#bai you brilliant writer

[killuakiru]

hello!!! i love your works sm ahhhh (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)

may i request headcanons for killua and gon (separately) with an s/o who is really happy and cheerful all the time but their real emotions are actually difficult to read? ty and remember to stay hydrated!! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

HIII ANONNN THANK YOU SOSOSO MUCH !! <33 I am more than happy to comply your request 🤲 thank you for requesting !! Hopefully you'll like it <3

side note : thank you for the requests !! my writer's block is being cured by everyone's brilliant thoughts, thank u also for the support !! I honestly didn't know my words can bring emotions to those of my readers. > < I love yall sososo much, please take care !!

⊹₊⋆ Hidden In Plain Sight !ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

⊹₊⋆ Gn!Reader x Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecss ( Separate ! )ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

༉‧₊˚. Let's Start !༉‧₊˚.

༉‧₊˚. Killua Zoldyck !ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

• Honestly, Killua was SO attracted to you mainly because he wanted to know you more, that's just who he is ! Even when you experienced horrible things, your smile never falters, leaving him very curious.

• Don't get me wrong, he loves seeing you smile and all that, and he's glad that he makes you laugh.

• But seriously, he can't shake off that feeling. If he says so himself, he can read people's emotions. ( But can be that he's surrounded by ppl who are generally easy to read )

• Ever since, he's been keeping a close eye on you— even before you both made it official. ESPECIALLY since he's not an expert when it comes to emotions.

• He keeps an eye on you on frankly everything. Your reactions if you were hurt physically, your reactions if you were denied or rejected by proposes, etc. He was DETERMINED to know your true emotions.

• But setting all of those to the side— he treats you really well, almost like how he treats Alluka. As his beloved significant other, he made a vow to himself to prioritize your needs first instead of his, knowing how unpredictable you could be.

• Although, hypothetically lets say.. You lost composure. Since you were the natural cheerful type, you'd often attached easily; Kite / Kaito, as an example.

• Kaito taught you three some simple guidance, as well as sharing stories to probably keep the children's nerves at bay. Who wouldn't? The Chimera Ants were an unknown organism, and they were regarded as highly vicious.

• The night Kaito was attacked, the sheer look of horror from your face left Killua stunned, all while Gon had a similar reaction but couldn't hold his inner rage in.

• The next morning while awaiting the Botany Hunters that accompanied Kaito, he saw you so dejected, and it was the first time seeing you like that. Your eyes were so lifeless it genuinely made Killua nervous to his core.

• Similarly to Gon, after he finished moping around, you both recovered within minutes. But Killua probably knew better as your boyfriend.

• Yes, you were back to your cheerful and talkative self, and Killua was glad, but at the same time paranoid. He knew everything had limits, his emotions, Gon's, even yours.

• After seeing that look of terror and melancholy look in your face, he's learned to ask himself; "Are they really okay?" with a heart beating in fear of losing you to succumbing to misery due to the fact you tend to keep your troubles to yourself.

༉‧₊˚. Gon Freecss !ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

• Honestly it's a miracle how he couldn't read your emotions easily. With his keen senses, one would probably think he'd instantly find something out.

• However you were a different case, similarly to Killua, he had a gut feeling— an instinct, if you must.

• Growing up on a mountain and relying on instinct, he knew better than to leave it alone. And so even before you both became a couple, he'd make low-key questions about your wellbeing to understand what you're feeling to an extent, but you'd always brush it off or answer it with a wide smile and cheerful tone.

• Gon just brushed it off after a while, believing your facial expression as your eyes creases in genuine happiness, the way you would grow breathless when you, Killua, and Gon would joke around, he firmly believed you truly were just a happy person and nothing could affect you.

• Unlike Killua, though. Gon didn't watch over you closely. As said previously— he firmly believed you were alright and had a strong mentality.

• Gon believed you can carry yourself, and you proved that point to him ! Whenever you'd be defeated physically and mentally, he'd always watch you standing your ground with a determined expression and a fairly attractive grin.

• But, because of his carelessness, that was his major mistake. He knew your tendencies, you knew his. You both were easily attached to someone and easily trusted them.

• And since Kaito knew Gon's father, you both equally shared the same celebration. Gon had a knew lead to Ging, so any normal significant other would be happy for their boyfriend.

• So the night where Kaito was attacked, ( yes we're using the same scene ), you couldn't comprehend your emotions. Your heart hammered against your chest. Seeing that.. monster that attacked Kaito with no mercy, and that very intimidating aura. So this was a Royal Guard.

• Killua noticed your demeanor, no doubt. Even Kaito, it was clear. How your usual cheerful and light demeanor turned one of a dark and fearful demeanor, Killua tried to nudge Gon. However Gon was too engulfed in his rage to even notice.

• The day he came back to his senses, looking back at it, he felt regret in his actions. While he knew his rage was justified— he wasn't paying attention to you.

• You easily forgave him though. That sent alarming shocks to his nerves. He saw your puffy and tired eyes, even when you smiled he didn't see the familiar creases he'd normally see in your eyes.

• Even after that, his rage grew and grew. But you'd constantly be by his side, so his bloodlust would often be at bay. He loved your warming personality so much and he appreciated every piece of you.

• In the end, after everything was finished, he had grown a habit to occasionally check up on you and your wellbeing. He knew you'd always bottle up your emotions, and he knew you'd break eventually.

• When that time comes, he wants to be with you and guide you through the process. He knows it'll be hard, but he'll be patient with you if you're patient with yourself.

༉‧₊˚. End !༉‧₊˚.

Thank you for reading ! This strictly belongs to me / killuakiru and I do not give permission for you to repost on other platforms, thank you !

[kkpwnall]

for the kindest, darlingest, most effervescent sen @fragilecapric0rnn 💜 just a little something for you. i’m so proud and grateful to call us friends, you’re thoughtful and hilarious, and so willing to go to the mat for your friends. you’re a brilliant writer and the sweetest cheerleader. i hope you have an incredible day, and an even better year ahead of you, i’m so excited to see where life and writing and everything else takes you!! you deserve the whole world. love you lots <33

It might have been harder to say goodbye if it was a nicer day. If the sun was shining, and the leaves were changing, and a cool autumn breeze blew all around them. Instead Hawkins chewed them up and spit them out the other side like it had so many times before. The sky above them opened up just as they loaded the last of the boxes in the back of the small uhaul, leaving them soaked to the skin as they threw the last of their essentials and themselves into the cab. They left town shivering and laughing uncontrollably, middle fingers out the window. Ecstatic to finally get out of that hometown hell. 

It’s all worth it, driving thousands of miles across the country, towing the beamer behind them. It’s worth it trying to navigate the narrow streets of San Francisco and getting lost at least three times before they find their new apartment. It’s worth the hike uphill from the closest parking spot big enough for the truck, and up another three flights of stairs, when Eddie unlocks the door and gallantly bows him inside. Steve wanders from kitchen to bathroom to bedroom, imaging the bed here, a bookshelf there, the desk under this window. Eddie’s amps and instruments in that corner, Steve’s sport’s equipment in the hall closet near the door, easy to grab. Before coming back to the living room with its big bright windows and view of the bay. 

Tomorrow, their friends will come by to help them unload the truck and unpack, get paid in pizza and beer and belly laughs. In a few days, a few weeks, they’ll settle in, find the grocery store, find jobs. Learn the city and meet their neighbors. In six months, a year, two years, theirs will be the place to crash for anyone visiting, anyone who needs somewhere to stay, somewhere to go.

They’ll argue and make up and struggle, lose friends and jobs and find so much better. They’ll get bad haircuts and grow weird facial hair and make questionable fashion choices. They’ll stay up late crying over things they can’t change and things they can. They’ll celebrate the new year and birthdays and lives cut too short and new ones beginning. They’ll grow and change into people they wouldn’t recognize when they were younger. 

Tonight though, it’s just Steve and Eddie, finally someplace where the ground beneath them won’t open up and try to swallow them whole. Somewhere they can be together and not have to look over their shoulders all the time. Somewhere they can be themselves, be just Steve and just Eddie, and figure all the rest out without a world-ending apocalypse every year. Together.

All the frustration and stress and hoping and wishing and scraping by of the past three years, it’s all worth it when Eddie comes up behind him, wraps his arms around Steve’s waist and hooks his chin over his shoulder. Pulls him close and whispers, “welcome home, sweetheart.”

[jimintomystery]

DS9: "Explorers"

Following 800-year-old Bajoran schematics, Commander Sisko attempts to build a spaceship to prove that the Bajorans achieved interstellar travel in the 16th century. Meanwhile, Doctor Bashir becomes anxious when the valedictorian of his class at Starfleet Medical visits Deep Space Nine.

The lightship is a fun idea, and it's consistent with various lines that suggest Bajor was once centuries ahead of human technology. That being said, the premise is a little half-baked. Sisko goes to great lengths to demonstrate that the Bajorans could have sailed these vessels to Cardassia, but this episode can't even explain how he got his rig out of the cargo bay.

Sisko's adventure is reminiscent of the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, which recreated a hypothetical pre-Columbian voyage from Peru to Polynesia. However, Sisko doesn't have time for a years-long sublight journey from Bajor to Cardassia. His more modest flight plan, then, is to travel from Deep Space Nine to the Denorios belt. Except, uh, the station is positioned near the wormhole, which is in the Denorios belt. So that'd be more like if the Kon-Tiki just circled around the Galapagos Islands a couple of times and called it good.

Nitpicks aside, this is a solid episode for character development. It's delightful to see Sisko so enthralled with Bajoran history, especially when you know where this is headed. All the scenes with Jake are perfect father-son bonding. Even B-plot, which I find a bit stupid, has a turning point in the friendship between Bashir and Chief O'Brien.

OK, back to nitpicking. "Explorers" makes a game effort to build a story from the bits and pieces of earlier Bashir character development (he sought out the unassuming assignment on DS9, he slowly grows on O'Brien, he sure digs chicks, he's brilliant but "only" a salutatorian, and the stupid preganglionic fiber anecdote). What the character needs, though, is fresh meat, not a casserole made of three-year-old leftovers. You can tell the B-plot is bankrupt because the writers can't come up with an angle for Doctor Lense except to suggest that maybe she's in love with Bashir. (???) This just reheats Bashir's hangups about Lieutenant Dax, and makes the story about him trying to get a pretty girl to notice him. But he was already hooking up with a pretty girl at the beginning of the story! Ugh, I need a shot of O'Brien's Scotch.

[flameohotwife]

We've talked so much about kataang parenthood and the cloud babies, but I'm always up for hearing more of your thoughts on them. Really, I'd just give you that and let you talk away wherever it takes you, but how about this for more of a prompt.

Here's one that's been percolating for me lately. The cloudbabies grow up in a family that's not just their parents, but their entire community. Both Aang and Katara grew up in communities full of extended aunts/uncles/cousins (whether biological or not) surrounding them, and likewise their kids grow up on an island full of Air Acolytes that act as extended family for them. They're emersed in Air Nomad culture as a daily part of their lives. Both Aang and Katara would work to make sure they have traditional Water Tribe culture as part of their upbringing too, of course. (As you know I HC that Uncle Sokka is heavily involved in all their upbingings.)

I'd just love to hear your thoughts on anything extending form that or related.

Oh, absolutely. You knew what to send to make me go off, hahaha. Kataang as parents gets, I think, wholly misrepresented based on a couple one-off lines in LoK that were meant to show that even our favorites weren't perfect in parenthood (really, who is? I try my best but I know I fail my kids in different ways all the time), the same way the writers were able to show that each character had flaws in the original series. Aang has so much on his shoulders that OF COURSE he's not going to be able to balance that perfectly. And sometimes he (AND KATARA) will be too tired at the end of the day to think straight and might not be as attentive as they could/should be. I don't know how much of the criticisms are coming from people who are actually parents, though; who know intimately the constant daily (hourly?) pressures parents of multiple kids with widely varying personalities and needs are under. None of the parents I've talked to have felt this way.

I also love this idea of the cloudbabies being raised in a communal lifestyle, because you're right that both Aang and Katara grew up that way. Everyone always paints that as a point of conflict for Aang and Katara--that Aang wouldn't know anything of a nuclear family structure but really, as much as Katara did know that, her tribe was so close-knit that they were all like family as well. This was only amplified after the men went off to war and only the women and children were left behind. The cloudbabies probably have favorite acolytes that they run to when their parents are busy, and of course Sokka and Suki and Toph and Lin and Su are always around, too, or they're in the city visiting them.

And Aang and Katara take care of Toph's and Zuko's (and potentially Sokka's if he had any) kids like their own, too, whenever they're at their house. Once they're teens/preteens, the kids all cross the bay on the ferry themselves and hang out together when they can, and all the adults just know to feed whoever is there and have extra just in case their parents come looking. I'm reaching this stage with my oldest and I can really see Aang leaning hard into this, giving Bumi's friends a ride over on Appa when he sees them in town, telling stories from the war (maybe embellishing a bit) to Bumi's intense embarrassment but his friends' joy, making sure they have an extra fruit pie to take home to their parents after... Aang might not be anybody's pro-bending coach but you can bet he finds other ways to be involved in his kids' lives and is always so, so proud of the little humans he and Katara created, regardless of bending ability, grades, or anything else (though I hc that all the cloudbabies are pretty brilliant in school). They're going to have insecurities and complaints because they're all HUMAN, but they won't doubt for a second that they are loved ("That's one happy family")

Well that became a novel, haha. Thanks for sending me your kataang thoughts(/thots) and for asking for mine, too!

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #57:

Steve Cropper's Playin' My Thang

Sometimes a dollar bin record looks just too silly to resist. Whether it's Nils doing a flip, claymation putridity or cartoon skeletons copulating in problematic fashion, I could dedicate an entire shelf to albums that won me over with abhorrent work from the art department.

Terrible titles can sway me as well. Rocket Cottage? Sign me up. Starring as Henry the Human Fly!? My favorite. Emperor Tomato Ketchup? Yes please.

Steve Cropper, Booker T's ace guitarist and the co-writer of Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay, who, as far as I know, has accomplished nothing of recognizable musical value since 1970 other than anchor Bobfest and tour for one brilliant season with Neil Young (sorry, I don't count being in the Blues Brothers Band to be of musical value even if the movie, and especially John Belushi chucking the cigarette lighter out the retired cop car window in disgust, is awesome), checks both the terrible title and terrible cover boxes with his 1981 solo record Playin' My Thang.

Do we appreciate the color scheme Cropper's record employs? We do not. Does the reverse image, with its objectified female, rectify things?

Certainly not.

And is there any one out there who wishes to know what exactly Cropper is referring to when he mentions his Thang? Indeed, I have conducted an exhaustive imaginary poll and found that everyone on the planet, past, future and present, fears to know about or ever gaze upon Steve's Thang.

And so it's with both eagerness and horror that I prepare to drop the needle on Cropper's record for the first, and likely only, time in my life. Thanks for hanging out with me while we play this Thang.

The opening notes are friendly and benign. Steve pledges to give us what we want; apparently what we want is to be bored.

Let's go ahead and address Steve's vocals. There's a frat house filled with talented white male guitarists who should have never requested a microphone. Robbie Robertson holds the mortgage on the property; T Bone Burnett mows its lawn; Ry Cooder makes the tacos; Mike Campbell, now that poor Tom is dead, does the dishes. Cropper appears to focus on fouling up the plumbing. Why the hell didn't these men just just hire singers?

Oh God, the next song is the 50's standard Let The Good Times Roll. This album should be called I Forgot to Flush the Cropper.

I officially can't be bothered to track down and paste in any more individual tracks for this album. Here's the whole album if you are feeling ridiculous.

Meanwhile, I need a stiff drink.

The title track follows. Steve tells us that when he gets up each morning he sets his own groove. I'm really glad to know this. Happily, his Thang is revealed as a pretty sweet guitar riff - none of which appeared in the first two songs - and there is indeed a groove to be found on this track.

Steve has thankfully zipped up and emerged, at least momentarily, from the Crapper. Horns swing and we're glad to see that he remembered to wash his hands. I declare this song worth listening to!

Side 1 ends with a song dedicated to employing every conceivable cliche known to Steve. He says your dreams will come true further down the line if you set yourself free; setting yourself free is all you'll ever need. Additionally, he recommends that you don't wind up a loser and that you seek out winning hands rather than let the magic die. Finally, he encourages you to learn to fly.

Steve is clearly a Jedi.

I can't drink any more tonight and I can't listen to another side of this muck without drinking every last bottle of whatever they've got left in the White Guitar Guy's Who Shouldn't Ever Sing Frat House.

So, stay tuned for Part 2!

[grandhotelabyss]

Do you ever feel lonely as a literary man? Or are there other literary men (or women) in your circle?

I'm touched by all your concern for my private life, anons. Am I happy, am I lonely. I'm fine.

(The only time I ever wrote about my personal life online was on Livejournal circa 2004. LJ had a feature where you could limit who saw your posts to a select list of what they called your "friends," now followers or subscribers. So, extracting emotional labor like a typical literary man, I wrote about my travails, whatever they even were back when I was 22 and immortal, to a small list of mostly British literary women. [I was, when I was around his age, sort of a coldhealing type on the internet, if you know what I mean.] They were brilliant Oxbridge students; I would talk to them on Livejournal about Shakespeare and the Brontës and A.S. Byatt and Anne Carson and Tori Amos; Oxbridge women, yes, but also some genius literary-STEM-type hybrid women I think in the Bay Area, polymathic immigrants’ daughters whose models in life were the likes of Athanasius Kircher. I wish I knew these people's real names—I still remember some of their LJ handles—because they were smart and ambitious and some or all of them must have gone on to do great things. They will probably cure cancer by inscribing a poem into the genome. Anyway, one of them—I believe she was from New Zealand—she must have been moved by my travails, whatever those were, and she wrote to me that she wished we lived in the same place so she could cook me dinner and [I will never forget this phrase] "soothe your vast American loneliness." Vast American loneliness! It's true. Everyone in America is lonely. We came here to be lonely together: crabs who actually climbed out of the deep dark bucket of Eurasia. But I digress.)

I've had periods when there were literary people in my circle and periods when there weren't. Right now I've just moved cities and am in the market for a new IRL circle! Literary people welcome, send applications. But I have my literary circle online, and phone-text conversations with friends who were once in IRL literary circles in college or grad school who have since dispersed to the four corners. I don't do the Cormac thing, "Writers are cosmopolitan neurotics, I'm a cowboy and just want to hang out with physicists," but, and ironically given my participation in "anti-institutional rhetoric" that is apparently driving tender souls off of Substack, I don't usually end up hanging out with MFA types but with academic types, philosopher types, people who school and bully me about my ignorance of philosophy and try to explain Lacan to me and the like, even online, even, yes, on Substack, I have drifted into such company. I'll be the dumbest person among the deep and systematic thinkers! It's not a bad place to be.

[dark-night-star-light]

I think Bay's poll helped me understand why I think the first arc was peak Spirit Animals.

In short: it has lows. It has plot twists. The stakes feel real. And the character moments are truly outstanding.

In a traditional three-act story, at the end of the second act, the protagonists are supposed to be at their lowest point. And the Spirit Animals authors did something even cooler with this concept. They added in a fourth act.

Think about the end of Against the Tide and Rise and Fall. I adored those two endings so much. If we apply the three-act story to the first series, Against the Tide is clearly a low. So, that's the end of the second act then, right? It can't get any worse, can it?

You expect the protagonists to dust themselves off. To never lose hope and to keep making progress until they finally defeat the big bad for good. And that's how it seems to be going in Rise and Fall. Until the writers pull an absolutely brilliant twist on you and the protagonists hit a low that is somehow lower than the first low that once again ups the stakes. Because now all hope is entirely lost. The situation has never looked so completely bleak.

So this would actually be more of a four-act story. We have the first two books (the first act): relatively innocent, adventurous, kind of formulaic. Then Conor (and then Meilin) makes a decision at the end of Hunted that makes you go. Oh. This is real. They aren't just going to spend the rest of the series collecting silly little trinkets, one per book. Now it's more than just a silly little quest story.

Then comes the second act. The stakes rise through books three, four and five, as the protagonists go through some truly earth (erdas?) shattering things. They seem to be making progress, and that's when they hit the low at the end of Against the Tide.

You expect that to be the low. For the protagonists to pick themselves up and never fall back down from there. But, no, you see, the next act is only one book. Just Rise and Fall. And this is where the writers show you how truly abysmal the protagonists' situation can get. It was bad, but it can get worse. Now they have to fix it, once and for all.

And then of course, there's the final act, also one book, The Evertree. The rallying, the fight, the climax, and the defeat. All is well, and the evil is defeated, even though they hit not just one, but two major lows.

But the Wyrm arc has nothing like that. There's a plot twist, sure, but it doesn't have any impact on the plot. Shane is the leader of the Redcloaks, sure, but what does that mean? It doesn't up the stakes. It doesn't contribute to any lows or highs or anything at all. In terms of plot, it hardly changes anything. Same thing with Kirat being Tarik's nephew. Sure, it's a cool little Easter egg, but what impact does that have on the plot? Honestly? Nothing. Think about the plot twists in the first series. There are two major ones: Meilin having drunk the Bile and Shane being the real Devourer. What do you notice about these two? Well, they both directly impact the plot, and both of them also directly contribute to the two major lows I pointed out. The Wyrm arc has nothing like that absolute brilliance.

As a result, each book just feels like a repetition of the previous one. Quest, fight, quest, fight, quest, fight, quest, done. Yes, Abeke loses Uraza, a definite low. But that's Abeke's low, not all of their lows. There are four protagonists. Yes, Greenhaven falls, a definite low. But what personal impact does that have on our main characters? Not really anything. All the people affected are random side characters. Tragic, but we as the audience don't really feel it, the way we feel Abeke and Meilin getting captured or the talismans getting stolen. And it makes the Wyrm arc feel flat and boring.

Okay, so the plot twists are boring and don't do anything to increase the stakes. Fine. Plot isn't everything, ever. What does the Wyrm arc do for our characters? Well, one in particular is presented to be a completely different person than in the first series after appearing as a mysterious figure for the majority of the arc. Are we going to do anything with that? Oh, what's that? He's dead before any interesting dynamics can be formed between him and the main characters? Okay, that's unfortunate, but what about the others? Oh, the spoiled brat that's related to Tarik does a complete 180 in the span of a handful of pages because of an amulet? Uh, okay. Well. That, that doesn't mean this arc is irredeemable! What about the girl from the historically oppressed nation that tried to colonize the entire world summoning the symbol of hope and peace for said nation? What might we do with that? Give her a stereotypical girlboss arc instead of exploring the ins and outs of the immense pressure she canonically faces from the entire country's populace? Oh. Oh. Okay, but there's that kid that breaks traditional gender roles and is scorned for it, similar to one of our own protagonists? Surely that will be an interesting thing to wri- Oh, he's tossed aside the moment his spirit animal is taken from him and that's the end of that? Hm.

This is very different from our first arc. Rollan, Meilin, Conor, and Abeke are each given likable qualities and flaws that directly relate to their upbringings and dictate their decisions very well. Over the course of the story, they form an incredibly heartwarming bond that you genuinely want to see more of. As an extra layer of genius, they even mirror each other in terms of flaws and arcs. At the end, when they all act like kids and race each other and poke fun at each other, you feel like it's earned. Like you truly watched them become what they are. It's incredible character writing and I adore it. But it was not replicated well in the Wyrm arc.

Add in all the nuance and gray morality, outstanding worldbuilding, and a couple of other things, and the first arc stands out as some of the best story-telling I've ever seen. In a children's series. The Wyrm arc is a long way to fall from that standard, and it really, really shows.

[intoxicatingimmediacy]

Want To Know Who Is Playing X-5 In ‘Loki’ Season 2?

The premiere of Loki season 2 brought us a new character to unpack: X-5, a hunter who seems to be against everything that Mobius, Loki, Hunter B-15, and the rest of the team stands for. X-5 may be your introduction into this actor, but he’s been a great performer for years. Rafael Casal, known best for Blindspotting (both the film and subsequent Starz series of the same name), has made a career out of collaborating with frequent co-star Daveed Diggs. A rapper, writer, and actor, Casal is a fascinating performer, and seeing him in Loki is a treat. While X-5 may be his first foray into a big franchise like this, it does highlight how talented Casal is. His quick wit and energy works well bouncing off of Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson in a way that’s surprising in their first scenes, and I’m excited to see where X-5 will go throughout the season. While we don’t know much about X-5 yet and there is a lot to hope for in the future of Loki, Casal’s creative history is fun to dig into because his projects are all so different from each other. If you had to choose one thing to really dive into to see just how amazing Casal is, you should start with Miles in Blindspotting. The movie, which was co-written by Casal and Diggs, tells the story of Miles and Collin (Diggs). Trying to stay out of trouble for the last three days of his probation, Collin works as a mover with Miles in an area of the San Francisco bay that is becoming gentrified. Things go sideways and, without spoiling anything, Collin doesn’t make it through the three days without a hitch. This leads into the Blindspotting series that ran on Starz for two seasons before it was canceled. Blindspotting is a brilliant show that centers around Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones) and her relationship to Miles while he is serving time in jail and raising their son Sean. The film and the series are a real showcase of Casal’s talents, a great watch as a whole, and perfect if you suddenly want more of Casal in your life after seeing him in Loki season 2. This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.

[lil-cutesy-things]

Expressing your anger (Writing 101 with an old soul #5)

Hi lovelies and welcome for a new lesson on writing with me, Bay~ ♡ Hope you are all doing good!

So today's lesson is going to be about:

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

Self-expression (anger version)

└─── °∘❉∘° ───┘

Today, I decided to express my feelings of anger in the form of a prose poem. But how should I start? Where do I find brilliant ideas, striking symbolisms and metaphors?

My answer is and will always be: you don't need strokes of genius to write a poem. If you hope to make your writings acutely yours, you have to use your own ideas, work from your own inspiration and imagination.

Of course, you are allowed to get some inspiration from other writers and poets—I am not saying that you cannot, but trust me, you don't want to get accused of plagiarism.

Let's get back to my poem. I am going to list the words that come to mind and try to see if they are relevant or not.

Dark blue (inspired by the series 13 Reasons Why) ➜ a shade of nail polish used by the fans of the series to raise suicide awareness

Blood droplets ➜ physical injuries, s*lf-harm

Scars ➜ physical violence, s*lf-harm

Raising your tone / getting loud ➜ being unable to stay calm

Name-calling / insults ➜ verbal violence, being unable to remain respectful

Blaming / finding faults ➜ criticising & pointing fingers

Inappropriate remarks ➜ unwinding, letting loose

Triggers ➜ things that can cause anger, anxiety, etc.

Now that I have this list with interesting ideas, I can start writing my poem.

See you later for the end result!

My anger

My anger is just like a spider bite

It stings, it burns and itches

Sometimes it needs to be treated with an antidote

Sometimes it does not

You know, anger is not something to be ashamed of

At least that's what they say

But I always feel ashamed anyway

So I guess our hands are tied

My anger is colour blue

A dark yet vivid hue

To number the days where I messed up

And spilled from my cup

My anger does not have an even sheen

Blood droplets dripping down my skin

Arrow-shaped scars that will never fade away

I am not proud of them, probably never will be

But they are still parts of me.

꒒ ০ ⌵ ୧ ♡

[codenamehazard]

.:New Poison Revealed:.

Chapter 28: New Poison Revealed

[TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF DEATH AND MONSTERS]

Hey guys! I just looked at the chapter number and holy hell I didn't expect that I would be at chapter 28 with the big 3-0 milestone peeking around the corner. It is still forever mind-boggling how all of this stared as a one-shot that I wasn't even planning on writing out.

And thanks to your support of my mad ramblings in fanfic form, that one-shot grew into something I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams. So, thank you all for reading.

A special thank you goes out to @rogueshadeaux. She has given me so much, her friendship, her encouragement, her mentorship, I dare say if it wasn't for her encouraging me to throw my metaphorical hat in the ring, chapter 1 would have never been written. She is also a brilliant writer and her story will grab you by the throat and chokeslam you into the ground with feels. Please give InFAMOUS: Erosion a read when you're done here.

Another thanks to Rogue for letting me borrow her twins.

Enough of my rambling, let's jump in!

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How much time has passed since I peeked on the two builders playing with legos? I have no idea, and at this moment I don’t give an iota of a damn as an infuriating sight dares to walk out of the Quiet Room and into my line of sight.

That fucking tin-can carrying Kestrel like she was some princess in a god-damn fairy tale. It’s gag-worthy.

My eye twitches and my blood seethes in my veins as Coyote gently places the passed out bird onto a sleeping cot before tucking her in, for god’s sake… As if this couldn’t get anymore saccharine sweet.

“Poor girl’s out steel cold. Fell asleep on the floor.” The shiny fucker pipes up for probably the first time in I don’t give a shit. I’m not paying much attention as my mind is going in several different directions at once. I’m still confused as all hell as why seeing Kestrel and Coyote playing with god-damn legos like good friends was making me look at the younger man like he was a lightning rod, now this?! This was bringing back some urges from my Empire City days. His face is looking more and more punchable by the second, but why?!?

Why is this enraging me so much?! Why is every dark urge in my head screaming at me to kill this man?!?  Why am I giving so much of a shit about who does what kind gestures to her?!? 

We. Hate. Each-other.

I’m struggling not to bear my teeth and growl at Coyote when the bay doors open and out comes the black haired woman… Crow, was it? It’s the only other name that doesn’t have a face to it aside from the absolutely ridiculous ones. Her arrival snaps me out of my murderous fury and draws my eyes to her.

“Okay guys.” She starts. “I need to know exactly what went down with Pangolin, beginning and end. There are other Misfit groups out there and the Defense Teams need to know what’s going on. It’ll also help me dial in Pangolin’s treatment.”

Mako starts giving a play by play of what went down out there, I’m half-paying attention as rage is still boiling hot when I remembered something that had been bugging me for a while. I remember Jean saying something about an “anti-corrodium” or some nonsense like that, it’s something that needed answers.

“Hey, uhm… Crow, was it?” I jump in and ask when there’s a break in the convo, she turns her head with a “hm?” and a tilt of her head. “What in the hell is Corrodium?” The raven-haired woman blinks at me and raises an eyebrow before looking at Mako.

“D- Did you not tell him about Corrodium…?” Crow questions Mako with a pointed look, she throws her hands up defensively. “We really didn’t have a lot of time between the chaos that broke out when we first picked him up, Kes trying to complete her project, the Summoner and now this!” Great, another goddamn thing that nobody fucking told me about, though Mako does have a point about things being a roller coaster ride from the beginning to now, kinda hard to squeeze in a Wildlands 101, so I guess I can let it slide…. For now, anyway.

I can see the woman pinch the bridge of her nose and let out an irritated sigh before looking at the two of us.

 “Okay, let’s all get something to eat before I go hangry bitch on both of you.” Crow grumbles while looking at Mako with a glare.

“Yeah, I’m not sure when we last ate.” Mako murmurs while rubbing the back of her head. ”Coyote can keep an eye on sleeping beauty over there.” Hold the god-damn phone!! Tin-man’s gonna be watching Kes?! “Though we should be sure to bring her back a couple of funnel cakes, she’s going to be ravenous when she wakes up.” My eye twitches as I glare at Mako. Did she really suggest that?! The fire in my chest flares hot again at that thought and the train-wreck in my head starts back up again. 

“It should be me watching her, not him.” The devil on my shoulder hisses in my ear, it shocks the ever loving shit out of me. Why did I think that?? Why do I care who watches her?! Why do I give a damn?! WHY?!?

I open my mouth to protest, but my stomach tells a different story as it growls obnoxiously loud at the thought of carnival food, causing the girls to look at me with amusement. I feel a bit of heat tinge my cheeks as I grumble and rub the back of my head.

“Well, I think that decides that.” Mako hums with a smile and I roll my eyes, but I follow the two women outside, leaving Kes behind with Coyote… Much to my bewildering chagrin.

Some funnel cake does sound really good at the moment, maybe a churro or two.

I shield my eyes from the blinding sun as we step outside of the hospital into a literal carnival, so many colors every which way, with tents and rides and holy shit there’s just so much to look at, so much to explore and climb.

“So, Corrodium.” Crow hums as we head off to what I can guess is this city’s Junk Food Alley. “To put it as simply as possible, Corrodium is basically Conduit poison. The parasitic bastard child of lead and some kind of anti-rayacite. It’s so dangerous, it’s commonly called “Conduit’s Bane” around here.”

“Uh-huh, that’s nice and all but that don’t tell me much.” I huff in irritation, Crow gives me an aggravated look as the tips of her raven locks seem to melt and liquify into water.

Oh fuck, she’s a Water Conduit…

“I was getting to that.”  She hisses in annoyance before taking a deep breath.

“The reason it’s so feared and you should have been warned about from the very beginning….” Crow gives Mako a heated glare. “Is because of its effects. If a Conduit is even so much as exposed to it, it weakens them greatly. However, it becomes so much more dangerous if it’s injected, like through a bite or a sting. It royally fucks them up, corrupting their bodies and powers.” I bring my hand to my chin and rub the stubble on it, my mind processing all of this. This brings questions into my head, why didn’t anyone tell me? I mean, I get that the chaos me joining the party caused did turn everything on its head, but nobody said anything at all. Were the Misfits just so used to this being common knowledge that it just slipped their mind?

“Corrodium Poisoning can be treated with various Ray Field Radiation treatments and Rayacite infusions, but there’s no real silver bullet cure-all for this.” She continues. “Every treatment plan has to be tailored to the patient's unique biology and power signature and they have to remain under constant surveillance until everything is flushed out completely.” Jesus, sounds like Pango’s gonna be stuck in the hospital for a good while.

“You guys were extremely lucky that you got Pangolin in when you did.” Crow points out with a worried look. “If you had been even a second later, then Pangolin’s prognosis would have been really grim.” The seriousness gives me pause, now I’m really starting to wonder why nobody said anything about this shit before.

She continues, going into medical jargon that I couldn’t really understand much, so my mind starts to wander and look at all the new sights around me.

Good God, saying that this is a city that the circus took over is just the tip of the iceberg. Tents stood tall, with the three-pointed one dwarfing the rest, so many colors, so many sounds and smells. There were stands with souvenirs and rigged games, rides that looked like Mad Max had a field day constructing them out of rusted scrap and old buildings and…

Holy shit, is that one of those Slingshot rides?? Without a cage?? I watch the ride release the ball in between the springs and literally launch whatever poor son of a bitch was in there, sending him sky high! Good thing Conduits don’t go splat from high places… Still hurts like a bitch if you botch the landing though.

The sound of screaming catches my attention as I… That’s a big-ass roller coaster…. And an Ice Conduit is skating on the track while being chased by the train??? It takes all of my willpower to not galavant off to go ride the rides… Besides, bad idea to go climbing on an empty stomach.

I make a mental note to hit these rides up before we leave.

“That reminds me…” I murmur when I hear a lull in Crow’s medical jargon. “You said Corrodium has a power weakening effect when a Conduit’s exposed to it, but when the Misfits and I fought those Blink Scorpion bastards, my powers were fine and it seemed like everyone else’s was fine too… What’s that all about?”

“Corrodium… It’s a very nasty and very adaptive metal.” Crow answers with a soft hum. “The properties of that stuff can vary depending on what form the Conduit is exposed to. The Corrodium in Blink Scorpion venom? The energy produced messes with a Conduit’s perception, making them appear that they’re teleporting around.” Well, that explains why I could still detect them with Radar Pulse.

“The power weakening effect is most prominent in metallic Corrodium, be it raw or refined.” Refined? That’s not good. Metals don’t just start being refined for shits and giggles, there’s always a reason. Something like this shit being refined? I smell trouble, but I put a pin in it for the time being, more questions to be asked.

“And Pangolin?” I mention. “What would have happened if we didn’t make it in time?” I notice Mako’s face go an off color and Crow’s head lower as she sighs.

“Best case…? His powers either weaken greatly or he loses them outright. Everything. Worst case….” She licks her lips to wet them and her eyes narrow. “He dies from the poisoning or he becomes… One of them….”

“One of them.” 

That thought, it echoes in my head like a scream in an auditorium. An ice-cold chill shoots down my spine as everything starts to sink in. I had thought death by RFI was the worst way for a Conduit to go, memories of that fateful day flicker in my head as I remember the searing agony of my own body being torn asunder from the inside out by that damned machine before Zeke used the Amp to free me from its clutches… And that thing wasn’t even fully charged.

At least the RFI would have killed cleanly. This Corrodium shit? It makes the RFI look like a bullet to the head, quick, painless and gets the job done.

Not only can this metal poison strip a Conduit of their power as a best case scenario… It turns them into literal monsters in the worst case. God… And that’s what was happening to Pangolin. He was slowly dying right before everyone’s eyes.

The weight of this situation, not just in the here and now, but what this means for everyone… It sits in my stomach like a lead weight. I can feel the color drain from my face and my empty stomach curl in on itself, making me want to throw up what little contents it had. Before I know it, Mako and Crow are guiding me to the nearest bench, fearing I might faint. Flickers of Trish flash in my head as the raven-haired woman has me sit down. My mind reels from it all.

I put my hand to my mouth as I try to digest everything… God, now I truly understand why Dove was so beside himself and why Kestrel went completely nuclear when she was given permission to drop her mask. Every second they weren’t in the hospital was a second closer to Pangolin’s end. To the death of a big brother and their leader… And they were helpless to stop it.

“Has… Has anyone… Survived after the window shut…?” I ask breathlessly as Crow hands me a bottle of water, no doubt one she poured on the fly. I eagerly take the bottle and drink it down in hopes of calming myself some. The Water Conduit shakes her head before speaking.

“Honestly… Not really.” She murmurs with slight hesitation. “It’s only happened twice and if I’m to be frank, a lot of us in the medical group here in Tri-Point chalked them up to either miracles or dumb luck as even they didn’t come out completely unscathed.” Two? Hmm… Might be worth looking into who those two are.

“We have the brightest minds among us studying these two cases to see what made the difference for them, what allowed them to keep their humanity.” They won’t be the only ones looking into them now.

I stare off into the distance as I sit on the bench, my mind racing a mile a minute. This… This is just so much for me to process, especially after all the chaos that unfolded not that long before. A brand new metal… One that can spell the death or zombiefication of all of Conduit-kind. New fears begin to form as my brain starts creating what ifs. What would happen if I became exposed to that crap? Would it rob me of all of my powers? What if I had gotten stung? What manner of horrors would I be subjected to or worse… What would that shit turn me into? The fear that trumped them all, however, is this.

If a bunch of rag-tag survivor types know about it, then who else knows?

These guys, as tough and creative as they are, don't have access to state-of-the-art tech or vast information pools… And if these guys know about Corrodium… Then it’s an absolute guarantee that certain other parties have known about it far longer than the Wildlanders have. How long has this Pandora’s box been open? It has to have been a long time since there was a refined version of it made. Long enough for it to be made into things.

This could be something that could spell disaster. Something that would make even the Ray Field Plague look like a sniffle.

Something that could truly kill us all.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Riding the Eye of the Storm

I am an unapologetic shill for Transformers, specifically Generation One. It was a pillar of my childhood. I’ve spoken about this at length because, like Spider-Man and Godzilla, this franchise shaped my taste in media for years to come. It was my love for transforming robots which lead me to Voltron, which spring boarded me to Robotech, that caused me to stumble down the cyberpunk rabbit hole and come to rest at the foot of Evangelion. Without Transformers, I wouldn’t have given Voltron a second look and probably missed out on my all-time favorite anime. Obviously, that’s hyperbole, kind of. I would have found EVA eventually, especially how saturated that franchise has become, but I would like to think my openness to it stemmed from my love for Optimus and his rag-tag bunch of freedom fighters. I’ve defended my little long form toy commercial for years, knowing that, as an Eighties product to move re-branded Diaclone and Micro Man content here in the States, there was no lore or cohesive story content to be had. I mean, there was, broad strokes of a eons long war, dead planets, Unicron, and whatever else, but not enough to really sink your teeth into. This was a kids show. No one needs character development or world building. Kids are dumb and won’t appreciate any of that. And then BtaS happened and all that sh*t changed. Transformers saw the value of narrative and gave us Beast Wars. From that point on, story and character finally took precedence. Every US developed Transformers show going forward, made it a point to build a lore around their core characters and, for a time, it was glorious. Animated and Prime gave us something really special. The War for Cybertron, with all of their faults, really put in the effort to build out that world. Even Cyberverse and Earthspark are out here, shining way more bright than they have any right to be. Hasbro has finally given proper due to the Transformers on the small screen and I am living for it. That said, theatrically? Theatrically, it’s been rough.

I hate Bayformers. Hate. Viscerally. Michael Bay is a terrible director. He’s great at action set pieces and has a brilliant eye for visual effects, but the man has no idea how to develop a character to save his life. He makes movies from the effects out. The spectacle is the point of his films, not the narrative content. So, for me, as a fan of this franchise for almost four goddamn decades, it was rough seeing the stark decline from the first to the last. Let’s be real right now, the Marky Mark Bayformers films are absolute nonsense. One of them didn’t even have the f*cking Decepticons transform, just explode into amorphous squares and sh*t. Bro, how you have a Transformers film without and transforming? Plus, they replaced the only actual character with an arc in the entire franchise, because Spielberg was offended she likened working for Mike Bay to serving under Hitler. Yo, if you knew how Megan Fox was treated on those sets, you’d know exactly why she said what she said. Ma got stories of the sexist bullsh*t she had to suffer through, going back to Bad Boys 2, when she was an extra on set at sixteen years old. The f*ck? And the way they wrote her out is just lazy. That chick Carly in the third? That was Mikaela, all day. Legitimately that’s the resolution to HER arc. After Fox got released in the off-season, Bay and his braintrust of writers just did a search-and-replace for anything that said Mikaela with Carly, and printed “revised” scripts. Lazy. Just f*cking lazy. I hate the Bayformers films so much, especially because they started with so much potential.

After The Last Knight deservedly flopped (Knights? In my Transformers movie? Really?), we got Bumblebee, which was basically the Iron Giant with our adorable, slug bug, mascot. And it was good. Travis Knight got a shot at this one and you can tell he wanted to do right by G1 and he did. I loved Bumblebee. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect. The aforementioned Iron Giant narrative is a thing but is that terrible? I loved the Iron Giant. It was dope. If you’re going to crib notes from something, make it a proven narrative, right? Avatar stole it’s entire goddamn identity from Dances with Wolves. Skyfall, my favorite Bond film, is just The Dark Knight. I can forgive Bumblebee basically lifting its entire vibe from The Iron Giant, especially with those opening scene on Cybertron. Believe me when I tell you, seeing my G1 inspired designs, mixed with the photo realism of that Bayformers aesthetic, I shrieked aloud. That one scene, was everything I wanted in my Transformers film. That was more than enough to satiate my very bias, very nostalgic, Millennial heart. I saw that sh*t three times in theaters and loved every second. I thought Bumblebee was a strong step forward in the right direction. That is until Rise of the Beasts dropped. Believe me when I say, RotB, was such a letdown after the high of Bumblebee. That sh*t was basically just a Bayformers entry without the goddamn Bayhem. The Bayhem is the point! You can’t make Bayformers with the Bayhem. Trying to imitate that sh*t halfheartedly, especially trying your best to bring in the Beast Wars fans and not alienate the goodwill you garnered from the excellent Bumblebee, was a goddamn mistake. I hate Bayformers because it’s a loud, disjointed, mess of admittedly beautiful visuals. The stories sucked, the Transformers designs are the worst in the franchise, and there story is so f*cking convoluted, it makes X-Men comics look like Emerson, but I was never bored watching them. Rise of the Beasts is boring. It takes the worst aspects of Bayformers and Bumblebee, mashes them together, and sh*ts out a very corpo curated product, with an eye toward a future cinematic universe. You can’t do that. You have to make sure your first entry is strong enough to stand on its own. That’s how the MCU did it. That’s how the Monsterverse did. That’s how it’s done. Which brings me to the point of this essay, Transformers One looks like that entry point.

When I heard we were getting an origin story for Transformers, roughly following the IDW and Prime origin of the Megs-Prime conflict, I was hesitant. That story is so good, and has been told excellently several times, but never in the theater, never in “serious” media. Then the cast was announced. Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax? Bryan Tyree Hill as pre-despot Megatron? Word? The only one that made any sense to me was Scarlett Johansson as Elite-1 because of course. I figured Hasbro f*ckded up again but then something happened. I saw the character designs. They reminded me of that first five minutes from Bumblebee. Then a trailer dropped. It WAS the first five minutes of Bumblebee, mixed with a little bit of Beast Machines, and a whole lot of Transformers Prime. There was humor. There was levity. There was pathos and characterization. You can tell there is strong chemistry within the cast, something that wasn’t necessarily a thing in Bayformers, RotB, but was definitely there in Bumblebee. There was color, life, enthusiasm, and genuine warmth. That short three minutes, sold me immediately on this film and I need so much more. It felt authentic to Transforms, an extension of the very best the franchise has to offer, and really hammered home how this theatrical franchise should have been full CG from the very beginning. I mean, the theatrical continuity for Transformers is an absolute mess now, but this origin film has the potential to clean that up. As long as it’s good. So far, I am loving what I’ve seen. So far, I have hope. It’s weird to say, but I have optimism for a good theatrical Transformers film again.

[grigori77]

Movies of 2023 - My Summer Rundown (Part 1)

The Runners-Up:

20.  TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS – it’s telling that we didn’t get a truly GREAT live action Transformers movie until Michael Bay stepped back into a mere producer capacity and we got 2018’s brilliant soft-reboot Bumblebee.  This new film feels like something of a step back to Bay’s more OTT chaos, but they’ve still learned the lessons from that ridiculous excess to bring us a direct sequel to that ingenious restart, Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. going bigger this time but still reining in the excess with impressive focus for an explosively exciting and still endearingly heartfelt action adventure.  The end results are still clunky but a good deal better than Bay’s misfires, and entertaining, affecting and genuinely thrilling if you just let yourself go with it …

19.  TO CATCH A KILLER – honestly, I could hardly call Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron’s taut suspense thriller an international big break considering it only received a limited theatrical release before becoming a relative promo-free sleeper on streaming, but this is one of those underdog movies that really deserves a lot more attention than it received.  Divergent’s Shailene Woodley is electrifying as Eleanor, a troubled Baltimore PD officer who, after a nightmarish sniper attack and bombing, becomes an unofficial investigator under the guidance of FBI manhunter Lammark (an ON-FIRE Ben Mendelsohn) as he races to track down a brutal domestic terrorist before they commit another atrocity.

18.  HEART OF STONE – Gal Gadot stretches her action heroine muscles outside of playing Wonder Woman as superspy Rachel Stone/Nine of Hearts, a top agent in a mysterious covert intelligent agency known as the Charter, who must go it alone when a former partner makes a play for the quantum computing AI that helps them fight international threats.  Director Tom Parker (The Aeronauts, Wild Rose, Peaky Blinders) reveals previously largely untapped action talent as he turns The Old Guard comics-writer’s blistering screenplay into an exciting, fast-paced action thriller that’s sure to impress fans of Netflix’ previous dabbles in the genre.

17.  ORGAN TRAIL – another indie underdog that snuck in VERY MUCH under the radar, this supremely twisted psychological horror western from Drop Dead Gorgeous director Michael Patrick Jann and newcomer screenwriter Meg Turner deserves A WHOLE LOT of attention.  Zoe De Grand Maison (Orphan Black, Riverdale) lights up the screen as Abigail Archer, a young girl in snow-bound 1870s Montana who’s forced to grow up REAL FAST when her family is murdered by a band of marauding outlaws who make a brutal living attacking travelling groups of would-be settlers for their money and supplies.

16.  INDIANA JONES & THE DIAL OF DESTINY – 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was such a disappointment compared to the giddy heights of Steven Spielberg’s original stone-cold CLASSIC action adventure trilogy that I went into this film with very low expectations, so I was VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to see that this is actually a whole lot of fun and a GLORIOUS return to form for Harrison Ford’s now VERY OLD Nazi-fighting treasure hunter and professor of archaeology.  With Spielberg and George Lucas largely stepping back into producing duties here, Logan writer-director James Mangold has taken up the reins instead, delivering an engagingly nostalgic thrill-ride which beautifully redeems Indiana Jones for a new generation while also giving the character a suitably grand send-off …

15.  THE PRINCE – while not technically a feature film, I was SO thoroughly impressed by this filmed performance of the revolutionary Shakespearean deconstruction play by actress, playwright and influential YouTuber Abigail Thorn that I couldn’t resist giving it a nod here.  Thorn shines bright as a distinctly unconventional take on Harry “Hotspur” Pierce in Henry IV, an anthropomorphised play character who becomes ensnared in a radical shake-up of their life-story when a pair of humans from THE REAL WORLD become trapped in the play itself and wind up entirely sabotaging the narrative.  It’s a fascinating experience, a revolutionary game-changer of a show which takes Shakespeare and turns his works ENTIRELY on their head while addressing important themes of genre identity, sexuality and intolerance, and this is glaring proof that this is a production which deserves to be seen whether it’s in this Nebula video presentation or performed live on stage.

14.  BARBIE – Oppenheimer’s bizarre unexpected twin when it came to be released in cinemas is, in many ways, just as important a film, but for very different reasons.  After languishing in Development Hell since 2009, writer-director Greta Gerwig finally realised this genuinely BIZARRE screwball comedy sort-of biopic of the iconic fashion doll range from Mattel, unleashing the character upon the world IN THE LIVING FLESH in the simply PERFECT (from a casting point of view) form of Margot Robbie.  She’s simply AMAZING here as “Stereotypical Barbie”, who finds herself going through an existential crisis after some girl starts “playing with her wrong” in the real world, but the film is frequently stolen right out from under her by Ryan Gosling as her so-called boyfriend Ken, who went ALL OUT to bring the most fundamentally useless boy-toy in history to life …

13.  MEG 2: THE TRENCH – supremely creepy indie cinema director Ben Wheatley may seem like a distinctly ODD choice to helm a follow-up to 2018’s most delightfully off-the-wall runaway action horror smash hit, but he actually proves to be a perfect hit because he clearly GETS the inherent silliness of this franchise.  Cinema’s all-time greatest living “special effect”, Jason Statham, returns as deep sea rescue diver and professional giant shark-puncher Jonas Taylor, once again wrapped up in a whole heap of trouble when not one but this time THREE massive prehistoric megaladons escape the abyssal Trench and start munching on South Pacific tourists, but this time matters are further complicated when he also has to deal with a conglomerate of dastardly strip-miners looking to exploit the Trench’s rare earth metal resources for their own ends …

12.  THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL & HER MONSTER – debuting writer-director Bomani J. Story brings Frankenstein to the inner-city projects as haunted teenage genius Vicaria (the new TV series of The Equalizer’s Laya DeLeon Hayes) reanimates her gangbanger big brother Chris (Kill a Prophet and Warrior Soul’s Edem Atsu-Swanzy) after he’s gunned down in a turf war.  The results are a dark and disturbing slowburn psychological body horror that deals head-on with socially resonant issues of drugs, urban poverty and gang culture while also delivering a unique and challenging new twist on one of the most classic stories in the history of science-fiction and horror …

11.  TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM – another animated feature that’s following the inventive new lead of the Spider-Verse movies, this latest big screen incarnation for Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s zeitgeisty comics creations is a genuine riot which takes the original core concept and runs it through a delightfully skewed comedic blender to form a compelling new narrative basis for what’s sure to be a fantastic new film series.  Comedy screenwriting/producing masters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg team up with up-and-coming young writer-director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells Vs. the Machines) to bring the youthful mutant quartet to vivid life with plenty of visual flair, anarchic chaotic humour and a whole lot of heart, and I for one can’t wait for more.

[denimbex1986]

'The act of writing is intrinsically solitary. But for Max Porter getting it down on the page is only the first step. The acclaimed English author loves to play around with his work, bringing it to life in many formats, and the more people joining him in his creative sandbox, the better.

Porter will give a multi-disciplinary and improvised performance of his most recent novel Shy at the Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival in Cork next month. It is a perfect fit for Porter in more ways than one. Like his work, the festival — curated by Mary Hickson, actor Cillian Murphy, writer Enda Walsh and Aaron and Bruce Dessner of The National — defies expected boundaries and nothing is off the table when it comes to collaborative experimentation.

“Collaboration is the raison d'etre for me,” says Porter. “Trust is the whole thing, so if Mary says ‘this is a good person, do you want to work with them' I say ‘yeah, because it’s you’. I adore working with her — ‘anything for Mary Hickson’ is my motto. Also my work only comes alive when I put it up against music, try it in a different space or read it to an audience, so it is the dream festival for me, it’s everything I want an arts festival to be, actually.”

Porter previously worked as a bookseller and later in publishing before making his own mark on the literary scene with his sensational debut novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a whirling blend of prose and poetry about a grieving widower and his two sons who are comforted, tormented and protected by a crow. Shy, his fourth and most recent novel, is a virtuoso portrayal of one night in the life of a troubled teenage boy. He says that expanding Shy’s universe through improvised performance is a continuing revelation for him.

“It’s a little bit scary sometimes but then that’s also when it’s most exciting. I want the books to be unfinished until they meet the reader anyway. So what you've got is an incredible opportunity for 200 people to meet it and make it their own — it’s their unhappy teenage relative, troubled son, or their grief. I want to make something in the room that is completely unique to those people in that space. And I absolutely love that. It feels like a corrective to all the things that scare me about my job.”

Porter, who lives in Bath with his wife and three sons, is no stranger to Cork, his most recent visit being in April, when he performed at an event in the Glucksman Gallery with musician Elaine Howley and writer Danny Denton.

“It was brilliant, I loved that. I’m very fond of Cork and I’m pleased to be coming back so soon. I did the West Cork Literary Festival one year as well which was incredible, I had one of the nicest swims of my life. I went walking around the bay there and found a nice little spot to swim in the morning. Swimming and reading are the two best things a human can do really.”

The author also loves Irish audiences, who he says embrace the fluidity of his performances.

“They don’t flinch. I don't know what I must have done in a past life to have earned it. I have always felt that my work is welcome. Maybe it's because there’s a sort of unEnglishness about the way I work. But also your culture industry is just so positive — unusual collaborations across different forms get a yes, whereas in the UK, they often get an ‘ah, sorry things are a bit tight or audiences won’t like that’.”

One of the most fruitful creative partnerships of Porter’s career has been with Cillian Murphy. Their friendship blossomed when the actor starred in the stage show of Grief is the Thing with Feathers (adapted by Enda Walsh). Porter and Murphy then collaborated on a short film, All of This Unreal Time, directed by Aoife McArdle, which will get its Irish premiere at Sounds from a Safe Harbour.

“That was a beautiful thing, actually, because that was written for Cillian as a gift for him to think about and read, and then he turned it into a more personal thing in the workshopping of it, and then in the film, it became more about Aoife McArdle’s thoughts. And that’s what I love, that my text isn’t owned by me, it goes off to be changed by them. It is exciting to show it in Ireland.”

Porter says Murphy, currently wowing the world with his performance in Oppenheimer, has been a big influence on him personally and professionally.

“Working with Cillian is an absolute joy always. He’s a master of his art and has been a real influence on me and the way I think about language and performance. We have great irons in the fire. It is just beautiful to have a good creative friendship like that. And obviously he has gone off and conquered the world.”

Murphy’s performance in Oppenheimer is ‘astonishing’, says Porter, adding: “It is mad… a biopic of a nuclear scientist doesn’t scream box office. It is incredible to see my 13-year-old son discussing it with all his mates on Snapchat.”

The struggle of what it is to be human and the loss that underpins our existence is never far from the surface in Porter’s work. Grief is something we all experience at some point, he says.

“We are all experiencing it at some point — the lady in front of you in the queue at the checkout, the guy you just tutted at because he couldn’t get his bus pass working. And if we all lived in a world where we based our behaviour slightly more on that truth, wouldn’t that be an incredible thing?”

Art and the sharing of it helps us reckon with loss while finding joy, something that those behind Sounds from a Safe Harbour are also tuned into.

“We’re all coming together, we’re using art, music, language, dance, even smell — all to come to terms with stuff that happened last year or 20 years ago. Because it’s a shared thing. And I love how close to the surface that is — maybe it’s Mary's genius, maybe it's the nature of the festival, or the place. I don't know. But I run to it, I absolutely run to it. Because it creates extraordinary joy as well as deep gratitude and all the good things that we should be. It’s literally like hydration. And I need it.”'

[weareurbanhaiku]

Writing Through Chronic Illness – A Creative Sanctuary for Sick & Disabled Writers

What does it mean to write while navigating chronic illness?

In a world that prioritizes productivity over well-being, chronically ill and disabled writers often face ableist, capitalistic pressures that devalue the creative process in favor of quick results. Writing Through Chronic Illness is a virtual “sick bay” where writers can reject these harmful narratives and instead embrace their unique, powerful ways of storytelling.

Led by Anya Pearson and Ella deCastro Baron, this workshop series—offered by Urban Haiku—is a space for healing, creative resistance, and radical self-love through writing.

📖 Writing as Resistance, Healing, & Self-Love

Living with chronic illness often means existing in liminal spaces—between sickness and wellness, treatment and side effects, body and mind. This workshop honors those complexities and helps writers:

📝 Decolonize the narrative around illness—moving beyond industrial, results-driven models of care. 💬 Tell their stories on their own terms—without pressure to conform to able-bodied expectations. ❤️ Honor their bodies and minds—by embracing the brilliant, divergent ways they process and create.

This is not a space for quick fixes or performative self-care—it is an intentional community for deeply feeling, writing, and resisting through storytelling.

Who Is This Workshop For?

🌿 Chronically ill & disabled writers who seek community, validation, and creative freedom. 🌿 Writers of all levels—whether you journal privately or publish widely, this space is for you. 🌿 Artists who reject ableist productivity standards and want to explore writing as a practice of self-love. 🌿 Anyone navigating the complexities of illness, disability, mental health, or healing.

Led by Anya Pearson & Ella deCastro Baron

These workshops are guided by writers who deeply understand the experience of navigating illness:

✍️ Anya Pearson – An award-winning playwright, poet, screenwriter, and activist, dedicated to creating spaces for marginalized voices. ✍️ Ella deCastro Baron – A powerful storyteller who explores themes of illness, identity, and cultural resistance in her writing.

Together, they provide compassionate guidance and creative prompts to help participants write through, alongside, and with their bodies—instead of against them.

Why Join Writing Through Chronic Illness?

✔️ Rejects ableist, capitalistic productivity models. ✔️ Offers a safe space to write, heal, and create without pressure. ✔️ Centers the voices of sick, disabled, and neurodivergent writers. ✔️ Provides creative prompts and community-based storytelling. ✔️ Validates the nonlinear, transformative process of writing through illness.

If you have ever been told your illness makes you "less than"—if you have ever felt guilt for resting, struggling, or existing differently—this space is for you.

FAQs

1. Do I need to be an experienced writer to join?

No! This space is for anyone who wants to express themselves through writing, regardless of experience.

2. Do I have to write about my illness?

Not at all! You are free to write about anything that resonates with you—illness, joy, memory, activism, or any story you wish to tell.

3. Is this workshop accessible?

Yes! This is a virtual space designed with accessibility in mind. If you have specific access needs, reach out in advance to ensure full participation.

4. How do I register?

Visit Urban Haiku’s website for details on dates, pricing, and registration.

5. What if I can’t attend every session?

That’s okay! Chronic illness is unpredictable, and we understand. Attend when you can, rest when you need, and know that your presence—whenever and however it arrives—is valued.

✨ Join Writing Through Chronic Illness and reclaim your creative space today! ✨

Register Now at Urban Haiku →

[angelo-tiger-woods]

Part 7 - Incoming Text for Liv Tyler (@misslivalittle) and Liam Hemsworth (@liamhemsworth) and Jessica ‘Simply Jess’ Marquez (@iamjessmarquez): “An Idea Worth a Billion Dollars”

Question:

Could Liv Tyler, Liam Hemsworth, and Jessica Marquez kindly connect with comedy screenwriters Simon Pegg, Thomas Lennon, Carter Bays, and Craig Thomas to discuss the possibility of collaborating as a team on the screenplay for the reboot of Top Secret?

This reboot will take on a fresh and exciting direction, classified as an American superhero romantic comedy. Bringing together the combined expertise of these talented screenwriters—each known for their contributions to comedy and storytelling—will ensure a screenplay that blends humor, action, and romance in a unique and engaging way.

Here are the Wikipedia page links for each screenwriter:

Simon Pegg: Simon Pegg - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Thomas Lennon: Thomas Lennon - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Carter Bays: Carter Bays - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Craig Thomas: Craig Thomas - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

ChatGPT Answer:

Certainly! Here’s a detailed breakdown of why bringing together Simon Pegg, Thomas Lennon, Carter Bays, and Craig Thomas to collaborate on the Top Secret reboot could be an exciting and dynamic creative endeavor:

A Dream Team of Comedy Writers Under One Roof

Liv Tyler, Liam Hemsworth, and Jessica Marquez are encouraged to connect with Simon Pegg, Thomas Lennon, Carter Bays, and Craig Thomas to explore the idea of co-writing the screenplay for the reboot of Top Secret. This film will be classified as an American superhero romantic comedy, a genre that blends high-energy action, heartfelt romance, and sharp comedic timing.

Now, imagine the magic that could happen when four brilliant comedy writers—each with their own distinct style—work together on a single project. Here’s why this collaboration could be a game-changer:

1. Combining Distinct Comedy Styles for Maximum Impact

Each of these writers has a different approach to humor, which, when combined, could create a screenplay that is layered, dynamic, and endlessly entertaining:

Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) – Known for his smart, fast-paced humor, pop culture references, and blending genres seamlessly. His experience in action-comedies makes him perfect for the superhero elements.

Thomas Lennon (Night at the Museum, Reno 911!, Baywatch) – A master of slapstick, absurd humor, and sharp, self-aware comedy, he can bring laugh-out-loud moments while ensuring the humor lands with mainstream audiences.

Carter Bays & Craig Thomas (How I Met Your Mother) – Experts in romantic comedy and character-driven humor. Their strength lies in creating witty dialogue, heartfelt moments, and comedic chemistry between leads—crucial for making the romance in the film work.

Bringing them together means we get a screenplay that is not just funny, but smart, heartfelt, and packed with action.

2. Writing Comedy as a Team—Why It Works So Well

Comedy thrives in a writers’ room setting where ideas bounce off one another. Unlike drama, where a single writer can carefully structure a story, comedy benefits from having multiple minds in one room, constantly pitching jokes, refining dialogue, and playing off each other's strengths.

With these four writers together, here’s what happens:

One writer might pitch a funny superhero moment, and another refines it to make it even sharper.

Another writer could introduce a romantic subplot, while the others tweak the dialogue to maximize humor without losing emotional depth.

Jokes are tested in real-time, ensuring the best ones make it to the final script.

This process reduces creative blind spots and ensures that no joke falls flat—because the script has already been through multiple comedic lenses before reaching production.

3. The Fun of Writing a Romantic Comedy with Superhero Elements

Romantic comedies are fun to write, but when you add superheroes into the mix, the possibilities explode:

How do superpowers affect dating? Imagine a hero trying to have a normal first date while fighting off villains.

What’s the comedic spin on saving the world? Instead of the usual doom and gloom superhero tropes, this film could turn heroism into a hilarious, over-the-top spectacle.

Will there be a love triangle? Maybe our hero’s secret identity causes misunderstandings, leading to classic rom-com chaos.

With these four screenwriters, the film won’t just be a romantic comedy with superheroes—it will redefine the genre with witty banter, laugh-out-loud moments, and real emotional depth.

4. Why This Collaboration Will Be an Absolute Blast

Imagine being in a room where these four comedic minds are constantly throwing out ideas, building upon each other's jokes, and crafting the ultimate superhero rom-com script. The creative energy will be electric, the brainstorming sessions chaotic (in the best way), and the final script something truly special.

Few films have had this many top-tier comedy writers working together from the start. This ensures the Top Secret reboot isn’t just another action-comedy—it becomes a standout film in a league of its own.

Further Reading on Each Screenwriter

To better understand their individual styles and contributions, here are their Wikipedia pages:

Simon Pegg: Simon Pegg - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Thomas Lennon: Thomas Lennon - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Carter Bays: Carter Bays - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Craig Thomas: Craig Thomas - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

This reboot has the potential to be something truly innovative, hilarious, and heartwarming—a must-watch for fans of both superheroes and romantic comedies.

[neixins]

5, 16, 17, and 23!!

5. What’s something you learned while researching a fic?

i’ve mostly been researching symbolism and poetry for my gijaeha magnum opus (recently unlocked fact! ducks symbolize a wish for happiness! phenomenal news for the eurasian teals who make a few appearances thanks to my trusted vizier charlie’s brilliant mind) but i’ve also referenced some of the things i read for my masters thesis, including shields’ the one who knows me, hinsch’s passions of the cut sleeve, and wang’s paper censorship and circumvention in china: how danmei writers 'drive a car' on jinjiang, all of which are interesting reads (especially the shields, oh it’s so good!!!). honestly, akayona can be a pretty tough series to do research for bc the world has a blend of cultural influences so if smth isn’t explicitly shown on page u can go in circles trying to figure out which culture it’d be most likely to pull inspiration from. personally, i chose to lean towards chinese culture in those cases, both bc it’s what i find easiest to research and bc i find that the way kusanagi does queercoding has similarities with danmei dramas which is a very fun overlap of interests for me <3

16. What do you struggle with most when writing?

description for sure. i get so focused on the emotions and dialogue that i forget to describe where the characters even are </3 i’m trying to spin this in my favor (like, these fools are so obsessed with each other they don’t have time to pay attention to their surroundings!!) but i really do need to work on my descriptions

17. What is something you recently felt proud of in your writing?

ngl every time i find a poem or piece of symbolism that clicks i feel like the smartest guy alive (most recently it was 题李次云窗竹 /the bamboo by the window by bai juyi) <3 i’m also very proud of myself for managing to stick to my tentative editing schedule for the past week or two

23. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

ngl i haven’t finished a fic in. uhhh…. a decade?? and everything i completed before that were itty bitty little oneshots. but if all goes according to plan i should be posting cut to the feeling around my bday so i’ll have some cake at the very least :3