#this is why Quentin is relatable to me

[fixated-on-something]

Something something the feeling that I’ll never experience true love because that would involve me going on a perilous quest with someone and forming an indescribable bond with them during our travels and then risking my life to save them but being narrowly plucked from the jaws of death and pulled into their embrace, realising at last how we both feel…

[idyllphile]

Thank you for replying to my message! I really liked the post about Abuelita through despite having a different question hahaha

sorry again about that lol! I just saw 'Abuelita' and blanked out everything else and then I had My Whole Headcanon typed up and was like Well. lmao but I'll try to actually answer your question now! which was:

I've been mulling this over on and off for the past couple of days. how do I think the operation - meaning the cartel - got started? particularly as it relates to the Salamancas? difficult to pin down...

but I guess in a way, it must have started like every other 'group business venture' does; some people come together with an idea for something that'll make them money, and they put it into action. the first question we have to consider is 'did Hector/the Salamanca brothers create what would become the Jaurez Cartel themselves?' and I believe the answer is no, they didn't. I definitely think they were founding members, but I don't think they provided the seed capital or had the idea themselves. I think that was Eladio. why else would he get to be a fat cat lazing by the pool having money brought to him while the Salamancas get 'treated like dogs?' (and yes, those are Hector's angry and prideful words, but there is a stark difference between Eladio and everyone else)

and if you're wondering why I think the Salamancas were founders it's because, despite what Hector said, they actually do get a good amount of respect. they have their own territory! the South Valley is Salamanca Territory, and even when there's no Salamanca available to directly command it (Hector disabled, Lalo dead, Tuco imprisoned, the twins... I guess just not considered capable), Eladio decrees that it remains Salamanca Territory and specifically not under Gus's control like the rest of the North, out of respect to Hector and the Salamanca family

anyway, so our starting point is 'Eladio is the one who began the cartel and he brought the Salamancas in on it pretty early.' as for exactly how it went in those first days... a little research into real-world cartels is necessary. this WSJ article talks about the evolution of the drug trade through the decades, and I learned some interesting things from it! my main takeaway being that in the 1960s, the most popular drug export was marijauna and, quote, "the decade belonged to Argentina, Brazil and Chile"

Chile, huh? isn't that something?

and now yet another little 'me explaining myself' tangent: why do I think the Juarez cartel got started in the 60s rather than the 70s? it's because of Hector's 17-year prison sentence, which you kind of have to build all Salamanca-related timelines around. the earliest we ever see Hector chronologically is in the "One Minute" flashback which takes place in 1988. if Hector had just been released from San Quentin that year, it would mean he went inside in 1971 (though personally I think he probably got out a couple years before this moment). he obviously had to have been heavily involved with the cartel prior to his sentence, or else he wouldn't have come back to a don title and the power that comes with it. the Jaurez cartel was in operation probably from at least the mid-60s

it's possible that they only ever dealt with cocaine - it absolutely became their Thing, as Gus states in "Hermanos" that they smuggle and sell coke they buy from Columbia - despite beginning in a decade where it wasn't yet the biggest earner, but I do think they got their start with weed. why? because it adds layers!

remember how in the 60s, when weed was the number one export, it was the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile who exported it? that means Hector would have likely dealt with the South American (maybe even Chilean) exporters directly. remember how when Hector expresses his disapproval of Gus in that "One Minute" phone call, he says, "never trust a South American; dirty, dirty people?"

now, obviously, no one needs a 'reason' to be racist. Hector's just racist. but him specifically saying South Americans 'can't be trusted' feels kinda personal, doesn't it? maybe he blames the cartel's past South American business associates for his arrest and long prison stretch; maybe he thinks they're somehow the reason he was caught. hell, maybe they actually were! like I said, layers! if Hector believes a guy from Chile who he used to work with is to blame for him being in prison for almost twenty years, it adds a little something extra to his instant dislike of Gus and Max and their desire to work with the cartel

but anyway, you weren't just asking about Hector's cartel beginnings, you mentioned his brothers as well. obviously, we know next to nothing about Hector's siblings; not names, not genders, not ages, zilch aside from the fact that there were three minimum and - by the time of BCS - Hector seems to be the only one still alive, or at least the only one still alive who's in the cartel. I personally headcanon that Hector and Lalo's father are twins, and that they're the oldest; it would make sense for them to be the ones who lead their younger brothers (yes I think they're all boys and that there are 'only' the four of them) into the budding cartel 'business opportunity' Eladio had invited them into

they would have been just entering their twenties in the 60s; a time when Mexico's economy was strong, imports were high as the country continued the rapid industrialization that had begun following WWII, and the labor force's growth exceeded that of industrial employment and many 'surplus workers' were either taking low-paying service jobs or migrating to the United States for higher wages (source for all of that). maybe Hector and his twin brother didn't like either of those ideas and chose to make their money through violent criminal activities, the kind that eventually lead to them meeting Eladio, joining his cartel while it was in its infancy, and bringing their brothers into it along with them

I think Hector's twin and the other two brothers worked as successful and loyal dons while Hector stewed in San Quentin, helping the cartel grow into the wealthy and dangerous empire it became. I think that, by the time Hector was released, they were all dead. I think that they all died at the same time in service to the cartel, a brutal slaying of Salamancas that only Hector escaped, much like what Gus would eventually do to all his nephews and his grandson. and how do I think three powerful Salamanca dons were murdered in one fell swoop?

a bomb :)

[vampyriclykoi]

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

[ DRAFT ]

Date of interview: XX/XX/XXX

Time of interview: 1200

Interviewer: Quentin

Interviewee: Cookie Morris

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

[ TRANSCRIPT ]

INTERVIEWER: Please state your name and occupation for the tape. INTERVIEWEE: My name is Cookie Morris, I work as an IT and ICT teacher at Raven Brooks Middle School. INTERVIEWER: When did you start living in Raven Brooks? From your accent, I can tell you aren't exactly from around here. INTERVIEWEE: I don't see how that information would be very relevant. Aren't you here to ask me about the missing residents? INTERVIEWER: Well, yes, but I thought- INTERVIEWEE: I don't know anything about them. How many other people have you tried to ask about this? INTERVIEWER: Not too many... let's, maybe... change the subject. May I ask you about your relations with Theodore Peterson? I heard word from some other residents of you two being quite close for a while, and then abruptly becoming distant. What's up with that? INTERVIEWEE: [No response] INTERVIEWER: Cookie? You okay? INTERVIEWEE: Yeah, yeah, I just... [Pause] We were friends for a few years. I used to, um, sort out his cable when it acted up. His wife and I were quite close, too. Such a lovely woman. I miss her. INTERVIEWER: I can imagine you would. Do you think that the... incident affected your friendship with Peterson? INTERVIEWEE: It did. In fact, it affected every aspect of his life, I'd say. Everything seemed to get worse and worse for the poor man. You know about what happened to his kids, don't you? INTERVIEWER: Yes, I do. INTERVIEWEE: Mmm, a terrible shame. Still haven't been found. [Pause] After they went missing, he became a recluse. Rarely spoke to anyone or left the house, he had me worried for a long while. INTERVIEWER: Is that what ended your friendship? INTERVIEWEE: No, no. Something else happened. INTERVIEWER: Would you be alright to talk about it? INTERVIEWEE: Yeah, yeah I'm good to talk about it, uh. I went round his house with a cake - home-baked - to sort of convince him to let me in. It took a little bit of talking before he let me inside his house so we could chat and catch up, but he eventually did let me in. The house was very cluttered, it looked like he became a hoarder, which isn't uncommon when in mourning. INTERVIEWER: What happened after he let you in? INTERVIEWEE: I went into his sitting room, and he went to the kitchen to cut the cake and make some tea. Standard guest catering. As I went into the sitting room, I noticed a key on one of his chairs. Most rooms in the house were locked - I saw that when I went in - so it wasn't something I thought to pay much attention to. That is, of course, until I heard... a noise. It sounded like screaming, and someone clawing at a door. I took the key and went to investigate, the sound was coming from his basement door. Then- INTERVIEWER: He heard it too, didn't he? He must have come to investigate the noise as well, and then... then what happened? INTERVIEWEE: I tried to unlock the lock on the basement door. The voice that was screaming sounded familiar to me, I had to get whoever was in there out. Unfortunately, I had the wrong key. Before I could go to find another one, Peterson grabbed me. He pinned me against the door by my collar, I'd never seen him so aggressive, so angry. I don't know how long he had me there for, but he came to his senses at some point and let go of me. I remember running out of there without hesitation, I didn't look back even once. I just ran home. INTERVIEWER: Oh, God, that's terrible. Did you inform the police of what happened? INTERVIEWEE: Of course I did. I told Officer Leslie, he told me he'd do something about it, then never did. Actually, on the topic of Leslie, he isn't someone you should put your trust into - the same could be said for the majority of this town. INTERVIEWER: Really? Why- INTERVIEWEE: You shouldn't publish this interview. I'm sure that you've heard of the cult by now, haven't you? If you publish this, they might start targeting you, or worse - me. Same goes for if Theo gets his hands on it. Can you leave now? I have work I need to start on.

[ END ]

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[soup-her-naturals]

Season 1 Episode 3: Dead in the Water

Quote of the ep: Name three children that you even know

Rating: (honorary) 0/6 on the Kinsey Scale

Soup: I should've saved the lettuce soup for this, the texture really resembles aquatic plants brushing against your toes. Instead lets do something else that's murky and filled with surprises: Snert

Ingredience:

Onions (2)

Garlic (4 cloves)

Carrot (2)

Leek (2)

Celeriac (1)

Potatoes (1 big, 3 small)

Celery leaf (some)

Bacon bits

Rookworst

Bouillon (1 cube per 0.5 L water)

Split peas

Bay Leaves

Salt

Pepper

What to do:

Have an afternoon off I guess. Put however much water you think you need to a boil, you'll need more later because this is gonna be t h i c c. Get CHOPPING (also peel your carrot, celeriac and potato(es)). Add bouillon to water along with some bay leaves, and the split peas. Let it boil for 1.5h and stir occasionally to make the peas split. It is very important that they split during this time to turn into Gruel, because they will not do this after addition of the other stuff. Then add everything else except the meats. Let all of this boil for half an hour longer. Fry up your bacon and boil up your rookworst, slice the latter into chunks. Add this to your gruel and phwalla, you have the goop we know as snert! Add salt AND pepper to taste.

Now for the Review:

Ayo look like I'm goin' for a swim. The inherent fear of drowning is something that can be so intimate. I love swimming, I do it weekly! The open ocean fills me with dread. It's too big. A lake I can deal with but only up to a point. Hubris is the enemy of the experienced swimmer; don't go swimming in unknown water sweeties <3 The Killer is this broad's enemy tho.

Why does the wildlife service care about a random drowning indeed? Apparently the brother saw something grab his sister. But my man how tho, that happened underwater, you only saw her go under. What if she just did that?

I'm sorry can we appreciate this woman for rejecting Dean and how? "Must be hard with your sense of direction, trying to find your way to a decent pickup line"

Another bonding moment for Dean with a rando. MUST be SO HARD seeing your parent die right in front of you!! What a coincidence that we have another relatable situation? Should we open up about our feelings? No, man must stay strong. (actually I think he's kinda sweet to the traumatized kid, trying to get them to communicate their feelings through art)

So far for main side characters we've had the woman in white who "could never go home," the siblings who's parents were gone so they had to look after each other, and we've got the kid that saw its parent die in front of it. I wonder if we get more VERY SPECIFICALLY relatable side characters in the upcoming episodes.

This ghost is so slick tho, drowning people killing things and not leaving a trace in the sink. They mention a 'Water Wraith' here, I wonder if that's a monster later? I don't recall.

No you know what I'm not shitting on Dean in this episode, he's being genuinely sweet to the kid because he knows the emotions he's processing and he's trying to help. He's kinda giving papa here ❤ Also why does the kid kind of give...

Like who's the kid and who's Brendan "It smells very bisexual in here" Jordan?

They're really investing in some dramatic zooms for this episode. Never noticed they did it that prominently, I only recall dramatic pans.

Chekov's bathtub!!! Someone will get shot in the bathtub later, I just know it. One note: the lady is shown letting the hot water tap run on her feet (nice fancervice, guest writer Quentin Tarentino this ep) and she doesn't notice when the water turns... bad? Would it still be the same temp, I'd assume it'd be mucky cold lake water. Maybe she's running a cold bath.

Honestly this Lucas kid is me. I was obsessed with water and still am. Before the terror sets in. Give me a small stream and I will look at it for a prolonged period. Cracking some cold ones with the boys on the canal, I long for that. Do not go swimming in unknown water.

Good episode, aside from a monster of the week it also gives Dean some emotional depth aside from being goofy or a hardass. I had to click through so many chicks with they pussies out to watch the final 4 minutes of this episode because the first stream I clicked only went up to 39:18. Rated 0/6 on the Kinsey scale (honorary)

[grimweathers]

grimweathers please elaborate on the magicians: it is not good it is not bad but a secret third thing and i would like to know more.

i believe there is someone named quentin in it, who may not be the guy with the silly sidepart shoulderlength hair and i assume it is about magicians and feelings (this i picked up from the gifs you reblog from time to time)

is it about magicians? why do you like it? why do you think it's good? why do you think it's bad?

OH BOY. where do i even begin. cracks knuckles. this is going to be so, so long and not even cover everything. i could truly write like a million words about this and not get to everything probably.

there were 5 seasons of the show, and i loved it up until the s4 finale, where they Ruined Everything. SUPER long story short: bury your gays trope, very triggering suicide at the end of s4 after building up a theme of hope despite pain.

i did not watch s5 but i know it does not do anything to redeem the show lol.

the main character is quentin coldwater—he's a clinically depressed bi dude who has always and continues to struggle with suicide ideation. (the show literally opens with him in an institution). he discovers he has magic, he starts going to this magic grad school, and the show branches out from there. it gets pretty dark. (but it is also very, very funny).

in the beginning of s1, when quentin starts going to this school, another character tells him: "magic comes from pain." the whole show (up until the s4 finale) essentially works on subverting that statement—there is SO much pain, internally and externally; there are monstrous people and things in the world, but it's about finding hope despite that pain.

to me, as a queer person who has also struggled with suicide ideation for a long long time, this was a really really meaningful show! i love portal fantasy shows (they eventually leave this school and go to a magical world). i really saw myself in quentin for a variety of reasons even beyond the depression and the queerness. and so this show just had a lot of things that resonated with me AND it had this message of hope. (also—it was just a lot of fun too).

and then in the s4 finale, quentin commits suicide (framed as a "heroic sacrifice," but there is a whole scene in the afterlife where he questions whether he actually made the sacrifice because he's been wanting to die and maybe it was a good excuse to do so). and his death is permanent. (other characters had died and come back to life at this point, but it was made clear this death was Final final).

it came out of left field. before the episode aired, i did think he might die, but i certainly did not think it would be permanent. it was genuinely very triggering. this post says it better: https://grimweathers.tumblr.com/post/689090800065429504

there was just sooo much behind-the-scenes messiness and weirdness that happened afterwards, but the main thing that still stands out to me is the showrunners' reaction to the backlash. people were really devastated and hurt and confused but the showrunners were extremely callous about it. they had, up until that point, talked about how meaningful it was that so many fans related to quentin's mental health journey and that they felt seen. but with the backlash, suddenly they were acting like we were just silly fragile snowflakes who just couldn't handle an edgy show. they were very transparently annoyed that people weren't falling over themselves to praise them for killing quentin off this way. (before the finale aired, one of the showrunners had literally said that people were going to write ACADEMIC essays about what a great finale it was because of the ~complexity~ or whatever lmfao. he was especially butthurt about it all i think)

they weirdly somehow tried to frame killing quentin off as a Edgy But Woke move because, hey, they killed off the main white guy!! whoa!!! weird that you guys care so much about the white guy and not the female characters!! (who, by the way, the writers eventually completely maligned). but, like—for one thing, the writers are the ones who made this entire show revolve around him. there is a great cast, but so much of the overall theme of the show hinges on quentin's journey. of course fans are going to care about him? (and yet! they opened s5 with a VERY pointed scene about with a chauvinistic literal pig man whining "but i need a MAN to be the HERO!! only a MAN can SOLVE THIS QUEST" to a female character).

when people pointed out like, hey, yes he was a white guy, but he was also queer? he's not like. a generic straight white dude with no problems who's suddenly the chosen one. the writers tried to backpedal and say he was straight, actually; he just was experimenting (despite the explicitly romantic plot line where, in an alternate-but-not timeline, he falls in love with his male best friend AND HAS A FAMILY WITH HIM AND GROWS OLD WITH HIM???? many of the gifsets you see from me are from this storyline! you can VISIBLY SEE that they framed it very romantically even without the kissing! it is not just fan projection!) (there's also the fact that they had already trotted out hale appleman, the actor who plays said love interest, and is actually queer himself, to do an interview about how meaningful it was to have this explicitly queer storyline in this show) (he eventually did an interview where he says he felt his queerness was just used for pr).

there is so much. SOOOO much and i am not the best writer and it's been a long time since i watched the show (it really hurt me so bad that i have not been able to watch any of the show again since it aired) but i think that is the best overview i can do at the moment lol. i would recommend the second link (the one about the behind the scenes messiness) if you want more info but. yeah.

if you made it to the end, i applaud you lol!!

[eliotqueliot]

Mosaic Haiku, Chapter 15

This chapter of Mosaic Haiku is dedicated to exploring the theme "Warm Up" for the 2024 micro Magicians fanworks challenge hosted by @magiciansfanworksextravaganza "The 'warm up' theme could include vibes that are warm, cozy, related to winter, being hot (in any sense of that word), warming up or preparing for a big event, just starting out in something like magic, or any spin you’d like to put on it!"—Warm Up, Dec. 1-7, 2024

--------Mosaic Haiku Intro--------------

Welcome! I'm writing a series of haiku about the Mosaic! Disclaimer, I don't own any of these images (they're from the TV series adapted from Lev Grossman's series, The Magicians, which aired on SyFy). I'm just writing about them, ekphrastic style (seeing the image is an important reference when reading the poem, so I wanted to group them together). To read more about the project, the form, my author's notes (including a few more haiku), and to eventually see the paintings and drawings I'm making of these scenes (often with greater visibility/lighting or other small changes), please visit the page for this chapter at AO3 (link below). Note: I'm slowly making the art, so please stay tuned for that as each piece is done! Either way, I hope you'll enjoy these reflections on the best episode of TV (The Magicians, Season 3, Episode 5, “A Life in the Day”) and my favorite ship, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh!

Mosaic Haiku (with Art) - Chapter 15 - EliotQueliot - The Magicians (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

(Please also find some cool images for "A Life in the Day" at Getty and SyFy.)

We're best friends. That's why we work, why I waited, why we'll be happy here.

Had to go slowly: stakes too high. It's you, it's me: can't risk losing this.

Went to Fillory, fell in love with my best friend. A life worth living.

Fires smoldered all year: be careful; seize your moment. Torches. It’s go time.

* * *

Will you be mine when— —We go home? —Find the beauty of all life? —Right now?

* * *

“Are you cold, honey?” Wrap me up all night: arms, legs. You’re the best blanket.

* * *

Warm summer evenings: nights under the stars, our quilt soft as I love you

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

Eliot

“What are you doing?” My heart breaks with yours: brave Q, love of my life—twice.

I acted so cold. Inside, heart I buried deep raged against the light.

The pain of waking: everything’s so real it hurts; such beauty brings tears.

Thaw melts my façade. It’s not spring: more like the fires of hell: I ran away

From a heart so dear. Dared not admit what I’d lost: warmth of home. Love. You.

You’re the lighthouse: love shining from your face. I need that door back to you.

You smiled, asking me. Sunny, soft, such warmth. A kiss wakes love burning bright.

Door creaks, leaking light. Can't leave you; but I must, to find you. My heart melts.

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

Sizzling. Smoking hot. Your touch so warm we ignite. Hot as hell, baby.

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

Eliot: The Quest Begins

The Great Cock takes time to say Q and I belong: two parts of one whole.

My life’s warming up; not just king: man with a heart, and it goes with Q’s.

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

This airplane’s purring! Engines warmed up, we lift off, soaring on joy, love.

So much laughter: it's not tedium, just sameness with purpose: this quest,

Our lives together. Tile-game serves as canvas For our love. Big win.

Best part of each day: teasing, playing between tiles, this warmth between us.

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

First step of the quest through the clock, do you feel it? Magic! It's starting!

World feels fresh and new: it's all possible, even fairy-tale romance.

Warmth surging through us: touch the magic, touch me: your embrace warm, tender.

We leap with our hearts: seize your partner, celebrate with this soul-deep hug.

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

To read all the chapters of Mosaic Haiku on Tumblr or check on which AO3 chapters have paintings or sketches posted:

If you'd like to leave comments/kudos, or see the art I'm making in place with the haiku (highly recommended! Much greater resolution/details for the art on AO3; also, please view on a larger screen if possible), please come back and visit:

Mosaic Haiku (with Art) - Chapter 15 - EliotQueliot - The Magicians (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

[great-tusk]

Child Champion gang rise up!

Also PLEASE tell me about your Pokemon S/I I've been meaning to send an ask for more info for a WHILE I just keep forgetting give me ALL the details prettiest of pleases <3

HELL YEAH! It’s under the cut because I wrote a Lot. It’s kinda out of order, but hopefully it still makes sense. It’s mostly backstory and character relations.

My little guy is Quentin. He was born in Unova. He’s the grandson of Drayden, the brother of Iris and (later) Drayton.

As a very young child, he got sent over to Kanto for a year to learn from Lance and people who Lance knew. (He frequently left Quentin with Agatha, which is why she’s like a grandmother to him.) While there, he met Blue. An instant sort of dislike spread within him. He very much hates people who are obsessed with acting like they’re better than everyone else.

When they met again later, after Blue learned humility and became a gym leader, they became much closer, and eventually started dating. Neither of their little kid selves would have guessed that LMAO. Some years after that, Blue was visiting Unova for the PWT, and excited to see his bf again because they had barely been able to see each other in person since then, and let me just say that he was TERRIFIED when he found out that Kyurem froze Opelucid City, the place where Quentin lived and promised Blue that he’d be if he wanted to come visit once he got there. Like straight up petrified. He felt so useless, and Quentin wasn’t picking up his phone since service was down. Fun emotional ship stuff. Quentin was okay, though. He was out there soloing Team Plasma grunts to help give Rosa more time.

His Dragonite was a Dratini given to him by the elder in the Dragon’s Den after Lance invited him in. His Haxorus was an egg given to him by Drayden (and the son of Drayden’s own Haxorus). His Samurott was an Oshawott given to him by Professor Juniper.

This is something like what his team looked something like when he started his Unova journey, because he’d been catching and training Pokémon for a while under Drayden.

He also has a fun blue-ish purple-ish letterman jacket that he wears. It has a Dragonite on the back. (I like to think of it like an anime ahoge that changes with emotions, like the picture is a sad Dragonite when he’s sad and a cheerful Dragonite when he’s happy. I’m not sure if I’ll make this canon or not, but I think that the idea is really fun.)

He became champion at a pretty young age, having beaten Iris, but it was a really close battle. They’re pretty evenly matched.

He loves to visit every region that he can, and has caught a bunch of Pokémon. (He filled the entire Paldea dex, and flexes the shiny charm that he got from Jacq to anyone who’ll look at it.)

When Red and Blue went to Alola for the Battle Tree, he’s like “Blue Oak. We are married. You are bringing me on your interregional trip. I don’t care if you’ll be working. You can spend all of the time that you’re NOT working kissing me!!!” and so Blue brings him even though Blue likes the weather warm and the heat makes Quentin miserable.

Blue also keeps the AC really cold at night because Quentin can’t sleep without a bunch of blankets but overheats easily.

As for his personality, he’s a hopeless romantic. Clings pretty tightly to whoever he knows the best in situations. Socially awkward. Fairly cheerful, unless he’s annoyed or tired (which is pretty frequently), in which case he’s more sarcastic and irritable. He’s also pretty hotheaded and easily riled up.

[8-bitpixelheart]

Halloween Smash or Pass: DBD Survivors

Dwight Fairfield: Sad little puppy man, pathetic. Pass, I would ruin him.

Meg Thomas: Took care of her sick mom, super athletic, for some reason people diss on her a lot. Smash

Claudette Morel: OUR AUTISTIC QUEEN. SHE HEALS. SHE HIDES. SHE'S CUTE. SHE'S GOOD AT BOTANY. TOTAL SMASH.

Jake Park: Survival Expert, liked camping, literally ran off into the woods despite being the son of a wealthy ceo to live off grid. Pass, I like wifi.

Nea Karlsson, a street artist who is extremely quiet and sneaky. Also gets made fun of a lot? Idk she's kinda cute though a lot of her skins are like, hey, why. Smash

Laurie Strode: Character modelers did her dirty. Pass, isn't she like, 17.

Ace Visconti. I know he's not a bad guy but like. He's so greasy. Pass

Bill Overbeck: He survived zombies and then he survives DBD's bullshit? He can get himself off the ground, he can protect his allies, He can do it All. Smash

Feng Min: Greasy selfish gamer girl, but she's under a lot of self pressure. I relate, Pass though.

David King: Strong Dude that loved getting into fights. I'm pretty sure he's kind to the other survivors though. I think I could actually fix him, Smash.

Quentin Smith: Another like, 17 year old? 18? A youth whose modeler just fucked him over. His old model had him nicknamed "Golem." Pass.

David Tapp: A cop, so inherently unfuckable. A shame though, because he is fine. And brave. and sturdy. So, so sturdy. sigh Pass.

Kate Denson: Great at evading the killer, a beam of positivity and strength. Incredibly hot, Smash, Smash 10/10

Adam Francis: A teacher, brave, smart, tenacious. Multilingual. Smash

Jeff Johansen: A chill dude who does graphic design. And has ASS FOR DAYS. THE BOY THICC. HE'S AN OATMEAL PACKET OF A MAN. Smash

Speaking of the thiccness, Jane Romero. She was a celebrity, I think a news anchor or something. She wanted others to find the same success she did, but her mom was an asshole. Smash

Ash Williams from Ash vs Evil Dead, I've never seen the movies, but his hand is questionable. Pass

Nancy Wheeler: This is a child, good bye

Steve Harrington: I'm like 95% sure this is also a child. I don't watch stranger things

Yui Kimura: SHE'S A HOT LEADER OF A GANG OF WOMEN WHO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER AND SHE RIDES A MOTORCYLE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, SMASH

Zarina Kassir: An investigative documentarian who tries to expose stories of corruption and abuse. Strong Smash

Cheryl Mason: This is a CHILD stop giving me CHILDREN.

Felix Richter: He's, an architect, who, was looking for his dead parents? idk. Pass, he's boring

Elodie Rakoto: Apparently Felix' friend? Her parents saved her from the entity? She's very pretty, Smash

Yun-Jin Lee: A music producer who did an opsie daisies and hyped up a serial killer by accident.

Jill Valentine: DO YOU THINK I'M STUPID? DO YOU THINK ME BLIND WITHOUT HANDS? DO YOU THINK ME NOT A PARCHED WANDERING SOUL SEEKING WATER? OF COURSE SMASH.

Leon Scott Kennedy may be baby girl, but he is not my baby girl. Pass. I know someone else will treat him well

Mikaela Reid: Too cool for me, and capable of literal actual magic. Cute, but pass.

Jonah Vasquez is a mathematician from Fresno and listen. I'd destroy him. Smash

Yoichi Asakawa: Oh so this is the child you make into an adult. No. Forever child. Unfortunate connection to Sadako either way. Pass, but I would help him out.

Haddie Kaur: She's got actual whole ass psychic powers but she's very, very pretty. Love the supernatural white hair streaks going on. Smash

Ada Wong: She's got weird spy shit going on and would never have attention for me. Which I need, or I'll DIE. She's Leon's situationship. Pass

Rebecca Chambers: Okay I know she's a whole ass adult but she looks like the Eternal Baby. Rebecca Chambers is going to be small forever, and that's her curse to bare. Frightens me. Pass

Vittorio Toscano is a literal renaissance man who has serious knowledge of the occult and I wouldn't listen to a thing he said because I'm going to devour him like the never ending pasta at the olive garden. Smash

Thalita Lyra: she's got a good sense of wonder, whimsy, and community, and actively just wants to build community. She's got baby face though. Not as bad as the ETERNAL BABY, but, Pass

Renato Lyra: INCREASE BABY FACE TO MAXIMUM, CAPTAIN. Pass

Gabriel Soma: Is a clone baby made in a pink mush factory. Don't know how to break it to him. Pass

Nicolas Cage: Do I want to fuck Nicolas Cage? No. Do I have any interest physically or emotionally in Nicolas Cage? No. would I do it for the clout? Yes. I'm not dumb. Smash.

Ellen Ripley: Her modeler did her dirty but she's fucking Ellen Ripley I'm not stupid. She'd break me but it'd be worth it. Smash

Alan Wake: Isn't he married. I'm pretty sure he's married. But also, he's very much not fuckable. Too sad and damp. Very damp mop of a man. Tons of trouble. Stay far away from me, pass.

Sable Ward: I'm pretty sure she's gay for Mikaela. I can't break their relationship up. Pass

Aestri Yazar & Baermar Uraz - The Troop: I don't wanna fuck the elves. I know, I know. But like. I don't wanna fuck the elves.

Lara Croft: Too good for me. Also I'm pretty sure she has a girlfriend? Isn't there some girl in the new games? I'm not a homewrecker, pass.

Trevor Belmont:

[invisiblekatanaartwork]

Artist’s Blog #136 - Desperado (1994)

Desperado: A Classic Film Revisited 

Recently, I rewatched Desperado from 1995. I had seen this movie years ago, and it was time for a rewatch with my blog spectacles on. This is one of those classic films that I can't imagine anyone disliking. Desperado is a solid film with many good qualities and is very well-executed. Let’s explore the details of why this film is so compelling in the following paragraphs.

Recognizing Signatures in Desperado 

For art fans out there, you know how some artists have such a distinct style that their work is immediately recognizable? You could show me a Norman Rockwell, Van Gogh, or Picasso piece I’ve never seen, and I could still be 100% sure who the artist is just by the style. This applies to many things, including fashion. For instance, if you see three stripes, y’all know it's from adidas. I’m learning that films have this quality too. Just two minutes into Desperado, I recognized the signatures of its creators. I initially thought Tarantino was involved—turns out he was—and it also felt heavily influenced by Rodriguez, which was true, as he directed it. When I watched it years ago, I didn’t notice these details as much as I do now.

Probably the most noticeable signature in Desperado is the character dialogue. Tarantino's movies often have few scenes, but they are lengthy. They are lengthy not because of numerous events but because of deep, engaging dialogue that draws you in, making you feel part of the characters' lives. This engagement makes the film more relatable, at least from my perspective. I talked more about this in my blog on Death Proof which you can read here. You can see this in the opening scene of Desperado. Buscemi doesn't just say, “You’re about to get dealt with.” Instead, he tells a long, engaging joke about how scary this guy is, really building him up. I see the same writing styles used by Rodriguez.

Desperado: Genius in Film and Music 

I’m a fan of hip hop and most music genres. Just for the record, Wu-Tang is hip-hop in its purest form, but I also highly respect Outkast. One thing I admire about some artists is their ability to make words rhyme that don’t naturally rhyme. Very few can do this well. For example, they might pronounce a word using an accent that makes it rhymes with another word that it usually wouldn’t. This kind of creativity is a mark of genius in my opinion. Desperado had this uncanny make-a-square-fit-through-a-triangle-hole ability too. You’ll have to watch the movie to really see what I mean because I am not able to articulate it but, surf rock and Mexican gun fights fit! I never see this working but, Desperado made it happen. This too is the mark of genius.

Desperado's Iconic Shootouts  

If you enjoy shoot-'em-up movies, Desperado is a must-see. You can find a complete list of all the guns used in the film here. Some things stand out, though. First, there’s a crotch gun. From what I read, there were alternate scenes featuring the surprise crotch gun. You might recognize this gun from Tom Savini’s character in From Dusk Till Dawn, released a year later. Also, Desperado features an iconic opening scene with a guitar case hiding a beautiful collection of guns. You must watch the whole movie to appreciate the full effect, but the case has a false bottom full of guns. If you’d like, you can watch just this scene here, but I recommend watching the entire film. Later in the movie, there’s another case doubling as a rocket launcher.

The Stellar Cast of Desperado

Another great aspect of Desperado is its cast. It features Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Cheech, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, and others. Each of these characters fits so well together. I’ve mentioned this in other blogs, but when you have a cast that seems to mesh well, it automatically elevates the movie. This clearly works, as seen in From Dusk Till Dawn, another Tarantino classic that features many of the same actors, including Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, and Cheech. Joaquim de Almeida, who plays Bucho, also does a fantastic job as an antagonist.

Desperado: Artistic Inspiration

From an artistic perspective, I thoroughly enjoyed Desperado. Living in the southeastern United States, I find the color schemes of South America visually appealing. We have a lot of green here, which can get boring. In Mexico, where Desperado was filmed, the color palette includes reds, oranges, and browns—a beautiful combination. Contrasting these colors are the black suits and Salma Hayek’s hair. White trim on clothes, muted greens, and occasional purples are pleasantly scattered throughout the film. I could probably watch Desperado without sound and still enjoy it just as much. I had to pause several times to take sketchbook notes. There are so many sketches I want to do from Desperado. I’m feeling oils too – I can’t wait to jump into the paint using this muse!

Why Desperado Is a New Favorite

Desperado has easily become one of my new favorites. It features armored limos, gunfights, more gunfights, great characters, a surprisingly engaging story with a twist ending, and so many guns. I don't know how I could not love this movie and watch it repeatedly. Plus, it’s from 1995, a time when movies were creative, stylistic, and well-crafted. I feel that nothing tops the guitar gun case scene, and they placed it first, which I thought was odd, but otherwise, I have nothing but praise for Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado. What’s your favorite scene? Who’s your favorite character? Let me know in the comments. Follow my art journey on social media, visit my website, and buy my art here. If you’ve enjoyed this blog or this movie, please share. Peace.

[mirchloe]

quick (incomplete) list of trans headcanons btw! first ones that come to my head.

phoebe is nonbinary! she doesn't have much of a leaning, but prefers she/her pronouns. some days, she does lean toward casual masculine presentation. binds when she's a teen, not so much when she's older. she has to roll her eyes whenever quentin comes up to her shaking his head all, "can't believe you're copying me" because he settled on his gender as nonbinary first. (it's in good fun! he's just ribbing his bestie. pronouns are whatever, call him anything, though he does have his days where he has his preferences.)

norma and lizzie aren't cis. norma is a trans girl, and lizzie is just outside the gender binary. she doesn't care about labeling herself. it's kind of like with quentin, but he's more in a chill vibe, and lizzie likes making herself look really genderweird with whatever pronouns she's feeling that day. norma is strictly she/her tho.

franke is also a trans girl! she always related more to girls when she was younger and didn't get why. she always just thought girls were awesome! then, she learned she could be a girl, and that's history. she's butch when she's an adult.

trans woman hollis is also so real, so true. gotta thank double fine for uploading the alpha footage of pitror and inspiring this headcanon.

benny is a trans guy! like franke, he had a tendency to look up more to guys. figured he might as well be a guy, too! guys are tough! he does have a tendency to put down girls when he's a kid, which isn't great. he grows out of it and does feel a bit bad, trying to smooth it over.

[belespritbooks]

My first read of 2024! (well the first book I’ve finished, anyway.)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ + 1/2

Thoughts:

Mixed bag. Structure wise, this book was a very interesting read. I read this book for one of my classes, and we briefly touched upon how Faulkner's writing in this work seems to be much more geared towards showing off his literary skills. And in my opinion, I think this was the driving force of the novel rather than the message. To me, as a book worm, nerd, and student of literature, of course literary skill is impressive and important in great literary works, but I find that the most impactful books are ones that you put down and are truly moved by the story or the language. This book I was simply quite confused.

I'll explain why I feel this way for a few reasons: first the structure. The book being split into different parts with different narration (and different narrative styles) was, stylistically, very intriguing and impressive. Readers encountered Benjy's unique lens of the world, which didn't provide us much context or structure. This could either completely repel readers, or intrigue them further by the mystery Faulkner sets up. We are then introduced to Quentin's section, which I'll get into detail for in a second. The narration here is slightly less confusing, but because of his unique character, it is still quite broken and confusing. In Jason's section, the narration is much more clear and we're provided more context for the Compson's family relations, such as Caddy's daughter, Quentin, living with Jason and their mother. On pages 212 to 214, we're also given insight on the terrible way Jason treats his sister, as well as her crumbling life: begging for contact with her daughter, and begging for some money. Finally in the last section, readers are provided with a third-person omniscient narrator (and the writing in this section was GORGEOUS). Because there were four distinct types of narration, it seems to me Faulker was more focused on style than the message. Of course there was an important message, but because the style was so insanely confusing at times, I'm not sure how much of the message readers truly receive by the end of the book. Which is the beauty of literature: some books are so incredibly written it takes three or four reads to truly understand the point. But for me, since two sections of this book had incredibly difficult narrative styles, I'm not even sure how much I grasped of the plot or the family dynamic, never mind the meaning behind these relations. It was almost so stylistically impressive that it's just too frustrating to understand.

Though I would like to add: the different narration styles had a point: Faulkner was trying to express the same idea or feeling in each section, with four different methods of writing. In interviews, he shared that he saw this book as a failure; saying he was never truly able to get his message across, no matter which narrative style he chose. That is the beauty of this novel: Faulkner deliberately demonstrates the limits of language. My favorite example of this is the church sermon at the end of the novel, from pages 292-296. On page 292, Faulkner describes the church to look like a painting: “the whole scene was as flat and without perspective as a painted cardboard set upon the ultimate edge of the flat earth…” These descriptions of the scene as painted signify how Faulkner’s words on the page are flat and two dimensional. During the sermon, the preacher barely says anything, but the church goers have a transcendental experience just being in the room: experience allows one to transcend language itself. The only way to truly grasp human truths is to transcend language itself; it limits us, whereas experience frees us. The preacher seems to communicate to the crowd through empathy and emotion rather than words. It is the spaces in between the words where the emotion is felt, where the meaning is given to the crowd, just like in literature. The greatest authors know how to infuse meaning into a page, in between the words, not having to state it in their language.

To touch upon Faulkner's writing style: it is quite beautiful. I really loved Quentin's section now that I understand it better. His narration is confusing and patchy due to his deteriorating mental health and him grappling with past memories he cannot get out of his head. In class, I could not get away from pages 150 and 151, which is dialogue Quentin is remembering from the past before he left for Harvard. Here is just a snippet:

"hes crossed all the oceans all around the world...

do you love him

her hand came out I didnt move it fumbled down my arm and she held my hand flat against her chest her heart thudding

no no

did he make you then he made you do it"

The dialogue not having any quotations, punctuation, or pointing out who is speaking, represents Quentin's scrambled thoughts as this scene is from a long time ago: when remembering specific conversations years after, its almost impossible to remember exact words and phrases. That is why it feels so scrambled. Also significant is that this long period of dialogue pops up right in the middle of Quentin's present storyline, and when readers jump back to the present, we've missed Quentin being in a fight, because we were caught up in his past thoughts overtaking him.

Also, I chose this part of the dialogue to discuss how Quentin refused to believe Caddy had lost her virginity and instead made up a narrative in his head that she was raped. Quentin's feelings represent the values of the old South; he didn't want to believe Caddy had become impure before marriage or that a young woman was freely making sexual choices. Therefore, he wanted to believe he could protect her virginity by saying she was raped and "killing" her rapist. I could talk about Quentin's section forever: it was my favorite part.

However, it was still so confusing. I had actually thought Caddy was raped until we discussed it in class, because we are so trapped in his head in the book, and his narration is so broken with no explanation. Such as how he would frequently break his present narration (in the beginning of his section) and reflect on a memory in italics of him telling his father he had committed incest with Caddy. This was a made-up story to again excuse Caddy becoming impure in Quentin's eyes, but I wouldn't have put that together on my own, and likely not through a second time reading.

[thoughtfulqueenofruins]

My story

Tw: everything

Tw

When I was born I was the product of a rape and also that of a poor mother!  That being said I was not wanted to begin with  in life!  As the first two years of my life would play out I would lost my innocence in the most painful way possible, through actual violence and torture!   But know buy just anyone but by mujahadeen the actual predecessor of Al-Qaeda, sounds far fetched?  No, because at the very time I was born up until I was adopted I was in a terrorist infest country and warzone!   There was no intelligence or airport security to be had! One of tormentor I was able to Identify through a night mare I had!    Some of the torture I went through was waterboarding, stress position, sleep deprivation, and isolation to pure pain in the worst way imaginable!  I would you more about this but it would be triggering for you!  And this continues for two years two months.

Also I heard other kids being hurt and also hearing AK fire and IEDs go off almost every fucking hour!  

I remember that food was scarce and that I would've starved anyway, which is sad to say!  

This aided in my fear of the dark as-well as the Herculean pain tolerance that I would have in the coming 30 some odd years in my life! Though the beginnning of my life was morbid and grousome!  It got worse as the people in the orphanage also started stealing my stuff, yet another torture tactic.....but this time it was mental torture!  As you can see I was born in a shit land that was hostile to girls, women and females as well as the Roma!

I only discovered the force sex and rap of women in my country when I was with my brother Bryan, more about him latter as he contributed to my trauma!  People this days are like oh my god thank god your no like a Quentin Tarantino character especially Oren Ishii!  And unfortunately I am able to relate to Oren and her copious amounts of trauma too!  Also it does not help that  I was bother Eurasian and Indo-European (Roma which is another way of saying Eurasian).  The only white I have in me is Chechen and Bosnian as well as Romanian!    This will not be the first time that I would lost innocence nor the virginities, not just sexual but in other way too!  I will get them later! 

When I was adopted my brain took another shift and I was traumatized again by having a new set of humans and a new country to live in, still to this day I have to tell my self that I was safe and that I still am!   But the fuckery would not end there, as my first triggering memory was fucking daycare!   The shit excuse so my parents can drink all day and not have to deal with me!   The repercussions were this that I ended up being a hellion as a kid. As this was the first shit memory I had in Canada!  That being said I found my self with the same damn dangerous but this time they were make believe, but it was so real at the time!  But at the end of the day my parents had to deal with a very pissed of peach~ me!  I was told I was horrible and bad and that I was the devils child whenever I left day care!  If that was so bad why did not my difficult parents just leave me at the security checkpoint or at customs as I would  have benefited from that!

When I was born I was the product of a rape and also that of a poor mother!  That being said I was not wanted to begin with  in life!  As the first two years of my life would play out I would lost my innocence in the most painful way possible, through actual violence and torture!   But know buy just anyone but by mujahadeen the actual predecessor of Al-Qaeda, sounds far fetched?  No, because at the very time I was born up until I was adopted I was in a terrorist infest country and warzone!   There was no intelligence or airport security to be had! One of tormentor I was able to Identify through a night mare I had!    Some of the torture I went through was waterboarding, stress position, sleep deprivation, and isolation to pure pain in the worst way imaginable!  I would you more about this but it would be triggering for you!  And this continues for two years two months.

Also I heard other kids being hurt and also hearing AK fire and IEDs go off almost every fucking hour!  

I remember that food was scarce and that I would've starved anyway, which is sad to say!  

This aided in my fear of the dark as-well as the Herculean pain tolerance that I would have in the coming 30 some odd years in my life! Though the beginnning of my life was morbid and grousome!  It got worse as the people in the orphanage also started stealing my stuff, yet another torture tactic.....but this time it was mental torture!  As you can see I was born in a shit land that was hostile to girls, women and females as well as the Roma!

I only discovered the force sex and rap of women in my country when I was with my brother Bryan, more about him latter as he contributed to my trauma!  People this days are like oh my god thank god your no like a Quentin Tarantino character especially Oren Ishii!  And unfortunately I am able to relate to Oren and her copious amounts of trauma too!  Also it does not help that  I was bother Eurasian and Indo-European (Roma which is another way of saying Eurasian).  The only white I have in me is Chechen and Bosnian as well as Romanian!    This will not be the first time that I would lost innocence nor the virginities, not just sexual but in other way too!  I will get them later! 

When I was adopted my brain took another shift and I was traumatized again by having a new set of humans and a new country to live in, still to this day I have to tell my self that I was safe and that I still am!   But the fuckery would not end there, as my first triggering memory was fucking daycare!   The shit excuse so my parents can drink all day and not have to deal with me!   The repercussions were this that I ended up being a hellion as a kid. As this was the first shit memory I had in Canada!  That being said I found my self with the same damn dangerous but this time they were make believe, but it was so real at the time!  But at the end of the day my parents had to deal with a very pissed of peach~ me!  I was told I was horrible and bad and that I was the devils child whenever I left day care!  If that was so bad why did not my ret*rd parents just leave me at the security checkpoint or at customs as I would  have benefited from that!

I wasn't always afraid of balloons. There was a time in my life when I was able to enjoy the fucking things for the first time in my life until that one fucker ended up popping that fucker would be one balloon out of many and would cause a chain reaction and caused me to have a freak out. That was the first time I ever had a flashback other than when I was in preschool/daycare that being said it wasn't very easy to abandon my favourite toy but I had to do it. That noise was just a troll you've heard the song bang bang that awful sound bang bang my baby shot down Well that was basically a bang bang that awful sound and it wasn't exactly a sound that I enjoyed I remember if I heard it again that I was going to cry like a bastard which I did in grade 3 when I went to a cruise in the Greek Isles and they had balloons all over the place. I remember that I started crying every time one fucker popped after another! That was a real shit show. I think that was when my mother started to drink and realize that her daughter was not normal. That being said, I was not very impressed with her behaviour demonizing me for having a phobia that was caused by obviously deep trauma that should've been dealt with a long time ago, but it was not. They refused to take me seriously or take me to therapy. That was only gonna come out when I was about 35 years of age. They're being said I was not very happy about travelling but I really couldn't stand fucking balloons for example, the popping sounds I remember my mother said you are not gonna get what you wanted because of your stupidity that was kind of something I could not help myself with at the time, but he was calling it stupidity

Because she was drunk and shitfaced! I think she may have said a lot of things over the years over balloons that she may have regretted if he ever regretted these things that being said, I was not very impressed with my coping mechanism with balloons, which was to hide in a corner, and hope for the best.  I was literally petrified of these things of steel to this day. Why am I petrified because they sound like the goddamn AK-47 and the fucking IDs that were going off around my orphanage/hospital, which was not exactly my cup of tea when I was a baby it was a wonder I was playing with a damn thing to begin with!

That being said, I was not a very big balloon fan and then there was balloon animals. I learned about in grade 6 where one kid made a balloon animals and it made this horrendous popping sound that you could hear a mile away oh God that was terrible.

As I was trying to get away from that area where the balloon animal was going to explode, I couldn't get out of the school fast enough and heard this horrendous crack popping sound that was got awful. I couldn't help but want to cry and I did and that's when people started to call me Stupid names more on that later on but anyways, I couldn't handle the sound of the fucking sound the popping!

This was one of many demons I would have in my life and would have to face whether I liked it or not cause I had to deal with it come hell or Highwater I remember few months ago I had to go to a friends birthday party and was filled with balloons and 13 of those fuckers kept popping! it was a wonder I didn't hurt someone intentionally because I was like I can't handle this. The balloons are gonna pop and they did and I was going insane. Trying to dance with my boyfriend was a pain in the years because every time I try to dance with the crack, a balloon popped, so that being said, I was not exactly tickled being at this birthday party I thought the birthday party was gonna be fine and then it was an adult thing and that there was no balloons boy fuck or wrong! it turned out there was more goblins or children there that I didn't want to deal with and they were popping the balloons on purpose and it was as if they can smell the fear kids can smell fear. Remember that if you ever have PTSD like me or PTSD, and you end up having a fear of these little shits under the age 18 And under will end up, destroying your mental health on purpose because they know! 

Just like they knew when I was about Larry that I was not fond of balloons that they were going to pop them. I remember a lot of things like popping and stomping on all this one's my favourite stomping on fucking bags and whatever else like juice boxes or even small balloons just to see me act out like an asshole! That was not my favourite cup of tea in school, and it was always going to have repercussions where I was going to be more traumatized from the fucking intentional popping or bursting a balloons bags or even juice boxes it was kind of disturbing to tell you the truth of these these kids would do that and still do that to this day is like holy Christ I just wanna cover my ears just thinking about it......

As one friend had mentioned five years ago kids can be anatomy pieces which I'm not gonna be mentioning on here!  That being said yes, kids are anatomy pieces. They are not exactly the nicest ones they grow out of the age of three once they hit four 218 years old they jackasses in my opinion I don't like to say that, but when it comes to balloons, they will pop them on purpose, I remember that was one of the declining moments of my mental health this year was this fucking party!   I cannot obviously handle balloons popping at my ear! It was deafening.

*part of my biography under the name t.m. Tarantino

[wiggles-mcgee]

OPINIONS ON GRAVITY FALLS

OK SINCE YOU ASKED I WILL ANSWER WITHOUT GIVING SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2!! Because I know you've not seen it yet. Not sure how much of this is opinions and how much is just rambles though.

First, context, Gravity Falls is a show I have been obsessed with since it came out. I own a copy of Journal 3 and Dipper's hat and can't wait to get the Book of Bill when it comes out. So my opinions are gonna be biased!!

The greatest episode of Gravity Falls and my favourite of all time is S2Ep4: Sock Opera (watch the episode and you'll understand why, though please watch the rest of that season too haha). No further questions needed, it speaks for itself in every second of that episode.

My favourite episode from Series 1 would have to be either Legend of the Gobblewonker or Dreamscaperers. Both are fun to watch and have sweet endings and notes to it, as well as incredible comedy and great pacing. They hit so good every time.

Boyz Crazy is one of my least favourite episodes because it reminds me of primary school where everyone was feral about One Direction and I just didn't get it at all, but I still find it hilarious.

Most of my least favourite episodes involve some kind of romance subplot - thats not to say all romance centric episodes are bad, I just find it less interesting to me when it turns out Mabel's new crush is Regular Guy (Normal Man) and not five gnomes in a hoodie. Or oh look Dipper is crushing on Wendy, what's new? Its probably because I never really related to it.

My favourite character is Grunkle Stan. He's funny and a weird old man, as Mabel eloquently puts it. He's gruff, sweaty, wrinkled, and a bit of an asshole. And he cares so much for his family. He tries and thats what counts. Also his absolute lack of shame about cash - like in Double Dipper where he launches himself at that dollar bill - and conning and scamming tourists out of their money is so hilarious to me. Grunkle Stan is dear to my heart and will always be my favourite character.

Pacifica is another one of my favourite characters! She gets a fair bit more character development in the second series, and I still find myself laughing at every interaction the Pines family has with her when I rewatch the show - she's hilarious in every sense of the word. Her growth as a person is really nice to watch.

If I met Tambry irl I think I would inevitably punch her, I cannot lie, she frustrates me too much

Bill Cipher my beloved <3 (you'll see why when he shows up again in season 2)

I have rewatched this show many times since it came out and I firmly believe that so many of the jokes still hold up to this day. It shaped my sense of humour greatly. And the best bit about being older is that now I get all the jokes I didn't get as a kid!!!

My favourite running joke is Guy Who Married A Woodpecker!! He just shows up every now and again and we see a snapshot of his failing marriage and I love him.

The pool guy is objectively and unironically one of the funniest people alive. As is Quentin Trembley, 8½th President of the United States, who also absolutely shaped my personality and humour.

Certain episodes in the later half of Series 2 tone wise feel like they should have been at the start of the series or in Series 1, and the series does suffer for it in my opinion. Of course its a kids show, you don't want it to get too dark, but I feel like some parts of that series just felt inconsistent to the rest of it. Of course the rest of that series is absolutely stellar in my opinion, most of my favourite episodes are in that series, so its swings and roundabouts I suppose.

The Wendy crush is nothing short of frustrating to me every time I see it. Had to reiterate this, and I get that people don't get over crushes quickly, but especially in Series 2 it frustrates me. tbh I probably had a crush on Wendy too as a kid I cannot lie.

The ending is so sweet to me and makes me want to cry or actually cry every time, not just for nostalgia, but because it hits me hard and emotional in so many different ways. No spoilers yet!

And ending it with a really strong opinion here, you should watch Series 2 (a shameless suggestion, I don't regret it)

[loodgack]

now that the year is ending, let's take a look at, how I wrote the relationship between HN characters in the past 5 years.

the funny thing is, everyone has different relationships and I really like writing these and experimenting. separating storylines and creating new ones. maybe because I'm a writer!

***

🍓Neighbor and Nicky(Player) OPTION 1: lovers. this is entirely crack ship and headcanons based, it has little to nothing to do with any canon. if I had to put it short, then it's the sassy Neighbor from the early era and the Player character. not nicky for sure. the way the original fandom wrote them. usually the "I chase my prey in a big house, because he keeps breaking in, we're addicted to each other because we're both lonely, and I catch him" base plot. nothing more, people often read too much into it. I have quite a few au's (my first ever au, where Nicky was a journalist, other au's where Nicky takes the role of prealpha player entirely, but I still call him Nicky because yes. The return is a strong exception from all of these, that's my only AU, which is based on the final storyline of HN and happens when the act 3 opening happens. that's the only AU I have, where Nicky is actually Nicky from the og HN game. it was actually hard to write it)

🍓Neighbor and Nicky(Player) OPTION 2: this is an entirely separated option and universe from the first one. would say even, that the characters are entirely different, and my writings show it. it strongly connects to the beta3 family storyline. Nicky is obviously not Nicky here either, because during that storyline, Player was different. I can separate stories and relationships and characters, because so could the HN canon and I'm no different from it; however, Nicky is strongly headcanon based here too, because we don't know his actual personality in beta3. this second option shows the same bodies, with different souls; they're a family. they're related, they don't like each other but a generational trauma connects them. (examples are The kri origins and a few more unreleased AU's, in which they're blood related. I wrote only a few, despite I really like the beta3 storyline.) this option obviously focuses on them as a family, and how they're trying to put their differences aside to function as one, just like in the beta 3 storyline. option 1 and 2 never connect, but I think it's needless to say it.

🍓Smith and HGQuentin: allies. I think in all of my au's, these two are either allies, friends, or a couple. but allies for sure. I'm aware that Smith and Quentin wasn't going to have the best relationship in the canon, that's partly why Smentin exists to begin with. smith is a loner on purpose and Quentin is just an unlucky, loveable loner. in the AS rewritten plot, Quentin is simply on Smiths side, but there are AU's in which these two aren't the center of attention, there it's up to the reader to decide things. but they're allies for sure.

🍓HGQuentin and Neighbor: I mean the HG Quentin here, because I separate Quentins as well. I think I have one HG au, where they're strangers, everywhere else, they're the way Ike Gershowitz and Theodore were in the books. a brother-like relationship, which is trust based "you can always count on me" type. best friends since childhood, but they never argue, because you can't argue with a sweetheart like Quentin.

🍓Smith and Bea: they dislike each other.

🍓Smith and Neighbor: they hate each other. so much, you can't leave them in the same room, because one would murder another. in the Kri origins, Smith and Neighbor are forced to get along, because Smith and Quentin are together and Neighbor and Quentin are like brothers.

🍓Quentin and Beatrix: siblings. or have a sibling-like relationship. it doesn't mean that Bea doesn't look down on Quentin or doesn't find him weird, but I strongly keep the sibling thing, ever since they were introduced. AND MY OH MY!✨

🍓Beatrix and Neighbor: platonic. this one is a very interesting thing to write and think about. I can't see them as a couple with sexual stuff(this doesn't mean that I'll never try writing an au), but in general, I can strongly see them having a thing for each other vice versa. Neighbor is strong and hot af, and Bea wants to hold onto strong men and bond with them. she avoids the hints (Neighbor would surely nonstop flirt with her) but is thankful for the man's loyalty.

🍓Nicky and Smith: they interact in exactly one story so far, and it's the Kri origins. Nicky/Player is an adult there too. they seem to be fine with each other, both of them knowing that Neighbor is just something else. but it's nothing special. would say, they're neutral.

🍓journalist!Quentin and Neighbor: they dislike each other. Quentin's relationship with others is kinda the same as HG Quentin's. despite I think that Norman Darby was HN2 Quentin at some early point, I usually separate Darby and include him as different character.

🍓journalist!Quentin and Smith: enemies to lovers. not exactly, but in short, maybe that's the most fitting sentence. they're rivals, enemies, they don't have the chemistry that HGQuentin and Smith absolutely has in HG. and I can turn them into allies/lovers, but it's much harder to do so. journalist is nowhere as innocent as HGQ was. I have one more interesting headcanon, which is that Gerda and Beatrix had a fight, and Gerda ended up killing her. that's how she owns Imbir now.

that's all for now.

[eliotqueliot]

Queliot & The Magicians Fic Reading Winter Challenge, part 5

Due to Life I'm behind in posting my recs, but I'm still reading! So I'm really enjoying this, and honestly Reading All the Fic is what's keeping me going right now. Stay tuned. As ever, the count below simply represents my progress toward my goal of 40 fic recs.

14. I love this fic so much! It's everything I ever wanted--Eliot as a pirate high king--and Margo, Kady, Julia, and Penny all make excellent pirates! Best of all--Quentin as ship's doctor--and of course--all the great swashbuckling--scenes of Eliot and Idri, but especially Queliot--Quentin is a hero, yes--Eliot is spectacular--I love them so much--everything about the sea--Quentin's tragic backstory with Alice works so well--and yes, this fic is hot--OMG I just don't even have words for how much I love this fic. SO MUCH FUN. Thank you, @summerstede❤️

15. This fake dating Queliot fic is incredibly cute and funny and yet also deep emotionally. It makes so much sense to me, all these pent up emotions and just why they're being so careful. It's very sweet and gives me a whole new perspective on what "boring" means when you're in love. And for Queliot. And feels like a very Mosaic sentiment. Thank you, @lizardkingeliot❤️

16. This is just such a beautiful gift to Queliot, and to all of us. I love the way Quentin and Eliot are able to see and love each other truly and work on their own issues in order to be good for each other. Love the way the past, present, and a beautiful future all unfold together in the space of this one loving morning. Love how we and they can see their fragile, beautiful hearts and want to protect them. There's just so much here--please read! Thank you, @wolfnprey❤️

17. I love this chance for Quentin and Eliot to finally get together--so unexpectedly and so beautifully. This story falls into one of my favorite categories, Quentin Coldwater Lives! Honestly I wish they'd never been separated, but it looks like the time missing each other is helping them love one another so openly now! In any case--I love this!!! Thank you, Vinstormblessed ❤️

18. Following "What You Know Now" in the Timeline 9 series, but able to operate beautifully as a standalone fic, this fic shows how Alice and Kady bring Charlie back from being a Niffin--how Alice helps Charlie--it's just this really, really beautiful deep dive into a sibling relationship, showing how much they've always meant to each other. I love it so much! It's so touching and true! Thank you @official-mermaid ❤️

19. This is such a beautiful coda to Timeline 9. Even though it brings up a fascinating and heartbreaking new story problem that might never be resolved (not sure if the fic will be finished--I hope so! I subscribed!)--it is SO WORTH IT to see Eliot and Quentin together post "What You Know Now," enjoying their lives together, seriously loving one another so much. I love it! Thank you @official-mermaid ❤️

20. This fic has so much love and so much heartbreak and So Much Love. Among my many, many favorite things are goddess Julia being able to feel how much Eliot loves Q; her telling Q about this continued to give me hope for them throughout this story; and the amazing way one can see how much Eliot loves Q, even through Q's POV while Q himself is doubting it. So many beautiful touches like the gifts related to the Mosaic (all of them, no spoilers). This is beyond fake dating for me (seeing as how Q has told his dad from the beginning that they were together--long before they were). Anyway--I just love it. Thank you @rubickk7 ❤️

#Queliot & The Magicians Fic Reading Winter Challenge

#Queliot and TM fic reading winter

[psicadetterra]

How about Lili for the character ask :)?

Always good to talk about Lili 🌷

First impression: I'm not very impressed by characters with a sort of "goth" or "edgy" style like Lili. They're going to have to do a lot of work to impress me because characters like that are a dime a dozen. As I got to know her more and more, I saw that she is more than her appearance. I was also worried about her being reduced to "tsundere love interest" in the plot.

Impression now: I relate to her. It's kind of hard to describe without feeling like I'm baring my soul. Loner girl with a pet rat who loves plants. I know Lili is a little badass, but I also think about her loneliness. The line where Raz shows her the GPC button hits hard. Something like, "Why? So you can take it off when you're done being friends with me?" God damn, Lili… Had I known about this game when I was her age, I would have loved her on the spot no questions asked. Plants are easier than people. They don't judge. They just sit there and listen and never tell you to shut up. I see that with Lili (although maybe PN plants CAN tell you to shut up if you can understand them.)

Favorite moment: TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FOR THIS PIECE OF CRAP?

Idea for a drawing: I wanted to draw her feeling sad that her plant friends were going dormant for the winter back in October. I never did and now it is a month or so away from spring lol. Maybe I'll come back to it.

Unpopular opinion: Not sure. Do people still get mad at her for being sad in the second game? She thought her dad was dying, man… Lay off on the kid.

Favorite relationship: Raz is an easy choice. I also considered Harold, but I feel like describing why would feel too much like projection. I was wary of the crush she has on Raz at first. I've already described how I hate when a perfectly good story has to have a love interest thrown in there. She is more than Raz's love interest. They actually have good chemistry (as much as two kids can have, anyway.) Even if they grow out of their kiddie crush, I think they can still be friends. They compliment each other well (water and fire) they can nerd-out together.

(Honorable mention to Dogen and also Quentin for some reason but I don't think I would have been able to give anything substantial.)

Favorite headcanon: I actually don't have a slot for Lili on the headcanon doc… I don't think I have any aside from winter being a dreadfully lonely season for her because all her plant friends are dead or dormant. Makes me wonder how her friendships with annuals are… Maybe it is like how I feel about rats? Even though their lifespans are short, the joy they brought me in life outweighs the sadness when they are gone every time. Maybe she feels the same way about short-lived plant friends.

On a less serious note, I also like to pretend Lili is short for "Lilium" (plant genus) Lilium Zanotto