#this is REALLY LONG sorry but. I have a lot to say and also hamlet... is long

[txttletale]

Do you have recs for combatless rpgs? sorry if someones asked this ! im getting into ttrpgs now and its just pretty hard to find anything non combat focused ?

i recommended wanderhome (melancholy animal roadtrip), dream askew (queer postapocalyptic survival), microscope (collaborative worldbuilding), and crescent moon (kids learning and growing in a fantasy land) in resposne to an ask earlier today. other great rpgs that aren't combat focused include:

chuubo's marvelous wish-granting engine: i'll level with you, if you're just getting into rpgs this one might be A Lot because it's quite mechanically complex. but it's a beautiful game about having ghibliesque coming-of-age adventures in a surreal dreamy world.

nobilis is by the same person (jenna moran, a genuine game design pioneer and genius) -- it's about being godlets, the living embodiments of concepts from the concrete to the abstract. you might find yourself fighting in this game, but it's unlikely to look anything like 'combat'.

brindlewood bay, which is about being elderly women investigating murders.

pasión de las pasiones, a pbta (powered by the apocalypse) game about doing ridiculous romance drama shit based on telenovelas

monsterhearts, about teenaged monsters having weird drama and exploring their sexuality. think buffy or twilight, but queerer

pigsmoke, about being professors at a college of magic and competing to see who can publish the best paper (yes, really)

the girlfriend of my girlfriend is my friend, about... i mean i think the title makes it pretty clear! being gay and poly and kinda broke

it's been a long, long, time, about two people who used to date, their relationship, their lives after it, and their reunion

sagas of the icelanders, about being viking settlers in iceland during the saga period and playing out quasimythical dramas

hieronymous, about being a bunch of sinners making your way across hieronymous bosch's garden of earthly delights

thousand year old vampire, a solo journalling game about being a vampire and living through long stretches of history

blow up hamlet, where your table performs hamlet while changing the plot and improvising new plot beats at semi-random

slugblaster, about being rowdy teens hoverboarding through interdimensional rifts in the spirit of 90s teen movies

woo! that's a fuckin' lot of ttrpgs, but i wanted to give a lot of suggestions because i think it's so important for people getting into the hobby to understand the breadth of games out there and how far from the popular image created by D&D they can go! there are two-player and GM-less and even one-player games on this list. you can do anything! the world of rpgs is so fucking wide and beautiful. good luck and i hope you find something that speaks to you!

(oh, also, my game, most trusted advisors -- about being the untrustworthy privy council to a dipshit king and falling over each other's nested dipshit schemes -- has no combat in it. just saying!)

[utilitycaster]

hi! I'm sorry if you answered this already and I missed the post, but what are your general thoughts on the party being split for so long?

Short answer: I think it's great. I think the best way to answer this accurately is to cover some of my past complaints about the campaign, and discuss how this split is addressing the vast majority of them. This is also, I suppose, serves as an argument for why it's worth getting caught up with Campaign 3 for anyone who fell off of regular watching.

I'll begin by saying that I understand the desire to have something akin to Campaign 2 but in Marquet: a group of people deeply tied into the lore and fabric of the setting and yet displaced within it, finding each other. I still would have liked to see that story. I do not fault people for being disappointed in not getting that, particularly given what Marquet means as a setting, and this still is not that campaign. But pretty much all of my other complaints have been addressed by the apogee solstice and the party split and so I'm not here to mourn what I know didn't happen, and instead to talk about how the last ten or so episodes have been banger after banger.

I said this elsewhere recently but my issue wasn't that the campaign was building up to the apogee solstice setpiece; it was that it took about 30 episodes to even reveal that was what the buildup was for, and yet, somehow, 35 episodes to finally be done with Treshi. Which meant in turn that the party was constantly kind of shepherded from place to place. Even the sidequests were mostly part of the buildup - Heartmoor Hamlet is a good time, and achieves quite a lot in only a handful of episodes - but it is, ultimately, mostly there to wipe out Ashton's debt which would be a detriment to getting to the main plot. The modular, party-driven nature of Campaign 2 just wasn't an option, since they could have quite possibly avoided the solstice (akin to how Campaign 2 completely avoided the Augen Trust plot and required a drastic reworking of the Lucien plot). But because it started so early, it was hard to get a sense of what would actually motivate the characters so that they could be guided more naturally by hooks they'd be likely to take, since they were doing fetch quest after fetch quest with a wealthy patron (I love Eshteross with all my heart but that kind of figure early in the story is tough to incorporate; more on that later) and getting lore dumped at by NPCs and never really had to scramble or take weird jobs killing rats in the sewers or even share rooms in an inn with people they didn't already know before the story started.

Which is the second part: the party did not really mix that much. Imogen and Laudna came in codependently joined at the hip, and Orym and Fearne were also quite close. Ashton and FCG had a looser arrangement, and Chetney was the only true free agent. So a lot of the time, the party felt like three groups working together with tenuous bridges rather than a coherent party, and they never quite had either the downtime to cohere, or the massive crisis to force them together. This party has actually seen quite a lot of death, but Bertand's happened too early, and while Laudna's didn't quite reset to the status quo, it also occurred just as the Treshi plot had ended and so the timeline was becoming even more accelerated. The seeds of something were there, but they needed something more to actually take root.

Enter the apogee solstice and the party split. This has fixed basically everything:

The fact that the solstice happened means that now we're in damage control mode. There's a clear motivator for the party, but one that they genuinely care about rather than one that requires the DM being like "and THIS NPC wants THIS thing."

It also forces the party to develop those relationships outside of the friend they started with. The obvious first reason is that the groups are split up along those lines. That is not an accident or a cruel joke; that's fucking necessary, frankly, to get the party to bond. As my meta about Laudna and Orym points out, not having their emotional support prior colleague - even by sending - and frankly, yeah, not even knowing they're alive, for certain, is what will make these characters actually grow and change. As we saw, the same is true for Fearne, Imogen, and FCG.

It notably removes the spotlight from Imogen, which is good, because the cool development happens after the character-focused arc, when they can process, rather than during. She's still Ruidusborn, but what that means is very different from what it meant pre-ritual.

Then there's the practical element of travel. This party probably isn't going to be teleporting nonstop, but they did have comparatively fast travel in the form of a skyship from very early on, and in another three levels Fearne will have transport via plants, and Imogen can take teleport as a cast spell the level after that, and then we'll never get to see much of the world...but if you break teleporting a bit? You send them into the middle of the wilderness? Yeah, they're going to need to have those watch conversations that were far too few and far between early in the campaign.

And allies! This party's doing it backwards. They've lost Eshteross; Keyleth's fate is unknown to them; Ryn is a statue; Beau and Caleb's fates are similar question marks. After so much time of having patrons and friendly wizards telling them what to do? They're alone, and they have to survive by their wits and by leaning on each other.

The fact that we've got guests is good both because we get to see different facets of the main cast's characters through their responses to these new companions, and because we're getting to fill some of the gaps in the party (people with more longstanding relationships to deities; people with 20 INT scores). It also pushes Bells Hells, in some way, closer together, by having to assert that they are part of a group with shared experience. And it's just a delight to have them.

This is also just fun for fans in that we're getting to see some of the most wished for locations - the Mighty Nein's time in Uthodurn was brief and very focused, and everyone's been clamoring for Molaesmyr and Issylra. For all that Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein fought world-wide threats, they were largely contained to a specific region, and I think this is really setting the stage for how big a deal the apogee solstice really is, by flinging the party across the world and showing how everyone is affected.

Anyway: love the party split. I honestly would have been happy with one or two more episodes of the other party and am looking forward to a similar length arc for this party, and honestly, even then, it might take a few episodes for them to reunite, and I think they'll all be better for it.

[bwaldorf]

ramasha do you have any bollywood movie recs?? 🎤

omgggg em im so honored you thought of me!! 🫶🏼🩷

tbh i've sorta been on a journey of watching more bollywood (and south asian cinema in general), since there was a huge chunk of my life where i just never really kept up with releases and was sorta discouraged from watching it so my taste isn't the Most diverse (in terms of genres and years) but i'm working on it 😭 that said, here's my attempt at giving you a lot of different options, so hopefully there's something here that strikes your fancy hehe :3

lots will be under the cut bc im a huge YAPPER.... sorry. also, some of these haven't really aged that well and are sometimes more of just a nostalgic fav and/or ones i think are iconic so... take some of these recs with a grain of salt

some of my bigger personal faves:

om shanti om (2007) — it may hit more if you have a bit more exposure to bollywood cinema and its industry bc it references it a lot, but i still think it's an enjoyable movie regardless! (yes i am biased bc this is one of my fav bollywood movies ever + a huge nostalgic fav. plus SRK and deepika padukone.. can't go wrong there!)

haider (2014) — this movie is SOOOO good! i highly rec it 💞 it's an adaptation of hamlet, set within the backdrop of the 1995 kashmir conflicts. this is actually a part of trilogy of shakespeare adaptations by the director: the other two are maqbool (2003) which is macbeth and omkara (2006) which is othello

main hoon na (2004) — another SRK nostalgic fav

ghajini (2008) — it rips off christopher nolan's memento but i think it adds a lot of its own stuff too and i have a soft spot for it 😭

andhadhun (2018)

kahaani (2012)

tumbbad (2018)

amar singh chamkila (2024)

3 idiots (2009) — the most likely one that non regular bollywood watchers will know and deservedly so imo

gully boy (2019)

hum saath saath hain (1999) — okay not objectively the best movie.. but its a hugely nostalgic and comfort movie for me and i think its great if you wanna watch something that's heartfelt and doesn't have a ton of high stakes conflict

maine pyar kiya (1989) — same as above ☝🏼 i watched this one a lot as a kid

jab we met (2007)

devdas (2002) — worth it for at least the beautiful cinematography, costumes, and gorgeous talented cast

fanaa (2006) — plot is kinda messy at times but it was a real angst machine for me as a kid 😭

photograph (2019)

sir (2018)

bulbbul (2020) — tw for a rape scene though. sorry for the spoiler but it was genuinely really harrowing for me to watch so i think its important to mention

misc other movies i've seen:

qala (2022)

dil bole hadippa! (2009) — admittedly, i haven't rewatched this one in a long time so i can't totally say it holds up. it's a rip-off of she's the man, but … better….. TO ME. yes im speaking from nostalgia bc this is the one i saw first

badhaai do (2022) — this is technically a 'sequel' to the similarly titled movie badhaai ho (2018) but they're actually total standalones

gangubai kathiawadi (2022) — i have such mixed feelings about this one but it's a movie that really stuck with me ever since i watched it soooo yeah

raees (2017) — SRK looks unbelievably fine in that movie. need i say more?

koi mil gaya (2003) — it's a mix of both ET and close encounters of the third kind... but in my very biased, nostalgic opinion: better 🫣 there's also a few sequels, but i only really remember seeing krrish (2006)

josh (2000) — another entry to the SRK looks super gorgeous in this movie 😭 this is basically a desi west side story

go goa gone (2013) — not the best to me, but its a bollywood zombie movie! which was a very new concept to me in that industry so ofc i had to throw it in there

chennai express (2013)

mohabbatein (2000)

dilwale dulhania le jayenge (1995) — had to include this for SRK reasons and also bc it's a massively impactful movie in the industry so i'd be remiss not to

andaz apna apna (1994)

ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga (2019)

jaane tu.. ya jaane na (2008)

aaja nachle (2007)

munna bhai mbbs (2003)

gangs of wasseypur - part 1 (2012) — i've only seen the first one in this series but if you want a somewhat slower, meditative, gangster movie this one def fits the bill

what's your raashee? (2009) — can't remember how well this ages (i think it was pretty mid?) but the concept is fun! priyanka chopra plays 12 girls: each personifying a different zodiac sign as the main guy tries to find his soulmate 😭

taare zameen par (2007) — you'll also see this listed as 'like stars on earth' sometimes

amar akbar anthony (1977)

don (2006) — villainous SRK? sign me up! he actually has multiple movies where he's this sorta antihero/"antivillain" type character. and even a few where he's a straight-up villain. i've been trying to get through all of those bc i just love his range

anjaam (1993) — an example of the aforementioned thing ☝🏼 SRK plays a genuinely terrible guy here, and i love how it actually challenges a lot of the tropes that bollywood tends to use in its romances and shows how creepy and stalkerish they actually are (despite it being typically framed in the narrative otherwise)

partner (2007) — i recently found out it was basically ripping will smith's hitch 😭 i haven't seen that one so i can't say which is better, but if you enjoyed that one, you'll probably be into this one too. it's very unserious and not the Best. but i watched it a lot as a kid

aaja nachle (2007)

roadside romeo (2008) — okay this is a very unserious, low budget animated movie rec. it's soooo so silly and dumb but if you're in the market for smth like that, this is an amusing one for that

welcome (2007) — i gotta rewatch this one bc i don't remember a lot but it seems like a lot of tomfoolery and shenanigans

my name is khan (2010) — another one i gotta rewatch for its politics but i figured i'd throw it in regardless

black (2005)

kal ho naa ho (2003)

kuch kuch hota hai (1998)

sholay (1975)

hungama (2003)

some from my watchlist that i haven't seen yet:

(as if this list needed to be any longer.... but anyways! including these bc i think they seem promising/interesting and i think they introduce More variety of genres/time periods than the ones before)

ijaazat (1987)

thappad (2020)

udaan (2010)

merry christmas (2024)

chhoti si baat (1976)

hindi medium (2017)

the lunchbox (2013) — heard LOTS of good things about this one!

lipstick under my burkha (2017)

neerja (2016)

queen (2014)

rajnigandha (1974)

kaagaz ke phool (1959)

anand (1971)

paheli (2005) — it's a mainstream bollywood remake of duvidha (1973)

baadshah (1999)

monica, o my darling (2022)

madhumati (1958)

raaz (2002)

satya (1998)

highway (2014)

oh darling! yeh hai india! (1995)

pyaasa (1957)

sardar udham (2021)

awaara (1951)

shree 420 (1957)

kaminey (2009)

mahal (1949)

chandigarh kare aashiqui (2021)

bunty aur babli (2005)

talvar (2015)

duplicate (1998)

lootera (2013)

mughal-e-azam (1960)

baazigar (1993)

trapped (2017)

fire (1996) — a hugely significant movie in explicitly showing a wlw relationship in bollywood. i believe it was the first in that regard?

stree (2018)

piku (2015)

english vinglish (2012)

umrao jaan (2006) — there's also an earlier version of this movie with the same title that came out in 1981! i haven't seen either yet so i can't say which is better

jodhaa akbar (2008)

darr (1993) — big movie for villain SRK enthusiasts if that interests you too like it does me 🤭

zindagi na milegi dobara (2011)

dil dhadakne do (2015)

dear zindagi (2016)

special 26 (2013)

badla (2019)

mardaani (2014)

raman raghav 2.0 (2016)

peepli live (2010)

drishyam (2015)

[valeriianz]

Would you ever write a.....Fairytale adventure type AU (ﾉ*･ω･)ﾉ? (idk how to explain it ajbdkjvakdv)

(Kinda like...maybe Ghibli movie vibes....ABDHBAHCBKAC)

HYPER HUGS

ahhhh always a privilege to see you in my inbox, Mere 😻

(this post gets long, pls bear with me lol)

fairy tail itself, no. im really not into fantasy or fairy tails, sadly (which sucks cos like, that's half of dreamling AUs right there lol).

but ooh i do love some adventure! especially Ghibli-style! i know that's kinda fantastical but i'd be very into it.

my mind immediately went to a Princess Mononoke AU, a film i havent seen in ages, but Hob and Dream in that scene??

Dream: "I'll cut your throat! That'll shut you up!" Hob: "You're beautiful."

or, OR! have you seen that Castle in the Sky AU??

so, in short... yeah, probably haha.

OH SNAP! i just remembered i have a Little Red Riding Hood au that i had been attempting like, in early 2023 after THAT fanart but i could not figure out how to write it, and i got so frustrated with it that i just gave up. below the cut is what i'd written so far, starting with some ramblings to myself before some "proper" writing... i'll never finish it ;_; sorry.

Hob is still a Red Riding Hood/Hunter type character and he is the only one "brave" enough to visit the witch in the woods, aka Johanna when his village requires medicine/care. The whole village is deeply superstitious and so Johanna stays out of the village for her own safety and it's taken a lot of convincing from Hob (who is one of the only capable hunters so he is Important) that she is fine and won't curse the whole village. The only time Johanna forbids Hob from coming to see her is on the night of the full moon.

But then EMERGENCY happens and Hob sets out for Johanna's on a full moon and runs into Dream. Cue fanart scene. Hob fights Dream and somehow manages to hold his own. Maybe they bang here, maybe Dream gets Hob to open up about why he's out during the full moon and then lets him go. Because Hob has zero survival instincts he goes out again on a full moon just to see Dream. Johanna thinks he's an idiot.

-----------------------------------

There is a witch in the woods; the villagers know this and remain wary of her provocation. She is all powerful but she is also a hermit– quiet and bloodless, when ignored. Many elders in the village have spun up stories, history between them and her. Though it seems all unfounded, Hob had never been anything but curious, growing up with these tales of offering sacrificial goats in place of the children they believed her to steal, before moving on to setting up traps on the edge of the woods where their small hamlet lay.

Hob had also heard stories, though not many, of how she’d been run out, that there may be more of her kind hiding in secret within the community. This too, Hob doesn’t allow to bother him. He is surrounded by superstition and pays no mind to any of it.

Which is all to say, he’s encountered the witch on several occasions. 

And whatever tales Hob had grown up hearing of her comes to a screeching halt the day he first met her.

“What the ever loving fuck are you doing out here?”

Snapping up to attention, Hob had regarded the woman. He’d been a boy of 15 the first time they’d met, and had the notion of fright abandon him by watching his mother die in childbirth to what was supposed to be his little brother, as well as his father being robbed and beaten to death by bandits while he cowed away behind a tree. 

Hob would never be that cowardly again. And he made up for it by going out into the woods nearly every night, despite the warnings from his neighbors. His friends would egg him on but then chicken out the closer they got to the edge of the clearing, lined by dense forest and rustling leaves.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

when i tell you i am frothing at the mouth reading through your metas. oh my god. obsessed with everything you have to say. we seem to have a few of similar opinions and theories regarding dazai and i love it. he’s my absolute favorite character in the series and second favorite character out of fiction overall and i just LOVE what you have to say about him so much!! your theory on him being the book’s seal? BRILLIANT oh my god so interesting. i’ve never had any real reason for it nor specific idea of why they’re wealthy, but just today i was talking to a friend about how i’ve always kind of had a feeling that he grew up wealthy, and so when i saw the one of him being the son of mafia benefactors it caught my eye so fast. i just have this image in mind?? as him as a young child, right after the war ended — maybe he’s 11 or 12? — sitting silently in the back of a full classroom, maybe at a private school (his parents are neglectful, always having had preferred to send him away rather than raise him), observing all of his classmates with an apathetic expression on his face. he doesn’t fit in with them; he never has. always excluded, and most of the time, it’s of his own accord. he doesn’t feel like them, doesn’t understand why they are just so… different from him. he often is punished by his parents for it, the purposeful seclusion and all the things that come along with it, because despite the fact that they neglect their other duties as parents, they never forget to punish him. omg i’m getting so carried away describing this i’m rambling again LOL sorry!!!! -from, frog!

Hello Frog! :)

Sorry this took me so long to reply! I'm really glad you're enjoying my analyses, and that you shared your thoughts with me!

Dazai is a really fascinating character. For all that we follow him in the story closely and get to see what he was like and how he changed at different ages, he's very much still a mystery. It makes it really fun to theorize.

The "he had a wealthy family who were probably associated with the Mafia" comes from three places:

He's stated to not be an orphan in Fifteen, or connected to Mori in any way before their agreement. But he had to be someone, or some random 14 year old wouldn't make any sense as a key witness whose word would be believed by the Mafia.

He clearly knew the Old Boss and vice versa, but he's apparently never seen death up close before, nor was he a part of the Mafia. That doesn't make it seem like he's the Old Boss' son or grandson or anything. Maybe he was a nephew, for Hamlet reasons. (That actually might work, considering irl Dazai wrote his own spin on Hamlet... food for thought!)

Oba Yozo's backstory in No Longer Human, as an alienated young boy who couldn't seem to feel or understand the importance of the things his wealthy family placed importance on, and so disguised his true feelings and fear of being "found out" by clowning to make everybody laugh. (Overly simplified, but I don't want to get too into it in case you haven't read it. The author also came from a wealthy family, so I feel pretty confident about this take on his backstory!)

If you enjoy Dazai backstory theorizing, @daz4i has some good headcanons. You've already read mine, but I've since written the first chapter of a fic called Clear Eye on ao3, which does kind of go into my own interpretation of it. There's also lots of other theories out there that are worth a look!

And of course, maybe you have written something yourself in this span of time... (if you have, please let me know!)

[crestfallercanyon]

1, 4 and 21 for Mickey Milkovich since I’ve seen you post about Shameless <3

I have seen you liking some of my posts about Shameless, too! I'm always excited when mutuals overlap in other fandoms than just the root one, if that makes sense <3

Anywho, to the questions!

Why do you like or dislike this character?

This answer's long, so sorry, but I feel like it's hard to talk about all of Mickey in a succinct way. While there are parts of Shameless that the writers severely fuck up, and that fuckery did occasionally get his hands on Mickey Milkovich (like constantly trying to write him off it seems??), Mickey has some of the greatest depth and is also consequently one of the most consistent characters they managed to write.

I've said it before, but he has every reason to "look out for number one," and he does, but his number one stops being himself -- it's for his family (Mandy and Ian in particular). While that has its own ramifications, it's also a beautiful thing about him.

He's also smart. I like that he is not a stupid man, which I feel he could have been very quickly reduced to (and I think they sometimes try to do to him in later seasons but that's a rant for later). Reckless and flippant sometimes, but he is smart and he can and will learn. His biggest character growths aren't from lack of understanding due to ineptitude, it's due to biases, and when those biases gets shattered he learns from them and keeps those lessons with him (my main example of this is when he was so very against letting Ian go to a mental hospital -- the whole progression of Mickey taking care of Ian during his illness is what I would say is where he has most of his rapid growth: it's where he stops trying to pretend he doesn't love Ian, it's where he realizes that he can't do everything on his own and has to ask for help sometimes, it's where he loses his ignorance about what exactly Ian is going, much of what he learns in that season carries with him throughout the rest of the show it seems).

Mickey's story is so full of tragedy, and I thought that Shameless was going to "life sucks and then you die" to him, honestly (whenever something went right, they immediately took a hammer to that fragile happiness as soon as seemingly possible). But he wins. He gets the boy he fell in love with, and has a job, and makes his way out of South Side. It's not the dream he thought he'd always have (he thought he'd be King of South Side) but that dream was also made up of a lot of... resignation. So I'm glad that that was turned on its head for him and he still had happiness, I thought that was consistent with the rest of his life, too.

4) If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

This is a fascinating question. To be perfectly honest, I actually wish a character like him was in Sons of Anarchy. There were parts of that show I really enjoyed (I mean, boil it down and it's essentially Motorcycle Hamlet), but I think his character and his arc (with Ian, too, actually) would have added a lot of additional depth to that show -- that and have it address queer characters in a meaningful way (the only queer character I remember from that show was very limited and quickly off the show if I recall correctly). I think he'd be really well suited to meld into that world, actually, with a few tweaks to get him as part of the SoA in the first place.

I also would love to have him in a western or noir, but that's more fanfiction au ideas, not actually placing him in another piece of media haha

21) If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I love to write his dialogue, the snappish way he speaks. I particularly like to write earlier seasons Mickey because he's got such a front he's putting up, it's fun to figure out dialogue where he's clearly saying one thing and hiding another in-between the words; or just straight up contradicting his own thinking because he has to and is desperately hopeful and also terrified that someone (Ian) can see right through him. There's so much internal conflict of Mickey early seasons that while it can be a challenge, it's also so fun to write.

What I don't like? I'm not sure how to articulate this correctly, but I struggle with writing some of the antagonism he and Ian continue to have in later seasons. I mean it's definitely there, it's a part of him, just because Mickey loves Ian and vice versa doesn't mean those two don't insult each other or all that -- I just tend not to write those moments that much because I either will go overboard and write too strong of an argument or it won't feel quite like their energy, if that makes sense.

Thank you so much for the asks! They were a lot of fun. They come from this: Character Ask Game

[merlions]

Im terribly sorry to report that I am having Hamlet Thoughts again :/

It is possible I have said this all before maybe several times. But!

Why is everyone so judgy of Hamlet!!! It feels like when people were all "wait Romeo and Juliet makes sense if you remember they were fuckin TEENS" but the same justice has not been granted my good boy Small Ham??

Well Hamlet:

Was also a teen!

With a recently dead dad!

Found out his mother married his uncle.

Found out his UNCLE MURDERED HIS FATHER.

Noticed no one cared! No one even knew, really? So he couldn't really do anything about it cause now this guy is the king??

Was commanded by the ghost of his dead father to murder that guy!

Does NOT want to commit murder!!! I cannot stress enough how much Hamlet's whole entire arc is him just making up excuses to stall because he can't think of a way around having to kill Claudius but he just! Does! Not! Want! To!

"OK the only real evidence I even have of this is a literal ghost and however much faith I have in my own judgement. So like. Maybe I should fact check that before I murder a possibly innocent guy in cold blood?"

Is a nervous wreck!! "He's pretending he was driven mad by grief, he's not actually mentally unwell" he's literally contemplating suicide, he did a whole long soliloquy about it. Y'know, the one that goes like, "To be or not to be"? It was this whole thing idk, I thought it was pretty memorable but maybe that's just me

"Hey mom maybe we should like not hang around that guy he seems like he's maybe bad news-oh FUCK he's literally spying on me saying this to you, hes gonna kill me SHIT" *stabs randomly at curtain*

ACCIDENTALLY KILLS HIS GIRLFRIEND'S DAD

CAUSES HER THE SAME MADNESS BY GRIEF HE'S [only half] PRETENDING TO BE AFFLICTED BY

NOT GOOD. THE SITUATION IS NOT IDEAL

Does this fuckin play he was stalling on to try to at least get Claudius to say something about it, like truly can we salvage something out of this

NOPE

CLAUDIUS GETS A GUY TO ATTEMPT MURDER ON HAMLET BY POISONING HIS BLADE IN A DUEL

GETS IMPATIENT AND TRIES TO KILL HIM WITH MORE, OTHER POISON

HAMLETS MOM DRINKS THAT POISON TO KEEP HAMLET FROM DRINKING IT

THE GUY COERCED TO KILL HAMLET THEN SUCCESSFULLY POISONS HIM

HAMLET POISONS HIM RIGHT BACK

CLAUDIUS DRINKS MORE POISON ON PURPOSE

EVERYONE IS NOW DEAD

???????

HOW IS THIS ALL HAMLET'S FAULT

"If hamlet had done the murder at the start he wouldn't have cost several other random people their lives including himself, hes so terrible and indecisive" LISTEN

First of all. I wonder if maybe the guy who actually did the murder and stole the crown and then directly caused death to most of those other dead people - I wonder if he might be partly responsible? For a few of those people dying. I wonder if King Claudius of Denmark might share some of the blame for some of those people that got dead directly and accidentally by his hand. (Now thicker than itself with brother's, wife's, son's, son's girlfriend's brother's, and arguably son's girlfriend's father's blood! Starting to doubt there IS rain enough in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow actually. That's a lot of blood)

Also Hamlet is 17? Why was it HIS responsibility to deal with Claudius?? Oh yeah and

HE DIDNT WANT TO MURDER SOMEONE?????

WOULD YOU???????

[fantomette22]

E-EXCUSE ME?! (That drawing also made me think of how Ludwig's eyes were growing on his right shoulder too, so it could really be Moon's side effect but) EXCUSE ME! This theory sounds SUPER interesting?? So you think there were many Dolls mass-produced, and the one we meet in the Hunter's Dream is just one that "survived"? Or like what? Can you please elaborate, this sounds like a really unique take?

Oh you mentioned it on your reblog but yeah it is reminiscent of Ludwig! It's also really interesting how he's the only beast that obtain additional eyes... but instead of being in his head it create another head- ok anyway we'll talk about it another day let's go winter lanterns theory! XD

This time I will "try" to not divague too much on all the other theories & interpretations I know/have or we'll still be on it tomorrow 😂(sorry I failed)

Because if you ask me seriously what I think are the winter lanterns well I don't know 💀 I'm not sure at all what the hell are they, why they're here and how they came to life. I have/know tons of possible ideas. I guess for a fic I could choose but canonically I really don't know what they are for sure. (I won't be referencing the demake versions that is really cool btw or the comics ver because I haven't read it yet!)

So well I think everyone who played Bloodborne know what this abomina- I mean enemy is.

They have a part of the doll body (form, clothes, wooden joints hands and fingers like the doll) they're made are made of messengers and have eyes (like mensis brain) and inflicted frenzy like the giant brain. + they have those horrible little jaws... and they sing this...

I'm unsure some say it's Mergo's lullaby other said it's the hunter dream music, some said it's neither... so if someone know... because really idk. It's beautiful yet disturbing. the voice is too deep and distorded.

(Did you know the doll was supposed to hum a lullaby in her sleep? When she nap there's black corner on the screen like there's a dialogue but there's nothing, it's the last thing remnant of this cut content. it's actually in ver 1.00 apparently)

They can be found in the nightmare frontier (3 of them I think), the nightmare of mensis (5?) and the fishing hamlet (2) in the hunter's nightmare (dlc). (Ok 10 of them, add the doll 11, add Maria 12, like the 12 hours of a clock. COINCIDENCES?!?! cough couch sorry yes it's probably the case but still hahah it's funny)

Ok so about the theory I was referencing here and referenced once in a while. I originally saw it on reddit but sadly I can't find the link anymore 😞

Basically, the original speculation said that the winter lanterns could have been created by Mensis (eventually healing church), to take care of Mergo, if I remember well. And then they become corrupted by the nightmare.

After thinking about this and other theories I read concerning the doll (that she could have been created by healing church originally and Gehrman recover the doll after/was given to him and then he made the clothes etc) and the extra knowledge I have on Japanese dolls (yes I made researches oh jp doll and it's even more interesting than the European victorian era one ahah) I could share the following ideas :

That maybe the winter lanterns were originally created by the church/mensis to help them + hunters in the nightmares. Because it was too dangerous to let humans go there for too long. But eventually, because no one cared properly for them, after a while, they become corrupted (or after Mensis did their ritual) and well become like this*. They would have been created after the original dolls because that had lot of potential or smt. They have clothes really similar to the doll but also the black church attire and without the dlc they are highly associated with the lecture building aka linked with church & mensis.

It's interesting to note 2 thing :

Their name come from the alkekengi plant (more explanation on reddit). they are called Hozuki in Japanese. (they even made little dolls with the grain hehe)

*So about the dolls in general. I believed the doll in Bloodborne is highly inspired by the mourning doll from victorian era (I explained here a little) but it's interesting to see how they traditionally view dolls in Japan (because the devs are Japanese). If you're familiar with the culture/legend in shintoism/buddhism, they believe that objects and especially the one we cherish the most, have a soul. So they think dolls have a soul and they have special ceremonies to dispose of them when they aren't needed anymore called "ningyo kuyo". A way to thank them to have been there during childhood and to free their spirit by purification (burning them in a ceremony with prayers etc). But why? Well if it's not done it's believed that the soul stay but would become an evil spirit. because they were abandoned and not taken care of anymore. there's Yoke who might come from here or another good exemple : branette/banette the Pokemon

So... I wouldn't be surprised if that's why they turned into nightmares monsters. The doll was actually treat with care and respected, was loved. Not the others. They probably didn't even have a face...

---

There's really tons of other speculations on them so have a few others here as well :

Some people think it's failed attempt to the doll creation and they were discarded/abandoned but it don't make sense to me, are at least not like this. it's also highly possible that's it's some kind of "echo" of the doll + messengers. the 2 thing that are supposed to be to always be safe and nice. Some think only the hunter/us could see them or see them like this. It's unclear.

Also I do headcanon in part that they could have been Maria very own nightmares (they do have horrifying similarities with the patients of the researches hall... and some they are always in the nightmares).

The patients head (alone) cause frenzy as well. I feel like if the experiments had succeed (obtained additional eyes on the inside, for the patients), it would have been way too similar to a winter lantern. + they look similar to the doll and if we go on the headcanon that Maria used to wear smt really similar to the female black church attire during her time at the research hall well...they're based on her too. I imagined she could have been plague by nightmares of those but it's really headcanons territory.

Another theory I saw earlier while doing researches : they could have been human actually who transformed, past black church female doctors or hunters, but that don't explain the wood hands or why they transformed and all the other guys just died.

So yeah there's way too much thing it's always really interesting to know what people think

Next time I might share my more detailed headcanon concerning their creation + the doll hehe.

[forzasedici]

i love it that you reblogged the “get to know the blogger” post bc i saw you reblog a lot of “le belle et la bete” gifs and was curious about your general taste/favourite films 👁️👁️

this is going to be so long i'm sorry but i just love talking about it so let's start!

i'm going to highlight some of the movies from my favourites list on letterboxd aka the movies that butter my bun:

— Skyfall (2012) and 1917 (2019) both directed by Sam Mendes are honestly great movies with Skyfall for me being the best Bond movie and 1917 as one of the best war movies. What made 1917 one of my favourites was the watching it at cinema experience plus the reveal in the end is just *chef's kiss*

— Tarantino movies. Like that's it. I know a lot of ppl don't like him but for me he's one of the best writers and sure has his problems but you cannot deny his work is great. Inglorious Basterds for me take the cake as his best movie with Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill: Part I being up there as well. One of his underrated movies is definitely Jackie Brown which I've loved.

— Period dramas. Another one of my fave genres. Emma. (2020) being one of my favourite movies. Emma (2009) is also a great adaptation albeit it is a series. Pride and Prejudice (2005) and (1995) are great as well. Little Women has recently grown on me way more and remains my favourite Greta Gerwig movie. Another underrated movie for me is Ophelia which as the title says focuses more on Ophelia from the play Hamlet. It's really well done and I've enjoyed watching it.

— This one is also a period drama but it is a bollywood movie so I wanted to highlight it. Jodhaa Akbar is a MUST watch such a good movie it's insane like I'm sorry you have a sword fight sequence between two lovers and you have won me over.

— Let's get franchises out of the way. Obviously Marvel movies are some of my favourites with Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: Ragnarok which are in my top 3. Both Black Panther movies and Spider-man: No Way Home are taking honourable mentions. For their series my favourite has been Moon Knight. (Sony gets their cookies for Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse and obviously Venom because come on now eddie and venom are otp y'all don't get it like i do)

— Next big franchise is Star Wars. Original trilogy: Empire Strikes Back. Prequel trilogy: Revenge of the Sith (I'm an Anakin girlie unfortunately) and Sequel trilogy: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson supremacy). Series: Obi-wan Kenobi (i cried). Honourable mention to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (i also cried).

— Since I mentioned Rian Johnson let's expand on that because the man just gets movies and everyone should watch Looper and Knives Out!!

— Denis Villeneuve. MY MAN!!!! Arrival and Dune *chef's kiss* if you can bear longer movies also Blade Runner 2049 but it isn't one of my favorites exactly because it was long and boring. And since probably someone will say the same for Dune at least Dune has you looking at Oscar Isaac and Timothee Chalamet sure they look miserable but that's when men look the best.

— Spy movies? like idk how to call this but let me list them all. Anna (2019) they succeeded where The Red Sparrow failed like if you're looking for anything similar to Black Widow Anna is the one I would recommend a thousand times. The Nice Guys and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. great comedies I just love them. It's not really a spy but assassin I guess but John Wick franchise is the shit and the best movie is obviously John Wick 2.

— Another director that has me is unfortunately Christopher Nolan. Can I get more basic than that? I do admit his faults and that's sound mixing is fucking awful, I don't understand his movies while I am watching them most of the time and this man cannot write a female character for the life of him BUT 🎶 shapes and colours 🎶. His ideas are what draw me in and it's just visual masterpieces doesn't matter if I can't hear the dialogue if it looks good am I right?

— Smashing musicals and animation together because this is already becoming too long. Singin' In The Rain and The Sound of Music are a MUST watch and also I'm a Phantom of the Opera girlie so if you're going to watch anything watch the 25th anniversary version. I am also unfortunately a Hamilton girlie and the damage to my life caused by that damn musical is irreparable. For animation musical Hercules, The Emperor's New Groove, Anastasia, The Lion King and Tangled and purely animation Howl's Moving Castle, Lilo and Stitch, The Incredibles and Inside Out.

— Now it's time for a quick fire: Ford v Ferrari and Rush are two best movies for my motorsport girlies, Gone Girl and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire for my book girlies, Death at a Funeral and Hot Fuzz for the british comedy girlies, i'm also unfortunately a Titanic girlie probably the movie i've watched most in my life, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS!!! A. MUST. WATCH. Monty Python movies are great if you ignore some of the outdated jokes. Jackie is one of my favorites just because it's one of Natalie's Portman's best performances and that's also including Black Swan but both movies are also visually stunning.

— The Death of Stalin is one of the best comedies as well. Ready Player One is one of my weirder favourites since many ppl see it as an average movie but i'd recommend it to anyone (literally can't believe it's my favourite Spielberg movie 😭😭). Also add to the video game genre Tron: Legacy because I will also recommend that movie to anyone. The Grand Budapest Hotel is also a must watch like if anyone made the world go through a pink paint shortage before Barbie did then it's this movie and finally The Batman (2022). Let's end on a battinson note just because.

— Crazy to think I haven't even mentioned all of my favourites but I guess this is kinda the jist of it all. Basically my taste is anything as long as I like it I guess jsbsjsbsjs. (I forgot to mention the horror genre but that's just because I don't really have a favourite movie like if I had to say anything it would be The Conjuring movies.)

— As for Le Belle Et La Bête it's one of my new favourites and honestly got me into a french cinema mood so I'll probably find more favourites there. One of my goals has always been to watch more foreign movies but not many have entered my favourites club unfortunately. Also fuck disney live-action remakes (except you cinderella (2015)).

get to know the blogger

[daveslutstaine]

I was tagged by my sweet mutual @darkoverstar (hope you're doing better!) Thank you <3

1. Nickname: I have a few. My sister calls me "the creature", and some people call me Andy both online and in real life since my real name is apparently too difficult for most people. And then there's one other nickname I have that I won't be listing here since it's derived from my actual name, though only one person actually uses it

2. Sign: Same as Mustaine's, Virgo

3. Height: 5'2 or roughly 157.4 in cm

4. Last Google Search: not counting the one I just did for my height, it would be "signs and symptoms of vsd in babies" for a school assignment that I had to do

5. Song currently stuck in my head: The current song my brain decided to play on repeat right now is "Sin's A Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk Railroad. Might try and learn how to play it if I get the time

6. Number of followers: It's over 1300 now I think

7. Amount of sleep: 6 hours on a good night

8. Lucky Number: Don't got one

9. Dream job: Anything that let's the goblins in my head run amok. Basically anything that will let me create

10. What are you wearing?: Uh some plaid pj pants, an old and super faded Godzilla T-shirt I've had for nearly a decade now, one black sock with orange skulls on it, and one gray sock with a purple line through it

11. Favorite media: In terms of format, it's audio. Now if this is asking me what my favorite pieces of media are, well, man where do I begin. Well besides the bands, singers, and composers/performers I never shut up about, I really like reading. My favorite genre is horror though, and some of my favorite horror stories include, At The Mountain of Madness, by Hp Lovecraft, The Chemist by Thomas Ligotti, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty! I also really like Shakespeare, with my favorite play to read of his being Hamlet! I also love reading fairy tales and myth tales from all over the globe! I have an anthology of the Brother's Grimm fairy tales that was printed back in 1912 or the early 1920s, and the illustrations in that book are downright gorgeous! I love that book to bits and it makes me sad that it's pages are beginning to crumble 3: I keep that book in a safe place to prevent any further damage to it. I also like non-fiction, particularly historical non-fiction, with my favorite book that I've read so far being a biography on a German executioner from the late 1500s. I'm a huge bibliophile, and I'll basically read anything that is not YA (sorry but that genre has come to seriously irritate the crap out of me). Hell, I'll even read on subjects that don't usually interest me, such as in a recent case when I checked out a book on philosophy. Though I will say, I did come to love what the philosopher had to say, and I came to love his philosophical view of things. He was a breath of fresh air from all the awful postmodernist philosophers that just piss me off. And I'll just leave this part here because wow this is way too long, oops 3X

12. Favorite song: Oh must you do this to me! There's too many wonderful songs out there, I couldn't possibly pick only one. I'll tell you what, instead I'll list what some of my favorite songs are from some bands/singers I've gotten into lately, so here it goes!

1. Season of Mist by the Changelings

2. Ain't That A Lot of Love by Taj Mahal

3. Go! by Tones On Tail

4. Theme from Harry's Game by Clannad

5. Trying Times by Demon Hunter

13. Favorite instrument: And here we go with another tough question XD. I hold a lot of love for many instruments, but ultimately, my love is split among the violin and the guitar. String instruments in general make me go ❤💞💗💖

14. Aesthetic: uh I have to admit, I don't have a set aesthetic. Basically I just like what I like and don't like the idea of being boxed into one thing only. I like a lot of different things that go into various, oh what do you call them, aesthetic "subcultures" I guess??? Idk my whole living space and wardrobe is a bunch of "aesthetics" if you will mixed into one. I just don't like this idea of "you have to like one thing and stick to it ONLY" because I like being a varied person, if that makes sense

15. Favourite Author: It's a tie between Ligotti and Lovecraft

16. Favorite animal noise: I love the sounds of birds chirping, cats purring, and I even love the croaking of the frogs!

17. Random: I forgot but one of my old nicknames was "cow eyes" because of weird black-ish gray spots I have on my eyeballs. Had them for my whole life. They're harmless though. The doctors said it wouldn't affect my vision in anyway and that a bunch of other people had them. Not sure why they happen though, but I'll probably be googling it some time to see if old Dr. Google has any idea what they are or why they're there

I now leave this an open tag!

[lovenaturelovepurpleblog]

Bob Dylan speech after he accepted the Nobel peace prize, Nobel Prize

Bob Dylan:

Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings

to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of

the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know

that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored

to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded

the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could

have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I've

been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works

of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction:

Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus,

Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are

taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the

world and spoken of in reverent tones have always

made a deep impression. That I now join the names on

such a list is truly beyond words.

I don't know if these men and women ever thought of

the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that

anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in

the world might harbor that secret dream deep down

inside. It's probably buried so deep that they don't even

know it's there.

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest

chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think

that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the

moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few

years after, there wasn't anyone in the world who was

considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I

recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the

least.

I was out on the road when I received this surprising

news, and it took me more than a few minutes to

properly process it. I began to think about William

Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he

thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he

was writing literature couldn't have entered his head.

His words were written for the stage. Meant to be

spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I'm sure

he was thinking about a lot of different things: "Who're

the right actors for these roles?" "How should this be

staged?" "Do I really want to set this in Denmark?" His

creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the

forefront of his mind, but there were also more

mundane matters to consider and deal with. "Is the

financing in place?" "Are there enough good seats for

my patrons?"

' "Where am I going to get a human skull?" I

would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare's

mind was the question "Is this literature?"

When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as

I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my

aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought

they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe

later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium.

If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine

getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on

the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind.

Making records and hearing your songs on the radio

meant that you were reaching a big audience and that

you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.

Well, I've been doing what I set out to do for a long time,

now. I've made dozens of records and played thousands

of concerts all around the world. But it's my songs that

are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They

seemed to have found a place in the lives of many

people throughout many different cultures and I'm

grateful for that.

But there's one thing I must say. As a performer I've

played for 50,000 people and I've played for 50 people

and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people.

50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50.

Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world

unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly.

Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your

talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so

small is not lost on me.

But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the

pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all

aspects of life's mundane matters. "Who are the best

musicians for these songs?"

" "Am I recording in the right

studio?" "Is this song in the right key?" Some things

never change, even in 400 years.

Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, "Are my

songs literature?"

So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the

time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for

Providing such a wonderful answer,

Yours Truly

Bob Dylan,

[augurydefier]

watched this as soon as i saw this post, i love andrew scott & i was so excited to see that his performance was on youtube

that being said: cannot recommend. some yelling below

like ok the actual performances are pretty good here, i think andrew scott's interpretation was certainly worthwhile—he plays a very gentle, almost dissociated hamlet, who gradually breaks down and lashes out. i'm used to brasher hamlets (my reference hamlet is david tennant's, i've seen that performance a kajillion times) & i really liked how scott was at this quiet, weirdly jokey remove from his emotions throughout a lot of his performance. his peaks of outright rage and grief were less convincing to me, but fine. i also thought jessica brown findlay was a fantastic ophelia, which is such a hard part to pull off imo. wonderful chemistry between them

HOWEVER. oh my god this was the most egregiously chopped and screwed production of hamlet i have ever seen. WHAT was going on with the dramaturgy. like yes it's a long play and it can drag, i'm a snob but i absolutely understand that you have to cut parts of it, everyone does for a reason. i actually didn't mind the rearrangement of the scenes, hamlet's plot is loose in places and the way they rearranged things led to some genuinely interesting juxtapositions

but they cut so much of the poetry! like i want to hear about why hamlet senior's canonized bones, hearsèd in death, have burst their cerements! i want to hear the ghost say that the glowworm shows the matin to be near and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire! that's what i'm there for, not just to hear the famous lines

and not only that, but they made frankly insulting word substitutions almost constantly. i get wanting to make shakespeare accessible, but it just takes so much delight out of the play to hear ophelia warn laertes about someone who "ignores his own advice" rather than "recks not his own rede," or to hear laertes say "there is a poison i bought in france" rather than "i bought an unction of a mountebank." like even if you don't expect an audience to know what those words mean, it is your job to give them the context they need, not just to tell them they're seeing shakespeare and then give them sparknotes. and they did this multiple times per scene

oh and while they're making all these cuts they still had time to insert a scene from the bad quarto? and also they played bob dylan over the fencing scene and had the actors mouth the lines? so we don't get to hear gertrude say "i will, my lord; i pray you pardon me"? like what is going on here

i really do get wanting to smooth things down and make them more understandable to a modern audience, but it's just. at a certain point you are draining so much of the life and ambiguity and richness out of the language that it's not quite shakespeare anymore. and it was especially disappointing because i thought the performances and staging were overall quite good!

anyway sorry but this was basically hamlet from concentrate

Watching a performance of Hamlet because I want to play Elsinore and it's been a moment since I last saw Hamlet. I know it's widely considered one of the best plays in English but like. Pretty good play! Easy to forget how good Shakespeare is, especially if you only ever read it in text. At a minimum you should read plays out loud imo.

Truly incredible density of famous lines in this play.

[darnestdungeon]

Hello! If I may ask, do you have any Darkest Dungeon fic recommendations? Also, thank you so much for all of the work you do for references! It really has helped!

Glad to know the refs are still useful, even after so long (this blog turns two years old on Tuesday!)

About fanfic recommendations, I’m not caught up on my ‘Marked for later’ list, so there might be some good works out there I’m missing. But from the ones I’ve read, I have lots of recs here on my bookmarks. Feel free to go through them, you can filter it to fit to your tastes!

I’d like to personally recommend a few underrated gems (works at around less than 50 kudos), none are explicit unless I say so:

“One and a Half Men” by BeveStuscemi, 2306 words-- A light-hearted one-shot based on that Occultist camping skill bark where he’s instructing others to sing! A very fun read, the characters laughing and having a bit of fun together did make me smile and, not to spoil much, the Black Beast’s reaction made me laugh.

��A Lover’s Kiss” by wyrd_eater, 9036 words-- A very cathartic one-shot in which Reynauld comes back to life only to find out Dismas was gone. Spiraling down into his grief, prayer no longer brings him comfort, and desperation eventually leads him to the flagellation chambers. This one contains graphic self-flagellation scenes that might be hard to read for some, but it’s super cathartic and I do recommend it if you’re looking for something raw and full of emotional release. Read Hieromania before this one!

“Solstice Swap” by Carpe Natem, 10204 words-- An incredibly adorable one-shot where Dismas is struggling to find a worthy gift for Alhazred, but luckily the women of the Hamlet have some suggestions. As the fic progresses, we come to find out how the Highwayman truly feels about the Occultist, and I love every step of it.

“Temp Job” by EnemyJoestar, 3573 words-- An explicit +18 one-shot featuring Dismas + a temporary co-worker brigand. It happens in the same universe as “Denouncing the Desert”, one of my fav ongoing DD longfics focused on Antiquarian/Shieldbreaker definitely worth the read too! But you don’t need to read the longfic beforehand to appreciate the p0rn >:)

That’s it for now, lest this post gets too big! I do have a ‘fanfic rec’ tag, but it’s usually just me talking over and over about “Denouncing the Desert” or “The Little Deaths” (another underrated explicit + emotional work!), sorry for repeating myself, I really imprinted on those two pieces of works like a duckling.

[high-functioning-lokipath]

RPF - Tom x Reader - He's attempting to be in disguise and you run into him at a library and recognize him. - Words: 1,152

A/N: Alright, so for clarification sake, there is a text message conversation in this imagine. You, as the reader, your texts are in blue text. The other person's texts are in green. I simply do not have the skill to make bubbles lol

Also Y/F/D means Your Favorite Drink

Now, without further ado....

"Ma'am? Ma'am?" You whisper to the lady behind the desk. She seems to be ignoring you though so you whisper louder. "Hello!"

"What do you want?" She snarks, finally paying attention to you.

"Where do you have your classic literature?"

"Ya mean like Shakespeare an’ that?" She asked, obviously disinterested. You nod and she points to the back corner of the building. Thanking her, somewhat half-heartedly, you walk off in search of a copy of your new favorite Shakespeare play. You'd never read it in full but, after seeing a spectacular performance of it, you wanted to read it yourself. Finding the correct aisle, you saw another person was looking at the same area. You tried to get a look at him but he had a knit cap on, pulled down, covering his hair and part of his face. He also had his jacket collar turned up shielding the rest of his face from view. You just shrugged it off and started scanning down the shelf looking for the right book.

"All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra," You read quietly, running your hand down the spines. "As You Like It, Comedy of Errors."

"King Lear, King John, Julius Caesar," The Man muttered to himself, working towards you on the same shelf. He hadn't seemed to have noticed you yet. You couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about him though. "Henry 6, 5, 4, Hamlet."

"Ah ha!" You exclaimed. As you reached for the book you were searching for, his hand bumped yours reaching for it too.

"Sorry," He immediately said, pulling his hand back from yours.

"It's alright," You replied, trying to get a look at his face. Much to your disappointment, however, he was wearing dark glasses.

"Coriolanus is a fine play. Have you ever read it?" He asked.

"Not yet," You admitted. "I saw a spectacular production of it from National Theater though and-" you cut yourself off, finally recognizing the badly disguised voice and the not horribly disguised face.

"Uh, I," He stuttered. "Perhaps I should go."

"No!" You immediately said. "I mean, don't worry about it. I won't tell on you." You smiled abit shyly, surprised you've been able to keep yourself together long enough to form a sentence. "You've obviously gone through a lot of trouble to get here quietly, so," You shrugged. "I shouldn't ruin that for you."

"Well, thanks," He smiled. "Sorry about trying to take your book," He apologized.

"Oh no worries," You replied. "Here," You held it out to him. "I'll just re-read Hamlet for now." He took the book and looked at it for a moment. Then he looked back at you and smiled again.

"Aren't you going to ask for a picture or something?"

"No," You shook your head. "I'm not going to impose on you. Now if you offered," You teased. "Not going to lie, I really really want to but-"

"Give me your phone," He interrupted, holding out his hand. You handed him your phone, unlocked and on camera, and he took off his hat and sunglasses and ruffled his hair a bit to get rid of matting from his hat. Turning to stand next to you, he leaned over a little and held up the phone for a selfie. "Smile!" Once he took it, he brought it up on the gallery to make sure it looked alright. He tapped a couple of things and then showed you the picture. "What do you think?"

"Oh!" You said, finally finding your voice again. "Perfect! Thanks so much, Tom."

"You're welcome. Look, I have to go take care of something real quick. Are you going to be here for a while?"

"Probably."

"Ok, I'll see you again in a few minutes, alright?" You nodded happily, a silly grin working its way on your face. He turned to walk away but stopped and faced you again. "Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"Y/N."

"Would it be too cliché of me to say that's a lovely name for a lovely lady? Because it's true." You giggled, blushing furiously and shook your head. He took your hand and kissed it, grinning mischievously. "Y/N, adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave." And with that he left. In a bit of a daze you grabbed the Hamlet book off the shelf and sat on one of the comfy sofas in the corner. After quickly making your new selfie your background on your phone, you settled in to read. About 5 minutes later, though, your phone buzzed.

"This better be important," You grumbled.

Hey, what would you

like to drink? Coffee?

Tea? Frappuccino? Let

me know.

Tom?

Yes? 🙂

"Holy crap," You gulped. Scrolling up slightly, you saw he had texted himself your selfie together.

Sorry if that was a bit too forward. I can just delete your number. I'd just ask that you don't publish my information anywhere.

NO!

It's fine. Actually, kinda funny. Usually I'm the one who has to tell people to ask me first before giving out my number 🤣 I'm not on social media, by the way.

Good for you. It can get messy. Now you haven't answered my question.

Oh! Yeah! Lol Uh, well, I usually get Y/F/D if that's not too much trouble. 🙃

No trouble at all. ☕🍵

[Image attached] (pic of drinks)

Heading back! I have a surprise for you! 😉

Lol 😂 Ok! Can't wait!

"Hi there," He said, peeking around the corner of a bookshelf a few minutes later.

"Hi," You squeaked. He handed you one of the cups in his hand and then sat down next to you.

“Oh, this is for you.” He handed you a smaller package in a brown paper wrapper. You opened it quickly and saw the copy of Coriolanus that had been on the shelf.

“I don’t understand,” you said, a bit confused.

“Well, I may have taken it to the desk and bought it,” He admitted. You stared at him wide eyed. “Open the front cover. I hope you don’t mind.”

For Y/N

Let it be virtuous to be obstinate.

Love, Tom Hiddleston

“You didn’t have to do that, Tom!” You exclaimed. “I-wow! Thank you! That’s a great line too! I haven’t read it before but like I said, I saw a wonderful production of it,” you teased. He laughed and took a sip of his tea.

“Maybe we should read it together,” He suggested slyly, another mischievous glint in his eyes. “And then, perhaps, if you’re agreeable to it, we could go to one of my favorite restaurants a few blocks away and have dinner?”

“I would most certainly be agreeable to that!”

“Wonderful!” He smiled. “Now shall we begin? I have a few favorite scenes that I’m sure we would quite enjoy acting out as well.”

“Indeed. Let’s get started!”

[twistedtummies2]

Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary - Number 26

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 26th Favorite Christopher Lee Performance: The Creature, from The Curse of Frankenstein.

Of all the performances on this countdown, this one is arguably the most important of the lot. As it was for Boris Karloff, Lee’s performance as the Frankenstein Monster is, in essence, what truly started his career. He’d appeared in films and even some TV programs before Hammer’s 1957 reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – which started a whole new series of films and is widely regarded as the true beginning of the Hammer Horror franchise – but it wasn’t till the actor tackled the role of The Creature (as Hammer called the character, in reference to the book) that Lee’s career finally began to take a real uptick in prosperity. The film also started Christopher Lee’s long-standing relationship with Peter Cushing: the two were frequent screen partners on film, and in real life, the pair were extremely close and bosom friends right up until Cushing’s death. The two had actually appeared onscreen in the same film before, in the 1948 screen version of “Hamlet,” starring Laurence Olivier, but they never actually met until this movie, and it was with this movie that their close partnership – both before the cameras and behind the scenes – began in earnest. So, with these facts in place…why is The Creature so low on the list? Well, first of all, allow me to point out that placing the Creature this low does not, by any means, indicate I dislike this portrayal of the Frankenstein Monster, nor does it mean I think this is one of Lee’s less impressive roles. Far from it! This is one of the first versions I think of, with the former point, and for the latter, it’s definitely clear to see why this role became such a big help to Lee in the future. The problem lies largely in the writing and direction: while “Curse of Frankenstein” is largely a most magnificent picture, its depiction of the Creature is, in my opinion, somewhat confusing. This version of the character is clearly inspired by Boris Karloff’s mute, lumbering portrayal, but has a different twist: Karloff’s Monster was a hapless and tragic figure, more often a character one felt sorry for than genuinely hated or feared. He was basically an overgrown child who didn’t quite know what he was doing or how to respond to the world around him. Anytime the Monster killed people, it was usually either out of a sense of self-defense, or just an unfortunate accident. This is not the case with Lee’s Creature: Lee’s Creature is also childlike, but a far more broken, disturbed child. Right from the start he has violent, downright sadistic tendencies, as he kills people with little to no provocation, and seems to genuinely enjoy the murders he commits. However, they still give the character a touch of pathos: the way it plays out, in terms of how Lee performs the part and the way things are framed and illustrated, seems to indicate the Creature isn’t entirely in control of his actions. It’s almost like there’s a split personality there, as he can go from a shambling, confused figure to a bloodthirsty killing machine with disturbing ease and believability. You truly get the feeling something went wrong in the making of this monster, making him much more unpredictable and dangerous. I do like this concept – and I also have to say I really love the design of the Creature, which harkens to the character of Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, who arguably has some similarities to this portrayal of Frankenstein’s creation – but I wish we could have gotten a more consistent depiction of the character. Whether they be evil or good, it would have made some parts of the movie easier to follow. Still, Lee throws everything into the part, and the Creature remains an iconic and important milestone in his career. Tomorrow the countdown continues with My Number 25 choice!

[fantomette22]

Alright let’s chat!! *pours tea*

What are your ideas on who Rom was and where she came from? Who was she mostly connected to? What was she like? <3

Alright it's time !! drink tea

I can talk about the Byrgenwerth girl yeah !! (finally lol) Sorry I have lot of thoughts but also I feel I'm still missing a few things XD sorry in advance if that doesn't made any sense or if it's too long.

Ok so let's go with my main/fic interpret it will be way easier. So Rom, probably a nickname of Roma but I really like CosmicTeaCat and OfSilentThings idea that it could came from Andromeda as well (it would made sense). And she's basically Willem biological daughter. So she's been around Byrgenwerth since like forever I guess XD but maybe there's a connection/ she had family at the hamlet (you know the one 👀) idk.

Still not fully sure if she have brown/black hair so basically curly dark hair. Got glasses and her eyes are either hm green-blue? idk whatever is generally the color of a lake is pick your color between brown-green and dark blue.

And hm I'm not sure ho to talk about it I know it can be a sensible subject but it's import for me as well. In my story she's autistic or got some sorts of disability at least. (I mean, there's at least 3 other characters I hc on the spectrum XD) but Rom is more in the middle of the spectrum. She's not "Asperger"/ high potential autistic (sorry I'm not familiar with the English terms). It's in the more "moderate/lower side" of it, with much more difficulties. I mean she can talk and all, she can be a bit autonomous and don't have to be with someone 24h/24 for ex. She probably managed to talk correclty really late too but hey it's totally fine ! And she became way more autonomous while growing up. There's thing and subject she excels and do really greatly but she need the right accompaniment for it and there's thing she really can't comprehend or do by herself without someone explaining first. She probably won't have a proper doctorate or a master degree but she still managed to have a licence/baccalaureate (+3/technician level, after many hard years of works) And you can't let her all alone in the middle of Yharnam and except her to be fully autonomous for exemple O_O' and similar to Caryll she need really calm environment.She's doing quite fine really it just smt you can feel she can be really out of the norm as well. I really have no idea if I did that on purpose or not, it just feel natural to me? Crazy how your own life & experience inspire you don't you think? Yes I think i heavily based her on my own little brother as well it's bit different too, yet it's the similar we'll say.

I love the interpretation where she's a super smart scholars but also really like the ones where Rom could be just a disable child that Byrgenwerth decided to turned into a great one ?! (I did a weird mixt of both ideas I guess)

She absolutely loves/hyperfixate on arthropods and gastropod ! And everything that came in between the nematodes and the chordata fishes (you know the ancestor of our spine) and in the Eucaryote/Metazoan side of the phylogenitc tree ! (I'm so sorry I think I just lost everyone who never did biodiversity in biology at the university XD). In short everything from worms, medusa, sponge, arthropods, gastropods, (to the simpler type of fish).

(you basically have the mushroom, yeast/levures? and plants before the metazoan. The chordata gave everything from the fish to us : mammals, marsupials, reptiles, birds, amphibians...) Hope it help 🫡 hey you know all this classification first appeared in the 17th-18th century too? :D

Anyway all of this to say she loves and is not afraid of spiders & augurs at all. 🕷️🐌

When there's big spiders everyone came find her to help them . She moves it somewhere else. And the day Gehrman and the prospectors bring back a giant spider from the labyrinth and she could come really close to it/touch it it was the best day of her life XD

She also loves the sea/ocean and the night sky, stars and plants ! She know many things about all of this too.

After the separation Byrgenwerth/Church the scholars still kinda worked a bit with the church idk it's complicated. She ended working at the research hall, mostly with Caryll, Adeline & Maria when they looked for Isz but also with Mico afterwards before going more in separate ways and end up with the choir a huge while (before ultimately returning to Byrgenwerth maybe, idk if returning at Byrgen as a spider count XD). She became the "leader" of the Choir after Caryll (I guess Laurence is the actual true leader but he's like the big boss above the choir and religious/priest/saints). She's also the first one to become a successful lumen wood kin. You know this :

(imagined with super choir clothes)

And years after /probably after the beginning of the hunter's dream more experiments were done, she might have re work a lot with Byrgen too. She went to lower pthumeru with her team (young scholars she took care of too probably)... and they turned into spiders.

Vacuous spider, that title came after she turned into a kin. They asked her question about the cosmos, they thought she had ascend ! But she couldn't really answered... she was just 😐 well vacuous but hey she did save Yharnam from the apocalypse thanks to to veil of the blood moon. Because after they summon MP every month they were a blood moon and without the veil. Yharnam would have fallen in a few years/months instead of +2 decades later (when the hunter arrive) So during the Mensis ritual, that spiraled out of control she block everything. Her physical body died (altar in ebrietas arena but here spirits lived on in the lake!)

Connection with others :

Well Willem is basically her dad. I think he tried his best but he also work a lot and it could be complicated with Rom like I said before because of her condition. (As someone who grew up knowing people with a disability it's not always easy we'll say but they managed to found a balance in the end!) He always tried to include her where she could. When she was really little and when he was on his famous rocking chair looking at the lake he had her on his knees and he told her/teach her all kind of things.

So hm to not help thing her mom passed away when she was little. I haven't 100% decide yet. In my story, 15y before the squad meet at Byrgenwerth they were a huge epidemic and it kill at least one person (if not more) close to every characters. Rom, Maria, Mico Ludwig, etc were like 5-6y old or smt? maybe a bit older. But perhaps her mother died even before that. A scholar too probably.

Laurence was kinda adopted by Willem after his parents (who were friends with the provost) passed away because of this same epidemic. He's like 6 years older or smt? compared to Rom (and the others lil students). So they're quite chill around each others. It's not the ultimate sibling besties but they're kind around one another.

So Micolash now! He got bring back to Willem too XD but way after Laurence. When he was a teen maybe. They were really great friends at Byrgen (pre-healing church) and passed lot of time together + with Damian as well. The 2 boys decided to be there to hemp Rom. Mico and Rom were really, really close at some point. I am not entirely sure in which measure and sense but...you can guess. I mean there's smt sure but I'm still hesitating right now if he saw her as family or probably smt more. (Maybe they got in a relationship too! But parted ways at some point... you know it's complicated)

Caryll and Rom understand each other on a spiritual lvl at times XD sometimes they don't even need to talk to each other. It feel like they share a brain/braincells. So don't let them work alone unsupervised doing labs together they will have no idea what they were supposed to be after 10mins of daydreaming 😂. They got better the years after. I promised they worked well at the Research Hall XD

She was good friends with Maria too. They both share common interest and Maria is super kind too. they love talking about stars, nature and science and like each other calm presence. I mean depends if you include Caryll but they're the 2 girls of the original Byrgenwerth squad too! Oh and I forgot but one day Maria bring her back a hateful maggot (dead) from the forest. Rom loves it of course.

And Rom & Adeline are such a probably hilarious pair as well XD

Ludwig is really chilled too so idk they could vibe.

Others : Of course the staff at Byrgenwerth really like her. Dores actively tried to act the more nicely (&protectively) possible around Rom. She like really feral around everyone and show a more softer sides really occasionally to the person close to her so that tell a lot.

Of course Liam( gatekeeper) and Gehrman, really find her sweet too and I haven't much ideas of for now but I guess there's quite a few subject she could talk with the groundskeeper.

I mean even Patches (who secretly hate everyone lol) find Rom really useful to take care of spiders and insects he is supposed to remove (yes he just clean the school at the beginning then managed to become scholars & prospectors lol. And he even joined Rom team in the chalice expedition and research a few times)

Choir/orphanage : she was in charge for a while so she knew many scholars/choir member / some church members but especially the children who grew up in the orphanage : Amelia, Edgar, Iosefka, Imposter Iosefka?! (maybe??), Yurie etc She passed a lot of time with them and teach them many things. (So that would explain why Yurie would protect her!!) ("She tried to protect them from Mico bad influence and Mensis too)

Ok Kos. Or say Kosm I'm not entirely sure but there's quite a big connection at some point. I mean Kos gives eyes to Rom after all. She probably had lot of research on Kos too and was possibly devastated when they found Kos dead at the Hamlet. + I guess loosing a child/ mother made them closer too so rom might had managed to communicate/connect with great one and Kos accepted her.

OMG i almost forgot the most important ! EBRIETAS ! She passed lot of times with Ebrietas they were really close !! Maybe Rom even understand her ! (language wise) and I mean Ebrietas literally mourn her and seems to wait for her indefinitely. Did she consider Rom like a sister after she turned into a kin ? Gasp or even her girlfriend/wife ! Who knows ! (sorry I find it funny and so angsty at the same time.)

And I'm going to stop here I think 😅 Hope you enjoyed ! Thank you for finally allowed me to talk about it.

So yeah love the potato kin spider ! ❤️