#aaron´s shenanigans

[aaronofithaca05]

If you see changes in the blog composition or colour, don´t worry!

i´m making sure everything stays cohesive >:D

This is the colour pallette I´m aiming for:

As for anyone that has talked with me I love the sea to an obsessive level and I want this blog to reflect that so I´m going with my altered nautical theme, where I´m from the nautical palette is: black, white, blue and red, but as I want a more playful one i choose a blue closer to the blue of the Mediterranean and the red I changed towards orange and the intermediary cream (as yellow is to strong).

Though green in one of my favourites colours is way to difficult to pair with this palette.

In 10 min all send a screenshot of the blog!

the blog in green (where the archive is) will still be the same as I adore that image. (or maybe I´ll tweak the colours, who knows?)

[thornilee013]

Silly Little Jean Moreau Fic

"Formally" known as Suncatchers and Golden Hours on Archive of Our Own. After ten long years of living under the Moriyamas, Jean Moreau is free. Unfortunately, this also means that he has to adjust to life outside the Nest and reacquaint himself with independence, dreams, sunlight, and trust. But this time he won’t be alone. Chapters: 6/? Link to the full fic

Snippets: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17] 18, 19, 20, 21, [22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 (+more incoming)]

Why you should read it: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

ARTS: moodboard1 moodboard2

[multi-fandom-imagine]

Are they on the Naughty List? Or have they’ve been good all year?Well that’s for you to decide.

Start:November 12

End: December 31

«timeline»

◇ day 1-7: {Nov 12-18}

Day 1: Luis Sera - Ice Skating

Day 2: Carlos Oliveira - “I can’t believe you did that to Santa…”

Day3: Raiden - “I made you some hot cocoa.”

Day 4: Peter Parker - we were going to a Christmas party but fuck if you don’t just look sinful in red, and you know what? Fuck that Christmas party || Insomniac Peter ||

Day5:Goro Takemura- Dancing In The Snow

Day 6:Johhny Cage-Sucking on a Candy Cane

Day 7: Peter Quill- “are you really playing christmas music already? it’s barely november”

◇ day 8-14: {Nov 19-25}

Day 8:Gale Dekarios-Watching the snowfall from inside a cosy house

Day 9:Sam Drake-“Carmel apples, leaves falling down. What could better then November?” “I don’t know maybe fucking June?”

Day 10:Peter Parker -we got a little too carried away with the Christmas lights, and now suddenly my hands are bound with the lights and oh my god are we about to have sex? || Insomniac Peter ||

Day 11:Nathan Drake- it’s holiday dinner with your family, and oh Jesus where are your hands going?

Day 12:Peter Parker-“Do you need help hanging up the Christmas lights?” || MCU verse ||

Day 13: Peter Parker-“HAPPY NOVEMBER!” “No one wishes anyone a happy November.” “Well I just did.”|| MCU verse ||

Day 14:Tadashi Hamada-one lending the other their scarf to keep them warm.

◇ day 15-21 {Nov 26-Dec 2}

Day 15:Jacob Seed-Handing their S/O a positive pregnancy test with a sprig of holly and a note reading ‘Merry Christmas’

Day 16:Spencer Reid-Baking holiday cookies.

Day 17:Alejandro Vargas-Reader wearing nothing but a Santa hat

Day 18:Loki-A naughty sleigh ride || Exhibitionism sex ||

Day 19:Alex Casey-Build A snowman.

Day 20:Chris Redfield-“Let’s do something that puts us on the naughty list.”

Day 21:Mike Schmidt-Santa Baby: reader has decided to dress as Mrs. Claus for a little more “adult” Christmas fun. Oh boy!

◇ day 22-28 {Dec 3 -9}

Day 22:Matt Murdock-I picked you for secret Santa but I wrapped the wrong box so now I’ve given you a very festive sex toy, and oh my god this is so embarrassing

Day 23:Halsin-“Breasts/thighs are my favorite part to nibble on.”

Day 24:Miguel O’Hara-“You know, tying the legs together keeps everything moist.”

Day 25:Ethan Winters-Christmas Morning.

Day 26: Johnny ‘Soap’ McTavish-Hanging Stockings.

Day 27:Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley-“The turkey’s not the only thing getting stuffed today.”

Day 28:Modern!Mizu-“Save some of that whipped cream for later.”*soon*

◇ day 29- 35 {Dec 10-16}

Day 29:Bigby Wolf-“You look even more beautiful covered in snow.”

Day 30:Harry Osborn-Christmas shenanigans under the tree, if you know what I mean

Day 31:Ethan Winters-“I’ll be content if you are the one stuffing my stocking.”

Day 32:Mike Schmidt-“Go on, open it.”

Day 33:Wyll Ravengard-“Did you decorate the tree without me? I can’t believe this!”

Day 34: Bruno Madrigal-Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe.

Day 35:Jordan Li-“Excuse me—where is my Christmas kiss?”

◇ day 36-42 {Dec 17-23}

Day 36:Mike Schmidt-"Why are there so many mistletoe?"

Day 37:Gojo“I’d like to be one of the unhealthy things you put inside your body this weekend.”*Soon*

Day 38:Luis Sera-“Alright, mister. I know you’re the one who keeps hanging up mistletoe everywhere."

Day 39:Chris Redfield-“Thanksgiving is for giving thanks” “And for body slamming each other during the family football match!”

Day 40:Aaron Hotchner-The scent of real Christmas trees

Day 41: Derek Morgan -“I’m going to have you stuffed better than the turkey by the end of the night.”

Day 42:Victor "Sully" Sullivan-“I’m not much of a cook, but I’m good at glazing.”

◇ day 43-50 {Dec 24-31}

Day 43:Leon S. Kennedy-Cabin Sex { Christmas Eve sex }

Day 44: Billy Butcher-“Merry Christmas, motherfuckers!”

Day 45: Bucky Barnes-“Did you spike the eggnog again?”

Day 46: Spencer Ried-“Will you make a gingerbread house with me?”

Day 47: Clint Barton- “It’s Snowing”

Day 48: Joel-Peppermint-flavoured everything

Day 49:Mizu-Snow/temperature play

Day 50:Johnny Cage-“It’s time for hand turkey’s everyone.” “FUCK YES YES!”

[controlban]

art by @harlequinides

i lichrally thought abt this while watching the movie!!!

ok get this:

someone pls write something with any of the atsv characters with an s/o that is a character foil with the spot!!! they have the same powers (but think of their powers more like jobu tupaki), but the s/o is a good person and understands the weight of their powers. but they, in some part, sympathize with the spot bc his life can never return to normal, and they understand the the almost crushing weight of being everywhere, all at once. (wink) however, what the spot is doing is going to wreak havoc on the universe, so the s/o is on a mission to stop the spot.

if in the case of this being miles' s/o, maybe they're still getting used to having recently aquired said powers (they got them at the same time as the spot), and miles supports them. they kinda work side by side, and the s/o follows miles to Earth-928, and when things go down, the s/o has a moment of conflict bc they know that one slip too many could mean multiversal collapse, and they've also had to make their own sacrifices bc of their powers. but in the end, they're by his side bc they love miles too much. it does cause a bit of tension in their relationship after tho. even moreso bc a person with the same powers as his s/o is trying to murder his dad, and his trust wavers (esp after the s/o's hesitation to help him).

they both get unknowingly sent to Earth-42 (where s/o has never seen before bc she's dead here!! O_O). so they're both unaware of where they are. miles gets captured by aaron, and the s/o is taken as well, but less aggressively bc surprise!!! Earth-42 s/o and 42!miles were in love and together, but miles couldn't save her from the dangers of corrupt 42!new york. s/o doesn't know what to do bc they and 1610!miles are in a weird place but they're still entirely in love with him, HOWEVER, they're starting to feel some of the emotions that the Earth-42 version of her felt for 42!miles, and is also starting to get some of the memories (AS JOBU TUPAKI DOES!!! :333).

love triangle shenanigans ensue but the clock is ticking bc the spot is on a mission to kill miles' dad and collapse the multiverse/destroy all of Earth-1610, and 1610!mile's only ticket out of Earth-42 is his s/o bc no one knows what dimension the two of them are in and 1610!miles doesn't have one of those dimension travel gadgets!! jobu tupaki!s/o isn't a fighter so they've gotta figure out a way to save 1610!miles from prowler!miles AND 42!aaron without fighting them, but she's also gotta fight against her own inner turmoil.

tldr; 1610!miles morales x jobu tupaki!reader x 42!miles morales

endgame is 1610!miles x reader tho :T

[mystycalypso]

OKAY LETS TRY THIS AGAIN

Welcome To Ravenbrooks season 2 Theories before it comes out

Disclaimer uh- these are the ramblings of a mad man named Jack (me). Mainly so when it does eventually come out I can see what if anything I got right. Now lets get into it below the fold.

1. It's revealed that Jay Roth (Nicky's dad) is the one who died in Trinity's old house

We know in both the book and games and even the pilot, Nicky was the one living across from Mr. Peterson, but now it's Trinity's home. I think the grief of what happened in that house is why they moved

2. We'll get to see the rest of the Rescue Squad's parents

Pretty self-explanatory. I don't know what story purpose they'd serve exactly, aside from maybe how they react to their kids' shenanigans but it'd be really cool to see them. Especially Luanne Roth who I am currently head canoning to be neglectful in some manner (not necessarily on purpose) because of the lines about Nicky running away all the time and no one noticing he went missing.

3. We see a cultist in uniform

I think it'd be really interesting if specifically Trinity finds them mid ceremony or if bad things start happening to her family and she gets suspicious

4. The kids learn Mr. Peterson isn't "evil"

We know in the books that Theo is looking heavily into the cult, and he seems to be doing the same here. I think in Trinity's realization's she'll learn his real motivations for keeping them away, maybe even his side of the stories from episode 3

5. We learn what Trinity did

We have hints at what happened, obviously, but with the teaser image reusing the old photo of kid Trinity, l think we're going to learn what exactly happened and why it was so bad that they had to move towns

6. More nightmare sequences

From the hello neighbor franchise in general, we've learned that both Trinity and Nicky are prone to nightmares, and with the trauma they've gained from episode 6, I assume we'll get to see plenty other creepy cool nightmare scenes. (Seriously, just the maggots from episode 2 make me squirm physically when I see it. Every time)

7. Principle Abanante isn't dead

This might be clear to some, and yeah, it's far from the greatest stretch on this list but I think we'll see her again and maybe that she caused the school explosion

8. Delroy(and possibly Scout)'s investigations

I'm very curious about what Delroy was doing in the tunnels under the school, maybe doing his own investigations on the cult? Scout included to round out the Hello Neighbor hide and seek crew. Likely having to join forced with the current members of the rescue squad to stop a stronger force.

9. We see Theodore's brother in his "new form"

Not 100% sure if he became the Guest or the Thing, and I've seen good theories/evidence for both, but either way I think we'll get to see him with the knowledge that it's him.

10. We learn why Ivan acted the way he did in s1

He was more scared of just the mention of Peterson than anyone, and it's been bugging me since my first watch. I'd like to see if there's reason to his behavior or just general paranoia. Leaning towards the former, knowing this series.

11. Love triangle between Trinity, Nicky and Enzo

I'd really rather this doesn't happen. I hate love triangles so much. They're so dumb and useless and bad. But like I told kaydin during our third watch, I can feel it happening. It's breathing down my neck with the loud annoying sound of needless romantic tension.

12. The whole squad sits together at lunch

They escaped the basement together! The least they could do as friends is actually eat lunch together instead of Nicky and Trinity sitting seperate from everyone else

13. Nicky and Aaron's relationship is revealed

I'm really, REALLY hopeful that their friendship isn't retconned in the series. It was great motivation for Nicky to be investigating Mr. Peterson, and is also just generally sweet.

14. We see Aaron

Nicky was the basement for a couple of weeks. However, Aaron was in there for months! I'm eager to see how he is both mentally and physically. I feel like he's either gonna be much, much worse than Nicky or somehow way better.

15. Quentin becomes my favorite character

This is mostly on here as a joke. I'm not gonna lie, I know he'll be at least a favorite because he's my favorite Hello Neighbor game character. Like- the squeal I squealed when I saw his van and silly Hawaiian shirt was immense. I love him so much, and I hope he gets good screen time.

16. Nicky loses his bag

This is more just a- gut feeling? He's gained it as a sort of comfort item, it seems, and I feel like with the nature and badluck of Ravenbrooks, he's going to lose it. Bonus points if he has to choose between it or a member of the Rescue Squad

17. Mr. martaugh dies

Again, I have- no evidence for this. Yeah, he's in the teasers a lot, but like that doesn't imply he dies. Maybe I just really hope he dies because he's creepy /j, but yeah, uh- if it happens, I'll probably still be in shock even though it's on this list.

18. We see an on screen kiss

Tricky fans cross your fingers and pray, I know I will be. It'll probably just be a quick peck on the cheek, but I can just kind of feel it in my bones. Similar to the love triangle one.

And there you go! My predictions for Season 2!

As soon as it drops, you will probably see my reaction to it and a return to this list to see how close or far I was on these. (Spoiler tagged, of course) But until then, I will be patiently waiting, drawing, and rewatching the show too many times over (wonder if I can hit 50 watches before season 2 drops)

Cya!

- Jack

[katz-rambles]

Rules + Masterlist

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊

Rules:

I do/will write nsfw works!

Minors are allowed to interact with my page and my works, I just ask, not my nsfw works. But I don't control what you read on the internet, I just ask that minors not read those ones. Everything else is okay!

I don't commonly write m/m or male reader in general because I am not a male, but I can attempt (and hopefully do good) on a masc reader!

Anonymous asks are welcomed!

I don't write for character/character, (but I may in terms of gangbangs + threesomes 🤭.)

Please be specific on what gender, character, type, ect!

I will not write anything related to r@pe, 1ncest (this includes st3p-cest), p3d0, non-con drugged s3x, and cheating.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊

What I'll write for:

• The sandman

• Ghost (the characters, not the people behind the mask.)

• The vampire diaries

• Arcane (the show)

- I will add more as I get into more fandoms!

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊

A little about me:

• I'm a Scorpio.

• I'm currently obsessed with Ghost (again).

• My favorite colour is pink!

• I love annotating and analyzing absolutely anything.

• I'm learning French right now!

• I'm from Canada.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊

Masterlist:

• ❤️ = Smut/nsfw

• 🩷 = Fluff

• 💙 = Angst

• 💛 = Crack

• 💜 = Comfort

• 🌸 = Fem reader

• 🪽 = Gn reader

• 💌 = Drabble

• 💟 = Headcannons

• 🎀 = Ficlet

• 💋 = Full fic

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊��꒰

Morpheus (dream)

Nothing here yet

Desire

Nothing here yet

Lucifer

Nothing here yet

Death

Nothing here yet

Hob galding

Nothing here yet

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

Papa Nihil (young and old)

slow mornings 🩷🪽💌 (old Nihil)

Papa Emeritus I (Primo)

Nothing here yet

Papa Emeritus II (Secondo)

Nothing here yet

Papa Emeritus III (Terzo)

Nothing here yet

Papa Emeritus IV (Copia)

shower sex ❤️🌸💌

parental worries 🩷🌸💌

Dewdrop/Sodo

Baking shenanigans 🩷💛🪽💌

Height troubles 🩷🌸🎀

Cold evenings 🩷🪽💌

Rut headcannons ❤️🌸🪽💟

wet dreams ❤️🌸💌

comfort headcannons 🩷💜🪽💟

if you're sick 🩷🪽💟

comfort after a long day 🩷🌸🎀

Rain

Soft dom and needy Rain ❤️🌸💌

stormy cuddles 🩷🪽🎀

caught you ❤️🌸💋

Rut headcannons ❤️🌸🪽💟

comfort headcannons 🩷💜🪽💟

praise kink ❤️🌸💋

if you're sick 🩷🪽💟

pregnant ghoulette headcannons 🩷🌸💟

you're a mermaid 🩷🪽💟

Phantom

personal problems ❤️🌸💋

Rut headcannons ❤️🌸🪽💟

forbidden romance 🩷🌸💋

if you're sick 🩷🪽💟

pregnant ghoulette headcannons 🩷🌸💟

nb phantom coming out 🩷🪽💌

Mountain

possessive mountain pt 1(?) ❤️🌸💋

Rut headcannons ❤️ 🌸 🪽 💟

comfort headcannons 🩷💜🪽 💟

vampire troubles ❤️🌸💋

if you're sick 🩷 🪽 💟

Swiss

horny Swiss thoughts ❤️🌸💌

plus sized reader ❤️🌸💋

Rut headcannons ❤️ 🌸 🪽 💟

if you're sick 🩷 🪽 ���

you're a mermaid 🩷🪽💟

Cirrus

Rut headcannons ❤️ 🌸 🪽 💟

if you're sick 🩷 🪽 💟

Cumulus

Cumulus' punishment ❤️🪽💌

Rut headcannons ❤️ 🌸 🪽 💟

comfort headcannons 🩷💜🪽 💟

if you're sick 🩷 🪽 💟

you're a mermaid 🩷 🪽 💟

Aurora

Rut headcannons ❤️ 🌸 🪽 💟

if you're sick 🩷 🪽 💟

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

Damon Salvatore

dating headcannons 🩷🪽💟

blood drinking ❤️🪽💌

Stefan Salvatore

Nothing here yet

Elena Gilbert

Nothing here yet

Jeremy Gilbert

Nothing here yet

Jenna Sommers

Nothing here yet

Bonnie Bennett

Nothing here yet

Caroline Forbes

Nothing here yet

Elijah Mikaelson

Nothing here yet

Niklaus Mikaelson

Nothing here yet

Rebekah Mikaelson

Nothing here yet

Kol Mikaelson

Nothing here yet

Finn Mikaelson

Nothing here yet

Alaric Saltzman

Nothing here yet

Katerina Petrova / Kathrine Pierce

Isobel Flemming

Nothing here yet

Nadia Petrova

Nothing here yet

(I'm sorry if I don't have all the characters. I'm only on season five. 😅)

Nothing here yet

Wes Maxfield

Nothing here yet

Aaron Whitmore

Nothing here yet

Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John

Nothing here yet

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

Jinx

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Violet (Vi)

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Ekko

post bridge scene comfort 🩷💜🪽💋

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Vander

sick days 🩷🪽💌

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

pining eachother 🩷🌸💌

pining eachother pt.2 ❤️🌸💋

Grayson

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Marcus

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Caitlyn Kiramman

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Viktor

aphrodisiac sex ❤️🌸💋

lovely nights 🩷💜🪽💌

childhood friends to lovers 🩷🪽💋

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

birthday fluff 🩷🌸💌

Jayce Talis

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Mel medarda

s/o with a good singing voice 🩷🪽💟

Ambessa Medarda

Nothing here yet

Silco

Nothing here yet

Sevika

Starlight 🩷🌸💋

Finn

married life 🩷🪽💌

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

RK800 / Connor

Nothing here yet

Hank Anderson

Nothing here yet

Gavin Reed

Nothing here yet

AX400 / Kara

Nothing here yet

RK200 / Markus

Nothing here yet

WR400 / North

Nothing here yet

PL600 / Simon

Nothing here yet

TR400 / Luther

Nothing here yet

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

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊

[clowningaroundmars]

Happy bday Miles!!!

it was miles' bday yesterday! i was hard at work pumping this thing out but alas it was already past my bedtime when i finally finished it u_u

this is... very last minute and i'm p sure you can tell but i hope yall enjoy anyhow LOL

for my (belated) gift to the mileses i present: miles and miles g celebrating their birthday together! and g getting a gift better than anything anyone could wrap up for him :) <3

Miles G was nervous. Very nervous.

It was already August third, a date he never really ever paid much attention to before today, but here it was.

The day.

His birthday. His 16th birthday, to be exact. And not just his birthday, but the birthday that other dimensional variants of himself shared as well.

Namely, one Miles Morales from Earth-1610 came to mind, especially now as he held his wrapped package in one hand and shuffled nervously from one foot to another.

The suffocating darkness of Earth-42’s late evening was falling and falling quickly, which would otherwise ignite something in him on a normal day. But, as he fiddled with his dimensional watch strapped to his right wrist, he knew this wasn’t any normal evening out.

After the events of… the utter and total chaos of his inter-dimensional doppelganger crashing into their universe out of nowhere once many months ago, life was never the same for him or his family.

As a result of the inter-dimensional shenanigans that ensued, his mother Rio finally found out about his secret identity and his illicit vigilante dealings on the nights he usually got away with his uncle Aaron, and that was… well.

It was a Time, alright.

Eventually, after boxing both his and his uncle’s ears and giving them a stern lecture, Rio slowly warmed up to the idea of her son going out and doing what he needed to do in order to assist with NYC’s battle against the fascist oppression that the Sinister Six were insisting upon the city. With help, of course.

Rio’s one condition was that Miles G’s new spider-themed friends would come and help and make sure her son was still on the straight and narrow, that he wasn’t going to get too hurt.

She figured that if Miles G wasn’t going to back down from being a hero in his own right, then he might as well have someone by his side helping him achieve his goals… and helping out at the hospital and F.E.A.S.T. as well every now and then, of course!

Now, she was waiting right by the door to the rooftop, holding it open with a hip and looking on at her son approvingly. It was August of course, but that night on Earth-42 happened to be a bit chillier than normal. Her hair frizzed with the humidity that hung thick in the air and she wrapped her hands around her arms as she smiled.

Miles glances up and notices the rolling darkness overhead moving in a bit too quickly. Must be a storm brewing again, then. It sure smelled like it, anyways.

“Good luck, mijo! Tell them I said happy birthday to the other you!” Rio calls, just as something suspiciously thunder-like starts growling on the other end of the city. “Y no te preocupes tanto, Miles! Tu pareces tan nervioso! Relax a little, it’ll be a fun time, right?”

Miles G offers her a crooked smile. It didn’t really feel genuine at all, just a mask he plasters onto his face to hopefully placate his mother, which seems to work. Rio beams at him and then the winds start picking up.

“Okay, goodnight Miles! Te amo!” Her voice is almost drowned out by the sudden chilly gust that blows through and whips her hair in different directions. She gives her son one final wave before turning and letting the door shut behind her.

Miles breathes in the ozone that materializes in the air, trying to ground himself in the sudden temperature drop before a streak of lightning bursts through the clouds and flashes out of the corner of his eye. Feeling his anxiety bubbling through his nerves and into his chest, he hastily starts the search for his “twin’s” dimension.

The idea of going to a party and celebrating his birthday for the first time in years, alongside his doppelganger and his family in a dimension that isn’t his-- but probably should have been-- made his stomach roil a bit.

But thunderstorms? Those were a whole different level of hell no.

The quickly-developing storm gave Miles G just that last bit of courage he needed to take the leap, metaphorically speaking.

The portal he opens once he finds Earth-1610 almost instantaneously blinks into existence right before him. Well, also literally speaking, too, he muses sardonically as well, peering into the bright neon hues of his own custom-made portal.

He didn’t really know whether he liked Hobie Brown from Earth-138 yet, but he sure as hell was never going to get used to the fact that that kid straight up just reverse-engineered technology from the future, on his own. That alone put Hobie high up on the ranks of respect in Miles’ own mind.

Well. No more time to waste. Another burst of electricity streaked through the night sky, illuminating the angry dark rain clouds advancing on the city like jaguars ready to pounce. The anxiety threatened to burst forth from Miles’ chest just like the booming thunder that clapped in the air just then, and he took that as his cue to move.

He hated jumping through these portals, but hated storms even more. With one breath held tightly into his lungs, he stepped forward…

… And landed on some cardboard boxes.

Goddamnit.

Not a bad place to land, though, given his watch was still a prototype Hobie had cooked up last-minute to enable non-superpowered beings to travel through space and time without getting their nuclei scrambled like omelets.

All in all, not the worst position he’s found himself in, either. Not like that one time with those guard dogs… shudder. Anyways.

Miles G slowly stood up, head on a swivel as he immediately takes in his surroundings, hoping no one saw the giant burst of purple and blue lights that his portal emitted. Behind him, the aforementioned portal quickly fizzled out and blinked out of existence.

He seemed to land in an empty, but very smelly alleyway next to some restaurant on Earth-1610, if the wafting smell of greasy food hitting his nostrils was anything to go by. Dozens of styrofoam containers and wet-looking garbage bags sat piled up next to an overflowing dumpster, and a rat or two started to make their break for it once Miles lifted his legs out of the pile he landed in to connect sneaker soles to concrete.

He dusts himself off, groaning something about needing to find that twiggy punk and throttle him for not getting him his own stabilized watch sooner, when the back door of said restaurant suddenly swung open and a mean-looking, heavyset man with a hell of a beer gut started scowling at him.

“Aye! Whaddya doin’ back here, dumpster diving? Punk kid! Get outta here!”

Miles G’s own upper lip curled with full teenage disdain. “I’m not dumpster diving, genius. I’m takin’ a shortcut through here. That alright with you? It ain’t illegal,”

“Takin a shortcut?” The man’s eyes bulge out with rage. “Lyin’ punk! Get on outta here!” He hurls more curse words at Miles and shakes his fist like a cartoon character yelling at someone to get off their lawn.

Miles simply rolls his eyes, stoops over to fetch his gift from the giant pile of discarded cardboard boxes and brushes it off as well. He tosses a sarcastic salute at the man as he makes his way down the alleyway.

“Stay classy, my man,” he grumbles and steps out into the blinding rays of the late August evening on Earth-1610.

It was lucky he was found by this man on this dimension rather than back home, because otherwise his encounter would have been possibly twice as deadly than a grumpy old restaurant cook simply shaking a fist at him.

It was one of the many things about this mirror-dimension that he needed to get used to, at first. The adults back on 42 were twice as aggressive and authoritative as the ones from here, and it was something very relieving to find out once he first stepped into this world.

Here-- even though things didn’t quite sit right in his cells about being in a world so similar to his, but yet slightly skewed-- he could really relax. He could let his shoulders down a bit, loosen his muscles, not hold his head up so high. He could truly live.

So now, even though he was most definitely going to be late to this party at his twin’s house (if his directional instinct was anything close to accurate), he was relatively chill.

Miles G strolled through the city streets of what looked to be Queens, though whether he was in the east side or the northern side was really up in the air. He turned on his heels towards a subway station and made a beeline for the underground oasis in the desert only to find that the subway map on Earth-1610 was completely flipped from the ones in his dimension.

Damnit. Damn it all. Well, then. Looks like he was gonna be even more late to the party.

He sent his dimensional twin a quick update text and began the long and frustrating process of taking pictures of maps, attempting to turnstile-hop as often as he could, and asking New Yorkers for directions.

Asking for directions and train info from New Yorkers here seemed to have the exact same success rate as it did back home; that is to say, little to none. Great. Miles stopped asking New Yorkers for directions after a while.

It killed him that he couldn’t just go as the crow flies with his gear, on account of needing to keep a low profile in order to not land 1610’s Miles in any hot water.

He missed his bungee and parkour gear something fierce after getting turned around yet again, hands picking at the stupid present’s gift wrapping impatiently after hopping onto the correct train this time. You’d think that a kid living and getting by all on his own in the city would make him a better navigator of public transportation, but alas. Even a 16 year old kid living his entire life in the bowels of the concrete jungle gets inbound and outbound trains confused sometimes. Go figure.

It seemed like it took forever and a half to finally find himself setting foot on the familiar streets of the Williamsburg area in Brooklyn, but the brownstones and corner streets eventually started shaping themselves into something much more familiar to him, much to his relief.

Cool. So this was Miles G’s domain, finally.

Even if all of the details were slightly off, even if some stores weren’t quite named correctly enough not to tickle a weird part in his brain as he walked past them, this was home. He knew it, and he felt his own “spidey senses” go off once he made his way closer and closer to his-- and Miles’-- apartment block.

G did a double take as he walked past the usual stream of faceless pedestrians and spotted a familiar puff of dark hair in the crowd. It was Miles!

Miles G may not have had that strange precognitive superpower that all of the other spider-people seemed to have, but it looked as though his body's cells had minds of their own as they gravitated towards his dimensional doppelganger bounding up to him with a joyful gait.

Miles was clad in his usual bright sporty colors, grinning as brightly as the sunset that cast everything in a nice warm hue all around them.

They dapped each other up as a casual greeting, immediately starting up their banter.

“You’re finally here, man, goddamn! Gettin’ old now, getting turned around more nowadays?” Miles ribbed his twin playfully.

“Ha, ha,” Miles G replied sarcastically, “You and me are the same age, remember? Anything you say about me--”

“You say about yourself. I know that one, smartass. I was the one who came up with that first, you can’t quote me back at me!”

“Arrest me, then,” G stuck out his chin defiantly and laughed when he got a strong jab to the side.

They quibbled like this all the way down the streets, two teenage boys just basking in the last golden rays of the sunset before it finally darkened to a nice purple haze on their shared birthday. A beautiful cloudless evening, the complete and total opposite of the raging storms most likely tearing their way through Earth-42's Brooklyn night.

G was enjoying himself so much that he forgot how nervous he was before this moment.

Navigating the streets of New York City alone with not much help from his own cellphone or the people around him distracted him long enough to put his worries off to the side for a while, and now that he’s reaching the steps to his own apartment building, it seems like all those worries are bubbling back up again.

His purple sneakers freeze right on the bottom steps of the Brooklyn brownstone he always called home, watching as his doppelganger reaches for the door handle and only stopping once he notices G fall silent behind him.

They pause together, and Miles tosses an all-too-casual glance over his shoulder up towards the stairs before letting the door shut behind him again.

They sit together on the stairs, side-by-side.

Miles G is taking a couple of deep breaths, using the box breathing method Miles taught him a while ago.

Miles asks him, “you sure you wanna do this, bro?”

“Yes,” Miles G answers, a little too quickly.

Glances are exchanged, a million words shared with just one look. G sighs then.

“Okay… maybe… I mean, I do. I really do, wanna… uh,” Miles G takes another deep breath before sitting back and fiddling with the ribbon on the present once more. “… I wanna celebrate this, like not just for you. For me, because it’s… this is gonna be the first time I ever had a party since… well. Anyways, yeah, so I wanna do this. I do! This is important and I have to do this.”

“But?” Miles adds, a bit hesitant. He’d never want to make his dimensional variant feel like he’s being pushed or pressured, especially when he looks like he’s teetering on the edge of a panic attack.

“But,” G emphasizes the T, “I… fuck, this is gonna sound kinda lame but, ugh. I hate sayin’ it out loud. But…!”

“Jeff, right?” Miles offers him his most comforting expression. G hates it anyhow.

G hangs his head, clasping his hands over the box. “Yeah,” he admits, full of shame. “It’s dumb and I should be over it by now--”

“Bro, stop. Look,” Miles sighs in a way that reminds G of Rio a little too much, making his heart clench. “Your dad passed away, man. That is tough. That's the literal definition of trauma, and there’s nothing anyone can say about that. But you shouldn’t beat yourself up over not having like a linear progression on healing or whatever. You’re never really gonna get over it, like ever. And that’s okay, man. Losing a family member like that’s hard. Real hard.”

Aaron, G thinks to himself then, nodding slowly. Miles is probably the only person who understood the visceral and soul-crushing feeling of watching a beloved family member die at such a young age; and a father figure as well, at that.

Sure, all the other spider-people lost their uncle Bens or Tonys or whatever they said their uncles’ names were. But Miles lost Aaron. Aaron Davis. A man that was held in such high regard by the both of them, a key player in the way they both grew up and formed their own personalities as kids. There was nobody like him, and that was a fact.

It felt simultaneously weird and also comforting to know exactly what Miles was thinking, feeling, because in a lot of small but significant ways, their pain mirrored each other’s. Miles knew. G knew.

There wasn’t anything else left to say.

Well…

“I gotta go up,” Miles G said quietly after a small bout of silence.

Miles shrugged non-committaly. “Only if you’re ready,” he replied.

“No,” G shook his head, his neatly-done braids wiggling alongside the movement. “I have got to man up and stop bein’ so pussy right now. He’s not my dad. He isn’t my dad and I can do this!”

Miles blew out a breath and leaned back on the stairs behind him, legs spread as he crosses his arms. “Dude, look at me. Dad’s not gonna be weird this time, okay? We talked to him and he’s cool about everything and he is not gonna be weird. Everyone understands if you need some time to yourself, like in my room or up on the roof, just in case. This isn’t mandatory, you know. You don't have to push yourself.”

“I know this isn’t mandatory but I don’t wanna ruin your special day, alright? I’ve gone years with no birthdays, I’ll be fine. I’ll live,” Miles G bit out. It was much harsher than he intended it to come out, so he tried to save the conversation. “I uhm… sorry. I mean… it’s no biggie to me if I have to skip out or whatever. If it’s too weird, y’know? If you guys don’t want me here... I just don’t wanna, like, step all over your guys’… lives. The way you all do things. I know it’s different.” G gives a half-hearted shrug, hoping his twin will catch on to what he’s trying to convey.

Miles leans forward then, clapping a hand on G’s shoulder and shaking him a bit. “Man, you worry too much. Just like me,” he laughs, “I can’t believe I’m like this! Goddamn,” he shakes his head.

G groans. “Am I, though? Am I worrying too much? Ain’t this whole situation just… weird?”

Miles waves his hands around as he speaks. “Yeah, but… teen heroes in spandex costumes shooting webs out of their wrists is weird, too. I promise you’re not ruining anyone’s day by existing. My parents love you, dude, you’re fine. Either way, no one’s gonna think bad of you if you wanna stay or go.”

G sighs deeply, steeling himself. “Then I’ll stay. We’ll do… the birthday things. It’ll be fine,”

“If you insist!” Miles shrugs again and moves to stand up.

G snorts derisively and puffs himself up to his twin’s height once they’re both on their feet. “I hate when you do that shit, man!”

“Do what?” Miles holds his palms aloft, grinning crookedly.

“Don’t play dumb, Morales. Just…” G wedges the box he was holding in between the ornate railings of the stairs and pops back up, annoyed. “Look at me. I look fine, right? I’m not dressed down too much?” He holds his arms akimbo.

Miles laughs again, giving his twin a well-meaning once-over.

“Hair good, kicks good?” Miles G presses, sending Miles a look all the while.

“Yes, yeah, dude. You look fine. Everything’s gonna be fine! Stop freakin’ out!”

“You’re pulling your stupid nonchalant cool guy shtick and I hate it. You know that makes me even more nervous, right? It does not help, not even a little,”

Miles cackles as he pulls the door open once more, motioning for G to hand him the wrapped present. “You are unbelievable, man. Completamente insoportable!”

They bicker once again all the way up three flights of stairs, as naturally as if they had done it for years until they reach Miles’ family apartment and push their way through the doorframe.

They don’t even get to set one Jordan into the living room before Earth-1610’s Rio is leaping out from right around the corner and shouting SURPRISE!!! right into their faces.

Behind her, Jeff wears a party hat and blows on a dinky little party horn.

Both Mileses stood frozen staring into the face of their excited mother before Miles opens his mouth to speak.

“Mamí, I already told you this wasn’t a surprise party!”

“No, pero yo quería, como… hacer un algito para el niño, sabes?" Rio answers innocently, cheesy grin plastered on her face as she reaches for a balloon floating nearby and hands it to G.

“Anyways,” Miles gives his twin a sidelong glance and holds his present aloft, picking his way past the balloons on the floor to deposit it next to a pile of boxes and bags. "Sorry about them, they're... y'know. They mean well, but--"

"Of course we do! What's with this attitude all of a sudden?" Jeff complains, taking off his comically small party hat and setting it aside.

“Last night, we had my party with the fam on the rooftop, and today it’s just us here. We’re gonna watch a movie and eat together if you don’t mind,” Miles begins again, by way of explaining the massive pile of gifts in the living room corner. “I figured your first party in a while should be more... lowkey. Just a totally casual and definitely not weird birthday celebration, right guys?” He shoots looks at both of his parents, who both nod.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! Totally casual. We cool, we cool,” Jeff assures his son, punching at his shoulder playfully. “When have we ever not been cool? About, y’know… this whole inter-dimensional universe stuff?”

“Dad!” Miles groans.

G smiles a bit, shoving his hands in his pockets and hiking his shoulders up to his ears. “Yeah this sounds cool, actually. Real good, better than…”

“Than what you thought it’d be?” Miles grins, “you really think I’d just throw you into a massive block party with the whole family out of nowhere?”

“No, but,” G kicks off his sneakers as their parents go into the kitchen and start laying pots and bowls out onto the dining room table. “I dunno… I thought it’d be more than just us. But this is nice, yeah. I don’t mind this at all.”

“As I knew you wouldn’t!” Then, a little louder, “what’d I say, dad?”

“I still got some of the crew on speed dial with gifts if you want!” Jeff calls out from the kitchen.

G laughs aloud and shakes his head, finally relaxing for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Together, the four set up dinner on the table to laugh and eat, celebrating two birthdays with two versions of the same Miles. They toast to another happy birthday, tacking on a little “here’s hoping G survives until the next one” for good measure.

Miles elbowed his father for that, but G was more than grateful that he had some more people in his corner, even if they were from different dimensions. Knowing that he had another set of parents praying for his health and his safety in a world that seemed so far away and distant as to be from a completely different galaxy made his heart clench in a way he didn’t know how to articulate yet.

He raised his own glass and prayed for their health and safety as well.

Then they settled into the living room together to watch a goofy horror-comedy movie that Jeff insisted on picking out himself.

“So Miles let me know the other day that he doesn't really actually like horror movies much, which was-- y’know definitely not feeling betrayed or anything ‘cause of that, but.” He shot his son a look.

“Oh my god, this again,” Miles groans, rolling his eyes and smiling exasperatedly.

“Anyways, dunno what your horror tolerance is, is all. Don’t know if you love it or hate it, but my wife hates horror and I love it. I figure this one’s a good middle ground.”

G sat forward, clasping his hands together in front of him. “You hate horror movies?” He asks his twin.

Miles throws his hands up in the air. “Do not tell me you’re gonna say that you’re shocked ‘cause you love it,”

G bobs his head and laughs. “I’m gonna say that I’m shocked ‘cause I absolutely love horror. Huh! That’s… that’s kinda funny we’re different like that,” he hummed in thought.

Miles sighs. “Oh right, of course. My twin who is absolutely better than me at everything ever happens to love the same stuff my dad does. Man, y’know what, I’m wavin’ the white flag. You can have him if you want!”

“Huh?” Jeff looks back and forth between his two sons as they laugh.

"Pero así tampoco!" Rio laughs along with them. “No one is stealing anyone’s father tonight, boys. Come on now,”

“I’m saying!” Miles offers anyways.

“I’m good,” G replies good-naturedly.

“Hold on, you two are not saying what I think you’re saying,” Jeff finally catches up to speed.

The whole room laughs at that, joy and comfort palpable in the air as the family settles down after bantering some more. They pass the bowls of popcorn and watch their movie, commenting on terrible acting and cackling at bad jokes.

G settles down, really relaxing this time, as he sinks deeper into the comfortable couch cushions and basks in the normalcy of this life. He was grateful the family didn’t make him feel like he was a guest, or an intruder into their seemingly perfect lives of familial affection. This was a million times better than awkward happy birthday songs and loud music,. It was much more… intimate. Intimate in ways that G himself hadn’t been allowed to feel since his own father’s passing.

He was grateful that his own dimensional variant understood what it was that he could handle, and what he couldn’t, completely judgement-free. It left a warm feeling deep in his chest he hadn’t ever known he was even capable of feeling. Maybe that was Miles’ real gift to G, the perfect environment for anyone to be able to let their walls down, even just a little.

It made the homemade sketchbook as his gift to his twin seem so silly in comparison, in the end. Oh well.

The night ended wonderfully, with each parent getting G his own gifts on top of the one Miles dumped unceremoniously in his lap towards the end of his visit.

But it was getting late, and the night was getting progressively darker.

The nighttime wasn’t nearly as suffocating and all-encompassing as Earth-42’s nights, especially considering it was a clear and crisp night on 1610, the total opposite of the angry weather back home… but the hour was getting longer nonetheless and G’s tranquil visit to this dimension was drawing to a close.

“I wish you could sleep over this time, y’know. Kind of a bummer that you can’t”, Miles bumped shoulders with G as they sat side-by-side on the couch.

“Mmmn, yeah” G sighed.

“Hold on, what am I missing here? I thought he was going to stay tonight!” Rio pipes up from her end of the couch, brow raised.

G looks up at her. “Uhh, no. I have, uh, I have a thing… in the morning, with uncle Aaron. So,”

Jeff grunts disapprovingly, earning him a glare from Miles.

Miles then turns back to his twin. “It’s fine, we get it. Let’s try to make some more time in the future to hang soon, though, right? This was fun!”

They both smile at each other and then start to get up, gathering discarded wrapping paper from Miles opening his gift from G.

G himself tries tucking his unopened presents into his light sweater, zipping it up and holding the boxes against him with crossed arms.

“If I don’t hold ‘em like this, they’ll go flying everywhere in the portal back home,” he explains to Miles’ parents.

Miles shoves his hands in his pockets and agrees that that's a great idea before suggesting they not open a portal in the middle of the living room where all of his birthday balloons and gifts were still in neat piles.

G finally bids everyone a good night before climbing up the final set of stairs up to the rooftop, with Miles right on his heels.

They dap each other up again and Miles eventually pulls G into a hug.

“Man, what you doin’ that soft shit for?” G ribs Miles playfully, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

“I dunno, you look like you could use some soft shit after tonight. You looked like you didn’t even wanna leave my apartment,”

G rolls his eyes but concedes anyways. “Uh huh, yeah… shit was nice there, for a second… things were real nice.” He trails off, then gathers himself back up again. “Your dad was great back there, by the way. So… looks like your talk with him was good, it was effective.” He sniffed.

Miles purses his lips. “Hmmm, was he, though? He coulda been a little better, honestly.”

G shakes his head, laughing. “You need to stop being so hard on your parents, kid. They’re great. They are.”

“Yeah, I know. Your fam’s great, too, by the way. Let Aaron know that I really love his gift he left me the other day, when you get back,”

G does a double take. “That he-- that he left you? How? He’s got a watch now?”

“I think…? I think he stole yours, honestly, bro. Or… I dunno, knowing him, he might’ve already reverse engineered his own by now,” Miles offers a wincing shrug, chuckling a bit at the shocked expression on his own face standing a little ways away from him.

“Wh--! Goddamn. Well.” G sniffed again and fixed the hoodie of his sweater casually, adjusting the gifts inside. “Well, damn. Thanks for letting me know about that, I guess.”

Miles throws G a salute and steps back, right by the rooftop door and then G's suddenly reminded of his own mother most likely already asleep back home.

He loves 1610, sure, but in that very moment, his heart ached for his own-- definitely not perfect but-- comforting home.

He opens his portal behind him, purple neon rings and hazy blue light emitting from it, an occasional green static flickering in and out, and the smell of wet pavement and rain hits them both almost instantaneously. Potted plants, chairs and crates sat nearby start floating in the air.

Miles whistles low. “It’s raining back where you’re at, man. I’m jealous. You get to fall asleep to rain!”

G only shrugs, not wanting to let his twin know anything about his fear of storms. That was a topic that would have to brought up later. “You have a good night, too, man. You can look up rain sounds on Youtube if you need to,”

Miles huffs out a laugh. “You got jokes! Nice!”

“Always, genius. I always do. Take it easy, man.”

G steps backwards, his last sight of 1610 being his twin standing by the half-open door to the roof, warm hallway light illuminating him from behind, small pinpricks of little sparkles in the deep blue night sky high above them…

And lands right onto his own bed.

G gasps, not possibly believing his own luck this time!

He scrambles around in the dark as quietly as he can, reaching for his lamp by his drafting table and flicking it on. His eyes bounce around the room, taking in every single little familiar detail of his posters, hats lined above the window frame, record player on top of stacked crates in the corner…

It’s home. Thank goodness. No need to traverse the dangerous roads at night past the state-mandated curfew.

Tonight was really shaping up to be an amazing night. What a relief…

Miles G laid back after eventually finishing his night routine and making sure his mother was asleep in her room, hopefully breathing. He had his arms behind his head and a big smile on his face as he thought back to the presents he received from the 1610 Morales family, now stacked neatly on his drafting table to be opened in the morning.

He thought back to the fond gazes he received at the dinner table as they had all chatted over pastelitos and refried beans. He thought back to the warm glow that the city took on during the sunset, how his train rides over to Brooklyn were always much less stress-inducing than the rides on Earth-42 were, no matter how late G was getting to be. He was unbelievably grateful that he got to experience it at all, and that it wasn’t all a fever dream his half-baked brain cooked up on little to no sleep.

No matter what his presents from the Morales family turned out to be, he was already grateful for the best gift that Earth-1610 could ever give him: peace.

[crossedsabers10s]

dude i need inspiration. gimme! gimme! gimme! xox, splatooshy

Uhh *scrambles for something to type* ok so in the vampire diaries books Stefan has curly dark hair, green eyes, and he and Damon look more visibly like siblings. Also! Damon has very dark eyes in the books. I think they were described as onyx.

Anyways I like to imagine that Show!Stefan looks specifically different than he would otherwise bc of doppelgänger shenanigans. The Silas Effect overwrote everything else.

Completely unrelated to the first thing, but yk how Alaric gets all human-fied after the anti-magic bubble strips him of his vampirism and he’s saved from what had been his death wound?? All I’m saying is that Enzo died of, what, TB? Providing that it didn’t immediately kill him, he could have theoretically been dragged over that same bubble boundary as Alaric and been de-fanged the same way. The mental image of Damon pretending he’s not hovering over both of his suddenly mortal, suddenly v fragile and probably with lingering health issues as vampire blood can’t cure tuberculosis, best friends is so, so funny to me.

Third: I think that Wes totally could have approached Elena between S2-4. Like. Hey, ur Grayson’s daughter (or Jeremy, either, both) I need some research that may be with your dad’s things. Great man, he saved a lot of lives. Or all the suspicious deaths in Mystic have him trying to track down the mysterious killer after the Whitmores—before Aaron and his aunt get targeted. Grayson’s daughter might make good bait. All that’d have to happen is Wes to mention Augustine in Damon’s hearing. Bam. Instant angry vampire. Who now has to explain to his brother and/or their girlfriend why he just tried to kill a scientist. Like he worked with Elena’s father obvs he’s such a good guy. Damon , of course, does not give them a straight answer until Wes realizes what’s up and references his number or whatevs.

Damon, after having Stefan try to hold him back and Elena ask for mercy, bc they don’t have the full story and all they see is Damon holding a defenseless human by the throat: Mercy?

S/E: yeah, mercy

D: Alright. I won’t rip out his guts.

Wes: thank—

D: if he gives me back five years. No. Fifty.

E/S: Fifty years?

D: All the time I lost. Every second I spent numbed to everything.

D: I’ll let him live if he gives them back

W: I can’t—

D: How about this, this should be easier. I’ll let you live if you give me back my best friend.

W:

S/E:

D: no? shame. Guess you die.

In the books, Damon can turn into a wolf and a—I think it was a raven? Anyways I just think that Shapeshifting Damon is Fun, but especially if he just goes Gender is Stupid and Stefan wanders down one morning and is just like… I guess it’s sister today?

Damon: eh, it’s one of those Tuesdays.

Okay, now it’s ur turn 🥺

[audiofictionuk]

New Fiction Podcasts - 11th March - Part 1

Dust and Blood Audio RPG A fantasy Western narrative-play podcast, filled with high drama and hilarious shenanigans! Dust and Blood is created by Blake Alfson, Keith Curtis, Corinne Hill, Gale Parker, and Zach Parker, and posts on the first day of each month. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240220-01 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/dustandbloodpod/feed.xml

Unlucky Charm Audio Drama Sam Crowe has always had the worst of luck, but in his ever-optimistic view of the world, heads to Boston to pursue a lifelong dream. Along the way to his dreams, he meets Aaron Bazil, a painter who's been pretty lucky with his career so far, but with it came a cynical view of the world. Together, they change each other for the better and... worse. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240301-03 RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/5x9m7

Crooked and Strange Audio Book Crooked and Strange is an anthology series, and a place to share some of my short fiction. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240301-04 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/crooked-and-strange-short-stories-by-lewis-darley

Autumn Falls- The Voices Audio Drama Kyle Silver comes back home to Autumn Falls. While there, strange things start occurring to him. Will Kyle Make it out alive? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240225-01 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f1838b90/podcast/rss

What Happens In A Dream Audio Drama Welcome to the Dream World! Here, anything and everything is possible. The only limit is your imagination! This is a fictional audio drama based in a Dream World. Each episode may or may not be connected in someway, but they will all take place within the same world. As of right now, episodes will be put out as often as they can be created, but we will eventually be on a regular schedule. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for listening! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20230518-07 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/e1ecea64/podcast/rss

Dad Magick Audio Drama A horror podcast. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240304-01 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/dadmagick/feed.xml

Hobo Code Audio Drama Hop a freight train with two hobos, a little girl, and her best friend who lives in a coffee can. Hobo Code is an epic journey spanning from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, all the way to the Great Recession of 2008. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240304-02 RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/511023/rss

The Last City Audio Drama In the climate-ravaged year of 2072, Pura stands as a miraculous green haven, a geoengineered paradise that protects lucky residents from the global catastrophes of heat domes, fires, floods, and droughts. Demetria Lopez is Pura's PR fixer, tirelessly promoting the city's idyllic image. But when she stumbles upon a dark secret that underpins Pura's existence, she must decide who and what she is willing to protect. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240304-03 RSS: https://rss.art19.com/the-last-city

Stranded in the Void Audio Drama Blake Hooper, an astronaut aboard the Hermes V spacecraft, finds himself alone after a mission goes horribly wrong. His only way to keep his sanity is to broadcast messages back home, hoping someone is listening. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20210201-18 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/47649320/podcast/rss

Mil-Liminal Audio Book Mil-Liminal is a bi-weekly, cozy horror podcast chronicling the adventures of a midnight shift gas station employee and all that implies. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240213-05 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/mil-liminal/feed.xml

Clempson Goes to Hell Podcast Audio Book Welcome to Dystopia: Clempson Goes to Hell, read one chapter per week. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240213-06 RSS: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/2291813.rss

Adventure Engines Audio RPG An actual play, TTRPG podcast where we build the world through play. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240219-05 RSS: https://feeds.podcastle.ai/dbb0d83d-4b66-424d-b92f-842f6fbb5864.rss

Tales of the Risen Tide Audio Book A post-apocalyptic pirate adventure with the heart of an epic fantasy, Tales of the Risen Tide is the debut novel from British author David M Reynolds. Tune in every Monday and Thursday for a new chapter of this full-cast audiobook. On a map redrawn by the rampant sea-level rise of the twenty-second century, survivors war over the ruins of high-ground whilst pirates and slavers plague the vast new seas that surround them. But amidst the ashes of the world there remains a place for the young and the brave to call home: The Archon — a ship crewed by orphan thieves, escaped prisoners, and heretic runaways. They are the Archonauts, and this is their tale. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240207-06 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/talesoftherisentide/feed.xml

Andersson Dexter Investigations Audio Book In a queer-normative future that isn’t all rainbows and sparkles, the justice you receive depends on your job – assuming you can get it at all. Enter vigilante detective Andersson Dexter, whose beat covers both the physical world and the online universe Marionette City. Helping people who have nowhere else to turn, he’s making the worlds better one client at a time, but is it enough? The Andersson Dexter Investigations is a four-book cyberpunk detective series by Nebula Award finalist M. Darusha Wehm. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240216-01 RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/SBP5278124681

Das Magnus-Archiv Audio Drama Mach deine Aussage, stell dich deiner Angst. Die Türen des Magnus-Instituts öffnen sich und gewähren Einblick in die Fallakten dieses 'angesehenen' Forschungszentrums für das Esoterische und das Übernatürliche. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240209-02 RSS: https://ingressive.podcaster.de/das-magnus-archiv.rss

[milfcoded]

tagged by @lottienat to post 8 shows to get to know me better and oh the can of worms you have opened <3

tagging @l-adysansa @hauntedbythenarrative @shouldvemarried @emoclownemoji @miraclottie if you want to 🪿

in no particular order:

• the day of the triffids (2009) - sometimes a two part bbc mini series from the early 00’s can be sooooo personal, this did change my life at a very young age and unfortunately now i must watch it religiously until the end of time because it is just that good and also bad <3

• gotham - funky little gay people doing their funky little crimes whilst jimothy gordon worlds most normal man sighs deeply in the background? sign me up baby, not a show about batman but a show about shenanigans and really what more can you ask for

• lost - oh she reworked my brain at a VERY formative age!!! made perfect sense actually if you don’t understand the ending or the polar bear in the jungle or whatever the fuck john locke had going on then that’s on you!!

• new girl - i have for many years and will continue to watch the entire show (except the last season) on repeat until my brain is just about melted enough to get back to real life, i could listen to max greenfield mispronounce words all day

• the newsroom - i don’t know a single thing about american news or politics from 2012 so i don’t really know what side these fuckers are on at any given moment but despite that this is the best and funniest show ever made actually, i will have no further questions (aaron sorkin is my biological father)

• criminal minds - little bit of murder, little bit of found family, little bit of sexy women, little bit of government propaganda, little bit more of women being sexy, full package i have seen season 1 at least 57 times for miss elle greenaway alone

• will and grace - i don’t even need to say anything to justify this because it’s gay and it’s fun and it’s cunty and rip leslie jordan

• charmed - oh back in the day me and my friends wanted to be these bitches so fucking bad we would have committed real murder to gain magical powers at the age of 8 and that’s so real of us honestly

[waltenfiled]

MATTHEW'S FIC REC PROPAGANDA | #1 | 28 / 9 / 22

Within the simple yes of my beloved @lolihavenoideawhatiamdoing , here are my fics recs as of 28th september, 2022 ^___^ w/ mentions and links for easy access,

read the warnings and stay safe <3

CRIMINAL MINDS

construct of time by @katytheinspiredworkaholic | A.H / S.R | Historical AU , Time Travel , 1920's Detective Sleuth , Science and Alchemy , No Haley or Jack , Slow Burn , Action/Adventure , Mystery , History within History , Inaccuracies abound , Some time period typical homophobia and racism and sexism , Self Beta'd

days break, but nights fall by welfycat | GEN but S.R-centric

The year is 1924, half a decade after the first World War, and a few years before the Great Depression would devastate the nation. It is a time of contradiction: the modernist uprising of science and innovation, met with a traditionalist, fearful desire to cling to the past in a fast-evolving, urbanist society.

And on this morning in Washington D.C. an unmarked package is left outside the office of Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner, P.I., with a note simply telling him to find the rest, and a substantial price tag attached. What he finds in this package is something he has never seen before, hundreds of years old, and he barely knows where to start trying to find more like it. Ultimately he is pointed towards someone that may just have a clue what to do with his charge: a Classics Historian working in the basements of the Smithsonian, Dr. Spencer Reid.

Together, what they discover sends them on a break-neck chase across the city, searching for a mysterious collection of powerful artifacts, and the people that are trying to sell them. Forever changing everything they know about the world, the people in it, truth, lies, love, and the fragile construct of time.

Spencer is actually rather fond of the jet during the night.

blizzard by ahmose_Inarus | GEN w/ the BAU ensemble

While out on a case, the team decides that they need a treat on the way back to the hotel. The lady taking orders at Dairy Queen drive-through finds them very entertaining.

interesting findings by redscarez ( orphan account :'[ ) | A.H / D.R , D.M / S.R / A.H , P.G / J.J / E.P | The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds) , Background Case , Eventual Romance , Minor Original Character(s) , Season/Series 03 , Canon-Typical Violence , Literal Sleeping Together , Ambiguous Relationships , First Kiss , Love Confessions , Polyamory , Sleepovers , Tooth-Rotting Fluff

When a sociology student shadows them on a case, the BAU realizes how strange their team dynamic must seem to an outsider.

THE BLOCKS (tm)

[ @otbvinyls ] here's the queue rec list i vaguely mentioned and i recommend these cm fics so much ily , !!!! be inssne with them wif me i love them sm

carry your bones by @renchanters | FWHIP/JOEL , FWHIP & GEM , GEM & JOEL | Not RPF , Blood and Injury , Supernatural Elements , Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements , Yearning , Pining, Mutual Pining , Getting Together , Confessions , Love Confessions , Swearing , Hurt/Comfort , Major Character Injury

the continued adventures of the boatem road trip by @theminecraftbee | GEN w/ the Boatem Crew | Moon's Big , cosmic horror, Existential Horror , Body Horror , silly road trip shenanigans :D , Cannibalism , The Void , Crack Treated Seriously , Crack and Angst , Non-Consensual Body Modification

Joel is bleeding out in the passenger seat of his car. fWhip has one hand on the wheel, the other squeezing Joel’s shoulder, and he’s trying desperately not to look over. The night is dark around them and the tree line on either side of the countryside road is claustrophobic. Joel groans and squeezes his arm around the wound across his stomach, where he’s got fWhip’s discarded flannel pressed against him.

OR

supernatural au. joel tries REALLY hard not to die. fwhip REALLY doesn’t want him to die.

have a kiss (and the candy, too) by @branzypierce | FWHIP/JOEL | Angst and Hurt/Comfort , Heavy Angst , Fluff without Plot , Not RPF , Swearing , Mildly Suggestive , Additional Warnings in Author's Notes , One Shot Collection , Canon Related Crossover , Unreliable Narrator , Alternate Universe

[kudosmyhero]

Transformers: Autocracy (Phase 01) #8: Overthrown

Read Date: October 14, 2022 Cover Date: April 2012 ● Writer: Chris Metzen ◦ Flint Dille ● Art: Livio Ramondelli ● Letterer: Robbie Robbins ● Editor: John Barber ◦ Carlos Guzman ●

Synopsis: In Iacon, Zeta Prime is assuring the Senate that his methods are working when his Citadel suddenly comes under attack from the combined forces of Megatron's Decepticons and Orion Pax's defected officers. While their troops keep Zeta's Omega Destructors and vamparc cannons busy, Megatron and Orion air-drop into the Citadel and onto the Prime himself, who accepts their challenge and shoots down Megatron. Orion relieves Zeta of his vamparc ribbon, but he doesn't give up so easily and in turn relieves Orion of his arm.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Ironhide is approached by Ultra Magnus and his unit, who have also turned on Zeta Prime after learning of his crimes. With their help, the rebel Autobots defeat most of the Omega Destructors. Inside the Citadel, Megatron fights Zeta Prime and finally kills him with a point-blank fusion cannon shot to the head. Zeta's troops flee and the last Destructor is destroyed by Shockwave.

As the situation cools down, Orion Pax requests a medic… and is shot in the back by Megatron, who announces that he has outlived his usefulness.

(https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Overthrown)

Fan Art: Ultra Magnus by CValenzuela

Accompanying Podcast: ● Married with Comics: Rod Pod - episode 07

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Winter Viola

Viola has never exactly been a favorite of mine, but damn if this alt doesn't look nice.

General Overview Bug type is a mess in Masters right now.  Like it's real bad.  Viola is exactly #15 for a High Score event, almost no one is that good offensively, minimal shenanigans going on within the type.  Viola...aims to fix basically none of this.

Viola is a Bug, yes, but she's a Field pair with Tech role.  She is a sync nuker aiming at one target, and her nuke isn't especially impressive.  Oh sure, plenty of Bug Zone to go around, and has spread paralysis/confusion and a -1 debuff to all seven stats as a baseline.  It's certainly not bad.  But Struggle Bug is terrible DPS that exists mostly to debuff for her nuke, and otherwise...doesn't align to much.  She's reliant on allies who deal damage.  Which, as specified, is a rough goddamn time in Bug Land.

I think Viola's one of those pairs that has the potential to be optimal later on. Like, if someone drops with GMax Butterfree, I can pretty much promise Viola's going to be an ideal partner for what she can set up. And the Zone alone is sufficient to get major bugs like the potential Mega Scizor/Heracross going. But I think my problem is that Viola, in her heart, is a generalist, with tools for a very specific mode of play she doesn't facilitate well. If Bug Zone were another generalized utility tool, I think she'd be better off in a broad sense. But as she is, she's an amalgamation of pretty good utility tools that are only valuable in combination for one (1) partner.

EX, Role, and Move Level? Viola gets her general utilities all at 1/5, so if you just want some debuff and paralysis, she's got you covered.  3/5 is for her own sync, and some additional utility options.  EX is nice for her field effect, though I personally don't find as much value in Tech as a role.  It's not a terrible pick, I just don't know that it's what she really wanted, considering Support and Sprint would have been far more valuable effects. I could see justification for the stat spread, but her limited effectiveness in Gauntlet isn't making her all that useful as a tank, so I don't really know what her game plan is here. Her sync isn't even particularly impressive with the Tech role. Like, it's not bad for Bug, it's top 3. But in the grand scheme, it's nothing impressive.

Team 1: W!Viola, Alder, Lodge Dawn This is her one (1) Bug pal.  Alder loves everything Viola can do.  The Sp Atk debuffs are ideal for both his sync and his DPS, while Viola's high power single-target nuke with Zone privileges complements Hyper Beam perfectly. Lodge Dawn has Team Sharp Entry to give them one less turn of setup, and grants gauge for Alder and bulk to maximize survival from Viola's debuffs.

Team 2: W!Viola, Lodge Dawn, Lusamine/Burgh "Hey wait a second, isn't this the same as the last one?" Kinda but listen. Viola actually does something distinct for these two. Specifically, she can buff. Her TM is single-target, she can buff allies instead, getting pairs like Lusamine and Burgh to max offenses with a lot less fuss. If either of them are EX, this is a very clean solution to on-type, providing a fairly easy rotation of TM -> Zone -> Buddy move -> TM just before sync for side denial. One use of X Sp Atk All from Dawn, and they're capped off.

Team 3: W!Viola, Aaron, Guzma/Bugsy While not her central wheelhouse, Viola can, to some degree, power up physical bug, thanks to Bug Zone and the general debuffing possibilities. Guzma has EX and a decent sync, while Bugsy is just dying for EX but does appreciate all the potential disruption Viola throws at the sides. Aaron is optimal in both cases, focusing on the Bug theme skills and giving the needed stats for either.

Team 4: W!Viola, SS Kris/SS Brendan, Clair/SS Cynthia Viola, despite being so heavily coded for Bug, does not have to be used just for Bug. Her status and debuffs offer some fun alternatives as well.  Clair Draco Meteor strats are on the table, without the need for accuracy boosts.  With SS Kris, Viola and Kris are providing max support to Clair's offensive presence.  Granted, no Zone, but such is life.  Alternatively, SS Cynthia has need of paralysis for her own multipliers, and can use SS Brendan to maximize offenses and kick in Dragon theme skills.  Recall, though, that Viola can buff anyone with her TM, so you could throw that into a team with Drake as the support, but...gauges.

Team 5: W!Viola, Will, MC Mesprit/Liza So okay, we did the paralysis one, let's talk confuse. Viola has AoE Confuse and Stop Hitting Yourself. Stop Hitting Yourself stacks, and as expressed, sides do not have Confuse resistance. Meaning they slap themselves stupid. While Lodge Acerola/Sidney is perfect triple Confuse stacking, I opted against because honestly those two could do better. Will, however, gains tangible benefit from Viola's TM, which can go through the same rotation outlined in Team 2, to set up a denial on left with Will's sync. MC Mesprit is optimal for shields and that last bit of Sp Atk with speed bonus, while Liza is your cheaper option that's good for specially offensive stages. Also if she ever gets an EX she'll be pretty useful.

Team 6: W!Viola, Diantha, SS Mina/Roxanne I find this a little hard to justify with Penny, but we can talk.  SS Mina's got issues aplenty, but one thing that does work out in our favor is Viola helping set up Diantha, while being decently fast unlike Bede.  The Devastation nuke actually exists with Viola's support.

Team 7: W!Viola, Kukui, Paulo/Ingo/BP Olivia This isn't a great idea, but listen. Cakewalk strats are on the table with Viola's Shocking Slowdown. Kukui is getting a very nice grid expansion this month, that removes the need for offensive support. As a result, you can throw in a Sandstorm pair like Paulo (with Support role to tank) or Ingo (removes a good chunk of Kukui's need for self-setup but oh well). If you can afford to drop the Sand Blaster tile, BP Olivia isn't bad as a defensive support to make use of Viola's offensive debuffs. The nice thing here is Viola's disruption can really salvage the Paulo situation, even with Support role, because of the boosted rate of inaction from both paralysis and confusion.

Final Thoughts Viola has good traits, and a lot she can align to. But there are two things to note. First, Viola is not optimal for anyone but Alder. She's broadly useful and can do some general stuff, but she fails to be an optimal pick for most. Most of the time a Zone partner is better off for damage, with pairs like Diantha really wanting things like SS Wally's speed. And when you look generally, at something that paralyzes and debuffs...man, C!Elesa is right there, and has more persistent spectrum debuffs. I listed a lot of teams here not because I think Viola is necessarily the best pick for any of them, but because she kinda helps everyone, similar to C!Elesa. But it's also...kinda hard to say that she's a must-pull. Poor general Gauntlet performance due to one-use paralysis move (she can re-apply, but only on sync), limited Confuse application which tends to be painfully short-lived, and a generalist niche done potentially better by a two-year-old unit and a specific niche that is optimal for only one (1) pair...yeah, it's hard to sell Viola. Which is why I'm making the attempt. It's Vivillon, man, I love this thing.

[racingliners]

Life In The Fast Lane Chapter 18 - 2023 Race 13: Italy

Rating: Teen & Up

Warnings: None apply

Pairings: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s); OFCs & OMCs

Work Tags: Re-write of a previous work; not beta read; dual/multiple pov; mentions of IRL current and past F1 figures; Eventual romance; friends to lovers; found family/work family; actual family; occasional swearing; racing drivers and their various shenanigans; how to handle pressure (and how not to); with a sprinkling of the power of friendship; tags will be updated as work progresses

Chapter: 18/57 Word count: 4.5k Summary: Celebrations and mixed fortunes aplenty at the temple of speed.

I just wanted to do a little note to say that it's been almost a whole year since I posted this first chapter of this mega re-write project over on AO3, and I am so incredibly grateful for all the support on it thus far. I really cannot begin to say just how much it means to me, so thank you, and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

Thursday 31st August – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

The whole paddock had been invited to McLaren’s 60th anniversary celebrations, which kicked off at precisely 5pm (Andrew’s insistence on perfect timing was impeccable as ever). Small champagne flutes had been arranged in neat rows on a white tablecloth at the entrance to the three story high motorhome, with more tables on the first floor dedicated to canapes and light bites of food.

The TV screens on the walls alternated between slideshows and video clips from all of McLaren’s most notable races (Sophie’s podium in Shanghai and victory in Hungary were prominent features), while every McLaren team member was dressed in vintage style uniforms. Short sleeved white button up shirts that had McLaren’s 60th anniversary logo on the front pocket, with papaya and sky blue stripes running down the left front. Sophie had once again gone to the effort of having her nails painted orange, as well as wearing her hair down for the day with a papaya fabric headband fixed in place.

“Between the two of you,” Nathan, who had found Sophie and Nico on the top floor about ten minutes ago and had stayed for a catch-up, gestured to both of them with a loose hand. “Hardly anyone is going to be talking about Ferrari all weekend. I’d avoid Gianluca at all costs, he’ll be pissed.”

“Oh, I’m sure the Tifosi will make up for it tomorrow!” Nico said with the same bright grin that hadn’t left his face all day. His promotion to Red Bull for 2024, for which he’d signed the contract on Tuesday, had finally been announced that morning. And Sophie, as well as being a happy participant in McLaren’s anniversary celebrations, was also set to match Lella Lombardi’s 13 race starts on Sunday (assuming mechanical reliability stayed on her side).

“Anyway, I have to go and do a quick interview, but save a spot for me on the quiz team!” Nathan called over his shoulder as he made his way toward one of the sets of stairs in search of his press officer.

As part of the evening’s festivities, the team was putting on a McLaren themed pub quiz. Andrew had barely signed off on the idea, but Martin had managed to talk him round claiming that there had to be something about the weekend for the team to enjoy. Since they were coming into it knowing that they might not be quick enough to score a single point come Sunday.

When Nico and Sophie made their way downstairs, Mark was still in deep conversation with Sophie’s mechanics. He seemed to have them all enthralled by tales of the old days, both on and off track judging by the loud laughter that would bubble out of the group every so often.

The quiz was the last event of the night after all the speeches and presentations, and Leena’s team of herself plus Chris, Paul, Amir and Leon wiped the floor with everyone else. Sophie’s team that included Nico, Nathan, Ben and Aaron came in second with Mark’s team of mechanics in joint third.

“For once, he finishes in second place,” James said in mock teasing in Ben’s direction, much to everyone else’s amusement.

“Ah, but if it had been a Red Bull quiz, I would have won.” Benedikt retorted with a wide grin as he got up from his chair. As the drivers began to disperse for the circuit car park, either heading back to their luxury mobile motorhomes or hotels, Ben intentionally hang back by Sophie’s side.

“I saw your helmet when I came in, you and Max did a beautiful job.”

“Thank you!” Sophie grinned, it had been a small weight off her shoulders knowing her helmet design for the weekend had turned out as well as she had hoped. “Max was great though, he’s doing my helmet for Singapore as well, and he even managed to work in a tribute to Lella at the last minute.”

“Oh really, I didn’t see it?”

At that Sophie insisted on showing Ben the two display helmets that had been painted in the same designs James and Sophie were running for the weekend. James’ was mostly the same as normal, bar the number 12 being painted on in a vintage style, with each of McLaren’s title winning years going around it in gold foil.

While Sophie’s helmet followed her usual pattern of stripes on a plain base, the colours had been switched for papaya and sky blue stripes on a white background, all of which were filled names and races. On the white background was the name of each McLaren team member, the first orange stripe listed every one of McLaren’s race wins, the middle blue stripe had the names of every single McLaren driver, and the second orange stripe featured all the races Sophie’s father had taken part in as a mechanic. And up at the top, encircling the number 16, was all thirteen races contested by Lella Lombardi.

“That’s really beautiful Sophie,” Ben said with a small, soft smile as he carefully set the helmet back down. “Has your Dad seen it?”

Sophie didn’t get to say that he had, as when Edward Morden and Charlotte Stewart got up from the table in the corner they’d been sat at with Martin and started making their way towards the door, Benedikt suddenly looked like he didn’t know where to put himself.

“Matt and Annika will be looking for me, I better go.” Ben said shyly, his eyes darting between Sophie and Edward. “See you tomorrow.” Out of nowhere, he put a gentle hand on Sophie’s shoulder and leaned down to kiss her cheek. Something that took them both by surprise as they gawked at each other for a couple of moments, before Benedikt very quickly darted away.

All Sophie could think about for a couple of minutes was that Ben’s aftershave somehow smelled like the mountain air he called home.

Sunday 3rd September

“Everybody eyes front!” David, McLaren’s team photographer, called out above the bubble of chatter emanating from the gathered team members. They were all stood in the warm sunshine in front of the motorhome, dressed in their neatly pressed uniforms with the management and drivers stood front and centre while the rest of the team were roughly arranged in rows behind.

Andrew had been in attendance for the whole weekend, and was less than impressed with the fact that his cars had qualified in ninth and tenth. But for a brief few seconds no one seemed to care about what little race pace they were going to have as the whole team fixed bright grins on their faces and smiled for however long they were told to. After all, 60th anniversaries weren’t very common in Formula 1, and everyone felt like they wanted to make the most of it regardless.

As expected the team had been under more media scrutiny than normal, with questions asked if whether McLaren would be able to fix their car problems before the regulation change in 2026, how was Sophie going to bounce back after her difficult race in Turkey, and would it be better for James to cut his losses and try to get a seat somewhere else? It had been a pleasant surprise when some journalists decided to ignore all of that, and ask questions about McLaren’s historical achievements instead.

Ferrari however were still the main attraction for the tens of thousands of Tifosi that had filled the circuit grounds. All of the grandstands were filled with red for as far as the eye could see, and the reception that Giovanni and Teo got on the drivers parade was almost deafening.

Sophie was stood with Nico and a still sheepish Benedikt, who had pulled Sophie aside after the driver’s briefing on Friday and apologised for kissing her on the cheek out of the blue. Admittedly, Sophie hadn’t felt uncomfortable by the encounter, just surprised at the display of apparent affection. But she accepted the apology none the less, and insisted that they were still on good terms. Still friends.

“And now, onto the birthday boy,” Lise from German TV was conducting the interviews on the drivers parade, as the flat-bed truck slowly trundled through the chicane at the end of Curva Grande. “How many seconds would you like to win by? 26 maybe since that’s how old you are today?”

Benedikt puffed out his cheeks and let out a bright laugh, but now that Sophie knew him better she could see the very small hint of shyness behind it.

“I think any win would be nice today,” He paused to adjust his cap and wave at the crowd that didn’t seem too interested in him, but it didn’t appear to phase Ben in the slightest. “I love coming to Monza every year. The track is amazing with how fast we get to go, so getting to race here on my birthday is quite a privilege. Hopefully we can keep up the pace we’ve had so far in practice and have a good day today.”

With his beaming smile and how tall he was standing, it wasn’t hard to tell that Benedikt had secured pole position by three tenths of a second yesterday.

The truck had now exited the second Lesmo, and was surrounded by tress on both sides on the way down to the Ascari chicane. The warm, bright sunshine dappled through the leaves onto the driver’s faces as they quietly chatted amongst themselves since there were no fans to wave at.

“Definitely nicer than what it was like last year.” Sophie said aloud to no one in particular.

“It’s like home.” Ben said quietly, but with a small smile as he looked up at the trees. Sophie had been referring to the weather, but she had to agree that the parkland in which the circuit was situated was incredibly beautiful.

“So that’s why you left Zürich for the countryside, not enough trees?” Sophie asked, slightly teasing. Ben let out a light laugh and went to reply right as Lise appeared at Sophie’s side with her microphone in hand. She asked about both McLaren’s big anniversary, and Sophie’s latest career milestone. All Sophie felt she could do was put on a warm smile and say as she had done so many times over the weekend of the honour it was to be a McLaren driver, and that while the team was expecting today to be difficult they were still going to work hard to deliver the best result they could.

“How are you such a natural at this stuff?” James asked under his breath once the drivers were off the parade truck and walking back to the paddock.

“Well, when you spend the majority of your career having to defend your right to simply be on the grid, not scoring points suddenly isn’t the worst prospect in the world.” Sophie said with a frown, sounding a lot heavier than she intended. “Sorry I didn’t-”

“It’s fine Soph,” James said, briefly flinging an arm round her shoulders and even flashing a small smile at her. “I’m sure that if you ever take something out on me and mean it, I’ll know about it.”

“I think having Andrew looming over my shoulder the whole weekend has put me on edge.” Sophie finally said under her breath once they had some distance between themselves and their fellow drivers.

“Yeah…” James paused to scratch at a spot on his jaw. “You and me both.”

“Go well today Sophie.” Nico said quickly, appearing at her side out of thin air.

“You too, allez!”

“Allez!” Nico beamed back, fist half raised in the air for good measure, and he squeezed Sophie in a warm side hug before jogging over to the Red Bull energy station with his press officer.

Katie and Richard had been lagging behind their drivers the whole walk over, giving them space to have a conversation just themselves, while Sophie and James found themselves in a semi-comfortable silence while the sun continued to beat down on the circuit.

“I’ll try and give you a tow at the start, like Leena suggested this morning.” James said as they walked back into the motorhome and made for the stairs.

“If I end up in front I’ll do the same for you.” Sophie said without too much thought. As Martin had very plainly put it in the morning briefing, good teamwork was going to be essential today if they wanted to score points. Neither James or Sophie had any kind of problem with that.

“Let’s just hope we don’t end up plum last.” James sighed through gritted teeth as he patted his teammate’s shoulder.

Mark didn’t realise that he had been chewing on his thumbnail until he caught a glimpse of himself on the screen showing the global feed, stood at the back of Sophie’s side of the garage in between Vanessa and Richard wearing a soft grey polo shirt with the McLaren speedmark logo embroidered in white on the left. He quietly scoffed at himself and tucked his thumb into a fist which he gently tapped against his chin instead, as his eyes were fixed on the screen that showed Sophie’s onboard camera as she made her way through the formation lap.

As a mechanic, Monza had never been one of Mark’s favourite tracks purely because of the high chance of carnage at the narrow first chicane – anything from a broken front wing endplate to having a wheel and suspension ripped off the car and the race being over before it got started.

The team’s mechanics took their seats in the garage, having made their rushed return to the pit lane as the cars started to line back up on the grid. All Mark really wanted was for Sophie – and by extension out of the love he still held for his old team – James to make it through the first lap unscathed.

Mark was clenching his fist so tightly that as the start lights began to illuminate, he could feel his skin pressing hard against his gold wedding band.

The start lights went out quickly, but that barely caught anyone off guard as the cars sped out of their grid slots in perfect formation. Carotti and Mitchell both got a tow off Schmitz who had already firmly planted his car on the racing line to have the optimal turn in point for the first corner. It was clever, as it meant the second Red Bull would either have to take to the grass or brake early to stay on the road.

But Mark didn’t care about any of that when the front runners started to brake. It was always the worst concertina effect of the season at Monza, and while Sophie and James made it through cleanly, one of the Haas cars and both Aston Martins came out worse for wear as one went right into the back of the other. Jones was out of the race immediately, while Nichols was able to continue despite dropping to the back of the field with a puncture and no front wing. Curva Grande offered a brief pause before the second chicane, quickly followed by the two Lesmos. James and Sophie were still running in their starting positions, with Sophie staying tucked in her teammate’s slipstream to try and pull a gap on the eleventh placed Alpine behind right before the safety car was brought out.

Mark, Vanessa and Richard all exhaled in relief at the exact same time.

“She’s fine.” Vanessa said, lightly patting Mark’s arm in reassurance. “Why does this never get any easier?” She added in quick succession, and just about managed to take a small sip from her drinks bottle.

“If I ever find out the secret to dealing with it, you’ll be the first to know.” Mark said with a slightly strained chuckle as he pressed his radio headset against his ears to hear the exchange between Sophie and Chris on the radio.

“Remember to keep heat in your tyres for the restart, and James will give you a tow to try and keep Vasquez behind.”

At the mention of Sophie’s teammate, Mark quickly glanced over to the other side of the garage to see if Natasha was alright. As with every race she had attended, she held station next to James’ trainer and like Mark had her eyes fixed on the screens above. He thought about going over for a reassuring word when Mark’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and as he suspected it was a text from Mary asking if Sophie was alright. It must have been so busy at the airport that she hadn’t been able to stop by one of the bars showing the race.

He quickly texted back saying that Sophie was still in tenth place, and that the safety car was nothing to do with her. Mark reluctantly put his phone back in his pocket once he’d hit send, if Mary was busy then she wouldn’t be able to send more than a quick reply.

It hadn’t been the easiest decision to only attend a handful of races together, but with how much money they had put into Sophie’s career they weren’t in a position to be able to take any unpaid time off. And it was better for Sophie to have at least one of her parents in the back of the garage than neither of them.

“Are you alright Mr Knightsbridge?” Richard asked. At some point Mark had started chewing his thumbnail again.

“I’m fine.” He stuffed his hands firmly in his pockets. “And I’ve told you to call me Mark.” He affectionately scolded the press officer, gently nudging him with his elbow and a small smile for good measure.

“Sorry, old habits.”

The race restarted on lap 10, and while Sophie and James had initially pulled away from the Alpine behind, they were both undercut at the first round of pit stops which dropped Sophie out of the points. James tried as hard as he could to stay in Vasquez’s DRS, but it was no use. The McLaren, despite its rather stunning all over papaya vintage livery, just didn’t have the straight line speed to keep up.

Meanwhile up front nothing could phase Schmitz, who after nearly losing the lead at the first corner had went on to build enough of a gap to Carotti behind to retain the lead after his first and only pit stop, while Mitchell was in a permanent scrap to stay in third place ahead of Martinez in the second Ferrari.

There was a loud hiss in the garage on lap 42 when Watkins and Martens banged wheels as they went side by side through the second chicane fighting over fifth, both cars were unscathed until there was a burst of carbon fibre shards at the braking point for the first Lesmo and both cars seemingly had punctures. The incident brought out the virtual safety car, and both McLarens were called in for a fresh set of mediums. It dropped them out of the points, but Mark assumed that Amir’s thought process was with the rest of the grid on old hard tyres it would be easier for Sophie and James to make up places.

It was such a good idea, that about four other cars as well as Watkins and Martens were also called in for fresh tyres.

When the chequered flag fell at the end of lap 53, Schmitz won the race by twelve seconds while James and Sophie came home in eleventh and twelfth, not even close to tenth place.

A wave of disappointment crashed across the garage as mechanics and engineers looked at leach other with a mixture of defeated and resigned expressions. It was a feeling Mark knew well as he pulled his phone back out of his pocket to text Mary and Will the race result while Vanessa and Richard went down to parc fermé to wait for Sophie.

When Sophie finally returned to the garage after being weighed, she looked as glum as everyone else felt. But she still clasped hands and bumped fists with her mechanics and engineers before she handed Vanessa her helmet and made a beeline for Mark.

“Well done sweetheart.” He pulled his daughter into his arms for a tight hug, and kissed the top of her head just in case she needed it. “You did all you could, I’m proud of you.”

“It didn’t feel like it. I really thought Jan was going to get me on that last lap. If James hadn’t given me DRS…” Sophie trailed off with a sigh as she stepped out of the hug and fixed her team cap on top of her head. “I need to get these post-race interviews out of the way.”

“I’ll head back to the motorhome then.” Mark had very briefly contemplated offering to help with the derig of the garage, but when he remembered he was wearing trainers instead of steel toe-capped boots he decided he was probably better off keeping Vanessa company while Sophie went from interviews to the post-race debrief.

The only plus side from the day that Mark could come up with was that at least McLaren were holding onto fifth in the constructors standings by a country mile over Aston Martin. But what good was fifth when the whole garage wanted to be first?

“Hey Sophie!”

Everyone looked over their shoulders to see James call out and even jog to catch up with his teammate. Mark didn’t get to hear the full conversation as Sophie and Richard veered off in the direction of the press pen while Mark and Vanessa walked back into the air conditioned McLaren motorhome.

It was like déjà vu in the media pen for Sophie, as for the second time in seven days she found herself going through the racing driver’s book of excuses trying to explain where her race went wrong. Her only saving grace was that this time it was more to do with the car, and not her.

The debrief wasn’t much better. Almost everyone was down about the fact they’d converted a double top ten on the starting grid into nothing. And the added pressure to at least score points on the team’s anniversary weekend only made the atmosphere in the engineering trucks worse.

The car just simply wasn’t fast enough. Good cornering speed was no use on a circuit that was predominantly fast straights. Leena and Martin tried their best to find parts of the weekend that had gone well, and by the time the briefing was over the air amongst the team felt only marginally lighter.

“We’ve got a week off before we head out to Singapore. So get some rest, have some quality time with your families, and we’ll go again.” Were Martin’s parting words before he dismissed everyone with the best smile he could muster. Chris, who had been sat on Sophie’s left, puffed out his cheeks and let out a long sigh.

“Thank god we don’t do triple headers anymore.” He said with a shake of the head. Adam let out a grunt of agreement from Sophie’s right. Truth be told, she was grateful for a week off from racing as much as everyone else. Even though she was going to be jumping right into heat training with Vanessa to be as ready as she could be for Singapore.

“See you guys on Tuesday.” Sophie said to her engineers and they exchanged pats on the shoulder goodbye. Everyone would be back at the factory next week for more meetings and debriefs to go through the data from the weekend with a fine tooth comb.

When she got up out of her chair after gathering her things, Sophie saw James holding the door open for the last few stragglers. The two teammates ended up being the last to leave.

A part of Sophie felt frustrated. This was the seventh race where James had finished ahead of her on the road. And granted she had finished just over a second behind him, and Sophie knew that if she had managed to get ahead of James, she wouldn’t have managed to finish higher than eleventh either. She was just annoyed that she couldn’t give the team something to cheer for.

“Are you going to be at that sponsor photoshoot tomorrow?” James asked, stopping completely when he’d reached the bottom of the stairs, right in front of the door that led out into the paddock. It was operated by a push button, which was why it hadn’t opened automatically at their presence.

“The one in London?” James gave a small hum in reply. “I think so, I know I have a photoshoot tomorrow. I can double check with Richard if you’d like.”

While Sophie and James had already featured in many a sponsor campaign since January, their photoshoots had mostly been on completely different days due to their schedules, and the fact they lived in different countries. So she wasn’t surprised at James asking to check if for once they were going to be in the same place outside of a circuit or the factory.

“It’s fine, I just wondered if you wanted to grab some food after?” James said as he scratched behind his ear. “It’s alright if you don’t, I won’t be offended.”

Sophie huffed out the smallest of laughs at the implication that hanging out with her teammate completely outside of work was such an awful prospect. Even though Sophie assumed it would be at some ultra-exclusive restaurant which wasn’t really her cup of tea, she did still genuinely like James. And her feelings towards him had thankfully felt less complicated than they had back in Budapest. Because even though they got on well, had the odd mutual interest (unsurprisingly, vintage cars), and that Sophie felt she could trust him completely – something in the back of her mind told her they could never be anything more than teammates.

“That would be really nice.” Sophie said in quick reply.

“Great,” With a bright smile James pressed the button to open the door, and stepped out into the paddock. Sophie fell in step with him almost immediately. “I’ll see where I can book a table, but feel free to bring Vanessa along if you want a wing woman.”

As they crossed over to the motorhome a faint drizzle started to fall from the sky, it took everyone by surprise as they looked up at the faint grey clouds. No rain had been forecast until the late evening.

“See you tomorrow then.” Once inside, James made a couple of long strides over towards the stairs while Sophie headed over toward the table Mark and Vanessa were sitting at. Sophie knew they probably wouldn’t see each other at the airport, with her flying commercial and James on a private jet.

“See you tomorrow!” Sophie called out, and watched her teammate disappear upstairs.

* * *

2023 Italian Grand Prix Classification

1st - Benedikt Schmitz (Red Bull) - 25pts 2nd - Giovanni Carotti (Ferrari) - 18pts 3rd - Alistair Mitchell (Red Bull) - 15pts 4th - Teo Martinez (Ferrari) - 12pts 5th - Daniel Jakobsson (Alpine) - 10pts 6th - Marc Pavard (Mercedes) - 8pts 7th - Erik Braun (Audi) - 6pts 8th - Nico Dumont (Alpha Tauri) - 4pts 9th - Nathan Watkins (Mercedes) - 2pts 10th - Cristóbal Vasquez (Alpine) - 1pt 11th - James Hewitt (McLaren) 12th - Sophie Knightsbridge (McLaren) 13th - Jan Martens (Audi) 14th - Aidan Glover (Williams) 15th - Evan McKinley (Williams) 16th - Antonio Lima (Alpha Tauri) 17th - Owen Nichols (Aston Martin) RET - Leon Bauer (Haas) RET - Tadashi Sato (Haas)RET - Aaron Jones (Aston Martin) Fastest Lap - Nathan Watkins - 1pt

2023 Championship Standings after Round Thirteen

Drivers Standings

1st - Benedikt Schmitz (SUI) - 226pts 2nd - Giovanni Carotti (ITA) - 189pts 3rd - Nathan Watkins (CAN) - 166pts 4th - Alistair Mitchell (GBR) - 144pts 5th - Cristóbal Vasquez (ESP) - 128pts (8th - Sophie Knightsbridge (GBR) - 61pts 10th - James Hewitt (GBR) - 45pts)

Constructors Standings

1st - Red Bull-Honda (AUT) - 370pts 2nd - Ferrari (ITA) - 285pts 3rd - Mercedes-AMG (GER) - 276pts 4th - Alpine-Renault (FRA) - 187pts 5th - McLaren-Mercedes (GBR) - 106pts

[angrywrasslenerd]

The Angry Wrasslin’ Nerd’s Wrassleviews: Aftermath 2023

Aftermath is traditionally the biggest show on the SWA calendar, the big "season finale" where everything comes together. Tournament winners challenge champions,  blood feuds culminate, hatchets are buried, and new chapters begin, both for wrestlers and for the promotion itself. This is the most exciting time of year to be an SWA fan.

At least, that's the idea. If you've been an SWA fan as long as I have, you start to notice that sometimes, Aftermath fucking sucks. Sometimes the challengers are unexciting, the matches are unsatisfying, and everything just feels like it's in a holding pattern waiting for the fresh blood that typically comes between Aftermath and Emergence. So, where did 2023's show land us? Was this an exciting climax to the year? Or a mammoth-sized turd in the punch bowl? Let's get right to it.

Connor Cipris, Lina, Shannon Fulmar, and Regina Ibanez vs. Aaron Wolff, Valkyrie Jameson, Brianna Dalton, and Raven Briars

I've said my piece a number of times about these pointless low-card tag clusterfucks. They don't move anything forward, and they're just there to get names on the card and fill out matches. The scale for them usually goes from "ASS" to "Meh".

That said, for what this was, it was decent enough. Lina and Valkyrie, in particular, were highlights of the match, and Lina continues to show off her now-legendary toughness every chance she gets. This woman does not wrestle like someone who wants to still be walking in 5 years, let alone wrestling, and fuck me if it isn't entertaining as hell. Every feat of strength Valkyrie could pull off, every crushing lariat or devastating slam, Lina got right back up and asked for more.  This feud has legs, and managed to drag what would otherwise be another dull tag clusterfuck right up into decent territory. If only they would get time for a singles match on a PPV. I seriously don't get what SWA management's deal is regarding Lina the last few years. 44 really isn't that old, and when she's still going at a level like this, why the ass aren't they featuring her more?

The rest of the match was... well, it was fine I guess. Everyone looked good, and nothing stood out as bad. But I was always just waiting for Lina and Valkyrie to get back in the ring. The BHB team emerged victorious when Connor and Shannon both locked in their big submission finishers on Aaron Wolff at the same time (which looked fuckin' vicious by the way), and that was that.

The Nerd's Rating: Watchable/10

El Rey Dorado, Fabio Silva, and Javier Valiente vs. Chad Jackson, El Halcon Loco Jr., and Kara Stern

I don't think Javier Valiente really fits in Los Diablos. Sure, he's a bit of a prankster, but he just doesn't have the kind of inherent shitheadedness that the rest of the faction does. Any time he was in the ring, this was almost a normal wrestling match, with a few shenanigans and pranks here and there. Comparing it to what was going on when El Rey Dorado or Fabio motherFUCKING Silva (who was back to the ring earlier than I expected goddammit) was in the ring reminded me why I used to fuckin' hate these guys so much. Referee misdirections, double-teaming, bullshit on the outside, this match was a greatest hits of Los Diablos' most hatable crap, right down to a completely needless beatdown on Chad Jackson after they'd already won, a beatdown that I note Javier didn't participate in. Don't be surprised if he drifts away from the faction in the coming months.

The Nerd's Rating: Ugh/10

Armel St. Martin and Hanami Watanabe vs. Jake Adair and Lexi Heart

This one should've been a banger. Hanami Watanabe and Lexi Heart's dislike for each other isn't fading at all with time, and they were quite eager to beat the shit out of each other here. Meanwhile, Armel St. Martin seemed motivated to take down Jake Adair after losing to him in the World Open, and Jake actually pulled some rarely-seen anger out of Armel. Jake was quick to tag in when Hanami was in the ring, but just as quick to tag out whenever Armel came after him, and that frustration on Armel's part boiled over into some of the nastiest strikes we've ever seen him throw. Meanwhile, Lexi steadily got tired of Jake's shit because she wanted to be the one fighting Hanami. This led to blind tags and argument on that side of the ring, which Armel and Hanami took advantage of to secure the win.

Jake's bullshit really weighed this match down. He can be a great wrestler when he puts his working boots on, and he's spent years trying to live down his 2018 Inside Wrasslin' "Most Hated Man in Wrestling" award, so you'd think he wouldn't stoop to this shit. Maybe he's afraid of Armel's vengeance after that roll-up win over him in the World Open, but c'mon man it's Aftermath. Get your shit together.

The Nerd's Rating: Disappointing/10

Jim Tarler and Tess Tarler vs. Tommy Powers and Olivia Powers

I'm usually one of the first to complain about nostalgia acts getting big PPV spots, but to be honest, this was actually pretty good. The Powers' had their game faces on, and were dead-set on trying to isolate the 65-year-old Jim Tarler, but he was having none of it. Both sides made frequent tags, and both sides worked together well, with frequent double-team maneuvers and last-moment pin breakups.

The Tarlers really impressed me in this match. Jim fought like hell, and if it weren't for his appearance, you'd be forgiven for mistaking him for a younger man. Tess coordinated well with her grandfather, pulling off matched moves with him, or doing the old signature spots that he can't do anymore. Which is good, because I don't know about you, but I don't fuckin' need to see a 65 year old man doing diving elbows and probably breaking something in my wrestling. Anyway, the Tarlers finally gave the crowd something to really get loud about, and the double Blast Bomb finish was exactly what we needed after a mostly unimpressive undercard.

After the bout was over, Tess grabbed a house mic and teased that she might come back at some point in the future. As I understand it, she's still considering contracts from multiple organizations, and has a busy schedule of matches for a variety of promotions in the coming months. I'll be watching with interest to see where she lands.

The Nerd's Rating: Palate-Cleansing/10

Matt de Leon vs. Aguijon Tachibana

Sometimes, all you need is some motherfucking lucha libre. The Tarlers' match aside, this show had been pretty tepid up to this point, and what we really needed was something to up the pace and really get us to care. Leave it to these two guys to deliver exactly that. The first ten minutes or so of this match were just pure lucha, with lightning-fast hold exchanges, technical pin attempts, and a good dose of high-flying as well. Though I guess the rest of the match was also pure lucha in its own way, as they got steadily more pissed off and brought out the heavy striking. This may have been a mistake on Matt's part, as Aguijon is a more adept kicker than him, and was quick to show this fact off with some absolutely blistering examples. Matt held his own, though, and actually pissed Aguijon off enough with his own kicks that Aguijon went and got a chair. Referee Nadine Mathis tried to talk Aguijon down, until Matt solved the issue by dropkicking the chair into Aguijon's face, where it then flew out of the ring.

Overall, Aguijon fought well, and surprisingly clean, sneaky little fucker that he is, other than the chair. However, Matt's momentum was just undeniable, and after 19 minutes of non-stop action, Aguijon simply didn't have an answer for Matt's Phoenix Splash.

Some of the miserable fuckers that like to clog up my social media feed will probably say that this being my MotN is more a comment on the quality of the overall show than the match itself, but honestly this would've been a pretty great match on any card, and past this point, it was all pedal to the metal anyway. Congratulations to the new Aftermath Champion; with a performance like that, it's richly deserved.

The Nerd's Rating: Fucking Perfection/10

Gold-Blooded vs. The Divine Imperium

I think this is the match that we'll remember as when the cracks started to show for The Divine Imperium. Don't get me wrong, it's not like their act is getting any less funny. But tonight they came as close as they ever have to losing the tag-team championships. Gold-Blooded are just too tight a team to be going up against them without cohesion, something that, as I've mentioned, The Divine Imperium are seriously lacking.

This match ultimately came in kind of a weird place, squished between two absolute killer singles matches. It wasn't bad, and was certainly better than the tepid undercard, but it suffered for being sandwiched between two matches that were far better. Once it was clear that they were actually under serious threat, Akiko and Mizuki did what disciples of Samael do best: They resorted to being absolute monsters. Of course, Cerise and Leticia being members of Los Diablos, they're no strangers to a good old fashioned street fight themselves. You can imagine how things went from there.

I'd say a good half of this match took place outside of the ring, and even when it was inside, things were in full-bore anything goes mode. Tables were broken, chairs were smashed over heads, turnbuckle pads were removed, kendo sticks were produced from somewhere, and while I don't speak Portuguese or Japanese, I'm pretty sure that whatever Leticia was screaming at the top of her lungs violated some kind of broadcast standard somewhere. Referee Nadine Mathis visibly gave up trying to keep any of this under control, and was just content to count the final fall. After all was said and done, The Divine Imperium squeaked one out here, but they clearly underestimated their opponents' capacity for violence, and were on the back foot for a decent portion of the proceedings.

The Nerd's Rating: Violentastic/10

Mieko Suzuyama vs. Gabriela Espinosa

These two are a known quantity at this point, with a number of matches against each other over the last several years. Familiarity can be a double-edged sword for a matchup; while two opponents who know each other well can build up a series of counter-plays that make for exciting matches, a matchup can also just get stale over time because we've seen all this shit before.

Thankfully, this was a different set of circumstances than we've ever seen before for these two women. Since the last time they locked up, Gabriela became Joshi Champion for the first time in her career, and she was as motivated as I've ever seen to hold onto her gold at any cost. Mieko, meanwhile, has been three years away from the title at this point, and it was clear that every day away from the title scene had been eating her up. The match we got from that peculiar alchemy was pure asskickery, only narrowly edged out in my consideration for Match of the Night by the Aftermath Championship match. And sure, Gabriela pulling out all the stops meant a bunch of sketchy rollups, feet on the ropes, all that shit, but when the intensity is this high, and when Mieko absolutely was not having that shit for even a second, and rewarded every shenanigan with pain, I can't be too mad about it (even if the amount of cheating bullshit is a decent part of why I didn't make this my MotN).

When her bag of tricks ran out, though, that's when Gabriela really kicked things into gear and this match got serious. Vicious kicks and chops flew back and forth wtih abandon. Gabriela was jumping off of every surface she could to add momentum to her attacks. Mieko pulled out her old Miracle Third finisher for a near-fall. Both women locked each other in signature holds and I swear I thought it was over a bunch of times. Finishers were countered. By the time Mieko finally managed to nail the Final Hidden Miracle to lift the Joshi Championship for the third time, I was exhausted just from watching.

The Nerd's Rating: Damn near perfect/10

Kazuo Saji vs. Ultimo Cielo

I had really high expectations going into this match. Ultimo Cielo has been steadily growing on me over the last year, producing some really excellent title defenses. Meanwhile, Kazuo Saji has never looked so focused in SWA. Kazuo had an absolutely incredible goddamn World Open this year, putting in tons of match time, giving amazing performances, and of course getting his first ever singles victory over Armel St. Martin. Given Cielo calling that he would be the first SWA Openweight Champion to ever defeat the winner of the World Open way back in February, not to mention putting his mask on the line, there was a real unstoppable force meets immovable object feeling about this matchup that was tantalizing to say the least.

Ultimo Cielo made a promise on that SWA TV back in February, saying that he would come into Aftermath alone, without any backup. What he never promised us, though, was how the shows leading up to this were going to go. In preview tags over the past couple weeks, Murderer's Row made sure to spend as much time as they could isolating Kazuo Saji and working over his leg. I guess Cielo got spooked after seeing Saji completely fucking obliterating people with the Chrome Splitter during the World Open. It barely seemed to matter, though, because Kazuo wasn't interested in trying out the Splitter in this match - he didn't attempt it once. Maybe he was wary of how effective it would be after all the legwork, or maybe he wanted to prove that he didn't need it. Either way, he ended up using just about every other aspect of his game to take the fight to the champion in a match that would've easily been one of my top matches of the night were it not for one teensy problem.

See, at about 23 minutes into the match, Kazuo Saji countered his way out of Ultimo Cielo's Angel Killer spinning tombstone piledriver. That must have panicked Cielo, because that's when everything went to hell. From that point on, a match that had been cleanly fought and really exciting became shenanigan city. Cielo did everything he could to keep referee Toby Russell distracted (not that distracting Toby is hard) so he could go for low blows and dirty pin attempts. When that didn't work, he threw Kazuo straight into Toby so that nobody with authority to stop the match would see him blast Kazuo full on in the jaw with a set of brass knuckles. To Kazuo's credit, he kicked out AGAIN after the brass knuckles shot, and even started to mount a comeback but he was unable to do anything about the second Angel Killer.

A match like this is really fucking frustrating. A complete turd of a match that stinks out the joint is one thing, but a titanic fucking miscarriage of justice like this is an entire other sack of shit. To think Cielo was winning me over with great performances as recently as Crescendo. Fuck this ending and fuck Ultimo Cielo for ruining what could have been one of the greatest matches of the year with his horsefuckery. Was it really worth it, Cielo? Throwing away any credibility you had with the fans just so you could say you're the first champ to turn back the World Open winner at Aftermath?

Fuck.

The Nerd's Rating: FUCK. MY. LIFE/10

[aaronhotchstan]

Too old for this...

Chapter six

Spin the bottle

Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi

Drunken shenanigans

Dave found himself at Garcia’s apartment drinking some ridiculously large and equally ridiculously decorated cocktails with Morgan, JJ and Prentiss in tow. After a few drinks he gave into their demands and told them about the night before. How he had looked after Aaron on their walk back to their room and how much he had enjoyed seeing Hotch doing his drunken antics. The man had been so carefree, joking with Dave like he had when he first joined the bureau and carrying a lot less weight on his shoulders. Of course when he got to the part about Aaron snuggling up to him and falling asleep there was a chorus of “Awwwww”’s from the three ladies and an encouraging smile from Derek.

Though it ended with them all being disappointed that Aaron had scurried away in the morning without much discussion of the night before.

“Hey now stop pouting all of you! I kissed him didn’t I?” Rossi shouted over his fourth drink. He was under the impression that each one had more alcohol than the last.

“You kissed him on the top of the head that doesn’t count!” Emily retorted pulling JJ over and planting a kiss to the top of her head. “See! It’s nice but it isn’t romantic!”

JJ had laughed at Emily’s antics blushing slightly and spilling some of her drink as she struggled to sit back upright.

“If you want to kiss Hotch we should just invite him here! Give him some of Garcia’s ‘Love bomb’ drinks and get down to business!” Derek commanded downing the contents of his glass.

“OMG! We should invite Hotch and play some games and you can flirt and kiss and it’ll be perfect!” Garcia exclaimed bringing them over a new tray of drinks.

“Firstly no way you call these things ‘Love bombs’” Dave said while grabbing a new one. “Secondly no way will Aaron come over unless it’s an emergency and even if you got him here we are not getting ‘Down to business’ in front of all of you!”

“I bet Baby Girl could convince him to come over and fine! You can get down to business in the car home!” Derek yelled causing everyone to cheer-

“Down to business!”

Dave just laughed as he watched Garcia grab her phone getting ready to call.

“This is a terrible idea I hope you all know that.” He said to what may as well have been a brick wall.

“No it’s not! We will all be your wingmen!” Emily yelled right as Garcia held up a finger to shush them.

“Sir I need you to come over here it’s really important. No it can’t wait till morning. Yes thank you I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the call and they all applauded again.

“Okay so what is the emergency for when he get’s here?” JJ asked and everyone in the room appeared to be drawing a blank.

“Emm Rossi needs mouth to mouth!” Emily shouted. “It’s perfect you lie on the floor.” She began moving people’s shoes and bags clearing a space for him. “We all say he just collapsed and we didn’t know what to do.”

“That is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard and we are on the same side here.” Derek laughed. “We tell him we were worried about the deathly lack of fun he’s been having and we give him a drink.”

“Or we say we just missed him a lot and really wanted him to come which isn’t really a lie!” Penelope chirped right as there was a knock on the door.

Garcia ran to the door squealing excitedly which must have been partly why Aaron looked so confused when she threw open the door. His confusion only grew when she threw her arms around him and practically lifted him off his feet.

“They said you wouldn’t come but I’m so glad you did!” She gushed leading him inside and closing the door behind him.

He walked into the room cautiously as though he suspected he was being lead into an active minefield. Dave gestured for him to sit next to him on one of Penelope’s plush velvet couches and he walked over still keeping a slow pace and seemingly trying to figure out if this is all a strange dream.

“I…Penelope what’s going on?” He asked as he sat down next to Dave and had a chance to take in the very eye-catching sparkly drinks they all had in hand laden with many cocktail umbrellas. The many cushions from the couches all pushed to the floor to make room for all the adults to lounge across them and the trays of Penelope’s experimental party food on the low table in front of them all.

“Sir don’t be mad! I was just really sad I missed going to the bar with all of you and I knew you would only come if I said it was important, which in my mind it is! Because you’re one of my best friends and I want you to hang out with us and have fun!” She rambled holding out a drink for him.

He took a moment to think about everything she said and smiled at her. It was after all impossible to be mad at Penelope Garcia and Jack was with Jessica visiting his grandpa so he would have spent the night alone catching up on paperwork anyway.

He reached up and took the offered drink from her hand. “It’s okay Penelope I’m honored you want to include me… just don’t worry me like that next time.” He took a drink from his glass as they all cheered. Dave laughed as he watched Aaron wrinkle his nose at the large amount of alcohol within which proved his theory that Garcia’s hand was getting heavier as the night went on.

“How about we all play a game then!” Emily commanded with an eerily devious look on her face.

Garcia giggled in delight “Yes! What game Em?”

“I say we play, Spin the Bottle!” The ladies all began to cheer at the suggestion.

Penelope left to go find one of the empty bottles to play while Emily and JJ moved the table far enough so they could sit in a circle and beckoned the weary men to join them.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea” Aaron pleaded looking to the other men for support.

“I’ll play but I’m picking the next game.” Derek declared sitting down next to Emily.

Penelope came rushing in with an empty rum bottle and set it down in the middle before sitting next to JJ.

“Hey Aaron it’s just a game, we are all adults here and you don’t have to join in if you’re really not comfortable.” Dave said patting him on the shoulder before taking a seat (and instantly regretting the damage to his knees in the process) next to Penelope and looking up at him expectantly.

Aaron seemed to think it over a little longer before sighing and downing the rest of his drink with a grimace.

“If Strauss found out about this the BAU would all be sent for a psych eval.” He groaned sitting between Dave and Derek.

They all shared a laugh at his dry humor.

“What happens at Casa Garcia stays at Casa Garcia!” Penelope yelled before she spun the bottle and it landed on Derek.

They all cheered them on as they met in the middle of the circle and shared a kiss that left the rest of them blushing and having to look away.

“Okay okay! No more we beg of you!” Emily said grabbing the bottle and spinning it. Her spin landed on Aaron and the man looked terrified. “Oh come on Hotch I won’t bite…much!”

When they met in the center she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a fierce kiss to the sounds of the circle’s gasps. They broke apart and Emily shot Dave a wink that he had to admit sent a hot spike of jealousy to his stomach.

They continued to play a few more rounds Emily kissed JJ and Dave, Penelope kissed Emily and JJ, JJ kissed Derek and Dave then Derek kissed Hotch (with much wolf whistling from the women) and Emily. It was Aaron’s turn to spin after some persuasion, the man had been too nervous to spin so far but after a couple more drinks he seemed to be having a good time. The bottle landed on Dave and everyone went silent for a moment.

Aaron looked around everyone noting their sudden change in reaction. Every other spin came with whistles and applause but this one seemed to have everyone leaning forward in anticipation. Dave smiled reassuringly at Aaron before resting a hand on his cheek taking his attention away from the rest of the circle.

Aaron leaned into the warmth of his hand and returned his smile before leaning forward and capturing Dave’s lips with his own. It was a sweet close mouthed kiss to begin with they just breathed each other in then Dave sucked Aaron’s bottom lip into his mouth and grazed his teeth teasingly across it. Aaron gasped at the sensation and Dave took the opportunity to glide his tongue into the other man’s mouth. He explored Aaron’s mouth and Aaron’s tongue danced around his own for what felt both like an eternity and no time at all. They broke apart panting and impossibly close together the spell only ending as the applause from the others broke through the ringing in Dave’s ears.

That was the moment Dave truly believed that Aaron felt the same way.

Chapter 7