#also everyone go watch bottoms 2023

[socialtomcat]

to celebrate international womens day i have decided to turn all my ships into yuri‼️‼️‼️‼️

[casiia]

virgin!ethan landry buying condoms before attending a party with chad (idk this would be so funny and awkward😭😭😭)

[ 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞 ੈ✩‧₊˚]

pairing .: ethan landry x reader

genre .: suggestive

word count .: 3k

warnings .: suggestive content (minors dni.), female reader, alcohol indulgence, dry humping 

author's note .: SORRY NO SMUT! just a lot of plot! but i had soo much fun writing this, whoever requested this i think you’re so funny! i originally was going to add smut but lack of motivation. my little nerd boy psycho getting teased by shirtless farmer chad makes me giggle. but i hope you guys love this as much as i do because i’m giggling soso bad. also i don’t have a dick i’ve never bought condoms b4 so i tried my best errr. also also guys please b careful when drinking at parties. this is just a lot of plot and lowkey ethan x chad (im slash jay) but if enough people want it i will write smut in a part 2. 

© casiia 2023 DO NOT REPOST OR PLAGIARIZE MY WORK

“wait why are you turning? we’re supposed to go down this street for another light.”

the muted sound of rain echoes inside the car; droplets of water splattering against the fogged windshield blurred the bright traffic lights, a mixture of green and red reflecting against the dash.

“pitstop. gotta pick up some stuff.” chad taps his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently – waiting for the light to turn green. his thumb smooths over the grooves that were engraved in the leather, frustration threatening to expose from his composed state. “get the fuck off your phone! go, the light is green.”

“pick up stuff? not drugs, right…?” ethan looks up from his phone, his illuminated screen lighting his features from the shadows of the night. with a buzz, he focuses his attention back to his device. a smile graces his lips as he reads over your notification, fingers moving quick to type a response to you. 

“no, not drugs. condoms.”

adjusting the seat belt that suddenly became uncomfortable around his neck, ethan swallows thickly,  a blush creeping onto his cheeks. “oh.”

“i mean, you’re gonna need them. i doubt nothing’s gonna happen between you and her tonight.” pulling into the lot, chad cheekily smiles over to his friend, playfully hitting his arm.

“w-what? we aren’t anything serious, i don’t think she looks at me like that.” leaning towards the window to escape chad’s ruthless teasing, he resisted the urge to check the notification that had vibrated his phone – knowing it was from you.

“she definitely does, she’s always giving you that look.” throwing his hands up in gratitude when he found a parking spot, chad carefully pulled into the tight spot. “you guys are so annoying, everyone can see it but you two.”

“what look?” unbuckling his seat belt with a click, ethan chews on his bottom lip to stop the smile that threatened to show on his face. 

“the ‘i want to fuck you’ look.” turning the engine off with the twist of a key, chad unbuckles and climbs out of the car. “just fuck already, what’s stopping you.” watching ethan take off the cardboard helmet of his costume, he chuckles lightly. “i mean, she wants to fuck a guy dressed up as a cardboard robot.”

“hey. it’s from that movie murder party, and maybe put on a shirt before you comment on my costume.” opening the passenger door, ethan reaches into the back seat, grabbing a plain white tank and tossing it to the shirtless farmer standing in the drizzling rain. 

“oh right.”

“i don’t think there is a ‘fuck me look’ i think you’re thinking way into things.” stepping out and shutting the door, ethan stuffs his phone and wallet into his back pocket, walking towards the pharmacy with long strides to avoid the rain.

“what would you know, you’re a virgin.” locking the car with a loud beep, chad swings his lanyard around his fingers, letting his keys jangle against each other carelessly. laughing loudly when he catches a glimpse of ethan’s shocked expression, he holds his hands out in reassurance. “well i mean, after tonight you won’t be.”

“i’m not gonna do anything with her unless she wants me to.” walking past the automated doors, he waits for chad to walk in front of him, not wanting to waste time and lead the two into the wrong aisle. 

“well of course, but it’s better to be safe than sorry at the end of the night. don’t wanna get her pregnant or anything.” chad grins, walking towards an aisle in the back – almost too easily, like he’s been here a million times. 

“right. how do you…put one on?” glancing at the many colorful boxes to his left, he clears his throat when turning to his right, staring at the shelf of the pregnancy test. 

“open the wrapper, careful not to rip it that’s important, then just slide it on. if it’s that much trouble just ask the girl.” chad hums to the music playing overhead in the store, squatting down to get a peak at the bottom shelves. 

“oh, okay. what about lube, think i’ll need that?” eyeing the different brands of condoms, he  feels his phone buzz again, the weight of his phone all of a sudden feeling heavy in his pants. 

2 messages from angel girl

ethan smiles at the notifications, quickly swiping into his phone to answer you. warmth bubbles in his chest as he replies, watching his message turn from sent to read in just a second.

“hey, are you listening to me?” 

“huh?” looking up from his phone, his smile drops, snapping out of his dazed state.

“i said, lube is a waste of money. just use spit, works the same if you can also get her wet.” picking up a box of magnums, chad stands from his squatted position, patting out the creases in his pants before heading to the register. “there’s nothing to be worried about, bro. just make sure you focus when it happens, stay in the moment. the usual.”

“mhm.” now very anxious, ethan trails behind his roommate with twisted fingers. “maybe i should take the costume off?” picking at the hem of his shirt under the cardboard vest, he laughs awkwardly; imagining you taking his ridiculous costume off before climbing under the blankets had him shaking his head.

“maybe just keep the helmet, can’t not dress up at a halloween party.” grabbing his wallet from his pocket once they reached the self checkout machines, he scanned the box before swiping his card. “we should go, mindy’s been on my ass.”

the two of them ran to the car, seeking shelter from the rain that turned from a light drizzle to a thundering pour. ethan ran his hands through his hair, combing his damp brown hair out of his face. leaning back into the leather seat with a huff, he groaned dragging his hands down his cheeks, the cardboard around his chest stiffening his movements. 

slipping his arms into the cut out holes, he shimmied the fake armor over his head and let it clumsily fall into the back seat. memories of you and him making the costume made him frown; he thought back to how pretty you look with ruffled hair, sitting on his bedroom floor in only pajamas, cutting away at the cardboard material with kid scissors, cursing at him when he accidentally cut out of the traced lines.

the loud crinkle of plastic strips him of his thoughts, chad loudly tearing into the box. “take a few. i’m just gonna leave the box in the car…for later.” 

“think you’re gonna end up with tara tonight?” ethan teases with a smirk. picking at the golden packs, he holds them up to the window, letting the plastic shine against the dull streetlight. 

“shut up, now strap in. we’re already late i cannot take another text from mindy.”

the far-off sound of music caught ethan’s attention as chad pulled into the neighborhood, a variety of cars piled into the driveway and along the street, lights flashing from the windows inside the house. 

grabbing his poorly made helmet made of cardboard, he slipped it over his head, making sure it sat comfortably and evenly on top of his hair.

“did tara tell you what she was gonna wear?” checking his phone for your notification, ethan frowned slightly when finding out you had left him on read. he was only a few paces from the house, where he would soon find you. although the more he thought of you, the more the nerves began to eat at him. would you even want to sleep with him, what if he was going to make a fool of himself – what if you friendzoned him. rubbing his forehead with a sigh, he stuffed a few condoms into his pockets, his heart beating out of his chest. 

“pirate i think, wanted to match but it was too last minute. what about your girl?” making sure the car was locked after they had got out, chad shoves his keys into his pants, letting the lanyard hang within view. 

“she didn’t want to tell me, said it was gonna be a surprise.” feeling his heartbeat in his ears, ethan balled his fist tightly, fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. he didn’t want to mess things up with you, he was scared – scared that he would mess things up and lose the best person that had ever shown up in his life. 

“relax, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“i’m trying, i’m just nervous. i don’t want things to go the wrong way tonight, what if i misread her.” stopping outside the door, he could hear the roar of music, walls vibrating with each base drop. the faint smell of marijuana and alcohol tickled his nose, his face churning immediately at the unpleasant smell. 

“whatever happens is for a reason, don’t make sex your first priority. if she wants to fuck you, which im sure she does, she’ll make it clear. stop worrying.” chad places a hand on the brunette’s shoulder, squeezing comfortably. 

“right. make sure i don’t drink too much? i actually want to remember this night.” taking one last deep breath, ethan turns the knob on the door, finally arriving at the party. an overwhelming amount of people crowded the kitchen, abandoned red solo cups lingering all over the house. 

pushing through the crowd of people with curt apologies, ethan scanned over the horde of tipsy college students, looking for your face in the midst of it all. relaxing a bit when he saw anika in the corner of the room with mindy, he glanced over his shoulder to see if chad was following him before nudging his way through to his friends across the room.

“where have you guys been? i thought we agreed to be here 45 minutes ago!” mindy throws exasperated hands in the air, eyebrows raised mockingly.

“traffic. where’s y/n?” frowning when he didn’t see you amongst the other girls, he turned back to the kitchen to see if you were stuffed in there.

“she was here a second ago.i  think she went to ask tara if she knew where you were, but honestly who knows where that little pirate could be.” anika shrugs lightly at the question, repositioning her legs over her girlfriend’s. “what’s going on with you two anyways?”

“noth-”

“ethan?” 

spinning on his heel at the sound of your voice, he can’t help but let a smile paint his lips. his voice catching in his throat when he sees you, he drops his arms to his side. jaw dropping ever so slightly, he couldn’t stop the way he looked you up and down, engraving your image in the back of his mind.

you were head to toe in white; high socks that squeezed the fat of your thighs, a white mini skirt  that just barely covered the curve of your ass, a semi see through corset, and to top it all off – a pair of small feathery wings that sat on your exposed shoulders.

“an angel.”

“surprise! where’s the rest of your costume? we worked so hard on it.” stepping closer to him to fix his lopsided helmet, you brushed hair out of his eyes with a pout. 

“left it in the car, didn’t want it to get ruined or anything.” looking down at you with a smile, he lets his hands wander to your hips; his thumbs caressing your skin just above the waistline of your short mini skirt. 

“oh, that’s a shame. you looked so cute in it.” pinching his cheeks in a playful manner, you bit your lip with a laugh, watching him squirm away from you. “let’s get a drink, i’ve been waiting for you.”

grabbing his hand in your left, you intertwined your fingers together, pulling him to the crowded kitchen. half filled bottles and empty plastic cups littered the marble countertop, a sticky residue sheening over the surface of the table. 

“hm, i think there’s enough for a couple shots.” 

letting go of his hand but still keeping him close, you leaned over the island to grab cups; unscrewing the cap of a half empty vodka bottle, you chewed your lip in concentration, completely eyeballing the amount of liquor you poured into the plastic cup. 

“bottoms up, baby!” bringing the cup up to your lips, you cringed lightly, the smell of alcohol making your eyes water. squeezing your eyes shut tightly, you tilted your head back letting the liquid flow into your mouth before swallowing. shaking your head with a groan, you stuck your tongue out feeling the booze burn down your throat, almost instantly warming your chest. “so gross.”

ethan hesitated before drinking the foul smelling alcohol, coughing abruptly afterwards. “not worth it.” hearing you laugh at him, he teasingly shoved your shoulder with a soft smile. “do you think…we could talk?”

“we’re talking right now, pretty boy.” starting to pour another round of shots, you briefly glanced up at him at his silence. “is something wrong?” 

“nothing’s wrong, i just meant talk in private.” taking off his fake helmet, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck – patiently waiting for you to finish taking another shot before replying.

“let’s go upstairs.” wiping your lips with the back of your hand, you tossed your now empty cups in the trash before grabbing his wrist and pulling him through the house. music blaring uncomfortably in your ear, you took in your surroundings before leaving; people at every inch of the house, a line forming for the bathroom, corners where couples made out, and a couch where all of your friends sat. catching chad’s eye, he gave you a knowing smirk while raising his eyebrows. flipping him off in return, you squeezed ethan’s wrist lightly, guiding him up the stairs and to an empty bedroom. 

ethan tried his hardest not to look up your skirt while you walked in front of him, but of course he failed. he caught a glimpse of your undergarments – pretty pink panties with a white lace lining the edges. swallowing his guilt, he shifted his gaze back to the ground, fearing that he would get worked up the longer he stared. “do you know where you’re going?”

“not in the slightest, but it’s a big house, there’s bound to be one more vacant bedroom.” jiggling the knobs of each door, you giggled quietly hearing the muted moans from inside occupied rooms. “oh here.” twisting the handle and peeking inside, you opened the door for him when deeming it was clear. 

closing and locking the door behind you, you made your way over to the bed, sitting on the edge with your hands neatly folded in your lap. “what’s on your mind? you’re kinda scaring me.” 

dropping his costume prop near the door, ethan covered his face, groaning into his hands before finally piling up enough courage to look you in the eye. “what are we?”

“what do you mean?” furrowing your brows with an awkward laugh, you could feel heat creep up your neck, the liquor settling in your stomach. 

“you’re always calling me these names, and touching me in ways you don’t do with anyone else. i just want to know if you’re playing with me.” sitting next to you on the bed, he kept a fair distance respecting your boundaries. “i like you a lot. more than i want to, i need to know if you feel the same.”

“i-” sighing loudly with shaky hands, you shifted your position, sitting on your knees while facing him. the hem of your skirt creeping up your thighs as you sat back. “i like you too, i just didn’t know how to tell you.” crawling closer to him, you reached for his hand, pressing his palm to your heart. “this is how you make me feel. all the time.”

“can i kiss you?” 

nodding with a big grin, you let him lean forward to connect your lips. putting a hand on his shoulder to stabilize yourself, you hummed softly feeling him pull you closer, straight into his lap. the kiss was sweet and soft, lips moving slowly against each other, teeth clashing together with inexperience. you wrapped your arms around his neck, slightly grinding your hips down into his. “fuck, sorry.”

whining into your mouth, ethan squeezed your hips harshly. “no, please. again, m’felt good.” pulling away from your lips with a heavy pant, he cupped your face, thumb smoothing over your cheekbone.

“yeah? s’that why you brought me up here?” giggling, you rolled your hips again, the seam of his pants nudging at your clothed clit. lips parting with a quiet moan, you bit the inside of your cheek, a blush painting your cheeks.

“maybe.” tilting your head up with his thumb, he pressed kisses down your exposed neck, nibbling and sucking numerous marks along the way. “fuck, i want you.” slipping his hand down your back, he squeezed the fat of your ass, mumbling against your neck.

“i know, baby. but not tonight.” pushing him away just enough to see his face, you pressed a sweet kiss to the button of his nose. “want your first time to be something you’ll remember, not even a little bit fuzzy.”

opening his mouth in protest, you shook your head – your opinion already set in stone. pecking his lips one last time, you climbed off of his lap. 

“you’re such a tease” 

🏷 .:@loaksbitch @sullybby @dilfverz my stinkies

[grantmentis]

2024 Ice Hockey Women's World Championship: A Primer

When: April 3rd to April 14th. The schedule here will tell you when games are taking place both in your local time and venue time.

Where is it taking place?: Utica, New York

Where to watch:

For the first time, we will have ALL games broadcasted in USA and Canada. I am not sure how many games are going to be broadcasted outside North America, but we can reasonably assume they will at least carry their home country games

TSN will carry all games in canada

NHL Network and ESPN+ will carry a mix of the games together. See The Ice Garden's Michelle Jay's tweet for the schedule of which games are where.

SVT (Sweden)

Discovery (Finland)

Czech TV (Czechia)

Magenta (Germany)

TBS (Japan)

Swiss TV (Switzerland)

If you are not in any of these countries, or you are but are struggling to find a way to watch, please feel free to DM me and I will do my best to find you something

What is the tournament format?:

There are two divisions, Division A with the five ranked teams going into the tournament and Division B with the next five. Each division plays a round robin style ranking round, and at the conclusion the bottom two teams in Division B will be relegated, while the rest automatically make the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals will go A1-B3, A2-B2, A3-B1, A4-A5. In addition to the finals for gold that will take place, there will be a bronze medal game and a fifth place game for ranking. Standings will use a three point systems.

Who is in each division?:

Division A: USA, Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, Finland

Division B: Sweden, Japan, Germany, China, Denmark

Who are each teams?

Here is where it gets long. Below the cut I will tell you each teams roster, how they did last year, their reasonable goals, notable roster changes, and three players to watch. I will do my best to keep this informative, but brief.

USA

Roster:

(Text version available here)

2023 Result: Won Gold

2024 goals: Win gold again

Notable roster changes: This team continues to go very very young. Abby Roque is the most notable roster omission here. Top defender Lee Stecklein is also not on this roster, due to her taking a break from the National Team. Amanda Kessel was also left off, but she has not been active within the last year as a player, so not entirely surprising.

Three players to watch: Grace Zumwinkle has been one of the stars of the PWHL so far, and is likely to get more responsibility on the national team than ever before, so keep an eye on her and how she may translate her successful season to the tournament. Rory Guilday may only be 21, but she is heading to her third senior world championships, a long time favorite of the team USA coaching staff with her shutdown defensive skills who they'll hope can take another step this tournament with Lee Stecklein absent. Joy Dunne is the youngest player on this roster, just 18 years old coming off a 24-18-42 season in Ohio and a national championship. This will be her first senior level tournament, and I'd expect her to get ample offensive opportunities.

Canada

Roster

(text version available here)

2023 result: Silver

2024 goals: Gold

Notable roster changes: Micah Zandee-Hart is the most surprising one after being on the roster for a few years. Claire Thompson is absent as is Rebecca Johnston, but that is more expected while Thompson is finishing medical school and Johnston has not played in the past calendar year. Cousins Nicole and Julia Gosling join the team after strong rivalry series showings.

Three players to watch: Natalie Spooner is the front runner for PWHL MVP, so everyone will be watching to see if she continues to score at the rate she has been. Expected number one overall pick in the upcoming PWHL draft, Sarah Fillier, will be playing in her last showing before the draft happens as she finished out her college season. Nicole Gosling was the highest scoring defender in the NCAA this year at Clarkson, going 14-25-39 in 40 regular season games, so seeing how she impacts this blue line is a must watch.

Czechia

Roster

(Text version available here)

2023 result: Bronze

2024 goal: upset their opponent in the semifinals and make the finals

Roster changes: The bad news is top defender Dominika Lásková is out with injury. The good news is star goaltender Klára Peslarová is healthy unlike last year, as is blueline mainstay Tereza Radová. Alena Mills retired from the national team. Kristýna Pátková did not make the team this year, in her place comes Boston University commit Anežka Čabelová who had a stellar U18 worlds. Karolína Kosinová did not make the team, in her place is HV71 assistant captain Klara Seroiszková.

Three players to watch: 17 year old Adéla Šapovalivová was the highest scoring u18 player in the SDHL (Sweden's highest level league) this year and one of their top scorers in general going 11-18-29 in 32 regular season games. She was also a key part of the U18 team that upset Canada in the semifinals to advance to Czechia's first ever u18 final. With Mills retired, she will get more minutes at her third (!!!!) senior worlds. Next up is Klára Peslarová, and if you're not familiar with her game, she is straight up a top five goaltender in the world. She just came off a stellar season with Brynäs IF in Sweden where she had a .935 save percentage in 20 games, and has been consistently stellar on the international stage as well like when she had 55 saves against the united states at the olympics. Kateřina Mrázová is a fantastic playmaker has been a bright spot on a Ottawa tam that has struggled to find itself, and is also one of the most veteran members of this squad. If they win, she'll have to lead the way.

Finland

Roster

Text version available here

2023 finish: Fifth Place

2024 goals: Bronze

Roster changes: Two of their key offensive pieces Elisa Holopainen and Michelle Karvinen, are back and healthy this year! Susanna Tapani is also back on this team. Those are three absolute big pieces that completely change this roster for the better. A few depth roster forwards were left off in their place, most notably Kiira Yrjänen. Defense has more shakeups. Sini Karjalainen is a notable omission and long time defender Rosa Lindstedt retired. Eve Savander, Oona Koukkula, and Siiri Yrjölä slot in.

Three players to watch: I've consistently been a very big Elisa Holopainen fan and I think she's one of the best players in the world and not talked about nearly enough. Just as she began to really shine in the international stage, she got hit with injury, but as she's come back with year she dominated Finland's league going 32-25-57 in 19 games. I think I've put her as a player to watch like every year I've done a preview and I'm going to keep going it. Finland has faced a lot of questions about their goaltending following Räty and the team going their separate ways, but right now, it is Sanni Ahola's crease to lose. She was stellar in the three games she started last year for Finland in the world championship and was solid for st cloud state with a .935 save percentage in 17 starts this year. With Lindstedt's retirement, Krista Parkkonen will see more minutes, coming off a breakout sophomore year in a university of vermont program that's developed a decent amount of international blueliners.

Switzerland

Roster

(Text version here)

2023 result; 4th place

2024 goals: bronze

Roster changes: quite a lot of shake up. no Caroline spies as their mainstay backup, Alexandra Lehmann takes her place. No Sarah Forster, who wore an A and led their defense last time around. She only played 7 games in SWHL this year, so likely injury is at play.

Players to watch: it is, of course, the Alina Müller and Lara Stalder show until it isn’t. So, besides them, the players to watch are Andrea Brändli is another “top five goaltender in the world” to know, sporting a .937 in her first year playing in Sweden post a stellar college career. 18 year old Ivana Marie Wey just had a great year playing pro as Stalder’s teammate and will be important for the next Swiss wave. With no Forster, Lara Christen will take on a lot of the top defensive minutes most likely.

Sweden

Roster

(Text version available here)

2023 results: sixth

2024 hopes: return to group A

Roster changes: no Sarah Grahn which isn’t entirely expected but still a big change, in response Ida Boman gets the call. No Fanny Rask or Olivia Carlsson, who retired.

Three players to know: Ebba Hedqvist is a 17 year old elite center coming off a great performance at worlds and has an eye for playmaking that will be critical for Sweden. Maja Nylén Persson is the #1 defender of team Sweden that has consistently been the top defender by points in the SDHL and won defender of the year in 2022-2023, and she is only 23 years old. Another part of Sweden’s insane center depth is Lina Ljungblom, who will likely play in Montreal next year and had 46 points in 36 regular season games. In the various tournaments/friendlies that Sweden has played leading up to this (ie five nations cup), she has 10 goals in 15 games. These three players are truly some of my favorite in hockey right now

Japan

Roster

(Text version available here)

2023 result: 7th

2024 hopes: return to group A

Roster changes: honestly we mostly running this back. One or two u18 add ins but overall the same as 2023

Players to watch: stop me if you heard this before but Akane Shiga is very good. The PWHL Ottawa player is the only player from Japan to score against the USA, and will continue to be japans biggest threat. Another big player is Haruka Toko, one of the SDHL’s top scorers this year who had established herself as a top talent in the last two years. This year, the 27 year old had 13 goals and 30 assists in 36 games in Sweden this year. She was one of seven players in Japan to play in Sweden this year, a year that saw a new high in Japanese players going overseas to play. That also includes my last player to watch, Yoshino Enomoto, who played in switzerland and still put up around a point per game on a team that struggled (they folded in the offseason then came back and built their roster late and were ultimately relegated, but she was a bright spot in her first season there)

Fun fact: did you know three pairs of sisters play on this team? Akane and Aoi Shiga, Haruka toko and Ayaka Hitosato, and Rio and Riri Noro

Germany

Roster

(text version available here)

2023 Results: Eighth

2024 Goal: Make quarterfinals and avoid relegation

Roster changes: Both goalies behind Abstreiter last year, Chiara Schultes and Johanna May, did not make this roster with Hemmerle and Loist taking their place. The d core remains the same besides Daria Gleissner taking Heidi Strompf's place. National team vet Marie Delarbre is absent with injury, Sonja Weidenfelder did not play hockey this year and her status is uncertain, and Anne Bartsch did not make the roster. In their place we have Emily Nix, Lilli Welcke, and Lucia Schmitz.

Three players to watch: Luisa Welcke was with Germany last year, but has a second season in the NCAA under her belt and a nice depth player performance at Boston University. She will have more chances to show off her offense this tournament than in the NCAA, and I'm excited to see what she can show. Jule Schiefer had a revelation this year in the German league. From last year where she only scored 4 goals in 20 games, this year she scored 22 in 24. Let's see if she can continue this at worlds. Nina Jobst-Smith will play big defensive minutes for Germany after finishing her fourth season at Minnesota Duluth, this time serving as an assistant captain, and was nominated for 2023-24 All-WCHA Third Team. She's a two way defender who will be taking on big responsibility for Germany as she has in the past.

China

Roster

(Text Version available here)

2023 result: Promotion from Division I

2024 goal: Make quarterfinals and avoid relegation

Roster changes: Oh boy. So, like, a lot of people, and here is why: up until this tournament, China allowed dual citizens not born in China to play for them. This includes some players you may know from PWHL/NCAA like Leah Lum, Hannah Miller, Rachel Llanes, and Tia Chan. Going into this tournament, they changed the rules and those players will not be eligible, so it is a significant roster shakeup.

Three player to watch; This team is very young. Yifan Wang is 16 years old, and in her international debut scored 10 goals in 5 games in the WJC-D2A U18. This is obviously a gigantic step up in competition and very hard for a 16 year old to be playing against adults on the highest level stage of women's hockey, so I don't imagine she'll get a TON of ice time, but she is worth looking out for. Xin Fang is the veteran and star of this roster, who had 2 goal and 2 assists in the teams D1A tournament that earned them their promotion. 17 year old Dartmouth commit Grace Zhan is who I expect to be their starting goaltender. Born in Beijing, she spent the past year playing Minnesota High School Hockey and put up top numbers in a league that sees a lot of NCAA recruits.

Denmark

Roster

(Text version here)

2023 Results: Promotion from Division I

2024 hope: Make Quarterfinals and avoid relegation

Roster changes: Long time national team star and centerpiece of the team Josefine Jakobsen will no longer play for Denmark, though she will continue her club career.) Otherwise, despite some depth changes, it is mostly the same lineup.

Three players to watch: Frederikke Foss had a great year at Shattuck St Mary's u19 program and has committed to UMaine, and may be able to spark some offense Denmark will desperately need without Jakobsen. Silke Lave Glud will also be expected to carry the offense after her stellar year in the Tier 2 league in Sweden, and lead the way for younger players as one of the most experienced members of the team. Goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström's performance at the D1A worlds was a big reason for their promotion, and she is coming off a great sophmore year at st. lawrence university where she had a .931 save percentage in 36 games and 7 shutouts. If Denmark wants to stay in the top division, she will need to steal a game for them.

[fandomgirlz01]

Love Uncovered Pt. 5

Colby Brock x Reader

Prompt?: No

Request?: Yes

Requested prompt?: No

Edited: Yes

Word count: 4,737

Ko-fi

Master List

Warnings Here

You can listen to the story be read out loud here {coming soon}. 

Post Date: October 5th 2023

Post Time: 11:54pm

Author's note: I will be changing this chapter up a bit more from the video. The last few chapters have stuck pretty closely to the videos, but this one might be changing up just a bit for me to fit it into the story. I will also be attempting to talk about aura stuff again, but I’ve never studied that stuff or anything so you guys who do, please just bear with me and if I say something incorrect please please please educate me on it. I will never ever pass up if you guys tell me something is wrong in what I’ve written, I will simply just try my best to go back and fix it. So please just bear with me and enjoy the story. 

Based off of this video:

Y/n’s Pov:

After a few minutes, Amanda is the first to move as she takes a step back and the rest of us look up. Sam stands behind me as Colby stands off to the side with the camera on us. Amanda steps back a little ways from us as Stas moves next to Sam now. 

“I just put protection over y/n, Stas and Kat. Nothing is allowed to touch you, nothing is allowed to come near you,” she promises us as she explains to the camera what she’d just done before pausing. 

“You might see things-” Amanda starts again before Stas speaks up, cutting her off as one of the bells makes a small chime sound. 

“Dude it’s just- I can’t. That freaked me out,” Stas comments as she reaches out to the bell. 

“That I can’t stop,” Amanda finishes as Sam holds up another bell. 

“Someone’s gotta go upstairs and put some up there,” he comments, holding a bell out. 

“I’ll do it,” Amanda adds as she reaches for the bell from Sam. 

“Someone’s gotta help you, though,” Sam tells her and everyone looks around for a moment. 

“I mean he’s got a point. You can’t do the entire upstairs alone. I’ll come with you,” Colby speaks up as he reaches out to grab some bells from Sam. 

“What about y/n?” Sam asks as he hands him the bells. 

“I can go with them. Just have to stay with Colby,” I inform and Colby turns, smiling at me. 

“That’s a good idea, babe,” Colby agrees with me and I smile softly at him. 

“Ok. Then let’s go,” Amanda agrees before heading towards the stairs. 

Colby looks at me as if questioning if I’m ready and I hesitantly nod. He smiles softly at me before grabbing my hand and I give him a confused look. He keeps a calm smile on his face as he gently puts my hand on his back, right next to his back belt loop. 

I smile in understanding as I loop my finger through the loop. He grins this time before leaning back a bit to kiss my cheek. 

“Come on. Let’s go babe,” he comments as he starts to walk and I smile softly before following him in the direction Amanda had gone. 

We meet up with her next to the stairs and she goes up a few of them as we stop at the bottom. She turns to us, holding her bell out. 

“We've got the duty of going upstairs,” Colby comments humorously and he smiles. 

“How did we get so lucky?” Amanda jokes back, making both me and Colby laugh. 

“I know. The most haunted spot,” Colby comments back and I feel a shiver go down my neck as we start the rest of the way up the stairs.

We make it up the stairs and decide to split up and go separate ways. Colby and I go and hang some on one side of the upstairs as Amanda goes the other way. Once we’re done, Colby checks in on me and smiles once I tell him I’m doing ok. 

When he knows I’m fine, we decide to meet up with Amanda in the middle. We walk up to her as she hangs her last bell on the door handle on the outside of the small hall to the birthing room. 

“There’s something in that back room,” she informs us as we come up next to her.

“I just watched it,” she finishes as she continues to tie the string to the door. 

Once she’s done, she stands straight and walks back into the room. Colby and I follow her as she grabs another bell from the bed. 

“I haven’t told Stas yet or you, y/n, I told you guys before we even came here when I was giving you a low down on the spirits,” she explains to us while playing with the string in her hand as she looks at Colby, who gives a small ‘yeah,’ in conformation. 

“They disguise themselves as children and pets,” Amanda continues explaining and Colby agrees, repeating ‘that they disguise themselves,’ in awe as he remembers what she’d said. 

“That’s why she goes ‘I just saw the little boy,’ and I let her know that was not a-” Amanda explains but pauses and Colby interjects. 

“That was not a little boy,” Colby adds in shock and Amanda closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again. 

“Was not a little boy,” she repeats in confirmation of what Colby said. 

“So when we first came there were two children I told you about, right?” she asks and Colby nods as she takes a step back, beginning to play with the string in her hand. 

“Right. Right. They were happy, right? They were like, trying to like, play games?” Colby asks for confirmation and Amanda gets happy as she explains farther. 

“Yeah. One of them was shy. The little girl was shy, but the boy, he kept like, peeking his head around the corner like…” she describes as she motions what she’s trying to explain. 

“Like, are you gonna come chase me?” she continues to explain and Colby nods in agreement, giving a very audible ‘yeah.’

“So I think it’s insane that when the negative thing came through it disguised himself as a little boy,” Amanda tells us with an expression full of awe. 

“And Stas, as scared as she was, would feel more comfortable with it because I told her about the little boy here,” Amanda explains as she points to herself. 

“Manda?” I ask, moving around Colby and hugging on his arm. 

“Yeah? What’s up, y/n?” she asks me, giving Colby and I a small smile.

“Do you think Stas’s little boy could be the one taking interest in me?” I ask and she gasps as her face lights up. 

“That’s a very real possibility. Did you feel sick or anything when she said she’d seen him?” she asks and I take a moment to think it over. 

“Well, now that you mention it, no, but me and Colby were connected then. He was cuddled up to me behind the camera,” I explain and she nods vigorously. 

“I think you might have a point. It could have been him trying to get to you,” she agrees, nodding. 

“The little girl could possibly have been the lady that was pointing at you earlier too,” she explains and my face falls. 

“So he can change forms, great,” I roll my eyes and Colby rubs my arm lightly. 

“I’m right here. He can’t hurt you while I’m here and Amanda put a protection over you, but I get it if you want to leave. I’ll take you home right now,” Colby tells me but I sigh, shaking my head. 

“No. You’re right. He can’t hurt me. I’ll be okay,” I promise him with a nod and he smiles softly. 

“Okay, but at any point if you want to leave, just tell me,” he informs me and I nod. 

“I promise I will,” I tell him softly before reaching up on my tip-toes to leave a kiss on his cheek. 

“Ok. Let’s finish putting these up, then we can go back to the rest of the group,” Amanda comments before moving away to start hanging the last few bells. 

We hang a few more and I stay with Colby the whole time. He walks over to the closet and pulls it open. 

“Oh my God,” he exclaims as he looks into it. 

“What?” Me and Amanda ask in unison. 

“This closet is huge. It goes like, all the way around. It’s like a secret crawl space area,” Colby says in shock as he looks into the deep closet. 

“This house has-” Amanda starts, but pauses to listen. “Did you hear that in there?” she asks after a moment, making Colby turn around. 

“No. What was that? I missed it,” Colby comments before going quiet so we can all listen. 

“Can you hear the walking?” Amanda asks as she looks up at us and I nod while Colby gives out a very audible ’yeah’. 

“That’s the exact room that when we walked up here I told you something was back there,” Amanda tells us in amazement and I shiver lightly. 

“I don’t like that…” I speak out and Colby nods before reaching down for my hand. 

He squeezes my hand softly as we all stay quiet for a moment. When we clearly can’t hear the sound anymore, Colby stands straight and starts to look around again. I follow him over to the bedside table and together we look at what’s on it. 

“They got a bunch of things that little kids would like to play with here, too. Like toy cars, jellybeans?” Colby comments as he lets go of my hand for a moment to pick the car up before smacking the pack of jelly beans. The car then starts to roll back off the table, but Colby quickly catches it before setting it back down. 

“Babe. Don’t do that, what if the spirits like, get mad at you for messing with their stuff,” I lightly admonish him as I slap his arm and he chuckles. 

“It’s not like I took them. Just gave them a small little tap,” he replies and I shake my head, rolling my eyes. 

“Oh, put the car on the ground,” Amanda speaks up as she turns to us. 

“Ok,” Colby agrees as he picks it back up and together we both turn around. 

“Let’s find out,” Colby comments as he steps back to watch it with the camera. 

We watch the car for a moment but nothing happens, so Colby bends down and scoops it up off the floor with a quick ‘alright,’. He walks back over to the table and sets it back down before turning to me and offering his hand. Colby, Amanda, and I start walking though towards the stairs. 

“Woah. Woah. Wait. Amanda, do you mind talking about some more details about ghosts real quick?” he asks and she smiles, nodding. 

“Of course,” she sweetly answers and Colby grins. 

“Sweet. Ok, ah… sweetheart, do you mind holding the camera for me?” Colby asks and I smile softly at him before nodding and holding my hand out to him. 

“Thanks, babe,” he tells me after handing it off to me and kissing my cheek. 

“Ok… the number one question people wanna know is like, what do these spirits or entities or demons whatever you see look like?” Colby asks her as he claps his hands together. 

“Are they happy, are they expressionless, is it as clear as, like, a person that you're seeing?” Colby asks, using his hands to animate his words. 

“It doesn’t look like a person, but it’ll be as clear as like, if you were just standing there dressed in all black,” she explains, motioning with her head where she means.

“I grew up with a spirit in my home and I-” she starts to say before pausing and turning along with Colby when there’s a thump in the back of the room.

We all pause and listen for a moment. The sound soon becomes distinct and we can tell it’s the others of our group. 

“Oh god, they're coming upstairs,” Colby breathes out in relief as we hear their distinctive footsteps and voices now. 

“Geez, we’re literally talking about demons and that happens, not down,” Amanda comments as Colby lets out a big puff of air. 

“The demon I grew up with in my house… looks like a person most of the time. He was much, much taller, much, much thinner and he had red eyes,” Amanda continues to explain just as Sam walks into the room and she looks over at him. 

“I saw a spirit when I was with you and you asked me to describe it,” Amanda adds on and Colby nods as Sam walks farther into the room. 

“Yeah. At the Lizzy Borden house,” he clarifies as he nods and so does she. 

“It was extremely tall, probably seven feet tall, very, very thin. Like unhumanly thin,” she tells us before pausing to look at Sam. 

“Are we ready to head to the seance room?” Sam asks and we all nod. 

“Here. I can take the camera and set it up,” Sam tells me as he comes over and takes it from me. 

He then walks back over to the stairs and starts to head down so he can set it up. I walk over to Colby and he smiles softly at me as he reaches his hand out to me. I grin and grab onto his hand. He gently pulls me along as we follow the others back down the stairs. 

Once we’re in the seance room, we all sit down and Colby sits down first, gently pulling me onto his lap for a moment and cuddles me. 

“You doing okay?” he mumbles into my ear as he leaves a light kiss on my neck. 

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve been absolutely fine the whole time you’ve been with me,” I whisper back to him and I feel him smile against my neck. 

“Good. I love you,” he mumbles back and I smile, squeezing his hand that sits on my stomach. 

“I love you, too, nugget. Always,” I reply and he nuzzles into my shoulder. 

“Okay. I think we’re ready. Enough canoodling, you two,” Sam jokes as he playfully rolls his eyes, making Colby and I laugh. 

“Okay. Okay. Can we please get this started?” Stas asks and Colby groans. 

“Fine,” Colby groans out as he lets go of me so I can get off his lap. 

“Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be right here next to you the whole time. Wanna hold hands?” I ask as I take the spot right next to him and hold my hand out to him. 

“How well do you know me? Of course I wanna hold hands,” Colby quips as he grabs my hand and I giggle as we hide them behind ourselves. 

Kat laughs as she sits down next to me on my left and Stas sits to her left and they grab each other's hands. Sam sits down to Colby’s right and Amanda sits in the chair to the right of Sam with her headphones in her hand along with a notebook. 

“Okay, are we ready to start?” Sam asks and we all nod. 

“Okay, then. We are in the seance room,” Sam explains for the camera, “Where Ed Lorraine Warren performed a seance on Carolyn and she literally levitated.”

“She is going to wear noise canceling headphones on a spirit box,” Sam points to Amanda before pointing to his own ear. “Basically letting us know whatever she hears. We’re gonna be asking questions, kinda as we were saying we have ping pong balls, bells all over the place, the entire house.”

“Upstairs as well,” Colby adds, pointing up before grabbing my hand behind our backs again. 

“So if we hear anything happening, we’ll be able to catch it,” Sam continues while Colby rubs my hand a bit and I have to hold myself back from cuddling more into him. 

“Starting this recording, see if we catch any evps,” Sam states as he holds the device he’s using out for the camera to see before he sets it on the ground. 

“It just said Borden,” Amanda speaks just as Sam sits back. 

“Borden?” Colby questions, his eyes widening ever so slightly as Sam quickly looks at him with his hand over his lips. 

“We just said that they were very similar cases,” Sam comments in shock as he looks at Colby, who agrees. 

“Okay. We’re going to turn on this other spirit box, put it right here just in case we get things on it as well,” Sam explains to the camera as he holds the device up and out to the camera. 

“Okay. Should we start asking questions?” Colby asks Sam, who nods. 

“Yeah, let’s start,” Colby agrees and Sam nods. 

“Okay. Ah, is there any spirit here that wants to talk to us?” Sam asks out into the air and we all stay quiet as we wait. 

Colby turns and looks up at a corner behind me. I squeeze his hand and he squeezes mine. We stay quiet for a little more and I push the feeling of cuddling up to his side away. 

“Can you please, like move something?” Sam again asks into the air and it’s quiet for a moment. 

“Not Colby,” Amanda almost yells out as Sam looks at Colby, shocked. 

“Isn’t that silly?” Sam asks as he points at the device on the floor. 

“Kill,” comes an ominous voice from the device and Colby’s mouth falls open, as does mine. He turns to the camera before looking at me. 

“Wait… Wait… Wait. Did that just say what I think it did?” I ask and Colby slowly nods to confirm my question. 

“Are you a bad spirit?” Sam asks and it goes quiet again. 

“Kill Colby?” Colby questions and I shake my head. 

“That’s what it sounded like…” I tell him as I tighten my hold on his hand. 

“All only here,” Amanda speaks and we all listen as carefully as we can. 

“Is there anything here that can give us a sign at all? We have bells around this entire house. If you can, just make them ring. We want to talk to you,” Colby calls out and we all pause. 

Some time passes and it just stays quiet. I continue to keep Colby’s hand tightly gripped in mine.

“I don’t like this…” I whisper into his ear and he nods in agreement. 

“It’s okay. I’m right here,” Colby replies back as he rubs my hand and it again goes quiet for a while. 

“There’s someone here with us,” Amanda informs us as Sam sets the device he had in his hand down on the ground. 

“Can you make yourself known if you're here with us?” Sam questions and then there’s a faint shuffle sound. 

Colby looks up in shock, first he looks at me, then he turns to Sam, who looks back at him with the same amount of shock. Katrina holds the phone, but after giving me a look she leans back a bit and lays the phone on her thigh. She grabs my hand and holds it like she holds Stas’s. She squeezes my hand and it helps my worry only slightly. 

“Woah, what was that?” Colby asks as he looks at Sam again. 

“There was a huge crack,” Sam comments as he and Colby turn away from looking at each other. 

“It sounded like a shuffle almost,” Colby comments. “Was that you that just made that noise?” he goes on to ask and I squeeze his hand again. 

“Yes,” comes Amanda’s voice and Colby jumps. 

“Yes?” Sam asks Amanda and she nods at him as Stas lets out an “oh,” while bringing her hand up to her lips. 

“Can you make a noise closer to us? We’d love for you to come sit with us,” Sam asks the spirit, making us give each other worried looks. Amanda shakes her head no and rubs her chest. 

“Um… no… no,” Kat tells him, shaking her head at him. “Sam, we can’t do that,” Kat continues to tell him while still shaking her head and he just lightly grins. 

“Sam, let’s not do that, unless you want to switch spots with me right now,” Stas informs him in a very matter of fact tone and suddenly the sick feeling I’ve had throughout the day comes back. 

“Y/n is literally shaking after that, Sam, no,” Kat sternly comments as both her and Colby rub my hands. 

“I’m okay. Just had a small bout of that sick feeling,” I inform them and Colby shakes his head. 

“Sam, I second not inviting the spirit. If it’s gonna affect y/n, we don’t do it,” Colby sternly agrees with Kat and I shake my head. 

“Colby. Hon, I’m okay. Honestly,” I inform him, squeezing his hand for more reassurance. 

“Yo, is my chest red?” Amanda cuts in to ask as she scratches at her chest. “It felt like something just scratched me,” Amanda tells us.

“No. It doesn’t look red,” Kat replies, shaking her head. 

“Ok. That scratch just felt like something is mad,” Amanda adds in and the chill of sickness comes back ever so slightly, but goes away as quickly.

“We know you’re in this room with us. Can you show yourself?” Colby asks as he rubs at his chin with his other hand and both Kat and I quickly look at him. 

“Babe, why are you asking it to show itself? No,” I tell him, shaking my head before it goes quiet again and Colby lightly rubs my lower back.

“I’m here,” Amanda calls out and the sick feeling comes back for the millionth time, except this time it stays even though Colby still holds my hand. 

“He’s here,” Amanda continues to say what she hears. 

“Who’s here?” I ask, looking at Colby and growing a little more scared as the sick feeling slowly intensifies.

Colby shrugs as it goes quiet and stays that way. After a while of nothing coming through, Sam decides to switch places with Amanda. Colby picks up the device Sam had put on the ground, then scoots down to the end of the couch and I scoot after him.

“Alright, Sam’s trying this now. Do we have somebody-” Colby starts as he looks around, but the voice from the device cuts him off. 

“News,” the device’s voice speaks out and Colby turns back to look at the device in his hand. 

“News?” Colby repeats it in confusion. 

“News?” Stas asks and Colby repeats it, nodding. 

“Did you have any news for us?” Stas asks softly and Colby scratches his forehead. 

“Is there news that you want to tell us?” Colby asks. 

“No, there was a hanging in the barn. A noose,” Amanda cuts in and another chill runs down my back.

“Noose. Interesting," Colby comments as Stas hums. The sick feeling continues to get worse and worse, but for some reason I can’t get any words out. 

“Just ask,” Sam speaks as he holds a hand over his right earphone. 

“Were you the person that got hung here?” Stas asks as I try to open my mouth and talk, but my tongue feels heavy and my mouth just won’t move. 

“Help,” Sam again speaks out what he hears. 

“Are you the spirit that tormented the Perron family?” Amanda asks. “No one ask another question for a moment,” Amanda informs us and we all stay quiet. 

“God,” Sam says out loud and now I try to squeeze Colby’s hand to tell him how I’m feeling, but it’s like I’m just frozen and can’t. 

“Don’t ask anything else. Wait,” Amanda adds in and again everyone is silent. 

“Not here,” Sam again says what he heard. 

“Who are you?” Amanda asks. “Are you the demon that tormented the Perron family?” Amanda again asks, only this time a little more sternly. 

We wait for a few minutes with no response coming from Sam. Finally the sick feeling seems to just wash away and I’m confused. 

“Possible,” Sam says, making me stop to listen and forget about it. “Freedom,” he continues to tell us what he hears. 

“Are you- are you- can you not leave? Are you trapped here?” Amanda asks as she tries to figure it all out. 

“Do you need to escape?” Colby asks as he looks over at Amanda. 

“Modern gate,” Sam says and Amanda seems to get involved more now. 

“Is there-” Amanda starts to ask, but then Sam says, “Limits,” repeating what he hears. 

“Is there some kind of gate or limit and reason you're not allowed to leave this home?” Amanda continues her question and we all pause. 

“Though,” Colby reads the word on his device out loud. 

“Are you trying-” Colby starts to ask something, but gets cut off by Sam saying “Found me”. 

“I was literally just about to say I feel like we connected-” Amanda starts, but Sam cuts her off again with “Coat.” 

“There was a guy right over here,” Amanda explains as she points over to her left. “He looks like a soldier.”

“Really? Like the story of the seven soldiers?” Colby asks as Stas hums. 

“He looks like one of the three that I saw walking outside. He’s in like, like-” Amanda tries to explain, but Sam cuts her off with a “Believe.” 

“Believe?” Colby questions as Amanda gives a look of confusion. 

“He’s in light colored clothes,” Amanda explains with a look of worry. 

“Hello, Protect,” Sam again says now and we all look at each other with even more confusion. 

“Why would he say protect? Protect what?” I finally find my words again and Colby squeezes my hand. 

“I don’t know, but I was literally about to say, he wants to talk to us,” Amanda adds as we all look at each other. 

“Focus,” Sam speaks out again. 

“We need to believe and focus more?” Colby guesses as he sighs, rubbing his face. 

“Do you remember the Perron family?” Colby asks and it goes quiet for another moment as Colby sits with his hand on his closed eye. 

“Be with me,” Sam says what he’d heard and again the sick feeling creeps up. 

“We’re here?” Colby says, confused before it falls silent again for a good while. 

“Underground,” Sam eventually speaks out. 

“Underground…” Colby repeats under his breath. 

“Basement,” Colby adds in realization. 

“Do you wanna-” Amanda starts to ask, but Sam cuts her off, saying “Stuck.” 

“Are you stuck in the basement? Do you want us to go down in the basement?” Amanda asks, but again there’s no response as we wait a while. 

“Please,” Sam finally speaks up. 

“What’s in the basement?” Amanda asks and after she does, there’s a knock that sounds off. 

“Heaven,” Sam says and soon it goes quiet again. 

We wait about a minute before Sam pulls the headphones off and gives Colby an incredulous look. 

“Whoa,” Colby comments as he lets out a breath. 

“What happened?” Sam asks after he sees Colby’s reaction. 

“We think there’s a soldier here that is just saying that he wants us to be with him and like that he’s been trying to escape this sort of hell and find heaven, but he can’t,” Colby explains and Sam nods understandably. 

“Also when we said, like, ‘do you want us to go to the basement’, you said please,” Stas chimes in and helps explain what happened to Sam. 

“I wrote down some things. I wrote ‘not ever out’ and ‘protect’. Those are the things that stuck out most,” Amanda informs Sam as she clicks her pen and reads over the words. 

“It was really difficult to hear when you guys weren’t asking questions,” Sam informs us as he looks away for a moment then back. 

“Yeah, when we were all quiet, we just tried to be quiet for a couple times, you would never say anything,” Colby explains as he points at Sam. 

“Weird!” Sam explains as his eyes widen. 

“Yeah! That- that’s weird,” Stas agrees in a shocked tone. 

“I didn’t even think about that,” Amanda adds into the conversation. 

“True… yeah,” Kat says, nodding and smiling a little. 

“What the f***?” Sam questions in astonishment. 

“Anyone else wanna try to see what we’ll get?” Sam asks as he looks between all of us. 

“I think I will,” Colby speaks up and he goes to get up after Sam nods. 

“Colby. I don’t know. Something feels off,” I tell him as I hold onto his arm. 

“It’ll be okay, babe, I’m sure it’s just nerves,” Colby replies before he leaves a kiss on my cheek. 

I sigh, shaking my head as he gets up, switching places with Sam. As soon as he leaves, the sick feeling comes crashing down on me tenfold. I try to call out to tell them, but like before my tongue feels like dead weight in my mouth. I watch helplessly as he sits there with the headphones over his ears and Sam holds the device. Tears form in my water line, but for some reason I can’t actually shed any. 

To Be Continued….

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[that-gay-guy-from-hell]

A Devil's Secret Wingman: Vergil x G/N Reader

APPARENTLY, I NEVER POSTED THIS HERE; I WROTE THIS BACK IN MARCH OF 2023 LMFAO WHAT THE FUCK--

SUMMARY: As time has gone on, random appearances from a certain blue apparition happened more and more. A part of you wonders why but you had never dared to ask Vergil; however, the sly blue ghostly devil had a different plan in store.

BEGINNING NOTES: I don’t know why I really like the idea of Vergil in yoga pants right now; I just do. Also when Doppel shakes their upper half; I am imagining something similar to a bird fluffing its feathers. Yes, I know that Vergil + Dante’s DT/Sin DTs don’t have feathers but I feel like they’d still do it; plus it would make Vergil’s (Sin Trigger) shoulder pauldrons move according to how they work on the concept art page. 💝🩵💝 Vergil x G/N Reader Unestablished relationship Some good ol’ fluff

==

INSPIRED BY:

A Doppelganger's Projection--By: DevilSwordVergil

Devil's Advocate--By: LadyMuzzMuzz

These are both super cute and I love them ngl

==

     Visitations from a certain bright blue apparition had become a regular occurrence when you visited the Devil May Cry. It didn't typically matter what was going on; night or day, before or after a job--as long as you were alone, the glowing blue devil would make time to see you. At first, you thought that Vergil had been doing this to keep an eye on you while he was up in his room; however, as time went by, you realized that Vergil didn’t even have to be awake for Doppel to appear--sometimes you'd even get a visit when Vergil was out and about. It had become a part of your routine, one which you reveled in greatly.

     Today was no exception. 

     Vergil and you were on “shop duty”, being tasked with the monotonous secretary work of (the) Devil May Cry. Everyone else had various contracts to complete or were on vacation; leaving you and the blue twin alone for an undisclosed amount of time.

     You sighed heavily, “I’m so fucking bored…” you leaned forward in the desk chair and set your head on the desk with a small thunk. 

     It had been nearly three hours and there wasn’t a single phone call or walk-in; it was as dead as dead can be. A part of you had hoped that Vergil might join you downstairs for a while, maybe even a long while; but, you hadn’t seen nor heard from the Dark Slayer all day. Which was fine, it’s not like the two of you don’t see each other all the time, but you couldn’t help but yearn to be near him--even if it just meant that you were occupying the same room. 

     A small joyful chirping caught your attention. You tilted your head up slightly and stared from the tops of your eyes. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was the blue ghostly doppelgänger that you expected to visit at some point.

     You picked your head up. Placing your elbow on the desk and resting your chin in your palm, you flashed them a bright beaming smile, “Hey Doppel, come to join me?”

     Although you knew that the devil couldn’t speak, you would talk to them as if they were able to respond; which to be fair they technically could. Your smile widened as they wiggled a bit, a sign that you'd learned meant they were happy or in agreement. The devil approached you and stood in front of the desk with a tilted head. 

     “Wanna sit with me?” you smiled as you sat up and watched Doppel wriggle faster, spreading their wings slightly in excitement, “Alright,” you stood from the chair.

     With a loud scrapping sound, you moved the coffee table out from in front of the pleather couch--making sure to give the devil enough room. With a playful huff and bounce, you sat on the couch.

     The sound of their claws daintily clicking on the hardwood floor made you giggle in amusement. They stood in front of the couch before tilting their head once more.

     “What?” you watched their hands as they gestured along the couch, asking you to lay down, “Oh? Okay, sure..?” 

     It was a bit odd since they had never asked for that before but you did as you were asked. With a curious tilt to your brow, you watched as the devil sat above you, straddling your legs. If this had been the real Vergil, you surely would’ve been crushed to death by now; thankfully, Doppel (typically) weighed almost nothing. Another laugh left your lips as you watched the dangerous devil knead into your chest with both his hands, emitting a thunderous purr; reminding you of a cat. Meanwhile, you gently ran your hands along the devil's body.

     After a minute or two, they carefully laid on top of you; encompassing you entirely. You smiled as you nestled your face into (where there typically would be) grey scales above their blue V. Carefully, they rubbed the underside of their chin against the top of your head. Between the heat and the vibrations of their purrs, it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep; forgetting all about your shop work. 

     Nearly an hour later, you were still sleeping happily with the blue devil doing the same. However, a different blue devil had come downstairs to check on you; worried that you hadn’t answered the shop's phone several times. Now, he could only stare at the sight before him. 

     The sight of you, his partner and secret romantic interest, being smothered by his own duplicate. Doppel noticed Vergil’s sudden appearance and curiously turned their head towards him. 

     With a large and envious scowl, Vergil snapped his fingers in an attempt to de-summon the blue apparition but was only met with a small wiggling motion in defiance. This movement was enough to stir you awake.

     Only having your eyes half open, you mumbled to your ghostly cuddle-bug, “Somethin’ wrong Doppel?”

     They looked down at you and back to Vergil. You turned your head to the side and became pale at the sight of Doppel’s owner. Vergil had moved further into the room and stood next to the desk with folded arms. A small blush spread across your face upon seeing his oddly casual apparel; a pair of semi-form-fitting black yoga pants and his typical turtlenecked dark blue vest. Upon seeing that you noticed Vergil, Doppel took their leave with a small chirp of happiness. 

     Vergil swallowed audibly and looked away from your eyes, a small amount of pink pricked at his features--embarrassed about this situation, “Forgive me, I was unaware of their summoning,” his voice was meek and caught you off guard.

     You smiled as you sat up, “Don’t worry about it… If I’m honest,” you placed a hand on the back of your neck awkwardly, “I actually enjoy these little visits.”

     “This- This has happened before?” Vergil’s gaze turned back to you filled with concern and confusion.

     “Yeah..?” you cocked your head slightly, “Haven’t you been sending Doppel to stay with me?”

     The twin looked at you with parted lips and wide-eyed expression; telling you that your assumption was far from correct. 

     Before you were able to question him more, Vergil went back up the stairs and holed himself back up in his room. 

     “Shit,” a loud sigh left your lips as you flung your head backwards, hitting the crown of your head on the back cushions; fearing that this would somehow bite you in the ass later.

     You waited a while to see if Vergil would come back downstairs and were disappointed when he didn’t. Another heavy sigh left your lips as you stood up from the couch and tended to your assigned work.

     After that was completed, you quickly became bored again and looked around for something to bide your time. That’s when you realized how dirty the DMC had become making you scrunch your face in disgust. So, you decided to take upon the hefty maid work and got to it. 

     Three hours of exhausting scrubbing and cleaning later, you flopped face down on the sofa, satisfied with your work. Slowly, you felt the warm gentle hold of sleep taking hold of you or was it something else? Before you could question it too much, you fell back asleep.

     After a half hour or so, you tried to turn over and felt something stop you. Irritatedly, you opened your eyes and noticed luminescent wings and arms wrapped around you. It seemed that Doppel had not only returned to you but was sleeping on top of you. 

     “Doppel?” you whispered and got a small tail wag in response, “Can you let me up?”

     They looked at you for a moment, presumably in thought, then slid off you. You sat up and let out a low groan as you stretched your arms upwards, cracking your back. The large devil sat facing you with crisscrossed legs, reminding you of how juvenile the ghost acted in comparison to its master.

     With a small laugh, you turned to put one leg up on the couch, “So… What’s with you? I hear that you’ve been visiting me without permission?” you cocked your head curiously.

     The blue devil chirped in affirmation.

     "Why?" 

     Doppel’s tail gently moved to point at your chest before laying it on your lap. Carefully, you pet the sharp scales; giving extra care to go pet down the tail so you didn’t slice your hand. 

     “My chest, huh?” you shook your head with a faint smile, “I don’t understand.”

     The light blue figure cocked its head slightly before shaking its upper body with a loud chirp. Then, they took their hands and fumbled with them for a moment, before they made a crude heart shape with their fingers. 

     With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, you huffed quietly in confusion, “A heart?” the blue devil shook with another loud chirp--indicating that you were correct, “What..? You just love spending time with me or something?” admittedly, you found that idea to be adorable.

     Doppel looked over and stared at the staircase; which you copied. 

     “Wait,” you froze and looked at Doppel with wide eyes, “You mean that Vergil-?”

     A third loud chirp came from them as they wriggled in place. 

     With parted lips, you tried to come up with a response. However, before you were able, Doppel sat on their knees, still on the couch, and poked your chest with their finger this time. 

     “Are you asking if I..?” your voice was hushed as Doppel wiggled a bit, “Oh, well- I,” you stumbled over your thoughts and words. Admittedly, you’d never said it out loud before or told anyone about how you felt for the older brother; despite the incessant pestering of Nico and Dante, “Yeah, I-” a small smile tugged at your lips as you sighed contently, “I do love Vergil.”

     The blue apparition carefully cupped your face within its hands and made an odd purring chirp noise; one you’d never heard before. They continued to purr afterwards and just stared into your eyes. That’s when you realized what Doppel was asking you to do.

     “No way,” you shook your head slightly, still confined by the devil’s hands, “I can’t tell him. Do you know how much he’d hate me over something--” 

     Another loud chirping purr cut you off; this time, however, Doppel wriggled harder and spread their wings out in clear disagreement.

     “You sure about this?” you whispered as you felt them squish your face closer together, making you scrunch up, “Alright- Alright, I’ll go,” Doppel let go of your face as you laughed nervously.

     A deep nervous feeling grew in your gut as you stood up and slowly ascended the stairs, with Doppel following suit. Once in front of Vergil’s door, you stopped and looked over at the apparition with pursed lips. Doppel decided to force things along further and knocked loudly on the door for you, making you cuss loudly at the ghostly devil. 

     The door opened and Vergil stood there with a raised brow; however, before he spoke, he noticed his Doppelgänger standing beside you. 

     “What- How?!” Vergil’s voice was angry as he glared at the blue ghost.

     Doppel straightened their posture with a curious tilt of their head. 

     The eldest twin’s lip twitched in irritation at their counterpart.

     Meekly, you broke Vergil’s death glare at the apparition, “Hey, could we,” you shrugged with one shoulder, “talk for a minute?”

     Vergil eyed you up and down, “Fine, give me a moment,” with that, he turned back into his room and shut the door. 

     You turned to Doppel and became increasingly confused. They were ruffling their top half with their wings wide spread and their tail flicking around.

     “What’s up with you?” you were unsure if they were excited or angry.

     The ghost looked at you and patted the top of your head, still wriggling around.

     With a small shake of your head, you smirked a wide smile at them, “You’re quite excited, huh?”

     Before they could give a clear response, Vergil’s bedroom door opened again. 

     The twin sighed and moved to the side, “You may enter.”

     “Are you sure you want me in your room? You never--”

     “Yes.”

     With a coy nod, you smiled, “Okay, thank you.”

     Vergil gave you a flat smile and shut the door as he watched Doppel wave to him and then fade. 

     A heavy sigh came from the twin as he stood facing the door for a moment, attempting to hide his growing nervousness. Vergil turned to face you and took a few steps closer. The two of you awkwardly stood in the middle of the open space. Admittedly, the eldest son’s room was rather plain; only having essential items, a few bookshelves, and a small desk. 

     “It’s nice in here,” you smiled and avoided his piercing gaze, “it’s very well-kempt; a reflection of its inhabitant.”

     Although Vergil was flattered by your compliment, he was uncomfortable by someone else’s presence in his space; making his tone rather snappy, “What do you want?”

     You pursed your lips and shrank down into yourself, taking his tone as a bad sign, “Doppel told me something, and I--” you shot a glance at him and noticed his brow was furrowed, “I was made to come up here to talk with you.”

     “Speak then.”

     “Well,” you bit your tongue, “you know what, never mind; just forget this happened,” with your tail between your legs, you attempted to retreat and leave, when you felt him grab your forearm.

     Without turning to you, Vergil spoke in a hushed tone, “No, I want to hear what you have to say.”

     A sigh left your nose as you turned your head to the side, looking at the side profile of the stone-faced man, “Promise you won’t be mad?”

     Vergil copied your action, turning his head to face you, “Fine.”

     Your heart rate spiked as you locked eyes with his icy eyes and a small blush dusted your face. Vergil released his hold on your arm and turned fully to see you with folded arms. 

     You looked away from him again and tensed up as you whispered, “Doppel wanted me to tell you about how,” with a scrunched face, you braced for the worst, “I have feelings for you.”

     His voice was sharp and he squinted his eyes, “What kind of feelings ?”

     With a barely audible voice and a small nervous laugh, you answered, “Romantic ones…”

     The room fell silent. A thick uncomfortable tension hung in the air as Vergil just stared at you. If he had stabbed you with the Yamato or scoffed in response; that would have been preferable then him just standing completely still and silent. A part of you wanted to bolt out the door and just run from this, but you were frozen in fear.

     “Is that your version of a confession?”

     Unable to look at him, you nodded.

     Vergil’s stare softened and he let out a gentle sigh, “Let me guess,” slowly, he approached you and stopped only a few inches from you, “my doppelgänger told you about my own feelings then?”

     With another small nod, you focused on his boots that had come into view.

     “Then may I ask why you were hesitant to tell me..?”

     You whispered, “I figure Doppel was just messing with me.”

     Vergil gave a flat smile. Gently he set his thumb and forefinger on your chin, tilting you up for him to see. Neither of you spoke as he slowly ran his thumb over your parted lips, making your face turn a few shades darker. Eventually, you met his gaze and noticed his expression had softened greatly; the first time you’d seen him this mellow. 

     Vergil whispered as he stared down at your lips, “May I..?” 

     You gave a small grin, “Of course.”

     With a very slow and careful lean, Vergil connected his mouth to yours. You sheepishly placed your hands on his sides, making him push a bit harder into the kiss. His lips were broiling hot as he slowly moved his lips against yours. After a few moments, Vergil broke the kiss off and leaned back enough to look you over; attempting to gauge your response. A small smile tugged at your lips and you noticed that Vergil had the same expression. 

     He moved his hand to rest on the side of your jaw, gently thumbing over your cheekbone, “I assume that was proof enough?”

     Curious as to how he would respond, you inched toward him and cocked your head slightly, “Mnm, I dunno; think I might need another just to be sure.”

     He shyly looked down and leaned back into you, intertwining once more. This time, however, Vergil made sure to pour everything he had into the kiss. Quickly, he moved both hands to your waist and pulled you tight to his body, making you squeak in surprise. Using this to his advantage, he pushed his tongue into your mouth. 

     After a few minutes of fervourous kissing, the two of you broke apart, breathing heavily. Vergil gently nuzzled against the side of your neck and placed sweet kisses along it; very quietly purring. 

     While the two of you were enjoying each other's embrace, a loud yell from downstairs caught your attention, it seems that Dante had returned. However, when you tried to separate from Vergil, he pulled you closer.

     “Stay, my brother can wait,” his voice was laden with a thick husky seduction as he continued to kiss down your neck, “I’m not done showing you how much I love you.”

==

ENDING NOTES: Is it weird for me to hyperlink stories that inspired my chapters or not? This is a genuine question--I don't want to seem weird, but I want to give credit where credit is due.

==

If you like this please consider checking this on my AO3. There are extra chapters and my H/Cs over there, so please consider checking them out! Comments, Likes/Kudos, and shares are always appreciated! Thanks so much for reading!! :)))

MASTER LIST FOR TUMBLR

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Bit Slow Round These Parts

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 8 of 12 - Mhok is about the most indulgent boyfriend on the planet. Why they dressed as 1930s gangsters for the wedding? I have no idea idea, but it’s adorable. IFYLITA mark 2? And they’re even dancing together using bits of the same steps that were used that show too. Cute nod.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 6 of 10 - Everything but the kitchen sink includes lesbians apparently. Excellent. Carry on. Also a lot of filler about the sides. (Boring, stop that.) I wish the doctor were a little bit more of a multifaceted character (and less evil snakey), and that we had some of his backstory + Tharn. If we saw them as kids, having a longer true friendship, it would make Tharn’s attitude a little bit more sympathetic and forgiving.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - I like this show, but it’s awfully one-sided in the romance arena. I mean shouldn’t they be trying to support and make each other happy? Why does it always have to come from Him? Also, I’m constantly worried about the fact that Nail doesn’t eat any vegetables. His digestive track must be in serious distress. And if the boy is a bottom?! Look I have concerns is all I'm saying, I hope he's getting his fiber along with the dk. Meanwhile... Mom confrontation! Always fun.  

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 9 of 10 - Now I’m having a hard time keeping the twins straight. Who’s getting beat up for whom, what’s going on? No matter who, First caught himself a live one. I like those bits.

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 7 of 14 - I got little crumbs of my sides but not enough, and then they dropped the mpreg bomb. Kinda like blowing the BL diaper. Trash watch happening here.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 5 of 12 - They are so cute. And mostly such good communicators. Except evil dad is evil! I didn’t have OffGun tango on my bingo card, but I'm happy to check it off. After making everyone sing, GMMTV is now making everyone dance. I much prefer it. Kiss came a bit out of nowhere. But it was sweet. 

A few minutes later...

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 6fin - I don’t know, I feel like this just wasn’t good enough for the class of talent involved. Which means it’s mostly the story and script's fault. In the end I kinda just wanted Guy to get the guy.

In cluclusion:

A lack-luster story about a group of bakers coping with (mostly) a shoddy script that could not be saved by either the beauty nor the talent of the actors involved. It suffered for lack of narrative backbone and so did I. 6/10

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 8fin - Mai is an adorable clingy boyfriend, and that bit was kind of cute.

Summation:

Office clown, Jade, a manic pixie dream dork, is courted by the new intern, Mai. This show is right in my wheelhouse but it fell flat for me. I wish it had lived up to the concept behind the title (if nothing else). If we had done more of Jade‘s family and the reasons behind his self-worth struggles and self-acceptance issues, they might have been easier to bare. Without backstory, the show had no through line. In the end, Jade was a largely intolerable character, and Mai felt flat and lacking in personality. I was disappointed with this show, and I hope they don't blame the pair for the poor ratings. 6/10

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) 1626 ep 19 of 24 - Meh. So dull. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - I’m not really interested in the late addition love triangle concept.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - a bit too frenetic and manic for me, this one. Glasses boy is best boy. But I’m kind of confused as to was actually going on with this show. Including whether I like it or not.

I Became the Main Role of a BL (Japan Sun Gaga) ep 1-3 - AKA BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen - it should finish airing at the very beginning of the year, so I decided to wait and watch all 3 back-to-back. 

It's Airing But...

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

Night Dream (Sat YT) 6 eps - It’s a pain to track down and I really didn’t like the first episode so… DNF  

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if safe.

Dead Friend Forever (Thai Sat iQIYI) - horror, meh, tell me if it's worth my time?

It's done and I didn't, or we can't

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother. So I won't.

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) - This is a historical I was interested in, but I've been told they kill the gay so I'm OUT.

[INTERNATIONAL] Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - yeah Japan put the smack down on our boys. Sadness. You can use a VPN if you like. Read all about it here.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have a spare day.

Crazy work load right now so no idea when that will be. (End of year is a bear for me.)

Honestly I'm gonna have an epic number of dnf's this year for me.

Next Week Looks Like This

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

Also my best ofs are coming.

Don't think I'll do a stats round up this year, everything progressing as before.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

(Last week) - sorry, forgot to link it.

It's 2024 people! Round ups are coming!!!! Leave a comment or an ask, if you have something specific you want addressed.

[absurdthirst]

Kinktober 2023: October 18th

Day 18: Sensory Deprivation Gags, Service Top/Power Bottom, Bloodplay

Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, kink shaming?, Tom being a douche, mentions of drinking, tipsy Frankie, assumed prior consent, oral sex (female receiving), sex toys, slight exhibitionism

|| Kinktober List || MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

It never fails that a conversation with the guys has to include sex of some kind. Even if it's just ribald jokes and busting each other’s balls as they drink beer out in your backyard around the firepit. It’s one of those nights. The jokes have come out in force since announcing that you and Frank were expecting, all the men who had served in Delta Squad A congratulating your husband on his virility, his obvious prowess in the bedroom while you just hummed happily at the very real prospect of the newest addition to the Morales household. 

“Fish, what the fuck is this?” The slider to the house closes behind Tom and he holds up a book that you know for a fact was tucked into Frankie’s nightstand before the guys came over. You know because you had put it away. 

“What the fuck? Did you go through my nightstand?” Frankie frowns, seeing the book in his former team leader’s hands. He moves a hand up to push the brim of his hat up and scratch his hair underneath before he pulls it back down, a little embarrassed.

Tom ignores the question, obviously having committed the crime since he had been the one in the house and turns to the book to read the title. “Powering From the Bottom.” He reads out loud. “How To Be a Service Top.” His tone is incredulous and he snorts as he looks back at your husband. “Jesus Christ, Fish, wanna tell us something?” 

You hiss in anger, watching your husband squirm uncomfortably. Tom is one of those fuckers who believe that macho men have to be dominant, constantly the ‘head of household’ and would never, ever, be a service top. 

“Red-” 

“Maybe you should read it, Tom.” You speak up, not wanting Frankie to fight this battle alone. It’s not really any of his goddamn business what happens in your bedroom, but since he wants to embarrass your husband, you think you’ll just embarrass him. “Maybe you can figure out why Molly left you.” 

It’s amazing how quickly the air seems to go completely silent. Even the fire decides it’s not going to speak up and crackle. “What did you just say?” Others might be intimidated by the former soldier’s narrowed gaze, but you aren’t. Fuck Tom. 

“I don’t know.” You shrug, taking another sip of your punch. “Told me that she hadn’t had an orgasm from sex with you in nearly eight years.” You snort. “Just that you climb on top of her and ride her for forty-five seconds and think that you’ve done her some sort of favor.” 

“Babe-” Frankie frowns and moves over towards you. Wrapping his arm around your back and pulling you towards him. You know why he’s doing it. One, to get your attention. Two, to remind Tom that you are his wife. Tom’s a hothead and you are pushing his buttons in front of a group of people. But he brought this on himself. 

“No, baby.” You shake your head and turn towards Frankie, kissing the bare patch of skin on his jaw. “He started this.” Looking back at Tom, you huff. “Do you even know what a Service Top is? It means that his focus, his priority is my pleasure. He gets off on making sure that I’m very well taken care of.”  You hand slides protectively over your stomach, reminding everyone that you are pregnant, that it obviously works for you. “It’s not something to be ashamed of. And I bought that book for my husband as a joke, a private one.” You announce to the group. “Yes, he is reading it, but I want to know how you found it when it was tucked into his nightstand in our bedroom?” 

You’ve got him there and everyone knows it. Tom scowls, not happy with the way that you’ve neatly turned this around on him and huffs. “I was just fucking around with him.” He grumbles, tossing the book down into one of the chairs and looks around the group. “What? Drink your beer.” He tells them, annoyed at being called out and even more annoyed that he doesn’t know if you were lying about what Molly said or not. 

You smirk and hum to yourself, feeling Frankie’s fingers pressing into your side as he leans down and presses his lips to yours. You know that your husband is ten times the man that Tom ‘Redfly’ Davis is, and you’ll be damned if you won’t fight for him as hard as he protects you. 

**** “Baby, I want you.” It’s not surprising that Frankie is pressing up against you, his cock rock hard against your ass the second you climb into bed with him. He’s more than a little tipsy and he always wants sex when he’s been drinking. “So fucking sexy.” He groans, kissing the back of your neck and immediately pushing his hands under your shirt to cup your breasts gently. His touch has been lighter since they have been sensitive, but it’s perfect. “Defending me. Want to make you feel good, want to make you scream my name for everyone to hear.” 

The rule of the Morales house was that anyone who drank too much, stayed. Keys were put away and the guest bedrooms and the couches were put to use. No one needed a DUI to pull them off the team or god forbid, kill someone. Even Tom had stayed, since he had one too many. 

“Are you sure?” You ask, smirking when his answer is rocking his cock against your ass. As if showing you how sure he was. “Let me eat your pussy.” He begs, thumbing  your nipple and not pinching since that would make you hiss in pain. 

Frankie’s tongue is magic and you moan softly, making him twitch against you. He loves eating you out, making you cum on his tongue and sometimes would want to just do that, because you weren’t up for sex. He didn’t care, he just wanted you to cum. 

“You want to show all of them how you take care of your girl?” You turn your head to look at him over your shoulder and he’s practically salivating at the idea. 

“Fuck yes,” he groans. “Want to - fuck, you want your toy? Your dildo inside you while I play with your clit? Want you so wet for me when I slide inside you.” 

He always knows exactly what you enjoy, taking note of everything that makes you pant or moan for him. It’s exactly why Frankie is a service top. He’s always in control of you in the bedroom, but rather than using you for his own pleasure. He gets pleasure from your satisfaction. 

With your pregnancy, Frankie has become more attentive than normal. Maybe a little sloppy because of the alcohol, but he’s still bringing his A game. Kissing and nibbling on your thigh while he slowly works the toy in and and out of your lips, he waits until you are breathless to latch onto your clit. 

“Frank!” You know your cry is loud, unwilling to censor yourself in your own home, and wanting those that had heard Tom try to shame him hear how much you enjoy Frankie as a lover. Not faking it, but not holding back. 

Your fingers twist into his longer curls and you love looking down to find his dark brown eyes fixed on your face. Watching as he slowly tears you apart with his tongue and the motion of the toy rocking deeper into your grasping walls. 

Every moan spurs him on, every sigh a sign that he should suck more, nibble or pull back just based on the sound of it. Reading your reactions and your body like a book and adjusting to make sure that you are soaking the toy and the bed beneath you with the evidence of how well Frankie treats you. 

HIs own hums and moans vibrate deep into your pussy, making it throb and clench even more as he works you over. Fully aware of the power that he has over you and even if he is giving, he is also taking from you as well. Taking your sounds, taking the way your hips roll down to chase his tongue. Taking every pulse of slick that gushes from your cunt. He takes all of it with the pride that makes his cock leak into the bed under him. 

You know that some of this is a lesson to everyone in the house around you. None of them, except maybe Tom, are asleep yet. You had just gone to bed when the moaning started. The breathless sighs of his name and the slight begging orders of ‘more’ that seem to fall from your lips every time Frankie slides between your thighs. 

Your cry of pleasure when you fall apart is just that. Pure pleasure. Pleasure from the way that his tongue laps at your clit and pleasure in knowing that you are proving to everyone how being a service top isn’t being weak. It’s the most powerful that a man can be. 

[greynatomy]

Right Person, Wrong Time

Trinity Rodman x Reader

This was so fun to write honestly. Thank you to @deynacastellonaswife for the request and prompt. I hope I wrote to your expectations.

Also haven’t wrote a fic with over 1,000 words in a long time so that felt nice.

If you like this, please let me know!

-grey

———

You were standing in the middle of your apartment, figuring out what you should take with you to London, and what you can get rid of. You didn’t realize how much stuff you had until it was all laid out in front of you.

You’ve received many offers from plenty NWSL teams and many abroad, but when Arsenal put in an offer, it was one you couldn’t refuse. You decided to not finish college and go straight into playing what you love. You’ve always been a fan of Arsenal, watching the likes of Leah Williamson, Caitlin Foord, Alex Scott and so much more.

You know you wouldn’t stay in London permanently because you’d be homesick and missing your family. You’d also be missing your girlfriend of two years, not being ready for long distance at all.

You were so far into your own head that you barely heard someone ringing your doorbell and knocking on your door. Opening it, you smile at the sight of your girlfriend, but it quickly disappearing after seeing tears running down her face.

“Hey, hey. What’s wrong?” You try pulling her into your arms, but she pushes past you into your apartment. You close the door behind you and follow after her.

“I-I-I need to talk to you.”

“Okay. About what.”

“I don’t-I don’t really know how to say this, but I-I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” You try to reach out for her, only for her to pull away, hurt showing on your face.

“You’re going all the way to England and I’m staying here and I-I don’t want you to go.”

“I thought we talked about this Trin?”

“We did, but thinking about it more, I don’t want to hold you back, tie you down. You’ve always wanted to play for Arsenal.”

“You’re not tying me down babe.”

“My decision is final. Focus on your career, I’ll get drafted here and maybe we’ll still see each other sometime.”

“You won’t even talk to me while I’m there? I could be there for years. I can’t just not talk to you.”

“You’re an amazing player. You’ll do amazing there, so focus on that, don’t worry about me. Maybe we’ll come back together in the future, but now is not our time.”

“You’re sure about this?” Your bottom lip trembles, trapping it between your teeth to make it stop.

“I am.”

“You’re younger than me but so much wiser, I swear.” You can’t help but let out a small laugh, Trinity letting one out too.

“I love you and I can’t wait to see how you play with them.”

“Can I have one last kiss?”

She doesn’t reposed but grabs both sides of your head, smashing her lips to yours. You wrap your arms around her waist, holding tight, not wanting to let go.

‘Right person, wrong time’, you thought.

———

Here you are now, January 2023, in a similar situation three years before. Having packed all the essentials and must haves into boxes and suitcases and sent some off to be shipped to your new apartment.

After three years in London, playing for Arsenal, truly making a name for yourself, it was time to go back home. You’ve requested a transfer and your managers and teammates were very supportive of you.

You’ve already said your goodbyes to everyone, especially to Leah and Caitlin who’ve taken you under their wing, with lots of tears shed, you’re off to the airport for a long journey home.

———

Trinity Rodman, a star player for the Washington Spirit and the US Women’s National Team, got ready for practice like normal. But today was a little more exciting. Newly drafted and signed players are arriving for their first practice with the Spirit.

Arriving at the stadium, she went straight into the locker room to get her gear on, many of her teammates joining her. Gathering everything she needs, she heads to the field with everybody else. Their head coach, Mark, asks them all to gather around, to welcome all the new players.

“Now, we do have one more person, but she seems to be a lit—”

“—I’m here! I’m here! Sorry for being late!” You come running towards them, gear in your hands, shirt only halfway on.

Trinity froze. She hasn’t heard your voice in such a long time. She didn’t know if she should go up to you, but her body decided for her, not being able to move from her place, looking at the ground.

“Right. This is Y/n Y/ln. Wanna introduce yourself?” He gestures to you.

“Right. Uh, again, my names Y/n and I played in Arsenal and now I play here. I’m twenty-three and I’m a CM.”

“Well, good to have you here. Now let’s start practice.”

The whole practice, Trinity was distracted. She couldn’t get her foot on the ball properly, even missing some open shots. Her friends/teammates notice her distracted, but decided to talk to her after practice.

She found herself staring at you. Some times you would catch her eye, her turning away just as quickly. It was weird seeing you after all this time. It was extremely awkward too because she wanted to just be wrapped up in your arms like you did years ago.

Practice ended, Trinity rushes to the locker room grabbing her stuff and leaving, not bothering to use the showers there like she always does.

You, on the other hand, try to look for Trinity, rushing into the locker room to see if she’s still here. Unfortunately, you just missed her.

“What’s got you looking stressed?” Ashley asks you.

“Nothing. Nothing. Just probably still jet lagged or something.”

“Alright. Let me know if you need anything.”

Needing to cool down, you hop into the showers, taking a cold shower. You didn’t know what kind of reaction you could’ve gotten from Trinity after not seeing you for a long time, but it definitely wasn’t her ignoring you and practically running away from you. Quickly getting dressed, you look for Ashley.

“Hey, do you happen to know where Trinity lives?”

———

Trinity was not chilling on the couch, watching her favorite show when there was a knock on her door. She looks through the peephole, not expecting to see you standing outside. She didn’t know if she should open the door for you or not, opting to stay silent.

“Trin, come on, I know you’re there looking through the hole. Let me in, please.” You sounded so desperate for her to answer.

Giving in she opens the door, moving aside to let you in.

“What do you wanna talk about?” “Why are you ignoring me?” You both asked at the same time.

“You first.”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I wasn’t.”

“You practically ran away after practice. Couldn’t even catch up with you!”

“I-I didn’t know if I could still talk to you. You’ve been gone for years and it’s not the same anymore!”

“‘Cause you told me not to talk to you when I left. Said to focus on me when all I wanted was to tell you whenever some good, something great happened in my life, but you blocked me!”

“Because if I didn’t I would be calling you.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You we’re with me. If I hear your voice and you’re not near me I’m gonna cry and I’ve cried for so long already.” Her voice breaks, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

You close the space between you and wrapped your arms around her. She tries punching and punching you away, but you hold on tighter, not wanting to let go.

“I’m not leaving you ever again, you hear me?” You voice muffled into her hair.

She finally wraps her arms around your waist, holding tight as if you’d disappear.

“Don’t leave me again.”

You gently grab her face with both of your hands, looking into her eyes. “I’m with you. I’m staying. Wherever you go, I go. You’re it for me.”

She leans her face up to yours and kisses you passionately, missing the feeling of your lips on hers.

She pulls away, mumbling into your lips, “You’re it for me too.”

Now is our time

[minisugakoobies]

*cackles evilly* Um, I mean- *coughs and smiles*

How about Mr. Bahng with (getting pinned against a wall) and ("God, you’re making me so fucking hard right now.")? Because, you know, you were one of the culprits who sent me down delulu land for him? 😒🧃💕

AJ, my beloved, anything for you! I'm still not sorry about the Chan brainrot 😆 and I can't wait to dig into Spin You soon 💕

Title: Keep It Secret Pairing: Chan x Gender Neutral Reader Rating: M(18+) Genre: Smut, Friends to Lovers Warnings: dirty texts, sneaking around, implied sex

(Apologies for any typos, ya girl is buzzed) The thing about sneaking around behind your friends' backs is - you're supposed to keep it secret.

But as you sit at the restaurant table where your group of friends are toasting to Minho's promotion, you're starting to worry that the others are going to know that you and Chan have been fucking.

Mainly because you can't stop looking at the texts he's been sending all night:

Channie: You look so fucking good tonight

Channie: Did you wear that dress just for me?

You bite your lip, thumbs flying over the screen, hoping the others don't see you. Because if they catch you texting, they'll be all up in your business faster than lightning. Your friends are amazing, but they're also the nosiest fuckers you've ever met.

Which is why you and Chan haven't told them about the hookups. The nights spent in each other's beds. The afternoons on your couches, him as deep inside you as he can possibly get. They'd have too many questions, want to know about labels. Neither of you want to deal with that.

So you try to hide it.

You: Yeah, I did. You like?

Casually, you lean forward, reaching for the bottle of wine Felix graciously bought for the table. But really, you're just letting Chan get an eyeful of your cleavage as he covertly gazes at you from the other side of the table. His blond hair falls gently over his brow as he bows his head over his lap, where his phone must rest.

Channie: Fuck dessert

Channie: Gonna eat you up instead

His last text has you shifting in your seat, rubbing your thighs together, desperate for any sort of friction. Jeongin, sitting next to you, notices.

"You okay there?" he asks, tilting his head with curiosity.

"I'm fine! Just… been a long week. Ready to get out of here and hit the dance floor." That's the plan for the evening - dinner, drinks, and dancing. But you're hoping to find time to fit something else in.

(Or rather, someone.)

The waiter comes around with everyone's desserts. You scoop up a spoonful of Makgeolli ice cream. Everyone's attention is on Minho as he tells a story. Everyone, that is, except Chan, who watches with naked interest as you close your lips around the cold treat, eyes fluttering shut as the sinful sweetness hits your tongue.

The spoon comes out clean, but a drop dribbles down your bottom lip. When you open your eyes, you stare directly at Chan as you lick the errant drop away. Delicious.

Not even a half second later, your phone buzzes in your hand.

Channie: God, you’re making me so fucking hard right now

You can't wait a second longer. Rising, you smooth down your skirt, letting your fingers brush over your thighs, knowing he's looking.

"I'm just going to use the rest room."

It's probably not the smartest idea, with all of your friends here, to do this now. But two minutes later, when there's a knock and another text -

Channie: Let me in, baby

and as soon as you open the door, he pins you to the wall, you realize that even if they figure it out -

It's worth it.

Masterlist 💜 Find me on AO3 💜 

© 2023 by minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost.

[pillowfort-social]

Pillowfort now has over 150,000 registered users!

Hi everyone. We are very excited to announce that as of June 2023 we now have over 150,000 registered users who have made our little platform their home.

Pillowfort launched in 2017 and we weren’t sure where the journey would take us. What we did know, however, was that we want our platform to be known as a user-friendly safe space on the internet for creativity, communication, and content-sharing. 

Pillowfort’s success and existence would not be possible if it wasn’t for your continued support. By funding us, telling your friends about Pillowfort, signing in to Pillowfort, or even just giving us feedback: You have made a difference. You have made a direct impact in keeping us online. Thank you so much. 

As each day passes we are watching in real time more platforms become restrictive. The censorship of BIPOC, LGQBTIA2S+, NSFW artists, and sex workers in social media spaces continues. Some platforms have even disappeared without giving their users notice. 

We realize now more than ever our platform needs to be the counterbalance. We are one of the few platforms available that is staunch about moderating bigotry and hate speech, and we will continue to provide an outlet for fans and creators to have freedom of expression. We’re not going anywhere– as long as we have your help. 

For those new here, Pillowfort has been entirely user funded since the beginning. That means we have received no assistance from large investors or venture capital funding. While it is much more difficult to operate & grow a platform with limited funding, it keeps us accountable to the desires of our users instead of investors or shareholders. Your support has helped us continue to compensate our teams working on the platform, begin development of a progressive web app, and finally release our optional subscription service: Pillowfort Premium.  

In the next few weeks we will be sharing how we are going to tackle abandoned/modless Communities, provide an update to our discussions regarding AI Generated Images on Pillowfort, and release a Site Update with several bug fixes. We are also still tackling our 2023 Development Goals. 

Development Goals 2023

Goals with priority release / currently under development: 

Additions to subscription service: credit-only subscriptions, applying custom credit amounts

Post Drafts

Post Queue & Scheduling

Goals for completion by the end of this summer:

Progressive Web App for mobile with push notifications (!!)

Rebuild the post image uploader widget to be more good and less bad

Rebuild the way notifications are logged & retrieved in the back-end to be more efficient & reduce errors

Onboarding Guide for new users

Goals for completion by end of 2023:

Paid post promotions

Multi-account management/linking

2-Factor Authentication

Community Membership Applications

Community Topics/Organization Options

From the bottom of our hearts thank you again! We hope our community continues to grow and we are excited to share as many updates as we are able to. Stay tuned.

[luckyshinyhunter]

Having trouble finding some films to watch, especially now that it's pride month?

Well have no fear, because I have some that is recommended, whether queer or queer-coded, these are movies you should watch.

Despite being forgotten or criticize being "woke", Strange World is a underrated gem that join the list of underrated and forgotten disney films such Lightyear, Treasure Planet and Atlantis.

It has an gay main character and a diverse cast including an 3-legged dog. Inspired by classic sci-fi adventure film in the 50's and 60's, Strange World is fun adventure film about an generation of a family dealing with their own faults, also opening a door of possibilities with it's lore.

Freaky is a fun twist on the classic "Freaky Friday" trope, telling the story of a teenager who swap bodies with a serial killer, thanks to a mystical artifact.

Co-written and directed by the guy who also made Happy Death Day, Freaky delivers some gore-filled kills and feel good laughs while offering some parts of queer identity along with a gay character who proud of who he is.

The Fear Street trilogy itself not only joined the list of amazing horror films in 2021 but also an spot of queer horror.

It follows an romance of two lesbian teens in the 90's not only dealing with homophobia but also a ancient connected curse of the town of Shadyside.

Chalked with nostalgia of classic horror films like Scream, Friday the 13th and The Crucible.

Fear Street wins fans over with it's violent kills, remarkable characters, talented performances, and great and relatable queer representation.

Jennifer's Body introduced an another horror icon and bisexuality.

Megan Fox plays Jennifer Check who was possessed by a demon and targets on guys after being sacrificed by an fame-hungry band.

Tho Jennifer is not a lesbian, but the films does show that she is interested in both boys and girls, claiming she goes both ways and has some interest in her friend Needy, even kissing her too.

The cult classic not only has an amazing bisexual icon but tackles heavy themes such as assault, exploitation and the female gaze.

Bottoms is a must watch masterpiece, chaotic, brutal and gut-bursting funny, the film follows two high school friends that made a fight club to just hook up with two popular cheerleaders.

With an ridiculously unhinged final act, meet cute romance, and jokes that have you laughing your butt off. This 2000's coded movie is a a treat to start off the month.

After rewatching it again, Arlo has queer heavy themes if you think about it. Looking back, one of the film's characters, has some queer-coded hints about him.

I'm not going to spoil on the titular character, I think you should watch the film in order to get what I'm saying.

Other than that the film has an amazing soundtrack and has colorful characters as well.

Luca definitely is a queer film without a doubt. Focusing on two young sea monsters, spending an unforgettable summer in the town of Portorosso on the Italian Riviera.

It's themes of self discovery, chosen families, homophobia and acceptance.

This emotionally sweet sea-filled tale is a instant classic with a pretty much Canon couple too.

Robot Dreams also has hints of queer companionship and also is a story of loneliness, the film's out now, you definitely think you should see it.

Based off the comic in 2007, Robot Dreams is set in the 80's of New York City.

A lonely dog assemble and befriends a robot in a dialogue-less journey of friendship, love and rusted parts.

There's no surprises are a lot of clear queer-tonic themes in the films, especially among the two main characters, Robot Dreams is a perfect way to spend your summer.

Last year, Nimona was not only one final goodbye from Blue sky studios but is a part of the best films of 2023.

No surprise that the creator of the graphic novel also did Netflix's She-ra, the film is heavy on not only disability but also gender identity and transphobia.

it's a film that everyone will enjoy, thanks to it's commentary and electrifying performances by the cast, combine with pretty metal animation, Nimona is the film you should definitely watch.

🏳️‍🌈Happy pride month, hope all of you have a great day, and let me know on what think of these films.🏳️‍🌈

[phoenixwritessmut]

intimacy headcanons about bottoms (2023)

okay, so i have a lot of feelings about this movie right here. i watched it in theatres with one of my bestfriends, and we couldn't stop talking about it afterwards - more specifically, headcanons we had about the fight club OG members and their reactions to sexual intimacy.

hear me out, okay.

PJ (we start with the queen who started it all): - talks a big game but actually wildly unknowledgeable about everything to do with the female orgasm. - is a bottom. it's in the title, it's in her genes, it's in her jeans. - has a controversy kink (cute cheerleaders, chicks that can make shit explode) and will vehemently deny that she likes the thrill of crushing out on someone she ABSOLUTELY has no business crushing on. - learned halfway through the movie that she's into pain!

Josie (the brains of the operation... sometimes): - pimpy as fuck. she thought she'd be shy and nervous, but when she gets going she's three steps from being the hugh hefner of lesbians. - she's a top, but a service top who will let her girl do the 'topping' if she wants to (and by girl, i mean Isabel). - secret collection of toys "just in case" she needs the help with her stamina (girl just recovered from a broken arm)... spoiler alert, they use absolutely none of them and still run for like four to six rounds. - too embarrassed to admit she used to watch videos to "take notes".

Hazel (my baby, she is everything to me): - is baby girl, but is also daddy depending on her mood (and what PJ is into at the time) but is precious none the less. - refuses to turn the lights off because she likes to watch you both during and after the throes of passion. - lowkey but also kind of highkey enjoys public displays of affection after the kiss that started the straight up murder of an entire football team of teenage boys (also enjoys shoving it in Tim's face that she's got a girlfriend, and he's got... Jeff!). - ridiculously good at what she does but doesn't brag... instead PJ brags to everyone for her, and she ends up with a reputation.

Isabel (shiny, shiny, shiny, shiny): - first time she slept with Josie, she lost all hope that a man would ever know how to satisfy her - or another woman for that matter. - seems like she would be a pillow princess but is actually extremely into giving, and fights with Josie all the time over "topping". - gets turned on watching Josie break people's noses (it's happened a few times, all to the same effect) and isn't ashamed to admit it. - went to Hazel for tips on how to do things, before word even got out that Hazel was a pro... Isabel just had the feeling that Hazel knew.

Brittany (token straight girl... literally the token straight girl): - since turning down PJ, has kissed more girls than the entire club combined (it doesn't help that half of them are all into each other). - wavers on the border of being bi-curious, but just didn't know how to turn down PJ gently, also just not ready to fully come out yet. - definitely fantasizes about women while she's with her boyfriend though. he knows and doesn't really mind about that. - stands by Hazel deserves better than PJ, and if she were just five percent more into women, she'd steal poor Hazel away in a heartbeat.

and to a lesser degree, we had some headcanons about everyone else...

Stella-Rebecca (the regina george, only nicer): - looks like a pillow princess, absolutely is a pillow princess. - into some crazy ass shit; things that the rest of the girls won't even search online for until they're at least twenty-five, married, and bored in their current intimacy lives.

Sylvie (let's crowdfund to get this girl some help): - looks like she'd be in charge, is also a pillow princess, but is completely unashamed to admit that she prefers receiving. - has been hooking up with Annie since the second meeting of fight club. only Hazel knows, but she isn't a snitch.

Annie (you fool nobody, you a freak my dear): - has been hooking up with Sylvia since the second meeting of fight club, when she very concerned about the girl's homelife asked her out for dinner to "talk" and then they ended up spending the entire night together, before they kissed and fooled around a little bit, and Annie told herself for the longest time she was only doing this to make Sylvie happy because the girl is wildly unhappy, only to realize that she's the unhappy one and Sylvie makes her happy. - doesn't know that Hazel knows about them. she aint a snitch.

and for extra bonus points... we had lots of feelings about this.

Jeff (i'm saying he counts, so there): - has never found THE spot, ever. - had to practice with Tim on how to take a bra off because he kept getting confused by all of the buckles and "why is there so many straps? why do they even need these things? can't i rip it? what if i just buy them a new bra after? okay fine." - genuinely does not realize that Mrs. Callahan's daughter Hazel goes to his school and knows his girlfriend, until he is confronted by them. - falls asleep thirty-six seconds after he finishes like a lazy ass.

[thetownwecallhome]

TNBC Shower Thought: Comparing the worst to best TNBC posters

((OOC:

I know how much you love my pedanticy-pedantics about unimportant TNBC details and reviews. Or, at least, I think you like em and none of you have told me to can it yet...

So I figured in the spirit of that and Christmas season, why not compare some of Nightmare Before Christmas's movie posters? Comparing posters and covers is a fun activity for me. There different kinds of posters and cover art throughout the years for all sorts of things that are great at subtly, creativity, minimalism or just being a good cover overall. One day I hope to compare some of the Walt Disney features' many fantastic poser art for their films, but for now lets stick to Nightmare.

I'm starting from the bottom to work my way up into the GREAT stuff. Lets not waste anymore time...

This is easily the worst cover for the film and what I hate is that it's the most current cover. I already hate when they try to make the clipart we're used to all shaded and three dimensional-like, but just...LOOK AT THIS?!?!

Who thought THIS looked good? Honestly?!? The characters are all way too colorful and smooth and it's plastered on top of the film cel like it fits together...it DOESN'T!!!

Next we have the 2008 DVD cover.

I'll try not too be too harsh on this one in case anyone here grew up with it...but I'm sorry I am so not a fan. It tells you nothing about the film and is more of that '3D-ish take on the og lineart that looks ugly to me.

The 2023 30th anniversary art is...fine?

Like there's nothing WRONG with it, but it feels incrediblly lackluster compared to some of the screen-capped and colored up artwork I've seen on things like T-Shirts and even fan made posters.

Also, and I hope this ISN'T true, it's so basic I worry that it at some point was made by or with AI or at least with an artist who wasn't paid that much in a short amount of time. Like, the composition is all there: Sally and Jack in the forground, Lock, Shock and Barrel under them and above the title, Oogie in the moon behind them all...but I don't know why they didn't do something really cool like make all the intricate purple and blue-shapes into silhouettes of the other characters and other iconic imagery or scenes?

Look at how...ALONE Zero feels off the side there!!

This is another older image I remember on the back of my VHS growing up, though I never knew it was used for an actual cover of the movie.

It does INFINITELY look better than the first shaded-lineart image (this was done in the 90s...how...) but while I love the composition of Jack and Sally and them walking around in Christmas Town, I never liked the colors of the image at all.

I also never got why Lock, Shock and Barrel are there, chillin and watching them like they're Belle and Beast and they're Beasts' servants trying to wingman for him...Where's Zero? Everyone knows HE'S jack's wingman.

This is an image I found on IMDB that took my by surprise. To be honest I have no clue if it's an actual film poster or a fan poster, but I like the composition of it all as a Universal Horror film poster. Doesn't work as well as Frankenweenie, but still...

And now, the classic. The one you most certainly grew up seeing everywhere or around the place regarding this movie in the 90s or 20s. It's the cover to the soundtrack and VHS I had. This is obviously the most famous version.

But there's also this slightly different version with Jack's arms in a different pose 'to receipt Shakespearean quotation'. This is the same version of the cover used on our "The Film, the Art and the Vision" book as well.

But, for my own PERSONAL favorite cover of the film (even if it's just a simple photoshop), I have to go with the original 'special edition' DVD my sister and I still have.

Somehow Sally just being on the spiral hill next to Jack and holding his hand is so sweet and doesn't feel like the cheap and quick edit it is. I think it's because, despite being a reference to the scene I never saw this cover as directly portraying "Jack's Lament", that this was Jack having a nice moment of peace after the events of the films somehow and waxing his poetics in reference to the film...so somehow the idea of Sally coming up to join him in that with his other arm let out to her is ADORABLE.

Here's a different version on a French DVD.

Lastly, since it does technically count as a poster for the movie itself, I'd be remissed not to mention Nightmare Before Christmas 3D's poster. This this was great back in the day and it's still great now. I'm fairly certain they just photoshopped stills and photos of puppets themselves but y'see kids- THIS vvvv

This is how you photoshop. Everyone has a unique face and pose. Everyone's doing something you think that character would be doing if they were going to MT3K their own film (Sally that's rude!) and they're all drenched in theater accurate lighting. That's more like it!! Besides Oogie being smol, this is the perfect poster to catch the eye of a rerelease!

Hope you enjoyed!

))

[99pansy]

Can you explain Eliza Cuts lore, please? I know she was apparently very unwell and creepy (?). Ive been an MCR fan since 2014 but never knew much about her other than she was a weirdo--probably was much more common knowledge back in the late 00's.

hii sorry im so late to these I was gna answer yesterday but I hurt my back like the old lady I am

i can give you a rundown and also some links to look at so you can do your own research <3 I like to provide a mostly unbiased opinion cos I don't like telling people what to think or whatever. any links I post will also be included at the bottom

eliza cuts background

eliza cuts (legal name eliza siep, also known as eliza bleu in recent year) is the ex-fiance of gerard

eliza was a hairdresser for many different bands in the scene, and apparently was a longtime fan of mcr. after meeting gerard at the merch table after shows a few times, they exchanged contact information and she managed to cut his hair as well.

one thing led to another, and eliza ended up joining the band on tour as a makeup and hair stylist.

gerard had JUST ended things with his then longtime girlfriend kat (apparently 2 days before), and there are some unsubstantiated rumors there was some overlap in these relationships

many fans believe she inserted/forced herself into gerard's life. I'm not sure what to think about this. I will say gerard is/was a grown adult and he can make his own choices. it takes two people to start a relationship. i also believe eliza suffered from mental illness, which would describe some of her erratic behavior.

anyway, she quickly becomes a polarizing figure in the fandom and eventually, everyone figures out she and gerard are dating. they become engaged on may 22, 2007

obviously they would never get married because gerard and lindsey got married just 4 months later on sept 3, 2007

frank's post about eliza

it is highly speculated that frank made this post about eliza after he became fed up with her behavior. i won't paste the whole thing here since its sorta long. i go over this more in my ss/mayo post if you haven't read it.

world's most hated crew

fans gave eliza's group of friends the nickname "world's most hated crew" because of how disgraced they apparently were at the time. this group also included heychris and alicia simmons/way.

they decided to reclaim this title and made a website which was intended to feature q+a, journals, and message boards for fans

eliza's fanfiction

eliza wrote some fanfic that is totally not about mcr as the main characters are named "emma" and "paul" and the band featured is called "the black pajama party"

this fanfic was pretty crazy for a few reasons. she implies she was abused by gerard and that he cheated on her with kat (his ex)

eliza's fake accounts

after gerard left eliza, she began spreading private info about mcr using burner accounts according to this comment:

pregnancy rumor

i'll just answer this ask here--

according to this comment, the rumor about Gerard having paid for eliza to have an abortion is false. she says she was never pregnant in this interview:

i'm not sure why she would lie about something so serious.

where is eliza today?

eliza has done a few podcasts since 2021. in her most recent one, she discusses her alleged experiences as a victim of sex trafficking. she did this interview in 2019 (same one from before). this page attempts to debunk this claim. I'm not sure what to think. she does have a history of telling lies... I don't like to discredit victims though.

click for sauces

blog on the full eliza story (2023)

reddit post about eliza (2022)

unbiased post about eliza (2009)

eliza's fanfic (2008)

frank's post about eliza on imnotokay.net (2007)

interview with eliza (2019)

world's most hated crew (archive 2007)

youtube video (2023, haven't watched this one tbh lmk if I should)

eliza's IMDB

[quietlyimplode]

the language of flowers and silent things

Whumptober 2023: Day 31 - take it easy

Warnings: nightmares

Word Count: 3.4K(picture from the amazing @oceanspirit9 )

Summary: the wedding of Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff

A/N: well shit. I don’t even know where to begin with this. @broken--bow this is yours, without you this wouldn’t be here - from the bottom of my heart thank you so much. @oceanspirit9 I’m still in awe of your art, thank you for it and your entire encouragement this month.

Fic is about community - whumptober gives me a chance to set my mind to something in a month where, there are difficulties and hardships. It gives a whole other place to exist in. Without the communities of fic; life becomes a lot more convoluted and grey. Thank you all for being on this journey - if you’ve liked multiple chapters and followed (even at a distance) - I see you, and thank you. All your commented and likes and reblogs matter to me.

Long live this community. It’s so very dear to me.

(Oh and if we want an epilogue, let me know. It wouldn’t be part of whumptober but may be a nice ending.)

Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

.

2014

NEW YORK

AVENGERS TOWER

CLINT AND NATASHA’S WEDDING DAY

.

Dreykov circles her.

Sitting tied to a chair Natasha is powerless to move.

Fear paralyzes her.

A gun in hand as he points it at her face.

“You think you belong anywhere else but here?”

He places it under her chin.

“I would rather die than let anyone else have you.”

He presses in further, causing her to lift her head, unable to swallow.

“No one will ever love you, not when I’m through with you.”

He bends down and kisses her cheek.

Then stands and backhands her.

“You’ll never escape the Red Room, not even if you tried.”

.

She wakes alone.

Her chin sore as she touches it gently, trying to wipe away the sensation.

The room is dark and the world still.

The ghosts that haunt her still feeling present.

The dream dissipates as time presses forward.

She turns for Clint to find his side of the bed empty, and she pads out of bed to the bathroom.

Natasha looks at herself in the mirror, her reflection pale.

She did escape.

In the ways that matter.

She thinks of Isla, trapped and alone; fulfilling Dreykov’s prophecy and wonders how to help her. Tomorrow, she thinks, she’ll ask Clint tomorrow.

Glancing at the time, she realises it is the next day.

Her wedding day.

A day that was supposed to be by the beach, in the sun, a day that given the last 3 years grew less likely.

To have it here, Natasha supposes she feels apprehensive, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Something will go wrong.

She feels it.

All this good doesn’t come without bad.

.

Yelena sits on a chair staring at her.

It takes a moment for Natasha to orient to the time and space but when she does; she grins.

The night had continued to be rocky, but the spate of sleep she’d got from 6-7am would have to be enough.

Clint was staying in his own floor, surrounded by the other boys, whilst she was getting ready with the girls.

Maria, as she was officiating had the luxury of passing in between to keep everyone on time.

“Stop watching,” Natasha mumbles, throwing a pillow at her.

Yelena catches it and throws it back.

“Get up,” she commands, “you’re getting married today.”

She smiles menacingly.

“I’ve also been tasked with getting you dressed.”

Natasha sits up, still sleepy, growing more aware of the tasks ahead and pushing down the apprehension that grows.

Yelena does nothing to help it, except push her into the bathroom and tells her to shower.

The whole scene is surreal.

She wonders if Clint is faring any better.

.

Pepper greets him in the kitchen, and he’s momentarily confused.

“Yelena is with Natasha,” she tells him, “I’m just finishing up on some details upstairs then I’ll go help them. Where’s Tony?”

Steve enters after him and he holds up the coffee pot, questioning.

Steve shrugs and nods.

“It’s your wedding day, man!”

Clint sucks down the cup of coffee, not waiting to breathe, until he’s finished instead giving Steve a thumbs up with his other hand.

Pepper rolls her eyes and laughs.

“I’ll see you later,” she tells them.

“Make sure you’re here by 10.”

She looks directly at Steve.

“Okay?”

He nods and salutes mockingly.

“Come on. Bring that with you,” he ushers, pushing him towards the workshop.

Clint follows, dragging his feet as the time flashing of 8am feeling mocking on the microwave.

If only he got more sleep.

He doesn’t want to think about what it means that sleeping beside Natasha gives him much better sleep than sleeping alone.

The dreams, the overthinking, she just has a way of soothing it, and making it better.

Tony, half dressed in a tuxedo, greets him with a drink and a smile.

“Happy wedding day,” he says, handing him an arrow.

Clint takes it unconsciously, and then hands it back confused.

Tony presses the bottom collapsing it and it opens at the point, revealing a purple flower.

“To sit in your pocket,” he nods, he then pulls on the end and it turns back into an arrow. Handing it back, Clint, he gives it a go, marveling at the weapon turned flower.

“Thanks,” he says, playing with it like a fidget toy.

“You should start getting ready,” Steve prompts responsibility.

Tony laughs.

“He just needs to get dressed, how long do you think it’s going to take him?”

“Yeah, but Pepper has asked him to look at the roof, in like an hour, make sure it’s all okay for Nat, then make any changes. Plus, she’ll be there at like 11 for the ceremony to start at 11.10.”

He looks pointedly at Tony.

“What time do you need to be there?”

Tony waves him off.

“I’ll be there on time, I have alarms.”

Clint shakes his head and walks off arrow in hand feeling nervous at the pressure being placed.

He doesn’t like it.

Instead of heading to his room, he sends a message and heads for the elevator.

.

She gets a message, a slight code on it, and realises it’s from Clint almost immediately.

“Meet me in the elevator,” it says, “I need to see you.”

Halfway through her make up, she stands and heads for the door.

“I’ll be back,” she tells Yelena and Maria, who are also finishing their make up.

She hasn’t seen Pepper yet, and misses her no nonsense calmness of organisation.

“When you’re back, I’ll do your hair,” Yelena offers, and Natasha nods.

“Wait,” Maria calls, throwing two cupcakes at her.

“Eat something.”

Natasha catches them and makes it a show to take a bite, before backing out and heading to the elevator.

It opens to reveal Clint, still in a tshirt and pajama pants.

There’s a look of relief on his face as he sees her and he pulls her in, kissing her and hugging her close.

“I missed you,” he says, sappily.

She’d call him out on it, but she feels the same. The comfort of each other regulating, Natasha handing him a cupcake and he hands her the pot of coffee he’d taken from the kitchen.

They sit in the stationary elevator, not talking as they eat the cupcakes and drink the coffee.

“Pepper has me looking at the roof to make sure it’s at your standards,” he admits.

“Do you want me to text you photos?”

Natasha nods.

“Yeah, no surprises would be good.”

He nods.

“You’ll be standing ready to walk together right?”

He nods again.

“Everything else is ready, right?”

She nods.

“Only Yelena knows, she won’t tell anyone.”

Clint sighs and checks the time.

“We should go,” he says with a shallow smile.

“Yeah.”

Slowly they stand.

The elevator opening as if commanded and then, kissing each other, they go their separate ways.

.

The ribbon is gently braided in.

Both Natasha and Yelena don’t talk, the moment feeling sacred as the tie that bound them in childhood and helped to bring them back together.

There’s nothing really to say.

Shallow smiles and gentle touches as they both seem to understand the significance of the moment.

They’re both alive, against all odds.

Something maybe neither of their mothers expected.

“Thank you for being here, today,” Natasha says quietly.

Yelena doesn’t reply.

“I didn’t think…”

Yelena places a hand on Natasha shoulder.

“The past, I think will always play a part for us. But I am glad to be here with you too.”

It’s not an absolution.

It could never be, neither of them would accept it.

But it’s enough.

.

The wedding dress fits perfectly.

Pepper and Yelena help.

Pepper shed tears and Yelena just looks pleased. Natasha that leaves for the bathroom, feeling too many emotions and overwhelmed with them.

She needs time to centre herself.

Time is moving too quickly, and she feels almost dissociated and disconnected from the moments that keep happening.

It’s like it’s happening to someone else, or that she’s watching it happen to herself.

She should be happy, not apprehensive and anxious.

The time with Clint was the most centred she’d been since waking, and it just felt compounded.

“Nat?”

Pepper knocks on the door.

“I’ve got to go meet Clint, are you okay to meet us on the roof in about 11? It’s about an hour?”

Natasha squeaks out a response, and then keeps staring at herself.

She just needs a moment.

.

The rooftop is beautiful.

Chairs are placed in a semi circle around an arbour. The archway decorated with blue forget-me-nots as the litter the aisle and decorate all the chairs.

There’s pictures, of Barney and Coulson. There’s not just one of each but multiples, pictures of them Clint and Barney that Gus had given, of Natasha and Coulson, pictures he hadn’t seen before. He stops and sees the tiny one of Natasha’s mother holding her, and feels his breath catch in his throat.

“Pepper.”

He wanders around and takes a few photos of all of it, before sending it off.

“You did all this? In two days?”

Pepper shrugs.

“Some of you have super powers…”

“You have super powers,” Clint cuts her off, leaving no room for argument.

There’s blue ribbons on the chairs and tiny purple arrows in the bouquets.

He wanders for a moment, taking it all in and gathering himself.

“I didn’t know if you wanted that…” she gestures to the pictures of the people no longer here, “but I wanted to a acknowledge them, in some way I guess.”

He walks back over and stares at Coulson, and nods.

“No, it’s perfect.”

Pepper stands back and looks around.

“Is there anything else, or something more you need?”

Clint shakes his head.

“No, but can you keep a secret?”

He feels it’s only right in telling her after she had put so much effort into this moment.

She nods.

After Clint leaves to get Tony, he messages Natasha.

“Anything else needed? I told Pepper, too.”

A message comes, moments later.

Just one word that makes his heart stop.

“Red.”

.

Yelena stands at the bathroom door, and shrugs at Clint.

“She was fine.”

There’s a tone of worry he doesn’t think he has ever heard. Always so self assured or matter of fact, Yelena doesn’t seem easily put out.

Now, it’s a worry that bleeds through.

“Can you tell Pepper to get everyone seated and we’ll come together?”

He glances at the time, 10.55.

She doesn’t move, perhaps concerned with this part of Natasha that she’s never seen before.

He tries to dampen down the urgency, reassure her and get her out, he nods and smiles.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine, just cold feet maybe. Go, I’ll call you if we need anything, or Jarvis will let you know, okay?”

Yelena looks at Clint, a hard look that tells him she’s trusting him with this.

Backing up, she leaves and Clint knocks.

A secret knock that they use often.

The door unlocks.

He opens it and suddenly can’t breathe.

“You look beautiful.”

It’s an understatement.

Her hair braided, with small wisps coming down, make up done and in a dress that fits her perfectly.

He takes her hand, kisses it and guides her to sit on the side of the bath.

She’s not crying, she just looks sad.

“What happened?” he asks.

He draws circles on her hand, then starts tracing over her fingers.

“It’s going to go wrong. Good things can’t happen to me. If we do this,” she pauses.

“It’ll we do this, you’ll die. Something will happen to you. I’m the Black Widow.”

He shakes his head.

“Nat.”

She sighs.

“Tell me what you think will happen.”

“I don’t know. I just know it’s too good. You’re too good. You deserve someone who isn’t a void of bad.”

His heart is angry, and he doesn’t know how to dispute it in a way she’ll accept.

“What happened?”

Natasha glances at him.

“I was looking in the mirror, and nothing had happened. No one had broken in, no one had kidnapped one of us, and I kept thinking, what’s going to happen next?”

He stops the tracing and encourages her to do the same to him.

He sighs.

“Nat.”

“I know,” she sighs.

“I know it sounds stupid and we've made it this far, but I can’t help but think it. If you marry me, I’m dooming you.”

He laughs at that.

It seems to shake her.

“It is stupid,” he says seriously.

“Do you want to be with me?”

She looks at him and frowns.

“Of course.”

“Are you willing to risk doom for it?”

She hears her words repeated back at her.

Biting her lip, she looks to him.

“Yes,” she says, with a watery grin.

“I have you, and you have me. You know those stupid vows? You make me brave,” he tells her, “so doom is nothing with you by my side. You deserve good things.

I promise, okay?”

“I’m better because of you,” she thinks, the words of vows they spoke in what seems like a lifetime ago.

“We can do this, yeah? We can do this, and when we do, then…”

“I know… I know.”

Natasha stands.

“ I don’t want you to die.”

Clint smiles, taking her hand.

“If I die Nat, you can say I told you so, okay?”

Natasha nods.

“Are you ready?”

.

Yelena watches Clint and Natasha walk down the aisle.

Overcome with emotion, she cries openly.

She doesn’t care.

Half the people here she doesn’t know, and the other half look as teary as she does.

Pepper had admitted to her that all of them needed some happiness. That since 2012 every one of the Avengers had been flailing.

Since Clint and Natasha had admitted about being engaged, the wedding had been something they’d planned, kept tabs on, supported and gossiped about. It had provided hope for the future, and sometimes had supported grounding.

They couldn’t die, or break apart because they all had something to live for, to look forward to.

Yelena understood it.

Without hope, without that something to look towards, life became so much more difficult.

The words Maria speaks don’t feel rehearsed, and even Natasha cries as she talks.

Clint wipes away her tear, dabbing gently with a tissue.

Yelena sniffs.

She hadn’t expected to be emotional.

Offered tissues from Pepper (who always seems to know what to do), Yelena takes them and sighs.

She’s never been invited to a wedding.

Crashed them, sure.

Been on missions where they’d fabricated an invite.

But not this.

Natasha is the only family she has, and so this is likely the only wedding she’ll ever be invited to.

She dabs her eyes and takes a moment to look around.

The man with the eye patch, keeps looking at her and she ignores it hoping it’s just because he feels uncomfortable with public displays of emotion.

Steve sits next to Sam, both of them watching on in awe.

Bruce fiddles in his chair and she wonders if other emotions bring out the Hulk.

She turns back to the wedding, taking some candid pictures, even though she’s sure Pepper’s photographer has it handled.

Yelena feels that even though the wedding is small, everyone is here because they want to be.

Friends, found family, it’s a strange group of people.

She wonders if one day she’ll have this.

She hopes.

.

Natasha stands in front of her family and friends and tells Clint that she’ll be with him til death. He returns the words and finally Maria tells them to kiss.

Amongst the whoops and cheers and throwing of petals at them, Natasha can’t help but smile with Clint at the commitment they’ve just made.

He hugs her and kisses her again, to everyone’s delight and they walk out towards their friends leading the way to the grand room where they’d had Christmas lunch days earlier.

Now transformed, into a room fit for celebration, Natasha has no idea how Pepper did it.

Despite all the anxiety and fear to get to this point, she’s happy.

Glad they did it.

It’s the other shoe, finally dropping.

Except it’s not bad.

It’s good.

.

Clint glances at Natasha, taking her hand and leading her to the hallway.

“We did it!”

He picks her up and hugs her, relief evident on her face as he spins her and kisses her smiling face.

“You tell me when you’re ready,” he grins, and she nods.

“I want to check on Yelena and Tony, and we need to thank Pepper,” she tells him.

“Okay, I need to just tell Fury a few things, and we should thank Maria for doing such a good job.”

Natasha nods.

“She did. Maybe you can check on Gus too, he’s heading home tonight, I think Tony organised a car; maybe just make sure he’s aware.”

Clint looks past her down the hall.

“We’re so close Nat, just a little longer.”

They kiss again and split up, each with their own little list of things today.

She finds Yelena talking to Tony, and wonders when and how they became talking friends. Maybe being in an ordeal just makes it that way.

She talks to them for a bit, the pulls Yelena away.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Yelena tells her.

“It’s okay, it’s not goodbye,” she smiles.

Natasha shakes her head.

“Now I’ve found you, you’re stuck with me,” she replies.

“Plus, we need to talk about Isla.”

Yelena’s face turns serious.

“Yeah. I was talking to Tony about a weapon, and the trackers.”

Natasha nods, “that’s good.”

She hugs her again.

“Not too long, okay?”

Yelena bumps her head into Natashas.

“No, not too long.”

Clint approaches them, and Yelena spontaneously hugs him too.

“Congratulations, I guess,” she smiles.

“You’ll stick around for a bit?”

Yelena shrugs, “maybe a little.”

It’s a lie but they don’t call her on it.

Clint turns to Natasha.

“Ready?”

Natasha smiles.

“Ready.”

.

2014

OKINAWA

Okinawa is just as she remembered.

Beautiful beaches, lovely people and a relaxation that felt strange at first.

Her large oversized hat sits just over her head and she smiles as Clint runs in from the water.

Her husband.

What a concept.

“Next, you’re going to tell me that it’s time to build a sand castle,” she goads, handing him a towel.

He laughs ringing his hair out and laying next to her.

“What do you want for dinner?”

She shrugs.

“Whatever you want?”

Clint smiles, the sun shining as it sets.

He looks over to his wife.

He married the black widow.

“Sushi,” he decides.

Natasha nods.

“Perfect.”

They stand together, Clint holding out his hand and envelopes hers into it, bringing to his lips and kissing it gently.

“After you,” he grins.

.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #74: 2023

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Morgan Wallen, Miley Cyrus, SZA, Taylor Swift, Metro Boomin and 21 Savage, Rema and Selena Gomez, The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, Luke Combs, SZA, David Guetta and Bebe Rexha. End description]

More information about this blog here

Before getting into the ramble, I'm just going to get ahead of the responses and clarify that when I name a song on these polls, I use the official name of the song as it's listed on the Billboard charts (obviously unless the official title includes an uncensored slur or the song was credited to an artist's deadname, which I haven't had to deal with as of now.) Luke Comb's cover of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car is simply listed as "Fast Car - Luke Combs" on Billboard. Not "Luke Comb's cover of Fast Car" or "Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (Luke Combs version)."

Now that I got that out of the way. Hi. Good to see you all again. Welcome to the end of 2023. We made it.

This is going to be an interesting entry on this blog for me. Because not only is this the first time I posted a poll from the current chart, this is also the first time since 2009 when I have not been closely monitoring the charts all year. So right now, I feel like I'm trying to look back to figure out what happened.

So. What happened?

Ever since the streaming era began, it's been clear that pop success matters less and less, but that feeling was especially strong this year. I'm not saying any of these songs are bad (that's not the point of this blog). But streaming splintered people's listening habits so much that everyone is able to listen to their own thing. Before I got big into chart watching, I was not an avid pop listener. But I was still knew which songs were popular because they were so much harder to avoid.

As I'm writing this, I've been listening to various Top 40/100 stations on the radio. Even ignoring the number of Christmas songs, I have yet to hear a song that came out in 2023. It makes sense to hear songs from 2022, since songs often take a while to build momentum (such as the tracks from SZA's SOS), but I've heard songs from 2014, 2013, 2006, 1995, etc.

And that's not even touching the year-end chart itself which includes 1. songs from 2022 (Kill Bill, Anti-Hero, Snooze, Calm Down), 2. a remix of a song from 2016 (Die for You), 3. a cover/remake of a song from 1996 (Creepin), 4. a cover of a song from 1988 (Fast Car), and 5. a song with an interpolation of a song from 1998 (I'm Good (Blue)). There are only 2 songs on the top 10 that are from 2023.

This year's tendency to look back is emphasized further by the genre which had the largest presence: country music. Not just because country music tends to be more traditional, but country music hasn't had a presence this big on the top 100 since the 90s. The biggest song of the year is a country-pop track by Morgan Wallen, whose 36 track album debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart. Not the country album chart. The Billboard 200. Beyond that, we have Luke Combs, whose cover of Fast Car reached the top 10, but two other singles from his album Growin' Up reached the Billboard Year End 100 without relying on the usual techniques country songs often need to cross over to the pop charts. Additionally, each year as of late tends to have it's pick of "think-piecey songs," whether it's Blurred Lines in 2013, WAP in 2020, or [insert any Taylor Swift song here]. The two most controversial songs of the year also happened to be country, with Oliver Anthony's Rich Men North of Richmond and Jason Aldean's Try That in a Small Town.

Why was country so big this year? One of my theories is that with streaming splintering people's listening habits so much, chart metrics will tend to favor physical media. I don't think it's a coincidence that Taylor Swift tends to dominate the charts while also being one of the top-selling artists on vinyl. If people are willing to pay actual money for your music instead of letting it stream in the background, the charts are going to calculate that differently. Not only are country fans more likely to buy physical music, but the two previously mentioned controversial country songs were also helped by right-leaning listeners boosting their sales, resulting in the two songs receiving a 78 and a 66 position on the year-end chart respectively.

As I'm writing this, I'm worrying that I'm not giving country music its proper credit. "Why was country music so big?" is a question that doesn't need to have a deeper answer. "A lot of people liked it so it had a larger presence" is also a sufficient answer. Country music doesn't have to cheat to reach the charts. The reason I'm delving into this is not the mere fact that country was popular, but the fact that country was so popular and seemed to shape the pop landscape as a whole, while not having the usual staples of a country-pop crossover. Unlike previous crossovers, none of the songs I mentioned needed a pop star or a rap verse to break onto the pop charts.

But speaking of a genre requiring a pop star to find a mainstream chart presence, 2023 marks the year of the first afrobeats song to reach a billion streams on Spotify, with Rema and Selena Gomez's Calm Down. But even without the pop feature, afrobeats also had an explosive year in 2023, and it's possible we'll only see the genre grow more popularity, similar to how reggaeton took over the pop landscape after Despacito crossed over to the mainstream American charts in 2017. If you, like me, aren't that familiar with the history of this genre and you would like to learn more, please know that afrobeat and afrobeats are two distinct genres. This article also does a good rundown of the differences and their respective histories. Also, while the song itself isn't afrobeats, Unavailable by Davido came out this year and it's incredible. The full album is amazing too. It's dreamy and atmospheric with energetic drums and I need to find a slot for it in my favorite releases of the year.

For a year where pop music was widely considered to have a down year, I sure had a lot to talk about. I haven't even touched on the "decline of rap music" (especially sad since it's the 50th anniversary of the genre), Taylor Swift's dominance (I mentioned her twice though; she'll live), or delved deeper into the presence of older songs on the charts. It certainly was an interesting year in music to talk about. But listening to it? Well, I'll let you decide that.

But if you look past the top 10 (or even the top 100), this was an incredible year for music. I haven't had the time to listen to every new release (thanks law school), but I still listened to enough that I came out of this year with some of my favorite musical projects of all time. I plan on sharing my favorite songs/albums of the year in a later post.

Thank you for spending this year in music with me.