#THE ACCOUNTANT 2 world premiere

[mikethefanboy]

THE ACCOUNTANT 2 2025 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL WORLD PREMIERE! Ben Affleck! Jon Bernthal! And More!

The Accountant 2 is in theaters globally April 25, 2025! The premiere was held at SXSW and all the stars were there.  In attendance was Director Gavin O’Connor, star and producer Ben Affleck, stars Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, Grant Harvey, Presley Anderson, Vincent Juskalian, Avery Taylor, producer Lynette Howell Taylor, and executive producers Dani…

[no-144444]

wingman paul- c.leclerc

summary: charles leclerc takes a liking to you at your brothers movie premiere... paul makes it happen!

pairing: charles leclerc x fem! mescal! reader

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Did you want to go to the Gladiator 2 premiere? No, not really. Was Paul forcing you to anyways? Yes, very much so. 

Being his sister (and emotional support person), he always brought you on set, to premieres, and anywhere else. That was usually fine. The rest of his projects' premieres had either been in the Lighthouse (your favourite cinema in Dublin), or small enough that you wouldn’t get too overwhelmed. You were famous in your own right, following after your sister and writing music. You didn’t go on stage, but you’d garnered over 10 million listeners, and your album had just been nominated for a grammy, though you had no intention of going. It’s not that you were scared or shy, you were just entirely uninterested in going out in public as a ‘public figure’. It stressed you out, having people know who you are in such detail, so you just kept to yourself. You had no public social media accounts, you didn’t allow your label to post about you unless it was about the music, and you only let Paul or Nell drag you out in public for one of their events. You liked it that way, it was comfortable. 

“I’m going to go say hi to some people, you just wait here, yeah?” Paul explained as you two entered the theatre. It was huge, and every celebrity or influencer in the world must’ve been there. You nodded as he walked off and allowed yourself to fade into the background, people-watching as time passed. You noticed the beautiful architecture of the building, the way the celebrities around you mingled, the way-

“Hello.”

You whipped your head around, startled, only to be met with a face you knew quite well. “Jesus, Charles, you scared me,” you chuckled. He blushed slightly as you turned around properly to greet him. “Hi.”

“How are you?” he asked, joining you in your secluded corner. 

“I’m fine, thank you. How are you?” 

“I am very good,” he smiled, showing off his dimples. “I thought you didn’t like events.”

“I don’t, Paul just asked me to come,” you explained. “My mam would’ve killed me if I didn’t go, so here I am.” 

He nodded, understanding. “I tried to find you online, but… you are not a fan of that either?”

You chuckled. “No, not really. Sorry.” 

He shook his head. “No, it is ok. I just… wanted to talk more. You are very interesting to me,” he smiled. 

“Well, thank you for the glowing review,” you chuckled. “Are you enjoying the evening so far?”

“I am enjoying it a lot more with you here,” he smiled. “But yes, I only watched the first one a few days ago and I thought it was very good, so I am excited to see how this one compares.”

“You’re sure a charmer,” you chuckled. “I hope you enjoy the film. Where are you sitting?”

“Beside Carlos?” he shrugged, an awkward smile on his face. “Carlos knows, but I don’t know where Carlos is.”

You laughed. “Are you always this disorganised?”

“Only when I’m nervous,” he winked at you and the lights started going down, you just offered him to sit next to you, hoping that Nell wouldn’t mind. 

You two sat together, enjoying the movie as the night went on, and after you found yourselves at the bar, still chatting. He walked off to find Carlos at one point, looking back with a smile as he waved, promising to come back soon. 

“When are you going to realise he’s trying to flirt with you?” Paul laughed. Your face was bright red and your jaw dropped. 

You gently (roughly) hit his chest and scoffed. “Shut the fuck up. He is not.” 

Paul laughed. “He’s totally into you! Come on, go out with him, please! I want free tickets to Grand Prixs!” 

You rolled your eyes as he giggled, and then startled when you bumped straight back into Charles. “Fuck, sorry-” you started apologising but he just shook his head. 

“All good,” he smiled. 

Paul silently slipped away with a wink, and you were faced with Charles, once again. 

“Hi,” you breathed out. 

“Hi,” he chuckled, his dimples on full show. “He was right, you know.” 

“About what?” you questioned. 

“I am flirting with you-or, at least trying to,” he blushed slightly. 

“Oh,” you nodded, unsure what to do in a situation where someone was as brazen and blunt. “Right.”

He laughed. “Can I take you out sometime?”

You stared at him, total deer in headlights, then nodded. “Yeah, yeah, sounds grand. Thank you.”

You internally smacked yourself in the face for that. But he just laughed, unfazed by your awkward demeanour. 

“Great!” he smiled bashfully. “When are you free?”

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navigation for my blog :) (masterlist)

[arcanenewswatch]

Arcane Newswatch - Day 1064: New Music Video Announced

Earlier this morning, the Arcane social media account announced an upcoming new music video for the song “Blood Sweat & Tears” on the season 2 soundtrack. The music video is set to premiere on October 26th, during the League of Legends Worlds Semifinals broadcast

There are 21 days until Arcane returns

This has been Arcane Newswatch

[mrsreinhart]

https://deadline.com/2025/01/sxsw-2025-lineup-the-studio-death-of-a-unicorn-more-1236263538/

American Sweatshop world premiere!!

OH MY GOD!!

[epicbuddieficrecs]

Weekly Recap | March 11th-17th 2024

That premiere guys!!!!! Was so good!!!!! I'm so excited to be FINALLY be a part of the fandom while the show is actually airing! 😃 Can't wait to read all the amazing fics that are gonna be spawned from season 7!

Speaking of that, I would like to encourage everyone to use the relevant Ao3 tags when writing fics based on S7 content! Not everyone can watch the episodes as they air, so tags are really essential for people who don't want to get spoiled! (I could even make a separate post about it? a sort-of "how to tag" post?). In case you want to block some tumblr tags, my main tags for S7 are #911 season 7, #911 on abc, or #911 spoilers.

(Posting this one day early cause I don't feel like waiting until tomorrow! Enjoy! 😆)

Complete

i find peace in your smile by goforeddie/@iltrpls (A/B/O AU | 1K | General): They’ve been courting for a few months now. It’s agonizingly slow, but it’s still the best time they’ve ever had. You might think that after six years of walking on eggshells around each other, half a decade of “will-they-won’t-they” they wouldn’t be taking such a slow time with courting, but it's precisely everything that they’ve been through that makes them appreciate things a little better.

Birthday Flowers by Tizniz/ @tizniz (Pre-Buddie | 2K | General): OR: Buck gets Eddie flowers for his birthday. 

🔥 if i need to rearrange my particles — i will for you. by dylaesthetics (Post-S6, Identity Porn | 45K | Teen): OR Buck joins a support app for first responders and matches with a firefighter who has PTSD and a kid who likes giraffes, apparently.

Lime Jell-O by rainbow_nerds/ @rainbow-nerdss (S7E01: Abandon 'Ships | 3K | Teen): Eddie Diaz didn't panic. Or, well... Maybe he did. Sometimes. But he was working on it.

take the bed warmed by the body by lecornergirl/ @clusterbuck (Getting Together | 2K | Teen): It’s three parts bravado and one part reminder. He thinks about it, sometimes, his first shift at the 118—he doesn’t think either of them quite knew how much they’d meant it when they’d promised to have each other’s backs. He definitely hadn’t known, then, that he’d wake up one day and wonder why Buck isn’t in his bed. Because that’s what’s missing. He has a vague memory of falling asleep with his head resting against Buck’s shoulder, their legs tangled together.

Taken Space by Wildgirl93/ @wildlife4life (S7E01 Coda | 1K | General): Eddie and Marisol talk about the space that has already been taken.

Feel Like I Landed On The Moon by Tizniz/ @tizniz (Canon Divergent | 1K | General): OR: Eddie is pining for Buck while in Texas.

Fractals from the Lightning Bolt by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (One Shots Collection | 98K | Not Rated): A collection of oneshots, some originally posted on tumblr. Each chapter is individually rated.

53. A Dream You've Had Before (Explicit) 54. We're Definitely All Sluts Here (Explicit)

if you love someone by chronicallystendan (Pre-Buddie | 1K | General): Buck and Eddie both internally panic when a song comes on the radio that seems to be talking directly to them.

adventures of firehose and eightpack by brewrosemilk/ @gayhoediaz (Social Media fic | 1,5K | Mature): Or: Eddie stumbles upon Buck's old twitter account.

Two, Three Times in a Row by Leslie_Knope (PWP | 6K | Explicit): “We could’ve gone again.” Eddie snorts. “I’m old. You expect me to get it up twice?” “Yes,” Buck says, like it’s a given, like duh. “I could get you to do it right now.” The entire world pauses, and Eddie actually feels it, the bolt of arousal slinking down his spine all the way to his toes. He wets his lips. “Right now?”

WIP

🔥 miracles under your sighs and moans by napricot (Sex Pollen, PWP | 1/2 | 13K | Explicit): When Eddie gets exposed to an experimental aphrodisiac on a call, he realizes there’s only one person he trusts to help him get through it: Buck.

🔥 because we'll all arrive in heaven alive by callmenewbie/ @puppyboybuckley (Post-S6, Disaster Fic | 9/10 | 63K | Explicit): During a search and rescue, Eddie disappears without a trace, leaving Buck to grapple with the sudden possibility of a life without him.

~

if you know anyone that is not tagged, please tag them in the comments!

[7grandmel]

Character Archives - [FILE-06]

The SiIva AI

"Read the channel description before it's all gone."

When SiIvaGunner began, the titular character served as a vessel for all the contributions submitted by the real-world team, acting as a bridge between the real and fictive world [FILE-01]. But as Season 1 came to a close and Season 2 began, this "vessel" role jumped from place to place - first, through Wood Man with his fourth-wall breaking knowledge of the real world [FILE-04], then through The Voice Inside Your Head [FILE-03] through a submission form for rips spread onto the SiIvaGunner YouTube channel, which was then finally hijacked by President Haltmann after his claim to the channel's ownership [FILE-05]. Yet Haltmann seemingly recognized the inefficiency of relying on voluntary submissions for the channel's output - the channel, in-universe, still lacked a true vessel, it lacked a being able to operate and evolve organically through the influence of its contributors. And so, development began on creating the perfect replacement to the still-resting SiIvaGunner - The SiIva AI.

At the beginning of Season 3, Haltmann's branding on the channel inexplicably vanished, instead being replaced with what appeared to be the very same profile picture, channel banner, video catchphrases and channel description as the original SiIvaGunner channel of Season 1 used. Yet viewers taking a second look would begin noticing oddities in this rebrand: Small graphical glitches in the images featured, spelling errors and strange capitalization across video metadata, and various bizarre tweets posted on the official account. With these hints, and the help of some Haltmann's Archives videos released over the course of the season, we'd soon come to learn that this was caused by the SiIva AI's implementation - taking the place of channel host as an imperfect yet growing replica of SiIvaGunner. And so, as the months turned to years, as events turned into seasons, the SiIva AI remained as the host of SiIvaGunner channel, his true nature left largely unacknowledged by the channel's output. It stayed as a bubbling mystery, one where its very existence was eventually only known by the SiIvaGunner viewers who had been there at the premiere of Season 3.

It would take until the tail end of Season 7 for the audience to see the SiIva AI properly in action - but in the years leading up to that point, the AI had been growing, event after event, into an entity all its own. In acting as a vessel to creative influence just like the original SiIvaGunner had, the AI's mind was able to grow in size exponentially, soon containing entire worlds of pure imagination, worlds arguably even more daring than what the original SiIvaGunner ever could have depicted. Tournaments, westerns, mysteries, beach-side celebrations and more - though it was created solely to replicate SiIvaGunner's ripping output, its exposure to the raw creativity and freedom of the SiIvaGunner team's real-world contributors appear to have given it far more imagination than ever could have been anticipated. And sure, a large part of the audience remained fully aware that this new channel host was artificial, a fake, and yet...after a while, it was hard not to feel some sort of attachment to it.

Despite a growing inner world of creativity, however, outwardly the SiIva AI remained a loyal, obedient creation of Haltmann Works Company, forever unable to truly break free of its programming in the same way Wood Man had once done. And so, through this loyalty to a doomed cause, its fate was set in stone just the same as Haltmann's, fated to fall fighting on the side of attempted prosperity, instead of enabling its capacities for individual creativity to continue blossoming. In its final moments, even in knowing of its artificial nature, despite its inability to properly express itself outwardly, there was a sorrow looming over the whole situation, grief in the air for a comrade lost in battle. Because even if it couldn't say it outright, the SiIva AI expressed true love for its audience, and the audience inevitably wound up caring back, despite its supposed artificiality. And even as it fades from memory, all of the figments, worlds and memories that it created will live on, forever, with the channel for which it was programmed to aid.

[atouchofireland]

PR Perception & Consequences: Luke Newton

[This analysis is from the perspective of a lover of story with a Masters in Publishing & Writing, with ties to a publicist with 20+ years experience.]

I didn't watch Bridgerton until a while after s2 came out. Partly because I hesitate with new shows and mainly because I hate waiting years between seasons.

I LOVE Derry Girls because it clicks with my mainly Irish family. So, I knew who Nicola was as Clare before watching Bridgerton, but nothing else.

That leads into the LN assumptions.

From what I can tell as a general viewer of the show and Social Media, he came from musical theater and Disney stuff in the UK before landing the Colin role in his mid 20's.

During this time, aka 2019/2020-2023, LN had a gf named Jade for that whole time.

Media reported that they'd broken up some time at the end of filming in June 2023. Then, there is some reports saying he got with his current partner, mere months later in at least 8/23 if not sooner. (Nic is known for keeping her even longterm relationships a secret, but Luke's previous gf would post a few pics and vids here and there.)

This is where PR should've started to protect his image before the first premiere and press tour even happened.

At this point, late 2023, Luke has not posted even a hint of his supposed app gf anywhere. Then he leaves for a 6-month world tour with his friend, of 5 years that he has easy chemistry with, but now they both are not with longtime partners.

LN leaned into the romantic press interviews with his friend because he was comfortable with her and it promoted the show.

Here's where his friends as PR shows dumbass judgment.

I believe I saw something about the app gf attending the 1st premier in London, before the tour, but it wasn't paparazzi-d. Whereas, after the WT, the 1st LN news was pap photos with this girl at the after party 2nd half premier. Basically, PURPOSEFULLY taking the romance illusion away from the couple that the actors built for the months leading up to this.

Bad PR leads off from here: self-described introvert Luke goes to Milan with 'gf',' fair enough it's fashion week. But, THEN he's BACK in Italy on "holiday." Getting paparazzi pics of him they didn't even get on his World Press Tour. Then possibly in Greece, continuing some vacation? So much of this shit makes zero sense both PR-wise and normal person-wise.

For example of good PR capitalizing on lead roles: Nicola is on a movie rn, she's part of A-list representation, she's possibly a future bond girl. Johnny Bailey was shooting a drama, Wicked, and his Bridgerton cameos at the same time. Simone is starring in a motion picture out soon.

The rumors of LN's friend Rory running his socials is horrible because: 1) Rory seems like a douchebag who wants more shirtless pictures of himself on his non-famous account than of his gf. 2) He puts Luke's skinny "similar to his gf" wannabe influencer gf on his instagram without hyping up any on Luke's actual work and projects.

This all gives off the vibe of this friend being resentful, taking advantage of Luke breaking up with his longterm gf and deciding to get more built for the show, and convincing him he needs the "hot rebound" for himself and image. As always, that gross straight man is wrong. All his friends say he's so sweet and quiet and genuine.

How I perceive him from his own press: Had a supportive, longterm gf who was also an aspiring actor as they were both coming up in their early 20's. LN started working out so much to get lean & abs to feel on-par with the other Bridgerton guys. Him and his gf grew apart, maybe even felt resentment, while LN was shooting so long for BS3. Shooting raps.

This is the overall perception that makes me and I think many others so mad: Luke had a sweet, curvy, talented gf for 4 years. And he was a thicker tall guy, not fat, not skinny, not ripped but amazingly curvy in the male way that's rare. He got all built for Bridgerton when Nic refused cuz it isn't necessary for the characters. And after all this real-life and on-screen romance with a mid-size woman, after becoming a "muscly man," he shows up with a stick-figure wanna be dance influencer.

His actions of allowing his pr/friend to paint him as if he gets "hot women" now that he's "desirable" is what makes me fucking sick about the perception of him and I think this is why so many Bridgerton fans in the SM sphere got the ick.

[peachjagiya]

https://www.tumblr.com/peachjagiya/755198778095616000/you-can-do-a-ted-talk-lecture-on-one-taekook?source=share

I will be doing a series of Ted Talks called: "Is it coincidence or is it just......... Taekook?!"

First episode is:

"The Paradox of Oh No, Oh Yes and its Timings" In this episode, we will talk about how Jungkook played the song twice in early 2023. On the 2nd time he did, he played it as the last song with lyrics during his winter ski date concept while watching the stars and "aurora" in March 2023. His words, not mine. He started this portion of his "ARMY date" livestream with high energy, cringing and giggling, then committing to the winter date act. By the end of the stream, minutes after he played Oh No Oh Yes, he was in tears and brushed it off as "rhinitis". 1 month after, April 2023, while JK left SK for the first time in a while to LA and start working on his songs, Taehyung went live and shared that Jungkookie recommended him Oh No, Oh Yes. He even lit a candle because "Jungkookie does it in his live" he then proceeded to play Maybe, a song he penned about someone who told him they are Twin Flames and will melt each other away when the world is cold during winter. The most crucial part of this episode is what happened hours AFTER Taehyung went live and shook fans with the information: Jungkook's brother's IG account posted Oh No, Oh Yes in his story. 🤯 Fast forward to September 4, 2024. Tae went to join Firenze event in Paradise Hotel, the same hotel TaeKook stayed at and filmed Run BTS TikTok challenge. On his way to the event, he posted a story of the sunset with Oh No, Oh Yes in the background. He was there for dinner event. The next morning, Jungkook flew to the US. Note that Paradise Hotel is near to the airport and 4 days prior was his birthday while 2 days after that, September 3, was their 12th year anniversary of meeting eo.

To wrap this Ted Talk up, the lyrics to Oh No Oh Yes:

"More than a ring on a ring finger

I chose a love hidden to the public gaze

Even if I show that I'm a strong woman

Always in my heart

I'm shaking of pain

Oh no, we're two sinners

But no, we can't separate........"

I still have more episodes of this "Is it coincidence or is it just.... Taekook?!" such as dissecting To Find You, Sweetheart Shirts, Dream Premiere and many more. Shall I send a weekly Ask to you so we can all discuss and dissect together? 😁

Omg.

This made me smile so wide! 😁😁😁

The Oh No, Oh Yes saga is one of my favourites because of how spaced out it was, like a continually referenced strand running through the year.

Like sometimes a song is just a song, right? But the way it kept cropping up, it feels special like a little Easter egg 😂 I could hardly believe what I was seeing when Tae posted that sunset 5 months on.

I also love that even the platonic explanation, that they just shared and enjoyed the song, shows their closeness. It's undeniable.

Omg PLEASE send a weekly Ask, that would make me so happy.

Thanks anon. I love this. 💜

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 5

Link for Season 1  Link for Season 2 Link for Season 3 Link for Season 4

I find the existence of filler guides quite amusing, since for some shows it makes sense (like Naruto), but for others (like Pokemon) it absolutely doesn’t and they still exist. So here is an attempt to do an absolutely unnecessary one just for fun. 😅

The classifications are CANON (an episode with major storylines present), LORE (in which we get significant backstory or world building, but could be skippable)  and FILLER (completely skippable episodic storytelling, not connected to overarching story arcs)

PLS my analysis will have spoilers, if you’re a first time viewer, just scroll to the bottom and read the list and only read full text if you are familiar with the content of the show already! S5E1 Scott Tenorman Must Die is CANON

It is an important episode, it develops Eric and morphs him into a new role, kind of a villain origin story. Also, yes, this is not a mistake, this IS the intended season premiere. It aired as episode 4, but it is earlier by production code.

S5E2 It Hits The Fan is FILLER

Curse words now have an origin story. S5E3 Cripple Fight is CANON

This is how Stan, Kenny, Eric, Butters and Timmy first met Jimmy. Butters also slowly but surely emerges as a major character. S5E4 Super Best Friends is CANON

Be aware, this is very canon, despite some sites pulling it for... Being culturally inclusive? Oh no, I posted a drawing of Muhammad, hope I don't get cancelled. S5E5 Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow is LORE

If you for some reason really like these two, this one episode helps you get how Terrance has put on weight, since he will be seen in later episodes more plump than before.

S5E6 Cartmanland is FILLER

This is one of the episodes in which we see Kyle and Eric being universally opposed forces. But other than that it's just cementing the status quo.

S5E7 Proper Condom Use is CANON

Because of Diane and Mr. Mackey side-plot which kinda has further consequences, not really, but it's a red herring for a cause of death.

S5E8 Towelie is CANON

Only because Towelie will be back and otherwise you can't really explain him existing. S5E9 Osama Bin Laden has Farty Pants is FILLER

It was important to US citizens, but basically nonexistent in the further South Park lore. S5E10 How to Eat with Your Butt is FILLER

It's a great Eric episode that also helped Jimmy to come to the foreground, but other than that the events aren't important.

S5E11 The Entity is CANON

Because of Kyle. No, not the Broflovski kid, Kyle 2. I mean Kyle 1, the OG. He will be back.

S5E12 Here Comes the Neighborhood is FILLER

Tolkien gets an episode, the whole thing is like a Peanuts special, it's great. Overall it doesn't account to much and Tolkien will have time to shine later too.

S5E13 Kenny Dies is CANON

Obvious. One of the main characters die. I won't tell you who it is, but they for sure will stay dead, so that's a canon episode for sure.

S5E14 Butters' Very Own Episode is...

Well, what do you think? It has a different theme song, it focuses on characters that were never the focus before. It's also the most important episode in context of the next season, basically Butters gets his own pilot backdoor episode for his ascension to main cast member, while we also get to know his parents in depth. A bit of Herbert lore in this as well as Old Farmer's introduction.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not.

S5E1 Scott Tenorman Must Die is CANON S5E2 It Hits The Fan is FILLER S5E3 Cripple Fight is CANON S5E4 Super Best Friends is CANON S5E5 Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow is LORE* S5E6 Cartmanland is FILLER S5E7 Proper Condom Use is CANON S5E8 Towelie is CANON S5E9 Osama Bin Laden has Farty Pants is FILLER S5E10 How to Eat with Your Butt is FILLER S5E11 The Entity is CANON S5E12 Here Comes the Neighborhood is FILLER S5E13 Kenny Dies is CANON S5E14 Butters' Very Own Episode is CANON

*If you need to know about Terrance's personal health

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13 S2: 3 out of 18 S3: 6 out of 18 S4: 10 out of 17 S5: 8 out of 14 Overall: 36 out of 80

[mushiemellows]

On Rivd and AI

So last night I made this post and said I'd elaborate more in the morning and when I had the time to do a bit of research. Upon doing said research, I realized that I had misunderstood the concerns being raised with the Rivd situation, but that isn't the case any more. However, some of my thoughts on ai still stand. Heads up, this is going to be a long post. Some actual proper blogging for once wow.

I'm going to discuss the Rivd phishing scam, what can be done for fic writers as ai begins to invade fan spaces, and my elaborated thoughts on Language Learning Models. Warning for transparency: I did utilize chat gpt for this post, NOT for the text itself but to provide examples of the current state of LLMs. Some articles I link to will also be ai generated, and their generated quality is part of what I'll be warning about. This is not a generated post and you can tell because I've got those nifty writing things called "voice" and "style."

ANYWAYS:

Okay so what was the Rivd situation? So two days ago this post was uploaded on tumblr, linking back to a twitter thread on the same topic. I saw it late last night because I was traveling. A reddit post was also uploaded 3 days ago. According to google trends, there was a slight uptick in search traffic the week of June 23rd, and a more severe uptick last week (June 30th-July 6th). That's all to say, this website did not exist until last week, caused a stir, and immediately was put down.

Rivd is not longer up. Enough people contacted its web hosting service Cloudflare and they took the site down. This happened yesterday, from the looks of it.

So, then, what was Rivd? And more importantly, what was the point of scraping a chunk of ao3 and re-uploading it? There seems to be 2 possible theories.

1) The more innocent of the two: they genuinely want to be an ao3 competitor. I can't look at the website any more, and very little positive results appear when googled, but I did find one ai-generated puff piece called "Exploring Rivd: The Premier Platform for Movie-Based Fanfiction" posted to Medium last week by one "Steffen Holzmann" (if that is your real name... x to doubt). This account appeared the same week that Rivd had that first little uptick in google queries, so it is undoubtedly made by the people running the website themselves to create an air of legitimacy. Medium appears to be a safe enough website that you can click that link if you really want to, but you shouldn't. It's a bad generated article, there's very little to glean from it. But it is a remnant source on what Rivd was claiming to be, before it was taken down. Here's the conclusion from the article, the only portion that gave any actual information (and it barely offers any):

Rivd is the ultimate platform for movie-based fanfiction, offering a diverse range of content, a supportive community, and robust interactive features. Whether you’re a writer looking to share your work or a reader seeking new adventures in your favorite movie universes, Rivd provides the perfect platform to engage with a passionate and creative community. Start your journey on Rivd today and immerse yourself in the world of fanfiction.

There's a second article by Holzmann titled "Mastering the Art of Fanfiction Writing in 2024" that's essentially similar ai bull, but trades explaining that fans can write Star Wars fic for explaining that you can make OC's and maybe get a beta (not that that's advice I've ever heeded. Beta? Not in this house we don't.) This was posted six days ago and similarly spends half the time jerking Rivd off. That's all to say, if they are to be believed at face value, this website wanted to just be a fic hosting site. Scraping Ao3 would have made it seem like there was already an active user base for anyone they were attempting to attract, like buying your first 50,000 instagram followers. Anyone actually looking to use this as a fic site would have quickly realized that there's no one on it and no actual fan engagement. There's already fan community spaces online. This website offers nothing ao3 or ffn or wattpad or livejournal or tumblr or reddit didn't already.

Similarly, it reeks of tech bro. Between the scraping and the ai articles, the alarms are already going off. According to that Reddit thread, they were based out of Panama, though that doesn't mean much other than an indicator that these are the type of people to generate puff articles and preemptively base their business off-shore. Holzmann, it should be mentioned, also only has 3 followers, which means my tiny ass blog already has more reach than him. Don't go following that guy. The two comments on the first article are also disparaging of Rivd. This plan didn't work and was seen right through immediately.

If fan communities, and those who write fic know anything, it's how to sniff out when someone isn't being genuine. People write fic for the love of the game, at least generally. It's a lot of work to do for free, and it's from a place of love. Ao3 is run on volunteers and donations. If this genuinely is meant to be a business bro website to out-compete ao3, then they will be sorely disappointed to learn that there's no money in this game. It would be short lived anyway. A website like this was never going to work, or if it was, it would need to ban all copyrighted and explicit materials. You know, the pillars of fic.

So then what was the point of all of this? Unless there was a more nefarious plan going on.

2) Rivd was a phishing scam. This is so so so much more likely. The mark for the scam isn't fic readers, it's fic writers. Here's how it works: they scrape a mass of ao3 accounts for their stories, you catch it, you enter a lengthy form with personal info like your full name and address etc. requesting they take your work down, they sell your data. Yes, a lot of personal info is required to take copyrighted materials down on other sites, too. That's what makes it a good scam. Fic already sits in a legal grey area (you have a copyright over your fic but none of the characters/settings/borrowed plot within it. You also CANNOT make money off of fic writing). So the site holds your works ransom, and you can't go to Marvel or Shueisha or fuck it the ghost of Ann Rice herself to deal with this on your behalf. Thankfully, enough people were able to submit valid DMCA's to Cloudflare to deal with the issue from the top.

Remember this resolution for the next time this situation arises (because of course there will be a next time). Go through higher means rather than the site itself. These scams are only getting more bold. Me personally? I'm not going to give that amount of personal info to a website that shady. Be aware of the warning signs for phishing attacks. Unfortunately, a lot of the resources online are still around text/email phishing. We live in a time where there's legal data harvesting and selling, and illegal data harvesting and selling, and the line in between the two is thin and blurry. Here's an FTC article on the signs of phishing scams, but again, it's more about emails.

I should note, I do not think that Rivd is connected to the ransomware virus of the same name that popped up two or three years ago [link is to Rivd page on PCrisk, a cypersecurity/anti-malware website]. It's probably just coincidence.... but even so. A new business priding itself on SEO and all that tech guy crap should know not to name itself the same thing as a literal virus meant to scam out out of a thousand dollars.

That's all to say, this was absolutely a scam meant to take personal info from ao3 writers. And that blows. To love art and writing and creation so much just to have your works held hostage over data feels really bad. Of course it does!

So, should you lock down your ao3 account?

That, to me, is a little trickier. You can do as you please, of course, and you should do what makes you feel safest. Me personally, though, I don't plan on it. I really, really like that guests can interact with my work from the outside. Ao3 still uses an invite system, so a lot of regular users still don't have accounts for any number of reasons. I read a lot of the time logged out anyways. I started writing again last year after all the info on the ao3 Language Learning Model training had already come out. Like I talked about in my last post, I set out to write things that a computer couldn't produce. (from here on out, I'm going to be using One Piece fic as an example, simply because that's what I write. It's also in a really prime position for a lot of ai discussion due to the size of the fandom and the size of the original work)

I'm going to be honest, I'm not all that afraid of my work being scraped for LLMs to train off of. Text generators have existed for a decade now, but they really popped off last year. LLM's are at a point, though, where the tech is sort of stagnating after the initial boom. The flaws of current ai chat bots are so baked into the flaws of ai itself that they won't be ironed out soon. They make up info, they're easily manipulated, they simply are not people. The flaw here is deep- you can trace it to the fact that we don't know enough about neuroscience itself, and even then neuroscientists don't make ai. Ai programers do. Complex info already has to make one synaptic jump without losing any understanding from person to person, and then it has to be perfectly abstracted for a machine to comprehend. It can't be done with the tools we currently have. I DO hate to admit it, but there are some decent uses for ai. if you are specifically a python programmer. The rest of us? Maybe not.

I don't like generated fic, I don't read it on principle. Checking on ao3, though, there's only 4 total generated op fics (3 in spanish, one in english, 3 xreader, 1 zosan but 2nd person zosan? and the author edited the framework the computer generated text. I still didn't enjoy the fic, tho.) But that breaks down to .005% of all op fics. I went into chat gpt and asked it to generate a drabble for me based on One Piece, and this is what it wrote:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word fanfiction based on the manga One Piece. Next line, Chat GPT- "On the shores of an uncharted island, the Straw Hat Pirates stumbled upon a hidden treasure trove. Among the glittering gold and jewels, Luffy discovered an old, weathered journal. Inside, he found sketches and notes detailing the adventures of a legendary pirate who once roamed the Grand Line. Excited by the prospect of a new adventure, the crew set sail. following clues left in the journal. Along the way, they faced formidable foes and forged new alliances, unraveling the mysteries of the lost pirate's legacy. With each island they conquered, they grew closer to uncovering the ultimate treasure- a legacy that would shape their own journey." End ID]

Okay so like, this blows, yeah? 75,000 One Piece fics to train off of on ao3 and it still can't like, write a decent little story. This reads more like an episode summary or a book dust jacket blurb. Drabbles have an internal structure that make them interesting, much like a single sentence short story. You have to get very baby shoes never worn with them, yeah? Ai doesn't understand that, it just knows how many words it has to generate. It doesn't have any sense for creative language, metaphor, simile, poetry. I asked it to write me a poem and it wrote me the same poem with thesaurus replacements each time it re-generated one. A lot about dreams and stars and midnight and whispers, over and over again. The same rhyme scheme and cadence too.

It's also- vitally- so unhorny that it's almost a crime. For a test, I asked it to generate a story about a uhhhhh robot and an archeologist kissing. Just to see what it would give me. I ran 4 tests, a robot falling in love with an archeologist, a robot kissing an archeologist, an archeologist kissing a robot, and an archeologist falling in love with a robot. All 4 were incredibly chaste, quiet little drabbles about the innocence of discovery or whatever the fuck. Here's one of them:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word story about an archeologist kissing a robot. Next line, Chat GPT- "Int he dimly lit chamber, Professor Evelyn Porter stared in awe at the ancient artifact- a remarkably lifelike robot buried for millennia. As she leaned closer to examine its intricacies, a surge of curiosity and admiration swept over her. In a moment of spontaneous fascination, she brushed her lips against the cool metal of its cheek, a gesture of reverence and connection across ages. The robot, dormant for eons, stirred faintly in response to the unexpected contact. It was fleeting, almost surreal exchange between past and future, bridging the gap between human exploration and technological marvels of ancient civilizations." End ID]

So like, some of these phrases gets to what's vaguely intriguing about this dynamic, sure. But at the end of the day it's still uhhhh chaste as hell. A reverent kiss??? Not what I want in my fic!!!! This is all to say, LLM's can scrape ao3 all they want, that doesn't mean they can USE what they're stealing. The training wheels have to stay on for corporate palatability. I'm stealing, I'm taking these dolls out of Shueisha's grubby hands and I'm making them sexy kiss for FREE.

In my opinion, the easiest way to keep your work out of the hands of ai is to write something they cannot use. If the grey area of copyright lies in how much is transformed, then motherfucking TRANSFORM it. Write incomprehensible smut. Build surreal worlds. Write poems and metaphors and flush out ideas that a computer could never dream of. Find niches. Get funky with it. Take it too far. and then take it even farther. Be a little freaking weirdo, you're already writing fic so then why be normal about it, you know? Even if they rob you, they can't use it. Like fiber in the diet, undigestible. Make art, make magic.

Even so, I don't mind if the computer keeps a little bit of my art. If you've ever read one of my fics, and then thought about it when you're doing something else or listening to a song or reading a book, that means something I made has stuck with you just a little bit. That;'s really cool to me, I don't know you but I live in your brain. I've made you laugh or cry or c** from my living room on the other side of the world without knowing it. It's part of why I love to write. In all honesty, I don't mind if a computer "reads" my work and a little bit of what I created sticks with it. Even if it's more in a technical way.

Art, community, fandom- they're all part of this big conversation about the world as we experience it. The way to stop websites like Rivd is how we stopped it this week. By talking to each other, by leaning on fan communities, by sending a mass of DMCA's to web host daddy. Participation in fandom spaces keeps the game going, reblogging stuff you like and sending asks and having fun and making art is what will save us. Not to sound like a sappy fuck, but really caring about people and the way we all experience the same art but interpret it differently, that's the heart of the whole thing. It's why we do this. It's meant to be fun. Love and empathy and understanding is the foundation. Build from there. Be confident in the things you make, it's the key to having your own style. You'll find your people. You aren't alone, but you have to also be willing to toss the ball back and forth with others. It takes all of us to play, even if we look a little foolish.

[aphelio-mara]

its actually so good to hear someone else out there is lying awake at night thinking. “omega earth has a valorant legion fan convention.” and “i wonder how many shitty movie productions exist in omega earth that completely ruin an agents character.”

like. imagine turning on the latest big hit movie about your life and saving the world and theres a horrible romance sideplot of you and your best friend. hilarious. mortifying. the rest of the legion doesnt let it go for months, until the next big scandal drops and focuses the attention onto the next poor soul

going absolutely insane to the point that i made a whole scenario based on this because YES YOU GET IT 🫵‼️

can you imagine phoenix getting promised a biopic in the aftermath of his heroism in aiding lisbon (pearl)

he's ecstatic; sage, omen, and jett are all supportive, save for the lighthearted teasing every once and a while by them and the others

the day of the premiere comes and he's bubbling on the red carpet, giving fist bumps and side hugs to his friends and colleagues that attended, the paparazzi going particularly crazy when he drapes his arm over yoru (he chalks it up as them being excited that yoru even came with his elusive persona)

the movie begins and phoenix is impressed. the plot flows well, it highlights aspects of his life and personality that's meaningful to him, and the acting is incredible! he doesn't even comment on the fact that every time movie him and movie yoru interact, the vibe of the scene changes in the smallest ways into something more...sentimental? oh, who cares, the movie is cool!

he doesn't even pay mind to the fact that when movie him was in peril, movie yoru had an entire scene of him rushing to the communication room, trying to reach him. he doesn't say anything when the end of the film comes near and they have a conversation with yoru hugging him. i mean, they're good friends beyond their public rivalry, he wishes that yoru actually hugged him during that time. this is such a nice homage to their friendsh—and they're kissing

phoenix feels heat rush up to his cheeks and ears as the tips of his hair flicker ever so slightly with sparks, turning immediately to yoru who's looking at him with the same unspoken "what the fuck"

jett is laughing her ass off and sage looks like a proud mother until her face falls when she realizes that the whole subplot probably isn't real and either 1.) phoenix and yoru's relationship just got outed or 2.) phoenix is Not Gay (the prior option sounds much more plausible to her)

the legion pr team has to physically stop phoenix from answering any interviews after the premiere. his face is plastered in the tabloids the very next day, the yorunix hashtag is trending everywhere, and thousands of dms are entering his social media accounts about how it's okay to be gay ("i know it's okay but are we gonna ignore the fact that they think i'm dating him???")

jett and sage are masters of deflection when asked about it, omen doesn't leave hq enough to be caught in an interview, and yoru himself is back to being too elusive for paparazzi to catch him...and poor phoenix is left to rethink his entire dynamic with one of his best friends

the rumors only die down after almost half a year of not entertaining questions about it, being ultimately overshadowed by another wave of seasonal "bisexual chamber" allegations (they are not allegations at all, chamber knows what he likes but god does he likes to see people speculate)

and hey, phoenix isn't mad anymore. it helped him discover a new part of himself, after all

not the being gay part though; it's the fact that he's probably helplessly in love with yoru and he has no fuckass clue what to do about that 💀

[lastoneout]

Everyone: YouTube is such a garbage platform! It only cares about ad money and exploiting creators, and they have frankly draconian rules about what you can say or show, and sometimes even if you follow all the rules you'll either lose your money and viewerbase to demonetization, and there's basically no way to fix that unless you are a huge creator who makes a massive stink about it on Twitter, or to the algorithm just deciding your videos aren't worth promoting anymore. I hate how many ads there are too, 2+ prerolls, midrolls, and ones at the end?? Tons are unskippable and they often contain triggering content with NO warning. And like, half the sponsorships are for corrupt scams and full of lies. And ugh the switch to prioritizing short from content is fucking over anyone who doesn't want to make discount tiktoks. Plus they're trying to stop people from using adblocker in fucked up ways. And on top of all that Google is just straight up evil. YouTube really does suck these days :/ I feel bad for the creators I love who are stuck using it.

Watcher: YouTube was a good place for our shows at first, but as you all know if you want to make money here you have to compromise the types of content you want to make to please the algorithm and advertisers, and we don't want to make content for them, we want to make quality TV shows for and supported by our viewers, so we can grow and offer even more, much higher quality stuff, so it's time to open our own independant streaming service. It's as cheap as we can make it, and we also want to give our fans more control and so there's a deal if you sign up now where you get 30% off for the first year and can vote on our next show, plus we will never implement any measures to prevent account sharing, one person can share with whoever they want. We're still going to upload trailers and premiers on YouTube, and we will NOT be deleting anything that's already up here. We hope you can support us, because it's your support that matters to us more than anything else.

Everyone: Oh my god you guys are such assholes who hate poor people, what the fuck is your problem!! How dare you abandon us, here's a huge paragraph about how your shows are the only thing that makes my life worth living because [xyz systemic issue], just so you know you're actively ruining our lives by trying to get rid of ads, make better content, and focus on what the viewers want. Why didn't you switch to Nebula or something?? Idc if that's not how it works. Fuck you all, I'm going to go review bomb all your videos. This is so evil and scummy. Also, I'm pissed because people are claiming this isn't avaliable in the rest of the world, even though no one has offered a single source to back it up. Anyway back to watching Dropout, a service you have to pay for, which I'm not mad about at all.

Me:

[missywritesfor7]

❤️‍🩹Lifeline | MYG❤️‍🩹

Synopsis: It’s long been controversial for idols to date, but idols dating each other can be really beautiful or a complete nightmare. When Yoongi's relationship with another idol is discovered, he decides maybe it’s time to break the taboo and show people it’s ok for idols to date. Instead, they find themselves caught in the midst of one media frenzy after another and struggle to keep their relationship as strong as it had been the past 2 years. Yoongi finds a self destructive way to cope, and it causes even more problems than it solves. As they fight for their relationship and their careers, they discover that sometimes, the only way to truly be free is to let go.

Pairing: idol!Yoongi x idol!OC

Warnings: nsfw, alcoholism, cheating, depression, anxiety, Yoongi goes through a bisexy ho phase, Yoongi is also in his alcoholic phase, post-military BTS

Previous chapter | Next chapter | Masterlist

Ch 18: New Attitude

Despite the legal battle with JJS and the amount of stress it’s been causing Hyeri, she finds herself truly excited to attend the premiere of her miniseries. Seeing her beloved cast mates is just the thing she needs to take her mind off of JJS and her ever growing loneliness.

Her new agency, Brickyard Entertainment, had a small crew go to her home to do her hair and make up, give her a snack as she didn’t want to eat a full meal before the premiere, and style her in the most stunning pink gown that sparkles as she moves. They even picked out special jewelry to match, though she was adamant that she wear her own necklace. The teardrop one Yoongi bought her on tour. She knows he’ll be watching the red carpet broadcast and she wants to make sure he knows she’s always thinking of him.

Yoongi will definitely be watching. He had a bouquet of flowers and a basket of her favorite snacks and skincare products delivered to her that morning. He sent her a string of excited text messages telling her how proud he is and how much he loves her. His love always gives her a positive boost.

The premiere is a media frenzy when Hyeri arrives. A lot of promo and anticipation had been building up so it’s no surprise to anyone. What Hyeri doesn’t quite realize at first is that a lot of that media frenzy is for her.

This is Hyeri’s first public appearance since the video of her yelling at her manager surfaced, and since her legal battle began. Everyone is dying to ask her lots of questions with only a small few of them having anything to do with the miniseries.

She poses for photos and waves at fans as she walks along the red carpet. She feels on top of the world to finally see fans after what’s felt like an eternity out of the public eye. There’s a line of reporters from different publications waiting to interview her when she approaches. One by one Hyeri meets with each one exchanging pleasantries and expressing excitement for the premiere. Some ask her what they can expect from the show. Others ask her about any upcoming projects she’s working on. Of course there are a few that ask her about doing more music. Then there’s one that wanted to focus on other things.

Yoongi tuned in to the red carpet broadcast of the premiere. His face lit up and his chest filled with joy the moment he saw Hyeri step out of the limo. She looks so gorgeous as always and so very happy. He can always tell when her smile is authentic, and what he’s seeing on the red carpet is her true happy self. His smile is beaming with pride.

Yoongi knows being on socials can only cause problems, but today he’s making an exception so he can see the photos and videos being posted from the red carpet. He tries to only stick to official media accounts, but he can’t help checking the trending tags too.

People are loving Hyeri’s dress and happy to see her. Photos are being shared along with videos of her interviews from the various media outlets she spoke with. He looks at every single thing. He swoons at how sweet her voice sounds when she talks. He smiles at how comfortable she is in front of the camera. He giggles like a schoolgirl when he notices her wearing the necklace he bought her. He can’t get enough of her.

After a bit he comes across a video that seems to be causing a lot of buzz. Hyeri is being interviewed by an online publication that Yoongi isn’t entirely familiar with though he’s seen the name a time or two. The interviewer starts by congratulating her on the premiere and asking what can be expected. The usual that she’s answered in every other video. She gives her response and smiles along with the interviewer who sounds very enthusiastic. Then without missing a beat, the interviewer asks Hyeri another question.

“Can you tell me more about why you were seen yelling at your former manager? Is it true you rejected roles they had for you because you thought you were too good for those roles?” The interviewer asks staring Hyeri down.

“W-what?” Hyeri asks taken aback by the unexpected question. “No.”

“JJS says they gave you plenty of roles but you were difficult to work with,” the interviewer continues. “Did your relationship with Kihyun cause you to care less about your career and demand only lead roles?”

“Huh?” Hyeri is confused and unsure what to say. She thought she was just having a simple red carpet interview like the others, but now she finds herself feeling attacked and unable to get more than a word out.

“Did you get into a car accident because the dating rumors weren’t helping your career the way you thought they would? Was that just another publicity stunt?”

“No!” She says offended, then takes a breath and softens her tone. “The dating rumors were lies confirmed by JJS without my approval. I can’t say much due to the case still being in progress, but the truth will come out in due time.”

“Well there’s been speculation that you’ve been romantically involved with a few people. You were photographed with Suga of BTS not long before JJS confirmed your relationship with Kihyun. Not to mention footage of you with a few other people over the past year. Is there a reason for that? Are you looking for someone successful enough to take care of you so you won’t have to work anymore?”

“What are you talking about?” She asks starting to get very uncomfortable and trying her hardest to hold back tears from this unprecedented attack.

“I don’t mean to offend,” he laughs. “It’s just the word that’s been going around. You were seen out with RM of BTS recently. Is that your next budding relationship? Would Suga be upset to find you’ve moved on to his band mate?”

“You know what,” Hyeri says fighting the wave of tears rising. “Thank you for coming. I hope everyone enjoys the series and shows it lots of love.” She waves to the camera then quickly turns and walks off.

That clip is getting hotter by the second. It’s trending all over socials and the discussion surrounding it is tense. Yoongi finishes the video and can only stare at his phone with his jaw clinched. He’s frozen in place unsure if he wants to set fires or run all the way to Seoul to hold Hyeri because he could clearly see how upset she was. He’s been on the receiving end of some of the worst questions, but he knows she’s not used to that type of sudden and public questioning meant to catch her off guard and make her look bad no matter what she says.

Since he’d been staying away from socials, he had no idea that rumors were going around about Hyeri and Namjoon. The two went out for lunch one day just to hang out and catch up. They actually do it regularly since Namjoon has known Hyeri longer than Yoongi has.

Hyeri went to school with Namjoon’s younger sister and met him through her. Namjoon saw her as another younger sister and made sure she was taken care of during her trainee years as if she were blood. He even scolded her for not telling him how bad things were with Starlight when she was in Two Piece. Just another instance of her staying silent as to try to avoid burdening others.

When Hyeri and Yoongi began dating Namjoon was happy for them. He knew he wouldn’t have to worry about her in the care of his hyung. However, he’s been checking in on her more lately since Yoongi had been on his downward spiral.

Namjoon and Hyeri had lunch together but apparently made the mistake of going somewhere in the city with more people likely to notice. They spent the lunch catching up, mostly talking about Yoongi and how his recovery is going. Namjoon is the older brother she’s always wanted so she talks to him about everything and always values his advice.

Their lunch wasn’t a secret or anything scandalous, but of course, someone with a camera decided to make it seem that way. They were only photographed leaving the restaurant and waving goodbye. Neither of them knew they were being photographed.

When Hyeri spoke to Yoongi that evening, she told him about her lunch with Namjoon. She passed along Namjoon’s words of support, and told Yoongi about the project he’s working on and an update on the rest of the guys.

Yoongi hasn’t talked to the guys very much other than an update or two, but he hasn’t talked with any of them about what they’re working on. Minho thought it would be best for him to keep from talking about work. It’s hard for him not to when talking to the members, the conversation just always finds its way to something work related. So his communication has been short and sweet and few with them. He misses them though, but he’s not quite ready to talk with them the way he’d been talking with Hyeri. They all understand and just can’t wait for him to get better.

Now that lunch Hyeri had with Namjoon to give and receive updates on everyone in their circle is being seen by the public as a possible romance. Not only did that reporter completely ambush Hyeri for no reason, he also brought Yoongi’s attention to a rumor that does him no good on his rehab journey. He’s pissed and once again finds himself far from where he really wants to be, by Hyeri’s side.

He taps out a text to Hyeri telling her she looks amazing and that if she’s not too tired he wants to video chat when she gets home. He knows she could go right to bed if she’s too tired, but he’s hoping tonight she doesn’t. As usual, he needs to see her to know she’s ok.

Seeing her isn’t what matters though, because he’ll worry about her regardless. He can never stop worrying about her. He just wants to take care of her. If it were up to him she wouldn’t need to work or go through any of the shit she deals with because he wants to be able to take care of her.

Hyeri doesn’t necessarily need Yoongi to take care of her. She appreciates everything he does, but she’s not helpless and at times she wishes he would believe that. She saw his message while in the car on her way home and she knows he’s either just really excited, or he saw that abysmal interview and wants to see proof that she’s ok. She hasn’t had much time for it to all sink in, but she’s not completely in distress or anything. However she knows Yoongi wouldn’t believe her if she only says she’s ok.

When she gets home she changes out of her dress and washes up. She grabs her phone and gets comfortable in bed in her usual position when she video chats with Yoongi. She gives herself one more look then gives him a call.

“Hey,” Yoongi answers quickly. “How did it go?” He asks wasting no time.

“It was fine,” she says. “It was really good to see everyone again after a while.”

“You looked perfect,” he smiles. “You always do.”

“Thanks, babe,” she blushes.

“No one gave you any problems today, did they?”

“No,” she chuckles. “At least nothing that I’m not already used to.”

“Like what?” He asks trying to give her the opportunity to bring it up first.

“You know the usual. People asking me questions that have nothing to do with the show.” She chuckles. “I’ve been out of the public eye for a while, it’s to be expected.”

“Really? So you expected to be asked about your recent dating history?”

“Rumored dating history,” she corrects him rolling her eyes. “Wait, what have you been watching? You’re supposed to be staying off of socials!”

“I was trying to see you!” He pouts.

“Yoongi,” she chuckles giving in. “Look, that guy was an asshole and maybe I didn’t expect him to ask me all of that bullshit he asked me, but it’s fine. I got over it. The premiere was great.”

She means that. She got over it. One thing she’s learned recently is that people are going to talk regardless and if she lets it get to her she could find herself taking another late night drive that results in a hospital stay.

Yoongi isn’t convinced, but that’s typical. He tries to get the best look at her as he can but it’s hard when she’s mostly in the darkness.

“Turn the light on,” Yoongi says.

“I’m not turning the light on, Yoongi,” she answers shaking her head. “You have to trust me. I told you I’m fine, I mean it. I didn’t even shed any tears.”

“I trust you, Superwoman,” he jokes. “But you like to tell me you’re ok when you’re really not. I just have to be sure.”

“I tell you I’m alright because I am alright. You just don’t believe me.”

“You just looked upset. I was worried.”

“I know, baby. You’re always worried, but you don’t need to be. It’s so…you just don’t need to worry.” What she really wants to tell him is that she’s not a helpless baby. But now isn’t the time for that.

“You mean it? I won’t find out you’ve been taking late night drives again, will I?”

“Yoongi please,” she sighs.

“I know. It’s hard being away from you. I feel like I need to be there for you and I’m not.”

“You are,” she presses. “You’ve always been. You are probably the most supportive person I’ve ever met in my life. I just want you to know that I can still take care of myself. You don’t have to try to play hero and solve all of my problems, I just want you to support me. My shoulder to lean on when I need, not a helicopter parent,” she jokes.

“Helicopter parent?” He asks offended. “That’s what you think I am?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she says realizing her poor choice of words. “I’m just saying you don’t have to worry about me so much because I can take care of myself.”

“Right,” he nods unconvinced. “You can take care of yourself?”

“Why are you questioning that?” She asks tilting her head.

“I’m not, I just….I know you try to be strong, but it’s ok to say when you have a hard time. I just want to be there for you.”

“If I’m having a hard time, I’ll let you know. I’ve told you that many times but you still never seem to believe me,” she huffs. This isn’t how she thought this conversation would go, but now she’s mildly annoyed.

“I do,” he defends. “I’m sorry that I love you so much that I want you to be happy.”

“Oh no no no no no,” she laughs in disbelief. “Don’t do that, Yoongi. Don’t…” she inhales sharply. “Don’t do that. Trying to interject yourself in every moment because you think I’m helpless is not the same as wanting me to be happy.”

“Trying to interject myself in every moment? Tell me what you’re really trying to say,” he huffs.

“Yoongi,” she snaps rolling her eyes again. “I’m not a baby. You don’t have to try coming to my rescue every time you see me frown. You’re making me feel like you see me as a child and I hate that! If I say I’m ok then I mean it! I can handle shit on my own too, you don’t have to be the one solving every problem.”

“Ok,” he huffs. “I get it, Hyeri. I’m sorry I’m too much for you. I‘ll back off since you don’t need me.”

“Yoongi!” She roars fed up. “I don’t know what your deal is tonight, but let me remind you that you cheated on me! Where the fuck were you when I was here unaware and hurting because you wouldn’t fucking talk to me? Now you’re having this pity party because I tell you I can take care of myself? Maybe you don’t believe me because you had no fucking idea how much I was taking care of myself before while you were too trashed out of your mind to remember a damn thing! Then you came home and continued to get trashed so I took care of both of us! Focus on yourself, babe, because I’m just fine!”

Yoongi is stunned silent at Hyeri’s words. Stunned so much it hurts. It hurts for many reasons in ways she’s never hurt him before.

“Look,” she softly says, instantly regretting her outburst. “It’s been a long day and I just need some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ok?”

Yoongi silently nods and without another word he ends the call.

[player1064]

Hi! All such great carraville drabbles so far! If you’re still doing them, may I request them coming out publicly and the various reactions of news broadcasters, other ex/current footballers and of course, the internet. Thanks!

aaa thank you!!! and yessss I love fics where it's public reaction to stuff and i LOVE multi-media type fics so this was fun to write (even though i am much too lazy to come up with fake twitter usernames)

---

Group: MU mob

Phillip: forwarded an instagram post by gneville2 Phillip: ???

Gary: what Gary: do u think I was too nice to him in the caption Gary: I can edit it to add something about scousers maybe Gary: or how he never won the league

Phillip: you and Carragher???

Gary: ?

Paul: whyd u make me look at that rot first thing in the morning Paul: put me off my breakfast that did

Ryan: im not installing instagram for this whats he done now

Nicky: ^

Phillip: he’s dating Carragher?????

Ryan: where have u been for the last 2 years its literally all he talks about

Phillip: America! I have been! In! America! Phillip: Gaz I can’t believe you told them and not me?

Paul: I wish he hadnt told us to be fair Paul: they r so annoying

Gary: sorry phil I mustve forgot Gary: timezones etc Gary: gtg we’re having breakfast before he has to head to studio 🥞😍

David: nice post Gary 😊🏳️‍🌈 Happy for you x

Chat: Stevie G

Missed call from Stevie

Stevie: Carra

Missed call from Stevie

Stevie: Jamie Lee Duncan Carragher Stevie: pick up your damn phone Stevie: you are shit at this best friend thing yknow Stevie: also Gary Neville??? Stevie: you were moaning about him when I called you just last week Stevie: but if he makes you happy that’s alright then Stevie: tell him he’s buying me a pint next time I’m home Stevie: in liverpool mind Stevie: don’t care if you love him you won’t see me in pub in manchester

The Daily Mail

LIVERPOOL AND MAN UTD LEGENDS JAMIE CARRAGHER AND GARY NEVILLE REVEAL GAY RELATIONSHIP?

Former rivals turned co-pundits posted Valentine’s day messages on their Instagram accounts which appear to show an intimate relationship between the two men, who were both married to women for over ten years. Neither has responded for comment.

Comments:

> they’re the worst pundits on sky anyway they don’t even try to hide the bias for their teams

> gary neville’s always trying to bring politics into everything rishi was right he should stick to football!

> well I will be getting my commentary from MOTD moving forward. wish I could cancel sky sports but can’t afford to miss all the match coverage so they will be getting a strongly worded letter from me instead.

The Guardian

OPINION: IT’S 2024. WHY HAS THE FOOTBALL WORLD NOT CAUGHT UP?

There are still no openly gay players in the top tier of the men’s game. Now that two retired premier league footballers have come out, we have to ask: why is this headline news?

Both Liverpool and Manchester United football clubs have posted messages in support of Neville & Carragher, and so have many current and former players. But it begs the question why they thought that support might not be implicit, or why the two pundits had to publicly “come out” at all.

Comments:

> tbh I didn’t even know who they were until I saw Beckham’s ig story 💀

> surprised Gerrard’s not said anything, thought he and Carragher were mates >>> probably can’t if he wants to keep his manager contract $$$

> the guardian: why is the media making a fuss about two ex-footballers coming out? the guardian: is part of the media making a fuss about two ex-footballers coming out…

Twitter

Sports - Trending Gary Neville 264k tweets

Jamie Carragher 151k tweets

@.1111 they’ve been obsessed with each other for years is anyone really surprised

@.222 ngl I thought Gary Neville was already out as gay? You’re telling me people have believed he’s straight this whole time??

@.333 it’s giving slow burn enemies to lovers 150k words…

@.444 sky already wheels the two of them out together whenever they need to promote ANYTHING I bet it’s gonna get 10x worse now

Chat: J ❤️

G 👹👸: good luck on show tonight G 👹👸: no vday dinner :( G 👹👸: I shall have to waste away and pine instead G 👹👸: drown my sorrows etc

J ❤️: should be back to hotel by 1 at the latest J ❤️: I know that’s past ur bedtime old man so don’t wait up

G 👹👸: I will be up (😉😉) and ready to give you your dessert 😘 G 👹👸: might have a cheeky nap before though to be fair

[ingravinoveritas]

hi again! you might already know about this, but i really felt like bringing it up to you!

turns out michael's mom is pretty active on twitter and these past few days she's been engaging nonstop with tweets talking about aziracrow being in love. she's definitelymichael's #1 fan, but i couldn't help noticing the amount of not-about-characters stuff she seems to engage with too. Among tweets talking about Aziraphale's loving stare, queer fans making our usual queer jokes and remarks about them, michael reading fanfiction, miles maitland gifs, there's a good amount of... this. She surely has liked random stuff among the 14.6k rts/likes she has, so i'm attatching some examples of what she's been liking and rting because-- what the hell (i even spotted one of your tweets in the mix!) she even liked a tweet calling AL and GT innefable wives ??

my first thought was how embarrased i'd personally be if my mom was seeing comments online about me and my best buddy being madly in love, let alone engaging with them, but after it settled i'm just... in awe that this probably +70 y/o woman is being this supportive over social media 😭 so heart warming (btw i'm sorry for randomly popping up into your questions twice today- i have literally made this account after finding yours, feeling a bit less alone in the world)

(Grouping these two Asks together since they are related.) Ask #1: Hi there! No need at all to apologize for being in my inbox twice in same day. I'm so glad that my blog has been helpful and meaningful to you, and that you felt compelled to write in as a result. Welcome aboard!

So, Mama Sheen. She's been doing this for years--at least since 2019, when I first started following Michael on Twitter--but I will tell you my slightly crackpot theory, which is that for a while back in the day, I thought that maybe her account was actually Michael's secret alt account. (What better place to hide than in plain sight, after all...). I'm not so sure about that now, of course, but it's been really interesting to see her retweeting so much shippy stuff involving Michael and David, and as both you and @tamose pointed out, she especially seems to have ramped it up since GO 2 came out.

I also wanted to touch on you describing Mama Sheen as Michael's #1 fan, because although I wholeheartedly agree, it's a curious thing to me that we can more easily see her as Michael's number one fan than his own girlfriend. It's Mama Sheen--not AL--who has been retweeting all of this, who's been cheering him on, engaging with fan content, and retweeting all things Ineffable Husbands/GO 2. I've written on my blog previously about how I've never really seen AL be supportive of him (and how she spent much of 2020 and 2021 making fun of his appearance/fat-shaming him), as well as how she is not at all part of that polyamorous/throuple dynamic with Michael, David, and Georgia. And while I know the lack of engagement and carefully calculated interactions/posts could be chalked up to her not being able to promote the show due to the SAG strike, that doesn't really excuse her tepid support of Michael himself.

(Also, don't even get me started on the cringeyness of Georgia and AL as Ineffable Wives, not to mention how insulting it is to David and Michael personally and to their work as professionals to suggest that they are replaceable/that Georgia and AL (or anyone else) could play Aziraphale and Crowley and give us the same dynamic and chemistry we saw on screen...)

But yes, going back to Mama Sheen, I have long thought that she seems to ship Michael and David, and how sweet and heartwarming it would be if Michael brought David over for tea or dinner--especially because his own mother passed away several years ago--and no doubt Mama Sheen would dote on him and make sure he's fed and happy. It's especially interesting to contemplate when we see this picture from the Bright Young Things UK premiere in 2003, which almost looks like Mama (and Papa) Sheen posing with Michael and his kilt-wearing Scottish boyfriend:

Beautiful. Well, it's certainly something delightful to think about, at any rate. Whatever the case may be, I fully agree that it is lovely to see Michael's mom being so supportive and accepting of her son, particularly in the midst of such a hostile, anti-LGBTQ climate in the UK. We love you, Mama Sheen! ❤️

[lonesome-witching]

The World Can Know

I have gotten the request to write a celebrity AU by @rabbitofdeath-atcastleaarrggh based on this post by @autismbarbie (I think). And I have to say I absolutely loved that post so much that I was a little excited to write this.

You can read my previous prompts or send me some new ones.

It had all started with a drunken tweet. She shouldn’t have been drunk. It was only 2 pm and she was supposed to be working. But she had finished the last song for her album, and somebody had pulled out a bottle of champagne and now she was sipping lukewarm beers in the recording booth and scrolling through twitter.

It was then that Robin Buckley saw a picture of Nancy Wheeler. It wasn’t that she had never seen her before, she had seen Nancy everywhere. A couple of days ago, she and Steve had gone to see one of her movies. And Robin had returned the next day to watch it again. So, she knew of Nancy Wheeler. She had seen her all dolled up in movies and on red carpets. She had spent an embarrassing long time staring at her in that flowy top with her dark red lips at the Paris fashion week just a few nights ago.

The only difference was that all of those times Robin hadn’t been drunk, and therefore had been able to refrain herself from making her tiny obsession public knowledge. But this time as she noticed the picture of Nancy Wheeler in a simple blue shirt, purple cap and sunglasses walking in New York, the same streets Robin walked every single day, she was drunk.

Her fingers were typing out the words before her mind had registered them. Her thumb only hesitated a second before posting the tweet.

Literally dont FUCKIGN talk to me if u r not Nancy wheeler btw!!! dont even say hi i’ll be pissed

She regretted that tweet that same night when a text from Steve told her to check twitter. The memory of her own embarrassment came flooding back and the only reason she opened her account was with the pure intention of deleting the entire thing. That was her intention until she noticed the notification. It was a simple reply, just a simple hi with a smiley face behind it. The main reason Robin nearly went into cardiac arrest was that it was from Nancy freaking Wheeler. 

-

Talking with Nancy had been surprisingly easy. They had hung out a few times, going for walks after dark and eating take out in Nancy’s luxurious apartment. Robin had even invited Nancy to the recording studio after a mix up with the vocals forced her to drop everything. They often talked until the early morning hours, laughing and crying like kids at their first sleepover.

Now that Robin was able to see Nancy in real life it became obvious that the pictures and movies didn’t do her justice. That she looked best when she woke up with her hair all messed up and her eyes only half open.

It also became obvious that Robin was falling in love with her. Robin had difficulty not staring or stuttering when they hung out. She would always trip over her words whenever she tried to give Nancy a genuine compliment. And when Nancy returned the favor her cheeks would heat up and turn bright red. The words ‘I’m in love with Nancy Wheeler’ might as well have been tattooed on her forehead.

As the months crawled forward Robin and Nancy hung out more and more. Even when Nancy had to go to LA for some promotion material for her newest premiere, they called every night. Robin would listen attentively to Nancy chattering about her day as she stayed up way too late talking the other girl to sleep.

It almost felt like they were dating. Almost.

Robin tried her best not to dream about that possibility. After all, she had already gotten way too lucky to have her idol in her life.

Robin checked her phone for the thousandth time, waiting for a reply from Nancy. But as her screen lit up, she saw nothing but her lock screen. It had been a mere 9 hours since she last received a text from Nancy. She could survive 9 hours without Nancy. She had to.

Robin checked her phone again when the doorbell rang out, echoing through her too empty apartment. She dropped the phone on the couch and got up, shuffling to the door. On the other side stood Nancy Wheeler, her hair wet and dripping raindrops on the floor.

“It’s raining,” she stated as her eyes stared into Robin’s face.

“Nance? What are you doing here? Come in, come here.” Robin pulled her in, nearly hugging her. “I’m going to get you a towel… And— and some dry clothes. You should shower. I thought you were in LA.”

“I just got back. I— Robin, I need to speak with you.”

Robin stopped running around, a pink towel in her hand that nearly dropped to the floor as she saw the expression on Nancy’s face. “Okay.”

“I—” Nancy frowned. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Maybe at the beginning,” Robin offered.

“I don’t know if there is a beginning. And I’m hoping this isn’t the end. I just feel like there is middle. Everything has been the middle. I can’t start at the beginning because there isn’t one. There is just you.”

“Me?”

Nancy nodded, taking a deep breath. “There is just you. And then there is me. And I’m hoping you and me could be an us.” Nancy’s teeth were digging into her bottom lip and Robin worried she’d draw blood.

“What are you—” Realization dawned on her. Nancy’s doe eyes and nervous expressions might have not been enough, but her words were clear. “Oh.”

Nancy nodded again, barely. “Do you think—”

“Yes. I like that. I’d really like to be an us.”

Nancy’s lips turned into a bright smile as she closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together.

-

“I wrote you a song,” Robin said about two weeks after their first kiss.

They were laying in Nancy’s bed, cuddling and kissing. It had been heavenly to be cooped up in Nancy’s flat the entire day. It had been marvelous to sink into her mattress and feel her lips all over her body. And now Robin was enjoying the warmth of her girlfriend.

“You wrote me a song?” Nancy asked with a soft voice.

“I did.”

“That is so sweet.” Robin could hear the smile in Nancy’s voice.

“I was hoping you would be in the video.”

“I would love to be in the video.”

-

They had agreed to keep their relationship to themselves until the video came out. Which Robin knew, logically speaking, wasn’t very long. It was supposed to be released in less than a month time so it would align with Nancy’s premiere.

But Robin was ecstatic about her new situation, and she had lasted about 3 days after they had agreed. It had at first been a slip of the thumb. She had taken this adorable picture of Nancy and couldn’t not post it. Maybe she could have used a more ambiguous caption than ‘gf reveal’ but she had slipped up. It was Nancy’s fault for being so cute.

It was only when no one believed her that she kept going, that she kept tweeting about Nancy and her dating. Not that it helped.

“They still don’t believe me. It’s insane.”

Nancy laughed softly. “At least I know it’s true.,” she said as she pulled the phone out of Robin’s hands and crawled onto her lap.

-

The premiere of Nancy’s movie was scheduled for Friday. The music video was going to drop Thursday. Robin smiled as she thought about it. But tonight, on this beautiful Monday evening, Nancy was curled up into her side as they watched the Late Night Show together. Nancy was on this episode and when she was announced Robin cheered at the screen, much to her girlfriend’s amusement. 

“So, we have to ask, is there anyone special you are taking to the premiere on Friday?”

“Well, actually, there is,” screen Nancy answered, and Robin’s eyes widened. “I’ll be taking my girlfriend, Robin Buckley.”

Nancy’s arms tightened around Robin’s waist. “So, I may have told the world.”

“Yeah,” Robin replied, nodding at the screen, not even registering the reaction from the audience.

“You’re not mad, are you?” Nancy looked up with those soft doe eyes.

“Mad? Why would I be mad? I’m delighted. I’ve been talking about it for ages now. All I wanted was you and for the whole world to know.” She lowered her face to press a kiss on her girlfriend’s lips.