#Highbrow Entertainment

[dougielombax]

The Endless Decay of the Abyss when the Unshakable Power of the Human Spirit coupled with sheer fucking stubbornness and willpower walks into the room:

Bottom text.

#dougie rambles #personal stuff #my poor attempt at a joke #remedy games #remedy entertainment #Alan wake #alan wake 2 #control #control game #control 2019 #live slug reaction #what #no context #this sounded funnier in my head #shitpost #when the #human spirit #bottom text #highbrow shitposting #finland #stubbornness #willpower #abyss #the abyss #decay #anti nihilism #unbreakable #nightmare fuel #the horrors #terrors

[july-19th-club]

finally watching dude blood show which is what i call spartacus on starz because i refuse to take it seriously until oh probably thirty minutes into my first episode at which point i will take it more seriously than ive taken any tv show since the last tv show i watched

#me feeling like i should be distanced and insincere about anything i suspect im going to REALLY enjoy lest Someone Make Fun Of Me ... #like it IS a problem and i cant lay it squarely on my brothers although i can lay it a little bit on them #trying to do it less though #like yes some of the stuff i enjoy is over the top and not prestige entertainment or like. highbrow literature or whatever #large portions of the stuff i enjoy. as a matter of fact #i like action i like injuries i like when guys run around with old-timey weapons. i like inaccurate historicals #i like when its dramatic. and i am embarrassed about it! #but im trying not to think that enjoying things is going to bring some kind of hyper-judgement down upon me from everyone i meet

[mihotose]

myu vs proper idols and sute vs takarazuka

#infecting these cultural phenomena with swords #gemitus #not that idols are like. highbrow entertainment but. they literally performed at kouhaku on the same stage as like. akb48 #tkrb #toumyu #tousute

[familyabolisher]

whilst i do get where the urge to semi-ironically proclaim oneself a 'literature snob' or 'film snob' &c. in response to people's claims that tepid and politically neutered repetitive mass media is the only legitimate form of entertainment comes from, i feel like the best way to challenge this idea is surely to attempt to denature the 'highbrow'/'lowbrow' distinction & disseminate ideas and responses to more "difficult" works in such a way that curious & thorough & widespread engagement begins to look like something both enjoyable and accessible, rather than acting in accordance with the suggestion that complex books and films are for people with degrees only

#.txt #i just don't think calling yourself a Literature Snob makes you interesting

[mephinomaly]

[TL] A Snake in one's Bosom/Ibara Saegusa 4*

Character(s): Ibara, Nagisa, Hiyori

Summary: After a recording, Nagisa suddenly and unexpectedly snaps at Ibara. Lost, Ibara asked Hiyori for help. After some shopping, Hiyori reveals what the reason was...

Season: Winter

Ibara: Thank you for your hard work today! As always, working with a jack-of-all-trades is a delight ☆

Today’s recording focused on adlibs and originally I was rather worried about it but now I know that was groundless apprehension.

The staff have prepared some ice cream. Is chocolate to your liking, Your Excellency?

Nagisa: …Ice cream? Thank you, Ibara. This is a reward for today.

(...!?)

Ibara: I look forward to continuing work with the same attitude tomorrow, Your Excellency, if you allow!

Nagisa: ...

Ibara: Is something the matter? You’re making a glum expression but perhaps that is me overthinking?

If that is the case, then please be as harsh as is needed in order for me to improve. If His Excellency so wishes, this Ibara Saegusa will do whatever it takes. Ha Ha Ha ☆

Nagisa: …So noisy. Shut up.

Ibara: Huh…!?

…Sorry? Y-Your Excellency? Why have you suddenly become angry? Did I do something in order to cause it?

If I did, please! Please tell me!?

Location: CosPro Office

Ibara: —And that’s basically it.

Hiyori: Ahaha. How amusing. Nagisa-kun threatened you and you got scared.

Ibara: This is not a laughing matter. His Excellency hasn’t spoken to me since then.

Hiyori: Oh yeah? Then, you came all this way in order to ask me about why Nagisa-kun got angry, hm?

Ibara: Yes, I did. Since today is his day off, I’d like to use this time to get to the root of the issue.

Hiyori: I don’t think you need to be so timid. He was probably already in a bad mood and you set him off.

Ibara: Perhaps, but I do not believe that something like that would be enough to upset him to that degree.

Hiyori: Fufu...

Ibara: What’s so funny? Seriously, this is no joking matter, Your Highness!

Hiyori: Nono it’s just- Ibara is far more impatient than I thought. It’s cute.

Ibara: I suppose I have to be cautious of topics that could potentially upset him despite not knowing what those could be.

Up until now, if His Excellency is angry, I am usually aware of the cause of it. However, this time, I am completely at a loss.

I cannot help with getting rid of whatever is upsetting him.

Therefore, I humbly request your assistance as someone who is the most knowledgeable about His Excellency!

Hiyori: …Wow, this is very honest and laudable for you, hm?

Ibara: If I continue to cause distress to His Excellency, future Eden and Adam activities may be at risk of failure.

Therefore I believe that the best course of action is to resolve this ASAP.

Hiyori: I see. I understand why you’re so desperate.

But of course, I know exactly why Nagisa-kun is angry. So coming to me was the correct thing to do.

Ibara: You’re a godsend! Then please—

Hiyori: However! Simply telling you why is boring, right? Since you’re asking me for a favour, I want you to show me how serious you are about this.

Ibara: How serious I’m being? How would you like me to show that? Would dogeza be sufficient?[1]

Hiyori: Fufu. You have to accompany me window shopping!

Location: Mall

Hiyori: I was able to get a bunch of different cute spring clothes. What good weather ♪

Ibara: I’m glad you are enjoying yourself, Your Highness. However, this is a rather extravagant way to spend one’s time.

Hiyori: Entertain me first before you start talking about extravagance.

I ask you what clothes you like and you give this model pre-generated answer. You know all the latest trends but it doesn’t matter because all you talk about is when it’ll go out of style.

Talking to you isn’t fun.

I try to teach you the joy of highbrow activities but you do nothing but work so I guess you’re unteachable.

Ibara: For me, work produces the same effects and results as your highbrow activities. Rest assured, Your Highness. Hahaha ☆

Anyhow, could you perhaps now tell me what was upsetting His Excellency?

Hiyori: Hm, fine then. I’m just killing time at this point and you’ve practically become my personal baggage carrier.

So you wanted to know why Nagisa-kun was in a bad mood right?

Fufu. So the reason that Nagisa-kun glared at you was—

Ibara: Yes...

Hiyori: He just has a cavity.

Ibara: …Pardon? He has… a cavity?

Hiyori: Well, to be exact it’s toothache. We don’t know if it’s a cavity yet.

Seems that he glared at you that day because he was eating the ice cream the staff provided and it caused him some pain.

But he knew that if he told you that, you’d confiscate it so he kept quiet and just made a face instead.

Ibara: …If that is the case, it was just a cavity that has been causing me all this grief?

Hiyori: Nagisa-kun’s using his day off to go to the dentist.

Look, I think he went to that dentist today. He’s probably about finished now…

Nagisa: …Hiyori-kun, you’ve come to pick me up.

…Oh? Ibara is here too? Why?

Hiyori: Sorry Nagisa-kun. Ibara was super worried that he had offended you so I ended up telling him about your tooth.

Nagisa: …Oh, I see. Sorry for causing you trouble, Hiyori-kun. Ibara too. My teeth are fine so please don’t worry.

Ibara: Yes?... Wonderful, that is excellent news. It is of the utmost importance that your teeth are in good health.

Nagisa: …Ibara. I’m sorry for before. I was too harsh on you.

Ibara: It’s fine. Now that I know the reason for you being upset, I feel relieved.

However, Your Excellency, I will apologise in advance for my rudeness.

But after today, you are banned from any and all desserts and sweets!

Nagisa: …Banning them isn’t necessary. It wasn’t a cavity, I just have hypersensitivity.

Ibara: It doesn’t matter! Whether a cavity or hypersensitivity, they both cause you pain!

Nagisa: …The dentist showed me the correct way to brush my teeth though. Therefore there isn’t a problem?

Ibara: No, I have already made my mind up. No matter what you say, I will not overturn it. My decision is final.

For the time being, I will be closely monitoring when you eat and when you brush your teeth!

I will even brush your teeth for you if it comes to it!

Nagisa: …You’re pushing your luck, Ibara. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - I am above you, you are below me—

Ibara: That threat will not work on me this time. The reason for this failure was mismanagement on my part!

I have allowed you too much freedom as of late. I will fix this.

Nagisa: …What should I do, Hiyori-kun. Ibara’s scarier than usual.

Hiyori: You two have swapped positions. Dealing with Ibara is such a bother, so run away with me, Nagisa-kun.

Ibara: You will not be. No more of this farce! This will not be happening again!

dogeza is where u kneel on the floor and put ur forehead to the ground in a bow. Google it for a reference. Mans prepared to beg on his hands n knees

#enstars #ensemble stars #translation #ibara saegusa #nagisa ran #hiyori tomoe #mephi's translations #unfortunately oissu n the html is broken #kicking and screaming

[theromanticrationalist]

Some Thoughts on Sheldon Cooper. . .

"Leonard, I am overwhelmed. Everything is changing and it is simply too much. I need to get away and think." | 7x24 The Status Quo Combustion

"Dr. Cooper, while you were away we came up with a solution that would allow you to change your field of study." "Wow. Pouting and running away actually worked! Yeah, I must say, that may not be the lesson you want to reinforce with me." | 8x02 The Junior Professor Solution

"I'm not leaving your world. I'm just talking about living across the hall." "I understand. Either way, I want you to know that I'm aware of how difficult I can be. So, I just want to say thank you for putting up with me." | 8x12 The Space Probe Disintegration

"It just seems silly to eat in two groups." "It doesn't seem silly if you think of that group as being lead by a big, evil baby." *a few moments later and everyone situated around the couch* "Well, isn't this nice. Sometimes the baby wins!" | 7x16 The Table Polarization

"Two years ago I got my driver's license." "What?! Why didn't you say anything?!" "I like being chauffeured around. It makes me feel important." | 10x16 The Allowance Evaporation

These are some of the moments where Sheldon shows a level of great self-awareness. I bring these moments up as showcasing that Sheldon's level of emotional maturity is much greater than his friends (and the writers of this show) give him credit for. One of the main problems is how the narrative often treats Sheldon as if he is completely incapable of growth, maturity, or taking care of himself. The truth couldn't be further from this. Even the narrative itself shows how much Sheldon changed during his relationship with Amy. The primary problem is that Sheldon's personality is so big and overwhelming, he doesn't HAVE to change because he is able to get everyone to do what he wants anyway, which he is fully aware of and exploits constantly. I mean if you are Sheldon, someone who has a mind sharper and faster than anyone you meet and prefer to have tight, tyrant-like control over your reality in order to feel safe and secure, pushing and manipulating people around to do your will is going to come naturally with the territory. The problem wasn't that Sheldon is a stunted adult who can't manage life on his own, but it is in the fact that Sheldon rarely got constructive and encouraging push back for his behaviors and choices. For when he did, which primarily came from Amy, he was fully capable of making corrections to his behaviors and expanding his worldview. It just ended up that he was either treated poorly and abusively or enabled and placated. That's why I really love the moment with Mrs. Davis when he comes back from his train-riding "sabbatical". Changing his field of study was a HUGE cataclysmic event in Sheldon's life and was one aspect that was causing him the greatest distress. Yet even in this reality-altering experience, Sheldon realizes that some of his responses to it weren't healthy, and makes a note of it with her, e.g. don't reward my childish behaviors because I will take FULL ADVANTAGE OF THEM. There was SUCH a missed opportunity there at the end of Season 7 going into Season 8. Penny realizing that she and Leonard needed to let Sheldon go, allowing him to make his own choices and do what he felt was right for him was a huge revelation for the characters. It was kind of a significant, paradigm shifting moment! I naively thought that they would build on that going forward in the show, but nah. Of course not. Any moments that would have allowed for such growth from all the characters were usually walked-back or dropped. It is such a shame, and makes the watching of this show frustrating for me. And yes! I know! I realize this is a sitcom! Why am I expecting such highbrow writing from something that is primarily supposed to be comedic and entertaining? Well, I think this subtext was implied in the narrative despite itself, especially with Jim Parsons. I think his acting conveys a lot of Sheldon's complexity through his body language and micro-expressions. There is SO MANY LAYERS to Parsons' performance, I just do not see how you couldn't possibly get wrapped up in dissecting them and having higher expectations of the narrative you are watching. Jim Parsons MAKES this show, otherwise what else would it offer?

#anyway just my two cents #my thoughts #my sheldon cooper thoughts #sheldon cooper #young sheldon #jim parsons #the big bang theory

[why-is-prethinker-unavailable]

Greetings, simple-minded users of this website. For a Suit as brilliant and well-known as I, the Prethinker (still trying to figure out how to attain that username,) an introduction is nothing but superfluous.

I am Brian.

Seeing as I have nothing to entertain my genius intellect, and since I've been so-called "suspended" from Creddit for being so-called "antagonistic to other users," I shall humor you dim-witted chumps and whatever dull questions you may have until I've succeeded in reinstating my Creddit account. But be wary! Only the smartest of you will be selected for my highbrowed responses!

NO NITWITS ALLOWED. OR GEARLOOSE HATERS.

#prethinker #toontown #toonblr #cogblr #toontown corporate clash #ttcc #ask blog #art #toontown ask blog

[babyangelsky]

BL Challenge 2k24 ✨Day 5✨

Hello and welcome to @negrowhat's 15 Day BL Challenge! Full challenge can be found here.

Biggest Flop: Beyond the Star (2023)

*long sigh*

Listen, I don't exactly have what I'd call highbrow taste in dramas. I wouldn't even say I have good or consistent taste. I have the taste of a radioactive raccoon living in a Waffle House dumpster and the consistency of Texas spring weather. I have the kind of taste where I haven't watched I Told Sunset About You but I've seen Work from Heart twice. Questionable taste, to put it nicely.

(As an aside, yes, I know ITSAY is a masterpiece. Everyone says it's a masterpiece and I'm sure it is but I've seen the experience of watching it be compared to being run over by a freight train and it's hard to go into something knowing it'll make you cry and piss you off and possibly give you second lead syndrome (I think?). Maybe that's just me, maybe it's a skill issue. I don't know. What I do know is that Work from Heart doesn't feel like getting run over by a freight train and also I only watched it because @poetry-protest-pornography made a post about how great and sincerely horny the love scene was and I always show up for genuine and sincere horniness because that's the kind of degenerate I am. But I'm getting off track.)

I'm an easy girl to please. The only thing I ask of any media I consume is that it entertain me, and if a piece of media can do that, then it has done its job. I try not to go into any show with expectations and generally, I'll give most things a chance if they pique my interest. I think I've only dropped about three shows in my year and change of watching BL.

But having said all that, even an inconsistent degen radioactive raccoon like me couldn't get through more than two episodes of Beyond the Star. Actually I don't think I even made it that far, I might've clicked off halfway through the second one.

When I first saw the pilot I thought, "oh boy, this is going to be a messy fun time!" And I love a messy fun time! But then the trailer came out and I saw that they'd seemingly cut the storyline I was looking forward to the most and I started getting a little nervous. But I still had hope! Maybe they just hadn't shown it in the trailer.

Then the show came out.

It wasn't a messy fun time, it was just a mess. Watching the first episode was such a bizarre experience. I can't remember ever watching a show that just...didn't introduce any of the characters? Like they genuinely gave us nothing in terms of exposition. It felt like we were starting off on episode two or three instead of episode one.

We had no idea who these boys were, why they were here, how they were connected, why the hell we were supposed to care about any of them, NOTHING! Not a blessed thing! And that's not even mentioning the stiff, weird dialogue and acting, the odd pacing, audio issues, and editing.

Genuinely the only enjoyable part of what I saw of this show were the fucking cityscape transition shots.

Like look how pretty that is.

From what I understand there were production issues and scheduling conflicts that resulted in things having to be cut and restructured which obviously affected the final product. I took a look at the reviews on the MDL page just out of curiosity and the general (scathing) consensus is that this show just wasn't it. Things started off bad and just never improved.

#BLChallenge2k24 #beyond the star

[catchyhuh]

You once told about crying, so let's talk about the happier scenario: LAUGHTER. We were shown them sharing it a lot in canon but maybe you have some additional thoughts? Who would have the most twisted, dark sense of humor? Or maybe the cringiest? Who would laugh his butt off while reading some stupid text on the birthday card on the local shop? Does any of them snort or hiccup while giggling? Are any of them ticklish on some unusual spot? Do they prank each other? And what do they do to actually cheer up the others? Those kind of headcanons!

oh my god. i want to hug you. you’re right we DO need to talk about this!! peace and love and joy on planet earth!!!! all of them laugh when they see a guy walk headfirst into a glass pane and only two of them sort of kind of feel bad about it

lupin:

it takes almost nothing to make lupin laugh. and he’s not even fucking with you either he just sincerely thinks THIS much is funny but he has more of a control over his giggles than people might assume. he CAN stop laughing but he knows its obnoxious to people so he DOESN’T 

he knows how to weaponize levity. like, he really does have more emotional maturity than people give him credit for (not that he’s GREAT about it, just better than people give him credit for!) and it’s been shown multiple times that he tries to use laughter to pull people out of their emotional pits of despair. he exaggerates his gestures, he makes weird faces, and since he’s already such an animated person you wouldn’t even realize it’s an intentional thing unless you really knew him

lupin arguably pulls pranks every day, but not on his gang. at least, not the standard kind. it turns out people with nightmarishly fast reflexes have um. pretty wild kneejerk reactions if you pop out from behind a corner to try to scare them! usually he just replaces unimportant items for the hell of it. sour cream in the yogurt tub. pens replaced with black straws. shit that’s annoying but never WILD. he saves that for the heists 

jigen:

jigen laughing is (like so many things) ENTIRELY dependent on his mood. if he’s grouchy it’s almost impossible to make him laugh, even if it’s something he normally finds hilarious, but if he’s easygoing on this particular day it’s not. i mean its a REASONABLE level. it’s reasonable. honestly a lot of it has to do with the person it’s coming from too so it’s like. there’s factors. there’s factors to what makes him laugh. and oddly enough none of it has to do with his sense of humor. although in THEORY he would be the pickiest. it’s not HIGHBROW good lord not highbrow humor by any means, but he’s like. unimpressed with absurdist meme humor. probably because so much WAY wackier shit happens to them organically every damn day BUT YOU KNOW HOW IT IS

jigen. is a very loud laugher, when he gets to that very sincere point. like if he’s outside checking the mail or whatever and you’re standing in a bedroom upstairs on the opposite side of the house, and he sees a squirrel fall out of a tree flailing wildly before it just lands on its feet, blinking in confusion… you’ll know. you’ll know he saw that. and so will any house that happens to be in a 1 mile radius of the hideout. full lung capacity, clutching his stomach, pointing and everything. 

fujiko:

it is not impossible to get fujiko to laugh. difficult, but not impossible. especially because she’ll just do that laugh that indicates “that was funny/entertaining” but doesn’t actually like. turn into real laughter.  but fujiko sincerely, fully breaking into a laughing fit is like a haley’s comet level rare, beautiful event in nature. i know i said she never CRY cries but her eyes water up almost immediately the minute she starts laughing laughing, and her face gets all red and streaky. it’s exceedingly undignified. it’s so great

fujiko does admittedly find things funny the most in a like. objective sense. she’ll watch a movie and grin and be like “that was funny” and it’s like. ok then why aren’t you laughing? SHE JUST HAS A HIGHER COMEDY TOLERANCE. it’s not even one of those things she’s trained herself on. it’s just. being around these idiots for so long she has come to realize if she actually did start cracking up every time one of them did something stupid, intentional or not, she would have fractured a rib by now, and that’s just not super ideal for anybody really,

tied with jigen for the darkest sense of humor, easily. of course, again, unlike jigen, she won’t immediately start losing it, but her eyes will widen with this like flash of humor and she’ll just kind of smile tightly because she KNOWS she shouldn’t laugh at generic dead baby joke number 482938 but unlike jigen she cares at least a little about not seeming like a total ass. just a lil.

goemon:

less giggly than lupin, more giggly than jigen. goemon’s sense of humor is kind of hard to pinpoint, even for him. it could be something as simple as someone deliberately mispronouncing a word that gets his smile all twisted up, it could be a stupid pun, but he INSISTS he does NOT find others getting hurt funny. he insists. and then when lupin actually trips and eats shit and jigen immediately bursts out laughing goemon turns his head away like No No No it's not funny i will not laugh. i won’t BUT IT’S TOO LATE. WE’VE ALREADY LOST HIM. not above finding others’ misfortune funny in other ways though, he just (says) bodily harm isn’t funny. someone trying to step out of the rain and getting an entire awning’s worth of water dumped on them though, he will admit that shit is funny as hell

when goemon really REALLY starts laughing like, uncontrollably, can’t stop laughing, he just stops making noise. but he hates how stupid he must look with his mouth hanging open and no sound coming out, so he tucks his chin and halfway tries to cover his face, his shoulders just shaking the whole time. of course it takes a lot to get to that point like a LOT lot, so it’s amazing he’s as concerned about it as he is

zenigata:

zenigata WANTS to be like jigen in the “this is serious i'm mad at you. stop giggling” sense but he’s. not as sturdy in that department. he like draws his mouth super tight to stop from smiling and he’s like “this is not funny. stop. stop it. ITS NOT F--” and then he puts his head in his hands to try to stop laughing but it’s too late the dam has already broken

like with crying, he doesn’t ever really feel the need to stop himself from laughing outside of I’M SERIOUS CUT IT OUT type situations. like he gets giggly just when he’s in a good mood and nothing funny has even happened yet. and like with literally everything with him he’s loud. very loud. almost anything can get him to laugh, nothing is too stupid or juvenile despite what he insists. also sometimes laughs when he’s nervous, and it’s like, the only time he’s at a semi-average volume doing it. because he’s fearing for his life. it happens.

#i didn't get into it tooooo much cuz like you said it's pretty much spelled out for us just. IN canon. BUT WE LIKE TO HAVE FUN HERE #WE LIKE TO GET SILLY WITH IT. PART 2 LEVELS OF SILLY. MAYBE EVEN PART 3 LEVELS IF WE DARE TO DREAM #lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin #jigen #fujiko #goemon #zenigata #asks

[dougielombax]

Yeah.

Yeah, apparently the park rangers got an emergency alert late last night.

No.

No it wasn’t because of drunks or a lost tourist?

No.

No!

No, apparently they got a sighting of Alan Wake showing up on the trail cam again!

Yeah. We’ve sent a couple of guys out to check.

#dougie rambles #personal stuff #my poor attempt at a joke #Alan wake #alan wake ii #alan wake 2 #what #no context #this sounded funnier in my head #shitpost #highbrow shitposting #remedy games #remedy entertainment #remedy #control #control remedy #control game #control 2019 #park rangers #trail camera #trail cam footage #cryptids #possibly

[seemsablur]

i neeed to know ur favorite lesbian vampire novels. i need recs because there are few and like i need to expand my base from something other than carmilla and the confines of my imagination. i need lesbian romantic vampirism.

i am quite literally reaching through time and space to kiss your forehead for asking this question and allowing me to talk about my favorite things. prepare to get so much more than you asked for because i have no self control.

Lesbian Vampire Fiction

(other than Carmilla, which is so so dear to my heart and I return to it every single October)

A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger: Based in 19th century England; deliciously gothic, moody, and thrilling without being too highbrow or pretentious. The book also doesn’t waste much time on context, the book opens to our delightfully blunt and funny sunshine MC being cared for by a mysterious brooding vampire (also gets smutty by page 10 if you’re into that ✨) if you want entertainment without particularly demanding prose, found family, and the most entrancing sapphic love story i literally can’t recommend this enough.

La Petit Mort by Olivie Blake: Steeped in New Orleans romance and intrigue, MC is bequeathed a house that comes with bizarre terms and conditions attached. TECHNICALLY the MC is not a lesbian and there is a temporary male love interest, but the emotionally unavailable bloodthirsty vampire antagonist is so magnetic I barely even noticed him to be honest (for best experience, use any maladaptive daydreaming tendencies to make him into a butch as you read). I adore Olivie Blake’s writing style, very blunt and easy to put down in a single sitting. I inhaled this book

these are all the ones I have actually read and enjoyed, but my TBR is a mile long so if you’d like more please send me a message and i’m happy to send those over as well x

Honorable Mentions for other Vampire Lit

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda: Young intersectional vampire trying to fit into society despite her bloodlust. heartwrenching depiction of the alienation and anxiety of being a girl in your twenties that is only magnified by the supernatural lens

The Vampyre by John Polidori / Dracula by Bram Stoker: cornerstones of the genre, required reading blah blah blah

Honorable Mentions for other Lesbian Lit

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield: Just finished this and it absolutely destroyed me. Surreal body-horror about a woman’s wife going off on a research trip and coming back wrong. the portrayal of how love persists against all reason and logic was so devastating

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone: dystopian time traveling sci-fi centering around two queer MCs on opposing sides of a war and also basic ideology. FASCINATING and short read that was made indescribable by the representation. i finished this book and then immediately started it again from the beginning.

Final Honorable Mention: A Certain Hunger by Chelsea Summers. not queer nor vampiric but romantic cannibalism done so well it had to be included. if you want “i support women’s wrongs” and to be inserted into the mind of a brilliant, vicious, sociopathic female misandrist you need to read this.

There’s a million others that fall into these categories but for the sake of keeping this -relatively- succinct i will stop there. thank you for such a lovely ask, this made my heart sing <3

#books #sapphic #gore #this was so fun #ask

[ganymedesclock]

I feel like pikmin is a fundamentally hilarious game when you consider that the playable characters are all highly idiosyncratic weirdoes who should probably not be pioneering research on this alien planet but here they are anyway.

You have:

A floridly underemployed space trucker who talks like he has a phd in xenobiology. He met these fucked up ant-plant-humanoids and immediately decided he loves them with his whole heart and soul to the point of aggressively rejecting any other means of solving his problems. Sometimes he punches predators many times his size to death because they’re messing with his babies. He is also, incidentally, one of the single most gullible people you’re likely to meet. Also highly sentimental to the point he would sooner stay on a death world than leave without the good luck charms his kids gave him. -

Implicitly teenage-or-20something coworker who is noted to be extremely quiet and a bit of a space cadet. He can sometimes be almost malicious levels of thoughtless; other times he is simply quiet and like most late-teens in a first job, does not want to be here. His true passion is cooking, which he takes to with immense zeal and fountains from his usually taciturn nature into elaborate and detailed conversations about how to entertain a highbrow dinner party when you are surrounded by nothing but immensely hostile alien wildlife. He also has eaten highly inadvisable things just to formally tell you not to eat them. One time he was kidnapped by an extremely dangerous boss monster. He implicitly retaliated by eating the monster. -

Spaceship AI that is simultaneously an earnest, compassionate person with a deep and genuine fondness for the company’s president, and an unrepentantly arrogant soul with a shameless willingness to completely lie about products. It hates bugs and has a profound personal yearning to understand what it feels like to drool. It apparently does advanced materials and technology research on the side and sometimes complains when they just happen to find something that’s more advanced than what it was working on. -

Aforementioned company president who at first glance is every indication of a careless, bumbling, demanding boss and yet also is completely willing to put himself on the line either evading debt collectors or personally going to a death world and fighting others. According to accounts from one of his employees, is also a thoughtful and generous employer, which is what earns him such enduring loyalty when he is otherwise extremely bewildering. Extols the virtues of an all-grass diet at one point but seemingly sent his wife on a holiday so she didn’t have to experience any of this. Also did not tell said wife he ran off to go treasure hunting on a death world. -

An actual government research team led by a celebrated hero and crewed by a botanist and engineer. I actually do not know much about the pikmin 3 crew but everything I know about them tells me that they’re every bit as much a blend of competence and absolute clownhood. Charlie’s rubber ducky apparently factors majorly into his heroic reputation. Brittany is willing to assume immediately that he got turned into a bat without any evidence. Alph is probably the babiest out of all of these characters. -

All of these people are or can be party to killing two different eldritch abominations. In one case, Louie tried to eat it.

#Pikmin #absolutely nobody on pnf-404 is normal #and I say this with love in my heart for all of them #I feel like you could do a great series with these characters that has the vibe of a mostly laid-back workplace sitcom #interspersed with the cosmic horror and survival drama elements

[19thcenturyfuck]

"actually all academia and serious intellectual discussion is just elitist and pretentious!" "actually anything other than those things is immature and anti-intellectual!" "you just think you're better than everyone else because you only watch 1920s silent movies about bricklaying!!" "you're just a dumb child with tik-tok brainrot who thinks m*rvel is peak cinema and h*rry p*tter is peak literature!!" "nooooo highbrow things for stuffy academics bad!!!" "noooooo lowbrow things for the mindless masses bad!!!" actually you are all wrong and also dumb.

the whole highbrow-lowbrow dichotomy is a social construct. it doesn't exist. the sooner y'all realize that fanfic, shitposts, memes, shipping, silly pure-entertainment media, serious intellectual discussion and analysis, academia, media with symbolism and deeper meanings, all of it can absolutely co-exist, the sooner media literacy will improve.

#political on main #there IS no dichotomy!! it's made up it's not real #as someone who has both written academic essays analyzing the allegory in moby-dick #and made many many dumb shitposty memes about shipping the characters in moby-dick #there! is! no! dichotomy!

[seasaltandsmoke]

@seaoftales started following

It's been a while since the Baratie last welcomed customers so clearly set on having a good time.

Most days and nights were quiet. Wealthy marines, old couples and men who tried to impress a lady with good drink and better food and yet ever ordering the same three goddamn dishes were the only people finding their way here of late. It had been going on for so long at this point that one could say Sanji got used to these highbrow people over the more rowdy customers. But admittedly, he was getting bored and him being bored always resulted in arguments, with the other cooks, and, of course, with Zeff and it usually ended with Sanji stirring up trouble with the customers by flirting with the ladies and pissing off the men in their company — all of which quickly got old if it was the only way of entertainment.

So, it was a welcome surprise when the next ship they came across had a Jolly Roger on proud display and the crew was loud and boisterous. Sanji was grinning to himself at the flabbergasted expressions painted across the faces of the other customers the moment the pirates came barging in demanding food and yelling on the top of their lungs for ale and wine.

Of course the kitchen was the usual hustle and bustle each day no matter which kind of customers came in through the door, but when the tables quickly filled with these new patrons all the cooks turned it up to eleven and Sanji's mood only brightened further when orders for several outlandish dishes came rushing in. This was what he was good at, this was what he loved.

—

It was well into the evening when he managed to steal away for a smoke after all the people were fed. Satisfied and convinced of a job well done Sanji left the closing of the kitchen to Patty and Carne. He threw his apron on one of the hooks by the door and pulled on his jacket on top his shirt, already rummaging around in his pockets for his lighter and cigarettes as he made his way out on deck...

... Only to find that his usual hiding spot was already occupied by someone else. Sanji raised one of his curled brows as he stared at the redheaded man. He didn't recognize him, but then again the man wasn't facing his way, but rather looking out at the waves moving lazily below and mot importantly, Sanji hadn't exactly spent much time outside the kitchen up to this point.

Still, he hesitated for a moment as he took in the man's form, trying to get a read on him and failing. He absentmindedly fidgeted with the cigarette in his hand, considering whether or not he should find another place to unwind. But eventually he decided it didn't matter, and who knew? Maybe the guy made for good company.

Only one way to find out.

So, with a reasonable distance between them, he stepped up beside the man and gave him a nod in greeting. A quiet click sounded from his lighter as he lit his smoke. The warm light of the small flame contrasting briefly with the cold of the moonlight overlooking them before it flickered out again as he snapped it shut.

Sanji breathed out low, a puff of smoke emitting from his mouth and dispersing into the night air. He could already feel his shoulders unwind. "Want a smoke?" He asked, offering out the pack of cigarettes.

#seaoftales