#I was like well okay I'm not that invested in this romance or whatever get back to the mystery of what's happening on the ship!

[gigantomachylesbian]

I'm SO picky about the YA I actually enjoy at this time in my life but you know what Eliot Schrefer does NOT fuck around. He is truly going all-in on the existential space horror and the gore and it just so happens that his protagonists are like. 17 experiencing All That. Any amount of YA-ness in the writing style is literally just because that guy is straight up seventeen!!! Rather than it feeling like a stylistic choice of dumbing things down or being overly quippy/just like every other YA book for the sake of being marketable.

Anyways. I'm having a great time reading about these guys having the WORST time ever in space

#k talks #I was like well okay I'm not that invested in this romance or whatever get back to the mystery of what's happening on the ship! #and then I went HUH. HELLO. HOLY SHIT?!!!! At like. page 172. He is NOT skimping on the fucked-upness and I appreciate that greatly #And like. while that reveal has been the biggest crazy thing he's kept up the horror levels consistently since then too! very fun for me #the darkness outside us #I like. mostly read adult genre fiction but someone described this book as not reading like YA in terms of subject matter and yeah! yeah. #again the writing style is a little YA but in a way that really makes sense. the romance is like. nice. I think I care more about the horro #but while it's not my main priority I think it adds a lot of good stuff thematically and helps balance the fucked up bits! #anyways. this book got SO crazy and I'm having fun

[libraryofgage]

Addams Family Steddie AU Part 3

Part One | Part Two

To preface, a bitch is sick rn so if you see any typos, no you didn't lol

"Robin, this is serious."

Steve can perfectly see Robin rolling her eyes through the phone as she says, "Oh, right, I'm so sorry your fiance-to-be is the perfect boyfriend who takes you on wonderful dates and romances you every single second you're together."

"I'm starting to think you're jealous."

"I'd only be jealous if Eddie had tits."

"He'd probably get some if I asked."

In the silence that follows, Steve can imagine Robin's scrunched face: her crinkled nose and curled lips and generally disgusted eyebrow furrow. He counts down from six in his head and then mouths along as Robin says, "I'd hang up if I weren't so invested in your love life."

"For someone so invested, you're not helping."

He hears a put-upon sigh through the speaker and returns it with a sigh of his own. Steve gives up on sitting properly and collapses back onto his bed, staring at the unmoving ceiling fan Hulyet is currently hanging from to nap.

"Fine, fine, what's the actual problem again?" Robin asks, her question followed by the sound of her shutting a book (one of her science textbooks based on the sound it makes when closing) so she can give Steve her full attention.

"Eddie is always planning our dates, and they're always really good, right? So I want to plan a date in return, but I have no clue how to plan something we'll both equally enjoy. In fact, I have no clue how Eddie plans our dates in the first place."

"Just start with something he likes and try to find something you'll like in it."

"Okay, say it again, but pretend I'm five."

Robin sighs again, and Steve hears the creaking of her bed as she collapses onto it. "Okay, the last date he planned, it was a hockey game, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, you like sports. Hockey is an obvious jump from there, but was Eddie also having fun at the game?"

Steve hums, reviewing their date from the week before. He hadn't expected Eddie to pull out hockey tickets, but he'd looked forward to it nonetheless. The game itself was fun, and the rink was cold enough that Steve had been able to scoot closer to Eddie and complain about being chilly.

Of course, Eddie's immediate response was to pull out a lighter, open it, and flick a flame to life while asking, "How big of a fire do you want, Stevie?"

For a brief moment, Steve had considered the question. But then he'd realized a fire would disrupt the hockey game, so they probably shouldn't start one.

After grabbing the lighter and stuffing it into his own pocket, Steve leaned closer and whispered, "Wouldn't you rather put your arm around me?" Eddie had lit up, and his smile was wide enough to make Steve feel blinded as he wrapped an arm around Steve's waist and pulled him closer.

It had been wonderful and romantic, right up until both of them got way too into the game and completely forgot about cuddling in favor of shouting at the players to hit harder and actually draw some blood to get the puck.

Steve smiles a little at the memory. "Yeah, he enjoyed the violence."

"Well, we all enjoy seeing buff people get a little bloody," Robin says, and Steve can see the way she's nodding like a wise man. "Anyway, he probably knew he'd enjoy the whole violence part of the sport. So, follow that formula."

"What formula are you seeing here?"

"Thing fiance-to-be likes plus a small part of it you could probably enjoy equals romance. If that's too hard, just get him a gift and plan the date around that."

Well, it sounds easy when she says it like that. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm the genius here, obviously. Now go plan a date so you can tell me all about it later. And I expect details, Steven. Sordid details. If I'm not quivering in my bodice, what's the fucking point."

"You don't even have a bodice. And my name isn't Steven."

"I'll get one, and your name is whatever's comedically appropriate."

"I found a good website for bodices and corsets, actually. I can send it to you."

"What are you doing on that website, Steve?" Robin asks, her voice light and eager.

Steve smirks, pulling the phone away from his ear and saying, "Wouldn't you like to know," before quickly hanging up. The phone stays silent for three whole seconds before Robin immediately calls back, but Steve is too busy laughing to actually pick up.

Part of why the Munsons moved to Steve's neighborhood is the cemetery within walking distance. The cemetery is at the very back of the neighborhood, hidden from people who don't actually live there. The front of the cemetery is perfectly presentable. The gravestones are clean and new, and flowers decorate most graves while others hold pebbles and stones of various sizes and colors.

The back of the cemetery, however, is a Munson paradise. The grass gives way to brown, under-watered weeds and dirt, the faded gravestones are covered in moss and plants climbing them, and the trees are perpetually leafless and spindly to create the perfect horror movie atmosphere. It was like that even before the Munsons moved to the neighborhood, but Steve doesn't actually know why.

The back of the cemetery is where Steve leads Eddie, occasionally looking back to make sure the blindfold covering Eddie's eyes is still in place. "You know, I was expecting more than walking when you pulled out the blindfold," Eddie says, squeezing Steve's hand.

"We're almost there," Steve promises, looking around them until he spots the picnic blanket and pillows he'd laid down earlier in front of a blank gravestone. There's a small projector on the edge of the blanket, facing the wall of a mausoleum, with a DVD player connected to it.

Steve stops at the edge of the blanket, takes a deep breath, and moves to stand in front of Eddie. "Okay," he says, reaching up and carefully pulling off the blindfold.

When it comes off, Eddie looks straight at Steve, not sparing a glance at the set-up behind him. "Are you the surprise?" he asks, sliding his hands around Steve's hips and pulling him closer.

"I'm not much of a surprise," Steve points out.

"You're the best gift I could ask for," Eddie says, sealing the words with a kiss that would be too easy for Steve to get lost in.

And he almost does, but he pulls away before Eddie's tongue can get too far into his mouth. "No, wait, you haven't seen the actual surprise," he mumbles, putting a few inches between them and gesturing to the picnic blanket.

Eddie's eyes light up, and he pulls Steve to the blanket. He sits against the headstone and tugs Steve down next to him. "Movie date in a graveyard? Very romantic, sweetheart," Eddie says, leaning close and kissing Steve's jaw.

"Well, that's not the whole surprise," Steve replies, leaning his head on Eddie's shoulder. He hears a quiet hum from above him and adds, "This is our spot."

"What? Like a make-out spot? We gonna sneak out in the middle of the night to make out right here twice a week?"

"Only twice?" Steve asks, his voice teasing as he tilts his head back to see Eddie smile. He doesn't give Eddie the chance to answer, though. Instead, he takes Eddie's hand and plays with his engaged-to-be-engaged ring. "I mean, this is our spot. We're leaning on our gravestone."

A few seconds pass before Eddie seems to actually process the words. When he does, he straightens up, tugging Steve away from the gravestone with him so he can see it. "Is this...a couple's plot?" he asks, his eyes wide as he looks from the stone to Steve.

Steve flushes, heat rising in his cheeks as he looks away. He takes a deep breath, deciding to just verbalize his thought process when he'd bought the plot. "I figured, well, we wouldn't want to be apart even in death. So we'll be buried together, you know? Our corpses will be embracing as we rot for eternity, becoming skeletons and dust that will only know each other."

The words are followed by silence, making Steve wonder if he somehow fucked up with his gift. He braces himself and glances up at Eddie to ask if he doesn't like it only to be pushed back on the blanket. Steve blinks, his brain barely catching up as Eddie kisses him. This is, by far, the most desperate kiss Steve has ever received from Eddie. It's a kiss that's practically begging Steve to give Eddie permission to swallow him whole, tuck him securely into the marrow of his bones, and hold him there so they'll never be apart.

Steve is a little confused, but he's far more interested in kissing back, sliding his fingers into Eddie's hair and tugging playfully as he bites Eddie's tongue. A rough growl in response sends shivers down Steve's spine, goosebumps spreading across his arms as Eddie pushes his hands under Steve's shirt.

Surprisingly warm fingers trail across Steve's abdomen before Eddie's hands settle on his hips, his pinkies teasingly pushing past the waistband of his jeans. Steve sighs softly, relaxing at the familiar sensation as he hooks one of his legs over Eddie's waist, pulling him close until their hips and chests are flush against each other.

Eddie grins against Steve's lips, his left hand trailing down Steve's waist to rest on his thigh, holding it in place as he teasingly grinds their hips together. Steve jolts, a surprised, quiet moan escaping him as his hands start to tremble with adrenaline and...well, sheer horniness if he's being honest.

"Please tell me we can fuck on our future grave," Eddie says, his voice low and husky as he speaks against Steve's lips.

Steve groans, fully agreeable to the idea only to realize two very important things. One, he doesn't have any lube, and two, he was actually looking forward to watching movies with Eddie, which wouldn't really happen if they got too distracted. Plus, you know, the whole sex in public thing, but that's not as big of a deal. Who's going to be visiting the cemetery on a Wednesday?

But Steve doesn't want to completely dash Eddie's hopes and the sheer joy in his eyes at the idea, so he presses another kiss to his lips and promises, "Later, Eddie."

Despite his disappointed expression, Eddie doesn't argue. He just sits up, pulling Steve with him so he stays in his lap. "I'll hold you to that, sweetheart," he whispers, kissing down Steve's neck until he reaches the point where it meets his shoulder. He bites down there, causing Steve to inhale sharply as he licks and sucks a hickey onto his skin.

Steve shakily exhales, biting his bottom lip to keep himself grounded. When it feels like Eddie is about to start on another hickey, Steve uses his grip on his hair to pull him back. "Stevie," Eddie breathes, his eyes dark as he looks up at him, "you know what pulling does to me."

Steve snorts, kisses his cheek, and climbs off his lap. "Keep it in your pants for now, babe. I actually want to get to the other part of this date," he says, moving over to the projector.

"And what's that?" Eddie asks.

"Classic monster movies," Steve says, grinning at the excited gasp that comes from Eddie as he turns on the projector. Once it boots up, the mausoleum wall shows the opening menu for a Monster Movie Collection DVD. Steve puts on Frankenstein, making sure the movie actually starts and the opening credits begin rolling before climbing back into Eddie's lap.

"I love you so fucking much," Eddie says, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist and hugging him close as he rests his chin on Steve's shoulder.

Steve grins, leaning back against him and idly playing with one of the rings on Eddie's fingers. "I love you, too. Now shut up and watch the movie. No more making out until at least this one is over."

"Yes, sir."

Steve can't help a soft laugh. He takes Eddie's hand, raises it to his lips, and playfully bites his palm before lacing their fingers together and focusing on the movie.

Tag List: @estrellami-1, @justforthedead89, @starman-jpg, @abstractnaturaldisaster, @sugartin, @ashwagandalf, @xjessicafaithx, If anyone else wants to be tagged in potential future parts, just let me know!

#steddie #steddie fic #addams family steddie #addams! eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #platonic stobin #there's a reference to Addams Family Values in here #whoever notices it please know I love you #also #for anyone who was curious about that lol #this au has consumed me body and soul

[specialagentlokitty]

BAU x reader - horror films

Hi lovely!! So haply your request are open I'm so hyped for spooky season! I had an idea, scenario 6 watching a horror movie but someone gets spooked and doesn't want to be left alone, but with the bau as a group, maybe y/n is scared, or hotch is actually spooked too! - @youarethereasonimsmiling 💜

Movie nights with the team were you favourite thing, they were always held at your place since you had the best set up for movie nights.

You had loads of seats, a huge TV, and a fridge just for drinks in the living room.

“So, what tonight?” You asked.

“Comedy?” Derek asked.

“We did that last week, how about something like Lord of the rings?” Reid asked next.

“That’s way too long.” Emily laughed.

“Romance is off the table, I can’t stand those films.” Rossi chuckled.

You all laughed at that and you idly scrolled through your Netflix, trying to find something interesting to watch.

Then you saw the horror section, and as you looked through it, quite a few movies peaked your interest.

“How about a horror? It’s near Halloween.” You smiled.

Everyone shared a look and debated it for a few moments before they finally agreed, not able to find anything else to watch.

You chose to watch IT, you enjoyed the book so you wanted to see what the film was like.

Wiggling yourself into Derek’s side, you kicked your feet up on Hotch and placed the popcorn in your lap.

At first the film wasn’t so bad, you set the popcorn on the floor, because you kept moving about.

Hotch having enough of your move, placed his rms on your legs so you would stop moving then about.

You were invested in the film, you were so focused you were enjoying it a lot, but when there was a jump scare, you and Garcia screamed and while she jumped on Derek, you jumped up and stood on the couch before you finally fell backwards and falling.

With a loud thud, which again startled everyone, you let out a small groan.

“Are you okay?” Hotch whispered.

Smiling sheepishly, you sat up and nodded your head.

He smiled and waved you over.

Getting up, you climbed back over the couch and Hotch wrapped an arm around you, pulling you into his side.

“I won’t let him get you.”

Rolling your eyes, you laughed a little and shook your head.

“Thanks.”

At every little jump scare you jumped, and Hotch laughed at you, and as the movie was growing to an end you couldn’t look at the screen anymore.

Hotch held your head lightly as he intently looked at the screen, and whatever had happened made him jump as well, tightening his hold on you.

You smirked slightly, bringing your face out of his side.

“Do I need to protect you?” You teased lightly.

“Oh be quiet, you’ve jumped way more.”

“The big manly Hotch, scared of a movie.”

“So are you, so you can’t say anything.”

You laughed and nodded your head, burying your face back into his side so you wouldn’t have to face any more horrors from the screen.

Hotch tightened his grip on you, and unable to watch the film any further he buried is face into your shoulder, both of you using the other to hide from the horror film.

“Aw, look at the scary cats.” JJ snickered.

“Hey! It’s scary!” You mumbled.

“You picked it!” Emily laughed.

“I didn’t know it was gonna be so scary!” You huffed.

Removing yourself from Hotch, you quickly swapped to a light comedy show in order to try and remove the horror from the room.

“I don’t think it was so bad.” Reid smiled.

“You had your eyes closed the whole time.” Rossi said.

Reid opened his mouth to rely but he just had nothing to say because it was true.

“Well, it sounded good.”

Everyone laughed and they all got up to go.

“Wait! Please stay, I don’t wanna sleep alone…” you mumbled.

Everyone smiled softly at you and started to settle down again, and you beamed brightly.

“Don’t worry, we’ve it you. All four of you.” Derek snickered

#criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds x y/n #criminal minds imagine #aaron hotchner x reader

[rustedhearts]

hi rolly hope ur well! i just read just friends (again) and i loved it so so much!! i love how much of each other they find in the other and i love how lived in you made the apartment feel, its truly incredible how much of the apartment and its history with these two friends i felt i could see in my mind's eye within just a few sentences! i also think that steve shopping at ambercrombie is absolutely hilarious but also yeah he would, wouldn't he? this whole thing was so cosy and i really admired how very known r and steve felt to each other, like it felt like they knew each other and were in love with each other because they knew so much about each other and wanted to keep learning about each other forever, which is similar to what i think steve said out loud in his confession, but it also came across in their actions to each other, especially steve's!

also him stroking and massaging her knee to comfort her while he himself was upset was such a small and sweet detail that i think really pulled the whose scene together, like a small thing that showed that he would always e considerate of her even when he it wasn't easy and when he himself wasn't doing great! i'm trying to work this right, it felt like a small detail with big implications that made the scene itself more complete and made his confession ring truer than him just announcing it.

okay, this part is a bit of a two part tangent, the first being pretty simple, that i believe you are mind reading me because EYE recently watches steel magnolias for the first time two weeks ago and have since watched it about half a dozen times because i am so charmed by those southern ladies, and i feel an itch to watch every julia roberts movie there is. the second part of this tangent is a little less connected, i'll admit, and is also less about this specific story and more about a trope/device? i always feel so bad for those other girls from the bar/party that steve/mmc sleeps with/dates either to distract from or because they remind him of his true love.......i would be SO upset if some guy said he only hung out with me because i was a passable copy of his best friend/roommate like man, you do NOT deserve my time and attention, my company is for people who genuinely like me ONLY. i am also not critiquing it in the story, i get why it's there, how it's a good side detail to add in the story for drama/angst/romance purposes, and intellectually understand it's function, and it doesn't like, disturb anything (even if it did, it wouldn't matter, because writers are entitled to write licherally whatever they want on free reading website .com), i just have recently noticed how i'll always unwittingly invest more emotional energy than the story itself needs me to in these background ladies and i'm always like oh :'(. this paragraph is admittedly off topic and very large for something that is ultimately nothing, my bad for that, pls feel free to ignore this part fo the ask if u want, i just needed a place to put this thought with context.

thank you bb!! i thought abercrombie was a very steve place to shop lol, especially in the early 2000s when they still had those bags with the shirtless guys on them (i have one in my christmas wrapping bc we always save bags and it’s truly a relic)

oh lord can you imagine him being one of the guys that stood outside shirtless and coaxed girls into coming in 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 that’s so steve

but anyway lol

none of the girls steve went out with knew he was using them! it was always a one and done type of deal. one night stands that, for the most part, the girl was okay with leaving casual. sure, he told most of them he’d call them and then never did, but at least he never strung them along knowing he wasn’t interested lol

but roommate!steve is quite the slut. probably the sluttiest steve i’ve written to date

#rolly! #asks #roommate!steve harrington

[animentality]

I haven’t read your books yet, you know how it is, money~, but I bet they’re pretty good and I am planning to buy and read them, they’re on The List, and I hold you in high regards as a person I kinda vaguely barely know. I say this first to preface, because, from the kindest most adoring place of my heart okay, this reminded me of you, no offense: https://www.tumblr.com/pjackk/721300009283420160/whats-up-tunblr-basically-i-just-wrote-this-book

Ouch.

Glad you preceded this with a compliment...

But brutal.

For what it's worth, I also hate having to reduce my books to tropes...and I try not to, with any of my promotional posts...

But uh...good to know this is how I come across :S

But in my defense...and in defense of other authors... it's super easy for people to make fun of how we have to promote our books, but in this terrible digital economy...I mean.

It's hard to keep people's attention, and it's hard to sell books.

It's not like selling art, doing commissions, making animations, or well-edited videos. Books are inherently harder to sell and market and build an audience for, because they're an investment of time and focus.

They aren't as easy to dive into and enjoy. A webcomic chapter you could read in twenty minutes. A pretty picture you can reblog, and you can commission the artist if you love the style. A Youtube video can be ten minutes of investment. Maybe an hour, tops.

But a book?

Books will always struggle more than shows or animations, because it takes a certain kind of person to read books, and in this day and age, attention spans are shorter than ever.

You spend fucking years writing your books, and you edit, and you revise, and write some more, and edit some more, and revise some more, and then you have to promote.

All the time, in every way you can imagine. Using whatever tools you have... all the time, every way.

Otherwise, you don't see any sales at all, and then it's like you wasted three years of your life fiddling around, while everyone you know is making bank on crypto or whatever the fuck.

If I was good at fucking BookTok? I wouldn't be fucking here promoting at all.

I could leave my blog as the little meme machine it's always been.

But I'm bad at fucking TikTok.

And I mildly resent being compared to a TikTok author, because if I was any good at that, I WOULD NOT BE HERE promoting my books at all.

Tumblr is the worst place to promote anything, ever.

That's part of why I like it...but at the same time, that's why it's such a torturous practice, trying to promote my novels here.

No one here gives a fuck. And I'm fine with that.

I'm ok with that.

But I can't throw away hard work without at least trying.

I don't really get the criticisms of authors in those comments anyway.

What have those people tried to put out into the world?

You think self published authors are just jokes, or that they aren't marketing themselves well?

Maybe both are true, but someone who makes something, no matter how shit, has still MADE something.

It's easy to tear others down. It's not easy to make something that you care about, and put out into the world for others to see and judge.

And for those people in the comments too, I have to ask.

Is a book only good, if it's published by a company?

Because books that are self published are actually a LOT LESS likely to be made up of tropes and cliches.

People who self publish tend to write weirder and more out of the box things. They RESORT to tropes because they feel you won't pay attention to their books without them.

they feel you won't give their concept a try, unless they dumb it down for everyone.

They pretend the book is something it's not, out of sheer desperation.

I market 7 Deadly Habits like it's a fucking adventure action romance comedy...?

It's actually pretty fucking dark and grim and sad.

the main character is fucked up, and so are all his exes. So is the entire world they live in.

It's really not a funny book. It has dark humor, but it's hinged on an unhinged concept, one that I find darkly interesting.

But I lie and say it's a funny adventurous romp of sex and violence.

Because that's how I have to market it.

I try other things, of course, but I have found most people would rather read a romance than an anti-romance, which is more of what it is.

People don't want to try new things. They want more of the shit they already have.

to make something new, or different, or non-conventional, is to accept that you will have to water it down when you're trying to offer it to people.

So yeah.

I get it. Authors who blaze their book promotions are desperate losers and weirdo freaks with very bizarre interests and isn't it funny, how hard they're trying?

But you know.

What else can we be?

Leigh Bardugo?

Trust me. I wish I was a good writer. I wish I wrote straight YA fantasy books that kids and adults and everyone can enjoy. I wish I had a literary agent and five star publishing houses giving me 20 million dollars for my next book.

I wish I was a multi millionaire white woman, in an industry of rich white women, who write sexy murder mysteries and cozy thrillers and steamy vampire eroticas.

But I am what I am, and that's a queer self published POC author, who has no one in my corner, but me. Whose only means of promotion is my own efforts.

So no, I don't really look at other self published authors with disdain or wry detachment.

I know how they feel.

I know how much it sucks.

#writing #writers on tumblr #thanks for the ask anon #im sorry #i know you were trying to be nice #but i dont know #that post is mean spirited #i get the urge to disdain blazed posts and all #but not for novels or artwork like #why would you make fun of creatives using blaze #its not like theyre promoting their fucking cryto scams #or some suspicious link to the dark web #or their damn kik or paypal or whatever #they made something and theyre throwing it out there for everyone to judge and mock #i have had nasty comments in every single post ive ever blazed or even posts my friends have blazed #i dont mind them #i just find it odd that youd share this post with me and expect me to find it amusing #i mostly find it cynical and disdainful

[professormembranexreader]

Membrane NSFW Alphabet Headcanons

SURPRISE IM ALIVE

Apologies for not putting anything out for a few months I've had serious writers block and I'm only just now getting out of it :")

Anyways on with the show

A = Aftercare

- Membrane is very cuddly

- Constantly doting and checking on you

- He wants to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt you

- So he'll shower you with love and affection to make sure

B = Body Count

- He got sucked off behind the back of Spencer's Gifts when he was tagging along with some friends buying questionable things

- That was it

- He honestly was indifferent to sex since then until you came along

C = Cum

- Loves to cum on your chest

- Or inside

- Whichever is easier or preferable for you at the time

- While he doesn't love to cum on your face, he will do it if requested

- One of those things where he's just overly worried

- Regardless he'll do whatever you want when it comes to... well... cum

D = Dirty Secret

- PANTY RAID!!!!!!!!!

- THIS FUCKING DEGENERATE

- PANTY SNIFFER

- Enough said.

E = Experience

- He has done extensive research

- But that doesn't mean he knows jack

- He's so stupid.

- He's so smart but he's so stupid

F = Favorite Position

- Cowgirl

- It's not missionary and he can see your face

- So he feels accomplished

G = Goofy

- If something funny happens? Yes. Man will poke fun.

- But usually it takes a lot to make him laugh in that setting

- He's a man of science not a man of jokes.

- So expect the jokes he makes to be science themed, bad, or just both.

H = Hair

- Hair. Hoo boy.

- While part of me wants to believe he'd shave his pubes into a bolt to match his hair, I will firmly believe that the bolt is on his happy trail.

- The actual dick area tho? Bushy as all hell.

- He keeps it clean though.

I = Intimacy

- In an odd sense, he's romantic.

- Like in his own way

- He's a man of science, not romance.

- But he has his quirks to show you what he's feeling

- ... sensual...

J = Jack Off

- Quiet until the end

- Like he'll be whimpering at most up til he's about to cum

- But then

- Hoo mama

- He's very vocal

- And LOUD about it too

- He typically does it when you're not there

- But sometimes you catch him in the act

- He particularly likes having you tease him as he continues (if you let him)

K = Kink 

- Here we go.

- Most of this will be projection so my sincerest apologies

- Okay so

- Anal (giving and receiving)

- BDSM (giving & receiving)

- Begging (receiving more than giving but both are possible)

- Boob sucking (giving)

- Choking (mainly giving)

- Discipline (receiving more than giving)

- Dirty talk (receiving)

- Edging (giving)

- Face sitting (receiving)

- Orgasm denial (giving)

- Pregnant sex (giving (no mpreg in this fic if I can help it))

- Spanking (giving and receiving)

- Voyeurism & Exhibitionism (since giving and receiving are different for this)

- Okay thank god we're done

L = Location

- Would I get in trouble if I said his lab at home?

- I feel like I would...

- So...

- Yea that's what I'm saying

- (Totally not saying that for the *sweeps everything off table to fuck* trope whaaaaa)

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

- Remember the whole location one from like two seconds ago?

- What? It's true.

- But back to other answers

- Anything regarding you playing with his hair

- Any hair

- Also your mouth sucking on something

- Popsicle? Horny

- Sucker? Horny

- Seeing you covered in cum and/or having afterglow also gets him going for another round

N = NO

- Generally he's not gonna do anything he isn't already invested in

- If you want him to try something new? It's going to be very difficult to get him on board

O = Oral 

- Loves I mean LOVES to give oral

- Fucker is down bad

- Like damn

- He's also not necessarily opposed to receiving oral ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- He just much prefers to give

P = Piercing

- No.

- (Pussy)

- He's too scared for a dick piercing

- He's a bit too sensitive there for it to be worth it

Q = Quickie

- Every now and then he doesn't mind,

- But he tries not to make it a habit

- He is not usually the one to initiate it, but does have the ability to

- It's more dependent on you on this one

R = Risk

- Go back to N for part 1 of this answer

- Part 2 is that he does take risks in the sense of pushing things to extremes

- Choking could go all the way up to needing to signal that you NEED air

- But yea, he won't try new things that easily but once he's in it? He's IN it

S = Stamina

- He can go a few intense rounds and match with you usually

- Or like,, 5+ rounds if you've caught him in one of those periods where he has seemingly infinite stamina

- He does have a limit in those situations and that limit is in the double digits

- I will not specify what the number is tho

T = Toy

- Okay genuinely do his arms count as toys??????????

- Because like??????

- If so then he absolutely uses them on both you and him.

- Finger go brr

- In all seriousness tho he much prefers having somebody rather than a toy

- If you prefer toys tho he'll obviously let you get some and have you pick them out so you like them

- Unless you want him to pick-

U = Unfair

- Honestly depends on if he wants to tease or not

- If he wants to? This fucker

- If not? Then he won't.

- Simple as that

V = Volume

- Once again, whimpers at most in the beginning, but will get louder towards the end

- Mainly groans and panting tho

W = Wild Card

- Is 100% ashamed of some of his kinks

- It took a while for you to know everything

- Because he's embarrassed

- F

X = X-Ray

- His dick isn't like,,,,, gigantic

- But it's a good size

- Maybe like 6"? (~15cm???)

- It's enough to feel good lmao

- Uncircumcised because it can be

Y = Yearning

- Honestly? He ain't horny that often.

- Like at least once a month maybe

- Once again, he was kinda indifferent to sex before you

Z = ZZZ

- It doesn't matter how long you take to fall asleep you're sleeping first.

- Mans can stay awake

- Typically tho, when you wake up you can hear him snoring with an arm wrapped around you

#membrane #professor membrane #professor membrane x reader #writing

[lurkingshan]

Make it Right 2

I have so many thoughts and feelings about this show that I'm struggling to decide where to start. I guess the best place is my overall impressions, which haven't changed since I finished the first series: I LOVE THIS SHOW AND I WILL DEFEND THESE CHARACTERS TO ANYONE. Fight me!

Now real talk, does this show have high production quality, smart writing and plotting, sharp editing, scene construction, and overall narrative consistency and coherence? No, it does not. It has none of those things, and a lot of them have gotten markedly worse from the first season. But all that barely phased me because the characters just hooked themselves right into my heart and wouldn't let go. This show is very very messy, but in the most lovable way ("LIKE GAY PEOPLE" - @bengiyo).

There were three main storylines that I was invested in for this second season. I will talk about them in order of least to most emotional investment.  @waitmyturtles @wen-kexing-apologist @manogirl tagging you to come back to this later after you finish your watches because I want to talk about ALL OF THIS. For anyone reading - major spoilers from here on out!!

Yok & Lukmo

Boy, I did not expect this romance, and I really liked it. Which came as a surprise, because I did not care much about Mo in the first series. I was more invested in Yok, but in season 1 he felt kind of removed from everyone else, which was of course by design. He felt apart from the other boys because he is different. And it was just really really lovely to see a femme gay character get to embrace who he is and be loved for it. I like that he was wary of Mo and tested him for awhile before he let him in, and that Mo did waver a bit when he was first challenged on whether he really was okay being in a gay relationship. That felt authentic to me, and only made it feel more solid when they came back together with Mo more confident in what he wanted. I also liked that in the end Yok's mom stepped up to take her kid's side and express her acceptance of who he is and his relationship - it was very sweet.

I do have to deduct some points here for that very tonally bizarre sex scene that got tacked on to the end of their story. The way that scene was directed, shot, and edited just didn't feel in line with their dynamic at all, and I spent most of it thinking we were in some kind of weird dream sequence. I did find it amusing though that these two were better with physical intimacy in their one scene than the leads ever managed across two full seasons.

Frame & Book

My beloveds!! They were my favorite part of season 1, and I still loved them here, though I think the show faltered a lot on their storyline in season 2. The ideas behind their arc - Book working through some past relationship trauma, dealing with the fallout of Book's public violation, Frame struggling to hang in as Book pushed him away - were all good. But the execution was pretty spotty. The entire arc needed some clearer storyboarding and a pacing and sequencing revamp. The choppy editing this season felt most evident to me in this storyline, where I often felt like scenes came abruptly out of nowhere or felt out of sequence, and emotional swings happened too fast to be believable. And I didn't love where the show ultimately took some of the resolutions with the ex-boyfriend (and the teacher who was apparently inviting his students for group sex parties??) but I can't say they aren't in line with this show's overall forgiving attitude toward whatever these boys get up to.

All that said, at the core of this storyline was Frame and Book struggling to endure a traumatic event together, figuring out how they need to show up for each other in those moments, and learning from their mistakes to become better communicators. All of that worked and fit the characters really well. I believed that Book would totally shut down and push Frame out in the face of public humiliation and deep shame. I believed Frame would try and try and try to get through to him but also experience moments of weakness where he would be tempted to just say fuck it and go back to the easier path of casual hookups. And though a lot of the journey to get there was sloppily executed, I believed that they would ultimately come out of that mess more committed and in love than before (I could have done without all the wedding talk though, they are 16 people!).

​Fuse & Tee

And here we come to the arc that frustrated and thrilled me in equal measure. FUSE YOU ABSOLUTE WANKER I WANT TO YEET YOU OFF A CLIFF AND ALSO GIVE YOU A GIANT HUG. I was deep in my feelings about this story all season. Fuse made me so mad, Tee made me so sad, and they both made me so happy in the end when they finally figured out their shit.

As we discussed in the clown server, Fuse's storyline feels very familiar to a lot of early Thai bl. His inability to let go of his shitty girlfriend and his constant wavering between Jean and Tee was reminiscent of Phun in Love Sick (and would also be a dynamic repeated in other shows like Together with Me). The key difference for me, and what made it comparably more upsetting than in Love Sick, is that unlike Noh, Tee did not have his own other relationship to deal with or any ambivalence about whether he wanted to actually be together. Tee only ​wanted Fuse, and wanted commitment and fidelity from him, and watching Tee get increasingly depressed as he tried to be happy just getting what he could from Fuse, caught in a cycle of getting hope and then being rejected again, was so painful. And while he might not have been fully aware of how selfish and cruel he was being at first, eventually Fuse definitely saw how this was affecting Tee and came to understand he was the cause, and he still didn't stop fucking with him! I was so angry with him around the midpoint of the season, I just wanted Tee to dump him and start dating his little friend. 

What made it all so much harder to swallow is that Jean and Fuse's relationship was so mild. THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE EACH OTHER. Fuse does not want to touch or kiss her - that was established way back at the beginning of season 1. They go long stretches where they don't even talk to each other until one of them remembers the other exists. Jean has a whole other boyfriend that she seems to have a much deeper relationship with. And this is where the show kind of pissed me off, because the way they turned Jean into an evil manipulative woman stereotype with her pulling this elaborate scheme to pretend her boyfriend was her brother so she could parade around town with him (and even brazenly bring him in front of Fuse!) just felt so false and over the top to me. Why would she bother to do any of that just for the sake of stringing along this boy who isn't even interested in being her boyfriend in any real way? @bengiyo mentioned that his reading of it was she is insecure in her relationship with the older boy and so wants Fuse as a back up, which I could buy to a certain extent, but they really lost me with the lengths she went to. Jean is a very pretty girl who will no doubt have another boyfriend in a week; all this just to hang on to Fuse? I didn't buy it.

And that's a problem because it made it harder to understand why the hell Fuse was having such a hard time letting go of her, and why he was willing to hurt Tee so much in the process. I think if he genuinely liked Jean and had a deeper relationship with her, that would have worked better for me. As it was, he just seemed like a coward, and the way he kept rejecting Tee and then still trying to have his way with him after was infuriating. When he told Tee he was breaking up with him and staying with Jean, and then still tried to get him to sleep with him after, that's when I was ready to strangle this kid. And some of this I can rationalize as him not being ready to firmly commit to being out in a gay relationship and needing Jean as a kind of shield and safety blanket, but if that was the intent I think the show muddied the message a bit by having literally everyone already know about Tee and Fuse. That horse was long out of the barn before Fuse finally did something about Jean.

To the show's credit, it knows exactly how awful Fuse was throughout this entire debacle, and the last segment of their arc is all about Fuse recognizing it himself and atoning for his behavior with Tee. I love that we saw him apologize to Tee with increasing sincerity. I love that we saw him finally be the one to pursue Tee and make his feelings clear, and that Tee actually made him work for it. I loved that we had multiple episodes of Fuse trying to work up the courage to ask Tee to be his faen, and that Tee knew what was happening and enjoyed watching Fuse flounder. My absolute favorite scene was Fuse finally breaking down and confessing to Tee at the beach (with a little help from best bro Lukmo) - that he knows he was wrong, that he knows he was selfish, that he understands what Tee means to him now, that he loves him and wants to be with him and he's ready to commit to that. And Tee, because he is a kind and generous person who has been patiently waiting for this all along, immediately forgave him and responded in kind. It was so emotionally cathartic and satisfying, and felt very much earned after that loooooong journey through the mess. More than anything else I felt so proud of Fuse, and so happy for Tee, and I believed they would be solid from that point on. I didn't even need the sweet little epilogue to feel that way, but I was delighted to get it (and a direct homage to Love Sick with Fuse putting his hand over the camera lens as he leaned over to kiss his boyfriend).

Final thoughts

As I wrapped up my watch I have been reflecting on why this show is not as beloved in fandom as something like Love Sick. Why does it not seem to have the same nostalgic pull? Why don't people (other than @absolutebl and @bengiyo) talk about it as much as other classic Thai bls? And the only thing I can think of is that it's too raw for most of the bl audience. And I mean raw in every sense - the production, the acting, the emotions, the inexperience and naivete and even the physicality of the characters. Nothing particularly sophisticated is happening here, and nothing is smoothed over. If you want to love these characters, you have to love them through all the bad decisions and fucked up choices and flaws run wild. You have to love them when they're ugly as much as when they're beautiful. And I think that's hard for a lot of the audience that just wants to see sweet love stories. But I am here for it and so glad I finally got to watch this.

#make it right #make it right 2 #thai bl #i wish more people would watch this #hit me up if you need help finding the right links i am here for you #shan shouts into the void

[astridthevalkyrie]

I would 1000% be down to date Tara, but alas... I also think its incredibly funny how down bad all the interests feel, it was certainly something replying to a Tweet and seeing affection go up, they are not normal, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, it certainly is How It Is with these things, adjklnadlkjn-

y'know what's funny, i usually do not get super into things that are romance centered. occasionally i'll have little hyperfixations on something like titanic 1997 or descendants of the sun but on the whole the stuff that i brainrot on heavily is usually some action/adventure with a little romance sprinkled in. and then through fanfic i'll lean heavily into the romance part lol.

and then i played mysme and i was like. holy crap. do i like this? do i enjoy the romance genre? i had jumin han brainrot for at least half a year before i watched my hero (sidenote getting into a new brainrot actually feels like cheating on my last one). and i tried playing obey me and wasn't into it, but love and deepspace has sucked me in so so deeply even though i think if someone was selling it to me like "these three guys love the mc so much they act like they absolutely can't live without her despite this being the literal first arc of the story" i don't think i'd be interested.

but man have they done it so well. they have animated and created the personalities for these men so incredibly well. whenever i'm selfshipping or thinking about x reader stuff or whatever, i never brainrot on more than one character aside from like maybe reading smut about them. like i could read the occasional zen oneshot but jumin had my heart completely and forever and there was no competition. erwin or dabi thirsts or even fluff/angst stuff is totally okay but i was not investing time in anyone but levi. but now i genuinely can't decide between these three. they're all too perfect and they all hit a certain archetype of fictional man that i go insane for. i'm in hell and nirvana and rafayel is my male primadonna.

#love and deepspace #if i don't go on a date with tara what's the point

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 045: Snuff Out the Light (SSM 19-21)

MASTERPOST

This week: a mystery! Because it worked so well the last few times :D

We also see quite a bit of Peter's social life, fanservice, and a character I love is back <3

SSM #19 starts in medias res: Spidey's been captured by the Enforcers and is bullied by then. I already suspect it's not actually Spidey under the mask... especially since he doesn't say anything. That's weird, right?

I suspected as much.

At the Bugle, Peter Parker lets Jameson know that his recent adventures in L.A. didn't let him take any picture.

I know what you are, you fruit <3

I wish he stayed to chat with Gloria. Give her some development!

Know who gets developed? Hector Ayala (White Tiger!) and Holly Gillis, his new romance, gazing at Flash and Sha-Shan from afar. It feels like the first time in ages that we get smooth cast interactions like that. It's neat!

Turns out that Sha-Shan got a new job and an apartment, good for her! Meanwhile, Flash got news from Razorback. He's doing alright, back in his hometown and adulated!

His proposal ('tis the season) is interrupted by the Enforcers, who take everyone hostage at the Coffee Bean until they get to fight Spidey.

Yes please.

Peter thinks the leaves will hide his clothes... just next to a tree that has no leaves. Is it winter? Isn't graduation supposed to be coming soon? What the heck.

All throughout the issue, the mystery of the one who hired the Enforcers is teased, but I can't say I'm particularly invested in it. Doc Ock could be alive, or it could be the Molten Man... Who knows? For now, there isn't any hint. Maybe it's the Empathoid?

It might be the Lightmaster, an early villain from the first issues of SSM. And yeah, it's him. Okay. Whatever. Mysteries are only mysteries when they feature clues.

So Spidey deals with his enemies while everyone escapes, except for that Hector hottie.

The Lightmaster is trying really hard to be menacing.

In SSM #20, Spidey tries to eavesdrop on the cops interrogating the Enforcers, but he can't get new information. He decides to get home, but his skylight is so bad that it breaks...

It's a funny scene and it gives me fanservice. I'll allow it. Maybe SSM has rights after all...

And we get some more of Peter's social life, that's neat! It's nice to see more of the cast, and new characters, especially nonwhite characters!

The Lightmaster interrupts them and kidnaps my beloved Hector. Before leaving, Holly gives Peter Hector's amulets, which he instantly recognizes.

In the Lightmaster's crutches, Hector needs his amulets to survive! And here comes Spidey, ready to help him. I'm kind of shipping them...

The Lightmaster's about to broadcast Spidey's identity to New York itself (or so he thinks!).

As you know, I love those kind of moments!!!

So Hector's true alter ego is revealed to the city, which annoys Holly who keeps flip-flopping on whether she loves him.

The two heroes fight their enemy, who eventually just channels too much energy and dies.

A letter at the end of the issue informs me that Jean DeWolff appeared... in Team-Up. Oh. For such a key character (she has an entire arc, doesn't she?), it's disappointing. Oh well.

I enjoyed those two issues! It was nice to see Hector again <3 And to see more of the cast! This is almost what I expected of the series. We'll see if it continues like that...

For now, there's one last issue we read in this post: #21.

The Scorpion has become a sex symbol, wouldn't you know it!

The issue begins with a soliloquy to catch up new readers. Hell yeah, Scorpy, tell us all about that time Ms. Marvel got rid of you!

Meanwhile, Peter finds MJ, whomst we haven't seen in a while! They kiss, but they quickly talk about MJ's rejection of Peter's proposal. Oof. She's not ready, and a bit upset.

At ESU, Holly's still angry at Hector! It's a smart way to show both Peter and the readers what could happen if Spidey revealed his identity to MJ.

Later, at the Bugle, the Scorpion makes it known that he wants to skin Jameson alive, or something like that. Spidey intervenes, wins the fight, and he soon says that contrary to what the Scorpion believed, he can get rid of his suit just fine, and Spidey tears off his mask.

That's. Uh. That's something. Themes? In MY Spider-Man comics? It's handled ridiculously, but for what's worth, I feel like the groove is finally back with a better social/fights balance.

Next time: Moon Knight!

#spider-man #peter parker #comics #comic books #the scorpion

[macarensesangles]

this is maybe not the blog to have this little bitchfest on but here we go. because i love bitching and am a hater.

i do get angry pretty often that nuanced conversations about things like abuse in fiction as a reflection of and dialogue with the society in which said fiction is created and how certain common narratives can genuinely influence people's thinking and how they interact with other people in subtle ways and how to create art as ethically as possible given all that have been like. kind of subsumed under this really simplistic shipcourse debate where i think both "sides" have, to a degree, kind of lost the plot (in that i think vocally profiction people are generally really noxious and horrible and morally indefensible, and antishippers who identify strongly with that label and who get really invested in Doing Discourse frequently stoop to the level proshippers often dwell at and fail to make actual cogent points, NOT in that i'm neutral or something obvs).

because the reality is that there is a deep and wide and vast can of worms opened when the base discussion is like, "what is and isn't okay to write and what should the consequences be for people who do write something that isn't okay?" because i think the reality is there are a myriad of positions to take in relation to those questions between the two extremes of "being offensive is COOL, actually," and "no one should ever write anything." like, an entire world of nuance that gets lost there. especially because the whole hashtag Debate is confined to the sphere of people's fucking dumb ass fanfiction. i don't think fic has no literary merit or something but it's so deeply entrenched in the realm of arguing over shit that largely is like. i don't know. i don't want to be insulting to fic but having read so much of it it astounds me that so many people argue on the side of like "but the ARTISTIC MERIT!!!! of these depictions!" and then you read some piece of Problematique Erotica with about as much Artistic Merit as the back of a box of cereal and you just have to stare out your window and wonder about the general state of intellectual discourse

anyway of course you guys already know this but i think in evaluating whether or not a depiction of a taboo subject like abuse is valuable one has to figure out what it is that the narrative is ultimately communicating first and how that message, like, idk gels with social discourses that already exist about the subject. this is why i tend to be more sharply critical of these elements in fanfiction; typically i feel like the only message is like "what if there was an excuse for this behavior/what if it was desirable" because it's, you know, erotica, or it's poorly-done Dark Romance, or whatever, and then there's a whole further debate to be had about like "well if it's just kink etc and clearly labelled as such does that actually feed into the dominant social narratives you're complaining about" but generally i think like, just the sheer volume of this stuff portrayed in a positive light is kind of concerning and there needs to be some kind of wider analysis of like, how that potentially perpetuates and is certainly perpetuated by external elements like rape culture or a society that largely has a lot of discomfort with actually criticizing behaviors it outwardly condemns when those with power and social capital are the ones doing the abusing.

but like i said, yknow, that's all complicated shit and i think your average like ~problematique darkfic~ writer has not really attempted to wrestle with any of those points in relation to their own work. or even cares about them or finds them valuable questions. it's really readily apparent too when people from this general "camp" are like "but what about when people like hannibal from tv show? he ate people???" like, as if there's the same sort of cultural defense of cannibalism as there is of fucking rape that makes idealized depictions of rape dangerous. like, get real.

also ive bitched about this on my personal but 90% of people who are not incest survivors like just in general have not even the barest understanding of what is actually objectionable about incest, so i don't tolerate its incursion into fandom shit basically at all. not to mention that debates about it tend to be massively offensive toward actual survivors on both sides (protip: try not to rely on arguments about how it's 'gross,' it's really fucking stigmatizing to hear repeatedly that abuse you have endured is primarily objectionable because other people think it's yucky rather than because it causes extreme harm physically and emotionally).

anyway tl;dr i am just really tired of people being dumb and knee-jerk in their endless quest to find justifications for being just as utterly offensive and vocally reprehensible as possible without any criticism or repercussions and how said desperation has really watered down any useful dialogues that could be had about fiction and its impacts on survivors of abuse in favor of, like, having to anticipate utterly inane bad-faith arguments from people who do not give a shit about anything but their own sense of being pleasurably naughty and transgressive. like the majority of proship arguments have all the intellectual honesty and depth of "but i WANT to stick my hand in the cookie jar!" to me.

#i obviously don't agree with harassment but i also don't think that means immunity from criticism. <3 #rape ment #incest ment #tag for complaining #ask to tag

[spaceorphan18]

So beside being invested what did you think about Rings of Power? I really loved it and I can't wait for S2! :)

Oh, hi Nonny! I'm sorry I'm behind on answering asks. I hope you're still around - because I do love talking about Tolkien, and I don't get to do it a whole lot here!

So - yes, I'm interested, and I thought it was much better than I worried it would be. I still has some issues though that I hope they work on.

Okay, story stuff behind the cut in case people don't want to be spoiled. And because I'm wordy, as usual.

****

I'm mostly going to break this down by character/story arc

Galadriel - I liked her a lot more than general consensus, but I do understand the concerns. There's a lot of room in Tolkien's canon to let Galadriel be whatever the story needs her to be. What they made her be, however, is mostly an angry, aggressive, and static character. I don't blame the actress -- she's doing great with some questionable script writing. I'm fine with her wanting revenge, but they're swinging wildly on this one note, and really need to give her more depth and nuance moving forward.

(Also /what/ was that dark scene where she threatened Adar? I mean why go that far?)

Halbrand/Sauron - Okay, I love LOVE the idea of what they did here more than the actual execution. This is one of those times where the show was trying to have its cake and eat it too. They were trying to walk this line -- making him seem like he could be a real lost king, or someone who was going to be the Nazgul, and wanted to play up the mystery of who Sauron was but... they could have spent a lot more time letting us in on the secret, and letting him be way more manipulative than he actually was. I feel like it was /such/ a missed opportunity to not have him just be sinister, or at least unsettling, the whole way through.

I also think there was a missed opportunity not to have him spend more time with the Elves (as he does in canon) teaching them how to make their rings. It was weird to me that it was, like, a half episode.

Loved the actor (kudos to having him have the whole Aragorn feel to him). Loved the scene between he and Galadriel in the last episode -- so, so good. And I'm really glad they didn't try to force some weird kind of romance there, and instead were opting for two sides of a similar coin kind of thing.

Again - interested to see where they go with this -- will they stick to canon and have him involved in the fall of Numenor?

Elendil, Ilsildur, and Numenor - Look, we know how this ends - with Numenor sinking into the sea and Elendil and Ilsildur creating the last alliance (with the Elves) to defeat Sauron. I think there's a good start here -- both with Elendil and Ilsildur and with the beginnings of the fall of Numenor. I can't say this was the most interesting part of the show, but it does have potential for getting some really fascinating fantasy politics going.

Celebrimbor, Gil-Galad, and the Elves - Out of all the places we've been, the land of the Elves feels kind of limited, and I wish they'd expand the scope here a little. Celebrimbor isn't like I thought he'd be, but that's okay -- I do wish we had more of him though. Gil-Galad feels so stiff and undeveloped. Let him expand his role a bit.

Elrond - Yes, I love him and everything about him. No complaints. Let's give him more to do in upcoming seasons.

The Dwarves - This was pretty well done. Even if there were some huge departs to canon (There should only be one Durin at a time) I think this might be the strongest story line in the show. I loved Elrond and Durin's friendship. I also loved Dessa - and how she's somewhat a Lady MacBeth character. The characterization in these plot lines feels like it was handled the best.

The whole Mithril being the Elves' savior thing -- *sigh* Look, I know they're limited because they don't get the Silmarillion, and it's causing some strange things to happen. And I'm not a Tolkien purist - I'm fine with changes but... wtf?? Mithril was somehow created from the Silmarils and a balrog and... no. Stop. Stop explaining it.

The Southlands - I was a little worried at first, because all of the characters here were original ones. While I really did not care about the romance between the Elf dude and the Southlander woman, overall, I think what they did here was pretty good. The tension during this story line was pretty well done, and the characters weren't nearly as annoying as I feared they might be.

I still feel like the kid has some part to play -- will he become a great king of men and become one of the nazgul? That'd be a twist, huh?

I also kind of loved the eruption of Mt. Doom -- though another missed opportunity not having the Southlands change to Mordor on the map.

Adar - I actually loved this character -- because he struck on some of the lore actually from canon, and made him a sympathetic villain. Idk, I just thought it was cool what they did with him. The orcs, too, were rather well done -- and much more menacing than in the original trilogy, tbh.

The Stranger - I love Wizards, I really do. I think they spent too much time making us wonder if it was Sauron, though, when it clearly wasn't. All signs point to Gandalf, which would be.. I get it, even if Gandalf wasn't in the third age. They have room to tell the story of one of the blue wizards, which would at least be a neat twist. I also kind of wonder if he's Saruman - because that'd be even more unexpected. I suppose we'll see. I do hope, though, he has more interaction with the others, though, because this plot line was so disjointed that it kind of felt annoying to go back to it.

The Hobbits - *sigh* This is where I'm confused - in canon, there are three factions of Hobbits and the Fallohides are the ones that are wanderers, not the Harfoots. Nothing about these Harfoots resembled what we know about them in canon, so why not make them Fallohides? I don't get it.

Anyway... when I heard they were bringing Hobbits into the mix, I kind of groaned. It was better than I thought it'd be, but still not great. They were just kinda dumb -- and it was their own fault they kept getting killed by the stranger. Nori drove me crazy. Oops. (Also - holy Elijah Wood look alike with this actress.)

Some other things --

The LotR references - as someone who loves Easter Eggs and callbacks, even I was getting a little bit tired of them. They were going out of their way to pay so much homage to the original trilogy that I felt like it was trying too hard.

the cinematography is gorgeous. It is the most expensive TV show ever filmed, and it shows. I hope that push back about the show doesn't cause Amazon (or who ever is funding it) to cut the budget on this - because omg, is it beautiful.

The score was fantastic - yes, good, goes in with the wonderful cinematography

The show has some pacing issues. Some plot lines drag on too much. Others are rushed.

Also, as reviewers mentioned - some of the dialogue is really awkward and just plain weird.

So.... are they going to show the making of the other rings? Are they going to show the downfall of men into the Nazgul? How's the fall of Numenor going to go? Will they expand into the east and south? There's a lot of story to tell yet -- I'm hoping they listen to some feedback about this first season and try to improve upon it. There's a lot of potential here, and I want to see it grow into an even better show!

Those be my thoughts! Thanks for asking Nonny!

#that's how s.o. sees it #tolkien #rings of power

[septembersghost]

I absolutely hate when people talk about Taylor's rumoured hookups. This is why I hate the theories like WD=AS or Tenfefife sea is about Taylor or even her supposed hookup with matt Healy . Being invested in her s*x life is weird. Talking/guessing about whether joe banged her when she wore a black dress is weird. Swifties really think stanning someone means you have authority to discuss most intimate details of their life. (Same with harry. I saw someone diagnosing him of ADHD on fucking tiktok because apparently he forgets things is invasive.) Also if you don't think she was being truthful about a song make up your own story for that instead of playing guessing games. Saying she *definitely* did x y z is fucking weird. We don't know them. They are strangers to us. She is a celebrity not our best friend. Let that woman live her life

yeah i am very uncomfortable with that myself. i don't have a problem discussing her muses/experiences to an extent, and the way she embeds that into her work, because i think it's worthwhile in understanding her and what her writing means from her (even when we then internalize it and make her music about experiences/feelings for ourselves! which we should!), separating her and what she's telling us from her art does her a disservice, i think, and there are so MANY meaningful connections between her various songs/albums that the whole picture of it is more clear when we do extend her that understanding. but, for me, that's different than "theorizing" about stuff that isn't a part of the work or we don't have a concrete basis for. (this is not even to MENTION some of the things that go on, i just don't know how people get so lost that they can't see when what they're doing is invasive and wrong to the point of being unwell). the talk about [insert famous man she interacted with here] upsets me when we know how much that damaged her and made her feel like she couldn't even have a relationship! and maybe i'm a hypocrite because i've discussed situations and romances she expresses in depth on the albums, but by the unfortunate default of our celebrity culture and the reporting that goes with it, we do know those things and recognize the people and connections in them, there are just...lines to what i'm comfortable with. like, for example, i don't mind talking about what joe means to her because it's literally all over five albums' worth of material and has fundamentally changed her life, but publicly assuming things about their intimate moments or dissecting them to exploit their presumed flaws is just...??? those are real people!!! their status as public figures doesn't make them less deserving of respect and consideration! it's super weird to talk about real peoples' lives and most private moments like that. or with wcs, i don't feel it's okay to guess what she experienced (and it's even worse to say she's lying for attention...my god), all we need to recognize is that whatever happened traumatized her and is something she's spent many years processing, and that's enough to give her compassion!

i also really do not like the armchair diagnoses that go on in fandom either (since you mention that with harry), treating human beings like fictional characters simply doesn't sit well with me. if someone hasn't openly discussed a struggle or a diagnosis, it's not up to us to assign it to them.

why do you think they then express feeling trapped or feeling like they're not allowed to breathe or ever slip or up that they've been turned into dolls? it's remarkably unfair. :/

idk i just feel like it becomes far too easy for some to separate from the idea of famous people as also being real, flesh and blood, people in this world. everyone has different lines in discussing that, but there are some very firm ones for me.

#anonymous #letterbox #blind item culture is bad and ugly and there are several places specifically that i blame for this level of rot and they're all unethical #thrown out speeches #(cdan gawker ontd being the worst tmz and dm following closely)

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Idk if you know about the video game Octopath Traveller, but if the character Cyrus Albright isn’t aro then neither am I (impossible).

I feel like I should have more Ace Attorney aspec hcs, but because there’s so little actual romance in the series, it’s hard to single out characters who seem aroace. I feel like Herlock Sholmes is too obvious, but I always got an alloace vibe off of Gumshoe.

Actually, in the good old days when tumblr group chats were still up, I was in an AA one, and the subject of asexuality got brought up. I kid you not, every single person who was active at the moment came out as ace one after another. And this was like a good ten or so people.

We talked about it for a while, and decided that AA is just appealing to us over other media because it lacks sexualization and romance. There are no romantic subplots among the main characters other than the low-key Wrightworth or Klapollo flirting moments. The romantic relationships that do exist are fairly minor to the plot in the sense that they don’t have a ton of emotional investment packed into them, they’re just a part of the bigger story.

We also decided that we like mystery stories in general because the average one has twists and turns, suspense, and excitement, but doesn’t rely on sex appeal or romantic plots. Unless it’s noir or action thriller or something, mystery protagonists aren’t usually interested in that stuff. Sherlock Holmes is famously ace-coded. Hercule Poirot and Mrs. Marple don’t think about that. And if there is a romantic subplot, then it’s usually more about the case than about love.

Just thought it was interesting. Really putting the Ace in Ace Attorney.

I haven't played Octopath Traveller yet but your aro headcanons are always so well thought out, so if I do play it at some point then I'm excited to see this character and their aro-ness for myself!

You have such an interesting point about Ace Attorney and tbh I think that's why I ended up such a fan of it myself -- there are all these complex, interesting relationships that form an important part of the main plot, but none of them are explicitly romantic in nature. A lot of the time in media the romantic relationships seem "deeper" than the platonic ones, but it really isn't the case in these games and it's felt so refreshing for me. And a lot of the time it's ambiguous (like Wrightworth) so these relationships absolutely CAN be read as romance if you want to, which is awesome! But the important part is the trust and the love, whichever form that takes, and platonic love isn't any lesser than romantic love, so essentially it can just be whatever feels best or most relatable to the player. It doesn't force any romance. I used to always be drawn to kids shows (like ML of course haha) to avoid the over-sexualisation of other media but those usually still have a lot of romance, but now it feels nice to be able to have an interest in something more mature and still have it cater completely to my interests (and avoid things that I'm not interested in!).

"it's hard to single out characters who seem aroace" -- okay I'll be honest, my own brain's solution to this was just to headcanon them all as aroace (or at the very least, almost all). It was an accident I swear, I didn't mean to! It just sort of uh... happened? But yeah, Sholmes as aroace was absolutely a given for me, considering he's basically just Sherlock Holmes. And alloace Gumshoe is a great headcanon, I can totally see that! I didn't think about it before but he definitely gives off that vibe!

Lowkey Wrightworth, hehe... the "unnecessary feelings" line is undoubtedly gay, in my brain these two are a strong QPR. Edgeworth gives me aroace vibes (especially after he talked about never wanting to get married) and I'm probably just being self-indulgent at this point but aroace Phoenix too (his love for Dahlia always seemed too over-the-top to me to be real, like he was trying to "perform romance" correctly). But with Edgeworth I think of it as aro-spec, like "oh god what are these sudden horrible mushy feelings that I've never felt before and how do I make them go away >:(" idk I think I've overthought it... And in fact I do actually quite like Klapollo, but I'm very... picky? I have to be in the right mood and the stars have to be aligned just right and even then there's a 60% chance I'll just go "oh nvm, Apollo is aro now actually", no idea why. I said to a friend once "I only ship it when it's funny" and I think that probably explains it. They can be bi if it helps the joke land!

God I have such few actual ships in these games... the only one that's coming to mind that I unambiguously like all the time is like, Aura and Metis for some reason??? Minor characters and one of them's long dead? I have no clue why but this one just makes me so emo! Aaaaaand that's about it, I think. I'm so obsessed with the brotps I actually genuinely forget the concept of romance exists sometimes when I'm playing these games, lmao.

Same about the mystery novels hehe, I remember devouring every Poirot book my local library had when I was like 13 or 14, I really should get back into those because I enjoyed them so much! It was really refreshing, since I was also really into teen dystopia books at the time but they're usually full to the brim with romance, which got pretty annoying sometimes.

My reply to this got so long, sorry! (My reply to your next ask is probably gonna be long too, I have so much to say, but I'll answer it in that ask!)

#random stuff #aish answers stuff #cayenne-twilight

[cpd-55055]

is upstead the only reason for you to watch chicago pd? 😂 I don't mean anything bad against Burzek or Kevin (I don't count vo*ght as I don't like him 😂😂😂) especially against Burzek but the two are absolutely predictable and it's been running for 9 years/season 6 since the breakup dancing between them and that's just intimidating and i think there's no development it's always going right at the beginning i really liked burzek since the novel story in the middle of season 3 i was out and who doesn't know how to communicate properly well but endgame are not her for a long time

Haha...If it hasn't been obvious, Upstead is definitely the main reason I watch PD. 😂 Don't get me wrong, I love all the main characters. (I'm still confused about how I feel about Voight). I love Kevin and have been loving his character-centric episodes lately. I love Kim and think she is a badass cop and a great mom to Makayla. I love Adam and enjoy his bromance with Atwater.

But when it comes to Burzek, I am not invested in them anymore. If you asked me in S6/S7 how I felt about Burzek, my answer would be "Burzek is endgame". But it's been 6 seasons of this on again off again drama. It's this same cycle every season and as a viewer its really boring to watch. I absolutely hated the Burzek drama in S9. They take one step forward and two steps back. Its been like this since the beginning. Like you said, there is no development or growth between the two. They never communicate which is big red flag in any relationship. The pair has been through so much the past few seasons. The got pregnant then lost the baby. They found Makayla and almost lost her. Kim almost died, Adam almost died. After everything that has happened they only seem to be getting farther apart. And everytime conflict happens, their solution is to create even more space between them.

I know all the Burzek fans are waiting for their ship to become endgame, but I personally think that it's time the writers let both characters move on. I'm okay with them making Adam, Kim, and Makayla a family. I would love to see more Adam and Makayla interactions. But when it comes to Burzek and their romance, I personally hope they move on. Give Adam a new love interest, it doesn't have to be anything serious at first, but enough to show Adam moving on. Let Kim focus on being a mother. Being a single mother is hard, and I would much rather see her balancing work and motherhood. I also miss Ruzwater and Burgwater. Give us more of that friendship!

This will they/won't ship was fun back in S6 and S7, but now it's just annoying. 🤦🏻‍♀️

P.S: This is my opinion, and I'm sorry to all Burzek fans out there who I have disappointed. I hope whatever happens in S10, you will be happy with, cause in the end, all of this is just fiction. 😊💙

#chicago pd #kim burgess #adam ruzek #burzek #just sharing my opinion #anon ask

[incesthemes]

final thoughts: supernatural season 7

holy shit i finally did it. "it only took you a week" it felt like 5 years okay. i'm not good at watching shows.

anyway. overall i'm gonna say i liked season 7 more than i liked season 6, but the bad episodes were imo much worse than s6's bad episodes, at least from what i can remember.

season 6 was overall really disjointed and clumsily handled, and i just watched it 2 weeks ago and i can barely remember what happened in it now that i'm trying to. wow. season 7 was a lot more coherent and didn't try to cram 3 different miniplots into one season. i appreciate the effort honestly.

that said, some of the episodes really were. not good. and some of the ways they used to resolve conflicts and move on were bizarre and contrived (i'm absolutely talking about cas "taking" sam's crazy for himself. genuinely what the fuck was that). the filler episodes felt dropped in without any regard to the context of the rest of the season (why did the "sam gets legally married" episode happen immediately after the one where they're #2 on the fbi's most wanted list? that doesn't make any amount of sense) and a lot of the episodes were honestly just boring.

and i don't know why, but this season specifically had a lot of issues with pacing. too many episodes had way too much buildup only for a "quick fix" to be presented in the last 5-10 minutes. a handful of episodes like that can be fine, especially when you need the time to build up the overarching plot of the season, but this was like... nearly every episode. 30 minutes of nearly unrelated drama followed by "here's your deus ex machina! finish the episode so we can go home already." it just came off as unskilled writing to me. i know episodic storytelling has to tie each episode up with a nice bow, but there's only so many times you can throw a simple deus ex machina-like solution to the characters and not expect me to find it contrived.

now i do like the leviathans though. or at least the concept of them. i wasn't overly invested in their plot (though honestly? i kinda like dick roman. he's annoying enough for me to appreciate) but the idea of them is really interesting. you can see this conglomeration of several different monsters within the species, so they fit well within the context they've been given. primordial monsters that came before all the others? well of course they'd have traits of those who came after them. it's like evolution: the later-born monsters became more specialized to their environment i guess. the worldbuilding there is intriguing enough for me.

i'm sick as a dog so i'm having trouble coming up with other thoughts. i really liked meg's involvement in the season; i thought her role throughout was well-placed and well-developed. the weird romance subplot between her and cas is, well, weird, but i don't dislike it either. i'm a sucker for demon/angel dynamics, even if the angel is totally crazy. but every time they hint at it i keep thinking about the destiel love confession and start laughing.

crowley was kinda weird and boring this season tbh. very disappointing as a crowley fan. the ghost bobby plot was kinda interesting, but i'm not 100% sure how i feel about it. kevin tran is a loser and i'm a big fan of losers. i think the show tried a little too hard with charlie, but i don't dislike her. she's no becky though smh. my taste in fictional characters is bad and charlie is too good, i guess.

well anyway, dean and cas are in purgatory now and sam is a soggy sad boy as usual, so with that i'm going to take another break from this wretched show and watch something good, the haunting of bly manor :) i really want to get through mike flanagan's entire compendium of work because hoooooly shit he is a great idk. do you call him a filmmaker even though it's miniseries. idk the terminology. whatever

#liveblogging: supernatural #i can't believe i'm still doing this honestly. if i can be honest. truthfully even #i am compelled by my sick need to see sam winchester in agony constantly #.txt #spn reviews #spn7

[televinita]

2023 Goodreads Choice Award Winners - Reactions

Opinion time! Long, loud opinion time.

FICTION - Yellowface: wow! I figured this was a strong contender but I did not expect it to stomp 2nd-place finisher (Hello Beautiful) by a margin of nearly 4 to 1. I guess it had more time to gain traction? Happy my pick (aka the only one I might actually read) The Wishing Game got 3rd at least.

HISTORICAL FICTION - Weyward: doesn't look like my cup of tea but not bad. At least it's a cool cover. I wasn't super invested in the outcome of this race. My pick (the one actually on my TBR before the first round, The Echo of Old Books) only got 6th but oh well.

MYSTERY/THRILLER - The Housemaid's Secret: honestly that surprises me, I knew she was popular but I thought it would go to Lisa Jewell or Riley Sager. (who did take 2nd, by not a huge loss, and 3rd, respectively)

(I loooove Kate Morton but I only voted for her book in round 1 to get it contending; I still think she was misplaced in this category. My 2nd round vote went to Sager on a hunch...but I'm fine with the winner. It seems a bit generic for my tastes but not bad at all.)

ROMANCE - Happy Place: SWEET BABY JESUS THANK ALL THE ANGELS ABOVE that Emily Henry's massive fanbase is in fact strong enough to crush Ali Hazelwood, 'cause nobody else is. I ultimately picked the Jimenez book for my vote because between her and Henry's book that one sounds sliiightly more my taste, and I'm relieved that wasn't wasted.

I don't like how how up my sworn nemesis Curtis Sittenfeld's book still landed, nor some of the trashier titles (they have shirtless-man covers in their true form I just know it); I was hoping The Seven Year Slip would do better because it was both well received and seems more in line with the women's-fiction kind of romance I like, though this particular title didn't thrill me. Still: the evil has been defeated! (she said, forgetting there were two categories to clear)

ROMANTASY - Fourth Wing: lmaooooooooooo we all knew this was going to win but TEN TWELVE TIMES more votes than the 2nd place finisher?? Twelve?? Almost 400k in total; I don't think any book has ever had that many votes put toward it in the history of the awards. And since 2nd place was not-particularly-romantasy-like Assistant to the Villain, I have to assume everyone was desperately trying to conscientiously object to either that book's inevitable win or the category in general.

FANTASY - Hell Bent: gdi I specifically did not want that to happen. By a comfortable margin, too, ugh. What little I've heard about Ninth House sounds gross and this cover is also gross. I don't wanna look at it. Emily Wilde 4 lyfe. (4th place)

SCIENCE FICTION - In The Lives of Puppets: *shrug* not surprised, TJ Klune feels a bit inescapable. But ultimately I did not have a horse in this race.

HORROR - Holly, by Stephen King: oh, good for him. He has not actually won every time he's been up for it, and this one sounded decent. (I abstained from voting in this category too, because for all that I love scary books I've not read any of these and don't feel particularly called to)

YA FANTASY - Divine Rivals: oh, okay, so that one is the heavy-hitter, nearly double the 2nd place pick (whatever stephanie garber book is up this year) I picked A Study in Drowning, just because I can't in good conscience choose enemies to lovers, but the important thing is we kept Cassandra effing Clare away from the crown.

*holding my breath as I wait for the next category, the one I'm most invested in after romance, to load...*

YOUNG ADULT - Check & Mate:

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My scream shattered the rafters. When I first saw Ali Hazelwood's name in there I thought, okay, YA, perhaps she has toned down her garbage enough to be readable? but then I looked at the reviews and I am very much not confident that this actually reads like YA. If it does, I suspect it might be the kind of YA that Teen Me hated and Adult Me still doesn't love.

Anyway. The point is I specifically voted for The Brothers Hawthorne to avoid this, but while that did take 2nd place, even that powerhouse series failed to dominate (though only by 3k! closest race so far i think) over this woman who is now officially my sworn enemy. Colleen who? I have never held half the animosity toward that woman like what has been growing in my heart for Hazelwood.

DEBUT NOVEL - Weyward: well I guess that makes sense. (I didn't vote in this one either...although I could have sworn that The Wishing Game was in this one too? because I thought I voted for it at least in round 1...oh n/m, I see. "Why are there only 19 books in this category? Following new information from an author that they had previously published under a pen name, one book was no longer eligible for this category and was removed."

NONFICTION - Poverty, By America: look, I'm just glad it's not the "I'm voting for this because it's funny" Butts book. But I voted for the Pacific Crest Trail one about missing hikers because a Goodreads friend gave it 5 stars and also it's the only one that interests me.

All right, time to see how much Britney Spears won the next category by...

MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY - The Woman in Me: but not quite by double! I honestly did not think Prince Harold had that many fans. (I love calling him Prince Harold (The Ridiculous) don't take this from me) Really surprised that Pageboy got 3rd; pure diversity rep vote? Thought those who actually read it agreed it was disjointed and poorly structured. Anyway. I can't really talk because I voted for Paris (Minka Kelly first, hoping to get her to round 2, but then Paris Hilton because I genuinely did enjoy that one more than i expected)

Up next is history/biography. Did the dad book win?

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY - The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder: the dad book wins! (I did vote for it. I'm sorry. I thought the Astor book actually sounded cooler but I just dislike Anderson Cooper so much)

And finally...god I hope it's Henry Winkler. I'm sure it's gonna be Leslie F*** Jones because people think swearing is funny, but I specifically refused her a vote because of it (and no other reasons) so I really hope I'm wrong.

HUMOR - Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond: HENRY WINKLER WINS!!!!!!! That's all I wanted, because this category looked baaaaad. I still think he should have been in the regular memoir section but I'll take it.

#goodreads choice awards #I know these are fully a popularity contest and that's fine. these are my opinions on the public's taste. #I am mostly chill and fine but I still raged about two of 'em