#but they're more like just saved in my notes and idk if i'll even write them tbh

[adventures-in-mangaland]

Even More Dead Boy Detectives Fic Recs

I've discovered some amazing new authors since my last post! And writers I've already recced have published more great stories So here's another fic rec post!

Who? You mean your teammate in the Codependency World Cup? (series) by RoseGanymede95

I couldn't chose! They're all great! Basically a series of Edwin and Charles through the years and on cases pre-show. It scratches that adjusting-to-being-dead/newly-escaped-from-Hell itch and the authors writing is magic! It also fleshes out a really interesting conflict in the payneland dynamic: Charles' drive to protect Edwin at all costs clashing with Edwin's guilt over putting Charles at risk/depriving him of some ideal afterlife. Parts one and four also introduces Constantine/Johanna and part three revolves around an absolutely gut-wrenching temporary break-up. 😢

In Hell I'll Be in Good Company by laylabinx

Charles rescuing Edwin from Hell does not go smoothly. Just. Bucketloads of Trauma for both of them. And for you, the Reader. It's so good though!

your fangs in my neck (like an anchor like a vow) by shadowquill17

Vampire Edwin AU! It's great because it combines the (homo)eroticism of vampiric feeding with Charles' whole bisexual crisis and post-confession Edwin worrying about making Charles uncomfortable. Also Charles is some kind of demigod/immortal agent of divine vengeance which is an AMAZING detail and I desperately want to see some fanart!

The same author's ongoing story to the pain is also excellent though very angsty (cw temporary character death). I'm anxiously waiting for an update!

To Memory Now I Can't Recall by engineering_madonna

This is an amnesia fic and the most recent in an established relationship series. The first two installments feature the boys getting together and navigating their new relationship, so pulling the old 'character A forgets their whole romantic relationship with character B' trope hits especially hard! The whole series is lovely, but I am WEAK for temporary-amnesia.

Lemonade & Sunrises by paraph

A Quiet Place AU! The boys are alive, but they're the only ones. Very bleak but in a way that makes me want more!

1999 au (series) by websters_lieb

The boys figure their shit out in the 90s. Also, Edwin gets to read Maurice and queer theory. The cases in both stories are compelling and the author's writing and characterisation of the boys are excellent.

I also recommend offer me that deathless death which is about the boys' first meeting, Charles' funeral and the birth of the agency.

if I could reach the stars (i'd give them all to you) by ObsessedWithFandom

Charles falls first, Edwin falls harder. This is an AU of the author's excellent Charles' bisexual awakening fic, which I also highly recommend. It has lovely OCs and Charles having a sweet little friendship/romance with the boy he saved in canon, which actually makes his death a whole lot more tragic.

Came up from that lake of fire by ghostinthelibrary

Charles and Edwin get caught escaping Hell and promise to capture a demon-eating ghost called The Deathless in exchange for their freedom. With the added twist that they get to be alive again! An exciting case, high stakes and all the alive-again culture shocks and emotional/interpersonal drama you could ask for.

gig officially gigged by laiqualaurelote

Band AU! It shouldn't work but it does. Which might also be an in-universe review for the band tbh. Idk, I loved Edwin's massive obscure musical instruments and Charles being his unpaid roadie. Peak Found Family Feels.

No Rehearsing It, No Reversing It by DontOffendTheBees

Charles overthinks being in love with Edwin, my beloved. This time with increasingly flimsy pretexts for why they NEED to kiss. Just perfect Idiots in Love, no notes.

The Case of David Bowie's Made up Sexuality by williamvapespeare

The agency attempt to help a living lesbian couple deal with a haunting. Meanwhile, Charles struggles through his bisexual (re)awakening. With bonus past (living) Charles no-homo-ing himself to the nth degree. Pure of heart, dumb of ass, indeed.

The lamps are going out by CasiHuman

Vengeful Spirit Edwin AU! Has some interesting ghost lore and Edwin being convinced his touch is painful to Charles (love that trope!). Also features some of the author's adorable/hilarious fanart at the end.

just frame the halves (and call them brothers) by Anonymous

Crystal stumbles upon the ghost of Edwin's older brother, who hires the agency to free him and his platoon from the battleground they've been haunting. Case fic with interesting details about Edwin's family life and an awkward as hell family reunion.

the case of the very long ferry ride by obsceme

Sex pollen but with skin hunger, so it's more touching turned making out and hand jobs in a bathroom. Interesting use of ghost lore and it's cute and well written.

Form 239, Schedule L by sanctuary_for_all

Charles Rowland's Love Language is Acts of Service: The Fic. So many feels! Plus Afterlife worldbuilding and some quality Night Nurse rep.

don't go sharing your devotions (lay all your love on me) by Hephanna

The boys and Crystal accidentally summon an alternate universe version of Charles. He's very... handsy. Charles being jealous of himself is objectively hilarious and it looks like it could be heading towards throuple territory. Possibly even a foursome, if alternate Edwin figures out parallel universe travel. Which he probably will.

Still a Better Lovestory by Vamillepudding

Hanahaki disease! Charles is on the case but Edwin's being weirdly uncooperative about his own curse. I loved the worldbuilding (there's a whole sisterhood of washerwomen!) and the angst, plus the writing is excellent.

The author has also written Eternal Sunshine, in which Edwin is cursed to feel no love of any kind. It makes for an interesting character study, contrasting cursed Edwin, his public reserve and his actual personality.

[selfshipping-tboy]

Analyzing Henry Hotline because I love him, and he deserves better. Idk this is how I'm expressing my love for him :3 Note this might be messy I'm not writing an essay, I'm just infodumping

TW for physical torture and murder/death

He's described as Sassy, Sarcastic, and Charming on his meet the crew poster. He's also described as a gentleman and and the smartest character in the game. His favorite food is salad and he likes piano.

When people call his phone- which is like always- his head rings, causing him to canonly have constant headaches. He mentions that it hurts, and that it never stops. He's suffering physically from the TV show, and the "higher ups" may even use this as physical torture for him, especially because they put phones everywhere. It makes me sad 3:

I also feel like he's desperate for approval and company. He begs you not to leave him during the chase scene. He really only attacks because you're causing him pain. He tells (Monster) Frankie how he tried his best to get the player and how he'll keep trying before Frankie beats him up. In the cartoons they're best friends, but as robot mascots their relationship is complicated.

He comes back again later on. Despite you escaping being the reason he gets beaten up, he says he appreciates you because if you weren't like- making the show more popular, he believes the "higher ups" would've told Frankie to kill him. He even gives you back your Deputy Duck tablet as a gift. We see for a moment there his generosity i just 3:

For that moment he obviously thought he was safe again. He got another phone call or two- so more headaches, and he answered the phone, and the higher ups used it as a way to kill him.

His death just upsets me. He thought he was free for at least another day. Maybe answering the phone stops his headaches for a moment. Something about the phrase "pain let's us know we're alive" and for the possible second he was out of pain, had his guard down, he got murdered.

My overall point is that he deserves better and he's more than just "Haha sexy man." He's a victim of this show- but obviously he's also more than just a victim. I just talked about that a lot because that's the situation he's stuck in. Don't worry I'll save him<3

[becauseplot]

*returns to yours* I HAVE THOUGHTS! NOT COHERENT ONES TOO SLEEPY AND NEED TO SAVE COHERENCY BUT THOUGHTS!!! MOSTLY ABOUT ISLAND TEAPARTIES AFTER THE KIDS ARE ASLEEP WHERE CELLBIT AND PHILZA DRINK TEA AND PHILZA TEACHES CELLBIT ABOUT STARS AND CELLBIT SLOWLY GETS BACK INTO HIS ENIGMAS AND THEY BOTH BITCH ABOUT TEA BUT DRINK IT ANYWAY BECAUSE IT HAS GOOD STATS

YEAAH!! YEAHHH!!! Okay okay okay so I meant to ramble more earlier when you initially responded to my ask and then I got sleepy and conked out and now it's super early for me, nailed it lmaooo. so anyway just like a couple things i noticed abt this scene *rolls out a scroll of notes, the bottom hits the floor and bounces out the door cartoon-style*

Chayanne gives Cellbit a rose!! Idk if Rose still has influence here (I'll have to sift through Phil's VOD to see if he says anything abt Rose, yesterday I mainly watched Cellbit's POV) but he's protected now!! That kinda folds him into Phil's "closer" circle of friends/family since it's primarily them who carries the roses for protection so!!!!! I'm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE TEA!! Yes the tea the way the tea immediately broaches the topic of purgatory, and yeah the audible wince in Phil's voice after Cellbit says the tea triggers him and Phil agrees. Yeah it's so shit and they're both so sick of it but it's so OP. Phil survivalist (hardcore) :handshake: Cellbit survivalist (hunger games/"The War"), do and use what is necessary to keep yourself alive.

And AAA!! Yes, okay okay so like you remember that idea abt Phil and Cellbit having late-night convos at the Order pre-purgatory? This is basically that!! It's late at night, they're getting caught up with each other, they've both got the shitass tea and it's going cold and!! In my head this scene goes on for a full night and they just sit and talk and talk and talk, eventually conking out when it's late, just like old times EXCEPT THEY HAVE THEIR KIDS NOW WHICH IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER, THEIR DESIRE TO FIND THEIR KIDS, AND THEY FOUND THEM!!! (I should write a fic i NEED to write a fic, me vs the 754389 wips in my brain; in my head they still had late night convos in purgatory when their "play time" timers lined up, phil waking up early enough and cellbit staying up late enough for them to talk while the others slept)

The way Cellbit still minces his words abt what he and Bags did post-purg 1 "we had our fun...bolas...style..." is it because he thinks Phil will think less of him? because there's children present? because his SON is present? idk how much Richas knows abt what Cellbit did in purgatory, Richas *did* rescue him while he was fighting eye workers but does he know about Cellbit hunting fellow players for sport? what Cellbit did to his pai Pac? I NEED ANSWERS

Phil's "Dude! No! Oh my god... D:" to when Cellbit says Roier was better off without him. PHIL WAS AT THEIR WEDDING. HE TOOK THE GODDAMN PHOTOS OF THEM AT THEIR WEDDING. HE SAW HOW HAPPY THEY WERE, HOW HAPPY ROIER WAS, WHEN THEY WERE REUNITED IN PURGATORY. Phil isn't close enough to Roier nor speaks to him enough to really understand the full extent of Roier's grief after purgatory 1, but it's gotta be hard for Phil to imagine Roier happy with Cellbit gone. Whether he believes it when Cellbit says "yeah Roier told me he was better" (doied WHEN I GET YOU---) is up for debate but I think about this constantly.

Phil fucking laughing when Cellbit admits he ate some of the eye workers fhdjsk. I can't get over the combo of Cellbit POV (in character thinking: "I'm terrible I'm a cannibal I'm a monster") vs Philza POV (cc who laughs at everything that is even remotely cursed) honestly, taking this as in-character (bc ccPhil doesn't mute his mic to laugh and he...usually does that for ooc bits while in the middle of rp), it says a lot abt qPhil that he's able to just laugh abt an admission of eating corpses. ethics who? geneva convention who? qPhil doesn't know her. munch on those eye workers king they're dickheads. (fuck, DOES qPhil know that Cellbit is a cannibal, as in, he has eaten not just workers but other players?? hmmm...)

"I'm sorry I couldn't do much as bolas leader" "It's better that you didn't see us...I think you'll be disappointed" "oh I could never be disappointed what do you mean shut up *laughs*" GODDDDDDDD also Cellbit trying to say he got worse after purg 1 and Phil saying "nah bolas is already at ground level" (either not understanding or indirectly reiterating that he won't condemn Cellbit for his actions, I can't tell) and then Cellbit just,, going with it. because it's not worth it to argue and he's trying to move past all of that now anyway. (QCELLBIT PROCESS YOUR TRAUMA CHALLENGE LEVEL IMPOSSIBLE)

watching Phil's POV now and HFDJSK you can't hear it on Cellbit's stream but Phil catches Richas as they're both leaving and says quietly, "Take care of your dad, Richas, n' take care." I'M 💥💥💥💥 (<-banging table)

Anyway!! This is what happens when the two characters I'm obsessed with interact for the first time in months. Over-analyzing a 5 minute convo. Sorry, it will happen again :] Praying they stay as neighbors I'd love to see archivists have more interactions!! And yes yes yes yes the tea parties with the kids!! Phil routinely chatting with Cellbit and watching him slowly "regain his color" as he settles back into peaceful life post-purgatory, falls in love with enigmas again. They've always trusted each other when they don't trust themselves, and they're both a Stable Point for the other. I'll miss what we never got to have with the leaders-of-the-Order-having-meetings ideas (timezones, wails) but I'm so excited for new island mysteries!! :D

[fantasticalleigh]

thoughts on bridgerton season 3 part 2

MASSIVE spoilers ahead, i'm really annoyed so this is going to come out very salty!

TLDR: this season was largely a disappointment. part 1 is better than part 2.

-i've said it before and i'll say it again: this is an ensemble show that ultimately suffers for how large its cast is, how short each season is, how cheap netflix is, and how poor the writing is. the actors are great and do well with what they're given. the stories in and of themselves are largely compelling. but they need space and time to be told properly. eight episodes between 10+ characters is not enough.

-unhinged/in love colin from the books was sorely missed. the book is problematic yadda yadda but i prefer it at this point. instead for pretty much three out of four episodes in part two, he was just angry or sad and that was it. he felt so flat.

-i find it hilarious that debling just fucked off after rejecting penelope. he didn't even stick around to try and court cressida, who was clearly more than willing to take penelope's place?? he literally could have solved all her problems and that could have saved an incredible amount of screen time that should have gone to Colin/Penelope.

-i love the way they bridged portia and penelope's relationship. also to a lesser degree, her sisters. prudence not being so cunty anymore was nice but felt a little off, i think she needed more screentime with pen to show that she finally realizes what a bad sister she was and that she's genuinely sorry. one quick little comment "i was being honest" (or whatever it was) to me, didn't feel like enough. but i'm still glad they came around.

-violet/marcus and by extension, agatha. i'm glad violet and agatha finally had a heart to heart/ conversation that was about them and not the young people. when they affirmed that they were there for each other no matter what and used each other's given names? precious. i teared up. i love their friendship. (also don't come at me for what may have happened during Queen Charlotte bc i never finished it lol)

-the queen is probably my least favorite character. she used to have funny/kind moments but now it feels like she is just rude and dismissive and mean towards everyone. i can't even like her in a GirlBoss way because all we see from season to season is how other people manipulate her. Agatha manipulates her. Grimsby manipulates her. Lady Whistledown manipulates her. she was kind for francesca for a couple of days and then went sour when she realized francesca chose someone else. i get that she's jaded from season 2 but idk i don't enjoy her scenes at all anymore. she crashes the wedding breakfast to accuse the bridgertons, belittles the Mondriches ball at the start, complains/belittles all the debutants trying to impress her, doesn't care about the events being hosted in her honor. i loved her in seasons 1-2 but now she's just boring and one note.

-eloise finally admitted she was reckless/in the wrong about the Theo situation. that was nice. and she finally admitted befriending cressida was a poor choice. do i sense character growth at last?? but i'm still a little unhappy about how rudely she ditched Cressida once she and Penelope made up. Hey, this new friend of yours is distraught because of her shit home life and is about to be married off to some old, austere codger and you literally don't care? i genuinely felt so bad for cressida. she is a creature pushed into a corner lashing out for any way to escape and nobody (understandably, bc she makes bad choices) wants to help her. but eloise keeps saying that cress surprised her with how she was the only one to show her kindness when she was a social outcast and now the same is happening to Cressida and yet instead of repaying the favor, Eloise abandons her.

Eloise even goes so far to say that Cressida used her. Did she not also use Cressida? She admitted she befriended her to be petty towards Penelope. And she clearly stuck with Cressida out of boredom/reluctance to mingle with the other ladies their age because she found them beneath her. Eloise is still a hypocrite. I thought she'd taken a step forward but she's in the same place.

did cressida deserve help? not particularly considering the blackmail/fake identity, history of bullying. but does she also deserve to be married off like that and cut off like that by her asshole dad? also no.

with all that talk about running away i genuinely was rooting for C to run away, but i'm disappointed it didn't happen. i guess it makes sense within her character--she's always been a caged creature--i don't think running away ever came to mind, even if she didn't want to be shipped off to Wales with her aunt. she's strong but doesn't (yet) have the resolve/ferocity of someone like marina who was willing to run away with colin to elope in gretna green.

frankly i found cressida's story the most compelling in season 3 so far.

-benedict. if i have to watch ONE more sex scene for Ben i'm going to scream. wowwee, he had another threesome! and no more queerbaiting--he finally had sex with a man! <--that part is at least noteworthy for his character--but genuinely--i don't really care when his only storyline this season is that all he does is have sex. there are far more compelling stories needing attention right now and yet we get another freaking sex barrage with benedict. Colin and Penelope were robbed here and i don't think it's unreasonable to be annoyed that a B-tier ensemble character got more sexy time than them. and for what purpose? all we get out of ben's enlightenment is that it's ok to be gay and that he's not ready for serious commitment. which is fine and dandy except that that was already drilled into our heads since season 1. i feel like my time was wasted here because i already watched him do the same damn things over and over for THREE SEASONS by now.

AND FOR THAT MATTER:

if they really wanted to show any sense of growth for benedict they could have had him be brutally honest to Tilley and say something like:

"I'm having fun with our arrangement. I am open to seriously committing to someone someday...but I don't think you are that person."

what a world of a difference that would make, wouldn't it? it would show he's coming closer to being ready to meet Sophie but that he's still not quite ready to give up his old ways. i truly believe his season is next and frankly it wouldn't feel so insulting to watch his repetitive storyline if they had written better dialogue in that ONE scene.

(Jess + Shonda, I'm available any time if you want to talk.)

-T.S's You Belong with Me playing during a fucking wedding scene was a choice. All the options in the world and you pick a song about high school jealousy??? Babydoll I could pick five better options off my general playlist. across all three seasons, there's been so many bad cover choices imo.

-Coldplay's Yellow being Polin's song was an actual choice I will salute. Beautiful moment.

-the whole whistledown speech at the end where pen reveals herself was extremely flat to me and left me so bloody disappointed. someone brought this up on reddit and i agree so hard it hurts--why wasn't colin up there by her side? book colin would have VAULTED up over everyone just to be there with her and protect her. instead we get mopey Colin watching her from below. i need to rewatch it again but it felt like there was hardly any reaction from the ton to her speech. it felt like they shrugged their shoulders when she was finished and resumed the ball. my mouth was agape at that--you're telling me not one of the attendees would have rushed up and said "omg it was you??" "how did you do it?" "i can't believe it!" or something to that effect. the bridgertons already had that reaction so it would've been effective for literally anyone in the ton to show some amazement.

-ngl, i also feel quite cheated that Penelope was never celebrated in the way she deserved. yes, she got her wedding and the man she always wanted--but creating/maintaining the Whistledown enterprise is a huge accomplishment. individually there was praise from those closest to her but really there was such a huge element of shame and punishment surrounding it that really bothered me. yeah, she said some mean things but she did it because she was severely neglected/ostracized from her own community. there was no acknowledgment of that at all (that i can recall. once again i should do a rewatch but whatever) and that pains/angers me. not one person beside her mother took a moment to think or say, 'i treated you badly and caused you pain. i'm sorry.' instead they just focused on making penelope apologize again and again when she had only reacted from years of pain, which nobody even deigned to acknowledge.

wasn't there a moment in the book when she gets some applause after her revelation? am i misremembering? but in the show it was like nobody gave a fuck because ooh butterflies! which was...so stupid lol. bless you though, phillippa. penelope single-handedly contributed to the entertainment of the ton for years and exposed awful people even if she made fun of others. characters frequently and often complained if her issue was one day late and debated her true identity and so when she finally reveals herself there's no applause? no true reaction? were they all asleep? what the fuck? that scene was shocking at how badly executed it was. it was rushed and it showed.

-also, WHY choose to have Colin learn Penelope is Lady Whistledown in episode six? I hate this because it crams all the drama in the last two episodes and makes everything feel rushed and frantic. he should have found out in episode three or four and i'll die on that hill. for that matter, his refusal to understand that Whistledown was Penelope's life's work and greatest achievement/power was so annoying. In the book he came around to it pretty fast and yet here it dragged on for way too long. everyone wanted her to give Whistledown up until it benefited them.

-editing to add a huge gripe i have with post-production:

for the love of god, go easy on the filters. the artificial blues and yellows are killing me. in twilight, it was camp. it was great. it does not translate well here. also, have y'all noticed how HEAVILY they blur the backgrounds??? there was one scene with colin and penelope in the garden and every time the camera focuses on one of their faces from over the other's shoulder (they were both seated) the background is blurred heavily. it looks bad!!! stop doing that!!! the backgrounds lend to the vibe! it genuinely makes the show look like crap when i notice that happening. it makes them look like they're using the green screen filter on tik tok. STOP. IT.

(seriously, imagine Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, the scene where Elizabeth is on the rocky plains and or she and her aunt and uncle are sitting at the base of that enormous tree--all that gorgeous scenery, remember that? now slap the Bridgerton filter over it so it's all one massive ugly blur. does that mental image fill you with rage? GOOD.)

-i didn't cover this in the prev. post but in part 1, the whole runaway balloon scene was Not Good. Why a balloon? the danger that poses is not that great--why not a runaway horse? there was too much sense of danger to the actual threat posed by a freaking basket. also the way penelope acted in that scene felt very very out of character for her and i hate rewatching it, even if colin looks very dashing while holding the rope. ugh.

-polin's main sex scene was beautiful. i feel kind of disappointed that everything else we got was less than a minute long and not in a weird way. it just feels a fair amount of the promo we got from Nic and Luke was hinting at the sex scenes and yet we got very little in actuality. i keep seeing people talk about there being a minutes long montage of them and yet it got cut. but in season one we got a LOT (imo too many sex scenes between daphne and simon). there were too many side stories happening this season and i'm sure that contributed to that, but there is also a whisper in the back of my mind that tells me that maybe showrunners felt the need to overly pad this season with storylines because they either didn't feel like nicola and luke could carry it alone or because they didn't care.

-i'm really glad genevieve got more scenes here, especially with penelope. their friendship is really nice and it's sad/sweet that penelope chose to spend her last night before her wedding with her, because apparently her mother/sisters didn't plan anything for her.

-frencesca/john. i have no stake in this game since i haven't read their book yet, as i've mentioned before. they're cute together but i'm not invested. they should have gotten married way earlier imo because all the "we need to tip toe around the queen bc she hates us :( but we want to marry now" went on too long and got boring. the michaela thing doesn't bother me but i understand why fans are upset about it.

-polin felt like a side character in part 2. i feel like their scenes went by way too quickly and their screentime was so sparse to the point of legitimately becoming annoying. colin spent most of it mad and penelope spent most of it crying/trying to explain herself. they had hardly any truly happy moments together.

-kanthony was adorable.

-"i love you."

"...are you sure?"

dear reader, my heart split in two. they did a really really good job with showing penelope's self-doubt and low confidence thanks to years of neglect and ridicule and doubt from her mother. when colin stood up for her to her mother and she looked so shocked, my heart broke again for her. poor pen, i just wanted to hold her. when violet and hyacinth hugged penelope after colin announced their engagement i wanted to cry bc poor pen is so starving for positive affirmations/love that just those hugs where enough to overwhelm her.

-also lady danbury saying that she had suspected Pen was whistledown was amazing. i love that she acknowledged her and her love for the bridgertons....but i'm still really upset that they nixed her and penelope's friendship/mentorship that was in the books. she was busy with her own storyline what with violet and marcus and sure it still worked but that was a relationship i was so excited to see in the show...and they didn't even try adapting it except for like, three lines at the very end. >:( hello 911? we've been ROBBED.

(i keep editing this to add more but this is another gripe i have that will not let me rest:

ALSO ALSO ALSO:

i've noticed over seasons 1-2 that the main romantic couple has one dance set to the bridgerton theme song.

in season one, daphne and simon dance to the theme song in episode 2 or 3 (the one where daphne says "and we must try to look like we enjoy each other's company" and simon replies stiffly but then they giggle and laugh all through it which was so cute

in season two, kate and anthony dance to it in the second to last episode where they're dancing with the rest of the bridgertons and lady danbury at the ball they threw that nobody came to. the subtitles say it's a country rendition (whatever that means) of the theme song but they are involved in the dance so it counts.

when i noticed this i thought it was such a cute touch and was anxiously waiting for Penelope and Colin to get their moment.

...instead benedict dances to the bridgerton theme song with Lady Tilley? who he clearly isn't going to end up with? wtf?? and it doesn't even work in the context of the scene because it's a wholesome tune and yet she's dancing like she wants to eat him alive? sigh.

i'm just an old man yelling at clouds now but i wish the writing in this show was better so badly because it meets expectations but it's so frustrating because it can be so much better. let the show breathe! thin out the cast. really pick and choose who gets airtime, because it's precious and you anger your viewers when you waste it.

i will rewatch the season in full at some other point, but i'm too annoyed now. there is much more i want to talk about but this is long enough for now. i will say that at this point i'm not even sure i want to continue watching beyond this season.

(the playlist thing really got me thinking so to prove my point:)

FIVE SONGS THAT ARE A BETTER CHOICE FOR POLIN'S WEDDING DANCE THAN A FUCKING T.S SONG:

-a world alone-lorde (the lyrics are perfect even if they wouldn't be used in an orchestral version)

-little of your love-haim ( perfect choice for the scene imo bc it's very happy and upbeat for a cute wedding dance bit)

-all this and heaven too-florence and the machine

or fuck, if you wanted to make it into a really emotional rather than joyous moment go with dog days are over and it would be a banger with the proper editing bc that song is universal and punches up the emotions any times it's used.

-burning-maggie rogers

-save a kiss--jessie ware

ORRRRR to make it a lil steamy:

-adore you--jessie ware (this would also be perfect ngl)

and i'm not even biased to any of these, i literally just scrolled down my general playlist on spotify and picked them based on the vibes.

[good7luck]

Adding more to my post about Noe in VNC manga latest chapter 61.5

(more under the cut)

.

First, thanks to all the people in my previous post! I didn't expect to get more than just a few notes, I feel honored ;w;

.

I considered re-writing the entire post at that time, but I think I'll just leave it as it is and make this additional post instead :P

I must say, this - especially the latter part - would be more subjective and controversial, probably? ^^;; maybe even unnecessary. I know it's just my personal imperfect view from my limited experiences for now, in the end.

.

In VNC so far (~ch 61.5), the Dham (racism) matter was (almost) brought up a few times:

1)

Noe got to hear about Dham for the first time here. But he couldn't get to learn more and deeper, because the kidnapping incidents were so urgent and dangerous. I suppose, Noe could've asked "Why would the kidnappers let go of you just because you're a dham?"...but it'd be very inappropriate and rude, as if Johann should've gotten kidnapped lol?

A LOT of things happened in this arc, especially in regards to Vanitas, so maybe Noe couldn't think of getting to know more about Dham specifically. (Or, more like, MJ-sensei thought it's not time to go further with Dham yet XD)

2)

This is just a moment, but it shows some glimpse of how tough to live as a dham and how Johann (truly) feels. And...Noe was NOT here, and it's unlikely that Vani bothered to tell him about this.

3)

This is probably the closest one where the word Dham was used like a slur (on thin ice) by Vani. And, again, Noe was NOT here, and honestly there's no way Vani has ever talked about this to him.

4) Not animated (which is a big shame, indeed), but in ch 40, Dante remembers when he got bullied for being a dham and when he first met Vani who hates all races equally. Only Johann was around him, and I'm sure Noe couldn't (properly) hear Dante far away: he was with Vani and JJ to find the Book and save Chloe, who started to completely lose herself and destroy things.

(sorry if I missed some ^^;)

My point is - Noe really didn't have a chance to learn about Dham and the discrimination properly. He even never witnessed one himself. Besides,

the Dhams never looked like they're suffering from Orlok or in his office to Noe.

So, I think it's very understandable that Noe in the latest chapter couldn't even guess that such a horrible and systematic oppression has been happening to the Dhams then and now. It's all news to him, literally. Of course he hasn't noticed it yet that his words and actions aren't being (practically) helpful for the Dhams, much less he's making Dante angry for real.

That's why I feel it's quite unfair to (seriously) blame Noe for his (innocent) ignorance and the (gonna-be-unfortunate) outcome. It'd be rather unrealistic and OP, if Noe manages to immediately comprehend everything "right" and take "right" actions on his own lol

.

.

To be more personal and controversial...

I know it might be merely that some people hate / mock Noe and try to make anything he does (not) a problem / joke "just for fun", but...

Some seem to genuinely believe Dante should kick Noe or such, and idk, I must ask - what did they expect from Noe there, exactly? What do they think Noe had to do in that situation "instead", then? Is there a "good" "solution", even?

It's been only a few weeks (or months) since Noe arrived in Paris, and he's still almost a stranger in regards to the Dham matter. It's even not that he came to study Dham. Noe didn't even jokingly agree with Manet / Nox. It's pretty clear that he simply wanted to do something to make the messy situation better (and sincerely cared about Dhams), even if he didn't understand what's going on in front of him.

Noe is one mere individual, not even officially a powerful, high noble like Domi. Count Orlok is not rude to Noe but still casual to him, while he's much more polite to Domi cuz she's "higher". It's praiseworthy that Domi realized she's also participating in the racism, but somehow it's terrible that Noe consequently called out the racism and tried to help the Dhams? Which let Domi notice her own racism?

I wonder if they wanted Noe to "just shut up and stay still", but tbh..I feel...even if Noe actually didn't do anything there, they would've still easily accused him for doing nothing but "heartlessly" watching the racism (and so siding with the oppressors and so being a racist), with "silence / neutrality = consent / approval !!!", perhaps lol?

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To be very honest - I admit it's still quite hard for me to fully understand why Dante is THAT angry at Noe, even after reading some fandom posts / comments.

Like, I get it, Noe is probably making the situation worse for the Dhams (which is utter tragic), or he sounded too un-serious to him. Dante sure didn't expect to see Vani there, much less suddenly hear some burdensome demand about Machina he hates, the whole Dham "lecture" (why and how they've been discriminated for years), and all the various / explicit insults to him and his family. I sincerely feel so sorry for him and Dhams. I really do.

But like...honestly and strictly speaking...Dante chose to get mad at Noe of all people there, NOT at the obvious oppressors (Manet, Nox, and Count Orlok), even in front of the very oppressors. As if Noe was clearly "worse" than them. This happened basically because Dante thought it's "okay" to throw his anger on Noe, unlike on the real oppressors.

"OMG of course Dante cannot lash out at them, he and Dhams will get only harmed worse by them later!" Yeah, while "nothing bad" will ever happen, even if Dante pours his rage on Noe "instead". Noe is "kind", "not oppressed", and "not socially high enough", so Dante should feel free to use him as a punching bag, "right"? Sorry to be "cruel", but...would Dante have been able to do the same (or unable to hold himself back), if it were not Noe but Luca or Antoine?

I mean, I genuinely cannot fathom why some people try to demonize Noe and "cheer" Dante that much (to "call out" Noe and/or get violent to him, idek), as if Dante is about to perform an act of "justice" towards Noe. Especially when the actual oppressors are right there without feeling any guilty or threatened lol? :/ I'm aware one cannot always rationally think and do perfect, but seriously...it's NOT a good look (for Dante) in any way? Do they "prioritize" seeing Noe get bullied thaaaaat much lmao? ://

It's also "funny" that I've (at least personally) never seen any criticism towards Vani about this. He's the one who forcedly and carelessly brought Machina and Dham stuff in front of the (aggressive) oppressors, even if he understands pretty much everything. He also should've seen what could come, especially when he himself openly gets discriminated by them as well for being a human and the kin of the Blue Moon.

Vani gave Noe all the explanations he needed, sure, but he wasn't polite in general (as always, I know). It also implies Vani never told any of his plans to Noe beforehand again. He blamed Domi for Noe's ignorance, but he didn't provide enough info to him, either lol Vani didn't particularly discriminate Dante or Dhams, but honestly he (and Domi, too) didn't try to stop the racism in the office, either - actively or indirectly, in any form.

I obviously don't mean Vani / Domi is to blame for the racism, much less worse than Count Orlok, Nox, and Manet. I'm glad the fandom rightfully got disappointed in the Orlok trio, calling the bigots out! Still, I don't get why some are overly harsh on Noe and only him lol Did he do THAT wrong and worse? Apparently, maaaaaybe he should've just "quietly" accepted and "wisely" gone with the racism, like Vani / Domi (low-key) did, not "wasting" his energy and kindness only to get hates lmao? ://

.

I think Vani should've been more patient and just made a private future appointment with Dante to ask for the Machina matter later, for example. But I guess this might be OOC lol

I feel it would've been great if Domi calmed down the people in the office, using her social status (ex. clapping and calling their attention to return to the subject - which should've been Orlok's job...).

I believe I would've taken it better if Dante simply tried to quickly silence Noe (to not make things worse) and/or talk to him (even get angry at him! though preferably not XP) in private later.

Of course, none of this would've mattered, if only the Orlok trio wasn't racists / the racism didn't exist in the first place...

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Thank you for patiently reading my long and incoherent opinions!! Sorry if I was being too dramatic or such OTL

[fuutaprotectionsquad]

Yknow I feel like I should have a main post where I share my Milgram opinions/verdicts (thought of this bc i was writing my sister's opinion on the milgram characters). So I'll go character by character.

Will anyone read this? I don't know but its here

Haruka: I relate to him a bit (shitty mother, intrusive homicidal thoughts, neurodivergence). I def feel bad for him but hes still really guilty in my mind. I just think the whole killing for attention thing is a really dangerous mindset you can't just get out of, especially if you're being told you're not in the wrong. And it definitely seems like he doesn't actually feel bad for the girl he killed, just feels bad because people are mad at him for it. Idk. But I enjoy his dynamic with Muu a lot, even tho its toxic i just think its really interesting. But I wish him the best and he deserves a hug. His songs are mid tho (/hj i like them)

Yuno: I love her personality and I think shes so fun, but I honestly don't think about her a lot compared to the others. But I love her and specifically enjoy her dynamics with (obv mostly in fan content) Kazui, Mahiru and Fuuta. Her and Fuuta are such a good platonic ship (romantic is fun too). Innocent vote, obv. I like her songs, but Tear Drop moreso than Umbilical.

Fuuta: Oh my god I wonder what I think of him. In all seriousness he's a major hyperfixation of mine at like every given moment. I adore him and i think he deserves better and to be innocent. Like he feels so guilty for what he did and he didn't know any better, everyone around him was encouraging his behavior and praising him for it. But then it got too far and all his friends abandoned him and blamed him like. Poor fuuta :( and he's like 100% right when he says him and es are exactly the same. On another note, major fan of 0309 (romantically, but either way works), and also love his dynamic with Haruka, Yuno, Mahiru, Amane and Es. His songs are both in my top three (backdraft being #1)

Muu: Tied for my fav character(? Fuuta might beat her idk) I love her personality and vibe and everything just ❤️❤️ queen shit. And her queen bee design is gorgeous. Typically my favs are men but shes one of the first women ive hyperfixated on this much. Again, love her dynamic with Haruka, not from a like. healthy relationships could make the characters better standpoint, but from a story perspective its interesting. But yeah guilty. As for her songs, INMF is my #2 and i like After Pain

Shidou: Honestly I used to be kinda indifferent about him and just found him to be boring but then I rewatched his voice dramas and read some fics and I like him more now. I feel really bad for him bc he went through a really shitty situation which he felt he had the power to change and was stuck in a shitty moral dilemma bc of it. And in the end he did shitty things to save those he loved and it didn't even matter. He feels so guilty and doesn't deserve it. Innocent <3. Also romantic 0507 ftw (0506 is cool too). Him and Amane are silly too. As for his songs i like them, but they're not my fav

Mahiru: i like her, but im not too like. invested in her ig. But i feel bad for her :( she just wants to feel love and like. clearly she did something wrong but she didn't know she was. She never intended to hurt anyone. So innocent. Unless we find out she like. did something really fucking bad then maybe guilty. But in I Love You it implies it was a mutual toxicity so it probably wasn't something super terrible? But anyway. I love her with like all the characters cuz shes just so fun to see interact w others, but specifically with Yuno, Fuuta, Shidou, Amane and Mikoto.

Kazui: Hes so fun i love him. Like all he wants is to be honest and be himself but he feels pressured to lie and then finally he tells the truth and his wife fucking kills herself like- jeez- poor guy. Like following the gay theory, i get why she mightve done it (imagine being told the romance you built your entire life around for like 20 years was all a lie, and that your husband never actually loved you and just pretended to and every time you kissed or something he was just pretending like. that sucks poor hinako) but its so awful that he had to go thru that. But anyway innocent, kazui come out we accept you. And stan 0507. Song wise cat is easily #4 but. half is ok ig

Amane: Yknow i love amane but I also hate her and i think part of that might be the fandom? idk. I feel sorry for her bc she grew up in such a shitty situation but also i think shes beyond the point where we can uninstill those ideologies. Like shes 12, not 5. And amane says it herself that she has as much of a free will as everyone else and that her decision to kill/stay in this environment should be valued. Not that i think she should remain in this abusive situation, but she's not just some innocent kid whose being manipulated, she knows what she's doing. Hence, guilty. I don't think either vote will change her or anything so im voting with my honest opinion. As for dynamics, i love seeing her interact with all the other prisoners, but especially Shidou and Fuuta.

Mikoto: I love mikoto a lot but im so on the fence about his verdict. Ive been voting him innocent but theres still a part of me thats like. debating it. Bc he shouldn't have to be punished for John's actions, and it sucks that that's the situation hes in, but its that or more murders are left to occur. The main reason i say innocent is under the idea that John could go dormant or just stop fronting as much if we reduce mikoto's stress (like he says will happen i think). But hes so complex and fun i love mikoto. Specifically i love romantic 0309 but also his dynamic w the smoking group and mahiru. Also i love his songs.

Kotoko: I love her but also fuck her for hurting fuuta (and mahiru too but mainly fuuta). She annoys me bc she was so quick to almost murder several people based on a preliminary verdict that was made using little information. Like she knew this wasn't a concrete verdict, but attacked them anyway. I get her ideology of "kill people who evade justice to protect the weak" but only when they've actually done bad things (ie. the guy kidnapping the little girl). But when she doesn't know what they did and knows the person accusing them doesn't either???? Like bruh. But i like her character shes fun. I like seeing how she interacts with es and everyone she attacked. And songs, harrow is okay and i really like deep cover.

Whew im done.

[alienturnip]

Finished FF16 a few days ago and I do have some (long) thoughts about it, so I'm noting them down below. Reactions include the Waloed & Origin arcs.

Tagging @zadien as you requested <3 My thoughts won't be organized but I'll try my best to articulate as I go. Wall of text alert!

I think this is yet another case of "the story didn't satisfy me a lot but the characters bewitched me body and soul" so here I am at the end of the roads... with a lot of grievances toward how the story was structured & written but also impossibly attached to the cast haha, needless to say I have fanart ideas planned and incoming.

Things that I enjoyed a lot:

CliveJill's scene with the snow daisies, where she tells Clive that she wants to spread her wings after all this is over. MY GIRLFRIEND... YOU SHALL HAVE THE WORLD.

Jill being so good with acting dkfjsl <3 <3 she's so cute....

Jill being as much of a ruthless mtfk as Clive, they're soooo in tune when it comes to wrecking havoc

Everything about Joshua he brings SO SO MUCH to the table both with his personalities and the themes he represents. I would ramble if not for fear of this post's length...

Dion's contradictory demeanor hahahahaha - he insisted everyone call him "Dion" but wouldn't shut up about "Ifrit" and "Phoenix", he also refused Harpocrates' gift but then gave another to Clive 2 seconds later, then sauntered off without even checking if Clive likes it or not...

I generally bemoan the lack of discussion on Dion's relationship with his country's imperialism and his hands in that (like, everything about him was perfect to address that topic even in very brief ways?), BUT I highly enjoyed Dion's theme about the loss of personhood and to be reduced to a vessel of power and worship, his multifaceted relationship with the concepts of power & duty & hierarchy. So subtly yet powerfully done with so little screen time... I think Clive's own engagement with the theme (which is supposed to be his central theme) comes short in comparison.

Dion's side quest with Harpocrates also scratched my brain in INCREDIBLY ways, but again I won't ramble too much in this post...

(Hahaha by this point I think everyone knows who my fav is)

Dion & Joshua's dialogues are all so well-written (maybe save for Joshua's last speech...)

Everything about Mid & Gav, they're beautifully done, I love them they have such solid places within the narrative and lovely personalities too. When I watched Mid navigating the Entreprise I was just squealing and cheering for her! Her talking about the dream of flight and the danger it might entail, and her plan of turning such a weighted topic into a lighthearted treasure hunt! My gosh 💗 Gav's drinking scene with Clive is also especially touching, I felt a lot for his burdens.

Lady Isabelle may I have your hand in marriage--

Clive holding Joshua or clutching his body...... breaks me every time I love love LOVE tragic siblings

I can honestly write an essay for each of the characters (especially Jill & Dion my thoughts about them are overflowing) but they will have to be separate posts at this point, let me know @zadien (or anyone else reading this 🫣) if you'd like me to talk some more.

NOW onto the criticisms proper...

Waloed & Origin arcs were pretty underwhelming, mostly because I feel like they haven't offered anything new that wasn't already resolved in the previous arcs...? I enjoyed Barnabas' vibe but his impact on me was a big fat 0, and here comes the conundrum because, well, I'm guessing him being emotionless & devoid of a personality is supposed to be the point with his worship of Ultima, but even that was not done well... All his bedroom scenes kinda ruined all of that, not to mention the out-of-nowhere 'mother' appearances that the story doesn't even bother to explore aside from showing her naked body (Benedikta got the same treatment after her death my god I'm so sorry my beloved)...

Idk what I'm supposed to take away from the character and, in consequence, the Waloed arc? I know nothing of who he was, his dialogues didn't even match Clive's growth at that point - again, why is Clive questioning his humanity NOW of all time, when the story has been going so well? Could they have, idk, shown Clive's fear coming back to him after reuniting with Joshua & discovering Dion's descend to madness, so that they can segue into the Waloed arc more smoothly - that despite Clive's best intention he may lose all his control at the most crucial point and ruin all that he holds dear (like Dion), and that he never let go of his guilt at Phoenix Gate, and having Joshua back unwittingly brought back the nightmares he'd lived with for 13 years? Maybe that would give his identity crisis at the beach some more substance instead of "Barnabas bested me twice and now I'm wet and sat" situation he got going on... I am thankful for Mid & Dion's arc & CliveJill romance & everything about Joshua but the main villain & plot points felt so distant... MY BRAIN WAS NOT SCRATCHED

(I adore Mid & Dion & Joshua hahaha they're so colorful in 3 entirely different directions, my silly children)

I am also not really convinced by Ultima's writing. The plot reveal of him being a God who created humanity but then abandoned us all *could* have been pretty powerful and on point if it wasn't executed in such fragmented ways. If only they dig deeper into one or two specific aspects of that concept to explore...

I am especially fond of the idea of Ultima as symbolic for "the absent parent" and "the narcissistic parent" (both in the intimate familial context and the wider context of head-of-state/leader figures), which could have paralleled SO WELL with Anabella & Sylvestre & EVEN ELWIN had they not cut off Anabella's presence immediately after her death, or had they make Dion reflect deeper upon his relationship with his father beyond "I killed him I am so sad", or had they make Joshua's and Clive's memories of Elwin more complicated - maybe in how they (especially Joshua) worshipped his as their father & leader, but less so as a man, someone human & flawed? And then they can explore how the children gaining autonomy & freedom despite their parents & the circumstances that shaped their childhood as a direct mirror to them breaking away from Ultima? The frustrating thing is, I THINK they did try to do that, what with all the Inner Voice snippets and the initial buildups and all, but the execution keeps coming up short...

Ultima & the Eikons as symbols of "power that binds & enthralls" in contradiction with Clive's fight for a "free world" could've been much more relevant and poignant if maybe they allowed us to get more invested in Ultima's backstory (flashback cutscenes perhaps? more involved murals? a more multifaceted discussion around the concept of will? some attempts at humanizing Ultima's race so that when Clive says "you're just like us" we feel it a bit deeper?) instead of just having the guy monotonously narrating all the plot twists... my god. Not to mention all the on-the-nose dialogues of power of friendship & crude slavery allegories... I don't know! I think Square did NOT do it well in this one.

That's all I can pull from the top of my head at the moment! Ready to hop into replies or asks to talk some more, but yea!

[starr-finn]

Okay hi again :D

- So can I get... Bain, Dallas and Sokol for this? If you cba to do all just do Bain lol

- So it's the Alesso heist and the gang are doing stealth (until loud (as per usual))

- The C4 bit actually gets noticed by reader, an independent heister, well-renowned for their high skill set

- And they just happen to be at the concert (they just like Alesso idk) and heard the explosion

- The gang (+ Bain) just see them at the doorway of the basement going 'Can y'all keep quiet?!? It's my ONE day off I swear to god...'

- The gang at first are like 'who is this random fearless civ' and are about to gun them down when Bain is like 'Guys, this is Reader, one of the most famous heisters of all time! Don't shoot them!!'

- And this is when Reader's like 'Wait... you're the Payday Gang right? What're you doing here?'

- Then after being explained as to what they're after, Reader's like 'Oh... well, I think I saw some cops arriving outside.. I'm sure you're capable of taking care of them! I'll leave you to do your business then.' then they just walk away with a wink

- Later on when things are getting tough, they actually decide to join in, claiming 'I might as well have fun doing something else.'

- So yeah they just join in mowing down cops

- At the end, the gang/Bain offer to give Reader some of the earnings but they just give a paper with their number, saying 'Ah, I'm good. Call me if you ever need an extra bit of help, this was real fun.'

Hell yes, I'd love to, This heist quickly became one of my favorites after I played it, so 100% will write this for you!

Bain, Dallas, and Sokol meeting an independant heister during the Alesso heist!

Author's note: Mild violence, mentions of explosions, fire, and reader being mildly sassy with the gang, a bit more cussing on my end, as normal, (H/N) means Heister name, the boys are huge fanboys of reader's work. have fun

Bain

The last thing Bain was expecting was a ballsy ass civ to show up, but the second he got a good look at you, he immediately stopped the gang from killing your ass

"Guys, stop, don't shoot them, that's (H/N). An independant hesiter widely regarded for having a high skill set"

The gang stopped and just stared for a few seconds, until you spoke up

"Wait, You guys are the payday gang right? damn didn't think you'd be here, nice to meet you guys" you smile and nod at the gang before returning to your spot in the crowd, like nothing happened, until things got dicey.

You were getting bored of the concert and decided to go and help out. The only way the gang even realized you had jumped in was when you saved Jimmy's dumbass after he was knocked out by a cloaker. Bain was super psyched to get to see you in action, He always thought you were so badass, but this was fucking awesome. By the time you and the gang got out and to the drop off zone, the whole gang had attempted to convince you to at least let them give you a bit of a compensation, but you denied every time

"Nah, I'm good guys, It was fun working with you though!" You quietly hand Dallas a piece of paper with your number scribbled down on it "Give that to your boss, Next time you want me to come join, just call me"

You chuckle softly and walk back to your car, waving softly, before just driving off like nothing happened. Bain was literally leaned way back in his chair, losing his shit mentally because holy shit you were so cool to him. When he finally spoke up, he literally had to forcefully keep himself from screaming

"Wow...Never thought I'd get to see (H/N) on the job, we're gonna have to ask them to join more often" and then he goes quiet again, because he's fucking screaming and had to cut his mic off to save himself from public embarrassment

Dallas

Dallas was not ready for hearing some random civ yell at them from the stairs to the basement

"GOD CAN YOU GUYS QUIET DOWN A BIT!? It's my only fucking day off jesus..."

If it hadn't been for Bain not only telling the guys who you were, but also reminding them of the no killing civ's rule, you would have been dead, but the second Dallas heard the name (H/N), He could have dropped dead, like holy shit you had just yelled at him, dude could barely focus the rest of the heist, and then, you looked at him for a second and smiles

"Woah! Wait are you guys the payday gang? It's cool to meet you all!" they smile and wave softly, happily walking back to their seat for the concert, and holy shit Dallas was internally screaming, he almost lost his mind.

Later you joined in, killing cops and security guards, helping them get the money, and getting out with them. Dallas spent so much time trying to convince you to take a cut of the money, but you always denied.

"No thank you, however..." You quickly scribble down your number and hand it to him "call me if you ever want me to join again!"

You walk off and get in your car, heading home, and meanwhile, Dallas was losing his shit internally

Sokol

Sokol had been having a blast on this heist, until he heard someone start sassing off

"Can you fuckers keep it down?? I'm trying to watch a concert up there!"

Sokol spun around and pointed his gun at you, ready to shoot you down until Bain stops him

"Wait, Sokol! Stop, that's not a civ, that's (H/N)! Their an Independent hesister"

Sokol had never lowered his gun faster, dude immediately apologized quietly, you stare at him and the group he's with for a second before you smile

"Wait, you guys are the payday gang right? that's super cool, well, I'm gonna go back and finish the concert, later!" you have happily as you walk off.

Later, you actually joined the group, helping them take down cops, the FBI, and even some special units, you guys all got out in one piece and Sokol was on the verge of squealing every time you pulled off something badass. he was super happy he got to meet you. After you guys got out together, he tried to convince you to take a cut of the pay, you denied every time, smiling softly and writing your number down on some paper, handing it to him

"I'm good! But don't hesitate to call me if you want me to join on another heist!" after smiling at him, you walk off, seemingly happy that you got to join in on a heist. Meanwhile, Sokol was having an internal party because he got your number.

[otomiyaa]

Questions & Answers

Hi hi, finally some time to write this! Due to recent events I've been getting some questions from various people and I also have some questions for you guys so I'll try to do this in 1 post 😸

My answers:

Are you really not planning to write fics anymore?

That's the plan *nodnod*, but you know me. There's always a 'but' and a clown mask ready in my storage to put on if I happen to go against my own words. But the intention is to stop posting fics here, I'm too tired of it now lol. I might post a fic or two on AO3 once in a while, maybe write a collab with Mia if I feel like it. It's just... how do I say it.. my motivation to write more fics basically got washed down the drain together with blog #1. Let us see for how long that motivation swims in the sewers...

Can you reupload [fic name]?

If it's on my AO3, I won't. If it's not, hmm.... I probably also won't. But! It depends on the fic. Always feel free to ask, but please don't get angry when I say no! ^^ For now I have an exception: commissions. More about this down below in my question to you guys.

Why won't you try to get your old blog back?

It would require filing an objection against the copyright claims against me with all the legal risks, submitting my personal info from home address to name, and consenting to USA legal law stuffs bluhblahblah... :") For me too much of a hassle. I don't think my blog is worth it. Even if I don't know the exact details, I'm sure they're not wrong. Whether it's fair or not, most fandom stuff has copyright issues in the end, so I can't protest against the claims with 100% certainty it won't get me in real trouble. More info about this soon in another post!

My questions:

👇 only for those interested, feel free to comment, send ask or DM if you have can help :)

Do you have reblogs of my old posts?

To everyone who has some posts left on their blog that were mine, whether it's a headcanon, fic (still accessible one, so not a broken 'keep reading'- link), manga or anime scene, ask game, gif set or translation, if it's not too much trouble could you maybe comment on that post and @ me? Or... send me a link or smth in DM? Doesn't need to be every single trivial post. Maybe just the ones you liked most, or something... idk. I just might want to re-share a couple of posts here and it's so hard finding reblogs of my anonface-blog through search functions and stuff. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

P.S. I also found a lot of old posts, or posts that I liked (such as tickle art etc.) in the archives of @ticklygiggles, @ticklishdreams, @infrequent-creator - I hope you guys won't mind me making use of this (also thank you for the awesome support through the years afihs;ogojjoihgjn)!

Did you have a commission that was on my blog and do you prefer if this is reposted or not?

Some people 'bought' fics back when I had a shady kofi shop running and those fics were posted both on my AO3 and Tumblr (+ were sent in PDF format if requested). No matter how much you paid for the fic, part of the deal was that it would be posted on Tumblr so if by any chance you lost a commissioned fic and wish for me to repost this here on the new blog, please let me know...:3

Anything else? 👀

Well... With the loss of my account there were more things that went lost than just my fics, such as asks that were still in my inbox, DMs, personal stories and more. I did not back up anything and have zero overview and my memory is shit. If I am forgetting something, if you once sent me something and it's now gone (and you still have it), or if there's anything else I am missing smh, please let me know.

However please note that I am not planning to turn this blog into a copy of my previous one. If you submitted a fic to my old blog, I won't repost it here sadly (I hope you saved it). But if you posted an irl tickle story (I'll still accept these), a headcanon for your fav character or pairing or something else, I'll gladly accept it even if it's a copy of what you once sent to my old blog! With that said, I'll go back to finishing that second-to-last tickletober fic of mine... after I eat dinner. muhahah.

[forabeatofadrum]

Hello everyone. Thank you @aroace-genderfluid-sheep for the tag and the aro recs.

I am balancing my phone on my leg and I am using one hand to type this cause my other is petting one of the Buttered Scones.

Oh. Okay. She just got up. Oh. Never mind? She walked for half a metre and plopped down again, but I guess that means she's done with the pets. Anyway, I made these photos a few minutes ago while petting:

I actually do not know which one of the Buttered Scones this is. At first I thought #2, since her fur has more brown parts, but then u tried to pet this cat's belly and she made clear she did not like that, which is a very #1 thing to do. And she has a big belly, like #1. But yeah my leg fell asleep from sitting next to this kitty and she only wanted to be petted on her head. If I moved down to the body, she'd move her paws towards me.

All of this to say that I am having a fine time in Italy. I also had some crostata and panettone, and I have used both of these in my Paradiso series so I was ashamed when I realised I forgot what they were. Like, the words rang some bells. Ah well.

Update, the Buttered Scone is eating some leftovers from the ground. It's uhhhhh surrounded by ants. Is this safe?

EDIT ON MONDAY: HOLD THE FUCK UP WHAT???? I THOUGHT TUMBLR FUCKING DELETED THIS SO I WROTE A NEW FUCKING POST

I'll put it under the cut, I guess.

Happy.... Monday. Thank you @aroace-genderfluid-sheep, @artsyunderstudy and @wellbelesbian for the tag, and yeeet tag back @urban-sith!

I had actually written a full post yesterday and it was a special one, cause I wrote it WHILE petting Buttered Scone #1. Alas, Tumblr acted up and the terrible WiFi made certain that my writing wasn't saved, which is why I am now writing this in the notes app. And to make things better, Buttered Scone #2 is sitting next to me!

Anyway, have the photos of #1 that I wanted to post yesterday.

[Photos]

Re: Buttered Scone from the fic, the idea is that Simon's cat has a very normal name but that he just calls her Buttered Scone. I came up with the idea to call her Agatha, which is why Simon insisted on a different name.

(Also, update, #2 just left me.)

I will write it when I get home. Now I am still enjoying my vacation in Italy. I even ate crostata and panettone, which I know from my Paradiso series (hooray!) (I was at the beach today and there was a little kid and yes I am having Rosemary Snow brainrot again.)

Anyway, all of this to say that Agatha should buy, idk, a horse called Simon so that they're even.

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @blurglesmurfklaine @coffeegleek @esperantoauthor @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict @sillyunicorn @bazzybelle @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @takitalks @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @moodandmist @whogaveyoupermission @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @ionlydrinkhotwater @1908jmd @special-bc-ur-part-of-it @larkral @chen-chen-chen-again-chen ​ @cutestkilla ​ @martsonmars ​ @facewithoutheart ​ @shrekgogurt @boyinjeans @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites @blackberrysummerblog @whatevertheweather

[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

Small update on what I've been doing with my life currently and thinking about, it just feels like something like this should be posted onto what I call My Blog.

So, I kinda got this idea, right? That maybe with a few of my connections and the places I'm getting myself into right now, I could get the whole Palestine thing mentioned at a festival or two this summer, maybe even have a small area like a little stand dedicated to information and messages surrounding the whole thing, possibly sending out invitations to Pro-Palestinian Liberation Organizations? I've currently just got a few bullet points and notes, I'm just thinking while I'm helping out these people with a couple of their things I could probably propose the idea.

I don't really know the head honcho's too well, they seem kind of like liberal types to me, what I know of them politically is just their ties to the Green Party, specifically the Green Party of Alaska through one of my friends who was deeply involved in that party, and there may be a couple of organizations involved I haven't bothered to research yet, but from what a personal source tells me there is some discussion around the topic taking place, leaning more in favor of Palestine it seems, and while they work on the stuff they're doing, my personal source might be able to sometime when I've got some things set up and ready put in the word for me or bring it up in a meeting. I already wanted to be involved in this project for personal reasons, and to an extant already am and have been, but it kinda struck me that I might be able to get something started there that's a little more, idk, connected? Something clicked in me about that, bringing some parts of my own life together and then parts of the world I see together, and you know mentally I leaped at the chance for some form of direct action and am... definitely committed to it now.

It's still a work in progress idea, I have a bunch of links and sources and stuff saved, I'm looking into books and stuff, but I have yet to properly flip through my list and put it to more direct use. I want it to have an emphasis on what an American Citizen (as these events will be, at least for now, primarily taking place in the USA) can do about it, like maybe I could find or make a map of weapons manufacturing sites in the US and another more metaphorical map of money trails and politicians, things people can not only learn of, but knowledge they could use. Just some ideas I'm still workshopping, it's a slower process than I'd kinda like right now. My internet connection is still kinda crap and I still have life and dishes to keep up with, but I feel pretty confident in the overall direction I'm moving in. As big of a deal as I'm making this small Pro-Palestinian movement of mine out to be, it's realistically more of a side project I'll have to put spare time into while I get info on what I'm currently gonna be doing, and it's ultimately not my event and out of my hands if something like this goes through or not. For all I know there could already be plans similar to mine being worked on in a more professional setting right about now. I have a couple, more personal projects I'd like to see inserted, maybe a little bit of advertising for some housing projects I've really wanted to get started, but what I feel most strongly about currently is the Palestinian people and the occupation of Palestine.

This is, all to say, I have somewhat more importance tied into my life right now, which I'm still a little anxious about, just as an update on what I'm currently doing. I mean right now I'm not doing that, I'm bumping it to the Hotline Miami OST and digesting soup while writing a post on tumblr.com at 11 PM, but for the next couple months, I have several interconnected goals that I am passionate about and proud of for political and personal reasons that I'm going to be spending more time on. It at least seems like a good jumping off point to get more into the swing of things with my life. As anxious as I am you know, it feels pretty good.

[bookplush]

no sorry i've got more to say about tabs

my tabs, to me, are diary entries. they capture what i was feeling, what i was thinking about, what i was doing and planning to do at a certain time. i scroll back through my tabs and go oh hey, that's when i was researching my family history! awww, that's when i had that wonderful pumpkin bread at my friend's house and was looking for a recipe. oh that's when i was trying to pick up crochet! maybe i should get back into that...

like my tabs are more than just tools to me they're RECORDS. they're records of what i was doing and thinking about and wondering and researching. and they often times take me back to where i was and what i was thinking about when searching them.

you wouldn't burn a diary entry just because it's no longer applicable to your current life. similarly, i find it hard to close my tab about that book i wanted to read 3 months ago, even if i no longer have any interest in reading it anymore, because i REMEMBER sitting at home 3 months ago thinking about that book.

i once accidentally closed all 500 incognito tabs on my phone (they weren't full of anything sketch lol i started using incognito tabs bc i'd hit the limit on the regular tabs lmao [it's 500 on safari]) and i literally almost cried ASLDKJFSDFJSLJ it felt like someone had thrown the last 6 months of diary entries into a fire in front of me. like that's honestly the best way i can describe it-- they're records of my life.

i'm not trying to argue that tab hoarding is a good thing. it's certainly not ideal, for the health of my poor little laptop if nothing else. and i'm not trying to like. refute any points here lmao i'm just talking about my own experience with tab hoarding. and idk if this is why other people hoard tabs but its why i do it.

but i think that's the best way i can explain why "just close them" is tricky for me. i HAVE gone on tab cleanouts before where i purge them... but i usually take screenshots of the ones i'm going to close before i close them ALSDKJSKLDJGLSDKJGLSKDJG. because i gotta save them! it's not the pumpkin bread recipe i want to save its the memory of the way i was feeling when i searched it up!!! i can't just delete it!

like thinking about it now that i have it all written out i really uh. don't love the fact that my google searches are my modern diary ALSKDJLSKJDSF doesn't THAT feel dystopian. but it is genuinely how i feel. often times if i want to remember something, a book title or a song i heard, i'll choose to google it and leave it in an open tab rather than writing it in a notes doc or something.

anyway. so that's why i tab hoard. i really am a digital hoarder huh.

[thesnailkiwi]

3, 4, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 26, 46, 56, 73, and 74 for the fic writer ask game? (you don't have to answer all of them these are just the ones i find interesting)

alright alright yes yes

dont worry i love asks

3)Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic.

It depends on the story and what is happening. Usually, i type out a short summary of the whole story, decide where the best places to split it are, and write it in parts. Other times i just wing it and hope it sounds good.

4) Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Everywhere. Other fics, poems, songs, phrases, scenes. Even items. I especially love the ones from my dreams. Inspiration is everywhere- you just have to look into the simplest things in a different way than you see them.

11)Link your three favorite fics right now.

Time to expose myself! Also, this is the hardest decision I'll ever make.

I also want to mention a few others if you dont mind

Featherweight- DoctorSiren

Poisoned Rats in a Pot of Grain- TheYesterdayShow

Maybe the World Isn't so Wide- MsDizzyDahlia

16) How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Oh. oh no. let me get my google docs and notes app out.

22

This one is actually one that I got from a dream.

Cc!Grian goes on a camping trip and hikes up a mountain alone because he can't sleep. He finds a piano that turns out to be magic and he plinks it. It turns him more and more into his character each day. The next day he goes to find it and it's gone. He runs away to try and hide it but his friends file a missing report. They find him a week later alone in a cave. During that time, he get visited by watchers and is shocked bc he made them up but they're real. They try to kill him because him turning is a "glitch" but he gets away.

After they find him, grian refuses to tell them anything. He has to stay home and go to therapy bc man's traumatized. He stays with Timmy.

One night during dinner, his character takes over. Timmy panicks and calls Scott and mumbo over. Grian puffs out his wings and Jimmy realizes what's happening. They're able to calm him down and cc!grian takes back over. 

They have to figure out how to save him before it's too late and he turns fully into his character. 

Mumbo is doing research and finds smth about it. They have to find a real eye of ender.

They return to the spot where the piano used to be and dig to find the eye. They do, and they save him. But not without a fight first because c!grian is very argumentative.

18)Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

After. There are exceptions, but almost always after. I think of key words and phrases from (or that describe) the story. Or I just make random stuff up that sounds cool.

20) Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Yes. Lots of melodrama, passing out, self-worth problems, and flower husbands.

Joking aside, definitely. I love it when characters pass out on their enemy and get carried. Idk why, its just funny and sets up for a lot of humiliation. I also love not-actually-unrequited-feelings. I'm not sure about what specific words/phrases, but i know that they are definitely there. Themes usually include things like live life to the fullest, appreciate what you have until its too late, and that things are never as they seem.

23) Best writing advice for other writers?

My best writing advice is be you and write what you want to write.

Admittedly, I havent updated my biggest fic i have in over 3 months. It just wasn't fun to write anymore and my motivation went *fart noise*. Yes, okay, I've gotten comments, but I'm also happy and want to write a different ship at the moment. It also helps with the feeling of being obligated to have deadlines and one-up yourself every chapter. Sure, those things are great, but you should enjoy writing and what you produce, not find it annoying and tiring.

There are other things, like grammar, POV, and formatting, but we won't go into those.

24) Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

OOO YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAR SOME ABSOLUTE BS

Alright, so, when I first started writing, I watched some youtube vids on stuff like good writing, plot, and stuff like that.

The lady in the video. Ugh. alright, so she ofc was hating on fanfiction, and said "It's always wiser to make your own stories and characters" or something like that. Bish, have you seen the ao3, fanfiction.net, and wattpad community??? She then went on to go and say the opposite of what i said above. That you should always listen to your readers and shiz and that you, the author, should always make them happy even if it hurts.

She also was like "don't use tags like 'yes,' bob growled' because its improper and growling is an act, not a tone of voice." No, it is actually correct writing.

She also was deprecating young authors telling them that they suck.

26) Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Uhhh, what's your definition of wild?

A fallen angel spreads its wings, wishing to fly away- storywise can be counted as crack personally. it makes no damn sense anymore.

My superhero AU- this is going to get crazy. you have no idea. the sheer emotions and attachment i have to this one. I will make you cry.

46) How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

My style is both character driven and emotion driven. I have this weird thing where if I'm writing, I can like, BE the character or smth. I get to know what they would do, think, and feel, and then mix it with some of my own before it gets out of hand. It happens when reading, too.

There is a downside, such as what happens to them physically i can feel, but it makes it easier to drive the story. I give it bulletpoints of what i want to happen, and it will get it there eventually.

(I have a fun story that came with this one time, but I'll tell it at a later date)

56) What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Yes yes yes. I pride myself on the sheer amount of ideas I get daily. I get like 2 ideas daily. Yeah, it sucks that I cant write them all, but at least i have a variety. If you ever want a story idea, I have SO MANY

73) What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Honestly, I don't know. I feel like that is for you guys to decide.

As a reader, it's easier to pick out things and decide what is different and what is the same. When writing, I criticize myself so much, like "thats basic" or "thats repetitive". Yet people still read it, so I must be doing something right.

74) You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

My writing style, themes, ships, and overdramatic feelings.

My style is kind of a mix of rambling and story telling. Also the question from earlier about key words, phrases, and stuff like that describes it all. I love amplifying feelings, and of course, making my characters go through hell and then dragging them back out.

[impprtante]

Backstory; The Save File

So, I've been playing this save since I've been in middle school (currently in college) on and off again because my interest comes and goes. So since middle school. Originally, had gotten sims and didn't know what to do, and before as a kiddo i watched videos where people design the disney princess and make them do things, there was a certain series but anyways, it facinated me and i thought it would be fun.

(i first tried cc but i kinda get annoyed that things break so i just gave up after like 2 generations.) Anyways, so I make a sim, get a challenge pulled up, first one i find, try and give up on reading the rules for a legacy challenge, and start.

Immidiated i didn't read the first one because i thought adultery was fun as a middle schooler (haha so edgy) and didn't read that technically you're supposed to have Snow White have 7 children with ONE dude. So. Oops. This is exactly when i decided to be like, screw it these are more of a guideline for my game play anyways. This is where i see that the princesses aren't in order of movie release and go "nop i don't care about the storyline they gave me, its going in order >>:("

So a few years go by, i b doin my best, on and off again, and i think aroundddddddd..... Gen 7 Jasmine that my sister (love her <3) got me an in to get all the sims packs (im on sims 4, idk if that needed clarification). Side note: we used to share an account but when sims went free i made an account and transfered my files over (she played less sims than i did at that point but then i got her back hooked whoops). but anyway, SUDDENTLY THERES SO MUCH TO DO AND EXPLORE.

There's so much more cas, theres so many different worlds, buildings, aspects, etc. And suddenly, im actually really sad that my sims of the past didn't get the full experience like that.

BUT, luckily, i had gotten really attached to all my sims early (gen 01 lol) so i had most of the sims backed up on my gallery. In fact, i was so attached to them that i had a lot of different versions of them saved. So i just put them into a seperate world where they could be immortal and live their best lives <3

so there i am, very content to have my two save files. one with the real progression, and one that i've been calling my dollhouse; they're in my toy box, when i feel like playing with them i pop on by and then let them be the rest of the time. But uh, i got a little too invested. and then i realized i had, well. regrets.

I'll make a little seperate post about that later.

but well, i had been writing down quirks and taking pictures of my sims for so long, i have a google drive with just a lot of musing and notes and uploading pictures. I really wanted to write a story based on them, this huge family, because well. I really love them. They're my babies. But i've literally never written anything before. I was a then aspiring writer, stuck writing notes and facts lol. nothing else.

i also had pictures on a drive because i wanted easier access to their appearences, because i wanted to try drawing them out so i could have the scenarios from my head somewhere. I think i was inspired to art because my sister is an artist (she's so good at it) so i wanted to try to draw my dear characters but i literally stopped at Eira lmao (Snow White) i could not do character design. I'll post the drawings sometime, theyre scatted places where i doodled. And i was playing sims on this old computer i didn't feel secure on, in my childhood bedroom so :p, i was in school most days and using my laptop so i tried google drive.

BUT IM TIRED OF JUST HAVING NO ONE TO RAMBLE TO so here we are.

so recently (this summer) i made a NEW world to start inserting them with all the new additions. The primary reason for this was because even though i loved them..... they weren't really characters. They didn't have relationships to them, just my imaged ones. I've a really bad mindset of grinding in the sims instead of being social, so they were actually sorely lacking in personality. Base Game sims 4 didn't help matters. So even though i was picuring and writing, i never got to actually see them interact as childhood besties. They didn't have any random friendships. I barely threw any official birthday parties. So, i wanted to kinda turn back the clock and figure things out.

So, recap: i have a save where i play the "challenge". an old save where i store them, and a new save where im passing them over slowly and storing them.

But now i feel like i have too many thoughts about them to keep to myself so here we are, typing :p. I would keep typing in the google docs but honestly, those were more cynical notes for myself, like disecting a species. I thought a blog would be a good place for like, more informal posts. so, yeah :)

[mitochondriencocktail]

idk if you're still doing these but 📚,🦋 and 🧩

oh hell yeah!!

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app? 

OH NO.... okay so it's a couple of random paragraphs from a shapeless fic idea that was half-a-joke and half-serious where Bojan joined the GSA (gay straight alliance) club on campus and was like "I'm just here to be an ally :)" but then yeah he meets Jere.

I really gravitate towards Bojan being super repressed in fics for some reason, but I think it's because I haven't actually pulled one off where I've written him that way as a slow-build romance? So I keep tinkering with that trope in hopes I'll finally write something ;o;

Saving your screens with a read more.

"No, I'm straight," said Bojan, looking around the room. A few of the other students raised their brows skeptically, as Bojan was used to, but others greeted him with wide grins. "I'm just here because my sister's-" he cut himself off, pitching his eyes upwards in thought for the right term. He didn't want to insult anybody. Was he allowed to say lesbian? He brought his gaze level with the room again. "My sister's into women, so I wanted to support her. Learn a bit more. Our parents are kinda old school." "It's nice to have an ally," one of them said, the boy at the front of the classroom who sat perched on a desk. He seemed to be the oldest in attendance and by his easy demeanor, appeared to be the president of the club. He spoked with clipped consonants, indicating that perhaps he was from somewhere foreign. His eyes were a bright blue that made Bojan feel strangely at ease. "We have many people who join to support family." Bojan smiled. [smth smth idk plot builds, friendship is formed, events happen] He wasn't into guys because he was into girls. That's how that worked. Right? Jere took him by the hand and led him down the hallway, classrooms dark for the day after everyone else had gone home. Bojan was never one to shy away from touch, with friends or family or even other classmates, but for some reason, Jere's hand in his made his heart race.

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

MY WEDDING... It's 13 days away and oh man, what a year it's been. I'm so grateful for my partner and will spare you all that rambling. We're very excited for the big day, but also so ready to stop thinking about wedding logistics.

This fandom tbh??? Like I know we're tiny and subsist on literal crumbs at this point, but I dunno, I just really enjoy everybody here. It's been real chill and I love how creative everybody is. We're all united by some goofy guys who give potent soulmate energy and we all just ran with it and have some of the most amazing AU ideas kicking around.

I think everybody should treat themselves to a little beverage. If you've been on the fence about it, this is your sign to treat yourself to a little beverage.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

For me, characterization is a big hit or miss. I'm open to different interpretations for sure, and this is in no way telling people to stop doing what they're doing, but personally speaking for my own preference, if things feel too "out of character" or the emotional beats feel too erratic/unjustified, it can throw me out of it.

Feel free to send me some emojis!

[liminalnucleus]

I watched a video of Barry breaking down his most iconic roles. To note I watched the first 20 mins of Saltburn without any information going in ahead of time and was like "on this is going to be like Call me by Your Name" it's a wage gap instead of an age gap...

So I stop watching it because I'm one of those freaks that go "that's enough for now" and save it for later. I'm sorry. I should've watched it all the way through. I'm dumb for that.

Anyway, I'm watching his interview and he brings another movie [Killing of a Sacred Deer] I only watched the first 20 mins of a few years prior and was like "oh shit... Maybe I should've finished it." It's leaving Netflix soon.

So I sit my ass down to watch it. It's slow and the dialogue is purposefully uncanny. But I see what they're going for. Even the shots are uncanny. It's weird, it's good, it's a movie that's like, "what the fuck?" But in a way to indicate that I'm really enthralled.

The only other movie I've seen Barry in was Eternals and I had such a mad crush on this man afterward. Druig and Makkari's chemistry was off the charts. Like Gd, I want him to look at me that way lmao

Anyway, because my only other experience watching him was in a marvel movie I had no idea how phenomenal he is as an actor. I'm not an expert but I gotta say, he's got range.

So I decided to watch Saltburn a few hours later.

So I watch it just before bed and I'm just in awe. I know some people have been criticizing it for its shallow perspective on "eat the rich" and how "ridiculous" it is that these people just believed him without a doubt.

The thing is, it's a bit of a satire imo and yes it's a stretch but these rich characters are satirized versions of the rich.

Take the Killing of a Sacred Deer for example. They essentially just start believing him out of fear. In Saltburn they believe him out of pretentiousness. He's below their class so he has to be that way. Oliver explains that in the maze. "It's all a show for you." Etc. the even pokes at it when referring to Farleigh keeping everyone entertained.

I'm just writing this because idk. I'm getting ready for work and all I can think of is I need more. More of whatever this genre is. I hear Killing Your Darlings is a good one and so is the Talented Mr. Ripley. So I'll watch those.