#a 90s take on beauty and the beast

[arickaandherfictionalothers]

The epic conclusion to their tale

(Aricka x Ricky Coogan)

(Aricka saves the day. As she should )

(Thank you Dori for the gif-! I hope you love our dialogue in this fic all fleshed out as well as we loved in when we first began it-!)

This was not how it was supposed to go. Aricka was supposed to be able to administer the cure to her friends, they would uprise against Skuggs, and they would be able to leave, and she would get to kiss Ricky finally.

But those two creepy eyeballs found her; snooping around trying to find a good spot for her backup plan, and she got caught.

Now, Aricka was tied to a chair; the same chair Ricky had sat in not too long ago, face masked with calm, trying really hard not to let anyone see how scared she is.

“Ricky will come for me - and you’ll be sorry.” She says, glaring at her captor- Elijah Skuggs himself. “Ricky HELP ME-!” She yelled, hoping he was in the near vicinity.

Elijah lets out a sinister chuckle, "I think you'll be the one who's sorry. See, now that I've got some more zygrot-24, I can finish my plan of turning that beast boy into the ultimate superfreak. And, y'know what, I think I might just turn you into a freak too. You care about them so much, you might as well join them."

“Even if you do, you won’t succeed in keeping us apart. I’ll still be me. I’ll just look different. And different isn’t taboo.” Internally; however; Aricka’s mind was screaming one thing- Ricky HURRY-!

“It will be, once I'm through. I forgot to mention that along with turning your little boyfriend into a superfreak, I plan on having him kill all the other freaks. They won't be any use to me anymore. And if you become a freak too... Well, you get the picture." He walks over to his machine and begins programming the zygrot-24.

Aricka’s face drains of color; she couldn’t let that happen to Ricky- she would rather die than let him be reduced to such a state.

Meanwhile, Ricky snuck into the lab, staying as quiet as possible. He cracks the door open, trying to see where Elijah is so he doesn’t get caught. His heart drops when he sees Aricka tied up.

"I'm gonna get you out of this, Aricka." he whispers to himself. He starts to slowly and carefully make his way over to her.

Aricka subtly reached for the vial of antidote tucked away in her pocket, knowing she would have to take it a soon as possible if she was affected by the machine.

Ricky finally reaches Aricka, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. Her eyes widen, full of hope and relief that he was there. He places his finger over his mouth, wordlessly telling her to keep quiet. He starts to saw at the straps with his claws.

"Don't worry," he says, barely above a whisper, but loud enough for Aricka to hear, "You'll be free in no time."

Aricka sags in relief as she sees him; heart racing as the reality set in-

“Hurry.” She whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “He- he wants me to become one of you guys- and then he wants you to kill all of us-,”

“I'm not gonna let that happen. I promise." He finished cutting one strap and moved on to the next.

Aricka flexes her hand and leans her head back against the chair. “How did you find me-?

“Well, uh..." Ricky blushes slightly, "according to Cow Boy, us freaks have telepathic bonds with our soulmates. Because of that, I was able to hear you call for me from the freak house."

Aricka stares at him for a moment before speaking “well- I could’ve seen it coming. “It would explain why I’m most protective of you-,”

Ricky chuckles, gazing lovingly at her "Yeah." he quickly snaps out of it to continue setting her free.

“Oh no-,” Aricka whimpered as she saw the man with the evil plan turn around- “Ricky-!”

Well, well, well," Elijah says, making Ricky stop in his tracks with a gasp, "The beast boy has come to save the day. Such a shame. You were so close." A wicked grin spreads across his face as he looks at the two of them, "Toad," he calls his assistant, "Take care of him, will ya?"

“NO-!” Aricka screams, jumping free from the seat and inserting the needle into Ricky’s thigh, believing with all her heart that it would work and it would save him. She pushed down the syringe and quickly pulled it back out once it was empty; whirling around and using the needle to stab Elijah. As soon as she’d stabbed him she brought her leg up to sharply kick Elijah in the chest, sending him careening backwards from her

Elijah pulls the syringe out of his arm. He glares at Aricka, "What did you do?!"

He looks over at Ricky, who looks over himself. Half of his body was still green, there were still claws at the end of his hand. He touches his face, felling that he was still a freak. The antidote didn't work, "Oh no..." Ricky looks at Aricka, "Nothing happened."

Elijah cackles, "Looks like your antidote still needs a little work. You'll never figure out how to turn them all back!"

Neither of them knew: however: that Aricka had a backup just in case this happened. “The thing about horror movies…” she says. “The hero always has a backup plan in store. DORI, ORTIZ, NOW-!”she looks over at the boy she loved more than anything else. “Just trust me Ricky-!”

Ricky looks back, eyes full of trust and love. "Always."

Aricka braced herself- she wouldn’t be affected by the antidote; she’d already accidentally splashed herself with this version and she hasn’t had any side effects- and that was two days ago.

But she was still nervous.

“You’re just a big bully- and the thing about bullies is that they never win. Someone bigger and stronger always comes along to put them back in their place. And now it’s your turn.”

“NO!" Elijah yells.

Dori and Ortiz activate the sprinkler system that they helped Aricka set up with the antidote a few days ago. It rains down on everyone in the lab.

Aricka runs forward, bracing her hands on his shoulders and using the strengths she had left to shove him back towards the goo-

And falls backwards to the ground, hitting her head as she does.

Ricky’s heart dropped to his stomach. "Aricka!" Ricky rushes over to her. He kneels down, cradling her head, "Aricka? Are you okay?!"

No response, as our resident heroine was currently unconscious. “Aricka?! Oh no!" His free hand, his left hand, moves to cradle her cheek carefully, as though she was the most precious gem.

“Ricky; pick her up and get her out of here-! It’s too dangerous for her while unconscious. We can take care of it from here.” Ortiz yelled, swinging down from the rafters, Dori right behind him.

Both of them were restored to their human forms, but nobody had time to revel in the changes.

Ricky looks at Ortiz, then back to Aricka. He looks down at Aricka, and when he sees his hand he realizes that he's now back to normal. He smiles, proud that Aricka's hard work paid off, but he'll have to celebrate later. For now, taking Aricka to safety was his first priority. He does as Ortiz says and takes her to the freak house.

Ortiz strolls over to Elijah, “You thought your twisted plan would succeed but you didn’t plan on a most intelligent plan by way of a genius inventor who would break your curse-!”

"Exactly," Dori says, joining Ortiz under the antidote, "You've lost, Skuggs! Now no one'll have to suffer being a subject of your crazy experiments."

“Dori, I propose we take this evil lowlife somewhere he can’t hurt anyone else. What do you think?”

“I think that's a wonderful idea." They rest their arm on Ortiz's shoulder.

“Excellent- how about we tie him up in the same chair that once imprisoned each of us? And then you can call the police.”

“I like the sound of that. Give him a taste of his own medicine.” The two of them work together to tie an unconscious Elijah to the chair, and then they run to call the authorities and go check in their friends

~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~

Aricka lay on the floor of the freak house, still as could be. Not moving an inch. Looking like a real live sleeping beauty.

“What happened to her?" the bearded lady asks, placing a pillow under Aricka's head.

"She got knocked out trying to save me from Elijah turning me into a superfreak," Ricky brushes a strand of hair away from her face, "He was going to turn her into a freak too. I'm glad he didn't get the chance to. Though, of course it wouldn't have changed my feelings for her if she did get turned." He didn’t take his eyes off of her still-sleeping form. She continued to breath; slowly and evenly.

"You two really are soulmates, huh?"

"Yeah, we are." Ricky smiles.

A soft groan escaped the girl laying on the ground, and her fingers twitch slightly as she begins to wake up. Ricky gasps. He holds onto her hand, "Aricka?"

“Mm..” blue eyes flutter open and she looks up to see- “Ricky- ow-!” She squeezes his hand as tight as she could, but in her current condition it wasn’t very much.

"Hey!" he brings her hand up to he lips, kissing her knuckles, "You had me so worried for a minute. Just take it easy for a bit, okay?"

“… my head- ow,” her lip trembles and she shuts her eyes again. “I think I’m potentially concussed-? Ow..”

Ortiz (followed by Dori) runs in then, “The cops are on their way, Sockhead and Cowboy are watching Skuggs.”

“Good. But I think we're gonna need an ambulance too. Aricka might have a concussion."

"Oh no!" Dori gasps, her and Ortiz rush to Aricka's side, "Make sure she stays awake, Ricky."

“Dori, Ortiz - okay?” Aricka asks, holding up a weak thumbs up. “Miss Bearded Lady ma’am, you should go- I made an antidote if you want it- it’s a shower version in the lab.”

“Yes, you must stay awake, Aricka. If you’re concussed then you might make it worse.”

The bearded lady nods. She looks back at the other freaks, "Alright. Everyone head to Elijah's lab. This may be our only chance to get back to our old selves." All the other freaks head to the lab, leaving Ricky, Dori, and Prtiz to tend to Aricka.

“Ricky help me sit up, I’ll lean against you if you want but I need to sit up. I’m concussed not dying.” Her words made him chuckle softly, simply replying,

“Okay. Here," he helps sit Aricka up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to help support her, "Is that okay?"

Aricka nods, leaning her full weight against him- and then she realizes. “Ricky…?” She whispered.

She can’t even say it cause she’s scared if she does it’s a dream.

“Yeah?” Ricky leans in closer to hear her.

“You-,” she moved so she can see his face. “Oh- it worked-! The antidote-! Our idea worked-!”

"It did," he smiles, "Look. It worked for Dori and Ortiz too."

Aricka turns to look at her friends- “You guys-!” She exclaims. Her eyes well up with tears and she pressed her face back against Ricky. Relief was the most powerful thing she felt in that moment

She was SO worried it wouldn’t work. Ricky comfortingly rubs Aricka's arm, "See? I knew you wouldn't let us down." he kisses her temple.

“You saved us all, we all knew you would.” Dori says, smiling at their friend.

Aricka wipes her eyes. “He almost hurt you all- I was almost too late- all cause I got caught-!”

“Hey," Dori places their hand on her shoulder, "It's not your fault that that happened, okay? You were still able to save us in the end. You should be proud of yourself. I know we are."

Aricka looks between the three of them. She takes a deep breath. “Are you guys all okay? Like - the antidote didn’t hurt you or anything-?”

“It tickled slightly, but other than that I feel good as new,” Ortiz says

Aricka smiles; looking at him properly for the first time.

“Your eyes are- brown,” she whispered. “I couldn’t see them under all your hair,” she admitted. Ortiz nods and smiles,

“You have the most beautiful blue eyes, yourself,” he says.

And then she looks at Dori “Spider-Kid-!” She exclaimed. “I love your hair. It’s so fun!”

Dori laughs, "Thanks," they think to themself for a second, "Man, it feels good talking without those fangs being in the way."

And then Aricka looks at Ricky. She stares at him for the longest time, not saying a word. Her hand creeps up to touch the right side of his face, and she smiles at him sweetly. “Yep. Still the most handsome guy. Beast boy or not.” His hair was back to being curly and brown, trimmed right over his ears. His whole face was pink and smooth again, so was his arm and she assumed his back as well.

Ricky cradled her face in his own hand, drinking in every little detail of her face. He would spend the rest of his life indebted to the girl in his arms.

Ortiz smiles at Dori, saying to them, “they do look exquisite don’t they.”

"You're one to talk, dog boy," Dori says, "I think you look exquisite too."

Ortiz shakes his head and smiles at them. “Sure; sure; Spider-love.”

Aricka places her other hand on the left side of Ricky’s face- feeling the soft smooth skin were just hours before there had been scales. She wouldn’t lie and say she wouldn’t miss it- but she was so glad Ricky was smiling again. He was much happier as a human than as a beast boy.

“My Ricky.” She whispered, echoing what she’d declared not that long ago.

Ricky places his hands over hers, "My Aricka." he whispers back. Whispering what his heart knew all along; what his head was too afraid to speak.

“.. still my beast boy?” She asks teasingly. He rolls his eyes but nevertheless he responds,

“Of course I am. Trust me, it feels AMAZING being human again."

She swiped her thumbs across his cheekbones, “sorry if this is weird but-,” she couldn’t find the words to explain it. She knew what Ricky had looked like before. But now it was like she was afraid to blink or even look away- she didn’t want to forget a single detail of his face.

“No, no,” Ricky whispered, as if unable to speak any louder. “I know exactly how you feel.” And it was true. The girl in his arms was solid, real, the very person who’d saved his life just hours before. “Aricka.. I-,”

“Yes, Ricky?” She says, almost breathless.

Throwing all caution to the wind; Ricky says, “I love you. I can’t be without you anymore. The last few weeks proved that we’re better together than apart. I need you. Be mine?”

Aricka’s eyes, full of love and adoration, spill over with tears. “Richard Devan Coogan, I would be delighted, honored and OVERJOYED to be yours.”

Ricky let out a breathless, “oh, YES-!” Before leaning forward to kiss her softly, gently; and of course, lovingly, for the first- but not the last- time.

Ortiz gives Dori a knowing Look. “A tale as old as time itself, isn’t it.”

“One that keeps on going. One that will never end,” Dori asserted.

And indeed, it truly hasn’t ended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@astralshipper @rosieshipper @hyperionshipping @letsgofoletsgo @yeehawselfshipping @tsundere-selfship @callsign-revenge

[bamfkeeper]

Beautiful Devil

RQ: 'Hi, I have a request: a fic about NightcrawlerxFem!Reader, Beauty and the beast AU, starting it like the fairytale (Reader decide to sacrifice herself for her father because the scared man THINK the mysteriuos blue creature ask him to bring one of his daughters in his place). Maybe in the finale you can add the mob attacking the castle like in the episode of the '90 serie, with Graydon Creed guiding the mob (you can't look at that man and don't think he's a variant of Gaston). Just don't turn Kurt into a human, I love our fuzzy Elf. Thanks!' - @historygirl93

Warnings: F!reader, some violence, minor character death. Unedited.

A/N: I think this is a cute idea, I love the story. I don't see how Kurt could ever be viewed as 'beastly' he's too sweet. The fairytale is a longer story and involving all the details would take me a long time to write, so I did what I could to get the idea of the story across. I did my best, it was slightly challenging, and I changed just a few details just because I thought it would be better for the story.

WC: 2.2k

The village held such a prejudice against the blue demon who lived in the abandoned church. Rumors of yellow glowing eyes and a shadow with a devil's tail flicking in the dark, crawling on the walls like a hellish insect. A monster, the children of the village feared him just as much as the adults, whom had weapons ready to kill if he dared leave the cathedral.

Your father was highly religious. He wanted to banish the devil from the church once and for all, to purify the holy ground, but believed that only a sacrifice would satisfy the creature. You were horrified at first, being so helplessly given away as a sacrifice, you were the lamb that was about to be beheaded for no reason.

Upon being abandoned at the cathedral, surrounded by the harsh cold and snow, you thought you'd freeze to death. To your initial horror and surprise, the devil appeared. He flashed in front of you in black and purple smoke, like they rose from the ashes of Hell. You were far too tired and exhausted, so before you knew it, your body was wrapped and you were inside.

You felt the warmth of the fire inside the stone furnace, you sat up and watched the orange flames dance quietly while the blanket remained wrapped around your drenched form. The snow melted away and left you wet and still somewhat cold. But you were at least inside...

Once you regained enough bearings, you looked around for the devil, wondering where he was and what he was going to do to you. You felt fearful, your mind having heavy thoughts invading your mind of horrific treatment. While you searched the dark room, you saw his eyes peering to you from the darkest corner, tiny irises of gold staring through your soul.

"It's you..." your voice muttered out quietly, "You're the devil." Your hushed tone made him tilt his head slightly, he slowly walked around the wall, the far shadows hiding most of him.

"Nein...I am no Teufel..." he spoke back, his voice was even and not nearly as intimidating as you thought it would be. "I was born like this. But I am no demon." He stepped closer as he spoke to you, his appearance becoming more visible in the firelight. He had blue skin and sharp teeth like the villagers said, a long tail with a devil's spade, sharp nails and pointed ears...

"You look like one," you shakily retorted, still on edge of what his intentions were and you weren't about to fall victim without a fight. He only chuckled back, empty and somewhat...sad.

"I know."

He sat down near you, a few feet away, looking at you and slowly giving a smile, trying to be friendly. "I won't hurt you, I wouldn't ever." He paused, then continued, "Besides, a demon cannot step inside a church." He reasoned, holding out a three fingered hand to you. "Hab keine Angst."

You were cautious, but after seeing he wasn't nearly as horrifying as the town made him seem, you reached out and touched his hand. His skin was warm, he was fluffy. He felt like soft velvet, not like cold scaled skin you had been told was the skin of the devil.

Over the following weeks, you became closer to each other. You warmed up quickly after his efforts to try to appear not so scary, and once you spoke more often, he was actually very sweet and kind. You watched him feed birds and squirrels, holding the seeds in his palms and speaking to the birds as if they could understand him.

His favorites were the blue jays.

He showed you the cathedral, leading you through the massive church and showing you around. He showed you the library with lots of books along the walls, the studio where old paints and canvases were. He gave you plenty of things to do, and he provided you with good food, a large space to sleep, he treated you well. He was kind and sweet and...attractive.

You couldn't help but feel yourself get pulled towards him. Feel yourself get swept up by his chivalry and charm. He showed off in front of you, entertaining you with his skills as an acrobat and swordsman, he even let you try to swing one of his swords.

It was much heavier than you thought, making his skills all the more impressive.

You got word that your father had fallen very ill, and you wanted to see him. Kurt didn't want you to leave, scared you'd never return again. He held your hands and looked at you in the eye, his worry etched on his face. "You won't abandon me, will you?" he asks softly, "I don't wish for you to go..." he brings your hand up to his cheek, rubbing his face into your palm.

Your heart melts and you sigh, "I promise I'll come back. I just...want to make sure my father is okay..." you whisper back. You knew how he felt, being abandoned was one of his biggest fears. All he had been in his life was abandoned, by his mother, this town, sometimes he felt as though God himself has abandoned him.

With great reluctance, he let go and you rushed back into the village, desperate to see your sickly father. You were still angry he left you to die, but he was still your father. When you made it back, you came to his bedside and saw how terrible he looked. You had no idea what he had, but he looked on the verge of death.

Word got loose that you were in the town, somehow surviving the 'demon' who resided in the abandoned church. The town's greatest 'champion,' Graydon, nearly stormed up to your home and forced his way in. His voice loud and demanding, he as angry and furious with you.

The vile man had attempted to court you before. You always denied him. Why would you want to be with someone as crude and hateful as Graydon?

"How did you escape that wretched demon?" he demanded, yanking you from your father's bedside. He held your arm tight and stared at you with fury in his eyes. "That beastly creature will invade our town because of you! You were his sacrifice! Leaving signifies that the deal is broken! You've doomed all of us!"

Your eyes were wide as he basically screamed in your face, his cool was gone and he looked like he wanted to hurt you. You tugged against his strong hold, grunting as you tried to get free. "He's not a monster, or a demon! He's just a man!" You shouted back, "He's kind, gentle, he wouldn't hurt a soul!"

Graydon laughed at you, yanking you closer again. "You are lucky you are pretty, girl...you are such a naïve little thing. That devil is evil, and you have succumbed to his incubi ways. Don't worry, I'll make sure I fix that little head of yours up and rid you of the corruption he has brought upon you."

He threw you down, you hit your head and everything became a hazy mess. You heard his footsteps leave, his heavy boots hitting the old wooden floors with anger. You tried to lift yourself up, but you hit your head too hard. The world was spinning around you, but you didn't want any harm to come to Kurt. Graydon was as ruthless as he was egotistical, and he was dead set on murdering Kurt. He always had been, telling tall tales of cutting off his head and hanging it over the statue in town square.

You could hear his voice, rallying the town and heading up the treacherous path to the abandoned cathedral. You felt your heart ache, your body fading to unconsciousness from the injury.

When you regained consciousness, your body ached but the thought of Graydon already at the church gave you a newfound form of energy. You jerked up, your father had been too weak and sick to help, while you worried for him, the memory of him giving you up to die was there. You had to make a choice, and your heart had been decided.

You needed to get to the church.

You stumbled out to the stables, your body staggering as your brain felt fuzzy and heavy. You probably had a concussion, but right now that wasn't important. You didn't have a horse of your own, you prayed that the one you made it to wouldn't buck you off. The stallion let out a soft nicker, you rubbed its neck, your hand weakly holding onto the mane and you forced your body to mount.

The horse moved a few steps, adjusting to your weight. No saddle, it'll have to do.

You squeezed your legs and held on, the horse moved forward and with your encouragement it began a steady gallop through the trail that led up to the church. The horse was fast and bareback was hard for you to hold on, especially with a head injury. the horse sensed your wavering weight and tried to steady its run.

Over the hill was the church, and the stallion ran you right inside the broken down doors. You heard loud shouting, men fighting, and the sight that came to view was horrible.

Most of the men were down, unconscious, and Graydon was shooting arrows at Kurt, who had been disappearing in puffs of smoke, reappearing in other places. His yellow eyes blazed and he hissed at Graydon, landing kicks and punches to the larger man. You shouted at them to stop, but your voice fell on deaf ears.

The torches the other men had been carrying caught the tapestries and the flames eagerly began to eat the fabric and grow. The horse reared up, and you fell off its back as it ran out of the church. You sat up and cried out at Graydon, "Stop it! Don't hurt him! Can't you see what you're doing?!"

Kurt's teleporting soon became predictable, Graydon memorized the pattern and he shot an arrow into Kurt's leg right as he reappeared again. Kurt let out a strangled cry, stumbling from the beams and to the ground. By now the flames had consumed the entire room, smoke became thick and Graydon towered over Kurt's body. His eyes reflecting the fire, his face red and his hair a mess. He looked like the devil now, the fire only adding to his hellish desires to smite out Kurt's existence.

"Die, I cast you down to the pits of Hell where you belong!" Graydon tore a blade from his sheath, raising it above his head. But Kurt's eyes were focused on the burning wood above him, and he managed to teleport from that spot right as the wooden beams fell from the ceiling. Kurt reappeared by you, his fuzzy arms wrapped around yours as he teleported you outside. The last thing you saw in the church were the large beams falling onto Graydon's body, crushing him.

When you reappeared outside, you saw Kurt was hurt from the fight. He had two arrows in his body, one in his leg and one in his back, several lacerations from fighting the others and some parts of him had been burned. He let out a deep cough and he laid beside you, unresponsive.

"Kurt?? Kurt! Wake up!" You shook him, gently at first but it became more frantic when you noticed his lack of response. "Please get up!" You felt tears prick your eyes, your head swiveled around, looking for anyone to help. You weren't sure what to do, you felt hopeless. After you thought he was gone, his tail twitched at your side, gently curling up around your thigh weakly.

"Kurt??" You asked quickly, glancing down at him. You could see the exhaustion on his face, the weakness, but he nodded back. He gave you a weak smile, his yellow eyes soft and pure.

"Liebe..." he whispered back, his hand held yours and he pulled you closer. Your body naturally obeyed and you let your lips find his, both weakly pressing together as the two of you kissed for the first time. It felt so right, his hand cupped your face and his tail wrapped around you, being so weak but loving all at the same time.

You hadn't noticed the other townspeople had been watching from the trees, seeing how gentle and sweet you were to him. They could see that Kurt didn't resemble a creature of Hell like they thought, while he did seem odd looking, he didn't look to be horrific as they predicted. Their imaginations took over and the tall tales took over their logic.

When you broke the kiss, he smiled up at you. "You....came back..." he rasped, he was hurt still, but he was okay. He'd live. That's all you needed to know.

"Of course I came back...I told you I would..." you whispered sweetly, guilt gnawed at your core, "If I hadn't left then..."

Kurt cut you off, shushing you, "Nein, liebe...do not worry...the church can be rebuilt...I am going to be fine. What's another small scar? My fur will cover it anyway." He added, giving you a playful smile.

You couldn't help but roll your eyes, "Oh, Kurt...don't make me laugh right now..." You muttered, some of the onlookers came to aid you in bringing him to the town to get treatment from the doctor there. You knew he'd be okay. The awful stories were debunked and the town appeared to accept him.

You had your love, safe and sound, and the real demon of the town had been snuffed to ash.

Thanks for reading.

*BAMF*

Dividers by @/adornedwithlight

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

I know that there are a lot of feelings right now, and everyone is absolutely entitled to them. The announcement certainly hit hard.

I did, however, want to add a little bit of my own hope into the mix. Maybe it won't matter. But maybe it will help someone feel just a bit better about everything.

For context, someone on Reddit made an excellent point that 90 minutes is plenty of time to tell a great story. Many have been told in less than that. Lion King, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, Totoro, I could go on.

I completely agreed with them. But I also wanted to add my own personal spin as well.

When you really get down to it, the plot of season two was truly only compromised of 90 minutes worth of plot between A + C. Maybe even less than.

A lot of it was drawing out a mystery that didn't need to be as long as it was. As much as I love me some putzing and meandering, seeing this entire 90 minute drama go down has made me realize just how weak season two was.

Did I love it? Hell yes.

But I'm also realizing that the plot wasn't tight.

Most of the memorable moments are comprised of seconds of screentime.

Not minutes.

Seconds.

The touching of Aziraphale's hand to Crowley's chest

"Look at you, you're gorgeous."

Hands touching during dancing

The final speech and kiss

Michael Sheen's bitchy little eyebrow raise

Michael Sheen eye fucking Crowley every chance he gets

Just Michael Sheen's quiet, quick acting choices in general

When breaking it down, most of what mattered added up to less than 90 minutes, with the rest of it being unfocused and dithering.

Now imagine 90 minutes. 90 minutes of focus on these two characters. No chance for meandering, no opportunity to wander off. These two will be forced to confront their issues, their grief, their resilience, their LOVE with nothing to pull us away. There won't be time for side characters to take the focus. There won't be time to worry about other relationships or spending time apart.

This is going to be about them because it can't waste time on anything else.

AND ANOTHER THING.

I keep seeing people saying "90 minutes isn't enough time to tie up all the loose ends". And to that I say...

What loose ends?

We really only have two. The second apocalypse and their love.

And to those who say 90 minutes isn't enough to stop an apocalypse, I counter with; season 1 stopped it in 5 minutes while they stood on what was essentially a parking lot. And they were side characters at that point.

In conclusion: we will be okay. Would I have loved six episodes to watch them circle one another? Sure. But I have spent more time reading fanfiction of them than watching the actual show, and those writers have created better scenarios than Neil Gaimen ever could. The kind of stories that would make Terry Pratchett proud.

We will get what we need. Because the people who fought for this love these characters. And because David and Michael would personally square up with Jeff Bezos in a parking lot just to be able to lock lips on screen again and again in a cottage by the sea

We will be okay. More than that, we will thrive.♡🖤

❤.

[skxllz]

𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 + 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who combs their fingers through lucifer's hair during any given chance. they're aware he can be a stressed out, self-pitying man who just needs some sort of release from all the baggage he carries amongst his shoulders. head pets and playing with his hair comforts him <3.

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who often bakes sweets for lucifer's daughter but saves him a few ‘cause he never treats himself. surprising him with little duck-themed sugar cookies always causes the king the clutch a hand to his chest, little beads of tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. don't tell anybody, but he's a sucker for your baking :).

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who has the habit of saying ‘ I love you, amor! ’ everytime they leave, or lucifer leaves, a room. it could just be momentarily and yet, it's still said — lucifer adores the act though, and his heart flutters everytime. he's never been reminded so many times of how much he's loved.

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who makes pinky promises with lucifer everytime he tends to get stuck in his head. — “ I'm not going anywhere, luci. ever. ” - “ you promise? ” - “ I promise. ” — he's aware how much pinky promises mean to them, just the act of hooking their fingers around one another is enough to soothe the fallen angel's spirit.

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who convinces lucifer to have father-daughter days to further repair his and charlie's relationship. he was afraid unsure of the idea at first, but was later persuaded once you showed up at his room with the blonde herself, a copy of beauty and the beast, and a promise to shower him in all of the kisses he deserves at a later date. how could he say no to that? — the night ended swell because him and charlie were hugging, babbling, in tears from the movie.

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who spoils lucifer with gifts whenever they can. he's usually the one rewarding others’ with gifts, so to be the one getting presents in return was surely something. it was always worth it in your eyes to see the man you love light up like a christmas tree just from the sight of a brand new tool set to craft his rubber ducks with. he appreciated it very much and couldn't express it enough!

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who makes a mixtape of earth's greatest 70's-80's hits. they were alive during the 90's/2000's and figured good ol’ luce would enjoy songs from two very phenomenal decades! he ends up really enjoying billy joel :).

♡ ⎬ soft! reader who makes a habit out of taking polaroid pictures of lucifer when he isn't paying attention. you keep a photo album of all of the pictures to give them to him on his not birthday! it's not only to build memories, but to show you love and appreciate every aspect of him. — when you do give it to him, he ends up staring at the pictures for a good five minutes before slowly standing up and hugging you. you're stuck with the king of hell clinging to you for the rest of the night, shoulder soaked in tears of thankfulness.

❥❥❥

I could add more but this is all I could think of for now 😅

[boombox-fuckboy]

Hi!

I have been following this blog for a while now and I love using it to find new podcasts. I was wondering, if you have time, what you think is the scariest podcast you've listened to or what your favorite horror podcasts might be? Thank you, and I hope you have a great day :)

I'm so glad to have helped you find new shows!

I don't really get scared by horror podcasts (not sure why. It isn't some "I'm tough" thing, I get startled by the toaster, and it's not like I never feel unsettled or concerned or icked out at podcasts, just not scared) so I'm not sure I can give you a good answer on that one, but I'll gladly give you ten of my personal favourites instead:

Alice Isn't Dead: The podcast that got me into podcasts. A truck driver travels the USA looking for her wife, who until recently, she had thought was dead. Along the way she has all manner of strange encounters, and sees a side to the world that few truely comprehend.

Archive 81: A young archivist takes a job at a remote outpost organising and digitising a collection of tapes. On the tapes is a series of interviews and investigations made by a social worker in the 90s as she becomes familiar with a bizzare apartment building. The archivist, naturally, has an increasingly bad time. Each season is part of the same story, but they're all a bit different.

Ghost Wax: Recorded interviews conducted by the last surviving necromancer, and various people who died under seemingly otherworldly circumstances.

Hello From The Hallowoods: Supernatural and cosmic horror. A powerful and dramatic entity visits your nightmares to relay stories of the people (to varying degrees of both human and alive) who inhabit the beautiful and deadly Hallowoods. What start off as individual stories quickly connect to a larger narrative.

Hi Nay: A supernatural horror following a young woman named Mari, who's babaylan (shaman) family background draws her into helping people with various horrific supernatural problems around Toronto. Formatted as phone calls to her mother telling her what's happened.

I Am In Eskew: Often-horrific stories from a man living in something that very much wishes to be a city, and a private investigator who was, in her words, hired to kill a ghost. Many people seem to agree this one is scary.

Janus Descending: A xenoarcheologist and a xenopaleontologist are sent to investigate and sample the ruins of a long-dead alien city, and discover more than they anticipated. The format for this one is really clever: you hear her audio logs first to last, and his last to first, and the story is all the more heartbreaking for it. I'd recommend listening to the supercut.

The Lost Cat Podcast: A man befriends strange entities, loses bits of himself and drinks an awful lot of wine while looking for his cat. Soft and cosmic horror.

The Moon Crown: The shortest on this list, but also one of the most fascinating. A disgraced scribe living in a city of humans, beasts, and other bizzare entities, begins to recount recent happenings, and actions she has a hard time explaining, on broadcast. But the people she's hoping to reach might not be the ones listening.

The Silt Verses: In a modern world where gods are plentiful, both illicit and commercialised, two disciples of an outlawed river god go on a pilgrimage.

Although, maybe some other listeners can help me out and share what scared them?

[weisscoldglare]

What if... Beauty and the Beast (the 90's Disney version) monochrome? But who would be the beast and who would be the beauty?

dunno if i can even do disney, but here's my take!

It'd be easy to say Weiss offended a witch lol

[shizuturnspages]

what if i don’t wanna bully yan ajaw? he’s so cute with his silly little ropeless bungee jumping he’s just a silly little fella like that mhm yup yup you can burn the world down you small dragon cutie 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Bullying that cute little fella is so fun, but alright. Let's have him do ropeless bungee jumping

Yandere Ajaw

❥ Ajaw lives for the thrill, and he’s not subtle about it. You’ll be minding your own business, maybe taking in the beautiful views of Teyvat, when bam—there he goes, swan-diving off the highest cliff in sight without a single warning. “Don’t worry!” he yells as he plummets. “Gravity’s optional!” You’ve given up on asking if he’s okay every time he lands, because no matter how many times he faceplants, he just pops right back up, grinning like a total maniac.

❥ Ajaw is your companion, and he takes that role very seriously. Need a moment to yourself? Tough luck. He’s right there, draping himself over your shoulders, asking you a million questions, poking around in your business with the curiosity of a hyperactive squirrel. You’re his contract, his partner-in-chaos, and he sees absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t be in your space every waking second. Hell, he’s probably poking at your lunch while asking if you think he should try “extreme lava surfing” next.

❥ Ajaw’s definition of “protecting” you is wild as hell. If you’re in danger, he’ll straight-up yeet himself from wherever he’s lurking, landing with zero grace right in front of you. Picture him bungee-jumping out of a tree with no rope, just absolute dedication and a total lack of self-preservation. He’ll pick himself up like nothing happened, throw a big goofy grin your way, and ask, “Need a hand?” as if he didn’t just nearly break every bone in his body.

❥ Ajaw’s got this unbreakable optimism, which would be cute if it didn’t keep getting you into trouble. Monsters? “We got this.” Terrifying heights? “Jump with me!” The dude’s energy is relentless, and somehow he thinks you’re just as reckless as he is. You have to practically tackle him to keep him from getting into trouble, and even then, he’ll just look at you with wide eyes and say, “But it’ll be fun!”

❥ Ajaw might be all chaos and unfiltered energy, but mess with you, and he’s suddenly a feral little beast. He’ll go from bouncing off cliffs to deadly serious, eyes darkening as he snarls, “No one touches what’s mine.” And then, just as quickly, he’ll snap back to his usual mischievous self, grinning ear to ear like he wasn’t just ready to murder someone on your behalf. Yeah, he’s cute as hell—but with a lethal edge.

❥ If anyone even thinks about getting close to you, Ajaw’s on them in seconds. He’ll show up out of nowhere, arms crossed, a cocky smirk on his face as he sizes them up. His jealousy isn’t threatening, though—he’ll just casually sit on your shoulder, squish himself against your cheek and dare anyone to challenge him, all while looking perfectly innocent. If they push their luck? He’ll probably challenge them to something ridiculous, like seeing who can jump off a ledge first (no ropes, obviously).

❥ Ajaw might be fearless, but he’s also a complete klutz. He’ll be in the middle of some dramatic speech when—bam—he trips over a rock. His ropeless bungee jumps? He forgets to check where he’s landing about 90% of the time. But hey, at least he laughs it off, shouting, “Again!” like a kid on his favorite amusement ride. Honestly, he’s lucky he’s cute, because half the time, you’re just trying to keep him from accidentally getting himself killed.

[princesssarisa]

I think I've noticed a slight trend in the evolution of feminist fairy tale retellings. In the '90s, 2000s, and earlier 20-teens, we had retellings which obviously had feminist themes, but weren't explicitly about "women's issues." The conflicts the heroines faced were relevant to feminism, but not exclusively caused by sexism. Yet more recent re-imaginings of the same stories have been much more explicitly (and a bit ham-fistedly) about battling sexism.

The movie Ever After is obviously a "feminist" Cinderella, with Danielle portrayed as a feisty and clever action heroine, and with a contrast between her tomboyish ways and the ladylike refinement of her stepmother and stepsisters. But the conflict Danielle faces revolves much more around social class than around gender.

Then there's Betsy Cornwell's 2015 YA novel Mechanica, a steampunk Cinderella where the heroine is an inventor. This is obviously a feminist retelling too, because Nick excels in a traditionally masculine field, because she uses her inventions to take herself to the ball without the need for a Fairy Godmother, and because she has a concrete goal of freeing herself from her stepfamily by opening her own shop. In this way, she's very much like the "girlboss Cinderella" of the 2021 Sony/Amazon musical. Yet if I remember correctly, her struggles have little to do with gender. She isn't blocked from achieving her business goal because she's a woman; the problem is simply that she's trapped in an abusive home with no money or resources of her own.

Yet the 2021 musical, with its Cinderella who similarly wants to go to the ball to find a patron and start her own business, makes the whole conflict ham-fistedly about sexism. To a slightly ridiculous degree, because this Cinderella isn't an inventor of mechanics, she's a dressmaker! Weren't most 19th century dressmaking shops run by women? Yet the entire conflict is framed as "Ella's goal of a career outside the home is frowned on because she's a woman."

Then there are the two screen versions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast: 1991 vs. 2017. In the original film, apart from Gaston's claim in passing that "It's not right for a woman to read!" Belle's misfit status is framed in a gender-neutral way. Her dreamy, adventurous spirit, of which her love of books is one aspect, sets her apart from the village's simple workaday culture. Of course there's a feminist element, since she wants more from life than what's expected of her and doesn't want to be the "little wife" of a man who doesn't respect her, but the villagers would still consider her odd if she were a man. Yet the 2017 remake had to explicitly add gender issues. Here, the villagers disapprove of women being educated; only boys go to school, Belle's neighbors dislike the fact that she even knows how to read, and they bully her for teaching a little girl to read too.

It's just a little trend I've noticed.

[diegothemenace]

(source — behind a paywall but using the reader format in Firefox worked for me… I will include terrible auto-translate behind the cut for anyone interested with apologies for any errors)

Diego Luna has high expectations for the new government that will be headed by Claudia Sheinbaum starting next October, as she is the first woman president of Mexico, but he also knows that as a society there is a lot to rethink.

The actor of "Y tu mamá también" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is at the International Film Festival that takes place in this city, where he will not only receive a tribute tonight, but also presented the documentary Estado de silencio, which he produces and which deals with the violence suffered by Mexican journalists.

"(The first woman president) We do not owe it to any political party, that is a fact to celebrate and I do find it very exciting to be living it, I am very grateful that I have to live it. That excites me and I also have a lot of expectations to see what is going to happen, because I think we are living in very complicated times, a little bit of the interest of that reflection is reflected in State of Silence," says Luna.

"I think that the violence, the impunity that the journalistic profession experiences and the total absence of justice is a clear example on a scale of something that happens in this country," he adds.

But he points out that he always has hope for the future, something that reaffirmed the public's response to the documentary, which contains the experiences of journalist María de Jesús Peters, EL UNIVERSAL's correspondent in Chiapas, as well as other journalists who face similar risks.

"When things happen to me like the ones that happened to me yesterday after the presentation of the documentary, I do wake up with hope, it is nice to see when people connect and when they care about the other and manifest it, yesterday that meeting was beautiful and those expressions, moments, give me illusion and hope," he stresses.

Recently, Luna finished the last season of the series Andor, the prequel to Rogue One, where it was directed, among others, by the Mexican Alonso Ruizpalacios, with the cinema photograph of Damián García.

"I'm grateful for the format that let me enjoy it until the end, I've never done television for more than two seasons and I, as I'm old and I like cinema more than anything, I live it as long movies (laughs) or eight short independents, it's not something that has been carrying for years," he says.

He indicates that the installment ends where the film, released in 2016, begins, when his character is the one who helps steal the plans of the Death Star, the central theme of Episode IV.

" (Cassian) A lot has to happen to him to throw that mission and for someone to give it to him, he still has a lot to prove," he says briefly.

What he's also happy about is the new version of The Kiss of the Spider Woman, in which he plays a political prisoner who shares a cell with a gay man in the 1980s.

Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast and Mr. Holmes) is the director, with a cast that includes Jennifer Lopez. "We shot a piece in New York and a piece in Montevideo. It's basically a tribute to the musical work that was done on Broadway in the early '90s."

Today, the actor will be honored. And if some like the late Jorge Fons (Red Dawn) said that he didn't like these ceremonies because he seemed to be being fired, Luna sees it differently.

"I've had to live long enough to know that no, that I can take away that fear, these days have been beautiful, a reminder that I'm part of a community."

[olderthannetfic]

About the "European" fairytale thing, non-white cultural stories, and "Eurocentrism." To start off, keep in mind that I mean the specific story that's told, NOT the visuals. So if you took the stories themselves, wrote them down as a book with no pictures. LONG SUBMISSION

I honestly feel like it's a bit weird to claim that the Disney movies are "Eurocentric" because none of the stories have anything to do with the actual European version of the fairytales. If they hadn't been specifically drawn to look like that, and you only had a written version by Disney, you could probably argue they're just a bastardisation of any culture where a version of them exists.

If you know the "real" fairytales from Europe, they've got almost nothing to do with what Disney made. You could take any cultural equivalent to a Disney movie and claim it's a "clean washed" and American values version of it, and it "just so happens" they chose a Pseudo European aesthetic, and not even that well. <- That last part is my opinion.

I think Cinderella was used as an example of a story that has an equivalent in Vietnamese culture, the fairytale of Tam and Cam. You could take the Disney version basically the exact way it's written, and put a different coat of paint on it, and it's be just as accurate to any other cultural version: Not accurate at all. There are several versions of the Cinderella story in Europe alone, the German one is different from the French one, and none of them are like the Disney version. In one of the version I've read the gifts and dresses come from a tree from the mother's grave, and at the evil stepsisters cut their feet to fit in the shoe, which the doves tell the prince.

Beauty and the beast is the same. The Disney version isn't the "European" version, it's vaguely based on a fairy tale that also exists across a few countries. If we go European, there's version with a singing tree, a version with a singing bird, there's also a Scandinavian story where a girl is forced to marry a bear, who turns into a human at night. But there are also stories of the same make in Asia and Africa.

It's also one of the reasons I'm both annoyed with both sides bitching about the Disney remakes. On one side, these movies aren't even the "European" fairytales, they've always been a completely American versions of a story that they vaguely took inspiration from the European versions but basically removed 80-90% of the actual European key elements, where the base story also exists in other cultures. With a pseudo historical European aesthetic, which was heavily based on the "current trends" of the years they were made in, example Snow Whites being based on the late 1930's fashion, same with Aladdin, Jasmine being based on the 90's. These aren't "White European" fairytales, they're "Western American" fairytales. If you actually wanted a real European fairy tales, you could just check out European productions or even the books. The other side, who're constantly saying that its a win for diversity or that it "makes the most sense for visibility" or how it's a win for POC fairytales: The remakes still heavily feature some of the pseudo European inspirations, and it's still a shit cash grab. It wouldn't take Disney much extra work if they actually just straight up adapted the story with a different aesthetic since they already don't give a shit about accuracy. You could literally still keep the Western American story they wrote, but could use setting that pseudo African, Asian, LatAm or whatever to tell the story, which are more catered to American born people. (Not like the piss poor 2020 Mulan, at least the 98 seemed passionate and wanting to tell a good story despite being inaccurate. Kinda like all their old movies, inaccurate but at least passionate abt it.) Making shitty poorly redone live action movies isn't a step in the direction for diversity, it's a step in the "Let's throw POC actors to the wolves, and put them in movies doomed to fail." There are thousand options. It also comes across cheap because you're basically boiling down POC, especially American POC entertainment to "rotten leftovers from much more popular white lead fairy tale movies." Great, the first forage for people into big production "POC in fairy tales" are low value Disney trash, with the constant visual reminder that they have to attach themselves to "European" stories. <- Even if it's pseudo European, most people don't know that and will just view it as "European" period.

--

If we want to talk about cultures dominating so much that they warp the entire framework of how we think...

What is a "fairy tale"?

Why does this exist as a category?

--

One of the problems people run into when they try to be more inclusive in this sphere is that while every place has folktales, and many of those do have animal husbands or other common elements that are found in the core "fairy tales" the West knows, they don't have a specific category of tale with the same boundaries.

I honestly think a big part of the reason for rehashing the same tiny core of tales is that it's hard to define what a new entry into the canon would have to look like.

If it's basically a Beauty and the Beast variant, okay, but what if it isn't? And even if it does have some animal husband aspects, what if the actual point of the story in its original context is completely different.

Very quickly, one ends up at that Joseph Campbell place of thinking everything is a Jesus metaphor and all mythologies are basically the same.

[arickaandherfictionalothers]

I’d fight anyone for you

(Aricka x Ricky)

(After Ricky gets upset when someone insults him, Aricka comforts her best friend.)

(Best friend shoutout to Dori aka @yeehawselfshipping for being so amazing as always, for helping with Ricky’s dialogue and making me a gif just for this fic! You mean the world to me, I’m so blessed to know you.)

Aricka helped Ricky sit down, braced her hands on his arms. The night went from great to terrible in the time it takes to take a breath. Ricky was called something that hurt him. Resulting in him losing his temper and- well- accidentally beheading someone. But it wasn’t on purpose. He didn’t expect it to happen. And now they were dealing with the fallout.

“Ricky he was lying, just breathe, it’s okay. It’s me; it’s Aricka; just calm down, honey. It’s okay.” She soothes, rubbing her arms up and down his shoulders.

But Ricky wasn’t hearing it.

"IT'S NOT OKAY!" Ricky yells. He tries to steady his breathing, but he's too worked up at the moment, "He wasn't lying! I mean, LOOK AT ME!"

“Ricky he doesn’t MATTER-!” She exclaimed. “To the people who love you IT DOES NOT MATTER what you look like. I’ve told you that.” She grips his hands. “I keep telling you that. To me, you are perfect. I could care less what you look like. I’m more interested in your health, if you’re safe if you’re happy, not if you look like you stepped off the cover of a model magazine.” He was still struggling to grasp his control, but she kept speaking, “What if our roles were reversed? Hm? What if it was me in your place. Would you- would you let them treat me like they’re treating you? That’s why I’m upset. He called you something false and you’re upset about it and I can’t do ANYTHING about it. You need to take a step back and BREATHE, Ricky.” She touches his face, wiping some of the goo from his eyes. It stuck to her hands but she could care less.

Ricky tries to do as Aricka says. He takes longer, albeit shaky breaths. As his anger starts to fade, tears begin to well up in his eyes. He buries his face in his hands, falling to his knees. His breaths turning into sobs.

Aricka’s hands clench into fists briefly before wrapping her arms around him, sinking to her knees to hold him better. “It’s okay,” she whispered. The heat gone from her voice. “You’ve been put through something terrible and everything is upside down and I’m so sorry. I wish it was me in your place. You didn’t mean anything, I know you didn’t. I’m on your side Ricky. I’d fight anyone for you. Just take a minute and breath. It’s okay.”

Ricky rests his head on her shoulder, letting more tears fall before he speaks up again, "As much as I hate this," he takes a shaky breath before he can continue, "I'm glad it happened to me and not you. I don't know what I would've done if Elijah turned you into a freak instead."

“You’d have fought to protect me like I am right now-,” she whispered, her hand in his hair, the other wrapped around his middle. “Cause it’s us. And we fight for each other. You’re my dearest friend Ricky, and I hate seeing you so upset. I wish I was any closer to finding an antidote.” She felt a sense of loathing as she realized the longer Ricky was like this the more despondent they both felt.

Aricka was about five minutes away from marching right up to Elijah and giving him a piece of her mind. Consequences be screwed. “Ricky..” she whispered. Unsure of what else to say. “We can’t give up.”

"I know," he sighs, "I know."

“… so what now?”

"I'm not sure. Guess we keep trying to figure out how to make an antidote? We can go back to the shed, talk with the others, and see if we can come up with anything."

“Okay.” She nods. Hugs him one more time. “I’m going to fix this. I keep my promises. It’s going to all be over soon.”

“I know you will.”

“Okay then. Let’s go find the others and get some sleep. You look exhausted- you need to sleep.”

"I am exhausted," he gives a weak chuckle, "After, y'know... what just happened."

“So we talk, we plan; I leave, you sleep. Four things.. simple enough. We can’t risk Elijah finding me this late in the game.”

Ricky sighs, "Okay."

“I’ll be here first thing in the morning. With a trial of my antidote.”

"Alright. And be careful working with that stuff, okay? I don't want anything happening to you while you're trying to save us."

“I always wear my protective gear. I’m safe. I’m even wearing safety goggles OVER my glasses.”

"That's good to hear."

“You’re worth the slight fuzziness the giggles give my vision.”

They share a laugh- the best sound she’d heard all day; Ricky laughing after what he just went through- and she helps him stand. “I’m here. Always.”

“I know you are. And believe me, you make this situation a lot easier to handle than if you weren’t here.” She takes his hand- the left hand- and they make their way to the freak house, where the others were waiting. They talk for a while; and soon Ortiz and Ricky were sneaking her out of the house to her car, making sure she was safe from prying eyes, then heading back for the night.

Tomorrow would be a day of challenges. They would need all the sleep they could get.

~~~~~~

@astralshipper @rosieshipper @hyperionshipping @letsgofoletsgo @tsundere-selfship @callsign-revenge

[smokeys-house]

Normally I wouldn't address something this trivial but it's a take I keep seeing pop up in the moomin fandom by non moomin fans and it's annoying me. I don't even ship snufmin but periodic reminder that

1. Snufkin and moomin are around the same age. This confusion pops up a lot since the English VA for the 90s series is John Chancer and moomintroll's VA sounds like a child, but no explicit ages are ever given to any of the characters for the intention of whimsy and easy of story telling. This is intentional. The gap between their ages has always been that the children are younger than the "adult" characters, and old enough for whatever adventure is planned for them, and that Moomintroll and snufkin are close enough in age to share a room. Any idea that one is older than the other at all would be speculative at best and fanon at worst.

2. Snufkin is not a human, and a relationship between two fantasy species does not at all mirror the very real crime of animal abuse (I can't believe I have to say that, did you people have a problem with beauty and the beast, too? Lmao)

3. Snufkin was made to resemble or mirror Tove's at the time partner Atos Wirtanen, and Moomintroll represented herself at the time as well. She's said as much in interviews. While this doesn't mean "O: snufmin canon!" It also means you cannot discredit the fact that their dynamic was predicated on an existing romantic relationship.

4. Whether you ship it or not or even find the ship annoying, you can't discredit facts. You're allowed to just not like something. But I'd also remind you that nobody wants to hear about how much you hate what they like. Live and let live, there is 0 harm occurring in either circumstance regarding this situation. It is simply not that serious

5. This is specifically addressed to the person who annoyed me who I blocked but the English translations really do not lose or gain much compared to the original versions. The stories don't change just because it's in another language. I'm sorry you hate that a beloved series of stories was adapted to animation and translated so that the world could love these stories, too, but part of cherishing something is not squeezing it so tight that you crush it. You simply must face that people are going to enjoy things differently to you. It is not blasphemy. The moomins are not some sacred holy text, you can literally buy chewing gum with moomins face on it lmao

Like I said I don't really ship it. I don't see it. But it's not something I'm going to bother others about and dwell on. It's not out of character. There's no real reason for you to bash so hard on it outside of just generally disliking it. There's not a moral high ground to take with it, unless you just hate gay people I guess lol I get that the infatuation with snufmin and the way some folks strip them down to barebones just to have an mlm ship can suck, but that's literally all fan content. Any fandom has this. Relaaaaxxxxx

[freezing-kaiju]

THE BIG POLL, ROUND ZERO, REPLACE BLADE BRAVE!!!!!

Beautiful show it is, Kamen Rider Blade must come to an end soon. I will cry. But the world must move on.

And I decided to make this one an anime poll, since some of the legacy options from the very first poll ended up being much longer than the rest. SO! This is all shows between 20-50 episodes, around the same length as a Rider show!

You must choose at least one; if u want more, leave it in the comments or tags or replies pls and i'll count your additional votes at the end!

Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple - A young detective related to famous detective Miss Marple joins other famous detective Hercule Poirot as his assistant and learns from these two legendry mentors to solve murders. I love detective shows but I'm not too familiar with Poirot and Miss Marple so maybe the show could serve as an introduction to them. It seems cozy but compelling! The lead writer worked on a bunch of the big popular serieses (Pokemon Sun & Moon, Fairy Tail, Death Note, and Anpanman). This one's a legacy inclusion!

Blue Gender - A man from the modern day with a strange illness goes into cryosleep and wakes up in a destroed earth where mechs and aliens fight and there is a cool tall woman who has a mech. It has gore, mechs which I do need to see more of, but it's a military series. Space's also listed in the genre stuff which...is that a spoiler, do they go to space? 26 episodes, so it's on the longer side, less diligence may apply. This one's a legacy inclusion!

Dirty Pair - 80s anime, two Hotted Boobhaving space agents fight and bicker their way through the galaxy in a distinctly 'two bi women constantly getting divorced' vibe. I don't remember if this one is a legacy inclusion, but it's a famous show!

Scrapped Princess - Fantasy setting, A local white girl doomed to destroy the world and her adoptive siblings travel the world to avoid her devastating fate. also... There's mechs?? Wikipedia tells me it’s a lighthearted but mournful show that uses Clarke’s third law to bridge the gap between scifi and high fantasy. This one was handpicked by a dear friend!

Texhnolyze - by the creators of Serial Experiments Lain, it’s a show that seems similarly angsty and cerebral but much grimier. A boxer gets dismembered, cyborgized, and possibly radicalized deep in the bowels of a city that never sees the sun. ALSO GACKT IS THERE?

R.O.D. READ OR DIE -THE TV- - a potentially jojoish, gay little show about a novelist with a heady mix of hubris and self-loathing and three bibliophile sisters with Paper Abilities fighting various goons and also Britain. It seems like a romp!

Captain Earth - In the vein of Super Sentai (sadly without the precious masks), a color coded group of teens that seems to include a Yaoibait Kaworu fight aliens on behalf of NASA, with a robot that has a REALLY big hat. Supposedly it’s got a lot of intellectual depth!

RahXephon - the second name on everyone’s lips when someone says Evangelion Rip-off, after Darling in the Franxx. Mechs that are blatantly angels, a JSDF, and blue-blooded men in black. I tried a bit, and it’s got a great capture of humanity in times of crisis and such a beautifully 2000s aesthetic.

Devilman Lady - what if you were Devilman and a Lady??? What if there was a blond woman and you were a beast and there was all this blood and violence. Psychological, grungy, and gorgeously 90s. And it's a yuri!!!

Chrno Crusade - Cisgender Bridget and a devilboy (no relation to devilman or devilmanlady) do exorcisms for an order of nuns in 1929 New Yawk Citay. It's a het romance, full of bumbling and comedy and period era ghostbustiness. Also for some reason in a lot of the art (like this one) Chrno is whitewashed?

ITS NOT LETTING ME PUT AN ELEVENTH VIDEO TAKE THIS AND SOME POSTERS

A Precure - I've seen Kamen Riders, Super Sentais, an Ultraman, but I've not seen the sister show to them all; Pretty Cure! SO clearly I need to, and if this one doesn't win it'll flood the poll to replace Ryuki. These options are suggestions; might be others.

[original image sources: agatha's is from the op but can be found screencapped here, gender, dirty, scrapped, texhnolyze, die, earth, rahxephon, lady, crusade (official magazine art findable here), pre tty cure (official posters findable in those places). i replaced them with trailers tho lol. but check the ones that are oroginal anime wallpapers out theyre very nice]

[maddie-sama]

So, in a lot of Alutegra fanfics, Alucard is typically, 90% of the time, getting Integra flustered. However I want to take a little different approach, and say, I love the idea of Integra getting flustered at first, but slowly starts to play his games, and plays waaay better than he does. Putting him back in his place, where he belongs, so she is the true beast, and he is the beauty.

I just want to know if anyone had any these to add.

[kayleighjennifer]

Celebration (Claudia Piña x reader)

⚠️smut⚠️

You did it. You’ve finally won the champions league again. The crowd is on fire, everyone happy that barcelona got the trophy. Right now you’re just taking everything in, the amazing atmosphere and the proud feeling.

Both you and your girlfriend, Claudia scored the winning goals.

“Y/n, we did it! I’m so proud of you” Claudia jumps on your back, clutching onto your jersey. “Yes, you were amazing on the field” You smile up to her and bite your lips while remembering how hot Claudia looked and still looks.

“Oh yeah? When we’re home, I promise that we will celebrate properly” She smirks down at you. Before you can say anything, Jana and Bruna approach you, also congratulating both goals. Claudia, Jana, Bruna and you all grew up together, from the Barcelona academy to the B team and to now.

“Y/n, claudia, Jana, Bruna, are y’all in tonight? We’re going out and celebrate” Mapi asks and Claudia gets off your back, sliding her arm around your waist.

“Y/n and I will stay in, but thanks for the offer” Claudia smiles and you blush, knowing that the other catch on your plan. “Ew, use protection” Bruna groans out and waves goodbye, already going to the changing rooms.

“Alright then, but you know that you can fuck after the club right? Ingrid and me will do it” Mapi winks at you, making you hiding your face into your girlfriends neck. “Mhm, but I’ve been waiting since days, so we’ll pass on”.

Your teammates were shocked at first when they found out that Claudia was the top in your relationship. While Claudia was a real beast on the field, you were more of a jealous and more dominant person outside the bedroom.

Mapi and Claudia talk about something for a bit and you’re zooming out, hugging Claudia and still looking around. Camp Nou was sold out again and everywhere were barca jerseys, flags and merch in general. You already have signed more jerseys with your name on than ever before.

A kiss on your neck disturbs your daydreaming, “Ready to go home?” Claudia asks and pushes you even closer to her. “Yeah, but look around. It’s magical, so so many people are here just to see us”.

Your girlfriend nods but keeps her eyes on you. You’re absolutely glowing and even thought you’ve just played whole 90 minutes, Claudia was sure that you’re looking amazing and she was even more sure to show it when you get home.

You grab Claudia’s hand and lead her inside the changing room. Right now you don’t care that people would spread rumours about you and Claudia or make edits of you. You were just happy and grateful of being able to experience it after last year.

Both of you quickly change and say your goodbyes, being not able to wait any longer. Claudia gets into the drivers seat as always and puts her hand on your tight where she’s tracing forms and making you even more aroused than you’re already are.

After one of the longest 30 minutes you’ve ever experienced you finally arrive home. When you get through the door, Claudia has you directly pinned against the wall, harshly connecting your lips. You moan into the kiss and your hands find Claudia’s waist, guiding her closer to you. “I love you so much amore” You breathe out against your girlfriends lips.

She smiles and looks into your eyes. “I love you too, I want to spend my whole life with you”. You blush and connect your lips again, letting her guide you into your bedroom. There she pushes you on the bed and straddles you waist.

“You’re the prettiest human I’ve ever seen and sometimes I still can’t believe that you’re mine” She smirks at you and removes your shirt. Before you can say anything, her lips find your weak spot and suck a dark hickey on it, making you moan out.

“Look how beautiful you look with my mark. You’re mine and everyone should know it”. Claudia’s beautiful blue eyes are dark by now and full of lust. “Then tell the world that I’m yours and you’re mine, I’m ready” You smirk at her and roam your hands over her hips.

“Oh yeah? But let me first fuck you, so that you can’t walk tomorrow” You nod eagerly. Claudia kisses your whole torso, sometimes deciding that a hickey would look perfect there and sometimes just leaving a wet kiss there. Your whole body feels like it’s on fire and every inch arches to be touched by Claudia.

“Please Claudia, I need you so much cariño” You whine and she smirks, loving the way the can make you feel.

She starts to massage your breast, making you moan again. “You know, when I scored that goal, all I could think about was you. I wanted to kiss you so badly” You blush at your girlfriend’s words and kiss her. “Oh yeah? It looked so hot. I wouldn’t have mind a kiss and you know, I honestly just scored for you”.

“Mhm I know, you’re doing everything for me, but I think we both know that I’m doing everything for you too, so it’s fine right”. Claudia’s lips find your breast and you just let out a shaky breath.

Her cold hands roam over you body, into your pants and underwear. “You’re already so wet and needy, just for me”. You nod quickly and try to grind onto her hand.

“Uh Uh uh, not so fast my dear. I bought a present for you cause I knew you’d score”. Claudia gets up again and walks to the closet.

“Close your eyes baby girl, it’s a surprise”. You do as you’re told and hear how Claudia undress herself and opens the closet. She pulls something out. She sits onto your hips again and you can feel some fabric against your stomach.

“Keep your eyes closed. Just trust me and tell me when it’s too much okay? Can you remember our safe word?” Her hands roam over your tummy and breast, pinching your nipples. “Hmh, it’s chocolate”. You moan out and your back is already arching off the bed.

“Good girl”. Claudia moves off you and inserts a finger into your pussy, making you moan loudly again. “Oh fuck, it feels so good”. Your girlfriend starts fingering you, making you ramble random words.

“Another one please”. You beg, needing more. If you wouldn’t be that turned on, you’d be confused as why Claudia would directly add another finger since she loves to tease you, but right now you’re too desperate to feel anything besides her body.

“Good girl, taking me that well, I’ll add another one, alright?” You nod happily, your body feeling amazing under her touch.

“I’m coming in a bit”. You moan out and arch your back again. Claudia looks at you adoringly. Your moans are music to her eyes, making her pussy drip.

When you’re nearly coming she removes her fingers from you. “What are you- ah fuck” You’re not able to finish your sentence due to Claudia pushing the strab on into your tight pussy.

“Relax cariño, you’re doing so good. Will you be my good girl and take my cock?” Claudia smirks at you and starts to leave kisses all over you again.

“Yes, I will be. I’ll do everything you ask me to”. You connect your lips with hers and she starts to thrust into you, holding your hips in a bruising grip.

“It feels so good Claudia”. By now Claudia is a moaning mess as well, the fabric of the strab on rubbing onto her clit with every thrust.

“Oh yeah? Do I make you feel that good?” You nod and put your legs around her waist, pulling her even deeper into you. “You’re the only one who’s able to make me feel so good”, You praise her.

“Good, I want you to come so hard for me amore, show me how good I make you feel”. She starts to rub your clit when she feels herself getting close.

With one harsh thrust, she pushes you off the cliff, coming shortly after you. “Thank you Claudia, it was so amazing”. She removes the strab on and is softly kissing your hips where she left some bruises from her firm grip.

“No problem amore, I love you so much. Do you still want to make us public?” She asks you and you cuddle into Claudia. “Yes, only if you want to. But I am definitely ready. I mean you were my first kiss, my first time and my first and last love”. She blushes at your words and kisses your lips again. “Alright, then let’s make a post.”

You choose two pics for your post, one when you and claudia were 17, holding a trophy and Claudia kissing your cheek and one from last week. It’s a mirror selfie of you kissing each other. You caption it with “sharing first crush, first kiss, first love, first time and first champion league trophy, love you @claudiapina”.

Claudia decided for a picture of you at the beach, where you’re sitting on her lap and you’re kissing each other again. Her caption is “always my first @y/n”.

[tokuxsenshi]

Sentai Body Swap Episodes rank

Okay so I finally done I watched all the body swap episodes. My favorite trope in all media so im an expert so this is the true ranking of them anyone else opinon is WRONG. (Also sorry so bad at words)

King-Ohger Episode 28. Shuffle kings

this THIS RIGHT HERE is a MASTER PIECE OF BODY SWAP EPISODES full team no voice swaps and FULL of chaos. I love everything about it. I love that Gira Jeremy Hymeno and Kaguragi learned a lesson and Yanma and Rita just want to kill eachother. 100/10 episode ART in its purist form.

2. GOGO V Episode 37. The Beauty is a Saima Beast!?

I'm honestly very surprised that I loved this episode as much as I do like I don't even remember it from watching Gogo I remember the season being very serious but honestly forgot how funny it could be. I love that this monster didnt even plan to do body swap and him going on the marriage interveiw and acting all weird but the fact he did that in Tsugumi body and the parents didnt react make me think shes just like that normally. Tsugumi is such a girl boss as well true QUEEN. 10/10 episode

3. Magiranger Episode 39. Inverse Brother and Sister and Episode 40. The Gorgon's Garden

Honestly though this was gonna be my number 1 when I started this episode was one my favorites when I watched Magiranger (despite forgoring its a 2 parter) though RIP to Houka 15 man harem. And Kai sick burning his sister. this some great mid 2000s sentai. though it being a 2 parter kinda un imporant it could been done in one so the episode be counted as 1 and together their a 10/10

4. Gokaiger Episode 27. An Unusual Gokai Change.

This another one I forgor but its a great episode and choosing Doc an Luca for it was perfect. some great sentai body swap shannies in it with doc running around from guys who think want to attack luka and being scared to hurt her body pure boi. 10/10 love Gokai so much

5. Go-Onger Episode 12. Sosuke Banki!?

I just love Go on its one my favorite seasons and this episode some the best of how wacky this season is. even with a voice swap I actually genially love this episode. and the fact the monster couldnt even spend 10 mintunes with the team because their just to insane that they couldnt even tell that Sosuke was switched. only one bad thing its set before miu so for no miu I have to give it - 100 points so its a -90/10

6. Abaranger Episode 27. AbaRed is AbareBlue

Another favorite season and this episode is not a low point honestly love that most of it just Yukito trying to be a dad and failing like dont let this man take care of kids again. like I think the only thing that bring this episode down is the voice swap again. 10/10 episode

7. Lupat Episode 16.Because You're A Friend

Another BANGER. Choosing Touma to be the body swap for this as AMAZING dont think the comedy could been better with anyone else. and the fact the Patoranger saw the monster in Touma body and basically though he some kind of play boy peek comedy. and the way they trick the monster to switch back really good. 10/10

8.Zenkaiger Episode 32. kai! Sakasama Gets Angry! Is That a Monkey?

I want to start with that the sub I watched the name the epiosde was freaky friday or is it monkey monday and like THAT WHAT IT SHOULD BE! this episode pretty alright I like Kaito running around Tojitendo Palace and completely failing at pretending to be stacy loud boy in quite boy body peek comedy. also love we get t see Flint do the Twokaizer dance even if its a body swap. 10/10 Episode

9. Dekaranger Episode 19. Fake Blue

Alright this where my real opinion shine. I LOVE Dekarangr its one my top 10 seasons BUT this episode where it was good... WAS SO BORING compared to what I was watching like I like the epiosde but for what I was making thi slist for its just not that good. 6/10

10. Toqger Episode. 21. The Runaway Bride

Another season I love but this episode so MEH. like honestly this did not have to have the boys body swap it just seemed really unessary and didnt really effect anything. The Gritta stuff was really sweet though I always felt bad for her in the show she deserved better. 5/10

11. Kyoryuger Episode 37. Revenge! The Ghost Deboth Army

Honestly this episode so boring I could barely pay attention like this one 100% did NOT need to be a body swap epiosode like did that even effect anything. 4/10

12. Fiveman Episode 36. Super Twin Strategy

I wont really reveiw this one like I did watch it and its alright but I've never seen Fiveman so I feel like maybe when I do eventually watch it i'll have an actual opinon ?/10

13. Kiramager Episode 19. Partner

I'll start with saying the Juru and Fire stuff this episode ADORABLE I love that... but I CAN NEVER purely enjoy this episode because MACH IN IT IS FUCKING DIGUSTING. like the fact whoever wrote this thogh that was comedy A SHAME makes sense the same guy who wrote episode 11 of Lupat the worse epiosde of ANY sentai I hate this episode it makes me so uncomfortable even thinkig about it. fuck mach. -1000000000000000000000000000/10

an now here at the end I'll talk about my FAVORITE swap episode and episode in general that I just couldnt rank with this since I dont 100% think it counts but I love it so we talking about it.

Shinkenger Episode 27, Switched Lives

I LOVE this episode its so funny and crazy. like taking the switch body trope but with furniture is so good. and the fact Genta turned into sushi and was almost eaten actually turned into an epiosde where he couldnt morph because he was to scared is so funny. and also Ryuunosuke the show punching bag of course gotta turn into little piss baby statue since thats what he is. this episode just great like honestly this one I feel like you can watch without even seeing the rest of shinkenger (Though why would you its the BEST SEASON) and the fact its a Chaiki and Kotaha episode just makes it even better. 10000000000000/10