#( or like drama between the two of them at least 8) )

[apaise]

with dani still at the pattons’ beck & call and emily on medical leave ( aka, lounging in bed with pippa and eating bonbons ), cleo ends up tackling the graveyard shift alone. yet she prefers working the odd hours anyway, the desk much quieter with most of the guests either out partying or snoring soundly in their egyptian cotton sheets. she’s able to work on some of the schedule for next month instead -- noting a few vacation requests, and rotating the housekeeping shifts while listening to her favorite podcast. 

as much as this disruption in her sleep cycle would annoy her tomorrow . . . cleo would have to admit there’s a strange peace to working these hours, too. with the lobby hauntingly vacant and the shadows scattering beneath the chandelier, it’s a fitting ambience for listening to weird occurrences. as izzie’s voice hums tales of european horror in cleo’s airpods, she can almost imagine her life is a little more fascinating than streamlining budgets and ordering floral arrangements. with luck, maybe izzie would cover italy one day. 

till then, cleo would return to one of her favorite episodes on the netherlands. she’s deep into one of the interviews with the locals when the phone rings, surprising cleo for the late hour ( and for the rude disturbance of her liminal space ). she answers with the usual emily-mandated professionalism, all while continuing to log away hours in the computer. thankfully, it isn’t a difficult request; room 1608 just needs some more printer paper. cleo supposes it’s nice to know she’s not the only one working hard at this hour. 

grabbing a stack of paper from the back cabinets, cleo heads over to the guest’s room. when she arrives, however -- the door’s already cracked open. it would’ve been ominous if not for the music banging away inside, immediately having cleo question who this guest is and what they’re doing at this hour. but the sooner she delivers the paper, the sooner she can get back to her podcast. cleo knocks on the door, but doubts it’s audible with all the noise ( luckily the walls of the red orchid are thick enough for the guests to party as they like ).

against the nagging emily voice in her head, cleo steps inside, half-expecting the room to be trashed in a sort of rock-and-roll spirit. instead, she finds something much more exhilarating: the wall of the dining room had been completely transformed, decorated in not art but photos of the red orchid staff. cleo included. she would’ve thought she had stumbled on the ramblings of a potential murderer if the picture in the middle wasn’t immediately recognized: adam h. mcleod. he was the man who had been found floating dead in the pool last year, the killer still never identified. 

. . . which means all those red strings connected to his photo are for . . . potential suspects?

right off the bat, cleo can imagine a few who should be eliminated from the list of the accused. herself, of course ( although she’s torn between finding the suspicion insulting or flattering ) and maddy fisher. as hilarious as it would be to interrogate her, maddy doesn’t belong on the wall; her employment schedule doesn’t line up. before she can stop herself, cleo begins unpinning maddy’s string, placing it on the desk with her paper just as the guest enters. she’s much younger than cleo would’ve expected, a twenty-something year old blonde in a sweatshirt. it throws cleo off for a second, but then she jabs a thumb towards maddy’s photo.

❝ i wouldn’t put it past her -- ❞ cleo starts explaining her reasoning for messing with the strings. ❝ -- but she wasn’t working here yet. still in her tiny hometown. ❞ with that covered, cleo’s curiosity now turns to the guest. it’s completely inappropriate for cleo to be intruding on her space like this, but . . .  she’s intrigued. ❝ are you a journalist? ❞ ( @feveredblurs​ )

[alannah-corvaine]

GET TO KNOW THE OC ASKS

1. What kind of person is your OC in a crisis? Are they calm and collected? Do they panic? Or are they chronically the cause?

2. Is your OC a loner or a social butterfly? Are they satisfied with how they come across to other people?

3. What is your OC's financial status? Are they just scraping by, making enough to live comfortably, or wealthy? Has there ever been a drastic change in their status? If so, what happened?

4. Does your OC have a failed friendship or relationship they still think about? What happened? Is it an unresolved regret or is there a chance for reconciliation?

5. Does your OC have a signature weapon and/or attack? How long did they train to master it?

6. Does your OC know magic? Were they born with magical ability or did they train to acquire it? What is their favorite type of magic? Least favorite?

7. Does your OC like their natural hair color or do they dye it? What styles do they prefer?

8. What was your OC's most embarrassing moment? Does it still bother them or are they able to shrug it off?

9. Is your OC laid back or do they thrive on drama? What role do they play in their group of friends/associates?

10. Is your OC sentimental or pragmatic? Do they keep mementos or only what they need to survive? Have they always been this way or did something happen to make them change?

11. What does your OC believe in? God(s)? Monsters? Love? The power of unbreakable bonds of friendship to overcome any obstacle? The ability of money to open any door? Or are they indifferent?

12. Is your OC cynical or optimistic? Who or what shaped their outlook on life?

13. How important are romantic relationships to your OC? Do they prefer casual sex, short flings, or long term relationships? Do they want to get married or are they content with what they have? Or do they have no interest in romance whatsoever?

14. How important is friendship to your OC? Do they prefer to have one or two close friends or a large group of casual friends? Or do they prefer their own company over that of others?

15. What places hold significant meaning or memories for your OC? Do they have a positive or negative association with those places?

16. How does your OC make money? Do they have a respectible profession or work a series of odd jobs? Are they a criminal? Or do they get creative in the pursuit of coin?

17. Does your OC have an enemy? What happened between them? Is it mutual or one-sided? Is it petty or serious? Is one party seeking revenge? Does one person want the other dead or are they content to hate them from afar? 

18. Has your OC ever had a prophecy made about them? Was it a big deal or did they ignore it? Was it straightforward or cryptic? Did it ever come to pass or did they circumvent it?

19. Has your OC ever had an experience with the paranormal or the divine? What happened? Was it a one time encounter or is it a normal part of their life? Did they find it terrifying or thrilling?

20. Has your OC ever done something terrible and lied about it? Did they run away or blame someone else for it? How long did they maintain the lie and did the truth ever come out?

[itacats]

Operation 141: The Family Business

FT: TF141 x gn!reader - Mafia AU

Warnings: mafia themes, stalking, use of the name "sweetheart", please let me know if anything else should be here!🙏

A/N: Welcome to the underground, where secrets are currency and alliances are as fragile as glass. Part 1 of our Mafia AU story is here, ready to pull you into a world of shadowy deals, unexpected loyalties, and high-stakes drama. Step carefully, but don’t look away—you won’t want to miss a thing!

Read Part 2 Read Part 3 Read Part 4 Read Part 5 Read Part 6 Read Part 7 Read Part 8 Read Part 9 Read Part 10

Part 1: The Hidden World

The dim lights of the bar flickered, casting a soft amber glow across worn wooden tables and well-worn stools. The low hum of the jukebox played in the background, mingling with the clink of glasses and the steady hum of conversation. The smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke hung thick in the air, a constant reminder of the bar's gritty charm. This was no high-end joint — just a dive, a haven for the forgotten and those who preferred to keep their lives in the shadows. For years, you’d been part of that rhythm, the steady beat of routine keeping the world at bay, making you feel just detached enough to avoid the spotlight.

And then they walked in.

Members of the 141 Mafia.

For months now, they’d come in like ghosts slipping through the shadows — deadly, enigmatic, and utterly out of place in the world most people knew. To the outside eye, they looked like any other patrons, but the air around them was charged, like a storm perpetually on the horizon. The kind of tension that made you realize they weren’t just men who had seen an unspoken battle, but men who carried it with them, like a weight that could never be set down. But to you, they were just regulars, faces who blended into the dim light like anyone else. At least, that’s what you told yourself.

John "Soap" MacTavish was the first to break the ice. His boyish grin and easy banter disarmed you from the start, making you forget, if only for a moment, that he was part of something darker. He’d sling a joke your way or toss a casual flirtation across the bar, a half-finished beer in hand. His carefree nature seemed almost out of place, but when you caught the flicker in his eyes — a fleeting darkness — you knew there was more to him than the easy charm. He often asked you to stay after closing for a drink, and though you’d laughed it off the first few times, lately, you found yourself lingering a little longer, drawn to the mystery behind his laugh..

Then there was Simon Riley — Ghost. Silent as a shadow, he would plant himself in the farthest corner of the bar, a hood pulled low and that eerie skull-patterned mask always hiding his face. No one dared approach him unless invited, but his eyes, constantly scanning the room, missed nothing. His mere presence sent shivers down your spine, though not from fear — it was something else, something deeper, as though he carried the weight of a hundred lives on his shoulders. Whenever Soap got too close, Ghost’s gaze would darken just a shade, his silent watch never breaking, as though ensuring nothing more than words passed between you two.

John Price was different — a man who exuded authority and a weariness that came with a lifetime of hidden battles. He’d sit at the bar nursing a tumbler of whiskey, sharing stories that sounded more like fiction than fact. 

And then there was Gaz. He brought a breath of fresh air to the heavy atmosphere. His laid-back attitude, the way he could light up the room with a joke or a quick challenge to a game of darts, made it easy to forget that he too was part of this group of regulars. He’d always laugh at your terrible aim, encouraging you despite the fact that you’d never win, but that was the charm of it. He had a way of making you feel like you were in on the joke, like you were part of their world, if only for a moment.

But tonight was different.

The bar, usually bustling at this hour on a Friday night, had grown unsettlingly still. Midnight had come and gone, and the usual hum of late-night laughter and drunken banter was absent. You were meant to take your break, but something gnawed at the back of your mind, keeping you anchored behind the bar. There was a heaviness in the air, a stillness that made you feel like you were standing on the edge of something you couldn’t quite see.

You wiped down the counter, deciding that it’d be better to call your boss and close up  instead of standing around, casting a glance toward the door. Nothing. No one. Even the regulars had slipped away without you noticing. The quiet was unnatural, as if the bar itself had exhaled its last breath. The jukebox continued its soft, haunting melody, the only sound left in the deafening silence. As you reached for a bottle to busy yourself, your fingers brushed against something cold.

A folded piece of paper.

It sat there on the counter, exactly where an afternoon patron had been sitting earlier. Your heart thudded in your chest as you unfolded it, the jagged handwriting making it somewhat hard to read:

"I’ll see you later, sweetheart…"

Read Part 2

Part 1 just scratched the surface of what’s to come! Thanks for taking this first step into the underworld with me. The stakes are only getting higher, and Part 2 will be here before you know it!

[doodler16]

If you asked me during the hazbin hotel pilot era who my favorite character was, it be Alastor 100%. He unironically stole the show with his mystery (if the pilot didn’t have Vaggie lore dump unnecessary I would’ve enjoyed a bit more), personality, voice, charisma, and heck even his design especially his consistent smile intrigued me. Even the way he interacted with the entire cast made me excited.

So what do I think of Alastor now? Alastor to me is a loser, unironically an attention whore in terms of screen time and merch, an egotistical, petty person, and a man child edgelord. He lost most of his mystery and charisma throughout the show (though I will admit I am interested in his backstory but I won’t be surprised if he, himself has daddy issues. And, I did find some of his jokes funny).

The pilot portrayed Alastor as this powerful overlord who didn’t care about his status which made him so unique. He wasn’t gloating about how he’s the radio demon about to end your fucking life. Alastor in the pilot was subtle. At the snap of his fingers he destroys Sir Pentious with no hesitation and no exchange of words. Meanwhile, Alastor in the show has to blab and go this tangent of how sloppy, slow, and unprofessional Adam is only to get his ass handed to him.

Alastor in the show frequently mentions his status and gets pissy when most don’t care that he’s back or straight up not recognize him. Meanwhile, in the pilot you will notice that it’s the opposite, Charlie (the princess of Hell) and Vaggie are freaking out that Alastor is here at their door. It truly shows much power and control presents in the pilot without even trying.

The thing that disappointed me the most was his lack of interaction with the main hazbin squad. It was the driving point of why I was excited for Alastor and how his involvement was going to shake up the hotel for better or worse. Only to find out He barely interacts with them and I’m supposed to “care” when the most of cast members hug and get excited that he is alive in episode 8.

Speaking of the hotel, he barely contributes much regarding the hotel and fucks around. Like I was expecting him to at least help Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm activities for the sinners to do or even take control in his own of how he would handle Angel dust and Sir Pentious. Heck or even go outside with Charlie and Vaggie to promote the hotel to other sinners via singing and cause some drama/mischief along the way. Specifically talking about the hotel, the only things he did was do the commercial, fix the walls, and protects the hotel twice. But That’s it.

As I mentioned earlier, Alastor is an attention whore in terms of stealing the spotlight in the actual show and being in most episodes, which may be good for Alastor fans. They got the full course meal but Vivziepop needs to focus on other undeveloped main characters who desperately need the attention and development. Which why Alastor should be used sparingly, this would also make the audience more interested with him and creates more mystery.

For example: Episode 5, Dad Beat Dad: you would think the episode would focus on Charlie and Lucifer’s relationship which it does for a small portion but we also gotta have Alastor in there so he could drop the biggest F bomb to Lucifer to show that he means business and hatessss him. We also gotta dedicate a 2:30 minute song duet between the two men having a pissing contest, along with our home girl Mimzy being a plot device/prop for Alastor in order to HYPE HIM UP and tell his origins. Because Alastor soooo mysterious and such a hunkkkk. Oh yeah, Charlie is there I guess…

Also, Alastor’s smile in the show bothers me personally, more specifically the way it’s drawn. It’s to jaded and sharp, so it’s pretty obvious to tell how he feels and emotions Alastor goes through. Meanwhile, in the pilot his smile and energy is so goofy and I miss that. That really added to mystery because not only keeps you on your toes but you don’t know what’s on his mind for the most part or his long term goal.

This is by far my longest post and I wanted to get this off my chest regarding Alastor. 😭

[physalian]

10 Character Dynamics the World Needs More of

Me handing out character dynamics like free samples at the Mall Food Court: “Take one! Or two! You’ll love it!”

I don’t care how many times these tropes have been done – write more of them. Write all of them. Fill out your author bingo card one by one.

1. “No one gets to kill you but me, Old Friend”

This. Right here. Primo rival content that I *live* for. All the juicy history between two old frenemies, the character drama, the backstory, the titillating unknown of what drove these two to rival status, bitter enemies that respect the heck out of each other, to the point that hell hath no fury should one get knocked down without the other’s consent.

And, of course, the moment where it seems all bets are off, when the rival comes to save their ass only to hand it back to them at a later date. The angst! The shipping fodder! Need I say more?

2. A bigger, badder villain, and their minion

You, reader, spend countless hours hating the guts of the big bad villain. They’re evil, they’re vile, they’re sadistic, heartless, irredeemable bastards. They killed your favorite character for shock value. The big bad moustache-twirling antagonist… is actually not the biggest fish in the story.

Either they’re coerced into doing evil as a puppet of the Bigger Bad, a tragic villain in their own right, or they have some reservation, some line even they won’t cross, someone else’s boots they have to kiss, someone who features in their nightmares, as they feature in the heroes. They end their stories dispatched without a thought by the Bigger Bad, or redeem themselves in death by taking out their masters. It never gets old.

3. A leader and their lancer: besties

You know what’s better than leaders and lancers who have zero faith in each other and are constantly bickering about who should be in charge? Leaders and their right-hands who adore each other (platonically). They have each other’s backs, they know each other’s greatest strengths and weaknesses and are each other’s perfect covers.

They can communicate with looks and vague gestures alone, they compliment each other’s flaws and misgivings, build up the rest of the team when they’re down on their luck, and should misfortune strike either, they pull out all the stops and show off exactly why they’re not to be trifled with, so that even the villain is afraid.

4. “I don’t even know who you are”

Oh, but you will. This one twists the knife, robbing the avenging hero of the importance in this world they’re desperate to maintain. They are their own hero, the sun revolves around them… but not to this one asshat that ruined their life and doesn’t even remember doing it.

An entire identity built upon the finding, fighting, and overcoming of this wrongdoer, every other goal in life cast aside for this one impossibility. Either the villain toys with the hero to make them irate, or gets suckerpunched by some pissant fueled by vengeance and spite and divine purpose to dole justice where justice is due.

6. The jaded badass and their naive ward

If the last 8 years of media is anything to go by, we still love this trope, whether it’s in a galaxy far, far away or a fungi-zombie post-apocalypse, or in the twilight hours of an era of legendary mutants. The best part of this trope? You get two often contradictory character types in one body. The pessimist, PTSD-ridden master of old with no living friends left and at least one dead love interest *and* beneath all that, still lies an atrophied heart of gold just waiting to be nurtured and revived.

The naive ward gets a hard lesson in how crappy the world can be, but also in how there’s still some goodness left, if their guardian cares about them. The jaded badass in turn, learns how good the world can be, that there’s something still worth fighting for beyond the next bottom of a bottle.

6. The enemy of my enemy (is my friend)

Similar to the “old friends”, this trope is often a result of the minioned Big Bad realizing they don’t want to be evil anymore. Or, bitter old rivals, sides of a war that have been fighting for generations, ideological polar opposites, fundamental polar opposites all come together when: Some evil schmuck managed to scare them both.

Doesn’t matter on what shaky ground this temporary alliance is built, or how long it lasts, equally-competent badasses on both sides finally work together and compliment each other’s strengths, and compensate for their weaknesses, in a way their teammates never could.

7. The irredeemable villain’s only wholesome connection

Not so irredeemable anymore, now are they? This trope messes with your head, taking a character you know has done heinous acts of terror, but who cares unflinchingly, unabashedly, about one thing – either their lover, their pet, their relative, or their kid.

This exists independently of the heroes and is not the same as an “oops I guess I’m your father” reveal. I’m talking this character who everyone is convinced cares about nothing and no one but themselves and their ambition still has a place in their soul for something they want to protect, they want to be loved by, or that they must spare from their atrocities.

8. Platonic Heterosexual Friendships

These two have seen each other at their most vulnerable. They’ve shared fears, dreams, desires, know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets. They’ve seen each other exhausted, frazzled, dressed up, dressed down, bloodied and broken and like a raw, open nerve. These two would die for each other, they would live for each other, and yet.

They’re not in love with each other. They’re wholly comfortable in each other’s spaces without lust and desire mucking up the atmosphere. Neither is the one, neither wants to be the one. They remain together not for the bonds of romance, but for the bonds of friendship, and nothing could be stronger.

10. The Ace and their best friend, the Self-Proclaimed Slut

These two respect the f*ck out of each other. One never mocks the other for lacking desire and in return, they’re never mocked for their promiscuity. They’ll never walk in each other’s shoes, but they don’t need to, to understand that’s just how some people are. They’re each other’s safest spaces when the world doesn’t take either of them seriously.

They’re each other’s biggest defenders against the bullies, presumers, the holier-than-thous who think they have it all figured out. They’re the perfect compliment to give advice on everything from relationships to the best outfits for an outing because there’s *zero sexual tension* between them. Or, maybe, if the stars align, they’re something more.

10. The redeeming villain, and their staunchest skeptic

This villain has lost everything – their home, the respect of their people, their worth, their evil ambition, their identity, and has begun working their way up from rock bottom doing everything in their power to show the heroes that they’re serious. They make amends, they break their bones proving themselves, they’ve swayed everyone they’ve wronged in the hero camp.

Except one. The one character that was probably their first defender, and got burned for it. The character that was naive enough to think this villain could be saved, and was wrong. The character that won’t be duped again without some serious drama and soul-bearing between them.

Now tell me which ones I missed!

[pharawee]

I usually don't do yearly recaps because my memory sucks December is one of the busiest months for me and I'm lucky if I get to gif at all but this year I thought I'd take a look at all of the gifsets I did in 2024 and see which shows, pairings and moments I liked the most.

✨FAV BLS OF 2024

1000 Years Old: 2024 was supposed to be the year of vampire BL (going by all the announcements and pilot trailers) but in the end only this one aired (edit: wait, I forgot about OMG! Vampire to protect myself 🥴) - and it was neither spicy nor particularly spooky. Instead, it was all heart and quirkiness and when it was over I cried for a week because of the bittersweet ending.

Playboyy: This show is truly a masterpiece, with layers of subtext and social commentary. Also, it's fun and camp and sexy and ridiculous. I'm so glad it's going to get a second season.

Caged Again: How come that a little show about a penguin and a panther is legit one of the best - if not THE BEST - Thai BL of the year?

Knock Knock, Boys: I came for Best and Seng and Pak but then Almond and Latte bewitched me body and soul. Kongthup now owns me.

Every You, Every Me: I don't know what I was expecting (well, okay, a whole lot of Mick & Top - which is exactly what I got) but it surely wasn't crying my eyes out for two episodes right in the middle of the show.

Spare Me Your Mercy: Long awaited and currently still airing - I actually love this show a lot because it reminds me of all the detective dramas (esp Endeavour and Grantchester) I used to binge. Morse but make it queer is actually all I ever wanted.

7 Days Before Valentine: This show's depth and artistry and stageplay-like character absolutely blew me away.

I Saw You in My Dream: WeTV absolutely blew it out of the water this year with their many diverse productions, and this unassuming and charming little show with a supernatural twist (love me one of those!) was no exception.

Monster Next Door: Big Thanakorn in his first main role with his first acting partner in an extremely fun and all around lovely Kongthup/WeTV production. And I just love how nuanced it was when they could have just stuck with the whole introvert/extrovert cliché.

✨FAV PAIRINGS OF 2024

Hope x Save (Jack & Joker): These two completely took me by surprise, especially because I had such an intense reaction to Pee Phiravich's character in La Pluie. I had originally set my eyes on PromMark and while I definitely ate up their crumbs, HopeSave just checked all of my boxes: morally grey antagonists (at least for a while there), doomed by the narrative (until they actually got their happy ending, yay!) and ride and die for each other.

Pete x Kenta (Pit Babe): I'll be a PeteKenta truther until the day I die (see all of the checkboxes above), and if Change2561 didn't subscribe to the branded pair model, they'd agree with me. As things are I'm actually kind of meh about Pit Babe 2. I bet KentaKim won't have knives at each other's throats!! (PeteWay is delicious though.)

Prom x Nont (Playboyy): Uhhh, that's a lot of the same checked boxes. So maybe I have a type. Thanks 2024 for making me realise. Also, I hope these two make each other worse in season 2 (before they get their HEA because ultimately I'm vanilla like that).

Latte x Almond (Knock Knock, Boys!): Oh God, these two. I was prepared to be ride or die for Thanwa and Peak but then LatteAlmond barged in with a pink sex toy and it was over for me. They just have so much heart and so much sincerity between them (and while their dynamics are different in Caged Again I'm really enjoying Nokia and Jaonine there too for pretty much the same reason + their incredible comedic timing).

X x Namping (Every Me, Every You): It's probably a good thing we got these two for two episodes only because we might not have survived a whole 8 or 10 or even 12 episodes of them. Plus, the anthology-like character of the series made a sad ending possible in the first place, and I really appreciate it - even if it almost destroyed me.

✨FAV MOMENTS OF 2024

Twins: For a moment there we had FrameRyan and it was beautiful.

The Sign: Chalothorn stole the whole show for me and then when he inexplicably vanished I kind of stopped watching. Whoops.

Deep Night: I have seen the throuple light thanks to SeijiPanKen.

The Rebound: Frank Thanatsaran's acting (but also that scene...) overshadowing pretty much everything else (and now he's with Star Hunter which... you know... ehnnnn 🥲)

To Be Continued: Fluke Pongsapat and Junior Khajbhunditt starring in a way underrated 8-episode netflix show with one of the most beautiful love scenes ever, and I've been wanting more of them ever since.

Two Worlds: Kongthup giveth and Kongthup taketh away (aka for one and a half episodes I had Phupha and Khram and now I will never know peace).

Century of Love: Offroad Kantapon as a sultry fox spirit.

Sunset x Vibes: When Star Hunter remembered Fong and JJ exist and then they stole the whole entire show (there really wasn't much to steal though...).

The Sign: Whatever was going on between Heng Asavarid and Nat Sakdatorn in this scene BUT I NEED MORE (pls Idolfactory I'm begging you release Heng from his solo actor prison).

Two Worlds: Kongthup choosing violence by giving Pak and Mon one of the spiciest love scenes of the year.

The Rebound: THESE TWO (boxes checked!! But also I need more Nammon in my life).

Kidnap: GMMTV's strategic placement of Papang in a suit.

The Hidden Moon: Whenever that tiny low-budget show got surprisingly deep and artsy (and also spicy).

My Stand-In: When I watched a whole show for one (1) character that wasn't really a character at all. Oh, the tragedy of it all (and yes, I'm still scared of Ming).

Pit Babe: When I made several posts about the Pit Babe novel but then I actually ended up loving the villains more than the main characters. I'm watching Pit Babe 2 for them and them only. Winner of my heart here I come!

Aaand that's it, my first ever yearly (Thai) BL recap - which actually ended up way longer than planned (guess my memory isn't as bad as I thought. Then again, I had my gifs to fall back on).

2024 was an amazingly diverse year for Thai QL (along with the wonderful news of marriage equality in Thailand finally becoming a reality) and looking back I now realise (not that I was ever seriously worried) that gmmtv's monopoly is actually way more of a blessing than a curse because not only did it cause WeTV to heavily invest in their own productions, it also leaves more than enough room for innovation and creativity via smaller and indie companies (along with the truly big players finally paying more attention - see: Spare Me Your Mercy). Innovation which in turn enriches gmmtv's portfolio as well (judging by their line-up for 2025 the years to come). In short: the Thai BL ecosystem is truly thriving.

And with that, may 2025 be even queerer than 2024 with tons of marriage proposals and actual marriages (PorschArm here we go!), and a favourite little (or in gmmtv's case not so little lmao) BL niche for everyone.

I hope you had as much fun with BL in 2024 as I had. I really appreciate everyone's commentary posts and meta and fanart and gifsets and tag games and reaction posts, even if I didn't spend as much time on my dashboard this year as I wanted to. I'm so glad tumblr BL fandom exists. ILU guys. Only the bestest and kindest things for you in 2025!🌈✨

[lovl3igh]

"they made greens worse in show to push blacks agenda" "they made blacks worse in show to push green agenda" truth is they made daemon and viserys worse and greens are now arouse sympathy and rhaenyra is made more soft and all that destroys mostly female characters and is for more drama and to push whole tg vs tb thing for bigger marketing while saying that's not what we supposed to do (season 1)

and yes, greens are worse in the books, making alicent innocent in the beginning and stating murder of luke as accident was to make them look better. and yes daemon was more "grey" character in the book, while in show almost every scene who was supposed to make him look like good father, husband or just vulnarable guy was cut out or belittled, his relationships make him look like bad guy - killing rhea, admitting to not fully loving laena, abusing nyra - instead of book!daemon who is against everyone but his family (except of green side), there's show!daemon who goes against his family or ignore its' members. and yes there are things when the greens are shown worse than in the books and black better than they were written

but changing ages of characters harms team black only. and since there's many changes of those and that's of many important characters it DOES make team black look worse and makes team green victims

1. alicent instead of being adult woman going against little girl (alicent 18yo and rhaenyra only 9) is now teenager sexually abused by viserys who is even older than her in the show than in f&b. being rhaenyra's peer - and her former friend - also changes the dynamic because now people claim rhaenyra caused break up of their friendship as if she wasn't just suffering 14yo. no, alicent is no more adult woman climbing for power and acting against child, it's a teenager abondoned by her best friend after being force into relationship with much older guy

2. jace, luke and dragon twins aged up - now in book it was 10yo aemond who attacked 3yo joffrey and then fought 4yo luke and 5yo jace*. in the show 11yo (according to s2 timeline) aemond is fighting four kids in the age from 8 to 10. so he doesn't attacks children at least 2x younger than him but is jumped by almost his peers. poor aemond, right?

*before someone say "jace was 6 and luke 5" - jace was born in late 114 AC and luke in late 115, meanwhile laena died at the beggining of 120 AC, which makes them 5 and 4 years old respectively

3. we don't have actual age of twins but looking at actors' ages, jaehaerys and jaehaera were 4, maybe 5 years old, tho in s1 they looked like toddlers. now it's not a big book to show change, 6 to 4yo, but it still look kinda worse to murder boy who barely stopped being a toddler than 6yo

4. daemon fell in love with laena when she was 22 (!!!). she wasn't a teenager. she wasn't also 12yo when offered by her parents to viserys. making her younger in the show made daemon, corlys and rhaenys look worse than in f&b (the only person who looked "better" - there's no good word for that i'm afraid - in that situation was viserys, who decided to marry 15yo and not 12yo. good for you, pedo?)

5. joffrey being 6yo with baby dragon makes rhaenyra look worse and like an oathbreaker. sending baby dragons to the vale instead of dragon who can at very least carry his rider doesn't look cool even though was funny for a second, because she technically didn't break her word, she DID send a dragon, even two, but that was a loophole

6. not exactly the same but - fabien frankel and matt smith' casting. i'm not saying they don't play their characters well or anything. that's not the point. the point is that fabien was born in 1994, matt smith in 1982 and milly alcock in 2000. there's 12 years age difference between fabien and matt but between cole and daemon is supposed to be only a year. now daemon is still called a groomer and cole is not because he is played by a guy only 6 years older than milly. and there are also people who now call him a victim and not rhaenyra

so yeah, i don't really wanna see anymore how much blacks look better in the show than in the book and greens worse... because that's not true. yeah, there are things done that make tb look a bit better but the show started with making the greens victims they weren't at all in the book and a lot of that has to do with ages changing

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

It's december already which just feels insane to me. Christmas is coming which makes me happy but this year went by too fast. Anyway as usual, spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇹🇭 Caged Again [4/10] - Junior is one of my favourite characters. He never learned to deceive so he just says what he feels like it's the most natural thing. And his confidence and optimism are contagious. I love him. And Sun is just smitten and terrible at hiding it so it's a good thing Junior is completely clueless about these things. I'm loving Jodd and Jeng and since they are also animals, I think we're getting more about them next episode. I can't wait. 🇹🇭 Fourever You [9/16] - I am so incredibly bored. They are stretching these two pairs for no reason. They should have just given us the four pairs in 16 eps cause this is torture. 🇯🇵Fragrance You Inherit [3/8] - It's lovely. I love Sakura. I really liked the scene in the restaurant. Sakura talking about being a single mom and Mone being supportive brought tears to my eyes. It was a beautiful moment. I love the relationship between the moms and the kids and I'm curious to see how Toki will react, if he in fact doesn't know already. It's also interesting to think about what exactly parents owe their kids or not, specially regarding something like that. Fansubs being provided by @isaksbestpillow. Thank you🧡 🇯🇵Love in the Air Koi [5/10] - The pacing is so much better here. I agree with @lurkingshan here and the kidnappings will probably be combined somehow. I like the second couple a bit better here than the thai version, but I'm still not the biggest fan of this storyline. Although Fuma is better than Prapai.

🇯🇵 Love is a Poison [11/12] - Shiba is so in love. I always believed, just like Shan, that Haruto was coming back, but it was painful watching Shiba hurt. Only one episode left where they will defeat the bad guy and live happily ever after. I will not accept anything else. 🇯🇵Miseinen [4/11] - Well at least they are 'friends' now. I can't with these two. That ice cream scene was insane and it's burned into my brain. This is a great adaptation and I need all the episodes like right now.

🇹🇭 Perfect 10 Liners [6/24] - PondSand are everything to me basically. I'm so over ArcArm and I need the next couple stat. It looks like this will be another parade of guest stars which is kinda fun and next week Sea will make an appearance along with the always fun jealousy plot which hopefully will end with them being boyfriends so we can move on to the next couple.

🇹🇼 See Your Love [7/13] - The contraste between the couples is hilarious to me. The sign language scenes were the cutest and they are adorable. And this must be a record number of the 'falling into each other's arms and almost kissing but not' trope. No one is that clumsy. The sides are bonkers.

🇹🇭 Spare Me Your Mercy [1/8] - Strong start. I'm reserving judgement but I like the setting a lot, so many MoD vibes, and I like this pair. They can act.

🇹🇭 The Heart Killers [2/12] - I'm watching quietly.

🇹🇭 Your Sky [3/12] - This might be too cute. Teerak is adorably clueless and Fah is so smitten. He came up with that nickname so fast, it's almost as if he's been calling him that in his head for a while. Also, the friend group is amazing at running interference. That scene in the lift was great. And I love the scenes with the Teerak and Babe.

QL - Finished

This is gonna be the quick-fire version cause I'm tired.

🇨🇳 Blue Canvas of Youthful Days - Great until episode 10. Unearned and unbelievable ending. Mostly forgiven because China. 🇰🇷🇹🇭 Eccentric Romance - What did I watch? was it bl? was it a crime drama? No idea, but it was not good.

🇹🇭 Every You, Every Me - Rushed ending but I really liked the bl inside the bl. I wanna see these two again.

🇹🇭 Jack & Joker - YinWar. On my screen. In 2024. Even if it was bad, it was good.

🇹🇭 Kidnap - Proof that Ohm will pretty much get me to watch anything.

🇰🇷 Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo - Pain and snow and happy endings.

🇰🇷 Love in the Big City - As close to perfection as anything I ever watched. Young will stay with me forever.

🇹🇭 Peaceful Property - A mess and also proof that TayNew will get me to watch anything.

🇰🇷My Damn Business - It was fine.

🇹🇼 The Nipple Talk - Mama was a gift.

Others - Watched

🇰🇷 Bad Guy | 🇯🇵Seoul Blues | 🇯🇵Blue Boys | 🇹🇼Marry My Dead Body | 🇯🇵Some Love Begins with Mistaken Identity | 🇰🇷Taming the Bad Boy | 🇰🇷Joseon Chefs | 🇰🇷The History of Us | 🇯🇵 Polyethylene Terephthalate 1 & 2

And continuing my YinWar agenda they just released a song and the video is hilarious.

As usual my ask box is open. Have a wonderful week💜

[kyoteugly]

If not Buddie, why Buddie shaped? #2

Following my theory that season 7 and 8 are new seasons 1 and 2 on abc, where the writers revisits the big events from character’s pasts and retells them (you can read it here) I want to look closer at new episode 8x06 “Confessions”.

This is all fresh in my mind, I watched the episode like 4h ago, there is a chance I’ll miss something.

Like I said, I think we’re going to see at least 4 more big moments revisited (or rather the emotional state those events invoked) from previous seasons before Buddie goes canon. Kitchen scene, well, will and shooting arc. And one of those happened in this episode! But also so many other things! 

EDDIE:

Starting with Eddie in the confessional. I can’t help but see his fight club era here (call me bias, I love season 3 Eddie so much!). An attempt to find a healthy outlet to his emotions. He’s struggling and fighting with his inner demons, this time instead of rage it’s sadness and loneliness. 

And he is doing it with an outsider's help. Father Brian is like Lena Bosko. Why Lena and not Frank? I think Eddie would just shut on therapy at this point. He needs someone to talk to, someone with opinions and advice, caring enough to want to help but also not afraid to go straight to the point and call his bs - Lena and Father Brian did just that.

Ok. Time to revisit a big event from Eddie’s past - the well. ABC put the call with the little boy trapped in a pipe in episode promo as the red herring. The real purpose of this call was to remind us about the Eddie Begins episode. The important thing from Eddie Begins is that Eddie was alone in the dark pit - and in the end he saved himself. 

So the real connection between those two episodes is not in the call where 118 saves the little boy, but between Eddie coming out from underwater, drawing a deep breath and Eddie shaving a mustache, shedding his mask and dancing, breathing fully again.

sorry for the meme, I'm tired

It’s also interesting that the moment Eddie allowed himself to feel joy Buck knocked at his door.

BUCK:

This one is pretty straight forward. Like I said before, Tommy represents Abby - a transformative relationship - like Buck said himself. The fact that Tommy was engaged with Abby is a really beautiful way to further connect and close both relationships. What leads to the break up from Tommy’s side is also similar. Tommy knows he would fall deeply for Buck, and Abby didn’t come back because she knew she would lose herself in Buck. They were both protecting themselves.

And here is also a little parallel to Ali. Like her, Tommy offers Buck a proper and honest break up, showing maturity, understanding and clear reason why. And yes, Ali was also protecting herself, ending their relationship before they broke each other's hearts.

And one more thing from Buck’s side. The whole Abby thing throws him off. Maddie tells him it’s not a big thing, Josh tells him not to judge Tommy (honestly, Josh’s speech is amazing!) - this calms him down in the end, dating the same woman doesn’t feel awkward anymore. But the questions Josh is asking leave Buck confused. Taking the next step, moving in together - it’s like Buck is trying to prove he really feels those things Josh was talking about (or maybe even compensate for his “freak out”, confirm he’s fully into this relationship). And on some level Buck has those feelings, he cares about Tommy, but more than that, he simply feels he should be on the level Josh suggested and he wants this to work. It’s Buck’s impulsiveness coming to play, an action that causes reaction in a form of big gesture to confirm his feelings - a nod to his relationship with Taylor.

Fortunately Tommy explains those feelings to Buck (and to the audience) in a very kind way. 

Honestly, their relationship (the last two episodes especially) was handled beautifully, without unnecessary drama, without too much spotlight. It started with fireworks, naturally progressed and faded gently.

The cherry on top: Evan meant something more, something special for Tommy. Ending his goodbye with Buck means “we’re friends now”.

BUDDIE:

There are two things here I want to mention.

Ever since Gerrard separated Buck and Eddie this is the episode where we can see them working together as partners again. And this finally wraps up the divorce era.

The ending scene represents different scenes for each of them, ending different arcs.

For Buck the couch scene represents Abby’s comeback in season 3. He watched her ride off in the ambulance with her fiance (with Eddie solid by his side), and later he got closure from her.

For Eddie this scene represents him being embraced by the 118 after he dug himself out from the well. He’s connected again, no longer alone. 

And of course, the most obvious and sweetest thing - it’s the right couch (and they finally drink that beer).

Bonus MADNEY:

Couldn’t help but notice some revisits here.  Maddie’s postpartum depression is addressed very clearly, nothing to add here. During the pandemic Chimney stayed at Buck’s place, afraid to put pregnant Maddie in danger of catching the virus. Something happened on a call that changed his mind, made him overcome his fear and enjoy the future with his family. The same in this episode. But there is a little twist here and it involves brothers. In season 7 the new audience learned about Kevin. Guess who wasn’t yet introduced (and also took care of Maddie during the pandemic)... yes, I believe this season we will see Albert again. 

That’s it for now. Let me know if you want more posts like this. Feel free to contact me if you want some clarification or just to talk.

Tagging some people who may be interested (if you want me to remove you from this post let me know): @buddiebeginz @stagefoureddiediaz @lemotmo @inell

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 12

I've decided that since I have a fair amount of backlog on the three I've been doing WIP Wednesday for, that I'd post some of them to give me time to work on the rom-com AU more.

I recommend going back and re-reading part 11 at least before reading this one to be on the safe side.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

The Fallen boys need a break and Robin and Chrissy meet up with Nancy.

****

Things were going really well in the studio now that they had Bob Newby as their producer and their studio was closer to home so they could live their normal lives and still be in the studio recording.

It was the happiest the band had been in awhile. Which was why Steve should have seen it coming. The dark cloud on the horizon.

Shane was late.

That wasn’t to say that it was out of the ordinary or whatever, but it was now two hours late and Spence was pissed.

“When I get my hands on his scrawny neck,” he hissed. “I’m going to kill him.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “You’re just upset because it’s means you’ll be late for your date or whatever with Nadia. He’ll be here.”

“That’s not true and you know it, Asmodeus,” Spence bit out. “This is the third time this week and yeah, so what if I have a life outside of this, but that’s not why.”

Just then Shane stumbled in. He looked like absolute shit. His clothes were disheveled, his hair was a mess, and he wore dark sunglasses. Clutched to his chest was a large coffee.

“Fuck...” he mumbled as he shambled over to the sofa. He lowered himself gently onto the thing with a stream of curses. “Sorry I’m late, but my hookup last night turned off my alarm.”

He took a long sip of his coffee and rubbed his temple. He had finished most of the coffee when he realized that no one had said a word since he arrived.

The door opened and Bob and Robin entered the room looking more than a little cross.

Shane flashed them a smile. “Uh oh, it looks like I upset both mom and dad. So I was a little late. It happens.”

“But it shouldn’t be happening,” Spence said with a scowl. “This isn’t the first time. Hell, it’s not even the first time this week.”

Shane frowned, setting his coffee on the floor between his feet. He rubbed his temples as he struggled to think back. “That can’t be right, it’s only Monday, right?”

Everyone shared concerned glances.

“Astraeus,” Steve said slowly, “it’s Thursday.”

Bob crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You were late on Sunday, Monday and today, Astraeus.”

Shane stared up at them in open shock and disbelief. “There’s no way!” He pulled out his phone and looked at the date.

“Shit.”

“What’s been going on, man?” Simon asked, concerned for the first time. He hadn’t realized how often it had been and was giving Spence shit for wanting to be with his girlfriend.

Shane shook his head. “I have money for the first time in my life. I mean proper money. My parents always had enough to make sure we got into the things we wanted; sports, drama, music, you name it, but there wasn’t a lot of money to go around after, you know? I had to pay for my college education myself and I just wanted to live a little. Spread the money around, even if I couldn’t tell them what I did for a living, they don’t really care.”

“I can see that,” Robin said. “I think we all breathing easier, regardless of our backgrounds because the money we’re getting has pretty much set us up for life if it all went to shit tomorrow, which I really wouldn’t recommend, by the way.”

Shane let out a huff of breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “I really didn’t mean to go off like that, I’ll cut back to just the weekends. I promise.”

Robin and Bob shared a glance.

“That’s strike one, Astraeus,” Bob said, “I don’t take slackers lightly. You want me to continue to work for you guys, you’ve got to step it up.”

Shane nodded empathically. “Can we have a day off a week though? It doesn’t have to be on the weekend, but this seven days a week is really hard.”

Robin blinked at him a moment. “You guys have been coming every day?”

The band looked around at each and all gave a collective shrug.

She turned to Bob. “Is that your schedule?”

Bob’s jaw dropped and he shook his head. “I only do that if there’s a rush to get the album out, which I understood there wasn’t. I don’t how we got on working every day, but Astraeus is correct they need a day off.”

“What works best for everyone?”

The band worked out a better schedule that worked for everyone with it ending with Bob giving everyone the rest of the week off, giving them strict instructions to talk to him about those sort of things before it got to this point.

Robin clapped her hands once. “Right, now that we’ve got that settled, we’re still meeting up at Abbadon’s for dinner to discuss my meeting with Nancy. My meeting is at three and dinner is at six, so don’t be late.” She glared at Shane and he raised his hands in surrender.

“See you all then!”

****

Robin straightened her wig in her rearview mirror and added more lipstick. She wore special contacts that changed her bright blue eyes to a more common brown color. She was dressed in slim fitting white slacks with a bright pink silk blouse and a black leather aviator’s jacket. She hated wearing these clothes, they just weren’t her. At least she didn’t have to wear high heels to this thing. She would have broken an ankle for sure.

But she would sell her soul to the devil if it meant that Steve got to do what he loved. And it wasn’t as though she didn’t love her job either. But Eddie was right, she was on her last frayed nerve and that wouldn’t do her boys any good.

She slid out of her Maserati MC20 and walked up to the restaurant. The Corroded Coffin’s manager, Chrissy Cunningham was going to be there as a mediator.

Robin hadn’t told Steve this, but Chrissy knew who she was. Not the band, she didn’t know that, but she knew that Celeste Baptiste was Robin Buckley. It was just something Robin felt she needed to know before going in there with Nancy. That she personally had a stake in the game, even if it was just as Steve’s best friend.

Chrissy loved the idea of even their manager having an alter ego and it made Robin feel better about her choice to be someone else.

Robin and Chrissy kissed each other’s cheeks in greeting and Robin sat down.

“She’s not here yet?” she asked, looking at her matching watch.

Chrissy shook her head. “She’s running a little behind. One of her clients blew up the internet last night and she’s been having to play hard ball to keep it from destroying their career.”

Robin leaned in close. “Ooh, do you know who it was?”

“That’s for me to know,” Nancy said from above them, “and for you to never find out.”

Robin looked up at her and was struck on how good she looked. It was almost unfair how good she looked.

She was wearing a grey plaid blazer with the sleeves rolled up over a white button shirt and a black pencil skirt. She wore grey boots and matching sunglasses, glasses she took off with a shake of her dark curls.

Robin gulped. Nancy had been intimidating enough in high school, but now she could stare down a raging bull and come away unscathed.

“Hello, ladies,” Nancy said with a smile. “I’m sorry I was late, but I think I managed a god damn miracle and could eat an entire salad bar.”

Nancy sat down and put her phone in her purse.

“Oh are you vegan?” Chrissy asked as the waiter came up with a pitcher of water. Nancy waved him off and ordered a rosé.

“Just vegetarian,” she said with a shake of her head. “I love cheese too much. Plus, I knew a militant vegan and they scare me.”

Robin laughed. “Couldn’t be me, I went full vegan last year and haven’t looked back.”

Nancy and Chrissy both winced, but for different reasons, Nancy for her comment about militant vegans and Chrissy, well...

“I picked this place because it has the best rib eye steak on the planet,” she said with a grimace. “That’s not going to bother either of you if I order that, right?”

Nancy and Robin shared a glance and then shook their heads.

“My best friend loves steak,” Robin said, “It’s his choice to eat it, I just a have a problem with the ethical consumption of meat and other animal products.”

“Most of my clients eat meat,” Nancy agreed. “I’m not about to piss them off because I don’t like the taste.”

Chrissy relaxed and let out a long sigh. “Great!”

She picked up her menu to hide her embarrassment. A few minutes later, their waiter came back and they placed their orders.

Nancy had ordered a pasta with roasted sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms and Robin ordered a simple salad with a vinaigrette.

As they waited for their food, Nancy got down to business. “So as I understand it, the band The Fallen is looking for an agent to help with the legal and PR aspect of their brand, correct?”

Robin nodded, twisting her napkin nervously. Normally as Celeste, she was cooler under pressure but Nancy scared her. Not because of anything she could do to her specifically, but because what she could do to her boys.

Chrissy reached out and laid her hand over Robin’s fidgeting ones. Robin let out a shuddered breath.

“Normally bands like theirs have teams and teams of people doing all the work,” Robin said, “but with the secrecy surrounding their identities the more people that know the easier it is for a leak.”

Nancy nodded. “It’s certainly not the usual thing. But I’ve got a few clients that are strict about their identities and it wouldn’t be a problem, but as I told Chrissy, I would have know everything about them so that I can do my upmost to protect them.”

“Did you sign the NDA?” Robin asked, straightening her spine. This was something she was good at. Protecting her boys and she would do it with the fierceness of a mother bear and her cubs.

Nancy picked up her briefcase and opened it up. She took out a folder and handed it to Robin. Robin looked it over and then nodded.

She stuck it in her purse and pulled out a hard portfolio and slid it across to Nancy. Chrissy squeezed her hand as Nancy read through the documents. Their food arrived in the interim and she set it aside. She steepled her hands and planted her elbows on the table.

“How much of this do you know?” she asked Chrissy.

“Only what I needed to which is who Celeste is,” she replied, “and that both her and Abbadon have a history with you that could be trouble for a lot of people, not just the band.”

Nancy nodded and took a bite of her food before saying anything else. Chrissy and Robin exchanged glances but started eating as well. More for something to do in the intervening silence than because they were actually interested in food at that moment.

After a few moments Nancy blotted her lips with her napkin and set it next to her plate. “This is not what I was expecting when I heard that you had concerns about my professionalism and in all honesty, this is easier to understand then a manager thinking they don’t need the help of an agent when they really do.”

Chrissy and Robin shared a glance.

“Is that something that’s common?” Chrissy asked. Corroded Coffin had already had Nancy as their agent when she became their manager five years ago. They had outgrown their former manager Murray Bauman and was looking for someone younger to manage them so they hired her.

Nancy nodded. “It is.” She turned to Robin. “You’re his best friend, right? The quirky band chick who was always working with him?”

Robin was impressed with her way of asking the question without revealing anything significant about their identity. She brought her finger up to her contact and moved it aside to show the blue underneath before sliding it back into place.

“I’m assuming I’m the last resort?” Nancy asked after taking another bite of food.

Robin and Chrissy shared another glance.

“Not in the way you mean,” Chrissy explained. “I gave her a list of agents that might be able to have them on as clients and we’ve met with a couple of them but decided even before they got to what’s in the folder that they weren’t suitable for their needs.”

“The double lives aspect, I suspect.”

“Both of them wanted to push them into revealing themselves,” Robin said, nodding. “Which was completely off the table.”

Nancy licked her bottom lip and her eyes narrowed. “Is that off the table indefinitely or will we circle back to that sometime in the future?”

Robin rolled her eyes. “There’s no way to predict if they’re going to change their mind five-six years down the line.”

“I’m going to be frank,” she said, “I do not have a problem repping them. Not even Abbadon. But I understand there will be some awkwardness on both sides at first. I will even apologize in person. Because the fact of the matter is, I did hurt him. I strung him along until something better came along and then didn’t even have the decency to break up with him before moving on. I was young and stupid and even worse, I’m not even with that guy anymore. Like with me and Abbadon, we wanted different things.”

“Apologize first,” Chrissy said with a wicked gleam in her eye, “then we’ll see about hiring you for The Fallen.”

Nancy reached out to shake Robin’s hand. “Deal?”

Robin nodded curtly. “Deal.”

They moved onto the more tedious aspects of what they wanted out of Nancy as they finished their meals.

But as Robin was heading back to her car she had a small satisfied smile on her face. Yes, this really was the best option for the band.

****

Because of canon-Chrissy's unhealthy relationship with food, I wanted her to go hard into eating all things that her mom most likely forbade her from eating growing up. Hence the steak and the wine. Nancy I figured would be at least vegetarian with personality (just the vibes I get from her *shrug*) and Robin would absolutely be vegan. Just not a militant one.

Tag List: 10 slots remaining

Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

@useless-nb-bisexual

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

[elizais]

my good looking boy

tachihara michizou x reader headcanons reader is the same age as tachihara, reader's organisation is unspecified he won this poll which was SO CLOSE!! i put the hirotsu thing on as a joke and expected it not to get votes but i do have one rotting away in my drafts. and tecchou will come next, i will deff write him next but idk if i will post a draft before that.

tachihara michizou, a double spy but also your boyfriend. who tells you the drama from both organisations. who tells you about how freaky he finds gin but can't place who she looks awfully similar to.. when you suggest a resemblance between her and akutagawa he claims you are seeing things that aren't there.

tachihara michizou, who is the life of the party. and you get to go to both port mafia parties and hunting dog parties as long as you keep his secret! from jumping off of balconies into pools with you on his back, singing karaoke together and truly showing how young you both are.

tachihara michizou, who picks up scrap metal and manipulates it to make you intricate pieces of jewellery. speaking of manipulating metal, he will lift up your necklace when you least expect it.. entertain you by pulling tetcho's sword away from him.. anything for a smile.

tachihara michizou, who has you dye his hair. you tease him about willingly being a ginger (sorry to all the gingers) but you think it suits him so much!

tachihara michizou, who has a rebellious side that you enforce and you both cause chaos to whoever you work with. if you went to highschool together, god bless your teachers! but, he also shows his calmer side around you.

speaking of a calmer side, tachihara michizou, has a 10/10 cuddle game. you heard it here first! he has to see a lot of violence from the port mafia so getting to relax is his favourite time and he pushes his lively self away for when you two can have sleepovers.

tachihara michizou, who is great with kids. he doesn't need to babysit a lot but if you have younger siblings? he can entertain them for hours. whether it be an 8 year old or a 15 year old, he has stories to tell from his school days.

proof:

tachihara michizou, who tells you about shunzen. about what happened and how much he looked up to him. i like to think michizou also wears a dogtag like shunzen.

tachihara michizou, who plays with your hair. like in the screenshot above, when he hangs out with elise he probably talks about you so she tries to teach him how to do hair.

tachihara michizou, who wants to be as built as tetcho. i know they don't have any canon interactions but TRUST.

tachihara michizou, who matches earrings with you!

tachihara michizou, who is one of my many bsd bfs and i hope this post converted you to be a tachilover as well.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2024 Anime Overview: DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

A giant mothership is hovering over Tokyo. The aliens haven’t done anything or even made themselves known yet, but Japan and America are already trying to blow that UFO up, and show off who has the best weapons, causing many civilian casualties along the way. While all this happens, two girls are just casually living their lives. But are they as normal as they appear?

One thing I want to say is if you watch this anime and care about being intensely spoiled, do not watch "episode 0" until you've finished episode 16. It actually slots chronologically between episode 16 and 17, and that's where the episode took place in the manga, so I have no idea why they did that. Fortunately I had someone to warn me about that, so I will be that someone for you.

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDeDe Destruction or De x 8 as I will be calling it, can be really tough show to watch—not because it’s bad, it’s very good, but because of how depressing and visceral it is at times, and how devastatingly accurate it is to the shitshow of our world. This tends to be balanced a bit by the touching friendships (and possibly? More?) of the very likeable cast of teenagers…but you also feel a huge sense of dread about their safety as things ramp up and their stories deepen.

The anime goes hard on criticizing the military industrial complex, Japan’s government, America’s government, xenophobia, treatment of immigrants, rich people, and conspiracy theorists. All things I also hate, so that’s great. What hurts is how you could easily see the events happening—waging war on the aliens despite no provocation, people using an app to to hunt down and slaughter them...

It shows how even some of the protestors of the genocide use their movement to cover their own selfish motivations, meanwhile countries taking the situation as an opportunity to vie for power and dominance, rich government officials lie to their people and abandon them…obviously there's a lot of commentary here on how we dehumanize immigrants and minorities and enable genocides for capitalism and political power.

It's very bleak, and there were a lot of episode that had me just feeling sad, especially comparing it to current events. But there's also this interesting focus on normal people trying to live their lives during this alien "invasion", and the kids who still go through the dramas and upsets of everyday life. And especially the “I’d burn down the world for you” intense emotional relationship between Kadode and Ouran, the two teen girl leads.

Ouran is the main lead, and she’s a chuuni beyond chuuni, acting wacky and cheerful and spouting nonsense-- except if you pay attention, she's saying some pretty valid things—critiques of capitalism, war, government surveillance—but then following it up with something wild like “and that’s why I should rule the world”. You get the sense she’s cloaking an awareness of how shit the world is in humor, and as the show goes on and as her surprisingly intense and weird backstory unfolds, it becomes clear why that is.

The relationship between Ouran and Kadode is the center of everything--their bond IS the show. It's that kind of ride-or-die, I'd-kill-for-you, I'll-be-by-your-side-even-if-the-whole-world-is-against-you, in-every-life-i'd-find-you-and-love-you, soul-bonded, fiery devotion and love. They are the most important person in each other's lives, full stop. It's those kind of relationships that are so transcendent it goes beyond simple definitions of romantic and platonic. In other words, my kind of shit exactly.

But, as far as romance goes, Ouran, at least, is definitely queer and the depths of her determination to keep Kadode safe in a world that wants to destroy her girl that would make Homura Madoka Magica blush. (Kadode is more ambiguous, but she’s definitely soul bonded with Ouran. And honestly should just date Ouran because god she needs to be rescued).

There’s also a gentle empathy for marginalized people underneath all the horror—the girls befriend an alien trying to survive in the guise of a human, and it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the first person our alien tells absolutely everything to is the gnc/potentially trans person of the group, Makoto (To be specific, they seem to still be figuring out their identity, but they definitely present feminine and specifically came to Tokyo because their small town wouldn’t be okay with how they like to dress). The way Makoto immediately shields their alien friend from others when they make the reveal that they saying “Don’t let them see, it’s not safe” and how it’s followed up by the alien reassuring Makoto that their friends will be okay with it if they take their wig off to swim...it makes the metaphor extremely clear, and it’s always nice when a series can explore marginalized characters both textually and metaphorically.

Through the kids, we get kernels of hope in this story, a reassurance there are kinder people in this world, and a hope that kindness will endure.

As depressing as the story can be, what it has to say is important and it doesn’t hold back in making you see what it’s going for—from the “Cool Japan” logo flashing right before the  Japanese government gives a weapons demonstration that will later kill citizens and destroy innocents...

...to the Trump-alike American President (and let me tell you it’s startling to be watching a show in Japanese and suddenly Donald Trump impression in perfect English) *(had to use the manga here because Crunchyroll didn't close-caption this part :/)

Then there's the American tourists, who were clearly va’d by someone really good at English, potentially a native speaker, and it’s incredibly funny how much of their dialogue has “fuck” in it and seeing the subtitles skip over that. Also much of their dialogue is treating the devastated Japan as a tourist attraction and saying how funny it all is to them. Logan Paul has entered the chat.

De x 8 very clearly hates America and recognizes it as a blood thirsty colonial power, which is correct, but the show is just as hard on it’s own country, saying the Japanese government would happily get back on the colonizing horse if they had an excuse, and many citizwns would mindlessly support them.

A small thing I appreciate is far from the usual anime aesthetic where everyone is blandly cute, the anime gives a ton of people ridiculously cartoony features that make everyone distinct—and being goofy looking is not meant to indicate a character is stupid or ugly—Makoto’s a super sympathetic character with giant cartoon buck teeth and one character that’s even pointed out as pretty has like, a pig snout nose. (It also makes it so the character noted as being drop dead gorgeous...actually is, instead of coming off as just as conventionally attractive as the rest)

Soooo a lot of good stuff going into this story. Let’s talk about some caveats.

There’s a continuing storyline between Kadode and her adult teacher, who takes her to his place to have sex with her. When he does, she ends up ditching him because of her feels for Ouran (gay) and I thought that would be the end of it, but nooope he’s a groomer, they pick up dating again when she’s in college, literally months after the previous encounter. The dude is presented as a scumbag, he cheats on his girlfriend, he seems generally apathetic, his clear discomfort with Kadode calling him “sensei” shows that he knows what he’s doing is wrong …and ultimately the relationship is shown to be unfulfilling, with Kadode directly stating so and acknowledging he’s just advantage. That doesn’t stop it from being uncomfortable though, especially since it’s confirmed he and Kadode have sex eventually (offscreen, thank god) and honestly, I felt it dragged on way too long. The first encounter pretty much demonstrated everything we needed to know about the whole thing in my view.

And of course there’s a ton of potentially triggering content in a story like this—from genocide to suicide to child murder to almost anything you can think of. Also like, one character has a sister complex, but on the milder side for anime. One where it’s conceivably platonic, and it’s not like he goes after her boyfriend Yuri Forger style, so it doesn’t bother me too much. There's also a good dose of fatphobia. And finally moment where a woman reveals she has ADHD (which I've never actually heard anyone say in anime so I actually got a little excited the more fool me) and then is almost immediately shown to be faking it.

The ending…is another big sticking point for me. It feels disconnected from the rest of the series, mainly focusing on a character we barely know and likely don’t care about and spending very little time with the characters we do, presenting an interesting status quo and immediately abandoning it, and while earlier episodes of the series presented "actions have consequences and we gotta live with them" as a major theme, it was suddenly like, actually they don’t!

The ultimate ending, again, hinges on a decision from a character we don’t care about and honestly feels like a deus ex machina. It felt almost like the author really wanted a happier ending but knew that wasn’t in line with the story he’s told so far, so he just tacked it on. Or maybe it was an editorial mandate, who knows. I think the most satisfying way to see watch episode 1-16 as its own pretty satisfying complete story (which works really well), and then treat episodes 0 and 17 as their own separate thing, a potential additional ending but not the definitive one. At least that’s what I did.

Overall, De x 8 is a show with a lot to say and it gives you plenty to chew on. While it is often depressing, it is very rewarding. The unbreakable bond between two messy girls, as well as the moments of ordinary joy and small human/alien journeys are the core of the show, and what makes it shine. I definitely encourage you to give it a watch. It's being really slept on, and it shouldn't be.

[cheolsfae]

𓃭 Ateez as your best friend

Requested: Hell no 💚

Genre: fluff

Warning(s): Slight swearing, mentions of bodily fluid, mentions of gaslighting

Feed back and re-blogs are appreciated! 💚

𓃭 Seonghwa 𓃭

I hate to say it but the mom friend. Dude there is no way out of this for him. Every head cannon says it too:') But it's true!

Also talk about sassy!

He dishes plenty of it out and takes it all back like a goddamn champ!

When you need him though, he's there as quick as humanly possible.

You're ex is stirring up drama in your life? He's there to comfort you and maybe kick that person's ass.

𓃭 Hongjoong 𓃭

That one friend who gets uncomfortable when you give them a hug but it's okay cause its you.

Had a bad day? He's right there putting in his best effort to comfort you with that hug.

Make sure you let him know when you get home from hanging out with him or other friends! Otherwise, expect a search party of about 8 weird men on a man hunt for your ass!

𓃭 Yunho 𓃭

The one you squabble with because its fun

"I'm always right! What do you mean?"

"Once. You've been right once and it was about how long a hamster's lifespan is."

"Still right."

You guys were glued at the hip though.

Everywhere he went, there you were following him like a lost puppy and vice versa.

𓃭 Yeosang 𓃭

The friend you sit in comfortable silence with without it feeling weird

You guys could be at the dorms just chilling in silence doom scrolling on your phones

With the ever so occasional "...Look, it's you."

Late night drives were a thing too.

One of you guys would pick up the other and take off into the distance listening to music and just drive wherever the road took you guys.

𓃭 San 𓃭

The friend who makes you wonder what kind of relationship you really have with one another

Are you partners? Who knows? He's just as confused as you

One time, Jongho walked in on you guys completely tangled up in one another's arms.

Needless to say, from that point on he made sure to knock before going in

Never found without the other! "Are you seriously in the bathroom with him while he showers?" "Yeah! I'm just talking to him, it's not like I'm peeping"

𓃭 Mingi 𓃭

No filter. Says whatever is going on in his mind

"I pissed myself at practice today:'))"

But you give it back too so it's not too weird. "Well, at least you didn't shit yourself like last time. A win is a win."

Sending weird memes to one another is a constant thing. No context is ever provided but you get it and it works for you guys.

𓃭 Wooyoung 𓃭

Also makes you question what y'all are, though not as much

Expect forehead kisses, like a lot.

You're leaving his place? Forehead kiss. Going to sleep? Forehead kiss.

Just a very affectionate friend.

Drunk texts were a very common thing between the two of you and the other would have to go check up on the other ending in a sleep over.

𓃭 Jongho 𓃭

Teases you constantly!

Mimics your tone of voice when he finds your attitude funny

Absolutely does not feed into your delusions about that one person who has little to no interest in you.

"Okay, but they looked at me for 2.5 sec." "Doesn't mean they like you."

[yuna542]

[9.]

~The Devil in Person~

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader/Oc

Genre: Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, Smut, Angst, Drama, Action

Warnings: Physical Violence, Physical Fight, mentions of blood and alcohol

Taglist: Open

Word count: 4k

Summary: The Kook princess is back after a year and reignites the war between Pogues and Kooks on Kildare. But she quickly realizes that after this year, nothing is the same as before. Deception, secrets from the past, and dangerous conspiracies sweep across Kildare, leaving her no choice but to work with the Pogues and her personal nemesis to find the truth and maybe even $8 million. A dangerous treasure hunt begins that turns her world upside down.

Soundtrack:

⏯️Play: You should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish

„You should see me in a crown

I'm gonna run this nothing town

Watch me make 'em bow

One by one“

JJ Pov.

When I spotted Kiara, I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was keeping me company in this hell on earth. John B hadn't shown up on time, so I had to come up with one silly excuse after another to explain why he wasn't there for his first day of work.

Seeing Kiara in a gown and dressed up like a doll was always strange. It seemed like a disguise. A costume that didn't quite seem to fit her, even if she did look beautiful.

Pope and his dad wouldn't show up here until seven. It was still two seemingly endless hours until then.

1300 damn dollars we had to get to pay for the damage to the Camerons' garbage can and Rafe's stupid jacket. For that we escaped a suspended sentence for burglary and property damage, but it still sucked that John B, Pope and I now had to slave away at the fucking Kooks' party to pay the fine. Here we would make maybe $100. For the next few weeks we had to do any job we could get.

Who knew those big garbage cans were worth a fortune?

However, the look on Rafe's and the other Kooks' faces had been priceless.

I plucked at the damn bow tie for the hundredth time. John B had only had this colorful one left for me. Plus the waiter costume I felt more than uncomfortable in. I missed my cap and hated every second on this kook circus.

More and more of them were arriving. All in ridiculous costumes and with put on politeness. How I hated these snobs.

It was about time my friends showed up before I poured the entire bottle over the blonde head of the arrogant cow who asked me to pour her wine for the fourth time.

It was humiliating enough serving the Kooks and being shooed around, but to make matters worse, there came Rafe, Kelce, Topper and a bunch of the other assholes to the porch where dinner was being held.

They all looked ridiculous with their colorful suits and ties. Like the Power Puff girls in action: When Rafe spotted me, he fixed me with a look that bore right through me.

I just grinned and waved at him provocatively before moving on to serve the next drinks.

However, it was obvious from his eyes alone that the dynamite thing wasn't done for him yet. Especially since Diaz was back on the island, Rafe seemed more aggressive and unpredictable than usual.

At half past five, John B finally showed up.

"Shit, there you are at last. I had to tie this stupid bow tie all by myself. Come on, help me!", I said and pressed two Pina Coladas into his hands.

He looked completely lost and his hair was a mess. He wore a white shirt and a vest that was much too big for him. Probably from his father. However, he was wearing an equally colorful bow tie, which calmed me down a bit.

"Sorry. The Twinkie just didn't start and I had to go to the police again."

On the side, I mixed two caipirinhas and frowned.

"Why? Did they want something else?"

Together we walked to the tables and I pointed to the old man who had ordered the drinks. We served the glasses with a friendly smile and went back to the bar, slightly off to the side.

"I testified that Pope and Kiara weren't there. You'll have to do that too."

Sure... John B and I were trusted to do the whole thing anyway. Even if it hadn't been us, the poor saps with no real family, one father missing, the other an aggressive alcoholic, were the most likely to be blamed. But for Pope, his scholarship was at stake and Kiara's parents didn't want her to spend any time with us at all. If there were a string of felonies on top of that, they'd probably send her to boarding school. Or even to that sick retreat camp they told her Horror Stories about when she misbehaved.

So I nodded.

"Sure. Okay."

I would go through hell for my friends. They were my family and everything I cared about here in the Outer Banks.

John B helped me with the drinks. Fortunately, this wasn't the first time we'd had to work as waiters.

But I liked fixing cars or ship engines better. Even delivering with Pope was better than this.

"Is the martini gluten-free, too?" asked a put-upon snarky voice behind us.

As we turned around, befuddled, John was amazed at the sight of Kiara.

She had her hair up and was wearing a beige dress that made her look like one of the rich girls. That's when I remembered that she was actually one of those girls. When you spent time with her, you forgot that really quickly.

"Wow... That's...", John B stuttered as they gave each other our typical handshake in greeting.

"It's a dress. Yes I know," she replied, crossing her arms.

"I like it. You look like a real kook," I teased her and saw an old man give a hand signal that he wanted to order something. Sighing, I patted John B on the shoulder and went on my way.

He told Kie about the testimony before he too went to work and we hurried between the tables.

At seven, Pope showed up with his dad and helped him with the deliveries and later at the grill.

When things quieted down since everyone was served, I joined him. He was wearing a brown apron and thick gloves. Fortunately, it wasn't as hot today as the last few days and there was always a pleasant breeze driving across the coast.

"Cute," he commented on my getup, pointing to the bow tie.

"Screw you," I laughed, running a hand through my hair.

"They're having a party over on the other side," he remarked as we watched the tables.

In fact, I had already heard the music from inside.

"Have you seen the Camerons yet?", I asked in passing, but Pope just shook his head.

"So far, only Rafe."

Unconsciously, I had been on the lookout for Diaz all evening, after all, she was never absent from events like this, and where Sarah was, Skylar wasn't far behind.

That's when John B joined us with Kie, who now also managed to sneak away successfully.

"You guys look really adorable next to each other," Kiara laughed as John B leaned against the fence next to me. In response, I flipped her off.

"What's it about?" asked JB curiously, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"The Camerons are throwing the party, but they're nowhere to be seen. Neither is Diaz," I explained, scanning the crowd again for the Kook Princess' dark curls.

"Do you miss her that much already?" said Kiara sarcastically, to which I snorted derisively.

"She can go to hell. That arrogant little..."

"Speaking of the devil…," John B interrupted me then, and sure enough, out of the main entrance now stepped Ward Cameron with his wife, along with Richard Leroy. He had longer hair, but the same cold eyes and stern face as before. He was wearing a black suit that probably cost more than the Pogue and was talking animatedly with Ward.

Behind them, Sarah and Skylar followed.

"You could be right about Devil," I muttered absently, as I couldn't stop staring at the dark-haired girl in the wine-red dress.

She reminded me of a goddess or the devil himself as she tossed her hair back and strutted over to the porch. The dark red of the dress perfectly matched the caramel complexion of her skin and ebony curls.

The fabric of the dress clung to her curves like a second skin, revealing her naked skin at the back.

That's when Stan, the boss of this bar showed up, apparently looking for us.

"Work calls," I muttered, not having quite recovered from Diaz's appearance. John also kept glancing over at her as we came back out onto the porch, but his gaze was diverted by Sarah.

Sky was greeted effusively by several people until she joined Rafe and Topper with Sarah. In doing so, she did not dare looking at me with a glance, although I was sure she had seen me.

John B was serving the adults' table, so I had to move over to the Kooks' table with my lips pressed together. I had been dreading this moment all evening.

"Can I get you guys something to drink?"

It wasn't until I addressed her that she interrupted her conversation with Rafe and eyed me suspiciously. We both still had our last argument in mind.

She looked even more stunning up close. The full lips were made up blood red and her eyes reminded of liquid chocolate, framed by long thick eyelashes and curved eyebrows.

Her cleavage was especially highlighted by the dress. The girl who were washed up with the Greg Noll in front of my house was hardly recognizable.

"Yes. A Mai Tai for me, please. You know what that is, right?"

Innocently, she put on a questioning look, but the provocation was more than clear.

"Of course."

"Good, Sarah, what do you want?"

The blonde girl was the only one to give me a tight smile, obviously unsure if she could allow herself to order a cocktail so bluntly in front of her father. Sky didn't seem to mind at all that her stepfather was sitting just one table over.

"A glass of white wine."

I nodded curtly, and at that moment our eyes crossed. Sky had a strange glint in her eyes. Ever since the altercation at the Château, she seemed belligerent. Like a predator waiting for its prey to venture out of its den.

"Come on! The young ladies are waiting," Rafe suddenly hissed irritably, which jolted me out of my stupor.

Sky gave me one last look through her thick lashes and then turned to Sarah. I couldn’t get rid of the thought, that she was pissed and angry especially at me…

I forcefully stopped myself from commenting on Rafe's stupid suit and prepared the drinks at the bar.

As I served the glasses, Sarah mumbled a quick thank you and I accidentally grazed Sky's arm. But as I looked at her, I doubted it had been an accident on her part.

Our faces suddenly hovered close to each other.

"You should pay close attention today. You didn't just messed it up with a random Kook," she whispered barely audibly, and though she said it with a sweet smile, the threat behind the words was unmistakable. One only had to glance at Rafe's angry face to know what she was alluding to. His head grew a shade redder every second I spent near Sky.

"Is that supposed to be a threat, princess?", I whispered just as softly.

But even behind her eyes, I recognized the chilling coldness that only reinforced the hostility between us.

"Just a hint, Pogue."

She held me captive just by that feather-light touch on my arm, and I couldn't stop staring at her lips.

It wasn't until she lifted her hand, releasing my whole body with it, that I was able to move again and turn away from the table.

Only when I was back at the bar did I dare to let go of the breath I had been holding until then.

Today I definitely had to stay out of the Kooks' way. As long as we were among people here, Rafe wouldn't dare start a brawl, but that didn't calm the unease inside me one bit. We were on enemy territory here and gradually I began to realize that the whole thing was a big trap that had been set for us by the Kooks. Sky had a plan, I was sure of it by now.

„Is everything alright, bud?“, John B asked while we were cleaning glasses at the bar.

„I‘m pretty sure Diaz wants to kill me“, I explained obviously a bit on edge.

„After what you said to her at the chateau? Yes probably“, Kiara commented while sipping on her drink. That didn’t help at all.

Finally, at nine o'clock our shift was over and most of the guests were already heading home. John B and I said goodbye to Mr. Dooley, the boss of the bar, and hurried through the aisles, finally getting the hell out of this cursed place. My motorcycle was parked at the front of the road and the Twinkie right next to it. We just had to make it there and then we would be safe. That's when Pope ran after us and stopped us.

"Guys, they're on the terrace!" he warned us, but it was already too late. Alarmed, we gave each other a panicked look, and by then Topper, Rafe, and Kelce were already coming through the front door, which was supposed to be our escape route.

"Shit!" it escaped me and we immediately ran in the other direction. As fast as I could, I weaved my way through the rooms until I arrived at the restrooms.

Panicked, I rattled the doors, but each was locked. John B and Pope came into the room behind me, breathing heavily.

"Fuck! Shit!", I cursed over and over as the prospect of escape diminished.

"There's three of them. So are we. We can take on them," I reasoned aloud as John B also tried doors but failed miserably.

"Are you insane?" escaped Pope, who had fear sweat on his forehead.

"There's never just three of them, dude!", John agreed with him.

That's when John B finally got lucky with a door and I had slipped through before he opened it properly. But that's when I realized our mistake.

The Kooks had simply walked across the patio once around the house and were now coming to the opposite door into the dressing room.

Before I could react, Rafe had punched me and my head was thrown back.

Kelce and Topper took advantage of the moment to grab me.

I yanked on their tight grips, but Rafe punched me in the stomach so hard that I doubled over, gasping.

At that moment John rushed in and was about to pounce on Rafe, but he had reckoned with it and shoved him against the wall in such a way that he hit the back of his head hard and went down immediately.

Pope was caught in the hallway by two more Kooks, who also dragged him into the dressing room. He didn't put up any more of a fight when he saw John B and me caught.

The rage in my belly boiled so high that I bared my teeth and tore at Kelce's and Topper's arms like a wild animal.

Behind Rafe, another Kook made himself known, dragging the apathetic John B to his feet.

He tried to fight back, but the redhead, who had just been holding Pope, came to the other's aid and pinned him to the wall.

Pope was now trapped in a headlock and I, too, saw little chance of escape.

"Finally got you, assholes," Rafe warbled, grinning smugly.

His attention turned to me and he cracked his knuckles as if to prepare himself.

An iron taste was already spreading in my mouth, but it was nothing I hadn't experienced countless times before.

"Hold him tight so I can hit him right!" he instructed his friends, who painfully twisted my arms behind my back so I stood upright. One wrong move and they would dislocate both my shoulders.

He gyrated his wrist as if to warm up.

"Really cute costumes you guys have. Was there a bulk discount in the children's department?", I asked provocatively, unable to keep from grinning despite my predicament. Rafe only got angrier and a mad glint entered his eyes before he lashed out and punched me square in the face. It was a dull sound and everything around me went black until I slowly opened my eyes again and bright flashes twitched through the air everywhere.

I spat a gush of blood on the ground in front of him and returned his gaze unflinchingly.

"You hit like a girl," I continued to provoke, smiling. His anger that I showed no fear or remorse made the throbbing in my head only half as bad. Blood was pouring out of my nose and the side of my lip had split open again in the same place as last time.

"Shit JJ, just shut up!" whimpered Pope, giving a pained gasp as the giant behind him increased the pressure on his neck.

Seeing my friends like this was too much.

"Three against one... Are you that afraid of me you pathetic little son of a…?", I continued to tease, and a guttural sound escaped me as he lashed out again and my head was thrown back painfully.

„Pussy!“, I screamed in his face as the next punch already almost threw me of my feet. But Topper and Kelce held me tightly upright.

„Do you ever stop talking, Maybank? Should we find out what it takes to finally shut you up, huh?“

His voice was echoing through my consciousness through the throbbing in my ears. My field of vision was blurry, but I could see Rafe shaking his head angrily as I glared at him with a wry grin.

There he was about to lash out again, but he paused as a soft voice cut through the atmosphere.

"Rafe, that's enough!"

I had to squint my eyes, but I recognized Sky immediately as she stepped out from behind him. I hadn't even noticed how she had walked in. Maybe she was there already from the beginning.

The clicking of her heels on the wooden floor was the only sound for a few seconds. She walked to John B first and lifted his head by his hair slightly to see how hard it had hit him.

„Poor Routledge boy… Aren’t you tired of cleaning up your buddy’s mess?“, she sighed.

When his eyelids fluttered at that, she let go of him and turned to the two Kooks holding him.

"God, let those two go! Or do they look like a threat to you?" she said, giving Pope a curt look that almost looked like pity.

Then she harshly pushed Rafe aside and finally stood in front of me.

It was very obvious who was the one in charge now. Rafe had no power over the Kooks anymore. It was crazy that she just had to enter the room, to get all attention. All the Kook-Goons were literally at her feet, waiting for instructions.

She inspected me, like a stray-dog she had picked up off the street, and seemed to be weighing whether I was worth saving or not.

"Rafe that's a bit primitive..." she commented, suddenly stepping very close to me.

„You ruined his pretty face again…“

All eyes were on her and even the muscleheads and the psychopath Rafe seemed to be listening to what she was saying.

Amazed, I noticed that she smelled like a mixture of fresh roses and the beach on a sunny day.

"The princess herself. What an honor. Hope the cocktail suited your taste," I scoffed, trying not to get lost in those inscrutable eyes again.

She just twisted her red lips into a smile and that's when I felt her fingers slip into my pants pockets. First the ones in the back and when she couldn't find what she wanted, also in the front.

„It was a bit too sweet… but I wasn’t really expecting much.“

At the same time her lips were so close to mine that it would have been easy to overcome the distance.

I froze as her hands groped in my pockets for the motorcycle key. I could feel her cool fingertips through the fabric and shivered lightly.

Now I understood why the boys didn't make a sound. It was that effect she had on people. When she entered the room, all eyes were on her. There was something mysterious and sensual about her that I noticed for the first time.

Maybe I had just taken a blow too hard, but I couldn't stop imagining what she would look like under that dress, with my hands all over those pretty tits, that peeked out.

Her mere touch made me unable to think straight. Her slender fingers found the key and pulled it out of my pocket.

"Did you get what you wanted?" asked Rafe, annoyed, and that's when she took a step back.

She looked at the key and then ran to John B, where she found the Twinkie key directly in his back pants pocket.

"Now yes."

Something was on the girl's mind, but for the life of me I couldn't tell what it was.

Rafe took the opportunity to place himself in front of me and I was already preparing for the next blow.

"Rafe it's enough! I think he gets it," Sky said and sure enough, after a few seconds he let go of me.

"Go on, get out of here before they ask for you! I'll see you back at my place in a bit."

Rafe nodded at her and seemed pleased with what he had done. John B groaned as he slowly regained consciousness.

Then Sky stepped in front of me again and eyed me coolly.

She leaned close to me, brushed a strand of bloody hair out of my face, grabbed my chin, so that I had to look her in those hypnotising gems of eyes and whispered so that only I could hear her:

"Maybe you were right about everything you said about me. Except for one thing. I'm not his lapdog. As you saw, he's mine."

With that, she let go of me and walked to the door with our keys. I only now realized that I had been holding my breath and couldn’t stop my hammering heart.

"And now, for one evening, let's just get drunk. Leave those Pogues alone! Kelce tell everyone, Topper get alcohol and come to my place with Sarah! We'll party on at my place! It’s time that everyone knows, that I’m back on Kildare! And someone needs to get rid of that blood on the floor…“ she determined and was out of the room before anyone could react.

When the Kooks finally disappeared, John stood up straight again and rubbed the back of his head.

"You okay, JB?", I asked directly, still far too confused to realize what had just happened.

"I am, but you look like shit, bro," he replied, and Pope's eyebrows furrowed uncertainly as he eyed my face as well.

"It’s not that bad," I dismissed it, though the taste of blood just wouldn't leave my mouth.

"There you are!" came from the door.

Kiara came rushing in, eyes wide.

"Shit, what did those assholes do?"

"JJ couldn't keep his mouth shut..." said Pope, sitting down on the bench, breathing heavily.

Kie anxiously took John's face in her hands, looking for serious injuries.

"It's going to be a bump, but other than that I'm fine," he assured her.

Then she looked at my face. I didn't even want to know what I looked like again. She pulled a cloth napkin out of her purse.

"Here, wipe the blood off with this!"

While I pressed the cloth to my lip, John grabbed his forehead with both hands.

"Shit JJ. The keys!"

Only now was I starting to realize it too.

"Sky came up to me and said if you want your stuff back, we should come to the party at Lionelly Ville."

In disbelief, we all stared at Kie.

"A Kook party? No way!" snapped Pope.

"Apparently everyone's invited. She even posted it."

Kie pulled out her phone and showed us the post. "Kooks, people from the Cut, and tourists. Anyone with the time and inclination is invited," she explained, tapping the attached address.

So that had been her plan. She wanted us to come to her party, but why? To play some more sick games?

The spirit of adventure and, as it were, curiosity stirred in me. I was dying to know what happened next, and I definitely didn't want to let the Kook princess win in the process. Even though this round definitely was hers.

"Then let's go to Lionelly Ville," I announced and already had the door handle in my hand.

"Are you serious?" asked John B, aghast.

"Sure. You want the key back for the Twinkie? Well, I definitely want the one for my motorcycle. Besides, I could use a little booze and partying right about now. If I'm invited to the biggest and most luxurious estate on Kildare, I don't want to miss it."

John B was the first to give in and nodded. Then Pope followed and finally Kie too. We were a team, after all, and secretly each of us was curious about what Lionelly Ville was like.

Tanney Hill was already impressive, what did the Diaz family mansion then look like?

© Yuna542 — 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝.

[wander-wren]

sometimes i wonder about what fandom is going to look like in 5 or 10 years. i think we might have already started to see a shift.

because, look, most of the oldest, biggest fandoms are from tv shows and movies, in particular ones that go on for years and scores of episodes. star trek, star wars, stargate (is everything star?), doctor who, supernatural…even sherlock really got its biggest popularity boosts in the modern day from tv adaptations. marvel and dc were comics first, too, but movies made them more accessible; their “cinematic universe” tags are the biggest on ao3 by far.

but what tv shows are we getting now? short, 8-episode things that get canceled two or three seasons in, that are usually less-than-faithful adaptations of other media anyway.

what movies are we getting? well, marvel turns more to slop every day, and everything else is remakes and sequels no one asked for. the general populace will still go see them and find some good movies that they like, but there’s not much really for fandom to grasp onto.

the best shows for fandom that we’ve had recently, that i can think of, are stranger things, game of thrones, and maybe our flag means death. stranger things is dying off, especially since they’re looking at a 3-4 YEAR gap between s4 and s5. game of thrones’s popularity plummeted after its final season, we all know that. our flag means death is still chugging fairly okay, but after that second season a lot of the fandom dropped it, and with it now being cancelled, i don’t see it sticking around.

yes, we can chalk part of this up to a new generation to of fans having this growing idea that fandom is super temporary, to be abandoned as soon as its not on trend. but media used to be on trend for a whole lot longer than it is now. seasons were longer, we had filler episodes, things were lower quality sometimes but at least they came out on a consistent schedule. i don’t mind if supernatural isn’t an artistic masterpiece, but if i was a stranger things fan waiting until 2026 for the final season, i would be annoyed if it wasn’t damn near perfect. that’s assuming i watched it at all—we’re all so used to not getting endings and moving on, so why would i bother?

i think there are two types of shows doing sort of okay about this. one is procedurals—9-1-1 is a popular one i’ve run into, and it started in 2018, around the beginning of the decline, but it’s managed 7 seasons in those six years, most of them with 18 episodes. the other is, honestly, anime—though we can and SHOULD talk about the terrible working conditions that make the fast turnarounds there possible. look at how big some anime fandoms are.

judging by the relative fandom popularity of other procedural dramas (grey’s anatomy, law & order, criminal minds), i think that’s going to remain sort of niche. fandom likes fantasy and scifi best, and they just don’t tend to have as strong of an overarching arc to dig into. at least, that’s why i wouldn’t watch them. i think there’s also a good chance these will start to die out in the coming years as well.

anime could also die out a little bit. better working conditions would necessitate less/slower content, and it’s true that most of the popular anime fandoms have been around for years, even decades.

so, what, no new, lasting tv show or movie fandoms anymore?

what will the biggest fandoms be in 5-10 years?

podcast fandoms have a shot. the magnus archives is still going strong, and i’ve been seeing a lot about dungeons and daddies. i think we’re kind of almost past the golden age for podcasts, but i am an outsider, so maybe that will change.

book fandoms seem like a kind of obvious choice, but they just don’t get as big without, you guessed it, a movie or show adaptation. and the downsizing has hit them, too—can you think of anything from the last 5 or 10 years that rivals harry potter, percy jackson, warriors, lord of the rings, hunger games, acotar…even game of thrones (asoiaf) again? i can’t. the collapse of the publishing industry is another post entirely.

2020 is really what cemented these changes, though they were starting in the late 2010s, at least. with actual industries shutting down, there was room for indie creators making things alone in their houses to pop up, and people had more time on their hands to try new things out and get into them.

the two things that have really been on the rise since 2020 is rpf and video game fic—often both combined. we’ve got genshin impact, call of duty, minecraft of course being huge, rpf of various youtubers, and k-pop rpf. now, i think rpf is contentious enough that it won’t really become the main fandom, but video game fic…might be it.

even video blogging rpf can often be a blurred enough line that people are more comfortable with it. and the thing is…youtube creators are actually more reliable than mainstream television these days. they need to be, to maintain their platforms. they need to not cancel series and to live up to their own hype as best they can and to not abandon the channel for 3 or 4 years at a time. and again, you can talk about burnout and unrealistic expectations and all of those things, but it’s still true.

maybe i’m completely wrong. maybe in 10 years the film and publishing industries will all sort themselves out and we’ll go back to the status quo. but i think this position fandom is finding itself in is interesting, and i wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if what’s most popular (both in the specific source material sense and the medium/genre sense) is different some time down the road.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 4, Match 8: Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu vs. Xie Lian

Submitted kids:

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu: Zhang Chengling, Gu Xiang, Liang Jiuxiao, arguably also Cao Weining and Gao Xiaolian

Xie Lian: Ban Yue, Pei Xiu, Lang Ying, Lian Qianqiu, Gu Zi, Lang Ying

Propaganda under the cut!

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu:

1: “Wen Kexing- the man has his entire life planned around an evil revenge plot yet somehow while becoming the Ghost Valley Chief he manages to take Gu Xiang (who must of been a young girl at that point) under his wing. Sure the woman in the unfaithful manor probably helped him out with her, but still she manages to come out of the Ghost Valley probably the least messed up out of anyone. Also he goes total protective dad the second Cao Weining starts courting her, literally nitpicks everything the man does, yet in the end he gives them his support in the marriage and even holds it on his turf, opening up the Ghost Valley to normal (warrior/cultivating) people for their wedding. His positive interactions with Zhang Chengling are to a less extent, especially as the boy is so embroiled in his revenge scheme, but none the less he teaches him and treats him decently especially as the spend more time with each other.

ZZS- He gets tangled up in WKX’s whole revenge plot because he promises to protect and escort the boy, Zhang Chengling, to the safety of one of his martial uncles, and yet before we even hit the halfway point in episodes (at least I think it is) he’s taken the boy under his wing as what is essentially a disciple, even though he is the last member of his sect and was ready to let it die with him. Not to mention the fact that his whole plan was to waste away mostly unnoticed and yet he somehow gets dragged into the biggest drama of the decade and repeatedly puts himself in harms way to save the kid! And he planned on passing over the legacy of his sect to him! His relationship with Gu Xiang is less intense, but if I had to describe how they act it’s a constant back and forth, he annoys teases her and she gets all frustrated. She spends the first couple episodes literally thinking he’s a weird old man, cause their whole relationship is just like that. He’s also much more sympathetic to Cao Weining’s continuous courting struggle though that’s not to say he doesn’t pull a fast one or few on him.”

Link to the rest here!

Xie Lian:

1. “a several centuries old disgraced god who keeps somehow getting mixed up in things that have nothing to do with him and taking in random kids in the process. Got dragged into being a soldier in a war between kingdoms he's not even from? suddenly single dad to these two random kids caught up in between. dealing with a malicious ghost who has been killing brides? boom, now he has a ghost son whose previous guardian was killed by the malicious ghost. psychotic ghost cousin posses the body of a man with a young son and continues being a piece of shit? well i guess your taking care of that kid too now (i know guzi is technically qi rong's kid since he's the one possessing his actual dad but if it weren't for xie lian intervening when he did the kid would be dead so he kinda counts too)”

2. “Xie Lian saves a young LQQ from being kidnapped, returns him home and end up becoming the/his grand tutor(which was NOT his original plan at all). He literally teaches the boy everything for years, raising him to become the best ruler he could ever be. The XL ends up accused for killing his family (because of a lot of different things) what is important is that he was not the perpetrator but he did kill LQQ’s father in an act to save the boy from making a horrible decision/outcome and also dealt with the actual perpetrators but kept it a secret cause he knew it would break LQQ’s heart to learn his dear friend planned to kill him and his entire family. LQQ took this betrayal by XL so hard he buried him after staking him through the heart when he was still alive. 300 years later when XL returns/is revealed LQQ is still not over it to the point he wants a FAIR duel to settle the score. FAIR with the man he still thinks killed his entire family!

Banyue and Pei Su are connected. XL took BY under his wing while he was a soldier in the army. He did his best to protect her and get her fed as she had pretty much no one. He also talked with her about his younger selfs dreams for the future which was so inspiring to her that not only did she remember it over a century later when they meet again in very different circumstances but she also apologized for essentially not being able to live up to the ideals he had accidentally passed on to her. While he didn’t have as much direct contact with Pei Su, the boy was BY’s only friend and so while XL was around he did also interact with the boy. However this all came to an end when in an attempt to save BY (which succeeded) he through himself in between two armies and was trampled when they began to fight. When they meet again (as I previously mentioned) XL takes BY under his safety until he is not safe and then sends her off to a safe place where she reunites with PS, who for all XL doesn’t give the same amount of attention to, XL does actually approve of some of him (not all his actions) and seems to find it cute that PS is courting BY.

XL meets Lang Ying first when he helps the boy burry his proxy sister, LY ends up running off after XL reacted with shock to LY’s uncovered face, but XL keeps a constant search for him. XL next saves him from getting beat up by ghosts and ends up taking him to live with him in the shrine he lives in. He does his best to take care of both LY and Gu Zi at the shrine and keeps his good treatment up even knowing LY’s a ghost it only ends when (spoilers for non book people, feel free to look up if you want to know).

XL takes in GZ mostly as his ghost cousin (whom he arrested) has taken over the body of the boy’s father. While I’m not sure how much this one counts, especially since by the end his cousin ends up caring for GZ, but he still does the best he can to feed and care for the boy as his entire life changes.”