#this man has seen so much and it's endlessly fascinating to me

[tetheredbysin]

nico hulkenberg being head over heels in love with his war criminal of teammate becomes even more fascinating when you think about the fact that he used to date a cop. he's come full circle.

[stra-tek]

This is one of the greatest things ever. Walk around every single version of the U.S.S. Enterprise in photorealistic 3D in your browser, from the Roddenberry Archive. On a phone you just see wraparound 3D pics. On a PC or laptop you get the full 3D interactive experience. They NEED to make this VR compatible, it'll be beyond words.

There are more Enterprises here than Tumblr will allow me photos of, and more will likely be added.

Here's the TOS Enterprise, which appears in several incarnations ("The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and TOS proper as well as TAS with the second turbolift!), has the correct original graphics and is perfect.

This is the bridge from the unmade Star Trek: Phase II series (whose pilot episode "In Thy Image" was rewritten to become Star Trek: The Motion Picture), with it's legendary big comfy command sofa seat and tactical display bubble!

The Motion Picture, such an accurate recreation that there's even a very faint flicker on the rear-projection animated screens as seen in the movie.

Enterprise NX-01, looking exactly as it did in "Broken Bow"

Recognise this? It's the briefing room of Discovery season 2's version of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. Although at the front of the saucer on the "real" ship, here it's off the second bridge door which may well be where the set was IRL.

I wasn't expecting modern Trek to be represented equally as the originals in this project, but it is. This is the Enterprise from Strange New Worlds, with Pike's Ready Room located just off the bridge.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. My favourite version of the classic bridge, as a kid I drew all these control panels and stuck them on my bedroom walls. And now I can look around and look at them all close-up! They've even replicated the noticable TVs stuffed into the panels for the more complex animated screens.

The Enterprise-C bridge from "Yesterday's Enterprise". This one has always fascinated me, being a low-budget TV set (formerly the Enterprise-D battle bridge, originally built from the rain-damaged TMP set's back wall and redressed endlessly though TNG) representing TNG's immediate predecessor. In the episode they mostly shoot the back wall and imply the consoles make a huge circle, but here you can see the set's real dimensions and the weirdness of the classic movie helm/nav console in front of the TNG con/ops panels. I love it.

You know how much I love the Kelvin movies, so seeing this was amazing. For some reason the consoles don't have their screens lit (hopefully this'll be fixed soon), but you can see the saucer under the window and it's shiny and amazing.

The last thing I expected was the U.S.S. Titan-A/Enterprise-G bridge, but it's here. And the lights are on.

Other bridges available to explore which I'm out of pictures to show: The Enterprise-D (of course), Enterprise XCV-330 (the ringship, based on concept art for the unmade non-Trek series "Starship"), the Planet of the Titans U.S.S. Enterprise (again, based on concept art for a cool multi-levelled set) and the "launch" U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 (based on the very first piece of TOS bridge set concept art), the Enterprise-E, the Enterprise-F (seen on viewscreen for all of 2 minutes in Picard) and the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656!

Take a bow lads, you've done good. Now just add VR support!

That link again.

[ilovejeongintoo]

𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟 ℙ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕤

!WARNING NSFW Content ahead! !MDNI!

Genre: Fantasy, Siren Wooyoung x Reader, Smut Warnings: Implied hunting, obsessive behaviour, slight stalking?, accidental marriage, harassment(not Wooyoungs doing), technically murder(only mentioned as disappearing), edging, no condom(wrap it up pls), creampie, accidental marriage Wordcount: 4052 Not proofread

One of my other Moodboards that got me cooking up a story.

Summary: Stumbling upon a mysterious new stall that you've never seen before, the merchandise seem to be almost as enchanting as the owner.

The sun has been shining so brightly the past few days that you barely spent anytime outside, rather choosing to stay in the shade. You were mentally thanking yourself for wearing a light dress that covered you but had a light tone to it, you would not survive this weather otherwise.

Today would be the day that the flea markets at the port would open. Just barely ten minutes and not even at the main market, you started seeing various stalls, primarily selling fish and cloth. You stopped on occasion to look at a few items but quickly put them back when you looked at the price.

Moving further in you saw more and more. A few familiar people called out to you, and you replied with a friendly smile and wave. You leaned further into one of the stalls, the shells in your hair making a few soft clinking sounds when they jostled with the movement.

A voice to your right called out to you: "looking for something specific muse?" You looked over seeing a handsome man leaning over the wooden table. The surface was riddled with lots of jewelry but what immediately caught your eyes were the colored shells and various pearls.

"Something like this actually." You pointed over to the assortment. Your eyes keeping themselves locked onto them, fascinated. You noticed him standing up slightly, looking a lot taller than you thought. Your eyes focused on the different silver rings on his hands, moving up to his wrists was a singular silver armband. Further his white shirt was pushed up towards his elbows giving you a look at his veins. You quickly snapped your eyes up, hoping that he hadn't noticed your staring.

The next treasures that you were captivated by were his sharp eyes, dark that seemed endlessly deep.

By his bright smile, he didn't notice you guessed. You looked over the stall now, simpler than the others, clearly new in the port.

"You're new here, I basically know all little businesses here." You said in a matter-of-fact tone. You'd definitely remember a face like that, especially hair that special. Upper half being black, and underneath was a bright shade of blonde.

His smile was still there, teeth on display "Yeah, I'm here just for today. Kind of traveling through here, getting my own stocks and then heading off again. A traveler? You didn't get many visitors at Lumora Bay, the place wasn't even in scripted into some maps, plus there wasn't anything to see here, so no reasons for any tourists. Your curiosity got the best of you "Really? Where are you heading to next?” This wasn’t a place for tourists really. You noticed some glances from locals being thrown at the mysterious man, he was definitely catching some attention.

"I'm just traveling through the ocean, they just take me anywhere, that's why I'm here now, I'm planning to get some rations with the money from these"

A lone sailor? Now that was even less believable than him being a tourist. He didn't look the part, his clothing clearly of higher quality, Dark pants, white shirt and in the back, you could see a brown jacket. His shoes shone a little too much for someone that was traveling a lot, practically reflecting the sunshine.

"The prices depend on what you want and how good you're gonna take care of my treasures." Honestly everything looked like something you've always wanted, though you were sure any of these you wouldn't be able to afford. The job at the local tavern only got you so much.

One item did catch your eye from the beginning, and you kept stealing looks at it, trying to figure out its realness. Clearly the owner of said thing also noticed and picked it up, his big hand enclosing it. He stretched his hand out to you "This one, right? It's also one of my favorites, haven't really found a new owner yet."

A ring with a crescent moon

You have never seen anything similar to it, everything looked like you could find somehow, but that ring was special. It looked so bright even if it’s made of silver, matching his rings immediately.

"You can take a closer look if you want" he gestured to his hand with his head. You took it into your hand, your fingers brushing his palm and noticing the cold feeling of his skin. He pulled his hand back. You pulled it onto your finger and inspected it closer, it was real silver, polished to perfection giving it a smooth surface the little moon part glittering nicely because of a few stones attacked to it, which you only just took notice of.

You looked up, his eyes meeting your instantly, he must have been looking at you for a while. "What do you think? Wanna buy it?" You bit your lip thinking about it. "How much would it be?" You really wanted to give him the right amount of money, the kind of amount that this kind of treasure deserved. It had almost a hypnotizing aura to it.

"Well, I do get my materials out in the sea, so it'll be a little pricey…” You almost sighed right there.

"-But I think it fits you perfectly, so I'll let you keep it, he smiled, for a second it almost looked a little scary.

Your eyes widened and you shook your head planning to take it off when his hand shot across the table holding yours. It was unusually soft. "Keep it, I mean it." He looked serious and he squeezed his cold hand slightly before pulling back. "Oh-Okay, yeah thank you." You couldn't form any real sentences from the happiness that bubbled in you.

"There's only a single one of those in the world, I made it, there's a slight engraving of my initials on bottom."

You held your hand slightly up, your eye level and turned your hand making you palm face your visage. Low and behold, there were two small, curved letters Y.W.

"Yang Wooyoung, that's my name if you were wondering about the maker of that masterpiece." He must be a god at reading your mind because he has done so multiple times now. You felt slightly bad about leaving him without any payment for the ring though, so you thought for a moment before a thought struck your head.

You pulled a one of your bracelets off, seashells that you've found, assorted on a small metal chain. It was colorful, almost looking childish in comparison to his whole wardrobe.

"Here."

You held your hand out, expecting him to take it. If he didn’t want you to pay with money you would trade, it lifted the guilt of taking something precious from him off your shoulder a bit.

He seemed stunned. You had a stubborn look to you, not planning on being persuaded on not paying at all. another dark look crossed his face but staying as he took the gift. Pulling it over his wrist. He stood there silently observing me, almost predatory. I shivered at the idea. A loud voice ripped you out of your busy mind. You startled and spun around, regretting it right after your eyes landed on the person yelling. Motherfucking Zephyr Darkhart, notorious troublemaker known for taking whatever he wanted from the helpless locals. And also, someone that wanted to get into your pants for the past year or so.

And it appears as if your sunny day was about to be put into a cloud of darkness because he also spotted you and started walking towards you. Hoping that he didn't actually see you quickly made your way behind the table to Wooyoung squatting down, hoping that somehow, he would just walk past or something.

You knew it wasn't working when you heard big heavy footsteps kick up some dirt right in front of you.

Wooyoung was next to you, confused expression now on his face at your panicked state. He faced the man in front with the fakest customer service smile you've ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Zephyr's voice called me out of my hiding spot. "Now what do we have here? Is that also for sale." He motioned to me on the ground. Some of his henchmen in the back chuckled at the comment, they were the only one finding this amusing.

Before he could make up another one of his asshole comments Wooyoung interjected, now cold faced. No grin to see for miles, you felt goosebumps rising at the tension.

"No."

"Hey buddy, what's that look for? the only reason why you even get your materials for the trash that you're selling here is because of us, because of big, strong men that venture out onto the dangerous sea. You wouldn't survive a single day with all the little sirens out there." Wooyoung wasn't the slightest bit intimidated, the opposite actually, this part now, he found quite amusing.

He leaned forward accentuating his coming statement; "Last I heard, your ships got sunken because of the same "little" sirens."

You couldn't see his face from down here, but clearly, he was looking intimidating enough for the group of men to stumble back slightly. They hesitantly made their exit, after what you presumed was another look of Wooyoungs.

Zephyr didn't step away without getting his last words out to Wooyoung in a threat, that was more pathetic than anything. "You'll regret this." He stole a glance at you and turned and walked away rather briskly.

You finally got up from your seated position, letting out a relieved sigh and tuning to the man next to you. "I'm so sorry, the only reason he came over here was because he saw me." You pinched the bridge of your nose, frustrated that it had to come to a confrontation. "It's fine, I'm glad you're okay, I bet he wouldn't have hesitated to make you one of his victims if you were alone." True, Zephyr should be avoided at all costs, especially when you're alone, the man doesn't know how to take a damn hint.

You didn't feel Wooyoung caressing your upper arm to give you some semblance of comfort, until now.

"Yeah" the air was beginning to fill with a different kind of tension now but before you could explore that any further someone called him over, demanding his help.

He pulled away slowly, or you just thought it was because of how hyper aware you were of his touch.

He stepped away walking to the 3rd voice of the day that disrupted you. He turned after a few steps he spun back around looking at you hopefully. "If you want, later, in the evening, I'll be at the beach selling some stuff and probably relaxing, so… if you want to talk a little." "Yeah" You gulped. "I like the sound of that." You were slightly breathless, nodding and gulping another time.

He grinned that same smile, "Good, I'll be waiting little muse." Were you really going to meet him later? A stranger you just met. You looked back at the ring and then at the disappearing back of Wooyoung. Absolutely you were.

The time couldn't move fast enough for you. Waiting for it to pass, you kept catching yourself watching the clock on the wall. Right across your bed. When the clock hit 9 p.m. you deemed it late enough for you to go Wooyoung. The sky turning a deep dark blue hue, reminding you of him.

Your thoughts seemed to be constantly infested with him, from the moment you met him, luring you in slowly. Your feet touched the soft sand that was cool now, having taken off your sandals.

You were looking around for Wooyoung not seeing anyone on the beach. You looked out into the vast ocean, shiny, peaceful. You kept looking from side to side, hoping to catch sight of the pretty man. You heard a splash looking to the directions of a nearby cavern but before you could go to that direction you were stopped by a iron grip on your wrist, hurting.

Rough hands, not Wooyoung's hands.

"Well, aren't I a lucky man?" And you were hoping you got yourself enough of this guy for the whole year, your nerves really weren't prepared to deal with him a second time. You glared at him despite it probably being smart if you just tried to deescalate the energy here.

"Let go" He raised a brow. "Please just let go." He didn't seem too keen on just letting you off the hook after the stunt from today morning. His crew laughing at him after practically running away from a dude half a head smaller than him.

You cried out slightly when his grip tightened, surely leaving a bruise and then it suddenly disappeared in the next second. You had your eyes closed, so you didn't catch him falling into the water. Or rather being yanked into it.

You looked around, slightly rubbing your already sore wrist. Then you noticed a ripple in the slow waves, a dark shadow moving close to the surface. You moved closer, trying to get a better look as to what’s moving there. You saw a big tail but that was about it. Maybe an abnormally large fish. Though that didn't explain Zephyr falling in, which you were slightly getting worried for, despite him being an ass, he was still a person.

Then suddenly and slowly there was a head peeking out the water, dark familiar cookie two-colored hair looking even longer because its wet now.

And those same eyes.

You moved closer, captivated and curious to confirm your suspicions of the identity of the person.

You leaned forward your feet sinking into wet sand and getting your feet into the shallow part of the water. The shape started to move towards you but stopped a fair distance away.

So, you moved even further getting your dress wet and making it slightly see through. You slipped on a wet rock and dipped underwater for a quick second, but that was enough time for you to see the big, scaled tail attached to a very human torso. You knew what this meant, what he was, a siren. And that also meant that you would die right here.

You swam up to the surface again, desperate to get some air into your quickly emptying lungs. You gasped a little for air, being all the way out here made it impossible to see through the water and make out anything anymore. You didn't have to wait for long and the presence made itself known again now from your back though, it wrapped itself around you. Naked arms and the same rings as before. Then he whispered "surprise" into your ear, and it confirmed everything.

He wrapped himself around you tighter, in a restricting or comforting manner you couldn't tell yourself. Being in the water and having your ability to fully move your body was making you nervous and most of all Wooyoung made you nervous now, for multiple reasons but mainly for what was about to happen next.

He moved your wet hair away from your face, behind your ears. "You know I was surprised when you even came to my little stall, the whole being human thing isn't really my cup of tea. But the most surprising part is having you pick, my self-made ring." You gripped his strong arms to ground yourself a little, high on the nerves.

"Are you going to drown me? Eat me?" It felt a little ridiculous to ask him so directly but if he did it you'd rather just know it now. At that he pressed himself into the back of your head, laughing into your hair. "No, no I'm not gonna drown you. But I wouldn't mind taking a taste from you" You couldn't quite make out if he was talking about what you were thinking of or not. Your core pulsed at the thought that he did. You were feeling warmer despite the cold water.

"I've got a special plan for what we'll do from now on.”

We?

He moved slowly over to the direction of the cavern from before, big rocks hiding what seemed to be large entrance to an open water cave.

He let go slightly and you gripped him tighter at the feeling. He softly laughed and pushed you to the edge of the little pool like area. Making you sit on the ledge, your dress and hair dripping with all the water that it sucked up.

Wooyoung moved slowly up to you, giving a clear view of his naked torso through the water. He sat himself on a ledge that's submerged in the water right where your feet stayed. He then moved closer propping his arms crossed on top of your legs while his head rested on your knees. He tilted his head, making him look far too innocent while looking up at you, it made you urge to pat over his now messy hair. Which you resisted.

You'd rather focus on anything besides the man in front of you, so you choose to take in your surroundings. Some plants were hanging from the ceiling, some moonlight shone through the entrance but what caught your attention next were the light white candles off to the side. And then the various furs and other souvenirs cluttered around, in one place was a big pile of furs almost looking like a makeshift bed.

Was he living here? Off to the side you could even spot some metal and shells, that's probably where he made some of the jewelry that you saw.

Wooyoungs head buried itself a little more into your legs, making you look at him again. He looked cute like this, small, harmless. The tail swishing behind him moving back and forth reminded you that he most definitely wasn't. He closed his eyes savoring the feeling of your body warmth in contrast to his.

His arms moved to the side of your legs, and he picked his head up, looking down. You were truly captivated by every movement, he looked different in the water, almost a mystical air around him. He looked up, feeling your stare on him. "Why did you bring me here Wooyoung?" You asked in a more serious tone than what was probably necessary.

He squeezed you a little at the question. "When a siren makes a treasure and it gets accepted, it means to marry someone. What do you think that ring that I gave you means?" You didn't really get what he meant by that, what does siren courtship have anything to do with…oh. Your eyes widened "No, wait what." You were so confused, scrambling with your hands a little not knowing what to do. "We're married now, so obviously I took you back to my home." He spoke as he took your one hand, putting it on his cheek, rubbing his thumb along the back.

"We belong to each other now, muse." He dragged your hand down to his still dripping chest, right on top of his heart. You felt it thumping rather loudly, pushing against your palm.

"And you know what married couples do? -" He leaned up slightly brushing his cheek with yours, making you instinctively close your eyes. "-they make love." He kissed your neck. "They make babies."

You were expecting something like this to happen but not exactly in this context. You were expecting some sex with the hottie at the port, who was very friendly and likeable, not marrying him and spending your "first night" together. In a cave to top that all off.

He moved along your neck planting kisses anywhere he could and sometimes sucking a dark mark onto your skin. A reminder for this night, that would no doubt keep your mind occupied. Your panties were soaked and not just with water it seemed. Your hands buried themselves in Wooyoung's hair, pulling him away from you. And when he was back to facing you, you locked your lips with his. In a gentle soft kiss. Wooyoung immediately took the chance to deepen it, tilting his head and pressing himself closer to you.

He pulled himself out of the water pushing you onto the cushioned floor that had the fur pile. You didn't even notice his tail transforming into legs, too busy kissing him back with all your energy.

He pulled your strapless dress down your body, your boobs making an appearance. He settled his hands over them, massing them making you let out small noises into his mouth. As he pulled the dress further down after a moment of playing with your tits, exposing your underwear he was stuck staring at it.

So, he went over it with two of his fingers, tracing lines along it and stimulating your nerves deliciously. Not even two seconds later he pushed those also down to get full access to your core. He kept glancing between you and your pussy when he pushed his fingers in to prep you. Thrusting in and out at a steady pace getting you wetter and wetter with each thrust.

Your noises became more vocal as he hit that one spot inside you, making you squirm a little, your hips bucking to meet his fingers. He smiled at that.

Just when you were about to hit your climax, he stopped completely. That heat and tension simmering down a little making, even more when his fingers left you, getting a whine out of you. You felt terribly empty now.

"Wooyoung." You started not even knowing what to say to get him back to abusing your cunt. You didn't have to wait long because he was already lining himself up with your hole, tip waiting patiently at your entrance. He coated himself slightly in the slick.

"Yes muse?" He was waiting for you to say something now. Well fuck it. You locked your legs around his waist and pulled him forward, making him sink into you with a groan. Your arms wrapped around his neck making him lean down and putting his hands on your hips. "Fuck me Wooyoung, please." You said next to his ear a bit desperately.

You missed the dark look that settled over his face, his grin turning more evil. Wooyoung has been waiting for this moment since forever, today definitely wasn't the first day seeing you. He made sure to get your attention today.

And now, he clearly got what he wanted. You wrapped around his finger. He moved his hips, canting them slightly up to hit that spongy spot again. The slide was so incredibly wet he was struggling to keep the same rhythm at your pulsing cunt.

The noises, god the noises were heavenly, better than anything he imagined before. The fantasies didn't compare to the real thing. You were quickly getting closer to that edge, having been left without a release a few moments ago. Your breaths grew harsher against Wooyoung, your grip tighter and your legs clasped harsher around him. You weren't even thinking about the consequences of letting him do it raw.

Way too much in your head to make any smart decisions right now. When you felt Wooyoungs long fingers return to your pussy, on your clit. You were coming undone so fast. He kissed you through it, addicted to the taste of your lips and dragging it out as much as he could.

When you were started coming down your pussy still fluttered when Wooyoung was still thrusting, wanting to get to his own release. It came a moment later, his hips stilling in you and spilling his warmth into yours with a loud moan.

He caressed your hips slightly, pulling himself out of you. That made you wince, feeling a lot emptier than before, after having him filling you up for so long.

You also felt something pouring out of you, but you were too lazy to care. Just tired. The last thing you heard and felt before passing out was Wooyoung's voice and touch.

A pat to your hair, settling a fur over you. And his voice so low that you almost didn't hear it.

"We will stay together from now on, my little muse."

[isaaujulii]

WHY GOD WHY COULDN’T THEY TREAT ALL THEIR CHARACTERS WITH RESPECT. The source material is endlessly fascinating and riddled with interesting storylines that can be followed and or improved upon(within reason) . Like you have the knight without honor whose only true light is a queen who he can never have. A woman whose life is tied to the men around her, which is her circumstance but she does nothing to try to help or ruin them but laments her part in everything. And i’m not saying the story can’t be built upon the relationship between rhaenyra and alicent.

It’s a great place to start. START. It can’t be just about them. Why don’t we see Jaeharys and the pressure he feels as a bastard and a possible future king. What about halaenas mental state her visions, and the fact she lost a whole child. And how come all of a sudden Aemond is kinslaying psychopath whose only goal is to become king, is there no internal conflict. Where’s that remorse and horror we saw at the end of season 1. Aegon is being made fun of every second and being ignored (and before u come at me i know he is a pos rapist, not defending him) nobody sees him as a threat even though he is QUITE LITERALLY THE KING.

Alicent is on her sad girl bs. And I LIKE ALICENT. Do you know how hard it is to make me dislike a character I originally loved. I thought her character was heading into an interesting direction feeling guilt and remorse about her actions because it is against everything she believes in. Because AGAIN they have hammered into the viewers that she is a religious. But she just becomes whishy washy. And not an active participant.

And don’t get me started on our titular protagonist a one Rhaneyra Targaryen. Have I mentioned my dislike at the obvious bias towards team black. Also why are there teams why is everything black and white. I don’t know about yall but I thought the whole point was there is no good and evil and that killing your family for a crown is wrong and morally unjust so therefore anyone participating in the war (as in anyone who has a choice, not the small folk forced to fight and stuff) is already not the greatest person. So i don’t know why they are acting like Rhaneyra is the goddamn messiah. They’re trying to make her a Daenerys variant. She’s not Dany and she shouldn’t be forced to be. Like their trying to make her a reasonable person who only wants best for people around her but she is also someone actively participating in a war with DRAGONS and as everyone keeps repeating there isn’t a war as bloody as one with dragons. And look i love a little hypocrisy in my characters i eat it up but this is ridiculous. You want a war so be in it. And if you don’t want to work with some people tough shit, you need others to get things done. And god forbid they challenge you on anything.

And look I tried to ignore it as much as i could but, do they hate men. Like genuinely asking, because every man in this show with the exception of like 2 characters is immensely unlikeable. And i’m not saying you can’t have unlikeable men. But like it’s a bit of a pattern. The women are the ones trying to avoid war and the men are all gung ho to lose their lives. Like i think they were trying to be feminist by making the women the only reasonable ones and men unreasonable. But they were so feminist that it came around to being misogynistic. Which i didn’t think could happen. And this being pseudo medieval time period with misogyny and all that it seems like there are parts where they are just like forcing patriarchy and other parts it does not seem to exist. Like equality is the norm and patriarchy is the outlier. Like there were women in charge of houses, which is not abnormal in of itself but like they don’t explain it. Like they could’ve been like the lord of that house is ill and his lady-wife takes care of everything. Or been like she’s in the fighting because she has a talent for it and is a bastard. Like I don’t know if any of you have seen the show Black Sails but one of the characters Eleanor basically runs pirate island and that doesn’t make sense because it the 1700’s but it’s explained that her father put her in charge because she was raised there and had a mind for business. And I know it’s a sad thing to be like a woman can only have power in proximity to a man. But like aren’t they going for realism, that’s what was so intriguing about the game of thrones universe. How people given shit circumstances rise above them. And some of these people happen to be women. If this was like one of those comfy fantasy with like fantasy creatures and like loose plots and there aren’t really rules and modern sensibilities are ingrained then I could dig it. Like yah you go girl be a pirate and you be a merchant and you are an advisor to the king. abut this isn’t that. And I can already see how an argument can be made that the entire show is overcoming the circumstances of your birthright being taken because you are a woman. Which I will reply that like I said earlier in order to do that they need the women to have agency and push for it or let it go. Which is options that Rhaneyra has.

And maybe i’m wrong and all those loose plot threads and bizarre character choices will payoff in season 3 and i’ll be the weirdo who doubted them.

[wren-kitchens]

the sims 4 horse ranch pack has reignited my insanity over these two <3

“hey darling.” jimmy looks up, a smile already working its way onto his face. “hi tango.” “what’re you doing out so late?” tango asks, leaning against a beam. “I know you like to get up early.” “I was waiting for the sunset.” jimmy says, warmth in his chest. god, he loves this man. “I haven’t seen it in a while.” “it’s a gorgeous day for it.” tango says, walking over to press a chaste kiss to jimmy’s lips. “not as gorgeous as my rancher, though.” he adds, looking far too pleased with himself. not that jimmy’s complaining. “you sap.” jimmy says, entirely endeared by his husband’s antics. “what are you doing out late? I know you can’t be without your beauty sleep.” he teases. tango turns a little pink as he sits on the bench next to jimmy. “if I told you that I can’t sleep without you,” he starts, grinning shyly. jimmy laughs and puts his arm around tango. “you’re so cute.” “oh, shush.” tango says, leaning into him. “besides, I haven’t seen you much today. how was lunch?” “chaotic and dumb as ever.” jimmy says fondly. “joel’s horse—you know sage?—just had her foal.” “aww!” tango exclaims. “yeah! he showed me photos of her, she’s adorable.” jimmy says. “her name is onion.” “onion?” tango frowns. “yeah, like sage and onion.” jimmy grins. “lizzie had a couple rabbits way back and that’s what they were called.” “oh, that’s so sweet.” tango says. “we have to visit now, I need to meet her.” “that’s what I said.” jimmy agrees. “and grian. we’re scheduling dates to go over.” “I hope i’m coming too.” tango says eagerly. “of course!” jimmy says. “I couldn’t let you miss that, honey.” tango’s smile softens, and jimmy’s heart soars. man, tango is just beautiful. “‘honey’?” tango says, almost shy, and jimmy realises that’s the first time he’s called tango that out loud. “I- have I not said that before?” jimmy says. tango shakes his head, still smiling. “I like it. a lot.”

“that’s good then,” jimmy leans in so his nose barely brushes tango’s. “honey.” he says deliberately, watching with utmost fascination and adoration as tango’s composure crumbles completely. “oh my god.” tango drops his head onto jimmy’s shoulder. “you’re so mean.” “you said you like it!” jimmy says, stifling a laugh. “you’re mean, and horrible, and i’m divorcing you tomorrow.” tango mumbles into the fabric. “I love you.” he adds, quieter. jimmy presses a kiss into tango’s hair. “love you too, hon.” “you hate me.” tango says, muffled. “that’s what this is. it’s an elaborate scheme.” “for what?” jimmy strokes tango’s hair, amused. there’s a long pause. “I don’t know.” tango finally admits, looking up again. jimmy takes this opportunity to kiss him, and, judging by tango’s response, he’s quite happy with this decision. “you come here often?” jimmy jokes as they pull away. tango rolls his eyes, endlessly fond. he cups jimmy’s face in the palm of his hand, tracing his lips with his thumb. “you’re so handsome.” he says, almost absentmindedly. even after all these years, jimmy can’t help finding himself speechless at the look tango is giving him—appreciation and love and curiosity. in his defence, tango is an extremely pretty person. it’s all too easy to be mesmerised by him. “I love your freckles.” tango says, almost to himself. “they’re like galaxies.” it’s all jimmy can do not to melt into a puddle of mush on the floor. “you’re- you’re not too bad yourself.” tango blinks, apparently processing what jimmy just said. “oh.” he grins, and jimmy thinks he isn’t in for a treat. “are you embarrassed?”

“no.” jimmy huffs. “I have a very pretty man complimenting me, i’m flustered.” “yeah, you are.” tango leans in. “it’s cute.” “you’re being mean now.” jimmy says. he can feel tango’s breath on his skin, they’re that close. “my turn.” tango winks, and kisses his nose. “tango-“ jimmy tries to say, when tango starts to pepper kisses across his face. “hm?” tango says, lips pressed against his cheek. “what are you doing?” jimmy smiles. “i’m kissing all your freckles.” tango says, leaning back for a second to grin at him, before resuming. “you dork.” jimmy says, blushing with pleasure. “that’s me.” tango says cheerfully. jimmy is in love.

[shaanks]

Hii, i wanted to ask what ur favorite detail of body/ personality about shanks?

oh lord, i. collapsing falling down the stairs that's a hard one to narrow down, I think every inch of him is beautiful and find him endlessly fascinating BUT I also yammering about him so okay lets try. Putting this under a readmore bc it got long LOL

Favorite part(s) of his body: Probably his scruffy jawline, his chest/tummy/and his hand(s). Just like.

like. do u see what I am saying.

like that divot between his wrist and thumb also I--honorable mention since it's so intrinsic to him people address him using this but also his hair is SO PRETTY. The color, the texture, the way he lays around the nape of his neck.

Anon I'm sorry I think that man is so gorgeous idk how to narrow it down to just one trait lmfaoooo

Okay though moving on!

Favorite personality trait:

This one's getting a couple of things too lmfao.

I really enjoy it about him that he's both funny goofy silly as like. a genuine core pillar of his personality, and also as a conscious choice that he makes so a) the people he cares for feel comfortable around him and b) he can pay attention to situations from a lot closer than he could if he was being A Big Scary Emperor all the time. (plus the bonus reasoning that he knows how powerful he is and how different from other people he is, and has put a lot of effort into being really difficult to provoke because of this).

I love that he's a little shy!!! Like, we've only seen it in small, select situations, but the way he gets kind bashful and giggly when people are gushing about him or being super sweet to him is so lovely and endearing, it feels like such a personal little reaction he has and it makes me wanna wrap him up in my arms every time I think about it.

His propensity for kindness and compassion, and how those things and loyalty to his friends are the most likely emotions to drive him to action. Don't get me wrong, he can absolutely revoke those things if sufficiently provoked, but like. Him talking about how it's okay to cry, how he takes care of the funeral arrangements for Ace and Whitebeard bc despite the fact that the WBP were technically his rivals/"enemies", they're pirates, and people he knows, and they were all in such dire grief that he stepped in to take all that off their plates. The way he entreated Whitebeard to call Ace off the hunt so he wouldn't be killed, the way he stepped in not only to save Koby, but to highlight his bravery and legitimize his need for rest. There is a LAUNDRY list of stuff he does like this, hell the way he interacted with Luffy as a child could be its own long ass post lmfao.

This got so out of hand LMFAO I hope these kinda answered your questions though!!! Thank you so much again for asking, I love and jump on any chance to talk about him. ; u ;

[cringefailvox]

15, 17, 19 for the meme! Dealer’s choice! You can do the same fic for all three or you can do different ones, whichever is the most interesting. (Aka I can’t pick… you have so many tasty fics.)

15. talk about the characters' struggles & how you decided on those.

sometimes you scrape and sink so low

this fic let me dig my teeth into husk for the first (and hopefully not the last) time!! a missing scene post-ep5 because i've been thinking about the hallway scene ever since i watched it and feeling CRAZY. i earnestly believe that husk and alastor consider each other friends of a sort, even despite the soul ownership, and so this fic delves into husk struggling with the aftermath of alastor betraying him like that -- he thought he'd known the rules, known how to play the game, and here alastor goes overturning the board on him in a way he never had before. it was a profound breach in the status quo between them that leaves husk rattled and hurt. but alastor doesn't want that either; he wants husk to respect him, but he doesn't want husk to genuinely fear him, at least not in any personal sense -- being afraid of the radio demon mythos is one thing, but he truly doesn't want husk to take the hallway incident as their new normal.

i'm so endlessly fascinated by their dynamic mostly because of how ooc that scene feels. as in, neither of them are at their best: alastor is stressed and irritated out of his mind already from lucifer's presence + husk does what he does best and instantly zeroes in on someone's sorest spot to drive his point home = alastor violently lashing out at him in a way we've never seen him do before. it sucks! husk was just trying to look out for him! but we knew that conversation was never going to go well. this fic was definitely a lot of wish-fulfillment for me skjfghjkfd i really wish we'd gotten some kind of resolution with them in canon.

17. talk about the fic's ending. why did you end it where you did?

The Diving Bell

after a sweet and sappy closing scene, vaggie ends with a note of defeatism -- she'll tell charlie the truth about what she is someday, if charlie ever asks, but until then, she'll savor what she has until it's inevitably taken away from her. it's a bummer sentiment but it felt true to vaggie's character; she hates herself so deeply and so strongly that she's convinced charlie would hate her too if she knew the Truth -- the big, ugly truth at the core of her that makes her unworthy of anything but being useful to charlie. she knows it's inevitable that the truth will get out someday, but she isn't optimistic about how it'll go. so i wanted to end this fic on that feeling of mixed happiness/dread, where vaggie thinks she knows how this story will end, but intends to cherish what she has while she's allowed to keep it. girl let's get you so much therapy.

19. while editing, did you kill any darlings? what were they?

dragging its tail in the sea

i had to rewrite one section of this like three times to make it flow well and sadly had to cut this hilarious line:

it was just a touch too bitchy for the melancholy tone and i couldn't get it to connect to the rest of the scene, but man it still makes me giggle. and who knows, someday you all might get to see it given a new home in static shock since i gave bird custody

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, April 14, 2024

My posts

Honestly, I spent much of the week coping with storm migraines. You can tell, because I was reblogging a lot from under a cold compress rather than doing anything useful with life. 

Reblogs of interest

The Hot Vintage Lady Polls are rough out there, y’all. Round three started closing yesterday (see what’s still open here), and as of this writing, we have lost Bette Davis, Alla Nazimova, Theda Bara, Myrna Loy, Barbra Streisand, Fay Wray, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, and Olivia de Havilland--and it looks like Catherine Deneuve, Clara Bow, Lana Turner, and Mary Pickford are on their way out. Meanwhile, I learned about a ton of actresses I’d never heard of before, only to shriek when Sharmila Tagore, Nadira, and Waheeda Rehman lost this round. (Edwige, I will never forget you.) 

Let me remind you (and me sometimes, too): Not everyone has the same taste or childhood attachments or cinema experiences as you. And everybody in this bracket loses. Everybody but one. 

(I can tell I’m not cut out for brawling because I’m like, “I will be very sad to see Norma Shearer go, but Hazel Scott seems nice!”)

--

“Actually, Mr. Musk, I am an attorney. Do you know that?” Here’s the highlights of Mark Bankston, the man who brought down Alex Jones, coping with Elon Musk and Elon Musk’s Lawyer, who is not even licensed in Texas, for 100 pages of deposition. 

Hozier Watch 2024: “Too Sweet” has now charted higher in the UK than “Take Me to Church,” and it’s getting real close on the US charts. This is a song that didn’t even make last year’s album. I am endlessly fascinated. 

Happy Leland Melvin Day!

Happy Neil Banging Out the Tunes Day!

“Posting endless DNIs because we can’t (or don’t know we can) make spaces just for the people we do want to interact with” actually makes a lot of sense in this centralized social media hellscape. 

There is a 20k mg weed gummy and nobody needs that. “Forget meeting the Hat Man this is what turns you into the Hat Man. This is worse than that torture drug that makes you experience 600 billion years in a second. This is the secret to honest to god shifting.” 

One of the best uses of the Kate Beaton Poe comic I’ve ever seen

“Americanisms that tell you to check on your American” (they are all correct)

“Tuxedo Mask is the first example of being ‘Kenough’”

Just this once, I will allow this AI rendition of a “traditional Polish family” and their traditional Polish woodchuck. 

I am absolutely not saying there is anything wrong with being into tentacles; I’m just saying that Pyramid Head doesn’t even have them and thus is a pretty tame choice to complain about. 

Little Guy, a game

A cursèd chair called “Oops!”

Sparrow Tarot: Honestly, this is one of my favorite takes on the Hanged Man.

This dog is a biscuit and she is precious

Video

One of the things that’s so great about this Ilia Malinin free-skate program is, he makes it look so effortless that I would have never figured out on my own, without Tumblr’s commentary, that there’s a couple moves in here that no one in the world can do but him. Like, the very first jump and the announcers start screaming. 

A journey from fearing moths to raising them

A dude puts on a dress For the Meme and then discovers that he loves it (and then he styles it as a full outfit and it looks SO GOOD)

Watching this cat ride around on a roomba on a sped-up surveillance camera is self-care.

So is this (although it’s a bit strobe-y)

Bat type: hi doggy

Was the jello for the tuna salad lamb supposed to be lime?

The sacred texts

Holy Shit, Two Cakes

The origin of “Me, an intellectual”

#AllMyLifeIHadToFight

Personal tag of the week

Designer Roberto Cavalli, who passed away this week at age 83. I reblogged several fashion posts--I hadn’t even realized myself that he had designed Beyoncé’s famous yellow dress in Lemonade.

[toastandjamie]

Sometimes I think about the way Tuon and Mat’s relationship is set up before Tuon is introduced. We are introduced to the Seanchen, and they are active antagonists and then Rand drives them from Falme back into the sea. Then one book later we get the Aelfinn prophecy “to die and live again. To marry the daughter of the nine moons. To give up half of light of the world to save the world.” And it’s sandwiched in between these two very frightening prophecies of danger. Mat treats the marriage aspect as just as much of a threat as literal death and that’s utterly fascinating to me; but we as an audience are also alarmed by this prophecy, not for the same reasons as Mat but because the title “daughter of the nine moons” isn’t exactly the most friendly sounding name. We spend the rest of the book wondering who she is right alongside Mat and as we get closer to meeting her we are given more distinctly threatening foreshadowing. First we learn about the Court of The Nine Moons which confirms that Tuon is Seanchen and right on its heels Egwene receives a prophetic dream vision of Mat being wrestled to the ground and collared by a Seanchen woman. The Seanchen remain as a threatening antagonistic force at this time with the only allied characters from Seanchen we’re introduced to are desenters like Aegenin. Then there’s the way Mat talks about his future marriage, discussing with equal parts curiosity and fear and saying things like “the daughter of the nine bloody moons will walk in to take me.”. And finally the Seanchen invasion of Ebou Dar, where Mat is knocked unconscious by falling building and the reveal of the daughter of the nine moons arrival. We don’t yet know what life under Seanchen occupation is like for those not actively fighting it since we’ve only seen the violent occupation of Amadicia and Tanchico.

Even if we as an audience aren’t conscious of it RJ sets up this expectation that Tuon will “steal” or “take” Mat by force. That Mat is going to be captured by her and forced into this marriage by fate. Only to have our expectations subverted when Tuon is- well, not quite the towering and evil figure that we expect her to be. That Mat is being kept in Ebou Dar not by the Seanchen who have done nothing to restrict the coming and going of civilians but by Tylin who has only grown More abusive and possessive since A Crown of Swords. Then Tuon asks Tylin if she can buy Mat and for moment you might think that things are back on track but then Mat kidnaps her and we’re once again thrown for a loop. Over the course of their courtship we see the push and pull of their dynamic, as they play their own mini version of daes da mar to see who holds the power in their relationship and it remains constantly influx. This subversion of what we expect Tuon to be mirrors Mat’s own surprise over who Tuon is. Mat has always been endlessly human to the audience, we’ve seen him struggle and grow as a person, we’ve seen him fuck up and we’ve seen him succeed. He was always human to the audience and to the people who perceive him in universe. Tuon conversely, is set up as almost an omen of doom, an ever present and impossible to escape fate that the audience and the character fear. We see her as the world sees her, she’s inhuman, a concept, something to be looked upon with curiosity and fear. Then as Mat learns about her, so does the audience, we peel away the layers of mythologizing that Seanchen and the foretellings have placed upon her to see that she is just as human as Mat. Just as curious and scared of a fate she can’t escape, of a man she knows shes destined to marry but knows nothing about. The prophecy she receives about Mat is just as threatening as the one Mat receives and she reacts similarly with anger hiding her fear. Both believe the other will steal them away and in the end they both DO steal eachother, for Tuon in the literal sense and for Mat the metaphorical.

God I’m so feral about them

[razorblade180]

Tourist Attractions

In the lovely glow of Fontaine night life, Aether finds himself sitting on the cold concrete steps as he watches the two beautiful pieces of mechanical engineering dance endlessly in their own little world. It had been roughly a week since arriving in the nation of hydro. Many things needed exploring, yet the allure of music and bless kept him coming back. Footsteps from behind grew closer to his location until eventually arriving to sit right next to him.

Aether:….This is the least dramatic entrance you’ve done.

Furina:That’s where your ignorance of showmanship is made clear. Dramatics aren’t always loud in volume. A fair god arriving in silence under moonlight and rushing water has its own flair, hmph!

Aether:Is this the part where you tell me what law I’m breaking to start another duel?

Furina:Fortunately for you, it’s late and you chose the stairs instead of the grass. You’ve avoided loitering.

Aether:Wow. I should’ve expected an honest answer honestly. So if I’m a law abiding individual, what brings you here?

Furina:My lovely nation has a myriad of wonders that attract a variety of tourists for multiple reasons. It’s always fascinating to learn which wonder makes them stop and take in the magnificence. So this is your taste? I’ll admit, a good choice. Definitely one of my personal favorites. Second best at least.

Aether:What is number one?

Furina:What could be more beautiful than seeing vast waters after wading through a sea of sand? Cliff side views are paintings in waiting.

Aether:Suddenly you sound like a hopeless romantic.

Furina:Said the man who spends his free time watching a waltz between robotic lovers.

Aether:Point taken.

Furina:…Can you?

Aether:Can I what?

Furina:Waltz, obviously. If not, now is your chance to learn from divine eyes who has seen it countless times.

Aether:Seen?

Furina:Well..I’ve also done it many times! Whenever time truly permits that is! As well as when someone with actual sense remembers to mind their feet. I swear it’s as if mortals never learn to walk in all their years of living.

Aether:Honestly I probably wouldn’t be much different.

Furina:Nonsense. A ballroom is no more complicated than a battlefield and if half the stories about you are indeed factual, then your footwork must be on the better side of decent.

To think she would give him such an odd compliment. Aether could tell that her “gracious offer” was a secret wish to dance. Maybe it was the casual conversation, cool night, or the murmuring emotions he always heard from the fountain in courtyard each time he drew near it; whatever the reasoning, Aether did not wish to tease or provoke Furina.

He stood up without a word and extended his hand for hers as he bowed. Amused by his theatrics, Furina sprung up to return the bow in a way more proper and practiced form as she held in a giggle. She gladly took his hand and they walked down towards the open space slowly.

Furina:And you act as if you can’t be dramatic when you want to? Ha! Make no mistake, I take the lead.

Aether:I would hope so. You’re teaching me, remember? I’m in your hands.

Furina:Naturally~

[ky0endul4yne]

𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 ,, ‘ for eternity

The Task Force 141 shows their adoration for you in ways that they only can.

tags ; Fluff, Ghost being Ghost, Soap is a lovable idiot, Gaz is just a sweetheart, Price is (gegrhwvrhehe I love him so much it makes me cry) such a romantic, this is just me and my agenda of staying delulu is the solulu, reader is gn, domestic life, mentions of previous operations (that I made up), and tooth-rotting fluff, my bad y'all English is not my first language,,

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 — Kyle “Gaz” Garrick.

Gaz lures you in as he embraces you from behind, snuggling his head gently onto the crook of your neck, taking in the comfortable scent that eases him to just relax, be calm—he feels at peace with you, he loves moments like these where he could see you smiling at him, calling him by his name with the sweetest of tones like it's a pleasant harmony.

When you saw him knocking on your doorsteps from before, he looked like a lost puppy seeking out its owner—he was excited to tell you that he finally had a break after he went through some,, missions that he would rather not discuss about. Of course, you being the sweetheart you are, you only invited him just in time for dinner.

He lets you wear his trusty cap that he had with him always, complimenting you on how you looked good when you wear it, fully convinced that you should take it.

“Y'know you remind me of a lot of something,” he says in your ear with such a breathtaking voice, it makes your heart skip a beat every time he does that. “On my way home, I thought I would stop by at a shop, and then I brought you this.”

He pulls a bouquet of beautiful and vibrant sunflowers; he has this charming smile with him to fully convince you. He is such a dear to the point that you can't say the words that would suit how much he's so caring for you. “These sunflowers remind me of your personality and yourself, you're so warm.”

“I love these,” you say to him, he gives you the bouquet and kisses you on the cheek. “And I love you.”

And I love you.

It's enough for Gaz to be head over heels for you in an almost repeating cycle—he can't help it! He is a lovestruck man, he loves you more than anything else, if you wished, he would tattoo every single word of endearment that you say in his body as a sign of commitment, but then you would just cackle at the sight of it and tease him endlessly.

He guides you near the windows, the sun begins to sink down—giving a stroke of beautifully weaven colors of pink, orange, yellow and a slight tinge of red in the sky—it's astounding, sunsets have always fascinated you.

“They also remind me of you, love,” he says at the moment. “You're so vibrant, colorful, fun and I can't absolutely trade you for anything else—I really love you, [name], I really do.”

Facing the sunset through your square-shaped windows, he pulls you into a romantic kiss, he swears his promises to you of a beautiful life and a little bit rowdy one with him, because these moments are just blueprints of a greater masterpiece, ready to be made and to be seen by everyone else.

[aliveandfullofjoy]

Review: Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992)

(I haven't posted a review on Tumblr in a hot minute -- I've been keeping those to Letterboxd -- but I tried to get a few words out about this movie and wanted to share here as well. I love it a lot. Those are always hard to write about for me. This is embarrassing. Thanks for reading. Or not! Consider watching Unforgiven if you haven't!)

"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

Unforgiven is just one of those movies for me. It hits me like a bolt of lightning every time I watch it. I first watched it when I was in high school, when I was first getting into movies by way of poring over Oscar history. I didn't think of myself as a westerns guy at the time -- I'm honestly not even sure how many I'd seen by that point -- but Unforgiven almost immediately made me fall in love with the genre as a whole. It was a little bit like discovering my first Stephen Sondheim musical: "Oh, that's what this can be?"

Admittedly, I've been way less rabid about consuming westerns than I have been with musical theatre (and I'm certainly not a Clint Eastwood megafan). Still, it's a genre I find endlessly fascinating, and it's almost entirely because of how deeply literary they often feel. More than any other genre, individual characters in westerns seem to represent so much more than just themselves. I'm sure there's a great thesis to be written about the ideologies represented in Unforgiven in just the characters of William Munny and Little Bill Daggett alone, to say nothing of Ned Logan or the Schofield Kid or Strawberry Alice or English Bob or W. W. Beauchamp or Delilah.

(My God, what a cast of characters. What a script.)

And then there's the beautiful prologue and epilogue, perfectly bookending the film -- the cruelty, the loss, the violence -- with a bittersweet sense of poetry. Maybe cinema was invented so Eastwood could match Jack N. Green's cinematography with David Webb Peoples' words and accompany them with an aching guitar (the gorgeous "Claudia's Theme," which Eastwood wrote himself). All I have to do is think about the final words of the epilogue, to visualize Mrs. Ansonia Feathers visiting her daughter's grave, and I feel my eyes begin to well up.

I think that love story is what keeps me coming back to Unforgiven. We never see Munny's wife, just like we never see Munny before his marriage, that "man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition." To us, he's just a widower -- an aging man with a surprising gentleness who can barely take care of his hogs. Eastwood, it should be said, gives a gorgeous performance.

I love everything about this movie, even the parts that make me feel queasy. I love the Munny/Ned dynamic (Morgan Freeman is great in his short screen time). I love how vile of a bad guy Little Bill is (Gene Hackman's second Oscar was well-earned). I love getting heady about it and thinking about it as a deconstruction and an elegy for the westerns of Eastwood's youth. I even love how almost fatalistic the film gets near the end ("I'll see you in Hell." "Yeah.").

But it's the entirely offscreen love story that lingers with me. On this watch, the following exchange Munny has with Delilah, the brutalized sex worker at the center of Unforgiven's conflict, caught me completely off-guard and made me start crying almost immediately. Munny's wife, a woman we never meet, is a symbol of hope and redemption in a vicious world. Their love for one another is the heart of the film.

"Is she back in Kansas?" "Yeah, she's watching over my young ones."

[gregrulzok]

What are your top 10 favorite media, like from books, anime/manga, movies, tv series, etc (if you feel like listing multiple) of all time? Feel free if you want to write the reasons or not of why you love them....

Now THIIIIS is way different from asking me my favourite characters.

When it comes to characters, I tend to be heavily analytical and critical. When it comes to media... Well, you'll see. Whatever the case please note that these pieces of media being my favourite doesn't mean I necessarily recommend them. There's things I love with my whole heart that I wouldn't inflict upon my mortal enemy. You've been warned.

I'm also purposefully omitting some of my favourite pieces of media to shine a spotlight on ones I don't really get to talk about, or just want more people to know about (sorry, Berserk)

I'll try and keep these ones spoiler free, since I'm thinking of them more as recommendations! NSFW media will be marked with a *, but I won't go into anything explicit here. Please look up media mindfully and with discression, some of these may be triggering.

Thank you for the ask and I'm sorry for the ridiculous lengths of information you're about to witness !

Dungeon Meshi

Lets start with a safe one. A simple one. An expected one.

Yes, Dungeon Meshi IS that good.

Dungeon Meshi is a beautifully drawn manga that starts out slow, whimsical and almost slice-of-life-y, and then descents into utter madness so slowly and skillfully that by the time you blink you're in another dimension.

The world building in this series is second to none - everything makes sense and nothing is handwaved. The genuine and honest passion in the way the world feels alive is palpable, and despite its realism it never loses its magical feeling.

The characters are charming, lovable, realistic, and complex. Each of them have an inner world to tap into, each of them feels like a real person you could hold a conversation with and would WANT to hold a conversation with. Here I'll also proudly announce that we get zero (0) gratuitous fanservice, zero (0) characters who exist as a punchline, and guaranteed Sexy-Lamp Free !

The plot... Fuck, man. The plot is the most honest and bare faced look at some of the most nuanced subjects in the world (desire, ambition, love, death, survival, trauma, neurodivergence) wrapped up in a way that feels simple, grounded and real.

It also sincerely began to heal my relationship with food. I don't think I've ever seen the subjects of cooking, eating, health, weight and body diversity portrayed so well in such an empathetic, understanding and caring way in any piece of media. Body positivity is not so much a focus, but rather an undercurrent in the whole manga.

Whew ! With one objectively good piece of media out of the way, let's move on to something more unhinged, such as ...

Honestly I can't begin to imagine what kind of person WOULDN'T enjoy Dungeon Meshi. Do yourself a favour and read it.

Cats (1998)

Cats. The Broadway musical cats. One of the longest running musicals in the world, award winning, famously bashed and hated, recently revorked into a horrible film that was even more bashed and hated, the beautiful, glorious wonderful disaster of my heart - Cats.

Specifically, the 1998 film version.

...It's so hard for me to explain this one.

At some point, while watching Cats for the second time (for a reason I cannot explain), some neurons fired the wrong direction in my brain and now I have a pathological obsession, to the point where I can name each and every single Godforsaken cat in this show, including the ones that don't even appear in the credits.

Cats. What am I even supposed to say here, like, genuinely. It's cats.

Well, here's the thing - the choreography and acting direction in this fucking musical is genuinely breathtaking. It takes a few watches for it to fully click, but once it does, I sincerely believe that Cats is one of the most endlessly fascinating pieces of media to analyze. What you have to understand about Cats is that every single character (with very few exceptions) is on screen basically for the entire show. And so while you're watching the dancing in the foreground (which is beautiful on its own), every single cat in the background is just ... There. Moving, interacting, portraying characteristics that are never stated, never so much as focused on - but you can see them. You can see the kittens playing with each-other, you can see the elders gossiping, you can see small bits and gags you won't catch your first time, or second, or fifth. You can see how rowdy Tumblebrutus and Pouncival are, you can see how excitable Electra is, you can see the quiet dignity of Coricopat and Tantomile, the friendship between Jellylorum and Jennyanydots. There's always new little bits of background characterisation you can catch, pretty much regardless of how many times you've seen it.

In that way, Cats is feels the most alive, the most ever changing and evolving. I'm completely enraptured by it and if you do want to watch it, I recommend watching it as many times as you can stomach, because your first time through it'll glide right off you like water off a duck.

Chainsaw Man (Public Safety Arc)*

The first time I finished reading Chainsaw Man, I stared at my phone for a straight minute, then started sobbing. The next morning, I drank alcohol for the first time.

I wish that was a joke.

I'll admit I'm not up to date on the second arc of Chainsaw Man - it honestly got away from me a little and I'm not entirely sure I'll be finishing it.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that the first arc is one of the most tightly written, beautiful, emotional stories I've ever read.

Sure, it's fun and funny. Sure, it's cool in it's action scenes. Sure, the art direction is absolutely breathtaking. Sure, the character design and worldbuilding are interesting and detailed.

But at its heart the core appeal of CSM, to me, is the way it speaks about trauma, abuse, assault, isolation, fear, and desire. Chainsaw Man is painfully down to earth in a gritty, real way, and while it is extremely dark, it's also uplifting and hopefull in a way a lot of dark media isn't.

Chainsaw Man makes you feel tiny, helpless in a massive world. Chainsaw Man puts you up against horrors both tangible and fantastical, and then it looks you in the eyes and says "Hey. You aren't weak. You aren't useless. The world is scary, the world is cruel, the world is harsh, but that doesn't mean you can't fight it. That doesn't mean there isn't hope".

I really don't know how else to describe it without going into spoilers. It's genuinely moving.

Arcane

Arcane is a beautiful tragedy that has no right being as impactful as it is for being a goddamn League of Legends adaptation, of all things.

The art direction in Arcane is absolutely insane - Taking a page from Into the SpiderVerse (which is another favourite of mine), it blends 3D animation with a 2D-esque art style and fully 2D effects to bring what I genuinely believe to be one of the best looking shows in the world to life. And that's not all !

Arcane is infinitely nuanced. Between it's multiple plots it introduces many, many characters, all of whom have their own wants, needs, goals, ambitions, fears, flaws and trauma, and it clashes them together beautifully. Nothing in Arcane feels like an afterthought to me, I think the most fantastic thing about it is how expertly it weaves all these different storylines together. Everything ties into something else, everything affects something else, the story changes based on every little movement of our main characters and by the time it unfolds you realize that there's nothing that could really be done to change it because EVERYTHING lead to this.

It's a tragedy in the best way possible.

Attack on Titan

I don't care what anyone says - Attack on Titan is one of the best Anime ever put on screen.

I am a person that grew up in a colonized, war-torn country. Part of our land is still occupied, and our occupants are currently seeking refuge in our city and acting like this is their vacation resort. My people have been marginalized, demonized, dismissed, our culture has been erased and we have been fed more propaganda than I can count.

And I say this because I think being in this situation lends me a pretty good perspective of what AoT is:

Propaganda. The first two seasons of Attack on Titan are literally an extended propaganda film, meant to trick and decieve the viewer into siding with the protagonists, and dismissing their enemies as mere monsters.

If I go any deeper into that statement, there will inevitably be spoilers, so I'll cap it off with this:

There are no easy answers in war. There are no heroes and no villains, there are no good guys and bad guys, and there are no winners. There is only deception, control, and death.

I've never seen a piece of fiction capture the true, real horror of war quite as well as Attack on Titan does.

Death Parade

Everybodyyyyyyy put your hands upppppp

Death Parade is the show I go to rewatch when I have nothing else to rewatch.

It is a soft, yet painful look at human nature. It's an exploration of what makes a person good or bad, and whether such things even exist. It brings into question the very nature of humanity, whether there's such a thing as being good or bad, whether our character is formed by our circumstances or our behaviour, and how those things should be judged. It asks what it means to have emotions, to have feelings, and how your own personal emotions and biased factor into how you assess other people - whether it's more unfair to judge someone objectively without empathy, or subjectively with your own narrow, biased worldview.

All of that wrapped in a beautiful aesthetic, and a somber, subtle love story. Not even necessarily a romantic one - just pure love.

Highly, highly recommend.

Oyasumi Punpun*

Oyasumi Punpun is the most direct, honest, unfiltered, unbiased look at a human being's psyche I've ever seen.

It's also one of the most triggering bits of media on here, so proceed with caution.

Oyasumi Punpun follows the life of a single boy from his childhood, through his adulthood. Every single hardship, every single setback, every victory, every memorable experience, is shown to us through the lense of his own eyes. His childhood innocence, his teenage cynicism, his adolescent hopelessness, his own naivete, his own trauma, his own biased colour the way we view the world around him.

It genuinely makes you feel like you are wearing his skin and living his life through him.

Its disturbing, uncomfortable, dark, scary, and it's funny, hopeful, and just plain bizarre.

Great Pretender

Alright, back to light-hearted things !!!

Great Pretender might be the funniest show I've ever seen, to me, personally. Its bright, saturated, expressive animation compliments the absolute insanity of this show perfectly.

The most basic premise is that Great Pretender is about two con artists desperately trying to out-con each-other, and then it all goes downhill from there. It sets up so much of its payoff in such tiny little ways that by the time I got to the end I'd be beating myself up for missing a completely innocuous detail like a characters fucking watch, because it was actually a hint towards the overall plotline.

Its clever, it's funny, it keeps you on your toes, and it can be genuinely heartfelt and delightfully homoerotic to boot !!

It's absolutely worth the watch. Please give us season two. Please. PLEASE.

Dark Heaven*

Dark Heaven is what I'd recommend to someone if they told me they liked reading BL.

As a gay man in an interracial relationship, I've yet to find a piece of media that is quite so open direct, brutal and honest about the kids of issues that gay people, people of color, and people in interracial relationships can face.

To that end - it's extremely triggering if you're sensitive to those particular topics, as well as some other things. I'd very much recommend looking up a list of triggers first if you want to read it because it does get very, very dark. (And very NSFW). (Right from chapter one)?

But yeah - Dark Heaven is a beautiful, engaging, and at times very fluffy and humorous romance between two men, that is heavily overlaid with real actual issues people face every day (and some people don't face every day, but are nonetheless very real). It's honest, soft, and uplifting where it needs to be, despite not sugarcoating absolutely anything. It also does us the wonderful favour of not fetishizing gay men, not playing into weird creepy stereotypes, and not turning their relationship into something to gawk at.

And now, the one, the only, the piece of media that captured my heart and soul and will never ever let go:

Warrior Cats

Fucking Warrior Cats.

I have read every single book in the series. The series with over 100 books (depending on how you count them). Every official piece of media, I have consumed.

I've been reading this book series since I was 11. I've loved, cherished, lived and breathed it. I keep up with them to this day. I recently completed a chronological re-read. I've made OCs. I've roleplayed it in person and online - in fact I've been a mod in a DeviantArt roleplay group.

I HAVE A GODDAMN EXCELL SPREADSHEET WHERE I ANALYZE THE STATISTICS OF THE WARRIOR CATS NAMING SYSTEM

"Oh wow, sounds like the series is really good" WRONG

Warrior Cats is one of the worst written series I've ever read. It's poorly paced, it's full of plotholes, most characters are pieces of cardboard with a furry coat. It's dumb, nonsensical, inconsistent, and infuriating. It preaches the worst lessons I've ever heard, it's full of nothing but wasted potential, and I could honestly count the number of books I'd consider to be genuinely good on both of my hands.

Out of a 100. I've read a fucking hundred of these. Send help.

Why do I do this to myself? Why do I read them?

Because I'm autistic and my brain is holding me hostage.

Against my better judgement, I have such a deep and genuine love for this series, for the characters, for the content mostly created by the fans, for the world building.

And every single time one of these fucking cats dies, I end up tearing up.

I love Warrior Cats and you can pry it from my cold, dead hands.

...

And that's IT !!!

Thank you again for the ask, and thanks if you read it this far !! You can really tell which ones of these I'm currently hyperfixated on haha.

Again please practice discression in looking these up - I have absolutely no triggers, and so don't think twice about consuming really dark and heavy pieces of media. This is also why I didn't just opt to put in my own trigger warnings - because I don't know everything that could be potentially triggering, and I don't want to give off the impression that you know everything you need to, in case i missed anything.

Be careful and be safe !

[castlebyersafterdark]

re your tags. look I can see how it could be sad if we look at it that way buuuut let’s think for a minute. noah has known finn forever and pretty sure he’s always had a crush, it’s been obvious to me since s2 imo but I don’t think he would like act up like this way if he still had a hopeless, could never be reciprocated crush, seeing as how he’s older now, knows how to hide it appropriately after years, and also wouldn’t want to make things weird seeing as how they are doing an onscreen romance at the same time ya know? I feel like he would be able to keep his composure and professionalism for the sake of Finn’s comfort at least if not himself lmao buuuuut if there is something going on there beyond just friendship? then yea shit is gonna leak out a little bit because he’s excited and can’t help himself. like imagine having a crush on someone for years as a kid and then it (maybe) finally happening?!? yea you’re gonna be a bit down bad. that’s my thought process lol

I am delulu and free but with a side of still being logical hahahahha

Compiling several of these here!!! The wildly different reactions to fan-acount-gate hahaha.

It's honestly one of the more interesting little sleuthing things I've seen so far - it's just so. Odd. But endearing? Whether he's in a relationship with the man or not, it's so in the realm of having feelings for the guy, and this is a neutral read as someone who has fun with the concept of these two together but does try to look at it from an outside perspective with passive enjoyment as my interaction with FN. (Primarily because I don't like admitting to being wrong? Perhaps. The Byler confidence is strong and there's so much evidence to back that up as a story-telling narrative. A celebrity relationship? Tabloid gossip via fan blogs. So much room for error. And I don't like to lose hahahaha) I CAN ADMIT IT.

Intrigued and hopeful but free, that's me! Because it's such a Noah move? His hyper-online engagement with his own fandom. Not like most celebrities. Endlessly endearing. Following fan accounts is so random. It feels like he was covering for following the Finn ones with the others. I get being on tiktok and having edits from the show you are in pushed to you (I don't really know how it works, maybe he sought them out in the past, maybe it was happenstance on the feed or a friend sent it and he was amused). But pointedly following a FW fan account and then looking at the stories??? Boy....

Because Finn is the guy he literally sees all the time at work and also clearly hangs out with. In reality. In person. In his real life. And then he goes online and is looking at content like that? Wild. It could be pining, it could be all in his feels if it's real and they're apart, it could just be a cheeky little thing like hell yeah, that's my man and none of you even know. FASCINATED.

Hey, maybe Finn is chilling in the bed next to him and Noah is showing him the edits kind of teasing him about them and then hmmmm. Fanfic territory. Moving on...

[dilatorywriting]

Hi!

Sorry English is not my native language, I will make mistakes.

First. I love your lyrics! they are amazing!! I am ready to kiss your amazing diligent hands (of course with your consent) Your texts make me smile stupidly and giggle softly like a schoolgirl who was invited by the most enviable person from the whole school to an event.

So, I'm here because of that post with Howl's Walking Castle.

Good, good. Vil is the Witch of the Wasteland.

Then……Rook Hunt……… Is this Howl? (Not Jack)

Blond? Yes Short hair with a square and straight bangs? Yes. A charming wizard? YEAS

Perhaps in the past, the paths of Vil and Rook diverged because of the views on the world and goals in life that have changed over time. But they warmly remembered their friendship and their small events.

Now I can't get rid of the story that the Rook is a Howl. He am very upset that Suleiman has taken away the magic Power from his dearest friend - Vil. With whom they once studied together with the aforementioned sorceress.

And now this crazy woman is hunting for all the sorcerers, wizards, magicians to sentence to eternal work for a stupid king and endless wars?

No.

He won't stand for it. But what can he do now that his magic power has become so unstable because of the curse?

He almost loses himself.

****

Rook - aka Howl. He was so fascinated by the ignorant owner of the hats turned into an old man. Come to his endlessly walking castle - to avoid the oath. With a strong request that they need a job. And the castle passed by their town very "in time", and they could well take up cleaning in the castle.

Speaking of cleaning….

Rook looks around with embarrassment at its castle overgrown with dust and cobwebs. With a bunch of different stuff and "loot" from his secret hunt. Oh, what a shame. He is so embarrassed that his house looks so inhospitable to others.

Since that day, Rook has noticed significant improvements in its castle. Cleanliness replaced all the garbage and dirt. The ashes no longer scatter all over the living room, unpleasantly tickling the nose. Everything is tidy, shining with gloss, as if delivered just from the store. Products no longer spoil due to the fact that they forgot to remove or cook. While the owner himself is running around outside the castle on his own business… The clothes smell pleasantly of powder and salty air from the shore of sapphire lake. Maybe a pinch of pollen from flower meadows. How much energy is contained in this "cursed old man"?! ****

Forgive me for my invention, but what if the Damned Hat Seller has a very strong magician friend from another country?

Wil is horrified looking at the letter with the coat of arms which he swore that he had seen only Suliman on very rare documents, one or two no more.

-Where… is it from…a letter?

-Oh, it's that statue guy! So, my letter with the address reached him!! - The cursed owner of hats looks with affection at a black raven with a green short ribbon on its paw holding a rather weighty letter.

Vil and Rook look at each other in complete confusion, uttering the unvoiced question "What's going on?!"

-Who?

-Ah… well…Tsunotaro? I was talking about him. This guy was cursed into a stone statue. The poor guy can only move by jumping…..He was very kind to me. When… well….I had to leave my city.

Briefly quieting down and feeling extremely awkward and painful memories of the past, they change the subject.

-He helped me get to the hills. He made me a cane out of a prickly blackberry bush. He said there might be some magicians here who could give me a job. Due to the fact that they are often on the road, there is no one to look after their homes. And I can be hired for a pretty good fee, or just as an assistant…When we helped with his curse, he said that he was now in my debt for the rest of his life….Oh, he writes that he is very glad to know that I am doing well! And yes……I….um….I'm sorry, I asked about your situation…he said that this could easily solve the problem. There's some magical gibberish, I don't really understand it…

-Wait a minute……….. are you saying that you lifted the curse from that stone demon?!

-First of all, he is not a demon. And secondly, he was very polite…Unlike one person who just cursed me at the first meeting. . Third, he seems to be a prince? Now he is putting things in order in his country while he was away a lot of work has accumulated.

Vil rolls his eyes. The old record again.

-I told you I can only cast curses, not remove them. Who even thinks of such a thing?!

-Oooooh, really?And look what this has led you to, "Mr. crunches back is even worse than mine" is only worth turning your head.

-Oh, are you!!YOU!!YOU!!

Vil tries to throw a pillow at the wit from his seat.But it was a futile attempt. The damned owner atelier of the hats suddenly starts laughing merrily. And their curse weakens for a moment. They are young again. Their previously wrinkled cheeks are now decorated with a healthy bright blush. Their hair is no longer gray, their laughter is not hoarse and raspy, but sonorous and pleasant. It only lasts for a moment, and then time devours their body again for the curse.

Schoenheit wants to go back to the past and knock himself out of the past so as not to curse this person…and enjoy this laughter and embarrassed giggling more.

Rook just smiles meekly - Ah, it seems that help will come to us from where we did not expect it at all. Isn't that wonderful~

****

Oh, yeah….

I think Epel is Markle. The guy who works instead of Rook while he wanders somewhere outside the castle. And sells potions and herbs for the townspeople in their shops. He gives the money to his family in one of the villages.

Epel at the sight of Vil - ARE YOU CRAZY, IT'S THE WITCH OF THE WASTELAND?!

Vil leaning on the hands of the Cursed MC to sit down on the sofa, because there was no trace of his previously imperious light, confident gait. - what a loud ill-mannered child..

-I know, but now this grandfather is not dangerous. Vill you put the kettle on, Epel? I'll cook dinner.

-Grandfather?!Excuse me???How dare you address me like that?!I am a great magician and wizard!!No one even dared to cast an unwanted glance at me for a split second!!

-Yeah-yeah, calm down…are you going to eat porridge?

-I hate you…

-Well, you don't have much choice. Or you stay here and you don't have enough problems. Or you get up on your own and leave here on your own two feet since you don't like it here. - The damned MC snorts, taking out an apron and groceries to cook dinner. Easily and confidently soaring in the kitchen to cook everything on time.

-Damn it…..I cursed you to be an elderly man, a crumbling, decrepit crone…and you have more energy than 10 young men and women combined…I don't understand where you got it from…

-Oh, look, he's already started grumbling like a grandfather~

-IT WAS WORTH TURNING YOU INTO A PUMPKIN AND PUREING YOU AND FEEDING YOU TO GEESE!!

Epel covering the ears - MC….why did you bring this angry, loud old man into our house?..

The damned Mc only giggles merrily, covering his smile with his palm, watching the exchange of these two. Suddenly a thought strikes them.

-Oh shit…..I should have asked the Hunter's permission…it's not my house…

I'm sorry it was too long.ahaha..

I can't believe I never considered using Rook as Howl. My guys have the same blonde bob and everything.

But yes! I'm glad I can drag more people into this Howl AU hell with me

[altschmerzes]

I hope you don’t mind me asking but I was just wondering what relationships Jamie will have with Roy and Keeley in your baby Jamie story. Something I’ve really enjoyed in your other fics like The Same Story, and your most recent fic is the amazing friendship Jamie has with them. Obviously a lot of things are different in your upcoming fic, and their history with Jamie is going to be vastly different, so I was really curious.

i don't mind at all!! i love love love talking about this fic and this is one of the like. central components of it and one of the parts that's most fascinating to me to think about and poke at, roy particularly.

roy and he have the same antagonism that they do when we meet them in canon though it looks obviously very different because of the fact that yknow. jamie's fifteen and not on the team so roy is MUCH less aggressive/actively beefing with a teenager lmao but they do sort of..... roy is endlessly frustrated with jamie's attitude and the fact that jamie seems to, from minute one, hate his guts for absolutely no reason at all. it evolves over time as the story progresses from this kind of frustrated, baffled resentment to roy somehow now TWICE OVER landing in a situation where he is sort of parenting someone else's kid with them without really meaning to, that's just how it happened.

there's phoebe, who he's fulfilling a very directly parental role with (and as somebody who usually means 'mother and grandmother' when i say 'my parents' i loved seeing this on screen. he's not her dad but he is very much a parent to her) and then there's the way that he and ted end up sort of coparenting jamie together by the time they get him out of his dad's house. it's like..... it's complicated and not very clear cut, because while ted is very much Jamie's Dad at this point roy is like..... he's not jamie's dad but he is A Parent, much in the way he is with phoebe which is a very fun like. family dynamic to explore in all directions (roy and ted and jamie as a collective, what this does for roy and ted's relationship, the relationship jamie ends up having with roy's sister (who i'm once again calling sarah sdlfs) and phoebe).

(there's also some complex stuff in there about the way that i've adapted some canon events - including the city win over richmond in 1x10 which jamie still plays a key role in and roy's retirement and refusal to coach jamie when he came back which, jamie's not on the team but that Situation still manifests in a way)

and with keeley it's obviously EXTREMELY different since they are not, never will be, and do not even come close to being involved romantically or sexually, gd bless. absolutely not. so we, and jamie, are introduced to her as the girlfriend of the richmond captain prior to roy, a very briefly appearing man i've dubbed leo charles. and then she's around richmond doing PR because of the job rebecca gives her, which is when she and jamie start interacting more. and the relationship they have - which again i feel i must stress because you know how fandoms are lmao is completely platonic at every point - is a very important one to jamie because she like....... treats him like a person, not like a child. she asks for his opinion on things and actually listens, she has a respect for him and his thoughts that he hasn't seen a lot.

and compared to the others too there's this sense, even when those relationships improve, with ted and roy and company, that they feel like he's someone they need to protect and care for, which is true! they do! and keeley is protective of him as well, is aware he's young and has been badly hurt and needs looking out for, but that's not the role SHE directly has in his life so she's like. someone who he doesn't feel like thinks he needs minding, or whatever, she's someone he can go to if he needs to feel Normal and go check out the new hipster coffee shop that's opened in the area or give an opinion on an outfit or something. he admires her and thinks she's probably the coolest person alive, pretty much.