#he has more chemistry with his brother that isn't even there than the actual couple at the table has with each other

[bloodfreak-boyking]

how to be Normal about your brother 101: talk about him in a wistful voice, stare into the distance lovesick, and bite your lip while you think about him

[ezra-editss]

Just watched X-men Apocalypse. What the hell.

Okay, so I kinda have a take on all this and idk if that's just how it feels to me, but that's what I wanna know. (I don't think this actually happened, but it's the vibes it is all giving)

So it started when I told my mom about First Class (keep reading I'm gonna get to apocalypse eventually) and we came to the conclusion that it feels like they wrote the script, looked at it again and thought:

"Hmm, this seems pretty gay.. Erik and Charles both have no female love interests and they have those lines that seem pretty romantic. Also, Erik seems almost obsessed with Charles at the end with how overprotective he is. Let's fix that!"

And then they gave both of them a kiss with a woman they weren't interested in and added the line "We're brothers, you and I" and then were proud of how well they "saved" it.

And then they made Days of Future Past and didn't even think of it, but when it came out they saw how people were shipping it and then they were like "oh shitt"

And in the first hour of the movie, I thought they were just doing all of this stuff to "erase" any potential gayness people thought there was and wanted to make sure nobody got the wrong idea about the recent movies. But it was more the reminder they like women, before the EXTREME GAYNESS in the second half.

(This is getting so much more unserious than initially intended💀)

Anyways, Apocalypse.

Either I missed something or Erik settling down and HIDING makes NO SENSE. In the last timeline it was 100% clear that he'd never stop believing in what he did, he would never stop fighting his war. So yes, this is a different timeline, but there is no reason given why he suddenly decides to try Charles way. He failed in Days of Future Past and Charles let him go, but there is no way that's enough. And they played this off like that isn't the thing they both wanted since forever and never seemed possible. Being on the same side. Erik switching to Charles side is insane, why wouldn't he talk to Charles in all those years then?

I can't believe they threw away everything that IS Erik, just so he had a reason to be angry enough to join the guy.

(They also died in such a weird/lame way)

And Charles and I still don't really know her name😭.. I have to admit the scenes where Charles was nervous were cute, but that's just because Charles is adorable. But in First Class she was obviously only there for the plot, in Days of Future Past, she wasn't even mentioned and in Apocalypse, she was, again, only there for the plot. She literally doesn't say anything the entire movie after the beginning. She has like two lines. And in the end fight, she's just standing there. And then Charles makes her remember and the flashbacks are soo bad, BC THEY HAD NO MOMENTS. (Especially bc you can compare it to Erik's flashbacks, we're gonna get to that)

(I don't think I have to say it, but to be sure. I have absolutely nothing against straight couples. I don't care if it's gay or not. But if one of them were a woman, I wouldn't be writing this. I just hate how often they prefer to write a heterosexual couple that has no chemistry at all instead of making the two guys/girls kiss.)

Let's talk about the ending. Sometimes when I talk about this stuff I'm a little worried that I interpret things wrong bc I want it to be like that and I'm not being objective anymore, but I was proven right so many times in this. When Mystique and Erik kissed in First Class, it felt really weird to me because Erik obviously had no interest in her. (I suppose it was to show her she's beautiful) And that was pretty much proven right when she talks to him and he barely reacts to what she's saying. I also thought that he probably didn't know Charles was dying, bc he wouldn't let that happen. Then Mystique says "Charles" and suddenly he does show a reaction and when she's gone, he has those god damn flashbacks. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T A ROMANTIC PLOT?😭 and then the specific one of Charles turning away and leaving him. (Could be a metaphor for Charles giving up on him) THAT'S WHAT GOT HIM.

And they make it even more clear when Mystique is dying and Erik doesn't react, but when Charles is dying, is when he steps in.

Ending was cute, but damnn the "you can make me do anything" was crazy.

(This turned out soo long, I've never been so obsessed with something.)

[chronic-escapixt]

Favorite non cannon Bonnie ships ranked:

this is just my opinion so don't come for me, but I based this ranking on character interactions, certain plot elements, and overall potential

bonnie x me - because I will treat her right, she's a baddie (not even atrocious styling could deny that face card!!), and we're already married in my head so..

jk.. but actually:

klonnie - this one grew on me when I heard joseph himself shipped them. it just makes sense that he'd be drawn to bonnie considering she's not just any other person to him. her bloodline has direct ties to his family and she's gone head-to-head against him multiple times. klaus is calculated asf from the moment we meet him so he'd probably go into their relationship trying to play with her head and keep her close as a potential tool for his own agenda (in a keep ur enemies close kinda-way), but he ends up falling for her along the way. bonnie's level-headed and mature nature would balance out klaus's more irrational chaos - maybe in a similar way klaus works with cami in the originals (my fav cannon klaus ship).

2. stefonnie - this one isn't talked about enough. remember in s1 when elena set up that dinner between her, stefan, and bonnie. elena was so set on bonnie liking stefan when they first got together. the early seasons really seemed invested in laying the foundation of stefan x bonnie with how protective he is of her. it seemed like their relationship should have only grown from there & there's no reason why it was just abandoned. plus, there's so many parallels between their plotlines: in s5 they both spend the summer indisposed (stefan drowning the whole time and bonnie being dead) and no one noticing. they couldve meaningfully bonded over that shared trauma. the otherside literally exists because bonnie's ancestor was cheated on by stefan's (original face, doppleganger?) whatever silas is - with her handmaid Amara.. so many stefonnie parrallels go ignored by the writers!

3. bonkai - one of my favorites. i wish we got more of a romantic or seggual payoff from these two bc the built up was certainly there for a darker romance kinda vibe. similar to the other villainxprotagonist couples in this show but no epic romantic payoff for bonnie i guess.. the actors' chemistry with each other in these scenes carries the ship for me & in the hands of writers that gaf about these characters it couldve been epic.

4. bamon - i know this one comes from the book & it's a fan favorite, but this actually feels more out of left field than stefonnie for me. that's not to say i don't like it. the second half of the show was for bamon and the writer's knew it. that's why they had to keep reinforcing that they're 'just friends' or else their chemistry would have turned tvd into the bamon show..

5. bonnie x katherine - i love the idea of a bi bonnie (clearly). lots of fans pair her with nora but i hate everything about the heretic storyline and the characters so i prefer katherine. they didn't interact much, but hear me out, katherine has always found herself paired with a bennett witch (emily in the 1800s, bonnie's cousin) and i think they'd be cute. i love katherine the most when she's not obsessing over the salvatore brothers or jealous of elena so i think pairing her with bonnie would offer a refreshing perspective of her character.

[jesncin]

Honestly, you are like the most based person ever. A Martian Manhunter fan and a MAWS critic? F YEAH!

I'm so disappointed with MAWS' Lois :( Her romance with Clark could've been so good. SO GOOD. But they decided to go for fan service instead. She just gives off Lena (from cwsg) vibes and that's never a good thing.

Speaking of Supergirl, what's your opinion on the show? And on the show's portrait of J'onn. It baffles me how much hate the show got for the same things fans are willing to overlook now on MAWS. Aren't those some double standards, geez...

Aw shucks thank you! 2 incredibly niche but based things to be...

Sob! Call it the ace in me but whenever people think MAWS!Clois have chemistry because they're easily amused by seeing hot characters undress I lose life force. I didn't witness a couple that grew mutual respect and affection, I saw an insta-crush that led to Lois becoming so entitled to a guy she'd known for less than a week to the point of demanding full transparency of his private life before they even started dating. And then the narrative says it's Clark's fault for having reasonable boundaries, and then they're a couple. What is this.

I've briefly talked about CW Supergirl before, but my takeaway is: if people think MAWS is genuinely good writing then they should absolutely watch CW Supergirl because it must look like high art in comparison to MAWS. Maybe people are less judgy when something's animated and that's not fair. If we want to take animation as a serious medium we should hold it to the same standard and not coddle it. As someone who watched a few eps when CW Supergirl aired and then revisited and watched the whole thing years after the show concluded, I feel that the misogyny surrounding people's discourse around the show has led to people judging the show based on a fanon idea of it rather than its own merits.

more under the cut!

CW Supergirl is a show with great highs and lows. This results in things being hit or miss. But when something hits- CW Supergirl is not given nearly enough credit as it deserves. As a Martian Manhunter fan, I believe that their take on J'onn is the most competent and well adapted in not just adapted media, but all of comics canon. That doesn't mean I like everything they did with his lore and character, but I can acknowledge that they actually bothered developing him outside of the comics/cartoon's fixation with making him mope about his Origin Story all the time. He gets to find love, have adopted daughters through Kara and Alex, reckon with what it's like to preserve aspects of a culture he doesn't fully identify with, deal with his dad going through Martian Alzheimer's disease, and most importantly MAKE PEACE WITH HIS BROTHER. CW Supergirl has hands down, the best take on Ma'alefa'ak in all of canon.

I think Lena is a great character on the show. She's dealing with the trauma of being constantly manipulated by her own family, the legacy her name carries and who she is in all that. But because the supercorp ship permeates the way people perceive the show, she's reduced to that by discourse. When Lena has drama over Kara's secret Superhero identity, it's something that's built up to and informed by trauma, trust-issues, and TIME. We are shown that she has these problems. It gets melodramatic at times, but it's still something that was built up to. Meanwhile in MAWS Lois just tells us she has daddy issues and that it's why she really needs the cute guy at work to spill all his personal info to her even though she gets to lie to him for her own personal gain multiple times. I appreciate what CW Supergirl did to bring more attention to what was an obscure character. Whenever I bump into Lena in the comics, it hasn't stacked up to the character I met on the show.

I've called this out before but while CW Supergirl isn't perfect by any means especially with their treatment of Jimmy Olsen as a love interest to Kara and a generally sidelined Black supporting character, they still discussed and acknowledged Jimmy's identity as a Black American man! Sure it was heavy handed many times, but that's way better than MAWS straight up ignoring Jimmy's Blackness and even making an unintentional jab at it!! Like cw Supergirl Jimmy knows bigotry and has experienced it. MAWS Jimmy thinks bigotry is being ghosted for a camping trip. I have seen the exact same critics call out cw Supergirl for Jimmy's treatment while gleefully thinking Jimmy's treatment in MAWS is so uwu perfect. It makes me sick! Am I going insane?? It's the double standards for me.

[alwaysthequietones]

i haven't watched dawson's creek but ever since writers made that tweet i've become more convinced that some of these parallels are actually worth looking into

i've seen people say pacey and steve are v similar and i have seen all the parallels regarding stancy and it does look like there's some actual connections

again i haven't watched the show, so i'll ask you for your (unbiased please) opinion; looking at the whole thing is there any way pacey and joey have some parallels with jancy as well? and when it comes to all the stancy parallels do you think writers making that tweet recently possibly alludes to them continuing with jacey/stancy agenda and actually giving stancy their endgame?

I mean, it is hard to say. These parallels might be completely a moot point and not have any correlation with what the Duffer brothers are doing. So I might be making these posts just for shits and giggles. lmao But we do know that the Duffer brothers were "obsessed" with DC. And then that tweet of the writers room with the Dawson/Pacey picture...Hmmm

Because the context of the love triangle in DC is completely different than the one in ST. There are a few little things here and there that could apply to j*ncy but when you look at the characters individually and the couple dynamics and their overall arc (individually and together) and growth, I feel fairly confident in saying Pacey=Steve, Joey=Nancy and Dawson=Jonathan. If I had to make a comparison, bc again a very different show than ST. Even hearing the showrunners commentary on why they ended up choosing Pacey over Dawson to end up with Joey in the end, is very stancy coded somehow? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqTsKGxFzo)

Because the showrunner, from the beginning, had planned for her to end up with Dawson (Why? Dawson is universally hated.) But then things changed. Partly bc Joshua Jackson (Pacey) told them to reconsider, basically saying, look back on the journey, respect the journey, the only way is for it to be P/J. Pacey is also a very romantically centered character and the showrunners said that his arc had to be romantically fulfilled for him to have a satisfying ending. But he's always been in love with Joey and him ending up with someone that isn't her, would feel false. The showrunners also said that even though they had planned her and Dawson since the start, they actually couldn't envision them living day-to-day regular life together somehow by the time they were coming up to the series finale. + "P/j has the chemistry" "Joey becomes a lighter person around Pacey." etc....

Joey is also someone very ambitious, sarcastic, cynical (about love sometimes too), working hard to get into collage and get out of her small town....

Pacey is self deprecating, doesn't consider himself smart enough to make something of himself, often feels like the black sheep of the family...

Dawson is literally the worst and Jonathan despite obvious flaws is still 100x the man than that universally hated guy is an aspiring filmmaker. Has a pretentious air about him and often belittles others and their problems around him because the only problems he actually cares about are his own. Again, I cannot stress this enough Jonathan>>>>>>>>Dawson.

So it's interesting to see how their arc and ending are deemed satisfying in certain ways too (and honestly could be applied to N/S/J too):

Joey gets out her small town, becomes a talented editor and gets a partner that she loves and that fully loves her and moves in with her to the city. Career AND romantic life fulfilled

Dawson always dreamed of turning his passion into a profession and meeting Spielberg. He ends the show doing both. Career fulfillment

And Pacey, he only felt fully alive when he could be with and love the woman in his life. And he does. Romantically fulfilled.

In other words, this could all mean nothing and I have no fucking clue.

[whiskeysmulti]

💑 two in one, talk about Gokudera x Haru and G x Fiore?

send me a 💑 if we ship our muses together and i'll tell you why i love our ship!- no longer accepting!

.Whiskey. Answering this one backwards actually starting with G and Fiore. One of my favorite things with this ship is that you stuck to the theme of the 10th gen dealing with the generational healing and the parallels between them. That Haru strives to be the perfect housewife, so to balance that Fiore actually did become the perfect housewife after settling down with G. I also like that you again bounced off the headcanon that Haru's parents were a little *squint* at her hooking up with Gokudera, but it was Tsuna that they didn't like. Which is again paralleled in Fiore's brother being one of G's best friends and her questioning if he had any issues with a military family as he's Mafia and he had to explain no, it was law enforcement they had issues with because innocent people were dying because of it. There's a lot more I could go into, but I'll cut it there and move on to our other main ship.

So 5986 is a ship that I loved canonically, learned to hate due to poor fandom portrayal and bad past experiences in writing it, which I explained to you before and have learned to love again through your characterization of Haru.

I mentioned before, I love their bickering old married couple dynamic, but had some bad past experiences where the fighting went too far or Haru got hurt by what he said too easily and just ran away crying, etc. That's not quite 5986 to me. So when I followed you, I actually approached with caution and read through some of your stuff and gave your Haru a shot. I was blown away at how fast they clicked. Iirc you and I even had to throw a few side threads in to establish their background and what would have happened post canon to get them from point A to B because if we hadn't it would have looked like an autoship and we were trying to avoid it. It was just that the chemistry was there that fast.

I like that your Haru understands his temper isn't just for the sake of being an ass, that he has his reasons for being a prick most of the time and that she understands the difference in it being because he's stressed and took it out on the wrong person, that sometimes it's just him pushing her until she gives him that little pout and crossed arms that he thinks is so cute, and that other times it was misdirected and he fucked up, but it was never intentional, the last thing he would ever want to do is hurt her. He isn't this perfect right hand man that's flawless, but she sees the flaws and still loves him in spite of them.

They have such a strong chemistry when we write them that I can't even describe their bond. It's deeper even than soulmates. If they ever did break up, he'd be a fucking mess honestly. And that's another thing I love about our ship. It's not even codependency and needing her like some romance novels describe love, but that he doesn't even want to think of his life without her in it, even if it's bad, even if they're arguing he'd rather argue with her for the rest of his life than spend the rest of his life with another woman. And I'm a sucker for bonds that run that strong and deep.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Meet the Earl at Midnight by Gina Conkle

2.25/5. (Re)releases 10/6/23. This is a review of the audiobook, narrated by Marian Hussey.

Vibes: Beauty and the Beast, nerdy hero, a surprisingly experienced heroine, forced marriage.

When Lydia is taken to meet the reclusive Earl of Greenwich, Edward, she doesn't understand that her stepfather and brother have put themselves in debt to the earl. The only payment he wants? A wife to give him an heir. Although she doesn't intend to go through with the marriage, Lydia accompanies the earl to his estate, where she quickly discovers that there is much more to him--and his plan for the future--than meet the eye. If she marries him, he plans on giving her relative freedom within a short amount of time; but once she actually gets to know Edward as a person, will she want it?

Here's the thing. Gina Conkle is a solid writer, I love Beauty and the Beast, there are some unique takes on the character beats here, and the leads have chemistry. So why didn't this work for me?

Well--pacing is everything.

Quick Takes:

--I want to point out the things I found unique about this book, which was originally published nearly a decade ago. Lydia is a fun, confident heroine who isn't a rebellious renegade type, but also isn't at all missish. She's not a virgin, and there isn't some particularly tragic backstory to all that. She just wanted to get with a guy and he turned out to be a douchebag. But she had fun before that! She's described as a "hoyden" a little too often, and at times she can be a bit too perky, but overall, I found her likable and I appreciated that she wasn't just this sweet girl who existed purely to soothe Edward's tormented soul.

And despite Edward being one of those heroes who has this super beautiful one side of his face and a super scarred other side, he kind of defies a lot of the stereotypes there. Yes, he avoids society; but he's not nearly as tortured about the scars as you would expect, and a lot of his character arc revolves around him being like. Obsessed with plants. And worms. Did this always work for me? Uh, well, no, but I appreciated the creativity.

--Edward and Lydia do have chemistry, and there is an immediate sexual tension between them that is boosted by the fact that she knows what sex is and does in fact like it. She's not afraid of her own sexuality, or his for that matter, and that was a really nice change of pace. And like I said, the writing is good, which makes it easy to get engaged from the start. The issue is that the early engagement and momentum is totally lost, because...

--The pacing of this book is really off, and I have to think that a different editorial hand would have perhaps tightened it up. I was kind of shocked when I realized how little had happened at the 50% mark, because you really do begin so strongly. I was excited about the beginning. Like, I thought these two were going to GET DOWN to the business pretty quickly, based off the immediate sparks and innuendo.

What begins the slowdown is the fact that Lydia tells Edward she's not a virgin, which he isn't super bad about, the bar is underground, but... He does insist that they wait a month before getting married in order for him to ensure that she's not carrying another man's child. Which is not an unheard of trope in historicals, I've seen it before.

However, here it doesn't make sense for a couple reasons. For one thing, when the book begins Edward is going to basically dip for a long journey in three months, and the journey is long and dangerous and family trauma and so on, and as such he wants to basically leave a wife behind, pregnant with his heir. Already, this is kind of a flimsy plan because, as the book acknowledges, that is not a lot of time to get someone pregnant. Also, it might not even be a boy. Hell, it might not even be born alive. But whatever, I can wave that away.

But if the need for an heir--which is more about satisfying familial legacy obligations than Edward's own personal desires for an heir--is so great, and he is willing to have Lydia stay at his estate for the month prior to the marriage anyway... Why not just go ahead. Does the child have to be HIS? I mean, who could really prove anything? Additionally, why does he have to wait a month? Just wait until her next period, which will probably come sooner. (This is a tactic used to great effect in Elizabeth Lowell's Untamed, where the hero is like ready to GO as soon as she's had her period, and if that worked for Medieval Times McGee, I don't know why it couldn't work for Georgian Botanist Earl.) I mean, it's not foolproof, but it's pretty good and will give you some extra time to try. Sort of. Not really sure how that lines up with fertile windows, but honestly! I don't think local Georgian Botanist Earl does either!

--And after this one big obstacle to our leads at least knowing each other carnally (I mean, I'm not saying they have to be IN LOVE early in the story, but at least getting somewhere) occurs, there are then a million little broken moments. Oops, his mom walked. Whoops, here's his housekeeper. Oh no, here's an Issue. It just killed the excitement I had and made me really, really frustrated.

I'm all for obstacles to lovers being together, but this felt like obstacles to basic progress, and that just hurts a romance, always.

--To be clear, I would say that if you love love love a slow burn, this may work for you. I found the degree of slow burn contrived. However, I won't deny that the sexual tension in this novel was well done, and those who throw down for a slow burn above all else may really like this. I'll admit: if I'd known how slowly this burned ahead of time, I wouldn't have requested it, because slow burns are pretty hit or miss for me and prolonged slow burns often don't work for me at all.

--That said, on an audiobook note, Marian Hussey is a very good narrator. I've heard her narrate books before, and she does a very good job of differentiating male voices in a pleasing way--voicing the opposite gender well is always tough, so I appreciate that.

The Sex:

There is one sex scene. It's solid, but it is very late in the story, and you don't really have much physical buildup to it. Furthermore, because this sex scene happens so late in the story and so much hinges on these two consummating the relationship, you then have a total rush to the finish line of the entire romance arc, physicality aside.

Ultimately, I just felt like this was a great start that totally wasted its own potential. Which kind of annoyed me more than a book that was bad from the start would. I'm not against trying other works by Gina Conkle because she clearly has the ability to write romance, but I do think I'll need to read some reviews first to ensure that the pacing quickens.

Thanks to Netgalley and NYLA for providing me with this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[ace-the-fox]

Oohhh mama I've got the Adam Murray fankid (Cain) on the brain again. Have some thoughts (he's still a massive WIP that is trying to go along with whatever the canon decks at my face next, but here's the recents):

Okay, so, he IS now Evelin's kid too. Idk, it's symbolic and shit, and makes the most sense. They are the only couple in the series among the main characters, I believe, so...

This one's my fave. Making his parents pretty heavy duty Christians. But not like Carrie Christians, and more "We asked God to give us the perfect child and then we adopted you... What do you mean you want to be a boy, that isn't God's way??" Yeah, that. So, obviously having his Biblical knowledge, hating his parents, and not knowing what name to go by, he slaps on Cain for the time being. It's just to piss off his parents by naming himself after a murderer from the bible, because hey he's not getting it permanently, legally changed or anything. Though, he does turn out to really, really like it, unfortunately for his folks. (Also the fact that Cain killed Abel, his brother, and his deadname, Annabelle, has Abel basically in the middle... 👀 layersssss-)

He's basically the type of guy who would literally cry over spilled milk but then go through the most traumatising event known to man and just go "well, that sure was... a day."

I've also given him friends!! (Even though, with the way tmc seems to be going, the alternates might as well kill off all humanity by 2023, when this takes place, BUT–) I haven't thought of names. I considered biblical ones, but I'm not sure about finding ones that really fit deeper than just being from the good ol' bibble. One of them is your typical basic blonde white girl (who, admittedly, kind of starts off as one of those annoying allies. "I want a gay best friend!!" type of thing), the other one's a chubby video game nerd. They're an odd bunch, who somehow bonded over a shared chemistry project :)

This may change with the tmc plot or other stuff, but rn I've decided what makes the most sense is that Cain isn't technically an alternate and is actually just some guy. However, he is immune to alternates, as they can sense SOMETHING off about his vibes.

Mention of (entirely SFW) mpreg under the cut (I mean, any thing I do for any fandom ever is nearly guaranteed to include it, and I apologise for that but it will happen again lol). Don't tap if it ain't your thing.

(I may or may not have started a oneshot based on the latter half of this idea lol...)

So, he was originally starting to develop before Catalyst came out, and I got the whole "he was found in a rubbish bin off the street" thing from a Jacqueline Wilson book I never even read (sue me, okay 💀). But, no, recently I had a better idea: lil Cain was born DURING Catalyst. Essentially, Adam had no idea he was pregnant, his alt transformation triggered labour, he was already in so much pain from said transformation the labour also went completely missed, baby comes out, Adam has no idea what to think or feel. And, this all kinda depends on what Alex is gonna do next, but main idea for now is Adam gives bby to Thatcher and tells him to make sure he's (well, he'd say she because Cain was literally a newborn, but I'll say he because I feel that's right? Idk trans people can confirm or otherwise on that lol) cared for. Thatcher takes him to the hospital where he can be looked over and given to a new family (,:

[petalsmooth]

I understand Portia.

I even think she is probably, in many ways, good representation for the life of a women in her position in regency England. Often you see mothers portrayed as empty headed, uneducated you wonder how they manage a household. Kind of like in Sense and Sensibility. Which I am not saying is untrue representation particularly as written in the era but I don't think all women were like that. They couldn't afford to be. They were few avenues for survival for women in their position and I absolutely can understand a woman like Portia being singularly focused less on their feelings and more on trying to provide them the security she did not have by any means necessary.

It doesn't change that she never even treated Penelope as she did the other two. They completely wrote Penelope off as a prospect. It's not like her two other daughters were amazing prospects themselves. They did not pay any attention to her, obviously. How else would Pen be able to sneak off to the printer's so often? She told her she is basically a fool for hoping for a match. Then when Pen scraps one up that's in wealth and title higher than anything the other two did, only then is she proud of her. Up until he doesn't propose. She's going to say some pretty ugly things when learns of the engagement too and just simply put...she's abusive to Penelope.

She says she's doing it to give her daughters a better life than she had but that is true of two daughters. At best maybe she feels she has done right by her in sense Pen won't starve from lack of food but she's clearly starving for approval, affection, attention...a big reason why she wouldn't want to give up W.D in fact.

Which is another big reason why I am not entirely on board with how they have presented the w.d issue up to this point because it's been so one sided in how people react with assumptions being made about her that just aren't true. And why I still am mad at Eloise because not ONCE has she taken a moment to think her conclusions may not have been accurate as to reasons for the column. She simply does not care to listen to Penelope. But she'll listen to Cressida...Pen's bully.

And even there by ep 4 you can see how alone Eloise actually is because Cressida doesn't listen to her, the way she never listened to Pen. Although to be fair, in upcoming ep Eloise isn't listening to Cressida either so neither are particularly good at listening. When Cressida abandons Eloise mid sentence on one of her rants (one of the few times Eloise looks like her old animated self)...you can feel the absence of where Pen used to be. You can also see still not really aware of anything but her own world, because your new best "friend" is clearly worried will be married to an old lecher and focused on trying to prevent it. Eloise doesn't have that fear because privileged with her family. But also apparently her brother causing a scandal interrupting a courting couple still doesn't make her think...uh...wait...are there romantic feelings here?

I'm sure I'm not going to like everything said in the Pen and Colin argument because I clearly disagree with the writers on their slant of the column, but at least with Colin this is his best friend, fiancé and lover...they have a very intimate relationship, he gave her chances to open up to him and he really hadn't done wrong by her outside of the one time at a ball. He wasn't Eloise running through London unchaperoned with young single men and in my view should consider if Pen really wanted to ruin her would have said that. He also does not have all the details. Eloise had details and decided to take no ownership for her own actions. But however he moves past it, we know won't cut off contact for 6-8 months because she is too important to him to completely walk away.. She's important to Eloise too, but not more than Eloise's pride is important to her.

On one hand I want that friendship repaired because I miss their chemistry onscreen, I hate her with Cressida. I watched the whole show but I mostly fw through their scenes now because there is NO chemistry there. On other hand I don't want them as friends if Eloise remains the same self centered person using Pen as a sounding board but not accepting Pen if she deviates at all from her opinion. I mean Eloise actually said they used to plot to be spinsters together and thought that was what Pen wanted. I know it's taken from the book and I like that detail but it just shows how little attention paid to Pen. Did Pen really talk excitedly about that prospect Eloise, or did she merely go along with it because though no one would ever want her? Because I would guess the latter. Or did she merely not contest the idea with Eloise would suggest and presume Pen was onboard? I could see that too...

[ilikelookingatthings]

I have seen the third fantastic beasts and i have some thoughts to get out.

First...no wonder the fantastic beasts part was in small print. They are there but the dumbloir secert abd grindalwald wascfront and center.

I didn't mind the recast if johnny depp. He wasn't my #grindlewald not my gtindlewald anyway.

I'm glad that thatcfinally properly soelled out Dumblediir and Grindlewald were romantucalky involved before.

They iggically commited.

My issye though is it wasn't a strong enough emotional core. For Harry and his friends i cared about then doing mundabe styff qbd their rekationships and their conflict even when they weren't facing a darklord.

Alit if the drama was emitional. I understood why Harry was attached to dumbledoor when Higwarts was a safe place from the dursleys and how when he is around he jept alit jf bad stuff at bay..with shit hiting thecfan when the old man isn't around.

I still don't understand why Newt is this attached to Dumbledoor.

With Ron and Harry there was that firstcfruendship and genuine care that ron and hihis famiky showed to Harry. With drana xoming from Rin caring for Harry but him feeling one if nany and fadung intinthe backgroubd due to his brothers. Hiw that bounced off Harry's fame. The situation with Ginny's crush on Harry and her almkst dying. How harry liked Cho but she hated Cedric who died saving Harry. The lowkey rascism against non muggle folk giving excuses for purebloids to look diwn on people. Dobbje anand his fight to free houselves who are so brainwashed they think its bad to be free. The romance at times.

Now i'll admit im not a big fan of the second fantastic beasts. Grindkewald js suppoused to be scarier than vokdemirt. The hitler ir worst of wizards. Many if the timeline points felt like retcons or maje no sense considering the Harry potter series and the new characters they intriduced they used in weird ways.

That said they didn't use ANY if the emotional conflict the previous movie set up.

Queenie went rogue to follow Grindlewald since he promised to have wizards and muggles allowed to marry. She nonconsentually spell drugged our baker and ignored his valid concerns about how its illegal and in america people were put to death for less(the weird room of memory goo in the first movie). But she can read minds kr emotions so we don't get HOW she was convienced to defect.

They just have her regret it all of a sudden.

Now don't get me wrong. I want and love the engame of this couple.....but theykind of ignore how a couple clashes to become stronger and to rebuild trust. I love this couple due to their chemistry andhow good the actors show they are smitten...but action wise Queeniedidnothing to protect Creedalence, had to be cornered by our Baker andneeded to be convienced to leave...not to mention brainwashed our baker and acted like he was the problem for not wanting to get married and was hurt even ththoththouththoththougththoththouththoththough it was understandable he was unsettled by being brainwashed.

More over as fun as the new attack battle nerd was...wasn't the bajer commited to saving queeny in the last movie? What was the point of convincing him in the first place if he came that easily? How did Grindlewaldconvince a mind reader?

More over....the biggest gripe is they didn't properly use the death of miss lita strange.

I may have thought having that weird 'conflict'that Newt was writen to be engaged when hus girlfriend is Tinawhen it was actually hus brother was dumb. But if yourgoing to fridge a lady of that caliber at least use her deaths impact on the story properly!

They set up that her brother, newt and newts brother and finacee were all involved but we don't see tge impact it has on anyof them. She was one if awjward Newts first friends. She saved some of them and was the love if newts brother's life. Yetthe onlyone who was shiwn to care washer brothewho had the memory if her ripped out of his head...ysveing told about the affect by Queenie.....so the brother lost all memory of heher due to Queenje not keeping her mouth shut.

Maybe it was implied some affect from the bro when he stared a little longer where Grindkewald disappeared...but even the baker had a stronge reaction to Grindlewald being described as having done nothing wrong! The finceeends up going to a wedding at the endif the mivue yeyet no lamenting he will never get to see the love if his life again? He'll never get married to her now?

Also...I'm just going to say it. I like inclusion and feminism. Equality for all and all that...but i am VERY confused about the wizarding word. This is literally during world war 2 era correct? Where alot of things go wrong. I get Europe being more progressive....but it feels like its trying to erase the sexism and rascism problems and it unsettles me that a black lady was incharge if the american wizarding world in America...nit because i didn't like the inclusion....but because it kind of implies to me that she was there for inclusion but also it made her seem incompetant and raises ten times more questions on how the muggleworld and wizard world interacts.

America was, is and still has alot of lingering rascism problems. The main society in America AND Europe has alot of sexism problems even today....let alone during the world war II era. Many of the problems or blindspots came from old white guys who were raised with many of those beliefs lingering or in the forefront who weren't able to see ithers perspectives or wereit was looked diwn apon to hang out with people who could give those perspectives with society making it hard for those perspectives to be in the forefront or get higher in society.

Yet one of the main leaders in America seems to be a afrucan american lady yet muggkes and wizards can't marry abd you get put to death easily?

I enjoy the hell out if her...but does she get harrassed and cornered by regular muggles? Does her subbordants treat her worst in the muggle public? Did wizards just let slavery happen?

Is there no sexism in Europe since a lady could be incharge if the wizarding world.

We saw the new attack wizard get harrassed in public but ut was a set up for rmthe baker and not real whenharassment like that really happens. How woukd that have worked in real life? Wouldsgw be alliwedto defend herself against muggles or would she had had to ender to nit get antiwitch people ir risk discovery of the wuzardibg world?

I love the baker to bits but he was raised in the regular muggle world with non of that brought up!

And the attack wizard is fun but we barely got to see her for fruendships with the group! Why was she against grindlewald? We know she is a fan if Newt book and she is alot if fun...and you shouldn't need a good reason to be against war or rascism. I know. But she is a character in a movieand if i'm going to be invested i need to know why.

I think they mentioned her being familar with Tina and motivated by Queenie....but we don't see them interact. She stops that one lady from being assasinated but we don't see her try to talk to Queenie.

More over the only real man of color is tge brother strange but he looked like a dead traumatized fish after getting his mind wiped! And didnt get to talk the rest of the movie with Grindlewald implying he would side with the pureblood wizards. The actor played him well but he was given nothing to really do. We don't know why he stayed on the goodside or if he ever remembers the sister and his not doublecross ended with asking what took him so long. It was a little funny and the scene was cool but why did he stick with the good side?!

Also why didn't he and Newtsbrother have anytalks when they both lost Lita?

Another gripe is why do they keep writing out Tina? Mind you Tina took a while to grow on me. She gave the impresion kf a newbie at her job even though she was good at it and was only demoted because she handled trying to save creedance sloppily.

But i know they made a better version for him to be the nephew and not the brother of Dumbledore. But the reason i cared about Creedance at all was because Newthad baggage because he failed to save a gurl with a similar pproblem and while NEWTdidn't seem to care about adults much...kids and aninaks qrehis thingand ththaththat was a good mix. But also because TINAcared about Creedance.

She put her job on the line trying toget himout of a abusive situation just to think he died alone, betrayed and in pain in the first movie. Shewas offscreen forthe majority of the second movie because she was trying to track down Creedance. Newt had been trying to find her as well so that was a plotpoint. She had wanted to save Creedance.

Yet Tina was written out AGAIN? Even though Queenie is her room mate/sister? Even though she has one of the strongest reasons to care and feel responsable for Creedance?

When she had one of the strongest reasons to want to save Queenie and how to convince her?

More over itwas sloppy hiw she qas written out. Thus ladybug was demoted in the first movie. In the second she was in the fueld. Failed tofind Creedance and her iwn sister defected and many people died. She was barely listened to in the first movie. WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE BE PROMOTED TO A HEAD POSITION AND BE UNABLE TO COME HELP SAVE QUEENIE?!

More over she realized in the second movie the fiance stuff was a misunderstanding. Why wouldn't she keep incontact with Newt?

Instead we git more screentime for a lady assistant who oogled Newt inthe second movie! Someone who i wasn't a big fan of because NEWT's appeal is he is so socially awkward he prefered animals to people so him actually making friends has a impactic. We understood why many ladies wouldn't be interested in him but also why Tina eventually had him grow on her. So a assistant not mentioned ir appearing inthe first movie but suddenly appearing as always being there for the other two?

Why should i be sympathizing with her unrequited love when she hadn't told him all this time and he never hidhaffections for Tina?

If felt like they weretrying to pull a Neville Longbottom. Someone unsuspecting becoming cool...but it feeling kind of shallow?

Also was the German head wizard in on it or not? He seemed in on it then genuinely shocked and dazed at the zhombie horse creature.

It gives off a weird feeling when it comes to us knowing what the Nazi's did and there not being much establishment on what those symbols mean or what the others wizard leaders want. Also is the wizard incharge of germany affected by the issues that affected the muggle Germans that made muggles suseptable to Hilter after world war 1? and their bias to look for someone easy to blame?

Also...was Dumbledoor's brother against him and grindkewald because they are Gay? Or because Grindlewald was a pureblood nazi? Are gay people allowed to marry in the Wizarding or not?

And as much as i like the wedding.....why was Queenie and the Baker allowed to get married? I thought the American wizarding word was a little backword and not affected by Europe?

Its not like the astral bowed to the muggle baker that would blow everyone's minds.

Though Dumbledoor was really funny.

Some favorite scenes were Newt and his brother. They didn't adress any emotional stuff like how newts friend andhis bro's fiance is dead. Or references to the mini conflict in the second movie where the bro wanted Newt to try socializing more. Join the ministery which is a stable job.

Newt was really upset by it because newt loves his profession and his bro asking that made him feel like his bro didn't take what NEWT wanted seriously just like all the other people who looked diwn on Newt and his profession. NEWTstance was understandable....but hewas also childish about it because while newtwas right ti defend hiw hefelt hecoukd not sesee hus brother was trying to help and was concerned about him even if his attempt was misguided.

I kindof wish theyhad talked that out a bit more. But you could feel that brotherly chemistry even if the bro gotkidnapped intheworst kjdnapping scene i had ever seen.

Also...is Dumbledoor and Grindlewald still in love? Its unclear.

It felt like they won inthe end....but its also confusing because isnt Grindkewalf supolpiused to be even more terrifying and widescale than vokemort? I like happy endings but if grindkewald is going to be causing that much death in the future...why have him lose? Or did he already cause the deaths offscreen?

Also what happened to Naggine the kady to turned into a snake, Creedence'sgirlfriend and voldemorts future lacky?

this vague word buildingwirked well in Harry potter. The little bit built on each other and it was a controlled seperate environment...but its weirdwhen they are adults and we shoukd get more info.

If Newt was just focused onaninaks and stumbked into things its one thing buthe us ckearly more involved and alot of other pieces just raise more questions!?

That said this was still more entertaining to watch than the second one. The tri scorpian alone was worth it.

But seriously...therewas so many opportunities to have a emotiobal connection with the characters that they just didn't take.....Why?!

A secert society under our noses is fun....but they made a big deal about muggles not finding out in the first movie as a main priority...yet there are fights infront of muggles? Potential nonexplained fight dimension or not.

Why did Creedence go BACK to Grindlewald after Dumbledoor told him he lied?

Why are they treating Tina and Newt like the best couple when they haven't built their relationship properly since the first one?!

After theassistant was being pushed to make me feel bad for her? Wa i suppoused to laugh, feel pity or be creeped out when she called Newt her husband?

How does Tina feel about Creedence still unable to be saved?

Its a very good looking movie. Alot of the delivery was nice and fight scene were fun. But its hard to turn off my brain when the harrypotter series was pretty consistant in comparison. And this has issues even keeping this seperate from the regular Harry Potter series.

The fun parts are still fun. But i don't think I'm over thinking too much right?

[daaedoodles]

Mia and Elizabeth would be cute together but I feel like neither of them will stay after the main cast is reunited. Wilder was Helen’s replacement and Helen will eventually come back to New Amsterdam and Mia seems like she’ll be gone once Veronica is gone since she’s the one who hired her and her department takes a lot of money from other departments. If they do get together though, I hope it’s not under some weird circumstances like Lauren and Leyla I want one wlw couple to have a normal story line.

I did not consider that fact oh no :((

I don't think the writers are going to bring Sharpe back within the next like 16(?) episodes we have left, she's really committed to her place in London and I think for once Max should give something up for her even if it means giving up New Amsterdam, and maybe leaving it in the very capable hands of Dr Wilder?

They seem to have signed Wilder on as a lead now and Mia seems like a supporting role, though I don't don't know if she's dead now the last episode was very concerning and the promo pics too. I really hope that Wilder stays because as much as I love Max part of me actually likes Wilder more as a possible Medical Director because of the lack of the whole white savior thing.

Even though I did enjoy it partially, because NA is the only show that really talks about real issues and delves into them, a lot of the time it did rub me the wrong way on Max's part because like Helen said, he never really took the time to listen properly to the people who were marginalized.

Not to mention Sandra and her character have been a breath of fresh air to the show and its kind of brought the show back to life, I think after Kapoor left there was his bit in the main cast that was left empty and the show didn't really feel whole since he left, but Dr Wilder has really nicely fit into that role.

I do hope that even IF Max and Helen do come back to work at New Amsterdam (which I think wouldn't happen, it would be a lot of backtracking on Helen's part and also her qgain sacrificing everything for Max) Wilder stays on.

You're definitely right in saying if Veronica steps out that the holistic medicine department will probably be removed, but if it's Wilder in charge, I feel as though she might keep the department purely because she saw how Mia helped Willow and her other patient.

The two of them definitely have chemistry, not to mention both are quite lonely people (as we saw in the last episode, Mia being alone and Wilder going on dating apps + feeling sad at seeing Helen and Max) and in that way they could offer some understanding and if not a relationship, a friendship, to one another. I think they compliment one another nicely and their dynamic is really enjoyable so far. We already saw Elizabeth being quite touchy with Mia from the get-go which isn't very characteristic of her, we've only seen that with her brother, so maybe it's in the cards?

The characters deserve that kind of happiness especially after the shit show that was 'All Night Long' and to be honest queer NA fans deserve better than Leyren as it is now because they're probably goinng towards a green card marriage despite the two not being on the best of terms, if it's even in character to be happening considering Leyla's insistence on not wanting to be helped by Lauren and that massive betrayal of her trust on Lauren's part.

[imaginariaextraordinaire]

So much of this episode is about the unacknowledged labour of women, the sexism they face in different areas and the various methods women adopt to negotiate it.

Ji-Woo is such a great character because the show takes the idea of a film star and layers it with angularities and tenderness. She's well aware of what she's sacrificed on the personal front to become the successful professional she is in the present. I love how she's neither ashamed of it nor does she ignore that its a choice that came with lots of unpleasant baggage. We get a sense of this awareness in the conversation she has with Seon-Gyeom in the parking lot (it's also striking me as I rewatch the show that there's a beautiful little arc of Seon-Gyeom and Ji-Woo building a mother-son relationship almost from scratch).

The church scenes are also a great example of show-don't-tell storytelling. While Assemblyman Ki has to bribe and flatter people in order to get their attention, adoring gazes turn to Ji-Woo seemingly automatically. Except of course, it's not automatic, as the conversation with Ms Dong reminds us. Her fame as an actress is the result of hard work and putting everything else aside. I love the easy understanding between Ms Dong and Ji-Woo — both working women, both mothers. There's no shame in Ji-Woo asking Ms Dong to look out for Seon-Gyeom and no recrimination when she says Seon-Gyeom is closer to Ms Dong than he is to his mother. It takes a village, people.

In Ji-Woo and Seon-Gyeom's chance meeting at the parking lot, there's something tentative and formal about them. They're both putting up façades — Seon-Gyeom's polite mask, Ji-Woo's tinkling laughter — although she does allow him to glimpse what lies beneath. Ji-Woo only drops a vague mention of Assemblyman Ki making life miserable for the rest of the family because Seon-Gyeom isn't falling in line. It's obvious from both mother and son's body language that she doesn't need to elaborate. What's lovely though is that there's no complaint in her tone. She isn't telling Seon-Gyeom this detail so that he feels guilty; quite to the contrary. The laughter and ease of her body language is reassuring, as though she's subtly telling him that she can handle this.

While we're on Ji-Woo, how great is her barely-concealed impatience with all the smiling and greeting and praying in church!

I'm not sure what I love more — the shot of a the stained-glass Jesus, looking pained while the minister thunders out a prayer for Assemblyman Ki; or the fact that the very next scene shows a kid throwing a tantrum in a supermarket. It cannot be a coincidence that this is the one time that Seon-Gyeom is filmed from an angle that makes it look like he's descending down upon the kid (whom he bribes with a chocolate bar). Particularly love the longing on the kid's face as she stares at the retreating figure of the divine Seon-Gyeom.

The scene between Mi-Joo and Seon-Gyeom outside his hotel is so heartbreaking to watch and it's the first time we understand just how hard Mi-Joo is on herself. All this began with a drunk professor making offensive, sexist comments that demeaned Mi-Joo, but to explain all that to Seon-Gyeom feels almost indulgent so she takes the blame. She's the disappointment — for being poor, for being seen as someone who can be bribed, for having taken the money. She doesn't hear him when he places the onus of the blame on his father. It's so achingly obvious that all her belligerence is posturing and she's ending the budding relationship between her and Seon-Gyeom because she doesn't think she deserves him.

Thank the gods for May. Even if she and Mi-Joo start off at odds, it takes only seconds for them to be in sync. God bless the womance.

You've got to feel thankful for the family of choice when Dan-Ah bumps into human-trash brother. He's a strong reminder of the everyday sexism in society and how privilege doesn't mean you're protected from this venom.

Over the course of Run On, Dan-Ah figures out how to fight her battles in her own way, rather than by employing toxic methods, like putting her (half-) brothers down because society considers them illegitimate. At this point though, while her brother is disgusting and Dan-Ah is obviously nothing like him as a person, the weapons she uses to fight him — hierarchy, contempt, violence — are the same as those he uses on her.

In the middle of all these tortured, messed-up men, the kids are alright. We know this from not only the way the schoolkids whom Seon-Gyeom coaches react to the bullying scandal — interesting that the children have more perspective than the grown-ups who care about appearances rather than the truth — but also thanks to Yeong-Hwa.

I love Dan-Ah trying to subtle suss out exactly how young Yeong-Hwa is when he and Ye-Joon come to Dan-Ah's office. I also love how not for a second does Yeong-Hwa, for all his puppy-eyes, call her "noona". There's no ambiguity about this relationship. Also, while I still can't find anything remotely good to say about those wretched paintings, the idea that art forges connections irrespective of social convention/ hierarchy is one that has my heart.

If the Gyeommi couple is all about being heard and understood, the Danhwa couple is all about being seen for what you really are.

Speaking of Gyeommi, how cute is it that Woo-Sik is the one playing Cupid! In this episode, Seon-Gyeom is frequently reminded of how alone and solitary he is, but what we also see is that he's building friendships. The relationship with Woo-Sik changes from that of a senior with a junior colleague to something softer, warmer. With Mi-Joo, particularly at the dinner that Woo-Sik organises, you see Seon-Gyeom finding companionship as they attempt to set aside their attraction and actually understand each other. This is a relationship that works because they're so different. The fact that they don't think alike is why she can offer him the piercing insight of, "Why not include your failures as a part of your process?"

Also, what a bombshell to drop on audiences in a country (and continent) known for its fiercely competitive spirit... .

Rewatching this episode, Mi-Joo running back to home to translate the article in which Woo-Sik clears Seon-Gyeom's name reminded me of how different this is from the marathon run. Both times, she's running towards Seon-Gyeom, but this time it's more adrenaline than anything else and it's for him. It's the unthinking running that Seon-Gyeom told her about during their first drinking session — you're just running ahead, without looking back, focused on one external goal. The marathon run is much more internal as it pushes Mi-Joo to make peace with her past before she decides what she wants to run towards.

Also, looping back to that idea of unacknowledged women's labour, Mi-Joo works HARD to make sure the article goes viral and she claims no credit for it. She only tells an online group that she translated it because she knows that they will circulate it with more gusto if they know it's her work. This little snippet is also a good reminder that rarely do things go viral without a whole lotta effort from people in the background.

Finally, this hug in the rain turned me into full mush. By now, we know that Seon-Gyeom has grown up with very little affection. He prefers a hotel room to the family house. The only person he's felt comfortable enough to hug is the housekeeper. As far as he can tell, he has no friends (Woo-Sik and Yeong-Il will eventually set him straight on that account, but for now, he's utterly alone). At this point, the hug from Mi-Joo is something much more tender and basic than romantic love or sexual chemistry.

MJ: Don't tell me you don't know what I'm doing.

SG: I know. You're comforting me.

MJ: Correct.

I can't help but remember the later scene when they'll be on either sides of metal gates, when she won't reach out to him and he'll be upset that she won't trust him. Perhaps that's the difference between finding friendship and falling in love — they both can make you stronger, but the process is very different.

[the-witchhunter]

Oh this makes me very happy

So fun fact, winemaking is one of my hobbies

It's surprisingly easy to pick up, and combining things into a magical potion of getting drunk makes me feel like a wizard or alchemist

So for regular booze, all you need is a source of sugar, water, and yeast. Sure, things that ad nutrients for the yeast are extremely helpful, but that's the basics

So despite everything being ectoplasm, things in the zone have structures and even the ectoplasm in Danny's DNA is structured like his actual DNA, so likely in GZ fruits in vegetables ectoplasm is similarly structured to earth sugars and starches. Since the structure informs the function, then yes they basically act like ghost sugar and starches

So the issue is the yeast. Even in actual winemaking, yeasts have different tolerances and thrive in slightly different environments, so you'd need a strain that is tolerant to ectoplasm. Now, considering you have to fly a long distance between areas of land and plants are not a given, yeast is probably not that common in the zone. Like, it's basically all around us in the world, but there's little opportunity for it to naturally propagate in the zone. It's entirely possible that it exists but likely only in certain places

You know a place that would have access to yeast and gradually increasing levels of ectoplasm that could naturally create a strain tolerant to large quantities?

Fenton works

Danny lives in one of the few places that producing Ghost Booze is possible

But here's the real question: If humans in the Ghost Zone are like ghosts on Earth, then does that mean that ghost alcohol SOBERS UP HUMANS?

But also Danny 100% could make a still using stuff from his parent's lab, but also chances are they might distill their own ethanol for the lab so good chance there's just straight up ecto infused booze lying around that probably tastes like garbage

as for the taste of ghost moonshine, it probably depends

one what it's made from, his skills, if he scorches the mash, how wide of a cut he keeps, if he ages it, if he flavors it etc

it probably is not even drinkable the first time he makes it and might actively be poison. Did he remember to discard the heads so as not to make everyone go blind? How hot did he let it get? it probably tastes burnt with all kinds of off flavors

after doing it a while?

Danny get's good. He'd need to up the scale of his operation because he'd likely be working with a still that could only handle at most a couple gallons if he's keeping and hiding it at home because his parents might not notice or applaud his chemistry, Jazz isn't letting her little brother moonshine. So he'd need to scope out an area that's hidden, has access to running water to cool it off, and probably is easy to get supplies to to make the mash

So obviously he's choosing to do this in the GZ and actively is avoiding walker like he's a revenue man in the 1920's and selling his product to probably most of his rogues

I can also only assume it's more flammable than regular alcohol

Can you make Ghost Booze?

No really, serious question.

If Danny hit, say for legal purposes, 21 and TOTALLY not like 16+ with an internet connection and a dream, and looked a Zone Plants? And Wondered?

COULD he?

We know, basically, if it's Fauna it boozer. Gods bless the natural kingdom etc. BUT! While he maybe be looking at some sweet, FREE, neon day-glow fruits and veggies? They...are ectoplasm.

That Ectoplasmic Grape cluster? Ectoplasm. The neon purple mango? Ectoplasm again! These starchy tubers? From the fridge. But THESE tubers? The orange glowing ones? Ectoplasm! It's all goo, all the time, baby!

And DOES ECTOPLASM FERMENT? Is the question!

Cause we aren't ASKING IF there is ghost booze. Of course there is. But THAT may just form fully developed, bottle and all! So? Can they? Do we need Ghost Yeast? If it DOES ferment, does it even release ALCOHOL or something else? Like radioactive by-product?

Does it make sludge?

What does the illicit Ghost Moonshine Danny DEFINITELY hasn't made in the OPs center, TASTE like? Paint thinner with a hint of battery acid? Floral after taste? Is it fruity? Could it kill a man? Does it still GLOW?

The people demand ANSWERS!

@hypewinter @nerdpoe @ailithnight @the-witchhunter @hdgnj

[kdramaxoxo]

Hi! I just stumbled on your blog by accident, lol, but it definitely seems like you know your dramas. Can you please recommend some with well-acted introverted male leads or other main characters? I know some of the famous ones, like My love from the stars, reply 1988, etc). I prefer thriller, crime and such, but that isn't necessarily a criteria. Thanks 💜 And also I read on your thoughts on age gap. Have you seen Mr. Sunshine? God-tier drama, but the age gap, God, it made me so uncomfortable.

Hi!!! Welcome to my little corner of tumblr, so happy you found me even if it was by mistake lol!

Re: Mr. Sunshine - I know lots of people loved it, but I refused to watch it. The age gap was 10% of the reason, and 90% was me absolutely hating Lee Hyun Byun as a person.

Now the fun part of the ask! I’ll put the more thriller-y dramas near the top of the list since that’s your preference.

K-Dramas with Introverted Male Leads:

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes: I love this psychological thriller featuring Seo In Guk and Jung So Min. The male lead is the perfect example of a trauma baby who makes bad choices and needs to be loved. This drama is in my top 10 and I think you’ll really like it.

Come and Hug Me: Another favorite of mine, two children are linked to a tragic past. They meet again as adults and struggle to heal together while dealing with their trauma. It’s romantic, terrifying and the male lead keeps to himself because his father is a convicted murderer. You will love him.

Flower of Evil: This drama is the perfect mix of thriller, crime and romance. The main couple is a cop and her metal smithing husband who has a mysterious past. That is literally all I will say so that I don’t spoil it. #powercouple2020

He Is Psychometric: The introverted person in this sci fi / crime drama is the second male lead, but he’s such a good example of what you are asking for. The drama centers around his younger brother’s ability to see visions when he touches objects, and the crimes he and a rookie cop are trying to solve. 

Extracurricular: A super introverted high school kid with a very iffy job finds himself more involved than he would like when he befriends a girl from his school. No spoilers!! This is one of the best non-kdrama-y k-dramas around!

Hello Monster: This psychological thriller centers around an elusive serial killer and an expert hired to find and stop him. It does have romance but is way more about personalities and what makes a person a killer.”

Healer: We all know how much I love Healer and lucky me...it counts! Healer is a loner “super-hero” type who works anonymously and independently, until he finds himself involved with a women who captures his attention. Romance, crime solving, LOVE!

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay: A dark and beautiful k-drama about found family and mental trauma. The lead’s personality is actually very similar to My Love From The Star, so you might really like it! Plus the leads are GORGEOUS, though I’m partial to Moon Young (everyone knows this!).

Just Between Lovers: I’ll push people to watch this melodrama about healing any chance I get. Kang Doo lives life dealing with a physical injury as well as PTSD from a childhood trauma. He’s a good boy but a broken boy. We love him ok??

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Wang So is a prince who is basically damaged goods from being treated like crap by the royal family. He’s introverted, cruel and literally dying to be treated kindly by someone. This historical drama will destroy you. Like, you will SOB and be sad a month later. 

I’m not a Robot: A man who is allergic to humans and lives alone in a mansion, commissions an AI robot to live with him. This is a sci fi romcom and the chemistry between the leads is adorable. 

Into The Ring: A slice of life romcom about a strong and feisty lady who runs for government to get the paycheck that comes with the position. She finds herself allied with a quiet and straight-laced man who keeps to himself, is diligent at work and just wants to clock on on time (can you blame him?).

Crash Landing On You: A rich chaebol finds herself trapped in North Korea and enlists the help of a group of soldiers. There’s romance, found family and lots of tears. I’m not sure the leading man is super introverted, but he definitely starts as a very quiet and private soldier.

A Poem A Day: This is a workplace drama/romance that takes place in a physical therapy hospital. The leading lady is ultimate sunshine and she crushes on a quiet and nerdy doctor who keeps to himself. The love triangle in this is really annoying-- heads up!

Introverted Boss: This rom com is basically what you are looking for as far as an introverted person. He’s the CEO of a company but stays behind the scenes and doesn’t like people and is scared of them. It’s a cute drama but has some frustrating filler moments. 

Because This Is My First Life: A rom/com slice of life about an introverted man who wants to live alone with his cat but needs a roommate to help pay the bills. For K-drama reasons his roommate ends up being a woman who is a sweet and passive drama writer who, just wants a safe place to live. They come up with a marriage contract so that they can both live there without raising suspicions.

[misterbitches]

some thots. having a bad time so this is rougher than usual. oh well

....

i guess he really does know hiim best cos if that was my mans (man specifically cos if anyone else did that id take it more srsly) i would be like oh my god ur singing me a love song? i would love it but i woudl SCREAM in embarrassment. UNLESS it was a really deep love song that's about us dying together.

like i want to eat ur skin type of thing (drain u nirvana) lmaoa but i really like this song it reminds me of that velvet underground song (the only one i know cos of juno lmao) and nico or whatever 'i'm sticking with you)

my adhd would be out of fucking control i had to spend my time listening to this looking around i kept getting distracted by a tissue and thinking "wow this song is nice but i wish it would end bc i am getting distracted" and lo and behold i paused it and i have to pee and i know it's gonna take forever to undo this

ok about 12m later i turned it back on and they kissed and then he bit the corn then that night li chen also lost his virgin teas after watching gay porn and being like "hm interesting" and he'll be like "i see, ur dick is not medium sized"

i'm honestly gagging i cannot at this 12 year old marrying his mom

beautiful theyre beautiful

ayea you fucking psycho we do too because he was 17 and we had to witness it (or well, other people did cos i didnt watch the show even tho wayne song is [BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEP] and i want him to [BEEEEEEEP] and ppl even liked it which is fine like i get it in theory but they put this in my eyeballs so i'm gonna make fun of it bc it's fuckin DUMB lmao like i can't I CANNOT and he said "u were so persistent" BITCH UR 30??!?!???!?!?!?)capi hve it on mute and i tried to get a screencap of li chen and mu ren like together and not just his face but i cant find the timestamp and seeing their faces as they get married is literalyl traumattizing i'm like scremaing at my screen going "HE'S 5 HE'S 5 HE'S 5" and every time theyre like "we acn live forever together" like no bitch ur bones rae creaking

also is the officiator white? if anyone knows why or if that's common i'd love to know more. EDIT: HE ISN'T I JUST THOUGHT HE LOOKED LIKE MOBY FROM THAT ANGLE

anyway here

i'm almost done with this fucking bullshit and i am in a really ould mood and usu they make it a bit better but imo it's kind of....annoying i guess balancing all these story elements and introducin gother couples (even in the periphery) since the story in itself can't focus. i feel like all in all the time spent with these two is a lot more limited and we get the feel for the rship because of their chemistry as actors, irl chemistry as friends and colleagues, and hopefully being happy and working on a good set. so it isn't the strength of the writing or production.

for some reason they get like less dynamic ways of being together which i think is part of their charm, they do things their own way, but the writers really should have substantiated this more. it's really just the way everyone in the show has managed to deliver these AWFUL story lines and production decisions (like seriously who the fuck was on costume? lighting?)

like maybe hot take but all the moments that are cringe and insane in the show are not pleasant, per se, because they aren't thought out clearly. so they're not a joy to watch in the normal sense but the actors are good enough to pull it off. i didn't cringe at the talks they had because it felt like actors like acting these lines out instead of us being embarrassed for it and you CAN TELL theyre embarrassed.

this is a huge kudos to the casting director and the actors and whatever crew that actually did a good job. i don't particularly like watching bo xiang and his grandfather husband not because of the content but because i feel like, to me, they're so awkward even though they have chemistry. i don't have that issue with xing si and his rapist brother boyfriend because watching them is actually really pleasant, it's intimate. this isn't to do with the story though because when it hits you how devoid this other person is and how stupid the situation is it changes (for me, for me, for me, this is all my opinion think whateverrrr u want im not telling u 2 ok!)

so truly kudos to this cast. idk if i'm misremembering here but imo the most cast appropriate series in this was crossing the line and close to you. one is a decent atmosphere and execution (yes even with that brother story line, notice the major key differences though because that's a sincere false equivalence. they try to execute power imbalances soooo badly and then fail every time but here's one meant to shock too and it was just likelmao ok girl?)

it may not make sense to say either in a writing way or for the character to do it but i believe that whoever the characters these people are supposed to be especially those super not well written on the page still get that message aacross (yong jie's actor is a good ex. not sure if i should ccongratulate him for having the worst job on earth and the worst character and his character is flat but. ostensibly they should let their actions speak for themselevs but what they do is they back themselves into a ccorner with unsuretyabout their characters or a dilemma that pops up they just want to excuse it. well guess hwat u couldnt do enough legwork. but to some extent the disposable side couple works here on a um "our eyes see them and get it" way

also to me it seems like they chose this story just to have this specific wedding. like it's a timely topic and i'm pretty sure like another provision? (correction? idk) was made WRT taiwanese same-sex marriage so it's topical but it isn't like a "papa and daddy" situation where they're interacting in it and there (for ex: the pride parade) and there being like real life terms and consequences. here it seems like they were like ah yes wedding ah yes dumb couple from modc bc we kiled off the other one sooooo (then outsource them to life love on the line u__u) then hamfisting in some fucking message which is funny bc

- despite the hints peppered in and the clear attraction they both acknowledge ur like ~not gay just him~ even tho...i mean i just. again they dont read over what they write i don't think considering. but wahtever.

- the only gay dude (verbally said) is with his rapist brother with an awful power dynamic oh or IS a rapist (gao) (or his brother but i think it was just a "im a psycho so it's him" thing unless they said it. in which case idc cos i wasnt paying attn but that's also not great) or i guess the wedding but like....that's also a ridiculously inappropriate and dumb relationship taht it's built on. i mean i don't really see much respect her so i dont particularly want to hear abt gay weddings being important when they didn't even utilize it in the story beforehand and have we ever. this is a huge indication to me that it was a reverse engineered chosen story beforehand (if it was one) or thought of

soooooo

so reversal of that....it didnt give us enough time to breathe with these two at all but for both of the actors they can capitalize what's on the page and the writers didn't. like their dynamic is very i give/you give like taking car eof each other etc that's why

again, no artist worth their salt will ever say their work meant nothing. that's a cover up. i'm sick of lazy production and then getting away with it claiming being subversive or attacking an issue by not doing anything. we show crazy shit all the time but it has a POINT and ur point is "i like the gays" then girl.....i mean it's not great

but the acting really carried it. i have a feeling if this series continues it might continue to use more experienced actors cos maybe the budget goes up but they also have less inhibitions now when it comes to acting. i like the way li chen expresss himself and teng teng too. i like anson a lot and there's some angles that did not do any favors and i think eh has to get more control of his body movements (bc he's SO LARGE and thin) but he wasn't bad at all and there were real human tears. of course i, personally, favor charles tu. he has more control over his body because he has...less to work with and he's a bit bigger and he was really great in this role. he's a himbo a bit of a meathead but you like him. you like them. there's some things i think they had them say and do that they wouldn't let happen if they stuck to the characters and the story (mainly liking that dumb idiot rapist)

what i notice is that the reprehensible actions people criticize others for in the show and in real human life lalways gets turned around. teng teng being surprised that this boy's grandfather boyfriend met him when he was a junior in high school and he's 12 years older and him apologizing for being shocked and then whatshisface going "ur better at it than most people" and then the convo about gao with whatshisface and then rapist brother comes to pick him up. they are admonishing gao but thinking that rapist brother is noble for doin gwhat he did (and oh rapist brother shows up) like the hypocrisy and the decisions are immense. so now it's like "guys see he's a great guy" like girl STICK TO SOMETHING but whatever so i live in this universe where muren and li chen do everything right and have lots of different interesting fun seex with all their friends. i would write this but i cannot i am dying

[fialleril]

Anakin & Padmé ice skating AU: Padmé chalks it up as a major win every time Anakin goes out on the ice in anything that isn't just deep, solid black. They're a media darling for being as madly in love on ice as off. Who's their coach, though? I'm coming up with nothing but EXTREMELY CRACK ideas xD

Nah, I feel like Anakin constantly in black while Padme wears an ever expanding line of haute couture dance costumes would be their signature Look, tbh. Ice dance is all about drama and contrasts, so they’d make a pretty striking pair.

As for coaches: the obvious non-cracky answer would be Palpatine, but to hell with that, this is a happy fun goofy AU so Creepatine can gtfo.

Instead, consider this: their coach is the legendary Jocasta Nu, formerly one half of the most celebrated pair in ice dance history. (Her partner was Yan Dooku, of course). Jocasta’s been working with Padme for several years now, and she coached her through her first Olympics, when Padme was paired with Obi-Wan. They won the gold, and Obi-Wan decided to retire from the sport while he was on top and pursue a calling to the priesthood. (It’s apparently something he’s been thinking about for a long time, Padme is surprised to find out.)

Coach Jocasta flat out forbid Padme from quitting the sport. Even if Obi-Wan was intent on wasting his life (her words), she wasn’t about to let a talent like Padme’s go. So they did a search for a new partner for Padme and ended up with Anakin, who was several years younger than her and pretty new to the sport, but Jocasta saw a promising talent there and a chance to train a team that could really shine.

Anakin’s a little bit unconventional: he wants them to do more routines that aren’t romantic, because he says the sport has become too limited in its storytelling and he wants to push that. Padme, who spent several years being annoyed by endless rumors that she and Obi-Wan were a couple simply because they had good chemistry on the ice, is intrigued and game to try something a little different. Jocasta eyes them both with just a hint of a smirk and tells them they have a week to put together a routine that demonstrates passion and emotion without being romantic. If they can convince her, then she’ll work further with them on this.

So Padme and Anakin spend a week plotting out a routine that tells the story of Moses and Miriam, set to music from the Prince of Egypt. They’re not entirely satisfied with it when the time comes for their demonstration, but it’s enough to show Jocasta that there’s something to work with here. She evidently agrees, and they end up refining the routine and using it in their first season of competition.

So maybe it’s a little bit ironic, Padme thinks, that after all the interviews they give about how ice dance can express the full range of human experience, how it’s not all romantic and shouldn’t be, she actually does end up dating Anakin. Obi-Wan teases them both about it: it turns out he knows Anakin from, of all places, a Big Brothers Big Sisters program when Anakin was a kid. Obi-Wan was Anakin’s Big Brother (although, Anakin confesses to Padme, he always kind of saw Obi-Wan as a father figure, and he’s gleefully looking forward to Obi-Wan’s ordination so that he can address him as “Father” and Obi-Wan won’t even be able to complain.) Padme pretends to be mad about Obi-Wan’s teasing and jokes that Obi-Wan is just living vicariously through them.

Jocasta finds out they’re dating and is just like, “As long as it’s an inspiration and not a distraction on the ice, I don’t actually care.” (Also she may or may not whisper a congratulations under her breath, but if so she will never admit it.)

Eventually they go to the Olympics and win gold, Padme for the second time, and then Anakin proposes to her right there on the ice because he is a giant nerd, and in a further twist of irony the sports media is all very surprised by this because, after half a decade of speculating that Padme and Obi-Wan were dating, and being proven wrong, they somehow never suspected this?

They get married in a pretty small ceremony in Padme’s hometown. The guests are an eclectic mix of family, friends, and various ice dance personalities. Jocasta brings Yan Dooku as her plus one, which ends up being almost bigger news than the wedding itself, since he’s been kind of a recluse for years, only making rare appearances mostly to troll the media (and, on one occasion, to drop a metal album).

Padme and Anakin write their own ketubah and Shmi officiates the marriage. Obi-Wan gets a little tipsy at the reception and makes a weepy speech about his dance partner Padme and his little brother Anakin and how he’s so proud of both of them but he’s not ever gonna babysit, just so they know. Also he somehow got his hands on their gold medals and insists that they wear them for the rest of the party. Before the night gets too old Anakin calls him an Uber and absolutely delights in saying, “Go home, Father, you’re drunk.” At one point Jocasta drags Yan out on the dance floor to prove that they’ve still got it. They do, and most of the guests are suitably impressed and perhaps a little intimidated.