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lostfirefly · 9 days

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Life Must Have It's Mysteries (Ch.12, The Epilogue)

I promise this is the last chapter of this story, but not the last story about Buggy and Catherine :) I can finally close all the tabs and audiobooks about Egyptian gods! Hah!

English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :) Masterlist is here.

Description: Our heroes came back home!

Warnings: Fun, fluff, inappropriate jokes, swearing (as always). Shitty shit again:).

Words: 2853

Taglist: @gingernut1314 (thank you for your idea!), @operationroots, @hey-august, @rorywritesjunk, @yujo-nishimura (I hope you still like it!)

The title is taken from “Life Must Have It's Mysteries” by Hans Zimmer (OST Inferno).

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Buggy walked out of the bedroom into the living room, swaying and holding his head. No one was in the room, but he heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Shuffling his feet, he went to the sound and carefully opened the door. He leaned against the doorway, crossed his arms and watched Catherine rummage through the kitchen cabinets, humming, and danced slightly, glancing occasionally at the frying pan. He can't stop smiling while listening to one of the variations of his favorite song.

“Milk, some eggs, a little flour,

Making breakfast for my clown.

Pancake one, pancake two, I'm cooking them for you.

Pancake three, pancake four, with every day I love you more.”

“Fuck! Gotta admit, koalas look pretty damn good on your legs, cotton candy!” He plopped down on a chair. “Morning!”

“Shit! You freaked me out!” Catherine carefully flipped a pancake with a spatula and smiled broadly. “Morning, my blue-haired love!” She immediately poured him a glass of water and pulled out a painkiller. “Here you go, after your binge in the bar last night, you need it more than me. How’s your head?”

“If you lower your voice a tone and a half, it will be better.” He rested his head on the table. “You stole my t-shirt again.”

“I like wearing your t-shirts, deal with it, clown.” Catherine ran up to Buggy, put the glass on the table and kissed him on the head. “Here, this is some extra medicine for you.”

“No, no, no! Wait, wait, wait! Did not work. I need more help.” Buggy raised his head and extended his hand to her back.

“Liar!” Smack. “Stop grabbing my ass, jerk!” She slapped his hands. “Drink you water.”

“Fine!” He exhaled sadly and took a sip. “Fuck! That’s what I need. You're my best!”

“You told me this yesterday when I dragged you home.” Catherine kissed his temple and went to pour him coffee. “You almost tore the bar apart last night. I'm surprised we weren't thrown out when you and Cabaji were completely drunk.”

“Oh, I’ll find out if he left with that pretty waitress yesterday.” He took another sip of water.

“He almost went home with you, Buggy! I understand he's your friend and I like Cabaji, but sorry I don't want and don’t like experiments.” Catherine put the mug on the table and stroked his loose hair, trying not to laugh at his blank look. “Don’t you remember? Oh, I’ll tell you a funny story. I walked away literally for a minute, and when I was returning to you, I saw how drunk Cabaji grab you by the neck and was about to kiss you in your mouth. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t joke about such things. You were so, so close, my love!” She was actively gesticulating and started laughing, looking at his shocked face. “So! I rushed to stop this madness, at this moment the waitress approached you with your drinks, and I had to push Cabaji to her. And while he started passionately kissing the waitress, you climbed over the bar counter to get me the biggest bottle of wine. And when you climbed back up, you fell, almost broke the bottle, and then yelled all over the bar that I was the love of your life.”

“And what about Cabaji?” Buggy looked at Catherine, stroking her back.

“And your beloved friend continued to kiss the waitress. It seems to me that he didn’t understand what happened at all. I love you, but I'm sorry, I wouldn't want to kiss you after him.”

“But it was fun, right?!” He took a sip of coffee with a proud look. “I'm surprised, by the way, that you got out of bed and walked on your own feet to the kitchen. If you know what I mean. That night was amazing. Fuck! I still hear your voice moaning my name loudly, feel the warmth of your hands and your hot kisses. Your legs don't hurt?” Buggy chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Shit, my head.”

“First, you're disgusting, you know that?” Catherine came up behind him, stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the top of his head. “Can you think about anything else sometimes? Not just about sex, my ass or naked body? Second, It was hard to get out of your arms, my Buggy the Octopus, but I did it. You snored like a chainsaw, and you practically pressed me into the bed with your body. I had to push you away with my feet. But I thought you might be hun~. W-w-why are you staring at me?”

“Right now, I'm thinking about your cool ass and envying koalas.” He sent his hand to the refrigerator for a beer.

“Oh, god!” Catherine rolled his eyes and pulled out a plate. “No beer, Buggy! Put it back in its place. You drank enough yesterday. You’ll drink later.” She glared at him, Buggy sighed heavily, set the bottle back down and reattached his hand. “Good boy! Hungry?”

“I'm always hungry, and I don't just mean food.” Buggy giggled idiotically.

“Fuck you honestly!” Catherine came closer, lightly hit him on the head and smacked the top of his head. “How many pancakes do you want me to put on it?”

“The more, the better, cotton candy.” He sent his hand to pour coffee for her.

“God, you're just some bottomless black hole, Buggy the Clown!” Catherine put ten blue pancakes on his plate, poured maple syrup and sat down next to him. “See? Today's pancakes are the color of your beautiful hair.”

Catherine ran her hand through his loose hair. Buggy’s hand brought her a cup of coffee and a plate. She watched him happily munch on the pancakes, sipping noisily on his coffee, and started stroking his hair. “Tasty?”

“Since the first time you cooked them for me, it tastes better and better every time!” He said with his mouth full and smacked her on her lips.

“Buggy! What are you doing? Your mouth is covered in butter and syrup.” She shrieked, grabbed a towel and wiped his lips. “Chew, wipe, and only then you can kiss me. I taught you this. Geez!”

Catherine wiped her face, took one pancake from his plate and squinted her eyes. “So, when you go to that man's place, can I come with you?”

“I don't know, cotton candy.” Buggy stuck his fork into the pancakes. “Depends on how you act.”

Catherine sipped her coffee and sat on his lap, facing him and wrapping her legs around him. He threw down the fork and immediately hugged her around the waist.

“So am I being good enough, Buggy-sama?” She whispered in his ear.

“Fuck, I told you a million times, don't call me that!” Buggy clucked his tongue and pressed his torso against her stomach. “Have to admit I already like this morning, cotton candy!”

“Yeah?” Catherine tilted her head and brushed her lips over his.

“Oh, yeah!” Buggy slowly began to lower his hand to her leg. “I wish I could take your shirt off right now. You know, we need to introduce naked breakfasts. I don't know about you, but I love seeing you na~.”

“Shush, clown!!” Catherine covered his mouth with her palm.

He removed her hand. “But why? Just don't talk to me about manners. We are sitting at home.” Buggy grinned and put his hand on her thigh. “And it doesn’t even bother me that your koalas are looking at me.” He whispered near her lips.

Catherine moaned slightly and reached her hand towards the table. “My little bear…”

“I’m listening, my Cathie-pie.” Buggy looked into her eyes and was about to kiss her.

Catherine suddenly grabbed the pancake and shoved it into his mouth. “Eat your breakfast, asshole!”

“Little shit!” He swallowed the food and looked at her with his round eyes, not knowing whether to kill her or not. “I thought we’re…”

“You're so easy to fool.” Catherine started laughing and looked into his upset eyes. “Are you kidding me? Wasn't the night enough for you? Oh, my sexy clown, you fucked me so, so hard that my legs hurt, I can't walk or talk. I have the best sex of my life with you, and I want more right now! Is that what you want to hear? Give me a break, for god’s sake!”

“In my defense, I love hearing you moan my name loudly. Do you know how hard it is to stop at that moment?” Buggy looked at her proudly and winked. “And thanks for the compliment about the best sex. I knew you would like it since the moment we first met.”

“Blue-haired pervert!” Catherine squinted her eyes. “You couldn't know that. You pissed me off and wanted to leave me in the desert!!”

“But I didn't leave you!! How many times do I have to be reminded of that?”

“Shush, clown! I’m not talking to you!” Catherine wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her cheek to his cheek and began to lightly shake him from side to side. “I.. love.. you!!” She squealed quietly and kissed him on the cheek.

“You'll stun me, cotton candy! Why do I let you do this to me?” Buggy reached out and took the pancake.

Catherine heard him slurp and looked at him. “Are you fucking kidding me? You should be ashamed. I confess my love to you, and you’re just eating the food.”

He shrugged. “What? We’re not going to the bedroom, we’re not going to the sofa. I’m hungry.” He took another pancake and began to chew it without a trace of shame on his face.

Catherine threw up her hands questioningly and rolled her eyes. “I hate you!”

“Oh, wait!” Buggy separated his hand and sent it towards the box near the microwave. The hand took out the chalk and flew to the fridge, on which hung a magnetic board with the inscription “Pie’s I hate you.” The hand drew the line and put the chalk back to the box.

“Seriously? Idiot. Have you switched from numbers to lines?” Catherine shook her head.

“Yes. You know, like in prisons. Draw along the line and then cross out the month.” Buggy took her hand and kissed it.

“You know better, a man who was in prison.” Catherine kissed him on his nose and went into the shower.

After finishing breakfast, Buggy tried to sneak into the bathroom to see her naked, but was chased away by a washcloth. After the shower, Catherine followed him around the room, asking to take her with him. Buggy growled but agreed. She quickly dressed, and he led her somewhere along the streets of Cairo. Catherine didn’t stop talking the whole way, endlessly asking where they were going, who they were going to and how soon they would arrive.

“Is there something I need to know?” She asked when they reached the brown door of the house in the center.

“All you have to do is remain silent.” Buggy looked around and opened the door.

They entered a large room filled with purple and red furniture decorated with monograms with drawings in the shape of the sun. It was a little dark and smoky inside. Catherine looked around and saw chairs with backs in the shape of lightning bolts, and glasses filled with booze in the shape of tusks on the table. Waitresses dressed in kimonos walked past her.

“Buggy the Clown!” A low man’s voice was heard from the corner. “And his.. And who is this with you?”

“It's Cat~”

“Oh, my god!” Catherine could not contain her surprise. She widened her eyes and pointed her finger at the approaching body. “He looks like a big blue onigiri!!”

“Fuck, Catherine!” Buggy hissed though his teeth.

“Oh, fuck off. I've never seen anything like this.” She extended her hand to the big fish. “Hello! I'm Catherine! His gir~”

“God, this isn’t a joke? Buggy the Clown got himself into a relationship?” The fish said in surprise, straightening his kimono.

Catherine looked at Buggy. “Listen, why are they all surprised by this?”

“My guys said they saw you with some girl, but I thought you were just hiring a girl for one night. You know. A one-night stand whore. But as I can see she's not a... you know...not a clown’s whore.”

“Hey, Jinbe!” Buggy barked. “Don't dare call her a whore!” He felt how Catherine squeezed his hand.

“I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to insult you. I was just surprised that he.. you know.. and you.. you know.” He came closer. “I'm a man of honor. Nice to meet you, young lady!” Jinbe extended his hand, took her hand and kissed it.

“Oh, my God! How does he walk?!” Catherine pointed her finger at him and repeated his movement.

“Jinbe, excuse us for a second!” Buggy took Catherine's hand and pulled her outside. “Wait here!”

“But why?” She asked with sadness in her voice.

“Seriously?” Buggy rolled his eyes and groaned. “You just called him onigiri! Wait here!”

“Stop! Won't he hurt you?” Catherine ran her hand over his shoulder.

“Nooo, it's okay. I'll be back.” Buggy took her hand and was about to kisse it, but stopped. “Cathie-pie, wipe your hands, the fish kissed you after all.”

Catherine watched as he closed the door behind him and sat down on the wide windowsill, crossing her legs in front of her. Buggy came out about an hour later. He looked at her and laughed.

“What?” She asked, licking the spoon. “Come here! Try it! Coconut.”

“Nothing.” He came closer to her. “I'm just glad that while I'm possibly between life and death, you're sitting here peacefully and enjoying some ice cream.”

“You drove me away yourself, and I was bored.” Catherine took the ice cream with a spoon and put it in his mouth. “So what? Did you manage to sell it?”

Buggy began to nod, breaking into a smile.

“Fuck you!” She jumped up onto the windowsill with her feet. “How much?”

Buggy whispered in her ear.

“Wha-a-a-t??” Catherine dropped the ice cream from her hands. “It's impossible! Are you kidding me? That's a lot of money! A lot more than I thought! Pinch me if you're kidding!”

“No! 350 million, cotton candy!” He smirked. “I told him what it is and who it belongs to. In general, all these smart Egyptian things of yours. You should have seen his face at that moment. He said I'm lucky to have found you.” Realizing what was about to follow, Buggy spread his arms.

Catherine stood silently and blinked at him. She clenched her hands into fists and began to squeal, stomping in place. She jumped from the windowsill onto Buggy, hugging him with her legs and arms. “Love.” Smack. “Love!” Smack. “Love, love, love you!!” Smack. Smack. Smack.

“Yes, yes. I love you too!” Buggy stroked her cheek. “Well, what does my Cathie-pie want now?”

“Your Cathie-pie wants more ice cream!” Catherine kicked her legs. “Can you buy me another one? Blueberry flavor! No! Cucumber flavor! No! Lavender flavor!” Smack. Smack.

“I can buy you all the ice cream in the world! You're my lucky star now!”

“And wine! I also want to go to that cafe on the embankment. Can we go? Right now!” Catherine stroked his hair.

“Let's go wherever you want, cotton candy! I’m yours a-a-a-ll day.” Buggy squinted his eyes.

“Also, let's go to your favorite bar! My Buggy Bear needs to be rewarded too.” Catherine pecked him on his lips. “You'll drink, and I'll let you stare at pretty girls. And even let you flirt with the bartender.”

“Can I touch their asses? I used to do that.” He kissed her cheek.

“Isn't it enough that you're doing it now? How do you even do it?” Catherine kissed him on the lips. Her kiss was deep and long, she tried with all her might to control herself. Breaking the kiss, she jumped off him to the ground and wiped her mouth with her palm. She took his hand and dragged him towards the embankment.

Catherine constantly talked like crazy, actively gesticulating and telling Buggy that she loved him very much. Buggy looked at her, constantly smiling, still not understanding why she was with him.

Catherine once again understood that fate had once given her the biggest gift in her life. Buggy was secretly glad that she was braver than him one day, and stayed with him.

Catherine knew that she loved him more than life itself. Buggy knew he loved her more than life.

Catherine knew that for his sake, she would kill anyone. Buggy knew that although he was a coward, but he would kill anyone for her sake.

Catherine knew that she will always be by his side. Buggy will always be grateful for this.

Catherine knew that he loved her, although these words were not always easy for him. But she didn’t know that Buggy kept a piece of the diamond for himself. And only he knew for what purpose.

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drpoisonoaky · 4 months

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Things atla characters will do or choose or whatever just because vibes (Part 2)

Favorite Avatar (Korra and Aang don’t count)

Aang: He can’t choose for his own health and sanity (literally his head would be an inferno)

Sokka: Kuruk

Katara: Kyoshi

Toph: Kyoshi

Suki: Kyoshi (die hard kyoshi stan)

Zuko: Kyoshi

Mai: Yangchen

Ty lee: Kyoshi

Azula: Kyoshi extra points because she’s Rangi’s girlfriend

Zelda, Link or Ganon

Aang: Link

Sokka: Link

Katara: Zelda

Toph: Ganon

Suki: Ganon

Zuko: Zelda

Mai: Zelda

Ty lee: Link

Azula: Zelda

Reading

Aang: I don’t think he reads a lot but he always had a book around just because

Sokka: romance type of guy

Katara: the most gore and scary mystery books are in her shelf

Toph: she tried audiobooks but it’s not for her

Suki: she reads a lot and any genre

Zuko: comics and poetry like all the time

Mai: she reads a lot but she won’t tell you what

Ty lee: only fanfics

Azula: she read a lot of sapphic romance in all forms but she always said she didn’t read much or only history books

#avatar the last airbender #atla #azula #katara #aang #sokka #suki #toph #mai #ty lee #zuko #atla takes

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 2 years

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Do you think there’s a possible animorphs resurgence on the horizon? I know the graphic novels were sorta new blood into the series but I’d be really hyped for it to come back into the public eye on a bigger level!

1. I may have a biased perspective, but. I've been seeing "impending Animorphs resurgence?!?!" since ~2012, usually in the notes of a post that escaped containment, occasionally when Applegrant news comes from Twitter. I'm not betting the rent on it. There's been a trickle of fan content, and an IV drip of author content, since 2001. It's safe to say Applegate has remained interested since 1996, and that I'll remain interested in 2036. Other than that, who knows.

2. I'd love more Animorphs content, especially of the audiobook-and-comic variety that makes the series more accessible to new readers.

3. I'm glad Animorphs never got as popular as Harry Potter, and I never want Animorphs to get that popular. Because I don't want Animorphs entering the fandom boom-and-bust cycle. As soon as any fandom becomes big enough online — Night Vale, Supernatural, the MCU, John Green novels, Harry Potter, Sherlock, Joss Whedon shows, Rick & Morty, Steven Universe — the backlash is more or less inevitable. After a while it gets exhausting, like all those times your middle school decided overnight that Bowling For Soup had gone from being the coolest band ever to the worst music in existence. For now the DC Christian universe (Good Omens, Sandman, Lucifer, etc.) is in its salad days, but anyone who thinks the Sandman author is still going to be here in 2025 needs to research their history. This boom will cause a bust. Don't know when, don't know how; I just know that it's coming.

And K.A. Applegate is pretty cool, Animorphs is super cool, but neither is perfect. Animorphs has outdated language about disability; it has lines about how "nobody cares anymore" about Black girls dating white boys; it has jokes from Marco that edge into sexism. Applegate's not on social media much, but Michael Grant's said plenty of ham-fisted and ill-worded things online. If Animorphs ever gets so big that it starts annoying everyone else, then Tumblr will find a reason to attack it. And not just "I dislike it" but "it is morally wrong to like." I'd rather be spared the drama. I'd rather keep the campfire of our love glowing, rather than fanning it into an inferno that destroys everything.

#animorphs #fandom #tumblr #animorphs fandom #if i sound like a jaded crusty old fart #it's because i am - in fact - a jaded crusty old fart #I've openly declared that I like Twilight better than The Lord of the Rings #I have ALL the fandom battle scars #and I'll pour one out for Mr. N.G. when he's gone #because even if good omens and stardust were never my jam; i'll always love mirrormask and coraline

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dream-beyond-the-fantasy · 4 months

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Stories to Finish Reading Today

Doctor Who: Origin Stories

Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion novelization

The Killing Stone

Doctor Who: The Day She Saved the Doctor: Four Stories from the TARDIS

Doctor Who: Inferno novelization

Way of the Cobra by Sean Kanan

four books yet to be decided on, so probably audiobooks or short ebooks

#tbr list #reading list #goodreads challenge #gotta finish today #doctor who #books #audiobooks #paperbacks #way of the cobra #2023 reads

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dndadscharacterpolls · 1 month

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I love so many of these (I honestly feel bad about the ones I'm not including, this bracket will destroy me) Snake audiobook (Dedicated Involved Loving Fathers) It's time to D-d-d-d-draw from the deck of many things! (Death Comedy Jam) Large Abberation Lawful Evil Aboleth (It Was Inside You All Along) PussyWagon Pizza (Needlejuice) Lincoln's Cool Pizza Movie Trailer (Grand Theft Gato) Dads and Sports (Alright) Dungeons and Granddads Intro (SpiderBoyz: Homecoming) Glenn on SharkTank (Ei8ght) Taylor's Inferno (King of the Hell)

alright those have all been added !

#best non song intro submissions #i think i got all of them in but please let me know if i accidentally missed any cbsnndms

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freddieloundsgf · 5 months

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my five star books so far this year!

twitching and shaking right now trying not to become a book blog but i have no one else to talk to so you will all be subjected to my ramblings! >:)

i am not a professional reader or reliable critic. what i give five stars is usually totally dependent on vibes and how i feel while reading and is not at all indicative of extreme technical skill or otherwise life altering capabilities. i just work here.

1. Inferno by Dante Alighieri

- to no one’s surprise, the exvangelical, religious iconography and hell-obsessed girl* gave 5 stars to the famous book about hell. this is my favorite book and i have read it many times. i have two inferno tattoos and i collect copies of this book. i prefer the Longfellow translation simply because it is the one i am comfortable with and have tabbed to hell (wink emoji) and back.

2. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

- i love when women love each other. BUT WAIT. disclaimer alert: if you can listen to this book rather than read it, please please please do yourself the favor of listening. this book is non-linear, convoluted, and chock-full of flowery and even complicated prose that will make you kill yourself if you have to comprehend the text as it is inked upon a page. the audiobook is only 4 hours long and can be listened to in a day. it would not have been five stars if i hadn’t listened to it.

3. Know My Name by Chanel Miller

- an absolutely gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and important memoir from the “Emily Doe” involved in the Brock Turner case. a powerful depiction of reclaiming your identity and navigating the husk of your own life after being rendered a “victim.” i don’t have much i can say about this, the book says it all. Chanel Miller puts words to feelings that have rotted me from the inside out my entire life.

4. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

- most people would probably not rate this so high, but i had a really good time reading this book. the world was strange and Piranesi was just such a great perspective to live within. i will admit this did get tedious at times but it did not affect my overall enjoyment.

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

- listen. i know, okay? i know. my intention was to hate-read this book so i could make fun of the men who love it. and look where that landed me. i read this in basically one sitting and really really enjoyed it. i tabbed and highlighted it to pieces and, unfortunately, found myself thinking “he’s just like me fr” throughout the entirety of the book. sue me.

6. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

- this book had me on suicide watch. just kidding. but really i loved this book and it ripped my heart out and i think about it on and off. i just love James Baldwin’s writing and really respect him as a person and activist, which made it easy to lean into reading this and absorbing it the way i did. i heart gay tragedy.

7. We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

- this book was so funny. it is about two best friends in their 40s (?) and one of them is dying. it goes through bits of their lives, families, and how love finds a way to flourish despite it all. i really loved this book and read it so quickly. it was just a fun, sad, and charming little read.

8. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

- i was unable to put this book down while i was reading it. and nothing even really happens, so that’s saying something. i was so busy with college and work but i was using every spare moment of free time—forfeiting my lunch breaks, extending my bed time—to read this lol. it is just so brilliantly written. i also wrote fanfic for it. i need Mrs Danvers so bad it makes me look stupid.

9. Pew by Catherine Lacey

- this was such a strange but deeply human story. i don’t even know how to describe it. it is such a quick read though and i definitely recommend that you check it out if you have time or feel so inclined.

10. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

- i am so late to this. read this for the first time earlier this month. yes i cried. leave me alone. this story is just so good and sweet and it gave me something akin to a warm hug or a kiss on the cheek.

11. Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

- The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment are still sitting menacingly on my shelf, but i felt comfortable tackling this ≈130 page work of Dostoevsky’s as a means of dipping a noncommittal toe in lol. i really liked this book and, again, like with Catcher in the Rye, found myself relating to the narrator in an almost worrying capacity. the first 40 or so pages of this book that you have to get through before reaching the actual story can be a little grueling but i still had a good time and consider this to be a very good book.

12. Foster by Claire Keegan

- short and sweet at ≈90 pages. i supplemented my read by listening along to the audiobook at the same time. this is just such a meaningful and sad but strong story about a young Irish girl who is brought to live with some distant relatives for a summer. well worth the read if you have a moment to spare.

13. My Husband by Maud Ventura

- i loved this book. another worrying instance of relatability. reading this went by really quickly for me and i had a good time. i will say, i wish there were no epilogue. many such cases.

14. The Employees by Olga Ravn

- another short and sweet read at 125 pages, written as a compilation of “witness statements” that are either just a sentence long or spanning two pages. very interesting and strange, if a little confusing at first. but i loved it and knocked it out in a couple of hours during a lazy afternoon.

currently reading: i am listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which i am willing to predict right now that it is going to be a five star read.

i am also reading Harrow by Joy Williams. this book is indescribable. i am over halfway done and i couldn’t tell you a single thing about it. but it is incredibly written and somehow still engaging through the veil of confusion. i think this one may be a five star read for me as well, though i don’t know if others would say the same.

#i have read 44 books so far this year #most of them do not fall beneath 4 stars because i have a pretty tight grasp on what i know i will enjoy reading #but the ones that do…..agony

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wonderlandleighleigh · 2 years

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So I generally catch Sarah Zed’s video essays on Youtube, because I find them interesting and engaging and pertinent to that Fangirl life. I learn a lot from her deep dives (Johnlock conspiracy, Homestuck, etc), and I also get to revel in the sheer chaos when she touches on something I do know about (the Destiel drama).

Last night she dropped a video asking the question: Is Fanfiction Art?

And obviously, if you’re following this lil space, you know this is relevant to my interests.

Except in watching the video, I kind of found that it...wasn’t.

That, I am, officially, entering my late thirties at the end of the month, and that I don’t...

Care.

And I guess I hadn’t realized just how hot a topic this was for people. I didn’t realize people cared so much about whether their fanfiction should or could be labeled as art. I never thought about it before.

Generally, when I write, it is out of a love of something I enjoy. And/Or I have been taken over by the single-minded writing beast and I can’t seem to stop hyperfocusing (which is how things like Fashionable People came out so fast). It never seemed important whether or not what I was doing was art.

It’s just a thing I do that happens to bring me joy, and I like that it brings a small subsect of other people joy as well. I don’t always write for the same fandom (if you’ve been following this space long enough, you’ve seen me go through many, many fandoms), and maybe sometimes my stuff gets repetitive, but I still find it enjoyable, and as long as that’s true, I’ll likely keep doing it.

For as long as I’ve been in fandom, though, fic has been mostly derided. At the tender age of 13, my older brother called me a hack for writing X-Men fanfic instead of trying to write my own stories.

Most people who are not in fandom think that fanfiction only consists of smut. And while there certainly is a lot of that (and I am responsible for a microscopic portion of it), there’s also a lot of not that that many people don’t realize is there.

But it’s interesting to me that there seems to be this tug of war between traditional, published literature (plenty of which is utter garbage), and fanfiction (plenty of which is perfectly engaging and some of which can be wildly deep and thoughtful).

Zed also made the distinction between published works about pre-existing characters and worlds in the public domain vs. Fanfiction. For instance, Dante’s Inferno isn’t fanfiction, even though it takes place in the already established world of The Bible.

And I just don’t know that I agree. Because, at its base level, it is fanfiction. And to say that it is not, or that the wild audiobook I read on Audible that was a Sherlock Holmes/Dracula crossover is not, kind of makes Fanfiction feel like a dirty word still.

I think Zed’s point was that this kind of literature lacks the tropes often present in fanfiction, and that fanfiction is mostly written to be engaging feel-good stories. That it often doesn’t have anything to say about the human condition. And because fanfiction is so often serialized, and gets critique while it’s being written, it often changes the writer’s trajectory.

And while all of that is often true, it is not always true.

And the idea that something can be engaging and feel-good but that means it cannot say anything deep about life feels a little snobby. Keep in mind that Zed is a former fic writer, who has mostly gone on to that video essay life. And she’s quite good at it. But she certainly seemed to view fanfiction as something like training wheels for writers. A stepping stone to original work.

And that can be true. But does that make fanfiction a lesser medium than original fiction? And are there any new ideas under the sun to even write about without stepping on the toes of those who wrote before us? And does that matter? And why do people get so pissy about literature vs. fanfiction anyways?

If everyone takes inspiration or cribs from something else, which has always been the case, aren’t we all just writing some form of fanfiction or another whether we like to admit it or not? Because original fiction doesn’t happen in the vacuum that more pretentious writers like to say that it does. They absorb other stories from other writers, and news articles, and television and movies and video games and anecdotes from friends and family. Their fictional worlds and characters are cobbled together from experience. And if someone is writing an AU of an already established work, it’s not completely different. There are parallels to filling out an original world vs. filling out an already established world in a different way.

And I could be wrong about that. I’ve written original work before and struggled to find an in with new worlds and characters. Fanfiction does have the building blocks already set up. But in some ways that can be hard too, because you’re working in the confines of an existing space. You have to change Midge Maisel and her life and her world completely if you write a story where she never married Joel or became a mother. At that point, you’ve written yourself almost a new character because her life experience is different So...how is that entirely different from original fiction?

And maybe this is too complicated a subject to tackle in a tumblr post. I don’t know.

I don’t know. I think it’s one of the first times I watched one of Zed’s videos and thought “who cares about this subject?” and also “I don’t know that you’re right.”

Anyways.

TL;DR: it doesn’t matter whether fanfiction is art or not, and it doesn’t matter how it matches up to published fiction. We’re all just farting around until the inevitable heat death of the earth. We might as well enjoy what we enjoy.

#Leigh thinks about stuff #fanfiction

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vintage1981 · 2 years

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Celebrating Caroline John

Caroline Frances John (19 September 1940 - 5 June 2012) was an English actress who played companion Liz Shaw in Doctor Who during its seventh season. She revived the character for the BBV P.R.O.B.E. video series, as well as the Big Finish Companion Chronicles line of audios.

John was the third of eight children born to Vera (née Winckworth), an actress and singer, and Alexander John, a theatre director. She was educated at St. Joseph's convent school, Crackley Hall in Kenilworth.

After training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, she worked in theatre and toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre Company. She appeared in Juno and the Paycock in a 1966 production directed by Laurence Olivier, King Lear, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Merchant of Venice and as Hero in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Much Ado About Nothing.

John played the role of the Doctor's companion in 1970 opposite Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor. John was recommended to then Doctor Who producer Peter Bryant by another BBC producer, James Cellan Jones, who sent Bryant and his associate Derrick Sherwin photographs of her. Unlike most of the preceding and subsequent female companions of the Doctor, Shaw was a brilliant scientist and understood much of the Doctor's technobabble. Shaw and the Doctor discussed things on a more equitable level of intelligence, and the Doctor respected and rarely patronised her. New series producer Barry Letts believed the character was too intellectual to be a suitable companion to the Doctor and decided against renewing her contract for the next season.

During her final story, Inferno, John also played the part of Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw, an alter ego of her regular character that the Doctor encounters in an alternative time stream. John reprised the role of Shaw, albeit as a phantom, in the anniversary episode The Five Doctors, and also appeared in the special episode Dimensions in Time (1993), part of the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal. In the 1990s she appeared in a series of straight-to-video releases including The Stranger: Breach of the Peace, and as Liz Shaw in the P.R.O.B.E. stories written by Mark Gatiss. In these stories made by the production company BBV, a pipe-smoking Shaw works as an investigator (for the P.R.O.B.E. organisation).

John later appeared in two Big Finish Productions' audio dramas based on Doctor Who; Dust Breeding (2001), although playing a character other than Liz Shaw, and The Blue Tooth (2007) where, as Liz, she recounts in narrative form an adventure she once had with the Doctor and UNIT. After The Blue Tooth she played Liz in four more Companion Chronicle audio plays; Binary, The Sentinels of the New Dawn and Shadow of the Past. Her final audio play, The Last Post, which she recorded on 26 January 2012, was released after her death.

In addition to her role as Liz Shaw, Caroline John appeared as Laura Lyons in a 1982 televised version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes. She also appeared in episodes of Z-Cars, Casualty, The House of Elliot, and EastEnders.

John read most of the audiobook of Elisabeth Sladen's posthumously-released autobiography, with David Tennant, Brian Miller and Sadie Miller reading their contributions.

John was married to actor Geoffrey Beevers. The couple had three children: a daughter, Daisy, and sons Ben and Tom. She died on 5 June 2012 from cancer.

#Caroline John #Doctor Who #Jon Pertwee #Mark Gatiss #Bill Baggs #BBV #PROBE #Preternatural Research Bureau #Liz Shaw #UNIT #United Nations Intelligence Taskforce

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