#I’ve honestly never gotten the hype

[sirswooshnoodles]

I never understood the “they ruined my childhood fav” about the new Star Wars or Disney remakes

Then I saw the Lilo and Stitch is on there (probs for a live action remake) and I just- no. How dare. Is nothing left sacred???!?!?!?

And then I realized…

Also Moana!?!?!?

Do a revamp of the animation at most!! Moana isn’t even old enough for this shit!!! It hasn’t even been a decade!!!!

Good lord fucking money grubbers.

[fingertipsmp3]

I fear I might be getting into star wars

[missfertileandferal]

lowkey super anxious to post this but im missing you guys so much <3

i plan on a solid return soon! i just wanted to get off my chest whats been going on:

Earlier this year, I dealt with an awful situation of my kinky stuff leaking into real life. My insane coworkers found my content and as I was serving on the clock, proceeded to show my customers and all the staff. then i was fired. Im traumatized to say the least but I over came it.

Come mid summer, I planned so step back for a little bit to move apartments no more than a couple weeks. What happened was both my job (i worked with close family friends so stressful) and a really bad situation with a companion found about my kink stuff. i never expected or was prepared for the humiliation, deception, and pain that would come from my fetish journey

My last job was such a loss. I had been blessed with a cute job as a medical office assistant without any credentials (i wasnt doing anything out of my capabilities of course) it was so peaceful and perfect compared to the drama of my last gig plus working with familiar people felt just like home honestly. Then I got covid. I was out for 2 weeks, at the same time i was moving into my new place. I tried calling them back to let them know I was cleared and ready to get back to work. I received a humiliating text. I was dismissed. That turned into a crippling anxiety of them confessing to my family what I do in my past time

The following week I was met with more disappointment. Ive said this before but I dont have many people in my corner. It used to suck to admit but I stand with pride now knowing those who are around me love me 100% regardless what I do or dont do.

One of my dearest dearest friends, who I had previously communicated what I do (not to a full extent they always respected it) called me very dramatically only a week before I planned to see them (they live across the country and we ALWAYS visit each other when in our cities) It still doesnt feel real tbh, the call only last 40 seconds. I was informed that “I was going on the wrong path” and could no longer be associated with. That’s alls that happened. 8 years down the drain

I was informed by outside sources that my hometown opps had gotten hold of my content (who my ex friend still associate with but I despise bc they’ve always been obsessed with me but in a bad way) and they had confronted him about being my friend. he pussied out and cut me off. they also mass reported my last instagram account😡🤬

I had to take some time back to seriously debate if these loses were worth it. I was swallowed with so much anxiety knowing that an uncomfortable amount of people in my zip code knew what ive been up to. its already complicated being into this and while at the same time not being in a plus size body. thats another conversation tho

That debate has turned into me accepting these events as the universe weeding out people/things that no longer serve me. This has shown peoples true colors, if I am not to be associated with because of my sexual freedom, body acceptance, and undoing of fat phobia then PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE.

Im recovering ❤️‍🩹 but my heart and hedonism can’t be helped. i love being a kinky lil gut slut. its helped me grow in so many ways from acceptance to living an esoteric dreamy life. i love all the hot girls and guys that i see on my timeline. they hype me up and vise versa. i love this little corner of the internet. my fellow freaks keep me going. i’ve been so on and off online but every time i come back to the sweetest words and support. thank you guys for your patience and consideration

my anxiety is to the roof as im typing. its crazy that these privacy problems havent been within the actual community. funny. if your still reading this I love you extra. ill be streaming on ig on my comeback day!

new ig acc @missfertileandferal💘

[moodriingz]

Waiting Room pt. 2 | Q. Hughes

Summary | part one it’s Quinn’s turn to pine over the reader while she tries to move on, but can she do that when she’s still in love with Quinn?

Pairing | Quinn Hughes x reader, Elias Peterson x platonic!reader, reader x oc

Warnings | Angst?, mutual (but blind) pinning, cursing maybe 

Author's Note | Thank you so much for all of your support for part one! I feel so bad that it took me forever to write part two, but this semester really kicked my ass. I hope this lives up to the hype. I honestly just wanted to get it done to move on if that makes sense? I’m hoping to continue writing so feel free to send requests! I’ve also recently gotten into F1 so you can send requests for that too!! xx

Masterlist

“You were so right, me and Evan got along so well. He’s great. We’re going on another date too.” 

Quinn felt sick to his stomach. Not only had your friendship dwindled out of nowhere, but now you’re with someone else. Worst of all there was no explanation to why you pulled away. Quinn racked his brain for any reason why you would stop hanging out with him. 

Now he had to watch you give your attention to someone else. He was so jealous of this random guy. Quinn wondered what made Evan better than him? All he knew was that the bright smile and light blush you seemed to always have was for some other guy now. 

A couple of weeks passed and Quinn barely spends time with the team outside of practice and chooses to spend his time going through old photos and videos of the two of you or watching anything you’ve ever suggested to him. He’s halfway through one of your favorite movies when there’s a knock on his door. His heart flutters hoping it's you, but is immediately let down when he realizes that it's Elias and Brock at his door.

“What do you want,” He asks begrudgingly, leaving the door open as he returns to his couch.

“We wanted to make sure that you’re alive,” Elias said.

“Well now you know bye,” Quinn quips at them.

“Dude something is up with you and we’re not leaving until we find out,” Brock said.

“Is this about Y/N?” Elias asked.

“Fine yeah it’s about Y/N. I just really miss her,” Quinn admits after taking a deep breath.

“We used to talk almost everyday and that all stopped on the last road trip and now she’s seeing that new guy. I was finally going to ask her out and she just shut down.”

“Wait you were? You told me you didn’t see her that way and she overheard,” Elias says confused.

“She heard me? Why didn’t you say anything?” Quinn asks as his heart shatters all over again. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt you.

“She was so upset and I didn’t think I could change your mind. She had been pinning after you for months and you never did anything, so I just believed you,” Elias said with a shrug.

“I didn’t think she felt the same way so I was just putting my feelings aside because I cared more about our friendship,” Quinn says, putting his head in his hands. “I think I royally fucked up.”

“Maybe not, Y/N and Evan don’t seem super serious yet. You might be able to wiggle your way back in with her,” Elias says sitting down with Quinn.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“Maybe bring her coffee? Start there and see what happens,” Brock suggests and Quinn just nods making a game plan to get his girl back.

The next morning he gets up early for practice to go pick up your coffee from the cafe you always go to. He knew where to go because the cafe printed their logo on their cups and he had plenty of time to take note of it. As he walked in he immediately recognized your silhouette waiting in line.

“Looks like you beat me to it today,” Quinn says walking up to you in line.

“Beat me to what?” You ask confused why after not talking to each other for a month he decided to come to your cafe.

“I was going to bring you coffee today,” He says awkwardly with a small smile on his face.

“Oh well you can still pay if you want,” You suggest as a joke.

“Yeah I guess that’s true,” Quinn says, hoping a conversation would start on its own. After a minute of silence he gives in and asks, “So what’s new with you I feel like we haven’t really talked that much recently.”

“Nothing much, you know filming you guys all day,” You say wondering if you should mention Evan. It’s still so new and you don’t know if it's going to work out, but he makes you so happy.

“I actually just started seeing this guy. His name is Evan, I think you would like him actually, he's really nice,” You say, deciding to rip off the bandaid.

Quinn knew he wouldn’t like Evan because he was getting with the girl of his dreams.

“Yeah maybe you should bring him out with us after a game or something. I'd love to meet him,” Quinn says kicking himself because that’s the last thing he wants, but anything to get back in your good graces. 

You give him a smile at his comment thinking of what to say next. Luckily for you the barista calls for you two to order. And just like you suggested, Quinn paid. He offers you a ride to the arena before you even start walking back to the metro station to get to work.

You both sit in silence trying to think of anything to talk about. You finally start the conversation by mentioning that an author you had recommended to him a while ago put out a new book and how excited you were to pick it up. 

Just like that the two of you fell back into conversation like you hadn’t missed a beat. You arrive at the arena way quicker than you thought you would and almost don’t want to get out of the car and leave Quinn again. You walk inside and as you are about to separate, but Quinn stops you.

“Would you like to go stop at a bookstore after work today to pick up that book? I could take you home after so you don’t have to take the metro home,” He asks hoping you would say yes.

Yeah that would be really nice. I’ve really missed hanging out with you,” You say with a smile and leaving to go get your work started.

“What’s got you smiling like that? Evan?” Megan, your coworker, asks jokingly.

“Actually no I ran into Quinn this morning when I was getting my coffee and we just talked for a while. Now we’re hanging out after work,” you say, taking a sip of coffee. Hoping to hide your smile behind your cup.

“Wait, really I thought you two were going to avoid each other forever.”

“Well I guess not. He said he was going there to pick up my coffee which was really sweet of him.”

“Oh he’s so into you,” Megan says sitting back in her chair. 

“No he’s not, why would you say that?”

“Think about it, he stops talking to you right after you start seeing Evan and out of nowhere he’s doing all of these nice things for you?” 

You stop and think about it, but there’s no way he told Elias that he could never see you that way. You brush it off and get on with your day. You didn’t have to shoot any content today so you didn’t see any of the guys during their practice, but Quinn was waiting for you after work to take you to go find your book.

You try not to think about what Megan said to you today, pushing it to the back of your mind. Once the two of you get to the bookstore you feel like a kid in a candy store showing Quinn all of the books you had on your reading list but haven’t gotten yet. Without you paying attention he grabbed a basket and started throwing them in there to pay for them himself.

He finally leads you up to the counter and insists on paying for all of the books he grabbed for you. You try to convince him that he didn’t need to but you were cut off by the clerk.

“Girl just let your cute boyfriend pay for your books. That’s what I would do.” You try to deny the accusation from this random teenager, but before you could they were announcing the total and Quinn was inserting his card. He grabbed the bag and walked you back out to the car.

“Sorry if what they said was weird, but just think of it as a payback for all of those coffees you got me,” Quinn said, trying to make you feel better.

“No it’s fine I think it’s kinda funny actually.” You say finally realizing you were there for several hours and were too tired to make dinner.

“I think I’m just going to order take-out for dinner if you want to keep hanging out at my place,” You say with a blush creeping up your cheeks.

“Yeah that’d be great,” Quinn says as you start ordering. He stops at the restaurant while you run in to pick it up. He decides to text Elias and Brock an update and that he’ll tell them more later. 

The drive to your apartment was filled with playful banter about what you should watch and Quinn just watches you as the streetlights illuminate your face. The two of you finally arrive and settle on a new movie you just saw. It really didn’t take much convincing for him to give in; he just wanted to push your buttons a little bit.

Later, they are surrounded by take out tins and you’re starting to drift off. At some point during the movie your head ended up on Quinn’s shoulder and you started to doze off. Quinn wasn’t complaining, but felt like it was time for him to go as the credits started to roll.

“Hey Y/n/n wake up,” He says quietly as you groan and cuddle into him further. “Y/n/n you have to get up-the movie’s over.”

When there’s no sign of you moving he decides to just pick you up and bring you to your bed. Thinking you’re asleep he decides to give you a “friendly” kiss on your forehead and says goodnight. You feel the butterflies that you thought were now reserved for Evan coming back all over again. Quinn grabs the trash from the takeout and sees himself out, and can’t seem to wipe the smile off his face. On his way home he decides to call Elias.

“Elias I’m in so deep I don’t know what to do,” Quinn says concerned because he doesn’t want to break you and Evan up and ruin something else for you.

“Wait what happened?” Elias asked confused because all Quinn had told him was that they were heading back to her place.

“I kissed her-” Quinn said before Elias cut him off.

“You what? You move fast, man.”

“Well I kind of kissed her. She fell asleep on my shoulder and wouldn’t move so I carried her back to her room and then I kissed her forehead. Now I’m going home,” Quinn says still with a deep smile on his face. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“I guess act like nothing happened. She was asleep right? Just leave it be for now and still hang out with her. I can talk to her and see what’s going on with Evan and then you can go from there.”

“Yeah good point thanks Elias, I’ll see you later.”

The next day you walk into work reminiscing last night with Quinn hoping you could relive it again soon. Silly crush aside, you missed your best friend and wanted things to go back to normal. 

Elias practically corners you just to ask questions about Quinn.

“Quinn told me you two hung out last night, so you aren’t ignoring him anymore?”

“I was never ignoring him I just was busy,” You say trying to move around him to get to his office.

“Yeah alright. Anyways, how is it going with Ethan?” Elias asks, teasing you.

“Evan is great. I think I might invite him to a game or something soon,” You say, rolling your eyes.

“Oh wait, really?” Elias asks as you start to walk away. “For the record I think that would be a great idea. Maybe next week against Winnipeg?”

“Yeah I’ll have to ask him. Now if you will excuse me I have to go to my desk.” You say finally walking away. 

You set your things down and open your computer and Megan starts questioning you about your evening with Quinn.

“It really wasn’t anything crazy. We just went to the bookstore where he bought all of them for me and then we went back to my place and got dinner,” You tell her leaving out the fact that he brought you to your bed and kissed you goodnight.

“The fact that he bought all of your books is enough to tell me that he’s into you. I know you had a long list you were slowly buying for yourself.” Megan may have set you up with Evan but she wasn’t blind to how much Quinn was into you and vice versa. 

“I’m thinking of inviting Evan to a game. What do you think?” You ask to change the subject.

“I think it would be a good idea if you weren’t afraid of what your work husband would do,” Megan says, teasing you.

“I- what are you talking about,” You ask, hiding your blush.

“Y/N you can pretend to be oblivious, but Quinn really likes you and you should think about his reaction to having your new boyfriend at a game.”

“Who even knows if Evan would want to go,” You say before locking in on your work for the day.

You had already made plans to go out with Evan later that night so you figured it would be the best time to ask him then. You go home and get ready for your date thinking about what Megan said to you earlier in the day. 

Soon enough you leave to go meet Evan at some new restaurant you would never pick out because it was too fancy for your taste. He greets you with a kiss to your cheek asking you how your day was.

“It was good I just had to deal with Megan and Elias berating me all day,” You say, aiming to leave the questions about Quinn out.

“Why would they do that?”

“Oh I was just thinking about inviting you to a game soon and they were just making fun of me,” You say sheepishly.

“That would be so cool! Would you be able to hang out with me or would it be like a wag situation where I just watch you do your magic,” Evan says with a chuckle as you start to look over the menu.

“I could probably get the night off and sit with you. Do you think you’d be free for the game next Saturday against the Jets?”

“Yeah that would be great! I’m looking forward to it!” He says closing his menu to signal he’s ready to order.

You continue to hang out with both Quinn and Evan, but choose not to tell Quinn about your invite for Evan to come to the upcoming game.

Saturday’s game finally rolls around and Quinn notices your absence during the warmups. You usually can be found on the bench shooting content but tonight it’s Megan in your place. 

“Hey Petey do you know where Y/N is tonight?” Quinn asks hoping Elias might have some insight.

“Yeah she’s in the crowd tonight with Evan,” Elias says pointing towards Y/N and Evan in their seats.

Quinn’s heart drops. You had mentioned that you were thinking about inviting Evan but didn’t think it would be so soon. He tries to forget that you brought your boyfriend to the game, but he can’t forget the fact that you’re wearing his jersey. He can’t help but feel a fire ignite when Evan leans in to say something to you. The sense of jealousy does not go away, but there is a sense of pride knowing his name is the one on your back.

You spot Quinn looking at the two of you and give a shy wave like you had been caught. Evan leaves to go grab some water and you are stuck worrying about what Quinn is thinking about you bringing Evan. 

Honestly since you started hanging out with Quinn again you just felt like your heart wasn’t in it with Evan anymore. You were planning on ending it but he kept talking about how excited he was for the game, so You decided to wait until after to end it with him.

There were no goals by either team after the first period, but something about Quinn seemed off. He was checking the other team left and right and was obviously agitated. The crowd is electric even though the Canucks are down 3-2 half way through the third, but it doesn’t seem to help his mood.

Quinn continues to instigate against the Jets and eventually gets himself into a fight against some player who was aggravating him all night. It doesn’t last long, but enough to get himself a penalty. He looks even more upset than before watching over the play.

Y/N was worried for Quinn. He never was this short tempered and she couldn’t figure what made him that upset. Evan can feel the nerves radiating off of her and rubs her shoulder to try and calm her, but he can’t help but feel like he is the last thing she needs right now.

“Hey Y/N I hate to do this here but I think we should probably end this,” Evan says and you finally take your eyes off Quinn. There is nothing you can do but sigh.

“Evan I’m so sorry I really wish I could’ve been better for you.”

“No it’s ok we had a great time and I’m happy being your friend I just think you have feelings for someone else,” Evan says with little to no hurt in his voice.

“Yeah I would love to still be your friend,” You say with a small smile as he gets up to leave.

Quinn sees Evan get up, but he just assumes that Evan is getting you something from the concessions. He realizes he needs to stop focusing on your date tonight and lock in for the rest of the game.

Unfortunately the Canucks lose 4-2 and Quinn looks like a kicked puppy, but luckily he isn’t assigned to interviews so he can just clean up and get ready to head home. He hopes he can just forget this night, especially seeing you with Evan. 

Little does he know that you’re already waiting for him in the hallway all but pacing the area hoping he’s not too upset to talk to you. Quinn keeps his head down not wanting to see all of the sweet reunions of the couples and families until he hears you call his name. 

He almost doesn’t want to stop worrying Evan would be with you, but you ran up to him to get his attention. Quinn turns around surprised to see you alone with a worried look on your face.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” He asks, his voice laced with annoyance. His comment leaves a sting in your chest.

“Um we actually ended it, but I just came to see how you were doing. I was really worried about you. I've never seen you so upset,” You say with worry lacing your voice.

“Well thanks for checking on me but - wait you ended it with Evan?” Quinn asks, lighting back up.

“Yeah we were better off as friends. I honestly wanted to end it a while ago because I kind of have feelings for someone else, but he was really looking forward to the game,” You say rubbing your arm hoping he might start catching on.

“Oh?” Quinn says with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but still guarded in case it is someone else.

“Yeah he’s some goofball who was stupid and got himself a penalty tonight,” You say, stepping closer to Quinn.

“Well hopefully he can get that under control for the rest of the season, I’m sure you don’t want to be stuck with someone spending time in a box the whole game,” Quinn says with a smirk and leaning in.

You decided to close the gap and the kiss was all you had ever hoped for. There was a mix of fireworks and something that just felt like home as he grabbed your sides to pull you in closer. Neither of you wanted this feeling to end, but unfortunately you had to come back up for air. 

Quinn has the slightest pink tinge and smile on his face as he pulls back far enough to scan your face for any regrets.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long,” He says.

“Finally!” Elias says as he rounds the corner to see the two of you still wrapped up in each other's arms.

“I never thought he would make a move,” Elias adds as Quinn tries to hide in your neck.

“Well maybe we should get out of here and talk a little bit,” You suggest and Quinn excitedly nods, grabbing your hand to lead you out.

The two of you get into his car and you leave the arena stealing kisses from each other at stop lights and looking forward to your future together.

[f0point5]

You know, I love Seb (he’s the person who got me into F1) and I respect Lewis and his accomplishments but one thing I’ll never forgive them (and a lot of the older drivers, most already retired now) for is how they treated Max when he came into F1.

Yes, he might have been their rival but he was also a teenager, a literal child and gosh… I know Max probably doesn’t really care anymore but I still hurt for him sometimes.

Especially when you consider that he was the one paving the way for his generation. When Charles and Lando and George and everyone else came up a few years later they were welcomed as the youth, the future of the sport. Older drivers talking about their talent and how great it is to see them come up.

Max didn’t get that. He got shouts of “too young”, “too reckless”, “too… too much”.

So no, to me the only real grid dad (or maybe grid uncle is more fitting, idk) will be Fernando Alonso who said that some people are simply ready earlier than others and that Max should be judged on his performance in the races, not his age (paraphrased).

Fernando who has been an idol a lot of the younger generation growing up but also exchanged helmets with Oscar and Zhou, joked with Lando on instagram, talks Le Mans with Max and probably many more moments I’m forgetting about rn.

THIS.

Honestly, I don’t really get the Seb hype. He just has never given me good vibes. I didn’t watch during the RB days so maybe if I’d seen his golden era I’d have gotten attached but he has just always seemed…not likeable. Clearly a very driven, straightforward, intelligent guy, but something about him doesn’t sit well with me. Anyway rant over.

I’m not even going to talk about LH because…par for the course.

Yes, they were all mean to him. As grown men, too, how are you not absolutely embarrassed?! I get that he’s a kid and maybe you don’t want to hang out with him or confront the fact that you’re not the hotshots anymore but omg it’s a CHILD. (And Seb who made a bit of a meal out of being a bullying victim as a kid…I see you.)

No one else of Max’s generation would have survived the way they treated him, I stand by that. They all needed the support they got, and Max had none of it from his peers. I can’t see Max being the type who cared per se, because he was probably already used to being…not ostracised, but like…observed? And also because of how he grew up I don’t think anyone’s words could rattle him. But even if he didn’t care the grown men should have known better.

If I were Max I’d still be laughing about how bitter I made men in their 30s. Like “I couldn’t grow facial hair and y’all were running scared”. But I still think it must have been a pretty lonely few years until others his age started catching up.

I think Max was really lucky to have such a tight team (Christian, Helmut, Jos, Ray, GP) around him to insulate him a bit and stop him getting pushed around but the way these men tried it. (Toto I’m looking at your for the Jos phonecall.)

Yeah Fernando is the only one who I think was ready to embrace the new frontier as it were. But he is just kind of like that. I feel like he doesn’t feel his age is the disadvantage that most do, and that’s why he’s not so afraid of younger drivers. Like, his relationship with Max, Carlos, lando, George (nye buddies lol) and Zhou (literally just today saw a quote of him talking about how nice Alonso was to him, even Lance, he treats them as much as peers as he does his own generation, it’s cute.

Also, this is kinda random but I swear Nico and Max were kind of friendly in the early years? Max has known Nico a long time, despite the age difference (he said he remembered glasses Nico used to wear at like 7, and Nico once went out with his mum?), Nico was on the jet with Max on his birthday in…2017? And I think there’s a picture of Max having flown with some guys (including both Nicos in 2016) and for some reason I’ve always had the idea that Hulkenberg was his link to that whole crew? (Idk if this whole friendship is a headcanon but for some reason I feel like these two are/were kinda connected)

But yeah, agree. Grown men acting like little bitches. That generation I think was the last generation with real bitterness between the drivers, though. Idk you wouldn’t catch me being a jerk to a kid but I’ve never been terrified of a kid before so 🤷‍♀️

[d3sertdream3r]

I've been loving trop this season!! I am wondering how the whole SauronxGaladriel thing is going to play out though I'm nervous it won't be very satisfying with everything they've built up and all the marketing hype it's gotten. I'm worried they're baiting shippers to get more people to watch. Thoughts?

Oh boy, I have MANY thoughts!

I am absolutely DEVOURING this season, anon! The first episode in particular really blew me away. As a Saurondriel/Haladriel shipper, I thought all the direct parallels shown in Sauron and Galadriel’s journeys were PERFECT! 

I was worried they were going to retcon Sauron’s genuine feelings of despair and questioning if he should “repent” or not due to the amount of hate and toxicity from the usual suspects on the internet. Instead they really leaned into it, and I loved seeing The Dark Lord having nightmares. It’s a side of him we’ve never seen explored before! And that Annatar reveal… holy moly! Celebrimbor and I were both like: 

Galadriel has been breaking my heart in each episode. Elrond and Gil-Galad need to give my girl a break! Morfydd Clark’s acting is stellar. She is so heartbroken over not recognizing Sauron for who he truly was and even worse… catching feelings for him! She’s really going through it and it hurts, but it’s also brilliant on the writers’ part. 

Everyone else’s acting and stories are great too. Arondir was a favorite of mine last season and continues to be this season. Disa is FANTASTIC and I love her and Durin so much there aren’t any words to describe it. Isildur and Estrid are cute and I’m interested to see how their story plays out. I hardcore ship Elendil and Miriel, and his daughter needs to take a seat before she helps Pharazon destroy their home! I know the story, but MAN was it killing me to see how Eärien is contributing to its downfall in this show (in a good way… I think having her be involved with the opposite side of her father makes for great drama). 

As to the second part of your ask… I have been involved in many online fandoms for about 13 years now, and I gotta say that 98% of the time fans come up with way more interesting storylines than the creators of any show. A lot of the time they just don't deliver. I’ve been burned over and over again, so my bar is pretty low at this point. 

They’ve done a fabulous job with the Saurondriel dynamic so far, and I’ve seen some really interesting fan theories about Galadriel briefly joining Sauron or being taken prisoner by him. As truly fascinating as that would be, I’m not holding my breath. I think it’ll be a rehash of season one’s ending with more violence since they have swords this time around. After that, I’m guessing they’ll focus on Sauron gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing his way to the throne of hell while Galadriel and company work together to stop him. They’ve hinted at Celeborn a bit, I’m sure we’ll see them reunited at some point. 

I’m sorry if this isn’t very reassuring! I wish I could be more optimistic about Saurondriel in season 3, but I honestly don’t think Tolkien’s estate would go for Galadriel falling to the dark side in any capacity. Sauron taking her prisoner could happen, but I highly doubt it simply because as I said before, fans tend to have better ideas than a lot of creators in my opinion.

I could be completely wrong! I have just learned not to trust creators to handle things the BEST way, but that doesn't mean it won't be handled in a GOOD way. Hopefully that makes sense, lol. I think some people will be satisfied and some people won't, just like every other story. The shippy photoshoots and marketing have been delightful! I can't tell if they're baiting until I see the last episode. I think they were just having fun, but some comments from cast and creators would definitely seem a bit baity if the payoff is underwhelming. We'll see!

I really hope the season goes out with a bang and we all have something to love about it; especially Saurondriel shippers!

[agoddamnbeautifulidiot]

Flicker of Hope

Epilogue One: Madison Square Garden - Night One

A/N:

Hey bitches. Bet you never thought you’d see me again.

That’s right. Flicker of Hope is back…sort of…

So, I’m sadly never going to be able to finish this story. A lot has changed for me and a lot has also changed for Niall. It’s also been 7 years since I started this story (and isn’t that fucking wild, like 7 years!?!) With that being said, I’ve decided, mostly because Sarah @harrywavycurly drunkenly asked me on our first Niall show in Raleigh, if I was ever going to finish it. So here is an epilogue to let you know what Niall and our main character are up to in the present day at his two SOLD OUT Madison Square Garden shows AND how they got there. This will be two parts.

Only real warnings are that this is EMO because I was so very emo seeing Niall at MSG, and that it might’ve gotten a little spicy. Nothing explicit, just implied.

Thank you so much for all the love on this. I hope you enjoy ❤️

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There’s nothing like seeing Niall perform.

Even sitting at sound check, you’re in awe. Niall has always been an energetic artist on stage, even with his knee issues. But this particular performance, this venue, he’s hyped like never before.

He’s played Madison Square Garden before, several years before the two of you had met. This time, though, it’s his name on the marquee. Only his. And while the thought of that has given him quite a bit of anxiety over the last year, he’s also been bouncing off the walls waiting for this moment to arrive.

Standing next to the mix, you laugh watching Niall and John wiggle their bodies at each other as they run through “If You Leave Me”. You quickly open your phone camera and record them, laughing harder as Niall’s hips move ridiculously.

“Such a dad dance,” you mutter, shoving your phone back in your pocket. You make your way through the floor, nodding and smiling at the crew members still working, and stand at the end of the catwalk just as the song ends. The band all congregates for a moment, Niall facing the drums as they talk. Smiling, you cup your hands around your mouth and shout, “Play ‘The Tide’!” Ducking down quickly, you can hear the band laughing and the sound of quick footsteps.

Over the lip of the stage, Niall’s face appears, eyebrow raised as he smirks at you. “You gon’ interrupt every sound check, love?”

Smirking back, you stand, bracing yourself against the barrier. “If you ever took my requests seriously, maybe I wouldn’t have to.” He laughs, eyes crinkling.

“I took ya request that one time.”

“Niall,” you scoff. “I suggested ‘San Francisco’ in Raleigh as a joke. It made absolutely no sense to debut it there and you know it. You just like being chaotic.” He just grins cheekily.

“Hey, lovebirds!” You both glance back to center stage at John, arms resting on his bass, the band watching you both. “Be nice to finish this and get some lunch if ya don’t mind. You know how Jake gets if we don’ keep him fed.” Rolling your eyes, you flip him off, everyone laughing when Jake throws a pick at him.

Niall turns back to you, hands on his hips and winks before turning and striding back up the catwalk. Leaning further against the barrier, you smile, watching how happy each and every one of them is at this moment.

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Two hours before Niall goes on, you’re starting your pre show ritual. The doors of MSG have just opened and you know in a few minutes the area will start to fill with chatter. Triple checking that your pass is visible and you have your phone (neither you nor Niall has ever forgotten the anxiety of you getting lost in Boston almost seven years ago), you head out the backstage door and onto the floor.

When you’d first started following Niall, during his Flicker Sessions, the idea of being in the crowd had honestly been kind of terrifying. Niall’s fans were great, but you’d seen the mania of One Direction, so you hadn’t known what to expect. Later, during the tail end of the Flicker World Tour, you’d decided to start walking around the crowd, passing out picks and accepting gifts from the people who loved him.

When Niall had announced The Show Live on Tour, you’d seen quite a few TikToks of his fans making friendship bracelets and decided to do it yourself. Niall had laughed when the Amazon order of beads, letters and string had arrived.

“How many bracelets are ya planning on makin’ there babe?” He’d asked as you organized your purchases on the dining table.

You’d shrugged, mentally counting your letter packs. “I don’t know. I was thinking like 75-100 per show depending on how hard it is.”

Niall had thought you’d gone absolutely mad. “But…there’s 96 shows.”

“That’s why I’m getting started now.”

In the end, you’d managed to make 5,000 bracelets. Well, you, a few friends and even Niall had made a few, despite how frustrating he found the art. So, at each show, you grabbed an already counted out bag full and headed out into the arena, handing out a few in each section. Having been around Niall so long, most of the fans knew who you were and were incredibly nice. Sometimes though, you’d walk by a crowd and no one would really seem to recognize you. Those were fun. You’d give out a few bracelets and then, later on Instagram on TikTok, find out someone had told them who you were. Niall always got a good laugh out of those posts.

As the crowd started filtering in, you headed to the elevator to start at the higher seats. The elevator attendant happily took you all the way up to the top, accepting a bracelet as payment and offering a fist bump as you left. Even with your massive fear of heights, this view of the stage was incredible. You could see people filling in the seats below, laughter and screaming already floating up into the rafters.

You notice people filing into the bridge and made your way in their direction. Laughing slightly, you shook your head at the photo queue forming behind Harry’s banner. You and Niall had come up here earlier and done the same, taking silly photos and videos to send to his friend and former band mate.

“Oh my god! Y/N!” Smiling, you turn and wave as a group of younger girls comes in your direction.

“Hi!” You offer them bracelets, accepting some from them in return, and take a few photos, pointing at Niall on their shirts. Wishing them a good time, you start making your way around to the other side and back into the rest of the arena.

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You finally make it backstage about halfway into Del Water Gap’s set. The bracelets had run out a while ago, but you enjoyed hanging out with the fans and lurking on them.

The band is chilling as you come into the doorway of the green room. Your eyes search the roof for that familiar face, and you frown slightly when you can’t find him. Emily looks up and smiles at you. She points to her right and you look down the hall at the door to Niall’s room. She laughs and catches the kiss you blow in her direction and several others look up and laugh as you disappear down the hall.

His door is open and you stick close to the doorframe as you watch him. He’s in his pants and tank top, vest hanging on the back of his chair. Standing there, you take a minute to admire him. Niall has always, always been attractive to you. Blonde, brunette, scrawny, now more filled out, it’s never mattered to you. He just has this energy, this joy and confidence that makes him so easy to love, even when it once used to be in secret.

“Uh oh, don’ be gettin’ dat look in your eye.” Your eyes meet and you shake your head at him.

“And what look is that?”

Niall wiggles his eyebrows, shoulders shimmying slightly. “Like ya wish ya could ravish me. I hate to say it, love, but we just don’t have time right now.”

You snort and roll your eyes, fully coming into the room and walking over to his chair. He turns to face you better and even with his silly grin, you can’t help but reach out to cradle his face in both hands. Leaning down, you feel him tilt his head up to you, his eyes shining. Your lips brush against his lightly, and you can feel the twitch of his body when you pull just slightly out of reach after so little affection. With a sigh, your fingers brush the short hairs at the nape of his neck. “Hate to break it to you, Horan, but we aren’t all slags like you. Some of us can keep it in our pants for a whole concert.”

Niall jerks slightly back from you, slightly shocked for only a moment before he smiles and his hands grab your waist to drag you onto his lap. He grasps you firmly, fingers digging in as he tickles you. “Oh ‘m a slag am I? Gotta talk ta whoever is teaching ya language like that, babe.”

You laugh, pulling at his fingers in an effort to make the torture stop. “It was Deo! It was Deo!” Niall laughs at your shouting, finally ceasing his assault on your sides and just winds his arms around your middle.

“Always knew that guy was trouble.” He mumbles, humming slightly as your fingers massage his neck.

“Well,” you draw out the word. “I’d say trouble honestly runs in the family.” Niall snorts, rolling his eyes. His hold on you tightens and his head drops forward to rest on your sternum. “Also, I feel like I’ve been letting you watch too much Bridgerton if you’re using words like ‘ravish’.”

You both laugh lightly, your embrace and the moment becoming softer. “I don’ know about lettin’ me since you’re the one who always turns it on.”

“Debatable.”

In a regular day, you’d expect more of a silly fight with Niall. Tonight, however, it’s not shocking that he just huffs out a laugh against your skin and murmurs, “Whatever ya say, love.”

Your fingers continue to massage his neck and Niall’s arms tighten a bit more around you. The music from his opener plays faintly in the background and you can hear his band milling about in the other room. In this moment, it’s just the two of you, wrapped around each other, content.

“Hey,” you say softly, gently pulling his head up to meet his eyes. “I’m gonna be sappy for a few seconds, and then we’re gonna move on because we do not have time for tears right now.” Niall huffs out a laugh, but says nothing. Staring into those striking blue eyes of his eyes, you take a breath. “I am so, so, so incredibly proud of you, Niall James. You are so talented and you’ve worked your cute little ass off to get here. You are the most amazing person in my life and I’m so lucky that I get to be here with you. I’m so lucky that I get to stand beside you while you live your dreams. There is nowhere else I’d ever want to be then here with you.” There is a burning right behind your eyes and you know they’re shining with the possibility of tears. Niall isn’t much better as he listens to you, hands gripping your sides. You smile and crinkle your nose, trying to lighten the mood. “Plus, like I said, that’s one cute little Irish ass you got there, so I’m pretty much the luckiest girl on the planet.”

He laughs and shakes his head. Leaning in, he pulls you closer and you hum softly at the touch of his lips on yours. The kiss is firm, but short and soft, as the door is open and the two of you know you can get carried away.

Drawing back, Niall just looks at you, enjoying the way your cheeks tint slightly pinker at his staring. “Ya know,” he says, clearing his throat. “I do agree that me ass is cute, but I don’ know about little.” He smirks, throwing his head back in laughter when you roll your eyes and shove his shoulder. He opens his mouth to say something else, but a knock on the doorframe interrupts. Nodding at the crew member who tells him it’s time to get on stage, his eyes meet yours and you can see the nerves returning.

Grabbing his face, you kiss him one more time, pouring all of your love and pride into it. You rest your forehead against his and breathe him in for just a moment. When your eyes meet again, he looks less nervous and more determined and you lean in. “Go give them a fucking show, Niall Horan.”

The smile he gives you is almost blinding.

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

It’s emotional watching Niall perform.

You’ve seen him play so many times at this point, but you know this one is special. Everyone in the room knows this one is special.

Niall is looking around the packed arena, eyes shining as he takes it all in. From your spot at the side of the stage, you can see how crazy the fans are going. It’s a contrast to the first time you saw him on tour by himself, flying to Dublin to surprise your best friend. It’s crazy to think about your life back then. To think about how far not only Niall had come, but how far the two of you had come together.

You’d thought your life had changed the day you and Niall had admitted having feelings for each other. And, in a lot of ways, it had. But it had really started to change after Orlando. After Robbie.

"I guess I'll take this as my queue to back off then, love?" He chuckles, eyebrows moving suggestively as he looks between the two of you. "Don't think you'd be too keen on sharing, eh Horan?"

Niall goes rigid in front of you, nostrils flaring slightly as he releases a breath. "Don't think I would, no, mate." He practically bites the end of the last word and your mind returns to you as you wrap your hand around his bicep.

"Let's just get back to the group, alright?" You ask softly, fully aware that while Niall isn't a violent man, he'd do just about anything to protect you.

"Yeah Nialler," Robbie says, and you catch his smirk again when Niall's jaw clenches. "Let's just put this behind us and get back to the party."

Niall pushes off the door, grabbing your hand in his. He pulls you past Robbie, who shrugs with that stupid smirk on his face and shoves his hands into his pockets before he follows behind you both.

Robbie had not only been a creep, but he’d also ended up being an absolute asshole. It had been a shock to you, but sadly not to Niall when it had come out that Robbie had been using you. He’d known you were close with Niall. He’d spent weeks figuring out a way to get close to you, practically stalking you. And when you and Niall had finally had your first real kiss, Robbie had been hiding down the hall, filming all of it.

The video had dropped during Niall’s Atlanta show. While a grainy video of a celebrity making out with his best friend wasn’t a huge deal, the fans and tabloids had blown the story up. Every part of Niall’s life and every part of your life had been scrutinized. It hadn’t made for the best beginning to a relationship and, in the end, you’d left before the tour bus had reached Chicago, the two of you agreeing that some separation was a good idea.

It had been hard on you. And you knew it had been hard on Niall too. The different ways you’d both handled it had kept you apart even longer. You’d buried yourself in work, taking assignment after assignment just to avoid thinking about all of it. Niall had returned to the road for his Flicker World Tour. Neither of you had reached out to the other.

And then there had been Hailee.

Now that…that had hurt.

Even though you and Niall had never made any promises to each other at the time and hadn’t had any discussions about dating, it had been hard to see when the news hit. But you knew Hailee, at least casually. And you knew she and Niall had been in a somewhat similar situation to the two of you. Despite how short their relationship was, if you wanted to call it that, it had been all anyone around you could talk about. They’d only been together a few months during the early days of his World Tour, but even then it had wrecked you. After it was over, Niall had reached out. The two of you spent days talking, back and forth, phone calls, texts and FaceTimes. Niall had confessed that he’d leaned heavily on her because he felt lost without you and it had all spiraled a little out of his control. He’d apologized a ridiculous number of times and you’d finally had to tell him to stop, because what truly did he have to apologize for? So the two of you kept talking. And then, slowly but surely, your friendship repaired and when Niall asked you to join him for the last few weeks of his tour, you hadn’t been able to say no.

Things hadn’t immediately felt normal. Everyone could tell you and Niall were awkward around each other. They all tried to play it cool and diffuse the tension, but it was definitely difficult all the way around. After the tour had ended in September that year, the two of you had decided it was time to sit down and really talk about everything. The talk ended up with the both of you holed up in Niall’s LA house for over a week. There had been screaming, crying, every emotion possible, but it had all culminated in the decision to try again.

Your second beginning had been much easier. Well, as easy as dating in the public eye can be. It had been agreed that you would actually take it slow. So, you’d moved your stuff out of Niall’s house and stayed with some friends. He’d come to pick you up and taken you out on real, slightly normal dates. It had been really nice to sort of get to know each other again. Heartbreak had changed both of you, but in the end, it had been for the better because it had led you here. Four and a half years later, everything was different.

You watched Niall walk over to the piano, ready to play his first ballad of the night. The crowd was going absolutely wild and you could see from the look on his face just how unbelievable this all was to him. He sits down and just looks around for a minute and the roaring intensifies.

“Good evening Madison Square Garden,” He says, leaning against the piano. The crowd shrieks. Niall laughs sightly. “What is life?” You laugh at that, already feeling the sting of tears as you watch him try to contain his own emotions. He welcomes them to the show and then raises his arms. “We made it!” All he can do is look around in awe as the crowd starts screaming again. He’s shaking his head and it takes everything in you to stay in your spot when all you want is to hug him tight. It gets even more difficult when he actually leans over and you can tell he’s letting some of the tears flow. It’s amazing how much Niall’s fans love him and how much he truly appreciates everything they do for him. He tells you all the time that he still doesn’t believe his life is real.

“Scared ‘m gonna wake up one day and it’s all gonna be a dream.” His head is on your chest, arm gripping tightly at your hip. Your nails lightly scratch his scalp and he nuzzles into you further. “What could I have possibly done ta deserve all dis? Just some kid from Mullingar.” He mumbles the last part into your skin.

With a frown, you look down at him and shift slightly onto your side and shuffle down the bed. He lets out an adorable whine that he’ll deny later, but adjusts with you and you end up facing each other. Burying your hand in his hair, your fingers tug just slightly and he looks up at you. “Just some kid? You’re Niall Motherfucking-Boss-Babe Horan.”

“That’s not me middle name.”

You ignore him. “You deserve everything good in this world and anyone that says any different will have to deal with me.”

He grins at you, visible only by the moonlight streaming in through the window. “And what would ya do about it, huh? Know how you feel about violence, love.”

“Well, in order to defend your honor, I’d do whatever necessary.”

His hand glides up your side and over your shoulder to tangle in your hair. “Whatever necessary, huh?” You hum and nod. “So, ya’d get in the ring for me? Duke it out?”

“If I had to.” He tugs lightly on your hair and your head falls back.

Shifting closer, Niall plants a kiss on your exposed neck, rubbing his stubble against you just how he knows you like. “Hmmm, would pay good money to see you duel for me, darlin’.” Letting go of your hair, he skims his hand back down your body, squeezing your thigh as he pulls it up over his hip. He moves even closer, pressing himself against you as his lips trail over your neck. “Maybe you could challenge my enemies to some mud wrestlin’. Wouldn’t mind dat at all.”

You snort, one hand on his back, the other back in his hair. “You’re such a guy, Ni.”

“A guy who’s utterly mad about ya.”

You both laugh, eyes meeting as you hold each other. Then, after a few moments, you pull Niall’s mouth to yours, whispering against his lips as you roll until he’s hovering over you. “Prove it.”

You smile at the memory now, arena lit up as the crowd audience all hold up their phone lights. As the piano fades out, Niall smiles out at them and the stage lights go dark.

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The curtain drops as the band prepares for their encore. Every one of them is bouncing in excitement, looking at each other and just laughing as the crowd goes wild just beyond the piece of fabric. Niall stands in the middle of the stage, shaking his hands out and smiling so wide that you just know his face hurts. There’s barely any light back here, but you can see the moment he spots you. Always drawn to each other like magnets.

He rushes over to you, impressively not stumbling a bit in the dark. Strong arms reach for you, pulling you in and he tucks his face into your neck. His body is practically vibrating, he has so much energy. The roar of the crowd is deafening and you can hear them chanting his name. Your hands rub at is sweaty neck and the back of his soaked tank top. The band starts getting ready to play again and you lean in the plant a kiss on the side of Niall’s head. His lips against your neck curve in a smile and he squeezes you one last time before he pulls back and runs back out into the middle of the stage.

You smile, bouncing around in the wings as the curtain opens to the sounds of “Heartbreak Weather” and thundering cheers from the crowd.

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“I am exhausted in da best possible fuckin’ way.” You laugh as Niall plops down on the couch in your hotel room. “Could sleep for ten years.”

Walking over to him, you force him to sit up, helping him shrug off the grey vest and chucking it into the empty side of his suitcase nearby. “Well, you definitely can’t do that considering you have another show to play tomorrow night.”

Niall groans, lifting his arms slightly as you strip off his tank top. “And anoter one after dat. Why did I agree to dat?”

“I cannot help you figure that one out, babe. No one asked me what I thought about your schedule.” You laugh when he flops back on the couch again, arms flung dramatically over his eyes. “Ok, come on big guy, let’s get you in the shower and then ice your poor knees. You have got to stop kneeling on stage.” Niall resists as you attempt to pull him up. “Niall!” You laugh, pulling his arms off his face and attempting to pull him off the couch.

His face scrunches up, eyes glinting at he mock glares at you. “Ya can’t be mean to me. I just played da most famous arena in the world.”

Staring at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, you just shake your head and let go of his arms. “Alright,” You comply, stepping back only a few inches. “If you don’t want to get up and shower and take care your knees, you don’t have to.”

Niall nods, slumping further into the soft cushions. “That’s what I thought.”

“Guess I just won’t be able to give you your present for being so incredible on stage tonight.” With a sad shrug, you tug at the bottom of your shirt, looking at the floor for a second. “Oh well.”

You move as if to walk away, but Niall sits up, hand grabbing your arm before you can go too far. “Wait.” He’s looking at you intently now and it’s all you can do to keep your giggles at bay over teasing him. “What’s me present?”

“No, no, you want to lay on the couch, all sweaty and smelly, so I’ll leave you to that.”

“But!” It’s only how tired he is after the show that lets you pull out of his grasp and walk into the bedroom. Once in there, you wait a minute, biting your lip to hold in your laughter. Niall finally calls out to you. “Babe!”

Slowly, you move to lean on the bedroom doorway, looking at him as innocently as you can. “Yes, honey?”

Niall’s glare is probably slightly more real now, but his eyes are still shining with amusement when he holds out his arms. “Come help me up so I can shower and me hot, amazing girlfriend can give me a present.” You raise your eyebrow, then crinkle your nose as if in thought. He groans again, huffing out a short laugh. “Darlin’, please!”

You push yourself off the doorway. “Oh fine. I guess you did earn it.” He lets out a real laugh and it’s your turn to groan as he makes you do most of the work pulling him up. “Let’s go superstar.” Turning to lead him, you shriek as he presses himself against your back, fingers tickling your sides and starts walking you both quickly towards the bathroom.

“Dat was not very nice love.” He breathes out against your neck as you both stumble into the bathroom and he shuts the door. He’s grinning at you when you manage to get away from him, leaning back against the sink.

Smirking back at him, you shrug. “Just trying to get you motivated, babe.”

He nods, stepping towards you. His rough fingertips find your hips, pushing up and under your shirt, just above the top of your jeans. Leaning in to you, he squeezes the flesh of your sides. “’m pretty motivated now. Any chance I could get me present a little early?”

You run your hands down his chest, admiring the way his heart is beating and the shaky breath he takes in when you reach for his belt. “I mean, I guess I could give you part of it now. Since you were so amazing on stage tonight and you managed to get off the couch.” Niall nods, eyes tracking your lips with his eyes right before he leans in. Your fingers make quick work of his belt and the button on his pants, swallowing his groan when one of your hands disappears beneath the fabric.

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Later, you’re both tucked into bed, skin against skin, just listening to the sounds of the city outside. You know it’s late, but neither of you are asleep just yet. Head on Niall’s chest, you listen to his heartbeat, feel the rise and fall as he breathes. The hand on your back slowly taps, something Niall only does when he’s thinking hard.

“Ni.” You say softly, rubbing your hand over his chest. His other hand reaches for yours, fingers intertwining as he hums in acknowledgement. “I know I’ve already said it, but I’m so proud of you. Honestly, I don’t know when I’ll stop saying it because you continue to amaze me every single day.” His chest hitches just slightly under you. “Watching you perform, seeing you on stage…” You breath in, attempting to quell your own emotions. “I’m reminded every single day how truly amazing you are. How much you love what you do and how much you appreciate everyone around you. This incredible, talented, humble, beautiful man that I am so lucky that I get to even be on the planet at the same time as him.” A few tears slip out and you sniffle lightly.

“Love.” He whispers, the hand on your back reaching up to stroke your hair.

You shake your head and move to sit up, face him as he lounges on the pillows. Smiling at him, you wipe the tears off your cheeks. “Ugh, I’m always a blubbering mess around you, Horan.”

Chuckling, he reaches up and runs the pad of thumb under your eye. “Yeah, but you’re my blubberin’ mess and I wouldn’t have it any oter way.” That makes you giggle and you lean over to kiss him, pressing against him, needy for the feel of him against you. “I love you so much.” The words are whispered against your lips.

“I love you too.”

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Part Two Coming Soon

[loverofstufflof]

Airing out my LMK trailer/S5 thoughts cause u gotta do this somehow

Most glaring, animation. It’s not bad, by any means. I’d certainly be proud of myself if I were able to come up with it.

However, I think it’s important to consider the context of the show’s style, and how it’s been improving significantly over instalments. Also, it’s Flying Bark. Flying Bark is just gonna make banger animation.

Am I a bit disappointed when comparing it to Emperor’s Wrath? Yeah. Especially when we’ve been waiting a full year for this—twice as long as usual.

But I’m not saying I won’t be watching the show because of it. I still love this story. Fuck, my favourite series is Epithet Erased. The show that’s best described as JPEGs wiggling around your screen for 2 hours. I can handle less than expected animation if it’s made up for by good writing.

I’ve been seeing a lot of people attacking invisible fans that claim they’re going to boycott the show because of this. Respectfully, source? The most aggressive criticism I’ve seen is “man that’s disappointing ig, still excited tho”. Who are you guys even fighting lmao. (Unless this is something happening on other platforms and you’re just venting on here which, valid)

Nevertheless, as I’ve said before, it’s not bad animation, just not up to the standard we’re used to. People are allowed to be disappointed. Let them be. This show isn’t flawless.

It’s looking to be real, all things considered. We’ve never gotten a fan leak this elaborate before, and it contains a lot of elements that were just recently revealed. Unless they’ve been getting announcements much earlier than we have (considering this fanbase’s sleuth skills, I’d doubt it) then there’s no other explanation other than it being official.

Official, however, doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to look that way the whole time. The animation is being done by another studio, yes, but only partially. Flying Bark is still here for the fun. This other studio also isn’t incompetent, they’re behind things like Carmen Sandiego. They know what they’re doing.

They’re also primarily handling additional material, means promotions, meaning trailers. Listen, it’s a bit of a stretch considering the fact that all trailers so far have been taken directly from the show, but also it’s industry standard to make a trailer before you’re even done, meaning you gotta cut some corners for the scenes you’re showing until you polish them up in post.

We know LEGO has a habit of keeping LMK things in their vault until they need to, this may be something they had lying around from early prod and released to maintain hype.

Any which way, this development is very much temporary, only applying because the team is currently working on a movie and need to momentarily lessen their workload. Even if the odds are against us and S5 looks like a PowerPoint presentation, it’ll likely go back to normal later.

Biiig animation rant aside, I am a tad bit sad about the direction the story is going in (namely the abandonment of Red Son) and the fan service is a bit much, but honestly what else are we expecting from JTTW fanfic.

I’m stoked to see more Macaque though—he’s looking to be becoming a proper protagonist, which is great for angst! Yippee!

One thing I haven’t seen anyone talk about is the complete lack of Nüwa. You know, the character they’ve been teasing this whole time? Where is she? Not in the trailer. Not in the posters.

Makes me wondering if this is a part of the new season, teasing the next one, the one Nüwa’s in, later.

[gunslinginnhogtyin]

Honestly, just feeling super grateful for the people I’ve come across in the rpc since creating this blog for my silly lil cowboy. I’ve had ups and downs when it comes to roleplay since starting back in the day but never have I ever put a character of my own out there and that was something that scared me for a long time, being aware of the way that the rpc used to view OC’s. I’ve always been a big fan of OC’s, even when I played canon characters! It was my favorite part about building relationships and dynamics between muses, having canons interact with OC’s. So many interesting things could come of it! I met so many good friends this way! Now here I am, seeing things from the other side—things have gotten so much better obviously! And I’ve been having the time of my life sharing my boy with you all. It thrills me that people can get just as hyped over him as I can!!

I have so many threads going on but it doesn’t even overwhelm me anymore because I’m excited to always have something to reply to whenever I get to it. I’ve met so many lovely people so far and had the privilege to have my fella interact with so many different muses in both positive and negative ways (both are welcome bc they yield interesting results everytime). I’m so thankful for those who give him attention, those who admire him from afar, and those who reach out to me (even if I’m not always that responsive!!!) so we can just casually chat about things.

Super thankful also for the folks who reblogged my commission post and to those who sent me commissions as well, it’s been super helpful and it’s made me realize that my art is actually worth more than I initially was chalking it up to be due to me being super hard on myself as an artist lmfao. So thank yall for boosting my confidence with my art and my son here, truly it means the world to me!

[ms-scarletwings]

Off my chest but I hate that Cthulhu is the flagship lovecraftian figure I hate that all eldritch horror icons get to be compared to Cthulhu in our timeline now that it’s all called the “Cthulhu Mythos” and what for???

I got into HP for the short stories, but I did eventually get around to the bulkier, connected stuff, and honestly? “Call of Cthulhu” is one of the weakest and underwhelming examples of the guy’s work that I’ve gotten through. THIS is the monster that in huge part made Lovecraft a pop culture name? THIS story?

Like sorry not sorry but Cthulhu is a little bitch boy stuck in timeout. Yes yes, I admit he’s pretty cool in a vacuum and I guess the “that is not dead which can eternal lie” quote does go pretty damn hard. But put into context it’s just…. Eh… like, I’m not going to even touch the overflowing can of worms that is the racist overtones since it’s already-taken low hanging fruit at this point. I honestly just found CoC boring and anticlimactic because I made the mistake of chomping through so many of huge other monster stories first. Once you’ve inoculated yourself into the stakes of At the Mountains of Madness or gotten in the know on Innsmouth or Yog-Sothoth, you feel like squidboi doesn’t really throw much punch even for the amount of suspense that he does build up to. He’s the first and only otherworldly deity so far I’ve even read to be defeated and shooed back by mere mortal men- mortal men, ones that didn’t even know wtf they were doing or facing, mind you.

I have less than nothing against people who enjoy the story and Cthulhu, but I just want to know… why? More specifically why this one got so famous and influential for a whole genre of horror. Cthulhu is just not really even scary to me. Ephraim Waite is scary. Shoggoths are fucking terrifying. The lore of Elder Things are everything I never knew I wanted in eldritch horror, and their story was genuinely compelling. The Deep Ones I thought I got their gist and wasn’t so interested in before reading, and they actually pulled me in past expectation. Cthulhu’s like…. A “euclid” class scp at worst. The Innsmouth plot is the real setting for the theme of serious danger that is plotting and bubbling just beneath the uncanny surface.

I’m not telling anyone to not read Call of Cthulhu, but if you already have and you didn’t really get the appeal and hype for Lovecraft, Don’t be afraid to try explore down a different branch of the Mythos. You might be surprised. If you did read and enjoy CoC, make sure you check out the other stories because in my opinion it’s pretty uphill from there.

[veeples]

book recommendations

@lavampira AND @narrativefoiltrope beloveds tagged me! thank you for the tag dani and i'm still soooo thrilled you loved goth western so much <3

tagging: @nerdferatum and @winesharksea and anyone else! tbh if you're a mutual of mine and you're on storygraph hmu, i love following other people and seeing what they're reading.

1. the last book I read:

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty — I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting to tear up from a memoir detailing her year working for a crematory, but it ended up being a very touching experience in understanding how Caitlin went from college graduate to eventual Ask a Mortician (one of my fave youtubers I miss her so much). It is a book that deals with death, both the traumatic and the relatively peaceful, so maybe not the LIGHTEST of reads, but one I actually wanna re-visit soon!

2. a book I recommend:

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin — I got recommended this series by @queerbrujas, and wow! I think if you're someone whose interested for a sort of, soft start into sci-fi, the elements are there and add value, but the emotional arcs and world building that unfolds is just so masterfully done. Once I really got into the first book, I tore through the next two in the series with relative ease.

3. a book that I couldn’t put down:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo — This is just a super fun fantasy read!! It makes me wanna read more like, fast paced heist sort of novels. Each character in the ensemble has a strong personality so they all stand out from each other, but they complement each other well and offer interesting relationships with each other! I was so enamored by the book I had to run out to a store to buy the sequel the night I finished it.

4. a book I’ve read twice (or more):

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir — Funny thing is, I almost never re-read books because I feel like, good God I already have so many on my to be read list that I keep adding onto, I don't have time to re-read books. But this series has a ton of re-readability value, and it's almost necessary to take a second or third or fourth pass (depending on how insane you are) to pick up on the subtleties and the continuous narrative of themes that Muir puts down once you get past the memes and lesbians. I'm putting the whole series here because I've read Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth 2-3 times now and will probably re-read again before Alecto the Ninth comes out (impatient grumbling).

5. a book on my TBR:

Sterling House by Alix E. Harrow — Can I be completely honest, I actually don't know that much about this book. A librarian gave me a little book magazine when I was picking up some books one day and this book was on the cover. And the cover was just very pretty. I'm a very shallow person, you see. Also a bit like a bird because I see something pretty and I want it. But I also really wanna read Dungeon Meshi, so there's that too.

6. a book I’ve put down:

The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese by Michael Paterniti — This book was honestly such a drag to read. Slow paced and at 80% in, I still hadn't gotten to the confrontation between the original cheesemaker and his best friend who sold his family's cheese and business for money, which is so hyped up. There's a point to it taking so fucking long, and the point is, that's apparently just how the people the author visited told stories. Long winding tales with bunches of offshoots. Probably great as an orally told story. Bit miserable as written word.

7. a book on my wishlist:

The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels by Stefan Timmermans, Pamela Prickett — This one I saw in an e-mail for new books that came out in March, I think, and I have an interest in funeral practices and issues in modern day death management, thanks to being such a big fan of Caitlin Doughty. This book deals with the growing phenomenon of the unclaimed dead, which got touched upon in one of Caitlin's books, but not expanded upon. I try not to buy books if I can avoid it, but this one being so new and probably a little too niche for my library, I'll have to purchase it if I wanna read it!

8. a favorite book from my childhood:

??? — I don't think I have one to speak of that I can remember. I remember really being enchanted with some book about a girl finding a secret garden, so maybe it was Literally just The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgsen Burnett. Or like, I really liked the kid's book about the old lady who swallows a fly. Does that count???

9. a book you would give to a friend:

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson — This book was recommended to me by a friend, specifically the audiobook version. And wow, yeah! I kind of judge audiobook, and really narrator quality, by this one! The narrator put so much love and emotion into narrating the book, which really highlighted the emotional high points and made them punchier. This book may have made cry a little because I am always a sucker about characters who feel they don't fit in anywhere, who feel odd, who feel different, but find support and community and love with other people who feel the same way. So, like, I would definitely give this book to someone if they wanted an introduction to how good audiobooks can be.

10. a book of poetry or lyrics you own:

The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda — I bought the bilingual version of this book last year so I could see how Spanish is used in poetry, and then found out that he has a complex way of using Spanish so maybe it's not that useful. <3 And then I didn't read it at all, it's still on my bookshelf. Judging me. u_u I'll get to it one day.

11. a nonfiction book you own:

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado — Don't remember how this book got on my radar, but I went out and bought it and was so pleasantly surprised by how the style Machado uses in it to detail her memoir of an abusive relationship. So it's not a light read whatsoever, but just by style alone made it very evocative, it almost reads like literary fiction. I never thought about approaching memoirs or non-fiction in what I figure is a kind of non-standard way, so it stands out from the other non-fiction books I've read.

12. what are you currently reading:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver — So this is apparently a sort of, like, modern retailing of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, which I would have got, except like, I'm not that big of a literary nerd. So I had to look that up. Really, it caught my attention because I'm currently re-listening to a fave podcast, Old Gods of Appalachia, and this book is set in like, 80s-90s Appalachia so it's adjacent enough to my interest. So far it is masterfully written and has such a strong voice for the narrator and protagonist. It's also a thick ass book, well over 500 pages which is a bit out of my usual range, but it's been nice to sit down with a longer story that feels like I'm sitting down to listen to the guy tell me his life's story.

13. what are you planning on reading next:

??? — Bruv who knows? I don't plan these things until I'm done with whatever I'm reading now u.u. I have a little gay romance I bought during indie bookstore day and I also promised @sysba to read some other Chinese manhua with some other sad tragic gay boys. It'll probably be that one.

[sapphic-book-tournament]

God damn! I was not expecting the amount of interaction I’ve gotten at all. Thank you so much guys! I’d honestly never heard of The Locked Tomb series before I posted asking for suggestions but it’s fans have been hyping it up so much that I guess I’m gonna have to buy it. Round 1 Part 3 will be up tomorrow followed by Part 4 on Friday hope to keep this energy going!

[fandomsoda]

Obligatory SB Ruin first-impressions opinion piece

On its face, I do not like Ruin. It is not satisfying at all and simply opens up more questions in a very, VERY annoying way. And the few character moments I do adore about it are underutilized and short-lived. And that pisses me the HELL off.

Roxy and Cassie’s past and connection feel like an afterthought. It feels like it’s there to bait us, honestly. Like nothing came out of that other than an out-of-nowhere gutwrench scene that feels so cheap in hindsight. And Eclipse, god Eclipse (or as I call them when I don’t want to get canon vs fanon confused- Ruinclipse). Eclipse is great. I adore them, just like everyone else does. But there is not enough of them, not even close. In fact, I would rather have not gotten them at all because how DARE Steelwool make a character they KNEW would be fucking BELOVED and only give them like 3 lines of dialogue? And they’re great. Their voice in particular is fucking incredible. Kellen Goff KNOWS what he’s doing with character voices. But there was like none of them. And that angers me for OBVIOUS FUCKING REASONS.

My biggest gripe with Ruin is that it has things that are really fucking good, but there isn’t ENOUGH.

And don’t even get me started on how the whole mimic thing came out of nowhere and just brings up more questions and complicates things EVEN MORE. And now I am desperately digging for an un-before-discovered ending in feeble hope for SOMETHING, ANYTHING, that even vaguely SEEMS like closure or an actual fucking ENDING.

We have no background for anything, btw. We don’t know how Cassie knows Gregory, we don’t know where she came from, we know NOTHING about her.

This dlc sacrificed half-decent storytelling in favor of scares and gameplay and that is the exact opposite of what it should have tried to do. I consider Ruin a massive fucking step down from Security Breach as someone who loves Security Breach despite its flaws.

Ruin was not exactly boring like most critics I’ve seen claim, but rather the moments of excitement and good HAVE NO PAYOFF.

As it stands right now, I would honestly rather Ruin not have happened.

I will still post about it, and join in fandom hype, but not because of what it is. But rather what I know it could be. I say all of these things out of love. Because I love FNAF and I love SB and I love the direction it took, but god I hate how they have done nothing to enrich it with Ruin. This dlc honestly feels like a big waste of time. They focused on pleasing the gameplay-obsessed haters who wouldn’t have appreciated the dlc no matter what happened and completely forgot what was actually good about the initial game. And that deeply saddens me. I hope things get better. I hope whatever we uncover later gives closure, I hope there are things in the future, but as of right now this was a massive disappointment.

And honestly the bar of my expectations was barely an inch from the ground relative to the base game.

Edit: wow I sound angrier here than I thought I did when it was initially made. I promise I mean all of this in a “it’s so close to being great and I’m frustrated at how far it fell” way and this is not just me screaming “it didn’t meet a quota for the amount of things I like in it”. The lore problems are the biggest issue here (even though FNAF lore was already fucked but it’s never fun to see it get further mangled) it just specifically is extra aggravating how little of the exciting character moments we got if that makes sense.

[thenightlymirror]

So, I went on a plausible deniability non-date with the new receptionist.

She asked if I wanted to go to some expo at McCorporate Plaza, I said sure. It’s one of those things where they have all these shops with two-headed lambs in jars and stuff like that. That does sound cool. Fine.

I had already gotten to the point where I just wasn’t that interested anymore. She’s sort of bad at her job. I’ve done it. It’s supposed to be lot more than answering the phone, you do a lot of burial paperwork and preparations. But she’s not. Because she’s really just kind of flighty and forgetful and doesn’t really wrap her head around things and self-direct. Now, this could be any one of my friends. Haha. This would not, probably should not disqualify anyone from friendship or romance. If anything, it’s like, oh ok I’ve dated this completely useless person before. I am this useless person, but for the grace of the Void.

But it’s other things too. I’m not a My Chemical Romance fan. The difference in an obsession with mall goth Freddie Mercury and plain old Freddie Mercury is lost on me. If you need that many notes and that much talent to appreciate something, haha you probably lack some sensitivity for anything real or actually good. I understand you’re all looking at me now like you want to kill me. I’m 42. So is she. I don’t care. I am right.

So she’s been grieving her ex with my name. She made a big thing about being demisexual, not looking to date for a whole year, never “cavorting” with coworkers. The usual bullshit. Haha. There’s a lot of cool things about her though. She circuit bends. She’s knows a million languages. She studied anthropology. (Another one.)

She talks about being demisexual like she’s had some kind of deep revelation about her essential identity. She’s like, “I just don’t feel sexual attraction unless I’m really comfortable with someone.” And I’m like, “Yeah, that’s called normal?” And I thought about it, and I guess she’s really saying that she’s asexual in daily life. She is not in the habitual practice of objectifying and sexualizing strangers. I… honestly, that’s just how I feel. And I guess people find that strange, but I’m just used to people being hyped up about bullshit and me just feeling much more muted about it all. Being unconventionally horrifying to look naked at has something to do with it. I’m not on the market in the same way. Would I identify as that? Seems irrelevant. You shouldn’t have to have some label on yourself to make people slow down and wonder what turns you on. But, for others it’s a pretty quick transaction and god bless I guess.

So many of these labels are just for quick sorting in the online dating meat grinder.

So, part of me was just like, ok, this girl is interested in a date, doesn’t really know what she wants to do, that’s fair. Then she says she can’t go because her mom is pissed and doesn’t want to babysit her kids. Ok. Fine. Then she says her mom will do it, but her 12 year old daughter would like to come. She made a huge thing about how the relationship with her ex that committed suicide didn’t work because she involved him with her kids too quickly and I thought, well, there it is. Haha. But also, I mean, it’s fine. Of course it’s fine.

That morning she texts me that her daughter decided not to come. Ok. I’m driving down to pick her up. About five minutes away, her daughter wants to come again. I pull up. Marla runs out of her apartment complex in a tight black outfit and black lipstick on, scooping her 4 year old into her arms while the little girl is waving hi to me and being folded into her older brother’s vehicle down the street. Ashley is sort of gangly and world-weary, shielding her eyes from the sun to see what the hell is going on.

I meet Seymour briefly enough to shake his hand through the window. Ashley climbs in the back, her mom in the passenger seat.

[bloodibambiidoll]

20 Questions For Fic Writers:

Thank you for the tags @lokis-army-77 & @onegirlmanytales

1) How many works do you have on AO3? - Honestly only like 3, I don’t usually post my fics on there bc I always forget. I need to sit down and do that. I have 11 on tumblr though.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?- Like 30k

3) What fandoms do you write for? - Just Stranger Things atm. I have been considering a few other things lately tho.👀

4) What are your top five fics by kudos? - Again I don’t really post my fics on AO3 as much so I only have 5 on there lol but my top fics on tumblr are Beer and Bunny’s, Cat and Mouse, Best Mates, All You Have To Do Is Ask, and See You Again.

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? - ALWAYS!! Sometimes when I’m feeling down about my writing I go back and reread them and it keeps me going/hypes me up.

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? - I do not have a single fic that ends even remotely angsty. I cannot do angsty endings, reading them or writing them. I need my happy ending.

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? - hmmm most of them honestly, but I really like the ending of Beer and Bunny’s. They’re so cute.

8) Do you get hate on fics? - I’ve never gotten hate before. I hope I give off a chill, in my own lane, kinda vibe.

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kinds? - Yesss lol honestly just nasty, pervy, unhinged smut. I don’t think I’ve ever really written any kind of soft smut. Not intentionally I’m just a whore. :)

10) Do you write crossovers? - I never have, no. I do have an AU based off my fav movie coming out soonish but it’ll be all ST characters still.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen? - Nah lol idk who would take the time to steal MY fics

12) Have you ever had a fic translated? - not that I know of lol

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before? - Yes!! I have a whole AU universe with one of my friends and I’m working on two other collabs w other people. 👀🤭

14) What’s your all time favorite ship? - Listen, I’m fucking basic okay? I will always love Katniss and Peeta. Also Raven and Alexander from Vampire Kisses but no one ever knows that series.😩

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? - Sugar and Spice. It was a series I started before I told myself I’m not allowed to write multi chapter fics bc I put too much pressure on myself about it lol

16) What are your writing strengths? - I’ve been told more than once that my dialogue is good. Which feels nice. Also nasty smut.

17) What are your writing weaknesses? - Transitions tbh, I’ll get to a certain point and get stuck esp transitioning into the smut which is usually what I was trying to get to in the first place.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? - I legit only speak English so I would not even try

19) First fandom you wrote for? - AVATAR THE LAST AIR BENDER lol zuko was my MANS

20) Favorite fic you’ve written? - See You Again, this one I’m just very proud of, and I love my OC girlfriend I made for myself and I just spent a lot of time on this one. I want to finish the prequel EVENTUALLY.

No pressure tags: @reidsbtch @babygorewhore @battymunson @take-everything-you-can @slutty-thevampireslayer @jamdoughnutmagician @lithium80sblog @bimbobaggins69 & anyone else who wants to🖤

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I have really truly loved all of NewJeans releases, downloaded Phoning but am too old to be bothered with it (sorry gals) and even would suggest I’m a “Bunny” to a degree, though I don’t have the time to really invest in their content beyond the music. But I was disappointed with this latest release, I find the songs pretty forgettable - with the exception of “bubble, BUBBLE, Bubble, bubble” part — I’ve been in Korea for the last couple weeks and am staying till mid June for work and I do hear the songs being played by stores and heard on the streets but then I kinda immediately forget them 😬. I had to wonder if *some* of MHJ’s ‘whistleblowing’ was knowing she was about to put out a less-than-stellar record of b-sides and that she was angry that Illit got Magnetic? Tbf, if IVE or like, idk, Kep1er (that 1 in the name cracks me up) had gotten Magnetic it would have done super well because it’s just that catchy. Not to knock the Illit girls themselves and the rest of their EP is enjoyable to be sure but not the pop-gold of Magnetic. But again, music is subjective - maybe it’s just me who isn’t catching on with How Sweet. It could be the backbeat makes me think I’m at the roller rink in 1993 at summer camp but still not as catchy as the actual songs from back then.

*

Ask 2:

Same anon who sent the ask about How Sweet & Bubble not being quite catchy enough — honestly maybe the other thing is that I have LOST! (And really all of RPWP) stuck in my head and my poor brain only has the bandwidth for one earworm at a time! 😅

***

It's unfair to compare anything to RPWP.

The NewJeans girls are sweet. They make good music. But nothing they've released so far holds a candle to the magic that is RPWP. There are some people who think the hype around Namjoon’s intelligence is overdone, and like I've said before, there was a time I was skeptical about if he actually knew what he was talking about. But that was years ago and he continues to vindicate the belief I have in his abilities as an artist. Acid jazz, psychedelic rock, Fuji music, new school funk, Korean hiphop - all of that seamlessly combined in a contemporary fusion jazz album, all of it his own creation, made with artists he personally selected and respects. Namjoon is very much worth the hype. He makes music that makes my blood burn.

And yeah Lost is stuck in my head too, the bass sequence on Lost reminds me of the sequence on Pharrell's Happy.

That said, I think How Sweet is my favourite track from NewJeans since New Jeans (the song). And funnily enough, I like it for kinda similar reasons to why I love RPWP: the song is avant garde for k-pop and takes interesting risks. And I frankly just like what I hear.

For example, the genre and bassline. How Sweet is in the Miami Bass genre, one of the more niche sub-genres to break out from 90s hiphop. It never really took on, which might be why it makes you "think I’m at the roller rink in 1993 at summer camp but still not as catchy as the actual songs from back then." G-funk, East-West Coast, and Gangta Rap genres got more popular while only a handful of Miami Bass tracks were hits. In fact the only Miami Bass song I (vaguely) remember from back then was Tootsie Roll (I didn't even fully remember the title of the song, I had to google it lol). ADOR could've made another song in the trap genre since that's a more popular Y2K hip hop creation, and their last song in that genre (OMG) was a hit anyway.

But no. They went with a fairly obscure expression of 90s hip hop, which I think shows the depth of knowledge and appreciation for the that era that either ADOR, Min Heejin, or their producer 250, has. NewJeans don't seem to be doing Y2K-type sounds for the fun of it or just because it's on trend, else they could've easily gone for something more mainstream or more modern/popular takes on that era, like Magnetic. To me, How Sweet shows ADOR is very deliberate in their exploration of nostalgia, and in that way they are the antithesis to what is typical in modern k-pop. [Ironically, Min Heejin's whistleblower report (linked here) explicitly called out the sub-par quality of HYBE's operations teams which I believe includes their A&R team (and I agree btw). And Min appears to be mostly responsible for A&R at ADOR, so in reality, it's unlikely Magnetic would've been a song she'd release, but it's still identical enough to NewJeans' sound to support her concerns about Belift and HYBE].

Also, to my ears it sounds like 250 tweaked the bassline in How Sweet to keep it centered in the mix with the synths, something I feel is innovative given the MB songs I've listened to have the bass more forward in the mix. The topline melody is also soothing over the high-energy instrumental, making it feel nostalgic, but fresh. Like, I'd rather listen to How Sweet than Tootsie Roll to that point, but just like RM's RPWP, it's a song that's strange for k-pop. It shouldn't sell, it's risky, but it works because the artists have already established an identity.

In my opinion lol.

I totally sympathize with you finding How Sweet to be underwhelming though. I've had similar conversations with some friends for both Namjoon and NewJeans' latest releases. If my guess is right about NewJeans, they'll continue their intentional/methodic exploration of nostalgic sounds and concepts, meaning for some people it will quickly become a snoozefest. And of course that's totally fine. Personally, I enjoy it.