#and i went all the way back to the fucking sony post

[beardedmrbean]

Thank you for liking my collection, perhaps other people will too

But I saw that post about how funimation is shutting down and it’s capitalism fault…but bitch it’s streaming service exclusively for ANIME. A huge niche

Also to the reason why, their both are shitshows. But Sony owns funimation and bought crunchyroll, two anime streaming services

Now crunchyroll(which is a shitshow too) got popular

Like been to your local Walmart?

There a section at Walmart dvd area dedicated to crunchyroll in mine

So while this sucks (especially it seems that Sony isn’t going to let people transition their Funi stuff to crunchyroll) it not shocking

Now their a mess, let compare this to Disney handling of Disney plus and Hulu

Now yes Disney plus app is have a hub for Hulu now. Which thank you, because I have the Disney plus bundle (I sharing it with other people. SHIT THE MOUSE IS COMING FOR ME!) but it sure as hell more convenient for me to use the Hulu hub than go out to another app to watch Hulu content

Though it FUCKING funny how my continue watching can have Disney plus alongside with seienin anime

But anyways, I can see why Sony did that because, both streaming services are niches and crunchyroll is just bigger

But I’m 23, any anime consumption…

Bitch back in the day most westerners anime fans had to watch cable TVs blocks like Toonami. Like my tv consumption were in flux. I didn’t have cable all the time and watch a lot of dvds especially in road trips. A lot of my anime consumption started by watch adult swim aired anime. Or if my family a little bit of money. Cable box where I watch Digimon on Disney old block Jetix

Actually the photo I sent you will probably help your other anime fans on how I consume anime

But anime streaming services…are niche af. Yes anime went mainstream in the west, but they can easily be gone instantly. Actually one of my favorite Drifters was taken off it streaming services. But I was able to get the blu ray

Sorry for the essay…I’m just SHOCKED on how bad certain people over reliance of streaming services is because I still really the twilight years of renting (grew up near a family video)

Thank you for liking my collection, perhaps other people will too

ya like I said I recognized the obvious ones, never really did much with anime.

As for all the services, it's a really weird thought that's come into my head watching all of this.

Most folks out in tumblr land probably won't remember when the "Bell System" was broken up.

The phone system in the US was a legal monopoly, until it wasn't a legal monopoly and the Fed broke it up into regional things and also opened things up to competition for a bit there were hundreds of different phone companies popping up offering the best price on local or long distance and all that good stuff.

Then they started to get absorbed by the bigger ones, still no return to the monopoly since that's not allowed but went from on choice to oddles of choices back down to just a few choices none of which were terrible.

Cellphones did that too when they showed up, was never a monopoly but there were tons of regional outfits selling service, that all got slowly bought up by larger and larger companies.

Cable and satellite TV as well as internet too.

I think we may be seeing that with streaming services, not really any tiny fly by night groups doing streaming services but there's only so many that can be out there before they stop being profitable, especially the niche ones.

Which I think that merger and the price hike that is coming with it is a thing that was basically inevitable, the price hike will reverse if history is any indicator, at leas so long as people remain pissed about it and don't sub.

That or they'll sell packages so you can customize what you want.

Either way I'm still with you on the need to rely less on streaming services, I feel the same way about the cloud, which I refuse to use, I know how to work around all that if the need arises.

#zoomer huey anon

[stackthedeck]

Not sure if i asked you this yet but; whatever made you get into spideydevil may i ask?

Okay so I'm trying to remember the exact details and I don't like how the math is math so...

I know that the series ultraviolent by spideywhiteys was what made the ship click for me, like that was the fic that got me on board with the dynamic.

like I shipped Peter with Deadpool and Harry Osborn before but because I didn't have a ton of comic knowledge pre 2018 ish, I didn't connect Daredevil and Spider-Man like I watched the show but it never crossed my mind to put them together which in hindsight is very funny because they are besties in the comics.

I think I first sought out the ship on ao3 because after No Way Home came out, I went back to Daredevil but before that, I went back to Spider-Man. And when nwh came out tumblr was just nonstop spider-man, but specifically Andrew Garfield because he's our princess Diana. There was this one post that was just Andrew Garfield surrounded by I think it was johnny storm, Deadpool, a black male mj, and Matt Murdock and I was like...yeah. Like I just needed to ship Peter with some guy because I'm still bitter that Sony took bi Peter Parker from Andrew Garfield. But Matt Murdock was not my first choice. Like again my comic knowledge is severely lacking so umm...well we all know what my response to no way home was and I'm not proud of it. Basically, I just woke up one day and was like what the fuck am I doing and found every possible spider-man ship to retrain my brain from my terrible mistake.

and Spideydevil just clicked because I was reminded of my love for spider-man at the same time that I was clicking with the Daredevil tv like right time right circumstances. Although if I didn't find it in this extremely convaluted way, the Waid run would have gotten me on board.

#asks #can't believe peter squared got me insane enough for this ship #i tried literally every peter ship #went to the top of the tag for every ship and was like it this clicks this will be my new ship until I find something wrong with it #but like trust me it works #i've been doing a series on tiktok about why ships are appealing #and i could do that for spideydevil #like it's a ship that makes sense #it's not a crack ship i swear

[blkkizzat]

Hey 😈 here!!! I'm happy to hear your trip went smoothly. I was worried based on the stories I was hearing about women being assaulted in certain parts of India, but I guess it's just like everywhere else you have to watch where you go. But that flight does sound really fucking long though, I hope you get a lot of rest now that you're back!! ^^ I wanna travel too....but sigh no one to go with cause I don't feel comfortable traveling by myself unless it's necessary

Hi 😈 anon!!! My pooks I hope you are well! Haha I did have a bump because one of the hotels booked was like a nightmare and we had to switch and it was like pulling teeth from the program coodinator but other than that it was very smooth! (lol may tell that storytime here one day cause its a doozy!).

Yes, I will say especially as a foreigner woman you definitely feel more eyes on you than usual and the men there do not have an issue with starring. Like O_O. LOL! Definitely a different type of cultural norm. Modesty is very highly valued, I would not recommend short skirts/shorts or cleavage bearing tops. I wore none of that and still felt eyes on us. The only time we really saw any skin or semi formfitting was with women wearing Sari and Lehenga (i got a custom made one when I was there I may post a pic with me in it soon!) where a bit of the mid drift is showing and the top is more tailored. Otherwise women wore loose fitting western clothes. Although we did go to some more mall type stores with non-traditional western clothes sold by Indian stores and they did have some halter or crop tops and short skirts but I never saw anyone wear anyway in public. I only saw one woman in leggings (without a long top/Kurta over it when she was about to go into the gym and even then she had dudes looking at her crazy lol. Omfg bless my doctor for the xanax prescription. The flights feel like a fever dream, but just on the way back dragged on a bit (i think cause I was super tired and eager to get home and had been up for so long) but surprisingly more bareable than I thought they'd be in the moment at least. Noise cancelling headphones is KEY!! My sonys were a godsend!

You definitely should try to travel! It can be intimidating if you are female identifying/presenting, especially alone but very rewarding. I've only flown places alone to meet up with groups (most nerve wrecking was definitely my Japan study abroad cause I had to meet up with a group at the airport and was terrified they would leave without me lmfaoooo). But I would consider going to like an all-inclusive resort or something alone. I just think its smarter to travel with someone else. The safest as a woman I felt anywhere was in Japan (even more than the US), but you still have to be careful there too.

#kizzatanswers #😈 anon #<3333

[swimmingleo]

Lol conspiracy theory much

By the way, RAtM cancelled the European tour too. Old man Zack de la Rocha broke his crociatus during the first leg of the US tour, he did the last couple of gigs sitting down on a chair (which I'd say is not the best RAtM experience). Anyway doctors told him he'd better start doing physio and rehab instead of going on a WHOLE FUCKING TOUR.

Either he is not healed yet or he risks fucking up his knee again, and I guess they tried to wait as long as possible to officially call it off, both for concert-goers and financiers and insurance companies (they mustn't be too psyched).

Also usually the labels have little say in tour matters, artist get around a 85% cut of the money on tours, the rest goes to the promoters and venues (or at least it used to work like this, new artists like your boy who came up in a post-streaming world probably have contracts that impinge on touring as well).

(I had tickets to the Zagreb date a couple of weeks ago, me and the bf went anyway because we already had our plane tickets and hotel paid, let me tell ya you could definitely tell our plane was full of Italian forty-somethings that did the very same thing, the same faces flying in on Saturday and back on Sunday)

(RAtM cancelling sucked double because their opening was Run the Jewels, basically two concerts in one)

yesss. i like to entertain some theorizing but providing point A and B, let your brain fill the gaps all the while dismissing counter points as lies or 'fairly vague excuses' is not enough for me, especially when the excuses aren't even vague to begin with and none of them follow a similar line. These artists all being tied to Sony really isn't that coincidental either because those are all big selling names and most likely they are going to be under one of the biggest music companies anyway. One would need to check the number of artists under Warner or Universal that are cancelling shows as well to see whether or not it is an exceptional occurrence on Sony's side. with covid ramping up we can expect more to come

(such a shame your show got cancelled cuz having run the jewels as an opener sounds absolutely fire, talk about a warm up!!)

#and yeah I do think most newer artists like harry (my boy aha) are under some 360 contract kinda deal #but idk nearly enough about this sort of things #thanks for your input! #asks

[bitterblight]

.

#no a regular text post because it doesn't deserve to be in my simon says tag #but i was looking through my messages with Nicole trying to find a dream she told me about #and i went all the way back to the fucking sony post #and it hit me again just gow fucking FAST that post grew?? i messaged her when i posted it #and it had 27 notes. and i woke up the next day and it had 500 #and then by the afternoon of the second day it hit 13k #and then the next day ut was at 45k. like holy shit thats so fast??? #also the fact that i only got ONE mean anon with that post (and 2 dumb ones that couldn't be mean if they tried) is fucking bonkers

[chaeiimimi]

14 𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖔 𝖇𝖆𝖇𝖞

Summary: you weren’t really sure how it happened, but an average student who wore glasses and spent all her extra time on bookstores and library managed to date your school’s volleyball club setter. On your 3rd year of law school, your ten years anniversary to be exact, he went home from Argentina and it was a week before he was going back, he broke up with you with the reason of he can't handle long-distance relationship anymore despite being at it for two years. You didn’t cry, you stood there as he was sobbing in front of you, you held his face in your palms and offered him a gentle smile, gentle enough to let him know you’ll support him and will always be watching him, together with the child in your stomach right now, but he doesn’t need to know that.

Oikawa's press conference broke the internet, who could've thought that the kind, lovely and innocent Sato Himari wasn't who she seemed to be?

The internet was quick to switch sides, of course some of Himari's avid fans were still on her side and were still pushing the fact that Oikawa was the father of the child and Y/n manipulated Oikawa to do the press conference, but the majority was on y/n's side

The night after the conference, there was a huge celebration at your house, since you and Himari decided to cook up a huge feast, Oikawa's teammates from Argentina stopped by and visited your home and had a few drinks, Iwaizumi, Akira and the Seijoh Volleyball team of your batch was also there

The night was filled with a lot of tone-deaf singing from Akira, Iwaizumi trying to save his girlfriend from embarassment and misserably failing, Kindaichi having to vomit every few minutes but still decided to drink more, the twins being passed around because people can't get enough of their cuteness until Haruto just fell asleep on Kunimi's lap and Hayato fell asleep on one of Oikawa's teammates lap, Maki and Issei slow dancing to Akira singing "Hello" by Adelle which was very off key, Oikawa taking a picture of them with his left hand while his right is securly wrapped around your waist, Oikawa's argentinian teammates speaking in spanish while Oikawa translates for the team and vice versa to his Japanese friends

It was indeed a fun time, it felt like your head was lifted from underwater, you can breath again, the heavy burden you've been carrying for the past few months evaporated into thin air

A week after that, you were able to file a case against Himari, although you didn't want to do it in the first place because she was still your cousin and she's also pregnant, but you were also a mother and you were only trying to save your kids and your family on what she can do in the future

It was also later on found out that she was mentally unstable and needed therapy before having her baby

Everything seems to be falling in place, and it was a week before Oikawa had to leave for Argentina to begin a new season

You laid in your bed face to face, his hot breath fanning your forehead while you nuzzle into his chest

"bubs?" he calls

"hm?"

"i'm going back to Argentina next week"

"yeah, I know you're gonna do well this season"

"for sure, I have to make you and the twins proud"

You chuckled

"win or lose, we're still proud of you Tooru"

He smiles as he pulls you closer

"I know this might be too fast, and I know it still hasn't been long since we got together, god this is the lamest way to say it, but, will you move with me? To Argentina"

You feel his breath hitch and his heartbeat quicken, was he nervous?

You looked up at him and smiled

"we'll follow you anywhere babe"

And just like that, the day after Oikawa was helping you pack your things, he also insists on only bringing your clothes and not empty out the whole house since he still plans on staying here during off seasons, which was why, unbeknownst to your knowledge, he bought the house

A week later, you flew to Argentina to start a new life with Oikawa and your sons

"papa rapido!" Hayato exclaims while clutching the bag filled with baby bottles

"Mama are you okay?" Haruto calmy rubs your back and stomach as you were sweating buckets and breathing deeply, a puddle of water in front of the chair you were sitting on

The twins are now six years old and grew up to be fine boys

You were now expecting your third baby and your first daughter, but you didn't expect to give birth to her in Japan, you travelled here during mid-pregnancy and Oikawa had a long off-season, but you weren't due in like a week or two and you were planning on returning to Argentina tomorrow

Looks like that's going to have to wait

"OIKAWA I AM NOT ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH IN THIS HOUSE" you screamed

Your husband came out of your room, multiple bags hung in his body, his lips were trembling and his hand clutching his phone was shaking

"y-yeah yeah l-let me call an a-ambulance"

He shakingly dials a number

It rings three times before somebody picks up

"hello!"

"hello pizza delivery how may I help you sir?"

...

What the fuck?

"did you just dial a pizza place while your wife is in labor?"

The twins looks at the door and cheered "Seijoh Uncles!" synchronised like they were looking at their saving grace

Lo and behold it was indeed the Seijon ex-volleyball team, right there to save the day

Maki and Watari took the bags hanging on Oikawa's body

"carry your wife to the van"

Oikawa mindlessly nods and carries you in bridal style to Issei's van, which by the way had a huge fucking funeral home logo on it

But it didn't matter to Oikawa, what mattered was to get his wife to deliver their baby girl safely

And soon a whole ass volleyball team except for Iwaizumi, a shouting pregnant woman and two hyperactive twins were able to fit in the funeral home van

Thank god it wasn't traffic 'cause you ain't never seen a funeral home van travel so fast it was practically flying

Your arrival caused a huge commotion, imagine fully grown men, stepping out of a funeral home vam, screaming "help she's giving birth!", two identical boys screaming "our sister is coming!" and a very pale husband who was carrying his pregnant wife with wobbly knees

What added even more to the commotion was an arrival of another van, it was black with a huge MSBY sign to it

It revealed a Bokuto in a maskot costume without the head, Akaashi holding his-well the maskot's hand, Atsumu and Hinata practically screaming "this is an emergency! A baby is about to come out of her!", Sakusa who was clutching all the baby bags looking very embarassed at his teammates while Iwaizumi was there, his trainer clothes crumpled, his hair dishevelled and carrying Akira who was practically going hysterical

The medical staffs were flabbergasted at the sight of a lot of tall, muscular man in the ER, they immediately led the two husbands to the place their wives on the bed and rolled them over to the same delivery room since there wasn't any vacant one

"hey Iwa, I don't mind if my daughter falls in love with your son"

Oikawa says out of nowhere, their screaming wives in the background

"shut up shittykawa...I don't mind either"

"YOU TWO BETTER STOP THAT BROMANCE MOMENT OF YOURS WE ARE LITERALLY DYING HERE" you screamed in so much pain

"IWAIZUMI YOU MOTHERFUCKER I'M NEVER GOING TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU EVER AGAIN AHHHHH" Akira was having it worst since it was her first time

Oikawa was pale, because of the nervous and the fact that you were squeezing his hand so tightly it felt like it was going to break

While Iwaizumi was taking Akira's tugs, kisses, and curses like a champ

After a lot of abuse for Iwaizumi and Oikawa, they finally heard theur babies' cries which made it all worth it

Oikawa takes a look at your daughtee, his eyes watered as he cuts the umbilical cord

He went to you and peppered your sweaty and unconscious face with kisses

"thank you bubs, thank you for making me the happiest man on earth now"

I may or may not be posting special chapters. Anywayssssss~ i just got home from a fam reunion and I'm finally updating this BHSHSHSHS, i love you guys so much, thank you to all those who read this until the end😭💖 sending virtual hugs and kithes😘 and remember to stay happy, healthy and safe babeesss💗💓

Taglist:

@heiressofdexter @artsamber @seashellmichellee @meri-soni-meri-tamanna @misssugarless @minnieminnie00-got7  @karakento @maizumis @torus-wiife @fiaesco @stormcastello @tintina365 @sakusasimpbot   @falconfeather23435 ​ @jojowantstocry @pluviophilefangirl ​ @qualitygiantshoepsychic

#oikawa x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #oikawa tooru #oikawa x y/n #haikyuu fanfiction #oikawa tooru x reader

[tommodirection]

Miss You More

Louis Tomlinson x Singer! Reader

Masterlist

Word Coung: 2.5k

Warnings: swearing, death, cancer, mentions of death

Disclaimer: Miss You More is an actual song that I wrote, and it isn’t published or anything, but it’s one I wrote about the loss of my grandfather, and so I may link it here if I feel like it so you know what the song is and what it’s about, there are just a few words you’d have to change, but anyways!

A/N: Heylo! I’m going to be honest with you, this is not my favorite thing I’ve ever written, and it’s a little corny, and poorly worded, but eh. It’s one am, I’m going to sleep after this! Anyways, I hope y’all enjoy! Thank you, and have a nice day!

——————

Ever since you were a child, you knew you wanted to sing.

It all started with your mum. When you were little, she’d always sing to you, every night before you went to bed.

Soon enough, you began singing back to her, and she loved every second of it.

You sang together every chance you got, singing in the car, in the house, at parties, even when you walked the dog together through your neighborhood.

She had encouraged you to make a YouTube channel for your music, knowing you’d make it big. At first, you were hesitant, not confident enough to post your voice on the internet, but you finally agreed weeks later.

You mostly did covers at first. Of course, your 14-year-old self didn’t know what she was doing. All she knew was that she was doing something she loved.

About a year after making the channel, you began making custom content. You learned to play the guitar and you’d use it almost every second. You took it everywhere. Well, everywhere you knew you’d be able to show off.

The songs were mostly about crushes and school and friends, the main things circling around your life at the time.

But it all changed when you were sixteen.

It was no secret your mother had cancer. She had since you were little, yet she had kept fighting it, succeeding for a few years.

The doctors had said she was getting better, on her way to becoming cured, well, as cured as she could be.

But out of nowhere, it plunged. She was coughing up blood, and could barely stand, needing assistance to go the bathroom. It just kept getting worse.

One of the worst parts of losing your mum was the fact that it was the holiday season, ruining the time of year for your family for years to come.

You remembered her final day alive. She was laying in the hospital bed, lips chapped and all colored drained from her face. Her lips were bloodied as well, reminisce of the blood she had hacked up minutes ago.

Your father and siblings were there beside her. Your father held your little brother, he was four at the time, and your younger sister was standing next to you, she was twelve. Alex didn’t fully understand what was happening, he just knew his mum wasn’t well, and he mostly hid his face in your father’s shoulder.

Morgan, however, understood exactly what was happening, and she was crying beside you. She was trying her best to hold back, maintaining a straight stance and trying to hide her shaking hands. You watched as tears flooded down her face, making small wet patches on the sheets.

You looked at your mum, studying her. She had done so much for all of you, but there was nothing you could do for her as she layed in the bed, motionless, save for her eyes, darting between all of you.

You knew how much singing meant to your mother, and so you did the only thing you knew you could do. You sang.

Her favorite holiday song was Silver Bells, so you started the song, your family soon joining in. Your mother smiled gratefully at all of you.

She joined in towards the chorus, her voice still weak, but just as beautiful as when you first heard it.

Those were your last moments with your mother.

She passed away hours later, the anticipated news crushing your family.

You had all slept together that night, knowing you couldn’t be apart. Alex didn’t know what had happened, and you knew your father couldn’t handle it, so you had stepped in, trying to explain to the boy that his mum was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.

—

After she passed, you had stopped uploading to your channel, getting emotional every time you even tried singing.

But months later, you had decided not to give up. Instead, you chose to move forward. You started writing again.

The song you were writing was about your mother, it seemed fitting. You knew no amount of words could ever sum up your relationship with her, nor your grief, but you tried your best in the song.

You had spent a few months writing the song, not it a rush. You were pouring your heart into this song, and if it was rushed, you knew it’d have no meaning, just some words with a few riffs thrown in.

A few days after your seventeenth birthday, you uploaded the video onto your account, the first video uploaded since your mother had died.

After uploading it, you decided to turn your computer off for the night. You knew how obsessive you got with checking your feedback, you normally refreshed the page until your fingers were sore.

Instead, you walked into the kitchen, guitar forgotten. You hadn’t shared the song with your family yet, and you knew you needed to do acapella, it was much more fitting.

You were scared of how they were going to react, especially your dad and Morgan.

Immediately after finishing the song, Morgan tackled you in a hug, burying her head in your shoulder, “Thank you,” she mumbled and you pelt tears pricking your eyes.

Your dad stood, his hand over his mouth. Alex was sitting at the table, eating his cereal. You waited in silence for a few moments, waiting for your dad to say something, but nothing.

Alex interrupted the silence, “That’s the first time I’ve heard you sing in a while, sissy,” he said, a wide grin. You don’t know where your family would be without Alex. He knew exactly how to light up a whole room, he knew how to make people feel better.

“I know, bud,” you smiled and he gave you a toothy grin, turning back to his cereal.

You dad finally let out a small, choked sob, “I miss her so much,” he said, opening his arms. You quickly collapsed in them. He was the one you wanted approval from the most.

“I do too, Dad,” you whispered.

—

Years later, you found yourself at Triple Strings Record Label.

A man sat in front of you, shuffling through some papers at his desk. He sighed loudly, and shoved the papers aside, giving you his full attention, “So, miss L/N, we’ve heard some of your work, and were quiet big fans,” he said, folding his hands in front of him.

“Thank you,” you smiled nervously, and he glanced at the clock.

“Well, my name is Bryan, Bryan Detreon. I’m an agent here for all the upcoming stars in the music industry, although I can’t take credit for finding you, that goes to the creator of the label himself,” he chuckled and you froze.

“Wait, the owner as in, like, Louis Tomlinson?” You asked, suddenly sitting up in your chair.

Of course you knew who Louis Tomlinson was. You were a year younger than him, grew up with him on the screen and on the radio.

He let out a small laugh, “Yeah, as in Louis Tomlinson, he found you personally and requested you be brought in. He’s offering you a contract, I’ve emailed it to you, but I’d like to go over it now, just to point out some things! Now, he said to take as much time as you needed to decide. You can have a lawyer look over this if you’d like, and just back to us when you have an answer! Although, he’d probably prefer to have it before the beginning of his tour! Oh yeah! He wants you as his one opening act!” He finished, pushing a copy of the document towards you.

You took a second to process what he had said, and when you finally had. You nearly fell out of your chair. “He wants me to open for him?!”

“Yup,” he continued as if it were nothing. “Now, in the first section…” you tuned him out, you’d read it at home.

Louis fucking Tomlinson wanted you to open for him. How were you supposed to say no? Your dream come true, after years of posting on YouTube and going to school to study music, hoping someone would find you, and it had all led to this.

Twenty-six years of your life, all leading up to this moment.

“Any questions?” Bryan asked, locking eyes with your

You quickly shook your head, gathering your stuff and standing up. “Nope, thank you so much for this opportunity, I will definitely look it over and email you as soon as I know! Thank you!” You rambled, and ran out the door, trying to rush home.

“I got fucking signed!” You screamed into the empty household. You had your own place, but you felt the need to run to your family’s home to share the news.

Your dad walked in from the kitchen, Alex trailing behind him. Alex was fourteen now, which now meant he was starting to call horn father out on his bullshit, not that there was much.

“Welcome home to you too,” your Dad teased, and Alex looked up, his face instantly lighting up. He ran and wrapped his arms around you, he was beginning to tower over you.

“I missed you,” he grumbled, trying to hide his face.

You laughed and patted his back, “I missed you too bud.”

“What’s this about being signed?” Morgan strolled into the room, she was still living at home, finishing her last semester of university. She had grown into a beautiful woman, looking almost identical to your mother.

“Right! So, I got a call and email about an interview, and it said to meet at the Sony label here, and to go to the Triple String label office! I get there, and the guy tells me that they’re huge fans and want me to sign a contract with them! Turns out, LOUIS FUCKING TOMLINSON WANTS ME TO OPEN FOR HIM!” You screamed, not caring about the neighbors.

Morgan swooped you into a hug, you hated being the shortest. “Aw, my big sis is going to be a pop star!”

—

Months later, you stood backstage, picking at your sleeve. You glanced behind the curtain and saw hundreds of people standing and an endless chatter.

It was your first show of the tour, you had rehearsed hundreds of times, but that did nothing to settle your nerves.

Louis only had one opening act. You. You were all the crowd got before him, so you had to impress them.

You felt someone grab your waist from behind, as you nearly jumped out of your skin. You heard a small giggle in response, recognizing the voice.

You turned to playfully glare at Louis, your boyfriend of four months. You had bonded during rehearsals, and bonded over your similar life experiences, and soon enough, you had begun dating.

Only a handful of people knew, his family, and the crew on tour with you. You weren’t prepared to tell your family yet.

“What are you lookin at?” He asked, wrapping an arm around you. You rested your head on his chest.

“Just looking at the crowd, it’s huge,” you mumbled and he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

“It’ll be alright, they’ll love you,” he assured, and you smiled at him, grateful for his company.

“Thank you Lou,” you went to give him a proper kiss, but you were interrupted by the stage manager, telling you it was time for you to get in your position.

You quickly waved Louis goodbye, and ran to your platform under the stage, the one that you’d be rising up on in seconds.

They gave you a countdown, and a crew member handed you a mic.

On one, they hauled you up, your hand already in their places.

You were met with a roar of cheers and applause as you surfaced, singing one of your most popular songs, ‘Don’t Start With Me Now,’ written about an old, toxic, best friend.

It was thrilling, hearing the people singing your lyrics back to you, you were shocked they knew them. Being on stage gave you adrenaline you’d never experienced before, and soon, all your nerves flooded away.

As you finished your song, you heard the crowd erupted into cheers, whistles being scattered throughout the crowd. Monologue time.

“Hey guys!” You greeted. “My name is Y/N L/N, and I have been chosen by the honorable host, Louis Tomlinson, to open the show up for you guys! I won’t be up here for long, just enough time to play a few more songs, but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon enough!” You hinted, the crowd screaming in response.

You played through all of the songs you’d written, well, except for one. You hadn’t played Miss You More yet, there was a surprise to come later on.

You gave a farewell to the audience, and stepped off stage, the hair and make-up people touching you up before you could even regain your footing.

Louis didn’t particularly like breaks, so the second you were off the platform, he was getting on.

You stood by, waiting for your cue.

The stage manager nodded, and you stepped onto the platform, your dress changed into a skirt and a nice blouse, courtesy of the costume department.

“Now, I have a special guest here to be with me on stage tonight. We both lost our mothers, when they were both remarkably young, and both to cancer. We’ve both written songs about it, and we thought we’d make a mash-up for you guys tonight!” He exclaimed, and the crowd's cheers nearly popped your ear.

Your platform began moving up, revealing you to the crowd. The cheers echoed through the stadium, and you smiled, waving at them, taking your place beside Louis.

You were counted in, and your mashup of Two of Us and Miss You More began. It was one of your favorite things you’d ever taken part in creating, having input from both you and Louis, not just some producers telling you what to do. This was all you.

The last chords of the song bellowed throughout the stadium. The audience’s cries and shouts of praise filled the room once again.

You looked over at Louis, who was busy admiring the crowd, his blue eyes lit up, a genuine smile on his face. It was at this moment that you realized something; you were in love with this man.

His eyes finally caught yours, and he gestured to the crowd, who was still burning as bright as before.

You smiled and whispered, “I love you.”

You knew Louis had gotten great and lip readings he had basically mastered it.

He quickly out his mic back on the stand and pulled you into a hug, leaning down to say something into your ear, just loud enough so you could hear, “I love you too.”

—

The next day, Louis was pulled into an interview before you headed to the next location. The questions were pretty simple ones, mostly openers for him to promote the movie, but there was one question at the end that made you both smile.

“What song did you fall in love to?”

You knew the answer.

A/N: Let me know if you wanna be added to my permanent taglist! Just send an ask or a message!

Permanent Taglist: @everything-is-alrightt

#louis tomlinson fanfiction #louis tomilson #louis tomlinson x reader #louis tommo #louis tomlinson #two of us #fanfic #i’m bored #sorry for being depressing #one direction x reader #one direction

[marvel-lous-things]

(Tungly.hell isn't letting me answer this in ask form so here)

Long ass post time

Okay spidey's rumoured to be coming back but this concept's fucking hilarious anyway so I'm going with it

Aight. So. The Avengers still exist.

ExcEPT

They're called the Vengeance Boyz

And they are a super secret boyband (more like rly fuckin obscure and unheard of but let's not be mean)

Their lead guitarist is a skinny blond twink named Roger Stevens. He insists that everyone call him Champion USA

Their drummer is a huge buff dude. Played by Chris Hemsworth. In sunglasses. And a he-man wig.

His name is Thorn

Nobody asks why a grown ass man in a dollar store wig and ray ban sunglasses is playing a 17 year old

Which is

Pretty on brand for Hollywood tbh

Oh also

He collects hammers. There's a hammer in the background of every scene he's in. Nobody questions that either. Nobody even notices the hammers. Why are there so many hammers.

Also, Thorn's full name is Throckmorton

Yes like your cousin Throckmorton

(look it up)

Peter did want to join them and he did get an opportunity but he turned it down because becoming lead singer was too much responsibility. He'd rather stick to neighborhood wide karaoke for now.

Then there's nick fury. except there is no nick Fury

It's actually Peter's school principal, Nicki Funaj

She wears an eyepatch on her right eye. It's not damaged or anything she just thinks it looks cool (she's right)

Oh and Happy Hogan is now a woman named Joy Gohan. She's the forehead of security at Peter's school

Also she still has a thing for Aunt May because we can't throw the entire MCU away, now, can we?

(no)

(no we can't)

AND NOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT

Tony Stark whomst? We only stan Antoni Starr in this house

CEO of Starr Incorporated, leading manufacturers of high tech prosthetics, also really into research of self sustaining energy for some reason

Y'know, like bic makes condoms and lighters

Or crayons and lighters

Or all three

Or something

whatever

(diversification babey!!!)

Anyway Peter got an internship with Starr Incorporated by accident after he walked into the wrong interview room

Oh and by the way Antoni Starr is played by that one stunt double who Tom Holland mistook for RDJ himself

War Machine is now called Battle Contraption

and it's the pet robot of world renowned robotics pioneer Jiminy Road

He calls it BaCon

Pepper Potts still exists because I love her and I said so

She runs SI's self sustaining energy department and anyone who says otherwise will be jailed

I guess she's renamed to Chilli Potter or some shit idk man

Chilli and Antoni have a son named Marcus Starr who is played by Lexi Rabe with her hair bunched up in a baseball cap

Marcus is always seen wearing absurdly """masculine""" clothing to the point where it's the funniest fucking thing about the franchise

I'm talking a seven year old in cargo pants and a collared camo-patterned shirt with the word MAN written on it in big red text

(yes this is a thinly veiled attempt to keep the ironfam alive)

(shut up)

Peter did build his own suit but only after conveniently finding all the parts to one when he went dumpster diving one day in SI's dumpsters

Nobody knows who threw away a fully functional Spiderman suit in the trash. Along with the accompanying AI.

On a pen drive.

Peter modifies the AI on his windinosaur 98 computer and names it CARMEN

Endgame did happen, but like. In another universe. So. Half the people disappeared and then reappeared again five years later.

There is no explanation

Do not ask for one

(they call it the Bloop)

Thanos is actually a grape juice mascot who gives Peter the creeps

Like the kool aid man

If the kool aid man caused Armageddon in another universe (which, let's be real, he probably did)

The grape juice is called Snappos

Snap-pos

(Heh)

And therein ends my frankly stellar attempt at fixing Sony's plot holes

BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.

The best goddamn part: Tom Holland is told Absolutely Nothing About Anything. He's just released onto set like a horse in a hospital and expected to deal.

Because he'll spoil Everything the second he hears about it smh the fool

But also because. it's just really fucking funny to mess with him.

His script contains two lines:

(which is an improvement on his MCU scripts let's be real)

"Peter Parker: [improvises] and also says "oHmYgoDitsroBERtdoWnEYjR" every time the decidedly-not-rdj stunt double shows up on screen"

And

"Peter Parker: [takes off shirt at least 18 times. No explanation provided.]"

Tom Holland is completely Jon Snow Kin (i.e knows nothing) and we get to watch his real reaction as the reality of change hits him like a sack of potatoes to the knees

examples include StuntDouble!RDJ shaking his hand and congratulating him on being promoted to paid intern (to what?)

and Miles Morales's dad (played by Terry Crews and Terry Crews only no I will not negotiate) accuses him of identity theft

Oh and finally

Peter Parker is bisexual now

#marvel #mcu #peter parker #spiderman #tony stark #iron man #pepper potts #morgan stark #james rhodes #happy hogan #endgame #avengers endgame #avengers #marvel headcanons #far from home #spiderman far from home #tom Holland #robert downey jr

[thevindicativevordan]

Since you talked about the game and how Hulk sucked in it, what do you think of the MCU?

MCU Hulk sucking dampers my enjoyment of it overall, but damn if it isn't an impressive accomplishment.

Right so I'm not reviewing every individual movie but looking at it overall you have to be impressed. For better or worse they've pretty much replicated the Marvel Comic experience with films. You have your individual solo films that tell self-contained stories but also all feed back in to the overall storyline that gets focused on in the Avengers team-ups. With Infinity War and Endgame they even managed to capture the excitement of a crossover event at their best. There are changes made, as all adaptions do, but the people working on this franchise clearly have a lot of affection for the source material, something that is lacking with other attempts to copy this kind of shared universe. Seriously look at all the failed copycats: DC, Universal, Sony's "Spider Cinematic Universe" plans, etc. If the MCU is a conveyor belt it's a damn well put together one. Undeniable that a lot of characters sound the same (how many quippy hotheads do we need?) but there is enough variety in what films are put out that it didn't feel like everything was just an Iron Man reskin the way detractors claim.

Overall the biggest achievement was that the MCU succeeded on the backs of B and C-Listers. None of the general public knew about or cared about Iron Man, and now he's one of the most popular superheroes around. Cap, Thor, and Iron Man have been treated as Marvel's equivalent to the DC Trinity, something I don't agree with, but it's undeniable that those three have become hugely popular post-MCU. Guardians of the Galaxy were obscure even amongst comics hardcore before their movie, now they've got a video game coming out (and unlike Avengers it seems to be reviewing well?). Wild seeing GotG treated as one of Marvel's most prominent teams, also hilarious how Pratt went from being reddit's self-insert and tumblr's crush to the guy they hate the most once they found out he was religious. Black Panther is the obvious second-best success story, people went from crying for black versions of white heroes, to getting more interested in the underrated original black characters once they realized that a lot of them were cool. Was very happy personally to see one of my favorite Marvel characters get a wider audience, shame Marvel seems to be planning to kill off T'Challa and Coates completely wasted the hype on his boring ass run. Hopefully Blade can recapture some of the hype.

Conversely some of their most popular characters pre-MCU haven't been treated well at all. Hulk obviously, but yes, I'm not a Holland Spider-Man fan either. Won't rehash old arguments but there you have it. Many of the MCU villains were as much a miss as the heroes were a hit. Ultron sucked which is a huge bummer given he more than Thanos is one of the most iconic and dangerous Avengers foes. Red Skull was completely wasted. The two breakout villains were Loki and Thanos which were both adapted extremely well. Really, given how bad the MCU usually is at conveying the threat of a villain, it's a miracle Thanos turned out as good as he did.

Man was he fucking good, kicking the Avengers collective ass and actually winning in IW. IW and EG absolutely lived up to the hype for me personally, I felt like they tied up the main Avengers plotlines pretty well (Hulk continued to suck but at that point I had given up on him). Tony going out on "I am Iron Man", Steve getting his happy ending while entrusting the mantle to Sam, Natasha making a sacrifice for the team, Thor getting his shit back together, it was all pretty enjoyable. Wasn't perfect but as the culmination of over a decade's worth of blockbuster movies it was damn good.

Yet I have to say after Endgame I pretty much felt done. I'll probably go see No Way Home simply for MacGuire and Rami nostalgia, but I have no real desire to keep watching religiously anymore. Haven't seen Shang-Chi, won't be watching Eternals or BP2 (entirely because they reuse to recast), the only other project I have some interest in is the rumor of a World War Hulk movie. How the hell would that work with Ruffalo Hulk and without an Illuminati? They already wasted Planet Hulk on an admittedly great Thor movie. I'd probably go just out of pure curiosity for what they do, but otherwise? I think I'm tapping out just like Star Wars. And just like Star Wars I think there will plenty of people to replace me and I'm ok with that. Hopefully they get as much joy out of whatever the next Phase of the MCU is as I did with the Infinity Saga.

#mcu #marvel

[thebraingremlinsaremad]

Daily Blog #50: September 26, 2021

Why didn't I post yesterday?

Because it was time to be spent with my partner UwU. No way in hell I was gonna waste that.

But since I waited till today instead of just posting, "No blog. Partner time," I feel like I owe you guys an account of what happened yesterday.

I woke up at like 1:30 and couldn't (or didn't want to) fall asleep again until 4:00. I wanted to get to the flea market as early as possible.

I didn't get up there until 10:00 xD. Oh well; it didn't matter.

That was a day of "I'm selling everything as cheap as I can so I can get out of this place."

I met my goal and got exactly $300. I'ma buy a pair of Sony XM4s with that (used for around $150, of course. The rest is going into savings).

An older guy came in with some broken VHS tapes, asking if I could repair them. He didn't like my price, but mentioned getting them converted to digital. I said that I convert tapes, fixing them if necessary, for $8 each. He gave me the 4 tapes.

Next, he needed a VHS-C adapter, of which I had one of that I wasn't really planning on selling. He started freaking out and saying "Well what am I gonna do???" so I sold it to him.

His VCR broke, so I showed him my best VCR, which I was selling for $35 instead of the usual $45 that it would have been. I made sure to plug it in and show him that it worked, both DVD and VHS, and he bought it.

That was all there was to it.

Apart from that, I sold a turntable, 3 receivers, another VCR or two, a 25-disc CD changer, and a cassette deck. There may have been a few other things, but I can't really think of them.

Someone came in with 17 CDs that he wanted converted to digital files.

He had me do those and bought a Blu-ray for $48.

I got home and immediately got to work on that because he wanted them at 7:00.

I got them all done.

One of them was actually a DVD, but I figured out a way to rip the audio, so all was good.

Gave it to him, explained the DVD thing and how I fixed it, then he went on his way.

Before he even makes it to his car, I get a call.

Dude asked if I sold him a VCR. I made sure I knew who it was first.

He started complaining that the VCR stopped working and that he was gonna sue me.

I tried explaining that I can't justify a refund when I clearly saw and showed him the VCR in working order.

After a lot of yelling on his end, I agreed to give him another VCR, but he kept yelling and saying how mad he was even afterwards.

He eventually said bye and then I hung up.

He fucking called back just to say that I was screwing myself over because he had tapes for me to convert.

You act like I'd wanna fucking work with you after that charade.

So that experience shook me up a bit.

But then I went to the bank to deposit my $300.

The damn ATM only accepted $299 of it xD. It wouldn't take the one bill.

That was moderately frustrating, but oh well.

The rest of the night, I just talked to my partner and we listened to music UwU

I love them so much.

I guess that's it.

I just got to school anyway lol.

Have a good day! You'll probably see a post from me tonight.

#blog #daily blog #lgbtq #trans

[coolgreatwebsite]

Cool Games I Finished In 2020 (In No Real Order)

Oh, hey! Right! I have a website! I’m like a week late on writing this, but what’s a week on top of an entire year of not writing, right? 2020 was... well, we all know what 2020 was. For me personally, it was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life. The worst in both ways you can probably assume and ways you definitely can’t (neither of which I’ll be getting into), and the best in ways I absolutely never would have guessed. That uncertain job I mentioned last year got very suddenly much more certain, at a much bigger company, for a much larger amount of money. That allowed me to get my own place, making my weird living situation much less weird. Still haven’t gotten the majority of my belongings off of the east coast, but if the entire world wasn’t currently fucked up by a global pandemic I’d have sorted all that out too. What I’m saying is that, for the third year in a row, my life has been a complete whirlwind that has left me very little time to get comfortable with any aspect of it. But I did manage to play more video games than I did last year! Which is perfect, because it’s once again time for another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2020.

Astro’s Playroom (PlayStation 5, 2020)

My one word description of Astro's Playroom is "delightful". It's just an absolute goddamn delight. A total surprise too! Included with every PlayStation 5, Astro's Playroom is, in my opinion, one of the best pack-in games of all time.

First off, it's an incredible tech demo for the PS5's new DualSense controller. It was easy to brush off Sony's talk about the controller's haptic feedback and triggers as some Nintendo-style HD Rumble bullshit, but it really is incredibly cool once you get your hands on it. The game is obviously more than a tech demo though, or else it wouldn't be on here. It also just so happens to be an extremely solid and fun platformer on top of that. Astro controls exceptionally well and the levels are all well-designed and fun, even the gimmick vehicle ones designed to show off different features of the controller. It also has an oddly compelling speedrun mode, made all the more compelling by the PS5 notifying you when your friends beat your times and the ability to load into it within two seconds from anywhere on the console. But the biggest thing for me and, call me a mark, because I am, is that the game is an honestly incredible love letter to PlayStation history.

For the first time ever, Sony has pulled off a nostalgia piece without it ending up as embarrassing garbage in the vein of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. There's a Nintendo-like joyful reverence for all things PlayStation oozing out of every single corner of this game. There are so many nods and references and gags for literally every PlayStation thing of note throughout the the last 25 years, and then on top of that there's a whole heap more for the things that AREN'T of note that only hyperdorks like me would get! A sly reference to the ill-fated boomerang controller? Yep. A goof on the fat PS3's Spider-Man font? You betcha. A trophy you can earn by repeatedly punching a Sony Interactive Entertainment sign until it breaks and reveals the Sony Computer Entertainment sign it was slapped on top of? Yeah buddy. It's deep cuts all the way down, even up until the final boss which had me grinning like a total dipshit the entire time. The game is endlessly, effortlessly charming.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the perfect game at the perfect time. That doesn't mean it's a perfect game, I actually have some issues with it, but it could not have released at a better time than when it did. It came out at the very very beginning of everyone going into lockdown due to the pandemic, and it was the biggest game in the world for a couple of months as a result. I played like 300 hours and that pales in comparison to the amount of time many others put into it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most different Animal Crossing game there's ever been, and I'm of two minds on it. Like, I loved the game, I played a ton of it, but it's lacking so much of the stuff that made me love Animal Crossing in the first place. The series has been slowly trending in this direction for a bit now, but it's not really a game that happens around you anymore. It's all about total player control. You select where everything goes, you customize every detail of everything to your liking, hell, you can even terraform the landmass to be exactly what you want. Your neighbors take a backseat in focus and end up as little more than decorations with limited dialogue and next to no quests associated with them. Series staples like Gyroids are missing in action. Facilities and services that have been around since Wild World aren't implemented. It's similar to past Animal Crossing games in a lot of ways, but on the whole it feels like a different thing.

But like I said, two minds. New Horizons strays from what I truly want from an Animal Crossing game, but I can't deny that the game as it is is a hell of a lot of fun. There's SO much you can do and SO many options, it's super addictive. Plus it implemented my long-requested feature of letting you effortlessly send mail to friends online! Too bad the actual online play is as cumbersome as ever.

In conclusion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a land of contrasts. I'm kidding. It's good, but definitely missing something in a way where I can understand some people being disappointed in it. I had a ton of fun though, and I'm probably going to get back into it later in 2021.

Trials of Mana (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Late in 2019, with the physical release of Collection of Mana for the Switch, I decided I was going to play through each game on it for the first time and finally find out what this whole Mana thing was about. I went into Final Fantasy Adventure (the first game in the Mana series, because every RPG had to be Final Fantasy back then) with zero expectations and found a totally serviceable little Zelda-like with light RPG elements. I enjoyed my time with it. I went into Secret of Mana with the expectation of it being a beloved classic and found the worst game I beat that year, hands down. That game fucking sucks. I get why it made an impression on people at the time, but it's just so so SO awful to play. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Honestly, I would have been disappointed even if I hadn't heard it was one of "the best games" for so long. It would have been a disappointing follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure, a game that in and of itself isn't anything incredible. Secret of Mana is just that rotten.

I braced myself for more disappointment when (after a much needed vacation from the series) I started up Trials of Mana. This game had a reputation too, as a long-lost classic that never made it stateside. One of the best games on the Super Nintendo, criminally never released for western audiences! Like Secret of Mana before it, I'd heard nothing but effusive praise. Unlike Secret of Mana, however, I was very pleased to find out that Trials of Mana mostly lives up to the hype. From a gameplay standpoint, Trials is an improvement on Secret in almost every single way. It's not perfect. The menus are still kinda clunky, animations for things like magic and items are still frequently disruptive. But the main thing is it actually plays like a sensible video game designed by humans with brains. Attacking is responsive! Hitboxes aren't complete nonsense! You don't constantly get stunlocked to death! There are more answers to combat than casting the same spell for five straight minutes to kill your enemies before they get a chance to move! It's great!

On top of being an enjoyable video game to actually play, the presentation is top notch. Secret of Mana could be a pretty game with decent music in some spots, but Trials is consistently gorgeous and the soundtrack is across the board great instead of randomly having songs that sound like clown vomit. And while Trials of Mana doesn't have the deepest story in the world, it manages to avoid being completely paper-thin like Secret. The story actually kind of has a reason for being a bit straightforward, and the reason is that it has a really cool system where you pick your three playable characters from a pool of six. Each character has their own goals and storyline, some of which line up with other potential party members, some of which don't, and you'll even run into the characters you didn't choose as NPCs along the way. This and the relatively brisk pace of the game make it highly replayable.

I'm really glad that Trials of Mana made it over here in an official capacity, even if it was like 25 years late. It's as good as I expected Secret of Mana to be and singlehandedly saved my interest in seeing any more of the series. I'm aware the quality of what came after is very spotty, but I'll get to the rest eventually!

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4, 2020)

They (almost) did it. They (basically) pulled it off. They remade (a chunk of) Final Fantasy VII and (for the most part) didn't fuck it up. Ok, funny parentheticals aside, Final Fantasy VII Remake is astoundingly good coming off of over two decades of just absolutely dreadful post-FF7 sequels, side games, and movies.

Final Fantasy VII has been historically misremembered as this kind of miserable, angsty, brooding thing, both by fans and by the company that made it. FF7-branded media after FF7 itself is a minefield of changed personalities, embarrassing original characters, and monumentally lame stories. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first post-FF7 anything that actually remembers the characters, setting, and plot of Final Fantasy VII and what made them memorable and special to people in the first place. Which isn't to say it's a slavish recreation! There's a ton of changes and additions, and I actually like almost all of them! Except for some really big stuff I'll touch on in a bit!

The combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake is great. I was super skeptical about it when the game was first announced, but they actually managed to make the blend of real-time action and turn-based RPG menuing fun and engaging. The characters all play super differently from each other too, which is a huge and welcome difference from the original game. The Materia system fits like a glove in this revamped combat system as well. The remixed music is good as hell, and the visuals are beautiful (outside of a couple of very specific spots that I'm kinda of surprised they haven't fixed in a patch yet). It's a well-executed package all around.

But alas, as always, there are negatives. For starters, this is only part one of the overall Final Fantasy VII Remake project. It goes up to the party leaving Midgar which, as you may or may not recall, is the first six hours of the original game. They compensated for this by fleshing the hell out of the Midgar section the game, ballooning the overall playtime to total of about 30-ish hours. The game feeling padded is a common complaint but for what it's worth, I didn't really feel it until the unnecessarily long final dungeon, There's also the previously mentioned and funny parenthetical'd changes and additions I don't like.

This is big time spoilers for this game so if you don't want that jump ahead to the next game on the list. The Whispers suck ass. Final Fantasy VII Remake should have been brave enough to be different without having to constantly derail everything in the most ham-fisted and intrusive way possible. You can have Jessie twist her ankle without making a spooky plot ghost trip her. I don't want to fight the physical manifestation of the game everyone thought they were getting as an end boss. If you're not doing a straight remake, that's fine, but have the fucking guts to stand by your artistic decisions without feeling the need to invent the lamest deus ex machina I've ever fucking seen. The last couple of hours of this game are 100% about the Whispers and are awful for it. It's a true testament to the strength of the rest of Final Fantasy VII Remake that this aspect didn't completely sour me on it. I can only hope that they stay dead and gone for good in the games yet to come and the remake can be different while standing on its own two feet.

I truly cannot wait for the next entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. I'm excited for Final Fantasy VII in a way I haven't been since the late 90s. I have a bit of trepidation that they could royally screw it up. I mean, they already got kinda close, as I said in my last paragraph. But they got so much right in this entry that, for the first time in decades, I'm willing to believe in Square Enix when it comes to Final Fantasy VII.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PlayStation 4, 2020)

My one word description of 13 Sentinels is "fucking crazy". I realize that's two words, but shut up. A bizarre hybrid of visual novel, adventure game, and strategy RPG, 13 Sentinels not only makes that work, but makes it work incredibly well. 

The story is fucking bonkers. It's told entirely non-linearly and is purposefully dense and confusing, but it does an amazing job of hooking you with a cast of likable characters and some impressively well-paced twists, made all the more impressive by the fact that you can tackle the story in basically whatever order you want. I'll say it again for those in the back, the story is Fucking Bonkers. Wherever you think it's going, it's not going. Where it is going is PLACES. Seriously, if you want a wild goddamn ride, this is the game for you. The presentation is also stunning. It's a drop dead gorgeous game with a really nice soundtrack. Easily Vanillaware's best looking game, which is saying something seeing as looking good is Vanillaware's whole deal.

If I had to levy one criticism against the game, it's that the strategy RPG portion is just kind of ok. It's enjoyable enough, it doesn't get in the way and there's not too much of it, but once it starts introducing armored versions of previous enemy types it's kind of done doing anything different. It is really good at getting people to out themselves as having no idea what tower defense is as a genre though!

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

I haven't really historically been a "Musou Guy". Not to say I've actively disliked them, they're just not something I've seeked out very often or played very much of. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition kinda turned me into a "Musou Guy" a little bit? It's good, surprisingly-less-mindless-than-you'd-think fun.

I actually super don't care about the Zelda branding. I think all the fanservice stuff is meh at best. What I do care about is that there's a ton of character variety and a metric shitload of content. There's so many different characters and weapons for those characters that all play differently from one another and SOOOOOO many levels to play. Like the story mode is, again, kinda meh, the real meat of the game is the Adventure mode and there's a ton of it. It's 8 different world maps, each based off a different Zelda game, with each square of the map containing a little mini-scenario with unique objectives and rewards. There has to be at least 1000 scenarios between all the maps. There's so much. And that's not even getting into some of the other side stuff like the challenge modes and the fairy raising. It's a crazy amount of game in this game.

And again, it's not as mindless as it'd seem. It's not really a game ABOUT destroying 5000 guys, it's an area control and resource management game where the 5000 guys are one of those resources. Knowing who to send where and when to fight who is way more important than pressing the XXX YYY XXX YYY on the more than one million troops.

I'd say that if you're even cursorily potentially maybe interested in a musou game, this is the one to try. And if you like it, it could literally be your forever game. A sequel came out recently too, and I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Xbox One, 2020)

Phantasy Star Online 2 finally came stateside in the year 2020, eight years after its initial Japanese release and initial American cancellation. It's no Phantasy Star Online 1, but it is a really fun game in its own right provided you can find the willpower to break through its clunkiness and eight years of confusing poorly tutorialized free-to-play MMO cruft.

The main thing going for PSO2, and this is a major improvement from PSO1, is that the act of engaging in its combat is fun. The combat is just feels really really good. There's a bunch of different weapon types and classes, and once you find the ones that really click with you you're in for a good time, whether you're izuna dropping dudes with wire claws or literally doing air juggles and rainstorm from Devil May Cry with the dual machine guns.

The other stuff around that combat is weird. I generally like it, but it's weird. The story mode is one of the most bizarrely presented things I've ever seen. It apparently used to be something you'd seek out in the levels themselves, but presently it's just a list of scenes you pick from a menu and watch with next to no context until it makes you fight a boss sometimes. There's some weird moments in there that MIGHT have been cool if it were presented in literally any other way?

The systems and presentation are also way more... I dunno, pinball? Pachislot? In very stark contrast to how chill original Phantasy Star Online was, everything in PSO2 is designed in a way to maximize that flashy light bing bing wahoo you got ~*~RARE DROP CHANCE UP~*~  feeling. Which isn't to say I don't like flashy light bing bing wahoo, but it's a weird different thing.

Was it worth the wait? Yeah, sure! For me! This is another one that I played like 300 hours of! I haven't even seen half of it, I fell off right before Episode 4 released because it coincided with my move! I'm gonna go back and see all that shit! PSO2's fun! A different flavor of fun than the original, sure, but fun all the same. Another one that I'm glad finally made it over here.

Riichi Mahjong (A Table, 1924)

Holy shit I fucking did it I finally learned how to play Mahjong and it rules.

It started when I picked up Clubhouse Games for the Switch. I saw that it had Riichi Mahjong and something in my brain snapped. For whatever reason, I decided that this was the time I was going to rip the band-aid off and figure this shit out. It wasn't too dissimilar to the first time I decided to try eggs, but that's a different and much stupider story for a different time. I did the tutorial in Clubhouse Games, looked up some more basics and advice because the tutorial wasn't super amazing, and I kept playing while being aided by the game's nice helper features like the button that pulls up recommended hands. I kept playing and... sorta got it. I learned the basic rules, but none of the strategy. And then I stopped playing for a few months.

In that few months, for whatever reason, a decent amount of people I know had their brains snap the same way? Like a more-than-two amount of people I'm either friends with or following online also decided to learn Mahjong. I decided to get back on the horse and downloaded Mahjong Soul and I don't know whether it was perseverance or the power of anime babes, but this time I got it. I still refer to a sheet with all the hands and whether they work open or closed, and I'm by no means a master player, but I actually honest to god understand what I'm doing and it's an incredible feeling.

Mahjong has such a huge amount of what I like to call "Get That Ass" energy. It is the energy you feel when you get someone's ass. In Mahjong you are either constantly getting someone's ass or getting your ass gotten. Someone puts down the wrong tile and you fucking GET THEIR ASS DUDE! They're got!! They're a fucking idiot that put down the wrong thing and now you have their points!!! Or you draw what you need yourself and you're a brain genius all according to plan and everyone gives you points because you're so wise!!!! It's great!!!!!

Mahjong has long been one of those games where I'd say "I'll learn this someday" and never reeeeally actually try to learn, and I'm so glad I finally took the effort to because it's good as hell. And, truth be told, it wasn't THAT hard to learn? Like you can get to the point where I was where I didn't know the strategy fairly easily in my opinion, and once you do that It's just a matter of continuing to play to understand the rest. I highly recommended that you also go out and learn it if you similarly revel in getting that ass, it's so satisfying once you do.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PlayStation 4, 2020)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio took a big gamble with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. After seven games (more if you take spinoffs and remakes into consideration) they decided to focus on a new main character and, even more unexpectedly, they decided to change things up by turning the series into a turn-based JRPG. Their gamble paid off in spades. This is easily in my top 3 favorite Yakuza games.

The JRPG gameplay is surprisingly solid. There's definite room for improvement, but they nailed a bunch of it right out of the gate. Some mechanics are a little janky and I wish the job system was more fleshed out or just worked more like Final Fantasy V's, but they nailed one of the most important things and made the battles brisk and fun. It's a great foundation, especially for a team that's never attempted anything like this, and it's way more fun than the combat's been in any of the previous Dragon Engine games. I can't wait to see them iterate on it.

Everything else is top fuckin' notch. The music is great, the side content is fully fleshed out in a way it hasn't been since before they switched to the Dragon Engine, and I love the characters and story so much. Yakuza has a new main character in Ichiban Kasuga, and he's my son and I love him. Kiryu was great, and I love him too, but he was a bit of a passive protagonist. Stuff happened around him and he mostly just stoically reacted to it. Ichi is a much more active lead and it's great. He's a big lovable dope, and his tendency to keep an upbeat attitude and eagerness to leap into action is such a breath of fresh air. And it's not only Ichiban, since this is an RPG you have a whole party of characters and they're all great! Having them with you at all times bantering with each other and reacting to things is another great change of narrative pace, too. 

Yakuza: Like a Dragon just straight up rules. As someone who has historically not been too much of a fan of the Dragon Engine games, it's simultaneously a refreshing new take on the series and a fantastic return to form. I can't wait for what comes next. Wherever Ichiban goes, I go.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

After 23 years of Japanese PS1 exclusivity, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure finally got an English release this year for Nintendo Switch. I'm glad it did, because Moon isn't just the very definition of A Sebmal Game. It's the Sebmal Game missing link. In addition to being just a great video game, it helped me make a mental throughline for a bunch of games I love and a large part of my taste in video games.

To keep a long story short (seriously, I have a much much longer version of this saved in my drafts that I'll maybe finish someday), Moon turned out to be not the JRPG I assumed it was, given the title and basic story pitch, but a secret prequel to a game I love named Chulip. Moon's developer, Love-de-Lic, was formed by a handful of ex-Squaresoft employees, many of which worked on an extremely formative game I love named Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Love-de-Lic broke up in the year 2000 and its staff went on to form a bunch of different studios that ended up making a BUNCH of different games I love like Chibi-Robo, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Dandy Dungeon, and the aforementioned Chulip. These games, when you make the connection and line them up, all have a very distinct weirdness in common that makes perfect sense once you've realized many of the same people worked on them. Figuring this all out felt like snapping a piece of my brain back in place, and it was really crazy to come to understand exactly how much this studio that formed and disbanded decades before I'd even heard of them had impacted my tastes and, hell, my life.

So what is Moon, for those who don't innately understand what I mean by "a secret prequel to Chulip"? Moon is an adventure game where you explore a world with a day/night cycle, learn about that world's inhabitants, and eventually solve their problems. Think of it kind of like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but if the sidequests were the entirety of the focus with no Groundhog Day time reset mechanic and none of the Zelda stuff like combat and dungeons. You play as a young boy who, after a late night JRPG binge session, is sucked into the world of the game he was just playing. Everything is off from the way it was portrayed while the boy was playing the game, though. The hero he had previously controlled is actually a silent menace, raiding peoples' houses for treasure and slaughtering every innocent animal that crosses his path in an endless quest for EXP. The townspeople seem more concerned with problems in their day-to-day lives than the supposed world threatening crisis outlined in the game's intro. It's up to you as the boy to investigate this world's mysteries, help the townsfolk, mend the damage the hero has done, and eventually restore love to a loveless world.

Speaking of love, I fucking loved Moon. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the music, I loved the way it looks (even though the Switch port is a little crusty in that basic emulator-y kinda way), I loved how constantly bizarre and surprising and funny it was. Like I said earlier, it's the very definition of a game made for me. It was essentially the progenitor of a long line of games made for me, and of games potentially made for me but I don't know yet because I haven't played them due to not understanding Japanese (UFO: A Day in the Life translation next please? Anyone from Onion Games reading this??). For as similar as Moon and Chulip are in their systems and pacing, I think I might actually like Moon better despite it coming earlier? It's not as full force maximum impact absurd as Chulip is, but it is a lot more playable and less obtuse once you get a grip on the time limit mechanic. You don't need a full strategy guide included in the instruction manual for Moon, and you don't need to exchange business cards with every single character to get information vital to finishing the game either.

I truly cannot recommend Moon enough if your taste in games ventures anywhere off the beaten path. Maybe this is a little conceited of me, but I assume if you're reading this article, let alone this far down into it, you relate to my video game opinions at least a little bit? You should play Moon. Everyone reading this sentence should play Moon. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is my game of the year for the year 2020.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4, 2019): Death Stranding, much like Metal Gear Solid V, was a game I enjoyed for the gameplay and not much else. The story, characters, and writing were a huge disappointment for me, but man if I didn't enjoy lugging those boxes around and setting up my hellish cross-continental goon summer camp lookin' zipline network. Mr. Driller Drill Land (Nintendo Switch, 2020): I am a known Mr. Driller Enjoyer, and I enjoyed this Mr. Driller. Originally released for the Gamecube, Mr. Driller Drill Land is another long-time Japanese exclusive that finally came stateside this year and it's packed with new and novel twists on the Mr. Driller format. It looks super sharp, the music's great (also the credits music is the most impossibly out of place and extra as hell shit in the world and it's hilarious), and it's just a good ass time. The main campaign is pretty damn short, but if you're a post-game content kinda guy it has that and it's all super hard. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PlayStation 4, 2020): They finally made another good new Tony Hawk game, and all it took was perfectly remaking two of the best old Tony Hawk games! Plays exactly like you remember it with the added benefit of the best mechanics from up to THUG1, looks great, packed full of content, even has most of the music alongside some mostly crappy new stuff. It's the full package as is, but I do hope they end up adding THPS3 to it eventually. Mad Rat Dead (Nintendo Switch, 2020): Mad Rat Dead was a pleasant surprise that I only picked up because I saw a couple of people on my Twitter timeline constantly talking about it. A fun and inventive platformer where all your actions need to be on beat with the music. The gameplay feels great (aside from some not so great performance issues on Switch), the soundtrack is fun, and it's got a real good style to it. Demon's Souls (PlayStation 5, 2020): I love Demon's Souls and this is Demon's Souls. It plays exactly the same with some minor quality of life changes. I don't agree with many of the artistic changes, but there's no denying it looks incredible on a technical level. If you want to play Demon's Souls again or for the first time, this is a perfectly valid and fun way to do so. Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!! (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Groove Coaster is one of my favorite rhythm games, and they finally made an acceptable at-home version with Wai Wai Party. It's not a perfect replication of the arcade game control-wise, I have some issues with the song choices, and the pricing is frankly fucking ridiculous if you're not a Groove Coaster maniac like I am, but the same ultra satisfying gameplay is all there. You can even play it vertically in handheld mode! Flip Griiiiiiiip!

And we're done! Phew! Honestly didn't realize I played that many good games until I typed all this out. Thanks as always for reading this far. I'm gonna try and get back to regularly posting Breviews this year at the very least. Honestly don't know if I'll get anything else up on here, but we'll see. Here's to hoping 2021 is a little bit less of a nightmare!

#article #Year Wrapup

[hoodharlow]

Holiday Surprise

El Novio Quarantine Edition: Part 7

AN: Quick reminded in Song of the Year I previously said that Claudia was 20 weeks pregnant, but bc I want them to have a Taurus baby I moved pushed everything by 4 weeks. So in this part she's now 20 weeks pregnant and in SoG she's 16 weeks pregnant. Also tyy to @wastelandcth for letting me run ideas with her ilysm Gemma

Requested? No

Warnings: overall fluff with an angsty ending, briefly jealous!Cal, pre-sex (no smut!), Mitchy, mentions of violence, an argument bc someone can't follow basic CDC guidelines and went out to party, and talks about deathtolls/covid cases

Word Count: 5.9k words

Claudia waited for the nurse to print her a few copies of her ultrasound. Christmas was in three days. Since her and Calum were staying at his house for Christmas, they decided on sending out care packages to their families. In the boxes they planned on having envelopes with their Christmas card and a picture of the newest member of the Hood-Santos family. But that they should wait to open them together via Zoom because Calum and Claudia were going to find out the sex of their baby. 

They had made a compromise. If baby's sex is female then Calum is naming them because the Hoods' firstborns are always female. Whereas in Claudia's family the Santos always have male firstborns so if the baby is male, she is naming them.

They were nervous. This was the biggest secret both of them have ever kept from their parents. Claudia felt queasy just thinking about how her parents were going to react, especially her parents. She doesn't want to disappoint them.

Sure Diego and Soni, and her brothers started their families at a young age, but there was an underlying pressure for Claudia. She was the only girl and the first in her family to graduate from a four year college, her mom had gone to community college and studied fashion merchandising. Her parents hadn't said it outloud, but she knew that it was expected of her to have a career before even thinking about settling down to start a family. She was supposed to get her master's then teach for a few years before moving her way up to school administration. Getting pregnant just during her first year of grad school was not the plan she and her parents had.

"All set." the nurse said, handing Claudia the envelopes.

"Thank you. Hope you enjoy the cookies and happy holidays." Claudia said, stuffing them in her bag. 

She pumped some hand sanitizer before she exited the doctor's office. She pulled Calum's flannel tighter and made her way to the car where he was waiting. He got out and helped her up. 

Claudia clicked her seatbelt and turned to Calum. "Can't you drop me off at your house and you go down to see my parents?" she asked.

"No you're going with me. I'm out of excuses." He said. He squeezed her hand, reassuringly before he backed out of the parking spot. "We're just going to drop off their box and say hi. After that we'll get hotdogs under the bridge at that place you like." 

"Fine." she sighed, giving in. The things she did for some hotdogs from Barrio Dogs down in Chicano Park. 

On their way to the post office, Claudia finished up packing the boxes. Once they arrived, Calum helped her seal them with packing tape before he took them inside to get mailed out. While she waited for him, Claudia texted her mom that she and Calum were going down to leave them a box for them to open on Christmas Eve.

She rubbed her stomach. She was almost twenty weeks pregnant and still couldn't believe it. It feels like just last week Danny had come over to fight the cat and accidentally found her pregnancy tests on the bathroom sink. Which was why she was nervous to go over to her parents. One look at her and they would know Calum got her pregnant. Luckily for her with Calum's big t-shirt and his zip up jacket that she packed, she was able to mask her growing belly. 

She shifted in her seat, trying to get somewhat comfortable when Calum unlocked the car to get in. He squeezed her hand and rubbed her belly. He passed her his phone so she could play some music as he pulled out of the parking lot. She played EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO, and quietly gushed to her belly that Calum helped Bad Bunny produce the album and that he played all of the instruments in Yo Visto Asi. 

She reached for the pillows she had in the backseat; as best she could she curled up. Claudia spent the whole night baking. She needed something to keep out of her mind while she waited for final grades to be posted. She knew she did good, but the waiting is what got to her. 

When she first started grad school, she made a vow to be a fast grader and to have a good grading system. That way her students would know what their grades were in real time. She even managed to get everything graded for her classes the day her students turned in their finals. Unlike half of her professors who haven't updated grades since Thanksgiving. 

Her eyes fluttered closed and began dozing off, with help from Calum who played with her hair. He gently shook her shoulder, waking Claudia from a nap that felt like only five. 

"We're here." he whispered, kissing her cheek. 

"No, I just fell asleep." Claudia whined. 

"C'mon," he said, kissing her. 

He got out and grabbed the last box left. He stopped by Junior's house first. Though while he was there Damian overheard him and Junior talk about Claudia and her pregnancy. Calum just hoped that Damian kept his pinky promise and wouldn't tell anyone.

Claudia waited for Calum to make his way up the steps before changing into his t-shirt and zip up hoodie. She kept the thin long sleeve top and layered his shirt over it. She got out and grabbed the hoodie, putting it on as she went up the steps. 

Calum slammed the front door, looking pale as if he saw a ghost. 

"I just saw your dad's ass." He shuddered. "Didn't know he was the type to get an ass tattoo."

"How long did you look at his ass?— you know what, I don't wanna know." Claudia said, lifting her hands up in surrender. 

A minute or so later, Diego opened the door, buckling his belt. "Do you know how to knock?" He scolded Calum. 

"You didn't knock?" Claudia asked him, awkwardly hugging her dad. 

"I did, but I used your key to get in since they didn't open." Calum explained. He held up his  UCLA lanyard out to them. Claudia's San Diego Chargers key stood out against all the other silver ones.

"Now that that's sorted, can we go in? Tengo frío." Claudia said. 

Diego took a step back and let them in. He motioned them to the kitchen where Soni made a pitcher of agua de nanche. She set down the ladle and went to greet Calum and Claudia. 

"Can I have some?" Claudia asked her mom. 

"Agua de nanche?" Soni gave Claudia a confused look. In the twenty-two years she's known her daughter, she never willingly asked for agua de nanche. She placed her hand on Claudia's forehead. "Are you okay?"

She giggled nervously, hugging herself. "Ay ama. It's just a little craving I have." 

"A craving?"

"Yeah… craving."

***

Calum still couldn't wrap it around his head that Claudia's pregnancy made her eat pickles. She absolutely dreaded them before. One time, before the pandemic, they went out to a burger place and she sent back her burger because she tasted the pickles in the bottom bun. She could tell that they took them out before bringing it to her. Now seeing her pregnant and scarfing them down was something that left him both surprised and confused. 

"Claudia?" a voice called behind Calum.

"Oh my god, Luis!" Claudia squealed excitedly. 

When the guy approached their table, Calum felt like he had seen the guy before. He just couldn't remember where he saw him. 

"Cal, this Felix' brother, Luis. He's the one who's mine and Danny's age." Claudia explained. 

Calum smiled politely and introduced himself. He sat back and watched them talk. Luis leaned closer to Claudia, laughing at whatever bad joke she said. He noticed her voice slightly went higher. 

It was her 'I'm not really flirting, but oh shit you're hot as fuck' voice. She used to use that voice before they became an official iten. The last time she used it was when they were at lunch with the guys, their old producer friend named Jon and Tyler Posey. On the drive home, she went on and on about how Tyler Posey was the sweetest and funniest guy ever. It drove Calum mad.

"It was nice seeing you, Claudia, but my friends are waiting." Luis said, making Calum smile. 

"Same, and congrats on getting into med school. I saw Profe's post the other week." Claudia smiled.  

"I find it weird you call my mom Profe." He teased. 

"It was an old habit." She laughed. She turned to Calum. "We should go right? With traffic and all."

He nodded. "I'm going to pay and bring the car over." Calum got up and nodded to Luis. "It was nice meeting you."

"Back at you." Luis said leaving to his table without telling Claudia goodbye. 

Calum helped her up and hand in hand they went to the booth to pay. He signed the receipt and dripped a very generous tip in the tip jar. 

After thorough convincing, Claudia waited for Calum as he jaywalked and went to get his car from the public parking lot. She replied to a series of messages from Danny asking why she drank agua de nanche and that Luis texted him telling him he just ran into her and that she looked pregnant. She gave him a vague response and put her phone on silent. After eating three hotdogs and a side mac and cheese, the last thing she wanted was to answer more messages from Danny. 

Calum pulled up in front of her and got out of his side to help her in. It was more of him standing back and being there in case she fell, so she'd fall into him, breaking her fall. Once she was in he circled back and got in. 

He missed the street that took them to the I5 and now had to drive a bit further to get on the I15. Just before he got off the ramp, Claudia's soft snores filled the car. He pressed a few buttons and made her seat lean back. With one hand Calum moved her so she was laying on her side. As best he could, he placed the pillows around her back and stomach.

The drive went by quickly. Calum got off the freeway and started driving through the streets. His phone began to ring. Ashton's face lit up his phone screen. It must be about their management. Calum had asked him to call him once everything was sorted with their lawyers and teams. He connected it to the car and answered. 

"Hey, mate, I'm driving right now. Claudia and I are almost home. Call you in a bit." Calum said before Ashton got a word in. 

He hung up as Claudia stirred awake. She groaned and shifted in her seat. 

"I have to pee." she said. 

"We'll be home in about five minutes. Can you hold it?" He asked her, intertwining his fingers with hers. 

"Yeah," she said, stifling her yawn. Claudia rushed out and went to the guest bathroom when they arrived. Calum took advantage and returned Ashton's call. 

"Claudia, I'm going to be in my office if you need me," he called. 

"I might be in here a while, those hotdogs didn't agree with me." she murmured. 

"There's an air freshener in the sink." Calumteased. 

He greeted Duke and Cherry as he made his way to his office. Ashton answered and went off in a tangent about a melody that was stuck in his head. He paced around, agreeing and humming in response as Ashton went on and on. Calum didn't want to cut him off and ask about their contract, so he listened. 

"...so I talked to Renee Hastings, that lawyer that does a lot of work on this and she said that she can get us out of our contract. She even has—” 

“Are you serious?” Calum asked, cutting him off. 

He desperately wanted and needed to get out of their contract with their management. Especially with what they’re asking him to do. There’s no way he’s going to do what they want. 

"Yeah, everything is going to be finalized in the next few weeks." Ashton went on. "I'm glad we're out. Even more so that you won't have to… you know."

"It's a relief honestly. I can just focus on music and raising my baby with Claudia." He sighed. He reached for a small picture frame of him and Claudia from when they went hiking at some waterfall they accidentally found while out hiking. 

"Speaking of baby, do you know their sex? I have compiled a list of names. Of course, my top five are Ashley, Asher, Ashton, Ashe, and Ashlyn on said list, but I found some other names." Ashton said, earning a snort from Calum. 

He set the picture frame down and chuckled as Ashton listed more names. He spotted the new contract their old team had made for him. He grabbed it and stored it in a drawer under a package of printer paper.  Calum caught Claudia's shadow as she waddled past his office, making her way to the kitchen. 

"Hey, I gotta go. Claudia just scurried past my office so I have to hide her hot chips or she's going to complain all night that she has heartburn. 

Ashton  chuckled at his comment. They bid each other goodbye and agreed that he was taking Calum to the studio in a few days after spending the holidays in the snow with KayKay and Penny. 

Calum went out to the kitchen and found it empty. But there was a stool in front of the cabinet where Calum hid Claudia's Turbo Flamas and Takis. The two large chip bags were missing. 

He cursed and searched around the house for her. He found her once more in the kitchen sipping on a Hi-C pink lemonade juice box while she watched her frozen Italian style meatballs heat up in the microwave. 

"How many times do I have to ask you to not climb on stool to reach for things? You're already clumsy as is, Claudia." He scolded. 

"I didn't use the stool. I was going to, but I didn't see my chips." Claudia explained. She got up and grabbed her plate. "So now I'm gonna shove some balls in my mouth."

"I have some you might like more." 

Claudia gave him a glance over. She didn't get it. She was almost twenty weeks pregnant and somehow Calum's cock was as hard as the kitchen's marble counters. Did it have to do with the fact that she only wore his flannel and some panties? Yes, it still surprised her that she had that effect on him. 

She bit into one of her meatballs and watched him. Once she swallowed, she walked up to him and gently patted his hard on. "And they say pregnant women are the super horny ones."

***

Christmas Eve rolled around a few days later. Calum spent the better part of the morning at the studio with Luke and Michael then he spent the afternoon driving around dropping off and picking up things for their little Christmas celebration. Claudia baked and made sure their house was ready. Danny, Medelyn and Sebastian were coming over to their house since Claudia and her brothers divided which holidays they spent with their parents. Danny got thanksgiving, Junior got Christmas and Claudia got left with New Year's. 

Calum entered the house and his nose was filled with the smell of warm gingerbread cookies and the tamales Soni had given them when they visited. He quickly rushed to the guest room and changed into some clean clothes. With Claudia being pregnant they knew that she was more at risk of exposure, so they took extra precautions for her to be safe. He took his clothes to the laundry room for a quick wash.

He went to the kitchen and was surprised it was empty. Calum was sure he was going to find Claudia decorating some cookies or baking some elaborate pastry she couldn't pronounce. He found their dogs in the living room intently watching 102 Dalmatians. They didn't even notice him when he arrived.

Calum jogged upstairs and heard a faint buzzing sound in their bedroom. He knocked a few times so she could let him in. Other times he would have sneaked in and playfully scold her that she knew better than to get started without him. That usually led to him telling to keep going until she was very sensitive then he'd go down on her and do other things to her that they both enjoy. But with a human growing inside of her, Claudia has gotten a bit self conscious about her body. 

He knocked a few more times and there still wasn't a response. He opened the door and found her naked in a sitting position. She was fast asleep with her vibrator in her hand.

Calum took the vibrator, turning it off, he cleaned it and stored it in her drawer with her other toys. He fixed her pillows and slowly moved her into a more comfortable position. He covered her with her Snoopy blanket and smoothed her hair out. He kissed her forehead and let her sleep. 

He went back down and worked in his office. Now that the band was without any management and team, they had a lot of paperwork to prove that they were management-less. Once he was done with the paperwork he decided to do some in depth investigation[long cash]lurking— on the lawyer that helped them get out of their contract. All he knew about her was that one of Michael's best men gave him her number because she was well known in the NFL among the wives of the NFL players. He looked her up on Google and it showed that she is married to a retired NFL player who she had three children with, one son and two daughters. Her husband played for the San Diego Chargers until the team moved to Los Angeles where he went and played for the 49ers. He had retired just last year. In his rabbit hole investigation he ended up on Renee's Instagram page. He was about four years deep when he saw a familiar face. Claudia. 

She was posing with, who Calum assumed was, that Isaiah guy. He had his arm around Claudia's shoulders while one of her hands was on his chest. They both had big smiles. 

Calum scrolled down and read the caption. Noting that Isaiah's @ was in the caption, he clicked it. He cursed when he saw that his account was private. He went back to Renee's and kept scrolling. He saw more and more of Claudia. From school fundraisers to family barbecues, Claudia and her family were there. 

It hurt him, not in 'she looked so happy with him' but more of how he knew their families can't have that relationship. Mostly because Calum's family lived on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. They couldn't just arrange to meet up for a barbecue or a dinner. There was so much to plan just for them to be in the same place. And with the ongoing pandemic, it made things rough for them. 

Calum and Claudia's parents briefly met via Zoom when Joy and David thanked Soni and Diego for taking Calum in. After that there were quick Zoom calls or just Calum or Claudia passing along their parents' regards to the other. The more Calum thought about it, his parents had better relationships with Diego and Soni than Marlene and Medelyn's parents. From what Claudia told him, Marlene's parents kicked her out when she was sixteen after finding out she was a few months pregnant with Guito. Diego and Soni stepped in and took her in. Her parents eventually came around, but according to Claudia, the tension is very present whenever there's a family party and Marlene's parents attend. But it's much better than Medelyn's parents. He witnessed first-hand how her parents want nothing to do with her or the Santos family. 

"Hey, you okay?" Claudia asked him, bringing him back from his thoughts. "I knocked a few times and you didn't answer."

"Ye-yeah, I'm good." He said. He motioned her to come in. She took a seat in front of Calum. 

In other circumstances, he would have dropped to his knees, but those circumstances are probably why Claudia was pregnant. 

Calum pushed her t-shirt and gently kissed her belly. "How are my babies?" he asked before blowing raspberries into her belly.

"We are good." Claudia gently patted her belly. "This one was in the mood for tamales."

"What time are they showing up?" He asked. 

"In like two hours. I'm so hungry." She fake cried. 

"The lighting is good right here." Calum noted, ignoring her hunger comment. He unlocked his phone, accidentally revealing to her that he was lurking. He exited the app and looked for the camera icon. He quickly took a few pictures of him with Claudia's belly. He passed his phone to her and let her see the pictures.

"You think showing me cute pictures of my belly is gonna distract me from the fact that I saw my ex's mom on your phone?" She asked as a matter of factly.

"Kinda?" He laughed nervously. He sat back and ran his hand over her thighs. "Now that I got you here. I have something to talk to you about that involves her." 

"Oh?" 

"You know how we dropped our album and that our management fucked up the release, making us debut a week early and all that?" He asked her. She nodded in response. She remembered clearly tweeting Billboard and cursing them out. Calum took her hands and intertwined her fingers with his. "Well we decided to part ways with them. Thanks to Renee, we got out of our contract drama free. So now we have more freedom with our music and lives." 

"Oh my god! I'm so happy for you and the guys!" Claudia smiled. She carefully hopped off the desk and sat on Calum's lap. "Mrs. Hastings is such a badass. I'm glad she was able to help y'all."

"It's a relief. It's nice to break apart from a group that never had your back." He said. 

Claudia smiled to herself. It's been a while since she saw Calum look so relaxed and content. She was happy to see that he found peace of mind. She knew how exhausting their management was. Especially when their relationship was exposed. The band's team was quick to tell him to break up with her. They were desperate to keep his image of the one single band member. But Calum was very adamant and refused. 

"My question is why were you on her Instagram?" 

"I was bored. I have a question too." 

"What is it?" 

"The dress you wore to your prom, is that the one you had planned on wearing with me?"

"No." she giggled. "I had convinced my mom to take me to Saks up in HillCrest because I wanted to impress you and maybe you know with you."

"Weren't you seventeen?" 

"Yeah? Wh— oh yeah nevermind." 

***

Calum paced around his office, waiting for his dad to answer. Earlier Damian had accidentally spoiled Calum and Claudia's surprise by asking if his tía Claudia already had her baby. They came clean and told their parents they were having a baby. 

After an unexciting baby and sex reveal, their moms tearfully congratulated them on their baby girl. Diego came around after a few jokes from Junior and Danny. He even shed a few tears after it finally hit him that his baby was having a baby. Which only brought more jokes about how he doesn't hide the fact that Claudia is favorite. The only parent that didn't have much of a reaction was David. 

Calum quickly noticed the change in his demeanor as Joy and Soni gushed about the thought of being grandmothers to a baby girl that had both his and Claudia's dark brown curls. He texted him, letting him know that he was calling him. He stepped out and was now waiting for his dad to answer. 

"Llo?" David answered. 

"Hey, dad." Calum said back. He didn't know where to start. The last thing he wanted was to argue and ruin Christmas for them. But he wanted answers.

"You're really going to be a dad, huh." David spoke up, breaking the silence. 

Calum laughed nervously and leaned against his desk. "Yeah, we were a bit surprised at first but we're excited now." 

"Isn't it soon? You've been dating Claudia for what? A little over a year and now you're having a child? I never thought you'd settle." 

"If you're implying that she purposefully got preg—"

"I'm not… children are a huge responsibility, Calum."

"I'm aware." He scratched his arm. "This is something we've already discussed. We had agreed on waiting a few more years, once Claudia was done with school and working, but it kinda sprung on us. We know the timing isn’t ideal, but we want this. We want her.”

“Alright,” David sighed. 

Calum braced himself for what was going to come. 

“I want to be called pops though, I’m too young to be called grandpa.” he said, earning a chuckle from his son.

Both of them ended up talking for what seemed like hours. They caught up on how things were going for them. They even joked about having a serious talk with Felix, Mali's boyfriend and a family friend of the Santos family. Calum didn't even notice Claudia walk in and leave him a plate of tamales de rajas con queso and a mug of ponche Navideño on his desk. After another half hour, Calum and David hung up, agreeing to talk later in the week. 

Calum made his way back to the living room where Claudia, Danny, Sebastian and Medelyn were while he scarfed down his tamales and ponche. After he finished, he took his dishes and placed them in the sink, letting them soak. He joined Claudia on the floor, letting her lean against him. An hour later, Danny, Medelyn and Sebastian left since in Los Angeles there was a strict curfew. Calum and Claudia offered them one of the guest rooms, but they declined. It was now just the two of them. 

By the time they finished cleaning, it was well into midnight. Claudia had changed into a simple yet sexy, panty and bra set, covering it with a silky robe and settled in bed. She scrolled through one of her favorite stories on Wattpad while she waited for him. She was at the part where the main characters established that they are enemies when Calum entered the room with a small plastic box.

"Merry Christmas." He offered her the box.

"We agreed to open presents in the morning." Claudia said.

"I know but I couldn't wait. Remember a while back I found out it was you that I was supposed to take to prom?" He asked. 

Claudia nodded. She vaguely remembered the talk, but she did remember that afternoon he posted a screenshot of that Tweet and picture of them in the pool. There were mixed reactions. Some fans were confused why the pool was green, not knowing Ashton was in the midst of working on his album. Some gave them positive responses while others continued with their negativity. 

"Anyways," He said, bringing her back from her thoughts. "I found the corsage and I wanted to give it to you. There's also something else in there."

Claudia carefully opened the box. It was beautiful. The flowers were dry, but she always liked dry flowers. To her they represent memories and experiences. She gently ran her finger over the ribbon that matched the dress she had originally bought. She still remembered their team asking her to link the website of her dress so they could get an exact color. She lifted the corsage only to reveal a BVLGARI ring box. Her eyes widened. 

"No." Claudia shook her head. She passed him back the box. "Just because I'm having your baby, it doesn't mean you should propose." 

"Umm, well good thing I'm not proposing." Calum awkwardly chuckled. He opened the small box, inside was a rose gold serpent ring. It was similar to the necklace he first gave her and the bracelets. "I wanted you to have the complete set. It fits your pointer finger, not the ring finger."

"Oh, thank god." She exhaled, relieved.

"Why that reaction though?" He asked her. 

"I've seen too many couples get engaged for the wrong reason and end up miserable. Not that that would be us, but I don't want you to feel obligated because I’m having your kid."

"What do you think about marriage?" He shifted so she could be more comfortable.

"The overall thought of spending your life with someone and stuff sounds great. It's the fact that the government and/or church have to get involved to verify that gets me. Legally speaking it makes sense why they get involved. You?"

"I agree for the most part. I don't need some piece of paper to tell me that my feelings for you are valid." He said. 

"Well thanks for the ring." Claudia said, showing him how it looked on her pointer finger. "I love it. Also I have something for you to unwrap."

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah." She giggled as she stood on her knees in front of him. 

Calum slowly opened her robe, revealing her bra and panties. 

"You're my favorite present." Calum said, before gently pulling her down to kiss her. "The best thing that has ever happened to me."

***

"Check his left pocket." Ashton told Luke while he held Calum up.

Luke nodded and slipped his hand into Calum's pants. But in his drunken state, Calum pushed him away. He shook his hand and tried yo

"I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend." he went on. "She's amazing. She also has a great ass and even more phenomenal brain. She's having my baby whilst getting her master's at UCLA."

"C'mon you cunt, just cooperate with us. Claudia is going to kill us." Luke grumbled. "Where are you are your fucking keys?"

"I have a spare under the potted cactus." Calum said. He yawned and rested his head on Ashton's shoulder. 

Luke gave him a look and crouched under the potted plant. He lifted the pot and retrieved the keyes. He opened the door, holding it for Ashton to carry Calum in. They guided him to the couch. 

Duke and Cherry jumped on Calum wanting to get cuddles from him, but he wasn’t in the mood. He grumbled and rolled on his stomach.

“We need to get ice on his hand.” Luke whispered to Ashton.

“Why does he need ice on his hand?” Claudia asked, startling them. 

She stood on the doorway with a plate of sliced green apples drizzled with honey and warm peanut butter. She was pissed. 

Calum had told her he was going to go to the studio with the guys. Only he didn’t. She was mindlessly scrolling through the explore tab on Instagram and saw a picture of Mitchy with Calum in the background. Claudia wasn’t mad that he was out with Mitchy. She could care less about him. What pissed her off was that he thought it was okay for him to be out partying in the middle of a global pandemic. 

“He punched Mitchy.” Ashton said as if it was something Calum normally did.

“He WHAT!” Claudia yelled. 

“That’s what Luke said. I don’t know. I was home sleeping when he called.” 

“I was in the other room when it happened and when Jordan came to get me, he didn’t tell me what provoked him. They were just held back by a few other guys.” Luke explained.

“Did anyone else see?” Claudia asked. She was worried about the video getting out and that their old team could use it against it.

“No, there were like three other guys in the room when I got there. Everyone else was out in the yard. There guys were smoking and Cal was helping Mitchy get more drinks.” 

Ashton patted Luke’s arm. “We should get going.” 

“Bye Claudia and congrats on having a girl.” Luke said before he left with Ashton.

Claudia sighed when she heard the door close. She went over to Calum and got him out of his clothes. She grabbed a blanket and covered him, leaving to go upstairs to sleep. 

Calum woke up hours later. His whole body was in pain. He couldn't lift his head up from the pillow at how heavy it felt. Though when he caught a peek of himself in boxers he jumped up. 

It took him a minute to realize he was at his house. He didn't even know how he got home. The last thing he remembered was punching Mitchy for calling Claudia a bitch. He glanced down at his hand, even against his brown skin, his knuckles were still red. He opened and closed his fist, cursing at how it hurt. 

He heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen. He recognized the voices instantly. Danny and Claudia were arguing in Spanish. On the opposite end of the couch were a t-shirt and sweatpants neatly folded. He put them on and went to the kitchen. 

He barely made two steps in the kitchen when two hands shoved him hard. 

Danny, what the fuck!" Claudia yelled. She pulled her brother back, letting Calum regain his composure. 

"You don't come to my house and fucking start shit." Calum snapped at Danny.

"No, but I do come over and take my sister home with me because her baby daddy is an irresponsible headass." Danny sneered. 

"What did you just say?" Calum asked.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Danny began. "Claudia is fucking pregnant and you think it's cool to go out and party. You're putting her life and your baby's in danger. Hell, even yours. You're fucking selfish."

Calum didn't know what to say. He felt like shit.

Danny gently reached for his sister's arm. "Claudia te vienes conmigo."

She shrugged him off and crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving." 

"Me vale verga."

"She said she's not going." Calum spoke up.

"Cal, don't say anything right now." Claudia said defeatedly. "Danny, go home. We're going to resolve this."

Danny looked at Calum then to Claudia. "Fine." he said, knowing she wouldn't budge. He reached for his keys on the counter. "Me hablas al rato. Y más si este pendejo anda con sus pendejadas."

He hugged Claudia and went through the back to avoid getting close to Calum. Seconds later the front door slammed shut. 

"Claudia,"

She lifted her hand up, stopping him. "I don't wanna hear Calum. I'm exhausted. I stayed up all night because I didn't know where the fuck you were. Then you come home late, so drunk that Luke and Ashton have to hold you up. Don't get me started on the fact that you got in a fight. I don't want to know what caused it, but it better not repeat. 

What am I going to tell my parents this time? 'Yeah we can't make it because Calum decided that it was okay for him to party in the middle of a global pandemic where there were thousands of people dying and being hospitalized in just the city we live in. Feliz año.'"

"Claudia,"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you."

Taglist: @suchalonelysunflower @f-mu @another-lonely-heart @sunshinebabycal-deactivated2021   @calumscalm @karajaynetoday @cherryxwildflower @ashtonsunflower  @idontneedanyone @findingliam-o @5-secondsofcolor​ @mulletcal @polycashton @fckingpernico @2fangirl4u @calpops

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