#fair warning this is VERY long hence the read more

[fanfic-inator795]

WoY: A Decade Later (A personal retrospection)

Wander Over Yonder… for a time, it was - in my opinion - the best cartoon ever. It was my number one, and I wasn't sure that anything else could top it. While I don't necessarily feel the same way these days, it's still a cartoon that very much lives in my heart and I don't think I'll ever truly leave it behind.

From a personal perspective, it was probably the biggest and most active Fandom I had been in at that time. It wasn't my first fandom/hyperfixation - prior to WoY, there had been Cartoon Network's Chowder and Regular Show, as well as Disney's Phineas and Ferb. But Chowder was short-lived and RS and PnF were both shows I had lost interest in due to them beginning to dip in quality.

WoY, however, was new, fresh, exciting and growing rapidly. It inspired me to write probably at least a hundred fanfics. It was a blast live-reacting to new episodes with everyone and seeing all the art that would come afterwards. It brought me into the RP scene and, if not for that, I might have never met my best friend of 10 years (and counting! Love you, Tessa).

Looking back on it 10 years after the fact, I can't fully say that WoY is still my favorite cartoon (shows like Kid Cosmic, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Big City Greens and Craig of the Creek have all outshined it in one way or another), nor can I claim that it is/was a perfect show. But man… It sure was a hell of a ride.

(Keep reading for all my admittedly VERY LONG personal thoughts or opinions regarding this one of a kind show)

Humble Beginnings

Pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I actually didn't care for WoY at first. It was the summer right before college, and I remember watching the sneak peek - The Picnic - early one morning after not being able to go back to sleep. I remember not really laughing much or even seeing the appeal… and yet the episode stuck in my mind, to the point that I ended up watching it again during a free moment I had from Freshman Orientation Week. I had a similar reaction to the show's proper pilot, The Greatest - not loving it, but not hating it either.

The fact that people/friends from my RS and PnF days were also posting about it helped keep the show in my mind (shoutout to Taylor, Erin and Darkwing). But it wasn't until two specific episodes - The Fugitives and The Good Deed - that I managed to finally start to connect with the characters myself. 

I started to see the appeal in this little furry orange spoon who just wanted to do good and make others happy, even when it was a struggle. I really liked the show's core theme of not just optimism and positivity, but also just being kind. I also started to really enjoy the show's sci-fi and space aesthetic and grew to adore its animation and gorgeous backgrounds, as well as laugh at its wacky sense of humor (I still laugh at The Fugitives/Good Deed quite a bit, even though I probably have their entire scripts memorized at this point).

So, it was official. I was hooked. Whenever there were new eps, I'd either try to watch them on the basement TV in my college dorm or wait for a livestream or FreeCartoonsOnline upload. If we're being honest, the first half of season 1, while being much more low-key than the wackiness that the show would end up eventually shifting to, was probably when it was at its most consistent. Other eps later on would reach higher highs, but getting stuff like The Bad Guy, the Prisoner, the Troll, the Pet, the Box and The Little Guy back-to-back just made my love for the show grow more and more.

The Little Guy specifically is one that is just incredibly well-crafted in its dialogue, story-telling and pacing, being both enjoyable and heartfelt. (Also the last time I watched it the ending made me bawl so, there's that, lol). Shortly afterwards, The Hero was another ep that I distinctly remember sticking in my head for whatever reason (Dracor and Demurra are still adorable, ngl). Then we had another favorite of mine, The Nice Guy.

I know I may be in the minority on this one - I remember my parents being annoyed and frustrated when they watched it with me, haha - but I absolutely love this episode. I find the jokes funny enough - the cashier is one of my favorite minor characters tbh - and the space gas station appeals to my aesthetic. But what really sells this episode for me is how it handles and portrays its moral of "being nice isn't always easy, but it's still right and still worth doing". Its ending never fails to get an "awwww" out of me, and honestly I could probably go on for an hour about all the little details and things I like/appreciate. I've also grown to really like its sister episode, the Time Bomb.

But no show is perfect, and right around here is where the show, in my opinion, started having some misses. It was mostly just "meh" affairs like The Night, The Toddler and The Big Job (weird, since I usually like heist eps… though I haven't rewatched this one in a while so *shrugs*). Other eps like The Tourist and ESPECIALLY The Helper (which I consider to be the show's worst outing, the vibes are just SO WEIRD on this one) I just didn't care for at all. 

Nothing terrible (save for the Helper), just cases of the jokes not landing or the stories being boring. This was also when the show really started leaning into the wackiness - which wasn't BAD persay, since it led to some really funny jokes and memorable moments when it was used well - it's just that looking back, I sorta miss the simplicity of early s1.

Thankfully, the season put out some real bangers by its end, with my personal faves being The Epic Quest (that ending will never not make me cackle. Again, it's a case of the wackiness actually working incredibly well), the Halloween/Christmas special, and the Rider, which is a great adventure to cap off the season and also the Horse from Horsin’ Around guest stars in it! (and does a pretty good job too. Will Arnett is def one of my favorite celeb VAs at this point, ngl)

So yeah, between the two seasons, s1 is easily my favorite. Call it nostalgia or personal taste, but for me it's all about that consistency. Adding in the fact that s2 has some pretty notable flaws and is thus a lot harder to look back on without noticing those flaws, and it's really no contest for me. 

New season, New problems

I certainly remember the excitement - as well as the fandom's stir craziness - in the lead-up to s2. There were crackships that were invented, silly RP blogs were rampant, Craig McCracken and crew (back when they were still on Tumblr) kept us fed with cool behind the scenes info as well as sneak peeks of the new season, and while I can't recall when it specifically happened, I also vividly remember the 'Bad End to Episodes' phase that the fandom was in at one point. Ah, the joys of still being in your angst phase.

Come that year's Comic Con, and a new round of hype came from the reveal that our new villain of the season was going to be a girl! …yeahhh, it sorta sucks recalling how hyped we all were about Dominator now that we know that she didn't quite work out the way we were all hoping for…

But regardless, s2 had a very strong start. Outside of the premiere, my favorites of this first batch would easily be The Boy Wander and The It for both just being incredibly funny. Although, if you had asked me at the time though, I probably would have said the Skeleton Dance fueled eps that were The Big Day and the Fremergency Fronfract - and like, yeah those eps can still be funny and enjoyable, but I've definitely cooled on the Skeleton Dance ship since these eps first premiered. (Still love a lot of the cute fanon stuff though)

Skipping past the next tent-pole episode for right now, this season had two of my favorite episodes of the ENTIRE SERIES - these being The Cartoon and The Black Cube. The former is just hilarious while the latter has a unique visual presentation and feels like an early s1 ep, and I mean that in the best possible way. I also really enjoy the Eye on the Skullship as well as the Hole… 'Lotta Nuthin' (this one especially, as it's another instance where, for as good as the ep is as a whole, it's the heartwarming lesson and hilarious ending that makes it such a winner in my book).

But for as much as the show was still putting out hits, I'll admit that there were also quite a few meh or just okay eps, especially as the season goes on. Some eps I found funny when I first watched them, but that humor doesn't hit as well when I watch them now. I also feel like there were points where it tried to be TOO silly to the point where it inhibited the actual humor and made the characters flatter and a bit flanderized compared to how they were in s1 (Hater especially got hit bad with this, where it’s less about him ‘softening up’ to show that he has the potential to be a good guy, and more just him constantly leaning into him being a bratty teenager instead of having that mix of dumb/bratty teen boy and legit evil conqueror).

Other times, it was just another case of a story not being as good as it could have been - and by this point in the season, while there are still enjoyable eps with fun concepts/jokes in the latter half of the series, the only one to get near the peak of the show's typical high quality is the musical ep, and if we're being real, it's Andy Bean's impeccable songwriting that saves this ep and makes it so good to rewatch despite its connection to the season's flawed overall story.

And I think it's about time we talk about that…

Not Quite Ready for Serialization

Being a show that was made right after Gravity Falls but before stuff like Star VS, Amphibia, and Owl House, s2 of WoY felt like a show with one foot stuck in episodic stuff and one foot trying to step into serialization. Because of this, the season’s overarching plot feels incredibly underbaked.

Now… Am I saying that I’d want the show to be like ATLA where every episode had to relate back to either the overarching story or one of the side-arcs? No, absolutely not. We’d be missing out on some of my favorite one-shot episodes if they did that, and if I had to choose between the season we have now and the season we could have gotten had the WoY crew gotten more freedom and were allowed more serialization, I’m going with the former each and every time.

HOWEVER, I still have to acknowledge just how poorly done the structure of this season was when it came to the overarching story. Basically we got four tentpole episodes acting as the season’s beginning, arc shifts and ending. During the season’s second and third arcs, there would be certain episodes afterwards reacting to the change in the show’s status quo.

Now, I get what they were TRYING to do but in my opinion it just really didn’t work as well as it could have. I’ll talk more about this in a bit but the season’s second arc (the “romance” arc) definitely got tiring after a while, meanwhile the third “Stop Dominator” arc felt like it was sort of killing time given that it was mostly just the main 4 trying to find some sort of weapon/figure out some sort of plan that ultimately resulted in some ‘funny’ failures and some quick lessons, with the occasional character piece thrown in here or there.

Now, I didn’t hate these episodes. By this point, it should be evident that one of my favorite elements of WoY are its morals and lessons, so even if the episodes themselves didn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things and were essentially filler, I can at least appreciate a message like “being sad doesn’t mean you’ve given up hope” or “allowing yourself to laugh even in the dark times can help a ton”. So yeah, not completely pointless.

Unfortunately, even with a few bright spots here and there, the overarching plot of s2 still feels underbaked somewhat - and that’s ultimately because of the new character its focused around.

Dominator’s Dilemma

Okay, fess up. Whose idea was it to completely exclude Dominator from the first six episodes of the season (after the s2 premiere)? Because WOW does this decision backfire a lot. I don’t even like Dom that much and I can still acknowledge that she needed much more screen time and focus than she got.

I don’t know if this was to build up the ‘mystery’ surrounding her or because they wanted to get back in the groove of writing the main 4, but this was the crew’s first crucial mistake. Hell, in the first two episodes she plays an active role in, she’s nearly silent in both of them, only having her little fangirl rant in The Greater Hater and a small handful of lines in The Battle Royals. (Which, if I’m being honest, is still a really fun episode for 90% of it, having both great action and absolutely hilarious jokes that still make me laugh, but I get the ending of it making people sour on the episode as a whole.)

Again, it felt like trying to build up this artificial mystery surrounding her when it really wasn’t necessary. Dominator was meant to be a MAIN MEMBER of the cast! Yet I’m pretty sure Emperor Awesome got more significant screen time than her in the end!

Things got a teeny bit better as the show went on, with Dom at the very least getting more lines and more moments to be both badass and totally villainous, but she still felt more like a goal/obstacle than an actual character. I’m not sure if the writers MEANT to do this persay, or if it was just an accident.

Ultimately, it wasn’t until The Night Out when Dom finally got a spotlight episode… which was a little over 3/4ths of the way through the season. You could argue that she also got a bit of characterization in the musical episode, but it was really more emphasizing what we already knew or could infer about her. 

The Night Out, meanwhile, gives us something new - that she’s lonely - and we get a teeny hint of this again in The Robomechabotatron before being told outright in the series finale. Ultimately, it truly does feel like too little too late - especially when her secretly desiring friends just sorta feels like it’s aping off Hater’s secret motivations of wanting to be liked/admired and to have friends/people who love him for who he is.

So yeah, the crew completely dropped the ball on Dom’s characterization, using her as just a goal/threat/obstacle/etc. for nearly all of her appearances. Not only does it make Dom feel like a shallow character, but it also just feels unfair in general. Practically everything we know about Dom is for the sake of other characters.

She’s a test for Wander, an enemy/temporary love interest for Hater, an obstacle for our main four to overcome, and a threat to the characters we already love. Again, there’s nothing wrong with having a character that’s only meant to serve a purpose in the narrative, nor is there anything wrong with a character being shallowly evil… it’s just that the WoY crew hyped her up so much and claimed that she was a fifth main character (implying that she would get about as much development as the main four), so it just felt all the more disappointing when we didn’t get that. Add in her character design - a mix of goth/punk girl energy with Hartman Hips - and it does feel just a tad misogynistic.

There were things I liked about Dom - her cool lava powers and gadgets, her excitable personality, her villain spotlight moments, and her fun vocal performance provided by Noel Wells were all excellent. But unfortunately, these were all surface-level elements, and the crew just didn’t put in enough time to give her much else, essentially saving all her deeper character stuff for the never-made season 3…

A love-hate relationship (leaning towards hate)

Of course you can’t talk about Dom without discussing the season’s second arc, which many see as both a tumor on the plot and the absolute low point of the season. Admittedly when I was watching the season for the first time, I didn’t mind the romance arc all that much. I didn’t care if Dom was getting short-changed, I was too busy laughing at Hater falling all over himself like a dork and thought all the ‘critics’ of the arc were just focusing on the wrong thing and didn’t know how to have fun with a silly cartoon.

Obviously, this was the wrong perspective to have about this sort of thing (I was in the mindset of “I don’t want to accidentally make myself hate this thing I love so I’m going to ignore all criticism of it”. Definitely not the right approach), one that I still apologize for because the critics were totally in the right. From both an objective and a storytelling standpoint, this arc was just the worst - and for several reasons.

Leaning into the overall problem with Dom herself as mentioned previously, this arc was focused solely on Hater and Wander (and to an extent Syl and Peeps as they tried to talk some sense into their respective friends). Whenever Dom was brought in, she either used Hater’s crush to mess with him or just ignored it entirely, being obviously annoyed - and that was the extent of focus that her feelings got.

Outside of those moments, however, Dom’s feelings are relegated to the background, deemed as ‘unimportant’. Sure, in the climax of the arc, she gets this big whole musical number about how she’s “not the damsel” and isn’t interested in Hater’s affections - but again, it’s at the VERY END of the arc and the moment is less about Dom standing up for herself and more about emphasizing just how cruel she can be, as instead of simply rejecting Hater’s advances, she laughs in his face, continuing to mess with him to try and make the rejection as painful as possible before ultimately trying to kill Hater.

But while the arc ends in a showy (and admittedly still kinda fun, thank you Andy Bean and your musical talents) way, the way it starts sorta proves why this idea was so rotten to the core. The ONLY reason why Wander tries to get Hater and Dom together is ONLY because he knows Hater wants a GF and believes that a ‘positive’ thing like love could only ever result in the two villains finding happiness and no longer being evil. Nevermind the fact that Wander is shown only really caring about Hater’s perspective, not once considering Dom’s feelings or even asking if she wants a BF or romantic partner in general.

We get Syl calling him out on this a couple of times, but it’s in that ‘oh that Wander, always with the crazy ideas’ way. You’d think Sylvia, the icon that she is, would be just a bit more blunt and maybe even a bit harsh about how Wander’s treating Dominator - it’s not just a matter of it being a dumb and dangerous plan, but it’s essentially objectifying Dom, treating her like Hater’s missing piece. But hey, it’s fiiiiine, because Wander learns his lesson in the end, right? Except, no not really.

Because even when Wander FINALLY realizes this and feels guilty about causing so much trouble, Syl is more concerned with comforting Wander about it, because he TRIED to do what he thought was right and that “acknowledging you messed up is the first step towards making things right”. Like… yeah I guess but you could have let Wander actually acknowledge what he did was wrong and super messed up, focusing more on the personal aspect of how his whole romance scheme affected Dom AS WELL AS Hater (not JUST Hater) instead of how his scheme broke Hater’s heart and inadvertently made Dom more powerful.

(Also we see Wander shipping and actively pairing up the little Pikmin things in “The Sky Guy” soooooo no I don’t think he fully learned his lesson)

I also have to bring up how there are fans who view Dominator and her whole anti-love thing as aphobic. As someone who only recently figured out she was almost definitely aromantic, I’m certainly not the authority on this, but I can certainly understand the critiques.

What I THINK the WoY Crew was trying to go for was a ‘strong female villain who don’t need no man’, but between Dom constantly being described as ‘heartless’ and Peeps saying that he “doesn’t think she likes anybody” and her cruelty being turned up to 11 whenever someone expressed romantic feelings towards her, it does sorta imply “She can’t love and THAT’S why she’s a villainous monster” rather than simply “she’s a villainous monster”. And because we don’t get any real development or strong characterization with Dom, it’s hard to say where exactly her cruelty comes from, so it’s hard to really argue against these implications without simply inserting headcanons like “Dom is a lesbian”.

Now to be fair, I have seen some aromantics see Dom as good representation - I recall a month or so back when I saw people praising her after she was included in one of those Tumblr polls, with this one being focused on aromantic characters, saying that they liked how she didn’t sugarcoat her rejections and seeing her as this strong, cool, badass villainous who didn’t need romance. So yeah, obviously not every person who shares an identity is going to agree on representation and whether or not it's good, but considering all of Dom’s baggage and the inability to determine whether or not her heartlessness is the cause of her evil or simply a by-product of it, I personally feel like she’s just too messy of an example of a potential aro character.

(Honestly, Syl feels like a better example of an aromantic character to me, given that she and Ryder seemed just as platonic as she and Wander are, as well as her multiple rejections of Awesome and general disinterest/discomfort with romance. Buuut given that those latter examples are specifically with villains and thus it makes sense why she’d reject them regardless of her orientation, it’s still just a vibe/headcanon).

Before I close off this section, I do wanna acknowledge that beyond the potentially aphobic nature of Dominator, WoY’s LGBTQ+ rep isn’t nearly as great as I thought it was once upon a time as a young shipper. Some parts are still pretty okay, like Wander being coded as genderfluid/agender, but overall it still feels more like an old Looney Tunes cartoon than an episode of “The Owl House”, if you get what I’m saying.

In Craig’s defense, the man has never been all too interested in romance in his shows nor has he claimed otherwise - he either uses it as a joke while portraying it as a negative (see Ms.KeenexProf.Utonium, BlooxBerry or, obviously, DomxHater) or it’s a wholesome relationship that ultimately still stays in the background because it’s not all that important (see DracorxDemurra or Ramona and Carlos Flores from “Kid Cosmic”). 

BUT given that there were LGBTQ+ crew members working on the show in s2, such as N.D. Stevenson, as well as LGBTQ+ allies, it is a shame that no proper representation came of that. We got a whole episode where the joke was “oh, Wander and Hater are planning Wander’s execution like it’s a wedding”, an episode where Peeps and Hater essentially break up when Hater fires him, and an “I just can’t quit you” sort of moment from Peeps in the s2 finale when he goes all heart-eyed over Hater deciding to continue being a villain. That’s it, all jokes but nothing substantial. Even the show’s number one lesbian/wlw pairing of SylxDom got a quick Girls Night montage and one sweet moment between them, nothing else.

Again, it’s fine if you’re just looking for jokes, and yeah the WoY Crew never outright promised any romances… buuuut given how much they chose to lean into the Skeleton Dance and DeathGlare stuff while at the same time never outright confirming any of these characters as LGBTQ+ (they didn’t even have to make any ships canon, they just had to say whether or not Wander/Hater/Peeps were gay/bi/pan/etc), I’m not gonna invalidate people who feel just a bit queerbaited about the whole thing.

Bittersweet Goodbyes

As I said before, I was starting college when WoY first premiered. It’s the show that led me to my best friend and it’s the show that helped me through those first two years of college (easily the roughest part of college). It was a show that made me laugh and got me excited, even during the times where I was stressed out or worried. For all its flaws, it was one of the brightest lights in my life at that time.

So, needless to say, when I heard the show was canceled, I was devastated. I remember crying about it that night and even the day after, and I remember joining in as many online strategies as possible to try and get the show back, from letter writing to petition signing. Of course none of that worked, but as a bright side, going through this helped emotionally prepare me for the next time one of my favorite shows was suddenly canceled (looking at you Nickelodeon. Though considering how the RotTMNT movie turned out maaaaybe it was for the best…)

Honestly, for as much as I can look at the show through a critical lens nowadays and point out all the ways it could have been better, I think there will always be a small part of me that wishes we could have gotten some sort of continuation, whether it be through a special, a TV movie or a comic - or hell, I’d even take the plans for s3 leaking at this point. Now, given that the end of WoY brought about the creation of “Kid Cosmic”, I feel like this part has faded a bit, but I’m always gonna want closure on things like Hater’s arc as well as his origins given how much they were teased.

But that in itself is another critique I could give the show. Whether it be Wander facing a different type of threat that wasn’t just another villain, Hater’s transition into becoming a good guy, Peepers getting fed up with his boss and striking out on his own, or Dom’s true characterization that the crew kept insisting was there - the show simply saved a lot of it’s most interesting ideas for a potential Season 3. It was a gamble, and it was one they ultimately lost. It sucks, but it is what it is.

There’s a few more things I could critique about the show, such as its take on the idea of character redemption and Wander becoming a bit of a karma houdini that the show pretty much stopped calling out, and while these critiques are valid I feel like there are other fans who could do a better job talking about those points. But in the end, while season 2 was both a let down in some parts and a bit of a mess in others, I still feel like there were ultimately more good things to be found within the show than bad things.

It’s not a perfect show, far from it. Frankly, I don’t look down on anyone who fell out of love with this show or enjoyed s1 but hated s2. But for what it’s worth, the memories I got from the show are still ones I treasure, and episodes like “The Good Deed”, “The Little Guy”, “The Nice Guy”, “The Epic Quest”, “The Rider”, “The Boy Wander”, “The Black Cube”, “The Hole… Lotta’ Nuthin’” and “The Cartoon” are ones I still love to bits and will probably always love as I watch them over and over.

Disney Channel itself may not care all that much about this show these days save for an occasional rerun or a quick cameo in their Chibi-Verse shorts, but I’m always gonna remember it - for better and for worse. So here’s to 10 years, WoY. I may not always like you, but I still love you.

[distort-opia]

Have we talked about how bonkers it is to get married to someone else while wearing the symbol of your fucked up bond with the undead dark wizard corpse you rose from the dead? It's probably been discussed already, but I need to exorcise all my thoughts on Nosferatu (2024)... so yeah, I just find it such a deliciously insidious choice. When Ellen wears her wedding dress at the end of the movie, welcoming Orlok, she has dried lilacs in her hair from her prior wedding to Thomas, as the shooting script itself confirms. And Ellen had to know that marrying Thomas would break her Covenant with Orlok, right? She swore to be with Orlok ever-eternally, and then swore the same thing to Thomas at a chapel. Later, she tells Thomas, "He took me as his lover then, and now he has come back. He has discovered our marriage and has come back!" She must've had some inkling of what would happen, if she broke her Vow. So then what must've gone through her mind, to put those specific flowers in her hair as she was giving herself to another?

I got so long with this one, hence the cut. In fair warning, this interpretation is very Ellen x Orlok oriented, so if that's not your preferred view on the movie, you might not enjoy reading the rest.

It's almost mocking, her flaunting of lilacs as she marries Thomas. It's almost a "come back and get me". It's almost as if she knew she was preparing this dress for a different kind of wedding ("I have brought this evil upon us"). It's keeping in tone with that dark, eerie scene of Ellen clipping her hair and putting it in the locket, to give to Thomas... but as we know, the locket ends up with Orlok instead. And he uses that lilac-perfumed lock of hair to re-establish his hold on Ellen! It's as if she sent him a means of communication with her, because prior to Orlok obtaining the locket, we don't see him speaking to Ellen. The Covenant between them was broken by her, and Orlok needed to use earthly means of influence via Herr Knock in order to get to her and her husband. Of course, she has premonitions (her nightmare of marrying Death, steeped in the scent of lilacs once more) but it's not a dream induced by Orlok; it's part of her own psychic powers. And so, by putting a lock of hair inside the locket, knowing where Thomas was going... she gives Orlok a way to talk to her. Because we constantly see him use the locket as an anchor of some kind, as he spreads his influence towards Ellen. And then, all the while afterwards in her trances, Ellen moans "He is coming to me, he is coming..." Gleeful, orgasmic.

Am I saying Ellen intentionally and in full awareness did these things, so that Orlok would come to her? No, not entirely. I don't think it's something so planned and so conscious. She is as terrified and hateful towards Orlok as she is attracted to him, and that's the thing. It's a compulsion, a yearning. All along, through the entire movie, Ellen yearns. It's all over the shooting script; she pines and wants and hungers, in relation to Thomas, and to Anna, and to Orlok himself. And it isn't something spiritual. It's a yearning for touch.

"I frightened him [my father]. My touch..." Ellen says to Von Franz, when he consults for her. She feels the need to highlight that, as if her father recoiling from her touch was the hardest part she had to bear, the thing that made her the most lonely-- desperate enough to call out for any kind of companionship and tenderness. At the beginning of the film, before Thomas leaves, we see how much skinship Ellen seeks with her husband; she asks him to stay and make love to her when he was late for his meeting with Knock, they kiss each other ravenously after the Hardings depart to put the children to sleep. And both times, the script describes Ellen as "hungry". Even when Thomas leaves and gives her a small goodbye kiss, the text says "It's not enough for Ellen." Later in the movie, after Thomas is returned and dreams horribly due to Orlok's influence, Ellen is cuddling with him, but he pushes her away, asking her to "get off". She feels rejected enough that she seeks out someone else's physical touch-- Anna's, with whom we see her in bed next, and once again, the script uses "yearning" more than once to describe Ellen's behavior.

The theme of repressed sexuality and how in Victorian times, a female want for sex was demonized, has been discussed again and again in relation to Nosferatu (2024). Orlok is, indeed, a dark mirror to Ellen's desires: he is monstrous because she sees her own wants as monstrous. He destroys and brings disease, because Ellen sees that part of herself as destructive and unclean. But I do think there's a fascinating element to Ellen's nature that is not part of Orlok's symbolism, but rather extends to him as a character... her ravenous appetite for love. Her father deprived her of it, but the Shadow that came to her when she called was just that-- a shadow. A presence. It was not a person that could hold her, a person she might touch. Orlok, a spirit only, was not enough. He himself says it, while he's on the ship set for Wisburg. "Soon I will be no more a shadow to you." And this line was cut from the movie, but in the 2023 script, he also says, "Your spirit was never enough."

It was the script that made me think of this whole thing, really. Mostly because of how it describes their first meeting:

"...for the first time, she faces him in THE FLESH." It's emphasized. It's important, that Orlok is not a shadow here. That he is there, that Ellen can feel him and smell the blood on his breath. But the most damning thing she accuses him of? "You cannot love." As if that's the most important part for her, as if saying "That's what I need from you, and you can't give it to me". And Orlok admits that he cannot love her the way Thomas does, but that he hungers for her nonetheless.

I don't know, I just find this a much more compelling interpretation than a simple "Ellen is Orlok's victim and he is her abuser". Yes, Orlok is an appetite, but so is Ellen. Ellen is an active participant. She is the one to summon Orlok, the one to dictate his actions via his sheer want of her, the one to lure him to her so she could indulge her desire. Except, as it is a staple of dark and gothic romances, Ellen cannot directly act upon what she wants. Not like Orlok can. That's the point-- her desires are repressed, she believes them to be shameful, and so she needs an excuse to let them out. That's what characters like Orlok, who threaten and coerce, provide. A way to give in that preserves the heroine's "purity"; she sacrificed herself to save Thomas and Wisburg! She said she abhored him, she wanted Orlok dead! But then, why wear lilacs at her wedding? Why give Thomas the locket with the lilac-scented strand of hair? Why call Orlok her lover? Why wear a wedding dress and then cradle him in her arms as they died together, once again needing to touch him?

And I will say, it's great how this conflict, this self-hatred regarding her own feelings, is contrasted also in Orlok. "Till you did wake me, enchantress..." "You are my affliction." It's almost scornful, accusatory. You get the feeling he resents how much influence Ellen has on him, but he cannot help himself in the slightest. He denies that it's love, he says he cannot love-- but we have to keep in mind what he says prior. "Love is inferior to you." He considers love a weakness, something that he (as something inhuman, and something he believes Ellen is as well) is above of. But love is Ellen's craving, while life is Orlok's. Orlok is equated to Death. An all-consuming appetite, and they end up infecting each other with it, and then hating themselves for it. Ellen is oppressed by the society around her; her father had nearly institutionalized her, she had to marry Thomas to escape him. She is seen as strange and ill, as having "childish fancies", even by her own husband. She is tied to a bed and quieted down with drugs in the house of a man who's pretty much a representative of benevolent patriarchy. And so, does she not hate them all for doing this to her? Orlok bringing death and destruction on the society and people who stifled her is no coincidence, obviously.

But then again, Orlok ends up with a yearning for a person. Desire for someone's soul and body, not just their life-blood, which is ultimately something human... and he can't deny her, not even when he knows he would die. In that first scene in which Ellen calls upon him, he says "You are not for the living. You are not of human kind." It's the unspoken "You are for me. You are like me," that dooms him to an inescapable obsession, his own version of Ellen's yearning.

Ultimately, the human is a little bit monstrous, and dies for it. And the monster is a little bit human, and dies for it too. I, for one, am fucking obsessed with it.

[wordbunch]

oh, how unreasonable [Halbrand]

LONG A/N: I hope yall have lots of fun and feels while reading this, and I am living for any comments and impressions ♡ if it is slight ooc, I really don't care. If you don't consider Halbrand a warning in itself, then the only warning I have is occasionally suggestive conversation.

❗️this is essentialy Halbrand x my OC Díorien (she), who is a half-elf with the other half of her roots unknown, but there are no physical descriptions - feel free to consider it a reader insert. The only extra bit of knowledge is that she can use fire magic (hence multiple fire references), she is more-less one of the elves but not fully, and is very much on the fence about who to side with. A girl is struggling

I wholeheartedly recommend these 2 songs for the mood ♡

“So it is true.” 

“What is?”

“That evil never sleeps?” Díorien’s face appeared in warm candlelight amid the dark room. Her eyes scanned the figure in front of her with equal parts disdain and intrigue.

“Ever so witty, my queen,” Halbrand cackled, positioned in front of the door of Díorien’s private chambers. “How could I sleep, knowing you are here, and not by my side in a realm of our own creation?”

Cautiously he began to approach her bed, thick darkness everywhere except for the cool glow of the moon through the large window above her headboard, and the candle in her hand she had lit seconds ago. Fitting. 

“What brings you here?” she inquired dryly, pretending with all her might that his presence in the dead of night wasn’t making her shiver from head to toe. Having just awoken abruptly, she needed a few moments to wrap her head around the situation and realize she was dressed only in a delicate, sheer nightgown with sheets bunched up around her waist and legs. Swallowing thickly, Díorien decided to just pretend she was dressed properly - however, she was convinced Halbrand could see right through her anyway. Somehow he was always able to. 

“What brings me here is…” he began, voice heavy with something inexplicable, “the fact that the most enchanting, strong, passionate woman in the world, does not want to partake in that world with me.”

“But how could I, Halbrand?” She defended herself, not fully convinced she stood behind her own words. The way his eyes pored over her vulnerable form in the candlelight pulled the very ground from beneath her feet. “Y-you want me to-”

“I want you to rule with me, I want you to be my other half, I want you to come with me somewhere you will be not cast aside, but worshipped.” All decorum aside, Halbrand sat on the edge of her bed, and he could see her swallow thickly. If he said that heat wasn’t overcoming his whole body in her presence, that would be a very transparent lie, since that usually was the effect that she had on him. And he knew that she knew about it very well. “They do not understand you. They do not drive you to grow greater, to aim for more - they do not see you the way that I see you, Díor.” He was sliding one hand slowly over the mattress towards Díorien’s hand which was tightly clutching the silky sheets. “I know how that feels, my starlight, because that is how they are to me as well. But not you. Not you. You know my mind like you have walked the very steps inside of it. And I - I see the greatness that burns within you, the flame that terrifies everyone else, except someone who has walked through fire before.” His voice was quiet and gruff, but with an edge of persistence.

“Halbrand-” she whispered, furrowed eyebrows reflecting her inner turmoil.

“When you say my name like that, I am willing to throw the rest of the world away and just live in you instead.” He interrupted her eagerly, but she cleared her throat, determined to continue.

but you’ve come to offer, i’m here to receive / your face is my gospel, your body my creed / bring me to your altar, drop me to my knees / the more i worship, the more i believe 

“You are asking me to betray my own kin-”

“And you would betray your own heart.”

His calloused hand found his way to her closed fist and wrapped around it. Had the windows not been open and graciously letting in a light breeze, Díorien would have combusted then and there. In spite of that, she allowed him to touch her. 

“Do I not make you feel better than any of them, my queen? Do I not make you feel euphoric, boundless? I find it hard to believe you have already forgotten how we relished in each other, away from any judgemental glare,” he pressed with a deceitful pout. His other hand found its way to her bare shoulder, his touch almost scathing in the crackling air.

“Even when I try to bury those memories, they come back all the stronger, and I tremble every time I feel the ghost of your lips on my body” she admitted earnestly, her eyes bearing a striking vulnerability. “I feel you even when I least wish to do so, but I do not believe you and your proposals and schemes.”

it’s not fair, oh, it’s not fair how much i love you / it’s not fair ‘cause you make me ache, you bastard

Halbrand sighed away a self-satisfied smile, composing himself before speaking up once again. “You would not be betraying any of them - I need you to establish a new order with me, I need you to save your beloved world with me. You would not be betraying anyone, quite the contrary, you would be their savior, and nobody would have any right to pass you any judgment.”

There were a few steady beats of silence, the only moving thing the meek, flickering flame of a single candle on the windowsill, and the light that it cast on all around it. 

“Do you speak of betrayal because you were conditioned to do so, or because you feel that way truly? You speak of your kin, but are they, really? What makes you anymore closely bound to any of them, than it does to me? Had you been so important to each other, you wouldn’t have been treated like some lesser-”

Díorien interrupted his barrage of questions before his voice could adopt an even more venomous tone than it just had.

“And what do you know of true feelings, of truth in any capacity?” She chuckled dryly, hoping to have finally caught him off guard. In that moment, the only perfectly true thing about her was the fact that she was holding onto her morality by a thread, weakening by the second. He knew too well exactly where to hit her, and how, and she was aware that she had entered a battle inevitably to be lost. 

“The way I feel with your hands on me is the only measure of truth I need. You are the very flame of my heart.” 

Whether her senses and sanity were failing, or was there something so genuine and frail in the way he delivered his confession, there was no way to tell. Their eyes met as an abundance of feelings grazed his facial expression. 

and if you asked me to, if you asked me, i would lose it all / like petals in a storm / ‘cause darling, i was born to press my head between your shoulder blades, at night when light is fading

The thread weakened to become next to nothing. Against her better judgment, Díorien reached out a warm hand to remove a stray curl that had fallen over Halbrand’s eyes. He himself was growing uncertain of what exactly he was holding onto. Perhaps it was just her existence, just her closeness, her overt ferocity and her inescapable radiance. He only knew he wanted more of it, all of it, until the end of all the ages of the world. 

“But if your plan for a newly established perfect harmony fails, what then, Halbrand?” Díorien’s tone was stiff yet hushed, but it was all false pretenses; those troubled eyes, unruly hair and towering height had broken through her guard one too many times already. She sat there, defeated, all but vibrating with things left unsaid, and the expectations of things yet to be heard. 

“We would still have one another,” he retorted with a pinch of desperation in his voice, and you would still have thousands… millions, under your merciful hand.” He touched her jawline, brushing over her lower lip with his thumb. “And me, merely a breath away from your lips.” Halbrand’s eyebrow twitched upwards ever so slightly; she would have missed it had she not been so familiar with almost all of his crevices and corners. “You would have tried saving the elves, saving Middle-earth, if that is necessary to still your conscience. But failure of my mission or not - in the end you still come out a winner. We do.” His hand found her trembling fingers, firmly bringing them to his lips, never ceasing to hold her gaze. 

“When you look at me like that,” she whispered, subconsciously leaning into his touch and toward his face, “I find myself failing to draw a single breath,” she finished shakily, mentally cursing herself for falling under his influence time and time again. Although she had aimed to hold her ground, she was walking a thin line between the right choice and the reckless one. But, oh, the reckless one had a smile which made her forget her own name, and the rasp in his voice drowned out even the sweetest elven melodies. She wasn’t walking a line - she was falling over it right into the strong arms of her ravishing, twisted enemy (or at least whom she was raised to believe was one). 

Halbrand offered her a devilish, partially relieved, grin as he pulled her onto his lap in one swift motion, twisted sheets and all; she drew in a sharp breath weaving both of her hands into his unruly hair. Forehead against forehead, they were now painfully aware of both of their strained breathing and the thrill that was palpable in the, until very recently still, air. Díorien eagerly renounced the last bits of her poise as soon as his face was buried in her tender neck, his beard deliciously scratching her skin. However, as soon as she let out a sweet breath of pleasure, Halbrand moved away to look into her face again.

“Is that a yes, my queen?” he whispered, looking up at her through his lashes, his hands firmly dug into her hips. 

“It is anything you want it to be, my king,” her answer was hurried, desperate, starving, merely a millisecond before she collided her lips with his. 

It didn’t take long before Halbrand maneuvered them so that he was hovering over the wide-eyed girl with fire inside her body and heart.  

“I think it is time I make you forget all those wretched little excuses you tried giving me, darling,” he murmured into her skin before hastily blowing out the candle.

oh, how, oh how unreasonable / how unreasonably in love i am with everything you do / i’ll spend my days so close to you / ‘cause if i’m stood here, then i’m stood here / and i’ll stand here / i’ll stand here with you.

♡♡♡

shoutout to my most beloved 💖💖💖 @queenmeriadoc @lady-of-imladris

and @entishramblings i know you're not a ROP girl, but perhaps the writing style will be right up your alley 🥰

[ronearoundblindly]

How does mermaid reader feel about Steve? Like what is her take on their relationship?

just fair warning if you keep writing I’m gonna keep asking questions lol.

I...don't know what happened with this, but it was kinda fun! (unedited, not long, no real warnings except, yeah, he's a human and you're a mermaid, semi-angsty fluff!!)

Steve Rogers x deep sea mermaid!Reader from Sun, Salt, and Shield

Steve is a novelty.

Originally, you just considered him a split-tail with a crown of morning sunlight and high-ocean eyes. Later on, you learned it's called 'hair,' but a closer translation based on how mermaids see it is a 'mane.' Steve has a golden mane--something no one in your species has--hence, you think of it as a crown.

You were caged when you first saw him. That made you assume certain things when Steve walked up to the Raft's tank. Even in near darkness, his mane is bright. No other person you've encountered so far has that.

You're curious, frankly, but on-guard as always.

When humans are deprived of sleep, they can hallucinate, and mermaids are no different. You thought he was a complete figment of your imagination until Stark interacted with him, until Steve stepped into the water and put pressure across your heart and hips. The push of his hand, forcing your head against his chest, could have made you howl in relief.

All you wanted was to rest, but something in the back of your mind also told you not to scare him.

Stark, you don't mind scaring, Chuck is right where he belongs, excreted out into the industrial filters beyond the wall of your tank, but Steve? He must be protected.

He sees you. He listens to you.

You did not thing surfacers could do that. Not really. Not nicely. All humans want to do is control and take, use and abuse. However, you aren't afraid of them. You absolutely can kill any one of them that gets closer than you'd like. They're fragile.

But the way Steve grips you? Maybe he's not so fragile...

English is freaking hard. You learn quite a bit from Tony and then practice with Steve. You can feel his patience but love earning his admiration more. You find yourself wanting him to be proud of you and your progress.

You love making Steve laugh. It takes so long to figure out how to amuse him.

Numbers are a pain in the ass to learn because they have a concept, a symbol, and a written word. That's the point Tony halts teaching you to read alongside the verbal language. You threw a fit. He threw a fit. He left in a huff to cool off. You shrieked for Steve to come back for hours.

Eventually, when Tony returns, you threaten to eat him, and he calls it quits for the day.

Tony knew you favored Steve Rogers from day one. He planned to use that knowledge--and to some lesser extent, he did--but soon Tony simply realizes making you happy makes Steve happy...plus you cooperate and become an ambassador of sorts in your home realm.

You keep learning for Steve, not for Stark.

Mermen are, in your experience, domineering and uninspired. Their immense size differential to mermaids is useful to the brute-force model of society deep in the ocean, but they are boring. Your father is not stupid though. Almost none of them are stupid. Simple-minded remains the best translation you can manage.

Steve fascinates you. His attention to detail, his open nature, and his empathy are entirely new to you.

Mermen don't hide their baser instincts, so they freely ogle and flocked toward the most physiologically attractive mermaids. No interest in what's beneath the surface, ironically. Very shallow.

That's not to say bonds aren't possible. They absolutely are. Bonding with a partner is secondary at best, an afterthought most often, and unnecessary at worst.

Yet again, Steve wins you on every level--he has a sharp mind and acknowledges yours, he challenges your development without critique, and, lastly, he's quite attractive for how small and smooth he is.

"Should've seen me before," he once mumbled after you explained all that as well as your vocabulary would allow.

You don't know what he meant by that.

Because a certain level of indifference is common in couplings of your species, you were quite alarmed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable with how deep your affection for Steve became. You know how other humans react to you, and it doesn't build much confidence that one of them could feel this way about you.

During these long, repeated hugs with Steve, you realize that it's not just curiosity, or the novelty of his existence, or interest in learning from him: you feel about Steve how others feel about their mates.

Not gonna lie: that's terrifying. You don't actually know if Steve reciprocates. Sure, he explains human couples in great detail, and he shows you some of what he means, but all that could be...part of teaching you.

Until Steve discusses kissing, you convinced yourself he could not possibly harbor romantic affection for you.

It's lips against something, he says, that's all. His lips can press anywhere and boom! you've been kissed. He illustrates by kissing the back of your hand, kissing your cheek, kissing your forehead.

By now, your face is cradled in his hands. You can hear his heart racing as he sits on the steps in your pool and leans toward your body. His high-ocean eyes are shadowed as he looks down your face, captivated by--

"--your beautiful lips," he says, gently pressing his atop yours.

It's difficult to describe why something so simple hits so dramatically in your mind. The golden-maned man, almost the strongest of his species, amongst the softest of yours, kisses you like he needs to learn you, like he needs your existence, like he's curious.

There's a phrase you hum at the back of your throat once he releases you and sits up, a dusty rose painting his neck and cheeks.

"Swim beside me."

The better translation to English would be "I love you," but you haven't learned that yet.

Thank you for asking!

A/N: why am I crying?????

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[meirimerens]

Do you have recommendations on reading sth more experimental? 👀

fair warning a lot of the experimental shit i've read i've read in art school context so i have no idea if the classmates who made it published it somewhere + it is kinda hard to recommend experimental shit by virtue of it being experimental so i'm going to rec stuff that i consider like. "mainstream" experimental as in yeah an author wrote this. also the "actually unconventional" bar is pretty low starting from the stuff i was moaning about so well also ☝ love pushing upon people books i've read + i know for a fact i've pushed them before lollll so

mainstream as it goes: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. like you know?

unconventional in essence through shape. it is one book of ergodic literature and if you dig into ergodic literature you will find unconventionality that's kinda Its Thing. i understand by standards for "unconventional prose/pacing" get pretty high once you've put your eyes on this but like. i got more conventional in shape that still are unconventional in prose of pacing.

still mainstream-ish? if you're French? she was an author well-known and important in her time and place (she's still alive it's just that she was important as an author of the literary feminist wave in the 60s & 70s), Anankè by Hélène Cixous. i've read it in french and have no idea how it fares in english (or translated otherwise) but if you want unconventional pacing and prose you're getting unconventional pacing and prose. it is full to the brim with homonyms (hence why idk how it fares in english), of subject-to-attribute uncouplings (a verb conjugated for "I", a subject as "she"), words straight up made the fuck up through homonymy (like "téléfaune", from téléphone and faune [faun/satyr]). some sentences are 2 full pages long, reading them feels like trying to ride out an engine startle. it has no plot, it is about an internal trip, a self-actualization from girl to woman, or from chaperoned woman to free woman. you don't read this for plot, you read this to feel like you've traveled with your head through the open window, and for the imagery, god the imagery i find so very great. unlikely associations, quite sensorial. it's a short book but i've needed multiple tries to get through it because, as i've said, the long sentences feel like trying to hold onto a hand-cranked engine start. the pacing feels cyclical, like an endless stop and start, expressing the internal conflict. you have to hold onto it.

mainstream-ish again if you're french, Le Corps Lesbien [The Lesbian Body] by Monique Wittig. it's one of those where if you're not on that crazy shit you're gonna get yucked, it is endlessly violent in grotesque ways that make you horribly aware of all the anatomical details of your body. it alternates horrible and grotesque neverending violence with horrible and grotesque neverending tenderness (& sometimes neverending tenderness in/through grotesque violence or vice-versa). another one of those where the english translation cannot truly do it justice because french has "elles [female plural they]" and "ils [male plural they]" and wittig goes out of her way to never use ils [french has "masculine as default" grammatical gender]. in the french text, "je" (subject "I") is cleaved in twain: "j/e". In english, they've just italicized it; i think they'd have done well to use something like the polish ł to figure it. anyways barely a plot either. cyclical destruction in grotesque ways that both are anatomical impossible and yet horrifyingly anatomically-anchored. re:the violence in this i'm sure if you've read like. "extreme horror" novels by whichever male author of the month it is you probably won't flinch but i've read this after a long streak of nonfiction & poetry.

i think a bit less mainstream because i've been told about it in art school lol after i had partaken in a collective performance and my stuff had for base a poem about a roadkill that neverendingly dies then is reborn only to die again anyways Jaguar Harmonics by Anne Waldman. closer to poems than literature-in-prose (even if it is in prose instead of rhyme) it is about/from the yagé (ayahuasca) ritual by waldman, poet & buddhist & activist who brings in the text a lot of subjects and themes (the anthropocene, colonization, environmental and feminist concerns,...). it is poetry, so technicallyyyyyyy unconventional by nature as far as literature goes, + spoken poetry at that, i know for a fact there is a bandcamp where you can listen to the poems spoken/sung.

what else. since i'm on the topic of poetry check out Guillaume Apollinaire's Calligrammes i guess

you'll hate me for bringing it up again + it's poetry also againnnn LOL but The Oresteia as transladaptated by Tony Harrison. i find it's great english it uses words that brother i've never seen used. and i loooooove a made-up compound word the people know this about me. let's liven this shit up let's make words up!

French has l'Oulipo ("Ouvroir de littérature potentielle", "opener of potential literature") with representatives such as Raymond Queneau who made a book of poems that looks like this

OH AND HE MADE "EXERCISES DE STYLE" which i quite like also (99 times the same story written with different stylistic/literary constraints)

[somepsychopomp]

Would you be willing to share some of your headcanons for how you like the Greek gods to be portrayed? This could be about their character design, personalities, tidbits or anything else, and is not strictly limited to EPIC or PJO.

Yeah sure, but fair warning I ramble for way longer than is necessary or probably even wanted. Here we go:

Of all the Greek myth fandoms I've ever been a part of, I have to say hands-down my favorite portrayal of them (including appearance, mannerisms, etc) would be Hades the video game. I'm not gonna refer to Hades II in this response because I've yet to play it, but I absolutely love the world of Hades precisely because it's extremely clear Supergiant put a ton of effort and research into their characters.

Obviously, they took a few of their own tiny liberties (like giving a lot of the Chthonic characters pants/leggings, including neon colors/highlights, and little things like that), but for the most part, the breadth of their research is staggering. And the gods especially are incredibly well done imo. And it's probably not very remarkable of me to lavish praises on Hades when it's won pretty much every award a game could ever win, but it's earned it all and more.

The way the gods are adorned in gold and silver and vibrant colors (colors that would've had mortals in ancient Greece drooling with envy), and their regal yet petty mannerisms are so spot on and really in touch with actual mythology.

I just really love the gods in Hades. I don't think I actively make my own HCs for how the gods would behave because I don't really interact with mythology that way, but if I had to, they would pretty much fall in line with Hades' interpretation.

Which is going to make the rest of my response sound really, really mean in comparison. But I don't care. This is my honest opinion and I'm willing to stand by it.

In comparison to actual mythology & Hadesgame, PJO is fine at best. Rick made Ares a hothead bully who rides a motorcycle, Poseidon a fisherman in Hawaiian shirts, etc. It's fine. It's exactly how I would expect a man writing for kids to portray ancient mythological deities to make them palatable to his audience. And in the show version, they sort of tone down Ares' blatant aggressiveness by not giving him the fiery eyes, which I kinda wish they kept. I don't miss Poseidon's neon shirts tho.

The two things I'll give Rick credit for is that I actually really like the idea of Aphrodite changing appearances to best reflect the taste of whoever's viewing her, and Calypso being technically imprisoned on Ogygia for helping her father during the Titanomachy. But I also have an issue with these two characters in particular.

I think the vast majority of people who don't actually read the myths but interact with Greek myth-based fandoms (like PJO and Epic, of which there's probably a lot of overlap between) think these traits are canon to their original counterparts, but I'm like 98% sure both were Rick's own inventions. I really need to reread the actual Odyssey, it's long past due for me to refresh my memory, but I'm pretty sure Calypso was just a nymph/goddess who really wanted to bang Ody. And according to some sources, she was treated like the goddess of solitude/isolation, hence why she herself didn't or couldn't leave her island.

So people treating these PJO-isms as canon to mythology kinda drive me crazy yet I can't fault Rick for that. He was mixing mythology with his own ideas, like having monsters regularly resurrect. And that mixing of ideas is something a ton of authors before and after him also did/do, and I can't blame anyone for it.

But if I were to ever write an original novel based off of Greek mythology, I would 100% not use these interpretations for Aphrodite or Calypso because it already drives me insane how many people there are who love PJO, Epic, Hades, Lore Olympus, etc.... who don't ever try to read the source material and take everything they consume for granted.

Speaking of! There's this thing that the Epic fandom does a lot that I've never seen done in any other Greek mythology fandom before and I genuinely hate it. It's a huge pet peeve of mine and I don't think I'll ever be able to get over it.

To be clear, if you like this thing or want to portray the gods in this way, it's completely fine if you do so. It's not to my taste and I strongly dislike it, but how I feel shouldn't impact how anyone else wants to engage in the Epic fandom. But since you asked,

I really fucking hate designs of the gods that give them physical animal features.

To preface: I'm not saying this to sound haughty or smug or superior to anyone else, but I love Greek mythology so much that I got a minor in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies in college. I took Latin classes, read the original Iliad and Odyssey (translated into English bc I'm honestly not crazy enough to try to learn Ancient Greek), read Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Sappho, etc. (And especially anything written/translated by Anne Carson!) And I kept pretty much all the books from those classes. They're sitting on my shelf behind me as I type this very response.

All of this to say: I studied Greek mythology in a formal academic setting and loved every minute of it, even if learning Latin made me cry a few times from the sheer stress of it all. That's how much I love this stuff.

Granted, a decent chunk of my memory is a bit faded around the edges from a few years of being out of college, but I remember enough.

So, seeing countless portrayals of Zeus with bull horns & a tail, or Athena with owl wings, or Poseidon with horse/fish features... it all screams to me of a very surface level understanding of Greek mythology. Like someone who's not very familiar with the original myths or their authors/culture heard that Zeus' sacred animal was the bull and said to themselves, "Oh! He must've physically been part animal then!" or "Athena's sacred animal is the owl? She should have wings! That would look super cool!"

To be clear, I'm not trying to pretend that there's no Greek gods with animal features at all when Pan was a satyr. And depending on the interpretation, Hermes either had a helm with wings or wings sprouting from his actual head. But that half-animal, half-human hybridization is not the norm in Greek mythology or art.

But if an artist wanted to create a character inspired by Zeus and gave that OC bull horns and a tail or eagle features, that'd be completely fine by me.

But the Epic fandom definitely developed its own sort of Greek mythology subculture where its interpretation of the gods very much doesn't have to reflect actual mythology in order to be recognized as those mythic figures & accepted as such. Which is fine because Epic and the Odyssey aren't actually the same thing, despite some people assuming so.

I acknowledge that this animal/human trend isn't hurting anyone, but it bothers me personally because it feels so weird and alien to what I know.

And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Epic is how a lot of people got into Greek mythology in the first place. Ex. I remember Neal Illustrator saying in some stream or video that everything she learned about Greek mythology was from her comments & against her will, but she's done an absolutely stellar job portraying the gods in my opinion. (Also I'm assuming that statement is a bit of an exaggeration because I'm so certain she's def done her own research, and a lot of it.)

And that's because she and a few other artists do the same thing that Hades does: they understand moderation. IN MY HUMBLE AND INDIVIDUAL OPINION, Epic's love of gods with animal features is an example of a fandom sort of inflating a canon text to its extreme. In contrast, Hades is very meticulous in how it incorporates a god's sacred animals, colors, or motifs into their design.

Athena for example has Medusa's likeness embossed on her chest plate and perfectly balances a little golden owl on her finger, reflecting her mythology & her sacred animal in a way that's not super in your face. Plus, her overall appearance exudes grace and strength in equal measure while not discarding her femininity (peep those purple and pink draping cloths, a nod to her status as a weaver). And if you look really closely, she has gray eyes! Which isn't actually a thing Rick invented! Athena was often called Gray-Eyed in mythology! That is a fact!

Granted, would the people actually living in ancient Greece have imagined Athena with purple lipstick & hair, and a purple plume? Probably not, but Hades has gotten the essentials down so it's not as outrageous when they go crazy on their unique sense of stylization.

And just today actually, Neal posted an animatic featuring her design for Dionysus and it fucking rocks. Would highly recommend watching it!

My love of Neal's character design is already pretty well known so I'm just gonna also use her as another example. Her Dionysus has an undercut (or at least some shaved hair?), which probably wouldn't have been a thing in ancient Greece, but she nailed everything else. The leopard print cloak, the grapes ofc., and in another portion of her video, her Dionysus has a pinecone-topped staff! Which was a real symbol of his that isn't as widely known as the wine & leopard!

(Dionysus Riding Panther- Credit to the Archeological Museum of Pella)

Is Neal's interpretation of Dionysus hella stylized and modernized?

Yes, of course it is. Any depiction of an ancient figure by any artist will reflect said artist and the time period they inhabit. But it's not so over the top that it feels like she doesn't know what she's doing. Dionysus doesn't have leopard print skin or a tail and paws. He's an ostentatiously dressed, hedonistic young man and that's basically perfect.

To be completely fair, I also believe Neal went to animation school? Maybe I'm misremembering but I think she at least studied art in a formalized setting. Now, is it fair to compare the likes of Supergiant, which has a team & a dedicated budget at their disposal, to fans of Epic that just want to show their appreciation for Jorge's musical?

No, it's not. Is it even fair to compare a lot of casual fans to Neal, who has a lot of artistic training under her belt? Also no.

But those are some of the most readily available examples I think I can draw upon to make my point & what I enjoy in any depiction of the Greek gods. In contrast, I’ve seen some Epic artists give Athena a cloak/cape that resembles wings and IN MY OPINION design choices like those that take artful consideration of how to incorporate her sacred animal into her design are way cooler than just giving her actual owl wings.

I also didn't want to grab anyone's depictions of the gods where they do have animal features because I don't hate any one artist in particular or want to throw shade at them.

I just really don't like it when the Greek gods have animal parts. Again, in my opinion, it kind of fundamentally misunderstands what a sacred animal even is or how it functioned in mythology and/or Greek culture. In some cases, a god's sacred animal was a sign they were nearby and watching, or it was an omen of sorts, or it was just an extra detail in a piece of art, and in some other cases it was an irl crime to kill a god's sacred animal, stuff like that. I'm very much simplifying it and that's because it's almost 2 am for me and I'm very tired. In essence, the gods weren’t literally their sacred animal, though they could shapeshift if desired.

Which, disclaimer I guess, don't come at me being like "But what about XYZ from myths?"

I didn't major in classical studies. I don't have a job researching ancient history. My major was in creative writing, which means I was trained to examine stories, characters, and their presentations, and to some extent critique them with the intent of improving them. I just so happened to study Greek mythology enough to have a decent understanding of it and the culture it came from.

I acknowledge that most people in any Greek mythology fandom (again, whether that be PJO, Epic, Hades, etc) do not have the luxury of formally studying mythology, going to art school, or having a lot of money or people to do the researching for them. Nor do they always want to. Most people are just doing this and participating in the fandom for fun, and that's exactly what a fan community should be.

But you asked for my opinion, so here it is! Hope I haven't pissed anyone off in the process!

[freddyyeti]

Hmm some more thoughts and stuff. Date Everything spoilers under the cut as usual. Fair warning. It’s a long read.

I keep having to take breaks while I’m playing Date Everything. Especially after interacting with Freddy, which is usually first thing in the in-game morning.

I tried to talk to him after the events of the previous “day”, and he just stood silent and up and left. Upon Beverly intervening, she said how he’s been feeling awful about how he behaved yesterday, and is trying to avoid talking to everyone (and pointing out the safest bet to reason with him is to talk to him at night).

It made me start thinking. I was half-joking when I said that Freddy exhibits symptoms very similar to BPD, but I think this is the nail in the coffin for me. His sudden intense anger when the player offers to help him clean up the spoiled food in him (though I suppose that could be chalked down to the player refusing to listen to him and disrespecting his boundaries, hence him losing his temper), him self-isolating after you try to reason with him, his wish-washy relationships with the kitchen appliances… it all reminds me of myself.

I wouldn’t say I struggle quite as much regarding my temper as Freddy does, but the thing that specifically reminds me of myself is him self-isolating after conflict. Being conflict averse by nature, I have a violent fear of those I love possibly being hurt as a result of my actions. If I mess up, I apologize relentlessly and just… hide. The guilt of whatever I did crushing me.

Pardon the bad pictures, this is from when I was playing the Switch port and I got this scene for the first time. This specific line really sticks out to me, personally. He feels so ashamed of himself for a relatively small mistake, he devaluates himself. He consider himself such a terrible person over a fixable problem. And that, to me, hit extremely close to home.

I’ll spare the sob story, but the most reoccurring thought I have whenever I get stuck in my own head is this feeling that I ruin everyone’s lives. I’m not supposed to be here. Everyone would be so much happier without me in the picture. But that isn’t true at all. It’s hard to remind myself that, but it simply isn’t. And neither is Freddy’s worries.

Hindsight is making me think more on why I suddenly worried about Freddy hurting me. We have similar symptoms, why is it a problem when he exhibits them? But I think I was less scared of him, and more of the fact that he was reminding me of things I hate about myself.

I’m still gonna go about the game at my own pace. I’ll probably start playing again once I feel better. Freddy isn’t a perfect person. Neither am I. We might hurt each other, but the fact we still stay at each other’s sides despite seeing each other at our worst must mean something.

[the-gayest-show]

bro it's actually so annoying seeing neil gaiman mentions randomly in stuff now where i used to be excited before.

picked up a copy of fahrenheit 451 (good book, currently reading) and it's not supposed to be about him but he's got an intro section in this book man.

like i don't know what to think, feel. good omens was my lifeline for so long that neil gaiman became my favorite author when i explored his work. i loved the dark vibes about it and stuff, but now it's got me reexamining everything like it's been poisoned.

i still believe in the merit of stuff like good omens and i still have an appreciation for the stuff he made already but it's like i've been soured by all the news of him being a rapist. which i suppose is fair.

but now i see him randomly IN STUFF I DONT EVEN EXPECT HIM IN

i vaguely remember reading a short story where ray bradbury was listed as a huge inspo or something for neil and neil visited ray bradbury or something. so that's why neil's in my world classic book, but it's still annoying. doesn't taint fahrenheit 451 (once again, good book) but it's annoying how his intro words feel horribly wonky to me. i didn't even read the intro i just skipped to the ray bradbury story i wanted to read.

-

i still own a few of his books, i still own good omens merch (including neil's scriptbook too)

i get the whole "separate the art from artist" and i believe in it but it's damn different because this man was like. my role model for cool writing. and i liked the stuff he's made. i still love good omens (hence why im still rbing occasional posts) but i dont think i'll view it the same, even if s3 will not have him in it. a lot of his stories are very affecting like they changed my life (i LOVED ocean at the end of the lane) and he got me reading all his short stories when i read trigger warning (which i own a forever copy of in my home). ive read every single one in there and then borrowed other short story collections.

-

on the one hand this sucks but i've gained some life lessons from it. one time i made the curse/blessing (both at the same time) of posting a question on reddit asking whether there was physical evidence because i guess i was in denial? i was trying to rationalize everything in a frankly unrationalizable situation, and half the people shouted at me thinking i was a rape apologist (i was asking if there was more evidence that i havent seen because i used to be on the fence but leaning toward believin the survivors) and the other half actually took me at my word and gave me solid advice on how to understand everything (the latter i thank so much for seeing the confusion in everything and answering the real question i had).

like if i've learned anything is that this sucks. you CANT rationalize it and also that i'm not very good at understanding the big social picture and it took me mentioning being autistic to realize "man, the neurodevelopmental disorder that makes you bad at socializing affects how you interact with others in a greater social context!" (and also for half the redditors to realize that i wasn't trying to be mean) who knew. but hey some nice commenters genuinely woke me up and gave me actual viable advice that's actually useful and ive learned so much from that it's crazy.

that;s probably my only positive though. i still get icky looking at some stuff he wrote and was a part of but i suppose im getting thru this in my own way and i'll figure it out.

[pagegirlintraining]

helloo

i have been re-reading your sex-shop au (it's really good) you co-wrote with sb else and i have been wondering. in the sequel when stuff gets more explicit, how is it to write that? do you plan intimate scenes a lot or more than other scenes. what is important? or are they more spontaneous? is it a big challenge to write them together with sb else and do you read each others parts to give feedback? what kind of feedback?

haha that's quite a few questions but i'm curious :)

hi there anon :)

First of all thank you, that’s so sweet and I’m glad it’s holding up on the re-read too 🫶🏼

Now as for your questions, I’ll try going through them one by one. Just a warning, this might get a bit long (when asked about writing, I’ll always have a hard time shutting up again 😅).

Also disclaimer, I’m obviously not some sort of expert on this topic. This will only be an answer based on my personal experience.

1) do I plan explicit scenes more than others? - Not usually. In fact, the only real planning I do for them in any of my other fics is whether they’re gonna happen and where in the plot. The specifics are being decided as I write.

Obviously, with sex shop it was a bit different because we needed a different toy/gimmick to be included in each chapter. We actually made a list of six things we wanted to include beforehand, then each claimed the ones we felt like writing ourselves (or in my case, handed off the one I didn’t feel like writing). Beyond that, though, it was write as I went again.

2)what’s important in an intimate scene? - Emotions. I could read the most detailed description of a sexual act and feel nothing if it doesn’t include how the characters feel. That starts with what they perceive, what they hear, see, smell, feel etc. (think moans and such, the light catching in someone’s hair/eyes/on their skin, do they smell freshly showered and like a comfy hug or are they still sweaty from a run, the temperature or strength of someone’s touch and so on and so forth) and moves on to how the things they perceive make them feel in this moment. Most of the time, that second part is in some way amplified or modified by the fact that they’re experiencing it with this specific person, which is my personal favorite part about intimate scenes.

I’m sure there’s also plenty of people who lean more toward description heavy stuff, which is more than fine. It’s just not what I’m trying to do with my own writing.

3) are they more spontaneous? - kinda answered that one already but I’ll add that I’ve never been able to write out of chronological order, so every intimate scene is very much written with the previous parts of the story in mind. It’s spontaneous in what the specific sexual acts are, but I always know ahead of time what I want the characters to feel/think about/realize during them.

4) is it a challenge to write explicit scenes with someone else? - I guess it depends on the person, but in this case, not at all. I think it’s important though to discuss ahead of time if one or both parties are uncomfortable with writing or reading certain things.

Also, writing together mostly means we write different parts of the same story, hence we each write our own explicit stuff, then make sure both parts fit well together. So the real challenge is daring to show somebody else your vision and hoping they agree with it.

5) do we read each other’s parts to give feedback, and if so, what kind of feedback? - YES. That’s the best part of writing together imo, is hyping each other up but also getting to give and receive the kind of input that can make a story even better. To be fair, my feedback to most of @the-amber-fox’s smut is a pretty unhelpful combination of 🫠 and 🔥, but we make do 😂 from time to time we’ll suggest adding something, mostly if the other person’s a bit stuck. But yeah, most of it is just getting to read it ahead of everyone else and being happy about that 😁

I hope I could answer some of your questions in a helpful way 💜 Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think about this so explicitly (pun not intended). I’ve never done that before so that was fun :)

[justphilia]

Hello everynyan :3 I wrote somethang :]

Fandom: SPY x FAMILY (Anime) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Becky Blackbell & Anya Forger, Anya Forger & Loid Forger | Twilight & Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Damian Desmond & Anya Forger, Damian Desmond/Anya Forger, Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess Characters: Anya Forger, Becky Blackbell, Damian Desmond, Emile Elman, Ewen Egeburg, Loid Forger | Twilight, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Original Characters Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Background Relationships, (as in just like in canon, romance is not the focus), Theatre, Cinderella references (not disney), Comedy, Fluff, reads like an episode basically, Not Beta Read, Self-Indulgent

Preview:

As per yearly tradition, Eden Academy once again opens up auditions for every cohort to try and earn a spot on their respective theater plays. Scripts are predetermined, so all they really have to do is display their ability to act and memorize their scripts, and hence…

“You’ll get a Stella for landing a leading role?” her father raises his brows in surprise, definitely brimming with interest behind his wilting newspaper.

“Ye,” she nods once firmly, fists clenched up to her chest.

Anya wasn’t really interested in the theater play from the start, but Becky, with her fair share of interest towards drama and all things romantic, heard the storyline they picked for their cohort is going to be Cinderella—a classic among all ages—and so wouldn’t stop talking about it.

Overhearing this, Damian ended up revealing the Stella bit between his ramblings of, “I’m totally gonna land the prince’s role.” and “You’re gonna watch my wonderful performance on stage soon!”, which then prompted Anya to boldly declare that she’ll audition too.

It’s two birds one stone, she thought to herself as her father mulls it over. If she lands any lead roles, she’ll get a Stella and spend more time with Damian, boosting their friendship status.

“Oh, Anya,” he would say—she can already imagine it. “Acting with you was so fun! Let’s do more acting at my house and also bring your dad to meet my dad!”

“Okay dokey,” she would answer, very cooly but also surprised so he wouldn’t think she planned this.

“Hurray, you have achieved world peace, Anya!” her father would then say, right after. “Good job! Millions of peanuts for you!”

“Did you bring the script?” her real, non-fantasy father asks, snapping her out of her daydream. She nods once again, running to her bag to pull out a relatively thick script—about the width of her clenched fist, but still lighter than all her textbooks combined.

He does not say it, but she clearly hears him go, Oh dear. 

She lets him take a look, knowing it won’t take long because she’s seen how fast he can read, and makes her way over to her mother, who has busied herself with doing the laundry right next to her husband on the couch.

“Is mama any good at acting?” she asks, resting her cheek on one of her mother’s legs.

“Oh, I don’t really think so,” her mother laughs in reply, shaking her head. “I’ve never been an actor, and I’ve never tried.”

“What about you, papa?” Anya turns to her father, despite knowing fully well what his true answer will be. As bad of a liar he is, his ability to alter his expressions at will is definitely awesome. If Anya didn’t have the ability to read minds, she would’ve thought his feelings could change just as easily. 

“I’m not sure about stage performances, but I suppose I have to act a little in front of my patients,” he answers. She thought he would’ve said no flat out. “Otherwise, showing my true feelings may disrupt the trust between us.”

“Maybe I can become a star!” Anya says cheerfully, clasping her hands together as she dreams of herself on the red carpet. 

Her father’s smile strains, “Perhaps.”

[beautiful-songbird]

Hello! Hi! I see that you are an avid book reader and I am here to kindly ask for book reccomendation reccommendation recommendations. I at long last have some time to return to the wonderful world of reading and I very much long to hold a book in my hands and get lost, but alas I cannot find one that piques my interest. You look to have good taste and I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Yours sincerely,

Snurt

P.S. <3333333

P.P.S. Why is "recommendation" so hard to spell?

Hello friend! You don’t know how happy seeing this made me! 😆

Be warned this is going to be a long post because I read a lot of books last year that I loved…so…yeah…

I feel like I need more to work with than just “give me a book rec” butttt 🤔 I suppose we can make this work

I mostly read fantasy but I assume you knew that since you follow me 🤨👀

(Unless mentioned otherwise these are all trilogies or duologies)

If you like puzzle games I’d definitely recommend The Inheritance Games 😌 I thoroughly enjoyed that trilogy and it made my puzzle mind go brrrr

As for fantasy, I have quite a few to recommend

If you’re into classic fae (as in…darker stories I suppose) I’d recommend The Cruel Prince and These Hollow Vows. They both have deeply romantic undertones but they’re more heavily focused on the politics that the stories revolve around.

*The Cruel Prince also has two novellas that go with it and a sister duology about the main girl’s younger brother, so if you’re looking for a world to get immersed in and keep reading, I’d seriously recommend reading that entire world.

If you’re looking for more whimsical fantasy I’d recommend Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart. They’re sister series that are semi-connected and they both have very immersive fairytale vibes. These two are heavy on the romance aspect but they also have great plots that carry them!

If you’re into low fantasy where there’s a bit of magical element in the plot but it’s not overwhelming, I’d recommend Six of Crows and Defy the Night. Both of these books have amazing plots but they focus more heavily on the relationships between the characters and how they trauma they’ve experienced has shaped their personalities. Six of Crows is a lot heavier of a read, so if you’re looking for something lighter, start with Defy the Night.

If you’re looking for fantasy that’s just a bit fun, I’d go with Assistant to the Villain. This book was very silly and fun while also dealing with serious topics. It was, however, to my dismay, a trilogy with only one book out…so…be warned.

If you’re into dragons and war colleges I’d recommend Fourth Wing, but keep in mind that this one has smut and lots of swearing. Despite the fact that this is one of my favorite books, I give this recommendation very loosely because of the content in it.

As for standalones, I have a few great recs:

- The Forgetting

A sci-fi (?) mystery about a city where everyone loses their memory every 12 years. Lovely characters and great plot.

- The Half-Life of Love

Absolute tragedy of a story that you know will end awfully from the start but you read it anyways and then sob your eyes out.

- Greymist Fair

A paranormal Brothers Grimm-esque collection of related stories. The town of Greymist Fair is very enchanting, and the way the stories all tie together is so much fun.

- The Stars We Steal

This was sci-fi and I read it in 2020 so honestly who knows what happened in it but I remember really enjoying it 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you want to see everything I read last year and my reviews of it all, you can go to my 2023 reading recap

I also have a short list of sappy modern romance novels if you’d like, so send me another ask if you want those too! This post is too long already 😆

P.S. I think recommendation is so hard to spell because it sounds like it should have multiple double letters…hence why I say “recs”.

P.P.S I love the way you type. Very eloquent and lovely use of words.

[theyluvlyss]

/ᐠ-˕-マ~ my personal guide !

𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞... !

...this is a guide that I have made that will help you decipher all of my little fanfic, edit, and shifting terms. keep in mind that while some of these are useful across other profiles/platforms/websites, some of the terms and their meanings may differ elsewhere rather than on my account (hence why I use words "my" and "personal").

so, without further ado, continue reading to see what everything means and how I use it in my works. it's long, but worth it, trust🤞🏽.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

/ᐠ-˕-マ~ each list is in alphabetical order :) !

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜 -

《 ♡ 》 adjective!character : this can get used by either myself or requesters to specify certain traits for a character to have. also includes reader(s), because remember, you are (technically) a character in the story, too :). there can also be as many adjectives as one wants. for example, it could look something like:ㅤpopular!social!reader x loner!quiet!billy batson.

《 ♡ 》 angst : super melodramatic, lot's of drama stemming from problems either caused by outside forces, and/or the reader/characters themselves. can have either bad, unresolved endings, or good "fix-it" type endings. not to be confused with hurt/comfort, which is implied in the name that it's naturally supposed to be a story/fic that hurts you with angst, and then comforts you with fluff at the end. these are my personal fave to write, besides crackfics ♡.

《 ♡ 》 au : this stands for alternate universe. let's say I write a fanfic for, I dunno, henry danger, right? as you know, henry danger is already set in a specific universe. well, as a writer, I have the creative liberty to literally change the entire setting. I can make henry danger take place during the fifties or in space or whatever requested lol🤷🏽‍♀️.

《 ♡ 》 crackfic : (be warned, I stole this definition from a website 'cuz I couldn't gather the proper words to explain it myself lmao) named after the drug to imply that it can only be the product of a deranged mind, crack fic is identified by its absurd, surprising, or ridiculous premise. the plotline might be twisted into a knot, the fic might be a thick parody, or the fic might feature an unlikely or rare pairing ("crack pairing"). sometimes random, nonsensical, or stream-of-thought fics are termed crack, but other crack fics proceed logically, in character, and with internal consistency from their bizarre starting points. the former is generally derided by fandom as badfic while the latter is often praised. generally, these are humor pieces.

《 ♡ 》 crossover : this means/implies that two (or more) separate stories/fics, universes, and/or fandoms will be blended or written together as one. fair warning, I've never actually done this before (yesIhaveI'mjusttooembarrassedtoeverlookbackonit), but I'd be happy to do it now :). on the actual fanfic somewhere on the page, it would look like this, for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤmaze runner x hunger games (crossover/au).

《 ♡ 》 fluff : this means that the story/fic will be super soft with light elements and no dark/angsty themes. it's pure comfort with no ill will/intent, nothing dangerous, very safe and fun :). good vibes only, supa' good vibes only/ᐠ♡˕♡マ✨️.

《 ♡ 》 headcanon : these are a list of assorted, non-ordered thoughts on the character(s) that I have. if requested, there can be a specific theme or topic to base these headcannons upon, but as I stated, they're basically just lose thoughts I come up with on the fly (and edit, ofc, I edit all my works to the best of my ability before posting). with context, you'll know whether or not the headcannons are specific, but for example, a title or something could look like this:ㅤdarby harper x clairvoyant!reader (headcannons).

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort : it's basically where the fic I write will have plot points/themes/elements that will "hurt" its reader, whether the bad vibes are happening to the character, the reader, or just bad vibes in general. it'll give you all the feels, very depressing and/or dark, but don't worry. you will not end this fic without being comforted and lifted back up in some ways, shape, and/or form.

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort/revenge : this one I'm pretty sure I made up, but it's the overall same vibes as hurt/comfort, except also, reader get their revenge >:). I rarely ever see stuff like this get written into fics, so I have to enter my Thanos era and do it myself, apparently. this goes out to all my petty readers out there who still wanna be softly loved: I gotchu, bae, we gon' fuck the person that hurt you up, don't worry🤞🏽.

《 ♡ 》 imagine : these are longer fics with fleshed out plot/themes/thoughts (and probably some of my best works, if you're on the hunt for quality💀). they can range between something short, sweet, and simple, or long ass stories that can even have multiple parts ! as long as there's no one around to stop me, my self control pretty much determines the length of an imagine lmao.

《 ♡ 》 masterlist : a masterlist is a complete list of all my works pertaining to one specific fandom and/or character. in my case, each fandom has its own masterlist filled with all of the characters names, with a complete set of all of the works/content done for them underneath.

《 ♡ 》 oc : this stands for "own character" and would typically be something others request me to do. I, personally, don't really have any oc's that aren't apart of my original works, so...yeah lol. if requested, it might look something like this:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤpeter parker x ocㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤand then their oc would be described to me so I can write it :).

《 ♡ 》 oneshot : typically my shorter writings, intended to be written off of the top of my head with either very quick closure at the end, or maybe even no closure at all. basically, if you want a glorified cliffhanger (that may or may not ever get finished or a second part), this is what you want, and it'll be specified somewhere on the page of my work.

ooc : this stands for "out of character." this implies that a certain character may behave in a way that differs from what is originally presented in the media they're in. this is usually spoken as a prior warning/apology to some less than high quality writing, but of course, you are always free to request a character to be ooc :).

《 ♡ 》 original work : anything that I write that isn't fanfiction is an original work of mine. it will be specified on the page, so it's not really something that needs to be worried about :).

《 ♡ 》 pov : this stands for "point of view", which is basically something that tells you what/who's perspective you're seeing/reading things from. I rarely do anything that switches between pov's, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't. it's just not my favorite way to write, that's all lol.

《 ♡ 》 prompt : this is a short summary/info-dump on the story. it helps you (reader) to get a feel for what the impending work is about.

《 ♡ 》 scenarios : the way I write them is kind of like a staggered mix of short writings/oneshots and listed thoughts/headcannons. again, these are kind of meant to be written off of the top of my head, no real order, but definitely a little bit more detailed. these are also some of my faves to write ♡.

《 ♡ 》 ship/shipping : it's a play on words from the saying, "that ship has sailed." a ship refers to two characters whom of which you want to get/be/stay together. you root for them, love them, or can even ship a character with yourself (which is the whole point of the fanfic work I do💀). the act of shipping yourself with a character can be what guides you and others into writing "x reader" work.

《 ♡ 》 smut/nsfw : it's word p*rn, guys. that's all it is, it's just written smexxy times between you and your (aged up/of age🫵🏽...) faves. others might be more familiar with the citrus chart (a.k.a. lime, lemons, grapefruit, etc.). I don't do that because I've stated before, I'm probably not going to do anything super heavy/k!nky. nsfw stands for "not safe/suitable for work", and I typically use that acronym as a warning before you start reading anything in an...*coughs*ㅤㅤㅤo p e n environment🥴...

《 ♡ 》 timeline : this informs you (the reader) of the specific time the events in the story/fic transpire. when I write, I personally base the timeline/setting off of, again, ✨️vibes✨️ and what makes most sense. but as always, you are free to request a specific time/order of events for me to write.

《 ♡ 》 tw/content : this will let you know of any possible triggers and what overall content is in the/any content I make. tw stands for "trigger warning".

《 ♡ 》 + reader : in my works/descriptions, the "+" sign in "+ reader" indicates that the relationship between you and whatever character(s) written is sibling-like and/or completely platonic. no romantic feelings whatsoever (unless it's like an unrequited love or something else of the sort type of deal/plot). for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤdamian wayne + reader.

《 ♡ 》 x reader : in this instance, the "x" in the term "x reader" implies that the relationship between two characters is romantic. again, I'm sure that there can be certain exceptions, but for the most part, it's what I said it is. for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤgray fullbuster x reader.

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥/𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 (e/c) : (eye/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/c) : (hair/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/l) : (hair/length)

《 ♡ 》 (n/n) : (nickname)

《 ♡ 》 (p/n) : (petname)

《 ♡ 》 (s/c) : (skin/color)

《 ♡ 》 (s/t) : (skin/tone)

《 ♡ 》 (u/o) : (usual/outfit)

《 ♡ 》 (y/n) : (your/name)

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 -

《 ♡ 》 (f/b) : (favorite/beverage)

《 ♡ 》 (f/c) : (favorite/color)

《 ♡ 》 (f/d) : (favorite/dessert)

《 ♡ 》 (f/f) : (favorite/food)

《 ♡ 》 (f/m/s) : (favorite/movie and/or show)

《 ♡ 》 (f/s) : (favorite/song)

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 -

《 ♡ 》 (bsf/n) : (best friend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (bf/n) : (boyfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gf/n) : (girlfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (m/n) : (mom/name)

《 ♡ 》 (d/n) : (dad/name)

《 ♡ 》 (b/n) : (brother/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/n) : (sister/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/o/n) : (significant other/name)

《 ♡ 》 (c/n) : (cousin/name)

《 ♡ 》 (a/n) : (aunt/name)

《 ♡ 》 (u/n) : (uncle/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gm/n) : (grandma/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gp/n) : (grandpa/name)

──────────────

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 app : I mean, obviously you know what an app is. but I just mean like, I would let you know what app I used to make a certain edit.

《 ♡ 》 collage : an assortment of pictures edited together to create one (aesthetically pleasing) picture.

《 ♡ 》 duration : the amount of time a video/edit takes to end/how long an edit is.

《 ♡ 》 moodboard : kind of like a collage, it's an assortment of pictured edited together to make one. the difference is that the pictures used focus more on the vibe/aesthetic of the character rather than the character themselves.

《 ♡ 》 pfp : stands for "profile picture."

《 ♡ 》 scenepack : it's a video that holds any and all clips of a certain character or characters that can be used to make edits or for whatever other reasons. in other words, a pack of scenes lol.

──────────────

𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 cr : current reality. the reality you are currently in at this exact moment in time.

《 ♡ 》 dr : desired reality. the reality you are going to shift your consciousness to.

《 ♡ 》 wr : waiting room/reality. a reality you can shift to where the concept is basically like waiting in a lobby/room to decide where to shift to from there.

《 ♡ 》 subconscious : of or concerning the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one's actions and feelings.

《 ♡ 》 consciousness : the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 shifting : I wish I had the proper words to explain this, so here's a link to a video explanation and another link to some documents instead :)...

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭...

...(as if this list wasn't long as hell lmao💀). but hopefully, regardless of length, it was helpful and you found all of the advice/help you needed :). if there's anything you think I should add, though, you can always tell me and I'll be sure to do so.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ/ᐠ-˕-マฅ ~ 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐚 !

[stevensaus]

"More Research Needed": The Problem With All Current Psychological Research

Academic research has long suffered from a sampling problem, particularly when researching animal behavior. Particularly that of humans. The effect is perhaps most widely known from the wrong idea that wolves have "alphas." The whole concept was drawn from observing wolves in captivity, who were not behaving the way they do in the wild. When observing humans, researchers have often been limited by who they could research. Often, that has meant "college undergraduates," which do not represent the population as a whole. Sometimes the limitation has been by how we asked the question -- such as the highly skewed diagnostic criteria for autism and masking behaviors that resulted in a pattern of gender-based underdiagnosis for female-presenting persons. Progress has been made on this front in the biological medical sciences -- for example, in 2023, the issue of diversity in medical trials began to get serious attention. But this same attention must be paid to behavioral research as well. The fact remains that a significant amount of our research about human behavior {1} suffers both from the sampling problem and problems of how the question was framed. For example the "marshmallow study" doesn't say what we think it does about willpower, particularly when controlled for socioeconomic variables. And then there's the Milgram "obedience" experiment -- whether the original or the virtual reprise in the early aughts. Whether you interpret the results as how willing people are to obey authority -- or instead, how far people will go when they think it's for the "greater good" -- I think it's fair to hypothesize that the results would be very different depending on the neurotype of the participant. What were the neurotypes of the participants in either study? We simply do not know; the question simply was not asked. Not only do we not know, but even if they were assessed at the time, until really recently those assessments were themselves flawed. We literally cannot know the extent of the problem without redoing a lot of experiments, some of which you literally cannot legally (or ethically) do today. {2} All prior psychological research about human behavior needs to have a big old warning label.

Featured Image by felixioncool from Pixabay {1} Sociology has this issue as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent than experimental psychology. {2} Hence why the Milgram experiment was repeated virtually. Read the full article

[httpiastri]

award show rendezvous – ln4

when the f1 grid is forced to attend yet another boring award show, lando finds a way to have some fun

genre: smut.... i guess

pairing: mercedes driver!reader x lando norris

warnings: smut.....

requested?: yes! thank you for requesting 😁 (requests are still open!)

author's note: hello hello, i'm very much into the driver!reader thing so thank you for requesting this. also big thanks to all requests you've sent in recently, i love to see it !!! <3 hope you enjoy this, i wrote it today on my walk..... ppl must've thought i was a maniac for laughing hysterically at my phone while walking oops (worth it)

this is kind of a part 2 to this, but you can read it on its own too!

f1 masterlist

18+ content below, minors dni!

his lips crash against yours before you can even lock the door. he’s been too patient for too long now, he reckons; being forced to watch you with the other drivers, dancing around, chatting away, the regular stuff – all while still sending teasing glances his way every once in a while – was not fair.

he wants to – no, he needs to– run his hands over your body, to feel your lips on his, to make sure you know exactly who you belong to.

hence the text he sent you, telling you to meet him outside the bathroom in the venue. when he arrived, he didn’t waste any time before pulling you in with him, slamming the door shut behind you.

"a little needy today, are we?" you ask as he places open mouthed kisses down the side of your neck. his hands have a firm grip on your hips as he holds you back up against the door.

"it’s all your fault," he says against your neck, the vibrations sending a tingling sensation down your body. "for dancing with my enemies, for looking at me like that…"

"i’m sorry," one of your hands come down to his neck, pulling him up to face you again. "but i think we’re both enjoying where this is going, no?"

his kisses are rougher this time, not wasting a single moment before his tongue is pressing against yours. you drape your arms around his neck, humming against his lips as you feel him pull up the material of your dress, letting it pool around your waist. you’re panting heavily once you pull away, your head already dizzy from the feeling of lando’s hands moving further up your thighs. you lean your head onto his shoulder, a curseword leaving your lips when one of his fingers dips inside your panties and drags along your folds.

"so wet already, hm?" he chuckles. "who made you this wet?"

you sigh at the feeling of his finger sliding in where you need him the most, your arms around his neck tightening. "you. only you."

he moves in and out of you almost painfully slowly, and the speed decreases even more when he adds another finger. he’s unbearable.

"lando…" you whine, a shudder spreading through your body when he adds another finger to stretch you out. "please… i want you…"

he halts his actions, and you immediately pull your head back to look at him. he smiles – he’s got you right where he wants you, wrapped around his finger.

in more than one sense.

"are you sure?" he asks, and you nod almost too quickly. "you’re sure you wouldn’t rather be out there with george?"

you groan. of course he would go there. "you're the only man on my mind," you press a kiss to his lips. "don't change that."

his quick fingers unbuckles his pants and drags your panties down to your feet in just a moment, before pulling out his dick from his own underwear. he gets a condom from his pants, unwraps it hastily and rolls it on himself before his hands reach down to the back of your thighs. you get the hint, letting him hoist you up to wrap your legs around his hips. one of your hands reach for his hair, pulling on it tightly as he pushes into you.

"shit..." you say, your eyes rolling back at the stretch. the contrast between of his innocent thumbs drawing figures into the inside of your thighs and the way he's thrusting into you leaves you in a hazy state, feeling both so lustful and so loving at the same time.

when he hits a specific spot, your head falls back against the door as you let out a loud moan. "keep quiet," lando snickers. "you wouldn't want anyone to hear, would you?" you're too obsessed with the feeling that you can't answer him. "or maybe you want george to hear? maybe he'll come in and help you out-"

"fuck off."

the hearty laugh bubbling from lando's chest is loud, and he leans in to kiss your neck apologetically. "i'm sorry." his lips move up to right under your ear. "i just thought his name could help rile you up."

it takes everything in you to not get mad at him right now. you can't have him stop his actions now, not when it feels this good, not when you are so close. lando speeds up his pumps, lips grazing your skin while his hands move along your legs and up to your butt. just as you feel yourself approaching your high,

there's a knock on the door.

your wide eyes meet his and he stops his movements as a voice booms through the door. "lando, mate? are you in there?" the voice belongs to george – of course. "they're about to give out your award, maybe you should hurry up..."

"oh my god."

[kyrlazasmorcota]

Who The Kitsune Is

HEYA! I'm Kyrla Zasmorcota! I'm just putting up an intro, a fair warning, while I'm open to new friends, I am very socially awkward/limited...My social ability is pretty much not there, heh. Due to the way my brain seems to be wired I may not come off how I don't wish to and also I can't really read social cues/subtleties so I do better with more direct things, but I do try my best and have ways to try to better navigate things so please be patient with me, heh ^^

If I'm doing something wrong and I don't notice, just let me know and I'll work on correcting course ^_^

I do my best and have good intentions at the end of day, and I'm always trying to do better ^_^

PRONOUNS: Any just mix it up like crazy! Bonus points if in the same sentence....Or even more for same word, lol ^_~

I do lean very much so more masc, but the fluid part is important to me....The second most from masc would be gender neutral or somewhere in the middle and last femme ^^

Which leads me to the next thing

NAME: Kyrla (Femme) Lun (Gender Neutral) or Kashi (Masc) Zasmorcota is the main names I use. I have others, but this is the main one I use. I used Kyrla first and for longer so most people know me by that one....Even though I'm manly masc Kyrla is a name that's important to me....Besides the whole being fluid thing XP

SEXUALITY: I'm gray-ace/demi/pan ^_^

GENDER IDENTITY: As you may have guessed, I'm genderfluid transmasc ^_^

POLYAMOUROUS: I have two wonderful partners! I practice kitchen table nonhierarchical polyamory. Still fairly new to polyam ^_^

FURRY: My main sona is of course the blue nine tailed kitsune! Though I do have others! ^_^

SPIRITUALITY: I have my own personal supplementary spirituality that I accept can most likely be explained by other things, but it works for me, helps me and feels right. Plus it does have some more real life affects such as mindfulness though meditation. I believe in multiverse reincarnation, energy work, crystals, spiritual meditation, charka work, runes, and tarot.

INTERESTS: I love anime, manga, video games, roleplaying, art and writing. I'm always interested in new things from things like new types of games to whole new hobbies! And of course new friends!

MY THING: I've always playfully referred to myself as the High Priestess/Priest of The Great Shiny! The owner and founder of Crazy.Corp any insane amazing non-existent company on a mission to defect normalness! Hence why my motto is: Life is too short to be normal! Also, I always offer dark cookies curtesy of the Rainbow Goblins! Also obey The Great Shiny! For a long time my friends called me "Kyrla Of The Craziness", lol ^_^

THE ENDING STUFFS!!!

Well I think that about covers the basics! If anything comes up I'll edit it in below the end of the post! If you have any questions, throw them at me, lol ^_^ And I'll do my best to answer! Of course I may not answer everything, I do reserve that right of course ^_^

Here's A Yip Yip Bibi

This one's Intro....FAILED!

Wait..no...

This one's Intro....FIN!

[know-the-way]

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears Discourse(?)(maybe idk?)

So… at this point I’ve watched the entire 3 series and film. Twice. I was going to post episode reactions for series 2 and 3, but I really need to skip ahead to Crypt of Tears because I have… questions. If anyone knows the answer or potential answer to any of them, please weigh in because I am just… struggling to understand some of the narrative decisions they made here.

(Btw, overall I enjoyed it, so I don’t want it to seem like I’m coming from a solely negative perspective - obviously, the last 5 minutes in particular… talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, etc etc. I may do a separate ‘things I enjoyed’ post. I just needed to talk this out. lol)

****Full warning, this is a very long post, I am so sorry in advance.****

1. Alright, first things first - wtf do you mean it’s been a YEAR since she left Melbourne?! What was she doing that whole time? Like obviously, you could infer that she got caught up in local shenanigans and hadn’t seen everything to a satisfactory end yet, but I feel it would’ve taken maybe 1-2 minutes to just briefly explain that for the audience’s sake.

I also totally understand that they were attempting to make a stand alone project that could be independent of the series, so referencing where the series left off would be antithetical to that. HOWEVER, I think at the point where fans of the series invested $1 million… that should have maybe made tying up loose ends from the series a bit more of a priority?

I also saw that they hoped to garner new audiences from the film. And maybe it’s just me, idk, but - I’m a new audience and the only thing that brought me to the film was the knowledge that I had 3 seasons worth of backstory to immerse myself in beforehand. There are very few scenarios in my mind that would’ve had me watching just the film and nothing else. So… help.

2. Similar to question 1 - SIX WEEKS?! Where was she for six whole weeks? How did she escape the train? Was it like a Bear Grylls situation out in the desert for a while or did she have to barter with local villages or something? Just again… 1-2 lines of dialogue and I’d be good. Instead, I’m just sitting here confused like, “okay cool, I’m super glad you’re alive and stuff, but um… HOW?!”**

(**acutely aware that this is how Jack must feel all the time) (and he deserves a pint from the pub for his troubles ‘cause omg)

3. SPEAKING OF JACK - *r2d2 screech* This poor man. Jesus. How many times does he have to grieve the love of his life? It’s kinda rude at this point.

I’ve read articles with the writers where they talked about wanting Phryne to be strong and independent without emasculating Jack as a character. And I remember thinking, “Yes! They do such an excellent job of finding that balance in the show and it’s really satisfying. It’s one of the things I love most about their dynamic - the freedom to be themselves while still having this very strong collaborative connection.”

^These scenes, though? Whaaaatttt happened? 🫠 I don’t think it emasculated him, but Phryne’s almost non-reaction to him being there… grieving her... it comes off kind of insensitive and perplexing at its bare bones, to me.

Upon a few rewatches of that scene, I’ve been able to slowly formulate potential justifications for her behavior - i.e. she did tell him to come after her and he didn’t, so maybe she lost hope on her end and dove into the first perilous mystery she could find to help herself get over him. Thus, when she finds out he’s there for her memorial service, I could see her inwardly going, “Okay wow, it took me dying for you to make any moves whatsoever. Cool. Good to know I’m only worth the trip if I’m not here anymore. (Hence, the ‘And I’m very sorry that I’m not dead!’ line later.)”

Which would be a fair point, imo, and they do have a track record of just… infuriating miscommunication, but ultimately… it’s all still hypothetical. We aren’t given any actual, spoken insight into her motivations or feelings in regards to Jack (the smallest glimpse we get is her teary eyes outside the door at his guesthouse along with the “damn it, Jack” line). So, without any further follow-up clarification in the film - at face value, that scene is harsh and almost callous imo. And, despite their many conflicts in the show, there was never once where I felt they weren’t at least making an effort to understand each other. Like there is never a point in the film where they take a moment to acknowledge the time lost between them. They don’t get to have that (necessary) release of emotion and mutual understanding (there’s no nightcap moment), so it just feels incomplete.

4. I promise not to make all of these redundant, but the quicksand scene. Obviously, I love it ~*for reasons*~, but I found myself once again choosing a side (Jack’s)???? Which, throughout the entirety of the tv series, I never chose a side between them ‘cause I could always understand both of their perspectives. In this scene and the reunion scene, I’m left confused both times about Phryne’s perspective. Maybe because Mac isn’t there to pull the full truth out of her just afterwards? That’s probably it.

But her lumping Jack in with “any other man” she doesn’t need to explain herself to - either that was a fear response or a flat out dishonest one. Girl quit playin’… we all know he’s not just any other man and we all know he has never tried to change you or take charge of you. Please, the bottom-leaning switch vibes that come off that man… he LIVES for you telling him what to do. He doesn’t want to control you, he just wANTS TO BE BESIDE YOU. GOD.

I so didn’t want to be frustrated with Phryne (I love her**) and I was honestly upset that I was, but there was just something… missing in both these instances for me (vulnerability maybe? idk) and I can’t quite get it to add up. It really probably was a lack of Mac, though.

(**again, Me 🤝 Jack, complicated feelings for a complex modern woman, we’ll both be at the bar if you need us)

5. Last one - “Is this your idea of sweet nothings?” “I thought they were out of the question?” “They are. Continue.”

Did I miss a scene where they laid ground rules for their partnership going forward in Shirin’s case? Or was that something that was cut/not included? Because… if there was a scene of them discussing that before Jack agreed to stay… that would have taken care of most of what I said above in and of itself.

(But no fr… did I miss a scene? Is my copy broken? Help?)

Gonna Leave on a Positive Note, because if you asked me if the below scene made it all worth it, I’d have to say yes: