#my god i am so INVESTED in their story 😭

[qsmprambling]

Even if Skeppy never shows up on the QSMP, I am so invested in the story of these two immortal soulmates, who even when stuck in a time loop that reset their memories always managed to find each other, being forcibly separated for the first time in forever and are now desperately trying to find each other again... I hope Bad can keep drip feeding more lore and story about them whenever he is able.

[child-of-the-danube]

Agatha All Along in general but especially Agatha and Rio are so fucking special to me and I cannot be normal about this...

We are finally not being queer-baited. Whether they seal it with a kiss or a flashback scene or a happy ending it doesn't matter. We have confirmation that those two women were and still are deeply in love.

It's two mature women. No weird age gap, no mentor-pupil dynamic, no disproportionate power play. I find coming out and setting into your queerness stories incredibly important but it is so refreshing to see a story where the discovery and accepting that you're queer isn't the focal point. They just are who they are and neither them nor the people around them had a big dramatic reaction to it like it's something strange or unexpected. They just ARE and my god is that beautiful to witness ❤️

Their softness, connection and care for eachother is so heartbreaking. Agatha smiling and leaning into Rio when talking about her scar cause Rio already knows, Agatha melting just by having her hair played with, Rio refusing the kiss cause that would be taking advantage of Agatha's weak moment, making sure she knows that Teen isn't her son, Rio regretting what she had to do for centuries. I am losing my mind over here

The whole cast is mature women (well, + Joe haha) which again, refreshing as hell to see. And I love how the focus isn't just completely on Agatha. We get constant glimpses into everyone. Jen saved the day twice already. Alice had her beautiful moment in e4, Teen is basically their spirit guide with his spell book. Adore that lil funky boy Agatha technically kidnapped but whom she very obviously cares for more than she would like to. Lilia is my favourite of this new found coven family. Her and Agatha are the oldest and have seen the most and suffered through so much. I think that's why she softened up to Agatha and vice versa. Beside Teen, Agatha seems to be the softest towards Lilia like when she had her hallucinations and she didn't mock her but reassured her it's ok and Lilia's constant blurting out of prophecies like "Protect Agatha" 😭😭. I could go on for ages about all of their dynamics.

And everything about the production and the actors themselves being SOOO invested into the story and clearly loving what they do.

I don't give a shit about Marvel in general but damn, they got me with this one. Canonically gay witches, Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza, musical numbers and then they throw in miss icon legend mother Patti Lupone on top of it all. I am in every possible way the target audience

The talk about how witches, monsters and in general creatures feared by the wider population are so very deeply queer coded is for another day but AAAAAAAAAAA I love everything about this show so much I might just explode

[hemmohoran]

better left unsaid // cth

chapter thirty one

in which orion has leukemia, and calum doesn’t know.

calum hood x fem!oc

read other chapters

october 2, 2018 san diego, california calum

I feel bad for my Uber driver. He’s got some blubbering man crying in his backseat at 7 am on a Tuesday. When he drops me off at the hotel, I tell him thank you through quiet sobs, and I make sure to tip him incredibly well on the app. He didn’t ask any questions, although I’m sure he had plenty. 

I don’t know why I choose Emelia over any of my friends to go to, but I do. I bang on the door to her hotel room until she annoyedly swings it open, her eyes flooded with concern. I don’t wait for her to hug me, instead I just clumsily throw my body against hers and start crying.

I’ve cried more in the past two days than I have in the past five years. 

“What’s going on?” She asks, her voice just barely louder than a whisper. 

“She broke up with me.” Even though they’re true, the words sound like a lie. I don’t even know if Emelia will believe me.

“You’re shitting me,” is how she responds, and I just cry, confirming the truth without words. 

She lets me cry for a few minutes while she processes what I said.

“Cal, I swear, I had no idea that she would do that. I’m sorry.”

I just keep crying.

“Here, come in,” Em says. She opens her hotel room door wider and steps in, pulling me with her. I let her guide me to her bed and she pushes me down by the shoulders to sit. “I’m gonna go get the boys, okay?”

I want to yell after her not to bring Ashton, but I can’t make myself say the words. I hear her banging on doors and then whispering in the hallway, and before I know it, my bandmates and their girlfriends are all streaming into the room. Everyone looks floored and they look at me with immense pity. I hate it.

They all just stare, but KayKay is the first one to break out of the pack, coming over and sitting next to me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. I let my emotions go again, letting the sadness ooze out of me in hot tears that undoubtedly fall onto Kay’s sweatshirt. She doesn’t say anything, but she just holds me as I cry. 

The room feels deafeningly silent aside from my cries.

I want to be mad again. I want to yell at them all for letting this happen. How could none of us have known? How could none of us have sensed this all happening? I know Orion is to blame for keeping secrets, but Ashton is who I blame overall. He knew. He knew and he didn’t tell me. He’s my best friend. He should have told me.

Even though I want to be mad, all I can feel is the sheer heartbreak. The love of my life… isn’t even mine anymore. She doesn’t want to be mine. I never thought this day would come. We were supposed to grow old together. We were supposed to get married. I figured I’d propose in a year or so, and then once she was out of law school, we would get married.

We’d elope, probably in Spain, but then we’d have an Australian reception and an American one, both still small small, with professional photographers to capture every single second of the elopement and the parties. We’d take pictures in Retiro and celebrate at Space Monkey. We’d watch the sun rise from the park, just the two of us, on our first morning as husband and wife.

Orion and I had talked about all of it. She’d shown me a Pinterest board of engagement rings she’d like. 

We had plans to buy a house on the beach in a few years, once we didn’t need to be close to any college campuses. We wanted to get another dog, and maybe even a few cats. We didn’t want kids, but we did want to rescue as many animals as we had the time, space, and money for. 

None of it matters now. She doesn’t even want to be my girlfriend anymore. 

I never thought there’d be a world without Orion being mine, and here I am, living in that very world. She won’t even be in the world at all once she inevitably dies.

“Cal? Are you okay?” Michael’s voice brings me back to reality, and then I realize that I’ve temporarily stopped crying.

“I don’t even know.”

–

5SOS Cancel San Diego Concert!

Everyone’s favorite Aussie band was slated to perform in San Diego tonight as part of their Meet You There world tour, but the band has canceled the show without much explanation, citing a ‘family emergency.’ This is the message they posted to Twitter just a few moments ago.

“San Diego, we’re so sorry to say we won’t be performing tonight. We’ve had a family emergency come up. We promise to come back very soon and we apologize for the inconvenience.

We love you! Xx -Ash, Luke, Mike, and Cal”

Fans are immediately speculating after images were posted of bassist Calum Hood at the beach having an emotional breakdown yesterday afternoon, only to be followed by images of Hood’s long term girlfriend, Orion Moss, doing the same thing at a different beach. Allegedly, Moss was approached by police before fleeing the scene.

Whatever is going on, to say that fans are concerned would be an understatement.

[lakesbian]

i have had like 10 friends rec worm to me but nobody’s given me a good like, gist of its vibe and what its abt because ‘its best blind’, could u please give a like brief summary and vibe check of it 😭 it’s so long i dont wanna try and invest that much time without knowing much abt it

so, worm is a 1.7 million word long webserial written in 2010. 1.7 million words seems like a lot, but it was also written over a relatively short period of time, which means the writing style is very easy to parse--the ideas aren't without complexity, but the language itself isn't intimidatingly dense. you can get through it at a very decent pace. i agree with your friends that there are vast portions of worm that hit best when you're unspoiled, but the thing is that worm is long enough that giving you the basic plot pitch is in no way spoilers for any of the things that i wouldn't want to see spoiled for someone. i'm actually kind of baffled they're not telling you Any Thing, because it is in my estimation one of the best books i've ever read, but it also Needs a briefing before you get into it for like five different reasons. which i will now provide. i swear to god this is brief by my standards it's just that i am very thorough

worm is a story about superheroes and supervillains, set in a world where superpowers are traumagenic--rather than appearing randomly or innately, some people gain powers after a traumatizing event happens to them. the protagonist is taylor hebert, a 15yo girl who has the power to control insects and desperately wants to be a superhero. and then accidentally finds herself scouted by a team of teenage villains instead. who's to say how she's going to react to all that!

one of the most compelling things about worm is that the superpowers in it serve as visceral, hyper-literal metaphors for the trauma and traumatized coping mechanisms of the characters with those powers. each power is incredibly specific and thematically relevant to the person who has it, and it's incredibly interesting and evocative. it feels so natural and well-done that it comes off like how superpowers are just meant to be written.

the fact that superpowers stem from trauma also means that worm is fundamentally a narrative about trauma. specifically, about traumatized teenagers and the relationships they form as they cling together while struggling through growing up traumatized & mutually coping with an increasingly intriguing, intense, and far-reaching escalating plot. worm's depictions of trauma + mental illness--including unpalatable trauma responses, including traumatized characters who are allowed to be complicated and nuanced and messy while still receiving narrative respect--are deeply real-feeling and impactful, and they're placed in the context of a well-spun + engaging story.

i really do have to stress how excellent the character writing is. worm is fully deserving of being as long as it is. over the course of 1.7 million words of character development, the average reader's reaction to the main characters goes from "sorta interesting" to "okay, i want to see where this goes" to "augh...really likable" to "i am now on hands and knees crying and these characters are going to stick around in my brain forever." wildbow has incredible talent for efficiently conveying complicated, real-feeling, and viscerally evocative characterization. many of the interlude chapters (chapters written from the perspective of different characters other than taylor) are so interesting, fleshed-out, and emotionally affecting that they make you wish you could read an entire novel about just the side character being featured. with that level of characterization for just the side cast, it's not surprising that taylor (& co) are genuinely just downright iconic. and i do not say that lightly--taylor is truly one of the best-written protagonists i've seen in anything. ever.

the other main pitch-point for worm is that it's a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction/examination of the conceits of the superhero genre. it answers the question of--what would the world have to be like, for people with superpowers to act the way they do in classic cape media? and it does this well enough that it's interesting even if you have only a passing familiarity with cape media. i am not a big superhero media fan, but worm addresses virtually every aspect of cape media that was under the sun around 2010 in a way that's so interesting i still find it incredibly engaging. the approach it takes makes the narrative very accessible even to people who aren't usually cape media fans.

and speaking of the narrative: the end of the story is coherent and satisfying and deeply thematically resonant*. the way worm follows through on all of its main mysteries & plot threads is excellent. you don't have to worry about getting thru 1.7 million words and being dissatisfied by the author shitting the bed at the end, or anything like that. he does an amazing job of weaving together plot events in a way that makes each successive one feel rationally, thematically, and emotionally connected to what came before. there's really only one part where i feel the story stumbles a bit, but i think it was the best option he had for the narrative, and it's by no means a dealbreaker. it's in fact really impressive how cohesive and satisfying worm is for such a long webserial released over such a brief period of time.

*this is subjective ive seen some people who didnt love it but ive never seen anyone who downright Hated it who didnt also demonstrate egregious misunderstanding of literally everything worm is about. so thats a good sign

as for the downsides of worm/things that might put you off:

there is a very long list of trigger warnings for it. if you have any trigger warnings you want you should ask your friends to let you know about the relevant parts, because the fact that it's About Trauma (& about typical cape media circumstances presented very seriously) means that traumatic and violent things & their realistic aftermath are constantly happening and/or being discussed. i would not classify worm as needlessly dark or spiteful to the audience by any means, but it is intense and covers a lot of heavy topics. i do assume if your friends are all recommending it to you, they think none of the material would be too much for you, though!

worm was written in 2010 by a white cishet guy from canada. it's typical levels of 2010-era bigoted, it has a deeply lesbophobic stereotype character, it has some atrociously racist stereotype characters, the author really hates addicts, It's Got Blind Spots. i think worm is generally fully worth reading despite these, but very fair warning that it can get bad. i think what exacerbates this is that worm is generally extremely nuanced & sympathetic regarding ideas such as "crime is a result of systematic circumstance vs people just being inherently evil" and "mentally ill people who are traumatized in unpalatable ways are still deserving of fundamental respect as human beings" and so on and so forth, so it's extra noticeable and insufferable when you get to a topic the author has unexamined biases on and all that nuance drops out. the worst part is that a lot of this is most concentrated in the early arcs, so you have to get through them without being super attached to any of the characters yet. it is worth it though.

worm like. Does have a central straight relationship in it. and it's a very well written straight relationship for the most part and i like it quite a lot. but worm also passes the bechdel test with such flying colors that it enters 'unintentionally homoerotic' territory. which means a lot of people were shipping the main character ms taylor hebert with her female friends while the story was being released. which caused the author to get so mad he 1. posted a word of god to a forum loudly insisting that all of the girls are straight and 2. inserted a few deeply awkward and obvious and out of character scenes where he finds an excuse for the girls to more or less turn to the camera and go "i'm not gay, btw. this is platonic." This is fucking insufferable, and will piss you off immensely, but then you will get to any of the number of deeply emotionally affecting scenes between them, and at that point you will be too busy sniffling piteously and perhaps crytyping an analysis post on tumblr to be mad about all that other shit. also they're only a couple tiny portions out of an entire overall fantastic novel

overall: if those points don't sound like dealbreakers (i hope they aren't they're really massively outstripped by the amount of devastatingly good moments in worm, worm still has a thriving fandom over a decade later for a reason), you should absolutely give it a shot and see what you think. my final note is that you have to read up until the end of arc 8 to really see where what makes worm Worm kicks in, so aim for at least there to see how you feel about it if you're just thinking about dipping your toes in vs fully committing. i hope that was helpful and not too long :)

oh and don't go in the comments section on wordpress if you don't want spoilers. or anywhere else in the fandom at all. you will be spoiled. quite possibly for things you could not even have imagined were topics to be spoiled on.

[thatdeadaquarius]

When I’m playing genshin, I’m mostly listening to either Paternity Court, or Steve Wilkos. Imagine the characters hearing all of the stuff and being so scandalized by the results and comments. Or being genuinely disgusted and heartbroken for the victims in more serious cases. I can def see a good chunk of them being invested

I don’t think I’ve listened to those yet! I do occasionally get on a true crime binge listen, however the weirdest thing my characters have heard has gotta be Game Grumps episodes or compilations lol

What if i listened to every season of Buzzfeed Unsolved.

What would we do then my Genshin characters, my people, what then.

I saw someone else write about this true crime documentary thing but they described everyone being pretty terrified or disgusted by the podcasts

Which I definitely think some would be literally horrified lmao

But also I think a lot of them definitely would be invested-

I mean shit,

you're listening to your God and they just start playing this like uncomfortably detailed intricate crime case/murder report???

I would be so interested in what kind of person they were, and why they were listening to true crime stuff, 

so needless to say characters like Heizou and Yelan would definitely be into it, maybe Kujou Sara as well?

I can see Zhongli getting into it too and Raiden

I mean don't get me wrong plenty would be disturbed

like rest in peace Barbara 🙏

but like it would be fascinating to them too!!

cuz they don't know anything about our world so they could learn a lot about it thru listening to this stuff

tho it probably cause a lot of confusion whenever they hear things like phone or computer or car lol

you know stuff that hasn't been invented yet for them or there is no equivalent, but they

would deffo interrogate u about ur world when u get to Teyvat

♤

okay but on a more silly motherfucker note-

what if I was playing Game Grumps around them lol, would they be like oh my God our Creator has the best comedians or hilarious friends

like you know how a king has jesters? 😭

I feel like they would think that instead of a recording definitely, especially because most of these things are just people talking and not like, a speech or something

because audio recordings could exist for them, they would probably get it in concept, they do have Ley lines that do that afterall (and now Kameras)

♧

Omg,

oh no, would they think that you're getting these reports in person??  Or even like your SOLVING all these crimes?? 

esp bc I know myself and I tend to sometimes be talking to Genshin characters like,

"damn that's how he got arrested? How stupid he could've blah blah blah i sound like a hardened cop playing a gacha game lmao blah blah...."

it'd be so funny to see that one play out

when u get whisked away to teyvat and Heizou and Yelan are just:

"oh my God can you help us with all these cases we love your mind, or get your servants to help us?"

THEY WOULDNT EVEN BELIEVE U IF U TRIED TO BE LIKE "no no please ur the professionals idk wtf im doing guys-"

Heizou/Yelan: ����🤨

"likely story Most Honorable God, but we heard quite the fascinating theories just last week before u descended, hmmm...."

u cant win, 

honestly everyone would probably just assume ur not only the god who created/built teyvat but also have a domain in justice, comedy or honestly whatever u be playing all the time, including music, people would definitely think ur a music god too

esp if ur like me and u just turn on a cool Spotify playlist while u play sometimes, like they've probably never heard so many radically different genres songs, and so many back to back

(could definitely see a myth about u having an immortal inexhaustible musician band that has access to all the songs of the universe that u make them play for you, once again, would be hard to deny bc that's a pretty accurate description of spotify lol)

♡

srry abt my ✨️ass writing✨️ anon!!

I am getting to these old asks so late I hope u guys r alright with getting answered so late, ya boy has been busy 

Im busy partially bc i have a end of year art exhibition!

Basically at my university, if ur an art major, u have to have some of ur best work from ur time at university and display it in a Senior year art exhibition in the university's art museum! Its super cool! And stressful! :D!!

Anyway im so happy i have no object permanence bc everytime i open my drafts or my inbox, even the old asks :( , are  a new surprise every time :D lmao

Safe Travels,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

[killerpillar]

any book recs? looking for something to hold me over inbetween your updates! anything you’ve found yourself pulling inspo from for your fic or that you think a fellow levi fan would love?

hi!!! ofc, i've got plently of fic recs, i'm pretty sure i've read 80% of all levi fics on ao3 atp😭 I sadly have not had the time to read as many fics nowadays like I used to, but here are some of my all time favs!!

(also i apologise, my summary skills are terrible and so it's just me gushing over the fics for a whole paragraph🧎‍♀️)

Death's Door by SongsOfApollo

one of the first fics I read, and a fic that has literally never left my brain since then. It's amazing. It's very popular so I'm sure you've heard about it already if not read it, but if you haven't, it's a must read!! levi x doctor reader!

Dust, Diamonds by maokitty

the best way i can describe this fic is that it drove an iron stake through my heart multiple times, pulled it out, then delicately rearranged the pieces and stitched it back together with gentle fingers. take it how you will but after a certain chapter i stopped reading it bc it was too painful, and then came back two months later to finish it off AND I AM SO GLAD I DID.

A River Of Three Crossings by maokitty

this fic literally ruined my life it was so fucking good but its incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2020 i am SO SAD. but please read this, it's so good, so heart crushing and sweet and amazing I love it sm

ALSO I JUST FUCKING REALISED ITS THE SAME AUTHOUR WHILE WRITING THIS LIST😭

reciprocal sin by captain-hawks (@captain-hawks)

SO UNDERRATED!??! must read, i cannot say anything else but READ THISSS. its a kinky smutty oneshot so make sure you read the content warnings, but its sooo good😭 amazing writing too!

silver soul by oi_levi

sadly this one is incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2021, but it's brilliantttt. if you're craving some good post-war levi fics, then this one's really good!!

also read In the Land of Gods and Monsters by them for a fun time😊

a sip of sunshine by taomyou (@taomyou)

speaking of post-war fics, this one is amazinggg. super cute and fluffy, angsty ending for part 1 (😭) but I know for sure their next part will be worth the wait. also they've got a complete modern au fic called The Romance Of Reimbursements which is so fucking beautiful, definitely read this!!! (also mchs, acoc... yeah just read all of them tbh)

silver underground. by tothestrongones (@amywritesthings)

this one's a recent read, but omfg i cannottt get enough of it. absolutely love this, it's levi x underground reader, amnesia trope done right. 10/10 must read!!!

we all bleed red by littlerequiem (@littlerequiem)

also a recent read, but omfg this fic is so good. it's vampire au, victorian era, slowburn brilliant writing, and healthy communication!?!? no way. checks all the boxes for me😫

Percolate by heichoe

modern coffee shop au, its so good omfg. it's such a cute fic, classic grumpy levi, friends w benefits, lots of smut and the DRAMA gosh. i was so invested, it was so good. (also ur gonna need an account on ao3 to read the fic!!)

this is a story of the sea by shinzouing

this one is levi x erwin x reader (i read it for the levi x reader bc erwin was gonna die anyways lmao) but i fell in loveeee with it!! wonderful writing, amazing story, 10/10 angst & slowburn, a definite must read! (also 20/10 smut, it was so fucking good)

(also literally every fic by wellitcouldbeworse3 on ao3 is amazinggg, check them out if you haven't already. which i'm sure you have, and that is the only reason i haven't listed out all of their fics here😭 The Feeling's Mutual is my fav modern au fic of all time no questions asked)

THIS IS A JUST A FEW!!! if you want more, then feel free to ask, i will gladly rec more <33 and ty for reading my fic btw!! LOVE U LOADS🤗

[starchaser45]

JJ eating Cheetos: so they did it to you too huh

Lila :yep, they summaries my whole complicated character to an unnecessary love triangle so that the male lead who was my best friend can have a love interest * fully sends a shot*

JJ: same but mine was kinda worse he was also my kids' godfather and it didn't even do anything or go anywhere other than confuse him it's was totally pointless none even knew about it it just made things awkward for literally no reason

Lila : wanna hear worse this whole thing blew up in front of my entire family my kids included his siblings including my husband

JJ*gasp*: no you were married to his brother

Lila: yep and it was a great love story that they ruined for no reason like I was still in love with my husband too I mean I fell in love with five for survival

JJ: totally understandable, his name is five?

Lila: stop interrupting me

JJ: sorry

Lila: anyways he genuinely fell in love with me so he got his heart broken cause I didn't choose him so I broke both of their hearts and relationship basically and yk the kicker this bullshit was never resolved we all just fucking ceased to exist

JJ: Jesus Christ you all just fucking died

Lila : nope ceased to exist it's like we were never there we never existed

JJ: fuck I feel like in owe my writers an apology , nah

In another room

Reid*holding his coffee *: so you really couldn't stay in a timeline where there was other people

Five*holding his coffee*: stop scolding me I don't even know you

Reid: ik you're stupid, like you couldn't have told anyone

Five: none of them would have understood

Reid: but Lila did why couldn't you go alone or take one of your siblings let Lila copy your power so if something happens she could get you instead of going with zero knowledge

Five: we didn't think of that we wanted to be discreet

Reid: but why it makes no sense it's completely irrational and I find hard to believe that you would do that considering last time you did it you ended up lost in an apocalypse

Five: the writers decided that I shouldn't think ig

Reid: god I hate when they do that so another character could shine

Five: nope that didn't happen

Reid: what

Five: they kinda ruined all of us and then killed us off sorry wrote us off as if we never existed

Reid: Jesus poor Diego he losses his wife and brother then gets killed off

Five: hey you're not better than me you fell in love with a married woman too

Reid: oh yes I am and I didn't fall in love with her more like old feelings resurfaced and was managed quickly I didn't cheat on anyone it just made thing a little awkward*sips his coffee "

Five: lucky asshole *sips his coffee "

Reid : eguh that's really bad coffee

Five: yeah it sucks

Reid: not worse than you tho

Five: hey!!

I just love how JJ is like super invested and Reid is like you dumbass there was literally 10 other better ways to do this 😭

I might actually make more of these with different characters this is so much fun 🦦

[justsomemusingsandthoughts]

Now about season 3 of Bridgerton....some thought from a Greys Anatomy fan of the first hour cause I need to get it off my chest :)

I was really excited to see Polins story unfold even though I didn't watch Bridgerton before or read the books but I was swept up by the excitement on tiktok and got invested in their story.

But as soon as I heard Shona was involved I was like okayyyyyy, I gotta keep my expectations in check cause the women is not one to write healthy and lasting relationships and reasonable men who communicate well😬

Looking at how the season played out, I completely understand why so many people are disappointed cause there was so much potential wasted, so many scenes that could have made clear to the viewer what was going on in Colins head. I think I filled in the gaps in my mind but there are still some moments, some things he said and did that were almost character destroying, specially the comment about the entrapment, cause dude, she didn't even know what sex was🙄 Also, not even trying to have a converation with her about why LW started and has such significance to her was not sth Colin would do.

And that's the crux of why I think for many die hard fans, the season was a let down. They didn't show any true discussions or enough moments of passion alongside the argument cause in truth, there was no time with all the unnecessary side plots and so few episodes. If you saw the season you know, I won't list them all but I will say they better put a proper Polin side story and spicy scene in Ben's season cause the amount of pointless threesomes I had to skip through is almost offensive, especially cause it should be clear people want intimate scenes of the main couple😮‍💨

But looking at all of it considering this show is part of Shondaland, I am not the least bit surprised. The number of downright character assasinations I watched on Grey's (and other shows of hers) after over a decade watching the development of some of them is kinda ridiculous. The number of ruined relationships and the horrible ways most of them were ruined (I almost cannot believe I'm saying this now but thank god they killed off Derek before completely undoing who he actually was and what Meredith meant to him😭).

Untimately, Shonda loves the drama and the angst and very clearly doesn't think there is much entertainment value in showing happy couples resolving their issues in a healthy way. If you watch a project she's involved in, you gotta be prepared for the couple to not make it and in that way, Bridgerton fans are rather lucky considering no matter how the seasons play out, it's gonna end with a happy couple that's not gonna split up again.

She also was never gonna just take books and keep to the narrative cause I don't believe that would be any fun to her. Especially this season, since she has said that Pen is her favorite character. I was immediately thinking Colin will be taking a back seat and have moments viewers will hate him for to have Pen in the forefront individually.

I guess I'm gonna take away and rewatch the beautiful moments, even some of the angsty ones and wait for what little side plots Polin will have in future seasons. I don't believe I will watch the entirety of future seasons cause I'm not interested to be disappointed by Shonda Rhimes' story telling anymore. Been there done that😂

But my little obsession with Polin was still worth it cause they're just an amazing fictional couple and I might just read their book now☺️

And I have definitely found a new actress to follow along for her future roles cause Nicola is just amazing as an actress and as a person🥰

(Also find it deeply offensive to make an audience wait for 2 years (!!!) for 8 episodes but that's for another day😅)

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Part 2 of interesting Mechat routes [Part 1] there'll be vague spoilers but nothing major

13. "Oh my god, they were roommates" + "there's only one bed" trope except they fucking hate each other

14. "Just inherited a large manor from a distant English uncle who died under mysterious circumstances" MC Vs. "Butler, willing to do anything to protect the manor, and trying his best to mask how much he loathes his new employer under a thin veneer of politeness" LI

So many instances where you can't tell if they are gonna fuck or tear each other's throats out

Also there's this moment after MC bitch slaps him, that's like

MC: .....wait am i a sadist? Shitfuckshit I shouldn't have hit him

MC: I'm so sor-

MC:

MC:

MC: Is he a masochist?!!!

Edit: ohh this just spiralled straight into porn with a side of possible murder mystery

that being said MC has a strong "I may not like him or even trust him but only I can be a dick to him" instinct

Edit: I'm screaming they're so funny

MC: I'm going to act mean and domineering and borderline cruel because it's clear he doesn't want me here and it's clear he's hiding something about my uncle's death and this is the only way to push him into revealing secrets

LI: I'm going to throw my kink for being subservient to the point of insanity and keen for punishment in their face at any opportunity so that it'll scare them away and they don't get a chance to ruin this manor

MC&LI: oh no they're into this

Edit: both of these characters are insane. And no I'm not talking about the 24/7 BDSM part I mean they're genuinely unhinged. What do you mean his response to feeling jealousy is to lock the both of you in a tomb that'll seal shut in 30minutes after which you'll eventually die of dehydration within days and your response to that is to fuck about it instead of oh I don't know FORCING HIM TO OPEN IT AND GETTING THE FUCK OUT ASAP!!!????

15. Two doms trying to out dom each other. 24/7 grind-hustle culture stock market invester he/they dom LI Vs. MC who said bet.

16. Retired (?) God of Dreams running a magic coffee shop (the profile pic of one of the versions of this story looks lowkey like goth Julian Devorak (and he only looks like this here btw) and with 0 thought behind it I named my MC "Nel" for this route and then took a whole half an hour to remember my MC for Julian's route is named "Len" so magic? lucky coincidence?)

17. Adrenaline Junkie LI (the story doesn't really interest me but his Cruella de Vil looking ass is pretty enough to drag me along)

18. Giant muscular marshmellow soft shy excitable nonbinary butch

19. College group project -> poly relationship. The dynamic & chemistry between the three of them is so good .

also why do all of them have issues😭💀

20. Wildcard fantasy storybook pirate come to life x geography nerd MC who is the best combination of fiesty, anxious & shy/flustered getting kidnapped & cursed to be their navigator to the Bermuda triangle

[nerdy-frog98]

I am now on season 4 of 9-1-1 Lone Star! It took me a hot minute to get here, but 💥

I want to share some opinions, but a little disclaimer; this show was not really made for me. As an ex-religious girlie, the amount of religion in the show often makes me uncomfortable. I also have a hard time with overbearing personalities, so Owen puts me off about 80% of the time. Even with all that in mind, I still really love this show. It might not have been made for me, but I can still appreciate good storylines and characters the way they were intended to be enjoyed.

First. Tarlos is the only couple I care about on this show. Nancy and Mateo are kinda cute too, and I love the Tommy dating storylines, but I am not invested in any of them like I am Tarlos. (The freeze emergency at the beginning of season 3 was so good, oh my god. The angst between them was insanely good.)

Second. As far as individual storylines go…I mainly care about Judd + Grace (as a couple), TK, and Carlos. Sometimes Tommy, and sometimesssss the others in the 126. The first four I stated though, I consistently care about their storylines. On the other hand, I *rarely* care about Owen’s storylines unless they revolve heavily around the 126 or TK. If he’s on his own with his friends or a love interest, I get so bored 😭

Third. One thing this show does almost as well as the og 9-1-1 is the platonic relationships between the characters. The 126 having game nights is so cute. TNT interactions make me super happy. It’s overall very believable that these characters love and respect each other.

Fourth. Both 9-1-1’s are traumatic, but lone star kinda feels…more and less at the same time. More side characters die in brutal ways, but the characters don’t seem to linger on the trauma the way the og characters do with theirs. Like, Tommy’s husband died and that episode was traumatic, but then the next episode she seems to be doing okay. Maybe I just binged the episodes too fast ?

Fifth, and this is more like an addition to an earlier point, but holy shit. Some of the stories on this show are so fucking good. The episode where Marjan saves the girl from her abusive fiancé was amazing, and then the following episode with her being hunted by the fiancé and ultimately being saved by herself???? THAT WAS TELEVISION, BABEY. I was sobbing so hard I had to pause and take a breather. I plan on rewatching that episode again real soon, because wowwowow.

Overall, the show is entertaining and I love a lot of what the show is trying to do. The negatives were very strong in the beginning (season one was rough with how much religion was brought up. S1 Grace was enemy #1), but they’ve gotten better as the show matured and found its footing. I’m trying to catch up so I can watch the final part of the show live. [as much as I’ve struggled with a lot of the material, I am sad it was cancelled. Wasn’t deserved.]

[wildwren]

i am also a michaela stirling truther— the more i think about it, the more i want it. i’ll definitely be a little disappointed if the rumors turn out to be false. don’t get me wrong, masali baduza is stunning and as a bisexual i already feel like a winner either way… but my god, she and Francesca would make such a gorgeous couple 😭

and i know people keep saying that gender bending Michael would erase important plot points but honestly i can think of several ways off the top of my head that they could maintain the integrity of the story even with Michaela as the lead instead of Michael.

and honestly, not that i have any reason to believe they’re actually going to genderbend Sophie, but they could easily rework Benedict’s story in a similar way— it irritates me that people are insisting there is no way they could make it work.

the book purists insisting xyz could not possibly happen because “that’s not how the story goes!” are making little sense to me. the show has already made many changes to the stories, large and small, and i don’t think “but the book story won’t work that way!” is a valid argument at this point. the writers have shown themselves very willing and even eager to uproot expectations and tell the story in a new way.

TOTALLY. i was previously on the "we should not expect queer rep from bridgerton they are clearly not very invested in it" train until jess brownell explicitly confirmed that a queer romance is coming and now im being a full ass clown about it. yea....when i think about masali baduza as michaela i actually need to lie down, it would end me. but also send an angel to protect her if that's actually true because some of the fandom....uh.....absolutely cannot handle that even remotely, and they WILL make it her problem.

but yes, i agree, there are many ways in which michael feels like a prime option for gender-bending. obviously when he was wicked has fans, but i think in general they're a little less rabid than some of the kanthony, polin, benophie, and philoise fans who would be specifically up in arms about major character changes to "their" ship. when he was wicked is later in the series, more disconnected, francesca's less present in the general narrative, etc.

also, because francesca has a widowhood storyline, it feels....how do i say this....deeply boring for bridgerton the show to introduce a man like john stirling, only to kill him off to make room for another random man. it would be exceedingly more interesting to have a queer element to the story, not least of all because it would add more tension to the "we cant be together because you're my dead husband's cousin" vibes.

also, women in the 19th century could inherit property. sometimes the property itself was not entailed and therefore not necessarily inherited by the male title holder. if francesca is living in the house....and michaela inherits the house....well, that's a pretty great set-up for a queer happy ending, which is, according to julia quinn, apparently impossible in a world where gay marriage isn't legal.

also, ALSOOOOO....a lesbian rake. i rest my case.

either way, im interested to see how they interpret when he was wicked's relationship to colonialism (if they do so), given that the show has now shown the Stirlings, or at least john stirling, to be Black. Kate's home and backstory in India has had some relevance to her characterization, and I'm curious to see if they take a similar tack with the stirlings (and how well they manage to execute it).

okay i think those are all of my michaela thoughts thank you so much for giving me an excuse to rant about them. truthers gotta stick together (until our hearts are inevitably dashed by cold hard reality)

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

So, she's still alive, smh.

The ONE thing I was asking for from this rebellion and they couldn't even give me that 😠

***

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Didn't your actual WIFE die yesterday? Aren't you supposed to be in mourning, for appearance's sake at least?

I thought we were done with him and his nonsense but apparently not.

***

She was only PRETENDING?

Why won't this drama let me have good things 😭😭

***

LMAOOOO

Baby is here to take back his home! He is now best buddies with the new Emperor, evil stepmom can seethe 🤣🤣

***

Are you kidding me?

I thought she would have more dignity and be openly hostile, not fawn over him so blatantly.

As if he would fall for her act twice.

***

Their faces, LMAO 🤣🤣

***

LMAO

Adult!Gu Tingye never really made it onto my list of favourite characters but I absolutely love how Feng Shaofeng plays him 🤣🤣 He's so smooth and charming, an absolute rascal! He smiles and I smile, no matter whether it's genuine or not!

***

Well, in my view, with all their money and lack of boundaries, these wastrel young masters could be doing much worse, such as raping and murdering (like the gentlemen from the Fourth and Fifth Gu house did in their time).

Third Brother is at least only out supporting the economy by frequenting brothels and hopefully paying the sex workers well. The Song Empire should send him an Imperial decree expressing its gratitude.

***

This is the full irony of her evildoing.

And even if he did not yield the title, what could she have possibly wanted that he would not have given?? She and her incompetent son had it made! But no. Nothing is enough when you're born too greedy for your own good.

***

Eh... not quite, but almost.

I am fascinated by these people. "We have spent your whole life hating you and ruining your life for no good reason, but how dare you not love us in return?"

LOLOLOLOL

Even Lin Qinshuang had more shame.

***

I live for beautiful scenery in c-dramas 💚

***

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE NOT TAKING THE EXAM?

I'm more invested in him passing this exam than I am in me passing any of mine, which is obvious from the amount of time I spent watching his shenanigans instead of studying 😕

***

Cackling 🤣🤣

He's always so outraged by the lack of propriety 🤣🤣

I love the two of them, they are such a good pair! One is so proper and the other so improper!

***

LMAO, yes, panic 🤣🤣

It's episode 36, you loser! How long do you expect the girl to wait for you? You had better hurry!

***

God, this is nice 😭😭

I wish I had the skill to turn this into art! 💚

***

Oh, yes, it is the Old Madam you are eager to visit 🙄

IDK why, but he gives me the ick.

He hasn't really done anything wrong but he's always so nice and kind and sweet and subservient, plus he's not the OTP. All the alarm bells in my head are RINING!!

***

WHO THE FUCK?

I knew there was something shady about him, smh.

***

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Where do all these cockroaches come from?? Are there no single men in China to marry and you must go after someone who already has a wife??

I AM MAD.

***

LMAO, he at least has the decency to be shocked.

So, he is not on board this nonsense. Good. But is that what happens to screw up his marriage to Minglan? His family insists on him marrying this woman?

[sillyfairygarden]

fic writer interview

tem so lovingly tagged me in this and i am eager to procrastinate... okayyy fic time

How many works do you have on AO3?

12 beautiful sweet angels living on a cloud. cloud is called ao3 island. (yes this number is one higher than you will find on my page...) that number saddens me a bit because if i went through old pseuds/deleted fics, and other platforms it's probably closer to 40! but alas. many such cases of deleting my digital footprint U_U

What's your total AO3 word count?

good god i have 145k words of minecraft fanfiction out there. that is so scary.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

at the invitation of any desire: (this one just kind of. blows my mind away that it's in this position because this fic felt like a fever dream)

the first disciple: this is just. AUUUGHH

but oh, the bloom: my sweet sugarplum daughter with many illnesses

4 and 5 are a faint slash of tenderness and you are here to risk your heart, which makes me so happy to see these sister stories together.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

stares at the (184) next to my inbox. blinks. well here's the thing. i LOVE the ecosystem of comments on ao3 and i've always been a big believer in comment writing. however 😭 sometimes i don't know what to say! i feel blown away that people take the time to leave such long, detailed comments for some of my works (you know who you are) and those really are long term fuel for my heart.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

of my currently published fics, no number exists for griefs like these. i'm not a common purveyor of the major character death tag, but it was a little fun and silly.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

oh god. i've written a lot of bittersweet endings recently, as i'm going through my own works and going sad--bittersweet--sad--bad--bittersweet as i work my way down the lines so... i suppose the happiest "ending" to a fic would be a single pale rose. where it's really just a story of early beginnings (without an ending of its own stamped on)

Do you write crossovers?

i'll admit. a crossover is a hard-sell for me mostly because i have to feel invested enough in BOTH fields of media to really Get invested. unforties i know like 0.6 media so that's a pretty limited genre for me. i've read a smattering of good crossover fics across my years but i'll tentatively leave that in the hands of writers who have that genre of brainrot.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

when i think of like, old-school style fic trashing, nah not really. i've gotten a handful of oddball comments with varying degrees of dismissal, distaste, or hilarious confusion towards the story over the years, but genuinely they're truly drops in the ocean.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes i looooove writing smut and raunchy times. i just think explorations of intimacy and trust and bodies through sex in stories is so cool. vulnerability and shame are these topics i feel endlessly, constantly inspired and impassioned by.

there's this incredibly niche range of erotic and emotionally sensual that i love to read/write within. unforties this means i have to write most of the smut i want to read... SAD!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

NO....

Have you ever had a fic translated?

my own attempts to poorly practice translations on my own fics have gone. badly. and also no.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

definitely no <3 i've dabbled in the idea but i'm very individualistic and a bit prideful when it comes to autonomy in my work. i don't think co-writing stories is something i enjoy, but i love playing-off other people with ideas, characters, etc.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

okay, backing up from the mcyt bubble (where SORRY none of these ships really hold weight) all time favourite ships of mine are fakiru, chrobin, bubbline, utenthy, catradora, usamamo, many such yuries. if you squint you will see the shadow of these ships in everything i create forever and ever <3

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

oh man. i've posted two of those unfinished fragment-fics (where, they were intended to be much longer but never took off) in to be wild and the champion's banquet. ultimately there's many more, stories i started in old fandoms that lost their spark, ideas that once tied me to certain creators i no longer support, concepts and outlines that will never get the dedicated time they deserve to bloom.

in total i probably have an extra ~100k of unpublished writing between different unfinished stories, drafts, wips, and ideas (and that's a modest guess, as the last time i counted was early 2023).

What are your writing strengths?

i loooove personification and descriptions and metaphors. i think it's so fun to join words and sentences together via descriptions, flow, and imagery that's different than you might expect. i think i write emotional messiness relatively well (as i looove a little hypocrisy and unreliable narration) and overall i just like writing about people and love and the human condition. PEACE AND LOVE ON PLANET EARTH!

What are your writing weaknesses?

sometimes i do, in fact, get lost in the sauce. i think i've over-corrected for a slow pacing issue by now rushing through scenes, and it kills tension. it makes action/suspenseful writing REALLY hard. you guys have no idea how much i struggled on there's a room where the light won't find you, my action-filled piece for hgcz.

also i HATE titles oh my god. titles we're meeting in the back of a dark room and i've got a weapon

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

so i've kind of flip-flopped here. i was in the camp of "cringe" on this for awhile, and then i wrote light is burning as i am yearning where i used galactic in-line with the dialogue and sort of loved it. the main reason it felt so cohesive was i wanted the reader to sort of lose understanding of what was happening alongside the character. in that aspect, i think the galactic

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

h. hetalia (my ffnet account is backdated to 2010 <3)

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

ohhhh within this fandom, i'm really keen to write gempearl at some point or convex. from outside the mcyt sphere, i have a really soft spot for some older series i loved but didn't have the confidence/prowess to explore ideas about that i'd love to go back and write for. so like personal passion projects i suppose

What's your favorite fic you've written?

god i oscillate on this question so much. right now it's the first disciple simply by merit of recency bias. sometimes i think a story or idea comes into my life to challenge me, and to provide me a mountain to overcome in myself, and i'm finding this story to be an example.

i love writing and talking about stories. my art feels like an endless way to tell stories about ideas, characters, bodies, and humanity: through writing and artwork i hope to continue to be a storyteller.

and now to tag people <3 i'm calling upon the hgcz writer's guild! if you've already done this, please feel free to ignore the tag @mochiwrites @boonbeenblade @theminecraftbee @droidofmay @alicenotalice @kayawolfhorse

[minks-country-club]

Twilight Drarry AU? Any thoughts on this?

LMAO idk if you saw my Twitter post:

But you have no idea how invested I would get if I wrote this AU. I am so unbelievably obsessed with this idea. You are merging two of my favourite fandoms into one and it would be so fucking JUICY oh GOD I NEED IT!!!

If you don't know and can't tell by any of my social medias, I am insanely obsessed with Twilight. My favourite ship is Edward x Jacob because they're are so fucking perfect for each other when you take literally 6 seconds out of your day to think about it.

In this AU, I have to think about the dynamic between Drarry and how that would fit into the love story in Twilight, because there are so many ways to see it!!

You have the obvious: Bella x Edward.

You also have the Twilight/Life and Death re-write with gender-swapped Bella and Edward, so: Beau x Edythe

But also, EDWARD X JACOB??!!? THEYRE FUCKING ENEMIES FFS. IT MAKES SENSE THAT THEY WOULD BE DRARRY.

Let's dissect this, shall we?

Bella = Draco, Edward = Harry? Not bad, I could maybe work with that.

Bella = Harry, Edward = Draco? Better! That I can get behind.

Edward = Draco, Jacob = Harry? I like this. I can see this. Maybe Ginny would be Bella in this scenario, although I can't see Draco ever having a crush on Ginny, so the relationship would be Harry has a crush on Ginny (Jacob has a crush on Bella) but Draco (Edward) in this case would be more interested in Harry than Ginny.

Ah.... Beau = Harry, Edythe = Draco? DING DING DING! I THINK WE HAVE A WINNER!!

And of course I am totally down to make it Fem!Draco !!! I am also VERY down to make it sapphic Drarry.

I really am so tempted to write this, I just might😭😭 would you guys wanna see this???

[master-missysversion]

Boom thoughts

Liveblog under the cut as usual

Tldr: this episode was absolutely brilliant, so much tension, a brilliant storyline, some hard hitting criticisms of capitalism and Christianity/blind faith, side characters you can't help but get invested in and soo many emotional scenes. I can't see anything this season topping this episode for me but it has left me far more excited for the rest of the season than i was previously

Something about the video looks weird. Like it very much just looks like these soldiers are standing in front of a greenscreen

Child character :) Moffat loves a child character and I eat it up every time

Mundy is so beautiful

"They ran out of money" I wonder if the "ambulance" kills injured soldiers to save resources

Ohhh my god that whole sequence with Carson stepping on the mine had me on the edge of my seat and then my jaw on the floor

This episode so far is off to a brilliant start, im already feeling really invested in these characters and the tension is thick

ohh I'm thinking I was right about soldiers being killed to save resources or something

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

Rip John Vater I was legitimately so invested in you, but i had a feeling that would happen

"Stay there!" *ruby casually walks out "okay, coming!" Dhfbdkdm

Also I love how he says to stay there then leaves the door wide open like bffrrr you knew she was coming

I think for the sake of saving time, the doctor should probably tell ruby that you don't actually need to lock the tardis behind you

The Skye Boat Song 💃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This reminds me of Merlins death in Kingsman tho

"I was kinda hoping for a beach" you'd get along great with Yaz

I missed the doctor telling random stories so much 😭 I'm gonna hc the lesbian gymkhana adventure happened with Yaz and she was sooo annoyed the doctor ruined their outing with a stupid bet

Okay I know its probably just because she's being written by Moffat but I am reallyyy seeing the similarity to Clara now

And we're back to music....this seems to be a recurring theme

WHAT was that poem?? "The moon and the presidents wife" is a clear reference to the doctors own life. Gonna be thinking about this one for a while

"Beyond acceptable parameters for a conflict as budgeted" I knewww it

"People don't usually bring that up" yes they do. Literally all the time 😭 I know he's just trying to appeal to the kid

Ohhh is there even an enemy?

"Hush" the return of moffats favourite word 😆

NOOOO NOT CANTO

how could you do that to me 😭 poor Canto Poor Mundy

Is this woman Susan twist btw? Im not good with faces but it could be right?

KISS KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ty John Vater I always loved you

The way he just pushes Ruby down lmaooo

Mention of a diary will be feeding the "river is Ruby's mother" theorists

Beautiful

"He's not gone, he's just dead. He's not gone" i love how this is a twist on the "they're not gone because they're always there in spirit" trope

The vworp vworps are back!

Now time for the next time trailer

This looks really interesting, I think this episode has really got me excited for this series in a way that I wasn't before, its a shame moffats not writing more of it but I'm excited to see what happens in 73 yards

I love that they're finally back in Wales

Who issss sheee. I need to know

Also I just saw the credits and I was right about the Ambulance being Susan Twist! I think she's the person talking about Mad Jack too isn't she?

Final thoughts: this was an absolute banger of an episode, honestly I fear that none of the other episodes in the season will live up to it. I just enjoyed every minute so much, the build up, the tension, the emotions, the engaging side characters, the running themes and hints at the overall season plot were all absolutely brilliant. It was so good parts of it had me skipping back a few seconds to watch scenes again. I wasn't sure what to expect going in but this exceeded my expectations nonetheless

[pearwaldorf]

oh my god this fucking show.

*slaps roof of coffin* We can fit so many kinds of emotional ruin in this baby! I do not think I have seen a show tear down everything it built like this since Hannibal's S2 finale. But it's not tragic in the same way. This is the gleeful destruction of a kid building elaborate structures out of blocks so they can knock them over.

God, Jacob's acting has been so fucking good this season but this episode was just. Armand sitting there in the crypt listening to Louis go mad with grief and starvation. The absolute mindless ferity when he's planning his revenge, and how much vicarious satisfaction you get from hearing the screaming as the flames ignite.

(I watched a little bit of the bts after the episode and Ben Daniels is so fucking delighted to get his prop head chopped off. The glee in his voice when Jacob sends him that pic is the cutest shit.)

Daniel is such an interesting homewrecker. That bit in ep 5 where he has to go back to his own book to retrieve his previous words. I think he would have fucked up his life even without Louis's admonition/command/whatever. But there's always that little bit of doubt and I think it would have haunted him if he'd remained mortal.

And it's fascinating to see him poke and prod even after he's gotten the story from both Louis and Armand. All those inconsistencies that seemed inconsequential but then lead to something significant. I wouldn't even call it misdirection, just using new information to interrogate the text from the correct perspective (har har). And you can see the trepidation when he pulls out the script, knowing what's going to happen, but it's not just his job to excavate the truth, it's his calling. All characters have a bit of a writer (or writing team) in them, but Daniel feels invested with a lot of affection from people who understand his line of work.

Armand. Oh god, Armand. This show is neo-puritan kryptonite in the best way. The narrative never excuses Armand's actions, heinous as they are, but it also makes it difficult to villainize him for it. He is so, so fucked up and broken it's more sad than anything else. (I don't think it even gets to the level of tragic, because tragedy is too dignified for his motivations. I mean this descriptively, not pejoratively.)

Louis and Lestat making up in a rickety-ass old house in New Orleans during a hurricane is not exactly light symbolism, but it is extra af in a way that is very them.

Random things:

How long has Lestat been plunking at that wooden "keyboard"? Those finger marks are deep.

"Did you hurt yourself?" 😭😭😭

Louis's goofy-ass tourist outfit with the Saints ballcap lmao

I want to know the circumstances of Daniel's vamping. He just blew up Armand's entire life. Was it retaliatory? Armand has never made a fledgling until now. I am so curious to see why now. (Also he's gonna fuck that old man and I'm so happy for them both.)

Absolutely the first thing I would do if I became a vampire is change my eye color, just because.