#that’s the tag right? not terribly catchy is it

[kimikaami]

Hello Wolf359 fandom. I’m obsessed with them. Even if I didn’t have the stamina to finish this all the way lol

ty to @arrgh-whatever who let me borrow their lovely Eiffel and Hera designs (though I got a teeny bit carried away with Eiffel). Please go check their stuff out, I love it very much 😖💙💙

[alby-rei]

The Paranormal Performer (IkeVamp; Luigi's Mansion AU, Part 2)

a/n: Decided to get this one out soon since Part 1 was more of a prologue. When your curiosity leads you to pulling a musician out of his muse, how will you survive his harmonic wrath? Happy reading! ✨

Series: Comte's Ghost Mansion Tags: Humor, Crack treated seriously, Luigi's Mansion AU, Spooky scary spectral vampires, Ghostbuster MC WordCount: ~1200 words Characters: You, Mozart Previous: Part 1 Next: Part 3

~*~

You lifted the oil lamp given to you by Sebastian to fight off the cold gloom of the mansion, shielding you with a warm, orange barrier. Your eyes adjusted to the darkness eventually. Trotting up the stairs, you opted to explore the east wing first.

A long hallway stretched before you, similar to the one you woke up in, if not the same one. Framed pictures hung against the wall that you passed by. Most of them were generic landscape paintings. You stopped at one that had a name engraved under it.

'Le Comte de Saint-Germain.'

It was terribly dusty. Curious, you removed the dust with the vacuum.

The force of its suction was much stronger than you expected. It latched onto the painting so hard you feared it would crumble and tear.

You, being an amateur at this, could not escape the dust storm that ensued from prying the vacuum off, sending you into a sneezing fit. You stumbled, crashing into something with your elbow. The crash of something fragile froze you in place. It sounded like porcelain.

Little embers illuminated the crime scene. You vacuumed the floor as well as you could, but the larger pieces remained as incriminating evidence. You pushed them under a chair, your sole witness, and hurried along. 

“What Sebastian doesn’t know won’t hurt me,” you convinced yourself.

You peeked behind you, discerning if it was hidden enough from a distance. The darkness helped. For now. 

Turning the corner, you slowed down to catch your breath. Oddly enough, lively piano music could be heard at the end of this new hallway. It was a catchy melody, one that had you walking in step with the tempo. It was hypnotizing in the way it made you forget what happened earlier. You followed the sound to its source, opening every door on the way. They were all locked.

“Aha!” Right outside where the music was loudest, the click of the doorknob meant you could go through.

You were met with a lone fortepiano in the middle of a pristine white room. Along one wall were instrument cases, probably for violins or violas. You struggled to tell them apart. From an arched window, moonlight peeked between the clouds, reflecting off the white keys in a heavenly glow. Little wispy particles danced in the air as the piano keys played themselves.

You stepped closer, mesmerized by the music, cheerful and uplifting. Familiar, the kind of merry tune that gathers dancing folk at a festival. The day before you visited the Louvre museum, you attended an orchestra concert celebrating Mozart’s 268th birthday. That must be where you heard it.

The piano played its last chord, drawing out its sound until it faded naturally. Scribbles appeared on sheet music paper leaning against the piano's rack, transcribed by a floating ink-stained quill. You blinked and tilted your head around the empty seat. Out of curiosity, you pressed some of the keys.

SLAM!

You jumped back and recoiled your hand, for a couple of reasons. One, the piano was out to get you for using it without permission. Two, there was now a fuming phantom-like figure sitting at the piano. His entire form was wrapped in an ethereal light, and you could see through him at certain angles. 

“You dare interrupt my creative process?” His voice echoed in the room. “Have you no respect for a musician’s craft?!” 

A gentleman, around the same height as Sebastian, stood up (he had no legs, you noted, so perhaps “floated up” may be more apt) and fixed a glare upon you. His white hair reached past his ears with a fringe swept in an arc, partially obscuring his striking lilac eyes. But it could not conceal the ire behind them. His figure towered over you as he drew near. If he was not about to kill you, you may have called him handsome.

“Hey, let’s talk about this,” you stalled as you fumbled to get your vacuum back on. “What you played was beautiful, I just didn’t notice that you were there.”

You could say he lacked stage presence, but you kept that to yourself.

He narrowed his eyes, keeping his distance from you. “That machine… Hmph, I won’t let you capture me that easily.” The instrument cases unzipped themselves, releasing floating violins from their sleep. They hovered beside the paranormal performer, who blocked your path to the exit. The violin strings acted as a crossbow for violin bows that materialized from thin air. They followed your every move.

You ducked just in time, and a violin bow zipped past you and shattered against the wall into a thousand sparks.

This ghost was not messing around!

At last, the vacuum whirred to life. It vibrated incessantly against your back, like a massage chair. Dodging with the machine proved difficult. You used the piano in the center as a shield, but you knew you had to confront the phantom eventually.

Your aim was shaky, but you managed to redirect the violins away from you. They took time to aim each shot. Once you figured out the rhythm of the attacks, you leveraged the downtime between each one to target the paranormal performer.

The tube latched onto his cravat, bending his figure like a boomerang. He flailed and stretched his arms beyond human proportions in search of an anchor. Struggling against his resistance, you cranked up the strength with an unsteady hand.

Stumbling around the room, you strained to keep the tube locked on its target. Try as he might to wiggle his way out, the paranormal performer proved no match against the Poltergust’s power. His shrieks filled the room, oddly melodic like he was singing his last goodbye to the world. Once he was fully captured, only the blare of the vacuum remained.

You breathed heavily, whirling around expecting more ghosts to pop up. Your whole body shook. You blamed the machine’s vibrations against your back. Seeing no further threats, you switched it off. The shaking didn’t stop.  

“So,” you said. “Sebastian really was a ghostbuster, then.” And now, so were you.

You picked up the ink-tipped quill that the paranormal performer held. Beside it was a key. You twirled both items between your fingers. Normal to the touch, nothing magical about them.

“Was that one of the ‘esteemed guests’ I was supposed to avoid disturbing?” You scoffed. “Maybe he shouldn’t have disturbed me first!”

Feeling justified in your self-defense, you grabbed the sheet music and the quill and threw them into your item pouch. They seemed ‘of interest’ enough by your standards to return to the butler. At the very least, you had more questions for him. You kept the key in hand, maybe it would unlock one of the doors you passed by.

Stepping out of the room, you walked with a spring in your step. You just faced a ghost! And lived to tell the tale! Now knowing what you were up against, you kept your eyes peeled for any more irregular movements.

After reaching a dead end, you walked back by the broken porcelain in the first hallway. The painting of ‘Le Comte de Saint-Germain’ was still intact. You sighed in relief, and you could actually observe the painting properly.

The subject of the portrait gazed at you with mysterious amber eyes. There was wisdom behind his gaze, like that of a timeworn tome, and a touch of melancholy. His smile was warm and inviting but didn’t quite reach those eyes. Illuminated by the lamp, recognition washed over you. You’ve seen that same sweeping blond hair and tailored suit before.

It was the same man who you met at the Louvre!

~*~

Back to Masterlist

[bananarose]

5 Songs I'm Into Right Now

Thank you for the tag @tialinffxiv

I listen to a lot of different music, but right now my songs most on repeat are the following!

1. Poison - from Hazbin Hotel

Holy shit, this has been on repeat since I watched the episode it's in. I'm not kidding. It's just so catchy and I love Angel Dust, he might be my favorite character in the show.

-♥-

2. Loser Baby - from Hazbin Hotel

Yeah okay, so I wasn't going to put both on the list but I had to! I play them back-to-back all the time. The amount of times I've heard these first two are both totally healthy and completely normal.

-♥-

3. Fireball - Pitbull

This song just makes my brain so happy, I can't explain it!

-♥-

4. Bloom - The Paper Kites

This one is more on the calmer side of my playlist. I love the guitar in it, if I wasn't terribly out of practice I'd try to learn how to play it.

-♥-

5. Eat Your Young - Hozier

This one hasn't been on repeat quite as much as it was a couple months ago, but I love this song so much.

-♥-

Thank you again for the tag! I'll drop a couple tags for folks here, no pressure of course.

@glamourfaerie @cantspelldragoonwithoutgoon

@archaiclumina @necromeowncy @hazelkjt

[hismercytomyjustice]

9 People You Want to Get to Know Better

I was tagged a hot minute ago by @ valentinaonthemoon and have been meaning to do this for ages!

Last Song: There Will be Sun from Groundhog Day: The Musical. The music for that show is SO FUCKING GOOD. I was trying to decide on a oneshot fic title and spent like 20 years looking through all my music before finally settling on this one. Wanna give honorable mentions to Daisies by Black Gryph0n & Baasik and Deal Maker by Tyto-Cat because I have been listening incessantly to both over the past few days. So fucking good!

Favorite Color: Teal! Though I also have a soft spot for rose gold.

Last film/show: Most recently have been rewatching Community. God, that show is such a fucking treat. Watched this compilation of best Dean moments earlier today too and almost injured myself by laughing. Also, shoutout to Jim Rash as a fellow, exceedingly rare native Charlottean! I've also been making my husband watch Gravity Falls after somebody corrupted me. I s2g that show just keeps randomly resurfacing in the back of my head like some kind of hypnotic cryptid. I didn't hyperfixate as hard as my friend did on it, but damn if I don't keep hearing its siren song when I least expect it... Rewatching it is def a delight tho. I'm seeing now why folks are so enthralled by the writing for it, now that I'm more aware of the foreshadowing along the way! Also omggg we're about to rewatch Summerween which I absolutely adored the first time!

Sweet/savory/spicy: Sweet!!!

Last thing I googled: Lmaooo. Fucking "jabba the hutt play doh set" because I watched Chris James's most recent Pawn Stars video and was trying to figure out whether or not the guy selling one had gotten fleeced.

Last Book: *immediately proceeds to forget everything they have ever read* Umm... I've mostly been reading fanfic as of late. But the most recent book I started was Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Behind Blackfish by John Hargrove. LPOTL did an episode on SeaWorld a few weeks ago and mentioned it, so I picked it up. As for the last book I finished... I think it was Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. Really enjoyed it and have the 2nd one near the top of my fucking mountain of a TBR pile... I lost my mind and bought way too many books over the past few months...

Relationship status: Married for almost 5 years now! We were extremely lucky to get married right before Covid hit. So many of our friends had to cancel their weddings because of it. My anniversary is coming up next month! But I've been with my husband for just a few weeks shy of 11 years now!

Current Obsession(s): Hazbin Hotel. Hit me out of nowhere like a fucking sniper bullet. All because Spotify was like "hey, you like musicals, here's a few new songs for your daylist!" I knew literally nothing going into it except that the songs were catchy af and, well, I'm in too deep now... Spotify got me... Interview with the Vampire. This multi-fandom blog is actually a Assad Zaman appreciation blog in (a terrible and super obvious) disguise... Hands down one of the best shows I have ever watched. I am straight up feral over it. It is simultaneously hysterical and absolutely fucking devastating. Everyone involved in it is so passionate about the work too and it shows! I have written fucking essays on here about season 2. I can guarantee you when Season 3 drops, I am going to be even worse. I will never fucking emotionally recover from 2.05 or 2.07 BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO. Phantom of the Opera. I have been obsessed with POTO for...fuck...almost 20 years now? (jfc i am old) I saw the 2004 Movie back in high school orchestra, and I can still remember the instant I felt the hyperfixation take root. Masquerade. I wore the DVD out, I wore the soundtrack out (my little brother, who had never fucking seen it knew the words to the soundtrack). I read the book. I read Phantom by Susan Kay. I read The Angel of the Opera. I (fucking unfortunately) read The Phantom of Manhattan (hands down a waste of a perfectly good tree, I am still mad about this book literally 20 fucking years later). I researched the Paris Opera House. I wrote POTO fanfic… Ramin Karimloo is hands down my fave Phantom though. And I absolutely adore the Royal Albert Hall production. I'm so fucking glad they filmed it. Musicals. I have seen...so many fucking musicals live. Phantom of the Opera (4x), Les Miserables (2x), Wicked (2x), Mary Poppins (2x), Annie (2x), Hadestown, Six, Legally Blonde, Moulin Rouge, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hairspray, Beetlejuice, Hamilton, Big Fish, Mamma Mia, Anastasia, The Book of Mormon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dear Evan Hansen, Fiddler on the Roof, RENT, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, If/Then, Jekyll & Hyde, Miss Saigon, The Great Comet of 1812, The Bodyguard, The Color Purple... Those are all just the professional live shows I have seen. And I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some! I've seen even more via high school/college productions. Not to mention movies/recordings. Or musicals I've only listened to the music of but haven't actually seen! Pacific Rim. My other forever obsession. It was the fandom I wrote my most fics for prior to Hazbin Hotel. My first fic on AO3 is one for Pacific Rim, lol. I s2g, those two bitchy, gay, neurodivergent scientists have lived rent free in my head for over a decade now... Those motherfuckers are constantly at each others' throats, but they did not even stop to question whether or not they would be Drift Compatible... They make me fucking ill. I have genuinely lost count of the number of times I've watched the movie...

Tagging: Absolutely no pressure at all, but tagging @asymmetricjest, @person-of-varying-obsessions, @theeladymystic, @gourmet-trash, @quartzthequat, @moonmaiden86, @ladyrevealedofcloak, @marionrav, and @batteredrugosa!

[faith-alhazred]

@peterlorrefanpage enlisted me for '9 albums you listen to' and it's kinda challenging, as i am not actually album person, more 'listen this dozen song for the next two years' person 😂 but i will try my best.

1. 'Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century' by The World/Inferno Friendship Society.

Must have of every Peter Lorre fan, i guess. Speaks to my soul.

2. 'Devil's Dozen' by Fiddler's Green. As well as 'Heyday' and '25 Barney Roses'.

Music, that charges me with energy. 'Perfect Gang' is the song that i use to explain to my players which vibe there would be in Dead But games (Dead But is my own PbtA TRPG about living dead who leave their graves to go to the party or club).

3. 'Wolfrider's Reflection' by Julia Ecklar

As well as a few records of Julia, that wasn't included to that album. I grew up on ElfQuest comics and i feel deeply bounded to this universe. 'Going Back' gives me goosebumps every single time.

4. 'Pirate for the Rum' by Stormfrun. I found this album a few years ago, during one of the most stressful periods in my work life, and it really was like that 'and the new man was chosen to lead our raging crew - but this man is a woman, i'm telling you it's true'. Yeah, it's me. I am the woman.

5. 'Father of Invention' by Professor Elemental. It's time for a confession - i really like rap. I love rhythm, i love when a performer not just sings, but talks to you, buuuut. I am absolutely not into american 'money, bitches, drugs' rap, so when i encountered chap-hop, where on the place where you'd expect 'f*** off, b****' goes 'I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, sir' - it was immediately sold to me.

6. 'The Vampyre at the Harpsichord' by Verne Langdon. Oh my, this guy is brilliant. His music has the right vibe of a vintage horror movie. Also I use one of his tracks as my basic rington.

7. 'Ooky Spooky' by Aurelio Volraire. Another guy with a great sense of humor, this particular song is hilarious.

8. 'Boo York', Monster High motion picture soundtrack. Another fandom i am into, catchy energetic songs that speak to me a lot.

9. 'Komik' by Komik Mashrabov. That's very local thing. When i was working in a hotel there was a courier guy, tajik, very modest and polite. But after I told him i quit in two weeks, he got much more friendly, and it turned out he not just a courier, he is also a rapper and stand-up comedian. His 'modest guy' social mask was broken, he was always a fountain of improvisation, jokes and awkward flirt. I still excited how dramatically his personality changed in such short time. So, he gave me couple of his tracks, and still i listen to them time by time, trying to improve my tajik listening (still can't get anything but couple of words, honestly). Also he has really good voice and know how to use it.

Well, that's all, folks 😁

I have only couple of mutuals here, and two of them have already joined the flashmob, so i can tag only @ilovemesomevincentprice - absolutely no pressure, though 🌿

[iprobneedabeard]

9 People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

Thank you for tagging me @not-so-good-omen made my day.

Last song: Words by Missing Persons only because it was on in Wal-mart and I had to keep myself from laughing at the squeaks in it. It is kind of catchy though.

Favorite color: green is the best

Last movie: I was forced to watch cocaine bear. It was silly and not terrible. The gore kind of surprised me though which is goofy.

Currently reading: a tooon of fanfiction, but I just finished a book called Her name in the sky and I wish my younger self had it. It definitely helped heal some old wounds. I'd recommend The lady's guide to celestial mechanics and I am currently trying to start The Loudest Silence.

Spicy/Sweet/Savory: Savory and then sweet.

Relationship status: Single, but I have been talking with a kind catfish which is sad, I know I need to get out and show off how hot I am😆😉

Current obsessions: Always Donna Beneviento. I'm hopefully going to get Baldurs Gate soon. I'm still super into Elden ring after beating it. Also, watching critical role. I love swords as well. Plus Pokémon and anything lesbian related. Oh! And the new mortal kombat.

Currently working on: Decorating my new home. I have discovered I'm terrible at interior design because of animal crossing.

Also tagging: @ilovedonnabeneviento @pizzazz-party-main @resident-milf @salty-spud @greyella @i-wanna-be-a-deer @eletricheart @circesoracle @the-unkindled-queen

Hopefully I did this right. I've been on here for I don't know how long and I still don't know how to use it.

*throws this at you and runs*

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Ahh, a tag from @user-needs-new-hyperfixation

"Rules": tag 10 people you wanna get to know better

Favorite color: Black. Because I never grew out of my emo kid phase, and I'm not ashamed of that. After that, purple, then blue. I like dark, rich, cool colors, mostly.

Relationship status: Ew.

Last thing I googled: The Osaka World Fair dates, because I want to go and I was making some other vacation plans.

Song stuck in my head: My head is quiet at the moment.

Song I last heard: The frickin' Ken song from the Barbie movie because it's so catchy I have listened to it far too many times.

Dream trip: You know what's weird right now? I want to go camping in another country. Like. Camping-camping, in a tent or something in the middle of nowhere. Obviously I will not be doing this alone, and doing this if I'm not fluent in the language is a terrible idea, and I also want to go visit a bunch of cities and cultural centers in foreign countries, so who knows if this will ever happen. Thus I'll put it in "dream" because many of my other travel plans can simply happen.

But it would be awesome.

Anything you want now: Frickin' dishwasher soap. And a shower. I can have both of these things very easily, I just don't.

Tagging....hm. @chaysa @gabapple @ladytemeraire @leebrontide and now I'm tired of tagging thank you good day.

[cricketsatnight]

hi there, i just wanted to let you know that a writer named errantrue posted a story on AO3 called Occupied in the olivia benson/elliot stabler tag that has plagiarized from the mile high chapter of your fic (two days later) the hours in-between and after. she forgot to replace a "Joyce", which led me to search the jopper tag for mile high fics, which is how i found yours.

Hey anon!

First off, thank you SO much for bringing this to my attention. You are a true fanfiction hero. (Seriously like... I want to buy you a coffee. May you be blessed always.) I know these things happen, but I have never had it so BLATANTLY happen to me before.

This fucking sucks. New milestone moment as a fic writer, I guess? (That I know of. Yeesh.)

Here's the fic in question on AO3. I imagine it won't be up for much longer, because I will be commenting there. Here is my fic. (The plagiarized scene is in Chapter 2.)

I saved their fic, also saved it in screen shots... what a headache.

You know, typically, I try not to engage in... well, being pissed off online.

But lol.

Since you're following me, and have been since October 2022, hey @errantrue - what gives? This is so disrespectful. I'm glad you fucked up with plagiarizing my work by leaving Joyce's name. Incredible clown shoes moment for you! (Joyce Byers, stay winning.) Moreover, I'm sincerely glad there are readers on AO3 that care enough to look into these things when something is off. (Anon, stay winning.)

Why would you follow me, assuming because you liked my work, and do something so rude and uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh terrible? Shitty? I'm at a loss for words, think you could help?

I do this as a hobby. I do this for free, when I have the time, because I love writing. I share what I write in fanfiction with a lot of trust: all fanfic writers do. I trust readers to simply, in good faith, enjoy that I want to make the fictional people kiss. Not to rip my efforts off.

Everyone is capable of writing. I implore you to write what you want, but with your own fucking words. Not just bare minimum changes and tweaks. (Especially when you're copying and pasting a different character's name.) I think about how many of us get anxious wondering if we are writing things too alike to someone we admire, or the hellish what ifs about if there was a catchy phrase or descriptor we picked up in a story years ago, etc etc. These things do happen. I would never care much for or about that; creation is... a lot of fine-tuning and stumbling.

Don't do this.

I get sad when I am on a hiatus (like right now) because fanfic-writing is a beloved hobby of mine. Really one of the few creative pursuits I have that capitalism can't suck the joy from. Shit like this makes me more likely to extend a hiatus than come back smiling, though I know that feeling will pass.

I'm posting this and calling you out PRIMARILY because I am pissed off but also because chances are I'm not the only person you've done this to. Barring you don't panic-delete off of the internet, maybe other writers will figure that out when they comb over your fics.

Putting the passage the anon mentioned (and another) behind a KR link because they are NSFW passages from E-rated fics.

(This is my fic.)

(This is "their" fic. Fucking lol, where did Joyce come from???)

(My fic again.)

("Their" fic.)

[sharkrocket]

Nine people you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by: @zu-zup! Thanks for tagging me, I feel so honored! 😁

Last song: I'm going to cheat a little a talk about some loose songs I would love to put on a Patho playlist but don't have enough songs to make a full playlist, I think people would be more interested in that ahaha

BODY/PRISON by HEALTH for Rubin - Okay so, my impression of Rubin is largely informed from his P1 version, and when he's going around dressed in leather like that and has a banging warehouse theme, my mind translated that into dark club music, and it's been stuck there every since. I keep joking about making a Rubin playlist but it's just HEALTH songs because their whole discography is just kinda like that.... Big recommend from me

Glass by Blood Cultures for my fashion model Rubin agenda - Man, this is harder to explain, but BASICALLY, I feel like Rubin would make a fantastic model. Not that he would be one in modern AU, but I think he has some traits that would be very good for an alternative fashion model. MAYBE I'LL ELABORATE ON THIS ONE DAY.... But anyway, this is the song I would love to see him do a runway walk to (Blood Cultures is fantastic btw, also a recommend)

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes for Artemy - The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory.... a man struggles with growing up and his finding his place in life, and I feel like it's pretty fitting.... Love this song a lot

There There by Radiohead - SO I JOKED ABOUT SEEING HOW MANY RADIOHEAD SONGS I COULD SHOVE INTO PLAYLISTS, but I had a really complex Burda comic I was trying to plot in my head. Unfortunately, I think animation is the only way to really convey the vision, and that's a bit out of my league.... 😔 I can talk about it more if anyone is interested, though

I'm trying to create a creepy Polyhedron playlist just for fun, but I'm having some trouble finding the right vibes.... I feel pretty solid about these two though, they feel creepy enough:

Carol N°1 by Woodkid

Spring But Dark by Clark

Favorite color: I have lots! Big fondness for salmon pink and my art tends to run in on the warm, vibrant (sometimes neon) side

Currently watching: Trying to watch Bad and Crazy on Netflix but I'm not a huge TV show person unfortunately 😔 Too time consuming and most of the stuff I do wanna watch needs subtitles, which I can't pay attention to when I'm multi-tasking

Last movie: HOO BOY, I watched Marry My Dead Body on Netflix, and basically the premise is that an aggressively straight homophobic cop accidentally gets married to the ghost of a gay man, and they need to cooperate to solve a series of crimes and find the murderer. It's a fun premise and it's supposed to be an action comedy but I can definitely see how your mileage may vary depending on what's your sense of humor might be.... Not a super terrible movie, but ehhh....

Before that, I saw The Lure (Córki dancingu) which was more interesting to me.... It's supposed to be a modern retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid, but with flesh eating mermaids and discothèque flair.... I know people have mixed feelings about this movie, but I enjoyed the style and music... The music is SO catchy

Currently reading: NOTHING AT THE MOMENT, I just returned some library books not too long ago, and these are my recommendations

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher - A sort of retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher from the POV of a nonbinary solider in fictional mid 1900s Europe... a VERY easy read.... The characters are charming and the narrator is really funny, witty and sarcastic... Reminds me a bit of Artemy in that regard... Good body horror to be had here

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw - This is more a traditional, dark fairy tale narrative.... It's told from the POV of a man-eating mermaid who burns her husband's kingdom to the ground... She takes on a nonbinary Plague Doctor as her traveling companion and they roam together before stumbling across a village of children who keep dying and coming back to the life thanks to the aid of 3 surgeons who conceal more sinister purposes...

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey - I enjoyed this one a lot.... A supernatural haunted house horror/drama where a woman returns to her childhood home to take care of the estate of her estranged dying mother while confronting the dark history that her father left in the basement.... Excellent characterizations and I was really invested in where the story was going

Sweet/spicy/savory: BIIIIGGGG savory person.... I like sweets but I love a good savory.... Fries and chips are a big weakness of mine

Relationship status: In a relationship! 🥰

Current obsession: I'm still drawing Patho, so that's still sitting on my mind.... I just finished watching a playthrough of Dave the Diver though, so that's been sitting on my mind too.... UNBELIEVABLY cute and charming.... Sort of scratches the same itch Animal Crossing does

Last thing I Googled: Different kinds of biological slimes.... I never thought about categorizing them before, but now I really want to know what qualifies as a slime

Currently working on: Portfolio stuff.... 😞 I want to leave my current job, so a necessary and time consuming evil, unfortunately

[brightsuzaku]

I admittedly am enjoying watching Twitter continue to burn to the ground, and with Elon's new chosen Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino not only positioned to take the fall, but she is apparently actively tweeting support for Elon's dumbshit ideas? Not to mention how much he loves the letter "X" and how burnt he still feels about the refusal to call PayPal "PayPal X"?

The man loves "X" and hates "no".

Like, this probably won't last a week. I'm on Twitter. I've been on Twitter. I'm watching the circus.

People are of course aiming low with jokes about how he has "eXes" and no committed relationships, or about Kingdom Hearts Nobodies, or how the "X" is like the little symbol you click to close things you don't like.

Elon Musk is VERY thin-skinned, and the larger ramifications of making Twitter into a "financial app" that does everything "powered by AI" is patently laughable garbage. First of all, he won't be able to implement this shit easily in the EU, if at all.

None of the ideas he has are easily actionable. My bet is the "financial app" he comes up with will probably also take the form of something resembling (wait for it) NFTs, which he'll probably call something else. Something catchy. Like CashX or whatever.

I don't know what he'll do, for certain, of course: but with the kind of dev team Twitter barely has, I don't see these ideas becoming reality anytime soon. And if they did try to implement these soon, these functions would be so broken and shoddy.

It's nonsense. It's all nonsense. Give the man that YouTube of jingling keys, and let him be entertained, that's the limit and depth of his attention.

EDIT: OH, RIGHT. And by the by, "X" is not a good name for a service or app of any kind. SEO can go to hell for all I care, but "X" is absolutely impossible to search for online well. It's also going to be terribly difficult to use as a brand and very difficult to tag without losing identity or context. Capitalization aside, "x" is literally an unknown variable. It's a patently brainless choice. It's meaningless by default.

[foofsterwolf]

🎶✨ when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask/tag 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)✨🎶

Tagged by @thiamsxbitch

Thank you for the tag. You didn’t bother me at all. I’ll just go for the most recent ones I’ve added because my playlist on Spotify is 33 hours long.

1. Terrible Things (Brick+Mortar) this song makes me think of my novel length fanfic I’m waiting to have edited.

2. Blank Generation (Richard Hell and the Voidoids) a classic punk song. Very fun. I’ve had it stuck in my head for the past two days.

3. Love Like Semtex (Infadels) The chorus is super catchy. I listened to it on repeat about half a month ago.

4. Youth (Glass Animals) I’ve listened to this song like 20 times tonight and I’m writing a Scott&Stiles angsty fic based on it right now.

5. Who Are You, Really? (Mikky Ekko) Found it from a Stiles edit and I’ve been listening to it on repeat between group chunks of the above song today.

Tagging, uhhhh. Idk. @momentofmemory (I’ve seen you liking and reblogging my art. Thank you so much. No pressure) @shaneforever (wanna know what your taste in music is! Also no pressure) I’m not tagging ten people because that’s a lot of people. I don’t know that many tumblr users that haven’t already been tagged. And I think that it’s a lot to ask ten people to do something.

[neglected-houseplant]

People you like to know better!

Tagged by @saltyshrimpzz! I've never been tagged in one of these before, so why not? ☺️

Relationship status: single as a pringle

Favorite color: Green 💚

Favorite food: Olives, Hummus and Pitas, Pizza, POPCORN

Song stuck in my head:

Stick Season - Noah Kahan: A beautifully bittersweet song about the end of the relationship and the loneliness that follows. The line 'I'll dream each night of some version of you. That I might not have, but I did not lose,' sticks with me. It speaks so much about how we build an image of people in our minds, which is a terrible habit of mine.

no body, no crime - Taylor Swift: I love her last three albums and this update on the concept of a murder ballad is crazy catchy. That and I love myself some true crime. *This* is my car karaoke song.

Someone New - Hozier: This is the foundation song for my pottery playlist. I don't know what it is, but something about spinning clay and the playfulness of this song gets me in the right headspace. I throw my best pieces to this song.

Last thing I googled: Where Daniel Craig was born; Chester, UK and we also share the same birthday! And he's married to the vision of perfection that is Rachel Weisz.

Dream trip: Amalfi Coast, Italy

Tagging: @be-side-my-self @densofyarrow and @spookyscaryscully

[jazy3]

I posted 2,255 times in 2022

That's 1,674 more posts than 2021!

111 posts created (5%)

2,144 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hawkinslibrary

@sophiathebanished

@hotgluegunflower

@stephsxcorner

@dreamybevcrly

I tagged 2,232 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#stranger things - 1,446 posts

#strangerthingsedit - 705 posts

#steve harrington - 639 posts

#stancy - 403 posts

#nancy wheeler - 381 posts

#dailystrangerthings - 339 posts

#stedit - 269 posts

#tvstrangerthings - 193 posts

#st4 spoilers - 188 posts

#stranger things 4 - 182 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#there’s so many complexities in max’s grieving and if it’s dumbed down to ‘i’m sad the billy died’ i’m going to punch a hole in the tv

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

For all the Steve and Nancy shippers out there I highly recommend you check out the Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins Podcast! Even if podcasts aren’t usually your thing. The series is set during Season 1 of Stranger Things and is about what Robin was up to during that time and there’s lots of great Steve and Nancy content going on in the background.

47 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

#4

Marry Me Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I was really excited to see this movie based on the trailers and it did not disappoint! It was so good! If you haven’t seen it yet I highly recommend that you find some time this weekend and go! It’s so funny and the music is so catchy! It’s exactly what I needed to see right now! At its core Marry Me is pure, fluffy, rom-com magic. As others have pointed out what makes it so special is that it recaptures so much of that magic that early 2000’s rom-coms had without any of the offensive jokes, patriarchal nonsense, or stupid misunderstandings that could have been solved with a five minute conversation. There’s a reason it was the number one movie on Valentine’s Day this year.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Bobby Crosby, Marry Me is about a pop superstar named Kat Valdez who minutes before she’s about to go onstage and marry her fiancé Bastian finds out that he’s been cheating on her with her assistant Tyra via a gossip website. Distressed and heartbroken she picks a man holding a ‘Marry Me’ sign out of the crowd and agrees to marry him onstage. The man turns out to be Charlie Gilbert, a divorced math teacher, who is there with his daughter Lou and was guilted into going to the concert by his best friend Parker.

Following the concert Kat decides to stay married to Charlie for a few months to avoid people thinking she’s manic and that there’s something wrong with her and to put a positive spin on an otherwise terrible situation. Charlie reluctantly agrees to the arrangement out of kindness and as time goes on the two grow closer after getting the chance to spend time together outside of the media spotlight and her management team. Kat bonds with Charlie’s daughter Lou and gets to know his students and eventually the two fall in love for real.

The movie stars Jennifer Lopez as pop superstar Kat Valdez, Latin pop star Maluma as Bastian, Owen Wilson as math teacher Charlie Gilbert, Sarah Silverman as Parker Debbs the school guidance counsellor and Charlie’s best friend, and John Bradley from Game of Thrones as Collin Calloway Kat’s long-time manager and friend. Rounding out the cast are Chloe Coleman from My Spy and Big Little Lies as Charlie’s daughter Lou and Michelle Buteau as Kat’s assistant Melissa. Jimmy Fallon also appears playing a fictionalized version of himself throughout the movie.

What makes this film work is the quality of the writing and the adorable odd-couple chemistry that Kat and Charlie share. They make you fall in love with their story and root for them. The film perfectly leans into the silliness and romanticism that made early to mid 2000’s rom-coms so fun! I loved how the movie stuck to its premise and didn’t try to be something that it wasn’t. The film never takes itself too seriously or tries to make some big profound point. It’s everything that I hoped Isn’t It Romantic? the 2019 rom-com staring Rebel Wilson and Liam Hemsworth would be but wasn’t.

And the reason is clear. The problem with Isn’t It Romantic as a movie was that it took itself too seriously, was always trying to prove some big point about the patriarchy or social norms, and leaned so heavily into parody that it was no longer funny. I had high hopes for that movie and I know a lot of other people did too and while it was ground-breaking for its casting of a plus sized lead the movie ultimately fell flat and just wasn’t the success everyone had hoped for.

Where Marry Me finds its strength is in working within the conventional norms of the traditional rom-com and romantic movie genre while also pointing out things that are problematic in more subtle ways. Because of this when Kat gives a speech at a press conference talking about how ridiculous it is that women feel like they have to wait for a proposal and are expected to take their husband’s last name it doesn’t feel preachy or overdone. It feels authentic. It feels like the genuine complaints of a frustrated woman whose been through hell and back and that is a feeling I think a lot of women can relate to.

There is so much expected of us and going against the grain to do what you want and be happy can often be an uphill battle and come with challenges that most men, the straight ones anyway, rarely have to face. In truth, Marry Me is the feminist rom-com for the modern age that so many other movies have tried to be but didn’t really pull off. There were so many things I loved about this movie. I was surprised at just how funny it was! I knew it would have humour in it based on the premise and the trailers, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how on point the jokes were.

Concentrated heavily in the first half of the movie the jokes, humorous dialogue, and comical situations had me laughing non-stop. The opening number of Kat’s concert is an upbeat tempo number called ‘Church’ that finds J.Lo dressed in an ornament, bejewelled, Catholic cross inspired body suit surrounded by back up dancers in sexy shortened nun outfits. I couldn’t stop laughing and the song is really catchy! It felt like a cross between a Madonna and a J.Lo concert in the best way! It honestly made me want to see her sing live in person. Both Wilson and Lopez have great comedic timing together and Silverman knocks it out of the park as always. Bradley and Coleman shine in their comedic moments as well.

The second half of the movie focused more heavily on emotional moments and power ballads which served to give the movie its emotional punch and sentimental centre. Something I really loved about this movie is that it addressed a whole bunch of things that most movies or TV shows usually leave out or don’t address which are particular pet peeves of my best friend and I who I went to see the movie with. For example, we see Kat talking to her manager about filling the paperwork to make the marriage legal. This is a big pet peeve of ours as in most films or TV shows you see people get married by an officiant, but you never see them actually sign the paperwork or talk about it.

Likewise, when Kat got to the airport to go after Charlie, we saw her manager come to her rescue with her passport, a ticket, and some money as you can’t get on a plane without those things. I had a moment when I thought they were just going to let her through and onto the plane because she was famous which would have been super unrealistic in this day and age. It made for a really sweet moment between Kat and her manager Collin who showed himself to be a loving and supportive friend who genuinely cared about her and did what he could to protect her. I also loved the moment when she tried to buy someone else’s ticket and he had to explain to her that that was illegal and that everyone, or almost everyone, knows that. I’m glad that they chose to go the realistic route as it made for some funny moments and added a sense of realism to the film that a lot of rom-coms, even good ones, tend to lack.

I loved the scenes of Kat and Charlie getting to know each other and them challenging each other to step outside of their comfort zones. Like Kat getting Charlie to try social media and become more tech savvy and Charlie getting Kat to do things for herself when she hadn’t in a long time. I felt like spending time with Charlie brought Kat back to her roots and that was what made her fall for him. I love that Kat found a way to help Charlie connect with Lou more and the scenes with Charlie and Lou’s dog were adorable and hilarious.

I particularly loved the scene with the Ferris Wheel where Kat got the park to reopen for a night so that they could go alone, and he could experience something that brought back fond memories of his mother. Sweet romantic gestures that bring back good memories are the kind of “I’m rich and famous so I can do this” uses of power or influence that I can get behind. I also loved the scene where Kat gave Lou the Chanel purse and we learned that she works with a non-profit that helps women dress for success and get back on their feet.

I have to say J.Lo’s hat game was on point in this movie! Her outfits were stunning! I loved all of them from her concert ensembles to her date night getups. And the music in this film was incredible! My friend and I both said that we wouldn’t be surprised at all if the tracks from this film wind up charting and that if people use ‘Marry Me’ as one of their wedding songs unironically in the years to come. I’ve personally been blasting the soundtrack since I got home from the theatre and have no intention of stopping.

My personal favourites are the pop and ballad versions of ‘Marry Me’ by J.Lo and Maluma, the religiously inspired pop smash ‘Church’, the self-love ballad ‘Love of my Life’, pop ballad ‘On My Way’, and the yearningly beautiful ‘After Love’. I was shocked and surprised to see Utkarsh Ambudkar as one of the mathalete coaches! As long time followers will know I loved him Free Guy and I love him in CBS’ Ghosts. He’s one of a handful of actors that’s been cropping up in everything lately now that all of the pre-pandemic content that was put on hold for the past year to two years is finally being released and I couldn’t be happier for him.

All this being said no movie is without its faults. To this end, I often found Michelle Buteau’s character annoying and felt like she was a bit much at times. However, humour is subjective and since her style of acting and humour has never really been my thing my dislike of her character was kind of inevitable and I can appreciate that other people do enjoy her particular brand of humour. Something I found odd was how Jimmy Fallon was portrayed throughout the movie.

While the opening late night monologue we see playing at Kat’s apartment was funny, talking about how she married a random guy from the audience and joking that she would likely leave him for her Uber driver and then a bellboy, each successive appearance made Fallon appear more and more cruel and mean spirited. I found this odd because out of all the male late night talk show hosts I find Fallon to be the most kind and genuine. He’s one of the better ones in my opinion and I honestly enjoy watching him interview celebrities and I find his monologues and various segments funny and entertaining.

A big part of his appeal I think is how warm and friendly he is and that seems to genuinely care about his guests and the people who work on his show. Which is why I found it odd that he came across as so villainous and mean spirited in the film. I know he’s playing a caricature of himself, but I think he’s usual persona would have worked just fine. Throughout the movie he seemed to go out of his way to make digs at Kat’s expense and during a live television interview tried to get her to admit that her and Bastion were back together. None of which seems to fit with the person he appears to be in real life or at least the person we see on TV normally.

For instance, when he interviewed RuPaul on his show in February of 2020 and thought that he had insulted them by accident he looked horrified and embarrassed so I found it odd that they had him portray himself as a villain when they already had the philandering Bastion to fill that role. All in all, Marry Me is a feel good, hilarious, and heart-warming film about trying something different and finding true love in the process. If you haven’t seen it yet I highly recommend it!

Until next time!

51 notes - Posted February 19, 2022

#3

So for Season 5 of Stranger Things I really want to see the 1986 graduation and prom. If we don’t get it I will feel robbed! I want to see Nancy give the valedictorian speech talking about how her Barb used to joke about who would win. I want to see Nancy, Robin, and Vickie go prom dress/suit shopping and put on a fashion show for El and Max. I want to see Steve take Nancy to prom, but go as a group with Robin and Vickie so that they can go to prom together without drawing suspicion. I want to see the girls get ready at Nancy’s and when they come downstairs when Steve arrives to pick them up I want Karen to remark on how Steve looks like Tom Cruise and how Vickie looks like Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, how Robin looks like Katharine Hepburn, and how Nancy looks like a movie star! I want Karen to take a million pictures and I want to see them have the best time. I can totally see Nancy dancing with Robin and Vickie so they can be close without it being noticeable and the girl dressed as a member of KISS from the Halloween party in Season 2 showing up to ask Jonathan if he wants to dance. I can picture it!

60 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

#2

If we don’t get a Beetlejuice reference where one of the kids says Joyce looks just like the actress in that new movie everyone’s talking about and Joyce blushes and says, ‘You think I look like a movie star? That’s so sweet!’ and Hopper says, ‘You always look like a movie star to me.’ At the end of Season 5 of Stranger Things then what is even the point?

91 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Then Steve was in front of me, shoving me out of the way, squaring up with the bat like he'd face down the whole world and take a chunk out of it before he let anything get to us.

Max Mayfield in Runaway Max

This is probably the best description of Steve I have ever read! It’s exactly why I love him as a character! What makes it so funny is that in the book only a few pages prior Max is thinking to herself that Steve doesn't look like a hero and then this is the description you get when the monster climbs on the bus in the junkyard and tries to eat them. If you haven’t read Runaway Max by Brenna Yovanoff I highly recommend it! I also recommend Rebel Robin by A. R. Capetta. Both are good and great primers for Season 4 of Stranger Things! 

168 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[breelandwalker]

Excellent advice from Jasper.

Most of the stuff you'll find in a bookstore is variations on the theme of Basic Witchcraft 101, because that's what sells, and bookstores stock what sells. (Also those sections are littered with terrible books that push outdated views and theories, and the decent stuff sits right next to New Age trash that will tell you to replace your pills with essential oils and meditation.) It has its' uses, just don't assume that that's all there is or that you can't progress until you find a more "advanced" book.

And get out of the witchtok tag as well, at least until you have some context to understand what you're seeing (and thus won't be as easily swayed by whatever is catchy or popular with the algorithm this week).

Talk to other witches. Learn about things you don't necessarily agree with, without starting a debate or trying to correct people. Study practical stuff like history and botany and religion (and NOT from witchy books) to get that broader context I mentioned a second ago. Figure out what actually works for you, instead of just assuming that you need to precisely follow the models and methods put forth by a shiny-looking infographic or a book that's older than you are.

The path is fine, there's nothing wrong with sticking to established routes. But sometimes it's fun to play in the weeds too.

My best advice for advancing mages of any stripe: Get off of social media and out of the "New Age & Spirituality" section of the bookstore, as these things are so focused on the basic stuff. Don't hold yourself back at the 101 level forever.

Instead, find people you disagree with on how magic works. Discuss topics and enjoy your differences.

Use things for magic that other people won't understand.

Find or make up the most fucked up magic thing you can think of and work from there.

The more your craft, path, or other form of magic deviates from the "normal" 101 stuff, the better.

[sysig]

Doing well, doing better

[britneyshakespeare]

if you don’t like love like woe by the ready set like what is wrong with you. like send me a video reply like telling me why you don’t think love like woe by the ready set is just the best sixth grade anthem of all time y’know?? and if it’s a good enough reason then... i might give you props but i doubt it. you know if you think you’re smart enough to tell me WHY you don’t get butterflies when you hear love like woe by the ready set thennnn give it a try.