#this whole article was insane and i'll post more but this

[vetteldixon]

Scott Dixon's certainly up there talent-wise with any of them. If anything is going to hold him back it's his personality. The British Racing Drivers Club wanted to give him the Bruce McLaren Award, which they give every year to the young driver who best represents what Bruce was about. He didn't even return their phone calls, so they gave it to Mark Webber instead...It's not arrogance, it's shyness. He grew up in a very small community. He doesn't like the limelight and it holds him back.

— Indy Lights president Roger Bailey to AutoWeek, August 2001

[spookysteddie]

Text Me The Details

Modern!Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Influencer!fem!reader

18+ MINORSDNI

cw: gossip magazines, reader being horny on a live stream, cocky!Eddie, drinking, drugs mention

a/n: I kinda want this to be a series? So expect a part two at some point. But yeah this isn't an original idea so, credit to literally everyone who's done this before me. I gave reader a last name because if I have to write y/l/n one more time I'll sob. ANYWAY I hope you all enjoy and let me know if you like this!

WC: 1.2k

...

You are never drinking again. Ever.

Your management would agree after what happened last night. You didn’t mean to spill the secret you’d been keeping. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, however, you had an image to keep up. The party girl, the kind one, the one with lots of friends, the girl who had good grades in college, the one who always donated most of her fortune to various organizations. 

Now, every tabloid was writing articles about your celebrity crush. 

Party girl and influencer drunkenly admits she’d love to sleep with lead singer of Corroded Coffin Eddie Munson. Sources have said they’ve been together for a while but decided to keep it under wraps. 

The dating portion of that article wasn’t true and you silently vow to figure out who the fuck these ‘sources’ were. However, you admitting to wanting to fuck Eddie… did happen. You have no one to blame but yourself. 

Now, there are three reasons why you’re so stressed about this. First, even though you party all the time, you were good. You know, like only went out on the weekends, did every single assignment, tutored people on the side, was probably the most unproblematic influencer out there. Second, the last thing you wanted was Eddie Munsons attention. You had this thing where you didn’t want the people you were fans of to perceive you. 

Theoretically you knew they did, most of them followed you on social media. But there was a difference between being a fan of someone, and them semi-knowing you vs your actual crush who you own a poster or two of? That makes you want to throw up and pass out at the same time. 

But, finally, the third reason this stressed you out was because Eddie and his crew were not good. You know like, partied every single day, smoked a lot of weed and snorted coke off of his groupies and fans. It was all over the tabloids and the band has even posted about it a time or two. You didn’t do that. And if the tabloids caught you doing that, you’d lose everything you worked towards.

“So this is how we’re going to fix it,” Case, your manager, says from where she’s standing next to the fireplace in your apartment. “You’re gonna go back on live and say it was an accident.” 

You look up from the article you were reading, eyes finding his. “That is the worst idea ever. I was tipsy not black out drunk. No one will ever believe that was an accident.” You huff, locking your phone, “and I have tickets to their show next week.” 

You loved your team, but sometimes they made the most insane comments on how to fix the unfixable. 

You stand, pacing the room, “he isn’t one to read gossip magazines. And-and I’m not on the same level as his band. They’re A listers and I’m C list at best.” 

Your manager and publicist look like fish after what you said. Anna, your publicist speaks first, “I swear to god if you ever say that again I am uppin your therapy appointments. You hear me?” 

You huff, sitting back down on the couch, “I’m not kidding though. I’m not giving up this ticket. It’s one of the few things I’m looking forward to.” 

Case answers after rubbing her temples, “you better pray this blows over without him seeing it. You may party but his partying is a whole other level.” 

… 

The call came two days later, an unknown number popping up on your phone. 

You knew, you knew before you even accepted the call who’d be on the other end of the line. 

It felt like it started in slow motion, first came the gossip mags with the original story. Then came Eddie following you on instagram. He’d like a few photos and stories you put up. Then came his interview. The interview where he said, “of course I know who she is. I’m flattered really. I hear she’s a sweet girl.” 

Now, your phone is buzzing in your hand and you can’t bring yourself to answer the phone. 

“Yes just a fucking person. Just like you’re a person. Answer the phone.” You look down at the phone and are thankful it’s just you in your house. You tap the answer button, a fake smile on your face, as you put the phone to your ear. 

“Hello?” you use your best interview voice, the one Anna has drilled into you. 

You can hear him breathe in before letting it out, long and slow, it’s clear he took a drag of his cigarette. Is he nervous too? There’s no way. Eddie always seemed to be this cool and calm guy, never afraid of anything or anyone. He gets into more fights in a week than you have in your entire 25 years of existence. 

“Good afternoon, Miss Asher.” You can hear the grin in his voice and it sends a shiver down your spine, your heart pounding in your chest. “It’s Eddie.” 

He didn’t have to introduce himself to you, you’d be able to pick out his voice in a crowded room. But only because you’ve listened to his music so often… only reason. 

“Oh! Hi! I’m s-surprised to hear from you.” You cringe at the stutter that came out of you. You had more than enough practice dealing with any situation thrown at you. From the funny to the uncomfortable to the scary. You were trained for this and you were fucking it up. “How can I help you?” 

“The band and I will be in town next friday, we’re playing a show.” You know where this is going and it makes your heart beat faster, so fast you’re scared it’ll burst. “I was wonderin’ if you were goin’?”

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

“I am, actually. Me and a few of my friends actually.” You rub your hands down your sweatpants, nerves making them sweat. 

“Oh! Well that is fantastic,” his tone is chipper as hell and you know he’s high. On what, you have no idea. “I was thinkin’ that maybe ya friends and you’d wanna join us backstage. VIP area for the show? What cha think?” 

All of sudden you forget how the english language works, your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth. This is what you’ve been wanting for so long. Well, in your dreams of course. But looking at it from a business perspective, it could bring his fans to your page and your fans to his page. It was kind of a win win. Well, win win lose because then Corroded coffin knows who the actual fuck you are and you arent just some fan. And that, terrified you,  

“Heeeeeeello? Are you there?” 

His voice breaks through your clogged mind, forcing you to respond. 

“Hi, sorry. I’m here! I um I got distracted. But, yeah that sounds great, actually. We-we’d love that.” 

“Good! I will have my people call your people, yeah?” 

“O-or you can just send me the information,” you say it before thinking and now you really want to punch yourself. 

He chuckles to himself, “okay, sweetheart, I’ll text you the information. See you next friday.” 

He hangs up before you can say another fucking stupid thing. You press the phone into your hands, foot bouncing on the floor with nerves. You can think of seven different ways that conversation could’ve (and should’ve) happened. One of which was with your entire team, another being with your friends, another being with your parents. Not alone to make a fool out of yourself. Your management team was really going to kill you.

[hazelsmirrorball]

Rockstar Girlfriend VI. | Hazel Callahan

Rockstar! Hazel Callahan x Popstar! Reader

Summary: Hazel Callahan and Y/n L/n have to be in a pr relationship, but both of them can stand each other. 

Warnings: Enemies to lovers! Enemies to lovers! Enemies to lovers! Angst, Fight (not physical) Not proof read. Sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my main language. 

a/n: I’m back after a while!! Sorry for being MIA. I don't know how to feel about this but I'm really thankful for all the support. Lots of new things coming soon. love you guys.

part one. part two. part three. part four. part five.

The tour was canceled. 

Everything Y/n had worked for went down the drain. Not only had she lost the tour she risked everything for, but she had lost her bandmates' trust. They were losing followers by the minute and receiving hate left and right. All that success she had gained because of Hazel was almost gone. 

The moment everyone found out about Hazel's outburst, the show was canceled with a blink of an eye. They could hear the cries and screams of fans outside. Y/n couldn’t bear to listen, she felt bad, guilty even. Management said that her band couldn’t perform because they were only the openers, so karma was biting her ass quickly.    

But after one show became two and then two became five, management canceled the whole tour, every single date. They claimed that they couldn’t do anything without Hazel, their star. Y/n tried to be positive that maybe Hazel was joking around and that she was going to come back but when management canceled the tour, her feet finally hit the floor. The tour was over before it even started. The hop of the wave of success both bands were having was cut short. The most anticipated tour of the year was canceled due to mental health issues from one of the band members. That was what got posted on the band's page and every news article. 

But Hazel made it her job for people to know that, that wasn’t the case. If the tour was canceled she wanted people to know the real reason, no more tricks, no more lies and no more fake love. Y/n felt her heart stop when her phone started to blow up with notifications and her eyes landed on a video Hazel had posted on instagram after being MIA for two weeks. 

That was when “Mean” was born. 

“Hi guys! I know I’ve been gone for a while and all of a sudden the tour got canceled. But I’m here to tell you guys that we are currently working to get your back running again. This time we decided it was best to get new openers. Anyways, on my little break I decided to write this song I really hope you guys enjoy!” Hazel said to the camera starting to strum her guitar. Y/n felt her heart drop every second that passed by. If she was already losing everything with a blink of an eye it wouldn’t surprise Y/n if what was left of her career ended just because of that song. 

hazel.callahan via instagram

liked by bottomstheband, y/nnn, and others

hazel.callahan rehearsals for tour are the shit! I missed this a lot, can't wait for tour to start <3

view all 1,550 comments

hazelsbottoms she's backkkkkkkk

user101 mother is back, hope tour doesn't get cancelled this time.

pjandhazeparis sorry to disappoint but I'll be a groupie for life

bottomsupdates why is y/n lurking in the likes? hasn't she done enough

| ynloveshazel please leave y/n alone

| bottomsupdates she's the one lurking her comments

Hazel had uploaded an acoustic version of a song she had written through her break in an attempt for people to understand what she was going through. It was something new, different from the songs she was used to writing for herself and other people. The song quickly took the world by storm gaining everyone’s attention. Fans had caught up quickly with who the song was written for, making it their job to make Y/n’s life a living hell. Her band's account was barely existent by the minute and management was going insane.

Y/n couldn’t let things slide. She had three options, let her pr team do everything for her, clap back and deny the allegations, or attempt to do a song just like Hazel did. The thing was, Y/n was already used to Hazel’s constant help writing songs and honestly she kinda missed spending midnights with her writing songs. She missed how Hazel would slowly touch her skin in an attempt to get her attention or how she got lost in her blue eyes while she tried to explain the chorus of the song. Y/n missed Hazel. She hated herself for running things with her. Things were finally different, this time Y/n didn’t hate Hazel, Hazel just hated Y/n. 

She was going to make things right, possibly ending her career. But it was worth it. If Hazel heard the song, she could lose everything and she wouldn’t care. 

Y/n propped her camera hitting record while sitting in front of it, letting out a sigh. She slowly strummed the guitar she barely knew how to play but all she could think of was all the times Hazel had attempted to teach her how to play it.

“This song is for someone special in my life that I treated so badly. I know I fucked up and I wished I could go back to december, they day I met you and start all over”

y/n's instagram

liked by bottomstheband, ynnnn, and others

y/nnn but if we loved again, I swear I’d love you right

comments have been deactivated

Y/nnn let out a sigh as she looked at her phone flooding with notifications. At least if she was gone for social media, she was certain Hazel had heard the song. Maybe she could get another chance or another life where they could get together with no mistakes.  Y/n’s thoughts got interrupted by a harsh knock on her door. She quickly walked towards it, ready to face her neighbor. But she felt her heart drop when she noticed the familiar blue eyes she had fallen in love with. Y/n’s eyes wandered all over her trying to tell if she was real or an act of her imagination due to the lack of sleep. But as the words slipped out of her mouth she knew it was all reality. 

“My guitar.” Hazel replied, playing with her feet. Y/n furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her confused. 

“What do you mean, my guitar? How do you know where I live?” Y/n responded leaning against the doorframe trying to get a better look at Hazel. 

“My guitar. You have my lucky guitar, I saw it in the video you posted. Now, can you please give it back” 

“No.”

“What do you mean no? It’s mine, L/n.”

“You don’t speak to me, drop a diss track on my name and expect me to give you back you guitar” Y/n exclaimed while looking at Hazel with a surprised look on her face. 

“Are you insane? You do know that all of this is not my fault, right? I was willing to do anything for you but you preferred the fame over me. You fucked up your own career and you fucked up with me. Yet, I came here, to your apartment and you still want to act like the victim instead of saying your sorry. You know what stays with the stupid guitar. I don’t want it anyway. You want to play a game that I’m really tired of playing. I really don't understand why are you like this.” Hazel exclaimed loudly pulling on her hairs.

"I like you Hazel and I'm like this because I know I screwed up the only good thing in my life" Y/n said loudly leaving Hazel with her mouth wide open not knowing what say.

At least he got the chance he desperately needed.  

thank you for reading

previous part.

[ginnyluvstimmy]

welcome home (timothée x f.reader)

[ where timothée breaks up and realises you're the only one he actually craves for ]

Hollywood.

It was where you had met.

Between the clapperboard, action! of the director, the hair and make-up sessions which annoyed both of you and the low quality jokes just to kill time.

Luca Guadagnino had personally requested your presence among those pages of the script, and he himself said that he had been admiring your career in the world of Hollywood since time.

You were both Italian, this bonded you and created mutual respect.

The way your Italian accent rolled off your tongue when you spoke to Luca drove Timothée crazy.

Insane.

Maybe the sexiest turn on he could receive.

Just as his delicate, clean, casual French stunned you, you too had figured out how to make him take the bait.

The moments you treasured the most were those behind the scenes. The laughter, his schizophrenic outbursts from the excitement of filming, his unpredictable moves, his pleasant speeches.

The way his curls made him look like a puff, his green/grey eyes where you could get lost in the edges of the foggy jungle, his French cheekbones that mirrored him, in your eyes, like a gentleman from the 1800s, and how his bottom lip was definitely more full and inviting than the one above.

You immediately started hanging out regularly even off camera, without the buzz and movement of filming.

No weeks passed that he confidently proposed to you.

It was no longer a matter of pretending for the production staff, you two weren't in the spotlight and maybe you loved each other even more.

But then came the commitments, the premieres, the collaborations, and suddenly you found yourself with a different plane ticket in your hand every day, and you rarely saw Timothée.

This displeased both of you, especially since he wasn't in a very different situation.

But then the pace slowed down and the world collapsed on you.

Kylie Jenner...

You scrolled through Instagram posts. Kylie.

You read every film article. Kylie.

You checked every interview, questionnaire, news of the day.

Kylie.

Timothée he had left you for her, another.

Without warning, without a reason, without a moment to say goodbye and explain one last time.

You were exhausted, physically and mentally, and the suitcases from your countless business trips were still at the entrance.

Months, months passed...and every time you called your ex-boyfriend he neglected you with 'I'm busy', 'I'll call you back later, ok?', 'it's hard to explain, you wouldn't understand'.

What was there to explain? Did you do something wrong? Did you forget his birthday? The monthly anniversary?

Absolutely not, you weren't the type.

The only relief you felt was listening to the opinions of the fandom and the parazzi: they were much less convinced of this relationship than you already were. It was a sign, it definitely meant something...but every day was torture without his laughter, his cuddles, his French kisses.

It all felt too real.

More months passed, and he didn't show up.

Valentine's Day was approaching and you would have felt a new knot in your stomach gathering in you.

Suddenly, the last person you thought would call, made your cell phone ring.

You picked up, waiting for Timothée to speak first and give you a good explanation.

A very good one, you hoped.

"Hey, Y/n..." His voice cracked and you could tell he was sobbing.

"Listen I...I swear I can explain it all..."

You waited on the other line, you weren't in the mood to answer. If you had done so you would certainly have screamed so loudly that you would have broken his eardrum, throwing that whole situation of the Kardashian in his damn face.

"Can I come to your place...?"

You were about to say a harsh 'no' when you realised he would have shown himself anyway.

You hung up, and the house reverberated with a dull hum.

[ ... ]

He showed at your door with a red rose, red and swollen eyes and his entire figure soaked wet by the heavy rain that was pounding the neighborhood gravel.

You let him in, without saying a word.

He stopped at the carpet in the entrance, as if he suddenly realized that that house was yours and yours alone and he no longer had anything to do with it.

"My manager forced me..." He whispered, but his faint voice died in the air before he could reach you.

"Sorry?"

"I said...my manager forced me. The whole thing of Kylie, it was for...money, you know. I haven't decided on it, my staff has the power. I'm sorry if I didn't warn you, I couldn't...I had to make people believe it was real, you understand me?"

You knew you should have felt immense relief at those words, but they made you even more nervous.

"You're completely out of your mind..."

"But it's true! I'm telling the truth Y/n...she...she never gave me the slightest attention, it was a dirty game, we were both pretending just to live together on the edge of decency! You know I could never leave you from one day to another!!"

You let him stay at the entrance, as if you wanted to see the mat suck him alive.

But Timothée couldn't wait anymore and hugged you tightly, sobbing like a child in the crook of your neck.

His tears ran down your skin, his arms setting a fire in your stomach.

"Je t'aimerai toujours, tu sais..."

"Ti amerò per sempre anch'io, Timothée."

[ominashii]

'v' ello there! what are aspects about your characters that notably stand out to you specifically? be it something you personally love or whatnot

ohhh boy i haven't gotten to yap about em on here in a WHILE lemme go down the list, this is gonna be long

Omi? They're adorable, and they know it. They look and act very disarming, but they're still very clever, secretive, and mischievous, with a whole separate, more serious side to em. Plus they're really fun to write given they're both illiterate, and can't lie outright. (half-fey) They're just a bundle of fluff and mysteries~

Kiari? She's a (partially) insane, immortal catgirl that loves cats, girls, hunting, and killing. She's brutally honest, extremely sassy, and changes moods at the drop of a hat. She's THE most fun to write for by far. Plus, its interesting to write the perspective of someone who's lived countless years while their mind Was Not Built for it. How have her morals shifted? How much has her sanity eroded? What is she willing to put up with to keep herself entertained? What value does a life have to her? Always thinking about this for her.

Shiri has been on the backburner as of late, but his main appeal is his lack of expressive emotion. He'll make frequent puns and jokes, subtle references, and poke at some tropes, but it's all delivered with the same deadpan tone of voice. Likewise, nothing really phases him much, and his expression rarely changes. It goes a bit deeper, but that's part of what's in progress. He looks cold and badass, but he's kind of a dork. It's great.

Viola I'll go off her previous self (Psionic mage), since her current lore is hard to work with. She's a bookworm through and through, but likes to mess with people sometimes. The most fun for me is her subtleties. She's similarly deadpan as Shiri, but much more snarky when you examine her words. She'll pretend to read out fake articles for an extremely specific problem. She has a second voice underneath her own that sometimes says something different, inducing a headache in the listener. She changes hairstyles often to look cuter, making no mention of it. She appears as a different species to every individual. It's so much fun.

She also has Several alters, but that would be a post of its own.

Juliet, disposable random lobotomy corp employee promoted to full OC status. She's a proper tomboy, mentor/big sister figure, and skilled at what she does, but very carefree. I never had anyone like her before, and she's so much fun! Her dynamic with Pallene is especially cute, but they're both still relatively new.

Mimi. Fluffy space critter. They're as close to my heart as Omi, and have twice as many mysteries. Their design would be one of the standouts here, since they have no mouth. Instead, they communicate telepathically with a slightly broken english (or, canonically, whatever the listener's primary language is), which is really cute~ Then there's their big eyes and ears. They carry all the expression, and its really really fun to draw different emotions with em. Plus, black sclera & white pupils on a friendly lil critter like this is nice! The other standout would be their very inquisitive nature. They don't know anything! They're constantly curious about people and the world around em! And they're always so happy to learn!

I could go on and on, but it'll just turn into describing everyone at length, and putting these thoughts together takes tiiime

[ca-suffit]

idek how to rly start this. it's a lot of heavy topics.

yesterday, I combined a lot of asks and an article for a post about this same topic. I didn't want it to turn into a reason to attack assad (a vulnerable target as a brown actor) but I didn't want to ignore the general subject either. this comes up in the fandom a *lot.* It should be given space to talk about bcuz there *is* a lot of racist shit being tied to it (I think I have other asks related to how, so I'll get into it more later too). this fandom is always talking about "nuance" but then works in extremes (and usually bullying) whenever anything comes up that could be explored.

anyways, here's my post and then compare it to this one

dismissing the topic like this at all and dismissing the whole thing, once again, as "fandom wank" is rly a choice. it's also a fucking joke and clear manipulation that the person who v literally *is* antiblack *all the fucking time* is using this as a reason to say that's not a serious criticism about her either. the permanent victimhood mentioned in every post never ends bcuz it's trying to get in ur head that she's incapable of hurting anyone.

all of this leads to more racial tension in the fandom and it's done on purpose so that nothing will ever be resolved. when u keep all racial discussions "other'd" then it means they never happen and ppl never take them seriously bcuz it's always seen as "not that deep."

there's never going to be unanimous support for or against most stuff that's talked about like this, bcuz when is there ever for most things?? we all have different experiences and opinions. but if u *never* talk about it then how does anyone learn anything?? how do u learn to break free of echo chambers and consider other perspectives?? (u don't and that's the point but that's why I'm underlining here why it's so dangerous to keep acting like this and normalizing it)

this fandom will analyze and make up shit to defend lestat or sam or anne rice all the gd time. unprompted. the mental gymnastics required to pull off half of that shit is insane, but u can't discuss anything else like that? u give all of *that* deep respect and think *that's* worth ur time but delving into fandom racism and all the ways u can explore loumand just by a topic itself with it....nothing to say there? that's just "wank"?? it's literally not even done out of a concern for assad's vulnerability in relation to this topic, it's just done to not disrupt the status quo of white fandom. I'm also p sure that main tweet comes from a black account, which should *also* not go unnoticed for why nalyra would post it and respond this way. this is the established pattern here.

[starryjkoo]

Alright, not to get too caught up in the MHJ drama, but I’m crying because I just reread my now deleted post-Golden rant complaining about BSH, SB, and my issues with their strategy and I got to this part

😭😭😭

No but I was right. Say what you want about MHJ, but NewJean’s was truly HYBE's only other major success outside of BTS and it had nothing to do with BangPD and it turns out that it absolutely did piss him off LMAO. I knew it. You don't have to believe everything she says, but the elevator thing was basically confirmed and there's no normal, well adjusted adult who would ignore young girls like that if they weren't an immature, petty asshole.

Not to be messy and reopen this can of worms, but it does make me think it's even more likely that he might have been a little bitter over LC hitting #1 considering he couldn't take credit for it. He had that whole article in billboard that came out around the same time talking about how they were going to get the next #1 through their connections or infrastructure or however he put it, which was clearly referencing SB & HYBE America. I think he was trying to make it seem like this whole Scooter A&R strategy was ingenious and vital to Western success based on how hard they kept pushing and talking it up. So if MHJ was telling any amount of truth about his attitude and how he acted towards NWJN's, I just can't help but feel like he must have felt at least a LITTLE negatively about LC hitting that #1 right after he was talking such a big game about how his system (that he spent a billion dollars on) was going to be vital to that next #1.

LC was a Korean song Jimin made with a small in-house team so it must have been a little embarrassing for him to say all that to billboard (and probably investors lol) and have it be immediately invalidated. And LC so clearly demonstrated that BTS and the members could still pull off these big feats without him or his ideas and massive investment and personal involvement. And yeah, billboard did target LC right after that to try and smear it's success, but I think this argument still holds up. Especially because if LC was given any extra care or support it could have kept charting. And what billboard did in it's second week was insanely dirty.

(I’m not saying he was MAD about it, or that he didn’t talk it up to investors after, or that he sabotaged Jimin like a vengeful cartoon villain, I’m just being petty and speculating and saying I don’t think he was thrilled about it considering the circumstances)

Likewise NewJean's released music that did have a good chunk of English but was still Korean, and they managed to break a bunch of girlgroup billboard records as well, and that's ANOTHER project that BSH didn't have his hands on at all. In fact it was one he didn't believe in. Yes, ILLIT broke their record for getting their debut song on billboard quicker, however BSH followed the formula that MHJ created and apparently didn't even consult her or give her any credit while creating a group that was clearly inspired by her work (I genuinely love ILLIT and think they have their own identity! But they do follow the formula that MHJ popularized). So it's not like he got another group on billboard with his genius, it was again just following a formula someone else created (Magnetic was a bop and I loved the whole EP, so I'll give him that!).

I honestly don't even know what SB brings to the table that's so helpful because all they need for a pop song to succeed is basic charting tools like CDs and remixes and playlisting, which they could get before him, and basic decent promotions for visibility. And he's not doing anything interesting or helpful for the non-pop releases even though there's a massive market here for indie, alternative, R&B, and rap. Why wasn't CBTM on college stations? He's useless because the pop releases don't even need much to be successful. And none of JKs promotions were new or unique or something they couldn't have gotten before SB either. And if he's doing something else behind the scenes, I don't think that's worth it either.

JK did have more GP tuning in, but his solo debut was still heavily carried by ARMYs who took advantage of every provided tool, so nothing revolutionary they couldn't have accomplished pre-SB. It wouldn't have worked for anyone else like I said before either, a good example being TXT and their Jo Bros collab which flopped. BSH was all overconfident (top 10 on billboard lol) about it because he thought the secret to success was simply - western producer, western collab, english - but their fans didn't care for the song and therefore it didn't do well. So yeah, at the end of the day it's about good music and/or having a big fandom willing to carry (and that very rare charisma the BTS members have). Not whatever stupid synergy strategy BSH thought he unlocked. Honestly I wonder if he's really that stupid to think that they could get a hit with just those things, but I'm starting to think so. Genuinely what good decision has he made lately that wasn't just following trends?

Won't rehash everything again but this MHJ drama did make me look back on all this discourse even though I swore I was done with it. I'm not as bothered by all of this now, I just think it's interesting to look back on and compare some of her criticisms of HYBE & BSH to many of our own criticisms and speculation. While I take her words with a massive grain of salt, I do think there's a lot of outside evidence to back up some of her claims about the company and their issues (and I'm not her fan or excusing her actions or saying she's always truthful either).

Of course I could be totally wrong, just my thoughts. I'll go back to looking forward to Jin returning and upcoming projects because at the end of the day the BTS members are the ones responsible for their own careers and they have to be the ones to advocate for themselves and deal with their company, but the plus side of this situation is that I hope at least some K-ARMYs are approaching the company with more scrutiny and hopefully holding them accountable for certain things, although I won't hold my breath. It was hilarious seeing HYBE's quick response to their complaints about Jin's hug event though. I wish I-ARMYs would stop being such company stans (you can criticize HYBE/BH without being a manti you know) but not getting my hopes up.

I just sincerely hope that this whole SB creative strategy won't carry over into BTS music, or any more of their solo work. I wouldn’t care if the quality was there, but imo it’s too inconsistent (I definitely enjoy most of Golden! Seven is a bop, SNTY is 10/10). It’s not about creating art or good music for them, it’s about trying to design a song that they think will chart. And songs like that will almost always lack in some way. So I hope this doesn’t become a pattern and the members retain their creative freedom and recognize that they definitely do not need to rely on those people for a hit (ofc unless the want to work with them).

[hockeychatstea]

https://www.tumblr.com/hockeychatstea/765635501712670720/i-have-some-thoughts-and-have-noticed-a-few-things?source=share

so this whole post is inch-resting for a few reasons, because it confirms i'm not fucking crazy lol. i've noticed some of this shit for months now, basically since those two started dating lmfao (well, publicly anyway)

so the queer sibling and his sister are EXTREMELY close. like, would take a bullet for each other close. closer than sway is to his sister close. the queer sibling also lives in chicago, while beth and her fam are in new york so so they can visit boston more regularly. i wanna say it was on puckgoss that someone who knew alessandra from high school said she was really good at being manipulative and fake nice in order to social climb, so it wouldn't surprise me if she was pulling the same shit on beth (esp since they see each other like 2-3 times a year at most?) because her being a bigot would NAWT fly in that house.

AND OKAY GOOD i'm not the only person who noticed the stuff going on with the wags. rebecca (pasta's wife) apparently HATES her, she's now seemingly been shunned from the main group of younger girls w amanda, ryen, paula, madison, etc. so now she's stuck clinging to katrina, a woman in her late 30s who also has a rep with locals for being a nasty cunt, but is also head wag so i guess not surprising she'd attach herself to the "queen bee" for clout. i saw a rumor on the athletic of all places, in the comments on one of the swayman contract articles, saying that during playoffs alessandra was incredibly rude and entitled towards the other wags/service staff during a cam neely foundation dinner that the front office put on for the wags, to the point where she got reprimanded by cam/his wife themselves for it being a bad look on the bruins org 😬 if true then holy YIKES no wonder the other girls want to distance themselves. i def noticed she didn't get invited out to any of the dinners after that night which i thought was sus, but didn't really think much about it at the time back in may lol.

the house thing is just. insanity lol. i've been convinced since june that they've been rushing the relationship because he was about to become one of the bruins core players and needed to look "settled" for optics because he's about to turn 26 this year which is "late" by nhl standards. his relationship with his ex tori lasted what, almost three years? they never moved that fast and that was with someone he literally described as the "girl of his dreams" on a podcast back in 2020. meanwhile he's moving in with with a girl he's known for less than a year, has nothing in common with, and who was actively hunting for a hockey husband to bankroll her luxury lifestyle while she sits around unemployed and badly plays instagram and tiktok influencer online. uh huh, sure jan. if the plan is to endgame then i sincerely hope sway is smart enough to keep his finances separate/in trust away from her because the vibes are absolutely rancid with that girl.

the one thing i'm gonna push back on is the fake nice thing, only because as a fan who has followed him for years now, him being like this is very VERY recent behaviour and pretty much started when he started dating alessandra. i've talked to so many other b's fans online who have noticed his entire personality change because of this girl. if it was a long-running issue there would probably be way more stories about him being a dick to people, but most anecdotes about him since college have always emphasized him being a genuinely sweet and well-adjusted (read: non hockey bro) guy. why he's decided to turn into country club frat boy mcgee to impress a girl i'll never understand, but it really ain't cute. like, the pussy CANNOT be that good. 😭

Yeah it's honestly pretty sad if he's changing that much for her 😕

[ohnoitstbskyen]

So I'm thinking about doing Business

I'm going to experimentally pay for Tumblr's "Blaze" on one of my posts to see what the effect is, if any. I don't plan to use it often, but if I'm using this site as part of my silly little content creator job, maybe it makes sense to advertise some things?

I don't even know what it would make sense to use that feature on, either... posts with my official video releases? Stuff like that article I wrote about the experience of going viral? ... posts about my merch store? (oh god I don't want to advertise the merch store, I haven't added anything to it in ages).

Anyway, if you see one of my posts with a "promoted" tag on it, that's why. Just figuring out if that's something that should be part of my job on here. There are some extended personal reflections on using Tumblr for My Job™ below the cut.

On the other hand, Twitter was never that much of a Business Platform for me, either. That site and app is insanely bad at driving traffic anywhere else, which is part of why its ad revenue was so low depite the huge user base. Getting people to click away from Twitter to anywhere else is like pulling teeth, even for people with million dollar marketing budgets, and so I just... kinda never tried, really. Partly because it never seemed worth the work, partly because it was my personal Twitter before it accidentally became my Business Twitter.

Tumblr in that regard is different though. Four years ago, someone posted an outtake from a shitpost video I did laughing myself half to death over an article about how millennials are killing mayonnaise. That outtake went some degree viral on Tumblr, and that virality did prompt a lot of people to go find the full video on YouTube, making it briefly the most successful video on my whole channel.

So I dunno. Maybe it makes sense to use Tumblr for Business™ in that way. Not that I think I can manufacture a viral hit, of course, but maybe paying to have my work shown to more people on here could be worth it? I guess I'll find out once that Blaze goes through the moderation.

It sorta ties in with a broader pre-post-Twitter reflection I've been having about how I use social media, though.

I don't want to be my job

My personal twitter became my business twitter entirely by accident, and while it was fun at first to have thousands of followers on my personal shitposting, it wasn't fun at all in the long run. At a certain point, usually somewhere past the 10k follower boundary (or if you had the misfortune of having a pre-Elon checkmark), people stop treating you like a person or a fellow poster, and start treating you like a brand, a celebrity (however minor), like a Public Figure. And on the one hand that's good, kinda, because if you have a larger platform, you do deserve more scrutiny. On the other hand, it means you can't be a person on your own social media.

Dark humor, in-jokes, dumb shitposts with friends, dunking on some random hot take, all of that starts to come with the danger that some stranger, who is determined to misunderstand what you post in the absolute worst possible faith, will see it and start yelling about it.

And if, as a person who has a bigger platform, you yell back at them, or dunk on their bullshit... yeah, there's a real risk that you're the one being the bigger asshole, actually. When you have a big Twitter audience, you have some responsibilty for what happens to the things you put in front of that audience. And if you have fans, they might want to defend you, and if you have a lot of fans, some percentage of them aren't going to know how to act or where the line is, and go way the fuck too far.

It's the reality of having a public profile. People will come at you in absolutely wild ways, accusing you of saying absolutely insane things that they have derived from truly deranged (often willful) misinterpretations, and you can't respond to that like a person responds, or you run the risk of being the one who does more harm.

And so you can't be a person on your social media anymore. You now have to be a Public Figure, and if you don't figure that out you're gonna get in trouble. I should have made a private friends-only account on Twitter far, far earlier than I did, I should have made an official brand account far, far earlier than I did. But the only way to know that is in hindsight.

... which leads me back to Tumblr. I've been thinking about Doing Business™ on Tumblr - Blazing my posts, doing SEO, promoting my brand and all that other shit that technically comes with the job I ostensibly have.

I fled back here when I saw Twitter start to torch itself, because I need to post somewhere, but do I need to post for myself, as a person?

Or do I need to post because I am TBSkyen the YouTuber and posting is part of my job, my brand and my online personality which I crafted as a layer of separation between myself and the audience but which has at this point become so entangled with my real self that I don't know the boundaries between them anymore?

Am I going to look back on this and realize, as I did on Twitter, that I should have made a private, friends-only Tumblr account right from the start, and not mixed the personal with the professional and with Posting? I have around 2000 followers right now and this is still fun and casual, but what happens if I manage to luck myself into a real following again? When am I going to dunk on something I think is dumb and cause the person who posted it to receive actionable threats because someone who likes my videos doesn't know how the fuck to act?

Anyway, this is the kind of shit that gets powerblasted through my brain when I pay $10 to make some more people see one of my posts on a website - how's your morning going?

[quill-n]

I think Tsu is actually the most unhinged hero. Everyone sees him as this prim and proper hero who takes his image very seriously, and he IS, but he’s also just so CHAOTIC.

Seriously the man was in full nude during a fight In vigilantes because he had to use his own hero costume. And he wasn’t even EMBARRASSED. He has absolutely no shame, and I love him for it

No fr, he's genuinely one of the strangest characters I've ever encountered because every time I learn something new about him, he gets weirder

and I ADORE him for it

I think I'll actually go insane if I don't write it all down, so that's going below the cut

All this information is canon, take that how you will

Let's start with the fighting in the nude thing since you already mentioned it— He was totally naked that scene, he used up his entire costume (which makes sense) but he still actively chose to leave the part covering his face. Not only does he have no shame, he has priorities.

His denim puns... was that something he always did, or did he come up with it to stay on brand??

The fact that he's always adjusting his hair. I would be too, if I also chose to rock that weird side sweep

This one's a little funky, but there's something about the way that he stands— Idk, it just sets off something in my brain (affectionate)

Yeah

I don't think I even need to mention his neck

His proportions in general????

He has pockets on the back of his. collar? jollar?? They're on the back of his head is my point and they're like the ass pockets of pants and just WHAT DOES HE USE THEM FOR??

(My personal headcanon is that's where he keeps his comb)

The fact that he has an S+ rank in fashion sense, but the way he canonically dresses is... yeah

He just looks so strange (affectionate)

(Ik it's not actually that out of place, but there's something about the four buttons on the pants and the suspenders/scarf (bandana??) combo and the. the bowling shoes. It just throws me off a bit. I feel like he can do better /lh)

SPEAKING OF HIS CLOTHES, we've seen at LEAST three or four different iterations of the same stupid costume. The changes are always so unnoticeable and it drives me a little bit insane

THE FACE BELT.

His taste in interior decor is... on brand

Wow I wonder what his favorite color is (sarcastic, affectionate)

(His home isn't actually that bad imo, but the office.) (There's more scenes of the office interior somewhere out there but they won't fit on this post, apologies.)

(The thread spool table. I can't tell if it's genius or insane.)

He was the president of a crafts club at a school that doesn't allow hero students to join clubs (anymore?) and now he's one of the top heroes of the country and I think that says a lot about him

He won the Best Jeanist award eight years in a row, which for a while SEVERELY confused me because did he name himself after the award, or was the award named after him? Because one of those is a little weird and the other one seems just a little unfair.

(This is how I learned that the Best Jeanist award is a REAL THING in Japan so he named himself after the award and that sent me reeling for a while)

The BJ belt buckle.

This image:

This image:

His hands are bigger than his face, which means that the fact that he's been hospitalized multiple times makes PERFECT sense

(my friend found a whole Stanford article written in the most hilarious way about the hand thing, and it's haunted me ever since) (I'd need to ask for the article again if anyone's curious but it's an... interesting read)

edit: I LIED I LIED THE ARTICLE IS SATIRE IT'S NOT REAL IT'S NOT REAL THE HAND THING (probably) ISN'T TRUE (it's still a hilarious read though so I'm still linking it)

(I'm going to pretend that it's real just because it is absolutely hysterical to me. Sir Nighteye and All Might also have hands bigger than their faces btw. For the record. Which is why I think it's awfully funny.)

Anyways

There's also this from Vigilantes, and I'm not even sure what to make of it

It talks about how he's always so serious even when the situation is........ ridiculous

He's so eccentric I love him

Also that specific image gives fish want me, women fear me vibes /j

He drives the fucking Batmobile except it can shoot out metal wires

(I've never read any DC comics; if the actual Batmobile can also shoot out metal wires, please forgive my oversight)

The fact that he JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE WITHOUT A PARACHUTE and STILL landed on his feet?? gracefully? on a cable???? With not a single hair out of place?????

ALSO the fact that he keeps on having such close encounters with death (he lost a lung, the whole Hawks and Dabi situation...) and yet he's. not dead. yet. somehow. Maybe he has multiple lives.

Is he just a cat?????

New conspiracy theory just dropped /j

Moral of the story is: Best Jeanist is, in fact, unhinged (and we love him for it)

[captainsteveamericarogers]

Why are you so quiet? Everyone has gone insane and making up new facts every five minutes, you're usually the first one to lose your patience and lay it down. You're obviously on Chris' side yet you're letting people talk shit about him. You need to say something!!

I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted. You talk as if I'm some matriarch of the fandom when in fact I'm just a mediocre fanfic writer who is exhausted with this whole debacle and it's barely been two weeks. Nobody listens to me!

Today I saw a magnificent example of both Chinese whispers and alternative facts in this fandom. The person who alleged that CE was at her work for medical imaging, who I suspect was also the author of the now-deleted Reddit post, only tweeted that she had found out he was at her work. I appreciate that many people deleted the screenshots of the tweet as it was a gross invasion of his privacy and a HIPAA violation that, if true, would have very serious consequences for both the tweeter and her employer, and that a lot of people didn't see it. But suddenly people were talking about an actual x-ray or MRI image that had been posted and deleted. There was never an image. That didn't stop a few people from saying they knew someone who had seen it, which adds credence to the rumour despite being a lie due to there never being an image.

A lie can run around the world before the truth has got its boots on - The Truth by Terry Pratchett

We are seeing this in action every single day since the People article. I've seen people make the most outlandish claims. Suddenly, everyone has a friend who knows his flight details or what he ate for dinner. It's utterly demented. It's beyond crazy.

Let's go through all of the utter horse shit I can recall from the past fortnight. Shall we have more bullet points?

It's all PR

They have a contract for two years (how could anyone possibly know this?)

Chris obviously cannot stand Alba anywhere near him

The girl in the park who was forced to delete her Twitter was in on it and planted there to record

Chris has been personally seeking out Tumblrinas to block on Twitter

Narrative PR wrote the deranged fan letters to make the fandom "look crazy" (lol) and garner sympathy for Chris

Literally anyone who sticks up for Chris or Alba is, in fact, Chris or Alba or their moms

Alba wore a halter to WDW to show off her tattoo and be recognised (Really? Who on earth is going to recognise her?)

She only flew into FL to record the video and then left immediately (y'all really don't like them spending time together, huh?)

They are reading every single post every single gossip blog writes and using the comments to make their fake PR relationship more convincing

There's more but this is so exhausting. If you take one thing from this post, let it be this. Take EVERYTHING with a pinch of salt, no matter who posts it and how sure they seem. Sometimes people are right and sometimes they are wrong. This fandom has a nasty habit of voicing their opinions as facts, then others take that and run with it, like today with the medical imaging business.

The fact is, nobody cares whether or not you believe it. But you are devoting hours of your life, every single day, dissecting everything and going around and around in circles and it is not healthy. It is not healthy at all. Take some time off or at least talk about something else.

Someone asked what I personally think is happening with Chris and Alba, so I'll leave you with my thoughts. It's serious. They are in love. I think they'll probably get married sooner rather than later. The laser focused comment was an FYI, telling the fandom that he's going to be taking his foot off the gas and concentrating on his private life for the foreseeable future. Take it with a pinch of salt. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[multapohja966]

some fav things this year

Read

Detransition, baby - Torrey Peters' book. just adding a one more assurance that it is just as good as everyone says.

Shopping Star as a semiotechnical code modulating Greek femininity in pharmacopornographic capitalism - fun opulence of hard words discussing interesting things. (article utilising Preciado's analysis tools to discuss (post)recession Greece)

Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw - Rei Mikamoto's insane gory gross, hard to explain, manga about a girl with a chainsaw trying to kill the person responsible for turning her classmates into grotesque minions.

One Piece - caught up finally. yes, it is worth it.

67,292 Things Car Guys Can Teach Transsexuals by Adrian Glenn - part of the 2 Trans 2 Furious zine. as a car guy associate and transsexual i deeply loved this one.

The Shape of Premodern Nonbinarity: A Conversation with Leah DeVun - I'll never stop talking about this article.

Watched

Bronson - Tom Hardy movie, biography of "Britain's most violent prisoner " Charles Bronson. It doesn't completely highlight everything essential about his story (having a less than nuanced view on untreated mental illness and its relationship with incarceration) but it's such a good fucking movie!! And at least artistically very loyal to who it's depicting (insane and absurdist).

this video of jack harlow at a chiropractic appointment - we live such weird fucking times. like it isn't heartfelt but it isn't disgusting either it's just, w-what? eh?

Little chinese everywhere - vlogger Yan who travels though less tourist heavy provinces in China, really respectful look to everyday life in more rural communities. these have given me a lot of peace and joy. a lot of extremely intresting architecture as well.

Inflatables and the adults who love collecting them - by furry youtuber Ash Coyote. Truly a gem of respectful by fandom, of fandom documentaries. Touching and lovely!!

MerPeople - don't touch netflix anymore but this documentary of the mermaid community and industry is incredibly good.

this rose ramdin x html jones vid - the well read terminally online gen z musical artists who get their estrogen money from twitter shitposting are the modern greek philosphers. in the sense that i'd sit on a stone public square step and listen to a convo like this for the whole day.

A normal creepypasta retrospective - there's hope for youtube actually

Cat soup / Nekojiru-sou movie

Earth Maiden Arjuna - early 2000s environmentalist anime series lovers make some noicee. this one is sooo lovely and gorgeous. real hidden gem.

Gigs

Sabaton - as expected, bit of a weird vibe in the crowd demographic :--------D but show itself is an insane fucking spectacle I'm happy I saw. You can really sense these men are swedish, the "my country hasn't been in an active war for two centuries" theater kid energy is wild. Tank on stage.

Death Grips - I'm pretty sure this rebooted my whole brain. Went with close friend, pretty sure my biggest bruise came form her hands.

Antti Tuisku - Farewell gig of the best pop performer in finland. I do not understand how he doesn't pass out on stage with everything he's doing. The jesus allegory album is forever my favorite, it's so genious in how it discusses fame so well while staying funny and self-avare. Neck hurt for the next week due to headbanging.

Suistamon sähkö - small gig yet one of the absolute best this year. (i cried) You need to see these guys live, the vocal ability of the main singers is absurd, it doesn't come through fully in recordings. And they create a very special atmosphere and community within their gigs, literally joined hands and danced in a circle.

[thelioncourts]

Okay, please share what it was like watching Sam and Jacob being cast back when the announcement was made! Curious to see what fans of the book thought when they saw them. And Bailey!

!! so I followed anne religiously on social media (naturally) and remember vividly when she sold the rights in 2016. i had called my friend v and was like 'WE'RE GETTING TVC' and she and i freaked out. but then it just. didn't happen. and there would be news, and then nothing, and then news sometimes, then nothing. i remember the last kind of "big" thing i saw was an article in 2019 (which i posted on my instagram story so it's in my archive lol) that ultimately, at the time, led to nowhere.

(i feel like the article was about the show moving from the original network that had it OR was about the showrunner changing, because there's a whole story there too)

anyway, i very much became a 'i'll believe it when i see it' kind of person and didn't check too much into anything.

then all of a sudden: august 2021.

i'm sitting in my shitty apartment, getting ready for my first year of teaching and nauseous at the thought, and i'm doom-scrolling and amc has put out casting announcements. and i absolutely lost my mind.

you see, there have been fancasts and everything since the books came out, and i have seen some pretty insane casting suggestions for tvc. i remember cody fern was a big fancast for lestat around this specific time period. i, personally, had very much made up my mind that i didn't want to know the actors that got cast as lestat and louis, specifically, because i would have preconceived notions of who they were and would get in my head.

i saw jacob's casting announcement first and had a very mixed set of emotions. i sort of vaguely knew jacob from got; i never really watched got, but my parents did and i would see about everything in passing. he was my mom's fave character <3 but! i had not real opinion of him other than he was beautiful and for that i very much approved. i will say, however, that when the casting announcement was first made i didn't know/they hadn't said (??) about the time change and i spent a lot of time really confused how he was going to play a 1700s wealthy plantation owner :)) and then when i learned of the time change his casting made sense, but it added this whole different level of anxiety because like ?????? what did that meannnnnn for me. but i knew he was talented and i knew he was beautiful and i was like 'this is fine. i trust this' and like ?????????? oh my god did strike gold with jacob anderson. beautiful, stunning, talented, otherworldly boy.

i saw sam's casting announcement second and i need to preface it with this: since 2016 i had lived in this state of almost fear at the idea of casting lestat. lestat walks so many lines, lines of villain and hero and lover and antagonist and beauty and monster and prince and pauper and vampire and human and mentor and student and father and son and husband and etc. etc. etc. like lestat is fully, 100000% the hardest casting because he really is the vampire chronicles. i did not know sam reid when i saw him. the picture they posted for the announcements was with very short hair, a fair amount of stubble, and i remember looking at him and thinking that i couldn't really see it but also i've seen amazing transformations and so i was like 'we'll see.' i purposefully did not look up ANYTHING about him, did not watch anything he was in, to avoid getting in my head. it wasn't until SDCC that i really took the time to look at him and, in hopefully the least weird way possible, i have never been more attracted to another person in my entire life. and so much of it was centered on personality. like hollywood is full of beautiful people so it wasn't just that sam is incredibly attractive and stunning, but the way he spoke of the books, of lestat, of loustat, his utter understanding of what this was, how important it is, him having a multitude of copies of the books, some since his adolescence, just -- everything. and then, of course, i watched iwtv and i can't believe i ever questioned if someone could play lestat the way he need to be played because sam is the definition of perfection. he is everything, he is superb. he is unmatched in his talent and we're so fucking lucky to have him.

bailey made me nervous too, namely the age change! anyone that's read iwtv knows that the true horror of claudia is the idea of this FIVE. YEAR. OLD. CHILD. running around in that child body for eternity. being a woman in that body. and so making her 14 was like :)) like i got it from a filming perspective; if you cast an actual 5/6 year old and it takes three/four years to film the first two seasons (as it is) then suddenly she's 8-10 years old and the growth of a child from 5 to 8 or any of the other options is just crazy !!!! but also i was like oh nooooooooooooo a time period change and a significant claudia age change whyyyyy and then i watched it and it was perfect. and bailey was this perfect love child of sam and jacob's likeness and she embodied so many of lestat and louis' traits in a way that made her so much their child it was scary.

and basically it was my nervousness at the time period change and casting lestat and the aging up of claudia all being proven to be utterly beautiful things, perfect and a gift, truly, to this story that made me decide, then and there, that i would not question these writers until i felt like there was something right on my screen that made me. i would trust all of their changes, all of their choices, because they have yet to ever let me down.

and the casting -- i know so many of us have talked about it, but we are so incredibly lucky on all fronts. beautifully talented and wonderfully kind people are playing our vampires. what more could we ever ask for????

[adarkrainbow]

I didn't had those to the previous reblog, so that the post wouldn't get too heavy, but there is a lot of interesting articles about Andersen and his relationship to Christianity, religion as a whole and various folklores and "paganism". For example...

Of course, the go-to would be the Hans Christian Andersen Center, which has an entire collection of online articles about Religious motifs within Andersen's tales and works:

One of which is, for example, "Andersen and those of other faiths":

There is this very interesting article by Forward taking a look at Andersen's view on Judaism through his story "The Jewish Girl":

It is more of a side-mention within the article, but there is this very interesting article about how Hans Christian Andersen was received in China and is seen through Chinese culture:

JSTOR has "Critical Reflections about Hans Christian Andersen, the Failed Revolutionary"

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41388797

(A bit short and incomplete but) Toronto Metropolitan University has a page for an exposition about the Little Mermaid, and it evokes the religious influences:

(Not very much about religion but I'll still add it) The Hans Andersen fairy tale, on "CatholicIreland.net"

"Religious Views in Hans Christian Andersen's Works", on Wiley's Online Library

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0730.2007.00880.x#:~:text=Since%20Hans%20Christian%20Andersen%20has,Christianity%20has%20often%20been%20questioned.

[thebonerpit]

Idk if anyone follows my posts enough to even notice this but you may have seen me talking about a lot of new things I've watched so far this year, both tv and film. I kind of made a mini resolution to do this because I found, especially at the end of 2023, that I was stuck in a rut of either rewatching old things or mindlessly flipping through YouTube videos I had little to no interest in. There's so much media out there I'm interested in and now I feel almost reinvigorated to go through it and I've been having a blast.

Most of the time I'll probably just reblog a gifset or two with thoughts in the tags but I finally watched the Interview with the Vampire tv show and I have FEELINGS (mostly good)! Spoilers for season one and I do talk about book things that eventually happen so beware in case you don't know and want to continue the show completely blind...

So I kinda put off watching this at first because the Vampire Chronicles books are some of my favourites, and while it did have its own issues, the 1994 film holds a special place in my heart. I was like... do we really need anything else? But I'm glad I gave it a chance because the show was able to go so much further in so many aspects and also now we have a chance to actually see even more of the book events take place!

I'm gonna say up front that almost every character felt very different from how they are in the book except for Lestat. Lestat was actual perfection and I cannot BELIEVE someone did a (dare I say) even better job than Tom Cruise who gave the performance of his life in the film. Sam Reid's Lestat is unhinged and dramatic and terrifying and sad and cringe and yet also loveable and it was a masterpiece of acting. For the majority of the other characters I really didn't mind the differences and in some instances I thought they were actually improved. Daniel Molloy, for example, who is basically Anthony Bourdain? Perfection. Louis who is yes kind of pathetic and dramatic like the book, but also is volatile and complicated which Lestat is drawn to right from the beginning instead of only after having his little breakdown caused by his brother's death? Excellent. Armand who is older and looks nothing like the Armand described in the books but I can see without any problem how Marius fell madly deeply insanely in love with him because he's GORGEOUS and has this unsettling serenity about him? Give. Me. MORE.

The only issue I really had was with Claudia. I see people praising her all over the place so I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion but I hated that they aged her up so much. The most compelling thing about Claudia as a character is that she is an adult woman trapped in the body of a literal CHILD. A pre-pubescent child. Not a teenager. It's absolutely horrifying and it should be horrifying. Now, I will say, I saw an article where they talked about part of the reason behind this choice being that they needed the actor to work longer hours and it was impossible for a kid to do that, plus the very intense material, and I fully FULLY support any protections for child actors because the industry is insane. But it does make me sad and I wish there was some way they could have worked around it. I get what they tried to do with teenage Claudia but it just fell flat for me. And also the actress really looks her age (I think she's 20?) so like the few times where people were making fun of her for "playing dress up" or whatever I'm like... she fully looks like an older teen at LEAST what are you talking about lol. Also I thought her accent was kind of bad.

But honestly, that was really the only problem I had with the whole series. I absolutely loved how they went full-on explicit with the Lestat/Louis romance and the chemistry between the two of them was... WOOF. I was actually really interested in the modern portions too, mostly because Anthony Bour-- I mean Daniel Molloy was so entertaining lol. I loved how he pushed and pushed at Louis and their whole back and forth was brilliant. Although putting on my archivist's hat for a second to be outraged at Daniel consenting to wearing the cotton gloves to handle the diaries but then eating a fucking sandwich right beside the book???? Absolutely not lol. It was so much fun to see the Armand reveal (which I was spoiled for somehow but that's ok) especially knowing that Armand eventually turns Daniel and boy oh boy I hope they go long enough to get to that. I loved the continued references to Lestat's love of music which makes me hope they're planting seeds to make rock star Lestat a little more believable lol (god can you even imagine?? And we don't talk about the Queen of the Damned movie ok).

As for S2, I'm so excited for Paris and the Théâtre des Vampires and HELLO Ben Daniels as Santiago!!! Omg so hype for that. And it's going to be so interesting to see the Armand/Louis relationship as well because I mean it's always going to be Lestat/Louis and Armand/Marius for me so Louis being like "he's the love of my life"... girl. (And speaking of Armand/Marius please GOD give us some flashbacks because they are my Vampire Chronicles OTP and I need to see that whole story including my girl Bianca thank youuuuu).

Yeah so overall I'm quite positive about the whole thing and sincerely hope that they get many more seasons because there's so many interesting stories in those books and we've only ever gotten a TINY portion on screen.

[solradguy]

Do you plan on scanning or posting more about the missing link comic anthology? You seem super busy so no pressure, I’m just curious ^-^

Yeah :D Since October I've been insanely busy and haven't had a lot of time for GG scanlation stuff... But I'd really like to get to it soon and I think I should be able to in the next month or so. Here's what I have on my Guilty Gear plate at the moment that I want/need to get done before starting a new set of scans:

The last two Overture Material Collection short stories. I have the Japanese manuscripts put together and edited so they just need translated now. Hopefully I'll be able to finish these soon. This is a project I wanted to have done months ago but stuff keeps coming up... These stories can be done in a day or two, max.

The Dengeki Playstation magazine scans. There are about 110 pages left to clean up but the whole thing is scanned. I wanna translate the GG article from this issue. It isn't very long and I don't think it will be a time consuming project. Other than the GG article and the table of contents, I won't be translating anything else from this issue and will post the full scans on Archive.

Lightning the Argent (light novel). This will be my next big project after I finish the above two things (or at least the Overture stories). The JP manuscript is compiled, edited, and ready for translating.

After these first two things are out of the way, I'll have to remove the binding from the Missing Link manga, physically clean the pages, and then scan them and clean the scans. This is a bit time consuming because I need to work slowly and carefully to make sure nothing gets ripped or damaged, since I want to re-bind it after scanning. With it being an anthology the stories in it aren't connected. I think I'll clean all the scans then translate and post the stories it in chunks like I did with the Overture stories, eventually compiling a .PDF of the full scanlation for Archive/MangaDex (JP+EN for Archive, just the EN scans for MangaDex)

I'd also like to get scans of the GGX 4koma manga going too. This project will be super, super, easy to translate after the pages are skinned, scanned, and cleaned. The Japanese difficulty level in them is, like, in the ages 13-18 young adult range. I want to have these on standby for when LtA (whose Japanese is more in the adult reading level range) inevitably makes me want to bite my keyboard in frustration rofl

So, the ML Anthology manga is a little ways off yet, but it'll be here Soon™️