Me: I don’t know about this Knights of the Zodiac movie.

KoZ: We gave Ikki/Nero a Nebula chain earring.

Me: OMG! They gave Ikki a Nebula Chain earring!!

re: your anon from yesterday bc im lazy and havent updated my dash, that's why folklore felt so refreshing to me (as a middle school swiftie who lost interest when she went pop and was pulled back in by folklore). by that point she was 4 years into her relationship w joe and started expanding past just writing about public facing stories into creating new worlds and stories to write about. paired w the new genre and much more poetic lyricism (especially compared to lover) it was a breath of fresh air. in the last year or so it's like you said, tired. it's felt like we're moving backwards, we're back to taylor swift's newest relationship and all speculation about that and the last boy she dated being the main thing both we (the culture, in news articles and social media posts) and she (in songwriting) are writing about as if we're back in 2010, or 2012, or 2014, or on and on and on. as if no one learned or grew in these 10 years

i would agree. i, personally, believe there are layers to taylor swift's resurgence in popularity (to the insane extent it is now) and how it got a head start due to folklore. besides it being an album that kinda dropped in the perfect moment where we were all at home and resonated with music like folklore during the pandemic.... and besides it being a pleasant surprise to see taylor step outside of the comfort we all know her music to be with an album that is, largely, considered an indie/folk project.... it was in the songwriting, for me, that ultimately brought me around.

and, during that time i had, had a tumultous relationship with her as a celebrity and as an artist. the rollercoaster i had felt since 1989 with her image and music was fascinating when i look back at it, and Lover is the record that brought be tentatively back into enjoying taylor swift. yet, folklore is the album that sucked me in entirely. and it was because there wasn't any nonsense revolving around the release or the lyricism of the project. it was so detached from her life that you could actually focus on the music and her songwriting without being distracted by easter eggs or references to relationships/controversial songs/lyrics that would be broadcast in the headlines. i felt at ease listening to it and creating my own world and own interpretations out of this universe she spun around both evermore and folklore.

so, i do think that is such an important observation to see as her popularity skyrockets how she is digressing (imo) in her sound and lyricism. almost devolving into what she was beforehand, making pop music which is fun to listen to but really doesn't grip you or keep you coming back around because the lyrical content isn't as rich. i remember when folklore came out, i was on a podcast with a few writers that used to write for the same music publication as me, and we discussed all of this. and the one who wasn't as big of a swift fan previously, really enjoyed folklore because of the difference in pace and her songwriting. then, just last year a group of us in the same publication had a roundtable just to discuss all things taylor swift (from both those who enjoy her and those who don't see the hype), and the conversations touched a lot on this dynamic with her songwriting and the differing of opinions of her since like reputation to folklore to now the second era of overexposure of her with the eras tour and the disappointment a lot of people felt with midnights etc. so!!!

all in all, i agree. i think everything she/her team is doing now feels so dated? like we've been here in this loop before, and i do hope tortured poets surprises us all and makes me shut up, but idk all signs are pointing to the same marketing and sound she did at 21 and 24 and 27. it doesn't feel new. not to quote the girlie herself but i feel like ive seen this movie before and i didn't like the ending lmfao

Alright! its time for top anime of 2022 list🎉

This year I didn't watched that many however I did found some good ones! 2 of those are recurring shows which I try to avoid, as this might be used as a rec list, but I like them that much!

the tldr; is on twitter

10- Vampire in the garden: this one was on netflix which I guess is why it didn't get that much attention, i like the concept and visuals were very nice its a bittersweet end but I quite enjoyed. 09- Raven of the inner palace: the story is interesting, its starts very monster of the week style with ghosts then moves to a main villain, the relationships between the MC and the rest of the cast is honestly the highlight. My only complain is pronunciation of the names are jp localized so I hope this gets a chinese dub. 08- Gundam: the witch of mercury: the last gundam i watched was wing and do not remember anything but i know its reputation, I gave this one a chance because the designs are really fun and I also went in with the idea that it was yuri bait. TURNS OUT this might not be what I was expecting, there is one more ep of this + the rest of the cour so I'm hoping it improves from here. The characters carry this for me even the background ones, they all feel like characters not props! Plus ZERO GRAVITY HUGS!! 07- Mob psycho 100 III: I know this list is numbered but I love all of these equally ! However, this in comparison with s1 and s2 is one of the weakest, maybe bc it had to close loose ends? idk but its still a good one, the moment I cry was with ekubo more than reigen i know i know but reigen had his moment in s2 and I think that hit harder. Time to read the manga! 06- My dress-up darling: this is ecchi, im saying this first bc if people barely tolerate bnha fanservice this is not for you. I usually avoid this but I was dumb and didn't saw the tag😂 and I got attached to the main characters and the story, I read the manga and the ecchi is very far and far between as the story progresses. I think it has a lot of heart and its quite fun love story, plus you learn so much about cosplaying! 05- Sasaki and miyano: cutest bl I've ever watched/read, sasaki reminds me of childe which I find it so funny I can't unsee it. Miyano isn't your uwu protagonist and their relationship is build sloooowly on a lot of love and respect. Its nice to see this type of bl without its usual uh nonsense. 04- The case study of vanitas II: the thing about this second season is that i didn't know if bones was going to adapt everything, the manga updates at shoujo pace and has had rough months of absence HOWEVER it was all adapted, like a month after the last ch came out we saw that ep which is the wildest thing for me tbh. Anyway that last ep is why this is here, it was the BEST fight scene ending like [SPOILERS] watch it, it was amazing. 03- Chainsaw man: yeah i know ofc this is here, this is one of the best adaptations I've ever watched, it is beyond perfect. Several episodes I felt like I was watching a movie, can't rec it enough it even has its own mads mikkelsen inspired character voiced by the same va of the other mads mikkelsen inspired character from my other fave show. Also love the detail how mappa draws shoes as fujimoto draws them. 02- Spy x family: this is another good adaptation, I started reading this manga in 2019?? And I kept thinking how GOOD of a story it was and it was a shame so little attention it got, but now with the anime its got the much deserved attention. I adore it immensely, here is hoping for a continuous success.

01- Bocchi the rock: THIS is at the top bc of how relatable it is for me and what a nice surprise to know its actually a good anime. I was expecting it to be another "cute girls do cute things" like "do it yourself" from this year and I wasn't wrong its just that it has a little more depth than that. All the girls have good and bad traits, goals and obstacles to overcome so the story focuses on that with their collective goal of playing music. As someone with social anxiety that lean on rock/playing guitar to make friends and not succeeding on that front I want to see bocchi accomplish her goals, its cathartic like that. Also the animator are truly having fun with the different styles of animating the jokes which is always a treat to watch.

If you got it to this part, thank you so much for reading! If you give any of this a chance and like them let me know! I love talking about anime as you can see haha. I hope next year the season isn't as dry mid way so I get to watch more!

Happy New Year!!🎉

Renfield (2023)

"Renfield, the tortured aide to his narcissistic boss, Dracula, is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding. However, after centuries of servitude, he's ready to see if there's a life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness."

Starring Nicholas Cage as Dracula I went into this film with my expectations set at, what I believed to be, an appropriate level. I mean, it's Nicholas Cage as Dracula, what else could I do? But you know what I was wrong...but we'll come to that in a bit.

This is the second film in the last couple of years that has taken the story of the most influential vampire in literature and tried to update it to modern times. This time it works so much better than The Invitation. Instead of trying to make it a serious story it leans into the insane campy nature of what Dracula is. It also tells it from the point of view of R. M. Renfield, the long-suffering servant of the legendary Count.

Nicholas Hoult, as the eponymous servant, is a man who realises that the opportunity to escape from under his controlling boss and that he wants to take it. Hoult's journey from under-the-thumb servant to his own man is great, and Hoult really nails the travails of excavating yourself from a controlling situation with humour, and a huge amount of gory violence. It's a brilliant performance that actually shows solid acting from Hoult, while also highlighting that ability to really ramp up the action. I've never thought about this before, but potentially Hoult as James Bond? Either way I really enjoyed him in this film.

Awkwafina plays Rebecca Quincy, a cop who is looked down on by the rest of her department, and resigned to working DUIs, while wanting to help clean up New Orleans. Awkwafina is just a lot of fun to watch on screen. Her reactions to everything that happens are fabulous, and she looks like she had a lot of fun in, quite possibly, the most unique film she's been in. I've only seen in her in this and Shang-Chi, but can't wait to see her in other things.

Nicholas Cage........Nicholas Cage as Dracula is goddamn perfection. He was everything I was expecting, but so much more. It felt like he was channeling a number of his previous roles, for sure there was some of Castor Troy coming through, and it was bloody awesome. It's unlikely to go down as a truly iconic performance of Dracula, but it was such a fun take on it. Bringing Dracula into the modern world and having him actually look at the world as it is and what he could make of it. Nicholas Cage is always going to be Nicholas Cage and I am always going to like his films, but this was one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The director and writer, Chris McKay and Robert Kirkman, have done something I wasn't entirely sure was possible. They have modernised Bram Stoker's characters without losing their essential essences, and brought them into the modern world while allowing them to 'live' as they would in that situation. The cinematography and special effects are great, and add to the madness that is the story. None of this film, from performances to camera work, takes itself seriously and it is much the better for it.

Overall this is a truly fun movie, and a great addition to the canon of Dracula movies. Both Nicholases were superb and Awkwafina was a joy to journey along with. Will Dracula literary purists like this? God no, they'll more than likely hate it. Will regular folks who know Dracula like this? Yeah, I think they absolutely will. Would I recommend it to absolutely everyone anyway? Hell yes. It's getting a 7.5/10 from me. It's a really good, fun, romp and I'm definitely going back to see it again.

just finished watching Tje Bad Guys. I really liked it! Here's my thoughts:

snake and wolf totally have a thing goin on

ms fox was a bit of a mary sue but she looked hot doing it so all is forgiven

speaking of, i really enjoy her dynamic with mr wolf. at first i didnt care much for it, but when it was revealed she was also an ex-criminal, i began to dig it. that scene where wolf geeks over her equipment like a fanboy hit me so good. and their cute dialogue over it "i actually prefer the older model" "agree to disagree" i can relate to that level of autism when you talk to somebody who is equally passionate on a subject.

the computer joke got me to laugh tbh. when webs was having technique difficulties and they were throwing suggestions "maybe it needs system permissions?" "update a driver!" it was so funny bc that's exactly what troubleshooting feels like. literally whenever i have a computer issue i cant instantly figure the cause of im like "update a driver. its gotta be one of them."

the Twist that marmalade was #evil i saw coming, but i do like how they pulled it off. i didnt think he was the grandma tbh. also the breakdown scene had so much (unintentional) death note imagery. i literally was like "HES HAVING HIS KIRA BREAKDOWN"

i also saw the twist coming that Snake set him up, but again, it was satisfying and made sense why he couldnt or didnt tell the others of it, so i forgive it

the animation style was a lot of fun. kind of into the spiderverse esque with the 3d animation that feels very 2d

mr wolf has a praise kink

another story that focuses with the whole "dont judge a book by its cover!" and "people can change!" but its not a bad moral, it's simple and important regardless

that line where maramalade said to mr. wolf smth like "Looks like the big bag wolf has been outsmarted yet again by a little piggy" was clever. also when he kicked the door open just as Wolf had his angry outburst to paint him in a bad light. saw that coming but made me have that instinctive cringe reaction all the same bc man wolf was boned

to the hacker of the group: "Where'd you learn to do that?" "oh, you know, i'm a born natural, it just comes to me......... *sighs* YouTube, mostly."

also, im very pleased that characters in this movie dont speak perfectly. as in, they stutter and redo their sentences in the middle of them, especially when frustrated. This is something that has always bothered me in many forms of media. People don't speak perfectly most of the time and tend to stumble and stutter. I'm really glad that characters do it several times over, it feels more real. And the voice acting was great

i liked that when everyone thought the guys had stolen smth they actually didnt, they turned on them. This obviously made them feel betrayed, but they didnt give up. i like that the general public wasnt portrayed as perfect obviously, and the guys took offense to it but still pushed forward

also i kinda like the subtle notion that, ironically spoken by marmalade, that there's good in everyone. despite the fact he turned out to be the true villain, if it wasn't for him, the bad guys wouldn't have become the good guys in the first place

some things i didnt necessarily like:

the character of the shark feels exactly the same as the shark character in the harley quinn show. not that it's a bad thing, it's just odd such a specific archetype is prevalent (comic relief goofy villain shark with black man voice who's main trait in heists is to play the part of a disguise but the joke is you can tell it's obviously a shark)

especially when in her bad guy outfit, ms fox's body is so... curvy and ""female"". this isn't a problem with this movie specifically, pretty much any other female character furry movie or otherwise has this issue

not a fart joke fan sorry :( well sometimes but not here

not necessarily a good or bad thing, but this movie has many parallels to zootopia, but if zootopia was told from nick's perspective and he was a wolf, and judy was a fox. both movies have similar themes while zootopia also deals with racism. i like both movies for different reasons. however, zootopia did mildly criticize the police industry by portraying them as uncooperative, caring more about reputation than getting the job done, and being guilty of racism as well. Of course it's to be expect that a movie about a new cop would critique the police more than a movie about bad guys who don't work with the force. except that maybe you can see it as them being too trigger happy with arresting people.

Anyway, good movie! Enjoyed it. the wolf was hot as hell.

edit: forgot to ask, what WAS the point of marmalade dressing up like an old lady? all this only happened bc wolf tried to steal her purse, but she tripped, so he was forced to help her to not cause a scene, and she praised him. Assuming the tripping was on purpose, how did he know wolf would even try to rob her in the first place? How did he predict Wolf would come here - that he had good in him to even trick him with?????? it just seems super coincidental and he assumed a lot of things for this "him dressing up as an old lady" trick to work. idk

Part 2

6th grade

In 6th grade, I changed schools, so I didn't have many friends for the first few months, but my notebooks kept me company. I might sound like a loser here, but bear with me. I was really into horror games, movies, and stories back then, and it was around the creepypasta craze, so it didn't take long for me to join in on that too. (Creepypastas are short horror stories on the internet, btw), but keep in mind that I still didn't know any English, so my options were limited to whatever was available in Turkish, which wasn't much at all. So soon I ran out of actual creepypastas to read, and I was left with whatever self-insert romance fanfiction was written about the creepypasta characters. Great, now I'm admitting my dark past for a school project. To be honest, I don't regret it because the lack of good content available in Turkish eventually led to me learning English. There were a lot of creepypastas based on video game characters. I liked watching horror game let's play on YouTube, and I was really proud when I managed to pirate Minecraft to my mom's phone (admitting crimes now). So by extension, I got interested in video games in general, so in the summer of 6th grade, I decided to become a REAL GAMER by making a Steam account and buying some games. I also bought an ininal card because I didn't feel like convincing my mom to use her credit card. I exactly transferred 50 TL to my card and, after some not-so-thorough research, decided to buy the following games: Undertale because people recommended it to me; Hollow Knight because I'm a big fan of 2D animation; Don't Starve Together because I don't remember why; and Deus Ex: Human Revolution because I got leftover money and it was on a really big sale, so my cousin urged me to buy it.

I would try to play these games throughout the 6th grade's summer, but there were some problems. First of all, none of these games are in Turkish (I'm not sure, but that's what I remember; I'm too lazy to check). That fact didn't really matter for games like Hollow Knight and Don't Starve Together (as there wasn't much of a story), but it mattered for Undertale. Oh, I know, I could just use a Turkish patch (unofficial translation); it's not that I couldn't figure out how to do it. It's just that the game recently got a new update, and the patch didn't work with that update. As for the other games, Hollow Knight was pretty hard for a kid who never really played any proper video game other than Minecraft. On top of that, I didn't have a controller at the time, so I had to play it with the puny keyboard my laptop had, and that made it unplayable for me. As for the other two, I didn't like them very much. There was a learning curve to Don't Starve Together, and it just felt like Minecraft without the creative mode (which happens to be the part I like the most). I didn't even bother checking out Deus Ex because I randomly bought it and I don't like first-person shooters. So much so for becoming a gamer, I guess. But one day, while still in the summer holiday, there was a problem with the wifi for a few days, and it really got boring. So I played the games I downloaded before to kill time. I started playing Undertale. I looked up the words I didn't know (which were the majority of them) in a dictionary or something, and I wrote them down along with their meanings in one of my journals. I was pretty used to writing thanks to school being so boring, so my hand never really got tired of writing pages and pages of words. and I really took a liking to the game too! It took me a long time to beat it since I literally had to pause to write some words for every single dialog line, but I enjoyed it, so it didn't feel like a chore. Eventually, our wifi came back, but I continued playing. I also started watching more English content. I watched Lele Pons again, something I'm not proud to admit, but the lightness of the language used in her videos made it perfect material for a beginner like me. I also texted with the cleverbot. Lately, the chatbots are much more advanced, so Cleverbot isn't so clever anymore compared to them. I can't remember why exactly, but cleverbot had something to do with creepypastas I think. like there was a correlation between Cleverbot and Ben Drowned (a creepypasta character) for some reason? It's been years; I don't remember.

 I talked with the bot so much that I could literally predict what they would say with 99% accuracy, so it became boring, and I stopped talking to them. By the end of that summer, I had replayed Undertale for a different route and, for the first time, noticed that I could actually understand what it said without having to look anything up. It was a weird feeling in the best way possible. and I decided that I wanted to make a game too. The summer ended, and I started 7th grade.

for what it's worth, you're not alone with feeling like this for dc comics nor the upcoming movies. I lost 99% of my interest in the dceu too when I saw the line up and I've seen a fair few others express the same. I'm mostly just having fun going through the old comics atp and appreciating what I've always loved about the universe, but I'm not about to settle for mediocrity just to fit in to dc's current fandom. celebrating what we enjoy and leaving the rest seems a good way to move forward

I genuinely thought James Gunn was gonna fix some stuff up, 'cause I loved his Guardians of the Galaxy, and laughed hysterically at all the jokes in The Suicide Squad no matter how immature a lot of it was. So I thought 'Oh, okay so this is great'.

Losing Henry Cavill sucked, but ya know, I don't feel like a strange one thinking "Well, if everyone's being recast I guess that makes sense."

Now it's just "Well, okay, fuck you James Gunn. I love your movies that I've seen so far, but also fuck you. This new shit is insulting"

If the movies end up being a big success, I won't be surprised. I know most people don't really give a shit about characterization. You can literally write the characters as anything and little shit-munchers will do some mental gymnastics to defend it. It really doesn't matter.

But oof I've just had enough. I blocked a lot of stuff on Twitter, so I won't even get updates on anything anymore. I'll check out the casting and costumes probably, but anything beyond the Superman project, which I must admit I do have an interest in, because I feel like that could still be good, I'm checking out of.

Then with the comics it's like, oh boy, Tom Taylor? Woo-weee, can't wait to read severely out of character characters people praise because it did a lot of fan service no matter if it makes sense or not.

Like what is it, and modern comic book writers, and being unable to successfully write a satisfying book that gives something people wanna buy without relying on out of character fandom shit? Are they that incapable.

Dick's just a sitcom character, you wouldn't even recognize him if you were a time traveler that came from back when Dick was actually treated seriously, like who he was as a specific character mattered.

Tim's stuck in someone's fan fiction--like him calling Damian his baby brother? Bernard looking like that? That thin writing? Hahahaha give me a damn break, it's sooooo freaking bad. And his comic is so ugly. I know that artist would be perfect for something else, but not Tim, jeezus.

I was pretty excited when I thought Tim was going to be gay, because in my head I assumed it really took someone that new Tim's character well, and saw all the moments other gay people did that really connected to them and their experiences and let them relate to him.

Instead nah, it's instead "I really shipped Tim and Conner, and I wasn't sure if they let me do Conner. So I heard about Bernard, I don't know much about him, but he'll do I guess". Like there is no shame what so ever.

I don't even have a clue what's going on with Jason but I don't care, 'cause he hasn't been a good character since Under The Hood. I'm not down this this retconned filled copycat they've been peddling for over a decade. I want the actually interesting, stand-out Jason that had some of the biggest potential for character arcs. Not the one they fucked up time and time again.

Batgirls sucks. Like admittedly I haven't read it, but come on, don't pretend like enough hasn't been shared for it to be obvious. I know the characters well enough. There's a difference between 'Bad Faith' and 'Their is literally a massive gaping flaw right fucking there, look at it'. It has ruined them for the time being. I don't need to buy the entire sofa to inspect it further, when the massive coffee stain is RIGHT fucking THERE.

Damian hasn't been a consistently good character since Morrison. I seriously don't care what anybody says. If you have to put the character in situations and moments that would never happen or make no sense to make them likable, I think you're a bad writer, because fuck off, the original Damian as he grew was a great character, and I'm not here for this babified version made to appeal to the easiest common dominator. There is a difference between a character growing and just being out of character. I heard his solo wasn't that bad with him, but I still have no interest in it regardless.

So I can't read any of the Bat-Family. I thought about reading 'Batman' 'cause I heard after that really messy, badly paced, awkwardly written first arc it got better. But then again, I heard Teen Titans (2003), Tom Taylor's literally anything, Steph's Batgirl run, Super Sons and Red Hood and the Outlaws were all good, and those were some of the most frustrating reads of my life because they all changed the characters so much, or bad some of the most logic-less decisions that I was at a total lost at what made people like them.

I wanna read a comic the same way I enjoy a movie or TV franchise. Enjoy the stories, characters, arcs, and simply being able to enjoy it.

Reading and going "Okay that makes no sense" or "They so wouldn't do that" again and again feels like being grounded and punished.

Plus, old comics aren't even flawless, not that something has to be for me to like it. But when I read it so much that the flaws start sticking out more, then I'm making myself miserable again.

Like I used to be able to read Dixon's Robin run despite his shitty way of being, because it was good, and it still is, but those moments were Dixon projects parts of his own personality into the characters stick out to me way more now.

And the way fan's treat Bart made me too sad to read the good part of Impulse, and Cassie never had a solo I liked.

At least the mighty Ultimate Spider-Man is there, that never fails. But all this other stuff has me timid to read it.

--

Apologies for the rant and all, but all things considered what else do people do on Tumblr? Have polite conversation?

--

And for a long time just trying to share what I liked was enough for me, but I think I literally eventually simply said all I could say, and I felt I was repeating myself for ages.

Then there was seeing other fans just be total weirdos and lie about what happened, or at the very least stretch and hide details of the truth, just to make their favorite or what ever look better just to make people believe their desires:

Which is fucking creepy. Yeah you, who does that, in the event that you read this, it's fucking weird. Who does that, and why? Move onto something you actually like you kraken.

It's inevitable I might remake old posts for the sake of newer people, because some of the best vibes I've ever had was when I was making long informational posts for people to learn about the characters in easy to understand direct ways.

It satisfied my Autism and got me some praise, and compliments that made me feel like "Hey that mental thing I have isn't all bad!"

But when the people who used to care about that kind of stuff stops, and you're eventually left alone. It's pretty much back to the bottom for me, and my mental quirks are back to being a thing that causes me to be yelled at, by people who don't understand how I actually function.

--

I don't understand Ben 10 Alien Force in hindsight, why is everyone so different in a way that doesn't seem plausible within 5-seemingly-uneventful-for-the-most-part-years.

It felt like more of a reboot then the actual reboot looking back at it. And I loved it as a kid, and would probably still love reading it, but I feel like people don't talk about that enough.

--

Also the Eleventh Doctor makes me sad because I felt like he could've been the best, but when he stopped being "Old Quirky, formerly senile man in a young energetic intellectual body" and started treated more like a child it sort of ruined him. How you gonna give him moments where he's treated like the ultimate bad ass, he's just quirky, and then completely drop all of that to make him a joke. That's sad.

--

I also like WWE, but can't think of anything to say besides I think Roman Reigns is the worst part of the Bloodline and that he'd be better not being champion, because he doesn't make the titles feel like they truly matter. They're set decorations, rather than a plot point that feels important anymore.

Love the Sami stuff, and Roman's character work, but his matches without someone against him that's super great are really boring ignoring any storyline shenanigans that happen in them. It's a drag to have to wait to those moments.

Glimpses: Part 13 (Kathryn Hahn x Fem!Reader)

Part 1 // previous chapter <<< >>> next chapter

Summary: Just a casual catch-up.

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I don't even know what's happening with Kathryn anymore. Guess it's all going "downhill" from here. Don't get mad! It'll be better soon, I promise! ;)

Tag List: @danvers97 @zafirosreverie @srtamercurio @wanatag @pulledbythestars17 @plantowl @spacehahn

Playlist! :)

_____________________________________________________________________________

A couple days pass before you get another sign of life from Kathryn. It's the weekend again and you are lying on your bed, looking up at the ceiling. Alex is talking away on FaceTime, currently ranting about something that happened at her workplace earlier this week. She always does that, lets people walk over her and then complains about it to you.

You are just about to sit up and shut her down to make her stand up for herself more as a mail comes in. For a moment, you are confused, as you have never read the mail address it is coming from before. Still, you immediately open it to read through, a move that doesn't go unnoticed by Alex, who has stopped talking by now. 

"What is it?" She asks, looking rather concerned.

You are unsure what to say and talk as you read the mail. "Hmmmmmm, OH. Oh it's from Kathryn! Oh this took me way too long. But, you know, if all those "a prince from god knows where wants to send you money"-mails I wasn't sure what to expect." Both of you laugh as you read on.

Just as always, Alex is the perfect example of a nosy neighbor. "What does it saaaay? Don't keep me in the dark, ma'am!", she says and grins into the camera. Nearly done reading, you look up and shoot her an annoyed look. As a joke, obviously, but really, Alex needs to calm down sometimes. You reread the mail and prepare to summarize it for the both of you.

Essentially, Kathryn is simply talking about how she had broken her phone on the way to Europe as they made their way through the airport and spent a couple days hunting down your e-mail address to reach out to you again. She doesn't have a new phone just yet, because she took it as a chance to dive into the script and prepare for the shooting, but feels like it's about time she updates and checks in on you. Furthermore, to really focus on the movie, she decided to not cope the numbers from her old phone just now. Instead, she got a completely new, empty phone and only handed out her number to a handful of people, so she can really be one with the project.

It takes a while for you to understand that this means you are special to her and she chose you out of (probably) a lot of people to stay in contact with. If it wasn't for Alex, you would probably fall into a hole now and over analyze if this means more or not, but she interrupts your train of thought, as always.

"Isn't that just SO Kathryn? Like, I can totally see her sitting there, choosing not to have a phone so she can read her scripts in peace and become her character. That's how passionate she is, ugh, I love her."

Usually, you would agree and say you love her, too, but as of lately you can't bring yourself to say these words out loud anymore, since they feel way too intimate considering the relationship you have formed with Kathryn over the last couple of weeks. So, instead of saying anything, you simply nod and read the mail again before typing the number she provided you with into your phone.

A part of you is very happy about the mail and Kathryn's update, but you have to admit that there is also a part of you that wishes she would've said something about missing you. You miss her,  mentally and physically. You miss her touch and her warmth and, thinking about it for a little too long, you miss what kissing her lips feels like. And you miss how her hair feels on your skin as she bends over you. If you're being honest, you simply miss everything about her.

Alex seems to sense your thoughts and breaks the silence. "You miss her, don't you?"

You don't want to think about it any deeper as you can feel some tears forming in the corners of your eyes. Instead, you just nod as you bite the inside of your lower lip, holding them back.

"You know, Y/N. You should tell her. I am really sure she misses you, too. Like, in THAT way. If you tell me everything that happens between the two of you at all times, then I'm pretty sure she is in love with you, too, you know?" "I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH HER!", you suddenly jump and get way louder than you meant to be. Or are you? Hell, you don't even know anymore. Fact is, Kathryn is gone and won't be back for a while and there is no way for you to change that and that is why you shouldn't dwell into those feelings because after all you'll just get hurt anyway.

You decide to shoot a quick message to the number Kathryn provided you with and let her know you read the mail and hope she is doing alright. Also you can't help but tell her how incredibly boring life is without her - could be seen as you telling her you miss her, but doesn't have to be read that way if she doesn't want it.

Alex finally rants about work a little longer before you decide to watch a movie together since it's getting late on her end and you usually spend your Sundays watching a movie or two, whenever both of you are available. 

It takes Kathryn until around noon the next day to answer your message and she seems rather stressed, as it simply reads "Let's catch up tonight! x", as if she didn't even get to finish typing it all out. Excited for the night, you plan out the rest of the day and secretly hope she will acknowledged any kind of feelings she might have in any way, so you can finally talk it all out. 

You're sitting outside in your mom's garden in between all of her flowers on a comfy garden bench as the call comes in and decide to take it with your computer that is placed on the garden table beside you. This way, you can sit and act more comfortably and can grab a blanket or pillow with your hands instead of holding onto your phone.

"Hiya Hon! I missed your face!" Kathryn speaks in excitement as her wide grin fills the screen. She is also taking the call with a computer, as she is just putting her phone away when she sees you.

You smile softly and a warm fuzzy feeling makes itself at home in your body. „Hey Kathryn.. you look beautiful tonight, as always.“

Kathryn blushes as a cheeky smile plays along her lips and makes herself comfortable on the couch that's placed next to the hotel room window. You can see the last couple of sunrays cradling her face as she leans back and the sun hits her features through the open window. She is wearing a white loose shirt and a thin golden necklace is resting around her neck. Her fingers caress the cold metal as she looks at you, softly biting the right side of her lover lip.

„How are you doing, Sweetie?“ she says and you don’t know what to reply. You want to tell her that you miss her - more than just physically -, you want to tell her that she is occupying your thoughts and dreams and that you want to be with her and how it crushes you that she isn’t with you right now. Yet, something is holding you back, because somehow, you feel like she needs to be the one to bring it up first.

Your breath hitches as she does. „I miss you, honey.“

Your heart is racing and you can feel it beating in your throat in anticipation of what she might say next. „I miss sitting with you and laughing, yeah, but I also really miss kissing you. I can’t believe we don’t get to do that for such a long time.“ She groans.

Yeah. That. Of course she misses that. You sink back into the couch, slightly disappointed, but at the same time - what did you expect?

She notices. „Is everything alright, Love?“ she seems worried.

„Yeah! I’m good. It’s just been a rough week and not being able to sit and, you know, spent time with you just seems wrong.“ You’re not lying.

She nods. „It does. You’re right.“

„I know.“ For a moment, both of you fall silent, caught up in your thoughts. Kathryn is still playing with her necklace, as she is lying on the couch in a very relaxed position with her foot propped up and, all of a sudden, looks absolutely heartbroken.

You can’t stand to see her like this and decide to change the topic. You sit up straight again. „So… HOW IS IT? Tell me all about it! The set, the project, YOUR COLLEAGUES and like… I know you can’t really tell me anything, but like… TELL ME EVERYTHING.“

Her laughter fills the room. You did it, you made both of you happy. „Alright, well. It seems to be a very suspenseful movie and the cast is just great. Lots of people my age but also a couple young ones that remind me of you,“ she winks. „I enjoy working here very much so far.“

Speaking about other people has your attention, so you decide to dig deeper. „So, they all treat you like the Queen you are.“

She waves it off. „Oh SHUSH. You are crazy. Although… you are not wrong, all of them treat me very well.“ 

A small smile plays around her lips and, for a moment, you wonder why, but she is already changing the topic. “We’re actually going out for dinner in the upcoming week. I am very excited. It’s gonna be just a couple of us, but, you know me, I love connecting with the others. Bouncing off ideas and all.”

You nod. You DO know her. “That sounds amazing Kathryn! I am beyond excited for you.”

In the distance, you can hear thunder and see the clouds getting darker. Looking back at her, you catch her yawning. “Hey you? It’s getting stormy out here," You look around you again. "I think there’s a storm coming.”

“OH NO.” She mumbles, before she yawns again.

“ALSO,” you try to get her attention back. “You, ma’am, seem to be pretty tired tonight.”

Forcefully keeping her eyes open, she scans your face. “NEVER. I am never tired. I always go to bed late.” She laughs.

“Kathryn…” you really don’t want to be a literal mom in front of her again, but she doesn’t actually leave you a choice.

“I KNOW, I know,” she laughs. “I had a night shoot last night and I think I can finally feel the aftermath.” She yawns again. This time, you yawn with her. “See, you’re tired, too, and I can actually hear AND see the storm approaching behind you. I need you to stay save and get inside.”

You nod, already grabbing the things you put on your table. “Don’t go silent on me again, yeah?”

“I promise I won’t.” She says and you believe her.

“Alright then, good night, K.” Kathryn smiles at the nickname.

“Sleep well, Y/N. And again, text me anytime, promise I'll be there as soon as I can.” And with that, all good byes are said and you immediately close your computer and storm inside after hanging up as the first raindrops hit you.

The storm is starting to get heavier and the incoming rain is now hitting the windows hard as the thunder rolls in - a perfect representation of your thoughts and feelings piling up inside of you.

heya! this is just a standard request for sugawara helping his partner get a good night's sleep (please may you use he/they pronouns for the reader?) thank you! <3

hey!! i was sorting through my requests and i wasn't planning on publishing anything anymore today cause it's late and i gotta wake up in a few hours, but this was just too cute to pass up!! i hope u like it :)

also little side note: im struggling with the update so hard D:

sugawara helping you sleep

prompt: "It's chamomile tea. It helps with sleep."

pairing: sugawara koushi x reader (reader uses he/they pronouns, although it isn't mentioned too often!)

word count: 898

warnings: none, pure fluff and love, suga calls reader "love" like, once, but I don't think that's gender specific??

NOTE: I actually wasn't quite sure what exactly this request meant - so I wrote what I thought was well-enough. If this isn't what you meant, feel free to send in another ask!

you hadn't seen sugawara in a few days now

he usually had morning practice and you had afternoon classes, which meant your schedules clashed, making it near impossible for the two of you to see each other often

but tomorrow was saturday, which meant the both of you were free, which meant suga was spending the night at your place

he had actually been invited to a party by tooru oikawa, but he only laughed and responded with:

"sorry, i'm spending the night at y/n's, i haven't seen them in a while and i'm pretty sure they're not really in the mood to spend his free night with a bunch of sweaty, drunk, teenagers"

so yeah, here you were, 9pm, sitting on your couch with sugawara, his arm draped loosely around your shoulder as the both of you finally got to catching up

it was honestly mostly you doing the talking, suga simply listening to you with a light smile and adoration in his eyes

"oh god. i started rambling, didn't i?"

he only laughed and hugged you to his chest

"it's cute."

soon after that the food you had ordered 40 minutes prior finally arrived, the two of you settling in a comfortable silence as you ate, the only sound being the movie playing on the tv, to which you only half payed attention to

that was kind of how you spent your entire evening, cuddling on the couch and talking, occasionally taking a break, looking at the tv, to not miss the movie completely

at about 1am you decided it'd be a good time to go to bed, sugawara claiming he was very tired, when in fact he had seen you dozing off during the movie, and knowing you haven't been getting a lot of sleep because you were mainly focused on your studies and because of your constant sleep issues, he wanted you to get as much sleep as possible as-long as you had the possibility too

when you two got into bed, you immediately scooted closer to sugawara, his arms finding their place around you, a habit that became second nature.

his fingertips ran slightly along your back, goosebumps rising on your skin under the t-shirt you wore to sleep, melting into his touch, feeling the exhaustion of the week catch up to you by now

suga had obviously noticed this, letting himself indulge in the sight of your sleepy face squished against him, moving the hand that was not running up and down your back to move some stray strands of hair that fell into your eyes

you looked up at him, eyes only half-open, humming

"why are you looking at me like that?"

"no particular reason. i just like admiring my partner."

your face flushed a little at that, letting out a light laugh and shaking your head

"didn't you say you were tired?" you spoke again, stifling a yawn

he hummed, leaning to the bedside table to turn off the salt lamp that was stood there, laying back down comfortably

he was laid facing you, arms wrapped around you in a comfortable hug, the perfect amount of weight settled on you, which made you feel grounded

it didn't take long for you to fall asleep, sugawara laying there, enjoying the warmth of your body a bit more before also falling asleep

except, sadly, sleep didn't come that easily for you, so, eventhough you managed to fall asleep quickly, you also awoke again, just two hours later

you shifted, moving your eyes so you could look at the digital clock stood on the bedside table next to your salt lamp

3:24am

you let out a soft sigh, moving to get into a more comfortable position, not expecting your partner to wake up so easily

when suga realised what was going on, he spoke

"are you having trouble sleeping again?"

you looked at him, humming

"a little. but don't worry, i think i'll be able to fall asleep again soon"

sugawara sighed and soon the warmth of his body abandoned yours, leaving you quite cold and longing for it back

"stay right here"

you did as you were told, curious to know what he was doing, yet too lazy to stand up and go see

luckily it didn't take him long to get back, two cups of tea in both hands, handing you one of them

"its chamomile tea. it helps with sleep. i brought some melatonin gummies too, please have some, they do wonders"

he spoke, slowly taking a sip as to not burn his tongue in case it was still too hot

"you didn't have to do this, you know?"

you said that, but your heart was warm with the adoration you felt for suga

"i know, but i wanted to" he sent you a cute smile, which you reciprocated

after you drank your tea you ate two of the melatonin gummies, dropping back down to lay down properly

suga then laid beside you, pulling you to him by your waist

"Now let's try and get some proper rest, love. If you can't fall asleep or wake up again, wake me up, okay?"

you just hummed, closing your eyes, at this point too tired to respond and too comfortable to move even an inch too speak

it's safe to say the both of you slept in the next day

a/n: not proof-read! im also going to sleep now, goodnight!

requests: open (10th january, 2022)

emergency requets: closed

read rules before requesting.

Hi friend! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and that the New Year treats you well!!! For end of the year asks: 5, 9, and 15! 💛

Hello my friend! Thank you so so much- wishing the same for you!!

This ended up being soo much longer than I thought it would be haha

5. What creative work are you most proud of? (your own or someone else's)

So for my own work, I'd have to say The Nanny this year. I feel like the prompt was very out of my comfort zone and I was so worried I wasn't going to give it justice, and I just really love writing it- when I'm not dealing with writer's block lol

9. Recommend something you really enjoyed in 2021

One of my all time favorite stories I've ever read ever on here is possibly getting published! I am so excited that one day I'm going to actually have a physical copy of this story. All this year, I waited for the updates as she was writing it and I fell in love with the story. It's Forget Me Not by @krissology and I can't wait to read it again. I am going to be so insufferable when it comes out. I need to apologize in advance to everyone I know.

I also need to shout out @jedifarmerr and her story Olgo Shipmax. I'm so obsessed with this story, and it's one of the most unique Din Djarin fics I've read and I love it so much.

Elegy to the Void by @jangofctts is my favorite one part story about Ezra from Prospect. I have reread this story so many times. It's just everything I look for in a story. Chef's kiss!

Calling Home by @littlepadika I didn't think I could be more in love with Frankie Morales, and then I read this and was proven wrong. 1000/10 love love love

So i know everyone and their mom has read Rough Day (and i avoid talking about it on my blog) , and while it's an awesome story, I also want to say the stories The Bet and the Locked Door series by @no-droids I love a lot more. I think their other stuff gets lost in the shadow of Rough Day and these two by them are by far my favs.

@ezrasbirdie Make My Wish Come True is my current fav I'm waiting on updates for. It's the perfect Christmas fic and I'm loving it.

Now for my Lee Bodecker baddies ;)

@overr-written Give In is a masterpiece and everyone in the Lee Bodecker/Sebastian Stan characters fandom should read it, I'm sure y'all already are, but if not- you need to!!!

@slothspaghettiwrites anything in their masterlist- and they are a true saint for creating the Hoedecker Club Handbook- an absolute pillar of of the fandom and they deserve all the love

@sweetkingdomstarlight-blog Emma absolutely is an enabler to my Lee Bodecker obsession, and the dark fics on her masterlist are exquisite. My personal favs are Secret Admirer, Games People Play, and Acquiesce.

And then of course, I will always, always talk about your two stories, Of Mended Hearts and Buttons, and I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You. You're writing amazes me and I adore it soo much. I'm trying so hard to be patient but I absolutely cannot wait to read Twisted in Every Way. I know it's going to be phenomenal.

15. What are you looking forward to coming out in 2022

The Book Of Boba Fett - I know the first episode is this week but for the whole show I just ahhhh I'm so excited

Literally all the marvel projects

SPIDERMAN ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE

Into the Spiderverse is my absolute favorite Spiderman movie and I really can't wait to see Miles again, he's in my opinion the best Spiderman

Also MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS ahhhhh I can't believe I have to wait so long to see this

I'm also looking forward to Wakanda Forever, but I couldn't even watch What-If without crying at Chadwick Boseman's final performance so we'll see how I do. Def won't be the first time I cry during a Marvel movie

also idk when it will be released but Madeline Miller's new book she's working on whenever it is going to be published might not even be 2022 I cannot wait

Gallant by VE Schwab - The Invisible Life of Addie Larue was one of my favorites I read this year so I am definitely going to check this out when it's released.

welcome back

part 8 of so happy together

Part 7

  The days after new years felt like a dream. You and Ben texted non stop. You learned a lot about him in the past few days. The more you knew about him the more you liked him. You told him more about your relationship with his parents, and he tried giving you the best advice he could. You wanted badly to ask if he wanted to hang out, but you knew his parents were home. Even if he acts like it you feel like deep down he missed them, and that he’ll miss them when school starts up again so you never brought up hanging out. 

 Your grandfather went back to working again, so you only saw him at breakfast, and dinner. Some days he stopped working early so you two could go out, or watch a movie before he went to sleep. For a moment it felt normal. As normal as it could be. You felt like you were a regular teen with a regular parent. Well grandparent. He made time for you instead of constantly working and brushing you off. You were originally supposed to stay for christmas eve, christmas, and the next day. That first night was amazing, and you refused to leave. You would stay too if your school wasn't so far. It made you love your time here even more. 

 Gideon and you spent your days exploring the forest and playing games at the house. You learned a lot about the old dog in the days since you got him. One day there was a rare winter rain. You set up by a window and listened to music. Gideon saw you sit and sat next to you putting his head in your lap watching the rain fall down the window with you. He followed you everywhere. If you walked to the kitchen he went with you. You went to bed and he would follow you and sleep next to you. One day you decided to take a bath and he sat in the tub with you. The sentiment was nice, but bathing with a dog wasn't exactly sanitary. Your grandfather had chosen the perfect dog for you. You loved Gideon as if you had been his owner for his whole life. 

 Although they felt like a dream. The days went by fast then next thing you knew you were packing a bag to go back to school. Most kids just went back on the first day classes resume, but you wanted to get back early and enjoy the peace there before the chaos began. Your grandfather helped take your bag to your car. The worst part about going back was leaving him. You had so much fun being at his house the past 2 weeks it made you sad to think you had let yourself get so busy you were only seeing him every few months. He made you a copy of the house key so you could go by anytime you wanted to. You added it next to your dorm keys, and pulled him in for a hug. What were you going to do without him or Gideon. At least you would be with Elaine again, and you would get a chance to see Ben more. 

  The whole ride back you felt a strange emptiness. Like you were going away for good. You knew you werent. You and your grandfather had made plans for the following weekend to get lunch. Either way going back felt weird. Eventually you pulled into the parking lot for your dorm. You parked and got out looking around, and taking in the silence. You grabbed your bags out of the seat and walked to your room. You opened the door and set your stuff down on your bed. You grabbed your headsets and put them on. You started unpacking your bag and putting all the clothes you had used in a basket. You took all your unused clothes and put them away. You picked up the basket and headed to the campus laundry room. 

The next day came fast. You woke up early to get ready making sure your makeup was just right. The one thing you definitely didnt miss about the school was the stupid uniform you had to wear. It consisted of a dark green plaid skirt with a white button up tucked into it, along with a tie. You did have the option of wearing a blazer with the school's logo on it, but for the most part you went without that. The boys had to wear khaki pants, with a white button up, and a red and gold tie. Unlike the girls uniform it was required that they wear the blazer. After you got done getting ready you grabbed your backpack and books and headed to your home room class. 

 You walked in and saw all the familiar faces before sitting down next to Hux. Unfortunately he was the only friend you had in the homeroom. Elaine was always placed in another one. Once you sat next to Hux you said your hellos before your teacher had walked in.

“Welcome back, I trust you all had a nice vacation?” professor Windu asked. 

A hushed reply of yes’ went over the room 

“Good. we have a few things to go over before you go to your classes.” you listened as he went over basic stuff, updating everyone on fundraisers, upcoming events and future assemblies.

 You were close enough to Hux, that you could whisper to him without anyone noticing. 

“So how was the college?” you asked him

“It's amazing, everything is absolutely beautiful, I'm so excited to go at the end of the year.” 

“That's good, what are you going for?”

“I originally wanted to go for law so I could work with my father but they do have an amazing art program and I would love to be an art curator at the Met.” you never knew he was into art.

You two continued talking until the bell rang letting students know to head to their next class. The day went by fast and finally you arrived at your final class of the day. Computer science. You took your usual seat, and waited until your teacher gave you an assignment. A few seconds after arriving your desk mate walked in. You had completely forgotten Matt sat next to you. 

“So I heard you kissed brother, guess that means you’ll be with him now?” he asked as he sat down. 

“I mean maybe, I'm not really sure what's going on there.” 

“Well I consider you my friend so i know if anything does happen you’re cool, and you won't be mean to me like his last girlfriend.” 

“Hey! We are friends, and I would never be mean to you under any circumstance.”  then it finally hit you. How did he know you met his brother? Had he talked about you? Did Luke say something?

“So how did you hear about that happening? Did Luke say something?” 

“No he talked about when he got back. He seems to really like you.”

“I mean i kind of like him too so i guess that's good.” 

 You and Matt had been cut off by your teacher telling you of a new project. Automatically you and Matt looked at each other knowing you were going to partner up for it. She explained the project would be for artificial intelligence. She gave the rest of the period to make a plan and get started. You and Matt made an outline of your plans and started making the powerpoint. Near the end of class you two discussed a day to get together after class along with eating lunch together and working on it. When class was over you walked around campus for a while together you asked him about Hoth and what he did when he was there. He told you about how it was his first time seeing snow, and going skiing. After a while he told you he told you he was gonna go unpack his stuff from his trip. 

  You walked back to your room and saw that Elaine still hasn't gotten back yet. Your guess was that she was still coming back from classes. You set your bag down and laid out on your bed, when you realized you hadn't talked to Ben all day. You pulled your phone out of the pocket you had sewn into your skirt and sent him a quick text. You figured that the first day must have overwhelmed him, and it just slipped his mind. After about 10 minutes you stood up and grabbed your bag. Digging your books out you walked over to your desk and sat down to do homework. You checked your phone every 5 minutes hoping he would reply. After about 30 minutes passed and Elaine walked in and she was wearing her soccer outfit. 

“Dude you'll never guess what happened today!!” she said as she walked in. throwing her bag down. 

“Is everything okay?” you turned looking at her. 

“Yeah everythings fine, but there's a coach from NYU coming to the game next week!”

“Oh hell yeah! This is gonna be so good for you!” you stood up and hugged her.

“You're coming to the game, right?” she asked 

“Of course I come to every game!” 

“Well you were busy with a certain someone else.” she teased. That reminded you to check your phone again.

“Actually a certain someone has spoken to me all day.” 

“Maybe he's busy. It was his first day after all.” she said as she grabbed clothes and headed to the bathroom. She was right, maybe you were overreacting. Some reason it just felt wrong. 

  You decided to throw your phone on the bed so you didn't feel tempted to keep checking. About two hours later you finished your work for the week you even thought of some ideas for your computer science project. Once you were done you got up and grabbed your phone to message Matt about some of your ideas. Still no text from Ben. You sent Matt some of your ideas. Frustrated you asked Elaine if she wanted to go to Mazs place for dinner. She thankfully agreed and you two got dressed. As you walked out you got a message from Matt telling you he had some ideas too. On the walk back you talked back and forth about them before deciding on a few ideas. 

  When you got to the restaurant you saw Hux sitting alone again.

“Do you mind if we go sit with Hux?” you asked her.

“Sure, but can I ask why his name is Armitage and we all call him Hux?”

“He hates his name so we all kinda just started calling him by his last name.” you explained as you walked over to his table. She nodded her head and walked over with you. 

“Hey Hux, can we sit with you?” you asked him. He smiled and motioned for you guys to sit down.

“Of course you can, Phasma should also be joining me at any moment.”

“Cool, we can all hang out I Dont really hang out with Phasma outside of practice.” 

 You both sat down and started talking to Hux when Phasma arrived. You've known her since about middle school. Her parents and yours were friends. You would call her a friend, just not one you hang around a lot. You all stayed four a few hours talking, and laughing. Well most of you are laughing. Hux never really laughed. He kind of just smiled, or let out a breath. You figured that's why him and Phasma were best friends. They were serious as hell. Phasma had her moments of goofiness but for the most part. She was a bad bitch.

  When you decided to leave you all walked to the dorms together. After Hux walked off to his room. You, Elaine, and Phasma had walked to the girls dorm area. Once you and Elaine parted with Phasma you checked your phone again. Nothing. You sighed and put your phone up. You watched Elaine dig her keys out and unlock the door.

“Still no messages?” she said  walking in. 

“No, i'm sure everything will be alright.” you walked in and quickly changed into yours night clothes.throwing yourself on your bed you sighed. “Maybe if he doesn't like me i can just date Hux.” you said jokingly.

“Oh yeah that's something I'd pay to see happen. Can you imagine little red headed versions of you running around. It'd be like a nightmare I had once.” 

“Stars can you imagine. Y/N Hux. it kind of has a ring to it.” you both laughed. 

“I can see it now. You, an up and coming fashion designer, him, a big hot shot lawyer! Together you two strike fear into the heart of New Yorkers!” she dramatically fell onto her bed making it seem as if she had fainted. 

“Actually he wants to be an art curator.” you corrected her.

“Even better you both are art nerds.” she tucked herself in and turned off her lamp light. You did the same as she spoke out.

“I'm positive he’ll text back. He's got to, he’d be an idiot if he didnt.” she yawned out before falling silent. You stayed up a while longer. You searched through old texts looking to see if anything had been different the day before. Could you have said something that put him off? Did he indicate that something was wrong and you didn't notice? You searched desperately for an answer, until you eventually drifted off.

Pacific Rim Fansequels Better Than Uprising

Want to know what happened in the world of Pacific Rim post-Pitfall, because whatever the fuck we got in 2018 sure as hell wasn't it? Well, I have a list of options for you to pick and choose from! I have a couple of things on my reading list that aren't here yet, so this list may well be updated. (Has been updated 24/05/23)

Also, pretty much all of these are Newmann, with the exception of Doorway. I wasn't actively seeking this out, but I think it works quite well for a primary sequel pairing - Mako and Raleigh already seem to have things figured out, after all. Maybe we should give our other surviving set of Drift partners a chance at the same?

So, here we go!

Anteverse Refugee: Okay, this one's actually a bit of a cheat because it's an AU from the very beginning, but if you ignore the very human Hermann Gottlieb seen in the Drift then you can probably get away with slipping this series into your headcanon. It's a pretty great ride, and also has numerous AUs of its own.

Anthology: I found this one through TV Tropes. It's a different kind of sequel to the others on this list, because it's really more of an anti-sequel. The author, rather than inventing a new crisis, just gives the survivors the chance to rebuild their lives in a post-Kaiju world. Good times. Mundane bullshit problems. A faintly alarming quantity of pet fish. Nobody getting possessed. Anthology itself has a sequel in the making, where the original film's characters and the fic's most notable OCs take on a new Anteversal threat ten years after Pitfall, but the author doesn't know if they can continue writing it without having to subject themselves to actual Uprising because, y'know, Uprising. The main story and a collection of side stories are all complete, however, and I can enthusiastically recommend them.

Doorway: This is actually super-short, and could technically be slotted in between the two movies (I do have a theory about the interbellum period that incorporates this idea, but discussing it here would ruin the ambience of the fic.) It's quality over quantity, I think.

Frankenstein And The Newt: I'll be honest, I don't like this series quite as much as some of the others here, but it's very good and can neatly replace Uprising, so it belongs on this list more than a lot of the others do. Maybe it'll be your new favourite? I can't make that choice for you, and it's still incredibly enjoyable. If your feelings re:Vanessa Gottlieb are of the profoundly negative variety then you might not enjoy these stories all that much, but she's portrayed here as a pretty nice person. Also, Pure Blue will never not send me into gigglefits, and a hefty portion of Part 6 is comprised of Take Thats at antivaxxers.

Newt Inherits A Bar: Another anti-sequel, and also a crossover! This one isn't big or plotty, and so maybe I shouldn't even count it as a fansequel so much as a regular post-movie fanfic, but I really like it so I'm going to toss it in, and it's a better ending for Newt than 'spending ten years as a pawn of evil aliens trying to destroy the world' at any rate. It's a one-shot in which lives, friendships, and crappy dive bars are all rebuilt, in a world in which Newton Geiszler and Charlie Kelly are one and the same individual (so there's a pretty standard bunch of Always Sunny warnings for the backstory). This is also another 'Newt and Hermann have a rescued betta fish' story, because you can never have too many rescued betta fish. Look at this little face!

Occam's Razor: The summary sounds a bit daft, but it actually makes perfect sense in-universe; as I said to @argusden, to whom I previously recced this, 'Status Quo was stabbed multiple times and left to bleed out in an alley long before the story even began', and so naturally everything's a bit topsy-turvy. It has some great OCs and does justice to the canonical characters, and there are a lot of Kaiju. So many Kaiju. If you want Kaiju then consider reading this. It lacks comprehensive tags, however, so I will warn in advance for ableism, homophobia, attempted suicide, miscarriage, and abusive family dynamics. (These are not spoilers.) Between the angst and the plottiness, this isn't light reading like some of the other tales on this list, but it is excellent and I highly recommend it. There's also plenty of non-angst to balance out the sadder parts. And also Mudpuppy the giant axolotl.

the sun will rise (and we will try again): Rewrite of Uprising that gives Mako an actual role in the plot, explains what happened to the rest of the old crew, explains why Stacker never thought to call in his pilot son when things were desperate (because Jake never had the slightest interest in getting in a giant robot and so never went to the Academy in the first place, next question), actually makes Shao likeable, and gets rid of the child soldiers. Also, angsty sibling bonding, tragic science romance, and fucked up sea monsters. It's a good time.

Uprisen: Another rewrite, wherein the ethics of child soldiers are examined, the new characters are given something resembling personality, Newt's possession gets the attention it deserves, and somebody acknowledges that Liwen Shao is actually kind of a garbage person. Also, Striker Danger.

you are gigantic as the things that you adore: The one where Newt is kidnapped by Kaiju cultists, and Herc, Tendo, Raleigh, Mako and Hermann mount a rescue mission. The writing itself isn't the best and the climax is a little rushed, but it's a pretty good story nonetheless. Whilst the pairings tagged are Mako/Raleigh and Newt/Hermann, they're quite understated in a way that conveys how these relationships have evolved since the first film without sacrificing the focus on overall group dynamics that made the original so great. Also Hannibal Chau turns up sometimes.

The Ghost Who Reappears - But Not How You Think (UPDATE)

This is an update to the previous Dash story, The Ghost Who’s Always In A Rush. If you haven’t read that story yet, I encourage you to go back and get the tea before partaking in this cup. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the teapot hot for when you come back!

Hey lovers! Buckle up because boy, do I have an update for you!

Remember Dash? The guy who was always in a rush? The guy who was potentially (read: for sure) ghosting me? Well, turns out Dash was in a rush to do a lot of things, but speaking to me again was not one of them. I know... Ghosting happens! It’s 2021 and I’m not an idiot nor am I living under a rock. The problem with ghosting is that it puts a coma or an ellipsis at the end of a sentence instead of a period.

Let me refresh your memories lovers! Dash and I’s last date was to see the new Purge movie, The Forever Purge. (For those of you that are curious, the movie was okay. I think it will be the last Purge movie, but you never know.) Anyway, back to Dash! The movie was a good date as far as I could tell. We talked a little bit before and after the movie, we laughed 🤣, he held my hand 👫🏾 for the entire movie, and he even kissed 😚 me afterwards. It was a good date, no red flags, no weird energy – a good date. (Like with the other dates, my only qualm is that I wished it lasted a little longer. That’s it! Actually... no, that’s a lie – I also wish we ate 🤤, but I digress.) The date was good enough according to Dash too though. During my call with him later that evening, he said that he enjoyed himself and my company and then he made tentative plans for another date with me for the upcoming week.

So, I awoke the next day feeling happy about Dash and I, especially because I believed we had a successful 3rd date and were on our way to a 4th! That morning, Dash and I exchanged our customary “good morning” texts and he informed me that he would be spending time with family to celebrate the 4th of July. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Little did I know, that would be the last time I heard from Dash. Oh, and those loose plans for our next date would never come to fruition because Dash and I would never speak again. 😑

Let me let you in on a little tidbit of information about me. SHE does not like cliff hangers in real life or unfinished stories. Since it had only been two days since I heard from Dash, I decided to send my one and only text message to see if everything was okay. This text message was also my form of an internal power grab to get my closure rather than wait for Dash to give it to me. So, I made up my mind that if Dash did not respond, I would make him a distant memory.

I got my chapter ending after all and it came by way of Hinge, the dating app where I met Dash. God really does work in mysterious ways!

Reminder: On our second date, Dash told me that he deleted his profile so he could commit his attention to seeing where this thing between he and I would go. I thought it as a little soon for that, especially because, though my activity on the app had slowed since meeting Dash, I didn’t feel obligated to delete my profile. But, who am I to tell someone else how to date?

Imagine my surprise 😲, when Dash's newly created profile popped onto my Hinge feed, ready to mingle, with a purple badge declaring that he "just joined". (Note: Though it sucks, I’m not really surprised. I sort of predicted this would happen when I first realized that he was ghosting me.😒)

Can we be real here? Okay, good! We all talk a big game about forgetting those who do us dirty. But I know I’m not the only one who revisits those memories from time to time. In all honesty, I’m not mad at Dash and I don’t hate him. For God’s sake, we only went on 3 dates, so I didn’t and still don’t know enough about him to have any real feelings – good, bad, or indifferent. He presented a seemingly direct and straightforward nature, so ghosting didn't seem like his style. So really, I’m annoyed that he chose the cowardly way out. 🙄

You see, one of the problems with ghosting is that it allows the person who was ghosted to create scenarios that give the ghost the benefit of the doubt. At one point, I thought Dash could be in the hospital 🤷🏾‍♀️, especially since he had recent health issues about a week prior. Maybe he was injured and in a coma. 🤷🏿 Maybe his phone was stolen or lost. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe he was DEAD. 🥴... but also 🤷🏽🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏾 All these scenarios are valid reasons that would prevent someone from communicating in normal ways. But when you ghost someone, you leave them to ponder all these unending scenarios until they decide to stop, or they get tired of giving the ghost excuses for not being honest. In the grand scheme of things, I'm probably dodging an even bigger bullet with Dash, especially because I had quite a few unanswered questions about him and I noticed that somethings that just didn't add up. In all things, give thanks - so, I'm grateful it wasn't as messy as it could have been.

Overall, ghosting is just way too easy in this day and age! But since we are keeping it real here, I must admit that the ease of ghosting is a pro and a con. The ease of ghosting is a welcomed pro when you need to get away from someone who is extremely inappropriate, makes you feel uncomfortable, endangers your life, or is just plain creepy. But it becomes a con when it’s used as a cowardly way out of a situation – especially when the situation is new and cutting things off is, presumably, easier because no real feelings are involved. I know we can’t expect others to handle things the way we would, but I think ghosting truly frustrates me because I would never choose that route unless it was necessary and unavoidable. I prefer clean breaks and direct communication where there’s no confusion and no mixed signals. Ghosting doesn’t achieve any of those things, in my opinion.

That’s all folks! Ghosting sucks and I don’t wish it on any of you lovers!

P.S.: Remind me to tell you the story about “The One With A Basketball Team & An Assistant Coach,” it’s a perfect example of how to cleanly and effectively end a situation that just won’t work. And in true SHE fashion, you know its gonna be a good one!

Until next time lovers,

- SHE

Just sending in my thoughts on the show, not trying to start any arguments. So I actually found iron fist really enjoyable. I know it wasn't perfect and maybe I just found it better because I needed my superhero fix, but I am surprised to see how much hate it gets. I still think it was the worst out of all of the other Netflix marvel shows but I didn't think it was that bad. What are your main reasons for hating it?

I’m glad some people are coming forward and saying they liked it! I generally wish the Marvel Netflix universe well. I really wanted to like Iron Fist. I had some faith that, based on how well they did the other shows, they would handle some pretty dated and racist material and give it a real update to reflect modern sensibilities, but alas, no.

(1) Iron Fist follows the “white savior” trope to the fullest extent. Danny Rand goes Asia, then a magical kingdom in a magical Asian dimension, and not only becomes a fighter, but becomes THE BEST fighter, better than all of the natives. And then he literally STEALS a superpower from their tradition (the show implies pretty heavily that he was not supposed to be the Iron Fist) and uses it to beat them up. That’s hardcore “white people are better than Asians, even at Asian stuff” right there.

(2) Danny Rand claimed to be a Buddhist monk but he knew literally nothing about Buddhism. I don’t think anything he said was actually Buddhist. In fact, many things he said were contrary to Buddhist teachings. (And he pronounced “Om Mani Padme Hung” really wrong) The writers did absolutely no research on Buddhism - oranges don’t represent forgiveness, and Buddhist monks can’t even wear green. They also can’t fight people in anger, but you know, you’re going to have some of that with a kung fu show.

(3) Speaking of kung fu, the fight choreography was really, really bad. I would have been less annoyed by it if the Marvel Netflix hadn’t specifically made a name for themselves with their outstanding fight choreography. The actor playing Danny Rand was clearly not up to the task and/or given enough prep time, and they couldn’t rely on a stunt double because his face was uncovered, so it was pretty easy to tell that just about everyone he was fighting - many of whom were chosen for their roles for their martial arts skills - was better than him. And this is specifically Iron Fist’s thing, being a kung fu master. It’s what he was sold as in the comics; it’s part of his charm. It’s kinda like not making Luke Cage strong or bulletproof?

(4) The total conflation of Asian cultures. Colleen Wing, a Chinese woman, placed by a Chinese actress, wielding a Japanese sword and raised by the Hand, who adhere to a very vague Japanese honor code, but the Hand (at least the people that Danny visited on that campus) doesn’t seem to contain many Japanese people. Even the other scripted Asian, Davos, wasn’t played by an Asian guy. The showrunners just took whatever they wanted from wherever they wanted to make their script go, without paying any attention to the cultural sensitivities of that part of the world, which is why I can’t even get my Asian-American fans to watch it. Like they have seen every other Marvel show and movie and they are just skipping right over this one.

(5) Oh, and having an old Chinese woman as a tea-drinking opium dealer is pretty racist, too. But I like Madame Gao so much I’m willing to forgive. Except for that scene in Daredevil where she was ALSO running a laundromat, painting cherry blossoms, because someone was just ticking off racist boxes?

(6) The non-mystical part of the plot was super duper boring. It’s not hard to make problems of the 1% (as Iron Fist was pitched in certain promotions) interesting; people do it all the time. Americans love to see rich people get taken down a peg and we love office dramas. But G-ddamn did I not care who was running Rand Industries. Danny was super obsessed with it because either the plot demanded it or he wanted to be super rich, which is not exactly a lovable character trait. He associated his dad with a company that makes dangerous chemicals? Doesn’t sound like he and his dad had much of a relationship. Seeing him act like a totally unqualified CEO who doesn’t know anything about his own business was kind of fun, but most of it was about stakeholding and shares and company protocol and didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I found it hard to care about a guy who is offered 25 million dollars to go away and thinks it’s nobler to stick around to try and get more money. I’ve never been offered 25 million dollars to sit around and do nothing. I would very much like to be offered ANY amount of money to sit around and do nothing. It made Danny act like a whiny, greedy asshole, which I could understand if he had just come out of a monastery and got really seduced by the material pleasures of life (which happens to a LOT of ex-monks), but he was just right out of the gate, “This company is mine and I want it.”

(7) Danny was a creepy stalker who should have left Colleen alone. Walking in with dinner? Buying her building? Do you know how freaked out I would be if this guy I couldn’t get rid of was now my landlord? Because I would be VERY freaked out. I would probably get a restraining order. But then we learn that, contrary to the way she’s been acting, she’s cozying up to him because of the Hand? Maybe? I’m super confused but that doesn’t make him any less creepy.

(8) There are very specific laws about 72-hour holds and how psychiatrists operate. Considering not one but two characters’ fortunes hinged on it, you would have thought somebody would have looked this stuff up.

(9) Holy shit, the Hand has a cure to opium addiction? Dude Ward you make pharmaceuticals!?! How is this never mentioned again?

(10) The acting was not spectacular. Most of the main characters were having a trouble holding down their British/Kiwi accents, which kind of made them sound like they were from nowhere. Certainly not New York. It wasn’t so much of a problem until real actors showed up, like Rosario Dawson or Carrie Fisher Anne Moss, and you were like, “Oh, that’s how you sell a ridiculous line.” I actually didn’t enjoy Claire too much because she really outshone her co-stars, and her “why the fuck are we doing this stupid plan” question didn’t get answered.

(11) This whole show seemed very much like a rush job. A lot of care and devotion went into the previous shows. You could tell that the showrunners were deeply versed not only in the mythology of the shows but also some parts of them were visual masterpieces with their use of color and framing to resemble comic panels. They had plotlines that developed and ended. Characters grew. They had a reason for being there. You could tell what they were about and where they were going. Iron Fist was a visually uninteresting show that spent 13 hours setting up the Hand plotline in the Defenders, a plotline that already ruined the second half of Daredevil season 2. It wasn’t a show about the Iron Fist. We didn’t learn what the Iron Fist was, or what he was supposed to do, or why he wasn’t doing it. He didn’t seem to know himself, but the fact that he became the Iron Fist without knowing what the hell the Iron Fist is supposed to do wasn’t a plot that was explored, even though it could have been a really interesting one. He just told everyone what he was over and over again, as if somebody in the room forgot, and never supplied any explanation because he didn’t seem to have any information. This is not mythology building. This is just killing time until the plot comes along.

(12) Oh yeah, and Danny struck a black kid and called him a monkey. Let’s not forget that shit.