#suuuuch a good question

[bharv]

question for glimm please :3c which of the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride) do you think she relates to the most, or that you associate her with?

Oooh this is a great question and genuinely something I have never considered! I think if I had to choose (though she has shades of pride in her work, she can be distracted by a pretty face, and she hates mornings) I’d go with envy.

She has such hang ups about how people perceive her and often wonders how much easier her life would be if she were the elf people assume she is going to be (The Great Glimmergris is often assumed to be a high elf from Silverymoon.) she has a complicated relationship with her identity as a Deep Gnome. On the one hand she loves her family, she loves home, she’s proud of her mother and her influence, but on the other the culture doesn’t really allow for much beauty, for much music and celebration which is at the heart of her. She’s envious of those that don’t have that duality. Who can be who they want to be without society questioning it all the time (she’s very envious of Gale for this. And he is very oblivious to how he gets to move through the world)

[todayisafridaynight]

What’s a moment from Jo that gives you emotional damage?

all two scenes he's alone with aoki like bruh i feeeeeel the kicked puppy energy practically oozing off of him

[sumoattack-gooddog]

i literally just reblogged this but

tyrant this piece was commissioned by the lovely chutaime, who graciously allowed me to sell prints of this! prints | patreon

[inkykeiji]

CLARI :cc i’m so lazy n i need to do my work!! pls give me some motivation? if ur like this sometimes, what do u normally do?

well anon i feel like that’s such a personal question that’s highly dependent on each individual person (ie something that motivates me might not motivate you) and it also rly depends on the work/thing you need to do, too!

[joshybearhuggies]

Omgosh, it’s only been a million years since I’ve been on here! Honestly I 100% forgot this account existed until yesterday when a fellow collector, doll crocheter and general good vibe tagged me in their w.I.p. of my first crochet tutorial. I’m so happy they did because I might have a task for this lil account.

See, I like to ramble about my dollies and latest projects but I usually refrain because I get this weird vibe that there just isn’t a space for it. Instagram (where I’m at mostly) is already loud with reels and music… Flikr (my all time favorite photo sharing platform) seems a little too quiet. Like I’m yelling into a void. So….. perhaps Tumblr could be different. Or at the very least a place I can come and spill all my thoughts about the things I love.

here we go….

What have I been up to?… suuuuch a loaded question 😂 I don’t think I can really answer in a way where it isn’t confusing.

Uuuummmm…. Well, I’ve been crocheting! Just yesterday I was gifted yarn and a big box of scrap booking supplies by a co-worker. In all of this was this indescribable fuzzy yarn… first gander I took made me both excited and scared 😅…. But I whipped up the first row of stitches and thought, this could be the best lil doll rug ever, so that’s what I made!

Dead simple rectangular swatch, worked up with a half Double Crochet and a heck of allot gumption….. you can NOT see your stitches. Bless.. I enjoyed myself…. I think 😂😅

I’ve also Got myself a Dollfie Dream Karin! A doll I’ve wanted for years but never got because I was convinced I wasn’t the vinyl doll collector 😩…. Oh the lies we tell ourselves.

I’ve named her ✨Kanami✨ 🥰 and she’s the sweetest lil thing! I adore her big green eyes and I like having her around. She makes me feel good.

….. I have to find a way to end this post so I guess I’ll say one last bit about the doll I have incoming this month…. A massive…. Child sized… Dollmore Trinity! The Dark Jude! Oooooh I can NOT wait! I’ll update when she arrives but here’s some stock photo goodness of this goddess, bye doll people 😇❤️❤️❤️❤️

[gabessquishytum]

Please consider either human au or retired Dreamling running a sex club. It's very popular and both Dream and Hob take a lot of pride in the place and are very hands on in different ways.

Dream is a dom that likes to make sure everyone is comfortable and safe within his establishment and tosses out anyone who causes problems and ensures that equipment is well kept and there are sanitation stations for toys and such readily available in the club. and Hob is a sub who always makes sure that there's water and snacks so that everyone can stay hydrated and feeling good. Both of them are almost always in the club looking after things and interacting with patrons, even if Hob has to kind of force Dream to actually talk and be social and not just making mental notes about what needs fixing or what could be changed to make things better.

Hob's favorite thing, though is the day at the end of every month when Dream spends all day in the office balancing the books and doing ordering. The office wall is shared with one of the free use playrooms and there a hole in it that's just Hob sized. He gets to have his arse hanging out on the playroom side, wearing a cock cage and being stuffed with all the cock he needs while he cockwarms Dream with his mouth under the desk on the other side. If he's very very good and doesn't distract Dream while he's working, he'll get to cum.

This is suuuuch a good idea, particularly love the idea of Hob and Dream being a little older here - they're like the mature kinky queer couple who survived a bunch of bullshit and came out the other side not giving a fuck about anything (and avidly taking care of all the baby gays + kink people who come their way).

Extroverted sub plus introverted dom is such a cute dynamic and I love the image of Hob happily cockwarming for Dream in the middle of the club. He's definitely doing a good job with the cockwarming but he's also holding conversations, being showered in kisses and compliments from friends, answering questions from newbies. Meanwhile Dream sits silently, sometimes hiding behind a magazine, tugging firmly on Hob’s collar when he wants him to pay attention. They're too cute together <3 and Hob really does like it when Dream makes an effort to dom him right down into subspace, so that he's incapable of focusing on literally anything except Dream. Everyone who sees Dream exerting his firm yet effective hold over Hob has to admit that it's deeply impressive - its the only thing in the world that stops Hob from yapping!

Their aftercare is always a private affair, tucked away in the office with Hob’s favourite snacks and cuddles on the black leather couch. They talk through their future plans, and Hob gets a nice massage (particularly if he's been on his knees at all). Hob listens to Dream’s soothing voice talking about all the new stuff he plans to order for the club... it's their own little bit of heaven, a dream come true, and they intend to enjoy it for many many years to come.

[simcardiac-arrested]

this is a magatama. it is basically a magic charm thingie that you get in the second game and it lets you see through people’s lies (to be more clear: it lets you know when a person is hiding information from you. there are still ways to get around the magatama though by telling half-truths which makes some of the cases in aa2 and aa3 really interesting!!!) and the way it works is that phoenix will see psyche locks AKA these things:

basically a visual representation of how hard the person is trying to hide their secret: if you get 1 psyche lock then they’re not rly trying, but if you get 5 (the maximum amount) that means they are veryyyyyy keen on Not Telling You Shit. you break these locks by presenting evidence to the character in question and revealing their secrets one by one (just like in the courtroom!) HOWEVER aa4 introduced a new type of psyche locks: black

now THESE bad boys represent a secret/information that a character is SUBCONSCIOUSLY hiding. they are not aware that they’re doing it! so it could be anything from a repressed traumatic event to something that the character themselves doesn’t even realize about, well, themselves. and i have not rly checked out aa5 but from what i understand you can’t actually break those locks with the usual method of presenting evidence and trying to catch the suspect on their lies: you could cause permanent emotional damage!! you could ruin your entire relationship and shit!!! AND you could do wacky shit to their brain!! cuz those are subconscious secrets!!!! so you have to go about a different way of opening black psyche locks. So yeah phoenix would have 20 i think

phoenix wright is like. he often gets overlooked in the games because well 1. he’s the main character in a huge cast of Bizarre Quirky characters and he’s usually seen as the straight man even though he is insane in his own way. But my point was 2. that main characters often get ignored in fandom in favor of the Cooler Side Characters like miles edgeworth because he has emo backstory. and look yeah the fans like to talk about phoenix’s crazy emo backstory too like how he was manipulated and ate glass. but like. look. look. (he is not making any sense) LOOK what i’m trying to get is that it’s SUCH a good use of the ‘main character gets overlooked’ phenomenon. because phoenix does the job HIMSELF of making himself less remarkable and noticeable. he wants to be normal. he needs to be normal. he never shares anything and he never opens up and he always thinks nobody should give a shit about him. so like. at first you might not even notice he’s Doing All That bc he’s the main character and you’re much more focused on how franziska has 92273837 untreated mental illnesses. but once you really look into his character you will see that there is also something deeply wrong with him. something is wrong with him and it is buried so so deep and i’m just saying i think if any of the characters ever got the magatama and asked phoenix anything about his life he would have 20 black psyche locks

< doesn't know what magatama is but understood the rest ofit

hell yeag dude, im so glad we're both completely 100% normal about this subject and not at all deranged about it

[rationalisms]

You mentioned that you don't think legally blonde is progressive and I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on that if you don't mind.

i mean, in the first place (and i promise i'm not trying to sound condescending i just genuinely don't know how else to say this) i think it's important to like... let go of the binary "progressive/oppressive" model of thinking about media, and instead pivot to talking about analysing e.g. films through different theoretical lenses instead.

so instead of trying to make a definitive declarative statement on whether xyz mainstream hollywood romcom IS or ISN'T feminist, fullstop, it's much more useful and conductive to actual productive discussion to analyse it from a feminist perspective instead.

because when you're no longer limited to ones and zeroes, that'll allow you to, say, in the case of legally blonde, both talk about the way that it takes some steps forward in terms of e.g. letting its protagonist succeed at things that are traditionally seen as male, such as academic success (aside: extra ironic bc in most countries women are better students than men but when has propaganda every cared about that), or choose academic success and her career over her erstwhile romantic partner, but also many steps backward.

like the fact that marketing that brand of hyperfemininity/beauty rituals/etc to women as So Empowering Akshually is part and parcel of misogynistic industries owned by men that prey on women's self-image, time, and money to sell them products that they at best don't need and that at worst are actively bad for them. like, they have caught on by now that shaming women for failing to uphold standards of femininity doesn't work nearly as well as selling them as part of a Feminist Identity in which your 50 step skincare routine that you spend 2 hours a day on so as not to show a single sign of aging is actually just Getting In Touch With Your Body and Expressing Your Womanhood. i honestly do not have the time to get into it right now but i recommend reading "femininity and domination: studies in the phenomenology of oppression" by sandra lee bartky, "beauty work: individual and institutional rewards, the reproduction of gender, and questions of agency" by samantha kwan and mary nell trautner, and/or "choosing to conform: the discursive complexities of choice in relation to feminine beauty practices" by avelie stuart and ngaire donaghue.

and so like, the fact that her Grand Crowning Moments in this film (like her win in court or helping jennifer coolidge's character) actually almost all revolve around those beauty practices and how well she manages to uphold them and not, say, the knowledge she's gaining in the incredibly difficult university course she's taking.

OR such as the fact that there's a whole character who's just there to be the frumpy, masculine, feminist lesbian who's suuuuch a killjoy and combative to our poor protagonist for seemingly no reason and just Hates Feminine Women sooo much, and who we are meant to jeer and laugh at when the Right Kind of Woman (read: feminine and heterosexual) wins against her. or how the protagonist's happy ending still has to include a man anyway. or how you can count the people of colour that even just appear in this film on one hand.

this is at this point definitely already long enough lol but i hope you get what i mean? anyway. there's absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying this film obviously but it's good to be critical of the way these narratives are presented to us, as always.

[tech-sapphy]

the dndads brainworms won’t let me go and i’ve been listening to a lot of broadway these past few days while thinking about dndads. a dangerous mix for my emotions. that means i Had to write some fic (marloakworthy you’re canon and real to me)

also i hc hermie as genderfluid. so here’s a thing i wrote on a whim

-

Makeup is, generally speaking, something that Hermie is more than used to. Stage makeup was always necessary, after all, and so that was what they were used to doing.

It’s also why, when he, Normal, and Scary got ready for their date night, Hermie was thrown for a bit of a loop seeing how she did her makeup.

He watched her relax as she did it, even as she was explaining it to them. She opted for a pink eyeshadow, using some black eyeshadow at the creases of her lids and blending it down to make it all a little darker, giving it an ombré effect. She also started to add extra wings to her eyeliner, smiling as she did. It already looked good, but she liked it.

Hermie admired how she did it to express herself rather than a role.

Neither he or Normal could stop staring at her. She was clearly basking in the attention, but he didn’t care.

Normal was the first to speak up. “…Can you do some for me?”

His eyes were wide, soft, with hope. No doubt an excuse to get close - which Scary probably clocked, by her smile and eye roll.

“Whatever floats your boat, Norm.”

Luckily, she had colors more than black - so Normal’s look was one with some brighter blues and greens, and she gave him some eyeliner too, at his request, with less of a sharp wing than her own. Her hand cradled each of his un-made up cheeks as she worked, and Normal leaned into it.

It was sickeningly cute.

Hermie’s heart leapt in joy, seeing them be so sweet. It was also beating, fast.

He admired them and he wanted to be close to them too, but he knew his heart beating was partially him wanting to be on that makeup chair.

Don’t get him wrong, he’s dedicated to doing the right makeup for his roles…but he doesn’t have one right now, and he still finds that he wants to do some makeup anyways.

Maybe it could help him find who ‘Hermie’ really was.

“What do you think, Hermie??” Normal reaches out to him, grabbing a hand. Hermie holds it in return, planting a kiss on the back of it.

“You’re radiant.” Normal blushes.

As Hermie sets Normal’s hand down, he can’t help but glance down at the makeup still set out on the counter. Some colors catch his eye. He looks to Scary, who he finds is smiling at them. She almost looks away, but Hermie is inclined to ask his question before she does.

“Well well well, we can’t go out on a date together if we’re not all matching. Scary, if you would be so kind…”

Hermie picks up a compacted container of eyeshadow, one that caught his eye earlier. A dark purple.

Scary groans, but is all smiles. Maybe she’s trying to hide it, maybe not, but Hermie can tell she’s more than happy to do it. Especially since she quickly reaches for a tube by the sink.

“You guys are so cute. You need primer first, otherwise it’s gonna stain or it’s not gonna stay. And it’d be suuuuch a tragedy if it didn’t stay.”

Indeed it would be, Scary. Indeed it would.

—

For how much of a powerhouse Scary has proven herself to be, Hermie understands why Normal leaned so close into her touch.

She’s incredibly gentle as she holds his face. He admires her range.

He also enjoys the feeling of the makeup. The eye primer was cold - but the brush it was blended with was firm, warming it up quickly.

Then there was the eyeshadow. Hermie kept tapping at his knees, in rhythm to the music that was playing softly from Scary’s phone speaker.

He closed his eyes as Scary raised the brush from the compact, covered in purple. He also leaned into the hand on his chin, just a little- he didn’t want to mess up the angle too badly. But he was right across from the mirror, so he couldn’t quite help…

“Wow, you’re really good at this, Scary!” Normal exclaims.

“Yeah, well, it might be easier if you stop trying to open your eyes, Hermie.”

“Sorry, sorry, my dear. Shouldn’t try and get a glance before your masterpiece is complete, I know.”

Normal laughed and Scary huffed at the nickname, her bangs blowing up as she did.

“You’re lucky the eyeshadow is done, but we still need some eyeliner. Close your eyes, you dork.”

Affectionate as could be.

He’s glancing down at the liners she has laid out - there are two. Both are black, but one is liquid and one is a pencil.

Both she and Normal had liquid eyeliner. He wanted to match with them, right?

So he doesn’t quite know why he reaches for the pencil. But he does, and hands it to her. She looks a little surprised, but not opposed.

“Oh, sure.”

“Oooh, good choice, Hermie! I think that’ll look good with the eyeshadow! Y’know, since it’s a bit darker!” Normal points out.

Hermie closes his eyes as he replies, “Of course. As you know, I have impeccable taste in style.”

Scary snorts.

“Oh, how you wound me, Scary.” He responds, leaning into the hand on his cheek.

The pencil felt weird. Not bad, just different. Not quite as smooth, but not bad. Eventually, Scary’s hands left his face.

He opened his eyes to look in the mirror, but Normal turned the swivel chair around before he could.

“Normal, what are you doing?”

“Can’t look at the masterpiece before the artist is done, remember?” He grins.

Hermie sighs, just as Scary - also grinning - is applying some bits of blush to his cheeks. He probably won’t need it tonight, knowing his reactions to his partners doing so much as holding his hand (as much as he tries to hide it), but he doesn’t protest.

She then holds out some tubes to him. Lipstick and lip gloss.

“Want any?”

He’s… he’s only ever worn it for his roles. Only ever red, bright enough to be befitting of The Joker and Poison Ivy.

Looking at the labels on the tubes, there’s one that is bright red. He’s about to reach out to point to it when he sees it - it’s almost second nature.

But before he can gesture to it, Scary pulls them away, looking through them.

“Not all of these would look right with your eyes, though.” She picks through a few of them, Hermie hears her set some down on the counter. Over his shoulder, he sees Normal point to a couple tubes, but he can’t see what colors they are.

“Good eye, Norm.”

They both turn back to him, each holding a tube. Both matte, one of them is a dark blue that almost looks black and the other is a nude pink. It's one he recognizes as a color his co-stars often used in their stage makeup, a shade that wasn't too noticeable.

“Wanna do half and half?” Normal suggests.

“It’d look metal as hell.” Scary points out.

He likes that idea. He really likes that idea. So much that he almost wants to cry. He nods, and immediately looks up just a little bit.

To stop himself from ruining the makeup? So that they don’t see?

Either way, both happen as Normal and Scary each apply a color on his lips at the same time.

“No, wait, stop there Norm-“

“But hear me out, we could also do a different pattern!”

“No, we’re not going to do that.“

Hermie is tempted to laugh, but refrains, so as to not mess anything up. Their bickering makes him feel… comfortable. Content.

At home.

He’s never really known what that felt like. His characters never did, either. So he really has no frame of reference, nothing more than observations of his friends with their families.

But he suspects that this new feeling, of contentment and of his mind Not racing with thoughts and clever lines - just needing to do what he wants rather than live up to some expectation or role -

That might be what home feels like. He's not sure, but it's enough for him.

“Okay, ready for the final reveal??” Normal and Scary both hold one of his hands after they turn the chair to face the mirror.

He opens his eyes.

He looks different. So different.

The eyeshadow and lipstick are darker and give a bit of a shadowed look. The pencil eyeliner makes his eyes look softer than his partners’.

Both of whom are blushing. Normal squeezes his hand.

“You’re so beautiful, Hermie!”

“Like midnight.” Scary whispers.

Beautiful. Like midnight.

Beautiful. Beautiful.

It’s so… feminine. Hermie feels feminine.

He loves it.

Tears are welling up in his eyes, and he tries to look up, but a tear slips down his cheek. His partners swoop in at the same time.

“Oh no- what’s wrong Hermie?” Normal wraps his arms around him.

“Oh shit, what’s wrong? Do you not like it?” Scary squeezes his hand, running a thumb over his wrist.

She doesn’t even care that her hard work is at risk. She just cares about his feelings.

He’s overcome with adoration, at their reactions and at his reflection. It’s why his usual quick wit is completely out of commission, and he can only respond with a few words.

“I love it.”

He gets up and maneuvers around them, to bring them both into a hug. They’re both quick to return the hug, wrapping their arms around him. He can feel their hands link on his back. Normal leans into the crook of Hermie’s shoulder, and Scary’s drawing little circles on his shoulder blades. It’s reassuring, it’s grounding.

They had plans for tonight, but Hermie doesn’t want to let go.

For once in a life riddled with shit luck, Hermie feels like they’ve hit the jackpot.

[imsociallyanxiousgetoverit]

My Reaction To “The Edge Of Sleep” Show

Spoilers below obviously

ep 1

so was Dave like unknowingly being prepared for this tragedy??? that’s my first thought about what’s happening

ep 2

I actually understand Katie’s view cuz she just believes Dave has disrespected her wishes. I’m glad once he’s there she reacts somewhat well considering

ep 3

this brings up the question if life is worth it even with extreme pain each second. it’s a good question to start discussion about from both those experiencing the pain and those caring for them. primarily the former talking to those around them about their feelings on it.

ah so perhaps I was correct about my ep 1 theory ha

ep 4

I’m so glad Dave talked to Katie finally. I’m also glad someone finally talked to Ruth. Their reactions are all understandable and I really appreciate that.

This concept is so cool and the execution is so well done. God I’m so glad to be watching this now. I’m checking out the podcast after this for sure. Never had the attention span for it before, but I’m hooked now.

Did Mark do Larry and sing by the way? I swear I’m hearing him everywhere lol. It’s so cool seeing his name in the introduction credits. Also the way we slowly understand more of them as we watch is 10/10

ep 5

Trying to figure out if the whale or elephant is good is hard cuz it seems obvious but what if it isnt?

Oh no they crash though…. right? Damn I’m so hyped to know what’s up.

oh my god the choice to make it like falling asleep as a viewer was so good Holy crap

it’s a hard thing to exert energy to stay awake but not so much you lose any energy to stay awake… as someone with insomnia this is a battle I am too intimately aware of

I’m so glad this is the cast. It’s so well picked for each role cuz they’re killing it.

NOOOO NOT THE POOR WORDING

ep 6

woah new intro.

is he dreaming awake now too? oh no.

Holy hyuck Matteo is going through it.

oh no there’s concerning sh info I really hope nobody uses it hyuck.

two hours. yall got this.

Holy thwip water landing okay so not a crash technically??

HEAD BETWEEN KNEES MFS WHAT ARE YOU DOING (ik theyre out of it but ahhhhh)

Holy crap they survived Holy crap all of them

we love abandoned islands lol

oh no hallucinations.

I just realized is the elephant wearing a red dress? its too bright to be a monk-inspired robe right?

I wonder if this is all one island or if its shots mixed together to look like one.

These people are so strong Holy crap. Handling literal torture

it is a red dress!!

oooooo love raw power let’s hyucking go.

Would Katie really want that?

it’s interesting that the elephant needs him…. the fact it can’t just take control… hmm

they made it!!!!

what?

okay much more sense context wise now with so many survivors.

Safet okay. Interesting the name has safe in it. Sounds like prophet too.

This is suuuuch cult thwip.

lol are they real like bro its the actual whales

oh lord. war? more torture sigh.

he’s not gonna take “all as it should be” well

that room has got to be hot as hell tf

so much fire is not safe yall

oh hell no what the hyuck

OH NO KATIE NO

post series

I want to see what’s next so bad omg yes.

Podcast time!!!

[trashsketch]

i will GLADLY ask u abt killugon, idk if you’ve mentioned this elsewhere but do you have specific headcanons about their reunion?? like time frame, how much they communicate during separation, whether gon gets his nen back or what that could be like if he takes the long route of developing it?? I’d love to hear ur thoughts hehe

WOOHOO A REAL PERSON ASK THANK YOU ANON <3

so a long time ago (2018, when i had time and ambition) i wanted to make a zine of gon and killua traveling around the world (landmarks of earth) and doing some stupid silly shit that they might do (like climbing the eiffel tower barehanded, like dan goodwin did long ago at the CN tower). that's one of the many ways i thought in my head about how gon and killua would reunite! in their late teens/early 20-somethings, and be absolute fools, but fools together again :)

I'd like to think they would both communicate with each other since they have phones, just that it would be hard for them emotionally, and gon's more likely to reach out first within the first year or two! I'm a big fan of fics where they'd still text each other from oceans away, and killua and alluka would make a stop in whale island, or promise to ;w; I've also made some art of them calling and texting each other. it's just sweet to think about! (any other queer couples in an LDR would relate tbh. i did with my gf for the longest time)

as for whether gon gets his nen back, I don't think i want that to happen? it keeps it interesting, it makes the consequences of his actions more...real and permanent. it leads me to think about how killua might treat him differently, now that they're not on as equal terms in fighting ability as before. gon would fucking try to get his nen back through any means for sure though! I don't know if there's any other instance in the hxh universe where someone else who lost their nen ability could get it back, so it's kinda a big question mark for me. it'd be suuuuch good angst if gon works way harder than before to get his nen back, only to fail and have to just...cope with being ordinary. it's a continuation of what he's probably going through now that he's back home. lots of stuff to obsessively think about on work hours!

[pliablehead]

Heyo, what do you consider the top 5 must-watch EE interviews???

I AM SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER THIS and I think it's because I really don't have a proper answer!! So much of my deep dive into EE was done in one long hyperfixation spiral back when I was first getting fangirl-level into them, a good 6 or 7 years ago, and so I'm running into the problem of most of the interview content I've consumed all sort of homogenizing into one sort of blur of Lore that I've internalized and I am not doing a great job at separating out into its individual components! So, that said, the following list is probably not in line with what I'd actually ultimately believe to be the best, most crucial ones--it's just the ones my brain can call to mind at the moment. lol. BUT HERE ARE SOME:

serious/insightful: • Jon and Alex for Tape Notes podcast. (so not a must-watch so much as a much-listen, but there are a few individual clips from this on youtube in video form as well I believe.) RDF is my favorite EE album and I thought this was a hugely interesting look into their writing process and also had a bunch of cool personal stuff in it! Plus, I think it's a very good look at who the band are, like, "now" -- there's a lot of great content around from MA up through GTH, but by the time they were on album 4 and all like, 30+, and especially once covid hit and sort of changed the trajectory of like.. bands, in general, I feel like it's just been a different animal re: regular interviews etc. • this 2013 3-parter with Jonathan. It's been ages since I watched it but I remembered it almost immediately, and for some reason I'm remembering it as an oddly vulnerable Jon moment. just talking about things. (more good band lore! etc.)

funny/meme-y: • Mike and Jez at Isle of Wight. Unlike many others, I could not possibly count how many times I have rewatched this, and it is funny every time. The interviewer is a buffoon asking totally clueless questions and Jez is having absolutely none of it, he's just chomping his chewing gum the entire time, Mike's doing his best, it destroys me. • Mike and Jez look at memes. Less interview-y and more just #content but whoever edited this video did a TOP NOTCH JOB and it's one I often show to not-in-this-fanbase friends that can still be a fun look at the band and a good laff. • This very sweet one with Alex and Mike being interviewed by a literal child. Contains the infamous "Jeremy, and yes," which is one of my most quoted EE-related sentences ever • this Man Alive track-by-track, also audio only.. the BITS that Jon and Alex are doing. truly incredible stuff

just lads having a nice time :) : • the CAPSLOCK ON talkback - lots of pleasant band and lyric insight, and a great Jez cheese moment at the end • this livestream dot com session is some performing but some Q&Aing, so not really an interview proper, but the energy in the room is delightful alskdghj

other noteworthy bodies of work: • anything with Andy Backhouse. I'll be the first to admit that Andy can grate my nerves sometimes, he often feels annoyingly a little too simp-y or something, but the other side of that coin is that as a huge fan of the band he actually does always ask them questions that are like, Real, he Gets them, so it's guaranteed to be a notch up from just random music journos who are engaging with them on a more surface industry level. Nothing is more frustrating than watching an EE interview where the interviewer just so blatantly doesn't "get" EE's whole deal and doesn't know how to interface. Andy never has that problem ! • any episode of Chips of Chorlton that features them (I think Jon's been on twice and Jeremy once). Dutch Uncles are their friends and hearing them all shoot the shit in an extremely comfortable environment is suuuuch a pleasant and wholly different experience than when the lads are being Professional Music Band guys, even when the latter still consists of them doing fairly goofy things

A VERY LONGWINDED AND NOT ESPECIALLY COMPREHENSIVE ANSWER ?? !!!!! Ultimately I think I was the wrong man for the job. @hellkitepriest has way more of an archivist's nature sort of just intrinsically than I do, he can probably do a better and less ridiculous job akjdshglak

[beansprean]

I was scrolling through the questions and answers of the WWDITS cast from Tumblr and was instantly reminded of your comic when Kayvan said that a flashback he would love to have on the show would be of Nandor's and Guillermo's first meeting at Panera Bread 👀 love your comics, keep up the great work!! ❤️

AAAAAA I LIVE IN UR BRAIN lmao

kayvan made suuuuch a good point about cctv, they could very well have grainy footage from 09 around the panera. i love that his brain is soaking in the nandermo soup just like all of us <3

[bellysoupset]

this isn’t rly a question/story request, but i thought you might appreciate this nonetheless :)

soooo it’s a friday night and i’m hanging out w some friends when this one guy (who i lowkey have a crush on) comes staggering into the room, clearly drunk. he sits down next to me on the couch and leans on my shoulder and goes, “is this okay? sorry if it’s not okay. i’ll get up if you don’t like it” and i totally let him lay there bc of course i did, yknow? and then the previous conversation just carries on

after a bit, the guy gets up and goes to his room. it’s getting late, so i head back to my own dorm (which is a ~15 minute walk away). about halfway there, my friend texts me a picture of the door to the men’s bathroom and then says, “_____ has officially entered the vomiting stage.” i asked her if she needed me to come back and she said no, so i kept walking. and then she says “it just sucks bc every time he goes horizontal he gets pukey” and i kid you not, i got literal butterflies😭😭

i asked her again if she needed help looking after him and she didn’t respond, so i turned around and walked right back. by the time i got there, the two of them were in her room and he had his head in a trashcan. he kept moaning and saying stuff like “i don’t feel good” and “i’m so sick” and he let me play w his hair a little bit. after a while he got up and started taking off his belt and accessories and whatever to go to bed. as he was about to climb into bed, he stopped and started looking around for the trashcan. my friend handed it to him and he spat into it, drooled a little, hiccuped, and put it back down. then he curled up and passed out. i was blushing so hard

(p.s.—this is the same dude who unironically says shit like “my tummy hurts” or “i have a tummy ache” or “my tummy’s upset” wjfiwjfnQNDIEJNT anyway. ANYWAY i am so normal about this)

Dude. I would have simply died. Passed away.

also "pukey" is suuuuch a cute word, I completely get why you had butterflies??

pls pls pls tell me this is a big guy, bc a Man saying stuff like "my tummy hurts" is just. SWOON.

😭😭😭😭this is so cuteeeee

[vacantgodling]

🎀🍬 for Hya bc those are too funny lol

DHDJDJRJRJRJJ his worst nightmare in 2 questions

🎀 Opening birthday presents in front of others, being sang to when given their cake, etc.

of the two, hya is more comfortable dealing with being in a celebratory crowd. it’s one of the many “wifely duties” in paramour — ie: managing the social scene and he’s been taught well by tagetes. i’m actually Not Sure what birthday traditions galeré has and that’s something interesting to think about but focusing on how we do birthdays TM his patience is so thin. like he’s not a huge fan of sweets but being sung to already makes him 😒—let alone when people start to tell him to blow out the candles JSSJSJ the only way he would is if aloe asked him to 💀 he also hates opening presents in front of others because He Will Judge you. if he thinks it’s a bad present he’d be all “and who the fuck bought this” and throw it out in front of you probably BDJDRJJ best bet is to just give him money fr he’s so picky and very few can get him to Not Complain about a present. (and before you think amon, it’s not. the only person who can consistently get hya presents he likes is tagetes which pisses him off SO MUCH LMAOOOOO)

so long story short: he hates it 💀

🍬 Being put in charge of a couple rowdy kids

i’m actually gonna hijack this question to talk about the kids hya canonically has in his life aka, lavendula’s children. viola (10), barbatus (9) and rumex (6). viola (similarly to her mother lowkey) is very taken by hya’s air and mannerisms and has heard so much about him from aloe that she can’t help but want to be around him and be like him which. baffles hya greatly. whenever they’re in the same room she’s always trying to talk his ear off and it is SUUUUCH an exercise in patience for him. she does kind of win him over (aided by hya moving away and marrying amon pff) because she loves books and as mentioned, hya also likes books. so when he realizes that she can have an intelligent conversation about books and themes in literature he warms up to her more (well, as much as he can being himself).

barbatus however is a different story and is more of the rambunctious type that the questions talking about 💀💀 he’s proud and hard headed and defiant but is still yknow. a child. so he gets in over his head and whines and cries when shit happens and hya is exhausted with him immediately. especially bc barbatus is more of the roughhousing type and hya is having Literally None Of That. he tends to talk back and that pisses hya off so he usually dumps barbatus onto someone else’s hands (later in life onto amon mostly) bc he can’t deal with that shit LMAO.

rumex he doesn’t quite know what to do with and similarly rumex doesn’t know what to do with him. bc rumex has always been sickly their social skills are under developed and they have a lot of separation anxiety from lavendula. they also got the worst of their father’s abuse, so they see hya as kind of similar (authoritative figure) and keep their distance. hya doesn’t care either way but it’s something that distresses lavendula;;;

and under a cut i’ll put some actual prose regarding hya and the kids PFF. idk if or where this would fit in anywhere but it’s a good explore to who he is:

“It was very kind of you to invite us to your residence, Hyacinthus.” Lavendula folded her fan with delicate fingers and curtsied.

“Tagetes insisted.” Hyacinthus eyed the younglings gathered close to their mother’s skirts, and gave his half-sister a stare that would resemble one you’d give a particularly irritating mule. “Though, I don’t recall you mentioning you’d be bringing the—”

“Your niece was desperate to see you, and I needed to get the boys out of the house. For fresh air.” Lavendula replied breezily, and Hyacinthus regarded the young girl grasping her hand with a blank stare. She looked up at him shyly, wiggling her fingers in what could be discerned as a passable wave, then tucked her face back against her mother’s purple gown. The taller, older of the boys, that stood astride his mother with his chest poked out, piped up: “Do you have a garden Uncle Hya?”

“Barbatus, manners.” Lavendula scolded gently. The boy looked back at his mother, confused. “What? He is Uncle Hya right? Why can’t I call him that?”

“Don’t be bull headed.” Lavendula looked back to Hyacinthus, seeming to beg him with her eyes. “Do you happen to have a garden that the boys can play in.” She paused. “... Preferably one with a gate.” Hyacinthus snapped his fingers and a maid standing idly by the door snapped to attention. With his wave, she quickly scurried over.

“Yes, my lord?”

“See the children out to the inner courtyard. Make sure they don’t kill themselves.”

“Hyacinthus…”

“Isn’t that what children do when left to their own devices?” Hyacinthus gave a listless shrug, and the maid, happy to be dismissed from his presence, quickly took both his niece and his nephew’s hands, then with Barbatus trailing along, headed out towards the courtyard.

[variousqueerthings]

Oh the lake district’s lovely, let’s definitely go there, we can have scones in 1920

it's The Rings Of Akhaten! And oooh I have some thoughts about this one, but I think they don't relate much to the rating's system, because its core, to begin with, is quite different from a lot of M*ffat era type stories, and just for that I find it quite good. there are things, mainly the climax of it, and we can discuss that in a few of the Points

three things to praise right off the bat though: Clara is pretty great, she has a past, and there's an actually very good child actor in this one. There have been a lot of child actors in this era of DW and I'd say the majority of them are... cute... because they're kids and that's what they're bringing. very very few of them have been actually good (or possibly given the chance to do anything good, considering some of the ways kids have been written), but this character is great and I think she's wonderful at inhabiting it

ANYWAY, ranking away:

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

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 8/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 4/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 8/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 5/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

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

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

Politics (how conservative is the story): 8/10

FULL RATING: 81/100 (if I can count….)

and once more onto the breach!

OBJECTIFICATION: Can I say just generally Clara is pretty delightful in this episode, I think she feels like a person, in both the way she's presented and in the story

PLOT-POINT: the thing is, yes her family history is presented in the same episode as that history is used to fulfill a plotpoint, buuut she's already got more real family history than Amy ever received, and it feels like it reflects who she is as a person, and her actions in this episode

will memories of her mum come back throughout, will the book which was featured in the last two episodes, I don't know, but I can keep them as part of her ongoing background at least

COMPLEXITY: SOOooooo this episode is actually sort of under-explained if anything. the first half is pretty darned great, love the kid who's a "keeper of the stories and songs," love that suddenly she's a sacrifice, the way that both Clara and the Doctor talk to Merry Gejehl is suuuuch a breath of fresh air after feeling like the dialogue hasn't been particularly good at talking with kids on the whole

think it then got a bit unattached from Character, and went into the Doctor being awesome vs a giant round orb, when I think the interesting part of the story isn't really the God, or the Doctor, it's Merry Gejehl and the culture she represents in the story

it would be interesting I think if the last half had maybe had a cult that wanted the Grandfather to wake up and eat the planets as sacrifice, or even if the Grandfather hadn't just been a big smiley weird Thing -- maybe even not a mindless Parasite, but something worthy of the worship perhaps?

I still think it's a much better episode than perhaps given credit, and truly that's down to Clara's personality, and Merry Gejehl, they're scene-stealers in this one (and the music)

the great sadness perhaps is seeing the ways it could have been Better, not that its bones don't work

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: Clara's first big trip with the Doctor and it's a big ol' alien world! I saw some reviews saying it felt like it was try-hard or ogling the aliens too much, but I was quite welcoming it. I realised that Amy on the whole didn't have many aliens on a casually alien planet with culture and Stuff (I counted three and all of them are a bit of a stretch: flesh and stone/time of angels (stretch), the doctor's wife (stretch), asylum of the daleks (stretch))

anyway, this belongs on Internal World really, but it's a good start in my opinion, and Clara takes to it very well, and also immediately spots a child and tries to help her, showing off her mettle and sharing her past with her

on the whole it's just showing Clara on her first real outing and I think it's a good one for her to do so on

additionally, I find it quite fun that the Tardis doesn't like Amy. I'm choosing to believe it's because she called it the "Snog Box" last episode, because yeah, stupid shit, the Tardis is everything!

COMPANIONS MATTER: SHE MATTERS! the main gist of the plot is driven by her to begin with, and then she comes in again at various points as both emotional core, and literal plot-solver (in an emotional way). and it feels like she has feelings -- she's afraid of the hoverbike early on, gripping onto the Doctor after they land, and later she has to take it out on her own to save the Doctor and everyone else

dare I say it? I like Clara based off these two episodes!

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: Sooo I think the episode's weak point is the Doctor vs the Parasite Planet God, where it's a bit too much the Doctor pontificating about how cool he is -- granted the Doctor's memories aren't enough, but it starts a whole part where the plot is just less interesting and it makes me roll my eyes a bit, especially as it overshadows Merry Gejehl's central importance, which was running the rest of the story

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: not much in the way of past Doctor Who except that thing the Doctor does of occasionally throwing a devastating bit of past out without following up on it, love that -- in this case it's the existence of a granddaughter in the past, whom the Doctor once took to this planet

“SEXINESS”: NOT A SINGLE THING FUCK YEAH

INTERNAL WORLD: both quite good and then again, in that second half. it sets up so many interesting questions. how does it work, being the keeper of songs and stories? how do they get chosen? why are some chosen to be sacrifices? why did the planet become a God and why does it need to be sung to? is that relationship returned to a status quo or something better? who were those creepy beings meant to feed Merry to it? etcetc.

it's almost there in that I find it quite tantalising, and then it doesn't go deep enough, but I still find the things it does show very very fun!

POLITICS: I rated this sort of middly, because I think it could have had politics, but didn't so much. however note the great female characters of this episode!

EDIT: I actually do think it's worth saying how much this one is about Merry again, and Merry is a kid who has no rights and at some point believes her life is worth nothing but being this holy sacrifice, and she becomes convinced by the Doctor and Clara that she has worth, and that is actually wonderfully powerful messaging for kids who don't get enough of it by far, so I'm bumping it up a couple of points!

FULL RATING: 71/100 (if I can count….)

I think this episode is given undue hate (or was when it was released, I think it's experiencing a renaissance), and I think it's because its first half is genuinely great and you want it to stick the landing, and it doesn't quite. but it's not a bad ending, it's just kind of... there, although Clara is pretty cool during it

but I think it gives the opportunity to look into a bit of Doctor Who we haven't seen in a good long while, the casually alien. I think once again the child actress is great, I think Clara is great, I think the underlying world premise is great, and deserves to be poked at to be given something More, not because it was bad, but because it showed so much promise!

for me it's all about the scene of Clara and Merry hiding behind the Tardis, while Clara tells Merry about being afraid