#I feel like I know the whole plot just based on all the clips I’ve seen

[evansbby]

so where are all these clips from ghosted coming from?? like atp they’ve given us the whole movie before it’s even released bc i keep seeing clips on tiktok 😭😭😭

[cheylouwho]

i’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and i want to hear someone from SPHS’s thoughts.

i know you’ve noticed the “tiktok” fan base- the ones that only watch clips of the show and then say they’re fans. i read one of your posts talking about these types of fans and making blatantly incorrect headcanons. that’s something that bugs me, but another thing that bugs me is the fact i do not believe south park is tiktokable. i’ll use family guy as a comparison for my points.

first of all, compared to family guy, the humor is different, pretty much everything they explained in the cartoon wars two parter explains what i mean, m&t are not fans of interchangeable jokes and are able to give characters emotional progression throughout the episode. that’s one huge factor, i hope you get what i’m trying to imply with that. m&t are passionate about their story telling and it pays off in their episodes. i know not EVERY SINGLE joke follows this, but there are jokes made better by understanding the characters and the circumstance of the episode. the episodes work best in their entirety. (that was difficult to explain so i fear it can be misinterpreted easily)

the characters are another thing i want to mention. i watched the episode TSST with two friends awhile ago, one of which who had never seen an episode and didn’t understand cartmans character. she kept asking questions about him, or said how weird his hitler obsession was. the other friend hadn’t finished south park and said he hated cartmans character and it’s hes one of the bad pieces of the show. i believe even if you don’t like cartman as a personal preference thing, you should at least appreciate him as a character and his placement, it’s hard to understand him (despite us watching an episode that really dives into him, they still didn’t know much about him before). with family guy, one episode is enough to grasp the character, hell, even a single scene is i’d say, while m&t are very good at developing and fleshing out character personalities over time. it’s why they can pull off making sad episodes (like kenny dies and assburgers), heartwarming episodes (like tweek x craig and even bits of episodes like in raisins) all while still being a comedy show. they understand how to make the characters react in a way that can make you feel something while maintaining a good amount of jokes in the episode.

i dont know, theres more i could add but i’m just writing whatever comes to mind first so it might make no sense or it might be wrong. also, i’m by no means an old fan. i’ve rewatched the series quite a few times, watched commentaries, researched through wiki pages and am constantly trying to better my knowledge of the show, but i know i’m not quite there yet and could just be making a mistake GAHAH

No anon, I actually totally get this and agree 100%. SP as a show is not something that works well with out of context clips (and even then, the ones that do work are usually from very early in an episode before the plot fully gets established and stakes as drawn). Until pre s18 when they started soft continuity (and then s19-21s full continuity, after that is a whole other discussion entirely), the shows syndicated nature did make it easier to hop into any episode and watch it in its entirety and enjoy it without much prior knowledge of the show or it's characters. However, even then, you really needed to watch the *whole* episode to get the big picture of it's message.

And I get it, SP full length episodes are not as accessible as they once were. People these days don't know how or aren't willing to pirate things if they don't have the streaming service SP is hosted on, and beyond that, south park used to be free to watch on their website. Like, that's how I ended up catching up on the show when I finally decided to take it all in other than a handful of episodes and scenes I'd seen during my childhood back in 2013. It was all entirely available (save for Super Best Friends, 200 and 201, which I had to go track down on other websites) for free, with ads unless you used an ad blocker, right at your fingertips. And that's how M+T wanted SP to be consumed, because they explicitly noted that they didn't care about making money on streamed episodes, they cared about getting their show out there. (I will have to go find that interview, I know it's somewhere).

But still, regardless of that, you're right. SP is not something that you can consume short form as a brief tiktok video, and that's why I think we have newer fans with such big gaps in knowledge that seem like they would be easy to fill in. It's not that they're being willfully ignorant, they're just being fed a very piecemeal version of the show through social media, which is how we get people thinking Pip is a he//llpa//rk OC (augh!!! dont get me started) instead of realizing this dude was actually in the fucking show, or headcanons that are very easy to contradict with canon itself by watching like 3 episodes. That's not me knocking HCs btw, go wild and do whatever you want, but these people don't even know it's ooc, and that's a little troublesome. I've made some outlandish character decisions in the past but I at least KNEW they were not evidence based.

What that means for the fandom down the road I don't know, and its made a lot of discussion and analysis more shallow-- it's so hard outside of my SPHS friend group to find good breakdowns these days. I'm hoping maybe something will change, but who knows.

TLDR fuck tiktok and its watering down of media

[rainrain-dontgoaway]

My two cents in 9-1-1 Lone Star 4x01

This is mainly about the secret.

although I wish it was a different secret, we can’t change it now, so we must process and move on. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about how upset they were about the character assassination of Carlos having him marry Iris, but I think there is another way of looking at it.

Like Carlos explained, when he came out, he thought his parents didn’t approve, so he thought the best way to get his parents acceptance was to be that guy who marries his best friend, and lives the perfect life. Although Carlos isn’t in love with Iris, he did love her, and he tried to make his life work the way he knew how to keep his parents in it.

I’m not saying it was right, but technically they didn’t get married to commit insurance fraud. They were best friends.

Also correct me if I’m wrong, schizophrenia develops later in life, so maybe when they got married it wasn’t apparent, and when it devolved Carlos thought it was his job as her best friend to take care of her?

When she went missing I get the feeling they weren’t super close anymore, and maybe him being a bit distant was a way for him to protect himself? Carlos has a giant heart, maybe it was his coping mechanism.

He still should have told TK, but I think maybe people getting pissed at Carlos and jumping ship on this whole season need to take a few deep breathes and see where the rest of the season goes? We got clips of them planning the wedding, I don’t think the Iris plot is going to be spread out throughout the whole season.

But that’s just my thoughts.

Edit: cause I just remembered something. Did everyone just assume they were bringing back Iris for fun? Like, if I truly thought about it hard enough before this season aired, I could have predicted that Iris was going to be part of the secret. Maybe not full on marriage but nobody brings a character back from being a missing person to just have one dinner with Carlos and TK and than peace out again, right? Or am I the only one who thinks that?

Double edit: cause I can’t stop thinking, and people keep posting things that are annoying me. I can’t hate an entire season based on the first episode. I just can’t, and maybe that’s just because I know it’s a tv show and these characters are fiction so I’m not overly emotional about their storylines, but I also lived through PLL for 7 years so I am now immune to plot twists. I’m not going to make any insane predictions because who knows what is going to happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Iris is only in the first half of the season, and than again at the wedding. Feels like her presence is only going to be for a short while, and I’m okay with that.

Triple edit: cause I woke up still thinking about it. All the posts I keep seeing about how Iris is going to prolong signing the divorce papers because she wants to make sure TK is right for Carlos, are WILD. Carlos is finally in a relationship with a man who he LOVES. Entirely. He has everything he’s ever wanted. A real relationship with his parents without any boundaries. A career that he loves, and he’s good at. Good friends who he loves. And again, a man who he is so whole heartedly in love with, and happy with. You think Iris is going to stand in his way? All the information we got, we know they were best friends in the past. A true friend would never stand in Carlos’ way, and I don’t think Iris would do that to him.

Quadruple edit: cause I’m honestly a bit lost in thought on this secret. I’m kind of done thinking about him marrying a woman, and not telling TK. What I’m so stuck on is that Carlos came out to his parents, and than married his best friend, WHO IS A WOMAN. Did his parents truly not stop and think, ‘Carlos just opened up to us, and now he’s marrying this woman, maybe we should say something?’ Or maybe he got married and told them after, but I have a hard time imaging Andrea just being okay with her son getting married, to a woman, so young, and than never getting a divorce, WITHOUT talking to him about it. And I wonder how long they knew. That’s also tripping me up. That could also be why she’s so invested in his current wedding, but dang, if his parents knew he was marrying a woman, and they didn’t try to stop him, I don’t know what to do with that info.

[disappointingyet]

Variety

Director Bette Gordon Stars Sandy McLeod, Luís Guzman, Nan Goldin USA/West Germany/UK 1983 Language English 1hr 40mins Colour 

Weird but absorbing indie noir

What kind of film is this? When it begins with a conversation between Christine (Sandy McLeod) and Nan (Nan Goldin) in a locker room, it feels like this could be an early example of the young-woman-trying-to-do-something-arty-in-NYC-and-struggling microgenre, and that would be fine. Instead, a rather weirder plot is set in play when Christine surprises her friend by saying she would take the one job that Nan knows is available: working the ticket booth at the Variety, a cinema that shows dirty movies.

Christine initially seems pleased with the job, but it seems to have some unsettling effects on her. During conversations in public places with her earnest, somewhat uptight boyfriend Mark (Will Patton), she’ll break into long monologues describing erotic scenarios. 

Then she starts following the besuited middle-aged regular at the Variety who has invited her out. It’s clear he’s involved in dodgy stuff, which might be connected with the corrupt fisherman’s union Mark is doing an investigative report about. Less clear is what Christine is up to, and whether she grasps how much danger she might be in.

Contrasting with the thriller elements are scenes in the bar where Nan works, with groups of women just talking about their lives. 

So what we’ve got is part offbeat noir, part psychological drama and part slice of life. I’m not sure all of that fully gels, and there were occasionally bits where I thought I had missed something but the film works nonetheless. 

I think the thriller elements are surprisingly effective (some other reviews seem to disagree). Like the film as a whole, they gained from being shot in the real world. We get the assorted filth-industry locations of the type so carefully recreated in the David Simon series The Deuce, but these are actual working peep shows etc. We also get the crumbling boardwalk at Asbury Park, a huge fish market and even Yankee Stadium (I was wondering if they had permission to film there or somehow snuck a camera in - not easy to do with the equipment they had in those days.)

There’s an interesting mix of folks involved, some then experiencing their moment, some whose time would come later. Writer Kathy Acker – whose work was daring or notorious, depending on your perspective – gets a script credit. I don’t generally like a sax-driven score, but this one is excellent – it’s by John Lurie, who around the same time was starring in Jim Jarmusch’s breakthrough Stranger Than Paradise, which was shot by Tom DiCillo, who (yes) was one of the cinematographers on Variety.

There are a couple of character actors making early appearances here who are still busy in the 2020s. I’ve already mentioned Will Patton – the other one is Luís Guzmán, who plays Christine’s co-worker at the cinema. I’m here to report that Guzmán arrived in the movies fully formed – to say he’s easily recognisable in Variety is an understatement.

But I’m guessing it’s Goldin’s presence that meant I could see this in a cinema in 2023. Clips from Variety appear in All The Beauty And All The Bloodshed, the recent critically beloved documentary about Goldin’s life and work. She seems to be playing herself: the character is called Nan, she’s a photographer and she works in a bar, as Goldin did at the time. (I'm assuming the bar she worked at and the one in the movie are the same place, but don't know that for sure.)

Variety had a slightly strange origin – Bette Gordon was an underground New York-based  film-maker offered a chance to make a bigger film by a German TV channel (Britain’s recently established Channel 4 contributed too). Gordon came up with idea and asked Acker to write it – but three other people get a credit for the screenplay and I think I can guess which bits are left from Acker’s draft.

It’s very much a snapshot of a moment in early 1980s New York, but it’s also an involving and fascinating movie. I like it a lot.

[bethecowboyss]

Domicile - Chapter 1

“So, we’ve finally met”

Summary: You have been trapped inside dungeon walls for what feels like years, until one day a strange man appears in the dungeons to come and save you.

AN - IMPORTANT

So I just want to clarify that I have never actually seen Robin Hood prince of thieves. I have seen clips before and I briefly know about the plot and the setting of the movie as well as the tone. If I get anything wrong or I say something that doesn’t quite sound right it is because I’ve only seen clips of the movie. I have based his character in the clips but be seen and the fan fiction I’ve read so I apologize if any of this feels off. I will watch the movie soon, I just couldn’t help it and had to do a bit of writing before I did watch the movie. Regardless I hope you can enjoy this. I also apologize for any bad grammar, it took a long time writing this and right now I don’t feel like looking over the whole entire thing just to make sure that everything looks right. I will most likely fix it later.

——————————-

I had lived inside brick stone walls and cold cement floors for so long that I almost forgot what it felt like to breathe. What it felt like outside of cold grungy dungeons and running through fields, that feeling was far too foreign to me now for me to remember how it felt. I was hardly even twelve years old when I had made a foolish mistake, and got punished severely for a mere accident of a child. It was hard for me to remember my past, but it was even harder to

remember what happened yesterday or even a few minutes ago. When you're spending a majority of your life living out the same old pattern, it’s hard to tell how many years have passed or even what day it is. Every single day starts to blend together, and apart from when I experience something that’s too cruel to forget every single day feels like the last. But after living like this for so long I can hardly imagine being free. There's only one face that I can vividly remember from my childhood, and even their face is still a little bit blurry to me and hard for me to remember. But if that person was the one thing that I could hold onto for the rest of my life, then I'll do exactly that. I'd like to believe that they are important, but it could be that for some odd reason my brain just thought that they were the only thing we could remember.

From what I can see in my brain, they were small. Scrawny, at least shorter than me. They had brown hair, dark or light I can’t tell. Hazel or maybe a brown iris. They had shorter hair, shorter than shoulder length but not straight to the head. And I can almost always remember them smiling. Whenever we were together, we were always surrounded by what looked like nature. It was always trees and woodlands and grassy hills. But just once in a while I could remember a sunset. I think that one memory with them would have to be my favorite out of all of them, it was so vibrant compared to the rest. When I look back at that memory, I can actually see the colors. It’s so clear. It’s not like reminiscing on sunsets and strangers is gonna matter anyways, there's no point in wondering or having a hope about what it might feel like when I’m gonna die any day now.

You see, back when I was taken away the king made a deal with me. If I did everything he asked and served him like a maid or dutchess in training for 5 years straight, my sentence would be redacted. I should've known that It was an empty lie, I'm assuming that he didn’t think I would be able to last this long. He never did give me much food or water so I had to work extra hard to earn it for myself, it’s far too cruel. There were some days I went without even a drop of water or crumbs of food, maybe it was because I just couldn’t afford it. Whatever the reason I survived, and of course the king was not happy when I turned 17. He sentenced that I was to be hanged some time this week due to “aiding and abetting.” Which was a lie, and completely unfair for me.

But I think I’ve learned in my time serving as a maid that nothing is really “fair,” the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer. And by now I've accepted that it’s just what’s gonna happen, cruel or not. But even so, I think there's something deep down inside me that wants to stay alive. I don’t want to die, I haven't seen enough of the world yet. I'm not old enough, I haven't seen the good in the world, it’s just too soon. After the king was done using me for his own benefit, he threw me away. Like the rest of his faithful servants when they were no longer of use to him. And now all that protects my body are two pieces of cloth, as I sit against the cold hard wall with my bruised knees up to my neck and my face buried in my hands.

I was almost all alone, figuratively and literally. I was the only one left down in these dungeons, that was until they had brought a strange man down here not too long ago. He was tall and had quit a build, his hair was short, almost to the scalp. dirty blond hair and grayish blue eyes. He had sum scruff on his chin and was wearing what looked like old dirty clothes. By the lo oks of it he didn’t have any money, which wasn’t common at all to see a prisoner that was poor down in the dungeons. They were almost always blamed, even when the majority of the time it wasn’t their fault but the people who imprisoned them were at fault. Even while he was being hauled down into the dungeons he didn’t look scared at all. Not even mad, it looked more like he was bored. As if this was something that would get fixed in a matter of minutes. But no matter who else was with you it wasn’t like they could help either way, you were both in cells. But curiosity had gotten the better of me, as I looked from my dark vision that was seeded in my arms some of my hair fell in front of my face but not enough that I couldn’t see. He was sitting against the wall in the cell across from me. He had right leg laid out on the ground while his  knee faced up against his chest, his right arm leaning on his knee while he tapped his foot. He was looking up at the ceiling whistling, almost as if he was just not worried in the slightest and was expecting something to come and save him. I was awfully confused, I wanted to know what he was anticipating. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. It’s not like I was going to make a conversation with him though, I’m afraid that my voice is much to strained to do that right now. I haven spoken in ages, I almost forgot what my own voice sounded like. Even if I did want to make conversation, I doubt that he wanted to talk to me. His mind seemed much more focused on something else besides chit chatting with your prison buddy. I slowly descended my head back into the pit of my arms, where I could feel myself drifting. “I wonder, I can’t remember what the sun looks like. I'd like to see it one last time.” As I let my thoughts bounce off the tip of my brain I started to feel my eyelids get heavy as everything around me turned black. ….that was, until I heard what felt like an explosion. 

My eyes shot wide open out of pure fear and reflexes, I wrapped myself tighter in my own arms. I was afraid that this would be my last moment before I met death. But to my suprise, it was not the king or an executioner that I saw when I opened my eyes, but a group of men. 

Two of the guards that were presumably at the top of the stairs slowly tumbled down the stone colored spiral stairs as the group of men ran down the stairs, in what looked like to be a hurry. Probably not guards, but definitely not welcomed guessed either. 

“James should be fending off the rest of the guards, but we don’t have much time so move quickly you got that!”

Yes sir!”

I was drowsy and dizzy, I had not been functioning properly so it took me longer to realize what was happening but I think that I ve finally connected the dots.

These must be Robin Hood's men. You had heard about them before from all the gossiping the other maids would spill during break time in the servant room, but you had never actually seen them. They were a group of thrives, ruffians, scoundrels. At Least that’s all you've ever heard, that’s really all they've ever been described as. Not like I had much of an opinion of them, it’s not like I could say one statement is false and the other is true because you never really got to see them up until this point. 

Most of them were dressed in rags and cloth hoods, the kind of thing you'd see a bandit were. The man who had been in the prison across from you must've been a part of Robin Hood’s group, his attention had been drawn away from the ceiling at this point, a smirk on his face.

“Allan” The group of men surrounded his cell and chanted his name, the man in the front of the crowd wore a hood. He swiftly pulled his ax out of what appeared to be a weapon holder attached to his belt, almost all the men that had been in front of the cell had some sort of weapon. Whether it be a bow, sword, or another form of weapon.  He was wearing a pair of fingerless gloves. His hands looked very soft but somehow rough at the same time. Before you knew it, he started hacking at the hinges of the jail cell helping his man escape. As I watched all of this unfold I could hear banging and muffled shouting at what I assumed was the door at the top of the stairs, there was a man that popped his head out from the top of the stairs. 

“ I don’t think that we can hold them off much longer!” another guy who had been sitting by the cell had rushed to the top of the stairs 

“You give us more distraction time, and i'll stay here and guard the door for a little bit longer!”

I couldn’t see what was going on but from what I was hearing the door sounded like it opened for just a brief moment and was slammed and shut tight yet again. By now, the man allegedly named Allan had broken free of his cell and almost immediately everyone started to leave as fast as they could, sprinting out one by one. I watched every one of them flee the scene like a deer, except for one. He was the guy that was leading the group, the one that pulled the ax out of his weapon holder. I could tell he was going to leave right after the guy in front of him did, but then he caught a glimpse of me and stopped dead in his tracks. 

I don’t think I had ever made eye contact with someone this long up until this point. And even though our eyes only met for a brief moment, I don’t think I'll forget this moment for as long as I live. Despite the fact that we probably only locked eyes for a brief second, I couldn’t help but stare into his eyes. They were the color of Hazelnut, green but still brown in a way. They reminded me of not a luscious green field but more so a field, the color of gold and full of not grass but wheat. I had never seen such a color my whole life, it was extraordinary. It was like the color of his eyes were one in a million, a kind of color you didn’t see everyday. One that belonged to him, and him alone. He kneeled down before me, pulling his hand over the tip of his hood and moving it to the back of his head, I can really see what he looks like now. It’s not like I couldn’t see his face beforehand, but it was much harder. He was probably the prettiest man I've seen in a while. Brown, brunette hair that almost fell down to his shoulders and right in front of his eyes.  And an almost soft yet visible jawline. He looked bewildered, maybe as to why I was here or who I was. 

“Hello? You seem…” He looked as though he was at a loss for words, probably egging me on to add something else, even as much as I wanted to respond to him my throat clogged up and I entirely forgot how to speak. It was as if I had lost my ability to think or speak at all.

He had looked up at the ceiling once more, licking his lips and eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to debate about what he was gonna do next. He looked back at me with his eyebrows still furrowed, biting the bottom of his lips. After a brief moment of neither of us doing anything, he whipped out his ax from before and started hacking at the hinges of my cell. I was confused, this doesn’t make any sense? He came here for his team mate, not me? Wouldn’t that only slow him down? Was there a reason why he was helping me? What benefit did that give him?

“Will, let’s go! We need to go! Just leave them here!”

“No way! Do you have any idea what ___ is gonna do if he gets his hands on them? I’m not leaving them here!” He shouted back in the direction of the voice still hacking at the hinges of my cell. I looked at him almost doe eyed, I still needed so many more answers… Once he finally busted through the iron bars he pulled them apart and walked through, leaning back down  when he got in front of me.

“Look you don’t have to tell me anything right now, but if you want to get out of here and live you're gonna have to trust me, okay?” I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks for a brief second, it’s almost like I forgot how to function when he stood right in front of me. It's odd because I've never acted this way before. It confused me. Why was I acting so strange? But even if I was too baffled, I had to do something or otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here much longer. So in utter dismay I hesitantly nodded my head, what happened next is something I definitely did not expect. Before I knew I heard a thud, as the door at the top of the stairs had slammed against the wall. without even thinking about it, the man who had been willing to help me  immediately grabbed my hand swiping me off my feet as he lifted my feet to the ground and started sprinting with my hand in his. I was right about before, his hands felt very soft but somehow rough at the same time. And despite the fact I was running hand in hand from a dangerous guard that was not what clouded my mind in the moment. The guy that had grabbed my hand did not seem phased by almost anything either, I’m guessing he had done this more than once. And even though I was running with him as fast as I could, I couldn’t help but trip over my own feet. It had been a while since I had walked, so I was a little bullleged. Especially when running harshly through rough terrain and forest. The man guiding me with his hand had stopped and turned to face me but only for a second, the next thing I knew he was carrying me on his back.

“I do apologize for acting like this so suddenly, but I fear that if we get slowed down any further we'll be in big trouble,” 

I didn’t retailite in the slightest, instead I slowly rested my head into his soldiers and closed my eyes.

After what felt like a matter of seconds but also days at the same time, I could sense that he was walking much more steadily now and had gotten much less tense. By the way it felt around me, he had stopped running as well. The only thing I could hear as my head was still buried in his neck was the shuffling as his eyes were he probably readjusted me to make himself more comfortable. After a few minutes of being too scared to open my eyes, as I did not know who this man even was, I went against my better judgment and slowly opened my eyelids. We're in the middle of the forest now, but not too far between where right now there was some sort of community up ahead. It was like a camp. There were a bunch of people waiting at the entrance, hollering and cheering at what I'm assuming was their victory in getting one of their men back. Even though I had never been there before, and it was fairly not made of many materialistic things, I couldn’t help but feel like wonderment. My eyes wide as we walked through the entrance, my hands on the guy’s shoulders who had been carrying me tightened. When we had finally gotten in everybody recoiled for a little bit, patting each other on the back and exclaiming how much they missed one another. That was until they noticed the strange person that had been hanging on one of their mens back like a khola. The group of women that were in the camp all took a quick look at me.

“Honestly, give them some space to breathe Scarlet! Why does this child look so frightened? And where on earth did they come from?” I was a little bit flattered that they were so concerned, but also scared for the man who had been holding me as well. He let me get off his back as some of the girls grabbed my arms and pulled me into their group. One of the ladies who had talked before stood infront of this “scarlet” and pointed a finger right in his face “Wanna explain why it took so long? Where did this child come from? Are they hurt? Did you do something?” She was throwing questions at him left and right. He looked like his head was about to turn that’s how confused he was, he simply put his hands up in the air and tried to answer

“Lady Helena, I was-”

“I think I've heard enough out of you! Now, now, come along dear. Well get you cleaned up, there's no need to worry.”

“I don’t think I had ever seen someone change demeanors that fast up until this moment. And before I knew it I had been taken away where they showed me where fresh spring water was so I could clean myself, along with that they gave me some spare clothes. They didn’t fit exactly right, but it wasn’t like I was going to complain about something as trivial as that, it was better than the rag I was wearing earlier and I was certainly grateful for that. When they were helping me fit into the clothes, the lady before had told me about the man who had helped me escape.

“I know he can be a lot sometimes but he really is a good kid, he’s a troublemaker I tell you so don’t get involved in any of his antics. I know I seemed angry at him earlier but it was only because of how reckless he was acting.”

“I believe you”

The women was a little bit shocked,

“My dear your voice is very strained, are you sure youll be okay?”

“She looked at me with concern, but I only told her that I would be fine. I just needed to use it a bit more before it went back to normal,

“Okay, but take it easy, will you love?”

I only nodded, she was being so nice to me and yet I couldn’t understand why. How come all of these people are so kind? Once I had gotten cleaned up I was invited to join at a fire pit in the middle of this camp. It was after dark so everybody was probably gathering around to eat food. Not like I had eaten anything, I didn't feel too hungry. It was a lot to handle so much excitement in one day that I didn’t think I could stomach anything so I just sat there. I had realized that the man from before was nowhere to be seen at the fire pit, it made me a little bit disappointed. I was hoping I could have greeted him properly, the way we first met wasn’t exactly all that formal. I had watched everybody leave as they went back to where they lived, I was guessing that each one of them lived in their own little huts. I found it fascinating, the way they live out their lives here. As I got wrapped up in my own thoughts, I guess I hadn’t noticed a person sneaking up from behind me and grabbing my shoulder. Out of pure instinct, I squeezed my eyes shut and scrunched up my nose, punching whoever was behind me in the jaw. Turns out it was not somebody trying to hurt me, but the man from before who hadn’t been there at the fire pit.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this guilty in a long time, i immediately covered my mouth with my hand and started apologizing profusely.

“Oh gosh I I’m so sorry I swear I just could tell that it was you sneaking up behind me and I-“

Out of no we’re he had bursted into a fit of laughter, many of the things this man did confused me. This moment being one of them.

I slowly removed my hands from my mouth, he had his hand on his forehead as his face was scrunched up from laughter, he slowly started to calm down and eventually sat down right next me, he was still chuckling a little bit.

I looked at him with a “are you gonna explain why you were laughing?” face and he just kinda gave me a little shrug , laughter still Irradiating from him.

“I’ve just never had some body punch me in the face the second time treating them is all, you just shocked me little.”

He wasn’t chuckling at me anymore, but he was wearing a heartwarming smile.

“Your smile frames your face very well.”

Wait. Why did I just say that? It happened so suddenly I didn’t even have time to think about!

I thought I was about to die of embarrassment, that was until he broke out into a fit of laughter, again! Not as loud as the first time but still noticeable

“Oh, you are quite honest! I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as vague as you.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that,

“Oh, before we start talking any further I should probably tell you my name.”

“It’s Scarlet, isn’t it?”

He let out a little stifled laughter

“What? Is it not?”

This is starting to becoming more and more embarrassing every second I’m with him

“Actually, it’s Will. My last name is Scarlet though so I guess in a way you were still right.”

That time he just looked over at me and smirked

“Will Scarlet? So you are the one from Robin Hood’s little gang.”

“We’ll I wouldn’t like to think of it so much as a gang as it is more of a community.”

For a little while longer we both just stared into the fire pit at the fire that was about to burn out,

“Is it true what they say about all of you?”

“Hmm?”

He look at me, I could see him from the corner of my eyes

“About all of you being no good thief’s that steal and break laws?”

He looked like he was stumbled for a minute, as if he got caught up in his own words and didn’t know what to say.

“Well yes I guess in a sense that’s true. We steal, and we break the law.”

I let a little Hmph I stared a little bit more intensely into the pit of the burning fire.

I had looked to the side of me and realized that Will moved closer to me.

“But that’s also because we only steal what we need. I would never take without a good cause. Nobody here is really a dirty no good thief, we’re each other’s family. Our own blood. And If taking what we need to survive once in a while qualifies as being “no good thief’s that steal and break the law” then call me a thief.”

He just looked at me with a face I couldn’t quite describe,

“No. I think I like Will much better.”

He just couldn’t help but laugh at me again, his laugh really did fill everything in the atmosphere to its fullest. Almost made me feel light headed. It was almost contagious.

He started to lean over me and Place something above my shoulders, it was his cloth.

“Will I-“

He put his pointer finger up to my lips and shushed me before I could say anything else.

“It’s cold, and if your staying out here any longer you need to make sure you don’t get sick. Don’t worry about it, I have plenty anyways.”

He started to lift his feet from the tree stump we’re both sitting on,

“You mean the one other cloth you own?”

He just smiled at me, with that same gentle smile.

“You haven’t even known for more than twenty for hours and you already got me figured out completely.”

Suddenly he switched from happy and playful to a serious look on his face (I could tell he was still joking with me, well at least a little.)

“But seriously, don’t get sick.”

He pointed his finger out towards me as if to say “I mean it.”

“Your such a mom.” I just chuckled under my breathe, I don’t think I had ever made conversation with some one so easily before.

He started to walk backwards away from me putting his hand out in front of himself and dramatically bowing,

“Fair night…?” He looked up from the ground still half way in his bowing position, eyebrow cocked..

“Y/N.”

“Huh, what a pretty name. And to think I hadn’t known it up until this point.”

He had finally finished showing off his royal gesture as he walks off into the distance probably towards his shelter, and while he walks he throws his hand up in the air one more time as to wish me goodbye.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. I looked back into the fire.

I definitely think that this place feels like

Home.

______________________

AN - Hello, I hope you enjoyed this first little chapter of a series I’m starting Called Domicile. This is gonna be Will Scarlett x Reader series (From Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.) Along with falling down the Heathers (Movie) rabbit hole, I have also grown an unhealthy obsession with Christian Slater which leads us to here. I have tried finding fan fiction for this beautiful man but there is very little, so I thought why not do it myself? So here we are! Fun fact Domicile means home in French.

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 3

Hold B to speed up dialogue!

(The white text did NOT show up well here, so take my shitty edit.)

Now this is going to be a long post because there’s a LOT of new characters and oddities for me to share. You better set aside some time for this one.

(Because of this, from now on I will no longer be taking strictly plot-related pictures. We all know how the game goes anyway.)

PART TWO IS HERE.

😱 I can only imagine! Who knows what kind of crazy characters are out there? Plusle running wild... Budew gangs... Snubbull thieves?!

Tropius gives the order for Beedrill to show us around...

Tom Sawyer Beedrill... I love it.

So we start the tour. It’s about as boring as you remember, except:

The WHERE?! Does Guildmaster Totodile keep rubber bands in here or something?

I’m a HUGE fan of the replacement title for Treasure Town though

Nautical Cottage. It’s by the sea, bitches.

Although weirdly, Andrea clips back into the prime universe for a second:

🤷‍♀️ Yeah idk. Not even the weirdest thing that happened today.

Introducing the Treasure Town Nautical Cottage cast! Starring:

Tyrogue Bank!

Gulpin Link Shop! Hey this isn’t Pokémon Square!

FISH STORE FISH STORE COME GET YA GOODS AT THE FISH STORE!!

And Blastoise Storage!

(I’m never gonna stop gushing over Southern Beedrill. Just FYI.)

I like to imagine the scales above his eyes popping up every time he says “Hey hey hey!”

Chic girl Psyduck! Personal headcanon: she says “Oh my gosh!” every time her headache gets bad :(

Just for funsies, I decided to check out who runs the Dojo

Dang, one more evolution and this would’ve been perfect 😔

I’m not sure if anyone else cares about the various Treasure Town Exploration Teams, but I do! So we’re taking an inventory. Sorry, not sorry.

Believe it or not, I pretty much remember who is who based on the dialogue. (Look, it was bound to happen after playing through this game literally a dozen times as a kid.) Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Sunkern is Pidgey and Magmar is Seedot!

For Team Tasty, we have Natu as Swellow and Wailmer as Wurmple. Which makes this extra hilarious:

Imagining a bird the size of an orb swallowing a beach ball sized whale whole... I’m not an artist, someone please draw this.

Socially friendly Toxicroak as Vigorith

For Team Ebony, we have Meditite as Murkrow and Rhyhorn as Shuppet.

I go to drop my stuff off at Blastoise Storage and...

Yeah. Here we see the real consequence of my needing to toggle the NPC portraits option. Unfortunate, but necessary. (Does that mean all the vendors are... imposters?!)

This is this first ever inventory from the Finneon Market! Does anyone know where you normally pick up the Miracle Chest? Because I’ve never seen it before. (Granted, I never did the harder dungeons like Zero Isle.) I ultimately bought the pure seed and heal seed.

And then we trigger the arrival of the adorable brothers! I can’t wait to see who they are...

Oh okay! I could see it! Uh, maybe not them being brothers, but I can easily tell which one is Marill and which one is Azu-

...Just kidding. That is objectively hilarious omfg

But then suddenly... ambiguous prophecy time!

Andrea: “Lol bet”

Finally, I get to check what the other Finneon is selling and UHHHHHH-

ONE OF THE SEVEN TREASURES,

AND A LEGENDARY ITEM.

I checked the description just out of curiosity and-

Onix Village?! 😂 I cannot wait for post game.

The team stumbles upon the kiddos, striking up a conversation with a good samaritan who promises to help find their lost item! And who is this shady benevolent character?!

Oh. Oh this is beautiful. With Blizzard, the boss fight is gonna be a cinch!

Uh, I mean-

Yeah. Sure. Let’s go with nice.

An entire line for a measly ‘t. Nice.

So here’s something neat! I found three Pokémon at the Crossroads that let you view the randomizer settings, the program credits, and the art credits!  I’m not sure if these Pokémon are set or if they were also randomized, but it’s a neat feature nonetheless.

Here’s my seed again, but remember you can always find it in my profile description and my pinned post.

A quick look at Team Glee before we kickstart the mission. We have Geodude as Togepi, Nuzleaf as Ledyba(?), and Carvanha as Politoed(?).

Andrea? That’s not a Sandshrew 🤨

(On a more serious note, it totally makes sense the in-game art would be untouched. That would be way too hard to mess with.)

Ack! Not Meganiu!

We find out our Mt. Bristle equivalent is Everlasting Bolt-hole. (Maybe this chapter should be “The One with the Large Hole.”) The first floor had the most incredible soundtrack btw.

The first Kecleon Shop! (This is yet another item I’ve never seen before?) The white text in the bottom right corner doesn’t show up as well as it did originally so: the gold box in the center is Lost Loot. Priced at 9999!

This is what I mean about the vast majority of items being sticky in a dungeon. This will kill me someday, I guarantee it.

Upon reaching Level 12, Andrea tried to learn Nightmare. Without any sleep inducing moves, it’s pretty much pointless. I declined the move.

Wacky floor arrangement aside, here’s an interesting item I didn’t even know had art for it: the raffle tickets from Spinda’s Cafe! (You may need to zoom in to see it.)

On reaching 8F...

Thaaaat’s right, another mandatory Monster House.

Alas, this time we weren’t so lucky.

I took the L. It only seemed fair.

So, for the first time ever, I returned to the Guild after failing a mission. And I discovered loads of new dialogue along the way.

(Do NOT make a NSFW joke out of this, I SWEAR TO GOD-)

I don’t know why the game makes the day turn over before you can try again. In-world, it just doesn’t make any sense. Gee, I guess I should be glad Sandshrew has the civility to put his petty scheme on hold and wait for us.

This was probably the worst of it:

A legendary talking down to me after I got ambushed by a Monster House.

Et tu, Pineco?

(I’ve nearly hit the image limit for desktop so find the rest of Chapter 3 here!)

[skzflix]

passstt can you do your best to explain the ‘universe’ in depth or at least so it’s understandable bc my ass is clueless 🙃

so, this is my dumb brain linking stuff so please please take this all as what it is — my stupid brain's stupid thinking. this is also the first time i've linked it all out in order. so bear with me. this is loooong. in this universe, we have like three parts: mixtape: on track — b me — mixtape: oh. and it deals with tangled romance and the consequences it has on friendships.

MIXTAPE: ON TRACK

so in mixtape: on track, the universe sets off with the boys in high school, final year, i think. minho and hyunjin are the leads in our whole universe. jeongin is like hyunjin's best friend in this au. they are film and art majors (?) and have this project i presume to make a short film (?). chan deals with the sound, jisung with the lights, changbin with the props, hyunjin with the videography, felix is directing and seungmin is the writer. minho is the main lead in this film and jeongin is a side character in this film.

insert female lead. female lead is close friends with both hyunjin and minho. it's pretty evident that minho and hyunjin likes her and hyunjin constantly does feel bad over minho and her getting closer, because well, he likes her. this feeling turns into a distaste soon enough (as seen in how hyunjin feels pathetic after the girl takes both the drinks from them + how minho shoots the goal while playing soccer and like hyunjin and minho have this weird cold gaze exchange. in both these situations, jeongin is around to help hyunjin. i'll get to this soon.) so like our boy minho and her clearly have sparks and hyunjin dislikes it. high school jealousy, if anything.

that's when hyunjin decides to take action and while shooting, when minho has to grab the female lead's hand, he butts in and holds her hand. all because he likes her and he's done being the second lead in this story. the mv ends here.

now, about jeongin, he did mention in one of his vlive that he was like a guardian angel and i do think he's like a friend that really really cares for hyunjin and doesn't ever want him to get hurt. so the whole mv wraps up in this plot of how hyunjin takes action right when minho and the female lead are slowly getting things going for them.

UNVEIL: B ME

and then we get the unveil track of b me, (how i wish they dropped the mv for this rather!). i'll make a list of stuff that happens in b me first and then tell you how my brain linked it up.

felix with the video camera + tape

jeongin distressed with bruised face

the members reminiscing what they once had before chaos struck.

a script that has even a fool knows (alternative title to on track) written (this was my cue to link them both?)

seungmin, chan and technically the whole cast looking distressed

jisung burning the film competition form (?)

changbin in the court sad and playing alone

biker!minho + biker!hyunjin (THIS ISN'T A POINT BUT THEY ARE SO HOT IN THIS AU SHUT UP RUE!!!)

minho meets with an accident + jisung rushes to his side

angry giving up skz moments

ot8 basketball happy memories

i'm going to sit here and draft this out so again, bear with me, soooo,

i presume the hyunjin grabbing the girl's hand, ofc, did not sit right with minho because technically, minho and her were a thing almost. and that ruined the friendship. this also caused the whole film shooting to turn chaotic, i presume because hyunjin's gaze in the on track mv seemed determined so i think he wasn't ready to back off either. the filming team clearly breaks apart because of this. the tension between minho and hyunjin is still very high. the team is frustrated. jisung burns the film competition form because what's the use of joining when there's no team? changbin is sad and angry and has emotions he is frustrated over (just like the other members!!) because they aren't together as a friend circle distinctly because of the feud between hyunjin and minho. they used to play basketball together (the whole of the ending part!) but not anymore.

now, we see how minho meets with an accident. i'm a bit confused with this part (this is why we need the mv for b me, jyp!!!!) but i'll state out everything i think.

a) jisung is to minho as to what jeongin is to hyunjin.

b) the accident could be solely accidental? maybe minho ran off in a fit after an argument with jeongin and hence why jeongin has the bruises and maybe in that heat, minho could have had the accident.

c) i presume jisung rushes to help him because human guardian angel of sorts of a friendship.

anyhow, i think the small clip of video tape that felix pulls out in the beginning is what they watch together. i do not think this has any correlation to the intense story besides adding the fact that they were reaaaaaaally close because they all look super happy in that shot, omg!!

MIXTAPE: OH

and now here we are, mixtape: oh. (watching and pausing the mv to go as detailed as i can with my storytelling.) this, since it was a mv, we get a story as solid as the first one (thank you, jyp. i hate you generally but thank you for this.)

so we have all the members in the drama club room. the same room we saw in the first mv i think. everyone's gathered back there, picking up their stuff because they have graduated, except for changbin and hyunjin who haven't come. jeongin searches and hopes expectantly for hyunjin to come. the blue certificate kinda thingy (I have no idea what it is. i don't read korean either and my google translate couldn't pick that up :((() is something of hyunjin's and i think minho did want hyunjin to come to this sort of reunion because he gets angry and picks up the blue thingy. he's either mad at that, or he is still mad at what happened in the past. i'm not sure. either ways, jisung is worried too as to what minho is going to do and over what he is feeling. oh, also, minho is in a cast, which means it does go exactly in the order i mentioned !!!

we then see hyunjin (shit, i cried again!) and he's painting an eye (is this a relation with some other skz song i will never know) and i think he took up art after dropping from film club so like he could distance himself from the rest of them, because well, he was 1/2 of the reason why this all happened.

we have the members reminiscing again, thinking about the good times and bad ones too. jeongin is in a tunnel (the boy is always in a tunnel. is this again a link to other mvs i do not know) and changbin goes to the drama club room all alone after everyone leaves and like i think he removed the sign of the drama club room and in my head, it's a symbolism for how everything has finally ended. all the memories they have had had finally ended with their graduation, of sorts, in that moment for him. jeongin, who is in the tunnel calls for hyunjin, like a last thread of hope he clings on to, expecting for him to finally meet them and come back to them. hyunjin doesn't pick up the call.

minho is still packing things up and as he looks through stuff he sees a calender with their anniversary date marked and he remembers of the team together once again. everyone really badly misses the old days. we see jeongin who goes to buy that drink again that he stole from hyunjin in the on track mv and he remembers felix in that moment.

felix who is in the library is with a cake. so i presume it is his birthday because he lights the candle on the cake up eventually. i think he did want to celebrate it with the team as a whole but because of the fall he can't. he opens a book and see the quote, "dreams come true to those who really want them," (we see this on the jisung bus stand shot too btw!!) and he goes on to make a wish on his cake and ie think he wished for them all to be together once again, living the happy memories again. hence the beautiful shots in the end I AM IN LOVE.

so i had this sorta ex lmao who told me this beautiful metaphor once when we broke up about how i left him on the bus of our memories and it was only i who got down and that our timings didn't match. and i think my brain instantly correlated those two, oops. so like the bus is a train of thoughts, a passageway for them to remember the happy memories. changbin remembers the happy memories he had as he looks through hsi phone with the basketball in his hand. jisung also enters the bus and remembers the moments they shared. oh, also changbin leaves when jisung enters. the timings don't match.

TIMESKIP. because this is based off kdramas for sure and what are kdramas without timeskips lmao.

minho's arm is healed. (he's also wearing such a pretty fit i want to steal!) minho goes and tried to meet hyunjin at his art studio because he wants to give it a try, this whole friendship again, i think, but hyunjin isn't there. so he leaves him a note and the certificate (??) blue thingy (?? what is it someone help me!) hyunjin comes back to see them both. this is what happens in the mv, in correlation with the other mvs.

they could clearly make another part of them actually getting together. but personally, i think they do and like felix's wish comes true because the directing is such that they end it with felix opening his eyes. (i also don't want to think of a sad alternative where felix opens his eyes only to remember reality is still the same and the feud still exists. i refuse. in my head, the next part has them coming together just like that in the snow!)

but yes, if you've reached till here, thank you for reading my incoherent mess of thoughts. ily and i hope you have a good day! 💕

[yunhoiseyecandy]

✕ 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞; 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞

✕ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞; 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭

✕ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠 ◆ 𝐟.𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✕ 𝐰/𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧

✕ 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬; 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥- 𝐟.𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞

[𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭]

 happy birthday, @hanatiny !!! a big thanks to @barnesbabee​ for giving me the plot for this story

─────

it was like a constant cycle

he goes to work, deems his workers' articles unworthy of being published, and then drives home late in the night only to be greeted by the emptiness of his home.

and he was starting to lose his mind

he needed a change in his schedule, like an escape from the real world. it’s normal to grow a need to leave a place you’ve grown to get tired from after so long.

the only thing closest to an escape for him would have to be sarah, his assistant at work. but he can’t remember the last time she’s made him feel something. 

it started out as fuck buddies, but hongjoong soon got bored of her. she wasn’t into the things that he was, which made hongjoong confused because she said she liked it rough.

and it’s not like he did anything that she wouldn’t want, he made sure to respect her boundaries. but he was tired of being vanilla, so he opted to do the one thing he never thought he’d do,

sign up as sugar daddy

“mingi, are you sure this is a good idea?” hongjoong said, his thumbs swiping up and down the screen of his phone. they’ve had no luck so far, only finding sketchy accounts that seem to be run by bots. “Yeah, I mean I got olivia from this app.”

“that doesn’t mean shit, dude.” san chuckled, slapping mingi upside the head. online dating is one thing, but finding a sugar baby who only really wants money is another. 

it was hard finding someone who wasn’t only there for money, and he knew it would probably take a while before he found someone, considering money is the only reason they even had an account.

he wanted someone to take care of, to get his mind away from work and only focus on the way she felt wrapped around him, focusing on the sharp gasps for air that left her mouth.

“guys, I think we should just give up alread-”

san snatched hongjoong’s phone from mingi’s hand, motioning towards him with a wide smirk on his face. “I think you’ll like her. read the description.”

hongjoong laughed, surprised at how excited san seemed to be. he looked down at his phone, mouth agape at the words on screen. he’d never seen someone as intriguing as you, and the white lace you had on only made it harder for him to not press message right then and there.

introduction

hey baby, my name’s rose. are you my next sugar daddy? I’m 22 years old, and I’m looking for someone who always has time for me. 

what are my interests?

I love painting, and photography is a close second on my favorites. I’m open to just about anything, so I don’t mind it if we have different hobbies.

hard no’s in bed?

nope, I’m open to anything and everything. maybe even a little bit of pain..

"you can breath if you want." san said, and hongjoong scoffed at the younger ones words.

he couldn't peel his eyes away from the screen, you were just too pretty. and he knew he had to have you.

"you guys can leave now, I think we're done here."

—

as soon as he saw you walk into the restaurant, he knew this was going to be a long night.

you had on a black dress with small slits on the side of it that made him want to bend you over the table you two were about to eat on.

he stood up from his seat to greet you, pulling out your chair and gesturing you to sit. "you look beautiful, rose."

he really didn't know what else to say, and the words left his mouth so effortlessly.

you couldn't lie that he looked more than handsome, and you felt slightly intimidated by the look in his eyes.

"thank you. and you look really nice, too."

it was a long and comfortable evening, but you couldn't help but tease him every now and then.

sometimes by going to "grab a napkin", but just using it as an excuse to show off your cleavage. or even going as far as to flirt with the waiter, slightly touched their arm when they would bring a new glass of water.

hongjoong lost it when you both had ordered dessert, and you decided it would be a good idea to suck the chocolate off the spoon while looking right in his eyes.

you loved his reactions, and you could tell you'd be in for it tonight. but after all, that was your whole plan.

this seemed different than all of your other sugar daddy's. he was genuinely interested in you, and not only for the sex. even though, you wouldn't mind it if he was.

"I can tell what you're doing, and you might want to stop while you can," he said, leaning in towards you.

you smirked at him, tilting your head to the side. "I don't think I understand what you mean, hongjoong."

scoffing, he waved down the host to bring the check. "I doubt that, sweetheart."

—

maybe teasing him was a bad idea. because as soon as you walked through the front door of his apartment he had your clothes scattered across the floor, already leading you to his room and on the bed.

“what’s your name, baby?” his voice was deep as he whispered into your ear, biting down on the shell of it as he sat you on his lap.

you leaned back, hands resting on his chest. “rose, I thought you knew?”

he chuckled, “no, you’re real name.”

you didn’t know what to say to him. no one has ever asked you for your real name, let alone care enough to ask if rose was your actual one. you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face when he brushed his hand against your cheek, feeling the warmth through his actions.

you hesitated, leaning back into his touch. “it’s y/n..” 

your lips brushed against his as you spoke, and you could taste the chocolate ice cream from earlier on them. 

he hummed, his hands running up and down your body before he placed his thumb on your lip, trapping your jaw between his pointer finger and thumb. it was a soft movement, and it took your body by surprise when he tilted your head to the side so he could place wet, hot kisses all over your chest.

no one has ever done that before, and you loved the rush it gave your body. you tried your hardest to keep your legs from closing around his waist, but your underwear was starting to rub against you in a way that had your mouth closing to keep any noises from escaping your mouth.

“mhm, y/n,” he groaned into your skin. it was a beautiful name, and he thought it fit you all too well.

maybe it was the way he felt your wetness when you brushed against his shirt that had him flip you over, or it could’ve been because of the lingerie you had on. but he needed to hear you, taste you, anything that would have you screaming his name over and over again. 

you gasped when he un-clipped your bra and pulled it off, tossing it on the ground and getting on his knees in front of you. 

“I’ve been trying to picture how you’d look like this,” his hands ran up your legs, pushing them apart, “but nothing that I’ve imagined could ever compare to the view I have right now.”

your hands gripped the sheets beneath you as you took in everything. his lips as he dragged them up your thighs, the way his fingers teased the hem of your panties. and the way his eyes never once left yours. 

“hongjoong,” you moaned as you felt him pull your underwear from your body as he returned back to his previous place. “please just do something already.”

he teased you, kissing right above where you needed him the most. he'd usually tease you since that's what you'd done to him. but right now there's no time for that.

he pressed the flat of his tongue against your clit, flicking up into it and moaning around you. your head dropped back, and you couldn't help the whine the left your mouth.

"fuck, right there."

he made sure to take his time with you, wanting to make you come more than once tonight. his movements were slow at first, but they got faster with every moan you let past your lips.

his lips parted from your core, slipping a finger in you and groaning at how wet you were. "you taste so good,"

he felt you clench around him, and he easily slipped in another finger while watching your mouth drop open again.

his mouth found its way back to your clit as he sucked on it hard, curling his fingers to push you over the edge.

"h-hongjoong!" you clenched one last time around his fingers, feeling yourself tense up when his teeth grazed your clit.

he sat up slowly, enjoying your fucked out face more than he should. and as pretty as you looked right now, he wanted to see tears streaming down your face while making you come.

you were already tired and he hasn't even fucked you yet, so to say you were excited would be an understatement.

without warning, he flipped you onto your stomach and spread your thighs apart, pulling his boxers down.

his hand grabbed the base of his cock and he dragged it up your core, his knees digging into the matress behind you.

he pushed in slowly, making sure you were comfortable and not in pain. your eyes fluttered closed at your good he felt, and you clenched tightly around him when his finger moved to draw circles around your clit.

just like earlier, his strokes were slow. but with every passing moment his hips seemed to have a mind of their own and his place quickened.

you felt one of his hands press on the small of your back, pushing you into the matress.

the angle that you were at now had you screaming his name, and you could feel his cock hit all the places your fingers never could.

he made a warmth spread through your body when he angled his hips a certain way, hitting that one spot inside of you that made a silent scream come out.

"you close, baby? gonna make a mess on my cock?"

you couldn't tell if it was because of your previous orgasm, but you came as soon as those words left his mouth, nail ripping the bed sheets as you came around him.

hongjoong's head fell back as you came, his bangs sticking to his forehead from all the sweat he's built up.

it wasn't long after you came that he pulled out, ropes of his cum lining your back as he took in the view.

you slumped onto the bed legs giving out while he went to the bathroom and turned the shower on.

never in his life has he ever taken a shower with someone, only grabbing a wet towel to clean them up. but this felt different, and he felt the need to pamper you after all the stress he's put on your body.

"can you walk, baby, or do you want me to carry you?"

─────

[iamnmbr3]

I liked WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier but I’m really nervous for Loki. I’m honestly worried that they’ll mess up his character.

I haven’t actually watched WandaVision or The Falcon & The Winter Soldier but yeah same re Loki. I certainly hope the show does him justice but it’s not a great sign that so far most of the scenes in the trailers feel wildly out of character and tonally inappropriate. I’m also concerned because despite the fact that the show isn’t even out yet, I’ve already noticed a ton of seeming plot holes just based on the trailers (I say “seeming” because it is technically possible the show might explain some of them and I want to be fair). 

This has never happened to me before. Even when a movie has a lot of plot issues, you usually can’t tell just based on the trailer. I’ve never watched a trailer and been like “plot hole!” and yet that’s been happening constantly with this, which makes me feel that the writers didn’t really research the character or the world that carefully. Every clip just leaves me scratching my head over questions like:

Why is Loki's hair a different length when he is captured and brought in if this is picking up immediately after Avengers? Why is the stack of papers of everything Loki has ever said so small if he's 1500+ years old? How does Mobius know everything about him if the papers only have Loki's side of the conversation? If Mobius also watched footage of Loki's life, how did he have time to watch it all if Loki is over a thousand years old? Why is Loki being blamed for breaking the timeline but not the Avengers? If he knows everything about him why doesn't Mobius acknowledge the fact that Loki was tortured and mind controlled by Thanos? Why are Loki's speech patterns, body language, demeanor, and apparent mental state so different from how he was in Avengers and TDW even though this show takes place in the same time period? Why does Mobius say Loki has destroyed worlds when that hasn't happened? Why didn’t the TVA arrest any of the Avengers? If the TVA is a serious organization and views Loki as a threat why is Mobius’s humor in the “talky-talky” scene so childish and reminiscent of a bad comedy for middle schoolers? If he's read everything Loki ever said, why does Mobius say Loki likes to lie when the whole reason Thor trusted him in Thor 2011 was because for most of Loki’s 1000+ years of life he wasn���t habitually dishonest? And again how can Loki be accused of affecting time when he stole the space stone (not the time stone!) due to the actions of the Avengers (who DID use the time stone)!? 

And why are there so many apparent inconsistencies and issues just based on the trailer?! l

[thatgamefromthatad]

Seen these ads? (Obey Me! Review)

This is a visual novel/otome/gacha card RPG game with the same characters and themes as featured in the ads.

As stated in many of the ads this game centers around seven demon brother love interests (as well as some other potential love interests) although the game has a lot of plot elements other than just romance. Most of the ads that I’ve seen feature real art that appears in the game one way or another, and the ads tend to be focused more on the characters and theme in general rather than specific gameplay. Of the ads that do appear to show gameplay, most of the time it’s not really what you’ll see in the game but still follows fairly close to the actual game (for example, the “kiss, free, whip” ad on the top left doesn’t show real gameplay, but you can kiss or whip that character. But that specific art comes from a gacha card I believe and isn’t what you see when you do the kissing and whipping).

A few notes before I get into the full review:

I’m a lesbian, so I’m definitely not the target audience for this game, but I always try to be objective and open-minded when playing any game I’m not the target audience for (other examples I’ve reviewed in the past are Moments, which was also primarily targeted toward women who are attracted to men, Immortal Taoists, which involved a genre I had never heard of before and really had no interest in, Time Princess, which also wasn’t my favorite genre but was still a great game, and various Genius Inc. visual novels, which are targeted more toward high-school age boys as far as I can tell).

Speaking of lesbians, this game weirdly censors the word “lesbians” but not any other LGBTQ+ terms (that don’t include the word “sexual”) as far as I can tell; I decided it was enough of a one-off thing that it wouldn’t factor a huge amount in my overall review of the game, but I think it’s still something to take note of and not let off the hook since it definitely shows bias and can be offensive to players.

This game is rated 12+ on the Apple App Store, and I was pretty harsh on Crush Crush for being rated that way because I thought it crossed the line with some of its sexually suggestive content. I kept that in mind while playing this one, and personally I don’t think it crossed the line in the same way, at least not from what I’ve played so far; although it does have sexually suggestive content (most often when interacting with the character Asmodeus, who is literally known in the game as the “Avatar of Lust”), it’s much more occasional through tidbits of dialog as opposed to in Crush Crush where it involved a whole section of the game and was more interactive in nature. I would definitely still cringe at the thought of a 12-year-old reading some of this dialog, but I think it fits fairly within the App Store descriptors of “Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity” and “Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes.”

Last note - there is a character in this game (Luke) who has the appearance and demeanor of a small child who you can interact with in a similar way to the other love interest characters, which concerned me for obvious reasons. I looked more into this, specifically reading into all of the different dialog options involving this character, and his responses never seem to be more than platonic, which is good. He still blushes when you give him gifts and stuff, which is kind of awkward, and it seems weird to throw a kid character into an otome game, but all considered I wouldn’t say the game is promoting anything inappropriate (unlike one of the Genius VNs that clearly involved relationships between an adult and minors).

Sorry I know that’s a lot of notes and disclaimers but I just wanted to that all out of the way as general concerns anyone might have trying this game or reading this review!

Without further ado, read my full review below:

***

***

***

(I’m trying a new color-coding system to help highlight some of the main points of my review if you don’t want to read my entire essay word-for-word lol. Pink is a positive aspect of the game, red is a negative aspect/criticism and purple is not necessarily positive or negative but just something I wanted to highlight.)

😈 Is the game actually fun? Yes! Just in terms of production value, this game is top notch: the art and character designs are very appealing, the transitions between characters’ poses and facial expressions during VN scenes are actually animated (which looks much smoother and more natural than switching between still images), the voice acting is great (although the VN scenes aren’t fully voice acted, some parts like phone calls are and the characters say different phrases during scenes and battles as well)(Note: all the voice acting is Japanese), and the music is FANTASTIC and perfectly sets the vibe throughout the game.

The best parts of this game in my opinion are the different personalities of the characters and the overall plot; although some of the characters’ personalities can be a bit one-note at times (for example, one character’s entire personality that I’ve seen so far is that he likes to eat and is always hungry), the characters each have their own charm and play off each other well. I found myself getting invested in each of the characters’ desires and goals throughout the story, even the characters I didn’t particularly like. The story is also chock full of humor which is always fun, and the whole world and backstory built around this game (the “Devildom” setting and the idea of an exchange student program with angels, humans and demons) are also unique and impressive.

I really enjoyed the multiple modes of storytelling i.e. how the VN chapters are supplemented with text messages and phone calls from characters and an Instagram spoof with additional side stories to unlock. I know this isn’t a new thing in mobile games (even Gardenscapes and Homescapes do it to an extent lol) but add the compelling characters and overall production value on top and it’s a really enjoyable experience. Since the home screen of the game is set up like it’s your phone, with the different parts of the game represented as “apps,” the game kind of creates a feeling like you’re really living in this world with these characters where you can freely scroll through their Instagram feeds and check the messages you get from them on your own time. The shop where you can buy items and premium currency is called Akuzon (an Amazon spoof) and the place where all your gacha cards are is called “contacts,” which further adds to the immersive effect.

The “dating” part of the game is pretty cute although I haven’t gotten super far so I’m not sure of the full scope of the romantic interactions. From what I can tell, in addition to the dialog, blushy faces and bedroom eyes you get from characters when you give them gifts and touch different parts of their body (above the belt lol), when you raise your intimacy level with them you get additional phone calls and messages from them (I haven’t played a lot of otome games but I think that’s how a lot of them go). I wasn’t that invested in this part of the game but I think there’s some strategy that goes with using the right combination of gifts and touches to maximize intimacy boosts and get certain dialog, which adds a whole other aspect of gameplay in addition to the main game. I also noticed that occasionally your choices throughout the VN chapters will give you a small intimacy boost with a certain character; I kind of wish this was even more integrated since most of the time I felt like no matter what I chose it didn’t make any difference in my relationship with characters. Also, I don’t think there’s a way to “officially” date a specific character, it’s more about raising the intimacy level to earn more interactions but it doesn’t actually affect the main plot.

As far as the main mode of progressing through the game, which is winning “dance battles” with teams from your gacha collection, this part of the game has its own positive qualities such as the cute chibi forms of the characters that appear on screen and the fact that some of the special attacks show a little anime clip of the character (of course it’s less exciting when you see the same clip every battle but I still thought it was a nice touch). I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a rhythm aspect as the “dance battle” name would imply, and your main interaction during the battle itself is basically just tapping hearts that pop up and tapping the characters when their attacks are ready, but you also have the option to skip that whole interactive sequence and just get a result based on your team’s stats, so there’s not much to complain about there (especially since the battles are sort of a side note compared to the storytelling aspect of the game despite being the main element of RPG-based gameplay that allows you to progress). If you are interested in the RPG aspects, there’s plenty of that to work with (building teams, balancing attributes, managing resources/rewards to level up cards and progress through skill trees of sorts, all that good stuff) although you’re limited to an extent by how difficult it is to get a lot of gacha draws without paying real money. It’s even harder to be able to focus on both strategy and character relationships while playing for free when the same scarce currency is used for both gacha draws and gifts.

👿 Is this a free game or a “free game”? Despite what I just said, I would still consider it a free game - you can gradually save up some of premium currency the game gives out through tasks in order to pay for more gacha draws and other items, and as far as I can tell you can access the main story and the other parts of the game without hitting a paywall. I only got to the fourth chapter so far though so don’t take this assessment as gospel. Like with a lot of other freemium games you might feel pressured to pay (especially when you run out of gifts to give your lover boys, which was the biggest downer for me, or if you’re obsessed with wanting to collect a lot of cards or get a specific card) but since you don’t actually need to pay to progress I still consider it free.

There’s also an energy system where you hit a wall and have to wait if you run out, but I never ran out because of the huge amount of energy the game dumps on you when you first start, and it seems like there are a bunch of other ways to get extra energy as well. There also aren’t pop-up or watch-to-earn ads in this game that I saw.

💀 Features

Main visual novel scenes and storyline (the visual novel scenes come between dance battle stages and there are a few short side routes that branch off but still one main route as far as I can tell, I don’t think your dialog choices really make a different except for in how the characters react to you immediately afterward. Still the main storyline in itself is fun to follow and it’s fun to get different reactions out of the characters based on what you say)

Dance battles (I’m not fully knowledgeable about the minutia of the RPG system at play here but in general the outcome of the battle will depend on the level, rank and attributes of your cards compared against the difficulty and attributes of the stage you’re playing. There also “memory cards” that can be assigned to support your team and expendable temporary boosters called “glow sticks” that boost your stats for one battle. During the battle itself you tap hearts that appear to earn extra points and you can tap your characters when their power is charged up to “attack” your opponent and use special skills. There are guides online that go deeper into stats and strategies and such if you’re interested. Different stages have different rewards for completion and you can quick complete levels you’ve already beaten to mine resources you need)

Gacha mechanic and cards (the gacha area of this game is called “Nightmare” and there are a few different pools along with event pools each with their own odds and sets of cards you can get. For the default pools you get free draws periodically and I believe you get one free draw for each event pool IIRC. You also get a bunch of vouchers for draws when you first start the game which got me handful of SSRs and a couple URs to build a couple of solid teams right off the bat. In addition to drawing directly from gacha pools you can get some cards by collecting card pieces as rewards from stages and events until you have enough to get the actual card. Each card has its own set of stats/attributes, can be leveled up and has a skill tree of sorts that can be progressed through with resources mined through beating stages, although it’s more of an attribute tree than a skill tree since most of the branches just add points onto one of your card’s attributes. Some cards, the rarer ones, have special skills that can be used in battle)

One-on-one characters interactions and intimacy i.e. the “dating” part (there are two ways this occurs: 1) you can set a specific character to your home screen that allows you to enter into an interaction with them, with a refresh period in between interactions 2) the main way, which is through “surprise guests” after dance battles. These surprise guests show up frequently but not always, and they’re always one of the three team members you used in battle, selected randomly. For each one-on-one interaction you can do three actions - either give a gift, touch the character or ignore the character. Sometimes the character will also offer you a high five which counts as an action if you oblige. Different characters have different favorite gifts and touching different parts of the body can get a different reaction depending on the character and your level of intimacy I believe. Your intimacy level with a character increases depending on the combination of actions you perform, and sometimes the character also gives you gifts back like more energy or resources. There are guides for this online as well)

Text messages and phone calls (text messages are the main mode of storytelling outside of the main VN scenes - you get messages from characters or multiple characters in group chats that you respond to with preset messages or stickers similar to how you make choices during the VN parts. Some of the text messages correspond with the main plot as you progress, ex. A character texts you to be in a certain place at a certain time and next VN scene is of you two meeting at that place. I think other text messages also come up when you reach certain intimacy levels with characters. There are certain group messages that you don’t respond to where you’re basically spying on a group chat among characters and just get to see what everyone’s saying. In addition to written messages and emoji stickers characters will also sometimes send pictures. Phone calls are fully voice-acted dialog you have with another character and they seem to pop up when you reach certain intimacy levels - I’ve only gotten ones so far with the two characters I have the highest intimacy with)

Instagram spoof/“Devilgram” (Devilgram is an in-game photo sharing social media app similar to Instagram and the photos on there correspond to gacha cards. When you acquire the gacha card that corresponds to a Devilgram post you unlock a side story, but you also need keys to unlock further scenes from that story, which can be gradually earned through completing tasks and such)

To Do tasks (completing tasks on your To Do is the main way to earn premium currency in the game along with other rewards and resources. There are daily tasks, overall tasks and tasks specific to each character. Examples of tasks are completing a certain stage or number of stages, beating a stage using a team that includes a certain character or reaching a certain intimacy level with a character. There are also beginner missions when you start the game that I think stay available until you complete all of them)

Events (there are sometimes side story events called “pop quizzes” and gacha events that are available for a limited time, or sometimes an event has both a corresponding pop quiz and gacha pool. The pop quizzes are separate chapters with their own dance battles and VN scenes, and the battles will come with reward points that you can spend on different prizes. Sometimes there are unique cards you can only get from an event. Other minor types of events include log-in bonus events and events where you can get special types of gifts for your love interests. There’s also a feature where you can “time-travel” back to old events at some cost but I haven’t explored this much)

Jobs (you can assign characters to passively complete jobs that earn you a small amount of non-premium currency over time and also increases your intimacy with the assigned characters by a small amount)

Customization (you can unlock avatars of different characters to use for your profile and set the name you want characters to refer to you by throughout the game. You can also change the outfit of your homescreen character, change the homescreen wallpaper and change the homescreen background music by making purchases in the Akuzon shop or acquiring certain gacha cards)

⚖️ Ad Honesty Rating: 4/5 (just from the ads I’ve seen, especially the ones that appear to be running currently, there don’t seem to be blatantly fake ads and the ads show real art and do well conveying the theme and characters in the game. However some of the ads are misleading about the actual mechanics of gameplay and may also lead you to believe there are actual romance routes with the characters which is not really the case)

⭐️ Overall Rating: 5/5 (I definitely didn’t want to give this game a great rating just because it’s super popular on Tumblr but I can definitely see why it’s so popular. There are lots of things to do, the characters are very lovable, it’s funny, the art is great, the music is great and the lore and overall vibe are compelling and unique. It’s a high-quality game with a good story and I’ll probably keep playing it)

▶️ Ad Example:

▶️ Gameplay Examples:

Dance Battles

Surprise Guest

If you got through this review bless your heart ❤️ Special thanks to @human-watching-ads-from-devildom which is where I was able to view some of the ads since I was having trouble finding them elsewhere online and viewing some of them on the Facebook ad library.

Follow me for more reviews of those free mobile games you’re always getting ads for! Thanks for reading! 🥳

[niles-rainbow-room]

Freemod Context! (Long!!)

This is Gordon Freemod! He’s my own little AU Gordon, and I love him!

I made him based around the way I play Garry’s Mod

Cause, in Gmod, my player model is Gordon, and I literally cannot change it because whenever I go to change my model he just

He looks at me. He judges me. He’s just refusing to let me change it.

Here’s just. A bunch of things about Freemod that aren’t related.

Btw, this whole thing is me going-

*projects rapidly*

These were all taken from various moments of me info dumping to my discord friends about him, so, that’s why there’s so many that are barely related.

-

So

To get some characterization down, Freemod can go from Excited Sweet Voice at Everything to This Man is in God Mode and He is Staring You Down as You Attack Him

They’re also

very scared of Gman

It’s not even funny

-

ANYWAYS something else about Freemod, he likes starting all out fights between people, but he’s very polite too so like

Someone says hi to him and he gives this big ol smile, next thing you know, he’s spawning headcrabs that could wipe out an army

-

He also has no idea what to do with bodies like sometimes he just Sweet Voice cocoons them, and other times he just beats them rapidly if it was a combine or something

-

Another thing! He doesn’t like making eye contact 100% of the time! If he gets too excited as well, he’ll despawn whatever was making him excited until he calms down.

-

He’s also really fast when it comes to no-clipping.

He’ll shoot up into the air and fling himself from place to place, just absolutely soaring and loving that feeling of flying through the air

-

He definitely makes Catboy Calhoun jokes but like

He’s also really nervous around Calhoun sometimes like he’s constantly checking in on them after making them fight a ton of headcrabs.

-

He doesn’t really like using the majority of the guns. He just typically uses the quieter/less frantic weapons like the magnum or the crossbow.

-

He’s like

Magnetically drawn to mirrors. He likes watching himself do the Sweet Voice and will do it for hours when he’s in the right mood if someone doesn’t stop him

-

He’s very giggly and smiley when it comes to hearing other characters talk. But he also can be very mean and cutting to the people he doesn’t like. Especially combine.

-

Freemod really likes Houndeyes.

*Really* likes them.

He spawned in a group of 8 and just watched them for a while, and then he spawns a MP Combine. It proceeds to stun stick every one of them. And they all die in one hit. They don’t even fight back.

What Freemod does next is basically the equivalent of “die a very painful death” and just beats the shit out of them while alive and dead.

They have to erase everything because they can’t stand the sight of the bodies of Houndeyes.

-

Hi! Sorry to take you out of the immersion of reading my brain goo, or the annoyed scrolling of “Oh my god will she just shut up already” but!

Another thing I decided to do with him, I gave him a little plot. A hint of his own character rather than just being me but an AU Gordon.

So here that is!

-

I feel like the only true way to contain Freemod and keep him from destroying the world is by keeping him in gm_construct

He likes it there sure, but like

If someone let him into Black Mesa let’s just say that the Resonance Cascade would’ve been way sooner and way more intense.

All he really does is fly around in there. Just. That’s it.

It’s his own personal Bug Bucket.

I don’t even think he realizes he’s trapped to be fair?

-

Another thing with Freemod, I’m not exactly sure how he’d react to... say, the HLVRAI characters showing up in gm_construct one day, idk Benrey takes the gang on a trip to there out of nowhere and they find Freemod just vibing by himself, flying through the air on a capture point from TF2. I don’t know if he’d:

A: Summon a bunch of things to attack the HLVRAI crew for the fun of it

B: Immediately try to befriend all of them desperately

C: Possess a creature and disregard them

D: All of the above

Cause with all this “He’s trapped/alone” sorta thing, I don’t know if I’m making him into a villain or am I just making him very touch starved and sad?

Cause like, earlier I did say that if he was let out of gm_construct, the resonance cascade would’ve been sooner and more intense

Basically what I was thinking is that he doesn’t really limit how crazy his thoughts experiments can be that often, so like, he spawns a bunch of things all at once to see what would happen.

But he’s not like that all the time, like I said, he’s also very polite, he’s just got a thin coating of God Mode on and he’s very lonely.

-

I was trying to figure out the thing with Freemod’s voice actually. I’m trying to think what they’d be like on the Gordon Scale.™️

I’d say he’s able to speak, but he doesn’t do it often. Because typically he’s only around NPCs and they can’t respond to him the way he wants, so why actually talk to them?

But he definitely talks to enemies as sort of a “I am the last thing you’ll ever hear” kind of thing.

But if he were to meet a different Gordon or someone with sentience he can talk to, he’d speak. Totally.

He talks to some of the alien/animal NPCs, cause like!!! Come on!!! That Houndeye over there needs to know that he’s a good boy!!!

-

So, maybe when Freemod is upset or something, he spawns the biggest thing he can possibly think of and posses it, and goes on an absolute rampage until he’s better

So I can just imagine.

Freemod, not feeling great and tense:

Feetman: Mod, hey. Don’t do it...

Freemod: *spawns and possesses a Gene Worm, and roars*

Feetman: FREEMOD NO GET OUT OF THE GIANT MONSTER-

Or like. He just possesses something and just. Flies away.

He just has moments where he’s too out of his head and he needs to just escape.

Something he’s been doing recently is possessing a Stukabat and flying up on top of a roof of a really high building and just. Viewing everything.

This man is SAD please hug him :((

-

Ooh, another thing,

He doesn’t like that dark room at all. In gm_construct? He will not go in there for more than a minute. That place scares him so much. Not even the fact that it’s dark, he just hates that he can’t see anything and while he knows he’s alone in the world he’s in, and he controls what can exist there or not, but, he just refuses to go there, even with a flashlight.

-

Aaaaaand that’s all the content I’ve made for them so far! Now that y’all know the context for him, I’ll post the comic of him meeting the HLVRAI characters, as well as some other drawings!

[tpchicken7]

A brain dump of speculative Witcher episodes 1-4 timeline, because I’ve gotta dump it somewhere (spoilers for the books, probably):

Watch while I made wide assumptions that will probably fail!

Episode 1 “A Grain of Truth”: We know now because of clips, that this episode is based of the short story with Nivellen, from The Last Wish. I expect this first episode will focus heavily on Geralt & Ciri, because they need to establish that relationship hard after skirting it the whole first season. What I’m unsure is if they’ll start Yennifer’s story line in this episode or wait until episode 2. Jaskier is for sure not in this episode because Joey said in an interview he wasn’t at the ep1 table read.

Episode 2 “Kaer Morhen”: Ciri and Geralt obviously make it to Kaer Morhen in this episode and we get to Meet Vesemir and the gang. Really though, once we get there, I expect it to be a bunch of training montages and bonding, because that’s what I remember from the books. 

I’m guessing if Yenn & Fringella’s excellent adventure hasn’t started yet, it’ll get rolling in this episode. No idea if we’ll see a conclusion or a parting or whatever in this episode or the next. I would at least believe the elf attack will happen this episode.

I’m also thinking we’re going to hear that sweet Jaskier’s song about the Lion Cub of Cintra and the Witcher she’s destined for in this episode. Esp. because it would pair well with some sweet training/bonding moments. I imagine that bard whump is going to start this episode. I have a feeling they’ve expanded it from the short scene in the book, and I’m here for all of it! I’m also hoping the kidnapped bard storyline carries over to episode 3.

Episode 3 “What is Lost”: I believe Ciri and Geralt will leave Kaer Morhen in this episode and make their way to Nenneke’s temple, and it looks like Vesemir joins them at least to the Elfin ruins. I’m curious to see how much of the other Witchers we’ll see outside Kear Morhen, since they basically vanish in the books after that. 

I’m hoping for a crash of Yenn & Gillie’s excellent adventure and Jaskier’s kidnapping to happen in this episode. After all, in the books, the Squirrels/Vilgefortz, Rience & co, and the Nilfguaardians all have a shaky alliance. Yet, we know the Elves ambush the Nifguaardians, so maybe they’ll actually show that merger between them and Fringilla, giving her an excuse to “betray” Yenn. If Rience brings Jaskier to where the elves are, well that’s a great opportunity for a Yenn/Jaskier teamup, her to be all badass and burn the face off of our “favorite” torturer (or maybe that title should go to Tissaia? she does get to kick some Cahir butt at some point.) Otherwise, I think it would be pretty hard for Yennifer to save Jaskier, like in the books, considering she’s so far away from that plot.

Yenn and Jaskier meeting up could mean they would also flee to Nenneke’s to lick their wound, but I’m personally hoping that Jaskier begs Yenn to send him to Oxenfurt instead, not wanting to run into Geralt quite yet.

Episode 4 “Redanian Intelligence”: I love the Jaskier the spy story line. Some of my disappointment with the books is we don’t get to see any of Jaskier’s internal motivations for his choices. I’m hoping they change that a bit in the show. (all the fingers crossed!) It’ll be interesting to see if they stick with the idea that Jaskier is already a spy, or if he will get recruited this episode. I can see the possibility that Yennifer doesn’t save our favorite bard, like in the books, but maybe Phillippa Eilhart does. (Which I personally wouldn’t enjoy as much, I want Geralt, Yennifer, Ciri, and Jaskier to be as connected as much and as often as possible.) (A third option I have in mind is maybe Lambert or Eskel save Jaskier, giving these other characters something more to do, but once again, I’m hoping for option 1.)

I think Geralt will leave Ciri and Yennifer at Nenneke’s in this episode and make his own way to Oxenfurt (to make up with the bard because what the frack, Geralt!) I’m so excited to see Graham McTavish as Dijkstra, because he’s one of my favorite Dwarfs, uh actors. (Thank you The Hobbit!)

Okay, um, wow, this got long. I’m currently re-listening to the audio book, but I’m just to the Dandelion the spy part, so maybe I’ll have some thoughts about the other 4 episodes later. If you read all of that, thanks for sticking with my ramblings!

[rockmilkshake]

Donatello from tmnt (any iteration of your choice)

Alrighty, I'm just gonna go with Rise Donnie since I'm more well-versed in Rise. (Typical of me, I know.)

First impression: I didn't have a whole lot of exposure to TMNT before I saw ROTTMNT clips and fanwork, aside from a bit of 2012 from when I was a little kid roaming the Nickelodeon website, so the best reference I had for how Donnie was was 2012 Donnie. Y'know: the stereotyped nerdy high voice, constantly called a smartypants or a nerd, a little more in-his-head than out-in-the-battle compared to his brothers, yadda yadda yadda, you get the gist. So it was a little surprising to see him depicted as a cartoony, muscularly defined, drone-flying turtle with an ego the size of a truck. And thick black eyebrows.

Impression Now: I like his character a lot! He's put in the best young kid character trope alongside his brothers, where he's overall a good kid and means well, but is also a little bastard. He also somewhat reminds me of how I was when I was 14: dramatic, avoiding feelings and sappy stuff, etc. And he's also one of the first techy hero cartoon characters I've seen in media that is more confident and proud (and arrogant) about his skills and capabilities as a mechanical genius, so it's kind of a breath of fresh air to me! I do think his episode themes kind of get repeated, (i.e. Donnie's Gifts, Mind Meld) but they also tend to have some very sweet moments. (i.e. Breaking Purple, Donnie VS. Witchtown)

Favorite Moment: He has a lot of good moments in the episodes based around him. So for my favorite tiny moment, I'd say the part in Donnie's Gifts where he's about to be like "you guys used the gifts the wrong way" but then just pushes that aside, says they’re great the way they are, and requests a group hug. (Which makes me somewhat sad/upset when later on in Mind Meld, he just....yeah) For a slightly bigger emotional moment, I really like the end of Breaking Purple when Donnie apologizes to Shelldon and they hug each other.

Idea for a story: I'm not sure if this part is asking for a plot I want in the canon or an idea that I have, but for the heck of it, I'll go with both. I do have a cool but VERY angsty fanfic idea that I want to put into motion at some point. It's basically a SAINW fic but with a small twist to it that causes a lot more distress and pain for the purple turt. As for a story idea for within the canon, I really really want/wish we had gotten a Raph and Donnie episode. The dynamic and the plot could've been fantastic!

Unpopular opinion: I kinda wish people would stop making jokes about him being/becoming a villain, cuz he's 14 and it feels weird to call a kid character that.

Favorite Relationship: Honestly? I really like Mikey and Donnie as a duo! The relationship between them is super good. It's the two youngest sibs of the group who are like sun and moon and they're chaotic as hell and adorable.

Favorite Headcanon: I'm a big fan of the Donnie autistic headcanons! He does fit a lot of ND symptoms (as well as his brothers) and I also am neurodivergent and like him so I love them! The downside to this is that it falls into the autistic computer nerd stereotype, because all autistics need to be interested in something functional in media for some reason, as well as fitting the "high-functioning" view/weird societal need for autistic people to be capable of doing big things to be respected. So yeah, I also like to see him as a person with ADHD because I like the idea of a person with ADHD thriving on their hobbies and projects! Especially I have trouble staying on track with my own stuff, even

(Sorry about the late answer, this was sent months ago and I just left in my drafts to gather dust jskgldjgldjldjhl)

[eagles-translated]

Answering Eagles questions before the season 3 finale (Part 2/2)

I've received a bunch of questions since 3x08 and 3x09 dropped, so I compiled all the questions into two posts. I had to split them up because Tumblr only allows 10 images per post. Anyway, keep reading to see my answers and enjoy! 👇

There might be some kind of collaboration between Amie and Ludde like last season—we have only heard snippets of Ludde's song submission to the music school and it wouldn't surprise me if we saw Amie perform the song in its entirety in the last episode. I touched on this a little in part 1 of answering these questions.

It seems like Amie singing at the end of the season has become kind of a recurring theme. She performed “Follow” in 1x08 and “Second Sight” in 2x10 (on the radio, but my point still stands). I wouldn’t be surprised if they followed this trend by having Amie perform a new song in the season 3 finale.

I'm not sure if she'll recommend Ludde to the record label, though. I honestly still feel like Amie's whole storyline with sending in a rather basic demo written by two teenagers with little to no experience and then getting praised on it with comments such as "it's going to be a real summer hit" felt so unrealistic to me. Maybe they only said that so Amie would accept their offer or something, but that's still very strange because she would have still said yes without a doubt.

I can understand that they thought Amie was marketable as a person and there was this bonus with her having gone viral before on Felicia's Instagram, but that demo did not seem good enough for me to be immediately released as a single and then have them decide on the spot that Amie would be given a contract.

I mean, come on. It never felt earned because we never really saw Amie struggling with her songwriting journey to achieve this dream. Sending in one demo to one record label and having them immediately want to make a whole album with you just doesn't happen in real life unless the song is extremely good or you have a very unique voice. Amie is really talented but there are hundreds of people just like her, if not thousands. I was never convinced by her getting signed so quickly in season 2.

I understand that they wanted to establish her as a successful artist, but that felt so rushed. I was so sure that the record label would screw her over and steal the song rights to record it with another artist who was already established, and that we'd have to see Amie work even harder to achieve her dreams. But we didn't get that at all. Where was the struggle?

Anyway, I'm getting a little off-topic here. To be honest I have a lot of problems with the writing sometimes, even if I still love the show and its characters. Of course I wanted to see Amie achieve success (and I was happy when she did), but the journey there was so bizarrely easy.

She didn't start to seriously work on making her music career become a reality until season 2. Amie had dabbled in music prior to that, like when she auditioned for the school band and did that performance of Follow, but she didn't truly start to work towards it until season 2 when she decided to have her work sent to professionals in the business. And then, just five episodes later, she gets contacted by the record label in Stockholm.

To put this into context—season 2 took place somewhere around March, and episode 5 around three weeks into April. So when Ludde first started helping Amie it took less than two months for her to get signed. You could argue that the song was just that good or that Amie is just that talented, but it never felt like a realistic storyline to me.

So, back to your question! I need to stop getting so sidetracked while answering these haha. I don't think it would be realistic for the record label to hire a teenager with no professional songwriting experience, likely a very small portfolio of his own work in both size and variety, having a criminal record, and on top of that being infamous in the press for abusing his ex-girlfriend. If Amie offered the ultimatum to her label that she'll only return with Ludde, who has an incredibly bad reputation right now, it feels like she would be running the risk of losing the contract entirely.

There's only so much her label can put up with. We've seen Amie ignore their calls with no intention of reassuring them that she's coming back soon. Honestly, with the way things are looking right now it makes the most sense for the contract to be dropped. By Amie or by the label, I don't know.

The episode description for the season finale says that Ludde will get some sort of justice and it could be about his music (or something related to whatever Andreas is doing).

I believe Amie will be doing a live performance of Ludde's song at a New Year's Eve party in episode 10 but I doubt that Ludde will be picked up as a producer. If he actually does I would find that to be a very unrealistic plot point, to be completely honest with you.

This is an issue I had with 3x08 and 3x09 as well. I had a hard time actually enjoying the moment between Felicia, Klara, and Amie knowing that her family was getting increasingly worried for her and even thought for a short moment that Felicia was lying dead at the bottom of the ocean. All that could've been avoided.

To add, it didn't make a lot of sense to me that when Klara finally decided to call someone she called Amie instead of Elias. An ex-friend of Felicia's instead of her brother who could've helped a lot more. What was Amie supposed to do when she showed up at the hotel, exactly?

I know there was the thing with Klara only knowing Amie's number off the top of her head, but there is no reason why she couldn't have gone down to the reception while Felicia was sleeping and asked to use a computer just to get a quick message to Elias. Like, "hey, Felicia attempted something bad but she's safe with me, we're at this hotel in this room but she didn't want me to call anybody, I don't know what to do". That would've been so much better than keeping quiet about the situation for nearly 24 hours.

I know that Klara probably has trauma from leaving her dad at the hospital after his suicide attempt and that she probably didn't want to go against Felicia's wishes. I understand the first part 100%. But Felicia was in a very bad place emotionally and was thinking that her whole family hated her when that wasn't the case. I feel like in a situation like that you kind of have to be the bad guy just to ensure the family that Felicia was safe. Even if everything turned out alright in the end, it could've gone so much worse if Felicia had wanted to be kept hidden for longer.

The ending of 3x08 was super tough to watch and I can't imagine the feeling of thinking your only daughter/sister drowned herself after you just yelled at her and showed no support. Klara couldn't have known any of this, but I feel like she should've at least contacted Elias if she wasn't taking Felicia to a hospital.

Elias calling Amie would've been an easy solution to this whole debacle but we would've lost the drama. It's still somewhat of a plot hole though, like you said.

Thank you for reading that whole post @detectivejulesohara!

The clip you're referring to was posted on Yandeh Sallah's Instagram account, so not in a trailer for this season.

I think that was either just fanservice or it will appear in season 4 since it was posted in May of this year, and I believe the filming of season 3 had already wrapped by then.

It might indicate that Elias and Amie will be a couple by season 4 (this actually seems very likely regardless if this is actually part of a scene or not).

I think Elias is getting increasingly frustrated with hockey and the fact that he doesn't really have any other ambitions to strive for. He was raised with nothing but hockey surrounding him and it's in his blood. Elias got drafted to the US at around the same age as Mats, but Elias left after a year because he just wasn't progressing.

That must feel like a huge step back, and on top of that Mats was probably thriving in his successful career around the age that Elias is now. It's a tough difference in success to have weighing on your shoulders when you're in a team that's second to last in the rankings.

There's even the accusation in the press that Mats paid for Elias to advance in the rankings, and I'm sure that's going to affect his career negatively.

I think Elias overworking himself could also be the result of him feeling like he has to prove that returning to Eagles—a small club that is probably having their worst season ever—was in fact the right choice and not the death of his elite hockey career. That choice was very questionable from the very start and his agent advised against it. Even Mats found it strange. Elias said that he didn't really have a choice most likely because of the clause in his contract, but then he also claims to Mats that things just turned out that way.

Ludde: You don’t regret coming back [to Eagles]? Elias: I didn’t really have a choice.

The idea that he didn't have a choice in the matter doesn't seem accurate. His agent told him there were other alternatives like Jokerit (a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland) and that they could find something better than Eagles. Elias seemed kind of defeated already and the decision to return to Eagles didn't feel thought-through at all. It's almost like he just didn't care.

Agent: [...] Jokerit has called and I’ve had a great conversation with them, so they’re on. Elias: You know what? Let’s skip all the trouble. Let’s go with Eagles, it’ll be great. Agent: What? Elias: I’m so tired of moving all the time anyway, plus I’ll be close to my family. Agent: Wait, I thought that you— Eagles has big economical problems, and… Sorry, but their season started awfully. We can get a better team. You understand, right? Elias: Yeah, but we can’t get a team that needs me as much. Plus— If they say they want to see development, I’ll give them that. Agent: Wait— They’re under the line. We’re talking about qualifying down directly. You can’t in earnest believe you’ll change that on your own. Elias: It’s perfect. I’ll only go up, as you like to say.

It also seems like he's maybe realizing that hockey isn't everything and that there are other things he might want to explore and pursue in his life. I think Elias is feeling kind of stuck right now. He's been training his whole life for one purpose which is a professional career in hockey, and maybe he feels like Mats wouldn't allow him to quit. That option doesn't exist to him.

Like you said, Mats had that comment where he labeled Ludde a "quitter" and Elias stressed the fact that there shouldn't be anything wrong with losing interest and deciding to pursue something else.

Mats: Can you imagine that he’s just quitting? I mean, I’m completely— He really didn’t strike me as a quitter. So fucking close. [...] Elias: [...] Ludde, he’s… He’s not a quitter, he’s just didn’t want it anymore. That should be fair.

However, quitting is seen as failure to Mats. Mats dropped everything when he got drafted. He left his relationship with Petra seemingly without a second thought, because hockey comes before everything for Mats. Felicia even mentioned back in season 1 how her father was just a voice in a telephone for most of her childhood. He barely had any presence in her life because he was busy with hockey.

When Klara tells Elias that he's always putting hockey first, he gets angry but he doesn't outright deny it. In fact, he kind of changes the subject to shift attention away from Klara's claim.

Klara: This— You haven’t changed at all. You’re always putting yourself first. Elias: Excuse me? Klara: Yes, it’s either you or hockey. Elias: Stop! What the— Klara: I can’t take this. Elias: Are you leaving now? I wasn’t the only one you dumped. You’ve been acting like shit to Felicia. Yeah, and Amie and Ludde too, for that matter. You haven’t thought about that? So don’t come here and say I’m the egoist.

This is kind of an interesting thought—that maybe Elias subconsciously knew that was Klara is saying is true to some degree and that he has been putting hockey first. He decided to get on the train to the draft combine in Seattle instead of staying with Klara, and a year later he realizes that things didn't turn out the way that he'd planned and he returns to Eagles.

Maybe Elias is trying so hard to be someone who he just isn't, and it's affecting so many aspects of his life negatively. He lost Klara, he had to repeat almost his whole last year in high school because of moving to the US, and now he seems to be stuck in Oskarshamn. He's previously expressed to Amie that this isn't necessarily where he wanted to end up.

Elias: [...] Hey, is it just me or is there something about this town that… It sort of feels like no matter how much you try to get away, it… It pulls you back somehow.

It's kind of strange that he doesn't want to be in Oskarshamn, and yet he was the one who chose to return. Maybe he somehow feels like he has some purpose there because it keeps pulling him back. He just doesn't know what that purpose is.

Elias tried coming back to Eagles to turn things around for them, and they did win a game against the Capitals but that victory was later tarnished by the fight that broke out between the two teams (and to add to this, the loss of Ludde who used to be one of the star players and Klara as a sponsor). That kind of overshadowed their whole victory. Elias was very determined to do something to help and it very much feels like he needs Eagles to succeed—he needs to sort of "redeem" himself.

Elias: [...] Can I do anything? Can I go talk to— I could go talk to the sponsor. Mats: Let’s deal with it later. I’ll solve this. You have to go to school now. Elias: But we can finish talking— Mats: You can— No. Try to think of something else. Alright?

I think that Elias's desperation for Eagles to do well could absolutely lead to him eventually deciding to be a coach. He doesn't really seem to want the life that Mats had after seeing how success turned out for him—a broken family that he barely cares about because hockey occupies his mind more than caring for his children or repairing the relationship with Leila.

I think Elias being a hockey coach could suit him, but I would also love to see him exploring things outside of hockey—maybe even his interests outside of sport entirely.

I kind of agree with you on this. Klara has apologized to Felicia and been forgiven, but we've never seen her properly apologize to Amie for filming that video of her and posting it on social media. Amie and Ludde were in the wrong, yes, but that video being posted was humiliating for both of them. They had to deal with the ramifications of that for months after with the whole school judging them in silence.

To be fair, the video was posted a long time ago in the show's time frame (nearly two years ago if I'm right?) and they all kind of moved on from it. To add to this, maybe she felt it would've been kind of awkward to apologize with Felicia in the room.

Felicia was so hurt by that video being posted and I think it would feel very weird for her that Klara would apologize for posting the video when it's the sole reason Felicia found out what had been done to her. Without that video, she would've probably gone a few more months without being told what happened at the Halloween party.

I'm waiting for a Klara and Amie reconciliation in this season finale. I feel like this is something that should be discussed between just the two of them, and maybe they'll sneak in some blessing from Klara with the whole budding Elias and Amie relationship? I'd be happy with just a reconciliation, though, but I'm unsure if we'll get one. I have a feeling they'll start the season finale with a time jump and I don't know if Klara is even going to be in Oskarshamn by that time.

If we don't see them reconnecting in the season finale I will be pretty disappointed, to be honest.

Thank you! I really appreciate you too @lunawedlers (your gifsets are absolutely magical)!

This question was sent in a while ago but as season 3 had just started airing I was very excited to see the development of Elias and Amie, mostly because the director had been hinting on Twitter that something would happen between them this season. I've been really interested in them ever since 1x03 and so far the wait has been worth it.

I think all episodes have great visuals, but if I had to pick one I would probably say 3x06. All those shots of Elias and Amie on the walk through the park, the drone shots, and then the view from that bench spot were so gorgeous visually. That answer is more of a scene rather than a whole episode haha, but I think they really made the beauty of Oskarshamn stand out in those shots.

I think Amie will have some sort of performance in the final episode of a new song and that Elias will be watching her! After reading the episode description for the final episode and seeing that there will probably be some New Year's Eve party going on, I have a feeling that Amie will be performing. She's always had a performance of a new song in every season finale and this one should be no exception.

They tricked us a little in the season 3 trailer with us thinking that Elias would be at one of Amie's concerts in Stockholm, but now I'm sure that this scene fits in at the New Year's Eve party.

I think we should keep our expectations low for a kiss between Elias and Amie. They just started developing their relationship, and I like the slow pace they're going in. They're not rushing anything. I also have this feeling that their development has deliberately been so slow because they're sort of "saving the best for last".

Elias and Amie are fan favorites and their relationship has been very talked-about from the beginning. I can see the writers maybe having decided to push their relationship more towards the end of the show, which is why we haven't really gotten any Elias and Amie content until now. That's frustrating if you're impatient and I've seen some people thinking that maybe Elias and Amie won't happen at all, but I don't think we need to worry at all. The fact that Elias and Amie's development has been so slow should indicate that they're much more likely to be endgame.

A kiss in episode 10 could definitely happen, but I don't know. Maybe they'll drag it out further. As I've said before, if they don't get one in season 3 they will absolutely be getting one in season 4. I've noticed that it's always best to keep your expectations low when it comes to this couple.

The episode description for the season finale said this about Elias, which some have interpreted to be about Amie.

New Year’s Eve is here. [...] But is Elias brave enough to say what everyone else already knows?

This could mean anything, really. I'm actually leaning more towards this being about an individual thing rather than Amie being involved. It could be about Elias admitting that he's been overworking himself and not eating properly, or coming clean about the fact that maybe he doesn't want a career in hockey. This is something that everyone else already knows, so I think it might be about hockey.

Felicia has observed the overworking, Mats has told him to stop with it, and Ludde might've had some inkling about it while he was still on the team. Even Amie has probably also noticed that he's been spending a lot of time at the gym lately.

I could absolutely be wrong about this though.

Thank you for the question @lunawedlers!

This is a hard one because season 3 has had so many strong episodes already, and usually my favorite episode ends up being the season finale because it's basically the culmination of the whole season. I really loved 2x10 for this very reason since the ending montage was so well done.

If I had to pick between 3x01 - 3x09 though I would probably have to say it's a tie between 3x04 — Date night and 3x05 — Wounds! These two episodes showcased what Eagles should be all about so well, which is relationships plus the struggles you go through as a teenager in a small town, and then of course hockey. The hockey game episodes are really good, even if I don't think 3x05 topped 2x05 (the game where Ludde got tackled and knocked out).

I loved the contrast in Date night of the budding relationship between Elias and Amie and then that fight between Felicia and Ludde on the cliff. That whole scene between Felicia and Ludde on the cliff was actually really beautiful, especially when the sun had gone down.

It was interesting to see how this sweet gesture from Felicia turned into a fight between the two of them. I thought that was very realistic, because no matter how big of a gesture Felicia made to apologize there were still underlying problems that they needed to talk about.

I also loved the "non-date" between Elias and Amie in this episode. It was cute to see them goofing off before the movie started and then talking about it on the way home. I liked how Elias could connect to her on how they had both returned to Oskarshamn.

The recent episodes that dropped last week (3x08 and 3x09) were very strong and discussed some important subject matters, but I had a few problems with them that I discussed in a question above. They were dark, but not necessarily bad because they needed to happen.

However, I have to say that I prefer Eagles when it's about hockey and teenage relationships. 3x04 and 3x05 made me kind of nostalgic for season 1 and I liked the vibe they both had.

I agree, but I think we could maybe get a combination of both! Relationships can have all these romantic and sweet traits like you described, but also be more passionate and show public displays of affection.

I think Elias and Amie fit the more laid-back and sweet characteristics, but we have yet to really see what Amie is like in a relationship. We've seen her with a crush on Ludde and we got a glimpse of that thing she had with Robin (which was apparently a relationship but I did not pick up on that at all), but we don't really know what Amie is like in a relationship. Maybe she's never really had a "real" one, either.

Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what's in store for Elias and Amie. I'm very positive that they will eventually become a couple in season 4.

[artificialqueens]

Level Up, Chapter Eleven (Branjie) - Holtzmanns

“I don’t think I could come up with anything negative about you.”

Brooke’s eyes are sincere as she says it, and Vanessa’s heart starts to beat just a little bit faster. Vanessa’s a person who’s always on the go, not one to slow down if she doesn’t have to but Brooke has the ability to make her world pause for just a second. Brooke changes Vanessa’s focus from what’s in front of her to solely her, and Vanessa almost wishes she could keep it there forever.

It’s never that hard for Vanessa to come up with words to reply with, especially not towards Brooke, but her brain feels like it has shuddered to a stop, pressing on the brakes because the small smile on Brooke’s face is more important to focus on. She could say something stupid, something funny, maybe return the sentiment but she doesn’t get a chance to decide on what to do before Yvie lets out a scoff.

“Except for your dislike of Chicken Little. That’s a negative if I’ve ever seen one.”

AN: Hi, I'm still alive, I promise. Popping back into this lovely fic nearly eight months later (a new job, a new apartment, a new city, and a new cat later too) and I love it just as much as I did in January. Eight months is good for plot to marinate and develop and I'm excited to get back to writing this fic again. If you're still around for this journey, thank you and know I'm so grateful for it. Please do tell me your thoughts if you read! Thank you writ for betaing ily <3

“So you have that interview with Glamour, I’ll set it up for some time this week, and Teen Vogue wants to do something on their Youtube channel. Who knew that was a thing? I’m working on Adidas’ rep to finagle a sponsorship outta them, and Under Armour on the backburner just in case-”

Vanessa bursts through the doors of the gym while Detox continues talking in her ear, not at all apologetic about the way that she has to interrupt her as she ambles towards Brooke’s office. “Just reached the gym. We’ll have to continue this later, ‘cause training waits for no one, right?”

“I see exactly what you’re doing, but I’m not mad at it. Go work on building those boxing skills that’ll keep lining your pockets for years. Toodles!”

Vanessa lets out a snort when Detox hangs up the phone. “Toodles? Who the hell says that?”

“Detox?” Brooke looks up from her book, an amused smile on her face. “I know that trick.”

“What trick?” Vanessa squints her eyes as she sits down, trying to read the cover of Brooke’s paperback. “Are you reading Chicken Soup for the Soul? ”

Brooke waves a hand. “Doesn’t matter. And the trick of dipping out of Detox’s phone calls. Why else would you get to the gym so early?”

“Oh, come on. I’m early sometimes. Occasionally,” Vanessa grins, and Brooke doesn’t buy it in the least from the way she raises an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe not. I like Detox, I really do, don’t get me wrong. She’s hysterical and good at her job, real good at it, but damn.”

“Detox works hard,” Brooke nods, understanding in her eyes. “It’s a lot to handle sometimes.”

“She cranks up the exposure by a million and targets it in specific places and it works, ‘cause I have a lot of followers and deals now but…”

“But what?”

Brooke leans forward, pushing her book to the side as she looks earnestly at Vanessa. It’s striking, sometimes, how Brooke gives her full attention. How much she cares sometimes.

It’s nice.

“It feels real wild, y’know? Like all I did was become a meme, and now my face is going to be in a Spotify commercial. How does that jump happen?” Vanessa shifts in her chair, letting out a sigh. “It’s only been a few weeks.”

It’s as if Vanessa is riding in a car that’s only getting faster and faster, not quite in control of the steering wheel or knowing when she’s going to be able to stop. Sure, the ride is fun, but it also feels like she’s driving without a license, as if she’s skipped the learner’s permit stage and hit the highway instead.

“She wants to capitalize on it as much as possible. Keep you in the spotlight even after the next big meme rolls around,” Brooke shrugs, before pausing for a second, a look of concern in her eyes. “It’s not too much, is it? I can always talk to Detox with you if you feel like it’s overwhelming-”

“Nah, I’ll survive,” Vanessa shrugs, giving her best reassuring smile to Brooke. “Lush sent me some free shit the other day. I like goodie bags.”

Brooke snorts. “Fair enough. Bath bombs are a reason to keep going.”

“Want some? I got enough for a month's worth of spa days.” Vanessa makes a mental note to bring some of the freebies for Brooke on their next practice. She’s earned half of everything, at least.

“You have any of the sakura ones?” Brooke is tentative with her question, and Vanessa nods enthusiastically.

“You’re getting all of ‘em.”

“Now, hold on a second-”

“It’s six. Don’t we have practice to start?” Vanessa’s up and out of the office before Brooke can protest any further. “I’m gonna go change.”

Practice is nice. Practice feels familiar amongst all the new chaos in Vanessa’s life. It lets her turn her brain off and get away from the people that recognize her out in public, the way her Instagram is now solely for sponsored posts. The way she feels like a caricature of herself, almost, because others have an opinion of who she is based on a ten second video clip.

But practice isn’t like that. In the gym, Brooke is the same as ever, pushing and pushing her until sweat is drenching her back and her mind is spinning and she feels more alive than she ever has. When Brooke throws moves at Vanessa that she has to work in overdrive to block and counter with some of her own, it’s familiar. Even though she’s tired and gasping for breath, it’s what she knows how to do, and in an environment that isn’t unsettling or foreign.

The best part about it? Vanessa can still feel herself learning. Growing. Stepping up to the challenges that Brooke throws at her. Sure, she’s not aching to get back into the competition ring anytime soon, but the approving smiles from Brooke when she gets in a good hit or when she avoids a shot that would previously knock her on the ground gives her a thrill every time.

The end of practice leaves Vanessa with a new sense of longing that’s only been present the last few weeks, since this whole meme mess has started. Leaving the gym is hard, because it means Vanessa has to go outside again, pull her hat down when passerby on the sidewalk give her a second look. She has to unlock her phone and pretend to be busy, but then she’s faced with comments pouring in on every social media account that she opens. She can text one of her friends but it’s hard to continue a conversation, really, after it starts with a rousing Miss Vanjie, no matter how much in jest.

Being outside the gym means that she’s reminded of her new loss of normalcy.

She takes her time switching back into her sweats after she showers, dragging her feet as she leaves the change room with her gym bag slung over her shoulder. When she squints her eyes she can see Brooke at the far end of the gym, teetering on a stool as she repositions one of the crooked banners. Brooke turns around almost as if she can tell Vanessa is there, a good natured smile and an easy wave following immediately.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Need any help?” Vanessa’s stalling a bit by asking, but maybe Brooke really could use a hand with the banners, or at least an extra set of eyes to make sure that they’re nice and straight.

She’s just helpful, that’s all.

Brooke, to her credit, doesn’t call Vanessa out for it as she squints, admiring her handiwork. “I think they’re as aligned as they’re ever going to be. I’m going to get ready to leave for the night, too.”

“Oh,” Vanessa doesn’t mean to sound a little disappointed as Brooke jumps off the stool, fiddling with the jacket that’s slung across her arm. “Already?”

“It’s almost eight thirty,” Brooke points out, padding past Vanessa towards her office door and grabbing her coat off of the hook. “You’re not tired and ready to go home yet?”

“I just…”

Vanessa trails off, looking down at the ground. She’s not sure what to say, really. All that’s waiting for her is her apartment, but she can’t mindlessly scroll Twitter or Instagram before bed without seeing her face again. She needs to reply to her friends’ texts, but the notifications are piling up on top of one another like a mountain that she’s not really sure how she’s going to climb.

Vanessa just wants to avoid it all.

Brooke pauses, and each second that passes makes Vanessa’s heart constrict because maybe she should just try to explain, but she doesn’t know how to and it feels like too much-

“C’mon. My roommate and I are having a late dinner and rewatching Chicken Little. Are you in for a nacho night?”

Brooke’s looking at her expectantly and Vanessa wants to say yes, but what pops out of her mouth is what’s pressing on her even more. “Did you say rewatching Chicken Little?”

“It’s a good movie!” Brooke’s defensiveness makes Vanessa crack a smile despite how restless she feels, how much she’s fidgeting while standing in place. “Come over and you’ll see.”

“Y’know, we haven’t talked about movies before, but this recommendation is making me question what your taste is like,” Vanessa lets out a giggle, when Brooke’s mock offense takes over her face as she puts a hand to her heart.

“The disrespect. You’re not getting nachos with those kinds of statements,” Brooke grabs Vanessa’s gym bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she holds the door open. “Now c’mon.”

Brooke’s apartment is not what Vanessa expects - there are colours and tapestries lining the walls and even one on the ceiling, and she’s pretty sure she sees a bong on top of the refrigerator. It’s pretty, though, with the art splashed across every free surface and the shelves filled with books upon books, piles of even more on the actual floor. Vanessa has to resist the urge to go and sit down on the wicker chair in front of the television that’s suspended from the ceiling.

“Yvie’s the one behind the decor.” Brooke has a knowing smile on her face and Vanessa can feel her cheeks heat up, from how easily Brooke can read her mind. “Moved in a few years ago after she broke up with a long term partner. Never really got around to adding things of my own to the walls.”

Vanessa snickers before she can even get her joke out properly. “What would you add? A Chicken Little poster?”

Brooke, for her part, doesn’t miss a beat. “Nah. A poster of your meme.”

“Wow-”

“I know we were thinking nachos, but picture this. Chicken nuggets while we watch Chicken Little.” A girl with bright green hair pops her head out from behind a door, waving at the two of them.

Vanessa waves back, her eyebrows lifting higher and higher on her forehead when she realizes how tall the girl is as she walks closer. Even Brooke has to look up at her which is a strange sight on its own, considering how much Brooke towers over Vanessa.

Then again, Vanessa’s used to being the short one.

“Vanessa here is doubting the movie’s genius,” Brooke raises an eyebrow, and the girl lets out a fake gasp.

“Um, not a movie. Chicken Little is a film. An artistic masterpiece.”

“Are you two the presidents of the Chicken Little fan club?” Vanessa asks, as Brooke sticks her tongue out at her.

“Yes. And no, you can’t join.”

It’s interesting how Brooke’s work demeanor has dropped now that she’s in her own apartment, her normally squared shoulders a little more relaxed. It reminds Vanessa of when they went roller skating, seeing how much fun Brooke had while pulling her around the rink.

Vanessa wants to see more of it.

Brooke points at her roommate as the girl sticks out a hand. “Ness, this is Yvie. Yvie, Vanessa. I’m coaching her.”

“You’re introducing her as if I haven’t heard you talk about her every single day for the last however many months,” Yvie drawls and Brooke’s sputter is immediate, making Vanessa’s breath hitch a little in her throat.

Brooke talks about her?

Yvie pats Brooke on the back as if she’s choking on her water rather than on some words, sticking her other hand out for Vanessa to shake. “You’re Brooke’s favourite student. Also her only student, technically, but still a favourite nonetheless.”

Brooke’s cheeks are bright pink and Vanessa can’t deny that the sight is adorable, seeing her flustered for once. Still. Brooke probably recaps their training sessions and nothing more.

“As long as it’s mostly positive,” Vanessa shrugs, and the way Brooke emphatically nods makes her feel better than she wants to admit.

“I don’t think I could come up with anything negative about you.”

Brooke’s eyes are sincere as she says it, and Vanessa’s heart starts to beat just a little bit faster. Vanessa’s a person who’s always on the go, not one to slow down if she doesn’t have to but Brooke has the ability to make her world pause for just a second. Brooke changes Vanessa’s focus from what’s in front of her to solely her, and Vanessa almost wishes she could keep it there forever.

It’s never that hard for Vanessa to come up with words to reply with, especially not towards Brooke, but her brain feels like it has shuddered to a stop, pressing on the brakes because the small smile on Brooke’s face is more important to focus on. She could say something stupid, something funny, maybe return the sentiment but she doesn’t get a chance to decide on what to do before Yvie lets out a scoff.

“Except for your dislike of Chicken Little. That’s a negative if I’ve ever seen one.”

The platter of chicken nuggets that Yvie places on the coffee table with a flourish is impressive, to say the least. There’s a little bowl of ketchup on the side, along with sweet and sour sauce and something that looks to be...ranch?

Whatever it is, Vanessa’s nose wrinkles at the sight. “Which one of you eats ranch with chicken nuggets? Is that legal?”

Yvie’s cackle and Brooke’s flushed cheeks tell Vanessa all she needs to know as she plops down beside Brooke on the couch, nudging her side. “Really?”

“The flavour combination is great!” Brooke mutters, grabbing a chicken nugget and dipping it in the ranch for posterity, holding it up close to Vanessa’s face. “Try it.”

Vanessa scooches herself towards the edge of the couch, away from the chicken nugget and the ranch that’s slowly dripping down like a melting ice cream. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s delicious-”

“It’s cursed-”

“More for me, then,” Brooke tosses the chicken nugget into her mouth, and Vanessa’s not sure, really, how she’s handling the flavours together without puking. “You’re missing out.”

“Very happy to miss out on that, thank you very much. I’ll take the ketchup.”

It turns out that Chicken Little isn’t so bad with Yvie and Brooke peppering in commentary as they watch, and Vanessa finds herself getting swept into the plot, as ridiculous as it is. The glass of cider that Yvie’s brought for each of them is making Vanessa feel a little more relaxed, her shoulders not as stiff anymore as she leans against the back of the couch. It’s fun to watch Brooke’s face, really, and the way she lights up while quoting the movie as it plays.

Vanessa makes a mental note to invite Brooke over to watch more movies. Better movies. Expand her palate. Chicken Little cannot be at the top of Brooke’s movie pyramid, not when there are better choices available, like Pretty Woman. Sure, Vanessa’s not exactly a film connoisseur herself, but still. Anything beats Chicken Little, right?

Maybe it’s just the cider settling in, maybe it’s the full stomach of chicken nuggets, but...it’s nice. Comfortable. Vanessa pulls her feet up behind her on the couch before grabbing a throw pillow to hug on her lap, and really, she could fall asleep right where she’s sitting, even to the dulcet tones of the main chicken character screaming about an alien invasion. Brooke looks over as Vanessa settles herself more into the couch, her expression unreadable but then she reaches over the back of the couch, grabbing the throw blanket behind them.

“Wanna share? It’s kinda cold.”

It’s not cold and Vanessa knows it, she knows that Brooke does too, but Brooke’s face is soft and tentative and adorable and sharing a blanket with her would make the couch situation even more cozy.

Plus, she can cuddle with Brooke, because Brooke is tall and thus is a tall, comfortable cushion to lean against.

Brooke throws the blanket across both of them and Vanessa scoots closer to her so that their laps are covered, the fabric fuzzy and warm. The side of Vanessa’s upper thigh leans against Brooke’s and she’s not sure why she’s so hyper aware of the fact, or why Brooke’s arm across the back of the couch makes her want to snuggle in even closer.

It’s just Brooke, after all. Brooke, who’s seen her when she’s all sweaty and about to collapse on the gym floor. Brooke, who had been there at her worst after the last tournament and still wants to coach her and spend time with her. Brooke, whose secret love for Twilight will never fail to make Vanessa laugh.

If it’s just Brooke, then why is Vanessa’s heart taking flight in her chest when Brooke starts to absentmindedly trace patterns on her palm? She doesn’t know why Brooke’s touch is lighting up a pattern of sparks on her skin either, or why Brooke’s side is so comfortable to lean against. Why Vanessa almost wishes that the movie could go on forever, so that she can stay warm and safe under Brooke’s arm that’s now draped across her shoulders.

Maybe Vanessa doesn’t need answers for all of those questions, not yet, not if finding out the answers would mean disrupting the delicate balance that hangs in the air between them. Brooke shuffles a little bit and when Vanessa’s head ends up against her chest, she can feel the way Brooke’s heart is beating, surely faster than any heart should. It’s a contrast from how seemingly relaxed the rest of Brooke’s body is, how her arms around Vanessa aren’t tense, restricting, but rather grounding, pulling her down.

Leaning back against Brooke is warm, familiar. It’s a feeling of home in a situation so novel, so different from how they usually are, like pulling on a sweater that Vanessa’s not sure how she’s ever lived without. Maybe, just maybe, Vanessa doesn’t ever have to take it off.

Vanessa doesn’t realize that the credits start rolling on the screen until Yvie rolls off of the lilac armchair, reaching for the remote on the coffee table. She lets out a yawn, stretching her arms up high before shutting off the TV. “I, for one, am exhausted. And as fun as this was, it’s my bedtime.”

Brooke snickers, and Vanessa can feel the way her chest reverberates underneath her. “You and I both know you’re about to go Facetime Scarlet.”

“That’s what bedtime means,” Yvie wiggles her eyebrows, and Brooke’s noise of disgust is immediate.

“Horrifying. You two better keep it down this time. My ears still haven’t recovered from overhearing you both last week,” Brooke shudders as Yvie cackles, shutting the door to her bedroom with a click.

Vanessa turns in Brooke’s grip, shooting a questioning look. Surely Yvie can’t be louder than the average person on Facetime. “Overhearing what?”

Brooke makes a face, the haunted look in her eyes almost comedic from the way that she sighs. “Let me put it this way. Yvie and her girlfriend are in a long distance relationship, which is hard on them for a multitude of reasons. One of them being their libidos.”

“Their libidos…” Vanessa trails off, her face falling when she realizes what Brooke means. “Oh no. Not that. Tell me not that.”

“Exactly that. They’re quieter over Facetime than they are when Scarlet visits, at least. That’s a blessing.”

Vanessa shudders. Sure, she’s not exactly quiet in bed either, but the thought of people on the other side of the wall being able to hear everything is horrifying, especially because of the fact that she lives with Alexis. Her sister does not need to know details about her sex life, that’s for sure.

Still, Vanessa wonders how loud Yvie must be. “How do they even make so much noise with phone sex, anyway? Yodel?”

“Mating calls that would fit in perfectly in a National Geographic documentary,” Brooke lets out a snicker, her hand clapping over her mouth when Yvie lets out an ‘I heard that!’ from behind her bedroom door. “Still, glad I’m not about to suffer through overhearing it alone. You’ve saved my evening.”

Vanessa snorts, pulling back from Brooke’s embrace to face her, leaning against the back of the couch. “Glad to be of service.”

Brooke is softness and kindness and contentment all at once, and the easy smile on her face is one that Vanessa feels so lucky to see the longer and longer that she knows her. It’s moments like these that Vanessa wants to hold on to forever - when Brooke’s guard is down, when her posture is relaxed and she’s looking over with eyes that Vanessa could drown in. She wants to package up this version of Brooke that isn’t tethered by reminders of her past, or with upholding a legacy that defines her whether she likes it or not. At times like this, Brooke isn’t a boxer with her father’s last name, or Vanessa’s coach responsible for facilitating her success. She’s just Brooke, a girl whose gaze is so mesmerizing that makes Vanessa’s breathing hitch in her throat without even realizing it.

Brooke holds out a hand and it’s almost second nature for Vanessa to link her fingers with hers, their hands fitting together in a way that doesn’t make sense, not when Vanessa’s hands are so much smaller. But Brooke’s grip is an anchor that keeps her from floating away, one that centers her and lets her focus on the upward curve of Brooke’s lips, the softness of her eyes when she smiles.

Except then Brooke’s brow is furrowing, a hint of concern in her eyes that Vanessa wants to brush away for her. “You okay? You’re quieter than usual.”

Vanessa can feel her face heating up as she stutters, pulling her eyes away from Brooke’s face to focus on the stitching along the couch cushions. “I’m fine. I...nothing.”

She can’t exactly go out and tell Brooke, someone who’s a coach and also a friend for that matter, that she’s just a little bit mesmerized by her face. Not something that’s likely to go over well.

Vanessa’s past relationships have been nothing short of peacocking, making herself known to those she’s had an interest in because they’d inevitably chase her right back. She knows her worth, knows how to go after what she wants, but…

What does she even want, now?

She doesn’t want Brooke, she can’t, not when Brooke is her coach and someone who’s becoming more and more important towards every aspect of her life, someone who she texts when she wakes up in the morning and who she’s messaging as she’s falling asleep.

Brooke’s not the type of person that Vanessa can parade around and go on a few dates with while drinking the cheapest wine on the menu for shits and giggles. She’s not someone that Vanessa can let go of easily, the way she’s had to with previous relationships that didn’t work out. Brooke is different from them.

She’s not disposable, not someone that Vanessa wants to let go of from her life. She isn’t someone that Vanessa can let go of at this point, because the thought of not seeing her amused expressions in the gym or the pride on her face while they’re training is too much to deal with. Vanessa’s only beginning to read through Brooke’s pages to learn more about her, and finding out little details that make her want to melt and pull Brooke just a little closer to her heart.

Brooke is too important.

Sure, Vanessa’s breath hitches in her chest whenever Brooke pulls her closer, and maybe Brooke’s smile is enough to drown out any background noise buzzing around them, but Vanessa also knows that she falls hard. And fast. She’s impulsive, following what her heart tells her to do and most of the time, she can deal with the consequences because she knows she’ll be able to get back up again.

But if this is a miscalculation? If saying something means that they’ll end up in pieces that neither of them will be able to put back together?

It’s too big of a risk. At least, for now.

Vanessa can’t be the one to take the jump off the cliff, not yet.

So she smiles, puts on the most reassuring expression that she can, hoping that it’s enough to soothe the concern that splays itself across Brooke’s features. “Really, I am. Just thinking about all the press shenanigans that Detox has lined up for me tomorrow.”

It’s enough for Brooke’s features to relax just a little bit, the smile on her face almost nostalgic. “I’m glad it’s you now, and not me, on Detox’s receiving end. She’s ruthless in the best way.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

There’s a sinking feeling in Vanessa’s chest by going for the cop out, but...she has no other choice. It’s not the way she normally handles situations like this, a fact made clear by how much she has to push down the butterflies in her stomach, and hide them behind a door so that they don’t escape and ruin stakes that feel too high, too much of a risk.

Still, Vanessa’s a bit of a sucker for punishment, and so when Brooke pulls her closer into a hug, it’s as easy as breathing to snuggle into her and rest her head against her chest, because Brooke’s arms are warm and safe and manage to slow her thinking down just a bit.

Part of Vanessa feels like she can handle it and hold herself back from doing anything stupid, if only to not mess everything up. She can be this close to Brooke and not have her chest split in two and maybe it’s a blessing, and something that she has to hold on to. Except that by leaning against Brooke, she can feel how fast Brooke’s heart is beating, threatening to escape from her chest before she can possibly stop it. It’s a contrast from the gentle way that Brooke’s fingers run through her hair, betraying the calmness on the outside that she’s trying so hard to convey.

Maybe Vanessa’s not the only one holding back. Maybe Brooke also feels it, maybe she’s also teetering on the bridge that Vanessa’s trying her best not to lose her footing on, and the thought gives Vanessa pause for a second, because maybe the risk is one they can manage, something they can work with...

No. No.

They can’t.

Not if it would lead to everything falling to pieces around them, not if it would mean no more training and no more Brooke in general. Because that’s how relationships always seem to end, don’t they?

As much as Vanessa has always wanted the romantic movie ending and a kiss in the rain, it hasn’t happened to her yet, much to her teenage self’s disappointment. There’s too much on the line to see if Brooke will be the one to veer her onto a different path and change the outcome.

So, Vanessa has to be happy with what she’s getting now, this friendship with Brooke and the coaching and accept it for all that it’s worth. Because Brooke’s important, maybe the most important person in Vanessa’s life and she has to take what she gets.

She’s lucky enough to have it in the first place, after all.

[moon-livie]

what your reasons for shipping lily x ricky? i don’t know if i want to ship them or not

It’s not based on logic at all (I mean, she acted like she cared about him right before and right after trying to ruin his play - literal manipulation to let his guard down -, not to mention all the bad things she did to his friends), so it’s totally subjective and much more what it still might be than what it is now. I’ve always shipped Ricky and Nini and loved the storyline of him trying to win her back; I think they were amazingly developed on season 1 and I never thought of shipping either of them with another person.

However, season 2 happened. I knew there would be angst, because that’s how you keep a romantic storyline interesting and appealing - so you can feel the need to see how things will work out for the couple to be together in the end -, but I think it was a huge mistake to break them up so soon and in the way that it was done. It really caught me off guard. When I watched episode 8, I was happy when they met at the treehouse because I thought they were going to talk things through, and I think that’s how they should’ve adressed all their problems (just like Seblos and Redlyn), especially because Ricky and Nini had a whole season focused on getting back together. They broke up in a way that, for me, the overall narrative won’t make sense for them to come back anymore (although I am curious about how would that happen). Since I decided to consider Rini officially ruined, I gave up on them (I think that is where I differ from most Rini warriors) and focused completely on Portwell.

When we saw Lily flirting with Ricky on the season 2 trailer, in my view she was just gonna be a plot device - still might be, depending on how their dynamic + Nini's reaction will look like next season - and the only thing I felt was slight annoyance, not shipping them at all until episode 11's promo with the Something There clip, which intrigued me. Then, there's the fact that enemies to lovers is my favorite romance trope. Since I don't care that much if Rini is endgame anymore, it feels exciting to think about the way Ricky was super annoyed at her at first for "betraying" East High, stealing their show and just being mean; then confused because of that weird facetime; then standing on the fine line between reconsidering and not reconsidering his thoughts on her; then looking at her in the crowd during the whole play; then stepping back again and, in the end, finally deciding to give her a chance (even though we all know she had just stolen the harness 😂 by the way, I spent the whole episode 11 thriving because of them and was super disappointed to know she did that. I felt manipulated myself). It just feels very new and full of possibilities, as I said before, “much more what it still might be than what it is now”. I didn’t think they’d really invest on this Lily-Ricky thing but after they did I just found myself interested instead of angry. I just want to see him with somebody other than Nini at this point. We haven’t seen that yet (for real). Also, I’ve never hated Lily too much. But I don’t even know what I want with them, so I’m taking anything. Whatever. I can’t lose any more than what I have already lost because of Rini lmao. 

Both Rinis and Rinas reject Licky, but I think Rinas may be a little more open to it because they have a hint of enemies to lovers in their story, which is the opposite from Rini. Actually, I think that if Portwell hadn’t gained my heart and if Gina had emerged as Ricky’s alternative love interest after Rini being destroyed I could’ve shipped them as well. I just really am a sucker for this trope.

Long story short: I just feel like I can’t wait to see what is their dynamic going to look like and how his friends are going to react because it’s so wrong. 😂

As for Lily, I agree with Tim: