#bc the writer's strike is important

[gingerswagfreckles]

i can't believe neil gaiman reblogged my post this is so embarrassing im a destiel blog

[came-out-of-the-coffin-desisted]

fucking grammarly’s using their ai model to make a text generator like you absolute fuckheads. fiction writers have been your bread and butter for YEARS and now that there’s a writers’ strike you’re gonna use our work to fuck them over like. new levels of cyberpunk dystopia on that one

[supremeprince-bensolo]

i supported writer's stike because studios used ai to replaced them

Yes thats another reason to support it! It's very worrying that AI has started to replace real writers. And its getting to the point where its hard to tell if something was written by a real person or AI which is honestly scary.

[pureseasalt]

ok all tomfoolery aside. the bear season 2 really did fucking deliver. what a stellar follow up. i genuinely mean it when i say i stand by every decision they made this time around. they were intentional and they were inspired. most especially, they didnt waste time. like the kitchen's motto: they made every second count. i came out loving the characters more and also understanding their depths more. i felt like a kid just wide-eyed and in awe of whatever i was seeing on and hearing from my screen. theres just so much to love!! sydney's ambition and tenacity in full focus. carmy's emotional baggage heavier this time around. the inspiring development of richie and tina and ebra. marcus! natalie! pete! sydney's dad! the berzattos! their fucking mom! the way the cameos didnt feel cheap and show off-y but, again, intentional! these big stars playing as renowned chefs and important relatives so just like the characters we can go "oh shit that's...!"

and with the strike still going, i think it needs reminding (for me and for other fans who may have forgotten amidst all the buzz & excitement) that the writers were underpaid during the making of this. so make sure we can show them all the love and praises they deserve! to keep on watching and supporting and discussing and fighting (lovingly)! put pressure on these companies to agree to the writers' terms! let em know we want more! bc they did amazing work here! writers of the bear!!! MWAH!!!!!!

[kindalikerackham]

alright. I suppose it's time. ty to @melancholic-megafauna for chatting this out with me so I could detangle some thoughts

Let's talk about Zack Addy

So. Here's the thing about Zack. Here's what I think makes his Apprentice arc so emotionally evocative, for better and worse: it's the Gormogon's handwaved logic. Walk with me here.

Like any good mystery series, Bones is a show that is obsessed with the facts of a case. From the very beginning, solving nearly any case takes three components: 1) You need the forensic evidence gathered by the squints, building the physical facts of the scenario 2) You need the social context gathered by Booth (and later Brennan and Sweets) building the social reasoning. This almost always ends in: 3) A confession that pulls the reasoning together, wrapping it up in a nice little bow for Caroline.

The finale of season 3 is different. Zack's confession does not resolve the reasoning. Booth's explanation glides over the specifics of Zack Addy (Instead, he's a "weak personality"). Although Gormogon's reasoning is supposedly airtight to a kid who prides himself on reasoning, we don't get to know what insecurity was exploited. He's just vulnerable. Unspecifically emotionally vulnerable.

This gap, the perpetrator's/Zack's emotional logic, is one that would usually get tidied up by the end of the episode. But it's just painted over.

By leaving it open, amorphous, Bones defies not only it's own formula, but also its characteristic exhaustive search for the whole truth of a scenario.

We do not get to know what the Gormogon said to Zack. We don't get to know!! We don't get to know what flattery got him to miss a step. We don't get to know what grand picture Zack's helping. We don't get to know what contradictions of Zack Addy that Gormogon observed and exploited, save the Spock contradiction (the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, except when they don't).

This gaping wound of "what got him to this place" serves its primary goal exceedingly well: the team (as well as the audience) is left reeling, struggling to review what they know about him, what they missed, how they could have failed him. It's the bone-deep shock of realizing you lost a family member to a cult right under your nose. In doing this, they honor each character's relationship with Zack. We feel the loss and nonsensicality of it all. In that way, it's a fitting sendoff for a primary character.

At the same time, that gap in logic takes the show's most stereotypical autistic character from a social coming of age arc to a serial killer's accomplice. In one tap dance of logic, he's gone from being a character about the show's thesis (off-putting doesn't mean evil) to a character about the insidiousness of evil. He's gone from a character growing into being a moral man to being both victim and perpetrator. And we, the audience, are no longer there with him.

This gap in the social logic leaves future plot to explore, but it's mostly just set to rest for seasons and seasons. It's a gaping wound without a suture, a part of the team ripped out and left unsewn.

All in all, it was a strong choice to make, and I think that's something to respect. You have to give it that, whether you think it's justified or not.*

*I started thinking about this bc this was the point my mom and I stopped watching Bones as it came out. Zach was a really important character to a parent who worked as a tech with autistic kids and had a probably autistic kid (me) at home. It's personal to me.

As a caveat about whether it's justified, it's pretty obvious that this arc is rushed, and there's a few different reasons I know about for it. The writers strike truncated the season, Zach's actor wanted to leave, and the Gormogon plot had an apprentice betrayal arc they were building in (one that they could twist to fit Zach). That in mind, it's impressive that they pulled this out of their hat.

[taeiris]

okay so i found the leaks i used as inspo for my recent art!

DISCLAIMER: idgaf if these are fake okay i know they most likely are BUT DO I LOOK LIKE I CAREEEE??? let me have fun okay THANKS

btw these r from like wayyy back in may early writers strike

there’s obviously more but i just took these bc theyre the ones i used specifically for inspo

dt @friendsdontlieokay !!!

ik none of them say “mike has an important talk with nancy” though i VIVIDLY remember seeing one that said it exactly like that but i just can’t find it atp😭

[zmediaoutlet]

so i know we just have to accept certain retcons, but the big one that bugs me is yellow eyes's plan for sam and how it doesn't fit with all the vessel stuff. how do YOU make that work in your head?

hallo hallo anon, you have hit on one of the Great Big Bugaboos of spn canon and also the #1 evidence we have to throw in the face all those goofs who uncritically repeat the "Kripke had a 5 year plan!" factoid. He clearly did not, he was flying by the seat of his pants, and while he managed to put stuff together in a fun way the pants are Not Coherent.

Nevertheless, we can make it work, and the way we make it work is that the various members of the angelic and especially demonic hierarchies do not have complete information. Let's do a rough timeline:

In the beginning Chuck created the universe. This is widely regarded as a bad move.

Then, you know, handwaving on him setting up some version of a 'destiny' story arc which will inevitably end in his two sons fighting to the death, via characters he'll create called The Winchesters.

After inventing demons and being a real jerkface, Lucifer ends up in the cage.

In the 70s or whatever, Azazel goes to Ilchester to butcher a bunch of nuns and talk to daddy Lucifer -- Lucifer says "you have to help get Lilith out of her pit so that the seals on my cage can get broken." Azazel says, "But how, Evil Daddy?" Lucifer says, "This really special child." -- HERE IS WHERE THE RETCON APPEARS TO HAVE HAPPENED, BUT WE CAN WORK WITH IT

Sam Winchester is fated in the demonic archives among the true higher-ups, but lower-level demons don't necessarily know about him and his importance.

Azazel starts seeding the earth with special babies. COMPLETE CONJECTURE TO FOLLOW: While he knows that Sam is the one who will be Lucifer's vessel, he also knows that a series of events will need to occur so that Lucifer will get out of the cage to take his vessel in the first place. The first seal is the most important: a righteous man must shed blood in hell. How do we get that to happen? CONJECTURE TWO: I think that Dean must be the Righteous Man because of his place within the tripartite celestial structure: God-Michael-Lucifer mirroring John-Dean-Sam. I do not think that John could have ever actually been the one to 'spill blood' that would allow the first seal to break. (Ethical conjecture three: perhaps it's the weakness itself which has its own kind of righteousness? John's implacable; Dean is not.) CONJECTURE UHH FOUR I GUESS: Azazel is designing an elaborate scheme to ensure that Sam will die on a particular day (maybe bc it works well for opening the door to hell?) specifically to ensure that Dean will sell his soul to bring Sam back, and thereby doom himself to the hell where he will break the first seal.

This should be 6b but tumblr doesn't work this way: now, would it be a hell of a fucking lot easier for Azazel to just ensure Sam dies somehow? Yeah. But given everything we know about him and the dorky-ass demons who hang out in s1 and s2, Azazel is clearly a dramallama and does stuff for the lulz. Plus, I think there's an element of 'proving' to Sam how much destiny has a hold on him, because that is so important for his grooming into saying yes to Lucifer. If he was just hit by a car or something it doesn't have the same effect than if he's part of the emo hunger games.

Sam dies; Dean sells his soul; Sam lives, and wants to save Dean. But of course, he can't save Dean, because Dean *must* go to hell to ensure the first seal is broken. This is why the angels don't help Sam at all, and why Ruby is allowed to run around with impunity. Happily the writer's strike intervened and gave us a miserable fucking s3 finale where that happened, because that is WAY more interesting than Hero Sammy Saving The Day.

Ruby has been getting instructions from Lilith the entire time, presumably since she became a demon herself, and gets launched literally as soon as Azazel is out of the way to continue the Sam-grooming.

CONJECTURE FIVE(?): Azazel and Lilith fucking hated each other, lol. But it's Lilith who's the *actually* important demon, so she wins and Azazel gets sacrificed for being really bad at teaching drama.

It's not actually that complicated, but you do have to take "the special kids were just sacrifices on the altar of let's see what we can get Sam to do" as a given. If Sam had actually started killing all of them, that'd be one thing, and Azazel could have turned that to his favor before maybe having Ava stab Sam in the back regardless. (Then, a Special Kid will go and open the devil's gate for him anyway, so the demons can get out there and start their important seal-breaking prep.) Since Sam was being such a Good Guy -- well, so what, Ava will kill all the rest of them, and then either her or Jake will get turned easy-peasy and kill Sam too. Dean will make his deal either way, and the apocalypse is off with a bang. Or a sick crunching of knife into bone.

Anyway, that's my theory. It fits alongside my ironclad theory that all of history and fate and destiny was leading toward two brothers standing in front of each other in a cemetery, and the only real free will starting once Dean could choose what to do when Sam-as-Lucifer stood in front of him, and what he chose was to be there for his brother. Thereby giving Sam a solid space to grasp and overcome Lucifer, and then save all the days. The Righteous Man who begins it is the only one who can end it, as they say.

[buffysummers]

the thing is, blake was fine talking about her pregnancy. she was talking about it all press tour, in plenty of other interviews. ones even from that same day. she was open about it, that's the weird thing, why was she suddenly rude for no reason when she was fine with talking about it with other people.

also blake is getting called out for a lot more things than just that, so to say 'oh the world is just hating on a woman again!' is kinda ignorant. people are also talking about how she got married on a plantation, how she ran a blog about how amazing the aesthetic of the 'Antebellum South era' and romanticized is when slavery was very much around at that time, she openly said trans slurs, and now more recently romanticizing a movie about dv and marketing it as a 'fun sexy rom com', never speaking about the dv aspects, and using it to promote her hair line + alcohol brand. her husband also crossed the picket line and was a scab bc they let it slip he wrote on the film during the writer's strike. Justin is the only member of the entire movie who has spoken seriously and empathetically about the dv in the movie and how important it is to talk about, he also has a long history of being a feminist and speaking loudly about those issues as well as racism, homophobia, etc with his podcast.

again I just dont think writing this off with that 'everyones gonna hate on the women for no reason' mindset is correct. and frankly bordering into white feminism territory. she's done ignorant and harmful things and has the right to be called out for them.

Okay, thanks for the essay. The issue is that these people are pulling up shit from a long time ago. And she apologized for the plantation issue. The point is, women are not allowed to make mistakes. It doesn’t matter how many years pass, whether they apologized, how nice and kind they are 98% of the time. She was rude once? Okay? She’s not allowed to be in a mood? Like… what? Also do you expect a normal person to have a laundry list of every bad thing a woman has done? Like why do you have that so readily available?

All of this is happening because of Justin’s PR guy. It is a smear campaign. Like, to say that this kind of vitriol is warranted is also a bit ignorant. If you can’t see that this is happening because she’s a woman, well then that’s a bit ignorant too :(

Also… I have to laugh. Working on this movie and trying to have a productive conversation about DV is ignorant. Going into this movie expecting some kind of profound exploration of DV is laughable. Like… the source material is trash. Taking this movie seriously is hilarious. No one involved takes this seriously except for Justin. Makes you wonder what he’s hiding behind. Blake making it into a silly little movie is actually less harmful than whatever Justin is attempting to do.

If you are interested in watching something that is actually meaningful and explores the dangers of DV in a raw and profound way, check out “Big Little Lies.”

[prismaticpichu]

If you’re someone out there who enjoys my writing—enjoys anything that I do with my words or prose or style—I feel there’s something you oughta know!

I would not be anywhere without the incredible authors I took inspiration from.

I’m admittedly still a wee lad trudging through high school, and I still gotta whole lot to learn! And I’m gonna have fun on that journey. But I legit think I’ve absorbed and learned more from reading all these gifted works more than the lessons we were taught over the years. Ofc, the fundamentals were taught there—teaching me the rules before I could break them. But it was these people that taught me how to break those rules and how to do them effectively. And when you’re a writer, I find, there is no better learning experience than reading words on a page!

My style really seems to be an amalgamation of so many different things and people—prolly a lot of subliminal stuff, too. Though I feel like there’s at least two I gotta give HUGE hugs to for being so influential <3

~

LuckyLadybug on FF.Net! ~ Literally the first ever FF7 fics I’ve ever read. Literally the sole reason I love Zack & Sephiroth’s friendship. Her fics are absolutely legendary, all written in a very consistently clean and swift style. It’s not an overload on sensory detail, but it also ain’t choppy in the slightest. It really does strike that perfect balance of rhythmic and simple that I always try to fall back on when I find myself getting too flowery! It’s a real life savor—for real! And speaking of For Reals, almost everything I craft about Zack & Sephiroth’s relationship stems from the bond she created. I learned so much about how to make emotional, powerful scenes that really can convey just how much people can platonically love each other. She’ll always be the true power of friendship queen! And the best Zack & Sephiroth author I’ve ever had the honor of reading.

@altocat! ~ Oh boy… there is SO much to say xD Where to even start? While Ladybug was the foundation of my little fanfic quest, I don’t think there’s a soul who helped me build and evolve more than Alto’s works. Because if you aren’t aware, this goddess is just an artist with words. We’re talking the most vivid and powerful imagery you can imagine! Imagery that was so powerful, in fact (and I don’t think she even knows this lol!), that at least a solid year of my works fall into this Altocat-emulating-esque era. Never with the intention to copy, of course, but to try my hand at creating prose that was rich in rhythm, language, and meaning. And while I think I did take this WAY too far sometimes (I can say that bc I’m the author- and I know what just sounds unreadable in retrospect xD), but it was part of the learning process. And one I’m still in the middle of today. For more context, Alto was also the one who taught me the value of fragments and isolating words for emphasis. That something concise could be powerful. Beautiful. Beatiful and valuable. Like words that mirror the characters’ quickened heart rates as their thoughts begin to splinter and spiral and how to wield syntax in a way that’s both enjoyably breathless and taut with anxiety at the same time. I learned how to imbue emotion to my work and peel it back so it’s pure and raw. Altocat is an absolute MASTER of angst, and while I used to write relatively “dark” things, I don’t think I really ever got them right until readings AMT’s (see this! for more details on that gem). In a similar vein, she also taught me the kind of impact that beginning and ending lines can have—how to not waste them and how they can circle back to each other in clever and gorgeous ways. I learned the importance of diction from her work; I learned the meaning of SO many new words lol; I learned how to make dialogue just a tad more interesting. Overall, really, I think Alto really did teach me how to write in a lot of ways. At least, in the sense of taking a step that I had no idea was in front of me. A step I didn’t know existed, because I really never saw more beautiful craft in my life.

Anywho! I think I’m rambling a bit x,D I hope I didn’t embarrass you, my friend. Or weird you out lol!!! I was just doing some reflecting, really, and I just needed you to know how impactful your fics have been to me. And you have no flipping idea how honored I am to know you as a mutual <3 Ty for everything ❤️ Ty for being you!!

(For reference, this is why I always say to NEVER underestimate the kind of impact your works may have on people. No matter how small or how insignificant you think they may be. Because who knows??? Maybe you’ll end up changing a life, too <33)

~

Thx for listening to this spiel, folks!!! Much love!! <33

[eddieydewr]

I'm not the anon who asked you about Millie but I wanted to add a comment... Millie said something about how she couldn't wait for ST to end because it was preventing her from working on other things and rumor has it people affiliated with the show were upset with her. I don't think this slashed her screen time. I don't think El is a main character the way the fandom makes her out to be. She isn't the focus of the show so I think this was always going to happen. But I think Millie said that because El wasn't the focus and she was forced to realize that by the time S5 came around and was annoyed about it.

I find it interesting that she is getting paid more than anyone else even though she is barely in next season. It makes me wonder if they paid her so that she wouldn't say more dumb shit in interviews when she is promoting the show. I get the impression she likes to be the star and the center of everything and never had a good grasp of what the show was about. Also from the little I have heard about her parents they seem to think she is the greatest actress of all time but she isn't actually better than anyone else in the cast. I think it messed with her head. She didn't make the show what it is. Millie just strikes me as someone who needs to be front and center and sounds kind of hard to get along with tbh. I don't get the impression she gets along with most of the cast either. She let the fans (particularly younger fans) convince her she was the lead when she wasn't and then got annoyed when the story started wrapping up and she wasn't in focus so she said a dumb thing. But I doubt the writers would be petty enough to cut her screen time because of it (she says a lot of questionable things in interviews that make me wonder how well she is following the show. And is also really rude to Finn a lot). Will was always the focus of the story regardless of what Millie does.

bestie. bestie,

i have to agree and disagree lol i get why people would feel that way about millie but idk if you’ve seen my previous asks about millie’s family but i tend to blame her parents. i don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little girl being confident and while i don’t know how she felt about everything she’s been through growing up, it’s obvious her parents inflated her… idk, i don’t want to say ego because i feel like that’s a weird thing to say about children in general? but it’s possible she thought she was important and the main focus of the show. — otoh, i don’t like how she started to feel small for talking ~too much~ during press bc she spoke the same amount as the boys. it’s giving misogyny. especially when sadie joined the cast and people are like omg why can’t millie be classy and demure like sadie… what 😭 i thought millie had great energy as a kid and while she’s definitely still extroverted like her bestie noah, she seems like she has to be composed… although she’s been coming out of her shell more since getting engaged. i hope that means she has more self agency and isn’t being controlled by her family, but at the same time, they’re always around her even nowadays. THEY LIVE NEXT DOOR. and it seems like millie is stuck with netflix for a while longer. idk much about the electric state but it’s supposed to have potential for a great adaption and to perform well at box office, but it’s being released on netflix?? all because daddy brown says so. fock that grifting loser.

i understand why millie is ready to move on from ST but i don’t think she meant it in a negative way, she’s just ready to grow up. she’s married now so it must be weird to be portraying a character who is 14-17, or however old el is supposed to be in s5. when people gave her shit for saying she doesn’t watch movies, i don’t exactly blame her. she was pretty much forced into the acting industry and yeah, she obviously enjoyed it for a while before reality caught up with her. i believe she’s fond of the show, if her 011 tattoo is anything to go by, but it must be a reminder that she only got famous because her dad is jobless and wanted to get rich quick after all his other schemes and business ventures flopped. he’s also the reason millie gets paid more than the rest of the kids. he’s such a scrub 😭

how is millie rude to finn btw?

thenks for sending this btw, i hope i’m not coming across as harsh or angry lmao idk why because i’m a very different person but i can relate to millie and feel angry on her behalf because her relatives are an absolute shower of cunts and idek if she’s aware of it … but i also get why some people find her off putting. as long as they don’t go too far fjfjsk cos she’s not that awful, surely.

[rockanroller]

Those ARE the facts. See for yourself: https://screenrant.com/a24-movies-filming-sag-strike-exemption/

i literally mentioned that in my original post my guy pls chill.

additionally, this is exactly one of the reasons why i wanted to make my masterpost, bc a LOT of ppl have been saying what you're saying. BUT there's an important distinction here: SAG-AFTRA, which is the union for ACTORS gave A24 an exemption for their MOVIES that were using their actors.

i haven't been able to find anything about SAG-AFTRA giving A24 approval for animation or a tv-series. and even then SAG-AFTRA can't give A24 approval for WRITERS bc the WGA is the union for writers so the approval would have to come from the WGA, not SAG-AFTRA. all i could find on the WGA with A24, which isn't even a great source, was a Redditor saying the WGA hadn't made a decision on it.

to avoid going in circles i won't engage you if you refuse to read what i said without getting angry about it. it's literally just a timeline with my best personal speculations and i update it when i find new information. additionally we now know viv said in a recent interview that the delay was due to them trying to find a distributer (streaming platform), and working out their arrangements with Prime. which i am going to update my post to include. my post has been updated to include in the timeline. so good news, you can relax.

[nikadd]

ok i just got home so some more thoughts on the spn picket today!!

- misha is taller than you think. i know that’s like a common thing to meet him and be like wow he’s actually tall but it’s also like his shoulders/back are pretty wide so it’s like. hello? also the picture i got w him happened v accidentally bc i just happened to have walked to the wga sign up tent when he arrived so i got a pic w him before he actually joined the line.

- as i mentioned, jensen and jared weren’t there, and it’s not like i expected them to show up but maybe for like 5 minutes just to show your face maybe. christian slater was there. you’re not more famous than christian slater. but it’s ok i guess 🙄

- many actors and writers and crew from both spn and the winchesters were there. at some point ppl kinda started grouping up on the lawn and a lot of fans tried to like take pics and whatever so they ended up being in the way of the picketing and strike captains were exhausted and annoyed by ppl. i didn’t see too much of it bc i was like actually walking the picket line basically the entire time but yeah like y’all are embarrassing :/

- talked to some fans (and met the icon @howldean ofc) and also some writers and crew. didn’t have a lot of time to talk to bedlund bc it was closer to the end of the thing and he was leaving but kripke was actually standing there for quite a while talking to fans abt the industry and writing and everything and i got to talk to him and tell him how important the show is to me so that was v nice

- also somebody was filming some kind of video of fans talking abt how important the show is and regarding the strike and i didn’t quite catch everything abt what it was for but i participated so there might be a video of me talking abt the show in a bit? lmao

- a lot of ppl complimented my sign and i was v happy abt it bc i spent forever at michaels trying to figure out what exactly to get to make it

anyways it was pretty crazy but also kinda what i expected bc i went to the unofficial spn picket a couple weeks ago as well

[coldasyou]

i agree with u on the variants. My opinion is that i think it is what it takes to sell physical copies nowadays. And i won't say that it's important for Taylor cause she's gonna sell a great amount anyway and she has money but making physical copies popular again is important for artists and labels. Especially for those who aren't big. The incomes from the streaming aren't enough a lot of the times. And as a fact Taylor is making collecting vinyls of their fav music or aesthetic a hobby. The industry is benefiting from it. So that's a nice thing. We mostly listen to them on streamings. So the only way for vinyls to survive is to be sth fun to collect, and it's important that they survive. For good music to keep being made, it should be easier for artists to make a living.

I think that's a very good point, especially the part about how we're losing a lot of physical media nowadays so it's important for artists to be able to make and sell CDs and records and not just rely on streaming. so we don't want it to go to far the other way and have it be songs ONLY released on streaming. I know it's kind of hard to praise taylor for like helping out with musicians as a whole bc she's so big it's like "wow does she need MORE money" but hopefully when she does things like fight for more money for artists from streaming rights it does help smaller artists (like I remember everyone calling her greedy for the spotify letter but I'm hoping that since the recent writers and actors strikes people have realized that if no big act does something, the higher ups are probably not going to listen to smaller ones).

[gyuzgrl]

WE LOVE U AND WE ARE HERE FOR U SPILLING UR GUTS ON THE INTERNET 🧡🫂

also YES i have read ur cheol fic and oh my god

i have SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT IT. number one. it’s amazing. insane. i LOVED it. it’s so so well written but then again it’s UR work that’s just how all ur work is. but also there’s so many phrases and metaphors u used that were just SO PRETTY. god i want to go back rn and quote it but this ask will disappear SO I WILL JUST TRY AND REMEMBER FROM MEMORY. the line about being reborn as phoenixes??? UR CRAZY THAT WAS GENIUS

also oh my GOD the sir kink???? no bc YES😭😭😭😭 the SECOND it hinted at him liking it. and then the sir kink in action???? i died. also FUCK thought about that with kwan and ….. help me

the fic was AMAZING it wasn’t just so well written and detailed, ur descriptions and metaphors so so pretty and so raw but also it was HOT. how there’s bits where he’s soft and bits where he gets harder??? how there’s SO much buildup and anticipation. it was perfect

my fav writer strikes again.

- kwanon

ur favourite writer hold on what

THE PHOENIX THING OH MY GOD I'M SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT !!

This is my writing style at it's core tbh, I LOVE adding in little details like that. imo erotica as a genre has been bastardised and made to seem like something dirty, so I've made it a point to write smut as 'prettily' as I can if ykwim? Grammar and syntax are SO important when it comes to writing sex scenes cause otherwise they lose their intimacy, turning it into like low quality raunchy porn.

I'm writing a jeonghan fic next btw. I'm thinking bdsm elements ;)

[geographerdose]

Celestial Screenshots Destined for Fame, Pt. 11: Anthony Bourdain

Not a professional astrologer—lowkey spitballing here, doing my own casual and intuitive “analysis” of celeb charts. ⭐️

I was sitting here, feeling behind in life, while I laid on the couch watching No Reservations 👀,

And I was thinking… how old was Anthony Bourdain when season 1 was released in 2005?

49

How old was he when he published his first book in 1995?

39

He got the book advance from Random House in 1990 at the age of 34.

This first book was not successful.

Neither was his second.

In 1998, he became an executive chef.

42

Then in 2000, his book Kitchen Confidential was released and it became a New York Times bestseller.

44

In 2002, the Food Network offered him his own show A Cook’s Tour that ran until 2003. (note to self: find this)

46

What did you say? It got me curious about the MC in his natal chart?

Why, yes, it did:

Alright, alright, alriiiiight

Here we have the MC in Taurus at 0 degrees

Ruler of the MC is Venus in Gemini 28 degrees

Conjunct the Sun in Cancer 3 degrees ☀️⭐️

And co-present with Mercury in Gemini 12 degrees

🫒Can we just unload these four things for a second? Taurus talks about food and it’s with the planet of communication but not only that it has the ruler on its side in the eleventh house of groups/house of Good Spirit. No wonder he became a food influencer/writer and chef.

🫒I noticed there is a superior square from Mars in Pisces to Venus and the Sun since Venus actually falls under the beams of the Sun but Mars doesn’t. Mars has the upper hand and is capable of doing the most damage here in addition to being under the beams which is typically seen as negative.

🫒It’s shy by one degree and I think that saves his career because obviously he has had a very successful career. Actually Mars is the only planet not as harmed being under the beams so maybe the Sun conjunct Venus forms this “body” that Mars’ rays strike as one instead of two bodies. Idk that’s probably not how it works, lol, I’m just spitballing here. But I think that in a strange way the Sun-Mars situation, despite how bad it looks, somehow is actually fortunate for Venus (and thus his MC/career).

🫒But no the Suns influence too I feel can kind of show some false starts in regards to the first two books not doing so good then the third one becoming a bestseller. There’s something here with that bc I think Al Pacino and the king of R&B had similar experiences.

🫒The trine to MC’s ruler by the Fama asteroid def ups the fame factor too 😎

🫒Oh shit— do you see how Venus is opposing his North Node?? Talk about great things in regards to career since Venus rules his MC

ALSO I think there’s reception happening there, even if it’s not a planet — energy of the MC is that of the Venus variety simply being in Taurus, that which Venus rules💫

🫒Also like idk I just find it funny that like the Fortuna asteroid is squaring the Fortune lot 😆 seems fortunate 🥴

🫒Wow there’s a lot going on in regards to that MC

🫒Let’s back up for a minute. He has a day chart so Mars is going to do the most damage and it actually has the upper hand in his chart. And with it maltreating the ruler of his MC, it definitely was not an instant road to success for him but nonetheless he wound up becoming a massive influencer and trailblazer with his unique insight and authenticity.

🫒That Sun conjunction is not surprising given his massive fame but it’s still cool to see it poking out as confirmation as it has in so many charts of celebs before.

🫒Okay so my whole point at looking at his chart was to see if he had Saturn influence based on traditional markers of success, like publishing a book or getting your own show— coming later I life. I am sure he had many other successes, more important successes, at many different ages as I know he struggled with addiction but I guess I was coming into this from an ego-based perspective of “I haven’t achieved this by my age yet” and sort of like beating myself up about it.

🫒And then I just got lost in reading his chart.

🫒⭐️But yes there is Saturn influence— a very loose sign-based opposition to his MC. I think this accounts for like the later age in traditional markers of success. Basically trying to make myself feel better and that there’s still time for me to reach traditional markers of success.

🫒Honestly, for him, maybe it was best that he achieved fame and great success later in life as he did struggle with addiction and could have potentially lost it all due to that but because he went through that and healed it before becoming very successful, he was able to withstand good grace and longevity in his fame and success. ⭐️

He was so hot. 🥹🥹🥹

[evansbby]

I just finished watching LOST and here are my thoughts… (spoilers obv)

The finale actually wasn’t difficult to understand at all? Idk why this show is known for having a confusing finale bc I understood it completely? And when I looked up a Reddit explanation, I was like yeah I got all that. It was good. I liked it. Basically Jack dies how they show it, and some die before him (Sayid, Sun, Jin, Locke and more) and some die after him (the ones who escaped the island in the end die later in life when they’re supposed to) and then they all meet in the afterlife. It was cute. I got it. It’s fine. Poor Hurley had to be the caretaker of the island though. Like… I hate that he got no choice and he just HAS to do it lmao. But oh well.

Of course, a LOT of plots were just kinda dropped?? Like Libby’s whole backstory, the lore about the Others including why they kidnapped children, their brainwashing experiments like what they were doing to Karl, Ben’s obsession with Juliet, Ben’s obsession with that girl from his childhood, the time travel stuff — I know they still did time travel but they did seem to drop a lot of stuff that they were hyping up a lot at first. I understand there was a writer’s strike in 2007 but like still… I can understand why a lot of people were dissatisfied with the finale as a lot of questions that the show raised were left unanswered.

I was like super confused and sad that they sidelined the main eye candy of the show aka Desmond Hume so much after his amazing time travel episode bc I thought he would be so much more important as a character after it was consolidated that he could time travel??? But once I finished the show and googled it… turns out the actor has SA allegations against him which is prob why they sidelined his character and he was missing for so long. Which is like… wtf. Why are men like this. WHY CAN’T THEY JUST LIKE… NOT SA PEOPLE??? Desmond is like my fav character in the show too 🥲🥲🥲

Also with the whole Jacob/man in black origins storyline… I cannot be the only one who actually understood where the man in black was coming from??? I mean the poor guy got kidnapped as a child and his mother murdered by some crazy woman who then raised him and kept him prisoner on this crazy island and gaslit him into believing nothing else existed beyond that?? IF I WAS HIM I WOULD WANT TO LEAVE TOO??? Jacob himself was so meh, his twin brother was much more compelling and relatable and we’re supposed to hate him and not root for him??? WHY? Also why was his name never revealed???

Also Jacob was so LAME like we’ve been building up to this dude for seasons and then he just… dies??? Like… okay??? I also don’t understand how the twin (man in black) wasn’t even a bad guy and then he gets pushed into the light by Jacob and suddenly becomes black smoke monster and now we’re meant to hate him and all this man wants is to leave the island??? Why would I hate him??? Jacob literally holding him hostage fr. When it was showing the flashback of their childhood, I kept waiting for a twist which showed that the boy wearing white was evil and the boy in black was good but nope… it was exactly how they showed it.

I really liked Richard Alpert’s backstory episode, bc he was someone I was wondering about for ages like for seasons and seasons I’d be like “omg this dude does NOT age” but I really liked his backstory and found it so satisfying! I really kinda wanted to see what happened with him later on in life like this dude FINALLY escaped the island after a gazillion years… how is he gonna adapt to modern times now??? We literally never saw him or the pilot Frank again after they flew off the island??? Why were they not in the afterlife scene at the end? (Or were they and I just missed it?) also side note but Richard’s eyelashes are INSANE. Like was this man wearing kohl or were his lashes (top and bottom) soooo damn thick that it was distracting??

I HATEDDDD the fact that they killed off John Locke! Like he was one of my fav characters. He was so intense and compelling and the actor was incredible! I hated that they killed him off, like he lived such a sad life and then it’s like he died for nothing. And when I say killed him off I mean in season 5 when Ben killed the real John Locke. It was shocking af.

Speaking of Ben Linus, he was such a pleasure to watch bc that actor is just INCREDIBLE. Best actor on the show in my opinion. Him, John Locke and Desmond Hume were the best actors on the show in my opinion. Ben was just so fun to watch, his whole “no feelings” thing and the way he delivered his lines was just so great. I also loved ben’s backstory and all the stuff with his dad and the dharma initiative. I did want to know more on the whole “no feelings” thing though, bc when the others said they’d “fix” Ben when he was shot by Sayid, they said he wouldn’t be the same again and would lack feelings. Then the same thing happens to Sayid and he loses his feelings too (but then he kinda regains them bc he sacrifices himself with the bomb??? ) idk but an expansion on that would’ve been great.

Okay now onto the couples. I didn’t care much for the love triangle with Jack/Kate/Sawyer although I did prefer Kate with Sawyer at first only because they had really great chemistry. Although I think sawyer loved Kate but Kate didn’t love sawyer. She kinda used him a lot at the beginning and sawyer knew it. I really loved Sawyer with Juliet though!!! I thought they were so sweet. I didn’t care about Jack/Kate but good for them they sort of ended up together before Jack died lol. I also loved Jin/Sun, they were sooooo cute together!!

I LOVED Desmond and Penny!!! They were so so cute and their chemistry was off the charts! I love Penny’s accent, I’m from England too but I barely hear that accent anywhere anymore. Like it’s so posh! But yeah I actually tore up a bit when Desmond and Penny reunited at the end of season 4! And they had little baby Charlie and it was so cute and just… AHHHH loved them!!!

I didn’t care about Charlie and Claire or Hugo and Libby. I think I would’ve liked Hugo and Libby but it was left so incomplete and such a wasted potential. I also didn’t care about Daniel/Redhead girl whose name I don’t remember. No wait it was Charlotte I just remembered lol.

A couple I was really confused about and really disliked was Sayid and Shannon??? Like they were so random??? Bc let’s look at this logically… why would an Iraqi republican guard torturer who has been through so much be interested in a vapid and shallow twenty year old girl?? Like WHAT could they possibly talk about??? Their romance was so random I mean they bonded over the fact she could read french… it was so unrealistic like I cannot even begin to explain how dumb this was. And I don’t hate Shannon at all! It’s just that most 20 year old spoilt rich girls are usually some form of shallow… HOW DID THEY RELATE TO EACH OTHER??? Sayid loved Nadia, his whole purpose was Nadia so why WHY WHY in the afterlife did he reconnect with Shannon??? Like,.. what?!? This was so random to me and I just don’t get it. Also I’m really not trying to hate on Shannon. I feel like she could’ve been so compelling bc her backstory about her dad dying and her stepmom keeping all his money, it was all interesting but then they killed her off before her character could mature and have her arc??? Confusing af bc why bother…

Now about some popular characters I didn’t like. So I didn’t like Charlie and honestly didn’t care when he died. He would always get so weirdly jealous when anyone else spoke to Claire and he was just way too much sometimes like bro chill… you are not Aaron’s father. Also side note but the pronunciation of Aaron’s name by the English/australian/non American characters was weird bc why were they pronouncing his name like “Erin” in the American way??? Just a small detail I found weird and annoying lol.

I also didn’t love Kate… she was just so bland at times like I believe her writing was really bad?? Was it just me?? It’s like the writers didn’t know how to write her well?? The male characters all got such distinct personalities but Kate was so blah? And for a main character being that blah is just… idk… it’s like any time the writers tried to write a female character in a leader position, they’d just make her come across annoying or boring… THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE WOMEN!!! Also she flip flopped sooo much like girl why are you using Sawyer so unashamedly??? Like this woman had NO shame lmfaooo I also hated how she raised Aaron like idk it pissed me off like that’s not your baby!!! But I understood why she had to do it.

Onto what my fav seasons were. I LOVED the vibe of season one. I’m guessing it was quite groundbreaking for its time bc there was nothing else on TV like it. I also loved how fast paced season 4 was. 5-6 were great too! I didn’t love 2-3 that much, especially 3 but it did pick up towards the end. 4 was flawless though and “the constant” is one of the best episodes ever!!!

I wanna keep going and talk about all the characters but I’ll have to save it for a different post.. one more important thing I’ll talk about is MICHAEL. The show did him so dirty bc the moment he shot anna Lucia and libby, he was no longer part of the group. Like… I knew they’d NEVER let him back in, I knew he was unforgivable at that point which sucks bc I really liked his character??! And it’s so confusing what happened to him… they all met in the afterlife at the end but he’s stuck in purgatory??? SO THEN WHAT??? Also it was so unclear how he died? I mean yes the boat exploded but I never thought Michael actually died bc remember he just couldn’t die??? He tried to unalive himself before and couldn’t?? Like it just wouldn’t happen? SO THEN WHY AND HOW DID HE DIE??? It just seems unfair that he was an OG and he didn’t get to end the show with them. Same with Walt… he wasn’t there either. Nor was Vincent!

Anyways, overall great show. Clearly since I’ve got so much to say about it. Do tell me what you guys think!!! I wanna discuss it but I have no one to discuss it with!!!