#well... ok. only retained 10%

[captain-barnes-writes]

Fallen Petals (Max Verstappen)

part one

Summary: How a relationship wilts and comes to an end. 

Pairing: Max Verstappen x fem!reader

Warning: ANGST, so much angst, I LOVE ANGST lol, Wordy as hell hehehe, tension,  unresolved feelings, implications of cheating,  SMUT, sexual content. 18+

NOT PROOFREAD 

Word count: 3.6k (oops)

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2021

Max Verstappen’s shoes and clothes were starting to collect dust in the closet. His towels unused for weeks, his toothbrush next to hers on the bathroom counter. Everything seemed to be mocking her. Everywhere she looked remnants of the man she loved were there tormenting her.

Things were coming to an end and she knew it.

She knew it as she sat on the chair on her usual end of the table. Her in her usual place and his space as empty as ever. Dinner served on the table. Two plates of rigatoni and wine served, plated ever so carefully to make everything special. A small homemade cheesecake for dessert sat in the fridge.

The pink peonies in the middle of the table, two petals had already fallen.

Her phone read 10 pm in her shaky hands. He was supposed to be home at 7. Three hours ago and yet not a single text was sent her way. Not an apology, not even an excuse.

Where are you?

Are you ok?

She could only afford herself to send two messages, feeling pathetic for even worrying for somebody who clearly chose to be elsewhere than with her.

A little scrolling on social media, story after story until came the one to pin the nail to the wall.

Lando posted a story (1hr ago)

Max wasn’t one to really party, or to frequent bars or places filled with too many people. He wasn’t like that. Wasn’t one to not tell her of his whereabouts, even if she didn’t ask, he’d tell her. Lately things had been different, even that was an understatement. They had been on two different worlds, hers admittedly still welcomed him but his did not.

While she knew that his life was much like formula 1, fast, busy and chaotic, she didn’t account for the many times she’d be left behind in the midst of it all.

This was one of the times. Seeing him sitting next to a pretty brunette she knew all too well, of the history of her with the Red Bull team. Of her father, of her last partner. And maybe she found comfort in seeing Lando sitting next to him on the other side, but it wasn’t enough of it. She still felt the tightness in her chest.

Kelly was sitting next to him, not her. Not his actual partner.

In the beginning of it all, it was hard to understand, but she came to see that it came with the territory. His life was fast and their love would have to keep up. She would have to keep up.

But it had become increasingly harder and harder. The missed dates, the lack of texts and calls, the missed opportunities of spending time together. She missed him terribly and he was so nonchalant. Distant even at many times and her heart ached.

His life was chaos and she was his sanity, retaining him to the ground, enveloping him in a love that granted him comfort. At least that’s how it had been at first.

God, but his life relished on speed even outside the track. The chaos would envelop him and he would get lost in it all. In the clubs, the new people he met on the daily. The models and actresses. In the luxury that came with being a successful formula 1 driver. A world champion.

While she was ever so present, he wasn’t. He wasn’t there at all. Not much like before.

Back then he had been excited by a mere message of hers, any interaction that could be as minor as her liking one of his pictures. The little hearts he’d put under every single one of her pictures. The compliments. The flowers that found their way to her doorstep regardless of where in the world he was. The love that could be seen and felt even by those on the outskirts of it. Once visible and true, now it seemed only a shell of it.

Had it worn off for him? She couldn't even ask herself that. Couldn’t think about it or she’d break even more. Her thoughts were already tearing at her, the seams no longer mendable.

She loved him, but she felt suffocated being in his house. In the large dining room where she sat alone feeling pathetic for even bothering to wear a pretty dress. She felt as pathetic as the uneaten plate of food on his end of the table. She wanted to throw it all in the bin, throw the base on the floor. Scream and cry, but she didn’t want to be that person. She wanted to leave with her dignity.

She would leave it all as it was so he could see that she waited for him as long as she could, but that time had ran out.

She looked around the dining room that felt larger at that moment, got herself up as steady as she could and made her way into his bedroom. It felt stifling being in the room where they had made so many memories only they knew. Engraved in their minds forever even while they were apart.

The space looked as empty as ever. His side of the bed no longer smelled like him after more than a month away. So many weeks and his scent no longer lingered the sheets and pillows to bring the comfort she so desperately needed in those moments she missed him most.

Placing a suitcase on the bed, she began to place the few belongings she kept at his place. Her clothes, perfumes, shoes. The toothbrush that always had its place next to his was thrown into the bin. Everything that would warn him that she was no longer taking part in a space that no longer felt hers.

She couldn’t lie to herself any longer. Not when another brunette was always seemingly at the same events he was, even at his side at times. At first she pinned it on her father’s heavy influence on the sport, or the mutual friends that would always unite them in a way that would have them in a room together. But it was becoming more frequent, her being left behind more and more was not a coincidence.

The tears were flowing and she couldn’t pack fast enough. Her blurred vision making it difficult to see what garments she was even grabbing. How bunched up the clothes were in the shallow spaces of the suitcase. Her ears were ringing and she couldn’t even hear the footsteps of the man she adored at the door.

Max’s azure eyes ogled at the suitcase on the bed, the woman he’d cast aside time and time again stuffing the clothes into it. 

“What is going on?” Was all he could muster. She flinched and turned around immediately.

Max stood there with his customary blue jeans and white shirt. His hair slightly smoothed back. His eyes were wide watching as the girl’s puffy eyes rolled at his question.

“What does it look like I’m doing, Max?”

“Obviously you’re packing, but for what?” His attitude even off the track could get under her skin at times. This was one of those times when maybe an apology would be a good start. An explanation as to why he didn’t show up once again, as to why their dinner went cold and the candles on the dining room table had died.

“Because this,” She pointed at him and back to herself. “This isn’t working anymore.”

The man couldn’t walk fast enough towards her and grab her by the waist. She whimpered at the intrusion and how foreign it felt after weeks without him. Yet she still looked up at him and met his eyes for what she knew would probably be the last time.

“Max.” She sighed. “I haven’t seen you in weeks. You’ve been gone and literally the day that you’re back you don’t even remember that I made plans for us here. That I told you I would make you your favorite food and we’d spend the evening in, just us two.”

She was fucking crying and she hated it. Hated that a man had her in her feelings like this. But it had been a relationship nonetheless, a good one at times that still had its ups and downs. One that had her experience things she never thought she would.

He was silent.

“And yet you don’t say anything. You don’t give me an apology, an excuse, you’re not giving me anything. I know that you went out with your friends instead, if you could even call that to your newfound friendship with Kelly.”

“That’s not…That’s not it. I’m sorry. I really am. I’m just shocked at seeing you like this.”

She stayed silent too. Waiting for more than just an apology and quite frankly being in his embrace the way she was, she felt uneasy like she was betraying herself and everything she wanted to say.

“My phone died and I couldn’t contact you. They invited me last minute and were hounding me to go, I had no way to get out. You know how Lando is. I told myself I’d leave after one drink and that I wouldn’t eat much so I could come back. But one drink turned into two and I lost track of time.”

“That’s starting to happen quite a lot.” He winced at her comment. He knew it was true. How his mind was dwindling these days. Occupied with tasks, with meetings, with new friendships that had sparked as he traveled to different countries. With his outings, with a certain brunette whose presence became frequent at events.

How small talks progressed to mingling around to stay by each other’s side. How those talks turned into going for drinks, for dinners. It was friendly, he told himself. He knew better than to lie to himself, how there were always underlying motives behind every move and every word shared.

“And you still avoid talking about her.” She tried to push away from his embrace but he was too strong, feeling suffocated with a man whose love was faltering. Whose body she kissed and touched on the very bed they were standing next to.

She looked away from him for the very first time that night and turned her attention to the bed. They had fucked each other more times than she could count there. Made it their own space, their little haven and now it had been weeks since they had laid there together. She hadn’t touched him in weeks and seeing him again made her relieve all those moments again.

Her eyes were still teary, skin hot with pent up anger and disappointment and yet she was still thinking of how his lips were that same pale pink and full, his cerulean eyes wide, his hair so damn soft. And she would be lying to herself if she didn’t wish things were different. That he had come in through that door with his wrinkly smiley eyes and that it would all be pure happiness like many times before.

The thing was that it wasn’t.

Things were different now regardless of how much she still desired him. How she still loved him.  How having his mere hands at her waist stirred the butterflies in her stomach. But it was no longer just her and Max. Something had shifted in him lately. Attention elsewhere, mind wandering.

“She’s just a friend.” He reassured, one of his hands had moved from her waist to her face to make her look at him again. His breath hot on her face.

“I saw that she was at your little dinner. Sitting next to you as always.” She didn’t mean to sound so jealous. Surely, she had a right to be, but she didn’t want to show him how much of an effect it had on her.

“I didn’t invite her.”

“Sure you didn’t, Max. I don’t need the lies.”

“You’re my petal. I don’t want anybody else.” Why was he calling her that now. His favorite petname for her, adoring and private just for them both. To calm her down and reel her in again and avoid the topic she wanted to discuss.

“Your petal is wilting, Max.”

She paused.

“You’re not the Max I fell in love with. The old Max would’ve taken Lando’s phone and called me when your phone died, would’ve made sure I was the one sitting next to you, not another woman. My Max would’ve…” Her voice was shaky as she watches his eyes fall to the ground, his hand had fallen from her face.

“My Max would’ve made sure to see me as soon as he landed.  You’re not the same anymore and I don’t understand why. And you know what? Maybe I don’t want to know anymore so this hurts less.”

“Fuck baby... I’m sorry for hurting you these last couple of weeks. I’m a shitty person sometimes, I know.”

One of his hands held her jaw softly while his other hand touched her cheek tilting her head to look at him, to see that his eyes were teary too. They stared at each other for what felt like hours, an intense silence ensuing around them. The tension heavy as the couple who’d spent weeks apart were only inches away from one another in a room that held their best moments.

One of them made the move first, maybe it was him or her, it was too fast as their lips met for a kiss that was bruising. Weeks of pent up sadness, want and desire combined their movements of desperation as he clawed at the back of her legs, securing them around his waist.

“Fuck I’ve missed you.” He said in between kisses. His voice hoarse as he walked around the bed and dropped her on it. Still on top of her not wanting to part from her for even one second or he felt as though she’d slip through his fingers. She was letting him touch her, letting him spread her legs apart as his fingers moved the flimsy material of her underwear to the side, finding the little nub that he missed and starting the same rhythm that always had her writhing in his grasp.

“I hate you for making me feel like this.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” His fingers rubbed against her most private part, her slick already coating his fingers as he continued to touch her the way he knew she liked.

“You are the worst.” She was breathing hard as they pulled away from one another, eyes still sad and cheeks stear stained. He kissed the corner of her eyes, her eyes fluttering close as he became the sensible man she missed so much. He kissed her cheeks as though he was erasing the tears he’d caused.

“I am.” His voice was so low as their lips met again. His middle finger had entered her slick and it had been more than a month for her, she felt like she was seeing stars with just his hands. It had been much less for him, but this one really felt like home.

Admittedly his words carried more weight than he could admit. How nights could get so lonely as he traveled to different countries. One was almost always around, sneaking glances and how it had turned into lingering looks and then into so much more as the days passed. But she wasn’t like his girl, no one could ever come close to the actual feeling of home. How home was the girl in Monaco who loved him and kept him grounded, reminding him of what was important in life.

He was desperate to feel more of her. To be inside her. With his fingers pumping inside her for a bit more, he freed himself from his jeans clumsily. The garment falling to the floor along with his boxers, her panties had followed and within seconds his fingers had been replaced with his throbbing member.

He would be lying if his eyes didn’t roll back and a sigh of relief didn’t leave his lips as he felt her warm walls engulf him. She was letting him have her, to fuck her senseless. Moaning below him as he fucked her into the matress with his harsh movements. He hadn’t even given her time to adjust to him again, feeling so desperate to just fuck away the pain and sadness out of them both.

To him this was his way of making it up to her, of them making up and that things would be ok. To her this was a moment of shameful weakness. This wasn’t making up for her.

“I fucking love you, I’m sorry baby.” His hot breath was on her face as he looked down at her. She stayed silent instead maneuvering her fingers to tangle themselves in his hair making their lips meet again in a heated kiss that shared the same tension as that of the movements of their bodies below.

The room in a way felt like before again, didn’t carry that stifling and unbalanced feeling as before. It smelled like sex, sweat and their perfume combined once again. Much like the times before when they finally saw each other again, they always found themselves in this very room showing each other how much they had missed each other.

His movements were harsh. They almost always were when his trips away from Monaco were long. She was a mess below him, moaning into his mouth as he fucked into her harder, his fingers almost bruising at her legs. It was liberating for him this way, for her to feel how desperate he felt to make it up to her.

It was a mess of limbs, a heady of juices falling onto the bed below, of skin slapping against one another. It was all pornographic as best as she felt herself crumble into the pressure that had built itself inside her and washed over her in torrents as she pulled from his lips to cry out his name.

His movements became shallow and less turbulent as his own release was starting to pent up inside him, wanting nothing but to fill her with his cum. When he did, with tense muscles all he could do was groan in pure content as he filled his girl with his heavy cum. It felt like it had been so long without her and he realized how she much he needed her.

He fell at her side on the bed once he’d cleaned her up with a towel. Her little whimpers at the feel of the soft towel on her sensitive area had made him wince at the realization that maybe he had been a bit too rough this time.

But once he’d found his way to nestle to her side, she had gotten up and placed her underwear again. Fixing her wrinkled dress again to its old state.

“What--What are you doing?”

“Leaving.”

“What?” He said incredulously, his own body pushing off the bed and placing his own garments of clothing back on.

She started zipping up the brown suitcase which had luckily for her not fallen off the bed despite the mess they had made on the bed.

“That was a moment of weakness for me. I know there’s more to what you’re letting on. I’m not letting that go. I know there’s more to you and Kelly than what you’re telling me. Why you’ve been pulling away from me lately.”

“It’s not the distance because we’ve dealt with that plenty. Our relationship wasn’t filled with excuses, missed calls or late text messages like it is now. You’ve been pushing me away and now I’m not the person you’re most excited to see, Max. I see that. Regardless of us having just had sex or not, I wasn’t the first person you wanted to see today.”

“You’re my girlfriend, you’re always the first person I want to see.”

“You haven’t made it seem like that for a while now.”

“It was a mistake. Today and all those times I’ve failed to communicate, I’m sorry. This life is hard sometimes, I get so lost in it at times. You’re the one person that keeps me sane and keeps me grounded.”

“I’m not that person for you anymore, Max. I see it now.” Those little droplets she hated so much and wanted to avoid began falling down her cheeks yet again. With trembling hands she grabbed the suitcase from the bed and began making her way out of the room.

Max felt desperate again. His heart felt like it was clawing at his throat, beating so rapidly as he watched the woman he’d been taking for granted start walking away from him and his life.

He was close behind, following her through the hallway into his living room. Pleading with her as the apologies fell from his lips, his own eyes were watery. He really was losing her for his own stupid choices.

He realized then that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. His garden had began wilting, he’d foregone watering it, the petals fallen off the pretty flower he had once cherished and cared for.

“You’ll always be that person for me. I don’t want you to leave, petal. I really need you.”

She was crying as she continued the short trek to the front door. Hearing him plead for her this way was painful. But there was more to what he was letting on, more to what  him and that woman shared and she couldn’t falter. Not this time.

“It’s clear you’ve already found my replacement.” Was all she could bring herself to say without her voice giving out on her. She didn’t turn back to look at him once as she pulled the door open and closed it after herself.

Hope you guy like this angst piece I wrote in a day! Might have its errors here and there but I love angst 🤭 and I also have been really enjoying some Max Verstappen hehehe

#max verstappen #max verstappen fanfic #max verstappen fanfiction #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x you #max verstappen angst #max verstappen x y/n #max verstappen rec #f1 #formula 1 #fanfic #fanfiction #f1 fanfic #f1 fanfic rec #formula 1 fanfic #angst fanfic #max verstappen fic

[hey-august]

Ok ok another request for your 250 prompts...

#1 Touch with #3 "It's nice." and #10 "I'm full of surprises." With the chubby DadBod Buggy you wrote about that is just absolutely wonderful... 👀 Could be spicy or not but I revisited that earlier and just hnnngh chubby DadBod Buggyyyy 🧡 Thank you!

-rorywritesjunk

Yusssssss dadbody Buggy back again!!!!! Thank you for this, @rorywritesjunk!! 🩷 I definitely meant to sprinkle more spice in here, but got caught up in the fluff and incorporating some one bed trope vibes. This did give me a great idea for a separate but related spicy story though 👀

Prompts: Touch, "It's nice." "I’m full of surprises." Teaser: "Buggy chuckled as he settled down, fighting his insecurities with self-deprecation." Warnings: SFW. Not an established relationship. Sorta one bed trope - is it one bed trope if it's partially by choice? Word count: ~1.8k

Check out my 250 Follower Prompt Event and see fulfilled prompts here.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

Time moved at a pace only it understood. Days flew by while weeks dragged. Moments were drawn out with each new experience you had on the pirate ship until a month passed. It took you nearly four days to develop sea legs, eight days to be assigned a room of your own, and two weeks for you to stop getting lost on the ship. But you felt at home from the first step onboard. For the first time in your life, you were comfortable and felt like you belonged.

Lost in your own thoughts, pieces of your captain’s explanation of your afternoon duties slipped away before you could retain them. You gave an apologetic smile when he caught on. Buggy had been gripping his left forearm to half-heartedly massage the muscles while he spoke. Even as he flexed his hand, the tenderness carried through and showed on his face.

“Sorry, I was distracted. You should do it here, like this,” you said while grabbing the pirate’s gloved hand and flipping it so the palm side was up. 

Hooking his thumb and pinky between both of your pinky fingers, you carefully flexed his hand open and pressed into the taut muscles with your thumbs. His gloves made it difficult to drag the pressure along his palm, so you settled for digging into the meat and rubbing small circles.

You didn’t realize how overly familiar the gesture was until the silence became overbearing. The chatty clown had fallen quiet from shock and relief.

“Oh, sorry. That was too much,” you choked out, dropping his hand in mortification “Sometimes I’d get cramps from how much I wrote and I know how frustrating that can feel…” The explanation came out in an explosive babble.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Buggy rushed to stop your monologue, feeling second-hand embarrassment. At least, that’s what he assumed the heat in his body was from. “It’s no big deal…it actually felt good. Now if you know how to deal with tight shoulders, let me know,” he chuckled.

You nodded, afraid to open your mouth again. For the rest of Buggy’s repeat rundown, you stayed quiet and paid attention to each directive. As the captain turned to leave, the words you were struggling to swallow burst out.

“I can help with your shoulders. L-later, if you want…” You watched his back as he nodded, blue hair swinging from his hat, and left you to drown in your awkward proposal.

Curiosity followed Buggy through the rest of the day. Tugging on his attention, tripping his feet, and stealing thoughts out of his mind. As much as he tried to ignore the presence, it wouldn’t leave. He felt it in the hand you touched.

The pirate liked having you on the ship. He could see the changes you went through as you became accustomed to life with the crew. You became brighter and smiled more. Buggy often heard others talk about how helpful you are, that you often volunteer when someone needs help and you give encouragement while they practice skits and skills. It shouldn’t be a surprise that you were offering to help the captain, as well.

He nearly waited too long before knocking on your door. A part of him hoped that hours of overthinking would take away the opportunity to make a decision, but his feet brought him to your quarters before that could happen. The door quickly swung open, revealing your small but cozy room. You welcomed Buggy inside as he chittered about his sore muscles, hoping he could distract you from the blush that was certainly peeking through his face paint. Although he removed his captain’s coat and hat at the end of the day, he kept on the clown make-up.

You placed a pillow on the floor next to the bed and gestured for Buggy to sit down. He tilted his head and made a face before tossing the pillow back onto the bed and plopping to the ground, his back towards the bed.

“It’s just a floor, it’s not that bad,” he mumbled as you sat behind him and nestled your legs on either side of his torso.

“I just wanted you to be comfortable.” You spoke slowly, keeping each word even, unlike the beating in your chest. This was much different than grabbing the pirate’s hand earlier. He was in your room and between your legs. As fast as the thought popped up, you buried it in a dark corner in your mind.

You started by rubbing the base of Buggy’s head, digging your thumbs into the muscles beneath his skull and easing his tension and nerves. His head tilted forwards with a loud sigh and you moved the attention down his neck, following the curves of his body.

“...s’nice…yursonice…” He said something that sounded like words, but you couldn’t hear clearly. Pinching down a muscle that traveled from his neck to his shoulder, you asked what he said. 

Buggy took a deep sigh before replying. “I said ‘yo- it’s nice.’ This is nice.” Words that fit in his mouth a moment ago didn’t feel correct now. Whatever you heard seemed to be satisfying enough since you didn’t respond and you continued tending to his aches.

Although his body rocked gently with each squeeze of pressure, the knots littering his body held fast. The thick fabric of his top prevented you from pulling along his muscles and the woven material didn’t have enough give for you to slip your hands underneath. You massaged as long as you could before you could feel your fingers objecting to the rough fabric.

“Captain…” Your soft voice eased him out of the trance and he hummed in response. “I can’t get to some of the tight areas. If you want- if you’d be more comfortable, you could take off your shirt and lay down.” Your hands kept moving to keep the awkwardness from settling into place.

Buggy stayed silent. His comfort would be debatable if he took off any more clothing. The relaxation you worked into him only extended so far and other areas needed the same attention, but he was afraid of your attention being drawn somewhere else. Besides his nose, there are other parts of his body the pirate didn’t love - one of which was his soft stomach. So many pirates - and pirate captains - parade around in open shirts or entirely shirtless, showing off muscles bestowed by a life at sea. A physique the clown captain didn’t share.

As he worked through the thoughts, Buggy asked a question to fill the silence. “How do you know how to do this?”

“I’m full of-”

“-full of surprises. Fuck off,” Buggy cut you off, laughing that he walked right into that response. It had been repeated often enough that it should be an expectation in any conversation you two have.

“I’ll actually tell you, if you get comfortable.” You offered to trade your vulnerability for his.

Buggy held onto the fact that you never mentioned his nose like a lifeline and jumped in. Standing up, he kept his back facing you. He undid the wide band of belts around his waist, wincing as his stomach relaxed in the open space, and pulled off his shirt. Meanwhile, you straightened up the blankets on your bed and fluffed up the pillow.

You turned around to a half-dressed pirate standing in your room. Nerves and unease was creeping back into his body, just as they filled yours, so you rushed to have him lay face down.

“Hah, don’t want to look at this sorry sight anymore?” Buggy chuckled as he settled down, fighting his insecurities with self-deprecation.

“No, I think you look really good,” you blurted out. Hands flew to cover your mouth far too late to stop the confession. 

Buggy looked at you with astonishment, unsure if you were fucking with him. Your wide eyes and red ears were another betraying confession.

“Thanks,” he muttered bashfully before turning away. The bed smelt like you. The pillow he had pressed against his chest smelt like you. He couldn’t relax, especially when the bed tilted as you kneeled next to him. But when your warm hands began running along his muscles, he melted into everything that was you.

“I learned how to do this because of drawing. I wanted to draw people, so I started by studying anatomy. Trapezius…” You applied pressure starting at his neck and dragged it down. 

“...scapula…” The movement followed the curve of his shoulder blade, finding bundles of tension along the way. A stifled groan escaped as you worked on the knots, breaking them apart and soothing the surrounding sinew. 

“E…spine something,” you questioned while your fingers danced on either side of his spine. “It was a while ago and didn’t help with my drawings, but I guess it was good for something.”

Buggy could hardly acknowledge what you were saying. It felt like his entire being was being handled, pinched, and rolled in a blissful way. He was no longer thinking about how uneasy he felt being partially undressed in front of you. The anxiety was soothed away as he loosened up. His head was full of your smell, his body covered in how you feel, and your voice was lulling him further and further away.

A few quiet minutes passed before a small sound broke your concentration. A sleepy snore. You froze, your hold pausing on his hips while massaging his lower back. A louder snort came out and you bit your lip to suppress a laugh. 

Laying an open hand on the middle of the captain’s back, you gently rocked his body. No response. You called his name. Nothing. You poked him. Still nothing. Grabbing Buggy’s shoulder, you shook a little harder. This time, you did get a response. 

“Not yet, still tired,” grumbled the pirate before rolling on his side. He was still facing away from you and clinging to your pillow.

You tried a few more times to wake Buggy up, explaining that it’s probably time for bed. He should go back to his room. It’s late. Why is he such a heavy sleeper? How can he sleep when you’re shaking him this hard? Seriously, he needs to wake up. None of it worked. You even tried to pull your pillow away, but he only hugged it tighter. There was no way you’d be able to get the blanket from under him either, so any chance of sleeping on the floor was impossible.

Between Buggy’s own exhaustion and the late hour, sleep began to wrap its warmth around you. Reluctant to find another reasonably comfortable place to rest for the night that didn’t involve waking someone else up and explaining why the captain was sleeping in your bed, you resigned yourself to making the best out of this situation. 

At least Buggy was no longer laying in the middle of your small bed. You curled up behind him and pressed your back against his. Your tiredness wavered at the touch, hesitant to fully descend when your heart was beating so fast. Listening to his deep breaths, you began to match your breathing and let sleep carry you away. There would be time in the morning to explain what happened. For now, you wanted to enjoy the moment.

#buggy x reader #buggy the clown x reader #buggy the clown #buggy x you #x reader #buggy op #opla buggy #one piece buggy #buggy x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #hey-august 250 follower event

[theunaestheticstudyblr]

How I limit my productivity and why you probably should too

Yes. I limit my productivity. I monitor my time being spent on being "productive" and doing things that are focused on growth instead of existence. Now I don't mean to say that I just ignore myself and don't try to be a better person. I'm talking in context of stereotypical social media productivity; things like studying for hours, working extra shifts, maximizing time spent on growth podcasts and self help books instead of indulgences like music and fantasy novels. I don't mean analyzing your bad behaviors and working on breaking bad habits. I'm talking more on the lines of marketable growth.

I have noticed a major increase over a couple years in people trying to be as productive as possible. They prioritize productivity and growth (again talking more of the marketable, social media style, not personal) and minimizing time spent living and merely existing. We are sprinting a marathon it seems. And I do not like sprinting. Or even running. It's my most dreaded part of my gym time. I acknowledge that it is necessary, and so is spending time being productive and working on your marketable growth. But it shouldn't be the main part of every day, just like sprinting for 10 minutes on a treadmill shouldn't be the main part of every workout you do.

I love informative podcasts just as much as the next person and TED Daily is a favorite for sure, as well as various fish and nature podcasts are too! But I limit these to my hour+ commute to campus every other day. When I'm walking around, I listen to music or maybe a "brain numbing" podcast (ones that don't make you think and comprehend and analyze things like story ones [magnus archives eg] or paranormal or mythology or crime style podcasts). I listen to pleasure things, not to thinking things. This gives my brain noise that's just noise. It let's my brain slip out of analytical scientist mode for a while and maybe dance while I walk around!

My gym time is scheduled. I spend the scheduled time in the gym and I enjoy it so much! But when it's not gym time, it's not gym time. I do my morning stretches and yoga and I do my hour in the gym every other day. This is time purely for the gym and nothing else. It's a great release but can also become taxing very quickly, so I only think about it when it's time to.

Study time is the same. It's scheduled and I study when it's study time. I don't walk around and look at flashcards anymore. This is not helpful at all and you could easily hurt yourself or others. You won't retain the information really and you're just adding extra stress into your already stressful life.

I have a schedule for my week and I block out my productive times. My gym time. My study time. My intellectual reading time. My information podcasts. All those things. But I schedule them AFTER I have blocked out classes, work, my slow mornings, chores, and pleasure items like a hair mask night or a night out or something. Of course I make time for improving myself and like I said they are also scheduled, but not with more importance than my actual life. And I also make sure that I know to be flexible with myself. Sometimes I have to add in extra study time and reduce time spent elsewhere if I have a test or something. Sometimes I get sick or I lose track of time while playing video games. Sometimes I sit in the bath way longer than I should. And that's ok. Sometimes we need to have the discipline to put pleasure aside EVERY NOW AND THEN and Sometimes we need the grace to put productivity on the back burner EVERY NOW AND THEN.

Don't ignore your responsibilities, but don't ignore your life either. So please, make just as much time for your pleasure as you do for your productivity. They're both important, but don't let school and life weigh you down so much that rain is annoying and angering and that you miss your niece's 3rd birthday. Dance in the rain. Jump in the puddles. Spin and laugh as you get soaked. And eat the easy bake cakes your little cousin bakes. And read your friend's kid a story. And draw little doodles in your notes. And smile. And try to make someone else smile. And drink your too sweet, too hot coffee. And listen to that song that you'd be embarrassed if anyone knew you liked it. Please don't forget to live.

#study blog #student #student life #studyblr #productivity #school #study hard #studying #school advice #university advice #life advice #advice #school tips #school life #productive #being productive

[class1akids]

OK, s some preliminary observations about the full results:

Bakugou winning with a landslide was absolutely expected with the timing of the poll (the WSJ issues during Ch 360-362), the gap between Deku and Shouto remained about the same.

Endeavor coming in 4th place is a bit of surprise but not completely - he had some huge scenes just before the Bakugou chapters so apparently his fight vs AFO played really well with the Japanese audience. He's the highest ranked pro for the first time, well ahead of Hawks.

Iida and Ochako had the Volume 33 boost / hype, Iida's Top 5 place makes 4 out of the Top 5 Class A. Ochako is the highest ranked female character.

What is more concerning is that the only other female character in Top 20 is Jirou.

Most characters lost votes due to the more expensive voting (except Bakugou is stable, Endeavor got a big boost, and Kaminari got a small boost) but Kirishima lost more than 3000 votes.

Kaminari is a bit of a surprise - not in top 10 per se, but with the 6th place - though tbh between 6-9 places there is not even a 100 votes difference. It was very tight.

Getting into the top 10 is increasingly harder - the 7th poll top 10 cut-off was 1524, this time it was 1626

There are 6 Class A characters in Top 10, but only 8 in the Top 20 (Sero's 14th place is a bit of a surpise, Jirou's 19th is not). Momo and Tsuyu who are stable top 20 usually fell to the Top 30 tier. Sadly Tokoyami got no boost from the AFO fight.

Dabi is the most popular villain at 11th, though with 1045 votes, he was farther from the Top 10 than I expected. Shigaraki is 12th, Toga fell out of the Top 20.

Mirio at 13th is the highest he's ever been. His chapters played well (the voting closed before the butt-joke and Deku's arrival though), and Suneater at 16th is also a boost. Nejire is at 24th. Big win for the UA Big 3 (probably has to do something with saving Bakugou).

Rody at 15th means he retained a surprising amount of votes, but Nagant fell out of the Top 30 immediately.

Shinsou and Present Mic lost their boost (I think EraserMic family fandom prioritized Aizawa this time)

All Might's popularity keeps decreasing. 20th is pretty low for him.

Momoma at 22nd got a big boost from the portals. As usual, he's the highest ranked class-B character.

Mirko at 25th now seems to be stable Top 30, as always, she's the highest ranked female pro hero

Friggin' Shindou finally fell down to 27th.

The Bakugou gag-vote got 28th place - more popular than Tsuyu and Best Jeanist. (Last time, Deku's freckles made Top 30 - the Bakugou fandom was on fire this time).

#bnha spoilers #fun with numbers #bnha 8th popularity poll

[deepestbluesky]

[the not actual image description is that this is a very barebones powerpoint in which each slide has picture(s) of a kinnporsche character and bullet point text describing it. the full text is under the cut below the latter set of pictures.]

all text from @minnarr​!!! now, onwards

[title slide] minna explains kinnporsche without knowing it

[kinn] kinn ● eyebrows ● was written lowkey as RPF of actor who plays him and i would like to never think about that but people remind me constantly ● smiling imp emoji ● also this man has a lot of buttons open but if that coat is red i approve

[porsche] this IS porsche right? his bangs are actually covering his forehead ● he's kinn's bodyguard? which is the opposite casting to what I thought would be true before I figured out which was which. He just looks very mild. Protect him. ● something deeply wrong with him but i haven't absorbed enough to know if it's personal or systemic ● lol sometimes if you change anything about the hairline i do not recognize a person ● (porsche i think of as having like 90s heartthrob hair for some reason) ● [upon seeing bodyguard hairstyle] i must inflate my hair to look intimidating. like a bird.

[porchay] oh... i don't know ● he looks like he's 17 but also I'm trash at judging ages. DOES look like he's waiting until he can go back to his video game ● [would you like to make any guesses or nah?] at names? god no ● i know like 3 names that i can't match to anyone and i know them wholly disconnected from anything about them as people ● pete? is this Pete? ● i have no idea how anyone besides kinn and porsche even fit in the story

[tankhun] i think this might be tankhun ● REALLY loving this matching coat and cape in colorful floral ● do his pants have fun organic cutouts ● no wait those are shiny leather boots ● or pants. ok ● wow this is a look. ok. well this man is NOT doing the fighting. he is either very scary or very fun. or both. ● IS he the third crime brother or is my brain just insisting literally everyone has this surname ● one thing this show does is let men wear fun things

[pete] is THIS Pete ● i saw a vegaspete gifset either today or yesterday and the only thing i retained about pete's face is that he looked nice ● good laugh 10/10 what is he doing here ● bought a 10pk of white hanes tshirts and got invited to whatever This is ● (i don't know if this last is even remotely accurate to his vibe or if I'm judging on 1 picture and faint memory) ● either vegas is the sex dungeon haver or I'm hilariously wrong about Pete's vibe

[kim] kim (crime bros surname)???? ● the guy who would be besties with nie huaisang ● he looks like he's here to have fun and take pictures on his phone to save to his terrifyingly extensive blackmail folder ● again he has little brother energy ● i do like his face. i wanna see him in scenes ● like the way you distantly blorbo people from gifs. he's my favorite kp guy.

[vegas] vegas ● [within 1 second of seeing picture] sex dungeon ● please save his hedgehog ● he's one of the 3 people i can name

[korn] ...d..dad? ● i frankly did not know this show had anyone other than pretty 20-30 year old men ● [we talked about this and you went 'there are OLD PEOPLE?'] i have simply never seen them!!! ● ok he's either crime dad or the guy who's the reason kp are sleeping in like military-ass transports and getting helicoptered to safety ● (rival crime boss?)

[kun] also i think the first old man is the villain and the second older man is crime dad ● Oh No I Like Him ● otoh he could be crime dad and the fashion is genetic ● otoh. delightful dissipated uncle when ● i still think he should be the uncle who is no help at all but is very excited to hear about what dumb thing his nephews are getting up to now with vibes of kind of wanting to be on the young people's level. upside can be counted on for resources at odd moments but only if it's for a stupid purpose ● i don't think that's what he is but i want it for the crime bros

[slide with no picture] pause to recap ● ok so [for the first five] we have kinnporsche tanhkun fabulous crime brother flannelboy (tentatively porchay) and Pete ● if that's all the young people btw I'm locking in porchay? on flannelboy ● fuck if i know maybe one of the young dudes is the villain. maybe it's vegas. maybe it's brother vs brother.

[yok] my best friend ● i love her ● fashion is a little glitzy maybe to be porsche's friend even though i wanted that for him....does kinn have friends he seems like he probably mostly hangs out with family and people he pays to be around him ● lighting is very clubby tho so like ● just club clothes ● i have no clue how she fits in but i bet she has a nice laugh and takes no shit

[slide with multiple pictures - the first one is ken] ● trust fund brat ● i know they're not british but he has such POWERFUL unbearable character on Sherlock energy ● either that or like baby's first (very nice) suit

[big] ● oh!!!! it's a uniform!!!! ● these two are like lower level bodyguards. or kinn's actual family-hired bodyguards and kinn like hired porsche after a weird meet-ugly involving gunfire and now the vibe is awkward ● this one is anxious

[middle text] .... bad analogy probably need a better wording but to use cql again. first bodyguard is the sizhui and second bodyguard is the Jingyi the Calm One and the one you need to tell Calm Down

[slide with two pictures - the first one is tay] ● also omg this was dyed hair boy ● i was picturing BOTH kim(?) and this man. amalgam gossip friend. ● also the flowy pants/all white/heeled boot/"are you talking to me?" look ● extremely good

[chan] ● kim's bodyguard for the thousandth time telling him no, you need to stay where it's safe ● this is probably incorrect and I'm now just judging anyone with a lapel pin a bodyguard ● this is a very bouncer vibe tho

[macau] ● this one actually is a teenager, right? that looks like a school uniform shirt although maybe not bc idk what school with embroidered patch uniform shirts is also like sure boys can wear hoops [we give away my extremely usamerican Christian school experience] ● better caption What Is a Child Doing Here

[extra text for macau] have i miscalculated did i either misassign a crime boy or are there 4 crime boys. i feel like one of these children should be here for family reasons wait unless one is porsche's brother not this one flannelboy [a picture of the i’ve connected the dots meme]

[slide with two pictures - the first is arthee] ● :( ● give him a cup of tea and a bandaid ● he just looks sad for some reason! ● who are you woebegone man

[time] ● i would not have chosen the turtleneck ● i know the other shirt is also turtleneck but this is "shirt i wore in the 90s" mockneck and i cannot define why it makes me want to laugh ● he is doing bad cosplay of bleach mullet ● that NECKLACE is NOT HELPING

[slide with three pictures - the first is tawan] ● surprisingly the first shirtless boy ● i like his hair, he looks a little smarmy, the vanity mirror + shirtless is giving me either he's in showbiz or he has too many people in private rooms ● do love the noir blinds thing happening. maybe he's a femme fatale. ● i looked at him and literally thought "hair goals" lmaooo

[jom and tem] ● they look nice and also the set dressing is SO suburban ● if i had to assign them a fic trope it's accidental child acquisition fake (or real) marriage ● they are on the pta ● (i truly have no idea)

[arm] oh no i love his vibe and his glasses ● 'i know organized crime needs shady bookkeepers/lawyers/IT professionals but did it have to be me, with these particular criminals' ● my first thought was "cast him as Indiana Jones" bc hair and glasses so that's just send me back to first impression

#this was just for fun #kinnporsche #i think minna knew more than she thought she did #also this was a delight to reread

[fractualized]

I totally see where you're coming from with how you like your mix of comedy and seriousness and I think I'm really similar! I can definitely tolerate a lot of cheese but I'll almost always consider it a one off situation. I recently rewatched Batman and Robin while my wife was making a cast of my body so we could make cosplay and it was just so funny and silly that like it reminded me of what one of those really campy comics would look like in real life and I respected the fact that they could commit to it that way and make an artful movie that brought that to life but there were a few elements that didn't make sense to me like Barbara being Alfred's niece that I was just like whatever man and I knew I couldn't like... use it as a foundation for my basis of characterization, like I can with other media! I really love the animated series too, I grew up with it being my first experience with Batman and I always really respected it as a medium that I could trust to be satisfying and whole. I also really really liked Batman beyond because it felt like the closest continuation of that story even though I know it's really not canon and it kind of doesn't work, I like to view it as like a semi-official what if fan fiction from the original writers lol

I completely get what you mean about the comics, cuz I kind of view official comics like fanfictions even in their own right? I mean when you think back on like Bill finger and Bob Kane like eventually every other writer is going to be writing fanfiction of their characters but it's really fun to go through all the different Batman media and see whose stories you kind of like more and then whose stories you kind of tend to avoid

and when I mentioned I knew you liked comics, I was also speaking more from the perspective that you seem to have more knowledge about them Rather than I thought you had a preference for them, because you put together that comic PDF with batjokes moments and I was really impressed with that ☺️

i love your telltale fics and the games as a beautiful breath of fresh air into the life of batman so sometimes I like to imagine the animated series would be a great way to say where is juce 10 years later, if those universes were more cohesive setting wise lmao

Yeah, Barbara randomly being Alfred's niece is definitely one of the aspects of B&R that just… I guess it breaks up the campiness? That and Ivy being in love with Freeze for no discernable reason. And teaming up with him even though he'll kill her plants. And poor Bane! And then that weird bit at the end where Freeze is sort of forgiven but Ivy can't be? And Alfred almost dies. Should taken all that stuff out and added more camp.

I really enjoyed Batman Beyond too! I didn't even realize a lot of people didn't like it until recently. Honestly it's one of those things where I don't look into the reasons too much. lol I liked it and I'm fine with having liked it, no notes!! (OK I sorta lied. That bit in JLU where they made Bruce Terry's bio dad, that was bizarre.)

I am definitely in the "anything not created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane might as well be fanfic" camp. Like, sure, if DC puts resources behind a project, it has a better chance at being worth your time, but when I get down to it, I can't put a lot of weight behind the idea that someone's official derivative story is more valid than another someone's derivative AO3 post just because there was a cash exchange with a company that owns the original "asset." People who want to lean into that idea, that's their business.

The wild thing about the batjokes spreadsheet is I know that it's only a fraction of what's out there. I have read hundreds of comics at this point and I still feel like it's not enough to totally have a handle on things. Especially knowing how little I've retained. 😅 But that's another reason for the spreadsheet!

Thank you for enjoying my fics! And for implanting the idea in my head of a Telltale universe animated series… Just hijinks and maybe a little more murder with John and Bruce, bestest buddies.

#ask #my jibber-jabber

[sparatus]

[kicks door]

HAPPY WBW BINCH (affectionate)

Blease, baby turians from the different biomes. I’m in need of the fluffy babies.

YESSSSS VERY IMPORTANT WORLDBUILDING oops i might've gotten carried away a bit, also yes i realize this is friday a week after you sent me this,

okay so to establish a baseline, and cause i don't think i've discussed turian subspecies very often on here: turians are classed in 8 to 10 distinct subspecies, depending on who you ask, based on their native biome. they're considered subspecies because they are able to interbreed and produce viable offspring, but some anthropologists have suggested that if some isolated populations were to be left alone for another many-many generations, they could very well evolve into something separate entirely.

due to the obvious intermingling that happens with a spacefaring species, some turians aren't clearly one subspecies or another, and true "purity" is a pipe dream. "purebloods" are considered to be turians who have one specific subspecies in their bloodline as at least one parent if not both going back several generations; cnclr sparatus, for example, is from the polar nation of tiirtias on palaven, and though his father is from temperate galatana, ierian himself is still considered "pure" because his family tree is predominantly polar enough that he still exhibits clear polar traits, and the same follows for his own children despite his wife being a mutt from the citadel.

ok ON TO THE BABIES under a cut for length,

most turian parents keep their infants pretty close at hand, due to how very small and delicate they are, so a lot of aliens don't know what turian children look like before they're old enough to run around and go to school. by that point, the chicks look like smaller, ganglier versions of the adults with smoother and less distinctly-shaped plates, but in infancy they're a lot different! as a rule, turian infants are very small, and honestly kinda ugly by most species' standards. they're small enough to be carried in the parents' cowl, usually only big enough to be held in both hands at birth, and covered in soft down rather than plates. the plates they do have aren't very stiff, and are more of just thick patches of skin; they won't specialize into true osteoderms until they're a year or two old.

chaparral chicks, aka the "standard", are the most likely variety aliens will encounter. their down matches the color of their plates, and while it covers most of their bodies, it's on the thinner, fuzzier side; it retains heat alright in good weather, but they're still heavily reliant on their parents. they begin to lose their down around the year-and-a-half mark, and will have fully transitioned to plates by age 4 or 5.

polar chicks are immediately recognizable - their feet, which will eventually be useful as snowshoes once they're big enough to walk, are nearly the same size as the rest of them! their down is much, much thicker, and entirely silver due to the extra thulium to protect them from trebia's radiation at the magnetosphere's weakest point. they're effectively just silver pom-pom crafts for the first few months! polars also retain their down much longer; their down won't begin to molt until about age 3, and many don't lose the last scraps until age 6 or 7.

grasslands chicks are twiggy little things, appearing to be mostly limb. their feet are longer than their femurs at this stage! their down is similar to chaparrals', the same color as their future plating and thin, but looks "tuftier" and grows thicker around their wrists, ankles, and the base of their necks in a ruff. while they molt it around the same time, grasslands chicks are able to get up and move around much sooner than their rocky-biome counterparts, and have been recorded walking and running over a month earlier. unfortunately, this also means grasslands chicks are notoriously fragile, so their parents are prone to a bit of helicoptering in the first few years.

cliffside and mountain chicks, by contrast, are sturdy and strong, and have been recorded with grip strength to rival two-year-old chaparral toddlers. their down is thicker and scruffier, but not to the same extent as polars, and while they do still have some color, it's diluted compared to the color their plates will eventually be. while cliffside and mountain turians are distinct as adults, their chicks are nearly indistinguishable from each other.

similarly, coastal wetlands (which includes swamp), jungle, and island chicks look pretty damn close, which granted may partially be because the island subtype is under debate as to whether it really is its own unique subspecies or simply a cross of the coastal and jungle types. either way, all three have fluffy down that grows thicker around the vital organs and tends to look "clumpy" due to the production of a waterproof oil their skin produces, protecting them from hypothermia during the rainy season. their talons are also more pronounced from birth, growing into functional claws much sooner while other subtypes have stubby little points for a couple of years.

sandy desert chicks have the least amount of any biome, only present to any noteworthy degree in a ruff around the base of the neck, the trunk, and the wrists and ankles, with everywhere else being such a thin dusting they look nearly naked. what little down they do have is also shed much faster, both due to the intense heat of their desert homes and the fact that sandy desert plates are nearly twice the thickness of other turians' and as such grow in much sooner to protect them. sandy desert chicks have been recorded molting their down as early as half a year, and only very rarely have any remaining by age 3.

turians' down, both its thickness and how long a subspecies retains it before molting, is of particular interest to science, as it is one of the most easily observable traits determining subspecies. some subspecies, such as polars, grasslands, and sandy desert, are even beginning to show signs of the down transitioning into new structures; polars, for example, retain the down between their toes the longest, and in "pure" polars it appears to be taking on a new shape that helps them walk in the snow better. as such, down and plate development are monitored as chicks grow, to watch for any further trends that might be developing and point to the evolutionary future of the species.

#worldbuilding wednesday #worldbuilding #turians #turian subspecies

[msbigredmachine]

Watched Summerslam 2022. My highlights:

1. Bianca retaining at home.

2. Becky Lynch is an all-time great, man or woman.

3. BAYLEY! DAKOTA KAI! IO SHIRAI! (Now Iyo Sky, which is ok I guess)

4. Maryse is a beautiful woman. My goodness.

5. Yes Logan Paul is a douche, but that boy is one of the best celebrities to ever step foot in a wrestling ring

6. The Miz does not get the respect he thoroughly deserves. Bad Bunny and now Logan Paul, making them look so good.

7. Bobby Lashley is mad underrated, as both a performer and a DILF

8. I don’t thirst over Finn Balor, Damian Priest OR Rhea Ripley enough.

9. Rey Mysterio is 47 years old and still moves like that. Amazing.

10. Edge’s entrance, wow.

11. Bum ass Corbin choir 😂😂😂 Only highlight of that match though.

12. A solid Tag title match. But all four guys looked good, especially Jey 🤤 WWE threatening to split up Angelo and Montez makes me sad.

13. Whoever is styling Seth Rollins needs a raise.

14. Ronda turning heel. Much needed. The same night Becky turned face too. Interesting.

15. Fuck Glenn Jacobs. 🖕🏾

16. A fucking tractor! 🚜

17. Brock picking up the dang ring with said tractor! The chaos!!!

18. The 9.999 beating of the counts by BOTH guys! 😭😭😭

19. Heyman finally getting put through a table! That man dead!

20. Theory getting swatted away like a fly when he showed up. I wanted his ass flattened dammit!

21. Brock actually making me root for him when he kept getting up. Burying him under debris was the best way to finish him off. I can’t lie; that dude is one of a kind.

Overall, a fabulous show. Mr Helmsley-Levesque has started off his tenure well.

My MVP - Michael Cole. He was in God mode the entire show. His commentary for the main event 🔥🔥🔥🔥. This is what happens when an old man isn’t in your ear anymore.

Line of the night:

Corey Graves: “I liked you better when you weren’t allowed to have an opinion.”

Michael Cole: “That’s changed. A lot has changed.”

#summerslam #bianca belair #becky lynch #bayley #logan paul #bobby lashley #finn balor #damian priest #rey mysterio #pat mcafee #the usos #Michael Cole #roman reigns #brock lesnar

[devilsupdates]

Ok devils fans….

I have news for you all

This is from ESPN ( I am just a fan I do not work for them)

March 8: Jets land Toffoli in deal with the Devils

The New Jersey Devils trade winger Tyler Toffoli to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2024 third-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.

This was the second time the Jets have jumped on the "plan B" player at the deadline. They were in on Elias Lindholm before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, and then traded for Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan.

The Jets weren't one of the teams that were mentioned in the Jake Guentzel derby, but after he went to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, Toffoli became the next best option on the wing for a veteran scorer with an expiring contract. Once again, they snagged the next man up, and in doing so added a very impactful player to what's become an all-in season.

Winnipeg needed scoring on the wing, and Toffoli can provide it. The 31-year-old has 26 goals in 61 games this season for the Devils, including eight tallies on the power play. He brings 88 games of Stanley Cup Playoffs experience, including a Cup win with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. He has 44 points in the playoffs.

One could see him sliding onto a line with Nikolaj Ehlers and Sean Monahan, giving the Jets another potent offensive trio behind the Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor line.

It's pretty impressive that the Jets were able to land Toffoli without giving up a first-round pick in 2025 or their second-round pick this season, which belonged to the Canadiens and would have been a de facto low first-rounder.

Even more impressive: They kept Toffoli away from the rest of the competition in the Western Conference, as Vegas, Vancouver and Los Angeles were all rumored to be in the running for him.

The Jets' defensive prowess has positioned them as a serious contender in the West. In Toffoli, they've smartly bolstered their offensive group with a deadline coup who fits well into their culture.

New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald told me earlier this week that he wasn't shopping Toffoli, the team's leading goal-scorer. After all, they fired head coach Lindy Ruff as a Hail Mary to make the playoffs this season. Doing so without Toffoli would seem to make that a much more difficult path than it already was. In fact. Fitzgerald admitted that trading Toffoli would be seen as "throwing in the towel" on the season by his players.

But Fitzgerald was listening on Toffoli, as he should have. The Devils have a less than 10% chance of making the playoffs, per Stathletes. While the team and Toffoli had contract extension talks, they were light years apart on money and especially term -- one source indicated that New Jersey was only going as high as two years.

Did the Devils maximize the market for Toffoli? They did pretty well here, all things considered.

They retained 50% of Toffoli's salary, and got a better return than what Seattle got back for Alex Wennberg, more than Ottawa got back for Vladimir Tarasenko, and more than the Capitals got back for Anthony Mantha, despite all of those teams retaining 50% and having already set the market.

There doesn't appear to be any salary retention from the Devils here, and they still net out with a better return for a player that was no longer in their plans.

There's going to be some that look at the Devils having given up winger Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick for Toffoli last summer and compare that to this return. That's understandable, given that Sharangovich is a 25-year-old with 25 goals this season in Calgary. But it's not like Toffoli didn't perform for the Devils. It's just that the Devils didn't perform well enough around him, turning a team with playoff aspirations into a deadline seller. -- Greg Wyshynski

You can look it up yourselves I will leave a link for you all to look at the trade deadline

#jack hughes #new jersey devils #hockey imagine #nico hischier #luke hughes #hockey #timo meier #john marino

[meichenxi]

Hello!! Tell me what you think about Polish 😊

hiiiiii karo!!!

SO. I am fairly ignorant about Slavic languages in general - I have never learnt any and I don't have imminent plans to.

given that I know relatively little - let me go on wikipedia and RATE POLISH for typological features I PERSONALLY find very sexy.

(for legal reasons, all languages have intrinsic value, this is just for fun, and I know very little about polish. my opinions hold no weight and that's ~just fine~)

'characterised by a high degree of inflection, and has relatively free word order' >>>>> VERY sexy objectively speaking, cases are sexy, the ability to put random words in random places to mean slightly different things is very sexy 10/10 would go home with probably

'dominant arrangement is subject-verb-object' >>> hmm very averagely Indo-European, 5/10

'frequent dropping of subject pronouns' >>>> this means I assume that if there's relatively free word order that the verb endings are distinct enough. I'm assuming there is NOT the same tolerance for ambiguity as in chinese (lmao) so this bodes well!!! all cool people hate obligatory subject pronouns, so 11/10

'vowel alternations which cause vowel changes in some words depending on whether the syllable is closed or open...' >>>> EXCELLENT FUCKING. YESSS. no further comments 9/10

'consonant changes....now produce a number of different changes depending on which consonant is involved' >>>>> Ohhhhhhhh we love a good bit of fossilised grammar from a previous stage in the language!!!!! conservatively going to go for 100/10

'it retains seven cases' >>>>> YESSSSSSSSSSS *sicko meme* haha....yess......1000000/10

'singular and plural; it used to have dual' >>>>> very indo-european, points for effort, like the synchronically irregular plural but COULD 5/10

'there are three cases that always have the same ending in the plural, regardless of gender or declension class' >>>>> you better keep a fucking EYE on that syncretism!!! we don't want your nouns going the way of the old english!!!

dative plural -om!!!!!! instrumental plura -ami or -mil!!!!!! hello my old indo-european friends!!!! so good to see a familiar face in my time of need!!!!! loses two points for predictability, but 8/10 for those nostalgic proto-indo-european vibes

oh I am So intrigued by this. a THREE WAY animacy distinction??? but only in the masculine???? what, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck. and for EVERY plural to collapse into a generic non-personal-masculine category and be exactly the same (te)!!!!! also hiiii to neuter nominative and accusative being the same, waving at my other little indo-european friends across the table <3

(after spending time doing Weird indo-european languages like scottish gaelic i.e. ones that really don't....do typical indo-european things, and then languages like chinese....it is so immensely comforting to look at an inflection table of a language I have never studied in a language FAMLY I have never studied and go...hm. that looks familiar.)

I'm also very intrigued by the nom. plural masculine personal demonstrative 'ci'. I don't know enough about polish orthography + phonology to know but...is this an expected pronunciation change? like is it because of the vowel / palatalisation? how would 'ti' be pronounced? or is this properly suppletive?? (i.e. is it a word that originally came from a different source and has sort of Snuck its way in?) if so YES ALL my homies love suppletion

Absolutely 100000/10, and this is ONLY nominative and accusative. what a stonker of an ability to inflect!!! I am SO curious!!

this is getting SPICY!

'emotionally charged nicknames' >>>> this is even better than the german 'some rivers'. 16/10 polish can have that point.

but also I'm going to take away some points for predictability. oh?? your masculine nouns end in a consonant??? you can KNOW that? boring 4/10

.....I take it back. it's pure chaos. 16/10 once again.

Ok, it's FAR too late for me to unpack all of these delicious animacy treats, but....my gosh!!!!! I think this has to be my favourite thing so far. I LOVE animacy, and the personal / animate distinction here is fascinating to me. the idea of elevating objects to animate that have something to do with human activity / beloved objects is fairly common with what I know of animacy in general.

'it is common for personal masculine nouns to change gender to inanimate to create semantic neologisms' >>> OHHHHH this is EXTREMELY cool and makes total sense. an editor = not a person, but a thing that edits = becomes inanimate to showcase that difference in meaning. EXCUSE ME 5000000/10, extremely cool.

------

that's it for now - thank you Karo and thank you Polish for this wild ad wonderful cornucopia of delights!! I am not likely to learn it soon, but I may spend some more time pouring over the wiki page. the stuff about animacy is FASCINATING.

thank you!!!

#polish #please do not bully me this is so far outside my sphere of knowledge #I am just reacting to what I read. if there is controversy or disagreement I Do Not Know Of It #thanks karo!!!! #will get to the other languages tomorrow~ #I love the idea of ranking typological features for no other reason than vibes. #yes I love suppletion. no I will not elaborate #linguistics #I guess??? lmao

[pokeglitchden]

[A VIDEO IS UPLOADED DATED 5/10/23 at 8:�3

ID- Simon is filming still from a hospital bed. He has clearly seen better days. Bits of ambient corruption can be seen radiating down his right arm. It rarely seems to want to hold together, flickering with static. The right side of his neck and a bit of his face show some very light signs of partial fragmentation as well, but this seems to be mild. He mumbles to himself, and his voice seems to crackle, sounding vaguely unfocused, as if being filtered through a failing speaker.

Simon: Ok... so if I'm this far away it shouldn't corrupt the video file. That's good to know. Let's try again...

ID- He looks up, adjusts his glasses and looks into the camera now.

Simon: I apologize for my appearance in th s video. But typing has become agonizingly slow. I just wanted to give a quick update on my condition and the state of PT town. The damage was... a lot. There are so many people who have been displaced, left without homes, missing altogether.

ID- He seems to shift uncomfortably. He is trying very hard not to let his right arm touch anything, possibly for fear of clipping through.

Simon: We still do not know the exact cause of the destruction, but thanks to video footage that's remained miraculously mostly intact we have pieced together an approximation of the events. Though bizarrely, even though I can watch back the footage myself, retaining any memory of it is very difficult. I find myself immediately forgetting details only moments later. It could be my condition. Or something else.

ID- He pauses. Even keeping his voice from distorting seems to be taking a great deal of effort.

Simon: There are still victims that are being treated. This incident produced an inordinate number of ZZaZZ victims. They're all currently being treated with medication to aid in the defragmentation process. So far results are very positive, so we have hope all of them will make a recovery. As for myself, it's likely I'll be returning to Hoenn soon. Though I believe I'll need to do a fair bit of explaining about all this. Then again, injuries are not uncommon in my line of work.

ID- He pauses, and seems to think for a bit to himself.

Simon: Oh, did I mention I don't have a findable pulse anymore? Apparently data fragmentation can interfere with medical equipment when trying to detect a heartbeat. Who knew? But I think that's all for now. I'll update you all further if there's anything more to report on!

END OF VIDEO FILE]

#glitch pkmn irl #high stakes pokereality #tw hospital mention #tw body horror

[chromes-corner]

so ive been thinking about this scene

thinkpost + TLDR under the cut

(TL;DR: white lily is dead and pure vanilla is finally coming to his senses about it)

its just. god. i wish more people talked about this. this scene is the pivoting point for pure vanilla and i need more people to understand the devastating importance of this tiny scene that isnt even VOICED (which is a literal crime against god but also probably for the better because i dont think id survive if i had to hear pv speak this out loud)

to preface

pure vanilla knows dark enchantress’s identity. hes always known, and hes chosen to keep it a secret from the others -- perhaps for her protection, as he doesnt want to sully the name of his, quote, “dearest friend.” pure vanilla wanted the memory of their friend to remain untouched, he wanted them to believe that she was still around, but just missing in action. he didnt want them to know that she has been their enemy all along, as he knew the fond times they shared would be forever stained with the crimes of dark enchantress and the blood she now has on her hands

i have absolutely no idea how to segue this into my next point but whatever

youd think it wouldnt matter, though -- white lily fundamentally changed on the night of the witches and became dark enchantress. why would the crimes of basically an entirely different entity whos very ingredients were altered (even though they dont know what happened that night surely theyd assume it was out of white lilys control what happened to her) suddenly be transferred onto the albeit not entirely innocent but still saintly (its her title after all) white lily cookie? should they not consider the two entirely different beings?

well, pure vanilla didnt, and maybe thats why he kept everyone in the dark.

dark enchantress is white lily, and vice versa, but pure vanilla saw that in the most literal sense. he believed that, when confronted in the ruins of his kingdom, the person under the dark robes and maleficent magic was still his best friend.

hell, upon finally meeting her, he literally addresses her as white lily

but dark enchantress refutes that

she denies any trace of her past life (even though she clearly still retains bits and pieces of her past)

pure vanilla corrects himself, and yet he still ponders memories about him and white lily by saying how it was “our (speaking to DE) secret garden” and how “we (still referring to DE) used to walk.”

despite the fact that the cookie before him is clearly not the friend he once knew, he still sees her beneath the crimson surface. despite her straight up renouncing that she has anything to do with white lily anymore, pure vanilla refuses to fall to that facade and chooses to believe that his friend is still there, if not a little different than before. to him, dark enchantress is still the timid yet kind and ambitious scientist that he once studied with. she never went away. she only underwent a metamorphosis, even if for the worse.

its after this encounter, though, that this mindset of pure vanillas -- where his friend is alive, just “trapped” in a way -- begins to crumble.

in the aftermath of the final battle in chapter 10, pure vanilla swoops in and saves the day.

ok i had a point here but i couldnt actually find the piece of evidence i was looking for -- im PRETTY SURE it says somewhere that every denizen of the vanilla kingdom made it out before the final battle of the dark flour war but i dont remember where that information comes from

so assuming this is true, its pretty odd that pure vanilla says this, considering everyone made it out alive -- including his friends, since despite the vision pom gave him, he knows his friends are also still living, if not just MIA. so why does he imply that he wasnt able to protect everyone? there were no casualties (except for maybe those caused by the scattering of soul jam but thats a different topic entirely)

there was one person he couldnt save. pure vanilla is a healer through and through, and the most powerful one in the entirety of the game’s universe at that, and he still couldnt save his best friend. pure vanilla heals wounds, not tragic fates. he tried to bring white lily back to the surface by speaking of the past with dark enchantress in the dialogue leading up to the conclusion of chapter 10. he tried reasoning with her, telling her that there were times before when she was happy. she did not have to make a violent conquest out of a now-defunct destiny. she could still make a difference to all the lives around her -- her self-proclaimed purpose -- without bloodshed or destruction, and yet, she refuses, dead-set in her ways based solely on the traumatic images burned forever into her rebaked soul.

hell, pure vanilla even showed mercy on her during the dark flour war. he used crescent moon magic, supposedly the most dangerous magic of them all -- surely he couldve killed her with that (but then again we dont know the exact parameters of what each magic can and cannot do), but he instead simply trapped her. did he not have it in him to put an end to her destruction? surely a truly benevolent and altruistic being would destroy the greatest enemy of the peace and prosperity of the entire world, right? well, that would be a little hard to do if said enemy is your best friend.

he could not save her, nor could he end it all -- one of which, he had the power to do, but he chose not to.

finally, i am brought to my point.

the morning before the final meeting that will change the world forever, pure vanilla wanders into his precious garden where he would spend hours with white lily, whispering among the flowers. days from another life entirely (and literally, in white lilys case). the truth has been spilled about dark enchantress’s identity. plans are finally moving forward to bring forth an attack in her domain. her, being someone he had once believed to be his best friend.

it is there where the realization finally hits him. white lily, the quiet but passionate girl he once knew and adventured with, is gone. she has been since that fateful night. the vengeful woman he fought against and confronted in his own ruined kingdom was not white lily. he may have hoped against hope that he would be able to find his dear friend clinging to life beneath whatever horrible thing had happened to her that night, that he’d be able to once again share laughs and talk amidst the fronds and petals of their garden, but ultimately, pure vanilla finally has to face the truth that he has been hiding himself away from:

even the world’s greatest healer cant bring back the dead.

#thinkposting #messily formatted bc i dont care i just gotta get these thoughts into words yknow #i am mentally ill about these characters you have no idea

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Dream or Flashback? [Start]

[Tokyo, Japan, 2009, 13 years ago]

...

PUHUHU!

AHAHAHAHAHA!

*Izuru Kamukura wanders the streets of Tokyo, looking for something. Or rather, just mindlessly walking until something shows up. He walks past several Monokuma’s, who are tearing guards and bystanders to shreds.

High security...and for what...? No, I know full well why...

*He keeps walking, until he comes across a familiar figure.

Hm? Is that who I think it is?

...

AH! Kamakura! My homeslice, breadslice dawg! What’cha doin’ out this far!? 

Noisy...

C’mon, just happy to see you outside o’ your man-cave! Wherever that is...

It’s a boring place...but so is this...

Yeah, yeah, heard it all before. So, what’s the deal?

Let’s just say that even I get a little curious when I wake up and the sky is red.

OH! Right! I gotcha now! But I set this up a couple days ago. How long’ve you been sleeping?

...

Alright, you don’t wanna say. I get that! In any case, these are my new devices. They’re filled with a boatload of shit and toxic chemicals that Mikan gave me. It’s designed to launch all that shit straight into the atmosphere, and pollute the entire planet! I’ve already got Miss Sonia, Akane and Nekomaru carrying these things around to other countries too.

You’re good at teamwork, I’ll give you that much. 

Yeah, well, you can’t destroy the world by yer’self, can ya? Kinda why Enoshima hired us?

(I.e. Brainwashed you, but saying that would be bothersome.)

Oh? And you wanna know something else?

...

HEY! Hey! Where’re you going?

I thought you were finished...

You could've at least said goodbye! And no, I wasn’t finished! I was gonna talk about these babies top of the line defense mechanisms too!

...?

*Curious, albeit only a little, Izuru approaches the giant machine.

*WHIIRR!* *RATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!* *FWOOOOSHH!*

...

*The toxic machine suddenly starts shooting bullets, saw blades and flames at Izuru when he tries to touch it. Effortlessly, he dodges all of the incoming attacks and retains a distance. When he’s far enough a way, the machine powers down.

Well? What do you think?

...4 out of 10 at best.

AW WHAT!?

Well, it failed to even singe my suit...plus, what if the people fighting against the tragedy find out a weakness?

Actually, it’s funny you should say that.

*Kazuichi suddenly pulls a small metal block out of his jacket pocket. It just about fits in his hand.

This little thing right here is a key that automatically shuts the machine down. It’s for emergency purposes.

Why create something like that? It gives the people hope, doesn’t it? If they somehow manage to get that off you, then your machines are as good as finished.

Hehe, yeah...that’s the point...

...?

I’m gonna have someone hide this thing somewhere in the world for me. Then, eventually, someone’s gonna find out that I “lost” the key. Then, they and a bunch of other people are gonna race to find this key, before I can find and destroy it. Don’t you see? It’s all fun and games really!

And let me guess. You’re actually going to know the true location of the key, and are going to act like you don’t. Then, when you get to the key and destroy it, they’ll lose every ounce of hope left within them when they realize that they were just pawns in your game?

CORRECTAMUNDO! Damn Izuru! You’re a genius!

Of course I am...I’m talented.

Alongside that, we got state of the art tech, stuff salvaged straight from-Hey! Where’re you going!?

To continue my walk...I’m done with this conversation.

Hmph...welp...there he goes...

AH!?

*After going through his strange dream, Hajime suddenly lurches awake.

Hajime? You ok?

*Accompanied by only Chiaki, he gets up out of bed.

Sorry...slept in today...

It happens to all of us. Still, you could put on some pants.

!?

*She whistles, as Hajime quickly gets dressed.

You’re very funny.

And you’re very attractive~

...

Just take the compliment grumpy-gus.

Also, remember, you promised everyone that we would talk about our plans today. Makoto, Kyoko and the others have already left, so have Shuichi and his friends.

Yeah, about that...I don’t plan on going back on my word, but also...I might have just gotten a new idea.

How come? Did you...have another dream?

...

More like a flashback...I’ll explain later...

#danganronpa survivor #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #dr2 #hajime hinata #chiaki nanami #kazuichi soda #izuru kamukura #monokuma #the melancholy of nagito komaeda arc

[childofaura]

This has been in my head for a long time but how do you feel about Maureen Price? She recently did Goldmary and prior to Goldmary, she’s Louise and Natasha from FEH.

Ok I’ve been all over the place this weekend, so I apologize (part of it was being sick and part of it was Chapter MotherFucking Eleven) but now I can answer this.

Goldmary is one of Hortensia’s retainers, right? I can’t say that character really stood out much to me, ROSADO however… I was full on convinced that he was a girl because all the damn models are only shown from the shoulders up, and it took that cutscene with Hortensia and a visit to the wiki until I quite literally yelled out loud “OHHH HE’S A TRAP!” Which honestly, I think he’s one of the most prettiest traps of FE, given that Libra’s just got long hair and an actual female actress (which I hate, let a man with a soft voice play him!!), and Forrest is simply blond curls. I adore him, he’s just so cute.

ANYWAYS, sorry for the disconnected ramble. MAUREEN PRICE, let’s talk about her. Haven’t heard her Goldmary voice, but as a Sacred Stones player, she was an absolutely stellar pick for Natasha, and I like her Louise as well.

Her performance as Natasha and Louise is just so perfect. Both characters are kind and gentle, but with such vastly different energies; Natasha is quieter, more solemn, and more troubled, while Louise is warmer, more outwardly welcoming, and inviting. Both are still very solid performances, and I can’t wait for more Louise alts.

And I think she was a perfect pick for the two, especially Natasha. I’m very picky on Sacred Stones actors because that game was so near and dear to me (As I feel Ephraim, Seth, Valter, Marisa, Duessel, and Ewan were miscast, IN MY OPINION ONLY PLS DON’T BE MAD PEOPLE). But her Natasha is perfect and can be added to my list of the Stones characters I DO think were perfectly cast (Ross, Artur, Gerik, Joshua, Colm, Neimi, Tethys, Dozla, and… Cormag. Gosh damn, that will be a sad day if he gets an alt).

Frankly speaking, I can’t say her range is super amazing, but at least her emotional performance helps the two characters sound distinct from each other.

Overall, while I DO like her roles as Natasha and Louise, I have to currently give her a 7/10. That can change with more alts and more characters added to FEH, so once we see Goldmary added, I’m sure the score will be bumped up a little. Here’s hoping she gets more characters!

#Fire Emblem Heroes #FEH #ask game #Maureen Price #I’m just more excited to see how other Stones characters will be casted; still waiting on Gilliam and Garcia #And… seeing who they’re gonna pick to replace Cormag

[mrstsung]

Comfort character asks: Raiden mk edition:

1. how long have i known about them: omg I've been a mk fan since baby nerd days. In my teens. Raiden was my go to man besides kung lao. They are THE BOIS ok? Like kung lao was my main dude,still is but lao was more of an all around i just love him ok?. But raiden was A HEARTTHROB CUTIE for me. But he also became my comfort too. (Shang was my fave og baddie and he will always be that one bih but this aint about him rn)

2. whether or not they’ve ever made me cry: ok several times. Like why can't y'all be nice to him? What did he ever do but help the best he could. The elder gods are assholes and none of y'all are grateful. That's why he turned dark in that one timeline. Because of Y'ALL! So if you want happy raiden? Put some respect on his name! Makes me cry. He needs a hug and a long ass vacation. Thats why fujin is here to help. Because y'all he broke his back for you. Ungrateful asses.

3. whether or not i have any merchandise/objects with them: i want some. But a bih is broke.

4. what about their personality i like: ok ok look we have so many interpretations of him. But for me? My take on raiden? His comforting presence,his wisdom,his compassion. Lord his PATIENCE! like damn

5. what about their backstory makes me emotional: his burdens. Omfg raiden plz let fujin help! Good lord raiden plz hunny sit down and relax in a hot spring! Raiden doesn't deserve this shit.

6. the moment of theirs that made me the saddest: any death or falling. Like i don't care for dark raiden (but i dont blame him either ya know) it's more just too sad for me to like this universe of raiden.

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest: when he finally gets a fucking break. Come here rai,i got you.

8. something about them that made me laugh: omg raiden pulling cheeky banter is the best. Because its so sassy but dry. Like how? Only he can pull this off.

9. my favorite canon outfit of theirs: honestly raiden looks cool in all his outfits. Do i have to pick?

10. my favorite moment with them in canon: ok look my brain isn't capable of retaining info like that well. But honestly any fight with him and shang is epic or him fighting shao khan (tho sadly they make him so weak sauce when fighting shao khan compared to shang tsung. And shangs pretty tough. And it doesn't feel fair and is bias af)

11. my favorite relationship they have with another character: eh i love his big brotherly vibe with his bro fujin. But his mentorship with kung lao and liu kang is wholesome too. Honestly him just being big bro to everyone is nice. 💖

12. what i like about the way the fandom portrays them: eh i guess i like it when the fans can actually write him domestic and do it without being boring or stiff. But i haven't seen many good portrayals yet. Only a few. But i will say. I loooooove when people talk about the temple and describe the interior. Like they do other things so well but people be lacking in the character development part.

13. what i dont like about the way the fandom portrays them: they make him too stiff. Now raiden is responsible,wise,and a bit more stern than his brother. But he isn't emotionless,monotonous or harsh. Is he a bit tsundere? A tiny bit,at first or for a small sec. But it never lasts long. He'll let loose more easier. Unlike a certain shirai ryu we all know n love. Raiden just gets flustered easy. But he welcomes it at the same time? Compassion and his connection with humanity is his #1 trait. Remember that. Him and fujin are similar but the key difference is,rai has a few more notches under his belt and had to take on more bullshit than his brother emotionally. Rai gets overburdened easy. So thats why fujin it there to help carry said burdens. They go hand n hand. Just like the mythos. Where there is thunder n lightning there is wind. And where they are. A storm brews. And after the storm? Peace,calm,and life giving energy n water. (Sorry to get all zen and philosophical on you guys)

14. what i liked about the way canon portrayed them: He did gets some oomf to him. But i dunno. Canon has been weird to raiden. Also unfair too. So i dunno really.

15. what i dont like about the way canon portrayed them: well i already mentioned above and in other posts i don't care for dark raiden. So other than that i got nothing else. Fans are more of an issue if anything. But even then its whatever.

💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙⚡💙

The op deactivated. So i found another source post/reblog. Apologies.

Linking because i wanna fill a blank one,but wanna credit too?

#mortal kombat #raiden #raiden mk #raiden mortal kombat #comfort character #he's both a comfort character and self ship character too #i have many faves ok? i can't pick one #don't worry the shang tsimpin will return just let me love this thunder god for a little while

[skloomdumpster]

hi regarding this comment "After two years of just sitting there using resources, the only reason for a season 2 not to have happened would’ve been if nobody had watched it, because Fate desperately needed to pay itself back." I though first season was filmed 2019 and then release Jan 2021. Why is the covid delay burning resources, do they pay to hold resources? and wouldn't season 2 just add more production costs not help return their investment of season 1? Thanks sm!!!

sup anon? Here, have this incredibly inaccurate answer that's based off what I remember from TV & movie's finances class, that I took 4 years ago.

Netflix isn't just a production company, it is a network too (streaming). Where once upon a time television had a well established chain of command going from production to network and the costs were split, Netflix shoulders the costs entirely. This also means that Netflix has insane amount of control over its product, something a network and a production company once used to fight over, now it's all under the streaming's belt.

So Netflix has a cost-plus model, meaning they pay the entirety of the production cost for their shows + 30% of the production cost as a premium. This is a bonus to retain the producing rights, meaning the show is all in their greedy little hands (Netflix isn't the first or the last company to do this. Hi HBO)

Ok Jo, but this explains nothing about the money-

Let's pretend that Fate's production cost in 2019 was 1M dollars. So Netflix paid, in 2019, 1,3m dollars (because of the 30%). This is money that must be paid back to Netflix's own fund. This a debt that's accumulating interest with every passing day.

Also, hypothetically speaking because we don't know how this went down, if they fully bought the rights or not, it's not interesting for Netflix to sit on a show they're paying to own the producing rights for 10 years, for example (they probably do own the broadcasting rights entirely of Fate). Normally, if Rainbow was smart or Iginio, the rights aren't fully sold, they're Netflix's for a set amount of time to play with, but then it expires.

If a TV show takes around two years to be produced and they have the rights for ten years, this means they have "paid for" five seasons give or take. If they produce three seasons in those ten years? They ended up paying more for each season.

Anyhow, this was a tangent. The tl;dr is that yes, every show that is paid entirely for upfront and is not aired is eating away resources. That money came from somewhere, be it Netflix's own wallet or deal they made, and it must be paid back. The faster it's paid back, the less it needs to be paid back and the more actual profit Netflix makes.

#i hope this made a scrap of sense i'm REALLY bad explaining mone #wikipedia says viacom owns the rights rn btw #so netflix is still paying viacom to use these characters even if they're not paying to broadcast or produce it #intellectual rights #mymeta #or rather my rambling mess