#❪ ⋅ ◆ ⋆ — we make everything nice ┊❛ writings ❜ ❫

[scribe-of-hael]

It hurts even more when they take what was supposed to be a clear message to children, "It is ok to be upset about the bad things people do to you. And it's ok to TALK about it. It's important to LISTEN "

Starscream is shocked Hastag believes him because the other kids HAVE a bias based on what they are told. I'd 100% believe the writing was going to be set up to break away from the more experienced viewer/fans.

"You know Starscream as this, but we are going to try and tackle a different side of him and address these issues from the past"

He does everything to show, that this "selfish bad backstabby" Starscream both the kids and we the viewers have come to know, isn't really as it seem in this world.

and leaving it off the episode of not only Starscream telling Megatron off as calmly and honestly maturly ( the most i have EVER seen a Starscream talk about his feelings ) but tells the person he KNOWS went through somthing bad, like him.

To , "Take care of yourself"

Which the most heartfelt line i have EVER heard come from any Starscream. In s1 he MEANT those words. He was HAPPY, he looked ready to move on. He even CAME BACK to help!!!

He was learning. What I hoped for was addressing Starscream's own flaws. He lashes out. He gets defensive.

Helping the cons work through their issues , with this child perspective for their younger audience would have been so sweet and nice.

He might have been tge "MIGHTY STARSCREAM " once, but he's maturing , he is tired, he wants to be better. Its just hard for him to figure out HOW. And working with the kids

WHICH THEY IMPLIED THEY ALL WORKED TOGETEHR AFTER S1 BUT NEVER FUCKING SHOWED IT.

I would have taken an entire season of the Cons helping the autobots find shards over whatever the FUCK s2 was.

So you imply he helped after s1, but just MAGICALLY decided to be evil. FOR NO REASON other than

"Eh its what he does"

I wanna fight WHOEVER thought a tiny bit of exposition would make up for this shit. And to WHOEVER took this meaningful words he said to hashtag and made it seem like he was being manipulative.

Because he had ZERO to gain from the kids or manipulating Hashtag.

God forbid we have any good writing for a TF show that isn't instantly canned or tuned into shit I am SO TIRED

I think what sucks most about Earthspark is the potential of hitting topics that honestly I feel kids now adays should be able to learn about.

Like what happened with hastag and Starscream's history. Somtimes bad ppl hurt us, it hurts when we aren't believed. It hurts us when we are haunted by them. It is ok to talk about them and even not feel safe around the person that might have hurt us.

Starscream is bewildered that a child of all beings BELIEVES him and wnates to hear him out. He is clearly conflicted and he know she other kids have a bias because of the comics they read and what they know.

Despite being told who he was, he deliberately saved Hashtag when he was the one MOST at risk. The dwellers wasn't going to hurt her, it was gonna eat him. But he risked his life anyway. In that moment, he proved he is not as selfish as they come like Thrash said.

Starscream instead of fighting or even willingly going with Megatron said "no. You hurt me. I do not feel safe with you around me" and fucked off. No fight, no snark. Even wishing Hashtag well.

I legit wanna throw hands with whoever decided to take this moment , and THROW IT IN TRASH. By making it seem it was all a trick, and he never meant it hurts so fucking much.

And yes, I do understand that sometimes people who have been abused become abusers themselves. It happens! But you have NO fucking set up from a writers perspective to pull this shit. And doing it exposition of -

"Starscream does what he always does"

Is the laziest cop out writing i have seen since supernatural s12 is is fucking awful. There is no other word for it. It is striaght up awful writing.

It would have been better if you SHOWED how and why Starscream ends up this way but you DON'T. There for its not earned or even fucking explained other than. Its shoehorned in.

"It's what a Starscream would" STOP. Stop , just stop trying to constantly make the same character in every universe. Or at the very least explain WHY or fucking how!

One reason why I dread watching Armada is knowing that in Energon and Cybertron they just completely reset his character. This WHOLE ARC OF GROWTH, back to what a "classic" Starscream would be.

I do not know why Starscream is unable to be given a better arc than any other character or villain. Esspcially when Megatron is allowed to be better in ES just because and Starscream isn't.

There was so much set up for good lessons and story telling. They just completely trashed it for something less than digestible.

[sillylilsquid]

Real life Romance Book pt. 1/?

✨alternate universe Hyun Ju x reader

✨summary: in which you meet Hyun Ju at your work, and quickly become friends. you've never dated a woman, but something about Hyun Ju was different. She made you feel a fire in your chest, and though you didn't understand it you were ready to try. ✨trigger warnings: afab reader, eventually: mentions of bullying, transphobia, sexual content, 18+ only minors DNI ✨2k words

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The rain outside poured down as you stocked books onto the shelves in the bookstore you worked at. The dreary weather outside made you want to stay curled up in bed with your blankets and a book, but you also thrived in the cool, wet autumn weather. Where most people said they suffered from seasonal depression during the winter and autumn months, you felt similarly with summer. Snuggled warmly in your cardigan you took a step back to make sure everything looked nice and tidy before making your way up to the front of the store. You sat behind the counter and pulled out your newest romance book, immediately diving into the pages as you waited until a customer would need assistance. 

After a while the bell above the front door rang, and you glanced up to see a tall woman with sleek, dark hair walk in. She wore a dark gray turtleneck sweater with a pair of dark trousers. Her hair stuck to her face due to the rain beating down outside. Quickly you greeted her, asking if she needed help finding anything.”I don’t really know,” she admitted, and you were surprised how her voice held a masculine yet soft, feminine tone. Setting down your current book you stood from your chair behind the counter. “That’s okay! What do you like, fantasy? Romance? Thrillers?” you asked, trying to get a feel of what to recommend to her. A slight blush crept onto her face as she looked around the store, seemingly uncomfortable with not knowing. “Uh-I, I like romance.” she said with a slight shrug, that made your smile grow. A lot of people acted embarrassed admitting they liked the genre so you knew how to handle it. “Oh! My favorite.” you giggled, starting to walk towards the romance section. You grabbed a few books you really liked that weren’t too spicy, or poorly written. “These are top sellers, I would definitely recommend any of these.” As the woman reached out and grabbed the books from your hands you couldn’t help but notice how much larger her hands were than yours. “I’ll take these.” she said, her voice quietly. You nodded as you smiled, “Sweet! I can ring you up, or if you want to shop around for a while I’ll let you be. I’m up front if you need anything.” you exclaimed, not wanting to bother her or make her feel pressured to buy anything.

Back at your spot behind the register you sat and pulled out your book, beginning to read again. Only a few minutes passed before the girl from earlier slowly approached you, not wanting to interrupt you reading. Setting down your book, you began to scan her books. “If you’re just getting into reading and you ever want to, I’m a part of a book club–it’s just a few other girls and we usually meet once or twice a week, at the coffee shop across the street.” you explained, waiting as she inserted her card to pay. You grabbed one of the free bookmarks your store offered, writing your number down on the back. You weren’t sure why, considering you had just met this woman–but you thought she might enjoy feeling included in your small group.

Her eyes stared down at the bookmark in shock, slowly reaching out to grab it and stuff it safely in one of her books. “I’m y/n, by the way.” you politely introduce yourself. “Hyun Ju.” she responded curtly, hers lingering on yours before shifting away. “Well, Hyun Ju, if you decide you want to join us we’re meeting tomorrow at 7. Feel free to text me if you want!” she nodded in understanding before thanking you and turning to walk out with her books. Her demeanor was strong and you could tell by the way she carried herself she had a lot of confidence, but seemed uncomfortable and you hoped it wasn’t you that had caused it. 

Your shift ended soon after, and after finishing your closing duties you locked the store up behind you. Driving home in the rain your mind wandered to Hyun Ju and a part of you were hoping she’d join the group the next evening. The evening passed as you ate dinner, took a shower then got comfortable in bed to read. It was around 10pm when you felt your phone buzz on the nightstand table next to you. You hesitated before grabbing it not wanting to seem desperate if it was Hyun Ju. Though your face did grow a smile when you saw the unknown number, reading the message to see ‘hey, it’s hyun ju. I think I’ll be at book club tomorrow night, if that’s okay.’ Your lip was caught between your teeth as you typed out a reply telling her you were excited for her to join you all tomorrow. She didn’t respond any more that night. As you laid in your dark room listening to the sounds of the city outside your apartment window your thoughts drifted to Hyun Ju. You knew something about her was different, but didn’t want to assume anything. You thought she was beautiful from her bobbed hair to her long legs and strong arms, and especially her voice. As silly as it was to admit it you knew you drifted off to sleep that night with the thought of her in your head.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Work seemed to drag the next day–granted you stayed busy at the bookstore, the excitement for book club made it seem like it was the longest shift of your life. Eventually you were able to clock out and you checked your appearance in the bathroom mirror; you wore a simple, comfortable outfit with your hair falling around your face messily. No makeup painted your face save for a light coat of brown mascara and some lip balm. Shaking your head you left out a shaky breath and left the bookstore, calling out a goodbye to your coworkers. 

The walk to the coffee shop felt much longer due to the bitter wind. You knew when you walked into the warm shop your nose and cheeks had a rosy tint to them. Shedding your coat you shuffled over to the table you and your friends always hung out at. Two of your friends were already there, talking quietly amongst themselves. Flashing them a smile you sat down. “I invited someone, she should be coming tonight. Her name is Hyun Ju, I met her at work.” you explained, attempting to catch your breath from the walk. One of your friends laughed lightly. “Is it some sort of date? You wore mascara–you never wear makeup.” your other friend snickered and you shot them both a glare. “What? No! I met her at work, she’s just getting into reading and thought it would be nice to offer her to join.” you tried to brush off any tone that might make you seem like you were lying. “You’re rambling.” your friend mumbled under breath.

To be honest, you didn’t know why you invited Hyun Ju, or why you were caught up with thinking about her. Of course you met plenty of kind people at the bookstore, but none of them you had invited to your book club–so why her? Something about Hyun Ju screamed out to you almost as if to say she needed the company. Your company. But that is silly. She’s a stranger, for all you knew she could be a serial killer…no she’s too kind, too pretty to do awful things like that. You quickly focused on pulling out your book and your phone, forcing yourself to stop thinking of Hyun Ju.

The time grew closer to 7, then five past 7, and now seeing the time flash 7:10 on your phone you began to think she wasn't going to show. Of course she wouldn’t, you were too naive believing she would. As one of your friends rambled on about a chapter of the book you heard the door open, and couldn’t help  yourself but turn towards it. Your eyes landed on her. She stood in the entrance seemingly looking around to try and spot you; little did you know, she was also worried you wouldn’t even be there. That it was all some sort of prank. When your eyes met with her dark ones you beamed with a smile. “She’s here! I’ll be right back, just keep reading. I'll catch up later.” pushing your chair away from the table you crossed the coffee shop to meet her. 

“I’m sorry, I know I’m late.” Hyun Ju spoke, and she opened her mouth as if she was going to say more but you cut her off. “No big deal! Do you want a drink? It’s my treat, as a thank you for coming.” her eyes looked down at the ground but she nodded. Together you walked to the counter and both ordered, and you paid before there could be any protest from Hyun Ju. “My friends are over there…they’re kind of overbearing sometimes, so sorry in advance, but they’re really nice girls.” you explained, realizing again you were rambling. A nervous habit. You admired her outfit, seeing her another pair of dark trousers well tailored to her form, and a slightly oversized brown sweater. “You’re really pretty,” you said, before evening realizing what came out of your mouth. “I well- I mean, like your outfit is really pretty. Wait, no you are pretty I didn’t mean to say you’re not attractive. Fuck, sorry I’m rambling.” the words all flew out of you without second thought. Hyun Ju laughed, her cheeks burning with a blush. “Thank you, you’re pretty too–you don’t have to apologize.” a bit more confidence in her voice. The two of you soon grabbed your drinks and made your way back to the table. Once everyone was introduced, book club went somewhat smoothly. You fumbled over your words a couple times which earned you giggles from your friends. Hyun Ju seemed to not notice, or if she did she was playing it off really well. Throughout the night you would feel a slight brush of her knee against your own, or her elbow bump you when she reached for her drink. You tried to think nothing of it, an innocent encounter…but every time she touched you even for a second your heart fluttered.

The time grew closer to 9pm, and your friends had left about ten minutes prior. The two of you remained, still sitting right next to each other. As you laughed and talked amongst yourself, you saw how Hyun Ju’s body language changed to a more relaxed state. It made you feel happy that she was acting more comfortable around you. “It’s late,” she said, snapping you out of whatever trance you were in. Maybe it was the scent of her vanilla perfume, or the exhaustion from working a long and busy shift. “Oh, yeah. I’m really glad you came, you’re welcome anytime.” the two of you packed up your stuff, making your way out of the coffee shop. You explained to her you only lived a block away and would walk but she would not accept that. She pointed towards her car, pleading for you to just let her drive you home. Finally, you gave in. Climbing into her car your senses were hit with a strong scent of her perfume and it made you dizzy in the best way.

The ride was quick, and mostly silent except for you giving Hyun Ju a few directions. You pulled your bag onto your shoulder, quietly thanking her for the ride. She hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to ask something, and you took that as your cue. You leaned over the center console, wrapped your free arm around her broad shoulders and pulled her into the best hug you could manage. She froze at first but you felt her return the gesture. You both remained like that for at least a minute or two, and it was her who finally broke the embrace. Looking into your eyes she asked, “would you like to get dinner tomorrow night?” Your head was bobbing up and down so quickly you knew you looked silly, yet you didn’t care. “That would be so much fun! Just text me the plans, I’m off work tomorrow.” and with that you exited the car, waving as you walked into your apartment building.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

a/n:hope you enjoy! writing for hyun ju is some much fun, i love her so much. part two in progress!!

[the-travelling-witch]

𝐎𝐂 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐒 (𝐟𝐭. 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬' 𝐨𝐜𝐬)

summary: i was plagued by the visions of my twst ocs interacting with my moots’ ocs, so here we are (aka i had a sudden burst of motivation to write about them interacting and now i'm very nervous to post this)

characters: cassandra, selene, angelica, carmilla (my ocs); @crystallizsch’s yuusha and yuuna, @viperbunnies’s oz (ft. yuudai), @anbaisai’s mayu

warnings: bullying (oz's part); jamil slander bc i love him <3 (all parts)

a/n: if i ever manifest in your dms with cryptic questions about your ocs, be not afraid, just answer them :3c (also i need to set up my oc directory and finish some intros fr)

twisted wonderland masterlist

CASS + YUUSHA + YUUNA

The sun was still high and clear in the sky as Yuusha made her way towards Ramshackle. Most students had already either returned to their dorm by this time or were still goofing off with their friends, sparing her any unnecessary run-ins with any of the college’s troublemakers. But, at NRC, a day could only stay peaceful for so long. When she passed by the mirror chamber, her phone vibrated.

Ramshackle Support Group 

yuuna: @.yuusha be careful when you come back to the dorm yuuna: the stairs to the second floor caved in again yuusha: i’m still close to the school, i’ll go talk to crowley about it Cass: Wait for me, I’d also like to have a chat with the Headmage. yuusha: we’re not killing him Cass: Not even a little?

A few hours later, with the sun already far behind the horizon, the three girls fell onto Ramshackle’s rickety couches in exhaustion. Crowley had very generously provided them with funds to purchase supplies for repairing the stairs, but had otherwise not lifted a single clawed finger. Likewise, Grim was nowhere to be seen when he heard of physical labour.

“So,” Cass broke the silence, lifting her head from a cushion, “when are we going to ask Kalim for help instead of that useless weirdo?”

“We can’t just go and mooch off Kalim just because he’s rich,” Yuusha interjected, rolling over and settling into a more comfortable position at the other end of the sofa.

“Why not? Every other student in this school seems to be absolutely loaded. We, on the other hand…” Cass fished out a pillow under her golden locks and demonstrably pulled open the entire seam by a loose thread. “It’s not like Kalim would even notice.”

“Well, by that standard,” Yuuna chimed up while straightening out the bow in their hair, “why don’t you go ask Leona, Cass? I’m sure he’d be more than willing to help you out.”

“Yeah right, and next you know Azul will start handing out freebies,” the blonde snorted. Discarding the thread between her fingers on the coffee table, she started fiddling with the frazzled pillow cover instead. “Why are you bringing him up anyway? Aren’t Idia or Malleus or Vil just as rich?”

Her dorm mates exchanged knowing looks before Yuusha tilted her head towards Cassandra again with a grin. “Oh c’mon, we both have eyes you know.”

“And I’m not sure if those are working correctly.”

“Why deny it?” Yuuna giggled, taking a sip from the mug cradled between their hands. “Sure, Leona’s got an attitude problem and is generally unpleasant, but it could be worse. Probably.”

“You’re imagining things, why would I—“ Breaking herself off with a sharp exhale, Cass pulled the seam taught between her hands. “I’d rather throw myself headfirst into a pit of horned serpents than ask that ass for a favour.”

“Mhm, I’m sure you’d like to ask that ass something else instead,” Yuusha gleefully joined in the teasing. A second later a certain cushion hit her square in the chest, which didn’t deter her. “Or are you saying you decided to join Jack’s morning run, which just so happens to end at Savanaclaw’s morning practice, with no ulterior motive?”

“It certainly wasn’t so I could see Leona more! But anyway, since I already brought up snakes just now,” Cass started, turning her bright eyes on Yuusha. “Why don’t we talk about what I saw when passing by the courtyard this afternoon?”

With a telling glance towards Yuuna, who sat curled up in their armchair now, Cass added, “Involving a certain Vice Housewarden.”

“Oh my god! Did you come home late because you were meeting with Jamil?” There was genuine excitement in Yuuna’s voice as they perked up where they sat. “You gotta spill the beans now.”

“Only if a certain someone spills the tea on her and a certain lion.” The pillow flew back towards Cass.

“There’s nothing to spill here,” Cass retorted, catching the projectile easily.

“Oh right, by the same chance Grim will pass the next potions exam.”

“I noticed you didn’t deny that there was something going on between the two of you.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes!”

“Both of us actually!!”

It was a long night at Ramshackle. (Some say they’re still debating their terrible taste in men to this day.)

SELENE + ANGELICA + OZ (ft. Yuudai)

Of course this would happen to him of all people. If anyone was unlucky enough to accidentally delete the message stating where the film research club would be meeting and then miss Yuudai, who had forgotten his phone at the dorm that day, by a few minutes, of course it would be him. And though he knew better, when Oz was running all over campus trying to find the prefect, he started hoping to run into someone who could point him in the right direction. Which was when he quite literally ran into magift players on their way home from a gruelling practice and looking to blow off some steam. 

“Tch, I thought I smelled another beastman around,” one of them scoffed as they started crowding around Oz, making him scrunch his nose in distaste. “Turns out it was just this little runt.”

“Yer always hoppin’ all over the place, aren’t ya?” The one on the left joined in, laughing as he started jabbing his finger into Oz’s birthmark. “Why don’t ya show us a trick, ya little freak?”

“Look who’s talking.” A clear voice cut through the air. Over the guys’ shoulders Oz could spot green hair and a pair of orange antennae. Selene looked entirely unimpressed by the scene she was witnessing. The dark-skinned girl walking next to her didn’t look any happier either. “The only freaks I’m seeing are the giant idiots running their mouths for no reason. Are you having fun only picking on people smaller than you?”

“Ha? You got some kind of problem, you bug-legged freak?”

“Oh, no, you’re the only ones with some kind of problem here. Your vernacular for example,” Selene waved them off. Her voice made it clear that she was completely over this conversation and considered talking to them a waste of her time. Slipping a phial out of her pockets, she swirled its luminescent contents around with a pensive look on her face before fixing her gaze on the magift players again. “Since you never pick on anyone your size maybe I should shrink you down to the size of mice? I need to test this one anyway…”

Seeing the seriousness in her expression the guys urgently whispered between each other before deciding to scram but not without hurling a few more insults at the Pomefiore student. In response, Selene only gave them a meaningful look and her lip curled slightly at the corner.

“If I was you, I’d be careful with the cafeteria food for the next few days. Who knows what could accidentally slip in there.”

With the athletes out of sight, Oz’s shoulders finally dropped their tension and he heaved a sigh as he approached the two girls. By now, the potion had already vanished somewhere behind the width of Selene’s flowy sleeves.

“Thanks for stepping in,” Oz started, before adding a little more hesitantly, “but you wouldn’t actually spike their food, right?”

“It’s true that I’ll eventually have to give this potion to a person but I’m still perfecting the ratio of the ingredients,” Selene shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing Oz’s unconvinced expression she added with a small smile, “As long as they think there’s the chance that I would, it’s sufficient. Some people would call human experimentation at this stage unethical. And frankly, that’s more paperwork than I care to bother with, so don’t worry about it.“

“‘Those people’ are called an ethics committee, Sel, for the seven’s sake. Also quit making such jokes or Oz will think you’re being serious about it,” Angelica spoke up, exasperation and fondness mixing in her tone as she smiled at her girlfriend. As she shook her head, the star-shaped buns on her head bobbed, making various accessories in her hair glitter like stars in the night sky. Then she turned her dark eyes on Oz. “Anyway, that aside, are you okay?”

“Just a bit shaken up, but otherwise I’m fine,” he said. Absent-mindedly, one of his gloved hands traced the spot where the guy had poked him but Selene’s dual-coloured eyes caught on to the movement. Digging through her purse, she procured a compact mirror and concealer.

“Your make-up came off a little. If it makes you more comfortable, you can touch it up. It won’t be perfect but our teint is similar enough for it to pass.” Holding the utensils out to him, Oz took them from her. “The cushion’s unused if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Oh no, that’s not it.” Considering just leaving it at that, Oz trailed off before exhaling deeply. From all the brief times he’d talked to Angelica and Selene, he didn’t think they’d make fun of him for what he was about to say, so he plucked up his courage. “It just feels a little silly sometimes that I care so much about something like a birthmark.”

The girls exchanged a quick glance before Angelica smiled at him warmly, reaching out to hold the concealer while Oz applied it in the mirror. “I don’t think it’s silly at all, if that helps you.”

“I agree,” Selene nodded, adjusting her glasses afterwards. “We all have traits we feel insecure about, especially if others have commented unfavourably on them in the past. Some days we feel more comfortable showing them and on others we’d rather hide them from view. I think most people feel like that.”

When she took the make-up from him again, Oz couldn’t help but notice the pink colour staining her arms from the tips of her fingers to her elbow. He obviously had known it was there, but hadn’t paid it much mind up until now. Something told him Selene had personal experience in the matter as well.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Angelica spoke up again, “what happened earlier anyway? I find it hard to imagine that you wronged them somehow.”

“Oh!” Oz suddenly remembered the club meet he had to get to, so he very quickly explained his problem to the couple, who listened attentively even as he nervously thumped his foot and nearly bit his tongue. “So just when I started hoping to find anyone from the film research club, I ran into them instead.”

“Well, you found someone who can help you in the end after all. Though we’re not from the film club, Selene has something she wants to ask Vil, so we were actually just on our way to meet them.” The Ignihyde student’s voice was so light and welcoming as she spoke, it was hard to imagine she actually went to NRC. “If you want to, you can accompany us.”

“That would be a big help,” Oz took her up on the offer. 

Soon enough, the late afternoon was filled with the usual complaints levelled at teachers and classmates. Selene described how she had passed by the first year’s botany class on mandrakes recently and had nearly had a heart attack because she had thought she heard one of the plants scream, but it had turned out to be Sebek instead. The art teacher had once nearly tossed out Azul’s assignment because they hadn’t recognised it as a finished painting, Oz told them. Angelica recalled how, in her first year, they had had joint potions classes with the third years once and she had almost passed away when she was partnered up with Leona, only to barely catch his head from nodding off into the potion.

“Looks like we still made it in time,” Angelica sighed in relief as they spotted Vil assigning tasks from a distance. Turning to Oz with a smile, she brushed a stray coil out of her face. “It was fun talking to you. Makes me wonder why we haven’t interacted more before, despite all of us being second years.”

“I don’t think that’s on either of us,” Selene interjected, her antennae and the green-pink moth wings on her back fluttering in the evening breeze. “It probably has something to do with the fact that Oz hangs out with Jamil a lot and that guy has always been giving me the widest berth possible.”

“Ah… Please don’t hold it against him,” Oz tried to defend the vice housewarden, knowing how he already reacted to bugs the size of his finger. While wondering what else he could say, he heard his name being called. “Well, I’ll see you around then. And thank you again for everything.”

“You’re very welcome. And good luck with those photos!” Angelica waved him goodbye as the two made their way over to Pomefiore’s housewarden.

Selene only elegantly tilted her head down as they parted but still left him with a friendly “À bientôt.”

In the meantime, Yuudai had made his way over to him, camera already hanging around his neck as he’d no doubt gone through most of the preparations already. Despite that, he still grinned at the sophomore.

“Oz, there you are. I was already worried you had forgotten that we’re helping Vil today.”

“How could anyone possibly forget that?” Scratching his head, he decided to gloss over most of what had happened. “I just got held up a little. Anyway, what can I help you with?”

CARMILLA + MAYU

“Mayu! Just the person I was looking for~”

Looking over her shoulder for the sweet voice calling her name to find the hallway completely deserted, Mayu shook her head and turned back in the direction she was going. Only to nearly jump out of her skin as she came face to face with a pair of sharp, teal eyes.

“Sorry, did I startle you? That wasn’t my intention,” Carmilla cooed, not sounding all that sorry. The ghostly flames around her flickered mischievously as the fae fell into step next to her. “You were on your way somewhere, weren’t you? Why don’t we walk while we talk, hm? It’s been a while since we last got to chat, how are you doing? Nobody’s giving you any trouble, right?”

“Oh uhm, I’m doing fine and everyone’s very nice to me. Thank you for the concern,” Mayu answered, giving Carmilla a small smile. As they continued towards the library, the prefect fiddled with her cuff sleeves as she hesitated to say what was on her mind, before conceding. “Actually, I’m struggling with Ancient Curses at the moment. I just never seem to get them right.”

“Ancient curses, huh? I’m quite good at them, but so’s Jamil if I remember correctly.” Casting a studying glance at the girl next to her, Carmilla went on smoothly. “Haven’t you asked him for help before? I’m sure he won’t try to weasel himself out of tutoring if it’s you.”

“I did think about it,” Mayu admitted with a sigh, “but he’s been so busy lately, even more so than usual. And I don’t want to bother him.”

A gasp echoed around the hallway as Carmilla halted in her tracks at a crossroad, head whipping around to the younger girl next to her. It made Mayu stop, too, and look at her curiously. 

“Does that mean he hasn’t even been making time for you?” The fox’s usually playful expression had shifted, regarding her with eyes that had softened around the corner in sympathy. 

“No! It’s not–” Mayu immediately piped up, holding her hands up in defence. How did they end up talking about her and Jamil in the first place? “I know that he does try to make as much time for me as possible. He just has a lot on his plate at the moment.”

“Oh dear, that won’t do. Tell you what, I actually came here to ask if you want to take some clothes off my hands.” Procuring two bags stuffed full with fabrics out of thin air, the idol held them out for her to take. “They’re all products from brand deals that aren’t really my style or colour, but I thought they might look cute on you. Especially since you came here without anything you could call a wardrobe. If you end up not liking them, you can just give them back to me, I don’t want you thinking I’m just dumping my old clothes on you.”

“Oh, that’s too kind of you, Carmilla,” Mayu exclaimed, pleasantly surprised by the weighted bags now dangling off her arm. Running her fingers over the soft material lying on top, it reminded her of the comfy hoodies she regularly ‘borrowed’ from a certain someone. “I can’t wait to try them on.”

“Don’t mention it. Normally I’d just leave it at that but considering what you just told me, you should totally wear them the next time you go out with Jamil! In fact, why don’t you just ask him out the next time you see him?” And just like that, all worry was erased from Carmilla’s face and her sunshiney smile was back on as she curled a pink strand around her manicured finger. “Personally I don’t get what you see in the guy at all, but I do commend the charity work. Plus, as you said, he could reaaallllyy use a break~”

“Hm, I don’t know about asking him out all of a sudden,” Mayu contemplated, her dark eyes trailing over the bricks in the walls as she considered it. “But I would like to do something nice for him.”

“I totally support it! Oh, actually, that reminds me! There’s an upcoming festival in Foothill town, celebrating the new year. It’s always super cute and scenic.” As Carmilla spoke, the air around them filled with magic before displaying luminous scenes of people mingling in the streets of the quaint town, various foods and items in hand as the night sky was illuminated by fireworks. “You should really go and experience it for yourself. Can’t let an opportunity like this pass you by, right?”

“Right,” the prefect echoed as she watched the last wisps of the illusion fizzle out into nothingness. With newfound determination, she fixed her big eyes on the fae again. “Thank you so much, Carmilla. For everything.”

“Oh please, I hardly did anything. And about the clothes and the festival,” she leaned towards Mayu with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eyes, “let’s keep it a secret between the two of us, no need to credit me. Consider it my good deed of the day.”

As Mayu nodded, albeit a little confused by the request, Carmilla’s ears twitched at the sound of a familiar set of agitated footsteps. Feigning surprise as she looked down at the time of her phone, she gave the younger girl an apologetic smile.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave. It was fun catching up, we should really do it more often. For now, though, you’ll have to excuse me.” Slinking past Mayu with a wink, the soft fur of Carmilla’s tail brushed against her uniform as the pink fox disappeared the same way she had spontaneously showed up earlier. “Toodles~”

Hand half-raised to wave at the now empty hallway, Mayu took a second to process what had just happened, from beginning to end. The bags in her hand corroborated that she hadn’t just imagined it and when she looked up any events that would soon happen in Foothill Town, the festival was there too. With a shake of her head, Mayu wrote it off as just another one of NRC’s daily occurrences. Just then, someone else rounded the corner. 

“Prefect, what are you doing here?”

“Oh Jamil, hi. I was on my way to the library to look for books on ancient curses.”

“Ancient curses? I still have some notes I could lend you from my first year…”

Carmilla only caught the beginning of their conversation as it trailed off in the distance. Mayu was right when she said Jamil could do with a break. It had gotten to a point where seeing him in the morning started putting her on edge too and it made her fur stand on end. Especially when it affected the other students in the dorm as well. Palpable tension and all that. Needless to say, something had to be done about it if Carmilla wanted to go back to some relaxing peace and quiet.

No harm done by pulling a few strings if placating their vice housewarden also benefited the prefect, right?~

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[yourreddancer]

So here is what is happening.

It's not Trump.

He is looking so miserable because he is being forced to do WORK, and he hates doing WORK. Hopefully, at some point he either balks, or he runs out of steam at the pace he is being forced to keep. The way he is looking lately, that may be sooner rather than later. Hopefully.

All these reams of Executive Orders he is signing? He did not write a single one of them.

Some were written since the election, of things Trump promised at his rallies. But most of them were written over the past 4 years.

They were written by Stephen Miller, AKA Wormtongue, his former and once again speechwriter and adviser.

They were written by Russell Vought, who is going through Senate confirmation hearings for the OMB, which put out that order stopping all federal grants, loans and disbursements Monday.

They were written by ALL the writers of the Project2025 playbook, the agenda Trump pretended he had nothing to do with.

How many writers? Project2025 is made up of over 100 conservative organizations! THAT is why there are so many Executive Orders waiting to be signed. Trump is probably having to ice his arm every night.

What is the overall agenda? To totally tear down our government. Totally. The good with the bad. Seriously.

Rachel Maddow showed video of JD Vance praising a mentor of his, Curtis Yarvin, on a far-right talk podcast, and that mentor not only advocates the complete destruction of the government, closing down every department and firing every single person, but then building a new corporate style organization instead, with a CEO, not a president, at the top.

No three branches of government, just ONE. A corporation, to run America like a business. And he said that the other name for a CEO is a "dictator", and that is what America needs. Curtis Yarvin said emphatically that we must "get over" our fear of the word DICTATOR.

JD VANCE told podcaster Jack Murphy, "So step one in the process is to totally replace — like rip out like a tumor — the current American leadership class, and then reinstall some sense of American political religion."

Jack Murphy responded in the video, "How do we rip out this leadership class? What options do we have besides voting them out?"

"This is a tough question, but this is maybe the question that confronts us right now. There's this guy Curtis Yarvin who's written about some of these things," said Vance.

And Jack Murphy grinned and nodded in agreement.

That is what they plan, folks.

Corporations are businesses. They were there to make money. They are not there to take care of their workers, or the customers, or the environment, or public safety, and ESPECIALLY they are not there to hand out help to people who NEED help from disasters, or illnesses, or old age.

That is why they are starting by trying to eliminate oversight, and stop all funding of EVERYTHING. And now, gettng rid of EVERYBODY.

Trump signed a new order last night for EVERY WORKER IN OUR GOVERNMENT. In EVERY department. He is offering EVERY SINGLE WORKER, every department manager, every civil servant, every scientist, every inspector, every accountant, every researcher, every secretary - EVERYBODY - a termination package. They will get a nice payoff and perks if they agree to quit their job.

But they only have ONE WEEK to decide.

Otherwise, the threat is that they could be terminated at any time with no nice goodbye package at all.

(NOTE: HE HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY TO DO THIS, AND MANY FEDERAL WORKERS ARE REFUSING TO OBEY IN ADVANCE!!!)

And the threat is also there that they could be transfered from the job they know and are invested in, to doing something totally ridiculous and hateful. Trump said out loud he may send the new IRS hires to deal with immigrants at the Border instead.

In fact, he may send ANY entire department to a far-off location, uprooting and disrupting their family, as he did when he sent all the FDA scientists to a midwest location, during his first administration. Half of them quit.

The INTENTION of Project 2025 is to TOTALLY dismantle our government. And to rebuild it as a stripped down corporation, with workers only loyal to THEM.

What happens to US? We have been here before, folks. I remember the days when there were no protections for people. You worked, paid for your own food, shelter and medical bills or you died. Old people. Disabled people. Unmarried women. Children.

If you got unjustly fired, too bad. If you could not get a job because you were too old, or just got out of the hospital, or out of prison, or out of rehab, or were a disabled veteran, or disabled, period, or had kids at home, or might become pregnant, or were ANY minority that a business owner hated, too bad.

If your house burned down, if you got cancer, if you had an accident, too bad.

When I was a young adult, hospitals refused to treat people without money or insurance, even in emergencies. They died outside the door, on the sidewalk. If they ran out of money, they were pushed out the door in a hospital gown to die on the sidewalk. THIS HAPPENED. Every day.

We are returning to a MERIT based system? No more bad old DEI?

People will be hired for what they are qualified to do based on their education, accomplishments, skills and experience? BULLSH!T.

Once again, hiring will be done BASED ON THE CODE OF THE OLD BOYS CLUB.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS does Robert F Kennedy Jr have?

Education? Harvard and then Law School. He does not have one single medical degree. And he is on record for himself saying he was a heroin addict from high school all the way through college. He dealt cocaine from his dorm room at Harvard. He got arrested. THIS IS ALL ON RECORD.

Experience? He knows NOTHING about medicine.

Nor does he know anything about managing a business.

He is a lone wolf who has traded on the Kennedy name and his famly fortune to get attention, be a celebrity, and GET MONEY.

His cousin Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, just wrote a letter to the Senate reminding them of all this, not they they were unaware of ANY of this in the first place.

HE VACCINATED HIS OWN CHILDREN, while discouraging other parents NOT to vaccinate their children, for MONEY. To fundraise for donations. To rake in their cash and do NOTHING in return but book celebrity appearances to make speeches full of lies.

Carolina Kennedy called him a predator, who used his charisma to talk his younger brothers and cousins into buying the drugs he was selling, and getting them addicted. His younger brother died of a drug overdose.

She talked of unspeakable acts of animal cruelty involving his pet reptiles. He did right it in front of people, to show off. He thought it was funny. Like he thought his prank with the dead bear cub and eating a dog were funny.

So he is not even being considered for Cabinet Head of the entire Department of Health because he is a stand-up guy with integrity and CHARACTER.

He is being hired for his NAME. Not HIS name, his father and his uncle's name.

He is being hired because of a Quid Pro Quo arrangement. He quit the presidential race in exchange for running the only part of the government he REALLY wanted.

MERIT? Merit does not count at all. What counts is that he is all in on the vision of Project2025. To destroy the Health Department and eliminate it.

What counts is his stone-cold desire for money and power in the new Corporate American Dictatorship.

What counts is his ethnic bona-fides, his BIRTHRIGHT into the Old Boys Club.

This is happening in real time, folks.

Donald J Trump is just the figurehead in all this.

He is the cult leader who can do no wrong in the eyes of his followers. He can get away with ramming hundreds of Executive Orders, most of them illegal and unConstitutional through, like a machine gun, at our entire country.

While half the country - people too blinded by hero worship to see this affects them too - cheer and fistpump. While WE are shocked into inaction. And while our politicians DUCK, and try to figure out the best way to hang on to their careers and their power and their money. And maybe their lives.

Donald Trump removed the protection details from leaders of his last administration who turned against him - or who HE now views as an "enemy". He released 1,500 former rogue militia members and their leaders back onto the streets. He pardoned religious activists who harrassed and assaulted patients at women's clinics.

The message is as clear now as it was on January 6th, 2021. Violence is OK. Don't worry about the law. Trump doesn't obey any. As long as you are loyal to Trump, you don't have to obey the law either. Wink-wink.

From now on, the LAW is only what Donald J Trump SAYS it is.

So what happens if Trump is no longer President?

JD Vance steps right in, and pushes the Project 2025 agenda through with a vengeance, of course.

But here is the thing. JD does not hold the blind devotion of the cult members. They do not idolize him. In fact, they are at best lukewarm towards him. He will not be able to manipulate them as Trump does, or even pull their wool over their eyes about what he is doing, and what the adverse consequences will be for them.

Because of this, JD does not have the leverage over the politicians in Congress or the Supreme Court Justices that Trump has.

Trump MUST be stopped. By the courts, or by impeachment - but it must happen. He must be removed from office ASAP.

Or, as he is so fond of saying, "We won't have a country anymore."

[midnightsun-if]

In the new update will we still get some family content too?

You absolutely will! On the plane ride specifically, the very first series of scenes in the upcoming update, you'll get a variety of chances to talk about your family (or to them directly). One of said options will be a few emails that you can decide to check that I had a lot of fun writing; especially as it'll give you a full overlook at the siblings' personalities compared to each other.

Christian's email, for instance, is titled: WHY YOU SUCK -- A Comprehensive Analysis (NOT a Pun)

Dear Most Annoying Sibling,

Congratulations! You have once again outdone yourself in the grand tradition of being a nuisance. I am writing to formally lodge a complaint; Cienna has already taken the official 'intimidating older sibling' role, and I feel my efforts in this regard are unappreciated. Especially since I do not have a glare that could make Antarctica seem like a nice location for a summer vacation.

First of all, why did you let Blake "borrow" my leather jacket? You're aware that the half-incubus you call a best friend has absolutely no control when it comes to his appetite, right? He returned it smelling like garlic. GARLIC! Do you know how hard it is to get that smell out? DO YOU? It lingers. It haunts me. I swear I can still smell it on my pillow, in my socks, and in my dreams. I have tried everything. Febreze? Laughable. Vinegar? Now it just smells like pickled garlic. Sunshine? Now I have a warmed garlic stench following me everywhere. I'm like a walking breadstick and not in a fun way.

People are staring. Not in the way I typically enjoy either. A guy at the café this morning sniffed the air, like some sort of bloodhound, and whispered, "Do you smell that?" like I was some kind of culinary cryptid.

Secondly, and this is the most egregious offense, I know you stole the last blood bag from the private stash in the lounge. That was mine. I licked it. It had my name on it. I hope it tasted like guilt.

Please fix your life choices immediately.

With begrudging affection,

Christian

P.S. I hope you have a nice time at Aurelian Academy and that everyone treats you well. Even if you are a bloody thief.

Compared to Cienna's email simply titled: Checking In.

Or Persephone's titled: A Little Joy to Share.

[cynthiav06]

Does Percy ever have any trauma from Gabe?

I mean, in Tartarus, he says it smells like Gabe and I cannot fail to acknowledge his self-esteem issues which Gabe contributed to, but I mean more specific trauma like hating beer and gambling, etc. Something like that?

Percy has suffered due to Gabe for a long time, which contributes quite a lot to his trauma. You see, Rirodan was writing a children's book, and he didn't want to go down too many uncomfortable details, but the signs were there. A lot of them. And despite the canon's inconsistencies, Gabe is at least mentioned in accurate context every small time that he is referenced.

Rick, however, just to be safe, makes Percy's personality so that Percy avoids thinking of Gabe, and rightfully so. Let's take this slow. Because two important things, Percy's situation in the first book and all his issues are due to Gabe and, of course, he carries forward trauma from those situations, so what are they?

1.

Physical abuse is a part that is usually glossed over by the readers to some extent, even though it's in the first book. What I am trying to say is it is always acknowledged that Percy was abused, but rarely does the fandom go down the rabbit hole of specifics. If you see it once, you won't stop seeing it.

Gabe has both verbally and physically abused Percy so much that he has an extreme amount of self-esteem issues and a self-depreciating personality.

Not only did Gabe abuse Percy, but he also made Percy work part-time jobs or side hustles just to get extra money from Percy. Mind you, Percy was barely 12 in the first book, probably still 11, and this had been going for a while.

2.

If that wasn't enough Gabe controlled the budget of the family, not allowing Sally to spend more than he allowed and he splurged most money gambling so Percy grew up in very poor conditions but was sent to boarding schools with rich people which led to a lot of bullying from their end. Since Percy fought back, he somehow earned the per usual misnomer of being a troubled kid.

Cue all his expulsions. Some may be due to monster business, but most were definitely due to Percy fighting against bullies. Why is that notable? This is the start of Percy's anger issues. Percy has a lot of repressed anger from home due to Gabe and not being able to fight him (he hasn't tapped into his power yet, at least not enough of it). Plus, the bullies and horrible living conditions all contribute to Percy's attitude.

3.

Now, if you remember, in Book 1, Gabe threatens Percy severely so that he won't harm his car. But Percy was 12, and he himself says he wasn't going to be driving, but that wouldn't stop Gabe from blaming him. This means Gabe blamed Percy for everything, relevant or otherwise. We can see this in Percy's behavior when he immediately correlates every mistake as his fault and is always reflexively seen taking the blame for everything, even those that weren't his fault.

This scene actually creates a nice parallel against that scene in Book 5 where Percy is on a drive with Rachel in Paul's car and he is very suprised that Paul himself offered the car to him and didn't even impose any rules on Percy. He is however very worried when Blackjack dents the car because even though Paul is not Gabe, Percy has this natural fear against him at least subconsciously but is also very suprised when Paul doesn't get at all angry over the dent. It's such a sweet moment for Percy; he gets to learn how good fathers are.

3.

You mentioned gambling and drinking. Percy shows great dislike for the game in book 1, but he is forced to play cause of Dionysus. He's relatively good at it but doesn't play because he associates the game with Gabe. Same for alcohol. There's a line in the book where Percy says he knows how to recognize when others have been drinking or, as Percy calls it, hitting the happy juice. Obviously, alcohol makes Percy uncomfortable in itself, and he immediately dislikes Dionysus because he is a drunkard and a poker player along with a build similar to Gabe, which makes Percy naturally dislike him greatly. It doesn't help that Dionysus is a complete asshole but his initial natural dislike of Mr. D is due to Gabe.

4.

We all joke about how Percy is a fugitive and known terrorist in tons of states. This is all Gabe's fault. Percy gets in such problems with the law all due to Gabe and how he set literally every police department possible on Percy's trail. Now Percy, being Percy, he manipulates the officers to get on their good side, but he obviously still has problems with the law due to this entire fiasco.

The fandom likes to say that Percy got all his dark aura after Tartarus, but Percy has literally had killing intent since he was 12. One of his first lines in the book is "I am going to kill her" in reference to Nancy Bobofit. He gets gut punched by the realization that Gabe has been hitting his Mom. Gabe literally raised his hand against Sally in front of Percy in book 1. You can't tell me Percy recovered from that. He thinks then too of pulling Riptide and killing Gabe but realizes it wouldn't work on Gabe. Now Percy, who almost always means exactly what he says when talking to people, calls Gabe 'human by the loosest definition.' A 12 year old thinks that you can imagine how bad the situation was.

After Book 1, Rick heavily avoids mentioning abuse in his book cause he is trying to write for kids, but it shows.

Percy thinks of Gabe when he first accidentally iris messages in on one of his Mom's and Paul's dates. Percy is immediately suspicious, which is obviously why Sally hadn't told him anything before this. She wasn't completely sure about Paul, and she also didn't want Percy to worry. When Percy sees her laugh with Paul, he thinks of how much trouble his Mom went through with Gabe.

This is important because after Book 1 when Percy finally learns why Sally kept Gabe around in his head he twists the narrative as his Mom suffered Gabe, not that both he and Sally but only Sally suffered Gabe and why? To protect him. He BLAMES himself for something that's obviously completely not his fault. But in his head, he ends up masking his own pain and considering only Sally's pain valid. This is why Percy doesn't talk to anyone about Gabe and also why everyone thinks Gabe was a bit of a jerk but not an abuser. We literally see PERCY DO THIS TO HIMSELF. Same thing in The Last Olympian. Same thing in Mark of Athena. He talks about how his Mom suffered by staying in the awful marriage, not about himself.

5.

Now the famous House of Hades scene. See Tartarus draws out negative emotions and experiences and worst nightmares of a person to feast on. This is very telling because despite the endless life-death situations Percy has been in ,he thinks of Gabe. Because to Percy, self suffering is no suffering at all. But his Mom suffering is the worst of all. Now Annabeth obviously doesn't get the cue because she has no idea about how Percy lived in his past. While it is true that Annabeth cannot be held responsible for not getting why Percy brought up Gabe in Tartarus and took it as Percy making a joke; a case can be made against Annabeth's lack of initiative to learn more about Percy's life before all this. I digress as that's a completely different discussion. Point stands is that Percy is so unbelievably broken yet loyal that he doesn't even consider his own pain valid.

The next mention of Gabe is directly in Chalice of the Gods. Percy rather openly thinks how much he hated family dinners with Gabe. Also, he has a very nice conversation with Sally soon after he recovers from being turned into a child, where he talks about how powerless being a child felt and how afraid he was. I am certain that the implications indicate at both monsters and Gabe and how a young Percy had been very afraid of both situations but more of Gabe than monsters. Go figure.

It's plenty clear how much trauma Percy has from Gabe and how much he has trained his mind to either avoid it or redirect it elsewhere lest he regress into bitterness and anger issues.

It's probably longer than you expected, but I like systematic exploration of points, hence the long rant. I have done my best to break it down, so it's easier to follow. Also, I am very, very happy for this ask as I really love to explore Percy's personality and Percy's powers. Feel free to send me more along this line of thought.

@fourcornersofcreation ,@hermesmyplatonicbeloved, @helenofsparta2 , @ogjacksonsimp, and @berrybore have all also made posts exploring some of Percy's trauma and they will probably have things to add as well. So please check their posts on this topic as well in case I missed anything.

[ozwriterchick]

Back to Us - Chapter 10 (Final)

Summary: Y/n wakes after an accident to her Avengers team-mates. But something isn't quite right and only Steve and Tony can see it.

Characters/Relationships: Steve Rogers x Reader; Tony Stark; Natasha Romanoff; Other Avengers Characters

Content warnings: Mentions of an accident (no details yet); If I missed any, let me know

A/N: If you want to be tagged, let me know.

Not beta'd so any mistakes are my own. I don't write smut, but there are allusions to smut in my stories.

Back to Us Masterlist

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Word count: 2055 (approx.)

64.media.tumblr.com

GIF by dazedandkaitfused

Later that afternoon, Wanda & Nat help you get ready for your date with Steve.  They do your hair and makeup and help you pick a dress that will knock Steve’s socks off.

The red dress you found in your closet just called to you when you flicked through everything and Nat and Wanda exchanged glances when you sighed and said “This is the one.”

At exactly 6pm, there’s a knock on the door and all of a sudden you have a stomach full of butterflies.  You open the door to Steve standing there in a navy suit with a tie that is very close to matching the blue of his eyes.

“Well, Captain Rogers, you look very handsome.  I love the suit.  Maybe we should have met downstairs, cause I might not want to go anywhere right now.” You say, blushing and thanking your lucky stars that Nat & Wanda are no longer with you.  They would have teased you mercilessly for a long time over that one.

Steve laughs “I agree sweetheart, you look simply ravishing and I really would love nothing better than to see that dress on the floor, but we have reservations, so we have to get going.”

You laugh and kiss him before turning and walking in front of him down the stairs, swinging your hips as you go.

After about a half hour drive, you pull up outside a vaguely familiar restaurant.

“Steve, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?” you asked as he holds the car door open for you and offers you his hand to help you out.

“That we have gorgeous.  In fact, it’s one of our favourite places for a nice dinner out.”

You walk in and the hostess greets you like old friends.  You try to remember her but can’t quite place her in your head yet.  She leads you to a seat in the back that is fairly secluded and lit up with lots of candles.  There’s a bunch of red roses on the table and you look at Steve.

“Are these for me?” He nods. “They’re gorgeous.  How did I get so lucky?”

“I think I’m the lucky one, honey.  Sit, sit.  First course will be out shortly.”

Dinner is incredible, you wish you remembered this place but hope that the memories will come back to you like all the others. 

The conversation flows nicely and you feel like Steve is trying to make you remember some of the smaller stuff by bringing up stories from your relationship.

When dinner is done, Steve suggests going for a walk before you head home.  You agree quickly because it’s beautiful clear weather, and you really don’t want the night to end.

You head towards a local park nearby, hand in hand and Steve goes very quiet. 

“Penny for your thoughts, Cap?”

Steve stops and turns to face you, he grabs your hands and lifts one and presses a kiss on the back of your hand.

“I got very lucky the day you agreed to be mine.  Over the past couple of months I thought I’d lost you totally, and my heart couldn’t have been happier than when you remembered us.”

He leads you around the corner for you to see the small jetty in the park, over a lake that is twinkling in the starlight, all lit up with fairy lights and more roses.

“Steve, when did you do this?”

“Y/n, I love you with all my heart, with everything I am and everything I have.”

He gets down on one knee and pulls a box out of his pocket.  Opening the box you see a gorgeous diamond ring.

“I got lucky once, but I would be the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do this twice with the same woman.

Y/n, will you be my wife, will you be mine for the rest of our lives?”

You realise you are crying, as is Steve, but your answer is obvious “Yes Steve, of course. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather do this with twice.”  You both laugh, through your tears.

He stands up and puts the ring on your finger and you kiss.  Just then you hear a commotion and look up to see Nat & Wanda heading across the park crying with happiness and demanding to see the ring - even though they already knew what it looked like.

You realise they would have helped Steve out with this, and keeping an eye on it while you had dinner.

All of a sudden a memory hits you and you gasp.

“Y/n, sweetheart is everything ok?” Steve asks, hoping you aren’t changing your mind.

“Oh Steve, this is exactly how you planned our first engagement isn’t it.  I just remembered.”

“Only the best for you my gorgeous girl.  It was perfect the first time, and if you never remembered it, I wanted you to have it as the memory of our engagement.”

You start crying again at his sweetness and thoughtfulness to give you this amazing memory the exact same as the first time.  You throw your arms around his neck and smash your lips to his, to which he immediately kisses you back, putting his hand on the back of your head.

A few minutes later, you hear a clearing of a throat and remember that Nat & Wanda are here with you, so you apologise and suggest you all head back to the compound.

Tony is waiting as you enter the common room the next morning. “Hey you lovebirds, how are things, any progress on the rest of the memories?”

“Not much more than last night I’m afraid.” You say sadly. “But we’ve been enjoying ‘getting to know each other’ again.”

Tony laughs “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Shut up old man.” You laugh at his statement as if he is double your age.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Tony asked.

“Y/n wanted me to tell her about Noah, she remembered me mentioning him and my reaction when she didn’t remember him yesterday.  We wanted to see what your thoughts were on that one - we don’t want to jeopardise any progress Y/n’s already made.” Steve explained to Tony.

Tony calls Bruce in to get his input on this one.

“Well, given she has most of her memories back except this one, maybe it’s not too big a leap?” Bruce suggests.

“Right, well, I need to go do something,” Steve says. “I’ll be back soon and we’ll talk then, ok Y/n?”

“Oh, ok, are you sure you need to leave now?  Like, right now?”

“Yes, Sweetheart, but I’ll be back as soon as quickly as I can.”

Steve leaves and you look at Tony & Bruce who shrug.  They both know where he’s going and what he’s doing but they don’t want to spoil anything.

“Well, if he’s going somewhere, I’m going to go for a run to clear my head and hopefully he’ll be back before, or just after I am.”  You head up to your room to change and head out into the compound gardens, following the running path that Tony had installed so you could all exercise outside in the fresh air.

The breeze in your face grounds you and makes you happy, but not as happy as knowing that Steve never cheated on his fiancé with you, that you are his fiancé, and all is now right with the world and that soon, you would find out about Noah.

Steve returns to the compound a little while later with Noah.

“Tony, where’s Y/n?” he asks.

“She went for a run Steve, hopefully won’t be too long.  Hey mini Cap, you wanna come with me and get something to eat?” he asks Noah.

Noah looks excitedly to Steve.  Apart from you, Steve and his honorary aunts and uncles, food is one of his favourite things.

“Thanks Tony,” Steve answers. “Hey Buddy, how about you go with Uncle Tony and we will see you soon.”

Noah nods and Tony takes his hand and leads him to the kitchen.  Steve sits in the lounge with Bruce, waiting for Y/n to come back from her run.

Tony re-enters the lounge and looks around “Isn’t she back yet?  I don’t think I can fit any more food into this kid.”  Noah is now sitting at the coffee table, drawing and colouring.

“What time did she go for her run,” Steve asks them. “It’s a couple of hours since I left to get Noah, she should be back by now.”

Steve starts freaking out, hoping she hasn’t left again, or worse.  He tries to hide his worry from Noah, because he doesn’t need to see that right now.

Tony asks Friday to call everyone together.

FRIDAY: All Avengers, please meet in the lounge immediately

The Avengers assemble in the lounge and Tony tells them Y/n went for a run about 2.5 hours ago and hasn’t returned. 

“Noah is here, waiting to see Y/n for the first time in months, so we need to find her.  Let’s all spread out and look.  Stay on Comms and let me know if you see anything.” Tony explains.

The Avengers spread out and searched the compound grounds for you.  After about half an hour, they all came back to the lounge, no sign of you at all.

Steve is getting anxious so he starts Noah’s night-time routine to distract himself.

“Steve, is her phone here?” Bruce asks him.

“I can’t see it, but hang on let me ring it.” Steve dials your number and listens to it ring.. and ring.. and ring. “It’s ringing, she’s not answering, but it’s ringing.”

Tony sighs. “Ok, maybe we can track it - I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before.  Sorry Steve.”

“Just find her Tony, I can’t lose her, Noah can’t lose her.”

All of a sudden, a commotion downstairs interrupts their conversation.  They look at each other and Tony runs downstairs.  Nat comes up and tells Steve to go, she’ll keep an eye on Noah for now.

Steve runs downstairs to see you on one of the beds in the lab.

“What the hell happened?” Steve demanded.

“Language Steve.” Bucky laughed, trying to cut the tension with a little humour.

“Now is not the time Buck.  What happened to her?”

Bucky explains “I found her, she’d fallen and was unconscious when I got to her, I hope this doesn’t put her memory recovery back, can you tell if she hit her head yet?”

“It doesn’t look like it,” Bruce answers. “It could just be the shock of the fall.  But we’ll have to wait for her to wake up.”

“I can’t do this again.  What if she doesn’t wake up this time.” Steve worries.

The Avengers all try to comfort Steve, not knowing what else to do.

Time jump - 2 Days have passed and you are still unconscious. 

Even Tony is worried at this point. “We might have to transfer her to the hospital if she doesn’t wake up today.”

“Geez are you two ladies all right, no hospital, ok?” you try to joke.

“Y/n, you’re awake, how are you feeling?” Tony asks you, hopeful that your memory hadn’t gone backwards.

“A little groggy and a splitting headache, but ok otherwise I think.  What happened?  I remember Steve left to get Noah and I went for a run.”

Steve’s eyes went wide as he looked at you and took in what you said.  “Wait, you knew I went to get Noah?”

You laugh at his shock “Well, where else would you have gone, he wasn’t here and he needs his Mum & Dad.  Where is he? I need to see him.”

“Oh my gosh sweetheart, I’ll go get him.”

Steve runs upstairs and returns with Noah who gets super excited to see his Mummy.  You hold your hands out to him and he practically jumps out of Steve’s arms into yours, giggling the whole time.

“Mummy, I miss you. Don’ go ‘way ‘gen, ‘k?” Noah asks flashing you his big blue-green puppy-dog eyes, exactly like his Dad’s.

“I won’t bubba, I’m here to stay forever.” You reply to him.

“My family is back together” Steve says incredulously.

THE END. Maybe…

Tag List: @wolfbeanpotion @vioplay19 @jason-todd-fangirl-14 @crazyunsexycool @zaraomarrogers @bitchy-bi-trash @mrsnikstan @harrysnovia @salemslostwitch

[sabine-smitten-obviously]

Good Omens - January reads part #2 - fanfics recs 🤓🩷

Follow along for short summaries and recs on the books i read🩷 The numbers are for funsies - i want to count my reads throughout 2025.

I only read finished stories and one-shots. You will find no WIPs in here. Also you will only find happy or at least hopeful endings here - i couldn´t handle anything else.

Also i try to find every author here on tumblr to link-to, but some times i am out of luck. If you happen to know them, please tell them, write to me in the comments or DM me and i will update the post!

Ratings in ()

Multichapterfics

13] Or Be Nice (E) by @charlottemadison42

Aziraphale ist happy to move into his new appartment in Soho after his breakup. What he is not so happy about is the noise nuisance of a neighbour he has, who likes to play his drums in the middle of the night. When the nice and polite way of finding a solution through talking seems futile, its time to try another way.

One of the best enemies-to-lovers human Au i ever read, a classic must-read for everyone in the fandom. The banter is hilarious!

Best laugh:

Aziraphale: "You can walk."

Crowley: "Allegedly." 😂

14] Any foolish Thing (E) by @caedmonfaith

Human Au. Crowley is a lawyer - and a real asshole. His businesspartner threatens to cancel their partnership unless Crowley takes a month off. So Tadfield it is. Surprised by sudden rain he stumbles into a shop full of books and candies. You'll never guess who the owner is. 😉

15] Arise my Darling and go forth (E) by @naromoreau

Human Au. Father Aziraphale likes his perish and is shocked to learn that a second priest will join him. But father Crowley is rather pleasant to be with and soon they both find themselves questioning ... everything.

The story takes turns in the POV and lets the reader glimpse into their inner turmoil - they are men of God, after all. Beautiful language and art! 🩷

This wonderful art is unrelated, but i am so in awe with it that i wanted to share it. You will find it here and it is by @flypanegg88 !

16] Epistolary (E) by @maaikeatthefullmoon aka Imposterssyndrome

Set after the end of S2, Crowley discovers Aziraphales diaries in the bookshop. He learns like A LOT about how the angel feels and their missunderstandings throughout the centuries. As he can´t talk to Aziraphale any more, Crowley starts a diary as well.

This is part-1 of a series!

17] 1888 (T) by Imposterssyndrome aka @maaikeatthefullmoon

Technically a oneshot but it is part of this series. 1888 is a diary-entry of our angel about this one time he tried to learn the gavotte.

Can be read as a stand-alone but probably doesnt make any sense without

18] The Angel Miscalculated (E) by @imposterssyndrome aka @maaikeatthefullmoon

This is part 3 of Epistolary, we get to know Aziraphale´s point of view while up in heaven.

The whole series ends practically in between S2 and S3. I don´t know whether further installments are planned - but i´ve got you covered!!

19] And i did [E] by @di-42

This is so funny, i was the beta for this story and it fits perfectly after the end of part-3 of Epistolary (see above). This story starts out with Aziraphale up in heaven and Crowley being the Grand Duke of Hell. They are on opposite sites - aren´t they?

"The angel deserved to know how marvellous he was being and how enraptured he was making Crowley feel.

“Angel... ngk... fuck!” he squealed. Nailed it, Crowley, well done." 😂

20] Aziraphale´s naked man friend [M] by @naughtyspirit

Set between S1 and S2, Aziraphale opens to door of his bookshop to find a naked Crowley outside. The demon has lost the memory of the last 24 hours and together they go on a quest to find out what has happened. If they happen to choose a "date" as cover-up for their investigations, it is only because it would help their quest. Of course.

Very funny and nice read, biggest laugh: "Once a wily serpent, always able to wiggle."

Oneshots

21] Bless you (T) by @terrorandchaos

Its been a nice afternoon in the bookshop. That is, until Crowley sneezes and Aziraphale mindlessly says "Bless you." To a demon.😅

22] Strokes make clean the innermost parts (E) by @depraveddame

Father Crowley feels the need to punish himself after a night with his gardener Aziraphale. Things do not go as planned ... pls do mind the tags!!! 🌶️

23] The co-pilot (e) by @e-rated-beardo

Human Au. When policeofficer Aziraphale sits in the Pub on a friday evening, he is quite happy to see his friend Crowley joining him for a pint. Though - honestly - the bottle of wine Aziraphale has up his flat light be a better idea. 😁

24] A wish your heart made (G) by @avoicebehindthestars

Set after they averted the second coming. Crowley asks Aziraphale about their future.

Be careful with this one and do mind the tags - this is my big exception from the "only good endings"-list. Still - worth a read! 💔

25] My songs know what you did in the dark (E) by @hazelsage

Aziraphale learns that humans fear dangling their legs out of bed, because a demon might lurk underneath and grab them. He tells Crowley about this ridiculous fear. And dangles a leg out of bed that night. 😉

26] You're Back (T) by @avoicebehindthestars

35 years after hell has taken him, Crowley finds himself back in London with a splitting headache, unable to do anything but lay still in the ground. Aziraphale finds him and helps him recover. 🩷So tender!

27] If you were church, i'd Go down in my knees [E] by @hazelsage

When Crowley gets to watch an angry Aziraphale defending his bookshop against measly investors, he only knows one way of worshipping his Angel. 🌶️

28] Hot Whiskey Eyes [E] by @hazelsage

Sometimes Crowley needs his mouth stuffed to be able to shut up his incessantly brain. Thankfully Aziraphale likes to help. 🌶️

Reading keeps me sane. Thank you all for writing! 🩷🤗

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

From Glee Violette, published yesterday January 30, 2025.

So here is what is happening.

It's not Trump.

He is looking so miserable because he is being forced to do WORK, and he hates doing WORK. Hopefully, at some point he either balks, or he runs out of steam at the pace he is being forced to keep. The way he is looking lately, that may be sooner rather than later. Hopefully.

All these reams of Executive Orders he is signing? He did not write a single one of them.

Some were written since the election, of things Trump promised at his rallies. But most of them were written over the past 4 years. They were written by Stephen Miller, AKA Wormtongue, his former and once again speechwriter and adviser.

They were written by Russell Vought, who is going through Senate confirmation hearings for the OMB, which put out that order stopping all federal grants, loans and disbursements Monday.

They were written by ALL the writers of the Project2025 playbook, the agenda Trump pretended he had nothing to do with.

How many writers? Project2025 is made up of over 100 conservative organizations! THAT is why there are so many Executive Orders waiting to be signed. Trump is probably having to ice his arm every night.

What is the overall agenda? To totally tear down our government. Totally. The good with the bad. Seriously.

Rachel Maddow showed video of JD Vance praising a mentor of his, Curtis Yarvin, on a far-right talk podcast, and that mentor not only advocates the complete destruction of the governement, closing down every department and firing every single person, but then building a new corporate style organization instead, with a CEO, not a president, at the top.

No three branches of government, just ONE. A corporation, to run America like a business. And he said that the other name for a CEO is a "dictator", and that is what America needs. Curtis Yarvin said emphatically that we must "get over" our fear of the word DICTATOR.

JD VANCE told podcaster Jack Murphy, "So step one in the process is to totally replace — like rip out like a tumor — the current American leadership class, and then reinstall some sense of American political religion."

Jack Murphy responded in the video, "How do we rip out this leadership class? What options do we have besides voting them out?"

"This is a tough question, but this is maybe the question that confronts us right now. There's this guy Curtis Yarvin who's written about some of these things," said Vance.

And Jack Murphy grinned and nodded in agreement. That is what they plan, folks. Corporations are businesses. They were there to make money. They are not there to take care of their workers, or the customers, or the environment, or public safety, and ESPECIALLY they are not there to hand out help to people who NEED help from disasters, or illnesses, or old age.

That is why they are starting by trying to eliminate oversight, and stop all funding of EVERYTHING. And now, gettng rid of EVERYBODY.

Trump signed a new order last night for EVERY WORKER IN OUR GOVERNMENT. In EVERY department. He is offering EVERY SINGLE WORKER, every department manager, every civil servant, every scientist, every inspector, every accountant, every researcher, every secretary - EVERYBODY - a termination package. They will get a nice payoff and perks if they agree to quit their job.

But they only have ONE WEEK to decide.

Otherwise, the threat is that they could be terminated at any time with no nice goodbye package at all.

And the threat is also there that they could be transfered from the job they know and are invested in, to doing something totally ridiculous and hateful. Trump said out loud he may send the new IRS hires to deal with immigrants at the Border instead. In fact, he may send ANY entire department to a far-off location, uprooting and disrupting their family, as he did when he sent all the FDA scientists to a midwest location, during his first administration. Half of them quit.

The INTENTION of Project 2025 is to TOTALLY dismantle our government. And to rebuild it as a stripped down corporation, with workers only loyal to THEM.

What happens to US? We have been here before, folks. I remember the days when there were no protections for people. You worked, paid for your own food, shelter and medical bills or you died. Old people. Disabled people. Unmarried women. Children.

If you got unjustly fired, too bad. If you could not get a job because you were too old, or just got out of the hospital, or out of prison, or out of rehab, or were a disabled veteran, or disabled, period, or had kids at home, or might become pregnant, or were ANY minority that a business owner hated, too bad.

If your house burned down, if you got cancer, if you had an accident, too bad.

When I was a young adult, hospitals refused to treat people without money or insurance, even in emergencies. They died outside the door, on the sidewalk. If they ran out of money, they were pushed out the door in a hospital gown to die on the sidewalk. THIS HAPPENED. Every day.

We are returning to a MERIT based system? No more bad old DEI? People will be hired for what they are qualified to do based on their education, accomplishments, skills and experience? BULLSH!T.

Once again, hiring will be done BASED ON THE CODE OF THE OLD BOYS CLUB.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS does Robert F Kennedy Jr have? Education? Harvard and then Law School. He does not have one single medical degree. And he is on record for himself saying he was a heroin addict from high school all the way through college. He dealt cocaine from his dorm room at Harvard. He got arrested.

THIS IS ALL ON RECORD.

Experience? He knows NOTHING about medicine. Nor does he know anything about managing a business. He is a lone wolf who has traded on the Kennedy name and his famly fortune to get attention, be a celebrity, and GET MONEY.

His cousin Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, just wrote a letter to the Senate reminding them of all this, not they they were unaware of ANY of this in the first place.

HE VACCINATED HIS OWN CHILDREN, while discouraging other parents NOT to vaccinate their children, for MONEY. To fundraise for donations. To rake in their cash and do NOTHING in return but book celebrity appearances to make speeches full of lies.

Caroline Kennedy called him a predator, who used his charisma to talk his younger brothers and cousins into buying the drugs he was selling, and getting them addicted. His younger brother died of a drug overdose.

She talked of unspeakable acts of animal cruelty involving his pet reptiles. He did right it in front of people, to show off. He thought it was funny. He would put live baby chicks with mice into the blender and turn it on in front of his children. Like he thought his prank with the dead bear cub and eating a dog were funny.

So he is not even being considered for Cabinet Head of the entire Department of Health because he is a stand-up guy with integrity and CHARACTER.

He is being hired for his NAME. Not HIS name, his father and his uncle's name.

He is being hired because of a Quid Pro Quo arrangement. He quit the presidential race in exchange for running the only part of the government he REALLY wanted.

MERIT? Merit does not count at all. What counts is that he is all in on the vision of Project2025. To destroy the Health Department and eliminate it.

What counts is his stone-cold desire for money and power in the new Corporate American Dictatorship.

What counts is his ethnic bona-fides, his BIRTHRIGHT into the Old Boys Club.

This is happening in real time, folks.

Donald J Trump is just the figurehead in all this.

He is the cult leader who can do no wrong in the eyes of his followers. He can get away with ramming hundreds of Executive Orders, most of them illegal and unConstitutional through, like a machine gun, at our entire country.

While half the country - people too blinded by hero worship to see this affects them too - cheer and fistpump. While WE are shocked into inaction. And while our politicians DUCK, and try to figure out the best way to hang on to their careers and their power and their money. And maybe their lives.

Donald Trump removed the protection details from leaders of his last administration who turned against him - or who HE now views as an "enemy". He released 1,500 former rogue militia members and their leaders back onto the streets. He pardoned religious activists who harrassed and assaulted patients at women's clinics.

The message is as clear now as it was on January 6th, 2021.

Violence is OK. Don't worry about the law. Trump doesn't obey any. As long as you are loyal to Trump, you don't have to obey the law either. Wink-wink.

From now on, the LAW is only what Donald J Trump SAYS it is.

So what happens if Trump is no longer President?

JD Vance steps right in, and pushes the Project 2025 agenda through with a vengeance, of course.

But here is the thing. JD does not hold the blind devotion of the cult members. They do not idolize him. In fact, they are at best lukewarm towards him. He will not be able to manipulate them as Trump does, or even pull their wool over their eyes about what he is doing, and what the adverse consequences will be for them.

Because of this, JD does not have the leverage over the politicians in Congress or the Supreme Court Justices that Trump has.

Trump MUST be stopped. By the courts, or by impeachment - but it must happen. He must be removed from office ASAP.

Or, as he is so fond of saying, "We won't have a country anymore."

[From Glee Violette, published yesterday January 30, 2025.]

[a-most-beloved-fool]

Siskoshir and 13 (discreetly) for the ask game? ❤️

thanks for the ask! <3 also oops i accidentally went waaay overboard. this isn't really explicitly romantic or platonic, so interpret it as you will. i think. i don't know what makes a kiss romantic tbh. it is what you decide it is!

A hand squeezed suddenly at Julian's shoulder, and he only barely suppressed a flinch.

"Chin up, Doctor," Sisko breathed into his ear, voice barely louder than Julian's own heartbeat. If he weren't augmented, he was quite certain he wouldn't have heard it at all. "We'll get out of here. Just hold on."

Then Julian felt something soft brush the back of his head, a gentle reassurance, and Sisko was gone again, vanished into the mass of prisoners and leaving only a trace of warmth behind.

--

"We won't be able to communicate openly, once we're in place," Sisko had warned, before everything began. "If they discover that we're associated - they are not known for their mercy. Are you certain you're up for this, Doctor?"

"I am," Julian said, determined. "I won't let you down."

He was the best choice for this type of mission, in his opinion. He'd survived Internment Camp 371, after all. He would survive this, too.

It would be better this time. Julian would have Sisko with him, and he'd be there for a reason, not trapped with little hope of escape.

--

Perhaps Julian had been - a touch overconfident.

In truth, he didn't know if he would have managed to complete his part of the infiltration, if it weren't for Sisko's gentle companionship.

Oh, they couldn't be seen openly together, of course, but the camp was crowded - and in a place where you could hardly move without brushing elbows with a stranger, it was hardly a crime for them to be near one another.

And so, Sisko began - touching. Just little brushes, at first, tracing fingers against wrist or bumping shoulder to shoulder. Little signs of comradery which - though Julian was loath to admit it - were doing a great deal to keep him grounded. Each time the noise or the stench or the aura of despair became suffocating, Sisko would appear and, unobtrusively, find some way to touch him, and suddenly he could breathe again.

Julian returned the favor whenever he could, and hoped that the contact was doing even half as much for Sisko as it was for him.

Then, almost a week into their unpleasant stay, Sisko pushed past him and brushed a kiss to his cheek, coupled with a light squeeze of his shoulder. The touch lasted hardly a moment, and to an observer, would certainly seem accidental - but to Julian it felt as bolstering as his first sight of DS9 after escaping the Internment Camp.

The next day, when the opportunity arose, Julian pressed a secret kiss to Sisko's wrist - and from there, swift kisses, chaste and discreet, were quickly adopted into their touching routine.

They were... nice, Julian decided. Pleasant.

He couldn't help but wonder if they would continue even once back on the Station.

He rather hoped they would.

____

for this ask game. i've got one left to write for it, but if anyone else wishes to send a request, i'm happy to do that, too!

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

medialog august-december 2k24

i was like, should i just abandon this and start fresh in 2025... but no. also i'm putting this behind a cut bc it is long but it's shorter than it sounds bc LOL working 7 days a week is not conducive towards having the brain space to interact with a bunch of new art!!

watched

ponyo - THIS IS THE CUTEST MOVIE IN THE WORLD!!! miyazaki/ghibli is a big blind spot for me bc as a kid i was like "but i want anime to be pretty, like sailor moon..." so i never got into kiki or totoro (very stupid but again i was: A Child) and then as an adult, this is embarrassing, i tried to watch spirited away and just literally didn't get it. i was like, i am so confused about what is happening and what emotions i am supposed to be feelings. and i know that spirited away is a movie for children and this makes me stupid. but i have never pretended not to be stupid. anyway i would die for just about every character in this movie and when i watched it a second time to make nick watch it i was so full of tenderness for how lovingly it captures what it's like to be a small child who has a small creature to take care of that i felt like i could explode!

deadpool & wolverine - i think if i had been in a better mood when i saw this movie i would have disliked it more but as it was i was in a HORRENDOUS mood and, basically, had a good time. funny to watch this, the Superhero Movies Isabel Has Never Watched Cameo Show (literally i had never watched an x-men other than first class, in which wolverine only appears to say fuck off, or either of the two deadpools), and still get to experience the same OMG IT'S HIM rush as everyone else did, but for matthew mcfadyen. the guy next to me was like "i love channing tatum" when channing tatum showed up and like, same.

trap - great movie to see with a group of like 10 people with whom to giggle the whole time. josh hartnett understood the assignment and his dad-vibe era is soooo much hotter to me than his twink years ever were (not always the case for me! but between this and how hot he was in oppenheimer i've really warmed to him...). i think it's nice that m. night shyamalan loves his daughter so much. ladyraven has a ballad with the line "faustian trade-offs" which caused me and no one else in the theater to laugh real loud. her music is pretty bad but tbh in an era when people want to put chappell roan on the A-list i'm not even mad. it was funny trying to figure out her niche though because like the vibes are obviously supposed to be taylorish (the cabin onstage... lmao) but the music was giving... idk, ariana? also it's just inherently funny to make a movie premised on the fact that it would be really easy to narrow down who the serial killer is by identifying the adult men at a pop girl concert + this movie REALLY captures the vibe during the opening act no one gaf about a pop event concert, like i saw 5SOS open for 1D and that's exactly what it felt like

popstar: never stop never stopping - rewatch, duh. is this the funniest movie of all time? it's gotta be up there, right?

josie and the pussycats - also a rewatch, duh. love everything about this but most of all the soundtrack, the songs are legit incredible, no fictional band has ever had better music (rip adam schlesinger who contributed some songwriting!!!). first time rewatching this movie since figuring out some Stuff and understand now that rachel leigh cook needs to be on the Oh Those Were Gay Feelings. That's What That Was list. (rosario dawson too, but i already got there with her.)

vice - really incredible to think it would be possible to fuck up a movie about how dick cheney is basically satan but somehow mckay managed. christian bale is a professional though, i feel like we don't appreciate enough that no matter how bad the movie or how stupid the writing he's out there giving an absolute top tier performance every single time.

aliens - sorta half-watched this one but idk i feel like me and james cameron just don't vibe. not as incredible-looking or cool as the first one.

godzilla minus one - really really cute!!!!!!

jurassic park - rewatch on the big screen, still slaps the hardest of almost any movie ever

twentieth century - this is i guess nominally a screwball comedy (howard hawks, 1934, for those of you for whom that means something) but it's about these two toxic theater people who are horrible for and obsessed with each other and it's... darker... than my experience of that genre has usually been. in a way that sort of works in its favor partly because it just gives it a certain interest and partly because the gender politics of screwballs can be so dark themselves so it's kind of a relief that this one lacks the cognitive dissonance of pretending this all isn't horrible? idk. it's a weird one. but i liked it, on balance. there's a (pretty funny tbh) running gag about suicide threats and a really bananas third act plot that comes out of nowhere... great performances across the board and some real bangers dropped into the screenplay!

the substance - i didn't, like, love this, and i think a lot of common criticisms of it are right, but some are also very silly (guys i think the director knows nothing about the morning exercise show makes sense... i don't think she was going for a realistic depiction of 21st century celebrity...), and i did have a good time for the most part (the last 30 minutes is gross in a way that doesn't do it for me... but i know it does it for some people and those people deserve movies too...) and respected its commitment to its own bit, as well as the fact that it's basically a fairy tale (a woman who lives in a tower makes a bargain with a force she doesn't really understand to regain her beauty...). oh also i liked that the thing that drives the back half of the plot is essentially the idea that you simply cannot have a 22 year old's body without also having to contend with a 22 year old's dumb dumb stupid ass piece of shit idiot brain. haven't seen a lot of people comment on that aspect of it but it was like my favorite part!

female trouble - people throw out the word iconic a lot but like what else is there to say? rude, disgusting, occasionally genuinely offensive, mostly (for me) delightfully so... really great to watch with a crowd that would whoop and cheer for I'M SO GLAD I HAD AN ABORTION and THE WORLD OF THE HETEROSEXUAL IS A SICK AND BORING LIFE... also like it's really key for the way this movie functions that divine is a fat drag queen that most people do not consider the pinnacle of beauty but it's incredibly clear that john waters and this movie does... like divine's constant proclamations of her own gorgeousness are in a kind of inherent tension with the average american's disagreement with that sentiment but in a way where it's like, if you disagree you are an idiot and this movie is not yours. she's so hot in this it's crazy!!

michael clayton - i wanted to watch a talky thriller-ish movie and the men of the ringer podcast network literally never shut up about this one so i gave it a shot and it delivered! clooney predictably great but i had no idea tilda swinton & tom wilkinson were in it and they are both also awesome, as is merrit weaver in a small but very well cast role

venom - you can sort of glimpse the movie this movie would be if it weren't shackled to What A Superhero Movie Is Now / loosely to the MCU even though it pretends it's not, and i bet that movie would be a lot of fun!

black christmas (1974) - perfectly done urban legend horror with an interesting little pro choice streak, great cast, camera work so perfectly spooky and tense even i noticed how well it was done, makes good use of the cinematic potential of christmas lights. i really liked that this movie is short and a slasher but all the characters in it feel very well drawn even though we don't spend much time with almost any of them... reminded me that this is actually possible to do and i should be harder on movies that don't do it!

black christmas (2006) - nowhere near as good as the first one, but it is, uh, absolutely bugfuck crazyass bananapants start to end. my favorite of many deranged writing choices in this movie is that the sorority mother makes them all open their secret santa every year with a gift for the murderer who killed his family years ago in this house and then when one of the girls' townie boyfriend is like "this is the house that used to freak us out when we were kids" the sorority mother is like, "why?" ?????????? ok!!!!!

heretic - hugh grant is a fucking movie star. i love sophie turner and the other girl was good too. sort of loses steam once the "actually" scary stuff happens because horror movie shenanigans are hard to make as scary as the situation of two young and not very experienced girls slowly realizing they are trapped in a house with a man who just keeps pushing the boundaries of the social contract a little further, but i had fun

the apprentice - not a good movie but a great viewing experience for those of us who have reblogged in our lifetimes approx. 1 million combined gifsets of sebstan and jerbear... like yeah those are my guys and my guys did great :) i think my favorite thing about it as a movie (other than the way the "look" of it updates with technology, which is a cooler idea i wish had been used for a... better movie?) is that it really beats home the aspect of trmp wherein he has no social skills at all and has never felt authentically comfortable in a group of people in his entire life, which is something i think we should culturally be meaner to him about

gladiator - dumb (affectionate) movie magic. russell crowe has so much movie star charisma while looking so much like Just Some Guy it's literally crazy. when he kisses the little dolly of his wife who's about to die ;_;

raising arizona - miracle movie, can't believe i'd never watched this before. the coens' control of their tone is so incredible to see so early in their work (still gotta watch barton fink one of these day). incredible cast, gorgeous colors, so funny, so weirdly sweet, when it finished i felt like i'd watched a magic trick

erin brokovich - watched this for the first time since high school and like what else is there to say but Queen Icon Legend Slay? i am speaking of course about steven soderbergh but julia is pretty fucking incredible too.

conclave - i'm gonna be real i feel like the hype got to me a lil with this one because it's not as bitchy and fun as i feel like i was led to believe... also requires more buy-in re: the moral direction of the catholic church than i anticipated. however it does have its moments and it's nice to see some of our best actors being good at their jobs and it looks great!

the philadelphia story - i found this movie so delightful to watch that for a moment i really thought she might run off with jimmy stewart at the end and not get back tamed with her abusive ex..... but such was the power of the hepburn/stewart chemistry in that one drunk garden scene that i found myself totally incapable of actually integrating the gender politics of this one into my feelings towards it... like i just couldn't be mad at a movie that gave me a scene that made me want to scream JUST KISS!!!! the most anything has since the first time i watched "cooler"... do you know what that is? for me to bust out "cooler" as a comp? my god... i understand why my friend has been like that about hepburn our whole lives and am also now fully baby jimmy stewart pilled

gladiator ii - the consensus is right on this one: not as good as the first, paul mescal is no russell crowe, but denzel really ate. my friends and i laughed out loud at almost every single denzel scene. we're so lucky to have him.

wicked - bad movie of a bad musical, fundamentally misunderstands the function of songs in a musical and thus shoots every single musical number abominably, as ugly as you've heard, we are not advanced enough technologically for me to emotionally invest in CGI Goat Voiced By Peter Dinklage, but ariana deserves an oscar. the prettyboy was pretty good too. orivo can really sing but her acting was kinda giving Distressed Pixar Mom for me although i'm happy to add this to john m chu's many crimes.

out of sight - the romantic premise of this movie is CRAZY but george clooney kinds of sells it actually because and not in spite of the fact that he's one of those curious Incredibly Handsome But Not Very Sexy actors... like you believe that she wouldn't really hold a grudge against him locking her in a trunk with him, because, what, clooney's gonna act untoward? no... not him... j. lo joins andie macdowell as an actress out of whom soderbergh somehow coaxes a much better performance than experience would lead you to believe she is capable of. shockingly stacked cast of pros doing great, INCREDIBLE production design - banner movie for characters costumed to match or complement their interiors!!!

burlesque - dr. sam from new girl fucks stanley tucci in this movie... i literally can't stop thinking about that. xtina maybe has the all time highest ratio of vocal chops to charisma, she has the screen presence of a recurring character on a cancelled WB drama and then she opens her mouth and you're like, damn. i would watch an 8 season HBO sitcom of cher and stanley tucci running a failing burlesque club. at one point i said out loud "chekhov's air rights." great time

logan lucky - "what if steven soderbergh made a heist movie but decided to put his coen brothers hat on and, also, cast channing tatum as a divorced dad who wants to support his daughter's dreams but is seriously wigged out by pageant culture?" yes please. absolutely. adam driver almost never acts in movies i actually want to see but he really is one of the real ones.

babygirl - one of those movies where i can understand lots of things that didn't work for people but i, personally, was completely rapturous the entire time because i wanted a movie where i could walk out saying "nicole kidman did that" and i got that AND ALSO (a) a story about a perfectionist who hates herself and (b) sex scenes that are funny and weird and awkward and warm and human. that's so many things i love happening at once, i will happily forgive and overlook any flaws. i really just loved how much the two of them are actively figuring this thing out as they go and how that's embarrassing and goofy and also sweet and fun. plus nicole kidman really did do that, i mean, like, my god... my god....

fantasmas - you have to watch fantasmas... why haven't you watched fantasmas yet... i really struggle to imagine the person who would follow My Dumb Blog but not be into fantasmas... "the gay ones don't draw dicks, they draw eyes"... julio torres is the voice of a generation

the franchise - not quite as much of a banger as i wanted to be but likable enough, & i'm a sucker for showbiz jokes (jokes about insecure actors, etc.), although i think chris ryan had a point on the watch pod when he was like, the thing about the satire elements of this show are that if you know anything about the actual production stuff on superhero/franchise movies it's hard to satirize because like, the real stuff is actually just that crazy... there's a running thread about the overworked VFX guy and it's kinda funny but also like, well this lines up more or less with what those teams have actually said... anyway. i want to say i'm a lil bummed it didn't get renewed nonetheless but also i forgot until i was typing up the list of things to document here that i had never gotten around to the season finale, so i guess i can't really honestly claim to be that bummed lol. (watched it while washing dishes - pretty good!) did love daniel bruhl as a sensitive artiste director being soul-crushed by the studio machine though! that guy's great.

read

r. o. kwon, exhibit - this one's tough. ultimately, there were actually a lot of things i liked about this book. it had some moments that felt really human and well observed (when the protagonist says something about how usually orgasms aren't worth the guilt and then says she knows she's letting us down and her paramour says who's us and the protagonist says all women... that's funny and real and not unrelateable to me for different reasons!). the bones of it were i think ultimately solid - like yeah she's terrible at communicating but ultimately the book is about her running away from the hard fact that her husband wants a baby and she doesn't and the psychology holds water throughout, i think. (also a funny paragraph about how she knows how to cook but mostly subsists on like handfuls of nuts and bread dipped into olive oil or whatever and then she's like "and you thought i could raise a child?"... also relateable...) i REALLY related to the idea of being a person who simultaneously has the memory of experiencing the loss of faith in god as genuinely, actually traumatic and also being like "btw my family might be cursed by vengeful spirit, it's a whole thing, but i gotta try to talk to her before i do this because she kind of gave me the idea," and i really liked that the book didn't spend any effort on reconciling these two things because... i mean iykyk, like i really can't explain beyond "sometimes that's what it's like" - AND i also liked the ultimate reveal of that storyline and how it tied into the core character work of the main plot. plus the whole thing is like the "trying stuff out sexually as a vehicle/metaphor for owning your whole self" thing that i (a) have enjoyed writing in fanfiction and (b) really loved watching in babygirl lmao. unfortunately the writing was the most annoying tryhard I Get It You Have An MFA ass prose i have ever encountered... i complained about this at the time but it's craaazyyyy to use the word "mirific" three times in a ~200 page novel lmao. deranged. calm yourself. i also felt like the dialogue was really bad although i guess i can't totally rule out that this is a book about artists and artists actually are that annoying? idk though... it didn't feel stylized it just felt weird... who says "tippled"... so, ultimately i couldn't say that i "liked" this even though it had elements i admired or enjoyed.

naomi klein, the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism - as i mentioned at the time, very enamored of its framing device in a very popular nonfiction/thomas friedman lite kinda way, but when it's not doing that (which luckily is most of the time), this is an informative and well explicated accounting of the horrors milton friedman has unleashed upon the world. i liked her fundamental argument that you can't politicize along economic grounds horrors committed under communism but not do that for capitalism, which has sort of seeped into general internet leftist thought (a testament to the success of this book) but which i appreciate more having seen how she builds her case.

the red nation, the red deal: indigenous action to save our earth - read this for a mutual aid book club that never happened lol. at the end of this book they're like "well probably none of this is new in the climate justice conversation but we don't think things have to be new to be valuable" and like... on the one hand true... on the other hand if you're even vaguely aware of climate justice discourse... not a lot here is new. i also, perhaps unpopularly, have become kind of a... idk... i mean when people are like "we can't solve climate collapse without dismantling capitalism" these days my reaction is basically "well one of those things might happen in the next two hundred years and it's not dismantling capitalism." i'm not like a tech-zealot but a... tech-realist? idk. this is not what i want to be true but it is my honest accounting of the situation. so, any argument that's like "step one: dismantle capitalism" is... it's just not where i'm at these days.

patrick radden keefe, say nothing: a true story of murder and memory in northern ireland - there are no doubt quibbles or political issues to be had with this book, a story of the troubles focused largely on a particular group of IRA members operating in west belfast in the early 70s - as an idiot coming into this subject basically cold, i would have appreciated slightly more grounding in the political situation leading up to the swelling of violence in this period - but, damn, this book is fucking mesmerizing. keefe really brings the people involved to life, particularly the young IRA members at the heart of his chronicle, and while it's clear he doesn't condone all their actions, my own sense was that he was more interested in truly understanding and making clear their own understandings of their motivations & understanding of themselves & ethical framework than he was in passing judgment (and i also definitely felt like he had a certain admiration for the integrity of someone like brandon hughes or dolours price, who were always willing to own what they did and why they did it, and a genuine disdain for how fucking crazy it is for gerry adams to rebrand as a peacenik when literally everybody knows he spent the early 70s telling people to plant bombs lmao). (also having read empire of pain... he definitely holds the sacklers in lower esteem than the IRA, lol.) the final chapters of the book also touch on the really fascinating difficult question of how you morally reckon with the revolutionary violence you did if the revolution you did it for never came to pass - this is the heart of why his fellow ex-IRA comrades feel so betrayed by adams, who has left them to shoulder the burden of that guilt alone while pivoting to the compromise they once agreed would not suffice which was part of the reason for all the violence, and it is something i think about a lot as someone who would not self identify as a pacifist and thinks the historical record leaves no doubt that sometimes violence is necessary for change but nonetheless feels very reluctant to endorse specific acts of revolutionary violence in theory. thrilling and thorny, ultimately i would say deserving of all the accolades i learned after reading it has apparently received lol.

patrick radden keefe, the snakehead: an epic tale of the chinatown underworld and the american dream - not quite as tremendous-feeling as say nothing, but that's mostly because that's a crazy high bar; this is a really fascinating look at the human smuggling trade (& other organized-ish crime) in NYC's chinatown in the 80s/90s, including the middle aged woman who was at the heart of much of it. contains: some totally deranged gang warfare stories; a really fascinating look at the weirdness of chinese immigration policy in the 90s, when china's one-child policy pushed normally anti-immigration republicans to switch on this issue for pro-life reasons (the one child policy... maybe the one thing every american politician shares the same view on, for different reasons?); interesting background on fujian, the high-outmigration region of china from whence many of the principles in this story came; an accounting of an insane boat journey gone so wrong that at one point after the would-be migrants have been trapped in a harbor off the coast of africa (i forget which country), when they finally leave, two of them decide to stay because the chinese restaurant they've opened is doing so well. i keep thinking about the fact keefe highlights that of the hundreds of doomed migrants on this hugely traumatic journey who wound up deported after crash-landing, nearly all of them eventually made their way back to the US.

kazuo ishiguro, nocturnes - my first ishiguro since my teen ishiguro phase (a concept that should really be regarded the way that teens getting into heavy metal and grunge is in pop culture e.g. a sign to check in on their mental health lmao). didn't love these but i can't tell if that's because i prefer ishiguro as a novelist or because i'm just bad at reading short stories... also to be fair there were at least 2 ishiguro novels i read back then and was like "the fuck was that" lol. some very funny moments and a lot of like, amusing portraits of unlikable people, and i do love his style, which is like, a pathologically conversational first person that years of reading since has taught me is much more technically difficult than it looks, but ultimately it felt pretty slight.

naomi klein, doppleganger: a trip into the mirror world - klein takes on, like, "the wellness to alt right pipeline" is an oversimplification but topics in that neck of the woods, inspired by the wack ass shit constantly being tweeted by Other Naomi (wolf), with whom klein is frequently confused on twitter. this is an inherently very funny premise for a book and a lot of what klein says is in my view pretty accurate, and some of her literary/theoretical musings on dopplegangers as a Thing are interesting to read, plus the whole thing is on topics of interest to me, aka Alt Right Derangement And Weird Shit People Are Up To Online. however..... so klein says that she herself was very offline until covid happened, basically, and so if you have been online longer, and especially if you have been actively reading stuff about Weird Shit People Are Up To Online, then this book is basically a smart person catching up with topics you yourself already know a lot about. so in a funny way i found this a more enjoyable read than the shock doctrine, because it's less of an unrelenting fucking bummer about human evil and suffering, but it was also less enriching, because she didn't really bring any new insight to topics that, again, are probably in the top 5 of Post Headlines I'm Most Likely To Click On. like yeah, deranged alt right types are using the language of social justice and inequality and bodily autonomy to further their various causes... tru... i mean it is tru... i also think the fact that her default is a Not Online person who only changed her vibe after covid makes her a bit more of an internet doomer bc she doesn't viscerally get the nontoxic value possible to find in Online through diligent curation lol. but i do think it was a solid accounting of the subcultures and and ideologies she explores so like i said i basically liked it and if you're less tuned into weird internet radicalization currents than i am you will probably find it informative!

suzanna clarke, piranesi - i don't even know what to say about this one, probably tied with tender as my favorite book i read last year (strong fantasy year for me i guess). it's so crazy that suzanna clarke wrote jonathan strange & mr. norrell, the most perfect book of all time, and then did this, which is also the most perfect book of all time, in a completely different way. her gift for atmosphere and voice is second to none and in this one she uses it to draw us into caring so deeply for a narrator who can't even remember his own past - the book in some ways is a mystery and the doling out of information is perfectly paced but the reason it works is because we just love this guy because of how much he loves the universe. the final chapter expresses something about survival & upheaval & change (&, sure, trauma, if you want) that, as i said before & will come as no surprise, is so so so precisely keyed into an idea so deeply important to me... ahh! just sublime!

v. c. andrews, flowers in the attic - book club!! this book is CRAZY but there's only two real things i want to say about it: (1) a lot of what's totally deranged about it is that on the one hand, it has the most gothic novel ass set-up ever - horrible incest house of dark secrets and shame, children literally living in an attic, physical decay, etc. etc. - and on the other hand in all other respects its sensibilities are the most american 70s suburban ass thing, so that it's like, a gothic novel where the evil mother goes to secretary school and the kids watch sitcoms and cut construction paper in the secret attic... like, the tonal clash is soooo crazy, it's incredible; and (2) ok so like by the time it happens you 100% want those siblings to fuck. like. you just do.

suzanna clarke, jonathan strange and mr. norrell - counting this as last year even though i read the second half in january lol. ummm best book in the world. third time through and i genuinely think it gets better every time. most purely pleasurable reading experience of all time.

stephanie mccurry, confederate reckoning: power and politics in the civil war south - ditto re timing (technically i have like a couple pages of this one left and a few more quotes to post lol). i picked this back up as a comfort reread after the election and it slaps so hard it's crazy. love to read about how a bunch of war-losing loser traitors lost in no small part because it's hard to wage war as a modern state committed to resisting the tides of modernity!!!! sucks 2 suck!!!!!

listened

maude latour, sugar water - i'm kind of obsessed with maude latour not in terms of being obsessively in love with her music, although i think she's very good, but because she's my go-to example of someone out here doing girlpop toiling away in the spotify minds unremuneratively who i would easily and even gladly swap fame-wise with basically any of the pop girls in our current rising class (thinking of olivia/chappell/sabrina... none of whom are like terrible - well ok i have yet to hear a chappell roan song i think is actually good lol but i guess she can sing and it's nice that she's gay - but also alleged newcomers like tate mcrae? addison whoever? madison beer? these are not real people stop trying to act like they're real people! ladyraven ass pop girls...). she just makes really solid, well written, inventive but still catchy pop. i returned to this short album a lot more than i expected to, often thinking i wanted to hear just the first song (a standout) and then realizing i was happy to let the rest play through. also gay stuff, if you care about that.

sabrina carpenter, short n sweet - like it's all very competent and espresso deserves its flowers but who cares? who could possibly ever care? i've been SUCH an antonoff apologist and please please please is the first song where i felt like i was hearing him as his haters hear him, it sounds like shit. there are better moments and worse moments, some ok lines, she can sing, etc., but where's the vision? where's the personality? nothing to grab on to.

beabadoobee, this is how tomorrow moves - beabadoobee is obviously talented and intelligent and her music sounds enough like a kind of music i like that i always feel like i should like her more... but i think she's a little too stripped down and sophisticated for me. that said "ever seen" was one of my top songs of 2024, total absolute BANGER

charly bliss, forever - doesn't quite live up to the heights of young enough, but given that young enough is a strong contender for my favorite album of the past decade, i'm not really sure it could. this one is pop-punkier and very hooky lots of fun, and i just love eva's taffy-pull voice and wanna listen to her sing anything. also it has a song that sounds so much like a pop punk version of a kesha song it's legit uncanny to me.

pom pom squad, mirror starts moving without me - big step up from their last album, IMO, and i liked that a lot too! ambitious in an interesting way but also lots of fun. this one also has a song that at points sounds so much like a kesha song it's crazy, as does a 2023 album i was recently listening to by underscores... i feel like we're living in a big post-kesha moment and i don't know if anyone is appreciating it enough...

pale waves, smitten - i agree with pale waves that "what if avril lavigne got really into shoegaze and was also gay" is a great idea for an album. really pretty production on this one!

070 shake, petrichor - my friend dave was like "this album might be bad but i'm obsessed with it" and i listened out of solidarity and was like, i don't like this but i can understand why you specifically would. friendship!

charli xcx, brat and it's completely different but it's still brat - i never really listen to enough albums to justify having an album of the year but something about the release of the remix album really opened up the whole project to me and i was completely obsessed with it for a while and still love it. track by track most of the remixes are not quite as good as the original track (although some, like caroline polacheck's gorgeous turn on everything is romantic, are definite upgrades), but something about the spirit of generosity that infuses the project, the way it makes it all feel like a project more than an album, the sense that charli has thrown this party and she's invited up and coming spanish rapper bbtrix alongside ariana grande, the way it's less disciplined than the album proper but more expansive, at some points grimier and clubbier and at other points more emotive and romantic... idk. feels like a whole world. the so i remix alone, like - releasing a sad song about your friend who died, and then releasing a faster song about all the fun shit you used to do, that sounds more like a song your dead friend would have produced, is one of the most loving acts i have ever seen committed through art and it made me cry even though i never connected with SOPHIE's music bc i'm not really cool enough to be into hyperpop. rooting for charli at the grammies even though i know it's not gonna happen lmao.

other

jenny holzer at the guggenheim - there was a jenny holzer installation at the guggenheim!! it was really cool!! i finally understood something @rgr-pop said years ago about how it matters that she is a visual artist and her words (incredible as they often are as words) appear physically in a space. it is in fact Different, to see them in a space. in addition to The Classics (i got so fannishly excited spotting IT IS IN YOUR SELF INTEREST TO FIND A WAY TO BE VERY TENDER lmao), the installation also included a lot of her more recent and more overtly political stuff, some of which engaged specifically with the bush ii administration & iraq/afghanistan, which made for intense viewing given that i happened to go right around the time i read the shock doctrine (as did spotting the one about how mothers who have a reason to cry should do so in public....). jenny holzer is great! so glad i could experience that!

[jinx-s-things]

Hey! 😘

This is my first ever request so sorry if it sounds weird. So I seen your post about starting Anora fics and I totally think you should

Ani x musician reader!!!

Like the reader is performing with their band or something like that then Ani notices the drummer and is instantly attracted.

That’s just an idea though you don’t have to write that if you don’t want to

Crazy little thing called love

Anora x musician fem!reader

Warnings: slight mentions of sex other than that I think it’s alright

Notes: I did change the reader to a guitarist instead of a drummer also thanks for the request.

The colourful lights were pulsing throughout the whole club as the loud music was thumping. Over in the corner in the dim light was Anora giving a lap dance to one of the men on the black leather couch’s. It was a shitty job but it’ll do if she can pay the rent.

The tinsel in her hair fell across her face while her dark black hair was all over the place. Most of her makeup was sparkling and matched with her acrylic nails.

-

You stood outside of the club, the neon sign flashed in your eyes, cars drove swiftly past. You and your band walked in the door getting ready to set up. You were glad to get in from the chilly weather as it was freezing this time of night.

Once everything was set up the lights slowly flashed a nice shade of pink and purple as music started to play. You couldn’t help but notice a lady in the background talking to a man. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

She suddenly turned around and looked directly at you and a slight smirk appeared on her face along with a wink. ‘Had you imagined that’ you think to yourself, but you must have been so lost in thought that you didn’t even realise your band mate was now aggressively taping you. “Get it together Y/N, we might actually get payed this time” they whisper to you.

For several months you and your band have been playing at college gigs and not one single penny. You had lost hope this was gonna be the last time you ever play with your band at all before you leave. No money, no job barely any food it was awful.

It was a shame you did really enjoy being up on stage but there was no way you would manage to pay bills. Your apartment was atrocious anyway.

The whole thing went surprisingly well although the whole time you couldn’t take your eyes off of the dark haired lady that was now dancing on the pole.

Once the gig was over and everything was packed up some of your band members started to head out. You were just about to go when all of a sudden a hand lightly grabbed your shoulder. “So you must be the guitarist” they said, noticing the guitar hanging around your shoulder. You turned around and realised it was her. “Yeah I am” you answered not really knowing what to say. “You got a real smooth melody going on” the dancer spoke in a quiet tone, seductive even. “Thanks really appreciate it” Now you were face to face with her you could see how stunning she was.

She then spoke “I’m Ani, you?” Her smile widened as you blushed suddenly becoming shy. “Y/N”, you muttered. “Nice name, why don’t we get a private room to ourselves” Ani says, you nod and let her take your hand.

“First time here I guess?” She asks seductively while caressing her hands all over your breasts. “You guessed right” but before you could say anything else Ani pushed you onto a couch.

“Just lay back and enjoy baby”

-

It had been a couple of weeks but you hadn’t heard from Ani at all it was clearly just a spur of the moment, but what did you expect however she done it for free?.

You quickly pushed that thought away for now and got ready to go on stage. Things were going well enough and finally our band started getting recognition.

More crowds started arriving making their way to the little venue. We still were performing at small gigs in bars or usually clubs but it yet you grow nervous. “What are you going to do if you get famous one day?” You thought now getting angry “Yeah right”, sighing you slowly walk onstage.

The stage was very little since it was only a jazz club however it still managed to look spacious . Lights were a mixture of red and orange making it seem warm, Hushed chattering filled most of the room. On stage it was dim but you could just make out people in the audience.

While playing all you could think of was Ani, Ani, Ani! She drove you crazy. From one of the nearby tables you could see a lady by herself though that wasn’t uncommon but for some odd reason this intrigued you.

Ani could only focus on you the whole time, she didn’t mean to disappear from you but she got nervous . She sighed hoping that you would notice her. It had been a bad couple of days or even weeks she couldn’t tell anymore. Imaging a more better life preferably with you kept Ani positive.

She moved closer so she was more in the light cause she seen you looking in that direction. You closely look once more and immediately your eyes lit up.

After the performance was over you scurried down the stage, heart racing like never before running towards Ani. You paused when you got to the table, a small smile appeared on your face however still quite confused also maybe annoyed. “What are you doing here?” Ani stood up, “I came here to see you” she answered “look I’m sorry for disappearing like that from you, I knew from the first time that I seen you I had to get to know you . You don’t need to accept my apology but I just wanted you to know that I love you even though it has been a short time. Thinking of you kept me happy and I hope you feel the same.”

She took a deep breath out clearly feeling better after getting that off her chest . You blink not knowing what to think, the apology made your heart flutter . She looked up at you with a shy look on her face, nervously waiting for you to speak. You sigh and place an arm on her shoulder, “I forgive you” you say.

There was a feeling between the both of you. In that moment you knew you had to go for it. Slowly you leaned closer and gently grabbed her waist while lips touched. Ani’s lips felt soft as silk you never wanted to part from it and her scent was intoxicating.

Finally parting lips, warmth blossomed in Ani’s chest as did yours. They both smiled at each other feeling calmer than ever.

[chdarling]

Hi CH Darling!

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much your books have meant to me. Over the years since you started publishing TLE1 and TLE2, I’ve gone through some really difficult times, losing both my parents after a long illness. It might sound silly, but reading about James’s grief over his father’s illness and Lily’s loss after the accident resonated with me deeply. I felt seen in a way I didn’t expect, and your books made the grieving process so much more bearable.

I want you to know that I’m doing really well now, but I have to admit—I cried and cried when you dropped that TLE3 spoiler about James and Lily talking about death. That one hit hard!

I absolutely adore you, and I’m beyond excited for the third book. I just know it’s going to be spectacular. I also wanted you to know that I don’t think you realize just how much happiness you’ve brought to so many people—including me.

Sending you all my love ❤️

I had to sit with this ask for a little while before responding because it elicited such a strong emotional response in me (in a nice way!). The first time I read it, I sat down on my couch and just sobbed (again, in a nice way!). I am still in a mental place these days where I feel like I struggle to effectively wrangle my words around the thoughts I want to convey, but please bear with me as I try.

First of all, I am so, so sorry about your parents. That is such a heavy loss to bear. It doesn’t sound silly to me at all to turn to stories in times of suffering (this is why TLE exists in the first place, to be honest), and I am so profoundly honored to have been able in a small way to sit with you through this grief.

I have been feeling very useless and alone lately in the face of everything happening in my country and the world. I won’t go deeply into that, but I’ve spent a lot of time unhealthily and somewhat brutally interrogating myself over what can I even do to combat all of this, when the only thing I know HOW to do is write my stupid little stories? And what good does that do anyone, really? In the face of a fascist takeover, a burning planet, a lingering (and looming) pandemic, an intolerable onslaught of grief and loss, what is the point or value of my fuckin’ Harry Potter fanfiction? Of art at all? Of me?

This message — and all the messages people have been sending me lately — really helped to remind me what the point is. It’s connection. It’s communion.

Grief is an uneven road — it bends and forks and often loops back upon itself — but it is a road that all of us will one day walk. The point of art, I think — be it poetry or novels or a fuckin’ HP fanfiction — is to make sure that we do not have to walk it alone. Thank you for letting me walk with you, and thank you for telling me about it. It made me feel less useless and alone.

I cannot thank you enough for that. ❤️

Annnnnd I’m crying again. (In a nice way!!!!!!)

[bellixpog]

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Ultraviolence- Kang Noeul

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pair: Kang No-eul × F!Reader

context: part.2 of my other imagine

warning: hair pulling, bad word (just one sentence), possessive and obsessive jealousy

words: 4,5k

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Two weeks passed. No-eul watched you walk past the store every morning, heading to the café in front of the clothing store, with only a road separating the stores. No-eul noticed that you worked there, simply because you came in at the same time as her, and left work half an hour after her. As soon as she noticed this, she started to leave work in a hurry and go to your cafe, sitting at the tables in the back, watching you work, every move you made. Everything watched by her. She also noticed that you hated your boss, because every time she spoke to you, you would give a fake smile and turn away, rolling your eyes. She loved watching you. It was, however, one afternoon that you finally noticed the woman.

You recognized the face, but you couldn't remember where it came from. Ignoring that, you walked over to the girl, smiling slightly. "Hi... Would you like to order something?" You asked, with your notepad and pen in hand. No-eul smiled slightly and replied, "A chocolate donut and a black coffee, please." You nodded, writing down the order. Before leaving, you looked at the girl and analyzed her, "You work at the store in front, don't you?" You ask, tilting your head slightly. No-eul's smile widens and she nods. "Yes, that's me." You bite your lip, smiling and letting out a nasal laugh. "What is your name?" "No-eul...And yours?" No-eul asks, leaning slightly over the table, curious "Min-young..." You answer and No-eul analyzes you "Nice name... It suits you" You blushed and smiled shyly "Your order will arrive soon"

You say, and head to the counter, still slightly red from the woman's compliment. She exuded a confidence you had never seen before, it was like nothing affected her. It both delighted and frightened you, in a way. You left it aside, starting to prepare the order for No-eul, and other pending customers. You just needed to finish those last few orders and your shift would be over, and you would finally go home to see your little dog, Molly. A sigh left your mouth when you realized your shift was over. You took off your apron and let down your hair, looking around the space, noticing that No-eul was still there, sitting on the same place. "We're closing... Do you need anything?" No-eul raised her head and smiled, standing up. “To take a girl home, if she accepts…” You raised your eyebrows in surprise, and lets out a nasal laugh, grabbing your coat. "I don't think she sees any problem with that..." You say, and No-eul smiles, walking towards the door. "Ladies first." She says, opening the door and making room for you to leave. You smile shyly, stepping out the door, waiting for No-eul.

We can say that these little "dates" were repeated for two months. No-eul was amazing to you: She wrote you letters by hand, your Fridays were spent at a restaurant you both liked, and your Saturday and Sunday mornings were lazy, with No-eul's wet kisses on her neck and shoulder. You noticed No-eul's jealousy. The shape bit the inside of her cheek whenever she saw you talking to someone she didn't know who it was - that is, everyone - This slight possessiveness was something you happily accepted, and sometimes ignored. The request for a date was not something surprising, after all, you were actually being treated as a married person. Over time, there were some things that bothered you a little.

No-eul started to get more jealous, checking her phone every day, even asked you to change jobs so she could "spend more time with you". She even tried to hire someone to walk your dog Molly so you wouldn't have to leave the house, but giving up your dog was not in the cards. Over time, things got...intense. One day, you were putting on your coat, getting ready to take Molly for a walk, when you felt No-eul grab your hair, pulling you back. You groaned in pain, and No-eul rested your head on her shoulder, and whispered in your ear "Where the fuck are you going, Min-young?" No-eul whispered in your ear, she seemed calm, but to you, who knew her quite well, you knew that there was anger in that whisper.You didn't have to say anything: Molly appeared, and barked, wagging her tail. No-eul understood and let go of her hair and took Molly's leash "I'll go with her, babe. You stay." No-eul said wearing her coat. It wasn't the first, nor the last time that his displays of love were a little... rough, so to speak. But every time she hit you, or pulled your hair, it was like a kiss. A real kiss of love. That's how you knew she loved you, in her own way.

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a/n: that one is so small, someone kill me, please

THAT'S IT BABIES, I'M ALREADY WRITING THE NEXT ONE

Hope you liked it, xoxo!

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[jessconsumesmedia]

Ghosts 4x10 The Not-So-Silent Partner

I thought that I might put together a well-organized piece of writing for this episode, but who knows how that is actually going to work out. I LOVED this episode and I have so many thoughts (many of which I am thinking about giving their own posts) So buckle in and enjoy my wild ranting about fictional characters.

Freaky Spoilers below the belt (they are so not i promise i just think im funny)

Overall thoughts: This episode was Really strong. I loved both of the main plots as well as the little background moments. The stories this season are building up gorgeously and I can't wait to get more payoffs as the season progresses. Pretty much as always I am just going to break up A and B stories and then add any other random bit at the end! (buckle up or leave this is going to be a long ride)

Issac - The not-so-silent partner

I love Issac and his bitchy little attitude; it brings us back to the fact that almost always his bitchyness* is just who he is. He is at heart a bitchy man who is realllllly trying (at least for him he is really trying) but he is also a deeply scorned man. By love, by society, by Hamilton, and even by his friends. The restaurant is his way of being seen, it is his way of being something in an afterlife where he feels like nothing sometimes. He of course is not going about it the right way but this guy has spent his entire life and afterlife being one upped often by people who don't even care about his existence. His hand in the restaurant is important to him. That being said I believe it was a really good decision to have him give up his partner position. He not only realized that he has stakes with his friends but it also is baseline Jay's restaurant.

Jay deserves to have the creative decisions plus he deserves a billion pats on the back for dealing with their eight idiot children/every other ghost on the property at some point. At the beginning of this episode I figured there might be a lead up to Mark finding out about the ghosts but I was surprised with the way they yes/anded their way out of that situation. But I realized it doesn't make a ton of sense for a network tv show to somewhat reveal two big bits (and subsequently lose a layer of jokes even if there are new joke possibilities) Mark finding out that the ghosts exist and Sam can see them takes away the Mark thinks Sam is a weirdo vibe and that is objectively a very silly dynamic. Also **Sam is a weirdo but mostly because of her small/odd family dynamic and also a little bit because of the ghosts. Poor Mark, bro is so gullible.

**"I think we sometimes forget that Samantha once hit her head really hard." definitely not the reason she is desperate for family but it is a good excuse actually for a lot of the situations she finds herself in. But also I wonder if she does have lasting effects, like I would assume considering she was literally dead for three minutes.

*"Issac complain about monarchy, must be day ending in y" oh Thor you are a comedic genius and you are very correct.

Hopefully I got everything I wanted to put in that lol.

IRISH HETTY

Holy shit. I knew, of course I knew. But having confirmation of something that hits you straight in the face is just really nice. This reveal is perfection. Poor Hetty believing whole heartedly that she is somehow British royalty and then she gets hit with one of the things she hates most in life. Love it. This managed to coincide with my English literature class going over a bit of Irish history so I was having a grand time sticking the two together into one big nerd pb&j. Plus I know generally that I have a good chunk of Irish somewhere in my history lol.

The actual implications of Hetty knowing she is Irish now are insane. Much like her encounter with the washing machine, dalliances with Trevor, and brief run ins with feminism, her finding out about her Irish ancestry is just another wall she is breaking. Almost like a another layer that is keeping her from "the real world." She is so stuck in her very stuffy uptight ways but these giant -for her- moments keep happening. They keep adding cracks and craters to the layers of her being. Much like Issac they don't change her fundamental elements so she is still the sam character/person but she has that growth we long to see. Mostly I love to see her views get challenged and she has to deal with the aftermath of those challenges.

Thor's part in all of this is also really interesting. We know he knows things about probably all of the ghosts but he has managed to keep these secrets for an incredibly long time. Thor is just a big guy who loves and cares about his friends. There is also another layer of Hetty being one of, if not, the only ghost who Grew up at Woodstone. The ghosts before her had an attachment to her because they were there for her whole depressing backstory TM. They know what all she went through (some stuff they probably have never said) But Thor specifically fell into some sort of protective figure for her (even if she didn't consider him as that protector for a long time after her death) Whether Sass and Issac just chose not too be as involved or even if they were Thor was there and chose to be there. He knew being Irish would be a huge crack in her worldview so he kept it to himself all to protect her. And let me tell you that made me cry. The Thor and Hetty relationship is one of my favorites not only because of the comedic aspects but also just the sheer care he has for her. She can't do much besides accept her friend and even affirm that friendship. (HETTY LOVE GORDON) Like guys she doesn't even say his pelts are gross and nasty it is such a huge moment for the both of them. They have to feel real life feelings which is a problem for them both, and as they tap into those feeling they are able to settle each other.

Trevor's part in this is smaller but it is still Very much there. He is quick to affirm that he loves St. Patrick's day. Quick to let her believe that her ***"Flaming red hair and alabaster skin" aren't particularly Irish traits. He stays by her side nearly all episode. Yet he was delighted to find out that she was in fact Irish, but he didn't make fun of her? Their whole relationship is based off of their conflict wouldn't he as the little shit that he is want to crowd her with snide witticisms? No he wouldn't. Their relationship genuinely makes me feel insane sometimes because we are clearly moving towards some sort of impasse. Whether its that we find out they have been getting closer but are just friends still or if they have been secretly hooking up off camera or any number of possibilities. There are choices being made that bring them together. Trevor likes Hetty's qualities simply put and Hetty apparently Loves Colin Ferrell who in many ways favors the pantless crusader. (He also uses that tone of voice that it seems like he literally saves for Hetty) I just cant wait to see more of their "complicated and diabolical" relationship.

***Now Trevor explain why you said that with a sarcastic air but at the same time plausible enough that Hetty would probably take it at face value. Plus why was he so poetic in his descriptions???

I believe that I have written what I can about Hetty but also I probably could think of other things lol.

Miscellaneous

Pete is such a good teacher. I love that he shows Hetty a bunch of Irish things.

"This man has plans for someone and I for one respect it" How even would he execute that plan lol?

If they wanted to take Issacs money I really think all they'd have to do is ask Trevor. He wants to be Mom and Dad's favorite.

Doctor Hoo

"No, baby, that was the scam."

Kelsey is so real for the gift card and seven dollars lol. (She is hilarious and a really good person to bring back)

Gaslight that poor man

Also Hetty looking too Trevor to calm her fears like she could have asked anyone in that room and she chose him.

Rebecca Wisocky the woman that you are. The line read on that bit about Whiskey is Hilarious.

I love Pete and his love of the craft. The improv your way out really worked I am curious if it could come up again somehow with Mahesh and Mark.

I love Jay that is the tweet hit send

"Except for Danes who brains are rumored to be mostly cabbage" He just can't get past his own prejudices.

That is the end of my very long rant sesh! Thanks for sticking around

He is down bad

I just like how for most of the scene she can’t look him in the eyes :((((

-Jess🫡

[amandom08]

My 65 year old sex goddess.

I used to meet my friends in the evening now and then. Kind of fun but we did nothing. Talked some gibberish and fun stuff. But we mostly meet at a friend's apartment's common terrace. It's a lovely, quaint place. Although there were a lot of residents in there, no one used to bother us. We had the entire terrace for us.

I first saw her in the doorway, while taking the stairs. She is 65 but very pretty and a total bombshell. Lovely big knockers and a perfectly big complementing ass. She's quite tall, which further accentuated her physique.

She has a cute barely noticeable paunch and a very pretty face, long shiny( grey and black combo) hairs and juicy butt lips like that of a newlywed. She saw me ogling her busty figure and face. An overall beauty, she gave me the eye. I smiled at her instead of showing fear or feeling guilty.

Then i went on my way, not paying heed to her later expressions. I met my friends on the terrace. i asked the guy about her whereabout in the apartments. Then he told me, she's a retired high school principal and that too in a school with a very good reputation.

This immediately surged blood into my loins. Not only is she bat-shit-CRAZY attractive , but she also got the brains. I made up my mind that I would shoot my shot with her, irrespective of the outcome.

A leap of faith driven by lust and a void inside me to be filled and quenched. I was quite lucky, little did I know that she felt a strong attraction towards me too. After a few days, I saw her again. This time, in close confines, I met her on the lift.

She was carrying a baby, later I came to know it was her grandson. i had an hard erection seeing her in such close quarters and wanted to taste her lips badly, it was very suffocating. My lust was tangible and she could easily sense it. I was playing with the baby whilst being hypnotized by her tits.

Maybe she realized that she would succumb to my advances. When we got to her floor, she brazenly squished her soft melons on my arms and went out. What a bold and awesome lady embracing her desires so well and quickly.

Now it was my turn to make a move. She stayed with her husband children and grandchildren. But that didn't diminish my confidence and only heightened my desire in a proper euphoric way.

So I stalked her for few days, observed her routine to know when I can approach her without any disturbance. But sadly I couldn't find the opening. But I was to mesmerized by her to give up this easily.

So I went to her flat and rang the bell. Her son opened the gate, I told him I wanted to talk to his mom for admission of my nephew in her school, as she was the ex_ principal . He took me to the hall and made me sit on the sofa.

Sarita was intrigued and pleasantly surprised by my bold actions. She sat with me and we had a nice chat with the undertones of let's fuck but polite, subtle and almost non- existent to others. I got her number and we casually texted each other'

It was surprisingly consistent, but nothing sexual, neither crossed the line. She always evaded anything that even closely alluded to sensual sexual stuff. It was a dead end, she wasn't easy.

So I realised quickly this would never happen on text. I invited her on a date, of course, without it being anything official. I wanted to play coy. So I told her I was writing a piece on school managerial duties or some such crap. She, too, knew it was just an excuse but she agreed to meet me. She lied at home to meet . me so we had the entire day. I didn't know this till later. So we finished the food and talked some pseudo-intellectual nonsense. I basically nodded at everything, not in an agreeable fashion, but like being polite. Maybe she made fine points. But the only thing that kept my attention so transfixed was her gorgeous face and her cleavage. On the way back, I didn't ask her permission and took us on a detour to a nearby lake before I dropped her off. Now, this lake is totally deserted in the late afternoon, I parked the car in a secluded area. We talked for a while, after which I touched her in reassuringly friendly manner, like you do when you chat with close friends. She took my advances. Then i kissed her on the cheeks she stopped talking the sexual tension was very heavy.

This time she kissed me very passionately rough and abruptly saying "you took a very long time to take me out I wanted so badly for this to happen "interrupting the conversation. I stammered a bit but then the fire grew I was touching her everywhere, our tongues swirling, saliva mixing, i started kissing her on her neck and her ears , she was going mad then i turned her around and started kissing her back licking it and biting it marking my territory. Then I took her boobs out slowly caressed them and started giving them a massage , sucked one of her nipples really hard and then did the other , after that i kissed her navel and waist and made it wet it my saliva before biting it . She was highly aroused then i teared her panty with my teeth and dug my face in her lovely pussy , it's fragrance was driving me mad and I sucked her like a madmen, her hands tightened on my hairs and she started pressing my head into her wet cunt which was being devoured by me, I started TOUNGUE FUCKING her like a wild animal after which she climaxed. Then she took down my jeans and started kissing my dick from outside the underwear and then removed it she gave me the greatest blowjob of my life. Then i fucked her bareback beside the lack vigorously kissing her and hearing her moans turned me on more, after each shot the intensity of her moans increasing , the pleasure in her voice was giving me a new level of high which i never experienced before. After making out like wild animals in heat, we both climaxed and I filled her wet pussy with my cum , then she licked and cleaned my dick, while staring at my face. She looked genuinely happy. After that we had sex regularly and enjoyed a lot more steamy and passionate nights.

Friends mature older women are the best .

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