#books for those who like red dead redemption 2

[gurokichi]

I could never become bored of you, not that easily, at least! You are my Bon, you can't get rid of me that easily <3

Yeah, I got 2 kitties! Both of them are boys, and their names are Pickle and Bean! Maybe one day you'll get to see pictures of them! I also have a dog, snails, isopod, beetles, chickens, and hermit crabs! Got a bit of a zoo around here!

I'll definitely watch some of your suggestions, and I will be sure to tell you my thoughts! Just another excuse to talk to you!

I will hopefully be posting on my blog again soon, and I am so excited to now that I know you will be watching my blog (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

I mainly read fiction, distopian, and horror/gore. But also, like when books have lgbt+ characters, and have read a few Manga! I just borrowed a book from a friend called "The Corpse Queen" by Heather M. Herrman, I strongly suggest it, I've also just started reading a GL Manga series called "Whisper Me a Love Song" and so far have been really enjoying it!!! I like plants in many ways, I learn about plants, I grow both indoor and outdoor plants, and I have a fascination with all living or once living things,,, and they happen to fit in that category too!!! I don't think I could pick just one flower as my favorite, but I do enjoy Asters a lot! Bleeding hearts? awe, it makes sense that a sweetie like you would love a poisonous flower!

What video games do you like to play? I'd love to hear all about your current favorite game! What part of history do you like so much? Oh and you collect things too! I would love to hear all about your little hoards 💕

-Dolly

I’M YOUR BON?? ASJHFSHBHKHGSGHFHJKSHLJS (＞＜)

Okay. Anyways. Sorry, got a lil excited there... I’m your Bon, and you’re my Doll!! All mine!!! I’m glad to hear that you wouldn’t get bored and leave. I’d do anything to make sure my precious doll stays with me!

AWH, they sound so darling. You have so many… how do you keep up with all of them??That’s really cool, though! You definitely have some uncommon pets.

I’m excited to hear your thoughts (๑>◡<๑)

I will definitely be watching my doll’s blog! How could I not? Anyone would find it hard to take their eyes off you. Besides, I’d love to see more of your posts when you decide to go back to it.

Ah, those are all good genres! Thank you for the recommendation, and I’ll check out the manga you mentioned later. Asters are gorgeous; my doll has great taste in flowers!!

I usually prefer games with long stories. I like RPGs and visual novels the most! I find pixel art really nice to look at, so a lot of my favorite games feature that. I’ve been playing through a farming sim called Fields of Mistria lately; it’s been really enjoyable so far! The best way I could describe it is as a mix of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. As for my current favorite games, they’re probably… Minecraft, Danganronpa, Persona 5 Royal, and Identity V. I’m not finished playing through P5R, but I like it so far. I’m currently replaying and trying to get all achievements in every Danganronpa game! I’ve finished Trigger Happy Havoc, and I’m now working on Goodbye Despair. Having a bit of trouble though, because I have a friend I’m sharing my Steam library with who is ALSO playing through the Danganronpa games. I can’t play the games until they get off, bleh. AH, I also started a playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2. I suck ass at it. I ended up punching my horse when trying to get on it. I also drew my gun on it multiple times. So sorry to my horse, it did not deserve that. It took me like 10 minutes and frantic googling to figure out how to get back on my horse after I accidentally got off (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Do you play any videogames? If you do, I’d love to hear about what you like to play.

Ah, I just like history in general. I love to learn about things. Some things that caught my interest for awhile in the past though are torture/execution methods, the Chernobyl disaster, the Carrington event, WW2, old medical treatments, and Greek mythology. I haven’t been into history as much lately.. so I probably couldn’t explain anything here well.

I do collect stuff! I have a collection of various plushies, figurines, keychains, and knickknacks stored in my room. I think my favorite things that I own are probably my jar of uranium glass and this stunning piece of bismuth I got just a couple weeks ago. I’d like to start a full on collection of uranium glass, but that’s expensive, and I have no idea where I’d put it. Uranium glass is absolutely gorgeous, though! I hope to at least get a couple more pieces in the future.

[somethin-real]

Thanks for answering my ask....If you don't mind me asking (again), can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....

I am once again answering asks months later than I should have because time isn’t real and I never open my phone BUT I will never give up an excuse to talk about the stuff I like so let’s go

(This is in no particular order because besides the first two I can’t pick a favourite child)

1) interview with the vampire (tv)

God. This thing has taken over my brain chemistry. I first watched it as the first season aired a few years back and loved it then and now that the second season has aired I literally cannot stop thinking about it. I have watched every episode of this series at least four times, some more than others because I genuinely can’t get enough. It’s simply so perfect to me… the camp… the vampires… everyone should watch this at least once in their lives (I am also currently working my way through the books and they are so tasty)

2) nbc Hannibal

GUH. I strangely never talk about it but Hannibal was one of the first shows to rewire my brain like iwtv has. I first watched it back in high school I think after a girl I had a crush on lended it to me on a usb stick and I think it’s so perfect. I find it really beautiful in a real vile way (pos) and can watch it over and over without tiring (in fact I could probably recite many of the episodes off by heart which I wouldn’t consider a problem but Some People might). The relationship between Hannibal and Will is so palpable and harrowing and I genuinely once wrote an essay on it for uni (I got an eighty) because I’m Normal

3) life is strange 2

a bit of a random one, but ever since I played the first episode of lis2, I’ve been obsessed with it. say what you want about the lis games, but there’s something really lovely to me about Sean and Daniel. maybe it’s because it reminds me of my little brother, maybe it’s because the experience of being a Latin person in North America is so familiar, but it’s a really beautiful game and I’ve replayed it… seven times now? I think? I keep trying to get different endings but I’m weird about making people do bad stuff in video games surprisingly

4) red dead redemption 2

Look man. I like cowboys, I like the great outdoors, I like the idea that Arthur Morgan (gunslinging criminal) is actually a pretty princess. Maybe I’m projecting but he really is a beautiful woman to me. this is another game I’ve played way too many times even though playing the epilogue bit where you have to build the fence makes me want to die. also Javier and John should kiss and I want sadie Adler to be my wife

5) sarazanmai

Maybe a bit of an oddball but this is one of those anime that’s like looking at a car wreck. You simply cannot look away. What began as a strange, mythological mindfuck of a show slowly morphed into a beautiful story about queerness and friendship and love and I recommend it to everyone because I just think it’s so good

6) wildhood

This movie fundamentally changed me. It’s a Canadian queer indigenous coming of age film that I watched on a whim when I was scrolling through a streaming service on a lazy weeknight a few years ago, and I didn’t expect it to be something so beautiful and touching. It’s about a young guy named link who finds out his mother (who left him with his abusive father) is alive, and so he crosses the province trying to find her with his younger half brother and someone who’d saved him from some racist convenience store owner. It’s a visually really pretty movie, and on top of that the story is absolutely beautiful and makes me cry every time I watch it. I think I’ve forced every single one of my friends to watch this movie all the while I stared at them like this 👁️👁️ to gauge their reaction to it. please please please watch this

7) to be taught if fortunate by becky chambers

this book!!!!!! THIS BOOK!!!! I had to read this for first year English my first year of university and normally books I’m forced to read are never ones that have a hold on me but I genuinely could not put this book down. I’m also not really one for science fiction, but despite the overall premise (a bunch of researchers get cryo slept in space only to awake and find that a disaster has happened on earth, wiping out a majority of the population) I feel like it focuses less on the science fiction and more so on the relationships between all of the astronauts, most of whom are queer and in a weird pseudo poly relationship with each other. idk I just thought this book was really beautiful and fun and I think everyone should read it

8) jojo’s bizarre adventure

look. this thing had to make it on here okay. I put off getting into jojo for a long time even though I’d been thoroughly aware of it even back in middle school, and when I finally caved I watched all of it in about two months, shaking and gnawing at the bars of my enclosure the whole time. it’s just so silly and fun and I think kishibe rohan should be real (he is)

I was going to add more but my brain somehow isn’t working so I’m going to do some honourable mentions again in no particular order: yakuza series, death note, after dark by haruki murakami, anything by Allen Ginsberg, kill your darlings, it’s always sunny in Philadelphia, fellow travellers (book and show)

Thank you so much for the ask!

[myblogandotherrubbish]

✨9 people you’d like to get to know better! ✨

thank you to @annasinterests for the tag!!!

i can’t lie, i haven’t done anything like this before, so I hope i do it right! there will be a few low pressure tags at the end for people i’m mutuals with!! no stress if you don’t wanna do it! there may also be one (1) person i tag who is not a mutual but who i think is great. just to clarify i also think everyone’s great.

okay here we go.

last song: All Around Me by Flyleaf. No, I cannot escape my 13 year old self. However, I have also been really enjoying synthwave and vaporwave stuff recently, and also getting into a lot of Alex G! 🎵

favourite colour: green all the way, but my second favourite colour is purple!! truly though, I love all colours, but those are my most favourite, they make me so happy 💚 💜

currently watching: i’m currently re watching The Boys! I’m a big fan of that show, I love the whole fucked up evil superhero vibes. i’m also planning on starting to watch Westworld soon, and i need to get back into Hannibal. Also if anyone wants a great detective series to watch, watch True Detective, it changed my life. Okay I’m done now. 📺

last movie: omg i feel like i never watch movies anymore but I have so many that i love, hmmmm i think the last one i watched was probably Little Miss Sunshine as it is one of my favourite ones ever. BUT if we’re talking about movies that i watched in a cinema, i can’t lie the last one i saw was Jackass Forever. love those guys. or was it Halloween Ends. who knows.🎥

currently reading: ohoho!!! i have just finished reading Brutes by Dizz Tate. i would highly recommend it, it’s a wonderful representation of working class girlhood and small town secrets. i also finished Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. all i can say is what a book, it astounded me, 11/10 📚

sweet/spicy/savoury: spicy and savoury all the way babeeyyyyy. i love spicy food so much. maybe too much. my stomach hates me. I do like chocolate a lot, but i can eat more savoury food than sweet which is a win in my opinion. 🌶️

relationship status: in a relationship!! I have been with my wonderful girlfriend for nearly three years. our anniversary is in march. she is the light of my life and my best friend. 💖

current obsession: ah yes. the things i am so normal about. i just very recently got a ps4 from a friend so i have been playing lots and lots of games. my favourites were the last of us, the last of us part two, and red dead redemption 2. especially rdr2. of course, i’m so normal about it, and the ending and story didn’t break my heart into a million tiny pieces. if you’re reading this and want to talk about these games REACH OUT TO ME I am so passionate about them and would love to talk 🕹️(this was the only gaming emoji I could find forgive me)

last thing i googled: i cannot lie it was probably ao3. or like, potato soup recipes. I love potato soup 🍲

currently working on: staying relatively sane. i graduated this july, and life feels weird right now. i’ve started working full time and i am very tired™️ all of the time. i am autistic so life can definitely be very overwhelming but i’m clinging on. unless of course you meant a project i’m currently working on, then i am currently working on trying to possibly start writing fanfiction of my own. unfortunately i also have horrendous writers block and crippling performance anxiety. let’s just say my 13 year old self’s fanfiction wasn’t doing rounds on wattpad in 2014. we shall see we shall see. ✒️

thank you for the tag again!! this was so fun and I hope it was okay and not boring!!! i will now tag some of my mutuals. and also some maybe not mutuals. ignore me if you don’t want to do this. please do not feel pressured. mwah 💋

@beefrobeefcal @fangirl-is-a-lifestyle @ladyoftheteaandblood @saturn-cherries @oblivion-wonderlust @stuffinmybrainhole @toxicanonymity @bil-daddy

[burningexeter]

The Wildwood Chronicles

I've talked about this for what seems like to me, to death about this so I want to close the book on this and finally sum it all up because I finally have everything to say it about it in just one place.

It's now a full-on passion project that I really want to do, create and make a reality and that's The Wildwood Chronicles, an epic and ambitious adult-animated series that is a grand crossover between over hundreds — and I mean HUNDREDS — of media (movies, TV shows, anime, comics, video games) that retroactively establishes them all in the same shared universe all along.

Here is all the information, all of the notes/trivia/details, everything that I can tell anyone on this without spoiling anything about it because I'm keeping this shit under lock and key pretty much:

• The ambition with this project is anything but small. How I'd best describe it is a mix of Avengers: Infinity War (the last great MCU movie with only two exceptions afterwards) and Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino's greatest achievement since 1994) with the influences being not just those two but also Godzilla Minus One, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Gore Verbinski's Pirates Of The Caribbean Trilogy and the original Die Hard for many aspects of the series whether it'd the size, scope, scale, balance of characters, action, emotional moments etc.

• As for who's the lead and who'll voice him, the answer is Reese Miller both voiced by and modeled directly after Walton Goggins. When he's introduced, he's a down-on-his-luck, alcoholic, cynical, sarcastic and narcissistic schmuck with a criminal past who after an incident that caused his downfall had no choice but to crawl back to his family that he abandoned years ago and now has to deal with his ex-wife wanting him to do just one good thing in his life now and that's be there for his children. Only thing is it's on a certain day where his daughter is his that the main event that kickstarts everything happens and he's left in and later wakes from a months-long coma while his daughter, for a while, has an unknown fate. It's from then on that he becomes a man who is consumed with guilt and regret and is haunted by his past actions and the dirtbag he was with him wanting to and even becoming a better person in this world that's now falling apart. Unfortunately, all of the events that he's put through ultimately turn him into a tragic anti-hero who wants to see this world burn to the fucking ground and without giving any spoilers away, deals the final blow that seals this fictional universe's fate. Or does it? I seriously can't imagine anyone else in this role but Walton and Walton only.

• As for how it will be a crossover, not only will it be a sequel years later, months later, weeks later depending on which media but also it's a strong balance of differentiations. Some like the three here will be major players and have major roles....

.... while others will be surprise supporting roles or even cameo appearances from supporting characters like these three here....

.... or are objects and items that serve as easter eggs that imply or show they're in the same world as well like these beautiful bastards here.

• As for the actual show itself, it will be a 65 episode limited series event with a clear and more than definitive beginning, middle and end. I want the whole show to feel like one long 65 episode feature film while at the same time giving each episode their own stand-out distinctions enough to make them stand on their own. Top of all that, there will be no commercial breaks and every episode will be a full two-hours long with them being treated as events you can't miss. What makes this more special is that there's only one network I have in mind for this series and that's FX.

• As an added bonus, the show will be incredibly and viscerally violent and even brutal with its gore. Hundreds and hundreds of people, creatures, superheroes, supervillains, zombies etc. will be killed in thousands of different and horrific ways with Rambo (2008), Blade II, aforementioned Inglourious Basterds, The Night Comes For Us and Hard Boiled serving as the main influences for the violence but it's not shock for the sake of shock, it's to show that the world is now somehow more dangerous and visceral than it's ever been before and to show that absolutely no one no matter who they are are safe.

• As for who are the directors, I want there to be several distinct and interesting filmmakers to helm episodes but the main one who'll direct the most episodes for he's the main director of the series will easily be Gore Verbinski.

[welcometotherpsideblog]

˚.⋆ ✶ 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨 ! ✶₊⊹

⊹ ࣪ ˖ he/him, 17 (bday in jan) ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

.𖥔 closed|OPEN to more RP partners ꩜.ᐟ

ᯓ★ ┆ semi-lit/lit, historical + fandom RP ✮⋆˙

⊹ ࣪ ˖ CARRD ⊹ ࣪ ˖

HAS MOVED TO @writingatthedisco

𝐑𝐏 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐑:

- ᴘʀɪᴍᴀʀɪʟʏ ғᴀɴᴅᴏᴍʟᴇss ʜɪsᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ʀᴘ: victorian, wild west and regency period the most. medieval eras and greek/slavic/general mythology not so much, but still.

- ғᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ ʀᴘ: night at a museum, bridgerton, red dead redemption 2, percy jackson, frankenstein (only the novel), marauders era

but 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐑𝐏 𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 rn are:

- 𝗥𝗗𝗥𝟮 specific, i have a rough idea for a 18 y.o. golden retriever type cowboy who gets seperated and lost from his usual cowboy group during a cattle round up across America, and decides to stay back so his group can get him on the trail back, in the meanwhile getting accidentally involved with crime and getting sucked into the Van Der Linde gang for means of staying alive and getting money as he waits through the months.

- 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗜𝗡 specific, currently i am in the process of working out a Victor x Henry plot (with me playing Victor) (either during the era when Victor is nursed back to healthy by Henry, orthe summer before Victor leaves to study and Henry stays with his family at lake Como)—if you are into the book ship (i am not interested in any other Frankenstien fandom) and love the AO3 fandom surrounding it—reach out! i'm obsessed 😭

(currently: i am looking for answers on only these two ideas- sorry, folks!)

...but ofcourse i am very open to plotting together, if you have any of yourown ideas that fit these settings i wanna hear them!! just please try to be as involved with the plotting as i so we can bounce off eachothers ideas <3

- old ADs: (Bridgerton ServantxServant) (Percy Jackson Museum Quest)

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐱𝐌, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐂 𝐱 𝐎𝐂

- this is because i don't really enjoy playing preexisting characters, however occasionally i do find the muse for a pre-existing character and ship—mostly then it is only CCxCC and it happens very rarely

- VERY open to making more ocs if you have ideas for settings and plots, i love writing especially when collaborating HHWJSHWHE

- side characters who are canon being played occasionally for scenes and stuff is completely fine by me btw, as long was we both play them from time to time when needed- not just one of us!

𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓:

slow burn, friends to lovers, found family, misfit/outsider, mutual pinning (those the MOST like all my rps had at LEAST one (but all were slow burn and misfit) (ill be fr i only do slow burn and misfit...)) enemies to lovers, various academies/schools, past trauma, forbidden love, abusive/no parents, hurt/comfort, i also dont take my rp too seriously- i include a lot of humor!

- i also love my RP to be plot heavyy, not like... JUST romance, yk? and come to me with plot ideas, not just tropes

𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐏:

- semi-lit/lit, i stay around a three to six paragraphs depending on how much needs to be said, my starters are usually longer as in pushing on 6 paragraphs however i don't worry about length, ofc the lengths will depend on the scene, as long as it gives enough to work with and fits whats happening, i just mirror the other person in terms of it all!

- i rp and reply mostly or at least once daily (unless ofcourse i/you notify the other that you cannot that you are busy or sick or anything) this means i at least want to know you are alive once daily, be it in the form of a OOC DM if busy or a RP reply, and you can reply whenever—don't feel pressured to rush replies out quickly, timing is not important to me! i myself mostly reply around once or twice daily in RP (i write slow, lol), while OOC it depends.

- NO smut

- English is my second language, although i've been speaking and writing in it most of my life, i still may make some slight mistakes

- i roleplay in private discord servers using tupperbox, but tupperbox is not must, though!

- we will also most likely exchange writing/RP samples- it's just the easiest way to see if our RP styles click and if we are both looking for the samw thing in RP!

lot of communication and plotting out OOC is required! im autistic and prefer everything to be cleared up like that 😭

𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐃𝐌 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞/𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚! <𝟑

AND come with whatever specifically caught your eye, your character/an additional idea or whatever, and/or bit about yourself as a roleplayer (lit level/para count, activity, age, whatever you feel is important)! (just gimme smth to work with with the first DM so we can get rolling for the love of god 😭)

[euryalex]

Hi and welcome to my blog! I'm Emily, an artist who studies cross media design. I'm a 20+yo, autistic, NB, freyromantic lesbian from Belgium. My url refers to Euryale, one of Medusa's sisters. My icon, as of now, is Wyll Ravengard from Baldur's Gate 3. My header is an edit of Ada Wong from the Resident Evil 4 Remake, made by me.

Current hyperfixation: Baldur's Gate 3 Tracking: #usereuryalex

1.) As an LGBT+ person, I stand by my trans & aspec siblings. 2.) Racism of any kind is not tolerated. I am white but won't reblog anything that even looks suspicious. If I speak out against something, it will be tagged accordingly. 3.) I post a lot of fan content, i.e.: fanart, graphics, edits etc. As of writing this, I have 68+ OCs for various media and love reblogging content from my friends and their OCs. Feel free to hit me up to tell me about your OCs! 4.) That being said, this a very OC-heavy blog! 5.) Some of the things I post/reblog will be NSFW including, but not limited to: nudity, blood, horror ... Those posts will be tagged accordingly and, if you are a minor or those things make you uncomfortable, I recommend you block them. 6.) Please don't follow if you add your creepy fantasies to innocent people's fan creations. Please. 7.) Don't follow me if you're into dark stuff. This blog is not for you as I am both an abuse and stalker survivor who is critical of AO3.

Games like: Dragon Age (May be Cullen and Aveline critical. Pro blowing up chantries.); The Elder Scrolls; The Witcher (May be Triss critical); Baldur's Gate 3; Resident Evil; Fallout; Cyberpunk 2077; Dead by Daylight; Red Dead Redemption (Anti Micah, pro Mary, Molly and Abigail); Assassin's Creed (Syndicate in particular); Undertale; Telltale's The Walking Dead; Overwatch; Little Nightmares

Books like: The Witcher (May be Triss critical); A Song of Ice and Fire (May be critical of non-Stark characters); Carmilla

Movies/TV Shows like: Lost; The Walking Dead; Glee (Anti Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson and Will Shuester, pro pretty much everyone else); BBC Ghosts; Derry Girls; Ring (1998); V for Vendetta; The Mummy & The Mummy Returns; Pacific Rim; Saw; Grave Encounters 1 & 2; Friday the 13th; Scream; Halloween; Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Yellowjackets; Renfield

Misc. like: Greek mythology; Space; Sunflowers; Art; Poetry; Zombies; Ghost Files (Watcher); Welcome to Night Vale; Choices; Booktok critical; Lesbian content

Ships like: Geralt x Yennefer (The Witcher); Lena Oxton x Emily (Overwatch); Cole Cassidy x Genji Shimada (Overwatch); Grillby x Muffet (Undertale); Jill Valentine x Carlos Oliveira (Resident Evil 3); Leon x Ada (Resident Evil); Leon x Claire (Resident Evil); Claire x Ada (Resident Evil); Ethan Winters x Mia Winters (Resident Evil); Sherry x Jake (Resident Evil 6)

• Neocities • My OCs • My art • My character templates (Photoshop) • Mods I use • CoHost • Instagram • Deviantart • Artstation • Artfol • Ko-Fi • YouTube

[lightsabersandblaster]

Lightsaberandblaster's 1x1 RP Partner Search

So hi! I know this isn't one of my usual posts, but I've been using this blog like it's my main one so it's going here! Welcome to my RP Partner search.

About Me/How I Roleplay:

Hello! I'm known as lightsabersandblaster on this blog but I also use SoulFlameSketches, but you're free to call me Soul or Drake. I'm 21 years old, turning 22 soon and I use she/her pronouns!

▶ I only roleplay with those 18+. But NSFW will only be included if my partner is comfortable with it as well. Smut to plot ratio varies, usually dependent on RP Partner.

▶ I typically write Advanced Lit to Novella in 3rd person perspective and past tense. I do my best to be grammatically correct, but I'm human so there's bound to be a mistake or two. Here's my writing samples! (All my samples are star wars at the moment I'm sorry!)

▶ I roleplay on Discord in private servers cause I love organized servers.

▶ I love OOC Chatter with my rp partner! Headcanons, gushing, crying together about the fandom or our RP is the lifeblood of these for me.

▶ I roleplay OC x Canon pairings, always doubling up! I play my Oc and your love interest and vice versa. Most of my pairings are MxF, but I'm happy playing AxA!

▶ I do my best to reply weekly, but life can get hectic and there's likely to be more time between replies. I will do my best to communicate if that's the case.

▶ Messing with canon is one of my favourite things to do, often adding my OC Species into certain fandoms, but I also love discussing AUs especially fix-its

~~~~

My Fandoms

Sorry for any delay in RPs cause I'm still writing OCs. Feel free to ask about it anyway, it's likely that discussing with someone will be motivating.

Star Wars ▶ Prequel Era (Including Clone Wars, Bad Batch & Tales of The Jedi), Original Trilogy Era (Including Kenobi), Mandalorian (Currently watching season 3) and Book of Boba Fett.​ I have 4 OCs (Brainstorming a fifth) and they have various love interests ​

The Orville ▶ Seen all 3 seasons, currently writing my OC who's paired with Ed Mercer.

My Hero Academia ▶ Currently catching up on the series. If I roleplay this, I would most likely change it to a college/university setting to age up characters. The OC I am currently writing can be paired with Eraserhead, Fatgum or Hawks. ​

Marvel Cinematic Universe ▶ Infinity Saga with a few Phase 4 additions, like What If..?, No Way Home and Moon Knight.​ My OC can either be paired with Dr Strange or Bucky Barnes. I will need to rewatch some of the movies if someone wants to roleplay.

Other Fandoms Not Currently Looking for: Primeval Team Fortress 2 DBZ Red Dead Redemption 2

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If you're interested in roleplaying, please message me directly with a little introduction including what you're looking to RP!

Have a lovely day! Happy RP Hunting!

[mikey-putrid]

✨About Me✨

Thanks so much for the tag, @n-brio!!

NICKNAME: Mostly just Mike or Mikey lol. Some people who have known me for a long time might still know me as Junk or Machi, but I don’t really use those anymore.

SIGN: Scorpio. I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff, but it’s fun. :)

HEIGHT: 5'4", but I’m 6′5″ in my heart!

LAST GOOGLE SEARCH: “Red Dead Redemption 2 Walkthrough”. I just started playing the game after years of watching other people and I needed to refresh my memory lol.

SONG STUCK IN YOUR HEAD?: Randomly remembered this gem from my childhood the other night and it’s been on replay in my brain since.

FOLLOWERS: 82.

LUCKY NUMBER: Don’t have one. I have dyscalculia, so numbers are evil.

SLEEP: I have no sleep schedule, but I sleep a lot,,, I plop down whenever I’m tired...which is often...

DREAM JOB: Broadway Actor! I love musicals and acting is fun. Voice actor or let’s player would be cool too!

WEARING: A very old National Geographic shirt that used to belong to my grandpa and black shorts.

FAVORITE SONGS: I always have trouble with this question because I very rarely go looking for new music,,,

What Could Have Been by Sting (from Arcane) Who Is In Your Heart Now? by Studio Killers Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne Stardust by IAMX Ghost by Mystery Skulls

I’m also OBSESSED with the Hadestown soundtrack! Highly recommended musical!

FAVORITE INSTRUMENT: I think vocals count? I’m not actually very knowledgeable when it comes to instruments, but a good vocal performance gives me chills. 

AESTHETIC: I mostly go for a creepy/cute feel with a mix of kidcore and horrorcore, but I don’t actually believe in sticking to one aesthetic. There’s a lot of vintage, grunge, gothic, and fantasy laying around here too.

FAVORITE AUTHOR: Uhh, I don’t really have one! I pay more attention to the books than who wrote them, if that makes sense. Watership Down is my all time favorite book though, so I guess Richard Adams?

FAVORITE COLOR: Any shade of blue, but any color can be beautiful with the right scheme! I tend to lean towards schemes with blues, blacks or purples the most.

FAVORITE ANIMAL SOUNDS: Tiny cat mews. :,)

LAST SONG: Africa by Toto. It was on the radio in the car when my mom and I ran to the store yesterday lol.

LAST SERIES: Like a show? I don’t really watch a lot of series, I have trouble starting new things,,, I think the last thing I binged was Arcane. Can’t wait for the next season! Now, if we’re talking video games, I’m working through Psychonauts! Finished the first game a while ago, watched a playthrough of ITROR and am now working on Psychonauts 2.

RANDOM: Uhh, have a spider character I drew. I got really mad about how much potential the character Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel has and decided to make my own spider character loosely based on him, but more suited to my personal tastes lol. His name is Magenta. (PLEASE ignore how uneven the back pattern is. I’m aware. I am not a great artist.)

Tagging @sofarfarout and @n0bodyshere​ because you’re the only people I feel comfortable tagging, but you absolutely don’t have to!!

[better-name-for-rp-blog]

Five comfort characters, five tags

Tagged by: @kaibacorpbros and @mutogamingco, thanks so much!!

Yugi Muto (Yu-Gi-Oh): Yugi was someone I wanted to emulate a lot as a kid before I knew how to express my gender the way I felt comfortable with.  He was a man who was gentle and rejected a lot of aspects I considered necessary for masculinity, so revisiting his character after presenting in a masculine way really helped me feel comfortable in my own skin

Michelangelo (TMNT 2012) and Leonardo (Rise of the TMNT): Both characters who focus on humor as a way to make their presence more valid and are often regarded and treated as the weakest link within the group when they have talents and knowledge they don’t get much opportunity to demonstrate.  It’s only in extreme situations where they can actually prove they’re capable of taking things seriously and being successful on their own, even if they make mistakes in the beginning trying to keep up the act those around them are used to.

Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2): Arthur is someone who has done a lot of bad things in the name of good causes and has suffered because of it in a lot of ways.  He’s able to make hard choices and follow his moral code regardless of what consequences it may have for himself.  Things aren’t always black and white.  Good people do bad things, and its never too late to do something better with your life.

Idgie Threadgoode (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe): I named my dog after her aslkdfj, but her representation in this book stuck with me.  Taking place in the American south in the 1920s, she’s queer without it being directly stated, and everyone around her seems alright with that.  She starts wearing suits as a child, she tells another woman she loves her, then later lives with that woman and helps raise her child.  She starts a business with her, dresses masculine, and never marries, just stays with her until her partner passes.  It’s never said she’s a lesbian or butch or anything like that, but it’s shown.  I easily saw myself in her, which helped in the early days of my coming out process.

Ruby and Sapphire (Steven Universe): Yes, I know Steven Universe is divisive (I stayed out of the fandom so am unfamiliar with most of the drama), but my reasons are similar to my feelings about Idgie.  Ruby and Sapphire were the first lesbian relationship I saw in media I enjoyed that really focused on the relationship long-term.  It felt really nice getting to see the love between them and feel like, one day, that could be possible for me too (to an extent).  Getting to see some of the realities of what romantic relationships are like helped too.  The line “love takes time, and love takes work” is still something I think about and use on a regular basis.  It’s helped shape my feelings about relationships and how to handle it in a way that’s both positive and realistic.  I really appreciate getting to learn from that.

Tagging: @little-yugi-muto-rp, @bad-decision-central, @duelingdestiny, @xmagicalpansexualpandax, and @kurai-honoo, no pressure tho!

[giigil]

how did you start to write? kinda curious to know your trajectory

story time! (really happy you asked, hehe.) note: if anyone's interested in going through my past writings, let me know and i'll probably make a google drive folder lol.

I've been addicted to gaming ever since I was younger and I've always had hyperfixations that would come and go. Middle school was when I realized I had a love for reading books (mainly young adult, romance, fiction + manga) and I used to always spend my time in the school library during my lunch breaks.

2012: I was 13 and almost graduated from middle school. I adored Zelda/Link as a ship so much that I Googled 'Zelda x Link' to look for cute art, only to stumble across a website: Fanfiction.net. Yep. That site.

I read through a couple of stories and found myself hooked. I made an account, and I decided to start writing my own stories.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl had a huge impact on my life and holds a special place in my heart. It was all I'd ever written and thought about when I first started.

( putting a read more to elaborate further on my writing journey. )

Around 2013, though, someone put a wrench on my Fanfiction.net journey by reporting my story -- it wasn't anything horrible, it was just a cringe Truth or Dare fanfiction that someone and their group said was "against" Fanfiction.net rules. That story got deleted, and out of impulse and feeling depressed, I deleted every single fanfiction I'd ever posted on my account.

I deeply regret doing so, because there were so many ideas that I can't look back on because my memory isn't able to recall a whole lot of them.

At least a few weeks after, though, I got onto Tumblr and got into Tumblr roleplaying! Fairy Tail was my next huge fixation and I made a roleplay blog focused on Edo-Cana from the Edolas arc (after I spoke with an Edo-Lucy blog). After I lost my inspiration for Edo-Cana, I moved on to Evergreen, and then Lucy Heartfilia.

I believe I lost interest in roleplaying on Tumblr around 2014.

2014: I was still writing on Fanfiction.net, but as usual, I would delete my fics when they didn't satisfy me. I wrote for a couple of other fandoms ranging from Big Hero Six, Rise of the Guardians/Young Justice, and more. I'd also joined websites like Quotev and Wattpad.

2015: In my junior year of high school, I made a friend who also had an interest in roleplaying. She introduced me to this one roleplaying website which allowed me to continue with writing.

However, as you can probably see, I have the absolutely terrible habit of losing interest in things quickly. I ended up quitting roleplaying due to that.

I also joined Archiveofourown. I don't remember if I'd ever posted anything around the time of joining. This is the one year I don't remember much for.

I also continued to post on Fanfiction.net:

As per usual, it lasted for *almost* a year.

November 10th, 2016 was the last time I ever posted on my Fanfiction.net account.

I had a dry spell when it came to writing for a good year and a half from 2016-2017.

April 21 2017: I played Final Fantasy XV and (it's what I hyperfixated on for a good 2 years). Around April 27-28, I already had a hankering for wanting to write fanfiction for it. I have so many ideas that haven't seen the light of day, and probably never will.

There's so many drafts, mostly unfinished, just sitting in my Google Drive.

August 2018: I posted a Prompto Argentum x Reader fic on archiveofourown, but eventually orphaned it and everything else I had posted.

October 2018: My hyperfixation for Red Dead Redemption 2 started. I thought up of ideas, plotlines, etc.

February 2019: I posted 3 Arthur Morgan x Reader fics. Which, you can probably already guess what the fuck happened to those. *orphaned. woooow.*

March 2019: I swore off writing anything else for my old Fanfiction.net account, and have left all of my fanfiction saved there.

2020-2021: Once more, I stopped writing and focused on trying to get through day by day life considering it was the COVID outbreak and I was only ever working. I never stopped reading fanfiction though. It's what's kept my writing decent -- at least, that's what I feel like. 2020 was when my hyperfixation on Final Fantasy 7/Remake started. I would think up of things.

March 23, 2022: (Not a writing thing, but I like to make note of it.) The start of my hyperfixation on Jujutsu Kaisen and Gojo!

December 2022: I finally posted a fic after so long. Haven't deleted it, and I swear I won't.

January 2023: Wrote my first ever M rated fic for Nero the Sable from Final Fantasy 7 Remake x Reader, and told myself I'd go back to writing. I haven't posted anything else on AO3 since then.

August 11, 2023: I learned of and created an account on character.ai!

September 18, 2023: I started making character.ai bots!

TL;DR:

As you can see, I'm an inconsistent person and have occasional moments of inspiration and eventually get tired of things. There will be times when I need a break from writing, so I apologize if it takes me a bit to get through all of my requests.

[happymeishappylife]

Comics/Graphic Novels I Read in 2023 (Part 2)

11. March Book 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

We finally got the coverage of Bloody Sunday and the heartbreaking horrible acts committed before, around, and after this day. But this story also led up to the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the fight it was to get that approved. While all our problems may not be solved, its hard not be proud of the progress that has been made. We must not let it go backwards and we all must fight. It was great to read this too before I went to Atlanta and to the Civil Rights Museum where its emphasized that we must all fight if we want real change. And that means willing to get hurt.

12. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker

A powerful first hand account of one of the most atrocious acts in United States History. When we, like Germany, decided a whole group of people were the enemy even though they were fully immigrated and living American lives when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Seeing Takei describe the things he saw through his childhood and youthful eyes while also seeing the things his parents do as an adult made it hard because so much of it felt like what happened in Germany and Polland, but without the gas chambers. That doesn’t make it okay, that we didn’t kill these people. In fact its horrific the way we treated them and its important story to tell. I also appreciate that Takei has been so vocal about it and has tried to tell it through so many mediums. I went and saw Allegiance a couple weeks after it first opened and was sad it wasn’t a smash hit because it was a great musical and powerful story. But the main takeaway is we can’t forget our history and we can’t erase it. We need to own it and make it better for those who have suffered and make sure it never happens again.

13. Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 1 by Roye Okupe with Godwin Akpan

I loved this introduction book into a world so steeped in African folklore and with a mystery and fantasy element to add suspense and intrigue. In this novel we meet Inayu. A forest girl who we learn survived after her parents died and became a student of a woman who is part of the Olori, the first people to have magic and mystical powers. In this world, the magic has all but disappeared and the animals have been poisoned to be more dangerous and alert. But Iyanu, who sneaks into the village from time to time, has the power of the wonder which means she is a child of prophecy. One that must be hunted by the now leader of the village for it means she is a threat. Can’t wait to see where we go in this journey with Iyanu into the histories of Yorubuland.

14. Red Hood and the Outlaws Volume 1: Redemption by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort

The more I keep interacting with Batman media, the more intriguing I find Jason Todd’s story which is why I picked this up. I want to learn more about this former Robin and how he was brought back from the dead, how he deals with crime, but also how is a former hero underneath. And while I’m not up to his full history of lore, I do like that the story focuses on him avenging the order who saved his soul after he came out of the Lazarus pit. And while this isn’t Bizarro and Artemis (like the Webtoon I’m reading) I do like this dynamic of Roy Harper and Starfire, mainly because I have always like Roy and its nice to know more of his story. The blatant oversexualized styling of Starfire is unnecessary though and something that will be hard to read through. I didn’t realize the cover art was a way to hide that but thankfully the rest of the story is interesting enough to continue.

15. Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Got to admit, this one became a little bit more tough to get through, but it felt realistic. It’s been a couple years since we have seen everyone and we learn Alana has become a TV actor who gets way too hooked on recreational drugs to do her job probably, Marko is trying to be a good Dad, but has to constantly hide his face so they aren’t recognized, and Prince Robot the IV has been hiding out on a space brothel where he learns of the murder of his wife and the kidnapping of his newborn son. Of course things unravel and people split up, but I wasn’t expecting Marko and Prince Robot the IV to team up. I doubt this will go well in the long run.

16. Saga Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

As we learn from Hazel in this novel, it may be that her parents never get back together or least not for a long time. Which is sad when they both seem to want it. Though now that Alana is sober, Marko has given in to his rage so I’m not sure that’s healthy either. We also catch back up with Gwendolyn and the Slave girl as they team up with The Will’s sister to get an antidote to save him. However, she dies after Slave girl tries to plan hero and when they explain that to The Will after reviving him ,he wants nothing to do with the two, only focused on rage which I’m sure will help him hunt down Hazel.

17. Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow by Brian Konietzko, Michael Diante DiMartino, Gene Luen Yang, and Gurihirl

I haven’t read the comic collection before this which explains the reunion of Zuko’s mom, so while I was sad I got spoiled, I can’t wait to read it to find out why her face was changed by a spirit. Still we get to see Fire Lord Zuko in action when an ancient Fire Lord story comes to life as children get captured by Kemurikage, a group of young women who also are helping the Fire Lord Ozai society to uprise against Zuko. Mai and Zuko are on the outs, but team up to solve the mystery with Aang’s help, who is also needed for his humor and level headedness. What I wasn’t expecting was to find that Azula is behind the Kemuirkage, so she definitely hasn’t changed her ways.

18. Doctor Who: Ground Zero by Scott Gray, Martin Geraghty, Alan Barnes, Gareth Roberts, and Adrian Salmon

A mutli-doctor collection that eventually ties Sarah Jane, Tegan, Peri, and Ace together when an alien species is hell bent on hunting down the Doctor. Of course with the Seventh Doctor things are bound to get dark, but I was not prepared for how dark even though I’ve gotten used to comic Doctor-Who stories being darker than the show and audios. Still while it was fast pace and action packed, I also wasn’t prepared for this to be the canonical end to Ace (haha, just kidding, canon isn't real in DW). She’s the best and fought until the end, but I’m sad to learn that her story ends so tragically, making her the second companion to die while travelling with the Doctor.

19. Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures Year Three #1: Breakfast at Tyranny’s by Nick Abadzis, Giorgia Sposito, Valeria Favoccia, Arianna Florean, and Hi-FI

It’s been a while since I caught up with the Doctor and Gabby Gonzalez, but I was surprised to see that Gabby’s friend Cindy has also joined her as well as a powerful ancient being named Nubis (Based on the Eygptian Gods and apparently the son of Sutekh). They arrive in ancient China and learn of a plot that is formed by the cloning of Cindy, and while they sort it out, Cindy learns her heritage starts with her clones which makes her whole life a bit of a paradox. We also see that Gabby’s powers have grown and that’s starting to cause strain between her and the Doctor.

20. Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures Year Three #2: Vortex Butterflies by Nick Abadzis, Giorgia Sposito, Iolanda Zanfardino, Arianna Florean, and Nicola Righi

I’m glad to have read the next collection after the previous one because my suspicions about Gabby and the Doctor were right as they get pushed in this volume. The Doctor leaves Gabby and Cindy in London while he goes on the hunt of a mysterious anomaly that is causing time ripples. Thankfully he also clues in Sarah Jane Smith to look out for the two, but it gets harder as Gabby’s powers keep freaking out. Turns out the Doctor’s hunt leads him to a possible future Gabby whose powers are consuming the universe, but thanks to his friendship with Gabby he stops it and goes back to reassure Gabby that their friendship won’t ever devolve like that possible future.

[gas-stxtion]

@rejectshumanity said: ♡ ♢ ☼ for the munday meme!

(what is this? an interrogation? come back with a warrant - open)

//hehe thank you <3 i'll put these under the cut b/c i never fucking shut up lmao

♡ What are your top five favorite things about yourself?

//how daaaare you make me be nice to myselffffff

no jokes aside <3 anyway.

i like that i'm generally a nice person! i think that it's important to be kind when you can, because there's enough darkness in the world. why not be kind when you have the chance?

... on another note, though, i'm really happy that i'm getting better at standing up for myself and handling conflict. because being kind is important, but sometimes you gotta be a bitch and that's life! i was rereading something i sent a friend years ago regarding a conflict i was having at the time, and i was astounded by it lmao like... oh my god. my dude. you have very good reasons to be upset and it's okay to say "i'm mad at this person" without adding a million disclaimers that it's probably not their fault!!

i genuinely think i'm *so* fucking funny, and for better or worse, you will certainly hear my jokes.

i'm a good listener. when people are having a hard time and need someone to talk to, i'm good at like... just offering a listening ear. i may not always have advice but i can generally listen and chat and help someone talk through it if that's what they need.

i don't like to judge people unless they give me very, very good reason to, especially if i don't know them. i try to assume ignorance more than i'll assume malice, though i'm also trying to get better at recognizing when the line between those can get a bit blurred haha.

♢ What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

//gimme that salted caramel <333 though honestly a long-time favorite is like. anything with cherries. that's the good shit.

☼ Who are your top five favorite fictional characters?

//CRACKS KNUCKLES.

okay for the sake of not going on forever, i'll just list five characters that aren't muses of mine (at least not on this blog). because we all know mr jack townsend is number one but like. others deserve a shot. for fun, i'll also explain myself a bit :3c

dr. robert langdon - the da vinci code (and other dan brown books)

i was obsessed with these books a completely normal amount as a middle schooler (lying). something about this like... charming middle-aged professor who keeps finding himself in the middle of massive conspiracies usually related in some way to religion and frequently having his life put in danger? and saves the day by being a fucking nerd? what a dude!

arthur morgan - red dead redemption 2

if you were there for my rdr2 fixation (which most of you definitely weren't lmao) then uhhh yeah <3 genuinely i had a huge crush on this character and was so obsessed with him for so long. the yearning was out of control, folks. i do still have a lot of fondness for him, but tbh some not-so-fun interactions in the fandom really put me off of the whole series for a while. he still means a lot to me though!

rhys - tales from the borderlands

would it be exaggerating to say that rhys tftbl is the reason i'm trans? probably. but y'know something about him really resonated with me at a time when i was really going through some gender fuckery and trying to figure myself out. idk what it says about me that that shitty little twink helped me figure myself out a bit, but anyway.

evelyn mckinnon - accounts from a lonely broadcast station

had to list at least one woman lmao- but yeah i really love evelyn. she's such an incredibly written character and every time i reread (or. rather. re-listen to) the series i actually get a little choked up because her narrative is so *fascinating* and well-done to me. like wow we love a tragic cringefail woman who has to face her own mistakes and become better, not just for her own sake but for others'!!! and face the fact that her fuck-ups hurt more than just herself!!!

evelyn is one of the many characters i'm considering for the horror multimuse i talk about sometimes. and maybe i'll even let her stay a cis woman- i'm kidding ASDFJKL; but like. fr. we'll see.

charlie kelly - it's always sunny in philadelphia

honorable mention for the trashiest man i'm currently thinking about lmao- so i started watching iasip because i wanted to see the insanity for myself and. wow all of these characters are terrible. but god it's so fun to see them in action. and charlie is by far my favorite. he's illiterate. he drinks paint. he eats cat food for fun. he's an artist. he makes a living beating rats to death with a stick. he's a wet paper bag of a man. he's very deeply traumatized and doesn't realize it.

he's the perfect man.

[cafehyunji]

About Me!

Welcome to my blog! On here I mostly write, repost ff I like, and just in all post random shit post. I go by the name Hyunjin (hun-jin) you can also call me Hyunji, or Jin. I’m a black (Soulaan), non-binary, who studies digital photography, and film making. I do other things besides writing like editing and art, but like writing I try and find the time, and mindset to do those things.

Dislikes !

Pro-Shippers (Some of y’all niggas are nauseating as hell…. and I mean it), Fatphobia, Racists, Homophobia (a bunch of bitches tbh…), ignorant questions, bananas, and a lot of other things.

likes !

Green and brown colored items, Photography, Photocard collecting, digital journalism, Reading, cooking, kpop ( kinda fell off..), volleyball, soccer, hello kitty and friends items, music, pins, cars, flowers, legos ( I have a bad obsession with their collectible sets), funko pops (own mostly marvel ones), baggy clothes, converse, astrology things, and more

Favorite Things (At the moment)

Artist

Rema, Brent Faiyaz, New jeans, A$AP Rocky, Ambre, Ari Lennox, Ayra Star, beabadoobee, Laufey, Beyomce, Childish Gambino, Chloe, Halle, Chloe x Halle, Daniel Caesar, Cigarettes after sex, Tierra Whack, Dean, Victoria Monet, Don Toliver, Frank Ocean, Giveon, Her, The Internet, Iyla, J cole, Kendrick Lamar, Kehlani, Knxwledge, Koffee, Lw Sserafim, Lucky Daye, Luci4, Mac Ayres, Megan Thee Stallion, Metro Boomin, Nct, odd Future, Ph-1, Pinkpantheress, Red Velvet, Sir, Seventeen, Snoh Aalegra, Sonder, Steve Lacy, Solange, Summer Walker, Tyler The Creator, Syd, Tame Impala, SZA, Rihanna, Flo, and more.

Books

Grown by Tiffany. D. Jackson, Concrete Rose by Angie Tomas, Men who hate women by Laura bates , The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod

Games

The Last of Us : Part II, Fifa 23, Red Dead Redemption 2, Final Fantasy, animal crossing, Genshin Impact (the shit is still mid-way kinda fun…)

[red-dead-reader]

Books To Read For Those Who Like RDR2

hello everyone! I'm back with another book review!!! and this one is particularly interesting!  It’s not my usual Arthur-ish main character that I usually do, but I think you’ll like it all the same!! let me introduce you to:

The Cowboy Who Came Calling by Linda Broday

this book is more about the heroine Glory Day and her struggles to singlehandedly support her family. This book screams Sadie Adler! Not only does she look like Sadie Adler but Glory Day gives off full Sadie Adler vibe! She’s rough and tuff and does the hard stuff that most women in that time wouldn't normally do all in the name of her family, even sacrificing love and romance.  

here’s the book synopsis:

Glory Day may be losing her vision, but that doesn't mean she'll ever stop fighting. Determined to provide for her struggling family, she confronts an outlaw with a price on his head. But when a mysterious cowboy gets between her and her target, Glory accidentally shoots him instead. Flustered, she has no option but to take the handsome stranger home to treat his wounds.

Former Texas Ranger Luke McClain didn't plan to fall in love, but there's no denying the strength of Glory's will or the sweetness of her heart. But Glory's been burned before, and Luke will have to reach into the depths of his own battered soul to convince her to take a chance...

And trust that love is worth fighting for.

I love how this book brings Glory Day to life, the character is so well done that I can feel the emotions and tension that glory goes through. Definitely, a female lead that I can look up to! 

Luke McClain, though VERY charming, doesn't feel as real as Glory.  he’s there and he has his background and story but it always feels that there's something missing from the charming cowboy. So much so that whenever he does something or says something its kinda like background music so to speak.  

let's get down to the romance scenes.  now there's only one really nice romance scene between the two and its pretty mild. nothing really dirty, but it is nice and emotional, like most romance novels.  

all in all, I give this book 4 yeehaws out of 5! I’ll admit I might be a little generous here but I just enjoyed Glory Day’s Sadie like personality so much I just couldn't help myself! so if your a big Sadie Adler fan, or you just really like strong-willed women facing and overcoming hardships than this book is for you! check it out on Amazon, they have a free sample for kindle if you want to check it out!

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

2021 Year-End Fic Review

I was tagged by @dont-touch-the-phlebotinum, thank you! (If you've not read Sophie's alphabet fics why are you still here go do that right now I'll be waiting for you)

How many stories did you complete?

Uhh this is a tricky one, because I've done a lot of short prompt-y stuff this year, so the answer is around 45 fics and uh. One novel.

What is your total word count for the year?

So, look, I'll admit that I've got a Problem With Numbers. Numbers stress me out. That being said I've added together everything on AO3, everything that I only posted on Tumblr, my WIPs and Kingswood and the grand total is 432,279 words!! Holy shitballs. (Also I had to add that up twice, because I forgot three fics and Valdo)

What fandoms did you write in this year?

Mostly the Witcher, but I also wrote one fic for Red Dead Redemption 2. And I started my own fandom (does that count??)

Did you write more, less, or roughly about what you expected?

Hmm, so, after adding it all up I've actually written more than I expected in total! I was assuming that the book would have totally wrecked my stats, but apparently not. Saying that, I did think I'd write more fic 😅

What’s your favourite story of the year?

Ahhhh this is tricky. It's probably We Could Be Married, my modern AU fake engagement fic, which I still love (and oh my god that was THIS year??). I also really like Make Me Breathe (warning for near death experiences/near drowning).

What is your most underappreciated story of the year?

hah this is worded SO weirdly, but I was annoyed that The Spirit of Belleteyn didn't do better, because I really loved writing it and it took me an age.

Biggest fanfic-related disappointment of 2021?

All of those WIPs I was really excited about but never finished. I've got some ideas that I'm desperate to write but never did... I've got a 15k WIP sat around 😅 so many ideas, so little time.

Biggest fanfic-related surprise of 2021?

This one is easy. @valdomarxxx 💕

Something you look forward to working on in 2022?

I'm going to finish my Modern AU orchid-hunting fic, god dammit. And the canonverse fake engagement. And I've got a fix-it for S2 but I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to writing that, hah.

sdfhsjk this was a very effective procrastination method. I am tagging @jackironsides, @kueble, @welcomemysentence, @witcher-and-his-bard and anyone else who wants to do it! (Also no pressure, I know from experience that this sorta number-crunching game can make the brain eat itself alive, hah)

[vavuska]

CRUELLA, THE STORY OF A PUPPY SLAUGHTER (Part 2)

Here for part 1:

Part 1 - Summary:

In the previous part we saw how was originally described Cruella de Vil in Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians: a rich heiress, bossy, cruel toward animals, obsessed with fancy jewls, luxury and also fur coats. Cruella met Anita at school, they were in friendly terms, even if Anita described Cruella as a menacing student, expelled from school for drinking ink. Dodie Smith wrote that Cruella comes from a troublesome family: her ancestor was a serial killer, with the supernatural ability to summon storms and a tail (reference to Bram Stoker's Dracula and the devil). Cruella has strange eating habits (uses a lot of pepper, the Devil's spice) and is usually cold (as a corpse or a vampire). Cruella was so obsessed with fur to marry a furrier not for love but only for his job. Cruella's husband is weak and she is the dominant element in the couple, she also forced him to take her surname after their marriage.

We saw also the rapresentation of Cruella in 1961 cartoon version of 101 Dalmatians. Cruella is still a old friend of Anita. Her main colors are red (her loudy red car is the fist thing we see of Cruella) — expressing blood, anger, determination and passion — and green (she is always surrounded by nasty green smoke that comes from her cigarette) that rapresents envy, sickness and greed.

Her appearance is very particular, because she looks like a skeleton and her skin is very white - pale, very different from the healthy pink one of the other characters. She looks like a corpse, she looks sick in this 1961 version of 101 Dalmatians.

Her entrance is accompanied by a song, written by Roger, in which he anticipates the evil intention of Cruella and underlight the disturbing connotations of her surname (Count de Ville is one of Dracula's alias; Cruella de Vil is a pun name on “cruel devil”).

3 - Cruella in 1996

The 1996 live action of 101 Dalmatians the entrance of Cruella is anticipated by a sequence in which we heard a news London Zoo discovered the excoriated carcass of its prized 3-year-old female Siberian tiger, then the news reporter says that according to animal protection groups that monitor the international trade that a white Siberian tiger's fur is so rare that the offer of a pelt would surely draw the attention in contraband. And then the journalist ask “Who cold do something so horrible?”

Then enters Cruella. She wears veiled garment complete with Balenciaga-inspired extreme shoulders and floor-length black and white fur cape.

We saw this mysterious woman with veiled face and a long fur coat - we doesn't know she is Cruella yet - , exiting from her black and white 1974 Panther Deville, license plate “De Vil”. This version of the car is more closed to the book's one.

In Dodie Smith's book, Cruella's chauffeur-driven car is black-and-white striped, which Mr. Dearly describes as “a moving zebra crossing”, and Cruella boasts that it has the loudest horn in London, which she insists on sounding for the Dearly couple.

We saw Cruella shaking the ashes of her cigarette on the shiny and impeccable shoes of her vallet Alzonzo, while he tries to not look bothered by this lack of respect, and then we saw Cruella entering in a luxurious place called “House of De Vil”. Her red cigarette holder — switching from the turquoise the 1966 animated version favored — matched with her brilliant red lipstick, makes a great contrast to her black and white attire and also underlight the psychology of color typical of Disney villains: red is associated with malice, evil (hell and the devil), blood, danger, strength, power, determination and passion.

Now we have a sight of this long railway-like white hallway surrounded by exotic fur-clothes. Now we know she is a stylist and that she is maybe the one who cold be interested in the fur of the dead Siberian tiger.

A crowd of terrified / adoring employees hurry to greet the woman: “Good morning, Miss De Vil”.

Finally Cruella enters in her office and takes off her hat with veil, reveling her double-colored hair. She is Cruella De Vil in all her glory.

This sequence recalls openly the Devil Wears Prada.

This version of Cruella played by Glenn Close is much more human that the 1961 version. She is more charismatic too and also more fashionable. Her entrance is not as scary as the 1961 version, but shows her obsession for fur, her violation of the law and abuse on animals (also at those at risk of extinction) and her high level stylist house of fashion.

She isn't Anita's friend anymore, she is Anita's boss.

While walking to her office, Cruella meets Anita, played by Joely Richardson. She spots that Anita is working on a new model (no more white tiger stripes, but dalmatian's spots). Anita's design catches her eyes and interest, as well as Anita's dog, Perdi: they had a strange chat about Perdi's fur. That, knowing already the plot of the movie and the news details Roger and Pongo were hearing in the previous scene, well, this conversation sounds a lot disturbing.

Cruella: “Anita, darling.”

Anita: “Good morning, Cruella.”

Cruella: “What a charming dog.”

Anita: “Thank you.”

Cruella: “Spots?”

Anita: “Yes, she’s dalmatian.”

Cruella: “lnspiration?”

Anita: “Yes.”

Cruella: “Long hair or short?”

Anita: “Short.”

Cruella: “Coarse or fine?”

Anita: “l’m afraid it is a little coarse.”

Cruella: “Pity!”

Anita: “But it was very fine when she was a puppy.”

Cruella: “Redemption! We need to have a little girl talk. Come to my office. Bring the drawing.”

Ok. The next scene contains a very popular quote from this movie.

We are in Cruella's office: she has just invited Anita to talk about her design. Cruella wants a new coat and would love to wear the one that has just see at Anita's desk. Let's remeber she doesn't want to wear Anita's puppies already, for now is just an abstract idea about someone else's puppies, but they are still talking about Dalmatians' spots, compared with leopard ones and Anita seems to be perfectly fine. I don't think she knows already of Cruella's criminal way to obtain fur from animals at risk of extinction that her henchmen steal from Zoos, but Anita works for a woman who loves to wear REAL fur. I just can't imagine Cruella wearing any faux fur coat. This is not a crime, because it's legal wear fur coats made of mink, sable and ermine and such, but I found very weird that Anita is not having any suspect about Cruella's intention, because she is working on a model of striped tiger fur and Cruella lives for fur, worship fur. She just could not accept to wear faux fur.

However, Anita doesn't seem bothered at all by this strange talk about her dog's fur (yes, dog are not coats), but as a woman who works for fashion/fur industry and loves dogs she should know that in some parts of the world it is legal using cat and dogs to make clothes. I simply can't understand why she is not having any reaction at Cruella's strage interest about Perdi's fur.

Cruella and Anita talk about their work and Cruella makes lovely appreciation for Anita's drawings: she says she is talented and she doesn't want to risk to lose her pen.

That's now that Anita says she would not left Cruella's House for another job, she would left only if she decided to be a stay-at-home mother and wife. Well, no, she talks more genericly of "plans" with a hypothetical, for now, husband/boyfriend, and this could means everything, for example moving to another city, the assumption about marriage is an association made by Cruella that told us a lot of things about how producers would she looks, compared with the family-oriented Disney business plan. This is a very relevant issue we was also in her 1961 version: the losing comparison between Anita's family's oriented live choice and Cruella's — who is sigle, rich and indipendent — one. Cruella loves only her fur coats, while Anita have an husband, a simple house and also a lot of dogs. Cruella is alone, evil, ugly, wears a lot of make up, and not happy, while Anita is married, preatty but in a natural way and happy of her simple lifestyle with her husband and their dogs.

Cruella: “Now, darling, tell me more about these spots. l did leopard spots in the ‘80s. Well, dalmatian spots are a little different, aren’t they? Cozy. Classic.”

Anita: “Cuddly. Less trashy.”

Cruella: “Exactly! Do you like spots, Frederick?”

Frederick: “Oh, l don’t believe so, Madame. l thought we liked stripes this year.”

Cruella: “What kind of sycophant are you?”

Frederick: “Um, what kind of sycophant would you like me to be?”

Cruella: “Frederick… l’m beginning to see spots. What would it cost us to start again on next year’s line?”

Frederick: “Millions.”

Cruella: “Can we afford it?”

Frederick: “Well, yes--”

Cruella: “Pay it, darling. Now go away. l have to talk to Anita.”

(...)

Cruella: “Sit down, please. How long have you been working for me?”

Anita: “Uh, two years last August.”

Cruella: “And you’ve done wonderful work in that time.”

Anita: “Thank you.”

Cruella: “l don’t see you socially, do l?”

Anita: No.

Cruella: “And you’re not very well-known, despite your obvious talent.”

Anita: “Well, notoriety doesn’t mean very much to me.”

Cruella: “Your work is fresh and clean, unfettered, unpretentious. lt sells. And one of these days… my competitors are going to suss out who you are… and they’re going to try to steal you away.”

Anita: “Oh, no. lf l left, it wouldn’t be for another job.”

Cruella: “Oh, really?bWhat would it be for?”

Anita: “Well, l don’t know. Um, if l met someone, if working here didn’t fit in with our plans.”

Cruella: “Marriage.”

Anita: “Perhaps.”

Cruella: “More good women have been lost to marriage… than to war, famine, disease and disaster. You have talent, darling. Don’t squander it.”

Anita: “Well, l don’t think that it’s something we have to worry about. l don’t have any prospects.”

Cruella: “Thank God.”

Cruella makes a very cynical — but historically appropriate and also very sharable — critic about marriage. She was right, expecially because of what we saw about her 1960s version and how she is rooted in anti-feminism and in an open condamn of women's growing emancipation from the “traditional family role” imposed by media in the 1950s and 1960s, rapresented by 1961's Anita. However, Cruella is a cruel, evil villaness, so what she says to Anita is just a condamn made by Disney on women who choose career over family and love.

But, here, Cruella is not a friend of Anita who gives her a kind and appreciable life advice (if we ignore that Cruella is evil), Cruella is Anita's boss and doesn't want to lose a valuable and talented employee, so from this point of view her statement sounds a lot more controversial: women in the 50s lost their job if they got married, they were fired because most of the time bosses made them sign a contract with a marriage bar that allow employers to withdraw from the contract, so their contract would terminate on marriage, or said in a simple way: employers used to fire the soon-to-be wife, because it was clear for them that a wife should focus more on family and house care than on a career (that's because the soon-to-be wife is going to have an husband, the bread-giver of the family).

Nowdays, it's a bitter different, but women that want to have also a family are discriminated in workplaces: employers ask constantly in job interviews of they plan to have a family, if they have some relationships or if they are single. That's because employers would lose money paying for maternity leaves to their female employees that cannot work for some month. A young woman in fertile age with a stable relationship is a risk for a employer more than a young man in fertile age with a stable relationship. A newly mom is more closed to chose a lesser paid job or a part time one compatible to her family then a newly dad.

And also this quote, remember we are talking about the 90s, gives a clear flashback on women's unstable careers back then, but also puts in highlines some stereotypes about women who menage to balance both work and family: their quility of work is lower than before (this is said by Cruella to the new-mom Anita, we will see it below), they are not productive enough, they makes employers lose money, ecc. Nowadays, unlike in the 90s there is a constant svalutation of women who chose to put family first: they have no free time, they have no a social life (well, some shy single woman like Anita doesn't have a frizzy social life too), some kind of lifes are better than others (luxury and exotics vacation are better than reading books, dancing and going to bars with friends is better than playing sports or painting, ecc.) and if they dare to go out with their friends or take time for themselves and their hobbies, society is still ready to shame them for “not being good mothers”. That's not right: everyone should be able to live their life as they want, to have a frizzy social life or just enjoying a little time for themselves, without receiving criticism of any sort.

In the US the marriage bar, the practice of restricting the employment of married women was never explicitly eliminated by federal laws. Marriage bars were widely relaxed in wartime, during World War I and World War II due to an increase in the demand for labor in the assistance of war efforts (mostly because men were at the front).

Since the 1960s, the practice has widely been regarded as employment inequality and sexual discrimination, and has been either discontinued or outlawed by anti-discrimination laws. For example, in Italy marriage bar is declared illegal with law nr. 7 of 1963, that establishes the prohibition of dismissal of female workers for reasons of marriage (later extended also to male workers), and law nr. 1204 of 1971 prohibited dismissal of the working mother within the first year of the child's age (maternity bar).

The main reason of the bar is that married women were supported by their husbands, therefore they did not need jobs. However, marriage bars provided more opportunity for those whom proponents viewed as "actually" needing employment, such as single women or married men (needed to support the family).

Discrimination against married female teachers in the US was not terminated until 1964 with the passing of the Civil Rights Act.

Marriage bars generally affected educated, middle-class married women, particularly native-born white women. Their occupations were that of teaching and clerical work. Lower class women and women of color who took jobs in manufacturing, waitressing, and domestic servants were often unaffected by marriage bars.

However, some State law provides protection for people discriminated for their marital status. For example, in California, discrimination in employment based on marital status is against the law. Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it is illegal for an employer to discriminate based on an applicant’s marital status or perceived marital status.

Under the FEHA, it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to treat an applicant or employee differently based on the employee’s marital status. This includes: Refusing to hire or employ, Refusing to select a person for a training program, Firing, bearing, or discharging an employee, Discriminating against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.

Marital status could refer to whether an individual is married or not, has been married, or plans to get married. This includes: Currently married, Divorced, Married to a same-sex partner or opposite-sex partner, Engaged to be married, Married but separated, Married but seeking a divorce, Widowed, Annulled marriage, Plans to get married someday, Plans to never get married, Other marital states.

Forty years ago, on October 31, 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was signed into law to prohibit discrimination in the workplace on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Since its passage, more women have been able to continue working while pregnant; they have also been able to work further into their pregnancies without being forced to leave their jobs.

Pregnancy discrimination involves treating a woman (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) forbids discrimination based on pregnancy when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, such as leave and health insurance and any other term or condition of employment. Pregnancy discrimination also includes perceived bias when expectant employees experience subtly hostile behaviors such as social isolation, negative stereotyping and negative or rude interpersonal treatment such as lower performance expectations, transferring the pregnant employee to less-desirable shifts or assignments or inappropriate jokes and intrusive comments.

Claims of pregnancy discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) increased sharply in the 1990s and 2000s, and pregnancy discrimination remains a widespread problem across all industries and regions of the United States. Yet statistics show that in the last 10 years, more than 50,000 pregnancy discrimination claims were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Fair Employment Practices Agencies in the United States.

So, yes. Disney here touched a lot of points in about two levels:

Family is more important than a career (successful, unmarried stylist Cruella is the evil one) and if you, a working woman, put career over family you are wrong. Nowday, we know that there isn't anything wrong about putting career first, but also we know that there isn't anything wrong also on putting family first or find a balance between the two. The important thing we should remember is that if we have not equality in working places, we should have not real free choices about our dream life;

It's perfectly fine excluding women in stable relationships or women with children from workplaces, because their work would not be at the level of a single woman, that can sacrifice her free time working late (employers exploitation logic deny free time);

Only child-free single women should be allowed to work, but only until they meet a soul mate (reminiscent of the old Disney penchant for old traditional gender roles).

However, returning at the plot, after that Anita reassures Cruella that she has no marriage prospects on the horizon, Cruella asked to Alonzo to bring Anita's drawings to her and the two women start to discuss about Anita's work, because Cruella want to add a long fur stole to Anita's original model: “I look wonderful in spots”, says Cruella,“we could do this in linen. It would be stunning in fur”. Then Anita remarks that would not be appropriate wearing fur in April, so Cruella give her famous lines: “But it’s my only true love, darling. l live for fur. l worship fur. After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn’t?” and then makes a joke that anticipates what she will plan to Anita's puppies more over in the movie: “lt is rather amusing, isn’t it? (...) If we make this coat... it would be as if l were wearing your dog.”

Then Anita and Perdi meet Roger (Jeff Daniels) and his dog Pongo, they fall in love and get married. Cruella doesn't like this. Obviously. We see a very enraged Cruella, wearing a black cellophane velvet with black and white coque feather trim, screaming against Anita's “betrayal”, when she read Anita and Roger's wedding publication on a newspaper.

Her anger toward Roger for stealing her best employee, maybe envy for Anita's love (well, it’s Disney), are promptly consoled, when her two henchmen bring her a little present from Mr. Skinner (Nomen omen, this surname fits perfectly creepy scared guy that work as furrier): it's the Siberian tiger found dead and excoriated in the London Zoo at the beginning of the movie. It was Cruella that wanted her fur and at the end she obtained it.

This Mr. Skinner (John Shrapnel) is a sadic taxidermist that enjoys killing and skinning animals alive, just like he did to the female white tiger at the London Zoo. He doesn't speak beacause when he was young, a dog attacked him by tearing open his throat and ripping out his vocal cords in the process, leaving him with a bad scar on his neck and is a little based on Mr. de Vil, Cruella's husband in Dodie Smith's book, but with the difference that Mr. Skinner has a more strong and menacing personality, while Mr. de Vil was weak and totally dependent by Cruella's desires.

Near the end of the movie, we will see in a crescendo of more explicit references to animal abuse, this charming version of Cruella de Vill ordering Cruella De Vil to Mr. Skinner to kill the dogs, because she fells that the police's suspicion are mounting against her: “poison them,” says Cruella “drown them, bash them on the head. Got any chloroform? I don't care how you kill the little beasts, just do it, and do it now!”

(See here for references: X and X)

In second relevant scene, Roger and Anita are out, walking the dogs, when Anita spots Cruella's car. In fact, as happen at the beginning the black and white 1974 Panther Deville is the first element we see in this scene and anticipate the entrance of Cruella. Recognizing the car, Anita runs to home and there she found Cruella. She welcomes in a very lovely way Anita in her own home, but she is very rude with Roger, who tries his best to be polite during the whole scene. Cruella then mocks Roger about his job (he is a videogame designer, a well paid job nowadays, but that in the 90s can just make snobbish people like Cruella turn up their noses, it's not the classical respectable professions “to make money”). Anita and Roger are just returned from their honeymoon and Creulla acts very nicely toward Anita, she says she missed her and their exchange of ideas, but she isn't happy when Roger announce they are going to have a baby, but Cruella remarks that “she has no use for children”, but she is very interested in Pongo and Perdi's puppies.

Unlike her cartoon version Cruella during the movie shows a lot of different, hiconic and fashionable outfits: at her visit at Anita and Roger's house, she wears a zebra coat dress with mink sleeves with matching Russian-inspired hat, red PVC boots that match with gloves in the same color and material (long fake red nails on each finger) and her red cigarette holder. Her dress also features a practical detail: a cigarette case paired with ammo cartridges as if they are military medals. The zebra stripes also give off the impression of bones or a rib cage for that extra goth vibe. Her lips are permanently stained the color of crimson, while her winged eyeliner adds to her high drama aesthetic.

Despite being set in contemporary London, everything about Cruella's closet defies a specific time period. It is as if she stepped in from the '60s of the original story combined with a century's worth of high fashion references. This is very logic: people have a lot of clothes and is natural for a very fashionable stylist to have and wear a lot of haute couture outfits.

Cruella: “And you must be Rufus.”

Roger: “No, it’s-- it’s Roger. And it’s a pleasure, Miss De Vil.”

Cruella: “What’s a pleasure?”

Roger: “Uh, making your acquaintance.”

Cruella: “Such a sweet thought. l wish l could reciprocate. Tell me, darling, you married him for his dog. Oh, darling, l’ve missed you so. l hate that you’ve taken leave.”

Anita: “But l’m still working. Um, you’ve been getting my sketches?”

Cruella: “Well, it’s not the same thing. l miss the interaction-- And what is it that you do… that allows you to support Anita in such… splendor?”

Roger: “l design video games.”

Cruella: “Video games? ls he having me on?”

Anita: “Oh, no, he’s very good at it. Um, and it’s a growing business.”

Cruella: “Those horrible noisy things that children play with on their televisions?Someone designs them? What a senseless thing to do with your life.”

Roger: “Oh, did Anita tell you the news? She’s going to have a baby.”

Cruella: “ls this true?”

Anita: “Yes.”

Cruella: “Oh, you poor thing! l’m so sorry.”

Anita: “We’re very excited about it, Cruella.”

Cruella: “You can’t be serious.”

Roger: “She is!”

Cruella: “Well, what can l say? Accidents will happen.”

Anita: “We’re having puppies, too!”

Cruella: “Puppies! You have been a busy boy. Well, l must say, that’s somewhat better news. l adore puppies! l’ll expect a decline in your work product.”

Anita: “Oh, l shouldn’t think so.”

Cruella: “Be sure to let me know when the blessed event occurs.”

Anita: “Oh, well, it won’t be for another eight months.”

Cruella: “The puppies, darling. l’ve no use for babies.”

Again here we have a remark of how horrible is Cruella as boss (she says to Anita she expect a decline in her work, and this would make her useless and less precious for Cruella's House) and as person: according to Disney people who doesn't like children are horrible and cruel, but there is a double meaning in Cruella's word: “Iʼve no use for babies” could mean both that she is not interested in maternity (that's perfectly legit, not all like children, are comfortable with them or just dream to have children someday) but also that she couldn't find any material use of babies, while for puppies we know she knows well how to use them: as material for a new fur coat.

The next scene is a classical recall to the original Disney cartoon of 1961: it's a stormy night and during the lightning flash for a few frames only, we see Cruella as a complete silhouette while few second after she opens the door and enters in Anita and Roger's house, with a big menacing smile on her face.

Pattern clashing will not only stand, but it is also encouraged, as the tiger cape with a leopard lining reveals. Paired with a leather skirt and tiger bodice featuring claw clasps

Again there is the recurring joke about Cruella misnaming Roger (Rufus, Rupert, Roland), if it's intentional (and this version of Cruella doesn't seem to left anything casual) it's a clear remark about how she dislikes Roger, the guy that stole her best designer, if it's not intentional, shows how Cruella find him irrelevant for her purpose at the point she doesn't even bother to rember his name to flatter him. Cruella is not polite or kind to Roger as she is with Anita. She doesn't need Roger, she need Anita and hates Roger for turning down Anita's value for her interests.

In this scene Cruella uses the same words she uses in the 1961 version (“How marvelous. How marvelous! How perfect... Oh, the devil take it! They’re mongrels! No spots! No spots at all! What horrible little white rats!”), but with something new that shows her uncaring nature (“All right, put them in a bag. l’ll take them with me now.”) and again mocks Roger for his “strange” and not prestigious job, when he firstly deny her offer for the puppies (“Oh? You’ve come into some money, have you? Did you design some silly game… that will drive the delinquent kiddies into frenzies of video delight?”).

However, compared to her 1961 alter ego, this Anita is more assertive and talks for herself, saying a determinated “no” to Cruella. Anita also starts to be a bit suspicious about Cruella's intentions (“But, Cruella, what would you do with 15 puppies?”). Roger and Anita this time seems to be equally determinated to refuse Cruella's business proposals.

Cruella crescent rage is underlight by the sounds effects of thunderclaps and it is Anita who says the final “no”.

“All right, keep the little beasts. Do what you like with them. Drown them, for all l care! You’re a fool, Anita! l’ve no use for fools. You’re fired! You’re finished! You’ll never work in fashion again! l’m through with all of you! l’ll get even! Just wait! You’ll be sorry, you fools! You idiots!”

When Roger and Anita refused to sell the puppies, Cruella's rage exploded as happened in the cartoon version (she screams and insults Roger and Anita, she tears the check into a thousand pieces and throws them in Roger's face), but let's remeber she is Anita's boss now: she uses her power and fired Anita's too, now that Anita and Roger refused to Cruella what she want, Anita become immediately useless. In fact Cruella has yet the design for her new outfit, from Anita needed only the puppies and if she cannot obtain them with good manner, well, as happened in the cartoon version, she will steal them.

In the previous part we saw how in the 101 Dalmatians of 1961, the car was the alter ego of Cruella, well, in this 1996 live action, her personality and her obsession is channeled into her outfits. Before it all goes to hell for the fashion maven, her rotation of zebra, leopard, and tiger print reveal she wasn't bluffing when she exclaimed of her fur obsession.

The costumes as designed by three-time Oscar winner Anthony Powell (co-designed with Rosemary Burrows) take Cruella's love of all things animal print to the extreme, delivering jaw-dropping results.

Cruella's entire life is a performance supported by her wardrobe, makeup, and hair. Cruella increases the level of red (it's the outburst of her bloody determination to obtain what se want, it's her mad passion for furs that determinated her end) during the climax with her fur coat of choice, which will soon be ruined by some farm animals. That smell is going to be hard to get rid of, and there aren’t any dry cleaners in prison.

As we saw in the previous part, Cruella's change of luck is well rapresented by her ruined clothes: she is going to jail, her life and career are over, her clothes aren't perfect and fancy anymore.

This happens also in the 102 Dalmatians live action of 2000: red clothing anticipates Cruella's criminal climax, while her ruined clothes are the sign of her defeat.

Nearly at the end of the movie, when her plans are finally reveled, Cruella wears a very unique red “flames” dress: the bodice is organza and silk satin beaded, sequined with a beaded net collar. The skirt is silk satin and nylon net beaded and sequined, lines in ostrich feathers. The headdress is tiered flames made of mirror, metal and painted glass. While her attire during her final metch with the Dalmatian is a black dress with large shoulders that recall Balenciaga, a black lather waist belt and a Gothic necklace with rubies, pearls and diamonds. The fur coat is floor-length black and red, while her headdress is a little hat with black and red feathers.

(See here for references: X and X)

4 - Cruella in Once Upon A Time

More recent version of Cruella can be founded in the ABC TV show Once Upon A Time. I will not make a summary of the themes of the TV because it has a very complex plot and that is not relevant for our comparison. So, let's say only that is a show who feature the adventure of Emma Swan, Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas)'s daughter, and her biological son Henry (who was adopted by Regina Mills, the Evil Queen, now mayor of Story Brook) to break the magic curse that turned Enchanted Forest to a modern day Maine town called Storybrook, in which live all the characters from the popular fairy tales we know from Disney adaptations, unaware of their true identities.

Cruella is introduced in Season 4. The evil Rumpelstinskin (Robert Carlyle) recruited her and some other evil lady to regain his Dark Lord magic powers and take his revenge on the people of Storybrook as well as his happy ending.

The first we saw Cruella is at her ungodly hour: she is divorcing from a guy called Mr. Feinberg, strongly in debt and FBI is repossessing her husband's belongings, including her fancy fur coats, her big mansion in Long Island, New York, and her other goods. (See here for references: X)

Cruella plays little importance in the plot, until the Author is released from the book; unable to kill him herself, she pretends to threaten Henry Mills's (Jared S. Gilmore) life to force Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Regina/Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) to do so. However, Emma confronts her, not knowing the restriction the Author placed on Cruella, and magically blasts her off a cliff to her death.

The actress chosed to play Cruella de Vil is Victoria Smurfit and her appearance recalls more the 1961 version than Glenn Close. She wears a black night gown with paillettes or little pearls, long red PVC gloves and a white fur coat, but drives her black and white 1974 Panther Deville. However, during the show she is seen also wearing leather black pants, red boots matching with her gloves and several different types of fur coats. Cruella's phone case has dalmatian spot patterns.

Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold snarkily remarks that he recognized Cruella's scent as “desperation and gin”, somewhat suggesting or implying that Cruella is an alcoholic of sorts. Cruella later confirms this, having blamed her misfortunes on “bad judgment and gin”.

Unlike her other version, this Cruella has some a very limited magic powers, and has only been known to accomplish a few specific spells. Her most remarkable power is the ability to control any animal, whether it be a Dalmatian or a Dragon. The green smoke that comes out of Cruella's mouth when she uses persuasion magic on animals is designed to reflect Cruella's green and yellow cigarette smoke in Disney's 101 Dalmatians.

Her other main power is a very limited telekinesis: Cruella is able to enchant her car to drive itself around.

In the 5 Season, after her death, Cruella ends up in the Underworld, a purgatory run by the deity Hades (Gregory Germann). She makes a deal with Hades, who offer her to rule Underworld in his absence and help trap the heroes there. Delighted with the idea of getting to torment souls for eternity, Cruella agrees to the deal. This makes even more evident the similarities with the goddess Hela from Norse Mythology, as both ruled the underworld and have half-black half-white hair.

However, the most important episode about Cruella is “Sympathy for the Devil”, in which we learn about her true story.

"Sympathy for the De Vil" Season 04, Episode 18

In 1920s England, a young and blonde Cruella De Vil (played by Milli Wilkinson as child and Victoria Smurfit as adult) is being mistreated by her mother Madeline (Anna Galvin) as she instructs her Dalmatians to chase her daughter, and is locked in the attic in the same setting that resembles the 1979 Gothic novel Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews. The room where Cruella is locked up is filled with her mother's dog statuettes and dog show trophies. Fast forward to several years later, and that a reporter, who is revealed to be the Author (Patrick Fischler) but is using an alias by the name of Isaac Heller, is paying a visit to the home pretending to seek out a story after having seen Cruella from the attic, only to have Madeline warning him to stay away. Isaac returns and helps Cruella escape from the attic. He then takes Cruella out for a date that includes dinner and dancing. Cruella reveals to Isaac that the reason she was kept in the attic was that she witnessed her mother kill her father and her succeeding husbands; Isaac then reveals to Cruella that he was more than just a reporter and has the ability to use his pen and ink to create magical stories. Isaac proposes that they run away together, and uses his quill and ink to give Cruella her persuasion powers to control animals.

(See here for references: X, X, X and X)

However, for Isaac, his future with Cruella would later take a unique twist that will put his future in danger. When Madeline pays a visit to see him, she tells him that Cruella had lied to him about what actually happened to her husbands: as child Cruella killed her own father, Madeline's first husband, by putting a poisonous flower in his tea. Cruella was a troubled child and her parents had hoped she would grow out of her disturbing behavior. But after Cruella murders her father, her mother fears that Cruella's murderous tendencies will get worse and will become a full fledged serial killer. Not wanting anyone else to get hurt or killed by Cruella and not wanting her daughter to go to prison, Madeline had no choice but to lock her Cruella away from the outside world and keep her close to try to snap Cruella out of her disturbed mind. However Madeline's intentions were in vain as Cruella ended up poisoning her next two husbands. Terrified that Isaac will set her daughter free and start killing more people, Madeline warns Issac to stay away from her, because she is dangerous and can not be saved, while Isaac doesn't believe her, Madeline tells Isaac that Cruella takes everything someone loves and destroys it and tells him to stay away from her or he will suffer the same fate as her two husbands and lose all he holds dear.

(See here for references: X)

When Madeline returns home, Cruella was ready for her, and eventually kills her mother by controlling her Dalmatians and commanding them to attack her.

Afterwards, Isaac discovers that Cruella has stolen his pen, and goes back to her house to find out that Cruella used her ability to control animals to make her mother's pet Dalmatians turn against her and rip her to shreds, before Cruella herself slaughtered the Dalmatians and made a fur coat out of them.

«Some people struggle not to be drawn into the darkness. But ever since I was a little girl, I've said... "Why not splash in and have fun?"», says Cruella to an astonished Isaac.

Horrified, Isaac makes a dash for the pen to stop her, but during a struggle the magic ink is spilled onto Cruella. She accidentally ingests some and the ink shows her true colors. As Cruella is about to kill him, Issac uses his powers as the Author to make it so that Cruella can never kill anyone ever again by writing it down on a piece of paper "Cruella De Vil can no longer take away the life of another." As he leaves, Cruella tells him she's not done.

Cruella kept this secret, as intimidation would still work for her needs.

This episode have a lot of Disney reference to the old 1961 version of 101 Dalmatians:

Madeline's car is similar in design and color to Cruella's car from One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

The song that Cruella hears on the radio is a jazz instrumental version of the song "Cruella De Vil", from One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Ink spills on Cruella, just like Cruella spilled ink on Roger Radcliffe and Pongo in the movie. (One Hundred and One Dalmatians, 1961)

When Cruella uses persuasion magic, the magic comes out of her mouth in the form of green smoke, which is designed to reflect the green and yellow cigarette smoke that Cruella puffs in the movie. (One Hundred and One Dalmatians, 1961)

This 1920s version of Cruella de Vil we see in Once Upon a Time is inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Interestingly, in "Sympathy for the De Vil", Isaac can be seen reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. While he is captive in Mr. Gold's cabin, Isaac reads F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. And largely recall what we already saw of Cruella's original version in the book by Dodie Smith: Cruella is a cruel serial killer. She is smart and manipulative, shows no empathy and emotions and uses people for her own needs. She uses Dalmatians as her own weapons to take her revenge on her mother: she turned her own dogs against her and finally removes the last obstacle to her own freedom. Is important to notice that Cruella slaughters and skins the Dalmatians to create a new dalmatian fur coat for her own, that wears victoriously under Isaac horrified eyes. The Dalmatian fur coat is her trophy. Killers like to take trophies and souvenirs from their victims. Keeping some memento — a lock of hair, jewelry, piece of clothing, newspaper clips of the crime — helps prolong, even nourish, their fantasy of the crime or to relive the crime over and over in their minds. Cruella at the end fully reveals herself as the serial killer she is.

When Cruella drinks accidentally Author's ink that transforms her hair black and white, is another reference to the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, in which is said that Cruella used to drink ink as a child. The dress Cruella is wearing at the jazz club is the dress Bérénice Bajo wears in the the famous 2011 comedy-drama film The Artist. Also the dancing scene between Cruella and Isaac recalls the one between Bérénice Bajo and Jean Dujardin, when play the role of actors Peppy Miller and George Valentin filming a ball scene for a mute movie.

Conclusion

As we saw, all the version of Cruella that were developed time by time, still share the characteristics of a sadic, cruel villaness.

Glenn Close version of Cruella doesn't care about animals' lifes, doesn't care about workers rights or other person's life projects. She uses creepy hanchmen to obtain what she wants, she steals and plot the death of even rare animals for their fur. She uses and manipulates people.

Victoria Smurfit's Cruella is a real serial killer. She is selfish, cunning, manipulative and the violence against animals is just a moment on her murderous revenge on her mother: she used Madeline's pretious dogs to kill her and then kept their skins as souvenir, as serial killers do.

There's no doubt that all those versions of Cruella are evil and Disney simply can not create any positive emotional connection with a woman who murders dogs. It's simply impossible to explain why Cruella hates dog in a way that can justify abuse toward animals. That is why this Cruella movie with Emma Stone is a huge mistake.

As conclusion, I will borrow again the words of composer Bill Lee from the 60s animated version of 101 Dalmatians to say what I think of trailer with Emma Stone as Cruella:

This vampire bat, this inhuman beast

The world was such a wholesome place until

She ought to be locked up and never released

Cruella, Cruella de Vil