#thank you for caring anon lol

[elcorhamletlive]

Why and how The Menu is bad?

I trust you and I love your taste in movies. Please rant on. 👀🍵

Aw thank you for trusting me, anon. I'll put my opinion under the cut.

Basically I just found that the movie rung shallow in its critique, and the characters and plot just weren't fun enough to compensate for the lack of thoughtful, interesting ideas. The movie really doesn't go much beyond the idea of "eat the rich", which is fine for a movie, but at times it seemed to find itself more important and philosofical than that, which I found annoying. So many of the "critiques" felt misaimed and clumsy - a food critic is a key representative of modern capitalism? A washed up actor? Why did we need to be informed the chef sexually harrassed one of his workers at one point? And the underlying weirdness of Tyler's character - he comes across as the product of someone who once read the explanation of the concept of "mansplaining" on a twitter thread and thought that was the pinnacle of feminist theory. The "see, he's obsessed with food but he can't cook!" thing made me think of a fanboy on the internet saying "if you don't like his movies, I'd like to see you do better!".

The humor didn't fly with me either. I get that these are character mostly made up so we can laugh at them, but I think the writing lacked subtle touches of humanity that would have allowed me to enjoy laughing at them more. This is when I can't help but compare it to Glass Onion, which also works with stereotypes, but a) the stereotypes it uses are actually based on relevant figures in pop culture and politics; and b) the characters are given enough room to breathe so that even though they're all recognisable stock figures, we can, occasionally, glimpse some humanity. The Menu is just like "lol rich people" whcih is why I find it an annoying bad movie, because it's the kind of story that shields itself from criticism through its politics - like, sure, eat the rich, but you still need to tell a good story.

I also find that unlike most "eat the rich"-esque movies coming out at the moment, The Menu just isn't fun, and its ostensible main character has little agency so it's hard to root and care for her like we do in something like Glass Onion or Ready Or Not. I think withholding that she's a sex worker for such a huge chunk of the movie was a huge mistake, because it prevents you from immediately seeing her as the audience stand-in that we should root for. It also creates problems in characterization because she behaves like a bored girlfriend in most of her interactions with Tyler, not like a newly hired worker providing a service.

So basically yeah, I did not enjoy it. If you did, more power to you! But I just found it very frustrating and a chore to get through, even though I fully came into it expecting to have a good time.

[uc1wa]

18+ minors dni

tags: nudes, mentions of penetrative sex

11:24pm jason: when does your class end again?

11:27pm jason: just saw the pictures you took on my phone last night

11:35pm jason: do you want me to call you and pretend that you have an emergency? i’ll say somebody died lol

11:45pm jason: attachment: two images

the class, that was undeniably and exhaustingly lecture heavy, was excruciating to sit in the two days a week that you did. the professor continuing to talk, reading off the powerpoint slides he presented, without a single spare elaboration.

it was exhausting every day that you had to enter the room, and as per usual, your hands had gotten tired and had the mind of their own to find your phone, smiling to yourself as you read the multiple messages from your boyfriend.

the part about him calling you made you laugh to yourself, opening the messages on your phone to view the images he had sent you.

and all too quickly, your eyes widen, heart drops, and phone slams against your desk space a little too loudly. thankfully, in the spacious and filled lecture hall, only the three students that sat near you gave you a look, to which you apologize quietly.

what a blessing it was that you were sat at the end of the row, nobody in the seat directly behind you, because if you angle your phone just right, your eyes have the ability to look at the pictures jason sent you once more. this time with awareness of just what the man had sent you.

the first, a cuter and more innocent looking one. a high angled selfie that make jason’s eyes widen naturally as he looks up to the camera, lip puckered out teasing and jokingly. the angle showing his abdomen that has no shirt covering it. a shadow underneath his pecs that make them look meaty and strong. his abs that he doesn’t have to flex, even in his sitting position protrude, ripple by ripple. his shoulders that are broad and big cover the expanse of background that you presume is desk space.

the picture alone could be saved for later when you get back home, touching yourself under covers. but you have to bring a hand to cover your mouth at the second picture he sent.

you knew what jason’s cock looked like. hell, you could describe in detail how it felt to be inside of you! but the look of it, all hard and begging for attention, does enough to make you squeeze your legs close and close your eyes for a second to bring yourself back to earth. opening to re-examine the photo.

it was lewd how his pre dripped down the sides of his length, milky lines running down along big veins that you had begun to memorize. veins that, when jason bottomed out in you slow enough, you could feel pressing against your walls. his tip that was an angry shade of red, the shade that gave you the knowledge that jason worked himself up just to take this photo for you. the shade of red that showed he had an internal battle with himself to not finish, to achingly take his hands from his cock just to flash a photo to send you as your sat rows of seats in front of your professor.

just as you swipe away from the photo, jason’s continuing to text you. his eyes reading over the read receipt that you’d left him.

12:05pm jason: might enroll in some of your classes next semester for fun

12:06pm jason: sit in the back so nobody sees and finger your pretty self under the table. wouldn’t let you wear underwear btw

12:07pm jason: i know my baby isn’t leaving me on read :(

12:08pm jason: gonna come to your place and fuck you against the window when you get back since you wanna show my cock in front of your whole class

12:08pm jason: your neighbors wouldn’t mind, you think?

the pink on your cheeks doesn’t fade as you continue reading the texts your boyfriend sends you. your eyes widening with every one delivered and heat growing embarrassingly fast in your pants. your fingers begin to find their way against your keyboard, but pause once a longer message finds your phone.

12:10pm jason: gonna fuck you so good that you drool on your window. lol it would be cute if you wore some lipstick too, wanna see how big of a mess you can make. gonna clean it rn just to show you how much of a slut you are for my cock

12:11pm jason: see you soon baby :)

[pettyprocrastination]

whoever this beloved anon was I am so touched by your kindness! You definitely didn’t have to do this but I am so happy you enjoy this idea and I will happily expand upon it for you!

this is just a collection of word vomit bullet points for the time being but I will happily answer any and all questions about this pair!!

warnings: violence, angst, child death (Sarah Miller), foul language, the same warnings that apply to tlou, reader is Sarah's mom and described as having similar features to her. 

So the general Idea is that you and Joel are happily married before the outbreak. 

You had been Sarah's mother, his high school sweetheart he got pregnant when neither of you were old enough to have any reaction to the pregnancy test other than a fucking panic attack in one another’s arms. but you made it work 

you both worked but made time for one another and your sweet girl, going to museums every other weekend and joel insisting on swooping you off for a date every now and then 

nothing special. He knows you’re more of a diner gal than anything too fancy that makes you both feel out of place. 

On his birthday in 2003, you had planned to tell him that you were pregnant again. But the memories of your own fears of motherhood from all those years ago begin to swirl through your head again and you get cold feel. deciding to tell him the morning after

it is his birthday afterall, you want to focus on him. 

but when you’re woken up in the middle of the night because tommy needs to get bailed out, Joel kisses you sweetly one last time before promising he’ll be back and you can’t shake the feeling that something bad is happening. 

its you that shakes sarah awake that night. shouting at her to put on her shoes when she’s still rubbing the sleep from her eyes because you’ve been listening to the radio for the past two hours, calling joel again and again and again praying for him to fucking pick up but to no avail. 

Sarah, bless your little girl’s bleeding heart is the one who insists you check on the adler’s against your better suspicions and when you find the eldest looming over her daughter, blood and sinew dripping from her mouth, you grab your daughter hand and burst into a full sprint until something slams into your back and sends you tumbling onto their front lawn

its how joel finds you, struggling to keep the once sweet old woman, whose now nothing more than dead eyes and gnashing teeth straining to snap at your pulse point as you push against her while sarah shrieks before your husband runs forward and cracks her skull with a wrench. 

there’s hardly a moment of pause, just enough for him to pull you up and into his arms before he’s ushering you both into the car with an urgency. 

when the truck crashes, you get separated from them. Perhaps at Tommy’s side when the flames rise and create a wall, separating you from your husband, or maybe pulled into the mob of chaos when trying to escape from those already infected-

all joel knows is that you promise you’ll find him: just get sarah to safety and you’ll meet him at the river

Poor thing is already so frightened, held in her father’s arms with tears streaming down her face insisting they can’t leave you they just can’t but her father kisses her forehead and reassures her its going to be okay 

“we just need to be brave, okay babygirl? Your mama’s real tough, she’s gonna be alright.” 

he isn’t sure if he’s saying it to his daughter or himself. 

but when he comes to the river you aren’t there. Only a soldier who points a gun at the scared little girl in his arms and then he loses everything

its when the light is gone from his daughter’s eyes that he realizes. His voice cracked and raw from sobbing that he looks around to see his brother with drawn in shoulders and tears in his eyes but his wife is nowhere to be found. 

Tommy says you got lost in the chaos. Everything was so loud, so sudden that he turned around and suddenly you weren’t there. 

Joel wants to go back but its Tommy that stops him, that dulls the red in his vision to a sad faded pink because his brother points at the orange horizon not too far from them, so much of the city is already in flames. 

“We’re gonna find her, but not there.” 

So Joel searches. for the first year spent in the world post-outbreak its all he did. 

He became a smuggler because of it. 

Information came at a price and he needed to be able to fucking pay it, whether it be in blood or ration cards. He was willing to do anything to find you or any thin thread that lead your way. 

But it’s Tommy that asks him to give up. Not in those words of course. 

The youngest Miller knows better than to say something so cruel that would make his brother, the only person he has in this world turn on him. 

But his voice is worried when he asks him one night in Boston when he hasn’t even had the chance to wash the blood from his knuckles 

“You think she would have wanted this for you?” 

the fight that followed his words was brutal. Vicious insults and scarred fists slamming against each brother until they're both too tired and bloody to continue. Each leaning against a wall for support and Tommy’s wavering voice breaking the silence. 

“I don’t know where she is, Joel. But I do know you're gonna get yourself killed if you keep lookin’ for her.” 

All he can do is nod. 

It’s a few days later when he meets Tess. Who has heard plenty of stories about the elder miller’s brutality and wants him to put that muscle to good use for some extra profit. 

It begins his new life. One that empty and cold but one he can live. 

Until of course, Ellie comes along. The sweet and incredibly opinionated girl that makes him become something akin to the man he thought died twenty years ago. 

its when he’s traveling with Ellie, that it happens. When a warm familiarity has settled between the two because so much blood and pain has been shared he can’t help but see her as something close, something bright even though all he can force himself to utter in her reference is “cargo” 

when theyre traveling through the woods as Ellie chatters away, probing his memory about a movie that may or may not have existed thirty years ago because her descriptions of the plot are incredibly odd he hears a voice shout for them to stop and finds himself staring at a man- no, a boy- pointing a gun at them. 

Ellie stills, but Joel can see enough to know that from the lanky figure and dimpled face that he’s young. Maybe twenty, twenty-two at the oldest, but his eyes dart from Joel to Ellie with a pinprick of fear that allows Joel the time to charge forward and slam him to the ground before wrestling the gun from his hands. 

He has enough to time to tuck it under the stranger’s chin before he hears the sound of the safety being turned off and finds himself looking up and seeing a gun just inches from his face. 

Joel’s head whips around when Ellie’s voice calls out his name in fear, he turns to see another stranger holding her a gun point, shoulders drawn back and a shadow cast over their face by the had obstructing their identity. 

“You hurt one of mine, I hurt one of yours. That a fair deal?” 

Its takes him a moment to recognize you. It’s been so long since he’s heard your voice, the sweet tease when you would poke at him each time he woke up late despite the fact that you reminded him to set his alarm the night before, the times you’d chide him with a harsh “Joel Miller!” whispered in public anytime he was able to grab you a bit too passionately to be appropriate in public but the laughter in your voice let him know you were never truly mad at him. You didn’t know how to be. 

But that sweetness is buried under a cold rasp that cuts through the air as you point a rifle at the scared little girl in front of you.

“You think I won’t?” You’re older now, skin covered in scars from a life he didn’t know you got the chance to live and your eyes are cold as they regard your husband. “Put the gun down and get the fuck off of him, I won’t repeat myself.” 

Joel mumbles your name in awe. The woman he loved, the woman he mourned the one he fought so hard to find stands before him like some sort of hallucination and suddenly the world feels like its spinning until you bark orders at him again. 

“You’ve got five seconds Joel, make a fucking choice before I make it for you.” 

He looks down and realizes the boy under him, the one with the bleeding nose and snarling face has your eyes and his dimples. 

“One.” 

The one above him has Sarah’s hair. Soft brown curls that shine under the sun. 

“Two”

Wait. No, they both do.

“Three.” 

Twins. Jesus fucking Christ you had twins. 

“Four.” 

Joel holds the rifle up above his head and the one boy standing snatches it from his grasp, tossing it to the ground and kicking it far from his reach. He slowly stands, allowing your son- dear god your son- to scramble to his feet. 

Your voice softens just for a moment. “You okay, Duke?” 

Blood stains the bottom half of his face from where Joel slammed his fist into the boy’s nose just moments before, but he nods nonetheless. 

Now, they both stand on one side of you and he can see the resemblance clear as day the same way he would whenever Sarah was by your side.

When you order him to hand over his bag, he does so without question before telling Ellie to do the same. 

She watches him with wide eyes, her hands still up in the air but gaping at her companion as if he had grown a second head. 

“Joel!” “Just do it, alright?”

He doesn’t miss the way you watch their interaction with narrowed eyes until she tosses her bag to you and you slowly lower your gun. 

“Now, you want to tell me what the fuck you think you’re doin’ at my home?” 

[ianthedebonair]

I think Chen started to like the step, reluctantly, a mix of guilt/refusal to look at our human side, but being confronted with it all the time, especially when we were feeling so cozy/safe with spoon, in his house, in his presence um his Life, and his thoughts were sinking like “””he should smile more””” as we saw in the game, it was there that I knew he was falling for us. ( falling BAD if I may say)

But.

in your opinion when did Chen discover that he wanted to f*ck Damien nasty, until the arrogance melts from his face and just leave an expression of begging for d*ck???

This is what reading the latter part of this ask felt like lmao:

Answers under the cut ⬇️ (just in case)

Damien gets easily vulnerable during sexy times. It doesn't take a lot for his facade to break when he's on the receiving side 👀.

What I imagine happening is that Chen holds himself back and acts too careful that Damien gets fed up on being treated like he's gonna break easily. He brushes his mind searching for how Chen would like to do it without inhibitions and makes his fantasies resurface in his thoughts while giving him the widest-eyed, 🐓-hungriest, most pleading look and promises Chen that he can take it.

Kinda like this

And that instantly opens all of Chen's nine gates of getting nastyy (✿◠‿◠)

[langfield]

do you think vinh was actually in love with safi? i know he starts doubting that he ever was in chapter 5, but if he wasn’t actually in love what do you think his true feelings for her were? emotional attachment maybe? on safi’s side, i think it’s interesting how even after knowing about vinh’s statement about maya she still decides to hook up with him for a time (only to eventually stop sometime prior to the game?? maybe they had another falling out idk). their relationship in general is just very fascinating to me lmao.

god, the safi-vinh dynamic is certainly one filled with intrigue because of all the intense emotions attached to the people within it ; aimed at each other and also at the bystanders whom haunted around their not so defined relationship. there’s just so much baggage attached to them, you know? mostly painful things and a general sense of betrayal or regret, creating a potion of this general wishy washy bullshit that’s hard to parse through … more so in safi’s case than vinh’s, but i’ll touch upon that later! as for your question about vinh and his true feelings, well.

maybe he was in love with safi once upon a time. maybe the fact he believed that he was in love with her is really all that matters. i suppose it depends on what your definition of romantic love and utter devotion is. it’s undeniable he cared fiercely for safi, enough so to become jealous of max ( safi’s object of obsession ), swear off serious relationships in hope she’d want him back, and to engage in a general meddling within her life to make sure she comes out of situations as unscathed as possible. i mean, he schemes to steal a cow skull and then proceeds to throw it through her windshield in an attempt to save yasmin’s and safi’s relationship … it is very extra of him to do, in fact it’s a literal crime, and the game has both max and safi acknowledge the intensity of said action in episode four. we see the memory of the hedgehog he proudly displays on his desk, the carelessness in which safi treats it, her ‘i’ll buy you another one if it breaks’, and how vinh simpers beneath that offer because he doen’t want a new one, he wants this one, the one safi gave him : a gift that was likely unprompted, some sort of surprise maybe, given to him on a whim and cherished better than any other possession he owns. we also see how he breaks it when she dies. then there’s photos upon photos of safi on his phone and it’s implied he takes pictures after they sleep together and -- that isn’t even touching upon how he practically gives up on himself after her death. the mask drops, he starts trying to branch out and find acting gigs elsewhere, wanting to leave caledon forever, and there’s a sense of raw anger and loneliness he feels when she’s gone. he stops hooking up and pushes everyone away besides max, whom he clings to, and it’s a lot, right? there’s love there. obsession, probably. in many ways he’s still the ‘puppy’ following safi around like gwen said, only without maya this time. he waits and stews and he wants, certainly, for her to love him … but was it purely romantic love? who’s to say!

i think vinh wanted safi as his girlfriend before, maybe when things weren’t so tense, and he still believed that fiercely even when he stopped wanting it. i don’t think he knew where his feelings started to dwindle into something less excited and more resigned, or when he started looking for someone else. his priority remained with safi and with yasmin and thus there wasn’t a lot of time to dissect his heart, a rather vulnerable act he already struggles with anyway. he’s a repressive sort of man. he doesn’t do a lot of introspection because he has an act to maintain, a reputation to follow. but i do believe that by the time double exposure takes place, vinh’s love for safi has indeed shifted because his attraction to max veers on something that isn’t purely sexual. there is an undeniable interest, both in dead and living world, that he’s either embracing or squirming away from … i do not think vinh had many crushes at all when he was in love with safi. i don’t think he allowed himself that luxury, because he didn’t want to move on from her, or put himself off the market in case she wanted him again, in bed or in some profound, loving sense. lots of waiting. lots of surrendering, ‘she’ll come around, we’ll make up’, and hoping despite himself. so his romance with max proves to me that vinh is somewhat right in saying ‘or i thought i was’ when talking about safi and being in love with her, because he was before, but he isn’t exactly in love with her now, if that makes sense? i’d say an emotional attachment is a good title for what they have by the time of the games events.

( i do not wish to diminish vinh’s feelings, but i also think there’s a case to be made that he was rather desperate when he thought himself in love with safi ; there was a lot of insecurity within him back when he was a student, weighed down by the fact he was poor and not your standard run-of-the-mill white man … as an adult he scoffs at his acting abilities and wields his power as head of abraxas with a rather tight fist, as though it’s the only control he’s ever had before. it’s rather clear his only two friends were safi and maya and that vinh hasn’t had any since them -- was desperate to stay on their heels despite the fact he was never really apart of whatever they had. it’s not a stretch to speculate that vinh was, perhaps, a cocktail mix of loneliness and desperation rather than strictly in love with safi. maybe confused his all-consuming need to be around her as desire, or maybe just enjoyed feeling wanted by safi enough to mix his wires. after all, why was it safi he was in love with and not maya? vinh also uses sex as a means of coping, as seen by his rather active sex life in game via hookup apps and reggie, so maybe his sex with safi was just that. coping. in it’s own way. regardless, he did love her, or so he thinks so, and to me i think that’s enough, speculation aside )

safiya’s side of things is much more difficult than vinh’s, who is more obvious about his feelings towards her than he thinks he is. there are some brief contradictions, like how it’s stated that safi doesn’t care for vinh ( which is true ) and yet she also acknowledges that when she split apart and lost herself, all that was left of her was moses, lucas, gwen, and vinh. we know that moses and gwen matter to safi, or mattered, and that at one point safi might’ve admired lucas … so where does that leave vinh? if she doesn’t hate him like gwen or lucas now, and if she doesn’t cherish him like moses or max, why is he still apart of her? what does that mean? is it just a metaphor for their times with maya, and how safi will always be connected to that past with vinh because of her love for the caledon’s personal dead girl? was her sleeping with vinh about maya too? or did she actually care for vinh once, albeit weakly and casually, and did that fleeting moment of affection count when she vanished into everyone who’s ever thoroughly affected her life? and, as you said, it’s so fascinating that she hooks up with vinh at all post maya death … it feels strange and odd and unlike her. even in their intimate picture together after fooling around she is nothing but angry, disinterested, her underwear and bra are already back on ( if they were ever off at all? ) and while that’s on account of safi just hating photos, i also think it’s a testament to how irritable she finds vinh’s presence when stuck in it. it’s not a happy photo really, even vinh’s expression is a little red-eyed, forced, like he was likely wasted the night prior. i wouldn’t be surprised if safi was only able to be with vinh if she was … you know … literally out of her mind drunk or high or what have you.

though, that’s just speculation of course. my vague take on things is that safi went to vinh whenever she was partied out or if she was feeling particularly destructive that day ; choked with self loathing over her mom or maya and so sex with vinh was a means for her to feel even worse. some sort of self harm, some sort of outlet where she could be particularly cruel and evil without consequence, because vinh would take it and roll over -- could even be her way of controlling things too, like vinh with abraxas, because we know vinh has no issues with being led around in the bedroom, so that’s some food for thought. i don’t think she thinks about it after or remembers it much … she really doesn’t think about vinh unless it suits her or if she needs to. i always notice how, in episode four, safiya immediately knows what max is talking about when she asks if safi’s ever transformed into amanda, gwen, or lucas. she owns up immediately, confesses, and understands intimately what situation max is referring to. but when max asks about vinh and the phone, there is a brief moment where safi just stares blankly at her -- like she’s thinking about it, like she doesn’t even remember, before it finally clicks after a beat. either she wears vinh’s metaphorical skin a lot ( which, to be fair, she does pretend to be vinh a lot in game ) or she literally thinks of him so little she’ll forget everything about him in minutes. both are likely! she doesn’t even recall what type of alcohol he likes, calling it bougie japanese brandy ‘or whatever’ … and can’t be assed to remember his phone’s pin number exactly, only vague details about a magician scientist that she clearly thought was boring and lame when vinh told her said story, if her hostility and complete forgetfulness is anything to go by. for me, it’s easy to get caught up in a ‘safi did care! she had to!’ angle about vinh, although the game repeatedly shows you over and over again that she does not. she doesn’t even care that max kissed him really, if anything, she’s more jealous of vinh being with max given some of her remarks :

( i know, technically, safi’s ‘come again?’ is more nervous than jealous per se … but there is a certain air to it, especially given the ‘i can be your new boyfriend’ comment as seen above lol. if she loves max and doesn’t care for vinh, i can only imagine how she’d feel about their romance in particular! )

and, of course, there’s that part in episode four where safi can disguise herself as vinh in order to tear lucas a new one. i enjoy that part for many reasons! seeing how safi feels so much more comfortable in someone else’s skin than her own is fascinating and makes for good foreshadowing … but there is also the reveal of her opinions on vinh, unabashed and shameless, when she is finally giving him an ounce of thought :

it’s interesting! she doesn’t care for him, really, doesn’t loathe him like lucas or gwen or her own mother, but there’s a level of vitriol regardless. she thinks him fake. she thinks him a coward. she thinks he’s scared of facing consequences and that he only acts in his own self interest and she hates every bit of that. while safi can confess to doing maya wrong and hating herself for it, she never allows vinh that same courtesy. even says as much to max, claiming that only she had the humanity to regret her choice while vinh apparently didn’t. and yet … she doesn’t hate him? doesn’t feel strongly towards him? he’s still apart of her, a large part, and she can get along with him fine on crosstalk if she so pleases and she can hate his guts but, when the raw truth is revealed, she apparently feels nothing towards him at all? it is fascinating to think about is all. how she doesn’t wish him dead but doesn’t care if he’s alive either despite everything they’ve been through, even though she hates gwen and lucas and her mother more. it’s rather mean, though that’s what makes it so complex and interesting. it shows that safi only ever cares ( and oh, does she care fiercely, obsessively ) for a very slim group of people, and that when push comes to shove, everyone else can fend for themselves for all she cares. she would protect moses and max in a heartbeat, without thought, and the piece of her within them tries valiantly to keep them safe by locking them away from the world ( another thing to dissect, certainly! ), but she doesn’t really extend such empathy towards the innocents caught in her crossfire. she may be tormenting lucas and gwen specifically, but everyone else was going to be collateral damage and safi was fine with that. at least a little bit. vinh falls in that category of inevitable damage, i think, despite their closeness and despite their history, and you can tell that’s what really wounds him at the end of things. safi couldn’t even torment him, didn’t have the want or energy to do so, he was valiantly apart of her and safi didn’t even care about that. very interesting! it’s also heartbreaking in many ways to see two people who should’ve been able to lean on each other, who should’ve loved one another, be nothing but strangers at the end of things. an example of how tragedy doesn’t always bring people closer. sometimes it drives you worlds apart from the one you should be grieving with, which can be seen in other life is strange games, most notably with chloe and joyce, i think.

anyway! tldr : it’s complicated and worth exploring. there are many ways you can interpret their relationship and i highly encourage everyone to find what angle is most interesting to them! and i don’t blame you for finding their dynamic fascinating because it’s easily one of my favorites in double exposure … i don’t think of it often, but it’s always lingering in the back of my mind. regardless, i hope this word vomit is helpful! if i brought up more questions than answers, i do apologize. but thank you so much for such a fun question <3 it was an absolute blast, and tickled my brain enough to pump this out asap.

[a2zillustration]

What species is Croissant, anyway? They have elfin (or gith) ears, but their eyes don't look like anyone else's

Trying to be very normal about answering this since I've been spinning Croissant's lore around in my head like a microwave for months.

Croissant is a half-elf!

Their mother is a wood elf, and their father is a fey of the fox persuasion (drawn glamoured and unglamoured). Croissant gets their eyes from him, though they didn't always look like that.

[batsplat]

Thank you so much for ur work for this community 😭

thank you!! so, listen, I need to get some casey, jorge and valentino images out into the world

this is from the 2007 qatar post-qualifying press conference. obviously it's not just the three of them given colin edwards is like. right in the middle. (and *checks notes* gábor talmácsi is also there.) but still a photo of historical significance... casey's first ever race with the ducati (which he very much wins), plus valentino with his then-current teammate edwards and then-future teammate jorge... it's a bit unclear when jorge was actually signed - lin jarvis implies it was in 2006 but if that's the case, edwards seemed to be under the impression for a little too long that he wasn't going to lose that seat. anyways! look at wee nineteen year old jorge lorenzo, look at his utter absence of anything approaching a smile... look at him

misano 2007 post-qualifying press conference and a very powerful photo imo... some nicely contrasting vibes here, good composition... jorge had already been announced as valentino's teammate, and the title is already more or less in casey's pocket (even more so after casey won here and valentino had a mechanical dnf lol - they'd basically brought the race back to the calendar for valentino so this was. not ideal! incidentally still the last race with an entirely non-european podium.)

not much from 2008 tbh. casey and vale took turns to flop in the first bit of the season and then jorge started crashing his brains out. anyway these are from indianapolis, at a time when jorge was just about in the process of getting his act together while casey had crashed in his last three races (including laguna where he picks up the bike to finish p2). quite fond of this race actually, bit of a mess due to the weather and ends up getting red-flagged

first race of 2009.... casey's scheduled annual qatar win. decent shout for his most boring one of the lot, sorry king

pre-event presser before mugello, where valentino had won seven consecutive times headed into the 2009 race. if I'm valentino I low-key never show my face again after the le mans catastrophe but whatever it's fine

the le mans fiasco in question

anyway mugello is another wet-ish race that valentino ended up playing too conservatively because of the le mans horror show. so casey wins! also jorge beats valentino! old man's washed! just about scams his way onto the podium

italian press weren't particularly kind to valentino for having the audacity to lose mugello. they said it was over... he was finished... imagine only winning a race seven times in a row. was he even trying any more? loser

valentino bounced back at catalunya 2009 in highly dramatic fashion (y'know, it's the one with the last corner overtake). moment of deep historical significance in which jorge pulls valentino down from the podium to give him a hug

first race where casey was really struggling with his mystery illness... idk if I were valentino or jorge I'd maybe check if the third guy on the podium isn't about to drop dead but. well. professional athletes, never really been known for their empathy. they did clap along with the journalists in the post-race press conference when the moderator thanked casey for actually making it to the presser, so that's something?

we all have our struggles

the very next race. immaculate vibes imo. the 2009 title fight going into assen had all three of them tied on 106 points... #heritage

anyway the race itself is pretty boring (as unfortunately are many of the races that year), but it's valentino's 100th win so good on him ig. he got out a special banner with photos of all his wins, which would've been an absolute pain to lug around if he'd not immediately won the next race after his 99th

cute. unfortunately, this is now very much mystery illness period for casey... heroic effort to get himself to the podium but not much more was possible at the time

laguna 2009 post-quali presser. jorge is sitting for the photo, because even though he'd bagged pole, he had a massive highside right at the end of qualifying... hurt both his ankles and his shoulder. he'd also had a horrendous highside right at the start of laguna '08, did a good job to banish his gremlins in order to win at the circuit in 2010

qatar 2010... can't have been after the race because casey crashed :/ valentino grabbed the win, before immediately injuring his shoulder in a motocross accident. all went downhill from there, really. damn the eruption of eyjafjallajökull we were robbed

laguna 2010 podium, most memorable as 'that time when they accidentally played the italian anthem rather than the spanish one and valentino thinks it's extremely funny' (clip here). extremely poor quality photo shows casey found it funny too. very #them thing to happen to them. valentino buddy the cap's supposed to remain off for the duration of the anthem

this is very much post-leg break btw, still pretty cordial with each other given some of the stuff they'd been saying about each other to the press during that period lol (not casey/jorge, they were basically fine by this point)

presser right after jorge and valentino's little motegi misadventure... gifs from the presser. valentino's smirk vs casey's grin while jorge is being interrogated, I think about you often...

this was casey's fourth consecutive phillip island win (of six total)... isn't that just like. an incredibly cool circuit to be goated at. does mean the fight for the victory was generally quite boring - though the battles behind casey weren't always exactly thrilling either, so you can blame that on the era too. 2008 and 2010 has decent action behind casey, 2009 is the closest casey was pushed for the win and 2011 at least has a bit of weather-related jeopardy

valencia 2010, photos taken before unfortunate events

last shared podium!! le mans 2012, a fun wet race that featured the final proper casey/vale duel at the race after casey's retirement announcement so has real sentimental value... congrats to valentino for not collecting casey this time. presser clip where he shows he's also pretty glad about how he (just about) managed this

[dragon-spaghetti]

So if Husk is a trans man, and his kid Violet is from when he was alive ... was he the one who gave birth to her? And does that mean that he wasn't out as a trans man at the time? And that his partner was a man?

He was in fact the one to give birth to her yes, but no one knew he was trans; he kept it hidden and bounced from place to place before anyone could start to question him 💀 he was on his own when Violet was born (terrible idea but he didn't want to risk being outed by going to a hospital)

Omg the partner thing is interesting; they split before husk realised there was a baby in the picture, and the partner never knew. Until me and albo accidentally made a whole arc of said partner wanting to get redeemed at the hotel cause they're also in hell, and now it's a whole thing because a big part of why they split was due to transphobia from the partner but since landing in hell they've realised a lot of that was actually internalised because they are also trans and it is a wholeass arc of this au now LOL

[louisisalarrie]

Am I the only one wondering why we all of a sudden gets so many unseens of Louis and almost all of them being from New Years in Doncaster?

You know, the New Years his kid spend in Doncaster, but Louis went to a bar and left the kid with his sisters 😉

hehehehe yeah nah you’re not the only one. so far, we have gotten these:

(And a couple other louis ones) and no one really knows where they’re coming from. sure, one of them is from a dude’s hinge, and the other we know of a woman on fb who posted the similar photo with the dog, but Harry’s? wtf is happening lol

I think the dads know we are easily distracted, hell the whole fandom knows if a new photo comes out it’s the first thing we all reblog/post about, but it’s weird it’s all appearing at once. if we get more I’ll not be able to put it down to coincidence I don’t think lol. also update accounts are often tipped off with new material too, soooooooo yeah

On this note:

A lot of people have been talking about this line in particular from the 1d post

“When everyone is able to, there will be more to say”

Now, excuse me if im wrong, but im pretty sure they posted their statements preeeettyyy shortly after this dropped. the phrasing of “when everyone is able to” makes sense when you look at it from the way of like… people can say more when they feel like they can after they’re grieving, but idk. when I first read that post, I was like… oh? ok… this looks like it is going somewhere else. they’re gearing up to out something - like breaking contracts and coming out and exposing everything or something. idk… it’s just been really weird, and I can understand why people feel… eerie. I truly don’t know what’s going on.

so combining the unreleased photos and that statement and how MIA the boys are, it’s just giving us all a weird feeling. idk, im getting the kind of feeling I got back in the day when things had been a little too quiet and BAM we got something major all of a sudden. so idk… not tryna be a conspiracy theorist here (LOL) but I do think there’s gonna be a huge shift from this. and I’ll call it now, saying it’s gonna be louis.

while all boys are very industry savvy and very media trained, I reckon louis is fucking distraught and he’ll push for justice. I reckon some really wild stuff is gonna start dropping and while they’re not on tour, all 4 of them (bar Zayn who is going on a short tour in January), it’s kind of a perfect time. It’s when I was theorising bbg to finish anyway, so idk, I’d love to see louis throw some very public hands at SC. but I hope whatever is about to happen is good.

[mogwaei]

The fact that you only started drawing recently blows my mind, because you are beyond skilled!!

You can write, you can draw - can ya leave some skills for the rest of us?!

I consider you my friend and want to say this but I don't have the guts to say it off anon SORRY:

I AM PROUD OF YOU AND THE HARD WORK YOUVE DONE TO GET SO GOOD

ASKFFHJKF GAWD *ragdolls out with emotions* PRECIOUS.

This is what 10 years of Solas does to a frog previously marinating in a bog 😂

You're much too kind skjfhfjk I'm TRYING, which is a very strange feeling to have when I don't know where I'm going art-wise! I'm so overwhelmed with people being nice to me lately, and even more so that I have people that are proud of me?? My keyboard has a tear droplet on it now thx ok I'm going to stop before I say anything else ridiculous. thank you 💜💜💜

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Oh no poor Neil first Andrew comparing him to Nathan and then the knife in his hand making it all worse.

More please xx

(Also how is your headache?)

WIP Wednesday (4/17) | Guardian Angel Neil AU (Part 163)

“I thought the knife shows up when I’m in trouble,” Andrew says, eyeing the blade. It seems freshly sharpened and ready for a fight. So, between it and Neil’s anger, Andrew is understandably a bit nervous. But Neil wouldn’t turn it on him. Would he?

Andrew clears his throat. “Am I in trouble, Neil?”

Neil’s jaw clenches and he turns to look at Andrew. “I will never harm you. You know that.”

“Then what’s this?” Andrew flicks the flat of the knife to punctuate his question, equally relieved and freaked out that he can feel the steel under his finger. Neil hisses in a breath.

“I don’t know, alright? I thought that it appeared yesterday because you were in danger. Maybe it was because I got angry when I thought someone wanted to hurt you. Maybe it came now because I’m…” Neil tapers off, then spits the word, “Upset.”

“Oh,” is all Andrew can say to all that. The angel still has the knife, after all. And Andrew’s got his fair share of scars already.

“Hello!” Neil shouts up at the sky, startling Andrew. 

He gets no answer. Typical.

“I don’t want this! Take it back!” Neil waves the knife around as if trying to make it dissipate. But it doesn’t go anywhere. Even when he opens his fingers and gives up his grip on the handle, it stays stuck to his hand like the velcro on Kevin’s cap.

“Please!” Neil shouts, his voice wet. Hearing Neil say that word rips something out of Andrew’s chest and stomps it to dust. He wants to take it all back. He wants…

[astridthevalkyrie]

but since we're all gonna die, there's one last secret I feel like I have to share with you…i do not care for flower shop aus.

[fatedroses]

NOOOOOO Blueberry Grandpa!! 🥺🥺🥺 Atticus (and Regent by extension) is such an interesting character. Especially with his complecated relationships with what seems like everyone. I can see why Tsukiko loves her Dad so much. He's so kind and caring despite everything.

:D I'm glad to hear you enjoy old mr.blueberry!

I'm also gonna put this here because I felt like talking a bit more about him as a character:

I started writing Atticus because I wanted to explore pre-imperial and early imperial Garlemald with a character that lived through the brunt of some of the early conflicts (i.e, the reaper society, the home-front war, and the beginning of Solus' reign). Because a lot of the pre-history and subtext caught my eye while I was looking into lore.

He is a character I define almost primarily for the compassion and love he has for others, with Regent balancing him out by being an embodiment of his loyalty, determination, and sense of justice. And I've enjoyed writing him keeping that sense of self, even as it often puts him at odds with those he cares about. For Atticus, to pay the kindness he had gotten from those he had lost forward was the only way he knew of to keep that spark of their memory alive, and in how he thinks of himself, it is how he mentally prevents himself from becoming the man that took his village and his family from him in the first place.

The other main thing I wanted to explore with him is that he is, in archetype, a previous generation non-azem warrior of light, and the concept of him growing up and being from a place like Garlemald and the struggles that came with it because of how his motivations deviated from a lot of his kin.

Also in part because I thought it would be a least a little amusing for Emet to get attached to Atticus only to realize way too late that Hydaelyn had "gotten to him first". (Cue a man angrily shaking his fist towards the earth LOL)

[daily-dose-of-danno]

Aside from Vlad do you have a favorite ghost villain?

And aside from Danny who is your favorite good ghost?

For villain, definitely Skulker! I guess it’s his overall vibe? But I think he’s really neat. Plus he’s like. Iconic.

Season 1, Episode 3 - One of a Kind

Season 1, Episode 7 - Bitter Reunions

And for good ghost! Absolutely Frostbite. I love Pandora, but Frostbite had so much potential and really took on a sort of big role towards the end of the show when it came to understanding Danny’s core and his powers. I wish we had gotten to see more of him before the show got cancelled.

Season 3, Episode 2 - Infinite Realms

Season 3, Episode 6 - Urban Jungle

[webbo0]

It's a shame that Stay didn't get more a fandom. What do you love about Henry? I wanna know your thoughts because he absolutely is a special little guy. 🥺

First of all anon thank you for letting me talk about my little guy I'm in love with you now

Spoilers for Stay 2005 in reply below btw

I'll admit it's a lot of projection (mental iwness luv) but also look at him!! I'd dare say this is Ryan Gosling's most wet-cat role (besides Holland March but he's undefeatable). I just love a character in anguish and both him throughout the movie plus him at the end just hurt so good!

I think what captures me the most is the world he's created for himself. The whole movie we think we're seeing Sam's perspective but in reality we know next to nothing about him! Everything is a projection that Henry's come up with and that fascinates me! His own mind is trying so desperately to save himself but a deeper part knows it's useless but still his main perspective is to save himself and UGHHH

ALSO while you could say him being suicidal is a "rationalization" for dying, his mind could just as easily made him terminally ill, or able to predict a freak accident. The fact his mind comes up with being suicidal, combined with the cigarette burns, just makes me wonder about is mental state IRL. We know he has a good relationship with his parents and is in a happy relationship, but imo he must've had a history of mental illness/self destructive thoughts if not actively struggling. Idk I just want a He Survived AU where we get to unpack this! And unpack the survivors guilt!!! He obviously blames himself for the accident + everyone dying ("practicing for hell" "I killed my parents" etc.) And I Wish we could see him have to work past that. Maybe with Sam's help!! Because even though he's not an actual psychiatrist (at least I don't think so) in my He Survives AU Sam helps him while he recovers both physically and emotionally. I'd LOVE to see Henry's dynamic with IRL Sam and have to reconcile the version his mind made up with how he actually is!

Also he's hot af miserable and covered in blood

In conclusion I love self destructive people, wet-cat characters, and I have Ryan Gosling brain-rot already, so the combination of all three has imploded my mind. I am in a chokehold by a character that would listen to Radiohead and think it's deep as fuck

Now if only there was any content about Stay :( I need a 600 page novel about him (I might just write it myself atp)

[allylikethecat]

Hey! I’m sure you did some already at some point in here but after Fridays adorable atkh date chapter I’m desperate for more scenarios of fictional Matty and George together so do you have any more sickfic hcs for atkh? Both characters are rlly different than they are in all the other fics

Ahhh first off, thank you so much for reading! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying All the King's Horses and how fluffy Friday's chapter was! I've talked about ATKH head canons before- they can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The most important being that Fictional!Matty is a blue raspberry vape enjoyer, obviously lol

In terms of more sickfic head canons for those two... hmmm

Fictional!George is for sure more dramatic when he is ill/injured, he really wants Fictional!Matty to like take care of him? But honestly Fictional!Matty doesn't really know how? No one ever took care of him so why should he be taking care of anyone else? Like he doesn't mean that in a malicious or ill willed way at all, but like being vulnerable is embarrassing why would you WANT someone else around to see that?!

Meanwhile, Fictional!George tries really hard to take care of Fictional!Matty when he's unwell, but it's hard sometimes for him to even know when Fictional!Matty isn't feeling great - he hides it very well, is maybe a little more snappy (which isn't like him at all) but nothing major - he's also extremely uncomfortable with Fictional!George taking care of him be just doesn't know how to accept that kind of care / help

The biggest thing though, is that sometimes Fictional!Matty's back will bother him, maybe he twisted the wrong way in his sleep, maybe he was riding a horse that was a little special, maybe Fictional!George got a little too rough in bed, whatever, something has triggered it and Fictional!Matty would really like to just lay on an ice pack on the floor and feel sorry for himself in private (especially because even though he's been clean for two years, that's when the urges and cravings are the worst, it would be so easy to just take something and make the actual physical pain that he is very much feeling stop.) Slowly, eventually, maybe, he'll start to realize that Fictional!George wants to help him because he cares.

Thank you so much for reading and for like being interested in head canons about these two! This version of Fictional!Matty and Fictional!George are so special to me and so different from any of the others I have written and I love them SO MUCH and I'm just so grateful others have been so accepting and welcoming of them too!

I hope you continue to enjoy ATKH and that you are having a wonderful weekend!

❤️Ally