#I understand he never plays for the winning team and that must be frustrating in the long run

[persephoneflouwers]

don't you think the money thing he said meant for the genre he choose and not the other way round?? Like not going full on pop commercial with radio hits when he had success with jho bty but changing his direction completely for his debut album. cuz we know he almost had an album ready with very different sound from leaked stuff like that's the way I do, help but then scrapped it. Atleast that's the story he is telling since he wrote that ig note in 2019. that was my interpretation. what do you think?

Yeah, I mean he said “I feel like I finally got my own way, making the music I wanna make. I hope some people find some respect in that idea ‘cos I could’ve had it the easy way and I probably would’ve made more money, but for me it was much more fulfilling to do it this way around”.

[pucksandpower]

DSQ

George Russell x Wolff!Reader

Summary: George was on top of the world … until he wasn’t

Note: I actually had a whole other fic written in honor of George’s win, but yeah, that happened

George slumps in his chair, staring blankly at the wall of his driver’s room. The sting of disappointment and anger courses through him, his victory at the Belgian Grand Prix cruelly snatched away by a technicality. He runs his hands through his hair, tugging at the roots in frustration.

The door creaks open, and you step in quietly, holding a steaming cup of earl grey tea. George’s nostrils flare at the familiar scent, a small comfort in this storm of emotions.

“Hey,” you say softly, approaching him. “I brought you your favorite.”

George looks up, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. “Thanks,” he mumbles, reaching for the cup with trembling hands.

You perch on the arm of his chair, your hand finding its way to his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He takes a sip of the tea, closing his eyes briefly. When he opens them, there’s a mix of gratitude and anguish in his gaze. “I just ... I can’t believe this happened. All that work, all that effort, and it’s gone because of 1.5 bloody kilograms.”

You nod, your thumb tracing soothing circles on his shoulder. “I know, love. It’s not fair.”

“Not fair?” George scoffs, his voice rising. “It’s a bloody joke, that’s what it is! I drove the race of my life out there. I fought for P1, managed those tires like a pro, and now ... now it’s all for nothing.”

“It’s not for nothing,” you counter gently. “You still proved yourself out there. Everyone saw what you can do.”

George shakes his head vehemently. “But it doesn’t count, does it? Not officially. I went up on that podium, I held that trophy, I sprayed champagne, and now ...” His voice cracks. “Now I have to give it all back.”

You slide off the arm of the chair and kneel in front of him, taking his free hand in both of yours. “George, look at me.”

He meets your gaze reluctantly, tears threatening to spill over.

“You are an incredible driver,” you say firmly. “One issue that you had no control over doesn’t change that. This wasn’t your fault.”

George’s jaw clenches. “But it was the team’s fault. They should have caught this. They should have fixed it before the race even started.”

You nod, understanding his frustration. “You’re right. They made a mistake, and it cost you. But you can’t change what happened now. All you can do is move forward.”

He lets out a bitter laugh. “Move forward? To what? More disappointment? More near misses?”

“To your next victory,” you insist. “Because there will be a next one, schatz. This isn’t the end of your story.”

George’s shoulders sag, the fight seeming to drain out of him. “I just ... I wanted this so badly. For the team, for myself, for ...” He looks at you, his expression softening. “For us.”

You reach up, cupping his face in your hands. “I know, liebling. And I’m so proud of you, regardless of what the official results say.”

He leans into your touch, closing his eyes. “Your father must be furious.”

You can’t help but chuckle. “Vati’s always furious about something. But he knows this wasn’t your fault. He’s far more angry at the team than at you.”

George’s eyes snap open. “Really?”

You nod, a small smile playing on your lips. “Really. In fact, he was quite impressed with your driving today. Said it was some of the best he’s seen from you.”

A flicker of pride crosses George’s face, but it’s quickly replaced by doubt. “But what if ... what if this is as close as I get? What if I never actually win another race this season?”

“Hey,” you say firmly, making him look at you. “That’s not the George Russell I know talking. The George I know doesn’t give up. He fights. He perseveres. He comes back stronger.”

George swallows hard, his eyes searching yours. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you,” you say simply. “I’ve seen your determination and your passion. This setback? It’s just fuel for your fire.”

He takes a shaky breath, nodding slowly. “You’re right. You’re always right.”

You grin, lightening the mood. “Well, Vati always says being right runs in the family.”

That draws a genuine laugh from George, the first since news of the disqualification broke. “God, I love you,” he says, his voice filled with warmth.

“I love you too,” you reply, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips. As you pull back, you notice some of the tension has left his shoulders.

“So,” you say, a mischievous glint in your eye. “What can I do to help you feel better?”

George raises an eyebrow, a hint of his usual playfulness returning. “Well, your presence alone is doing wonders, but I’m open to suggestions.”

You stand up slowly, your hands moving to the zipper of your dress. “How about we start with getting rid of this?”

George’s eyes widen. “Here?”

You shrug, a coy smile playing on your lips. “Why not? I think you’ve earned a little rule-breaking today, don’t you?”

He hesitates for a moment, glancing towards the door. “What if someone walks in?”

“Then they’ll get quite a show,” you tease, your fingers toying with the zipper. “Unless you’d rather I stop?”

George’s gaze darkens, his earlier frustrations momentarily forgotten. He reaches out, pulling you onto his lap. “Don’t you dare,” he growls playfully, his hands finding your waist.

As you lean in to kiss him, you can feel some of the day’s tension melting away. You know there will be more challenges ahead, more disappointments to face. But right now, in this moment, you’re determined to remind George of all the good things he has in his life — starting with you.

The kiss deepens, and for a while, the world outside this room ceases to exist. There’s only you and George, finding comfort and strength in each other’s arms, ready to face whatever comes next … together.

[thesoftboiledegg]

This whole Dan Harmon interview is worth reading, but here's a few essential quotes:

When the show scored its second season, Harmon was eager to staff up, filling out their ragtag cable team with Harvard-educated Community writers. If they were going to make a play for network primetime audiences, he reasoned, they’d need network primetime writers. “If I had felt like I was imposing something, I would have never done it,” he says, having played the whole thing back in his head countless times over the past decade. He can see now how Roiland must have felt that that transition was about making the show more Harmon’s than his, but he insists that was not his intent.

“If anything, what I wanted was for Justin and I both to be able to be increasingly lazy and not show up for work. That was the dream,” says Harmon. “We’d be these rich idea men. He could roll around and go, like, ‘What if a genie had a butt instead of a dick?’ And I could be like, ‘Yeah, and plus, we’re going to make people cry about it, and that’s going to make them freak out. It’s a story about a genie butt dick, but then we’d win an Emmy, and it’d be more ironic than ever.’ And then I’d come to find out later that it was like, ‘Oh, Harmon brought in his Harmon writers,’ and, man, that is not how I saw it.”

[...]

The last time he and Roiland spoke was over text in 2019, a conversation that left Harmon in tears. “He said things that he’d never said before about being unhappy, and I remember saying to him the last time we spoke in person, like, ‘I am worried about you, and I don’t know what to do about that except to give you all the string and also just say I’m scared that you’re not going to come back.’ But then this conversation became unprecedentedly confrontational.” Harmon stops himself there. “I think that’s as far as I get to take the story. At that point, we’re no longer both there for it, and it starts to become not only unfair for me to continue but totally uncomfortable because, from there, a friendship goes away, and I still don’t fully understand why.”

[...]

“The easiest thing for me to say about Justin has been nothing. Easy because he isolated so well and easy because I’m nobody’s first choice as a judge of anything or anyone. This is where I’d love to change the subject to myself, to what a piece of crap I’ve been my whole public life,” he says. “I would feel so safe and comfortable making this about me, but that trick is worthless here and dangerous to others. It’s other people’s safety and comfort that got damaged while I obsessed over a cartoon’s quality. Trust has now been violated between countless people and a show designed to please them. I’m frustrated, ashamed and heartbroken that a lot of hard work, joy and passion can be leveraged to exploit and harm strangers.”

---

I suggest reading the full article because it goes pretty in-depth into Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's relationship and how their collaboration fell apart. The article also has some intriguing details about how the show operates behind the scenes.

[giggly-squiggily]

Switch ukyo and chrome from dr stone please

*delightful clapping* YESH! I love these two very much! I've gotcha covered, anon! :D I couldn't decide whether to write this romantic or platonic, so read it as you see fit :3

Cloud 9 (Taglist):

@myreygn

“It was just so…incredible!” Chrome gasped out, tears in his eyes once more as he reflected on his very first trip in the hot air balloon. “I never knew humans could fly, you know? All my life I accepted that the only way I could see the world is by climbing the highest tree, or the tallest mountain- but that? That was so….”

“Life changing?” Ukyo smiled, something squeezing in his chest as he watched Chrome gush. It was like watching a little kid opening the presents Santa brought them; the joy in their eyes as they looked upon their dream gift. Even if the hand he had in it was one of thousands, he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud he was able to give Chrome something so magical.

“Yes!” Chrome sighed, shoulders relaxed with a happy hum. “I’m a little jealous- back in the modern world, people had access to planes and hot air balloons with ease. Did you like it the first time you went airborne?”

“Nope- I got sick almost immediately.” Ukyo grinned, laughing at Chrome’s shocked face. “To be honest, I’m still a little motion sick when it comes to the sky. That’s why I like doing groundwork.”

And I get to spend time with you. He didn’t say it outloud.

“Yeah, I gotcha.” Chrome nodded in understanding, puffing up with sudden pride. “Us groundwork people- we’re lucky! Sure- the sky team gets that breathtaking view, but we get to find all sorts of neat things! And we get first touch!” To prove his point, Chrome dropped into a squat, reaching into a bush before pulling out a shiny rock. “See what I mean?”

“Pretty. What is it?” Ukyo asked as Chrome tossed it into the collection basket.

“No idea. Senku would know though. Best guess I got is that it’s just a pretty stone, but someone ought to like it.” Chrome’s eyes glew then, a new idea taking form. “Hey- Ukyo; let’s play a game!”

“Aren’t we working though?” Ukyo asked, amused.

“We are- it’s like Senku always says: Science is fun and productive!”

“When has Senku ever said that?”

“I don’t know- maybe I dreamt it. Anyway-” Chrome waved him off, grinning with glee. “Let’s go look for more shiny rocks! Whoever finds the prettiest one wins.”

Ukyo hesitated. It seemed kinda…silly. Like something children would do. Not to mention they still haven’t found the oil- it seemed like a waste of time.

And yet…

“Oh okay.” Ukyo gave in, smiling when Chrome whooped. “But we’re staying within the area- if we go too far we’ll lose track of the sky team.”

“Fair enough- get ready to lose!” Chrome grinned over his shoulder one last time before diving into the wildlife, seeking out stones.

“Oh don’t worry- I’ve already won.” Ukyo said to no one, just a tad breathless.

~~~

Stone hunting turned out to be quite the challenge.

The shiny one they found must have been a fluke- every rock either turned up earthworms or even uglier rocks beneath. Ukyo felt himself grow a tad frustrated at the lack of good stones.

Just a few paces away, he heard Chrome whoop in glee- most likely finding another shiny rock. Of course he had a natural knack for this sort of thing; he grew up collecting since he was likely a baby. Chrome was gonna sweep the floor with him.

Ukyo admittedly didn’t care if he lost- but he didn’t want Chrome to feel like he won by default either. He carried on searching.

Some time passed, and eventually Ukyo’s back was starting to ache from all the crouching. He went to announce defeat when he found Chrome kneeling with his back to him, studying a stray rock closely. He was so focused- tracing the shape with his eyes and swiping at excess dirt with his already stained thumbs.

So focused…and so vulnerable. Ukyo felt himself grin as he put down his basket, creeping over to the unsuspecting scientist.

“Is this…no, just a regular rock.” Chrome tossed it back into the bush, shaking his head in disappointment. “The pickings are slim to-DAHAHHAY!”

It was a dirty trick, but Ukyo had long lost interest in shiny rocks. Fingers danced along Chrome’s sides, pressing into his ribs and trailing along his belly, scratching through the fabric of his shirt. “What’s wrong? No luck with the rocks?”

“Ahehahahhahhahaha! U-Uhuhuuhuhkyo, you chehehahhahahater!” Chrome cackled, falling back and sending his collection basket rolling. “Wahhahahit, my treahahhahasures!”

“Don’t worry- we’re not on a slope.” Ukyo reached out with one hand to push the basket upright before returning to the tickles. “And I’m not cheating- I’m collecting a new stone. The Chrome Stone.”

“Yoohohoohu’d have to lohohoohoohhok soohohohomewwhhehehehere ehehehehelse for Chrohohohoohohmium! Ahehahahhaha wahhahhahahit- I miiihihihiihssed the johohohoke!” He cried, twisting and turning to escape the other man’s tickling fingers. “Stahhahahhap stahhahhahp gehahahhahahhahaha!”

“Mmm…nope. I don’t want to.” Ukyo grinned, even as he began to lighten up the touch. 

Big mistake.

Chrome- with a sudden burst of energy- twisted around and tackled him, sending them back into the grass. Before Ukyo could even react Chrome was tickling him, fingers flying across his belly and sides- sending riptides of laughter into the air around them. “Chrohohoohohohme whahahahhahait, I’m shahhahahhahhaharry!”

“Sorry, but sorry isn’t gonna save you now!” Chrome giggled, one hand moving up to Ukyo’s armpit while the other carried on drilling into the soft parts of his belly, making him squeal and arch. “You cheated in our game- and for that you must be punished Ishigami Village style!”

“Yohohohohoohou guuhuhuhuhuhuhys tihihihihiihihihckle eahhahahhahahachothehehehehher?” He wheezed out, too mirthful to get anything else out. “Thahahahhhahahat’s kihihihiihiihnda cuhuhuhhuhuuhuhuhhuuhte!”

“Cute? Oh no- we’re tortuous!” Chrome swept his hands up to Ukyo’s ears to make a point, pinching and pressing into them and his neck. “We make our bad villagers suffer!”

“CHROOHOOHHOOHOHOME!” A squeal ripped out of Ukyo’s throat, his laughter anew. He reached up to grab the other’s wrists, but his arms were jelly after a combination of rock hunting and tickles. He had no strength left. “PLEAHAHHAHHAHASE STAHAHHAHAHAP!”

“Do you admit defeat?” Chrome squeezed the base of his neck, earring a cackle.

“YEHEHEHEHHES!”

“Am I the stone finding champion?”

“OHOOHOHOHF COHOOHOHOHOURSE!”

“....Promise?”

“CHROOHOOHOOOHME!”

“Hehe, okay okay.” Chrome laughed as he stopped, watching Ukyo collapse beneath him- gasping for air. “That’s what you get for trying to cheat!”

“Fahahhair enough…what rocks did you find anyway?” Ukyo nodded at the basket nearby, forgotten in their game. Now it was Chrome’s turn to blush, a sheepish smile on his face as he scratched at his chin.

“Heh…so, you know how we were supposed to be looking for rocks? Well..I kinda got distracted.” He got up and dragged over his goodies, showing Ukyo the insides. The only rock within was the one they originally sighted. The rest was a variety of herbs, mushrooms, berries, and what looked to be a stink bug. “His name is Jerry.” Chrome answered Ukyo’s raised brow. “He wouldn’t get off the mushroom.”

“Pfft- I’m sure Francois will have a field day with that one.” Ukyo laughed as they stood, gathering up their things. “Technically you won; you were the one to find the shiny rock in the first place. Victory is yours.”

“How about we call it a draw instead? Then we’re both winners.” Chrome grinned, hiking up the path. “Besides, I got to spend the day with you. That’s a win in my book.”

He was too far ahead to notice the small inhale of air Ukyo took, nor did he see the soft smile playing on his lips after.

“Yeah…that sounds good to me.” Ukyo nodded before following along.

Thanks for reading!

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina... I need to rant 😠 lmfao

As a life-long Chiefs fan and KC native all I can say is this T*ylor shit is fucking annoying. I know you talk to a LOT of people in the fandom, so you may not remember, but I'm a fellow Sw*ftie hater (maybe that's too harsh but idgaf) and I didn't think it was possible to get more annoyed with this woman than I've been since I stopped being a fan in 2018. Boy, was I WRONG. I'm a die-hard Chiefs fan. I loved my team even when we sucked and couldn't make it to the playoffs (before Patrick Mahomes), so to see EVERYONE make the game on Sunday about her is beyond frustrating. People (Sw*fties) are seriously saying she's the only reason we won. Like we haven't won multiple AFC championships and two Super Bowls in the past three years. Maybe I'm just taking it too seriously, but when our boys played a kick ass game on Sunday after such a shitty season opener (that we lost), it was so nice to see that we're getting our mojo back but I literally can't look at any post, tweet, article, tv segment, etc that doesn't make the game about her.

God, please don't let her be around for the rest of the season 🙏🏻

Also, I'm not saying they're not hooking up, but this is 100% for PR. I've personally never seen them pan to a celebrity so many times during the game. I've never seen "candid" photos of Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, or any of the other popular Chiefs' players leaving Arrowhead Stadium after a game like we just got with Travis & T*ylor, or "candid" photos & videos of any of the popular players driving through the city, which is so sus. And then what really sealed the deal for me was that T*ylor announced earlier today that her concert film will be shown internationally. She was also named as an entertainer of the year for entertainment weekly and is on the cover. Not to mention, she has a new re-recording coming out in a month and continues to announce new versions of the 1989 re-recording. "Someone" must not be happy enough that she's already broke records with the Speak Now sales, is selling the most number of albums overall, but she must be aiming to break those Speak Now records with the 1989 re-recording sales bc she's releasing new versions quite often. I mean, how greedy can one person be. Like you haven't sold enough albums? You don't have enough publicity? You don't have enough money? It's just gross to me.

Also, I personally just found her reactions over the top for someone who isn't even a fan, especially whatever that head shake thing is at the end. But maybe that's just because I find everything she does annoying and cringe.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxmAHqjrACL/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Plus, the stats around Travis and the Chiefs have skyrocketed. So they're absolutely getting a lot out of this as well as the NFL like someone mentioned earlier.

I'll attach an article but here are some numbers:

Travis' jersey sales went up almost 400%

Stubhub ticket sales for Chiefs' home games increased threefold in just 24 hrs

Travis gained 325k new ig followers - more than he gained after winning the last Super Bowl

Sunday's Chiefs' game was the most watched NFL game on any network last week

It was also the most watched game among girls and women 12 to 49 yrs old

https://www.axios.com/2023/09/26/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-merch-sales-up-chiefs-kansas-city

And yes, I know I know a lot about her for someone who doesn't like her. But she's inescapable even when I have muted everything related to her... And now she's taking over my everything related to my favorite football team and my city 🤢 Where's Pete Davidson when you need him? 😂

Ok, sorry for that rant. I know I probably sound ridiculous, but I prefer my life T*ylor free just like I prefer my life Ol*via free, and I thought you might understand 😂 Anyways, feel free not to post if you don't want to discuss her anymore.

I hope you're having a good night, Gina. Lots of love.

She really is a horrendous actress. Everything she did at that game was so embarrassingly fake. But clearly people want to believe it because it’s everywhere.

That’s bananas how much his stats already went up and just shows why it’s worth it to do this kind of nonsense, even to someone who’s already really famous.

I’m not interested in football at all, but I’m so sorry she’s contaminating your safe space. 😩

[gamersonthego]

GOTG Review: The Last Guardian

This is the second game in my Backlog Roulette series, where each month I spin a wheel to randomly select a game on my massive backlog that I must play (though not necessarily to completion). These wheel spins occur on the monthly preview episodes I co-host with my friends on The Casual Hour podcast.

I’m trying to remember the last time I felt genuine emotion for a character in a video game. Fire Emblem comes to mind. It is my favorite franchise after all. The idea of building up a roster of characters from zeroes to heroes. I celebrate their wins. I’m pained by their losses. But they don’t feel real. When one goes down, I mourn the loss of their utility more than I do the loss of their character.

I may not feel genuine emotion for Lapis as a character, but I sure do love when she does this.

Pokemon has a similar issue. I watch these monsters grow up and evolve over the course of my journey, my six faithful companions helping me take on the world. But the artifice never fully falls away. I see their “health points” and their mechanical abilities and am reminded these are still just bundles of data, and if I think about the numbers long enough, I can game them just right to always land in my favor. The closest I’ve felt to a critter in Pokemon is in the most recent entries, where Game Freak added in a chance to “hang on” with 1HP left after a devastating enemy move if your Pokemon’s friendship stat was high enough. It’s cool to see a Pokemon break the rules of the game through the power of love, but it also happens too often and too randomly for it to feel authentic.

Cliche as it might be, that last time that genuine feeling occurred might be Team Ico’s previous game, Shadow of the Colossus. Agro, your character’s horse was a constant and stalwart ally. Yes, it was mechanical in its own way, but in a game built around solitude, having this one thing on your side was a comfort, one that made the mostly empty world a little less lonely. And while Shadow of the Colossus plays on this attachment in a few key moments, Team Ico’s third game, The Last Guardian, is built entirely in service of this interaction. 

Reductively put, The Last Guardian is the video game embodiment of “a boy and his dog.” You control a nameless boy, waking up in a prison of a cave. But you are not alone. There is a creature locked in here with you — a massive griffin-like animal. Chained, injured and afraid, it lashes out whenever you come near. This is Trico, and while you might not know it yet, this monster is going to become your best friend. 

Trico is the whole reason The Last Guardian works. His appearance may be fantastical, but his movements, his mannerisms, his stubbornness — they are familiar. You look at Trico, and you know he’s made up of polygons and AI "if/then" statements, but that artifice just melts away, expertly hidden by characteristics that are innately animalistic. Trico barks at things he doesn’t understand. He looks at you in confusion as you try to coax him to move. He paws at his food. He stretches his legs after escaping cramped quarters. He shakes the water off him when he comes out of water and then he preens his feathers. It’s magic. And the developers are able to keep up this trick throughout the entire 12-hour experience. 

How could you not love this goofball?

The game around it however, can leave something to be desired: An awkward camera that’s both rigid and yet has a mind of its own, scenarios that go back to the well a few too many times (I can’t tell you how often my character blacked out due to story reasons, only to be woken up in a new area by a rescuing Trico) and world design that, while undeniably beautiful, is often confusing and repetitive. 

But while those things can (and will) frustrate you, they can’t stop the emotion you feel for Trico. Never have I spoken so much to a TV during a playthrough, using the same tone as I would with my own pet. “That’s right, just a bit further. You can do it.” “No, not that way, Trico.” “Oh, you’re hungry now?” “There, there, the bad guys are gone. Nothing to be afraid of.” I caught myself saying these little phrases often, then laughing at how the game had fooled me yet again that Trico was a living, breathing thing.  

The Last Guardian definitely has its moments of intentional heartstring-pulling — big set pieces and scripted events with you or Trico put in a tight spot just to miraculously have the other save them at the most critical of times. And those moments do often land with their intended impact. But it’s the quiet moments that give Trico, and The Last Guardian by extension, its heartbeat. 

I have played and will play hundreds of games that are “better” than The Last Guardian. Games with sharper controls, more layered stories, nicer graphics, smoother framerates and less obnoxious  puzzles. But few games will leave the impression The Last Guardian has. Because despite its flaws (and perhaps, even thanks to them), The Last Guardian made me feel something in a way that most games can't. 

[all-about-cr7]

Ten Hag the liar and hypocrite: “Cristiano remains an important part of the squad”

🗣Ten Hag when asked if he thought Ronaldo would stay for the rest of the campaign, and if that was what he wanted (21.10.) “Both. It is for this game and then we continue. It's a strike. As we said in the statement, Cristiano remains an important part of the squad and I count on him for the rest of the season.”

Graeme Souness is spot on in his Daily Mail column: “Look what Manchester United have reduced Cristiano Ronaldo to - it's so sad!”

It’s a desperately sad situation that Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself in. Here is a player who has taken Manchester United to the heights and scored goals for them which will live long in the memory — yet look what that club have reduced him to.

What we saw at Old Trafford when the team played Tottenham on Wednesday night was a player plainly angry, upset and deeply frustrated — stuck on a substitutes’ bench while players he will rightly consider himself superior to were out on the field.

For a player as hugely competitive as him, that will have been agony. An experience he will never have imagined himself facing. I have to say that I can understand how he feels.

This is a situation entirely of United’s making. A problem they just didn’t need to create. Erik ten Hag has made some bold and courageous decisions, trying to instil discipline and unity. But how did he think this situation with Ronaldo was going to work? How did he think the player was going to respond to being asked to sit on a bench, run up the touchline doing warm-ups, only to remain redundant and unused, with the cameras trained on his every facial expression?

People should only be talking about that performance against Tottenham but instead it is this. Ten Hag and United have shot themselves in the foot and not helped themselves one bit.

For Ronaldo to have refused to come on to the pitch when requested by Ten Hag is clearly something the manager cannot accept. Such a fundamental breach of the team ethic is the first step on a road to ruin.

But it is not hard to imagine how the conversation went between the two of them when changes were being made and he was asked to go on after 87 minutes, to run down the clock. A three-minute role at the dog-end of a 2-0 win is an indignity that this player will not have expected to be reduced to.

Every player must be ready to play, however great or small the role, but I do think there has to be particular consideration for Ronaldo, given his position in the game and his contribution to it.

He told United before the start of the season that he wanted to go. He made no pretence about that. What has ensued is much like Jesse Lingard’s treatment by the club last season, only on a far greater scale. United could have sold Lingard to West Ham in January, chose not to and then didn’t use him.

If I was Ten Hag, I would be concerned about having Ronaldo around the place because if you are not going to use him, you know he’s going to have a voice in the dressing room. That’s certainly not conducive to a harmonious working environment.

The communication between manager and player is clearly not what it should be and despite what happened on Wednesday, I think it is incumbent on United to do better by him. To go to whatever lengths necessary not to humiliate the man in such a way.

He will certainly feel he is not being shown any respect, in what is without doubt the worst period of his career. He is being tested in a way he would never have expected, at the twilight of his playing days.

He seemed to reflect that in the statement he put out on Thursday night. These seemed to be the words of a man genuinely taking responsibility for his actions, rather than running from them. He was in at 8.30am to train with the Under 21s on Friday.

But if the current situation persists and he is put through more of these indignities on the substitutes’ bench, his behaviour could continue to be off. And that could lead to what I think will be the worst outcome of all this: that United’s supporters will remember him for what’s happening during the rest of this season, or at least for as long as he is kept in Manchester, rather than those golden years and brilliant goals.

If this continues, United will end up destroying Ronaldo’s legacy. The least the club owe him is not to allow that to happen. To stop putting him through this

[thenhlteaissuperhot]

Campbell being sent down to the AHL - thoughts?

The whole thing is extremely complicated with so many layers to it, but...

As much as I love Campbell as a human being and as much as I feel sorry for him because he wants to succeed so badly that he is nearly crying in his interviews when asked about his lack of performance, he has never been the most revolutionary goalie skills-wise in the league, that's something we can all agree on, and in his case, his streaky mindset doesn't help him either.

Goalies oftentimes have a hard time keeping themselves fit mentally, understandably so, there is a huge pressure put on them because they are alone in the net and more than often blamed even if the blame isn't entirely on their shoulders, and Jack is one of those who suffers from not being able to keep his head up through the obstacles that come his way so a mental boost of some sort is desperately needed for him right now - perhaps winning a couple of games in the AHL and a bit of social media break slash detox would help him get back on his feet.

At the same time though, you can't throw all the blame at him. Everyone on that team struggles because of how bad they are and that does get under your skin eventually no matter how mentally strong you are - even Leon and Connor are frustrated beyond what we have seen from them until now so imagine how hard it must be for Campbell. He knows that he can't rely on the defense because they are practically non-existent at this point and that's not a feeling you want to experience as a goalie with so much pressure put onto you because many people called your team Stanley Cup contenders during the pre-season.

I also feel strongly about Dustin Schwartz - Oilers goaltending coach, who has been there since 2014. Doesn't seem like the most competent guy, in my opinion, so a change resulting in a different face with a different mindset and approach to coaching the goalies definitely wouldn't be hurtful.

Overall, I understand why has the management done so, but bringing up one of their young goalies (who are nowhere near promising-looking) won't really make much difference if the rest of the team, the defense especially, won't start playing their asses off on that ice, it will only mentally ruin another goalie and also his reputation.

[masterandapprentice]

Devil's advocates

They say, out there, that even the devil himself needs help from time to time.

However, it's not just any kind of help, it needs to come from some special source, from someone who has enough power and understanding to know what kind of things they are going to get into. And of course, he must have the guarantee that, regardless of the matter, he will always win.

The requirements that can lead to hell for anyone who dares to work for him, but just as life is a risk, so it is the opposite side of it.

“My team is highly qualified to quickly take any job assigned to them. Once we take it, there's no going back."

Jinki, the leader of SHINee's firm, fully trusts his partners. Fifteen years of experience support them, and in all that time, among their thousands of cases, there has only been one that they could not win, with the only client with whom you will never be able to obtain what you are looking for.

Kibum refuses to talk about it, despite being in charge of giving the firm a voice, but not because he believes that it will tarnish their reputation. No. It was just a difficult case that didn't end the way he planned. And that is more frustrating than many can actually think.

“We can get the information from anyone and anywhere. It is not a problem."

Taemin boasts of his ability to find the lost things and execute the plans that Kibum dictates; That boy, the youngest in the firm, is quite a special case: he can find anything from anyone, but when it comes to his own things that he himself loses, there is nothing to do. Perhaps that is why the firm holds it to the highest standards to get things done by any means.

And when the time comes to things to escalate and action is required, Minho is the best in his range to carry out the actions that are needed. By good or by force. For Choi Minho there is no other option, the intelligence of his movements combined with his military physique leaves no doubt that he has rarely had to use that force for the case to continue its course smoothly.

And since behind every great team there is a great base, Jonghyun has everything on his side. It has been some time since he became discreet, silent and keeping a low profile since he is almost never seen and his office is in the highest and most restricted part of the entire building, however, it is the foundation of the firm: by his hands -and prodigiously mind- he passes all the cases that are received, patiently reads them, breaks them down and turns them into the stories that are told for each case and for each person.

Without it, the team would simply be lost, and they wouldn't know where to start or where to go.

“Without night there would be no day, without silence there would be no noise. Everything is a cycle and Jonghyun understands it. We also understood it."

"And what are your fees?" The devil himself must ask the question, because he knows in advance that everything has a price, even for him.

“Regardless of the case, the team will always work together. We don't fire anyone, we don't replace anyone, and no one takes a case for themselves. We can act individually, but in the end, it all comes together with us. If one works, we all work. And even if we lose, the guarantee is the team itself. We all accept that clause."

“The devil just looks at Jinki and smiles.

“A deadly fair deal.”

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

This is not a fic, just a small text I got inspired to write while working on the images :) The idea was only to edit the images with the Photoshop beta version that works with AI (pretty good actually, I like it!), I was just playing a little with the edits ahaha, but hope you all like them :)

[mrthought]

Life

Drifting. The world goes forward and why do you go back? It's not easy when you're not the most motivated. The most discipline. The most popular. It's not that easy. I can give you the list of all my failed attempts and man oh man. It's truly not that easy. Getting looked over. Laughed at. Not even a message from friends or places you go. If you feel like that I feel you, man. You feel alone, but want to be loved by someone, but what happens when you finally find one? You are stuck in this loop that all those years that you have been alone and getting rejected left and right. You're scared, you convince yourself that nobody loves you, and when you finally get that love you just don't truly feel it it's like you're in this loop over and over again like you can tell her you love her, you can tell him you love him. But he or she has been so alone and getting looked over by anyone when they finally get that love they truly wanted. They will try their best until they realize it's real. Love is scary, but that little push that the person does to you. Like courage the cowardly dog used to say "The things I do for love" it's such a stupid line, but once you get older. You will do so many things for love. When you find her or him.

Alone. First, love yourself. Because he or she will only love a hollow heart. When you are still trying to find a purpose in life that individual will never see your mistakes your embarrassment, or your failures. They will tell you to believe in yourself, but it's hard when you were the kid in school who had big dreams back in the day but was shut down by your own family. By your mother, father, the list goes on. Being alone is a must to understand to love yourself because one day. That person that said he loves you or she loves you forever will be gone. As much as they promise. As much as you try it will not be enough.

Dreams. Those dead dreams have been shut down by everyone. Because you were not the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest. You were just there. That's called an underdog. You'll get bullied. By the team, by the people, by your family. Blaming you for those little mistakes they make every single day. But I guess you're the exception. Always remember to ignore them. Fuck them. But always remember that you have no enemies. Just jealous people think they can play with your head. A man must have a destiny to fully accomplish life. It may be that diploma you want. That sport you always wanted to do. Maybe it's that house you want. That car. That business. Go for it. Go for it. Don't drift. You may stumble, you may fall, but the biggest regret of a man and woman is to stay on the ground. Are you the chosen one? No. Are you the strongest? Probably not. Are you disciplined? Maybe. Do you get tempted by the smallest things? Absolutely. You must be worthy of the thing you truly want.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they were right. You can say so many things. You can make so many excuses on why this wouldn't work because your thoughts are the things that every person told you. Getting "the talk" by those toxic parents that gaslight everyone in thinking they are supporting you. They are only humiliating you to the point of being stressed, anxious, depressed, and so many things In your mind that you can't even think about because there are so many. Until those toxic parents win. Those parents are the worst. Complaining about every single thing you do and once you let all that frustration at them. They want you to go to therapy. Like they haven't done anything.

Hope. You feel paralyzed. You feel overwhelmed. You feel lost. You feel that you haven't done anything in your life. But the road is different for everybody. Don't rush it. Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. Look at yourself in the mirror and say I love you. Forgive yourself. Love yourself. But please. Don't follow the path of those "villains arc" be kind, forgive, and enjoy life. You have no enemies. You must find peace in life and must always be worthy of the things you want. Study, work out, grind for that job, for that sport. Do what makes you alive. Do what makes you. Be you. Don't be the next person. Be the first you.

Become worthy of life. Become worthy of the things you want. Don't give up. Because there's hope on those nights you were crying, you were fighting, you were cheated on. Those nights that you were alone and wanted to leave the world behind. That night that you wanted to change. That night you wanted to be different. That night you push everyone away. It's okay. It happens. We are not the popular kids in school. The person that everyone wanted. The person that the coach saw was making it big. The son that our parents were proud of. We weren't the chosen ones. The failures we did. The mistakes we made. It's okay. That's how life works. There's always hope in the end. There's always hope. Be worthy. You are not chosen, but you must be worthy of the prize you want.

You may be stubborn, you may be a hothead, or you may be ignorant. Always remember to think before you act. Write everything that you truly want and execute it by thinking about your next move. Be worthy. Your friends, your parents, those people that mock you, laughed at you, looked over you, humiliated you, and rejected you. Those people are nothing. Always remember to enjoy life.

You are worthy of it.

[ledenews]

ON THE NAIL! - Q&A - A Sunday at Home

After finishing their recent road trip with a 1-1 record and a Friday evening loss to Kalamazoo (moving them to 5-8 overall), what are your thoughts on this team as they come closer to the real meat of their schedule? Of course, it was nice to see the boys pull off a big win against a really tough Toledo team (and find a way to jump them in the standings as well), just to have them revert back to what they’ve been multiple times this season (see the next question for more on this) against Indy.  When looking ahead at the Nailers schedule, their next 14 games, taking them all the way through Christmas Eve, are all against divisional opponents, so this is where the rubber really needs to meet the road.  Of those 14 games, nine of them will be against one of the three teams currently sitting above them in the divisional standings. That’s a nice way of saying I hope they enjoyed their warmup, because it’s time to bring the intensity.  We finally saw this past weekend what to expect when facing the Fuel, and the boys got ran out of the arena.  They can’t afford to have that happen in any of the three games they have against Indy during this upcoming stretch.  Same with Cincinnati and Fort Wayne, of course, since they’re staring up at them as well.  I know you never want your team to be staring too far ahead, but if I’m Derek Army, I’m pointing this stretch out to them and telling them that this is where they prove what they want to be as a team this season. What have you noticed about this team so far that really sticks out to you like a sore thumb that you think can be fixed in short order? It really bugs me as a fan that, of the seven losses the team has endured so far this year, five of them have been by 2+ goals, and in all but one of those losses mentioned previously, they’ve had stretches of giving up multiple goals within a two-three minute stretch.  I can understand that giving up a goal can sometimes weigh on your mind.  But as a professional athlete, you must find a way to move past that and continue to perform to the best of your ability. It can be very frustrating to watch as your team goes from leading by one to losing by one within that quick of a period of time and you must hope they find a way to come back from it.  And this goes back to my point in the previous question, where they have to maintain their focus as they get into a tough stretch of the schedule.  If they are hoping to turn this thing around, they will have to avoid these catastrophic lapses that can cost them games that are winnable.  Losing can’t be an option when winning is something that is attainable against quality opponents. Has it become apparent, now that they’ve played a sixth of their regular season games this year, what this team is and what they need to do to be successful? Everything that I’ve seen from this team so far this year shows me what Coach Army wants them to be.  The question is whether or not they are able to perform to his expectations game in and game out.  He wants them to play with speed.  He wants them to make it tough for opponents to move freely with the puck, especially through the neutral zone.  He wants guys who come out with some grit and get to the tough areas of the ice to create chances for the team. I’ve seen moments where things have come together for them like this.  They’ve had multiple times this season where they’ve managed to shut down the opponent’s offensive attempts, forced the puck up ice and created opportunities, and have seen the success they would have if they played like that for a full 60 minutes every night. The issue is that intensity doesn’t seem to stay for the full 60 every game.  They’ll fall into lapses in judgment that allow the other team to take advantage.  They’ll revert to playing undisciplined hockey and taking tough penalties at bad times.  And I know this is a learning league – this is where younger guys come to learn the game at a professional level and try to move.   But once you’re at this point, it’s time to show you can continue to put it together consistently.  I want to see these boys do it for an extended period of time now, and I believe they have the skill to do it. What do the Nailers need to do to prove they’re able to compete with the teams ahead of them in the standings and hopefully make that push necessary to secure a playoff berth? The simplest answer for this would be to win.  As I said before, there are a LOT of games coming up over the next month against those teams, and all of their games are in their division.  This is where you show that consistency.  This is where you show that you don’t fold and lose a game 6-1 when you’re pushing hard and actually lead the game in shots for two out of the three periods of the game.  You’ve found a way so far to stumble in games against those teams above you and lose very convincingly according to the scoreboard.  Show those games were flukes and that you can stand toe to toe with those guys.  This is your chance to refresh things and come at them in a way they’re not ready for or expect.  Force their hands a bit and show them that you can play your style and take them out of theirs.  If you can do that, you’ll come away with more than enough wins to help push yourself towards that playoff berth you want. What have given thanks to over the Thanksgiving holiday? Other than being thankful for my family and my health, I’d say I’m thankful for the chance to watch a good hockey team in person in my hometown.  I’m thankful for the chance to see guys who really do look like they want to compete and do everything they can to win as much as possible.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to talk (and write) about a sport I really do love.  But what I’m honestly most thankful for when it comes to hockey is growing up with someone who took the time to explain the game to me, helped me understand how the game is played and what the players are trying to do, who took the time to teach me good sportsmanship and yelled at me for booing the other team just because they were trying their hardest to do what they needed to do to be successful too, and above all else, took me to the games and helped grow my love for the game.  So, thank you so very much, Dad, for helping me become who I am.  I will always love you for all of that and so much more. I hope you all out there have enjoyed the holiday! Read the full article

[leejihoonownsmyheart]

Game Boy

Request: i just read your cheol 'bento' fic and its amazing. i apologize if requests aren't open but could i request a cheol fic where him and reader (female is possible but g.n is okay ) are online gaming friends and they finally meet irl?

A/N: have you ever seen the drama Love O2O? The request made me think of it and I started rewatching it. It is so good.

-

You wished sometimes that you had the ability to suddenly make friends that would play video games with you. None of your friends really seemed to understand your urge to play video games but it was something that you felt was practically necessary in your life.

You didn’t know how you would possibly ever be able to unwind if it wasn’t with a video game. You felt ease when it came to exploring virtual lands, and leveling up by mindlessly killing slimes, and shooting random people in Valorant.

And yet playing Valorant in random lobbies could be one of the most frustrating things on the planet. Especially for a girl. Men could be such trash in this dumb game and while it was totally possible to have a positive experience with randoms today simply wasn’t your day.

People were being sexist and mean and you weren’t even playing ranked.

You swore to yourself that this was going to be your last game because you couldn’t handle being told one more time that you should just play Skye so that you can heal the team.

You decided that for this last game you were just going to try to play tour favorite character and pretend like your mic was broken.

When you finally found a group of randoms to play with you were a little miffed to discover that someone else was already about to click her.

Just before you could throw your silent fit and just settle for Phoenix the person who had Reyna highlighted suddenly spoke.

“Does someone else want to play Reyna? I could play someone else.”

He switched away from the character and you switched onto her so that you could lock your choice in. Your eyes narrowed suspiciously at the screen wondering why the guy had given you Reyna. She was a popular character to play.

You decided not to question it. Maybe it was the Universe trying to give you something good after your shitty day.

It was normally pretty easy to sit in silence over a game of Valorant but this person was rather talkative and was strangely kind.

“Nice shot Reyna! You really carried that round!”

You sent a quick message of gratitude in chat which just made your other teammate snort.

“What’s wrong Reyna? Too good to actually speak? Phoenix gave you a compliment. Say something.”

Anger flared in your stomach, and you considered just leaving the match, but Phoenix’s response stopped you.

“Shut up, they don’t owe me anything,” he blurted. “It’s probably people like you that makes them not want to talk.”

“She’s probably just some stupid girl who’s so far up her ass she doesn’t think she needs a compliment.”

“God you must never get laid at all,” Phoniex shot back. “Playing with people like you is such a headache.”

The entire rest of the lobby was silent as you all played through your games. Despite the turmoil you were all winning. You in particular were doing an amazing job, and Phoniex wasn’t doing half bad. Kay-O was about as good as he was kind.

“Look if you’re going to argue with me all game I’ll just leave,” he said angrily.

“Okay? You’re the weakest on this team anyways. We won’t miss you.”

That seemed to be the final straw. The fifth player on the roster disappeared from your screen and the voice chat went silent for the first time in ten minutes. For a few seconds everyone was quiet.

“Good coms.”

A laugh left someone else’s mouth, and Phoenix chuckled nervously.

“I can’t stand guys like that,” he murmured. “It’s just a game.”

There was a hum of agreement over the call and the conversation devolved into a focus of the game itself. You were all leagues ahead of the other team, despite the fact that a player had left your game and without him around the air between the group of you all was light.

“Hey, do you guys want to continue playing as a squad? We make a good team,” Phoniex suggested. The responses that came were hesitant, but no’s in the end. Everyone was logging off for the night after this.

“We can add each other though,” someone said. “We can all play another time.”

You could practically hear the smile in Phoenix’s voice.

“Sounds great!” He was silent for a moment. “What about you Reyna? You didn’t respond. We could hit some duos.”

You sat there for a moment, mulling it over. You clicked the key on your keyboard that allowed you to speak through your mic. You hesitated for just a second. Were you really going to cross this line?

“Sure. Duos sounds fun.”

You played duos with Phoenix for two hours before finally telling him you needed to log off. You were relatively quiet the whole time. You didn’t waste much time talking to him. He, however, was not in any way deterred by your silence. He was quick to compliment you on good plays and was always way too excited for you two to win a game.

Still, whenever he was cheering, you caught a smile on your face.

When you logged onto Valorant you were completely ready to start playing as you always did, probably going to fall victim of another sexist man making the game awful for you, but despite that thought the first thing you were welcomed to was that of an invite from another player.

Your eyebrows strewn in confusion, and you were even more confused when you realized you recognized the username. It was that same person from the day before.

You considered for a moment not accepting the request, but before you could decline it you remembered the day before.

Hey, you’re pretty good.

You pressed your lips together and clicked the accept button.

“You actually accepted!”

You hummed into the microphone.

“This is my friend,” Phoenix said excitedly. There were a chorus of hi’s from the others in the lobby and before too long you all started to play.

Quickly, you learned a few things about this person. One, he trusted too easily. He was much too quick to declare you his friend. Much too fast to decide that if you were both on Valorant then you both needed to play with each other.

But you were much too fast to accept the invites so maybe the problem lied with you.

You hovered over a different character, considering playing someone else for the day. Ever since you had started playing with someone you had learned was named Seungcheol you had always played Reyna. After all, it was rare to begin with for you to get Reyna at all, so you treasured every moment you got to select her.

But playing as Reyna everyday was getting a little boring. Maybe today you would play as Skye. It would be a nice change of pace.

“What are you doing?” Came Seungcheol’s pouty voice. “Don’t you want to play Reyna? You can have her.”

A small smile grew on your lips. He was so funny, always worried that you were trying to make someone else’s life easier by doing something you didn’t really want to do.

“I just thought I would play someone else today. You mind?”

“I’m sure you’ll be just as good. As long as you are playing who you want to play.

Seungcheol was sweet. You hardly ever met such nice people playing Valorant.

“Hey I’m not going to be logging on for a few days because I’m absolutely obsessed with another game right now,” Seungcheol said conversationally. You hummed into the mic, focusing primarily on your shot. You clicked your mouse and the person in front of you dropped to the ground.

“What game?” You asked.

“Bloons.”

You laughed.

“Balloons Tower Defense 4?” You asked. “Isn’t that a kid's game?”

“Don’t dishonor the art of Bloons!” Seungcheol protested. “You’d get it if you played.”

You laughed.

“Maybe.”

He was silent for a few moments.

“Do you want to play?”

You had never crossed gaming platforms with an online friend before. It was seldom that you just made friends with people in-game, and you usually didn’t even play with them more than once or twice.

But with Seungcheol you practically gamed with him every day. It would be admittedly boring to play with strangers again.

“Sure,” you decided. “We’ll see if it’s worth the fuss.”

Playing Bloons with Seungcheol meant adding him on discord, adding him on discord meant playing other games with him and that quickly turned to only playing games with Seungcheol. You had never had a solely gaming friend before. And you had never had a friend quite like Seungcheol.

He was always extremely light-hearted, and despite you teasing him relentlessly he never failed to praise you for the tiniest things.

You didn’t think you deserved a Seungcheol, but you loved him with your whole heart anyways.

Your finger tapped lightly against your computer desk while you waited for your computer to load. This day had been terrible, literal trash and all you wanted to do was try and get yourself out of your foul mood.

Even the usual trill of excitement that filled your body as you started to load a game had practically evaporated from your body. All you felt was the dull pounding of annoyance. You knew that the littlest thing would send you over the edge in a fit of anger.

All you wanted to do was play some Fall Guys. You just wanted to run through a few matches and win a few games and yet the stupid screen wouldn’t load.

A sudden familiar ringing blared in your ears, sending another thud of aggravation through your body.

It was only after you tried to shut off that annoying sound when you remembered why it normally made your heart soar.

You scrambled to drop your feet to the ground, and you grabbed your headphones, sloppily plugging them in and throwing them over your ears. Then as quickly as you could you answered the waiting discord call.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to answer.”

The jesting tone of your friends' voice brought a smile to your lips.

“Despite not wanting to talk to you in the least I had nothing better to do so I figured I’d cave in and join the call.”

A full body laugh filled your ears.

“Yeah, yeah, what are we playing today?”

“Fall guys.”

Seungcheol whistled and you could practically hear him shaking his head as he began to load the game.

“Bad day huh?”

“The absolute worst.”

But even as you spoke your heart felt lighter.

“What happened? If I may ask,” Seungcheol asked as you entered the third round. You blew roughly out of your mouth, making him chuckle.

“Just work stuff,” you said. “You work customer service and suddenly people forget you are a human being with feelings.”

You rolled your eyes even though he couldn’t see your face.

“I love my job, but I hate my job.”

Seungcheol was a very understanding person. You felt like you could complain about anything to him, and he would never judge you. You could probably tell him you yelled at someone for no reason at all and he would do his best to justify it in any way he could.

“Well at least you’re here with me now.”

You smiled.

“At least I’m here with you now,” you agreed.

One of the oddest things you had ever done in the entirety of your friendship with Seungcheol was agree to play Stardew Valley with him.

No- that wasn’t the odd part. The odd part of the whole ordeal was what Seungcheol had literally proposed in the game.

“Hey, do you want to get married?”

Your fingers fumbled across your keyboard making you lose the fish that you were trying to catch.

“Sorry?”

Seungcheol was clearly nervous. He was hesitant to elaborate.

“Well, y’know, you can get married to npc’s in the game just, what if we married each other?”

You didn’t respond which made Seungcheol more nervous.

“It would just add some fun aspects to the game we’re missing out on by playing together! One bed, we could have kids-” He was rambling at this point, and it made you laugh. He stopped talking.

“Why are you laughing at me?”

You could hear the pout in his voice.

“What are you so nervous for?” You teased. “You’re acting like you like me or something.”

Before he could respond to that you continued:

“Sure, why not? Let’s get married.”

Marriage in a game with Seungcheol wasn’t really that different than just regular gaming with him except for one specific thing. Seungcheol getting very in character.

He didn’t hesitate to call you pet names or to dott on you as if you two actually were dating. The way he talked and the way that you spoke back… It was just like flirting and it made butterflies sprout in your stomach.

When had you stopped seeing Seungcheol as just a friend? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had stopped treating you as a friend. It was like he couldn’t turn the pet names off.

Whether you were playing Dead by Daylight or Valorant he was calling you “the misses” or “baby” or “wifey”.

You thought it should drive you crazy, but instead it just made your heart flutter. You weren’t sure when you had started to like it so much.

“Babe, can you join me in B?”

You didn’t hesitate to turn your character already starting to run over to B. As you did, someone in your lobby laughed.

“Wow, babe, huh? How long have you two been together?”

You opened your mouth to tell the other guy that you and Seungcheol weren’t dating but he beat you to it.

“It hasn’t really been that long, but it feels like we’ve been together for ages.”

You choked on air, and the sound of your surprise was heard very clearly over the call.

Neither of them commented on it, they just continued their conversation as if Seungcheol hadn’t just confirmed that the two of you were dating- which you weren’t. Still, you weren’t mad at all.

Your heart ached at the thought of dating Seungcheol.

Was it really possible that all the flirting you two had been doing was more than just playful banter?

“Okay, I’ve got to call it a night,” you announced. Seungcheol booed in protest.

“You always turn in so early, and then you’re gone all day-”

“I have work Cheol, what am I supposed to do?”

Seungcheol was silent for a moment, and all you could hear was the sound of his breathing.

“We don’t really live that far from one another,” he commented softly. You hummed.

“Not really.”

“What if we... Met up...”

You were quiet.

“On discord?”

“In real life.”

“...Over zoom?”

“Like face to face.”

Now it was your turn to fall silent. Seungcheol wanted to meet you in real life? Weren’t you two skipping a few steps? You didn’t even know what he looked like. You hadn’t even told people in real life about Seungcheol. Not really. What were you supposed to say?

Hey, just so you know I practically have a gamer boyfriend.

Everyone would think you were crazy.

“I would love to meet you.”

Maybe you were crazy.

So, that was how you managed to get yourself here. Sitting in a coffee shop, your leg bouncing as you waited for Seungcheol to show up. All you knew was the color shirt he was going to be wearing. You two had decided- well you had insisted- that you two didn’t send pictures and just let it be a surprise what you two looked like when you got together.

Why you had pushed for that, you had no clue.

All you knew for sure was that you liked Seungcheol a lot.

And you were really excited to meet him in person.

“Hi... Uh, I’m Seungcheol?”

You looked up, your eyes widening a bit when you looked at the person in front of you. Seungcheol looked tall, maybe that was just because of the angle you were sitting at. He had large kind eyes and hair that fell just past the tips of his ears. You swallowed hard and scrambled to your feet.

“Cheol! Hey. Wow.”

You were at a loss over what to say. It wasn’t that you thought that Seungcheol was going to be ugly, you just didn’t expect him to literally look like he was a model. You squinted at him.

“Are you wearing makeup?”

Seungcheol’s cheeks warmed up.

“It was a special occasion,” he said softly. You waited for him to tell you he had an interview or something. “I get to meet you.”

Now it was your turn for your face to turn red.

“You came early,” you said. He hummed and nodded.

“You came early too.”

You didn’t have a good response to that so instead you tapped his side of the table, urging him to sit down.

“What are you thinking about getting?” You asked him softly. “I can’t figure out a flavor to get.”

As you spoke Seungcheol did not turn around to look back at the options laid out for him on the menu for coffee, instead he stared at you and to make matters worse (or more distracting) as he stared at you a smile started to cross his face.

You gave him a frustrated look.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“You’re just so beautiful,” he replied. “My wildest expectations could never match up to just how beautiful you actually are.”

Your eyes dropped to the table and before you could think about what to say, Seungcheol saved you the embarrassment.

“Don’t you like maple? It’s not every day you can get maple flavored coffee. You should get that.”

You nodded. He was right.

You had worried that when you finally met Seungcheol in real life things would be a little awkward. What were you supposed to do when you met an internet friend in person? You were so used to always having the social buffer of a game playing to prevent awkward silence from coming forward, but here in a public café that luxury was absent.

Still, the longer you were with Seungcheol the less stressed you were about being able to make conversation less awkward.

Seungcheol loved to talk about things, and all you had to do was ask him a question before he went off telling you his new favorite obsession and when he wasn’t talking, he was urging you to talk about something. Seungcheol was odd in that he remembered just about everything you had ever told him, and he showed interests in even the smallest parts of your life.

When you were with him you really felt like he cared about you.

Seungcheol’s phone suddenly started ringing, startling both of you out of your conversations. Seungcheol smiled apologetically and glanced at his phone, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

“It’s been three hours,” he said, before picking up his phone call.

You didn’t hear what the person on the other end of the call said but Seungcheol looked at you, his eyebrows rising slightly before he turned away to say:

“Sorry I lost track of time. I’m on a date.”

You could hear the person on the other end of the phone speak very loudly suddenly, and you hoped that covered the sound of you choking on your coffee.

When Seungcheol covered a small laugh, you knew that he had unfortunately not missed it.

From what you could tell from the rest of the conversation Seungcheol was late for something, and he had to go. But you weren’t going to let him go until you had some answers.

“On a date? Since when are we the type of friends to go on dates with one another?”

Seungcheol feigned offense.

“Babe, we’ve been dating for weeks now. You’re telling me that our time together meant nothing to you?”

You gaped at him, so Seungcheol continued.

“I thought it was obvious that we’re dating. We’re married in Stardew Valley.”

As much as you wanted to argue with him over the semantics of how he should have asked you out, your heart could only focus on one thing.

“You really like me like that?”

Seungcheol seemed surprised by the serious tone of voice.

“Well... Yeah, I thought it was obvious,” he replied. He raised his hand to the back of his neck nervously. “I’m kinda...”

You waited for him to continue but he must have decided what he wanted to say was something he shouldn’t say quite yet.

“Anyways, I have to go,” Seungcheol segued reluctantly. He stood up and you followed suit. “It was more amazing to meet you than I ever thought it would be.”

A smile lit your face.

“Yeah, you too.”

Before Seungcheol turned to leave he suddenly closed the difference between you two. He gave you a smile that was somehow more prominent in his eyes and then he leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of your lips.

“See you again soon.”

And before you could say anything he disappeared around the corner and out the door.

You smiled to yourself, raising a hand to where he had kissed you.

“Yeah, see you soon.”

[fruti2flutie]

luca (2021) post-credits+

massimo cries once the train is gone. so do daniela & lorenzo. "it gets better with time," giulia's papà tells them. it still hurts; alberto stays in the rain until he can't hear the wheels on the tracks anymore.

giulia & luca talk all the way to genoa. about motors, about cars, about classmates, about uniforms, about weasels - seriously, about things luca has no idea what to even imagine! "my mamma will love you," she gushes, and then she talks about her mamma, about paint, about clay... luca sits, heart pounding but thrilled nevertheless.

luca tells giulia's mamma his secret the night they arrive. whether she knows already or not, it doesn't matter; he wants to tell her himself anyway. she holds onto him, strokes his hair, and it's just like he's with his own mamma.

the school in genoa is incredible. luca learns a countless number of things: geography, literature, chemistry, architecture, food... the world is so much bigger than the waters below portorosso. he finds more friends he can count on, and telling them his secret is hard but gets easier. giulia is there when he needs her, and he's there when she needs him. luca still dreams of the vespa & alberto, and he wonders what else they can do for their adventure to come.

alberto does well in portorosso, all things considered. at first the cityfolk are awkward, the fishermen especially wary, but the children know alberto as alberto, regardless of his skin or scales, and they love him for who he is. the sea monster posters are pulled off the walls & the harpoons are put away. after some time, it feels like not much has changed at all in the city - though ercole's insults for him become exclusively fish-related. alberto looks the other way because he knows that there will always be people who don't want to change.

massimo teaches alberto about human living. he learns how to cook perfect pasta, how to count coins & bills, how to get machiavelli to purr. the days are spent in the sun making deliveries & on the waters catching fish. less & less alberto thinks, silenzio bruno. he gets comfortable, he feels safe, and the tally marks on the island become so faraway.

(and alberto gets his own knife!!!)

in turn, alberto teaches massimo about the sea. there are beaches with the softest sands, jagged rocks with the most unforgiving edges. small sea monster villages, crab contests, fish farms... massimo asks about the sea monsters who raised him, and alberto gives him a lie. but the lie doesn't last long, isn't meant to; alberto tells massimo about a mamma he's forgotten & a papà who forgot him. massimo doesn't say much, he never really does, but he always keeps the tableware set for alberto, always greets him with, "buongiorno," and when alberto loses his way, massimo tries to find him.

daniela & lorenzo visit the city often. grandma paguro comes ashore, too, usually to play scopa with the other elders. lorenzo talks for hours about crustaceans with the fishermen; daniela plays ball with the mothers & children in town. they have dinner at massimo's house, whatever pasta alberto is attempting to make & whatever massimo cooks just in case. they talk about the land & the sea, the weather & the seasons, about giulia & luca. luca's parents claim they don't miss him terribly, but alberto knows it's a brave front because he does, too.

there are birthdays. there are anniversaries. there are letters. there are phone calls. there are two calendars that are marked every morning until summer arrives. there is longing.

the train brings giulia & luca back to portorosso a year later. both of them are taller but so is alberto, freckled & tanned by the sun. alberto boasts that he's now the tallest of the bunch, and giulia bets she'll at least outgrow luca by year's end. defensively, luca says she's the smallest when they're in water; she can't refute the statement. still, the three's welcoming embrace is as warm as the summer breezes.

luca has missed his family. he returns to the water & sees his mamma, his papà, and even his uncle ugo. the fish & crabs welcome him home as well, and the water has never looked bluer. he tells them every story he can, and it still doesn't feel like enough. they tell him stories, too, and he feels whole.

when staying in portorosse, luca & alberto sleep outside. giulia's room had turned into alberto's while she was away, but he gladly gives it up to sleep beside luca atop the tree. they talk underneath the not-anchovies, and the conversations never seem to stop. it feels just like last summer, but when they awaken to dewy mornings they no longer hide their tails.

massimo lets them take the boat to sea. giulia paddles while alberto & luca guide her from the water. she only accepts a helpful push from the boys when her face gets as red as her hair. and then they arrive at the island, untouched for months, and alberto sheepishly shows her what used to be his home. there is the collection of human items, the spare parts to the vespa he & luca built, the tally marks. giulia, being giulia, tells them everything about the items, how the tower must've been a lighthouse, how the tree must be decades old.

alberto listens to her speak, how excited she is to teach them, how thoughtful she is to hear him, and he says, "sorry." she doesn't understand; neither does luca. it's all in the past, but alberto wants to own up to it. "i wasn't fair to you back then. i thought you were gonna take him away," alberto says. "i didn't want to be..." alone, he doesn't say, but they hear it.

"stupido," giulia remarks, but there are tears in her eyes as the word leaves her lips. her arms wrap around him in a tight hug. "you're my fratello now, okay? luca, too."

"is luca my fratello?" alberto jokes & giulia laughs, "only if you want him to be." and luca hugs them both, even tighter. when they return to land, they sit on the pier & eat two-scoop gelato.

eventually, alberto apologizes to luca, too. "i shouldn't have done that to you," he says. they are on the beach, facing the night sky, the shore keeping their feet webbed. luca doesn't know what he's talking about, doesn't realize what he means.

"that time when i biked us into the sea, and then we... we fought," alberto continues, and luca remembers. of course he does. the dread, the frustration, the shame... the fear of being different, and the regret that he didn't say he was. alberto being his true self while luca just couldn't bear revealing his secret.

"hey," luca says. "it's okay. i'm okay." because alberto never said i forgive you to him either, but he was okay then, and they're okay now.

the summer goes on.

they enter the portorosso cup race as a team of three (granted alberto & luca don't swim) and they win - fair & square. giulia doesn't throw up along the way & no rain comes down for any surprises. the prize money doesn't go towards another vespa but to a new boat for the marcovaldos. granted, the underdogs would need to win a dozen more cups to buy the entire thing, but it's a start.

[ilikekidsshows]

Hi! I loved the Adrinette analysis you made...do you think you could make a similar one for Ladybug and Chat Noir over seasons 1 to 3?

I knew I was leaving myself open for this ask, and I kinda dreaded it, because 80% of Ladynoir screen time is dedicated to defeating an Akuma, meaning the characters have something else to focus on rather than progressing their relationship, and most the relationship stuff is just Marinette being really stubborn and refusing to properly look at her partner. In other words, there's significantly more screen time, but also proportionally less stuff going on in Ladynoir than in Adrinette because the characters are superheroes on the job and one party is actively resisting any development happening. It's also a very different kind of arc and relationship to Adrinette where the goal is just the two of them getting closer and more comfortable with each other. Ladynoir has that as well as all the trust issues and superhero team dynamics. Basically, this post is definitive proof that Miraculous has had plot development before season four, and it has had a lot of it. I got almost dizzy with it while compiling this.

Once again, I’m trying to go in a somewhat chronological order to properly track the relationship.

In 'Origins', we only get one-sided Ladynoir stuff. Marinette is new on the job and completely focused on solving the Akuma problem and nothing else. Meanwhile, Adrien actually takes note of his partner. He sees her flounder but ultimately put together a clever plan. He sees her lose faith but ultimately pick herself up and deliver a really badass speech at Hawk Moth. It's really no wonder he fell in love. The number one thing he learned about Ladybug is that she can fail and the second thing was that she could pick herself up again and grab the win anyway. I've brought up earlier in the Top Adrinette Scene discussion that Adrien is very scared of failing, because his father does not forgive failure, so Ladybug being someone who can turn a failure into a win understandably makes his heart go pitter-patter.

Meanwhile, Marinette barely noticed her partner. As I said, she was fully focused on solving the problem, but she was also getting distracted by her own insecurities. Marinette's first experience with Cat Noir was that he was kinda smooth and seemed to be much more confident than Marinette. Her second experience was that he tended to leap before he looked, but was perfectly willing to listen to her say-so. We have a very brief attempt at flirtation from Cat Noir, that Ladybug barely seems to even notice.

In 'Bubbler', Cat Noir actually gets to flirt with his Lady. He's clearly intent on getting her to notice what he's getting at, but Ladybug seems mostly exasperated with him. At this point their partnership is new and Marinette is most likely thinking back to their first case, when Cat Noir was so patient and supportive and not this...much. She still doesn't tell him to quit it, though, meaning she’s trying to accept him being a lot.

'Stormy Weather' has Cat Noir continuing in his attempts to get Ladybug to notice him and this time she responds playfully when they're not right in the middle of a tense situation. She's getting used to this being Cat's way of interacting with her and keeping the mood light.

'Lady Wifi' has the pair discussing the secrecy between them, with Adrien actively making the decision that honoring Ladybug's wishes concerning keeping their secret identities is more important than knowing the identity of the girl he's in love with, that doing so is the proper way to love her. 'Lady Wifi' is also the first time Marinette panics at the idea of something romantic being suggested about her and Cat Noir, when Alya says Adrien might be Cat Noir, that Cat Noir might be the boy she's repeatedly told Alya she's in love with.

'Copycat' shows us for a fact that Ladybug has no idea that Cat Noir's flirtations with her are genuine, and Cat Noir is growing tired of his feelings going entirely unnoticed.

Because of his growing frustration over not being able to communicate his feelings to Ladybug in a manner that she'd take seriously, Adrien goes the extra mile to write her a love poem in 'Dark Cupid'. When he receives a response that appeared with no sender, just a ladybug, he entertains the thought that Ladybug answered his poem and does in fact return his feelings (not realizing that Ladybug would need to know his identity to deliver such a note to him specifically, but Adrien does generally worry less about secret identities than Marinette). 'Dark Cupid' is also the first occasion of Marinette's by-now patented plan "Pretend to be in Love with Cat Noir" to solve problems, except that she was absolutely certain that a True Love's Kiss could occur between them, so there isn't even much room for pretending, but Marinette's denial is so powerful, she'll try.

In 'The Mime' we see Cat Noir actually testing Ladybug's receptiveness to a date, by suggesting that they could have gone to the play together if they didn't have to detransform. Ladybug replies that she has other plans before zipping away, and Cat Noir merely smiles after her. His feelings are growing, and he might still be remembering the love note he got. In fact, this is probably why he says "We are meant to be," in 'Gamer'.

In 'Animan' Ladybug actually does some of her own flirting with Cat Noir by giving him chin scritches. We also see a very straightforward gesture of affection from Cat Noir to Ladybug, when he hugs her in relief after the battle. Ladybug smiles softly at him, seeing that her partner cares about her well-being, while Cat Noir jumps back, embarrassed over his own reaction, or perhaps even afraid of censure. Adrien isn't the type of person to suddenly grab people in a hug, most likely because such "overly emotional" displays are discouraged in the Agreste household. This is the first occasion of Adrien projecting his father's supposed reaction to a thing he does on Ladybug, so he runs away from her.

In 'Simon Says', Cat Noir clings to Ladybug when faced with Gabriel looking at him weirdly (he's trying to figure out if he's Adrien, but Adrien himself never realizes his father was suspicious of his identity). At this point, Ladybug has started to become something of a security symbol to Adrien specifically against his father.

'Reflekta' is the episode where Cat Noir reminds Ladybug that he doesn't just deliver quips and he is actually a hero in his own right, even with diminished capabilities, in response to Marinette almost leaving him behind because he couldn't use his Cat Noir powers, because he'd "just slow (her) down", and then it turns out she couldn't have won without him. However, with the scene of Cat Noir taking the hit, Ladybug also starts on the process of realizing exactly how important her partner is to her success. Noticeably, it's while they're plotting together that Ladybug responds to his flirtation by flirting back, even if not very well (protip, Marinette, demeaning someone isn't funny to anyone but the person doing the demeaning, the other person is not suddenly lacking a sense of humor). Cat Noir is also a bit softer with his overtures in this episode, his cheeky flirtation gaining a bit more intimacy.

In 'Antibug', we can see the lessons Ladybug learned in 'Reflekta' sticking, with Ladybug listening to and valuing Cat Noir's input, unlike how the last time he tried to give her advice in a Chloé situation in 'Evillustrator', when she acknowledged he was right but couldn't bring herself to follow his advice. She also flirts with Cat Noir of her own volition, when she rings his bell. Cat Noir also keeps showing genuine warmth towards Ladybug instead of being just cheeky, when Ladybug compliments him. They affirm their bond after taking down Antibug.

The events of 'Reflekta' and 'Antibug' together influence what happens in 'Volpina', where Marinette is very suspicious of a new superhero showing up, without ever suspecting she could have been an Akuma in disguise. Cat Noir is her partner, and Cat Noir is her only partner. She’s not only learned his value, but has grown possessive over him. There's no need for any outsider. This jealousy over Cat Noir is actually something Marinette doesn't get over during the first three seasons the way she learns to deal with her jealousy over Adrien.

By the time 'The Collector' happens, Adrien has developed enough trust in his partner to ultimately believe her over her suspicions about Gabriel being Hawk Moth. This episode also has the first time Marinette voices concern over Cat Noir's emotional well-being instead of merely physical, who, of course, can't tell her what's wrong because it would break the secret identity clause.

'Prime Queen' has some very nice mutual Ladynoir flirting at the start of the interview. However, they're both mortified when Nadja comes out with the pictures. Cat Noir is confused, because he had no idea that their relationship could even give that impression, he must have been feeling like he hasn't been making much progress in getting closer to Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette goes defensive for the first time since 'Lady Wifi' only, this time, even more so. She even runs out on Cat Noir when he, very understandably, wants an explanation why he head to learn from a reporter that she'd planted one on him instead of from her. The episode confirms that Marinette will refuse to, in any way, discuss anything romance-related in relation to Cat Noir, even when there's an innocent explanation, like breaking an Akuma's spell. She's so defensive it's suspicious.

We also have another occasion of Marinette "pretending" to be in love with Cat Noir to solve a problem. While Cat Noir purrs either over the confession, having her close, or both. Marinette also jumped at the chance to "pretend" to confess her love so eagerly, that it left Prime Queen unimpressed. Still, Marinette refused to commit to the "ruse" enough to kiss Cat Noir while he's actually conscious and aware of it, because then she'd have to deal with the aftermath of kissing him.

'Dark Owl' has the first true test of faith between Ladybug and Cat Noir, when both of them have to trust the other not to look while they have to recharge. Although, considering 'The Collector', this is actually the first test only for Ladybug. At the end of the episode, Adrien also genuinely asks Ladybug out on a date for the very first time when they unexpectedly have free time from Owl-sitting, but Marinette preferred to skip off to spend time with Alya since she hadn’t gotten to see her while being so busy with The Owl's antics for so long.

'Glaciator' has Cat Noir planning an actual outing for Ladybug. The thing is, before 'Glaciator', Marinette's response to Cat Noir asking her out has always been that she has other plans, no can do. However, in 'Glaciator', she specifically says: "We'll see," and then she ends up ghosting him because she forgot to even send him a message that she didn't feel like going anywhere. At the same time, Gabriel purposefully stands him up for dinner, causing Adrien to project onto the Ladybug situation so hard that he doesn't think Ladybug even sees him as a real friend. Considering Adrien was under the same impression about Marinette in 'Puppeteer 2', it is typical for Marinette to send these kinds of mixed signals (which is fitting, considering how clear communication seems to be the biggest bullet point in her character development agenda).

On the upside, Cat Noir's compromised emotional state led to him being more frank about his feelings to first Marinette and later to Ladybug, finally making Marinette understand that Cat Noir is actually in love with her and how sensitive her partner can really be and that she can hurt his feelings. Notably, in this episode, Marinette particularly enjoys employing her "Pretend to be in love with Cat Noir" gambit, this time even going as far as kissing him, after finding out he's actually in love with her. Indeed, at the end of the episode, her rejection to Cat Noir is entirely focused on her having feelings for someone else (as well). She never once said she doesn't love him, and, in fact, never claims so in the English dub.

In 'Sapotis' we also see a brief glimpse of Marinette's jealousy over Cat Noir when he welcomes Alya onto the team so warmly but, because Rena Rouge was a teammate Marinette herself chose and trusts, she doesn't feel threatened enough to express it more than by merely keeping an eye on their interaction. 'Sapotis' also starts the arc of Cat Noir starting to lose faith in Ladybug having his best interest in mind when Rena Rouge appears out of nowhere and he's expected to just accept that no-questions-asked.

'Gorizilla' notably has Marinette repeatedly voicing her belief that Cat Noir will show up, something Adrien appreciates a great deal, going as far as blushing over something so simple. He's astounded by the fact that his Lady has faith in him, but it seems he still believes it despite the notion being strange to him.

'Frightningale' really drives home the arc going on in this season. 'Riposte' was the first time we saw Ladybug and Cat Noir seamlessly working together to neutralize an Akuma, but in this episode, they move in perfect synch while fighting Frightningale while handcuffed together. Cat Noir and Ladybug's teamwork has reached phenomenal levels.

I've repeatedly said that 'Syren' is less about Cat Noir and Ladybug's relationship and more about Fu's relationships with his two chosen. Still, this is the episode where Marinette gets put on the spot and comes through for her partner and Cat Noir learns that Ladybug keeping secrets from him wasn't of her own volition, but because of Fu, restoring his faith in her completely.

It's most likely because of the trust Ladybug showed towards him in 'Gorizilla' and their perfectly synchronized teamwork in 'Frightningale' that Cat Noir tries to confess to Ladybug again in 'Frozer'. These two episodes could give Cat Noir hope that he might be winning Ladybug over, especially since, as I said before, Ladybug has not said she doesn't have feelings for him. But she, of course, rejects him, although it's notably with more wistfulness than the last time, especially when she comments how she doesn't think it's possible for the "other boy" to not be a concern. 'Frozer' takes place during the arc in season two that covers Marinette's growing frustration at her inability to progress with Adrien the way she wants to and the discontent shows in her interaction with Cat Noir as well.

The change in how Marinette regards Cat Noir's input in fights between season one and two is especially noticeable in 'Style Queen' and 'Maledictator'. Both times Cat Noir is absent in a fight and this influences how Marinette approaches fighting the Akumas. In 'Style Queen' Marinette tries to play it sneaky but also needs to be saved by Plagg's intervention in his holder's absence. In 'Maledictator', Marinette's plan involved siccing the brainwashed Cat Noir on the Akuma's goons. Cat Noir has become necessary to Marinette, which is why he's able to galvanize her during 'Heroes' Day' by reminding her that the two of them against the world is what's always worked.

Season three as a whole revolves around Adrien losing faith that Ladybug could ever return his feelings the way he wishes and Marinette getting several warning signs about how she could lose Cat Noir. I might even go as far as saying that this season has negative Ladynoir development (in that their relationship grows more frayed and brittle instead of stronger).

A big reason for this new development direction is 'Reflekdoll', which, according to the production codes, happens early in the season. In this episode, Ladybug and Cat Noir learn the worst possible (false) lessons about themselves and each other and they carry those lessons for the rest of the season. In my 'Reflekdoll' conflict analysis, I wrote that Ladybug basically "learns" that Cat Noir is fae-like in that he isn't bothered by mortal things like stress or heartbreak. Cat Noir, meanwhile, "learns" that, while it doesn't matter if Ladybug makes a mistake because she can always fix it, him making a mistake makes him fundamentally less worthy as a hero and a person, so he could never be as valuable as Ladybug even as a person and not only strategically.

'Weredad', meanwhile, is the quintessential evidence episode for Marinette being both possessive and in denial about Cat Noir. She's literally pretending to be in love with him to him, while totally denying to herself that she feels anything for him, all the while she's feeling jealous over him seemingly moving on from her to be in love with her. The reason it's so important that no one but Marinette herself and Tikki know what went down in this episode is that Marinette's denial would never last if someone actually questioned this whole mess.

This is also an episode where we can clearly see the aftermath of what 'Reflekdoll' did to Cat Noir. He's once again projecting his situation with his father onto someone else (this time Tom), but he's also blatantly refusing to fight Tom at full strength, because he feels that it's his fault he got Akumatized, allowing himself to get hurt severely because he feels he's not that important, that he might even deserve it.

'Oblivio' has Ladybug once again do the whole: "How dare you say I'm in love with Cat Noir I am quitting this conversation right now!" routine. Cat Noir also got actual confirmation that something about him made his Lady want to kiss him when their memories had been wiped.

'Desperada' has the semi-infamous scene of Ladybug saying she doesn't need Cat Noir and, while she learns the valuable lesson that yes she flipping does, this is also the episode where Adrien repeatedly fails to use the Snake Miraculous correctly, having to give it up to someone else, feeling like an undeserving failure *turns to look at 'Weredad' and then at ‘Reflekdoll*.

'Kwamibuster' is an episode where everyone keeps telling Ladybug not to trust Cat Noir and she believes it to the degree that she sees him as a bigger threat than a Kwami-targeting Akuma. In other words, Cat Noir being treated like a part-time hero again in season four is because of 'Kwamibuster'.

'Gamer 2.0' is actually an important episode for the Ladynoir dynamic. This is the episode where Marinette takes on way too much responsibility (voluntarily) and is really stressed about it, while Cat Noir dismantles that stress with his good humor and positive outlook. This episode enforces the lesson that was stated outright in 'Reflekdoll': "Everyone has their role", and Cat Noir's role is to be the jokester who makes Ladybug feel better. Also, Cat Noir doesn’t even hesitate to make a sacrifice play for his Lady, because he’s less important.

'Timetagger' foreshadows that Marinette's words of affirmation are losing their effect. She repeatedly says things like "I trust Cat Noir", "You're irreplaceable", "You know you're the best", but she doesn't know how to express her regard to Cat Noir in actions. And it's important to note that Adrien was raised among liars and manipulators. Even if he doesn't doubt Ladybug's intentions, he might doubt the depth and truth of her feelings for him. Because Ladybug is so nice, she might lie about valuing him to make him feel better. Words aren't enough when words are the only thing between you and your insecurities. This is also an episode that feeds into Cat Noir's worthlessness arc, with Bunnyx repeatedly insisting that Ladybug in the future is just awesome, while Cat Noir broke her Miraculous. Even Ladybug shoots him down at the end of the episode when he tries to ask for extra affirmation, claiming he "already knows he's great".

In 'Puppeteer 2', Cat Noir's hope from 'Oblivio' that Ladybug might be starting to be won over by him comes back to bite him when the wax Ladybug gets close to him by pretending to be coming onto him. He only realized she was a fake because she smelled wrong, something that comes back to haunt him in 'Ladybug', when he's faced with a perfect copy, whose only difference to the original is that she's apparently in love with him. The villains clearly know he’s so in love with Ladybug it sometimes blinds him.

With the villains using this clear weakness as an in, it's no wonder that Cat Noir finally makes the decision to move on from Ladybug in 'Heart Hunter'. He tries one more time to test her interest to see if she'd be jealous of him dating and, when she's merely overjoyed, he decides to finally move on to Kagami. However, when faced with the actual reality of Cat Noir giving his attention to someone else instead of her (instead of in addition to her), Ladybug actually finds herself hurt and questions the lack of "My Lady" in Cat Noir addressing her, but she instantly denies it when Cat Noir notices. Denial denial denial...

Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Putting this together made me realize just how interconnected the show really is but no one notices because there aren’t any secret identities being revealed, people getting together or lore being revealed. Even something that seems like a breather episode like 'Gamer 2.0' has a larger role in the arc of developing the relationship between our main heroes.

[object-show-analysis]

Flower’s character arc and where it came from

A lot of people seem to think Flower’s actions in the final episode of BFB were out of character or came out of no where. So let’s talk about it.

Most claims I see when people accuse characters of acting “ooc” in the finale seem to come from an inability to recognize the slow progression/change in goals. Yes, characters like Four and Firey all might seem out of character if you judge them from the first time we see them in the show, but what they’ve been trying to achieve has been slowly changing throughout the course of BFB, to the point where it was relatively easy to predict their actions in the final episode.

But when it comes to Flower, it’s even more than that. Her actions line up with everything we’ve been told about her since episode 1.

From Episode 1 of BFDI we’ve known one thing about Flower. Her motivation is Attention. She wants to be Seen. She wants to be Admired. She wants to be Loved. A good season one example of this is her first ever line in the show:

She hasn’t even shown her face yet and she’s already asked someone to what they think of her physical appearance.

This behavior can be dated back to the Firey Comics, but as those don’t count as fully canon in the BFDI lore, I won’t discuss them.

Early on it’s established that Flower wants attention and admiration from other people, so you can imagine it must have hurt when she’s the first to get eliminated.

And we Know it hurt her. But we’ll get back to that in a moment.

BFB put a lot of effort into giving the very 2D characters more 3D personalities. In the first episode of BFB, we get an interesting parallel to Flower’s appearance being insulting in the first episode of BFDI

Ruby claims, seemingly out of no where, that she thinks Flower is beautiful. This immediately grabs Flower’s attention. As up until this point, no one has seemed to believe she was attractive.

Flower is later seen in episode 5 of BFB to be astonished by Ruby’s opinion of her, asking her to help get other people to think she’s beautiful as well. This re-establishes the idea that Flower’s main goal is to be seen as beautiful.

When Ruby says that she no longer thinks Flower is beautiful, it upsets Flower quite a lot. Leading to her changing her appearance in any way she can, allowing herself to be berated by Ruby in an effort to make Ruby like her again. All because “it does feel nice being called beautiful again,”

So right away we already know a few things about Flower

1. She wants people to think she’s beautiful

2. She’s willing to do things that are frustrating or demeaning if it means people will think she’s beautiful

3. It makes her feel good when someone says she’s beautiful

This behavior seems to stay solid for most of BFB, though the root of her desire does seem to shift.

The desire to be seen as beautiful widens over time into a desire to be Liked. As she shows in more and more competitions a desire to impress her team.

The fact that she wants to be liked seems to become more obvious post-split. Starting with her getting angry when Taco wants to be with Spongy instead of her, and her reaction Firey thinking of her as a friend in BFB 18.

Clearly Flower puts a lot of value on people who like her. And over time she develops more friends who really understand her and care about her. (Most notably Firey, Loser and Leafy), to the point where she’s not afraid to turn Taco away when she rethinks Flower’s alliance offer.

She is still very trusting and eager to form new relationships, which leads to TD being able to manipulate her in episode 27, but over all Flower seems to really evolve as a character. Shes more confident in herself and her abilities. She works to be more understanding of the people around her. And she tries very hard in everything she does.

She makes it clear in BFB 24 that elimination is something she fears a lot, which is understandable considering she was the only person to be completely alone in the TLC in BFDI, and being eliminated would undo all the hard work she put in.

Her panicked monologue after Purple Face leads her to believe she’s being eliminated tells us a lot about her. She tells us “I played the whole season wanting to redeem myself” which proves she’s been working hard to undo past mistakes and become a kind person. She feels humiliated at the very idea of being eliminated.

But something interesting that will be important to her behavior in episode 30 is that while she’s going over all her regrets, never once does she mention the actual prize. She says she wanted to prove everyone wrong again. “Everyone” being the people who thought she’d get out. She wants to show that she’s worth something. She wants to redeem herself. And in her eyes, winning is the way to do that. The actual prize of the game was never in her mind.

This is why it doesn’t seem surprising when she gives Gelatin the BFB. She knows he wanted it more than anyone else. And in the end, the prize wasn’t what she wanted at all. This is the same reason she eventually forfeits the BFDI to the announcer as well. Though she was reluctant to give it up as a sign of her effort. The actual prizes weren’t what she was fighting for.

Flower wanted something far more valuable than the BFDI and the BFB. She wanted people. People who saw her as beautiful. People who supported her. People that loved her. And people who she loved back. That’s what winning was to her.

And considering the show ends with her wishing two of her best friends good luck on their journey, and then turning to look at all the other people that she’s formed bonds with over the course of the show

She really did win, didn’t she?

[graykageyama]

dream come true.

synopsis: when you fall in love, you fall in love deep. they become your world, while you became theirs. they’re your dream, and you are theirs. but all it takes is a change of heart to change the courses of your dreams, and maybe only one dream can come true. 

pairing: Suna x reader

genre: angst

word count: 3k +

Part 2: but you were my dream, too

“And then Atsumu never saw it coming. So he was running from his fangirls right? He ran like he was running away from an apocalypse. As stupid as he is, he never saw it coming. He ran straight to the gym and when he opened the door, he triggered the trap. Dude, got the whole floor wet.” Suna laughed hard as he tells you about his day - well trying as he can barely get the words out.

You glance towards his direction and you just cannot believe that this man is your boyfriend - he looks so ethereal under the glow of the street lamps lighting your way home before the dusk completely envelops both of you. With his gym bag slung over his shoulder and his other hand warming yours, his head tilted back as he tried to catch his breath, this was another rare moment where Suna -your Suna Rintarou- is completely carefree, defenseless and well, just him. His piercing, slanted eyes which usually intimidates most people, are now closed. Even with his awkward hair style still damp from practice, and hunched-over posture, you still think of him as your Mr. Perfect.

You’ve been  together since the start of your third year in high school, and honestly, this is so far your best year. Being friends with him and the twins since first year of highschool, you can’t help but to just fall for him. Despite his usually cold persona, he is always so sweet to you. He makes sure to walk you home everyday, since he always asks you to watch him at practice. It’s amazing really, how he can transform to this scary, intimidating middle blocker into an adorable fox always seeking for your affections. He loves it when you hand his towel, or maybe dry his hair with your gentle touches. You know he secretly loves how you cheer for him even in practice games. You also know to yourself that you would want to do these things for him even in the far future. Even if it would mean you would have to sacrifice your dreams to become Suna’s perfect wife, you know that you’re going to stay with him for the rest of your life. To become Suna’s number one fangirl is now your dream.

“Y/N?” Suna calls out, interrupting your thoughts. “Watch this. Ain’t he stupid?”He laughs again as he shows you the video clip of Atsumu being drenched with water, and his face flat on the floor. “Yeah, he is. He falls for it every time. Smart athlete on the court, but in reality, he’s pretty stupid. Kita-san and the other alumni must have had a hard time in handling you three. ”  You laugh along at his story. “He misses Kita-san though, the dude cries when he remembers how Kita-san took care of him when he got sick.”

“Well, Tsumu can be a baby sometimes, that’s why we love him” He faintly slows down his pace as he asks, “Come to think of it Y/N, I’ve never seen you cry. I mean, I wouldn’t want to make you cry or anything, but even when we were still friends, you never cried.”

Pinching his side, you giggle “I cry too, dumbass. I’m human too.I don’t know though, I just don’t cry easily I guess.” You shrug. “What about you? I rarely see you in tears, too.” You tease as you poke your tongue out. He smirks as he looks over at you,”I don’t easily get affected by my emotions and honestly I don’t need too, sweetcheeks. There’s no reason too. I always win.” He lets out another hearty laugh, as you think. That’s true. No one can really beat and outwit Suna. Maybe only the french fry from Karasuno, but I guess no one can easily faze him.  

Suna lets go of your hand as you both stopped in front of your house. He clasps your hands together with his one hand as he places the other on the top of your head, “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? Rest well, Miss I-don’t-easily-cry.” Placing a tender kiss on your forehead, you shut your eyes. This had been your routine with your boyfriend ever since you got together, but you would never wish for anything else to replace these moments.

---

As you both graduated from Inarizaki, you decide to follow your dream - your Suna - and support him as he aspires to be a professional Volleyball player. You go to a University near where he is training so that it would be more convenient for him to fetch you. Life goes by quickly. Your boyfriend trains hard day and night and hones his skills and game sense. You study a business course to help you land a good job, a job that can still be pretty flexible to work with according to Suna’s. You rarely see your boyfriend nowadays, but no doubts cross your mind as you are assured that you were Suna’s one and only, his love of his life. Whenever you think otherwise, you try to remember these evidence of his love and assurance.

----

You closed the door as you said your goodbyes to your mom. It pains you to see her get cheated on by your dad, but you couldn’t do anything about it. You sat on the couch and hugged your knees together. Forcing your eyes shut to keep you from crying and sharing her pain, but alas - your tears betrayed you as it streamed down your face.

How can the guy you loved for so many years, easily replace you?

Suna saw your broken state as he gave you a warm hug. He didn’t say anything, but you’re comforted by his silence and the small circles he rubbed on your back. You looked up at his eyes and cried, “It’s so scary, Rin. How one day you’re hopelessly in love with your best friend for so many years, but then they suddenly act like you are just trash - disposable, replaceable, and no longer wanted. They were so perfect in my eyes, you know? But why did he cheat on her? He just gave up in the middle of solving their problem. Why? I’m scared, Rin. Will that happen to us?”

Suna tilted your head to maintain the eye contact you had initiated. With his soft voice, he said “No matter what happens, I will never hurt you, leave you, and will never make you cry intentionally.” He wiped away your tears, then placed his hand on top of your head. Kissing your temple softly, he assured you. “I will never go away, no matter how rough it may become. Every single day for the rest of my life, I will be by your side.”

---

You both try to make your relationship work, spending all of your free time together. He is still the Suna you loved. Always affectionate to you alone, and always caring about you.

Things are going great to the both of you. You are now in your last months in university, and Suna gets scouted to play for the EJP Raijins, a V. League Division 1 team. You are so proud of your boyfriend. He is finally reaching his dreams, and your dream of seeing him so successful is also coming true. You understand how he puts more effort in his training, with him usually coming home to dim lights. But you try your hardest as his girlfriend to warm up the dinner you have prepared for him earlier. With only the kitchen lights lit, you always wait for your boyfriend to come home, to greet him with a kiss even if it is past 11pm. This is just the life of a professional athlete, and you, as his partner, should adopt this life too.

“Y/N baby, no need to wait for me. I’m not coming home tonight. Coach offered to let me sleep at his place since we’re just really fatigued from the hard training we had today.”

This slowly becomes a habit, and you are getting frustrated over the lack of attention you’ve been receiving. You understand this was his job, and he needs to work hard with the season coming up soon. But does he have to be away for almost every day of the week? You rarely get to see him now, with most encounters only at night. He’d usually go home at 1 am, and when you’re lucky, you get to feel your lover’s intimate touches again. But before dawn cracks up, he's out on his training again, and who knows when he’s coming home.

“Hey, Rinnie. I miss you so much babe, and I know you’ve been training really hard, but I’d like to spend some time with you.” You approached your boyfriend as you saw him packing his things up for training. “Maybe I could go by your gym and visit you! I could make some packed lunches for you and your teammates too, and maybe I can finally meet them.”

“I’ll try Y/N, I can’t say much now with our new training schedule.” He utters out rather coldly, while shoving his equipment down his gym bag.

“Ohhh okay. But are you able to come home early on Wednesday? Just for one night, pretty please? You’re rarely home these days and I--”

“Well, I just can’t laze around right? I’d have to work hard in order to feed the both of us. Can you stop being clingy, and act like a more understanding girlfriend. It’s getting pathetic how you’re acting like I’m not doing this for the both of us.” He zipped up his bag and slings it over his shoulder. He went up to your frozen state, and gave a light kiss to your temple. “Look, I don’t really want to fight. I’m sorry. But please be an understanding girlfriend for me, and stop being extra clingy.” He walked up to the door, and left - leaving you to blame yourself for being another burden to your partner. Although he said some hurtful things, he says he’s sorry right?

---

You love routines, and it makes you feel your life has a structure it has to follow. But this new routine was not one you would wish to have, to be honest, you did not know when did your old routines fall out. Suna’s rarely home, if he used to go home once a week, now, he only goes home to pick some of his clothes, makes love to you if you ask him to, and leaves the next day. His texts are getting drier each day, even taking hours to reply to yours. You’re scared. Even his words don’t seem to assure you now, he feels so far away. He’s slipping through your fingers, and you know you need to do something to keep your relationship together.

“Rin love, can you go home tonight? I just really miss you terribly, and honestly, I’ve been craving your touch for so long. Come home tonight, love.” (Sent, 2:51 PM)

“Ok.” (Received, 4:30 PM)

You’re ecstatic. You’re finally going to spend time with your boyfriend after such a long time. You prepare his favorite dinner, and you choose to wear his favorite nightgown for you. As you hear his steps outside the apartment, you greet him with your sweetest smile.

“Hi, Rinnie. I’m glad you’re home” You give him a tight hug, as you offer to take his gym bag.

“Let’s get this over with, Y/N. Go now to the room, I’ll just wash up.” He mutters as he steps out of his shoes. You stand frozen, as you suppress the tears forming in your eyes. “I made dinner, Rinnie. Your favorite, actually. Come eat with me? ” You try to invite him again, holding his hands as you try to lead him to the kitchen.

“Ï’m a busy man, Y/N. What more can you ask from me? You said you wanted my touches and love, right? That’s why I’m here. I need to go back to the dorms immediately, and honestly I just want to have it over with.”

“Rin,” you called out. “Can you at least spare me some time and attention that  you have been refusing to give me over these past months? All I’m asking is to spend time with you. I’m even trying my best to make time for you. Why are you like this?”

The eyes. The eyes you never had thought would frighten you as much as it did to the other players in the court, pins you down. Suna glares as he seethes through his teeth, “Make time for me? You don’t even have a job yet after graduating a few months ago. You stay here, enjoying your life as I worked hard to keep this up. You are demanding too much from me, Y/N. And now you are asking me for my share in this relationship? Well aren’t you one selfish woman.”

You cower away from his gaze, but you still try to express your frustrations. “I never asked for an expensive life. I just wished to be with you, Rin! To support you with your dreams.” You lift your head to meet his gaze.  “I’ll always try to take care of you, Rin. You are my dream. Seeing you pursue yours, makes me feel as if I’m accomplishing my dream too. But all I’m asking is for you to still treat me as your favorite girl, your partner, and I can give back ten times more than what you can give me, just please give me the small attention and love I have been craving for.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you Y/N, but you’re the least of my priorities now. And aren’t you pathetic? Sacrificing your dream to support mine? You’re just lazy to pursue yours, and you’re just leeching off of me. I’m so disappointed in you, Y/N. You’re getting more pathetic each day.”

“I wanted to go and look for a job, but how could I when I don't know how you are lately? How is our relationship lately? It’s like it’s hanging by the thread now, Rinnie.”

“Well, just cut the damn thread, then!” He forcefully slams the counter as his eyes snap backs to yours. “Ï can’t deal with this right now. If you keep on acting up Y/N, just stop. Have some pity over yourself.” Suna picks up his things, and leaves. Shutting the door as hard as he could, the loud bang conceals the sound of your shattered heart.

---

Weeks go by slowly as you patiently wait for your boyfriend’s return. He wouldn’t leave me right? He promised .He promised.. Scrolling up to your text messages, you reviewed the texts you’ve sent him.

“Hey Rinnie, I’m sorry for the things I’ve said. I hope you’re taking care of yourself, babe.” (Sent. April 13, 8:53 AM.)

“Hey baby! Please don't skip your meals, and drink lots of water too! Drink your water, bitch!” (Sent. April 14, 10:14 AM.) You slightly smiled as you reminisced how both of you loved to tell that to each other after hearing it from a famous personality, finding it amusing and adding it to your routine.  

“Call me whenever your free, okay? Don’t forget to rest in between, Rinnie. I miss you.” (Sent. April 14, 8:42 PM.)

The text messages go on for two weeks, still with no replies from your Rinnie. As you are cleaning the apartment, you hear the awaited notification tone ring. You immediately grabbed your phone and checked out the notification. But it was not from Rin, it was from your friend from university calling you up.

“Hey, Y/N-san. Congratulations to Suna and his team for winning the pre-seasonal tournament. It’s all over the news right now.” Akaashi exclaimed over the phone. Your heart leaps upon hearing your boyfriend’s name. Rushing over to see the news for yourself, your heart flutters as you see your perfect man - in his wet jersey while holding the medal wrapped around his neck as the reporter angled the microphone in front of him. Your perfect man responds casually and smug, as usual.

I’m so proud of you baby. Always had, and always will. I knew you could do it, Rin.

But your thoughts are interrupted as the reporter asks, “Is there any special someone you would want to celebrate this victory with, Mr. Suna?”

Suna looks over at the camera and he smiles bright. Brighter than the ones you’ve seen when you were with him during these past months. “Yeah, actually I do.” He replies as he smiles back at the reporter. “She’s just the best and I’ve been training really hard for her, you know? Gotta make my baby proud.”

The spark of hope ignites within your heart upon hearing those words. Even when doubts clouded your mind, you still never fail to have faith in him. You always believe that everything will be perfectly fine, and your Rin will always stay by your side. He said he’ll never go away, and you know that you’re here to stay.  “I will never go away, no matter how rough it may become. Every single day for the rest of my life, I will be by your side.”

But what you see next finally wakes you up from your own self-deception. Suna Rintarou. Your Rin. Has his arms around another girl as he smiles back again to the reporter. “She’s the girl I’m talking about.” As if it wasn’t enough, Suna placed his hand on top of her head and placed a tender kiss on her temple.

I’m supposed to be that girl, that should have been me.  I should be the one greeting you back from your training. I should be the one with you as you receive your recognition. That should be me. That used to be me.

Even though it hurts, you stare at the couple in front of you and see how Rin was just casually cool and okay, as though he wasn’t the cause of your heart breaking.

All this time. While you have been fixing your own shattered heart, someone else is mending his - no, there was nothing to fix as it has been replaced. It’s so unfair, how can you be so fine? All the fights we’ve gone through, I even deceived myself that I was being a burden to you. Convincing myself to no longer bother you as it may faze you and your performance, too. It takes so much for me to just go through the day, and live for you, for us. But I guess you’re my dream, right? You win again, Rin. You always did.

Dreams do come true, they said. But it seems only your dream came true. And it’s wonderful to see you reaching your dreams, love. Even if it meant that my dream won’t come true.

A/N: HNGHHH, I am sorry for Y/N becoming so heads over heels over him, which is why she’s hurting so much!! But reality’s a bitch, there really are people who be martyrs for love :<  Would love to hear you thoughts uwu reblogs, likes, comments, asks and messages are very much appreciated! There will be a part 2!! Will try to post within this week, after doing my requirements T.T .  

Message me or send an ask if you want to be tagged for the update! <3

~juju