#its a gay space adventure but sad

[d-criss-news]

How Maybe Happy Ending Became the Surprise Hit of the Broadway Season

DO ANDROIDS DREAM? The leads of Broadway's Maybe Happy Ending: Darren Criss, in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, and Helen J Shen in Michael Kors Collection. Swarovski ring. Hair, Edward Lampley; makeup, Kuma. Photographed by Norman Jean Roy. Fashion Editor: Edward Bowleg III. Vogue, March 2025.

---------- Bringing the androids to life, as it were, are stage veteran Darren Criss and Broadway newcomer Helen J Shen. Backstage in his dressing room before curtain, Criss, 37, is bursting with chattiness, hazel eyes flashing and ring-laden fingers aflutter. He credits much of Maybe Happy Ending’s success to its extensive Korean incubation, comparing it to a nearly decade-long out-of-town tryout. “The level of nuance we focused on from the beginning is stuff that you don’t typically get until months in the weeds,” he says. “The trial and error has been happening long before us,” says Shen, who’s 24 but could easily pass for far younger, sitting serenely in a Winnie-the-Pooh sweatshirt. A classically trained pianist who competed internationally before studying theater performance at the University of Michigan (where Criss is also an alum), Shen has had a busy 2024, starring off-Broadway in The Lonely Few and Teeth. Meanwhile Criss is best known for the five seasons he spent as the endearingly charming, openly gay Blaine Anderson on Fox’s Glee. For this performance as an android with creakier movements than Shen’s, he drew on something he’d never put to use professionally: his college semester spent studying commedia dell’arte in Italy. “Stereotypical modern acting is about what you don’t see, and what I’m doing here is what you do see,” Criss says. His robot had been programmed to display unsubtle emotions: happy face, sad face, surprised face. These expressions and Criss’s faintly wooden physicality, inspired by the harlequin figure, “immediately make people more willing to connect to the show’s nonrealness,” he says. In rehearsals, he kept top of mind a note from Arden: “Just because it doesn’t feel real doesn’t make it not true.”

GROUP INTELLIGENCE Shen and Criss are joined in the cast by Dez Duron (center left) and Marcus Choi (center right). Costume design by Clint Ramos. Hair and wig design, Craig Franklin Miller; makeup, Suki Tsujimoto.

Underscoring that feeling of unreality is the shape-shifting set, involving a rotating turntable, proscenium LED tiles, and hologram-like projections. “The backstage mechanics are so unbelievably intricate,” Arden says. “My hope is that it’s working so well the audience doesn’t even notice.” The set was inspired by how we consume media on our phones; Arden estimates that the show spends more time in a vertical orientation than horizontal. Likewise, switching between sliding rooms on tracks emulates the effect of swiping on a personal device, and simple theatrical techniques like irising, created with black panels and neon, mimic how we pinch and zoom. Another influence was manga, which can tell big stories briskly, gracefully pushing readers from one image to another. The emphasis was on containing and focusing the audience’s point of view, Arden explains. “I wanted to take the audience on an adventure, leaving more to their imagination rather than trying to show everything.” Within those silently whizzing frames is a comforting, retro future-scape that the director compares to 2001: A Space Odyssey. “There’s this mix of cold futurism with warm sentimentality that’s also present in the score,” Arden says of the set. “You’re watching a classic Burt Bacharach musical, even though we’re driving a flying car.” The team has been floored by the rabid army of fans. Dubbed Fireflies, after a magical moment in the show, they range from repeat viewers dressing up as their favorite characters to those creating art inspired by HwaBoon, the emotional-support potted plant that many find the production’s low-key true star. (Arden calls her “a fabulous silent diva” who appeals to wallflowers in the audience.) A significant portion of those waiting by the stage door to meet the cast are Asian American, and while nearly all the actors in this production are also of Asian American descent, Shen shies from labeling the show narrowly. “It’s important to mark accomplishments, but whenever we put that pressure on to be a mouthpiece for any group of people that is multifaceted and contradictory and complicated, it’s going to fail.” Although actors of various races and ethnicities have previously portrayed the robots, almost every production has been set in Seoul. Yet Criss maintains “the show is as distinctly Korean as Romeo and Juliet is distinctly Italian...It’s where we set our scene, and some aspects of the show might spring from the culture.” (South Korea has the world’s highest density of robot workers.) “But it’s a story with universal themes: We all live, we all end, we all, hopefully, at some point, love or are loved.” The offbeat premise and ingenious staging prove that no algorithm can yet prescribe a hit Broadway musical. “As we enter into this world of AI, theater is one of the last completely human-made, -operated, -performed, and -received art forms,” Arden notes. “And that’s why we go to the theater—to learn something new about what it is to be alive.” How delightful that it’s possible in a musical about robots.

[soulmuppet]

Did you know you can get started with any of our core line games for FREE?!

Thats right £0, in this economy ?!?

We aim to design Quickstarts with a few things in mind:

Simple overview of the rules including character creation or premade characters.

An adventure! Its no good having the rules for a game with no guidance on how to get a group to the table and actually PLAYING.

BIG VIBES - truthfully we want to sell you on the full thing, we do that by showing you what the game has to offer in STYLE.

Ready to try one out?

Paint The Town Red: a sad gay vampire rpg of found family, boozy nights out and stinking hangovers.

Inevitable: A doomed arthurian western of cowboy knights trying (and failing) to save the world.

Orbital Blues: a lo-fi space western ttrpg of depressed outlaws trying to make ends meet in a hypercaptalist dustbowl americana far-future.

Best Left Buried: a gritty horror dungeoncrawl where characters suffer the consequences of their actions.

Gangs of Titan City: play as as desperate gutterscum and either dominate the underworld as crimelords or end up riddled with bullets.

[w1n3bunny]

chat can u infodump abt phinjeet im intreuged <- hasnt watched pnf but probably should

* UR GIVING ME A FREE PASS TO TALK ABOUT THOZE FREAKZ TOBY ?!??!! I OWE U MY LIFE (sorry this took a while to answer i need time to gather and properly express my thoughtz GAH (also excuze the poor quality of my screenshotz im on a budget))

* this iznt going to be coherent but HERE WE GO

* so a big part of what compelz me about their dynamic iz the fact that theyre essentially on the same level/wavelength , while ofc phineas iz more adventurous and baljeet iz more anxious , theyre equally intelligent (NEEEERRRRDDZZ) and can speak the same nerdy language and truly listen to each other (smth i cant alwayz say for their more popular pairingz with other characterz WGAT WHO SAID THAT WHO SAID THAT)

* i lov when theyre in sync !!!!! i lov when they get each other !!!!!!!! they sincerely care about each otherz interestz becauze they hav Shared interestz !!!!!!!!!!!!

* they hav a shared interest in sci-fi , theyre both big fanz of an in-universe show called space adventure n therez an episode where they go to a sci-fi convention in space adventure cozplay , tho baljeet iz shown to hav a more Persistent interest in it . in candace against the universe he repeatedly triez to uze thingz that happen in space adventure az solutionz to the gangz space related problemz , even against hiz own better judgement and understanding of science , somtimez veering into just straight up infodumping territory . this pretty much alwayz endz poorly lol , ig hyperfixation beatz logic . mood

* (HEZ LITERALLY ME)

* at the end phineas makez hiz own space adventure suggestion , and thatz the only one that actually workz out . SAD !

* they also both lov math n science specifically ! phineas channelz hiz passion into crazy projectz and inventionz while baljeet moreso lovez math itself , and therez an episode where phineas iz shown uploading blueprintz to hiz n ferbz website so baljeet can check the math , which he doez very quickly and then sendz over the updated verzion , and although we only see this once it impliez to me that this iz a regular occurrence to the point where theyve got it down like a routine I JUST THINK THATZ CUTE !!!!! lookit theze nerdz <3333

* i see them az stabilizing forcez to each other , when baljeet iz freaking the hell out about smth phineas can help him look on the brighter side n realize itz not that big of a deal , or assure him thingz will work out . when phineas iz bouncing off the wallz and not thinking very far ahead baljeet can bring him back down to earth and challenge hiz leadership in a way the otherz dont often do , or correct hiz mistakez if need be

* and becauze of the way phin needz jeet to check over hiz math , and the way he misspellz time machine az tie machine in “its about time” , i like to hc phineas like . iznt necessarily Bad at spelling or typing , but iz very prone to making obvious mistakez in hiz haste , so itz great that he haz a nerd friend whoz happy to review hiz work n catch thoze for him YAY

* a similar phin hc i hav iz that , cuz of how hard he hyperfocusez on building stuff , hez constantly getting bruizez n scrapez that he doeznt even notice cuz hez too In The Zone . he could be leaving a trail of blood and would hav no idea LOL till someone pullz him aside to point it out (just adhd thingz <3 hez literally me) . everyone else startz carrying bandaidz for hiz sake . baljeet uzez blue onez , which iz why i pretty much alwayz try to draw phin (at least younger phin) with a blue bandaid on hiz hand . im makin it gay , it symbolizez jeet being there for him when hez hurt ..... hand holding ........... hehehehehehe

* i also somtimez draw jeet with a yellow bandaid on hiz noze for similarly gay reazonz . muahahaha

* at the start of "cranius maximus" baljeet freakz out becauze he feelz like hez getting dumber the more he hangz out with phineas and ferb since he iznt studying 24/7 anymore , even tho id argue the experience he gainz through their adventurez iz just az valuable , but i think itz a fun point since itz kinda noticeable how much more actively baljeet seemz to engage in the backyard gangz activitiez az the show goez on

* it most likely waznt an intentional Story Decizion for jeet to start changing hiz mind about the importance of hiz studiez after s1 , but i wouldve liked if it waz actually treated az like . a change , an arc of sortz . like at the start of the summer hez super focused on school and not interested in pnfz projectz , but az he keepz incidentally landing in their orbit n finding thingz they hav in common he gradually becomez part of the gang

* that half-made-up early summer baljeet probably wouldve been completely content sitting around n studying for hiz summer school classez all day , but here he iz coming to phineas and ferb with hiz “boring” activity , not even directly Asking them to make it more fun , just hoping and trusting that they Will . smth about that getz me idk . he likez playing with spinning topz , but now maybe smth about hiz change in routine haz made them a bit dull , and he trustz that pnf will figure out smth more exciting (and dangerous lol) to make of them . also just . how much they clearly like each other and enjoy being in each otherz company THATZ CUUUUUTE

* and OFC phinjeet wouldnt be phinjeet without "the baljeatles" (I ALWAYZ WRITE IT AZ PHINJEATLEZ IM COOKED) , one of my favorite episodez , in which pnf try to teach baljeet how to rock tm since hez accidentally signed up for a rock n roll camp n iz terrified of getting a bad grade . SUCH A GOOD EPISODE which so many of my phinjeet hcz hinge on , becauze THEY WERE IN LLIKE ?!?!?!?!?!? A PUNK ROCK BAND TOGETHER ?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! EMOZ ?!?!?!?!?!?!?! /J

* THERE WAZ NO REAZON TO PUT UR ARM AROUND HIM LIKE THAT DAWG I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE . i hc it waz at this very concert that phineas had a gay awakening LOOOL . for the entire episode up till the concert jeet haz been very anxious and uncertain becauze he just doeznt know how to Rock , he doeznt Want to stick it to the man , he doeznt want to break the rulez , but now suddenly he walkz out on stage az a completely different , angry and confident person . i can just vividly picture phin freezing up and forgetting hez suppozed to be doing backup vocalz n stuff n ferb haz to like nudge him and remind him hez on stage . dumbass

* and despite all their wholesomeness theyre not above picking on each other (lightheartedly), which iz also extremely important . somtimez itz one-sided since jeet tendz to be the more petty n snarky one , but yk

* i think therez just . so many little thingz like that that make them such a compelling dynamic to me , n not even necessarily in a ship way , theyre just cute wholesome friendz who like each other !!!! and i think theyre both aro anyway , alloz could never understand phinjeet . thatz a qpr🫵 .

* theyre two nerdz who like sci-fi and space and math . they are sun and moon coded . they are puppy and kitty coded . they are a team that cannot be beaten ("they were also referring to ferb there-" this aint about him/silly) they respect each other and help each other whenever they can . phineas haz a little device that receivez holographic messagez from baljeet whenever he needz help (in One episode but SHH SHHHH) . after candace getz abducted by alienz in candace against the universe baljeet iz the first person they turn to n hez immediately like “i assume you will need me to build another portal” like he just Knowz . and hez fully on board , no questionz asked

* theyre also super autistic !!!!!!! they both hav episodez where they freak out over a change of planz (in "bubble boys" baljeet triez to take phineas' advice to "seize the day" very literally , by planning out every single second of hiz day and then freakz out when hiz schedule iz disrupted . in "bully bromance breakup" jeet forbidz the use of technology az the gang climb a mountain and phin lozez hiz mind , desperately suggesting ideaz for inventionz n gadgetz to the point where he stopz climbing n iz being pulled along by everyone else while curled up into a ball) , they both hav som trouble understanding tone and social cuez , they both infodump and stim , etc

* imagine: they are stargazing together and infodumping to each other about space . they are huddled up on a couch watching a space adventure marathon and eating popcorn , talking to each other for hourz . phin iz hovering over jeetz shoulder az jeet checkz hiz math on a blueprint . they are doing each otherz emo ass make-up and singing together . they are talking about beez and spiderz . they are dyeing each otherz hair . they are drinking cappuccinoz . they are bickering lovingly .

* now lemme yap rq about the aro thing cuz im aro and itz super important to me:

* phineas iz the one whoz more obviously aro coded , most notably cuz of how he never pickz up on any of izabellaz advancez and remainz completely clueless about her feelingz for him , but smth specific that getz me iz the way he talkz about romance in “that sinking feeling” . baljeet freakz out about hiz childhood friend being Pretty now , he wordz it weird like “now she is … a girl !!!” but hez like ten and itz 2009 dw about it

* the point iz , phineas iz like “oh i think what girls really like is romance , we learned all about it in this movie we watched !” . the movie waz titanic , and phineas doeznt think of romance az a feeling or an experience , but az an arbitrary list of itemz from a movie . he thinkz classical muzic , roze petalz , a cruize ship . the ship startz FUCKING SINKING and everyonez panicking and hez like “wow ! is this romance or what !” little guy haz NOOOO idea what the hell romance iz and hez trying hiz best but LOL .

* meanwhile baljeet strikez me az an aro who (in contrast to phineas) iz hyperaware of the amatonormative society around him and feelz obligated to try and fit into it and be “Normal” . he feelz a lot of aesthetic attraction , and partly cuz of PHINEAS’ confuzion about romance , he equatez it to romantic attraction

* he haz like four “love interestz” if u wanna call them that , but theyre mostly pretty shallow or underdeveloped relationship-wize , which i interpret az jeet having Chozen to hav crushez on thoze ppl , misinterpreting platonic and aesthetic attraction , looking at a person like a checklist of dezirable traitz , or just being eazily influenced and pushed into romantic relationshipz becauze of everything else combined with hiz desperation to be “normal”

* how i see their relationship developing iz later in their teenz they get together thinking itz romantic , baljeet finally feelz “fixed” and phineas feelz like he finally Getz It , but the way the ppl around them perceive their relationship , the way they themselvez only want it to be like “super close friends who kiss sometimes” , and the expectationz that are put on them to do/be More etc , make them question whether their feelingz are genuine . then somwhere down the line they (separately) realize theyre aro and that their feelingz for each other are actually queerplatonic and kind of both loze their mindz over it (im projecting my own aro experience here , when i first realized i waz aro i had a sorta-gf n i waz terrified that i wouldnt be able to lov her the “right” way or that i waz leading her on , so thatz also what i imagine going through their headz) . till they try to confess this to each other n realize there waz nothing to worry about cuz they were actually already on the same page n then theyre happy silly qppz forever the end

* az much az i like to make shit up n torture theze two to make them more fucked up than they should be , theyre really just . sweet and inoffensive . theyre buddiez . theyre palz . theyre a team . theyre everything to me and they make me phyzically ill somtimez

* herez som drawingz ! az a gift <3

* this iz certainly not ALL i can say about phinjeet , BUT IM SO TIRED AND THIS POST CANT GO ON FOREVER . so thatz it for neow peace and love <3333

[cddboxes]

Hi! There’s a few user boxes I know we wanted to request—but I can’t for the life of me actually remember if we requested them yet or not lol. Is it alright if we ask for an inbox check?

Y'all love inbox check huh /silly /pos

Sure thing, here's the inbox check:

Normal Requests

This academic is a foxkid

This alter is a serval kid and a delusion holder

THIS ALTER DON'T GIVAFACK

This system have narcolepsy

This system have epilepsy

This system have alexithymia

This persecutor loves their system, they really do

This fictive HATES THE MEDIA THEY COME FROM

This alter is a crybaby 😭

This alter misses their old friends

This alter is in a insys relationship

This alter loves /qp their silly partner <3!!

This alter loves their sibling! He's her favorite person!!

This user is a system, don't ask questions about its system

This system/user doesn't give a fuck about syscourse and wants to stay out of it

This alter is very affected by gelotophobia, do not mock them

This introject is a war survivor

This alter tends to talk a lot about themself due to NPD

This alter is Pav introject and is very attached to him

This alter is the main communication between the system's alters and the outside world

This alter helps their system with inner communication

This alter loves their silly shooting star

This system and their partner system have several couples between them

This fictive is a cherry boy!

This alter is a Noriaki Kakyoin fictive

This Noriaki Kakyoin fictive is dating a Jotaro fictive

This alter loves emeralds

This alter's artstyle is a bit different from the others

This alter loves their boyfriend!!

This alter is really gay! He loves boys!! GRAAAHHH

Please, also use the name " Tenmei " with this Kakyoin Fictive!

This alter loves fronting, even tho they don't do it that often

This alter is a sweetheart and tries to be gentle with their friends and partner

This alter loves joking... He might act silly :p

This system/subsystem daydreams a lot

This system/subsystem loves thinking about the future! (sarcastic)

This system/subsystem GENUINELY loves thinking about the future!

This alter has a subsystem that is very covert to them

This alter cannot communicate with their subsystem

This alter loves being a host!

This alter enjoys wicca practices

This alter speaks french in the headspace

This alter have their own space in the innerworld

This fictive is more connected to other characters from their media than their source itself

This fictive is dating another fictive, but is scared of talking about it because their source's shipp is considered problematic

This alter loves Vittorino

This alter tries to mask their disorders so others won't be bothered by them

This alter wish they could see their partner more :<

This alter is a otter!

This alter is clingy 😊

This alter is devoted to their partner and is perfectly happy about it!

This alter loves talking to his boyfriend/partner

This alter loves talking to his boyfriend

This alter loves drawing

This alter gets sad when his boyfriend/partner is not near him

This alter bakes a lot as a coping mechanism

This alter makes "literally me" jokes a lot, and refers to their source character as them, but is aware they are an introject and not actually the character!!

This alter is a factive, but they are insecure about it due to several factors.

This alter struggles to show emotions

This alter seems blunt/rude but doesn't mean to come off that way

This alter holds severe religious cult trauma

Don't bring religious cults around this alter

This introject is a nun and feels guilty about it

This alter loves their dino-dragon boyfriend!

This alter is a Hot Pants Introject from Jojo's bizarre adventure

This alter loves pink

This alter is hypersexual and feels religious guilt because of it

This alter loves fruits

This alter needs someone older /ref

This system has introjects from acting roles they've played

This system is embarrassed about their fictive’s sources/pseudo memories. So don’t ask about it.

This alter has insomnia, so brain fog is inevitable.

This alter has a strong need for justice

This alter has a strong need for justice and may have strong reactions, please understand they mean no harm

This alter holds a lot of the system's OCD traits, please be careful with them

This system has experienced abuse from another system, and has a hard time opening up in collective communities because of this

This collective's fragments attach very easily onto characters from media

This system wont shut up about will wood, sorry not sorry

This EC-DID collective has very complex functions and structure, please be patient

This EC-DID collective uses the term because it feels comfortable to them, not to seem superior over others

This EC-DID collective has a really vivid and large innerworld. Some of us get lost in the hamburger dimension /j

This system's special interest is SAW

This system is protective of their special interests, do NOT say you like our special interests more than us.

We call our headmates Apprentices. Please also refer to them as apprentices when possible.

This system's apprentices sometimes say faggot , yes we can reclaim it.

This system struggles with psychosis symptoms & delusions , do NOT say 'delulu' around us.

This apprentice doesn't agree with what he did in his source. Do not connect him to his source.

This system's special interest is 9-1-1

This system is delusion-prone

Recolor / Edit Requests:

This alter is a massive f slur [2 Recolor requests]

This alter is kleptomaniac and can take some things, keep an eye on them [Recolor request]

Please use this fictive's both names instead of just the main one! he loves both of her names [Recolor + edit request]

Please use this fictive/introject's both names instead of just the main one! she loves both of her names [Another edit request of the same one]

That's all! We have almost 40 ask in the inbox so it's pretty full huh

[airwavecreature]

Some stuff about me

Info on my content

Im ok with inspiration just dont completly rip off my designs & claim them as your own.

Please do not sexualize my art. This is a public space i know kids are gonna interact no matter what i do and i wanna be mindful of that.

I swear alot & reclaim the t & f slur but i will warn before i use it.

I draw alot of detailed anatomy including nipples, i dont draw them in a sexual context, i just like drawing accurate body's. I dont draw bottom nudity.

I do try to mark most sensitive topics (like gore, common phobias, drugs, ect) more sensitive themes may be present here as i am into media with some sensitive topics.

I recomend my content for teens & young adults (DNI if your under 13)

DNI

Info about me

I mainly for simplicity call my self a polyamorous Gay transman If you wanna know my more in depth labels i have a enpronouns

Ive been drawing sense kindergarten & animating sense 2013.

I am polyamorous i have 4 partners. @atratheinky 💜 Oct 13th 2017 Smokerdoodles 💙 Feb 12th 2022 @apathetichaven 🖤Aug 1st 2024 @borisvonshweet 🧡(QPR) Dec 14th 2024

Main interests & fandoms

My little pony(g4) Five nights at Freddy's (mainly first 6 games & security breach) Half life (1 & 2), Garry's Mod & Team fortress 2 Edm music (Mainly dubstep/bass music) Roblox Liminal spaces (and stuff adjacent to that) Nastolgic things in general (mainly 2000s & 2010s) Dewy's Adventure (im sad its so obscure i love that game) Dinosaurs & paleontology Kirby Chucky/child's play(i havnt seen the show 💔) Alien & Xenomorphs (mainly the first 2 movies) Godzilla 98 (i love it im sorry lol) Steven Universe Welcome home Transformers one Attack on titan (i just really like the titans & odm gear thats it)

Other interests you might find here

Doom halo fallout dead space

Socials

Carrd Youtube Toyhouse Art fight

Gif from "When dinosaurs roamed America"

[olderthannetfic]

Book recommendation anon here

Yeah you've hit the nail on the head. But also made me question if I know what I want looool. As things stand, the books I read of whatever genre are overwhelmingly straight and it makes me a little sad. I'm not looking for tropey things and yeah, when I search for lbgt fiction that's not what I want either. I guess i just want to find the books that are about gay relationships in the way that gen books are about straight relationships. I don't even need it to be a b plot! The older I get the more it feels that anything I buy in a highstreet bookshop is set in an au in which lbgt people do not exist. Does that make sense?

I know I can go to lbgt booksellers but I don't know how to avoid books that are centred around being gay. I guess, I feel like the real world has moved past 'gay' being a sticking point and I live my day to day life crossing paths with lbgt people just living their lives and then everything I read that's not fic is just lacking that. I know that is largely because of how new it is for lbgt life to be like this. Published fiction is 99% straight. But I guess I wish there was somewhere I could go to speak to other readers who happen to be lbgt but are readers first and for them to go 'oh I really liked this character, he was just like me or my friend or my partner'. I guess I just want background gays? Or main characters who happen to be gay but that's not the story.

Your books look fun actually! I think I'll check them out.

I'm a complete genre whore which is part of the problem lol. I'm not looking for 'gay scifi' or 'gay romance' I just want some of the books I read to represent the world as I see it. I love mystery books, thrillers, adventure stories, I'll read any kind of fantasy (not a great fan of really long series cause I either lose time and read 7 books in a few weeks or I lose interest half way), I'll read historical works. Ones set in mundane real life, ones set in created worlds. I try and avoid stories that are too scary lol as I get really taken in by them, but I do end up reading quite a few of them anyway. I do love a romance tbh but it has to be done well and I've never been able to figure out exactly what I want from them. A lot of men in het romance books are frankly terrifying, and their love interests wouldn't know a red flag if it hit them in the face. I don't like anything that's too forgiving of its characters i guess? I want them to feel real and part of that is them having the humanity to make mistakes but if I feel like the author doesn't Know they've written a Bad Person tm I get weirded out lol. Nothing better than a misguided character that the author has fully intended to be misguided. I don't need them therapised. I do like an acknowledgement from the author that people aren't good or bad and I like the characters I read to show that. I love a sympathetic bad person. And... this is telling you nothing about what I like to read lol.

I guess the main thing is that I'll read anything as long as it grips me. 'Well written' is very subjective isn't it. I want to be caught up in it, I don't want to be thrown out of the story by dialogue I can't follow or an arc which even the author doesn't seem to be sure of. I don't actually mind overly flowery writing, I love learning new words lol. But really long sentences annoy me (very hypocritical I know. My formal writing is about as convoluted as this). I'm pretty forgiving of most things if I like what I'm reading tbh. I'm not a past tense purist and I'll put up with a inconsistent character if I can see they are supposed to be like that.

I read the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo recent-ish ly and I liked the f/f relationship in that. I've enjoyed Sarah waters books which are historical lesbian romance, so I'll def go for 'lbgt fiction' I just need other stuff going on. I need an actual story, not just a coffee shop au plunged in to a original story. Honestly if you go for space opera at all, you should read a matter of oaths, it was fab. I was guessing right till the end, did not expect it at all. The only thing I'd change about it is I'd love more tbh. A sequel would be fab. I love things with twists, so I'll read just about any kind of mystery. Anything where the narrative is untangling a story that already happened is fun. I enjoy gillian flynn, David Mitchell, honestly I'll pretty much read anything. I get a lot of my books second hand or from my libraries ebook service (this is pretty limited) so I read a lot of the award winners a few years late, where everyone bought it and now I can get it cheap. That said I've never had any interest in fifty shades or any popular ya books in the years since I've been a young adult lol. I mainly want to read about people around my age. 30s or so if it's more of a mundane life story. If the story takes you outside of every day life then I care less about ages. I've read some great stories with older protagonists.

Hmmmm I guess I don't know enough about what I'm looking for for ppl to recommend actual books which is fair enough as I'm massively picky and that doesn't work with ppl I know Irl either but like... where are you guys going for book reviews??? I'm gonna check out what ppl have mentioned in the notes of that post but yeah i think i need some go to places for reviews. Maybe that's where I should be starting.

--

It's definitely a problem. I'm not big on gay lit myself for similar reasons.

As far as I know, mystery has a longer history of including more queerness, though of course, the farther back you go, the more of it is tragedy.

where are you guys going for book reviews???

Frankly, nowhere.

All sources of queer book reviews I've found have been completely useless to me. Only lists of what exists have been useful, not lists that try to tell me what's "good".

I'll google "gay werewolf FBI" and then judge for myself what's garbage and what's at least up to the level of bad fic I'd read anyway. I've found plenty I've liked well enough to read. I haven't found so much I'd unequivocally rec, especially if someone is looking for high quality prose.

And horror of horrors, a lot of authors I once liked seem to have reacted to pandemic stress by taking all of the conflict out of their books.

[variousqueerthings]

Well, you don't steer the Tardis, you negotiate with it. The still point between where you want to go and where you need to be, that's where she takes you.

We've headed to Bill's second proper episode. The Doctor is in a somewhat non-dissimilar position to back in s3, but not spiralling into a series of suicidal urges (well...) -- in the sense that we're at "taking on a new companion is Not allowed because I'm sad (and in this case because the Master is being held in the cellar), but... well, wouldn't it be nice?" the difference between Bill and Martha is manifold, it's just interesting to imagine character change in the Doctor, who's consciously got not just Martha, but all of his companions in mind when he's interacting with Bill... and, possibly, Susan a bit, considering that picture in episode 1. Bill, to me, feels correct in being the final companion of this era, she ties a lot of emotional themes together going all the way back to Rose, and her greatest trait to me is all the questions she asks/the kinds of questions she asks

right now Bill is following the Doctor with the knowledge that out there in space, her almost-not-girlfriend-turned-puddle-creature is also hanging around...

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 7/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 9/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 8/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 5/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 5/10

FULL RATING: 72/100 (if I can count….)

this season, I tellya. I like this episode despite its flaws (flaws which come from some deeeply ingrained scifi tropes that are due a good Poking at)

OBJECTIFICATION: Woooo, we've done it! none of this Nonsense. also Bill's top is cute, and feels to me like something that didn't come out of a fashion catalogue -- I just mean by this that she's someone without a bunch of money, she'd probably have some Fits that she's really into and this gay top gives off that vibe

PLOT-POINT: Bill really engages with how she feels about travelling and the kind of adventures she's in (ofc we see even more of that in the next episode). in this one she's noticing that the Doctor runs into danger and tries to get her out of the way, and simply follows after, because she thinks there's something kind of destructive and lonely about that behaviour -- and this is what leads her to figuring out key parts of the plot as well

there's also this neat moment where there's a statue of perhaps Nefertiti and Bill stops and compares herself for a moment, and it feels very "I'm Black and I'm in space and I have both history and future" which is part of what her story is about -- before the Doctor she was very much floating from one day to the next, with all these questions she didn't have the privilege to be able to ask and have respected and answered. the Doctor really functions so often as a professor in their stories, being really indulgent with these questions, but still challenging her to figure things out for herself and letting her challenge him when she notices the flaws in his logic (or in the next episode, gaps in his truth)

COMPLEXITY: it's relatively easy to follow the twists and turns of this one, and they're quite good twisty-turns. the one thing I question is its ending, and a bit of its buy-in, but that's about Politics

I liked the feeling of this one though. I liked what it wanted to say, at heart, and I liked a fair bit of how it said it

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: Bill's first own adventure. She's noticing that the Doctor has a tendency to run into danger. she's having some feelings about what the future of humanity might look like. it's not so heavy on Stuff outside of this, but that's fine, the point is really "how does Bill react to time-and-space"

COMPANIONS MATTER: yeah yeah yeahhhh! she really does! and it feels like a conscious choice to go from River Song's "we do as we're told" type line, to now where Bill really challenges the Doctor's limitations. and because she does, vital bits of the story are revealed, to us and to the Doctor

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: I feel like I should have taken more notes on the Doctor's behaviour in this episode, because it's very much the oppossite of this/the Doctor is fallible, but I wasn't conscious enough about whether it's saying something about where the Doctor's head is at that he didn't consider that the colonists might already be there, and could have risked blowing them -- and the Vardy -- up. regardless, I think the Doctor is very happy to be travelling again and specifically to be travelling with Bill

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: this episode is very self-contained, its narrative of colonising a planet because earth is [insert some kind of catastrophe that's not quite spelt out for us] doesn't relate to any other, similar episodes of the same, and I think it could have done. it's quite a popular theme (as we will get into)

“SEXINESS”: Bill is here to tell us we're post the need for stupid faux-sexy talk

INTERNAL WORLD: I think for where it is -- that is a "post"-colonised world, and I will absolutely be talking about that in the point below -- it's very well developed. the way also it threw the Doctor for a loop that the colonists were already there!

I am fascinated by how "post"-colonised is depicted via wheat fields. mono-culture harvesting is no good! (I may be overanalysing but that's the thing about "colony" -- it needs to be complicated as concept in modern scifi, it's well overdue for it)

I also noted in "previous doctor who" that it doesn't connect to any other narratives about Something Is Up On Earth so we must leave narratives it's done, so it's sort of ambiguous handwaved Reasons that bring them to this plot. perhaps if that was more grounded, their desperation would feel more real

but it works, the way the mystery comes together. the Vardy in the wall, the old spaceship full of memorabilia from earth, the shrine to the first dead, and the pods of sleeping people. I really like all that

POLITICS: oooooohohoo it's one of my favourite kind of stories, "everyone is people!" the way to win at the end is not destroying the robots, it's to acknowledge their rights to the planet on which they live. I also like that the majority of the colonists (we'll get to that word in a sec) are South Asian, until we get to gun-man-dude, who's not meant to be in the right. there's just a lot more casual and deliberately thought out diversity from the looks of things, making the future of humanity feel far broader

that being said, there are sooome elements to the whole thing that of course I cannot help but pay attention to- first of all, of course, the idea of colonists to begin with is always something complex that conveniently tends to pretend that wherever a colonist lands is empty before they arrive. that is the case in this episode as well, where the plot asks the audience to simply run with the fact that this planet was colonised, and we arrive to the story when "colonised" is its state, that's how we the audience first see this world. what it was before colonisation is not a part of this story

I really would be fascinated in Doctor Who moving forwards grappling with that idea of the implications of "colonist" because it's been the word habitually used in scifi for so long, without thinking about it, and although there are episodes that deal with immigration, with oppression of one species over another (notably, with humans over others), and with stripping resources without "considering" or perhaps caring for the consequences (and then there are consequences), the very concept of colonist isn't so challenged yet

actually if anyone can point me towards a science fiction story consciously writing on colonialism, which I'm sure there are, I'd be very interested

anyway, for this episode, one of the prime science fiction conceits that I would like to see challenged one day, is the "empty" planet just waiting for humans to populate it. maybe this episode has already been done, but not in nu!who, so again, if anyone knows an audio adventure, a classic story, a book, a comic, I'd be very interested

I also just watched Interstellar for the first time yesterday, so now I'm thinking about the popular narrative of "something's up with earth and it's so fucked, we have to go to somewhere else" which is... well, it's very colonialist, it's very Elon Musk and billionaires in space leaving the poor suckers to die, it's very defeatist, and dare I say it without going a biiiit into sentimentalism... it's very ungrateful to the earth, as narrative. it's time we complicated that "easy" shorthand for why colonialism must be done, the same as we need to complicate the "easy" setting of the conveniently empty planet

SO this story is not about the idea of colonialisation, but the Vardy (who have been helping to prepare the planet) are self-aware, and, according to the Doctor, were here first. I think the throwaway joke at the end lets down the story a biiiit, when the Doctor asks about discussing rental agreements for the humans being allowed there, and the Vardy then show a money sign and a ding effect

don't insert last-minute capitalism on a seemingly abundant world where everyone needs to learn to get along! I think this is partly a consequence of the episode needing to end and not having enough time, but I think drops the ball on that

however! tiny swarms called The Vardy who communicate with humans via robot interfaces are people! that society could become so in a particular Cyborg kind of way as long as it's not capitalist, but that's another discussion

FULL RATING: 72/100 (if I can count….)

this is a solid episode -- it's not perfect, and it kind of falls for "easy tropes" rather than real originality or challenge to concepts, but where it really really works is Bill, in my opinion

this makes a big difference to previous companions, where that's often been the point I've rated middly-to-low, because episodes have struggled to give companions something to do and/or a reason to care about what's happening around them

Oh Bill, you're so great

[gunpowder-tim]

so. podcast reccomendations

putting this under a read more it got l o n g

Ones i have listened to -

*Inkwyrm - COMPLETE, My ultimate fav podcast ever -id listen to the original first ep before the first ep redo cause i think it kinda makes more sense idk, Putting up with her boss is hard enough, but with the cutthroat fashion industry, and whatever is trying to kill everyone today, Mella and the gang have their hands full. One part sit-com, one part space opera.

*Kaleidotrope - COMPLETE, the cutest fucking shit ever filled with tropes and gayass idiots, The plot centers around Drew and Harrison, two reluctant college radio co-hosts-turned-accidental-advice-givers who find themselves in the middle of the campus’s oldest mystery: Do happy endings really happen at Sidlesmith? Can you really find your trope?

*Hell or High Rollers - 11 eps so far! dnd podcast but very rp based much less mechanic based /pos,  A table top role play podcast following the adventures of 4 Villains and their attempt to escape eternal damnation. theyre trying to escape hell and they have to get through all nine layers before they can!!

The Beacon - season 3 coming, After surviving a dangerous encounter with a monster, Bee discovers she has the magical ability to control fire. Confused and with no heroic aspirations, she reaches out online to try and find others with impossible powers like hers - but finding them is only half the battle. only listened to a few eps of this but its v enjoyable

Girl in Space - season 2 coming, Nothing fancy here -- just the simple audio diary of a girl in space. Also, there’s this weird and potentially ominous light in the distance that seems to be growing steadily closer. fun space stuff!

Violet Beach - COMPLETE, On New Year's Day, 2018, the lives of seven friends in the town of Violet Beach, Maryland, change forever. As weird sci-fi happenings become less "fi" and more reality every day, they begin keeping record of their experiences. These are those records. dont remember much abt the content (listened to it a long time ago lmao) but i remember enjoying it v much

Overkill - COMPLETE(?), After 19-year-old Aya Velasquez died mysteriously in Harding Park, no one seemed to care. At least not until a preteen medium accidentally summoned Aya herself to solve the mystery. With no memory of her death and no shortage of questions, Aya must make friends with her fellow ghosts and discover the truth behind the nation's most haunted park. v cool ghost shit but not horrory and also gay

Midnight Radio - COMPLETE, Drawing inspiration from 1950s radio serials and ghost stories, Midnight Radio follows two women finding love through an unlikely correspondence about community, leaving your small hometown, our relationship to the past, what it means to be haunted, and what we leave behind when we die. Remember: all ghost stories are love stories.

Death by Dying - season 2 in progress(?) The Obituary Writer of Crestfall, Idaho finds himself deeply in over his head as he investigates a series of strange and mysterious deaths… when he is supposed to simply be writing obituaries. Along the way he encounters murderous farmers, man-eating cats, haunted bicycles, and a healthy dose of ominous shadows. nightvale esque with a weird lil town, fun concept cool characters, the obituary writer is on the podcast tumblr like all the time and is v nice sauifgdsukf

36 Questions - COMPLETE, musical podcast! bit :/ cause its like got real celebs n shit in it but its good!!!!, In a last-ditch attempt to salvage their crumbling marriage, a couple uses the 36 questions—an experiment known for making strangers fall in love—to save their own relationship.

Directive - 2 seasons, when this came out the tumblr for the podcast messaged people to ask them to listen to it skjdfgdsk, listen to all of part 1 all at once, i didnt know there was a season two so idk abt that but this is sad so just bear that in mind , A Sci Fi series about a man stuck alone for 20 years, taking care of sleeping passengers on a ship to colonize a new planet.

*Love and Luck - hiatus since 2020 possibly finished, Love and Luck is a fictional radio play podcast, told via voicemails.  It’s a slice of life queer romance story with a touch of magic. very cute and nice and lighthearted

Dining in The Void - season 3 coming, When six alien celebrities are trapped onboard a space station, they will have to work together to survive--or die at the hands of an unknown monster. pretty sure i was/am mutuals (or sth) w someone who voice acts in this which i didnt know when i started listening, heavy themes i think kinda

Raising the Dead Again - indefinate hiatus, Raising the Dead Again is a triweekly podcast that follows a young, modern-day necromancer - a young man by the name of Quincy Bejanaro - before, during, and after making the biggest mistake of his life: resurrecting long-dead adventurers. really really loved this one sad theres only 9 eps :( and the story is unfinished

some of these do not have great input from me bc i listened to them years ago n my memory is garbage - starred ones are my favourites, pink is my opinion, italics are official descriptions

other ones i love but Do Not Reccomend are king falls am and eos 10 bc the creators r stupid ass losers and also the last season of eos 10 is so fucking stupid lmao

[iamtaran]

WIP Title Game! oh good lord

rules: in a new post, post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how nondescriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet and tell us about it!

thanks @allyunabridged for the tag! Lmao I stared down the barrel of not one, but two google drives to gather these and all I can say is

😬

IN AN ORDER ONLY THE GODS UNDERSTAND:

The Twilit Gate (BG3, when in want of more fey bullshit in your BG3, do it yourself!!! TavxAstarionxGalexliterally everyone i'm gay alright???)

Island (The Guest/손 AU, horror and survivalism; Hwa Pyung, Choi Yoon, and Gil Young follow Park Hong Joo's and Park Il Do's machinations out to open sea, to an island with long forgotten history where the real struggle for survival begins.)

But For Grace (SW:Preq's, modern-character in GFFA aka "what to do when you accidentally change things and the Chosen One dies?", started as a silly question but now I'm committed; Qui-Gon Jinn lives; what would happen in a galaxy without Anakin Skywalker?)

The Mage's War (DA2 + DA:I, what if Bethany Hawke was the Herald, Modern/Avvar OC, playing Fade chicken with the Dread Wolf nbd, put on my tinfoil hat for this one re: the Fade, the Abyss/Void, Forgotten Ones, etc.)

In God's Eye (Vampyr, human!Jonathan, ekon!McCullum, Mary lives, I'm a hobby WWI & Spanish Flu researcher so hold your britches I have FEELINGS)

For Want Of Two (Vampyr, wanted more mythological beings & nemrod lore so I'll do it myself gdi, put-that-thing-back-where-you-found-it-or-so-help-me-god.gif ; JxMcCxOC)

Lights All Hung On Nothing (Star Wars Preq's to Clone Wars era, modern-character-in-SW with a big twist, Force + time fuckery, Ani + Obi focus, the butterfly effect changes everything)

The 72nd Cycle (SW: Mandalorian, AU - Grogu is not the only Force sensitive prisoner Gideon had captured. Without room in his ship for multiple students, Luke tags along, not expecting the sad Mando's ride Boba Fett (w h a t) to show up and offer the poor guy use of his bacta tank; well, soon-to-be-his. He just has to kill its current owner, Bib Fortuna, first. You know. On Tatooine(WHAT!!). Meanwhile, on Tattooine: Cobb Vanth gets the nagging feeling his life is about to become much more stressful.)

A Heavy Thing (KOTOR, amnesiac Revan works a shitty food service job on Taris and definitely isn't a Jedi/Sith/Soldier, I mean, clearly. Slice of life becomes tragedy becomes adventure becomes mystery becomes ??? RevanxCanderousxCarth DON'T LOOK AT ME)

Life, Happening (The Shining/Doctor Sleep introspective piece on Danny Torrance, life & death, what it means to be gone, and not gone.)

Led To Water (Mandalorian, Din takes off the armor having broken his Creed and, unsure what to do next, returns to Kuiil's homestead to brood and sweat manfully through his existential crisis; his friends help him through it.)

Mando'ad'ika (Mandalorian/Original SW movies, The Mandalorian is taken into custody and now Leia has to deal with a sweet but stressed frog lady, a green gremlin with too much Force power, and this intimidating tin can who won't budge. Since Han laughed at her, she decides to make it his problem, too.)

Time Travel, & Other Ways To Die (Mandalorian/SW:Bounty Hunter video game, Din & Jango centric, whilst trying to get to Grogu on his magical big rock, Din & Grogu end up chucked through time onto an outlaw space station. Jango Fett's no good very bad day begins. Coincidentally, it coincides with Din Djarin's SUPER no good very bad day. They most assuredly do not bond over this.)

I am, or was. (Dragon Age: Inquisition, a spirit takes an interest in Solas after he helps it in the Fallow Mire and begins following him around like a lost puppy. Which would be cute, if it weren't possessing more and more alarming vessels to do so. The Andrastians are starting to get a bit twitchy.)

Rookie, Shiny, Soldier, Spy (Mandalorian/Clone Wars, Din Djarin accidental time travel into the Clone Wars AU. Caught without his 'gam on a battle field and forced once again to wear trooper armor, he is Not Impressed--and why do all these guys look like Boba?)

This Prodigal Son (Hades/Dragon Age: Inq, Zagreus goes through the wrong Chaos portal. Magister Alexius finds a powerful spirit in the Fade and, as is his way, decides fuck it, we ball. Also his way, it doesn't go very well for him.)

Send me a title via ask and I'll post my favorite bit I've currently written!

Lmao this was wild to throw together given how many WIPs of age past are staring me down; these are just all the recents. Go ahead and chuck some WIPs out there if you're interested @singoallala @narwhalninja @mauverawrites @in-a-trans-like-state @terresdebrume and @jackironsides ! And if you don't/aren't currently writing, everyone loves to see the pet tax paid C:

[sweetfirebird]

Multifandom fic recs!

I mentioned doing a fic recs list the other day, and since I couldn't work on my needlepoint for a while (in which I feel like Mr. Thorton's mother doing her linen embroidering in North & South), I actually did one.

This is a multifandom recs list because it was more fun to just skim through various fandom bookmarks than to do a concentrated list for one show or whatever. Also.. some of these are for fandoms I read in and some are just fics I stumbled across one day, so they could be representative of their fandoms or not I have no idea. {insert shrug emoji here}

These are also all m/m and I think.... fairly cis? I did consider doing some f/f and trans and Rules 63 stuff but uh my bookmarks are a mess. The only fandom where I set aside some genderfuckery aside in any sort of organized fashion is Les Mis with Rule 63 stuff which maybe should get its own post. ? If people wanted?

Anyway, read the tags for each story, etc

Recs across the starboard bow, captain!

Star Wars Rogue One

waaay before the movie. I've recced this before. Chirrut/Baze

A Monk in Good Standing (Must Be in Need of a Bro)

The Eagle

Marcus/Esca

What Big Hands You Have

modern au, Esca is a size queen

From the Depths of His Heart

Canon-era werewolf AU

Póga

Canon-era  Esca teaches Marcus to kiss slow

Devotee

Canon-era gay farmers with some yearning

The Losers

Jensen/Cougar

The First Eight Don't Count

Jensen is a cat sometimes. Like a house cat. Yeah it’s weird for him too.

By Daybreak We'll Be Gone

werewolf AU (sensing a recurring trope here lol)

Inception

(Obv Arthur/Eames.)

Breaking and Entering

Jeeves and Wooster

Misplaced

Bertie has lost something

Voltron (the… whatever the new cartoon’s subtitle was. Legendary Defender?)

(I know that fandom is a hotbed of strife) but I am not/was not involved in any of that. Yikes.)

the electric synthesized pop ballad of why keith can’t have nice things

a/b/o au... but like... he just wants to be good

The Vorkosigan Saga

This is Ivan/Byerly because that is the only ship that matters

Twenty-Year Man

Ivan's getting older and having some realizations despite himself. Also... side note but... carefully and cynically yearning Byerly is a delight.

Original, historical

Darling and the Cinderella Club

Teen Wolf --HOWEVER! These are all Teen Wolf/SGA fusion

Why? Because the space marine vibes are impeccable

All Sterek

Show You What All That Howl is For

The Ring of the Ancestors is Not a Euphemism

Faint is a Medical Term

What We Do in the Shadows

Something Here Will Eventually Have to Explode

Guillermo/Nandor

Venom

Venom/Eddie, obviously

Heartthrob

Good Omens

Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy

Get Religion Quick (cause you're looking divine)

The Hobbit

all Bilbo/Thorin

Rations

pre-adventure sexual tension

The Subways of Men

modern au, but still with hobbits and dwarves

okay and then because idk I just love them finding each other after things

Plant Your Trees

It's Been a Long Day Without You, My Friend

(slight au)

And then one just to be sad

Hold Onto Hope If You've Got It

Les Mis

Enjolras/Grantaire because I am basic aw yeah

The Laurels of Doing is Enough

modern AU

True Love's Kiss

modern AU but with magic

Adequate

The first in a small Star Trek AU series that is cute

A Reversal of Celestial Mechanics

Canon-era, Enjolras takes Grantaire up on his offers… offers Grantaire didn’t realize he was making lol

There is one where Grantaire is fucking Courf while they both discuss/hint at his feelings for Enjolras but I cannot begin to express the chaos of my bookmarks so.... couldn't find it.

And finally...

Check, Please

Dex/Nursey

Bless This Mess and Call It a Home

Magic AU

The Most Room in Our Hearts

Dex sees Nursey holding some kids and gets Feelings about it

(there is a small nurseydex commentfic with sort of a similar bent but like so many things, it was posted to tumblr then deleted so is now lost forever.)

ok this one is uhhh read the notes and tags. It is known to me and @vashti-lives as the one we don’t talk about  aka the 1950s coal miners AU

Strange Lovers

And to finish up, a Ransom/Holster kink/getting together fic that was actually the first thing I read for this fandom.

When You Got Skin in the Game (you stay in the game)

I will post this to pillowfort too but I need to stop and eat first.

[lovehoarder]

Larry seems interesting, could you tell me about him?

Oh Geez. Thanks for asking.

Uh so, sparksnotes version: gay radioactive mummy who i love so very very much. I hold him in the palm of my hand so gently and I help him catch up on like 70 years of no human contact.

Me rambling abt the mummy under the cut

A longer version would be that he's a pilot and a repressed gay man from the 50s & after an experimental flight he gets exposed to the Negative Spirit which gives him powers but he also becomes Super Radioactive, like, being near him is the equivalentto a nuclear blast radioactive. The bureau of normalcy (best way I can describe them is Weird Cops. They arrest people who are Weird and run tests on them.) Takes Larry and runs just. The most brutal tests on him.

Eventually he gets out and Niles (Niles is Complicated. We're not talking about him) gives him his bandages which keep the radiation in and is also Why He Looks Like That, but have the downside of not being able to actually touch anyone. He can be near them now, but he can't be close to them :( so he is very angsty about that but he's getting better.

Some highlights

He really likes botany. He's got a greenhouse he manages.

Hes gay. Canonically gay and during the first season they cover his relationship with his old flame and its told through dreams and it turns out that its not just Larry Dreaming its his bf (John) too and the negative spirit was giving them a empathetic link and. Larry got to see him and like. Gain some closure and its so so beautiful and I love it so much

I am very emotional over that whole plot line. But. Continuing.

One of my Favorite episodes is the intro for Danny, an explicitly Genderqueer street who uses they/them pronouns and houses queer people.

In this episode, there is a fantasy sequence where Larry imagines doing karaoke with a drag queen (Her name is Maura and her and Danny both become semi-reoccurring characters on the show)

This is another thing about standing up to his past bc he confronts the bureau and fucks them up & i love him for that.

He frequently Fucks Off and does his own thing. This leads to Three Things, all of which are amazing and I love them.

Another favorite episode of mine (Any Larry centered episode is a Great episode in My Mind) He fucks off to space with the negative spirit and that means that he's not there when the team goes on vacation and DIES. He gets home and their bodies are delivered to him. He has to go into the afterlife and get them back and it is terribly sad but I love angst and it ends well.

Because of the same space adventure. He... he he gets pregnant. The negative spirit... impregnates him??? He has a grub child that eventually becomes Keeg & that. Is a plotline. He is wearing a Hawaiian shirt the whole time.

Finally, he fucks off to go find Mr. 104, or Rama, while the rest of the team is Going Thru It. Keeg essentially sets them up & they are vaguely boyfriends by the end of the season :)))

Hes so so dramatic. His body actor is really good at giving expressions thru his body but it just makes him look so so dramatic and I love it dearly

He... sits like this v almost always

He also sits on surfaces that shouldn't be sat on

He has Cartoon character syndrome. He rarely ever changes his clothes but its fine bc his outfit fucks.

And I've gotten a bit silly but I love him so so much I want to hug him and give him kisses and I love the show so so much for just making him gay. Doom patrol was the first piece of superhero media that I saw that addressed queerness head on and not just vaguely imply it so its really special to me I really like fucked up "superheroes" who fail at actual superheroing. I love my weird little dysfunctional found family so much and I love Larry so much.

[strinak]

Which genre(s) are your favorite? Where and how do you find new books to read? The book(s) whose stories have become part of your very makeup.

thank youuuuu!

ok, so I am a romance bitch first and always. love a space opera, love a progression fantasy, but the bulk of my reading is love stories! I appreciate the HEA mandate! eagerly awaiting more litrpgs with strong romantic elements so I can combine the braincandy of numbers-go-up with that of romantic devotion

very boringly. I have bookmarks for the Amazon Gay Romance/LGBTQ Fantasy best seller lists and I trawl them OFTEN for kindle unlimited reasons. I also have a series of lists I follow on goodreads that are just "m/m novels releasing [month][year]". I find a lot of my non-romance stuff by looking at stuff that has stub'd on royal road (been pulled2publish, most often on KU). I also have a DEEP bench of authors I've enjoyed before to check up on; it's unusual for none of them to release something in a given month.

hmm. tough one! tatterhood and other tales by Ethel Phelps. I had a university press paperback of it as a child; a collection of feminist fairy/folk tales from various world cultures. excellent for a small weird girl child. god stalk by PC Hodgell. I imprinted HARD as a tween and have never recovered. very intensely Genre Fantasy as period-typical of the late 70s/early 80s but also deeply philosophical and weird and feminist. she purposely kills a god as an experiment and then both resurrects and transforms that god because its priest was sad about it. girl whose nature is to destroy but who just as often (and with much more difficulty) chooses compassion. also the possibly-incestuous kiss-me-kill-me dynamic with a murderer that ends in a first and final bloody kiss before he's executed via mob justice. don't look at me!!

oh! bonus: I spent literal years describing a story as Tiny Unicorn Dies Alone and NO ONE knew wtf I was talking about it and I found it and my internalization of that story ended before the hopeful (?) ending, is why. tiny baby horse plays on rocks against mother's advice, gets swept away by the river, falls down a waterfall, survives but is trapped. herd comes to edge of cliff to say goodbye, there's nothing they can do, you shouldn't have played on those rocks! tiny baby horse calls back that he understands, he should have listened to you mother!, he deserves this. waits ALONE, THROUGH THE NIGHT, TO DIE. WHAT. LITERALLY A CHILD'S PICTURE BOOK. intense and weird feelings about what I will one day come to know as whump.

apparently some magic bullshit turns him into a unicorn and he lives (can still never see his family again) and has more adventures but like I said, I did NOT internalize that part! (Morgan Morning by Stephen Cosgrove, one of the serendipity books.)

[prince-hamlet]

A/N: This is my fic for the @penumbrabang! It’s the longest fic I’ve ever finished and it’s going to be uploading chapter by chapter on odd numbered days in February. Special thanks to Ginnie PrivateBi for being such an excellent beta.

The two artists for this fic are SpecialTater, who did a gorgeous illustration for Chapter 2, and LucaRoseArts, who did a fantastic illustration for Chapter 8.

The links to the art will be posted at the same time as the chapters they go with and linked in the chapter notes. Make sure to check them out!

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Juno Steel/Peter Nureyev

Tags: Grief/Mourning, Canon-Typical Violence, Panic Attacks, Mistaken Identity, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Summary: 

Juno Steel is dead. He stays with Buddy, he starts his new life of crime, and he lets everyone in Hyperion City assume he died in that desert next to Pilot and the Piranha. It's better this way. But he just can't resist going to his own funeral.

Juno Steel is dead. Peter hears it on the news mid-interstellar journey. He handles it. Not well, but he handles it. Once he comes to terms with the detective's death, there's only one thing left to do: pay his respects.

[hermywolf]

genuinely obsessed with how the crew went from planning on murdering stede to considering him family and in a way their protector? like. they all were in a way performing this image of wanting a ruthless pirate as their boss but ultimately once they do get one (izzy) they’re like mmh. no actually. no thanks. because they got used to and accepted wanting to be safe and a family on the revenge.

stede built a ship where people who would otherwise be subjected to homophobia and racism can just be a safe little supportive community and talk about their problems, be gay, not worry about being discriminated, love each other and just be their weird soft selves. they jump to defend stede against the english, they follow him in his stupid little adventures, olu sleeps in stede’s cabin, wee john and frenchie are roomies, they all share blankets and sometimes even cuddle while stede reads them stories, they’re supportive of buttons and sad when karl dies because they know he cared about him, they ask each other for advice, they’re unapologetically queer.

 and this is all because stede built this space they feel safe in. its not just that they don’t give a shit about hiding that they’re gay/scamming piece of shit racists/jim being genderqueer from stede; its that they expect his support and protection. lucius basically saying ‘stede will have your head if i get hurt’ to izzy, stede kicking jack off the ship when karl dies because it made buttons sad, even the last scene in which stede is the one who comes get them off the island. and they’re right to expect his help! he takes care of them! they’re his family! ‘my family’s at sea’ LITERALLY the found family of outcasts trope. and they’re all queer. they start off playing tough but ultimately they’re vulnerable, they cry, they’re supportive and physically affectionate with each other, it’s just. i adore how stede made them feel safe enough to be themselves and consider each other their family. it’s so wholesome, it’s so beautiful, and i’m pretty sure its one of the big reasons queer people are so called to this show. because of this sense of safety and community and family between outcasts. and also there’s sexy pirates so you know. that doesn’t hurt either

[juhaku-nation]

Why exactly do I ship Juhaku, the post

I guess I've never really written out why exactly I ended up shipping Juhaku. I put the above panel in my about as the origin point of when I started leaning towards it, but that doesn't really say much...

I am, as a person, not much of a shipper. Of course there are ships I prefer over others, but I've never particularly cared about one enough to really contribute to its fandom. Magi fandom in general has had a more activating effect on me and I think that Juhaku is a part of that.

My favourite type of character in stories is usually the young, kind of an asshole type but not irredeemably evil. Which is probably why I quickly gravitated towards Judar. Hakuryuu was a bit different, though I liked his backstory, his actions towards Morgiana made me feel uncomfortable.

It's because of these reasons that the Kou Arc changed everything for me. Before getting into the manga I had been checking out Judar fanfics on ao3 and seeing a lot Juhaku, being very confused. Sinju I understood, I had seen them in the anime, but Hakuryuu and Judar had barely even talked... It was very confusing for me. However, when I got to the panels above, it just clicked in my head. And I remember thinking "Oh, now I understand exactly why this ship is a thing!" I guess I felt the feeling that is common for Juhaku fans in general while reading through the arc, which was, for the lack of a better word, "gay".

I think a lot of it has to do with Judar. Up until that point, he had been a very self-serving character who didn't particularly "submit" to others. But when it comes to Hakuryuu, he was fully willing to be a follower of orders for him. That felt so mind-boggling to me at the time. Every single "Yes, my king" just kind of hit me harder and harder. It wasn't really possible to dismiss Hakuryuu either after he became so visibly sad over Judar's space adventures. It is that "you don't understand what you have until it's gone" and it has a certain kind of poetic beauty to it.

A lot of Juhaku fans, from my experience, really value the Final Arc, as it kind of shows the relationship between the two "normalized". It's not about a shared revenge plot (although it was that depravity in both of them that brought them together to begin with) but forming a new kind of relationship between two individuals based on their personalities. When it comes to the Final Arc, the manga itself is a bit disappointing on the Juhaku front, but the bonus material offers plenty of shipping fuel for those so inclined. One of such parts is Hakuryuu's statement that he wishes he and Judar talked together about all kinds of things. I think it's a display of Hakuryuu truly wanting to get to know Judar better as an individual.

Another such sentence would be the one where Judar's daily life is described as one where he gets to eat Hakuryuu's home cooking that Hakuryuu cooks to relieve stress. Itself that is nice, but if you remember that before the Kou Arc it was said that Hakuryuu likes trying out new cooking but has nobody to share it with... Again, it gets a whole new meaning as a portrayal of the development of the relationship of the two. Of course, Judar's home village and everything that happened is a part of the picture. They had a reunion, they discovered Judar's birth name... how exactly was their time there? We will never know.

While the Kou Arc in the manga is the richest in scenes where the two actually get to be in the same place, the Final Arc became like a treasure hunt. Find every little thing in the manga that refers to the two; both characters wanting to meet each other soon, their reunion... but also, finding every little thing about them from the extra materials. It kept the hype up. Okay, maybe they aren't the focus of the manga right now, but aren't you excited to find out what new Juhaku shipping fuel there will be in the next omake paper? I sure was.

In a way, it culminates in the final battle, in Sindria, when the Sindrians are angrily yelling at Judar. What is going on in Judar's head is unknown to us, but he stops to stare. Hakuryuu's only reaction is to slap him on the back to get him to focus on the situation at hand again. Ohtaka has made it plenty clear in backstages that Judar is someone who will not reveal his inner thoughts to anyone, no matter how close. He prefers thinking of them on his own instead of talking about them. I think at this point, Hakuryuu has understood that. Judar will deal with his thoughts on his own, so it's no point in trying to support him through conversation. So just get him back to the present moment, even if it's a slap. Judar would prefer that over concerned words, after all.

So this is my explanation of not only how I got into the ship, but also how my interest in it was kept up until the very end. I didn't focus much on the Kou Arc because I feel like people have already gone over it a million times. Somebody else described their relationship at the end very well, in my opinion. They said that it had the foundation of something that could develop into a good relationship. "There is communication, trust, teasing, caring etc. All the good qualities to start a romantic relationship." That's a nice way to put it. Personally, I saw the development of the relationship as something that could blossom into something very nice between them later on. Many people have also pointed out that if one of them was a woman, nobody would be denying that there are such qualities to their relationship.

All in all, Juhaku introduced a relationship between two characters unlikely to get along, who end up forming something genuine and which also shows us a new side to a character who had, up until that point, seemed way colder. It is a relationship setup with great potential. Where will it lead towards in the future? Magi's open ending at the very least gave us the possibility to imagine those events however we want. I, like many at the time, were afraid that either or both of the two (and especially Hakuryuu since it seemed more likely for him) would be shipped off to some random girl at the end and the ship would be sunk. But thankfully, this didn't happen. Everyone was very relieved over this. It doesn't actually matter if a ship is "canon" or not, but it was still nice to see that nothing actually sunk the ship, it just... never quite sailed to the port, since it wasn't confirmed canon either. So now it's just kind of there, in the open seas, for anyone to steer towards whatever direction we want in our fanworks.

A ship with great potential and the only one in the world that has, ever, actually made me "ship it" to the point of contributing to its fandom.

[kevinwastaken]

sonic movie 2 spoilers under the cut i have A LOT to say holy shit

HOLY SHIT THIS MOVIE IS BETTER THAN THE FIRST I LOVED IT

theres so much i want to say but i have NO IDEA how to start or how to end

first and foremost they did knuckles SO MUCH JUSTICE sega wishes they could write as well as whoever the hell made this script. hes no longer the comic relief dumbass, hes a warrior!! like he used to be!! and he has dignity and honour!! and hes a little gullible but its okay, thats how he originally was anyway x

AND TAILS!! his camaraderie with sonic was so great. i loved how he came all the way to help him from whatever planet hes from and how they just bonded so well immediately and theyre already like brothers I LOVE IT

particularly i liked the scene on the beach where sonic and knuckles stopped and breathed for a sec after having lost the master emerald to robotnik and bonded over what happened to them both the day longclaw died. i liked how they related it back as knuckles’s family was fighting against her and UGH it was so sad but it was so great

AND THE REFS! they never cease to amaze me. i counted a dr robotniks mean bean machine ref (which is funny because ive been thinking about booting up my ps2 again to play it, i want to get good at puyo puyo), a sonic adventure reference during the dance off in siberia, AND ALL THE SONIC 3 AND KNUCKLES REFS!! jesus christ. theres probably more, but theyre slipping my mind

post sleep edit, remembered the manuel in the death egg looking like a manuel for a sega genesis game, that got a chuckle out of me iirc LOL

also kinda feel bad for rachel and what happened in her wedding. poor girl got set up and for what😭 a sting operation? its positively TRAGIC

ALSO THE WAY THEY ALL CAME TOGETHER AT THE END LIKE IT WAS SONIC HEROES I LOVED THAT!!!! I CAN TELL THEYRE GOING TO BE BESTIES JUST BY THE END SCENE WHERE THEYRE PLAYING BASEBALL I LOVE IT I LOVE IT

AND HOLY SHIT MY JAW DROPPED THE MOMENT I KNEW SUPER SONIC WAS GONNA SHOW UP OH MY GOD i shouldve seen it coming with the inclusion of the master emerald and the chaos emeralds and everything BUT OH MY GOD???? HE WAS SO STUNNING!!!! HE LOOKED ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS IN THE MOVIE I WAS IN AWE

AND THE ENDDDD OH MY GOD THE POST CREDITS SCENE WITH SHADOW!!!! I HAD A FEELING HE WAS GOING TO SHOW UP BUT I SCREAMED WHEN THEY SHOWED HIM I CANT WAIT FOR THE THIRD MOVIE!!!!! I BET THERES GONNA BE THIS WHOLE THING WITH GERALD ROBOTNIK, MARIA, THE INCIDENT WITH GUN STORMING THE SPACE COLONY ARK, I CANT WAIT!!!!!!

i did have a few gripes though. theyre a bit miniscule though

first of all, fuck whoever decided robotnik should floss. fuck you for that

second, did not enjoy how small the emeralds were. i know its probably so they can make sense in a human filled world but the emeralds were literally the size of my finger. and the master emerald was the size of ONE in game chaos emerald

also was a bit weirded out by agent stone drawing robotnik in his lattes but ummm hes gay so its fine idk the fujoshis will have a field day with that

alsooo kind of sad there wasnt anything with crazy carl drawing tails gets trolled or uganda knuckles. that wouldve been funny i think

ANYWAY GO WATCH THE MOVIE GO WATCH IT NOW IM GONNA PISS MYSELF I LOVED IT

ps whoever runs this show please bring in crush 40 to write the ending song of the next movie im tired of this kid cudi guy