#i love gay people slow dancing makes me cry for some reason

[sordidseraphim]

Thinking about Cas and Dean slow dancing to still loving you by scorpions.

Gonna throw up actually

[arminhug]

hello, pumpkin || annie leonhardt x reader: chapter three

series masterlist

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SAUDADE

“How can you have two dads? That’s just weird.”

I absentmindedly tore the crusts from my sandwich, discarding them onto the sodden autumn grass in hopes that some birds would grace us with their presence. It was early into the new school year, and at seven years old, Annie and I had known each other for almost a year, and our nook in the garden remained our daily haunt. Annie, still as aloof and scary to most, but to me, a sweetheart with a soft spot seemingly only for animals, doughnuts, and myself, had told me a story about a girl in her class who had to be taken home by ‘one of her dads’. I, naive to the concept of homosexuality, had questioned how one could have more than one paternal figure, to which my older friend introduced me to the possibility that some people could like the same sex.

“Not really,” Annie shrugged. “Love is already really weird. Why would you not be able to fall in love with another man if you’re a man?”

“But how do they have babies?”

“They don’t.”

“But the girl in your class—“

“She’s adopted.”

I contemplated this idea.

“So if a man and a man can be in love, does that mean a woman and a woman can too?”

“I guess so,” Annie responded nonchalantly. “I’ve never seen two girls in love, though.”

Brazenly, I hugged Annie. “So does that mean we can be two girls in love? Oooh, Annabelle, I love you!” I chirped. I did not quite grasp the weight of what I had said, and presumably, neither did Annie, who smirked and fought off my grabbing hands. We were play fighting, nothing out of the ordinary for two young friends, regardless of gender or sexuality.

“So let me get this straight,” Marco states, snapping my attention back through a decade, sat on the edge of his old twin bed. “The first thing you did when you learned what gay meant was declared that you loved your female friend? I don’t want to jump to conclusions for you, but I think you might be gay.”

I groaned, slamming my face into my hands frustratedly. “I know. I think I’ve known for ages now. I’ve never had a crush on a man in my life, Marco, but I’ve never had a crush on a girl, either. Well, apart from—“

“Apart from Annie?” Marco finishes for me suggestively.

I fall back onto his plaid comforter. “Was it even a real crush? We were children. It’s not like I have any other experience to go off, do I?” Because it’s true. How the fuck are you supposed to know what you are if you’ve only had a puppy crush on a girl from your youth? A girl who you lost when you were eleven years old?

“Are you okay?”

Marco reaches over to my cheek, brushing away a tear that I had not even noticed escape my eye. He lies next to me on his comforter, and we stare at the puckered ceiling, shoulder to shoulder, zero eye contact but the affection we hold for each other sitting comfortably in the familiar atmosphere of his bedroom.

“I miss somebody who I haven’t spoken to in seven years,” I admit ruefully. I know I am crying. Under any normal circumstance, I would be furiously rubbing my under eyes, desperate to remove any evidence of my upset. But it’s Marco. He may not be what my Annabelle and I had, but he is still one of my closest friends. I realise that it may not be the end of the world for somebody whom I love and trust to know the truth. “I miss her every day. I can’t even begin to explain it, because it’s ridiculous. You would have thought that after so many years, so many more wonderful friends, that I would just recall our time together with a sort of nostalgic fondness every now and then, but I can’t. There was something about what Annie and I had. It was a feeling, a sensation that made me feel safe. I love you and the rest of our group, believe me. I would do anything for you guys. But the friendship we have is so different from what I felt. I can still remember every emotion, every touch, exactly how she looked.”

“Oh, Daisy,” Marco starts, his sweet voice laced with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were carrying all of this with you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s ridiculous. I shouldn’t still be hung up over a childhood friend. Plus, I was nervous to suddenly come out, you know? Stupid, I know, considering you're so comfortable with yourself.”

“Sounds like more than a friend, if you ask me.” He insinuates. Despite his sunny disposition, Marco can be rather snarky when he wants to be.

“Yeah, yeah, crush, friend, whatever. Part of me wants to forget about her, you know? Just start experimenting and figure me out, but I would never want to lose the memories. The time I had with her is worth every moment I have missed her.”

“As sweet and poetic as that is, there’s no reason as to why you can’t start experimenting now. You’re newly eighteen and you will have left this place come September if it goes horribly wrong.”

I laugh dryly. “Thanks. But yeah, I could do that. How does one even go about that, though? I mean, an average looking, sexually ambiguous nerd with no romantic experience isn’t exactly very high in demand on the market.”

Marco sucks his teeth, shaking his head. “Average looking is not a phrase with which I will allow you to describe yourself. Besides, nobody even cares about experience anymore! Believe me, once you go to uni, virginity, body count and all that jazz isn't even relevant." He reassures me, before he turns to his side, warm eyes lighting up with excitement. "I tell you what, let’s go on a night out. We can invite the rest of the gang or it can be just you and me. Sounds good?”

My heart swells with adoration for my friend. He’s really willing to do this for me? “You don’t even like going out, I’m not letting you be uncomfortable for my sake,” I protest, but Marco holds a freckled digit up, presumably to silence me.

“I don’t mind going out. I don’t particularly like staying out ’til 4am, drunk out of my mind, but I can’t imagine you doing that either. Unless you get lucky?” He wiggles his eyebrows, and I jerk my body up, shoving him. “Let’s not get carried away here. Drinks? Sure. But it’s very unlikely I’ll be swept off my feet by a gorgeous stranger and spend the night having bomb ass sex.”

“Not quite what I was thinking, but don’t rule it out! You’re a lovely looking lady, I’m sure you’d have your pick of gorgeous strangers.”

“Ha ha, you’re such a comedian, Marco.” I smirk. “Okay, we’ll go on a big, gay night out. Just the two of us. You better not flake on me for a handsome university student though,” I tease, and he averts his dark gaze. “If we find a cute alt boy with piercings, I can’t make any promises. How does this Friday sound? Get your dancing shoes on, we’ll boogie the night away!” He sits up, jiggling his shoulders in what I can only assume is a butchered version of the shuffle.

My friend is such a nerd sometimes.

“I’m looking forward to it, but fair warning, I will go home if you say boogie at all during the night.”

“How about bop?”

“No way.”

“Jive?”

“That’s infinitely worse than boogie!” I howl with laughter.

“How about a boogie, bop, and jive?” Marco relentlessly teases me, jumping to his socked feet and pulling me up by my wrists, crudely dancing with me whilst we both giggle.

“No, no, and certainly not. But I’m looking forward to going out with you.” I conclude.

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i am so sorry for the slow updates!! i won't get too into it but i had a bit of bad news and life got very stressful,,, i hope you enjoy this chapter, and please be assured there are more on the way!! thank you for your patience gang <3

[chalkrevelations]

Huh.

Well, this is not the next episode reaction you were expecting, but a while back, in the middle of the night, while I was ready to cry from working on a pharmacology paper, out of nowhere, Youtube threw up Street Dance of China S3 Ep1 at me. And yeah. I am, admittedly, f’kn weak for a dance show. (There are enough SYTYCD episode reax on my old Livejournal that I feel there’s no point denying this.)

So – no, actually, wait. FIRST of all, I do NOT believe the “towel vote” we ended up being given for the opening routines from the four captains. That was the most blatant bit of bullshit chicanery I’ve seen in my LIFE, and I say this as a person with a ton of SYTYCD episode reax on my old Livejournal, and I also say this not because Wang Yibo ended up last (well, not entirely), but because I saw Wallace Chung’s routine. As someone closer in age to him than to the other three captains, I have to give him props for trying, but come on, man. The critique that Yibo got from random contestants – if the subtitles are to be believed, so I realize this needs a grain of salt - basically boiled down to “it was too good for the stage lighting.” :hands: Also, I saw your face at the reveal, Wallace, and you were as shocked as I was. No way you got more towels/votes than Wang Yibo. Not unless there’s some super wild undercurrent of nostalgia propping you up, which, I guess could happen, because literally all I know about pop culture in China, current or otherwise, is filtered through Tumblr and Youtube, both notoriously suspect, but … anyway. There’s got to be a TON of behind-the-scenes manipulation going on for Yibo to be rock-bottom with last pick of teams but then also to end up with THAT pool of possibles. Are you kidding me with this?

ANYWAY, what I wanted to say is that I actually really like Wang Yibo here, and it’s not just because he’s the only captain I have even a sliver of familiarity with, and it’s not just because Lan Wangji was banging Wei Wuxian. I do realize all of this is influenced by whatever edit they’ve decided to give a particular captain or contestant, but I’m impressed with the way Yibo immediately starts team building by getting his group into a warmup, getting them dancing together, getting them dancing with him before they have to worry about dancing for him. (I mean, come on, Jackson Wang. The way to get people to stop being nervous is not to say “Stop being nervous! It will make you fuck up!”) The way Yibo immediately recognized and responded to his group’s concerns about that one dude copying someone else’s routine probably also bought him a lot of return investment. He’s dressed to work it, in his sweats and his flannel (what IS that fake-leather TAC vest and random leg holster-looking thing, Jackson Wang?). He’s convincing me he really loves to dance, he can’t hold still while he watches the contestants, he’s wandering over into other captains’ turf when it sounds like there’s a dancer performing who he might like to see, he’s being the best Yibo he can be, and I’m grooving along, wind in my hair, totally down for this ride. He’s also adorable at the beginning when all the other captains are like, my goal for this season is to slaughter the competition and dance on their graves! And he’s like, well, I’d like to … make some friends? And learn some new stuff? I don’t know if the perpetual Humble Student schtick is natural or persona, or whether it’s general or specific to dancing, but it’s working for you, my dude. This is also made better (read: ironic), by the fact that it’s immediately before the towel reveal, when he flips over to utter disbelief and gets all sulky for a while over the “fact” that his dance routine got the least votes.

Also, OH WAIT. This is where that clip of Yibo dancing with his crew ALL OVER HIM came from that I saw floating around a few months ago, isn’t it? You’re telling me those guys had never danced together before and had like, three minutes to throw together that routine? I’m even more impressed than before. Meanwhile, the towels symbolize courage and challenge, Mr. Emcee? OK, fine, cheesy reality show blah blah whatever. Can we get to the dancing now?

I’m going to put the rest of this behind a cut, because it got super long, because it turns out, when you watch in 5-minute increments, it takes two and a half weeks to get through a single episode, but you actually can see and have opinions on all 5,328 contestants, plus every single one of the captains’ battles. Meanwhile, I’m trying to convince myself this is not going to be another series of episode reactions, but 1) I do have the benefit of not having a ton of hometown media giving me a next-day play-by-play, so even though this is six months old, everything’s a surprise; 2) I am, admittedly, f’kn weak for a dance show; and 3) it’s easy to watch in 5-minute increments between researching drug interactions in hypothetical hypertensive patients with stable ischemic heart disease, erectile dysfunction, and seasonal allergies. So, I guess we’ll see. It’ll be slow going, though, because I don’t ever have two and half hours to sit down and watch an ep cover-to-cover – if it happens, it will likely keep happening in 5-minute increments. Meanwhile, there is a metric shit-ton of nattering below the cut, so caveat lector. No, seriously, I kept adding to this little by little until it became a monster. Hashtag long post (remorseful).

OK, I am generally out of my depth here, as this is not at all my area of dance not-really-expertise, but some reactions:

Team Wang Yibo: I can see why he didn’t want to choose between Colin and Dian Men – Colin might have been a touch better technically and a better showman, but Dian Men didn’t seem to have a single wasted move – but, also, my dude. Yibo. You maybe should look a little bit less stunned and overwhelmed by the mere presence of Colin, it’s giving me ideas about your taste in men. Continuing with the powerhouses, I probably shouldn’t even attempt to critique Klash, but I did feel like he was a bit stiff in some of his footwork; that final V kick, though, shit, that’s what having that kind of upper-body strength is for. Bouboo … I mean, excellent flexibility and control, of course, but mainly I’m just terribly amused that Yibo got last pick of teams but somehow ended up with the guy who’s literal world champion, and who’s just as useful for getting into the other captains’ heads – without even trying – as he is for his talent. And then there’s a montage of Yibo giving out towel after towel after towel, and my dude, you cannot keep up this pace. There are still too many dancers to see, and you don’t have that many towels. AAANNNND Towel Battle #1 (See Footnote 1).

Team Jackson Wang: I do like Gai Gai, although that may be influenced by the fact she’s working in the twilight area between hip-hop and contemporary that I have more familiarity with - but also, I suspect she’s pretty good in her genre. I thought Xiao Jie was inconsistent and didn’t stick the landing on his initial attempt, so I have to give you that hesitation, Jackson, even though you’ve somehow ended up the villain in my inner narrative for this show, for no particular reason I can yet discern. Maybe it’s that you’re the direct competition for Yibo’s team in the towel battles. Good enough. Anyway, Xiao Jie definitely stepped up his game for the battle with Bingo, so I can kind of see why both of them got a towel, but we’re not even halfway through this, and most of y’all are giving away towels like you have an endless supply. Yang Kai is a fucking menace with fantastic musicality, and I’m just gonna say it and take the fallout - I think he gave a better performance first time out of the gate than any of Yibo’s powerhouses did. Whatever power Klash has got, whatever skill Bouboo has got, Yang Kai feels more explosive and engaging, at least in these initial showings. He’s going to be one to beat, I’d hug him too, if he was on my team and was going to help me WIN. Yibo’s probably lucky that happened during his little stroll over to check out the competition, so that he can see they’re definitely competitive and be prepared for it. Also, Jackson, I have to admit - that face you made when Chao really kicked in? That was the same face I made, because wt actual f, you have a literal secret weapon – secret because he CAME FROM NOWHERE and NO ONE EVEN KNOWS him, how is that even possible, how did he get that good – fluid, creative, controlled, incredible musicality - without anyone having any idea who he even is? And then there’s a montage of Jackson just giving out towel after towel after towel, and my dude, you need to slow down. You can’t just be like, “THEY LOVE DANCE WITH ALL OF THEIR WHOLE HEARTS!!!!1111!!!!11!” I get it, but everyone there loves dance with all of their whole hearts, and there are not enough towels to send all of them on to the next round. ANNNND, Towel Battle #1 (See Footnote 1).

Team Lay Zhang: lol at how diplomatic you’re being, Lay Zhang – your team’s fierce roar startled you, OK. At this point, I suspect you’re the street most likely to have a knife fight break out before this is all over. I do like Alex, I think he’s got a lot of interesting, super-clean details in his moves, and he’s engaging - I cannot BELIEVE you made him battle that dude whose moves were so mushy, Lay Zhang, it leaves me doubting your ability to judge this thing. At first I thought maybe you were just looking for an excuse because you wanted to see Alex freestyle, but then you actually said something about both dancers being equal, and my estimation of you plummeted, and also sadly, my sound dropped out for the actual battle, including the part where the clearly inferior dancer fell over and then accidentally POPPED ALEX ONE IN THE EYE, and I TOLD YOU SO. I do agree it’s a good idea to make dancers in the same genre do some battling, so you can kind of plan out your towels and put together a team with broad strengths, instead of giving out towels like you’re making it rain for the first 20 contestants, and then you have 1,375 more people to get through, with 3 towels left, as EVERYONE ELSE seems to be doing, so it’s nice that at least one of you guys is thinking – if not actually acting - strategically. That was clearly not even a contest, though, GIVE ALEX HIS TOWEL and send him to the next round. Xiao Bao is hilarious, with his concern that his team captain, who’s into krump, which is “beating,” isn’t going to appreciate his waacking, which is “slapping.” I also don’t know a whole lot about waacking, so thanks for the primer, Xiao Bao, and don’t worry, your performance is just as engaging for those of us who don’t know what we’re watching as you are generally. You deserve that towel for your ability to interact with and engage your audience, alone. Lingo is a good solid performance, although he’s got his team captain strategizing edited over some of it, and here’s the thing: we are 1:56:00 into this, at this point, with another half hour to go, and all of you are starting to disappear into the sea of dancers who are very good at what you do, but at generally the same level? Anyway, Lingo, I approve of your ability to interact with your audience (read: your captain) to ensure engagement, too, so keep that up. Annnd, we actually haven’t seen that much of you guys, but it’s time for Towel Battle #2 (See Footnote 2).

Team Wallace Chung: I’m glad Su Lian Ya insisted on performing, I thought she started off slow but warmed up, and that ending was creepily fantastic and had me spontaneously grinning at the screen in delight. Then we lose sight of this group for a really long time, actually. We go back to find Wallace putting through a couple of urban dancers who we barely see, but who apparently claim to have some choreography experience, and he really likes that. TI shows up, and they’re solid, but honestly, not as good in this performance as they were in some of the stock footage the show threw up to introduce them, but Wallace remains super-excited about the idea of choreography and sends at least choreographer Zhang Jiang Peng through to the next round. And then, we really haven’t seen that much of you guys, either, which maybe doesn’t bode well, but it’s time for Towel Battle #2 (See Footnote 2).

FOOTNOTE 1, aka TOWEL BATTLE ONE, Team Yibo vs. Team Jackson, 3V3 freestyle: First of all, I have to say, I love Yibo - Mr. I Just Wanna Make Some Friends And Have Some Fun - being all, “I have three crappy white towels I’m stuck with for coming in last place that I can’t use to send dancers to the next round and that I DO NOT DESERVE, and I am getting BACK the colorful towels that ARE RIGHTFULLY MINE. I am coming for whoever is in my way.” Team Yibo is Bouboo, Klash, Dian Men, and OK, given what we’ve seen so far, that’s the safe choice, but honestly, I think we’re just taking some things for granted right now, and I’m not sure they actually have given the best performances so far. Yeah, I said it. Team Jackson is Yang Kai, Chao, and Xiao Jie, and … ok, on that last one, I think you probably could have substituted Bingo, but all right. Yang Kai is a definite yes. Chao will be great if he can stay out of his own head and not psych himself out, but given what we’ve seen so far, he’s an obvious pick. First round, Yang Kai vs. Klash, and Yang Kai is still a fucking menace, with super lines. Klash definitely stepped up his game for the battle, and I can’t get over the upper body strength he’s got, to get that kind of airy bounce in his moves, but to be honest, I can’t even be mad the first round went to Yang Kai and Team Jackson. Second round, Yang Kai is still … y’all, the beautiful lines from this guy in his poses, I can’t get over them, but I think he doesn’t have the stamina, his footwork is getting sloppy. Bouboo also steps up his game for an actual battle, his fluidity and control is amazing, and yeah, round to Team Yibo. Round three, Xiao Jie gives it a decent effort, but the polish isn’t there; meanwhile Bouboo is still in champion mode, and I was kind of surprised this was a split vote and went to another round. Xiao Jie absolutely surprised me, coming back stronger on his second try, although I suppose a more familiar genre helped, but Bouboo continues in champion mode. Round four, Chao looks like he’s going to throw up right before he steps out there, and then as soon as the music starts, it’s like, he doesn’t even think. The music just moves him. I feel like his dance vocabulary is more limited than Bouboo’s, though, and Bouboo’s flow is amazing at this point, so I feel like the judges just want to drag this out and see more dancing when we go to one more round. Strong effort all around, but yeah, round four and two towels to Team Yibo. I can’t really complain about that. I do feel like Yibo’s powerhouses have been holding back until now, though, and I’m not sure how I feel about THAT.

FOOTNOTE 2, aka TOWEL BATTLE TWO, Team Zhang vs. Team Wallace, 3V3 w/ captain: lol, Team Zhang really wants someone to pick the Sailor Moon song because they know Xiao Bao and his waacking will tear it up. Anyway, Team Zhang includes Lingo and Xiao Bao, who does not get his Sailor Moon song and continues to be hilarious in his disbelief about being chosen to participate in this battle, when he’s not looking almost as sick as Chao from Team Jackson before HIS performance. Team Wallace includes Su Lian Ya – and honestly, despite how I’m getting ready to bag on him for the entire rest of this battle recap, I like that Wallace put one of his female dancers up there for the battle - and some dude named Ba that they haven’t given us any footage of, up ‘til now, at least that I can remember and who I … don’t even know has been formally given a towel and sent on to the next round, yet? Oh wait, he must have, because there’s talk in the pause for choreography about somehow using the towels during the battle. Wallace relies on Su Lian Ya and Zhang Jiang Peng to choose Ba, and then Ba ends up choreographing a lot of the performance, at least from the edit we see. I continue to feel you may be in over your head, Wallace. This feeling … is not assuaged by your performance in the first round, which is fine, but not really up to the level of almost anyone whose name I’ve bolded so far in this entire recap. Also, using the towels was a cute idea, but it doesn’t translate well, and Team Wallace has a lot of wasted time throwing the towels around instead of actually. You know. Dancing. Lingo gets a credible solo during Team Zhang’s performance, and even though Xiao Bao is clearly lost during a good bit of his backup dancer duties, he manages not to throw up, which – given this team’s general skill level – should be enough to give them the first round, EXCEPT SOMEHOW Team Wallace gets the point from the judges, who then try to justify this inexplicable decision by saying Team Wallace had better interaction, I guess because of the hot mess with throwing the towels around, but adding that Team Zhang was more scattered, which what? More scattered than the hot mess with the towels? I’m not buying this. I can’t tell if they’re propping up Wallace or fucking with Lay Zhang’s head, but I’m having bad acid flashbacks to the many and varied ways dance show judges will try to gaslight you, telling you that things you just saw with your very own eyes did not actually happen when it’s right there! On camera! Visible, despite whatever edit bs you’re pulling! ANYWAY, they’re definitely managing to fuck with not only Lay Zhang’s head, but Xiao Bao’s, and Xiao Bao still doesn’t seem to have his choreography down, but they manage to pull it together enough to take the second round, which to be honest is kind of a muddled mess on everyone’s part. The only one who really stands out to me on this go’round is Su Lian Ya, but OK, Team Zhang might have had it slightly more together as a unit. And then, yeah, OK, I think they were fucking with Lay Zhang’s head, because we then find out that, holy shit, the song the show powers-that-be chose for the tie-breaking third round is that gd Sailor Moon song, and we can all see the writing on the wall. Poor Team Wallace is no match for Xiao Bao, who frankly, carries this entire round on his shoulders without breaking a sweat and barely needs any backup dancers to do it. There’s some ridiculously dramatic reveal of scoring, with the judges dragging out their decisions like this was any actual contest - I’m beginning to suspect that some of them grew up with Wallace Chung posters on their bedroom walls - but finally, round and towel to Team Zhang.

Cut to a little bit of Next Time On, and wow, the first two-and-a-half-hour episode is over, and we aren’t finished with the initial round yet. It’s gonna be Christmas before I make it halfway through this season.

[mashi-sims]

6 Popular tropes that fit #Cooliver

1. Friends to Lovers. Duh

This is the most obvious one, and I wanted to start with this one because if Cooper and Oliver ever become canon, this is what their relationship would be.

In my head, Friends to Lovers is always problematic because it’s easy to lose a beautiful friendship to a mediocre romantic relationship, as has happened to many LGBT couples on TV, but if done correctly, it warms my heart and makes sparks of joy fly all around.

The journey of their friendship not only as a partnership but as a mutual beneficence that helps them both grow and develop as their individual selves, helping each other find their own path, confidence in themselves, inspiration and motivation to fulfill their dreams, ultimately becoming better individuals aiming to transform into the best versions of themselves they can be, *voice intensifies* all while being together and offering each other’s company and support, becoming accustomed to being next to one and other and not being able to imagine a life without the other, slowly developing emotional ties that make them consider if a different kind of love exists, and them exploring it and realizing that, in fact, THERE IS. That type of slow build that transforms into a romantic relationship because they both agree they are each other’s most treasured person and they want to stay in each other’s lives forever, that’s some GOOD STUFF.

2. Fake Dating

The reason why I believe a good fake dating au can get so popular, is because it can offer a pretty natural transition between “Not having any kind of feelings”/”Being unaware of their feelings” to “Oh, my gosh I am in love with this person what do I do”, and it can be so heart-wrenching it’s addictive.

In a beautiful world, Oliver is totally in love with Cooper and he just doesn’t know it yet, and there’s where this trope comes in handy.

There’s a number of reasons why two characters may start fake dating; getting someone off their backs, making someone jealous/angry, needing a date for a special occasion, or getting some odd financial benefit from it, if you’re willing to take it as far as getting married and having to pretend to be actually married so nobody know their marriage is a scam.

They agree to start fake dating or to start introducing each other to other people as their boyfriends, because Cooper wants these interested girls (and boys) in his money to go away, or because Oliver is the only single one at his ballet and he doesn’t want to go to after-show celebration alone, and after one or many fake dating moments, they start realizing they don’t need to act or pretend to act a certain way at all, because there’s stuff they’d normally do with or say to each other, or at least the trust or the reliance is already there. 

Think about the inevitable time where they do have to stop acting like fake boyfriends and they start missing it, or when they mid-date realize there’s something real between all that pretending and now they don’t know what to do about it, imagine the conversation they’d have when they realize they can’t go back to being friends anymore.

3. N Things

This one is more like a writing strategy than an actual trope, but it still works. We’ve all read the “4 times they almost kissed, and one time they did” or the “3 times they said I love you to someone else, and one time they said it to each other”

Okay, now hear me out- how about, “3 times Oliver said Cooper wasn’t his boyfriend, and one he didn’t have to”, or “5 times Oliver said he wasn’t gay, and one time he couldn’t”? I’m down for that.

The heart of this trope is the repeatability of a certain joke, a comment or an unfortunate event and that’s obvious it’ll turn itself around, and it’s that one moment that finally comes which makes you want to dance under the rain.

To me, the amount of times Oliver’s had to tell other people that he isn’t gay or that Cooper’s not his bf (Cooper also said it once) is the perfect starter to this “n things” strategy.

Come on, American Housewife! You’re making it too easy for me to expect that one moment when it all turns around!

4. Babysitters

Neither of these boys is ever shown to be a kid-person nor to have a soft spot for babies, or anything like that! Like, at all! Their whole characters are based around the facts that they are both money-driven, superficial, and self-absorbed (although in the process of becoming better than that), and we barely ever get to see them pouring their hearts out or letting their guard down.

Therefore, imagine a day where Oliver is forced to babysit Violet (or another baby if there comes to be another one), and he’d undeniably be annoyed at the situation because this baby/toddler has ruined his plans, but Cooper obviously stays and helps him out because where else would he be?

It’s the times driving them both crazy when they don’t know how to make a baby stop crying, or when they’re deciding who should change the diaper because neither of them wants to; it’s the time when they’re both a mess because some chaos happened with the food or the paint while they were trying to come up with an activity.

Then it’s Oliver slowly coming down with baby fever as he’s trying make them laugh or when he’s walking around the room trying to make them fall asleep, and Cooper is in awe because he had never seen that side of his friend, and he had never expected it to look so damn cute, and Oliver had never expected Cooper to stay with him for a whole day just taking care of a baby.

It’s at the end of the day when they’re tired as hell but they agree that they had fun and that they’re glad they had each other to help out, and although they don’t say it, maybe it wasn’t so bad their original plans didn’t end up working out.

5. Hurt/Comfort

This is not a trope for everyone, you may love it, you may hate it, you may be indifferent, or you may be like me; somewhere in the middle but with some strong opinions. If done right, it can be a beautiful addition to the story of two characters in process of falling in love. If done wrong, it can victimize the characters in unnecessary ways or show them in a light that doesn’t suit them, thus making them feel out of character, which is every true fan’s worst nightmare.

Although, let’s focus on the small things; like characters holding on to their emotions for too long until they really can’t do it anymore, and they need somebody to help them out, even if they resist it, because in the end they’ll acknowledge they’re thankful for having them, and it also makes their relationship inevitably grow and develop, because there’s something really special about having someone you can truly be yourself with and knowing that they’ll stay, and they’ll help you through everything and make you feel like you’re going to be okay, even (and especially) during your worst moments.

(Although really toned down,) we’ve already seen this kind of comfort between the two; like when Cooper found out Oliver lied about his vacations, and he told him he didn’t need to lie to him out of all people, and that he could come on vacation with him whenever he wanted, or when Cooper’s parents ditched him and he confided in Oliver, who believed he had become tired of hanging out with him, and Cooper had to reassure him that wasn’t the case; those were small moments where we got to see them somewhat upset and being comforted by the other, and that’s when it feels like their friendship is strong and real.

The reason why I believe this trope fits them so much is because they are barely shown in a vulnerable state that allows them to have a sad plot where they’d need to be comforted, and it’s during times like these where you can really see their relationship grow.

Also, I want to point out that it’s not about romanticizing or sexualizing sadness, at all! It’s about using these moments to slowly build and give consistency to the relationship- don’t even get me started on how much I hate seeing and reading characters making out after having a breakdown.

6. Mutual Pining

Some people like to suffer, okay? Some of us like a good tragedy, and there’s nothing more tragic than two characters who are deeply in love with each other, but they’ve resigned to keeping it hidden deep down because they’re convinced the other doesn’t feel the same and they don’t want to lose them nor their friendship, even if it means having to live with a painful secret for the rest of their lives.

When you start having feelings for another person, you may be brave enough to let them now or try and see where things go, because you have nothing to lose, right? But what happens when it’s your best friend you have feelings for? There’s a lot there to lose if do things go wrong, and there’s no certainty that they won’t, so you might as well leave things as they are, because nothing would be more painful than to lose the person you love the most for making things weird because they don’t feel the same way...

And it’s completely frustrating to see two characters with the same internal monologue, because you know what IT COULD BE, but THEY don’t know that- and I love it.

There’s a million different ways this trope can play out, and it’s always so interesting to see where things go after both characters have resigned to never let the other one know how they feel, and then we get to see these destructive actions like dating other people because they think their feelings are unrequited, but they have no idea the other is in deep pain because of seeing the person they love with someone else... yes, a good tragedy!

Anyway, thank you for reading this rant and feel free to add to the list or make any of these come to life.

[breadboylovin]

NEW POST FOR MY 95060 PLAYLIST!!! complete with explanations of every song choice under the cut because i love explaining my own creative decisions for some reason (PLEASE DO NOT FEEL COMPELLED TO READ ALL OF IT IF YOU DONT WANT TO ITS VERY LONG LOL). i may add a few songs here and there later on, or more likely rearrange what i've already put in slightly, but for now i consider it done.

alright now heres a look into my twisted mind

PART 1: TEMPTATION

Franz Ferdinand - Michael: It's a song about seducing someone named Michael. What more can I ask for (serious explanation is that it’s also very homosexually charged like you just have to listen to it… also feels taunting in a way where it’s like ‘oooooh you want me so bad’ and he’s RIGHT Michael DOES want him so bad). Also credit to this post for letting me know this song existed and inspiring me to make this playlist in the first place :-3

Mystery Skulls - Paralyzed: Just another song about how Michael is awestruck by David and feels compelled to follow him for whatever reason (the reason is that he wants him so bad)

TAEMIN - WANT: This is one of three Taemin songs on here because I think if David survived until present day he would fucking LOVE Taemin. Anyways this is a song about knowing you’re hot shit and everyone wants you and I think after seducing Michael through fucking?? Fatal motorcycle races and evil noodle mind tricks??? David deserves to feel that

Glass Animals - Gooey: OHGHGHGHFH THIS SONG… the vibes are impeccable on this one, Dave Bayley’s alluring voice feels like a slight remix of what David is going for and the way it feels like the singer is trying to convince the listener of something (even though it’s purposely vague) just FEELS like David with Michael. The line “I can’t take this place, I can’t take this place/I just need to go where I can get some space” especially fits when imagining how Michael is new to Santa Carla and may want a place to belong that David and the boys are happy to provide

TAEMIN - Impressionable: I see this as the moment that Michael downs the bottle of “wine”, where this song is David’s internal monologue reveling in how easy it was to charm Michael and get him to join. I always thought this sounded like a taunting villain song so it just fits. Also it’s like ridiculously horny which is a plus

PART 2: THE RELATIONSHIP ITSELF

MGMT - Me and Michael: In my head this is directly after Michael drinks the “wine”, and if it were an actual song in the movie, it’d play instead of Cry Little Sister in that scene. I already made art related to this but I really just love the juxtaposition between something that Michael will later see as horrible (becoming a half-vampire) and David seeing it as a perfect slow-dance moment. Also “Me and Michael, it’s not a question now” because the blood drinking has now linked them together… mmmmm. Credit to this post again for making me find this song!!

ALI - DESPERADO: This one is less about David and Michael specifically and more about how the night in the cave went down for everyone there, starting with a soft slowness as they ate and then descending into chaos as Michael downs the wine and they celebrate a new addition to the pack. The bacchanal energy is off the charts

Dorian Electra - Man to Man: This song is just one that I attribute to all of the boys because I think they do a lot of homoerotic sparring. Also the part of the movie where Michael punches David in the face and David just goes >:-3 back at him

Chase Atlantic - Friends: I don't know what it is about this one but it just Hits… The chorus kinda sounds like David and the boys trying to convince Michael to stay with them instead of coming back to human society after drinking the blood, in the same sort of taunting manner that they had when David (presumably?) made Michael hallucinate the bike lights and sounds outside of his house

Taking Back Sunday - You're So Last Summer: THIS SONG IS JUST REALLY GOOD. I don't know what it is about this one either… I guess the “Maybe I should hate you for this/Never really did ever quite get that far” part could represent the first glimpse of Michael’s more conflicted feelings about David. Also the second half of verse 2 not only fucks so hard but could also be indicative of Michael’s repressed gay feelings, lying to himself about how he wanted to be around David because he’s cool or whatever but he actually just has the hots for him and would let him do anything if he asked to

MGMT - Little Dark Age: Mostly here just for vibes. Have y’all seen that one edit set to this song? Yeah

The Neighborhood - Prey: I feel like this song captures the general unease that Michael feels right before he sees the boys kill for the first time, knowing that he’s probably turning into a vampire and something horrible is happening… especially with “Something is wrong, I feel like prey” just generally describing what it must feel like to be a human among vampires (though he’s not fully human anymore at this point)

PART 3: REALIZATION + FIGHTING BACK

TAEMIN - Criminal: YET ANOTHER TAEMIN SONG!!!! It’s all about realizing you're with someone who’s like, an evil manipulative villain and genuinely bad for you but you can’t escape just yet because you’re kinda into it. I don't think David is THAT bad of a guy, but Michael could be like “I need to get out of this situation because this man is a vampire but I feel attracted to him and it’s hard to really get away”. Also the line “My hands holding yours that stabbed me are not clean either” just HITS cus Michael hates David’s vampirism but HE’S a half-vampire now so it’s not like he’s innocent either. This is just a really good 95060 song AND a good song in general, listen to it even if you don't normally like K-pop cus it slaps

Glass Animals - Wyrd: This would be the moment where Michael snaps out of it and just starts running away, but to no avail, because he’s still a half-vampire (“You can’t run so you must hide” meaning that he can’t outrun his new monstrous nature, the best he can do is hide it until it eats him alive). Meanwhile David laments over how this is a stupid decision from his perspective (“So, my friend, our time is done/You and I could’ve had so much”)

Moonface - Minotaur Forgiving Theseus: This is a very veeeeery bitter song from Michael’s perspective about David being a vampire… with the “You’re just a hitman” repetition referencing how David. Y’know. Eats people. And the “I heard you're coming for me now” references both how David first approached him and the impending confrontation

The Neighborhood - The Beach: This song goes from the bitterness of the previous one to a pseudo-acceptance of the end of their brief friendship and what’s inevitably going to happen next. However, I think the bridge of the song illustrates the little bit of Michael that doesn’t want this to happen, that wants this relationship to somehow work out because he cares about David even if he is a vampire (unfortunately he ends up repressing this because he feels a duty to kill David now)

Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes: This is mostly in here because of the music video, the buildup to a battle just echoes in my head whenever I hear this song now. In the context of this playlist it makes me imagine David looking up at the Emerson’s house from the hotel (and Michael doing the opposite) knowing that something’s about to happen and it’s going to be horrible

Glass Animals - JDNT: This entire song feels like the climax of the movie. Verse 1 feels like the Emersons and Frogs getting ready to attack the cave (“I’m all armored up”) with “I feel that final poke” being when Marko gets staked, and the chorus right after is a tinge of regret that Michael feels once the plan starts to take shape. Verse 2 is the other boys waking up to see that Marko is dead + them dying themselves (“Where my funny friends gone?”) and the bridge is Michael and David’s fight before Michael finally gores David on the antlers. The outro of “You can’t breathe without me” VERY much feels like David taunting Michael from beyond the grave, knowing how much Michael loved him and how horrible what he’s just done is

PART 4: GRIEF

The Brazen Youth - Burn Slowly/I Love You: Ooooooghghgh the conflicted feelings about their relationship is STRONG in this one… The “Burn Slowly” part being him trying to convince himself that he did the right thing by killing David while the “I Love You” part is him realizing that he really did love David and it fucking hurts

Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us: MAN. MAN… Everything past “I can’t explain the state that I'm in” is just so… it’s Michael realizing what he had even more and just how much it hurts that he’s lost it. He knows he was in love now and it fucking hurts SO MUCH!!!!!

Sufjan Stevens - The Only Thing: [head in my fucking hands] Michael moping around Santa Carla because it feels empty without David. All the “should I tear my eyes out now?/Should I tear my heart out now?” parts oh my GOOOOOOOOD sufjan stevens i'm going to slap you on the head.

Paramore - Tell Me How: THIS SONG HURTS SO MUCH ITS SO. It’s another one about conflicting feelings so theoretically it should be earlier in the story but I always envision something very morbid when listening to this (and have now written a fic about it so check that out)… Michael going back to the hotel where he put David’s body and musing to no one, asking how he’s supposed to feel now, the “And always coming to your defenses” where Michael keeps defending David and their relationship to his family who all think David was a horrible monster… this song fucking hurts. Also I unintentionally drew a parallel between JDNT’s “You can’t breathe without me” and this song’s “Do I suffocate or let go?” and now that I’ve realized that it hurts even more. Fuck this song

[longinglook]

I may or may not have spent my entire Sunday binge watching all of I told sunset about you and Gaya sa pelikula and now I have so many thoughts and feelings that I need to write about them so here we go! Under a read more (if tumblr allows me to) because it’s 2k words hehe

First of all, I knew next to nothing about both shows before starting them. I had seen a couple of gifs here and there, but really had no idea what I was in for.

I started with I told sunset about you, which has 3 episodes out of 5 out. All I knew is that it was going to be beautiful and possibly sad, and it was. Everything about this show is so high quality, from the audio to the dialogue to the locations to the acting, just wow. The production is better than a lot of movies I’ve seen, and every technical aspect is perfect. I am really loving the plot so far as well, I find the childhood friendship to stubborn rivalry to grown up friendship again very relatable. I think it’s a very common experience for a lot of non straight folks to develop an extremely close bond with a same sex friend when you’re too young to realize what you’re actually feeling for them until you’re a lot older and suddely the jealousy and possessivenes all make sense.

I love the recurring themes sprinkled throughout the episodes, starting from the chinese vocabulary that expresses the core thoughts of the two main characters: rival, intimacy, secret, male protagonist, as promised. They could easily be the episode titles, or the names of imaginary sections the show could be divided into. It’s a great way to integrate metaphors and deeper meaning into the plot.

That’s how most of the communication goes in this show, deep emotions are never conveyed through words because words are scary and loud and they can’t be taken back once they’re out there. The plot advances though stares and gestures and touch and gorgeous shots of the landscape. The pace is slow with hour-long episodes that could each be a movie of their own. This worried me a bit before starting, and I have to admit that at times I struggled to stay focused, especially during scenes that set the mood but don’t do much plot-wise. This is just a personal preference, though, and in no way I see it as a flaw. 

The dancing around each other the main characters do, sometimes literal, is frustrating but it determines an emotional build up that’s just starting to reach its peak. This is one of those shows that has me screaming if only they talked to each other, but the silences and unspoken words are so well directed and acted that it works. I struggle a lot with keeping in mind that they’re still in high school, they’re very young and I can’t expect them to act rationally just yet. 

I was really worried about Teh possibly going the insufferable Theory-of-love-khai way, and I am still not 100% sold on him. When he started helping Oh-aew again it felt like he was just doing it to make himself feel better about the whole thing. It was frustrating to see him so possessive and jealous while also so deeply in denial about his own feelings, to the point where he had me rooting for Bas instead. He was getting better, but then he fled at the end of episode 3 and now I have no clue what’s going to happen next. About this, I really have no idea if they’re going for a happy ending or a sad one. I’m really hoping it will be good, because so far there has been barely any emotional payoff for all the repressed longing and misunderstanding the show has put us through.

I do like their dynamic a lot though, I have a weak spot for childhood friends reconnecting and an ever weaker spot for informal mentor/mentee relationships. Oh-aew asking Teh to tutor him until he passes the admission exam was an almost exact mirror of Yuri on ice Yuri begging Victor to be his coach until he retires and I loved that a lot.

Now on to the one issue I have with this show: it feels too much like an art film. It reminds me of Moonlight and Call me by your name, in the way that I wasn’t able to connect with those movies because they are too perfect. They are so beautiful and carefully crafted that I can’t fully immerse myself in them. There’s a filter that stops me from relating to the characters and constantly reminds me that this is not reality. It’s pretty, it’s extremely well done, but it feels like art. It has some quirks, some scenes that feel too artificial. One scene in particular, the one where Teh buries his head in the paper Oh-aew wrote with his coconut scented pen to sniff it, which is a direct parallel to Call me by your name, bothered me in particular. Just as it felt over-the-top and purposefully weird in the movie, so it feels in the show. It’s a way of showcasing how a confused teen deals with attraction he barely understands, it’s raw and animalistic in a way, but it’s so quirky that all it accomplishes is to remind me that I’m watching an lgbt show. It makes me wonder if a scene like this would make sense in a straight relationship because here it seems to highlight how different and primal his attraction is. If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say that I have a problem with media showcasing queerness though peculiar, purposefully awkward scenes like these instead of normal kissing and cuddling.

Overall, I can’t wait to see how this show ends and I still think it’s one of the best bls to air in 2020, if not ever. It’s refreshing to see something with a big budget used well! So far my rating is 8/10, which I know is a lot lower than what everyone else seems to think but it’s still very much subject to change! Just hoping they won’t pull a Make our days count, but I doubt they’ll go there.

And now Gaya sa pelikula. Wow. Again, I knew next to nothing about this show before watching, and I was coming from a 3 hour I told sunset about you binge watch, so the bar was pretty high.

And boy, did this show deliver. I was blown away by the depth and the humor of it. It feels like the writers had fun taking all sorts of common tropes and stereotypes just to show everyone how well they can be evolved and made complex. Two strangers who somehow find themselves sharing an apartment sounds like the start of so many fanfictions out there, but it’s so well executed and interesting that you don’t even stop to think about how weak the premises for their meeting are. It doesn’t matter and it’s not even that far-fetched, either. The sister and the neighbor are also two characters that start off as extra stereotyped, but in just a few scenes they unveil an incredible depth and backstory. It blew me away.

Each character is so realistic. Everything they do and say makes sense, they all have their reasons and their past and they react accordingly, it’s so coherent. It’s impressive how everything takes place inside the house and you barely realize it because things happen and the plot moves anyways, and the way information about external events and people is conveyed is so seamless that you don’t even notice it. In only 7 episodes (so far) they have managed to give everyone a complex background and personality through the use of objects and small details and wow don’t get me started on the music.

The soundtrack is SO GOOD. I never really pay attention to music in shows but it plays a very important role here in my opinion and, well, it’s exactly the kind of music I like listening to and ahhh I just spent 4 hours playing the first kiss song on loop so I might be biased. Right from the start in episode 1, when Karl gives in to Vlad’s music and starts dancing to it, it’s established that it’s an important element to the mood of each scene. I love how the dancing I talked about for I told sunset about you comes back here, but while I saw it as a hesitant dancing around each other there, here it’s the opposite, it’s freeing and it’s about accepting yourself. And the end of episode 6 highlights this, with the beautiful quote “You are entitled to a love that lets you dance without fear and shame.” It made me cry a looooot.

I think the development of their relationship is masterfully done. It doesn’t happen too quickly nor too slowly. Karl goes through some needed shocks that act as his wake up call. When I’m watching bl shows I care the most about them feeling real and relatable. I don’t want to feel like they were written by a straight person trying to guess what it’s like to be gay. Now I didn’t look anything up about the Gaya sa pelikula writers, but I’d be very surprised if they were straight. I can relate to both Karl and Vlad for different aspects of their stories and their worries and thoughts. There was one part in particular that hit so close that I had to take a few breaks because it hurt too much. I am a lesbian, I’ve had relationship with a girl that lasted over a year, I am out to some friends but not all. I never came out to my parents, who are both very open minded and friends with a lot of gay people and would love me just as much if I told them, and yet I can’t. It’s not just that, I am terrified by the idea of them already knowing or being able to guess. When Karl freaked out over his uncle guessing, it hit me so hard because I’ve felt the same way so many times.

Episode 7 was amazing. I hate badly written drama the most, and 99% of shows can’t come up with any good reason for drama but they have to put it in there anyways and it sucks. This was the complete opposite, I adored it and I say this as a lover of fluff. It feels right, I think it’s an issue that would come up between two people like them. They are both right and the only thing that could happen there is what actually went down. I definitely think things will be fixed by the end and I am looking forward to it, but I am very glad this issue was included because it’s so important and so true to many lgbt people’s lives.

Another aspect I absolutely adored are the multiple references to lgbt theory and language, and Vlad has some of the best lines I’ve ever heard coming from a bl. When he tells Karl not to be afraid of the word, when he explains that “you don’t look gay” isn’t a compliment, when he scolds his sister for not acknowledging the things she used to say to him by covering them up with her ally act, those are all such important and educative moments that I hope everyone listens to. I love that Vlad is not correcting some ignorant bad guy, but it’s his accepting and loving friends and family that make the mistakes, because sometimes being supportive your own way isn’t enough if you’re not actively learning from the ones you want to support.

This is a 10/10 for me right now. I can’t find anything I don’t like about it. It never feels boring, it never feels overdone, it never feels cheap or unoriginal. It went straight to the top of my favorite bls.

And now I can’t help but compare the two a bit, because yes they are two different shows but right now the relationships they portray have reached the same point: there has been a climax and now the one who is more confused about his sexuality is panicking and taking a step back. It’s a coincidence that I watched both shows on the same day when their last aired episodes end in such a similar way, but it really leads me to compare the two. I don’t want to put them one against each other or say which one did it better because that’s not the point of this, they are both two amazing and important shows who are excelling in what they’re doing. 

Gaya sa pelikula is down to earth, it’s explicit and it’s straight to the point in explaining what’s going on inside each character’s head. It feels like watching real people deal with real struggles. I told sunset about you is a lot more subtle and quiet, and since we don’t really have a clear insight in the characters’ heads sometimes it’s hard to completely understand what’s going on with them. It’s a completely different way of narrating, and while Gaya sa pelikula makes me feel like I’m a part of the events, I told sunset about you feels like I’m just spectating from an outside perspective. They are different choices, but one of them ends up feeling a lot more emotional to me than the other.

To wrap it up, I highly recommend both shows and I can’t wait to see how they’ll end! They are both among the best shows of the year, both free of all those annoyingly stereotyped characters and plot points that most bls tend to overuse.

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Ninety Seven

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

October 12th, 2001

Remy laughed in the guy’s face, causing him quite a bit of confusion. “Girl, of course I’m gay!” he crowed. “Emile’s my boyfriend, duh? It’d be a bit weird if I weren’t into boys and he was my boyfriend. Now listen,” he purred. His smile was as cheery as ever as he leaned into the guy’s face. “You ever try and make Emile uncomfortable again and I’ll make your life a living hell, and I won’t hesitate to ruin your reputation. Understood?”

The guy paled, nodded, and scurried off. Remy smiled to himself and spit his gum into the nearest trash can. Playing the stereotypical gay had its perks. Namely, it made it all the more scary when he tore into someone, and it was a convenient mask he could always fall back on should something go wrong. Because he always knew how to play dumb and cute as hell. He could use this to his advantage, surely...

  March 28th, 2004

Remy’s grip on the steering wheel was tight as he drove the car towards Emile’s parents’ house. Emile was sitting in the passenger seat, trying to hide the fact that he was doing deep breathing exercises. Clearly, they were both nervous about seeing Emile’s grandfather again. Emile was nervous enough that he had gone to Mass earlier that morning, presumably in case his grandfather asked about the last time he went to Confession. Personally, Remy was fairly certain Emile had nothing to confess, but he wasn’t Catholic, so he wasn’t going to pretend to know.

Emile made a concerned whine as they got off the highway, and Remy took a deep breath, pushing as many homicidal tendencies as he was willing to out of the way to grab Emile’s hand with one of his own. Emile blinked, looked down at their intertwined hands, then over at Remy.

“You whined,” Remy said. “Like a kicked puppy. I was concerned.”

Emile blew out a breath. “Your tone suggests annoyed.”

“My tone is nonexistent because I’m incensed,” Remy said simply. “Not at you, though.”

“At my family? That’s kinda worse, Rem,” Emile said.

“Well, your grandfather certainly hasn’t endeared himself to me any,” Remy growled.

Emile flinched. “Rem, please,” he said softly.

Remy’s tone softened but his eyes didn’t leave the road. “I don’t want you dragged through the wringer, mio amore.”

“I volunteered,” Emile said weakly.

“Willingly? That’s kinda worse, mio amore,” Remy shot back. “What would Sue say about you willingly putting yourself in harm’s way?”

“Actually, Sue and I talked about this and the ways it could go after my panic attack,” Emile said, straightening in his seat. “She said that as long as I wasn’t going into this with the goal of hurting myself, then it was worth talking to Grandpa. How would Fern feel about you jumping to the conclusion that I’m doing this to hurt myself?”

“She would say it’s your choice,” Remy said. “But given the facts I told her... she also called you a bit of a hopeless romantic. And a dumbass. She also gave me full permission to drag you out of the room if I heard raised voices or crying.”

Emile blinked. “That’s why you asked?!”

Remy smirked, just a bit. “Well, she said her permission meant nothing if I didn’t get yours, too.”

Emile laughed in disbelief. “No wonder you took a shine to her; she’s enabling you.”

“Oh, no! No, she takes no one’s shit. That includes me, mio amore. No, she doesn’t let anyone pull the wool over her eyes, and she tells it like she is. She took one look at her notes, plus Kim’s when she got them, and looked me dead in the eye, promptly asking, ‘So, how long would you say the abuse has been going on?’” Remy laughed. “I love her so much. As a therapist, of course. I will not run off into the sunset with her. I’d prefer to do that with you, Emile.”

Emile shook his head, swallowing. “She sounds like a good therapist.”

“Yeah. What did Sue tell you? Beyond talking about possible outcomes, of course,” Remy said.

Emile blinked back tears. “She said...” Emile’s voice grew thicker. “She said...to be realistic. To not put all my eggs in the happy basket, because based on what she heard, and her past clients’ experience, this usually doesn’t shake out well.” Tears were falling down his cheeks and Remy pulled over to the curb in a flurry. “I don’t want him to be mad at me, Rem. I don’t.”

Emile sounded like such a lost little kid in that moment, that Remy couldn’t help but hug him close. “It’s gonna be okay,” Remy said. “Even if you don’t get the outcome you wanted. It’s gonna be okay.”

“How can you...be so sure?” Emile sobbed.

“Because I’ve been there, Emi,” Remy said. When Emile looked up at Remy, Remy’s heart broke, but he continued. “I’ve been there. And yeah, it hurts like hell if your family doesn’t accept you. I’ll be honest: even if your grandfather acknowledges you’re bi and I’m his grandson-in-law, odds are he won’t be happy about it. Take little victories where you can, and if he comes to the wedding? Great. Work on him being happy for us at a later date. He can grow to love the both of us together, but it will most likely take more time than just three months.”

Emile looked at Remy like he had all the answers in the universe, and Remy was a little terrified. “Now, your parents are expecting us, and we don’t want to keep them waiting too long. But if you need a second, or a minute, even...”

“Yeah,” Emile said softly, shamefully. “Yeah, I need a minute.”

“There’s no shame in that, understand?” Remy asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Emile said dismissively.

“I’m serious here, Emile,” Remy said sternly.

Emile sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know,” he said. “But I can’t accept that right now.”

Remy nodded, opened the glove box, and passed Emile some tissues. Emile dabbed at his face while Remy flicked the channels on the radio. He would kill for some slow, smooth, jazzy song that he could slow-dance with Emile to, even if that was a tad impractical in the car.

When Emile had composed himself, Remy kept driving. He fiddled more with the radio, observed the same five restaurants that were staples in every city, and contemplated calling August at Sleep Easy to ask how things were going, just to stall the inevitable. But if Emile was ready, then Remy had to be ready, too. Remy was going to back Emile one hundred percent, even if he was a bit of a hopeless dumbass when he picked his battles.

Remy drove up to Emile’s parents house, but when he turned to Emile, he realized he may have wanted to make the drive longer. Emile was ash-white and shaking, staring at the house like it was on fire, and he was just told to run in without any protective gear to save two kids on opposite sides of the second floor. Remy unbuckled his seat belt, and put a reassuring hand on Emile’s arm. “You’ve got this,” he said softly. “I’ll go in first, you come in when you’re ready.”

Emile swallowed, nodded.

Remy mirrored the nod, looking far more confident than he felt as he stepped out of the car, onto the curb, and closed the car door. He leaned against the car a minute, observing the house. He never really had before, but then again, he never had reason to stall either. Remy popped a piece of gum in his mouth and kicked off the car, putting on that “flamboyant, unflappable gay” persona he used when he needed to pretend he couldn’t care less about what was going on.

His shoes sunk into the grass, but the front yard wasn’t a swamp. Remy dimly remembered Mom mentioning something about it raining yesterday, before they had gotten to the heart of their conversation about Emile and his grandfather...

“Look, Mom, I’m worried about him. Emile cares about him a great deal, and either his grandfather takes that for granted, or worse, he just doesn’t care. I don’t want Emile’s heart to be crushed come tomorrow.”

Mom had tutted and reassured Remy the best she could, but Remy could hear the doubt in her own voice.

Mom and Dad had come to the door to greet him, and he grinned, all big and flashy and fake, but he did pick his head up a little more as he saw them, and he noticed Dad’s smile relax a little bit as Remy straightened. Dad knew what he was doing, and Emile had no doubt warned Dad and Mom both about Remy acting off in defense of this well and truly anxiety-inducing situation.

He hugged them both with a laugh, sharing the usual pleasantries. Remy straightened and saw Emile’s grandfather standing behind them, and he pulled down his sunglasses, peering over them to glare at Emile’s grandfather. “You hurt Emile, my guy, and I’ll make you wish you had never been born, m’kay?”

As Emile’s grandfather twitched, Remy smirked inwardly, continuing to chew his gum. “Surely, you’re not the same... boyfriend Emile had at that Christmas?” Emile’s grandfather asked.

Remy laughed and took off his sunglasses, walking inside. “Oh, that’s me, sweets. I just don’t act nice around people who hurt my fiancé.”

Emile’s grandfather flinched at the word fiancé, and Remy grinned, all teeth. Good. Let him be uncomfortable.

“Remy,” Dad warned, and Remy turned to him, prepared to continue being snarky and sarcastic until he saw the warning look he was getting. The fight drained from him and he sighed. Dad put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’ve had similar hurts in the past, but there’s no need to go full feral right out the gate.”

Remy felt like he might pass out. “I guess you’re right. Forcing Emile out of the car before he’s ready because I instigated a fight would not leave a good impression.”

“No,” Dad agreed softly.

“Similar...hurts?” Emile’s grandfather asked.

“Well, yeah,” Remy said, swallowing his gum and sighing. “Not that it’s any of your business, but my mother came to my and Emile’s house, berating me and calling me slurs, exclaiming that I was going to Hell for being gay. So when you pull the same shit that manipulative, abusive witch pulled...well. Forgive me if I get a little twitchy.”

Emile’s grandfather looked mildly horrified, and wanted to say something, but Emile ran across the yard. “Remy! Remy!” he exclaimed. “I just realized you took that gum out of your pocket, please tell me Grandpa is still alive!”

“He is,” Remy said. The implied For now might as well have been verbalised.

“Okay,” Emile breathed, grabbing Remy’s hand. “Thank you. For, uh, not killing him on sight.”

“You didn’t do it to my parents, I figured you’re owed that same courtesy,” he said, glancing at Emile.

Emile’s grandfather flinched again. “Do you...truly see me as so abhorrent that I deserve to be killed?” he asked.

“I believe that those who hurt others shouldn’t be allowed around those they hurt,” Remy said, stepping closer to Emile. “And while we can argue about the morals behind murder all day, it is still illegal in the eyes of the law, and I’d like to be married to my fiancé outside of prison.”

“That doesn’t...answer my question,” Emile’s grandfather said.

Remy laughed hollowly. “All due respect, but Dad told me to pull the reins back on the hostility. If I told you what I truly think, I’m pretty sure we would fall right back into hostile territory.” Which was more or less a fancy way of saying yes, and everyone in the room knew it, as the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Emile’s grandfather gave Remy an unreadable stare. “Very well,” he said stiffly. “Given what you’ve said to me, I think it’s safe to presume that you would rather not deal with me. As such, I’d like to cut straight to the chase and speak to Emile. Alone,” he added, when Remy opened his mouth to speak.

Remy flushed red, but Emile squeezed Remy’s hand. Remy turned to Emile and silently asked, Surely, you don’t expect me to take this sitting down?

I’ll be fine, Emile said with a downward tilt of his chin.

Oh, like hell you will, Remy scoffed.

“Remy, that’s rude,” Emile said. “I can handle my own. I’ll be fine. Besides, you have permission from me and Fern, remember?”

That did make Remy feel marginally better, but not better enough to fully accept the situation. Mom walked up and gently pulled Remy away from Emile. “Let the boys have their discussion, Remy. Can you show me how to make one of your famous cups of coffee, provided we have the stuff that you use to make it?”

“You two, don’t touch my stove!” Dad squawked, following Mom as she dragged Remy to the kitchen. Remy watched as Emile’s grandfather awkwardly put a hand between Emile’s shoulder blades and together they walked to the living room.

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Sibling AU

because apparently this is a thing I've got on my mind now. (Probs won't be writing it any time soon but I have a primal need to info dump, and maybe I'll inspire someone else.)

Characters

Eda Clawthorn - Canon Eda: She's Eda. She loves all 3 Noceda girls but is closest to Luz

King - Canon King: He's King. 

Lucia Noceda - Beta Luz: Her weirdness is sorta toned down compared to Canon Luz. She's a bit more angsty. Reeeaaaally needs to smile more. Absolute D E L I N Q U E N T.  Get’s into trouble on purpose, be gay do C R I M E. Feral. Totally down to help with Eda’s less honorable schemes. Tries to seem more “over it” and grown up but is secretly just as enthusiastic as Luz. She's more closed off, her life’s been a bit harder. Very protective of Luz and Laia, DO NOT fuck with them in front of her.  Ready and willing to throw down. Deeeeeefinitely not hopelessly in love with Amelia. Age 17

Luz Noceda - Canon Luz. You know her, you love her. Age 14

Laia Noceda - Pilot Luz: Just as weird as Luz but a bit more laid back and shy. Doesn’t like putting herself out there quite as much as Luz, but gets dragged into her schemes a lot. Huge nerdy bookworm but perfectly capable of being flirty. Actually pretty confident with Anna. Too precious for this world. Is babey. Sits back and observes her sisters antics bc she's actually got a little sense. Age 13

Amelia Blight - Beta Amity: Cold but F E R A L. Doesn't even try to be the little miss perfect anymore but will pretend in front of parents. C H A R I S M A. Will fuck you up. Sorta pyromaniac but not like crazy, just good w/ fire magic and feels calm when she watches flames. Will burn you to ash if you hurt Amity or Anna. Rolls eyes at the twins antics. “You were going to do WHAT with Amity’s diary!?” Lotta internalized shit from her treatment by her parents. THIS CLOSE to burning down Blight manor. “If I have zero friends nobody can hurt me”. Lucia really throws a wrench in that plan. Toooootally not madly in love with Lucia. Natural greenhead but constantly dyes her roots brown as a form of small rebellion and solidarity with Amity and Anna. Age 17

Edric Blight - Canon Edric: You know him. Age 16

Emira Blight - Canon Emira: You know her. Age 16

Amity Blight - Canon Amity: Our girl! Age 14

Anna Blight - pilot Amity: Is babey. Loves books. Shy and tries to stick silently to the background. Just so sweet and precious. PROTECC HER. Tries to do the right thing. Like, ALL her siblings do their best to protect her from her parents. Not good with people at all. Age 13.

Winona Park - Beta Willow: You've seen Dana’s drawing of her. This shady bitch. She knows all your secrets. She will use them against you. Likes a little trouble but doesn't get caught. Ever. By the time you figure out what rule she broke she's already won the game. Don't. Touch. Willow. T R O U B L E. Loner until Lucia came along. Just does not care about anything. Doesn't even try in school  but is still almost as good as Amelia. Not quite as powerful as Willow but still powerful. “What happens if I press this button.” Age 17

Willow Park - Canon Willow: You know her, stronk cinnamon roll. Age 14

Gus Porter - Canon Gus: Boy needs more character development. Age 12

(Story might not go quite like I'm describing it here but it's pretty close.)

Eda was going to eat King when they first met, they tell it like it's just some cute story.

Camilia was going to send both Luz and Laia to normal-person-camp but didn’t even try with Lucia bc she's clearly a lost cause. Lucia waited for the bus with them though, and she and Laia both followed Luz through the portal. Luz was the one who decided to stay on the isles, Laia just agreed bc she also hated the idea of camp, and being a witch sounded fun. Lucia agreed bc “well I'm not leaving my fucking siblings in another dimension on their own” but also was jumping up and down inside at the idea of being a witch.

Lucia and Laia were just vibing at the owl house during Witches Before Wizards because nobody told them shit.

Luz and Laia both went to the school in I Was a Teenage Abomination, Lucia didn’t bc “school? Why would I willingly go to school?” so she wandered off to town to do GOD knows what. Laia just hid in the bottom of the pot, but wandered off, Anna helped save her and get her out in the end. Later, at the covention, Laia gave Anna the “thanks pal” drawing.

Luz and Laia were both captivated by Eda’s magic lesson in Intrudor, Lucia was just hanging back with her arms crossed like she didn't care but inside she was going “I'm gonna be a witch! I'm gonna be a witch!”. Luz discovered the light glyph but Lucia came up with the idea of sticking it on the wall.

At the covention, Lucia saw Amelia and was actually gonna go over and be flirty bc Hot Witch Girl, but then she overheard her talking to Amity about her fighting Luz and instantly big sister mode. They got into a fist fight out back over “my sister’s better than yours.” their relationship after that is just Lucia constantly antagonizing Amelia and almost getting burned. Anna just stayed by the sidelines at the covention and Laia didn't see her until the very end, talked a bit and gave her the drawing b4 being dragged out by Eda.

Laia helped w/ the moonlight conjuring, but Lucia heard "night market" and sneaked off there. She didn't see Eda'z predicament but did run into Winona, who was making trouble and just being generally shady. Lucia helped her out with the shady business because why not and they were instantly friends, their friendship has a lot of Lucia going “you scare me sometimes.”

Laia went to the Library with Luz, she saw Anna just hanging out reading in the corner and immediately went over and sat by her. They were in Amity’s hideout sitting real close reading when Luz and the twins walked in, they left immediately, Anna red as a tomato.

The second Eda said body swap Lucia scooped Laia up and noped on out. It sounded fun to Lucia but for some reason she didn't feel comfortable subjecting Laia to that.

Laia and Lucia went with Eda when she talked to Bump abt enrolling them and just sat back and watched Eda clean up all her messes. Lucia was impressed.

Laia was just as excited to go to Hexside as Luz. But Lucia hated school, even magic school. She only decided to go to keep an eye on her sisters and fuck with Amelia.

Neither Laia note Lucia were interested in going to the Grudgby match. Laia stayed home and read (on the couch. She was so engrossed in her book she missed king walking out with half-transformed Eda) and Lucia went to hang out with Winona.

Laia and Anna worked together on a book for the writing contest. It won. Lucia wrote one too but it git rejected for being too graphic. It made one of the judges who read it start seeing a therapist.

All three went to the knee. Lucia went along with Eda'z crazy teaching because it seemed hysterical to her crackheaded mind, she missed the whole Slitherbeast thing bc she was off with moss in her ears, dirt over her eyes and pine needle mulch in her nose. Laia was incredibly disappointed that Anna wasn't there with the other blights. She didn't even try to stop Luz from stealing the wand bc she knew she wouldn't listen. She was just as impatient as Luz, just not rash. They figured out the ice glyph together.

Lucia chose the bard track in First Day bc she wants to be in a band. Laia couldn't choose just like Luz and got stuck in the Oracle Coven. Lucia got caught just like Luz and ended up in the detention track, Barkus was a bit more wary about her. She helped fight the basalisk I guess. Laia just stayed in class. Both Luz and Laia got to be in every track, Lucia chose only Bard, Beast Keeping and Illusion.

When Luz and co were shrunk at the carnival, Laia was off hanging out with Anna, and Lucia was doing something crackheaded with Winona. (Seriously, you could write such good fluff fics about Anna and Laia, and insane crack fics about Lucia and Winona.)

Idfk what Laia and Lucia were up top in Understanding Willow

Anna and Laia went to Grom together. They're such unassuming people that the only people who noticed were Eda and King bc they helped Laia get ready, and Amelia. Who had very mixed feelings bc 1- that's Lucia's sister, but 2- she actually kinda likes Laia and Luz.

Lucia begged Luz to let her take over as Grom queen but no dice. She ran to help too when Luz ran off but was too slow, she didn't get there until the very end of the dance.

Look, Laia is too much of a bookworm to care about sports and Lucia just thinks their stupid, so neither of them watched Luz play in Wing it like Witches.

Eda made cloaks for all 3 girls. Lucia and Laia were in the wrong year to go on the field trip to the emperor's palace. After school Laia went to the library with Anna and Lucia went to hang out with Winona. Laia and Anna fell asleep reading in Amity's secret room and Lucia and Winona lost track of time hanging out, neither got home until the next morning, and they found Luz crying on the floor.

Imagine with me, all 3 noceda girls breaking into the conformatorium to save Eda. All three wailing on Belos, Laia with a fuck ton of glyph papers, Luz with Eda's staff and some glyphs, and Lucia with a red aluminum bat covered in glyphs. They don't beat him but they do a lot more damage than just chiping his mask.

Imagine all 3 sisters agreeing silently to destroy the portal. For Eda.

[painted-crow]

I haven't been on tumblr in a hot century so it feels a little weird to be writing a submission to you... but I just bingeread most of this blog and your way of explaining the shc system is so gloriously comprehensible that I really want to pour my brain out at your feet and have you explain the bits to me.

I hope life is treating you well and thank you for the awesome blog you run. The way you describe things and the way you help people sort themselves is clear and clever and so very kind of you to do, and that's what I appreciates about you. :)

(This was a chunk of a submission from someone who ended up sending in a second version that I answered in depth, but the fan mail portion from this first version was so sweet that it seems mean to just delete it. So here it is, as a #cutie post. 😊)

[silverinia]

I came for Baranski, I stayed for Baranski - a quick Christmas On The Square review someone* actually asked for

(* thank you, anon)

Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional of any sorts when it comes to film and I'm not a journalist either. The last movie review I've written was probably for a school assignment in eighth grade. I didn't do research for this and I've watched the movie exactly one time, so this is just for fun.

It was a Sunday, Sunday the 22nd of November, nearing the end of the train wreck of a year that is 2020. I woke up on an air mattress around seven am, my head aching, my throat itching with pyrosis and light nausea, it was still dark outside behind the closed blinds in front of the windows, when I slowly realised where I was, one of my best girlfriends sleeping next to me in her bed. I had crashed at her place after a warm, fuzzy evening of mulled wine, tacky Christmas movies I would never watch alone (Christmas Chronicles and Holiday Calendar, which I quite honestly didn't enjoy at all, but the company made it fun anyway), doing our nails, wearing the fun kind of face masks for a change and smoking too many cigarettes, as the soft pain in my head informed me right now. She woke up an hour later and the morning went by with coffee and reheated pizza for breakfast, when we decided to watch another movie and I realised that it was THE Sunday I'd been waiting for through Zoom interviews and Dolly Parton twitter memes and the infamous wig gate that will be briefly discussed in the following, and so we clicked on the small icon in the Netflix menu that said "Christmas On The Square".

And oh boy, was it a ride.

To start off, I should mention that I have a hard time watching most modern day American Christmas movies, as I noticed quite vividly again when I watched the two aforementioned Netflix productions last night. The character development is always foreseeable to say the least, the plot lines are plain clichés hunting each other like they're the kids in The Hunger Games, and the writing is generally so bad that you can join the actors in reciting the entire scripts on your first watch. I watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas once a year while I'm gift wrapping and pause every fifteen minutes to shamelessly stare at forties Christine Baranski (I think we should all turn away from the birth of Jesus and instead count our years based on Christine Baranski's date of birth) in flamboyant nightgowns and short Christmas themed dresses, looking so fabulous that every interpreter of Santa Baby ever could only dream of it, I watch Love Actually at least five times a year to lust over Hugh Grant, cry with Emma Thompson and miss Alan Rickman, I enjoy Bridget Jones, which I would definitely consider a Christmas movie, and that's it. That's my yearly Christmas time entertainment routine and I can barely tolerate anything beyond, because I'm still traumatised from the time when I was around five years old and on a holiday family visit where had to sit through National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the dumbest movie I have ever seen (my apologies if you like it but also, who hurt you?), with my cousins. I hated it. I hated every minute of it. And it scarred me for life.

But this was a Christine Baranski movie, I knew she was going to play the lead and so I was pretty much as excited about this as I could. And the fact that Dolly Parton wrote the whole thing didn't hurt either. As I said earlier to my friend I was watching it with, I have the pop cultural taste of a fifty year old gay man, a quality I am most proud of, and this simply ticked off all my boxes.

I expected something similar to a Mamma Mia experience that wouldn't cause me to crave packing my bags, give Covid the finger and run off to Greece. Light-hearted entertainment, easy to stomach, uplifting music and so little plot that the simplicity feels like a creative choice. That's what my pained, hungover brain knew it could cope with and that's not what I got.

The movie started and I was immediately in the zone. I saw Christine Baranski's name in the front credits (an experience that never fails to make me scream "Yass Queen" at the screen, regardless of where I am and who I'm with, as if I'm the sobering result that pops out of the package when you order Jonathan Van Ness on Wish), the setting was wonderfully corny (I grew up watching Gilmore Girls once a week, so give me warm fairy lights and a gazebo and I'm perfectly happy) and as my friend wondered whether Dolly Parton, in her exaggerated homeless attire that didn't make her look shabby at all, was green-screened into the setting because she stood out so much (which she was because the background dancers were dancing in slow motion, but to be fair, we were probably still a little too drunk to notice that from the start) and I told her I thought that it was just the natural glow someone who's Dolly Parton simply carries with them everywhere they go, I was happy. This was the movie I was prepared for. A movie in which the most problematic thing would be stereotypical characters and the wig they hid Christine's real, flawlessly handmade by God herself hair under.

And then, around five minutes in, Christine Baranski's childhood love interest was revealed as she pressed her perfect pointy nose against the window of his shop and sang about her unrequited love.

And suddenly, things started taking turns at a pace I was still way too sleep-deprived for.

Suddenly, in the middle of my general amazement at seeing Christine Baranski do literally anything and laughing loud at her impeccable comedic delivery, there were unresolved daddy issues, hanging prominently at the wall in her marvellously designed house (she literally says "Daddy" at one point and I couldn't help but think that only someone with her vocal skills could keep from making it sound cringe-worthily kinky). One moment, I was clutching my chest above my heart while she was bonding with little bartender Violet and munching on pretzels while downing some whiskey in that elegant way only Christine Baranski can bond with ten year olds who had it rough, eat pretzels and down whiskey, and the next she felt responsible for said girl's mother's death (which she kinda was too, but I'm not the boss of her). I was still busy making fun of how the very annoyingly, but when you're snacking on pizza with extra cheese at nine in the morning also highly funny, slow talking pastor's name was Christian, and suddenly there was a cancer scare.

It was a lot, a hasty sprint from major issue to major issue with a hint of comedic relief every now and then, and it didn't get any less until the very, rather poorly resolved, end.

The entire, constant up and down was followed by the movie's peak of suspense, the near death of precious Violet, something I couldn't even get too invested in because I was still so busy worrying about Christine's MRT results (I was truly fucking worried), not to mention that I hadn't even started to really process the sudden revelation of the love child and how it had affected her character's actions until this point. Was her constant tendency of pushing people away, as we've seen most clearly with her angel in training assistant who's name I cannot recall right now, the result of her broken trust in her father who practically ripped her son away from her after she had just given birth to him? Was it a result of her never getting the closure she needed with plaid flannel wearing Carl she was clearly still in love with? Maybe both? And what of the many issues was it that made her so incredibly shaken up when Violet blamed herself for her mother's death? Was it 'just' due to the fact that the closed pharmacy was on her, or was there more to it? Was it because she had grown up without a mother herself? Or did I miss a major piece of information because I was momentarily distracted, dumbfoundedly staring at Christine's very blue eyes? No time to ponder on that, little Silverinia, because here comes unconscious Violet in an ambulance, WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO!

I'm not going to go in depth about what plot lines I thought were especially carelessly handled and why, real standouts were the sudden forgiveness towards her father who had still acted like a shitty asshole even though he might have had his reasons, because giving the baby up for adoption just wasn't his choice to make, and the fact that I kind of didn't buy how quickly Regina managed to forgive herself, especially for Violet's mother's passing, considering how deeply her tall, slim, dare I say angelic and entrancing figure was buried beneath the weight of all her issues. It felt rushed and incomplete, but that's as detailed as it gets because my major point is something else.

I think this movie made the great mistake of trying to be more than your average, flat, happy ending Christmas movie. I think no one involved thought it was possible to make it a big hit if the only real plot would've been great Dolly Parton music, fun ensemble dance choreographies, Christine Baranski's outstanding acting skills, fun settings and costumes and a redemption arch with as little plot as it could possibly take to make Christine likable to those who aren't already lost forever in the rabbit hole of being obsessed with her (poor fuckers, can't relate). They didn't notice that with the legends that were involved, they could've easily gone the Mamma Mia way. And I think that's why they tried to include heavier plot lines than most creators would've chosen, experiencing loss at an early age, struggling to find closure, dealing with sickness, teenage pregnancy, parents forcing their choices on their children when they affect their childrens' lives first, adoption, and the fear of losing your kid.

It was a lot and I don't want to say that it didn't work because my friend was crying, like, pretty hard and I questioned my entire existence all through the movie in not the worst way, and I did enjoy it a lot while watching. The "grief is love with nowhere to go" line was a real standout, for example, where the attempt of complexity DID work. It positively gave me fleabag season two, "I don't know what to do with it now, with all the love I have for her." - "I'll take it. It sounds lovely. You have to give it to me." feels, and that's about the biggest praise I can come up with. BUT (and this is written in capital letters because it's the big but) I'm also totally convinced that I wouldn't have enjoyed it if they hadn't cast Christine Baranski for the lead role. In my humble opinion, the hasty, not really at all resolved plot of this movie only worked because Christine Baranski is just a fantastic actress. She quirks a mocking eyebrow and you laugh. She parts her perfectly painted red lips and you immediately hang on them because you don't want to miss a single breath she, a literal goddess, graces us mere peasants of people with. She smiles and you're happy. She laughs and even while she's still laughing, you can't wait to hear her do it again. Her eyes fill with tears and you feel goosebumps on your arms, her voice slightly trembles, a breath hitches in her throat and you feel your heart shattering to pieces. As Chuck Lorre once said, this woman could read you the phone book and you would end up laughing tears because she just gets the job done. She knows what she's doing, she's an absolute pro in her game, and it doesn't matter, not even a little bit, what she's working with, because the work she eventually delivers with it is always at a minimum of 200%. I forced my friend to watch this movie with me because I adore this woman, and I felt for this movie because I felt for her. It wasn't the plot that sadly brutally overestimated itself, it wasn't the songs that I obviously enjoyed, nor the comedic elements that truly made me laugh a lot, it was all her. I came for Baranski, and I stayed for Baranski. This woman can do anything. She can even look graceful in a terrible wig job.

(side note / unpopular opinion: I actually didn't think the wig was all too bad. It wasn't good, actually far from good, but for me, nothing can match the awful wig game of Mamma Mia 2. I loathed that wig, I absolutely cannot stand it. So this didn't feel all that terrible. It definitely wasn't the most problematic part about the movie.)

I enjoyed watching this. It was a nice distraction from all the bullshit in the world. Watching it today was the first thing this year that actually brought me something close to excitement about the holiday season, even though everything will be very different and probably not quite as jolly this year. But it just gave me good vibes and as someone who did not watch this as a film reviewer, that's the biggest part of what leads me to enjoy a movie.

Will I watch this again? For sure. Will I enjoy it when I'm not hungover, having freshly done nails and munching delicious pizza for breakfast? Probably not as much, but it'll still have Christine Baranski in it. Would I recommend watching this? If you share my obsession with Queen B, one hundo. If you don't, probably not.

[amwritesitall]

Sarah’s AHS Characters (+Alice and a Ship) as Songs I’m Vibing With

Masterlist

Instead of a collection of songs from one artist these are songs I’m currently vibing with? Here’s the playlist if you wanna listen (warning it fluctuates a lot because it’s just songs a vibe with at the moment). I skipped the songs I used in artist posts.

Billie Dean Howard

“24 / 7/ 365″ by Surfaces

Met, this girl down by the vine Had long tan legs and big brown eyes Seemed the type I would wanna make mine

She said nine to five, I'm killing time But twenty-four-seven, three-six-five I have to be where I feel your sunshine

One to two-step, three-step, four She's everywhere out on the dance floor She's everything you could ever want and more

Picture it. Billie Dean is at some event. She spies a girl who’s mesmerizing, killing it on the dance floor. Realizing this girl is absolutely the person she wants to be with. The line “I have to be where I feel your sunshine”!! Big Billie Dean vibes right there. In the darkness that her job sometimes entails, she’s drawn to the light of her lover. A ray of sunshine if you will.

“Heaven Falls / Fall on Me” by Surfaces

Woke up early in the mornin' Just to feel the light of day Had to open up my window Get the shadows out my way Banana pancakes for my problems Find me jamming old Jack Johnson Swear I heard them angel calls Lay outside

As Heaven falls Heaven falls

If you can’t tell, Surfaces really makes me think of Billie Dean. This goes with my explanation for the other song. Billie’s job gets pretty dark and intense. Although she never completely gets a break from her job (because she can’t just turn off being a medium) she tries to use her time away from filming and darker locations to focus on the lighter aspects of life, savoring all around her and her lover. I have no idea if what I said makes sense though.

Lana Winters

“Let’s Fall in Love for the Night” by FINNEAS

Let's fall in love for the night And forget in the mornin' Play me a song that you like You can bet I'll know every line I'm the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid Don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, fuck that noise I know better than to call you mine

This song gives me Lana vibes in the sense that she doesn’t really want to get too attached to people. This also makes me think of how Lana is the type of lover that someone’s conservative/strict family wouldn’t want them with (because of the gay). When you go this route, it’s hard for me not to picture teenage Lana when listening to this.

Fun fact: I have a vague idea for writing a Billie Dean Howard x Reader imagine over this song.

“me & ur ghost” by blackbear

I'm not alone It's just me and your ghost And this cripplin' depression I thought I learned my lesson But, I threw out my phone And I burned all your clothes And now I'm not alone It's just me and your ghost

Now hear me out. Post break up Lana dealing with all of her memories of her ex and then burning all of their shit because Lana is lowkey that bitch. It’s a bit of a stretch, but that’s just my humble opinion on the matter.

Cordelia Goode

“If We Were Vampires” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in Or the light coming off of your skin The fragile heart you protected for so long Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong It's not your hands searching slow in the dark Or your nails leaving love's watermark It's not the way you talk me off the roof Your questions like directions to the truth

It's knowing that this can't go on forever Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone Maybe we'll get forty years together But one day I'll be gone Or one day you'll be gone

Cordelia knows that one day she will die. There will be another Supreme after her and she can’t live forever. This is her coming to terms with the fact that maybe it’s for the best that she won’t stay around forever. Not being immortal allows her to live in the moment and savor all the time she has.

“PlantedInMyMind.Memo” by Charlie Burg

Saying things I don't believe And your love casts it's shadow on the things I do And I can hear so clearly all the words I'd wish I'd said You're stuck in my head But I only think of you Will we be together soon? I'm thrown on the wayside You're planted in my mind But I don't wanna be ok without you

This makes me think of an angsty Cordelia relationship like post “In Another Lifetime”?!?! Cordelia being stuck on her lover from the past 

Also makes me think of Cordelia x Misty after the events of season 3

Bette and Dot Tattler

“prom dress” by mxmtoon

I can't help the fact I like to be alone It might sound kinda sad, but that's just what I seem to know I tend to handle things usually by myself And I can't ever seem to try and ask for help

I'm sitting here, crying in my prom dress I'd be the prom queen if crying was a contest Makeup is running down, feelings are all around How did I get here? I need to know

I guess I maybe had a couple expectations Thought I'd get to them, but no I didn't

I’m not going to lie, this is a bit of a stretch.

I’m kind of getting Bette and Dot wishing they could be like everyone else. They just want that normal teen experience?

Sally McKenna

“Teeth” by 5 Seconds of Summer

Call me in the morning to apologize Every little lie gives me butterflies Something in the way you're looking through my eyes Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive

Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth Late night devil, put your hands on me And never, never, never ever let go

The angst! The tension! The passion! SPICY TIMES WITH SALLY

“fuck, i’m lonely” by Lauv, Anne-Marie

I call you one time, two time, three time I can't wait no more Your fingers through my hair, that's on my mind I know it's been a minute since you walked right through that door But I still think about you all the time

Sally just wants love. She’s sick of being lonely and wants to be with the person she loves. Being a ghost sucks and she wants out of that damn hotel.

Dealing with her ex that is still alive while she’s not.

Audrey Tindall

“Prom Queen” by Beach Bunny

Shut up, count your calories I never looked good in mom jeans Wish I, was like you, blue-eyed blondie, perfect body Maybe I should try harder You should lower your expectations I'm no quick-curl barbie I was never cut out for Prom Queen If I get more pretty, do you think he will like me?

Teen Audrey. I will stand by this.

Now I’m thinking about teen Audrey and my heart :(

Ally Mayfair Richards

“I Needed You” by blackbear

When I needed you the most, I needed you I fucking needed you the most, I needed you, the most Now I won't be there to give you what you need Now I won't be there, no

You know this was never really about us And everything was always 'bout you You never knew a thing about trust And I knew everything about you, what's happening Three whole years, they can go by In a blink of an eye, and you won't know it, but What a damn waste of time

You can’t sit there and tell me this doesn’t sound like Ally dealing with Ivy’s betrayal. No. There is no way this song doesn’t give off those vibes. Like sis was dealing with a ton of shit and where was her wife??? Off gallivanting and murdering with a cult because she voted for Jill Stein. 

Wilhemina Venable

“Lovesong (The Way) [feat. Bluets]” by Charlie Burg 

Now you're away with nothing to say My heart aches like never before Filled with desire, you've inspired me to write another verse

I think we're alone now You can tell me it was all just a game Yes, we're alone now But the feeling's slightly changed

But you take your time, my love Don't ever tell me that it just takes time to love As long as I'm writing this song about my love for you Is it too much to ask For a reply? Or a text? Or a way to tell you love me like before

I don’t knooowww. This just makes me think of Mina trying to deal with her feelings and possibly her significant other kind of giving up because they feel like Mina will never reciprocate their feelings. Mina does love them but it’s hard for her to express it.

“Someday” by Peach Tree Rascals

I hate the fact that you Run on mind, all damn day There she goes

Girl won't you wait for me

I settled down, I'm better now I never knew what this life was about Days got too plain, colors got dull All of the roses fell on to the floor I'll pick them up, wipe the dust Need a chance for your love For your love, for your love, ooooh I've been floating between oceans And the darkness in the sky I've been lonesome in this old shed And it's burnin through my mind

Similar to the song above, Mina hates the fact that she’s stuck on this person, but she eventually realizes that she needs this person in her life. This love really out here making her appreciate life and all the good things in it.

Basically Mina is turning into a softie.

Alice Macray

“Mariposa” by Peach Tree Rascals

I can't wait for you To come my way I've been far away But I'll keep runnin' Just to find a way to you til' then

I been running from it Tired of running from it Scared of feeling something now I'm stuck and tryna get up out of this hole

Surface level this song has some good vibes like our baby Alice. Over analyzing level is not as good vibes. This song is kind of like our baby Alice running from her feelings for someone because the thought of such strong feelings is scary for her.

Billie Dean Howard x Audrey Tindall

“Channel Orange in Your Living Room” by Charlie Burg

We met when I was drunk That party didn't actually suck You made fun of how slow I drank

But now I can't stop thinking about you Each moment passes and my thoughts return to you And the memory of us too As we listen to Channel Orange in your living room

Even when you're away That album makes me feel like you stayed To listen now would make me a fool again for you

Without a doubt, I always think of these two when I listen to the song and that’s one of the reasons why I love it so much. I’m just picturing the two of them meeting a party together and Billie taking Audrey back to her place. Then they end up thinking of each other long after the night is over.

-

You might like:  Sarah Paulson AHS Characters as Hozier Songs or  Sarah Paulson AHS Characters as Rex Orange County Songs

[some-creep]

Song of the Ancients SERIOUS REVIEW(s)

I was told to review every version of Song of the Ancients, so I did. I tried to stick to things that were released officially but I’m sure I’m missing some. I know there’s going to be a new version on the Orchestral Addendum that’s supposed to come out this month. Also I don’t know a fucking thing about music so this is literally 3 pages of straight rambling. Also they’re not really in any kind of order other than Nier Gestalt, Nier Automata, and Other.

Song of the Ancients: Devola - https://youtu.be/qCKEXPXtrEU

This is it, the first version of Song of the Ancient’s you’ll ever hear, and also the last. At least in Nier Gestalt. It’s a classic, and Devola has no idea what the words to it mean. And neither do we. But it perfectly sets the tone. It’s nostalgic, it’s sad, it’s mysterious, it’s sad but written a second time. I love Devola and would die for her. It isn’t my absolute favorite rendition of the song, but I can’t deny its importance. This is the one that gave us the rest. 9/10

Song of the Ancients: Popola - https://youtu.be/IZdnJLdmRlI

This song makes a showstopping appearance in Automata where it and the library meant nothing to me or anyone else because no one actually played Gestalt before Automata, let’s face it. The more subdued of the two character versions of the song, which, y’know, makes sense. Maybe a bit disorienting and trance like if you turn it up far enough and close your eyes. Sometimes I like this version a lot more than the Devola version, sometimes I don’t. It also gets a 9/10 for being a classic.

Song of the Ancients: Hollow Dreams - https://youtu.be/fxmP4eCFR4U

I fucking love this one. The Devola and Popola duet we all wanted with none of the… extreme angst. I also read a really good fan fiction once where [REDACTED] and it started with this performance so it ranks really high for me. It has a great sort of tavern energy to it (which, no shit, right?) and I don’t know. I don’t know I really love this one. The harmonization, the piano, the percussion, it all just works. 10/10

Song of the Ancients: Fate - https://youtu.be/ady--PNMsfI

My most unpopular opinion on this song is I don’t really like this version all that much. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I knew what happened already so it has no impact on me. It’s got a lot of drum. Maybe too much drum? I don’t know I’ve never totally vibed with this one. There’s an attempt but parts of it I just really don’t care for. That’s why it ranks so low.  It’s not the worst, and I recognize that it’s like. Super iconic. But eh. 5/10.

Song of the Ancients: Lost Androids - https://youtu.be/CfCEueBER5g

I just. Super. Do not fucking like this song at all. There’s so much happening in it and none of it’s very good. Devola and Popola’s sick techno dance party dot mp3. Easily the worst of the official releases of this song. It doesn’t help that the Nier Gestalt DLC just isn’t good either. Why did I beat the entire thing? The world may never know. 3/10

Song of the Ancients: Piano version from 15 Nightmares & Arrange Tracks

- https://youtu.be/orEoq7KFdrM

I’m biased and love all piano remixes and this one is good. I don’t know why there are two official piano remixes that aren’t the same, but there are. This one feels really emotional, sorta soft, and a lotta sad, but the remix-y part in the middle kinda falls off for me. Most of it is really good, but it doesn’t reach goosebump status for me which is a shame because most of the pieces are there. Overall, it’s pretty good. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: from the actual Nier Piano collection mix which is a different version than the one above - https://youtu.be/K_4HGh7Hh7w

It’s weird to think that two officially released piano versions of the same exact song could be so different but they honestly kinda are. This one feels stronger than the other, but it still isn’t quite there for me either. I think overall I might like it more, but the emotional impact of it is somehow less? Once again, it’s overall pretty good, but the vibes don’t totally match with me. 7/10

The Legend of Nier 8-bit Heroes from 15 Nightmares & Arrange Trakcs - https://youtu.be/LgvF_xRPoxs

This is kind of a bonus mention because it isn’t strictly Song of the Ancients, it’s a mix of a few songs from Nier Gestalt, but it just happens to start with Song of the Ancients. It hits pretty much all the notes from it so I’m including it here. I like it more than the hacking track from Automata, but only a little bit. It’s sad but also chiptune. However because it is quite literally only 1/8th of the entire song and for the sake of this list I refuse to acknowledge the other 7 minutes of music, I give it 1/8 / 10.

Song of the Ancients: Atonement - https://youtu.be/wNWShKuopic

You know it, you love it, and you’re crying thinking about it, it’s the Atonement version from Automata. It’s everything Fate wanted to be, but now much, much better. All of the music in this game is just, so intense and full of meaning and it just feels. Important. It’s what movie music would be if it didn’t suck. I think this one works really well in capturing the emotions around the twins trying to make up for crimes they straight up just didn’t commit. Devola and Popola make me cry. I love this song. Crying Creep emoji/10

Sonc of the Ancients: Atonement: Hacking Track remix - https://youtu.be/QD1F-staPms

So there’s like, not really a chance you’d ever hear this entire thing played out in game because of the way the hacking mechanic works. I think it’s a pretty good chiptune rendition though. I don’t care to listen to most of the hacking tracks on their own though, but there’s nothing offensive about this one. It’s Atonement, and Atonement is still a really good song on it’s own, so it just gets more points by cheating. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: from Arranged & Unreleased Tracks - https://youtu.be/lDYc9Ov4Mr8

Kinda love this one. It’s played on an accordion. Everyone I send this one to thinks it’s weird because of that, but I love it. It sounds like a romantic date in Italy. This might be one of the only versions that doesn’t make me want to start crying which is weird because it’s a remix of the Atonement version specifically again. I have really weird taste in music though. 10/10 gay dates in Italy

Song the Ancients: Atonement: from the Nier Music Concert: The Memories of Puppets - https://youtu.be/4z3wr0xATJY

Once again, Atonement fucking slaps. I’m always impressed by these things being performed live because the words aren’t real and they sound like they’d be hard to say. This is basically just a clearer version of the one from the game. I don’t like it more, though. It has a part where it slows down completely which is sexy, on it’s own. My heart tells me to give this a 9/10 though for reasons I don’t know. Perhaps because I haven’t used that ranking yet. In a hard to explain way I don’t like this version as much as the one in the game. So, 9/10.

Song of the Ancients DoD3 remix - https://youtu.be/SAJi9Q-RRmQ

This one starts out kinda slow, but when it picks up I think it sounds way more like Atonement than Fate. And when it sounds like Atonement I really like it. However I have this DLC for DoD3 and it’s the only song I ever had playing and I’m still not completely sick of it so that has to count for something. It’s not horrible but it’s not great either. It sounds like it belongs in DoD3 and none of the music in that game is great. 6/10

Song of the Ancients the… Music Video? - https://youtu.be/_iXT9eWgaMw

This one isn’t bad, but it’s really, really weird that it exists. I’ve never been able to really remember what this one sounds like so it can’t rank very high for me. It gets bonus points simply because it exists… at all. I think wikipedia told me this was like, official, or supported, I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t count, maybe it does, but I wanted to mention it anyway even though it isn’t on one of the CDs. She does a good job at performing and it’s a unique remix that takes the aesthetic qualities of Fate and dials them back into something smooth and emotional. I definitely don’t hate it, but it’s not on my phone. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: Orchestral Arrangement - https://youtu.be/Ixk5zFXldCk

This was instantly and immediately my favorite rendition of the song and not much has changed since it first released. While it is without a doubt the most different of all the renditions, it has an almost magical quality to it. Tonally, it seems to follow the story of Devola and Popola as we know them in Nier Gestalt.  Maybe I’m just projecting random shit onto this song, who knows, I’m not a music major. People have said it has kind of a Disney movie feel at the beginning, which is true, but as it goes on it loses that sort of innocent, lofty feeling, and becomes more intense, and I don’t know. I just really fucking love the way this song goes. Compare how it starts to how it ends and it’s just. Ugh. This one is so good. What the fuck. If you listen to nothing else on this list, please listen to this one. 11/10.

[larryfanficwriter98]

Chapter Three

Harry stared at the phone number that Louis had sent. They had been talking about moving to text and calls soon to make the time differences easier as Harry was 8 hours ahead of Manchester right now. They messaged still but the other one was usually sleeping or busy when they messaged so it wasn't actually communicating. Harry clicked on the number, hesitation in his movements before he bucked up the courage and pressed the call button. The call was answered almost immediately but there were other voices in the background.

"Hi, one moment while I leave these lads to their dance party." His accent was the first thing Harry noticed, as well as the higher pitch voice that Harry was already desperate to hear again.

"EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM CAN SEE IT EVERYONE ELSE BUT YOUUUU! BABY, YOU LIGHT MY WORLD LIKE NOBODY ELSE THE WAY THAT YOU FLIP YOUR HAIR GETS ME OVERWHELMED BUT WHEN YOU SMILE AT THE GROUND IT AINT HARD TO TELL! YOU DONT KNOW OH OH!! YOU DONT YOUR BEAUTIFUL!" Male voices shouted in the background making Harry laugh

"Harry Styles?" Harry asked slightly pleased with himself

"Hey don't judge 3/4 of this household is gay and Niall is so secure in his sexuality that he's practically gay. He'd be gay for the right one I think."

"I mean we're all a little bit gay aren't we?"

"Try telling Niall that." Harry heard a door close making the voices and music not be as loud as it was earlier. "So hi." Harry grinned

"Hi. Was this alright to call?"

"Yeah definitely. I like calls. Feels more real. I know you've been mentioning needing to find a time where we're both free for a few minutes at the same time to talk." Louis felt nervous about this, usually the ''we need to talk'' line meant it was ending and Louis didn’t want him and Harold to end.

"Yeah, I just.. Every time I type it, it doesn't come out right so I wanted us to call at some point. I just wanted to clear up a few things is all."

"Yeah sure. What is it?"

"Well I know I told you I was in the public eye a lot and so I don't know if you thought much about that or not. I um... well first my name is sort of..untrue. Not like majorly. Some friends call me Harold for laughs and teasingly so it’s not like something I personally feel is a lie but I know you may. So my real name is Harry...umm..not Stones but I don't... I don’t want to get into that yet. I just.. I wanted to know if someone would see past my name and everything and like me for me you know? I um..-"

"Harold you do realize I figured that out on my own right? I have thought about your letter. In fact, it’s in my bedside drawer and I figured that meant you lied about your name. Figured you'd tell me when you were ready. You can reveal yourself as slow as you want to. I really like you, the you, I've gotten to know."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's weird actually I was about to delete the app when you messaged me back."

"I was actually going to delete the app as well, but for a different reason. Another reason I wanted to talk to you. I didn't accept many people..maybe five I think not including you. And I guess it never got brought up in our conversations the past seven weeks, but um I am like really demi-sexual. I ummm.. I've actually never had sex before."

"Really?" Louis asked softly moving to sit up in his bed

"Yes and I'm sure you can guess that me not knowing when I will even want sex let alone feel comfortable enough to engage in it was a big no to the guys I did accept."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was. Guys are assholes. It's not a big deal to me Haz. I would wait until the wedding night for someone if that's what they wanted. Sex is great and fun, but honestly, the big reason I'm looking for such a strong commitment is because casual sex after a while isn't as enjoyable as you think. It gets boring."

"Really? You're the first one to say that."

"What that it gets boring or that it doesn't matter?"

"Both. I had a boyfriend when I was 18, we dated for a while, but he was really manipulative and he put a lot of pressure on everything. I was just 18 and still getting comfortable with my sexuality and he wanted to move fast. We went on one date then he wanted to be boyfriends and at the time I didn't know that's not how it was supposed to go. I've always been very affectionate and I like to spoil people as I'm sure you have figured out."

Louis' eyes went to the 30-inch tall stuffed panda bear with a baby panda bear that had been stuffed inside a box with a ton of fake flowers because real flowers would have died on the trip. Harry had a letter that explained it had been for a wildlife charity and that Louis could take it to the daycare or keep it he didn't care but it was too big for the bus he was on.

"I would never have guessed." Louis said sarcastically

"Yes alright. I'm not sorry. It was for a good cause."

"I need receipts Haz."

"Would you like my bank statements to prove it was for charity?"

"I guess I can trust you. How long are you free for?"

"Most of the day, not until 2 which is midnight in Manchester."

"Hey, Harry can you make me an omelet? Please." A male voice came from the background

"Make your own omelet."

"I tried that and it's runny."

"You are helpless. Absolutely helpless."

"I can't make an omelet either." Louis told Harry

"Please tell me someone in your house does?"

"Nope. Lads and I live off of frozen meals, cereal, take out, fast food, and pizza."

"Louis!" Louis laughed at Harry's cry, "that's not healthy! I'm getting you cookbooks. Beginners cookbooks."

"We have cookbooks. I use them as stepping stools for the higher cabinets."

"They make step ladders."

"I'm a grown man I don't need a step ladder." There was some shuffling on the other end

"The fact you use cookbooks for a stepping stool tells me you in fact do need a step ladder."

"Leave me alone. I'm big. I'm 5'10 I just have high cabinets."

"For some reason I think you're lying."

"I'm not. I'm 5'10.."

"Uh-huh sure."

***

Louis grinned as he walked into the daycare with the large panda bear in his arms. It was 2.5 feet tall and the kids were all in awe when Louis came in a few minutes late because packing and unpacking the best took a lot more time than he had thought.

"Louis! How much did this thing cost?" Elizabeth, an elderly woman who owned the daycare and the one who had hired Louis on the spot asked as she rounded the counter to look at the animal, "I told you if you wanted to buy them things them to use to the company card."

"That I put back in your wallet five minutes after you gave it to me." He told her, "besides I didn't buy it Harry sent it over."

"Harry? A boyfriend? Really?"

"Not a boyfriend, we haven't had that talk yet, but we've been talking a lot and he knows how much I love the daycare and the kids. He's traveling right now and he's also the one who bought those wooden toys that haven't been broken yet. Anyway, he bought it after donating a certain amount to a wildlife charity in China. Sent it to me for either myself or the kids and I figured the kids would like it."

"They'll love it. He sounds like a good guy."

"From the past ten weeks of talking to him, I think he is. Been very thoughtful."

Louis was not blushing it was just hot in the building and he was overheating in his Norwegian sweater. He hurried to the room ignoring her knowing stare and was immediately called by different toddlers. Grinning he made his way to an empty corner and plopped the panda bear down leaning it against the wall. He pulled his coat off and hung it in the closet before he kneeled down by some of the toddlers who weren't distracted by the panda.

"Hello, little Annabelle."

"Lou Lou..hug?"

"Of course come here." Louis wrapped his arms around Annabelle gently, squeezing her softly before pulling away.

[writhingcreature]

Prompt 5 - Stozier

"stozier w/ the song dear friend by dayglow" requested by @toomuchkenny

It changed everything.

And I don't mean IT it, though that changed a lot too. No, the Incident is what really turned the whole world on it's head- even compared to the demon clown that tried to swallow Stan whole. Maybe it was the clown that set it all off to begin with...

When it seemed to all finally be over, Stan couldn't look at Richie the same way again. All he could see is the bat in Richie's hand as they stood in the dark sewer, facing something that Stan was sure would be the end of them. Richie, with his bat, facing an actual monster that could so easily bring actual death to him with not fear but anger. Anger that drove him to curse the thing out and smash that stupid bat against its head as if something made of wood could do anything against a supernatural beast.

The rest of Summer there was too much trying to pull himself together- it wasn't until school started that Stan realized. He realized that loud noises set him off, and each time he would shrink towards Richie. He realized that Richie's shoulder was really comfortable and found himself constantly laying his head there or on Richie's chest to hear his heartbeat. He realized that Richie's smile was crooked and too wide but also incredibly contagious. He realized Richie was this light that had always seemed too warm and too bright and therefore was sometimes overwhelming even if Stan would take on Greta Bowie herself if she tried to do anything too stupid to the Trashmouth. He realized that what had been so much for him before was actually exactly what he needed.

Richie's light was guidance in the darkness, and warmth in the cold. As this blizzard began to consume him, Richie could always give him light and warmth and safety and made everything bearable and even wonderful. Suddenly his jokes weren't as stupid. Stan found himself rolling his eyes and glaring less and smiling and even laughing more and more often.

Suddenly, Stan realized something HUGE.

He was in love with Richie Tozier. He was in love with his best friend.

It didn't scare him. Maybe it should have. What would his parents say? What would Richie say? What would his friends think, if he was into guys? Wasn't it enough to be Jewish- he had to be gay too? He got enough trouble from the people of Derry as it was- this might be the thing that got him killed for real...

It didn't scare him though. Despite everything, he was only curious and really excited. Sometimes Richie made him question his feelings - the boy was smart, and his grades showed it, but the things that came out of his MOUTH sometimes - but at the end of the day, he always knew he stood in the same place. And all he could see was a future where he woke up and Richie was next to him. Older. And they were all cuddled up and Stan slipped out of bed and made breakfast and the sunlight was soft and warm and Richie was there to hug him and kiss him on the cheek and Stan didn't know why but he could see it so clearly and it excited him.

He kept almost telling Richie, but then he just couldn't. What if Richie didn't like him back? What if Richie was straight and Stan had to pretend he didn't care as they continued to be friends? It made him nervous. Not scared. Hesitant. Hesitant enough to keep his mouth shut.

But then one day the Incident happened.

They were at a dance. Bev and Mike has come together as friends, and the others had gone stag. Mike didn't go to their school so this allowed them all to be together and spend some time together. It was one of those nights where they were all feeling light and were in a good mood. One of those nights where they were five minutes from ditching the dance and going something fun and wild with just the seven of them.

A slow song came on. Mike offered Bev a dance. "I feel like I've cheated you, honestly. We're technically on a date. I owe you at least one dance."

She laughed. "Yeah, I'd be down for that." The two of them went off and chatted excitedly, smiling wide and enjoying the dance like none of the other people in the room seemed to be. That was one of the magics of friendship I suppose.

A girl approached Bill after a few seconds as the others loudly teased Bev and Mike, who were ignoring them. "Uh, would you like to dance with me?"

He seemed surprised, but pleasantly so. "Uh. Yeah, sure." She smiled, and they branched off.

The interaction seemed to encourage Ben, who set his face and stood to his feet, moving toward a girl. She saw him coming and immediately booked it. The three Losers left frowned. Ben did this a few times. Sometimes girls left before he approached. Sometimes they waited or he caught them off guard. It was about twenty seconds of agony that seemed to stretch an hour before a girl grabbed his shoulder as he passed her, attempting to get to someone else. They had a brief exchange before Ben, stunned, nodded and she grinned and they moved to the dance floor.

Eddie stood. "This is dumb. I'm going to the bathroom." And he was gone.

Stan swallowed, eyes flickering between Richie and the dance floor. He looked at Mike and Bev. Ben and Bill and their partners. He saw them all smiling and laughing softly and talking- even if Bill was a little awkward. He wanted so badly to take Richie's hand and pull him up. GOD he wanted it so badly.

He felt a hand on top of his. He jumped, looking over as Richie stood, pulling Stan after him. For a second he thought Richie was pulling him towards the floor, but when Stan was standing, Richie dropped his hand and nodded towards the door. "I need some air. Mind coming with me?"

"Sure," Stan replied, trying to swallow his disappointment. He needed to stop that nonsense immediately. Even if they were together, dancing together here would be suicide. Maybe not in a dead sense... though maybe it wouldn't be too far fetched to expect.

The two boys went outside. Richie walked a bit out more and Stan stayed back, leaning against the wall of the school. It was a cool night- a relief from the warm room inside, when they were dressed up.

Suddenly Richie whipped around, his expression unnervingly serious. "Do you want to play 20 Questions?"

A voice in Stan's mind told him to book it. Something about Richie's sincerity in a question that should have been anything but intense set Stan on edge. "Sure." It was the second time he'd said it, and he realized he hadn't said much all night actually. Richie looked amazing and it made Stan nervous.

"You go first," Richie offered.

Stan thought for a second. What did he have to ask Richie? He couldn’t ask the one question he craved the answer to the most... so he played it safe. "What's your favorite part about school?"

"Triangle." Richie was suddenly incredibly close, taking long strides that made Stan tense up and press into the wall, startled and suddenly unsure. Their faces were inches apart and Stan only had a single beat to realize 'triangle' was not an appropriate answer to his question before Richie demanded, "Do you like boys?"

A Doctor could have told him he was dead and Stan wouldn't have been surprised. "Excuse me?" It sounded like he was choking. The words were raspy and too breathy, and choppy and far too wet sounding. He cleared his throat. Richie seemed suddenly frustrated. He said something Stan didn't hear clearly. "What?" Stan asked, trying to get him to repeat it.

There was a single second as Richie looked away, seeming to debate. Then suddenly he locked eyes with Stan again, his face set, and he whispered, "Fuck it."

It happened so fast. Hands were holding onto Stan's neck and jaw. Lips were pressed to his. Hair tickled his forehead- and it wasn't his. He had done it special for tonight. No strand out of place. A leg bumped his. His eyes fluttered close as his brain realized all these bits of contact were from not just any set of body parts, but from Richie.

Richie Trashmouth Tozier was kissing him.

And it was AMAZING.

Stan's hands drifted to Richie's waist and he pulled him close. Richie melted into him and when they parted, they both let out a shaky breath they'd each been holding. No words necessary. However it had happened, they liked each other. For now, that's all that mattered.

That's not how it stayed for long.

By their senior year, it was becoming nearly impossible to keep Richie at bay. They were in a secret relationship, unable to be coupley at school or in front of their families or in public at all. Not at the movie theater or under the table at dinner. Stan even got paranoid about doing things they used to do all the time before they were dating. He was TERRIFIED of getting found out. Finally Richie lost it. "I understand the caution, I just... It feels like you don't want to be dating me. Recently, even in front of the others you've been- weird! Do you not want to be with me anymore?"

"Of course I do, Richie!" Stan snapped, hating that Richie would ever doubt for a second how much Stan treasured their relationship and looked forward to finally achieving that dream for the future that seemed so wonderfully possible now. "I love you!"

The argument ended when Richie stormed off. It got escalated and they were both yelling and admitting emotions and fears and Stan was trying to defuse it but then Richie started crying, and it went from 'are you ashamed of me' to 'I hate this world and I just wish I wasn't apart of it sometimes.' The idea terrified Stan into stillness as Richie made his escape.

Someone heard. However it was had, word spread that Richie and Stan were dating by the day after the next. Just in time for them to make up and Stan to find the words to explain to Richie not only his love but the reasoning behind his choices. As if to punctuate why they had to be careful, Derry lashed out.

Eventually they got what they wanted. Richie and Stan broke up. After they made the decision, they stood face to face and Richie couldn't look Stan in the eyes. "I guess you were right, huh?"

Stan's face twisted with pain. "In situations like these, I wish I wasn't."

Their fear of the world kept them from getting back together, but their mutual feelings kept them from being friends... so eventually, they drifted more and more apart until they were suddenly graduated and going to college. And then, one day, they were so disconnected that they began to forget. Forget Derry. Forget the other Losers. Forget each other.

There was an emptiness. A space in their beds no one else could fill.

Stan tried. He met this wonderful girl named Patty and he saw this future with her that seemed promising. But something was wrong. He didn't love her, and he couldn't get himself to, and she deserves to marry and have kids like she wanted and be with someone who devotedly and passionately loved her.

Richie didn't even bother. For some reason, he thought about dating and it made him sick. He thought maybe there was a bad experience in high school, or an old girlfriend that had put a bad taste in his mouth. He was successful and happy and perfectly fine being single.

Then they got the calls. They heard Mike's voice and recalled Derry and IT and- and-

"Richie," Stan whispered.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Uh." He blinked. "Nothing." Who was Richie? "Ye- I'll be there. I'll see you soon." He ended the call.

Richie. Why did the name make his heart jump in his chest? Why did he feel so excited? Why is it that remembering that town from Hell and the THING that lives there made him feel... relieved? Why is it that when he remembered dark sewers and red hair and pointed teeth, the easiest thing to recall was a dark haired boy holding a bat?

Almost in a daze, Stan found himself packing and telling his work he'd be gone for a while. He balanced between the horrors of the Thing waiting for him.. and the curiosity and desperate need for the dark haired boy he somehow knew would be there.

And he was.

When Stan saw him, it clicked. "Richie." Suddenly so much of his mind cleared and so much made sense. Even as his nightmares came today life in memories he'd tried so hard to forget, Richie forever succeeded in lighting up the darkness and melting the cold, making Stan irrationally excited to go face a demon... simply because it would bring the two of them together again.

Richie seemed to have been knocked breathless. "Stan." There was a pause. Richie seemed over relieved, like he'd been expecting something terrible to happen and seeing Stan had proved that it wouldn't. "You got hot."

Without even thinking about it, Stan replied. "I've always been hot." It was half assed but Richie snorted. Stan couldn't help but smile.

There was a tension. A pause. A hesitation. It carried through their entire visit and battle against IT and the people of Derry - as idiotic and judgemental and aggressive and pathetic as usual. They were incredibly aware of each other, tip toeing around a possibility and feelings they were both so eager to take old of but so unsure of when it came to how the other person felt.

Then Eddie almost died.

Eddie saved Richie and Stan saved Eddie and they defeated IT and so much was put into perspective. They’d been running from people who cursed under their breaths for Stan and Richie’s deaths because they were different than other people. But now they really had faced death full on and almost been taken over by it.

And they hadn’t.

Outside of Neibolt, watching it cave in and fade into nothing, Richie looked at Stan next. He thought of all the odd habits he had. The excitement that burst in him, poking at the edges of thoughts he almost had but never did every single goddamn time he ever saw a bird. The kind of weird curiousity that drew him to judaism simply because it made him feel more whole. But not because of God or anything they taught. Because it was familiar. Because it reminded him of... something. His coworkers had thought he was crazy. Him? Religious? And yet....

He’d thought of Stan plenty of times, even if he hadn’t actually, directly thought of Stan.

And Stan had done the same as well. Feeling eyes on him, the man turned and locked eyes with Richie immediately. There was a sense of terror in Richie’s eyes. The same feeling that tightened his own chest. The fear that after this was all over, they’d go their separate ways and forget again. Forget IT and Derry - less bad - but also each other. Bill and Beverly and Ben and Mike and Eddie and... and Stan would forget Richie and Richie would forget Stan.

It didn’t matter that everything had just fallen apart right in front of them, finally ending. It wasn’t relief that filled them. They’d all survived. That didn’t matter. Nothing mattered if they lost each other again. So, despite the joy and relief they should have been feeling, they felt heavy and horrible and sick.

The only way to remedy that?

Richie moved first, but the second he had, Stan was too. They met in the middle, never breaking eye contact and not hesitating. Their hands were around each other, pulling each other as close as possible. They didn’t ram into each other- more, melted as their bodies touched, more and more the closer the got, until they had simply become one being.

Someone coughed. Stan and Richie ignored them. Someone else laughed.

Nothing else mattered. That kiss confirmed it all. Fuck people who wanted to tear them apart. Fuck Derry. Fuck fear. Forget everything else. Except each other. They’d never let anything come between them. Not ever again.

[that-mom-friend-talks]

Sanders Six the Musical

I’m listening to the soundtrack again and I’ve had thoughts so-

this is when they actually all get along, no dark side light side bs

EX WIVES: Aragon is Roman, paragon of royalty indeed, very loyal and a big diva, petty. Boleyn is Remus, would split nations bc he’s too sexy and would be proud of that, would definitely get executed. Seymour is Patton, a parent, died, puns. Cleves is deceit bc the whole discourse over looks. Howard is Virgil bc coming in strong and sassy but if you look at it too long its angst. Parr is Logan, bc composed elegant and badass, also lowkey narrator, keeps everyone on track, also smart one liners.

NO WAY: opens with Roman just patting himself on the back for how much he dealt with, throwing shade, golden rule, heavy Beyonce vibes and he would, petty about Remus. proud and spiteful, extravagant and breaking into rap. royalty and won’t let you forget that, will never leave. hella vocals and will flaunt them at any given moment to remind you how awesome he is. dance break!! i imagine him twirling his sword and kicking ass while dancing or smth. break for seriousness, still beautiful vocals, petty and shady and just for it. stands his ground, will be royalty forever regardless of what happens. doing his damnedest to make you regret dumping him.

DON’T LOSE UR HEAD: Remus mentions he’s royalty but that’s like it. boys lame? gay disaster. seriousness isn't his thing. met the king and wanted to f. cocky and definitely not pg. flirty and immature, also dismisses all criticism. faking innocence, but not naivete. is the side ho, and definitely would homewreak without regrets. gives Roman a ton of shit, makes gruesome comments. does the unorthodox and terrible way of dealing with situations. just wants to fuck, why is religion like this. but now he’s the main ho not the side one and he’s over it. would definitely get executed for stepping out of line/ over the line. legit doesn’t know what the proper response is but will mask that with sheer chaotic energy. where did the vocals come from, goddamn. really doesn't care for repercussions.

HEART OF STONE: Patton!!! knows how the other person is changing all the time. he knew what he was getting himself into, but promised he’d be with them. heart of stone, he’d always be by your side and despite everything that he feels and deals with he will make it through. life is hard and emotions can be rough, but he will be there through all of it. famILY! loves deeply and truly, but knows that it can change. but he doesn’t care! he’ll still love you. wow this song is beautiful ok. knows his time is limited ??? his love can be felt from wherever you are, he will always be there with you regardless of what’s going on. cares deeply about his son. THE HIGH NOTE GET IT!!! he will bear everything in order to lighten your load a little, but he won’t break, because he loves you too much.

HAUS OF HOLBEIN: Remus made this the song that plays whenever someone enters the darkside hallway and they don’t know how to change it back. just the twins and Virgil fucking with deceit, tbh. but he’s vibing with the song so it’s not terrible. Logan is factchecking and Patton is just dancing along not really listening. Virgil has the airhorn. everyone is doing meme dances. it is chaos and cringe incarnate they’re lucky Virgil is a meme lord.

GET DOWN: Deceit by himself being a damn diva. Virgil and Remus woof. profile picture he looks like either Logan or Patton. but he’s got a pic of him doing like a smolder. he’s in charge and trying to be subtle about it but he’s too dramatic so it’s just him bragging. oop a religion reference. Remus and Roman are back up dancers. Deceit being really petty about being pushed aside. instead of the slow mo its the opera version. check out the american cleves. its beautifully sassy. he’s different and flaunts it. the ending is so badass, he would just have all six hands out and being cool. the song is just him being super duper sassy.

ALL YOU WANNA DO: Virgil. in the beginning hyping himself up (like when he was first introduced) but it just progressively gets worse. innuendos all day long, Remus is making crude hand motions in the background. starts off innocent and romantic but like the world just crushes it. i hate this song bc of how wonderfully it conveys the trauma, i feel atrocious at the end of it everytime it’s incredible. Trust issues!! starting to become suspicious of others, and eventually certain that all other people do is be cruel and abuse you. he’s finally got a place!! he feels comfortable!! then something happens and that’s not the case anymore. god this song is terrifying. progressively becoming more numb and cynical and covered.  THOMASSSS. honestly yeah i’m down with that. just bar the “connection” and i’d say it’s spot on. anyways. a panic attack in the midst of a song? you bet your ass he’s still got a gorgeous and haunting voice. eyeshadow progressively getting darker the whole song. Patton is sobbing, everyone is crying. The song ends with a group hug bc that’s some heavy shit

I DON’T NEED YOUR LOVE: Logan!! my boy!! anyway. he has a love (his work, another side, take your pick) but he wont’ let himself indulge because he has to survive. he has to do what he must in order to keep living, and sometimes that means he can’t do what he loves. he still loves them/it but he can’t. emotions!!!!!!!!!!!! also he’s got an angelic voice like its so clean and smooth and elegant. has responsibilities that he must deal with, but he really doesn’t want to. those repressed emotions come out and he’s so damn fed up with how he’s treated and he’s just venting and releasing his anger. but he can’t. it will interfere with his responsibilities. narrator mode get that exposition. why should that be what you know of him though? he’s so much more than just his role! he loves space and writing and poetry and songs. advocate for education and human rights!! but he metas and knows that’s not his purpose in the story so he stays within his role or else he’ll disappear. and the others butt in on the moment bc he can’t have a song to himself. but he rallies everyone to put their differences aside and they all indulge in what they wish happened. they don’t care about the plot! they don’t care about the story! they are just who they are, each individual and different and people! and Logan doesn’t need validation and he’s not lying this time! also the vocals here god i love this song so much hnng. THE HIGH NOTE GET IT YESSSS. he would bc he’s a secret diva no one can tell me otherwise.

SIX: Roman rejects a prince bc he’s a king and he just sings for the rest of his life at the top of the charts indeed. Remus plagiarizes and becomes famous for it, putting his own twist on it. Patton just has a big famILY and they all get along and sing, also puns! someone face palms at them. Deceit brightens up the darksides bc he’s the wine aunt and a dad. Virgil avoids trauma and learns what he wants, and enjoys his music for the rest of his life. Logan is fascinated with the others, and admits that he loves the other sides. they know that this isn’t canon but boy are they taking it for a ride. THEY ALL START GLOWING IN THEIR COLORS BC I SAID SO. THE ENDING!!! screams epic magic girl transformation to me for some reason. everyone is having a blast, and at the end they all merge into thomas who shoots upright with a smile

if only i could animate man. this would be so good, if anyone at all makes this i will cry someone please do something i’m begging

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E08 - Princess Prom

After that mid-season plot reminder we seem to be going back to the princesses! Is this one going to introduce the ice princess or is it going to be about the princesses meeting each other? Maybe both! Let's do this!

It definitely sounds like it'll be both!

Can't believe that She-Ra has been living for weeks there and no one has thought about giving her a change of clothes. I imagine her going "Sorry guys, can't go meet a princess today, I need to do my laundry AND I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO WEAR" and they just ignore her subtle hints. Nothing like the horde symbol waving like a flag in a clothesline.

Hm. Did Glimmer miss the last one?

FROSTA, OF COURSE. I forgot "Frost” even existed as a possibility.

Someone needs to make an "inhuman adora sounds" twitter acount, like https://twitter.com/animegirlnoises?lang=en

ooh, problems in paradise

Sorry, it needs to be "inhuman princesses sounds." What a shame I can't embed uploaded videos in a text post.

Wow, these subtitles are really missing a lot.

I can't imagine a better (and more frustrating) counterpart to Catra than Scorpia.

I kinda doubt she'll be able to capture Adora so that's one objective down, but I'm intrigued by the way Catra mentions Shadow Weaver. Is it a title instead of a name? I thought SW had changed her name from Light Spinner (since they kinda mean the same)

I can't believe how much this explains Scorpia's personality.

I think Catra is not really talking about Scorpia anymore but it still fits. It's nice that she has someone who feels like her though.

Scorpia is the best. The princesses suck if they discriminated her because of her claws.

How can anyone mistreat her

OH MY GOD

I thought she had sent her a message or something, not that she had asked him during the battle! It completely fits her personality though

Aw, poor Glimmer. The b-side of growing up, everyone else is growing up too. It probably doesn't help that Bow is her only friend besides Adora, and Adora is new.

This is 100% going to lead to Adora revealing she doesn't know how to dance, right?

Wait, NEUTRAL? They can afford to be NEUTRAL?

can't believe Adora is making a ship chart

Is that wing, Glimmer?

I mean... she does, yeah.

I feel blessed by this glimmer

I hadn't realized that maybe _Adora_ is the one who doesn't want new clothes. Now I can't stop imagining everyone in Bright Moon subtly suggesting her to change clothes and Adora completely ignoring everyone.

That’s a great look for Catra.

Aw, Scorpia seemed kinda unsure and only laughed after Catra started laughing. That's sad.

For some reason I feel this has a lot of Sea Hawk energy.

This is incredibly cute for an episode 8 of a first season. It's a testament to the show's characterization that something like this can work so early. You need to know the characters to make a party episode work since they all need to interact together.

I have to admit that dress _does_ fit her better than the fluffy one.

Awww.

...what's up with those two in the lower left being pulled by another woman?

These people seem better defined, future characters maybe?

Hey, that's Spinerella and Netossa!

A lot of these characters look like they came out of the game Monster Prom.

oh that's going to be fun

This show is pretty good at showing perfect examples of "a mood"

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Someone in the discord told me that Entrapta is supposed to be in her late 20s and I still can't believe it. I thought everyone was in their late teens at most. Entrapta in particular feels like a feral kid.

Entrapta should be a liveblogger.

I'm not sure _that's_ what's going on but sure.

I love everything about this, _especially_ Adora's smugness.

oh no, the cringe has begun

That explains why we haven't seen that sociopath horse lately.

yup, fits standard "don't know what to do during a party" behavior

Glimmer is being a bit dumb but everyone's been that type of dumb at least once.

I don't like seeing her sad though, I hope it all blows over soon.

She also looks sad. Saddest prom ever.

I'm wondering if her parents are alive, it's weird that they aren't around considering she's eleven (and three quarters.)

I feel like Bow when he introduced Spinerella and Netossa: "we're not really sure what they do" but they are definitely here.

Well, the child has a strong personality. I expected her to say something like this but I thought she'd be more childish about it. Is her personality because of the weight of her crown or because of a tragic past (or both)?

The slow music that just started is so on the nose that I'm not minding this weird jealousy plot.

Aww, poor marshmallow. This show continues to impress me by the way it develops its characters.

That line about Bow being introduced to Castaspella last episode was setup for this, it wasn't needed since this scene would have worked anyway but tiny touches like that help a lot in making these characters feel real, with a life before the show.

That was amazing.

My respect for Princess Frosta has increased a thousand percent.

Adora is the embodiment of the "if you know how I am, why did you invite me?" meme

ooh, first contact with the horde

Oh Princess Frosta, you were so right: "Teenagers"

Even angry he's still a good boy. He's 100% in the right in this situation, he'd have a free pass if he wanted to get angry but he's just clearly stating what's up.

Nooo, no one is allowed to make this marshmallow cry. Even if they are right and she's wrong.

I hope this doesn't feed "no one is going to want me now that I failed the one thing my one remaining friend told me to do"

Catra is being such a troll and I love it. I probably shouldn't like it so much considering Adora just went through some bad gaslighting and this feels like the continuation of that but Catra's personality softens the impact a lot. Which probably makes it worse, huh.

That face screams "What is the Horde?"

I _did_ say that she was probably pretty good at being bad when she was introduced, even if her personality is awesome.

Oh, didn't expect this. Is that Scorpia's power? Mind control? It'd fit with the poison theme without being literally poison.

When I started watching She-Ra someone tweeted me an screenshot of this with the caption "not as gay as advertised" and I thought "hey, that's neat fanart" but nope, literally an screenshot from the show.

Not sure what that guy was talking about because this is pretty gay.

And this is how they both get kicked out for breaking the no conflict rule. Which probably fits Catra's plan since it gives her a way to escape.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh

To think I believed these guys were going to be credible threats after Lonnie threatened Catra.

Does every castle have a gem like this? Scorpia mentioned something about a Black Garnet...

Okay, I checked back and she says "rune stone" (that doesn't appear in the subtitles * shakes fist *) I'm guessing that's how the princesses recharge their powers?

What a great way to differentiate her from other "child" characters. In other shows she'd need help from the heroes after being taken down a peg but not Frosta, she's saving everyone and is probably going to be _pissed_ at the Horde, angry enough to join the rebellion.

still pretty gay

Wow. This is _not_ what I expected to happen from an episode named "Princess Prom."

The somewhat episodic nature of the show so far completely fooled me, I thought Catra would maaaybe escape with the sword and leave Bow and Glimmer behind but nope, a literal cliffhanger ending, with Adora powerless, alone and crying.

Catra wasn't just talking when she said that the way to get to Adora, was to go for the heart. It's impressive how successful she was at doing _everything_ she planned to do. The one thing I could maybe fault her is that she attacked Frosta instead of just leaving, I'm not sure the distraction was _that_ needed, and it won her an enemy if Adora manages to convince Frosta next episode about how everything was the Horde's fault. It should be easier with all the exploding proof around.

I'm not the biggest fan of jealousy plots but this one was handled very well, it made me cringe only once and that's more than I can usually ask for. Glimmer being rescued by Adora and the other princesses next episode(?) is going to be so good for her. It'll show her that she's not alone and that a lot of people have her back now.

There was some interesting worldbuilding, with Scorpia being a princess, the mentions of Star Sisters, Sweet Bee and Peekablue, the existence of Rune Stones which I don't remember from before, etc.

I love how deceiving this show can be, in a good way. It _looks_ soft and cute, and it usually is but there's an undercurrent of complexity that shines. There are alliances, politics, neutral parties, everyone has their own motivations. Most characters _feel_ real, in a way that most cartoons don't.

Can't wait to find out what happens next episode, until next time!