#one scene matters in tv history and its this

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Peaceful Property went ahead and picked one of my special interests to explore this week. For queer history nerds like me, some of the most prominent questions in the field are whether and how to connect to those in the past who did not have the same conditions and language for queerness as we do in the present.* Forcebook gave us two characters, Phoom and Vicha, who failed to name or live their queer feelings in the past. Instead, they had queer gestures to offer across time. What do these queer gestures and failures offer to the main conflict between Peach and Home, and what do they offer to us as an audience debating whether Peaceful Property is a BL or queer-baiting?

That ghost story spanned and blurred time into a time immemorial. Using the venue of Thai traditional dancing gave the story a sense of deep Thai history and traditions that are kept up to the present, while Phoom's home indicated early twentieth century Western influences, and a television (alongside Phoom's age in the modern-day setting) suggested the beginning of the global information age of the 80s or 90s. Then Force and Book, finally getting the opportunity to show their true acting capacities (let Force be as queer, emotive, and silly as he is in his interviews, GMMTV!!!), took us on a heart-shattering journey that blended those eras together.

In front of the TV, Vicha teaches Phoom the gesture for love before they kiss. It's not a pronouncement, and no one's recording. It's just a movement between two men tucked away in a private place. Vicha records later, but he doesn't put it into words. He carves tallies into a tree waiting for Phoom to return. Then Phoom does, but he's so cold toward Vicha that the latter can't even bear to look as Phoom tries to explain his sadness through dance. Phoom's mother is looking on as Phoom repeats the the move to signify "saddened," in the face of the instructor's demands for "happy."

The dance is interspersed with scenes of Phoom's mother berating him for being "gay"--she uses the English word! and as @absolutebl explains that's important!--across a locked palatial door as Phoom collapses in tears. Edit: @lurkingteapot giving me the Thai language lesson in the notes to explain, “Phoom's mother does not use the English word for gay. she says มีลูกผิดเพศอย่างแก mii lûuk pìt pêet yâang gɛɛ, where the gɛɛ is a familiar term for "you" -- "to have a child who gets gender wrong, like you!" ("gets gender wrong" as in, directs affections/attraction at the wrong gender).”

With just one chance to return to the dance studio that she believes to be the cause of his queerness, all Phoom can do is subtly cue Vicha about his queer experiences through dance. Jose Esteban Munoz says in Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity,

"Queer dance is hard to catch, and it is meant to be hard to catch--it is supposed to slip through the fingers and comprehension of those who would use knowledge against us. But it matters and takes on a vast material weight for those of us who perform or draw important sustenance from performance. Rather than dematerialize, dance rematerializes. Dance, like energy, never disappears; it is simply transformed. Queer dance, after the live act, does not just expire. The ephemeral does not equal unmateriality. It is more nearly about another understanding of what matters. It matters to get lost in dance or to use dance to get lost: lost from the evidentiary logic of heterosexuality.

Phoom's mom, the representative of compulsory heterosexuality, watches on, but she either can't see the coded evidence, or she recognizes its ephemerality and bears it knowing its lack of impact. Even then, she ends Phoom's dance before Vicha can look up and see the queerness that might affirm his own queer feelings. Phoom fails to live as a representative of queerness, unable to resist the pressures of heterosexuality.

With Phoom locked away, Vicha can't bear the loneliness. Queer suicidality has been haunting Peaceful Properties since the first episode, and the reason Peach keeps his blinds closed in his apartment returned this episode if we didn't recall. But we've had other subtle references, too. Vicha's death, though, was visceral and vivid as he slit his wrists with the same tool he used to count down the days until the return of the person who could affirm his queer feelings. Then, he documented his feeling in poetry with blood. While, Phoom failed to materialize his queerness for others, Vicha could only materialize his queerness through tragedy.

Much of queer history and fiction has focused on these tragic queer figures. In fact, they've been quite productive political tools for advancing queer goals. In the past ten years or so, the culture has turned on tragic queer figures and their narratives, though. Emotionally, I feel like that's for the better, but there's a fine line I'm always attentive to between welcoming empowering histories and turning our backs on those who don't or can't achieve them. It's also a fine line between welcoming ensured happy endings for queer characters and refusing to engage with those creators past and present who use other narrative tools to explore queer themes.

Relatedly, using a branded pairing for Peaceful Property while not advertising it as a BL, nor committing to that status even by episode 7, seems intentionally designed to invite the conversations about whether its queer-baiting or a BL. It feels so old-school to engage in the kind of queer subtext reading that much of the fandom is doing currently. Sure, people do fantastically detailed metas about body language, color theory, and everything else you can think of for BL series. When queerness is not a given, however, the analysis of queer subtext serves the purpose of liberating the characters and the text from the binds and blinds of an otherwise heterosexual context.

There's a generosity in that work. It certainly can't erase the failures to fully live-out one's queerness, nor the problems and behavior that suffering and suppression can lead one to commit. However, sometimes you absolve people out of empathy rather than anything they do to make-up for their harm and futility. Sometimes people are transformed by that initial love, mercy, or understanding, whatever you want to call it, like the ghosts in the series finally being seen. The basic tenets of humanism, a philosophy so disruptive to the rigid class structures the show's simultaneously exploring, and Buddhism, the Thai beliefs which the show's been explicitly exorcising the ghosts with, depend on understanding people at that level, beneath the trappings of social status, symbols of wealth, and even language.

Peaceful Property has taken us on the journey for Home and Peach to understand each other at this level. They, like the audience, have been looking beneath the cloaks of class and patriarchal defensiveness that separate them for the meaningful ephemeral queer gestures that can offer them release from the endless cycles of grief and guilt they're stuck in. That the series keeps finding ways to find peace for these ghosts suggests that the we'll also find peace and love from the alienation haunting Peach and Home. They just need each other to perform that exorcism on their hearts.

*Thailand, specifically, is unique site for queer historians and anthropologists--like director P'Jojo!--because of this question. Its one of the few places that maintained a non-binary gender system into the present, whereas many others were suppressed by Christian colonial law or influence.

[hanahanumana]

From AnaMaria Abramovic on Fb

Paste magazine has done an article about Michael and how underrated he is in Good Omens and I found a transcript since it's behind a paywall. Here's the link if anyone wants to subscribe. 💙

https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/amazon-prime-video/good-omens-michael-sheen-underrated-performance-explained-streaming

There’s so much to love about Prime Video’s Good Omens. A delightful adaptation of the popular Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett novel of the same name, the series is romantic, thoughtful, hilarious, and heartfelt by turns. The story of the almost-apocalypse and what comes afterward, it wrestles with big concepts like destiny, free will, and forgiveness, all framed through the lens of an unorthodox relationship between an angel and a demon whose love for one another is a key to saving the world.

As anyone who has watched Good Omens already knows, nothing about this series works without the pair of lead performances at its center. Stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen—who play the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, respectively—have the kind of lighting-in-a-bottle chemistry that’s the stuff of legend, and their characters’ every interaction conveys both their deep affection for one another and the Earth they’ve made their home. Their romance is the emotional linchpin around which most of the series turns, and their heartbreaking separation in the Season 2 finale is so devastating precisely because we’ve seen how necessary the two are to each other’s lives.

But it’s Sheen’s performance in that final scene that really twists the knife. As Aziraphale’s face crumples following his and Crowley’s long-awaited kiss, the actor manages to convey what feels like every possible human emotion in the span of less than thirty seconds as the angel realizes what he has both had and just lost. The moment is emotionally brutal to watch, particularly after sitting through five and a half episodes of Aziraphale looking as lovestruck as the lead in any rom-com. Sheen makes it all look effortless, shifting from giddy joy to devastated longing and everything in between, and we really don’t talk enough about how powerful and underrated his work in this series truly is.

Though he’s half of the central duo that makes Good Omens tick, Sheen’s role often tends to get overshadowed by his co-star’s. It’s not difficult to see why, given that Tennant gets to spend most of the show swanning around in tight trousers looking like the Platonic ideal of the charming bad boy, complete with flaming red hair and dramatic eyewear. Tennant also benefits from Crowley’s much more sympathetic emotional arc. I mean, it’s hard not to love a cynical demon with a heart of gold who’s been pining after his angelic best friend for literal millennia even after being cast out from Heaven. Of course, viewers are drawn to that—likely a lot more easily than the story of an angel who’s simply trying the best he can to do the right thing as he wrestles with his role in God’s Ineffable Plan. Plus, let’s be real, Tennant’s sizeable Doctor Who fanbase certainly doesn’t hurt his character’s popularity.

As a performer, Sheen has a long history of playing both real people (Tony Blair, David Frost, Brian Clough) and offbeat villains (Prodigal Son’s Martin Whitly, Underworld’s Lucian, the Twilight Saga’s Aro). In some ways, the role of a fussy, bookish angel is playing more than a bit against type for him—Gaiman himself has said he originally intended for Sheen to be Crowley—but in his capable hands, Aziraphale becomes something much more than a simple avatar for the forces of Good (or even of God, for that matter). With a soft demeanor and a positively blinding smile, Sheen’s take on the character consistently radiates warmth and goodness, even as it contains surprisingly hidden depths. The former guardian of the Eastern Gate of Eden who gifted a fleeing Adam and Eve his flaming sword and befriended the Serpent who caused their Fall, Azirphale isn’t a particularly conventional angel. He enjoys all-too-human indulgences like food and wine, runs a Hoarders-esque bookshop that never seems to sell anything, and spends most of his time making heart eyes at the being that’s meant to be his hereditary adversary.

Given the much more difficult task of playing the literal angel to Tennant’s charming devil, Sheen must find a way to make ideas like goodness and forgiveness as interesting and fun to watch as their darker counterparts. It’s a generally thankless task, but one that Sheen tackles with gusto, particularly in the series’ second season, as Good Omens explores Aziraphale’s slowly evolving idea of what he can and cannot accept in terms of being a soldier of Heaven. His growing understanding that the truth of creation is colored in shades of grey and compromise is often conveyed through little more than Sheen’s deftly shifting expressions and body language.

Our pop culture consistently struggles to portray the idea of goodness as something compelling or worth watching. Explicitly “good” characters, particularly those who are religiously coded, are frequently treated as the butt of some sort of unspoken joke they aren’t in on, used to underline the idea that faith is a form of naivety or that kindness is somehow a weakness. For a lot of people, the entire concept of turning the other cheek is a sucker’s bet, and believing in something greater than oneself, be it a higher power or a sense of purpose, is a waste of time. But Good Omens is a story grounded in the idea that faith, hope, and love—for one another, God, and the entire world—are active verbs. And nowhere is that more apparent than in Sheen’s characterization of the soft angel whose old-fashioned waistcoats mask a spine of steel and who refuses to give up—on Crowley, on humanity, or on the idea that Heaven is still something that can be saved.

Though he and Tennant have pretty much become a matched set at this point (both on and off-screen), Sheen’s performance has rarely gotten the critical accolades it deserves. (Tennant alone was nominated for a BAFTA for Season 2, and Sheen was categorized as a supporting actor when the series’ competed in the 2019 Saturn Awards.) But it is his quiet strength that holds up so much of the rest of the show around him, and Sheen deserves to be more frequently recognized for it. That he makes it look so easy is just another sign of how good his performance really is.

[1-49]

bare sugars

╰► that’s my baby, that’s my sugar, i don’t need no honey on the side . . . that’s unconditiona-nal.

pairing: f!reader × jaehyun ⁝ tags: motel. lotta tension. jae likes to show skin lol. history i allude to but never explain sry. short scenario inspired by this teaser photo. diabetes keep away 5k

It ’s a place in between places, on the outskirts of some sunbaked desert town. What began as a hopeful promise, somewhere in the chaos of the last seven days , has faded into obscurity.

When this road trip kicked off, the entire crew was pumped on the : ‘No one’s getting ditched; everyone ’s got to be part of ─── no matter how intense the next adventure gets.’ Yet, here you are , left behind with the one person you were hoping to dodge.

A velvety green sofa sets the scene & the honey glow of golden hour falls on wood - panelled walls ─── Lying on his back , Jaehyun rocks yet another one of his 250+ crumpled print tees, retro lettering in: ‘The Grateful Dead.’ Its fabric hiked up , intentionally or not , giving his casual style a little extra edge.

─── This specific old shade of blue denim jeans, those grey Calvins, the belt that struggles to keep the outfit together ... His belly that just kind of vacuums in whenever it wants ... A plush land really ... The faux freckles on his cheeks which mimic sunflower seeds, and his hair that shines like a field of gold ...

A babe , though the design guilt he wears in his dark eyes remains as you capture yet another moment with your camera.

The two shy cuties in his cheeks and his keys lying abandoned on the pink carpet. His languid binks & perpetually movey lips. His Converse’s loose laces.. The unhurried. The lazy. The slow...

It’s all captured on film & as you pull the camera away from your face, he still keeps an eye on you, not necessarily looking for a reaction but... 

Well, you better... drop that feedback, or things might...

take a turn for the worse... 

And—

And they do... with him tucking his hand under his head & his shirt riding up thoughtlessly even more...

And it’s bad. It’s—It’s like he’s in charge of how you feel and is directing the scene. Like as if he’s your television & there’s no turning him off.

This almost ever so present paradoxical quality to him—a blend of approachability and impenetrability that’s hard to elaborate. Or his lazy attractiveness which simply defies logic: for he’s simultaneously doing nothing and everything, drawing you in completely without lifting a finger.

Or... how these are just a few of the countless reasons why you’ve never asked him to bring you the horizon, or, hell, dared to dream about having him.

Of how the four walls and the door close on you and how looking at him strikes you with a funny fear, making you want to melt deep into the contents of the floor.

Oh, to fuck with that...

-

Gently, you adjust the fine black lace along the hem of your brown silk dress; draw in the fluffy cardigan tighter around you; and to escape the perfect features of his perfect face, you walk up to the window. 

Yet, no matter how hard you search for a way out, the four walls of this claustrophobic room offer little in the way of escape. You’re fucking stuck... Counting your fingers anew whenever gets nothing done, and flipping through the channels on the tiny TV does nothing to clear the monotony. The minutes drag on endlessly, and no matter how many board games you play or photos you take, the clock seems to mock you. Each moment drags as if the world has hit the pause button, leaving you with him in this quiet space.

“Uuggh, coome oooon!” You stomp your feet, looking out the window. “The losers promised they’d be back by six!”

Jaehyun blows a bubble that bursts with a loud snap, grinning at you. “Ummm—You realize promises aren’t really being kept here anymore, right?”

Yeah, right... Fuck promises! You told yourself you wouldn’t get attached to him but look at you now...

Rolling your eyes, you glance out the window again, right as he asks,

“Why? Are you hungry?”

And sure, they were supposed to be the ones bringing the food, but it seems their adventure has taken a detour into yet another town at the end of the world; said, ‘This is what happens when you skip out—So, you two sort it out.’

“Some sweets would be nice. But no, um,” you tensely pull at your cardigan’s sleeves, clenching the ends in your fists. “Are they okay? I’m a little nervous.”

Though all he does is just casually burst another ridiculous bubble...“I’m sure they’re fine.”

Right… So next you’re left to watch him scrape bits of pink gum from his lips, and before you know it, a wave of irritation pulls you back to his side.

You’re barely balanced on the edge of the sofa, aiding in his clumsy efforts. Your thumb brushes against his bottom lip, and the air around him gets to your head just instantly, thick with the sugary scent of the sticky residue that you find yourself obliged to help remove... It’s so sugary that it borders on being revolting! Or perhaps it’s your sweet tooth that’s igniting this feeling?

Silly, cause you feed into this quirky theory that butterflies taste like bubblegum, and now that notion takes on a funny twist, well... considering the butterflies dancing in your stomach.

As you pull your fingers away from his lips, a rush of blood roars in his ears and he quickly adds, “Might have something in my bag, let me see.”

And totally! The bag that somehow collected a ton of pendants during this road trip does sit by the sofa, and with Jaehyun lounging back, stretching his arms overhead to grab it, his shirt gets pulled up even higher, & just like that, it becomes the cause for another thing you wish you never said.

Definitely not the sight you were hoping for... The tee hiked up, way above his ribs, exposing a good portion of his slim waist as he giggles, showing off that boyish grin while rummaging through the bag behind... still looking at you.

The eye contact ****

The fcking gum that just so erratically becomes his plaything, getting relentlessly crushed beneath the pressure of his teeth, repeatedly transforming into a sticky mass that fills his mouth, stressing the rugged contours of his strong jawline...

His fucking belly...

The happy trail...

Godsent personal hell!

Your heart is thumping away in your chest and your ribs aren’t exactly doing much to protect it. The stressed thing seems ready to pop like one of his balloons and leave you in an ever-sticker mess...

“Mmmmm...” he hums, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth and pulling a handful of candies from the bag behind him. “Let’s see what we have.”

Placing each treat onto his stomach as if the world were about to erupt in a frenzy of sugar-fueled chaos, Jaehyun carefully begins to arrange each piece, making sure they’re spaced out just right and sorted into rational portions in case such an outbreak actually happens. In no time, a vibrant array of treats sprawls across him and his funky-ridden shirt, everything from lollipops, chewy gums, gummy bears, and sour candies, to little chocolates.

Imagine a carnival! The flashy colors are super distracting, and those chocolate bars are practically begging you to grab them. Still, you can’t help but tease him a bit to annoy him, specially since you’ve been going back & forth for the past three days.

“Really,” you pout cynically, “You took this many?? You’re such a…”

With a burst of laughter that is hearty & sweet, Jaehyun sends the poor candies resting on the very sides of his waist to tumble down onto the sofa as if that earthquake had REALLY made its presence felt.

“Mmmmm- Why would I want to spend money on fancy treats? Besides...” He spaces out for a bit... then remarks with a smirk, “My theory is basically sweets are sweets.”

And he tightens his lips to seem all serious, but honestly, it just makes everything worse. The dude doesn’t even lift a finger to be funny; it’s like humour just radically appears around him, and the stuff he comes up with...

Poof! A total goof or a creative thinker? It really just comes down to your mood at the time.

You grimace once more, shaking your head at him, and subtly shift your weight to your legs rather than sitting on the sofa, your body ready to leap away at the slightest hint of contact.

With an adorable, surprised expression his eyes grow round as he stares at you, “What!?” His brows shoot up too in effort to justify himself.

“That piñata was there for everyone to go wild and, umm- grab whatever they could!” Lifting his hands defensively, he pouts, “Not my fault!”

Aaaand that fucking shirt of his?

Isss at it againnnn!@#£%^*

Your mind is reeling as the candy mountain spills over in a fun avalanche.

No, because why go through all that trouble to arrange them perfectly just to wreck it himself!?

Yeah,

anyway, you find nothing to match that, indeed it was up to anyone to snatch whatever they wanted, it just looks like he had deeper pockets than the rest of you idiots to stash all that stuff, that’s all there is to it. So you give in to the urge to ‘screw it,’ let out another eye roll, and grab a tiny bag of gummy bears.

-

As if he’s achieved something, Jaehyun’s hands find their way back beneath his head, and the flirtatious smile continues in his eyes. He just basks in the moment until your frustration—the sting of yet another cheeky defeat—causes you to fumble to open the bag and so all the gummy bears go flying everywhere. 

Add chaos?

Check!

Is he into it? 

Also, check.

The pack is but what that piñata was a few days ago, bleeding in beautiful colors and gushing all things sweet.

“Ugghhh!!” Tossing your head back, you groan dramatically.

And understandably so!!! While Jaehyun?

He beams as he sticks his tongue in his cheek, and snatches the empty bag from your hands. He casually spits his spent pink gum inside it, takes a pair of gummies from his abs, and gently runs them against his lips before sliding them in...

And t

And it’s so fucking frustrating that this guy has no clue about the importance of breaking eye contact! You’re always left searching for a word that’s stronger than ‘insufferable,’ but really, the dude just constantly goes all out with everything. Legit! 

It drives you crazy. He—

Munching on them playfully, Jaehyun thinks for a moment, swallows, & then quirks an eyebrow, smirking,

“Wanna hear what the gummies just whispered into my mouth?”

What the gummies have what??

You shake your head at his nonsense but arch a brow back. Because if you had to be honest, those jelly babies aren’t the only thing looking to spill some secrets in his mouth... So, yeah, you’re JUST listening! As a matter of fact, you’re all tuned in to catch what absurdity he’s about to dish out next.

Pushing his lips together, a bratty shape that just begs to be kissed, he sits with his answer. There’s something very precious and terribly frustrating about how he keeps his responses close like they’re the best puns ever. Then he eventually smiles, “Thank you for releasing us.”

........ Woaah, they’ve at least been honest with him! Which is... cool...

Cool! Great! Awesome! You next!

“Mmm-hmm,” for dummies, some skeptical eyes and a cynical head nod are all you have...

When the magnitude of his languid x menacing should be studied!!!

Really, a quirky cotton candy man! A sugar. A delicate toxic substance.

Like, fuck! He—He’s just- unbeatable. 

That’s an overwhelming amount of power for him to have... Like, that’s too much hot... Too much sweet… It’s no good… 

Like-

Like the doses got all jacked up when he was made... Accidentally spilled too much of each, and now he’s just a walking health risk.

Catch it!

-

The disease spreads just like it always has—quickly and definitely. This earthtone babe just knows exactly how to get under your skin.

So hard to resist... So hard to not take a bite...

It’s just how it goes, you know?

Things...

Eyes...

Fingers...

& before you realise it, your fingertips glide past his jeans, over to his skin, igniting a rush of sensations with each line you draw across his abs.

Inevitably, the air gets charged with an energy... that’s not innocent. You feel the sparks. Not the good kind of sparks, but the sinful ones... The—

-

It’s like a dream at first, experiencing the thrill of someone yearning for your touch so badly.

Jae is every bit as tough as he looks, but the moment your fingers brush against him, that narrative shifts entirely. It feels like he’s been craving your touch, and those days without it have been an unbearable! fucking! stretch!

Gentle, sensual skin, a supremely royal shade of luxury milk. Everything that’s connected with a beautiful sweet, sweet & touching is associated with him. 

He’s just spot on! And your stomach is growling. And you’re looking for a bite to eat...

In fact, you’re so down bad, your sweet tooth’s at an all-time high; honestly, you’d probably go as far as to start licking him right now.

In a straight line? Curved? In any manner that sparks your creativity? Anything real—

...The hot transference from his skin onto your hand? The way he teases his lip!?? The way he shyly and discreetly raises his hips against your touch as if silently pleading for

Thisss baddieee!!

Reading into all these crazy action bits has you all jittery that you completely jump when his hand lands on your bare thigh, right at the lace border.

nononono-

With a gulp, you instantly! rise from the couch. How—Just why did you end up falling back so e

-

Fast, desperation kicks in- just- again like those moments ago... and you’re back to pacing this same motel room, seeking an escape from him. Except every aspect now feels as if it’s been cranked up to ten times the difficulty.

The reddish-brown timber panels on the walls give off tough prison steel, and the pink carpet feels all squishy and weird under your bare feet right when you need a stable solid... All while Jaehyun is- just- there... planted in place, now seated, legs all spread, on the green sofa. There’s really nothing you can do but hope he stays right where he is. 

But! once something’s set in motion, it stays in motion. Like a wildfire racing thru dry lands, fierce and unstoppable. And you just happened to let a match slip past your fingers a heartbeat ago, screwing everything up...

Naturally, he gets up. Also, that belt of his really accomplishes nothing... it’s just there to be there, so he’s just got to pull up his baggy jeans himself before he can even take a step forward.

& what his rising does is kick off a frantic chase as you two whirl around the room in a relentless spiral, & he’s hot on your tail... The very thought of him catching up on you sends dopamine through your veins, making your pulse quicken.

Plus that stunning smile? Plus his unconditional happiness? Well, both make him even more irresistible but both also complicate things for you. The excitement mounts as he approaches in the chase, each heartbeat making the thrill even stronger; that once he abruptly stops, the sprinting exertion takes its toll.

His breath comes in heavier gasps, his cheeks are flushed with a pinch of peach, and his bangs are a tousled mess, dancing around him like dandelion fluff does in the wind. Just a pure, natural and effortless elegance. He’s so incredibly attractive it almost hurts to look at him.

The tension though peaks as his words build to a sharp climax of a fact.

“You-um- You’ve been avoiding me this whole trip.”

...That sinking feeling in your heart like a rock just hit it? Yeah...

Yeah, you wish that voice of his didn’t resonate through your very being, scraping against every nerve ending, but that’s what it always does. It freezes you in place, making you overwhelmed and powerless. 

It’s kind of wild how bringing up a heavy topic during a playful moment can make it feel that much more sincere. With so many choices, he went right for the thing that drives him crazy, and that should show you what’s on his mind... at least-

But, you-you

Instinctively, you pull the same fuzzy cardigan around you, clinging to it as though it were a barrier against him, and softly slide your hand from your sleeve, unveiling a lollipop—the only item you managed to pocket earlier.

And this should sweep everything away, right?

-

“Mhmmmm,” Jaehyun hums, back on trend —

acting like he didn’t just mention something that could spark a whole conversation...

— though this time he picks up the bat resting by the bedstand which at the beginning of the week tore through that heart piñata...

And currently, with the sun set, the moon in the sky, and the desert sky glowing a delicate lilac blue, his eyes narrow and his sly grin comes in the same old style as he twists the knob of the yellow lamp, teasing, “So... a thief, huh?” 

...It’s as if he’s putting you in the spotlight, pointing out your crime, and calling you out for being a naughty girl.

& sure, he’s got you in that tight spot he wants you in, okay? But you still tilt your head and nibble on your lip, still going at it, “Maaybee.”

-

& as you start to walk backwards, everything is still beside your breath and the gentle thud of the bat as he taps it against different surfaces. Only muted noise of what seems to be Spanish drifts in from the neighboring room, but neither of you pays it much mind.

His hands fist around the bat tightly, consumed with angry adrenaline, & veins bulge along his smooth skin, sending filthy pulses up his arms. 

It’s a sight that attracts goosebumps all along & across your skin, igniting a warmth that curls from your legs to your belly. The same very electrifying rush of adrenaline wraps around you as if he’s pulling you into the grip of that wooden bat... 

Hiss, twist, loosen, and turn, just like how his hands manipulate that wood...

And you know... it doesn’t take much to find yourself backed up against that mahogany wall.

At once, ‘trapped’ takes on an even greater weight than what it meant before. You feel twisted and turned in advance, completely taken apart by the sheer passion in his deep brown eyes.

Jaehyun lifts a brow. He’s all about this vibe. That big toothy smile of his. The way he’s locked in on you. The ‘Just a couple of steps away, baby.’

Uh-huh, but what about that horrible, horrible crave you’ve told yourself you CAN’T have!??

The itch sits on your tongue, fruity in flavour—perhaps strawberry or raspberry—you aren’t sure. A tang that lingers in your memory, the same as of candy gum that had been in the air around him earlier and one which grew bolder with each step he took toward you. This sickness makes you wish that your tongue is already wrapped in his, tightening for a deeper inspection. 

Yikes! Please, let’s just avoid that!

-

To drive away the feeling, you look down to your toes in the cotton carpet, shift your weight, and then peel away the wrapper of the lemon lolly, seeking a bitter flavor to replace the trace of his scent.

Then eventually, accept the proximity between you two as it is - as you let your back land against the wall, hoping the tension will melt away. 

Feeling the lolly along your lips, you grimace at the acid but take it...

And as you look down, even in your peripheral view, it’s clear that Jaehyun is still watching you, & you realize he’s focused on your mouth. & after giving the lollipop a couple of spins on your tongue, you proudly look up, thinking you’re good and that you’ve totally neutralized the crave for him...

-

Because the suddenly too sure of itself face?

Your neck, your collars, the hard candy prodding at your cheek?

The sleek brown silk and the intricate black lace trim which ascends higher on your thigh as you shift your weight to one leg, elegantly placing the other in front as you find your stance? And then the glossy black polish on your toenails as you draw them from a point in the carpet, just barely hovering above it, & in a straight line with him... As in ???

Yeah, absolutely not; that’s far from a quiet invite...

No! You’re totally not just ‘asking for it.’

On the spur, the dynamics shift... As you let the lemon hang in your mouth, Jaehyun abruptly brings his bat up & uses it to delicately move a piece of your hair aside, and then the very tip of the bat makes a gentle tap at the heart of your collars.

Your breath catches in your throat, a fragile spectacle he zeroes in on as your cords constrict, and then, with knitted brows you swallow in the sour juice of the sucker. 

Really!?? What more does he want of your sorry soul when you’re just trying to get through each breath?

But no! You certainly didn’t ask for it… Just remember he’s not one to give up when told to quit. So, either pack your things or choose a better design, Sugar.

Though that’s the very thing... You can’t deny the magnetic pull of Jaehyun’s game...

Sure, you’re feeling the heat from your toes to the top of your head, but let’s keep things in check, yeah?

Feeling the groove, as you pull out the lollipop to give your lips a little lick, your eyes wander down to what could be seen as a ‘dangerous tool’, and you smirk.

Jaehyun sucks in on his lip, very slowly, very cheekily. The guy’s clearly amused with you. 

“Are you seriously just going to keep looking at me like that?” you ask eventually, taking a moment before adding, “I’m not a fan of it.”

“Mmmmm,” he gives his hundredth low hum, tilting his back head just so, & flexing that tight jawline that always seems to be up for something... something explicit and offensive.

However you pout and slide the lollipop right back in your mouth.

“Tasty?”

...You had to know that was coming, right? And so, as the duel continues, you shrug, allowing a slight grimace to escape your lips, piquing his curiosity about the taste he’s missing out on.

& it runs like a charm.

As Jaehyun lets his eyelids droop in the slowest blink imaginable, &, in his infamous deep voice, says, “I waaanna taste.”

Nuh-uh, even if you tried to reject, it wouldn’t make a difference since he’s right in your face; his mouth hanging agape, eager for absolutely, really absolutely! anything you might have to offer... Cause, there’s always room for a shift in sentiments, wouldn’t you agree?

Though the ‘weapon’ somewhat still stays pointed at you...

Take notes!

For sure! But being the fantastic person you are you tap into your generous spirit & pull out the candy with a satisfying pop while Jaehyun stares at you, mischief even spilling out of his open mouth.

With only inches between you, you gently slide the bad sugar in, pushing it along his tongue and unconditionally savoring the moment and the view.

-

His slightly downturned, sultry eyes as you still hold onto the other end of the white plastic, & he keeps sucking on the lemon in his mouth.

Those damn sunken cheeks of his. The tiny scratch on his nose from a few days ago which has mostly healed, but you can still see it.

The dense, dark brows in disagreement with his bleached hair with a still lingering odor of ammonium hydroxide... Really, a look born from a reckless bet on a chaotic road trip—a decision that seemed utterly foolish but now is somehow working in his favor...

In a way, it’s even funny how the flashy hair is soooo out there… but it’s there, being just one aspect of him. Still, you have to admit its impact is real. A gutsy choice that jazzes him up a notch. This new arc he’s projecting, where it seems, he’s flirting a bit more with his impulsive side? Yeah...

Somewhere between handsome and creamy tabby cat... He’s just bursting with the most obnoxious playfulness, and he’s paired with a smile that raises up his dimples.

The way he’s making you curious and wild >>>  He’s so sexy, it’s unmatched...

And you understand the gravity of wanting such a fine man! The—

(!) The despite knowing, yet failing... or at least in what you think you know and what you think is better.

-

You’re completely focused on his lips, and in an instant, reality just seems to melt away like it’s under a spell.

Tis a state... A mood! The ninth cloud where you can’t feel the air or the ground... All there is is his insane eyes scrutinizing your reaction to what he does to the lolly, and it’s honestly the worst kind of pressure.

Finished savouring, Jaehyun’s tongue casually circles his sensuous lips, collecting all possible leftover like he’s just finished you in style.

“Ummm…” Scrunching his nose at the flirty, piquant taste, he takes a step back. Mulls over the candy choice; pushes his cooked bangs; and hesitates before he says, “Nah, this isn’t the one... I-um... I bet there’s something better out there... It’s likeee” suppresses smile in advance of saying it, “It’s just on the tip of my tongue.” His brows flatten too, mans serious! “Help me think?”

OH, Sir!

A treat that can out-beat this bittersweet taste? A goodie that packs an even bigger surprise?

Your always rambling mind goes thoughtless, & that burning need to press on drops off like a light switch. The coming panic. Your gotcha moment. You go quiet. It hits you that this is the first time your playful teasing has backfired and that maybe you can’t be bailed out of what’s to come.

Worse, as it’s one of those silences that just hangs in the air, making things feel more tense. Your self-imposed rules about ‘what you think you know’ and ‘what’s better’ dissolved, leaving you fully present and stimulated.

& Jaehyun digs right in, spreading the cavity...

He lifts the bat again, its tip gently pressing into your belly, and it’s like you can almost feel his warmth seep through it, then past the fragile silken fabric to your skin. 

You get so hot. This bizarre ripple from your legs to your tummy as you tightrope between pleasure and unease, joy and hesitation... It’s like you two are finally on the same wavelength, knowing what the other is about to say before the words even come out.

A delicate crease develops between his bushy brows which deepens as he tenderly whispers, “I’m sorry.”

“Jae- don’t.” you murmur, your lips curving into a sorrowful pout as you gently shake your head ‘no.’

Needless to say, something nuanced only you and him know...

The result of everything that’s happened...

The ‘this whole trip has messed up the trajectory of our friendship.’

The reason why he chose to hang back today...

The tactics which kicked in since everyone piled into that Jeep truck this morning & sped away. 

The from ‘getting schooled’ in all the board games to the countless Polaroids he let you snap of him, to that little “I’m sorry” hand peck he gave you that had you making the death stare, and the “Don’t ever try to do that again!”

The rude ‘skin-feeding’ masked behind the pretense of a ‘generous’ food provider.

And how you slipped past every move, pushed back, and resisted until he has put you up against this wall... and now ‘the-no-escape’.

Still and all- your pushback’s like a sport. Be afraid of what follows...

-

For Jaehyun gnaws into the very walls of your sensitivity as if sensuality were his chosen medium. Each deliberate motion of the bat becomes a brushstroke in the masterpiece of your downfall...

He glides it along the contours of your waist, teasingly skimming over your curves, trails it down your legs and inners, and even lifts the hem of your dress just enough to make your skin hurt in anticipation.

Then, it finds its way to your stomach yet again, as if to indicate something deep & unexpressed, before tracing a direct path up your sternum, sweeping along your collarbone until he’s made your cardigan slip down your arm, taking the delicate strap of your dress with it...

So much of ‘Jae, don’t,’ huh? Oh, sweetheart… 

-

Certainly, the last thing you hope he avoids is the very thing Jaehyun does...

Trailing the bat along your jawline, ultimately he rests it under your chin... Something something about a ‘clear display of dominance.’ His insane eyes about render you completely motionless as he insists on glancing between your eyes and your lips the way one searches a dictionary for definitions. Again and Again... And then gravity happens...

In an instant, the bat slips from his grasp and tumbles to the floor, making you flinch as his lips finally find their way to your bare shoulder, where seems like he’s achieved something.

Oh, the bite-

An insidious heat stroke as you moan the most promiscuous hiss there is.

“Jaee, we shou—”

“Baby-”

Vibrationssssssssss...

It comes out even more whiny as he gets all of that word muffled against your neck. It roughly cuts into your focus, seeps into your ears, and goes straight to the wrong place.

The very last thing you feel yourself do is slide left against the wall, scraping for any last escape routes, but he just moves in sync with you.

Up to the moment he—

The sound of yearning?

Jaehyun’s palms slamming into the hardwood, spreading out like wings on either side of you, creating a cage of flesh. Brushing off the idea of consent, his hot body presses against yours.

With his hands up, that whimsical teddy bear tee yet again peels from his jeans. It constricts around his arm sleeves, flexing the impressive curve of his biceps. His veins, too, scrumptiously pushed in motivation: ‘All mine! You can’t outrun this, baby. I’m keeping you right where I want you.’

Really, the rest it’s all in your perception—either a trap or a safe spot.

-

A little motel inside a world of sand... you’ve never felt smaller than you do now with him towering over you—not literally, size in drive and ambition.

You watch yourself fade&wilt in his unsettlingly lazy eyes like Valentine’s flower petals from their vase falling onto the white desk dirtied with graphite from pencil shavings and candy wrappers. 

It’s so desertly calm, that your nails accidentally strike a chord in tune as your hands casually fall past his belt buckle...

A beautiful melody that makes his dimples grow deeper, though he still tilts his head, frowning adorably as he perpetually continues to figure things out just for the sake of figuring things out...

Yeah?

Cos, what is the motive here? As your hands do settle gently at the hem of his jeans, fingers teasingly dipping into the softness of his navel?

Hook + Pull = Gravity.

Oh, man, do you make him feel insane things? Cause you’ve been on your guard for the whole day, some goals are hard!

Are you coming ahead of all his sneaky schemes? Are you a baddie too?

Cause now you’re just holding up a higher card like you’ve been doing in every game today. Maybe you... are... on top of your game... The candy of victory is better when it’s hard...

Gravity... Your lips inch closer. 

Your slightly parted lips & that parched swallow might just give Blondie a hint of how desperately you want him to melt on your tongue. And you’re over worrying about it. You even yank at his necklace.

The way his hair falls over your lashes creates a delightful distraction as your noses nearly collide. And the best you can pretend in this intimacy is filthy, “I still haven’t forgiven you.” 

“Ummmmm...”

On brand! Disturbingly sexy hum that flows like honey—a sugary glaze, coating your lips in a deliciously gooey way. You’re hit with the sting & the toxin even before Jaehyun has a chance to consider kissing you or taking any steps. He smiles, he’s just that awful...

“You will.”

-

Alas,

the abrupt grating noise of tires screeching to a stop cuts through the dull ambience outside. A lively group seems to spill out of the truck, loud and as if they’ve just been recharged. A voice you both instantly recognize calls out, saturated with sarcasm and clearly wanting to grab ‘someone’s’ ears. 

“Greeat! We’ve just rolled into ‘Losers Place!’”

-

What a Dullass Bullshit Scenario... for Losers.

Jaehyun scoffs lightly, giving a flimsy half-eye roll, his lips pursed in a way that shows just how unimpressed he is with the moment... Inexplicable urgency drives his body into yours one last time, likely a final act of connection.

He hadn’t even had the chance to pin your hands above your head or hold your jaw in a way that would leave you feeling completely—

There was no pulling of hair, nor did you wrap your arms around his neck to-to—

Nor did your tongue map out the crossroads on his stomach...

Or—

Clear anger paints your temple, too, each line bearing frustration... Just there’s something about keeping it a secret that bodies the danger factor, making everything feel so much more smoky and intense.

& you pout as much, nudging your nose against his as to where you feel all deprived but electrified by simply- just- doing that, softly whispering against his lips, breath all drenched,

“Do you think they know?”

Girlie, Fuck! Do you know what you do to him?

© 𝟭-𝟰𝟵. do not copy, translate, repost, and modify my works.

[eroguron0nsense]

Garp, Fascism, and Parental Failure

Garp is truly one of the most interesting One Piece characters for me because of the extent to which his dogged, relentless devotion to a fascist system–and the supposed "order" it promises to uphold in the face of anarchy or rebellion–perseveres no matter how many times it fails him and his son and his grandsons. He's fully aware of the deep-seated corruption and atrocity, and feels some kind of moral obligation to bend its rules to protect the innocent (as we can see with his attempts to protect Rouge and Ace), but when faced with widespread femicide and infanticide, genocide, slavery and endless examples of egregious cruelty, he is unable to comprehend the notion that the system is indefensible, or that the only moral choice he can possibly make when faced with that level of atrocity is to leave and resist it. His son recognizing the inherent, inexcusable failures of the World Government and its armed enforcers–literally quitting the force to start a revolution– changes nothing. The order to slaughter pregnant people and infants at Baterilla can't convince him otherwise. The countless instances of bribery, the tolerance of atrocity from state-sanctioned privateers, everything about the history of the Valley of the Gods are all things he's aware of, and takes issue with, but never comes to the conclusion that he cannot affect positive change within a system designed for oppression. The public execution of his grandson–a prime example of the marine's fundamentally irrational, arrogant, vindictive cruelty clearly bound to blow up in all of their faces even before their Pyrrhic victory at the summit war–makes him waver, but even when confronted with this obvious, indefensible injustice against a child he raised and rescued by people seeking to murder him on live TV and desecrate his corpse as a show of power, he cannot bring himself to act against it in any meaningful way no matter how much it hurts him to leave his grandson to die. If he can't veto it, he'll stay Vice Admiral and suffer through Ace being sacrificed on the altar of fascist state control, and functionally leave Luffy for dead in the process while he's at it. He fails every single person he wanted to love–Ace, Luffy, and almost certainly Dragon–and allows himself to be reluctantly complicit in countless crimes against humanity again and again and again because he's so deeply steeped in this notion of preservation of order through state control that he convinces himself that even this disgusting, atrocious, fundamentally flawed and untenable excuse for a government is better than abolition, better than revolution, or just the act of expecting accountability or literally anything better from the systems that issue false promises to protect you. Dadan beating the living shit out of him and calling him a failure as a grandfather, as a self proclaimed defender of the people, is one of the most important scenes in the Postwar Arc because a lesser series might frame Garp as a tragic, helpless figure suffering more than anyone else due to conflict of love and duty, but One Piece refuses to whitewash his actions/inaction or allow the grief and suffering caused by systems he's complicit in to take precedence over its real victims: the D brothers.

There's so much I could say about statism and anarchism and the ways people have internalized the supposed necessity of state violence to the extent they can't oppose that violence even when it ruins them or their loved ones, but that horrible indoctrination and its devastating consequences for both him and his family are what makes Garp so fascinating to watch and so thematically/politically important to One Piece as a whole.

[jymwahuwu]

I love and think about Emperor Jing Yuan a lot. Like a servant girl getting called in to be the emperor Jing Yuan's Concubine 😋

I love ancient China like the history, art and clothing. when I think about Chinese Emperor Jing Yuan I think of Cinderella Chef (animated version) it's so cute and romantic. I also think about the fic series I used to read in 2020 or 2019 when the reader is the selected tailor for the emperor and the emperor falls in love.

It was such a good story, with many good different story elements to it even though it's was an yandere x reader 😭 and I'm not even exaggerating how good it is. It was slow burn yandere yet sooo good and worth it

I have to read it again cause it's sooo good.

There's sooo many good art of Jing Yuan in ancient Chinese clothing and I love and appreciate it sm 🤤

Jing Yuan kept a servant girl as his concubine, wanting her by his side every moment. As emperor, he faced countless threats and worried constantly for her safety. Yet, he couldn’t resist making her his bride, even though the public and his family disapproved. How could a servant girl from a humble background become empress alongside the emperor? But he paid no attention to their criticisms, choosing instead to live in his Fantasies with her. She was the only woman he’d ever met who cared for him beyond his wealth and title, and he was determined to keep her close forever. 😇

Wow, I also like Chinese palace stories actually!! What you said made me imagine a lot. It turns out that Jing Yuan is so suitable for the palace AU🥰✊

Have you watched "Story of Yanxi Palace"? It was a popular palace drama in 2018, and social media was all about it at that time. The historical prototype of the female protagonist is Empress Xiaoyichun (孝儀純皇后). She first started as a concubine. During her lifetime, she was the "Imperial Noble Consort" (皇貴妃), which was the highest position among the concubines after Empress. The core of its story is about a confident servant woman who starts from the bottom and moves up through the ranks with wisdom and courage.

A negative example is "Ruyi's royal love in the palace". The show still gets a lot of negative criticism in China today (yes, that's happening in 2024) - for its slut-shaming and superiority theories. The lower class people must be loyal to the noble people, otherwise they will be severely punished. There are a lot of torture scenes of women, never criticizing the mistakes of the misogynistic system, vilifying all historical figures just to beautify the female protagonists, advocating that women must be loyal to one man throughout their lives or else they are sluts, vilifying and torturing ambitious women, etc.

Oh, I'm sorry I really hate that TV show so I'm talking too much about it, but to get back to the point, it occurred to me that if Jing Yuan were the emperor, he would be very - very infatuated and dedicated. There was an emperor in Chinese history called "Emperor Xiaozong of Ming"(明孝宗) who insisted on living a monogamous life with only one empress. The same is true for Jing Yuan! Jing Yuan has only married you from beginning to end! You are one of his servants. No matter what your personality is, witty and lively/shy and kind, or even arrogant, Jing Yuan finds you really cute🥰💖He is very happy that you entered the palace and were assigned to serve him. He will sometimes sleep on your lap and ask you to feed him. He was like a big sleeping lion. But no one in politics dares to underestimate Jing Yuan because he always predicts everything.

Jing Yuan built a fruit garden in the palace, as well as a place to raise cats and birds. He got to pet cute cats and birds every day. The kittens purred around him. Maybe you were the servant who took care of the cats here. And he discovered you💖You are so suitable to be the mother of cats. And maybe he's hiding his identity and you care about his health and happiness before his status.

Politics and the harem are closely related. Those ministers petitioned Jing Yuan to marry a girl who matched his status, but he would not marry any girl except you. This is his own business! There was an emperor named "Emperor Gaozong of Tang"(唐高宗) in Chinese history. Despite the objections of his ministers, he insisted on marrying his father's concubine (named "Wuzhao"- 武曌) as his queen and sharing power with her. This is a very real love among emperors! After her husband's death, the queen became the only female emperor of China. The expression of the emperor's love for someone is to give them the best at all costs, including power, fame, wealth, and status. Jing Yuan wants to give it to you. He married you. Based on your status as a maid, you start as a concubine but work your way up. And he will also give birth to kitty babies with you. Those little princesses and princes running happily are all of your blood and his.

And he also decided to discuss politics and decide national affairs with you, collectively called "two saints" (based on Wuzhao's history haha), and share power with you. Because he knows how smart and cute you are, able to sharpen your claws and handle government affairs💖He is also ready to build a royal mausoleum, where only the two of you are buried together (it may be a bit scary, but this is how the Chinese emperors express their love haha). Even after Wuzhao became the empress, she didn’t build a mausoleum independently because she loved her husband. No matter what, you are always together, with sweetness and honor forever💖

[hazbinhazbinhazbinreblog]

HELLOOOOOO

I have been semi stalking and poking my head into this account a lot since I adore fanfic anons content. And I would like to propose my own little AU and maybe fanfics for a later date (keyword, maybe since I may also post these onto my ao3) BUT LE CONSIDER:

Based semi on the AU from user AppleParty on Twitter, mainly just one idea, the one where Alastor is Lucifer’s personal guard, the rest is my own.

Basic gist: Alastor makes a deal with Lucifer. Lucifer grants Alastor all the power he desires, but Alastor has to vow to protect Charlie with his life and try and help parent her as Lucifer knows he is not in the right mental state to do so anymore. So Alastor ends up vanishing for 7+ years to help raise and protect the Princess of Hell, while also having a budding friendship with Lucifer (So Hell's Greatest Dad turns from dad off to a tongue and cheek teasing match).

Everything is fine and dandy, some of the same plot points from the pilot happen instead with the inclusion of Alastor. Vaggie and Alastor also have a more mutual respect but not friends yet relationship. The interview goes horribly wrong and Vaggie has to hold Alastor back from ripping Katie Killjoy’s head off. The scene in the limo is more tense as Angel is avoiding the piss off guard dog that is the radio demon now. Alastor tries to cheer Charlie up by cashing in some favors by calling up Nifty and Husk, probably in this AU, Husk is still not an overlord as Alastor owns his soul still, but Husk has more power and having to raise Charlie probably has matured Alastor more so him and Husk are more on even ground and Alastor looks at Husk as more as an advice giver when he needs it. Nifty is just Nifty. The two agree to work at the hotel as they are doing Alastor a favor and they believe in Charlie’s dream. Alastor is up for debate as he may only be doing this because he has to since he is her personal guard or he actually believes in it. The only thing he will say on the matter is he finds it entertaining and he can’t wait to see the chaos start.

All things are going good, they plan on celebrating and everything until a knock comes to the door. Alastor excuses himself, shooing off Vaggie to tell her she should be with her girlfriend, he will handle the matters. He goes to answer the door, being speaking in a manner tone until he opens his eyes and is greeted to

Vox

BECAUSE YEAH SPOILER ALERT THIS IS A STATICRADIO AU HAHAHAH

Alastor’s smile drops and he hisses in anger and slams the door shut in Vox’s face, not even giving the Overlord a chance to speak as he storms back into the lobby. Cue Charlie having to rush over and mediate everything and bring Vox in, who saw the interview on TV and wants to sponsor the hotel. Because well, hey it would be good money and it would be funny to see Charlie try and redeem sinners. But everyone can TELL there is tension between him and Alastor, like the scary kind of tension when you have no clue if person a is gonna lunge and rip out person b’s throat. But you know its there since they have a history together.

Cue all the hijinks that ensue as Alastor and Vox have to try and repair their relationship while also helping Charlie out with her dream. Also more chaos than normal since Alastor probably accompanies Charlie to more places than in canon.

But that is all hehe. Am gonna give myself a sign off so people know who I am soo

-⚔️aka “Hotel’s Radio Guard AU” (work in title au name) Anon!

I love your energy my friend, on this blog we appreciate fanfic anon, spamming, and all kinds of AUs

The beginning of this is similar to dadstaticradio au (except lucifer instead of lilith ofc) but there is no issue I take with that bc I love it

Also referring to Alastor as guard dog and "Niffty is just Niffty" made me laugh, if you ever do post on Ao3 pls tag me in it or sent a link in asks and I'll share it on your behalf

[hooked-on-elvis]

What is your favorite part of the '68 Special?

Pictures: Singer Presents  ... Elvis, commonly referred to as the '68 Comeback Special. 1968.

For me, undoubtedly I say my favorite part of the '68 Special is the sit-down concerts, specially the reunion between Elvis and the remaining members of Elvis' former band, the Blue Moon Boys, Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana.

I wonder if the fans, not the specialized critic such as musicians and general people in the business but specially the fans, back then, while watching this TV special for the first time, understood or merely felt the significance of this moment. I wonder if they were surprised in seeing Elvis not only back onstage after a while but back onstage with Scotty and DJ Fontana by his side. Man, that was special! To me, the most special portion of the '68 Comeback. ♥

Bill Black, bassist, unfortunately passed away in 1965, while Elvis was still full time engaged with his Hollywood career. Fans only wish Bill could have been there with Scotty and DJ. He had that irreverent performance that fascinates me, surely he would've been a great asset to the show. I only feel sorry Elvis, neither Scotty or DJ, ever mentioned Bill on the '68 Special, but its understandable the reason why. It wasn't about the Blue Moon Boys more than it was about Elvis returning to the stage. Even so, had Bill made it to this moment, man! That would've been something else. Even more meaningful than it already was.

Scotty Moore: His memories on the '68 Comeback Special and 'behind the scenes': Elvis and The Blue Moon Boys performing in Europe?

Source: Excerpt of the documentary "Elvis: The Birth of Rock n' Roll" (2004)

Scotty reveals Elvis asked him and DJ Fontana if they would agree to go on the road with him again, this time performing overseas, in Europe. Curious enough, to that question, Scotty says Elvis called him and DJ Fontana to another room in his home, so they could talk in private - which was something unusual for him because "usually anything he had to say, he'd say no matter who was around".

For the longest time, performing around the world was something Presley aimed. Ever since he had been stationed in Germany with the US Army during his service time, a period he did paused his career therefore he didn't perform while in Europe between 1958 to 1960, reporters asked him if and when that moment would come when Elvis would go back to Europe but this time for live concerts, to the thrill of his passionate fans overseas who followed him career from afar, many since the 50s. Unfortunately touring outside US (other than few performances in Canada in 1957) never seemed the get the right time.

Once Elvis begin performing live again in 1969, after he was out of the movie contracts, Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, would always have excuses on the tip of his tongue for why an European tour, or world tour for that matter, would not be a such good idea. When Elvis received some death threats coming his way through letters sent to his crew occasionally, starting from 1969 on, those incident perfectly fit to Colonel Parker's intentions for his gold boy. Parker would use the incidents to manipulate Elvis to believe they couldn't do his security properly out of the US. Colonel would tell Presley how it would be too dangerous for him, besides they could make just as much money performing home as they have been doing so far.

Elvis never had this one dream of performing overseas coming true in his life, as much as another reunion between him and the Blue Moon Boys never came to be after the '68 Comeback Special. Scotty says that private conversation in Elvis' home (in 1968) was the last time he was together with Elvis like that, which makes this moment in history one of a kind.

During the '68 Special (sit-down concert), Scotty submits a special request to Elvis for them to play "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" together.

The song was recorded by them on February 3, 1956, at RCA studios in New York. It was released as B-side to the EP "Elvis Presley", out in September 1956. The cover shows Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black performing together.

Later, the song would be featured on the LP "For Elvis Fans Only" released in 1959. Elvis would frequently include "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" to his main setlists from 1970 to 1975, occasionally performing it in 1976 and 1977.

No wonder Scotty picked this song. Maybe a subtle way of honoring late Bill Black. ♥

About their performance of this tune during the '68 Comeback Special:

As they jam together, Scotty gives a cue and Elvis tears into “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” with a raw assault of mixed emotion. His performance is so intense that it almost—in the best way—scratches the ears. Vocal cords that, so far, have proved their owner’s mastery with smooth singing are pushed to the point of fraying at the edges. As Greil Marcus noticed, when Elvis lurches into the number, what he experiences is a feeling that is both joshing and liberated. At one point, as the musicians jam together, it’s possible to hear Charlie Hodge getting carried away with laughter, as if bobbing in the fray of a heady, almost oceanic moment. In his underrated 2004 pocket volume The Rough Guide to Elvis, Paul Simpson describes “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” as “Elvis’s answer to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.” Taking on this old staple in the Comeback, what the singer delivers is lusty, passionate, and commanding, yet also desperate, angry, and sad. He conjures with immense powers. — Mark Duffett (Counting Down Elvis - His 100 Finest Songs, 2018)

Again, what is your favorite part of the '68 Special?

[gwen-pierce]

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz

Gwendolyn’s watch vibrated against her wrist as she pounded her feet against the treadmill. Glancing down at its face, she sighed at the name illuminating the screen. Twice in one week? Fuck. Muting the episode of Love Island she had on tv and lowering her speed down to a slow walk, she grabbed her phone out of the cupholder and answered the call on speaker.

“Hi, daddy.” She sang cheerfully, though slightly out of breath. Concern laced her father’s tone as he replied.

“Are you okay, sweetheart? You sound…unwell.”

“I’m fine. Just on the treadmill. What do I owe the pleasure?” Getting to the point, Gwen grabbed her towel from hanging off the handrail and patted at the sweat lining her brow.

“Brooke isn’t feeling well.” Gregory began and she had to bite her tongue from demanding to know what that had to do with her. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t going to be good. Especially if her father chose to take the time to call instead of text. There wasn’t going to be any way out of this one. “She was my plus one for the Alumni Board Silent Auction tonight.”

“And you want me to go with you?” Gwen nearly choked on the words as she spat them out, her vision starting to dance with stars. Anxiety, fear, and rage gripped at her throat and she choked on it. Unable to speak, unable to come up with any excuse why she couldn’t make the event. She shook her head, even though her father couldn’t see her. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. He had invited her and she was going. That was that.

“Well, you are an alumnus yourself, Gwendolyn, and you haven’t shown your face since graduation. People want to see you. You’re a huge part of the school’s history. You know the team hasn’t been to a championship since your captaincy?” Yes. She knew. It was him who didn’t know why. No one knew. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I’ll have a car to pick you up at 5:30.”

-----

They were on their second lap of the room when Gwen felt his eyes on her. Even after nearly six years she recognized it instantly. The feeling of his eyes crawling all over her, making her skin prickle. The heat from it that sucked the air from her lungs, suffocating her. Her eyes darted around the room and she marked every exit, every escape, as Richard Hill made his way across the room and directly towards her.

“Gregory! And Gwen!” He called cheerfully as her old volleyball coach closed the gap between them and clapped her father on the shoulder. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? What a treat to have you join us!” Richard pulled her in for a hug and her body stiffened in his embrace. He lingered there and she knew what he was doing. Breathing in her shampoo. Gwen’s vision blurred and she had to blink a few times to clear the fog.

“I’m sure you two have a lot of catching up to do so I’ll leave you to it. I want to go get my bid for the Bora Bora trip, it’ll make Brooke feel better if I come home with a gift.” Gregory winked at Richard as if they shared some secret joke about the nuances of women while Gwen fought the urge to scream at her dad not to leave her. When she finally found her voice again, he was already gone.

“You really have grown up quite nicely, haven’t you, Gwendolyn?” Her old coach’s voice dropped to a purr, so quiet that no one in the hustle and bustle of the event would overhear as he moved closer to Gwen, his hand grazing over her hip in a way that any outsider would consider nonchalant and he used to the touch to guide them towards the outskirts of the crowd. She had no choice but to follow or risk making a scene.

“Haven’t you missed me?” His words whispered so close to her ear was like ice down her spine, his hand snaking from her waist over the curve of her backside. She went rigid, stopped walking entirely. Not this time. Not again. Never again. She wasn’t a little girl anymore and the power she thought Richard Hill had held over for so long was nothing but an illusion. Turning to face him, her gaze as hard as the steel walls his abuse had caused her to erect around herself, Gwen stared directly into his eyes.

“No.” She used his stunned silence at her defiance to make a break for it. As fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself, Gwen half walked, half jogged to the closest exit, the one she had marked upon her initial arrival and fled down the stairwell. Her heart was thumping as loud her echoed footsteps but she didn’t stop until she had burst through the double doors into the lobby of the building. It wasn’t until she stopped to catch her breath that she realized she had started crying and she had no idea what to do next.

It could have been minutes, hours, seconds, or even days before she decided what to do next. With shaking hands, she pulled her phone from her purse. She opened her latest text thread and called the contact from there. They answered on the third ring. Gwen didn’t even say hello as her voice came out strangled and tearful. “Can you come pick me up?”

[orchestraytedkhaos]

Rexsoka. Yeah, it's my ship. Still.

I mainly just lurk here, reading fanfic and enjoying the memes. But the angst of the last few has given me the courage to dive in and say a few words.

First, let me clear the air: Rebels was when I started shipping Rexsoka. Prior to their reunion on that show, it had never ever occurred to me to ship them. Despite having read the novels.

So, yeah, look, I totally get the opposition to shipping early Clone Wars Rex and Ahsoka. She's a child. He's a child too, arguably, although his accelerated maturation makes everything super messy. The military structure and fact that Rex is basically a slave means its got power issues galore. Then for those in the US, there is the whole 18 year old age of consent thing (noting, for good or ill, it's 16 most other places). I get why this squicks people. It's the SanSan of Star Wars.

But people grow up. Even on TV.

Season 7 Ahsoka is 17 going on 18, and effectively an adult. She's commanded armies, and just spent a year living and working independently. She is also obviously mature and, frankly, animated that way. Rex is a long term friend, they love and care for each other, and by the end of the season, she basically risks everything for him, and he for her. The episodes are also written in a very obviously shippy way, with the gazing, the chats, the meaningful converstions, the hand holding and the tears. Not to mention that sad, moonlit reunion in Tales of the Jedi.

And although I dont think it matters much, by this time, even taking Rex at double chronological age, the gap is pretty mild by fantasy standards. 17-18 and about 26, roughly the same as Buffy and age-corrected Angel, and way less than Han and Leia.

Fast forward to Rebels, and we have two mature adults with a shared history and goals, who love, trust and admire each other, share common interests, and are amongst the most important people in each other's lives. It's a believable and natural thing for that to progress to something more. The challenges to their relationship are things like, for Ahsoka, the lingering memory of the Jedi code and Anakin and Padme's destructive passion, and Rex's rapid aging, status and limited life experiences. It is those kinds of emotional and external barriers and their shared trauma that make the romance so interesting.

Season 7 + and Rebels Rexsoka is classic friends to lovers, and one of the nicest, softest and most realistic relationships in Star Wars. The opposition to it, and moraliatic shaming of those who like is, is something I simply don't get. It's bizarre. There are heaps of ships that are far, far more problematic (including Anakin/Padme) that don't get this hate.

Like, anti dudes, what exactly *is* the problem here? I suspect the it's that some people just want to get their hate on.

The recent flashbacks? Yeah, that one on Mandalore complicates thing, but I doubt they had stomping on shippers in mind when they cast Ariana, as I have seen suggested elsewhere. The more likely scenario is that - at about 14 yo when this was filmed - Ariana was totally perfect for the first flashback, and is perfect for playing young Ahsoka going forward. Even setting aside that she is an amazing actress, she's insanely athletic and can duel weild light sabres while knee walking though a twist. She's also already tied to Disney. She wasn't quite right for the part, and, I agree, that does make watching it in light of the fanfic a bit uncomfortable. But, it's not just a shipper issue. Putting an Ahsoka that looks and sounds like that in the episodes with the Martez sisters and Bo Katan is weird af too, and doesn't work. I doubt it is meant to.

Story-wise, the best and only real take is that the flashbacks aren't live action replays. The Mandalore scene doesnt even chronologically match what happened (Ahsoka is so fighting Saxon in that scene, which never happened). They are visions about Ahsoka and Anakin and their relationship, not live action replays. Both remember her as a child caught up in a war. Smoke, the fog of war, flashing lights and dying, faceless clones.

And Anakin and Rex.

What I take from these is that in Ahsoka's mind, and Anakin's too for that matter, Rex is always there for her. Standing in the chaos, calm and confident in himself and in her, and looking badass as heck. With an older Ahsoka it would have absolutely been smoking scene from her pov, and no way was it written otherwise. As an older Ahsoka remembering, it's hot. As younger Ahsoka, he's there as her protector and friend.

Do I do ever think this ship will play out on screen? Not, no explicitly. And, yeah, it probably is harder now because of that vision (although if they ever do film a younger Ahsoka series, they will undoubtedly be casting a young actor for Rex, and Ariana will, by then, be 18). But I don't think that was intentional, and I don't think that much has changed. It was always intended to be an "open for interpretation" relationship, written with the possibility not excluded. And I am good with that. Perhaps I even prefer it. Star Wars has a truly dreadful record with romance and, besides, too often cementing subtle or ust-based ships kill them. I just hope this hasn't, because it's still my ship and I love it.

[beardedmrbean]

Denmark's historic old stock exchange building in the centre of Copenhagen has been engulfed by fire.

The 17th Century Børsen is one of the city's oldest buildings and onlookers gasped as its iconic dragon spire tumbled into the street below.

Culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said 400 years of Danish cultural heritage had gone up in flames.

Members of the public rushed to rescue historic paintings and it took hours before the fire was under control.

The building, dating back to 1625, is a stone's throw from Denmark's parliament, the Folketing, housed in the old royal palace of Christiansborg castle. Danish media said the nearby square was being evacuated and the main entrance to Christiansborg was closed because of smoke.

The old stock exchange was being renovated and had been shrouded in scaffolding and protective plastic covering.

It currently houses the Danish chamber of commerce, which described the scenes on Tuesday morning as a terrible sight. Its director, Brian Mikkelsen, said as much as half of the old stock exchange had burned down but vowed that it would be rebuilt "no matter what".

Local craftsman Henrik Grage told Danish TV that it was a tragic day. "This is our Notre-Dame," he said, comparing it with the fire that engulfed the roof and spire of the cathedral in the centre of Paris almost exactly five years ago.

The Paris fire broke out under the eaves of Notre-Dame on 15 April 2019 when it was also shrouded in scaffolding as part of extensive renovations. Investigators have blamed either a short circuit in the electrics or a worker's cigarette butt that was not properly put out.

The cause of the fire in Copenhagen is also for the moment unknown but emergency services said the scaffolding made their operation more difficult. Officials said the fire was most intense around the tower.

One of the craftsmen replacing brickwork on the building saw the fire break out on the roof while he was on the scaffolding. Ole Hansen said he shouted to his colleagues they needed to get down and that he left the door unlocked for firemen to get in.

Fire department chief Jakob Vedsted Andersen said firefighters faced an almost impossible task accessing the area under the old copper roof. It was not until Tuesday afternoon that he said the fire had been brought under control, although much of the building was burned out.

"Furniture, floor partitions and everything that could burn has been affected by the fire," he said.

"I'm completely speechless - this is an unparalleled tragedy," one onlooker told Danish media.

Members of the public joined emergency services as well as the head of the chamber of commerce in rushing into the building to save the Børsen building's substantial art collection.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen spoke of "terrible images" and of a piece of Danish history going up in flames.

Local museum inspector Benjamin Asmussen told Denmark's TV2 that the fire was difficult to watch, as the old stock exchange was filled with paintings of Danes who had played important roles since the 17th Century.

Camilla Jul Bastholm from Denmark's National Museum said that several hundred works had been rescued and taken into storage under escort. Among the prized works rescued was an 1895 portrait by PS Krøyer of 50 Danish men of commerce standing inside the building in their top hats. Ornate chandeliers, mirrors and some clocks were also recovered.

King Frederik X said the fire was a "sad sight" for such an important part of Denmark's cultural heritage: its characteristic dragon spire had helped define Copenhagen. He succeeded Queen Margrethe II in January and events for her 84th birthday planned on Tuesday were being toned down because of the fire.

The Dutch Renaissance-style building on the city's Slotsholmen, or palace island, was commissioned by Denmark's King Christian IV with the aim of turning Copenhagen into a major trading centre.

The famous spire featured four dragons whose tails were twisted into a spear and three crowns, symbolising close ties with neighbours Norway and Sweden.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

Women leading superhero films has a long and troubled history even before losers online decided to make it their life’s mission to bully Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson for the crime of being in a mediocre MCU movie. 2004’s Catwoman is the film that is usually pointed to as the movie that poisoned the well in regards to superheroine blockbusters, but it takes two to tango; the following year’s Elektra is just as much to blame for the negative perception of these sorts of films.

And how could it not be? It was rushed into production, Jennifer Garner really didn’t want to do it but was contractually obligated, it was supposed to be rated R until more contractual obligations nipped that idea in the bud, and on top of everything else it was a sequel/spin-off to a movie that was already extremely unpopular (Daredevil vindication was a long way’s off at that point). With all that in mind, is it any wonder that it’s one of the lowest grossing films to ever be based off of a Marvel comic? The only films that did worse were Punisher: War Zone, Man-Thing, and The New Mutants. Even the Howard the Duck movie did better than this shit!

The career of director Rob Bowman as tanked because of this film, with his credits being relegated to TV. Garner, meanwhile, fared just as poorly, with her career cooling off and leading roles not being a thing for her after that point. But worst of all is the career of the poor boat house in this movie, as it ended up appearing in Fifty Shades of Grey. And obviously this film dragged down the idea of a woman headlining a superhero flick for about a decade until Genocide Barbie Gal Gadot stepped into Wonder Woman’s boots. And while Catwoman would receive better adaptations on the big screen, Elektra would get no such chance…

...Until it was revealed that Garner was reprising her role in, of all things, Deadpool & Wolverine.

While the film isn’t out as of the time of this review, the announcement of her presence in it really got me intrigued about the last time she donned the red ninja outfit. I’m a huge apologist for early to mid-2000s superhero garbage, so it only made sense to check it out in preparation for the massive Marvel crossover Deadpool was about to deliver. And you know what question I always ask when going in to an infamous film like this: Is it really that bad?

THE GOOD

This film is just hilariously corny when it wants to be. I think when it does stupid stuff other superhero films of the time did, it tends to do them at least a little better. For instance, like Ghost Rider it has a quirky miniboss squad full of boring flat characters who exist for Elektra to kill. But while the ones in Ghost Rider are completely forgettable and bland, this film at least has some striking visuals with Tattoo and hot forceful lesbian murder smooching with Typhoid Mary, something I’m sure awoke things in the five people who watched this.

Garner herself is really, really trying, and to her credit most of the action scenes she’s in are pretty ok when they aren’t being edited to death. As I watched the unrated version, the brief glimpses of insight into her backstory are nice, and I do love that bright red costume on her. If nothing else, she does sell how cool Elektra is supposed to be with how she carries herself, even if the writing isn’t doing her many favors.

The final act is where things really get fun, because we have a big stupid battle against magical tattoos, teleporting ninjas, and genuinely the funniest possible way to kill a villain ever. I legitimately burst out laughing when I saw this:

THE BAD

Unfortunately, no matter how funny Typhoid Mary taking a knife to the forehead after saying her only two lines in the movie, two lines that actually give her more character than every other villain in the film, it can’t really completely save the film from its two massive, crippling issues.

Literally everyone in this movie is a fucking moron. The biggest moron is easily Elektra’s buddy, who sacrifices himself so Elektra can escape from the bad guys… but his sacrifice is pointless because they pull the info from his mind with psyhcic powers. He would’ve been better off running away with them! But it’s not like the villains are much smarter; one of them chops down a tree, and then almost immediately forgets this and walks into its path before getting crushed to death. It is genuinely absurd how dumb these characters manage to get. The dumbest of them all, however, has to be Stick. I genuinely have no idea what the fuck this man is trying to accomplish at any point, because he is recklessly gambling with people’s lives here.

But hey, dumb decisions are fine in a trashy 2000s superhero movie as long as they lead to some enjoyably dumb scenarios, right? Well, about that… Barring a couple of ridiculously goofy action scenes, this film is pretty bereft of memorable corniness. Remember how I said the minibosses in Ghost Rider were not as good as the ones here? Sure, maybe it’s true, but no amount of murderous lesbian smooching makes this movie more memorable than Ghost Rider, which features over a dozen insane Nicolas Cage moments. But maybe that’s cheating, it’s not fair to compare a Jennifer Garner vehicle to a Nicolas Cage one… so how about Catwoman? As absolutely shoddy as that movie is, there are a bunch of cringey, campy scenes that have helped earn the movie at least a handful of ironic fans. There’s just nothing like that in Elektra. It’s trashy and stupid in safe, unimpressive ways for the most part, and it doesn’t do anything at all to really stand out from the crowd.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Yeah, I guess it’s bad, but the level of bad that it is is greatly exaggerated.

The movie I’d most compare this to is, of all things, Morbius. I love Morbius more than most people, and even I’m willing to admit it’s multiple bright spots of trashy charm are interspersed with the dullest shit imaginable, and Elektra has a similar issue. It’s just so goddamn unmemorable and dull for the most part, with only the final act being packed full of silly nonsense to latch onto. But even that comparison isn’t great, because Milo was sprinkled throughout Morbius and was genuinely hilarious the whole way through, while Elektra just plods along until it remembers to actually be a little cool for the finale.

I guess really the film is less “bad” and more “not good.” Like if you throw this on in the background as noise while you do something else, it’s not the worst you could do, though even then something like Black Adam would probably be better. If you want to watch a trashy 2000s superhero film, I guess it’s not unwatachably unpleasant, but why wouldn’t you watch Catwoman or Ghost Rider instead? It just is in such an unenviable position where it’s the bottom of the bottom of the barrel, the least engaging super-schlock ever made, a movie not good enough to be vindicated but not bad enough to deserve the hate it gets. Elektra is just a film that exists. That’s all there is to it and aside from the single funny death, I have no strong feelings about this movie. I think a solid 4 is where this belongs. Not good enough to be average, not bad enough to be awful, it’s just there.

All this being said, I’m honestly very excited to see Garner become a teleporting ninja assassin again. Every comic character who was in a crappy adaptation deserves a second shot, be it as a new character (Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger) or as a reprisal that improves on the untapped potential that was there (Jamie Foxx’s Electro in No Way Home). I’m rooting for Garner to get her due, and for Electra to get the respect she truly deserves… But I just don’t really think this movie’s going to be getting a reappraisal no matter how good she ends up doing.

[brian-in-finance]

Diana Gabaldon spoke at the University of Glasgow's Outlander conference. Photo: Martin Shields

Diana Gabaldon recalls how first Outlander book ‘almost cancelled’

Best-selling Outlander author Diana Gabaldon has created nine beloved books and a seven-season TV series - but the franchise almost didn't happen.

The American writer told fans in Glasgow her first novel was almost cancelled because publishers could not decide what to do with it.

It took more than a year to go on sale as a debate raged about where it would sit on bookshop shelves.

The series has boosted Scottish tourism with fans flocking to Scotland to visit the book and TV programme's locations.

The author spoke at the word's first international academic Outlander conference at the University of Glasgow, which has been the backdrop for several scenes in the Starz TV series.

Expert scholars and Outlander fans have come together for events in the city, exploring themes such as Jacobite history, screen production, Scottish tourism, Gaelic and Scots, costume design, fandom, main character Claire Fraser's medicine, and witchcraft.

Ms Gabaldon - originally an academic herself - was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in June last year.

The drama series stars Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie Fraser. Photo: Starz

Speaking about her first book, she said: "It took the publishers 18 months to figure out what to do with it. I learned later that they came very close to cancelling the contract and giving me back the book because they couldn't decide how to sell it.

"This was before Amazon where a book can be classified as several things at once and people can pick off the web what they want, and they still get the same book.

"Back in the day it was only bookstores, you had to put a book on a certain shelf, the shelf had to have a label and the book also had to have that label."

She said the decision to sell it as a romance came as a shock.

"My agent finally called me up and said they had decided to publish it but sell it as a romance. I said, 'What?' that isn't what I wrote.

"He pointed out that a best seller in fantasy fiction was 50,000 copies in paperback while in romance it is 500,000 copies. So we sold it as romance."

'Too weird'

She said that the success of the books was down to readers' recommendations.

"My first editor said to me early on these have to be word of mouths books because they are too weird to describe, which is totally true and that is also true about the word of mouth.

"So that being the case it made total sense to expose the book to 500,000 people in the romance category who will go out and tell their friends and the word will spread.

"So we did that and that is exactly what happened."

The Outlander series is currently nine books, with the author working on the tenth - and believed to be the final - book.

It follows the story of a post-World War Two nurse visiting Scotland who accidentally time travels to the Jacobite era.

Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) are main characters in the show. Photo: Aimee Spinks

It has now become one of the bestselling book series of all time and spawned the popular TV series, currently in its seventh season.

Ms Gabaldon's talk was entitled, '"Why Scotland? Why Not Mexico?" Genes, Borders, Culture and Fiction: Why They Matter and When They Don't'.

In it, she explained why she picked Scotland as the location of Outlander.

She said: "What I learned from my research and contact with Scots is that Scots are, and historically were, very literate. They wrote down things. They also have a very strong oral culture, they told their stories.

"They also have a lot of history available. Then there is the nature of Scottish history, it has a lot of heroes and heroines as well as conflict which is what you need for a good story."

The conference runs until Saturday and has seen fringe events including music concerts and battle re-enactments in the university's famous cloisters.

Transformative impact

Senior Lecturer in Gaelic at the University, Gillebride Macmillan, who has appeared in the programme, said it had been really important for the Gaelic language.

"It's so important for a minoritized language, such as Gaelic, to be seen on a world level, on a world stage, and Outlander gives Gaelic that opportunity.

"And I think it's been fantastic to hear Gaelic spoken by the actors and in the books, and also the use of Gaelic music, Gaelic song. I've been very lucky myself to be a part of that and I think it's been an incredibly positive thing for the language.

"Which I think has been born out by things such as, one and a half million people learning Gaelic in Duolingo. Obviously, many people are learning Gaelic for many different reasons, but Outlander has been one of the major factors for that."

Prof Willy Maley, professor of Renaissance studies (English Literature), at the university, said: "Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series has had a transformative impact on Scottish culture, generating global interest in the history, languages and landscapes of Scotland.

"Vivid and visceral, Outlander is an otherworldly but never unworldly phenomenon that takes a time-travelling nurse-turned-doctor and propels her from 1946 to 1743, two worlds of war that collide in an elaborate and painstaking reconstruction that make the series much more than historical fiction and more an innovative and pioneering rethinking of how we excavate and examine the narratives of the past.

"Outlander has also been a brilliant boost for the Scottish film industry."

BBC News

Gifs: @scotsmanandsassenach S01E03 The Way Out, Gillebride Macmillan as Gwyllyn the bard

Remember… I think it's been fantastic to hear Gaelic spoken by the actors and in the books, and also the use of Gaelic music, Gaelic song. I've been very lucky myself to be a part of that and I think it's been an incredibly positive thing for the language. — Gillebride Macmillan

[roachliquid]

Got a reply from @rachimiya on my "probably not Super Mutants" post, with a couple of points they wanted to discuss. The reply got deleted due to a misunderstanding, but after talking with them I decided to go ahead and address the main things I remember.

Before I begin, a quick preface: I doubt any of my followers are the kind of dickhead to harass someone over minor differences of opinion, but just to be safe I want to emphasize that this is a friendly disagreement. We all love Thaddeus here, and I'm sure we all agree that however his story continues in season 2, it's going to make good sense and be fun to watch.

So, the first thing I wanted to bring up (and I'm sorry if I'm misremembering what you said here, it's been a while and I have brainfog) is that the blemishing on Thaddeus's neck isn't necessarily indicative of him being a ghoul, since it was basically just the injury scarring over.

This is an understandable way to read the scene, especially if it's been a while since you last saw the actual footage. However, when I recently re-watched the series (funny enough, looking for Super Mutant Thaddeus clues) I realized something peculiar about the shot where his neck is healing. So I got screenshots. >:3

So, this is Thaddeus's neck with the bolt still lodged in it. As we can see, the skin is basically pristine outside of the entry wound. Once Thaddeus removes the bolt, the site starts to heal, and...

I don't have footage of the actual healing scene, but here's a shot of the aftermath. There does look to be a significant scar at the point where the bolt entered, but more bizarrel, there is also a large patch of mottled, uneven skin surrounding that spot. We can see it develop during the part where he heals, with discoloration appearing over what was previously healthy skin.

Now, one of the pieces of Fallout lore that can be difficult to get your hands on is the early signs of ghoulification. Most of the stuff I've seen has just been passed through the fandom by word-of-mouth, and its canonicity is questionable, due to parts of the lore being established before Bethesda purchased the franchise. But I'm nothing if not a nosy bastard, and was able to find this quote on the Fallout wiki, from Fallout 3:

All I know is that people kept showing up here in the museum... ...After a while, things got strange. My skin started to get dry and flake off. Everyone's did. It took a while, months, maybe a year. But sooner or later, everyone ended up like this.

This is just scratching the surface of Ghoul lore, but the main point is that dry and blemished skin is one of the earliest signs to look out for, and that's exactly what this looks like to me.

As for the second thing I remember, they stated that (in their opinion, of course), from a thematic perspective, it wouldn't matter if Thaddeus became a ghoul or a super mutant - either way, he'd be an abomination in the eyes of the Brotherhood.

This is a reasonable thing to conclude if you don't know much about the lore and history of Super Mutants, as rachimiya has indicated they do not. So to explain why I disagree with this assessment, here's a fuller explanation:

In my post, I explained how the Brotherhood of the TV series exemplifies the destructive nature of excessive aggression and machismo, and how Thaddeus's arc looks to be taking him away from that environment. What I didn't mention is that, from the very beginning of Fallout, Super Mutants represent those same exact things. They were originally created by a genocidal overmind called the Master, who forcibly exposed people to a mutagenic virus that turned them into enormous, incredibly powerful warriors, at the cost of dramatically reduced lifespans and infertility, and then mind controlled them into acting out his ambitions.

This is once again just scratching the surface of the lore, but for the sake of brevity, the main relevant point is that when Bethesda took over the series, they leaned into this stuff hard. The overwhelming majority of their Super Mutants are hyperaggressive buffoons, bent on assimilating or destroying everyone other than themselves, but held back from success by their overinflated estimations of their own power and importance.

Or, to put it in short: they represent very nearly the same values as the Brotherhood does in the show.

This contrasts with the Ghouls, who, in both the show and Bethesda's games, are painted as much more sympathetic. They're often treated as second-class citizens, if not entirely subhuman. Similarly to Super Mutants, they tend to keep to themselves, but in this case it's not because they see themselves as better - it's because smoothskins (non-ghouls) are just usually not kind to them. There are certainly exceptions in both directions - some truly despicable characters and even significant villains have been ghouls, and there are plenty who have found humans to coexist with - but it's still an important facet of their lore as a group.

Now, I won't say that you couldn't pull off Super Mutant Thaddeus. There have certainly been Super Mutants in the games who were kind, rational, and generally broke the mold. But I think that being a ghoul suits him much better, because one of the big things we established in season 1 is that he isn't really Brotherhood material. He's compassionate, determined, eager to please, and comically accident-prone - the kind of person who would have died within hours serving a real knight. Now you could milk that contrast for comedy, certainly, but I see it causing a couple of big problems:

First, it would limit Thaddeus's ability to really come into his own on his own terms. Even a kind, reasonable Super Mutant has to be physically coordinated and somewhat aggressive, just to use their own body effectively. This would better suit a character with a skillset like Maximus's - one who is very capable of exerting physical force - or would benefit as a character from developing those skills.

Second, it wouldn't be a good first look at Super Mutants as a whole. The show is generally pretty good at introducing new fans to the lore, and a key component of that is showing the baseline before you subvert it. We can see this with Lucy and her vault, who are presented as what they're "supposed" to be before we learn the truth, and with the Brotherhood, who are very much written to communicate the faults of the organization as clearly as possible.

This isn't to say that there aren't exceptions, but that in itself is relevant. Because our first look at ghouls in the series only covers one facet of the lore. Cooper is a classic ghoul villain - he's cruel, he's callous, and he doesn't appear to have any friends, ghoul or otherwise. It's a great choice for his character, and the gradual reveal of the more unfortunate aspects of ghoulhood is an important part of his arc, helping us grow more sympathetic to him as we gain more knowledge of what he's dealing with.

But it still leaves us with a void in the lore, because we're still mostly seeing how he lives as An Utter Bastard. And this is a void that, IMO, Thaddeus is perfectly poised to fill - because, for all his attempts to do exactly that, he literally couldn't be a callous bastard if his life depended on it. Instead, he's hapless, goofy, and just a regular amount of dickish - prime Regular Ghoul material.

So, that's my thoughts on these particular statements. There is a lot more that I could say about why I've reached some of my conclusions, and if anyone is interested I might go ahead and do that, but for now I'm going to end it here.

[brasideios]

10 Characters/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Thank you for thinking of me my dears @krankittoeleven & @ainulindaelynn

Lemme see. This is long, sorry about that. I’m in a rambling mood. These are just the characters that came wandering into my noodle in no order - at least, that was intended.

1. Dorothea from Middlemarch (by George Eliot). She’s probably my fave character ever. I think in a mostly abstract way, she’s come nearest to mapping out how I perceive the feminine part of myself. She starts out so so idealistic - wanting to do something to change the world, to matter, but society has its own rules that eventually beats her down, but she’s so stoic, enduring, and self-denying, that her happy ending is earned… but then the epilogue is so melancholy so was it happy? and… I don’t know. There’s something in it all that I’ve never found a better version of.

2. My brain is on D names now lol so Daphnae from AC Odyssey. The more I think about her story, as little as we’re given of it, the more I find something tragic and fated in it, and then there’s the possibility of changing that fate, or embracing it. Something, something doomed by the narrative, unless…?

3. Demosthenes from my pdfs lol listen - ancient history RPF is a fandom (apparently) so this is valid. I have been down some serious rabbit holes with this man of late - I won’t even start on why or this will be an essay. I could also have put Thucydides in this position - but I’m on D names.

4. Daria. No seriously. I loved this show when I was a teen, and she’s honestly my spirit animal. It was my nickname because I was unfortunately very much like that. I adore her deadpan, acerbic remarks and many of them will live on in my brain forevermore. I wasn’t as witty btw - but the vibes were the same.

5. Hedwyn from the vg Pyre (woot! My brain releases me from the letter D!). I’ve played it several times now, and he’s my fave. Just a sweet guy - so sweet, you always want to free him first, but then you also very much wanna keep him with you - and sometimes I’ve been selfish enough to send everyone else instead. I also like Volfred a lot but that has everything up do with the VA 🙈

6. Alfie from Peaky Blinders. I have no excuses - the character is an unhinged maniac but Tom Hardy just brought something (a twinkling eye) to the role that makes him a very likeable, back-stabbing psychopath.

7. Caesar from HBO Rome. Ciaran Hinds has been a fave of mine since Persuasion - and I liked how he acted this part / how he was written. That’s all I’ll ever say about Caesar - character or historical figure. There are at least another half a dozen characters in this series I might’ve mentioned too. I must rewatch it one of these days.

8. Gannicus from Starz Spartacus. Dustin Clare is an old time favourite from waaaay back when I was persuaded to watch McLeod’s Daughters - really bingeable but quite trashy Aussie TV - sorry to any fans - but it really is. I so enjoyed his vibes and he brings all of that to Gannicus and it just works so well for the character. Pure cheekiness, and when he does this face 🥺 chefs kiss. Side note - I will pretty regularly say some variation of ‘my cock rages on’ about the most random stuff so - thanks to this character for that gem lol.

9. Johnny Spit from the movie Gettin Square. Yeah this is left field and I seriously doubt there’s a fandom for it - but what a character - quintessentially Australian deadbeat, (played by David Wenham). There’s a courtroom scene that kills me every time. I hope he got square, for good this time.

10. Kenny from Mad Men. I don’t even know how to explain it, I just want to protect him and he doesn’t even deserve it, and he wouldn’t have thanked me for it - maybe it was just the way everyone else was just an asshole about his writing. I want to know more about the short story about the egg. I could’ve picked almost any other character from this show though. They’re all so good/bad for their own reasons.

I made it! Haha! I have no idea who to tag - I think the only people who usually join in have already been tagged - so I’ll just add a few and call it ten. Sorry for any double ups.

No pressure at all - @nemo-of-house-frye @theinkandthesea @liminalspacecowboah @cyrus-the-younger @myriath

[twistedtummies2]

The Seventh Doctor - Worst to Best

Now that Christmas is over, let's focus on an anniversary I sadly neglected to acknowledge earlier in the year, and must acknowledge before the new year begins: 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of one of the longest-running television programs in history, that sci-fi camp classic, Doctor Who. Anybody who knows me knows that I love this series, both in its Classic and its "New Who" eras. The chances are also high that, if you know that, you know who my favorite Doctor is: Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor.

The Seventh Doctor was the last of the Classic Doctors, before the "bridge" that was Paul McGann's Eighth, and the beginning of New Who with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth. To this day, he remains a slightly polarizing take on the character: for a long time, people seemed to greatly dislike number seven, but over the years he's gained more and more of a fanbase, with a lot of people claiming him to be one of the very best versions of the character out there.

Over the course of McCoy's three seasons - the final ones of the Classic show before it went on a LONG hiatus, to later be revived - the Seventh Doctor evolved in an interesting way. For his first season, the character is a more comical Doctor, somewhat clownish in nature...but even then, signs of his later development slowly began to take shape. By the end of his tenure, Seven had gone from one of the lightest takes on the character to arguably the single darkest: he could still be very funny, with a Vaudevillian sense of humor and style and many typical eccentricities, but he could also be ruthless, manipulative, and borderline sadistic. He was the Chessmaster Doctor: a master planner who could out-think his enemies sometimes several moves ahead...and yet he also loved playing the spoons and wearing silly outfits. Go figure.

I thought it would be fun, with the show nearing its 61st year - and having seen not one but TWO new canon Doctors added to the lineup this month alone, via Fourteen and Fifteen - to go over my thoughts on my favorite Doctor and his time on the show, in all its ups and downs. Over three seasons on TV (I'm not touching the audio dramas or anything else here), McCoy's Doctor had twelve separate stories/serials. So, today, I am going to rank them all! Let's waste no more time (or space), these are the Seventh Doctor's Episodes - From Worst to Best.

12. Time and the Rani.

It grieves me to say that the very worst of the lot is the Seventh Doctor’s debut/regeneration episode. In my opinion, this is the single worst introduction any Doctor has ever had, and it physically hurts me to say that since it is the first episode for my favorite Doctor. The first season of the McCoy era was sadly not very good, and I think that’s why some people have a hard time warming up to him and his Doctor. When the 24th season began, the show was going pretty much fully for comedy; it had some dark edges, but it was mostly playing itself almost as a space pantomime. That wouldn't be so bad, but the writing wasn't very good, and the production values were at an all-time low, both of which stymied its potential. “Time and the Rani” is the worst of the worst, for a very simple reason: if this was the only Sylvester McCoy episode you ever saw, you wouldn’t have any clue about what made this Doctor special. With every other Doctor’s big debut – no matter how good or bad the episode may be – you can at least say you get a sense of what this Doctor will be like. With McCoy, in his first appearance, he feels like a watered-down mish-mash of various other Doctors before him, and rather dimwitted. The only scene I really like is one where the Seventh tries on his new costume, but even that scene is basically a riff on a Fourth Doctor sequence. If you want to get a start on the McCoy era, don’t start with his actual debut; it really isn’t worth your time, and you can probably imagine better intros/regeneration tales in your head than this gives.

11. Delta and the Bannermen.

This story is pretty bad, too, but it’s not AS bad as “Time and the Rani.” This was the third serial from the first McCoy season, and it features the Doctor and his then-current companion, Mel Bush, being invited to participate on a holiday tour in 1950s Wales, by pure luck. (Trust me, pure luck is what gets Number Seven through most of his first season.) Less lucky is the fact that a fugitive extraterrestrial named Delta – the last of her kind – is also on the tour, trying to escape from an army of brutish killers called the Bannermen. Throw in a couple of bungling redneck CIA agents (yes, really; I’d be angry if it weren’t for the fact, as an American, I have no right to complain) and references to Disneyland (again, yes, really), and you have this episode. Admittedly, some parts of this episode make me laugh, and the overall direction doesn’t make the Seventh Doctor look like a total idiot, which is a step up from the previous pick. I also like the character of Ray – a motorcycle gal who basically became a prototype for the character of Ace (more on her later) – but it’s not enough to save this story, which mostly comes across as equal parts boring and obnoxious. A most unpleasant blend, indeed.

10. Paradise Towers.

Of all the bad McCoy episodes, this one is the LEAST bad. It ALMOST works. This was the second serial of the first McCoy season, and, much like “Delta and the Bannermen,” it starts off with the Doctor trying to do something nice and pleasant with Mel, only for things to go to Hell in a teapot once they actually arrive. The Doctor takes Mel to a resort called “Paradise Towers,” which was made to provide people with peaceful relaxation and fun, as any proper resort would be. However, multiple conflicts have led to Paradise Towers becoming the epicenter of an effective civil war between several groups. What was once a happy and beautiful place is now home to cannibals, killer robots, Space Nazis (the Seventh Doctor faced Nazi-esque characters quite a lot; these ones are called the Caretakers), street hoodlums, and a vaguely Lovecraftian psychic abomination. The only one who doesn’t get involved in the violence is a single peaceful soul named Pex, who many defame as a coward. The concept has the potential to be a really twisted, imaginative story, but all of the varying plotlines don’t mesh well, and, again, much of it is played for absurd comedy, which really deadens the effect, in my opinion. True, this is kind of a crazy idea, but it could have been so much more than it was…in fact, that basically sums up a lot of this first season in general: it could have been so much more.

9. Dragonfire.

“Dragonfire” is the last serial of the first season, and it is also the best serial of the first season…which isn’t saying much. It’s…just okay, really, but that’s better than the other three. Once again, the Doctor tries to take Mel somewhere nice (this time a sort of space mall, in a place called Iceworld), and once again, shenanigans ensue. This time, said shenanigans involve a lost treasure, references to “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and “Alien,” and the villainous Kane - an icy antagonist who frankly could give Mr. Freeze a few lessons in frostbitten fiendishness. It also features one of the most infamously silly cliffhangers in the show’s history. What really makes this serial work though are our three main characters: with this episode, McCoy’s Doctor finally starts to evolve a bit more into the character we know and love from later appearances. It also features the return of the loveably roguish con-artist, Sabalom Glitz, who had previously appeared a couple of times during the era of the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker. But the true point that makes this work are the two companions involved: this is the last story we get with Mel, and the first story featuring Ace. Mel is (or, at least, was) one of the worst companions in the show's history, in my opinion, but I actually kind of like her in this episode, and while her departure makes absolutely no sense, it's legitimately sort of sad to see her go. Ace, meanwhile, is my favorite companion in all of Doctor Who (just as McCoy is my favorite Doctor), so seeing her arrive on the scene is a blast. It's their combined presence, above all else, that makes this story worth seeing.

8. Silver Nemesis.

The 25th Season of Doctor Who - McCoy's second - was where the show REALLY started to take off, and it might actually be one of my favorite seasons in the entire series. Having said that, "Silver Nemesis" is what might be called "the worst of the best," just as "Time and the Rani" is "the worst of the worst." Intended as a celebration of the show's 25th Anniversary, the serial features the Doctor and Ace having to deal with three different factions of antagonists: a group of Neo-Nazis from contemporary times, a witch from the 17th Century, and - as you can see her - the Cybermen, one of the Doctor's most long-running and infamous monster antagonists. All three warring factions are trying to gain control of a living statue, called Nemesis, which apparently can grant whoever wields it immense destructive power. The Doctor, it's revealed, is the one who apparently CREATED Nemesis, and must now find a way to keep this mysterious creation out of the hands of his enemies. The episode does some interesting things - most notably with it really playing up the Doctor as a mysterious figure, in a way that hadn't been done in a very long time, if ever before - but ultimately, it's tonally scattershot, the pacing is a bit off, and most of the villains turn out to be shockingly ineffectual. The story is also basically a giant ripoff of "Remembrance of the Daleks" (more on that later), featuring a lot of similar plot and thematic elements throughout, which definitely deadens the impact. It's not necessarily a TERRIBLE story, as it has a great cast and a lot of cool scenes and ideas, but it's definitely on the lower end of "meh," in my opinion.

7. Ghost Light.

Believe it or not, I actually had a hard time choosing between Ghost Light and Silver Nemesis. It is potentially unbelievable because most fans agree that Ghost Light is a better episode than Silver Nemesis; many call this episode a triumph of the era, with the other as one of its weakest pieces. In some ways I agree, but in other ways…I won’t say Silver Nemesis is superior, because it isn’t, but I feel this episode is SLIGHTLY overrated. This was a serial from the 26th season – the Seventh Doctor’s third and final season in the series. “Ghost Light” is a three-parter, and – in my opinion – it truly could have benefited from having a fourth section. The first two thirds of the serial are quite brilliant: the story is a really great one for Ace, as it taps into dark elements of her past, and the style of this tale is absolutely DRIPPING in Gothic Victorian atmosphere. It deals with scientific and philosophical concepts of evolution, change, and social status, and blends elements of various classic stories together, such as Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and a heavy helping of H.P. Lovecraft's works. I love the style, the atmosphere, and a lot of the concepts presented…but the problem lies in the execution. The first two parts move at a decent pace, but in the third part, everything feels very rushed. It becomes REALLY hard to follow what’s going on, and lots of things feel underdeveloped, as well. I also feel that the reveal of one of the main antagonists – Light – is a little underwhelming; the character is supposed to be an awe-inspiring presence, like some sort of avenging angel, but the performance and especially the costume design make him feel less intense than he should. It’s still a good story, but I don’t think it’s the masterpiece a lot of people seem to claim it is.

6. Battlefield.

In a weird way, "Battlefield" is one of two episodes where you could arguably sum up the reputation of the Seventh Doctor and his era - with fans, that is - in a nutshell. This, and another story I'll get to later, used to be considered pretty bad eggs on the whole...but nowadays, people have a lot more respect for them, and several folks I know (or just know about) have labeled them as being among their favorites. I definitely have a soft spot for this one, myself: "Battlefield" features the Doctor facing off against a legion of dark knights from another dimension, where the legends of King Arthur are real, and the Doctor himself - apparently - is Merlin! The issue is, the Doctor won't become Merlin until a later regeneration, so this is - confusingly - his first time meeting any of the Arthurian characters: most notably the main villain of the story, the mysterious Morgaine. To try and deal with the problem, the agents of UNIT - an elite military group who are a recurring presence throughout Doctor Who - are called into play. This brings back the Doctor's old friend and companion, The Brigadier, in his final appearance on the show. While the episode is not perfect, there's a LOT to love here: I love seeing the homages to earlier eras of the series, with the return of the Brigadier and "Bessie" (which I can only describe as the Doctor's equivalent to the Batmobile), and I love the thematics and motifs of Arthurian myth and legend. The supporting cast is great, and we get one of the best-looking monsters in the series, courtesy of a demon known simply as "The Destroyer." Definitely a fun outing that deserves more credit than it sometimes gets.

5. Survival.

The final episode of the Classic era. While not a perfect way to cap off the show as a whole, nor McCoy's central tenure in the program, "Survival" is, nevertheless, hardly a bad note to close on, either. The story focuses on the TARDIS Team returning to Ace's hometown and time period: then-modern-day Perivale. The Doctor and his companion soon discover that a bunch of people around town have been mysteriously disappearing. It's revealed they are being transported to a mysterious alternate dimension, known only as "The Planet of the Cheetah People" (yes, that's really what the monsters are called). The Cheetah People are half-human, half-cheetah beasts who hunt people for both sport and food; those who don't end up as cat chow end up slowly turning into Cheetah People themselves, their aggressive instincts and more animalistic desires coming to the forefront. Wrapped up in all of this is the Doctor's arch-enemy: the Master, who has taken control of the Cheetah People, but is also trying to find a way to escape their world before he becomes one of them. This was one of actor Anthony Ainley's best outings with the Master (he's my favorite person to play the role), and it was great to see him go up against my favorite Doctor. It's so strangely fitting that the final episode of the Classic era featured the Doctor going against his arch-enemy for what was, at the time, perceived to be the final time, and I'm not sure how planned that fact was, based on what I know of the production history. Regardless, while this episode is a bit silly in places, it's mostly a really great and surprisingly dark story, dealing with some interesting themes and philosophies, and having some fine action sequences to its credit, as well. If you were only to watch this one episode, and no other, from McCoy's era, it wouldn't be a bad choice.

4. The Happiness Patrol.

This is the other episode I mentioned, alongside "Battlefield," where you can kind of see it as a (likely unintended) symbol of the Seventh Doctor's era as a whole. At the time this story came out, it wasn't much liked by the public, and there are still those who don't especially care for it...but nowadays, generally speaking, respect for this story seems to have grown quite a lot. It's not perfect, but it's definitely a highlight of McCoy's time in the series, and for good reason. In this story, the Doctor and Ace travel to a human colony in the distant future, called Terra Alpha. The place is run by Helen A: a parody of Margaret Thatcher herself, played by Sheila Hancock. Helen A has declared that no one is allowed to be sad: people must wear bright colors, tell silly jokes, only listen to cheerful music, and generally always behave like everything is sunshine and rainbows. Anyone perceived to be a "Killjoy" faces one of several horrible punishments: one is being shot down in the streets by the titular Happiness Patrol - her special police squadron. Another is being sent to "The Waiting Zone," which is Terra Alpha's equivalent to jail (and where you can be killed by either trigger happy guards or rigged arcade games). Finally, there's being forced to pay to suffer the wrath of the Kandy Man: a self-aware robot made almost entirely out of sweets, designed as a parody of Bertie Basset. The Kandy Man either experiments on people in his laboratory, feeding them candies that are so good they literally make you die of pleasure, or drowning people in boiling hot syrup via an execution method called "Fondant Surprise." The TARDIS Team must find a way to dethrone Helen A, destroy her minions - especially the Kandy Man - and give Terra Alpha the right to be unhappy again. I love the paradoxical nature of this episode, with things that are bright and colorful being made wicked and nasty, and with the whole premise focusing on letting people feel sad rather than joyful. The story plays off the idea that happiness and sadness are "two sides of the same coin," and that neither emotion can exist properly without the other. There's a lot more I could say, but this description is already getting too long; basically, if you like things such as "We Happy Few" or a certain episode of "Fairly Oddparents," this may be a story you enjoy, as well.

3. Curse of Fenric.

Many consider this to be the single best episode of the Seventh Doctor's era. I obviously do not agree with this general feeling, but I also can't deny this serial is a great one. "Curse of Fenric" was the debut story of Season 26, and it is one of the darkest stories in all of Doctor Who history. Ace and the Doctor arrive near a military base in the heart of World War II, where English and Russian soldiers are working together. While trying to solve the mystery of some mysterious relics found near the base, military personnel seemingly awaken a race of creatures called Haemovores, which I can only describe as "squid vampires." The Haemovores can only be held back by one's faith; the stronger the exhibition of faith one has in something, practically anything, the better it wards them off. The Haemovores, it's revealed, are just pawns in the game of Fenric: an entity of pure evil older than the universe itself, which apparently has faced the Doctor before. It's revealed that Fenric is not only involved with these beasts, but that many past events from the past two seasons were actually part of an elaborate scheme the evil entity was concocting to get revenge on the Doctor. I love so much about this story: I love its themes of faith and doubt. I love its dark setting and even darker storytelling elements. I love both Fenric and the Haemovores as monsters/villains, and I love the fact this story ties a lot of past threads together in such a subtle way. I especially love what this episode does for Ace, as a character, and how it shows newer, even darker dimensions to the Seventh Doctor that we hadn't seen before, and which have now become central to who he is in years since. I may not think it's the perfect masterwork everyone else does, but it's hard to think of anything particularly wrong with it, either; definitely one of the Seventh Doctor's crowning moments.

2. Remembrance of the Daleks.

If I had to choose one episode of the Seventh Doctor's era that I would call the definitive story - meaning, if you are going to watch only one episode, this would be the best one to see to give you an idea of everything great about it - that would undoubtedly be "Remembrance of the Daleks." This was the debut of Season 25, and going from "Dragonfire" to this is like switching a lightbulb: it is ASTONISHING how much the quality of EVERYTHING about the show seems upped, right off the bat, in this serial. The Doctor and his Companion, the supporting players, the writing, the visual effects...everything here is a MILLION times better than ANYTHING in Season 24, and it's the story that officially cements the kind of Doctor Sylvester McCoy's would really be moving forward. The plot has the Doctor returning to where it all began: Coal Hill School and Trotter's Lane, the setting of the very first episode of the very first serial in Doctor Who back in the early 60s. He and Ace discover that a Dalek civil war has broken out - between the gilded Imperial Daleks, and the more rugged-looking Renegade Daleks - and both sides are fighting to gain control of a piece of Time Lord technology, known as the Hand of Omega. If either side can take the Hand, they'll basically become Gods, and we obviously can't have that. However, it's revealed the Doctor was somehow prepared for all this, and has devised an elaborate plan to outwit the Daleks at their own game...the problem is that he wasn't expecting two warring factions, and he has to make sure the wrong set of Daleks don't interfere with his scheme. The episode has great action, great philosophies and themes, a few surprising twists and turns, and a surprisingly somber and ambiguous ending. It also features what many consider to be the most iconic scenes/moments for both the Seventh Doctor and Ace alike.

Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

While "Remembrance of the Daleks" may be the most definitive episode of the Seventh Doctor's era (and I would argue it and "Curse of Fenric" might be candidates for the technical best episodes), it's not actually my personal favorite. That goes to this story: "Greatest Show in the Galaxy." The plot begins with the Doctor and Ace getting intergalactic junk mail, tempting them to visit the Psychic Circus on the desert planet of Segonax. It's ultimately revealed, however, that some mysterious force is controlling the circus performers and workers. This force - which I shall not name here - seems to literally thrive on entertainment itself, and so the performers are forced to bring anybody who attends from the crowd into the arena to perform, in order to save their own skins. Because as soon as you stop being even remotely entertaining, you die. I love how the episode is more subtle with the Doctor's chessmaster ways here; he's not exactly planning everything out in advance, but he's also not totally hapless throughout the story either. It's somewhere in the middle, and it's hard to say how much of what happens was something he expected or not. The supporting cast is also great, from characters like Mags the Werewolf, to the insufferably geeky Wiz Kid, to one of the greatest oneshot villains in Who history, the devilish Chief Clown, played by Ian Reddington. The whole serial seems to be a subtle riff on Doctor Who ITSELF, and how it was being perceived by critics, producers, and fans alike at the time, which makes it pretty interesting once you see it from that perspective. Even without that idea in mind, however, it's just a fun, somewhat surreal story that really shows the strength and fun of McCoy's Doctor, gives a little bit of depth to Ace (not as much as some later stories, like "Fenric" and "Survival," but still), and provides plenty of memorable moments. It's not necessarily the best, it's not necessarily one I would suggest as the first and only story people watch...but without a doubt, "Greatest Show in the Galaxy" is my favorite Seventh Doctor Episode.

[bugeyedfreaks]

Hello there, @bugeyedfreaks,

Yes, this may or may not be related to the Powerpuff Girls cartoon show itself, but, in addition to providing the voice of The Powerpuff Girls' so-called "commander and the leader" Blossom, the voice for whom she is best known in so many circles, Cathy Cavadini once provided the voice of Fievel's older sister Tanya Mousekewitz for An American Tail's 1991 sequel Fievel Goes West as well as the Fievel's American Tails TV show from which it spawned. And here she is in her beautiful, pretty, lovely, gorgeous and very stunning "the Girl You Left Behind" show girl gown dress outfit thing and makeup during Fievel Goes West's saloon scenes:

Speaking of Cathy Cavadini voicing Tanya, I had heard somewhere along the grapevines that during the making of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West itself, Tanya was supposed to be voiced in that movie by someone else filling in for Amy Green and Betsy Cathcart who had respectively spoken and sang as the Tanya character in the original 1986 American Tail movie of Don Bluth, when one day, the late great movie music composer James Horner (who worked with James Cameron on the music for Aliens, Titanic, and Jim Cameron's Avatar movie from 2009) was listening to Cathy Cavadini singing her demo of the beautiful Fievel Goes West song "Dreams to Dream", and in fact, James Horner was so moved by Cavadini's singing demo of the Dreams to Dream song, which touches and sends his heartstrings all the way down to its very core, that James Horner himself successfully persuades presenter and producer Steven Spielberg to let Cavadini voice Tanya for Fievel Goes West in the finished film. And the rest, they say, was history.

In addition, @bugeyedfreaks, I had actually got in touch with Cathy Cavadini herself online, and back in July 23rd, 2021, in fact, I sent her a very sweet message of an email to her requesting for an mp3 shoutout recording and two autograph pictures featuring two of the characters that she voiced, one of Blossom the Powerpuff Girl, and one of Fievel's mouse sister Tanya, and here they are hanging in my bedroom:

And here's the very cute and very beautiful, and aforementioned mp3 shoutout recording that Cathy Cavadini happen to sent me back in July 2021, and featuring Cathy Cavadini herself, as well as Blossom the Powerpuff Girl and Tanya the girl mouse singer of An American Tail fame, complete with part of the beautiful Dreams to Dream song that Tanya sang in A Capella:

Now, I may not know why I got those two autograph pictures and one mp3 shoutout recording from Cathy Cavadini back in July 2021, but as the story goes, Cathy Cavadini really liked my sweet email to her so much that she agrees to send me those three things, but on the condition that I pay eighty dollars for those things.

So I called up my mom, who happened to finish up cleaning out her sister's old house for the night at the time, on the phone to send her some good news about me sending a sweet message to Cathy Cavadini and I told her that she and I will pay 80 bucks for the Blossom and Tanya autograph pictures and one mp3 shoutout recording from Cathy Cavadini, and soon enough, my mother and I paid eighty dollars for it all using something like PayPal or something, and now, I'm still happy with the Cathy Cavadini/Blossom/Tanya mp3 shoutout recording and the two autograph pictures of Blossom and Tanya hanging side by side on my bedroom.

Yes, you, just like everyone else, may always and forever remember Cathy Cavadini best for voicing Blossom, the so-called "commander and the leader" of the Powerpuff Girls who hailed from the City of Townsville, but as a matter of fact, @bugeyedfreaks, Cathy Cavadini is also the voice of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West's Divine Diva Showgirl, Miss Tanya Mousekewitz, elder sister of Fievel Mousekewitz of Don Bluth's An American Tail fame:

So, what do you think?

Yours truly,

@ulyssesbobmac

Nice! Another member of the Cathy Cavadini fan elite! 💪 She's truly the best of the best.

I swear I’ve mentioned it on my blog before, but when I was a little baby Bug (a grub, if you will), I would basically watch two particular VHS tapes on repeat: one was Cinderella, and the other was Fievel Goes West. There’s SO much that I loved about that movie, but I adored Tanya and her story, and along with all the songs from Cinderella, I would absolutely belt out hers whenever I got the chance. Later on, when I ended up becoming the huge Blossom fan that I am today, I looked into Cathy’s old work and was surprised/not surprised to find out she voiced and sang as my fave mouse girl. Crazy! That's also such a cool story about how she got the role, but the lady's got excellent pipes. It was a no-brainer for them to cast her. 😆

And I’m so glad that you got those autographs and that voice recording from her! That's very sweet. I got to meet her and the girls and Tom Kane a couple years back and she was seriously one of the nicest of the bunch, so I definitely hope that in the future you get the opportunity to say hi to her in person! 💖