#this reminds me of David having them do a cast of his hand to be the hand-in-the-jar

[regressionschool]

BBQ and pull-ups

The sun was shining brightly, casting a warm glow over the backyard as two daddies sat comfortably in lawn chairs. The smell of grilled burgers filled the air, but their attention was focused less on the barbecue and more on the two women crawling around the grass nearby, playing with colorful plastic blocks. Their wives, dressed in matching pastel rompers with thick, crinkly diapers peeking out from beneath, giggled and babbled softly as they built little towers, completely absorbed in their play.

David leaned back in his chair, a cool drink in hand as he watched his wife, Claire, carefully stack one block on top of another. She was concentrating so hard, her pacifier bobbing gently in her mouth as she worked. Beside her, Mike’s wife, Lucy, giggled as she knocked over Claire’s tower, clapping her hands in delight. Claire pouted, but only for a moment before joining in on the laughter, the playful energy between them contagious.

Mike chuckled, shaking his head. “They’re always like that, aren’t they? One minute building something, the next tearing it all down.”

David grinned, glancing at his friend. “Yeah, it’s like they never get tired of it. You’d think after playing with the same blocks every day, they’d be bored, but nope. They’re just happy to do the same thing over and over again.”

Mike nodded in agreement, watching as Lucy crawled over to a nearby stuffed bear, hugging it tightly. Her diaper crinkled loudly with every movement, the unmistakable sound a constant reminder of their little roles. “Speaking of the same thing,” Mike started, his tone shifting slightly, “I’ve been thinking about trying to reintroduce potty training with Lucy.”

David raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Potty training? Really? After all this time?”

Mike shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “Yeah, I know it sounds crazy. She’s been in diapers for over two years now, but I don’t know, I’ve been thinking it might be worth a shot. Maybe pull-ups, just to see how she handles it.”

David leaned forward, intrigued but skeptical. “Pull-ups? I don’t know, man. Why would you want to go through all that hassle? Diapers work perfectly fine. No mess, no fuss. She doesn’t even think about using the potty anymore.”

Mike scratched the back of his head, clearly conflicted. “I get that, but... part of me wonders if she could handle a little more responsibility, you know? Maybe give her a chance to grow up a bit, see if she’s ready for it.”

David smirked, shaking his head. “Trust me, Claire’s been in diapers just as long, and I wouldn’t dream of going back to potty training. She’s too far gone at this point. It’s just easier this way. Besides, you know how many accidents they’d have in pull-ups? I’d be changing them constantly.”

Mike laughed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right about that. But pull-ups could be a nice middle ground, don’t you think? They’re still padded enough for accidents, but it would give Lucy a little more independence. At least she’d feel when she’s wet, instead of just going and not realizing it.”

David leaned back, crossing his arms. “That’s the thing, though. Do you really want her to feel when she’s wet? I mean, the whole point of diapers is to keep them blissfully unaware. It’s part of the appeal, isn’t it? They don’t have to worry about accidents because they don’t even realize they’re happening. Why give her a reason to think about it?”

Mike thought for a moment, his eyes drifting to Lucy, who was now happily stacking blocks with Claire again. Her diaper crinkled loudly with every little shift, the soft bulge beneath her romper proof that she had already wet herself at least once since they started playing.

“I guess that’s true,” Mike admitted. “But don’t you ever wonder if maybe they could handle just a little bit more responsibility? I’m not talking about making them fully potty-trained or anything. Just... seeing if they could manage pull-ups, at least during the day.”

David chuckled, shaking his head. “Honestly, no. I’m perfectly happy with Claire in diapers. She’s comfortable, I don’t have to worry about accidents, and she’s completely dependent on me. Why change that? Potty training is just going to stress her out.”

As if on cue, Claire glanced up at them, her pacifier still in her mouth, and crawled over to David’s chair, pulling herself up on the armrest. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes, her diaper crinkling as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“Hi, sweetie,” David cooed, reaching down to stroke her hair. “Are you having fun?”

Claire nodded, her pacifier bobbing as she sucked on it contentedly.

David smiled, glancing down at her diaper. It was obvious she had wet herself a while ago, the padding around her waist swollen and slightly discolored, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. It was just part of her life now, something she didn’t think about.

“See?” David said, looking up at Mike. “She’s perfectly happy, even though she’s wet. No fuss, no tantrums. She doesn’t even realize she’s had an accident. That’s what diapers are for, to keep them comfortable and carefree.”

Mike watched the interaction, a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just... I don’t know. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the one who feels like it’s time for her to grow up a little.”

David grinned. “If you want her to grow up, that’s fine. But you have to ask yourself, is she really ready? Or is this more about you wanting to see if she can handle it?”

Mike sighed, leaning back in his chair. “You’re probably right. Every time I think about trying pull-ups, I remember how much easier things are with diapers. No accidents to clean up, no stress for her. And she’s so used to them now...”

David chuckled. “Exactly. Why make things harder for yourself? Besides, can you imagine the chaos if you tried potty training and it didn’t work out? You’d be dealing with accidents everywhere, not to mention how frustrated Lucy would get.”

Mike smiled, glancing over at his wife, who was now lying on her back in the grass, hugging her stuffed bear and babbling softly to herself. Her diaper was clearly wet, but she didn’t seem to care, completely lost in her own little world.

“Yeah,” Mike said softly. “She does look pretty happy like this.”

David grinned, watching as Claire crawled back to the blocks, joining Lucy in their game. “Exactly. Diapers keep them happy, comfortable, and stress-free. Why mess with that?”

Mike nodded, his mind now clearer. “You’re right. Maybe I was overthinking it. Pull-ups might give her more responsibility, but honestly? I kind of like her like this—carefree and innocent. I don’t want her to worry about accidents.”

David smiled, satisfied. “That’s the spirit. Besides, do you really want to deal with all that extra work? Potty training sounds good in theory, but diapers are way easier. No need to rush them into growing up.”

Mike laughed, shaking his head. “You’re right. Diapers it is, then. I’ll leave the potty training for another lifetime.”

The two men shared a chuckle, the debate settled as they watched their wives play happily in the grass, their thick, crinkly diapers on full display, proof that they were right where they belonged.

As the afternoon wore on, Mike felt a sense of relief wash over him. Watching Lucy babble away, her face filled with innocent joy, he realized that David was right—there was no need to push her to grow up. Diapers kept her safe, comfortable, and blissfully unaware of any accidents she might have. And in the end, that’s all that really mattered.

Just then, Lucy crawled over to Mike’s chair, her diaper sagging slightly as she looked up at him with wide, curious eyes. Mike reached down, ruffling her hair gently. “Hey, princess. You having fun?”

Lucy nodded, her pacifier still firmly in place.

Mike glanced down at her diaper, noticing the bulge. She was definitely wet. But just like Claire, she hadn’t noticed. And that’s how it should be, he realized. She was happy, carefree, and completely dependent on him—and there was something deeply comforting in that.

Smiling to himself, Mike decided then and there: no pull-ups, no potty training. Lucy was his baby, and diapers were exactly where she belonged.

[annaelizabethhenry1]

Echoes from the Past

Summary: River visits his grandfather post season four at the care home. The visits conjure memories of River’s childhood and teen years as he grapples with his grandfather’s declining mental health and how once he’s gone he’ll have no one left. Warning – spoilers for all four seasons!

There’s a certain slant of light On winter afternoons, That oppresses, like the weight Of cathedral tunes, Heavenly hurt it gives us, We can find no scar, But internal difference Where the meanings are. None may teach it anything, ‘Tis the seal, despair, - An imperial affliction Sent us of the air When it comes, the landscape listens. Shadows hold their breath; When it goes, ‘tis like the distance On the look of death.

Emily Dickinson

Chapter One

The car’s tires crunched to a halt on the gravel drive. River shut the car off and stared into the distance. The steel grey sky cast a gloom over the care home’s edifice in a way River hadn’t noticed on his previous visits.

River’s thoughts swirled back to a different time before he ended up at Sough House – he remembered a conversation in his grandfather’s study. One where his grandfather jokingly called care homes ‘God’s waiting room’ and how he insisted if he ever needed one he’d rather be dead. At the time there was no need for one and River reassured his grandfather he’d never allow it. But now…needs must…River sighed and forced himself from the car.

He braced the cold February afternoon and turned up the collar on his green corduroy coat up as he jogged the length of the path to the front door, pushing it open, he was greeted by warmth and chatter – and the slamming of a tray along with the clatter of dishes and cutlery. River recognized his grandfather’s raised voice and almost turned back around.

No, no I can do this…he and Nan raised me…I owe him no matter how hard.

Entering the wood panelled dining hall where other elderly residents were gathered for lunch, River spotted his grandfather off to the side at a small table near the fireplace causing a scene.

An orderly busied himself with cleaning the mess on the floor while two women – Sylvie, who River already knew was trying to soothe David Cartwright and while another petite woman attempted to tidy him up after some of the food had landed on his sweater.

“Stop! I’m not a baby!” David shouted, swatting at the smaller woman.

“Granddad, don’t get handsy with the ladies,” River said with a forced half smile and a raised brow, trying to lighten the situation.

“River take me home! These harpies are treating me like I’m an invalid!” he shouted, then stood up, grabbed his cane and pushed past them, hobbling away.

“Granddad you know I can’t…” River went to grab him.

“No leave him be,” the petite woman said.

“But…”

“It’s best to let him settle down. I’m Orla by the way, you’re the grandson?” she asked offering her hand with a kind smile.

Orla had warm, but sharp green eyes that reminded him of his grandmother, Rose. Freckles sprinkled the bridge of her nose and cheeks and red curls bounced, just reaching her shoulders. River had never seen her before today.

“Yes, River Cartwright. Nice to meet you,” River shook her hand and smiled back.

“I’ve just been brought on board with recreation at the home. Seems we have some very sharp retirees here who need more challenging tasks to occupy them.”

River knew that all the employees were specially vetted and aware that the bulk of the residents were former service or higher ups in government with a few military veterans sprinkled in for good measure.

“Yes, this lot aren’t your run of the mill pensioners,” River said wryly.

“I look forward to the challenge. I’m glad you’re here though as we have been having trouble with your grandfather. I was curious to know a bit more about him to see if I could find a way to reach out to him.”

River flushed, wondering how many other times his grandfather, the OB or the Old Bastard to many, threw a tantrum making more work for the staff here. “I’m so sorry he’s been…difficult. I know he’d rather be home, but it’s just not safe for him and I live in London and can’t commute here all the time…” River rambled.

Orla put a hand on River’s arm, “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. He does have dementia and that is bound to make him act out. The staff understand. Why don’t you come to my office? We can have some tea and chat.”

Orla led River through the large and very windowed recreation room where some staff were setting up for what appeared to be arts and crafts. There was a small side door that went down a narrow passage and onto hallway with a number of highly polished doors. Orla pushed one open and led River into a cheerful room filled with small potted plants, a well-organized desk and a low bookcase filled with books and what appeared to be files.

“Tea or coffee? I have a fresh lemon drizzle loaf from home – happy to share.”

“Whichever is easier for you. Uh, yeah, sure, thanks.”

Orla chuckled. “You’re making it too easy for me.” She switched on the kettle on top of the bookcase. “Have a seat. Let me go find a knife for the cake and some milk. Make yourself comfortable.”

She handed River a pamphlet about coping with the transition to a care home for family members as she breezed out. River was tempted to chuck it into the bin, but thought the better of it as she was just being nice. Everyone always was so damn nice, which made it harder somehow. He wanted to shout at someone as if that would make him feel better about the situation. Demand to see someone in charge and lodge complaints as that would be easier than someone smiling and handing him a slice of his favourite cake.

River sat back in chair, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He thought back to the time when he was almost seven and he had that first slice of lemon drizzle loaf in his grandparents’ kitchen.

It was a rare sunny afternoon in late winter when River’s mother, Isobel knocked on the front door of a large stone house in the countryside. River was in awe by the size of it. He had mainly lived in small flats and tiny houses with his mother and whomever her current boyfriends were at the time. This was like a palace to him.

“Mum, is this like a castle?”

His mother laughed. “God no. It’s just a house. I hope they’re home. I can’t keep Pedro waiting we have tickets to Spain.”

As if on cue he honked his horn from the car in the drive. Isobel rang the doorbell again and knocked on the door.

River stood silently, freezing in a jacket that wasn’t suited to the current weather. He clutched his rucksack on his shoulder and clung to his bunny, Mr. Hoppinheimer. “Mum, where are we going?”

“You’re going to stay here with your grandparents. They’ll look after you.”

Finally, the door opened and a stunned David Cartwright appeared. “Isobel?”

“Yes, father. I’m rather in a hurry. This is River. Here are his things. I’ve got to go.”

“What? You can’t leave him here. Isobel, come inside. What’s going on – are you in trouble?” David asked, his features etched with disbelief and his eyes wildly going between his daughter and the blonde little boy with big, sad blue eyes looking up at him. They reminded David of a favourite spaniel he had as a boy growing up that he loved.

“Father I don’t have time! Pedro is waiting,” Isobel pointed to the car in the drive.

“Sod Pedro, he can wait. You can’t just leave him here like this Isobel. We never met him.”

“Who? Pedro?” Isobel asked.

“No, you bloody idiot – River.”

River shrunk back to the side of the doorstep. He learned from living with his mum how important it was to fade into the background when necessary. It was key to not being yelled at or getting in the way.

“What’s going on?” Rose asked stepping out into the cold, pulling her cardigan tighter around herself to shield her from the brisk wind despite the bright sun. “Isobel, I’m surprised you’re here. Where’s River?” Rose searched and finally found him almost hiding behind a potted evergreen perched to the side of the front door. She bent down and smiled at him as he just stared back. “Oh, love you must be freezing,” she touched his shoulder and nudged him into the warmth of the large stone house as he clung to his bunny and rucksack.

“Mum, I don’t have time for you to coo and coddle over him because it’s a bit chilly out here. I’ve got to go,” Isobel said coming into the foyer.

David came in as well. “You can’t expect us to take him just like that Isobel. Where are you going? What’s going on?”

“Yes, I can and I’m off to Spain. Once I get settled I’ll send you my address.”

“Spain? What if he gets sick or something,” David asked.

“You raised me and managed to keep me alive. I suspect you’ll do just fine – thanks – ta!”

“Love, wait! Don’t you want to say goodbye properly to River?” Rose asked. She already had River in a sideways hug, ruffling his hair.

Isobel hesitated and went back to the doorstep to retrieve a luggage that she deposited in the foyer. “These are the rest of his things. He’s no bother, he’s usually quiet except when he’s got a million questions about something. Be good and don’t cause any trouble for your grandparents,” Isobel said and blew River a kiss.

Rose looked over at River who didn’t bat an eye or show any emotion at her leaving him. “David do something!” she hissed.

“What? She always was so out of control. I told you that artistic streak would lead to nothing good. We should never have indulged it.” He shut the door.

Rose sighed. “River dear, I’m grandma Rose, but you can call me Nan if you like. I’ve sent you cards and gifts – I do hope they made their way to you.”

River nodded and held up his bunny.

“Oh, excellent love, you still have it from a few Easter’s ago,” she said smiling but her eyes welled with tears. “David take his luggage and rucksack up to the guest room. You look hungry sweetheart – let me take you to the kitchen. Would you like some cake?”

“It’s not my birthday,” River finally uttered something.

“No love, I know that.”

“Is it your birthday?”

“No, you don’t just have cake on birthdays.”

“Oh.”

Rose looked to David.

“Come along dear, bring your bunny. Does he have a name?”

“Yes, Mr. Hoppinheimer.”

“Really, love,” Rose said ushering him into a warmer room still. There were lovely smells and lots of sunlight.

Rose had him sit down at the small table while she busied herself about the kitchen. She put the kettle on, went into a cupboard pulling out dishes and things. River just sat there with his bunny on his lap watching. Rose finally put dishes down on the table and a small mug that had a woodland scene on it.

“This was your mum’s when she was little. It’s a scene from Beatrix Potter.”

River looked at it curiously seeing a rabbit dressed in a coat. “Why is he wearing a jacket?”

“It’s Peter Rabbit. He’s a character from her books. Do not know them?”

“No.”

“Oh, I see, well don’t worry we have the books here.”

“Rose, a moment, please,” David stood on the cusp of the kitchen.

She nodded and joined him. “What?”

“The boy hardly has anything in his luggage. It’s appalling Rose,” he whispered.

“He seems scared. I’m worried how she’s been living…what if the men in her life…”

“Rose, don’t…”

“He’s ours now, David. She’s never taking him back. I won’t allow it. Look how sweet and quiet he is…”

David rubbed her shoulder. “Yes of course. He stays. He’s better off.”

The kettle whistled and River jumped. “What’s that? Is something wrong?”

“No, love – it’s just the kettle is boiling, which means it’s time for tea or in your case hot chocolate!”

“What’s hot chocolate? Is it like when a candy bar melts?”

“No, its special warm powdered chocolate. I trust you’ll like it.”

“So young man, do you have any interests? Dinosaurs, airplanes, horses, trains or even cars?” David asked.

River shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Rose put a slice of lemon drizzle cake on River’s plate and filled his little mug with hot chocolate and then dispensed tea and cake for herself and David.

“Go ahead, have some cake, love,” Rose urged.

River picked up the slice and sniffed it. It smelt like lemons and sugar. When he bit into the slice it was like heaven. He never tasted anything so wonderful and he smiled over at his Nan and she smiled back at him.

The reverie was broken when Orla fluttered back in cheerfully with a knife and little carton of milk. “Sorry that took longer than I hoped, it’s tough to get the elevator down to the kitchens at meal times, I had forgotten that since I’m new.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“You looked like you were a million miles away,” she said as she opened a box of tea.

“Yeah, well…it’s not easy seeing granddad here. I promised him once I’d never do this.”

“The hard reality of caring for someone in his condition and balancing your own life tends to make these situations impossible,” Orla said as she prepared tea.

River sighed. Orla was right. It was unsafe for him to be alone, especially given how confused he became, but there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot going on in his life at the moment that he maybe couldn’t have made this work. Slough House wasn’t buzzing with anything important to do. As to his personal life that was non-existent. Sure, he’d love to have what other normal people had, but he found it so difficult to connect. River had spent too many years alone in the safe little bubble his grandparents had created for him after he’d been dropped off. River’s unique situation in life always set him apart from his peers and made him feel unwelcome as he didn’t exactly fit. No one else at school was raised by their grandparents, but even before that when he was with his mum, they moved around so much he never had a chance to make friends then either.

“Thanks,” River said almost shyly, “What is it I could help with to make things better for him?”

“Well, Sylvie tells me you do visit often, which is great, but it doesn’t seem to help his mood.”

“Yeah, that’s because he’s angry at me for putting him here.”

“Milk first?”

“Umm, sure.”

“You really are the least particular person I’ve met,” Orla said with a smile.

River chuckled. “I learned early in life what actually matters, and how your milk goes in isn’t one of them.”

“I’ve seen that point hotly debated in the dining room here, so I disagree.”

Orla sliced some cake and handed River a small paper plate and a mug of tea.

“Thanks. I do want to help my grandfather, he’s just very stubborn.”

“Can I ask – what did he do before he retired? I know he’s former service – someone mentioned you are also in the service.”

“Yes, I am service, too. When granddad retired he was first desk,” River said feeling that he just misrepresented himself. Slough House wasn’t service in anyone else’s mind at the Park.

Orla’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, he was very important…okay…no wonder he feels helpless here.”

“It’s also why he has to be here. He knows too much.”

Orla nodded. “Of course. Let me have a think on this and see if we can come up with something that makes him feel more useful and engaged.”

“I’d appreciate that, thanks,” River said.

About fifteen minutes later after tea and cake, River made his way to his grandfather’s room in the east wing of the care home. He found him sitting in the leather chair near the window, just staring blankly out into the front garden. He knocked and said, “Granddad, how are you?” River walked over and crouched next to the chair.

His grandfather looked over at him blankly. “I told you, I don’t want any lunch – it’s bland!”

River furrowed his brow and frowned. “Granddad, it’s River. I don’t work here, I’m your grandson,” he touched his arm and tried to rub it and forced a smile.

“Go away! I don’t have a grandson,” David Cartwright shouted, pulling away from River’s touch.

River bit his lower lip and tried to contain himself. He knew it wasn’t his grandfather’s fault he couldn’t remember, but sometimes River did wonder if he did remember and just acted like he didn’t because he wanted to punish River for leaving him in a care home. There were times when David was very lucid and they would share a memory or a story from his work days. Maybe it wasn’t an act and he wasn’t torturing River on purpose. He just felt so helpless when his granddad looked through him. The doctor told him there would come a point where David would not remember River anymore. It’s not like he didn’t already know that, but to hear it from someone in an official medical way made it all the more final.

Read Chapter Two here

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/28/2024 Daily Crew Recap

TLDR; Hoist The Ads Charity Donations; Campaign Status Updates; Hunt For the Pirate Home Watch Party; General Morale; Past Renewal Campaign Comparisons; Cast & Crew Sightings; Upcoming Events: Pets for Pirates Jan 29; Love Notes; Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika

=Hoist The Ads Updates =

Looks like the voting is done, and the results are in! @gingerlyvibing was kind enough to break down how much is going where. Just a reminder-- you all made this happen! Everything over the $10K it cost to get the billboard is going to help out these awesome charities! Links to threads: Tumblr / Twitter

Funnily enough, apparently one of the trucks still has the ads on it

== How To Help ==

How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US

How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

I'm helping some folks over on FB get similar/ the same updates right now, if anyone would like to help give me feedback I'd appreciate it, please just PM me! I have a couple ideas and I want to run them by folks.

== Status Updates ==

Good news! Wb is still having trouble recovering, as it should. Thanks @btweenhisteeth on twitter

==Petition Status==

Over 82K -- going slow, but still ticking up! Takes time all, especially since we're focused on the networks right now. Don't give up!

== Hunt For The Pirate Home Watch Party ==

Had some great turn out all over the world today for the Hunt For the Wilder People watch party. Thank you again to @dandeebakes for getting those coordinated!

Saw some great trends during it, and a lot of people having fun. If you haven't actually seen the movie, I highly recommend it, it's incredibly good!

==General Morale==

So despite things being fairly quiet today, the general vibe from folks has been that we're just in a holding pattern and we're just gonna keep clowning and polite menacing until we hear more word.

== Other Cancelled Series Comparisons ==

Something cool that I saw more of today was several groups doing comparisons with other cancelled TV Shows. Thank you to @OFMDCrew for these stats on twitter.

After they were posted, I did hear conflicting feelings on these (some felt it helped raise their mood, some felt it made it worse). So I wanted to point out a few things:

1. We've done a hell of a lot in 3 weeks (and signatures were our priority for most of the first two weeks, but once David Jenkins lit the beacon 8 days ago, we changed our focus). 2. We had a leadership change mid-all of this with Renew As A Crew. 3. Oh and there's other stuff in the world going on (Palestine) 4. As @saltpepperbeard says in their post "David only posted his "call to arms" just a little over a week ago. Eight days ago." So much has changed and we've STILL accomplished so much in that time too.

We are kicking ass, we really are, I promise you!

Across Twitter / IG / and Tumblr, several people have mentioned they feel like something's "in the air". That's totally a second hand "I have a feeling" thing but as you probably remember, quite a few of us had that as a bad feeling the morning before the show got cancelled. Now, if you're not into that kinda thing-- I would like to mention, that could just be because this crew is so fucking awesome, and that's why the vibe is so good-- because we're leaning on each other and take care of each other. Also when lovely people like @saltpepperbeard (as referenced above) write lovely responses to asks that can always help too. This post made ME feel better, I recommend giving it a read for a little perspective :)

= Cast & Crew Sightings =

1. The weekend is still pretty scarce as usual. Our pirate queen Ruibo Qian has been enjoying a lot of everyone's artwork lately. 2. Nathan Foad announced his con dates 3. Renewal Campaign Related: mostly seeing updates again from our boi Erroll Shand supporting the campaign.

== Pets For Pirates ==

Tomorrow, Jan 29, there will be a Pets for Pirates Even! Share your Pet pictures and use the hashtags:

#PetsForPirates

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

==Love Notes==

I know, I know "Jeez Abby, Shut Up We Already Know How Awesome We Are" Well good! Cause you should! But that won't stop me from saying so again! I'm serious when I say the vibe is so good right now in general because we have such a great crew. You all take such good care of each other and it shows every single day. You helped raise an extra $11,578 that are now going to charities that are going to help so many families, and kids, and that's just from the extra stuff from the Hoist The Ads Campaign -- not including everything else going on. I'm going to include a picture from one of my favorite people @thelatestkate because she does awesome work, and this one applies significantly to all of you. <3

Daily Darby/Tonights Taika

Tonights gifs are brought you by the wonderful @celluloidbroomcloset's Posts: Rhys / Taika

I'm literally watching Green Lanturn this moment because I needed to remember this youngin Taika, so thank you / no thank you for that, but hey I've watched worse for Rhys so I guess I can't complain.

Goodnight Lovelies <3

[britany1997]

Heyyyyy, so my birthday is in April and it said your asks where open so I was wondering if you could write

a poly Lostboys x insecure artsy trans masc reader. Like they’ve all been dating already and find reader or somethin. Cause I love your work and I would kill (🤭) to be a vampire.

Now and Forever

Omg of course I can write this for you friend!! I hope you have an amazing birthday!!!

Poly! Lost boys x Ace

Special thanks to @cryptic-michael and @pixielostboy for pre-reading this for me:)

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

You strolled down the boardwalk, headphones on and Bikini Kills blaring.

You waded through the sea of Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts, the epitome of Santa Carla boardwalk men’s “fashion.”

But like a lighthouse in a storm, your gaze fell on the most incredible jacket you’d ever set eyes on.

It was a collage of colorful patches sewn together into a sort of Frankenstein creation.

It was magnificent, it was a masterpiece, you were touching it.

The blond man in the jacket turned in surprise as your fingers carded through the squid fishing lures hanging from his shoulder. His eyes scanned up and down your form as he seemed to be equally pleased with your sense of style.

He smirked, “name’s Marko babe. What’s a handsome guy like you doing in a place like this anyways?” the blond man purred.

You returned his smirk, “could ask you the same question. I like your style man, you do this yourself?”

The blond man ran his fingers through his curly hair, “yeah, sewed the patches on and everything,” he turned around, looking at you over his shoulder, “this lady on the back? Painted her myself, painted a lot of these actually,” he turned back around to face you.

You ran your hand over the fabric in awe, “amazing,” you whispered.

“What about you?” he asked, “you paint those overalls?”

You smiled with pride, “sure did,” you posed to show off your handiwork, “like ‘em?”

Marko bit his thumb as his eyes raked over you once again, “love ‘em,” he praised.

“You like the Front Bottoms?” He asked, pointing to a patch, “haven’t met anyone else who’s even heard of ‘em.”

You had zoned out as Marko spoke, distracted by the flash of pink, white, and blue wrapped around his wrist.

You smiled, “cool bracelet,” you told him, as you held up a matching one on your own wrist.

His smile widened, “don’t meet many cool guys like you around here, I’d love to introduce you to my boyfriends,” Marko offered, “if you’d be interested of course.”

Years later you were dating the four handsome male vampires.

They had told you their secret early on in the relationship, and you were happy to accept them exactly as they were.

In fact, you had always had a fascination with the mystical side of life, and it didn’t surprise you at all that the guys you’d ended up with were…less than alive.

What did surprise you however was the pit in your stomach that grew every time another year passed you by.

You grew and changed. You aged. But your boys stayed exactly the same as the day you had met them.

You never say grey hairs in Paul’s blond mane, you never noticed a wrinkle on David’s face. It made you nervous.

You wanted to be with the boys forever, but the fact was that forever for you wasn’t the same as forever for them. You were too young to be thinking that your time was running out.

You were headed to the cave to celebrate another birthday with your boys.

You were excited for what they had planned, you really were, but you didn’t love the reminder that you were progressing while they were permanently fixed in their 20s. You tried to push the thought from your head as you climbed down the ladder into the cave.

When you entered the main alcove of the cave, your jaw dropped.

A giant white sheet had been hung on the wall of the cave, and across from it sat a projector, ready to cast movies onto the screen. Lining the floor of the cave were mattresses, pillows and blankets constructed into one massive bed that you and your boys could all fit on.

Paul was already underneath the covers, wrapped in three different heavy blankets, while Marko and David fiddled with the projector trying to make it work.

Dwayne strolled into the main alcove, tons of snacks in hand, while you were observing the scene around you speechless.

He smiled when he saw you, “happy birthday handsome,” he said before walking up to kiss your cheek.

At his words the other boys turned in your direction.

Marko grinned, “happy birthday baby,” he strolled over to wrap his arms around you, “do you like your surprise?” He whispered in your ear.

“It’s perfect,” you assured him as you smiled brightly, “I love it.”

He kissed you softly, “you’ll love it even more when you see the movies we bought to watch with you.”

David coughed.

Marko rolled his eyes, “I guess I’ll let David show you the options.”

David stepped forward to wrap you in an embrace, “happy birthday love,” he pulled out The Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, and a collection of all the Saw movies from his jacket. “What do you wanna watch first?” he asked.

You weighed your options, “the silence of the lamb for sure,” you decided.

He smiled, “sounds great love, we’ll put it in for you.” He snapped for Marko to join him at the projector.

Paul, who hadn’t moved from his spot on the frankenbed, pulled back the blankets piled on top of him. “Hey baby! I have a spot for you right here.”

You laughed as you snuggled in next to him.

He pressed sloppy kisses all over your face before pulling back, “happy birthday sugar!”he whispered excitedly.

You beamed, “thanks Paul,” you said as the other vampires crowded around you on the bed and the movie began to play.

As the credits ran on the last movie you let out a yawn and glanced up to see the Sun threatening to rise. You sat up, “thanks for an amazing birthday guys, but I should get going so I don’t end up dating four incredibly handsome piles of ash.”

You moved to roll out of the bed, but David’s hand on yours stopped you.

“Before you leave,” he started, “we have one last gift for you.”

Marko quickly scattered out of the bed and returned with the bejeweled glass bottle.

You gasped as you realize what they were offering you.

“Drink now,” David began, “be with us forever.”

Paul squeezed your arm for encouragement while Dwayne whispered a soft ‘I love you’ in your ear.

When Marko handed you the bottle, you didn’t think twice as you let the thick red liquid slide down your throat.

This birthday would be your last.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

Birthday Request Taglist❤️:

@pixielostboy @bloodywickedvamp @sidefanficaccounttohidemyshame @riz-coolgirl

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: Good Omens

Author: Neil Gaiman

Rating: 1/5 stars

I picked this book up at the library because I remembered seeing a few positive reviews, but then I saw a bunch of negative reviews, and the implication that these books are somehow the shibboleth by which one may judge one's literary taste (or, indeed, that all right-thinking people must like these books) set me against them. (When I was in high school in the early '00s, for instance, I was harassed and threatened because my taste in books and music didn't conform to my peers' ideas of what people like me are supposed to like. I'm still quite sensitive about it.)

After a bit of procrastination I picked up Good Omens, having heard that it was odd in a good way. As it turned out, it was both good and odd, but it wasn't the kind of odd that I like.

What is it like? Well, it reminded me a bit of Turtle Diary -- that is, it has a great deal of odd detail, all used with an eye towards creating a vivid image. But where Turtle Diary managed this with a deft, artful touch, Good Omens is obsessive. In Turtle Diary you get "Four different forms of religious sign and symbol": the cross, the Star of David, a crescent moon, and a life raft. In Good Omens you get plant symbols and animal symbols and religious symbolism and religious symbolism based on every ancient and forgotten pantheon there ever was, and the name of every seraph and cherub and angel and demon to ever be mentioned in the Bible, and everything else. You get a whole list of band names that look like gibberish, because if there's one thing a demon ought to be named after, it's a band. Needless to say, this casts a long shadow, and every single line, and even every single sentence, is supposed to be not only vivid but also full of meaning and with some sort of cultural reference, even if the reference itself is nonsensical. And often, as in this example, it means that the line will be awfully goofy, no matter what the ostensible subject matter is.

I don't mind when the vivid detail is organized and aiming toward a particular effect, but there are a lot of minor quirks in the book's prose, without any discernible pattern. Sometimes it seems to be going for a style of Victorian dialogue, and then it'll go off on some digression about something that's supposed to be modern or some-or-other, or it'll switch to the conventions of head-hopping in modern fiction (the book's two protagonists, angel and demon, each get "perspective chapters" not just about their own thoughts but their own bodies and feelings), and then it'll jump back to a dialogue with no word-order changes and different sentence structure from the rest of the book, or to a form of prose that is clearly supposed to be a pastiche of classic literature, and then back to modern head-hopping, to make sure that you keep track of who's doing what to whom and what they're saying.

I kept waiting for the effect to reveal itself, and it never did. On the one hand, I can see that Gaiman was trying to do something like Anna Karenina, in which a cast of vivid and realistic characters is put through a sort of symbolic dance in a circus ring of the author's devising. A lot of people like Anna Karenina, and I think this is because Tolstoy gives his characters a lot of interiority and their relationships a lot of psychological weight. Gaiman also does this in one regard, but . . . well, what's the opposite of "psychological weight"? I think it would be "unreliable narrator," and Gaiman doesn't quite give that, but a lot of his characters seem unreliable, both in terms of their self-deception and in terms of his self-deception in painting a picture of them and their interactions. Gaiman has some skills as a writer (for instance, creating a sense of humor without playing for laughs), but those skills simply aren't enough to make him a good writer of the kinds of things that people like about his books.

More vexing, in a sense, than Gaiman's creative approach is his creative attitude. He seems to have no interest in coming up with original ideas about anything, except in the most superficial sense -- as a result, the book feels like a literary junkyard, filled with patches from books and myths and musicals and films and whatever else, unconnected to one another except by the fact that all of them come from the same junkyard.

This might be a lot more acceptable if it didn't run into the problem that one of the book's main characters is a woman who runs a bookshop, and this woman -- the owner of the world's single most well-stocked used bookstore, it seems -- talks in a weirdly specialized way about books that she read and enjoyed when she was 11, but, on the off-chance that her audience includes someone in her same age bracket, has to talk in the sort of generic awe- and wonder-pilled, "cool literature" style you might expect from the social media of a 13 year old who has never encountered anyone who doesn't appreciate literature.

There are two things about this that bothered me, one more than the other. The first is obviously an unnatural over-familiarity with these authors and their works, just as would be the case with the 13 year old in the example I gave. The other is the way Gaiman presents a woman as having read in depth and gotten something from a book in her past, even though she only actually mentions a couple of chapters, the plot of the book in question, and a general atmosphere -- which is more or less how I would talk about those books, if I had to talk about them at all. Oh, and I mentioned earlier the way Gaiman uses pop culture terms to refer to things from the past and the present. The strange thing is that he doesn't show any interest in the actual thing -- like, it's hard to imagine that anyone who actually knew anything about them would have said "Oh, you mean she's reading Colette and Poirot! How very stereotypical and appropriate of a woman!" -- which, I can't stress enough, is how Gaiman mentions these books.

I have no idea why this bothers me as much as it does, or why Gaiman seems to be inviting this kind of questioning in the first place.

[emeraldxruby]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Fancast 2

(So here’s my 2nd attempt on fancasting for TSHOEH. Once again, I picked the actors/actresses based on their “vibe” and a few of their physical characteristics that matches some of the descriptions written in the book. Also I’m just so impatient now because it’s 2023 and we still don’t have any news on the casting. Like it is stressing me out lol. Just hoping they get it RIGHT!)

Evelyn Hugo - Adria Arjona

(Background info: Arjona is an American actress of Puerto Rican & Guatemalan descent. She is currently 30 y/o and 5’7” tall)

“When you see pictures of E back in the day with her brassy blond hair, those dark, straight-as-an-arrow eyebrows, that deep-tanned skin, and those golden-brown eyes, you have no choice but to stop what you are doing and stare right at her.” (10)

“Her jawline is strong, her cheekbones are high, and all of it comes to a point at her ever-so-swollen lips. Her eyes are huge but not so much round as an oversized almond shape. Her tanned skin next to her light hair looks beachy but also elegant. I know it’s not natural--hair that blond with skin that bronze--and yet I can’t shake the feeling that it should be, that humans should be born looking like this.” (15)

“...I was five foot eight, with dark, shiny brown hair, long legs, light bronze skin, and a chest that pulled at the buttons of my dresses.” (43)

Middle Aged Evelyn Hugo - Eva Mendes

(Background info: Mendes is an American actress of Cuban descent. She is currently 48 y/o and is 5’6” - 5’8” tall)

Older Evelyn Hugo - Rita Moreno

(Background info: Moreno is a Puerto Rican-born American actress and is currently 91 years old. She was the first Hispanic woman to receive an Oscar in 1962)

“Where her cheeks were once angular, they are now a bit sunken. But they have just a tint of soft rosiness to them, and her lips are a dark nude.” (20)

“Her hair is past her shoulders—a beautiful array white, gray, and blond—with the lightest colors framing her face.” (20)

“Her eyebrows, however—those dark, thick, straight lines that were her signature—have thinned over the years. And they are now the same color as her hair.” (20)

“In the sunlight, it’s easier to see the signs of aging. The whites of her eyes are cloudy, and the complexion of her hands is in the process of becoming translucent. The clear blue tint to her veins reminds me of my grandmother.” (24)

Celia St. James - Kennedy Walsh

(Background info: Walsh is an American YouTuber and Internet personality that also has acted in a few films. She is currently 23 y/o and is 5’7” tall)

“She had a childlike, girl-next-door kind of face. Big, round, pale blue eyes, long lashes, Cupid’s bow lips, long strawberry-red hair. She was simplicity perfect.” (86)

Middle Aged Celia St. James - Jessica Chastain

(Background info: Chastain is an American actress, is currently 45 y/o, and 5’4” tall)

“Her red hair was still stunning but now clearly dyed. The golden undertones that had been there before, the result of nature and sunlight, were now slightly saturated, coppery. Her blue eyes were just as enticing as they always had been, but now the skin around them was softer.” (310)

Harry Cameron - David Corenswet

(Background info: Corenswet is an American actor, is currently 29 y/o, and 6’4” tall)

“He was handsome, for an executive. Most producers around the lot were rotund, a lot of them losing their hair. But Harry was tall and slim. He was young. I suspected he didn’t even have a decade on me. He wore suits that fit him nicely and always complemented his ice-blue eyes. There was something vaguely midwestern about him, not so much in how he looked but in the way he approached people, with kindness first, then strength.” (47)

Middle Aged Harry Cameron - Bradley Cooper

(Background info: Cooper is an American actor, is currently 48 y/o, and 6’1” tall)

John Braverman - Jake Picking

(Background info: Picking is an American actor, is currently 31 y/o, and 6’1” tall)

“In a tux that seemed to strain at his broad shoulders, John looked as all-American as a husk of corn.” (227)

“He had such an intimidating physical presence. More than six feet tall, two hundred and twenty-five pounds, with a tight crew cut. He looked like a guy you didn’t want to mess with. But anyone who knew him, and especially those of us who loved him, knew he was the first guy you could mess with.” (235)

Monique Grant - Zoë Kravitz

(Background info: Kravitz is an American actress and is of African American and Jewish descent. She is currently 34 y/o)

“As a biracial woman myself — light brown skin and dark brown eyes courtesy of my black father, an abundance of face freckles courtesy of my white mother...” (3)

“I’m thirty-five years old.” (7)

[zahri-melitor]

And...done with New 52 Gotham

There's a handful of additional titles I'm finishing rounding up (at the last minute I decided to go back and read Batwing, and I'm going to read the Poison Ivy mini) but I have now completed my main read.

The good: I've got a list of comic recommendations coming for what I would actually suggest reading in here if you want an entertaining story, or runs that I think are crucial in that they establish character traits that will continue to be heavily used from Rebirth onwards.

But for now, some general comments on what I've just finished up:

Batman - Snyder is very, very interested in making a statement. And with set pieces interrogating the 'mentality of Batman'. Which gets tiring reading in such a big chunk - he needed more time letting the story breathe and the tension come off. Where's my fill with Bruce chasing Mad Hatter? Not everything needs to be a deep interrogation of the psyche of Batman, and how his presence transforms Gotham city. Jim Gordon as Batman was certainly a thing that happened, and probably didn't need to happen.

Detective Comics - Manapul & Buccellato's run remains the highlight for me. Tomasi, who had the final run (45-52) was incredibly uneven. The first story, about Jim!Batman and the Justice League, was relatively boring. The second story, The Bronze Age, was a compelling mystery and probably the best Jim Gordon as Batman story of the lot. The third story, Our Gordon At War, was a deadly dull piece of military propaganda.

Batman & Robin Eternal - what worked here I think was the extensive supporting cast. It reminded me of the glory days of the early 2000s when Dick and Babs used to run Bat events together with no Bruce. On the downside was that Mother was simply uninteresting to me as she twisted everyone's character to make everything about her. No, I don't actually believe that the Order of St Dumas would let a rando be controlling their potential Azrael. Also way to eliminate basically all of David Cain's autonomy and decisions. It was nice to get Cass back. Shame about how it was achieved. (The incredibly frustrating part about this run is on paper it looks amazing, and there's a handful of decent scenes people like to reference)

Batgirl - ugh. Was ever 'right ideas wrong characters' more embodied than during Burnside? If it was a different character, or a prequel, or I had hit my head back in 1987 after reading the Last Batgirl Story and then picked up Burnside...I could almost cope. But it's just aggravating to read about a character I love so much. I actually don't mind the work to add additional diverse side characters, however I'm sorry, I will remain irritated by Frankie until the end of time. The number of times I have had to sit through reinventions of the Oracle role during n52 because oh no we can't use the REAL ORACLE... because running around as a street hero is clearly more important than Oracle's actual role.

Robin: Son of Batman - I think I'm going to make a lot of people mad when I say, while this is a very interesting Damian Wayne comic, it's a moderately dreadful Robin comic. I can see why people heavily recommend it for Damian, because it's probably the most generous and thought through portrayal of his childhood and relationship with Talia. The word 'Son' there in the title really should be the focus. This is about Damian as a Son of the Al Ghuls, Damian making choices over what he's learnt as Bruce's son before his death, and applying what he learnt from both to find who he is. It's something Damian needed. But it's got nothing to do with being Robin at all.

We are Robin - I loved the brutal groundedness of this comic. It smacks you in the face to pay attention several times. It's about teens, yes. It's about Alfred facilitating children to try and help them survive trying to become vigilantes. It's about what the concept of Robin means to the children of Gotham.

Grayson - I don't think it was using Helena-in-name-only, or the constant objectification of Dick or even the way my brain couldn't slot exactly how all the different secret agencies in DC were revolving around each other into place for this story that irritated me the most. It was how obvious, blatant and unadapted a rip off of James Bond (among other spy properties) it tended to be. I could see the file marks, and a lot of it didn't even feel like a loving homage, it was just "oh my favourite scene was" sort of stuff. Oooh St Hadrian's is a cheap St Trinian's knock off. Whoever would have guessed. Trinian's girls would have run circles around the Hadrian's ones.

Gotham Academy - Look, this is lighthearted fluff that enjoys picking up threads from all over Gotham to reference. I'm not particularly a fan of Brendan Fletcher's general approach to DC storytelling - it's a bit too tween and lighthearted for me - but this is a title where that style was an asset rather than a burden. It didn't require high levels of canonicity because people flitted in and out and the main cast were all original creations for the story. I can see why it's well-loved.

[dominimoonbeam]

The Tattoo AU!

Gavin is hard to write because when I write him, I want to run away with him and write more fics for him. He’s distractingly good!

milo/sh, david/darlin, asher/huxley

tags: this chapter was adorable! i’m on a roll this week! look at me go! okay, but i guess temporary homelessness, but not in an angsty way and longing.

The Truth In Your Skin from the beginning over on ao3.

The Truth In Your Skin. 5

“So, you’re finishing his tattoo today?” Gavin asked Asher across the room. He was sitting on black padded cot, wearing nothing but a tanktop and his underwear but somehow looking like that was any everyday event for him.

Asher hummed an affirmative sound, trying not to bounce his knee. Huxley had been in for six sessions over the last few months and today it was going to be finished. It was going to be the last one. His last chance.

“And you still haven’t made a move on him?”

David smirked behind Gavin, setting up his station for him.

“I don’t hit on clients!” Asher snapped back, knee bouncing.

Gavin quirked a pierced eyebrow at him. “But…We flirt.”

Asher snorted. “We fucked. And that was after I finished your sleeve. You flirted with me while I was working, not the other way around.”

Gavin sighed and laid back when David gestured for him to. “Is that way David won’t flirt with me anymore?”

David settled a gloved hand on Gavin’s naked thigh, cocking an eyebrow and smirking down at him. “I flirt with you the exact same amount.” He winked and then turned on the needle.

Gavin bit back a smirk in favor of continuing to pout. “Which is barely any flirting at all!” He gasped and sat up. David frowned hard, having to jerk the needle gun back. They had all done work on Gavin over the years and were very used to his excitements though. “Wait! Does this mean we can fuck after you do my thigh piece?”

David deadpan stared back and shrugged.

Gavin preened and laid back down.

“Don’t fucking move again,” David warned.

Gavin bit his lip like he was trying not to moan at that.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Asher warned. “David’s got a crush.”

David shot him a warning glare, but Darlin wasn’t in yet.

Gavin gasped but this time didn’t sit up.

David started working. “Tell me if you need a break.”

“I need a break from your secrets! Who are you crushing on? And why does that mean we can’t fuck around? They can join! I can help!”

Asher grinned. At least this was getting attention off his own lacking love life. “Might be a good idea, Davey… I mean, he rolls with Sweetheart and Milo sometimes and they’re…well, they’re still pretending they’re just friends…”

David huffed. “Yeah. I think I’ll pass on that.”

The bell over the door in the front room chimed and Asher almost fell, he was so quick to get up.

David laughed and Gavin grinned. “Wow, Ash…”

Asher flipped them both off behind him and met Huxley in the doorway. He smiled and it was just as brilliant as he remembered. How could anyone have a smile that infectious and warm?

“Hey,” Hux said.

“Hey,” Asher said back, gesturing him back into the main room. “How was your holiday? You went out of town, right? To your moms?” They’d had a session just before. Asher did not cast a glance toward David’s station and risk meeting Gavin’s gaze. Really, couldn’t David have turned him around the other way so he could watch?

“Yeah. It was great. Yours?” He took off his jacket and hung it up. They almost had a routine now.

“Luckily my mom isn’t a long drive so I was back the same day.” Asher watched Huxley take off his t-shirt, silently reminding himself that he was a professional, respectful adult and was absolutely not going to whistle. “Excited to have it done?” he asked.

Huxley nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it already looks amazing, but I can’t wait to see it finished.”

Gavin coughed pointedly.

Asher rolled his eyes but smiled. He pivoted to the side to give the two a clear line of sight to each other, waving between them. “Hux, this is Gavin. He’s a regular. Gavin, this is Huxley.”

Gavin flashed a smile and held out his hand. Since he was spread out on a cot with David working on his thigh, he couldn’t close the distance between them.

Huxley laughed and took the steps, taking his hand to meet him. “Hey.” He kept his eyes on Gavin’s but nudged his head toward David. “Mind if I take a look?”

Gavin blinked and Asher wondered if it was the first time anyone had asked Gavin if they could look at the skin he was often and skillfully putting on display. “Yeah, hell yeah, of course.”

Asher came closer too. David had only just started but the purple stencil gave a decent idea of the design. It was going to wrap all the way around but they would take it in pieces over a set of sittings.

“Nice,” Huxley hummed, nodding before letting his gaze roam to some of the other pieces Gavin had on display.

Asher felt a surprising and unfamiliar sense of anxiety watching them together. What did it matter to him if they liked each other? If the got together? Why wouldn’t they? Gavin and Huxley were both great people and stupid hot. He rolled his shoulders to let it go and went back to his station to get things ready for Huxley’s sitting. His last sitting. Fuck, he wanted to make a move or ask him out but it would be so inappropriate. He wouldn’t do that.

When he glanced up again, Huxley was touching Gavin’s arm and Gavin was smiling up at him. His heart clenched and he looked away. Stupid feelings.

“This is Asher’s work, right?”

His heart jerked in his chest and he looked up. His mind had gone absolutely blank.

Gavin’s smile was sweeter, his gaze flicking past Huxley’s hip to where Asher was sitting at his station. “Yeah. He did it for me a few years back.”

Huxley nodded. “It look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Gavin preened.

“Stop moving,” David warned.

Huxley laughed lightly and stepped back, waving a quiet goodbye to Gavin before taking up his own spot at Asher’s station. He laid down on his chest.

Asher pulled on gloves. “I’m gonna clean you up first and then we’ll finish up these details,” he said.

Huxley nodded. “Sounds great.”

 -

 David lifted his head to glance over at Asher’s station. Huxley was settled and Asher was prepping the needle. Asher’s work was incredible. It was an amazing piece.

The next song that came on thumped louder, competing with the machines. He couldn’t hear Asher and Hux clearly from that distance.

“It’ll work out,” Gavin said, just loud enough for David to hear.

David looked at his client and then went back to work. He kept one hand on his thigh to hold it down and in place while the other worked the needle into that soft skin at the top of his thigh. He had his leg bent a little to the side to give him access. Gavin’s shoulders twitched but he didn’t move his hips. The tattoo would have two thick black boarders ringing his thighs with waves crashing inside them, a few breaking over the top line as if to spill out of those containing lines. He was working on one of those curving wave tops that would be escaping the boarders.

Gavin’s hand twitched at his side and David saw him grab onto the edge of the table. Another few lines and Gavin choked back a groan.

“Do you need a break?” he asked, still working.

“No,” Gavin said.

A one-word answer?

David kept working. He just needed this outline. “How bad’s the pain?” he asked, trying to get him talking to distract him.

Gavin let out a tight, breathy laugh. “It’s not bad, Shaw.”

“Then why are you squirming?” He did another line.

Gavin’s arm strained against the death grip he had on the side of the cot. “Because I’m trying not to spring an erection in your face or say anything lewd about your breath on my thigh.”

David flicked his gaze up Gavin’s body, not even roaming or landing anywhere but on his face. “That’s very considerate of you,” he deadpanned.

Gavin barked a laugh and dropped his head back. “Yeah, well, I’m not going to sexually harass you while you’re working…” he said, voice strained while David did another line.

David smirked to himself while he wasn’t looking. “So, you’ll just save that until I’m done?”

Gavin rocked his head from side to side. “I can’t risk you punching me in the face and tossing me out with only a partial tattoo.”

David frowned at that. “I wouldn’t punch you or throw you out.” He could have added “for that” but he didn’t. Gavin was a friend, not just a client. He’d been coming to the shop and hanging out at the house with them since they moved in. He was definitely the biggest flirt David had ever met, but he’d also seen him stop the second he knew it wasn’t welcome. He was a good person. As evidenced by his attempts not to cross the line with David while he was working.

Gavin groaned low in his chest again. “If I pretend the pain is bad, and not absolutely fucking amazing, will you take care of me afterwork? Maybe we go outback and—”

The back door clapped shut.

Darlin walked in. David resisted the urge to look, focusing instead on his work.

“Oh, that’s interesting…” Gavin said, a low laugh in his voice. He was still tense but focused on something other than the needle in his thigh now. He rolled his head to the side to watch Darlin walk to their station just beside David’s. “Hello stranger.”

Darlin put down their bag and took a step closer, sipping the to-go cup in their hand.

“Gavin, this is Darlin,” David said, still working.

Gavin made small talk, going from asking Darlin about when they started and how they liked working in the shop to asking to see the sleeve on their arm. Darlin obliged, subtly amused. They were in a good mood. They’d been in a better mood since they started hanging out more with the group of them. A little more open. A little more talkative.

“You did it yourself?” Gavin asked, rightly impressed with the ink on Darlin’s arm. “You’re messing with me.”

“They’re not,” David assured, head down, only sneaking glances at their interaction through his lashes.

Gavin hummed, impressed. “Do you have more?”

David glanced up to catch Darlin’s reaction.

They smirked and sipped their coffee. A confirming shrug.

Gavin smiled. “Can’t be your back since you can’t reach it… Leg?”

Darlin sipped again.

Gavin hummed, delighted. “Are all your tattoos your own work then?”

“Y—” They started to answer but it broke off. Something in their expression died with that almost-word. “No.”

Gavin didn’t let that create an awkward pause. “Does the leg piece match the sleeve?”

“Sort of.”

“Is it the whole leg?”

“Who said it was just one?”

Gavin grinned, lifting up onto his elbows. “How high do they go? Hips? Sides?”

Darlin sipped their coffee, smirk back. They were enjoying this.

“Maybe you’ll show me sometime?” Gavin reached out, fingertips playing with the hem of their t-shirt.

Darlin jerked back.

David had lifted the needle in time to look up and see it all. It would have been smooth, even funny, if it hadn’t been so instinctual and inelegant. Their coffee sloshed out the tiny spout and onto the floor.

Darlin recovered first, looking down at the spill. They huffed a dark laugh. “Well, fuck. Been here for all of five minutes and already making a mess.” They turned, putting down their coffee and grabbing up a roll of paper towels.

David felt Gavin’s thigh twitching under his grip as he fought all instincts to jump up and help. “Hey,” his voice was still smooth but not trying to charm anymore. “I’m sorry.”

Darlin shrugged, crouching long enough to clean up the mess. “You didn’t spill it, man. Don’t worry about it.”

Gavin watched them toss out the paper and then go back to their station. It was another half-minute before David set to work again. It only took a few more for Gavin to strike up a new conversation with Darlin.

 -

 Milo cut through the front room on his way in that day. Gavin had Darlin laughing, which was a pleasant surprise, and David and Asher were both focused on work. He gave Gavin’s shoulder a squeeze and flashed him a smile on his way past. Gavin winked.

They’d already made plans for lunch when he was done today.

Milo passed through the archway into the next room, grinning when he spotted Sweetheart sitting on their stool with their back to him. Perfect. He snuck up behind them while they were looking at their phone, swiveling side to side in their chair. He grinned. It was rare that he got the jump on them. More often than not, it was the other way around. But before he could figure out how to scare them, he noticed the screen of their phone. Rental listings? “Are you moving?”

Sweetheart jumped and almost fell out of their seat. “Fuuuuck!” The sighed and pressed a hand to their chest. “You shit…”

Milo grinned and slid his hands into his pocket, waiting for them to recover and answer.

Sweetheart sighed. “Yeah.” They rolled their eyes and waved their phone in the air, as if they would love to throw it. “Alex got back together with their boyfriend and now I’m out on my ass.” They went back to skimming through the ads. “I hate new roommates and apartment hunting. Do you remember that creep who offered me free rent for free—”

“I remember,” Milo growled.

“Oh god, and the woman with all the rules and the locks on every cupboard in the apartment!”

He nodded. “Back up. When do you have to be out of your place?”

Sweetheart rolled their eyes. Gorgeous eyes. Eyes that saw down into souls. Into Milo’s soul. “Already out. Luckily, I still have that storage unit with most of my shit in it. The rest is in the car but I swear to god, if I have to sleep in the backseat for long, I’m going to start sleeping with strangers just to use their beds.”

Milo stared, brain playing catch up. “You slept in your car?”

Sweetheart sighed, not looking up. They shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ve done it before.”

“What the fuck.”

Sweetheart looked up at him through their lashes. He knew they were checking on his mood, trying to decide how to brush this over. They were smart and independent and they knew how to navigate people and situations. Sweetheart did not need help. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have offered. They had to have known.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” They tell each other fucking everything!

“What? Why would I?”

“Ouch.”

Sweetheart dropped their head back and groaned, swiveling in a full circle. “It’s embarrassing and I don’t need you worrying about it.”

“You’re sleeping in your car.”

“Yeah. Safe and sound. Doors locked and snuggled up under a pile of clothes with my bear mace.”

“Okay, setting aside how unsafe that sounds…” he caught their knee on a second swivel and slid down to his knees in front of them, looking up at the storm now gathering in their eyes. “It’s January. You could freeze. And anyway, you shouldn’t be living out of your car. If you’d told me—”

“If I’d told you, you would have felt like you had to let me stay at your place. Telling you would have been the same as begging for a place to sleep.”

Milo stared, their knees to his chest and his hands resting on their thighs. At least they knew him… “You love begging me for things…”

Sweetheart smirked at that, despite all efforts to tamp it down. “No. I love begging you for you and the things you do with your mouth, your fingers, and your tongue… and that one time your thigh…”

He grinned, those words and that smirk a shot of pride right to his soul.

“But I do not need things from you and I’m not going to butt into your home life when we already spent every minute of the day together.”

“You’re worried you’ll get sick of me?”

Sweetheart snorted. “I’m worried you’ll get sick of me.”

“Impossible.” He gave their thighs a soft squeeze. “You know you’re coming home with me right? You’ve crashed at my place a hundred times. How is this different?”

“Sleeping over because I’m too drunk or too lazy to go home isn’t the same as living at your place.”

“You’re my best friend and I love you. If you’re worried about the space and playing house, you can have the bedroom and I’ll move my shit out to the living room.”

Sweetheart grabbed onto his shoulders and Milo bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at that contact. “No! Absolutely not! That would just make it even worse!”

He laughed then. “Okay. Then you can sleep on the couch. Whatever you want.” Though he really doubted they’d sleep on the couch. They usually slept in his bed when they crashed at his place. Unless they both passed out in the living room.

Sweetheart sighed, thinking about it. “It shouldn’t take me long to find a place.”

“Then you won’t have to be on my couch for long.” Of course he didn’t care if it took them months or years to get a place. He loved having Sweetheart over. But he wouldn’t say any of that right now and risk making this more awkward for them. He’d remind them they didn’t need to rush to find a place once they were actually settled in his.

“It’s really just temporary. I’ll stay on the couch and we can split the rent.”

Milo shrugged. “Sure.”

“Why are you saying sure like that?” Sweetheart narrowed their eyes skeptically.

Milo smiled and stood up, kissing their forehead before going to his station and shrugging out of his jacket. It was definitely easier not to think about Sweetheart sleeping in their car when he could think about them staying at his place now. Jesus, they really should have told him right away, though. The idea of them alone, possibly cold, in their car at night physically hurt him.

“Milo Greer,” Sweetheart said, standing up. “I’m not mooching off of you! I might even find a place today and not have to crash at your place tonight.”

“We can carpool into work!” he said.

Sweetheart pressed their mouth, like they were trying to find a way to hate an idea they liked. They’d talked about how they could carpool if they lived on the same side of town before.

“Want to see if we can pick up Darlin too? Would that make you feel better?”

Sweetheart sputtered and flipped him off.

Milo laughed. “When’s your next client?”

Sweetheart looked at the clock and then smirked. “Ten minutes. Wanna pretend we’re making coffee in the backroom and make out?”

Milo was just about to sit down, standing before his ass hit the chair. “I do. I really want that.”

Sweetheart grinned and led the way.

 -

 Asher stood behind Huxley at the mirror while he got a look at the finished piece, glossy from antiseptic and plastered in clingwrap.

“It looks amazing, dude.”

Asher exhaled. He wasn’t usually nervous. He knew his work was good. And he knew this one was really good. But it was a relief knowing that Huxley liked how it turned out. A huge relief.

Huxley turned away from the mirror to look at him. “Thank you.” His gaze was so sincere that for a few seconds Asher just felt lost in it. Was he supposed to say something? Yes! Oh shit!

“Yeah, you’re welcome.” They shook hands. Was it awkward? Fuck, Asher was dying.

Huxley pulled on his shirt and picked up his jacket. They went out to the front room to do the last payment, all the while freefalling through polite conversation while Asher’s brain scrambled for some way to get to see Huxley again, when he wasn’t working.

Maybe there was no point? Maybe he wasn’t interested. If he was, he would have said something right? If he was interested, he could have asked Asher out. But he hadn’t. So maybe he just wasn’t into him…

“So,” Huxley said, his receipt folded in his hand. “Yeah. I guess I’ll see you next time I have a tattoo idea?”

Asher nodded slowly. “Yeah. Oh! Um…”

Huxley had started to turn toward the door, one hand on it when he stopped, practically jerking around at that um.

Asher smiled. “Any chance you could come back in? In like, three weeks, when it’s healed up? It’s probably the most amazing piece I’ve done and I would love to get some good pictures of it. If you don’t mind. Obviously if you do…”

“I don’t.” Huxley beamed. “I’d love that. I’ll call the shop in a few weeks to see when you’re in?”

“Yeah.” Or he could give him his number. Right now. But he didn’t. He just smiled like an idiot and watched the nicest, hottest guy he’d ever met walk out of the shop.

“Huh,” Gavin said from the doorway to the main room. He was still in his underwear, his thigh wrapped in clear plastic. “Never knew you sucked at picking people up, Asher.”

Asher groaned dramatically and dropped his head down to thunk his forehead against the surface of the counter. “Neither did I…”

[professorspork]

u should like!! toootally drop blake and yang outfit references for ur newsbees au. for like. research purposes

!!! okay I can't tell if you're asking this for fanart reasons (EVERYONE SHOULD FEEL VERY FREE TO DO THAT) or for spank bank "my thirst requires an accurate theater of the mind" reasons (VALID) but

this makes me UNHINGED and i plan to be SO THOROUGH so THANK YOU FOR ASKING

i have put this under a cut to spare you all but i think you should click on it and admire the gilded age urchin chic

first of all, let me say that Newsies Are Beautiful. They have never met two clashing patterns they didn't want to combine and I think they are perfect in every way

that said

the classic Jack look could certainly use some tailoring before it's truly ready for the Yang prime time

these numbered fellas give us a better place to start when it comes to I WANT MY NEWSIES TO NOT BE SWIMMING IN CLOTHES TWO SIZES TOO BIG YES I KNOW THE VERITAS OF THEM SCROUNGING FOR WHATEVER BUT ALSO. THIRST.

Fella 1 is a pretty bang-on Yang and you can tell that was his intention because he's growing out his hair, bless. sleeves rolled to show arm, shirt unbuttoned scandalously to show cleavage, open vest, neat cap, high socks. the lower half does lose points for the striped socks that remind me of the Wicked Witch of the East's feet sticking out and the fact that he's clearly in tap shoes as opposed to work boots like his friend Fella 3

Fella 2 gets EXTRA sock points for the argyle and the vest-but-no-collar combo which is very Nora. He also has a neat cap, which Blake always does because she's hiding her ears.

Fella 3 has a sloppy cap but is otherwise a bang-on Blake; kempt and tidy in ways Yang never is even though they are essentially wearing the exact same thing. Blake knows how to button buttons and Yang pretends she forgets every day

Fella 4's rocking the henley and suspenders combo which serves any member of our cast, a fucking classic

Fella 5 is wearing a tie he is trying so hard he wants to look nice at work, 100% a Jaune move

sir that-- that's not how crutches are supposed to-- SIR--

this Crutchie exhibits excellent Newsie styling in a very Yang color palette. high socks, mixing of patterns, rolled sleeves; excellent. the slightly fancier waistcoat, actually buttoned, isn't something Yang would go for but certainly wouldn't be amiss on Blake, Ruby, or Velvet

Ruby also, of course, wears a signature red scarf instead of her cloak:

like her scarf and hat just absolutely dwarf her, she's WEE SMOL

above we see our previous example Crutchie not leaping through the air, and his outfit remains exemplary but for the backwards cap, which I shan't abide. the Jack to his left-- what with his WIDE open shirt, tight undershirt, rolled sleeves, and suspenders, is very Yang.

good Yang looks can also mean THE SHORTEST SLEEVES EVER, TO SHOW OFF THE GUNS:

both excellent choices, and of course our lower fella (TURN THAT CAP AROUND YOUNG MAN) has got his bandana going, which is Quite Yang

all the guys in the background there are gold too tbh

look at this king in this fashion pose but also YEAH WHY NOT BANDANAS ON THE ARMS BANDANAS EVERYWHERE the yang xiao long story

^^ this outfit, on the other hand, is pretty exactly spot-on for Blake immediately post haircut/makeover

Weiss, I'm sure you've already guessed, is a Classic Katherine:

she's buttoned-up, she's fancy, her shit matches and she's the only one in a skirt.

the only thing where my brain gets REALLY SPECIFIC is the finale so uh. spoiler warning I guess for screenshots of the Newsies film and vague references to a plot resolution if you're reading the AU without having watched it

but the finale looks are ICONIC and non-negotiable

button shirt OVER henley OVER bandana and nothing's buttoned? suspenders on but hanging loose from the hips? hell yes.

i actually even managed to make that dirt smudge on David's tummy plot-relevant to Blake and that was completely subconscious and I didn't realize I did it until looking up these screenshots but there you have it. and by this point Weiss gets to be a little more loose and dressed-down, a la Sarah

in conclusion they're in love look at those heart eyes oh my god

[youcalledmebabe]

i, y, and v for the hbo war ask game <3

i. tag some of your closest mutuals and choose a show portrayal from any of the miniseries' that reminds you of them.

hmm. me barely talking to any of my mutuals makes this hard.

@blood-mocha-latte as buck compton once said, what would I do without george luz and what would we do without you? funny and kind and joe toye’s number one fan… you’ve gotta be Georgie

@pfctipper with your adoration of lewis nixon and commitment to wearing 50 spf in January I have to pronounce you dick winters

@ww2yaoi with your beautiful writing and highbrow taste you are david webster himself

v. post a snippet/wip/headcanon involving any one of the shows.

the infamous saints and sinners party:

“You look great,” he says, words spilling out, unable to keep up with any pretenses of professionalism or pretending he doesn’t have the world’s biggest and most embarrassing crush on Eugene Roe.

Gene ducks his head, smiling. “Thanks, Edward. You look pretty okay yourself.”

“Pretty okay. Wow. High praise. Do you just keep angel wings around?”

“Anna let me have hers. She was so excited that I was coming to the party. What about you?” he asks, pointing to the shorts. “Holding on to those for your Baywatch audition?”

Babe snorts. “Maybe if it was nineteen ninety. These are George’s rejects. He decided to look bad instead.”

“Well. Toye’s loss is our gain.”

y. what's a wip (edits, art, fic, etc.) you have for any of the shows that will never see the light of day?

The VERY first thing I ever wrote was a modern webgott au where Web is a nepo baby and Joe is a working class actor and they both get cast in troubled director Ron Speirs’ comeback movie. Joe doesn’t like Web because he had everything handed to him, makes fun of him for going to Juilliard, etc. Eventually they become friends and fall in love. It’s not good ❤️

thank you for the ask :)

[adultswim2021]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job #49: “Greene Machine” | April 26, 2010 - 12:30AM | S05E09

One of those TIm & Eric episodes that’s more-or-less one thing. This is actually introduced as an episode of Inventive Discoveries, a paid-programming commercial presentation for the Tairy Greene Machine, a refrigerator-sized appliance that is dedicated to showing you any movie, TV show, or public appearance featuring Tairy Greene. It’s hosted by Tim & Eric, the later of which has sliced his hands very badly and requires medical attention. He instead opts to wrap them in gauze and proceed with the infomercial.

We are treated to an extensive trailer for The Little Dancing Man, starring Tairy Greene, portrayed by then-comedy mega-star Zach Galifianakis. It’s a weepy-but-inspirational tale about a brilliant ballet dancer who loses the use of his legs. He is despondent, and constantly crying. The ghost of Levar Burton appears to him, and either helps him recover, or is just holding him up the entire time Angels-in-the-Outfield-style, eventually leading him to lift off and fly around like a dang-ass bird. He is still crying constantly, but now they are tears of joy. 

Our hosts show us how to get extra features, like the kind you find on a highfalutin special edition DVD edition. This costs extra, but luckily it’s only two Tairy Tokens (which cost $39.99 apiece) to see the tie-in music video. 

Enter Mary Bly, the high-strung old woman whose delivery is unlike anyone else's. She wants to watch The Little Danson Man, a spiritual spin-off to the Tairy Greene film about Ted Danson being shrunk down by a bolt of lightning and having to adjust to his new life of being hella small. David Cross is in this, playing his agent, who promises to get him all the tiny things he could ask for. David Cross again approximates Tim & Eric’s sensibilities and slightly misses the mark, but he’s mostly okay in this. Him saying he gets the “chilly willies” just reminds me of him saying “I ain’t no ho-ho” in the Abstinence episode, and I FAMOUSLY didn’t care for that. Sorry to pick nits, I promise I respect David Cross. I even watch his bad podcast sometimes. 

There’s also a tie-in music video for this film, featuring Peter Cetera from the band Chicago. Some friends of mine have a mutual fascination with a certain public persona who loves the band Chicago, and I remember riffing with them about his reaction to the sketch. We would mock this man for having a son, for some reason, and I suggested that the part in which the tiny Ted pops up and tugs on Peter Cetera’s cool earring just disappointing this man on a profound level, and that he’d be watching it with his son. He would turn to him, shaking his head in disapproval, point to Tim & Eric on screen, and say to him, “those men fucked me, son”. Made us laugh, anyway. 

Okay: I am pretty sure Tim told a story on Office Hours or somewhere about recording Peter Cetera (It might be about someone else, but I’m having trouble finding a source to confirm or deny my claims) who took all of this very seriously and was a consummate professional. According to Tim there was a little lull in the conversation and Tim was feeling awkward and found himself mindlessly asking Cetera if he ate “a lot of fish”. 

The Tairy Greene Machine runs on tap water, but when you’re done using it you simply open the back of it to let the water spill out on the floor. The machine comes with a bunch of mops, so you simply mop the mess up.

While mopping, Eric eventually succumbs to his blood loss. Tim eulogizes him by slapping his shoulder and saying “you were the best”. Cut to a panicked Mary Bly, seemingly caught in an unguarded moment of genuine confusion. She looks into the camera and pathetically asks “What am I supposed to do? Who am I??”. I recall Tim & Eric discussing this moment as a highlight in their careers, and it inspired them to cast Mary as Mrs. Heidecker in their Billion Dollar Movie. She also shows up in a Funny or Die Presents segment that was created by Tim & Eric collaborators Ben Berman and Jon Mugar.

I’ve always really liked this one, and have used the whole crying-too-much thing as a reference point for pandering, over-serious tear-jerkers. This is basically satirizing the dramatic version of a sitcom, only instead of a laugh-track there’s a crytrack.

I’m usually glad when Tim & Eric do an episode that is roughly all one thing. Some of them are like short films, while some are things that still resemble the format of a typical Awesome Show episode, just with everything tied together. Is this Jim & Derrick? Brother, it’s not even Anniversary. But I consider this a highlight of season Cinco, even if you don’t. 

EPHEMERA CORNER

[tickle-page]

Camp Camp tickle Headcanons

Ok… There seriously need to be more Camp Camp Tickle fics and/or hcs

🎨Dolph🎨

Lee🎨

🎨He’s not ticklish whatsoever!

🎨David tried this on him at one point, but it didn’t work out how he hoped it would

🎨Dolph is just way too serious for that whole “child play”.

🎨David would see an opening, and tickle him when he least expects it.

🎨Wether he’s painting a really cool art peice, or he’s just doing other things

🎨Davey won’t stop until he finds a weak point on the camp’s artist.

🎨He was ticklish at one point in age, but quickly grew out of it when he was tickled a lot

🎨His parents kept tickling him

🎨24/7!!!!!

🎨Honestly, free my boy!!!! He doesn’t deserve any of this

🎨Scratch that, he most certainly does

Ler🎨

🎨You better be prepared to run, if he’s in a ler mood

🎨Which he gets those daily

🎨Sometimes, you wish there was medicine for that type of stuff

🎨But the only medicine that will cure the mood is people’s laughter

🎨And laugh they do when he’s in control

🎨He may be short, but he’s got a mind like a gazelle…or cheetah…

🎨Either one, he knows how to stalk his prey

🎨By hiding in the bushes, and pouncing on the other campers when they least expect it

🎨Or subtly throwing in pokes and squeezes to his target’s sides, indicating that they should run and fast.

🎨Boi, those are his warnings for you, and don’t underestimate him either.

🎨A lot of campers misjudge his ability to tickle people, in which they fall into the hands of his tickly wrath.

🎨Mostly Harrison, that boy is so oblivious!!!

🎨Making him Dolph’s best target out of everyone.

🎨It’s a good thing he’s an artist so he can use his paintbrushes and pencils and writing utensils, whatever he uses, to use that against the oh so sensitive lee.

🎨He would occasionally tickle Max, if Max let’s his gaurd down, and near Dolph? That’s like saying I’m gonna discover a cure for Cancer

🎨It’s never gonna happen!

🎨Ever!

🃏Harrison🃏

Lee🃏

🃏Boy, is this guy ticklish or what?!

🃏He absolutely hates it when Nerris tickles him, or anyone to be of fact.

🃏She’s just so snarky and teasy

🃏it doesn’t help his situation since he’s way more ticklish than her

🃏I’d like to think they’re platonically dating, just because they have so much hate relationship

🃏Reminds me of an enemy to lovers trope

🃏Anyways… back to what I was talking about

🃏Nerris and Harrison get’s into tickle fights all the time, so much, it’s not a shocker that he keeps losing

🃏You’d think he loses on purpose, but that’s not what’s happening here, Nerris is just so much less ticklish than him, she has the upper hand.

🃏And god, does Harrison hate it so much?

🃏She always has this smirk on him, and says “Imagine being this ticklish.”

🃏She even claims she put a tickle spell on him, saying, “I cast the evil tickle spell on you, Harrison! Now you’re just as ticklish as you were before, hahahah!”

🃏And Harrison just laughs and pleads, “THATHAHAHHAT’S NOT RHEHEHEHEHAL, NERRIS!! STAHHAHAP!!”

🃏”Stop what? The casting, or the tickling.” Nerris knows, she just wants to be a tease to him.

🃏That snarky b***h

🃏Harrison’s words, I love my girl Nerristhecute!

🃏Death spot: His ears. It reminds me of that one “What’s behind your ear?” trick

🃏He’s also really oblivious when it comes to Dolph’s tickle torture

🃏Dolph squeezed his side one day, but all Harrison did was glare at him, and told him not to do that again.

🃏Of course Dolph didn’t listen, it was Dolph for fuck sake.

🃏Everyone who was sitting beside or in front of Harrison and Dolph, knew that he should’ve ran away as fast as he can.

🃏They even walked away from them, not wanting to be roped in the mess

🃏It was Ered, Nurf, Nerris, and Preston.

🃏Even though the mess hall was filled with all the camper’s and counselor’s, that didn’t stop Dolph from doing his duty.

🃏Pouncing on Harrison, tickling him to no remorse.

🃏It gotten to the point where David had to pull him off bc Harrison was having a hard time breathing.

🃏Even so, Harrison still hasn’t learned his lesson.

🃏Poor boy

Ler🃏

🃏Ok… him a ler? Puh-lease!!

🃏Don’t get him wrong, he’s a good ler at that, but something inside of Nerris just makes her more of a ler than him

🃏He’ll get a few squeezes to her sides, or a few skitters to her neck, at best, then it’s all game over from there.

🃏Harrison is more like the third best ler

🃏Making everyone wary of his presence

🃏He rarely get’s ler moods

🃏So he’s not always a ler

🃏Still, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get his fair share of tickles as well

🃏Making sure to tickle everyone who has tickled him.

🃏But he just loves tickling Max, he doesn’t know why, he just does.

🃏He’s not much of a ler, more of a lee.

🧪Neil🧪

Lee🧪

🧪He’s not extremely ticklish, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to concoct a chemical to make him not ticklish

🧪He keeps trying after he got tickled to death by his dad.

🧪His dad is just a little weird, so I wouldn’t think less of his ler abilities, tickling his son in the most embarrassing places of all time

🧪It’s about to be that one Simpson episode where Bart’s dad tickled him on the big tv at the baseball game, making him piss himself

🧪Ofc Neil’s dad didn’t do it there, but he definitely tickled him in the open, to where he pissed him self

🧪One time he tickled him at this fancy restaurant, where his aunts uncles and cousins were at

🧪And it was definitely to the public’s eye, bc of how loud he was laughing, with the help of his cousins

🧪He kept getting tortured growing up, wether it be by his older cousins or his dad.

🧪He never goes a day untickled

🧪Which started his villain origin story, making him test a concoction to make him less ticklish

🧪He was even thrilled to go to camp, thinking he escaped the tickling, but there are more lers there then at his hometown

🧪Making Dolph his worse ler ever seen

🧪Dolph defo squeezed his knees, making Neil jump up, causing him to be on high alert for the rest of the day

🧪Now that his friends knows exactly how ticklish he is.

🧪God he wish Niki never found out

🧪Niki was more ruthless then his dad, along with Max

🧪Them teaming up together is the worst plan they had ever made… well to Neil.

🧪It works out that he hates being tickled, because he’s socially awkward all the time

🧪And that’s where he is when David looks for him all the time, he’s hiding in his tent still making a potion.

🧪No one knows he’s making one.

🧪I would like you to tell your friends that your making a concoction to make you less ticklish

🧪Death spot: Hands. He works as a scientist 24/7 Ofc those are ticklish

Ler🧪

🧪Boy, he ain’t no ler

🧪Motherfucker’s beyond being a ler

🧪Not because he doesn’t have the abilities to be one, it’s because he doesn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable

🧪Totally going past his personality in Camp Camp

🧪He doesn’t want to make Niki or Max uncomfortable, so he doesn’t tickle them at all, knowing their limits is key

🧪And Max made sure he doesn’t tickle him

🧪As you can tell, Neil is a lee, 100%

👊Nurf👊

Lee👊

👊He’s actually ticklish, but he won’t let anyone touch him

👊He hates it so much

👊He’ll only let his boyfriend tickle him, but they broke up so now he misses life, of how his boyfriend would just tease him when he slowly tickles his sides.

👊Sadly it didn’t show his boyfriend in this show… I’m big sad now

👊He grew up wanting tickles from his mom, but she’s in jail now, so he misses that too

👊But god, Nurf can only imagine how people at camp would react if they needed to calm him down, etc.

👊He still wants to keep up his big boy troupe.

👊And it lasted quite some while, till Dolph was in yet another ler mood take ing it out on the tough boyo

👊The thing is Nurf couldn’t tickle him back, hence he’s not ticklish, so he just punched him

👊Which called in a stern warning from David

👊And the whole Camp just started teasing him about it, making him cry in his tent out of embarrassment

👊You bet Max had to join in the fun too

👊Death Spot: Stomach. His stomach just has a lot of cuteness to it, please!!! It’s a must if you tickle his pudge!

Ler👊

👊Don’t let him catch you if you hate being tickled

👊Like, no joke, he will make sure you pass out

👊It happened to Preston

👊It can happen to you too

👊He’s like Dolph, always getting ler moods, and wanting someone to help him fix it

👊So you better be sane, if you know what you’re dealing with when you get under the hands of his devious fingers, crawling on your torso

👊So here’s your warning. Stay. Very far. Away. From him.

👊He won’t even give you a warning before he pounces on you, and he’ll do it infront of people as well.

🎭Preston🎭

Lee🎭

🎭Theater kid!!! Ofc he’s ticklish.

🎭He enjoy’s being tickled, but he rather die twice before he ever tells anyone that. Ever.

🎭Once he sees a tickle fight break lose, he’s quick to watch it

🎭He’ll make himself known when a tickle fight does break out, so people knows he’s there in hopes to get tickled like that person was just getting tickled.

🎭He’s so dramatic when it comes to tickling

🎭Saying he’ll die if they continue, but he hadn’t gotten tickled for more than 5 minutes

🎭He’s good at acting so he’s good at hiding the fact that he wants people to tickle him.

🎭When they squeeze his side he would jump away and scream “GaH! Stop!” But this only makes them continue (for the people who loves to be a ler)

🎭Till this day, the ticklers are yet oblivious to the man’s wants.

🎭And if it’s Camp Camp, they’ll surely think he’s weird if he enjoys something like that.

🎭He’s so cute tho, I enjoy his little laugh and his fake pleads that fall on death ears to the ler(s) tickling him.

🎭Death Spot: Feet (He just constantly walks around considering he’s sometimes the main lead in his play. Other times, he’s just instructing where everyone goes and how to act.)

Ler🎭

🎭Ok, his tickle kink had to start when he was watching a play/show

🎭It happened when he was like 8, and a character started tickling a mother character, and Preston just fell in love with his laugh

🎭It resorted to him hiding in his room looking up more tickle scenes on YouTube.

🎭He knew it was weird to watch things like that, and enjoy them, but he couldn’t help himself.

🎭Everytime a tickle scene pops up, and him and his family watches it, he had to avoid eye contact from the TV.

🎭Hoping he didn’t look suspicious, his face would be beat red

🎭And he has to make up an excuse to go to the bathroom so his parents wouldn’t see him like that.

🎭Though when he makes a play, he has to fight the urge to put at least one blunt tickle scene in there.

🎭Things will go off the hook, if his intrusive thoughts win

🎭So he makes sure they don’t

🪐Space Kid🪐

Lee🪐

🪐Ok… He’s not really ticklish

🪐Like he’s second to least ticklish.

🪐It’s Dolph, and then it’s him

🪐Though, he’s canonically ticklish, but it’s not like people was tickling him, just responses of “Hey, that tickles” Whatever, I still think it’s cute

🪐He likes being tickled, more so ask David for some tickles, and he obviously gives them to him, no questions asked

🪐And he can tell when Dolph is in a ler mood, it’s just a hutch he has.

🪐So when Dolph is in a ler mood, Space kid will subtly hint to him that he needs some tickles, and Dolph will be glad to give them to him.

🪐Ofc, Space kid doesn’t ask anyone to tickle him unless it’s David, bc he knows David won’t judge him for it.

🪐Space kid gets all squeaky then he starts hyperventilating in his helmet where the ler has to take it off so he won’t suffocate

🪐No one knows why or how he suffocated in his astronaut helmet, he just does

🪐When people teams up on him, he goes to Dolph for help. But he has to make a deal with him, like, Dolph has to tickle him for an hour

🪐Hey, it beats getting tickle ganged up on

🪐And I like to think Spacekid’s death spot(s) is his neck and ears, hence they’re always covered up making them really sensitive

Ler🪐

🪐He can’t be a ler if it saves his life!

🪐Like he tries to be one to so many people, like Max for starters, but he just gets kicked right in the balls.

🪐#justiceforSpaceKid

🪐This doesn’t stop him from accomplishing his goals of becoming the Camp’s biggest ler.

🪐Sorry pal, but Dolph took that place from you

🪐Spacekid would even be in cahoots with Dolph, teaming up so he can destroy people… with tickling ofc.

🪐Though Dolph continues his assault on the man’s ears and neck, that little she-devil.

🔫Max🔫

Lee🔫

🔫Maxasalee Maxasalee Maxasalee Max. As. A. Lee

🔫He is so ticklish, and I’m not being biased right now… well… maybe.

🔫I MEAN LOOK AT HIM AND TELL ME HE ISN’T TICKLISH UNDER ALL THAT ANGER ISSUES!!!!

🔫He’s everyone’s tickle target. Because like… PLEASE!!!

🔫It’s kinda cute how a man (boy in this case) acts tough, but can be beaten by a simple poke!

🔫He would get tickled by Niki all the time, Ofc Neil doesn’t tickle him, after that one incident.

🔫Neil poked him once, and after he got a reaction he didn’t expect to come out of Max, which was “GAH! DON’T FUCKING DO THAT NEIL!!” He just had to tickle him full blast

🔫With Neil being much taller than the shorter one, Max has no problem punching the shit out of anyone who tickles him.

🔫Yes. Including Niki, but she never learns her lesson, intrigued by her bestfriend’s laughter and reactions

🔫Even David doesn’t learn when Max keeps kicking him in his balls.

🔫David would always give him tickles to “cheer” him up, but in reality it just made his sappy mood worse

🔫Like parents’ day, or when Max is just being hella annoying, like bullying the rest of the campers and/or Davey

🔫Yeah, Max needs to learn to be a camper with good attitude if he doesn’t wanna be tickled

🔫Once he knows Dolph’s in a ler mood, he walks away from him w/o being noticed, like nonchalantly.

🔫And he usually goes unscathed

🔫Trust me when I say this, but since Max gets tickled a lot, he always knows when someone is in a ler mood, call it a hutch

🔫Max’s parents don’t care about him, as seen in Parents’ day, so he didn’t grow up being tickled, not even his friends tickled him, so he didn’t know he was ticklish

🔫But that all changed when he came to camp, being non stop tickled by mostly anyone who would get ler moods, or just wanna tickle him

🔫He didn’t even know he was extremely weak to them either, but once he found out he hated being tickled.

🔫Poor baby

🔫He’s a total walking death spot, but if I had to pick which one that will drive him to kill anyone who touches there, it has to be his knees

🔫I just think it’s a cute headcanon that his knees are extremely ticklish, and anyone who wants to die, will give it a shot w/o second guessing the consequences

🔫When he’s tickled he gets this squeaky laugh, and he starts waving his limbs around in hopes to knock his attacker off, most times it doesn’t work so you gotta physically pin him down

🔫One time David tickled him so much he pissed himself, he didn’t tell anyone tho, glad he was wearing dark pants

🔫And Dolph tickled him till he became this sweaty, crying, passed out boy on the ground, his hair was sticking to his forehead

🔫Max didn’t tell David why he didn’t go swimming with the other’s because it’s embarrassing to say he couldn’t swim and didn’t wanna spend the summer with David learning how to

🔫Until David threatened him with tickles and he blurted it out, getting laughs and teases from the other campers and Gwen

🔫David sniggered a little as well

🔫By the context above it’s easy to say he hates getting tickled, like dispises it.

Ler🔫

🔫He’s not the type to go around and touch other people, like in a tickly manner or other ways

🔫But he would tickle his two best friends, Neil and Niki, kinda sucks Niki isn’t as ticklish as them, but wtv

🔫He loves to tickle Neil with the help of Niki, just because Max loves to tease him about how super ticklish he is, failing to realize Max is way more ticklish than him

🔫Max will have to pin the tall guy down to tickle his worst spot, please!!!

🔫Max is really good with teasing, and what not, going too far as to laugh and make fun of his ticklishness

🔫If he sees anyone else getting tickled, he would stand by the sidelines and just be a snarky teaser, then he gets his unfair share of tickles from the use to be lee

🔫Max needs to learn when to shut up, like bffr

[byneddiedingo]

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Evans Evans, Gene Wilder. Screenplay: David Newman, Robert Benton. Cinematography: Burnett Guffey. Art direction: Dean Tavoularis. Film editing: Dede Allen. Music: Charles Strouse.

Calling a film a landmark, as Bonnie and Clyde so often has been called, does it a disservice in that it prioritizes historical significance over the aesthetic ones. It makes it difficult to appreciate or criticize the movie without recalling what it was like to see and to talk about the first time you saw it -- if, like me, you saw it in a theater when it was first released. It's a landmark because its success showed the Hollywood studios, which were mere surviving remnants of the old movie factories of the '30s and '40s, that there was an audience for something other than the big musicals and epics that had dominated American movies during the 1960s. There was a young audience out there that had grown up with the French New Wave and the great Italian and Japanese films of that decade, and was resistant to piety and platitudes. Along with The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967), Bonnie and Clyde gave this audience something they were looking for, and fed the revolution in filmmaking that made the 1970s one of the most adventurous decades in film history. It's no surprise that the screenwriters, Robert Benton and David Newman, were so familiar with the New Wave that they wanted François Truffaut or Jean-Luc Godard to direct their movie. And even today Warren Beatty, in the opening scenes of Bonnie and Clyde, is bound to remind one of Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless (Godard, 1960). It was a movie that launched the careers of Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman, not to mention giving Beatty a boost into superstardom. It also put an end to some careers, most notably that of Bosley Crowther, who had been the New York Times's film critic since 1940 but was undone by his vitriolic attack on  Bonnie and Clyde, which he denounced not only in his initial review but also, after protests from the movie's admirers, in two subsequent articles. Crowther was replaced as the Times critic in 1968. On the other hand, Newsweek's critic, Joe Morgenstern, initially panned the film but, after being urged by readers to reconsider, recanted his original critique. So the question persists: Historical significance aside, is Bonnie and Clyde really any good? I'd have to say, after seeing it again for the first time in many years, that it holds up as entertainment. The acting is superb, and Burnett Guffey's cinematography, Dean Tavoularis's art direction, and Theadora van Runkle's costuming all provide a fine 1960s interpretation of 1930s style. Where it falls down for me is in substance: The screenplay, which was worked over by Robert Towne, is too preoccupied with Bonnie and Clyde as lovers with (especially Clyde) some psychosexual hangups. It only feints at demonstrating why the pair became cult figures in the Great Depression, most notably in a scene when Clyde refuses to take the money of a farmer who is in the bank they're robbing, and in a scene in which the wounded couple and C.W. Moss (endearingly played by Michael J. Pollard) stop for help at a bleak migrant camp. Only in scenes like these do we get a sense of the deep background of Depression-era misery, a fuller treatment of which might have elevated the film into greatness, the way Francis Ford Coppola's first two Godfather films  (1972, 1974) turned Mario Puzo's popular novel into an American myth. Otherwise, the criticism that it glamorizes the outlaws by turning them into fashion-model beauties still has some merit.

[spyrkle4]

Since ep 8 of despair time is almost here ima scream about my thoughts on ep 7

read more contains major chapter 2 spoilers, esp for the end of the ep!

Teruko even when she’s being a grumpy cat is a big mood

*sleeps in four hours in* “I’M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!” “Wait I’m in a killing game I don’t have school”

and then nopes out of drama much to the audience’s dismay (these eps being livestreamed makes the meta of Despair Time being a tv show 10x hilarious, it’s like v3 all over again)

Part of me expected Ace to damage his vocal chords or lose his voice due to him neglecting his throat wound, but it must’ve been surface level since he’s still at 110% volume, Eden must’ve dragged him to the infirmary, she’s got willpower, she could do it

and Nico being oddly quiet makes me think that they regret trying to kill Ace and it was a “I am in so much stress I’m going to express it in a very unhealthy way” and that way was attempted murder

Doesn’t make what Nico did okay... but I get why they tried to kill Ace, they have really bad experiences with getting bullied and Ace constantly picking on them in an environment like the killing game is not good for one’s mental health, (plus getting outed w/o their consent DAVID--)

the convo with Rose at the gym makes me think of the vine of “I thought you could do a kickflip--” “I can! I did one this morning!”

Wonder why J was in the gym, hmmmmmmmm

and then Rose realizing Nico stole her art supplies to commit murder--

*shakes Nico* I love you but *points to Rose* you gave her anxiety, apologize asap

I think they’re genuine friends but Nico def made some bad choices and should apologize 

Best part of the ep is no doubt the charwhit shenanigans, everything else is on fire and they are vibing, I also love that Whit is helping Charles learn how to cook and they both are finding things they have in common

Veronika is an interesting character for sure, she reminds me a bit of Junko but if Junko dealt with her despair addiction in a healthy matter (aka horror movies)

I don’t think Veronika is like the mastermind or secretly a serial killer (please god do not let us have another chapter 3 serial killer), she is just a little Unhinged like your everyday tumblr user

and then the BDA happens this ep and *sigh*

...Arei : (

Was really terrified once David noticed she was missing and the way she died... wtf to whomever killed her I have words for you

It really sucks bc (a. the playground of all places?! b. She had a really bad hand in life and C. I wanted to see her be happy!) 

I’ve seen a lot of people debate it being David or Hu or Eden (I doubt it’s Eden since the BDA went off and I think she has some part to play) but I’m not sure, but it def wasn’t an accident like Xander

and it’s def gonna be a long trial since bda files aren’t a thing in this game, which is super cool and it made the first trial really interesting as part of the mystery was the cast assumed Xander died from a throat wound but in reality he died from electrocution 

who knows what’ll happen next ep but I am def scared for the investigation 

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Trust In The LORD Alone. He Is Merciful Forever.

#DailyDevotion Trust In The LORD Alone. He Is Merciful Forever. Psalm 118 (On the way:) Thank the LORD because He is good and merciful forever. 2Israel should say, “He is merciful forever." 3Aaron's family should say, “He is merciful forever." 4Those who fear the LORD should say, “He is merciful forever.” This Psalm was probably sung on the way to the tabernacle and later the Temple. We have a call for thanksgiving to the LORD. The reason for this thanksgiving is the LORD is good and merciful forever. There then is a call to various groups to respond, three times, “He is merciful forever.” Now we know the LORD's name revealed to Moses in Ex. 34:6 contains the revelation that He is full of mercy. Perhaps because our life is so full of strife that we need to be reminded of this. We may question, “If the LORD is so merciful, why do I experience all these tribulations?” We should remember we deserve far worse because of our sins. We may lie to ourselves thinking we aren't all that bad. We don't go around hurting other people. But what are the thoughts of our hearts? And the reality is, we hurt more people than we can ever know but chances are we justify ourselves thinking, “Well, they deserve it.” Where is our mercy then? Hmmmm? Then we should also remember the mercy of the LORD includes discipline. So maybe we don't always “deserve” the trials we are having. Perhaps they are there to purify and strengthen our faith in the LORD. Now isn't that a merciful thing for Him to do? 5In my trouble I called on the LORD. The LORD answered me and set me free. 6The LORD is for me, I'm not afraid. What can man do to me? 7The LORD is for me; He helps me. I will gloat over those who hate me. 8It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust men. 9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust the best of men. Speaking of trials and tribulations, here the LORD's anointed, David, and then Christ our LORD, testify they had a trouble. In the trouble, they called out to the LORD. The LORD helped them. Verse six reminds me of Jesus' teaching in Matt. 10, “28Don't be afraid of those who kill the body and can't kill the soul, but fear Him who can destroy soul and body in hell.” We should always seek the help of the LORD in all our troubles. He is merciful forever. With the LORD on our side we should fear no person, no illness, no government, and no situation. When they come against us, we should turn to the LORD and hand these things over to Him and then sing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving trusting He has heard us. Verses eight and nine are a wake up call for those of us who put our trust in politicians and political parties. We cannot trust them. We just can't. We should not act insanely and keep putting our trust in them to do good and help our situations. I'm not saying you can't be involved in those processes. But do so realistically. God says don't put your trust in men, even the best of men. Our trust should be in God, the LORD alone. We have the name of Jesus. Why should we get ourselves all wrapped up in fear, worry, and anxiety about what is going on in the world? Don't we trust in the LORD? Don't we trust in His righteousness? Don't we believe Jesus is coming to judge the living and the dead? Do we not believe we are worth more to God our Father than many sparrows? So cast all your cares on the LORD because He cares for you. (Peter) Let the One who has all power, all might, all wisdom, all knowledge, and who is merciful forever deal with all these things. Only He is able to help. Only He is able to intervene and do what is right for us. He may use men, politicians, political parties, governments and situations to be the answer to our prayers, but let Him and trust Him to do it. Trusting in the LORD, you sit comfortably in your own britches and panties for we know and believe He has our best interest in mind. Heavenly Father, give us Your Holy Spirit that we may believe in Your mercy, call upon You in all our troubles and rest in Your grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[project1939]

Day 42- Film: We’re Not Married 

Release date: July 11th 

Studio: 20th Century Fox 

Genre: Comedy 

Director: Edmund Goulding 

Producer: Nunnally Johnson 

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Victor Moore, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Eve Arden 

Plot Summary: When a bumbling old man is appointed justice of the peace by his nephew, he starts marrying couples on Christmas Eve, not knowing his license isn’t valid until January 1st. A few years later, one of the 6 couples he married before the 1st tries to divorce and discovers their marriage wasn’t legally valid. Now the other five couples must be notified. Which ones will decide to marry again, and which ones will seize the chance to break free? 

My Rating (out of five stars): *** 

This is basically light comedy fluff, but I found it fun. It’s essentially a little anthology, because we get self-contained vignettes of each of the five couples in question. Some stories were stronger than others, but if I ever got a little bored or impatient, it resolved quickly, because each section breezed by at only a handful of minutes. 

The Good: 

The cast was impressive. I knew every single actor well out of all ten who played the main couples, and even the befuddled justice of the peace and his wife.  I not only recognized them all, but was happy and excited to see them, because I liked them. Oh, it’s Eve Arden! It’s Paul Douglas! Fred Allen! Louis Calhern! Etc. 

The radio parody at the beginning with Fred Allen and Ginger Rogers was perfection. They played a couple with a morning radio show, and there was a long scene of them at the studio beginning their show. Fred Allen was mainly a radio star in real life, so having him do it was especially appropriate. The movie poked fun at how many sponsors shows had, and how the show was required to plug them. Fred and Ginger tried to “naturally” converse while moving from one sponsor to the next- a mattress company, a coffee, a cleaner, a hair salon, a bird food, and a newspaper! I laughed out loud. It also startlingly made me see how similar it is to social media stars today! It sounded just like a podcast or youtube channel. 

Fred Allen. The guy is seriously funny, and a lot of his droll cynical humor could translate pretty well today. He was on The Big Show often and always made me laugh. Finding his original radio shows can sadly be difficult, though. 

The old guy and his wife. They were both cute and funny. Victor Moore plays overwhelmed and confused people so well. His wife actually played Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, so I loved her too. 

The premise and the vignette structure. The idea for the film was cute and amusing. Anthology films are pretty rare, so it’s always interesting to see how they're done and how it comes off. 

It was nice to get to see Marilyn Monroe, however briefly, playing a character who wasn’t the ditzy type. She played a beauty queen, but she was no dummy. 

The whole movie was just light breezy fun. 

The Bad: 

Some vignettes were stronger than others, as you would expect in a film like this. Even though I adore Eve Arden and Paul Douglas, I thought their section was one of the weaker ones. (Through no fault of their own; it was the material.)  

The reminder of the intense social shaming that could come from being an unwed mother. In the final story, Eddie Bracken is leaving to join the army, and he finds out on the train that his marriage isn’t legal. His “wife” has just told him she is pregnant, and this puts him in such a terror about the kid being considered a “bastard” (a word they couldn’t even say in the movie), that he goes AWOL to find a justice of the peace to marry them, and have his wife travel a long way to meet him. When the justice of the peace says they need a “medical check”, his wife has a panic attack and refuses to go. The thought of going to the doctor as an unmarried pregnant woman is so horrific, she won’t do it. Thankfully she finds out that the medical check is only a finger prick blood test, so she calms down and goes. It was kind of sad to watch. I know it was supposed to be more comedic, but I mostly just felt bad that the situation caused such distress for them.