#haven't seen the last 3 seasons or something but man it feels good to see him!!

[arabellas]

ANDREW LINCOLN as RICK GRIMES The Walking Dead | 11x24 “Rest in Peace”

#the walking dead #twd #twdedit #thewalkingdeadedit #rick grimes #rickgrimesedit #andrew lincoln #andrewlincolnedit #alincolnedit #tvedit #filmtvdaily #tvarchive #dailyflicks #tusercj #mine #twd spoilers #haven't seen the last 3 seasons or something but man it feels good to see him!!

[wildesqdreams]

teen vogue

pairings - drew starkey x actress!female!reader, the outer banks cast x actress!female!reader (platonic).

summary - outer banks cast plays "truth or dare" on teen vogue.

warnings - mentions of tomdaya, drew eating a spoon of mayonnaise, spoilers for outer banks if you haven't watched the show... and my shitty writing.

navigation | masterlist | request | taglist

a/n: i haven't really seen any new drew fics, so after watching the outer banks interviews, i decided to write something. i litterally cannot wait for obx season 3, like literally. okay, hope you enjoy :)

"we're the cast of 'outer banks' and we're here with teen vogue to play truth or dare."

the actors played rock, paper, scissors with each other to know who would go first. madison won, as she beat y/n since the two girls were left last, resulting in her starting first.

"i think because i'm first, i feel like it's okay to play it safe, so," she put her hand in the bowl in front of her, "we're gonna go with truth."

the girl read the paper, she pulled out, "whose trailer is the messiest?" and like that she momently answered, "i'm gonna say jd."

carlacia beside y/n said, "i knew that was coming,'' while looking at the boy.

jonathan spoke, "what about y/n?!"

"hey," the girl turned to him, " my trailer is clean on the weekends," that made drew let out a chuckle.

"okay, well, first of all... it's not just my stuff in that trailer," the boy stated, making the cast laugh, "when john comes in there, he's got his whole workflow going, you know what i mean?" he drank his coffee.

madison continued, "you're right, i don't have a roommate so my place is pretty tidy, but the pro is, it is the 'mario cart' trailer," she pointed back towards jonathan.

carlacia added, "it's the gaming trailer."

"i set it up for everybody... everybody, everybody comes in and plays in my trailer," and others agreed with what the boy said.

"i'm gonna go with truth," y/n leaned forward and took a piece of paper out of the bowl.

she unfolded it and read, "oh, this is a good one," she let out a laugh.

the girl felt drew lean down. feeling his warm breath on her ear, as he spoke, goosebumps appeared on her arms, "kiss, marry, kill - pope, jj, and rafe," he leaned back, eyes remaining on the girl, "interesting."

"why's there not john b?" chase asked.

"he's sarah's man," jonathan answered, as chase nodded.

madison looked at the girl beside her, "sooo, y/n... what's it gonna be?"

"well, obviously i'm killing rafe."

"hey," austin said, "you could change him."

that made y/n chuckle, "by getting a bullet in my head? no, thanks," the cast laughed, "and, ummm... then i'm probably kissing jj and marrying pope."

drew dramatically put a hand to his heart, "ouch."

the comment made y/n smile and shake her head.

"why not marry jj?" madelyn asked, tilting her head, so she could see the girl.

y/n looked at her hands in her lap, as she fidgeted with her fingers, feeling nervous about talking so much. the girl felt a hand come to her back. it was drew, softly rubbing up and down, "i feel like jj gets in a lot of trouble, so i just couldn't handle the stress because of him, and... i'll leave him for someone else," she lifted her head back up while looking at the camera, "you'll found out in season 3."

madelyn nodded, and austin spoke up, "doesn't drew cause trouble?"

"yeah, a little, but i can handle it."

the girl heard carlacia mutter beside her, so she could only hear, "it's called love."

she felt drew's touch disappear and she looked back, at him, seeing him smiling at the camera, "well... i'm gonna pretend that i didn't hear that," he then looked at the girl, still with the smile on his face.

"throw me the dare bowl," jonathan asked.

y/n grabbed it and turned to give it to him, hearing madison beside her say, "okaayy".

he picked out a piece of paper and read, "talk to the camera and tell your celebrity crush that you like them."

"this is great," carlacia spoke.

"oh, boy... all seven of them?"

the cast laughed and y/n said, "you could try, maybe you'll get a call from one of them later."

"from zendaya," drew added.

"pfftt, yeah, only in my wildest dreams where tom holland doesn't exist," laughter again was heard from the comment, "that was a joke, we love zendaya and tom," jonathan spoke in a serious tone.

"tomdaya forever," chase said, as the cast nodded agreeing.

jonathan looked at the camera, "y/n y/l/n," at his words everyone giggled.

drew looked at the guy next to him, smiling, "ay, man, wait a second."

austin chuckled, "someone's stealing your girl."

"i'm kidding, i'm kidding," jonathan looked back at the camera, "zoë kravits," laughter yet again was heard.

madison, giggled, "why do we have the same?"

"i mean c'mon," he continued.

madelyn looked at him, "i think she'll go for it."

"she's already fallen," y/n said.

austin added, "yeah, you got her."

"well, i don't know."

"channing tatum is out. out of this," madelyn confirmed.

"no, i can't... i'm, i'm not as magic as mike, but," the girls laughed, "i'll still make your dreams come true."

"oooh, that was a good one," y/n nodded while looking at him.

drew leaned forward, while making grabby hands, "give me truth."

y/n gave him the bowl, and he smiled, "thank you."

he picked out a paper and read, "who's most like their character in real life," there was silence before he added, "me?"

the cast laughed, while drew mouthed 'no', as jonathan spoke, ''let him speak his truth.''

drew smiled, "actually... actually, yes."

"y/n?" austin asked, "is he?"

"yeah, am i?" drew looked at the girl, who was sitting on the couch in front of him.

"oh, yeah, definitely... he's kind and lovely, exactly like our sweet rafe," she let out a laugh.

she looked at him, as he continued talking, "umm, i'm gonna go with the old rudy boy,'' his gaze locked with y/n's, ''cause he is a tasmanian devil."

the cast chuckled and drew's lip corners lifted when he saw his girl smile.

''for sure,'' carlacia agreed.

austin looked at the second bowl, "i'm gonna go with dare," and once again y/n passed the bowl to him.

he had picked out a piece of paper with the text 'eat three crackers and then sing your favorite song' written on it. the boy made a face that made the others laugh.

while austin was putting the crackers in his mouth, madelyn said, "we can actually help austin with this,'' and y/n agreed.

"yeah, yeah," jonathan nodded.

the boy with the full mouth counted, "one, two, three," before the cast started singing the song 'charlie, last name wilson' by charlie wilson.

as they finished they all clapped, "yeaahh."

y/n felt something on her shoulder. as she turned she saw drew cleaning the crumbs off of austins leg, which landed on her. he looked at her and mouthed a 'sorry, baby,' as he brushed her shoulder.

she laughed with the others when austin said, while eating the crackers, "i need a water, need a water."

jonathan added, "he's dying.''

after he got the water bottle and took a sip, he looked at the camera, giving thumbs up, "okay, we're good."

carlacia had already picked truth, "oh, god," chase and y/n leaned to her sides to see the text, as she read, "read the last text message you sent," she looked at the camera, "no chance, we're not," she didn't even finish before they all started laughing.

jonathan clapped, "oh, shoot, they couldn't..."

"NO,'' carlacia leaned on y/n shoulder.

a few seconds later, the girl grabbed her phone. as drew said, "let's go, yeahh."

"oh, i know what it's gonna be," the girl beside her said.

"i texted tanner and i said 'can you get me and y/n super bowl tickets'?" and the room was filled with laughter again.

"running sharks.''

"make it happen."

carlacia smiled, "rihanna's in the super bowl this year, and... we're on the hunt for tickets."

"we love rihanna," y/n added.

"yeah, we do."

drew couldn't even rest from the pickle shot with jonathan because the next dare was for him to eat a spoon of mayonnaise.

austin was really nice and picked a lot of mayo from the jar for drew.

he grabbed the spoon in one hand and the jar in the other, as he looked at the camera, while austin said, "c'mon now... you got this from north carolina."

and with that drew ate the mayonnaise.

everyone was shocked and disgusted and gagging at the sight, while the boy enjoyed the mayo.

"it's like ew."

he even swallowed it, which made y/n stare in shock.

austin gagged, "i don't like mayo."

"i don't like it either," jonathan stated.

chase laughed, "y/n won't be coming home with you."

"yeah," y/n shook her head, "definitely not," she turned back to face the front.

"we'll see about that," drew smiled down at the girl.

when he was done he breathed heavily, while austin patted his back, "what a champ."

y/n looked at him and scrunched her face, "god, you smell like mayo."

"lovely, no?"

"absolutely no," she looked at jonathan, "i'm gonna be living with you from now on."

and before anyone could say anything he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "no you won't."

the girls beside y/n gagged at the smell, "ew, what the fuck, drew!!!" but the boy just smiled, while drinking his water, feeling proud.

"thank you teen vogue for having us, see you next time!" the outer banks cast ended the video after the last dare, which was for jonathan.

and like every other interview, it ended on a happy note ended, because laughter was heard, when madison howled like a wolf.

taglist: @willowpains @rana030

#drew starkey x reader #drew starkey #drew starkey x y/n #drew starkey x you #rafe cameron #drew starkey fluff #drew starkey fic #drew starkey fanfiction #outer banks #outer banks interview #obx season 3 #drew x reader #drew x you #drew x y/n #outer banks x reader #outer banks cast #outer banks x y/n #outer banks x you #drew starkey x female reader

[bellezaycafe]

Get Your Shit Together - Chapter 3

genre: 2024 Season AU

pairing: there will be romance but I haven't finalised who yet. platonic! oc x literally the whole grid.

warnings: swearing

context: Sadie, a 20 year old university student from Melbourne, decided to take a gap year and volunteer at 2 Formula One races in different countries.

Sadie's Faceclaim: Maia Mitchell (but you can visualise her howver you want :) )

comments: I guess this is a series now. I'm keeping the title Get Your Shit Together because I think Sadie is the kind of person who pretends to have her shit together but doesn't, so she helps everyone else get theirs together.

Part 1 | Masterlist

----$----

Max Verstappen was in a paddock interview when someone caught his eye. Dark brown hair, round face, sharp nose and a confident aura that compared to no others.

“Wait- hang on. Lewis, Lewis.” The older man looked over and his gaze followed Max’s pointed finger. “Mate, is that who I think it is?”

“Yeah mate, I think so.” Lewis’ smile only grew as he agreed.

“Who are you pointing too?” the interviewer asked.

Max hoped that she was just out of view of the cameras as he said, “the volunteer from Australia. The good one.”

He didn’t know how else to explain his respect for her in English; to him, she was good.

“It’ll be good to finally learn her name,” Lewis mused, scratching at his neat stubble.

“None of you know her name?” The reporter asked.

“No,” Lewis said into Max’s microphone. “I never had the chance to find her after the interviews.”

“I saw her the next day, I apologised for my behaviour to her,” Max commented. “But I forgot to ask her for her name.”

The reporter shook his head. “Alright well, thank you both for your time.”

Max nodded respectfully while Lewis said, “thank you.”

Then they both charged through the crowd towards the last place they saw the woman.

“Bets on her name?” Lewis asked.

“I don’t know. Something very Australian?”

“I feel like she’s a Layla or a Nira.”

"I think it's Sadie," came Lando's voice as he squished himself between the champions. "I asked Dave, one of the McLaren staff."

But when they reached the spot she had been, she'd vanished.

Max frowned and tried to use his height to see her but it was hopeless. Lewis pulled his phone out of nowhere and dialed a number. Lando just sat on the edge of a nearby pot plant.

"Heya," Lewis said into his phone. "I'm gonna need a paddock pass for our garage."

A pause.

"No, ass. I haven't found someone for the weekend and I don't intend to. It's for the girl from Melbourne, the volunteer George told you about... Yes, I know Carmen wants to meet her, that's why I'm asking you for a paddock pass."

Lando laughed from his seat, something boisterous and loud that had surrounding staff glancing over. Max was glad to hear his laugh again, it had been too long since they had hung out.

"No, I don't know her last name. I haven't even confirmed her first name... I can't ask her, she's not in front of me... I don't know where she is, we saw her from a distance... Max and Lando... Alright, fine. We'll find her."

Lewis hung up and sighed with a glance to the sky.

"They won't give you a pass?" Max guessed.

"They need her name first."

"Did you see who she was with?" Lando asked.

"Yeah," Lewis said. "Some paramedics. I recognised Mark, he's been the on call medic for years."

Max mulled over the fact he hadn't noticed anyone around her. He also mulled over the excitement little Lando Norris was trying to squash.

"I know where the medic tent is." He almost leapt up from his perch.

Lewis gave Max a knowing smirk as they disappeared into the crowd.

——$——

Sadie had no idea they had seen her. She was hoping that none of the drivers would remember her. She still hadn't seen their interviews from Melbourne and was clueless about the actions the FIA had taken to hand out penalties directly after the race.

"Hungry?" Mark, a middle-aged paramedic with greying blonde hair and smile lines besides his eyes, asked.

"I am starving, please tell me there is somewhere I can get a decent sanga."

Mark frowned. "Sanga?"

"Sandwich," Sadie corrected. She was almost bouncing as she spotted the food trucks.

"You Australian's are weird," Mark commented but he couldn't hide his smile.

"And you English are uncultured," she returned.

She liked Mark, they'd met yesterday during practices and clicked. He was her supervisor during the free practice sessions and qualifying but she'd stuck by his side off track too. He didn't mind, he knew she was there, on the other side of the world, alone, to work for a sport she loved.

He'd told her at the volunteer's group dinner last night that she was living the dream he had wanted to at 20. He'd had a couple wines and would not shut up about how much his wife would love to meet her.

"Mark, what do you want?" she called over her shoulder as the reached the sandwich truck. When he didn't reply, she glanced behind her.

He was 100 metres back, talking to none other than Sir Lewis Hamilton. Sadie turned back around, remembering their interaction in Melbourne.

Another body stepped up beside her, swathed in bright orange.

Correction: Papaya.

Sadie didn't turn, assuming it was a McLaren employee looking fro some early lunch.

"It's a surprise to see you here." Lando offered the icebreaker.

She turned at his voice and fought to keep her composure. His brown curls swished as he turned his head towards her.

"I didn't think you'd remember me," she said truthfully. Sadie focused her eyes on the bridge of his nose as she spoke, she didn't want to meet those ever-changing eyes. She'd already noted that they matched the day's grey sky.

"Most of us did." The driver shrugged. "Carmen, George's partner, wants to meet you. Lewis is trying to get you Mercedes paddock passes."

Sadie groaned at that, stepping closer to the food truck as the line moved forwards. "I'm not stepping near any of your garages unless I'm doing my job. Too many cameras, too many people."

Lando laughed. "Understandable, but Lewis is determined."

Sadie paused for a moment as the line moved again. "How about, I will come and meet George and Carmen after the race? I'll meet Carmen while Lewis and George do their interviews and debriefs?"

The same brown curls swayed as Lando nodded. "I think they'll agree to that. All the cameras will be focused on the interviews and top three."

Sadie made an 'exactly' gesture and stepped up to the food truck with a goodbye wave.

By the time she had ordered her sandwich and Mark's signature wrap, the drivers had finished speaking with the paramedic.

He joined her while they waited.

"You never told me it was you who scolded Max in Melbourne," Mark noted.

Sadie muttered a curse. "I was hoping that everyone had forgotten about that. I lost my temper and I'm not proud of it."

"Lewis said that you stood up for yourself."

"I scolded him like a school teacher."

"You did call him a child."

"Angry, remember?"

"Sandwich and wrap for Sadie!" the food vendor shouted.

She stepped up, collected their food and handed her wrap to Mark.

"I didn't tell anyone about it because don't like media attention," she told him. "I hate how how the media follow the drivers. They have to fight for a private life, and I hate that. Max was angry, I was angry, and that interaction was something between the drivers and I. It had nothing to do with the fan's consumption of the race."

Mark hummed his agreement around his wrap.

"The media circus doesn't know what happened, and they don't need to. His reaction was fair, and they don't need to be involved."

Sadie watched something pass over Mark's face but she couldn't place what it was. She devoured her sandwich instead.

----$----

Please let me know about how you feel about the direction this thing is going!!

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #f1 x oc #f1 fic #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #lando norris #max verstappen #lewis hamilton

[dnickels]

RE: 5x05. I have no idea how much I'm supposed to read into this, but that has never stopped me before:

It's VE Day. Havers is back in England. The post office, telephone system, communication infrastructure etc all still work. So where is Cap's sense of urgency coming from? He knows the full name and regiment of a serving officer, a letter will get where it needs to go, they're very good about that over there. Yes, Cap's been waiting, but its been six years, he can wait a little longer-- hang out in the bushes until he sees Haver's car drive away and bang on the window, if he insists on being an insane person (<3). Figure out where he's billeted. Japan hasn't surrendered yet, so I suppose there's a chance Havers could get shipped to Burma or something and potentially die there, but he's not going to go straight from the cocktail reception to the troop ship, especially if everyone there is about to get "Hitler defeated"-levels of drunk. ("They're all red tabs, surely decency and decorum--" they are going to roll those old soaks out of there in wheelbarrows)

The urgency isn't because Havers might die. I think Cap knew his time was short.

He's a middle aged man in tolerably good shape, all that ration food aside. He make good time on his morning jogs, and his biggest ailment is 'creaky knees'. "Widowmaker heart attack out of nowhere" isn't an unheard of COD for someone who seems otherwise fine, especially someone who has been under a fair amount of stress (six years of wartime, including the fucking Blitz would do a number on my heart) but his sudden relocation makes me pause. It's only been about a year since he got relocated away from Button House, right? What was all that about? It's presumably still requisitioned, given that they're throwing a swanky victory party there and Heather Button is nowhere to be seen, but has the weapons program been disbanded? Or was there some reason to pull the CO out of a high-stress position and send him to the beach to take potshots at seagulls? (I am being glib here-- the coast was NOT a stress-free place when you can see your enemy just across the Channel). I genuinely forget what he said he was doing in season three-- was he even still in the army at all, or did they send his ass to the Home Guard? Even they got a campaign ribbon.

I think Cap made one last push to get to the front, and while its very clear that this dingus should under no circumstances be on the front line (<3) they humored him with a medical-- and found something really troubling. Or maybe he went in of his own accord, the old flutter, or maybe it was just a routine checkup. Either way he got some very serious news, so sorry old boy, just one of those things, could be any day now-- best make sure your affairs are all in order.

Hence the single-minded desire to meet, once last time. Everyone else clearly drove-- did he walk all the way from the train station, down the country lanes? Did he feel a little short of breath scaling all those walls? Did every set-back and stressor make him more determined-- just give me a little more time, just a little more time...

It could also be that he just got yelled at so hard he died of it, which is almost certainly how I will go, but that was my immediate impression and it has not left me, nor have I known peace. I know there's a few holes in my theory but I haven't talked myself out of it yet. For me the kicker is that he experiences at least ten devastating emotions in the last moments of his life, but "surprise at entering cardiac arrest" does not appear to be one of them. It looks more like grim acceptance. Stoic in the face of death-- a soldier to the end.

#bbc ghosts #ghosts spoilers #the captain #I will be so embarrassed if I wasnt watching closely enough #and this is all explicitly text no one thought to comment on because duh #but I didn't see it in the tags and I think I might explode just thinking about it #I have mooooooooore thoughts and you will hear them! #ghosts season 5

[triflesandparsnips]

I'm not seeing enough deep-dive nonsense about the new Good Omens season 2 poster drop on my dash, and by god that means I must be the one to deliver it.

For those who haven't seen it yet, behold:

...there's a lot in here to go a wee bit feral over, if one was so inclined, and lord knows I love an inclination.

The Obvious Stuff

1. There Was Only One Bed Chair

This is the bulk of the commentary I've seen, and tbh, it's pretty great. "I am bored/busy and ignoring you but also what is personal space, never heard of her, we will not be taking questions at this time."

Notably, however, this is the second time we've seen them back to back-- the majority of the poster art we saw for the first season had them side by side. In both cases they're in a position to face some third thing together-- the difference, perhaps, is that side by side might imply equality of situation, while back to back implies implicit trust that the other won't stab you there.

2. The bookshop

Aw, look at them. Look at it. What a glorious little mess. This is them in London. Arizaphale looks pleased with the situation; Crowley looks bored af but he's also squished up on that one dang chair, so there's a "cat sitting next to you because parallel play and mirroring are the Best Interactions" feel to it.

3. Tea and wine

Arizaphale's got a teacup, Crowley's got a wine glass, this is very Them and indicative of their Vibes. Tbh, I think this is just a nice bit of design work, but it's worth calling out.

4. The outside street

The shop across the way is using a Gothic and reads "GIVE ME" before being cut off. No clue what it means, but it probably means something.

5. The tagline

The previous tagline we got was "Something's going down in the Up" (with that grey feather falling between their black and white wings)-- this tagline reads "Everyday it's a-getting closer."

Easiest interpretation is, oho, we're getting closer to the second season, and gosh there will be some Plot in it. And sure, yes, it works for that too, huzzah. But leaving aside the "it" and what that may mean-- "a-getting" is a fascinating word choice. It evokes similar constructions like, say, the somewhat obscure "Sumer is icumen in" (a song about the changing of the seasons and also encouraging a cuckoo to go lay some eggs in other birds nests if u no wat im sayin eyyyyy)-- and the significantly less obscure protest song "The Times They Are A-Changin'", whose ending stanza is:

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'

Gosh.

Now the Real Fun Starts

This poster is a composite image (as so many ads are), composed of different bits and pieces to form a whole impression -- based on fun stuff like relative pixelation and whatnot, you can often tell what portions of an image were there to start with, and what were specifically added in after the fact. How packed this poster is in tiny details -- which is exactly where I would hide fun hints to things -- is generally a cue for me to take a closer look, and I have been, I think, rewarded.

1. The books with legible titles

Zoom in on Aziraphale's book-- he's reading Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. The "two cities" in play are Paris and London, and the book is set before and during the French Revolution.

It's the story of a man who had been previously imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years, and then was released to go live with his daughter -- who he has never met, what with the whole "imprisoned" thing -- in London.

The opening paragraph is:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

The pile of books in the foreground have two visible titles: the topmost one is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (a "novel of manners" that's considered a heavy-hitting romantic classic, and also yes the leads are both prideful and prejudiced and it takes an entire book for them to clear that up) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (a young adult coming-of-age adventure story about a kid who finds himself on an adventure with a bunch of pirates to discover buried treasure).

Of note: A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island also all have note tabs sticking out of them, and are the only books that have them. This is reminiscent of how Arizaphale studied and referenced Agnes Nutter's prophecies.

Some of the books beneath the window technically have titles, but they appear to be about as pixelated as the rest of that section, and so I suspect they're just part of the scenery.

Similarly, most of the books on the background shelves are like that as well, except:

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (A satirical novel set in World War II; Wikipedia briefly explains that "the novel examines the absurdity of war and military life through the experiences of Yossarian and his cohorts, who attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling their service requirements so that they may return home." The book also coined the phrase "catch-22," which is a situation someone can't escape because of paradoxical rules-- in the case of the book, you can't ask to be evaluated for insanity so that you can be exempt from flying dangerous missions, because "anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.")

Iain Banks's The Crow Road (and a first edition, perhaps? I haven't read it, but apparently it's a Scottish family drama about a perfect murder against the backdrop of the 1990s Gulf War. Its opening line is "It was the day my grandmother exploded." The phrase "the crow road" is a euphemism, in the book, for death.)

Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim (Sparknotes says it's "the story of a man named Marlow's struggle to tell and to understand the life story of a man named Jim" -- a young man who goes to sea, makes a terrible and cowardly decision while following his leaders, and then spends the rest of his life haunted by it.)

There's at least one extra, partially obscured title:

It appears to read "THE BODY ------ and ------", which makes me wonder if it's an anthology of murder mystery short stories.

Leaving aside the uncertain book, commonalities between many of these books include:

soldiers, war, and the horrors/absurdities thereof

doubles and parallels

death and murder

a young/inexperienced protagonist thrown in with more experienced/weirder folk

fragmented and out of order narratives, sometimes having to be pieced together from multiple viewpoints

...pirates

2. The strange but noticeable inserts

There are several images that have been inserted into the poster that -- unlike the teacup and wine glass mentioned above -- don't seem to make a lot of contextual sense and are therefore, perhaps, extra information. These include:

a. the three lizard boys

b. the broken smartphone

c. the matchbox with the quote on the side

d. the camera

e. this statuette that seems suspicious

f. this record and scroll that seem out of place

g. the clockface with the missing hand (which may be just for the Aesthetic, but whatever, I'm including it)

What do they mean? No clue. I suspect it will become apparent as we get trailers and/or the actual show.

In Conclusion

Uh.

Look. Design teams can do all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons. All of this could mean absolutely nothing.

But.

Using my magical powers of bullshit deduction, I might look at all this, and that grey feather falling from the earlier poster, and say... well... the war's still ongoing, yeah? So maybe... maybe there needs to be a new angel keeping an eye on things on Earth. Or an eye specifically on Aziraphale and Crowley.

And that would look SUSPICIOUS, right? So this is an angel who's maybe... a little bit Fallen. For the sake of the Mission. Like, they've agreed to sin just a lil bit, just enough to justify being thrown out of Heaven, and they're not actively in Hell because they're, oh, just stopping off, or maybe just going really slowly, or maybe they were sent back up from Hell because they were still "too good" and all that Pureness of Spirit was stinking up the place--

Whatever. Point is, they're on Earth, they're very confused, it sure would be nice if these very Established metaphysical elders could give them a few hints about how to get on. We'd then get to enjoy a Guide to Living a Totally Normal Human Life given by these two disaster dorks, plus whatever nonsense is derived from, idk, various extraneous plot shenanigans, probably involving a Murder and maybe a MacGuffin Maltese Falcon.

And most importantly: this new angel? Wow no they couldn't possibly be a spy because again WOW, what kind of angel would deliberately Fall? Wouldn't that require doing the wrong thing to do a right thing? ...okay maybe, but can it really be wrong if it was done by command? ...well, wait, it surely must be wrong because otherwise the mechanism wouldn't have worked-- but then, wait, which thing was the wrong thing--

And Aziraphale and Crowley would watch this bouncing volley of cognitive dissonance with great interest, also possibly while holding hands.

#good omens #season 2 #good omens season 2 rampant speculation

[eshtaresht]

holy. fuckin'. DAMN. I was pretty good at predicting the plot so far, but this episode proved that stampede is going in a whole new direction for real. spoilers for ep 9!!! (and manga a bit)

first of all, we still haven't got a full story of the great fall, but I think it's something they'll reveal in this season, probably during confrontation with knives. and still no scar reveal!! I'm angy but it's something that could be relevant to the standoff with knives, hope we'll get it

the piano scene... oh we're eating GOOD, it's just so wholesome but goes to confirm my theory that twins weren't completely fine on the ship. vash feeling useless because he can't do cool plant shit, knives envying vash for being good at human shit.... oh it's great

so glad knives is getting proper characterization and not just "he evil because he evil"! the fear, the hurt, the genuine care for vash, but then frustration with him – it's right there and I'm eating it up so yummy

the way they recontextualized vash's arm loss is GORGEOUS! I've seen ppl reading this scene differently, but to me it was an act of care from naï. he looks really scared for a reason: we see that the gate consumed all matter, including the hand. vash couldn't control it, so it would only grow bigger and destroy him. NAÏ REALIZED THIS AND SAVED VASH THE ONLY WAY HE COULD

he didn't want to fight him, this was not an act of anger, like in previous versions. all he cared about in that moment was saving his twin..... and what did he get in return? a gun pointed to his face. a gun he gave vash to kill human scum. oh, the DRAMA

ahem, now to the less intense stuff

homeboy has so much trauma, like, damn... how is he gonna fit any more from his impending epic brother fight...... I'm quite curious on how they're gonna characterize him in the next season. concidering that we're taking off earlier than previous versions, he might end up with the same unhinged vibe 98' vash had, as a coping mechanism (if depression didn't work, try dissociation and silliness). but then it would be even more interesting to see meryl's and wolfwood's reactions: they knew him before the accident and saw the big sad

vash has sense in the prosthetic arm, so it must've hurt when he damaged it... probably it hurts less than the real one, and it's clearly painless to take off. but the hand seems to be rather sensitive and fic writers are gonna go crazy for this

age reveal! also brad and luida being in cryosleep makes sense, I was racking my brain on how they're still alive. seems like they're using much more plant power tho... both for cryo and the vegetation, while in manga they tried to keep it as low as possible and send signals to earth

saw someone say that they're probably not doing that here because the earth is destroyed... could be that they decided to go the hard way. but in the manga the earth was still fucked, and it wasn't clear if they communicated with the ppl left on the planet or the fleet that was in some new place. what I'm saying is, there is a possibility that they are looking for help in stampede, we just don't know it yet

meryl was so cute! go off, comedy relief goofy girl, while you can, there is more trauma coming your way :3 yeah, enjoy roberto calling you by your first name... oh it would be such a shame if he gave you his derringer before his untimely death..........

pretty weird that nobody knows why they fell on no man's land, but ppl probably were too ashamed of their past and 150 years later the new generation is oblivious. also so funny that luida has to explain what vegies are..... they have so many plants but haven't see any plants

tbh I wasn't expecting the zazie twist at all, but I'm excited! they are SO gender in stampede, might be the best redesign in the series, love me a genderless bug creature with bold fashion choices. really cool to see that storyline adapted, it was barely touched upon in the last volumes of trimax

btw the multiple bullets story about a plant, worm and human who went around figuring out if their species could coexist and just.... creating this foud family and then building a town there all were equal...... that's my favorite mb story for sure

wolfwood saying "I'm not your friend"... I know what you are. and we got a "you'll have to decide one day"... oh oh the misery, but the context was lacking. it just doesn't hit the same when he isn't daring vash to shoot him in the most homoerotic way possible. on and he looks so goofy trying to ride with his cross

in the last ep's rant I assumed that luida lied about rem saving everybody for some reason?? but no, she actually saved them, I just got a bit confused

so, as I predicted, the gang separated (tho not because of vash) and by the end of the next episode vash'll be in july and meet naï. the poster, man.... that gorgeous futuristic city is getting obliterated for sure

btw vash's gate being opposite to knives and sort of a black hole is nothing new. but there are new layers to this, like vash willingly giving away energy, but destroying things against his will, and knives with the opposite of this. ying yan twins go brrrr

#such a blast of an episode although the middle part on the seeds ship was kinda boring #stampede make more than one model for background chatecters challenge: impossible #every new episode is finding a new way to destroy me.... the season finale will be the death of me #trigun #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #meryl stryfe #millions knives #trigun spoilers #trigun stampede spoilers

[masonmyluv]

Home race - CL16 🙈

Charles Leclerc x reader

Childhood friends reunited

Warnings: mention of an inchident, some curse words

A/N: this is my first story about Charles Leclerc so pls don’t judge 😅😊

You couldn't believe what you were seeing. Your childhood best friend, actual F1 driver, was back in Monaco. How could you forget? You thought about it since this season started. What if you're going to bump into him on the streets? It's been 5 years since you stopped talking and never got in touch with each other.

While Charles was busy signing for fans, Arthur's eyes wondered further from the crowd and spotted you. "Isn't that Y/N?" He whispered to Charles. "Who?" His brother replied. "Never mind. I'll be over there at the cafe" Arthur said, making his way over to you.

You pretended you were intensely studying the menu (even though you already ordered) when he approached you. "Is this Y/N Y/L/N?" You looked up in a beat, a bit disappointed it wasn't Charles, but his brother. Damn, their voices were so alike. "Yep. That's me" you replied smiling. "I haven't seen you in a loooong time" he said, sitting in the opposite chair. "Same to you. How you've been?" You asked. "Pretty good, got into F2, things are going well. Charles over there is in F1, so he does better than me" he rolled his eyes playfully. "He's not really doing well with all the crashes" you mumbled. "So you're watching? Are you a fan?" He smirked. "Well... only when I'm bored" you said. "Anyways, what about you?" He asked. "You're always changing the subject when you don't like something" you chuckled. "I'm good, I'm studying Architecture here, I still have 3 more years to go". "And do you have someone?" He asked.

Just when you were about to reply, Charles appeared by his brother's side. "Are you trying to hook up? Really?" He said to Arthur. "Bro, it's Y/N. Your best friend remember?" Arthur said, Knocking into Charles's head. Charles looked over to you, still not making out who you were. You were a bit disappointed because he didn't remember you, but you remembered everything about him and still had that stupid crush on your best friend. Or ex best friend.

"You should invite her to the race tomorrow" Arthur suggested. "Even though she watches F1 when bored".

"OOOOH!!! It's Y/N/N" Charles said. "You and your stupid nickname. Yes, it's her" Arthur rolled his eyes. Charles couldn't contain his excitement, so he hugged you. "I missed you" he whispered. "I missed you too". "So you're coming to the race then?" He asked. "Sounds good" you smiled.

-- 5 hours before the race --

"I told you not to freak out" Arthur said, hugging you. "I till feel weird to be here. I basically know nothing" you said. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything you need to know. By the way, Charles's sending you a gift" he said. "Really? After I spent 2 hours to pick my outfit, you give me a t-shirt?". "It's designed by Charles for the race. Come on, you'll look good" he said.

"So did you understand how things are around here?" Arthur asked. "Let's hope for the best" you laughed awkwardly. Man, this sport was something else. "And now Ferrari motor home. And probably Charles is dressing up in here" Arthur said, making his way through the mechanics who we're finishing the last checks on the car. Indeed, Charles was putting on his special Monaco suit and he looked damn hot in it. Fuck, go away stupid crush.

"Y/N, you came. And you're looking good" Charles said, hugging you. "Of course. Wouldn't want to miss my best friend racing right?" You chuckled. "Oops forgot something. Be right back" Arthur said, leaving the two of you alone. "So..." Charles said. "Are you scared? I mean, I would be, driving 200 on these streets. Or are you feeling pressured because it's a home race? I would, I'm always feeling under pressure and I can't work properly" you ranted. "I do feel scared and excited, and under pressure, but I'm enjoying it to the maximum" he replied. He always liked when you asked his questions and were honest with him. "So... who's your biggest rival?" You asked. "Myself". "I would say Verstappen cuz I do like him... and probably Hamilton. He's ok" you said.

"And who's this beautiful lady we have here?"

"Carlos, she's Y/N, my...best friend" Charles said. "Hi. Nice to meet you" you said. "Carlos is my teammate who I don't know what is doing here" Charles narrowed his eyes at him. "Just wanted to wish you luck. But I guess you already have" he grinned.

"I have to get in the car. Make sure your headset is working properly and enjoy watching" Charles said. "Thanks. Wait Charles" you said, before he could put on his helmet. "Yeah?". You leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Win for me, will ya?" You winked, making him blush.

"Watching the two of you is funny. You clearly have feelings for each other" Arthur said. "And where have you been, mister?". "Just letting you have some time with him. And I guess he's going to invite you to the party as well" he said, helping you put on the headset so you could hear Charles's radio. "What party?" You asked. "After the race, there's a party to celebrate. If he wins, he'll want you by your side. If he loses, he still wants you by his side" he shrugged. "Is it starting?" You asked. "Yeah. Pray for him".

"Omg is he okay??" You asked, seeing the collision between him and Carlos. "Yeah it's just the front wing. He should be able to continue the race" Arthur explained.

"Fucking hell why would he do that??? Putain!!! That idiot!!!"

You winced at his words, never seeing Charles so angry before. Sure his own teammate would sabotage him.

"I'm sorry, Y/N/N"

"He's a twat" Arthur sighed. "He still had time no?" You asked. "Maybe, but I guess he already gave up". "Can I told to him?" You asked and Arthur nodded.

"Charles, it's Y/N speaking. Please don't give up, you've worked so hard for this and it's a shame to give up now. This is your empire, Charles, show them who's the king. I know you won't give up that easily. Or so I thought that I know my best friend. I love you, Charles. Make everyone proud"

"You confessed over the radio? You're crazy" Arthur chuckled. "He needs to know. I can't hide it anymore" you shrugged. "Welcome to the family. Officially as Charles's girlfriend" he said, hugging you. "He didn't ask me yet" you laughed. "He will, trust me. Probably the first thing he'll do when he gets out of the car".

And it's first place for Charles Leclerc in Monaco. What a race! The Monaco curse is broken!

And Arthur was indeed right. After congratulating the other drivers on the podium, he ran to where you were and hugged you tightly. "Be my girlfriend? Please". "Hmm I don't know..." you faked thinking about it. "We haven't talked for five years. I still don't know why we did that" you said. "Me neither. I guess it's my fault. I was at the beginning of the F1 career and didn't want a distraction. Sorry for that" he said. "It's okay. Let's just enjoy is being reunited" You leaned in, pressing your lips to his. "God, I can't believe I did that" you chuckled. Charles smirked before pulling you into another kiss. "Get a room. Wait first go to celebrate and then get a room" Arthur said, hugging the both of you. "Or we could celebrate in a room" Charles shrugged. "Gross. Now go, the trophy's waiting" Arthur said.

After the celebration, Charles came back into the garage, smelling like champagne, but you didn't care. And after that, you went to the party and as Arthur said everything you did was 18+🤪.

Hope you like it ❤️🤍

Praying to all odds for Charles to win today 🥹

#charles leclerc #charles leclerc blurb #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fluff #monaco gp 2023

[consistentsquash]

2023 HP Slash Fic Recs (January to August)

My favorite slash fics written in 2023! Full disclosure everything is Snarry except one fic which is Sirius/Albus + Snape/Albus.

In the Margins of What We Know by Malora (January)

Snarry, 27700 words, epistolary fic

Snarry doesn't really get a lot of epistolary fic. So when I saw this one I was super excited. Love it. Really creative fic with a lot of scope/worldbuilding without a lot of words.

Magic and Botany: The Bamboo Forest of Li Xian (book excerpt) A bamboo forest is unusual compared to other forests in that its growth happens beneath the surface. The Bamboo Forest of Li Xian, in fact, could be considered one organism. There is a single root system for the entire forest. Two shoots of bamboo, seemingly distant, can be connected in ways that are not easily seen.

Check out the rest of the Snarry Adopt A Prompt Fest 2022.

  This Mirrored Perspective by @likelightinglass and zalil (February)

Snape/Harry/Tonks, 8000 words, PWP, Dirty bad hot wrong

Ok this is my OT3 and I don't really take questions. But this is my OT3 because of Likelightinglass writing An auror, a professor and a potioneer walk into a bar. This fic has a totally different vibe! It's intense, psychological, dirtybadhotwrong porn with peak self-indulgence. Definitely NSFW.

That nagging sense that he didn't deserve it.

  Night Skye by @titconao3 (March)

Snarry, 11500 words, OTP comfort food fic

Heartwarming OTP fic! It's the best Snarry comfort food fic I read this year. Good vibes, sexy high chemistry, loving/intimate feels, brilliantly characterized, beautiful settings.

“One day…” He shakes his head and looks up at Harry, his eyes like coal. “Today,” Harry says. “Today, Severus; that’s what matters.” This is how, finally, Harry gets Severus to agree.

  Coda to "Soft Touch" by @perverse-idyll (April)

Snarry, 3,300 words, Soft

Have recced before. Will rec again. Because everybody needs to read it for the soft tender vibes. Not really soft. But compared to the intense angsty fic this is a coda for, I feel like it's optimistic and soft and I just feel so happy for my OTP.

"Can a man not toss off in the privacy of his own room without being accused of sabotaging his bloody health? If you can't trust that I have a vested interest in my own recovery - "

Snape spotted Harry, and a flush raced from his collar up to his hairline, exquisitely pink beneath his unnaturally smooth skin. But although he swallowed his tirade, Snape didn't seem particularly put out by having practically shouted his masturbatory claims to the entire office.

Check out Soft Touch the perfect dysfunctional/dirtybadhotwrong massage fic which inspired this coda!

  Devotion by @danpuff-ao3 (May)

Snarry, 27000 words. Intense/dirty bad/hot/wrong.

Exactly what I want from my Snarry! Honestly Danpuff is bringing the oldschool vibes of Snarry back with a bang in their fics every single time and I am just super spoiled now. Snarry forever :D Also love to see Danpuff going into longer fics this year!

Though the worst crime of all is Potter’s. "Did you want to die?" Also The boy knows — he knows — he can take anything he wants. That bitter surrender is surrender all the same. That the force of Severus’ loathing is fed by his longing.

Pro tip - Read Contempt together with this fic. Check out other fics from Snarry-a-Thon 23

  Much Ado About Asmodeus by @ac1d6urn (June)

Snarry, 18100 words, Fluff

Fluff and crack! Really love the oldschool trope parody vibes of this fic. I actually haven't read something like this in a pretty long time. Going on my rereads! Also going on my holiday season reading list :D Also love to see Acid's insane prolific streak this year. I feel super spoiled as a reader! <3

Harry squinted against the rain and promptly attempted to expunge the phrase "Ventus Vultuosus, swish and flick when in a bind!" from his memory. Ugh. Curse you, Common Weather Weathering Spell #13! That'll be the last time I trust anything Witch Weekly puts out in fine print. (Except maybe that last fruitcake recipe.) Now that he thought about it, Auntie Annabelle's Advice Column on "Ten Ways of Bewitching and Beguiling Your Mr Right" didn't seem so reliable either, especially considering some of those later suggestions, and maybe even those in the middle too. Those were a bit wild.

  Promises, promises... by SerenaEW, @acydpop (July)

Snarry, 5000 words, Fluff

Aww!!! The Snarry Summer Fluff I was totally praying for and really needed! Perfect Snarry Bang opener for my reading <3 Also the art! <3

Severus was looking at him, telling him, with only a glance, to shut up before you say something utterly idiotic. The expression on Jamie's face looked nearly identical.

Check out the other fics from Snarry Bang 2023

  Brillig by eldritcher (August)

Dumbledore saying "You disgust me" to people in his life but also meaning "I disgust myself". The more he sees himself in the other person, the more disgusted he gets. Intense, intense beautiful fic. But also healing because he finally overcomes that.

He disgusts you. Ratty, bony, skulking, pleading, raging, raving, frightened of the shadows and frightened of the fog, frightened of you. "You did not save Lily!" he yells. "You did not save James!" he weeps. "You did not save me!" he whimpers, and huddles into himself and trembles as if the North Sea is in his very veins.

Also the math works out!!! Snape/Dumbledore + Sirius/Dumbledore = Snack by proxy actually.

Check out the rest of the spectacularly beautiful Frabjous which contains some of my all time favorite fics.

#hp #hp slash #hp slash recs #recs #hp slash 2023 #snarry so much snarry #but i included one non snarry fic to beat the snarry bias allegations #i mean i have snarry bias sorry not sorry #hp slash recs 2023 #fic recs #squashrecs #snape fandom #pro snape #slash fic

[destiny-smasher]

Stuff From 2023!

List of things of note I experienced in 2023! A few things didn't technically release in 2023, I'm sure, but yea. Will contain my 'Top 10 Games I Played in 2023' as well.

Firstly, something I played a lot of this year in bursts but doesn't quite crack my Top 10 is Vampire Survivors. Very addicting, did some very fun goofy shit that had me laughing and engaged in a lizard brain way. Appreciated the many Castlevania references and jokes, too.

A couple of games I played every weekend for a few hours across many weeks this year were Project Zomboid and Roots of Pacha, both in a group 4. We had lots of fun with those two, and I think they're both great co-op time-sink games. Zomboid is a zombie survival sim that has way more attention to detail than its graphics may imply. It's still in early access but the depth to its is honestly pretty dang impressive. Pacha iterates on the Stardew Valley formula in a ton of small but deliberate, thoughtful ways that make for a nice twist on that Harvest Moon style game.

REMAKES

There were so many great remakes this year, on top of just amazing games in general, I can't fit them all into my Top 10. So here's a segment dedicated to most of the remakes I loved this year.

The remake of Super Mario RPG was such a surprise, and turned out very damn well. That game, turns out, is very near and dear to my heart and I did not fully appreciate that until this remake was revealed. It comes just shy of cracking my Top 10 list and that's honestly only because I finished Mother 3 finally right at the tail end of the year. This game manages to still feel weirdly fresh even today just due to how fucking strange it is, and the remake speeds up the pacing a bit while also adding in some new mechanics and a chunk of new post-game content. Everything was handled so well. This is like the new gold standard of complete one-to-one remakes of sprite-based games imo. I will admit the artstyle is a bit 'off' in some ways but I think it's very clean looking and captures that 90's CGI spirit really well, all things considered. And the music, OOF, so damn good.

The remake of Dead Space I don't have much to talk about, but it's very well produced. It's remade so well, in fact, that it felt like my memories of the original, even though I know it's not an exact recreation. Very well done and still holds up as a great horror action game with these improvements.

The remaster of Metroid Prime is so impressive it feels like a remake, even if the game is identical to the original aside from presentation and some control changes. It's an iconic classic, and yet I have no patience to do the Chozo Artifact stuff, so I actually did not roll credits on this version BUT still thoroughly enjoyed reliving the game with a very nice new coat of paint. It makes me excited to see what Prime 4 will look like on, I expect, more powerful hardware.

SHOWS/MOVIES

The year started strong with a TV adaptation of The Last of Us. While I've come to have conflicted feelings with the franchise at large, mainly due to its leading boss man, I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of this series. Very well done adaptation that picked and chose what to keep and what to change and honestly makes for a better story as a whole if you ask me, while not really replacing the game's tactile interactive tensions. Cannot wait to see what they do with Part 2 tbqh. I loved that game more than the original but also felt it was worse as an overall game/experience/narrative. But a fresh take on that same plot could potentially address a lot of the issues I had with Part 2, while simultaneously not really 'replacing' it, either.

The Bear. If you haven't seen it, it's just. Very good television. Two seasons in and it's sitting up there chasing Mr. Robot and Better Call Saul as one of the best live action series I've ever seen. Season 2 did such a great job of giving us deeper dives on the various characters and building toward an organic and rewarding conclusion that still leaves room for another season to theoretically wrap things up. Nothing too crazy with this show, it's super down to earth, and it owns that very well with editing and pacing that varies per episode, kind of in line with the different character perspectives.

Super Mario Bros.: The Movie had me worried for a while, mainly due to the animation studio and casting. And while I'm still not 100% sold on this celebrity casting, I will admit it didn't weight the experience down -- even if it's still the second weakest element by far. The weakest element is the writing. It's not, like, offense -- it's loyal to the source material and works, it functions. But it's not doing anything beyond pushing us from set piece to set piece. If anything, the movie is a bit too short for all of the stuff it's cramming in. But on the upside, there is a lot of amazingly rendered visuals and music to take in. A real treat for fans of the franchise, and the most loyal gaming adaptation in movie form, I would say.

Across the Spiderverse is in essence the first half of a two part film. That makes it kind of difficult to talk about, especially when it's also a sequel, and the production sounds like it was marred with bad management and crunch. But the results they came up with actually met my hopes and expectations for a sequel, and that is saying something, as I had very high expectations. I completely adore this film's stupendous sense of style, editing, framing, writing, and the way it's making meta-commentary on multiple levels on top of just being an effective narrative on its own. This is animated storytelling running at full capacity in my opinion, and in general just film doing all of the kinds of things film can do. So it's no wonder that there's still a rub -- this is the first half of the story they planned. The editing, animation, framing, effects, acting, action sequences, music, writing, theming, just Farore's sake, this is SUCH a damn banger of a film and one of the best movies I've ever seen, which, again, is kind of insane given the circumstances. I can only hope they don't fuck up the conclusion.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was quite the surprise announcement, and as it turns out, quite the surprise adaptation. I won't spoil much but I will say that by the end of the first episode, it becomes very apparent that this series is no mere by-the-books adaptation, and does something unique and edifying, even if it still maintains a certain surface-level depth I wish the franchise would push beyond. Either way, I enjoyed it way more than I expected to going in, and I think it makes for a great companion to the rest of the series. The animation style was super fun, as well, with some great action sequences.

But Blue Eye Samurai sucker-punched me, having released before I'd even known about it. This show is something else, something unlike any other animated show I've seen besides Arcane. And it's not like it's mimicking Arcane, it's just the closest I can think to compare it to: a quality, thoughtfully framed, thoughtfully written, made-for-adults animated series. It tows the line between fantasy and realism in a refreshing way, its protagonist is great, its cast is compelling, its plot goes to some neat places, and things just feel very well thought-out and well-executed. Slap this in second place behind Arcane as the TV series I am the most excited to see more of in the future, just ahead of The Bear.

Something I did near the end of the year was watch The Hunger Games movies, back to back over the course of like, a week. Have not read the books but man, watching these sure made me interested in doing so at some point. I totally get why people were so enamored with this franchise, and honestly, I think its themes and messages are more relevant now than they were when this franchise was at the peak of its popularity. The films certainly have glaring issues for my tastes but yea, I managed to really enjoy them as a whole despite my lack of mainstream sensibilities. Looking forward to reading the books eventually.

Another thing my wife shared with me was 花ざかりの君たちへ (often called 'Hana-Kimi' for short). Specifically, the 2007 version, as, uh, apparently there are multiple adaptations of this. It was a live action Japanese drama about a high schooler who was born female but transfers into an all-boys school, identifying as a boy while she is there. There's more to it than that, and I won't say it handles everything the best (it's from the mid 2000's) or concludes things in quite the way I'd have preferred. Not to mention it's kind of weird seeing many tropes I'm used to seeing in anime rendered by physical, real actors. BUT it was overall a really sweet, adorable, funny, heartfelt, and reached for pro-queer expression in a time and place when that wasn't mainstream yet (and honestly kinda still isn't depending on who you ask).

Good Omens Season 3 also dropped this year. I actually don't have much to say partly because I think a big element of it is just not knowing what to expect going into it! But it was also very good, very fun, pretty damn gay, I really enjoyed it and am crossing my fingers hard they get to wrap it up the way they want.

All right! Onto my personal top 10 GOTYs.

TOP 11 GAMES

(I played and finished in 2023)

11) Mother 3

The one entry on this list that did not actually come out this year -- in fact, it's never technically released outside of Japan. Originally release in 2007 on the Game Boy Advance, this quirky RPG has developed quite the reputation. I started playing the fan translation back in like 2020, and only got around to finally finishing it this year. While that likely did tarnish the experience a bit for me, so does the final third or so -- it kind of drags on a bit, and any old school format RPG that requires grinding to progress can become a bit of a chore.

Thankfully, Mother 3 did earn its hallowed reputation in my eyes now that I have experienced it. I totally get the passion for this game now, and I am a convert. It makes me want to finally finish Mother 2, aka Earthbound. But here's the biggest thing about Mother 3 I weirdly did not expect going in, yet smashed my face in like a hammer by the time I finished it:

without Mother 3, there is no way Undertale/deltarune would exist.

The DNA for Toby Fox's works is achingly obvious in its relation to this game, specifically. I won't spoil anything and I won't go into my long list of evidence like an Ace Attorney case, but trust me, there is ample evidence to make this claim.

And that also means that Mother 3 stands on its own merits as doing things that RPGs just plain were not doing in 2007, and in some ways still aren't today. Aside from some pacing issues further in, the characters in your party aren't as developed as much as I'd like. BUT the overall narrative it tells, especially in those opening chapters, have a rare kind of earnest, human magic to them that most games just don't let themselves fall into. And it concludes in ways I did not expect and yet offered clarity as to why it is so beloved, and how Toby Fox was so inspired to put his own mark on the gaming landscape.

I owe a great deal to Undertale, personally, and as such, I also owe a great deal to Mother 3. You don't need to have played others in the series to enjoy it, you'll just be missing some referential stuff here and there. It's quite playable and unique by today's standards and I strongly recommend it if you want an RPG that is heartfelt, funny, fun mechanically, and has some simple but hard-hitting things to say about the world we live in, and what we are doing to ourselves and that world.

10) Super Mario Bros. Wonder

What can be said that hasn't been said already? Nintendo knocked it out the park with this one. This was everything I've wanted in a 2D Mario for like 15 years. The only thing 'missing' from it is playable Rosalina, but hey, we finally got Daisy in a mainline Mario game, so I'll take it. After a decade or so of dragging their feet with low-effort but enjoyable 2D games, Super Mario Wonder finally, at long last, captures what makes Nintendo games great and with their best foot forward. They haven't done 2D Mario this well since World on the SNES in 1991. And they have never put this level of production into a 2D game since... ever?

This is one of the all-time best 2D platformers out there, and for once it finally feels like 2D Mario is running on all cylinders as a big budget passion project kind of game. You love to see it.

9) Scarlet Hollow

This game isn't technically finished yet, as it is episodic, and its developers wanted to release Slay the Princess in the interim, but that doesn't stop its quality from being good enough to make my list. This game is doing the kinds of things visual novels should be doing, the kinds of things I wish to do in a sense with my own visual novel development.

It's a horror themed experience but balances the high tension with actual real stakes very well against mostly down-to-earth conversations, with lots of great tricks and touches of presentation you don't typically see in indie visual novels, along with a fantastic art style, charming characters (my favorite character has turned out to be the one I immediately disliked at first, and that's rare for me), and meaningful choices.

I can't wait to see how this one wraps up but even as it stands it's one of the best things I experienced in 2023.

8) Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Redeemed

I will admit I skipped Xenoblade Chronicles 2 after giving it an honest go in like, 2019 or so. A few hours in and i couldn't stomach it, the tonal whiplash from Xenoblade 1 (one of the best RPGs I've ever played) was too much for me. But then Xenoblade 3 came out last year, and is also one of the best RPGs I've ever played, even better than the original for my tastes.

But I wasn't prepared for the DLC to drop a whole ass side-game on us, a self-contained prequel to 3 that serves as narrative cohesion to tie the whole trilogy together with a bow on top, complete with perfectly tuned fanservice (and not the sexy kind, although grown-up Rex and Shulk, well, yes) that really respects its fanbase for investing hundreds of hours in this franchise.

Matthew is easily one of my all-time fav RPG main characters, probably the favorite RPG main character when I think of it (as main characters specifically go, anyway), and his game is a fraction of the length of many RPGs out there. But as usual, the entire cast had their charms, the story was nicely paced, the gameplay and overall length was just about damn perfect for what I could want from the genre.

As an expansion to a pre-existing game, this is one of the top 3 best expansions/DLCs I've ever played. When taken as a side story to an overarching trilogy, I'm not even 100% in on the lore and I still enjoyed the hell out of it, it's just the kind of thing that hits a tone of 'damn, video games are a fucking unique medium that we can do specific narrative things with across years of telling a story.'

I don't know where Monolith Soft is going next, though the ending certainly offers some intriguing teasing, but I suspect I will be there day one to see it, and am looking forward to it.

7) Pikmin 4

Given the long wait (10 years!) one might understand fan concern over the state of Pikmin 4. Turns out, that extra time was spent making this game fucking good. It's not the largest, most impressive, most complex, most inspiring, most 'anything' game I played this year, and yet I can't help saying that this is a damned good video game. It really nailed what it set out to do as a sequel, incorporating just the right ideas to spice up the formula while bringing things back to how Pikmin 2 was, and improving on the series in basically every way -- including stuff to do!

This is easily the most Pikmin game... in a Pikmin game. I still haven't 100%'d it. Without giving away any details, I'll just say that when a game rolls credits and you're only like, halfway through its content, and it just keeps going, that's just kind of wild. It would've felt like a great game even then, but the breadth and depth it ends up going to in order to keep giving you ways to engage with its wonderfully detailed world and addictive mechanics, I love it.

I just want more of it. Give me DLC with more Dandori content, the formula and feel just works so well at this point.

6) Sea of Stars

How the hell I forgot to include this one on my list initially is boggling. Easily one of the best indie games I've ever experienced. The writing is nothing to, well, write home about, but it's not bad. And in fact the story has a lot of great things going on, from an interesting world to a very potent arc with the leading support character (who, let's face it, is kind of more the main character than your two main characters).

The game's art and music are phenomenal, capturing the essence of 90's era RPGs but clearly doing things not capable back then. Made even sweeter, the game is a prequel to the studio's prior work, The Messenger, which I also played and adored in tandem, kind of going back and forth between the two once I was partway into Sea of Stars. The way this RPG repurposes songs from Messenger as well as all kinds of seemingly superfluous elements but makes it feel cohesive is pretty great.

The game also trims a lot of the fat you'd find in older RPGs, as well as lets you customize your experience in a modern way using collectibles you can toggle on and off to grant all kinds of effects, like increasing or decreasing the difficulty in various ways.

The homage paid to classics like Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG is clear but it's not at all copy-cat-ing, instead wearing those inspirations proudly on its sleeves and forging its own path with its own ideas. A fantastic collection of party members, a wonderful world, amazing presentation, and environments and pacing that help it stand apart from the genre that inspired it. I wish we got to know the leads better, there is a lack of character growth in many ways, but that's me grasping at straws to critique, it's just a fantastic experience and the studio should be very proud of what they've accomplished.

5) Hi-Fi Rush

This is gonna be a running trend from here on out, but on any other year, Hi-Fi Rush would've been my GOTY, easy. From this point on, we're talking measures of inches rather than miles in terms of my love for these games.

Hi-Fi Rush finally delivered on something I have waited like 20 years for: a rhythm action adventure where playing the game in sync with the music felt fucking cool and gave me emotional resonance in a way only this medium can. The humor was charmng. The visual aesthetic is almost peak 'my taste.' The music was groovy with a few tracks I did not see coming but loved seeing how they were incorporated. The story was surprisingly fun! The characters were fantastic, I loved the entire main crew in a way I rarely ever do and would jump at the chance to spend more time with (and hey, there's a whole bunch of post-game I have yet to do, so I intend to in 2024).

The only real thing I could reasonably ask for from this game is a way to play as those other party members in post-game content or new-game plus or something. And who knows, maybe we get that some day. Even if we don't, what they came up with here is the next best thing besides. And what we got is one the most video-gamey video games I have ever played, a real classic and one I think will go down as one of my all-time favs. A passion project given meaningful time, budget, and creatives to bring it to life.

Had this game offered multiple playable characters, a bit more development in its story, and maybe a stronger climax, it'd be higher. I still love it to death and want more games like it regardless.

Hi-Fi Rush is exactly what kind of game we could have gotten more of if the Internet hadn't pushed gaming into a 'live service' direction. It is literally the spirit of a PS2/GameCube game given modern form. And either way, we did get it, at least, in that form, and it fucking rocks.

4) Resident Evil 4 (Remake)

This year was big for remakes and remasters, but one stands tall above the rest, if you ask me. The original RE4 has stood as my fav in the franchise, the one that got me into the franchise, the one that got me into M-rated games in the first place. Lots of nostalgia, but it's held up surprisingly well over the years despite some limitations of the time (mainly the controls) and some older-fashioned sensibilities ("with ballistics, too~").

But Capcom fucking nailed it with this reimagining. Like Final Fantasy VII: Remake, this game is not a remaster, or a one-to-one recreation. It is a brand new game, built from the ground up, reimagining the original entirely, complete with new mechanics and story. But unlike with FF7, this is also shockingly authentic and loyal to the original at the same time. It remixes elements from the original game, maintains most of the original's map design, adds in new stuff, removes some of the more goofy shit -- and even 90% of what feels 'removed' is revealed to be repurposed for the Ada side story DLC.

It looks great, it sounds great, the adjustments to characters and story are improvements across the board, (except for Hunnigan, RIP) the gameplay is improved in intensity and feel and action and replayability. And yet despite all of this, it balances that campy tone of the original just enough to still evoke what I loved about the original's tone. And it doesn't outright replace the original game, either. The two are now like different recipes of the same sandwich or something. There's reasons to revisit the original, though for me this has now replaced the remake of RE2 as my fav in the franchise.

I really don't know where they go from here but I will look forward to it, and regardless, they fucking nailed this one.

3) Street Fighter 6

Two Capcom games, back-to-back? They had a fucking good year in my eyes. The interesting thing about this particular entry is that unlike the others on this list, I will be continuing to play this one for hours and hours into 2024, especially with more fighters still planned. And in another year, this would've easily been my GOTY.

After all, Street Fighter 6 is the single-best traditional fighting game I think I've ever played. And while fighting games are my overall personal favorite genre, I'm more of a Smash player who also loves the hell out of Street Fighter and then dabbles in Tekken and whatever else releases. Street Fighter has always been one of my go-to top multiplayer games since I got into the franchise with SF4 in 2010. While I did enjoy SF5 well enough, it just didn't keep me hungry to come back for more like 4 did. SF6 has fixed that problem by way of a multitude of changes.

It has easily the most fun single player mode I've seen any fighting game have. Like, yea, The Subspace Emmisary (and even then, I don't love that mode like other folks do, I kinda think it's... fine?) but tbqh World Tour is just better in most every way. You get to build your own fighter, earn and mix and match different costumes and individual character special moves with each fighter's fight style. You get to just hang out with the SF characters, get to know them as people, their hobbies, their fears, their insecurities, their passions besides just beating the shit out of each other. On top of this, the realistic art style shift (a by-product of the RE Engine) seals the deal on what Street Fighter 6 is aiming to do: humanize its cast.

Is it still wacky as fuck? Is it still comical and weird and goofy? Hell yes, it is. Is the story mode deep in its narrative? Not in the slightest. But it's still stepping confidently in a direction fighting games should be trying to, not being too self-serious, but also being earnest.

And I haven't even touched on the mechanics! The Drive System alone is a brilliant addition that adds a sort of 'stamina' system that works so well to add an extra layer of decision making and tension. The game's not perfectly balance imo but for how much is here it is surprisingly damn well balanced, especially given they have insisted on not pushing out a single balance patch since it launched in June. For most any other competitive game, that would be like suicide for the scene, but the game seems to be thriving and selling extremely well for the franchise. And it's earned it.

I will absolutely be continuing my warrior's journey into 2024 and I can't wait to see what else Capcom has in store for this game.

2) Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Out of every game I played in 2023, Tears of the Kingdom is easily the most technically impressive. From a design standpoint, from a 'how in the hell is the Switch doing all of this without exploding' standpoint. From a 'holy hell how is there this much stuff in a single player game' standpoint. From a 'oh my goddesses that stupid batshit idea I had 100% worked because it actually did make sense' standpoint.

Where Breath of the Wild opened our minds as to what an open world game could be -- fully designed like one giant interconnected 'level' -- Tears of the Kingdom replied in much the way I expected: it pulled a Super Mario Galaxy 2. What I mean by that is that this is a direct sequel, building directly off the foundation of the original. You know. Like video game sequels almost always used to. And which many very successful ones still absolutely do.

But Tears of the Kingdom somehow managed to wow me all over again by adding to that open world's verticality in insane ways -- the Depths alone are probably my favorite 'mechanic' from any Zelda game ever besides the time loop of Majora's Mask (and what that did for the story and gameplay). But beyond the scale of the world basically doubling and then some (floating islands and caves on top of Depths), I was curious how this game could stand tall after Elden Ring, which is easily in my top 10 favorite games of all time at this point. Elden Ring was Fromsoft's reply to BOTW. And yet Tears of the Kingdom still managed to have something new to say in spite of that very strong reply.

Tears of the Kingdom opened the door to let players essentially create their own mechanics. By removing the abilities Link had to engage with the world before, and replacing them with a brand new toolset that includes abilities you just... don't see games give you, because they'd be 'overpowered,' TOTK designs its massive world in ways that invite you to use those 'overpowered' abilities however you see fit.

Being able to interact with the world and objects in this way, being able to fuse them together to create all kinds of effects, or new methods of transportation, even interacting with things not just spacially but in respect to time, it's nuts and fun and I've already poured like 130 hours with still so much I haven't done. And that's the thing: this game wasn't designed to be 100%'d. It was designed to just... be experienced, as much or as little as you want. And games on this level of scale/budget just do not have the guts to let so, so much 'content' be missed out on. And this game does.

It's a technical achievement and while I had my doubts with how strangely little Nintendo had to show, I am very glad that the experience itself manages to breathe new life into one of my all-time favorite games while improving on it in so many ways. It won't convert you if you didn't love the original -- this is a Super Mario Galaxy 2 style sequel, after all. But it's essentially replaced the original in ways I didn't think would be possible.

The story? Oof. Uh, not so much the story, let's ignore that part. That's what Nintendo wants you to usually do, anyway. But everything else, just. Din-damn.

It expands upon the first game's already fairly open-ended nature in an exponential way that I suspect developers will spend years to come trying to pin down, much like how they've spend the past 6 or 7 years trying to replicate BOTW's open world design.

For much of this year, I thought this was personal GOTY. And for many it will be, because it's just an extremely impressive video game.

Number 1...?

Going into this list, I kept telling myself, 'man, on any other year, this would be my GOTY. And if you know me personally you likely have already figured out what my GOTY is by omission. But the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized just how close these top 5 games are, it really is like centimeters instead of inches, and they each -- well, every game I've mentioned here, beyond the Top 10, as well -- offered something edifying that I was very satisfied with.

And no, it's not Baldur's Gate 3. While I have spent hours playing it in co-op and a little bit solo, that game's just not really for me, exactly. Like, I can enjoy it, and I have massive respect for the dev team and what they accomplished with it. But I don't much care for D&D, and the game just didn't do very much for me personally, I lack the motivation to finish it. Remove Karlach from the game and I have next to nothing to really attach myself to, personally. I definitely get why it's many people's favorite game of 2023, though, and I do think it's a bit of a wakeup call for what can be accomplished by just making a GAME instead of struggling to contort it into a service etc.

Street Fighter 6 is fucking fantastic but it could still use some more actual fighters and incentives to keep playing besides monetizing its players in weird ways. I love it, and it will be the game from 2023 I end up playing the most (it already is, I think). But if it ended as it is, I would be very satisfied.

Hi-Fi Rush is oozing with originality and style and I adore it to death, and when I finished it, I was very satisfied.

Resident Evil 4 kept me addicted for over 100 hours, had an amazing DLC expansion, oozes replaybility in the specific ways I like for a single player action game (rogue-likes besides). I am extremely satisfied by it.

Tears of the Kingdom is so massive and fun to just explore that I know I will continue to play more in the months to come. Will I ever revisit it entirely? I'm actually not sure! That massive length does lend some repetition, even if it's the kind I find therapeutic and satisfying.

And that's what made me realize something. My personal GOTY did not just satisfy me. It made me hungry. It filled me up in a way I didn't think was possible and yet I still hunger for more, because I enjoyed it that fucking much. I played through it twice and still hunger for more. I know I will play it a third time eventually, but mainly I just have not been to remove from my brain the particular ways it made me feel, ways that only a video game can. Nothing about it felt like it needed to be overlooked.

SF6 and RE4 had dubious monetization, TOTK had a story I found to be like 90% boring and it still maintains many of the flaws of the original. And Hi-Fi Rush, while amazing, just didn't scratch the particular itch this game did for me.

1) Lies of P

If you told me that Lies of P was a game developed by some sub-division of FromSoft, I'd believe you. Which is to say I would also believe that it was made by people who wanted to break free from some of the shackles of the now infamous 'soulslike' genre.

A narrative that actually makes sense by the end? Opening up options for the player without requiring specific stat levels? Encounters and boss fights that feel ravenously challenging without just feeling like cheap bullshit? Music that crosses borders beyond 'angry chorus, angrier orchestra'?

Lies of P doesn't quite eclipse Elden Ring, but that's an absolutely unfair comparison given the utter scope and scale and variety that game packs. But Lies of P improves at the FromSoft formula in specific ways, while making concessions in others, and as a result it's just an experience that seeped into my brain like no other game this year, not even Tears of the Kingdom, despite that I put half the hours into this one.

I love all of the games I have mentioned here, you could honestly swap around the order of this top 5 and I could mentally meander a way to justify why, no, actually, this one was my favorite game of 2023. In a year so awful for the people who make games, yet so amazing for games themselves, Lies of P is exactly the kind of game I needed. I needed someone to show me that you can make something directly inspired by someone else's work, yet fine tune it in all the right ways to make it stand just as tall in terms of quality and design. Lies of P made me feel things in ways only a handful of games ever do -- and I would actually count Hi-Fi Rush among those in a regard.

But Lies of P also told a story I found compelling. It had mystery, tension, buildup, it started off seeming like it would do the vague FromSoft schtick only to 100% come together, make sense, be rewarding, and offer a 'true ending' that I got on the first playthrough, organically, without looking things up, because it just... felt right. Not only is the game adapting FromSoft's formula into something its own, it's also doing that with the story of Pinocchio. The gameplay and the story congeal together not in the 'perfect' way that it does with games like Celeste or Undertale, but rather in a more... messy way, like a puppet aching to become a real boy.

The game is full of loss, in its world and for you as the player, who will die many times. But unlike much of FromSoft's catalogue, I never once felt like I died because of bullshit. Was I trolled? Sure, the game definitely 'trolls' you in classic FromSoft fashion, lulling you into a sense of security only to sweep you off your feet. But unlike how FromSoft does it, these circumstances can always be avoided if you're cautious. And if you're not? Hey, 'We got you! We gooottt youuu, haha' and you lose a couple minutes of progress, rather than like fifteen minutes and also an entire level's worth of souls because oh right, this section you just got through is kind of bullshit cheap.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dark Souls. But the thing is, Lies of P takes the parts I love about Dark Souls, admits it can't pull off quite the intricate web of level design, but then throws away everything I do not like about Dark Souls, improves on the things I already liked, and then pushes me to meet it on its level.

The satisfaction of being a boss you spend an hour, two hours on, cannot be understated. It's a feeling unlike any other, and one only this medium can provide. And Lies of P kept me motivated, like Sekiro before it, to keep improving, keep growing, keep trying. And unlike Sekiro, it gave me so many more tools to play with, to learn, to balance in an arsenal with intent. Enemies have elemental weaknesses if I so choose to exploit them, the moveset of one weapon's handle can be applied to a completely different blade, my robotic arm can leverage things in a pinch, or be the backbone to dealing with a boss. Mastery is rewarded with practice. A vicious boss that annihilates you in five seconds can be defeated without a single scratch if you practice enough. Mastery, creativity, quick thinking, and reacting are all rewarded here.

I am more than the hands pulling the strings, I am more than a puppet, I am human. And games like this can only be made by humans, who get that specific itch that only video games that challenge us can scratch. It's not an itch everyone has, but that's why it's my GOTY and not yours, innit?

With its unique setting, its wonderful music, its cozy hub area, its narrative that offers just enough to make me care, but not so much that I am bored or feel misled, its amazing boss designs, and its wonderfully tactile and engaging combat, Lies of P is a game I just can't stop feeling something about whenever I am reminded of it.

It epitomizes so much -- not all, but much -- of what I love about what video games can do, what adaptations can do, and much like how Toby Fox was inspired by Mother 3, what people can do when they are inspired by someone else's work.

As far as I can tell, this is developer Round8's debut game, and just. Holy hell, what a way to come out swinging. I haven't seen a debut game hit this hard since, I don't know, Bastion.

Close your eyes. Come to me. Feel all right.

I did, and I do, and given what you teased at the end of this game, I have extremely high hopes of what you come up with next. And in a landscape where things feel more difficult to get excited for with each passing year, much less new IP, it's so damn refreshing to have both Hi-Fi Rush and this game standing out as signals that, hey, some folks are still willing to invest bigger budgets into new games, new ideas.

Again, a battle of centimeters here and at this point I should wrap this up and go to bed.

But yea, Lies of P reminded me of what makes me, specifically, human, in a very particular way that only it has. And I honestly think out of all of single player games of 2023, I think it will actively stand out in my heart the most in the years to come.

#GOTY 2023 #goty #video games #gaming #Mother 3 #scarlet hollow #super mario wonder #future redeemed #Pikmin 4 #Hi-Fi Rush #re4 remake #TOTK #LOZ TOTK #Tears of the Kingdom #Lies of P #long post #Sea of Stars

[most-canon-non-canon-ship-poll]

literally hoping they break up in the last season

Why Mileven is shit - a submission-based essay, part 2/3

Mileven - a currently canon het ship from the Stranger Things fandom between Michael (Mike) Wheeler and Jane (Eleven) Ives/Hopper/Byers/IDK

they NEED to breakup (AGAIN) in the final season let's start w their character arcs rn. el was born in a lab and was raised VERY strict to be a weapon and shit. she escapes and now her whole arc is finding herself and being who she is separate to what people tell her she is. mike comes from a lowkey conservative family with parents who are married only to fit into the normal, not because they love each other. his arc, similar to his sisters' struggle in earlier seasons, is to not fall into conformity just because you feel like you should. both of these stories line up with the main moral of the show: be who you are even if it isn't "normal" ot whatever now how does mileven go against this? mike, and a bunch of ppl around el, in the earlier seasons keeps telling el what she should do/be. even in the later seasons we see mike refering to el as a "superhero" (which she doesn't like). neither of them feel free to be themselves around the other (shown by el lying to mike and mike being WAY out of character around el, etc). mike literally can't tell el he loves her while not under pressure. mileven sometimes parallels mike's parents' and sta.cy (a failed conformity relationship) and other bad relationships ANYWAYS it also reallyyyy pains will byers (who's been canonically in love with mike for like years, and mike's best friend) to see this. also, milevens keep harassing will/mike shippers on anon even months after the last season. like they have a hate discord server just for it. anyways i love mike and el but ohhh my god there is still SO much i haven't mentioned about how bad they are together (and how bad shippers often are, sometimes being violently homophobic and calling bylers delusional and shit)

OOOH IT FUCKING SUCKS THEY ARE SOOOOOO BAD FOR EACH OTHER JESUS THEY DON'T COMMUNICATE LIKE EVER THEY ARE BOTH CLEARLY IN IT BECAUSE OF THE EXPECTATION OF A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE THEY CAN'T CONFIDE IN EACH OTHER THEY DON'T SHARE ANY INTERESTS THEY'RE HAVING CONFLICT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT THANK *GOD* I AM UTTERLY CONVINCED THEY ARE HEADING FOR A CANONICAL PERMANENT BREAKUP. NOT TO MENTION THEY ARE BOTH GAY AS HELL TO ME. YOU SEEN THAT "THIS SHIP IS SO CANON AND IT'S A LESBIAN AND A GAY MAN" TWEET? YEAH. FUCK THIS STUPID FUCKING SHIP NOT TO MENTION THE SHIPPERS ARE FREQUENTLY OPENLY HOMOPHOBIC. UGHHHHHHH KILLING BITING (this is my fave btw)

they have no chemistry or buildup unlike the other st couples. they kissed season 1 right after she asked if he would be her brother. hes very obviously compensating for something. i think i gagged when they made out in season 3. speaking of. thats all they do. make out. they dont really have meaningful conversations. this also comes from the fact that when mike met her she was fresh out the lab that abused her for like 11 years. she was not socially ready to understand the bounds of a platonic relationship let alone a romantic one. anyway mileven break up s5 will happen i believe it. if nothing else. cross ur fingers gamers

the sheer homophobia and general toxicity that the fans of this ship create is absolutely insane when their perfect (read: mischaracterized) straight (read: homosexually-coded) couple is judged for having toxic or incompatible elements is insane. the only good romantic aspect between these two characters is in a cringefail "wow this really doesn't work at all" i-want-to-put-this-dynamic-under-a-microscope-and-study-it-because-it's-an-absolute-trainwreck" kind of way. el has been abused and cut off from society her whole life and at 12 years old she immediately gets together with this guy at whose earth shattered after his best friend went missing who then has surviors guilt after she almost does which is misconstrued as romantic rather than unhealthy obsession and trauma. and so on and so forth.. there's just so much wrong they lie to each other So Fucking Much despite truthfulness being very important to them and they ignore their friends to make out (which is filmed in a way that is meant to feel uncomfortable btw lmao) and el doesn't understand mike's trauma from bullying and he doesn't understand how she doesn't want to be built up into being a superhero etc etc. and it's just so increasingly bad I want to rub my temples just thinking about them. they're just so bad for each other and their relationship has done nothing but make them worse in general but for some reason their ship is viewed as fluffy or cute or whatever the hell. anyway mike is so heavily coded to be fucking gay and in love with his best friend (and el can be interpreted to be lesbian coded) and I just need to get them out of there amen

I'm gonna make a list bc the reasons are many: 1) their first casual interaction they get together but in the same conversation she asks him if she can be like a sister to him 2) all their "cute moments" are them making out in the 3rd season with still absolutely no chemistry 3) their only actual cute scene is them dancing at the snowball yet in the same scene they portray the same way two couples that are not romantic 4) mike becomes a terrible person when he's with eleven 5) eleven literally GOT OUT OF A LAB SHE WAS RAISED IN and this is the first guy she dated 6) she can't even say he's a good kisser 7) mike can't tell her that he loves her (bc he doesn't) and the only time he does he makes this whole ugly ass speech up about how she's his "superhero" even though she doesn't want to be seen only for her superpowers 8) in said speech, while listing the things that he loves about her, he only names her superpowers + he lies multiple times 9) EVEN AFTER SAID SPEECH she is still mad at him and won't talk to him (probably bc she saw right through his bs) 10) she spent a whole 6 months lying to him about all of her life 11) mike is clearly gay and is meant to be with his childhood best friend will 12) mike idolizes her and doesn't see her as an actual person 13) eleven needs to be her own person (ffs she just got out of a lab) 14) the ship sucks and even the authors and actors say so

they have NO chemistry. they kissed after one week of knowing each other when they were 12 and eleven didn't even know what a romantic relationship was at the time, given the fact that right before mike kisses her she says "will you be like my brother?". they spent the entirety of season 2 apart with mike calling el on his walkie and el watching romantic movies on the tv for a year (then will is in trouble and mike says 'fuck it' and goes full protective boyfriend mode but this isn't about byler so i digress) and start dating soon after they meet again even though they haven't had a SINGLE conversation and are barely friends. season 3 comes along and the writers do their utmost best to show us how incompatible they are. their makeout scenes are uncomfortable, they break up at the beginning of the season and neither one of them seems particularly bothered that their first relationship is over. in fact, the happiest we see el in the entire series is during the time they're broken up, when she gets close to max (who she actually has chemistry with, by the way) and finally experiences freedom, being a teenage girl and etc since mike had been "keeping her all to himself" for like, a year. aside from that, he doesn't go after her at all after she dumps his ass (literally) but when he and will have a fight, he bikes across town in the rain just to apologize, that boy is GAY. finally, the theme of season 4 is lies and once again, mike and el spend the season apart (once again, mike spends the season with WILL) and right before they part ways, they have a big fight about mike being unable to so much as WRITE "love, mike" on his letters to el, let alone say it, and he bullshits his way through it and refuses to say the actual reason until vol. 2, when he apparently "confesses" that he's afraid he'll lose her if he says it (okay, amigo, you're gonna lose your girlfriend who was literally begging you to say 'i love you' not even a week ago, aham, totally valid excuse). conclusion: they don't know each other and they don't act like themselves when they're together. mike hides his nerdy nature, el feels like she has to be the amazing superhero he's always viewed her as or else he'll lose interest and it just feels like they're both grasping at straws because this relationship has been dragged on for too long that they don't know how to break up permanently. they are afraid of losing each other, but not romantically, as mike was el's first semblance of family after escaping the lab and mike feels like it's his duty to protect and care for el. also, mike is gay. in other words, FREE THEM.

#propaganda #why [ship name] is shit #the (s)hit list #not a poll #anti milkvan #anti mileven #again - #byler #kinda?

[fand0mswithbunny]

the second golden bolt tournament premiere review/analysis 🔩

Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and gentlethems to the first of many Battlebots episode reviews and analysis. I was going to do a liveblog but I feel asleep not even half way through and I finished the episode earlier today. If you haven't seen the new episode I highly suggest you do, there's a lot of things that went down and its just a good premiere and episode, but if you haven't you might wanna scroll. (also this is going to be a long one who prepare your nuts people YES I MEANT WHAT I SAID.)

Anyhow LETS GET IT ON, *BRO*

First of, I wanna start with the changes with this show and the differences between this season and the last one. The most notable one is the removal of the matchup with the gatekeeper from the last season. I thought they were going to reveal it in the end or make it so that the final competitor standing does not know who they're fighting until near the end, but no! They don't even mention it beforehand at all in the episode and the last bot standing instantly goes to the finals. Idk why they removed it, I THOUGHT THEY WERENT BUT I GUESS NOT?? Based on the little clips they showed at the start they showed Will Bales, and I thought this was because Hypershock was going to be a gatekeeper for this season but IDK THEY REMOVED IT?? I do kinda miss that aspect of the show because its what made it more interesting for sure but it did really caught me off-guard with it. Maybe Hypershock will be in one of the brackets? Or maybe they just won't compete at all. Idk, its just something I thought was worth mentioning because I couldn't really find it being discussed anywhere. Also I love Kenny's Key and their.... interesting connotations. Aside from that there's no big changes, so let's get to the fights themselves! SHREDDIT BRO! vs Skorpios - Wow. Whoever predicted Shreddit Bro was going to come out like Minotaur on this one should be given an gold medal WHAT AN OPENING FIGHT. Idk what Evan Arias did to the robot before this but they're looking like a beast out there. The Bro™ was so dominant and all over Skorpios the full fight, if you showed this fight to someone who's never seen the show they'll think its some top tier contender for the title. NO ITS JUST SHREDDIT BRO AND THEY JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE- also I just realized Zach look kinda as his bot was being counted out UEUEUEUEUE I WANNA GIVE HIM A HUG :( YOU TRIED YOUR BEST PRODUCERS JUST REALLY FUCKED THEM OVER BY GIVING THEM A DRUM </3333333 Overall great opener, really good start for Shreddit Bro.

Rotator vs Terrortops - Idk if I have much to say about this fight as much as the last one, but Terrortops didn't do too bad here, they survived a while against Rotator which is not easy. But yeah, this was Rotator's fight to win and its pretty satisfying seeing them be so dominant again.

Switchback vs Kraken - WOAH YOU GUYS IT WENT TO THE JUDGES HOW SHOCKING! Yeahh Kraken got pretty beaten here, I realized these two are pretty similar in design but Switchback just kept delivering the hits. I don't have anything else to say except good performance from Switchback and this is Matt Spurk's TENTH loss in a row since Rusty jabbed Kraken's face out. Like that is just brutal. SOMEONE GIVE THIS MAN A HUG AND A GOOD OPPONENT PLS </333

Valkyrie vs Ominous - I'm starting to see a pattern here that all the winners had something to prove and has mostly really improved since last season. I thought Ominous would've held on a bit better because of that big plow but yk. yeah. This fight was honestly the best they've performed in a while until the next fights, like I think something simultaneously clicked for all the winning teams in the pits and they decided to POP TF OFF- and honestly?? good for them. good for them.

(okay that took a while to write but its okay. just. 3. more. fights.)

SHREDDIT BRO! vs Switchback - Okay if Minotaur and Shreddit Bro doesn't happen in season 8 I'm rioting. BUT ALSO Switchback, yk in the first 5 seconds WASNT DOING BAD and then he lost the chain. At that point The Bro™ the starting chewing away at him like he was Minotaur. SERIOUSLY HOW? BUT ALSO IM REALLY IMPRESSED. Like I love how this episode was just full of twists and turns and the fandom were collectively shocked at how out of nowhere their wins and dominance are. LIKE THAT LAST HIT WAS INSANE and usually Switchback's pretty durable and bulky. I think if they can figure out a way to protect the wheels, maybe some armor, and get their weapon to not hit the floor, they can be a force to be recon with. (also ik what I described is basically Minotaur but listen let Evan cook okay.) This was the fight I started becoming a Broliever one would say. I believe in the bro that brolieves in me. ooh yeah gottem. (im not mentally stable someone help)

Rotator vs Valkyrie - We all knew producers were going to hype up this rematch and it did not disappoint. Both robots held up really well against each other but Rotator's plow was a really good choice. I do think that Rotator would've had a chance if they'd boxrush them, but otherwise Valkyrie was winning this. Credits to Lucy for staying aggressive and if there were more time I think the plow and side armor would've been completely ripped out. I do prefer the first fight but this fight was still really good.

Okay. That was a lot of fights. But lets take a break and get on with the AWARDS!! First off, the Excellence in Sportsmanship went to Rory Mangles of Monsoon. I didn't know who he was at first but when I was looking through Reddit and seeing the stories, yeah, this guy deserves it. What an absolute chad. This did get me thinking, with this award and the Founder's Award, it got me thinking that these awards can now be awarded to an individual person and not just a full team which is really cool. Now onto the Most Destructive which NOT ONLY DIDNT GO TO SHITTIDE BUT WENT TO MY BOY HUUUUUUGE!! WOOOOOOOO YEAHHH BABY!! THATS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR, THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!! ahem Okay seriously I thought it was either going to Shittide or Copperhead 100% and I understand why ppl would be surprised at this BUT I AM NOT COMPLAINING WE TAKE THIS W. EAT SHIT ETHAN. Onto the Grant Imahara: Best Design Award goes to RIPperoni and honestly I didn't see it going anyother way, maybe except Horizon but theyre design wasn't performing well, so RIPperoni was really the only pick. And finally, the Founder's Award which goes to Martin Mason! HONESTLY REALLY DESERVED he is the spirit of the sport and overall he just seems like such a great guy. Good for him. Good for him. Now, with all that aside, its time for the finals.

SHREDDIT BRO! vs Valkyrie - Coming into this fight I wanted The Bro™ to win because of their story, but Valkyrie really did good by breaking their drum, but Evan did amazing trying to adapt and get Valkyrie to break their spinner. Just shows that even when Evan is being this cool guy character he's really smart and tactical. I'm so excited for what's to come from this bot and congrats to Evan. Good for him. Good for him.

This episode was a really good start to the season and next weeks episode is a really stacked lineup. I personally think Black Dragon, and MadCatter or Whiplash are my picks for the finals but I'm personally rooting for my boy REESE EWERT FROM FUSION LETS GOOO REESE FUCK THEM UP!! As for SHREDDIT BRO!, I think they lose against Sawblaze, a pretty good chance against Tantrum, and 50/50 against End Game. THINK ABOUT IT we live in a timeline where SHREDDIT BRO has a good chance at beating the former champions. LET THAT SINK IN THE DOOR. I do kinda think the pacing was kinda off this episode but overall this is a really good start to the season, a solid 8/10 episode for me.

ok now im going to sit down time to rest. good night tristate area.

#battlebots #robot combat #robot fighting #battlebots spoilers #battlebots champions #battlebots champions 2 #battlebots episode review #battlebots episode analysis #so many tags #i cooked #anyways i'm a fusion believer next ep in one way or another FUSION WILL COOK. #i dont have a life #this is probably gonna be a weekly thing but who knows.

[itwoodbeprefect]

911 season 7 episode 3!!!

fjkdf i love when we get a little montage to introduce minor characters in the episode, and i love when that's fun, and i think this family is fun (corey!), but they really got me when the grandmother went "we need to get to the lifeboats. i want a good seat!"

the thing about 911 is. the thing about 911 is that at some point i WILL end up crying a little from the stress of the awful terrible horrible situations these fictional characters end up in

"dead men don't bleed." bobby throwing out a banger of a revenge western title

"what are you all doing! on the ceiling!!!" that's a VERY good question, norman.

i'm, let's say, a little skeptical of the real world feasability of this rope and climbing rescue plan bobby is executing, but i do love when 911 goes hey! what the fuck! enjoy some action movie shenanigans!

"wish buck could have seen you do that." "honestly, i would have much rather seen buck do that." <3

love the way maddie is trying to have a phone conversation with chim but buck and eddie keep half joining in, like kids in the back seat of the car only catching half the conversation between their parents.

"so who's missing, bobby and athena or hen?" "yes." one of those lines that's extremely obviously something the writers set up for themselves, but i can't fault them for it, because i will admit i do like a corny overused joke.

"how are you feeling?" "like my world's been turned upside-down." man, this is a guy who knows how to milk his situation for fitting witty comments. first the whole gambling thing, now this.

"hen, where are you?" oh, she's just doing illegal paperwork. <3

dear god. so far, counting the communications officer who died last episode, this is turning out to be a survivable emergency unless you're a black man.

OH. OKAY.

so this is where tommy shows up!!

"could be why i haven't been getting your christmas cards." fdjkfd.

i felt like i'd probably seen every scene with tommy in it giffed ten different ways by now, but i did NOT see much of this, or realize that this is how he came back into the picture. good for him. he's immediately making up for past bad behavior by randomly having hen's back.

oh, of course. not random!! it's family, doing ill-advised heroic things that should get them fired togetherrrr. <3

"oh, i think this is an open channel." "do you, buck? do you really?" fjkdfd.

awwww. the 118: WHO CARES. 💪

always a fun time when the guy behind the controls of the helicopter says you're probably all going to die anyway!

lola: "i've never been with another man." norman: "neither have i!" ?? evan buckley, SECOND bi character this season

mr. doctor stepping up!! love that for him!!

"well, unless you feel like swimming back, that's all we've got." i do love this personality they've given tommy!

also, i realize tommy's last name is kinard, which has entirely different origins, but i keep hearing canard, as in french for duck, which would be kind of funny for a man flying over water.

tommy being stupidly willing to go along with the 118's stupid let's-just-maybe-all-die-here-for-hen's-hunch plan! i adore that this is how we're introduced to him again, it's so good, hard not to immediately love him.

guy who's been very rightfully and realistically skeptical of their chances of survival from the start: "but there's nothing out there." [helicopter noises] < continuing the tradition of characters with a normal reasonable view of the world being smugly proven wrong on this show, fjdkfd.

the thank you for choosing oceanis blue last words, oh my god. very goofy.

"i'm not supposed to go with strangers." corey, i love you.

"what are we gonna do?" "we're gonna keep trying." damn if that isn't bobby coming up with a way better line than buck's off the top of his head. the 118: we're gonna keep trying.

fjdkfd sorry but if you're bobby trying to rescue a little kid and the door above you closes up and you can't get it open and the water keeps rising and you're about to drown (again), and then the door DOES suddenly pop open and buck and eddie in full gear are grinning down at you when there's supposed to be absolutely ZERO chance of them even being on this sinking ship in the middle of the ocean in a hurricane to begin with, i think that maybe, for at least a quick second there, you might think that this time you finally did die.

ohoho! see this, of course, i did see giffed.

hen thanking maddie is good. bobby calling hen captain is great. bobby and athena getting back home and taking their fast food into the bedroom is lovely. love when there's at least a little time to wind down from the episode. <3

#911 #* #onnnn to episode 4. ohoho

[gaykey]

So, Only Friends. Haven't watched it yet, but from the gifs it looks like there's a whole season of stuff happening in just one episode. What's your first impression?

oh anooooonnnn, it is jam-packed! now, i have a lot of feelings about this show, as you probably can tell, so, prepare for an essay.

a lot did happen in ep one, but of course, as it's the pilot, most of it is dedicated to introducing the characters, and their relationships and establishing the setting. and, as these characters are a hugely messy bunch of twenty-somethings, there was a lot going on.

and it was done so well, i felt fufilled after ep, bjt also, desperate to see where it all goes.

my first impression?

genuinely, i think it is gonna immediately be in my ult list of bl's, and a definite milestone for the industry as a whole.

now, thats sounds a bit grandiose, especially after only one episode but, idk, i have a good feeling.

but, it is seriously good. i think our hype was worth it.

it hit all the points that a first episode should, and showed off what each actor was capable of.

it had your mind going mad a little trying to think how it's all gonna pan out. it just? made me feel really excited for what's to come.

there's not a single story arc that i'm not interested in, and ngl, that's rare for me.

and like, queer dramas like this aren't too common, especially on a network like gmmtv. they've delved slightly toward edgy and sexy before, but not to this level.

of course, this is down to the brilliant p'jojo, the director - who also directed other stand out shows 3 will be free which i have watched, and loved, and the warp effect which i haven't watched, but have heard really good things.

p'jojo is a queer man himself (most of team behind this are queer in fact. this is a show for queer people by queer people.) and it really shows in his work. he brings forth discussion of topics that other bl's dont. his shows are mature, and real, and dark, and gritty.

he tends to broach topics, that are still quite taboo in society, especialy for mainstream thai media - or, at least thai media of this kind, which tends towards the silly, fluffy side, which tbh, is also a nkce contrast to the doom & gloom of a lot of gay media in the past. but, he shows issues like sex work, substance abuse, mental health, sex & sexuality - things that queer people may experience, but, who's stories get dismissed as too? dark to be protrayed for a wide audience in the bl sphere.

so, the direction and overall production is stellar, as is the cinematograhy (thanks p'rath), and the cast-!

omg, again, it's only ep one, but, wow, they're so fucking good.

they're all really flexing their acting chops in this one. and they are going all out, to the point where another director of bl dramas, p'aof (moonlight chicken, tale of a 1000 stars, bad buddy) was gagged at their performance

these are characters and roles that most fans would have never seen them on before. it's only recently, as of the last few years, from my experience anyway, that these actors are being taken seriously for their talent.

and only friends is pushing the boat out even more.

so, direction a+

story a+

overall look a+

acting & cast a+

now, all of my feelings could maybe be down to that first ep hype - but i don't think they are.

this is gonna be great. this, like kinnporsche, and itsay and not me, and a select few others, which were all signifcant moments for thai queer dramas - will be a cultural reset.

and i am soooooo excited to make it my entire perosnality for the next 12 weeks.

#phew! #sorry if this is just - senseless rambles #i have a lot of feelings #only friends #only friends the series #anon #thai bl #bl dramas

[angelst4re]

It makes me so happy to see someone as feral over Jamie as I am🤣 could I please request another Jamie x trans masc!

Reader has never had a proper relationship before because people fetishise the fact he is trans rather than seeing him as a man (fucking RELATABLE) but after a few dates and some reassurance from our fruity Jamie, they become an item and Jamie introduces him to the cast of stranger things as his boyfriend <3 (let's say they're preparing to film season 5 and Jamie is bringing his boyfriend to set for a few days <3) sorry this was long asf <3

ofc!! we're all feral for jamie here my love!! also i ended up writing quite a lot for this!!!

First Dates- Jamie Campbell Bower x transmasc!Reader

summary: you were drunk at a party and overshare to a man you just met, which happens to lead to a relationship...

warnings: none?? :)

notes: transmasc!reader has my heart!! i do so much research whenever i write for different readers because i feel like everyone deserves to have a fic where they actually ARE the reader, as i know how special that can feel (even though that sounds so silly!) so i hope you like it!! <3 (p.s i haven't proof read this and the majority was written when i was overworked and underpaid and EXHAUSTED so bare with me, I'll be editing it soon!!)

‘Hey I’m going to a party tonight, if you’re not up to anything I’d love for you to come with me! :)’ 

You stared at the text, thinking of how to say no politely. But you knew it would be good to get back out, and perhaps even meet someone new. 

You were let down yet again by a guy you were talking to on tinder. You didn’t think it would’ve gone anywhere anyway, but you were still quite upset by it. You really liked him.

You texted your friend back, telling them to let you know when it starts and where it is, but they offered to pick you up from your house at 6, so you quickly jumped into the shower and got ready. 

You never really cared for parties, the music was too loud and the conversations were too boring. But this one felt a bit different, and there was a guy who caught your eye. You could’ve sworn you recognised him, you just weren’t sure where from. 

You told your friend he looked rather hot, and they immediately dragged you over to him to introduce you. 

“Jamie! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” They smiled, glancing at you before continuing, “this is my friend, y/n! He said he thinks he recognises you from somewhere.”

The two of them chuckled, as if it was some kind of inside joke, but Jamie then reached his hand out to shake yours. 

“I’m Jamie,” he smiled, “you’ve probably seen me on-”

“He was the guy from stranger things! Remember?!” Your friend tried to explain, but you didn’t have the guts to tell them you hadn’t watched the newest season yet.

“Oh!” You pretended to realise, “so how do you two know each other?” You asked, trying not to mess up your words as you felt Jamie’s eyes on you as you spoke, yet you felt your cheeks heat up. 

“Through my brother, Sam.” Jamie said. 

“Remember Sam? My old friend from-”

“Oh Sam!” You didn’t have to act this time, “I remember him, how is he?” 

Jamie answered, telling you how he’s really focusing on his music at the moment, and that he’s currently away so he couldn’t be at the party tonight. The two of you continued to talk, and your friend slipped away at some point, leaving the two of you alone. He was such an easy person to talk to, and you felt comfortable speaking to him, unlike many other people you’ve met at parties. 

You got onto the conversation about his career, and you had a sudden realisation. 

“You were Jace?!” Your eyes widened in shock, as Jamie grinned and nodded his head, “no way!” 

“Well, you better believe it! I’ve still got the ring from that movie.” 

“What?!” You did have quite a few drinks, and they seemed to have hit you all at once. And then you suddenly felt something, it felt like guilt in a way, as if you knew this moment wouldn’t last, something was going to happen, it made you feel a little sad. This is how it always went. 

“Hey,” Jamie smiled softly, “is everything okay?” He asked. No one has ever asked you that before and sounded so sincere. He was truly something special, you could already tell. 

“I need to tell you something." You began, already beginning to feel overwhelmed by thoughts rushing through your head, "I don’t want it to change anything, I don’t want you to think-”

“Hey, hey, don’t work yourself up, love.” He said, sensing that you were getting overwhelmed by what you were trying to say,  “what do you need to tell me?”

“I’m trans.” You blurted out, "I don't want- I mean, I knew I had to tell you now because, you see, I’ve never been in a real, proper relationship and... well, I went on a date the other day, I really thought it was going well but- shit, all the dates I’ve been on have ended terribly," you knew you were rambling on, but you couldn't stop, the alcohol in your system seemed to have taken over. "I’ve never been out with the same person more than once. They don’t see me as me, y'know, it's so obvious they just want to get in my pants. I’ve never actually spoken to someone the way I’ve spoken to you, knowing that's all you want. Knowing what they're thinking just feels so... I can't explain it. But with you I feel comfortable, I don’t know, it just feels different- Oh fuck! I’m so sorry! I’m oversharing and we’ve only just met and-” 

Jamie took your hands into his, causing you to stop speaking, and your eyes met his. He rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand, and began to speak. 

“Thank you for telling me,” he smiled, “and don’t ever apologise for oversharing, I do it all the time, it can’t be helped… If you want to talk about it I’m here to listen. Don’t bottle things up, okay? Trust me, it’s a terrible thing to do. We all need someone every now and then.” He paused for a moment before carefully asking, “so y/n is the name you choose to go by, right?” 

You couldn’t wipe the smile off of your face as you said yes, and told him your pronouns. He really made you feel so comfortable, and so safe. You found it hard to believe you’ve only just met. 

You spent the rest of the night talking to Jamie, you shared things you thought you would regret with him, but he was perfectly comfortable talking with you. And nothing changed after you told him about everything, which was extremely rare for you. 

Jamie really was something special. 

At the end of the night, you had already begun sobering up after having something to eat, and you began to apologise to him again for oversharing, as the two of you had only just met, but it felt like you had been friends for years. 

“Do you know how you’re getting home?” Jamie asked as everyone had begun to leave. 

“Yeah, my friend’s taking me back. It was really nice talking to you tonight. And thank you again for listening to me, I think we both needed someone to talk to. Sorry if I-” 

“Don't finish that sentence!" Jamie chuckled, "I told you earlier, you don't need to apologise for anything. Tonight was really fun, it's been nice getting to know you,” he smiled, “I’d love to meet up with you again. Are you free on Friday? I was thinking maybe I could pick you up and show you that record store I was talking about?” 

“Sure!” You grinned, “what’s your number? I’ll let you know when I’m about!” 

You handed your phone to Jamie and he typed in his phone number, and even took a silly picture for the contact photo. You smiled to yourself as he handed it back to you. 

“Text me something quickly, I want to make sure I put the right number in.” 

You sent him a ‘hello :)’ and his phone pinged. 

“See you on Friday, Jamie.” You said, spotting your friend waving for you to hurry up. 

“See you on Friday, y/n.” 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Friday came along quicker than expected, and the two of you spent the day together. You went to the record store for a while, then Jamie took you to another store he frequently visited. It was full of all sorts of jewellery and oddities, and you enjoyed looking around. You couldn’t help but pick up a few things to buy, and neither could Jamie. 

You went for drinks after, and Jamie opened up to you about his past with drinking and you suddenly felt terrible for the night you met you. However, he didn’t seem to mind, he had been sober for quite a few years now. 

At the end of the day, as Jamie was driving you home, you had wondered what today really was. Was it just a fun day out with a friend, or could it have been considered a date? You didn’t think far into it, it was better that way. 

“I’ve had a great time today.” Jamie said, one arm resting on the open window, his other hand on the wheel. 

“Me too, it’s been fun.” You smiled. 

“If you’re not doing anything this week you could always come to mine? I’ve got some friends over for a couple days but that doesn’t matter, I know you’ll love them. We could watch that movie I told you about?”

You couldn’t say no to that, and you visited him the next week. You made sure you arrived after his friends left as you weren’t sure about meeting them yet.

Jamie’s house was just so… him! There were a few horror movie posters on the wall, fanart he had been given from all different conventions around the world, many, many books. But there was one thing you wondered about. 

“I remember you saying you still had the ring from the city of bones movie?” You mentioned, hoping he'd take the hint. 

“Oh! That’s right here!” He grinned as he picked it up. 

“I can’t believe you still have it!” You gasped as he handed it to you. 

“Neither can I if I’m being honest…” he paused before saying, “it’s yours now. From one stunningly attractive man to another.”

Your eyes widened, there’s no way he would let you have it, would he?

“No way.” You shook your head. 

“Try it on. See if it fits.” He said, placing his hands on his hips, almost in a sassy way. 

“It does…” You furrowed your eyebrows as you tried it on, and it fit your middle finger perfectly. 

“Then you should have it!” Jamie insisted, “I’m not the same guy I was when I was 24. It doesn’t fit me anymore, and it looks better on you.” 

“But Jamie-”

“Nope!” He insisted, a grin on his face, “I don’t want it back, love. It’s yours.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

A couple months passed, and you were still meeting up and going out with Jamie every week or two, and when you weren’t with each other, you were texting each other. You honestly thought he only thought of you as a friend, nothing more, when you would go out for dinner with him that was just two guys hanging out. But your friends thought differently. 

“C’mon! It’s obvious he has a crush on you!”

“I don’t think so,” you said, “I thought he was straight, he’s only dated women before.”

“Are you serious? He literally said it himself that he was ‘fruity’, he gave you the ring from a movie he was in, you own two of his t-shirts, he bought the cologne you use because it reminds him of you, he takes you out for dinner, what more proof do you need! Y/n, that man is in love with you!” 

“But he can’t be!” You argued. 

“Why not?! You’re the coolest person I know, you’re so fun to be around and spend time with! I can see it, he can see it.”

“I just don’t think I can accept the possibility,” you admitted, “that he might actually be interested in me as more than a friend, because I’ve only ever thought of him as a friend!” You lied, you spent the last few months daydreaming about what it would be like to wake up next to him. 

“Well you better accept it pretty fast.” Was the last thing your friend said before hanging up the phone. 

Jamie was taking you out again tonight, and you had called your friend in a panic as he referred to it as a ‘date’. You wondered whether all these other times he had taken you out were also dates. However, they must have been for Jamie to ask a certain question during said date. 

“So, I was thinking…” he began, as he was walking you home, “I really do like spending time with you, and I’ve loved getting to know you, and I hope I’m not moving things too fast but…” you could Jamie was a little worried about asking you this, and he was stumbling over his words a bit, but he did it anyway, “do you want to become exclusi- fuck it- do you want to be my boyfriend?” 

You felt tears begin to gloss your eyes, happy tears of course. The question came as a shock, and you almost thought you were dreaming. 

“I…I thought we were just friends-”

“That’s okay, we don’t have to-”

“No, no! That’s not what I’m saying- I’d love to be your boyfriend, I-” You couldn’t believe what you were saying, you couldn’t believe he had actually asked you. 

“You would?” A smile spread across Jamie’s face, it was unlike any other time you had seen him smile. The look he gave you, one of pure happiness, is what set you off, beginning to cry. However, he wiped them away, placing a kiss on your forehead. “I know I’ll be your first, and if things go right then I may be your only, but I’ll make sure I treat you better than anyone else ever could, okay? I love you so much.”

You nodded your head, you couldn’t believe you finally had a boyfriend. You didn’t want to think about what your friends would say, you were expecting a lot of ‘I told you so’s from them. 

“I was also thinking about asking you to come with me when I leave for Georgia, when we start to prepare for season 5. It’s the week that you said you weren’t at work. I thought it would be perfect, like our first holiday as a couple.” He suggested, and you smiled. 

“I’d love that,” you said, “you’re such a romantic!” You teased, shaking your head as you got in his car. 

“I can’t wait to introduce you to my friends- just don’t listen to anything Joseph says about me, and don’t believe anything he says about our trip to Brazil either! I only joked about him eating it, I didn’t know he was actually going to!” 

You looked up at your boyfriend in confusion, and he simply smiled back at you. You both felt like the luckiest people ever, so grateful to have found each other. You could never imagine yourself with anyone else. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“Guys this is my boyfriend, y/n!” Jamie introduced you to his castmates, you gave them a wave from your spot at the table.

You all went out for lunch after the readthrough of part of the script for the new season of stranger things. Jamie finally got you to watch season 4 with him before you both flew out, and you were hoping so desperately to see him come back as Henry. You wouldn’t have recognised Joseph without his Eddie wig if it wasn’t for the thousands of pictures Jamie had with him, and you held yourself back from fanboying over Joe Keery. 

You joined Jamie and Joseph for a smoke break, Jamie quickly had to answer a call, leaving you to talk to Joseph, and as he lit his cigarette he said,

“We’ve heard so much about you,” he smiled, “you really do make Jamie happy, y’know. He texted me the day before he asked you to be his boyfriend, he was really nervous about it in case you said no. He cares for you so much.”

“Awh,” you weren’t sure what to say, but Joseph’s words really touched your heart, “I never thought it was possible to love somebody this much.” You said. 

“That’s just Jamie, mate.” 

“So, I was told about a trip to Brazil?” You enquired, “Jamie told me not to believe anything you say about it?”

“He’s just embarrassed because he-”

“What are we talking about?” Jamie turned around, putting his phone back into his pocket. 

“Nothing!” You smiled, kissing Jamie on the cheek, “I might go back inside now, it’s a bit cold out here.”

“You can have my jacket, love?” Jamie offered, but you shook your head. 

“I kinda want to get to know Maya and Joe a bit better, but thank you.”

As you walked back inside, Joseph handed Jamie a cigarette and told him, 

“Don’t mess it up this time, man. He’s a great guy, don’t do anything stupid, and don't let him go.” 

When Jamie and Joseph finally went back inside, Jamie couldn’t help but chuckle at the questions you were asking the others.

"I'm starting to think he only said yes to flying out with me for a free meet and greet.” Jamie said jokingly to Joseph, who also began to chuckle. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

When you and Jamie got back to the hotel room, he’d gone into the bathroom to take a shower, you stole a t-shirt from his suitcase, got changed and got into bed. 

When Jamie got out of the shower, he had the towel around his hips, revealing his v-line, and you didn’t realise quite how hard you were biting your lip until it stung a little. 

“See something you like, do ya?” Jamie teased, watching as your face pinked. He placed a quick kiss on your lips before getting changed. And although you’ve seen his ass a thousand times before on the internet alone, you still looked the other way to give him some privacy. 

“You know, I was thinking the other day, I almost didn’t go to that party- the one that I met you at. But there was something that was telling me I just had to go, and I’m so glad I did.” You said, “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“Is this just because you got to meet the rest of the cast?” Jamie teased. 

“No!” You grinned, followed by a quiet, “but that too.” 

“I just knew from the beginning that you were going to be a big part of my life,” Jamie explained, “it’s like, when we first met it felt like I was talking to an old friend, not a stranger.” 

“That’s how I felt too,” you confessed, “it’s like it was meant to be!” You joked, but there was an ounce of seriousness in it.  

“Perhaps it was.” Jamie said, kissing you on the cheek as he got into bed next to you.

#jamie campbell bower #jamie bower #jamie campbell bower x reader #jamie bower x reader #jcb

[witching-by-the-willow]

hi i see you finally watched wednesday how was it?? tell me everything

Hello, Riri! ❤️

I am so sorry I took so long to answer this...things have just been very busy, and I haven't had enough enough energy in the last few weeks to be able to form a single coherent thought. But here I am, at long last.

So.

Wednesday.

I feel like I was the last person to watch it because everyone was already talking about it akfjangkajdjaf I had filtered the tag, though. So I managed to avoid spoilers. ✨

My cousins were over, so we watched 1.5 episodes one night, and then the next night, we stayed up till 3 am to finish it. 💀

It was such a fun show. I have only seen one The Addams Family film, and that was nearly 13 years ago. So I didn't really have much idea going in. (I am, however, embarrassed to admit that I did not realise Christina Ricci was playing Thronhill akfjajnfja I had a shock when I found out) But I had a great time watching it!

The pacing was good, the characters were fun to follow, the plot was interesting, and I think they did a great job with dialogue writing too. Plus all the little callbacks to the other Addams family media that I've seen being talked about were a nice touch.

I would have liked the ending fight to last a bit longer, though...we had so much buildup to it, but then it was over so quickly....that, plus Weems' death was SO anti-climactic. Like, come on guys, you had Gwendolyn Christie, you can do her better.

and there were a few plotholes that I would like more resolution to, and more development on all their characters. (btw, this is not at all a plot hole, just something that's been bugging me...how did Rowan's mother make that drawing before she died 25 years ago, if he's 16-18, considering they're in high school? Did I hear it wrong?)

I was convinced from episode 2 that Thornhill was suspicious, and in episode 5, I was convinced she would be Laurel, but then they really managed to throw me off by making the therapist blonde lmao. Apparently, I forgot hair dyes exist 💀

I also had an inkling Tyler was the Hyde from episode 3, but man...he really managed to win me over, and I actively ignored all the signs 🤡

I still kind of ship him and Wednesday akndamnfnaj. But honestly, I won't be mad if we get Wenclair or aro/ace Wednesday either.

Btw, that hug at the end was EVERYTHING. 😩🤌

Oh, and for the characters...my ranking for the main group would be:

1) Thing (yes, a hand is my favourite character, what about it?)

2) Wednesday

3) Enid

4) Tyler

5) Bianca

6) Weems

7) Thornhill

8) Xavier (I wasn't going to include him at all, because of the very serious allegations on Percy Hynes-White right now, but because the character has a major role in the show, I will put him here. Maybe I would have put him about Weems before, but I can't bring myself to have any grace for him under this controversy.)

We haven't really had enough Morticia and Gomez (episodes 5 when we saw flashbacks of their time at Nevermore has me so hungry more of their past story) and Pugsley for me to rank then, and I would love for that to change. Gimme more of the family, please and thank you.

And on an ending note...I have never seen a Morticia that isn't just straught-up ethereal, and Catherine Zeta-Jones fits it so well. Every time she was on screen, I literally could not focus on anything else. The walk. THE WALK. Just...yes. that.

Anyway, I'm eagerly waiting for season 2!

#dear lord this is such a logm ramble akfnakgnakngja #anyway thank you for the patience you have with me 🛐 #wednesday #asks #💕 #mutuals my beloved

[hihopelessromantics]

OOOH! Definitely interested in your wips. Would love to hear more about these in particular (whichever one(s) you feel like sharing)

(also yes definitely still happily stuck inside this fandom bubble)

will indulge!!! (This is long but it's good to organize my thoughts lol)

I straight up forgot to put the name of this one lol. Meliodas doing dangerous antics is part of my Through the Wall sequel fic, called "Stakeout" which is the one where I have him cooking. I tried to mix in some humor with the angst here. It's basically Stigma Meliodas if Nakaba didn't nerf his intellegence. This one, I'll be feeding you guys soon!! Because I plan to try to finish Through the Wall this Thanksgiving Break, since I started it last thanksgiving break (ambitious I know, but imagine the poetism if I pull it off!) and Stakeout is farther along in its completion than that one. Stakeout is about Meliodas looking out for the TC and his brother from the opposite of the war. The first part is him deciding to try to get them dinner after seeing how worn-down they are, and the second . . . well, he can't exactly leave Zeldris to watch over both the Vampire and Demon Realms all by his lonesome, right? I'm actually really excited for you and @7-ratsinatrenchcoat to see this one in particular when it's finished because I tried to channel the melizabeth energy I liked in your work

This one is named such not cause I wanna name it something bulky (it has a better name! that's the exclusive lore lol) but I'm commited not to spoiling the plot twists in this one. This is gonna be my main gift to this fandom, a spiced up psychological horror rewrite of the whole show with original elizabeths and original adventures for the first and second season (that one is a backstory with Liz!) Plot point collaboration welcome. A bunch of season one, and the plot tiwsts, I made with my good friend zeldriszezinho, and I'm pretty antsy and excited to finally get around to it and present him with the result of our hard work, haha. I actually have a lot of senarios planned both in detail and loosely, just not written down. I'm currently procrastinating on Season 1 Pt. 2 because it's literally 5 or so arcs of content, one for all the sins, and uh. mental energy. So I'm trying to finish up a lot of small projects first just so my mind isn't everywhere. I can't remember if you've seen what I've posted on it so far but here's the masterpost and season one part one! It's on tumblr too! but I went ahead and pressed the space bar like 4 times every indent so it would be normally formatted on A03 sooooo https://archiveofourown.org/works/48567730 https://archiveofourown.org/works/48611485/chapters/122618557

3. Ironically, think Rings was another one inspired by you - it's old, almost 8 months by now, and the only reason I haven't published it yet is the second ellie spiraled out of control into her own adventure and I haven't had the time because I've been word vomiting so many other projects into existence. it's half meme format, half usual writing. The second ellie's meme story is complete and the third's just needs its wrapping up of its actual plot, which is simple: an arrogant man thinks his bride is secretly a nutcase, but feels pressured into marrying her because medival times, because she's a sweet and intellegent woman running an orphanage all by herself, and technically he can't do better, and because it would look disasterously on the both of them and destroy his carefully crafted persona if they somehow couldn't make this community-arranged marriage work. So he's "putting up with her quirks." Including the ancient what-looks-like-wedding-rings she wears around her neck, and the fact she genuinely thinks her one-that-got-away lover sold a prized possession to demons. (the significance of these rings is in the stories of the previous two elizabeths). Well. Actually. He steals them while she's distracted with wedding planning. It doesn't go well for him from there.

Let me know your opinion: should I try finishing the third ellie and then publishing it? I can always go back and make a full story out of "purple ring" ellie + friends later.

Basically, the purple ring's story is as thus: Meliodas decides he needs to rest, "REALLY rest", since his emotional stress is beginning to affect his demon biology in a bad way, and voluntarily coma-tizes himself for a while. He wakes some time later only to find out Elizabeth and her new 'family' have been considering him as their good luck charm. (Maybe even more than one Elizabeth has passed by now. Probably the apothecary he visits figures out what Meliodas meant to do and goes to fetch him, too late, and looks after him . . . see, that could be a whole OTHER story in itself. anyway.) He's a "good luck charm" because his demon aura has been disgusing the magical signature of her druid family, not that they've figured this out. Meliodas tries to get up and run away with an injured Ellie but surprise surprise he hasn't quite recovered from what his body and mind has been through, and the combination of that and the drugs has left him critcially weakened. He actually collapses falls down a small cliff with her. Ellie assures him they've gotten far enough to shake off the people who are searching for her, that it's okay. Moreover, she understands more or less what he's going through, since she lost her leg a while back. They reuinte with Ellie's little "siblings," druid children the family has rescued along their journey.

Later ~ the main organizers of their group are shocked to return to their isolated cabin to find that not only have all the children survived the winter, and possible clashes with whoever's been hunting them for decades, but there's one extra child! And a talking cow. (I haven't decided whether some of these people are semi-antagonsists.) Meliodas's condition never improves (angst angst <3) but he takes up the task of looking after the kids alongside Elizabeth anyway- especially when she and the others are gone, working or otherwise. Oftentimes he and the spunky talking cow go on adventures in the forest or in town, collecting herbs or materials for crafts and toys. She carries him, Hawk-style. I can't remember her name but it was a silly one, and he saves her life once with his wings. He's also fought away intruders once while the 'adults' weren't home with Full Counter, being able to stand for long enough to use it before collapsing.

In this iteration, Meliodas recieves his ring from his new 'siblings' as they say that "it's the same color as the magic you used to protect us." Referring to the times he's used his demon magic around the house, and, unknowingly, to the fact his very presence has been the only thing keeping them safe from raiders on more than one occasion. Throughout it all Meliodas struggles with having to be the one cared for for once, and not being able to be the muscle of this group that so clearly would benefit from him being his 'usual' self. While his siblings think he's a genuine gift from God, and are more than happy to look after him as he does them, trading stories between them and cuddling up like he truly belongs, adult members of the family never take a shine to him and resent him somewhat, even perrfering when he was comatose. There's more (and more angst) but I should probably say less.

4. (TW: this one gets DARK with the demon brothers angst) modern fantasy ireland boarding school au" is actually another gift for @gh0stofyesterday, who can't escape me, from back in like feburary or something lol. It's an angsty modern-day genderqueer demon brothers and genderqueer elizabeth. Basically Meliodas tricks his snooty father into letting him and his brother (who's not technically old enough but academically girlboss yourself outta that condundrum zeldris) go to boarding school in his deceased mother's home country, where Meliodas plans to study interior design (he's gonna design the boar hat himself <3) and, against his father's wishes, join the gymnastic team. Little does he know that his online friends in his tween gymnastics discord server or whatever (The TC) are also going to end up there. ( I have the scene where they realize he's not the snooty daughter of the DK ceo and actually their Captain planned out already actually. they realize it when he beats the snot out of some guy that chases zeldris through the gymnasium lol).

Other plot points include! Elizabeth and Meliodas have a secret online romance as "Study buddies" and plan to perform a ceremony to use whatever their magic is unsealed to share a bit of that magic with each other, as a kind of marriage ceremony (peak 14 year old romance lol). Meliodas and Zeldris learn (originally Irish) sign language in order to communicate without their father snooping. Cusack and Chandler deal with being technical slaves to the Demon King and attempt to parent their protegees in more important ways than teaching them fencing, keeping their secrets, and buying them things. Gelda explains she never cuddles with her sisters for emotional support, Zel and Mel feel sorry for her . . . then figure out they are touch-starved and probably need therapy for that too. Hot springs date. Zel discovers Mel has been cuddling him while laying on his side specifically because there are fresh child abuse wounds across his back. Meliodas commandeers his gymnastics coach's coaching authority and starts an underground fencing ring upon being told he can't do that (we go to school in a castle! c'mon!). Zeldris tries to deal with a ginger-haired kid who seems equally hellbent on being his friend as he is his school rival. Depending on how dark I'm gonna make this, you might even get to see a prolouge where Zeldris forgoes a plan to murder - suicide his brother following his mother's funeral after meeting a small Gelda at the playground. Oh, and the DK having to fidgit uncomfortably in court. This one is basically a for-fun daydream, but a pal volunteed to beta it for me so it will eventually get written up for you all!

#this is fun! #can you tell I take notes when I read y'alls angst? #rings includes a pretty sweet meliodas death scene but I should probabaly like shut up and actually write and not just talk about it cause #my summaries aren't as good as the real thing i think #and are five hundred pages long. you should see what my english teachers have had to put up with. #book report? yes sir here's three thousand words what do you mean that's too long WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO LEAVE OUT THE IMPORTANT STUFF #beginning to think a little horror goes into everything I write but. i mean. spice. plus everyone clearly loves torturing these characters #what's more torturous than not being able to protect the ones you love cause you c a n ' t #it's three am and I'm wondering how I got so obsessed with these characters. Oops? anyway good writing practice