#The Last of Us I'm out here currently rewatching and this has to be at least rewatch 4 or 5 now so I have feelings

[thelassoway]

Tagged by @thesumdancekid , thank you 🍻

Comfort Shows:

1. Parks and Recreation

2. Futurama

3. Ted Lasso (season 1 only) + Carol of the Bells

4. Bob's Burgers

5. The Good Place

6. What We Do in the Shadows

7. The Last of Us

8. Schitt's Creek

9. 30 Rock

10. The West Wing

Tagging anyone who wants to do this!

[yourlocalsmutwriter]

Bookish girlfriend you're my yum yum - Mark Webber x reader

Summary : After going viral on book social media, you give the fans a completely new side of you. It catches the eye of an author (who happens to be a 9 GP winner)

FC: Mima by Cami

inkscentedglamour: Squeezing in some last girly romance books before I film a new video for you 👀

username: Our queen is finally trying romantasy, I can feel it.

username: I need another object x human romance. I know it was an April Fools thing, but I need her to read Double Stuffed

username: DARK ROMANCE. DARK ROMANCE. DARK ROMANCE.

username : I know the sports romance PR is talking to her like the Green Goblin Mask

> username : Especially the new book with the MMC inspired by Danny Ricciardo

> username: need to rewatch her F1 romance streams on patreon.

username: Do you think this is after Two Girls One Formula podcast backlash?

> username: The girls brought her on to talk about books, specifically romances. I don't understand why the fans were attacking her for not talking much about the current grid and things like that and focusing on the fiction.

> username: Especially when she has said many times that she's easing into the fandom. How would you feel if people bullied you for starting with edits/ fanfics and books, like she's doing?

inkscentedglamour: Writing my script for the upcoming video and staring at what got me here

username: Throttled slander era, you will forever be famous

> username: The way she started off so hesitant to give it a bad review or DNF it. This was her first 1 star. People died.

> username: Asking people to still try it for themselves and to not just judge it based on her review. Cemented her as my favorite BookTuber, I fear.

username: The fact that she still followed through and read the entire series. And rearranged her entire Goodreads ratings after that? Iconic

> username: I miss her giving 5 stars. But the quote "if I can be cruel enough to give 1 star, then I don't think I should be generous to give 5 stars to any book, but one" will forever live on.

inkscentedglamour: New video, out now

username: MARK WEBBER????? OVER EMILY HENRY????

> username: over Christina Lauren?????? Ali Hazelwood? Katee Robert

username: you're telling me an Australian driver who retired like 10 years ago is her favorite author??? And was the driving force for her to get her to watch a GP?

username: she's the queen of Booktok, has talked about every book boyfriend, and now she's into cars that go fast?

aussiegrit: Talked about Porsche, F1, Mentoring Oscar, and my book, somehow. Why is Aussie Grit trending?

username: Oh no, our little Booktuber girl bossed too close to the sun (she has a million subscribers and multiple brand deals)

> username: she got it to 5 stars on Goodreads and onto the trending page on Amazon.

username: Mark, wear the My fake boyfriend drives for F1 mech, and my life is yours

username: @inkscentedglamour, look who sorta knows you exist.

inkscentedglamour: Oh oh

inkscentedglamour: Reading the book 😄🤩🥺 vs. having to describe its impact on you, your career, and the future 🙃😑☠️. If you see me verbally abusing a Google doc at the airport, no you didn't

username: Mark Webber in the likes?????????

> username: I guess he found out why Aussie Grit was trending

username: reading video hiatus is over, society is healing

> username: we haven't gotten a part two of her trip to a random destination yet

> username: true, she just packed and left us on a cliffhanger. Surely we're getting that first

> username: her caption says it all. For book lovers, some of you have no reading comprehension.

inkscentedglamour: I finished reading my book, so it only makes sense to hit the thrift, right? Reading vlog will be up when I'm back home (I was strictly told to relax)

username: the two glasses (which could mean nothing)

> username : this is the girl that relies on our discord pins to drink water, what is going on in the house of commons

username : Mark Webber, here again????????? Before me?????????????

> username: she sped through her book cause she has his new book on pre-order

> username: I just know she'll get it on Kindle too, no way is she waiting til it ships to her house

username: Mark's pr team was sleeping because wdym they didn't reach out to her

> username: And apparently, he's got a launch party coming up with "surprise BookTube influencer" attending

inkscentedglamour : Photographic proof that my favorite author knows I exist. Thank you, @aussiegrit, for the invite. And thanks for getting a decent picture before I cried at the blurb and dedication

aussiegrit: Figured you'd wanna skip the queue at Waterstones. Can't wait for your review of this one (also please re-read the new prologue before posting)

username: Mark has been secretly divorced for a year and was writing this whole book as a therapy exercise??????

> username: he couldn't tell anybody and felt like he was slowly fading into obscurity, which affected his mental health

> username: he was not thinking of releasing this until the OG Aussie Grit review

> username: Mark saying that the YouTube video changed his life, just as much as it did hers

inkscentedglamour: Night and day

Comments on this post have been disabled

14.02.2025,approximately 3 months after the book launch

inkscentedglamour: Valentine's Day, Book Buying Day, and Merch Drop Day. Shop the My Real Boyfriend Drove for F1 tee. And yes, he signed off on this specific hard launch

inkscentedglamour: time to be sappy real quick after the merch plug. Mark has been inspiring me, guiding me and showering me with praise ever since his second book launch. I'm so happy he's in my life and I intend to keep him there for as long as I can. He beats all the bookish boyfriend one can have (yes, even Zafir)

aussiegrit: I'm so glad to have you in my life. You see me and be with me, sharp tongue,flaws and all. I wanna build you bookshelves and watch you put my books on them last. Now stop being a YouTuber for a second and get back to being my girlfriend.

[kudouusagi]

Pash Utsumi Hiroko Interview

It's sure to be a heartwarming, Fan & Fun experience!

It's about the moments you weren't able to see in the main series.

--Looking back at the scenario meetings, is there anything that stands out in your memory?

Like the fact that there was a longer version where (series writer) Ookouchi Ichirou, the producers, and I all came up with ideas for what to do in the OVA and decided on it, only to realize it didn't fit into the time limit plan I came up with myself and so it was rejected (laughs). Of course Reki and Langa are the main characters so they're going to appear in the OVA but we really wanted to include them all... and that would be difficult to do in one story so we made it into an omnibus format.

--What do you want people to pay attention to in this OVA?

I'd like it if you could check which scenes were shown in the PV. For example, Reki and the others play karuta, but what kind of karuta is it? Who's playing against who? Will Langa, who is bad at reading and writing, be okay?! In the part with Sakurayashiki and Nanjo set in the past, what was their high school life like? What were their fights like back then? How developed are Nanjo's muscles?! Also, the unknown life of Kikuchi, which was kept top-secret in the main story, is revealed...!?! And more!

--Please tell us about what you remember when looking back on recording the voices for this OVA.

I was happy to see that Hatanaka Tasuku-san, who plays Reki, and Kobayashi Chiaki-san, who plays Langa, were still the same Reki and Langa even though several years had passed. I didn't feel any time had past... ∞(eternal) Friendship! It was also memorable how Koyasu Takehito-san, who plays Ainosuke, struggled with a certain scene. Look forward to finding out which scene it was! It had been a while since I last did the voice recording for SK8, and it brought back memories for me, making me feel like SK8 was back!

--What exactly is the theme for this OVA...?

Since it is an omnibus format, there is no overall theme, but they're each filling a gap that wasn't able to be seen in the main story.

--In order to get to know the characters more deeply before the OVA is released, are there any behind-the-scenes details that you haven't revealed yet (that you couldn't show in the first season of the TV series)?

The different headband Reki is wearing in the OVA PV is a souvenir present from his sister Koyomi. It's shaped like an akabeko with a tiger pattern... it's quite unique. Reki only wears it at home. Langa doesn't care about clothes, so he'll wear anything that's comfortable to move in, so he's wearing something strange this time. Please check out the OVA to find out the details☆

--For those who are rewatching the first season of the TV series, what are some of the points you would like people to pay special attention to?

Don't miss anything! The relationship between MIYA and Reki, the outcome of Hiromi's fleeting love, the current fight scenes between Sakurayashiki and Nanjo, the vibe of the master and dog relationship between Ainosuke and Kikuchi, etc. The bond between Reki and Langa through the whole series and how it develops into friendship, keeps your eyes peeled on it till the very end!! And since the theme song for this OVA was created with the TV series in mind, so I'm certain it will improve your understanding if you watch the whole series and think of it while listening to it☆

--Finally, please give a message to the fans of "SK8". 

We're sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but thanks to everyone who has been waiting that the day we can finally deliver it to you is fast approaching...! There's only a few more sleeps till the OVA is here ♬ How about going to the cinema to watch "SK8 EXTRAPART" as the finale to your New Year's celebrations? It's sure to be a heartwarming, Fan & Fun experience! Please look forward to its release☆

[pankowcrumbs]

Complicated ( Lando Norris X reader and Charles Leclerc X reader)

Work count: just over 7K

Plot: 

You are Lando's girlfriend but he has cheated on you. When you find out you find yourself at Charles's house and one thing leads to another and you guys end up having sex and then you're all confused because Lando tells you what really happened and you feel horrible for sleeping with Charles. Lando finds out you slept with Charles and you both decide not to stay together and move out but you get pregnant.

PS your name is Maeve i just felt it was easier to have an original character that you can put yourself in the shoes off - let me know any feedback! (I also want to note i wrote this around a year ago so please tell me if you like this writting style or my current more)

It was 1 Am and I was still sat on the couch watching TV and scrolling through Tik tok, Lando was out with the  F1 boys Clubbing, It was a boy's night they did this every now and then which I loved, they were such a lovely and supportive group of men and I was glad he got along with them all. 

"hmm I guess we should go to bed huh Frankie," I said to our 2-year-old Dachshund and led him to the bedroom he settled into his little bed beside ours and I hopped under the fresh sheets and placed my phone on the nightstand and turned the light off rolling over to fall asleep. 

After what felt like about 30 minutes I was still awake just thinking about things I needed to do, I struggled to sleep without Lando which meant whenever he went away if I wasn't able to come I would constantly have trouble sleeping. 

I tossed and turned a few times before I decided to just go back on my phone until I felt sleepy. 

I was scrolling for a bit when I saw it. I had to sit up and rewatch it a few times and I kept zooming in.  It was a tikTok with the caption 'Lando Norris Spotted in a club in Nice Kissing a mystery woman who is not his Girlfriend Maeve Piastri fellow Mclaren Driver Oscar piastri's Twin sister. We will be interested to see if they have recently broken things off as they were spotted together just last week walking their dog Frankie in the streets of Monaco, Updates to follow.

"What the fuck" is all I say in disbelief 

I let the video replay and reply in my lap and I try and convince myself that isn't Lando but I know it is I'm not blind. 

I immediately call Oscar since he was there and I wait impatiently as it rings and rings. No answer shit. 

I text him 

Maeve: WTF Oscar where are you all? Did you see it happen? I'm freaking the fuck out here please call me. 

I need to speak with you, please

please call me as soon as you can 

I'm gonna throw up Im so fucking mad 

I wasn't getting a reply but I need to find out more so my next bet is Charles, he was the one I was closest with besides my brother and Lando, he's always been so kind and welcoming. 

I dial his number and wait for him to pick up 

"Mae, Mon Amour, what's wrong it's so late why aren't you asleep?" he asks 

I just burst into tears 

"oh my god Mae what's wrong love" he sounds very concerned 

"L-L-Lando cheated on me" I finally get out 

"WHAT," he says angrily "When?" 

"tonight....I saw a video" 

"send me the video," he says so I do I forward it to him for him to watch, I wait on the line still sobbing to myself. 

"I'm going to fucking kill him," he says 

"I can't get ahold of Oscar," I say 

"He Left the club hours ago, and so did I, I promise you Maeve if I had been there I would have not let that happen"

"I know" I went silent "I don't want to be here when he gets home" 

"I know mon amour I'll come get you. You can sleep in the spare room and in the morning you can talk to Oscar and see what you want to do okay?" 

"thank you, Charles"I get out through my tears 

"not to worry love I'll be there shortly" he said and hung up. 

"come on Frankie, Let's go to Charle's, daddy doesn't deserve to come home to us tonight," I say getting Frankie and taking him to get his collar and lead on. 

10 minutes later I heard Charles pull up the driveway and I grabbed the bag and quickly threw stuff in. 

when I opened my door I saw him standing there and he opened his arms for me which I graciously accepted 

"come on let's get going before he turns up" 

we got in the car and started Driving 

"I called Daniel and he said they didn't see it happen that he had gone off with a group of girls and they didn't think anything of it they said he just left the club but he didn't tell them if he was coming home or what he was doing" he looked at me nervously. 

I looked down and took a small breath "So what you're telling me is that he could have left the club with one of those girls right now and gone back to fuck her" I bit my lip as to tremble trying not to cry again and moved my head to face out the window. 

"I'm so sorry Maeve I promise we will fucking kill him when we see him next" 

"Oscar is going to kill him," I said still looking out the window.  "you know" I paused for a second, " Oscar told me to not get involved, he told me what he was like and I went ahead and did it anyway, I thought he would be different with me I guess I was just another name on his list" 

"Maeve" Charles says slowly. 

"No it's okay I've seen his true colours now, I should have known better is all" 

my sadness was turning into anger and resentment. 

When we got to Charles I put my stuff in the Spare room and Charles offered me a wine, which I accepted. 

I turned my phone off knowing I didn't want to speak to Lando when he got home and noticed I wasn't there 

we sat and talked on the couch for a bit trying to avoid the topic of what had happened that night so I wouldn't cry again. 

A few drinks later I was getting a bit drunk, I knew I wouldn't get to sleep tonight with my adrenaline I had passed the point of tired, Charles was good at distracting me which I was thankful for. 

We ended up playing some silly card games and were honestly beyond drunk by 5:40 Am when the sun was rising. 

"Charles look" I got up and walked to the balcony overlooking the Beautiful sunrise and the city of Monaco was breathtaking 

he came to join me on the balcony where we watched the sunrise silently. "Maeve" Charles broke the silence I turned my head to face him and realised how close he was I looked into his eyes and then down to his lips and back up again he did the same. the tension was thick or maybe it was just because of how much we had to drink 

"Can I?" he said in a low voice and I nodded 

I knew I probably shouldn't but with everything that had happened tonight I knew Lando had done worse. 

It started off slow and then became needy and sloppy he grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him. 

"hop up" he tapped my butt and I jumped wrapping my legs around his waist and he walked us back inside and to his bed. 

He placed me down on the bed and then pulled his top over his head and then gone were his shorts leaving him in his boxers. 

I also took off my Pajama top and bottoms leaving my breast bare and just a pair of Knickers on 

his eyes went wide as he saw me on the bed "well Fuck, Lando is a fucking idiot" 

"Shhh don't mention his name," I said back "Come here," I said and he did 

he crawled on top of me and began kissing again, he slowly made his way down my neck to my chest and over my breasts. He focused on one breast at a time the other in his hand making me moan a little. 

"Charles please." I said very needy for him down lower

he smirked and looked up and me as he kissed his way down further and hovered over my heat with my leg wide open. I could feel his hot breath over my Clit 

"Charles omg please do something" he giggled and pulled them aside and attached his lips to my core using his tongue to pleasure me sucking on my clit and then he added two fingers. 

He kept at it and I must admit he was very good at this. I was getting closer and starting to clench. He pulled away making me whimper and he came back up to my lips kissing me again and letting me taste myself. 

He pulled down his boxers and lined himself up at my entrance and pushed in after looking me in the eyes for confirmation. 

"Fuck" I said

"Oh Mon Dieu" he said and then he started speaking French under his breath 

he kept thrusting in and out and we were getting sweaty and our kissing got messier and he started kissing my neck again 

"I'm going to cum" he said 

"me too," I said back, truth be told I normally never came by penetration with Lando he usually had to use his fingers on my clit rubbing it while he fucked me for me to cum so this was a new experience for me. 

He came first and it wasn't too long after we came down from our high and he rolled off me. 

"I'll be back" I said and excused myself to the bathroom. 

When I came back he followed suit, 

We both lay in his bed under his sheets and the sun was flowing through the windows 

my eyelids were getting heavy and I let them fall closing my eyes and falling asleep. 

I'm not sure how long I was asleep when I was woken by a phone ringing over and over, 

"Omg can you please shut that thing up," I said out loud 

I heard a grumble next to me and then someone got up out of bed and answered the phone 

"Sault" I heard a familiar voice.

My head was pounding and everything was so goddamn loud so it was hard to pinpoint who it was.

I groaned and put the pillow over my head. 

"No she doesn't want to speak with him," the voice said "I don't know if that's the best idea she's asleep currently and it took her forever to fall asleep last night, what if I get her to call you later when she's awake and ready?" he paused before he continued "Okay thank you Oscar" and then he hung up I opened my eyes at the mention of my brother when I saw the room around me I started to remember what happened last night. 

"omg my head hurts so much" I said turning around to see Charles standing next to the bed Naked "omg Cover yourself up Charles" I yelled covering my eyes with my hand. 

"Wow rude." he laughed "I'm going to have a shower you can have one when I'm done" 

I ran through what happened last night and how I ended up in bed with Charles Naked. 

I rubbed my eyes and thought what the fuck have I done. I got up after Charles came back and had a nice hot shower which was much needed. 

Once I was dressed I got my phone and turned it back on and saw the notifications flood in from everyone the most were from Lando and Oscar but I saw ones from my parents and siblings who heard the news too.

"I better call Oscar" I said to Charles who was now in the kitchen making coffee 

"No worries" he said 

I pressed his contact and didn't wait long for him to answer. 

"Mae are you okay?" he answers 

I took a deep breath "Not really." 

"I'm so sorry Mae if I hadn't left early I would have been with him and this would have never happened" 

"Don't do that it's not your fault he made a decision that's all him, if he had been stopped last night he just would have done it somewhere else. OMG do you think this isn't the first time he's done this" 

"I fucking hope this is the first time I'm seriously going to give him an earful believe me and if Mclaren would let me I would probs make him crash next race" 

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you" 

"I know Mae it's okay I really thought he had changed for you" 

"Me too." 

"Do you want me to go over there and speak to him? He has been calling me all morning." 

"No that's okay I'll send him a text so he can at least know I'm ok not that he deserves that." 

"Okay call me later when you're ready I'll come pick you up."

"Okay, thanks Oscar love you." 

"Love you to Mae." 

The call ended and I decided to text Lando. 

Maeve: I'm at a friend's house. I don't want to speak with you I just wanted to let you know I'm okay and that I know. Please respect that I need space

Lando: Mae I Promise I didn't do anything please just hear me out It's not at all what it looked like I didn't kiss her

Maeve: Really? what's this then 

https://www.tiktok.com/@Newslive_Now/video/72729282397449936953602 (not a real link)

Lando: Maeve seriously I know how it looks I promise it wasn't like that at all please let me explain to you in person where are you? 

Maeve: nothing can change what happened Lando i can see it with my own eyes you can't argue with that.�� 

He didn't reply thankfully. 

I walked over to Charles and he handed me a cup of coffee Frankie was at my feet licking up some food Charles had given him. 

"How did that go?" he asked 

"Lando messaged me saying it was how it looked but what a load of shit you can't argue with that video." 

"it definitely is hard to argue when it's caught on video. Want some Breakfast" he offered

"Yes please I'm starving, it was an exhausting night." I said and then realised we hadn't addressed what happened last night "Um Charles we really should talk about what happened last night" 

he sighed and stopped what he was doing and turned around to face "Look Mae, Im not going to sit here and pretend I didn't enjoy what happened last night, or that I haven't liked you more than a friend for a while now  but we overstepped a boundary last night I know we were drunk and you were vulnerable and I apologise if you feel I took advantage of you." 

"Oh wow thank you for being so mature Charles." I sent him a small smile. 

"I do really like you Mae but I know you are not in the right place right now to even explore if there is something between us so I just want you to know I am not going to cross that boundary again unless you want me to." 

"Thank you Charles" I said as he went back to cooking breakfast 

it honestly wasn't a shock he liked me as I said he was the one who was the closest to me part from my brother and Lando and I had a small suspicion he liked me but thankfully never acted on it until last night. 

Charles passed me my plate of food when there was an aggressive knock on the door that startled us both.

I removed my gaze from the door and looked at Charles knowing who it was 

"Do you want me to go kick him out?" 

"I'll deal with it," I said getting up and walking to the door. 

I opened it and saw Lando honestly looking shit like he hadn't slept all night.

I closed the for behind me and pulled him away from the door slightly 

"what the fuck are you doing here?" I asked looking around the street to make sure no one was around.

"Daniel told me you were here I had to come and speak to you please Mae just give me 5 minutes to explain." 

"Fine 5 minutes talk fast" I sighed rolling my eyes. 

"Okay so I was there and this group of ladies came up to me telling me it was their friend's hen party and that her Fiance was a huge fan of mine and that he would be so jealous if she had a photo with me so I went over with them the bride was so drunk and while we were posing she kissed me, I pushed her off as soon as I could and nothing else happened that's all Mae I didn't even kiss her back and I left straight away the only reason I wasn't home quicker was I had to wait for an uber and they kept cancelling on me, I promise you, baby, I would never cheat on you ever I love you way too much" 

I bit my lip and looked away from him. Fuck what the fuck have I done. 

"Mae baby say something." 

"I just need a moment to think" I covered my face with my hands and started to swear "Fuck fuck fuck shit omg" I paused and pulled my hands down and looked at Lando looking so exhausted and shit and here I was fucked by his co-worker and friend last night...I'm the cheater, not him. 

"I'm such a fucking idiot," I said feeling so guilty I could be sick 

"What's wrong? What did you do fuck Charles" he joked a smile on his face laughing off what he said 

I closed my eyes and covered my face again with one hand and softly shook my head 

"Oh my fucking god did you Maeve?" he said shocked I didn't answer 

"Answer the fucking question Maeve" he was stern now 

"It wasn't like that" was all I could get out 

"Jesus Christ I can't fucking believe you my side of the bed was cold for 5 seconds and you went and fuck my friend, you didn't even ask me what happened before you went and fucked him"  he shouted. 

"I was drunk and in an emotional state I wasn't thinking I thought you had gone home with that woman" 

"But you never fucking asked me Maeve I would never do that to you, but you would" he was crying now and my eyes were getting teary. 

" you know what have a nice fucking life Maeve you and Charles deserve each other," he said and walked up the driveway out of the property to his car.

'Fuck me" I said wiping my tears that wouldn't stop falling from my eyes. 

I stood out there for about 10 minutes trying to compose myself before I walked back in to Charles. 

When I went back in he saw me crying and came to hug me "What happened." 

"He didn't cheat but I did" I cry more into his shoulder

"What do you mean he didn't cheat?" he asked shocked 

"She kissed him and he pushed her off and then he left and I'm such a fucking idiot, I told him what happened last night and now he's gone and honestly I deserve it I fucking cheated on him I'm worse than he is" I was a blubbering mess. 

Oscar came and picked me and Frankie up later that day and took me to his. 

I didn't want to outstay my welcome so when I knew Lando was out the next day I went back to our house and packed up all the things I would need and dropped Frankie off at home and then Oscar dropped me at the airport, I was going to go home for a bit to London and just take some time to heal I stayed at a hotel for a few weeks not wanting to cause a fuss at my parents.

The media was in a frenzy it was all over the news and all F1 media, Lando got a stern talking to from Mclaren Oscar told me and I heard from Daniel that Oscar also gave Lando quite a talking to even after knowing the truth of what happened he still was mad at Lando for the kiss happening in the first place. Lando had to release a statement on what happened. 

Charles hadn't reached out giving me my space and I was glad that i couldn't think about it or I would feel sick to my stomach with what happened. Apparently, Lando went over to Charles and they had a fight that ended with Lando punching Charles. 

Lando hadn't spoken to me but had organised with Oscar for all my stuff to be moved out. 

He told Oscar he was mad at me for what happened but didn't blame me he told him he blamed Charles for taking advantage of me in the state I was in and getting me drunk while I was already in a vulnerable state and Charles told Lando about how he felt about me and that's when he punched him saying he probably made me think bad of Lando so Charles could get in my pants a swoop in. 

I felt sorry for Charles, as much as yes he did take advantage of the situation he had apologised and backed off and was mature about it I didn't think there was any ill intention. 

4 weeks after staying at the hotel I decided I needed to get myself an apartment so I went flat hunting and found a small one-bedroom in Belgravia and signed the lease. I was ready to start fresh away from Monaco. 

2 months in my new flat and I was out at the supermarket and went down the toiletries section. I was glancing at the shelves when I saw the Pads and Tampons and I realised I hadn't had my period in two months. 

God I was a fucking idiot I put a pregnancy test in my trolley (shopping Cart for all the Americans) 

When I got home and had packed away my shopping I took the test. I waited the 3 minutes anxiously.

My phone timer went off and I flipped over the test and saw the 2 pink lines. Well fuck. 

Who's the fucking Father.... Charles or Lando? both of them I had unprotected sex with around the same time. 

I have no idea what I do next.

I decide to call my brother cause he was the one person I was closest to, Being twins we shared everything. 

It rings a few times before he answers. 

"hey Mae, what's up?" 

"Oscar I'm going to tell you something and I need you not to freak out" 

"well now I'm worried what's wrong?" 

"I'm...pregnant" 

silence 

I can hear him breathing and he lets out a big sigh "Do you know who the father is?" 

"No, I mean I slept with them both within a couple of days it could be either" 

"Alright what are we going to do?" 

"No Oscar not we. I need to be a big girl and do this myself." 

"Mae seriously what are you going to do, turn up to their house and tell them to give you their DNA? Can you even find out this early?" 

"Yeah you can, I don't know do you think there is a better way to do this? I've never exactly plan for this to happen." 

"I know Mae I'm sorry it sucks this has all happened you gonna fly out here then?" he asked I could hear the pity in his voice. 

"I guess I'm gonna book a doctor's appointment first to get all checked out and then I'll come I'll text you when I get an appointment." 

"Okay Mae, hey whatever happens you know you have us all and we will support you" 

"I know thanks Osc, love you." 

"Love you too Mae." 

time to book an appointment 

I got an appointment for the following Monday and it was all I could think about what was I going to say to them both? 

I laid down on the table and the technician pulled my top up 

"This might be a bit cold.," she said and squirted the gel onto my stomach area

I take a breath and look up at the monitor on the wall and that's when I see them. My beautiful baby my heart just melts that's a little me in there. 

"There they are not a shy little one they are looking at about 3 months is that about right?" 

"Yeah 3 months." 

"And you had no symptoms?" 

"Um I mean none that I attributed to this I was a little sick I thought I just had food poisoning but it went and I mean I have been out of breath and a bit fatigued but again I didn't think I was pregnant I just moved back to London so I just thought it was because of that" 

"Okay well that's okay not everyone gets all the typical symptoms, and bubs seems to be healthy so just make sure to take it easy from now on, we will do another scan at week 18 but  we can book a check-up if you want in between just to get your blood test done and any tests you may want to do, and I see on your form you noted you would like to do a DNA test will you be bringing in the potential father or just a sample?" 

"Um can I do that just get a sample?" 

"Yeah it's just a cheek swab so if you want to get him to complete it and then send it off to the lab for testing we can take a blood test sample today so we have that on record" 

"He's in Monaco do I have to get him to fly to London or can I bring the swab back?" 

"He can take it in Monaco and then you can mail it I can give you a parcel for it" 

"Thank you," I said and looked back up at the little baby on the screen 

"Would you like to know the gender or are you wanting to wait?" 

"Are you able to write it down for me so when I'm ready I can know?" 

"No worries" she goes to write it down and then when she comes back she goes to take some blood and completes some health tests on me. 

Walking out I look at the photographs from the sonographers and took a picture to send to Oscar. I hadn't told the rest of the family yet only because I wanted to know who the father was first. 

I went home and packed for my short trip back to Monaco and spoke with Oscar and his girlfriend Lily while I packed and spoke about the appt. 

"Who are you going to ask to do the DNA test?" Lily asked 

" I was thinking Charles only because why bother Lando who clearly wants nothing to do with me unless it is his baby and I don't want to bring up everything that has happened unless I need go" 

"Good thinking, Lando's has been in a real mood ever since best not to annoy him unless needed"

"Have you started showing?" Lily asked

"yeah only the last few days I've really started to pop and can see my little belly so who knows how long until I can't hide it anymore, I'll have to tell the family as soon as I know and have discussed a plan" 

"Yeah wow this is so reaI i can't believe we're gonna have a niece or nephew" Lily seemed excited and look in any other circumstance iIwould too i love kids and I've always wanted to be a mum but it was so scary to think of the future of me and this baby.

"Alright well we have to go I'll pick you up from the airport in nice tomorrow at 9AM okay?" Oscar said and I nodded 

"Thank you love you both bye."

They waved and ended the call. 

Once I finished packing my small bag I settled on doing a bit of work on my laptop before bed. 

I was so glad to work was so flexible for me, I was a social media manager for a few clients as well as having my own social media make me money with Advertisements and sponsorships. 

the next morning I was up early to travel to Heathrow for my flight. Luckily the airport wasn't too busy this morning and I went through quite quickly and waited for my flight. 

After the short flight I arrived in Nice and went out to see Oscar waiting for me, He pulled me into a tight hug 

"Missed you Mae." 

"Naw I always miss you Osc, I don't like not being in the same town anymore" i looked at him sadly. 

"You didn't to leave you know, you could have stayed" 

"I know I just needed some space and time away to get myself in a good space" 

"I know! come on let's go I wanna take you out to breakfast before I talk you to see Charles" 

"Okay sounds perfect" 

We drove to Monaco which wasn't far from Nice and just chatted about life and the drive there.

He took me to our favourite Cafe.

"So do you know if iI'm having a Neice or a nephew?" he wiggled his eyebrows 

I laughed "About that I'm gonna give you something to hold onto and yes you can read it but I swear to god Oscar if you do read it I don't want to know just yet what gender the baby is" I said seriously 

"Omg no I can't be trusted with no spilling that secret" 

"Give it to Lily then it's so tempting to look but I want to save that for when I know if it's Lando or Charles we find out together" 

"Oh god just promise if I do read it and spill the beans you won't yell at me lol" 

"No promises" I laugh and sip my juice 

After breakfast, he dropped me off to Charles' house who was aware I was dropping by as Oscar asked him if he would be home

I walked down the driveway and knocked on the door 

He opened the door. 

"Mon Amour I missed you come in" he gave me a small hug and stepped aside to let me in.

"Thanks for seeing me." 

"Of course, Oscar said you needed to speak with me, Please sit can I get you a drink?" 

"Just a water please" I smiled and sat down on his couch. 

"Sure" he smiled and disappeared in the kitchen

when he came back he set the drinks on the table and sat on the couch next to me "How have you been?" 

I smiled and let out a small laugh "I've been better but the reason I'm back and sitting here in your living room is that I um..." I paused" Fuck this is a lot harder to say thanIi thought it would be" I took a breath and he placed a hand on my thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

"It's okay take your time" he gave me a nod of encouragement 

I took a sip of water and then a deep breath "Im..Pregnant" I watched his eyes go a bit wild and his mouth fell open a small bit

"Oh, and i'ts mine?" he looked at me questioningly 

"truthfully I don't know so I need a DNA sample to test with and I didn't think Lando would speak to me " 

"Oh Mon amour I'm so sorry you're in this situation its completely my fault I didnt even remember that we didn't use protection to be honest id just assumed even drunk I would have remembered that" 

"Yeah I didn't think about it either and Lando and I had been intimate in the same week and he had just pulled out so there's still always a chance it was him. which serves us right for using the pull-out method if it is his" 

he sighed "Still I feel guilty for my part in all of this" 

"I'm sorry he punched you" I said 

"Dont be I deserved it" 

"I'm sorry you're now in this position too, if I'd noticed my period was late earlier I could have taken a pill and we wouldn't be in this situation right now" 

"Oh Mae I wouldn't have wanted that and you know Lando wouldn't have either" 

"Anyway here is the cheek swab and the parcel you can do it and post it whenever you feel like it they already have the babies DNA on file" I said and looked down to my belly and rubbed it and his eyes followed suit 

"You know Mae if it's mine, I will love and support you both forever you know that right? I know it may not be exactly how I planned to be a father but my Papa was the greatest man alive and I will strive everyday to be half the man he was for that baby" 

I place my hand on my heart "I know Charles, you know he is already so proud of the man you are" 

"Thank you Mon Amour, I'll get this test done ASAP and send it for you so you can know"

"Do you want to see a photo?" I asked and he nodded a smile on his face 

I reached into my bag and brought out the Photos from the ultrasound. 

"Oh wow look at them so small and beautiful like their mama already" he said taking the photo from me and making me smile looking at him. 

I spend a few more days with Lily and Oscar in Monaco just hanging out before leavving back for London and thankfully not bumping into anyone else I know and especially not Lando.

2 and a half weeks later it was a normal day I had been out for an appointment for work when I came home and checked my letter box seeing I had 3 letters I took them into my apartment and flicked through them as I took my shoes off, one from the bank, one from the local council and one that didn't say who it was from. I opened that once first as I was curious to see who it was from hoping it was the DNA results. 

The letter read: 

PATERNITY TEST 

Dear Miss Piastri, 

We recently received a sample From C. Leclerc to Compare to the sample provided by you regarding the paternity of the unborn Child. 

Alleged Father Details 

Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc  16 October 1997.     HECAASGU_0032

Mother Details:                                                                                                                                                             Maeve Elizabeth Piastri    6 April 2001.    HECAASGA_0034

Regarding the sampling of the participants please refer to the protocols in copy. We received the originals of the identity confirmations and of the consent statements. 

Method:DNA isolation was carried out separately for all samples. Genetic characteristics were determined by the following PCR-single-locus-technology analysis. 

Results: 

The results of the analysis are shown below: 

DNA-System DNA-criteria Charles Leclerc

HID123830_001DNA-criteria Charles Test

HID123830_002AM X, Y X, Y

D3S1358 14, 15 14, 18

D1S1656 16.3, 17.3 16.3, 13.3

D6S1043 11, 17 15, 19

D13S317 9, 12 8, 9

Penta E 10, 16 14, 18

D16S539 12, 15 19, 13 

In all analyzed PCR systems, Charles Leclerc does not show the genetic markers which have to be present for the biological father of the child. The biostatistical analysis of the PCR systems was performed according to the method of Essen-Möller. The probability of Mr. Charles Leclerc being the biological father is < 01.9999 %.

Conclusion: Based on our analysis, it is practically proven that Mr. Charles Leclerc is not the biological father of the child. 

"oh Shit"  I breathed out. 

Lando is my only thought. I need to tell him. I'm already 4 months pregnant now he needs to know. 

I booked the next flight to Nice which is tonight and quickly packed a small bag and got ready. 

I left for the airport and organise a car to pick me up in Nice. when the car arrives at Landos... and my old house it's about 9PM 

I thank the driver and walk down to the front door. I take a deep breath before I knock. 

I wait patiently as I hear him coming down from upstairs and Frankie barking like mad already down to the door like always. I had a jumper on that was a bit baggy so it isn't as obvious that my bump is there for when he opens the door. 

The door swings open and he looks taken aback "You're not my Pizza" he says 

"I'm sorry to just show up like this am I able to come in and talk?" I ask 

"um.." he hesitates "Sure" he steps aside and lets me in 

"I'm sorry this was a last-minute trip I've come straight from the airport and I wouldn't come unless it was important" 

he looks at me expecting me to spit it out while I was here 

"Right sorry, I'm here because well" I pause for a small second "I'm pregnant and it's yours" 

He blinks his eyes a bit and then they get wide looking at me as if I am a fish out of water 

"You're what?" he said shocked

"pregnant" I pull up my jumper to show my belly through the tight white top I had underneath

His mouth falls open while he stares at my bump he closes his mouth and sits down on the chair just behind him just staring straight. 

a knock at the door goes off and he doesn't move an inch. 

I look at him and realise he hasn't even noticed the knock

"I'll get that then" I said slowly and began to walk towards the door and answered it and took the pizza from the delivery man and walked back towards the living room with it and put it down on the table. 

he is still sitting where I left him 

"you're scaring me Lando" I said and put my hand on his Shoulder 

"You're pregnant....and it's mine?" 

"yeah I got a DNA Test done" I said and put the letter down and the photo from the sonograph. As it landed on the table it caught his eye and he reached to pick them both up, 

"So you thought it was Charles'?" 

"I had no idea and I thought it would be easier to ask him to do a DNA test because I didn't think you would speak to me" 

He closed his eyes and shook his head a little "So wait how far along are you?" 

"4 months" 

"4 MONTHS," he said loudly "Holy shit so your'e like almost halfway" he covers his face. 

"I'm really sorry Lando, I had no idea I was pregnant until it was too late" 

"You now I don't blame you for that night, I was so fucking mad at myself and at Charles and at you I just exploded, but you thought i'd cheated and so you went to Charles for protection and he fucking used you the bastard, you were in such a vunerable state and he was the one who gave you all those drinks and knew he could take advantage of you in a situation like that and he should have known better. I mean your not completely innocent in this all but neither am I and I get it why it happened" 

"None of it ever should have happened but it did and I'm sorry that it all happened" 

"Dont you apologise, I know you're sorry and I'm sorry we  are in this situation, I guess my pull out game isn't as strong as I thought and my Sperm seem to be as fast as Max verstappen " he jokes cracking a small smile. 

"Ew" i laugh "So what happens now?" 

"I don't know Mae, I mean I always knew it may happen and although it happened in the complete opposite way I imagined, its' still happened so I guess we just do the best we can. Do wanna start as friends and take it slow and find ourselves again and if we're meant to be then we will get there and if not we deal with it as it comes. 

I nod almost crying. 

"Oh come here you" he says getting up and giving me a hug "You wanna stay for pizza and Frankie cuddles?" I nod into his shoulder. 

"I'd like that" I replied. 

We sat down and then I remembered 'You better call Oscar and put him out of his misery he knows the gender he hasn't spoken to me in 4 days because he was worried he would spill the secret" I laughed and so did Lando 

He pulled out his phone and Facetimed Oscar 

"wasssapp" Oscar answers the phone and immediately sees us both in the frame 

"OMG OMG OMG RED ALERT MAE I CAN NOT KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT" he panics 

I laugh "It's okay Oscar you can tell us" 

He burst into a smile and takes a big breath "You're having a little boy" he bites his bottom lip with happiness 

I let out a breath and my eyes start tearing up and I turn to Lando "a little boy Lando"I say as he wipes away a few stray tears 

"I'm gonna have a little boy to race with" he says and looks over to me in disbelief 

"He's gonna be a Piastri Fan I can feel it in my bones and wanna race with Uncle Oscar" 

We laugh and have some small talk before he let's us go to work everything out 

"you wanna move back in?" Lando asks grabbing a slice of pizza and handing it to me 

"I would love that, I've been so lonely" I say honestly 

"me too, it's just not the same without you here" he says and Frankie jumps up on the couch and cuddles into me "We've both missed you so much"

[absolutebl]

Hi!!! I'm a big fan of BLs, I really love all types, but I stopped watching and keeping up with the news ones around the summer of 2023. Do you have any recommendations of BLs that I should start with again that have come out since spring 2023. Or like a best of 2024 list? It's a bit overwhelming trying to jump back in and I'm not sure where to start again! Thanks :)

My top 2 BLs of 2023 both got 10/10s from me and they were:

I Cannot Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Japan Netflix?

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen. Full review here.

Our Dating Sim

Korea Viki

This is a perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy. I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent. Full review here.

Here are the rest of my best of 2023 round ups:

Best of 2024?

I haven't started any 2024 round ups yet but here's my current working top BLs of 2024. These are the ones I gave a 9/10 (no 10/10s from me this year, sadly):

Century of Love

Thai Gaga

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she?

 Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Thai grey

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up). Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration.

Cosmetic Playlover

Japan Gaga

I love this little show more than most. It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss.

Love For Love's Sake

Korea iQIYI

KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness.

Sugar Dog Life

Japan grey

This is a phenomenally charming and adorable little romance about a forlorn university kid and the police officer who adopts him. They are relentlessly kind to each other, in fact it’s an extremely kindly show over all (everyone in it is so nice to everyone else including us) so there’s very little tension. But what it lacks in drive and complexity it makes up for in earnest acts of service and simple affection.

The Rebound

Thai iQIYI

Actually no one liked this as much as me. This was a sports romance Thai BL pulp with everything I could have asked for given this sub genre. More, actually, since MeenPing are both great basketball players and the team component really did form part of the connective tissue of the show (vital in a sports romance). Meen has his shirt off within the first two minutes which is all I needed but he's still pretty great as the sullen secret keeper against Ping's cheerful survivor - childhood sweethearts torn asunder and now reunited.

The Sign

Thai YouTube

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Unknown

Taiwan YouTube & elsewhere

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable.

Wandee Goodday

Thai YouTube

A charming quintessentially modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL.

For me this was GMMTV's best of the year.

We Are

Thai iQIYI

I unabashedly loved show. It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial.

There you go. Hope these hold you over until the end of year round ups.

Welcome back!

And HAVE FUN!!!

It's been a good year for BL.

[bugsbenefit]

currently rewatching s3 and honestly... yeah no wonder Mike and Will had to be across the country in s4 for the plot to work they're too fucking good with this. even in s3 where they play a lot of plot support for El they're actually CARRYING the groups actions

s3 actually makes the difference between Mike and Will and the rest of the party Extremely clear. El, Max, and Lucas are lost at first, ranging from not taking Billy too seriously or just not knowing what to do

Mike and Will are the only one's with first hand experience. Will was possessed by the MF (Henry) and Mike sat next to him like this for over two days straight. Will has the intel and Mike has seen what possession looks and acts like up close. they KNOW what they're doing in s3 which is why they take the threat of Billy and the MF so serious so fast. even El has to ask them how possession works and how you can identify it. because despite having powers she still has no experience with this

that experience also gets highlighted in situations like the pool, where Max wants to wait and see what happens with Billy to know if he's flayed but Mike and Will know they have to act first

they know you don't wait until someone activates. the entire population of Hawkins lab was killed last time someone activated and they both witnessed it first hand. but the other's weren't there for that and don't really know how to deal with the current situation

also, Mike and Will are fully on the same page regarding the supernatural, which is why they're so efficient. Will gives his insight on the MF (Henry) and Mike immediately jumps to thinking of a proactive plan. the sauna idea took him less than 5 seconds

they would have completely fucked the plot of s4 over had they been in Hawkins i'm so serious. s3 literally shows us exactly why they couldn't be there:

Will can tell when Henry gets close (which s4 even confirms he is still able to do). had he been around in s4 he could've warned everyone if Vecna got to Max. no wondering when he's going to get you. Will would Know and he'd Tell you. they wouldn't lose time looking for Vecna in the Creel house, they wouldn't lose time scrambling to get headphones last minute

Mike is incredibly good at adapting prior knowledge to new situations which the Hakwins crew was Abysmal at. Mike can apply chemistry facts from years ago when it's convenient and can convert Will's possession into a working possession-test for Billy. but in s4 we have to suffer watching the crew remember that fire was the UD's weakness and then never use it on anyone but Vecna himself. a bottle of hairspray and a lighter could have gotten them out of being strangled by vines but they only had the clunky molotovs for Vecna. their planning methods directly contradict Mike's approach to plans

also. both of them act proactively. everyone at Hawkins lab died because they didn't stop Will in advance and s3 shows they learned from that. i honestly can't see a way for them to be on board with an "i'll be bait" plan. they directly argue against waiting for him to take action multiple times in s3. they KNOW that's how people die because it's too late when he gets here

and best of all. MIKE LITERALLY CALLS OUT WHY THE S4 PLAN DIDN'T WORK. word for word. you could paste this into s4 and pretend it's Mike berating them for the plan they just came up with

s4 makes it super clear that Mike and Will being absent is BAD with their friends directly commenting on how they're not here to help, and the last shot of the season being them returning to town speaks for itself, but s3 also directly shows us why. based on how they've dealt with the UD's/MF's return just six months before s4 shows how they would have approached something like s4. and at this point the two of them are too good of a team with too much experience to let them be around for it

(which would in universe most likely be Henry waiting for both of them to be out of the picture and out of universe be the writers putting them on the gay roadtrip in the weed van to be able to set up endgame s5 in peace without having them be in the way)

[eyeballmarshmallowtea]

BBC Sherlock

Hi, I'm Sophie. This post will be a rant. You have been warned.

BBC Sherlock last aired in 2017, with Series 4 Episode 3, The Final Problem. I am still waiting for Series 5. I first discovered this show when my amazing English teacher showed us A Study In Pink before the christmas holidays. I went home, watched the next epsiode, and promptly forgot that Sherlock existed. Until a couple of days before the summer holidays, when we were shown The Hounds of Baskerville. We only got to watch half the episode, and me and a friend finished it and watched half of the Great Game in Science and French class. (It was the end of the year, there was practically no work). And then I left for music tour. We spent 30+ hours on a coach over 5 days. 28 hours of that (I checked) was spent on BBC iPlayer. That's the whole of Sherlock twice. I finished it and then rewatched with a friend, and from then I became obsessed. I got a group together of 4 people, old and new fans, and we chat about Sherlock the entire time and it is amazing. My parents used to watch it so I convinced them that my sister was old enough to watch A Study In Pink. (She was only allowed to watch that one, she is now on Series 4. I regret nothing). My dad found the DVDs in the free book pickup at our local station, so I watched the original pilot episode and it was amazing. I also read and write fanfiction, which leads me onto the next point. And it is a long point.

Johnlock.

Although the series ended 7 years ago, I still hold out hope. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson belong together and always have, and before I finished the show I truly believed it would become canon. I was heartbroken and I genuinely felt let down. As so many of fans were at the time of the show's release, I am an LGBTQ+ teenager, and representation in my favourite show would be more than just a stupid headcannon coming true, it would have meant the world to me and so many others. This show has made me laugh and cry but sometimes I think about what could have happened and I wonder what could have been different.

However, regardless of this, I truly believe that this show is an incredible feat of acting, writing, filming, production and it will come back. Even yesterday (I say yesterday, it's 00:16 currently), the producer said there might be a movie or a new series. There is always hope, and Sherlock will return, because it has to. The 'ending' cannot be the ending, because it is not the ending. It is the temporary ending, and the true one will be here someday, even if it takes another 7 years.

And even if not, then there will be more adaptions, and someday someone will tell the true story of Sherlock.

And whether you ship Johnlock, or are a fan of Sherlock, this show is incredible. And honestly, if there is another series, I don't even care what it is about as long as it just happens.

In conclusion, this show has genuinely been life changing. It has changed my perception of things, given me friendships, made me less bored, given me something to do and something to talk about, and I am endlessly grateful for the show.

So when it does return, I will be waiting for it, and when the first announcement comes, I know my reaction will be pure joy, and probably make me look very stupid in public.

I'm now crying. I need to sleep.

Thank you for reading

-Sophie

[erinwantstowrite]

Erin I have a question ⁉️

How did you start writing LoF? Like,.not writing it in general, I mean like how did you get—or learned—or studied—all the information regarding the Batfam and their backgrounds, and also about Peter and the Avengers, etc.

Currently, I'm honestly planning on writing a small fiction about Peter ending up in Gotham (You must know your words hold a very dangerous power to inspire) but unfortunately, I don't have the right information to actually START writing it TT_TT. Do you have any tips on how I can start?

(P.S Apologies if this sounds a little confusing, I am not entirely the best at explaining 😞🤞)

There's one person to blame for getting me into DC, and it's @alighterwood

I've always been a fan of Spider-Man. He was my first hero, I wanted to be him soooo bad. I had gotten around to sort of writing my own fic for it with my own version of Peter around last year? (Very much inspired by ITSV, LoF Peter came about because he's his own universe and is based on Spider-Man lore from multiple media versions). I had never thought about writing a Spider-Man fic until ATSV, but at the time I was pretty much dead set on rewriting VLD. I got inspired after rewatching ITSV and then watching ATSV.

But it wasn't until alighterwood got me reading their favorite Batfam fics (specifically Tim) that I started to enjoy Batfam or DC in general.

(My favorite Batfam fic is "The Lone Ranger Never Had to Deal with Bruce Wayne" )

From there I started branching out into learning more about Batfam, what is and isn't fanon, and forming my own opinions. It was a natural progression into "I want my favorite characters to meet each other" and alighterwood's evil genius plan ended up working.

I've read a few comics (mostly the Red Robin series, because Tim was my intro to Batfam so I figured I'd start there) but most of my information?

Wikis, reddits, forums from years (a few of them from decades) ago, my father (who was a Batman fan as a kid) and his friends (my uncles, who were all DC and Marvel nerds), my own friends- basically anything I can get my hands on. If I had a question, it was (probably) answered somewhere, or there was someone else with the same question that made me feel better for not getting it. The internet has a BOATLOAD of information about both Marvel and DC.

It's a LOT of research and note taking, to be honest. I have a physical notebook where I take notes on lore so I don't forget it. I comb through fanon AND canon and I decide from there what I want and what I don't want/what doesn't work and what does work for what I'm writing.

But here's something to keep in mind: at the end of the day, you're not writing FOR anyone else. You're not out to please people who are 100% canon, all the time, nor are you trying to accommodate people who only read fanon material. You're writing for YOU. This part is fun for me, but could be very tedious for other people. I'm a little weird like that (I started writing essays for fun since I learned about them in school).

I like doing research. Like a lot of writers, I go down multiple rabbit holes a day. I start by googling a simple question that should take five minutes and then I see something and go "oh! What's this!?" and pick it up, and the cycle continues when I see something else and eventually remember that I was writing.

I enjoy the research and figuring out the balance. Because DC and Marvel do the same shit with their own works! Shit gets retconned, or they bring characters back from the dead, blah blah blah. The fun part for me IS going insane trying to figure out the Flash Family and their STUPID family tree, or learning about characters that were basically forgotten by everyone- even the writers. The best part is that since it's my fic I'm writing, I can go: "What's the most entertaining way I can use this?" And no one can stop me.

But if YOU don't enjoy that part, and you try to do it, you might lose your spark!! Your inspiration!! You might not have fun, and that's what writing is all about!! My thing is, is that basically every fan interpretation, whether they try to stick to the original source as closely as they can or not, IS FANON. And fanon is fun!!

Basically it all stems down to: it's your sandbox and you can play in there however you want to. And sometimes, people see what you're doing and they're like "Can I play too?" and you're like "Yes that'd be awesome!!"

If you find that you do enjoy the research, I think it's well worth it. It's very satisfying to put together all that work and then get a comment from someone where they say "OMG!! I know that reference!" or "I love this interpretation of this very obscure thing!!"

My advice for writing a Peter in Gotham fic is to know where YOU are starting at, before you start writing your fic. If you're a Spider-Man fan and you don't know much about the Batfam, try reading a comic about them, or find some favorite fics and base your information on that. It works vice-versa, if you know more about Batfam and not a lot about Peter.

Imagine there are two people sitting in front of you. One is a Marvel fan, the other is a DC fan, and they know NOTHING about the other comics. But they both want to hear your story where you have combined them. It's important that you don't lean too much into either side: you keep both of their interest by appreciating the details from both DC and Marvel.

The Marvel fan will be happy to see Peter reacting to a new world and situations, even if they don't know everything you're referencing. But the DC fan will be excited because you care about the place that Peter is interacting with enough to make a joke that maybe only they would get.

So: have fun, explore everywhere you want to, and get a little crazy. Don't worry too much about not knowing everything there is to know. I don't know everything about DC or Marvel either!

[magpiefngrl]

halfway through 2024 book review

June isn't over yet but I'm looking at a couple of very busy weeks so it's unlikely I'll read a gazillion new books or something by end of month. So we do this now!

books I enjoyed so far

Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen series, set in a post-apocalyptic Paris with fallen angels and magic and dragons in the Seine. I didn't quite love the three main novels, but I enjoyed how unique the world-building was. However, I REALLY loved the last two novellas about Asmodeus and his husband Thuan, who are a delicious pairing. The novellas are: Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances and Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders.

Pacat's Dark Heir, which I enjoyed so much that I went back to reread Dark Rise and then again, Dark Heir. I liked the second novel a lot more than the first (and I actually ended up appreciating the first novel more on my reread). Needless to say, I am very, very impatient about the end of the series.

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel. KJC has done it again. The sequel to her Doomsday Books series is fantastic, with a vivid cast, an excellent main pairing, and superb pacing. Couldn't put it down. A great historical m/m romance.

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'd heard a lot about Miles and it was fun seeing him bullshit his way across the galaxy.

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold. A novella in the Vorkosigan saga. Very touching and emotional and a great character study of Miles. Really loved this.

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. This dude is seriously amazing at crafting unusual murder mysteries. This one is structured as vignettes of shop-owners in a Tokyo neighbourhood and, as the stories progress, more light is shed on the mystery of a strangled woman.

Faithful Place and The Secret Place by Tana French. Fantastic prose, absorbing murder mysteries that are more like deep character studies as well as an incisive portrait of contemporary Ireland.

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski. This is pretty grim at times, ngl, but it has a daring structure with lots of POVs, switching between numerous timelines, a frame device, lots of found materials (essays and chapters from fictional books). All that worked for me very well. I love some experimentation with craft. I wouldn't say it was my fave read, but I'm happy that I finally reached the end; completing a series always gives me a dopamine rush so yay

progress on my reading goals

A reminder that my two goals for the year are:

to read (some or all of) the Vorkosigan saga

to read less or no US authors

I'm doing pretty well on those two scores. Read a few installments of the Vorkosigan saga, and (besides Bujold and a poetry anthology by Maggie Smith) have read no other US-based authors. My intention was to diversify my reading and, indeed, so far, I've read French, Japanese, Polish, UK, Australian, Irish, and currently reading a Ukrainian author.

fics I loved

I've not read as many books as I normally do so far, esp in the last couple of months, but I read a lot more fic than recent years. I've read some fab stuff in a variety of fandoms. The fics I'm going to rec below are the longer ones that I read on my ereader:

Tarnished Gold by Prim_the_Amazing (bingqiu/svsss, M, 118k) Inventive premise. Couldn't put it down.

Memory (T, 23k) and Out of the Dead Land (M, 62k), both stucky, both orphaned by one of my top authors ever. The second one gave me the worst fic hangover I had in ages. I had to go and rewatch Captain America.

contrapasso by damagecontrol (jegulus, E, 41k) Very horny. I like that.

Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble by pastapug (jegulus, E, 40k) Lush language, fascinating setting.

Beholden by Faith Wood (faithwood) (drarry, E, 123k) Gave me all the drarry feels.

Shout out to @hoko-onchi-writes's WIP: To Hold You in the Earth's Unholy Din, which I am loving <3

That's all, folks. Here's hoping for more wonderful reads till December!

[woah-uhuh-uhuh-uhuh]

Christine Canigula was socially ostracized & developed a complex to protect herself: an essay

(suddenly i NEED to infodump about Christine actually so here)

Something I only noticed on rewatch: the way Christine will say something silly and then just kind of gingerly wait to see if Jeremy reacts well to it before continuing, almost like she's asking permission?? (e.g. the gap after the first stanza of "Play Rehearsal"). And it's only after he riffs off her bowling alley bit that she feels comfortable talking about her personal feelings with him (right before "Guy that I'd Kinda be Into"). The same happens with their "weird noise" exchange immediately before "It's pretty killer to sit and chat with you." I know theater relies on being succinct, and that 'bonding over shared quirks' and 'feelings talk' are both just crucial parts of relationship development... but I don't think it's a coincidence that it always goes in that order!

It's like Jeremy has to pass these *trials of weirdness* before she feels safe opening up to him and it drives me BONKERS so I wrote a whole 1000 word thing about it under the cut and this got too massive and I'm sorry. Also some autistic Jeremy meta at the end if that sweetens the pot hehehe

Table of contents:

Why she was ostracized

How she was ostracized

How that might inform her pattern of relationship development with Jeremy and Jake

How gender caused Jeremy's experiences to differ from hers, and how that affects their current relationships with "popularity" and peer acceptance.

1. Why she was ostracized

I am just so certain that Christine has been bullied or at least majorly outcast for a lot of her life. She's very obviously neurodivergent and because of that she can have these obnoxiously deep and repetitive interests, she can't judge if a piece of information will be genuinely interesting to someone, and she doesn't take social cues very well.

She frequently interrupts people when they're talking (an ADHD symptom btw), even when they're literally talking to her about the thing she wants to hear!

(C: "Do you find that? Because I totally find that!" J: "Uh, yeah, I-" C: "-And no matter how hard I try....")

(J: "I know the last thing I deserve is another shot, but-" C:"Jeremy, just... say what's on your mind.") (girl I'm sorry but that's what he was doing..... I have a whole other thoughtpiece on how this particularly fucks with Jeremy while they're dating but thats another thing...)

She doesn't seem confident in her interpretations of people's emotions and she'll ask/talk about them point blank (both theirs and her own) in a way a lot of people would find rude

("Uh, you seem really nervous...") ("Popular people are fucked up! *mutual laughter* …I mean, you're one of them!") ("I am flattered, this is new / still I'm not sure what I should do" <- as a response to getting asked out, that's pretty bold! Plus the entire part where she laughs at Jake's "rich boy routine") (also compare and contrast to Jeremy's "I don't know what I'm supposed to say right now." idk. are your allistic stage dorks in the room with us right now motherfuckers)

I'd go on about her hyperfixations/special interests too but I think Play Rehearsal pretty much sums it up lol

2. How she was ostracized

All this to say that I am CERTAIN she spent a lot of her schooling having "nice girls" patiently let her sit with them at lunch for weeks at a time until they finally get sick of her rambling and faux pas. Only when they leave does Christine realize that they didn't actually care about anything she said... And this happens over and over and over. (I know this seems hella specific but I swear it's an actual phenomenon... at least I'm pretty sure? sdjflksjf)

But anyway, it's clear that by the time they're juniors, Christine has kind of (and I do only mean kind of) figured out what behaviour other people respond poorly to. And from evidence I stated in the intro, I think she's become really careful about which people she lets herself get attached to. She doesn't want this to ever happen again - which means if she's going to hang out with someone, she has to know that they actually care about her, that they know she will sometimes be obnoxious or blunt, and they'll still be okay with that forever.

3. Applying this to her canon relationships

You can extend this to Jake, someone who sees her in her element in drama rehearsal (the thing everyone finds annoying about her because she won't shut up about it) and STILL likes her. I think it's a totally valid reading that her bluntness with him later ("Upgrade") is just because she misreads him / doesn't quite get the social standard that she should be white lying instead. But I think you could also read her as testing the waters. If she's really going to commit to dating this guy, she's gotta know he's okay with her being herself. And the fact that this guy (and I think it's significant that he is a boy, for reasons I'll explain in the end note) genuinely seems to like her is a whole new level of peer validation ("I am flattered, this is new") -- so of course she's gonna fall at least a little! It doesn't hurt that he's "tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am..." just like her!

Her history with being pity-liked makes Chloe's "advice," that Jake's just toying with her and is going to move on soon, even scarier, because that's genuinely happened to her (on a platonic level) so many times before.

Jeremy is also a good candidate from the beginning because he's weird he's a weirdo he doesn't fit in and he doesn't wanna fit in you ever see him without this stupid cardigan on? that's weird! And she keeps warming up to him not only because they're getting to know each other but because he gets progressively more willing to not only tolerate (as Jake does) but *participate* in her weirdness!

First, she does something weird and he tolerates it ("Play Rehearsal"); the next time she's weird, he participates! (bowling ball before GTIKBI). Then finally finally finally he initiates the weirdness and lets her join in! ("weird noises" exchange before GTIKBI reprise).

And notably, it is THIS moment that canonically signifies that they've hit the apex of their canon relationship development. If there was an achievement called "Befriend Christine," it would have popped up right then and there!!!

IN CONCLUSION: YOUR HONOR I LOVE THEM T_T

4: Christine vs. Jeremy: Gender differences & how that ultimately impacts their social goals

I also think all of this would have happened to Jeremy too if he'd been a girl. But because, generally, young boys feel less social obligation than girls to take pity on the autistic kid (and because boys tend to be more quickly recognized as autistic) he just ends up completely alone for most of his school life (Michael nonwithstanding - and yeah there's an important distinction between your childhood friend putting up with you and knowing that, woah, I guess literally nobody else ever will).

Meanwhile, Christine has had people "put up" with her, and she's SICK OF IT!

That's part of why their complexes are so different, because Christine is trying to check everyone she meets to make sure they'll be okay with her weirdness before she gets attached, Jeremy is trying to eliminate his weirdness altogether because he's never even experienced his peers listening out of *pity* so how the hell can he expect someone to ever listen to him out of *interest?*

Jeremy has never had someone pretend to like him before, so he completely lacks Christine's fear of befriending someone who secretly hates you. He doesn't realize how bad it'll hurt him if he destroys his real self for popularity, if he befriends people who would have bullied his real self. He doesn't know what disingenuous friendship feels like, so like a very young Christine he's still actively trying to get there because he thinks it's the only kind of validation he'll ever get.

Do you see what im saying? Do you see it???? AUAUGUGUUGGH

THANK YOU FOR READING!!! If you have thoughts or even rebuttals please share i am so desperate to discuss the blorbos

[theresoneicouldcallking]

ok my thoughts on GMMTV2025, somewhat chaotic but i tried;

we're getting a firstkhaotung cat café series?! this is way too adorable and they deserve every bit of this! finally a lighthearted, fluffy romcom for them. i mean there's gonna be some drama and angst cause we all saw khao's lip quiver doing the works, but still! firstkhaotung and cats. it's perfect!

only friends season 2 YAAAASSSS gotta be honest; i blacked out after i saw boston cause he is my favorite dysfunctional child so i had no idea what happened in the trailer after i saw him. had to rewatch it a few times on the tube lol. but earthmix?? jossgawin?? ohmleng?? count me in please! also i need cameos from the OG cast, and especially mark cause i need my bostonnick happy ending (again people; i will die on this hill!)

forcebook mystery series!! gmmtv saw the response to their PP episode and listened!! man force and book are gonna nail their roles. i have zero clues as to what this series is about but it looks hella interesting and it's forcebook so let's go!

joongdunk crime series THANK YOUUUU another cp graduating from university bl and diving straight into a much more mature one. this one looks really intriguing and i can't wait to see what joong and dunk will bring to this.

period drama for greatinn and aouboom 🙌🏼 greatinn are perfect for this, epsecially inn just has that perfect look for a series like this. gmmtv also hasn't done enough period dramas so i am really looking forward to this, despite all the hurt it's gonna bring us. now about aouboom, i'm not gonna lie; i am really disappointed gmmtv decided to shove them in the side couple role AGAIN, especially after seeing two other (newer) cp's getting multiple series next year. aouboom have proven themselves more than enough and they deserve their own series. BUT if they have to be the side couple again, i'm happy they're doing this period drama because they fit in so well! and i've wanted them in a show like this for ages so i'm looking forward to seeing them in this!

jimmysea in a fantasy series was not on my bingocard!! in fact; a jimmysea series in general wasn't on the table for me, so i was really pleasantly surprised to see them get another series. and man this one looks to be just as beautiful as last twilight. they are such an underrated cp and incredible actors. i'm sure i'm gonna cry again.

a goofy yet heartbreaking perthsanta series! i'm so happy to see perth getting a role like this! he's always cast and pictured as the brooding bad boy type, and i get it. but did people forget he started out in love by chance?? he can do roles like this, too, and i'm so happy he gets to play in a series like this one with santa. it's a very interesting and peculiar story, but i think they can pull it off, if handled with care by gmmtv.

nanisky series that maybe most likely isn't another bromance?! and it's about fate and destiny?! oof YES PLEASE. obviously there isn't much to go on yet because it was essentially just one long scene, but it looks really intriguing and this trope always piques my interest.

serious drama-heavy offgun series directed by nuchy anucha?? oh we're back!! i really enjoyed cooking crush and thought it was incredibly cute, and offgun probably wanted something lighthearted. but we're going back to the not me-era and i'm here for it! this is their strength and speciality and it's going to be fantastic. gun can really do anything, that man is a chameleon.

winnysatang as a prince and outcast? this looks adorable and right up winnysatang's alley! so happy they're getting their own series now, they've earned it. and of course satang plays a prince, he's perfect for the role! and the beach scenes gave me the eclipse vibes so that's definitely off to a good start!

i know there are a few more series but currently, these are the ones i'm looking forward to the most. could change entirely when the real trailers get released tho. i'm also really happy to see neo and jj getting so many projects like YES they are so talented!!

[peachymilkandcream]

Fraud | Part 12 | Yandere All Might x Hero!Reader

(A/N: Rewatching the show and writing this at the same time has just solidified in me that my version of All Might is fucked beyond comprehension. But anyways- Hope you enjoy and comment to be added to the taglist!)

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, manipulation, domestic abuse, yandere themes, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, stockholm syndrome, graphic depictions of violence, mind breaking, misogyny, power imbalance, age difference, cheating, forced orgasm, suicide, etc.

================================================

All Might tried his best not to grimace at the bright fluorescent lights. He was used to hiding in the shadows and fighting crime during the day, sitting in a police station for questioning was not something he was particularly enjoying. There were so many more important things that he could be doing at this moment.

"Is there a problem sir?"

"Thank you for coming, please, take a seat."

There wasn't an answer to All Might's question, and he much more preferred to stand in situations like this, his height intimidated those in his way to cower in fear.

"No thank you, I'll just stand."

The man across from him sits anyway. "Now I'm sure you know it's no big secret that you decided to take on another sidekick, you made it rather public."

"That I did." He chose his words carefully, never once acknowledging his feelings towards Shade.

"Are you aware that your newest sidekick is currently missing?"

"I was aware, but I believed that perhaps she may have gotten intoxicated and lost, or her quirk allows her to do more than we thought and chose to disappear."

"We have-" He paused, thinking of how to phrase this. "Speculation, that she could have been taken."

"I see. Any leads as to who?"

"No, none. Which is why I asked you here, do you know if she had any enemies?"

All Might took a pause to think, trying to fabricate this whole story and clear him of suspicion entirely. Officers were tough, that could see through lies and use methods to get the suspect to reveal the truth.

"Now that you mention it, there was one."

The man perks up at once, straightening up and pulling out a notepad. "Please, continue."

"Shortly after Shade came to work for me she mentioned wanting to see a man, another pro, that she had met on our patrols."

"Who was he?"

"I'm not sure, but I could try and find out if you'd like."

"Yes that would be most helpful. But continue."

"Well, she had planned a day or so ago to meet up with him, and had confided in me she was doing so. However I advised against it, there was something about that man that seemed- sinister-"

"Sinister how?"

"As the Symbol of Peace, one gets acquainted with evil-doers. Ones of all sorts, and there was something about this man that made him feel just like one of those criminals in your jail cells."

"Is that so? And did she meet up with him?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think she had any other plans that night."

He seemed very pleased, a lead presented to him, all tied up in a bow. "And when approximately was the last time you saw Ms. Shade?"

"Well that would have been- five o'clock? I believe five, we were through with working for the day and I promised to see her the next day for her next day of work training."

"And that was the last time you saw or heard from her? No texts, phone calls, emails?"

"Nothing at all."

"I see, well thank you All Might for all of your helpful information. I'll get this off and we'll look at the next steps." He extended a hand to shake.

"Of course." All Might accepted it. "It was the least I could do. I hope you find her, it's hard to get good sidekicks these days." He laughs slightly, making the chief of police join in with him.

"You always know how to bring some positivity into a dark situation All Might."

"It's what I do best. Now feel free to let my other sidekick Sir Nighteye know if you need anything else, but my hero work doesn't stop if one person is missing. I have to get back out there!"

He rushes off, breathing a sigh of relief that hopefully he had past the test and was now above suspicion.

================================================

Precious time had been spent working her way out of those restraints. Shade had made a shadow clone of herself to look around the penthouse for a key before determining All Might had taken the key with him. So she turned to picking the lock with bobby pins.

How much time had passed she didn't know, worry about him returning filling her. But who knew when the next chance would be for her to have time away from him to work at this? She had to take a risk now.

When each of them had finally clicked open she made sure to be as careful as possible when leaving that bed, fearing he had put some kind of alert device in the penthouse to go off should she move.

Shade tried to ignore the dripping in between her legs, she didn't have time to clean up now, but made a personal reminder to thoroughly cleanse herself of this man she used to call a hero. This fraud. The last thing she wanted was to end up pregnant by the man who had kidnapped her and done things to her without her consent.

The main door was locked, as were most of the windows. The front door was an absolute no, who knows who had been told of the situation, who would stop her and bring her back. No, it had to be one of the windows.

Shade marched over to one and tried to open it, but the lock held fast. Her arm was still broken, and she had to be careful how many shadow clones she made before she was at her limit and therefore trapped at the top of a skyscraper. She had to be smart about this.

Her lack of experience and training were showing now, most pros would know how to get out of a situation like this easily and here she was aimlessly hacking at a window lock with a butcher's knife. There was nothing else she could think of to do or use so she went with that she thought best. Eventually the lock had to give out, right?

She was hopeful, believing soon she'd be free of this mess. Get the police to DNA test the semen found in her body and put All Might in Tartarus prison for the rest of his life. Never to be free to fool and then harm another living soul ever again.

Or so she thought until the door opened.

Slowly Shade turned, knife still in hand, terror running through her as she looked up at her captor.

"Now I thought I told you to stay put."

[illbegottenfaith]

intro post

hi, I'm E! looking to make more friends/mutuals, especially with other writers 🫶💕

currently reading: The quarantine princess diaries by Meg Cabot

currently watching: house md s5, new girl season 1 (rewatch)

currently writing: some theo drabbles :)

#e.txt - personal posts (not fandom related)

#e's fic recs - self-explanatory

#love letters - comments on my fics

my writing (masterlist) (updated 15.01.2024)

my edits (gifsets) (updated 07.01.2024)

about me

I’m a first-year college student. This account is entirely separate from my main tumblr account which is why I only occasionally stop by to upload whatever fic I’ve written recently. I joined tumblr when I was 14, in 2020, and started writing here in October of last year for a smaller fandom (that I still write for! I’ve just needed a change of scenery)

other things about me

I’m a chronic oversharer! I know it may not seem like it but I’m rlly restraining myself here ahah I am much much worse on my main account.

I am/used to be a huge swiftie

like any other college student I’m just so swamped with work but still need an outlet for creativity so I write a lot on my phone. I prefer writing on my laptop but I rarely have the time or energy for that and autocorrect is Not my friend so if you see an odd word here or there…please bear with me hahah

In high school I studied literature pretty intensely which has kind of made me very very picky about my writing and the books I read

(but I am majoring in a stem field I'm totally not bitter abt how male dominated my major is um anyway)

My favourite books include The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Heartless by Marissa Meyer (nothing too revolutionary but a riveting, well-paced book to get you out of a reading slump!) and Everyone I Know is Dying by Emily Slapper

My favourite comfort/self-indulgent authors are Cathy Cassidy (from when I was like 11, I think it’s half nostalgia but she really is an excellent underrated writer) and Meg Cabot

I think that’s about all for now! <3

[imminent-danger-came]

I was rewatching s2 last night, and ohhh man mk looks over mei so much it's not even funny. times mei has been ignored:

maybe you need to really listen! (during the blindfold ep)

mk just? grabs stuff she's using out of her hands all the time? (video game ep)

maybe you shouldn't skip the tutorials? (video game ep again)

the way he addresses her in dumpling destruction and then immediately pushes her aside for tang

i honestly remember it lowkey kinda bothering me on first watch but now it's REALLY egregious on rewatch. are you scared? I'm so scared. do you WANT to end up like shadowpeach MK

2x03 is so rude because the whole fucking episode they're like "MK you don't listen" and it's so true. He doesn't. Pigsy literally points it out again at the end of 4x14 with the whole sun screen bit:

Pigsy: "Tch, don't bother, I've been telling him that for years but he LITERALLY never listens." Sun Wukong: "Yep! That's how we role."

-

THEY'RE SO FUCKING RUDE. "That's how we role." We. We????? Wukong and MK???? Like WHATEVER. FINE. (("I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no. Wukong doesn't listen to ANYONE! He just does whatever he wants" Like shut up. Shut up!))

MK gets so stuck in his own head ("You're all stuck up in your own head! None of this is your fault!" +1 to the MK ignoring Mei counter from 4x08) and I think that really contributes to his s2 scramble to get more powerful.

LIKE:

MK: "Stop? Now? Never! I just have to try harder. It's just like the Monkey King said! *laughs manically* I just need to get stronger!"

(2x06 Game On)

VS

MK: "Why didn't he just stop, right here? He was already so much stronger than anyone ever needed to be!" Macaque: "Wukong didn't think so, he always felt he had to be stronger—more immortal."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

(Bonus thing between eps 2x03 and 2x06, look at 0:42 in this video for MK hearing Mei but not listening to her. Because of course that's what he would do. *head in my hands .png*)

The terrible s2 choices both Wukong and MK make in relation to their friends is just absolutely delicious after 4x11. Like, OH. This has been a lifelong pattern of Wukong's—paranoia is one of his fatal flaws (paired with his terrible communication and self-sacrificial nature), and while he had the power to stop LBD before he still feel's the need to go after the Samadhi Fire to stop her now, and to protect MK.

Hold on look at this parallel that I don't know what to do with:

MK: "Ugh, I can't do it!"

Mei: "It's alright MK—you did it before, you'll do it again!" Sandy: "Yeah! Maybe it's like Monkey King said: the power will come when you need it most!"

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

MK: "What! But you said the Samadhi fire was the only thing that could stop her!" Sun Wukong: "I KNOW WHAT I SAID! But I've beaten her before I'll- I'll do it again! Mei was right—I need to stop dragging you into my fights, all of you."

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Wukong and MK's reach for power inspires a lot of fear in me! It does! Because, well, MK's current reach for power is going to lead him to his Monkey Form, and uh:

Like I'm scared. I'm scared!

"All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart!" ; "This is Azure's utopia, and this barren wasteland is the price he paid to build it." ; "I'd do anything for my friends! But at the cost of the world?" "I'm sorry pal, ain't NOTHIN' worth that price!"

[sea-owl]

Was rewatching Star Wars Eps 7 and 8 again and you know what fuck canon I want silly space adventures where Rey, Kylo/Ben, Poe, Finn, and Rose are all crammed together in the Millenium Falcon while Nana Ahsoka and Mama Leia (two of the few people in the galaxy Ben rightlyfully fears and makes sure the others fear them as well) pops in from time to time to make sure they're behaving. Don't know the reason they're all crammed in there, but they are for some reason that made them all temporary (to permanent) allies.

Ben starts off as Kylo, but throughout the adventure but becomes Ben again and wants to live a better life and become a better person.

Rose has zapped all the men on that ship at least once. It mainly happens when they get in her and Rey's way as their trying to do their mechanic thing on the ship.

Rose and Rey are besties

Ben and Rey are working through their dyad bond and what it truly means for them.

Finn and Poe are together and currently trying to seduce Rose into a throuple. Well Poe is being seductive, Finn is just being adorkable in his attempts. Finn's attempts work better than Poe's. Rose is just waiting for one of them to actually ask.

It's awkward for the longest time between Ben and Poe. Ex-childhood best friends turned enemies turned to reluctant allies turned to maybe friends again, am I right? But they are both the better pilots between the five of them, so they're the ones often flying the ship together. Getting shit faced together that one time has done wonders for their relationship.

Ben, Rey, and Finn have a Force study group. They gather old texts and work based off those. Ben has more practical knowledge between the three of them and sometimes tutors. He's weirdly good at it. Sometimes they get special lectures from Nana Ahsoka.

Finn was the last one to join the study group after he worked out that he's also Force sensitive. Rey was excited her other bestie was joining. Ben and Ahsoka carried on like normal. Once you've been around other Force sensitives long enough you know how to spot one a mile away. They also know Finn has a lot of other shit going on, too, and trying to learn about himself. If he wasn't ready to learn about the force, then they weren't going to push him.

Poe and Rose don't fully get the Force thing but they do know lightsaber training is hot to watch. They think lightsaber training should happen more often.

Ben and Rose are also besties, surprisingly. But like in a way that Rose basically adopted Ben like he's a feral cat. Ben got a lot of respect for Rose after the first time she zapped him.

They share four braincells between them, and Rose has permanent ownership of one. It used to be three, but Ben brought in an extra one that's usually ping ponging between him and Rey. They accidentally served it to Finn once, and now it's in permanent rotation with the others.

I'm gonna come up with more for this later but here's a start to the silly space adventures.

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Entirely self indulgent rating post about the top 10 TV shows that made me fucking insane for some reason

10. Sense8

God, this was so good. Such a blessing. I saw part of the cast during a Pride Parade and it's one of my favorite memories. I felt every possible emotion with this show, I love it.

9. The Last of Us

This is kind of a cheat, because the obsession comes from the games, but it is what it is. It's one of the few games that had a big impact on me and I closely relate it to my relationship with my dad. Can't wait to cry my heart out at season 2.

8. Good Omens

It's a given, isn't it? That stupid angel with his stupid demon and their stupid God. GRRRAAWW. A lot of thoughts and feelings came from the fandom, I have to point out. It's been very nice.

7. The Umbrella Academy

I have the first issue of the comics autographed by Gerard Way!! I mean, yes, it's because I'm a MCR fan, but it became even more precious after I got into the show. I'm rewatching right now, preparing for the last season. I'll be a mess when I say goodbye to them. Can't even really think about it too hard or I'll cry right now.

Continues under the cut

6. Our Flag Means Death

LISTEN THIS CHANGED EVERYTHING TO ME. What do you mean we can have a show THIS queer? It's all I want now. I ate it up. I smiled so much. I wanted this so badly and had no idea.

5. Interview with the Vampire

Feels like it should be top 3 honestly but I'll get there. This is also a cheat, I've been reading the Vampire Chronicles since I was like 15. Growing up with Anne Rice probably messed me up but hey at least I have great taste. And seeing them on screen? The way they made it BETTER? And Lestat?? Who has been haunting me for 15 years on and off??? And the second season and their reunion and and and?????????? I'm STILL insane about them and will be forever, I'm afraid.

4. Doctor Who

Listen. Listen. Okay. Yeah. What can I say? If you get into it, you're doomed. And I have been doomed for 10 years at least. I stopped watching for a while and got back last year, and it hit me all over again. I love this dumbass genius alien in a way that's calm, even. Just a permanent part of who I am now.

3. The Untamed

The year was 2022, it had been a while since I had a proper fixation and I didn't think it would happen with this danmei live-action, but then came Wei Wuxian. Guys, if I tell you I fell in love. Couldn't stop thinking about him. Everyday I was plagued by his smile and red ribbon and tragic backstory, yadayadayada. I really like other characters too, and their stories, but WWX did something to me that I still don't quite understand.

2. Queer as Folk (US)

This was a looong time ago and it didn't really persist over time like the others, but it was my first actual obsession. I was clinically insane over these gays. I had no one to talk to about them, so for every episode I wrote several pages of notes to comment to my (only) friend at school the next day, the poor thing. It was pretty much all I talked about because I spent EVERY MINUTE we had to talk going over the notes and explaining the episode. Like, between classes, during breaks, everything. Months of that. She held on firmly because she was a good friend, but I'm aware it must've been terrible. Like I said, insane.

1. Dead Boy Detectives

Maybe I'm putting this up here because it's my current hyperfixation? Maybe. But I don't think I have felt something hit as strongly as this since QaF over there. This time I can participate in fandom so I don't need to write every thought I have because it's all a big talk anyway, but I'm still pretty much having those thoughts all the time for *checks notes* nearly three months. I'm writing more than I have in years. I'm back at Tumblr after I don't know how long. I'm staring at GIFs over and over like I have the fucking time for that. I'm distracted at work daily. I talk about it in therapy. I have the main cast's notifications on. I'm getting involved in fandom discourse sometimes even knowing I shouldn't. It's a nightmare. I love it. I love them.

If you read all of this, congrats! Now you know how my mind works, kinda!! I'm open to talk about any and all of these shows. It's amazing how they mess us up. It's also scary, but anyway.