#I know this because when the episode came out I watched this scene a hundred times or smth

[nyaskitten]

Zane does!

S11 e18, The Message. In Zane's message he refers to himself as son of Dr. Julien!

I feel like you would have the answer to this question but do you know where all of those Cole last names come from? I think he's canonically Brookestone but I've seen both Hence and Bucket used for him. Is there a reason for it or is it just a Nya last name situation where fans just gave him another last name?

I'm not all too sure. I know at least that one of the surnames, either Hence or Bucket, came from a non-canon 2012 blooper reel where the ninja are all actors. It's definitely a "fans taking a popular suggestion as his surname" situation tho.

[jakei95]

[Post in English] Something Nyx and I want to publicly address, regarding the recent allegations in the Glitchtale Crew's Discord Server and it's moderators. I really apologize for the upcoming wall of text. These are our Twitter threads I have pasted them here, in case you don't have access to said platform. I have also added some additional notes to provide more context. All details under the line:

NyxTheShield: (Transcription from his official twitter thread) I read some mean comments lately and I just wanna be super clear: I havent been related to Glitchtale since at least 2022. I never considered myself part of the community and went through some much shit while doing stuff for it that my mental health was completely destroyed.

For people who thought I was an admin of the server, that was just in paper. I was constantly de-admin'd, demodded and kicked from the server through the years for simple stuff like asking the rest of the mod team to not say slurs or standing up against the Midnight Crew. I personally left the server for a long while because I really did not want to be around some of the people there. All of this happened years ago (from 2016~ to around 2020). On the early years, my full income came from Youtube/Glitchtale. I was a broke college student and my economic stability depended on it. Despite this, and making literally hundred of tracks and hours of music for the series, most of the income came from my own ad revenue. I was paid less than 2000 USD for all of the work. Essentially, I was paid in exposure.

This wouldn't have been an issue for me if at least I got to keep my artistic vision with the series. That didn't hold true for long.

From the second season and onwards, and in multiple instances, I would score the entire OST for the episode, watch the episode when it released, and then find out a completely new section of the episode (usually a battle scene) with music from somebody else This was completely demotivating to me because I wasn't being paid, the tracks would not fit the rest of the OST at all, and most of the income I made from the battle scenes. I had to work for weeks trying to compose music for glorified powerpoint presentations (Basically everything that's not a battle scene on the series was just still frames of characters barely moving) and do all the heavy lifting and I wasn't even let known about the guest tracks.

This added to the feeling of having absolutely no power within the community. I don't know if this was intentional or not (I don't wanna presume malice), but all of these things together contributed to me distancing myself from the community.

Honestly, there is A LOT more shit that went down these early years that are extremely traumatic to me that I would prefer to not talk about unless completely necessary, but I feel this is a good amount of context for what I wanna talk about next.

As you might be aware, extremely serious (and true) allegations were made against Camila and his partner, Veir, which was accused of grooming minors from 2015 to 2021 There are really good videos out there explaining the entire timeline of what transpired, but I specifically wanna talk about 2020.

(Jakei's note: Links to said videos are here: [1] [2] [3])

In that year, a public document was made by my head mod CrystalFlame alongside 2 other mods in the GT server, that exposed Veir and their actions. This document went mostly unnoticed. Even more, Crystal went through a lot of abuse for coming forward about their abuse and was almost ostracized from the UT AU community because of this.

Because of this, I was asked directly by one of the victims (and also representing the other victims) to please not speak up (Citing that they just wanted to move on and didn't want to involve themselves with more problems and expose themselves)

All the info was kept very vague from me, including the people who were involved, the extent of the stuff that went down, etc But I knew enough to know it was serious. I followed their request and didn't speak up publicly about this, but I banned Veir from my server, warned all of my mods and people close to me in those circles about Veir, and constantly tried to get Camila to please adress the situation. Despite this, she did not listen and we all know how stuff went down later in 2022, where the allegations came back again with full force. This time around I wasnt asked to stay silent so I spread the word around and confronted the entire mod team. I was shortly banned after that.

I needed to address this because this thing has been eating me alive for years. I was intentionally kept in the dark about a lot of context and nuance that would have completely changed my mind about speaking up or not about what happened in 2020.

Everything is easier in retrospective, and with the knowledge I now have about the situation I know for a fact that I would have spoken up about all that happened. But being asked directly to not speak up by the victims was something that goes against what I am Sorry for the long rant, but I really needed to get this off my chest. I am tired of having to deal with this kind of stuff. As a content creator/public figure I am trying my hardest to keep the communities I am active in as safe as possible.

I feel I could have done more for the Glitchtale community regarding the grooming situation, but all of the years of abuse that I endured really fucked up my judgement. I am not very good at dealing with people and I always trust the people close to help me for this kind of stuff

Sadly, in this case, those same people who were close to me were also the victims, so they couldnt have known or had a way to help me out, I should have helped them instead. Most if not all of what was described in this thread is backed up by screenshots, chat logs, and direct testimony from the people who were involved during this time.

I don't want to direct hate to anyone or start a witchhunt, I am doing this purely to decompress a bit and try to vent some of the trauma I experienced all these years.

============================================

Jakei: (Transcription from my official twitter thread) I would also like to share my experiences about my relationship with the Glitchtale Creator, Camila Cuevas. Publicly, we appeared as close friends, but in reality, that friendship was based on bullying and mistreatment, and this affected my mental health deeply.

Years have passed, and the memories still cause me pain. I decided to remain silent, but after the revelations of grooming cases in her community, I realized I wasn’t being too sensitive. The time has come to speak up about my experiences.

During the early years of Underverse, I was dealing with a serious depressive episode. Simultaneous internal and external pressures as an independent artist amplified my mental strain. Meeting Camila felt like finding a genuine friend who shared my passion for the fandom and understood the struggles of being a content creator amidst toxicity. At my lowest, I became compliant to doing things that I didn’t want to, just to keep people around me happy. For Camila, this meant allowing her to belittle my work and make me the butt of her jokes.

Only our veteran followers may remember the 'roasting games' between us on Tumblr (consisting of mutual insults), a spectacle where she'd always win. However, it was a game she privately forced me to "play" and I ended up accepting, despite the discomfort it caused me. These 'games' would give her a cool and strong image in the fandom while painting me as the dumb, 'cringe-worthy' friend. In essence, I became her personal punching bag, unknowingly reinforcing his reputation.

Camila's favorite term to demean my series 'Underverse' was “Cancerverse”. It felt like a constant contest where she'd always position herself as the superior writer and animator simply because my story and animation techniques didn't fit her standards. Years of being subjected to her ridicule left my self-esteem in ruins. I was okay with the negative feedback by some fans, but when my 'friend' publicly disrespected my art, it made me question my abilities as an artist.

I can't deny there were times when she gave me advice to deal with hate or hurtful comments. However, her damaging comments and treatment outweighed those moments of support.

My depressive state worsened around July 2017, where I had accepted people pushing me to do things I wasn’t comfortable with, while being part of Camila's demeaning games, just to appease her ego. I was introduced to Nyx during this time, he offered his music for my series, and eventually we started dating. We met in person in Chile, where I also met Camila. I hoped our friendship would strengthen but everything felt the same. Before I moved to Chile with Nyx, Camila reached out to me in dms, attempting to turn me against him because he opposed the use of slurs in the GT server. She claimed Nyx was being 'brainwashed' by his American friends belonging to the black and LGBTQ+ communities. She made fun of my dating choices, suggesting I was entering a toxic relationship, while showing off her relationship with her then-boyfriend (later exposed as a pedophile). She even quoted her own mother assuring me that Nyx would 'get back to normal', and if it didn’t happen, she would let me live in her house, almost like if she was telling me that Nyx would hurt me or make me feel miserable.

It only took Nyx 3 months to realize that the GT server was going in the wrong way. I initially felt compelled to defend Camila due to my inferiority complex, but soon realized Nyx was right. (Jakei's note: Not only Nyx was right, a lot of people that called her out over the years were right, yet they were not listened to at the time)

Even then, I found it difficult to distance myself from Camila due to the false sense of obligation I felt towards her. My fear of her making fun of my work kept me from interacting with others in the short period of time I stayed in her Discord server. I was afraid that she and her echo chamber would talk behind my back, something that I found out was happening in private chats until recent years.

Rebuilding my self-esteem wasn't an easy task. I began noticing the red flags – Camila's lack of respect not only for me but Nyx also, the emotional manipulation Nyx was suffering from Veir (something he used to do all the time with his other victims), her attempts to 'roast' me in front of her family and fans in the Underverse/Glitchtale meetings, and her constant criticism of my artstyle not being compatible to hers in the few collabs we made.

All these 'small' instances, dismissed as insignificant by many, caused me immense pain while treating my depression. I felt it was too late to express how I felt, as I feared being labeled as attention-seeking or oversensitive by her and her fanbase. Ironically, the moment she talked about her traumas after being bullied in the past, her feelings were the only ones that mattered any time she was involved in a problematic situation in the fandom and deserved to be the only to get pats in the back.

I never expected a sincere apology, as I was convinced she didn't remember or didn't care about the hurt she caused. I tried to maintain a facade of good terms with her, both publicly and privately. Eventually, I distanced myself from her, unfriending her and banning her from my own server even if she didn't interact there. I started focusing on my own work and the people who appreciated it. Despite this, the aftermath of the bullying continued to affect me.

Everything fell into place when the grooming accusations against her former boyfriend and server mods came to light. It was a shocking revelation, but it validated all my doubts and fears about her. The purpose of sharing my experiences is not to stir up drama, but to address the concerns of those worried about my association with Camila. I want to make it clear that I will never tolerate such behavior. Although the things I did for her in the past cannot be erased, I hope Camila at least deletes the animation remake I did for her and all the collabs that boosted her views for free, though I'm not optimistic about it happening.

As I've matured, my hope is that she and her crew learn from their mistakes, start behaving like adults, and take responsibility for their actions in their future projects and with their new followers. But I'm skeptical about any real change, especially if their server continues to exist. The best course of action for me was to cut all ties with Camila and Glitchtale.

NyxTheShield (now my husband) and I have endured too much from our treatment by Camila. We no longer want to be associated with her or Glitchtale. It's a chapter of our lives that we wish to close. It's time for us to focus on recovering our mental health, as remaining silent is only prolonging our pain. We have been working to improve our mental and physical health over the past few years and this is a crucial part of our healing process.

[teamcavota]

50 milo murphy's law facts

5 not so fun and 45 fun!

Not so fun to start!

The only Milo Murphy's Law official merchandise is a notebook released in Japan for the MML X PNF crossover.

Disney actually apologized to Dan (and I assume Swampy) for the treatment of Milo Murphy's Law. Dan has expressed frustration at the MMLs treatment before, citing the Hiatus between s1 and s2 and the fact it did not air on the main Disney Channel.

Doof appears in more episodes than Cavendish and Dakota in s2 (this is the real reason we needed a s3). Also, while PNF/Doof stuff was planned from the start, Disney did push for more PNF.

When season 2 was airing, new episodes would randomly be released in other countries.

Milo was cut from CATU due to a feeling from Disney that audiences would not recognize his cameo.

ok LAME ones out of the way

On the first drawing of Milo there are three names beside it: Milo, Mikey, and...Monty. As you probably know the Mikey one got pretty far and is the name used in the pitch bible (and was referenced with "I am Mikey!".) The reason Mikey was changed to Milo was not a creative choice, but because there was a popular YouTuber named "Mikey Murphy."

Speaking of, Milo was also just going to be another character apart of a different pitch, but Dan kept thinking he should go into his own show. He went to Swampy and asked him what he thought of Milo (at the time Mikey) and the idea of a show about Murphys Law. it took them about an hour to come up with the concept pitch.

You can find several of MML song dubbings on YouTube and other platforms. Most notably the Japanese version (マイロ・マーフィーの法則) highly worth checking out. Fun fact in a fun fact, Doof and Dakota also share the same voice actor in this dubbing.

In re-airings of some of the first MML episodes, second versions were made that included Cavendish and Dakota in the background.

Yes, Melissa was originally going to feel the lasting effects of the pistachion uprising by remaining looking like one instead of Bradley having his arm turned into a vine. This would have been a source of conflict for her in season 2, but in the end they felt it was too much of a change. As far as Bradley's plant arm it was originally only going to come out sometimes before it was changed to being a constant thing. He does have feeling in this arm.

The Island of Lost Dakota's was going to include a scene with merman Dakota's ("merkotas"). There was also going to be "mutation" Dakotas, such as ones with multiple heads.

There exists a live action version of the Milo Murphy's Law theme song. well, sorta, watch it

Before Milo came out Dwampy made the song "we're gonna do it again."

MML was originally set to debut in early 2017.

Weird Al did not originally come to mind for Milo. One of the idea voices they had was Noah Z Jones (Fish Hooks). They auditioned hundreds of people for Milo, but many had issues such as sounding too nervous in their lines. It wasn't until Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls) posted a photo with Weird Al that Dwampy realized he'd be perfect for the role.

Sara is based on a friend of Dwampy.

In tune with the popular headcanon/fan theory, it's possible they did actually consider making Cavendish a descendant of Milo. When Cavendish was going to agree he also liked Milo, he was going to say he was his descendant. *this may have also just been a joke line

Milo and Cavendish are meant to mirror eachother in the fact Milo deals with Murphy's Law and Cavendish is the "author of his own misery" in regards to things going wrong.

Another thing they considered was the possibility of Dakota and Cavendish being in a romantic relationship, but they ultimately decided they wanted them to have them represent a strong male friendship.

The Milo Murphys Law crew did keep up a fanart and concept art wall. Here, here, and here are some photos.

There was a baby Cavenpus cut from final productions.

There are no official ages for Dakota and Cavendish. Dan has said he believes Cavendish to be older, while Joshua Pruett has said he believes Dakota to be the older one and by a bit of a margin.

Pistachios came to be a thing in the show because a son of some of Dan's neighbors had been allergic to specifically pistachios. They needed an idea for the larger plot and somehow those two came together. (Swampy also notes it's a funny word).

Several of the scripts for MML storyboarders included just the words, "and Murphy's Law happened."

Dan has made at least one Vinnie Dakota dedicated Tiktok similar to his Doof ones.

The Doof and Dakota lines were recorded together, back and forth.

Melissa was going to have a hamster nemesis named Ham. In the Pitch Bible the name wasn't included, but it's explained it was a pet class hamster that would always escape and end up on her things.

The secret handshake Milo and Zack do in scream-a-tourium was intended to be longer.

The studio executive for MML originally thought The Island of Lost Dakota's was a joke idea until he read the script.

There was a MML kids menu at Disneyland circa 2016.

Dakota and Cavendish were originally not in the shows ideas, nor was any B-plot, but being used to it in PNF the writers room felt they "needed something to cut away to"

Joshua Pruett pitched for the MML x PNF crossover for where when Milo opened his backpack to pull out the thing he needed to save the world it'd be...Phineas and Ferb.

Dakota is the reason parking tickets exist, as he can be a bit careless about leaving time vehicles all over the place. Dakota is proud of this.

Melissa's likeness and name is based on Dan's daughter Meli, as to sorta "balance out" Isabella also being based on his other daughter.

They considered a twist where Bob Block would be an alien wearing a face mask.

"Cavendish Farms" is an episode that never came to be pitched by Pruett where in order to track Cavendish Dakota would try to duplicate Cavendish, though none of them would quite be Cavendish. One of the Cavendishs would have a heart to heart with Dakota, while Doof would ultimately call out Dakota for what he's doing and tell Dakota "you already know what he would do." dwampy rejected this idea because this was a bad idea, to which pruett felt that is exactly why Dakota would have tried it. if renewed, pruett would have tried to convince them more on it.

Chop Away at My Heart was originally called "Jump Jump Jump" and was made for another project by one of Dan's friends. After Dan have asked to transform it into something else for Milo, Joshua Pruett suggested a "Lumberjack themed boyband" in the script.

unfortunate split for character block limit

Dakotas voice was inspired by Elvis Costello. It's also the harder voice for Dan in comparison to Doof.

Mark Hamill originally auditioned to play a teacher on the show, but Dwampy liked his audition so much they decided he'd better fit Mr. Block.

In the MML pitch bible it is stated, "Mikey has a destiny to fulfill, something vital to the future of the planet." The goal of Cavendish and Dakota would be to make sure he stays on the right path.

There IS a full version of We're Going to the Zoo, which was played by Dan in this interview at 3:00:30. Several MML songs have had full versions leaked, implying this is probably the case for some other songs too.

Like several other characters, Sara in the MML pitch bible was different from her show counterpart, being "a hipster like Thora Butch in Ghost World."

The song "A World Without Milo" is based on the song "Happy Together" by "The Turtles"

Almost every character, including creatures or minor one-offs had a name in the script. An example is "Pia," the name of the poodle Diogee falls in love with.

In regards to when Dakota talks about cutting through the Mesozoic in First Impressions and the fact it is illogical, Dan says this is likely just Dakota being Dakota (aka, it was a mistake), and not every such line should be taken serious.

In a deleted "Snow Way Out" line it was confirmed that the raccoon in Going the Extra Milo and Fungus Among Us is recurring raccoon.

Brick and Savannah were going to have a role in the crossover.

Story ideas from the MML pitch bible that never came to include a beach episode, a Friday the 13 episode, and an episode where Cavendish and Dakota try convincing Milo to take a self defense class leading to conflict with a hidden ninja gang.

For unspecified characters (probably multiple different sets) Pruett wrote in hugs that were cut by (mostly) Dan. In response, he says he "put 4 in so at least 1 stays."

S3 would have likely included: A third Block (yes, still voiced by Mark Hamill and a Block "family meeting"), Milo creating the universe, Dakota and Cavendish getting the promotion they wanted but being unsatisfied, Elliot cleverly being connected to the overarching plot, AU exploration (akin to pnf) including an episode where Dr Zone is real, and a conclusion to the Prof Time arc. The overarching plot would have been the "biggest yet."

credits to: danvillecheese for suggestions + encouragement, cheetochild989 for facts the fact about going to the zoo and a world without milo, the 2nd dimension on YouTube, my hamsterward friends, and of course all the talented people who worked on MML :3

[elsa-fogen]

At first i was going to reblog this from @justashadowlooker

but then it got too long and off-topic, i started retelling and quoting my own 10 years old fanfic, so i'm making it it's own post jjdsfjkdfgh

Too long don't read, was a Bloom fan, killed her hundreds of times, than became Icy fan, killed her few times as well, still a huge fan, wanna revive some of my old ideas

When i had just started watching winx, Bloom was my fav AAHAHHAH (it was 2008-2009 year i think). Buuut... being my fav means that you gonna SUFFER. It was always the case, even when i was little. But young me didn't know better than to just kill of a character. And Bloom died SO many times in my early fanfics and arts. I still remember one fic, it was also the first ever fic i posted on the internet, and it was horrible. I typed really slow at that time and i was looking at like 10 A4 pages of handwritten fanfic and was like... weeeell i don't need this part with description of the boat... i don't need this part about wind flowing in her hair or smth... i don't need spaces after dots and commas either. These were real thoughts of 9 year old me lmao.

the fic was about Bloom and Sky going for a boat trip date, but there was also some bitch that fell for Sky and her best decision was to throw Bloom away from the boat. As a result she was sucked into the screw of the motor or whatever this thing called. Sky dived after her and brought her back on the boat, but she died due to the blood loss.

In my handwritten version it was really long and tears queezing scene, but i was too lazy to type it all, so it basically was shortened to 1 (one) sentence: Bloom didn't make it to the port.

i also had a picture attached, it was i think a cover of some of the comics where Sky holds Bloom on his arms and they're stepping out of the water, but i photishoped it and added many wounds and BLOOD BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!!

I also remember photoshopping screenshots from the first winx movie, adding bloody wounds on Bloom and tears and trying to make her face sad lol. And also i remember, i didn't have access to the computer all the time in my childhood, and there was a weird time... when i'd got a chance to be on the computer, i would made a specific search in google, to find that one art with Bloom, being fucking stabbed, lying on the ground and crying, and touching the golden heart-shaped locket with the name Sky on it, and you could see that it was Sky's sword that stabbed her, and he was walking away in the distance. I could stare at that art for hours, imagining how it happened. I also remeber how the art suddenly stopped showing up at the search and i had only tiny squeezed jpg version of it, and i thought that google banned this art for being so violent lmao

Btw i found that art, it's by Chibiusa-Moon, here it is, and i remember it diffferently, i thought Bloom had enchantix on her lmao

BUT THEN SOMETHING CHANGED. I DON'T KNOW WHEN. I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT ICY CAME AND DESTROYED MY LOVE FOR BLOOM, AND TOOK HER PLACE.

I suspect that it happened after i saw ep1 of season 3, because HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN IN THAT EPISODE?! SHE WAS ✨✨S L A Y I G✨✨ DAMN!!! She freed herself looking fab as fuck (i've only seen her battle uniform at that point, and her casual outfit shocked me, i was like HOLY SHIT?? DIFFERENT COLTHES?) (and it's if you forgen the HOLY SHIT, TRIX IN THE FIRST EPISODE OF THE SEASON?!!!), sayed the edgiest thing in the world, then freed her sisters, skated away from the giant snake ON HER DAMN HEELS AS A QUEEN!!!!! I think this was the moment when i fell for her. Maybe i'm wrong and it happened earlier, but this is all i can remeber.

Well, i also remember when my mom got me my first winx magazine and i was really disappointed that there were no Trix in the comic AHHASJGDAJS it was comic about bloom and diaspro going to the land of the dragons.

And, funny enough, i think i didn't kill Icy in my fics (mostly)

wait fuck. i remembered one (that was actually properly published and finished), let me just refresh my memory real quick- (gonna cringe soo hard ahaha)

oh shit i also remembered some stuff. In my later fanfics i was tending to make Bloom real psychopath, who decided to straight up destroy all the witches and all the dark magic. Hey. Hey. I bet 13 year old me wouldn't mind if i borrowed this idea fom her...

EHM ANYWAY, BACK TO THAT ONE FINISHED FIC!

It's so cringy written, but it's got the spirit HASHDHA. The trix summon some another army of darkness that was created to destroy fairies (hey), but at some point they lose control of it and the army turns against them. They have no ther choice but to seek help from the winx. winx of course don't want to help since their army attacked alfea... but the trix didn't give this order.

by the way tehre's one dialogue that i think is actually good and i think is in character

"But how do we know that it isn't one of your tricks?" - asked Tecna. - "Probability of this equals 85,9%!" Everyone froze. Nobody had this idea before. Then Icy shook her head. "No, it's not." "How do we know?" Stella said suspiciously. "If we wanted to trick you, we'd choose less humiliating way" Icy replied coldly.

in the end witches and fairies teeaming up, and going on an adventure to stop this army with some artifacts. Significant part of the way they had to make on their own without magic, and during that winx and trix are actualy growing to like each other. OH THERES ALSO A FUNNY THING LOL

But as a night roommate she [Icy] turned out to be very restless. She was moving all the time and mumbling something. And then at some point she screamed: "Damn fairies, i wish you all dead!" Bloom jumped on her place and still half sleeping replied: "Shut up, witch, or you're done for!" and fell back asleep. All in all, it was hell of a night.

i still think this is funny af-- damn these dialogues are only getting better. Next day they getting closer to their destination.

Suddenly they heard Stormy's voice: "Wait! there's some sign! Icy, can you read this?" "Why her?" Stella asked offended. "We all here can read!" "Except for you," Darcy noted gloomily and everyone laughed. "Ha, well, if you're so smart, come here and read!" Icy said with the sweetest voice. "And next time we'll ask you." Stella understood that she was cornered. To save the rest of her dignity, she came closer and started staring at the sign. "I-I cant for some reason, this handwriting is awful!" with dispair sloar fairy realised that she doesn't understand these letters. "And this cold is driving me nuts! Give me cup of hot coffee and warm blanket!"

then Icy teaches Bloom how to skate. And then Aisha (Leyla) dies by falling into some bottomless pit- After that they make it to their destination, but the army was waiting for them there

another dialogue

"Let's go!" Icy said decisively. "No, wait! I'll go alone. If they catch me, you all get out of here as fast as you can" [...] "No!" Bloom said. "I'll go with you!" "Fine. But they'll kill you immediately" "And you?" "And I will be tortured" Icy smiled.

I can't with this lol, Icy smiling at the thought of torture as a true psycho she is.

Icy touched the wall, making sure it's quite hard. "Well? What's next?" "You're the brain of the operation, you tell me!" redhead replied, crushing piece of the rock in her hand

i just like this interaction here.

"Winx Believix!" Winx screamed. And Trix didn't scream anything, Icy just snapped her fingers and all three were already in their witch uniforms.

yeah classic.

the fight begins, Icy is trying to understand what to do with the artifacts, Musa dies, then they teleport to some other planet where they can perform the ritual to destroy the whole army at once. They're reading the spell, but something is missing, and the army attacks them here too. This time Bloom is left to figure out what were they missing, and some drops of her blood fell on the artifact and that was the last piece of the spell. The army is destroyed, but Icy was seriously injuried when covering Bloom from attack from behind. Now they're flying back to Magix

FUCK-- guys i'm sorry. More dialogues on the way.

"Why are you here?" she [Icy] asked, opening her eyes. "Doesn't want to miss your death!" Stella screamed, she overheard the talk. "Shut up!" I [Darcy] replied. "Or I'll hit you!" "Oh-oh, I'm so scared!" "Discussed my funeral already?" Icy asked, surprisingly, without sarcasm. "Come on, don't listen to that fairy! She has only fashion and straw in her head." Icy smiled weakly. "Magix!" Bloom screamed looking out the window. Fairies came closer to the glass. "Where?!" Icy got worried. Golden-green disc of the planet surrounded by thick ring of asteroids was hanging in the center of the window. Icy could see it without moving. "And here my dream came true. I got Magix!" she lifted her arm and closed her fingers around the planet. "Didn't think that the view from the space is so beautiful..."

DSHGJADFKAJHSFDJG what have i done. This line about her dream coming true HITS HARD. Fuck, 13 y.o. me knew which buttons she should push.

Icy dies. Darcy and Stormy were forgiven because they helped to stop the army and for Icy's "sacrifice" and everyone very conveniently forget that they started the recent war. The end.

Damn that was a ride.

um, so where were we?... right i was saying that Icy became my new hyperfixation instead of Bloom...

And i had the whole trilogy planned, in the first one she'd escape from some prison and attempt another plan to counquer Magix, but fail, in the next book she'd be KILLED by Bloom but came back to life by making a deal with someafterlife owner (HA) and the last one where she actually succeeds... this one i din't think through at ALL.

I kinda wanna revive that plot fron the second "book" tbh, i still remeber it really well.

In a comic.

(i'd make it a crossover with Hazbin but it won't work unfortunately)

okay i don't know where and how to end this post so i'm ending it here, have a nice day thanks for reading i hope that at least someone made it to the end.

[agaypanic]

The Fella Part 9 (James Maguire X Quinn!Reader)

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Summary: The girls have been waiting for months to see Take That in Belfast. When a polar bear is on the loose and Mary forbids them from going, they have to take matters into their own hands.

A/N: only took a million years but i finally wrote a new part lol BIG thanks to @crumpets-are-better-with-jam for writing out the episode’s script for me, without them I probably would’ve never found the time to be able to write this. Also the word g*psy is censored and used as little as possible because it’s considered a slur but some say that if you say it with the right context it’s ok, but i don’t wanna take any chances, you know?

***

The weekends were always the best part of the week for Y/n. No school or work, no obligations except for church on Sunday, and being able to sleep in late. Y/n wished to be an adult, so her life could be like this every day.

But this was going to be the weekend of all weekends. Months ago, the girls and James scrimped and saved every coin and bill and were able to buy concert tickets to see Take That in Belfast. And today was the day of the concert. The girls sat all squished together on the couch, watching said band on the TV, with James perched on the arm of the sofa, subtly clinging to Y/n. Their relationship was still a secret somehow, today marking their third month together. They were honestly surprised nobody noticed how their affection was more than friendly.

“God Almighty.” Grandpa Joe spoke in horror, glaring at the screen. “I don’t know what the world is coming to. Bloody perverts.”

“You’re overreacting, Da,” Mary said from the kitchen. Joe scoffed in disbelief.

“Overreacting? That lad’s got no trousers on, for Christ’s sake.” Michelle grinned at the detail that had been pointed out.

“He’s wearing too much still, if I’ve anything to say about it.” She muttered to the girls, who giggled apart from James and Clare.

“Why do they keep touching themselves?” Grandpa Joe asked the telly, as if it would provide any answers.

“‘Cause they’re artists, Granda,” Erin said, but he just grumbled.

“Dirty English bastards is what they are.” He turned to look at James. “No offense, son.” Although he didn’t really sound like he cared whether or not he had offended the boy. Y/n patted James’ thigh in comfort as the scene on the TV changed from the girls’ beloved boy band to a news anchor. 

“Come on, girls. Time to hit the road here.” Gerry announced as he came in. He gestured at James. “Have they roped you into going as well, son?” Y/n laughed, leaning against James to look at her father.

“Hardly. He’s practically riding Gary Barlow. Aren’t ya, Jamie?” He rolled his eyes at the statement, as if they had had this kind of conversation a hundred times.

“I’m not! I just respect him as a songwriter, that’s all.” Michelle rolled her eyes at him, as if she had also had this kind of conversation a hundred times.

“Aye, dead on, James, so you do.”

“Will we need our passports, Gerry?” Orla asked, giving her lungs a break from blowing on her mother’s spray tan.

“For Belfast? I don’t think so, Love.”

“Belfast?” Joe asked, but was ignored.

“Are we not a bit early, Daddy?” Erin asked, checking the time on the wall.

“It’s a two-hour drive with traffic, love.”

“This thing’s in Belfast?” Sick of not being acknowledged, Grandpa Joe stood from his favorite chair to stand with the girls and Gerry.

“Da, it’s eight hours till the doors open,” Y/n said, almost laughing at her father’s sense of urgency.

“I know. We’re cutting it fine.” He seemed completely serious about the matter, which just made Y/n want to laugh more.

“Belfast?” Joe said again, now effectively catching the room’s attention. “Sure, why didn’t you just sell the wains into white slavery and be done with it?”

“Gerry will be with them, Da.” Mary tried to reason, but that just seemed to set him off even more.

“Well, that’s worse. Sure, they hate his kind there.”

“My kind?” Gerry asked, not knowing what Joe could possibly be talking about.

“Pricks.” Y/n laughed, shrinking in her seat when Gerry whipped around to look at his daughter in offense. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“That is enough!” Mary finalized, still working in the kitchen. “They’re going to the concert, Da, and that’s the end of the matter.”

The news switched to another topic again. Something about how a polar bear escaped from Belfast Zoo. Hearing the name, Y/n started to worry.

“Now, will you see sense?” Grandpa Joe asked his daughter, pointing at the TV. Erin snorted.

“Aye, Granda, ‘cause an escaped polar bear’s gonna track us down and kill us. As if Mammy’s bothered by that.” There was a beat of silence, and suddenly, all the girls were panicked.

“Wise up, Mammy!” Y/n squealed frantically, shooting up from her seat on the couch to get a good look at her mother. “As if a polar bear’s gonna rock up a Take That concert!”

“He wouldn’t get a ticket for a start,” Orla added. “They sold out months ago.”

“You’d be surprised, girls,” Mary said.

“The concert’s nowhere near the zoo.” Gerry tried to reason. As usual, Joe countered him.

“But he’s not in the zoo anymore, is he, Simple Simon? He’s sauntering about Belfast without a care in the world!”

“Aye, keep up, Gerry,” Sarah said, blowing on the wet tan that coated her fingers. 

“What I’m saying is that it would be quite a lot of ground for him to cover.”

“They’re quick on their feet when they wanna be, love,” Mary said. Y/n sped to her father, grabbing him by the shoulders to make him face her.

“Daddy, please, don’t listen to her.” She pleaded. “We should go now so we’re not late. Please, Da!” Gerry put his hands on his daughter’s wrists, rubbing his thumbs over the joints while giving her a sympathetic look.

“Oh, love, I’m sorry, but I’d rather keep my head.”

“Come on, Mary.” Michelle pleaded with the girl’s mother. “If you don’t let Y/n and Erin go, then our ma’s won’t let us go.”

“Well, neither they should, and I’ll be ringing them to say as much.” The teens looked at Mary in despair as she went to the phone, likely to ring everyone’s mothers. While dialing, Mary looked back to the living room. “Look, girls, I know how much you were looking forward to seeing This and That.”

“Take That.” Erin corrected.

“But there’ll be other concerts.” Y/n laughed humorlessly, resting her head on her father’s shoulder momentarily before letting go of him completely. 

“No, there won’t.” She felt hysterical. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Months of looking forward to this concert just to be banned by her mother because of a polar bear. Only something like this would happen to her. “The fact that this one’s happening is a miracle ‘cause no one good comes here ‘cause we all keep killing each other!” James shifted on the arm of the couch to make room for Y/n to sit next to him. He rubbed her back as she leaned against him for support, devastated.

“And now we’re overrun with polar bears.” Sarah sighed, pulling out a cig.

Frustrated, Y/n stormed up to her room, the girls and James close behind. They had found her face down on her bed, screaming into a pillow. James sat beside her, pulling the pillow out of her grasp before she could suffocate herself. While everyone settled in Y/n’s room, she rested her head on James’ thigh. Her anger and sadness were slowly washing away from James rubbing her back.

“This is so fucking unfair.” She muttered.

“I know,” James responded, brushing hair out of her face.

“Well, I dunno about you lot, but I’m not letting that fat furry fuck ruin the biggest day of my life,” Michelle announced harshly, pacing the floor.

“What can we do?” Erin asked, lying across her sister’s legs.

“Right, listen, girls.” Michelle drew their attention. They hoped that she had come up with a plan to save the day, but were quickly let down. “I’ve never told anyone this before, but… sometimes, when Robbie’s being interviewed, it’s like he’s sending me messages through the TV. You know, like telepathically or whatever, It’s like he’s saying…” She sighed, clearly in a dreamy daze. “We’re meant to be together.”

Everyone stared at her.

“Aye, maybe don’t tell that to anyone again, Michelle,” Erin said. “Ever.”

“I think she might be more cracked than Orla,” Y/n muttered to James, who snorted.

“What?” Orla looked at Y/n after hearing her name.

“Nothing, love.”

“Look, this is too important,” Michelle said. “I’m going to that concert. I’m not afraid of a fucking polar bear!” Everyone enthusiastically agreed. They shouldn’t pay mind to a random bear or what their parents have to say about anything. Nothing would stop the girls and James from seeing Take That.

“I’ll kill it with me own two hands, if I have to.” Orla declared. 

“Bring it on!” Erin egged on.

“Okay. We seem to have gone down a weird road here, people. I think we just got a bit confused.” Ever the realist and anxiety-riddled girl, Clare tried stopping her friends from the odd discussion. “We don’t actually have to fight a polar bear, and if we did, I wouldn’t fancy our chances because, well, they’re massive.” Orla looked around, confused.

“But there’s six of us.”

“Aye, I think we’d have a real chance,” Y/n said, albeit slightly sarcastically.

“The point is, the polar bear’s not the one stopping us from going to the concert. It’s our mothers, and we’ll never get them to change their minds.” Y/n gasped, sitting up suddenly, seeming to have an idea.

“So we fight Mammy.”

“No, definitely not.” James shot down the idea immediately and welcomed his once again pouty girlfriend to rest in his lap. Michelle leaned toward the group like she was gonna tell them a secret.

“We’re not gonna try and change their minds.” She smirked, and everyone became slightly fearful because Michelle always had less than bright ideas that she’d have them execute. “We’re gonna do something else.” 

“What?” James asked.

***

“I’m still trying to figure out whether or not this is a good idea,” Y/n muttered to James, who she clung to while sitting on his lap. Michelle had somehow convinced everyone to sneak away and get on a bus to Belfast. The group sat in the back of the bus to avoid anyone who may be suspicious of six teenagers traveling by themselves. There wasn’t enough seating for all six of them to sit together, so everyone squished together, and Y/n sat on James’ lap. No one said anything about it besides the comment from Michelle about how James must be giddy to be so close to a girl. He told her to fuck off.

“Same here.” He sighed, hands gripping her closer as the bus crossed a few bumps on the road.

“We’re gonna get caught; I just know it,” Clare said anxiously to the group.

“We’re not gonna get caught, Clare, because as far as our ma’s are concerned, me, you, and James are ’round Erin’s, and Erin, Y/n, and Orla are ’round mine,” Michelle explained, trying to calm Clare down.

“But we’re not ’round yours, Michelle,” Orla responded, confused. “We’re on the bus to Belfast.” 

“Christ.” Y/n rolled her eyes, having heard her cousin say this multiple times since they left the house.

“I cannot explain it to her again. I’m gonna scream.” Michelle looked away from Orla, probably because she would strangle her if she had to deal with the confusion for another second.

“What’s in the suitcase, Michelle?” James asked, staring at the case his cousin had set on the remaining seat near the group. Y/n could’ve sat there, but Michelle wanted a close eye on whatever was in the suitcase without holding it in case they got caught. Everyone stared, curiously waiting for an answer. There was a beat of silence.

“Vodka.” You brought an entire suitcase full of vodka?” Erin asked incredulously.

“Jesus, Michelle, you’ve got a problem,” Y/n added.

“No. There’s mixers as well. I’m not a savage.” Michelle took a second to think, looking down at the case. “You can mix vodka with cider, right?”

“God, I am boiling.” Clare sighed, fanning her face.

“Gee, I wonder why, Clare.” Y/n laughed, looking at her friend who was completely bundled in jackets and scarves.

“What are you wearing?” Erin asked.

“Yeah, you look like a fucking Provo.”

“I don’t want anyone recognizing me, okay?” The bus paused its venture, opening the doors for people to come in and out.

“No one’s gonna recognize you, Clare.” Michelle chastised.

“Clare Devlin, is that you?” Panic ran through everyone. The voice sounded very familiar and fear-inducing. The girls looked towards the front. Sister Michael was moving past the seats and right for them.

“Jesus Christ.” Clare squeaked, trying to hide in her mountain of clothes. Erin leaned into her.

“Relax, Clare.” She said. “She has no authority over us at the weekend. She has no right to question us, and if she tries to, I’ll tell her as much.”

“Aye, I’d like to see you try, Erin.” Y/n hissed to her sister before Sister Michael reached the group.

“Morning, girls.” She said.

“Morning, Sister Michael.” Everyone said in unison.

“What takes you to Belfast?” There was a heavy pause. The girls were silently trying to decide who would speak and what they would say. Erin volunteered herself, speaking quietly from nervousness.

“I’m not really sure that’s-”

“Speak up.” Sister Michael interrupted her. Erin gulped.

“I’m not really sure that that’s any of your business…” Sister Michael stared blankly at her. Everyone waited for her to jump and murder Erin for saying such a thing. Soon, she found words.

“I’m going to assume that was an ill-judged attempt at humor, Miss Quinn.”

“Yes,” Erin whispered, sinking into her seat. Y/n silently prayed that the bus would start moving so Sister Michael would be forced to leave and find a seat somewhere. But God never seemed too kind to the girls.

“Now, answer the question.”

“... We’re going to the museum.” Erin devised a good lie; the girls just hoped they could keep up with the inevitable follow-up questions.

“Which museum?”

“Ulster Museum,” Clare answered.

“What for?”

“A project,” James responded.

“A history project.” Y/n amended. Sister Michael looked at the two. It seemed like she was about to ask why Y/n was in James’ lap, but she decided against it, not wanting to go through the trouble.

“What about?”

“Ulster,” Erin answered once again. Sister Michael gave an unconvinced hum and turned around to find a place to sit. Everyone sighed in relief as the bus started to move again.

“A history project,” Clare said in disbelief. “This web of lies we’re spinning is getting out of control now, girls.” Y/n put a hand on her friend’s shoulder to take her attention.

“If it makes you feel any better, Clare, I actually have a history project due soon.”

“I thought we finished that,” James said quietly to her. She turned to him.

“Yeah, but now I’ve gotta put it all together.”

“It’s grand, Clare,” Michelle said, rolling her eyes at Clare’s constant anxiousness. “I think she bought it.”

“Of course, she didn’t buy it. She’s onto us, I’m telling you. Oh God, I’m sweltering here.”

“Then take it off,” Erin said.

“I can’t take it off; I’ve nothing underneath it.” Everyone paused, looking at her confused.

“What, not even a bra?” Erin asked.

“Jesus, Clare, you’ve no bra on?” Michelle asked incredulously.

“I haven’t got a bra on,” Orla commented.

“Aye, me neither,” Y/n said.

“What?” James practically choked. Suddenly aware of his girlfriend’s body and this new information, he moved his hands down to sit at her hips. Y/n shrugged.

“They dig.”

“What’s she doing now?” Clare asked, and everyone looked at Sister Michael, who sat a few rows ahead of them. She was reading a book, laughing every now and then.

“Reading her book,” James answered, as if they all couldn’t see it. She suddenly turned to the woman in the seat next to her. She had a look of disgust while the woman ate a sandwich. “Now she’s looking at the woman beside her.” Sister Michael stood from her seat. “Now she’s getting up.” She moved towards the back of the bus, closing in on the girls. “Now she’s coming this way.” Soon enough, Sister Michael stood before the group, staring at them. “Now she’s standing right in front of us.”

“What’s he doing?” Sister Michael asked, looking weirdly at James.

“Now she’s-” James’ words were halted by Y/n putting a finger to his lips.

“Stop narrating, Jamie.”

“I want to sit here.” Sister Michael said with finality, pointing to where Michelle’s suitcase sat. Michelle started to panic.

“What? Why?”

“Well, you’re just such wonderful company, girls, what with your stimulating conversation and razor-sharp wit.” Everyone knew she was being sarcastic. Except for Erin.

“Really?” She asked, seemingly flattered. Sister Michael rolled her eyes.

“No, not really. The woman next to me is eating an egg and onion sandwich, and the smell is enough to turn an Orange March.” The girls cringed at the description. Sister Michael grabbed the suitcase, trying to move it. But she was evidently struggling. “Christ, but this is heavy.”

“Sister, no, let me,” Michelle said, leaning over to grab the case.

“What do you have in here, girls?”

“It’s not ours!” Clare quickly responded with a shriek. Everyone glared at her lie.

“Not yours?”

“We have never seen it before in our lives, have we, girls?” It was better to just agree, so that’s what the girls did. They nodded, giving different mutters of confirmation. 

Sister Michael turned to look at everyone else on the bus.

“Excuse me, everyone. Can I have your attention, please?” She raised her voice to get everyone to listen. Confused, the passengers looked at her while she pointed to Michelle’s suitcase. “Does anyone own this red suitcase?” No one claimed it. “Now, let me be clear. No one can claim this bag, is that correct?” Everyone confirmed her question. She looked down at the suitcase. “I think we have a Code Red on our hands. Driver, pull over!”

***

The girls were definitely fucked. Everyone had to evacuate the bus while they waited for the military to come and extract the suitcase. Now, a crowd watched as a military robot examined the case.

“Jesus Christ!” Clare squeaked in a panic.

“Aye, this isn’t great,” Erin said, watching the commotion. Michelle shrugged.

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“They’re about to blow up an entire suitcase of vodka, Michelle.” 

As Michelle and Erin quietly argued, Y/n leaned into James’ ear.

“And here I thought Clare’s paranoia would be our biggest problem.” James rested his head on Y/n’s, eyeing the situation in front of him in disbelief.

“Why is this place so mental?” He asked. Michelle scoffed.

“That’s enough, James. You have serious fucking anger management issues. Do you know that?” Before anyone could give a rebuttal, there was an explosion. The robot had successfully eliminated the threat in the red suitcase, which was the girls’ ticket to a good time.

There were lots of talks among the soldiers over the radio. The girls silently celebrated when one said they could pack everything up. Soon enough, they’d be back on the way to Belfast.

“Powerful smell of vodka down here, over.” The girls froze in their places as they heard the soldier over the radio. God really did seem to have it out for the teens.

“Vodka, did he say?” Sister Michael asked, slowly turning to her students. “Interesting.” The girls gave her nervous smiles. Suddenly, Y/n pointed over Sister Michael’s shoulder.

“Oh my God, Sister! What’s over there?!” Sister Michael whipped around, and Y/n made a break for it. All of her friends followed after her. 

They ran like hell, not knowing where they were going. After a while of wandering around, they slowed to a walk down a dirt road, all trying to catch their breath. The girls debated whether or not they could reach Belfast on foot, especially with that polar bear on the loose. But the conversation dwindled as some men came into view on the side of the road.

“Is it just me, or is that g*psy an absolute ride?”

“As usual, I think it’s just you, Michelle,” Y/n said, groaning at her sore legs.

“Michelle, you cannot say that.” Erin scolded.

“What?”

“They’re called ‘travelers now. Y’can’t say ‘g*psy’ anymore. It’s insulting.”

“Okay, but you just said it, Erin.” Y/n pointed out. Michelle and Erin continued arguing over the correct word to use for the men. It continued for a while, and only stopped when they had gotten closer to the men.

“Howya, girls.” One of them said, with a bit of a slurred speech. The girls politely greeted him and continued walking. They got a few feet past them when the one who greeted them started calling after them. “Hey, hold on.”

“What does he want?” Clare asked in a panic.

“I don’t know,” Erin replied, just as nervous.

“I’m talking to you!” The man shouted. The girls ignored him, but he kept walking after them. “Hey, are you deaf or what?”

“Just keep going.” Y/n urged her friends, grabbing James’ hand to yank him along while she pushed her tired body to go faster. The teens started walking more quickly, and soon enough, the shouting man and his friends were all tailing after them. 

“Get back here!”

“Faster. Walk faster.”

“Am I gonna have to come after you, am I?”

“Jesus Christ, he’s following us,” James muttered, now being the one to pull Y/n further.

“Run!” Y/n yelped, breaking into a sprint and out of James’ grip because the sudden change in pace had caught him off guard. Everyone ran after her, the teens to catch up with Y/n and the travelers to catch up with the teens. The girls were terrified, except for Orla, of course, who could always find the fun in a fucked up situation.

“Piss off!” Erin went to the edge of the dirt road and came back to the strange men waving a giant stick around. They backed up in alarm, and the girls stopped to stand behind Erin.

Except for Y/n, who was still running like hell. James yelled for her, but she couldn’t hear him over the thumping of her feet and heart. She didn’t even notice that her friends had all been left in the dust behind her.

“Jesus fuck!” Y/n screeched when she was grabbed suddenly by the shoulders and yanked back into someone’s chest. The person who caught her breathed heavily, slightly using her as a crutch. Y/n immediately recognized the whines and groans of exhaustion and smacked the man in the arm. “Scared the fuck out of me, James.”

“I know, ‘m sorry.” James brought her closer to him, back pressed against his chest as he rubbed her arms up and down to comfort her. “Can’t run off like that, love. Could’ve lost you.”

“Sorry.” She apologized sheepishly, and James kissed her head to show she shouldn’t be. When the couple regained strength, they turned around and started walking back to the group that was currently arguing with the strange couple of men when they abruptly ran to the side of the dirt road. A van sped past them as if they weren’t even there, honking the horn and stopping in front of the stand-off of travelers and teenage girls. Y/n and James hesitantly watched, not knowing what was happening.

Soon, Erin stuck her head out from behind the van so her sister was in her view. She waved her over frantically.

“Y/n, come on!” Erin then disappeared, likely into the strange van. Knowing everyone else was probably in there, and not wanting to be left stranded, Y/n broke out into another sprint, leaving James in the dust once again.

“Not again.” He mumbled.

***

When Y/n had snuck away from her family and hopped on a bus to Belfast with her friends, she obviously didn’t expect the bus plan to go to shit, and she and her buddies would be riding around in someone’s van. Yet here she was, jostling around in the back, surrounded by half-assed Take That shirts. Erin was trying to converse with the driver; Rita was apparently her name. Meanwhile, Michelle hogged a cardboard cut-out of Robbie Williams, and Clare and Orla were sifting through all the different merchandise.

“Robie?” Clare said to herself as she held up one of the shirts to look at before frantically digging through the rest of the boxes. In the driver’s seat, Rita seemed to have some type of drunken meltdown. Clare turned to Y/n, panicked like always. “Y/n, what are we gonna do?”

“Pray.”

“She’s spelt ‘Robbie’ wrong on every single t-shirt.”

“Huh?” 

“How are we gonna break it to her?” Y/n snorted. That was not what she expected her dear friend to be worried about.

“Clare, we’re being driven around by some crazy tipsy woman, and I bet she doesn’t even know which direction Belfast is in. And yet you’re worried about a spelling mistake?”

“I find it disturbing.”

“I find your priorities disturbing.” Rita continued talking in her drunken, weepy state, leading to another discussion between Erin and Michelle about the correct label to use for the intimidating men they had run into.

But everything was cut short by the van ramming into something, causing everyone to jerk forward. There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to figure out what had just happened.

“Jesus Christ.” Michelle groaned, rubbing her head as she sat up.

“What was that?” Erin asked no one in particular.

“Did we hit something?” 

Orla opened the sliding door of the van and stuck her head out. Everyone heard a gasp of both surprise and delight.

“Oh my God, it’s the polar bear!” The sentence made everyone, excluding Rita, who smoked her cigarette in the driver’s seat, jump out of the van and surround the body. 

“Orla, this is not a bloody polar bear.” Y/n sneered, looking down at the dead sheep that lay before her feet. Everyone slowly looked over at her.

“You’re soundin’ like James,” Michelle said in slight disgust.

“Shut up.”

“Get it shifted, girls!” Rita commanded from the van, taking another drag. Reluctantly, the girls grabbed the sheep carcass and tried carrying it to the side of the road to clear their path. There was a lot more struggling than they intended.

“Why’s it so heavy?” Erin said with a strained voice. “Aren’t they meant to be ninety percent wool?”

“Just put your back into it. The sooner this is done, the sooner we’re back in the van and on our way to see Robbie.”

“Shut it about Robbie, Michelle!” Y/n groaned, trying to pull the sheep. There was much more arguing, and after a very short while, the girls decided they were officially over this task.

“Fuck this!” Michelle shouted. “Let’s just make James do it, the lazy bastard!” Everyone dropped the sheep on the ground and waited for James to do all the work.

But he never did. It was just the girls on an empty road with a dead sheep and a crazy woman. 

“Wh… Where is James?” Clare asked, looking around, hoping he’d suddenly pop out of a bush or something. 

Y/n thought long and hard. She might have been the last one to be with James. Backtracking to her last known moments with James, Y/n gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. The girls looked at her expectantly, waiting to find out where he was. Her response was an embarrassed and horrified whisper.

“I left him with the travelers.”

***

It took much persuasion, mainly for Michelle, but the girls had gotten Rita to go back for James. It was primarily the revelation that James was the one who had the concert tickets. After a long drive, the van skidded to a stop in front of the traveler’s stands of vegetables and fruits. James was among the men, helping them. Y/n yanked the van door open, relieved that her boyfriend hadn’t been mugged or stranded or something else of the sort.

“James!” She yelled in delight, immediately catching his attention. He grinned but stayed stuck in his place.

“What are you playing at? Get in the van, fucko.” Michelle commanded, less thrilled to see James than Y/n was. The man who first chased the girls put a hand on James’ shoulder.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, James.”

“With all due respect, this has nothing to do with you.”

“Yeah!” Y/n added, desperately waiting for her boyfriend to get into the van.

“The way you treat this fella, it’s disgraceful.” The traveler reprimanded.

“Fucking excuse me?” Y/n felt beyond insulted.

“What’s going on, James?” Michelle asked.

“Jonjo and the lads…” James looked at said lads with a smile. “They just get me. And it turns out, I’m a really good salesman.”

“He’s a natural,” Jonjo said.

“So, what, you’re a g*psy now?” Michelle asked, clearly thinking this was an unfunny prank.

“Traveler.” Erin and Y/n corrected in unison, Erin louder than her sister.

“Actually, g*psy’s fine,” Jonjo said. Michelle smirked, finally being able to prove to Erin that she was right. Rita yelled at everyone to hurry up, and Michelle nodded.

“Right, get in the van, come on. And do not test me ’cause we’ve already missed PJ and Duncan.”

“Is that who was supporting them?” Clare asked. When confirmed, she pouted. “Oh, I really like them!”

“I’m not leaving, Michelle,” James said with finality.

Y/n sighed, stepping out of the van. The tense gaze James had for his cousin softened when his girlfriend walked up to him.

“Not even for Gary Barlow, Jamie?” Y/n knew she made the right move because now James looked unsure of himself.

“I don’t really rate him as a, as a songwriter, y’know?” Jonjo said. The horrified look James suddenly had painted on his face made Y/n smile, both because she knew that the girls would now be leaving with him and because he looked so adorable. 

James took off his fanny pack and handed it to Jonjo in disappointment, refusing to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry, Jonjo, but you’ve just crossed the line there.” 

Y/n wrapped an arm around James’ back and guided his sad self to the van, where the door was just behind them. She brought him to the back of the van so he could mope a bit in peace. The girls all talked excitedly amongst themselves about the concert.

“I’m sorry I stranded you,” Y/n said quietly, moving her hand down James’ back to squeeze his hand. He squeezed it back and smiled softly down at her.

“I’m just glad you came back.”

“Of course, I came back. You have the concert tickets.” James shoved Y/n away and couldn’t hide the growing grin from hearing her laugh. “Kidding, kidding.”

After a long drive, long lines, and a big fight to get to the barricade, the Derry girls were finally able to enjoy Take That in all its glory. They screamed the lyrics, jumped to the beat, and danced all together in excitement. They didn’t care about the consequences when they would get home to their parents, who were probably worried sick. They didn’t worry about how they’d get home that night. All that mattered was that they were currently in the presence of one of their favorite bands of all time.

Somewhere in the middle of the set, the excitement winded down a bit as a piano intro played. Y/n squealed, tugging on James’ sleeve, as she recognized what was dubbed as her and James’ song, A Million Love Songs. James grinned at her excitement.

“Oh my God! I have something for you!” Y/n exclaimed over the music, digging around in her pockets. James looked down curiously as she brought out a folded piece of paper. “If it’s bad, you’re not allowed to make fun of me.”

“What is it?” James leaned down so he was closer to eye level with Y/n, making her blush. She pinched the edge of the paper, creasing it a bit.

“Do you remember when Erin became magazine editor, and we were going through those essays and… and Michelle found mine?” James nodded, remembering the day clearly because he was devastated when he heard the title of her little essay. “Well, I figured, since it’s our third month together and all… I wanted to give it to you.” He was gentle when taking the paper from her, so incredibly curious about what she had written. “Especially since my fancy isn’t so one-sided as I thought.”

All Y/n could focus on was the beautiful song in the background and the beautiful boy in front of her, reading words that had come straight from her heart when she thought her love for James was just a hopeless crush. She didn’t know if it was a good sign, seeing him become more flustered and blushy as he read on. When he was finished, he slowly and carefully folded the paper back up while Take That started to play a more energetic song.

“Again, you can’t make fun of me if it’s bad!” Y/n shouted over the noise. “I know Erin’s the writer or whatever, but- oof!” She was interrupted by James pulling her to his chest, arms wrapped tight around her and face buried in the crook of her neck. She immediately returned the affections. 

“It’s amazing.” He said in her ear. “Amazing, and lovely, and perfect. Just like the girl who wrote it.” Unable to help herself, Y/n brought James’ face to hers and kissed him with such passion, a passion he reciprocated instantly. It was as if it was only them existing at that moment.

Of course, it wasn’t. Clare would later tease and squeal at the two and interrogate them about when they had finally gotten together and why they didn’t tell her. Too enamored with the men just feet away from them, the rest of the girls didn’t even notice the couple.

And somewhere in Derry, while the rest of her family was fighting, Y/n’s father Gerry smiled fondly at his television where he saw his daughter having the time of her life at a Take That concert with her best friends and boyfriend. A boyfriend he’d absolutely be asking her about in private when he had the chance.

~~~

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[gameo-archive]

"Do you have any inside jokes you could share? Or just your favourite jokes broadly? I’m going on holiday to London in March, any recommendations for non-touristy activities? Do you remember your dreams (sleeping ones) and could you share any?"

Transcript below:

"G: Right, oh, hello Tan, it‘s George here from… Percy Jacks— sorry, Dead Boy Detectives. J: And Jayden from Per— Dead Boy Detectives. G: Both filmed in Vancouver, both excellent shows of the supernatural variety. So, you‘ve asked us a few questions, Tan, and we are gonna get straight into them, so… question number one: Do we have any inside jokes we could share. Could we share? J: We probably have inside jokes but could we even explain them? Not really. It‘s most of them is just like noises and like weird just quotes from random things. G: Yeah, that's the thing, they kind of evolve as we're spending time together. Cause when we were filming the show we were literally in each other's pockets every day, so… Also, they just wouldn't be funny to you. J: No. It's like… you gotta be there for it to be funny. G: Not in like an exclusive way but, like, even Kassius didn't find a lot of them funny. J: No. Nobody did. G: Nobody did, no. J: You would have just thought we had like Tourette's or something. We'd just walk around set just shouting things and making noises. G: There's the shag smash one. J: Yeah. G: That's quite funny J: That was quite funny. But, I mean, is that an inside joke? Well, that's a joke anyway, so let's talk about that. So, obviously I had the line in episode… G: Three? J: Three, where I have to say, oh you know, we shag, smash, you know. Get it on, whatever the line was. And for some reason I was doing it in this voice where, when we were reading it and rehearsing it, I kept going ""shaaag"", ""smaaaash"". Again, probably doesn't sound that funny to you right now but at the time we found that absolutely hilarious and when it came to the actual rehearsal and when I tried to say it normally, it was the first time I said it normally, and we all were just on the floor. G: And the crew who watched the rehearsal—there's about over a hundred of them—they were not impressed. J: They had no idea G: They had no idea because… because it was a British joke. J: It was a super British joke. And they were all literally like this. G: So we then had about twenty minutes after that rehearsal to actually filming the scene which you see, which is now available for everyone to see. We had twenty minutes to get our you know what together. So we were literally lying down one by one and standing on each other's chests… J: To get the laughs out. G: …to compress them and get the laughs out. And it worked, didn't it? J: It did. G: I couldn't… I'm sure if you watch that scene, I'm not looking at him when he says that line because… J: I think I was looking at your bowtie as well, I couldn't look you in the face. G: Probably. It was towards the end of the day as well, wasn't it? J: Yeah, it was G: And sometimes towards the end of the day you get the giggles a little bit. But it means that we were having fun and that's the main thing. Erm, you said you're going on holiday to London in March, any recommendations for non-touristy activities. J: Well, I let you take this part, because I'm awful with anything touristy or non-touristy. G: I mean, it's not too touristy but you should visit the Greenwich Naval Museum because we filmed the very first part of the Pilot there, so you can go and reenact it, should you wish. J: Oh, I got one. Go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum as well. Me, George, and Kassius actually went there for some pre-filming research. G: In Baker Street. Yes. Do we remember our dreams and could we share any? I don't remember my dreams. J: I do remember some but they are just so blooming random. I had a dream last night that I went to my nan's house with my little brother and we walked in and she jump-scared us and I woke up. G: Fascinating. J: Yeah. G: Well… Both: Let's end the day with that."

[raayllum]

hi! this is a random question that i feel like you might have interesting input on if you're up for it; so i've been introducing a friend to tdp and was struggling with whether to provide backstory, or how much (like how/when sarai died, the situation with rayla's parents, soren's childhood stuff, k'ppar, etc) so i guess i was wondering what pieces of info of that kind you feel like is introduced in the narrative at the point it is for a reason? idk if that makes sense lol sorry, and ik it connects to the specific episodes and is all more impactful the way it does play out, but just curious if you have any additional thoughts on how/when they chose to reveal all those pieces of backstory

Hmm... Honestly I think TDP has a high first watch value, especially the less you go in knowing, in some ways. Like obviously I speculate a ton each season about what may happen and sometimes get pretty close, and the novelizations ended up hinting at a lot more than I necessarily thought they would, but I don't know, I do think the best things in the series are surprises, or delighted confirmations of things I figured would be the case and Got To Me anyway (ie. Sir Sparklepuff being Aaravos' son that he made as a sacrificial lamb).

Like I still came out just when S1 had come out and I don't remember there was a ton of like, people speculating about it online (I didn't) but I remember assuming the 1x01 intro with the humans rushing Thunder was like... Harrow and Viren had taken hundreds of soldiers with them to take Avizandum down, and that Viren was more at fault for what had happened ("thank you for starting this unwinnable war!") especially in regards to the egg. 3x06 completely shifted that mindset in addition to making Harrow much more culpable (and therefore interesting) and like, it was Awesome? And I still remember watching 4x03/4x04 for the first time with the unparalleled joy of "Oh my god, we're going in Exactly the thematic direction (love being complicated / you'll do terrible things in the name for love)" I'd been hoping for for like, the entire hiatus. It was amazing.

Because the only thing higher than the first watch through value of TDP is the rewatch value, honestly, let me tell you (Viren telling Soren "I will do anything to protect the king, I hope you will understand" in 1x03 my beloved beloathed).

So I'd say that unless your friend is like "Huh, are they ever gonna address how the magic system is unfair?" and they've seen S2 but that wasn't evident enough for them, I'd be like "Yeah they will/are, it's just a slowburn." Maybe some acknowledgements that everything in TDP comes back (the Sunfire tribunal setting up Leola & Rayla's trials and Runaan's closing scene with Ez?) even if it's been a while. But other than that, I don't think you really need much if your friend is down to be around for the journey and give things a fair shake.

On a meta level, TDP is absolutely meticulous with how much information is given about what and when, but part of me feels like I gotta wait till we have the Full Story before I can fully understand/contextualize some choices, I suppose. Does it help if I say I think about how so many of the dreams shown in the series wind up being directly yet secretly prophetic every week of my life?

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: A Hundred Thousand Angels (7x16)

Do you ever cry for ten thousand years over the death of a fictional wolf on a TV show? RIP Rollo...

Cons:

Okay, I will say... the Faith thing is dumb? I don't know, y'all. Maybe this is going to happen in the books too but from what I remember about the book version, Claire has this fantasy about maybe Faith lived but it's all pretty vague and unsubstantiated and it's not really true. I really hate the implication that it might be literal here. And like, what are we meant to understand by Frances singing the song, that newborn infant Faith Fraser remembered her mother singing to her and actually remembers the words? That makes zero sense whatsoever, even in the mystical magical logic that this show sometimes implies. I guess we'll wait and see what they do in the final season, but I found that to be a rather dissatisfying cliffhanger. Plus, if true, Jane is William's niece technically speaking which is a little yikes for me, I must say!

I liked the conversation between Brianna and Brian but there was a bit of a pacing weirdness with it, I could have used maybe a bit of tightening and maybe just make it like 20 seconds shorter? It felt like the sentimentality was dragging a bit and undercutting the sincerity of some of what was happening.

I was so, so sure that the end of the episode was going to be Claire and Jamie at the ridge and they'd see Bree and fam approaching from the distance with the "hello the house!" call from the end of book eight! I was so ready for it that not getting it kind of messed with my head. Maybe it's how the first episode of season eight will end, but I just feel like it would have been the perfect season ender just as it was the perfect book ender.

Pros:

But hey. You know, I can complain all I want, but when you cry like seven different times watching a single episode of TV, you know it's a good episode.

I actually did have hope that Jane's fate would be rewritten somehow, even though I knew it was unlikely - what a sad sad thing to have happened. I thought the way it was played was so beautiful, William talking to John about it first and then going to Jamie, the discovering of Jane's body, the way they laid her out and did honor to her, Jamie taking a bit of her hair for Fanny, all of it was just so heart-wrenching.

I really loved the way William navigated things in this episode. The moment where John takes his son's hand and tries to comfort him that Jane's death will mean something because at least she saved her sister... and then William saying, quite calmly, but with just a hint of anger, "you think you know me, don't you?" was just so good. John functions as such an interesting character in this moment because his sympathy is legitimate and he does feel for William's suffering, but he's also pragmatic and not actually that much of a radical that he'd do anything extreme. He looked into the situation, found that Jane was to be put to death, and that's the end of the matter, however much he might regret that. And then William goes to his other dad because he figures Jamie might be down for some breaking and entering where John would not be. So juicy.

The scene where Jamie and William talk about Geneva was one of the times I cried during this episode. That woman basically blackmailed Jamie into having sex with her but none of that matters in the face of this moment, where the kindest thing Jamie can offer William is honesty - he did not love William's mother, but she was courageous and curious and bold, and he deserves to know that. Jamie touching William's face and saying that he could never regret what came of that night, even though he regrets his part in Geneva's death? Oof. Goosebumps. And William, just the way he delivers that line, saying that he'll never call Jamie "father"... now I'm just waiting with bated breath to find out if William ever breaks that rule for himself in the future.

Ian and Rachel are going to have a baby! I think I can say pretty definitively that the Ian and Rachel story-line has won me over and that I find their love more compelling in the show than in the books. Mostly on the strength of the acting; they just seem so genuine and sweet and in love and tender with one another. The biggest crying moment in the episode for me was of course Ian waking up to find that Rollo had died in his sleep. His "oh no, no, no" and his cries of despair were gut-wrenching to listen to and I had real tears over it. Rachel is the sweetest with her "I married him when I married thee" thing. What a good egg.

I really have to give all the props in the world to Richard Rankin as Roger in this episode - I literally went back and watched his reunion with his family three times and cried at it, just on the strength of his performance. The child actors are, you know, they're kids, they're doing just fine, and as I've said before I think Sophie is the weakest acting link on the show as Bree, so to have that reunion hit as hard as it did was mostly thanks to Rankin's bewildered joy. The way he called out Brianna's name! Ooof! And then that last moment, where the perfect little family tableau turns and includes Buck, and he comes over to share in their joy? Wow. Hitting me in the feels big time. That's his family too!

As I said, there was something just a little off about the scene with Brianna and Brian, but I did love Brian's understated performance, and what he said about how when his wife died, he kept his heart open, and didn't shut down, and that that means he's open to finding her out in the world. He sees a glimpse of her in Brianna, even though he'll never understand that he's looking at his granddaughter. It's such a sweet little scenario! And I liked Brianna complimenting Lallybroch, what a cool experience to meet the man who built your house centuries before you lived in it.

In some ways I wish we'd had more angst over Claire getting shot, since when we check in with her in this episode she's very much on the mend... but I also liked getting some gentle recovery scenes with her. Yet another cry moment for me was Denzel near tears when he talked about how horrible it was to have to perform surgery on family - on someone he loves. That's just the sweetest thing, I love seeing Claire in this mentor role, where she is someone Denzel truly looks up to and admires, and they're also bound by a family connection now through Rachel and Ian's marriage. So sweet!

On that note, the young girl playing Fanny gets the prize for child acting on this show, I really loved her performance. It seemed like she was in shock until they got to the cemetery of unmarked graves, and then her grief just spills out of her, and I started crying yet again. We see again how Claire has aged into this really matronly role in the lives of the people around her, I loved the tenderness with which she spoke to Fanny about grief and memory.

Obviously my favorite scene is the one with John and Jamie and Claire, yeesh, this season fed me SO well with all that drama. It's one of my favorite things about the books, the way that even as John and Jamie's relationship is pretty irrevocably fractured by what happened, John and Claire are now basically besties? Like, John coming to visit her because she got hurt, an the hand holding, and calling her "my dear"... and then the extremely sassy "Mrs. Fraser" after Jamie snaps at him for addressing Claire so familiarly... perfection. We must stan. Jamie and John doing their tension glaring while Claire is openly exasperated, like, I half expected her to literally say "ugh, boys," when she was watching them have their little standoff. And then because she's a boss and she's definitely in charge of both of them, she calls John to her side, has him take her hand again, and right there in front of Jamie, thanks him for "saving her life", to which John replies that they "saved each other" and then kisses her hand, calls her Mrs. Fraser again, and leaves... like, Jamie, buddy, you know I love you, but John won this interaction so hard it's not even funny. I love love love it.

I think we'll stop there - lots of stuff to dig into in the eighth and final season, which I believe is already done shooting so should be arriving much sooner than we had to wait for the back half of this season... there's a lot I'm looking forward to and hoping to see, but mostly I'm just wondering if my Lord-John-related good fortunes will continue... I want more of him, I want Percy, I want it all. But also, I miss Fergus and Marsali something fierce and I would love to see them before the show ends! And we've got some epic reunions coming up with Bree and Roger on their way back home at last. I can't wait to watch it play out!

8.5/10

[oh-he-grows]

@pdfhoarder tagged me in a little chain questionnaire so I figured I would pass it along! Feel free to ignore if I tagged you, and feel free to join in if I didn't!

Last song you heard?

Slightly All The Time - Soft Machine (1973) Third is one of my favorite albums of all time, soft machine opened my eyes to how sick long jazz instrumentals can be. I've memorized every note but still find myself listening to it whenever I want to vibe out

Favorite color?

Brown, like milk chocolate brown, like tree bark brown, like good soil brown, like leather boots brown, like bronze brown, like a real nice brown brown, like a brown bear brown brown. Followed closely by forest green, which was my original favorite color since I was a kid.

Last book you read?

Epic Tomatoes by Craig LeHoullier, 'The NC Tomato Man' credited with trialing over 1,200 tomato varieties and introducing more than 100 to market.

I bought it a long time at Ed McKay's Used Books and More but now that it's seed starting time I cracked it open to look at more than just the pictures. Not a whole lot of practical growing advice that I hadn't absorbed elsewhere over the last few years, but loads of history on tomato varieties and really beautiful pictures throughout.

Last movie you saw?

Nosferatu, on Boxing Day. I loved the vampire, especially the voice. when it was booming around the castle in his opening scenes it was so menacing, i loved it. people liked to clown on his little outfit and moustache but I loved how it made him look like an actual wallachian noble lost to time. deserves the oscar nods in all the production categories but kinda stupid that they didn't even nominate Eggers for best director. it's obviously his vision that brings everything together since every one of his previous movies has the same dedication and precision. VVitch > Lighthouse > Nosferatu, but that's just because the story is a hundred years old and I know how it ends. they're all fantastic.

Last TV show you watched?

Severance S2E2, it just came out this morning! Love it, my favorite tv series since all the 'prestige television' shows ended, waiting all these years for it to come back was agonizing but it's finally here and hasn't dropped in quality so far, so I'm still super excited every week. Sweet, savory, or spicy?

I love sweet pastries more than any other food genre in the world. Savory is a close second place, and my stomach doesn't always agree with the amount of sweet foods I'm eating, but where would I be without sweetness?

Last Google search?

"nvidia shield losing hdmi connection" from trying to watch the new episode of severance 🙃

Current obsession?

my little orange cat sleeping on my chest and my little brown cat who was sleeping on my legs

What are you looking forward to?

the growing season to start already! the last few years haven't been nearly as cold and dead as this year, i'm really itching to get back out there. I have lots of woodchip shoveling for the path to do and I need another 12 yards of compost for the other half of the raised beds that needs shoveling as well, but it's far too cold to bother with any of that yet. I'm going to be much more restrained and planned this year, limiting the number of indeterminate tomatoes and vining crops I have so that I don't have so much to clean up constantly. I'm also going to be managing lots of rosebushes and citrus and cut flowers and other plants that I've never really interacted with before! the vegetables will be regimented and standardized, but my experimental crops are going to be full of new challenges to deal with. one or two full 30'x4' beds are going to be potatoes, dry beans, onions, or other easily managed high calorie storage crops. the last two years have been mostly using garden vegetables as a treat in between grocery trips, but the closer I can get to using the grocery store as a trip while relying on my garden vegetables the better. I hope everyone else is as excited for the growing season as I am! Tagging...

@gardening-guy @tomorrowsgardennc @petula-xx @faguscarolinensis @warweaselsdelight @iloveschiaparelli @faguscarolinensis @worm-gar @ethereal-forest-furry

[williamrikers]

Some Personal Favorite BL Moments of 2023

this is inspired by @lurkingshan's post, thank you for that 😊

Best Show

be my favorite, hands down. this show hooked me right from the very beginning, and each week it kept outdoing itself. the kindest, most compassionate storytelling mixed with some absolutely amazing character journeys and a strong message at its heart, bmf will stay with me forever (and not only because i managed to snatch one of the utterly gorgeous box sets for my collection). 12/10 puffball music boxes

Best Scene

alan and wen pre- and post-breakup at the start of episode 5 of moonlight chicken. i've rewatched these nine minutes more times than i can count. both first and mix do some incredible acting here, and it's such an utter joy to watch. 5/5 crying firsts sliding down a wall

The Scene That Came For My Life The Most

look, i've talked about only friends episode 6 [4/4] before. you all already know that i desire mew carnally for what he did with that audio tape. i have also rewatched this scene an embarrassing amount of times. 96/69 illicit sex tapes

Most Rewatchable Show and Best Main Couple

this one goes to a boss and a babe. i have already rewatched this show twice this year, and i love it more on every single rewatch. i regularly lose my mind about how much i love this silly little show and start waxing poetic about how much this love story means to me, how much i adore gun and cher's weirdness, their communication, their commitment, their gentleness, their mutual respect, the way they help each other and heal each other, the way they make each other feel safe and loved, which my friends from the bl besties server can attest to. maybe one day, i'll put all of my ramblings into a coherent format, but for now please trust that this show is absolutely wonderful and extremely special to me. 1000/10 gaymer friends sleepovers

Best Premise (That Was Utterly Ruined By The Show)

i've got to say dangerous romance, although step by step comes in at a close second. after the second episode of dr, i was out here writing hundreds of words worth of meta, and then... well, then the show became what it unfortunately is, now. i still want to see the show that i was promised (a thriller about two poor brothers who get into hot water because of money issues and end up having to turn to crime to survive, all while the younger brother slowly falls in love with the biggest bully at school, and over the course of the show the bully needs to learn to become a better person and help sailom overcome the trust issues he should have had from growing up constantly threatened and sometimes physically abused by members of the mafia.) -20/10 stupid fucking windmills for ruining something that could have been amazing

Best Side Couple

tiwpor, you will always be famous to me. my school president itself might just have given us crumbs, but i licked those tiny crumbs right off the floor with delight, and when our skyy 2 made it canon, i lost my entire mind. i could not have asked for more. 2/2 couples t-shirts

Best Date

yang and phumjai on their practice date in episode 4 of love in translation was probably the sweetest thing that happened on any bl in 2023. in the later episodes, they had many more beautiful moments together as well as some incredibly amazing physical intimacy (plus, in the extended iqiyi cut, one hell of a foreplay scene), but their sweet date before they had even confessed their feelings has stayed with me. 11/10 slices of pandan

Best Beach Scene(s)

never let me go wins this one. no other show was as devoted to showing off their beautiful beach locations as nlmg this year. watching this show made me yearn for the sea. 1/1 tattoo of your boyfriend's name

Best Rooftop Scene

despite the stiff competition in the form of bmf and cherry magic thailand, last twilight has this one in the bag. the pain, the pining, the heartbreak, the complicated feelings, the desperate kiss... they even lampshaded this trope in the dialogue. stellar scene. 12/10 sunflowers

Best Sensuality

we've had a lot of high heat bls this year, some of them still ongoing, and since billy infamously said "a lot and deeply", i feel like the next episode of the sign might just blow all of our minds. i'm not awarding a best sex scene here so i won't have to eat my words in a few days—however, i feel confident in saying that when it comes to raw sensuality, no one is going to beat ray and sand in only friends this year, no matter how hard the characters on pit babe, playboyy and the sign might be trying. truly, nobody embodies sensual attraction like first and khaotung do. 69/10 sausages that represent blowjobs

Best Minor Character That Stole The Show

gotta agree with the masses here and say nawin laws of attraction. what a guy. every day i miss him. ∞/10 unhinged ex boyfriends

Best Viewing Experience

this is not bl, but it might as well be: midnight museum still feels like a fever dream, i have no idea what the plot even was, i understood maybe 10% of what was happening at any given moment, and i've never had more fun watching anything. this truly is the show of all time. 5/3 roles played by gun atthaphan

Wildest GMMTV Moment

also not a bl, but the piploy pissing in the car scene as an act of revenge in wednesday club would go down in history, if, you know, people had actually watched this show. what can i even say. 3/3 gratuitous pissing scenes

Most Anticipated Show Of 2024

i just had to find a way to mention my golden blood in this post. i am yearning for this show with an intensity i cannot describe. i literally need to see joss bridal carrying gawin as much as possible, it is on the baseline of my hierarchy of needs. no matter whether this turns out to be trashy fun, high camp, an actually serious show, or all three, i win. gmmtv could not have given me anything better to look forward to next year 💖

[onskepa]

Can you do like reader shows the sully kids stranger things?

Hi! So fair warning, stranger things surprisingly did not catch my attention. So, a heads up if this is a bit short, I did my best to understand it. Enjoy!!

pt2

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Vopey

In the human outpost, the sully kids were hanging out with their friend, Vopey. Yesterday, Vopey said she has something special to show them. So that is where they are.

In the large "screen" room, what was once a conference room turned into a movie room. The sully kids, including spider, sat in their usual spots as Vopey holds two boxes.

"so what is it that you want to show us?" spider asks. Holding a thin little flat box, vopey replies. "Well my friendly spider, this is the whole collection of a old old oooooooold show! like, a hundred year old show!"

"naaaaaamed?" kiri dragged the word.

Vopey holds the flat box on top of her head likes it some holy relic. "STRANGER THINGS!!". The kids did their 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' there interest now piqued.

"what is it about?" lo'ak asks rather excitedly, his tail reflecting how he feels. Vopey smiles, "I have no idea, but! from what norm told me, my parents called me vopey because it got something to do with this show. They were obsessed with this show. But! Now that I am old enough, I can watch it with you guys!".

Tuk raises her little hand up, "am I old enough to watch it?". Vopey reads the back of the flat box, "says rated tv-14, dunno what that means but I guess it doesn't matter" she shrugs.

"how many seasons does it have?" neteyam asks. Again Vopey shrugs, "I dunno, but guess we will binge until there is no more, now whose ready to watch whatever this is!?". Everyone cheered in excitement and began to play the round shiny metal thing.

"huh....I actually like it..." kiri mutters when the overall 80's style of the town came to view. The music, the clothes, cars, people, was truly different. And to think it was more a hundred years of human evolution. That part truly fascinated her.

Spider took notes of how the men's hair styles as were shown on screen. "I weirdly want to try out the hair styles......".

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" lo'ak freaks out when the Demogorgon made an appearance. Tuk was hiding behind neteyam while he himself was trying his best not to freak out.

"why does it open its head like that?!" spider shouts/asks.

"is it even a head!?" kiri does the same.

Vopey was looking at her friends with a raised eyebrow. Do they forget they share a planet with the slingers? The stingbats? Those are worse than the demogorgon.

"so the bald girl can do things....and somehow be connected to the other world...?" neteyam is trying to understand when the character, eleven, was moving things with her mind.

Spider nudges kiri with his elbow as he grins, "reminds me of you kiri". Kiri just rolls her eyes and pushes spider playfully and continues to watch the show.

"that steve guy is annoying!" tuk pouted whenever Steve Harrington was on screen. Lo'ak nods in agreement, "total....what's that word again vopey?" he turns to her. Vopey answers happily, "a douchbag!" .

"DOUCHBAG!" tuk replies loudly.

Vopey gets the feeling she is going to regret teaching those words....

"you know...I think I'm starting to like this eleven character" kiri says as the episode ends. Kiri can somewhat understand eleven in a weird way.

Tuk giggles in her hands, "I like that dustin boy, he is funny!" spider nods in agreement. Seems like dustin, eleven so far has been the kids favorites. At least for now.

The show down was on, Elven vs the Demogorgon. Everyone was at the edge of their seats. Who will win? who will fall?

Things were getting intense as eleven began to raise her hand and use her powers.

When the monster began to become nothing but small pieces, so was eleven. And when the scene showed both gone, everyone gasped and were clinging onto each other.

"w-where did eleven go??" tuk asks, amazed at the scene.

Soon the credits rolled in and it was the end of season 1. Everyone stared at the screen all in amazed.

"......is there more of that show??" lo'ak asks. Vopey looks at the box and smiles. "heck yeah!, lots of seasons!".

Everyone cheered and put season 2 on. Wanting to see more of eleven and her new found friends.

And that is it for this one! Hopefully this was good enough! Thanks to @artemis-laufeyson giving me the thumbs up of approval! Until next time! see ya!

Vopey = eleven

[lunawho47]

Hold Me Like You'll Never Let Me Go -- a Fourteen and Rose One Shot

A/N: Okay, so for the first time in actual years, I was bitten by the writing bug. And, as I should have expected, it was Doctor Who (and specifically the possibility, however small, that I may get a Doctor and Rose Tyler scene at some point) that nipped me. I am firmly on the Metacrisis Ten and Rose lived happily ever after train, but this is a scene between the Fourteenth Doctor and Rose and is canonically how I think a scene between them would play out. Spoilers for what we know about the upcoming episode of The Giggle and a lot of supposition based on what I remember from the First Doctor story of The Celestial Toymaker. Spoilers also for the Titan Comics story of Empire of the Wolf and the short stories about the Metacrisis Doctor done by Big Finish Audio. The only thing that's not canon is that rubbish short story Jenny Colgan wrote for Target Books.

Give it a read and let me know what you think!

<0>

The Doctor could feel the buzzing starting underneath his skin. Multiple times throughout his battle with the Toymaker, his next self had already come through; in truth, it was only by using the differing skill sets of both incarnations that the Doctor felt he was going to regenerate again and not just simply die. But, oh...he was now so, so tired. The artron energy shot through him again and he watched as reality flickered in and out around him.

The Doctor's legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on the sofa in Donna's house. His best friend and her family were all safe. They weren't unscathed, of course -- that was nigh on impossible when it came to playing inter-dimensional games with a Celestial being -- but they were alive and Donna could remember him. The Doctor even lied to himself for a moment and promised himself that he would come back and visit her with his next face, that a regeneration would not stop him from keeping up his friendship for once. But with the next burst of arton-induced pain, he stopped lying to himself. Donna would need to move on with her life and protect her daughter, Rose. As long as he kept showing up at her doorstep, she would be in danger. And Donna would never turn him away. And one day, she would let him in and it would be the time that would get her or someone close to her killed. No, the Doctor would tell Donna goodbye and then he'd slip away.

After a nap, maybe. Yeah, a nap sounded good.

He lay down on the couch and closed his eyes. Goodness, he was running through regenerations. This most recent one, even though it had been manipulated into its appearance by the Toymaker, had only lasted him a few days. As the Doctor thought about it and remembered that he had no idea how many new regenerations the Time Lords had gifted him with, he mentally schooled his future self to try to live as long as possible. His Thirteenth self had only lasted a few decades, and most of those she had been in prison. No, his next self needed to last at least three hundred years because otherwise he would be really dead before he could find a way to restore what he could of the universe. And he needed to fix what the Flux had destroyed.

When the Doctor coughed, even more energy burst from his lungs. As he lay on the couch in Donna's house, he couldn't help but remember another regeneration with the same face. *His* Rose had sat beside him then, dealing with an alien invasion while he had slept and healed himself. Up until Jackie had made him a nice cup of tea anyway. He had been so hopeful then. With his pink and yellow human beside him, he had felt like he could run forever, and he had foolishly thought that that particular Christmas would be a day that felt like every other day. But Rose was gone and she had been gone for millions of years. However, over the previous few days, the Doctor had seen his old face return, come across one of his oldest enemies he had never thought to see again, had gone on an adventure with his best friend again and seen his old friend Mel working at UNIT. Why couldn't he see the love of his lives show up again, too? The Doctor smiled a bit at the thought.

He tried to picture what his Rose would be like now. He imagined his Metacrisis self would look a lot like his fully Time Lord self currently did. He would be thinner in the face, a bit more salt and pepper in his hair, and he would probably have to wear glasses because he needed them and not just to look clever. Rose, he was sure, would be beautiful. He hoped she would have laughter lines around her mouth and crow's feet at her eyes. He also hoped that by this point in their lives, Rose would have a couple of rings on her finger. Maybe they even had children together! The more he thought about it, the more clear the image became in his mind. He was sure that if he thought about it long enough, he'd even be able to hear her voice.

Even sooner than he could have hoped, his imagination provided him with a crystal clear rendition of an older Rose Tyler's voice.

"Yes, Mia, you can stay the night at Yvonne's. Just don't...I know you get tired of me telling you to stay away from the Cybus kiosks, but it's better than listening to your dad tell you the entirety of that adventure over again, isn't it? And it's definitely better than having to listen to your Granddad's rendition of the tale... Yes. Yes, I will tell your father you love him. Yep. Yep. Be good and I'll see you tomorrow. Love you, darlin'. Goodnight, sweetheart."

The Doctor kept his eyes closed. He had pictured his former love's voice many times over the centuries and this was as clear as it had ever been. Her voice was a bit scratchier than he remembered, and she spoke with a much more cultured tone than she'd had at 19 years old. His mind had even taken the motherly tone he'd heard Donna use with her daughter and molded it on to Rose's and it melted his heart completely. If his imagination was right and Rose was a mother, then Rose was a remarkable one he was sure. Definitely a better mother than he was a father.

"Oi! Sleepy head, it's time to get up! Aliens to battle and young, teenage girls to raise. Though you get a bit of a break on that one this evening. Lucky you."

The Doctor felt Donna nudge his foot. He tried to raise his head, but felt no desire to open his eyes. Donna's words could match Rose's voice if he kept his eyes closed. But if he opened them, then the fantasy was over and his regeneration would knock away all the happiness he had brought back to himself over the previous few days.

"Doctor! Wake up, you numpty!"

"Sorry, Donna, I just really wanted to rest my eyes."

"Donna? Have you been dreaming again, Doctor?"

The Doctor forced his eyes open. His imagination had done a very good job constructing a realistic fantasy. The Doctor's eyes were looking up at a pair of honey brown eyes framed by light brown hair and a face that was rounder than he last remembered seeing it four lifetimes previously, and a body that possessed less curves than he remembered, but that looked healthy and warm.

The Time Lord then moved his eyes around the room as much as he could without moving his head. He was no longer in Donna's house. Instead, he was in a living room painted a dark blue and in the window over Rose's shoulder, he could just glimpse a zeppelin floating across the London skyline. As with his best friend's home, fantasy Rose's house looked lived in and comfortable, with various knick knacks spread across the coffee table adjacent to the couch and what the Doctor guessed was a television mounted on the wall. It looked like the flat screen he was familiar with in the 21st century, but was see through instead of black.

The Doctor praised his clear memory of everything Rose Tyler related because he adored that the fantasy version of her managed to raise her eyebrows at him exactly the way her real counterpart had always done. He had often feared that his memory of her was fading, but everything about her at this moment was in high definition visual and stereo sound. He theorised that maybe his regeneration sickness was helping to make his illusions more detailed.

"You feeling okay, love? You're staring at me like I've grown another head. And of the two of us, I'm the one least likely to do that."

"Rose," he muttered. It was a name he'd said multiple times over the previous few days, and after centuries of not saying it at all if he (or she) could help it, it felt like a revelation to be saying it to the face that word always conjured to mind. Without warning, he was seized with pain again and he saw the regeneration energy encircle his hand.

His illusory Rose stood up, her eyes going wide as she stared down at him.

"Oh my god, you're regenerating! How are you regenerating? I thought you couldn't regenerate! Does this mean Mia can regenerate? Wait, why are you regenerating? You didn't even go into Big Ben today! I know you didn't because Mum was complaining that you weren't around to stop Melvin disrespecting her when he came through the canteen earlier today. What did you do? Pick a fight with a Weevil? No, you couldn't have done. No bite marks or anything. Doctor, answer me. What's happened? What do I tell Mia when she asks me why her father looks like a completely different person when she gets home tomorrow? Oh god, what happens if you go full alien?"

The Doctor wanted to answer her, but in addition to not being left any room or space to throw his voice into the ring, he was also taken aback by how detailed his mind was being about the kinds of questions a parent version of Rose would ask. As he breathed out more energy, he saw the room and Rose flicker in and out, the flashes interspersed with Donna's living room.

"Wait," Rose said, her voice slowing down and getting softer as she sat down on the edge of the couch next to the Doctor's torso, her hand reaching out to grab the Doctor's own. The Doctor held his breath as he felt two warm fingers reach down to his wrist and put themselves against his pulse. The Doctor allowed his dark brown eyes to meet the lighter brown of Rose's as she then put both her palms against the two sides of the Doctor's chest and felt his heartsbeat. "Doctor," she muttered softly.

"Hello, Rose Tyler," he whispered. Rose took in a shaky breath as the Doctor let out another cloud of energy. The room flickered again, but the Doctor noted that the warmth of Rose's skin was still present against his own body. The Doctor couldn't help but acknowledge the truth then. His imagination was good, but it wasn't as flawless as what his senses were telling him now. He didn't understand fully how it had happened -- doubtless the Celestial Toymaker's machinations with dimensions had thrown things briefly out of whack at the quantum mechanical level and the Doctor was reaping the most unbelievable benefits from it. He may be regenerating, but he was getting one last wish out of the bargain. Oh, if his Tenth self could see him now. His tired, regeneration sick mind couldn't quite work out all the whys and wherefores, but he knew a gift from the universe when he saw it, and damn it, he was going to take advantage of it.

"I should have known it was you and not my husband. You have a slightly different dress sense than he does. Oh, and the wedding ring is missing, of course."

"Of course," the Doctor agreed. His eyes went down to her hand and he smiled to see that his Metacrisis had done what the Time Lord had always dreamed of doing and made a full life with his favorite human woman.

"So, I take it you were with Donna still when you found yourself here. Is that why you thought I was her?"

"Well, more like with Donna again. It's complicated."

"Oh, of course it is. Wouldn't be you if it was simple."

The Doctor watched Rose as she took in his ensemble and his face after all their years of separation.

"Wow. You and my husband look exactly the same in the face. I mean, I know you did last time we saw each other, but I didn't think you'd age. God, how many years has it been? I mean, it has to have been awhile because you've changed your outfit a bit and I didn't think you did that very often."

"Oh, I'm not the same incarnation you remember. I've regenerated a few times since we last met. Ended up with this face again earlier this week, but it turned out the fact that I came back with this face was a bit of a setup from an old enemy. It was more like I got paused mid-regeneration and I can feel the next one fighting to come through."

Rose and the Doctor both looked down as he said this and saw his hand pulse with energy and shift to a black hand and back to white again.

"Okay, so you obviously don't have long. I won't ask how you ended up here because I don't think we have time for that explanation, but...how are you? All these years, that's the main thing I've worried about. I knew one day you would regenerate and I'd never know, and I worried you'd be alone."

"Sometimes I have been. I've lost people. I've lost a lot of people. I found out I saved Gallifrey." The Doctor almost laughed at how wide Rose's eyes got at that point. "And then I lost it again two lifetimes later when the Master -- I'm guessing I've told you about him -- destroyed it when he discovered that the Time Lords had lied to us. We didn't get our regeneration gift naturally. They got it from me and then they scrubbed my memories -- whole lifetimes I may never remember -- and then they destroyed over half of the universe to cover up their mistake. I've blown up the TARDIS numerous times. Fell in love a couple of times..." The Doctor sheepishly looked up at Rose's face as he squeezed her hand. He was happy to see that she only smiled softly, squeezed his hand back with her right hand and used her left hand to brush his hair back from his forehead.

"What were your incarnations like? The ones after I last saw you, I mean?"

"Well, there was one who looked like a twenty year old professor who liked to wear tweed. You actually met him once -- he came to tutor you in maths back when you were in year 4 and I was so proud of how quickly you learned what you claimed made no sense -- and then I became an angry, white haired Scotsman, and then a young, blonde Yorkshire woman. And then I got this face again."

"You were a woman?"

"Yep!"

"Bet you were a babe."

"Oh, I'm always a dish, Rose Tyler." He paused. "I take it that is still your name, isn't it? I didn't make you Rose Smith or something when I married you, did I? Because that would be absolute rubbish! To work so hard to make you fall in love with me and save you from marrying Mickey Smith, only to saddle you with the same name."

"When you married me, you said, and I quote, 'You have always been and will always be Rose Tyler,' and then you asked if you could take my name. You had been going by John Noble on legal documents up until then, but you didn't have any sentimentality for the name, outside of your connection with Donna, so you didn't mind giving it up. I agreed that you could take my name as long as we could remember Donna through at least one of our children, if we ever had any."

"And then came Mia?"

"And then came Mia Donna Tyler."

"It's a shame this dimensional breakdown is only working with me because Mia has a cousin who I know would really love to meet her. I've spent the last few days getting to know Rose Noble and she is so much like you. One of the first things I heard her do was ask about an alien's pronouns. You would have loved her."

"I already do. Just listening to the way you talk about her."

"What's Mia like? Is she more like you or me? Just whatever you do, don't say she's like Jackie."

Rose laughed the loud belly laugh that always made the Doctor smile in response.

"Well, she's too smart for her own good, like you. She's more than a bit rude, like you. And she has a tendency to wander off, like me. She also cares about everyone and everything, like you."

"Oh no, Rose Tyler. That kind of caring isn't from me. That's all you."

"Agree to disagree on that one, love."

The Doctor seized again. He could feel his insides morphing, the change becoming insistent.

"What can I do, Doctor? What do you need?"

"Nothing. I just needed to see you. I need to tell you something. This particular incarnation has one thing about it that's very different from my previous self. I'm not afraid to say things anymore. I've lost too much now for it to scare me. I know now that not saying things doesn't help me let them go. I spent days wondering why this face came back. And I kept thinking I had figured it out and then I would be proved wrong. But I understand now.

"The last time I had this face, I didn't want to let go of it. And it made me a vengeful, frightening, reckless god and other people paid the price for it. But I didn't want to let go because I was terrified of what person I would become without you there. Because you had been there for me before I had even met you -- it's a long story, don't worry about it -- and I held on to you, to the memory of you and all the things I wanted to say that I was too afraid to, and as long as I had this face, I thought there was the possibility I would see you again. And then I saw you for the last time, do you remember?"

Rose furrowed her brow and tilted her head to the side in question.

"2005. January the First. I told you that you were going to have a really great year."

"Cognitive dissonance most likely. You weren't thinking at the time about the fact that one day I'd be without you, so why would it occur to you that I would ever go back in time to see you?

"Oh my god. I held on to that message from what I assumed was a drunk for months. Until I met you in Henrik's. Of course that was you. I can't believe I never put that together before. That was your voice. How did I never recognize it when you first changed?"

"Anyway, within hours of getting this face again, I found myself face to face with Donna, and then I met her daughter, Rose (whose name nearly gave me a hearts attack at first, let me tell you), and then I came across an enemy I haven't seen since just after I first left Gallifrey! But in these last few days, everything my Tenth self was terrified to say has come pouring out of my mouth. Any person I find attractive -- male or female -- I say it! The love I've always felt for Donna and her family? I've admitted it to them. The feelings I had for the wife I had after you -- River -- and for my friend, Yaz -- I've talked about them with other people and without having to be prompted!

"The one thing I haven't done is tell you -- my greatest love -- how I feel about you."

"Doctor, you don't have to ---"

"And I know you know. I know the version of me that is your husband tells you every day. I know because I would have even then, if I wasn't so afraid of what losing you a second time would inevitably do to me. But I need to say it. Not because I think you need to hear it. But because I need to say it for me. I need the memory of having the words come from my lips just one time."

Rose leaned over the Doctor's prostrate body. Her right hand disentangled itself from his and reached down over his face to caress his cheek. It was at that moment that the Doctor realised, much to his embarrassment, that he was crying.

"Then say it."

"I love you, Rose Tyler. I always have. And I always will."

"Quite right, too."

"I guess I deserve that one."

"Damn right, you do. But I love you, too, you daft alien."

The Doctor felt the heat under his skin start to itch the familiar tones away. Despite the pain, he was soothed by the briefest touch of Rose's lips against his own. It wasn't the passionate kiss he'd witnessed between she and his Metacrisis all those years before, and it wasn't what he had fantasized about for many a lonely night on the TARDIS, but it comforted him. This was the kiss from someone he loved and who loved him and he felt the warmth of it through every inch of his body and soul.

"Y'know, Rose Tyler...For the first time ever, I think I'm ready to go."

"Then I guess this is goodbye."

Rose's voice broke and the Doctor noted for the first time that she was crying. And oh, how that hurt him. Every time they said goodbye, she was crying for him. He just wished he could find some way to stop breaking her heart.

"Oh, it's never goodbye for you. This face will be coming through that door to greet you before you know it. It's never over for you. You get my forever, lucky girl."

"I am a lucky girl. Because you loved me enough to make sure I would get a happy ending you couldn't get. Know this, Doctor. I love you. All your friends love you. We will always love you and if you ever need any of us, no matter what face you wear or what trouble you bring to our door, you are always welcome. I may not have met all of your friends. But I know what kind of people you take with you, and I can guarantee you, you never have to miss any of us.

"Until we meet again. Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, my Rose."

The Doctor closed his eyes and felt Rose's lips once again chastely embrace his own. After a few moments, the warmth of her mouth faded, along with the solid build of her body. When the Doctor opened his eyes, he once again saw the familiar surroundings of Donna's living room. He still was not entirely positive if he had really slipped through dimensions or if he had merely fallen asleep, but the tingling in his lips from Rose's kiss made him inclined to believe the happier of the two options. After all, the Toymaker had shown him twice in his lifetime that reality is shaped by how people perceive it, and the Doctor's desire and will to see his former companion had been the strongest thing he had ever known.

In the quiet hours of the early morning, the Doctor slipped out of Donna's house and took the TARDIS to an isolated beach. As he stood outside, watching a sunrise in this too short regeneration for the last time, he smiled. As he had told Rose, for the first time that he could remember, he was ready to go.

[onethattwaddles]

Drama Twaddling: 'Queen of Tears'

WELL, well, well… That was quite a drama, huh?

Almost a week later and I’m still here nursing a clingy heart. I’m not ready to let go of BaekHong yeeeeeet. And I know I’m not alone on this one so here’s a little (not) drama talk from me. So sit back and grab a cup of coffee ‘coz this is going to be a looooong discussion.

Finally, after a long squiggly wiggly rollercoaster ride, we’ve reached the end. (Two special episodes coming, though. Weehee!) I can’t believe two months just flew by and starting this week, no more waiting for BaekHong weekend. Anyway, pat and applaud yourselves for making it through the rough journey. And as hard as it is, now we say bye-bye to our lovely (and we-emptied-your-tear-bags) royal couple, Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in.

First of all, this is definitely one of those I came in for the package, I stayed for the cast.

If there was one thing to be applauded about this drama, it’s the casting. They anchored the show. I’m serious–I'd give a hundred if the rating were out of ten. That much. Because I could NEVER imagine anyone else playing BaekHong’s roles as perfectly as Soohyun and Jiwon did. They were practically Hyun-woo and Hae-in acting themselves. They said they were a bit awkward in the beginning but where in the world do you find people just standing side by side screaming chemistry like, hello? The wedding photos? Hyun-woo said they probably only met twice when they shot those but it gives off legit pre-nups. In the drama, with every little touch, you get this small tingling feeling. It’s so natural that you don’t even notice they’re acting even if the camera angle screams “Look! He’s touching her!” The spark’s just… there. *chef’s kiss*

And speaking of the cast, of course we can’t leave out the rest of them. If the main leads were good the supporting cast did not fall short. From the Hong Family to the Baek Family, Queens Group to Yondu-ri folks, friendships to usurpers–everyone nailed their roles! Bruh, the Mother-Son duo never failed to make an eye roll every time they appeared on the screen. They had, not only BaekHong in chokehold but even the whole watch-nation. Park Sung-hoon portrayed Yoon Eun-sung so convincingly that I’m starting to think he’s getting hate messages from all his “You can hate the character but please not the person” talks. (Because if it is so, what is wrong with you people?! Edit: I just read about it and that seems to be the case. Seriously, people?! Can’t separate reality from fiction now?)

And if I have the most generous love for the cast, I’m sorry I can’t say so for the writing.

Storywise, uhh... there were a few that I think were a bit of a shame.

For example, the overly abused the stars-aligned-the-universe-is-on-our-side motif? I wish they just made it so that kid Eun-sung saved kid Hae-in, which would explain this abnormal obsession because, to quote him, he liked her first and he saved her from drowning. Like, at least give him a proper reason to obsess, Writer-nim.

Or I wish Hyun-woo knew it was Hae-in he met in high school and who owned that MP3 player, so there would be more meaning as to why he kept it all this time. Prior? No, that would defeat the whole thing. While dating or in their marriage maybe. I just hope they didn't make it seem like the stars aligned for them to meet, but that they're both fighting for the universe to be on their side like a real married couple would do (just like what our Queen did in that propose scene. Pfft!). Especially in their case where everything's not working out. I think we already got a lot of that universe-is-on-our-side with the Truck of Doom and notebook incident. (I think there were others but I can’t remember.)

One thing I loved about Park Ji-eun’s previous work (Crash Landing On You) is because of the memories in North Korea. Here, I would have loved to see more Yongdu-ri and less Seoul during their MIA era. And I mean more interaction between the villagers and the BaekHong family. Like Hae-in and Dahye hanging out with Mi-seon and her gang, or Mommy Hong and Mommy Baek hanging out with villagers, washing veggies, cooking, drinking, etc. like Daddy Hong and Daddy Baek did. (And where on earth did Hoyeol run off to, with four-something episodes left?)

Also (okay, at this point, it’s probably not a “few things”), I wish there was more something to our usurpers. You know, like what caused them to go a-la-Parasite on the Queens? Hello! Backstory? I know we got Eun-sung being a child out of wedlock but any more reasons how, what, why Moh Seul-hee exists and why she was so desperate to steal Queens? Why the Hongs in the first place? And who on earth is Grace? How did she connect with them? I feel like the time spent on the dragging scenes should have been spent on their backgrounds (Moh, Dahye, Grace), even for just a few seconds of flashback. But I guess the not-knowing-everything part adds to their mystery.

Finally, I did not sign up for the long-term residency in makjang alley, Writer-nim. I figured we'd have to step foot in but not that long. There were needless makjang moments just going round and round it got exhausting. RomCom suddenly logged out and was out of reach. (Can't deny the top-tier execution of our main leads, though. It was beautifully heart-breaking.) And those Germany honeymoon scenes in the BTS, where were they?! Hing~! TT

I love second-chance tropes, especially when it’s between married couples. That’s what intrigued me about this drama in the first place (of course, after seeing the cast). And I’m sad that this could have landed a spot on my number one list. The first half was good－pacing and all. I like how the usually slow and dragging scenes were cut short and compressed in a few minutes. However, as it advanced, some areas that didn’t need dragging got dragged whereas scenes that needed to be included did not make it which made it a little... and I’m just gonna shut my mouth. *zips*

By the way, I read someone on X saying Writer Park Ji-eun got this drama copyrighted in 2010－which explains why I got an early 2000s vibe from the premise (and the always-wrong turn of the second-half plot)－so I get it, this is from the treasure chest. But you had a 14-year chance to tweak it, Writer-nim! *wriggles her neck*

Hang it all! At least we got a “and they lived happily ever after” and that’s all that matters. (Also, Hong Soobin! We finally got to see you, girl! Welcome to the world! Huhuhu! Now give your papa and mama the best and long life.)

With all that said, it’s time to re-watch the whole thing… because why not? *winks*

(Update: I just finished rewatching and there’s only one thing I can say: you HAVE to rewatch it. It helps you see it in a bigger picture.

While rewatching and having long discussions with my sister who also just finished it, she was able to identify why I felt like the second half was dragging. The problem was really the last two episodes.

It suddenly felt like we were watching a different drama. The reason why we’re all ‘Queens (and Kings) of Tears’ is because we were watching Hae-in fighting to live, with her husband beside her through it all, going against the odds together. But in those last two episodes, I felt like a post-surgery Hae-in, suddenly lost and unaware of what was happening. I feel like if Hae-in survived the surgery and lost her memory, we didn’t need to see it anymore. The whole point of the show was to know if there was a cure for such an illness and if she survived it. But there was too much focus on the usurpers while so little information about their purpose.

Sis suggested something and I couldn’t agree more: end the show in episode 14 with the last scene of episode 16 just to show they lived happily ever lifetime. Honestly, the last two episodes were more of a fan service. While I have a few other minor comments (some mentioned above), let's just let go and move on. HAHAHA!)

[somedayonbroadway]

Hey I was watching Leverage because of your fic, will you do a scene from when Park (Race) rescue a bunch of orphans? Or that episode in general? (Season 1 eps 6)

Leverage AU

I love this episode

Race ran towards Albert’s van, breathing hard as he kicked at the ground and shoved his fists in the pockets of his sweatshirt. “Racer!” Spot called behind him. “Hey—“

“I can’t just leave them there, Sean!” Race whimpered. “You have no idea what that’s like, h-how they live in that place! They treat those kids like vermin! You didn’t see them! You don’t know what that’s like—“

“Slow down, kid,” Spot hushed. “Hey… look at me, you are shaking…” he’d never seen the boy this worked up. He gently took the boy’s hands, but Race ripped away from him.

All Race could think about were all those little eyes looking at him, those hundred kids, waiting for him to do something, anything. They were on the ground, huddled together for warmth and Race didn’t do anything. He sniffled, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “They don’t have anybody…”

“Race…” Spot whispered. “Hey, I know it musta been hard growin’ up—“ Race scoffed, shaking his head. “But you are not alone anymore,” he insisted. “You got people now. A family.”

“I got lucky,” Race whispered. “I escaped. Most of those kids will die before they turn seventeen because there’s not enough food and supplies to go around,” he insisted. “H-how am I supposed ta just leave knowing that’s gonna happen ta them?”

Spot sighed. “We need ta get you back,” he insisted. “We gotta get a game plan, okay? Just… breathe, we’ll figure this out.”

Race shook his head and climbed into the van, curling up and closing his eyes, trying to stop seeing those little faces.

But he couldn’t.

—

Race snuck through that building silently. He sniffled and slipped back into that room looking around at all of those faces again. He swallowed hard. “Come with me, I can help you,” he whispered.

None of those kids moved. Race cursed a bit under his breath. These kids didn’t speak English. He sniffled and tried to close his eyes and focus. “U-uh… um…” he slipped the translation book out of his pocket and tried to speak. “ne boj se… učiniću tvoj paradajz sjajnim—“ The kids all started laughing at that but Race just glanced at them and continued. “Molim te pođi sa mnom!” Please come with me. That’s what he was trying to say. He motioned for them to come, but none of the kids moved.

He bit his lip, glancing through the crack in the door. “Um… Häagen-Dazs?” he asked.

“Häagen-Dazs!” the kids yelled back in reply, immediately standing up and rushing to follow Race to the door.

The young man smiled at that, opening the door, only to freeze when he found a man standing outside. The man grabbed him by the neck and Race immediately slammed the door shut behind him as he was yanked out of the room. He started fighting immediately, kicking and punching like Spot had taught him. But when it all came down to it, Race knew this man was stronger than him.

Still, he fought as hard as he could until the man had him pinned up against the wall opposite the room. But when Race saw a little boy staring through the crack in the door, he felt the adrenaline rush through him and suddenly it was like he had the strength of a thousand Spots. He shoved the man off of him, jumping up to swing from a loose pipe and knocked the man down a flight of stairs.

Choking a bit, Race rushed back into the room. “Okay! It’s gonna be okay! Come with me,” he insisted, leading the kids down to try and get out of the building, but he stopped them when he saw five men downstairs, hovering over three boxes of deadly assault rifles. He turned to the kids in a panic, but when he saw a familiar face back behind them, he sighed in relief.

“Come on, Race,” Katherine insisted, motioning for the boy to follow her.

Race nodded. “Go on, follow her!” he insisted as they retreated. But when one of the kids coughed, Race froze, looking down at the men who were now looking back at him. “Shit…”

He rushed to stay behind the kids as a voice yelled around the building. “We have you surrounded!”

Race paled, running after Katherine and the kids as they made their way out the back. Katherine spoke to the kids, telling them to hurry.

“Quiet! They have armed guards at that door—“ Race tried, but was cut off by Spot shoving the door open with an unconscious man.

“No they don’t,” Katherine corrected, guiding the kids to a bus that Jack was driving around for them. “Help me get them in!”

Spot grabbed Race as he rushed to do so, pulling him close. “You n’ me need to have a long talk after this, kid,” he insisted before wrangling the kids into the bus. Race climbed onto the back of the vehicle.

Jack started driving them second he got the all clear, but when he saw three armed men running at him. Race gasped. “Why’re we stopping! Go, Jack!”

Jack didn’t. And when the men raised guns to shoot, Race stood at the back of that bus, ready to use his body to shield those kids. He braced himself when he heard the shots fire, gasping when he felt no pain. He looked down at himself to make sure he hadn’t been shot, before looking back at Katherine who shrugged. “Prop truck,” she winked. “You’d be surprised at how fast you can switch out real guns with fake ones.”

With that, Jack smirked as he began driving again. “You did good, kid. But for the love of everything holy, you never go off on your own again, understood?!” he yelled.

Race smiled as Spot helped him up into the bus. “Understood…” Albert looked up at him from the backseat. Race sighed. “How’d you find me?”

“Put a tracker in your shoes, ya slippery bitch,” Albert said.

Race smiled and looked back at Spot. “Thanks. For coming for me.”

“I told you… you got a team—“

“More than a team,” Race smiled at him.

Spot melted and let Racer sit down beside him.

[starwarsrcanon]

So uh... why?

Good question.

I really like Star Wars. My dad showed me the trilogies when I was 9 or 10, though for some reason he didn't buy Episode III so I used to insist on it every time we went to Blockbuster, and we happened to have the DVD when they went out of business. I still have it. It wasn't until Episode VII came out that I went back and watched The Clone Wars and Rebels and got properly obsessed, which means that I never really developed an interest in the expanded universe or Legends canon, and given that there's a crying mountain that heals a wounded ewok with its tears, I'm quite pleased about dodging that bullet.

Unfortunately for me, I can't leave well enough alone, and while everyone knows Star Wars is full of holes - the series is marred by dropped plot threads, continuity errors, Episode IX, wonky dialogue, dodgy CGI, weird writing decisions, and Episode IX again - I have the free time, skills (sort of), and bloody-minded inclination to try and fix it. It won't be good, because a lot of Star Wars isn't good, but it will be more consistent.

So uh... how?

Most of this pointless endeavour is a re-editing project. At the time of writing, I've already completed edits of the prequel movies that try (try!) to remove or skirt around their worst flaws. Highlights include removing C3PO from Episodes I and II, restoring deleted scenes (including Padmé's subplot from Episode III), filling in plot holes, and dubbing Jar Jar Binks into Slovenian. It's barely justifiable, but it does make him a lot less annoying. Test audiences describe these edits as 'better, I guess?' and 'a waste of time', and 'why did you show me this?', which I consider to be a rousing success.

Other parts of the series require slightly more work than recutting the movie. Solo, for instance, is a largely unsalvageable waste of film (unless you like it, which is fine!!) that I can't do anything with. Episode IX, likewise. I'll be replacing them wholesale with New Content - I don't quite have the capital to compete with Disney, but I do have a full complement of fingers and more of an imagination than I deserve, so Solo and Episode IX (and let's be reasonable, probably some other stuff) will be getting rewrites.

I still don't understand why

There is absolutely no good reason for any of this. But then, there was no good reason for George Lucas to re-release Episode IV one hundred million times so Greedo could say maclunkey. If that megalomaniacal clown is allowed to mess with everyone's favourite space opera, I don't see why this megalomaniacal clown shouldn't get the chance as well.

[lutawolf]

Please excuse the gif. I'm learning. I'll never be good at it, but I'm a little concerned that I'm annoying my fellow gif makers. I love you guys. What you do is artwork! 💜😘

So Never Let Me Go, Episode 12. I had to talk it over with @ellaspore because I really didn't know how to express my feelings. I was underwhelmed is what we came up with. Like this crescendo that didn't reach a climax.

There were amazing parts like the above scene. Where I think we all saw without a doubt, Nueng's love and devotion. He was ready to do what ever it took for his man and then die with him. Then he goes on to further prove this by being by Palm's side no matter what.

This time it was Palm that disappointed me. When Nueng left Palm, it was to protect him. When Palm left Nueng, it felt like more of an ego thing. Because Palm wanted to care for Nueng, not the other way around. At the same time I get it, cause that can be a subby thing. See why my emotions about the show are confusing.

I didn't become really invested again until the scenes below.

gif stolen from this post and created by aprilblossomgirl.

I loved, loved, and loved this mother son scene. And as april points out, it's such a full circle moment. This woman who lost her husband poured herself into the company he loved to try and ease her pain. She's telling her son not to do that.

I know a lot of people haven't being feeling Nueng, but he is the character that I feel the most. It's actually Palm that throws me. Forgives his mom, but holds back from his dad. Chases after Nueng then talks about how it will be okay if they aren't together in the future and I get it was self-preservation, but he had everything right there. Nueng had one hundred percent proven his love, and Palm ran.

I was left not knowing how to feel. Then this happened.

And this, "So I worked hard to get better and waited until I would be ready. I’ve never wanted to leave you. I just thought if I wasn’t physically ready, how could I take care of you?"

I was giddy seeing them play in the water, but then their conversation went sideways again. It felt very open-ended. Like we decided for ourselves what they would do from here. But then they came full circle again, making me think they can't live without each other.

Even though it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped, it's still really good and one I would watch again.