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fizzyxcustard · 1 year

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How About Now?

Fandom: Spooks

Pairings: Lucas North x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Angst, language, sexual references, pining.

Summary: From the imagine, “Imagine breaking up with Lucas North at Christmas.” This is part two.

Comments: Requested by @sweetestgbye and @sazzlep Thank you! As always, reblogs and comments are appreciated very much. If you would like to be added to or removed from my tag list, let me know.

It had been a whole four days now since you had last seen Lucas. Neither of you had been in contact with the other, and that was weighing on you heavily, getting more crushing each day. Why hadn’t he contacted you?

Your flat was so quiet and empty. Little reminders of him would appear now and again; his watch on your bedside table, his William Blake poetry book on the other bedside table, next to his side, his cologne in the bathroom, his shirts that you had pressed and now had no idea what to do with them. Even the background of your phone was a photo of the two of you. His eyes were alight with so much love and happiness in that precise moment that had been captured. Lucas’ eyes were so deeply connected to his emotions. The very memory of the way he had looked at you seconds before your first kiss, would always be engrained in your mind. Those silver blue depths were smouldering with lust and passion, unlike anything you had ever seen before when in the company of a man.

The gifts that Lucas had brought you still remained unopened beneath your tree, along with the ones you had brought him.

On the morning of the 28th, you sat on your sofa, sipping on a cup of tea when your phone chimed. In a flash, you grabbed the phone. It wasn’t him. You threw it back down on the sofa and began to sob.

That afternoon and Lucas was walking down the street, his hands in his pockets. Drizzle was in the air, soaking into his jacket and wetting his hair. The weather was just as miserable as he felt. He missed you. Each night he had gone to bed and he had succumb to tears, knowing that you were both apart. How could he ever make this right between you? Would you listen to him?

He trudged past the café where both of you had sat many times, enjoying breakfast before work. Breath caught in his throat, and he almost coughed. You were there, sat in your usual spot. Back right table. It felt like synchronicity in that moment. As he stood frozen, with his heart pounding, you looked up. That pain hit him again.

Don’t you dare fucking cry! That angry voice commanded him.

The two of you kept your gazes locked, until Lucas forced himself to look away and disappeared out of view.

You gasped, clasping your hand to your mouth. Your whole body seemed to shake in complete and utter overwhelm. No one around you noticed as you held your book back up to mask your face, and also mask the tears dripping down your cheeks.

Once you had got home, you picked up your phone whilst sat down at your dining room table and typed a text message to Lucas.

I have some of your things still, if you want to come and pick it up.

You decided against adding kisses at the end. All of that was done now. Lucas probably had bigger and better things to contend with. Operations at work, other women to date, a whole new life to begin.

Everything was quiet for the next two hours. No reply from Lucas. So you remained in your living room, a film playing away in the background. You weren’t paying any attention to it, but rather had it there for some background noise. It didn’t even matter that the film was one of your favourites, Love Actually. In fact, it seemed every time you looked at the screen, someone was either kissing someone else or grinning at someone, obviously infatuated.

Just after the film ended…thankfully, you took your empty mug into the kitchen for another cup of tea. You had no idea how many cups you had got through today. It was the typical British way: a cup of tea is essential in any crisis. You remembered when your dad had been rushed into hospital a few years earlier with a suspected heart attack. Your mum had gone with him. Your sister came to be with you, as you still lived at home, and the first thing she did was put the kettle on.

A knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts. It was probably Jehovah’s Witnesses again. But as you opened the door, you almost fainted, and gasped loudly.

“I hope you didn’t mind me popping by now,” Lucas said, his voice full of apprehension.

“No…no. Of course not. Come in,” you replied.

He stepped past you and you couldn’t help but close your eyes upon the scent that wafted with him. It brought forward the memory of the first time you slept together, when your wall had come crumbling down, and so much so that you feared you’d scare him off.

“Cup of tea?” you asked, feeling stupid as soon as you asked.

Lucas smiled. “Yeah, okay.”

You stepped into the kitchen and began preparing the drinks, knowing that Lucas was only a few feet behind you. You could feel that heat and arousal mounting. Why did you have to love him so much?

“I need to talk to you,” he said softly. “I think there was a lot that remained unsaid last time we saw each other. I’ve been thinking about everything you said, and I know you’re right.”

You turned and looked at him. There was remorse in his eyes, and beneath those eyes you could see dark circles. In all the time you had known Lucas, you had never known those eyes lie.

“I’m going to put myself out there, and be honest with you,” you began, sighing. You swallowed hard. “I’ve never been a person to go out with someone purely for sex or company. I go out with someone for the prospect of a future; marriage and children. I know it’s something we’ve never spoken about, and quite honest, I was always terrified of bringing it up.”

“Why?” Lucas asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He stepped closer to you.

“Because I see how much you love your job, and well, you’re gorgeous. I always assumed you’d get bored of me and…”

“No…no….Please, no….never think that,” he begged. Lucas stepped up to you and placed his hand on your arm. “Do you ever think about how I feel in this? You’ve only ever seen yourself through your own eyes and never really thought about how I see you. Why would I have stayed with you if I didn’t love you or want a future with you?”

“I don’t know…” you mumbled.

“I’m a couple of years off forty now, and believe it or not, I’d like to get married and have kids. My first marriage was a fuck up. But I want something to come home to; I want to come home to mini yous.”

You couldn’t help but laugh.

Lucas grinned. “I do. I really do.”

The smile drained from your face. “I’m scared if we did have children and got married that something would happen. I’d be left a widow and they’d be left without a dad. Lucas, admit it, there have been a fair few deaths in your team over the last few years. This is why I said what I did…”

“Then I’ll request a desk job,” Lucas said, cutting you off.

“But…”

“No buts. We’ll have a future together, I promise.” Lucas slipped his arm around your waist and pulled you in against him, kissing your head. “I missed you so much the last few days and I’m not going to fuck this up, I swear.”

***

Follow Forever tag list: @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @xxbyimm @linasofia @guardianofrivendell @asgardianhobbit98 @luna-xial @knittastically @middleearthpixie @meganlpie @rachel1959 @msjava1972 @eunoiaastralwings @tschrist1 @quiall321 @sunflwrnsunnieshine @lemond57 @missihart23 @enchantzz @evenstaredits

#Lucas North #Spooks #MI-5 #Richard Armitage #Fanfic #Request #Lucas North x Fem!Reader

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picnokinesis · 6 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

Got tagged by the fantastic @wykart ahh thank you for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

32, most of which are Doctor Who!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

859,228!! (but it's gonna keep climbing until I finish posting part 6 of campervan sksk)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty much just Doctor Who right now, but I have posted fics for Stargate Universe, Marvel and The Greatest Showman. And then I have written for other fandoms - most notably Venom, which I never posted anything for but I did get 40k into a multichapter one time.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In this order: Liminality, Tropospheric Disturbance, campervan part 1, watchfires and Renegades in the Ring (my TGS fic that I never finished, rip in pieces)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try and respond to comments!! Mostly because I love talking about my fics and also don't know when to shut up hahaha - but I also have some absolutely fantastic commenters who have such interesting things to say! And also like, idk I really appreciate people taking the time to comment, so I reckon it's polite to say thank you at least. The only time I don't reply to comments, mostly, is if it's a REALLY long comment and I just don't have the energy rip (but when that happens I definitely read and cherish the comment dearly haha)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. MOST OF THEM RIP. I'm genuinely not sure because I always try and end my fics on a vaguely uplifting note. Maybe Campervan Part 4, simply because of all the uni-era angst? But tbh the ending of Part 6 is definitely a contender, now I think about it. Canon-fic wise, though.......hmm I think it's got to be notches in your spine, since that ends with the Doctor just straight up leaving the Master without warning sksksk

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm. I think I'm gonna go with In the Wind for this one, which is hilarious since I wrote it THREE YEARS AGO, but it's a multi-chapter mid-series adventure that rounds itself off in a satisfying way, with everything being resolved nicely, so I think that's a decent contender!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hm, no, other than people complaining about the show in an attempt to compliment my writing, but that's stopped for the most part since I got annoyed about it in my author's notes one time ksksks. I did get a weird comment recently that started out very complimentary but then turned really weird in a pretty upsetting way (and, frankly, it would have been very triggering if that sort of topic had been something that was something that affected me a lot? Luckily it wasn't, but the commenter did NOT know that). So I just deleted the comment because I didn't want that sort of thing in my comment section, especially when I know other readers comment lurk.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No I'm sex-repulsed lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I wrote a crossover that was The Greatest Showman crossed with the X-Men Comics one time SKSKSKSKSK (and it was specifically the comics not the films, I did so much research on historical terminology for mutants HAHA) which was actually SO much fun - I never finished it, but I do think back on it very fondly. But I'd class that as more of an 'x-men au' rather than a crossover tbh, bc it was wholly focused on the TGS characters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't believe so

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! We never finished it LOL

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Currently spydoc, but this will probably change. I have a MASSIVE soft spot for rush/young from sgu, clintasha from the MCU, newt/hermann from PacRim, and symbrock from Venom.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Hmmmm there's a bunch, but probably The Grandfather Paradox? I genuinely love that one so much. But who knows, maybe one day. I feel like it would make a great pitch for a Big Finish audio sksk. Oh, and Deathless will probably never happen. I'm not going to put Trestle on this list because I am SO DETERMINED to finish it some day HAHAH. Oh - and I don't think I'll ever finished Trouble With Entropy, which was my unfinished Venom fic, or Renegades (aforementioned TGS fic) even though I love them a lot, it's just....very unlikely at this point rip.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Going off what other people have said to me, I'm good at creative immersive worlds! Which is mostly because I really want my stories to feel 'lived in', so to speak, and broader than what you actually see in the immediate plot. I think I'm also pretty good at pacing, and also writing narrative prose with a character voice! The latter one I definitely pushed myself with when writing part 6 of campervan, as well as my recent doctormaster oneshot, where I had to weave together both the doctor AND the master's characterisation into one seamless pov

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I definitely worry too much about making sure the reader DEFINITELY gets what I'm trying to say, and so sometimes I'm repetitive and I hammer things home a bit that can be more subtle. I also think that sometimes I can be a bit repetitive in my longer fics where I know a gap needs to be filled but I'm not sure with what sksksks. There are other things too. I definitely struggle writing shorter things and getting to the point and TRUSTING that the reader will come with me. I often feel this urge to make sure all the steps are there for the reader to follow where I want them to go.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Oooh so I actually did this in campervan part 5 with Gabriela and Jamila speaking a bit of Portuguese! And I think there's like, obviously nuance to it, but when I had the pov characters who understood portuguese (namely Jamila in the prologue), I had the dialogue in portuguese, but the translation in the prose, either literally just next to the dialogue or explained in the narration by Jamila. But then in later chapters, when Yaz is trying to talk to Gabriela, because Gabriela is upset she's occasionally saying things in Portuguese....but Yaz doesn't understand them. So they don't get translated. And so I think that works for the story in that context, bc what Gabriela actually SAYS is less important and it's more showing the emotion of it. Another case I can think of was in Force Over Distance by cleanwhiteroom who wrote a LOT of ancient into the fic (which is basically latin) and when it was on ao3 there was this sort of 'hover to translate' thing which worked REALLY WELL, bc the translation was there but it didn't disrupt the flow of the fic.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Okay so I wanna know what counts here - if it's like, the first fic i POSTED, then that's Marvel (specifically the Avengers). If it's the first fic I wrote when I actually understood what 'fandom' was, then...I think that was also Avengers....or maybe BBC Sherlock. If it's the first thing I actually WROTE DOWN properly, then it was Doctor Who (specifically Ten and Rose and my oc companion sksk). If it was the first thing I played with creatively for media that wasn't my own...then that was probably me coming up with elaborate ocs out of two unicorns on the credits for the My Little Pony vhs tape we had SKSKSKSK SO. I don't know. One or all of those.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh this is hard because I'm proud of a lot of what I've written. My gut reaction at the moment is actually Trestle, even though it's unfinished and no one has read it HAHAH but I'm just so proud of some of the writing in that so far. And I'm extremely proud of Campervan AU as a whole entity. However I do really really love see me bare my teeth for you - which I actually forget about a LOT because it's not one of my thoschei fics sksksk. But I'm super proud of how that one turned out. And then also and they did live by watchfires because that one just has such a special place in my heart.

THANKS FOR THE TAG LIV!!! I'm gonna tag hmmmmmmm @sunshinedaysforever @taardisblue @novantinuum @emptyofdust @strikingtwelves @walker-lister aaaaah basically anyone else that wants to do this! :D

#taka gets tagged #taka writes #ahhh this was so lovely!!#thank you liv <3 #long post

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moonspirit · 3 months

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HI HELLO WOFE!!

For the questions game!

3, 7, 5, 12, 14, 20, 31, 35

-Clouds ☁️

HELLO WAIF!!! This got long cuz I can't shut up, so under the cut #_#

3 - 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of? OOOOkay! Interstellar, Titanic, and Your Name (although other equally strong contenders are the Avatar movies (james cameron), any Ghibli movie, and The Martian, which I remember you love too T^T Yay common movie!)

7 - what scares you the most and why? Forgetting. More than being forgotten, which doesn't really bother me, it's forgetting. Even if a portion of my life has been dark or bleak, there's been a lot of nice things to appreciate even then; I try to write it all down in a journal every day. I think life's value is really all the moments and memories that fill up over time; I'm scared of a day coming when I don't remember all the lovely things I've encountered in my life.

5 - what made you start your blog? Ahh... I've honestly been here a long time xD Since late 2013 or early 2014, I don't remember very well, but O L D. At first I just started one to post my graphic designing pieces, but then stayed for the fandom culture and very specific humour which made me feel at home. I've left now and then, but I've always come back.

12 - what’s some good advice you want to share? This is tricky, because I give myself advice, and don't follow it #_# But something that has helped me a lot is to see only the present moment as truly valuable, and to soak in every bit of that, in touch, taste, smell and seeing. That way you've lived that minute or that hour, fully, and even if you don't get to live the next, you can find some peace. Why I say it helped me is because I always fret about the future, about whether this or that will happen, etc, and this shut up all those unwanted anxieties. 'Now' matters. Tomorrow will come, but I'll deal with it when it comes.

14 - what’s something you’ve always wanted to do but maybe been to scared to do? I think... to live more spontaneously? XD I'm a planned/organized person, I need to see things on an agenda to breathe easy lmao. I envy people who can just live everyday spontaneously as it comes, without a care in the world.

20 - favourite things about the night? EVERYTHING!!!!! ALL OF IT!!!!! I love most the drop in temperature, the silence, the occasional owls and bats, and also the lights in the distance. I live in a suburb, and while the immediate vicinity isn't bustling with noise and is mostly covered with trees and wildnerness, I can see the city in the distance. I like watching the pinpricks of moving vehicles, and wondering where they're going and to whom. The best thing of course, is the night sky. I spend inordinate amounts of time studying the stars and constellations haha xD Still don't have a telescope to see Jupiter's moons, but! one day! soon!

31 - are you messy or organised? V E R Y organized. Though in times of stress, it devolves into organized chaos, but still organized. My phase of using colour coded memo pads and cute stationery has long gone (tho I still love cute stationery T^T), so I just keep things simple now. A list. Ticked off. Etc.

35 - do you trust easily? Yeah. I shouldn't, given some stupid shit that happened some years back, but I still do xD I like to believe people are good (which is strange considering I hate human interaction, but then I suppose it applies to people I form bonds with, like you!)

HAVE I EXPOSED MYSELF ENOUGH YET??? AM I STILL GOOD TO MARRY???

#ask #cloud-senpai #ask game

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pinkboxess · 13 days

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1, 20, and 45 for the book asks!

1: Best book you've read so far this year

I stopped keeping up with logging my books in Goodreads (it was starting to feel like pressure to meet my goal and log progress) which is to say that I don't even have a perfect memory of what I've read....but I think I'm going to give the award to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I am a big Hunger Games fan and I really enjoyed the prequel. Snow's inner dialogue is absolutely hilarious-- it's very clear how narcissistic he is, but I find it funny how it comes out. He's a sassy boy. Also, the way Collins is able to tackle these enormous themes about the nature of humankind--making her books sit in conversation with famous historical theorists while still being written for a younger audience-- is really remarkable. I have so much admiration for her as an author.

20: Where and how do you find new books to read?

A few different ways. Some books I read because they've become popular enough for me to encounter them in the wild, so to speak. People talk about them in the various circles I'm part of so I hear about them and get interested. Other times I just go on my library's website and browse the available e-books for whatever looks interesting.

A third less-common way is through my colleagues, since I work in libraries. But for the most part we don't actually just sit and recommend books to each other 😂most of the work is geared towards managing the library on the back end instead of participating in using it.

45: What books would you sell your soul to get a TV or movie adaptation of?

So, The Mysterious Benedict Society did get an adaptation in 2021, but it was canceled after an under-funded season 2 and then removed from Disney+, meaning there is now no legal way to access it.

So my (bit of a cheater) answer is to simply bring back the existing adaption, but re-do season 2 since I didn't end up liking it very much, and then do a season 3 based on the third novel in the series.

As for some other contenders...

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -- as a TV show. I feel that book adaptations are always better as shows vs. movies because there is more time to follow the plot of the novel and include things without having to cut half of what makes the book good.

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf I think would be STUNNING visually if done well. Although, after googling to check, it appears there is a movie adaptation done in 1983! I have not seen it, though.

This is not part of the question, but these are my favourite book-to-screen adaptations that I think were done brilliantly:

A Series of Unfortunate Events Netflix TV adaptation of Lemony Snickett's middle-grade series

Orlando film adaption of Virginia Woolf's novel

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? film adaptation of Maria Semple's novel

And, as previously mentioned, season 1 of the Disney+ adaption of Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society, which is no longer viewable outside of sailing the high seas.

#good lord why did i spend so much time writing these huge answers #lmao #this is surely more than anyone asked for #ask answered

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soapkaars · 3 months

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For the ask game: 31, 61, 62 and 98?

Asks come from this post: https://www.tumblr.com/soapkaars/742324378777403392/weird-asks-that-say-a-lot

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

I think I love this question now because I went through my selfies and I found so many fun outfits I’ve worn that I feel so much better about myself now! It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I think my favourite outfit range is between divorced Parisian femme and con-artist/disgraced nobility masc

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

Oh there are so many great films I’ve seen that it’s hard to choose one but here are few that I often mutter to myself:

‘Impossible? Napoleon said that word isn’t French!’ (Dr Gogol, Mad Love)

‘Morirá!’ (He will die) ‘murió’ (he died) ‘ha muerto’ (he is dead) from a video art installation by two old Spanish artists who shown sitting on two plastic chairs and listing off all the celebrities who had died or who will die

‘Tell their mother they’re doing quite well and they will leave us soon, yes they will be going on a journey… how did Shakespeare say it? Ah yes, From which no man returns.’ (Abbott from The Man Who Knew too Much, said with a typical Peter Lorre shit-eating grin)

The whole cerulean sweater speech from The Devil wears Prada

62. seven characters you relate to?

Definitely Abbott from the Man Who Knew too Much, that man is goals… as well as David Suchet’s Hercule Poirot. I’ve even got the arrogance and grandiosity down pat! For the rest I relate too much to loser men like Marcello Mastroianni in Eight and a Half and Joel Cairo from the Maltese Falcon. Other characters would be terrible women like Miranda Priestly from the Devil Wears Prada, Cruella de Ville (she only wanted to fulfill her vision of a fur coat made from puppies!), and Helen Sharp from Death Becomes Her (played by Goldie Hawn!)

98. favorite historical era?

Oh definitely the Weimar era - I am in love with Dadaism and artists like George Grosz and Otto Dix from that period of time. It fascinates me to no end and almost all of the art movements from that time have been a huge influence on my own style of drawing and art. Other close contenders are late 17th century Netherlands (1672, the ‘disaster year’ when the country was invaded by the French and a prime minister was eaten up by an angry mob who were also part of a coup d’etat carried out by the Prince of Orange), the French Revolution, and the Cold War era, particularly from the 70s to the 80s with the rise of counterculture and the fall of the Berlin Wall which released an explosion of art, design, architecture (post modernism babeyyyy!!)… I have this fascination with periods of transition and I always love learning more and more about them!

#ask soap #ask game #weird asks #thanks for the ask!#soapbox #my weird interests

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iamaverysadbanana · 3 months

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Oscars 2024 Nominations Thoughts (Part One)

Oppenheimer: 13 nominations

This is going to be the year Christopher Nolan gets an Oscar. "But wait!" you exclaim. "Didn't he already win one!" Contrary to popular belief, no. His movies may have won individual awards, but as for Best Screenplay? No. Best Director? Nope. Best Picture? Nothing. This year is different. Christopher Nolan is going to have his own personal statuette with his name engraved on it, and it will be glorious. Because he deserves it.

Poor Things: 11 nominations

My little bisexual heart belongs to Yorgos the Greek now. Like Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos has yet to have an Oscar with his name on it, and unlike Nolan, only one of the awards was given to any of his films (Best Actress for Olivia Colman in The Favourite). This film has everything. It has egg tarts. It has socialism. It has rapists being turned into goats. And it will have Oscars.

Killers of the Flower Moon: 10 nominations

I wish this movie had focused more on Molly and her people's experience. Pretty much all the best parts are scenes that focus on Osage culture, whether it be Lizzie Q's dying dream or the ending sequence of a modern powwow. I'm pretty sure Lily Gladstone is going to win Best Actress this year, but right now, it's looking to be a coin toss between her and Emma Stone for Poor Things.

Barbie: 8 nominations

Yes, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were robbed of nominations for Best Director and Best Actress respectively. However, this doesn't nearly bother me as much as most others because, well, look at their competition. Plus, Ryan Gosling as Ken and especially America Ferrera as Gloria getting nominations is just *chef's kiss* perfect. Also, how hilarious is it that a song originally written by a producer as a joke got nominated?

The Holdovers: 5 nominations

I was only surprised the Oscars recognized this soon-to-be Christmas classic at all. And they should! After the disastrous reception of 2017's Downsizing, Alexander Payne is back with one of his finest films. Paul Giamatti is definitely a strong contender for Best Actor (I'd say it's a coin toss between him and Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer). Da'Vine Joy Randolph's performance as grieving mother Mary Lamb earned a spot in a category with particularly tough competition this year.

That's my thoughts on all the films I've seen with multiple nominations. My next post will be about films that only got one nomination.

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steelycunt · 5 months

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hi! 13 & 16 for a bit of haterism :)

was waiting for the license to hate...you're my hero..thank you..

13. what were your least favourite books of the year?

american psycho. fucking hated it. and i dont like to say i hate that book because i dont want people to think i object to it for lame reasons like the reprehensibility of patrick bateman or because i was surprised that a book called american psycho involved an american who was a psycho. i hated this book because it was so fucking boring. so boring. and i get the purpose of it being this boring i think the focus on detail and stuff and the presentation of the mind of a psychopath is deliberate and effective but! just because he spends 10 pages describing people's suits because hes a psychopath. does not make actually reading those 10 pages any more enjoyable. and this book was like 400 pages long. havent seen the film though i think id like that xx

been down so long it looks like up to me by richard farina. i gave this 0.5 stars sorry there was just nothing i liked about this i thought it was awful it was just not my sort of thing at all. booo.

notes from underground by dostoevsky. i think perhaps i was just too stupid for this book and maybe thats more a reflection on me...i am fine with that possibility. that sounds completely fair. but i did not enjoy this even slightly.

16. what is the most overhyped book you read this year?

i would also put this in the category of worst books i read this year but i need to talk about this in isolation and i think it is easily the most overhyped book ive read this year...one of the most overhyped books ive ever read...tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow gabrielle zevin was fucking awful omg. like. even now im still in shock about how bad this book was compared to how good people said it was and how well received it was. it feels like a big prank and im not joking. sometimes i dont enjoy books and i give them very low ratings but its more because i didnt enjoy them at all than because i genuinely think they are deeply badly written but this...this was terrible. this was a terrible book. i think maybe zevin is a bad writer. the characters were so so awful and cartoonish and insufferable i hated every single one of them and actively rooted for the destruction of them and all that they created. the plot was laughable. it was six thousand pages long. the last third it just incomprehensibly shite. it barely made sense. we were told absolutely everything and shown nothing. strong contender for just one of the worst books ive ever read. i could go on. did i mention it never fucking ended.

end of year book asks!!

#reading tag #ask game #sorry. i read tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow in september and i still havent gotten over how bad it was. the only saving grace #is it cost me like one quid from a charity shop. if id paid full price for that...

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demdifferentstories-29 · 6 months

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Get To Know Me

Thank you for the tag, @quite-right-too <3 No pressure tags - @bronzeagepizzeria, @naaer, @hgracieeees

What is your name? Lily.

For how long have you had this account? Technically around eight years (the original @demdifferentstories account), but this one is around nine months old I think?

Favourite food? I'm forever a slut for chocolate!

Favourite drink? Really depends, honestly! But you can never go wrong with Coke/Pepsi (can you tell I have a bad sweet tooth yet?).

Do you have any siblings? Three, and I'm the youngest of them.

Do you have pets? Yes - a very silly, chaotic bichon frise. He's the third dog I've had. My cat passed away earlier this year and I miss her deeply!

How old are you? Just turned twenty!

How many languages do you know? Just the one (English), however, I was pretty damn good at Japanese in high school and I'm keen to learn other languages.

What's your all-time favourite movie/tv show? Movie is easy - Spider-Man (2002). It's been my favourite film for sixteen years! In terms of TV, Friends has always been a big comfort show for me as I grew up watching it. Broadchurch and Jessica Jones Season 1 are some of the handful of shows I've rewatched multiple times, so I think it contends. Regarding Doctor Who, I really only genuinely care about RTD's era, so not overly sure if that would qualify!

What are you enjoying to do in your free time? At the moment, all I really do in my free time is write :,) But I also read, play guitar and sing, and I draw and embroider every so often.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Ambiverted with a tendency towards extroverted - once I'm comfortable with you, it's hard to keep me away!

Your favourite music genres? Metal and rock! More specifically, I've always enjoyed metalcore and other emo subgenres, but I listen to an array of bands.

Your dream place to visit? I would really like to visit the UK/Europe - specifically (Northern) Ireland, England, Scotland and Italy. I'm not the biggest fan of travelling, so I'm content with staying where I am.

Something you wish you were better at? I've always had really bad practising habits, so I wish I was more proficient in my guitar playing - it's something I always add to my New Year resolutions lol. Would also like to pick up piano, and I wish I was still into art/drawing as much as I used to be. Also would like to be a bit better at acting - I think I've gone a bit stiff since transitioning from high school theatre to university theatre as the classes aren't as practical.

How long do you take to respond to texts? ASAP! I'm not afraid of being an immediate responder. However, I might take a while if I'm busy/unavailable or if I'm not in the mood to talk to people (not anything personal - constantly socialising at uni and work drains me a lot and can make me a bit overstimulated/whelmed, so I just need alone time to balance it all it as I can find messaging to have the same effect as physical interaction/communication).

Do you have any tattoos? If not, would like to? I have three - one is a peace lily (namesake), and the other two are text ones related to the band Muse. I have about a dozen more planned, but they are expensive.

What's your sexuality? Bisexual!

Do you like reading? If yes what's your favourite book? Love reading, but I've found myself with not much time for it this year (including fics :(). My favourite book is Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - it's the first installation in the Hannibal Lecter series, and I think it's criminally underrated and overshadowed by The Silence of the Lambs. I also really loved The Handmaid's Tale when I read it - stuck with me for a long time.

Have you ever been in love? I don't think so. Maybe a little bit?

What's your relationship status? Single, but content.

Have you ever been heartbroken? Not romantically, but definitely by friends and family.

Best memory you could think of? I have a pretty horrible memory, but I can still recall the excitement I felt about my first concert.

Worst memory you can think of? Ah, my greatest strength! I won't delve into the more sordid/upsetting parts of my life, but things like having meltdowns/overstimulation prior to my diagnosis and not really understanding what was wrong with me were always quite upsetting for me.

Do you have any fears? I've always been a pretty bad arachnophobe, but I've gotten better. We won't get into others.

Are you a morning or a night person? It tends to shift depending on an array of things, but probably night - I have bad habits of staying up.

How many pictures you have on your phone? 12,314 (yes, I know - I'm insane).

Who was your favourite childhood crush? Oh, boy. Well, we can credit Kirsten Dunst and Kate Winslet to my (subconscious) bisexual awakening. In terms of men, I always thought Tobey Maguire had a cute quality to him.

Are you a romantic? I mean I don't really have the data to back it up, but I'd say probably - I have plenty of romantic fantasies and desires. Plus the shit I write can be so mushy and intimate.

What’s your dream date? No idea, really. Probably something that allows us to be relaxed, take our time and chat - a meal, a walk, etc. I imagine I would probably already be heaps stressed out about going out on a date, so avoiding overstimulation and such would help my case heaps.

What are your hobbies? Music, writing and reading are the primaries. Embrodiery is a smaller one that I hope to make more regular again. I also collect vinyl and CDs. Hope to get more involved in acting/theatre production during the rest of my degree too!

#tag game #get to know me

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newmusickarl · 10 months

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youtube

5-9’s Album of the Month Podcast – Episode 6 Out Now!

The June review episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast is now available - and it might just be my favourite episode yet!

As ever I take a seat alongside 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt and Check This Out’s Kiley Larsen to review five high profile album releases from the past month in music, and ultimately name one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For this episode, the five albums discussed are:

PARANOIA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE by Christine & The Queens

Off Planet by Django Django

Chaos For The Fly by Grian Chatten (Poll winner, thanks for voting!)

The Art of Pleasure by Janelle Monáe

Guy by Jayda G

If you want to listen to the June episode or any previous episodes simply click the link below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram and Twitter for more news and polls relating to the podcast, along with other great content like film reviews, sports articles and more.

Listen to the June 2023 episode here

Learn more about the Album of the Month podcast in my interview with Left Lion here

Album & EP Recommendations

My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross by ANOHNI and the Johnsons

Once upon a time, I refused to listen to ANOHNI and the Johnsons’ music.

You see when this unknown album to me titled I Am A Bird Now beat one of my favourite albums of all time in Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm to the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, I couldn’t quite believe it. As a 15-year-old kid at the time, I think I gave half a listen to ANOHNI’s record and then squawked endlessly at the injustice of the decision. Years later though when I had finally matured (my music taste along with it), I listened to I Am A Bird Now properly and saw the beauty that the Mercury judges had seen in that record years earlier.

Fast forward to 2016, I was even more blown away by ANOHNI’s solo debut, Hopelessness, with its cutting political commentary and dazzling experimental synth-pop melodies. In a stacked year for new music (my favourite ever in fact), it would finish 11th in my Top Albums of 2016 list, but in any other year it could’ve easily been a Top 5 contender. So now, 7 years on from that record and 13 years after the last ANOHNI and the Johnsons album, she has finally got the band back together for some new music – and I’m pleased to say it’s every bit as outstanding as those two previous efforts.

Whilst thematically My Back Was a Bridge… picks up partly where Hopelessness left off - looking in despair at humanity and the current state of the world but with personal tales scattered in there too - sonically it couldn’t be more different. This time around the electro-pop of that album has been replaced, with this collection of songs instead beautifully backdropped by bluesy guitars and sweeping orchestral strings. ANOHNI’s own inimitable vocals then remain the ever-present constant, her voice frequently making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Not a moment is wasted across the album’s concise 40-minute runtime either, with sublime opener It Must Change, the gospel-like refrains of Can’t, the soaring rock riffs of Scapegoat and Rest, as well as the mesmerising balladry of There Wasn’t Enough just some of the many highlights here.

Without question this is one of the finest records of the year so far, with ANOHNI once again hitting heights few other artists can reach. Incredible songwriting, stunning vocal performances and some beautifully cinematic instrumentation - this one is quite special indeed.

Listen here

Angels & Queens by Gabriels

It’s crazy to think that just a couple of weeks ago, myself and a lot of other people weren’t even aware of this Compton-based soul trio. That all changed though when Elton John invited frontman Jacob Lusk to join him for a performance of Are You Ready For Love during his instantly iconic Glastonbury headline set. In that one moment, Elton quickly put the band on everyone’s radar if they weren’t already – a testament to his greatness by being such a champion for new music and artists. Now striking whilst the iron’s hot, Gabriels have delivered their debut album which has quickly become one of the most critically acclaimed records of the year. Does it live up to the praise it’s received so far? Very much so.

With seven of the songs initially released as a shorter project in September last year, listeners early to the party would’ve already gotten insight into Gabriels’ richly textured soul through moments like the orchestral R&B of the title track, the operatic, Succession-theme-esque Taboo and haunting closing track, Mama. However now the full scope of the project has been revealed it is sure to be even more breathtaking to both new and existing fans alike, with goosebump-inducing ballad We Will Remember and the mind-blowing, gospel-soul trio of Love and Hate in a Different Time, Glory and Great Wind some of the standout moments.

Similarly to the ANOHNI and the Johnsons project, this is another colossal work from the past week that is sure to leave you floored. Instantly timeless, expertly crafted and exquisitely-produced, this is another staggering collection of songs that is sure to feature highly on multiple year-end lists come December – at this stage, my own included.

Listen here

The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne

Whilst I always enjoy reading everyone’s “Albums of the Year so far” lists over the summer and using them as a guide to check out some records I might have otherwise missed, there is a reason I don’t do my own and this past week is a prime example. As soon as June finished, three records have come out of nowhere to easily rank amongst the year’s very best. Joining Gabriels and ANOHNI is American singer-songwriter Julie Byrne, whose third album is a devastatingly beautiful meditation on heartache and grief. Summing it up perfectly here’s what friend of the blog Kiley Larsen, who recommended the album to me, has to say:

“Byrne is one of those singer-songwriter talents whose transcendental voice is more than worth the price of admission, and she wisely continues to focus almost exclusively on a minimalist presentation of her vocal beauty. Her past work found her mostly accompanied by fingerpicked acoustic guitar, but The Greater Wings excels at painting the vocal focus while adding celestial synths and well-placed strings. These haunting textures are most apparent on “Summer Glass,” which links the two phases of The Greater Wings, but every song is must-hear. The album rightfully carries a heavy air, but Byrne wonderfully mixes gratitude alongside grief - one has to be in the right mood for The Greater Wings, and many oncoming autumns listens should only solidify Julie Byrne’s latest as a still blossoming career high and one of the year’s best.”

Read Kiley’s full blog here

Listen to The Greater Wings here

I Don’t Know by bdrmm

Another super strong effort that’s been in heavy rotation the past few weeks, British shoegaze outfit and cult favourites bdrmm recently released their brilliantly hypnotic sophomore album - I Don’t Know. The evolution from their debut is immediately apparent, as the raw rock soundscapes carry over from that album but feature noticeably more refined production and are now occasionally filled with some more electronic elements too.

Boasting this more expansive sound, it makes for a spellbinding experience that surpasses even that of their debut, with dreamy opener Alps, the spiralling guitars of We Fall Apart and the blissfully epic, aptly-titled The Final Movement all worth tuning in to hear for yourself.

Listen here

Música del Corazón by Justin Nuñez

Now if country rock music with some welcome Latin-American flair is your thing, then look no further than this sensational debut from New Mexico-based singer-songwriter, Justin Nuñez.

Packing plenty of charm and simply beaming with those warm, timeless Southern state sounds, this is one record you’ll find yourself returning to again and again. From The Black Keys’ style stomp of Forget Our Misery to the Brazil-inspired love song Open Road and heartbreaking acoustic lament of Momma, it’s a strong introduction to Nuñez’s music that boasts plenty of potential for the future.

Listen here

Pink Tape by Lil Uzi Vert

And finally on the albums front this week, whilst it may have been a drab year for hip hop so far, I’m pleased to say that Lil Uzi Vert has delivered one of the more fascinating and experimental hip hop records of 2023 thus far – albeit not for everyone. At 90 minutes and 23 songs + bonus tracks long, it’s definitely a patchy listen but there’s enough intriguing moments here to dip in and discover.

The crossover tracks in particular are some of the highlights as Lil Uzi Vert enlists metal heavyweights Babymetal and Bring Me The Horizon for two blockbuster collaborations, whilst CS sees the rapper deliver his own cover of System of A Down’s Chop Suey no less. Whilst this will be sacrilege to some no doubt, I’m sure some will enjoy this chaotic take – even as parody.

However, the most surprising and most fun highlight is Nakamura, which sees Lil Uzi sample WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura’s awesome entrance theme, transforming it into a huge summer anthem. Weird, wild, wonderful.

Listen here

Also worth checking out: Time Will Wait For No One by Local Natives, Dead Club City by Nothing But Thieves, In The End It Always Does by Japanese House, Slugs of Love by Little Dragon, 3 of Us EP by FLO

Tracks of the Week

Troubled Waters by The Streets

The big comeback this week was that of legendary British MC Mike Skinner, who announced The Streets are finally back and would be releasing a new visual album this October titled The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light. Whilst they did release a mixtape back in 2020, this will excitedly mark The Streets’ first new album since 2011’s Computer and Blues.

This first taster track shows plenty of promise for the new record too, with a captivating electronic beat backdropping Skinner as he turns his attention to society’s accountability and hedonism, with cutting lines like “Outside of the nightclub, I don’t know what to do – inside of the nightclub, it’s too dark to care.” A very welcome return and I already can’t wait to hear more.

Listen here

The Trench Coat Museum by Yard Act

Well, who was expecting this?! A band that built their following and earned themselves a Mercury Prize nomination from crafting short sharp slices of post punk the like of those found on their acclaimed debut The Overload, the Leeds band have taken a sharp left turn with this incredible new single.

At eight minutes long it’s nothing short of epic, channelling their peers in the Working Men’s Club by delivering a single filled with big rock riffs and a psychedelic vortex of synths. I love it and recommend that its best experienced alongside the zany and surreal music video that you can watch below.

Watch the music video here

Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album SOUR was one of the surprise highlights for me in 2021, a brilliant and concise pop record with a welcome splash of punk energy. Now readying her highly anticipated sophomore effort titled GUTS, vampire is the anthemic first single. With some similarities to her blockbuster hit driver’s licence, it suggests that Olivia will continue her rapid trajectory into superstardom.

Listen here

Hippodrome by Jamie T

Released a couple of weeks back to coincide with his triumphant headline show in London’s Finsbury Park, this is a typically fantastic new single from Jamie T. An instant gem that features all his signature hallmarks, I can see this one being a live favourite for years to come.

Listen here

Time To Run by Tycho

Whilst the summer weather may have disappeared from the UK as quickly as it arrived (sad face), the sun-soaked electronic singles are still arriving and this one from Tycho might be one of the best of the year so far. A cool neon-soaked groove propelled by a big funky bassline, if you’re in the UK it’ll help you pretend the rains and clouds don’t exist – at least for a little while!

Listen here

Now U Do by DJ Seinfeld & Confidence Man

Also serving up one of the songs of the summer, whilst Confidence Man’s recent collaboration with Daniel Avery was a blast this one with DJ Seinfeld is somehow even better. With an absorbing, string-tinged groove and some throwback vocal manipulation, this one will have you joyously dancing around your front room like it’s the early 2000s.

Listen here

Where Are Your Kids Tonight? By CMAT featuring John Grant

Irish singer-songwriter CMAT may have only released her highly acclaimed debut last year, but she has wasted little time delivering the follow-up. Crazymad, For Me is due for release this October and if this latest collaboration with John Grant is anything to go by, it is sure to be another cracker.

Listen here

Pendulum by Spanish Love Songs

Having got into the American rockers off the back of their 2020 album Brave Faces Everyone, Spanish Love Songs’ No Joy is already one of my most highly anticipated records for this coming August. My expectations for their record are only escalating with each new excellent single too, as Pendulum marks the album’s spiritual title track through its anthemic, emo-tinged chorus of “I know what they say when I walk in the light, there’s no joy in my life, there’s no joy when I’m right.”

Listen here

If I Could Turn Back Time by Deaf Havana

And finally this week, I always like to include a fun cover if I can and this is a surprisingly sublime one as rock duo Deaf Havana deliver this amazing cover of Cher’s classic single. Putting their own unique spin on the track with some soaring strings and atmospheric electronics, if it wasn’t such an iconic song, you’d easily mistake it for one of their own.

Listen here

Also worth checking out: Overdrive by Post Malone, The Skin and the Glove by Drab Majesty, A Little Bit Further by Tourist, On Purpose (For My Future Daughter) by Bellah Mae

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2023 tracks through my Best of 2023 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.

Add the playlist to your library here

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another-corpo-rat · 10 months

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A, F, and O for my favorite corpo mommy?

corpo mommy incoming 😌💕 again ya girl got a lil bit rambly so putting some under a read more <3 questions are here!

A - Acrobatics - How bendy can they get in bed? What is their favourite position? You’d be surprised considering this woman is like 80+ years old. While she’s not as adventurous about it as she used to be, she still adores being folded like a fucking lawn chair, legs up on her partner’s shoulders as they fuck into her.

That’d be a contender for one of her favourite positions too, but in truth she likes anything that allows for eye contact and seeing her partner’s expressions.

F - Film - Have they ever documented their bedroom activities? With a majority of her partners, no. But as always, her mainline is the exception – Smasher is pretty much recording all the time, Arasaka has it in his contract that his built-in data recorder has to be constantly going while he’s in the Dragoon frame. He ever turns it off manually and that’s the contract void and him sued for breaching it - all that to say that there’s a shitton of Official Arasaka Documentation of them fucking lmao

A former engineer of his copied certain recordings to attempt blackmail. It…didn’t go well for them and Arasaka is still trying to find a way to counter how that tips the scales in Smasher’s favour when time comes for them to re-negotiate his contact in a decade.

Along with that though, they have made a few private BDs that Victoria uses in tandem alongside her favoured toy when he’s gone on a gig for a while.

O - Oscar - Do they enjoy role-playing? It’s something of a guilty pleasure of hers, but not something she indulges in often. But when she does there’s one specific scene she really, really gets into. It’s a combination of roleplaying, consensual non-consent, and sex in a public place – she only actually gets into it with Adam too, when he’s in the Gemini frame that most looks like his old fleshy self. She’s tried with other mercs but, it’s not the same, and she ends up just imagining them as him anyways so why bother?

But the gist of it is that she’s in a dangerous place of the city she really ought not to be, gets pulled into an alley and a knife held to her throat by a ganger who just wants a quick, hard fuck from a pretty bitch. It’s the one time she’s happy to get on her knees or be pinned to the wall in a dirty back-alley.

#ask game #victoria crane #ship: gilded chrome #ty for the ask mwah

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broken-lycan · 1 year

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tagged by @terryfphanatics!! thank you :D

What book are you currently reading?

Maritime Murder by Steve Vernon It’s not quite what I thought it would be heading in but it is good either way. It’s about a bunch of murders that happened in coastal towns in canada between somewhere in the 1700s to the early 1900s. none of them (so far) actually happen at sea.

What's your favourite movie you saw in a cinema this year?

I haven’t gone to the cinema in a bunch of years. the last film I saw in cinema was either thor ragnarok or the last of the hobbit films.

What do you usually wear?

At home sweatpants and a jumper (plus some layers underneath cause I like to be comfy). out and about, pants and depending on the weather a tshirt, longsleeve, jumper or a combination of those, layering is your friend. and I like wearing my super cool steampunk-ish coat, its about ankle long and I love it. it makes me feel cool.

How tall are you?

173cm. which I think is 5′8?

What's your star sign?

Leo

Do you share your birthday with a celebrity or historical event?

Not to my knowledge

Do you go by your name or a nickname?

irl I go by my name, its only five letters long to begin with and it cant really be shortened. online I go by a few names, brokenfannibal, broken-lycan and Fenn have been/are online names. I’ve been thinking about putting Lucian in my bio as a name, cause thats a strong contender for when I at some point get my name legally changed.

Did you grow up to be what you wanted to be as a child?

In some ways yes. As a child I always loved people who dressed alternative (punk, goth, grunge, emo etc) and now I dress like that!!! :D child me would like that.

Are you in a relationship? Who is your crush if not?

not in a relationship and dont have a crush

What's something you're good at versus something you're bad at?

I’m good at creative things generally, mainly writing and drawing. I cant keep even the most simple of rhythms steady for the life of me. I’ve never been good at that.

Dogs or cats?

It’s gotta be cats. I like cats more than dogs, plus with dogs for me its more like... appreciation from a distance. dogs can be very loud and very hyperactive. and I have a cat who I love very much so maybe I’m a little biased.

What's something you'd like to create content for?

hmmm.... whatever takes my fancy at the moment really. I want to write more broadchurch fics. but thats inevitably gonna happen.

What's something you're currently obsessed with?

which blorbo rotates around my head right now? xD ray levine from stay close is a likely candidate.

What's something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

its too early to say for this year (2023) but for 2022 it was that I had hoped to get an apprenticeship spot at one of the zoos I applied at. I even did internships there but nope. didnt get accepted at any of them.

What's a hidden talent of yours?

I dont think I really have one? my craftiness maybe? thats not sth that comes up a lot.

Are you religious?

What's something you wish to have at this moment?

my cat in my lap? xD does that count?

tagging (no pressure): @hurtslikeyourmouth @some-thrilling-heroics @out-grid @look-man-my-onions-are-hutching @made-in-rivendell

#tag game #random ramblings

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amphyrre · 1 year

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For animation asks: 5, 12, 17, and 22

5) What is your favorite animated film? It's a tough one, and there are many contenders for sure, but I think I'd have to say Spirited Away. I remember first discovering it as a preteen and being absolutely OBSESSED, to the point where I watched it 11 times in a week. Everything I could say about it I'm sure has been said a million times by others, so I don't really think I need to explain why it's my favourite, as I know it's a favourite of many. I think what sets it apart from other Ghibli films would be simply that its environments and soundtrack appeal more to me, personally, than some of the others. There are so many moments that feel like I'm living in someone's distant memories, like nostalgia but not necessarily for the life that I've lived. It's a film I can watch over and over without getting sick of, which is very rare for me, so it must be quite special I suppose haha. Also, there's a dragon, so that's a huge plus.

12) What is the darkest piece of animation you’ve ever seen? I am positive there have been darker animations that I've seen, but I currently can't recall them or they are popular/frequently talked about. I'd like to use this question to talk about an anime that has a lot of dark themes, but its main draw to me is the unique and raw animation style. The anime is called Kemonozume, and it takes place in a world where there exists man-eating monsters who disguise themselves as humans. It's a story of forbidden love between a human and one of the monsters, which is certainly not a groundbreaking concept, but what really brings it to life is the amazing art direction. It's not a show for everyone, as it does feature a fair amount of gore and sexual scenes, but it may be worth checking out if those things don't bother you too much. It's been many years since I've watched it, so I can't say how the story holds up or if it had any problematic aspects, but the art was so memorable that I had to mention it here! Lots of beautifully disturbing scenes and grotesque imagery. If you're not interested in watching it fully but still curious, I would at least recommend checking out some of the intros, which are often little vignettes separate from the main story (You can find a couple on youtube; I'd recommend Intro 3 and Intro 10 (there is some artistic nudity in 10))

17) Why do you think animation is still largely seen as being “more geared toward children” compared to live action, even though there are many beloved mature films made throughout history? This is a great question to ask, because I have very personal opinions about this. I think one reason why people dismiss animated works as childish is because they often dip into fantasy. Due to how limitless animation can be, it makes sense for people to want to do things they normally could not do easily with live-action (though this is less true now with the rise in use of CG), like having anthropomorphic characters or fantasy creatures. I think that a lot of people like to dismiss characters that are "not-human" and details that are "not realistic enough" as being bad because…well I don't know why! But my mother was like this to me when I was a kid. I would show her drawings of dragons that I was proud of and I was constantly shot down and told to stop drawing them so I could make more "mature" drawings like portraits of people. I think a lot of people like to believe that fantasy should be only for children, and it shouldn't be entertained or taken seriously by adults. This is asinine to me because it just feels like they're shutting out the wonder and magic in their lives for no real reason other than to posture to other people that they're mature and above having fun I guess. Aside from the fantasy aspect, a lot of animation makes use of bright and eye-catching colours, again, something that is often reserved for children because colourful things are exciting and easily captures their attention. I think a lot of people don't want to give mature animated films a shot because they have only ever considered animation for children since that's what it is most frequently used for. It's a shame because a lot of fantastic films made for children can and should still be enjoyed by adults. Something aimed at children doesn't have to mean that it is vapid and not worth watching as an adult. But I believe that if more adult-geared animated films continue to come out, they will start to break the commonly held conception that animation can only be for kids, but there just needs to be more of it so that they're not seen as just a rare exception in a sea of kids animations. It'll take some time before we get there though. Sadly, the opinion of mature animation is further lowered due to the abundance of adult animated sit-coms, since those are often considered to be crude and immature. shrugs I'm not very good at making much of a point here with this, but those are some of my thoughts in a nutshell.

22) What is your favorite style of animation (hand drawn, computer generated, stop-motion, etc.)? Hmm, I can't say I have a favourite because it all depends on how it's utilized. I love stop-motion when it's done a certain way, like how it's used in Hylics. It can be absolutely mesmerizing and unsettling in an appealing way. But there's also many stop-motion works that have not been not my cup of tea due to either execution or commonly used subject matter/art direction that just doesn't appeal to my tastes. Computer generated can be fun, but it also runs the risk of being too uniform and optimized to the point where a lot of the character of the animation can get lost. I think the style of animation that appeals most consistently to me would be hand drawn, but I think all of them can shine in their own unique ways.

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eemoo1o-tfrmoo · 1 month

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9, 10, and 14 for the ask game!

Ask me stuff

9. Which characters do you identify with the most?

Hmmm... when looking at all of these questions, I think this was one of the few I don't think I have an answer for, seeing as I'm not a kinnie or find much solace in comparing myself to characters. If anything, though rarely, I find that in OCs, not canon characters.

I did file through a few in my head, though. Snotlout, Hiccup, Astrid, Dagur, Heather... Fishlegs...

I just don't see myself as a binary individual in terms of using these characters as categories. I'm a geek like Fishlegs, sarcastic and fishbony like Hiccup, weird like Tuffnut and Dagur, minutely hotheaded or stubborn like Astrid or Heather... list goes on, and I've always found the notion of being "exactly like a character" to be quite finicky.

Honestly, imma just say Ruffnut or Tuffnut and run.

Even if in reality I'm just what you'd get if Riley's Mom from Pixar and that one guy from Excursia had a lovechild. It's not so purdy.

10. What are your favourite songs from the soundtracks?

Well, according to my Spotify stats, Flying With Mother and With Love Comes a Great Waterfall are my top ones, but I can only call the former one of my favourites. (Surprisingly, the latter was used on repeat for part of a TMNT 2014 shortfic back when my TMNT blog was still active, lol -- I still have the playlist for it, too. One would never expect Eminem, Gwen Stefani, John Powell, and System of a Down to be in the same playlist, but it is, and if you read the fic you'd understand. Fortunately, the blog is long since deactivated. Yippee.)

As for the rest of my favourites (I'm looking at this playlist, as I use it for HTTYD "vibes", so to speak, as well as my revisit to my Wattpad days for the incomplete 200k+ word HTTYD fic's [unpublished] rewrite, which is always nostalgic AF), I'd have to say:

See You Tomorrow

This Is Berk

New Tail

Dragon Racing

Toothless Found

Together We Map The World

Where No One Goes

For The Dancing And The Dreaming

Hiccup The Chief / Drago's Coming

I suppose, however, if I had to narrow it down, it'd be:

Flying With Mother

See You Tomorrow

New Tail

This Is Berk

Where No One Goes

And Together We Map The World would be a close contender for its gentleness.

(Controversially, while I do like and appreciate them, Forbidden Friendship and Romantic Flight and one of my least favourites... but still miles ahead from most of the score from THW. The only exceptions to me would be Third Date and With Love Comes a Great Waterfall. Together From Afar just makes me fucking cry.

But none can compare to the monstrosity that is Into a Fantasy by Alexander Rybek. Good god.)

14. Which part of the franchise has your favourite animation style?

Definitely not THW -- it's far too warm and flashy, the complete opposite to the other films.

Admittedly, I grew up on ROB/DOB and never saw the first film until a few years later, so the darker blonde of Astrid and the twins' hair and the sudden wiry furs in lieu of flat, dull leathers was a surprise.

The ROB/DOB style is probably the most nostalgic for me. RTTE's is just way too uncanny for my liking (the RTTE-exclusive dragon designs are also plasticy garbage), and I remember when my mother first bought the second film on DVD for me I didn't like the designs... but they grew on me, and now animation style makes sense.

But as for my favourite... it has to be the first film. It's the original, it contains aspects of ROB/DOB, it's seeped in nostalgia, cool-toned, and the dragons -- unlike the shows -- have all their correct colourings! Great.

#thank you for the ask!#asks #ask me stuff #httyd #httyd ost

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