#I'm sorry this a personal beef I have with this season

[kitty-pilled-gamma]

I'm in love with the visuals of the third story

[racew1nn3rs]

─ 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘪. (𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦) 🧶

⤷ summary: the world meets the newest mclaren team member, and they are loving it! it's poor oscars first day and shit's already hitting the fan sorry dude ): LMAO. lando just experienced love at first sight, while y/n is ready to fist fight

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liked by landonorris, oscarpiastri, and 32,890 others

mclaren oscar's first day of kindergarten, done. pre-season testing, done. (we'll be even faster soon 🙏🏼 don't worry guys)

2,568 comments

user2 HELLO??? WHO HACKED THE MCLAREN ACCOUNT

user6 we'll be racing past redbull in no time

mclaren a girl can dream

user7 lando is this you??? 😭

user8 budget dropped so low they had to hire the drivers for social media

user3 this is haas money behavior

mclaren excuse you i am NOT LANDO

user8 oscar????

mclaren no sir, i'm the owner of this house 🫵

user9 idk if this is a new admin but this is so unserious

mclaren new year new me babe

user9 give her a raise mclaren 🙏🏼

mclaren REPOST REPOST REPOST

landonorris first day on the job and already asking for more money?

mclaren i'm so sorry lord lando, you forget that us lowly peasants aren't on an athelete salary 🙄

user10 HUMBLE HIM, WE LOVE TO SEE IT

user11 mclaren admin beefing with lando was NOT on my 2023 bingo card

user12 she really said, "ik we're slow but LET US COOK"

mclaren TRUUUSTTT THAT COMEBACK IS COMING (im manifesting)

oscarpiastri KINDERGARTEN??? i'm nearly 22 mate

mclaren teensy weensy baby basically

oscarpiastri your fired /:

mclaren HAHA YOU CAN'T DO THAT 🏃🏻‍♀️

user13 petition for all the f1 team accounts to be run by young admins, this is tooooo good

mclaren screenshotting this for my boss so they don't see these comments and fire me

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user14 she. looked. up. his. salary. 💀 ICON

user15 hiring her was such a rare mclaren W

user16 MCLAREN ADMIN HEAR OUR PRAYERS AND MAKE TIKTOKS 🙏🏼

user17 OMG CAN U IMAGINE

user18 HOW MUCH MONEY DO I HAVE TO PAY MS. MCLAREN FOR THIS OMG

user19 will our team win? probably not BUT AT LEAST WE'LL BE GETTING CONTENT 😘

user20 AYYYYEEEE

user21 LANDO MAY NEVER WIN, BUT THE FANS NEVER LOSE 🤞🏾

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liked by mclaren, maxfewtrell, and 60,050 others

landonorris don't mind me, just living my lord life on my athlete's salary. bahrain here we come!

10,750 comments

user22 WHERES THE MCLAREN ADMIN

user23 lando nowins flexing on us poor people

user24 someone come get this man's phone

user25 oh i KNOW pr is mad 💀💀💀

user26 daniel ricciardo leaves and mclaren loses it's mind

user27 daniel leaves and all of us lose our minds 🥲

oscarpiastri jesus christ mate, log out

mclaren i'm not sure he knows how, he might need to pay someone to /:

user28 CRAZZZYYYY

user29 THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING

user30 "f1 is a serious sport." the serious sport in question:

user31 the papaya hat 🫵

user32 HE'S SO FINE IM GNAWING AT THE BARS

user33 BARK BARK WOOF WOOF

mclaren phones. on the table. NEOWWW

user33 holy shit this is actually so embarrassing

mclaren at least ur self aware!

user34 she clocked ur asses 😭😭😭

maxfewtrell lord lando flying economy

landonorris I AM NOT

user35 bro took that personally

user36 me thinks the man doth protest too much

danielricciardo i leave you alone for a few months and this is what you're doing

landonorris i learned from the best

danielricciardo DONT BLAME ME FOR THIS

maxverstappen1 ... that's my plane???

landonorris SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

maxverstappen1 you can't just take credit for my private jet. its mine.

mclaren this just in, little lando norris is a little LIAR

mclaren when he steals a plane and wears bucket hats 🫵🤣 everyone point and laugh

landonorris I QUITE LIKE BUCKET HATS

mclaren i quite like bucket hats 🇬🇧☕️🤓

maxverstappen1 🫵🤣

danielricciardo 🫵🤣

charles_leclerc 🫵🤣

carlossainz55 🫵🤣

maxfewtrell 🫵🤣

oscarpiastri 🫵🤣

landonorris OSCAR????

oscarpiastri 🫵🤣 🫵🤣 🫵🤣

mclaren damn he got you there

user37 this cannot be real

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There were quite a few things Lando expected to be on his agenda when he arrived in Bahrain after him and Max went seperate ways to their own teams. He figured he would meet with his engineers, spend some time getting adjusted to working with Oscar (especially given he hadn't had very much time to meet or bond with the rookie over the break or during pre-season testing), and doing some press interviews as per usual. However no where on his list was an impromptu meeting with Zak Brown. Oscar seemed clueless as to what was going on as well, and Lydia, Lando's personal assistant of two years, was just as clueless.

Lando and Oscar filed into the board room, bottles of water in hand, only to be met face to face with their team manager. Nothing seemed suspicious which Lando hoped was a good thing, but after their underwhelming performance in pre-season testing he knew anything was a possibility.

"Have a seat guys, it's good to see you both. I hope you've been well-rested since testing," Zak greeted with his usual cheerful attitude. Lando and Oscar looked at each other warily but nodded at their boss nonetheless. Zak was usually more of a 'get to the point' kind of man, so this change of pace was unnerving to say the least. Normally it scared Lando a little bit, but truthfully, right now, Lando wanted to be done with this meeting and to get to race preparations.

"That's good, you need all the rest you can get if we're going to try and put up a fight this weekend. In all honesty, I think within the next two years we have a chance to become real competition here. I think we can give Red Bull and Ferrari a run for their money and earn plenty of points this year. Hell," the older man chuckled, "maybe we can win it all."

Lando didn't want to seem skeptical, but he was definitely skeptical. He did not think the car he was given in testing could win the championship, but he would sure as hell be trying.

"But no matter how hard the engineers work the car, and no matter how many sims we do, the one thing we're lacking in is presence. McLaren is notable, we have a famous team and a long roster of famous, successful drivers, including the two of you, but we don't have the same dominating media presence that Mercedes or Ferrari do. And that's what gets us sponsors, and celebrity visits, and fans, and funding. We may not be struggling for money, but if you guys like your multi-million dollar salaries and you want your car to keep being better, we need more media presence. Which is why we decided we wanted to go a bit of a different route this year, with media and all of that."

Oh god. Lando knew where this was going. This was about the new social media admin that had been ruthlessly harrasing him- albeit teasingly- for days now. Only employed for less than two weeks and already stirring up the pot across platforms. Lando looked at Oscar, noting that his teammate was clearly following as well now.

"I know you both have come to realize this already, but there is a new social media manager who runs all of the McLaren accounts. We wanted someone young, someone trendy, someone who knew what the internet is looking for, and who can help us connect and start getting more eyes on McLaren. We want her to meet with you guys today to share a couple of ideas so you can be on the same page for what we'll be doing online. The new manager is just outside. Let me get her so you can speak with her."

Lando nodded dumbly. Right, ok, he could do that. Lando was young, he was online, he was trendy. Plus, most of if not all of the F1 drivers had some kind of media presence already. Lando streamed, he had instagram accounts and twitter, and he even had Quadrant. Lando steeled himself. This would be just fine. An adjustment, but fine.

Zak greeted someone outside of the door and a small bit of shuffling sounds were heard. Before Lando had a chance to stand, Zak was turning and nodding a quick goodbye. Leaving the office room, as a smaller body replaced the space he had been in.

Lando felt like the air had been knocked from his lungs and hoped he hadn't made a noise out loud. He stared, he couldn't help it. He was sure he was slack-jawed, mouth agape and flies coming in. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he should be professional and behave like a normal human being. But the other part of his brain, the dominant part of his brain, was in awe.

Lando looked at the girl in front of him up and down, probably far too obviously, and was stunned. He saw jean shorts, a faded and a mid-washed denim. A colorful-tighter cropped shirt and some layered gold jewelery. Rings on her fingers. Sunglasses in her hair, making her look way to cool to ever speak to him. She rocked on the balls of her sneaker-clad feet- sneakers that matched her clothes perfectly much to Lando's delight- and quickly moved to set her laptop down of the table. She left her small colorful handbag on the table alongside a cup of iced coffee that was already melting in the Bahrain heat. She looked as if she had jumped straight from a Vogue cover (or one of his favorite dreams) and landed right in front of him.

Was it the heat that was making it so hot? Because Lando was becoming suddenly aware of the heat beneath his shirt collar. A stifled cough from Oscar drew Lando from his observation- or rather his creepy, stalker staring- and Lando realized this was not the social etiquette that the situation called for.

Before Lando could even take a step, the girl smirked.

"Nice to finally meet you guys. Hello Oscar," the girl leaned over and shook the taller man's hand. "And Lord Lando, is it? It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Y/N L/N, i'm the new social media manager for the season."

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Y/N could now officially say she is not a fan of Lando Norris. The online feud she had cleverly created to generate some conversation about McLaren before the season started had been banter. She had taken no offense to Lando's jokes at all, but now that she was in front of the man and could feel his judgement, her opionions had changed.

From the second she walked in Lando had begun unabashedly staring at her. Looking her up and down, from the shoes she had recently bought to the hair clipped back on her head, and was not sparing a single detail. She felt vaguely like a mannequin on display and it unnerved her.

Oscar smiled at her politely as she set her things down, and she felt thankful for the reprieve from the judgement and critcism she had been recieving since she arrived and was now experiencing again from Lando in full force.

Y/N was aware that her outfit wasn't uniform or professional, but those were not the qualities she was hired for. Y/N had been confident coming in here, feeling like she would likely connect better with people her own age, but was thoroughly dissapointed to find this was not the case.

Oscar ultimately cleared his throat awkwardly, and it appeared as though this finally snapped Lando out of his judgemental stupor, so Y/N decided to finally make her introductions.

"Nice to finally meet you guys, hello Oscar," she leaned over and shook the taller man's hand. "And Lord Lando, is it? It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Y/N L/N, i'm the new social media manager for the season."

Lando groaned loudly and Oscar laughed.

"Lando I don't think you'll ever live this one down," and Y/N forced a laugh and nodded in agreeance.

"No, probably not. But that's good, that's what I was hoping for." Y/N stated bluntly.

"You were hoping to torture me?" Lando stuttered out and Y/N rolled her eyes, "You'll live I promise." Oscar laughed before pointing out, "at least your not a kindergartener."

Lando stifled a laugh but agreed.

"What purpose did Oscar's baby jokes serve?" Lando asked, and Y/N forced herself not to punch the man at his judgemental tone. He clearly didn't believe in her ability to do her job.

"It's funny, that was it's purpose," she stated, gesturing to the table for the boys to sit as she opened up her laptop. She turned to face toward them, lifting herself slightly so was seated criss-crossed in the chair. She never had liked sitting normally. The boys across from her stared at her expectantly.

"So you create jokes the make people look at us more?" Oscar asked.

"In a way yes. My job is to manage the accounts, but I've also been hired to help get you guys more fans. Fans love to be interacted with, they love seeing you guys joke around, they like feeling like they have content to consume," Y/N explained.

"By playing into these desires, you get more fans, because they feel they 'know you" in a way they don't know the other drivers." The boys nodded their head in understanding.

"So the plan is for me to keep interacting with fans through the McLaren accounts, playing up jokes with you too, and for us to give the fans new content in a way they don't usually get it. Livestreams, youtube vlogs, inside internet jokes, TikToks, the works." Y/N stated.

"Essentially," she said dragging the word out, "I'm going to make you guys the internet's little papaya stars," Lando laughed but nodded. Y/N, despite her first impressions and her developing dislike for the driver, found herself smiling. She could see the vision. Both Oscar and Lando would be awkward and loveable and humorous. The perfect mix for internet support.

"So where do we start?" Oscar asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Y/N smirked. "Have you heard the clip of 'Cuffing Season' by SZA? There's a TikTok trend I think will be perfect for you to do."

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user38 can we talk about how gorgeous admin is?!?!? LIKE OH MY GOD

user10 only hot people go to mclaren

user40 that check better be huge for her

user41 oscar was so mf stiff 💀💀 free my boy

user42 who had a gun to oscars head, he was so scared

user43 lando thirst trapping ICB 😭 I NEED A BIG BOYYY

user44 god admin is so sexy and smart, that was art

user45 CAN WE DISCUSS HOW LANDO LOOKS AT HER

user46 ikr 💀 get off the floor lando your drooling

user47 i want a man to be that down bad for me

user48 lando loverboy era unlocked

user49 meanwhile admin didn't look him in the face

user50 f1 2023 is going to be a WILD RIDE for us mclaren fans if this is before the first race even starts

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hope you all enjoyed! please let me know your thoughts and feel free to leave a request for me to write something for your fav <3

-

𝙩𝙖𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

@lemon-lav @slutforpopculture @m4rt10ne

[ninja-confession-go]

Everytime I see a post hating on Jay I cannot ever take it seriously I'm so sorry lol

Like they'll have some valid criticism on S6(which seems to be where most of the hate comes from which, fair) but then afterwards just be making shit up to make it seem as if Jay was always that way when NO they definitely butchered his personality to make s6 work

Prior to season 6 the most wild thing he did was beef with Cole n even then he was valid in being upset. The way he went about it was 100% wrong, not gonna deny that, but then again he's a teenager who runs primarily on his emotions as we have seen before. And also let's not forget neither Cole nor Nya were innocent either. I've seen folks completely strip Nya of her involvement to make it seem as if she didn't do anything wrong when NO she's the one who started it all by actively tryna persue a relationship with Cole while dating Jay.

I would argue Cole is the MOST innocent of the three and even he has some blame as well.

Yall be tryna place the blame all on Jay while ignoring the other two. Stop. None of them are innocent in that dumbass stupid love triangle.

PRIOR to that season the most he did was try and impress Nya by hyping himself up. While yes lying is wrong, We must also remember that HES A TEENAGER. A teen who's also hella insecure about himself. Of course he would try to make himself seem cool to impress his crush. Still not a good thing, but yall be tryna make it seem as if he was stalking her or some shit lol

Like I dunno it feels like we weren't watching the same show if u fully believe Jay was always like that imo. This is coming from an og fan too.

Yall r valid in ur anger for s6 I also hate how they handled Jay in that season, but to say he's always been that way is just, flat out WRONG.

Like I've seen haters and then there's yall. Yall a whole different breed

There's nothing wrong with not liking a character, nor is there anything wrong with criticism towards a character, but like make to actually tell it for what it was.

.

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

Saw your Neil Gaiman post and as someone that found comfort in Good Omens (and got hyperfixated on it), I'm finally glad that some people are finally talking about how he isn't that great.

Even as a Fan, GOmens fandom is so...weird. See, in other fandoms people won't give much of a flying f/ck about the authors besides some mild respect or praise, but GOmens praise Neil SO HARD, despite giving off some iffy vibes (that now I understand why, after that big post) Never liked how almost every single POC character in GO has such a minimal role, same with women characters, the fact he's been caught (and that can be easily checked) lying about his ideas surrounding GOmens, the way he went from "Is not a romance, but it can be if you want to" -> "i always wrote it as a love story" also how he went from "There won't be another season because of Terry and because the ideas for the next book were incorporated in the show" -> "It was in 2019 when I finished writing S2 with the ideas I discussed with Terry before he died" and like seriously no one never noticed how much of a clown he his lying and backpedalling all over again again? Then there's how bad rep for fat people Sandman was and instead of accepting criticism he just keeps giving some "vague intelligent answer" and sits and waits for his legion of fans with a parasocial relationship to defend him. But somehow he's treated as a world treasure and a genius with a big brain. And this is less problematic and more petty but I'll be honest. He isn't that much of a good writer anyway? The prose is okay is good, but the worldbuilding and lore and characters is mostly edgy and lacks deepness. His fans seriously want to make a sea out of muddle puddles,,, and that's fair! Is such a big part of fan culture to dig into the smallests of things and make an universe out of a cardbox background character, but please, don't give Neil the credit that he doesn't deserve. And what proves more to me that he isn't that good of a writer, is just...take a look at that mess of a S2 of Good Omens, it was so bad that some people had to THEORIZE that it was bad on purpose. I have such a beef with S2, characters like Muriel, Saraqael and Michael and Maggie and Nina were so heavily promoted and of course everyone was hyped, finally more POC, more disabled characters, and yay, women! And they're lesbians! And and...and hold on, how it is that Muriel didn't do that much at all? How it is that Saraqael after being so hyped BARELY had almost nothing to do, is really that all the disabled rep we got? How is it that Michael and Uriel barely had anything to do and were just background characters again? It just angers me with how with so many fem-presenting characters, and POC and disabled persons cast, they literally add nothing to the series, AND NO ONE EVER TALKS ABOUT IT. Is just this endless praise for Neil and his oh big brain. All praise Neil Gaiman, our lord and saviour of queer people. HOW IT IS, THAT THE TWO LESBIANS HYPED ROMANCE WAS ALL RELATED TO AZIRAPHALE MEDDLING WITH THEM TRYING TO SHIP THEM? And it also was bad, very badly done, is really this the women representation we got, seriously??? Talking about misleading advertising.

S2 was such such a mess, it just shows how much Good Omens needed Terry to be, well, Good Omens. I really suspect Neil stole ideas from the fandom because S2 was just a trainwreck of all the fanfic tropes you could find in GO fandom and is almost disrespectful to Terry's work in Good Omens, and I don't care for how much Neil makes his friendship with Terry as a pity party and as a "it gives me so much joy, Terry would be so happy", because seriously it's almost manipulative. Talking about Manipulative. His meddling with fandom is starting to feel unprofessional, but this ask is already long... Sorry lmao, something on me snapped after getting finally the solid evidence that Neil .Is. Not. Great

Oh he’s always been completely unprofessional but since he types in a mixture of corporate-speak and “cool dad” talk his fanbase doesn’t notice.

Here’s the thing about Neil, he’s both petty and extremely insincere. People criticized lolicon sin his presence and he was so offended on the behalf of weirdos who pleasure themselves to Hentai depicting child molestation that he wrote a several paragraph long response dismissing simulated child pornography as simply being “icky speech” that should be protected by the sacred American constitution despite, you know, the fact he’s not even American so his weird obsession with the first amendment and only ever really bringing it up to defend simulated child porn is and always has been suspicious.

As for his backpedalling, the man sees $$$$ and just goes for anything he can find to make more. People love to say “oh but he donates tens of thousands to charity!” yeah, usually to HIS charity for bailing out pedophiles. With funds typically out of the wallets of his fans due to fundraising it rather than coming out of his own checkbook so it’s not exactly a charitable action as much as it’s an empty gesture. And frankly he almost certainly just does it for tax benefits if we’re going to be honest here. He continued good omens because it would make money and generate more attention towards him and he’d be the brave hero who brought back show that did well. That’s it.

He’s just discount, off-brand Elon. Rich white man who thinks he’s gods gift to man despite bumbling through even the most basic concepts because his fans would walk into traffic blindfolded to defend him from even the mildest of criticism.

People on here just like him because they’re starstruck that a creator of a popular IP is active on this site and because he produces media that’s adapted with white middle aged twinks who are dubiously romantically affiliated.

[anonmothgod]

Help Fandom Wiki!

So, my post about me doing my Enhanced Aph Wiki has gotten ALOT of attention, and I'm shocked at the positive response it has gotten.

However, I made an important reblog/comments by both me and @lggy regarding the Fandom Aph Wiki. In my original post, I talked about how I wasn't sasified with the Fandom wiki or with Fandom in general. While not outright stated, it still gave out the impression that I was trying to slander those who work on the Aphmau Wiki on Fandom.

So, for some clarification;

A.) I am NOT slandering the people who work hard on the Aph Wiki on Fandom! They are doing great work, and I completely understand why they haven't transfered off of Fandom (theres a risk of being stripped of everything and Ioosing), and considering how popular Fandom is as a site I'm not saying they should. That's a shit ton of work for people to do.

B.) I am NOT suggesting that people of the fandom should leave that wiki, or that I am trying to upstage the massive amount of effort that has gone into the current wiki. There is alot of effort put in there, and they need help. I can understand fustration when you're working hard on something for fandom then it getting disregarded by someone who just came out of no where.

If this was what you got out of my original post, then I am really sorry. I never was trying to insinuate anything rather then "here's an idea that I'm gonna work on and I just wanted to show you the idea!"

My personal beef with Fandom Wiki is with the site Fandom rather then the admins and editors that help mantain the pages. My beef comes with how Fandom can act and the sheer amount of ads on their pages. Never the people who voulenteer their time and effort to keeping communities' wikis up.

The wiki idea I have is incredibly in-depth. Like, full on episode transcript of actions and dialouge, as well as tons of screenshots showing outfits, and even meta elaboration (i.e. the amulet in Season 1, Episode 91 that is shown is from Thaumcraft. Season 1 Shadowknight armor is made from the Nether Scorpion Armor from Mo'Creatures, etc.). Walls of text meant to be a reference point.

This type of description, elabroation and content doesn't really work with Fandom Wiki. They can't elaborate every single thing when it's meant to be a quick run-down, not a doctoral thesis of explaining Minecraft Roleplay. Enchanted/Enhanced is a personal project for me that I wanted to share to Aphblr mostly to share resources. I wanted to make an uber detailed wiki archive for myself, and to share to for fic writers/artist who need a super specific reference.

But the major thing here is that Fandom Aph Wiki needs help! They need more people to expand and help that wiki, as there are alot of incompleted pages and edits. There's already a team of people there and they can always use more hands! There's even a list nicely made by Iggy on what needs to be done and what needs the most work on.

The Enhanced/Enchanted Wiki won't be avalablie in any time soon considering that this is a personal project to my standards, I am working on this solo, I have no funding for it or any means of funding, and I have college that I'm starting next week. The soonest I could give any real update would be possibly 2 weeks, and that's the earliest I could give.

Fandom Aph Wiki? Has none of the issues above! By all means they have way more established compared to what I have right now, and they have everything up!

If any of you are possibly intrested in helping, please contacting @lggy !

Iggy is the Main Admin on the Fandom Wiki, and they have a list of things that need help with already ready to show so it can get done asap.

[coal15]

My opinions on the whole multi-shipping Buddie and Tevan situation. But first, [steps up on soapbox and yells into bullhorn] HAVE NO BEEF WITH ANYONE WHO FEELS DIFFERENTLY THAN ME SO I'D REALLY APPRECIATE NOT GETTING ANY "YOUR OPINIONS ARE STUPID AND PROBABLY SO ARE YOU" COMMENTS IN MY REPLIES. **If any such comments do appear in my replies I would ask the rest of you to please simply ignore them. You won't change their minds so confrontation will do nothing but further poison the waters.

Ahem. Carrying on. Warning, this post is LONG. Like, practically a novella.

I'm still a multi-shipper at heart in the sense that I will always love my memories in the Buddie fandom and how vocally we showed our support over the last six years--yes there was a SUPER PROMINENT contingent among us who directly engaged with and verbally disemboweled every actress who played a li on a regular basis, (and who harassed Oliver to the point of him quitting twitter) but most of us had the sense to direct our ranting at the fictional character or writers/showrunner/network with varying degrees of anger or indignation. Now speaking just for myself, in my time as a Buddie fan I never commented on the physical appearance of any li, so seeing a lot of buddie-or-bust folks now referring to Lou as "ugly" "rectangle-faced" "gross looking," etc has been disappointing. I hope they represent the minority. So far it looks like they do.

On to my reasons for and/or role in shutting down non-Buddie romances: While I never took to engaging her personally, I voiced harsh criticism of GW over her "honorary latina" comment, likewise EG for her transphobia and non-apology apology ("I'm sorry if you felt offended). And while I wish bucktaylor had stayed besties (preferably bi besties since there was no reason Buck couldn't have his bi awakening with a woman), my issue with them dating was at first just a lack of romantic chemistry and the fact that Taylor never apologized for what she did to Bobby or even admitted it was wrong. But as the relationship dragged on I watched the life drain out of Buck. They were stagnant as a couple and the look on Buck's face when he said ily back to her was . . . laughably unromantic. The only growth his character got from that relationship was him being the one to end it. As for eddieana, on top of lacking chemistry they were just plain dull. The end.

Moving on to Buck's kiss w/Lucy: I actually like AK and was excited to hear about her coming to 9-1-1. She was fun af as Lexi on VD so I was looking forward to seeing her play a different character. Aaaaannnnnnd then KR immediately ruined her by making it abundantly clear that she was created for one sole purpose: to complicate a man's storyline and spark off a love triangle--and she did so in the most offensive way possible. It was appalling, negatively affected Buck's character, and thankfully KR's response to the intense backlash was to pivot so the love triangle never manifested. But the damage was already done. No one had any interest in watching them poke/flirt for the rest of the season. I was deeply offended by such a misogynistic use of a female character and it still boggles my mind that a woman created her.

Anyhow, all this was a long winded way of saying that my reasons for wanting those li gone went well beyond my investment in Buddie. Though I did strongly believe no romantic narrative for either of them could ever compete w/the Buckley-Diaz Family, at the end of the day those romantic arcs were ruined for me by writing mistakes, problematic actresses, and lack of chemistry (which is admittedly subjective and something we all approach with shipper goggles to some degree--if you think you 100% absolutely don't you're lying to yourself). I stand by a lot of the reasons Buddies were so opposed to those li being endgame. Yes, plenty of us took things waaaaaaay over the line re: direct personal attacks against actresses and/or non-buddie fans, but I think far more of us than not did argue in good faith and toward the right people. We just didn't stand out as much or get as much engagement because . . . well, toxic behavior is rewarded on sm with more clicks, shares, likes, quotes, etc. Attention seekers gonna seek.

As for why it's so hard to ship happily on sm: in my experience a handful of problematic or outright unhinged fans (on both sides) will go around stirring shit, provoking arguments, and soon the dog pile effect kicks in because everyone wants to defend their tribe. Arguments go in circles, spin off, get more and more petty, until most of "us" end up discussing amongst ourselves about how "they" are a bunch of [insert string of negative attributes here], which then in itself provokes a reaction from "them." Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually way too many of "us" are hissing and snarling at "them" more often than theorizing about or celebrating our ship . . . the thing we enjoy . . . and it's really hard to detach from that cycle, especially when things get personal. I recommend total non-acknowledgement, but even I struggle to hold that line when I read something I think is terrible. I'm making an effort these days to just keep scrolling thru my feed until I hit something happy, and if there's a negative comment somewhere in the thread to give it ZERO engagement of any kind. Not. Easy.

Which brings me to where I am today. During my time in the Buddie fandom I assumed that for most of us the actual queer rep mattered more than any one ship. Hell, if Taylor had been the one to wake Buck up to his bisexuality--and admitted what she did to Bobby was wrong--they might have grown on me as an endgame couple. I've accepted "meh" endgame couples before as long as everything else on a show stayed solid. I also thought that Buck could never, ever look at anyone with bigger hearteyes than the way he looked at Eddie, but . . .

. . . Enter Tommy. As soon as they kissed, and in their albeit limited screentime afterward (thanks a lot shortened season!) I learned a lesson: there are different kinds of hearteyes. In my opinion Buck looks at Eddie with complete adoration and love, yes. Total hearteyes. But the way he looks at Tommy is . . . "Oh, that's what Buck looks like when he's absolutely smitten, that's how he acts, that's what a romantic crush looks like on Buck. Wow." It wasn't better or worse than his hearteyes or vibe with Eddie, just conspicuously different. It re-framed the way I see the Buckley-Diaz Family as well, and the way I read their chemistry. As I mentioned earlier chemistry is subjective, and once I actually had something queer to compare with Buddie's chemistry, I stopped rooting for romantic Buddie. I wouldn't exactly be furious if they went canon since I did spend all those years rooting for them and it would still be a high profile queer storyline, but I would rather see the Buckley-Diaz Family and Tevan coexist. I think they can, and I think it would be beautiful.

So here's where I stand with my preference and opinions today:

Falling in love doesn't mean everyone else in your life gets demoted. Feelings aren't like pie. Maddie doesn't love Buck any less since she fell in love with Chimney. Athena didn't love her daughter any less when her son came along. There's not a finite amount of love and you're serving out pieces of it. You can love more than one person with all your heart. And that's how I feel about Buck and the Buckley-Diaz Family. He and Eddie are more than friends, different than brothers, they just . . . have their own dynamic. It's unique, special, and vital to both of their identities. And those facts will not be altered by either of them falling in love w/another person. If anything, the Buckley-Diaz Fam has become more special to me since I started rooting for a Tevan endgame.

Queer rep matters more to me than Buddie. Buck coming out as bi wasn't and shouldn't be seen as a step on the road to "winning" the ship I wanted for years. It is completely awesome progress for us whether they're endgame or not. Ditto for Tevan. Also, at the end of the day I ship Buck+Happiness and Eddie+Happiness, and right now Buck seems to be falling for Tommy. What happens with Eddie remains to be seen.

Looking at the whole picture, I will always love Buddie and kinda wish they'd gone canon in s4 or 5, but I think that moment has passed and I'm not mad or bitter about it. I adore the Buckley-Diaz Family, I adore Tevan, and I want to see them both thrive in s8. Now if you'll excuse me, my fingers have begun to bleed from all this typing.

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

ARCEE (TRANSFORMERS) (CW: Transphobia)

1.) Transformers has had a troubled history with female transformers as a whole. They didn't really even exist until Season 2. And while they've all gotten the short end of the stick until recently, Arcee, who kinda ended up The Main Girl (sorry Elita) has gotten the brunt of this mistreatment. Mostly talking G1 here.

Toys kept getting cancelled over and over even though she's a main, important character of Season 3. She didn't get a decent widely available toy that actually resembled her G1 version (first one was a Botcon exclusive Blackarachnia redeco which I disqualify because convention-exclusive spider is not what I was looking for, and Binaltech is just kinda a pink and white robot who looks nothing like her, just with her name slapped on) until 2014. I wish I could use bold here, because there's no such thing as uppercase numbers. Before that, you just kinda had to look at the toys from other canons and squint because Hasbro doesn't think the pink girl toy will sell well.

And misogyny present in the fiction? A lot can be summed up in a couple words, namely, "Furman, why?" While most people go with his excuses of not believing in Cybertronian gender, it really comes across as him seeing men as the default, neutral state of being, and women as something that must be explained. Poorly. Explained very poorly. Not to explain things in Tv Tropes terms, but I have to, it reeks of the 'Men Are Generic, Women Are Special' https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial trope.

Let's get us started with Prime's Rib. Oh my goodness, Prime's Rib. So, Furman doesn't believe in Cybertronian gender (and male is seen as default), and this has reflected in his writing. He's going along perfectly fine writing his dudes in the US run of the Marvel comics, Arcee entirely ignored… but what's this? The connected UK comic has her. He can't just ignore her. So, well. He needs an explanation. Explaining a plot hole isn't bad. It's how he did it. Arcee was created in response to a feminist mob who was mad Cybertronians were all guys. I don't think I need to explain this one.

I'm too tired to explain her treatment in IDW now. Something something unnatural attempt to introduce gender into a genderless species, something something, really weird uncomfortable treatment, it's a long story and I'm not an IDW expert, read the TFWiki page for Spotlight: Arcee.

I'm sure there's more in other media, but I've blathered on way too long and I'm starting to get frustrated and tired and AGH FURMAN WHY. He's gotten better, too, definitely not judging his present self over comics that are from many years ago, but asdfghjkl

Ok fine, one more thing. This isn't G1 but Michael Bay stated in interviews that he gleefully killed her movieverse version off specifically because he didn't like her. It's not NECESSARILY misogyny motivated. I wouldn't deem it misogyny coming from a different director with a different film series. Transformers writers have had personal beef with random characters which they wished to unceremoniously kill off before--Animated Beachcomber comes to mind, even if the writers never got the chance. But it's also Michael Bay's Transformers we're talking about here. Can you blame me for thinking that?

Arcee has gotten better treatment in recent years. Furman's clumsy attempts to explain Arcee's gender in tbe IDW run were slowly retconned into some pretty decent trans rep by other authors, she's really just come into her own as a character. But it was a long and rocky road to get there, and I believe we all need to acknowledge that.

2.) Was initially introduced in the 80's transformers movie only after being strong armed by Ron Friedman, being the first female presenting robot to be seen in the show. bright pink, cause, ya know, female. has the most romantic involvement of any transformer ever across all transformations media, cause, ya know, female, and god forbid she be her own person when hasbro can stick to her to Some Guy. she was made trans in the 2005 continuity and was immediately made berserk as a result. marvel made her a freak science experiment to shame feminists. why does the robot have curves when no one else does istg

i love her too much to stand by idly while she's treated this way

3.) hasbro keeps trying to convince people that her and elita-one (another pink fem character) are actually the same. "who cares same lore different names. what do you mean they're different characters?" and constantly flips their lore, designs, and names around with every single FUCKING continuity ie transformers rise of the beasts where they use arcee's design but call her elita-one SMASHES MY HEAD INTO THE WALL bro there's a whole group of autobots called the "female transformers". i don't. there's so little female representation in this series that hasbro decided the best way to fix it would be… segregation, ig. arcee is apart of it obviously. elita-one leads it. reminds me that i should (and maybe sick a couple friends on this poll) make a submission for elita because JESUS CHRIST hasbro fucked her up also apparently in some continuities arcee is trans. upon getting bottom surgery it fucking. idk how turns her berserk?? it's so weird. mind controlled/sleeper agent in like half of the fucking continuities for some reason. in every single one of these continuities she either gets with Springer or Hot Rod and ends up betraying them. every single time why does the robot have boobs

NAOMI MISORA (DEATH NOTE)

1.) I know everyone is gonna submit Misa but honestly she had it worse.

She gets introduced as this competent lady who's gonna help find Kira but then she just, decides to show some teenager her real ID as a show of trust and whoops that's Kira.

Also part of her introduction was her fiance going "You don't need to worry about this tracking down the killer nonsense, you're gonna be my wife, you should just be worried about raising kids in the future :)" or some shit. And it's barely addressed, because she just fucking dies.

2.) She was the only woman in the series to show any level of competence. She figured out more about how the death note works from some small context clues than L did in considerably less time. She was apparently so competent that the author decided to kill her off despite initially planning to make her a main character, fearing she would distract from the L and Light rivalry.

3.) the victim of “writer doesn’t understand women and also hates them” disease. Like, seriously, the author of Death Note could only imagine a female FBI agent as the fiancée of another, more senior FBI agent. The main character Light kills her fiancé Raye Penber (in honestly a really tightly written and cool episode) and so she tries to figure out who killed her husband. Unlike Raye who only figured out that Light was Kira as he was dying because Light basically told him, Naomi figures it out a lot sooner so oops guess she’s gotta die because she’s too good at her job.

[jeardesus7]

These are just random head cannons I've had for the boys (Dabi and Shigaraki), so here we go!

Dabi:

He only takes showers once a week, and doesn't wash his hair every time, either.

Doesn't wash his feet, the dogs are probably growing some kind of fungus.

Thought about joining the military before thinking about villainy.

He's more of a dog person than a cat person.

Probably was a drug dealer.

Has an IQ lower than a high school junior (grade 11)

Attends churches, synagogues and mosques even though he's not religious.

He's a big metalhead and always listens to a band in his earbuds. Always on full volume, too.

His vision is shit, most definitely farsighted.

If he didn't become a villain, he'd either work in an animal shelter, tattoo parlor or piercing shop.

He's a big meat eater, and his favorite meats are beef and pork.

___________________________________________________--

Shigaraki:

He doesn't shower. Like, at all. Maybe once a month when the league starts complaining about how he smells. Even after his upgrade, he still doesn't shower. That liquid in his capsule thing (idk what its called) was probably the only thing keeping him clean.

He's not a dog person or a cat person, he's a rodent person.

Really wanted a chinchilla when he was younger.

Probably is neurodivergent but never has been diagnosed with something.

Maybe ADD, but not ADHD.

Is also a metalhead but most likely into nu metal.

His favorite band is slipknot.

He's not against religion, but is annoyed by it.

If he wasn't a villain, he'd either be an artist, twitch streamer or run his own jewelry business.

He's surprisingly good with kids. Like small children. Probably cause he acts like them.

His favorite season is fall. He doesn't like the way the cold air irritates his skin, but he enjoys the colorful leaves of the trees and how good local shops smell.

____________________________________________

Sorry for how short this is. I have other head cannons I just can't think of at the moment. I'm currently writing a smut for Shigaraki's birthday, so stay tuned for that :)

[immoralimmortals]

we hop-skip-jump back with more akatsuki questions! we hope your days have been grand and your songs sweet, tak(?)

if the akatsuki were exposed to the cuisines of our modern, international world, what would each of them gravitate to? would hidan be lured by the cooking of the southern american states, creole, the sausages and cuts and grinds of europe, the whole beasts of the pacific? would itachi look at italian cuisine and feel a deep pang of nostalgia of how sasuke would like this fare? what would these tongues make of our world's bounty?

Hello again! Yes, I'm Tak uvu Some more cusine headcanons for you, dear!:

Honestly I think you nailed Hidan right off the bat. I think he's a connoisseur of meat in specific, if given the time and lack of killing people (so only a world with no Jashin. Probably). I can imagine him, Deidara, and sometimes Kisame having a hot sauce drinking contest. Kakuzu would show up and blow them out of the water once and never participate again. I think Hidan would like beef jerky and pork rinds.

My dad is obsessed with the Red Lobster food chain and now I'm thinking about how Kisame would genuinely enjoy himself while everyone else is only there for cheddar bay biscuits.

My dad just bought at least 100$ worth of Red Lobster gift cards once finding out they're going out of business HE KEEPS ASKING ME OUT TO RED LOBSTER SOMEONE FUCKING HELP M

I've already said in a prior post that Deidara would be OBSESSED with pop rocks. Wouldn't be surprised if he seeks out other kinds of food that give specific sensations, hence the hot sauce bit just now. He'd love carbonated drinks, too. He can bullshit his way into convincing you that yes, Monster Energy Drink *does* require a sophisticated flavor palate! He'd try anything if it had a novelty factor, at least one he can take seriously.

Perhaps obviously I can see Itachi especially enjoying the vast variety of teas that one can acquire in the modern world. My personal favorites tend to be rooibos blends, so I'd like to give him a cup. God, he'd be a great cafe owner. Literal coffee shop AU type of man. I want him to tell me about the floral notes in this morning blend of green tea from the Himalayas. I wanna own a combination tea shop and bakery with him, that'd be the dream.

Kakuzu strikes me as a hardy, heavy food kind of guy. Stews and meats and breads. He'd probably like corned beef and cabbage and potatoes. ...Sorry my Irish in me is coming out. Gravitates to comfort food that keeps you full and warm.

Nagato and Konan are...interesting ones to consider, because whenever I think about them and food I just can't stop thinking about how formative starvation must have been for them. I think they can get overwhelmed by seasonings really fast, anything especially salty or sugary or what have you is in small portions. I don't think they'd deal well with the fact that the most available foods in some societies are saturated with flavor that's overcompensating for shitty processed food. I think if you gave Nagato a bottle of Sunny D it might actually kill him.

Sasori can't taste shit, I think, but if he did he's one of those assholes with PIN POINT PRECISION. Wine connoisseur. Chocolate connoisseur. Will intellectually wreck your shit if you tell him you're making spaghetti and serve him angel hair.

I think Obito would get really disappointed if you told him you were going to get mochi and you came back with the kind you get from the grocery store.

Zetsu still eats people, I can only presume. He might be interested in foods related to "stranger" body parts, brain cheese and haggis, that sort of thing.

Side note: several years ago when I first entered my never-ending Akatsuki phase, I read a really, really cute self insert or reader insert fic where the Akatsuki came to the "real world" and they watched Spongebob and Kisame made what the story described as an adorable face as he was shown how a soda can works. I've been looking for it and my heart yearns to reread. If you happen to find it, please let me know!

[virtuousweakling]

Gyokko and Hantengu both have MASSIVE rejection issues and honestly, it leads to their romantic chemistry without them even realizing it and it's so much more than just "two physically revolting antagonists in the same season." Like this is gonna be complex af but I'm just gonna dive on into it.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy: A Gyotengu Psychoanalysis

(TW ⚠️ mentions of the bad things, can't tag em all just expect the bad things) ENJOiOiOiOi 🖤✨

Hantengu

Hantengu was probably possessive AF over his wives, friends and literally anyone who pitied him because it meant he successfully manipulated them and had them in shackles and wanted them to STAY there. Considering the author stated Hantengu would lash out on his partners when he was caught with infidelity and then murder them AND the children he had with them (he repeated this habit like a broken record), he likely had an ideal lifestyle in his imagination where he could rope a person into a relationship, knock them up, keep them trapped at home and continue doing whatever he wanted to do such as stealing and cheating, expecting the partner to be totally cool with everything, cook, clean and basically NEVER disagree with him. Due to him being such a womanizer, he was probably forced into marriage at times by getting women he wasn't in a relationship with pregnant. I almost can't picture this in my mind unless he is young and I say this because his elderly form is so fucking depraved, unhinged and emaciated, he'd have to make someone feel sorry for him in order to have any sex in the first place because I highly doubt Mr. Hantengu is the 87 year old village bicycle getting all that coochie looking the way he did. He probably got rejected as a young boy (he probably scared the fuck out of his parents OR his father was just as neglectful as he was) and has this complex in his mind that the perfect relationship with ANYBODY, coworkers, family, friends OR sexual, is one where HE HIMSELF is in total control and the other person basically can't have any feelings. This is a sad thing, because it means his emotions are so out of control he feels attacked by any sort of rejection, disagreement, anger or conflict regarding his own behavior. And trust me, I relate to this hard, I'm a BPD girlie.

Gyokko/Managi

Gyokko (as Managi) to my knowledge, would fly off the handle when he felt criticized for being himself or anything he did or created. He could not manage his rage for the life of him and when he decided to take someone's life for criticising him, he became addicted to the pattern and felt a sense of release in doing this. It's like he almost gets a high doing what he did/does and associates domination over others as joyful because in HIS mind, he takes whoever rejects his artwork and...well...turns them INTO the artwork. What sets Gyokko aside from the other demons is that his objective is not to just CONSUME the flesh. He legitimately has petty, catty ass beef with people who don't give him the attention he wants and he sees them as a potential tool in his... ✨talent✨ It seems like a sick joke but he genuinely thinks of what he does as being ok. His ideal lifestyle, much like Hantengu, is one where HE makes the rules. Perhaps he is someone who simply cannot harness negative emotions in a healthy way because he has literally no moral compass and has to have constant control over people, his body image, his art and his environment to feel better. He literally NEEDS to be worshipped as the priority in order to survive and if you don't comply, well... Why he is this way is unclear as it can be due to many things but we clearly see in the anime that Gyokko's facial expressions turn to disgust, confusion and sadness when people ignore him, belittle him or contradict his motives in any way. He's so comfortable with a pattern where he can just take whoever does that and hide their body in a pot until he gets caught or butcher them into his own disturbing "art piece." I personally do not see Gyokko as someone who is, like how a judge defied Jeffrey Dahmer, "legally sane and aware of his criminal actions." No, I believe Gyokko to be genuinely unstable and emotionally vulnerable, seeking emotional and egotistical comfort in who he kills and how he kills them.

AND IN CONCLUSION;

Gyokko probably sees himself in Hantengu, and is infatuated with Hantengu's hidden badassery, underestimation and literally NO MORALITY, NONE WHATSOEVER. I find it a hard time writing them in a relationship because I can't imagine two controlling personalities living together as a couple. WITH THAT BEING SAID, I also think there's balance in their relationship and Hantengu gives Gyokko exactly what Gyokko wants in a person: inferiority, self deprecation, anxiety and submission. Gyokko is attracted to how heinous Hantengu can be all while defending himself as if he's innocent because the entire situation caresses and validates Gyokko's own ego and dysfunction. Hantengu sees Gyokko as "oh gee, a big strong pawn in my game who FINALLY isn't human, since you know I hate humans, and he likes me too, so let me just hide behind him and act as if I'm an innocent little mouse who doesn't deserve any harm from anyone." Except unbeknownst to them both, they're fucking gay and extremely perfect for each other.

[thelonelyempath]

M!Crush x F!Reader: Better Late Than Never PART 1

THEME: Fluff, Some Angst (Enemies To Lovers)

WARNING(s): None yet (Part 2 is NSFW)

**This was heavily inspired by a Skins episode. It's Naomi's episode from season 3. I did make a few key changes to avoid the "plaigarism" allegations. It was also heavily inspired by IRL beef I have with someone at my college who I may or may not have had a crush on at one point. Unfortunately, that beef will not end in this manner because the world don't work like that.**

It was cold and miserable. Why were you even forced to go on this stupid retreat with C/N anyways? He told you his friends set it up so the two of you could "stop hating each other". Yeah, like that would ever work. If anything, you expected that time spent alone with him would make the two of you hate each other more.

"You okay?" he asked you, the glow of the fire illuminating his face.

"That's the first time you've asked me something." you quipped back.

"Today?"

"Ever."

"Well...answer it then. Are you okay?"

"No. This is miserable. The weather's shit and the company's even worse. Why are we even here? Why were we forced to go on this stupid camping trip with each other?"

"You know you could have said no. Nobody forced you to be here."

He was right. You could have said no. But, admittedly, a camping trip (even with someone you don't like) was better than sitting at home and being bored all weekend.

"Whether or not I said no is irrelevant." you said. "What was the point of this trip? Was it so your friends could make bets on if we're gonna hook up?"

"I'll be honest," he answered. "I don't know either. They said it was to get us to stop hating each other, but it's really none of their business. And now we're both just sitting here, bored and unhappy. The worst part is they're making us share a tent."

"Yep."

The fire was warm. It felt nice. You held out your hands against it to warm them. Unfortunately, the skies were looking a bit ominous. You were expecting rain at any second.

"You know I never hated you, right?" C/N said out of nowhere.

"Hmm?" you raised an eyebrow.

"It's true, Y/N. I never hated you. I guess I was always such an ass to you because I knew you didn't like me. It made me feel powerful. God, I'm such a dumbass."

Damn. That hit hard. Truth be told, you never hated him either. Maybe his friends were right. Maybe this rivalry was stupid and pointless.

"I never hated you either." you confessed. "I caught you running your mouth about me to your buddies and it hurt me. I was angry and upset. And I think that may have colored my thoughts about you."

"That's totally valid." he said. "And listen, I never should have said those things about you. It's fair that you thought I was a dick. I know I hurt you. Like I said, I'm a dumbass. I'm sorry."

"I guess I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"The way I reacted. I held a grudge and I really shouldn't have--"

You were cut off by his lips pressing against yours. It was totally out of left field. Was it because you were talking too much and this was his way of getting you to shut up because he couldn't stand the sound of your voice anymore? You didn't want to like it, but you did. You surrendered to the kiss, which grew deeper when you gave in.

"I've been wanting to do that for a really long time." he said breathlessly after pulling away.

"You..." you didn't understand. "you kissed me. You just kissed the person who caught you talking shit about them a few months ago."

"I sure did. And I enjoyed every second of it. The reason I was talking shit about you in the first place was because I have secretly always had a crush on you. I was just scared of it and thought I had to pretend I didn't like you so it wouldn't be obvious. But that was really stupid and immature of me. I should've just told you so all this petty drama could have been avoided. But yeah...I've been crushing on you."

You felt a blush forming on your cheeks. C/N noticed this and smiled. Did you maybe secretly like him too? Where were all these feelings coming from?

"If you want the truth," you said. "I think the reason I was so hurt and angry was because I sort of liked you too. Maybe your friends were right. Maybe we didn't need to be fighting with each other."

It all finally made sense. You were both just too stubborn to admit you had feelings for each other. But you supposed it was better late than never. Though the fire was still blazing, a cool breeze washed over you. You ran cold anyways, so this did not help. You hugged yourself for warmth. C/N saw this and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in close and kissing the crown of your head. Alas, you were finally in his arms. You didn't realize how badly you wanted that until now. With your head pressed against his chest, you could hear his heartbeat. It sounded so beautiful. Maybe you were starting to drift off to sleep. But just as you began to drift away, the moment was ruined. There was the rain, putting out the nice, cozy, warm fire.

PART 2

[licensed2faint]

Hey everybody! I'm a pro battler, currently in my 'on' season after taking an extended break, although tight at the moment I'm at home.

I tend to go by a lot of different names for personal reasons, but you can call me Laser! If we include my break, I've been battling for TWENTY YEARS THIS YEAR (wow!) but honestly I've been around trainers and battle-trained 'mon my entire life.

I'd love to connect with people here, whether for battling tips, advice for pokemon in the home, or anything else!

I have/had a LOT of pokemon (I ended up opening a preserve/ranch with my S/O with our prize money for the pokemon that didn't want to be released into the wild or become a housepet at the end of our journeys, so please rest at ease that everybody is being taken care of!) so I can answer questions about most any types.

I'm Hoenn native, and my Blaziken is my best friend. I've taken the gym challenge in: Hoenn, Sinnoh, Johto, Kanto, and Unova, so that's where my knowledge lies. I'm not very familiar with fairy types, sorry!

At home, feel free to ask about any of my 'mon! I've got a bunch, so don't feel shy about asking!

And now I have Sponge Cake the Feebas as a non battling mon (atm!) I'll see if he wants to evolve and maybe enter him in battles or contests, but it's definitely too early to force him into anything.

Newest Ranch Arrivals:

Popstar the Sneasler

Bokeh the Metagross

Amanda the Aerodactyl

Michael the Flareon

Custard the Lillipup (just hatched!!!)

((ooc stuff under the cut!))

(If any of my backstory doesn't fit your blog's canon, I am A-OK with saying that we somehow connected internets through a spatial rift!)

I am totally and fully okay with 'is the picture cute?' style blogs interacting! In fact, I encourage it!

I have memory issues, so I apologize if I don't recognize your blog or remember where you are in your storyline

The games that are canon to Laser's life are Ruby, Platinum, SoulSilver, and Black! I'm definitely counting other games as having 'happened' but Laser did not live through them, and only sort of knows what went down.

Laser has defeated the Elite 4 in those games, but takes pains to disguise itself in each new region it takes the challenge in, to avoid too much publicity. However, after beating the league, it doesn't care to maintain the disguise, leading to being kind of a famous cryptid type character.

Because of this, it will be cagey about its life, but may let things slip accidentally!

As a side note, I want to play the emotional ramifications of the events of those games somewhat seriously! Laser was in therapy for a good long while, both because of said events and also a tragedy that occurred at some point which it was struggling to cope with.

I don't wanna expound too much on its backstory yet, but I will keep record of anything discovered here for ease of access to newcomers! Feel free to poke a bit at it, but please keep in mind it will react like a real person!

pelipper mail is off while Laser is traveling, but on while at home, magic anons are always off, but musharna mail? I think is crazy funny so that is ON. Mystery gift is tentatively on, will make a concrete decision once I catch the vibe better. Union Circle is sooooo on!

BACKSTORY UNLOCKED:

-Has serious beef with Giovanni and Ghetsis, but seems to give the other teams wiggle room...

-Knows Maxie well enough that he calls it out on its bullshit and bad habits

-big thing happened sometime between leaving kanto and going to unova

-makes occasional trips to the Distortion World, but is hesitant to speak on that

-started its journey early, back when ten years old was the standard

-Someone named Thomas lives in a cave on preserve grounds

CURRENT PLOT: Old Wounds!

(i follow from @tigirl-and-co)

[pathologicalreid]

so many of the plots for CM were so fucking stupid (why is JJ in the middle east for example) but the Maeve one feels so flat!! they tried to re do the impact of "100" but didn't put the multi EP effort into it, so we get barely 5 minutes of them as a couple and everything we know about Maeve is info dump, like I've cared more about single episode victims than I've done her. It also doesn't help that what little we get of her is too samey? so it just comes off as "person literally designed to be a good match for Spencer" instead of A Person I should care about. OH! and to do all of that only for the show to be like wait no nvm Spencer's been into JJ the entireee time sorry Maeve!

i've said it before and i'll say it again: spencer had more chemistry with those one off love interests in single episodes than he did with any of the "long term" gf's he had (really just maeve and max) (my beef with max is so niche)

i'm talking like. austin from "52 pick up". dorian from "rock creek park". and dylan (einstein) from "hero worship".

"you speak yoruba?" "i can get by" shit fucking gets me every time. you're telling me he asks her out in russian and NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED??????

when spencer is with maeve we literally see them having whisper conversations in phone booths. people always say he's so shy and insecure but watch those episodes because that man can fucking FLIRT with the best of them. there is so such thing as having a love interest be too similar to a character and that is such a huge fault in the writing for maeve!!

i could write a fucking essay with citations on why the jeid plotline in season 15 is the worst thing to happen to the show.

and since you brought it up WHY THE FUCK WAS JJ IN THE MIDDLE EAST??? she's so wonderful in her role as communications liaison it makes no sense to me why she'd be in the middle east just because... she's good at talking to people??? it was also pretty obviously a last minute thing because several times in season 7 and 8 there's mention of jj having been home. spencer went to her house for 10 (?) weeks mourning emily - so jj was home. will even tells her that things were easier when she was at the pentagon. one of the major selling points from strauss was that she'd be able to be home more.

anyways suspension of belief in criminal minds goes crazy. continuity isn't real.

[rainypebble07]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME!

Today, August 30th, is my birthday and (conveniently) also the day I posted my first fic, It Wasn't A Bad Thing (Do not read it, read the rewrite), on Ao3 and entered the Byler community as a writer and eventually artist.

It's strange to think that I've been here for 365 days now. I mean, that's a lot of days, but it's honestly been so fun to get to know some of the people here and I just love you guys. All of you. Seriously.

As a birthday gift, maybe read one of my fics and leave a fun comment (I have them all listed in my pinned past, but I recommend the superspy, pirate, and zombie Will ones)! If not that, give me a silly drawing request I'll take days to finally get around to or even just a fun little ask!!

And I love to talk about myself, but over the year, there have been some very impactful people I've met on this site, and I'd just like to thank all of them for being so wonderful (if you're not on the list, I still love you, I promise. I'd name every one of my followers if I could), so without further ado...

Rainy's Thank You List of Very Awesome People:

@foodiewithdahoodie you, my friend, are the best. One of my first ever followers, even before I was an artist. I've had your support since day 1 and I'm so grateful to call you my mutual!! You're seriously the kindest ever <333

@microwaveonwheels You're just the most fun person, my favorite kitchen appliance. You've got the best (and sometimes the most challenging) drawing requests and you never ever fail to make me laugh with your tags. Keep your energy forever and ever, my biology genius mutual :)))))

@sillylittlerock If I have one fan, it's you. If I have 100 fans, you're one of them. If I have no fans, you have left the building. SILLYLITTLEROCK you are THE ROCK and genuinely the sweetest person ever. Absolutely my favorite and I hope you have the most beautiful of days. Rock gang, rock gang.

@callmetheidiot I hope the ex fight was worth it, you've let me become a wattpad fiend (jkjk I haven't even touched wattpad in over a week). You are the kindest and most wonderful of people, callmetheidiot. And I would never ever call you an idiot bc you are the absolute definition of the opposite.

@th3-third-duffel-bag You're the coolest ever. And it makes me laugh when you leave angry comments on my Ao3. Much, much love <333

@cringengl I don't interact with you much, but every time you like one of my posts, I feel like you're saying it's cringe and it makes me laugh every time. Have the most amazing of days today! I love you!

@runninguplenorahills If I had to have my first pointless internet beef with anyone, I'm glad it was you. I'll admit, I was wrong about the barbie movie thing. I'm just stubborn. I think you're awesome though, even if we're worst enemies now. (jkjk we're not enemies... unless...) (no jk again) Have a wonderful day!!!!

@elsbianism You know what? I just think you're neat. Even before I started following you I was just like gee, they're pretty neat. And then I did follow you! And now we're mutuals! And you're still the neatest person here, El, so congrats on that one.

@miaisagirllover MIA I LOVE YOU! Thank you for helping me to break the barrier between dimensions. I look at your pinterest every day like ahhhh my stuff. And you've just got the best takes, I'm sorry so many people like Billy. I'll try to stop them. Have a lovely day, friend!!

@chaoticbyler Just had to give a quick shoutout to my pinterest spy on the inside. Never would have even known my art was breaking barriers without your help. Thanks, soldier. I owe you one.

@midget-is-a-simp I don't think I have one post you haven't liked. And I've had minimal interaction with you, but if my life was a TV show, you'd be the character who showed up once a season and you're somehow everyone's favorite character.

@yearninginblue you are my superspy buddy for life and I love you so so so much <3

@phaniella your comments make my day and I love you for it <3

@howtobecomeadragon IDK HOW I ALMOST FORGOT YOU OMG YOU'RE THE BEST. BEST FOR LAST, I GUESS. YOU, my friend, are the sweetest ever and I'm so happy to be your mutual. The fact that you like dragons so much is so cool. Never ever lose your passion! Dragons are awesome (and so are you)!!

Alright, sorry it's long, but I had a lot of people to be thankful for (and, trust me, so many more who I couldn't fit to the list). If you see this, just know I love you more than anything and I hope EVERYONE had the best day ever.

Bye-bye for now,

Rainy Pebble

[destinygoldenstar]

☀️🎵Can We Just Talk?🎵☀️ - Total Drama Viewer Reacts to Disventure Camp Season 1 Episode 7 “Spit It Out”

Yeah, I'm back already...

Again, I'm aware of Season 3's finale airing. Didn't watch it obviously.

But I will say, it's kinda difficult to not be sick to your stomach when ALL you hear about something is HATE.

Like, I have not heard a single positive thing about Season 3 and I'm kinda nervous now. (Is it really THAT bad?)

That's why I'm just doing my own thing with the first season and reacting to it in my "Just enjoy it" way. (It's not same as "Turn your brain off" because "Turn your brain off" implies not paying attention)

I will remind everyone, I was NOT recommended this show. The people who replied to me asking if I should watch it said "NO. Don't watch it. It's awful."

So I CHOSE to do this at my own will. I have no one to blame but myself.

I'm enjoying this season so far and I don't want that to be spoiled by people telling me not to.

Cause while criticism is okay, it always is, spreading nothing but hate and spite and nasty threats to anyone involved does a lot more damage than you think. You get a RWBY fandom situation where the only thing going on is harassment and bullying and it drives everyone away and leaves no room for air on takes that aren't majority. I DON'T WANT TO BE A PART OF THAT. ESPECIALLY NOT DEATH THREATS. THAT IS NOT OKAY TOWARDS ANYBODY.

So yeah, hearing any hate towards Disventure Camp about anything, I'm NOT part of it. I am not to blame for anything. I just want to stay in my corner and say what I want to say. (As long as it's not threats, like I said, I can't do that either)

*deep breath*

I just wanted to get this off my chest. NOW THAT THIS IS OUT OF THE WAY,

We're back with Season 1. I beg that there is no double elimination for a THIRD TIME IN A ROW. I'll lose my mind.

Okay, let's get into this, shall we?

Oh we're starting right where we left off last time.

IT'S A TEAM SWAP.

...again...

"My whole team is going to reGRETT voting for me."

"They're going to wish they had never crossed me."

Go off queen!

OH GOD-

What a kind greeting XD

Not the Purple Team becoming the VILLAINS Team!

"I hope that Ellie doesn't have any hard feelings."

Be thankful she isn't Jake, who DEFINATELY would.

OH YAY THEY'RE TOGETHER!!!

We get to see more of them!!

It sucked we couldn't because they were on opposite teams before. BUT NOW WE CAN!

And she immediately goes to Jake to introduce herself.

I have no idea why she'd pick that. But you know what? All for friendships.

"If we lose, we can vote for her instead of one of us."

HOW. IS. DAN. STILL. HERE?!?!

Like, I'm genuinely really tired of him now.

I made a post (that got a lot of hate) about screen time not being problematic for characters so long as they're DOING SOMETHING with that screen time.

Dan is not that. This is my least favorite character in this group. I'm sorry Dan stans.

Everyone else has something to do. All Dan does is push a non-existent alliance and make sexist comments and otherwise has no personality.

GET HIM OUT. I'M SICK OF HIM.

"Gabby is a psychotic backstabber, Jake and Tom are a toxic couple, Miriam is a useless old lady, and Dan is a dumb kid who pretends to know things."

OH GOD, NOT THE SLANDER

She do be right about Jake & Tom though...

"How'd they win so many challenges?"

Because they have numbers.

VILLAIN TEAM

"If you promise to never vote for us, we'll help you."

What if your team loses?

Do you vote for the VOID?!

"Okay, I'll read the votes... WHY ARE THEY ALL SCRIBBLES OF FLOWERS?!?"

"Something about the other two makes me feel at home, that's something I haven't really felt before..."

AW, VILLAIN BONDING. SHE FOUND HER PLACE IN THE WORLD!!

They're still beefing.

I've been eating toxic yaoi two days in a row now. It's junk food, I'll tell you that.

Is Ellie gonna reason with Jake? Awww

"Gabby told me you and Tom are close, but it doesn't look that way anymore."

They had a fight. It happens.

"Are you mad?"

"Yes I am! Tom has been lying to all of us since we got here! He lied to me like everyone else does!"

OH GEEZ THAT LAST PART

I was gonna say "I'm interested in this impulsive and petty anger issues version of Jake"

But that "LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES" part. OOF.

Like, my god, how can you blame him though?!

Yeah he wasn't right. But his POV.

"I don't want to bother you with my problems."

Ngl, when I was younger I would vent to strangers all my petty problems and yeah, that's a version of me you should be happy isn't on Tumblr. I grew up, I got in a better environment, and I'm in a better place now.

"It's okay, after last night I know what it's like being betrayed. Everything you say is safe with me."

I like this. I like Ellie being nice to him.

"I like Jake, he's a good guy, even if he's a bit dramatic."

That is MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

"Honestly, a five minute conversation could probably solve this issue."

Yes. Yes it would. But is it that simple with these two?

"I wanted to thank you..."

Oh?

"For not voting for me yesterday."

Oh...

Yeah no I want you eliminated this episode. You're selfish.

"You'll wish I'd just gone home."

"We already do."

😂

I love Miriam.... oh my god.... 😂

That had no right being as funny as a burn as that was!!

This sounds like a VERY complicated challenge. I'm gonna have to see it in action.

"Is everything okay between us Ellie?"

"What do you think?!"

"What do you think Alec?"

She said exactly that XD

This does NOT look safe!

"Can you help me Jake?"

"I don't think so."

You're STILL salty?

OMG, TALK. IN PERSON WORD ON WORD.

"I took water polo, lacrosse, cheerleading, and even debate."

Debate's not a sport, is it?

Maybe it is and I'm a dumbass.

"What? Debate not a sport? I could debate that."

OKAY THAT WAS HER TALKING DIRECTLY TO ME

"Golden, I can debate on your words!"

This looks like a nightmare to ride

"Things are a bit complicated with Jake, aren't they?"

"That's one way to put it. I know it's my fault but he's exaggerating with his attitude."

Yeah, Tom is right here. But I LOVE that he acknowledges he's at fault for it.

"He's just an immature kid, don't take it personally."

"It's hard not to."

"He'll get over it."

Will he though? Will he?

Grett and Alec are trying to DROWN the child at this point.

"Fiore can't collect water if she's dead!"

Even Alec says it!

Is Grett actually gonna develop from this experience?

"Have you calmed down a bit yet?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just... I can't forget how he lied to me and how that made me feel."

"And have you thought about how that made him feel?"

Ooh, yes. I love that. Call him out.

"I'm just saying it must have been hard for him too."

Yes. Yes it was.

I get both sides. I do. Tom was trying to do a job and got revealed lying about it and didn't consider how that would hurt his friend (for understandable reasons). And Jake got some flashbacks of bad events and overreacted as a result.

"He only used me to go undercover."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I... Grett said so..."

"Did you hear Tom's side? You should ask him. People are... complex. You can't jump to conclusions."

👏

GLORIOUS. THAT WHOLE THING.

Talk to Tom. Hear his side. Apologize. Make up. Be friends again.

It'll all be fine. I still have my hope.

...and maybe this is why I called their dynamic junk food...

GABBY'S TAKING CHARGE LIKE THE QUEEN SHE IS

Also not Tom wearing TWO masks now! That looks so awkward.

Knew that would happen.

NOT GABBY LAUGHING AT JAKE'S EXPENSE. COME ON.

Welcome to SLAPSTICK THE EPISODE.

NUT SHOT.

Though this time it was a block.

NO WAIT I SWEAR I'VE SEEN THAT ON A SURVIVOR CLIP BEFORE-

Oh that's just straight up sabotage.

HELL YEAH!!!

Fiore told Grett to SLAY yet again.

Really? NO ONE on the team is good with puzzles?!

I say that like I'm good at them, but I'm not either.

Purple Team wins!

It's been HOW LONG since Purple Team won?

"Our team was on a winning streak but suddenly Ellie joins our team and we lose?"

I'm sorry, HOW was this her fault exactly?

OH MY GOD HE'S TALKING TO HIM. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

"I want to ask you something..."

"Did you really just approach me because of your job?"

Good question.

"You're asking me this now? Where was this question yeaturday?"

"So you're just here for your job!"

"And our friendship, was that just to blend in too?! Did you ever care about me at all?! Was any of it real, HUH?!"

...I mean, TECHNICALLY he DID ask this already?

It was a bad wording of asking it cause he was mad, but he DID ask it.

"Yeah, I'm sorry..."

Aww. At least he's apologizing.

See? He recognizes he made a mistake!

"Jake... I'm going to tell you the truth."

YES PLEASE. OMG THANK YOU.

"...I really like you."

😲

💗

*I'm gripping my heart from that*

UM... OKAY. I DID NOT EXPECT THAT ANSWER. *Giddy again*

"And the days we spent together fishing, gathering supplies, or just talking at camp... it made me rethink some things."

💗

"Yes, I'm here for work, to investigate someone. My agency doesn't allow me to have contact with anyone here after this investigation is over. But... meeting you felt like we quickly had this connection and I thought... am I really willing to risk everything? My whole career? So we could... be something more?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH 💗

THIS IS GOING SO MUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD. OMG.

That's such good insight on Tom's character too! How long was he a spy? I'm curious. Cause if his missions are all like this, then does that mean Tom has no one? No relationships of any kind? Platonic or romantic?

Cause DAMN that makes too much sense for him to act like this then.

"But the way you've behaved in the last few days made one thing clear to me. I don't really know you. And I can't risk everything for someone who acts so unpredictably."

💔

AAAAAANNNNDDDD it's gone.

I do understand that though. At the end of the day, they knew each other for how many days? And if Tom's career is that serious, then of course he can't.

"Tom, I'm... I'm sorry..."

AW COME ON. HE SAID HE WAS SOWWY.

"But I said I was sowwy! And I meant it!!"

"I was so selfish thinking only for myself! I had no idea!"

This is why I love Jake! He actually ACKNOWLEDGES he's in the wrong and owns up to it!

"That's correct. You had no idea. You never bothered to ask."

And Tom doesn't even coddle him and say "No no, it's okay." That wouldn't be in character, I feel.

"Yes. You screwed up. I hope you know you screwed up. Know what you did was wrong and there's not an excuse for it."

AND HE JUST WALKS AWAY AFTER THAT?!

💔Goddammit...

I LOVED that scene though. Maybe they will be alright after all.

"See? We CAN talk it out! We're not Gwen and Trent!"

"I think the decision is simple. We vote for Ellie."

No. What did she do?!

"She is the only option."

Do you still have blindfolds on?

"As for Ellie, who even is she?"

She's a wannabe college student with a life of bad labor and debt and has passions to be a designer.

"Gabby, trust me, it's for the best."

"FOR YOU IT IS!"

YES! CALL HIM OUT!!

"You always do what's best for you and you don't care what anyone else thinks!"

YUUUUUUSSSSS!!!! DAN SLANDER!!!

Oh god it's Blabby! She's back!

"That boy wants to control you just like Grett did!"

Yes. Yes he does.

"I think I need a hug."

Awwwwwwww 💗

These two are such besties, I love them!

"Uh... I have to go... clean my socks... or something..."

XD

Best excuse ever.

Tom, how did you even become a spy? You suck at your job.

"I'll be back later!"

*Jumps in a bush*

XD

And Miriam just walks away from him XD

"Nah, I'm too old for this shit. I'm out."

"Agent Smith, I wasn't expecting your call at this time."

Smith? His name is Tom Smith?

What happened?

Is the guy he's after planning something worse?

Oh come on Jake. Why Gabby?

Yeah, we know this one.

I thought Gabby and Ellie would convince Jake to vote with them and tie it or something. But no.

WAIT SO THAT MEANS ELLIE IS SCREWED.

"WAIT!!"

"I have an immunity totem and I want to use it."

OH MY GOD THE IDOL. OH MY GOD SHE'S SAVED.

"I want to use this totem to nullify the votes against Ellie!"

YEP. ELLIE'S NOT GOING.

Gabby, SLAY. Successfully reading the room, saving her only ally!

GREAT PLAY.

The subtitles XD

"Any votes on Ellie will not count!"

'ELLIE' *DOESN'T COUNT*

There's three, right?

So this was a successful idol play?

'ELLIE' *DOESN'T COUNT*

'ELLIE' *DOESN'T COUNT*

YEP. SUCCESSFUL IDOL PLAY.

'GABBY'

That's Jake throwing his vote.

'DAN'

OH MY GOD, PLEASE. IS HE GONE?!

PLEASE NOT GABBY.

It's gotta be Dan. He's gotta be gone!

YES! HE'S GONE!!!!

"Why would you waste your totem on Ellie?"

Dude, Ellie was Gabby's ONLY ally in the game. She didn't protect Ellie, then they'd both be screwed.

"I didn't waste it. I saved her cause she treats me like a person."

That too. 💗

WHAT A TRIBAL COUNCIL!!

I like good idol plays, what can I say?

And Dan's finally gone!

I'm sorry, but he was the worst character of the cast.

Lasted too long, no personality, and the only thing he did with all his screen time was talk about an alliance that didn't exist, and be sexist.

And before you say his actions and dialogue weren't sexist: GUYS alliance. Is only seen targeting female characters. Downplays Gabby's problems over his own wants.

He rubbed me off the wrong way and I don't regret bullying him.

At least everyone else on that team was interesting in one way or another, but Dan had nothing.

I GUESS the only thing he did was be the foil to Grett for Gabby's development? As he was someone who also tried to use her but was nicer to her so it left her conflicted? But really, you could've given that role to ANY character. You could've had, idk, Tom do that and not much would change.

Actually, that would add onto the 'Tom is only here for work' plot.

BUT HEY, AT LEAST I DIDN'T JINX ANYBODY WITH THE HEADING THIS TIME! THAT'S A PLUS!

Still, THANK YOU GABBY for slaying this show as usual! You are a GIFT, sweetheart and we're so happy to have you!

GABBY FOR THE WIN!

Anyway, idk if this will get any attention because of the Season 3 finale, but hey, I can continue these if you guys seem interested and entertained by them.

[cosmic-light-fics]

Hi

I just watched the last episode of season 1. And I can’t help but wonder why does Carmy text Syd BEFORE opening the letter Michael left to him ?????

Hello! Sorry it's taken me a while to answer this, I wanted to give you my thorough interpretation of why Carmy texted Sydney first.

It's one of the biggest head scratchers of the season, and I'm not entirely sure my response will cover the entire scope as to why Carmy delayed opening Mikey's letter to him in order to text Sydney. For me, a sizeable part of the answer lies in the way Carmy dealt with his personal problems throughout the whole season.

He's been rightfully called out as avoidant when it comes to addressing other people's emotions, even his own. In the beginning of the season, it is stressed that he is avoiding his sister Natalie who has been trying to reach him ever since he took over The Beef. He won't stop working to acknowledge the feelings he has of losing his brother, but he's trying to be open to it. That's why he winds up going to the Al-Anon meetings. At first, he doesn't speak. He's only at the meetings to listen. But towards the end of the season, when he finally has his big speech, we see Carmy finally ready to talk about Mikey.

Now, how does this relate back to Sydney? I think the glaring thing about their connection is that he is always honest and open with her. Whenever he is upset, he tells her why. Whenever she's upset, Carmy tries to understand why. He always apologizes to her after a dispute and asks if they are okay, if she's okay. I think she's the only person at the restaurant that Carmy's felt comfortable enough to tell about his Al-Anon meetings. There is an implicit trust and respect Carmy has with Sydney (something that steadily grew over the course of the season), and that type of trust bypasses his avoidant tendencies, but not completely.

When he reaches his boiling point in episode 7 and lashes out at Sydney, I think he was too consumed with the to-go disaster to fully grasp what he'd done to drive her away. Sydney put up with a lot of shit that whole season, but the thing that completely pushed her over the edge was Carmy's behavior. And he knew that. But there is some time that passes from Sydney quitting to him finally texting her. In that little pocket of time is his avoidance. This is the first time in the whole season where Carmy doesn't apologize to Sydney in the same day. He avoids contacting her right up until the moment he is about the open Mikey's letter. Even when Tina asks what time Syd would be coming to work, Carmy avoids telling her that Sydney quit, almost like he doesn't want to acknowledge that truth.

Carmy finding Sydney's notebook before Richie gives him Mikey's letter is the catalyst that breaks his avoidance. The truth is plain in his eyes as he looks down at her braised ribs and risotto recipe. He deeply, deeply cares for her as a person and highly respects her as a chef. And I believe undoubtedly that being confronted with something so personal of hers was the wake up call for him to own to his awful behavior.

So when it gets to the scene where we are all expecting Carmy to open Mikey's letter and he doesn't, instead choosing to text Sydney, I believe that the moment shows how the connection he has with Sydney bypasses his avoidant tendencies. He's scared and not forthright with her at the beginning of his texts ("No acid") because he is still not sure how to be completely open, but texting her is the biggest step of him reaching out first to someone he really cares about.

Also, I must add that narratively speaking Carmy already atoned with Mikey at the beginning of the episode in his Al-Anon speech. If he'd had the letter before the speech, I don't think he would have texted Sydney first. And it's hinted throughout the last episode that Sydney was heavily on his mind (ex: a clip of him yelling at her when he's having his panic attack, "you're dressed like Syd," and him staring into her little notebook like it was her soul).

I hope this long ass post makes a little bit of sense. I'm not that great at putting all my jumbled thoughts together cohesively. The biggest thing I wanted to impress upon in this answer to your question was Carmy avoiding the people he cares about, avoiding the emotions that come with being open, and how Sydney is the one person he can't seem to hide from. He always wants to be open with her, he doesn't want to avoid her, even if that means getting out of his own way.