#I was a very cringe teen. I did get into all three because I was on tumblr and liked doctor who

[mindless-existence1]

A Fluff bakugo x fem!Reader fic where reader spills the beans about their relationship during a girls night.

Authors note: It's based on that one audio from that one show I can't remember the name of.

"No offense dude but what do you know about relationships?"

"Actually smart guy-"

"What?"

"I can't say."

"What?"

"____ and I are dating!"

"What?!"

"We have been for 3 months!"

"What!"

"We have matching brackets!"

Mina's small dormitory was filled with laughter and chatter as the girls gathered for their long-awaited girls' night. Pillows and blankets were strewn everywhere, snacks covered the teens desk and bed, and the scent of popcorn lingered in the air.

Mina was busy applying glittery nail polish to Jirou’s nails, while you sat cross-legged on the floor, trying to focus on the card game you and Uraraka were playing.

Mina, never one to shy away from a juicy topic, suddenly broke the relative calm. “Okay, ladies, let’s spill some tea. Who here has a crush?”

Jirou groaned. “Why do you always ask stuff like this?” “Because it’s fun!” Mina said, winking. “C’mon, spill!”

“I’m too busy focusing on my hero training to think about that,” Tsuyu said matter-of-factly, sipping her juice.

“Same,” Uraraka said, but the way she avoided eye contact suggested otherwise. Hagakure elbows her side playfully making the girls face shine red.Mina glances at the girl infront of her who was drying her nails with a playful look.

"I see the way you look at Kaminari and it's no secret the way he feels." The purple haired girl's face flushes a deep shade of red at Mina's implications.

"I don't know what your talking about." Jirou defends herself weakly making the other girls in the room playfully "oooohhhh". Jirou shove Mina's face away when the pink girl begins to make a kiss face.

"I think you guy's would be cute, and Kaminari's nice. When he's not hanging with Mineta." You visibly shake at the boys name and simultaneously make the other girl cringe. Hagakure going as far as pretending to throw up.

"Oh you can't talk y/n, what do you know about relationships?" Jirou lightheartedly snaps but her red ears give away how flustered she really is. You set your cards down and raised an eyebrow. “Well, smart guy, I actually—”

“What?” Mina’s eyes lock on you, they sparkle with anticipation. “I can’t say,” you mumbled quicklycatching yourself, feeling your face heat up.

“What!?” Uraraka gasped, nearly knocking over her drink. Jirou leaned forward, intrigued now.

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying there’s something to say?”You bit your lip, debating whether or not to come clean. Finally, you sighed, knowing there was no way out.

“Fine. Katsuki and I are dating.” The room went silent.All at once, the girls erupted. “You and Bakugo are what?!” Mina practically screamed, dropping the nail polish.

“We have been for three months,” you said quickly, bracing yourself for the inevitable chaos.“Three months?!” Mina’s voice rose an octave. “And you didn’t tell us?!”

Momo's jaw dropped. “Wait, Bakugo? Like our Bakugo? Explosive, angry Bakugo?”"He’s not as scary as everyone thinks.” you say matter-a-factly, "he's like if you gave a big teddy bear explosives." The girls laugh.

"Yeah but he still has explosives. And he's so angry." Hagakure says making the other girls nod. "Not all the time, it's more like a front he puts up. Don't get me wrong he's still... grumpy just nicer. Plus he cares."

Mina clutched her chest dramatically. “I can’t believe it. Y/N, you tamed the beast!” "It wasn't very hard." You joke making the other girls chuckle, "does anyone know?" Uraraka asks expectantly.

"No, we were going to keep it a secret a while, per his request, but cats out of the bag now." Shrugging your shoulders you reach for a snack next to Momo. "I'm still supried." The girl says. Tsuyu tilts her head slightly, "looking back i think I can see it."

This makes the other girls think back to seeing you and him interact. Mina gasps, "How did we not see it sooner!" You laugh, covering your mouth still full with food. "Well suprise!"

[luveline]

Hi Jadey! For a request I always thought it would be a cute idea for Steve and r finding a wild animal in the wilderness or something in the zombie au! Like when Steve found a deer at the college’s gate! Idk, hope this inspires you!! 🥰

thank you for your request my love! steve zombie!au ♡ fem!reader, 1.2k

Your breath turns to fog before it's fully left your mouth. Steve turns to make sure you're okay over an icy slip of asphalt, your hands tightly bound for safety's sake, and not because you've spent the last few weeks kissing and not talking about it afterwards. 

"It's not far," he says. He knows you know that, but this is his way of reassuring you without breaking the tough guy act, or something. 

You're desperate for him to hold your hand, not only for the admission of affection it is (and that you so sorely crave), but your hands are ice without his to trap the heat. It's been cold lately, evidence of a crushing winter quickly coming and unavoidable. You've yet to see snow, but rain falls cold and the low temperatures paint the roads and overgrown lawns in frost. Steve has led you down miles of residential, a town not unlike your hometown passing you by one slippery step at a time. 

Hand in hand, it doesn't break your heart as much as it could. 

"I really want popcorn," you say. 

"Yeah? Were you a buttery kinda girl, or sweet? Salted?" 

"You sound like there's a right and wrong answer. What did you like?" 

Steve hoists the heavy rifle he's carrying over one shoulder higher, the tip of it aligned against the back of his head. He doesn't know how to use it; he likely won't need to. The threat of it has been enough to scare off three different poachers in the last two weeks alone. Every time you manage to successfully defend yourselves, Steve relaxes an inch. 

"I liked all three, but I liked sweet best," he says. Your footsteps crunch as you pop a curb and follow along a row of overgrown hedges heavy with bird berries. "You didn't answer. You always avoid answering when I ask you stuff like that." 

You tell him exactly how you like your popcorn to appease him. He smiles in victory, but something stays lingering in the back of your head. 

"I don't avoid answering." 

"Yesterday I asked if you wanted the old spice stick or the teen spirit and you shrugged." 

"I thought you were trying to tell me I smelled like sweat." 

"No, just… you said teen spirit smells like the candy you used to get from Haven, and I didn't want to remind you about it being gone." 

"Everything reminds me." You're living in the end times. No use pretending things are normal, but you'll indulge him if that's what he wants. "Ask me something and I'll tell you a straight answer." 

Steve hums. His cheeks are pink in the cold, the very tip of his nose tinted blue. "Do I only get one answer?" 

"You can have two at a price." 

You flirt on impulse, cringe away from yourself upon realisation. Why would you say that? you ask yourself worriedly, train of thought suddenly quashed when Steve pulls your hand toward his hip. He slides his ratty sneaker between yours, lips set. 

"What, there's a price?" he asks quietly. "How long has that been in place? I would've tried paying it before." 

You push his chest without any real intent. "Don't, Steve." 

"Don't what?" 

"I was just kidding, you don't have to…"

"I know you were kidding, but I want to." Steve smiles at you with teeth. "Brushed extra this morning. Bet I still taste of Arctic Fresh."

You tip your head back, but you get nervous the moment before he leans in. Steve closes his eyes while yours stay open, leaning in slowly. His hand presses flat to your coat. 

Steve kisses like a sweetheart, all gentle and careful, lips lightly chapped where they press against the seam of yours. Rougher as your lips part, like even the hint of you inspires desperation. A kiss from Steve can make your whole week, and that's a testament to how surprised you have to be to pull away before you actually get one. 

"Steve–" You cut yourself short, looking over his shoulder in shock. 

He whips to the side. You grab his hand, as if to say, Hey, it's okay. You're not in any danger, just… 

"We must be close to the zoo," he says. 

There, in the middle of the street stands an animal you've never seen before. It has a deep brown body with short, striped legs. It's about the size of a show pony, you'd guess, though it doesn't look as volatile. For a moment you think it might be a zebra.

"It's an okapi." 

You wrap your arm around his, eyes on the animal as it gathers a cud of stringy grass. "What's an okapi?" you ask. 

"I don't know how to explain it, they…" He fades off as the okapi trots further inward. "We saw them at Garfield Park before it closed when I was a kid. They're not giraffes, but they kinda look like them, huh?" 

You and Steve have come across a number of animals. Rabid dogs starving for food, cats that were surprisingly friendly. Rabbits, squirrels, fish to catch for smokey dinners when you're hungry like you are today. But never anything you'd see at the Fort Wayne zoo. 

"What do you think it looks like?" Steve whispers. 

"It has a giraffe's head and a zebra body. Or a bison." 

"And you gave me that one for free." 

You laugh and the okapi spooks, turning its head to your huddle. Steve stands in front of you protectively. The okapi only watches you watching her with small black eyes. 

"What do we do?" you ask. "I don't want to scare her away." 

"She's a wild animal. She's not going to stay if we move, and we can't stay here and freeze." Steve squeezes your hand, his voice nearly inaudible. "Sorry. Maybe we can go around her, honey." 

You blink. Honey. That's me. He's calling me honey. 

The okapi head shoots up as a rustling crack sounds from a hundred feet behind you, sprinting away. One second she's nosing at grass cracked asphalt, the next she's out of view. 

You stand shell-shocked together staring at the space where she'd been. 

Steve thumbs the strap of the rifle. "It's weird," he says quietly. "We've been eating scraps and I didn't even think about trying to shoot her."

"Oh." You look at his face, the soft hollows of his eyes and his strong nose. "I didn't think about it either." 

"Stupid of me," he murmurs. 

You kiss the corner of his mouth. "I don't think it's stupid, Steve. Something else." 

He turns his lips to yours and steals a proper one. There isn't much Arctic Fresh left behind, but it's a really nice kiss regardless. Warming, velvety soft.

He pulls his lips from yours to rest his nose against your cheek. "Do I still get to ask a question?" he asks. 

You'd tell him whatever it is he wanted to know. You're just so excited that he wants to know it in the first place. 

"Ask me anything," you say. 

[timoogismain]

Tino’s shaky legs brought him to the tiny room attached to the bedroom. He wobbled there with all his might, finding this to be his only chance as the other four had left to do god knows what. The pale man had seen them briefly, the one with longer hair had used them to cut whatever they had wrapped around his hands. He memorized where they had been put, and sure enough, on the edge of the sink, lay a pair of rickety scissors. Carefully, with gauze-riddled fingers, the blond grabbed them, yanking them to his chest.

Large, buggy eyes stared at them cautiously. Tino’s mind worked alarmingly fast. His intelligence knew no bounds, as he and the others would learn soon enough. And now, he was going to do something very human. He would test a hypothesis.

Delicate, Tino took hold of the long blond hair that got in the way of his sight. And mimicking the movements of the longer haired man in that quartet, he closed the scissors’ blades around his golden locks, effectively cutting the bunch he grabbed with a slow sniiiip. Tino pulled the hair away and watched it fall out of his hands. His eyes widened as a frenzied smile grew on his face. Freedom! Freedom at last! But just as he went to cut more, one of those men had burst into the room.

“Tino!? Tino, are you—!?” Emil stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Tino holding scissors and a long strip of his hair curled up on the floor. The teen’s eyes widened and he anxiously went to take the scissors from the merman. “What the hell are you doing!?” The pale man flinched and stumbled backwards as the scissors were pulled from his hands. Emil cringed at this, not so much at Tino nearly falling, but the look of fear that the golden-headed man gave him. He knew he could be explosive, but he never had anyone look at him with so much… panic. Why did they ever think putting him in charge of looking over an otherworldly being was a good idea? Lukas was much better suited for this job, and Emil was sure the merman would’ve been delighted to be kept company by Berwald. Hell, even Matthias would’ve been more entertaining! But no. They left Emil to watch over him while they ran out to get groceries. He had only left to get Tino a glass of water. And in that short time, he had done something extremely dangerous (for him.)

“What are you doing?” Emil forced his usually sharp tone to be gentle. Tino’s eyes shifted and he sunk into himself, as if trying to make himself smaller or camouflage himself against the shower curtain. The teen chewed his lip. “I’m not… angry. I was just… worried.” He wondered if it was any use explaining to a being who didn’t understand him. Or at least, he was 75 percent sure he couldn’t understand. Tino reached up and played with the part of his bangs he cut, seeming briefly delighted before he touched the rest of his hair and bunched it in his fists. He growled lowly as he feigned tearing it off. Emil watched in both shock and concern. So he knew what he was doing. He was cutting his hair on purpose. “Your hair… you don’t like it? You want it gone?” Emil tried. Tino looked at him suddenly inquisitively.

With great care, Emil raised the scissors and pointed to them. Then he pointed to Tino’s hair. He thanked whatever heavens were smiling upon him as it seemed Tino understood and nodded his head ‘yes’ eagerly. Tino picked up on things quickly, this was good to know.

“You want me to cut it? It’s dangerous for you to do because these are sharp. That’s why I… sounded so… looked so…” Even to a mythical creature, Emil found it hard to talk about what he was feeling. But even though Tino had no clue, this was more open than Emil would be with anyone else besides the other three. Something about the pale man, while increasing the teen’s worries, also made him feel reliable. He was the youngest of the group, only 18, so maybe that’s why no one ever leaned on him for support. Or maybe it was because he pushed others’ emotions away in a cowardly attempt to protect himself. But with this creature, this man who was still learning what it was to be human, and had a long way to go at that, he felt like someone was counting on him. Looking to him for the next move. Like he was finally a dependable brother.

“Come here.” Emil jerked his head to signal Tino to follow him back into the bedroom. The golden blond trotted behind the slightly taller boy awkwardly, still needing to get used to his legs. The snowy-headed teen told Tino to wait a moment, left to grab a stool, and came back as quickly as he could manage to prevent Tino from getting any other clever ideas. “Sit.” He spoke, while guiding the merman so he would take a seat. “Okay… How, um… How short…?” The teen’s voice wavered a bit as he touched the silky golden hair and tried to get a gauge on what style the merman would like. Surprisingly, Tino took Emil’s clammy fingers and positioned them high on his head, around cheek length. Did Tino understand his question? He’d think about that later. Testing the waters, the teen snipped a tiny bit off at the cheek and watched as Tino’s expression brightened immensely. “That’s awfully short.” Emil snorted out in amusement, catching himself off guard.

The Icelandic boy gingerly continued cutting, snipping and changing his stance to make sure things were at least semi even. He didn’t think Tino would care too much about it being a professional job though. Golden locks danced onto the floor, fluttering as each cut released more and more of Tino’s shackles. And eventually the last chunk was cut. Immediately after Emil brought the scissors away, Tino’s bandaged hands shot up to touch the back of his neck. He ran his fingers through his short hair now, feeling a sense of being weightless wash over him. It was gone. All gone. Never again would he have to be linked to that world. Never again would he have to think about what had happened. Freedom at last!

Emil looked down at Tino, craning his neck a bit to look at his expression. And his stomach flipped when he saw that Tino’s smooth cheeks were kissed with tears.

“Hey! Hey, what’s wrong?” Emil questioned worriedly, walking to stand in front of Tino. He went to crouch down a bit with his brows furrowed, but he didn’t make it far before the merman had flung himself forward and wrapped his arms around the teen in an appreciative hug. Emil froze up upon impact, never good with physical affection. But, as he processed his surroundings, the warmth Tino’s hug was providing, he found himself caving… just a little.

The golden haired man reached up and felt Emil’s hair, and then parted and felt his own. Emil couldn’t help but smile smally.

“Yeah. You have short hair now. Just like me.” He stated bluntly, only with a hint of warmth as to keep his cool guy persona. Tino was elated.

He’d be human. Just like Emil.

[takaraphoenix]

So @kimmycup and I wrapped up season 3A last night! And I have thoughts!

Stiles

Stiles, obviously, highlight of the season. As always. No but seriously, Dylan's acting kills me and the fact that he is pretty when he cries also kills me (so often, the act of crying just makes me cringe on screen but when he's crying I'm like "YES. MORE").

The way we spent over three episodes on Stiles' suffering about his dad being missing and wanting to bring him back? Allison and Scott also have their parents abducted but somehow Stiles is the one with whom it is presented as a trauma and who gets to suffer about it.

The fact that Stiles is at the center of the Hales actually makes me feel feral and unhinged though. He's the one to offer Derek comfort after Boyd dies, he's the one who asks about where Derek went when he disappears afterward (though I will admit I did like the Scott-Derek dynamic in this season too, the build up of trust there and Scott's guilt when they thought Derek was dead). Stiles working with Peter about the vault, interrogating Peter about Derek's past, saving Cora with Peter (but also, again, I did like the Peter-Scott team-up in the hospital that was a real surprise and actually fun). And obviously Cora. Oh, they were so setting her up as his love-interest. Nearly all of Cora's scenes were either with Derek, Peter or Stiles. Despite Boyd and Isaac being around too, despite Scott being set up to become head of the wolves, it's somehow Stiles who is at the center of the actual Hales, who interacts with them the most and I am living for it.

Also the Noah-Stiles this season! With his dad's abduction, the fact that Stiles died to save his dad (credit to Scott and Allison for dying for their parents too), that he finally told his dad the truth and that painful little "Mom would have believed me" that absolutely killed me. His constant fear of also losing his dad, even before the abduction, when he thought he'd lose Noah for telling him the truth.

Stiles is my absolute favorite fictional character, of all time, truly.

Peter

Coming in hot second place after Stiles, Peter really was the highlight of the season for me. I have come to deeply love this bastard man. His lil "I've always been the Alpha" I deadass went "made me feel very attracted to him and straight. That was unreasonably sexy of him.

But even before he did that? This whole season, spent kind of helping and kind of doing good, but never too much, just enough to keep being useful. Always manipulating with his silver tongue, the unreliable narrator of Derek's past trauma was a fucking masterpiece to me.

I still want to kiss him on the mouth for killing the most annoying Teen Wolf villain though. There are villains who are evil and villains I hate - in the "this is an effectively written villain! I hate them for their villainy!" sense - but Jennifer Blake was just annoying. She kept babbling on and not in a silver-tongued way but in the same awkward teacher trying to make a point way that she did in the classroom.

Death

Let's leap into that before I lose my train of thought, because Jennifer's death felt good. Even more so in contrast with Deucalion's not-death.

It truly, genuinely fucks with me that Scott and Derek let him go. He is why Boyd and Erica are DEAD. Two of your pack mates. Two innocent teenagers. They're dead because of him, but... Deucalion just... gets to walk free. Not even prison, not even human-standard punishment, not have his Alpha spark somehow removed, nothing. No, he gets rewarded by having his sight restored and is just sent on his merry way.

The same goes for Gerard. The man tortured teenagers for fun and killed countless innocent werewolves. But he just... gets to live. When only Chris was hiding him, I could somewhat excuse it with him being unable to kill his own father. But then both Allison and Scott learn where he is and it just pisses me off so much.

These people kill innocent and get no punishment at all. I'm not even necessarily saying "murder is the only way" (it is, to me, in these instances), but there is just nothing, they get to live on, free, not even imprisoned.

Makes me so damn mad and you just know if Deucalion and Peter hadn't torn out Jennifer's throat, they would have let her life and be on her merry way too.

Cora (& Derek)

I admit I fully did not remember shit about her. She was only in half a season and, clearly, I managed to block out most of it. But I really loved her! She... Yeah, they totally tried to replace her with Malia, because she has the same very direct nature and anger issues. Which only makes me sadder on account of those two never meeting or interacting.

I enjoyed her character and actually would have REALLY loved Stora? These two had good chemistry and I think the build up was definitely worth exploring what a relationship between them could have been like.

Her existence still drives me up the wall though because they really don't explain it. At all. How did she survive? How did she get all the way to South America? Hell, how did she even hear about a Hale Alpha again like what is there some kind of supernatural newspaper announcing these things?

And then she's gone again. And it feels... stupid. I think it would feel less stupid if Derek wouldn't return in season 4 either. Let me be clear, I love Derek and, as a viewer, am glad that I didn't lose him for good here by having him be written out. But internally, within the story, it would have felt much more rewarding to both of them if after all the trauma in Beacon Hills and the rocky relationship these two had, Derek had just fucked off from that hell-town to live with his sister somewhere safe.

But also, while I'm on Derek already. This boy really can not catch a break. He needs to stop falling for women, period. Paige's death was deeply traumatic, Kate groomed him and killed his family, and now Jennifer. At this point, the pack should get battle ready when he shows interest in someone...

Others

In a delightful twist did I actually grow attached to Ethan/Danny this time around and will be using more of those from hereon out.

I think one of the funniest bits of the season was Melissa meeting Peter in the hospital and saying "You're supposed to be dead" because I'm sorry he has been resurrected SIX MONTHS AGO and nobody told her that he is alive again? Really, Scott? Really?

[thlayli-ra]

Ficlet~

I'm so nervous leading into Bad Blood, as much as I'm so here for Punkintyre, I could use some fluff

Drew/Sheamus ....(wouldn't say no to Wade being around either)

Treat: Remembering the littlest of things — activities they like and dislike, favourite brands of stationery, go-to ice cream flavour, choice of popcorn

I'm sorry I didn't get this one out to you in time for Bad Blood but hopefully it can help with the healing process (Also, apologies, I went really self-indulgent with this one 😅)

Treat - 'Remembering the Littlest of Things'

Characters - Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Wade Barett

Rating - Teen and up

Warnings - Typical sports banter

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walked into a bar.

That... sounds like the start of a joke, but honestly, it isn't. Wade Barrett, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre were heading out to their usual joint, one of those tacky ye olde English pubs that could sometimes be found if you dared to venture into the more touristy parts of the city. It didn't quite hit the same as the pubs back home in the UK and Ireland, but the owner, Big Jim*, was an ex-pat so the place had some genuine charm about it that came close enough.

Also, it was the only place in the entire US that showed the Six Nations every year so it was either there or stay at home, and at least at the pub there would be some form of atmosphere. Also Big Jim really liked his unusual patrons. 'There's never any trouble when you three are about,' he'd said once, and they had to agree, mainly because whenever any trouble did brew, they were the first ones to leap into action and put a stop to it.

It was week three of the rugby tournament, and a tense clash was looming (particularly for the throuple.) Scotland V Ireland! Normally Drew and Sheamus were as sweet and loving as can be, but when it came time for their home nations to butt heads, things could get a little... well, competitive. Ireland, as per usual, were on a winning streak and had their eyes set on a grand slam, while Scotland, by some miracle, had not fluffed up their chances in the first two weeks and were aiming for the same, or at the very least, the Triple Crown.

(England was playing Italy the next day so nobody particularly cared about that. Sorry, Wade. And sorry, Italy!)

Things were running smoothly up to the point the players came out of the tunnel and onto the pitch. The drinks were lined up on the table (Wade, the neutral, got the first round) and the national anthems began to play. Ireland, being the visitors, went first and Sheamus got up onto his chair, hand on his heart to belt out the rallying tune of 'Ireland's Call'. Drew, not to be outdone, stood up to sing along with 'Flower of Scotland', encouraging the rest of the bar's patrons to join in the added chants during the chorus;

'And stood against them ('GAINST WHO?)

Proud Edward's Army (WANKERS!)'

(Again, sorry Wade!)

But then the whistle blew, the game was kicked-off and soon the nastiness began to creep in.

'There's no way that was a knock-on!'

'Penalty! Penalty!'

'HAHA! We're slaughtering yer boys up front, fella!'

'Pass it! Pass it to him, ye dobber!'

'Forward! Hah!'

'HE GOT IT DOWN, REF! ARE YE BLIND!'

'It was held up!'

'NO IT WISNAE!'

And just as the pressure erupted on the pitch with a brawl between an Irish prop and a Scottish second row, Drew and Sheamus got up and squared up to one another too.

'Woah there,' Wade jumped in between them to separate them both. 'Come on chaps, we're all mates here, right?'

Well, the last thing anybody needed at that point in time was an Englishman of all things stepping in and the pair immediately directed their wrath at Wade who cringed away with his palms raised. Sheamus snorted at Drew who glared in return before turning their backs on each other and stomping off to opposite ends of the pub. Wade sighed and sat back down at the now empty table.

But as the half-time whistle blowed and the pundits began to dissect the first forty minutes of the game, the two men began to calm down and regret their rash actions. Sport had a way of raising the blood pressure like few other things could, especially when there was something on the line, but they had let their emotions get out of hand.

So they each began to plan and scheme, Wade watching both of his boyfriends warily as they scuttled about the place, sometimes heading to the bar to speak to Big Jim, until finally they both sheepishly approached the table with their hands behind their backs.

Drew, the softest of the three, apologised first. 'I'm sorry for getting all riled up Sheamo,' he dipped his head with shame. 'I just get... very jittery whenever Scotland play, but that's not an excuse, so here...' and he brought out a platter from behind his back. Immediately Sheamus' eyes grew to the size of dinnerplates. 'I know how much ye love those pickled onions on the bar, and I mind you telling us how yer maw used to put them on a cocktail stick with pineapple and cheese so I asked Big Jim to cut up some cheese and find some cocktail sticks for ye. He didn't have any pineapple but he asked Debs to nip out and buy a tin and, well... here you go.' He placed the lovingly crafted platter on the table in front of the Irishman who eyed it in wonder.

'T'ank ye,' he hushed out. 'I can't believe ye even remember that story about my ma.' He took in a breath to compose himself then straightened up. 'I got you something too.' He placed a bowl of hot french fries in front of him, topped with a type of dark brown sauce. This time, it was Drew's turn to looked stunned. 'Ye know how you said you once went on a night out in Edinburgh and tried chippie chips with salt n' sauce and loved it so much ye converted to it for life and everybody in Glasgow called you a traitor for not liking salt and vinegar? Well, Big Jim and I tried to concoct something similar with brown sauce and vinegar. It took a few attempts to get it right - Debs was our taste-tester and she said the fifth one was the closest so...'

'Wow...' Drew scratched the back of his neck, a little blush forming on his cheeks. 'That's... really kind of you.'

They both locked eyes, somehow understanding the other and slowly turned to face the final member of their throuple. 'Uh, Wade...'

'Oh no, what?' The Englishman looked nervous.

'I also asked Big Jim to make you this,' Sheamus said, placing down yet another plate. 'Fruit scone with jam and cream. They didn't have quite enough cream so Debs made some more. I insisted they put the jam first then the cream second, just how you like it.'

'It's not just how I like it, that's just how it should be,' Wade argued, playfully. 'Anyone who has cream first is just plain wrong!'

'And I asked them to make you this,' Drew put down another plate. 'Cornish pasty, with the crust doing down the side, not on the top.'

'Well, yes, of course or else it's not a Cornish pasty!' Wade lightly protested, making Drew chuckle.

'I know, I know. Big Jim had Debs check them in the freezer beforehand to make sure.'

'You two are the sweetest,' Wade chuckled. 'And here,' he pushed two glasses forward,' I got the next round. 'Guinness for Sheamo (and yes, I made Big Jim wait for the head to form properly) and an alcohol free ginger beer for Drew with no ice.'

'Awww, you shouldn't have!' They sat down and accepted their drinks gladly.

'So...' Drew drummed his large fingers on the table, looking at each of their specially prepared plates in turn, 'are we all forgiven?'

Wade and Sheamus hummed, making a silly display of thinking hard but eventually smiled widely. The throuple wrapped their arms around one another in a huge bear hug, their petty difference put aside just in time to watch the final moments of the second half.

'I don't even know what the score is anymore,' Drew noted, tucking into his fries.

'What does it matter?' Sheamus shrugged, spiking a pickled onion with a cocktail stick.

'Poor Debs,' Wade sighed. 'All that hard work she put in. We need to leave her a huge tip.'

'Yeah, and Big Jim,' Drew agreed. 'After all he did cook up some pasties for me, and even made a platter that wasn't on the menu.'

'And he helped me invent a new sauce recipe,' Sheamus added. 'And even made a fresh scone when he got the jam/cream sequence wrong the first time round.'

'Um... lads.' They looked over to Wade who seemed a bit unsettled. 'Did Big Jim really go to all that effort just for the three of us?' All three pairs of hands froze inches from their mouths and all three pairs of eyes glanced across to the bar where the older man smiled broadly and threw a thumbs up at them all.

'Oh...' Drew whispered. 'That's a bit...'

'Creepy,' Wade finished off for him.

'He must really like having us as regulars,' Sheamus said.

'Maybe it's time we look for another pub,' Drew leant in and whispered.

'Except we have two more weeks of the Six Nations and no other place in town is showing it,' Sheamus pointed out.

'Ok, ok, fine!' Wade chimed in. 'We come back here for the last two weeks then never again. Agreed.'

'Agreed.'

'And we're never going to fall out over something as stupid as sports again? Right?'

'Right!'

'And hey, look,' Drew said, pointing to the screen. 'Now, we can all enjoy watching Wales getting gubbed by France!'

'YAAAAASSSSSSSS!'

And all three stood up, arm-in-arm to belt out 'La Marseillaise'. (Sorry, Wales!)

*Big Jim is a nod to Jim Hamilton, a favourite ex-rugby player of mine (yes, he's tall with dark hair, a beard and tattoos - I am aware I have a type!HAHA!)

(Also the home-made brown sauce was disgusting but Drew ate it all anyway ❤️)

[runningfrom2am]

this is why we can’t have nice things - (r.c)

summary: You have no intentions of telling Rafe that he got you pregnant, but someone else tells him for you.

This can be read as a stand-alone but it's technically a part three to getaway car and big reputation

pairing: rafe x reader

wc: 2.6k

tags/warnings: mean!kook!reader, bullying i guess?, highschool!au, swearing, teen pregnancy (STAY SAFE Y'ALL), fighting, implied sexual content (but definitely nothing explicit)

requests

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You shuffle quickly down the empty hallway, clutching your bag to your chest out of anxiety. This isn't a feeling you're overly familiar with. You look back over your shoulder and you quickly make your way towards Bella's classroom, remembering she has math this period. It's just after lunch, and you couldn't make it in the morning, you just weren't feeling very well. Something felt off. That's when it hit you.

You knock on the open door frame, scanning the room for your best friend when your eyes land on Rafe. Fuck, you forgot he was in this class. He gives you a smug smile and a wink, making you cringe inwardly at the situation as the teacher acknowledges you. "Miss Y/L/N. Something I can do for you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, I need to borrow Bella." You say, glancing over at her. She can sense that something is off, and she's already grabbing her stuff and standing up.

"Woah, did I say you could go?" He says to her and she freezes.

"It's really important." You cut in before Bella has to. "It's, uh, girl stuff. I just need to grab something from her locker." You lie, avoiding eye contact in attempt to feign embarrassment.

The teacher sighs, nodding at Bella who resumes packing up her stuff. "Don't be long." He says, and you avoid Rafe's eyes on you as Bella makes her way up to the door, quickly following you away.

"What's wrong?" Bella whispers as you quickly walk down the hallway, heading towards the girls locker rooms. No one uses those during class time, so you like to have meetings there when you have something urgent to discuss. Something like this.

"Shh, wait." You whisper back, walking down the stairs into a smaller section of hallway and into the locker room, closing the door and locking it behind you.

"Please, Y/N/N. You're scaring me a little." Bella asks again and you throw your bag down.

"I'm pregnant." You say, locking eyes with her as her jaw drops.

"Wait, I- you're sure? Because we've both had scares before-" Bella tries to rationalize it and you shake your head, reaching into your bag and pulling out the ziplock with the three positive tests you took this morning, practically shoving it into her hands. You can't even look.

"Shit..." Bella mumbles, looking all of them over carefully. "..Rafe?"

You swallow thickly and nod, chewing on your nails. "Yeah, yeah it has to be." You confirm, continuously nodding to yourself.

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"No! No- definitely not." You are quick to shoot that down. "I mean, do I have to?"

"I don't think so." Bella agrees, putting the small plastic bag down on the bench next to her. "Not unless you plan to keep it."

"Oh, god no!" You scoff, pacing back and forth now.

"I didn't think so, no..." Bella nods a little, thinking it over herself. "This weekend we'll get you to a clinic. Is that soon enough? When did you sleep with him last? We just need to do a bit of math."

"Like, a month ago? We only like, actually did it once. After that party. So... yeah, three and a half weeks, ish." You tell her.

"Okay, that's plenty of time. You're fine. I'll take you to the mainland this weekend, it'll be like a little girlies trip! We'll go to that cute coffee place, maybe Target, make an adventure out of it, yeah?" Bella suggests, smiling as she tries to make you feel better.

"Yeah! Yeah. We'll do that. I'll sleep at yours?" You say, smiling at her knowingly.

"And I'll sleep at yours." She nods, reaching out and you do your handshake, one you made up a few years ago.

You pull her into a hug, and she rubs your back gently. "You'll be okay. I won't tell a soul." She assures you, knowing you well enough to see how scary this is for you even if you have a solid plan on how to handle it.

"Thanks, Bells." You sigh, pulling away and quickly fixing your hair in the mirror, grabbing your backpack and following her out.

"We'll get coffee after school, right?" You say, dropping Bella at her math class.

"Yeah! Can't wait." She smiles. "Should we invite Rafe?" She whispers, nudging you gently.

"No thanks." You giggle, waving as she walks into the room. This time you're definitely avoiding looking at Rafe, especially now that someone else knows. You can feel his eyes on you as you stand briefly in the doorway, giving Bella a quick wave and nodding a thank you to their math teacher before walking away. You know Bella will be able to play it cool, even around Rafe. She'll take all your secrets to the grave.

You straighten your uniform as you walk and quickly make your way to your class, anxiously waiting on the weekend to come.

The next morning, everything seems to be going well. You slept well knowing you and Bella had a plan, and honestly you did look forward to the weekend and getting to have a "girlies weekend", as Bella put it.

You get to school just on time, rolling up your skirt and fumbling to pull up your socks as you approach the doors with your bag over your shoulder and a coffee in your free hand.

"Hey! Hey, hey, Y/N! Wait!" You hear someone calling out to you, looking around and cursing internally when you realize it's Rafe, running towards you across the parking lot.

"Hey, Rafe." You call back, giving him a quick wave and trying to continue on your way.

"Hey, uh, can we talk, real quick?" He asks as he makes it up next to you, gently grabbing your arm to stop you.

"Uh, yeah, course..." You agree, eyeing him suspiciously. There's no way he knows, right?

Rafe nods a little, looking around before pulling you away from the door and just behind the building. "I, uh- shit. Uhm... So..." He stammers and you roll your eyes.

"Well, this has been riveting. Always a pleasure, Rafe Cameron!" You grin, turning on your heel to walk away. You don't need to be late to class again.

"You're pregnant?" He gets out just as you get to the corner of the building, and it came out weaker, more concerned than he intended to sound. He had this plan to try and be cool about it, not take it that serious, but he honestly was a little hurt that you didn't reach out to him. You freeze, sighing and groaning as you turn back to face him.

"Maybe." You answer, avoiding eye contact with him. "Well, yeah. Uh, I am." You mumble, realizing you at least owe him honesty.

"Right..." Rafe nods, tilting his head at you. "And you think it's mine?"

"Oh, god-" You laugh, shaking your head and making a disgusted face.  "Don't say it like that, it's not- it's not like, alive. But do I think you're responsible? Yeah. Definitely."

"Are you sure?" Rafe asks, raising an eyebrow at you and you gasp dramatically, covering your mouth with one hand.

"Wow, Rafe, are you 'slut-shaming' me?" You ask, hardly able to stifle a laugh.

"I don't know what a pretty girl like you gets up to in her free time! I was just wondering!" Rafe says with a smirk, raising his hands defensively. You're honestly glad you can playfully bicker through this rather than it being any kind of serious.

"Well, thank you for thinking I'm pretty, but unfortunately you are the only boy I've slept with in the last three months so yeah, I'm pretty sure." You reply, taking a sip of your coffee. "How did you find out? I had no intention of telling you."

"Ouch." Rafe chuckles, clutching a hand over his heart. "Well, I'm glad you're sure because at three am I got a ransom demand for your right to privacy about it and I paid someone a grand to not tell anyone."

Your jaw drops at this, and you almost drop your coffee. "I'm sorry- what?"

"Listen if it was you, you can just ask me for money if you need it I'm more than happy to help-"

"Of course it wasn't me! God, no, I'd never-" You quickly defend, absolutely in shock at the situation. "I'd never do that to you. I'll pay you back, it was never meant to be your problem, like I said I wasn't even going to tell you-"

"Hey, no, it's okay. It's okay." Rafe assures you, stepping closer now and resting a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to calm you down. "I'm not mad. I don't give a fuck about the money, I want to help." He insists, nodding at you slowly.

"Sorry, sorry this is embarrassing.." You laugh slightly as you realize you're starting to hyperventilate. You were cool about this whole situation up until now, but suddenly you're overwhelmingly terrified, especially since someone knows. "My parents can’t find out- they'll kill me, they'll kill you! God, I just-"

"No, you're fine. We'll figure this out." Rafe says, gently rubbing your shoulder and taking your coffee from you before gently placing it on the ground.  You just nod a little bit, closing your eyes and desperately trying to regulate your breathing. "We just.. we need to figure out who it was, yeah?"

You nod frantically, taking slow breaths and trying not to panic. "Did you tell anyone?" He asks.

"Only Bella," You say, nodding a little bit. "And Bella didn't tell anyone, obviously."

"Obviously.” He agrees. “So, how could someone else find out?"

Then it dawns on you as your stomach drops. "Oh, shit... The tests- we left them in the locker room yesterday." You say, shaking your head and laughing a little at your own stupidity.

"Yeah, yeah they sent me a picture of them. But they could be anyone's, come on, in this school that means nothing." Rafe chuckles, trying to cheer you up. "They must have heard you."

He's right, someone must have been in there. They should have cleared the room before she spoke, but you were panicking, at the time it didn't even cross your mind to check all the shower stalls that sat vacant at the back of the room, rarely ever used. "Yeah.. they must have. I've got an idea, though."

By third period, it's time to put your plan into action. Rafe agreed to meet you outside the girls locker room exactly thirty-five minutes into class, both of you coming up with a good excuse to leave.

You walk up to where Rafe is leaning against the wall next to the door in the secluded hallway, gesturing for him to follow you as you open the door, letting him in and quickly locking it behind you.

"Woah, I've never been in here before." Rafe chuckles, looking around.

"We're not here for fun." You say back quickly, starting to shuffle through the bags of all the same girls who would have been in gym yesterday, looking for the tests. Rafe just stands there staring at you. "Are you gonna help? There's like forty bags and we only have a few minutes."

"Oh, right-" He nods, looking around before deciding to start on the opposite side of the room. "I don't feel right going through girls bags." He laughs a little, already onto the second one.

"It's fine, we're only looking for one thing." You reply, tossing another bag to the side. No luck so far. About ten minutes and thirty bags later, you're starting to stress that you won't find it, that they weren't dumb enough to bring them back to school, when Rafe laughs.

"Hey! Here!" He says, and just as you turn his tossing the ziplock bag at you and you fumble to catch it.

"Which bag was it?" You ask, rushing over as he hands it to you and you start to basically tear it apart to find some kind of identification for who owns it. You find a wallet and smile, quickly opening it and checking the ID.

"Ally." You scoff, dropping her bag on the ground.

"What a cunt." Rafe mutters, kicking it to the side. You quickly shove the tests into your bag at your side and take a few bills out of her wallet, handing half to Rafe and pocketing the rest before zipping it shut and throwing it on top of her bag.

"We're stealing now?" He smirks, putting the money in his wallet anyways.

"What? No, that's your money. She's just paying you back, like, partially." You shrug, smiling back up at him. "And for me it's damages."

"Right, fair enough." He chuckles, looking down at his watch. "We've got twenty minutes left before class ends, want to..?"

"No! I'm not fucking you in the girl's locker room." You shove him back playfully. "Also that was a one-time thing."

"Whatever you say, Y/N/N." Rafe chuckles. "Just thought I'd offer."

"You lost that privilege when you got me pregnant." You giggle, crossing your arms as you stare at him.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" He defends. "Won't happen again. I swear."

“Yeah, it won’t.” You roll your eyes and head for the door, stopping abruptly as Rafe reaches in front of you and grabs the handle first. You turn your head to look up at him and you don't get the chance to before his lips are pressed against yours, his free hand landing on your hip and holding you against the cold, blue-painted metal of the door.

Despite your protests earlier, you don't hesitate to kiss him back. You're quick to bring your hands up to his cheeks, pulling him closer for a moment before moving your head back and gently pushing him away. "One-time thing, huh?" He chuckles and you nod, biting your lip. 

"Yep, not happening again." You confirm, turning and unlocking the door before pushing it open and walking off down the hall.

"Wait, what are we gonna do about Ally?" He says as you walk away and you turn, pacing backward to look at him when you respond.

"I've got it from here. Thanks, Cameron."

When Rafe walks out of the building later that afternoon, he stares in confusion at the small crowd that's formed just on the other side of the fence marking the edge of school property. "Rafe! Rafe, help!" He hears Bella before he sees her, pushing her way through the crowd and frantically waving for him to come over.

He picks up his pace as he jogs over, dropping his bag and pushing his way through again after her. He's met with you straddling Ally's back as she screams and cries, you holding her face down into the dirt by her hair. "Say you're sorry! Say it!" You scream in her ear, absolutely irate at this point as everyone watches in horror. Rafe is quick on his feet to wrap his arms around you and lift you off of her, grabbing your hand and tearing her hair out of your grasp. He’s holding you back as you continue to yell over her sobs, and you struggle to get back to her shaking body on the ground.

"Hey, hey! She's had enough, Y/N/N." Rafe chuckles, holding tightly to your waist. 

You push your hair out of your face, both of you watching as some of Ally's minions are quick to try and help her up. Her nose is bloody, makeup and uniform absolutely ruined. You smile as you look at her state. "Not gonna tell anyone now, right?" You ask her bitterly, Rafe finally letting you go.

"God, you are crazy! You'll be hearing from my lawyer, you psycho!" She cries out, wiping her face.

You lunge at her again and she's lucky that Rafe noticed this the second before you moved, grabbing you again and pulling you into his chest. "Hey, woah, don't bother." He says to you.

"Yeah, muzzle your fucking dog." Ally mutters, brushing off her clothes. 

"Says you, you actually look like one so watch your mouth.” He scoffs at her, spitting at her feet. “Extortion is a crime too, by the way." He adds cooly, raising an eyebrow. "So I think we can keep legal out of this, don't you?"

Ally huffs and quickly walks away, pushing her way past everyone gathered there to grab her bag which you had thrown into the street during the confrontation. Bella quickly runs up to you, grabbing your face to look you over the second Rafe lets you go. "Are you okay? God- that was scary!" She exclaims, satisfied though that you only have minor scratches and bruises.

"I'm fine." You smile at her, shaking your head a little. "Sorry, I just kind of blacked out for a minute." You joke, gently hugging her.

"Yeah, it was hot." Rafe adds, arms crossed as he stands behind you. You roll your eyes at him, hiding your blush in Bella's shirt.

taglist: @bookishbabyyy@madelynie, @mutual-mendes, @slut4drudy, @winterrrnight, @totalswag, @sadfury @fullfledgedemo @rafemotherfuckingcameron, @urfaveluvr, @chenslucy, @hxnnah-397, @s-we-e-t-t-ea

fill out my form here if you want to be added!

[fuckyeahfightlock]

Punk Rock Cool Kid Required Viewing Batch 5/The Final Batch

The Wall Urgh! A Music War Liquid Sky The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

(I'm rewatching all the "required viewing" films of my alterna-teen years) Notes on these films below the cut.

The Wall (1982, dir. Alan Parker)

I couldn't do it. Couldn't rewatch The Wall. I think its status as a 1. cult, 2. rock, 3. good-to-watch-while-stoned movie starring punk rock (and later philanthropy) icon 4. Bob Geldof put this on the must-watch radar in the '80s, despite it being centered on exactly the kind of music against which punk was a violent reaction. It is not punk. Not even a little. I just don't care about it enough to watch it again.

When I was a teen, our gang of small-town, high school drama club weirdos encompassed the hippies/deadheads and prog-rockers (not to mention the drugs-enthusiasts) as well as the punks, so some pop culture cross-pollination was inevitable. The Wall seemed subversive, and we lived for subversion. I did not then and never had and never have since been a Pink Floyd fan, but I was definitely a Bob Geldof fan and I recall he wrote fairly extensively about the making of this film (it drove him a little crazy) in his autobiography, Is That It?. So I was there for Bob Geldof.

(Here he is with his then-wife Paula Yates. One of my favourite things about Bob Geldof is that after both Paula and her new partner Michael Hutchence died, Bob--who had three daughters with Paula--adopted the girls' half-sister. I see that he has become a "fathers' rights" campaigner, which can be kind of cringe and problematic so I'm going to just look at that through squinty eyes and imagine his heart is in the right place because I really admire him.)

I watched The Wall on YouTube, so I was able to set it to 1.25 speed in order to get through it quickly (which, of course, makes the music sound just that much worse but I wasn't there for the music). But it is so self-indulgent woe-is-me white guy who refuses to get therapy; so self-important; so "aren't we clever clever artists?" that I only got about 15 or 20 minutes in. That's a vibe I no longer have even one atom of patience for.

Urgh! A Music War (1982, dir. Derek Burbidge)

With a few too many performances by the Police (they get three songs while every other band gets just one), Urgh! A Music War is nonetheless a compelling--sometimes downright exciting--documentary of post-punk/New Wave. Featuring 30ish live performances by artists running the gamut from punk poet John Cooper Clarke to New Wave stalwarts Devo and Gary Numan, from reggae bands Steel Pulse and UB40 to operatic performance artist Klaus Nomi, from the Go-Go's, Oingo Boingo, and Joan Jett to Devo, Toyah Willcox, and X. There is no narration, just the name of each band and the city where the performance was filmed. Even with the inclusion of a few largely-forgotten bands like Invisible Sex and Skafish, the film flows pretty evenly, and the variety of styles keeps things interesting.

Not every song is my favourite, but New Wave is my favourite, and this is its primary contemporary document. It's a fun watch (or listen) for anyone whose fervent music fandom started with '80s New Wave (like mine did), or as an overview for the uninitiated. I had to buy this one on DVD but I ain't mad at it.

Liquid Sky (1982, dir. Slava Tsukerman)

OK, so I had a very strange experience of this film. Somehow I had it in my head that director/co-writer (with star Anne Carlisle) Slava Tsukerman was the second female lead in this film:

I have thought this since the first time I saw it, which is relevant to the aspects of this film that are lesbian (and otherwise queer), feminist. . .just overall woman-y. I thought this film was directed by a woman and co-written by two women. But I learned, about five minutes before my rewatch ended, that Slava Tsukerman was a middle-aged straight Russian dude, and the brash and beautiful performance artist Adrian (above) is played by Paula E Sheppard.

All this to say, this film is queer, weird, New Wave-y, surreal, and modern thanks to the women who co-created and starred in it, and I really can't make sense of how this particular guy came to make this particular movie at this particular moment of grimy/high crime New York City New Wave. It really threw me off.

Liquid Sky tells the story of Margaret (Anne Carlisle), a fashion model; her girlfriend, drug dealing singer Adrian; her rival, the bitchy male model Jimmy (also played by Anne Carlisle); and the alien spaceship that lands on the roof of her apartment and kills all her sex partners by "feeding off pleasure." Sex partners is not the right word though, as there are four or five encounters with Margaret at the center of this action, and they are all rapes (she has no orgasms, so the aliens don't kill her). Margaret, unaware of the flying saucer or the aliens, understands her circumstance as a power she has developed--to kill people by fucking them--and she evolves from victim to avenger. As the UFO begins to float away, Margaret, dressed in a wedding gown, shoots up heroin (the titular "liquid sky") to bring on an orgasmic rush of pleasure and thus be carried away with the aliens.

This movie is aesthetically remarkable, with neon lights, intense graphic makeup, architectural hairstyles and avant garde/high fashion New Wave clothes. The music is a real trip--all composed on a Fairlight CMI synthesizer by director Tsukerman--relentlessly weird, otherworldly, futuristic. This one was particularly important to my high school girlfriend as it is one of the few films we could find with lesbian characters in it--even though the couple is dysfunctional to the point it seems they don't even like each other. The queer theme in this film focuses more on androgyny ("to be fashionable is to be androgynous"), with heaping side-helpings of sexual manipulation, rivalry, and the ways female sexuality can be used as a weapon--wielded by women, or against them.

It's a fairly straight-up Sci-Fi plot hung on a very un-straight framework, and it even has a semi-comedic side plot involving Jimmy's Jewish mother and a German UFOlogist ("You're from Germany? I'm Jewish.") trying to commune with the aliens, who she seduces with Chinese takeout and access to her window so he can set up a telescope.

Liquid Sky is bizarre and important, at times uncomfortable, always beautiful--especially on the remastered Blu-Ray edition put out several years ago by film archivists Vinegar Syndrome. Worth a watch is you like Sci Fi, New Wave, queer cinema, or cult movies. It's all of that and more.

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980, dir. Julien Temple)

This movie could have been good. Alas, not so much.

The conceit is that a private detective (played by Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones) uncovers the truth about the Sex Pistols: that Malcolm MacLaren (herein, a character called "the Embezzler") had a grand plan to invent the Sex Pistols (true)--and indeed punk itself (debatable)--to bilk record companies and fans out of as much money as possible (a happy side effect, for him, but probably not the initial goal). The story is lightly framed in a How-To style, "Lesson One," "Lesson Two," etc, and overall has a pretty punk, DIY, collage aesthetic, stitching together new narrative footage, archived concert and interview footage, animated sequences, talking head moments, and (of course) a significant dose of embedded advertising for MacLaren's shop, SEX. But what could have been clever and actually funny comes off as half-thought-out and unpleasantly cynical.

Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) refused to participate, saying the movie was "Malcolm's vision of what he believed; not true in any form." Though he was present for filming, Sid Vicious had already died before the movie's release. By 1980 when the film came out, The Sex Pistols were a memory, and punk itself--three years after its invention--was essentially a relic. The film is joyless in the extreme, and on the unremastered DVD I watched, it's washed-out and unpolished in a way that seems just plain old, sloppy, rather than punk. I was surprised how unpleasant it was to watch; it was my least favourite of the punk docs, by a large measure.

"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

So this was fun! Glad I revisited these films of my teens. I'm compiling a list of recs of related films to share soon--music documentaries of the last 30 years, punk-adjacent films that came out after I left high school, etc. Hope you enjoyed reading these posts.

[otomevibes]

Em's Personal Favorite Shoujo and Josei manga!

Since one (1) person mentioned they would like a recommendation list of shoujo and josei mangas, I decided to throw one together of my personal favorites! Some of these are well known, some aren't. I also kept it short, so it's more a sample of my tastes. Future lists will probably revolve around themes/genres, but for now here's this!

My Lovesick Life as a 90s Otaku

Demo: Josei

Genre: Romance, Slice-of-Life, Historical

This is a short four volume series about a middle aged mother who reflects back on her teen years and being a big otaku in the 90s. I honestly loved this? There were so many cameos of classic series, and I enjoyed the characters and themes in this a lot. It did make me cringe, just because it reminded me how me and my friends used to be as teens in all the good and bad ways. That relatability is also the reason I was a big fan. It does wrap up pretty quickly at the end, but for a short series, it's one of the josei series I've read that left an impression on me!

Magic Knight Rayearth

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Fantasy, Isekai

It feels like a crime to not mention Clamp when talking about any of my favorite manga (Tsubasa Chronicles is my favorite Shonen and Chobits is my favorite Seinen, so they're really just winning). Choosing between this and RG Veda was difficult, but this is such a classic. I loved the characters, the world, and how the story reveals itself to be a gut punch at the end. If you still haven't read it, here's yet another rec post telling you to check it out.

Children of the Whales

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Science Fantasy, Tragedy

This follows a group of people on a floating island, the Mud Whale, which is trapped in a sea of sand. One day, when they send people out to search one of the sunken islands in the sand for resources, they find another human, and through meeting her, learn the truth about their home.

The story telling in this is gorgeous. The mangaka said she was inspired by a lost journal she found, and you really get that feeling while reading it. This is also a series to read if you just feel like being Really Sad. It's one of my all time favorite series, but I did have to read it with breaks between volumes (for reference, I normally binge like five volumes a day when I'm really into a series). There's a rich world and history in this, and each detail feels so carefully considered and thought out. This is one of the series I wished more people talked about.

Dokuhime

Demo: Josei

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Tragedy

A group of orphan girls are raised to be living weapons by consuming poison. They're then sent out to enemy countries to seduce and kill the men in charge, as their bodies are all poisonous.

This doesn't have any official English translations and I came across it randomly one day and just fell in love. It's an older series, and there's plenty of triggering content here (violence and SA being major). But I loved this world and characters so much? My summary does not do it justice, but the dynamics with the main character and the three princes in the country she's infiltrating is so interesting. It also reads very much like a dark fairy tale, especially with how it's structured and the way it goes through each scene and chapter. I know this is likely too old and unknown to ever get picked up officially, but maybe if I get more people to read it, we can all bother seven seas via their licensing survey or something-

A Condition Called Love

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Romance, Slice-of-Life

I don't think this needs a summary since it's a recent popular one lol, but I love messy characters who face consequences for their messy actions and are forced to grow as people!! I love when bad habits in a relationship get challenged, and it doesn't automatically lead to breaking up but trying to fix things. Hotaru and Hananoi just have my favorite relationship in any modern shoujo series I've read, and while the series isn't over yet, I can imagine them remaining a favorite for a long time.

Chihayafuru

Demo: Josei

Genre: Sports, Slice-of-Life (and romance in the background)

If you know about Chihayafuru, it's that everyone who talks about it is Not Normal about it lol I have never encountered a series with such a large cast where each one is given such weight and brevity as this series. I know it's about such a niche Japanese sport, but listen, the growth and story arch of these three main characters, and how they're affected by the people they meet and how they affect others and grow is just...so good. You want God Tier character work, this is the series you read.

Prince Freya

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure (and romance if you squint)

I love brutal shoujo. The first chapter of this was not what I was expecting, and it's probably because I went in blind. Anyway, this follows the story of Freya who lives in a kingdom trying not to get conquered by an Empire taking over the continent. The only person keeping the kingdom standing was the Prince, who was poisoned and killed. Since Freya looks almost exactly like him, she's forced to pretend to be the Prince of this country in hopes the kingdom won't fall to the empire.

Freya's character growth in this is a lot of fun to witness play out. I also really have been enjoying seeing the way the world keeps expanding and growing with each volume. I will say, the first few volumes have pacing issues, but by volume 3/4 it was all smooth sailing. I also really enjoy how unflinching it can be, and it doesn't shy away from death or violence when needed, but it also doesn't overdue it either. It's just a solid shoujo fantasy series, and the only bad part about it is waiting for the next volume to drop (Viz it's been 6 months, please-).

[noroi1000]

❝𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐢❞ Chapter 08

Satoru-Sensei | ←Previous chapter • Next Chapter →

Summary: Gojo is old and lonely? That's what Kugisaki thought. But that was the day they found out that Gojo Satoru actually had a girlfriend.

A/n: I just saw in my notebook how many drafts I have completed and I realized that I need to share more often... I also loved writing this because I got into Kugisaki's personality so much lol. I'm always an attention-seeking author... What do you think about this story so far?

"Itadori-senpai, please help." the blue eyed teen whispered into his phone.

He stood in front of the slightly open door to their classroom to see his sensei sitting in his chair with his feet on the desk, smiling as he did something on his phone.. His fingers move on the bottom of the screen, clearly showing that he is typing something on the keyboard.

He waited a moment and then chuckled and started writing again.

He was texting someone. That was for sure.

But it's the first time they see their sensei smiling like that. He's never smiled so much into the phone! At least not in front of them!

"Nantō-kun? What happened?!" His Senpai asked quickly.

"Sensei is texting someone and still smiling! More and more!" He said with a more scared and squealing voice.

"What?! Is this really happening?! What a smile that is?!"

"This is not the smile with which he smiles at us!"

"Huh?!" he groaned. Suddenly the younger boy heard a quieter voice. “Kugisaki, Gojo-sensei is..."

Soft voices could be heard in the room they were in. The teenager waited for his senpai's response.

This is the first time he's seen something like this.

Is it possible that their sensei had a girlfriend?!

"He's acting like he's texting a woman!" Itadori said to the girl.

"Eh? I haven't heard of him having a girlfriend in three years! We have to check that! Where is he?!" He heard her voice closer to his senpai's phone. "Are you talking to Nantō? Nantō! Where are you?! Where is he?!"

"In class... I'm next to him and he's still smiling like that!" He said and hid so that his Sensei wouldn't hear or see him.

Can he really hide from him??

Yes. Because right now he wasn't paying attention to anything else but the phone. Because he was getting messages from you.

A moment later, the two older students ran there and knelt in the corridor, looking at their Sensei's cat-like and goofy smile.

"Oh shit! This smile is really different from the smile he always has! Judging by the smile and the slight color of his cheeks, as well as the speed of his texting, he is texting with a woman!" Kugisaki said, very analyzing his expression.

It seemed as if all his thoughts were humming.

"We have to help him!" she said, turning to the two boys next to her.

"Kugisaki-senpai... How can we help him?" Nantō asked.

"He is almost 30 years old! And he doesn't have a woman! If not now he will be alone forever! We have to help him so he doesn't drive that poor girl away with his weird talk!"

"What should we do? Or maybe Sensei doesn't text with a woman? Maybe he already has a girlfriend?" Itadori said.

"I've never seen this man with a woman! He doesn't have a wedding ring, which means he's not married! For a moment I was disgusted with him because he probably chose women with his appearance! But now I know there's something wrong if he's behaving like this! This is typical behavior of a man who texts with the woman he loves!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Pfff! Years of practice and studying the behavior of lovers! Every woman deserves a guy who has a face like this when he texts her! Even though when I think it's my former teacher it makes me cringe! I'll help this poor guy not destroy his possible love of his life! Sensei!"

She stood up and quickly entered the room, automatically drawing his attention.

"Oh, Nobara. Do you need anything?" He asked and placed the phone on the desk and gave her a small smile.

"Don't write strange jokes to women! And also don't act like a complete macho! You must remember that you cannot lie at all costs! Don't show that stupid side you have right away!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a questioning look on his face.

"About the woman you're texting! You finally have a chance to not be old and lonely, so don't ruin it!"

"I'm sorry about her, Sensei! She takes the possibility that you might be texting some woman too seriously!" Itadori said.

"We don't want to interfere in your private matters." Nantō added nervously.

"Ah, do you mean that I'm texting someone?" he asked, pointing to the phone and sitting up straight, taking his feet off the desk.

"It's a woman, right?!" The girl asked.

Her pride will suffer if it turns out that he has not written with a woman. Did her intuition fail?

"Yeah." he said, but before he could continue, she started talking.

"If you don't want to be old and lonely, listen to my advice and she will be yours! With the way you act sometimes, you might just embarrass her! Listen to me and everything will end well! Even a wedding! I know how to give relationship advice!

"So far, she hasn't managed to find a boyfriend and because of her, neither me nor Fushiguro has one." The pink-haired man whispered to the brunette next to him.

"Eeeh? Really? I wanted to ask her for advice, but I think I'll give it up..." he muttered in response.

She heard it.

"You idiots won't have a girlfriend any sooner than I have a boyfriend! There's no way I'd let you do that!" She screamed at them. "But Gojo-san is different! Can't you see this lonely, rejected heart? If I don't help him, he will be lonely for the rest of his life!

"You know... That wasn't nice..." Gojo said, his mouth hanging open in embarrassment.

"So tell me the details! I'll help you! Just trust me!" she said with a big smile and pointed at her with her thumb. "I will do everything to get you married this year!

"Actually, Nobara... She's already my girlfriend." he said calmly and stood up, walking around the desk and leaning against the furniture.

He moved his phone closer, looking at your next message. He left the device and crossed his arms over his chest, watching the girl's facial expressions.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

"Huuuuh??!!!!! Since when does Sensei have a girlfriend?!" She screamed.

"For two years!" he laughed and waved one hand.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh???!!!!!!!" she screamed loudly, causing the boys behind her to cover their ears.

"Why are you screaming so much?!"

Everyone turned to look at Fushiguro who entered with Nantō's brother.

"He has a girlfriend!" She pointed to the white-haired man and they both stood on the other side of the room.

They started talking. And at that time, Hokusei saw their teacher's phone turn on and vibrate, signaling the arrival of a message.

He turned his head to look at the screen and smiled slightly.

And then he saw his student looking intently at his phone. It was as if he wanted to see who he was texting.

His hand turned off the phone and, looking at him under the blindfold, he hid the phone behind his body, shielding the messages from the teenager's watchful gaze.

To avoid recognition, his face was turned the other way. But his eyes watched carefully as Hokusei's red eyes looked at his hand moving the phone.

So that he doesn't notice anything.

Their sensei is hiding something, isn't he?

Taglist: @mc-reborn ; @yihona-san06 ; @yerinsshi ; @erisfayred ; @tohsri

[monpalace]

Okok, so my brain is not working with writing rn BUT i will finish that “reader and time pinning” thing that i was doing I PROMISE

BUT for now imma just share some thoughts of Time because he is THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND I NEED TO RANT ABOUT HIM

*ahem*

Ive said before (on my blog) that Time uses really old and kinda cringey petnames because 1, he genuinely loves them and 2, because he LOVES making the boys squirm in second hand embarrassment. SO, have a few more of those nicknames :D -> snookums, sugarplum, baby cakes, muffin, foxy, and toots

Young time (like teenage/young adult) was an absolute bastard BUT when he falls in love with someone, he is an absolute sweet heart! Think the ‘i hate everyone but you’ trope :3

Young! Time did not know romance AT ALL! That boy was raised by a tree and a bunch if spirit kids, he has know idea what a ‘date’ is. This leads to him just acting the same around his crush but being a little nicer to them

Is then very confused as to why they dont know that he likes them. “It was so obvious? I gave you a piece of my apple pie! I was so clear with my signs 🙄🙄”

He THEN reads all the romance novels he can get his hands on (legally and illegally) just so he can impress them! Completely misunderstood everything and now he just has to straight up tell them, cause how their hair is on fire…somehow

(Modern) Time is totally the type of guy that ‘doesn’t like drama shows’ but if his lover was watching one, he’d stand behind the couch and watch. But when his lover offers to move so he can sit hes like ‘no, im not even watching it. I was just bored’ and the proceeds to watch the next 3 episodes while standing.

(Modern) Time has a leather jacket that he LOVES!! Like he will cut someone for that thing, do not fuck with it. No one is aloud to wear it expect him….And his crush/lover but SHUSH!

Time enjoys polishing his armour/sword while you read a book out aloud. You both find it rather relaxing. Until something dramatic/a polt twists happens, all if the sudden the armour/sword is dropped to the side as Time is BAFFLED by this. “They killed Aaron?! Wh-what? Why!? He was the best choice for Max!” (Hes so invested, his duties are now discarded until you two finish this chapter)

I wanna do more but this is kinda chunky :3

I love dis man so much 🫶🫶

THE WAY I PHYSICALLY AND VERBALLY CRINGED AT FOXY??? bro's the type to say "hey foxy mama" when you walk into a room unironically, he literally has no shame whatsoever whenever someone points out how dated that sounds to

time would fit the secret admirer trope so well though? but he wouldn't even be secret about it?? the lon lon sisters def gave him the advice to "just be himself" and that gave him the idea to take stuff from his woodland-spirit background

"link, why is my house filled with flowers from floor to ceiling."

"that's not a declaration of adoration here? huh."

AND HIM TAKING THE ROMANCE BOOKS? personally, i feel like he's the type to sneak into the library when (supposedly) nobodies looking and just taking whatever he can carry before sneaking back out-- but in actuality it's just that nobody cares

someone asked zelda if he was allowed to take the books because they've been coming back in a damaged state (it's not bad, but while he's workshopping how he's gonna bring words to reality, he messes up a little) and she just says its fine so long as he isn't committing crimes with them (which he has done. several times. no one knows)

ofc there are questions as to WHY he's taking the romance books specifically, but the guards and librarians just chalk it up to him entering his weird boy phase ™️ and not because he has an interest in somebody because him?? having a love interest before half the other people in the castle??? Nah.

you catch modern! time watching a (raunchy) reality show once (like love island, or jersey shore-- maybe even teen mom) and he swears up, down, to the golden three, and to the sand goddess that he just kept it on for noise and that he's paying all his attention to his work even though you caught him ON VIDEO having the most expressive reactions to certain moments

BUT THE LEATHER JACKET ONE?? someone walks up to you while you're wearing it (your relationship with time isn't common knowledge yet) and they make a joke about him burying them alive if they mess it up-- no less just because you're wearing it.

time pops up out of literal thin air making excuses that you were cold (you were not), he was hot and didn't feel like carrying it (his goosebumps say otherwise), he thought there was a tear and he wanted to try and fix it (.. yeah, okay.), he only gave it to you because you said it would go with your outfit (that is not the only reason he'd give it to you), and everything else just to try to hide the fact that he's soft

(also, bonus points if you made it??? now not even the goddesses could touch it. he's about three seconds away from giving into the inner ferality of his childhood self and biting someone if they even look at it)

but tell me why i just imagine time getting ready to like, get in a fight or something, you read something so earth-shatteringly shocking in the book, and he's immediately like "the battle can wait. [opponent] was gonna lose anyways. we have to figure out what the devil is about to happen"

i'm literally scooping ur brain from ur skull, putting it on a table, and i'm gonna examine it for the rest of ur ideas mwah

[dearweirdme]

I have a weird theory. So it's no surprise that in their early years, bts were kinda "rude" to each other. In a sense that they'll joke negatively without knowing that it could hurt the other's feeling. Or even cringing when one would initiate skinship or anything similar and they were kind of practicing the no-homo agenda.

And we also know that they grew out of it. They practice self love as well as loving the people around. Resulting to them loving each other the most. They rely on each other and of course we don't see 90% of what is happening behind closed doors but it's clear that they talk things out. Hence the reason why they lasted so much as a group. That's how I see it.

Now my theory is that aside from taekook relationship, we've got jimin as the second most closest to Jungkook. And we see them being each other pillar, supporting each other and being affectionate but in a brotherly way. Is it because in the past we could clearly see jungkook (maybe unaware) being kind of mean to jimin? Like pushing him or not caring too much. He is certainly not the only one who was like that at their debut.

All of this to say that while practicing to love each other, they undoubtedly worked on members who weren't the fairest with each other and this is how as time passed jikook became one of the closest?

Hi anon!

I think many forget that Jk, Tae, and Jm were still soooo young when they met. Especcially Jk.. I mean, he was away from his family from his early teens.. he was put amongst this group of Hyungs, who were also all still very young. They were all going through various degrees of moving into adulthood while also being placed in an extreme situation of becoming idols.

Jk was a teenager.. and for all his shyness, and introvercy, and humbleness, and empathy.. he was also just a brat at times. Which isn't something weird or unexpected at all at that age. Imagine any 16, 17, 18 yr old you know.. and I'm sure anyone of us can imagine that Jk reacting to someone a bit older to him with a certain fierceness is pretty normal.

So some of my random thoughts in regards to your ask... and excuse me when I go a bit ranty here.

I think BTS are all skinshippy in some ways. Yoongi and Namjoon the least, Jin also has boundaries.. Hobi, Tae, Jk and Jm all definitely enjoy it (though I think Hobi also has some natural limits here). Skinship between men and boys is something normal in SK. It's not something they would have had to get used to, it's more that they had to discover what each other's preferences were when it comes to being physically close.

I don't think Jk ever felt negatively towrds Jm. Their friendship had to grow ofcourse, just like their friendships with all members had to grow, but the I don't think they had to work towards loving each other by intentional conversations. I think it was just naturally, by going through things together, by experiencing life, by enjoying the same things. Jk doesn't like being babied much in general (though sure he has his baby moments), but I think he did find it hard that Jm layed out the Hyung card at times. From how I see it, out of the three Maknaes, Jm is the one who feels/felt most strongly about being respectfull of age. I feel he is the true Hyung out of Vminkook when they are together. Always the most 'sane' reasonable one, trying to get them them in order. Tae and Jk actually are the 'two always getting scolded together'. So from how I interpret Jk and Jm, is that Jk just at times 'overstepped' in how he was supposed to be respectfull towards his hyungs (which is what the rainy days fight was basically about). And I think he was just annoyed at being put in a certain position. Very teenage like, very understandable. From Jm's side, he is Jk's Hyung. He saw a cute little brother, whom he wanted to help and be close with.. but who he also felt was out of line at times. To me it actually makes so much sense how Tae and Jm were the ones fighting the most. Being same age, they could do that without overstepping much. Both Tae and Jm have no problem standing for what they feel is right.

I don't feel Jm and Jk particulairly had to work on becoming close. I think they were always on the path to closeness.

And yes, they have all gone through working out how to deal with each other. I think at this point all members are at a place in which they feel more like equals.. they just know and understand each other so much, that they don't have to question each other's intentions and actions.. because they know that the mutual respect is there.. even if one of them says something that could potentially be considered rude.

This feels like it's all over the place. I have soo many thoughts... and the adhd is high today.

[megumi-wife2]

Chapter 2 Love at first sight

Chapter summary: Today we meet Baji,Ran and Takemichi but how will Takemichi Michelle younger brother react to seeing Mikey in her room?

P.s this chapter may be cringe. I wrote this chapter back in 2023☹️ and Michelle is not normally like this but I wrote her like this for this story so please you’ve been warned ESPECIALLY ‼️ Ran part ALSO😋 this story may not added up to the original timeline and some characters might not be canon personally but please enjoy🫶 this chapter is some what long

“Baji?''…

Mikey said in a confused tone and looked at the tall black hair boy named Baji. He looked at Mikey confused “huh? Mikey? What are you doing here?” Baji said in a very confused tone.

Mikey shrugs “Emma signed me up to help out at the hospital what about you?” “oh am here to visit Michelle” “Michelle?...” he said in a confused tone again “yeah she's my-”,“MY WIFE” “SHUT UP! NO SHE'S NOT YOU ANNABELLE RIP OFF!” “HEY!WHY YOU LITTLE!”, “can you both shut your asses up Michelle sleeping and be quit the yelling we’re in a hospital” another voice was heard.

The two boys then moved to different sides. There stood a slightly tall boy with dark yellow blonde hair, But on the front tips of his hair were dyed dark blue, the same as Michelle. The boy was holding blue roses? He's never seen them before. The three boys then turned their heads to look at the girl who looked very peaceful.

Mikey felt his cheeks heat up “hey who’s this?” The dark yellow blond-haired boy asked, which made Mikey look at him “this is my friend Mikey he-'' he was cut off by a quiet but loud mumble “Ran..?” Michelle was woken up by him. The three boys turned to look at the girl who was asleep but awake now she rubbed her sleepy eye “OI! Ran what did I say!!”.

The dark yellow blond boy walked over to them, hitting Ran in the back of the head head with the roses making him yelp. Mikey feeling a little awkward so he left the room Baji laughed and walked over to them “here sorry there ruined as you saw i had to hit Ran with them”.

The dark blond hair boy said Michelle gave a big smile and took the roses “thank you Takemichi they still look very lovely” Takemichi smiled and sat down on the chair that was next to her bed chatting with her.

Baji then excused himself and walked out to get some tea when he saw Mikey again “hey man there you are why did you run off” he shrugs “don't know just felt awkward” “my bad bro i should've had intrust yall'' he just nodded “hey…who was that boy with the matching hair with the girl? ""oh Takemichi? He's Michelle's little brother ""oh her brother?”.

He nods but looks at his face seeing a sign of relief and Baji smirks, “what you thought they were dating?” He shrugs “yeah maybe” “heh why?don’t tell me you already like her” Mikey then shakes his head with his cheeks painted pink.

“no shut up baji!!…I just thought she was cute. That's all”,Baji nodded “well don’t forget the meeting tonight ""like I’ll ever forget my own meeting ""just saying with your childish mind you’d tend to forget all lot ""do not!”Mikey then pouts and crosses his arms “yeah yeah whatever you say, see ya" Baji then stood up looking at the time "where are you going?”

Mikey said while looking up at him “Chifuyu wants to hang out with me and juniper” “oh Ken little sister?” “Yeah you wanna come?” “Yeah sure” then the teen boys both left.

“Hey who was that boy?” Takemichi said, which made Michelle shrugs with a hit of pink on her cheek “I'm not sure, he was just taking Ms.Yumeko place till she gets back…but he was kinda cute” she let out a small giggle. Takemichi rolled her eyes and shook his head he was used to Michelle liking anyone she found cute “good because I would be heartbroken if you were cheating on me!”

Ran dramatically said while wiping his fake tears and hugged her “Oi don’t be so dramatic! And let go of her annabelle!!” “NO!! AND STOP CALLING ME THAT” Michelle just giggled. After talked for a long time it was now 5pm and Takemichi and Ran where ready to leave,

“it was nice seeing you today Ran hope to see your brother someday too”“yeah sorry he couldn't come today he said he had to finish a school project but maybe next week he’ll come” she gave him a soft smile and nods.

“well i'll let grandma know you're doing alright i'll see you tomorrow Michelle” they both hugged Ran being dramatic wiped his fake tear when they both separated. Ran open his arms wide and tried to hug him “EW no! no hug for you ""AWWW why are you so mean Michi!!” he just rolled his eyes and walked away “let go Annabelle” Michelle giggled and waves at them both left.

Michelle then looked out the window only to be greeted by the cloudy gray sky small water drops falling from the sky then more came after that then the peaceful rain sound was followed by it. she smiled and layed down slowly falling into a peaceful slumber.

[shittyelfwriter]

ALRIGHTY here we are at weeks three and four for the santa clauses series! I did not rewatch a second time because genuinely, these melted my brain. anyway, lets get into it below the cut!

So apparently according to the tsc tag, episode 3 that I missed last week is a sort of filler episode? OH BROTHER REALLY

Normally I would not complain bc I miss old format, 20-23 episode series but because I know this Isn't That? DREAD. how are you going to plot well and good in 7-8eps if some are filler? that is just SO condensed, my guy

Counterpoint to people who were sad about it but: I thought the teen romance was annoying and I'm GLAD they ended it even JUST for a bit (it will come back to haunt again, trust. It’s a disney series ffs.) Whoever is writing this needs to ask a teen about how they talk nowadays. This is not it.

I also think we're driving the whole "Buddy is terrible at everything" punchline WAY past its breaking point. Which I would argue was last season entirely, but. At the very latest, last episode with how heavy on cringe it was. Yes, EVEN for kids/teens.

Again, they are not antagonizing Magnus Antas enough for me to hate him. waaaaay too funny to be a villain. I can't take him seriously and DON'T want to

The way that Noel keeps sideyeing the Betty cutout as if to say "do you see this shit?" during his brunch with the Clauses SENT me tbh. That's bernelle coded and I love it

I do not know why Disney gets OFF on the Clauses being absolutely inept parents but I wish they would stop

SHOUTOUT JUDY OMG JUDY'S ACTRESS THAT’S JUDY JUDY IS HERE YOU GUYS (SCREAMINGGGG)

LOVING the exterior shots of the workshop and Elfsburg. As someone who has POURED over all available screenshots from the movies of those I am LIVING for new angles (even though I do NOT think bernelle would live that close to the Workshop, but it doesn't seem like Betty and Noel can POOF like Bman and Elle can (and do))

I don't know why there are TWO instances of a "misspoken turn of phrase" in this episode but neither were funny and TWO OF THEM was REALLY bad

CHUBBY BUNNY DID NOT EXIST THAT LONG AGO. NOT IN MAGNUS ANTAS' TIME. THAT WAS AN INTERNET FAD LESS THAN TEN YEARS AGO. WHAT ARE WE DOING DUDE. WHAT ARE THESE WRITERS ON (it's not good, I don't want some)

Crossing guard callback? For what? (okay, shrug I GUESS dot meme)

Why does this specific franchise always have to make EB SO WEIRD. WHY. Nothing about this is funny it's just off-putting. Just like the previous EB flirting with Carol's MARRIED MOM in tsc3

This Carol and La Befana scene was actually very good. LOVE it when they actually just let the characters be HONEST with each other. Women supporting women core. Even if Carol's reason for being mad at her was really shallow and obviously stems form Carol's lack of identity as Mrs. Claus because they just cannot wrap that plot point from last season up.

THE LETTERS DEPARTMENT. It looks dope but HATE the explanation for it. Half assed as hell. WARNING! Rant incoming: like from what I know a LOT of postal services have little lore stories about how they get the letters to Santa. WHY COULDNT WE JUST SAY THERE ARE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN SANTA AND OTHER ADULT PEOPLE WHO KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE FOR OTHERS AS WELL? Why is this series so obsessed with making everything only powered by magic and never by others (yes, humans) who want to keep the spirit alive as well? It feels like magic is being used as an "explain it all away" crutch narratively. Even in season 1, the "solution" to mass consumerism wasn't for people to be kind to each other and do little things to keep the magical parts of Christmas alive, it was to show the world that magic was real. Season 2 so far, the answer to everything is also just magic. I'm hoping that maybe the B plot with Kris will touch on this. Because as it stands right now, it feels like the writers are talking out of both sides of their mouth. Commercial Christmas is bad, but Kris is a loser for having a Santa theme park. Like?? Homogenization of Christmas is the Big Bad at large, but also up at the Pole they are trying to find ways to do the same thing to be "current". CHRISTMAS IS MULTIFACTED. It is both secular and religious! That is OKAY, I don't even think "woke" people are arguing about that. Sheesh.

Can't believe I'm micro rambling IN my ramble post. New achievement unlocked omg

The way Magnus Antas picks up on modern slang so quickly practically puts Scott to shame. Good for him

AGAIN, the misturn of phrase jokes. DEAD. Not funny. STOP

If they are going to make Sandra so op that she can just Wanda Maximoff chaos magic "I just say something when I'm mad and it happens, anything I want with no negative impact on me" I will not find that swag. That is in fact Mary Sue territory, lads

Sandra's little outburst @ La Befana was giving magical nepo baby for a moment there. Oof. "Too bad I'm just naturally more skilled than you even though I'm new and you've been a witch forever" girl SHUT. UP. You are like a little baby. Also that is so mad disrespectful like no WONDER La Befana is wanting you to slow tf down. You fly off the handle WAY to easily and we ALL know you lose control when you do! Okay loose cannon! Werk!

Riley. Girl. "we never see each other" you were just up at the Pole?? Like. OFTEN?? This is so stupid of a breakup but they are teenagers so go off kids, be dysfunctional or what have you. Rah rah, as Jack would say

Episode four now, lord help us. God has cursed me for my (loving this one Christmas movie series) hubris and my work (watching it's hellish series spin off) is never finished

"Reversing a transformation is never a guarantee" what is this La Befana? the Sims? Sounds like transformation ray odds. Magic is not THAT unpredictable, even by in-universe logic

CURTIS-ITIS!??? CURTIS FUCKING EXPLODED??

ARE YOU SO FUCKING FR RN. SO BERNARD IS MARRIED TO A SENIOR CITIZEN AND CURTIS. FUCKIN VAPORIZED?? FROM STRESS? WHAT'S NEXT? Lemme guess, Judy joined the circus. Quintin is a crypto investor or works for Tesla. WHAT ARE WE D O I N G

Not Scott moving the scissors like he's afraid Buddy will shank him or others?? SIR

SANDMAN AHHHHHHHHHH HELLO SIR /POS :D

So they just con him? As though that's a long term solutio-- OH MY GOD NOT SCOTT USING SANDMAN'S SAND ON SANDMAN HIMSELF?? that's ILLEGALE?? According to tsc3 lore: "We legendaries can't use magic on each other?" I am so bewildered by the level of retcon occurring before my very eyes at BREAKNECK speed

Sandra doesn't need magic she needs THERAPY for her ANGER ISSUES bruh. Damn. She doesn't need a rage room (in someone's house too I might add? okayyyy) she needs to learn to process like a normal human being wtf

Scott being able to look like his normal self whenever he wants and they just didn't tell him? For like. 25 years? Like its clear that by the series standards, the elves think he's a total moron. But it pendulums hard and fast between "haha funny joke" and "damn they really think he ain't shit, huh"

Edie being a fashion diva is such a serve she's grown on me this season ngl

"I had to teach him how to do all the Legendaries jobs" Scott I know you're waffling, absolutely FUMBLING but what the FUCKKKKK is that excuse??? What's Cal going to do? Be EVERY Legendary? TERRIBLE AWFUL HATE IT UNINSPIRED. Not to mention, SOME OF THE OTHER LEGENDARIES MIGHT NOT TAKE THAT NEWS WELL. Some might even feel THREATENED

"The man I die for in my sleep every night" UM? Noel? You okay there bud? Holy heck

THE PURPLE JACKET IS SWAG AND SCOTT IS A HATER. HE CANNOT SEE THE VISION

Do you guys think according to this new lore Edie made Jack's suit? because me thinks PERHAPS

Magnus Antas is kind of popping off, damn. Like I think if the gnomes hadn’t given him MAJOR delusions of grandeur and an ego trip, he could have stayed totally a vibe. But stop giving the Santas snow powers and reconning Jack holy SHIT dude. First Scott now him? HATE IT

The way they made Scott and Cal look when "invisible" is Not a Good Look heck. Its like a bad picsart filter

These Scott visions. I get why, its through the Santa magic, right? But dang its corny

So Scott knows Magnus Antas is back now. Okay. They got away from him. Lost visual on Olga, have a bad feeling she somehow sneaked into the sleigh. Weird cliffhanger but EVERY episode has been like that so far

Final thoughts: I feel like they're definitely trying to make this season take itself less seriously, but I feel like the trade off is that the writers are taking too many liberties for diversions from source material and are therefore, losing the plot entirely and retconning movie lore at will and convenience. Tl;dr, it's messy. Concepts are fun until things just become so irreverent they fall apart or lean into entirely unfunny territory. Which is just a hallmark of T*m All*n brand humor, tee em, but you know.

It feels like this series is doing everything and nothing. It wants woke points, but immediately doubles back and makes fun of those same things. It wants us to feel empathy for these characters, and immediately makes them insufferable. I am so confused as to what the takeaway is supposed to be. It all feels so poorly executed--the series retcons itself constantly, not to mention the movies. I want it to be fun, and to take it at surface value, but if you know literally anything about the movies, that becomes a challenge to do. I'm just so confused dude.

I will be shocked if this gets a third season. Truly.

Also, I miss Betty too, Noel. Wish this whole season was about HER shenanigans, instead.

So. See you all next week then?

[notsofriendlyfriendlyreminder]

Ok no fuck it I present to you

My rant about Avatar 2

I watched it last night with my parents (very late i know but this is my blog so LMAO)

First of all, James Cameron hated on Marvel movies and yes, he made some good fucking movies and yes, Marvel has mid movies and makes more and more bad decisions, his films aren't some goddsend top tier cinema and Avatar 2 shows it.

Let's start with the good: The movie is pretty. The shots underwater are beautiful and I believe that seeing it in a cinema must have been great. But that's also all I can say about it.

NOW MY PROBLEMS.

It's too fucking long. TOO FUCKING LONG.

Nearly every plot point is started with the fact the kids didn't listen to Jake. Okay, I get it, teens and kids suck and don't listen to their parents, womp womp what's new, but if this is the driving force in your movie plot more than once or twice? Jesus even my mom who doesn't give a damn about movies called this shit out.

The dialogues are just weird. When Jake and Neytiri deep moments were ok, but jesus fuck sometimes I just cringed.

Did I already mention it's too long? It's stuck in a cycle. Lo'ak does something, the other siblings get involved, Jake is mad and then again and again.

Humans are back on pandora AGAIN and in the end THEY'RE STILL THERE. Literally the big plot didn't move at all?

Spider is fucking annoying but I could move past that BUT his only purpose in the movie is to humanize Quaritch. Okay, I could live with that, if the movie showed Quaritch living in the nature, Spider teaching him shit and him having some internal struggle MAY I SAY a redemption. No. Instead Jake just kills him and that's okay- OH NO SURPRISE HE IS ALIVE. WHY IS HE ALIVE YOU ASK? SO HE COULD BE THE VILIAN IN THE THIRD FUCKING MOVIE. BECAUSE WE WILL MOST PROBABLY HAVE THE SAME BAD GUY FOR THREE FUCKING MOVIES STRAIGHT. LET THE MF DIE. Spider liking him also makes no sense in my opinion but that's just me.

Also Kiri's story is confusing. Ok she cares about Spider and she is connected with eywa. That's all cool and shit but we had so many scenes how important it is and yes she saved Neytiri and Tuk in the end but WHY WAS IT SET UP SO HEAVILY? We could have half of all that and it would be the same. Am I the only one who thought when one of the other researches told Jake that it is epilepsy it would play a role? Like it was a big moment of him telling Jake "You can't let her do that anymore." So you would think that would create tension between Jake believing his/human medicine and Kiri/Neytiri leaning towards their traditional medicine. THAT WOULD ACTUALLY PROBABLY BE INTERESTING IMO? But no instead Kiri has a manic pixie dream girl vibe mixed with a teenage girl that all she does is be mad an annoyed.

I think that's all for now. Will I hate watch Avatar 3 when it comes out? Maybe. Probably.

[cuephrase]

Thank you so much for the comic recs!! I'm just getting started on my Batfam reading journey so this is super helpful, and I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on your current reads once you're further along. On a related (but opposite) note, anything you'd say to steer well clear of, like run for the hills, hazard sign attached, avoid if at all possible? (for example, I know All-Star Batman & Robin is something I shouldn't read outside of morbid fascination)

yeah ofc! getting into comics, in my experience, was super fun and sort of overwhelming because there's so much content lol, so i hope you're enjoying it and i'm happy to help however i can :)

OMG all-star batman and robin, i still need to read that to satisfy my own curiosity, but perfect example.

so okay, i have three runs + one arcs, but i'm going to preface this by saying, read whatever you want. all three runs and one arc, i read going into it knowing they were absolute messes, but i wanted to experience it for myself. i would say to not read these first, if possible, if you choose to read them because they're just not great intros to the characters and they're not great stories, imo. lose-lose

Red Hood and the Outlaws 2011 (New 52). if you like kory and/or roy, this will be torture. if you don't know who they are, please god do not meet this iteration of them first. but if you're interested in jason, maybe you want to read it because he's there! i get that. but. there's very little, if anything, in rhato 2011 that you'll learn about jason that isn't reiterated in rhato 2016/doesn't get flat out retconned in rebirth. for example, in rhato 2011, his origin story is him stealing from leslie's clinic. that wasn't his preboot origin, and his origin gets retconned back to his preboot origin of stealing the tires off the batmobile. most of rhato 2011 just had me like ???? so bad. just so bad.

Teen Titans 2011 (New 52). full transparency- i did not even finish this run. at some point, i will probably drag myself back to it and force myself through it, but oh god. no one felt like themself. everything was wrong. i like tim's n52 red robin costume, and that's about it. i'm also not sure how much if any of this run is currently relevant in canon so like, even less reason to put yourself through it.

Tim Drake: Robin 2022. i have nothing nice to say. wait. no i do. it got some really cool variant covers. i don't want to bash the art, because i have enjoyed this artist's style in other comics, so i'm just going to be diplomatic and say it was a horrible match/fit. . as far as the writing...no, just no. this is one of 2 pieces of fitzmartin's writing that i've read and so i don't want to speak too harshly, but i really didn't like it. this whole run makes me so sad ngl. dc canonized tim's bisexuality and then supported it with this? bro. c'mon. there's already so many homophobic comic readers, they didn't need to give them "it's bad writing" ammo. genuinely would love to know the though process behind the production of this comic

the infamous Ric Grayson era, Nightwing 2016 #50-74. i just read this. i've legit been putting it off since august. it is so mind-numbingly boring for 85% of the run, first off. this is literally how most of the issues go: "i was shot in the head. i don't remember anything after the night my parents died. they told me i used to a hero. nightwing. i don't remember that. or them. they act like they love me, but it feels fake. i don't want to remember them. i'm happier this way." and then he starts running around, superheroing with a slash of black greasepaint across his face because that is just a+ identity protection and regular clothes because superhero costumes totally only serve visual purposes. and it does all get resolved in the STUPIDEST WAY, but not before the joker takes control of him and has him referring to/responding to “dickie-boy”- reading this i was either bored out of my mind or dying from the cringe. all that’s relevant is a) he lost his memories, b) he gets them back, and c) he had a girlfriend, bea. i knew all of this before i subjected myself to this run. but now i can say i’ve read every nightwing run woooooo. my LCS (local comic store) guy has been trying to get me to read it as a “rite of passage” and he was so entertained when i came in and was like “i read ric” 😐🧍suffice it to say, i do not envy the nightwing fans who had to go through that in real time. i love travis moore’s art but it was not enough to save this arc

as for my thoughts on my current readings, i post those under the tag #cue first read reactions! they’re usually not all that in-depth tbh, just me freaking out haha. if you’re comfortable, my dms are open!

tysm for your ask + i hope you have as much fun reading batfam comics as i do!!

[delirious-blue]

gmmtv 2024 part 2 roster, in approximate order of how excited i am about them:

The Heart Killers: YES. soooooo good for me. silly romcom mafia shakespeare plot! dressing everyone up in little outfits! enemies-to-lovers standoff to makeout! love that it's 90s teen movie shakespeare but with more murder. love that this time first and dunk are the ones pursuing khao and joong. delighted p'jojo is directing, he knows exactly what he's doing and he's right for it.

The Ex-Morning: being halfway through watching SOTUS for the first time is an extremely funny time to watch the kristsingto rpf-lite comeback special trailer. it looks good! i love the concept of exes-to-collaborators-to-lovers even before you add in the rpf parallels of it all. p'aof generally does really solid shows and i have no reason to think this won't live up to expectations.

Friendshit Forever: title so stupid it wraps back around into being genius. looks toxic and fun. i will say that if gmmtv wants to yuribait me this hard in the trailer i hope they at least have the decency to yuribait me in the show as well. (real story: when i downloaded the trailers to rewatch i initially ended up with the subtitles from 'Us' playing over the scene where mook and pat meet and for a beautiful moment i lived in a world where there were two gl shows on the 2025 roster.)

Us: the trailer doesn’t give me a great sense for what the actual, uh, plot is. i do appreciate that they found an excuse to have them kiss shirtless in the trailer. the nominal cyrano-esque plot (plus the trite “can two women love one another”) doesn’t feel that interesting but i presume the actual show will have more to it than just that. please i just need a gl that’s well-executed and not about high schoolers (patiently waiting for Pluto….)

Ossan's Love: looks extremely cringe, but….in a charming way? maybe? going to watch regardless because it's earthmix, may go watch the original to get a better idea of what the hell the vibe is supposed to be.

Hide & Sis: feels like it could be campy and fun or could be just bad, but optimistic that it’s the former.

The Dark Dice: okay, so it’s…..jumanji crossed with an escape room crossed with squid game for teenagers? sure i can get behind that. the trailer looked pretty good for being (i assume) relatively low-budget and low-effort.

Revamp: The Undead Story: looks a little silly but very likely in a fun way. (why are there so many vampire shows this year? was there something in the water?)

Thame-Po: okay, so this is a show about a boyband…..where the members are played by gmmtv’s actual boyband? this feels like another instance of rpf lite but less in a fun way and more in a way where i’m a little concerned for these teenagers about fan engagement bleedover. but it did look cute and there are opportunities to go a little meta about the whole thing.

Leap Day: intrigued to watch gun in a role where he actually has things to do

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist: i think ohm and mark have really fun energy and i badly wanted to like their show, but it looks. SO bad. will watch at least an episode and hope it's better than the trailer made it look but good god.

Break-Up Service: another one that....could be fun or bad, but probably just bad.

Scarlet Heart: was that a trailer or a perfume ad? i guess this is an adaptation and we're supposed to be familiar with the original, slash they didn't have time to film an actual trailer before the event? isekai time travel could be fun in theory but the reverse harem thing does not entice me. pass.

Perfect 10 Liners: you know the bit in Lovely Writer where the show-within-a-show is Bad Engineer, and it's funny because it could literally be any BL that takes place in a university engineering faculty? Lovely Writer is three years old now and we're just still doing this apparently. why are there thirty episodes? did they just decide to toss all the pairs they didn't have a better idea for into the most generic setting possible and cross their fingers? hard pass.