Improvisation

I discover quickly that the biggest improv obstacle for me is that I always come to the scene with a fully formed story in my mind and stubbornly refuse to deviate from it... I like knowing what to expect, even for the simplest of things... I like to have a sense of what’s going to happen next – and improv consistently pulls the rug out from under me.

From: “Sorry I’m Late, I didn’t Want to Come. One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes” by Jessica Pan (2019)

So, I found this comment on a video where Neil Newbon, the voice actor of Astarion, confirms that Astarion is, in fact, pansexual. Not gay, but pansexual, and this person still feels the need to try to debunk it, then has the gall to be like "IT FEELS LIKE GAY ERASURE TO MAKE A CLEARLY GAY MAN BI/PAN FOR MARKETING PURPOSES" when they were literally spouting bi/pan erasure just because Astarion is theatrical and talks about men.

So... who's going to tell them that Astarion flirts with Shadowheart and Lae'zel, too? Who's going to tell them that relying on stereotypes is bad?

"It's so weird to watch Astarion romance videos with a female Tav". Well, it shouldn't. He's pansexual. If you can't stomach it, that's your problem.

Happy 75th, Jessica Lange.

2013 photo by Steven Pan.

Me again! What's your favorite ship for Disney's Hook? I personally like Hook/Smee because old gay couple/friends to lovers. But I also want to know your fav ships

So, here’s the thing… I do understand why some people ship Hook and Smee, but to me, Mr. Smee’s relationship to Hook is more paternal. Disney Smee in particular is just like…that old man who is universally accepted by the neighborhood kids to be everyone’s adoptive grandpa. And truthfully, I feel like Smee is probably aro/ace and just…doesn’t really think much about romantic love or anything like that. Given the age difference, I headcanon that he has known Hook since the captain was a boy and was probably the only safe male role model in his life. Smee feels like he really dropped the ball by not doing more to get young James away from his abusive father when he was little and so makes up for it now by looking out for him and trying to always continue to see the little sparks of goodness in him despite everything.

As far as who I DO ship Hook with…I guess it depends on WHICH version of Disney we’re talking about, lol. Personally, I consider there to be three different “variants” of Disney Hook: (1) The OG “canon” Hook from the films, (2) Jake and the Neverland Pirates Hook AU, and (3) Pirate Fairy Cabin Boy James AU. The latter two have some fairly obvious canon or nearly canon ships which I am totally onboard for. I mean, Red Jessica has Jake-verse Hook blushing like a schoolboy and stumbling over his words and how can you NOT love them together?! They’re just SO CUTE!! Zarina and James are…more complicated, but just…I wanted them to be friends (or more) so badly throughout the whole film, even knowing how it would inevitably end. Seeing him actually fly in that film and be happy…I need more of that in my life. As for the original Disney Hook…okay, hear me out…I know this is a weird one but I was pretty young when I started shipping it and it just…stuck. I love the idea of all Disney characters just existing in one giant crossover universe like in House of Mouse (which I grew up on), so like…the villains all hang out together, right? And while Hook is my favorite male Disney villain, my favorite female villain is Cruella so…. It was kinda inevitable that I ended up shipping them. The two of them just seem like they’d suit each other… Both posh, well-dressed British villains whose nemeses are children and animals. They also often show up together along with Jafar in villain groupings. (And which my younger self decided meant there was some kind of love triangle going on that probably eventually soured the friendship.) They could be a villain power couple! Or…I could headcanon a redemption arc story for the both of them which might sound ridiculous but which 13 year-old me managed to do. So yeah… here I am 20+ years later still shipping it. 😅

Captain Hook Villain Backstory

James Hook is his real name in this, different then Barrie's Hook who was named something before but so much of Disney's Peter Pan/Neverland stuff is different then Barries so I don't feel too bad changing it

Alot of this stuff is taken from backstory elements given to him in the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" show, which I'm going to say has been 'filtered' to retell to children and contained a lot more actual peril and such in the Real Events which 'inspired' the show 

James  was raised by his mother Dorothea and her first mate Nell,  and spent his childhood in the Seas of the EverRealm, including the NeverSea, which contains the Neverland Archipelago which sits at the fuzzy border of the EverRealm and Our World

It was during this time that he learned to speak the  language of the Neverland fairies 

But he was rather dismal at pirating, and so as a boy was sent back into Our World to attend Eton under the care of his mother's sister, Emily--both his mother and Nell had sailed out of Our World (after starting as a lady and her maid fleeing the lady’s cruel husband with baby Hook on the way) aboard a washtub turned escape vessel and had originally hailed from England before turning pirates 

Turns out that he just needed to get out from under his famous mother's shadow. Hook flourished at Eton, becoming a member of the esteemed Eton Society even, and became a source of pride and terror to the school, hailed later as a "Great Etonion, if not a good one"  

Eventually though he tired of academic life and set out once more to sea, undertaking his childhood occupation once more with considerably more skill and cunning. No doubt learned while destroying his opponents on the playing fields.

Despite his new vigor however, becoming captain of his own ship at the age of 18 due to his prowess, he  lost his first crew during an unfortunate incident involving blue pixie dust, which left him with a vendetta against the inhabitants of Neverland

He was rescued from a watery grave in the NeverSea by one William Smee, who worked aboard the vessel under the dreaded(and likely Cursed to still be about and buckeenering at this time) Captain Blackbeard. Hook quickly moved through the ranks of the ship becoming Blackbeard's bosun, before overthrowing and marooning the infamous pirate and those loyal to him, and forming a new crew, renaming the ship The Jolly Rodger

Hook sailed about for several years pirating across the Everrealm and dipping into Our World before returning to Neverland to cause some trouble for the fairies of Pixie Hallow--and finding himself sans one hand thanks to the fairies new charge and protector, one Peter Pan

Hook then spent years in Neverland trying to get revenge on Pan before being chased out to the Outer Islands of the Neverland Archipelago, where, having lost his crew apart from the ever loyal Mr. Smee and two musically inclined though rather dim crewmates, he was forced to eek out an existence trying to rebuild his reputation. All while running afoul of another young boy and his friends who'd been placed there by Pan to protect the Outer Islands

Eventually Hook was able to regain his prestige and his crew (though neither where what they once were) and set about attempting to gain revenge on Pan once more, though this time he tried to do so through kidnapping Pan's beloved Wendy Darling-though he actually got her daughter Jane, as he was unaware how much time had passed in Our World

Stuff that brings in my Canon Descendants characters:

After this latest defeat at the hands of children Hook finally decided to try settling down, and for some years lived peaceably enough with his long admired lady, the piratess Red Jessica. Despite Hook's dislike of children the pair even had three of their own together, and Hook came to care for them in a degree his own way, though he was never a very good father 

Eventually though the couple split and Hook returned to his own pirating, determined as ever to gain his revenge on Peter Pan.

And what is not? Jessica would play a good role in Peter Pan 2

Favorite Character Tag!

Thanks @tina-mairin-goldstein for the tag!

Put 4 of your favorite characters from 4 different medias to see who's the favorite of your favorites, and tag 4 people.

No pressure tagging: @sarcasticsciencefictionwriter, @celestialcrowley, @mattatouile, @itslemonfluff, @jedimastergoat

The urge to make an ask blog for my OC I made when I was 12 and had to do major revisions in order to survive my beloved,,,,

This is Jessica Winterwolf who I created on an airplane and they were scientifically experimented on and is now an immortal 14 year old werewolf girl that lives with a photographer named Flora that lives in the woods. Also she sells potions on the black market she is. She is such an obvious "unbalanced powerhouse with overdramatic backstory" OC but she is literally my child I love her so much I am going to scream

finally finished the msq up to dawntrail last night (after about a week of trying to get groups for the trials lmao)

so I found the whole thirteenth storyline really boring before I stopped playing ffxiv last year and coming back to it... it's still kinda boring. it's not *as* boring as it was, but I think it's helped when you're not playing little bits and pieces in the patch drops.

I just found it hard to care too much about azdaja's fate and zero bounced between being likeable and interesting and then kind of flat. golbez wasn't compelling until the last few quests (and even then it was too little too late - I mean he was actually a kind of emet-selch figure but without any of the character depth emet had). it seemed really lacking in any notable character moments from the main crew. and the humour was missing. it became super earnest, especially re: zero's shift into mini wol. and that was fine and all, but just kind of eh.

things I did like:

learning more about the thirteenth and its fall

the dungeon where you go back to the contramemoria and play through golbez's memories

y'shtola revealing she changed the incantation for her nixie and then threatening wol and estinien into silence about the old version

GAIA ACTUALLY REAPPEARING AND BEING VOICED though right at the end and with the whole 'you should have asked me for help' YEAH WE SHOULD HAVE WOW WHAT A THOUGHT SQUEENIX

that moment when they're talking about the trust and belief in someone displayed by clasping their hand (like a handshake) and wol thinks about zenos reaching out to them as he died (made me a little feral!!!!!)

but the big thing that seemed off to me was that... this kind of felt like a big side quest? I kept waiting for the moment where this would tie to a bigger story and then they were like 'ok all done bye zero'. we didn't even get any significant payoff in terms of establishing cross rift travel? and THEN the dawntrail msq started.

speaking of the dawntrail stuff... I'm also kind of 'eh' about it. I liked that they actually stressed that maybe it's not a great idea to just jump into a foreign country's power succession process and that you know very little about the person whose claim you might be supporting. I like that krile is finally getting a chance to shine (though I am FURIOUS about g'raha staying behind). but I'm not super invested atm. the only thing I am very curious about is what thancred and urianger are up to (besides being unable to stay apart).

and i'm sorry but pictomancer looks kind of ridiculous

YA, like any other market, is dynamic. So, here are some gems that people have missed out on because people would rather complain about books that were published over a decade ago than read a new one.

The Undead Truth of Us by Britney S. Lewis: After her mother's death, Zharie is convinced that zombies are everywhere. Navigating grief and her mother's secrets, this heart-wrenching debut is about the monster inside all of us.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by RM Romero: Sent to live with her aunt in Prague for the summer, Ilana tends to a hidden graveyard surrounded by roses. While there, she experiences ghosts and wonders and magic.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis: Known for communicating with the dead, Katrell is forced at a crossroad after her mom kicks her out. Suddenly, the dead are louder and her magic has gained unexpected consequences.

From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos: Hannah wakes up with a curse brought on by her family's legacy. Tracing her mother's footsteps, she explores the generational trauma and the monsters that her family won't let go.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily XR Pan: Leigh knows her mother has turned into a bird. She goes to Taiwan to visit her grandparents and to understand why, but the past has way of showing deeper truths.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger: Drawn by her cousin's ghost, Ellie is compelled to solve his murder. But the town is full of secrets that even her faithful ghost dog can't sniff out.

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman: Following a series of events at her sister's wedding, Tess runs away, joins an old friend, and goes on the road in search of a mythical serpent that sleeps under the earth.

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah: Born in a cruel caste system, Koral takes matters into her own hands by cheating to join a dangerous tournament. Full of monsters on sea and land, survival has never been more important.

Just checked the height differences between a few of my Star Trek oc’s and um….

One of these days, I'll learn to stop getting upset and scroll past a bad take of Astarion and the blatant bi/pan erasure of them, but that day isn't today.

I also don't see it happening tomorrow.

Anyway, here's a screenshot of my female human bard and the canonically pansexual vampire elven man who adores her.

look at the rainbow between them. theyre both queer . both of them.

Rick and Morty going to an alternate dimension where Jessica is a guy named Jessie, and Morty immediately knows who he is as his heart pounds faster.

babe look at me.....this isnt you 

can jesson make ANYTHING original and not just steal everything from other media? meifwa were originally called khajiit, aarons original lastname was lomensa, not to mention zvahl, romeave, ru'aun, tu'la, the divine warriors titles etc

i just found out that even the ultima name is from final fantasy fucking hell