#well…i guess it’s time to draw agn….

[windshieldwiper]

so uh..I just finished bsd…

[sirianasims]

The Don Diaries

Dani has moved out after her graduation, which has left Don so despondent that even Herbert has decided that it's safer to vacuum outside the penthouse.

Especially since Dani is still seeing that fucking Kyle Kyleson. Despite the disastrous speedo date, they're still together - and just in time for the Romance Festival!

I can see why Don is upset about losing her - how could he fumble so badly?

Dani gets a little caught up in the festival mood, but "luckily", Kyle is on board for both marriage and kids, at least eventually.

Dani decides to ask the Guru for some wisdom. But this answer makes no sense to her. Why would love tear people apart? Surely he's not talking about Don. If Don loved her, he would have said something, and besides, he's dating that blonde chick from Sulani.

Dani decides to ask specifically about her current relationship with Kyle.

A glowing review. Kyle the Burning Donkey doesn't put much trust in the Guru, but I have played ahead and he really should have listened...

Unfortunately, Kyle and Dani both forget the Guru's words as the spirit of the festival moves them. And honestly so did I, until I was writing tomorrow's update...

Dani now lives in a rundown apartment and gets a job in social media, starting from the bottom as a lowly intern despite her communications degree because #realism. She has also brought a picture of Matteo as well as a drawing of a gnome and the Mr. Corn he made for her as a goodbye present.

Living in a less fancy part of San Myshuno than Don's penthouse also means new places to explore, and Dani goes to the flea market to score herself an ugly lamp.

For some reason, Agnes Crumplebottom has come to the big city and does not seem to enjoy it much.

"Fuck this slutty bin in particular!" - Agnes, probably.

Unimpressed with Agnes' antics, Dani heads back to her apartment.

There, she meets one of her new neighbours! She already knows Sidney from his visits to Don's penthouse, but this is her first time meeting Nathan. I shall spare Nathan the embarrassment of showing the absurd amount of heart-farting he did over Dani, because he's a married man and Sidney would be upset.

Still, Dani hits it off with her neighbour and - uh, hi Kyle?!

Apparently, Kyle has decided that since his girlfriend has her own place now, there's no need for him to couch-surf so he's coming to stay. (Don't let him, Dani, it's a trap! A guy once just came over to my apartment with all of his 16 Hawaiian shirts and put them in my closet and it took me 3 years to get rid of him (and the shirts) again!)

Why, Dani? Why do you let him do this?

Oh. I guess that's as good a reason as any.

[candlesmokecreations]

Sleep No More Spell Jar Trinkets

With the closure of Sleep No More imminent, fans the world over are gathering in NYC to celebrate and mourn the show's impressive run. I myself will be attending the final two shows on January 4 and 5, as well as all three nights of Apparitions, the series of closing parties held in the McKittrick. And like many other fans on the SNM fan Discord, I will be making trinkets to exchange with other fans at these final events.

My trinkets take the form of tiny spell jars, a common tool in modern witchcraft in which various meaningful components are added to a jar with magical intentions and sealed with wax as a talisman of sorts. You can keep the jar in your home or in another significant place as a tool to attract beneficial energies or ward away negative ones. For a show as steeped in witchcraft as Sleep No More, I thought this would be an appropriate way to show my love while practicing my craft.

I have created four varieties of spell jar to bring to these final events and share with other fans. Please see below the break for a breakdown of what you will find in each jar and the meaning behind each inclusion.

The Lobby (Manifestation)

King James (Protection)

Gallow Green (Power)

Manderley (Dreams)

♥️♠️♦️♣️

The Lobby - Manifestation

...please release me...

I chose to pair a manifestation spell jar with the theme of the lobby as a sort of homage to the Porter, ever trapped in place there. With the ending of the show, I like to imagine that he has finally manifested his freedom from that place, and with this jar, you too can manifest your desires.

This spell jar contains:

salt, for grounding and protection

tea leaves, to represent the courage to escape your fate

dandelion, to represent wishes coming true

clear quartz, for strengthening and channeling your desires

citrine, for manifestation

sunstone, for freedom and personal power

a key, to unlock all doors, and to represent the hotel lobby

a paper boat, with the intention "I manifest my desires" written on it, to represent the Porter

It is sealed with orange wax.

♥️♠️♦️♣️

King James - Protection

...why the honest men...

It seemed natural to name a spell jar focused on protection and good health for the King James Sanitorium. As sinister as it is, it represents a place of refuge and of safety from the rest of the McKittrick. May this jar bring you the protection of this place above it all.

This spell jar contains:

salt, for grounding and protection

pine needles, also for protection

mistletoe, for health and protection

chamomile, for meditation and protection

black tourmaline, you guessed it, for protection

unakite, for healing and patience

a nail, for protection and to represent the Nurse

pieces of chalk, to draw protective magic near, and to represent the Matron

It is sealed with black wax.

♥️♠️♦️♣️

Gallow Green - Power

...we know what really happened...

The beating heart of the McKittrick and the place most replete with witchcraft, I chose Gallow Green as the association for a spell jar focused on magnifying one's personal power. There is a little bit of all the denizens of the High Street in this jar, and their different varieties of power and magic are captured so that you too might feel them.

This spell jar contains:

salt, to represent the energy of earth

ash, to represent the energy of fire

a feather, to represent the energy of air

a seashell, to represent the energy of water

mugwort, for psychic power

a fennel seed, for protection, and to represent Agnes

labradorite, for both magical power and protection

moonstone, for intuition and the energy of the goddess, and to represent Hecate

red thread, knotted three times, for binding negative energies, and to represent Fulton

eggshell, for protection, and to represent Malcolm

It is sealed with red wax.

♥️♠️♦️♣️

Manderley - Dreams

...secretive and silent...

We can never go back to Manderley. But maybe this spell jar will help you to return in your dreams. This jar is designed to enhance dreams and remembrance, so that you will never forget your time in the McKittrick.

This spell jar contains:

salt, for grounding and protection

rosemary, for remembrance, to ensure we never forget you

sage, to represent immortality in our memories

jasmine, for the energy of moonlight, and to keep you alive in our dreams

blessed thistle, for purification, and to represent the McKittrick Hotel

clear quartz, to amplify this magic, and to keep you in our memories

moonstone, for the power of dreams, and to represent moonlight

a key, to keep you in our hearts, and to represent the gates of Manderley

It is sealed with purple wax.

[islandtarochips]

If your oc made YouTube content what will it be? My oc would make baking content

Hey there, pele! And this is a VERY fun and interesting question! I haven't really though about it though. But let me try to see of which one fits!

Ok starting off with Tiala. I think Tiala would most definitely do some videos about self defense or giving out some very good exercising tips. Since I could see she's athletic. And oh! She could also make videos about cooking AND baking! Since she does that back at home all the time with her mom, aunt and cousins!

Kanoa, I guess he's interested of playing some games that his little brothers kept telling him about. So a YouTube Gamer will be his full time career! With his charming and funny personality. I'm sure he'll make his viewers ENTERTAINED! Even mostly reacting to a horror game! HAHAHAHA! Kanoa is not fond with that. But if his fans wanted him to try it then he'll try it! He just needed his Emotional Supporter (Tiala).

For Agnes, I think she's just gonna do some art vlogging or do animation! Drawings ARE her thing and I could imagined of her developing her art skills into animation! She will be AMAZING at it!

Nigel! He will also do some vlogging! But maybe mainly about animals too! About his home, his family, his lifestyle and maybe perhaps go on an adventure of seeing animals too!

Aelan IS a doctor. So she will be posting mainly about explaining about the humans system. And not only that, she can try explaining about animal parts too! Just to experienced more besides learning about the human bodies.

Rosa would most likely post videos about visiting different underrated bars or restaurants. Just to inspected the place, Like Gordan Ramsay of Nightmares Kitchen! But she won't be TOO harsh on them. Just giving them good advice and how to run the place properly. But if she sees someone mistreating their workers. Oh honey...the chancla is coming your way.

CALLIE. Callie. Ummmmmm....I think she'll be posting about her...life style of being a cowgirl. Showing off participating in a RODEO with her older brother. So maybe she'll be posting on her page about the events of the Rodeo every year. But posting only about HER in the competition. (I swear, Philip had spoiled her TOO much...)

Alana...um...I haven't thought about it. She usually WATCHED instead of making one. So let's just say that she'll just lay back and watched her comrade's videos. (Mostly Kanoa because she LOVES it of how the Captain TRIED to play the horror game)

Koa! Koa the man shall do a combat vid and doing some small movie films. (Since his face claim use to play some of the characters that I know of-) And he might even make some vlogs about him and his family!

Thank you so much pele for sending this! I haven't really thought about these guys having a life besides doing military things! And I'm sure that these fit them WELL! My favorite one is Kanoa because I do remember @welldonekhushi had talked to me about her OC reacting the horror game with Kanoa. Which is this post! And I will tell that it's 100% TRUE that he is scared as HECK! HAHAHA!

Anyway, thank you for reading this far! Love you, peles!

[christmasintheloonybin]

is agnes your ex girlfriend that you’re now friends with?

forgive me this is not worded artfully I've been drinking but wanted to tell the story of Agnes and I because it's been an important part of my life and it's a good chance to catch up on the lore for new fans...

Agnes and I met through a job in Feb 2020, I had already given my two weeks notice and we met during my last week. we hit it off and started dating. very soon after this covid started, we lived together during the very beginning of lockdown in this cabin in the forest which belonged to my mom's friend who was not living there. we broke up shortly after and she started living in an abandoned building. we stopped being in contact after having problems with each other living together and after that also, I sort of broke up with her I guess and acted really crazy and she wanted nothing to do with me. I lit her bed on fire one time and also smashed a bunch of her shit. I was very mentally unwell at the time.

I kept living in the cabin until the guy came back and I moved back in with my mom. I was having a lot of problems with my brother who had moved back as well and so I left and lived for a while in my dead aunts house in north Carolina.

important to note- Agnes had a former boyfriend named Ben who once spotted us together and decided that he did not like me because I let Agnes wear my whitehouse shirt and they're a problematic band. I literally have never in my life had any contact with this guy apart from this. while I was in north Carolina they got back together and she told him about my eccentricities and so they together tried to spread a rumor that I was a nazi but no one knew who I was. but they did say this to my mom when upset me. when I tried to get in contact with Agnes about this she ignored me.

eventually I moved back in with my mom and Agnes got in touch with me apologizing and everything. her and Ben had broken up again. I forgave her. this was summertime covid. it was sort of funny the first time we hung out again I had been freaking out and had and cut myself and was bleeding everywhere, I met her in the park and I was still bleeding. but we hit it off again as friends this time and we would hang out every day. she was living in this abandoned building and I was living in a tent in my mom's backyard and every morning I would wake up with the sun and spend the entire day with her in the abandoned building (it was an art building at a college I used to call it The Palace because we broke in like the smiths song) and then I would go home when it got dark and go to sleep. we smoked all the time and drank a ton of coffee and we would draw and paint all day and fuck around. this was without a doubt the happiest time in my entire life.

during all of this time it was all about me and her. this was my entire world and her entire world and it was really great I could really function this way. but eventually she started being romantically involved with this fat old metalhead guy and she started blowing me off which really irritated me. I think what ended it this time was when we agreed to meet somewhere and I was waiting and waiting for her and she never showed up. so I texted her and she said that she was actually doing something else with this guy and I lost it and we stopped being friends again.

I didn't see her for a while until that fall when I was calling into this therapy group, I had to sit in my car in town because I didn't have reception at the house, and she randomly pulled up and said "I'm moving away so goodbye." and I didn't want to engage with her so I just sort of said goodbye and she left. soon after this I decided to go back to the Palace and try to get some of my things (I had left a lot of shit there) and I figured if she moved it wouldn't matter. but when I got there everything was boarded up and it was impossible to get it, there was all kinds of new "no trespassing" signs. it really killed me. she came back eventually, I guess through October and November and we had resumed contact just enough so when she left for real it really upset me and I didn't know what to do at all.

I saw her a few times after that very briefly but she really irritated me because she was dating this guy who had sort of a bad influence on her and she was being really annoying. anyways we pretty much lost contact after 2020 until 2022 when I decided I needed to make some changes in my life so I asked her to seriously consider marrying me LOL. we hadn't been talking for a while but I was on the road and I was thinking of her and what I should do with my life. but she never really got back to me about it and we lost (regular) contact again.

I learned eventually that she was in alaska for a while and then out of the blue she texted me a few weeks ago saying that she is back in my area, back together with Ben and living like five minutes away from me. and so when we met up a week ago it was the first time I had seen her in like three years.

I would definitely consider her to be my best friend in the world when we were friends. she is a lot like me in the way that she is completely unable to have more than one person, i mean, when she didn't have a boyfriend during covid she would only hang out with me she had no other friends, but when she gets a boyfriend or another friend she likes more than me I cease to exist. I am a lot more stable these days so it doesn't really hurt me in the same way it used to, I can deal with the fact that she has other people in her life who she values more than me and that I cannot be the center of her universe. but I don't know how close we will be going forward, we will definitely never again be as close as we were when we were first dating or close friends during covid summer. it sort of bums me out being around her because she has her own life and everything.

[amythystraine]

The Justice Tarot Card ~ she tells on you

When the major arcana card “Justice” comes up in my readings, 95% of the time it’s because the person I’m reading for is involved in some way with the judicial system. They’re either going through a divorce, or involved in some sort of litigation or other legal issues. Always. This never fails. But getting someone to admit it, or getting them to see the connection, isn’t so easy.

When I was doing tarot readings at the Ameristar Casino, two very common looking middle-aged mid-western women sat down across from me, all giggly and twittery from the nervousness of having their cards read for the first time. As I guessed, from their very mundane appearance and demeanor (and energy), there wasn’t anything earth-shattering going on in their lives. It was really kind of boring, actually, though I would never say this. But “Justice” popped up, and it popped up in a significant way that sort of tapped me on the cheek– there’s a connection here, it said, shhhhh… listen.

I looked into the round face and eager eyes of the lady bent expectantly over the cards, and I asked, “Do you have anything going on with the judicial system right now?”

Her eyes glanced up into mine (we were very close), and she said, “Ahhh… no, nothing that I can think of.”

“Yes,” I insisted. “You have some connection with the judicial system.”

She turns to her friend sitting in the chair beside her, “Agnes, I can’t think of anything, can you?”

Agnes squints as she thinks, wracking her brain, “Noooo…”, she starts to say, drawing the word out as she was still thinking, then suddenly -- “Well, your sister is a Clerk of Courts.”

I had all I could do to keep from laughing.

[asoulofatlantis]

Kai no Kiseki - Thoughts and Feelings towards the Opening and the game overall Part 2

Speaking of Shizuna... these scene kind of hit me hard. The town is partly burning and (seemingly) dead (or unconscious) members of her group are lying around her, while she is on her fucking knees. That is Shizuna we are talking about. If she is down like this, that can't be good. I mean... who could even do this? She bested my freaking Rean. A Diving Blade. So who on earth could attack her place and kill her people? I mean, that could very well just be a flashback to her past or something... but damn, I didn't expect that.

I almost missed the transition from Student-Elaine to adult Elaine in this scene. Not sure what to think about it tho. I mean... why are we crying and yet smiling?

Is it because... you know... her relationship with Van has been finally fixed?

Seriously, my two cents for this ship? I feel like they cling to a feeling of the past. They have known each other since childhood, and their romantic relationship ended without them really being able to get closure. I feel like they just want to go back to it, because they have never really ended it, if you get me. If she can make Van happy, so be it, but in my eyes, on the long run, it is not going to work. She can not fully trust him as a spriggan and he will get annoyed by her arrogant "Bracers always follow the rules" attitude eventually. BUT even if I am right, it is possible that they actually need to get together first, to finish what they never could probably end before. So...

I am not delusional. Elaine becoming canon is much more likely than Agnes. I get that. I give Agnes a 30% chance at best. But... I still feel that my ship would be the better choice in the end ^^'

But moving on from this for now...

Where are we and why are we looking so concerned? I am glad we finally get to see Renne, as people have grown worried about the fact that she has not been seen in any of the Trailer yet. But I am concerned that if Estelle and Joshua are really not in Calvard at all, that she has to go through whatever is going to happen (to Agnes, and Zemuria as a whole...) alone yet again. That just doesn't feel right.

Who the hell are they? And what do they want? There are so many theories out there but one is more unlikely than the other. I hope they are not some cheap "fake" Villiane, to distract us from the real culprit or something like that.

I have no idea what is going on with those Twins but it seems like being an Enforcers is pulling them apart. I honestly didn't expect them to have much of a big role in this game, but I guess that was stupid of me.

I do not know what to do with myself regarding this fight. I of course want my golden child to win and I think he deserves the win. But... this is not his arc... would it be okay for him to win in an arc that belongs more to Shizuna than to him? And would it be still epic and satisfying if this would end in either a draw or someone breaking up the fight for some reason?

This is the scene from the Trailer. The Night-Sly-Scene as you can see. I do not say anymore about this. This is either going immensely well... or very, very, very wrong...

Some people speculated that Van ended up rejecting both Agnes and Elaine and while Elaine moves on and decided to just stay friends, Agnes stays with her feelings and hopes he will change his mind someday. Honestly? Wouldn't it be fun if Van decides to stay single and both Girls move on with someone else? That would be an epic failure but be so fitting for this damn loveless Calvard-Arc XD

Kevin is fighting that long-haired guys from Ouroboros that is rumored to be the blind reporter that we met before and that had been speculated to be a member of Ourobors for quite some time now. And he wouldn't be the first one in some sort of disguise. (All that aside... why is constantly something burning in the background of this opening? XD)

Everyone else: Engaged in serious fights

Lapis and Rufus: Having fun XD

Possibly Agnes? Yes. Very likely.

Oh no! She is crying? My poor girl!

Now... here is the thing... this is likely all do to her bloodline, the fact that the first Genesis is reacting so strongly to her and god knows what else but... some people (me included) fear that the actual thing that causes her inner Grendel awakening is actually being rejected by Van. That was honestly a worry of mine as well. But on the other hand... its not like Agnes isn't prepared for this. So why should it cause her to have such a strong reaction that something like this happens?

Whatever ultimately causes it... Van better saves my little girl!

This scene screams "all is well" - ending. Especially with both girls waiting for Van next to each other. But don't count on it!

I am still very worried. If it is just me being anxious for no reason, will be seen in September when I will react to someone else's "Lets play" of this game.

[maydela]

Ladham, Wales 1327

I'm not sure where to start, so much has happened lately, much of it not very good, some of it downright suspicious. I guess we'll start at the castle.

Our Baron's heir, Edward, married a princess, Orion, from far Africa. Sadly, the celebrations didn't last long as Baron Oswin, Baroness Beatrice, and Edward all died just after a feast held shortly after the wedding. Orion was already pregnant, and has now given birth to a son she named Edward. John, Edward I's brother, has offered to run the kingdom until Edward II is old enough to take it on.

Of course, there is another potential male heir, as Edward acknowledged his bastard, Roderick, born of his mother's maid. But according to English law, illegitimate children can only inherit if all the legitimate heirs, male and female, die. Could seven year old Roderick have poisoned his grandparents and father? We can't say for sure.

After getting Ailyn married off, Imran seems to have wasted no time marrying off his wife's daughters. An expensive proposition, but he and Angharat did have a son recently, Tus, and it makes sense that he would want to focus on his son. Come to think of it though, Angharat is very old and women don't normally have children at her age. And no one can remember her gaining any weight, she's always been so lithe. And that summer before Tus was born, she took Ayym and Ayla both went on a trip to visit family who live by the seashore, because Ayym was feeling bad, and there was a baby with them when they came back.

Imran has done well for his step-daughters. Yldiz married the king's famous knight, Orange, and now lives with him in England. They now have a daughter, Leticia. Elmira married a man named Wren Grove, who claims to be a powerful scientist from a far off land. They have a son named Carlos, but Angharat refuses to tell anyone where they are living. Ayym has married our illustrious Mayor, Pelham, and they just welcomed twins, Maderun and Madog.

Sadly, Tane died quite soon after my last dispatch, leaving Ailyn and baby Jedidiah alone, but not for long, and she is now married to a man names Alonzo Lee, and they have a son, Jasper. I suspect a thriving farm is enough of a draw for single men that they are willing to raise another man's child. After all, Imran was willing to take on seven girls.

Ayla was the last to get married, and she was over the moon to marry Jaceon Beedha. Strangely, even though the wedding was local, Ayym claimed that there was too much work to be done at her home to be able to attend the wedding. And then, just before Ayla gave birth to their daughter, Lauren, Jaceon disappeared. He was last seen wandering into the woods near Huniydd's hut. Almost as soon as he was officially declared dead, John Ladler married Ayla. I'm not sure it's a good idea to marry someone whose first husband died in mysterious circumstances. Especially when so much of your family also died in mysterious circumstances.

Wait, that's all the daughters Angharat had, and that's five, but I could have sworn there were seven. We have records in previous pages of this sheet of the birth of two more. But no one seems to remember them at all.

In less confusing news, we have received word that Kayla and Jaques have welcomed another daughter! Congratulations.

Our final report for this letter is that Huniydd had a third child she claimed was the child of her trader Jaques. It's been twelve years since he "died" but there was that mysterious sighting by Agnes. The child is named Ashlyn. Huniydd did not live long after the birth, she somehow fell into a bonfire during Calan Gaeaf. We've never known her to be clumsy, but she has taken many risks in her life.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Bandits Draw Prison Terms,” Border Cities Star. February 17, 1933. Page 15. ---- Magistrate at Hamilton Sentences Trio For P. O. Robbery ---- HAMILTON, Feb. 17 - Leslie Brewerton and James Andrews yesterday pleaded guilty to breaking and robbing the Blackheath Village post-office last January 22 and were sentenced by Magistrate Vance to terms of two years in Portsmouth penitentiary. The sentences will begin at the end of the fourth year of a five-year term imposed upon them at Simcoe for robbery.

Leonard Earl, who pleaded guilty last week, and was remanded until yesterday for sentence, was given three months' definite term in the Ontario reformatory, to run consecutively with a three months' term imposed in Simcoe, and one year indeterminate.

Earlier yesterday Brewerton pleaded guilty to three charges of theft of automobiles and two of theft of automobile markers. He was remanded one week for sentence on these charges by Magistrate H. A. Burbridge.

Andrews and Earl pleaded guilty to two charges of theft of automobiles. and Leslie King pleaded guilty to one charge. They were remanded a week for sentence,

[AL: Brewerton was 24, English, a painter, and had been in Kingston Penitentiary before as convict #808. This time around he was convict #2969 and worked in the tin and paint shop. Relatively well behaved, he was transferred April 1934 to Collin’s Bay work camp, as convict #700, and released July 1935. He would be back in 1941 for another term.  

Andrews was 28, from Winnipeg, was an auto mechanic, and had been in Kingston Penitentiary before as #1233, also at the Toronto Jail Farm and twice at the Ontario Reformatory. This time he was convict #2970 and worked in the tailor shop. Andrews was involved in a riot and hostage taking in March 1935, when a group of twenty-five inmates, wearing improvised masks and with their inmate numbers ripped from their uniforms, occupied several workshops, barricaded the doors, and took three officers hostage; Andrews had recently been transferred to the tailor shop in that building. Unlike the 1932 strike, the guards taken captive were gagged, tied, and beaten by the leaders of the uprising. Several of the inmates set fire to the mail bags manufactured inside, destroying most of the machinery and nearly killing several men. The prison officers who stormed the building were also exceptionally brutal, beating surrendered inmates with batons. During the investigation afterwards, few of the participants would explain exactly what they had hoped to gain, except, as one individual guessed: “They don’t want exercises. They want base balls. They want human treatment instead of persecution, and everything like that.” Andrews himself was not directly implicated in the riot, and named several other convicts as an “agitator” by several other prisoners:

“…A few minutes later one of the convicts from No. 1 Tailor Shop got a key from the officer and opened the door. As the door was opened we all stood around the door inside the shop. Some of the men from No. 1 Tailor Shop were rushing down stairs grabbing bags to barricade the doors. I could not recognize them. Some had handkerchiefs over their faces and their coats inside out. When they were barricading the doors we stood by the door. A few minutes later I saw someone carrying bags from the basement. I went up-stairs to the second floor.”

Most of the leaders of this riot were young recidivists, some of whom had been through the 1932 riot, or the strikes and protests in 1933 and 1934, but they had made no effort to convince the rest of the inmate population, either before or after, of their cause. The entire incident, however, occurred only weeks after Agnes MacPhail had visited Kingston Penitentiary, and just as Parliament was debating penitentiary affairs. Warden Allan, quoting several prisoner informants, concluded that the prisoners were “using her visit to agitate the main convict population and give Miss MacPhail additional support for her argument for further prison reforms.” 

Andrews was released August 1936.

King was 27, from Hamilton, a cook’s helper and had been in Kingston Penitentiary before as #K-250 and #369. This time around he was #2971 and worked in the tailor shop. Like Andrews, he was involved in a minor way in the March 1935 riot, and spent twenty days in solitary for this, despite claiming he was not involved. He was released June 1936.]

[orleans-jester]

“I just .. don’t want to seem ungrateful.”

That and she just wasn’t a complaining person. When she reached out to other people, she wanted it to be about good things. And she did talk to them, just because it wasn’t about big important things like events didn’t mean that she didn’t keep in touch, especially with Ray. It was the little things like celebrating first steps and first words and managing a full nights sleep and laughing at whatever shenanigans their men were getting into. Any complaints - she kept that in because she one hundred percent did not want to be that girl that only turned to her friends when things were bad.

“I do talk to Ray, and I know that everyone goes through the rough times,” She said, since God knows that was true. There was no such thing as a perfect baby, even if their Frankie did come rather close. But she was also thinking .. Ray and the others, they had zombie kids and Praline to take care of. And Thomas and Flotsam had the triplets, which was a lot to juggle. “I guess I never got over my fear of being a burden,” She admitted, continuing to look down at her hands. But then he did make her chuckle a little. “Yeah, as much as I appreciate Frankenstein, that’s never going to happen.” At least they agreed on that very important point.

And apart from not getting some more one-on-one time with her husband where she didn’t have to try to be quiet during times of great pleasure, where she didn’t have to get up when she heard Frankie crying, even if that meant that she was just falling asleep in his arms, everything was pretty much ideal. They had the family life that was part of the American Dream.

But yes, very much fuck Pierre, and fuck Declan. Neither of them got to see the woman that she had grown into, so neither of them knew. This was never a fleeting love, hero worship, only thankfulness - though of course she was grateful for everything that Bastien did. Like Bas had reminded her - she had said yes to running away with him off the grid before she had needed saving. And leaving him had been one of the hardest things that she had ever done in her entire life. Harder than even putting aside all the dreams of medical school and treating people around the world. That had been easy peasy compared to that. So they hadn’t even known Agnes very well either. Declan could see what she had done, what she was doing, even what she was most likely to do in the future. But he didn’t know the thoughts that went through her head.

Maddy was more than happy to remind him. It didn’t bother her at all that he had forgotten because it let her talk about it, to reminisce. The Six of Swords, moving to a distant environment with more potential. Justice, karmic retribution. Ace of Pentacles, opportunity for prosperity. Four of Swords, recovery and introspection. The Moon - her favorite card. Temperance, adapting, cooperation. The Empress - connect with femininity. How that glitzy grandma forture teller had been so very right about everything.

Seeing that proud expression too - that felt so good. “Yeah, you’re probably the best at it.”

Maddy’s smile only grew when she realized that in a way, her husband was quoting Dumbledore of all people. “I never feel lost when I’m around you. You always know exactly where to go, even if it isn’t home.”

It just always felt like a rant because she wasn’t able to stop herself when it started to come out and it was sometimes hard to figure out how Bastien was going to see things. She knew he loved her, of course, but what if … what if he thought that she was being too much, trying to interject herself into areas of his life that maybe she had no right to be in? That world of his was entirely different from hers. Sometimes it felt like she had a map to it but others … other times it was more like a childrens drawing, just scrawls of different colors.

She did look a little more concerned as he kept speaking though. “What - what do you think we would argue about?” She implored, taking hold of his hand lightly. They haven’t really had any big arguments in their marriage. And it’s been almost two years now. He did give examples though, but it felt like he was holding back. “Okay, yes, I do worry, but that’s what I do Bastien, I’m your wife, and it always goes away when you come back to me. I want you to be able to talk about these things. About everything.” Oh Bastien, being Bastien, keeping things inside while only giving enough hints to make her mind start to go crazy. Things he needed patience for. She couldn’t think yet of what that meant. “No, no, nothing is your fault. If anything, it’s mine because you feel like you can’t come to me with … what this is really about. I can promise you right now - nothing in this world, not a thing, is more important to me than you and Frankie.”

She sighed, and looked more than a little embarrassed. “It’s kind of like what you said earlier. There’s nothing that I really want to do, at least not in Feral. It’s just more … it feels weird to ask someone to watch Frankie just so we can … fuck, basically.”

She thought back to the night that they decided that they were going to try for a baby. The mind-blowing pleasure that he had given her - three times in a row, they just kept going, like they were rabbits. Even if she didn’t have the full stimulation, he left her more than satisfied each and every time and she wanted to revisit that so badly. She wanted to have another night like that, just them, just keep going. No distractions.

"Oh."

Bastien made a face. Her initial statement seemed so simple.

"What makes you think there's something wrong with complaining about the challenges of parenthood?"

That was his first question truth be told because he thought it was odd she felt such a need to stand up loving Frankie as if any complaint meant some sort of lack or something to that effect.

"I complain about her all the time. Chip does too. His own I mean. Then we laugh about it. He tells me what his wives say too. It's all in good fun how difficult it can be, but rewarding. You should talk to them more... or Valerie... or Flotsam/Thomas and all them with kids. It's not a big deal. Then you wouldn't feel so bad that everyone goes through that. You could have just said you wanted a babysitter and we could have asked the guys at the church or the fae. Koda used to dance with that cowboy guy's kid, I forget his name, the Uber driver. He might have before he left, Zero would have helped him. I bet they would... or even Piper. Now that Feral is open we could ask all kinds of friends to do that. Just not the doctor alone just in case he gets a hankering itch his doctor vibes can't stop himself from scratching with our daughter. But, we really have had lots of choices. Now people who actually have kids can do it. They'll be the best ones because they're used to it."

He wouldn't even get at all why her mind would think there was about to be harsh judgement here on babysitters unless she meant the Jetsam thing, but she didn't voice that. As of now he was excited with the idea of visiting their friends more to drop off the kid. It was an excuse to see everyone. It wasn't like they were going to hire a stranger. The only reason he hadn't asked himself was because he honestly didn't have anything he wanted to do while in Feral other than whatever Delta had him do and his hoarding for future survival. He worked the dragon's hoard and did his thing. If anything it was the only time since they'd been together they almost functioned like a traditional family unit and they weren't even doing it on purpose. He got up and went to work and came home after a long day of her taking care of the baby and then helped himself all he possibly could. He just didn't actually have a timecard to punch like a regular job. What a world?

He liked hearing fuck Declan and Pierre too. He used to be so confident they were dead wrong and glad they were dead. The more things felt like they were changing the more insecure that confidence became. It got shook just every time he could sense her worry of him about his usage or anything that felt like judgement towards him for any reason. That was the honest truth.

Bastien shook his head. "Remind me. I'm sorry. My head. It's so mixed up sometimes." He remembered tarot cards, but it obviously wasn't as vivid to him as it was to her. He hated his brain sometimes. He could tell it was important to her and it made him feel sick to his stomach that he couldn't remember the details. It gave him a flashback to doctors trying to tell him problems that could get worse with time and he suddenly felt like hitting something. A doctor. The face of the one Esme put him in front of started to flash in his head even though that wasn't the one that spoke on his memory and cognition. His chin jerked to the side to shake it out and focus back on Maddy. He needed to pay attention. Full focus here. Present. Right now.

The moon. The dark. "Yeah. I do kinda remember that." He started to appear prouder by the moment. "I am an expert in that."

He actually laughed a little there about not getting lost. Stars that brought her home. He liked that too. It reminded him of Willem and how he'll forever be looking for a partner to be his candle on the water, his lighthouse.

"I think I forgot to tell you something. I don't know. Did I forget to tell you we don't always have to know where we're going? Because I don't. Sometimes I just wander around. It doesn't mean I'm lost. It doesn't mean I know where I am or even what I'm doing. But, I'm always okay. You never have to worry. It's always cool. We can just wander around together. No biggie. As long as we're together."

He wasn't upset about her rant as she put it in her mind, but he didn't see it that way. It was just expressing how she felt and it was all complimentary to him. Ranting felt like a negative term and how could he take it as bad when all she was really saying was she wanted more of him which meant she cared?

She however was probably right about the next thing she said too. If she was feeling that needy she might not have been coming across that way to him because he'd been feeling judged over small things every other time they got together for some time which had him decompressing after work with Frankie more because she was judgement free. If he stayed in the safety zone he wouldn't poke the mama bear so to speak. Maybe unintentionally keeping the kid distance barrier up was also poking the same bear. He was starting to realize he was going to have to admit to that if he were to have any integrity right now.

"I'm sorry. I should have noticed you needed some down time too. I could have asked for a sitter, but I didn't either because... well... because I get worried I'm going to get questioned about stuff we might argue about it and we'd never do that in front of Frankie. So, it's easier to have her around so nothing controversial comes up. Just in case. Like, I don't know... I see the concern on your face when I use, when I've been out long, or just... stuff along the way that puts me in the kind of mood that would ruin any fun I might have anyway. I know when I'm being judged. Other stuff. Stuff I'm determined to have patience about." He nodded his chin and didn't elaborate and left it at that because that was Bastien. "So maybe I'm asking a question I already knew the answer to? Maybe it didn't change. Maybe I just did? Maybe everything's the same, but my patience is changed, or like getting tired, and I'm not in the mood to exercise it. It's probably my fault and I didn't even know it. Fuck. Everyone has their limits. I guess. I might have a hammer, but my patience isn't as strong as Thor. Maybe a babysitter would help me recharge while I'm waiting. So again, I'm sorry."

Then he tilted his head again quite quizzically after his apology and explanation thereof.

"But why didn't you ask for a babysitter? I explained me. What about you? You sure that's all it is? Just didn't want to admit you can't do it all by yourself or just scared to ask people?"

[lhrry]

Ohhh I love OBX! Cant wait for season 3. And cant wait for season 3 of Never Have I Ever. And the weekly episodes of Only Murders In The Building and Ms Marvel. Hope they don’t disappoint! I just finished season 3 of The Umbrella Academy and I didn’t really like it. It wasn’t bad but not as good as season 2. I feel like Covid and all the restrictions really fucked then over

Obx is one of my favourite shows ever!! and didn’t know there was going to be a new never have I ever season soon, is it in August?? The others I haven’t watched (yet in regard to Ms Marvel, I’m going to watch that one) so I can’t weight in! I generally don’t have much time to watch shows and I’ve been so emotionally and mentally drained with finals and stuff happening in my life that now I can’t really get into anything new. I watched euphoria but i felt very indifferent towards most of it (probably too hyped at a time when I didn’t watch so now it just fell flat) and so now I just went to rewatching and rereading things I know and do have some emotional attachment to!

[abelllia]

I posted 1,774 times in 2022

That's 1,724 more posts than 2021!

291 posts created (16%)

1,483 posts reblogged (84%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hisclockworkservants

@ashes-in-a-jar

@samwise1548

@jewishjon

@beesabuzzin

I tagged 1,552 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#tma - 971 posts

#jon sims - 529 posts

#martin blackwood - 377 posts

#jmart - 266 posts

#abellrambles - 214 posts

#tma buns - 115 posts

#tim stoker - 80 posts

#the magnus archives - 69 posts

#sasha james - 66 posts

#jonathan sims - 62 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#tim's resentment towards him is understandable but at the same time i want to defend jon but at the sane time i it's understandable and at-

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

AU idea I had stewing for a while

[ID: A digital drawing of teenage Gerard Keay, Jonathan Sims, and Agnes Montague running away from an out-of-frame giant spider that is on fire. They all wear uniforms which consist of a white dress shirt, a green tie, a grey sweater vest, a dull green jacket, in Jon and Gerry's case black slacks and in Agnes' case a black above-the-knee skirt with black leggings, white socks, and brown leather shoes. On the top right is grey text that reads "The Kids Are Alright AU" with a smaller piece of text underneath it that reads "aka Highschool AU+Jon, Gerry, Agnes Friendship+They're Leitner Hunters." Gerard Keay is a white boy with mid-length pale blonde hair badly-dyed black, Jonathan Sims is a British-Indian boy with brown skin and dark brown hair, Agnes Montague is a white girl with long red hair./.End ID]

The vibes are Scooby Doo in Highschool except the ghosts they hunt are Leitners and also they're British (so I guess they're in Secondary School.) I just wanted to see them as troublemaking teens who have a penchant for solving mystery and arson. Luckily the mysteries of Jurgen Leitner provide avenues for both. Who is Jurgen Leitner? Why does he have so many fucked up (if true) books? Why are a shit ton of them popping up in and around school campus? That's what this trio want to find out! Feel free to ask questions since this AU is not like, 100% complete or set in stone. Might be fun.

943 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

#4

S1 v S4 JMart ft. Cat Jon

[Image ID: Two comics featuring Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood from The Magnus Archives.

The first comic is set in season one. The first panel has Martin cautiously approach Jon who is at his desk, reading a statement while holding a mug. Martin says "H-hey Jon! Here's the files you asked for-" Jon then hisses at Martin and jumps away in his seat for the second panel. He throws his hands over himself, spilling the contents of his mug in the process. Alarmed cat ears appear on him as well as a tail. Martin looks surprised and jumps away from Jon, holding his hand in the air and the files close to his chest.

The second comic is set during the Scottish Safehouse Period. Jon and Martin are in bed during early morning with their arms over each other, Jon's on top of Martin's. In the first panel, Martin is trying to reach for his glasses while saying "Jon...we need to start the day..." Jon then weakly hisses in the second panel. His arm clutches Martin's shoulder and the alarmed cat ears and tail appear again. In the third panel, Martin gives up on reaching for his glasses and instead hugs Jon back. He smiles and says "Fine. Five more minutes." Jon smiles back and two hearts float above him./.End ID]

Jonathan "Mah-tin" Sims is a cat confirmed. Did this instead of working on another piece lmao.

957 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

#3

Concept: Jon's grey hair is actually spider silk from his encounter with the Web

988 notes - Posted September 6, 2022

#2

Thank you to @intr0vrt3dextr0vert who gave me the suggestion "The S1 TMA crew (Sasha, Tim, Elias etc) going on a (regular lol) work bonding trip like going to the movies or something >:]"!

[Image ID: A digital drawing of the Season 1 Magnus Archives crew watching a movie in an empty theatre. On the left sits Elias, calmly steepling his fingers together and looking at the screen. An arrow points towards him with the text "secretly Watching the better movie next door." Next is Jon, who is sleeping and leaning his head against Martin who is seemingly watching the movie with a happy expression. The arrow pointing towards Jon has the text "bad sleeping habits finally caught up to him" while the arrow pointing to Martin says "*having an internal crisis rn*." Then comes Sasha who is mischievously looking at Jon and Martin while she hides her phone behind her bag of popcorn, implied to be taking a photo of the two. Her arrow and text reads "never a bad time for blackmail." Finally there's Tim who is staring intently at the screen while he leans over to take a bit of Sasha's popcorn as his container is empty. His arrow and text reads "actually paying attention to the damn movie." There is text at the bottom right corner of the image which says "POV: They're watching a bad movie" there is smaller text underneath it which says "(they bought out the whole house w/ institute money i guess?)" and another that goes "((or the movie really is just THAT bad)) ./.End ID]

The Ceaseless(?) Watchers

I have no idea what movie they're watching but Tim's invested anyway. I thought this was only going to take me a couple of minutes but it actually took a long while because

A. I forgot how hard it is to draw multiple characters in one scene

B. Low angle go brrr

But it was fun! The crew just hanging out and doing normal stuff for a change! Sure hope nothing happens to them ahahaha :)

1,177 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

One thing about Martin Blackwood that I think doesn't get brought up nearly as much as it should be is his love for "Retro" things.

Just Martin geeking out over things like rotary phones, 1950's dresses, polaroids, and all that stuff. Maybe he wears Cat Eye glasses to work? Who knows.

If you want JMart thoughts too imagine Martin going down to the Archives for his first day and seeing Jon in full grampa attire, wearing a bowtie like he's Carl Fredricksen from Up, and going "That's him. That's the man I'll fall for."

1,635 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[islandtarochips]

🌸 Tell me about your OC(s) - with pictures if you want !Pick some facts you want to share about them & let us gush about them together! Then send to other creators to do the same ✨

I think I’ve done this before. But eh. Wouldn’t mind doing it again! I’ll just give out 5 or less/more facts about each of my OCs! Even my BOCW OC too!

I’ll start off with Tiala Toa!

Secretly have some shark plushies in her barrack. Got it from her little brothers and mostly from Kanoa. Knowing how much she loves them.

Tiala had never dated another guy after what happened to her Ex in High School. For she doesn’t want to feel humiliated again.

She’s the more protective one than her brothers. Even mostly to her little ones. (She only accepted Sami’s Wife. She’s nice.)

She did most of the house/yard work while her little brothers are having a Princess Treatment (that’s how it is here in Samoa/American Samoa) but she doesn’t mind (not to her mom-).

Have her mother’s look and strength from her father.

Kanoa Toa:

Out of ALL of his siblings. He’s the only one who knows how to braid or fix hairs. Very nice style though. His mom and his cousins taught him that.

Single. He’s been single ever since he was BORN. He has his charms but no luck in having a girlfriend. Even during high school no girls wanted him.

It’s funny that he got his Uncle’s (his dad’s brother) funny side. NONE of his parents are funny. So I guessed he would hang out with him most of the time.

Agnes Falagi:

She loves to draw. It’s like a hobby of hers. So she usually keeps a notebook in her pockets in case she gets bored during a mission.

She has photos of her mom and aunty on her phone. And would NEVER delete them no matter how full her phone storage was.

She used to have a pet kitten but it got lost. Never seen them again.

Agnes may have gone to jail ONCE for making illegal fireworks during 4th of July.

Nigel Harrison:

Pranking on everyone most of the time except Tiala. Tried many times but yet she somehow got away with it…

Always facetime to see his little sister after every mission and would smile to see her drawings of him.

Always scared of Price and his boys whenever he meets up with them. Because of his….AHEM. Past work. (Someone help this man. He’s being anxious-)

He mostly got his mother’s attitude of being pissed off with someone.

Him and Soap used to be friends when they first met at Las Almas. But he doesn’t know if they are right now…

Aelan Kalani:

Tiala is her favorite. For she hardly came over to her lab from being injured. She’s annoyed to see Kanoa, Agnes and Nigel for being reckless most of the time. That’s why she put Tiala in her favorite list.

Usually hides in her office to finish her work. But her mom always found her and scolded her for not resting.

She used to punch a Colonel in the face for threatening one of her patients who came in FIRST. (Her mom was proud though)

Always gets a photo by her little cousin to show about her Uncle and Aunty. She truly misses them.

REALLY ignored her grandparents call since they just met her a year ago and found out about her mom. (Asking for money perhaps…)

Alana Kalani:

Has a wine bottle hiding in her drawer for emergency (Mental emergency)

Kept a photo of the WTF team.

Got a mug that says “Best General Mom in the World”. A gift from the WTF.

Actually knows why people kept calling her MILF and Mommy (Agnes and Nigel explained that-)

Usually sends money to her little niece everyday just to spoil her.

Koa (BOCW OC):

Before becoming an asshole. He usually dresses up and has tea parties with his daughter when she’s little.

Actually kept a small photo of her daughter when she’s a baby to remind him of how much he wishes to turn back time.

Whenever he can’t sleep because of the nightmares he has about losing his daughter. He usually trains until he’s tired again.

Koa usually sees his sergeant as his son. He reminded him of his own son as well.

Would tease Adler about his soft side with his kids (Aleks sends some pics about it) but not in public though. For he respected Adler’s personal life.

Ok! There you have it! Thanks for the ask though!

And also, Aleks belongs to @alypink for the BOCW Universe!

[108garys]

OK yeah some of these were pretty damn cursed but firstly the parameters

I excluded both hoa/tidms prologues along with 1600s little hope due to not having eras in other games that overlap with those characters life times

Two spins=ship

A pair would be disqualified if they shared a model, a game, lived in radically different times and age gaps were case by case(wrote them regardless of if they qualify, well over 100 didn't)

Then some characters qualified multiple times so I just picked because I didn't want repeats

So for the headache it gave me heres:

Max/Taylor(it would be the perpetual "you go first" lol)

Joe Roberts/Anna Bennet

Abe/James(given they're set 20 years apart they probably around the same age)

Charlie L/Jack fiddler(Charlie's new bf has a flamethrower, what are you gonna do about that hector?)

Billy Bates/Agnes Bradshaw(he's a sugar baby✨)

Daniel/Daniella(this one came up multiple times)

Becky/Kate(think of the possibilities)

Conrad/Emma

Julia/Jess

Mike/Adam(mike be like "this is my new bf Simon, he's a forensic guy"... "so anyway it turns out my new bf is a serial killer who committed identity theft... Do you think I should give him a second chance?")

Kaylee/Brad(shes invested in the infodumping)

Michelle Morello/Chris Hackett(He's really doing the most to keep his family off the true crime radar)

William Vanstone/Travis Hackett(the shady judge and the shady sheriff? The Hackett's really don't want there secrets coming out...)

Alex/Matt

John/Hannah(RUN proffesor! I mean she'd be in her late 20s and human but still it's a good thing we know the man can run)

Sam/Jamie(they have such different ideas about what counts as a good time that it's not even funny)

Erin/Jacob(guess who's never carrying anything ever again lol)

Jefferson Bragg/Elis van Huytan

Dr hill/Danny(hill is a real person tho I'm not sure Danny can tell these days, at any rate Danny/therapy)

Tom/Samir(hidden agenda cop who can die in his first scene and tdim cop who does in his only scene that I also named? Why not)

The particularly cursed ones was recognising that Megan and Merwin are around the same age, that bobby Hackett isn't technically too old for Zain but I don't like it, spinner shipped manny/clarice multiple times and it also qualifies(I trust her to kick his ass tho)

And Many more and for all the crazy options it definitely gets me thinking about what else could hypothetically work lol

Maybe I'll draw/write for some of these, who knows

But what if I put a bunch of names on a spinner and see if get any good cross game ships?

May end up cursed but why not✨

[busysavingtheuniverse]

may i ask you to elaborate on tua season 2?

hell yeah dude

for an easy answer @deer-time's tua salt tag is a really good starting place (though they've moved most tua-related stuff to their sideblog @salty-coffee)

but if you don't want to go through that basically, in no particular order:

it felt they were just shoving in scenes for the music and the soundtrack just wasn't as memorable as season one

the time skip ensured that we missed out on most of their development. i have a lot of beef with the time skip

i cannot stress enough how much the handler should've died in season one lol

WHY WOULD NONE OF THEM KNOW WHERE KLAUS WAS HE WAS LITERALLY A CULT LEADER

luther, at the very least, should've seen vanya's ads in the newspaper. diego allison and klaus i can understand because one was in an asylum (i have my beef with that don't worry lol), the other wouldn't read white newspapers, and the third was traveling

vanya's amnesia plot felt like it was just there to smooth her over? she got no meaningful interactions with the siblings because she didn't know them and the conflict they set up at the end of season one ('we need to fix her') never went anywhere. we love wlw representation but was vanya really ready for romance after all the shit that went down? she needs time to process and grow not forget everything and latch onto the first woman that takes her in. we got no exploration of her trauma. also why can she just automatically control her powers now? no trauma recovery narrative for vanya i guess. she spends the entire season as essentially a side character with no real agency in the plot? also where did the new powers come from hello

speaking of the romance literally none of it was executed well. why did raymond assume his WIFE was a government plant before at least hearing her out? vissy was written so shallowly it's not even funny. liego happened way too quickly and diego forgot about eudora too fast. klave was okay i guess lol idc abt them

why did diego and lila face no racism? why were they in an integrated asylum in the south? why did they actually show diego being helped genuinely instead of them just making his situation worse? i don't think therapy was that genuinely developed. diego felt like a completely different character

why would luther, known goody-two-shoes, work for the mob? also why would he not ask jack ruby to look up his siblings' names for him before? he went back to the alley so he at least had the thought that they landed in the same spot at different times right. also he was way too dumbed down and made into comic relief for the benefit of the luther haters

klaus was literally made irrelevant? he had nothing to do, his relapse was treated as a JOKE, his addiction wasn't explored, and he was basically just comic relief like luther

allison's plotline felt it was just there to get her out of the way, she totally forgot about claire, her trauma was ignored for the second season in a row, etc. she wasn't even mad at vanya like this woman slit your throat and incinerated your daughter i don't CARE that you treated her badly i think that's a pretty good basis for some friction? (screw the amnesia plot obviously)

five and ben were left pretty intact specifically because ben's personality isn't there and five didn't get a time skip

why did they forget that drugs suppress powers when vanya was with the fbi

very sexy of tua to introduce the concept of an evil corporation that's essentially the root of all their problems in season one and then redeem it but just giving it new management? and have five of all people look into the faces of herb and DOT, WHO LEFT HIM IN THE APOCALYPSE AND DIDN'T PUSH FOR HIM TO GET EXTRACTED, and say 'yeah guys totally! :)'

also he should've eaten carmichael i don't make the rules

NONE OF THE SIBLING BONDING FELT REAL BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THEIR DEVELOPMENT. NOTHING VANYA DID FELT REAL BECAUSE OF THE AMNESIA

the swedes were legitimately not necessary. screw the swedes all my homies hate the swedes. why did they stay all the way until the finale

where did the five+allison jfk plot go that was so good

why did lila automatically know how to control their powers

elliott wasn't necessary either they should've just made their home base hazel and agnes's house with no unnecessary fridging please. that's where they could've gotten a briefcase too

the atmosphere felt completely different? season one was dark and slow and had the vibes of a gothic horror, almost? it was watching a train wreck in action, seeing all these plot threads inevitably combine for one hell of a finale. there was nothing like that in season two. aside from the obvious atmosphere change, it didn't feel like there was any direction to where the story was going? the only two highlights of the finale i care about are diego deflecting the bullets and five rewinding time. that's IT. and compared to season one's finale, it's utterly disappointing

idk it just felt like a popcorn flick/marvel movie and those are fine! those have their place! but the entire draw of tua was the darker themes and focus on childhood trauma/abuse, and they just completely failed to follow up. those have their place, and it was not here

all in all the writing just felt weaker

there's more in the 'tua salt' and 'tua s2 salt' tags

anyway tua is a ten-episode-long miniseries

[adamsvanrhijn]

wish i knew more about gay stereotypes in 1880s america. to me and my modern lesbian eyes, oscar is instantly and visibly gay. his mannerisms, the way he holds himself, his clothes and the company he keeps, etc. it's so very obvious. i called it from the moment i saw those funky sunglasses in ep1. but that doesn't mean it was obvious to the people around him at the time, right? lots of men, especially men from monied families, were ~foppish~ after all. maybe he's just seen as a fashionable dude! i don't know!

oh he's uh. he's so fucking gay. he is very gay, and this would not be just to us in the 21st century. (i got out strangers by graham robb to support this statement but there are too many relevant passages.)

like, by the 1880s we're seeing a separation in the recognition and acknowledgement of, fashionable, and, one of those. the dawn of psychology had a lot to do with this. men who were not interested in other men but interested in art, fashion, etc, were by the latter half of the nineteenth century quite invested in separating themselves from this perception. (and contemporarily, another oscar i am sure we have all heard of was regarded as gay long before he was in the news for it or his behavior was known.)

i would hazard a guess that many people who interact with oscar started to wonder a while ago—if not necessarily that he is gay, or, that he is sexually interested in other men, that he is odd, a little to the left of what a man should be. quaint if we're being gracious, peculiar if we're not.

and at his time of life, that's not really a problem, yet. if he plays by society's rules, if he marries and does what he's expected to do—people will still wonder, people will make asides and quips when he isn't in the room (he's safe) but they'll look the other way as long as they have no reason to do otherwise. he did what he was supposed to do and he isn't hurting anyone—though, that's also somewhat reliant on if there's an understanding that his wife is in on it, and if no one ever has reason to think about how he may not actually have settled for celibacy.

in any case he is, as he very well knows, rapidly approaching the end of this grace period. and i think too that he is willfully, necessarily (for his own mental health) in denial that people might already be wondering, that perhaps they have been, always have been, even. that getting married isn't going to stop or prevent people from talking. (i think the only person who has never thought of this at all is agnes—though she does worry about whether or not he will settle down.)

john does not experience this because he is not already Doing Masculinity Wrong. fucking absolutely nobody is looking at john adams and wondering. if he never marries the innocent will assume he's simply not one to settle down, that he never found the right girl, and everyone else who has an idea otherwise will choose not to mind, or may genuinely not mind, because nothing about him draws attention to what he might do behind closed doors or raises eyebrows.

if oscar never marries, people will connect the dots. whether out loud or not, he will be a topic, something he desperately (and understandably!) does not want to be. he probably already is—and not everybody wants a topic in their drawing room.

he needs to either be okay with that, or he needs to fall in line, and he has chosen to fall in line.