#or for any of my other faves like Gage

[acroagoraphobe]

GRRR why can i only ever find x fem!reader fics!! IM GAY FOR GOODNESS SAKES FANFICS, LET ME BE GAY!!!

[pretty-idol-hell]

Hey hey one more ask lol. Do you know if they plan on expanding the gacha section? I did one 10 set pull but I wanted to see if they might change it in a month or so. I love SoLaMi Smile outfits and all, but Tricolore is one of my fave groups.

Also, is the only way to get get gold currency to buy it? I would love to play Make It! But it's locked behind the pay wall ;;-;;

Hi! I actually sort of answered your first question three posts below. Answer being, I'm not sure! The current gatcha lineup was announced as being the gatcha for "August" on Twitter but there has been no update since. I suspect, like many things, it's been extended. Surely they will update it eventually, though.

(It is odd that there is no expiration date for it since every other coord in the shop has an expiration date, though. Maybe they want to gage based on how much money it's making?)

Also yes, you have to buy gold idollars! Even with the copious gifts we received due to all the the maintenance/problems, they never handed out any free gold idollars, so it seems they are steadfast on that. Remember, these sort of games only exist as long as they make money! That's the bottom line in the end...

If it makes you feel any better though, I quickly bought all the songs only to realize it's hard to actually enjoy them since not everyone has them. I put up promises with paid songs daily and it's a huge treat when they actually get filled IDK one out of ten times?

[gurugirl]

I realized smthg recently about what makes me click on a tumblr story to even give it a shot to start reading it is if it has a trope listed somewhere or some information about what the fic is about. And sometimes I also want that word count in there so I can decide if I have time to read something.

*other than if it’s a fic by any of my faves cause I’ll always read those no matter what

So it made me think that others probably have different things that make them click a story to read. Do you have anything specific you look for when deciding?

Love your blog btw!

- 🫐

Hmm… I think I’m like you mostly. I would love to see a word count to gage how much time I need to dedicate. And I do very much prefer to have info about what the story or blurb is about before delving in.

Too many times I’ve started a fic that I thought was about one thing and then 1k words in realize it’s going to be about something I’m not into 😅

Thank you 🫐 anon!

Xoxo

[simplylove101]

2024 Horror Challenge: [90/?]

↳“You're not in control, I am!” Smile 2 (2024) dir. Parker Finn

Plot: About to embark on a world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her past.

Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Ray Nicholson, Dylan Gelula, Raúl Castillo & Kyle Gallner

I finished watching this movie earlier, which is what prompted me to type up the review for Your Monster (which I watched days ago) because I really wanted to share my thoughts on this one. Apologies for me using the screencap of Lucas Gage with his runny nose, but like, I had to use something from that scene because he was soooo good in it! lol Anyway, I think I only got more interested in this sequel once more YouTube reviewers I follow started sharing their thoughts on it tbh. I liked the original movie enough, but I didn't necessarily love it as a whole, so it didn't really make sense for me to be super hyped for a second movie that felt unnecessary. That said, I remember seeing the trailer for this in the theater, and I'm not gonna lie, it certainly grabbed my attention. A solid cast and it seemed like it was going to at least be fun. Turns out that assumption was correct. No shade to Sosie Bacon because I think she did a rather nice job as the lead in the first one, but I did appreciate how they wrote Noami Scott's character more in this one. I felt like I was able to get more invested in the story and her because she felt more fully realized. I was able to believe she was a pop star and unlike with Trap (even tho as I said, I did enjoy that soundtrack), the music didn't feel like it was taking over the movie, but as a bonus, it was also really good. I can't say that it was really breaking new ground since yes, there's certain narrative beats that will definitely feel familiar. That's what comes with a sequel that has a gimmick that is the whole premise, but this time it felt like it leaned more into the campiness, and there's some really cool visuals as well, so it's worth watching imo. I agree with the people who consider it superior to the original, if not at least with its execution. The cast was so good. As I said before, Noami Scott & Lucas Gage were both perfectly cast. I love that Ray Nicholson was in here, I was excited when I saw him in the trailer. Let's just say, while his screentime was minimal, he's so suited for horror just like his father. And it was great to see Kyle Gallner briefly in the beginning reprising his role from the first one because they found a nice way to bridge it with this new sequel in an unexpected way. Imo that 8 minute opener was a really solid way to engage the audience. It at least worked on me. lol So, yeah, this one would have definitely been a toss-up for a spot on the Faves or Honorable Mention list because I really enjoyed it for what it was unexpectedly. Who would have thought? Anyway, we'll see if I watch any other new horror movies before the year is up (not likely but maybe) but I had to at least get my thoughts out about these last two while my thoughts were still fresh enough.

[kudosmyhero]

The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #7: Ms. Marvel Team-Up

Read Date: February 28, 2023 Cover Date: December 2014 ● Writer: Dan Slott ◦ Christos N. Gage ● Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli ● Inker: Cam Smith ● Colorist: Antonio Fabela ● Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos ● Editor: Ellie Pyle ◦ Nick Lowe ◦ Tom Brevoort ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● I still feel bad for Anna Maria having to watch Peter and Cindy grope each other all the time. Even though it wasn't Peter she had a relationship with, it was his body (when controlled by Octavius). That'd still fuck with someone's head, no matter how analytical they are. But I guess Slott isn't going to explore that element, so… I guess I should just forget it, too. ● "some media fluffhead" - why do I feel like JJJ gonna be in the next panel? ● I stand corrected. No JJJ. Not yet, anyway. ● Spidey and Ms. Marvel:

● I do like the art in these issues, but Slott's stories aren't always my fave. They stay very surface level most of the time for the sake of being quippy ● Ms. Marvel fangirling over Spider-Man is pretty cute ● issue was ok, but not a lot of substance ● 👏👏

Synopsis: As Cindy Moon continues her search for her lost family, Anna Maria keeps close watch on both her and Peter, since every time they get close to each other, they automatically start to give in to their primal urges. Cindy realizes that in order to focus on her search and her life, she needs to stay far from Peter, so she leaves to search for her own place. Peter wonders if he should go after her but Anna Maria replies that he must focus on finding a way to ease up being Spider-Man and give his other responsibilities priority.

Meanwhile, an armed group starts assaulting a medical facility, but the police fail to stop them since they count with one of Carol Danvers' old enemies, Doctor Minerva, protecting them. A civilian member of the Carol Corps sees her actions as an insult and posts a message online, since she believes that the media will mistakenly blame Carol. The message reaches Kamala Khan, the current Ms. Marvel who decides to skip her classes and jump into action to clear up any potential mistake.

Back at their apartment, Anna Maria tries to convince Peter to let the authorities handle the minor crimes, listening to the police radio from a Spider-Bot while Anna explains how this method was effective when Otto was employing it during his time as Spider-Man, but Peter points out that, while that failed when the Goblin Nation emerged, it could help him to prioritize; however, that backfired as soon as they heard an emergency involving superhumans and Peter immediately jumps into action.

As Peter gets closer, he seems surprised to see for the first time Kamala in action as Ms. Marvel, attacking Doctor Minerva and taking down the van she was escorting. After she finds out that they were carrying an Inhuman cocoon, she is struck back by Minn-Erva, but luckily, she's saved by Spidey. Kamala starts to go in fan-girl mode asking lots of questions about Carol, but Spidey replies that they need to focus on fighting them.

After the group of attackers check the cocoon, and one of them revealing that he met Spider-Man in the past, Minerva orders them to move the cocoon while she deals with Spidey and Ms. Marvel. Doctor Minerva reveals her plan of using the cocoons to resolve the Kree's evolutionary dead-end and create a new breed of Kree Super-Soldiers and shows the early results of her work by transforming into a gigantic creature, ready to attack the heroes.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_3_7)

Fan Art: Ms. Marvel Fanart by Moonarc

Accompanying Podcast: ● Amazing Spider Talk - episode 07

[twosides--samecoin]

Thank you OP for allowing me to do my two fave things: Dunk on Fallout 4 design and examine RJ MacCready :D

TL;DR: I disagree and I would like to add missing context about the quest and how I feel RJ would react. I do have bias as I write RJ-centric fic, hopefully it doesn't mean analysis from me means I "see him with rose tinted glasses" or I am a "stan" :P

TL;DR x2: The affinity system in F4 sucks; taking care of your own/putting your own family first doesn't mean it is tonally consistent to approve of the choice that needlessly kills a child, it is a totally reasonable reaction to get the feeling that the affinity reaction is discordant with RJ MacCready's story

I am more on the side of inconsistent character writing for RJ via the character reaction/affinity system than the character reaction being true disavowal of Sole's decision to give Austin the medication.

Something this post, all due respects OP, glosses over is Austin dies without the cure, whereas Sole and anyone in their party receives a "potentially permanent" -10 HP, an amount that's insignificant in comparison.

Austin is on the verge of death and keeping the (ostensibly single-use) cure for Sole to use doesn't really "fix" much. We're keeping the cure to do less net good for no reason, and RJ approves of it which.. Well, approving taking a cure that would then result in death that could have been avoided doesn't sit well with who RJ MacCready is. I think knowing Austin would die would change his opinion on wanting to take the cure. And I blame the affinity system for causing the problem to begin with.

In general the affinity system skews in strange ways for negative reactions across many questlines, which (for me at least) raised more confusion about characters than solidifying their opinions or personalities.

Why would any of the characters have anything other than a good-to-neutral/nothing reaction to giving Austin the cure? Why does almost everyone - barring a pure neutral from Danse and a "like" from Deacon - feel "eeenh" about splitting the cure? Why do Codsworth, Deacon, Hancock, Piper, Preston and Valentine REALLY like giving him the cure when Curie, Danse and Strong have a "normal" like? Why does Gage hate giving Austin the cure? Why does Curie dislike but not super hate you for keeping it, as a doctor who can see the medically obvious response to the cure being within arm's reach of someone who needs it is to give that person the medicine, yesterday? Why does Strong react the exact same whether you keep or give the cure?

The answer is there's virtually no context to any of the affinity reactions except Bethesda needed characters to react in different ways to some events in-game, regardless of character story or motivation.

So we end up with a strange problem where, yeah, RJ MacCready has a tonally inconsistent reaction when it comes to dealing with Austin.

RJ MacCready is a kid who came from the wrong side of the tracks who knew his way out of a damp cave was connected to caps and ammo. He became a mercenary to support his family after having a child at a young age and made a lot of mistakes along the way. He's willing to steal, but he's trying his best not to cuss because he's trying to be a better person for his child. He's a desperate father willing to travel great lengths to save Duncan and it doesn't parse that the affinity system implies he can't extend the same empathy to a another child in need.

Consider the following: Wouldn't he want a complete stranger to help Duncan and provide the cure, if they had it?

You can't roll a gold star dad and a deadbeat who couldn't care less about the welfare of kids into one: if anything, you'd think he'd be emotionally spurred to care. If the affinity system is meant to imply otherwise and that Austin's situation reminds him too much of the hard things (as in, "maybe he gives a dislike reaction because he is uncomfortable with the matter at hand"), well, it would have been a very good room for this line to proc in-game, wouldn't it?

Considering that, wouldn't it take a particular level of cruelty and a lack of empathy for this character to say "hey kid go die" when he should be seeing a lot of parallels to his own life in this decision encounter?

If Fallout 4 was a TV show with an ensemble cast, the episode handling Austin and Vault 81 would be a great time to make connections and flashbacks to RJ's past, to show him having more sides than being cranky and a cap obsessed merc. I just don't see him responding in such a cold way: I see him emotionally distraught here. I see this quest with Sole making him wish they took someone else along so he didn't have to experience the reminder. I see him quieter and snappier than normal on the way home. I see him needing a beer and some alone time to process what bullshit irony he had to experience, that he had to accompany Sole to find a cure for someone else's kid.

Finding a cure for someone else's kid, and not Duncan. Wouldn't that mess with a parent in his shoes?

Alas. He also has no comment during quest at all.

Does putting your own first preclude helping others for RJ, or approving of the outcome that kills a child? Life has been tough on him, but I don't feel as though RJ MacCready is the type of jaded to say "tough break, kid", walk off with the cure and let Austin die.

Surely putting his own first, and having a little bit of empathy with Austin's fate can and probably should coexist for RJ to make sense as a character, and allowing Austin to die doesn't make sense for RJ MacCready?

Does only being able to count on yourself mean you say "fuck you, got mine" when the molerat cure has no endgame or benefit to RJ? The cure wouldn't be a likely help for Duncan either (his illness goes canonically unexplained, his canon cure is Prevent; Curie says the mole rat cure only pertains to the diseases they were studying in mole rats anyway) and the mole rat bite problem appears localized to Vault 81, so there's not much profit in reselling it for caps. Even if he did think the cure had a chance of helping, it would be based on imperfect information.

Even if he wanted to profit from the sale of the molerat cure for 400 caps: I have a hard time seeing MacCready being quite that cold if it means a kid dies.

Putting your own affairs first doesn't mean doing so to the point of allowing needless death to happen to someone else's baby.

Of Molerats and Mac

So, I've seen some folks in the MacCready tag talk about how his reaction to sharing the molerat illness medication with Austin seems off. Their reasoning is that in general, he really likes it when you help kids and the like, and he does, *BUT* there is one important element to consider. MacCready full on takes care of himself, and the people he cares about, *first*.

Most opportunities to help, especially the kids, don't usually involve self-sacrifice. Except maybe like, putting yourself in danger, but that kinda comes with the territory of his job so, negligible.

When you get the cure, it is damn near impossible to finish that quest without getting sick yourself. I have tried so MANY damn times, if you bring a companion? guaranteed to get sick. SO when you are asked to give up the cure, you are forgoing your own health and safety for a stranger on a purely moral basis and for little benefit.

If it were *him* he would have taken the meds himself and said "sorry, charlie" to that kid. Which is why he doesn't like it when you give up the meds. Doubly so if he is friends or lovers with the Sole Survivor. He would rather see the person he knows and cares about be safe over a rando, *even* a child rando.

I know some of his stans kinda see him with rose tinted glasses, but I think the reality is much more interesting. He's not a bad guy, but he's not a saint either. He has learned the hard way his entire adult life that he can only count on himself, and others are not likely to help for nothing. So, he acts in kind.

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

Companions and how they celebrate birthdays(whether theirs, the Sole Survivors, etc)(+Maxson)? *My birthday is coming up on July 31 so ye.*

(I feel like celebrating their own birthday might get a little depressing with our more edgy companions *cough* X6 *cough* so I'll give you them celebrating sole's! These are more on the platonic side but if anyone wants romantic, just send an ask!)

Cait:

•As one could probably guess, Cait isn't exactly equipped to throw some extravagant birthday bash. She wouldn't even know where to start. Plus as bad as it might sound, unless she's particularly close to you, she may even feel a little weird trying to do anything for you.

•Now that that's out the way- Cait would do simple things to celebrate. Maybe share a couple halfway decent beers with you, have some laughs..maybe go out and terrorize the town with some light hearted trouble making if you'd up to it.

•If you're especially close, she'll do her best to get her hands on a little gift for you. Most likely a new knife.

Curie:

•She does her level best to put together some type of gift basket- including stimpacks, hub flowers, low-radiation snacks, and a sweet little heartfelt handwritten note (granted she's a synth)

•Would try to get some of your friends together for a "party", taking extra careful precautions not to let those who want to rip each other's eyes out mingle.

Danse:

•He'll try his best to make it special, no matter how silly it is.

•If it's pre-Blind Betrayal, he'll wake up extra specially early and grab you an actual hot breakfast from the mess hall, maybe even throwing in a fancy lad snack cake as a makeshift birthday cake. He won't sing happy birthday for you though, but hey, he will let you skip out on morning training exercises.

•Now if it's post-Blind Betrayal, the snack cakes are still on the table but no mess hall breakfast. Seriously though, Danse with his newfound time to spend would spruce up your power armour and maybe a couple of guns if he knows you wouldn't mind.

Deacon:

•HQ party? Oh yeah. Expect everyone to be forced into wearing stupid, vibrant birthday hats handmade by Deacon himself. How he even knew it was your birthday is yet another one of Deacon's mysteries.

•Anyways- He genuinely wants you to know that you're appreciated, and doing so on your birthday just seems fitting. Even if he does so by dancing around like an idiot with a terribly beaten up piñata so you laugh.

Gage:

•Tries not to "overdo" it, seeing as these types of things were pretty much alien to him. Think about it- you think raiders throw birthday parties? Even if they do, it's probably not the traditional party a pre-war vaulter would vibe with, even the overboss.

•He'd celebrate with just the two of you up in Fizztop, two chairs pulled up to the balcony so you can view the little raider kingdom you've established.

•Might even sing you happy birthday if he's in a particularly good mood, chuckling the entire time through it before taking a nice long drag of a cigarette to hopefully deter you from noticing the blush on his face.

•It might not be much, but his company and maybe a couple ice cold colas is hopefully enough.

Hancock:

•Oh, he's making a big deal out it.

•Makes sure to decorate the Old Statehouse, invite some of your friends over, shit- he might even get some fireworks if you don't mind him being a little "extra"

•You're a very important person to Hancock and Hancock treats important people in his life well. Expect a party like none other and quite possibly little gifts from the inhabitants of Goodneighbor that know you well, including your very own "Happy Birthday" sung by Magnolia.

•Will dance with you if you're up to it.

Macready:

•Believe it or not, he's right up there with Hancock when it comes to enthusiasm for celebrating. Sure, he may not have a whole big place to decorate and throw a party but..hey, he does his damn best. Birthdays have always been fun for Mac, ever since Little Lamplight.

•It may be a little crappy, but he'll hand make little decorations and stuff for your home in Sanctuary- put together a little buffet of both your fave snacks and pig out.

•Later on, and only if you're up for it, Mac might just show his more childish side and propose making a "birthday blanket fort".

Maxson:

•I hope you know that it's not just Arthur celebrating- bastard made sure to go behind your back to the proctors and Captain Kells to orchestrate a little surprise party for you.

•It may not be an overly done up party, but you'll get the privilege of the Elder singing for you and an alarmingly eloquent birthday letter from said elder after all the other officers return to their stations.

•If you have no other duties to tend to (which you won't because he said so) Arthur will then proceed to invite you to his quarters for drinks and maybe a game or two of chess...which somehow turns to him bringing you on a vertibird joyride.

Nick:

•He's actually hella fun.

•He manages to set up this elaborate birthday themed scavenger hunt, leaving clues with your friends so everyone gets to be involved. Each individual clue leads you to small presents he managed to acquire until finally you find yourself where he put the actual party together at.

Piper:

•Just to be a little different, Piper decided to gift you a recording of her and Nat singing "Happy Birthday, Blue!"  Perhaps secretly hoping it would take place of the heart wrenching "Hi Honey!" tape you seemed to painfully play every once in a while.

•In any other news, Piper would also be happy to put together a little get together for you and the rest of your companions so everyone can celebrate together.

Preston:

•The entirety of the Minutemen are going to be celebrating. Think Hancock can throw some parties? You oughta see how these people get down. Expect a whole bonfire party, violin playing with dancers, and the finest wasteland chow (which probably is halfway edible) If you don't reign them back, they might start firing artillery rounds in stead of fireworks.

X6-88:

•It's probably a strange celebration idea but..X6 isn't exactly savvy to what most people do for their birthdays seeing as The Institute doesn't celebrate synths’...much less treat them as humans.

•Through his job, X6 has seen some of the most impressive sights the Commonwealth can offer- so to commemorate your birthday, he decided to take you around and see them all.

(And a happy early birthday to you! Hope it’s a good one ❤️)

[migilini]

Not So Secret Anymore - Charlie Gillespie

summary: It’s hard to hide a relationship from the public, particually when both work on the same show.

words: 2.5k

warnings: fluff

a/n: not my fave but i still somehow like it.

Requests are open :)

MASTERLIST

------------------------------------------------------

September

"When do we have our first interview?" you asked the boy whose head was in your lap. He looked up from his phone and your eyes locked with his green ones "Hmm, my calendar says in about 30 minutes."

You groaned at that and stopped playing with Charlie's hair which earned you a grunt and whine from him. "Sorry babe but I think I have to go, so I still have time to get ready and set up." You muttered and gave him a small kiss on his brown hair.

"Uhh fine." The weight lifted from your legs, you stood up and before you knew it you were thrown over his shoulder. Laughing, you slapped his butt and back repeatedly. "Babe! I mean it" you tried to press out between giggles, "we both decided to keep us a secret." He sat you down on the kitchen isle and cornered your body in between his arms, standing right in front of you, you're back hitting the kitchen cabinet.

"I know... come back later?" he asked and tilted his head, looking at you with big puppy eyes. "You know it." After a swift kiss, or rather a little make out session, you were on your way back to your own appartement. Just in time to change your top and put on a lip-gloss before opening your laptop and joining the interview.

"Hello everybody! I'm here with the cast of Netflix' Julie and the Phantoms that came out on Thursday. How are you guys?" the interviewer asked and smiled into the camera of his laptop. The whole cast chirped in with a good, great, or amazing.

"That's fantastic!" he clapped his hands "Now, Jeremy, how would you describe your Character and the show in general?"

"It's a show about ghosts from 1995 who come back 25 years later and join a band with Julie who didn't sing a note after her mother died. Reggie, the character that I play, is one of those ghosts and he is a loveable himbo. Did I use that word correctly Maddie?"

Maddie smiled and the interviewer changed the topic "Madison and y/n, birds have told me that this was your first ever acting job is that right?"

You nodded and signaled Maddie to speak first "Yes, and it was both amazing and traumatizing! I was so nervous, but the crew really helped to calm me down, especially y/n who just was in the same position as me, so we freaked out together most of the time." She smiled and the interviewer waited for you to answer. "Except, Maddie had a least some acting training at school, that's why she is the best. I more or less walked into the whole situation." You said laughing.

"I love this story." Jeremy exclaimed, making you slightly blush at his words.

"Would you be so kind and tell us?" the interviewer questioned and smiled at your little nod.

"Yes, yes of course. Well, I was on vacation with one of my good friends from back home..."

"She means Germany." Owen interrupted with a smile on his lips. "Yes, Owen. Thank you for adding important details. Anyways, we saw that there was an Open Audition nearby and though why not? We don't have anything to lose or to do on that particular day. And here I am, my friend sadly didn't get in."

"That really is an amazing story, I can see why Jeremy likes it so much. So, Charlie how would you describe y/n's and Luke's characters, she wasn't supposed to be in the script and was later added in right?" Charlie quirked up at the mention of your name and stated proudly. "Indeed, she impressed Kenny so much that he wrote a character just for her. He thought that Sunset Curve, the band name before we died, needed a female to handle their chaos or well... at least tries to. Y/N plays Allie, who against common speculation isn't any of the boys' love interest which is a very nice turn of events. She and Luke bud head a lot because Luke only thinks about music and the band and she tries hard to make him take breaks every now and then." 

A lovesick smile sat on your face while you listened to your boyfriend of nearly a year, once you realized your expression you quickly shook it off. Hiding this relationship was definitely going to be harder than expected.

The Interviewer asked some more questions before the last and dreaded question was thrown your way. "So, most of your fans are wondering if any of you guys are in a relationship." You and Charlie had discussed a million times before what you guys would say in such a moment, the two of you shared a look.

Jeremy's eyes switched from Charlie's box on his screen to y/n's before answering "I have a lovely wife! The rest of us are happily single, right guys?"

"100%" Maddie added, while Owen only shrugged, his dog conveniently jumping into his lap.

"How about the other two?" he eyed up the last remaining.

"Very single" Charlie laughed, and you agreed "Totally."

As time went on it was harder and harder for the two of you to hide the relationship, as you two spent nearly every day together and therefore did the same activities. Particularly after your social media accounts have gained over a million followers and people started to ship actors and tv show characters. But you two loved the little secret bubble you've created, there was no pressure to take good pictures together, or to post stories, to be asked a thousand questions about your relationship and no hate towards any of you.

December

It has been 4 months since the show released and the hype it got definitely was way more than you ever expected. It blew your mind. Currently, you are on Charlie and yours one-year anniversary / Christmas / good deeds vacation. Charlie and you found a good mix, that made you both happy, between chilling and doing adventurous things.

It was Christmas eve and Maddie wanted to do a 'guess the song Christmas Edition' with the main cast. Eagerly you agreed and hurried from the beach, where Charlie currently took the quiz at the bar you both sat on just minutes before, to your shared bedroom. You shot Maddie a quick text that you were 'out of the relationship zone' and ready when she was ready.

"Helloooo. How did the others do?"

"Not the worst but I still have faith in you to win this. ARE YOU READY?" she screamed the last part.

“I’m going to read you the lyrics of a christmas song and you have to guess the next line. There are certain cards that give one point and others give two. Whoever has the most points at the end…”

“Hopefully get your earrings” you asked with a sly smile and your shoulders raised.

Maddie laughed but shook her head “Sadly, no. I haven't figured out the price yet, but I for sure will! I like your backdrop by the way.” she added and you quickly looked behind you. You sat crisscrossed on the hotel room floor, you used the coffee table and a water bottle as a phonestand and used a white checkered wall as a background to try and hide the fact that you didn't sit in your living room.

January

“This should be the last box.” you cheered into the empty hall and shut the front door with a light push from your hip. Charlie popped his head out of the bedroom and walked over to, dropping his head on your shoulder in exhaustion. Nothing was set up, boxes stood randomly all over the apartment, the fridge stood there still empty and a lonely mattress covered the bedroom floor.

“The walls look a bit bare don't you think?” you said about a week later, standing in the middle of the now a bit furnished living room. Strong arms sneaked their way around your waist and a head dropped on your shoulder.

“Hmm… you're right. What do you have in mind?” Charlie said and turned you around so you were facing him. He smiled at the spark in your eyes “I was thinking, a yellow akzent wall with random secondhand pictures and some pictures of us, all in frames of course. So it's gonna have this homey and creative atmosphere.” You rambled on for a while longer, telling him where you think his instruments could go, the pillows you saw online and thought they worked perfect with the colour of the couch. Charlie just stared at you, a dumb smile on his lips with his arms around you.

“Do you not like it?” you noticed that he hasn't talked for a while and got worried. “I love it. We could live in a dumpster for all I care, as long as I have you by my side.” You fake gaged at his romantic words and gave him a kiss.

The first time people got really suspicious was the time you accidentally walked in on a live he had on Instagram. He sat in front of his instruments, phone propped up before him. You thought that he was already finished but you were wrong.

“Do you think this…” you walked into the room, a shirt in your hand that you just took out of the dryer and lost your words the moment you saw him sitting in front of his phone. He looked at you with wide eyes, his brain clearly searching for a good excuse. 

“Is that y/n?” he read outloud from the chat, gesturing you do sit next to him. “Yes it's her! We’re hanging out and she helped me with my washing because I somehow still don't know how to do it.” he laughed nervously, his hand grabbing yours out of the frame.

“He promised me food and I live really close by, so I thought I'll help this poor man out.”

May

Looking back at this moment now, you and Charlie weren't sure why you just didn't come clean. You didn't mean to hide the relationship this long, it just kinda happened and at one point it just got too awkward to tell. It was fairly easy to hide most of the time, you didn't most that much on instagram and Charlie only showed parts of his daily life.

The easiest was the time you filmed JATP Season 2. You were expected to hang out and live together. Back in 2019 you already lived with Owen and Charlie. This time poor Owen had to live with a couple instead of just two friends. (You were already dating for a while back then but didn't tell the cast, to not make a fuss.)

It wasn't like the fans didn't suspect a thing, especially after Owen posted a video of you two fooling around. 

Everybody sat outside, enjoying the everwarming sun on their skin. Half of the cast was already in costume just waiting for the break to end. In typical Allie (your character) fashion you wore an overall with a tight tank top underneath, your makeup stood out from the others with the heavy blush, freckles and black eyeliner. 

Charlie, in his Luke wardrobe, thought that it was funny to stand in front of you to shield you from the sun.

"Stop that" you whined and tried to shove him away, which was harder than you thought considering he stood before you and you sat on a bench.

"Make me." He flirted and stood even wider before you, puffing out his chest. Raising an unimpressed eyebrow, you stole his beany with a swift motion. His expresion quickly changed from cocky to shocked, snickering was heard from Maddie who was used to this type of behaviour.

"Ups… heavy wind blows in the shadows." You explained nonchalantly and pulled the beany on your head, sticking your tongue out at your boyfriend.

"Oh it's on my lady" he growled "I'm giving you a three second advantage. One…" your eyes widened and your heart rate picked up. "Two…" you got up and scanned the place internally making a good running line. "Th-.." you began sprinting across the lot. You heard the laughing from your castmates behind you as you and Charlie ran in circles. 

Unfortunately, he was still fitter and faster than you and about a minute into the running he had you thrown over his shoulder.

"Surrender!" he screamed as you tried to wiggle out of his grip.

"Never!" You screamed back and wiggled even harder.

"Surrender or i'll have to tickle you" he warned and those were the last words Owen was able to film before a producer yelled that the break was finished.

February

“Baby, if I would believe this News Article, you have a secret girlfriend, but it's not me.” you showed him your phone screen.

“I’m not cheating on you. I would never, i'd die rather than…” his frantic expression made you snort. “I know. Oh my god! People saw you with Lia.” you held his hands comfortably.

“Lia as in your best friend Lia?”

“The one and only. People noticed the hickeys... At least they’re getting closer now. So are we still on for the masterplan? You by instruments and I'm gonna sit in the bedroom?" He nodded and smiled at the sight of your equally plastered neck. 

Eventually, before you even were able to execute the as you'd like to say 'masterplan' your relationship got outed. I mean it was time, the two of you getting lazier with the hiding as time went by. 

Fans noticed that you wore a lot of Charlie's things and that you and him always seemed to be at the same place at the same time. It was actually one of your lives that spilled the secret. 

"That's a really nice akzent wall" you read outloud from the chat "oh thank you! It was a long process to get all the pictures but it was actually Charlie's idea to not only have pictures but also plane tickets, date memories and so on hung up on that wall. It really makes it homey. I think to get that wall this crowded it took us...what? About well since we moved in…" you didn't even realise what you said you just babbled and then it was out.

"Charlie actually is home! I could call him. Babe! Come here for a sec- oh my god!" Your hands flew up to your mouth in realizion. 

From that moment on you were public and your social media exploded once again. However the two of you were happy to finally show each other off.

[shimmershae]

So.  Thanks to my new anonymous friend, this is going to become a thing.

Shae’s thinky thoughts about the latest episode--Acheron:  Part 2--beneath a cut. 

Because spoilers, however vague they might be.  

Let’s be real here.  This is more a stream of consciousness than anything else so if that’s not your thing, you are most welcome to nope right on out of this post.  Trust me.  I’ll completely understand, lol.  Sometimes?  I wish I could nope right on out of my own brain and the way it operates.  

That said?  Without further ado--

Episode 2′s opening, though.  Maggie trapped with hungry Walkers converging?  It totally gives me Glenn under the dumpster vibes.  I don’t know if that was intentional or just happy coincidence but way to link Maggie to her dearly departed better half, show.  

Is it just me or has Father G had more OOMPH to him these last few seasons?  Again, I have to ask--Rosita’s influence or no?  Regardless, I bet Seth Gilliam is loving the job these days.  

Side note:  am I gonna have to go to bed early every Saturday night from now until the end just so I that I might be able to SEE?  Something?  Anything?  My curtains are flimsy-ass.  I admit it.  But this is more frustrating than TXF.  Angela, WTF?  

No, seriously.  It’s like complete guess work who’s in these subway scenes.  Some of that has to do with them being overly populated by redshirts and the rest of it has to do with me having to squint and turn sideways to make out their facial features. 

Look at Daryl busting through concrete walls!  Should I call him the Kool-Aid Man considering NR has once again allowed himself to be led right into a biased, shipper trap?  Hmm.  I might.  

Imagine seeking refuge in those dark, filthy subways.  Any second now I expect to hear the skittering of rats.  Will Dog lose his effing mind a la Divergence?  He’s been shown to go off half-cocked that way, lol.  Oh well.  Guess it’ll be in character if he does.  

Impressive graffiti storyboards.  Does it mean something that it immediately cuts to the Commonwealth storm troopers afterward?  Maybe.  Who really knows at this point?  They been trying to gaslight us forever.  

LOL at Princess yet again.  Yumiko is just like da fuq is this person?  

No, really.  LMAO.  “That was her.  From last night.  Did you see how she was looking at us?”  

Then you have Eugene, hahaha.  “Oh God.  Why did he tell off the big guy?”  Like the man is totally me in this type of situation.  Not even gonna lie.  

“That’s right.  We want to talk to the manager.”  

I literally cannot wait ‘til Carol and Daryl meet Princess.  Can.  Not.  Wait.  

How sad is that note on that $100 bill?  Small moment but it totally gives me Season 4 vibes when they were on their way to Terminus seeking sanctuary.  

Hmm.  Remember how that place wasn’t what they thought it was?  I’m sure neither is the Commonwealth.  But I feel like what’s left of Team Family is totally going to do Rick proud, lol, and prove they’re messing with the wrong people if they try something.  

Daryl, Man.  You gonna have to get a better handle on your headstrong Fur Son.  I wonder if Dog would listen better to his mama?  Things to ponder.  

Sounds like Miko has this group’s number.  Or does she?  

Princess and Eugene totally look like they’re waiting their turn for the Principal’s office, LOL.  

“Stop moving!  You’re taking my nerves over the edge to a proverbial 11 on a scale of 10.”  I feel you, Eugene.  I do.  Also you, Princess.  Two of the most relatable TWD characters right there, I’m telling you.  

Princess is me when I really, really, really have to pee.  TMI?  Sorry, lovelies.  LOL.  I just...she’s so relatable.  

LMAO.  “If that fine ass dude in the orange suit...”  Princess and Mercer incoming in 3-2-----

Princess’s excitement over the toilet paper=PRICELESS.  

Eugene, Man.  You desperately need to develop a poker face.  

There’s Daryl getting another cool camera shot.  Angela?  You playing favorites again?  

Carol’s claustrophobia could have never.  I bet that’s in the back of Pookie’s mind.  You can’t tell me it’s not because Carol lives in there rent-free.  

Ohhh.  Back to the subway car.  Looks like we got the Maggie redshirts leading the way.  First sacrificial “lambs”?  

Maggie pistol-whipping Negan was kinda deserved, but he wasn’t all wrong so.  

Damn.  I’m no Gage fan.  He can fuck all the way off for what he did to my baby Lydia.  But Maggie over there with ice in her veins.  

Yep.  I think the dude just got one of the most gruesome deaths in a while.  Yuck.  

I think Alden’s faith in Maggie definitely took several hits.  I feel like he kind of had her on some sort of pedestal dating back to Hilltop times.  Father G, though?  The man is continuing to show himself a SAVAGE MFer.  

Josh gives Eugene such believable tics and mannerisms.  He IS Eugene.  

Thank you, Maggie, for lighting that flare.  I could not see a damn thing.  

What are these bad memories Negan alludes to?  Hmm?  Him being a shit husband to Lucille back when he was still taking her for granted?  

Father G on Gage’s Walker--”All that is, is a shell of a man, who died a coward.”  Kind of ironic considering Father G’s own origins, huh?  Has he any warmth in there for anybody but Rosita and Coco?  Does he equate it with weakness?  

“There are worse ways.”  And Maggie proceeds to paint us a horror story with mere words.  

Dark Maggie really surpasses anything certain fans have ever accused Carol of being.  Is she too far gone?  Who the hell knows?  I think it’s clear that she and Carol are both on a sliding scale of sorts when it comes to being able to compartmentalize shit to survive.  Personally?  I feel like Maggie might have leap-frogged Carol in this episode but it matters none because of the double standards so deeply entrenched in this fandom.  Both women have endured and had to do some horrific things.  It’s not a contest.  But it’s probably going to be turned into a season-long one.  

It’s almost like Kang was like, “Ya’ll bitches think Carol’s dark?  I’ll show you DARK.  Check and mate.”  

Whatever the reasoning, Maggie just got exponentially more interesting to me if not likable.  And before anybody out there comes at me, it’s entirely possible to be on a character’s side in some things and not be all up their ass in love with them, lol.  Like I’m attached to her because she’s family and Glenn loved her.  There’s a loyalty there and she absolutely is justified in her hatred of Negan.  But I’m not going to pretend her shit don’t stink like everybody else’s.  

Speaking of my baby Glenn.  What would he think of this version of Maggie?  I think he would be gutted and heart stricken that events led to her being like this but he’d understand because he’s pure like that.  Don’t mean he’d be A-OK with it all.  

Dog must be protected at all costs.  

Confession.  I know not the fuck who Pony Boy is, but I know him because all my fandom friends have pointed him out to me, lol.  RIP, Man.  I think you’re number’s up or close to it.  

Okay, though.  I admit it.  I am kinda LOVING Badass Father G.  

That scene in the subway car with all of them working to take all the Walkers out was already badass.  Then Daryl arrived and made it, in @freefromthecocoon’s words, HAWT.  LOL.  

Eugene staring at that little black book like it contains torture tools, hehehe.  

“Processed?  As in administratively?  Processed as in bologna or other meat stuffs?  This inquiring (enquiring?) mind needs to know.”  OMG, Eugene.  I admit it.  Even if it makes me look like a lunatic, LOL.  I straight up LMAO at that one.  I mean, ten years later and Terminus still fresh on the man’s mind.  

“You like feeling nervous?”  Well, no.  None of us that do, Mercer?  Do.  

Then he proceeds to make me howl with his “You can’t lie for shit” to Eugene.  

Josh McDermitt?  I love you, Man.  40 year old virgin, LOL.  

All this talk over the seasons of Daryl’s virginity and we have Eugene, hahaha.  But was he telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  

Finally.  Some daylight.  Where I can see.  

Eugene’s relief at seeing his friends safe and sound was such a beautiful thing to see.  I loved those hugs.  

Mercer’s face when he snarled “beat cop” in disdain to Ezekiel.  I think I’m gonna love this dude.  

“I went to West Point.  Asshole.”  Yeah.  I am.  

I know they probably catfishing Eugene right here because spoilers tell us that ain’t Stephanie.  But my heart still did a little d’aww.  Angela.  Don’t play with his poor heart like that.  

What’s got Daryl so pensive, huh?  Is it that the note reminds him of kids being lost or taken from their family? Or separated from their family?  Is he thinking of those Grimes babies and wondering if Michonne will ever make it back and why and how she was able to leave them behind?  Tell me it ain’t that Find Me nonsense.  

“This place sure has gone to shit since the last time I was here.”  LMAO, JDM.  I mean Negan.  Sorry.  Sorry.  I still hate Negan, but JDM has me entertained at least since they gave the asshole some shades of gray.  And speaking of shades of gray.  I’m loving the gray beard.  JDM’s looking GOOD (hear that NR?  Embrace the gray).  Negan can still kick rocks, lol.  

Anyway.  That scene was CREEPY AF.  Not even gonna lie.  

The Reapers strutting right on up to our group like it’s The Purge:  ZA.  

My bad, Pony Boy. Now RIP.  

Dark, dark episode with loads of tension broken up by some welcome humor by Princess.  The girl is fast becoming a fave of mine.  

My baby’s back next week!!!

I’m just going to plug my ears and pretend they’re trying to capture/recapture the horses because they’re pets.  Not because they’re starving so bad they feel the need to eat them.  La la la la la.  I can’t hear you.  

[theggning]

What's your "Oghren Companion Problem"? Please do expound! I'm going from context clues that I have the same issue, I'm stuck in this limbo where Cait doesn't like me well enough to let me help her. Guess I help people too much for her to... trust me with that?

Oh, thank you for asking! I will definitely expound.

How do you play Dragon Age: Origins? If you’re me, you’re playing as a relative good guy who likes to help people. I do generous things. I don’t gouge people for extra money. I try to be generally heroic and nice to everyone.

(This is actually because I’m incapable of being mean to people in video games or even doing evil acts. “Evil runs” are totally out of the question. But I think this is a pretty common problem...)

Anyway, with my preferred playstyle, I have quite a few companion characters to choose from. Alistair, definitely. Leliana, absolutely. Wynne is a doll, and the three of them are a complete and balanced party, no matter what class I’m playing. I can swap in Zevran for Lels if I want some rogue variety, and I like Morrigan as a character, even if she hates everything I do, so I’ll sometimes bring her out on adventures I know she’ll approve of. I almost always play as a warrior, so I have fewer uses for Sten and Shale, but I can move them in and out as needed as well.

And what order do I do the quests in? I almost always do Redcliffe and the Mages’ Tower first (because I goddamn hate the Fade and like to get it over with.) After that I’ll go to the forest, because I like forest levels. Last and least I go to Orzammar because the Deep Roads suck and I hate them.

And then the game hands me Oghren.

I have nothing against Oghren has a character, but I basically never use him. Because by the time I’m able to, I’m 75% of the way through the main story. I am already PLAYING a warrior, I have three spares sitting around, and the last thing I need is another one. And either his approvals don’t jive with how I like to play, or I already have like, six other characters with the same approvals 

In Fallout 4, barring individual differences between specific companions (like factions), you can oversimplify and sort the companions into the following categories (also sorted by how quickly you can recruit them on a normal playthrough, without going out of your way to reach them early:)

Benevolent/”Good”: Codsworth, Preston, Piper, Nick, Danse, Deacon, Hancock, Curie

Selfish/“Evil”: MacCready*, Cait*, Strong, X6, Gage

(* I wouldn’t classify either of these two as “evil” but they tend to approve of more criminal/selfish/chaotic/mean/evil actions.)

You will notice the “good” list is extremely long. It also contains basically all of my favorite characters. So generally, by the time I even REACH Goodneighbor and have the opportunity to recruit Hancock, I already have 4-5 other companions in tow with essentially identical approvals. Apart from Danse, no one companion in FO4 has any combat/mechanical advantages over the others, though some have perks that are more or less useful, so I end up prioritizing Preston and Deacon ahead of the others-- and my personal faves like Nick after that. This is all made even worse in that you can only have them accompany you one at a time.

So by no fault of his own, but by the fault of my personal playstyle, Hancock shows up in the same position as Oghren: in an overrepresented class at the end of a long line of preferred companions.

Curie actually has it even worse than him, poor thing. (And I tend to not even bother with Strong or X6. We’re all happier not sharing my company.)

[procrastiskating]

My Top 10 Ice Dance Programs 2019-20 (Part II)

Part I Here.

I wrote my list in emojis because I can:

2019-2020 ⛸💃🔝🔟

10. 🇨🇦👩🏻‍🎤🧑🏽‍🎤

9. 🇬🇧📸✨

8. 🇨🇦🔫🤠💰❤️

7. 🇨🇦👑🎸⚡️

6. 🇨🇦🎊🚫🛑🎶

5. 🇨🇳🎩 🎩

4. 🇪🇸 ✋🕺⚡️

3. 🇺🇸🩸🌬

2. 🇬🇪🤸🏼‍♀️🤸🏻‍♂️

1. 🇨🇦⬅️➡️🕑

5. Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu “Chaplin” RD

I absolutely fell in love with this team this year, and it’s largely thanks to this program. It stands out from the other rhythm dances, and it shows off what characters these two are. It’s hilarious. Also, their lifts always defy gravity in any program!

4. Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz “Grease” RD

I mean, this was my favorite RD of the year. It was the PERFECT pick for these two, and Olivia (Newton) Smart’s commitment to the character just put it over the top. And actually putting the hand jive in the choreography? Yes. Just yes.

3. Oona Brown/Gage Brown “Bloodstream and Air” FD

And now we reach the trio of “Free Dances that made my breath catch every time.” This choreography is absolutely stunning on these two. It shows off their skating skills and the fact that they have better extension than most teams twice their height. It’s a magical program, and I find myself wanting to go back and watch it again and again.

2. Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya “In The End” FD

These absolute icons. A choreographic yeet to open the program? One handed cartwheels in the character step? Just because they can? Your faves could never. My favorite part, though, is when the music drops to that simple, haunting melody and they do their one foot step AT THE VERY END. I love this program so much and I can’t wait to see what these two do with their career.

1. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier “Both Sides Now” FD

This program is art. I don’t know how they managed to follow up Vincent, but they did. Spectacularly. I cried the first time I saw this program, and so many other times throughout the season I forgot I was watching a competition (which never happens, because I’m usually a ball of nerves). Their skating is ethereal, and it interprets the music in a way that feels like a universal language. I can’t get enough of this program (and those deep red costumes!)

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

I wanted to ask you about a Musketeers character, but all the usual ones are predictable, so I’ll ask: Louis? :D

ummmm…. to be honest, hipps, my fave version of louis is the one from your delightful modern!au loutagnan verse. if we’re talking about the show, tho:

How I feel about this character: it’s hard to really isolate my feelings about this character, because for so much of the show he was either a symbol or easily led around by people with even an iota of personality, like richelieu or rochefort. he was fun to watch while on screen, sure–ryan gage is a fantastic performer–but even his worst moments, there was nothing remarkable or particularly interesting about his decisions. i liked his episode with d’artagnan in 2.02, but more for what that revealed about d’artagnan than for any insight it gave into louis.i really liked the show’s effort to inject some pathos and dignity into his character arc in s3 tho–his confrontation with aramis in 3.06 was genuinely moving. also, his hair? fucking magnificent.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: louis/fucking-taking-responsibility, louis/some-goddamn-dignity, louis/and-maybe-some-integrity-while-we’re-at-it. louis/anne had their moments.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: richelieu and louis were fucking great. two really awesome actors having so much fun playing off each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character: i don’t know that i have an unpopular opinion about him, really.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i wish the show’d really built upon the tense, uneasy dynamic they’d established between louis and d’artagnan in 2.02. that just really felt like it went nowhere.i’d also like to take this opportunity to rec an AMAZING post 2.02 AU where d’artagnan and louis aren’t rescued by the musketeers, and are kidnapped by slavers. it’s brilliant, and emotional, and does with louis’ character what i wish the show would’ve done:Precious Things (are) by fandomlver

( give me a character to break down! )

[artsfavoritehorn]

karen for the character ask game 😮

1- Sexuality Headcanon:

I’ve always hc’d that Karen is straight since Plankton programmed her to be his wife but since she’s a computer I feel like she could be bi as well 😅

2- Otp:

Definitely Karen and Plankton even though they argue a lot, but at the end of the day they always come back to each other and find a way to make it work (The episode Karen 2.0 always comes to mind, Plankton would really be lost without her lmao)

3- Brotp:

Despite not getting too many interactions between them, I actually really love Spongebob and Karen’s friendship! The few interactions we’ve gotten between them are really cute ngl

4- Notp: 

I don’t think I really have any for Karen! She doesn’t really interact with too many other characters enough from what I’ve seen to really get a gage of if there are any that I could definitely say she wouldn’t be compatible with 🤔

5- First headcanon that pops into my head: 

Lol I have this really dumb hc that since Karen is a powerful computer, she is able to somehow hack into some kind of system at the Krusty Krab and/or is so powerful that she is able to hack into Krabs’s thoughts that she is able to get the Krabby Patty formula anytime she wants, but she doesn’t because she likes to watch Plankton struggle and loves the petty competition between him and Krabs 😂😂

6- One way in which I relate to this character:

I would have to say I relate to Karen in the way that her ideas are ignored constantly, or she doesn’t even get a chance to say what she's thinking before Plankton interrupts her and takes credit for it. Sometimes I feel like I’m ignored in certain aspects as well so I can very much relate to her 😑 I also very much relate to how sarcastic she can be at times because of this lol

7- Things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character:

I don’t think Karen has ever done anything that’s given me second hand embarrassment tbh! She’s just iconic and doing her thing and I love that about her lol

8- Cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Def a cinnamon roll! Karen gets a 10/10 in my book 🤩

Thank you for asking!

[jojotier]

what’re your thoughts on sugimoto for the character ask thing? :)

I actually did him before, but by God have things changed since now and the last time I did these rounds….

Favorite Thing: Last time I espoused on how much I adore Sugimoto’s curiosity and willingness to listen and learn all about the Ainu from Asirpa, as well as his kindness, but this time I wanna focus on how devotedly selfless he is for those he loves!! Even though he was singularly focused on Asirpa, he still paused his pursuit to make sure that Shiraishi could be saved from the ice drifts and so that he could assure Shiraishi that he was alive- and God, 188 just showed how much he’s willing to put on the line for those he loves!! 

He’s even willing to save the life of someone he positively abhors if it means making sure that Asirpa doesn’t have to become a murderer. This selflessness is even more impressive when you realize- he’s putting this all aside while also fighting impulses to give into even more violent episodes due to his injury. It’s fantastically realistic writing from a narrative standpoint (while a brain injury in the frontal lobe can drastically change personality, anything extreme usually doesn’t last in the long term- look at the case of Phineas Gage- and the previous personality shows at least in some measure) and makes his selflessness all the more poignant. 

Least Favorite Thing: Some of his more extreme behavior post-injury is kind of annoying, like the willingness to do weirder shit, leaving his photo with the Russian couple, etc- but then again, this is a very, very minor gripe. My real least favorite thing is the same as last time. Stop sympathizing with bearfuckers, fucker

Favorite Line: It’s still his speech about how soldiers have to rebuild themselves on the battlefield in ch100. The persimmon scene is, in general, the single most powerful scene in all of Golden Kamuy so far, but this may simply be due to extreme personal bias. I’ve been quite close with a lot of soldiers in my family, and Golden Kamuy has one of the most genuinely realistic depiction of PTSD and survivor’s guilt that I’ve ever seen in media, as is their effect on military families.

Once, in an uber, I was talking with my driver, I mentioned my Dad had been in the military and served in Iraq. He said that when a soldier serves, their whole family serves, and thanked me for my service. I still remember that- because when my Dad was in the army, I was about 5. This is becoming more of an Asirpa meta, but the persimmon scene encompasses that principle- that not just the soldier themselves serve. All the closest family and people the soldier meets afterward, who the soldier shares their closest lives and struggles with, in some measure are changed by war, even if they don’t know what war is. And it shakes me.

brOTP: Asirpa and Sugimoto- aka, Knife Dad And His Lesbian Daughter. Or like, maybe it’s Gay Dad and his Knife Daughter? I don’t remember how it goes. In any case- I love the sibling dynamic between these two!! Sugimoto obviously has come to love what Asirpa teaches, and enjoys spending time with her, and their joking, teasing manner of doing things is so realistic to how actual siblings act. No cutesy “Big bwother uwu” or “lil sis umu” shit here- Asirpa mercilessly tears into Sugimoto whenever he’s a dumbass and in turn, Sugimoto teases Asirpa for being a tiny goblin who’s weird about poop. He’s obviously endeared, but he doesn’t patronize Asirpa, and I think that’s beautiful

OTP: Oh SugiShira, definitely. Like I still love Sugimoto with a lot of the cast (Umeko and Toraji OT3 included,,) but SugiShira is definitely my all time fave in terms of content and making content! Their relationship is amazingly fun and sweet, and let’s face it- any boyfriend who lets Sugimoto go All Out with courtship is a boyfriend who Sugimoto is gonna go apeshit over, the fuckin sap. The big runner up is SugiKoi, because I still love TsukiKoi but also I love a good rivalmance. Like a rival-to-lover thing that’s ACTUALLY rival-to-lover and not just hatefucking

nOTP: Remember how last time I was like, oh, OSugi’s a soft no, I can’t see it in canon but in a well done au maybe? Yeah lmao not anymore!! Abashiri happened, Ogata kept getting worse and Sugimoto has irreparable brain damage that will affect how he forms and maintains relationships with other people and how some of his motor skills go for the rest of his Life.  I won’t even lie and say “oh maybe you can convince me with an au uwu” because fuck no you cannot. Especially after 188 when people were going apeshit over the eye vore- yall were being fucking weird and that was weird. So yea. Goodbye, Osushit

Random Headcanon: Sugimoto stayed and held vigil over his family’s house as it burned to the ground. Even though the smell of burning flesh made him nauseous, even though his family lay inside, voices slowly being snuffed out and coughing finally coming to an end, he stayed and watched until the flames subsided. It was to make sure things didn’t become a wildfire, he told himself, but in truth he watched because he was mourning. His parents were already as good as dead- had it really been right to hasten them to their graves? And for what, he own fleeting reputation? I headcanon that even now, Sugimoto can’t look at a large fire without the pit of his stomach twisting in on himself. Not without the smell of flesh coming to him. Not without remembering the life he burned.

Unpopular Opinion: Or I guess this is a popular one, idrk? Either way… Sugimoto is a way better guardian figure than Wilk was, despite his few mistakes and general lack of needing to parent Asirpa- he’s not there as Asirpa’s father, just as her guardian and brother and best friend. Which is far more than Wilk has ever done, the son of a bitch, training Asirpa and trapping her in this gold hunt as he did under the guise of parental love. 

Song I Associate with him: I still associate Still in Saigon with him, but after he started getting those psychotic violent episodes, I started ALSO associating Back From the Dead by Skillet with him. Lord knows that’s probably how everyone feels when Sugimoto appears again lmao- and plus, it acts as a great battle track for the Ogata/Sugimoto showdown we never got!

Favorite Picture: I’ve looked at this for five years now

[porchwood]

THG Reread: Interesting Tidbits from Ch 1

Disclaimer: I’ve never taken part in any official THG reread/discussion and I essentially read the book in isolation, so anything I say in these posts may well have been discussed and dismissed years ago.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and crawled in with our mother.

I find it interesting that Prim leaves Katniss to find comfort with their mother, especially since Katniss seems to see herself as Prim’s sole protector and provider. Are Prim and Mrs. Everdeen closer than Katniss realizes (having such an abrasive relationship with her mother as she does) or is it simply that Mom will always be Mom and in a moment of terror most children prefer the embrace of their mother over a sibling?

Also: sleeping directly on a rough canvas-covered mattress? Are bed sheets are that great a luxury in the Seam? :(

I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers…

So she gets out of bed and puts on her boots, then her trousers... So...girl’s a firefighter, right? :D

(Sorry for the crummy pics. Apparently the Tumblr presence of the Emergency! fandom is microscopic at best - I guess that happens with a ‘70s show :P - so these are screenshots I made from the S1 DVD, because yes, I’m that big of an Emergency! fangirl and you can never have too much Johnny Gage!)

It gives “girl on fire” a whole new meaning!! ;D

All merriment aside, we know that fire was a constant danger in the Seam, with its “old wooden homes embedded with coal dust,” so it’s entirely possible that residents slept with trousers and boots in readiness at the bedside, to be stepped into at a moment’s notice for a rapid escape if needed.

I…tuck my long dark braid up into a cap…

This has been discussed in previous rereads so it really isn’t news, but I’d love to see more Katniss-in-a-cap popping up in fics and fanart. THG opens in summertime and she’s still wearing the cap, so it was definitely a staple of her wardrobe! (And it brings us a little closer to the girl-disguised-as-a-boy trope, which is one of my all-time faves! :D)

(Behold this adorable @ghtlovesthg rendering!)

Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour…

Somehow I had always (erroneously) assumed that there was just one twelve-hour shift that all the miners worked (ex. 6am-6pm). Since artificial light would be required inside the mines anyway, I suppose they could work around the clock with no regard to the sun and stars. Folks who live in/near coal mining communities: do they generally operate 24 hours a day or is there some arbitrary cut-off point in the evening? (I’m sorry I’m so ignorant about this!)

Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt…

Has anyone else figured out who these mysterious additional hunters are??

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely.

First off: it truly befuddles me that Katniss’s hair color is stated on page 8 of THG (though, interestingly, never explicitly afterward) and yet it’s unusual - maybe even rare - to find fanart or even fics that depict her with black hair. Why is that? I was in love with her long black hair from moment one (truly black hair is unique, at least in my part of the world, and so striking to boot) so I probably belabor it a bit in my own writing, but it’s such an exquisite feature, why would you not?

Secondly: “He could be my brother.” That feels significant, and not merely in the “we look alike” sense. I’ve been working on a post about how Gale came into Katniss’s life in a very significant fashion after her beloved father’s death and she was drawn to him because of certain (I would venture to say striking) commonalities, but as I was wrapping it up last night (and sharing various details with my favorite sounding-board @ghtlovesthg), I realized there was a whole - vitally important - flipside to my theory that absolutely cannot be overlooked. So I might not get that finished till we’re on CF or even MJ. (No spoilers just in case someone pips me at the post - pun inadvertent ;) - but I think it’s pretty cool!)

And thirdly, because I can’t resist: I headcanon that Gale and Katniss are cousins through their great-great-grandfather (Galen Greenbrier, if anyone cares :D), who had two daughters (Aisling and Elspeth), who each had a daughter (Wren and Ashpet), who had Hazelle and Jack (Mr. Everdeen), who begat Gale and Katniss, respectively. Ergo: related but “not closely,” per canon. :)

With both of us hunting daily…

I’d always thought Gale and Katniss only hunted a few times a week, with Sundays being their largest haul/best trading day. (“Usually we devote all of Sunday to stocking up for the week.”) I know Twelve is an unusually permissive district at this point in time, but if two Seam kids were sneaking back and forth under the fence every single day and (forgive me) flaunting the fact by selling game in town (and when did they do this? before school, after, both?), surely, inevitably, the Peacekeepers would have been obliged to do something about it. Or were there some trips where Gale and Katniss only brought back enough for their own families, making their illegal activities not quite so blatant?

Cross-referencing with Catching Fire, I find Katniss saying, “Back when we were in school, we had time in the afternoons to check the lines and hunt and gather and still get back to town to trade” - exactly what time did they get out of school and how late were they doing these trades (not to mention, when did anyone get homework done)?? - but she also says it’s “an hour-and-a-half trek” just to check the snare line. I guess it isn’t impossible, but it seems a much more extensive (and time-consuming!) arrangement than I would have thought they could get by with, even in Twelve.

We easily trade six of the fish for good bread…

Like the rest of you, I’m trying to figure out who’s selling this “good bread” at the Hob. For some odd reason, at one point I thought maybe the bakery’s day-olds were sold there, à la:

They could potentially sell said day-olds at less of a discount than merchant clientele would demand but the reduced prices would be low enough for some Seam clientele to afford, and of course, even day-old bakery bread would be superior to homemade tessera bread (and therefore: “good bread”). 

I’m not sure where I got the “bakery outlet” idea (I think it was all the early canonverse fics where Katniss ran into Peeta in the Hob, so I figured he was running a day-olds stall or something) but having been away from it for awhile, I actually kind of like it! :)

You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve.

I’m going to wax exceedingly about reaping ages in another post, but for the moment: I presume this rule means that anyone who turns twelve between reaping days becomes eligible for the subsequent reaping, correct? So if we arbitrarily set the reaping at, say, June 1, someone whose birthday is on June 2 wouldn’t be eligible till the following year. (Which would be especially terrible for your 18-yr-old reaping: being a day away from 19 and freedom, of a sort, but still having to go through one last reaping.) Now I think of it, it’s possible Career districts took advantage of this. Highly invested parents in a Career district could have planned their pregnancies with the intent of a late summer birth (i.e., a month or two after reaping day) so the resulting children would have the advantage of extra months up on other tributes in their same age group.   

On the flipside of this: Prim, whose birthday is in late May, would be an especially young tribute, since she’s only just turned twelve (think school kids with summer birthdays who don’t turn the “right age” for their grade till 1-3 months after school is out), and similarly Katniss, whose birthday is May 8, would be on the young side of the group of sixteens. 

“Pretty dress,” says Gale.

Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it’s a genuine compliment or if he’s just being ironic. It is a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles. “Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don’t I?”

Now it’s Gale’s turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with him? I’m guessing the second.

Gaaah, so much going on here! I can’t decide if I want to make a proper Gadge post, so in the meantime, here’s some food for thought:

1) Why does Gale remark on her dress? Really - give me suggestions, because I’ve been turning it over in my head. If it’s meant to be ironic and she gives him sarcasm in reply (as seems to be the quintessential Gadge dynamic :D), it’s odd that he would be confused and not have a volley/riposte/etc of his own on deck. I mean, Katniss doesn’t seem to know (or at least, doesn’t clarify in her narration) whether or not it’s a compliment -

2) Which is interesting, because she guesses straightaway that Madge is “messing with him” in reply. ;)

3) Gale gives Madge what outwardly seems like a compliment and this is what ensues. One might surmise they’ve done this before... :D I mean, if there was no precedent, Madge would’ve just said “thank you” and exchanged money for berries. Since the mayor is such a valuable customer (being one of very few who can afford their asking price for strawberries), it’s interesting that Gale would antagonize Madge and risk losing the strawberry trade - not to mention bringing up the subject of tesserae at the mayor’s back door on reaping day! Does he take similar potshots at other merchants or is it just Madge? Is he irked (even threatened) by Katniss’s friendship with Madge? (I love that Katniss immediately defends Madge in the face of Gale’s tesserae rant. ♡) Does he feel like he can sound off at her (with impunity) because she’s Katniss’s friend? Or is he secretly crazy about her and resigned to the fact that he’ll never get her but the reminders of the impassable gap between them still incense him? Sorry, my hand slipped there for a sec. ;) 

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected.

I didn’t recall this line from previous reading and it just makes me happy. :)

To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching shoes. [...]  For a while I was so angry, I wouldn’t allow her to do anything for me. And this is something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her.

I’d never caught the “matching shoes” bit before! Do you suppose Katniss means dyed [blue] to match/covered with matching fabric (so that’s what they do at the shoe shop!) or simply that they go well with the dress? And if she means that the shoes literally match the dress: is this a particularly special dress (hence particularly special shoes) or is it customary for merchant girls to order shoes to match their dresses?

And further: why this year? It doesn’t sound like Mrs. Everdeen has offered one of her apothecary-era dresses before, which could have been due to Katniss’s repeated rebuffs, but still: why offer one of those very precious dresses this year? Did she have a feeling about this reaping? Or is she starting to see Katniss as a young woman, not just an angry, resourceful child? (Coupled with the fact that she subsequently puts Katniss’s hair up, the latter makes a lot of sense.) 

On a sidenote: Has anyone written meta on the significance/usage of braids in Twelve? (Notwithstanding WTM: Ch 13 and all that Mellark bridal braids/braid coils/engagement hairpin business.) Ex. Does a girl "graduate” from pigtails to a single braid around puberty and then to a crown braid as a young woman/wife, or does she/her mother simply style it however she feels on any given day? I’m just now realizing that I consistently picture reaping day!Prim in pigtails because of the film, but it doesn’t state in the text how her hair is styled, so it might be in a single braid or held back at the temples with a clip or even worn loose.

The square’s surrounded by shops, and on public market days, especially if there’s good weather, it has a holiday feel to it.

I’m really curious about “public market days,” since the Hob seems to be Twelve’s primary market - or at least, has become so in fanon - but Katniss makes a clear distinction between them (“Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades at the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money”). Is this public market like a farmer’s market or a craft fair - or a bit of both? Is it simply the “merchant version” of the Hob? How often are they held? Who gets to sell at this market, and what sort of wares are we talking about? (Is it just merchants bringing their product outside, like a sidewalk sale?) Does the Capitol/Justice Building collect a fee from everyone wanting a stall/booth/table?

Edit: While looking up details for a different post, I found this passage:

Gale and I went to the market on the square so that I could buy dress materials [for Prim].

So apparently they sold fabric and notions in the public market? (Not at, say, a mercantile/general store?) I’m wholly confused now!

[gonewiddershins]

Book Rec Ask Meme (Part 5 of 7)

63. a book that actually made you laugh out loud

Heroic Wife Reborn by Mei Guo has a pretty cliche plot. You know the drill- badass lady gets transmigrated to pitiful historical woman on the verge of being murdered/raped/married off and proceeds to turn all expectations upside down. It's soooo predictable and I can never get enough of it. Wonderful trope 10/10.

Anyway, this iteration is low on scheming and high on shamelessness. The MC is a phenomenally strong airhead in a position of power (she is the only daughter of the emperor) and is mostly awed by the food options in this new non-ravaged, non zombie infested land and politely confused by everything else. She searches for things to eat and do, sowing chaos in her wake. Her father, the Emperor, is also very airheaded, but is generally fond of his daughter. They end up blatantly lying to powerful people (he's a very low level emperor and there are a lot of other more powerful states) in tandem a lot. It's so fucking shameless. It's so hilarious. Absolutely wonderful dad/daughter comedy duo. I laughed a lot.

QUOTE: Hard to keep track of these for webnovels. Which is a shame, because I cackled a lot. Also, it loses something out of context, probably.

71. your favourite LGBTQ+ fiction

I'm just saying that in general, faves are for people who have not read enough. Consume enough media and you'll have LISTS of faves, not a single fave. So, as always, I'm going to go with "thing I liked that I remember first" instead.

Unhallowed by Jordan L. Hawk takes place in a weird little town in the USA during the uh- I guess Late 1800s? Anyway, Victorian vibes, even if it's not strictly Victorian. A bookbinder with a monstrous (heh) secret joins a library in a creepy little seaside town, and in the process discovers that the town sees everything he's thought of to date as "monstrous" as "normal" or even "really super cool actually". It's technically a horror-mystery with a bunch of grisly deaths and madness-inspiring architecture and some genuinely creepy scenes. But it's also a lovely little story of being accepted for your kindness and goodness instead of being shunned for your potential world-endingness. Also, Noct is just the fucking cutest and I love him.

QUOTE:

“There is a dangerous magical book hidden in our library,” Mr. Quinn said, beaming as if announcing a special treat. “The nature of its magic is unclear, as is its location. Has anyone noticed any of the books behaving in an unusual manner recently?” One of the younger men raised his hand. “The Confession of Ovid Gilman spoke to me while I was dusting the other day.” “It speaks to everyone, Mr. White. Ovid Gilman murdered thirteen people and requested to have his confession bound in his own skin after he hanged. It is impossible to shut him up on the subject of his crimes. I asked for unusual occurrences.” Ves looked around to gage if Mr. Quinn was joking. He didn’t appear to be.

80. a book that reminds you of a loved one

Insert helpless handwaving here. So uh- I don't come from a family of readers. Like, at all. And precious few of my real-life friends are also readers, because reading for non-academic reasons is not really all that popular here.

One book that did come to mind is Book of Signs by John Peel, mostly because I borrowed it from a friend and we moved away from each other before I could give it back. But that's okay! She has books of mine too. Equivalent-ish exchange.

Anyway, Book of Signs is part 2 of this actually really interesting magical universe thingy, with a bunch of different worlds and stuff. I loved the heck out of it when I first read it as a kid, and it's thirdon the list of series I would import-buy if I didn't have so many rational arguments against it. (The first is The Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture, and the second is Slapshots by Gordon Korman, if you're curious.) It's really fun sword-and-sorcery fantasy and I do want to read the whole thing someday.

QUOTE: Oh please, like I can even remember anything. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say how everything involving Shannara and the Centaurs were good because it has been DECADES, possbly and I still remember that bit fondly.