#they love horror so much but they think their life is a dramedy

[ladyseidr]

harper - michael dynamic but it's just

harper: cool so what are your pronouns mike ( realized he could be nb last week ) : . . . he / they harper: [ pulls out an entire box filled with pins ( they have, like, 5 employees ) ] harper: [ pins a he / they pin on mike's coat ] mike: mike: alright

[hpowellsmith]

July Books

I can't remember when I last did one of these but as I ended up reading a lot this month, here it is! Bolded are my favourites.

Saturnalia - Stephanie Feldman: a near-future alchemical horror? thriller? in which a former fortune-teller who was ousted from an occultist club gets dragged into her old life. I happened to spot this in the library and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth - Cassandra Khaw: a horror novella about rich young people going to a haunted manor house for a wedding, badness ensues. I liked the messy relationships in this and some of the horror elements, but there were some quippy moments that weren't so much my thing: I felt they undercut the tension in a less-fun way.

Vivi Conway and the Haunted Quest - Lizzie Huxley-Jones: second in an adorable kids' series based on Welsh mythology. I loved the first one and enjoyed this one more: it felt tighter and more driven as Vivi has embraced her magical connection to Nimue and the group of pals is a solid team. Lots of good creepy moments and lovely straightforward moments showing and discussing disability, neurodivergence, and queerness. Perfect for kids (I read it to my child for bedtime); a cute read for adults too.

Nevada - Imogen Binnie: weird that this is known as a classic trans book when it's only 11 years old, but that's a whole other thing. Maria is a trans woman in Brooklyn who's perhaps too online for her own good and struggling with her relationships and workplace. She heads out on an unwise road trip. I liked this a lot: it's very much a book about messy early-20s screwups and it felt very human.

Gender Failure - Ivan E Coyote and Rae Spoon: memoirs from two performers about growing up and transitioning. I enjoyed learning more about the authors (I wasn't familiar with them before) but the choppy style was a bit too choppy for my liking and resulted in some repetitiveness in phrasing/subject that could have been smoothed out a bit.

Boys Weekend - Mattie Lubchansky: a graphic novel about Sammie, a transfem nonbinary artist's assistant who attends a stag weekend with their techbro friends on a libertarian-paradise island on which sinister techbro cults are lurking. I enjoyed this a great deal, it was very funny in places, and pretty heartbreaking in others.

Small Beauty - jia qing wilson-yang: a Canadian trans woman is grieving her cousin, and moves into his old, remote house on the edge of a small town while learning more about their family and loved ones, as well as herself. It's an unassuming sort of book, but it packs a punch and stands up for itself. The magical realist moments were lovely. I keep thinking about it every so often: it was pretty lovely, and moving.

Cuckoo - Gretchen Felker-Martin: queer teenagers in the 90s go through the harrowing experience of a wilderness conversion camp, while also trying to escape an entity that wears their skin, returns to the outside world as "perfect" teens, and infests others. This was a really tough read thanks to the intense, ongoing abuse the characters suffer and the unflinchingly awful horror scenes. I couldn't put it down.

Darryl - Jackie Ess: this dramedy? tragicomedy? was a nice palate cleanser after the intensity of Cuckoo. Darryl's a bit of a sad sack in his forties, despite his easy trust-fund lifestyle his life has become stagnant and he's exploring being cuckolded, his own queerness, and the BDSM scene. I just loved Darryl's voice in this: he's such an anxious doofus and I couldn't help but enjoy how silly he, and a lot of the story, was while also having genuine moments of emotion and compassion.

[steelbluehome]

The Hollywood Reporter

A Different Man’ Review: Sebastian Stan Drops the Mask in a Provocative Dark Comedy With a Heart0

Renate Reinsve ('The Worst Person in the World') and Adam Pearson ('Under the Skin') co-star in writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s twisted New York-set fable.

BY JORDAN MINTZER

JANUARY 21, 2024

Looks can be deceiving in A Different Man, writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s endearingly twisted take on actors, playwrights, egos and the plight of the profoundly disfigured.

Like the famous “Eye of the Beholder” episode of The Twilight Zone, in which humans turn out to be society’s freakish outcasts, this dark comedy suggests what happens when an aspiring thespian afflicted with neurofibromatosis manages to find a miracle cure, only to long for the life he had when he was still deformed.

The thesp in question — a nebbishy New York actor named Edward, or Ed — is played with tongue-in-cheek gravitas by Sebastian Stan, who dons several layers of prosthetics (courtesy of ace makeup designer Mike Marino) until peeling them away to reveal his true face. But that hardly gives Ed the life he bargained for, in a film that piquantly questions how others look at us and, more importantly, how we look at ourselves.

The fact that Pearson is stricken with neurofibromatosis, and that Stan wore tons of makeup to mimic that condition, may raise a few eyebrows. And yet A Different Man is very much about art imitating life and vice-versa, contemplating the different masks — whether real or artificial — we put on when going out into the world.

At first, the story plays out like your typical NYC indie dramedy, with Ed living in a grubby one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn while trying to make it as an actor. He has a nosy super, at least one neighbor who hates him, and there’s a leak in his ceiling that grows so big it risks swallowing him up. The catch is that Ed’s disfigured state makes him completely stand out, at least to the viewer. For those who already know him, he comes across as just another shy and curmudgeonly New Yawka.

Things start looking up when a new neighbor, the radiant Ingrid (Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World), moves in next door. Like Ed, she’s an aspiring artist — a playwright, in fact — and the two soon hit it off, even if Ed is very much inhibited by his looks. Ingrid is more open-minded and curious, and one novel aspect of Schimberg’s script is how, unlike in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, nearly everyone Ed meets treats him with respect and compassion.

Schimberg explored a similar theme, albeit in a more artsy fashion, in his 2018 behind-the-scenes drama Chained for Life. That film co-starred Adam Pearson, who many may remember from his haunting sequence opposite Scarlett Johansson in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, and who winds up stealing the show here as a totally charming and nonchalant threat to Ed’s newfound existence.

The failing actor’s humdrum life takes a major turn when he agrees to participate in an experimental drug program that could cure his condition. After several scenes of Cronenberg-esque body horror, he starts peeling away his tumors like a snake shedding its skin, transforming into a brand new person with Stan’s well-defined face.

You would think this would all be for the better, but as A Different Man goes on to reveal, things actually get worse. Ed soon comes to miss the man he once was, especially when Pearson’s character steps into the picture and very casually hijacks his life, including Ed’s burgeoning love affair with Ingrid.

That and other plot mechanics in Schimberg’s screenplay can seem a bit over-the-top, particularly when Ed begins to lose his mind in the third act as everything unravels. Still, the story’s twists and turns maintain our interest throughout, with the narrative taking on a cleverly deconstructed play-within-a-film format reminiscent, at times, of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York.

The antics are captured in grainy naturalistic visuals by Wyatt Garfield (The Kitchen) and backed by a score from Umberto Smerilli that shifts between indie vibes and the classic melodies of Hollywood B-flicks. A Different Man shifts between several genres as well, but Schimberg manages to tie things neatly together by asking the same question, in various ways, until the very last scene: What’s in a face?

[benoitblanc]

for the sleepover asks !!

give me an unpopular opinion you have about knives out, what you would like to see in knives out 3 and lastly can i please have some film recs (it can be whatever genre you want just films you think i should watchhh) 🩷🩷🩷

unpopular opinion about knives out: i literally do not think i have any. i guess i completely understand why the scenes with donna and jacob explaining the walt/loan shark subplot were cut, if that even counts as unpopular? it definitely fills out that branch of the family more but i think if they HAD to cut anything it really had to be that; it didn't really contribute to the actual mystery, and i would rather spend spare minutes getting to know the cabreras than the least interesting thrombey sect

what i would like in knives out 3: this is not going to happen but i would give my right arm for elliot and wagner to come back in some capacity. i LOVE them. from a more serious standpoint, i'd like at least a little more philip, and it would make me very happy if we did a big city mystery now and went to london. maybe blanc and philip are visiting philip's family or something when shit goes down i don't know. what i DON'T want is anything that pulls blanc's personal life into the mystery. if philip or his family gets involved, fine! but i DO NOT want a benoit blanc backstory. he's compelling enough as is he doesn't need one <3

film recs (you have asked the right person; i love reccing things):

little miss sunshine (2006) is a black comedy about a dysfunctional family attempting to drive their volkswagen van from new mexico to california to enroll their 6yo in a beauty pageant. if knives out didn't exist this would be my favorite film of all time. it's SO good

tick tick boom (2021) is a musical drama about a young composer trying to make his way in the nyc theatre world in the 1990s. bring tissues for this one

galaxy quest (1999) is a loving parody of the star trek franchise that revolves around the ex-cast of a popular sci-fi show being abducted by aliens who think the show is real. possibly the funniest film of all time methinks

clue (1985)... i do not know how to describe this film. it's a murder comedy and tim curry is the lead. please watch this movie

it's a wonderful life (1947) is a theoretically-christmas film that you've likely heard of. if not, the first two-thirds of this film are a heartwarming dramedy about a young man's relationship with his small town and the last third is an existential horror film. it's a classic for a reason!

much ado about nothing (2011) is technically a proshot of a play but i don't fucking care. david tennant in That Scene is the greatest performance an actor has ever given

sleepover asks!!!

[tsuchinokoroyale]

you mentioned you've been working on a webcomic, can you tell us what it's about? or is it still hush hush under wraps in development NDA ?

Haha, it’s nothing so secretive. I won’t go into it too much bc as much as I love oversharing, I feel like sharing too much of a story impacts how much I want to work at making it cuz it already feels like it’s out there. Luckily the premise is super generic so I don’t mind sharing that 🥳

My 100% unabashed self insert protagonist (( we have the same birthday I’m not subtle about it )) is living a boring, monotonous, and lonely life. This all changes when he ends up on a bus with a charming greek statue of a man and they both get pulled into a beautiful dream world together. It’s a double edged sword, however, because as lovely as the dreams may be, they can’t wake up unless they fulfill the wish that exists at the core of the dream.

It’s an episodic puzzle box mystery/dramedy as the two of them get pulled into various situations. Contrary to the sound of the premise and the self insert OC it’s not actually a story about personal wish fulfillment, but about learning the cost of fulfilling other peoples wishes above your own. I have like 50% of the story written, but translating it to comic format AND THEN actually drawing it is such a slow process 😮‍💨

It’s also my first serious foray into art and it DEFINITELY shows but I’m aiming for completion over perfection. Its very much about me learning to meet myself where I am as well as me engaging with myself creatively as well as me giving myself something to do to distract myself from The Horrors™ of unemployment.

I think I want to finish the first 4 chapters before I post ANYTHING since that’s when the story really starts to start (( king of pacing what can I say 🤭 )) and given the fact that I’ve been working on this comic every waking second for the past 3 weeks and have finished… a third of the first chapter, it’ll be a few months til anyone sees anything, especially if I land a job between now and then 😮‍💨

Until then you can have my favorite panel that I’ve drawn so far, a text message notification from our MC’s town’s Bus Schedule App:

[theninjazebra]

As someone who has watched too much tv for a long time i thought i should share with the group.

TV recs for the upcoming drought:

Some of these are harder to find, the tone and quality vary wildly, they're in no specific order. I tried for not too obscure, but not too obvious. Some are still airing, some are 20 yrs old. I swear I have a life.

Slings and Arrows. Early 2000s Canadian dramedy about theatre and shakespear. Fun without being shallow, aged ok, lovely performances, great writing. nuclear grade comfort watching.

Halt and Catch Fire. 2014 - 2017, US drama. Follows four characters through the 80s tech industry. First time I got the hype around Lee Pace. S1 is ok, but nothing special, s2 is a lot more interesting but kinda goes round in a circle. S3 and 4 and some of the best tv I've ever seen.

Somebody Somewhere. This is actually a new show, but has 2 seasons out if u want a gentle but never shallow comedy. Fills my sad gay heart with joy. And if want more new tv with middle aged gays Deadloch is streaming on amazon atm.

The Expanse. Finished recently. The sci fi I've always wanted. Big and scary and wonderful and pew pew pew space battles and adventure. Balances the grim with a surprising amount of hope? Has repeated themes of redemption. Also a whole book series should u need more.

This Is England. UK drama. A film and 3 mini series set from 1983 through to 1990. Grim, sad af, also funnyand sweet? And characters that I love. The start of my undying love for Vicky McClure. Big ol CW for violence, sexual violence, and era specific racism (esp the first film). Very good, but very hard tv.

Kingdom. 2014. Can be a pain to find because so many shows are called Kingdom. About MMA fighters having drama. Also families, mental health, addiction, etc. Excellent performances. Both a very dumb and very sweet, painful show.

Animal Kingdom. Legit only watched it because I was searched Kingdom posts and AK was out around the same time. Awful family having drama and heists. Adaptation of an Aussie film into a southern California TV show. Kind of a mess? but very compelling mess.

Obligatory Succession (Kardashians for annoying people, aka me. I am the annoying person. this is my perfect tv show), The Bear, (hospo stress and family grief show) and Severance (people talk about workplace horror, but tbh it also gives big mega church horror vibes too)- new shows that live up to the hype, esp if you like sad people. I don't think they really need recs, but i really liked them.

The Thick of It. 2000s UK political comedy? Tragedy? Though these days it looking fuckin utopian compared to UK politics now. Feels a bit like a partial villain origin story for Succession. I like how sad and broken hearted it is.

Outrageous Fortune. 2000s nz dramedy that is the source of my love of family crime drama. Aged badly in places, but still very good character drama. Also, for The Boys fans, Antony Starr at his absolute best. It's a big nostalgia fest for me now. Cheryl West is a forever fav.

Justified. 2010 - 2016ish. i'm lazy i'm not looking stuff up. Yes a cop show, yes a dad show, but also rock solid tv writing and timothy olyphant in a hat. I've watched it so many times, and every time it rewards. and yes, am watching Justified City Primeval atm.

White Collar. A dumb, total fantasy art crimes and capers show. Shit, but if you need to not think and also have Matt Bomer do a shirtless painting montage for vague plot reasons then oh boy there is no other.

Being Human UK. A ghost, a vampire and a werewolf share a flat. it's sweet and agonising and 10+ years later I still love these characters so much.

Legion. 2017 - 2019. Why make tv comic adaptations that are trying for realistic and boring? When they could all be like this? Why make anything that isn't as visually interesting as this?

Doom Patrol - same for doom patrol - superhero tv that cut out the boring bits and just went for the weird and painful. I read a couple of random doom patrols years ago and was so surprised and delighted and loved them. the tv show has the same effect.

The Boys. new, and still going, as far as I know. but two kiwi leads means under nz law i have to be a fan? also it's awful, pulpy vicious popcorn viewing. appeals to the shithead 12 yr old in me. yes, it's vicious anti corporate thing is deeply ironic for an amazon show, but considering amazon saved the expanse with no sense of irony at all I figure take all their money and keep yelling.

Preacher. Another comics adaption. The Boy's weirder, less obscene, more disturbing cousin. Tulip is another forever fav tv character.

Banshee. Continuing the tradition of heth and i starting dumb Dude TV and then getting overly attached. kinda pulpy trash, but if you can stomach the violence it's surprisingly good.

All Star Treks. I love them so much. They're so weird, and uneven, and dumb, and they're all the best and I love them.

One season wonders -

Trust. about the John Paul Getty III kidnapping. also about italian countryside.

State of Play. UK. the tv show, not the film.

I dunno. I could do a whole separate post for sit coms and brit coms and the weirder, more obscure shows and movies, but ffs this is so long.

[dilesxpressions]

Welton Czhang

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

My name is Welton Czhang, I’m an Animal Science major, and my hometown is San Gabriel!

2. What’s your roman empire?

My roman empire is thinking about cats and how complete my life would be if I had pets, how I can constantly adapt and improve my boxing stances and punches, and finally how frequently I can plan hangouts with people around my schedule while also leaving to study. 

3. What is the best compliment you have ever received?

The best compliments I have ever received are from my friends stating how I do the most for other people, and give away so much love.

4. If your life was a movie what genre would it be (comedy, horror, drama, etc.) and what actor would play you?

If life was a movie the genre for mine would be a dramedy! David Tennant would play me and absolutely crush my role.

5. What is something on your college bucket list?

Something on my college bucket list is to bike all around Davis from night until morning with myself, a friend, or a group of friends, and to not check our phones for the entire duration of that time. Only until morning would we check where we’ve been, and track the amount of miles we’ve biked, and then bike back home! 

6. What’s your guilty pleasure? (song, movie, food etc.)

My guilty pleasure is spending a LOT of screen time on Instagram sending silly reels or memes to my friends. 

7. What are your bad habits?

I do not make my bed every morning, I sometimes do not wake up on my first, second, third, fourth, or fifth alarm because I am a heavy sleeper, and I enjoy my long showers. (~40 mins) 

8. What are your favorite song lyrics?

One of my favorite song lyrics is from Last Kiss, “I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets, How you’d kiss me when I was in the middle of saying something, There’s not a day I don’t miss those rude interruptions. And I’ll go, sit on the floor wearing your clothes, all that I know is I don’t know, how to be something you miss. “ I love how Taylor can tell stories in a song, maybe it’s romantic, maybe it’s bittersweet, but the way the lyrics rhyme and be catchy as well as paint a picture in your head is why I love Last Kiss, as well the rest of her music!

9. Defend your unpopular opinion/ hot take

In n Out is mid, the bread tastes like sandpaper, McDonald’s is better in literally everything, Cane’s is also mid, it tastes so plain, if it wasn’t for Cane’s sauce, they would be nothing. KFC is the best fast-food place for chicken because I grew up with it, and the oil, skin, and chicken they make has the best 1:1:1 ratio. Drake only knows how to make catchy, popular songs but is not a good artist. I like some of his songs but he is not good. 

10. Describe a time where you had to step up and be a leader?

One high challenge situation that really put me in a leadership position was the time that I was placed into a group project where we had to create a song about DNA, and I was a freshman who had just recently transferred into high school. In my group were sophomores and juniors who were uninterested in cooperating with me in completing the project, rather, they much preferred each other’s company. They spent most of their time joking and chatting with each other, and initially it was so hard to get anything serious and project-related done. They also ignored me or glossed over what I, a freshman, had to say. With a deadline a couple weeks away, I spent a good chunk of my time first setting aside my own differences from the group so that I could bond with each one of them personally before bringing them all together so we could achieve the task that loomed ahead of us. If they wanted to have fun, we had fun, we just made the project fun in our way! It wasn’t easy, the communication aspect and team-bonding part was already not a part of the assignment, taking up so much time for effective planning. Regardless, our final product was something that we all collectively put our heads together for, and we ended up really happy with the outcome. When it came our turn to present our song, my teacher loved it, and the class cheered us on afterwards with a standing ovation.

[chrryblsssm]

mila    can't    help    but    smile    up    at    him.    she's    always    so    happy    when    they're    together.    she'd    never    expected    to    be    in    a    long    distance    relationship,    even    despite    the    demands    of    her    job,    and    it    was    hard.    days    like    these    made    it    all    worth    it,    though.    ❝    i    wish    you'd    been    able    to    go    to    set    when    i    was    filming    the    baseball    movie    that    led    to    us    meeting.    i    wish    i    hadn't    been    done    filming    by    that    point.    it    would    have    been    really    cute.    ❞    she    says,    hint    of    a    pout    on    her    lips.    ❝    i'm    really    happy    to    leave    horror    behind    for    a    while.    my    life    has    been    enough    horror.    i'm    ready    for    the    romcoms    and    dramedys.    it    makes    me    so    happy    just    knowing    you're    on    set,    so    i    get    why    you're    always    so    happy    to    have    me    at    your    games.    ❞    she    says,    tossing    her    legs    over    his    as    she    gets    cozier    with    him.        ❝    and    then    you'll    get    to    help    wash    the    blood    off    me,    and    that    sounds    incredible.    ❞    

❝    yeah,    it's    different,    but...    it's    not    less.    i    love    you    so    much.    you    mean    the    world    to    me    and    i    really    don't    know    what    i    would    do    or    where    i'd    be    if    i    didn't    have    you    in    my    life.    you    aren't    playing    second    to    her.    you're    different    people    and    you    hold    different    places    in    my    life    and    my    heart,    but    it's    never    gonna    be    that    you're    in    competition.    it    would    make    me    sad    if    i    ever    put    you    two    in    that    position.    ❞    daisy    was    her    other    half;    she    always    would    be.    they    were    literally    half    of    each    other    made    whole.    but    quinn    was    the    other    half    of    her    heart.    they    were    the    two    people    on    earth    that    mila    knew    she    would    never    be    able    to    live    with.    being    a    twin    was    an    interesting    thing,    but    then,    so    was    finding    your    soulmate.    ❝    i'm    really    glad    that    you    stole    me    away    for    a    little    bit.    the    team's    pr    woman    was    giving    us    a    weird    look    the    whole    day,    but    you    know    what    she    said    to    me    a    few    weeks    after    when    i    came    to    another    game?    she    said    she    wasn't    sure    but    she'd    thought    she    saw    a    spark    between    us    when    we    finally    got    to    where    we    were    supposed    to    be.    so,    i'm    glad    i    didn't    make    you    think    i    was    so    nervous    that    day.    i    mean,    you    put    me    at    ease,    but...    gosh.    ❞    his    compliment    is    so    sweet    and    she    can't    help    but    lean    forward    to    kiss    him    again.

    ❝    yeah, i understand. i want to understand what you're talking about when you talk about your job too. like- we care about the things that matter to each other. that's a really nice thing to have. so we can just talk about them together and really understand each other. this is probably my first time on a film set, but... i'm excited to be here and get to see some of the things you've told me about.    ❞    and while he knows she has to go back and shoot more soon, and he'll probably not get to talk to her for another couple of hours, but he'll be happy to just get to sit on the side and watch her work. watch her do the thing she loves so much she's been doing it since she was a little girl.    ❝    don't worry about the fact you're busy. you're working, and i'm loving seeing you act. you're really good- and well- this is your last horror project at least for now, so... i'm excited to see you work. you come to my games and i'm busy during those. and your super hot boyfriend will definitely help wash the blood off tomorrow after that early shoot    ❞    he grins, leaning in to kiss her gently. he's being cautious not to really mess with the makeup on her face, but... he can't help it.

    ❝    i love you... i- i never thought i'd be able to compare to daisy for you. it's obviously a different kind of love, but, she's your twin sister. i've only known you for a few months. but i feel the same way about you, like- you really are my other half. i don't mind playing second to her, and i never will, i promise... but... i love that you do feel that with me... it feels really good.    ❞    she's a twin. that's special. and he does appreciate what she's saying so much, especially knowing that. she's been through so much, and he's found her as things are on the uptick... and he's very lucky to be a part of her journey.    ❝    yeah... i mean obviously i have a grip on you, now. but- when i saw you, i didn't see nervous. but i honestly just knew i had to steal you away for a bit. you were exactly what i didn't know i needed, and... what i did know i wanted. talking to you was easy... and you definitely give me butterflies too, so i get it.    ❞    he laughs, smiling at her sweetly.    ❝     i love seeing you smile at me like this. it's so satisfying...    ❞    

[thecraftymagician]

A request for whenever you want: modern M6 and their favorite TV shows?

(Tumblr needs to stop deleting my stuff ugh!)

Okay let's try this again! I tried to use different genres and there are a few listed I haven't seen but have heard of that just make sense. I'm not sure especially after everything if anyone will be into things that are too intense or dark but their are a few

Modern M6's Favorite TV Shows

Asra💜

I can totally see Asra being into trashy reality romance shows. Mostly out of morbid curiosity or flat out hate watch, his favorite being 90 Day Fiancé. The one they actually do enjoy is Catfish and might get too invested/emotional with some couples.

Their all time favorite is probably heart felt like The Good Place or maybe This Is Us. They primarily enjoy rom-coms like Gilmore Girls, Jane the Virgin, New Girl, etc.

Likes to watch Rick and Morty or the Midnight Gospel to just chill and vibe with.

Nadia💖

She would love most thing's Shondaland; Scandal, even Bridgerton (she doesn't care if it's a guilty pleasure) yet isn't as into Gossip Girl. She also likes Castle and detective dramedies like it. Even House of Cards is just so intriguing to her.

She likes Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy much to Julian's dismay. I can see her liking royalty biopics too like the Crown. It might not be completely accurate but it's entertaining.

At the same time she's kinda picky. She'll try most things but sometimes she just can't get into a show for whatever reason.

Julian🖤

His favorites are things he doesn't have to think about after a long day but still enjoys a good anthology. He likes the Great British Bake Off for this reason and because they're all so nice to each other!

While he loves certain concepts and characters he just can't sit through most medical dramas (Scrubs however, he loves because it's a goofy fun time). He's open to most things and actually can get into alot of different shows. I'm almost convinced he'd love Sherlock or Doctor Who, definitely loves The Mandalorian and Andor.

I can see him liking period shows like the Marvelous Ms. Maisel or Downton Abbey (Nadia recommended it). I also get the feeling he'd like Better Call, Saul!

Muriel💚

He'll watch whatever is on but isn't super partial to anything. When he watches something on his own or gets to pick there's a pattern in themes or aesthetics though.

Hilda, Anne with an E, and to an extent Outlander (sometimes might skip through scenes) are his favorites. He prefers light hearted, cozy shows but isn't opposed to some good plot heavy shows. Will cry when his favorites end or get cancelled.

At the same time just PBS cooking, travel, and gardening shows specifically are his favorite to put on in the background.

Portia🧡

She gets really into the darker, spooky scary stuff like Black Mirror and American Horror Story alongside the Walking Dead. She has her own theories for everything! (Nadia also got her into Good Girls.)

I can see her getting really into Cartoon Network shows like Infinity Train, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Adventure Time, Over the Garden Wall, ect. She'd also love Summer Camp Island.

Besides that she's just really into Fantasy and Adventure. She's pretty open to trying out any show especially if it has those elements.

Lucio❤️

He has seen all of Jersey Shore and every single spinoff. No one is shocked, those are his comfort shows. He likes other reality TV like Big Brother too. I could see him liking Shameless for the same absurd antics and comedy.

As much as he loves adult comedies like South Park, and Big Mouth he does like other animated shows. Ren and Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Cat-Dog, and obviously Fairly Odd-Parents to name a few. Basically, any cartoon from the 90s.

Still sometimes he gets invested in other shows but usually it's because someone else got him into it like How I Met Your Mother. In which case it'll be a struggle to get him to not binge it on his own.

Shows they all enjoy or even get together to watch:

Steven Universe, What We Do In The Shadows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Friends, The Office, Parks and Rec, The Witcher, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things (maybe), Bojack Horseman (They refuse to let anyone/each other watch it alone though), Gravity Falls, Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Kora, The Good Place, Archer, Bob's Burgers, Bluey (I said what said), The Owl House, Letterkenny, Cheers, etc.

They are acutely aware of which characters they match up with each show and find it hilarious. Well everyone but Lucio for obvious reasons. (If anyone wants those matches, just let me know! lol)

[twistedtummies2]

Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary - Number 11

Welcome to Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary! Over the course of May, I will be counting down My Top 31 Favorite Performances by my favorite actor, the late, great Sir Christopher Lee, in honor of his 100th Birthday. Although this fine actor left us a few years ago, his legacy endures, and this countdown is a tribute to said legacy! Today’s Subject, My 11th Favorite Christopher Lee Performance: Mycroft Holmes, from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.

Question: who here likes “Sherlock” or “Moriarty the Patriot”? Or both, for that matter? If you do…(points to the above picture)…this actor. This role. This movie. You have them to thank for the gloriousness of Mycroft Holmes in both those incarnations, as well as a few more. I mentioned Lee’s role as Mycroft in an earlier choice on the countdown, and I also briefly spoke of him a year ago in my “Ele-May-ntary” countdown, where I discussed various takes on Sherlock Holmes. Now, it’s time to give him the limelight. “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” was a sort of “dramedy” created by Billy Wilder. The film took a more humorous but also more personal and unique look into the character of Sherlock Holmes, purposefully playing with layers to some of the major players of the stories that had not been toyed with before. Chief among them was Christopher Lee in the role of Mycroft. In the original books, Mycroft only appears twice, and is mentioned a handful of other times. Up until Lee took on the role in this 1970 release, the character was not exactly a household name. It was Lee who, in many ways, created the Mycroft we know today in more modern incarnations, and allowed the character to become much more prominent in future Sherlock Holmes outings. Mycroft is actually only present in the film for a few scenes, but these scenes are fairly lengthy and the character is highly involved in the plot of the picture. What is most influential about Lee’s Mycroft, however, is his personality and overall portrayal: in the books, Mycroft is largely a comical figure. His now famous role of essentially “BEING the British Government” – head of its military intelligence, second only to the Queen and the Prime Minister on the power level, aware of seemingly everything going on in the country and how its run – is really just a backdrop. He is not a buffoon, but he is clownish in a sort of pompous, blustering way; a loveable figure. This is not the case in “Private Life”: Mycroft here is depicted as having a strong sibling rivalry with Sherlock, and is given a much more steely personality. While not totally unlikeable, as he does care about his brother, and is ultimately just trying to do what he thinks is best, he is an authoritarian figure full of secrets, whom not even the Master Detective – his own flesh and blood – can fully trust at all times. His role in the government is greatly expanded upon, and becomes a focal point for his character. He still has funny moments, given that this movie is largely comedic in tone, but he’s no longer a jovial caricature. He is whiplike, dangerous, but has his soft edges. This is really the Mycroft so many have come to love, portrayed by people like Mark Gatiss and J. Michael Tatum: a figure of power, not fun and games. And even for portrayals that veer more towards the comic, such as Stephen Fry or Charles Gray, the size of the character’s role in those versions, and the emphasis on his power in politics and economy, is undeniably influenced by Lee’s turn in the part. For Lee himself, this role was a breath of fresh air. Lee would forever go on to state that Wilder was one of his favorite directors he ever worked with, partially because the man gave him a chance he hadn’t gotten from so many others. Keep in mind, in 1970, Lee appeared in no less than four Dracula movies all in the span of the same year, and he was also balancing Fu Manchu and many other past and present horror movie roles at the same time. Wilder told Lee he didn’t care about any of that, and the actor saw this as another opportunity to show his range and work on something a little different. For fans of Sherlock Holmes ever since then, I think we’re all glad this chance came about. We’re moving into the Top 10, everyone! The end draws ever nearer…tomorrow, I present my choice for Number 10!

[dogbearinggifts]

I was listening to Spotify’s Emo Forever playlist, partly to celebrate MCR’s impending return and partly out of pure nostalgia. There’s a lot of good music on there, and the emo era produced a lot of great bands and singles. But something struck me about the content: a good many of the songs included were love songs. 

This really isn’t surprising, honestly—probably at least 75 percent of all music produced is about romantic love. I’m not sure how religious songs and hymns would affect that statistic I just pulled out of thin air, so we’ll stick with non-religious music for now. Suffice it to say, romantic love is a popular song topic. It’s been popular in every era and genre—cue up any All Out [Insert Decade Here] playlist on Spotify and love songs will dominate—and emo music is no exception. From early hits about lost love (All-American Rejects’ “Swing Swing”) to peak emo ballads about enforced separation (Paramore’s “crushcrushcrush” or We The Kings’ “Check Yes Juliet”) it’s clear romance was on the minds of many emo bands. 

But not MCR’s. 

They did write songs about romance, don’t get me wrong. It’s hard to argue that “I Don’t Love You” or “The Ghost of You” are about anything but. And yet they’re not really love songs. “I Don’t Love You” puts the spotlight on a troubled and unhealthy relationship (though whether there’s hope for reconciliation is up for interpretation) while “The Ghost of You” takes us deep into the heartbreak of someone who has lost their partner. Even their more straightforwardly romantic songs contain cracks in that sweet and shiny veneer; “I’ve got a bulletproof heart, you’ve got a hollow-point smile” hints at defensiveness that’s come up against the one person able to crack it in a world demanding you live for the moment because you might not get too many more of them. 

But those songs are just blips on the radar. MCR’s real interest lay in other aspects of the human experience—the darker aspects, yes, but often not related to romance. The Black Parade gives us “I Don’t Love You,” but it’s presented alongside songs about self-loathing (“Dead!”, “House of Wolves”) self-destruction and destructive relationships (“The Sharpest Lives”) war (“Mama”) PTSD (“Sleep”) death (“Cancer”) fear that the next generation will self-destruct (“Teenagers”) nihilistic despair (“Disenchanted”) and—finally—acknowledgment that with all its pain and horror and heartache, life is worth continuing (“Famous Last Words”). Even on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, where two lovers are shot to death and one returns for vengeance, romance takes a backseat to the all-consuming fury of the main character. 

And honestly, I think that’s part of why My Chemical Romance is rightly considered a musical legend. 

That isn’t to say I don’t like romance in my fiction, or that I think all stories would work better without it. I love romance, when it’s done well. Big Eden is, at its core, a queer romantic dramedy, and it’s one of my favorite movies. The romances between Klaus and Dave and Hazel and Agnes were high points of the first season of The Umbrella Academy for me. I’m not opposed to romance, and I’m not opposed to a focus on it. 

But there’s so much more to life than just romance, and there’s so much more to MCR’s music than romantic songs, tragic or no. Hell, one of their most tragic love songs, “The Light Behind Your Eyes” is about a love that’s completely platonic (“So long to all my friends/Every one of them met tragic ends”). MCR didn’t just write songs about love, or lost love, or unrequited love. They wrote songs about life. They wrote about the darkest aspects of life, the darkest moments of being, and they turned those moments into something magnificent and stark and life-affirming. 

The emo era gave us a lot of great songs, and a lot of fantastic bands. But many of them were just that—bands. My Chemical Romance was a phenomenon. 

There’s a reason for that. 

[wahbegan]

NOPE Review

I don’t know where to start with this movie, other than it is....a lot. It’s a lot.

Okay, so the basic premise is this: Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are sibling co-owners of a ranch that trains horse actors with a pretty...strained relationship. Their dad, the previous owner, who they feel like they can’t live up to, has just been killed in a freak.....er....accident, and they’re struggling to make ends meet. So when they start seeing weird shit in the sky and their horses start vanishing, they cook up a plot to get rich and famous with conclusive proof of alien life. At the same time their neighbor, a former child star who was deeply traumatized by an incident in his childhood, has also caught wind of the weird shit going on and is trying to monetize it, albeit in the form of a live show in his amusement park. And then........shit goes sideways

So yeah, first of all, it’s not a straight alien invasion movie, thank christ, although that’s just my personal preference. If you go in expecting aliens abducting and probing and doing alien shit and running around with lil weird alien faces, you are gonna have a bad time. Signs this is not.

Oh, yeah, also, a note on the genre. You may have noticed the marketing department made the baffling decision of making the teaser for the film look more like straight horror and the full trailer look more like a fffuckin pseudo-Western alien invasion adventure dramedy film and may be confused as to what the fuck genre it is.

It is....neither of those things and both of those things? It’s a weird hybrid. Honestly, i’d say it’s more horror right up until close to the climax, where it gets more Western adventure it’s......okay, this is a weird comparison but

You know The Mummy? Who am i kidding, of course you do. So you know how that movie goes from like creepy scare-you-as-a-kid kinda-sorta horror to blowing up into a big action adventure?

Nope is kinda like that, but with the horrifying elements of the horror turned way the fuck up. Which is.....amazing.

So that’s all just what you should go in expecting though, how’s the actual movie?

Well, in terms of sheer entertainment value, it...might be my favorite Jordan Peele movie? That or Us. It has good characters who are fun to watch, the kind you’d expect from a Jordan Peele film, it has humor, and it has something which Us and Get Out both lacked, which is big blockbuster moments towards the end. Not to spoil too much but it is definitely, of the three, the one i felt ended the most positively.

Which, i mean, you also may not like, but good news! It has something else Us and Get Out lacked!

Two of the most legitimately fucking harrowing scenes i’ve seen in any recent horror film. Oh, sure, i mean, i’ve seen more openly shocking and uncomfortable, the unapologetic scene of child abuse from The Black Phone comes to mind, but two of the scenes in this film are....exactly where horror should exist, in my opinion.

A perfect balance between relatable, tangible, real-world fears and anxieties, something you can see yourself or your loved ones in, and enough of the grotesque and fantastical to make it surreal. To make it uncanny. That sweet spot of horror that really gets under your skin. 

Yes, this movie got under my skin. Mainly those two scenes, which i obviously won’t spoil, but, i was up half the night thinking about them. 

And yes, even besides that really openly disturbing shit, there WAS a lot of very good tension, even when it got to the bits that were more adventure blockbuster-y at the end. Which were also very good, i hasten to add, the........feel like Jordan Peele would smack me for using this word about this particular film, but the spectacle and the beauty and the emotional resonance of those scenes towards the end really does hit.

I wouldn’t say it’s a flawless movie. There’s one character who is very underdeveloped and makes a baffling decision that feels completely unearned, and it definitely feels like he just does it because the plot needs him to. There’s another very minor character, like a throwaway gag character who feels a little annoyingly on-the-nose, to the point where you’re like.....okay no human being would act like that. The side plot about Steven Yeun’s childhood trauma, while thematically resonant and very important to his character feels kinda....out-of-place isn’t quite the right word, but it’s just so jarringly at odds with everything else going on that it’s a bit bizarre, a little bit of a big-lipped alligator moment feel to it.

Although it is also the side plot in which we get one of those two “go home and have nightmares afterwards” scenes i was talking about, so i can’t complain too much.

And finally, and....fuck this is hard to do without spoilers, but there’s.....towards the end, there are some incredibly ambitious shots of the UFO (the design of which is fucking amazing by the way and will surprise you) that are really beautiful or could be beautiful but ohhh i just wish the special effects were a liiiiiiiittle bit better on them.

But i’m just nitpicking at this point. Other then that, yeah it’s a thoroughly satisfying film. Tense, horrifying, emotional, funny in bits, and off-the-wall fucking bonkers which i always appreciate. I would recommend it to all but the most dour and blockbuster-sensibility-hating of horror or sci-fi lovers

[millenniumblog]

[ID: A chart describing the core values of each of the nine Enneagram personality types with YuGiOh characters correlated to each of the types.]

YuGiOh Enneagram Analysis, Part #1

Please note that this is the “boring” informational post about Enneagram with the Types listed and explained as well as a few other things. The next post is what has the actual, in-depth character profiles promised!

Introduction & Motivation

Over the past several months, I have been trying to analyze my strengths and weaknesses as a writer and learn more. I have been writing fanfiction since I was a little kid, making my first FF.net account in 2003 when I would have been twelve years old. Even before that, I was a lurker and wrote fics to share with my childhood best friend on paper or floppy discs.

YuGiOh came into my life at some point shortly thereafter. I know this, because I spent my thirteenth birthday in a comic book shop, mostly watching some of my male friends play the trading card game. I had some of the cards, but I was never much of a player, unable to keep up with the seemingly rapid rule changes. Besides that, I was always way more interested in the story and characters than I was in the card game. I remember I even wanted to call “YuGiOh cards” “Duel Monsters” instead to make it seem a little closer to tween-y LARPing.

Eventually, I gave up on collecting cards or trying to ply the game. I felt that while my male friends didn’t mind me being around when they played, they weren’t extremely interested in helping me learn or keep up. I felt I had other strengths, so I started carrying around a notebook even more than I already did. I started my fledgling forays into online fandom. And YuGiOh was a big part of the beginning of that.

I can’t remember posting any YuGiOh fic in particular, and I’m sure that if I had it would make me cringe now. What I do remember is reading some and also spending a lot of time lying on my bed, headphones plugged into a small purple stereo, listening to the first of the two American-released CDs with YuGiOh-inspired music on them. In particular, the last three tracks were pieces of music from the original score composed for the 4Kids dub, which is - for some reason - different from the original Japanese music.

During that time, I would fantasize and conjure my own YuGiOh plots in my head, most of which were focused on the Ancient Egyptian and more spooky, spiritual, and horror themes in the show. I was really fascinated with the reincarnation angle, though my understanding of and opinions on how that works have grown with time.

Years went by, and I didn’t think about YuGiOh much at all. Then, something happened in 2018. I don’t know what got in my head, but it was like all the joy I once found in thinking about the YuGiOh characters came back in a giddy conversation with my childhood best friend. Then, for a little while, it wouldn’t leave me alone.

I started writing for the fandom then, and after several detours, I’m trying to get back in the groove of it.

My approach to the tone of YuGiOh-fanning is that it’s a bit serious, but it’s also with a tongue placed in my cheek because of how incomprehensible or silly the plot can be on a meta level. Sometimes, it almost brings tears to my eyes by being so over-the-top about something that, in the real world, would make no sense at all. But the drama, in the context of the universe, somehow rings true.

I think that’s all owing to how most of the primary characters are just... really freaking great characters.

It has often puzzled me. Like, did Takahashi do all this layering on purpose? Is it really there, or did earnest fanon just make it seem like it? And, as a person, I am always here for a good fan-and-canon symbiosis.

This post is going to be, from here on, an effort to match the YuGiOh characters to the 9 Enneagram Personality Types. I am writing this for my own benefit as I continue to work on my pet YuGiOh fanfiction project, It’s Always Sunny in Domino City, which is a mixture of YGOTAS-vibes-and-concepts taken seriously and a sincere take on fanfiction for the actual canon. It’s dramedy about a sizeable chunk of the main cast a few years post-canon with some canon divergence such as the Memory World arc not yet and possibly never-happening. If that sounds like something you’d like, I would humbly request you check it out!

Either way, this will be an in-depth character analysis cheatsheet for all of the characters above, based on my observations, opinions, and feelings. I invite discussion, but it’s fine if we need to agree to totally disagree!

If you are interested and enjoy what’s below the Read More and in the coming second post, then you are welcome to utilize the character analyses to aid you in your own fanwork!

Enneagram

What is Enneagram, and why am I using it?

Enneagram is a personality categorization system that one might compare to the somewhat better-known MBTI. However, in the words of excellent writing-advice YouTuber, Abbie Emmons:

MBTI shows us how we behave.

Enneagram shows us what we believe.

I will be referencing Abbie’s video Using The ENNEAGRAM To Write CONFLICTED CHARACTERS and her free Enneagram-cheatsheet, available in the description of the linked video. Whether it’s before you continue reading or after, if you’re interested in writing, I would highly recommend you check out her channel!

The Enneagram system has nine basic personality types that overlap and interact in really interesting ways. It is not a hard science, and it’s not a horoscope. Instead, it’s supposed to be “based on conventional wisdom and modern psychology.” All I can say is that with every set of characters I’ve tried it with, it works! Once you get the hang of it, it feels kind of like ~✰~magic~✰~!

Below, I will list Abbie’s simplified definitions of each of the personality types, in order:

Type 1: The Reformer

The Rational, Idealistic Type:

Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic

Basic Fear: Of being corrupt/evil, defective

Basic Desire: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced

Key Motivations: Want to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify themselves, to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone.

Type 2: The Helper

The Caring, Interpersonal Type:

Generous, Demonstrative, People-Pleasing, and Possessive

Basic Fear: Of being unwanted, unworthy of being loved

Basic Desire: To feel loved

Key Motivations: Want to be loved, to express their feelings for others, to be needed and appreciated, to get others to respond to them, to vindicate their claims about themselves.

Type 3: The Achiever

The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type:

Adaptable, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious

Basic Fear: Of being worthless

Basic Desire: To feel valuable and worthwhile

Key Motivations: Want to be affirmed, to distinguish themselves from others, to have attention, to be admired, and to impress others.

Type 4: The Individualist

The Sensitive, Introspective Type:

Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental

Basic Fear: That they have no identity or personal significance

Basic Desire: To find themselves and their significance (to create an identity)

Key Motivations: Want to express themselves and their individuality, to create and surround themselves with beauty, to maintain certain moods and feelings, to withdraw to protect their self-image, to take care of emotional needs before attending to anything else, to attract a "rescuer."

Type 5: The Investigator

The Intense, Cerebral Type:

Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated

Basic Fear: Being useless, helpless, or incapable

Basic Desire: To be capable and competent

Key Motivations: Want to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.

Type 6: The Loyalist

The Committed, Security-Oriented Type:

Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious

Basic Fear: Of being without support and guidance

Basic Desire: To have security and support

Key Motivations: Want to have security, to feel supported by others, to have certitude and reassurance, to test the attitudes of others toward them, to fight against anxiety and insecurity.

Type 7: The Enthusiast

The Busy, Variety-Seeking Type:

Spontaneous, Versatile, Acquisitive, and Scattered

Basic Fear: Of being deprived and in pain

Basic Desire: To be satisfied and content—to have their needs fulfilled

Key Motivations: Want to maintain their freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, to keep themselves excited and occupied, to avoid and discharge pain.

Type 8: The Challenger

The Powerful, Dominating Type:

Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational

Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others

Basic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life and destiny)

Key Motivations: Want to be self-reliant, to prove their strength and resist weakness, to be important in their world, to dominate the environment, and to stay in control of their situation.

Type 9: The Peacemaker

The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type:

Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent

Basic Fear: Of loss and separation

Basic Desire: To have inner stability, "peace of mind"

Key Motivations: Want to create harmony in their environment, to avoid conflicts and tension, to preserve things as they are, to resist whatever would upset or disturb them.

Now that you’ve seen all those, what do you think your favorite character is? In YuGiOh or anything else! It works great for original characters and even yourself and your loved ones.

The actual Character Profiles will be in coming post(s), but continue reading if you want me to explain more about how and why the Enneagram is a great personality typing system. #nonspon, or whatever.

The Enneagram Chart

Now, you could just go to the Enneagram Institute’s page on How the System Works, but below I’ll cut it down to only the parts I’m interested in and explain those in a way that helps me.

Unlike in astrology or MBTI, which are both more restrictive in different ways, the relative position of each type matters a bit on the Enneagram chart, because it can be used to visualize a lot of things about a person!

The Basic Chart

The Types are shown in a clockwise fashion with “1″ in the 1 o’clock position on an analog clock. The interior lines mean things, but I have trouble reading it without further delineation.

Centers of Response

Below are two small charts, displayed side-by-side. (If it’s too small, try right-click, open in new tab!)

The chart on the left shows the three “centers.” The “centers” indicate the first ‘processing language’ a person would use to respond to stimuli.

Type 8, Type 9, and Type 1 respond first based on instinct (primal, gut-feeling). If you want to go Freudian, this is from the id.

Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 respond first based on feelings (social or personal desires, the heart). If you want to go Freudian, this is from the ego.

Type 5, Type 6, and Type 7 respond first based on thoughts (analytical rather than emotional, the head). If you want to go Freudian, this is from the superego.

Remember that, of course, every single type and person engages their instincts, their emotions, and their thoughts at different times and to different degrees, and some of these are learned or changed behaviors. This is about what their innate drive toward that would be.

Likewise, the same “centers” can also be used for the chart on the right. You will notice that all three of these are defined by what is typically considered a negative emotion. This is because this is about a person’s instinctive, not particularly conscious emotional response when they are backed into a corner and deprived of something that is core to the needs of their personality type.

Type 8, Type 9, and Type 1 tend to respond to a threat to their psychic well-being with anger/rage.

Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 tend to respond to a threat to their psychic well-being with shame.

Type 5, Type 6, and Type 7 tend to respond to a threat to their psychic well-being with fear.

Stress vs. Growth

We all know that there are times when a person isn’t acting like themselves, for better or for worse. Usually, “You’re not acting like yourself,” means that a person is behaving badly. Of course, it’s way easier to withdraw and bristle and defend rather than growing in the midst of adversity. However, it is certainly possible to experience character growth in response to experiences, good and bad. Unlike a lot of other personality typing schemes, the Enneagram has a way to display and predict what stress and growth do to a person.

The Enneagram never suggests that any Type is an island unto itself. Every person contains multitudes, but a person’s Type is likely to remain relatively stable throughout their lives, once they have had a chance to develop any personality at all. This means that when a person is stressed or growing that they do not become the type they emulate. Rather, they are more highly expressing that aspects of their personality that reflect those drives and desires but in a way that is either fraught, sickly, or unwell (in the case of stress), or aspirational, flying-high, and incorporating the hard-lessons into who a person is going to be going forward (in the case of growth). The latter, especially, isn’t a sustainable mode, while a stressed person can become more entrenched in their bad habits and defensive coping mechanisms.

Stress

Note the white, directional arrows. Each number has an arrow point pointing to it and an arrow leading away from it. The point indicates that this is the stress manifestation for the Type at the origin of that arrow. The origin of each arrow indicates the Type being described.

Confused? Let me finally give you a YuGiOh example.

When I was trying to identify the Types of the characters, defining Marik was difficult, because he has a “Yami,” or Dark Side, which has its own personality and will but which is not its own separate soul or person than Marik himself. Rather, it’s a kind of fantasy/magic-assisted personality splintering where Yami Marik is a full manifestation of the negative traits Marik needed to embody to survive.

So, for reference:

When stressed, Type 1 behaves more like Type 4. 

When stressed, Type 2 behaves more like Type 8.

When stressed, Type 3 behaves more like Type 9.

When stressed, Type 4 behaves more like Type 2.

When stressed, Type 5 behaves more like Type 7.

When stressed, Type 6 behaves more like Type 3.

When stressed, Type 7 behaves more like Type 1.

When stressed, Type 8 behaves more like Type 5.

When stressed, Type 9 behaves more like Type 6.

Alternatively, you can use these sequences to follow the stress lines:

1-4-2-8-5-7-1

9-6-3-9

Growth

Think of the above-explanation in reverse.

The sequence:

1-7-5-8-2-4-1

9-3-6-9

As a Type 1 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 7.

As a Type 2 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 4.

As a Type 3 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 6.

As a Type 4 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 1.

As a Type 5 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 8.

As a Type 6 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 9.

As a Type 7 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 5.

As a Type 8 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 2.

As a Type 9 grows, they incorporate more positive traits of Type 3.

Wings

The final thing to know about the Enneagram chart for my purposes is about wings. The wing of your personality traits accounts for the complementary and contradictory aspects of your personality. They are the inconsistencies that make you human, predicted and jumped in. Typically, a person is not thought to have both possible wings but one or the other. A wing is one of the two adjacent Types to yours, the number before, or the number after, and it is annotated, for example:

Type 1, Wing 2: 1w2

Type 1, Wing 9: 1w9

Link to Part 2 Here!

[harryandmeghansussex]

Day 18 of @defendingtheduchesses 's Meghan memories challenge.

Meghan's writing has always been one of my favourite strengths of hers. And I thought I would share one for day 18, so I picked this important one.

'What are you?' A question I get asked every week of my life, often every day. 'Well,' I say, as I begin the verbal dance I know all too well. 'I'm an actress, a writer, the Editor-in-Chief of my lifestyle brand The Tig, a pretty good cook and a firm believer in handwritten notes.' A mouthful, yes, but one that I feel paints a pretty solid picture of who I am. But here's what happens: they smile and nod politely, maybe even chuckle, before getting to their point, 'Right, but what are you? Where are your parents from?' I knew it was coming, I always do. While I could say Pennsylvania and Ohio, and continue this proverbial two-step, I instead give them what they're after: 'My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white.

To describe something as being black and white means it is clearly defined. Yet when your ethnicity is black and white, the dichotomy is not that clear. In fact, it creates a grey area. Being biracial paints a blurred line that is equal parts staggering and illuminating. When I was asked by ELLE to share my story, I'll be honest, I was scared. It's easy to talk about which make-up I prefer, my favourite scene I've filmed, the rigmarole of 'a day in the life' and how much green juice I consume before a requisite Pilates class. And while I have dipped my toes into this on thetig.com, sharing small vignettes of my experiences as a biracial woman, today I am choosing to be braver, to go a bit deeper, and to share a much larger picture of that with you.

It was the late Seventies when my parents met, my dad was a lighting director for a soap opera and my mom was a temp at the studio. I like to think he was drawn to her sweet eyes and her Afro, plus their shared love of antiques. Whatever it was, they married and had me. They moved into a house in The Valley in LA, to a neighbourhood that was leafy and affordable. What it was not, however, was diverse. And there was my mom, caramel in complexion with her light-skinned baby in tow, being asked where my mother was since they assumed she was the nanny.

I was too young at the time to know what it was like for my parents, but I can tell you what it was like for me – how they crafted the world around me to make me feel like I wasn't different but special. When I was about seven, I had been fawning over a boxed set of Barbie dolls. It was called The Heart Family and included a mom doll, a dad doll, and two children. This perfect nuclear family was only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls. I don't remember coveting one over the other, I just wanted one. On Christmas morning, swathed in glitter-flecked wrapping paper, there I found my Heart Family: a black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each colour. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.

Fast-forward to the seventh grade and my parents couldn't protect me as much as they could when I was younger. There was a mandatory census I had to complete in my English class – you had to check one of the boxes to indicate your ethnicity: white, black, Hispanic or Asian. There I was (my curly hair, my freckled face, my pale skin, my mixed race) looking down at these boxes, not wanting to mess up, but not knowing what to do. You could only choose one, but that would be to choose one parent over the other – and one half of myself over the other. My teacher told me to check the box for Caucasian. 'Because that's how you look, Meghan,' she said. I put down my pen. Not as an act of defiance, but rather a symptom of my confusion. I couldn't bring myself to do that, to picture the pit-in-her-belly sadness my mother would feel if she were to find out. So, I didn't tick a box. I left my identity blank – a question mark, an absolute incomplete – much like how I felt.

When I went home that night, I told my dad what had happened. He said the words that have always stayed with me: 'If that happens again, you draw your own box.'

I never saw my father angry, but in that moment I could see the blotchiness of his skin crawling from pink to red. It made the green of his eyes pop and his brow was weighted at the thought of his daughter being prey to ignorance. Growing up in a homogeneous community in Pennsylvania, the concept of marrying an African-American woman was not on the cards for my dad. But he saw beyond what was put in front of him in that small-sized (and, perhaps, small-minded) town, and he wanted me to see beyond that census placed in front of me. He wanted me to find my own truth.

And I tried. Navigating closed-mindedness to the tune of a dorm mate I met my first week at university who asked if my parents were still together. 'You said your mom is black and your dad is white, right?' she said. I smiled meekly, waiting for what could possibly come out of her pursed lips next. 'And they're divorced?' I nodded. 'Oh, well that makes sense.' To this day, I still don't fully understand what she meant by that, but I understood the implication. And I drew back: I was scared to open this Pandora's box of discrimination, so I sat stifled, swallowing my voice.

I was home in LA on a college break when my mom was called the 'N' word. We were leaving a concert and she wasn't pulling out of a parking space quickly enough for another driver. My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom. Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: 'It's OK, Mommy.' I was trying to temper the rage-filled air permeating our small silver Volvo. Los Angeles had been plagued with the racially charged Rodney King and Reginald Denny cases just years before, when riots had flooded our streets, filling the sky with ash that flaked down like apocalyptic snow; I shared my mom's heartache, but I wanted us to be safe. We drove home in deafening silence, her chocolate knuckles pale from gripping the wheel so tightly.

It's either ironic or apropos that in this world of not fitting in, and of harbouring my emotions so tightly under my ethnically nondescript (and not so thick) skin, that I would decide to become an actress. There couldn't possibly be a more label-driven industry than acting, seeing as every audition comes with a character breakdown: 'Beautiful, sassy, Latina, 20s'; 'African American, urban, pretty, early 30s'; 'Caucasian, blonde, modern girl next door'. Every role has a label; every casting is for something specific. But perhaps it is through this craft that I found my voice.

Being 'ethnically ambiguous', as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role. Morphing from Latina when I was dressed in red, to African American when in mustard yellow; my closet filled with fashionable frocks to make me look as racially varied as an Eighties Benetton poster. Sadly, it didn't matter: I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job.

This is precisely why Suits stole my heart. It's the Goldilocks of my acting career – where finally I was just right. The series was initially conceived as a dramedy about a NY law firm flanked by two partners, one of whom navigates this glitzy world with his fraudulent degree. Enter Rachel Zane, one of the female leads and the dream girl – beautiful and confident with an encyclopedic knowledge of the law. 'Dream girl' in Hollywood terms had always been that quintessential blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty – that was the face that launched a thousand ships, not the mixed one. But the show's producers weren't looking for someone mixed, nor someone white or black for that matter. They were simply looking for Rachel. In making a choice like that, the Suits producers helped shift the way pop culture defines beauty. The choices made in these rooms trickle into how viewers see the world, whether they're aware of it or not. Some households may never have had a black person in their house as a guest, or someone biracial. Well, now there are a lot of us on your TV and in your home with you. And with Suits, specifically, you have Rachel Zane. I couldn't be prouder of that.

At the end of season two, the producers went a step further and cast the role of Rachel's father as a dark-skinned African-American man, played by the brilliant Wendell Pierce. I remember the tweets when that first episode of the Zane family aired, they ran the gamut from: 'Why would they make her dad black? She's not black' to 'Ew, she's black? I used to think she was hot.' The latter was blocked and reported. The reaction was unexpected, but speaks of the undercurrent of racism that is so prevalent, especially within America. On the heels of the racial unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore, the tensions that have long been percolating under the surface in the US have boiled over in the most deeply saddening way. And as a biracial woman, I watch in horror as both sides of a culture I define as my own become victims of spin in the media, perpetuating stereotypes and reminding us that the States has perhaps only placed bandages over the problems that have never healed at the root.

I, on the other hand, have healed from the base. While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman. That when asked to choose my ethnicity in a questionnaire as in my seventh grade class, or these days to check 'Other', I simply say: 'Sorry, world, this is not Lost and I am not one of The Others. I am enough exactly as I am.'

Just as black and white, when mixed, make grey, in many ways that's what it did to my self-identity: it created a murky area of who I was, a haze around howpeople connected with me. I was grey. And who wants to be this indifferent colour, devoid of depth and stuck in the middle? I certainly didn't. So you make a choice: continue living your life feeling muddled in this abyss of self-misunderstanding, or you find your identity independent of it. You push for colour-blind casting, you draw your own box. You introduce yourself as who you are, not what colour your parents happen to be. You cultivate your life with people who don't lead with ethnic descriptions such as, 'that black guy Tom', but rather friends who say: 'You know? Tom, who works at [blah blah] and dates [fill in the blank] girl.' You create the identity you want for yourself, just as my ancestors did when they were given their freedom. Because in 1865 (which is so shatteringly recent), when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose a name. A surname, to be exact.

Perhaps the closest thing to connecting me to my ever-complex family tree, my longing to know where I come from, and the commonality that links me to my bloodline, is the choice that my great-great-great grandfather made to start anew. He chose the last name Wisdom. He drew his own box.

[anessthesiaa]

Hi thanks for answering my earlier ask! Your fluff fics are amazing. I would like to request a Jamie fic where the reader and him have been best friends for a really long time and she’s been working up the nerve to confess that she’s had a crush on him for ages but is worried that it would ruin their friendship.

Heya! And you’re welcome! I feel like Jamie doesn’t get enough love- he’’s such a pretty soft angel, yeah? :( Anyhow, this is prob really cheesy but I hope you like it! Sorry for the delay and thank you for your support!

CW/TW: Long-term friendship, underlying romantic feelings, confession of feelings

You were simple fixated, no, all around infatuated with Jamie, at this point. You found yourself, spending endless minutes just staring at the pictures you had taken of him, the pictures of you together, just absolutely admiring every inch of him, all of what you could take in, from his voice, to his eyes, to the way his hair couldn’t be tamed in the humid city heat in July, and the blue of his fingertips, the way snowflakes illuminated his caramel-honey brown eyes in the dead of winter. You couldn’t drive your mind away from how it felt when he lifted you on his shoulders during concerts, making sure you could get the best view possible, or about the times that he held your hand, listening to you cry, or vent, simply whatever you needed, always offering a kind, non-judgmental ear, a shoulder to cry on.

And there was no getting around it, you loved Jamie, as a best friend, as a companion, but you couldn’t deny, there was more you wanted from him. With the closeness you had both shared for the past years, secrets spilled, nights spent together, the part of you that was before, had become the whole of you- wanting a relationship with him, wanting to call him yours. Wanting more time, to share a home, a life together, achieve your goals with him, wake up and sleep next to him, just to be a part of his everyday life. 

That day, you had a lunch planned with Jamie, the possibility of a movie afterwards. That was if the two of you could agree. You were thinking horror, while he was more along the lines of something lighthearted, maybe some sort of dramedy, but nothing too serious. You were left the afternoon before, pondering what your next move could be, whether you felt comfortable enough to confess to him, or that things were better left unspoken. After all, more than anything, you wanted to preserve the friendship you had with him, and the last thing you wanted to do was make future times non-existent. As much of a hurt as it would be to never have more out of the relationship, it pained you more to imagine simply not having Jamie at all. 

You waited for him to meet you at your apartment, scrolling mindlessly though your phone, trying to distract yourself, trying to think of how you were going to handle all of this. Your mind was going strong for shooting your shot- the weight of it all was too much to bear, the heartache of the secret had grown too loud, too overwhelming. It was something that was incessant, even following you into your dreams, something like this was impossible to escape.

Mid-thought, you heard the creak of the door opening, followed by Jamie’s booming voice, abruptly entering into your space, excitedly running to where you were waiting on the couch. He was so bright like this, yellow all over, gleaming as he greeted you. 

“Hey, (Y/N)!” He smiled, plopping down next to where you sat on the couch. “Whatcha lookin’ at on there?” He jokingly reached for your phone, teasing to grab it from your hands, but stopping just to pull you into a side hug. “Are you all ready? Because I’m huuuuungry.” He told you, tugging on your arm and pouting up at you. 

“Yeah! I’m ready when you are.” You stammered. You could feel your cheeks flushing, and you tried to conceal the bashfulness in your eyes by just smiling down at him. “Yeah, lunch, that sounds good!”

“You-good?” He asked, hand shifting to your shoulder, resting against you. “You seem nervous, are you feeling anxious again?” 

“No, no.” You smiled, gathering yourself as much as you could. “I’m great, I’m doing awesome, I’m sorry.”  

“No apologizing, no worries, if you want, we can stay in, I can get some take out, would that be better?” He asked you.

You thought about it for a moment, to just hang out with him here, take the time to talk with him, to think things out, without the pressure of others around you, just so that you could have some silent time alone. It certainly would allow for some more clarity on things. “Oh...uh, sure!” You replied.

“Ah, perfect.”Jamie kicked off his shoes on the carpet. leaning back with his legs spread, pulling out his phone to scroll through different options in the area, he ended up deciding on pizza, ordering you your favorite, his as well, it of course being his treat. The first half of your afternoon was spent watching television reruns, bullshitting with each other, losing track of time with no effort.

***

When sunlight faded, the hours passing by, Jamie hadn’t mentioned leaving, he simply stayed with you, not showing any signs of boredom, not caring about the fact that hours had passed, keeping the intention of spending any amount of the day with you. When the temperature had dropped, he invited himself to a blanket draped over the back of the couch, offering a shy arm around you, which you hesitantly leaned into, and he pulled you into him, draping the blanket over you, too. You pulled your legs onto the couch, sitting sideways into him. 

“You’re warm.” He laughed. “And you smell nice.” 

“You too.”You smiled up at him, and he returned it.

The to of you were quiet for a few moments, just letting the closeness exist, it was something new to you, new to him, a level that you hadn’t experienced together, but something that was mutually enjoyed, something that didn’t linger with awkwardness, didn’t bring discomfort, something just simply so soft, so natural.

“Jamie…”Your voice was nearly a whisper, and you wanted to back out immediately- take back that you spoke, as you felt your legs tremble, even as you tried to hold them still, tried to steady your hands, and calm your pounding heart, nearly making you nauseous. “I need to talk to you about something, I, uh.”

“Yeah, (Y/N), are you okay?” Jamie asked you concerned, reaching for your hand, encasing it in his, ready to be there for any bad news you had, anything you needed to vent. “You’re shaking, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m sorry, I’m just, I just need to talk to you about something, I’m sorry.” You stammered.

“That’s okay, take a deep breath, you’re really nervous right now, what’s wrong?” Jamie ran his thumb over your hand, gripping a little tighter, as he would do normally, always offering an ear to listen. 

“Nothing, Jamie, I just wanted to let you know about something that’s been on my mind.” You gulped, grounding yourself before you continued. “I really like you, okay?” You paused.

“I like you too, (Y/N), you’re my best friend, that’s okay.” He reassured you.

“No, Jamie, like, I really really, really, like you.” You paused. “I’ve never had a bad day with you, you’ve always been there for me, so kind to me, always there to brighten my day, you’re my best friend, too, but Jamie, I love you, I’m sorry, I just love you so much.” 

You tried to hide the tear that slipped down your cheek, by bowing your head, to which Jamie responded by tilting you face up to his, wiping it away with the pad of his thumb, before planting a kiss on your forehead. “Oh, (Y/N), I love you too, don’t cry, here, come here.”

 Jamie pulled you into his arms, hands supporting your back, as he planted a soft kiss on your lips, waiting for you to reciprocate, and you did, relaxing into his kiss, the nervousness falling off of your shoulders, as you shared his warmth. His hands stroked up and down your back, his lips were more plush, softer than you could have ever imagined, his hold more gentle than what you had ever felt before, so easy, so natural. 

Once he pulled away, his cheeks were rosy red, and he shifted his hands to hold yours. “So.” He giggled. “Are you saying you’ll be my girlfriend?” 

“Yes, Jamie, of course.” He pulled you back into him, just letting you rest on him, his hand stroking through your hair, along your face, just spending the new time as a couple bonded together. The relief had settled in for the both of you, as you would spend the rest of the night having just a few drinks, watching his favorite movies, then yours, repeated, discussing plans for the near future, knowing you had both made the perfect choice.

[franki-lew-yo]

Four LGBTQ Monster/Horror shorts (and three games) for Pride Month!

Happy Pride month everyone!

These are trying times. I think we need something to cheer us up this pride month (I know I’m late :| gulpplb).

And what better way to celebrate than with horror and monsters?

Here’s to all the LGBTQ+ animation, monster, and horror fans out there looking for some representation in the mediums we love.

Ratings (Trigger or Content Warnings marks TW and CW):

Family = Kids can watch it.

Horror = Classic horror/thriller with some good scares and creepy imagery.

Goth = Less horror and more on the macabre or suspense side of things.

Surreal = Weird stuff that crosses into the other genres.

Comedy = Funny stuff w. maybe some cuteness too.

Drama = Horror and monsters used to make you sad or tell a gripping story.

MATURE = Not for kids. Maybe for teenagers but NOT FOR KIDS. These are films with cursing or high-octane nightmare fuel+graphic imagery such as violence or disturbing subject matter. Read the video disc before knowing if you want to watch.

Dirty Paws by Karina Farek (Family|Comedy)

About a couple, one of whom is a werewolf and has to be carefully looked after by his boyfriend each full moon else he gets into all sorts of trouble (like eating his neighbor’s pets). It’s clearly a rough situation, but somehow, they really do make this relationship work.

It’s a very cuuuute slice-of-life piece and it’s nice to see a more functioning wereperson, let alone one in a relationship, in one of these shorts.

Her Lips are Mine by Soft Blanket Productions - (Horror, MATURE)

CW: Stalking, gore and violence.

This is a suspense/horror short so it’s not exactly empowering as much as it is taking the “othering” out of same-sex couples. This could’ve been a short about a woman stalked by an insane man who wants his girlfriend’s lips back, but they made it another woman instead. Dysfunctional mad-love knows no gender and the topic is rife for horror in the right areas, you just need to know how to do it and not paint demographics with broad strokes. To me, this one did that, but I suppose any lesbians reading/watching this will have to be the true judge of that. 

Butter Lover by Kinga (Comedy|Surreal)

Swears kiddos oopsie doodle!

What? It has a monster in it!

It’s also very clearly about a guy who has trouble admitting he’s into men. It’s just where this would usually be the beginning of heart-felt Wes Anderson-style dramedy, here the potential love interest and main character bond over what I think is an Elderitch abomination...

Succubus by AngelaFlatt (Horror/Drama)

This is a bit more of a horror/drama like a bad-end lesbian version of Dirty Paws. A girl thinks she’s found the woman of her dreams. That is, until her friend catches a glimpse of her fiance cheating on her with several men...or so it seems. One wonders if they would be happy and work through their monster/human relationship woes, or if maybe this woman is better not knowing the truth about her lost love.

Either way I feel bad for poor succubus lady ;_;

The Parsnip series (Parsnip, The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith, and Three Lesbians in a Barrow) by DigitalPoppy - (Horror|Comedy|Drama)

Swears again. As Parsnip would say, we don’t use put down’s here!

This is a bit off the cuff since these are games, not shorts, but having watched the Lets Plays of them, I found them rather enjoyable. And they are slightly horror-related and you know what? I’MTHEBIRTHDAYRATTHATMAKESALLOFTHAROOOOLES!!!! So it goes on the list.

After Her Lips are Mine and Succubus I think we’re due for a happier lesbian story. In the Parsnip series by DigitalPoppy, (SPOILERS) we do get a bit of that at the very end of Three Lesbians in a Barrow. In the first two however, point-and-click adventure Parnsip and light-novel The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith, we get wrapped into a plot full of cults, satanic rituals, possession, spirits, and madness. First we follow the offputting Parsnip on his quest to make a delicious pie. Then we follow Trixie, a transwoman with a low self esteem who finds herself in an increasingly dangerous situation courtesy of her friend, Nikita. 

ToTGM is my favorite; as Parsnip went by very quickly while TLiaB was a nice wrap up, but desperately needed a scene transition or two. Trixie’s just a button and where other cynical-drowsy-quirky characters come off as try-hard, I just really liked her. Besides, as a cisgendered person, I personally feel it made the trans issues Trixie deals with very accessible to someone not going through that - and thus made her feel more real! Most of ToTGM is about Trixie’s want for confidence which she ends up needing to have in order to properly talk down Nikita in the end and fight the force that’s haunting them both.

There’s this really homely warm feeling to these games with an underlying theme of danger or forewarning. I just dig that. This is also my kind of anthro animal story; grimdark with a purposefully misleading style that makes me think 90s educational games.

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HAPPY PRIDEMONTH!!!