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rottenpumpkin13 · 6 months

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I mean if you really think about it. Technically Chadley is kind of Sephiroth's little brother

Anon you are so right. Unfortunately we don't have it it canon, but highlights of their sibling bond would include:

• Sephiroth frequently gifting Chadley toys and other trinkets he himself was deprived of during childhood because he wants to make sure Chadley doesn't go through that. Chadley has more Lego sets and two-person games than he knows what to do with.

• Chadley going to Sephiroth for real world advice and getting trolled in grand older brother fashion.

Chadley: I think I may have romantic feelings for Professor Hojo's new intern.

Sephiroth: How so?

Chadley: Whenever I'm around her, I have heart palpitations, my vision blurs, I become sweaty and my speech is slurred.

Sephiroth: You've just described a stroke.

Chadley:

Sephiroth: You can have the same symptoms by consuming a double bacon cheeseburger.

Chadley:

Sephiroth: Which is much more fulfilling than romance, in my opinion.

• While researching "ways brothers bond," Chadley found funny videos of siblings jump scaring each other. He now frequently hides behind corners, donning a scary mask or fake blood, to scare Sephiroth. He finds it hilarious when Sephiroth gasps and clutches his heart. Sephiroth, in turn, isn't sure when he'll ever stop pretending to be scared, but he doesn't care. He likes seeing Chadley happy.

• Chadley steals Sephiroth's music taste, much to Hojo's chagrin, since the kid likes to blast the heavy metal and obscure goth music in the labs.

• Stealing each other's food.

*They're walking when Chadley's shoelaces come undone*

Chadley: Hold my sandwich for me please.

Sephiroth: Sure.

*Chadley bends down to tie his shoes. When he stands up, his sandwich is gone*

Chadley: I told you to hold it!

Sephiroth: I'm holding it in my stomach.

• Chadley uses social media for researching/ mimicking "sibling behavior" and likes to replicate things he sees. This is how he ended up on a "fun ways to annoy your brother" video. Sephiroth now gets sprayed with water—like a cat—at random when he's trying to rest.

• Chadley's excited rambling about materia and his research is never reprimanded by Sephiroth, who listens happily, remembering how he wished he had someone to listen to him gush about his interests when he was a child.

• Chadley is helping Professor Hojo assess Sephiroth in the labs. When Hojo's back is turned, Charley socks Sephiroth in the arm. Sephiroth, annoyed, punches him right back. Hojo turns around right as Chadley gets punched.

Hojo: Honestly Sephiroth. I expected better from you.

Sephiroth: But he hit me first.

Chadley: He bullies me constantly, Professor.

Sephiroth: !?

• When the labs feel suffocating or Professor Hojo is being particularly difficult, Chadley likes to escape to the 49th floor and use Sephiroth's office as a quiet spot. Sephiroth isn't always there, but when he is he makes sure to distract Chadley and give him the attention he needs. Eventually Sephiroth gives him a spare access card to his apartment if Chadley ever needs it.

• This later evolves into sleepovers.

• They constantly take advantage of their height difference—Chadley through piggyback rides and Sephiroth through fun methods of discipline.

*Lazard walks by Sephiroth's office and sees Sephiroth sitting on Chadley*

Lazard: What in Shiva's name are you doing??

Sephiroth: I caught him trying to go to Wall Market.

Chadley: It's for RESEARCH.

Sephiroth: Clearly he's at the age where he needs to be monitored lest he falls victim to recreational drugs and gang activity.

Chadley: I was just going to conduct a survey! GET OFF ME!

Sephiroth: Struggling will do nothing but amuse me.

• Not even Sephiroth is safe from your little sibling stealing your stuff.

*Chadley walks in with a shiny device in his hand*

Sephiroth: Is that my transmuter?

Chadley: No.

Sephiroth: It says Sephiroth on the back.

Chadley: No it doesn't.

Sephiroth: Chadley, I'm looking right at it.

Chadley: So? You don't even use it.

Sephiroth: Just because I don't regularly use something doesn't mean you can take it without permission.

Chadley: Hm. I guess I should probably give this back.

*Chadley places Masamune on the table*

Sephiroth: HOW—?

• Other SOLDIERs and troopers on missions with Sephiroth have reported seeing his face "light up" whenever he gets a call from Chadley.

#ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy 7 #sephiroth #final fantasy vii #ff7r #chadley ff7

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arkus-rhapsode · 5 months

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Are We Returning To 2000s Era Shonen Anime/Manga (A Discussion)

So this is going to be way more of a thinkpiece than I usually do for this blog, but recent trends in the space and niche that I devote a lot of time to, Anime/Manga, have been showing themselves that got me thinking. This is not meant to be a serious sociology case study taken as fact, it's going to be more a theory based on observations of the community that I, like many others, devote a lot of time into than a full on claim, but I do want to ask, is the anime and manga community is experiencing a resurgence in 2000s era shonen manga?

Background

Now let me get this out of the way, there is bias in these observations as I am a western anime fan, but also a North American anime fan. Meaning my gateway and gauges of pop culture are mostly determined by the history of my area of the world’s relationship with anime. From the OVAs of 80s hyper violent and hyper sexual sci fi that you had to purchase from the backs of video rental stores, to the Toonami era of 90s and early 00s programming block the centred around action anime and cartoons, the 4kids era of mass market japanese animated kids shows that were really just giant commercials with some of the earliest memetics in western sphere, and the explosion of shonen battle series in the western sphere in the mid to late 2000s marked by the rise of the colloquially named “Big 3” of shonen jump. I understand that continents like South America or Europe may have undergone a different exposure to the Japanese medium, but as I am going in with some bias in this observation, I would like to make it clear on where the formula is coming from. I also would like to lay down a certain clarification before making this, when discussing the topic of nostalgia I think a lot of people have forgotten what it actually means. If we go by the Cambridge dictionary definition, Nostalgia is “a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past.” This is often invoked when talking about pop culture because people from say 20 years ago don’t seem to enjoy or relate to the interests of today. The belief is that nostalgia is generational ergo if you grew up in the 80s you’re likely wishing to recapture the feelings of childhood that you associate with those trends from 20 years ago. In fact, most revaluation in media has often been catalyzed by a difference of those who grew up in an era rebuffing the opinions of those who didn’t.

There is the well known “20 Year Rule” regarding pop culture nostalgia. That every decade it longs for what was popular 20 years ago. Probably no better example than “That 70s show” being popular in the late 90s, the return of many beloved 80s-90s franchises like “Ghostbusters” returning in the 2010s as well as series like “Stranger Things” that wrapped itself up in 80s aesthetics. DC's New 52 relaunch that seemed to bring back trends from 90s era comics.

Now it goes without saying that the 20 year rule isn’t a “real” rule, rather an observation that certain trends make a return to popularity because the ones who grew up with a certain media will be the ones who add to the discourse when they come of age and will be the ones having a chance to create consumable art for the masses and that may just be revivals of once popular IP. This isn’t necessarily wrong in regards to nostalgia, but I do believe that one doesn’t need to have been born in a certain era to be nostalgic for something when we discuss pop culture. Pop culture is really just trends and preferences that become en vogue and people can acquire a taste at any given time. Sometimes it can be due to those who grew up with something now having the chance to create and drawing upon their own childhoods, sometimes it's just due to not being exposed, other times it can be a certain feeling of disillusionment of the now, and seeking something that peaks your interest, and even sometimes it can be major corporations or networks looking for things with existing audiences to draw upon that actually expand the audience. In fact one of the most prominent Netflix adaptations of the 2020s has been live Action Avatar the Last Airbender and One Piece, both shows that got their start on American televisions in 2004 and 2005. One of the biggest animated shows right now is Invincible, based on a comic book from 2003

So I want to stress this is not necessarily about how if you grew up with the original Mobile Suit Gundam show you are being replaced by the kids who were watching GetBackers. And or if you are a fan of shows that came out in the 2000s you yourself were born in the 2000s.

But what was the landscape of the English speaking anime community like back in the 2000s? Well let me paint a portrait for you.

What was the 2000s like for anime fans?

The term I used, “shonen boom period”, is somewhat mythologized in the western anime sphere. There was a glut of high profile shonen anime running around the same time that most people identified with this time period and was arguably when we saw the most influx of people getting into the hobby. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach served as big series known for their massively large casts, MCs with a level of attitude, some of the most hype centric power supernatural/extraordinary power systems, and certain brand of “Japanese-y” humor. We can’t deny that it wasn’t just these series however, as series like Fullmetal Alchemist became many people’s introduction to more narratively intricate series interspersed with a somewhat gothic action style. The gothic and somewhat edgy Death Note became many fans' first ever “battle series that’s not a battle series” that also incorporated many biblical and gothic horror elements into its presentation. And things like Code Geass also incorporated this combination of hyper stylized cat and mouse with ornate and gothic aesthetics and fighting robots.

Series like Ouran Highschool Host Club and and Haruhi Suzumiya were basically gateways to the more hyper extraordinary slice of life series that didn’t shy away from fanservice and loud comedy. With ecchi like Rosario + Vampire taking it to an even greater extreme. For people willing to go even deeper, series like Fairy Tail began to pop up and share a distinct similar flavor to series like One Piece and Naruto which arguably started the popular conception of it coming from the same magazine as the latter. That’s not also discounting the amount of holdovers from the 90s like Dragon Ball z, Trigun, and Yu Yu Hakusho, which also had an edge towards fantastical combat and comedic oriented series.

All of this is to generally illustrate the media diet of what an average anime fan was expected to have some level of access to. As this was far before the eras of Funimation or Hulu having online services. Not a homogenized spread by any means, and im certain plenty of readers could name more underground or smaller series like Mushishi or Elphen Lied, but generally the popular mainstream you could tell that there was a consistent theme of long form media with a very loud, very flashy, and very action oriented type of series. Which I think is fair to say had skewed some people’s perception. And while I cannot claim with utter certainty that Japan was the same in this regard, you can look at magazines like Shonen Jump and notice a somewhat synchronistic trend. With series like Hitman Reborn, Gintama, D. Gray Man, Eyeshield 21, Bobobobo, etc.making a clear marcation of what was commercially successful at the time. Even series not inside the magazine but had smaller nicher, Tokyo-pop-esque series like Rave Master, Flame of Recca, Air Gear, History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Soul Eater, etc all had a similarity to the shonen jump magazine. To the point it was not uncommon to see so many jump characters in a collage and one from shonen sunday or shonen magazine in there as if this was all coming from the same place.

Changing Landscape

Now with the advantages of the modern internet, we have the ability to actually keep up with the jump magazine in real time as opposed to the common practice of relying on scanlation site and fansubs that were often devoted to the most popular works. But with simultaneous publication and services like Crunchyroll, being able to access a wider variety of shows and series that we may or may not have access to. I believe that the 2010s in the english speaking fanbase was the decade we saw a somewhat expansionism of what people perceived as anime. Anime could be One Piece and Naruto, but it could also be Erased, it could be the Promised Neverland, Attack on Titan, K-On, Haikuu, and Durarara. With the representatives of the 90s no longer being holdovers in syndication like dragon ball but rather full on revivals of the likes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Hunter x Hunter.

All of these could be "shonen" but also other genres like Seinin, Josei, and Shojo all had their own varying layers of what they could be in their demographic

The mood of what was popular was also changing, not just in the fact that more flavors of anime and manga were becoming mainstream, but new works from shonen jump showed a rise in almost subversive series like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer that seemed to consciously deviate or place new spins from traditional tropes of the 2000s characters, and we saw works that were derivative of previous serious like Black Clover drawing upon Naruto the same way it was known that Naruto had drawn upon Dragon Ball before them. Series like The Promised Neverland and Doctor Stone offered up more dramatic series that still infused a certain energy of the shonen genre.

And of course the series like Attack Titan whose much more darker and gorey storytelling seemed to have become one of if not the biggest hit of the generation with a well regarded adaptation, but something that had felt so removed from what were once contemporaries like the then ending Bleach or Naruto. We can also note that the late 2010s saw the rise of series like Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen that began a trend of popular urban fantasy stories. Where fantastical concepts were now in contemporary Japan and the stories that focused on concepts like self identity and the harshness of maturing were juxtaposed to the real world inhabited by monsters.

It seemed many tropes of the previous decade were still alive in the rise of Isekai anime. Which was particularly the only popular outlet for fantasy stories with an action orientation. But these almost felt disconnected from the wider world of manga as things like heavy harem action series had actually decreased in mags like shonen jump. There was also new tropes being established in this subgenre that became unique popularizations of tropes all on their own, such as the overpowered protagonist whose power everyone believes is weak. But many of these were based on light novels, a form of media that only in the last few years western readers are having official access to and not simply scans found on the internet.

We in North America truly have gone from anime being a niche that was primarily accessible through dedicated TV blocks like Toonami, to a full blown cultural relevance shift.

We also need to talk about this era in its perception of the past also shifted. The 90s and the early 00s often blend together as classics of the anime community. Somewhat encased in amber. However, there is no denying that “feels like a 2000s series” had become a bit of a shorthand for very goofy, Very horny, very action heavy series. Series like Fire Force and and Undead Unluck had their show what more problematic elements be equated to the problematic trends of the past that people just accepted as “a part of the medium.” But lets keep in mind, this is not really describing a time, more a trend. Superficial elements that invoke similar feelings of the past.

Speaking of anime fans…

Fan Culture

So while I wanted to paint a picture of creatively the landscape has changed, there’s no denying that in the age of internet accessibility, the anime fan community has also changed. It is much much easier now to get in contact with people who are anime fans now than it was to rely on word of mouth like it was back in the day. I can still distinctly remember my anime club which wasn’t even really a club devoted to anime but rather other geek stuff like D&D and TCGs. Our hobbies just happened to have similar overlap.

Now though, anime fan culture is much more relevant and thriving. Going from just posting weekly reviews, to long retrospectives, comedy videos, abridged series, clickbait articles, fan theories, and podcasts. However, I think a defining feature of fans of the 2000s era of anime that were at their most prominent was hype culture.

Due to many of the biggest anime series at the time being released weekly and focusing on action, many many many discussion boards and videos were often about staying in this cycle of wanting to see what happens next and the action made people very excited to see just how characters were going to win fights or even if they’d have fights at all.

I want to make it clear that this type of activity doesn’t belong to a certain era, but you can see it shaped by the 2000s era. Especially when discussing “what is the next big 3.” As if it were a true position and title, rather than a moment in time where there were just three very distinct shonen series in the fanbase.This doesn’t necessarily have a “negative” effect on the discussion of anime/manga but you can see that certain genres lend themselves to hyping fans up more and more.

Someone isn’t reading the most recent chapter of a romance like Blue Box with the same level of anticipation of who will face who like it was One Piece. But there have certainly been series that try.

The Present

Now we reach the 2020s and this decade is still young, so it is hard to say what the future will hold for certainty, but we can look at the last four years and notice some significant waves being made recently in Shonen Jump alone. I already spoke of Undead Unluck, a series that almost wears it would now be considered retro inspirations on its sleeve. With an opening chapter that establishes an MC that seems motivated by a sexual joke, A power system follows a verbal naming gimmick, and a loose enough world that allows for characters of varying aesthetics and to be incorporated into groups. With groups of these powerful characters splitting up to face each other and use their ridiculous power to the extreme. Even in the series' own meta arc about creating manga, the in-universe analogy for Undead Unluck’s manga is commented on as feeling retro. There is no doubt the biggest viral hit of the decade so far has gone to Kagurabachi, a manga about sword fighting and magical crime lords that seems almost indulgent in its stylistic slicing and or dicing of baddies. Its memetic success was primarily due to a somewhat sincere and somewhat ironic belief that it would be the “next big thing” as it promised to be a stylized action series. Another surprise viral success has been the manga Nue’s Exorcist which sees another supernatural swordfighter boy harness the powers of his sexy spirit lady while getting into harem shenanigans that echo a particular form of ecchi of anime’s past that had actually been somewhat absent in the past decade in jump. Both of these series have a somewhat noticeable similarities to Bleach, a long running shonen action series that has seen its own revival in the last few years of writing this with the long awaited adaptation of the final arc of the bleach anime.

While the other members of the “big 3” never truly went away and became almost inter-generational, Bleach truly did feel like a “come back” as it was absent for so long. And unlike Hunter x Hunter and Jojo which were never really popular in the west and even their older anime are more regarded as anime deep lore. Bleach was one of the most popular series in the west at the time to never receive a conclusion animated.

Speaking of anime of the 2000s Trigun Stampede was a reimagining of the original late 90s show. This errs a bit similar to Hunter x Hunter’s style of revival, but also seems uniquely its own in actually trying to find a balance between the original series but adding in things cut from its original late 90s early 2000s counterpart.

And now we must examine other shonen magazines. Series like Gachiakuta created by a former assistant of Okubo, the creator of Soul Eater, carries with it much of the similar energies of that series. Its also noticeable as being a truly dark fantasy series. Not an urban fantasy, but rather a completely new world that had a very grunge and dirty world building. And then there is Daemons of the Shadow Realm, a series by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa. This series is also set in modern day japan with supernatural elements, however Arakawa’s style of writing is practically unchanged from her time on FMA. With an emphasis on action, intricate mysteries, and character building comedy with her trademark over exaggerated blocky style. There is of course Hiro Mashima who has started another new series, Dead Rock, and his style has also not changed that much. Then there is just flat out sequels to 2000s series like Gamaran Shura.

This to me shows that we are seeing a bit of a combination of people who are now entering the workforce inspired by creators of the past, but also that creators of the past still exist 20 years later and are still making content that hasn’t really undergone significant change.

Of course, we can’t also forget the implementation of the Manga Plus/J plus service which has opened up a very interesting ground for creators to have some of the most creatively out there series than what you may have expected from the shonen jump brand. I genuinely don’t think series like Make the Exorcist Fall in Love or Fire Punch would’ve ever been acceptable in the pages of a weekly shonen series. However one series in particular does feel like it could've and boy its been quite the success. Kaiju no 8.

Kaiju no 8 almost feels as though it is the AoT of a new generation with the amount of anticipation this one series has as well as the similarities between the series superficial elements. However, I'd say the key distinction between the two has been the tone. AoT took a dark and practically dour tone on its titan infested world. With an MC declaring war on all of his enemies. The pain was realistic, with human bodies being brittle and vulnerable. And the belief that just because you were a good person you weren't going to make it out alive. Kaiju no 8 instead opts for a more action oriented tone. Down playing the bleak realism for more "Hell yeah!" moments. With super science weapons that feel more akin to a tokusatsu show and fights and battles between humans an kanji the feel like the Dragon Ball style wrestling matches of old.

And of course, that’s not to say Jump hasn’t continued with series that feel more modern like the realistic and mellow romance of Blue Box or the dramatic coming of age story of Akane-Banashi.

But the presence of these series has caused somewhat of a friction with the popular conception of the magazine. Its safe to say that while “shonen” tends to think of action male oriented series, it can really just mean works aimed more at adolescents. But I think many tend to associate this familiar feeling of “what is shonen” with their popular introduction of the magazine. With a saturation of action and brash comedy series. This is further complicated by the fact many action series in jump are actually ending over the last decade. With new ones not popping up to replace them as frequently and series like One Piece and MHA and Black Clover basically stretching out across an entire decade or longer. In fact, I don’t think it's unreasonable to believe that the hype for something like Kagurabachi was in part a belief that it signaled a return of a type of familiar series and genre that had been missing. Or at the very least, looked to fill an inevitable gap the magazine was obviously going to be facing. Followed by the other commercial success of Nue’s Exorcist, we are likely to see these series last for a long time. At the time of this writing, Tokyo Revenger’s author Ken Wakui has released Astro Royale, a series that feels very similar to his previous work yet infused with this almost GetBackers flavor.

So that leaves us with the question at the start, are we seeing a rise in 2000s nostalgia in anime and manga?

Conclusion

So I'm sorry if I disappoint, but the best I can say is, I’m not certain. I do believe that from my observation I think it is reasonable to say that we are seeing a rise in creators in the shonen space being ones inspired by series from 20 years ago. However, I think we are also seeing creators who are from that time period also returning to write how they have always written.

On the consumer side, I think we can see that fans of anime and manga have changed in the sense their tastes can now be shaped by a much larger catalog of series at their disposal. But in the case of shonen, I think we are simply seeing those who likely got their start in anime at around the 2000s resonating with newer series drawing upon those series, but also with younger fans now likely to grow up with the tail end of what was popular in the 2010s now being influenced by the 2020s. I also believe that one of the defining features of the anime community in the last decade is hype culture. And currently we are seeing a rise in series that actually feel more catered to hype, be it a revival of a series they liked or predicting what will be the next success.

All and all, this piece was trying to tunnel on the shonen demographic in general, which is more likely than not going to have similar traits relative to itself. I do see us as a community endorsing trends of the past and there’s an excitement for these things to “come back” even if they may or may not have left. If you liked this please drop a like or reblog because I may do more of these think pieces in the future.

#anime #manga #think piece #discussion #shonen #shonen jump #kagurabachi #gachiakuta #nue's exorcist #undead unluck #kaiju no. 8 #bleach #one piece #naruto #yomi no tsugai #attack on titan

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salmoncakepls · 7 months

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A meal to remember. @iwtvfanevents

During the past year I have read and interacted with some of the most creative and talented writers. It astounds me the amount of skill that is in this fanspace and for this meal to remember I wanted to highlight some of my favorite writers and give them their well deserved flowers

Overview: With this fanspace I have traveled through many different universes, explored characters through an analytical lens that parallels the show itself, enjoyed these stories in fun, wholesome*, and interesting ways ! I have seen such beautiful creativity and I wanted to highlight some of my favorite fic writers and really delve into what I enjoy so so much about their writings in no particular order xoxo

@nakiaslilhoodoo | SnakesandRabbits

Your fics are truly like comfort food to me like I love sitting down after a long day and reading like truly sweet stuff. A lift truly did give me that christmassy feeling during the holidays. It’s stuff like that that makes you say aw this is sweet you know, like matched with Then Leave like yess innovative trans lou / Lily I love that so so much. And we also have comedic aspects in em’ too which I love how your fics never fail to make me smile-- I remember getting giddy at the Chess series (I was like oo what’s coming next like I loved the lil beef its just very fun). Ohh and I cannot forget to mention The Time We Have which is quite beautiful. I like the calm of it, yes I can feel the fresh morning itself--it's just like the little things you know, those little moments are oh so lovely.

@blacclotusss | BlaccLotuss

I love how you explore Jonah and Louis’ relationship like ion see much of it but you’re my go to in these especially alternate realities. Like the sweetness is off the charts in your fics and I love the fluffiness and how you branch out into that mix-medianess in Come Home to Me and your exploration of that sweet parts of Claudia and Louis together through Letters* . Also woahh just god the sweetness in Sexual Immorality I love how you write Louis and Armand together, dialogue is just so so nice. And the roleplay in the ending like oop you never fail to like get me with endings like reminding me of how shocked I was of Charred’s ending, just so good and so insane. I loved the gothic fluff of that one itself, woah.

@blueiight | southernhummingbird

Poeticism in unimaginable ways, you really have it. I remember first reading rhododendron and like just the feeling was of an instrument the way your words just literally string me along. And then it’s like you pull out bangers after bangers in the delta breeze [dare to breathe] it’s nostalgic, beautiful, lush and heart wrenching all at once, again the words strung me along so perfectly. Lipstick traces is so so vivid and I love the story being told here, you pack so much in small sections it’s so astounding and inspiring to me < 3

@dictee | boltcutters

I remember first reading dirges and oh my god not only are you somewhat of a prophet but you enraptured me into the beauty of your writing. It had lead me to the first taste just quite beautiful it feel like a page ripped out of season two... and l just love how evocative it is. I also feel like I’ve gone on and on to you personally about how astounded I am by i am amazed by peace just dyke loumand is presented so so gorgeously--you’re writing in this reminds me of a past memory. It is so absolutely insane how you display your writing chops just so wonderfully.

@knifeeater | serpentskirts

You have the type of writing style that makes everything so so beautiful. I think the romantic-eroticism in each of your stories are just shown in such a beautiful rhythmic way like in perpetuum mobile and also in glass--which when I read it I feel like I got so caught up in your words it’s like your descriptions are consuming me.

@enterprisery| flowerplots

Your writing feels like calm, the way your words are given to me. Like even in your erotic gore ( your heart inside my chest ) it feels like I’m just taking a breath-- and speaking of which breath, held just displays that your creativity knows no bounds, in every fic you write it just fits so perfectly for these characters and it’s so wonderful how you write them in their descriptors (like in push too far --which btw I love the way it is formatted, so so unique) and in their dialogue (like in hunger )--it’s all so beautiful.

@meastyeyes | meastyeyes

I really love Keep me Humming the fluffiness is really nice and I love how the vividness in it can match what we could see in the show. I enjoy how you show that love through Louis very very gorg the tension of it all amazing.

@weather-mood | weathermood

All your stories have an air of magic in them like of course with your incredible list of fairytales The Princess and the Pea (aa louis princess moments I love) , Once Upon a Wine Dark Sea ( Which just fits so well--siren-vampirism yeah I love just seeing how you display these characters as different mythos, your universes are so out of this world it is amazing.), and rumplestiltskin (which I remember when I first read you had that beautiful air of mystery in that beginning and to come to find out it was simply armanlou roleplaying antics--it kind of unlocked something in me) but also seeing that freshness and dreaminess that is featured in fairy tales also in your stories that are not necessarily based off of that (such as Train Tracks , Glass Coffins and Golden Roses, and mental topology experiments to the tune of bubblegum bitch ). Just an amazing selection of works--in your long fics they always keep me guessing where it’s gonna go and I love that.

@nlbv | nlbv

Your writing is just so so amazing, descriptors off the charts I must start with baby father in which you start off with me already visualizing everything. The mood is set in such a nostalgic way it’s vividness takes me into the scene. Exploration of Louis and Claudia is always so gorg and you do it so so wonderfully. And I remember, oh, I remember reading the different stories in Scenes From A Marriage how you can take moments from the canon out and expand upon it, keep the scene running all with gorgeous prose.

@shewhomustbecalledking | dirtygoldensoul

a holy love is so so atmospheric I feel as if I am in the universe itself when I read it. And I feel like that’s a common thread within your stories. Because whenever I always feel like I’m falling into the world whether it’s more grounded in the rivalry induced beautiful liars or being put into the true blood inspired Under the Blood Moon you just know how to create these worlds and quite wonderfully so.

@devotiondroid | themasterletters

Your ability to put these characters in the show in different situations so eloquently is so so astounding to me. I remember when I’d first started reading your writings and seeing how the plot literally kept me guessing and it had done the same in cord of communion and especially in quizas (which, I am obsessed with to this day it has an amazing grasp on me). And the way your genres can shift and morph from wolfsbane to in a lonely place like it feels like you can do it all and still enrapture me--such beautiful prose and such an engaging writing style just fantastic.

@diasdelfuego | gaypiratedivorce

Little Kidnaps was one of the first (if not the first) IWTV fic I have ever read so your writing instantly implemented a special place in my heart. And this fic--and nox itself-- is something that I always kept going back to and rereading every other time it’d update or come to my mind. You have such a beautiful vision of the IWTV story itself (and the VC as a whole) and how you balance these characters is just so wonderful--it kept me reading in times I was deprived from the show. But your lovely writing does not stop there of course--I’ll let you win really is so so gorgeous wow like you got me with the noir setting and it astounds me how vivid you write it and also try to swallow the wave is so amazing as well from start to finish and your writings just do that certain amount of re-readability that I will always keep coming back to you.

@iwtvdramacd18 | The_Lame_Goat

Your descriptions in stories are out of this world the tiptoeing between romance and horror and romance inside that very horror is very gorgeous--Lunacy is a great example of this, and the way it is set up in little fragments ( non- linear) it is just wonderful what you’re doing and continue to do. Prey Drive I feel like is also in this category and oh I do love me some prey drive (it’s one of those goat classics™ ) and I come back to it because it does pull me in with that chase with that hunt--just all of it is gorgeously written. I think what also just drives me to your writing is your characterization and I think in Wolfkiller it is especially on display. I love how you write Claudia and the horror of Lestat --Wolfkiller never fails to make me say ‘You get it’ because you really do and it drives me insane. And of course special mention to To Pluck Gently At Strings it goes so hard I became a Armand/Nicki understander because of such vividness in the descriptors just great !

@kittyldpdl | kittyldpdl

I’m not sure if it was the night island or bass in my body that I had first read but regardless I had been coerced by your writing. Like it is banger after banger with your fics, your prose so beautiful and it hypnotizes me into reading more and more. cleave/tie left me wondering what was next, left me thinking about it for days in and out and rereading it the effect just leaves me going back to it again. And I know I’ve talked to you at length about your fics (lol when I was reading the bloody chamber I was like was that an #kittyldpdl reference ) but I feel as though I could go on and on about how amazing your prose is. Footfall had me again feeling that same way, falling in love with your writing again, making me curious about it all--mixture of the gore eroticism. Fantastic and inspiring all around !

Collaborations:

dirtygoldensoul x gaypiratedivorce Collab:

And it’s quite amazing how both of yall can beautifully mesh their writings--this is displayed wonderfully in overlords I spent a whole day reading it and catching up on it, y’all writing combined truly encapsulates that air of mystery and a feeling of nostalgia (but in an ominous deja vu type of way). That just very thing entrances me immensely.

MasterMood Universe:

It was a holiday season gift, it was a valentine's day gift--and it keeps on giving. Like it was insane from the start and you both, as I mentioned, have a feature in your writings where you cannot tell where its gonna go and it leaves you anticipating and excited to see what happens next. And of course bonus points because of how wholesome* the whole teachers’ pet series is. I can tell y’all had so so much fun writing these stories because I can see it directly through the writing and it only added to my own enjoyment.

weathermood x nlbv Collab:

Pirouette is an amazing look into Lily and like I love how yall take this little bit we have of her in the show and expound on her in such a complex way. I love in general just taking off little parts of the show and making more of it but this is next level--and y’all did it so wonderfully woah.

The_Lame_Goat & kittyldpdl Collaboration:

Y’all writing together stuns me to the point of extreme amazement. The wrath of the lamb has some of the most beautiful and addicting prose ever, and it is such a wonderful blend of y’all two it scares me !! The story and the words itself just absolutely wonderful--it’s the type of thing you have to read over again and slow to just get that feeling of when you’d first read it. So excited but apprehensive for the second chapter (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me a warning before yall post it I need to mentally prepare and I dont wanna die !!!!! )

I want to specially mention ‘House’ which just shows the talent on full display at full force. Like in general I have never seen anything like it before--for starters just the immense collaboration between 7 people who are so dedicated to not only the show but their craft as well--and to do that and for it to flow so beautifully is absolutely both insane and amazing to me. The whole concept of the story being akin to like a game--trying to essentially escape the house, being forced back in and in turn being plunged into little scenes of the house itself--excerpts of the past through the overall horror element of the house itself. Going through hallways to try to complete it and find every bit of the house--it is so vivid in the way that the chapters are set up. When you get stuck you really feel stuck and the high emotive chapters really get you and then you’re pushed into a calm moment and everything feels okay or not quite right--I love the many many combinations of the ways you can go (how the house gets bigger so it feel like the possibilities truly are endless !). I remember when I first read it and I was absolutely astounded. I felt every level of emotion, the happy, the sad, the nostalgia--just everything that makes the show the show is put into ‘House’ gracefully. Such a masterful collaboration, I wanna hang it up on my fridge. House inspired me to make D;I the way it is-- the interactiveness grabbed me and the story itself made me play along til’ the end (& again) and I will keep rereading until it consumes me whole. Mwah Everyone who wrote in it did such a lovely job even when I tried to look at a single chapter it entrances me and pushes me into reading the whole thing <3

That’s about it--I do feel like I missed a few fic writers ( but ofc if we ever have something like this again I’ll make a bigger list so I have more time~~) I always try to comment on stuff I enjoy so just know I see ur talenttt & I see you. I just love the creativity in general and woah everyone is so so amazing

#a meal to remember #fics #i love all yall mwah mwah #iwtv

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suffersinfandom · 1 year

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Okay, so I usually try to stay out of discourse and drama and all of that because I'm here to have a nice time, but I saw a post in the OFMD tag after the whole Blackbonnet/Stucky poll thing that I really need to type about. It's just... so bad. Like, I totally get disliking things (I dislike things too!), and I understand that OFMD isn't everyone's thing, but wow. WOW. Um.

While the first part's annoying (point to the tumblr fandom that has absolutely no one in it with a victim complex, please), what I really take issue with is the last bit -- the assertion that OFMD's cast diversity is there to be "inclusive" and "progressive" when the narrative isn't. That's just not true? One of the reasons for OFMD's popularity IS its inclusiveness! People who have never seen themselves represented in a show finally *see themselves* in some of these characters, and I think that's lovely. And the show has a wonderfully diverse crew behind the scenes and in the writing room as well!

As for "the narrative being the opposite"... all I can do is assume that OP never bothered watching OFMD. It's the most genuinely, earnestly inclusive and progressive piece of media I've ever consumed.

The acting in OFMD isn't stylistically different from any other show I've watched. The situations and lines are often comedic, Stede and Ed are definitely prone to dramatics, and plenty of the characters are pathetic (affectionate), but this is such a weird critique. Or maybe I just haven't picked anything up from a lifetime of watching media and being a massive dorkass theater nerd? Idk. Maybe they just think the show itself is cringe (I certainly don't think it is, but that's something I've seen plenty of folks who dislike it say) and that colors their opinion on the acting?

Also: where's the slavery apologism? As many other people have said, there's definitely room for good faith criticism of OFMD: its tendency to gloss over the existence of slavery, the rom-comification of real, historic slaveowners, etc, but there's no apologia in the text of the show. (Correct me if I'm wrong! I'm very white and will defer to others here.)

I'm gonna need some sources. I've seen the various accusations, but never evidence or anything that couldn't potentially be explained with context. (I don't actually take much issue with this point -- it's not a crime to think someone's annoying -- I just don't understand the constant vilification of Taika.)

"REAL gay piracy," lol. I can't say much about Black Sails since I haven't watched it (tbh it doesn't sound like something I'd be able to enjoy), but I haven't seen that much seriousness in the OFMD fandom. Do I have all of the annoying crewmates blocked? Do y'all feel like you have a lot to prove? I personally only became invested in this poll when I saw the death threats from Stucky folks, and my impression from my timeline is that most everyone else was in the same boat.

If you ARE taking these polls to heart, please don't! They're for fun (sometimes petty) fandom drama! Win or lose, we all love our ships and our communities and we really don't need to prove anything to anyone (I say, typing out a response to a thing that got under my skin, resolutely not touching grass).

THIS is where I had to start typing. WHAT DOES IT MEAN. How is a show with multiple canon queer couples gaybaiting? Isn't "canon gaybait" an oxymoron, or has the meaning changed? (I'm old, genuinely lmk if my millennial ass is missing something.) Again, I can only assume that OP either hasn't watched OFMD or hates fun romcoms, because the gayness of it all isn't the only thing the show has to offer. My brainworms have better taste than that.

It's some of the best gay rep I've ever seen and I would be delighted to see better! I mean it! I've been in queer circles for almost two decades and in fandom even longer; OFMD is some of the best, kindest, most loving, genuine representation I've come across in that time. I truly hope that it's just the beginning of a new era in media.

"Weak fandom output." I am *drowning* in fandom output and I love that for me! "Driest gay kiss." I'm sorry you don't like awkward middle-aged men who think they're unlovable coming together in what might very well be the first loving kiss either of them has ever had, but I think it's very sweet and moving! No fictional characters have ever owned my brain like this before! I love my silly traumatized queer pirates who can't communicate to save themselves. They're very beautiful to me.

Anyway, that's enough of that. I've released the pettiness and I'm going to go back to being annoying about seeing the lads again in just a few more days. <3

#ofmd #fandom bullshit #lol don't look at this i'm embarrassed #anyway don't fight with certain people it's not worth it #they'll hate because they want to hate #love what you love and don't let anyone get you down #fight about fictional stuff if you want but don't attack people directly or straight up lie #most importantly don't fight with me i'm fragile

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raayllum · 1 year

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What do you think of tdp's rating potentially changing for s6? Personally I'm all for it because I'm on the younger side of the fandom (not a minor but I definitely was when I started the show) and it's nice that the show is growing with me, but I've heard complaints that the increasing darkness doesn't fit well with some of tdp's less mature aspects/humor. One of my favorite artists dropped the show because of it, which is a little disheartening since I thought s5 was absolutely amazing.

Honestly I thought S3 was pushing the lid on Y7 with some of the final ep violence / some elements of the Aaravos-Viren-dark magic body horror, so I think realistically S4 (because of the Ibis scene) and s5 (gestures to - half the season) should absolutely be rated PG. Y7 tv shows tend to get away with a lot more than G-rated films (at least since the mid 2000s I think) so I think that skews stuff as well.

As for the humour, even when it doesn't work for me (personally S1, S5, and S4 have had the best humour for me) it's almost all character based so I give it a pass. Like soo many people acted like the goofiness in S4 or fart jokes were baseless / a personal offense, but 1) Claudia's always had bathroom humour and while it's never been something I found funny, I appreciated it for its character consistency and that a girl gets the gross out humour at all bc we just don't see that a lot, and 2) teens and adolescents make bad jokes all the time. I make fart jokes all the time. I don't really want 'em in my media, but I do think they're funny, and I like that the characters in my media think they're funny because yeah... Bad puns, stupid jokes, being ridiculous with your friends, even or especially in times of crisis - sounds pretty grounded in realism to me.

I think part of the disconnect people have with humour (and less 'mature' humour, which - my favourite Shakespeare joke is the "do you bite your thumb at me sir" from Romeo and Juliet which shows my 'maturity' level when it comes to laughs, lmao) vs the rest of the show is... People outside of the age demographic being unwilling to accept that they're outside of the age demographic. Like drop TDP for any reason you want, of course, but

It's like - I didn't love the episodes in She-ra about "learning how to be a good friend," but I'd be dumb if I genuinely complained about it because this show is For Kids and it's catering to them first and foremost. It's not supposed to cater all parts of itself to my age demographic, nevermind my taste and no art does that, even stuff that is for my age demographic because it's an unrealistic choice to put on media. TDP is a little different since they've gone on record stating that its for Families, so that warrants something a little more 'mature' by proxy (and I very much think the show reflects that) but like - it's for families, and that means reflecting all those elements, too. Including humour (some for adults, some for tweens/teens/etc).

TLDR; emotionally scared because I love all the kiddos but very glad overall about the rating change, cause I'd rather people be warned ahead of time / be able to make informed choices about what they want to watch / consume.

#thanks for asking #anonymous #as always subjectivity is the root of preference

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tenrousei-kuroi · 2 months

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Anne Rice and her lawyers certainly left a mark on fanfiction history, lol. In elementary school, after watching Hellsing, I entered a vampire phase where I consumed any media with vampire stories I came across (Anne Rice, Vampire Hunter D, Blood+, the classics like Dracula and Carmilla, Nosferatu, and even Twilight). This led to my appreciation for authors and books that include a gloomy atmosphere and/or supernatural or mystical elements, such as the works of the Brönte sisters, Poe, Frankenstein, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Generally, I enjoy flowery language and drama, and if the main character is miserable throughout the story, I'll probably like it (hello, Raskolnikov). I also dig multi-generational stories (like One Hundred Years of Solitude, Isabel Allende’s The House of Spirits, and The Maias by the Portuguese author Eca de Queiroz). From more contemporary authors, I tend to read popular book series (like The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, Game of Thrones, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). There's nothing I've read that I find boring or dislike for any reason today, and similar kinds of books continue to catch my attention, so I'd say my tastes have remained consistent.

I think it's mostly works from Romanticism that influence and inspire me the most, but there's one author – Clarice Lispector – whose originality and unique prose blows me away. I believe Penguin has published her books translated into English (originally written in Portuguese), and she's one of my favorite authors. Her stories often have simple premises, but her strange and unique perspective on mundane things makes everything she writes feel different. I don't know of any other author that can get into a character's stream of thoughts quite like her. Her style is not for everyone – I remember a few of her books were recomended reading at my school and some of my friends complaining about not really liking it, fiding it sometimes nonsensical.

Sometimes I pick books based on random quotes I come across on social media, which prompts me to look them up, read reviews, and, honestly, just by liking the cover and title (usually for when I'm just browsing in some bookstore .

Regarding festivals, I'm considering participating in Black Brothers Fest or Padfoot Fest, if I manage to finish anything on time. I have several drafts on my laptop that I could work on, but I'll only sign up once I'm ready to post (although nothing motivates me more than a looming deadline). Looking forward to seeing you at Padfoot Fest!

Hold. Up.

There's a Black Brothers Fest?

.....

Just drop the pretense and call it Tenrousei-Kuroi fest lolol

Also Allende's for real! We did house of the Spirits in school, both the Spanish and the English versions as an exercise in studying the unique challenges of translating novels--the trickiness of carrying over tone and vibe without sacrificing meaning.

Do you read any Paulo Coelho? I have a few of his knocking around, as well. He seems to be the go-to author when my brother-in-law is looking for a Christmas gift for me >.<

#tenkuroi #sirius x regulus

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a-world-of-whimsy-5 · 11 months

Text

Day 8 | Prompt: Tree propped halls

Pairing: Nielíqui x Celegorm

Themes: Smut | Soft

Word count: 600 + words

Summary: Nielíqui shares her bed with another for the first time

Also available on AO3

Rating: 🔥 | Minors DNI | 🔞 | You are responsible for the media you consume

Sharing a featherbed with another was unlike anything she had envisioned.

Celegorm was exceedingly gentle when he took her to her chambers, to make good on his vow to make her his. It was surprising, really. Nielíqui believed she would be the recipient of rough kisses and bruising embraces, but there was none of that with him.

"Was that all, my lord?" She asked once the all-pervading bliss that had surged just beneath her skin seeped out, and a comforting feeling of ease flowed in.

Dizzy and consumed with his own unsated needs, Celegorm pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh. "That was a taste of more to come, my lady. Are you prepared for it?"

Nielíqui drank in his disheveled golden hair, the slick lips and chin, and the darkened eyes. Celegorm had been between her thighs for longer than she could remember, feasting like he had been starved. And it was just the beginning. More, he said. There was going to be more. Eru save her, but Nielíqui craved for more.

"Yes. I am ready."

"I will be gentle."

He was all of that and more, his attention devoted entirely to her while he breached her. Nielíqui squirmed beneath him and closed her eyes, taken aback by her own brazenness.

To think I am defying my own father and allowing this giant of an elf to take liberties with my body, and all within the tree propped halls we call home.

The Valië was never one to defy her sire, but the knowledge that she was doing so now brought with it a heady thrill all of its own.

He is so perfect, she thought when she took breathed in the lingering redolence of the forest still clinging to his warm flesh. And now he is mine.

Celegorm halted more than once, asking if she wished to go on, fearful of hurting her or going too far. He continued with an impish smile only after hearing her entreaties for more. Pain and desire rose and fell in turns before they mingled, and the pain ebbed away when he sank deeper and deeper and took her soaring again. Once he sheathed himself in the heated clasp of her body, he stopped and rose to his knees, his arms drawing her into a loose embrace. Then he leaned down and sought her lips.

The sweet sounds of her cries spilled freely and without restraint. Celegorm moved slowly, carefully, his hands gliding all over her like water. Her own dug into the broad expanse of his back.

"Fuck," he whispered in her ear, tightening his hold. His hips undulated with each thrust, and the delicious friction created was too much for either of them to bear. Nielíqui felt like she was drowning. She clung to him like a burr, shamelessly begging for one thing, and one thing only.

Finish me.

Celegorm smothered her cry with another kiss, plunging hard and plunging deep, falling apart when the waves that came for her rose to claim him as well. With a final, satisfying thrust, he emptied himself inside of her.

Neither knew how long they were that way, so lost were they in each other's bodies and the pleasure they had shared. Nielíqui prepared herself for the inevitable: her father learning the truth of what took place while he was away.

He will still heed me, she thought to herself. He will listen once I appeal to him.

And she was not the only one to have this thought. "If your lord father learns I have claimed your maidenhead without asking for your hand," Celegorm warned, fearful, "it may very well lead to the end of me."

"My father's wrath is a terrible thing," she agreed. "But the threat of discovery makes our cleaving to each other all the more thrilling. Besides, he will not deny me once I plead on your behalf with teary eyes.”

Celegorm laughed softly, then laid her in bed before making himself comfortable beside her.

Tags: @cilil @asianbutnotjapanese

#bookoflosttalesmonth #nielíqui #nielíqui smut #nielíqui imagine #celegorm #celegorm imagine #celegorm smut #celegorm x nieliquí #the book of lost tales #the valar #the ainur #the elves

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super-hero-confessions · 11 months

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I'll never understand why some people are so insecure in their tastes that they have to take opposition and claim supremacy to what they consider 'other'.

Shipping wars. Marvel vs. DC. Comics vs. Film.

Obviously, not exclusive to fiction. But a perfect example of where the worst of it starts.

I understand when something warrants actual criticism or a closer look. Fandom bullshit and bullying should always be called out. Having a fave in and of itself is understandable. But at the end of the day, this shit is supposed to be and remain fictional and it's just so ridiculous how hypocritical these people don't even realize they are.

And here's a crazy ass concept.

Why not both??

I swear these are the same type of people to think you have to choose between anal or oral. But like... you have options. You can enjoy all of them in some capacity or another and still have your faves, that is an option too.

I swear though, the acting like tween fangirls and throwing a fit or having to take a serious dig at something that isn't your absolute fave because you can't cope with your own insecurity doesn't make you look any better.

It's called being petty and childish.

Dismissive and disrespectful too when the thing that gets thrown constant digs may cover extremely important subject matter that deserves a second look more than people could possibly know. Case in point for example but not limited to?

The Boys comics.

Let me just tell you, it is just wonderful to know how little people actually care about one of the biggest detriments to human life the world has ever seen so much so that they would do exactly what the show and books criticize.

Just go, "haha, supe go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" for the show or exclusively fawn over the actors while denying or ignoring the important stuff cause porn I guess and let the rest be swept under the rug.

Because we should always blame the soldiers and veterans instead of the war profiteers and mercenaries that have kids sign contracts before they know what they're getting into and who they're really fighting for, right?

This coming from someone who has preferences and faves. Because guess what? You can like more than one thing and even have fandom discourse and discussion. You can even have reasons to not prefer something that are valid.

But when you pretend those reasons and opinions are more valid than someone who has put in the time and effort and research without a second thought? Or deny the experiences of someone who has because you couldn't be bothered to pay enough attention?

Instead of just accepting that you have a preference, that's okay, and you shouldn't have to put something down to justify your preference?

You're part of the problem. And you don't even realize it.

Fandom, like what you like. Enjoy and have fun. But please grow up and learn to be serious when appropriate instead of horrifically dismissive or taking everything as a personal attack.

Fictional stuff especially is way less important than real life stuff. Bullying should not be happening over fiction. And we should be taking the messages from the media we consume as a reason to do better and try our best to listen and learn.

And maybe don't listen to the 500 different peoples' opinions about a comic not a single one of them has bothered to actually legitimately read or even make a vague attempt to understand.

The world could be a better place.

#confession #rant

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netherfeildren · 1 year

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this might be cliche... but who are your favorite authors/artists?? influences in general? aside from donna tartt?? your writing and the network of little references sprinkled in them literally make me want to tear out my wallpaper and eat it it's so good wtf do you put in it dear author?????

gosh so many things. if it's not glaringly obvious I am a huge media person so books/film/tv are all things I love and consume voraciously. I've always been a big big reader. I've made a list of some of my favorite book recs here as well as some of my favorite films here

I'm also a big lover of the ballet and the city I live in has a large company which I go to watch every chance I get, the last one I saw was swan lake and it was wonderful :) I've found it's a great source of inspiration when it comes to choreography on the page. when writing large amounts of physical scenes ie. sex or action or what have you physical descriptors and body placements become tedious and repetitive and I like looking to dance as a source for differentiation in my own written choreography. If you're a writer I'd definitely recommend for physical aspects!

I also obviously really love art and although I wouldn't say I'm very well studied or deeply knowledgeable on the subject I know what I like and have a clear grasp on my tastes. I'm endlessly scrolling Pinterest for visuals that inspire me, and I'm also a big museum person and as I travel a fair amount, whenever I'm traveling I go to lots of museums.

not to sound cliche as well but music is also obviously and of course a big influence in my work. when I was writing greener memories of better men I'd initially gotten the idea from this random Facebook post I'd seen but the true tone of the story came from the song The Weight by The Band. After writing several different versions of Joel's so in depth I've found now I'm worried about becoming repetitive in my characterization of him which is tricky because it's extremely extremely important to me that my iterations of him be true to his canon personality. I'm not a big fan of an OOC Joel and it's important to me to always stay true to who I think he really is in his original story personality wise, u know? but at the same time it becomes difficult navigating the inevitability of monotony when writing the same character over and over again. so I suppose what I try to do each time is provide a different view of the same man. for some reason that song brought that version of him I was trying to write very into focus for me at that moment. I don't know if that makes a lot of sense lol but sometimes inspiration or direction arises from strange places.

I feel like I've talked too much about Nabokov this year but I've been very slowly studying his work this year and I feel he's been a huge influence on my tone and cadence as I've progressed. I feel like he switches between having a very complicated way of saying very simple things and then saying very complicated things in very simple ways. he's also a master at sentence structure - again when trying to avoid monotony - I like studying the way he crafts these truly complicated sentences into a single monolith without ever actually breaking any rules of grammar or if he does it's in a way that doesn't seem wrong, if u know what I mean. he also comes up with he strangest metaphors for the smallest things. the last thing I read he describes a man's face as a "wet galosh" to tell us he was morose or sad or what have you and it's just soooo funny and interesting to me. I need my own mind to work in strange and creative ways like that, I'm trying to train it into doing so

if you're eating your wallpaper please make sure it isn't yellow, we don't want you getting trapped!

#vic replies #vic's recs

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wordsaladsenpai · 5 months

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Trees recommendations

Hello, long time no post. I want to start something here on my blog about any media recommendations. Whether it be games, books, movies, web novels, shows, etc etc.

I’ll start off with my first recommendation:

Title: Eternal Yesterday

Genre: Japanese BL

Category: Show

Episodes: 8

My thoughts: I usually don’t watch anything BL related because I don’t want to get caught up in the drama and negative connotation (which is honestly quite a fair assertion since many women (I am a woman) have exhibited tendencies towards fetishizing gay men when it comes to consumption of media regarding bl and mlm relationships). I do not actively engage or support the narrative of fetishizing gay men or mlm relationships. This is just a disclaimer. I myself am biromantic and when I usually search for shows or media to consume I try to actively avoid anything overly explicit since I am not trying to consume the media for the purpose or sake of finding my own fantasies or daydream pleasure about any acts of intimacy that might occur in said piece of media. Though I am biromantic myself I do get curious about some of the explicit intimate aspects or details that may occur in the media itself. Though I have to say I do find it quite distasteful if the only plot point is the explicit intimate actions of fan service that maybe liberally splattered throughout a series or work of media. For this main reason I don’t watch many American Tv shows despite being an American myself. I have gained a taste for some shows and media originating in China, Korea, and Japan, as well as Taiwan, and a bit of Thailand. I like how most of the shows I’ve seen from these areas contribute multiple story plot points while still being able to show the progression of the main love interests relationship through the entire show. While each countries media definitely has different styles of storytelling the Japanese BL eternal yesterday really caught my eye.

I don’t watch many Japanese shows or even Japanese BL for that matter so this was my first one ever to watch and honestly I was very surprised and impressed with it. What stuck out to me was the premise of the show, which showed a budding gay romance between two highschoolers. As someone who is interested in the concept of grief and death and emotional connections to others and those we love I thought it was beautiful at harnessing and processing those emotions and bringing it forth visually through the writing and acting and directing. It was perfect. Though I thought an 8 episode drama with a little over 20 minutes per episode would not be enough to really give the story it’s all. I was pleasantly surprised how it worked perfectly. It was a show that made me cry and make me think of my own relationship with my own bf. While it may have been a BL it harnessed different relationship dynamics that I thought was a lovely thing to do since it is about love in all its forms. I could go on forever about this show and honestly it will stick with me as a forever favorite.

Pls check it out.

I watched it on Viki. (I think you can also watch it on Netflix but pls double check the avaliable platforms of where this show might be to watch)

Rating - 10/10

P.S - the pacing can be kinda slow but I loved the awkward pauses and camera panning because it in my opinion realistically showed the progression of a relationship between two people where one doesn’t want to intrude on the other and the other person is very reserved and quiet who also takes a bit more time to open up.

Thank you for reading this long long review. I hope yall learned a new show to maybe watch and enjoy or learn a little bit about me through my thoughts and opinions on this piece of media.

#tumblr fyp #explorepage #fypシ #fyp #explore #fypage #eternal yesterday #tv shows #i recommend #trees recommended #tv recommendations #Japanese shows #tree recommends #trees recommendations #media analysis #my reviews #my tv show review #thoughts and feelings #late night binge

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sophieinwonderland · 2 years

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My host suggested talking to you, so here we go.

Hi, you can call me Yu. My host really likes your blog, she reads it when she doesn't have anything else to do and enjoy's it. We recently realized we are a system and there's a lot of things I want to do, make friends, learn to front, find myself and explore so many stuff.

I guess you and many other's have felt like this at some point, so I wanted to hear as much advice on how to achieve all of this. Specially from you, who now have your own blog, and have made and shared so many useful stuff like your guide to make wonderlands and spread positivity to endogenic systems and debunk sysmed's and anti-endo's lies which helped my host a lot. Thank you in advance and have a great rest of your day.

Welcome, Yu! 💖

For making friends, I just found people in the plural community who were willing to DM. Mostly on r/tulpas in the beginning. Some I reached out to. Other reached out to me. I know others have had good luck in plural and alterhuman Discord servers. VR chat could be another great option, though I haven't tried it myself yet.

For fronting, here's our method:

And here's Felights' Fronting Fundamentals which is way more detailed with tons of different methods to experiment with. I have no doubt you'll get there.

As for finding yourself, just keep exploring and doing new things.

For myself, over the first several months of self-awareness, I knew I wanted to exist, but didn't have any real ambitions of my own other than learning about plurality and making friends. I learned a lot about myself in that period by just exploring new things. I developed my own taste in music, foods, shows, etc.

As time went on, one thing that concerned me was that I kept meeting more systems with stories like my own. Headmates who had been invalidated and dismissed as imaginary by their hosts who didn't know better. By themselves even. And while I had only lived like this for a couple months before becoming self-aware, many of those I talked to had gone through this for years. I was one of the lucky ones.

I realized that there must be so many out there exactly like this. Maybe millions, even. I wanted to do something for them. I wanted to raise awareness and offer validation for the imaginary friends of the world so they could know that they're not alone.

This gave me purpose. I decided that if I could even help one person, then that would be a victory.

But if I can let you in on a secret, this does come with its drawbacks. It sometimes feels to me like I'm a tulpa who has based a huge amount of her identity on being a tulpa. Much of what I do when fronting lately is blogging. Much of the media I want to consume is plural media I can talk about on the blog.

It does sometimes make me feel like I'm less real when so much of my identity is based on my plurality and tulpahood, unlike what I've seen of other tulpas. So maybe I haven't really found myself yet either.

But then... maybe nobody ever does. Maybe we're constantly evolving in small ways and we should accept that we'll never completely find ourselves, and that's totally okay. There's no finish line for personal growth.

Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination.

Maybe finding yourself isn't ever a destination. Maybe it's always a journey.

Hope that helps! Have a great day too, Yu! And best of luck on your journey! 💖💖💖💖💖

#plural #plurality #pluralgang #endogenic #multiplicity #imaginary friend #imaginary friends #plural system #system #endogenic system #systems #system stuff #plural things #tulpa system #tulpamancy #plural positivity #plural pride

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literaticat · 6 months

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I watch a bio on B&N (not so recent) and learned about their decision to allow its staff in each location to curate its book selection for its customer base. As a bookseller yourself, I was wondering how do you know what your local consumer of every genre might enjoy? And is there any obligation to be fair-- in that I mean stock an author that might be selling well even if you don't agree with their views or their writing is problematic? Also.. out of curiosity, have you ever had to deal with people that ask for a book from an author only to be accused of being discriminatory if it isn't stocked?

WIth the caveat that I haven't been a bookstore buyer in a decade, I did USED to be one, so, while other buyers might have different feelings, etc, here's what I think:

Local bookstores are typically in neighborhoods that have a certain VIBE. Probably the booksellers (and buyers) who work there are from the area or live there, and/or are just there every darn day talking to people. We know what kinds of things our customers get excited about, and what they order if we don't have it on the shelves. If people are forever ordering SF/F, for example, or requesting classic picture books we don't have on hand, that might be an indication that we should bulk up those sections! If we can't give Poetry away to save our lives, maybe it's a good idea to order less of it. ETC.

We also have computers with inventory, and Edelweiss, the publisher's catalogue portal. And we have sales reps from the publishers who know us, our taste, and our neighborhoods well -- they will mark up the catalogues in Edelweiss so if it is a local author or local interest, or if it's something they especially loved, or the publisher is hot on, or they've heard the author is going to be on NPR or whatevs, they will make a note of that to help us when we're placing our order -- and, even if we don't know off-hand, we see it a glance what has traditionally sold well in the neighborhood.

For example, within Edelweiss, for a bookstore account, it gives numbers for our store and region. SO when the new Maggie Greatauthor book comes out, I can see in the computer right there on the same page as the catalogue listing that we sold twelve copies of their previous book in hardcover and the paperback has done well, too - I better get a bunch of her new book! Book by a new author with no sales history? Well, Edelweiss has comp titles listed, too. So if this new book is, say, a paperback original rom-com that's being comped to Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert books, and my store always does well with those, I should certainly get it in. And, hey, if we miss a title for whatever reason, or don't order enough in our initial order, we can always get more if there's a media blitz and people request it or we sell out of the first ones we got. And if we mess up and THINK a book will do really well and we've actually over-ordered it, well -- we can return them to the publisher.

...Is there any obligation to be fair-- in that I mean stock an author that might be selling well even if you don't agree with their views or their writing is problematic?

There's no obligation to do anything -- it's an independent bookstore for a reason! However, it's a business, right? We want customers to be happy and find what they are looking for. So If I'm the buyer, even if I'm personally not wild about a topic, book or author, if people want to spend money on it, I would carry it. Am I gonna get a pile of the new Rush Limbaugh book or whatever? Nah. But maybe I'd get ONE, and if somebody wants it they can find it, or they can ask and we can get it in for them. Probably, though, we'd end up either selling the one to the token bananapants grandpa in the neighborhood and not getting it back again, or if grandpa is on vacation, eventually returning it.

Also.. out of curiosity, have you ever had to deal with people that ask for a book from an author only to be accused of being discriminatory if it isn't stocked?

I remember what most readers of this are probably too young to remember -- the John Kerry "Swift Boat scandal" and the book that "exposed" it (which was in fact a pile of trash from a deranged mind but whatever) -- I worked at a store in very liberal San Francisco at the time, and we had a lot of agitator kind of people come in like "I SUPPOSE U ARE TOO LIBERAL TO CARRY THIS?????" -- but we literally couldn't get it in, it was out of stock because it got so much media attention! So then finally it came in and the people would be like U DON'T HAVE THIS BOOK HAHA SNOWFLAKES!!!! And we were like, here you go buddy, that'll be $25. :-)

Anyway, this rarely happens, because a) We will order any book that is in print that a customer wants to buy if it isn't on the shelves, I'm not the mind police, and b) most people who are real whackjobs don't spend a ton of time in bookstores, tbh.

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ohmeadows · 1 year

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You got hate comments wow lol I believe those who left that kind of comments really don't have nuance on media they consume, thus fandom these days are so rigid with rules that's too restricting. Personally I love how you write kafka and her dynamic with the women in your fic. Your Kafka can flip from domineering top (the milkies fic) manipulative bottom (especially in tingyun fan fiction I LOVE IT SO MUCH), and generally a wreck individual (da capo) and guess what I eat all of them because every Kafka you write is multi layered. we're not supposed to box her in one stereotype (same with Himeko or any women who you want to write) The rigid top/bottom dynamic is boring and makes it hard to explore the other possibilities and that's why I'm always looking forward to what you're going to write next.

Anyways I'm the anon who asked about writing tips. I'm still building my draft, slow work actually cuz I've been so lazy and motivation doesnt come easy, but your tips are helping on what I'm gonna write. I have an idea about jing liu with yukong. Idk the possibility of a mortal foxian and the unhinged mara infested lady intrigue me.

aww thank you so much! i like seeing how the facets in characters play out in different situations and with different characters. i'm certainly not as rigid irl (while i have a preference for domming, if a milf wanted me to be her devoted pet i would simply meow?) so why should characters be? i apply the same flexibility to characters. it's also funny how the years change a person, as sub/dom (not to be conflated with top/bottom as per usual) is all about power exchanges but of course we approach power and desire differently as we age, mature, acquire different tastes, meet new people; all of this changes our desire templates. i don't like flattening characters just to smush them into a sex fantasy niche.

i'm also an extremely lazy writer lmao. i just indulge my adhd in right amounts and work in very intense short bursts. then nap. then do it again. also oooh i'm really into what jingliu and yukong might get up to together even if i don't post about them much atm (need more jingliu canon lore!!! i want to study her under a microscope) so pls do let me know when you post it!!! i don't check ao3 enough as of late.

#ask meadows anything

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jovenshires · 6 months

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🦚 for the queer ask game!

🦚 - Are there any queer books/shows/etc. that you would suggest?

oh my god YEAH absolutely. i used to be a queer media connoisseur (im no longer a romance girlie when i consume media bc i write so much of it but i still have love for the genre). i'll do one rec for each category up here but ill put some more under the cut!!

book: aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. it's my favorite book i've gotta put it out there. literally changed my life when i was like 16 i love it so much

show: there's so many popular ones that i feel like if you're gay you've already seen them by now, so im gonna throw a curveball and go with crazy ex-girlfriend. they talk a LOT about lgbtq+ identities and explore dynamics with different couples, and if you love musicals, you absolutely must go watch it rn i fear

movie: moonlight. oh my god if you haven't seen moonlight go watch moonlight it's so so incredible 10/10. a drama that follows a black gay man from childhood to adulthood, explores the themes of masculinity, family, and friendship as well as romantic love. it's just an incredible movie it deserves all the hype tbh

music: once again there's so many popular queer musicians nowadays that i Do Not HAVE to rec (you know the ones they go hard), so im gonna rec chrissy chlapecka!! she just makes such incredible, sugary-sweet pop music about such amazing fucked up shit i love her

send me some gay asks!

okie doke as promised here's some more recs from yours truly bc i really, really love media and have a collection to rec atp NDNKFNKND ill try to order them by genre from least to most obscure LMAO

BE WARNED: i do read some graphic stuff - im an adult and my media taste reflects that. before you read anything i rec, look it up for trigger warnings!! i don't want anybody to be hurt by something i recommend. <3

books:

of course like. simon vs the homosapien agenda by becky albertalli is out there. this is one of those classics i was talking about KDNKFNFK it's very ya-gay-romance-romcom you can eat up ya know. the movie's also not too bad (people think it's 'cringey' nowadays but that was HUGE for me when i was like 19 and had my first girlfriend). anyway it's feel-good fluff if you like that kind of thing!!

red white and royal blue is obviously another classic and one i can't rec enough. i love the way its written, i love the characters, i love the plot. like it's everything, if you're into the romcom vibe this is a great one to check out. (and as a bonus this one also has a movie and it Slaps)

it's not like it's a secret by misa sigura is a pretty solid wlw coming-of-age novel that i highly rec if you're into the rom-com type book. it's also got some EXCELLENT poc representation!!

bloom by kevin panetta is a graphic novel and i love it. so so so much. truly i think i read this in a day and i am NOT a huge graphic novel reader. feel-good romcom, poc rep, body diversity, AND pretty pictures. what is there not to love. everyone should read bloom tbh

lies we tell ourselves by robin talley is Probably my favorite wlw book ever. it's historical fiction and it is Everything to me. and im actually a known historical fiction hater so take it from me - its Good.

carry on by rainbow rowell is i think a classic at this point and i love it. so so so much. you ever identify with a character a little too hard. yeah thats me and this book. i gave my best friend a copy for her graduation. it is an Excellent take on 'remember all the heroes you wanted to be gay when you were a kid. imagine if they were.' it's my beloved

a hero at the end of the world by erin claiborne is another great one in the same vein, with a punchy, dry humor twist. basically if you were a harry potter kid but you hate jkr. you'll love this one and carry on KSNDKDNFK

nimona by nd stevenson is another graphic novel!! it's another fantasy, so if that's your cup of tea, i highly recommend it. it's got an amazing queer love story, a genderfluid protag, and most importantly, found family. literally everything. (it also has a movie but i haven't seen it yet

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater is HUGEEEE i love that series it reshaped me. it's. mystery/supernatural i would say? it has multiple of my fave queer characters of all time and honestly. everyone there is a little gay. one of my absolute faves <3

we are the ants by shaun david hutchinson is a sci-fi horror adventure story and this one. it stuck with me. the main character hit me so hard and his internal struggle is so SO interesting. if you're into this kind of shit. give it a shot!

every day by david levithan is not one of MY all-time faves, but i can still say it's super interesting and has great rep!! it has a genderfluid/agender main character (depending on how you look at it). i will say i think there are multiple books in the series (?) but i stopped at one bc. it made me too sad anyway. <3

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky is not queer bc it's explicitly about a queer character or a queer love story, BUT. it still has one of my favorite lgbt characters of all time. patrick you will always be famous to me. as a bisexual girl in a catholic high school, saw a Lot of myself in patrick. (i do also have a special place in my heart for the movie bc it was my depression movie as a teen but patrick is played by ezra miller so be warned)

one of us is lying by karen mcmanus is another one that's not just. About a Gay Couple BUT it is one of my fave books (a murder mystery retelling of the breakfast club) and it has a gay main character!! his struggle with his sexuality is something he really struggles with and he has a boyfriend and i adore him.

shows:

i mean obviously like. heartstopper is incredible. like i said im not super into the romcom/young adult genre anymore but that show is just so beautiful and amazing and really healed my inner gay teen. it has a really diverse cast and representation for all kinds. i really recommend it!!!

everything sucks was gone before its time, but it is SUCH an amazing show. it has one of my fave on-screen wlw couples of all time. it's a feel-good, coming of age classic and i miss it deeply. (what did you just say??? 'katie rewatch it' oh my god you're onto something)

now if yall know me. glee is absolutely gonna be on this list. is it good? technically no. is it one of the greatest pieces of satire ever created? up until season three yes. i realized i was gay via santana lopez. THE gay character of all time. and all the love in my heart for all the other lgbt characters (kurt hummel you will always be famous to me......) some of it's a little dated (don't get me STARTED on unique) but it does genuinely have some great lgbt rep and if you watch it with a grain of salt it's a great comedy

julie and the phantoms made by kenny ortega (of THE high school musical and descendants fame) and it has a gay character i love!! (actually technically it has a few <3)

i'm a huge consumer of kids' media (i think phineas and ferb is a literal masterpiece and im not even kidding) so if you're like me and enjoy the disney/kid show beat i cannot rec andi mack enough. it's dramatic it's campy it's fun it's silly it's got a FANTASTIC gay character and a gay couple i deeply adore and not to mention!! so much representation!! it's like junior fosters tbh

we're gonna get into a little pocket here of like. normal romance but slightly niche - animes! sasaki to miyano is like my top lgbt anime rec. it is so, SO good. just absolute feel-good romcom goodness pls give it a shot

depending on interpretation, ouran high school host club arguably has a nonbinary character, some bi/gay characters, and a trans character! now. it IS hella dated do not get me wrong. BUT for the time? incredibly progressive and a wonderful watch. just brace yourself for some out of pocket shit

stars align has one of my favorite lgbt characters EVER, a nonbinary icon <3 and it's like. a PLOT. truly so rare to see something like that done on tv, let alone in anime. this is a sports anime - soft tennis my beloved - but it has So Much More To It than that.

another gay sports anime is run with the wind, a recent fave of mine. and i don't mean gay in the way that most sports animes are kinda gay. i mean he literally says 'im in love with this guy.' it's an amazing watch if you like that kinda thing!!

if you want an aroace genderfluid protag. the disastrous life of saiki k is up there as one of my fave animes ever AND saiki (the main character) is my fave protag of all time. this silly lil show is supernatural (ish?) and comedy all wrapped into one fantastic show i highly recommend!!

segueing back into live action shows, buffy the vampire slayer is an AMAZING, iconic, female-led supernatural dramedy with some early and, for its time, incredible lesbian rep.

yellowjackets because i LOVE unhinged lesbians. i didn't even know there was gay people in this - i started watching because i love horror and girls' soccer DLNKFNFLN and it's amazing!! if you like tragic gay women i HIGHLY endorse yellowjackets.

in the flesh. look. here's my pitch for itf. do you love being sad. do you love catharsis. do you love zombies. you will LOVE in the flesh. please. i miss it so bad i've seen this show 4 times (and you're right i should also watch this one again!!!) and i never tire of it.

sense8 is a sci-fi show and IT IS EVERYTHING TO ME. truly the diversity is unparalleled. so many lgbt characters of so many different identities. polyamory, trans people, a neuro-link that's destroying peoples' lives. it literally has everything.

the get down is not just an lgbt show, BUT it has an incredible lgbt character/storyline that i adore. a musical show, a historical fiction piece (which means a lot coming from me), and almost every character is a poc. pls give it a shot it's everything

bodies is another one that isn't just about lgbt+ rep BUT. it's incredibly diverse, examining people facing discrimination throughout history (you've got a gay mc, a jewish mc, a muslim mc, AND a disabled mc) and it just has such amazing plot lines and representation. it's a murder mystery/sci-fi double whammy, so give it a shot if you're interested!!

movies:

alex strangelove is a good, underrated, coming of age classic. it follows a guy who struggles with his sexuality. very teen rom-com-dramedy core!!

i adored boy meets girl when i watched it. a very romcom-y movie about a trans woman from a small town dreaming of getting out....... friends to lovers.......... i adore it

happiest season is a christmas movie and it's very sweet. its been panned (there are some just criticisms on the plot tbf) BUT i do think it's really cute

to wong fu thanks for everything julie newmar is just. so so good. it's an underrated classic imo. three drag queens go on road trip, end up in a small town, and change it for the better. it's literally so amazing it's just feel good found family PLEASE give this one a shot

the birdcage is another classic i so genuinely enjoy. who doesn't want robin williams and nathan lane as their gay dads. at the end of the day it's all about found family, love, and old gay men.

handsome devil is a foreign film - irish to be exact! - and i love it so much. once again as a catholic school kid.......... yeah. YEAH. anyway go watch the og gay nicholas galitzine movie LKNDKFNKNLFNKLF

pride is a historical piece and an excellent movie. it's got its ups and downs but god it's just an overall good movie. another irish film, coincidentally!

the way he looks is also a foreign film, this time in spanish, BUTTTTT it's one of my faves i love it so much. it's very feel-good, sweet, romcom so if you feel like you could be into that - give it a shot!!

rent, if you're into musicals, has some of my fave musical characters ever. angel dumott schunard you will ALWAYS be the love of my life. it is deeply sad but. other than that. i live in denial.

the prom is a much more light-hearted and silly lgbt musical. people shat on that movie but i think it's SWEET and cute and has some bangers!!

i mean like. we can joke ab how hyped it is all we want but brokeback mountain is basically required gay watching. it is EXACTLY as amazing as everyone says it is. the chemistry..... oh my god we could never make that movie again it was like catching lightning in a bottle.

bodies, bodies, bodies is a fun and campy lgbt horror if you're into that kind of thing!! the ending was a bit not my fave but otherwise it's an incredible cast and got some great silly scares

on the topic of gay horror, jennifer's body is gay and again, exactly as good as everyone hypes it up to be. you want gay women who are terrible to each other? oh boy do i have the movie for you

and i promise ill wrap on gay horror with it chapters 1 & 2. reddie will unfortunately always be famous.

everything, everywhere, all at once is not Just a gay movie BUT. it has an incredible gay character and it factors so interestingly into the mother/daughter relationship. i love that movie i will always talk about it

music (these are all just people i personally listen to but there are SO many more. im not gonna expand on these ones too much just go check em out you'll get it):

lil nas x

troye sivan

kim petras

kesha

tegan and sara

brandi carlile

hayley kiyoko

rina sawayama

peach prc

renee rapp

adam lambert

scene queen

willow

halsey

clairo

cavetown

janelle monae

#ask #asks #anon #anonymous

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