#and i fully blame david for that

[m00nz-writes]

Some of my fellow CRP fans might be mad at me for this but...

Even though the characterization of Toby is still gonna be obnoxious, a lil egotistical/full of himself and all around kinda asshole-ish, he's also very heavily based off of David Near's storyline for him.

So while yes, he is obnoxious and rude (because he's a fucking teenager in 2007 bitch. teens were fucking wild back then- I mean, nowhere near as bad as teens NOW (sorry if you're a teen in the rawring 20's bb, I'm sure you're lovely if you're reading this) but still) he's also like... you know, a bullied kid who is heavily traumatized and suffering from disorders and disabilities.

Also I can't handle writing Toby how others write him. Absolutely do not get me wrong, I adore how others characterize Toby (especially since the original Toby is literally dead bc Kastoway essentially killed him - lmao rip bozo) but I can't see Edna getting along with an overly hyperactive and batshit bonkers Tobias. Instead, I write him sort of melancholic with manic highs and crushing lows (bc that's what bipolar is babes) so that Edna can have more things to sort of relate to Toby on. Because yes, Edie also suffers from bipolar bc I suffer from bipolar, so of course she understands and of course she's there for him. But he's also still fucking unbearable sometimes because... well, that's just Toby.

[wonder-worker]

A.J Pollard’s biography on Edward IV was so cringe lol (generic; minor but frustrating inaccuracies; intensely judgmental at times and oddly dismissive at others while never considering the broader context; entirely diminished and trivialized Elizabeth Woodville as both queen and wife of his main subject in the name of "defending" her; created a false dichotomy between Edward and Henry VII’s styles of ruling and lauded the latter at the former’s expense even though Henry literally followed Edward’s example for the very things Pollard was criticizing Edward for; had a downright nonsensical and thoroughly misleading conclusion about Edward’s legacy & Richard’s usurpation that was based entirely on hindsight, Pollard's own assumptions, and the complete downplaying Richard’s agency and actions to emphasize what Pollard wrongly and misleadingly claimed were Edward's so-called 'failings', etc, etc)

I wanted to buy his book on Henry V but after reading this shitshow and the synopsis of that book, im guessing it's going to be 10x worse, so...no thanks

[softtdaisy]

when hearts find their way / Aaron Hotchner

summary. if Hotch decided to break up with you to protect you, he regrets it anytime he looks at you. And he looks at you a lot.

words count. 2,443

a/n. just a short story, she said, just to start writing again. And here comes my first Hotch fic with more than 2k words. It's a first, I hope you'll like and well...I'll write something happier another day (it has a good ending I promise)

Hotch wished he could stop looking at you.

It wasn’t like he needed to focus on you right now. Not outside the office. Not at Rossi’s party to celebrate another year as a completely alive team. Not when you’re clearly out of danger.

Well, except if he counted Emily’s and JJ’s drinking with you more than usual. 

But that wasn’t a real danger. Especially when there were plenty of people not drinking tonight to make sure everyone will go back home safe. Including Reid. Including himself.

However, Hotch was incapable of putting his eyes away from you.

Too scared there might be an unknown treat around here. Too scared you might disappear if he dared look away. Too scared you might find somebody else to end the night.

That was the scariest thought above all. 

He clinched on his drink harder, blaming himself for being so stupidly attached to someone he shouldn’t. Someone he already told no before. 

“And I thought we locked up Hotch in the office to get Aaron tonight,” Rossi said, standing next to him. Hotch let out a small and single amused sigh. He took the risk of closing his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, you were still there. Thankfully.

“I’m fully here, David.” he answered, turning to his friend who looked more than amused by the situation. There was one problem with being close with your coworker: when their work is to analyze people, you can be sure they will do it with you too. “Having fun?”

“More than you I guess.” Hotch opened his mouth to respond to it but didn’t get the time before Rossi put his hand up. “Or your level of fun is watching over her?” 

Was he that obvious? Technically, he had been standing alone in the corner of the room for a few minutes now. “I’m not watching over her.” Of course, it didn’t convince Rossi. Worse, it made him laugh. 

“Oh you clearly are, Aaron. I know you’re not a man of many words but you should consider that speaking is better than stalking.” 

He sighed, taking another slip of his drink. “Would you stop, please?” 

But Hotch had to be honest. Because he did take profit of the silence and the small break Rossi was giving him to take another look. He saw you dancing with Morgan. The first thing that came to his mind was that he was safe.

Safe from what, you idiot? It’s not like he had any right to be jealous or possessive. Or even protective. You weren’t his. And it was his fault. 

Hotch could never forget how your expression went from desire, the need to kiss every single piece of face, to the sadness and the anger of being rejected. “We shouldn't do that.” He heard himself say. Four stupid words. Four stabs right into your heart. 

“I’ll give you some advice.” Rossi said to interrupt his thoughts. And Hotch gave up, fully concentrating on whatever he had to say to prevent himself from reliving the night that ruined everything. 

“Either you talk to her and make a move. Or you leave her alone. But stop playing with that girl's heart and mind.”

“You say that like she cares.” He knew that by saying that, he was admitting there was more than a professional conflict between you. Not that anyone in this house was even believing that it was only professional. You don’t look at a member of your team like they were the loss of your life. Not the biggest, but close.

“Oh she does.” Rossi said, looking at you. So did Hotch. And for the first time tonight, he caught your eyes on him. Just for a second before you noticed and went back to your discussion with Emily. But it was enough for him.

__

Later that night, Hotch learnt that Rossi wasn’t the only one aware that something was going between you two.

He was one of the first to sit at the table, in front of JJ. They talked for a few minutes and more members of the team started to join. Until JJ got up suddenly and called your name. “Please, take my seat.”

“What? Why?” you replied, confused at the offer when there were still some places available at the end of the table. You didn’t take the time to look at JJ’s seat, next to who she was. It was like she gave you the time too anyway.

As soon as you approached, she put both hands on your shoulder to make you sit. “It will be easier to check on Henry if at the head of the table.” she replied, putting a kiss on your hair before leaving you still very confused. For a few seconds.

Until you looked up and met those brown eyes that you started to know by heart until they became a mystery again. 

“Very subtle, Jennifer.” you sighed. But you weren’t mad. Not at her for reading you and trying to help you. And neither at Hotch. You could tell from the little frowning, because everything was always little when it comes to expressing himself -but thankfully not little on other things-, that he was as confused as you are.

You saw him lean closer to you, his hands on the table to stay stable. And you did the same to hear him. “I didn’t…it’s not…”

You could restrain the smile on your face. You could blame it on the alcohol to not accept it. But it was a genuine reaction to him, opening himself to you. A little. “I know.” you replied, naturally putting your hand on top of his. 

When Hotch freezed at your contact, you assumed you went too far. Again. And immediately take your hand off, lean back on your chair and start a new conversation with Reid to avoid your boss.

When Hotch freezed at your contact, he actually was just thrown back to weeks earlier when you couldn’t stop touching him. And for a brief second, he remembered how good it felt to be appreciated. 

Sadly, it didn’t last long. Because he was incapable of keeping people he loved in his life.

Most of the dinner was bittersweet for Hotch.

The team was loud and most of you laughed so hard you had a stomach ache. And the food was so nice that Emily asked multiple times if Rossi was sure he couldn’t adopt her. The answer sadly stayed no.

And Hotch would lie saying he didn’t have a good time. 

But he would also lie if he said your lack of interaction didn’t hurt him.

He noticed how you always make sure to not meet his eyes when he couldn’t stop looking at you. With the way the candle’s light was dancing on your face, he felt like discovering your traits again. 

Or how you only responded when he talked to you directly. Which he stopped after a few tries.

Hotch wasn’t the only one noticing that. None of the team felt like stepping in a story they didn’t know. Even if they heart felt for their boss who felt disarmed for the first time -at least, for them. And for you, because you had your reasons to act like that.

But in the end, they did step in. Without meaning to.

When the party came to an end, they all started to organize the ride back home. JJ jumped into Reid’s car while Morgan brought Emily back to her place. Everybody left slowly. 

Until there was you.

And Hotch.

“Of course.” you mumbled when you saw him and Rossi talking in the hallway. They didn’t notice you yet and you took the opportunity to watch the man that broke your heart. Because you had to be honest, Aaron still held a special place in your heart. He looked so good tonight and especially right now, with his shirt more unbuttoned than before and his jacket laying on his arm. You loved his hair a little less styled after many hours or how his eyes looked more glassy from the wine and the fatigue. 

You loved many things about that man. Which made the heartbreak even more difficult to accept. 

“Oh, you’re here.” Rossi noticed you and opened his arm to add you in the conversation. “Hope you enjoyed the evening.”

“It was perfect David, thank you.” you replied with a genuine smile that created the exact same one on Hotch. When you turned to him, he was surprised that your smile didn’t drop. “Can we go?” you asked and he simply nodded.

“I’m sorry.” Hotch said once you were both sitting in the car. “I didn’t plan this.” 

If you had any doubt that it wasn’t his fault, you were now sure that he wasn’t the thinker of this situation. From the way he couldn’t look at you or how his hands were shaking before he put them on the wheel. “I know.” 

Without a surprise, the ride was calm. Hotch was a silent driver, focusing on the road and the music coming from the radio for a low volume. And you appreciated that. You did back then when you saw each other because it was peaceful. You still did. How ironic that the ride to your place felt more like home than the idea of going to your own apartment.

It was a memory of a better time. Of coming home from cases with Aaron, going to your place because it was more serene to him than his silent home. The only thing missing was his hand grabbing yours now and then during the drive. Multiple times, Hotch actually started to move his hand before remembering he couldn’t do that no more. 

When he finally parked, you turned to him to thank him. Even, maybe, probably, apologizing for your attitude tonight. But he spoke before you.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

You frowned. “Driving me home? I mean, Rossi could have given a room for the night but I really appreciate you dri…”

“Breaking up with you.”

The silence came back. Because you didn’t know what to answer. Sure, he shouldn't have done that.

Aaron shouldn’t have looked at you after spending another night with you. Not after sharing a hotel room with you in San Francisco during all the cases. Not after making love every single night that week there to forget about the atrocity of the world outside. To feel loved. To give love. 

Not after making you believe that this could become a routine. Something normal. Something real. Something that he thought could become real too.

No, he shouldn’t have looked at you from where you were laying: on your bed, still naked under the sheet. While he was putting on his shirt from yesterday. And said “We shouldn’t do that.” Four words. Not more. Not an explanation because of course Aaron Hotchner didn’t have to explain himself. He was the boss, after all. 

And you were so mad that morning, knowing that this could come but believing it wouldn’t, that you didn’t ask for more. You only gave him an emotionless “ok”.

“After San Francisco,” Aaron started, “I got scared. Because I’m your boss. Because this felt natural. I really wanted this to continue, but at what cost? Too many scenarios came to me during the flight back. What if something happened to you during a case. What if we break up and we can’t work together properly. What if someone finds out. Who should leave, you or me? And you knew I was being selfish because if that happened, I know people above would make sure I wasn’t the one fired.”

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was your heart, but when he looked at you after opening his heart to you like that, more than ever before, you felt the tears coming. Because for the first time since the break up, you were able to stop this idea of an arrogant Hotch that took what he could and threw the rest away. You saw again the Aaron that you fell in love with: the broken man that was trying his best to breathe and find happiness again. 

“In any scenario, I lose you. I stupidly believe that having control over that loss would be easier. But it’s even harder to know I broke your heart and mine at the same time and couldn't do anything to fix them.” 

“But why…” you said softly, moving a little closer to him. “Why imagine and accept the worst when everything was great?”

“Because life has always been difficult and I stopped believing good things could happen to a man like me.” he let out a sad laugh. “I lost my wife, I didn’t know how to be a good dad to my son, I sometimes feel overwhelmed and incapable of doing my job right. Why would things be great with you?” 

It was a genuine question. Aaron felt like happiness was an unknown concept in his life. Anytime something good happened, something bad came right after. He couldn’t even appreciate the soft hand you put on his cheek now.

“Because you deserve to be happy, Aaron.” you whispered. He let you put your forehead against his. You remembered how it appeased him back then. “Please, stop rejecting the ones that want to love you. We are here for you.”

“We?”

“There still can be a us if you want to.” 

Aaron closed his eyes. He needed to think about that. He wanted you. He wanted to give himself to you. But it meant fighting against his fears. Can he be strong enough for you? Like you could read his mind, you added “We can fight together.” 

Slowly, he brought a hand to your neck to have you even closer and to kiss you. A soft, sweet and small kiss on your lips. A promise that he couldn’t say outloud but he wanted you to understand. Sure, Aaron needed love. But he needed someone willing to fight against the world with him and for him. 

“You know, things could have been a little easier if you told me that instead of breaking up with me when I was naked.” you said against his lips which made him laugh. 

“Would you accept compensation for that moment?”

“I have all night, all day and all my life for you.”

Holding hands, you brought Aaron back to the place he felt the more at peace these past years. But in all honesty, he started to think that maybe any place with you would be a peaceful one. 

[firenati0n]

wip wednesday <3 :)

hello friends, it has been a while...thank you for all of the tags over the last few weeks <3 i really appreciate the love. queueing this post early :)

here's a long snip from something i am writing for fun in a doc aptly titled "proposal au chapter 1 henry pov"

if you have not read proposal au and are interested in a little romcom, here is the link :) - fully posted, 54k :)

Henry has a routine, honed after years of trial and error, comfortably adopted now by him and those important to him. Typically, he wakes up, gets ready for the day, makes sure David has everything he needs in Henry's absence—which reminds him, he needs to ask Alex for more treats soon—and then walks at a moderate but comfortable pace to the 4 train. Somewhere in the middle of all this, his brain spares a moment to wonder what Alex's face will look like in the morning. If his hair will be neat with defined curls, or tousled in a cheeky nod to his night's activities. The latter makes his stomach churn, just a little.  Today, however, feels different. Something is in the air. It goes— David whines at his feet before he leaves, so he takes an extra three minutes to soothe him before leaving, because regardless of what people may whisper behind his back, he's no monster. The train pulls into the platform seven minutes behind schedule, resulting in at least twenty-five percent more congestion and more harried commuters squishing into Henry's space, the air a mix of cologne and sweat and stress.  Then, after walking into the office at 8:25am—too close to his regular time for comfort, requiring him to walk at brisk pace instead of a leisurely stroll—he watches as the people in the elevator don't hold the door for him, even though they absolutely saw him walking hurriedly to catch it. And then, as he's rounding the last corner between him and his blessed office at 8:28am, he gets stopped by Amy and her newest embroidery project, a floral arrangement of sorts, which is admittedly very lovely. Maybe she should work with the design team sometime for one of the book covers, she'd be an excellent asset.  So, he definitely cannot be blamed for his tetchy attitude when he walks into his office at 8:32am, late and desperately in need of some bloody tea. He runs an agitated hand through his hair as he heads to his desk, a thrum of nervous energy making him restless. 

xoxo roop

open tag + tagging back some friends and folks who got me over the last few months fjaskldjflasf sorry if i missed anyone! my brain is like scrambled eggs rn:

@kiwiana-writes @cha-melodius @alasse9 @jafffacakess @porcelainmortal

@run-for-chamo-miles @onward--upward @blueeyedgrlwrites @suseagull04 @judasofsuburbia

@caterpills @rockyroadkylers @seths-rogens @orchidscript @onthewaytosomewhere

@energievie @indestructibleheart @clockwrkpendrxgon @everwitch-magiks @sophie1973

@eusuntgratie @stellarmeadow @rmd-writes @fairflowered @incalamity

@anincompletelist @wordsofhoneydew @cricketnationrise @miss-minnelli @itsmaybitheway

@whimsymanaged @zwiazdziarka @milowren29 @msmarvelouswinchester @sherryvalli

@getmehighonmagic @welcometololaland @thedramasummer @priincebutt @stratocumulusperlucidus

@leaves-of-laurelin @14carrotghoul @anchoredarchangel @clottedcreamfudge @tintagel-or-cockleshells

@dumbpeachjuice @shesfromboston @miharaikko @theprinceandagcd @kj-bee

[1moreff-creator]

DRDT is back!!! Here’s my live reaction to everything that happened this week! Obviously take everything I say with massive piles of salt, these are in the moment reactions and aren’t supposed to be fully coherent thoughts.

DRDT CH2 EP12 SPOILERS (Oh that feels good to write)

We’re back!!! Teruko we fucked up!!!

The theory that Charles was going to bring up the possibility of a wrong time of death was true! There weren’t really any other theories about what he was going to say from what I saw, but it’s still cool we got that right. You have no idea how giddy I am to finally hear him talk about it, after waiting so long for him to finish the sentence lol.

Also Teruko’s face lmao.

Oh, poor Teruko, she looks so sad. She’s gonna bring up the marks on the wrist, right?

Or, yeah, the swinging.

(Does this screw up any theories? No, her body was still likely strung up at 7:30 AM, which is what most people thought I’m pretty sure)

Ah, Whit. I missed how shady he always is even when he has, like, an airtight alibi for the time the fish were taken (which is still around 7:30 PM to nightime btw, don’t forget Nico’s account).

They’re not gonna bring up the time the fish were taken, are they? That furthers my belief that the person who took the fish and the murderer are different. Nothing concrete obviously, just kinda narratively works better that way.

“Or did you do it on purpose?” Veronika how I’ve missed you :D

David’s face lmao xD

“I’ll fix that mistake” (Paraphrased) Hell yeah! Go Teruko! :D

I missed you too, Literature Boy Insane. That “pathetic” voice line was cool. Also, thank you Hu.

J: “The body would have been cold if it was drenched at some point.” (Paraphrased). Interesting point about the water, I wonder if it’s important or not. We know she wasn’t drowned because the relax room wasn’t open at 7:30 AM, right? So I don’t know how she could have gotten drenched.

Ace no genuinely how do you not know how water works what.

“The range of human stupidity is larger than I thought.” Charles, you’re great.

[Levi and Nico complain about Arturo’s medicine skills] Okay, but like, Arturo has repeatedly told you he’s not that kind of doctor. Like you can blame the guy for a lot of shit but this one ain’t it chief.

(Also don’t think I don’t see how Levi throws suspicion on Arturo. Small point towards Levi!Culprit and Levi!Accomplice)

“You shut your whore mouth!” Okay maybe I don’t need to defend Arturo actually, he seems like he has it handled. You good my guy?

Oh shit we actually brought up that Arturo is ridiculously young for someone in the medical field. I did not have that in my (hypothetical) bingo card.

Twelve?! Dude my guy wanted out of that house yesterday damn.

Dude he’s kinda going off! I was not expecting Arturo fans of all people to eat this good this episode, but this is interesting!

Oh right the crazy lady- “Adorable”? Verturo shippers eating!

“Feel free to add to the number of dents in the computer lab” (Paraphrased) PFFFT Charles!

Wait wasn’t there actually a dent there? Wasn’t that a thing I saw on people’s theories? Holy shit is that actually going to get addressed?

[Whit explains] AHAHAHAHAHA HOLY-!

“I let it slide because it was funny” I missed MonoTV too actually.

And no fish! Nico’s account of the fish still being there last time they checked goes unmentioned, meaning it’s likely going to be used for a twist later!

New alibis? Could be possible.

Whit: “I don’t have an alibi. Neither does Charles” (Paraphrased) Which you know because…?

Oh so that’s not addressed. I repeat the statement of Whit being unnecessarily shady all the time.

????? DAVID AND J ALIBI???? This could be kinda huge actually.

David: “Oh. Shit.” This is the reaction of a man being cleared of murder. That’s so funny.

Didn’t David usually wake up late? Inconsistent sleep schedule ig.

J: “Oh yeah, and Veronika.” Girl you gotta say this shit earlier.

Yeah, look, J, you went and made Veronika sad! >:( /j

David: “Whoops” Holy shit every line this man says is gold actually what?

David? Lying? Noooo, how could you say that? I forgot how funny post magical girl transformation this man was.

David I am going to need you to give an actual answer. I spent hours looking at That Video and I still don’t know what your deal is please-

“And she’s Teruko” J’s also really funny actually. Hold a knife to someone’s throat once and they hate you forever, smh.

“Oh and don’t say something like “I wanna kill myself” that’s boring” (paraphrased). Holy shit I missed Veronika- that’s my second fave right there! (Min you will always be N1 don’t worry).

David-Veronika duo is great actually.

By the way David said “the truth is…” I am not expecting a serious answer.

You know, for a moment I actually did think he genuinely thought he was the blackened. But my first instinct was right.

“I would have actually tried looking at the crime scene” Bro what the fuck is he actually cooking.

“A good person” drop!!!! If you know, you know!

Also, I wanted to point this out here, I might have accidentally misinformed a part of the fandom a bit? One point that I brought up was that several important people to this chapter have been called “a good person”, and one of the examples I gave was Hu calling David a good person. Which… I don’t think happened? I evidently misremembered a line where Hu called David a “good friend”, which is a different phrase with different connotations in DRDT, and I genuinely apologize for that. Especially because I have seen people repeating that David had been called a good person in the past.

But now David has called himself “a good person”, if in a roundabout way, so the point actually stands lol.

Oh shit the Xander name drop.

… He was trying to kill Teruko wasn’t he. Because Xander tried it, and because David has Teruko’s “the killing game is all your fault” motive. Oh shit.

Speaking of the “good person” point, that argument might actually be dead lmao. Given that Xander got called that and he’s, well. Not particularly important to chapter 2, let’s say.

[Hindsight Post-Video: Actually, the argument could now be “anyone referred to as a good person is deeply important up to chapter 2”. Or, alternatively, argue that Xander is somewhat important to the Chapter 2 trial because he inadvertently caused David to magical girl transform. The “good person” list in case you don’t recall is Teruko, Levi, Eden, Arei, and as of this episode, David and Xander. We’ll see what we make of it once the chapter ends ig]

Oh Teruko is pissed I am loving this.

Holy shit the voice acting is amazing holy shit Teruko is going off she said Xander didn’t treat David like a human (“No Longer Human” reference??? I might just be insane though) oh this is incredible!!!

Oh he knows something deep. This motherfucker knows what was written in Xander’s “kill Teruko” note I bet.

WAIT HE KNEW XANDER BEFORE HOPE’S PEAK?! HE KNOWS WHY HE’S THE ULTIMATE REBEL?!

Motherfucker you are going to tell us what Xander did before Hope’s Peak and why you know his work or I swear to God-!

Okay actually, David, I am going to need you to give… a straight answer at some point? Like I get you’re canonically bisexual (and it’s showing) but a single straight answer isn’t going to kill you.

Also, the music?! Is peak?!

David: “If the answer is no…” Neat sprite! Just thought it looked nice, and the line’s cool too :>

The return of the Teruko Baffled Sprite, long awaited.

Secret reveal? The killing game’s her fault?

Okay not the angle I was expecting in the slightest. Obviously gonna have to analyze how truthful he’s being at the moment, but he’s basically pulling a DRV3 ending logic thing. Cool!

So… Xander is absolutely Opening Guy, right? Like, I know that was the most common theory, but c’mon.

YEAH HU GO OFF!!!!

Voice acting going crazy too!

I adored Hu’s screaming section. How long till it’s revealed she has the “hopeless child” secret?

Hu’s a queen, hell yeah.

Pffft J’s high horse voice line-

Thank you Charles for being the only competent one (affectionate). Btw what does Veronika think of David’s reasoning? I was kinda hoping we’d see that.

[Red herring joke] Whit. Whit /disappointed/silly

Oh shit I was not expecting that line to actually cause a reaction damn.

You know, I’ll be honest and admit Eden’s really not acting that much like a culprit. I still think she is, I’m just surprised I’m not able to confirmation bias my way into suspecting her through her voice lines :v

Aaaand we’re back to Ace v Nico! Woo!

Okay wow the new alibis are like, laser focused on going against the most popular theories, huh? I’m not going to say anything’s deconfirmed yet obviously, but Hu!Culprit, J!Culprit, even Veronika!Culprit and theories surrounding David being involved have some questions to answer damn.

[To the question of if anyone else had alibis] “Nope” Whit how do you know this.

Levi!Accomplice also takes a hit because Eden and Levi aren’t trying to alibi for each other, but it can be explained. If they never prepared to give each other alibis, it’s safer to just… not, since they can’t actually say what they were doing during that time. And yes, possible explanations like this is why I’m not calling anything outright deconfirmed yet.

I wrote that before Levi three dotted directly after Eden, looking like he was thinking of trying to give her an alibi. Now that’s confirmation bias that can’t be safely used for theories!

Oh right J still hates Arturo xD

[The whole thing about excluding suspects who had an alibi at night and not in the morning] Oh God, Levi really wants me to think he’s the culprit huh? The method’s still too crazy for me to really believe that, but still.

This is also bad for Levi!Accomplice. Not a dealbreaker, but still weird that he’d say something that could point in Eden’s direction. I am not even going to try to defend that yet.

Cool. Can we finally talk murder method?

Levi: “That’s my secret.”

Oh okay, we’re not talking method yet.

…

Wait, WHAT?!?!?!!?!!!?!

THAT’S-! That’s not-! What the hell?!

Okay, so. Cool, Levi’s the remorseless murderer, we got that one right. But, the reveal is so insanely out of left field holy shit…

I am not lying when I tell you I had to get up and start PACING like I was not ready for this. I am vibrating. He just- He just said that shit! What the hell?!

I have genuinely no idea how the hell this is gonna play out. Holy shit I cannot wait for the next episode. It’s just… so peak!!! We are so back!!!

—-

General Closing Thoughts: This episode was awesome! I was lowkey a little worried that the first episode back wasn’t going to be as insane as it ended up being, but wow it blew me away. And it was only twenty minutes? When the episodes go up to possibly an hour??? It’s just… holy shit.

It was awesome to finally start getting some insight into why David Did That, and I’m genuinely super excited to see where this goes. I’m still trying to figure out the exact angle on things like hiding Teruko’s secret, if he even is doing that because I now believe there is a non-zero chance he isn’t actually lying. Like, it’s low, but not zero. I do find it strange Veronika didn’t react to it, though, but at least we got that one line before David started talking.

But that’s only the cusp of the iceberg. I genuinely adore the details we got on Arturo’s backstory, and Hu’s blowup, and Teruko’s remorse- it’s all so awesome.

(The fucking dent in the wall of the goddamn computer room got an explanation I still cannot believe that. Wow)

Props to the voice acting and the music btw, absolutely incredible all throughout.

Btw, correct me if I’m wrong, but there weren’t any “minigames” this episode, right? Nothing wrong with that, just found it interesting.

Theory-Related Initial Thoughts: This episode is… possibly one of the biggest theory slaughters I’ve ever seen?

Like, obviously, again, it’s still too early in the trial to fully rule out anything, so I’m going to leave it to the other DRDT scholars to revise their own theories to fit the new evidence, but wow those new alibis are something. Between Hu, J and David having alibis for 7:30 AM, that’s three of the top suspects who weren’t there at that exact time to either kill Arei or mess with the body. Again, maybe there’s explanations for it, I’m not calling anything unconfirmed yet, just that many theories were inconvenienced.

As for my theory, Eden!Culprit Levi!Accomplice… ups and downs. The more Eden speaks, the less I’m convinced she’s the actual culprit, even if I’m a decent 80% sure she took the tape; the more Levi speaks, the less I’m convinced he’s an accomplice. I’m not going to deny that their dialogue isn’t 100% what I would expect. I don’t think it’s disqualifying, I still believe it to be the theory with the best evidence, it’s just that some things strike me as odd.

That was what I thought… until the end. Because I have no idea what’s about to happen with Levi revealing the secret like this, but… there is a very possible Levi!Accomplice turn here? Like, it’s the “Levi’s holding the glove” idea; the moment Eden loses her alibi, Levi does something that immediately puts a target on his back, potentially trying to get himself voted off before people catch on to Eden as a possible culprit. First he tries to argue that he shouldn’t be a suspect because of the alibi thing, which could make him more suspicious in some people’s eyes (maybe that’s too much 4D chess but it could work), then revealing the secret. I don’t know how likely this is, but it’s a genuine possibility.

Otherwise, I’m… not entirely sure what the angle is? I need to rewatch the trial to figure out why Levi’s talking about “detailing the trial” then immediately revealing his secret. I didn’t rewatch any DRDT before the episode, hence the confusion. But… at this moment, I don’t know what Levi’s cooking, other than possibly accomplice behavior. And even that feels more confirmation bias-y than anything.

There’s also the really weird line where Whit just… knows, Charles had no alibi at 7:30 AM? Unless they discussed it or I’m forgetting something, I don’t actually remember how he’d know that? Was he stalking Charles? Was he just wandering the halls? What kinda-?

(I don’t think that’s likely, but I don’t have a really good read on what’s happening there)

Other than that, here’s a crackpot one to lighten the mood. Mastermind business. I’ve never brought this up before, but I’ve always believed that were Veronika to be the mastermind, she would get revealed early. As in, possibly at the end of this trial, given Teruko had some idea to end the killing game after her chat with Veronika in the movie room.

I’m bringing this up only because Veronika didn’t react to David’s explanation of what he was trying to do by claiming to be the blackened. She was set up for a reaction with the whole “please tell me it’s not boring” thing, and then she… didn’t. It’s possible, in a conspiratorial sense, that she didn’t react because David hit the nail in the head, and Veronika was genuinely upset at the idea. If that’s the case, her reaction could be postponed to the end of the trial, maybe the end of Trial 3, for the early mm reveal there. It’s a very half-baked idea I’m failing to communicate properly ‘cuz I’m eepy, but it’s there.

I rank it in the same level of mastermind evidence as “Nico is unafraid of grabbing MonoTV by the tail.” Immensely silly and should not be considered solid evidence by any means, and yet it’s still probably gonna get mentioned if I ever make a mm probability ranking lol.

Anyways, absolutely incredible episode all throughout. Holy shit were so back, this was amazing. See you next week for more peeks into peak!

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY INTERVIEWED FOR NERDIST MAGAZINE.

I'M TOLD YOU'RE ON HOLIDAY IN A REMOTE AREA, SO I HAVE TO ASK THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: ARE YOU CURRENTLY VACATIONING IN BRAVOS?

"[Laughs] No."

"No, I’m not."

INTERVIEWER: I’m in [actual location] — which Nerdist can confirm is beautiful — withheld so Aemond Targaryen doesn’t find out.

DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE LARYS IS TAKING AEGON? IS IT REALLY BRAAVOS?

"Can’t disclose that information at this point, I don’t think."

"But wherever it is, it’s somewhere."

"Sorry, I just made that up. I don’t know."

DOES AEGON HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT LARYS OR DOES HE FULLY TRUST HIM AT THIS POINT?

"He’s the best of a bad bunch in the Red Keep."

"I think there is a certain amount of trust that he has towards Larys just because there’s common ground."

"They’re both physically impaired now, and Larys has lived his entire life in that state."

"So there’s some sort of connectivity going on there, but also it seems like he does have Aegon’s best interests at heart at this point."

"I don’t think Aegon wants to look too much into that at the moment."

"He will find cracks in the woodwork."

"So yeah, he’s a lifeline at the moment."

"And he shall be used accordingly."

AT THIS POINT HOW DOES AEGON FEEL ABOUT HIS MOTHER ALICENT?

"That’s a good question."

"I think he feels there’s this undying love that he has for Alicent."

"Aegon, he’s her first born son, and yet there’s never been this kind of understanding or eye-to-eye that they’ve had."

"He knows she’s flawed, and she knows he’s flawed, and I think they expect a lot from each other that neither of them are able to give."

"But at this point, he’s not thinking that rationally."

"He likes to point the finger and he needs to find somebody to blame."

"He blames Aemond, of course."

"But also for it to get to this point, Alicent has sort of steered the ship in a certain way."

"So yeah, there’s a lot going on there."

"It’s quite a complex relationship."

I KNOW AS AN ACTOR YOU HAVE TO FIND AEGON'S HUMANITY, BUT DOES THE KING HIMSELF RECOGNIZE, IN ANY WAY, HE'S A MONSTER?

"I think he’s dancing with the idea of being loved and feared at the same time."

"I know I’ve said that in interviews before, but I think it’s a good way of putting it."

"Those two things don’t really go together."

"He’s trying to work out a way for his approach to being the king and to ruling."

"He’s trying to strike a balance where he remains effective, but also people listen to him."

"At the moment he hasn’t been listened to, which is kind of why he’s had to force himself into this position of being proactive in a way that he was not ready to do."

"So, no, I don’t think he thinks he’s a monster because I don’t think he is a monster."

"I think he’s somebody who’s very tortured and traumatized by his own making really."

"But I also think it makes somebody more dangerous when they don’t realize potential."

"I don’t think he does quite just yet."

CONSIDERING I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT AEGON IS TO THE STORY, I WAS VERY FRUSTRATED BY HOW LITTLE THE SHOW FEATURED YOU IN SEASON ONE. DID YOU KNOW BACK THEN JUST HOW BIG YOUR ROLE WOULD BE IN SEASON TWO?

"I was warned it was an introduction."

"Just in terms of the time jump."

"We couldn’t really have the older versions of our characters, myself and Helaena and Aemond and the likes, because of the time jump we were making."

"I understood season one was always more of an introduction to our versions of these characters, and season two would really lift off."

"And season three and onwards would just get tastier and tastier as time went on."

"So no, I didn’t feel shortchanged or let down or anything."

"I was always updated with the plan."

THE SHOW IS CHARTING IT'S OWN COURSE AND MAKING SOME BIG CHANGES TO THE DANCE OF THE DRAGONS. HAVE (SHOWRUNNER) RYAN CONDAL AND THE WRITERS GIVEN YOU A HEADS UP ON WHAT AWAITS AEGON IN SEASONS THREE AND FOUR?

"Yeah, I’ve spoken to Ryan and writers Sara Hess and David Hancock a lot about their ideas, about the trajectory that they want Aegon to go on."

"They have been quite… there’s been details, but not too detailed because of giving things away and not locking things in the writing room."

"It’s exciting to listen to and it’s exciting to understand where their thoughts are and include me in that as well, which is great."

"It feels very collaborative that they want to know my thoughts and the rest of the actors on their own characters journeys really."

"It’s great."

I THINK THIS IS REALLY SAYING SOMETHING ON A SHOW THIS WELL ACTED: YOUR PERFORMANCE THIS YEAR WAS A REVELATION FOR MANY AND HAS RIGHTFULLY EARNED VERY HIGH PRAISE. WHAT'S IT BEEN LIKE PERSONALLY HEARING THAT KIND OF RESPONSE TO YOUR WORK?

"It’s very kind."

"Thank you."

"To be honest, I try and stay away from all of the conversations about it."

"It feels like my work, for now anyway, has been done."

"And I want to sort of put it to bed and move on and not really dwell on it."

"I think if I get too engaged with what people are saying, and the noises people are making, I’ll get too in my head."

"That’s not really the way I like to work."

"But I’m really glad to hear that people are responding well and they’re seeing lots of different colors to Aegon that they didn’t anticipate."

"That was my job from the first day on set, to bring this character to life in a multidimensional, varied, color palette kind of way."

"And he’s an absolute gift to play."

"I think you’d do well to do a bad job of a character like Aegon."

"He’s a gift that keeps on giving."

YOU HAD TO DO A LOT THIS YEAR AS AEGON. WHAT IS MORE CHALLENGING AS A PERFORMER: THE BIG PHYSICAL, LOUD, EMOTIONAL SCENES FROM EARLIER IN THE SEASON OR THE QUIETER ONES AFTER AEGON'S INJURIES?

"Both for different reasons."

"I dunno, that’s like comparing badminton with tennis, two very different sports."

"In terms of stamina, probably the louder, more kind of theatrical scenes."

"They require a lot of focus and a lot of energy and usually emotional depth and agility."

"But saying that, when I’m in the bed, covered in all the prosthetics and stuff, that’s tiring in its own way and difficult to remain focused on the task at hand."

"So yeah, both have their own challenges, but I revel in both arenas."

MY LAST QUESTION, AND I WOULD NOT FORGIVE MYSELF IF I DIDN'T ASK THIS, WHAT HAPPENED TO AEGON'S TERRIBLE LITTLE MUSTACHE FROM FIRE & BLOOD?

"[Laughs] Good question."

"You know what? I had this conversation with Amanda Knight, the wonderful hair and makeup designer on the show."

"We spoke about this at the start, about whether we could bring that to life, because I remember seeing pictures of him."

And she was like, 'You know what? You might not want to sustain that for the amount of time that we do this show. So maybe let’s go clean shaven and see where we get from there.'

"But that’s not to say that it might not come at some point, even though he has had his face burned, it might be half a mustache, but we’ll see."

[blankie-greenie-anon]

Listen. I'm not saying ThinkFast should be soulmates. And I don't think they should get married.

I just think they had a very interesting dynamic that the comics should've fully explored, first in a platonic context, then a romantic one. Show us what these two brought to each other's lives.

Then a huge event happens; ThinkFast are paired up for a mission. And during the mission, they make some unethical decisions. Speed's comfortable committing them, Prodigy not so much, but he gets less reluctant with Speed's encouragement. They succeed at their task, the event is resolved, everyone rejoices.

But then, the weight of their actions hit David. He doesn't like that he was able to sacrifice his ethics and enjoy it. He still remembers the vision – where he went mad with power and valued results over life. It scares him that Tommy could make him let go, even for a short moment. David doesn't blame him. He believes Tommy is fine as he is, but David is afraid of what he could become if they stayed together.

So David says he wants to break up. Tommy doesn't take it well. Sure, he's used to everyone being worried about him being the "sociopath" of the Young Avengers, but David was one of the few people who accepted him as he was, and Tommy got used to that. And suddenly David wasn't okay with it. David says that's not the point; it's okay for Tommy to stay the way he is, but David's afraid any possibility of losing his morality. To Tommy, that means there cannot be any possibility of him in David's life. From them on, Prodigy and Speed stop teaming up.

They avoid each other, but they can't help thinking about each other from time to time. Tommy remembers facts David had once told him. David uses speed-related information he learnt from observing Tommy. It makes them miss each other. They had so much fun when they were dating. When they do bump into each other again, and there's alcohol in vicinity, they end up making out. But when they come to their senses, they both understand they cannot get back together.

Then David fulfills his destiny of becoming Patrinot, who then helps Tommy fulfil his destiny of becoming Time. In the one brief moment they could share together, David tells Tommy he's glad he could do this for him. After Tommy becomes Time, he finds Billy. They use their combined powers as the Demiurge to save David's soul and have him pre-incarnated.

[chaoticklesblog]

TERRIFIER TICKLE HEADCANNONS BC I AM OBSESSED...

Where to begin... So recently, I've become obsessed with the idea of Art the Clown being a RUTHLESS tickle monster to his victims. Can you blame me? On with my HC's. *I don't own rights to the franchise, characters, etc. I love the shit outta these movies, though! Art is definitely my favorite slasher.

Warning for vague spoilers of the movie series, violence, horror related content, and headcannons that can be viewed as slight NSFW (nonsexual) that have nothing to do with the movie in itself.

Art looooves a good game of chase. Stalking his victims, chasing them, building up anticipation for whats to come, you name it! He loves putting on a good show. Rather than killing his victims in violent, bloody ways, he intends to tickle the snot out of them. (He is a clown, after all, and most clowns normally want to get people to laugh). AND LAUGH THEY WILL OMG.

Needs a safe word his victims don't even KNOW. When he captures his victims, he fully intends to tickle them stupid. Begging, laughing, screaming, pleading for mercy only encourages him. He's definitely a ruthless tickle monster. (Don't ever let him find out you like it).

Carries around various tickly objects like feathers and brushes in his bag rather than his usual tools and weapons of mass destruction. He's seriously into the torturous aspect of things.

He absolutely laughs with his victims. More so, at them! Silently, of course, but it definitely feels teasy. He loves making his victims blush by making it as embarrassing as possible.

Definitely utilizes the psychological aspect of tickling against his victims. Will use blindfolds and gags depending on the mood he is in. Isn't opposed to binding his victims in order to make the torture much more unbearable. I can't stop imagining him honking his lil bicycle horn at victims before he tickles them. Ahhhhh.

Will 100% tickle his victims until they pee!! Lol. He finds it to be hilarious every time! And he'll never let you live it down either.

Art definitely loves the idea of tickling people on vulnerable areas like their necks and ribs and stomachs (usually where he cuts/stabs people) as he finds it endearing humans are ticklish where they're vital organs are.

Don't let him find your worst spot. Literally. The torture will NEVER stop. Especially the more you beg or scream.

Art definitely is also ticklish. Not growing up with any kind of affectionate contact, it's a new concept for him, which is why he tends to go overboard with tickling. He's not used to the sensation, and tickling him is possible if you can catch him off guard, but be careful... Art will always get revenge on those who dare to tickle him, and his payback will be a thousand times worse. Seriously. He takes being tickled as a challenge and will stop at nothing to make sure those who even try to learn their lesson.

Behind the scenes: I'm a big believer that there is a lot of goofing around between takes and such during the production of horror movies such as this one. And the premise of the protagonist actors being chased, cornered, jump scared, and wrestled etc, sometime, somewhere, someone is BOUND to be tickled either by accident or on purpose during the making of these scenes. And because Art's actor seems like a loveable goofball in real life, it makes me think these are that much more likely to happen, not only behind the scenes, but even in character since David makes Art so loveable even though Art is also a completely demonic little shit.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

I want to write a meta on Stede Bonnet of Our Flag Means Death and internalized homophobia. A lot of this is going to be a rehash of something I said to an anon back in october of 2022 but I feel like it deserves to be put out without rancid anon takes attached.

Our Flag Means Death as a show is trying to do a deconstruction of toxic masculinity. I feel very comfortable in saying that seeing as David Jenkins had "A lot of what we're taught about what it means to be a man is wrong" and a show about gay men with a thesis like that is necessarily also deconstructing homophobia, even if it doesn't center homophobia, which ofmd does not, it keeps it in just out of frame at all times, because it prefers to center queer joy. However that doesn't mean it's not there and I want to talk about the one place where it exists that I feel like people don't really touch on.

Stede is a character that comes from a background of wealth, of rigid adherence to social norms that he was never able to fully fit into. There are rules for what men do and what women do and those rules must be obeyed and Stede learns this the hard way, by getting tied in a boat and having things thrown at him for picking flowers. By being bullied relentlessly for being soft and weak. Under such conditions you can’t not internalize those rules.

Stede also is very insecure, in episode 2 it's established that he struggles with feelings of inadequacy. A lot of Stede’s guilt comes from his inability to preform the roles of husband and father, roles which were thrust upon him without his consent and stand in opposition to his identity as a gay man, at least in the 1700s. Stede considers himself a coward for his inability to preform these rolls. Stede is unable to forgive himself for being unable to fit into the heterosexual expectations that society as placed on him.

Blackbeard is also a hypermasculine figure. A role that Ed finds himself unable to fit into. That’s why Ed and Stede seem to be in the same place when they first meet. They’re both trying to break out of these rigid boxes that have been forced upon them. Blackbeard is less heterosexual, more specific, but it’s still a distinctly male expectation which is tied up in cultural ideals about masculinity, especially non-white masculinity. And the whole show Izzy, a gender conforming character who seems to go out of his way to talk down to any man he perceives as even a little bit soft, is trying to force Ed into it, and when he tries to imply that Ed isn’t Blackbeard enough he does it by emasculating him

Ed is open, at least when he's made to feel like he's in a safe environment, about not wanting to be blackbeard anymore. Stede suggests retirement and provides him space to experiment with reinventing himself, but at the end of the day Stede doesn't believe him because Stede venerates Blackbeard as one of the most fearsome pirates of all time (something I expect to be a large point of contention between them in the next season). When Ed finally shakes off his captaincy and tries to leave Blackbeard behind for good Stede ends up blaming himself for it, because he perceives Ed's desire to leave a role that is hurting him behind as him being ruined, the same way Stede perceives his own failure as a husband and father as an inherently corrosive thing.

Unpacking Chauncey's speech in season 1 episode 10 and why Stede agrees with it is fundamental here. Gay people have been for centuries been portrayed as corrupting influences trying to convert people to our lifestyle. We've been portrayed as horror villains. Our sex is portrayed as defilement. We're accused of being groomers who want to corrupt others to our way of life, we're accused of recruiting. This is one of the more classic homophobic tropes. So when Chauncy says you're a monster who defiles beautiful things there is venom and oppression behind it. And Stede agrees to it because he does believe himself to have corrupted Ed away from being Blackbeard into being kind of a pansy like Stede. And that he defiled his family by leaving despite it being what he needed to do.

And so his reaction to this is to shove himself back into the closet and try to be Mary's husband again.

I'm not passing moral judgement on Stede, it's just difficult to interpret the show without seeing the subtextual journey of overcoming internalized homophobia that Stede goes on.

[spyrkle4]

My thoughts on the ending of Danganronpa Despair Time Chapter 2

Man just when I think I can predict what'll happen in Drdt it throws a 180

I'm gonna hide the spoilerly stuff under the read more but first things first of my god... this was great!!! And it also makes me TERRIFIED for chapter 3 because chapter 2 was enough of an emotional rollar coaster, idk if the dev or anyone working on drdt will see this silly post bc a LOT of people have been sharing their thoughts on the ending of chapter 2 but I really enjoyed the ending

And that I don't mind if chapter 3 has a long wait bc my mental health is in shambles after this chapter

Okay now the spoilery stuff!

-First of all, I did find it interesting that the secrets (including David in his joker arc) was a bit of a red herring, the secrets weren't part of the murder/case at all, unless you count the part of Arturo threatening Eden over his secret, but after this trial EVERYONE's laundry has been aired and I wonder if that'll be touched upon in Chapter 3

-I think I've said this before but I love how the dead cast (Xander, Min, Arei, and now Ace) are just constantly mentioned, haunting the narrative, I'm pretty sure they're gonna keep that up

-Teruko having a mental breakdown after this, like homegirl spent ALL of chapter 2 trying to repress her grief over Xander and Min, but now that Arei, Ace, and potentially Levi are dead she ended up cracking, chapter 2 ending with her breaking down in the darkened trial room is heartbreakiiiing

-I read a couple posts before typing this and one of them mentioned that "MonoTV's comment about the most mastermind-y person getting punished" applied to Teruko almost being shot after telling Ace to kill MonoTV (she tried), the foreshadowing of this, like hey guys remember in chapter 1 when Ace was dragged into watching horror movies and he commented they were so scary he could've died from it :))

-Levi's really putting the L in Levi dude cant stop getting injured. but seriously I just wanna know WHY DID HE DO THAT LEVI OH MY GOD. LEVIIII

-MonoTV genuinely scared me, also the implications of who could potentially be running this show is also scaring me. and the implications that they're programmed to run this show until EVERYONE is dead.

-Not Ace's excecution being he gets psychologically tortured until its too much for his heart

-The fact it wasn't related to his talent but it was related to his constant fear of death is just evil.

-Also the way Ace goes out, before the ending I kind of thought his arc was a mirror to Arei's where that while she improved and started to trust some of the others, Ace became more cruel and distrustful, even to those still reaching out to him, he was so scared of dying that he ironically caused his own death by participating in the killing game and killing Arei

-And that he was so scared of dying, yet told MonoTV to go ahead with his execution so that the others could give Levi medical treatment and he even yells at Arturo that he CAN save Levi if he tries, dude in the end did change but sadly like Arei, he died before before being able to fully embrace that change

-also if you want to go more feral over the little details check out the names on the gravestones :))) I know at least ONE of the names is his only friend. And based his line of "I'm gonna have THREE deaths on my hands!" His friend might be deceased and he blames himself for it

-I was thinking "I sure hope the squeamish of the cast aka Charles and Rose shield their eyes during the execution" and then there was Whit's line of telling Charles to cover his eyes when Teruko is about to get shot

-Whit's sprite when the gang realize the elevators are closed is scaring me a little. its also scaring the Whit fans!

-That's all I'm gonna say about the ending, it was emotional and at least Ace was able to have some good moments before his end, I wonder what'll happen with the secrets aftermath including David causing problems on purpose, the cast realizing that the killing game is making them worse, and all the little lore that got dropped.

[katethetank]

Rating: 18+, minors gtfo Chapter Summary: Movie night at Steve's! The boys make things official, get a little more intimate, and have a talk about their sexual boundaries CW: Handjobs, Eddie has several piercings, discussions of consent, STI testing, kinks, boundaries Tags: Alternate Universe - modern setting, Rock Star Eddie, Counselor Steve, Eddie is gay, Steve is bi, slow burn, eventual smut Word Count:3,740

Chapter 8<<Masterlist>>Chapter 10

He’s all set. Soft t-shirt on, gray sweatpants (yeah, he went there), wrapped in a hoodie, and he’s got a bag full of snacks in hand. Eddie never thought he’d be so excited to just have a night in watching a movie. His last date with Steve was absolute perfection. They opened up so much to each other, and having the honor of watching Steve fall apart on his thigh was nothing short of breathtaking. He may or may not have fucked his fist to the thought of it several times since then. 

Shaking that image from his head, he raises his hand and knocks on the door. Moments later, it opens up and he’s greeted by Cozy Steve. Flannel pajama pants, white t-shirt that shows off his arms (good god), and fuzzy socks with ice cream cones on them. Fucking christ, Eddie wants to devour him.

“Hey Eds. C’mon in. I got the couch all set up and you can grab something from the fridge if you’re thirsty.”

“Hey Stevie. You look adorable. Kiss first?”

That blush is going to be his undoing. Steve steps towards him, gives him a small peck, and ushers him inside. Eddie kicks off his sneakers, and they head into the kitchen. “Alright sweetheart, I wasn't sure what kind of movie snacks you preferred, so I got a little bit of everything,” he says as he starts to unload his haul. “Popcorn, Twizzlers, M&M’s, Sour Patch Kids, Reese’s Pieces, gummy worms, Junior Mints, and Milk Duds. I hope at least one of these is up to your standards!”

“Oh my god, did you rob a gas station? This is awesome! Ok uh…let’s get the popcorn going first.” Steve puts a bag in the microwave, and while it’s popping he gets a big bowl out and they get their drinks ready. He fills the bowl with finished popcorn and then moves to select his snacks. Eddie watches his eyes bounce around the options, then he reaches out and snatches the Twizzlers and Reese’s Pieces, holding them protectively to his chest. “Mine.”

Eddie giggles and grabs the Sour Patch Kids and gummy worms. They wrangle their candy, glasses of Coke and bowl of popcorn and move to the living room. The lights are all off, and he’s got candles lit around the room giving it all a warm glow. The couch has extra pillows on it and a pile of the softest looking blankets. They put down their haul and settle in, not bothering with the opposite sides of the couch anymore. Steve pulls out one of the blankets and tucks it around their laps. Before Eddie gets fully comfy, he unzips his hoodie and drapes it over the back of the couch. He’s about to reach for the popcorn bowl when he notices that Steve has gone stock-still beside him.

“You ok Stevie?”

His eyes look a little glassy and his mouth is kind of hanging open. “Just uh…I like your tattoos. They’re um…” he visibly gulps and continues, “Really cool.” 

Eddie reaches over, grabbing Steve’s Coke and hands it to him. “Here sweetheart. You’re lookin’ a little…thirsty.” 

“Oh fuck off!” Steve laughs. “You know you look good, asshole!”

“Me?! You got a license for those guns?” he asks, poking Steve’s biceps. 

Ooh. Firm.

“God, you and these lines.”

“You love it. Now, what are we watching?”

Steve turns on the tv and there’s already a movie queued up ready to go. Eddie gasps. “You didn’t!”

Steve looks smug. “I did.” He presses play and they finally settle in with their snacks, snuggled under a soft blanket.

The intro to the movie plays and Eddie does his best David Bowie impression. “It’s onlyyy forever! Not long at all!” Steve laughs and joins him, doing a truly awful impression himself. “Lost and lonely! No one can blame you, for walking away! But too much rejection, no love injection!”

Steve sighs and tosses a piece of popcorn in his mouth. “I think this movie was my first true bi-panic experience. When I was a kid I had such a crush on Jennifer Connelly, and then in comes Bowie…that hair, a cloud of glitter, those pants?! Game over.”

“Oh yeah, Little Eddie definitely had some fantasies about the Goblin King taking him away.”

“Nothin‘ little about it,” Steve mumbles.

Eddie chokes on his gummy worm and splutters, “What was that?!”

“I said ‘do you want a Twizzler?’” Steve replies with the big stupid smile on his face. 

Eddie bites it right out of his hand. “You’re a menace.”

They spend the movie singing along, doing horrendous impressions of the characters (including Eddie using a gummy worm to impersonate the little blue worm in the wall), and filling themselves full of sugar. Eddie’s so happy.

The credits roll and Steve asks, “Have you heard the theory about who the goblins actually are?”

“No? What theory? They’re goblins.”

“Not exactly. So, Jareth steals children, and if they’re not found they turn into goblins, right?..”

“Oh…yeah ok…”

“There’s this theory out there that he was once in love with a girl named Sarah. He wanted to marry her, but her father forbade it, and wanted to keep her as a servant. So he kidnapped her little brother and took him away to this fairy realm in hopes that it would lure Sarah there so he could keep her, and turned the brother into a goblin to be his servant. But time passes differently in the fairy realm, so Sarah ends up growing old and dying and never finds him. He goes totally mad, and spends his eternal life searching the mortal world for girls named Sarah, taking their child or sibling or whatever, and then she’s lured into the labyrinth to save the kid. Only they never make it. So when Hoggle asks what her name is and she tells him it’s Sarah, that’s why he says, ‘that’s what I figured.’ Because they’re all Sarah.”

Eddie’s mind is sufficiently blown. “That’s so fucked up.”

“I know right?”

“I love it.”

“I know right?!”

“God, my boy’s so smart.” Eddie doesn’t even realize what he’s said until Steve looks at him all bashful and sweet.

“Your boy, huh?”

In for a penny, in for a pound. “I don’t know…how would you feel about that? Being mine.”

Steve’s eyes shine with unshed tears and Eddie’s heart feels like it’s going to pound out of his chest. “I think I’d like that a lot.”

“Yeah? So you wanna make this official sweetheart?”

Suddenly he has a lap full of Steve and big hands planted on his chest. “Yes. I want this. I want you Eddie.” 

“Then you have me, Stevie.” He wraps his arms around Steve’s waist and pulls him in close, lifting up his chin and being met with Steve’s soft lips. It starts slow and sweet. Savoring this moment and what it all means. The intensity picks up as their tongues dive into each other’s mouths. 

Eddie sucks on Steve’s tongue and is rewarded with the filthiest moan and grinding of hips. God bless soft pants, he can really feel Steve’s dick this time as it rubs right alongside his own. It feels heavy and Eddie wants to get his hands and his mouth on him. Anything his boy - his boy - wants.

He takes charge, as he so often prefers to do, and flips them so Steve’s on his back and Eddie’s settles in the cradle of his hips. Steve lets out a startled sound gasping, “Holy shit, you’re a lot stronger than you look!” 

“You saying I look weak?”

“God no. Just surprised me.”

Eddie smirks and leans down to pick up where they left off. Their mouths are plastered together, kissing like it’s their last day on Earth, hands pawing at each other’s shirts. Steve tugs at the hem and pants, “Off!” right into Eddie’s mouth. He reluctantly parts from Steve’s lips, sits up, and pulls his shirt off, tossing it to the floor. 

Steve looks up at him like he hung the goddamn moon. “Jesus Christ, Eds. You’re so fucking hot.” He tentatively reaches up, his big hands gently skimming over the flesh of his abs, up to his chest, and his thumbs graze over the barbells in his nipples. “Fucking hell, I had no idea you had piercings here.” He applies a little more pressure and Eddie hisses. Shit that feels good. “Sensitive?” Steve asks.

“Very. What about you, gorgeous? Can I take your shirt off? We don't have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Steve sits up and starts to remove his shirt, Eddie helps to get it off and join his on the floor. His breath stutters as he takes in this beautiful man underneath him. Miles of golden skin, speckled with these biteable little moles, and lord help him, he wants to bury his face in all that chest hair. He’s muscular, yet soft. Eddie wants to map his body with his tongue.

“God damn, look at you Stevie. You’re a fucking work of art.”

He arches an eyebrow and says, “Me? Look at you. Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

Eddie can’t recall if he’s ever been called beautiful before. If he has, there’s no way it meant as much as it does coming out of his boy’s mouth. He wastes no time getting his lips back on him, and buries his hands in all that glorious hair on his pecks. He pushes Steve back down to the couch, elbows on either side of his head and kisses him breathless.

Their dicks are sliding alongside each other as Eddie grinds down. Steve’s hands, god those fucking hands, grab hold of his ass and pull him in, adding even more pressure. They’re gonna get a friction burn at this rate and Eddie couldn’t care less. He kisses his way to Steve’s ear and whispers to him, “This what you need honey? Tell me what you want. Anything.”

“Ah, fuck, Eddie! Please, please!”

“Please what? Gotta use your words princess.” He feels the full body shudder that runs through Steve. Yeah ok. Put a pin in that one for later.

“Hands…please Eddie. I need your hands.”

“Good boy. Thank you for telling me sweetheart. This ok?” he asks as his hand moves down to the waistband of Steve’s pants. He dips his fingers in the tiniest bit and pauses, waiting for confirmation. Steve nods his head and Eddie tuts, “Ah ah, I need words.”

Steve’s pupils are dilated as they lock eyes. “Yes. Please baby. Please touch me?”

Baby.

Call the coroner, Eddie just flatlined. He’s never been somebody’s baby before. And goddamn if he doesn’t love it. He crashes their mouths together and snakes his hand past Steve’s waistband. His fingers graze over the silky flesh of that hard cock and Steve whimpers into his mouth. Eddie wraps his hand around the shaft and gives an experimental stroke. He’s thick and heavy in his hand. Long and hard as rock. His boy must be aching if the loud moan he lets out is anything to go by.

He pulls his hand away and Steve grapples at his shoulders and whines. “Don’t worry honey. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you.” He spits into his hand and is about to reach back down when Steve stops him, grabbing his wrist. Steve then makes all the wires in Eddie’s brain cross as he leans up and spits into his palm, adding to the mess. Jesus. Steve helps him along further by shuffling his pants down and letting his cock spring free. It’s just as gorgeous as the rest of him. Flushed pink, thick and long, balls already drawing up tight.

“You’re so gorgeous Stevie. Such a pretty cock.” Eddie gets his hand back on him. The glide is better now as he starts to jack Steve off like it’s his job. He squeezes on the upstroke and twists his wrist, earning groans and whimpers and thrusts. He speeds up his movements and Steve holds onto his shoulders for dear life, thrusting into Eddie’s fist, his breathing getting faster and faster.

“Oh god,” Steve pants. “Baby, I’m so close.” 

“What do you need, honey? Tell me.”

Steve’s glassy eyes look up at him, eyebrows scrunched, mouth hanging open as he gasps, “Kiss me. Kiss me, please!”

Such a simple request. How could he ever deny it? He lowers himself down just enough to capture Steve’s lips in his. It’s nothing filthy. It’s nothing ravenous. It’s soft and simple, just lips on lips. Steve cums immediately with a choked off moan, his whole body shaking while spurts of cum shoot up his stomach and into that fucking delicious chest hair. Eddie’s never seen anything more beautiful.

“Eddie. Baby. Oh my god,” he pants as he comes back down to Earth.

Eddie kisses his forehead and slowly lets go of his softening cock. “Feel good honey?”

“Fuck, so good. Get your pants off. Now.”

Eddie chuckles and kisses him again. “You don’t have to Stevie.”

“Fuck that, I want to. C’mon. Sit up.”

Eddie obeys and rises to his knees. His sweatpants are tenting obnoxiously and there’s an obvious wet patch where his cock has been leaking since this all started. He locks eyes with Steve and he slowly slides his pants down, his dick bobbing heavy over Steve’s soft cock.

He sees his boy’s eye flicker down and widen comically. “Holy fuck. Knew you’d be big but Jesus...”

Eddie, a little smug, reaches down and lifts up his dick, giving it a slow stroke and making sure Steve sees the whole thing. 

“Oh my god, are you serious?” He’s practically drooling as he spots the Jacob’s ladder piercings on the underside of his cock. “You’re gonna fuckin kill me, Eds.”

“Like what you see, sweetheart?”

Steve nods dumbly and bats Eddie’s hand away. Before he reaches his hand out, he pauses and then scoops up the cum on his stomach and chest. Eddie’s going to have an aneurism. Steve wraps his cum covered hand around Eddie’s shaft and starts to stroke. Eddie groans and throws his head back, panting at the ceiling, “Goddamnit Steve, that’s so fucking hot. Get your cum all over me baby boy.”

Steve whimpers at the pet name and speeds up his strokes. “Little tighter honey. Fuck that’s it. God, you feel so good. Those big fuckin’ hands of yours. Christ!” The pressure is perfect, and he can feel himself teetering on the edge. 

Steve bats his eyes at Eddie and goes in for the kill. “Come on baby. Come on my tits.” Eddie momentarily blacks out as his cum shoots all over Steve’s chest, soaking the hair, coating a nipple, and some even makes it up to his neck and chin. It’s a fucking sight to behold. He wants to take a picture and fucking frame it. 

Legs now like jelly, he collapses onto Steve, careless of the mess between them. He slowly drags his tongue over the cum on Steve’s neck and chin, and feeds it to him in a filthy kiss. Maybe he should have asked first if he’d be ok with that, but Steve doesn’t seem to mind, groaning and gripping the back of Eddie’s head, bringing them impossibly closer. The kiss turns languid as they relax into each other, humming contentedly.

Eddie nuzzles his nose with Steve’s and whispers, “You were incredible, sweetheart. So hot. Was all of that ok?”

Steve hums and closes his eyes. “Absolutely. God, Eddie…those fucking piercings.”

Eddie laughs quietly and plants tender kisses along Steve’s cheeks and jaw. “Just wait till I fuck you. When you’re ready, I’m gonna make you feel so good angel.” Another full body shiver he gets makes him smile wide. “C’mon Stevie, we should get cleaned up.”

“Mmm. Shower?”

“Can’t say no to that.”

They get up and wobbly legs, shucking their pants and socks, and Eddie follows Steve to the bathroom. That ass of his, fucking hell. What a view. Steve gets the shower running and pulls out a couple towels from the cabinet. Water perfectly warm, they get in and take turns under the spray avoiding getting their hair wet. They just need a quick rinse to get all the dried jizz off.

Eddie quickly washes Steve and then himself, and a little while later they’re wrapped in towels and laying in bed, Steve’s head resting in his chest and fingers tracing his tattoos. “Stevie honey?”

“Yeah Eds?”

“We need to talk. About what happened earlier.”

He feels Steve tense up in his arms. “Is everything ok? Did I do something wrong?”

Eddie immediately realizes his mistake. He’s never been in a relationship before, but he should know better than to start a conversation with ‘we need to talk’ - god he’s such an idiot.

“No baby!” Ooh, that feels nice. “Not at all! I just thought it would be a good idea to talk about our limits. Consent is really important to me, and I honestly wish we would have discussed this sooner. That’s on me! We just kinda jumped right in without thinking and I want to know what you’re ok with.”

“Oh.” His body relaxes again, thank christ. “Yeah, we can do that. Where do we start?”

“First off, safety. I wanna let you know I’m clean. Obviously I wouldn't have done any of that if I wasn’t. I got tested when I was in L.A. and I’ve got a clean bill of health.”

“Me too. Got tested a few months ago and haven’t been with anyone since.”

“Good baby, thank you for telling me. Wish I would have done this before my cum was in your mouth, but here we are.”

Steve giggles and buries his face in Eddie’s chest. “Yeah, probably would have been smart. It’s ok though. I trust you. And…I liked it.”

Eddie smirks. “Yeah honey? You’d be ok with that again?”

Steve shifts so that his arms are folded on Eddie’s chest, his head resting in them so they can look each other in the eyes. “Yes. Absolutely. So what else?”

“How do you feel about oral?”

“Love it. Giving it, getting it. Green light all the way.

Eddie’s eyebrows raise. “You’re familiar with the stoplight system?” Steve nods. “Fantastic. We can check that one off the list. Next up: top or bottom? Any preference?”

Steve thinks for a moment. “I don’t have a problem with topping, but I definitely prefer to bottom.”

Excellent.

“That’s great honey. I pretty much exclusively top, so that works perfectly. You ok discussing dynamics?”

The crinkle in his brow is adorable. “How do you mean?”

“Dom and sub dynamics. It’s nothing crazy really, I just prefer being more dominant in bed. Taking control, calling the shots. Is that something you’d be ok with?” He has a feeling it would be, but…verbal confirmation and all.

“Oh, yeah I can see that. I haven’t really done much stuff like that before. Mostly just had quick hookups for the last few years, which really don’t give you a lot of time to play with that. I think I’d really like it though.”

“Thank you for your honesty baby, that’s so good.” Steve’s cheeks flush and Eddie knows exactly what his next question and the answer will be. “I gotta ask now Stevie, because I’m pretty sure I read this right. Do you have a bit of a praise kink baby?”

Steve hides his face in his crossed arms and lets out a muffled, “Yes.”

Eddie giggles and runs his hands through his hair. Goddamn that’s soft. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. How can I work with that if you don’t tell me, huh? Is it just praise, or are you into degradation too?”

Raising his head Steve says, “I’m not sure really…do you have some examples?”

“Slut, whore, stuff like that.”

He wrinkles his nose. ‘Nuff said. “No, I don’t think so. Is that ok?”

“Anything and everything is ok as long as we both consent to it. I don’t have any expectations Steve. My kink is providing pleasure, however my partner likes it.”

“Any other kinks I should know about?” Steve asks with a smirk.

Eddie hasn’t had the luxury of conversations this involved in a really long time. God, he is loving this. “A few, yes. I like control, right? Sometimes that might mean restraints. Cuffs or ropes or scarves. Other times it might be deciding when my partner gets to cum. I get off on controlling their orgasm. Sometimes I like a little pain. Giving or receiving, kinda depends on the mood. Toys are always fun, but not required. And I kinda joked about it before, but I don’t mind at all being called daddy.”

Steve takes a deep breath. Eddie hopes he didn’t just scare him the fuck off. “That’s…a lot.”

Eddie swallows the lump forming in his throat. “A lot…in a bad way? Because we don’t have to do any of that Stevie, promise. I only want to do what you’re comfortable with. So…is any of that a problem for you sweetheart?”

“What do you think?” Steve shifts his hips and even through the towels he can feel Steve’s hard cock press into his leg.

Oh thank fuck.

Eddie breathes a sigh of relief. “God damn, you had me worried for a second there! There’s just one more thing I want to be clear about. It’s one of my favorite things, and I haven’t really gotten to do it in a while because quick hookups don’t really allow the time for it.”

“What is it?..”

“Aftercare. I don’t just want to take you apart Steve. I want to put you back together. I love taking care of my partners, especially if something was really intense. There’s a kind of privilege in that.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody do that.”

Eddie’s heart breaks a little bit. How have Steve’s past partners not doted on him? Criminal. “I’d be honored to do that for you baby.”

Steve’s small smile is everything. He scoots up to give Eddie a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”

“You never have to thank me for taking care of you. So…all the other stuff I mentioned. What do you think?”

“Green.”

“Mmm, good boy.”

“There’s just one thing I need you to do, Eds.”

“Anything. You name it, it’s yours”

Steve’s smile turns mischievous. “You need to meet my kids.”

Chapter 8<<Masterlist>>Chapter 10

*********************************************

Taglist is open!

@annachronisme @mrsjellymunson @kozuuji

[akumuusu]

A (probably delusional) ramble/word vomit thing:

I think the idea that Xander’s secret is Terukos is fully a red herring

I do believe Teruko has something to do with the killing game, but I don’t think the secret is hers

There are, of course, a few arguments that can be used to counter my theory:

1) Xander fits the Teruko secret better

2) Teruko only mentions one sibling

3) David’s sprite post confirmation

First off:

We do know that Xander’s family is dead, we also know he blames himself for it, this much is all but confirmed in the Bonus Episode 2: ‘visiting graves’

This, however, does not mean that was his *biggest* secret, seeing as we can see him telling (assumably) Mai this, which he wouldn’t have known for terribly long when the episode takes place

Secondly:

Teruko is an orphan, this part checks out with the secret, but where people get confused is the fact she has only mentioned one sibling, her older brother.

While thinking about this, I thought about multiple possibilities:

1. Her other siblings were already dead by time she and her brother were put in the orphanage (perhaps dying before her parents or along with them)

2. The siblings is referring to the other children in the orphanage, this could also check out seeing as we know her brother is dead.

Lastly:

The devious ass sprite David makes after she states that’s her secret, I believe that’s a red herring of sorts, or in universe mockery.

I can’t come up with too much of a good explanation for this one as of now, but I genuinely do not believe he lied about who’s secret he has.

Again, this is very unlikely and definitely just me hoping, but I thought I may as well share this with some people other than my non-DRDT irls!

[zilabee]

Derek Burrell-Davis - memo to BBC (May 67): “I had a satisfactory two-hour meeting with all four members of the Beatles Group this evening…..I don’t think it is over-stating it to say that they are enthusiastic about their participation in the ��Our World’ programme and fully aware of the responsibilities they carry. Their approach is extremely professional and they are in complete agreement with the basic idea, which is that they are undertaking a recording session in the Number One Studio at E.M.I., Abbey Road. They cannot yet forecast what they will be doing in any great detail, but they propose writing a new number. Since this number will be heard in 30 countries, they are going to write the lyric in basic English. They suggest that they should use such words as “Hello, love, you, me, us, them, together, we”. They are wondering if it might be possible to use some of those words in different languages and are receptive to the idea that words such as “love”, “together”, etc. might be shown on large cards at appropriate moments in several languages”.

The BBC/broadcasters briefing meeting on 4 June 1967 to co-ordinate the international co-operation for the Our World Broadcast

The lyrics sheet given to the cameramen before broadcast. They were not impressed. On being told the Beatles wrote the music, they only asked "did they write the words as well?"

“...the day before, the doors were thrown open for a free-for-all picture session, at which I managed to have a quick word with — PAUL: Someone’s just asked if I’m leaving the group. And there seems to be another rumour I’m moving. Both are very wrong. I’ve just finished my house and like it a lot. No, I haven’t bought a kilt yet. GEORGE: We will do a TV show before we do a film. Nothing new to tell you about the film project. No script yet. RINGO: My garden is looking great now. Got some of my building men to help the gardening contractor and everything’s okay. JOHN: This song will be our next single. This TV show will give it a nice send-off.

Indeed, with some 6,500 TV workers and 1,000,000 miles of telephone wire working for the disc, it couldn’t be bad!” - - Andy Gray, NME

“When the musicians and TV crew took a meal break the Beatles tried out the musical instruments left lying around [...] Ringo and George try the trumpets, whilst Paul has a go at the trombone and John plays Jack Emblow’s accordion. In the background, in the left side far corner, the large weight box on the back of the Mole Crane is visible, with one of the white painted Murphy TV monitors on its trolley over on the right of the picture.” - - David Taylor, Postfade

“The BBC want a live trail”, Derek told me suddenly over my intercom. No one knew this had been planned, in fact to this day few people seem to know that such a promotion ever took place. [...]

“I had a few words with each of them in turn. What was the song called? Whose idea had it been? (“His”, they said, pointing to each other). And then I put the question to John that was intriguing me. Ninety-five percent of all popular music is in 4-time, but there was more than a hint of unfamiliar 7-time in “All You Need ls Love“.

“Did you know your song was in 7-time?” I asked. I still remember the cool, serious look he gave me as he replied, “Yes, I know”. Then he indicated Paul, adding “- but blame him”.

“Paul himself, alert as ever, noticed how, against my own instincts, I was trying to inject some breezy gaiety into the proceedings. He spoke encouragingly in my ear. “Yock it up, Steve ! ” he said. He knew that it was my preference to be in the narrator’s box doing a technical job, rather than “yocking it up”. I duly yocked.”

“This was the biggest group in the world, but when they went to the canteen, it was just four guys having a cup of tea. Underneath it all, these were ordinary guys who were in a band.” - - David Magnus (photographer)

“There was a real party atmosphere, similar to what we had witnessed during previous real ‘happenings’, but Richard and I were struck by how visibly nervous John was, which was quite unusual for him: we’d never seen him wound up so tightly.” - - Geoff Emerick

“I did sense that John in particular felt rather apprehensive the nearer to transmission we got. However George seemed to be enjoying the moment, while Ringo and Paul showed no apprehension whatsoever.” - - David Magnus

______________________________

Almost this entire post is stolen from postfade.co.uk, written by David Taylor. It's a wonderful write up because it's only actually interested in the cameras used and the technical setup, but it's so interested in those that it covers every moment in glorious detail and pulls together lots of quotes. If you're interested in the ins and outs of outside broadcasting, oh my. There's a cut out diagram of the OB scanner van, and they've taken the video of the entire broadcast and marked up up to show the different camera shots and cuts and equipment used. There's a bit where they read in a book that some of the broadcast wasn't live, and so the author tracks down who wrote that and he says he copied it from Mark Lewisohn, so they track down ML and ask him why he wrote that and ML can't remember but says 'I wouldn't have written it down if there wasn't evidence for it', which they think is a bit weak, so they decide not to believe it. It's nice to see them belittling ML's lifework because they want to believe in the magic of live outside broadcasting, the same way we do when we want to believe in love.

[ingravinoveritas]

David Tennant stroking another man’s hair, flirting with Alex Brooker, singing about a vibrator, wearing that wig and dancing and swinging his hips like that and finally, MICHAEL SHEEN MENTION. Bragging about being above Michael in the Dilf list like a little brat like WOW he’s about to get his ass spanked tonight

I am honestly so living for David bringing out his bratty bottom side, which I feel like is a side we don't get to see nearly often enough...

(Also, for those who haven't seen the full video of David's appearance on TLL, you can watch it on Youtube here.)

I know the moment in the gif above is supposed to be him as Gwyneth Paltrow, but all I was getting was campy, bisexual British Kurt Cobain, right down to the jumper (which oddly does look like something Kurt would've worn in the grunge era). And we can't remotely overlook the fact that David was wearing rainbow/pride gear from head to toe tonight, from the rainbow buttons on his shirt (you can see them under the jumper) to the Tardis trans pride flag pin all the way down to his rainbow socks...

And then, of course, there was the Michael mention. At this point, it honestly feels like whatever is happening between them is a big open secret (at the very least, I have a strong feeling the host Adam knows, and probably also Josh Widdicome), because it is impossible anymore to have one on as a guest without bringing up the other. In this case, it almost felt like the DILF of the Year competition was another excuse to mention Michael, and then to see David fully preening over outranking him was just...beyond glorious.

As to the aforementioned spanking, I fully concur with you. There's something in particular about this show, knowing that it was filmed live, and it's almost as if David behaved as bratty as he did because he knew a certain Welshman would be watching (giving very similar vibes to when David was on the Late Late Show in 2021). I can already so clearly picture the exchange between them after this (hopefully immediately after, since Michael is still in London and David could readily have gone to see him once the taping ended)...

"I'm more DILFy--DILFy, is that a word? Hmm--than you, Michael. According to the Internet people, that is." "Mmh. Yes, the all-wise, all-knowing Internet people." "You don't agree?" "Brat." "Ah, but you love me." "Don't think I could stop if I wanted to." "So you don't mind that the Internet thinks I'm more of a DILF than you?" "I think I'm the one who gets to fuck you, so the Internet can get bloody stuffed." "Funny, I was rather hoping I'd get stuffed right about now." "Cheeky slag. Turn around and take your trousers off." "You're so easy, Michael." "Shut up, Dai."

So yes, David's appearance on The Last Leg tonight was certainly quite something. I truly love seeing that part of him come alive, the part that he once spoke of in an interview where he talked about being a little boy and putting a towel on his head to entertain his classmates. I think deep inside, David has never stopped being that little boy, and there is something so special about seeing that part of him getting to be free.

Definitely hoping as well that we might get to see/hear Michael's reaction to all of this, but he still seems a bit quiet on Twitter these days (and if he's busy spending long nights with David, one can hardly blame him). I suppose we'll just have to see what happens...

[clumsykleptorocketscientist]

The Winchester Family: A Rant

Can I just say that Sheriff Jody Mills was more of a mother to Sam and Dean Winchester more than Mary ever was, even after Amara brought her back. Like I guess no hate to Mary...? But like isn't the whole thing about the Winchesters is that family isn't just blood. They developed wayy closer bonds than the ones with Mary, and I know it isn't necessarily her fault, but she wasn't there. Like I dunno, I just wasn't in love with Mary coming back, especially since when she did come back, it seemed like she saw they were grown up and like, didn't care..? Like it felt like she went "oh my job is done these are just two grown dudes that I gave birth to once." Like I know its a weird situation, but as a person who grew up watching Once Upon a Time, where like almost the same thing happened, with Snow, David, and Emma, I can't help but compare their reactions and Mary just didn't stack up.

Snow and David were so ecstatic to see Emma and tried so hard to make up for lost time and parent her as much as they could. They kept trying even as Emma pushed them away saying she was grown and that her and her parents were technically the same age. Throughout the show they found a way to still be her parents while still acknowledging she was grown. It was really beautiful to see, but in comparison Mary did not stack up.

Yes, she is a badass, and, yes, her identity should not solely surround her being the boys' mother, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be a mother at all. It would've been nice to see her figure out a way to strike the balance the Snow and David did, and I never got that vibe. In Supernatural, it seemed the opposite. It was Dean and Sam trying to be her sons and she pushed them away for the same reasons. I'm not saying she was a bad person, or even a bad mother, as it was a really weird situation and I can't necessarily blame her for how she dealt with it. What I AM saying, though, is that her name had no right to be carved onto that table. Point. Blank. Period.

Also, by the way, since I'm complaining, that weird episode with the pearl thing that let John Winchester come back so they could have a family dinner?????? As if that could truly be what Dean desired. Are you fucking kidding me. John sucked, made them both feel like shit, abused them, and yet that was the "family dinner" we got. It's been a while since I watched the show, so Idk a timeline, but screw the timeline for a sec. Across the entire show, a true family dinner would be Dean and Cas with their son Jack, Sam as the Uncle with Eileen, Bobby and Jody as the Dean and Sam's parents (because, unlike Mary, I very much feel like Jody struck that balance even though they weren't her actual sons) and Jody's brigade of wayward sisters trailing behind her, Donna as like the step-mother or aunt (Idk how Donna fits, I just LOVE Donna), and Charlie as Sam and Dean's little sister. Jo, Ellen, and Ash pop in with Rufus as those family members that are close, but you can't quite pinpoint how exactly you're related to them. Bonus: Kevin and Linda Tran come over like friendly neighbors because, even though they have a family of their own, the Trans are definitely close to the Winchesters, though, whether they like it or not. As much as I'd like to add Adam (to make up for him being left in the pit), I have a feeling he wouldn't want to. He seemed like a guy who refused to subscribe to the idea that because they were blood, they were family. (Maybe Sam and Dean should've learned a thing or two).

TL;DR:

Sam and Dean had a much bigger, and better, family then just John and Mary, but it was never really acknowledged fully and in the best way.

[deadbydangit]

Hey, how long, hope you're okay. Can I ask how they would react to a reader who gets stressed easily? With Vittorio, Gabriel and David

Hey! I get stressed easily too! I can absolutely do that. Please enjoy.

With an easily stressed reader: Vittorio, Gabriel, David

Vittorio Toscano

He may seem cool, calm, and collected.

But he gets stressed just as easily as you do.

If not more.

However, he's very good at keeping it under control.

His life has been full of hardships and frustrations.

Not to mention constant betrayal and violence.

Add to the fact that his studies have always been very challenging.

He gets it, the realm can be stressful.

And he'll never blame you for feeling stressed.

He'll never tell you to calm down or chill out.

He'll never be little your feelings either.

He's found peace through meditation.

Finding inner Peace by looking within was his answer to his stress.

"Perhaps it will help you as well?"

He's absolutely willing to teach you what he knows as well.

He might even suggest inviting others.

"Let's share our enlightenment with others. Let's start a whole group."

He is fully dedicated to helping others, he always has been.

Don't worry if you feel like starting a group is going to get you neglected by him.

If you feel like that, he won't start the group at all.

He'll focus solely on you if that's what you want.

Vittorio really just wants to see you feel better.

Because seeing you so stressed out is heartbreaking to him.

Gabriel Soma

Stress huh?

Well, he'll certainly try his best to help you.

He was cloned for one purpose.

He was designed and trained to do a job his whole life.

So Gabriel is so accustomed to doing what he needs to do that it never stressed him out.

He had plenty of practice doing so.

However, he did feel some anxiety when he first entered the realm.

So he can sort of relate to what you're going through.

But, he knows he doesn't know enough about what you're going through to actually help you properly.

So, he'll ask more of the spiritual and medically adept survivors to try and help.

And he's willing to ask everyone.

He wants to learn of every little method that would help calm you down.

From meditation to massages to medication.

All he wants is to see you feel better.

He leans more toward naturalistic cures and healing.

He just believes it's safer.

The use of plants to make teas or burning incense really appeals to him.

If none of that works, he'll continue to search for a way to make you feel better.

And he won't rest until you're nice and relaxed.

David King

"Stress?"

"Never met them. Is that a friend of yours?"

Aside from being kind of clueless.

David has never really felt stress in his life.

When he was younger, everything was just kind of handed to him.

When he was older, he could just punch someone to get what he wanted.

And, because he was good at punching people, he did get what he wanted.

He never really had to worry about the little things.

And, even if there was something that he should have worried about, he just never did.

He's always been the 'go with the flow' kind of person.

Even when he entered the realm he didn't seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.

That, or he just didn't really care.

So you're going to have to go into great detail in simple words why you're so stressed.

He still might not get it after that.

He'll probably do something kind of dumb, like just offer you junk food because I always helps him feel better.

Don't get mad at him, he's really trying.

If food doesn't work, this blockhead will go to everybody to see if they have any advice.

And I mean everyone.

Killers, survivors, it doesn't matter.

He might be kind of a jerk while doing it though.

"Dwight, you're stressed all the time. How do you deal with it?"

He's a blockhead but he's really making an effort.

And that's got to account for something, right?

If nothing else, he'll wrap you up in the tightest and sweetest bear hug he can manage.

He gives the best hugs.

All that matters to him is seeing you be yourself again.