#boo vs himself

[best-tpq-character-competition]

[agnerd-bot]

After watching Bowser Vs Eggman, I'd like to issue a formal apology to Metal Sonic.

I'm sorry that I never saw the light until now. You are in fact That Guy.

[tomurakii]

I like bloodweave. Okay. But I DON'T like the version of them in fanfic where Astarion is a dick and Gale is like. Whining and pleading for him to be emotionally vulnerable (or just. Nice to him) prior to the relationship being established. Because that is just not accurate. Gale needs the player to express interest in him during his weave-teaching scene before he even considers hitting on them properly. Gale is entirely resigned to his fate and needs someone else to pull him away from it. Gale only starts being sweet and romantic and devoted after you accept his love confession and give him hope for the future. Gale says fuck all and then slinks away to cry privately if you break up with him.

Like he isn't chasing after people lmao. He isn't dropping to his knees and crying about anything much less this dickhead he met a week ago. He is overwhelmingly passive about literally everything personal to him up to and including his own death (provided there are no casualties/there is a good reason) until after the player expresses that they care about him. Astarion is not doing that in any of these fics.

Like Gale is friendly and a dork and doesn't wanna get murdered but he fully has a suicide plan. He thought the artefacts would help him survive but he didn't believe he'd ever truly live again. If Gale confessed and Astarion said/did like one (1) mean thing afterward Gale's romance is closed off forever. He's wandering into the forest to cry. He's killing himself immediately. His fragile ego and self worth can't take it. You have to understand that when we joke about him being pathetic it's not bc he's like. Sopping wet and chasing people down and begging for a scrap of attention. It's because he craves affection but would literally rather die than ask or even hope for it until someone else forces that hope back into his serotonin-deficient tadpole brain.

[spicymancer]

Rumble vs Ranger Round 5 is live!

SOPHIE A nervous and self-conscious goat-demon maid who specializes in the sweet science of boxing. Sophie has served as Madison's bodyguard, maid, and sparring partner for the past several years. While she's somewhat clumsy in her day-to-day work, she is astonishingly talented in combat. Her fighting style is highly defensive, with elusive slips leading to precision strikes. She retains an orthodox boxing stance with an emphasis on peek-a-boo style counterpunching. (Though she has an unfortunate habit of apologizing whenever she lands a hit.)

PAWNATHAN A nervous and self-conscious foot soldier / custodian who specializes in Trying Not to Die. Pawnathan has quit the villainous Gambit Gang to seek gainful employment doing odd jobs around town. Despite this, he still seems to find himself running into all kinds of trouble. Pawnathan's fighting style simple and unrefined, being one among many cannon fodder minions to be sacrificed en masse against the Actirangers. His body is crafted from alien technology granting him a number of modular features that he's not entirely sure how to use.

I'm not sure either of these characters knows how to top, so this will definitely be a learning experience for one of them!

Voting is open on the Patreon!

[sunrizef1]

Camera Man and Mystery Girl

Pairing: Jude Bellingham x Norris!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, hate comments

Notes: I am the opposite of locked in

Requested: Yes/No

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littlenorris

liked by landonorris carlossainz55 and 111,888 others

littlenorris swimsuit season 🐠👙

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user1 so prettyyyy ☺️

user2 love

littlenorris no u 🫶

user3 my British queen

liked by littlenorris

landonorris put some clothes on lad

littlenorris ur not my dad

landonorris no but I’ll tell him to tell you

littlenorris he likes me better than you

landonorris :(

user4 omg wait is this lando’s sister 🤩

user5 yesss

user6 3 different vacations but she's serving in all of them 🙂‍↕️

liked by littlenorris

user7 we all know who took these photos…

user8 Mr camera man ofc 🙂‍↕️

user1 🤩🤩🤩

maxfewtrell what do I comment on this

littlenorris just press send on an emoji and move on

maxfewtrell ☀️

littlenorris thanks mate

user9 living the life

user10 photographer face reveal when

littlenorris not until he's trained

user10 is he a dog?? 😭

littlenorris acts like it 🤩

user10 lol and the fact he can't even defend himself 😭

liked by littlenorris

user11 she's legitimately fine asl I'm not kidding

user8 its the return of Mr camera man!!!!!

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littlenorris

liked by trentarnold66 alex_albon and 102,009 others

littlenorris dumplings 🥟💜

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user12 she's so pretty

liked by littlenorris

user13 I love that shade of purple

user15 the outfit and the rings matching the dumplings???

user16 do we think she did that on purpose???

user17 had to have!! Its too perfect 🙂‍↕️

user18 the difference between camera mans hand and y/n’s is so funny

liked by littlenorris

user19 just all the rings and nails and the sleeves vs one bracelet 😭

trentarnold66 🥟

likes by littlenorris

user20 camera man is Trent, dhmu 🫣

user21 that food looks so good 😭

user22 where'd you get your rings???

littlenorris camera man picked them out at a little thrift shop in London 💂‍♂️🌺

user23 they’re adorable

landonorris bring me leftovers

littlenorris I’m in Asia dumbass

landonorris I can wait 🤷‍♂️

user24 she looks so good 🫦

user24 BAEEEEEEE

liked by littlenorris

user25 loml fr fr

mclaren hey queen!

liked by littlenorris

carlossainz55 what is it the kids say? “Hey bestie”?

littlenorris hey bestie boo 🫦

carlossainz55 I feel slightly intimidated

littlenorris good, luv u 🫶

user26 HAWT 🫦

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judebellingham added to their story

landonorris

Is that my sister????

Where’d her hair go 🤨

judebellingham

Idk mate

It walked away

landonorris

I am going to kill you

judebellingham

Ily2 future brother-in-law

landonorris

Gross

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littlenorris

liked by landonorris maxfewtrell and 145,007 others

littlenorris blue 🫐

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user27 ATE

liked by littlenorris

user28 SHE LOOKS SO GOODDDDDD

user29 my favorite blueberry 🫐

liked by littlenorris

landonorris oh no… no no no no no no no no no

littlenorris kys, papaya boy

landonorris 😦

user30 my beautiful Smurf queen

liked by littlenorris

user31 who did ur hair bestie???

littlenorris camera man 🙂‍↕️

user32 guys… I love camera man and we’ve never even seen his face 🫣

littlenorris me too girl, dw

user33 never seen someone looks so good with a buzzcut

liked by littlenorris

landonorris keep those clippers to yourself from now on

littlenorris ur next, mullet boy

user34 did she dye her hair just to match the outfit???

user35 I’m gonna hold ur hand when I say this…

user35 she definitely matched her outfit to her hair… not the other way around…

user36 PRETTYYYYY

user37 it actually looks so good, I need camera mans tea fr

liked by littlenorris

oscarpiastri for the record, I think it looks nice

littlenorris thank you, new bsf

user38 queen shit

user39 with the short hair you can tell just how pretty she really is

liked by littlenorris

littlenorris I love you 🫶🥹

user40 hot girl shit

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TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

judebellingham

liked by trentarnold66 kylianmbappe and 12,000,999 others

judebellingham 304

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user41 he was in Miami during the Miami gp and we didn’t see him at the race??? lol????

user42 so sorry??? What is going on in slide two???

user43 it’s the soft-launch he’s been doing for months and months and months 😭

user43 he stopped doing it for a while in the time he was getting more popular but it seems mystery girl is back 🙂‍↕️

user44 my man my man my man

user45 he’s so fine I actually can’t

user46 why tf was this man not at the Miami gp I’m fuming

user47 he’s dodging these races like his life depends on it

user47 Trent should’ve dragged him to one by now

landonorris it was nice seeing you bro!

judebellingham it was hard to miss you with all that partying 😅

landonorris we’re a bit loud, I’ll give you that 😅

user48 Lando x Jude??? Wasn’t expecting that tbh

user49 slide three???? Fine asllll

user50 mystery girl??? lol??? Who tf is that? 🤨

trentarnold66 🔥

liked by judebellingham

user51 THAT SHOULD BE ME HOLDING YOUR HAND THAT SHOULD BE ME MAKING YOU LAUGH

user52 yeah good cover photo, thanks Jude

user53 now who tf 🤨

rodrygo yes man 👏

liked by judebellingham

user54 do any og Jude fans know who the girl is?

user55 no one has any idea 😭

user55 past glimpses say she might be brunette??? But we’ve also seen blonde???

user55 moral of the story is, no one knows like… at all…😔🤞

user56 my fav Barca player or wtvr

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judebellingham added to their story

user57

Now sir, who took this

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user58

OH MY GOD???

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user59

The return of mystery girl, we love

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user60

Bitch you think ur slick????

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landonorris

Let me tell you

this was the worst thing that could've popped up FIRST on my stories

I did NOT want to see this

judebellingham

Cope

landonorris

Bitch 😒

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INSTAGRAM

littlenorris added to their story

user61

Camera man is back 🙂‍↕️

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user62

Sincerely hope camera boy took this

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user63

Y u write like that

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judebellingham

I'm such a good photographer ofc 🙂‍↕️

littlenorris

Yes u r baby

Tysm 🙂‍↕️

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yourusername

📍Barcelona, Madrid

liked by landonorris oscarpiastri and 3,777,115 others

yourusername whats pottery in Spanish

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user64 ceramica 🙂‍↕️

liked by littlenorris

user65 the jump in likes from last post to this one is actually insane

user66 MY versace brand ambassador

user67 I don't understand how becoming a brand ambassador made her so much more popular???

user68 its a mix of that and dts and some of her photoshoots going viral on tiktol

user68 I also think some people are just now realizing Lando's even got a sister lol

user69 ily queen

user70 in Spain for what

user71 my bilingual icon

user72 girl why is she not responding to a single comment lmfao

user73 she's ghosting us 😭

user74 my new fav Norris

landonorris put ur ass away

liked by littlenorris

user75 not even Lando gets a response???😭 lol???😭

user76 I hate her

user76 overrated asf, just a nepo baby who's only talent is having a pretty face

user77 y'all rly scared her off I can't believe this

user78 usually someone would ask about Mr camera man and she would respond but I don't want to embarrass myself by asking and getting ignored lollll

user79 it girl

user80 but can we talk about the fit 🙂‍↕️🫣

user81 I miss my relatable indie model girlie 🥲

user82 no fr, I can't tell if a social media team got to her and took away her commenting privileges or if she's just been scared away by the amount of people 😔

user83 she doesn't deserve her fame

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judebellingham

liked by vinijr landonorris and 7,888,234 others

judebellingham calma

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user84 yassssssss bilingual king

user85 he's so fine 😭

user86 disappointed in the only picture of him being the first one

user87 every time I swiped I got sadder

vinijr ceramica?? 🪴

judebellingham im a man of many talents 🤞

user88 has Lando found his new bf

user89 for the record, that's Barcelona, not madrid

user90 I take it he's enjoying his summer then

landonorris my man 👊

liked by judebellingham

user91 lol’ing at a footballer having a peaceful summer break instead of partying in Ibiza or something

user92 Jude, Dortmund misses you

user93 where's mystery girl

user94 anyways, how have he and his gf not been papped a single time, I feel like they've been together for like 4 years or something like that

user95 they got together when he was still playing in England so like 5 years

user95 or at least that's when he first posted her/ the earliest his current Insta posts go back

user94 exactly like… ur telling me these 16 year olds were secret enough to not be photographs?? I don't believe you

user96 I believe it was some also-famous teenager who kept it a secret

user96 because why else would a teenager keep their relationship with a Birmingham player a secret

user97 I think maybe y'all think about Jude Bellingham too much

user98 anyway, I'm in so much love with him

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littlenorris added to their story

landonorris

I don't believe you

littlenorris

stfu lad

u can ask him

he lost by so much

landonorris

Yeah idk

He plays for real Madrid

He doesn't seem like the type to lose 🤷‍♂️

littlenorris

he watches you enough to be familiar with the concept by now

you fucking loser

landonorris

Hello?????

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littlenorris added to their story

user99

Lol, Lando being up high somewhere and you being in the crowd is so funny to me idk why 😭

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user100

yassssss my humble queen mingling with the peasants 🌺❤️

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user101

Supporting ur country we love to see it 🙂‍↕️

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user102

Yeahh…

Viva la espana

Sorry queen

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TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

littlenorris added to their story

landonorris

Hope ur having fun in Ibiza bitch

Wish I could've been there but you chose a week where I have work

littlenorris

That was on purpose

Leave me and my bf alone

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user103

Wait we love Spain

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user104

Losing the euros to Spain and then immediately going there??? Lol??!!

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TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

littlenorris

📍Ibiza, Spain

liked by judebellingham landonorris and 12,888,009 others

littlenorris not a lot going on at the moment

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user105 girl gtfo of here the swifties don't claim you

user106 ugly bitch

user107 and that's why her hair looks like shit

user108 y'all r being so rude to this girl for no good reason

user109 idc I don't like her

user110 lol she's so lovely y'all need to stfu

user111 my beautiful beautiful queen

user112 Jude deserves better

user113 girl shut up, Jude ain't gonna fuck you

user114 trying to act like she didn't just get papped and posting like normal is actually crazyyyy

user115 and if she including him y'all would hate her all the same and try and say she was using him

user115 now what.

user116 I've met her like six times and she is the nicest person on the entire planet. Some of y'all need to get it together.

landonorris I love you

littlenorris I love you too

user117 they're both being nice to each other. Do y'all know how bad the situation has to be for them to be kind to the other?

user118 free my girl from the shackles of these crazy fan girls

user119 no literally, these ones are worse than the dts ones

user120 like she legit got attacked for “flirting” with Daniel at a race when all she did was stand near him 😭

user121 but then they were never seen together again, we lost 🥲✊

user122 both norris’s are washed

user123 fame fuckerrrrrr

user124 they've been together since they were 16 be so fr

user125 I can not stand any of you.

COMMENTS ON THIS POST HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED

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judebellingham

liked by littlenorris landonorris and 15,888,998 others

judebellingham for the past seven years, y/n has been my best friend and the love of my life. She has been by my side since day one and I would give anything to keep her there. She's been here through the ups and the downs, through the wins and the losses and not once has she faltered in her love and loyalty to me and our relationship. I don't think there's ever been a person I had more trust in that wasn't literally related to me. I love her with my entire being and I know I always will.

When we got together, y/n had already gotten a slight taste of what fame could bring with Lando’s involvement in racing. Because of this, we decided to keep our relationship to ourselves and away from the public opinion. It was never out attention to hide from anyone but, instead, to be able to love and have something without anyone trying to ruin it.

That being said, the hate y/n has been receiving these past few days is unacceptable. The only thing she has done is be in a relationship, a fact that has been known for as long as she has been a public figure. The only thing bringing this hate one is the knowledge that the person she loves is me. In case you need it, here is a reminder that you do not know us. You don't know our life or our relationship and this is the reason we were a “secret” for so many years. You can not call yourself a fan of mine if you are sending hate to the person I love most in the world.

And if you're someone who's hoping we break up, trust me, I fully intend on spending the rest of our lives together. So don't hold your breath.

load comments.…

user126 CLOCK THOSE HATER-ASS BITCHES JUDEEEEE YASSSS

user127 oh he's so lovely

user128 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

landonorris no one is rather have marry my sister

judebellingham is this me getting your blessing

landonorris mate you've had my blessing since you got drunk on your birthday and babbled about marrying her for like an hour

judebellingham you need to never tell that story again

landonorris too late 🤷‍♂️ its already in my best man speech

user129 “don't hold your breath” omg welcome back unfiltered footballers

user130 he ate that little one thing

user131 get yourself a man who defends you like this

user132 awww I'm in love with them

user133 oh to be jude bellinghams “best friend and the love of my life”

maxfewtrell hey, i know her

judebellingham she says she doesn't know you

maxfewtrell tell that lying bitch I'm coming for her

user134 I feel so bad for y/n

user135 I feel like Jude definitely recognized that he got zero hate for this

littlelando I love you 🌺💕😭

judebellingham 💕

user136 ok wait they're adorable

user137 AWWWWWW

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littlenorris added to their story

judebellingham

Yeah I am 🙂‍↕️

littlelando

I love you so much you dork

judebellingham

I love you too

Always and forever, don't even worry about it

littlelando

Trust me, i wasnt worried 💕

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Tags:

@c-losur3 @llando4norris @lokideservesahug @casperlikej @evie-119 @awritingtree

[gremlinmodetweeker]

König vs Reality TV

So, König is not a reality TV fan. In general he doesn't like tv, he considers it lowclass hogwash and prefers reading books or watching horror movies, but he has his weaknesses.

He was immune to the Kardashians. The Housewives of New Jersey could kiss his ass? Honey Boo Boo? Honey Boo Who? Honey Boo Hoo Fuck You. He couldn't care for any of it. The next time Horangi tries to get him hooked on a K-Drama he's going to put the remote through the TV. Nobody could get through to him.

But then he met his match in the form of one British chef.

Yes, König is a sucker for Kitchen Nightmares. That was König's gateway drug for reality tv.

You were just playing it in the background while working when König stepped into the living room. He was gonna ask you something, but then he started watching the show. You eventually had to ask him what was wrong, but he completely tuned you out. Later, he subtly asked you about the show.

"What is this slop you're watching?"

"What? Kitchen Nightmares?" you smirk, "you really are watching it, aren't you?"

König doesn't tear his eyes away from the screen as he says, "I'm not watching it."

He stands there for ten minutes when you ask him what he came to you for. He admits he forgot. He refuses to admit that he's watching. You already know.

Late at night König looks up the show on his laptop and in an instant he's hooked. In one night, König becomes Gordon Ramsey's biggest fan (both literally and figuratively). He's obsessed. It's an entire show dedicated to food. He can't get enough of it. And, despite himself, the drama gets to him. He lives for the drama. Every now and then you'll hear König mutter something like 'My name's NINO' under his breath but you can't be sure.

The thing is that for all of König's media literacy, for all his skills at psychological warfare and his incredible understanding of psychology, König becomes a sucker for the show. He's the same brainless housewife as the next. Not that that's a bad thing! Everyone needs a show to turn their brain off to. It's fun to just chill and watch some brainless slop. But being brainless is a hit to his pride. It doesn't stop him from being completely hooked though. He's watching the show and every time they bring out a dish to Ramsey König looks at it and goes 'Oh wow that looks so good'. Then Gordon Ramsey says, 'it's overcooked, bland rubbish' and then König goes 'That looks so gross. How can anyone eat that slop? Couldn't be me'. It's incredible. It's like clockwork. Somehow, this show works its way through every one of König's defences and he becomes a complete and total sucker.

But Kitchen Nightmares is only the gateway. König learns about the entire world of the food network. He watches Masterchef seasons from multiple countries, he watches Bar Rescue with John Taffer, he eats up all the food tv out there.

Eventually, you come back to him cooking along to Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg. On one hand, he looked like such a massive dweeb that it bordered on being an ick. On the other, his already phenomenal cooking has only been getting better and it's not slowing down any time soon.

Konig Dump

Headcanons

[alizayildiz]

Heyyy! I was thinking about how he will react after losing a match? Like yesterday against portugal. And how does the reader treat him? I think it'll be a good fics well it's up too you wanna make it smut or no... Have a great day!!

I’m sorry for the long wait girl but I’ve had a dozen requests to write!! Anyways have fun readying lovely ;). I had to keep it short because I didn’t knew if you’d like it as a chapter is just as an preference 😭

You looked at the game that was playing in front of you. Portugal VS. Turkey. For some it was clear from the beginning that Portugal will win.

Still your boyfriend Kenan hoped that Turkey would win, but he soon realised, and that was after their own goal against themselves, that Turkey will loose.

You sat in the VIP Box Kenan arranged for you, and even up from there you could see his depressed face. Arda, who sat next to him, didn’t look happy either.

During halftime you heard lots of Turkish fans shouting at Montella, cussing at him.

“HOW COULD HE PUT THIS 11 AGAINST PORTUGAL”

“Why didn’t Kenan and Arda play from the beginning”

“Their own coach is against them”

“If Kenan and Arda had played from the beginning we would have won”

“The score would have been different if Montella had a fucking brain and put Kenan in from minute one on”

And lots of other comments you don’t wanna rewind. As the referee called the game over you immediately got up walking down on the pitch to Kenan.

The thing about Kenan is that he is determined to win, he gives his best and everyone knows and sees that. But if his team won’t cooperate that it gets worse for him. He gets mad at his colleagues and at his Coach, who for once didn’t put him into the first 11 starting lineup.

Although Kenan is a very optimistic person who life lightens up your moods he is the complete opposite when he looses.

As you passed soßen or fans who try to take pictures with you or your Autogramm, some even grab you by your arm, you continue ignoring them all. Knowing very well that if you’re not next to Kenan he will loose it at some point.

Jumping over the fence Kenan immediately walked up to you, the who of you walking faster and faster to reach each other more quickly.

As your arms wrapped around his neck he buried his face in the crook of your neck. Picking you up slightly as his arm wrapped around your waist he took in your scent.

You’re wearing his favourite perfume of yours. The two of you didn’t talk, just stood there.

You noticed that his grip around your waist got harder whether Portugal fans laughed at the Turkish national team. “Booing” them on, and making fun of the team.

Everyone in that stadium knew that if Kenan and Arda had played from the beginning the score would have looked different.

“Deep breaths” You whisper at Kenan.

Trying your best to calm him down you signalled to his Coach that the security should get the stadium cleaned out.

It’s not that Kenan is a weak person who stars crying when he losses it’s rather that he losses his temper when he looses.

He doesn’t allow himself to lose or fail at anything and when opponent fans get on his nerves he quickly jumps at them.

It happens once during a game of Juventus, media still suspects when Kenan will loose it again like a maniac.

After five more minutes standing like that the Stadium was quiet, no fans, no referees, no other players and no coaches in sight.

Kenan’s ears were covered by your arms because of the way you two hugged each other.

You slowly let go of him looking deep into his eyes.

“You did your best Kenan” you say, giving him a lovely smile.

He played just 30 minutes and that with Arda just playing 20 minutes beside him. What is he supposed to do 1 VS. 11 ?

“If I had played better during practice Coach would have put me in from the beginning” he walks towards the bench for substitute players, sitting down on it.

“You know that’s not true, it wasn’t your fault that you hurt yourself during practice even that shows how passionate you are about your sport” You stood on the pitch walking towards a football.

“EM 2024” was written on it.

Kenan looks up at you, smiling for the first time ever that day.

“Common 1 VS. 1” you say before passing the ball to Kenan.

Instantly getting up from the bench he throws you his jersey, you didn’t care if it was covered with sweat you still wore it.

A topless Kenan stood in front of you, abs showing perfectly.

The two of you started playing together. And although Kenan hates losing he loves losing to you.

The evening continues with Kenan teaching you football tricks.

[ruegarding]

What do you think Ares/Mars was talking about in SoN when he told frank to stop percy from acting on his fatal flaw??

anon, i love talking abt loyalty as a flaw

so, disclaimer: the “percy needs to learn to step back/let other ppl be the hero” narrative sucks. this was rick’s intention, but it sucks. the way rick set up the initial conflict is his main problem and why this foreshadowing fell flat.

here’s what mars said:

cool story, but…this isn’t a flaw percy has. at least, not the way it’s used. rick doesn’t establish any character of the seven to be willing to ignore one of their friends if they’re in danger, so there’s no way to make that a unique conflict (altho this would be a viable option if the other characters were rewritten). that leaves what rick wrote, which is percy not wanting to let the lost trio fight gaea alone, and that…doesn’t work without bastardizing pjo.

we’ll get back to that.

here's the big scene:

which. lmao. lmfao even.

and here’s the scene in boo where rick tries to spell out what the problem is for ~foreshadowing~ :

this doesn't work. rick tries to conflate “i don’t run when my friends need me” w “being unable to step away” or allow someone else to be the hero. those are not the same thing! percy’s whole thing in the previous series is that he isn’t the hero! he knows this. it's one of the most obvious themes in the previous series. which is part of what i mean by bastardizing pjo, but it's not all. again, we'll get back to that.

percy doesn’t ignore cries for help, but that’s not the same as being unable to step back.

and, going back to what i first said, name one character who would be like yeah! i’ll pack it all up w my gf! the closest any character gets to this is piper, but that’s a tangent i won’t go on bc it’s not done well enough for it to be worth adding tension. the point is this isn't a trait any character is established to have, including frank, who is the one chastising percy! it doesn’t make sense for percy’s character anyway bc he’s loyal to more than just annabeth (shocking, i know), so this wouldn’t be a good ending for him regardless. he’s not actually being offered something he wants.

the scene percy references w juno actually does a better job of highlighting the conflict w percy’s loyalty: either percy can run to the sea—where “no monster would bother [him]. [he] could begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and misery”—or he could go to camp jupiter where pain and misery awaits him. and percy genuinely considers his options. if percy can't give his friends up for anything, what does that mean for him?

bc it’s percy’s freedom that’s at odds w his loyalty. his loyalty is not controlling or possessive of other ppl. which brings me back to bastardizing pjo.

an important, but more subtle, theme throughout all of pjo is autonomy (it goes hand-in-hand w the constant theme of yielding, which again i talk abt here). this theme is especially important bc pjo is abt disability (that’s why all of the demigods are disabled). one of the first things ppl try to take away from u when ur disabled is ur autonomy. the fact that percy vehemently defends it not just for himself but for others is essential to the narrative. it's why he's the leader, it's why he's the protagonist, it's why there is a callback to it in every pjo book. trying to act like he wouldn't respect someone's autonomy and would try to shoehorn his way into their fight and need to be chastised into respecting their autonomy in a heavily foreshadowed moment that is supposed to be the penultimate conflict of percy's character is a bastardization of this entire theme.

this conflict doesn’t work.

(percy art cred)

anyway. let’s keep the concept but make it actually work for percy’s character. i already talked abt percy's freedom vs loyalty, but another good place to start is w how percy becomes loyal to someone. there’s two main ways.

the first is empathy. if percy empathizes w someone, he’s loyal to them. percy can empathize w almost anyone, including but not limited to clarisse, the girl who bullied him, polyphemus, a cyclops that tried to kill him and his friends, and luke, someone who betrayed him.

this loyalty means that percy will defend them (even if it means fighting w someone else he’s loyal to eg tyson and annabeth), have a difficult time fighting them (especially in regards to harming them eg polyphemus), and consider their feelings in his plans (which is why he’s a good mediator, but it also causes indecision and infighting eg point one). this is already good set up for conflict for self-explanatory reasons, but i’ll give some elaboration later.

the second is kindness. if someone is kind to him, percy is loyal to them. there’s many examples of this, but i think the best is quintus.

percy feels bad abt being suspicious—despite having plenty of reasons to be (the similarities to luke as he says here, the fact that juniper says quintus was poking around the labyrinth, etc)—bc quintus was being kind to him. and if that wasn’t enough, percy says that he won’t use the whistle quintus gives him, but later makes an entire escape plan revolving around it.

percy tries to override his loyalty w reason and it literally doesn’t work (it goes hand-in-hand w percy being unable to see betrayal, even when it’s spelled out). if quintus had ulterior motives, percy would’ve been fucked.

side note, something i find interesting abt this is that percy is aware enough that he doesn't tell other ppl abt the whistle. it's like suspecting/trusting quintus is something shameful percy is trying to hide, which is interesting to think abt for potential conflict bc nobody can help percy if he doesn't tell them anything.

another pertinent example is percy’s first interactions w frank. percy takes frank helping him against the gorgons as an act of kindness and, bc of that, percy assumes the best of frank:

the thing is, percy is wrong abt frank.

frank wasn’t thinking of percy when he pocketed those vials. and if percy hadn’t seen frank pocket the vials, would frank have even told percy they existed?

this is a great example of how to use different povs to build tension,—hoo does not use this well or often despite having nine povs—but it could also be used as a red herring for percy’s loyalty. in this case, percy’s optimistic perspective inspired frank. percy’s loyalty doesn’t come off as a threat, so when the reverse happens, ie percy’s optimism fucks him over, it comes as a surprise despite being foreshadowed.

essentially, there’s a lot of room for conflict. percy’s loyalty includes a wide breadth of ppl and can grow very quickly, which leaves a lot of room for contradicting needs. the person percy chooses isn’t a given. the answer is not annabeth (like hoo keeps insisting it is). even in tlt, when percy has to leave his mother behind, it’s a difficult choice for him. he described his heart as “being ripped in two” bc everyone in the situation had his loyalty, his mother, grover, annabeth, even his father. ultimately, the deciding factor was what he thought his mother would want him to do (which is interesting bc it’s not what sally would do given her reaction to percy in tlo, but bc sally is kind and selfless towards percy, he thinks she’s universally kind and selfless. *points to the section on kindness* another side effect of this). and it’s also bolstered by the fact that percy knows he can get sally back. he’s not losing her forever, he’s losing her for right now.

so what happens when the stakes are higher? what happens when percy isn’t sure which side he’s on? nico says percy is dangerous to his enemies. what makes someone percy’s enemy? let’s use this, let’s make this conflict bigger, let’s encase the narrative in it.

really easy ways to do this include grover and/or calypso. the series is based on fighting gaea, mother earth, and grover is a satyr who is named lord of the wild by pan right before pan fades. furthermore, percy and grover have a soul bond that’s in part bc of percy’s own connection to nature. and even more than that, nature spirits were among the highest casualties in the previous war. that’s a series of wild connections to have unexplored in the series.

also, gaea has a vested interest in percy. she kills one of her own men to save percy's life, she tries to kidnap him twice, juno says part of the reason she puts percy in a coma is bc it would've been too difficult to hide him from gaea's forces otherwise, and the reason is...so that percy can have a bloody nose? ok.

w calypso, rick writes this entire plotline where she’s still trapped on her island (for some reason), but this is only relevant so that leo can get a gf. how abt gaea gets her off the island and she fights for gaea? what then? what does percy do? how do calypso’s motivations change how percy sees the other side?

these are sacrifices percy wouldn’t want to make. he doesn’t want to kill either of these ppl, so what would he do instead? what does that mean for everyone else?

another option is a cry for help. while percy’s loyalty has never manifested as is refusing to let someone make decisions for themselves—even if that includes self sacrifice—percy does stick up for the underdogs.

a perfect example of foreshadowing using this flaw could’ve been the creatures in phorcy’s aquarium. instead, some random fish-centaurs solve the problem. boo! lame! where is percy’s inner torment as he tries to juggle his responsibilities w his feelings! where is percy tearing the group apart as he tries to fix a problem no one else cares abt! there is a ship full of ppl who are supposed to believe in the greater good, where is the conflict as percy fights for the common man!!

like,

what an interesting thing to say in a story that has a prophecy w the line "an oath to keep w a final breath." too bad this means nothing.

(also these quotes, for good measure

percy swearing to protect hazel and frank from the gods and percy swearing on his life bc he has that much faith in annabeth, someone he's loyal to, despite knowing almost nothing abt the other ppl on the quest or how they're arriving. interesting. good thing rick doesn't explore this. <- sarcasm btw)

this would be a perfect way to introduce a sacrifice percy wouldn’t be able to make. just like w percy jeopardizing his mission in tlo by warning the kids on the boat and making it harder on himself by trying to incapacitate but not kill other demigods. he almost dies to ethan bc he doesn’t kill ethan at any of the opportunities he’s given! despite ethan chastising him for it! this is already an established flaw percy has, and the only reason it hasn’t bit him in the ass is bc it’s a red herring in pjo.

and again (bc i have personal beef w this scene), the whole nico-in-a-jar thing. while percy vows to save nico, he doesn't say anything when leo and jason argue against it. percy ripped hera a new one for excluding nico, and nico wasn’t even in danger at the time. why is percy so calm abt jason and leo talking abt leaving nico to die?! this is exactly the sort of situation percy loses his cool abt and starts yelling and getting himself in trouble. why is he calm??? where is his anger????? it really should’ve come down to “we’re saving nico with or without y’all” in a true showing of tearing the group apart.

how many traps is percy willing to walk into bc someone needs help? how much can he jeopardize the quest before someone else has to intervene? when does loyalty cross the line from something admirable into a flaw?

ofc all of these potential conflicts would hold more weight if percy was in character and written as the glue of the argo ii. these moments happen at the beginning of their quest, when they’re supposed to be bonding and building trust. what happens when ur mediator loses their cool? nothing good!

similarly, there should’ve been way more internal fighting on the argo ii, especially after percy fell into tartarus. i want the blame game, the instability over nico (and what having 8 people for a 7 person quest means), the greek vs roman, lack of sleep, stress, guilt, all of it to come to a head and jeopardize the entire quest. if the greeks and romans had to be separated bc it was too dangerous for them to be together, i want to see why. i want to know why juno thought it was so important that percy be the glue. i want to foreshadow why percy making the wrong choice can tear the world apart. it also helps frank and hazel’s plotlines, as well, bc their stepping up feels more important and has a bigger pay off.

as it's written, there's barely any conflict, frank feels comfortable confiding in annabeth for no reason, the girls are all friends bc #girl power, there's random love triangles everywhere, annabeth and jason are said to have a rivalry but never actually shown to have one, and the biggest fight is when percy and jason are possessed.

this complete lack of foreshadowing amalgamates in boo’s failure. rick failed to use percy’s actual flaws to establish the threat of this choice but still needed the conflict, so percy has to be out of character and the conflict has to be contrived.

[takerfoxx]

I'm so fucking confused what did the Rock do

It's a very long and complicated tale, but the short version, the Rock recently joined the board of directors for TKO (WWE's parent company) and SEEMINGLY (as we don't know the full behind the scenes story just yet) used his clout to push himself into the Wrestlemania main event, challenging his sort of cousin Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship and pushing aside Cody Rhodes, the guy that was supposed to be Roman's challenger, and thereby sabotaging a two-year story that everyone was invested in right when it was about to see it's conclusion. And people are pissed about it.

That's the short version. Here is the loooooonnnnnggggg version.

WWE has been plagued by a number of issues over the years (not the least being that it's been run by an actual rapist for the last four decades), but the two relevant issues is a tendency to rely on past their prime stars of yesterday at the expense of building new stars for today, and when they do want to build a new star, they have a bad habit of shoving their chosen golden boy down everyone's throat to everyone else's detriment in a nakedly inauthentic manner until the fans get sick of them (see: Ultimate Warrior, John Cena, and, most recently, Roman Reigns, who will become important later). Needless to say, they've had a lot of trouble getting the crowd behind what is known as the White Meat Babyface, or primary good guy.

The Rock started off as the latter, being introduced as Rocky Maivia, who was a wholesome good boy who was just so happy to be here. People saw through it and booed the fuck out of him. In rare case of the WWE actually listening and responding, they turned Rocky heel and let him vent his frustrations at the fans, which let everyone know that, holy shit, this guy is actually insanely charismatic and probably the best trash talker in the business! Thus, the Rock was born.

However, while he certainly earned his accolades during his heyday, his returns since haven't been so universally admired (see previous note about the WWE pushing the stars of yesterday). One instance about ten years ago involves him main eventing Wrestlemania against John Cena over CM Punk, who was the reigning WWE Champion at the time, and was quite annoyed. Okay, the Rock vs. John Cena could be excused on account of being that much of a dream match, but then they had CM Punk end his year long title run to the Rock so he and Cena could main event again, this time with the title on the line. This was one of the many issues that reportedly led to CM Punk walking out a few months later.

Now, let's move away from the Rock for a bit and talk about Roman Reigns, who was another example of the WWE ramming their chosen golden boy down everyone's throat. Like the Rock, he is part of the venerated Anoa'i Family, who are practically wrestling royalty with how many superstars they've produced (though they're not actually related by blood, but that doesn't matter, as those who marry or are adopted in are still considered full members of the clan).

Roman began as part of the massively popular trio known as the Shield, alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. And during their two year run, the Shield were kind of incredibly awesome. Three badasses closer than brothers just wrecking a path of destruction against all those who stood in their way, a perfect combination of violence and genuine comradery...right until Seth Rollins betrayed the group and they all became single stars.

Now, despite the WWE having high hopes for all three, Roman was clearly the anointed heir, despite being the least experienced of the three. Unfortunately, they went about this by making him essentially a John Cena clone. Smelling another corporate babyface about to be shoved down their throats, the fans turned on him and turned on him HARD, making him the most loathed face in wrestling for years despite always being treated by the company as a beloved hero. Finally, the decision was made to turn Roman Reigns heel, unleashing his dark side and turning him into the Tribal Chief, a sadistic and manipulative monster who's held an iron grip on the title for literally years. Needless to say, it has been a massive improvement, and he is now quite awesome (though people are sick of how long he's been champion, but that's neither here nor there).

Anyway, heel Roman has been champion for basically forever at this point, and it's been a question of who will eventually be the one to dethrone him, because whoever it is automatically becomes the biggest star in the business. And given what an accomplishment that is, there really can be no place it can happen other than the main event of Wrestlemania.

Enter Cody Rhodes.

Like Roman and the Rock, Cody also comes from a prestigious wrestling family. Cody is the son of the late, great Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. And this pedigree has weighed heavily on him, both in and out of storyline.

Now, unlike his plain-looking and tubby father, Cody looks like he was grown in a lab to become the perfect WWE wrestler. Movie star looks, an absolutely ripped body, and physical charisma for days. Despite this, his first WWE run didn't go how he wanted. While he saw a fair amount of success, he never seemed to break out of the midcard and was eventually saddled with the loathed Stardust gimmick, which he absolutely hated, and after realizing that things weren't going to change, he decided to bet on himself and leave the WWE to prove everyone wrong.

This ended up working beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

To say that Cody was successful post WWE would be a gross understatement. Rebranding himself as the American Nightmare, Cody became the opposite of everything his father was, dressing in snappy suits and carrying himself in an arrogant, sadistic manner. He worked for a number of places, from TNA to Ring of Honor to New Japan, and saw massive success, winning multiple titles across multiple promotions and building himself as a force to be reckoned with. He was also the impetus for the historically significant All In event, in which a number of wrestlers from a number of different promotions banded together to put on the first non-WWE show to have over ten thousand people in attendance in over twenty years, which eventually led to the creation of AEW, which Cody was an intrinsic part of as well. Needless to say, Cody was cooking.

Unfortunately, his own way of doing things didn't mesh well with the AEW audience, and they turned on him pretty hard after a year or two. Eventually he left to return to the WWE, and a lot of people questioned if he was making a mistake, given how he was treated the last time.

However, his gamble had paid off. His worth had been proved, and now WWE was all in (pun intended) on Cody Rhodes. In contrast to the volatile AEW crowd, the WWE fans welcomed the prodigal son back with open arms. And surprising all cynics (including myself), this love continued strong even after the novelty of Cody Rhodes back wore off, probably bolstered by how carefully his storylines were plotted, some truly killer performances in the ring, and the respect garner by him being an absolutely fucking champ and wrestling Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match despite having a horribly torn pec.

Finally, the WWE had a White Meat babyface that the fans universally accepted and wanted to see more of, and they were going to capitalize. He won the Royal Rumble to rapturous applause and entered in a program with Roman Reigns to challenge him for his title at Wrestlemania. And unlike other challengers, he actually seemed like a credible threat. Much was made about how his father had also challenged for the same title but could never capture it, so he wanted to do what his father couldn't and finish the story. People were behind Cody all the way, and the time seemed right for Roman to finally fall and a new top star to be crowned.

And then Cody lost. Roman cheated, and Cody lost.

Needless to say, people were pissed. However, others said that maybe this was leading to a rematch at the following year's Wrestlemania, making his eventual victory all the sweeter. Certainly, WWE still seemed behind Cody, as he spent the next year in several high profile feuds that kept him looking strong, including going over Brock Lesnar of all people. And again, the fans remained behind him, when in past cases they would have turned on the guy by now. Believe me, this hadn't happened in a very long time.

But not all was well. There were rumbles that the Rock might be queuing up for a return one of these days, possibly to finally face Roman Reigns in another dream match to settle who the true Tribal Chief of the Anoa's family. People had been wanting that match for years, but for it to happen now, upsetting Cody's chance to finally finish his story? Well, that was the worst possible time. However, these rumors seemed to be nothing more than that. Just rumors.

And then CM Punk came back.

Now, Punk is a whole can of worms all in himself, and could easily fill a full post of his own. But the important thing is that he and Cody are very much dark reflections of each other, especially in how both were screwed over by WWE during their first runs, left under dark circumstances, and returned to the fans' adoration. And they both coveted that Wrestlemania main event.

In fact, during an awesome promo battle between the two, Punk specifically pointed out that he intended to do to Cody what the Rock had done to him ten years ago: be that bigger star who came back after not being around for a long time and take that Wrestlemania main event away. And sure enough, during the Royal Rumble, the final two in the ring were CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.

And Cody won. The first man in years to win back to back Rumbles. He singled out Roman Reigns as his target, cementing their Wrestlemania rematch. As for Punk, he had a main event of his own, as he was apparently scheduled to face Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title at night 1 of Wrestlemania. It seemed that both of the prodigal sons were getting their wish!

And then CM Punk got hurt really bad and had to pull out of Wrestlemania.

Well, that sucks, but it shouldn't upset plans too badly. Seth could just wrestle someone else, and Cody's two year story could proceed like everyone wanted.

Well, we all know what happened next.

Yup. It happened. The Rock, likely with the backing of his new position on the TKO's board, had pushed himself into Cody's spot, while Cody (as it appears) will be replacing Punk to take on Seth Rollins instead. A two year story, flushed down the drain. Punk's words had turned out to be prophetic.

And while the fans were cheering in that video, once the buzz had worn off and people realized what had happened, that's when things got nasty. Over the last few days, people have turned on the Rock and turned on him HARD. Rocky sucks chants fill WWE events, #wewantcody trends for days, videos of the Rock get booed, and (unfortunately) even members of his family have gotten caught in the crossfire. People are NOT happy about this direction. Cody is their guy, and right when his story was going to be completed, right when Roman was going to be dethroned by the guy that everyone wanted to see beat him, this happens.

Plus, since then reports have been swirling that this decision was made by the TKO board, not WWE, with the Rock specifically pushing for it to "Save Wrestlemania." Which hasn't exactly warmed people to the idea.

Which is really funny, because the last time Roman Reigns and the Rock shared a ring together, it was in the middle of Roman's disastrous babyface run where the fans hated him, especially in Philadelphia, a city noted for its rebellious fans, and the WWE sent the Rock out to help Roman in hopes of changing their minds.

It didn't work.

And where is Wrestlemania this year? Oh right, Philadelphia.

This is going to be...interesting, to say the least.

[dekariosclan]

I've got a hopefully interesting Gale ask! While we all know how our dear wizard fumbled his way into a deep, loving (romantically or platonically) relationship with Tav, we don't see much about how he bonded individually with the other tadfools. He obviously considers them all his true friends (even Minthara), but what was the unique connection he built with each one beyond saving the world together? Like I could see Gale and Wyll becoming fast friends based in mutual respect and a shared love of storytelling, for example, but what about Astarion? Or Shadowheart? What do you think it was that made them curious enough about each other to let down their guards and allow a connection to form in the first place?

Something in me says it takes more than forced proximity, a shared goal, and passive sentiments for Mr. "My Social Circle Is More Of A Dot" Dekarios to call someone a friend.

This is definitely an interesting ask! 💖 Thank you!

I confess that while I did try to make these somewhat accurate and base them around the in-game banter I recall seeing, I mostly went with my gut instinct…hopefully I did everyone justice: Wyll - Romance books. Wyll tends to prefer the trashier ones, Gale tends to prefer classy (think cheap generic paperback bodice-rippers vs Pride & Prejudice) yet they both end up loving the other’s recommendations: “Gale, that book was marvelous! It brought a tear to my eye, truly!” “Wyll, I confess the title you lent me was not one I would normally have taken an interest in, and yet, I found it most…stimulating. Do you have…others in a similar vein that you can recommend?”

Karlach - Favorite ales & favorite taverns, along with more than a few swapped tales of drunken mischief (either being committed by them in their younger days OR witnessed while at a tavern). They both know several popular tavern shanties and on one occasion perform a duet in camp.

Astarion - Colognes/perfumes. The fact that Astarion wears a pleasing scent of bergamot, rosemary, and aged brandy to successfully hide the unpleasant scent of—well, death—would intrigue Gale, especially when Shadowheart mentions that Gale himself tends to smell ‘like a wealthy dowager.’ A wealthy what? He most certainly does not—how ridiculous—still, he would greatly appreciate any recommendations Astarion might have on how to correct that??

Lae’zel - Githyanki culture. Language. Literature…especially porn Studies on Erotic Pleasures in the Astral Plane.

Minsc - Any/all tales of Gale’s wizardly shenanigans and troublemaking. The ones involving fires or explosions are Minsc’s favorites. Boo’s as well.

Shadowheart - Commiserating over the pitfalls of worshipping and serving a Goddess who only sees you as a tool to be used. They have a lot to talk about.

Halsin - Nature spells and animal shapeshifting. A fascinating topic to Gale. Especially regarding…potential applications in the bedroom. That is, if Halsin might have particular knowledge on that subject?

Jaheira - Tales about the Harpers. The more outlandish and the less likely to be found in the history books, the better.

Finally, Minthara.

Minthara is 1000% a cat in Drow form. One who knows she is superior to every other companion, and who will bite (verbally) anyone who tries too hard to befriend her. Every discussion Gale attempts with her is a landmine that usually ends in some sort of devastating roast of Gale and/or wizards in general.

…but Gale is a cat lover, and he’s SURE that if he’s patient just a bit longer—

[malk1ns]

december 7 vs avalanche, 6-2 loss.

previous soulbond installments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Everything is going well. Zhenya has Sid in his bed more often than he doesn’t, and every new thing they try together is like a dream, like they were meant to be doing this and nothing else. Zhenya got told off in video review the other day after he drifted off thinking about getting on his knees and sucking Sid off the night before; his first blowjob, and it got him hotter than he thought possible.

Sid knew what he was thinking about, of course, and he spent the rest of that practice tormenting Zhenya, feeding him images of Zhenya on his knees, flashbacks to how good it felt.

It wasn’t Zhenya’s best practice. He can’t bring himself to care that much.

The team is winning too, more often than they’re losing, and while Zhenya doesn’t think they’re anywhere near a true playoff team, there’s a spark in the distance, a glimmer of hope that this game won’t be the dreadful, unending slog of losing and disappointment it looked like it might be barely two weeks ago.

But then the bond specialists get involved.

Zhenya’s not sure what triggered their reappearance—some exchange with Sid on the bench, something they did on the ice to celebrate a goal?—but the day after they send the Leafs packing, he and Sid are both called into an early-morning meeting, and when they arrive they’re confronted by an array of stern-looking strangers, all clutching binders.

The next hour is bewildering. Zhenya takes comfort that even Sid and Sully, two native English speakers, look as confused as he feels about what’s going on.

The gist of it, he gathers after the unfriendly people have left and he’s had a chance to look at the paperwork and run it through the translation app on his phone, is that the specialists think he and Sid are too close, that the bond is weaving them together in a way that will adversely impact their future if it’s not held in check.

They can’t control what Sid and Zhenya do in their free time, they’d acknowledged. At work, though, there are boundaries they can, apparently, enforce.

What it means is he and Sid are never to be on the ice at the same time, including the power play. The theory is that the less time they spend using their bond to work towards a common purpose that has the amount of significance as team success does to them, the less tightly the bond will pull. A loose bond, they’d explained, allows for more freedom, more flexibility. The ability to leave.

Zhenya doesn’t know how many times he has to prove with both word and deed that he never wants to be separated from Sid.

Sully’s pissed, Quinner is pissed, and the rest of the power play personnel are pissed too, when everyone troops out onto the ice to find the units are completely scrambled.

Zhenya has a bad feeling about how it’s going to go in the next game.

—

He’s proven right through the shambles that is the Avalanche game. Despite the score, Zhenya knows they didn’t play that badly, but the forced separation from Sid is distracting them both. Sid keeps forgetting to shoot, turns the puck over with alarming frequency, and Zhenya keeps catching himself skating off-cadence, like he’s got a band wrapped around his waist pulling him back.

The boos of the crowd aren’t entirely unexpected, but Sid’s reaction is; he shatters his stick after the empty-netter that gave Rantanen a hat trick, and he’s short with the reporters in the locker room, vocally upset by the fanbase’s reaction for maybe the first time in his entire career.

Zhenya keeps quiet. Sid’s a churning mess of emotions underneath his lightly disappointed exterior, and Zhenya spends their post-game cooldown and the drive back to Sid’s focused on trying to soothe him, to calm the waters and bring him back to neutral so they both get some sleep.

It mostly works. Sid isn’t vibrating with anger when they get back, but he’s still far more irritated than a loss would usually get him, even a bad one.

“Hey,” Zhenya says finally, reaching out and grabbing Sid’s arm from his spot on the couch, bringing Sid’s pacing to a halt. “What’s wrong? We’re lose, so what, not such big deal.”

“They’re wrong,” Sid says, and for a minute Zhenya thinks he’s talking about the crowd, but then an image of the table of specialist superimposes itself over his vision. “They’re wrong. We don’t need to be separated. We don’t need to keep things loose. We’re not…” He sucks in a huge breath. “I’m better when I’m with you. I want to be with you all the time. That hasn’t changed for twenty years, why would it change now, or ever? What do we need to be leaving flexibility for?” He looks imploringly down at Zhenya.

Zhenya can read what he’s thinking, as clear as if he’d said it out loud. It isn’t just me, right? Did I miss something?

“You right,” he says firmly, tugging at Sid’s arm until Sid gives and plants himself in Zhenya’s lap. “Always you’re right. We don’t need space. It’s good we’re together most, good for team and good for us.”

Sid relaxes a little at that, melting into Zhenya’s embrace and dropping his forehead to Zhenya’s shoulder. “I don’t think us telling them that we want to spend 24/7 together forever will make them change their mind,” he mumbles, and Zhenya laughs, winding his arms around Sid’s waist to pull him even closer.

“No,” Zhenya admits. “Sully can’t go against either, I think.” He shrugs. “We figure everything else out. So they’re stupid, okay, it’s fine, we know best. We work around.”

Sid’s mind is quiet for a while, finally letting go of the anger he’d been building all game, but in its place Zhenya can feel arousal, triggered by all the places their bodies are touching, the way Sid loves how Zhenya smells, Zhenya’s hands big and warm on his back.

“I think we should try a few other ways of being together,” is the line Sid feeds him, complete with a big wink and a cheesy smile, and Zhenya laughs at him all the way up to their bedroom.

[mimzywhimsy]

The Bowens Problem: Breakups, Feuds, and Narrative Tension

Think about your favorite wrestling feuds in AEW. I'll name a few of my own from recent memory; MJF vs. CM Punk, Swerve vs. Hangman, Mariah May vs. Toni Storm, and Daniel Garcia vs. Jack Perry. I also like whatever the fuck The Elite have had going on, but that's a whole separate post.

What makes these feuds great? Three things come to mind: Pacing, History, and Character Work.

I'll start with the easiest: pacing. Groundwork needs to be laid. Foreshadowing. Length of time, to really establish the relationship. Rushing a feud is like jacking off to relieve sexual frustration; it might get the job done in the end, but is it really satisfying? Would MJF vs. Punk be as good if we didn't have them blatantly ignoring each other for weeks before meeting face to face on the mic? Would Mariah May's betrayal be as gutwrenching if we didn't follow her efforts to gain Timeless Toni's trust?

The Acclaimed's breakup feud is good when it comes to pacing. Max Caster has been calling himself the Best Wrestler Alive on TV for many months now, and we've seen how his attitude change has slowly worn down on Anthony Bowens' last nerve. How The Acclaimed just aren't winning matches when it counts anymore; something's been off. They've been more and more out of sync in the ring, and Max has only gotten more abrasive and egotistical. Their breakup was hardly a surprise, for this reason.

Next, history. All the feuds I've listed above have this, to one extent or another. MJF's history as a rabid fan of Punk's as a kid. That autograph signing picture. Mariah May following in Toni Storm's footsteps, career-wise. Jack Perry's history as a fan-favorite babyface and his subsequent fall from grace intersects neatly with Daniel Garcia rise from tough midcard heel to beloved, dancing face.

The Acclaimed also have plenty of history: we've been along for the entire ride, witnessing it. Their rise from an obscure Dark tag team to one of the most popular and well-known acts. They fought their battles together, even when the going got tough. Suspensions and ill-times injuries couldn't break them up. They had fire in their eyes and a clear-set goal to be Tag Team champions, and they achieved far beyond our wildest dreams.

So, what's my problem? This feud practically writes itself, right? The breakup of a beloved tag team is a classic trope. Max and Anthony have always portrayed themselves as a Heel-and-Babyface duo who balance each other out, so their roles for this story seem well defined.

....But is that really the best way to go about it?

Enter the third element: character work. Specifically, I want to talk about tensions.

If Max is a clear-cut heel and Anthony is an obvious face, it makes sense- but it's also boring. In other good feuds, even if there is clearly a "good guy" to root for, nothing is ever black and white. Think of MJF's inner vulnerability, and Punk's underlying cruelty towards him. Mariah May's love for Toni that she tries so hard to deny. Daniel Garcia's inherent violent nature that he has to fight against to literally not kill Jack Perry. Swerve is dangerous, and he broke into Hangman's house, but then Hangman burned his childhood home down.

Do not boo me- do NOT boo me for being right, when I say that out of the two, Max Caster has been doing much better character work. It's in his music, his indie work, and (more recently) his work on AEW.

He's especially good at creating tension by showing the warring dichotomy within himself. He has a huge ego, but only to cope with his poor self esteem. He's a sleazeball player who wants love and is afraid of ending up all alone. He never shuts the fuck up, but who is he if he's silent? Sure, he's embarrassing himself in the ring- but is he more delusional than any other wrestler that refuses to give up in the face of hardship? Stubbornly sticking to an idea arguably led to The Acclaimed winning championships. Hell, he refused to stop scissoring his partner, and look what that led to!

Max Caster is an AEW locker room veteran who clearly loves to big league and bully his lessers. He's super awkward and doesn't seem to have many friends. He thinks he's better than everyone else. He's his own worst enemy and harshest critic. He's rich, and pretty, and powerful, and successful. He's the loneliest and saddest guy in the world.

He's a multidimensional, fleshed-out character.

Anthony Bowens is....a good guy? I struggle to figure out anything about him besides for the fact that he's a Great Athlete and Nice Guy who is good at a lot of other things like modelling and baseball. He does and says all the right things. He speaks at colleges and attends charity events. He lives in a cute West Hollywood apartment with a cute husband. He's openly gay and proud of it, but isn't in your face about it like those other more annoying gays! He's not The Gay Wrestler, he's just a wrestler...who is gay....and nice...and talented.

Do you see my problem, here? Anthony Bowens does not bring any tension to the narrative.

He's flatter than Charlotte Flair's pancake ass. He's so focused on being picture perfect that he fails to provide any substance for me to sink my teeth into.

But the thing is, he easily could! He checks all the right boxes and says all the right things- but isn't that just the slightest bit calculating and manipulative? If the image he broadcasts to the world is so perfect, then doesn't that imply that it might be fake? He wants to keep doing the Scissor Me Daddy shtick despite it getting stale, why? The money? The merch sales? Would a good guy with nothing but good intentions cynically do a segment with the Costco Guys and fucking Jericho?

No hate, I'm not trying to smear Bowens' name here! We're in the middle of the feud, so maybe he'll surprise me. I think that Caster's appeal in part comes down to how willing he is to be vulnerable and messy. It might benefit Bowens to do a little of the same.

[princess-unipeg]

It’s a real shame just how underrated Jentry Chau Vs. The Underworld really is.

I mean it’s on par with the likes of Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Amphibia, The Owl House and Steven Universe (before the undercooked ending)

Though it did feel the episodes after the 9th felt rushed. Reading that one review made me realize they could have used the material and stretched it out to season 2.

Like the fact that Jentry having supernatural powers isn’t a secret anymore. Everyone in town knows about everything. Well not everything seeing is how Kit had his human picture memorized at his locker at school so apparently it’s still a secret that he was a Painted Skin and the fact that everything went down was because of his deal with Mr. Cheng. It’s amazing that the vice principal wasn’t fired after outing Jentry and making her cry like that. He should have at least had something chucked at his head and booed at for what he did. Though I’m guessing it’s because he’s connected to someone rich and connected. I mean how else could he afford all that survival necessities and in his office as well. He said he was wrong to accuse Jentry. Was he wrong to out her or did he think Mr. Cheng’s daughter was the demon girl? I mean Jentry did admit to burning the town down by accident. Who knows what the town knows after the demon incident.

Michael’s powers were really glossed over. I want to know more about them. It seems like a lot went on during the time when Jentry was searching for her mom. I mean Michael mentioned taking boxing lessons. Was it his idea or his parents? Did he want to take lessons so he could fight or did his parents insist he should be able to defend himself better?

Speaking of Jentry’s mom I feel like her story was too rushed. I mean she lost all of her memories and didn’t even know her own name for years and suddenly she just turns up in this other town and there weren’t any issues with how she had this house when she didn’t even know her own name? It made me wish that Moonie Chau got to be part of Jentry’s life growing up. She would have been a disabled mother where Flora would still lie to her about the circumstances like blaming her lost memories on the suppose “accident” that claimed her husband’s life but she still would have been a mother to Jentry the whole time. Also they should have delved more into her and her husband’s dealings with the magic black market and how they constantly stole from GuGu in addition to it.

I mean a bounty hunter went after them on more than one occasion and is apparently pretty old if she kept relying on this potion to keep herself young. They should delved deeper into her backstory she seems pretty interesting.

Also with the revelation that the demons of Diyu have Jentry’s father’s soul hostage will that provide the basis for season 2?

[janmisali]

Super Mario Bracket: CATHERINE vs ♡ ♪ ! ?

"This is as far as you go!"

Catherine / Birdetta / Birdie

SEED: 7 (66 nominations)

PREVIOUS OPPONENT: Shadow

SPECIES: Birdo

DEBUT: Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario USA

NOMINATION EXAMPLE: I love her "I'm hot and I know it" personality, makes me wish I was as confident as her. She's also the OG trans mario character and I love her for that

[Super Mario Wiki article]

"I serve… a higher authority…"

Geno

SEED: 39 (16 nominations)

PREVIOUS OPPONENT: King Boo

SPECIES: Star

DEBUT: Super Mario RPG

NOMINATION EXAMPLE: They're super cool, a super iconic character from one of the first RPG outings for Mario which really set a tone for later installments. Even though later RPGs ignored it, the early ones really leaned into strong original characters that allowed the main cast to jump off of without ruining or interfering with character development which could primarily be done by this new, original cast. Geno himself is cool and mysterious and also a goddamn puppet with guns in his hands.

[Super Mario Wiki article]

[link to all polls]

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

What is the dream smp drama ?

tl;dr called all Tommyinnit fans the r slur, deleted the tweet and didn't apologise till waaaay later, before which he made multiple streams and all the shit about him started coming out again (because his streams made everything worse). Tubbo made a stream about it in a very mature way by asking to talk on stream (Dream has a history of cutting private conversations up to make other creators look bad) and eventually it just turned into Tubbo vs Dream because Tommy blocked him, and Dream started being a shit to Tubbo. Most of the dsmp, some outside ccs, and editors/twitter folk who were in the fandom got involved revealing more stuff about Dream and how shitty he was.

Full timeline + ~16 hours worth of Tubbo stream below

BOO. This is gonna take too long so i'm posting it before it's finished and gonna edit it over time. As Tubbo himself said, this situation is a death by a 1000 cuts (small problems which kinda blew up recently)

Dream and Quackity had drama. That's a whole other thing and i'm not sure we can really go into it without this being comparable to Do you love the colour of the sky so we'll assume you know what happened there. (~April 2022)

A little after this were the first set of grooming allegations against Dream, made by Alexandria (October 2022)

This just caused the dsmp to kinda just fall out

Tommy made a video entitled "If Youtubers were Honest" which included a part on the Dream vs Quackity (5 Aug 2023)

Dream texted Tom's mum, bro literally harassed Tom's mum

fast forward to 2025:

Tommyinnit calls Mizkif the worst person he’s knows

Mizkif calls Tommy cringe and annoying which xQc also does in his reaction to Mizkif's stream

Tommy called xQc a trump supporter (true)

xQc had a public meltdown saying Trump is cool and that Tommy is dickriding Dream (but he does this by giving free promo to Tommy's show)

Dream quotes with the following meme.

This is where our path also diverges because there are so many streamers. Everyone reacts to the tweet and Dream deletes it.

Then Dream ranted to reddit saying he didn’t understand cause he’s autistic so he should be able to reclaim it (stupidest thing i’ve ever heard). It was meant to be his "apology". He also mentioned that the public’s reaction to Nicolas Cantu doing the same was generally positive (while i do agree most of the public went overboard in terms of support for Cantu especially when he used slurs as insults - most people only focused on him calling out Dream for covering up assaults and being weird around women and children + after the initial hype died down most people did agree his use of slurs and harassment of the driver was horrible - hence why he’s literally gone. He has no upcoming roles and he's def not coming back for the tmnt sequel). The biggest issue here is how instead of taking accountability he’s pulling this whataboutism card.

Also just a note that he claims he saw the meme, but people did the reverse image search - he created it.

id: Genuinely still confused on what the "rules" are. Honestly not trying to be obtuse, multiple people go viral calling me the r word and everyone explains that its ok because they're neurodivergent, so then I see a meme that uses it and post it and get absolutely throttled for it. Obviously it's the internet being disingenous, but that doesn't completely invalidate anyone that might be upset by it. Most of the people calling me ableist for using it are the same people that lit off fireworks when Nicolas Cantu was the slur slinging slasher (including Tommy's closest friends). it's either okay or it's not okay, the double standards are infuriating. I have my own reasons for having a problem with Tommy going around being the "internet police" and was expecting to get a lot of shit for going after poor Tommy that lies about me constantly, but obviously i had no intentions of attacking every Dream SMP fan or being ableist lmao. It was a dig at Tommy fans, because somehow the worst of the ex dream smp stans have congregated all to make up lies and shit on other creators and Tommy feeds right into it to promote his patreon, shows or wharever else he's currently promoting, because he has absolutely no backbone. Either way, my lesson from this is that twitter is somehow even less reasonable than i thought in the first place, oh and don't use the r word under any circumstances even if you see a funny meme and you're autistic. Lesson learned, hopefully i can be forgiven. Back to coding

Tubbo did a 1 hour stream on this. Technically he did a 7 hour stream he cut into bits, but for the sake of the timeline making sense, he made a 1 hour stream. He was gonna talk to Dream on stream. He agrees that his friends do shit talk more than he's comfortable with BUT

Why is Dream only getting involved and doing this much when Tommy insulted xQc and not you know when he called Dream a pedo

You can't reclaim a slur if you use it as an insult

He thought this entire thing was Dream ragebaiting to get people ready for a new song or smth, and he reminded the audience of Nicolas Cantu being drunk.

"If you don't want to be made fun of for doing shitty things just stop doing shitty things"

Tommy in this time released a video saying he blocked Dream and that it was horrible that Dream used the r slur. From this point Tubbo decided against calling Dream, instead watching Dream's 3 hour stream on the topic and reacting to it.

[deiaiko]

#24.3 Hatz vs Grace

"Hatz, can you teach me how to wield a sword?"

Hatz recalled a conversation he had with Grace from a few years back. 

"Why?"

"I want to learn swordsmanship. And you seemed to be the best person to ask."

It had surprised him greatly then. After all, he knew that Grace was registered in the wave controller class. And it was a really hard favor to refuse, especially because he took pride in his swordsmanship, and it would be an honor to teach his friend.

Hatz let the memory fade into the present. He adjusted his grip on the wooden training sword that Agni's team had prepared, and took a deep breath to steady himself. 

In front of him, Grace mimicked his move. His form still needed some improvement, but it looked firmer than his first time learning.

"Five minutes. Start!" Dan cheered as he dropped the previously used wrinkled paper from his hand. It hit the ground rather uselessly as none of them took their chance to lunge forward.

Hatz walked carefully to his right, circling Grace. He wasn't sure if he should attack first or wait until Grace made his move.

Everything about Grace was confusing. He offered a hand and befriended him and spent a good amount of time getting to know everyone, but he left without saying goodbye. He knew a lot about the tower, but he didn't know how to play basic card games. He was a pacifist who wouldn't unsheathe his sword at the slightest conflict like Hatz did, but he decided to join FUG, which was the most dangerous criminal syndicate in the Tower. On top of it all, Hatz was still worried about whatever had happened to Grace a few days ago, yet Grace acted like it never happened.

Grace followed his pace and kept their distance, so Hatz decided to make the first move. He let some of his frustration out with the strike, giving it enough force to let Grace know how worried he had made him be for the past years.

However, Grace blocked it rather effortlessly. Just like how his feelings for Grace had never mattered to begin with.

Hatz gritted his teeth. With one smooth motion, he twisted his sword and aimed for another more powerful strike.

If it were a real sword, perhaps it would've cut Grace's palm, with the way he stopped the blade with his bare hands.

Grace let the sword go like it was molten hot. "Ah, oops. Reflex."

Hatz felt a smile tugging at his lips. It was the time like this that reminded Hatz, that Grace wasn't born a swordsman, just like how he wasn't born a wave controller.

There were just things that Grace did in his own way, whether purposely or not. Whether he was or wasn't aware of how his actions would affect others, both good and bad.

"To block that move, I suggest twisting your sword like this." Hatz angled Grace's hand to the image he had in mind, and rehearsed his previous move to make his point. "It'd allow you to block with minimal effort, and be able to prepare yourself for a follow up move."

"Oh that's smart. I'll remember that. Thank you." Grace sounded genuinely impressed that it filled Hatz with pride.

"I thought this was a match! Not a sword training session!" The princess booed from the audience seat.

Some chuckles and cheering could be heard afterward, and they resumed their match.

Hatz realized that Grace still remembered the lessons that he had taught him way back then. And not without improvement too, which proved that he had been practicing now and then.

While it neither solved any mystery regarding Grace nor eased his worry, just knowing that Grace took his teaching seriously had lifted a lot of weight off his heart. Because it showed that Grace cared about the thing that mattered to Hatz, and it made Hatz feel like he was worth something to his dear friend.

The match later ended with a draw, to the majority's prediction.

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