st, 2022]

G: M DID YOU KNOW I FOUND AN OLD STEPHENIE MEYER INTERVIEW WHERE SHE NEGS PERSUASION RIGHT ALONG WITH EMMA

sorry for the all caps I'm just mad. she says it's—get this—"too sad"

ma'am you wrote New Moon

M: THAT IS MY FAVE AUSTEN YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH PERSUASION ON MY WATCH

LIKE???? WHICH PROTAG ALSO HAS NO SELF ESTEEM ?? ANNE ELLIOT !!! She can't do this to me

"Persuasion is just so sad" .... haha ...

[Book-related conversation ends here]

Fun fact: let the record show that G and M also discussed their above defenses of Emma and Persuasion “live” on the podcast, but unfortunately the conversation had to be cut for time.

[tejoxys]

ROTG for the fandom ask, of course!

send me a fandom and i’ll tell you…

the first character i ever fell in love with: Pitch. I remember seeing the previews while out to see other movies, and being like I WILL SEE THAT MOVIE FOR THE VILLAIN ALONE. (being obsessed with rabbits, I was also very interested in Bunny.)

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: I don't think I have one of those here.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: it's not that I like any of my ships less, it's just they all got subsumed into one gigantic polyship.

my ultimate favorite character™: oh no oh no... three-way tie between Jack, Pitch, and Sandy?

prettiest character: th... three-way tie between Pitch, Sandy, and Tooth? Oh but North is hot, too. this is hard

my most hated character: I don't hate anybody, but I guess my least-favorite Guardian is still Bunny; it's kind of that thing where you dislike in others the traits that bother you about yourself (negative, stubborn, paranoid). I'm not very interested in Jamie, either.

my OTP: still blackice, but preferred in a setup with concurrent blacksand.

my NOTP: bennefrost. and not for the reasons present-day fandom wouldn't like it, where you're not "allowed" to ship aged-up characters, but because I just plain think it's a bad match. I never liked the dynamic between them in fandom because I'm allergic to Soft, and I couldn't come up with my own dynamic that I liked, either, because Jack to me is kind of like a baby eldritch god, and I feel like bennefrost by necessity has to put a lid on that. but it's just my opinion.

favorite episode scene: I love every scene that takes place in the Tooth Palace. also the part where Jack annihilates Pitch in midair, and Pitch responds with unbridled thirst.

saddest death: there's only really one in here, and it was extremely upsetting in theater.

favorite season: N/A

least favorite season: N/A

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: probably still Bunny. poor guy. again, I don't hate him; I love him a lot as a sort of traumatized earth elemental who's doing his best on a foreign planet, but who's very emotional and doesn't totally have a handle on his feelings. I don't enjoy him in the sarcastic-hot-Aussie-Jack's-rival aspect, which was the most popular.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Piiiitch

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Tooth. lovely, strong, compassionate Tooth, who is stuck between North and Bunny during all their stupid boy fights, and who got so much shit from the fandom for punching a guy who uhh tried to kill her & all her friends & locked little pieces of her actual self in cages. I will never be over this.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: I think my sense of this is broken, at least when it comes to this cast.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Jack/Tooth. I'd like it to happen just because Tooth deserves all the nice things, but I don't seek it out.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

sorry for all the harry potter posting in 2021…. but like….. reflecting on just how dark the later books were/are, why on earth did every harry potter fan always romanticise having a movie marathon with the movies??? like yeah, it’s basically what i’ve been doing for the last few weekends staying at my sister’s on my own…. and since i’ve been awake this morning, i’ve gone through ootp, hbp and deathly hallows part 1 so far….. and like…… these movies, to me, aren’t really made for marathon watching/binge watching in a sense….. due to the heavy subject matter imo. they’re made to be standalone (although part of a series) viewed movies one by one, not back to back to back in succession; when there’s just so many incredibly substantial themes like death and obviously racism, systemic corruption etc etc. to be thought about while watching.

like of course everyone is going to say that im reading far too deeply into this and that the hp books and movies are trash….. but like the constant romanticisation in the 2000s and early 2010s of wanting to do harry potter marathons as if they were as cutesy and happy go-lucky as romcoms…. or simply just as lighthearted kids movies backed by whimsy and fuzzy feelings back in the day, was just so fucking backward.

like obvs since im older now, i can see that harry was abused by petunia & vernon for example. and by reading other teen fiction (specifically aussie YA fiction series’ tomorrow when the war began series and the ellie chronicles trilogy); harry’s horrible dreams/flashbacks of cedric before/after he was killed in goblet of fire is a symptom of PTSD (which i read in harry potter essays in uni when i did i philosophy essay on epistemic injustice in ootp in the courtroom scene). i can actually see how harry is being used as a pawn by dumbledore in his master plan. and obvs in analysing these things im putting my apparently “useless” arts degree in english and philosophy to use lmao. and of course as kids, we either ignored those themes or never picked up on them because they went straight over our heads.

on this bent then, another YA movie series that is NOT made for binge watching is the hunger games. which i found out to my own kind of detriment last year….. considering that i had never bothered to read the books back when they were popular past the titular namesake hunger games book (and had also forgotten all the early 2010s tumblr posts about how dark it was)…. while deciding to watch all the movies til catching fire part 1 in a binge watch sesh in the middle of 2020. the binge watch sesh was also spurred on by the book about young president snow that came out in 2020 lol.

so last year, when i finally decided to watch hunger games, i could actually understand and contemplate the political ramifications of katniss’s & peeta’s behaviour and defiance… which was something that i completely brushed off while it was hugely popular in the early 2010s because it was “too political”…… while i utterly denied the GLARINGLY OBVIOUS major political undertones and themes in harry potter because i was so obsessed with it….. but I obvs was most specifically preoccupied with what hogwarts house i’d be in lmao and whether i was more like hermione/luna/ginny or a mix of all of them. like yeah. it was so backward.

of course, the HP movies do have a bingeable quality to them; but my god. from really goblet of fire onwards, they’re heavy as fuck and really don’t need to be binged back to back in succession….. like you can do with how i met your mother or Loki eps in terms of tv shows. or idek, for movies, old rom-com faves like suddenly 30/13 going on 30 or rom-coms starring sandra bullock (bc they’re some of my faves)…. or teen indie comedy faves like juno or napoleon dynamite.

bc harry potter at it’s core, is a war story, more obviously from the end of GOF til the end of the series. it’s heavy, it’s dark, and emotionally devastating (for me when i was younger obvs). in some scenes, such as when harry returns with cedric’s dead body in GOF and it’s backed by the cheery marching band music but then drowned out by fleur’s scream and amos diggory dramatically scream sobbing “MY BOOOOOY!!! MY SOOON!!! MY BOY IS DEAD!!!!” (which as a kid i used to laugh incredibly inappropriately at every bloody time i watched it)…. but NOW??? THE PAIN! THE SUFFERING! THE TURMOIL! which is finally paired with the sad score music and camera panning out from the tri-wizard cup school stadium??? oh! i am but torn asunder by it all (okay not really, but i feel amos’s pain more acutely and i can shed a tear or two is the point here). and speaking of GOF, it’s pretty sad that over the years, it’s always been reduced to “C A L M L Y” and hermione’s yule ball dress being pink instead of blue bc of both the real and supposed lack of book to film accuracy…. when there’s obvs more important things to focus on lol.

bc literally one of the most horrifying scenes in the gof movie for me, in retrospect, is voldemort being reborn???? and wormtail sacrificing his own hand to get that essentially cursed silver hand that ends up strangling him to death in DHP1. and also david tennant’s albeit very disappointingly short appearances as barty crouch jr???? that was good casting. and also the incredibly fucked up storyline in GOF of BCJ imprisoning the real mad eye moody in moody’s own enchanted chest for his hair for polyjuice potion???? it hit me last week again (bc it hit me in 2020 when i reread the series with audiobooks as well) just how ridiculously FUCKED UP and BATSHIT that ENTIRE storyline really was. and i read and watched that???? and was fine with it at 10 years old???? jesus christ lmao.

okay. i went a bit off topic and overboard. but y’all get what i mean??? it’s so weird that an entire generation romanticised a YA series that was essentially about a war in its later instalments (and obvs a full blown one by deathly hallows) as some cutesy marathonable story bc it was/is so whimsical and its filled with childhood memories. but in doing it myself over the last few weeks, it’s just not. it was definitely one of the heftiest book series for kids/teens back then. but also for the movies, aside for their run times mostly all being close to 3hrs long, they’re quite emotionally charged and are astonishingly dark & dense in subject matter/themes for a KIDS movie series for the backend of the series. and mostly the only reason it’s “marathonable” in a sense, is because we all know the story so well.

[kabbal]

On va dire Kaamelott et Tick tick boum!

OH GOD

bon pour Kaamelott ça roule tout seul :

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) Venec <3

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) Gareth

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) y'all are ALL sleeping on my Queen Azénor

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) Urgan l'Homme-Goujon

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) also Venec because of course

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) si on piégeait le Répurgateur dans un labyrinthe sans issue avec des images de femmes et d'hérétiques sur les murs, ce serait drôle de voir combien de temps il peut courir

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) Léodagan

Tick, tick... Boom! (y a nettement moins de personnages donc ça va être sportif) aussi je mets des photos pour

blorbo est Jonathan parce que vous attendiez vous à autre chose c'est Andrew Garfield c'est le main character et toustes les artistes ont imprint on him like crazy

scrunkly est très spécifiquement baby Michael avec sa guitare raquette de tennis durant I Make A Vow parce qu'il est Extra Cute Shaped

scrimblo bimblo est la fille qui chante Superbia avec Roger (elle s'appelle Cristin je crois) parce que sa voix a un grain incroyable et que je voulais plus d'elle

glup shitto est l'intégralité de la scène de Sunday et ses 3748954 broadway stars in the background

poor little meow meow est Susan parce que j'ai vu des gens mal parler d'elle. She did nothing wrong. Dump his ass, queen

horse plinko Scott because of course look at his dumb ass

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) aucun parce qu'iels ne le méritent pas et aussi iels sont pour la plupart out and proud donc pas de scène de confession qui déraille vers Superhell