#our triangle is complete there no more space

[livetogether--diealone]

the father

the son the holy spirt (of mark)

[chrisevansonly]

𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 | 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒄

☁︎ charles leclerc x female reader

☁︎ there is nothing better than carving pumpkins with your husband and your little girl

☁︎ no warnings just very sweet dad! charles content ahead<3

☁︎ i’m really excited for this, i love dad!charles so much you guys have no idea..i love this fall celebration fic idea idk why i didn’t do it before…

Across the table lay a sheet of fabric to protect the delicate cherrywood underneath from the pumpkin seeds and goop that was about to take up the space. You and Charles had taken your daughter Alia out to get some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. Of course, you had to take a little road trip to find only the best according to your husband, Alia had the time of her life that day.

“Maman is it almost ready!” your little girl shouted from the top of the stairs

“Alia, qu'avons-nous dit sur le fait de crier à l'intérieur”

Charles voice could be heard from the kitchen as little footsteps descended down the stairs, a shy smile on her face

“Qu'il est trop bruyant à l'intérieur…”

You smiled turning to see your daughter coming over to you, Charles leaning down to press a kiss to her head

“Oui c’est ça mon ange”

“To answer your question princess it’s ready now, do you want to pick your pumpkin?”

Alia’s face lit up as she nodded, carefully studying the three big pumpkins in front of her

“The middle please! So I can be between papa and you maman!”

It never failed to make your heart soar at just how much Alia loved both you and Charles, she constantly wanted to do things with the two of you.

“The middle one is yours then my love, Papa can help you clean out your pumpkin too if you’d like”

The little girl nodded, getting up onto her stool so she stood higher so she could reach everything she needed. Charles carved the top off of her pumpkin with a knife, knowing it was too sharp for her to grab

“So do you have your spoon bébé?”

“Oui papa! Can I start?!”

He laughed

“Yes, go ahead”

The three of you began to scoop out your pumpkins, Alia obviously asking for her dad’s or your help when her arms got tired, which seemed to be more often than not. Once they’d been cleaned out, you helped her trace the face she wanted to carve, her eyes watching you carefully, in awe of the soon to be carved pumpkin.

“Papa comment ça s'appelle déjà?”

“C'est un jack-o-lantern mon amour”

She furrowed her brows looking up at her

“Mais pourquoi?”

A smile tugged at your lips at your daughter’s curiosity, she always wanted to know the what, the why and the how, Charles says she takes on after you.

“Pourquoi ne pas demander à ta maman?”

“Maman?”

Alia turned to look at you, a soft smile on her face

“Yes baby?”

“Why is it called a jack-o-lantern…?”

You pressed a kiss to her cheeks before thinking for a moment

“I think because it reminds people of a lantern…you know when Papa lights a candle sometimes and the light flickers?”

She nods

“Well I think it reminds people of that..”

“Oh okay maman!”

Alia was quiet for the next while as Charles helped her carve out the shapes she’d asked you to draw in the pumpkin. His was already complete as was yours, both of you going with a traditional triangle eyes and smiley shaped mouth. Honestly you’d argue this was some of your best work to date.

While Alia was busy admiring the now finished pumpkin she had Charles came over pressing a kiss to your cheek

“We’re pretty good no?”

You leaned into his touch

“I think so, some of our best I’d say” you replied to which your husband was quick to agree too.

“Do you think she’s going to ask us to get more..?”

In hindsight maybe you should have picked up more than three pumpkins, this activity seemed to enrapture your little girl, and knowing her, she’d want to keep carving as much as she could.

“Well I might have picked up some extra…they’re out in the backyard”

You tilted your head enough to look at him, a gentle smile on his face

“You think of everything don’t you baby?”

“I just always think of my girls…knew Alia might want to make another one”

Leaning up to kiss him you sighed happily

“Worlds best husband and dad award goes to you, as always Char”

Before Charles could answer you Alia let out a few giggles

“Look at Papa’s pumpkin! It’s so funny!”

Charles feigned hurt

“Hey, it doesn’t look funny!”

“Yes Papa! It looks so funny!”

You couldn’t help but laugh softly along with your daughter as she poked at her father’s pumpkin. When stopped laughing she looked between the two of you, her eyes filled with joy

“Peut-on les allumer maintenant?”

This time you nodded, fixing her hair a little bit

“Oui, allez, petite citrouille, papa apportera les allumettes.”

As she took off towards the front door, you and Charles brought the pumpkins over, happy to get some time to spend all together as a family, especially with Charles being away at races or having other obligations with his sponsors. You had each other, and of course your little pumpkin herself, who now would want to carve as many pumpkins as her arms could handle.

Who were you and Charles to stop her, even if you two ended up being the ones who did most of the work.

translations:

Alia, qu'avons-nous dit sur le fait de crier à l'intérieur: Alia, what did we say about shouting inside?

Qu'il est trop bruyant à l'intérieur: that it’s too noisy inside

Oui c’est ça mon ange: yes it is my angel

Papa comment ça s'appelle déjà?: dad, what is it called again?

C'est un jack-o-lantern mon amour: it’s a jack-o-lantern my love

Mais pourquoi?: but why?

Pourquoi ne pas demander à ta maman?: Why don’t your ask your mother

Peut-on les allumer maintenant?: can we light them now?

Oui, allez, petite citrouille, papa apportera les allumettes: yes come on little pumpkin, daddy will bring the matches

[comicaurora]

Hey! So I have a trope question

Something I’ve noticed since I was little is a that a lot of media with a trio had the same make up of two boys and one girl, is this a trope or just some weird thing that just happens by random odds?

I think it's a little bit more broad and nebulous than a trope, although it does have a TVTropes page. It's not random odds, it's storytelling trends.

For a number of reasons, the majority of protagonist POV characters are guys. Starting from this premise, if you want to make sure your protagonist always has somebody to play off of so they aren't engaging with the story in complete isolation, you give them at least one character to hang out with. This minimum one character can have all kinds of traits (mentor, scoundrel, battle butler), but if you as a writer are taking the easy, normal approach, you will give this protagonist a friendly buddy/rival to team up and squabble with (and this buddy will also be a guy, because again, this theoretical writer is taking the easy approach to character dynamics), and as a second thought you will probably give our hero a theoretical love interest girl for him to pine after so you can (a) write/draw a Hot Lady as much as you want and (b) get Hero Boy to cover a broader range of emotional situations within the comfort of his friend group. Thus you have rederived the trope of Two Guys And A Girl, congratulations on your moderately successful mid-2000s gaming webcomic.

As the story continues you might realize Girl Who Exists So Protagonist Can Remember Girls Exist is not actually an appealing love interest for him, so you'll probably pair off Girl with Second Guy and leave Hero Boy to pursue other romantic avenues. Second Guy is liable to be rather more interesting anyway, since he's going to be a Lancer to the hero's Leader-ness and serve as his primary foil, meaning he has a little more personality and frankly a lot more romantic tension with the lead. In fact, if you want to be really lazy about it, you can take these three characters and snap them into a love triangle with absolutely no extra work on your part, and that's an infinite drama generator at no cost to you.

You might take a slightly different approach if you, the writer, are a lady writing a lady-centric romantic story, in which case Girl is liable to be the POV character while her buds Hero Boy and Rival Boy take turns having romantic subplot adventures with her. In these narrative structures you don't want to add another girl to the inner circle, because the presence of a Romantic Rival (which seems to be the only purpose Other Girls serve in these stories) would spoil the center-of-the-universe romantic fantasy, so your hands are tied and we're back to Two-Guys-And-A-Girl again. You might add a supportive girl best friend when it gets adapted for netflix though - she can pair off with whichever boy loses at no additional cost.

What we're seeing here is Easy Mode Storytelling. This is what happens when a writer takes the extremely well-traveled road and lets their wheels slide into the well-worn tracks and follow where they may. It's not good or bad, it's just easy. It's a story we can recite in our sleep. This particular character arrangement occurs with unusual frequency because there are a number of factors that make it easy, and when you take a broad approach, the easy approach will be statistically favored.

This triple arrangement can obviously be genderflipped - Hero Girl with her friends Rival Girl and Love Interest Boy - but this is less common just by the numbers, because in the space of fiction there are more Hero Boys than Hero Girls. All-boy and all-girl trios also happen, but because most people are straight, most writers will see this as depriving themselves of all the exciting romantic tension they could get from having One Token Character to be romantically viewed and pursued. Additional characters can be added to the group, leading to Four-Temperament Ensembles and Five-Man Bands, but broadly this three-person arrangement is the smallest possible Ensemble Cast unit a writer can easily construct.

[outtaluckawoo]

🌒 wyatt's werewolf claws tutorial !

how to get the look of wyatt's nails in z3, broken down into 6 easy steps with pictures! hope you enjoy :)

YOU NEED:

- a sheer polish similar to your skintone

- an opaque black polish

- an opaque white polish

- a small/thin paint brush for detailing

optional but recommended: a good base & top coat

i almost exclusively use holo taco polishes but they're certainly not required. just make sure the black and white polishes are OPAQUE! i am using one-coat black and not milky white.

STEP ONE:

start with a base coat if you're using one. make sure it's completely dry before applying a layer of the sheer skintone polish. this will provide the illusion of the claw as it will blend in with your skin. you also may need to apply two coats depending on how sheer your polish is. i am using 2 coats of a sheer pink polish. allow sufficient time to dry.

STEP TWO:

here's where it gets tedious as we start to make the claw shape with our black polish. i stress that you use an opaque polish because you don't want to have to paint this several times to achieve a solid coat.

to make it easy for us, we're going to plot out the triangle shape. using the detail brush, make tiny marks as seen in the photo. the most important one is the middle top one, as this will be the point of our claw and will decide the overall shape + placement of it.

STEP THREE:

now draw the sides of the triangle with the detail brush, connecting them at the center mark. try to keep them as straight as possible. it helps if you rest your hands on a flat surface as you paint. if your line is shaky, you can decide to start over or paint over it later depending on how bad it is. it took me a few tries the first time, so don't stress out! you may need to draw the line in sections if your paintbrush runs out of polish (like mine did).

STEP FOUR:

now, we fill in the triangle! use a combination of the regular polish brush and the detail brush as needed. stay inside those lines! it helps to turn your polish brush on its side for the narrow parts! it doesn't matter if the polish looks a lil bumpy at first as it'll eventually settle + a top coat helps at the end.

it's important to keep the point of the claw as sharp as possible. achieve this by keeping the triangle narrow! if it's too wide, it'll just fill up the space of your nail and look too rectangular. as you can see, i will need to touch up my point later. this is not a problem!

STEP FIVE:

once your black triangle is dry, add the white details using the detail brush. just draw on a few small vertical lines, allow time to dry, then add some more atop those. even better if you run out of polish as you're painting to give a "rougher" look! these do not have to be perfect, trust me!

STEP SIX:

this is the "touch-up" step! i used a tiny amount of acetone and more sheer polish to sharpen up my claw point. you may need to re-line your black triangle or cover some white lines. like i said before, my first time painting these claws took days because i kept messing up. just take it one nail at a time!

when you're happy with your claw, finish with a top coat!

STEP SEVEN:

now repeat this 9 more times!!! :D

my first attempt + this attempt!!!!! as you can see it doesn't need to be perfect to give the claw effect :) and it's so fun! the illusion works on your own brain, too. i type on my phone and think i rlly have claws lol

[thestobingirlie]

Hiii I would like to ask you a questioni because I really likes tour point of view on stranger things. Objectively, do you think there's any chance stancy is endgame?

these two asks are pretty much exactly the same, so i figure i’ll just answer them both in one lol!

so, from an objective standpoint i do think there’s a chance for stancy endgame. the duffers have proven before that they are capable and willing to break up a couple and push together another within one season (two if we’re including the season of flirtatious behaviour prior). if anything i’d say stancy’s chances are slightly stronger than jancy’s was post-s1. if only because s4 very explicitly laid out all the issues with jancy, while pushing stancy as a couple. whereas with s1, there’s nothing that really outright tells us that stancy would be having the issues they did in s2 (s2 had to demonstrate those issues, then break stancy up, while s5 wouldn’t be as confined to that for jancy).

i also think bringing back the love triangle just to completely disregard it the following season would be very weak writing. and that’s not to say that the duffers are the best writers in the world, but generally they seem to know what they’re doing. there’s a reason stancy was a couple at the end of s1 — it wasn’t solely a way to drag out drama but a real attempt at thinking about what nancy would’ve done as a result of steve surviving the season.

jancy was very clearly the original endgame. however, the duffers have shown that they’re willing to adapt from their vision for the sake of better storytelling. steve was supposed to die in s1. but they enjoyed what joe keery brought to the show as steve too much! all this to say, they’re not completely rigid in their writing. jancy being the og endgame, doesn’t mean they will be now.

from a slightly more emotional and personal standpoint, i do think stancy is the better endgame option. steve represents hope for nancy. freedom from her trauma, all the stresses that have been weighing on her for the last four seasons. while, right now, jonathan is knee deep in it all. he hasn’t even begun to pull himself out of it! let alone contemplate how to properly help nancy. he thinks ignoring her and pushing away his problems is the best way to deal with it, but we can see that it isn’t (if s2 stancy taught us anything lol). could jonathan grow out of that in the space of, what, five episodes? i don’t know.

steve’s development up to this point has taken multiple seasons. but he’s grown as a person. he’s learnt. his relationships have helped him become a more well-rounded person. the kind of person willing to prioritise nancy. to help her heal.

none of this means that stancy will definitely be endgame! because ultimately none of us know what the duffers are truly going to do. the fact that they’re willing to deviate from their original plans, if anything, proves that we can’t necessarily put all our eggs in one basket lol. but i do think they have a chance.

[morhath]

Oh I’m very very interested in your nonfiction book recs 👀

EDIT: ykw I'm gonna make this a little more organized

I listed a bunch in this post (the last question) but lemme see if I have any additions because I know I was kinda trying to keep it short when I wrote that. (But that being said, that post is the Top Faves Of All Time, so go for those first.)

Freaky medical shit I also liked:

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah

The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase (I just read this a few weeks ago and OOUUUGGHHHHHH IT'S LITERALLY JUST. LIKE THE RESPONSE TO COVID.)

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

Political shit I also liked:

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher

Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change by Janelle S. Wong

History I also liked:

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives by Bryant Simon (between those two you can tell I was on a bit of a "workplace tragedies caused by lax regulations and bad management" kick)

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (I think everyone knows about this book, including it for completeness)

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race by Stephanie Nolen

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke (this is nowhere near as fun and cute as you'd assume from the title)

Memoirs I also liked:

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (I read this before I really got into nonfiction and it was WILD, I tell people about it all the time)

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (this one is a graphic not-novel-I-guess-memoir)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Other:

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller

Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food by Lenore Newman

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

AND here are a few on my TBR that I'm really excited for! I decided not to categorize them because they're almost all history:

Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy by Adam Roberts

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David I. Kertzer (I am actually partway through this right now but in a bit of a dry/confusing section)

The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist by Carol A. Stabile

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St Clair

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell (have just barely started this)

Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 by John Waller

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea by Lady Hyegyeong

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste by William M. Alley, Rosemarie Alley (I'm in the middle of this but it's surprisingly, um. not exciting.)

Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond by Mark Ames

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It by Joslyn Brenton, Sinikka Elliott, Sarah Bowen

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey

Hitler's First Victims: The Beginning of the Holocaust and One Man's Fight to End It by Timothy W. Ryback

I am soso normal and have very normal interests that are not at all grim :)

[unearthlytraveller]

Babylon 5 Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 13: Signs and Portents

Yes, late again, due to family visits again. It's a bank holiday weekend here, so TKO will come today or tomorrow and then I'll be back on schedule.

This epiode is named after the first season; so you'd think it would be important. And it is! The return of GuerraFirst appearance of Morden and the Shadows; a really obvious shot of Delenn's completely unimportant craft project; end of the Raiders subplot; and the first appearance of David Corwin, played by Joshua Cox.

Despite its pivotal role in the story, I remembered this episode as being weak. Some of what I remember still holds true; Ladira overacting, and that conversation at the start where Londo gets The Eye is not very well written. ("This is not a prop! Now let me exposit for a minute stuff the person I'm talking to already knows!). On the other hand, Ed Wasser gets Morden right out of the gate, and each of his scenes works. Andreas Katsulas nails his scenes as usual; Peter Jurasik is on top form. The first appearance of the Shadows remains a powerful scene: the appear from nowhere, something nothing else we have seen can do, and just annihilate the episode's main boss.

Speaking of the raiders, let's talk about them. JMS has admitted that the Raiders were just a cheap way to get no-consequence action into the early episodes. You can really see that in, say, Believers. But we still see them used to support our main characters. We have Ivanova's eagerness to fight, both in her repeated reluctance to break off pursuit, and that glorious little "Surprise!" in the final battle. We also see Sinclair again showing his tactical chops; figuring out the diversion, deploying his forces around B5, and setting up an almost completely one-sided battle.

Indeed, I'm not sure if we get to see a space battle again in the show where the tactics are so well displayed. There will certainly be better battles, more emotional and impactful. But smarter? I can't think of anything, at least.

Some random thoughts to finish off.

Is this the last time we see the magic triangle? I can't remember if it shows up in Points of Departure in season 2, but I think otherwise it vanishes from the show.

Once again, Sinclair lets a hostage taker go. At least this time he planned to capture him as soon as he left the station.

It's kind of laughable that the raider's plan to smuggle his hostages through customs was to hide his gun behind his jacket! A legacy of the security customs of the 90s, I guess.

Earthgov supports unisex bathrooms.

[rorykillmore]

if you have been as intrigued as i am by oz perkins' LONGLEGS (2024), here is a very preliminary shot by shot breakdown of its teaser trailer! will we discover anything profound? probably not, but there are some spoilers and speculation/potential spoilers under the cut, so if you want to go in completely blind, be mindful

maika monroe herself in our opening shot, standing in front of her crime board. which seems to mostly feature a cipher (one of what appears to be several that this movie and its marketing are using).

are we to assume that something Bad is happening in this car? probably.

next shot is cut as though this little girl is reacting to whatever is happening outside. i was squinting at whatever is on her desk because i have a feeling it may be important (for reasons mentioned later) but it is difficult to tell.

someone (maika monroe?) is doing research on what appears to be demonology or something related to it. titles of the books are 'a guide to the nine circles of hell' and 'the dark lord's hand' (both books were presumably created for the movie as they don't come up in any searches). beneath the books are notebooks in which she seems to be attempting to decode that cipher (maybe the killer is leaving our protagonist coded hints)

this opening of the book is intercut with a shot i did not include (to save space/because i had little to say about it individually) of the investigators opening a door to a dark room (murder scene?), which is a cool thematic thing. it also precedes...

also this shot is more heavily featured in this teaser with a cipher that when translated reads "hail satan" (check out the decoding work this person has done). well! if we had any doubt that these killings have some kind of religious motivation.

this is the 'guide to the nine circles of hell' book, but i can't make out the text with any clarity. to the right, perhaps another decoding effort is happening -- but i actually think this is maika trying to figure something out about the victims here. the order in which they're going to die, maybe? their locations/how they are chosen? there's a list of people's names beside a field of numbers, and she's drawing a line through some of the numbers.

starting to notice something odd with the aspect ratio - pay attention to how it swaps between standard widescreen and this more voyeuristic type of shot (you also saw this earlier, in the winter shots of the car and the girl), and we'll see if there seems to be any logic to that.

our first look at nic cage! is it scenes involving him/related to him specifically which are shot differently? maybe to induce said voyeuristic quality surrounding him and his kills? regardless: he's busy in his little workshop here. there's a nic cage interview floating around that seems to indicate that his character kills via creating cursed dolls or puppets which drive families insane in a sinister-esque fashion, which would check out here

something wicked is afoot in this hardware store (?) (i can't actually tell what is being sold here)

in presumably the same store, we see an unknown figure offer this girl some kind of small figurine (???). possibly nic cage planting one of his dolls (this is also why i was paying attention to the other girl's desk in the earlier shots, to see if she had anything similar). does he work here? (worth noting however that this is shot in the regular widescreen aspect ratio)

maika is finished with her triangle recreation.... but perhaps she is not alone

few interesting things to note here. 1) woman is getting hit in the back with an axe (in her own home, seemingly not expecting it, lending credence to the killer's MO). her murderer (husband? unsure) appears to be covered in blood. 2) she bears a resemblance to this woman, from a promotional poster and the setting looks as though it's the same one from this teaser. (cipher reads: "stood upon the sand of the sea", referring to a quote from the book of revelation describing a HYDRA, hmm)

3) a change of aspect ratio again, which immediately intercuts with....

maika flinching backwards as though bearing witness to this. could be just some misleading trailer editing, but the implication here is that she is 'seeing' these murders take place somehow. actually, maybe THAT explains the change of aspect ratio? it happens when we're seeing her "visions"?

gonna cover these quicker shots a few at a time: a shadow stumbling/dragging itself through a house as though wounded (not sure if it's the axe-in-the-back woman, because the house looks a little more modern, plus - different aspect ratio), an eerie figure in the woods (feels strangely out of place), another shot of nic cage in his workshop(?) (again with the aspect ratio switch - so if we follow the theory that these are maika monroe's visions, she definitely has some kind of direct connection TO him and not just a voyeuristic connection to his victims).

a person (i initially thought a woman, but that could actually very well be nic cage with his long, scraggly hair) slamming their head into a desk. the shot has interrogation room vibes (to me) but is too bare bones to make out for sure. maika is either... watching/interviewing (that's a camera beside her?) or this is another intercut reaction shot implying their connection.

(i didn't capture it but these shots are also intercut with images of red, gurgling blood, which seems a bit more deliberate than just an edgy choice - if there is a ritualistic element to these murders, perhaps it has something to do with blood)

i think this is nic cage again, but why is he upside down? interesting. unless i AM wrong, they actually show him a lot more in this trailer than initially assumed.

we're in maika-vision (calling it that until further notice) here again, this time to look at some kind of demonic entity (the same one we saw in that earlier shot of the woods?). this calls into question the objectivity of this voyeurism-whatever-it-is, although... obviously this film does have very clear supernatural elements, so hell, maybe nic cage IS being instructed by a demon.

another very clear intercut between maika and nic cage. is that nic cage?! it REALLY does not look like him from this profile angle, but it is possible that they've done some prosthetic work on his face (which they have been very careful not to show in full quite yet - nor do i think they should, since he is such a well known guy. you don't want your audience getting comfortable with him in this role before they actually see him.)

but i digress: another moment where the editing is implying an important connection or parallel (maika seems to be losing it a little - which i would too if i could no longer separate my identity from a killer's and/or their victims)

going forward i would pay attention to how promotional material for this movie is edited In General because they are using it as a very deliberate communicative tool at least in this teaser!

another couple of notable shots. in the first one, a woman (a nun? she seems to be wearing a habit, similar to another woman we will see later) fires a rifle into what seems to be an already blood-splattered car. then (which i didn't include) we see Maika With A Gun (hi maika), and what appears to be a car chase.

in maika-vision again, a man who has seemingly just got done slaughtering all of his cows. probably safe to call an animal harm content warning for this one, pals

ah! that WAS nic cage in the car paralleled to maika -- look at how he's dressed here. yet again they are deliberately hiding his face (also note the background - it would seem that yes, he is working at some kind of paint/hardware store).

two more maika vision shots. the first is the woman we see featured in this poster. the second is a small child who is closing a door to avoid watching whatever they're looking at. neither is having a good day!

there is a targeted amount of religious violence here, which makes sense if our killer is demonically motivated

and last but not least, nic cage murdering a guy (gender neutral) (interesting though because i hadn't assumed him to be the hands-on type given his rather indirect MO).

anyway: that's the longlegs trailer! the most telling takeaway here, in my opinion, is: how much it does actually focus on this sort of duality between maika monroe and nicolas cage and some apparent connection between them. my instinct is that that's going to be the meat of the story (although there is clearly a deeper mythology to explore too -- the cipher, the demon, the nature of the kilings).

one more thing to note: this movie seems to take place over the span of several decades. the teaser posters/captions released by neon are dated by year and reflect as much, and if you're looking for it you can see the aesthetics shift around a bit in the trailer as well.

send me your theories/observations! eager to see if anyone puts some pieces together that i might have missed.

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Hi Eleanor! Do you have any bridgerton fic recommendations? Love your writing!!

Hello Nonny!

I'm so pleased you enjoy my stories, that is sweet of you to say! Thank you! 💙 As for fic recommendations, build your blanket fort, get a beverage and prepare to never emerge because boy do I ever have some for you...

Do you want to feel like an artist is painting a mural across your heart, swirling colors of intense emotion from lust to anguish to redemption to joy, all of it blending perfectly into a sensation of bone-deep satisfaction? Then you need to check out the works of my dear friend @thebabblingbrookenook Masterlist here.

Brooke has crafted some of the most unique and heartfelt Benedict and Anthony stories out there, mostly modern AU and x Reader, delving deep into character psyches in a variety of breathtaking scenarios. I don't know if I can pick favorites, but don't miss:

If The World Was Ending - an apocalyptic Benedict love story

His First Muse - the most beautiful examination of Violet and Benedict's relationship you'll ever read

Wide Open Spaces - for some sultry Benedict friends-to-lovemaking

The Viscount Who Loved Me Too Much - an ongoing Anthony multichapter romance that is sure to surprise and delight

Or if your tastes are skewing a bit more...carnal, you must know about the incomparable @fayes-fics. Benedict smut queen and creator of the A&B manbread sandwich, her catalog offers so many steamy encounters with the two eldest Bridgerton brothers that you are at risk of developing bedsores while you enjoy them lefthanded 😉 But lucky for us, she plies her skilled pen to sweet romance and heartwrenching emotions as well. Masterlist here.

There are literally, literally too many jewels to highlight in the treasure trove of Faye's stories, but I highly encourage reading:

Lessons - the A&B throuple series of your dreams

Double Bind - an A&B love triangle series Faye sweetly crafted from my greedy little prompts

Second Son - a beautiful G-rated story of Benedict finding love and self-worth

The Things We Do For Love - Anthony. Benedict. Orgasms. Emotions. Just read it.

I have to cut myself off because I could list these forever...

Then if you're in the mood for some Viscount served up piping hot, pay a visit to our darling Bridgerton smut auntie @colettebronte My talented friend practices her own kind of alchemy, blending no-holds-barred kinks with fantastical settings and even a dash of history to create stories that are completely unique and entirely incendiary. The steam is....burning, the sweetness is real and the characterizations are always on point.

Her entire collection should be read, Masterlist here, but personal favorites for me include:

Lord Bridgerton's List - Thigh Riding - Just, read the whole List. Trust me.

The Queen and the General 4 - A powerplay threesome with Anthony and Simon. Need I say more?

Rise and Breathe - healing heartbroken regency Anthony through kink? I cannot wait to see where this series goes...

All The Time in The World - an apocalyptic Anthony series that I am salivating for more of!

I know so many talented fic authors, I could turn this answer into a novel. Search the #fic rec tag in my blog to see them all, but I would be remiss not to highlight these other incredible stories and authors:

@queen-of-the-misfit-toys is a stunning Bridgerton family writer, who knows how to make your jaw hit the floor, either from the delightful filth of her smut or the most heartbreakingly beautiful angst you could imagine. I recommend The End of All Things

@the-other-art-blog Just knocked my absolute socks off by imagining the most perfect origin story for My Cottage here

@fiction-is-life Is taking my prompts for angsty Benedict and delivering with a stunning series starting with Touchstone of Our Character

@urchintoast creates wonderful, lively imagery and has written some heartfelt and adorable Anthony and Benedict stories. I highly recommend Fear

And dear lord, the sweepingly beautiful, searingly sexy, deeply moving Don't You Remember by @captainbucky-yt is my most favorite Benophie retelling

I could type my fingers to stubs if I told you about all the fics I have loved, so please take this as a springboard and go enjoy everything these Bridgerbuddies have to offer 💙

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition

A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!

I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books

For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.

The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*

You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*

Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*

This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.

The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly

1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*

Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant*

Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*

Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*

Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.

Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen

Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.

The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones

1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.

Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton

1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.

Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke

German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?

The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg

1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.

The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba

Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

[nutastrology]

Astrology Degrees

Ever wonder what those numbers next to your zodiac placements mean?

If you’ve ever looked at your birth chart, you’ve probably noticed a set of numbers on the right of your zodiac placements. These are degrees and are quite specific based on your time of birth. Accurate birth times are imperative for applying degree theory when studying your natal chart.

Degrees are important in astrology for accurate interpretation. Just as in Geometry, every degree of an angle counts.

A good way to understand this is by thinking of triangles. Obtuse, acute, and isosceles triangles are all triangles. But you can easily recognize their differences based on the apparent angle measurements. These measurements impact the way we calculate geometric shapes and their formulas. We wouldn’t get an accurate result for an equation using the wrong information. This same logic applies to calculating a birth chart — and again, this is why an accurate birth time is SO important!

Looking at my placements below, I have most of my degrees between 12 and 29. This means that for me, this life journey has been set in motion for some time. I’m “picking up” in many ways where I’ve left off. Completing some cycles, ending others. Interestingly, I have the same Moon sign and placement (Aquarius in the third house) and Rising sign as my mother. Though at different degrees (mine later than hers), we enjoy exploring these “cosmic inheritances” when discussing our birth charts. You may notice I have two placements at the 29th degree, aka the Anaretic degree. This marks an evolution of the soul as it’s the final degree before the reset of a cycle, signified by zero degrees. We only see 0° when a planet first moves into a new sign.

Each degree represents a different zodiac sign and energy, some more specific, positive, or challenging than others.

The energy of each degree varies depending on where it falls from zero to 29 degrees. For example, the “earlier” degrees (i.e., the 4th and 7th degrees) represent an “early” stage of maturity and soul development. The middle degrees (i.e., 15th and 16th) represent deeper integration with these energies and processes. As we approach the end of the degree spectrum (such as with the 28th degree) we have reached a karmic “endpoint” based on energies already set in motion — we’ve finally made it.

Below you will find the list of each degree and a (simplified) meaning of that degree.

Keep in mind, astrology has many layers to explore. This is a brief notation of each degree.

0° - Marks the beginning of a new cycle, start “all over” with relation to planetary energies and meanings, critical degree. 1° - Aries / Mars: car engines, abuse, sports/athlete, military, weapon, anger, business person, speed/quickness, the color red, coming first, “in front” arguments, war.

2° - Taurus / Venus: containment/small spaces, wealth, forest, trees, food, luxuries, voice, singing, the color green, earth.

3° Gemini / Mercury: two of something, siblings, hands, double, local, small town, neighborhood, groups, birds, tea, friends, the color yellow.

4° Cancer / Moon: mother, home, public, crowd, water, in the home, the color white, critical degree.

5° Leo / Sun: strong, royal, leader, high school, fun, athletics, gym/working out, outdoors, top of a hill, family, mountain, view, hair, ego, children.

6° Virgo / Mercury: health, “ex”, sickness/illness, work, routine, pets, hospitals, doctors, manual service.

7° Libra / Venus: beauty, luxury items, earrings/jewelry, fashion, couples, music, art, marriage, justice, associates, legalities, courtrooms.

8° Scorpio / Pluto: secrets, death, sex, insurance, taxes, jealousy, pregnancy/womb, someone else’s “things”.

9° Sagittarius / Jupiter: college, borders, professors, foreign, travel, archery, having a plan.

10° Capricorn / Saturn: public office, public official, public-facing, coal, slow, delay, the color black, shadow side, depression.

11° Aquarius / Uranus: interruptions, divorce, high places, flying, airports, high tech, engineers, helping others, friends, networks, organizations, electricity.

12° Pisces / Neptune: swimming, near water, disguises, illusions, missing, rain, flood, out of focus, misplaced, unclear, “foggy”.

As you can see, degrees 1 through 12 align with the zodiac calendar. Once you reach the 13th degree, you reset in the sign of Aries as you can see below:

13° Aries: critical degree.

14° Taurus

15° Gemini: assassinations or killings.

16° Cancer

17° Leo: critical degree.

18° Virgo

19° Libra

20° Scorpio: jealously or revenge.

21° Sagittarius: large road, new places, critical degree.

22° Capciron: destruction, critical degree.

23° Aquarius: “to cut”.

24° Pisces

25° Aries

26° Taurus: critical degree.

27° Gemini

28° Cancer

29° Leo: kingdoms, critical degree.

[dangermousie]

There is nothing remotely interesting airing right now so I went back to my rewatch of Princess Agents.

I am on the years Chu Xiao and Yan Xun spend under house arrest - past the immediate horrors of jail/family extermination/torture/attempted murder - in a way, it's both trauma bonding and a little gracious space to rest at least a little.

I think I've mentioned before how much I find PA breaks the mold for me in so many ways - for one, I normally hate love triangle but here I do not. My first watch I shipped her with Yuwen Yue and on this rewatch I ship her with Yan Xun and the thing is, the narrative totally shows how and why she chooses a different man at different times in her life (and also, unlike a lot of other triangles, this isn't the two mains and sml, this really is a three main character drama.)

The way they mirror each other - for the bulk of the narrative, they are people who understand each other best because nobody else has gone through what they had in that cell and on that platform and in that house.

The breakdown between them at the end is however because their similar trauma leads to very different outlooks/goals for them due to their differences despite the similarities. Yan Xun is my favorite male character in this because his arc to me is both tragic and inevitable. PA and Lost You Forever are very different narratives and very different genres but the one thing they have in common is MLs being personifications of a different paths - Yan Xun subsuming himself in revenge is one path for Chu Xiao but ultimately one she abandons over protecting civilians. In the novel, the difference makes even more sense since Yan Xun is a period warlord and Chu Xiao has transmigrated from modern day. But even in the drama, the difference completely makes sense to me - not to initiate trauma Olympics, but what he goes through in the drama is one of the most horrific things I've seen happen to a protag in a cdrama and the fact that he's emerged with his sanity intact is a miracle in and of itself. And the fact that he was the golden boy top of the heap before that, with a sunshine good attitude, made it all the worse. Most of CX's memory prior to being hunted in that field is blank; she loses her brother and sister after but she doesn't really remember them so...

Yan Xun loves her even at the end - by the end I think she's the only person he CAN feel anything for - but he picks his revenge and his power over her and I can't say I don't get it - he wants to have power to have all that stuff never happen to him again and he wants everyone involved to suffer but it's also tragic because he's foregoing any possibility of personal happiness. The song lyrics over their soft scene really do encapsulate their progression, don't they?

Despite the candy colors, this is an incredibly dark drama in a way I miss dramas being nowadays but also - this is before the recent censorship made bulk of cdramas blander than dishwater - so the royals are monsters - both the ruler who executes Yan Xun's whole family for no reason and eventually Yan Xun himself. In the novel, he ends up the ruler of all and probably a good one but his path is paved by corpses and he is, to Chu Xiao's last glimpse of him, unbearably lonely.

Which brings me to the question - apparently they plan to film the sequel to PA. Leaving aside the issue of the cast (ie nobody is gonna return - this drama is close to a decade all and they can't afford most of the cast) how can they even do so under censorship changes? Either they make Yan Xun the rightful emperor (and the man IS the rightful ruler of Northern Yan at least, by story's own logic) and therefore he can't be murderous warlord on rampage/our FL and Yuwen Yue can't fight against him OR they have to make him an evil usurper which not only goes contrary to all the narrative of s1, but would mean they would need to rewrite the story so much from the novel that it won't be PA at all. Why are they even bothering?

In the novel, nobody is perfectly in the right or wrong, but nowadays this won't fly in a drama...

[toastofthetrashfire]

Color in DFF: Part 1

Okay so last week I made this post about Tee and talked about how he is often matching Non's red. I think after today we can more safely say this isn't trying to indicate him having feelings for Non. But then what work is color doing here? This will be equally observations, questions, and wild speculation 😆

This is part 1 of 2 posts cause there's a lot to look at. Here I'll talk about color in the past through episodes 5 and 6. Then the next one will be about color in the present.

Shout out to @slayerkitty for our long chats trying to unpack this!

Starting in the past we seem to have three main color groups: Yellow, Red, and Blue

The friend group is primarily blues and grays.

Non is coded with red.

But he starts to incorporate more blue, conveying his desire and attempts to fit into the group.

Even the phone Tee gives Non has a blue-ish case.

But he's not able to do this completely. Red always seems to peek through

Or he ends up in a green that doesn't quite fit.

And clearly trying to change himself is taking a toll. He's wearing blue, but it's making him sick and tired (quite literally if we account for his mental health).

On the bridge in episode 6 he is only shown in blue and brown, no red. But he has the red beaten back into him.

Tee also seems to oscillate between colors. Blue to signal the ways he is part of the group, and the way he conforms to the pressure of his uncle. But red perhaps to indicate the financial burden he shares with Non? Or the way that he hides a huge part of his life from the group emotionally making him an outsider of sorts.

Then we have Jin who moves between the blue of his school uniform and yellow. He stands separate from the group but in his own category from Non. Mostly...

At the end of episode 6, Non is wearing a very light yellow not disimilar to the shade Jin wore earlier in the episode. This is interesting because on the one hand perhaps it indicates the compatability Jin and Non would have had if Jin was the one to make it first. Or perhaps it is just another way the show wanted to visually mislead us in that moment.

Notice that Phi's has a matching red bracelet with Non, and his school uniform uses red lettering instead of blue. He is aligned with Non in contrast to the rest of these awful boys. This also means that in the scene Non is matching Phi's with red but Jin with yellow, capturing our potential love triangle.

In their photo and the previews we get for next week, it looks like Phi and Non are in purple and pink. Now Phi could be in blue but it looks more purple to me (we'll have to see and read more into that next week). In either case, while Non tries to become a different color for the friend group, that pressure seems to be gone with Phi, who brightens Non's red to a pink.

Then we have this walking red blue flag.

So from the past we gather that there are basically 3 groups of colors.

This could change cause we have Phi in purple? but here they are:

Blue=the friend group, conformity, those trying to harm or coerce others

Red=Non, poverty, outsiders and those with stigma

Yellow=A third category, not in lock step with the group, outliers

Notice the painting in the back, again our three colors. Though interestingly, Por is in more of a green, perhaps because he is in his own space and his own color comes out more. Por has a bit of yellow, perhaps foreshadowing the turn he'll take later?

Okay next post is on color in the present (episodes 1-4)!

[olderthannetfic]

Re: the "they can still be bi!" Anon:

See, after some years I think that this behaviour is not that annoying, and I think it's because the fandom dynamics have shifted a bit. When I see M/F shippers say "this character is bi", it's almost as if they acknowledged your ship as important even if they didn't ship it themselves. I think this behaviour is partially a defense mechanism from the shipping wars era where many M/F shippers clung to the canonicity of their ships and used homophobia as an attack on gay ships they deemed "not canon". In a way, these shippers have looked back and gone "just because we ship the same stuff doesn't mean we behave the same!" and tried to compensate with the bi headcanon . As long as we keep to our spaces, we'll be fine.

However.

There is a specific type of shipper that annoys me to hell and back, and these are the evolution of the "righteous canon fan" from above: the "character has two hands!" poly shipper.

To me, it feels like they want to have their cake and eat it too. Nothing wrong with shipping poly ships but I feel like many people don't really care that much about these ships and they're just going with the flow because it's the right thing to do.

"If everybody shipped these three together there would be no more shipping wars!" "Love triangles are stupid, just ship them all together!"

Nah, sorry. Shipping is not about that. You ship stuff because you like a specific dynamic between some characters. You can't force people to get into a completely different dynamic just because it's got their blorbos, and expect them to be happy with the awkward, underdeveloped third wheel who sunk your ship down being stuck with them.

And I've noticed that many of the people who jump ship to ot3s when their ship is sunk do it cause they can't deal with being canon non compliant. They like their gay ship far too much but they don't want to be accused of being misogynistic or biphobic for not liking the new character (oh boy the accusations are wild) so they begrudgingly accept them into the ship as a way of being "semi canon" and "unproblematic".

(I suspect these accusations are usually related to parallel shipping wars with other canon ships trying to discredit them but that might be just the one fandom)

So yeah. If you get into a poly ship, do it because you like the dynamic, not because you feel forced to. And don't force others either. It's the easiest way to kill a fandom.

--

TBH, for most of my poly ships, I don't ship the constituent ships on their own.

[subastian-swallows]

Ominis Gaunt, Uncle Extraordinaire

CHAPTER FIVE: DAMAGE IS DONE

★ Chapter four

Chapter six ★

Pairing: Sebastian x YOU x Ominis - Love triangle?

Words: 3.3k

Warnings: Angsty, Forbidden love, rough SMUT

Summary: A series of fluffy, angsty, heart-breaking moments between you, the reader and Ominis/Sebastian — where you figure out that ever since that day, Ominis allowed you into his heart, he has been completely in love with you. Slight problem, you've eloped with Sebastian and are now raising your daughter.

Side note: Ominis and Sebastian became Aurors after graduating — let's just say they both had enough experience in that department to be great fits. You, the reader, are currently a stay at home mom — a housewitch if you will. BUT don't be discouraged, you are a great asset to supporting your husband in taking down those that deserve it.♡ •ᴗ•

Ominis hadn’t expected to see Sebastian that night, although truthfully, he never did see anyone. And yet, when the inn’s door slammed open, allowing the chilled breeze of spring to slip into the shabby building — Ominis already knew who it was, even before he was dragged from his chair and thrown against a wooden beam. 

“What do you think you’re playing at?” Sebastian asked, or practically hissed as Ominis simply lifted up a hand to the sudden chair screeches of those around them, unsure if they wanted to step in and when Sebastian scoffed and tightened his grip on the blonde man’s shirt, Ominis simply reached for his hand, “was this your plan all along? To try and steal her from me —”

“Sebastian, I must apologise — but, I have no idea what you’re talking about?”   

Sebastian responded with his fist first, connecting it easily with Ominis’ nose and when the blonde man’s head cracked against the wooden beam, Sebastian simply yanked him forward again — giving him little chance to react, “that’s all you’ve got to say? How pathetic, Ominis — you haven’t changed a bit.” 

“You’ve yet to explain to me, what I’ve done Sebastian?” Ominis said, lifting a hand up to wipe at the blood coating his upper lip and as if that only angered the brunette further — it didn’t take long to feel himself being dragged outside, “do you plan to just hit me, until you feel better? You and I, both know of a quicker way to do this —”

“You don’t deserve anything quick, you deserve to suffer.”

Ominis felt the ground first, before Sebastian was on him. And for the first time since their fallout, it was as if everything that had built up over their friendship — was coming out with each punch Sebastian threw. But truthfully, Ominis did have an idea on what had happened or perhaps, he only assumed it had something to do with you — and so when Sebastian finally let go of his shirt, letting him drop against the ground, all he could do was make sure he still had all his teeth. It was clear that Sebastian wasn’t finished. His short, rapid breaths had now cut through the silence that filled the space around them and as he moved to grab Ominis again — the blonde man, simply let it happen. 

“Why aren’t you fighting back?” Sebastian asked, his voice filled with hatred as he shook his once best friend by the shirt, Ominis continued to do nothing and although this only continued to anger Sebastian further — he wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of hitting him back, even if he did deserve it, “do you think this makes you better than me, Ominis? Perhaps you've forgotten why you’re here? Was it ever about Anne — or did you simply return into our lives to seduce my wife?”  

“Seduce…? What are you talking about, Sebastian?”

Sebastian scoffed and swung once more, hitting Ominis square in the jaw and when the blonde man spluttered and spat the blood from his mouth against the ground, Sebastian almost growled, “you can act dumb all you like Ominis, but I’m more than aware of what’s going on here. Just because you’re inside her head — doesn’t mean you’re going to take her away from me, I’ll make sure of that.” 

“Inside her…head?” Ominis asked, his thoughts trying to decipher what Sebastian was referring to and it was only after he recalled his morning with you, that it was as if a lightbulb had switched on and he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at it all, “wait…don’t tell me, did she say my name? Did she say my name…while you were fucking her?”  

“Shut your mouth, Gaunt.” 

Ominis smirked at the venom that dripped off the way Sebastian used his last name, as if he was trying to use it as an insult and although Ominis hated being connected to his family, it wasn’t enough to cause him the pain — Sebastian had tried to incite in him and so he suddenly gripped the brunette’s hand, “I’ve hit a nerve? So, she did call my name? Now it all makes sense as to why you’ve stormed in here like a child, who's just lost their toy —”

“I said, shut your mouth,” Sebastian said, throwing Ominis against the ground now, before he stood up and pulled out his wand — his hand shaking and bloody as he raised it towards the blonde man, pointing it directly at his chest, Sebastian closed his eyes as if he was preparing himself for what was so close to happening, knowing well, in that moment a part of Sebastian truly did want to kill him, “...stay away from us, you hear me, Ominis? You missed your chance, you don’t get to come back now and ruin things for me. If you refuse this, I will kill you —”

“Sebastian, what do you think you’re doing!?”

You seemed to have managed to arrive just in time, dashing towards the scene unfolding outside of the tavern, but it’s only after you pushed Sebastian out of the way — catching him off guard, that you gasped at the sight of Ominis on the ground. You had left your daughter in the hands of Madam Davenport again, who would often step in when you had to step out — and as you quickly ripped the top layer of your skirt and dropped down to the blonde man’s side, you desperately tried to ignore Sebastian’s taunts.

“After everything, this is how you want to fix things?” You asked, twisting slightly to glare up at Sebastian only to notice just how bloody his hands were and you couldn’t hide the fact, that it scared you — his eyes quickly meeting your gaze, before he swallowed hard and looked away, “Ominis had nothing to do with what happened, Sebastian — nothing happened between us! I can’t believe you would hit him like this? Have you forgotten you were once friends?”  

“We are no longer friends after this, that’s for certain.” 

Ominis pushed your hand away from his face and stood up, leaving you against the ground—helpless and barged his way past Sebastian, his shoulder hitting the brunette’s with a purpose to show that he agreed, “I couldn’t agree more. Besides, can’t expect you to want to think of me now — knowing that your wife wishes to fuck me, right? I’ll enjoy knowing it’s lingering in your thoughts forever, Sebastian.”

“Say that again, Gaunt, I fucking dare you,” Sebastian said, his words practically a snarl as he twisted on his heel to grab Ominis’ by the collar and if it wasn’t for you jumping up and moving between them — he might have continue the fight, “so you’re defending him now too, are you?” 

“What I’m doing is stopping this madness! We are together for a funeral, for Merlin’s sake.”

Sebastian finally let go of Ominis’ collar and when the blonde man continued inside, you scoffed and looked away from Sebastian — dusting down your skirt, before you headed for home. It was impossible to deny that you were afraid of Sebastian in this moment and yet, the sight of his hands bloodied and bruised — ignited such a warm feeling inside you, that you were unsure of how to handle it. You hadn’t noticed Sebastian following you, until she reached home, simply wishing to change your clothing before you picked up your daughter, but it was only after Sebastian grabbed the back of your skirt and pulled you back towards him — that you gasped softly with the action. 

“Sebastian —”

“I don’t want you to talk — not about what happened or him, I just need you…” Sebastian said, spinning you around so that you were now facing him and it seemed that before you could even do anything — whether you would have denied him what he wanted or not, Sebastian gripped the back of your neck and pulled you into a heated kiss, “I’m going to fuck any thought of him — out of you.” 

In the next moment, Sebastian’s hands travelled to the top of your blouse and ripped it equally to either side of your body, making you cry out in a mix of pleasure and pain. He was not trying to be gentle, clearly still upset and although you felt nervous — there was a part of you that was so turned on, that you pushed forward to feel him touch you. Sebastian was perhaps being a little cruel, ignoring your silent plea to be touched as he crouched down to rip the rest of your skirt off you — leaving you completely bare and his for the taking. Biting back a moan as Sebastian directed you towards the sofa, your eagerness to be directed and ordered however he liked, seemingly doing nothing more than turning him on, you yelped softly — when he pushed over the side of it, your face now pressed against the cushions. 

You always enjoyed Sebastian roughing you around a bit, the excitement it sent through your body — felt like waves of electricity and yet, today felt different. It was as if he was needing to relieve the anger bubbling up inside him and when you choked back a soft cry in pleasure — you felt his knee part your legs. Sebastian often got overheated, work being the main cause for it usually and that always left you to be the one to help calm him down — in any way he needed. But this time, his anger seeped out and morphed into a mixture of pain and hatred — but not for you, for the idea that he could lose you and to someone he once treated as a brother, so he was simply losing it all together. Feeling his hand slide down between your shoulder blades, along your spine and towards your ass, Sebastian gives you no time to hesitate before he striked you harshly — the loud crack mixing quickly with your moans. 

“Is…there any truth to what he said?” Sebastian asked, but it was more of a growl as your back arched and your ass pushed towards him in response, his free hand now gripping unforgivingly against your hip — most certainly leaning his mark as you whined, before he strikes you again, making you cry out once more, “do you want to fuck Ominis?”

You feel your legs shudder at the impact as your face pressed harder against the cushions, Sebastian didn’t even allow you to respond or retort his question, before reaching forward to lift you up by your hair — his fingers tensing through it when you whimper out and shake your head, your mouth opening, “I-I…don’t, Sebastian — please, fuck me.” 

“You think you deserve that? After you looked at me like…I was a monster?” 

“I was just afraid — you scared me,” You said, breathlessly as he pulled your head back to see your face, your eyes looking up and noticing the intensity in his expression, so you moaned softly and swallowed the saliva — now building up in your mouth, “I just don’t want you to do something you’d regret...” 

Sebastian could see the shift in your gaze as you looked at him, a mixture of neediness and concern—almost as if you were worried that he would leave you to whimper about naked and desperate, Sebastian tensed his jaw and leaned down towards your ear, unbuckling his pants, “you think I’d regret hurting Ominis? Perhaps…but that’s none of your concern — in fact, I don’t want you to even think about him, do I make myself clear?”

“He’s still my friend, Sebastian…or was, I don’t want to lose him —”

“You truly think that’s all he wants from you? I didn’t realise you were so innocent, or perhaps…you’re more foolish than I thought?” Sebastian said, pulling your head back further and moving his free hand to place his fingers into your mouth, pushing it open — before you moaned and suddenly felt his cock pressed up against your ass, “trust me when I say he doesn’t want to be your friend. He wants one thing from you and it’s the one thing he’ll never get — not while I still have air in my lungs.” 

You had little chance to respond, with Sebastian simply shoving his fingers deeper into your mouth, inciting a wet moan to slip out and before you could squirm or do anything else — you could do little else, but cry out in pleasure as Sebastian pushed you back down against the sofa and slammed his cock straight into you. Your arousal from being handled so harshly, had done well to make you wet enough that he slipped in with such ease and yet, perhaps Sebastian might not have cared in that moment — except eventually he would and when you needed the aftercare you so loved, he’d give it to you, no matter how angry he was. The thrusting happened quickly and almost unkind as his movements pushed you roughly into the sofa — the action alone, forcing you to muffle your mewls of pleasure against the cushions. 

But despite the forcefulness of his thrusts and the grip his hands now had against your hips, simply keeping you attached to him as he refused to allow you a moment to breathe, you suddenly gasped — when he pulled you up by your hair and moved his hand to your throat, “do you feel that? Do you feel my cock inside you? That’s the only cock you should ever need…and I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

“S-Sebastian…fuck, please —”

“Yeah I feel good, don’t I? You enjoy how my cock fills you up,” Sebastian said, his grip on your throat tightening just enough to make you moan, but not enough to hurt you — his other hand now pulling your hips down hard against him as his thrusts grew rougher, “tell me you only want my cock…tell me Ominis means nothing to you or…I won’t let you cum.” 

You squirmed at his request, partly due to the fact that even Sebastian saying his name alone, caused his thrusts to grow so harsh — that you were sure your ass was now red and so you moaned as your fingers dug into the sofa, “Sebastian…I don’t —”

“Tell me…he means nothing or I’ll stop.”

“Please…don’t stop — fuck, Sebastian…I’m so close,” You said, or practically whined out as his thrusts slowed to almost a stop and when you attempted to push back against him, hoping to urge him to continue — his grip on your throat tightened a little harder, while his other hand striked your ass and waited for you to say it, so you did, “he…means nothing to me…nothing, now please, Sebastian — let me finish.”

The words were enough to drive Sebastian to continue his thrusting, to the point that he let go of your throat so your face now slammed into the cushions and your thighs hit roughly against the side of the sofa — and yet you didn’t care as your moans clearly showed how good it felt. Sebastian just needed you now, Ominis, the argument and the stolen moment, simply didn’t matter as he moved his fingers to tease your clit — only until the position grew unexciting. In a matter of seconds, Sebastian pulled out his cock with a low grunt and spun you around — only to pick you up quickly and thrust himself straight back into you, wrapping his arms around your waist as you squirmed, desperately for more. 

You welcomed the new position happily, so you could watch Sebastian’s face when he reached his climax — but more than that, you were desperate to kiss him, to feel connected to him in every aspect and so you leaned forward as his thrusts grew faster. When your lips collided with his, you whined softly, feeling him consider pulling away — before he gave into the love he truly felt for you and quickly deepened the kiss, his tongue hot and just as eager. Eventually his thrusts grew sloppy, his grip on your thighs as he pulled you down towards him as he pushed up — you cried out in pleasure, when you felt him pull his mouth from yours and pressed your head into his shoulder. 

“You’re mine.”

Feeling you gasp against his shoulder, Sebastian thrusted into you as deep as he could push himself inside you and dug his nails into your back as his release exploded — coating your walls and spilling out slightly, with the last few thrusts he did. You reached your climax shortly after, the feeling of his cock sliding his fluids against your clit — just hard enough to cause you to squirm as you cried out again at the sensation. Your body felt weak, the moment Sebastian stilled his movements and yet, refused to pull himself out of you, while you whimpered at your heightened sensitivity — the slight twitching of his cock still deep within you, causing you to whimper. You eventually tried to move, your legs growing numb around Sebastian’s waist, but he refused to let you go — his grip on you softer now and filled with that attention to the aftercare you always needed. 

“Are you hurt? The blood on you…isn’t yours right?” Sebastian asked, perhaps much too late, considering if he had hurt you, nothing could be done about it now — but you shook your head against his shoulder, kissing his neck as he hummed and caressed your back, slowly taking you towards the bathroom, “I let my emotions get the best of me...did I go too far?”

“No…Sebastian, you didn’t.” 

Sebastian kissed your shoulder softly and finally slipped his cock out of you, before he slowly supported you against the edge of the bathtub — his gaze looking over you as if he was checking how badly he marked you, only stopping when you pulled his face up to look at you, “I let him get to me, for that I must apologise for, but —”

“I promise you, Sebastian, nothing’s happened between us,” You said, leaning forward to kiss him softly, before he forced a smile and nodded, kissing you back — just enough that you felt satisfied and yet, when you whined, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly as you caressed his jaw, “you don’t have to believe Ominis…but I’d hope you believe me.”

“I just got jealous…and overheated, can you forgive me for that?”

You didn’t know what you felt anymore, the sensation of Sebastian’s body bringing you to your climax taking over every part of your mind, that should have been still upset with him for hurting his friend — and yet, all you wanted was him to hold you, to distract you from your lingering thoughts about another man, “can you stay with me?”

“I really should go get our daughter,” Sebastian said, his hands reaching forward to push the hair away from your shoulders — the action alone causing you to shudder, before he stood up and fixed his trousers, a soft smile forming on his face when you reached for his hands, “Madam Davenport will be wondering what’s going on —”

“Can’t you at least help me run a bath…please?”

Sebastian hummed softly and nodded, leaning down to kiss your forehead, before he rolled his sleeves up and reached behind you to turn on the tap — the soft sound of running water, now causing your body to relax completely, “would you like me to wash your hair?”

You can only nod as Sebastian helps you into the bath and you whimper softly, the warm water softening your skin — before you hummed happily, feeling his hands massage through your hair and so you closed your eyes. This is what your relationship was meant to be, what it was before Ominis came back into your lives and yet, now it seemed as if everything was changing — and you had no idea what was going to happen next.    

[spooky-stille]

Hello you lot, it’s been a little while, how are you all doing?

I’m writing this, distracting myself from last minute packing for Glastonbury which is coming at me quick this weekend. I’m massively disorganised at the best of times so it’s absolute chaos round here. Piles of stuff all over the place. Gambling on no rain which feels like a bit of a risk, but hey. Glastonbury for me is like summer’s answer to Christmas, so I’m well excited. Some of our most surreal and favourite gigs ever have been there, but I’ve also been coming as a punter with my mates for years and years. And while I know the idea of living in a busy, noisy field to watch music for 5 days straight is a lot of people’s idea of hell, I can’t bloody wait (even if I’ve got that anticipation-sick-stomach feeling you get before a big night). There’s so much great music on the lineup this year, but that magical parallel universe of a festival site is vast and sprawling, so feel free to imagine me and my mates - running around like headless chickens, trying to be in 6 places at once - from now til Monday. Actually don’t do that, no one needs that image.

 

 

The main reason I’m writing this is because I’ve made some new music and am in the process of getting it all ready for you to hear. I wanted to find a way to be directly in touch about all of that, about what’s been happening with us, what’s to come, and as a way to share a bunch of recommendations and things that I think are interesting (and hope you will too).

So, this is a hello to anyone who’s new here, and of course hi again to anyone who’s been around for a while. Cheers for reading this (I’m impressed if you’ve made it this far). I’m properly excited for what’s up next (more on that later) and in the meantime I’ll do my best to make these mails worth your time.

When me and the guys and our whole touring team finished our tours at the end of last year it felt like the right time for us all to take a proper break. Obviously we’re insanely lucky to get to play music and to travel all over the world with it, but we hadn’t really, properly stopped at all since we started out more than 10 years ago. Touring’s been this dominant line that’s cut right through and across most of our adult lives. While it can be an amazing whirlwind and is of course a huge privilege, it can also be completely all consuming, and, like loads of things in life, it’s not without its challenges. So, for that and for many different reasons, this year felt like the right time to not book any gigs at all and see what life looked like. It’s genuinely the first time since Bastille started that there’s been nothing scheduled. Mad.

We’ve all been off doing different things and getting on with life, while getting used to being in one place for a while. For me - in what’ll come as no surprise to anyone who knows me - I’ve not really been that great at sitting still or taking a break. I’ve been busy working on some fun things… so why would I want to not be doing that?!

 

Being home and being around has been genuinely brilliant, I’m really loving it. Part of that has been because for the first time in ages I’ve had the time to work on music and songwriting at home on my laptop, very much like how I did back when I was making the songs that became Bad Blood. This year so far has been such a fun and creatively satisfying time and I’ve felt well lucky having the space to chase a bunch of ideas and see where they lead and what they become. It probably sounds (and is) pretty self indulgent, but it’s been great.

Amongst all of that stuff (and general life stuff) I’ve used the time to travel a bunch, to take in as many films/books/gigs/shows/art as possible, I spent some time out at sea on the Greenpeace boat in the Bermuda Triangle (?!?!?), ran a half marathon for Warchild with some mates (thanks so much to anyone who sponsored - you’re brilliant), Tour-Managed my friends band FOURS on their UK tour with To Kill A King, and have been working away on a whole load of different projects with some brilliant people. I’ve also been learning the guitar… something I’ve always wanted to do but never seemed able to properly focus on.

 

 

And the reason I’ve learned guitar has to do with that new music I mentioned. There’ll be loads more news to come on that in the very near future (I’m excited to talk about the process and ideas behind it all… come on guys it’s my weird brain here so nothing’s ever as simple as it could be). I’ve tried to approach the whole process of recording and beyond in a totally different way, and I’m beyond excited to share it all with you.

For now… I’ve got to get back to packing or I’ll find myself on Sunday with no clean pants. I’m  here in my room with my head in my phone, sat amongst these piles and I haven’t even found a bag for any of it yet, so I better get on with it.

And to anyone here that’s also heading to Glastonbury this weekend, I hope you’re all packed and ready, and maybe I’ll bump into you there somewhere? (Oh s**t, also don’t forget to come to Pilton Palais on Sunday to join me and the editor of Empire Magazine having a chat about Nosferatu and horror films!)

Speak soon.

Dan x