#btw if you’re part of my tag list I’ve decided to let this go live for 30 minutes and then do the tag list

[wigglebox]

Dr. Sexy 😘

[reinerispretty]

banished.

Soo I have a request for an Azula fic 👉👈 They r together but azula realizes that y/n is the only weakness she has, so she decides to cut that weakness before anyone else takes advantage of it. Idk if it makes sense? Maybe it can be placed after Mai and Ty Lee betray Azula? It's totally fine if you don't want to write it!! No pressure! I love your writing btw ❤️

thank you so much for requesting this!! i am so excited about it hehe

Azula was slipping. Her reality was cracked and dissipating before her very eyes. Each moment that she was awake was pure agony. The constant anxiety and paranoia made her feel physically sick. When she wasn’t trying to rule the Fire Nation in her father’s stead, she was locked away in her room, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t dying.

Sleep wasn’t much better. If, by some stroke of luck, she drifted into unconsciousness, her anxiety transferred into her dreams. She saw the Avatar, her brother, and Ty Lee and Mai surrounding her. She was losing. There was no one there to help her. She would wake up with a start, sobs shaking through her entire body. As she screamed into the night, no one would come to her aid. They were too scared of her. 

(Y/N) slept in a room down the hall from Azula but she hadn’t been getting very much sleep either. She lie awake at night, her teeth gnawing at the skin on her bottom lip, and wondered whether or not she should run to the princess’ aid. (Y/N) was all that Azula had left but she wasn’t sure if she wanted her. 

(Y/N’s) eyes flew open as she heard Azula’s sobs. The walls of the palace weren’t very thick. She flung her blankets off of herself and slid out of bed, running down the hall to her room. She threw the door open.

“How dare you disturb me!” Azula snapped, her face puffy from tears and lack of sleep. Despite her harsh tone, (Y/N) stared at her kindly. 

“It’s just me,” (Y/N) whispered, shutting the door behind her. They were in complete darkness. (Y/N) moved to the other side of the bed and crawled to Azula’s side. 

“I thought you were asleep,” Azula said between heavy breaths. 

“I can’t sleep when I’m worried about you,” (Y/N) admitted, and she was grateful that Azula couldn’t see her in the darkness. Still, Azula’s piercing eyes watched her carefully. 

“So you’ve heard me before?” 

“Yes, but you know how intimidating you are. I wasn’t sure if you were going to blow my head off the second I came in here.” 

Azula sighed, laying back down on the pillows. (Y/N) thought about what her next movement should be. Azula waved her hand with a roll of her eyes. “Go on, lay down.” 

(Y/N) lay at her side, so close that their shoulders were touching. She turned her head to stare at the princess. Her eyes were closed. She thought to the first time she had ever met Azula. They were just young girls in grade school and they hadn’t really liked each other. But one day, a group of older girls was picking on (Y/N). Azula, needing to be at the top of the food chain, had shut their teases down as quickly as they had started. 

“You have me now,” Azula had said haughtily. “Don’t cry so much, it’s embarrassing.” 

The memory made a smile form on (Y/N’s) lips. As if she could hear her muscles moving, Azula’s head snapped to stare at (Y/N). Their faces were only inches apart. “What are you smiling at?” The princess demanded.

“I was remembering when we first became friends.” 

“You cried a lot.” 

“You’re one to talk.” Despite herself, Azula let out a smile. 

“I have nightmares every night.” 

“What about?” 

“The Avatar. Zuko. Mai and Ty Lee.” (Y/N) frowned. It had only been a few days since the duo had betrayed them at Boiling Rock. “I...lose. They all stand around me, laughing at me. The people I cared about ridicule me.” 

“It’s a dream, Lala,” (Y/N) said quietly. “It’s not real.” 

“I hate it when you call me that,” Azula said with a scowl. “It feels real enough.” 

“If Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee don’t want to be in your life, that’s their loss. Who wouldn’t want to be around you? I know I can’t go a day without seeing you.” (Y/N) let her eyes drift closed. 

“Why?” She opened them again to see Azula staring at her. Their noses were inches apart. 

“Why what?” 

“Why do you stay around me? I’ve been nothing but mean to you our entire lives.” 

“Not always,” (Y/N) said softly. “Even if you don’t realize it, you have moments of kindness, too.” 

“That’s distasteful.” (Y/N) laughed. 

“I guess I have no other explanation other than I love you.” Azula blinked at her. 

“You love me? Like your family?” (Y/N) shrugged. 

“More than family, I think,” She said. Her voice was just a whisper, so quiet that if Azula hadn’t been paying attention, she wouldn’t have heard her. But Azula was always paying attention, especially to (Y/N). Now, she watched the fly away hairs on her head wave in the night air. She watched her chest rise and fall and her fists clench and unclench. But Azula always watched (Y/N). She liked to watch her throw her head back when she laughed especially hard and she liked to see her smile. As twisted as it was, she liked seeing (Y/N) cry sometimes, purely because her eyes became soft and more sparkly than normal and her lips became puffier. 

When Azula didn’t speak, (Y/N) cleared her throat. “Can I try something, if you’d allow me?” 

Azula nodded. (Y/N) propped herself up on her elbow, slowly moving her hand to the spot just below Azula’s ear. Her thumb stroked Azula’s jawline. When they were only millimetres apart, (Y/N) let her eyelids flutter close. Azula’s amber eyes were still wide open as she watched her. 

(Y/N) pressed her lips so lightly to Azula’s. She was nervous, scared of the potential rejection and it caused her body to tense. Azula closed her eyes, relaxing into (Y/N’s) touch, but she quickly did what she normally would: she took control. She pulled on her robes to draw (Y/N) closer to her, pressing their lips together even more forcefully. (Y/N) let out a gasp in surprise and Azula took it as her chance to insert her tongue into her mouth. Her fingers scrunched in (Y/N’s) hair. 

---

The next day, (Y/N) was summoned to the throne room. The flames surrounding the throne were blue, casting an ominous glow about the room. But (Y/N) had strode in confidently, happy with the events that had transpired the night before. 

Azula sat at the throne, but her appearance was far more ragged than when (Y/N) had last seen her. Her hair was cut in jagged edges, as if she had taken dull scissors to it. (Y/N) could see the sallowness of her eyes. 

“Azula-” She started, but the princess held up a hand. 

“As you know, I am to be crowned Fire Lord later today. Being Fire Lord means I have to uphold the laws of our land. For this reason, I am banishing you.” 

(Y/N) let out a barking laugh. 

“You dare laugh at me?” Azula asked, and the flames heightened. So she was being serious. 

“But I--Azula, I don’t understand what I did wrong.” 

“It is not up to me to inform you of your transgressions. I will allow you time to pack your things and then you must leave the Fire Nation. Forever.” 

Azula couldn’t meet her eyes. Part of her hoped (Y/N) cried. She looked so beautiful when she did.

(Y/N) felt her bottom lip wobbling but she couldn’t cry here. She wouldn’t give Azula the satisfaction of seeing her tears. She turned on her heel and walked out of the throne room. She could hear Azula yelling at her for not performing a proper exit, but she paid her no mind. As soon as she was through the great double doors, she started running. And she did not look back. 

---

Tag List! 

@beifongsss , @realimbo , @lavendercrystals , @tomshollandz , @zukosvice , @itsivyberry , @awesomelupe , @musicalkeys , @aroyaldarknessblr ,

[mrpenguinpants]

I am a firm believer that Childe is indeed younger than Keqing and has no form of respect for her regardless.

It’s moreso a form of me establishing that the Keqing is a short adult in her mid to early twenties who has to inevitably deal with the constant neck pain she gets from having to look up at her co-workers just to make eye contact. She curses either herself for it for never growing an inch or curses everyone around her or, well, both. Regardless, she can occassionally be found in her office stomping the floor and feeling like the battle is her against the world LMAO

As a side note, I loved the little headcanons of the boys as children you included! It was a different thing that would’ve never came to mind otherwise. While I’m totally ride or die on the “four men accidentally hire themselves a babysitter and a daily slander machine (she does it out of love)” train, I do appreciate different variations to the idea.

Oh and seeing myself on the anon list makes me feel a bit warm, it feels like I’m being acknowledged as family for crashing this wonderful blog with brainworms lmaooo— on a much serious note, I really appreciate hearing me out whenever I have an idea or two to share.

Sincerely, Keqing harem brainrot anon

(I felt like using a dash was too orthodox, and these are basically my mini love letters to you for being an overwhelming amount of seretonin, so I figured why not give it a little twist)

Minor Spoilers for Character Backgrounds

I wrote some more on this here: Genshin: Royalty AU HCs

---

FUCKING CATCH ME CRYING IN THE CLUB AS I HOLD THIS PRECIOUS ASK IN MY HANDS. I THOUGHT YOU DIED. I WAS SO UPSET. REMEMBER THAT ANON ASK THAT I JUST REPLIED TO WHERE ANON FELT LIKE THEY WERE COMING HOME? THAT. THAT IS HOW I FEEL RN.

Yes. I know anons have lives outside of tumblr. Am I a parent penguin now? Yes. Yes I am. I’m fucking crying, it does feel like I’m seeing my family again.

---

Out of all the “adult” genshin characters, I firmly believe Childe is the youngest. He is just hovering that adult status because of his height. Can I also say how much I love that the “culturally insensitive white boy” idea came from people on twitter getting tired of Chili fanart where Childe calls Zhongli “sensei” even tho the mans Chinese? 

Speaking of short people, and because I will never shut up about this, XIAO IS 5′2. Ty for coming to my ted talk. I can literally astral project and visualize Zhongli being Keqing’s boss or co-worker that’s super respectful - but lowkey a bit slow because he keeps forgetting his wallet and Keqing is too nice to leave him without lunch - but when he’s spitting facts about the ancient art of ink blocks she’s cursing him in her mind. Why is this man so tall?? She can feel the neck muscles in her neck crying out in pain that when she finally relaxes and stares forward rather than upward, she get’s a killer cramp and ends up dying on the floor (I HATE THAT FEELING BTW). She’s out here googling ways to grow taller after puberty and chugs milk cartoons like it’s air. 

This is why I absolutely love sharing ideas with others. There is so much food to be brought to the table so I always try and encourage others to share their ideas. Plus it let’s me get my over-active brainworms out haha. 

I just love the dual personality of younger vs older genshin characters. We got to see a little bit of young Diluc in the manga (pls..I know it’s completed but crumbs. I beg of you) where he was this starry eyed and friendly knight attitude. Actual sweetheart. Your typical childhood boy next door type of vibe that was sweet and polite but was a lot smarter than he looked. He has a pet turtle (or tortoise?) and I find that so cute. I can totally see Diluc being hard working to make his father proud but also slacks hard and watches his turtle awkwardly eat a strawberry most of the time haha. He would both die for his turtle and go to war for it. Honestly, I just love the idea of child Diluc being a bit of a slacker compared to his older self, who is trying to speed run his life.  

As for Kaeya, I’m going to say this now. I fully believe in the art of shy and quiet Kaeya when he was a child. It makes sense in terms of the lore since he was basically shoved into an unknown world and all alone. Poor guy probably has a lot of insecurities and is super standoffish to happy and loud children his age. He might come off as rude but he just doesn’t know how to socially interact. As sad as this may sound, he probably mimics other children as his way of expressing emotions. Since he spent most of his time with Diluc, he probably tried to mimic Diluc’s mannerism to try and fit in but Diluc is smart and caught on. It was actually a really wholesome connection of Diluc trying to help Kaeya express himself rather than copying others. Until well, the incident that separated them. 

Complete side note since I know we’re talking about a modern au but: I know I’m stretching this super thin and this doesn’t hold up in the lore at all but I really like the idea that Kaeya is secretly the Prince of Khaenri’ah and Khaenri’ah is a code word for the Abyss. This is basically me saying I want the Abyss mages and Kaeya to actually get along but due to moving in with Diluc’s family and the world’s view on monsters. He has to talk and play with them in secret. I think it’s kinda cute haha. 

As for Childe, actual angel. Have you seen Teucer? Who is this pure innocent soul and what the FUCK happened to create this Grade A Brat? He got too many vitamin gummies and became a gorilla. I mean, both younger and older Childe would walk an old lady across the street but only older Childe would then try to 1v1 the old lady. I’m actually crippled by the idea that Childe used to be this scrawny kid that decided to bulk up due to deep insecure attitudes towards himself or protection ideas for his younger siblings. Fighting became a need to survive and he hated it at first until he met his Master and found the fun in it because it was his way of having control of a situation. Though of course, while this man has two braincells, he’s still sensible. Childe may be a clown but he’s a good big brother. 

Then there’s Zhongli. In my mind, he was basically like Kaeya. Probably came from royalty as well. He didn’t know how to express himself except his boy was actually hollow. A complete husk of a person that was just doing what he was told to absolute perfection. That was until Guizhong, who I completely headcanon as someone older than Zhongli and acts as a sister figure (fucking fight me), grew concerned for this poor child and tried her best to teach him how to have fun. That there was life outside his studies and duties. While it didn’t work out perfectly and Zhongli is still a bit slow on the uptake, he genuinely is thankful to her and her help. I can see him have a little notebook of all her advice and teachings - heck, drawings of human emotions - that he sometimes has to turn to because he’s lost. (why..do i keep making Zhongli’s part so sad). 

BUT ASIDE FROM MY BRAINWORMS. “Four men accidently hire themselves a babysister and a daily slander machine” IS SUCH A CONCEPT. I want them all to have the worst habits. Childe LICKS the yogurt peel in front of Keqing slowly because he knows it absolutely disgusts her, Zhongli eat’s his sandwiches vertically, Diluc blends coffee with 5 hours energy and doesn’t tell anyone (so everyone has the worst hangover 3 hours later because they all leech off each other), and Kaeya, for the love of god, cover your tit window. It’s too early to get arrested for public indecency. 

---

I’m happy my anon list made you feel fuzzy 💕💕. I’m probably missing a lot of anons on that list because I have the memory of a goldfish so I just listed the ones I could remember. Since you know, you’re some of the few that came back to talk to me which I honestly really appreciate. I know you all have lives outside of this small blog so it does make me really happy seeing you all come back. I’ve mentioned it before but don’t be afraid to chat with me about anything, doesn’t even have to be genshin^^ but I absolutely love the stuff you come up with. 

I never thought of an anon list acting like a family acknowledgement (more as a literal list) but I’m fully on board with that. I went back to my older anon asks to see if I missed anyone (and I probably have since the tumblr search tag is garbage) but I hope they are all still around on this blog and wanna drop by to say hi^^ 

I’m going to go change my anon list to pengu family because holy fuck that’s cute. But with that said, 

Welcome back home keqing harem brainrot anon!

[waitimcomingtoo]

I Keep On Missing You - Tom

First Part

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Authors note: The songs didn’t come out in that order in real life by any means.

Masterlist

Tom tracked your relationship with Brad with The Vamps music. Every time he heard Brads voice on the radio, he gave it a good old fashioned rage-listen.

“Oh how I wish that you could say you feel the same way.” Brad sang and Tom groaned loudly.

“She doesn’t!” He huffed and quickly changed the channel.

“I’d risk it all. I’d rather crash, I’d rather crawl than never have your love at all. With only bricks to break my fall, I’d risk it all.” Came on another time.

“Shut up!” Tom shrieked.

“We will dream a dream for us that no one else can touch. My dear, I’m here, so wake up.” Brad seemed to follow him wherever he went.

“Go back to sleep, and starve!” Tom grumbled. 

Despite his hatred towards them, all those songs told Tom you guys were in the talking stage.

High Hopes came out a few weeks later and told Tom you were together. Lyrics like “I could move in with you and we could get married too.” cut Tom like a knife. He winced every time it played on the radio.

Worry told Tom you and Brad were fighting and falling apart, and he tended to leave that song on a little longer.

Finally, Million Words. A breakup song.

Tom wasn’t very experienced in love, but he wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t gonna be that guy that tried to win a girl back right after a breakup. He gave you space but when he refreshed your Instagram one day and saw all traces of Brad had been deleted, he decided to reach out.

“Hey.” He wrote.

“hi.” You answered a few seconds later.

“How are you doing?” He sent.

“so you heard?” You replied and Tom let out a little laugh.

“Everyone hears everything in Hollywood, but that’s not what I’m here for.” He wrote.

“then what are you here for?” You wrote back.

“You. I’m here for you.” Tom sent.

“That was lame.” You replied after a minute, and Tom blew breath out of his nostrils.

“If I recall correctly, my lameness was one of the things you loved about me.” Tom messaged. He waited anxiously for a response.

“ew why’d you put “love” in past tense?” You finally answered, and Toms heart skipped a beat.

“Idk we’re broken up I didn’t want to assume.” He texted back.

“never mind. forget I said anything.” you sent.

“Okay. How are you feeling?” He asked.

“better. brad and I have been broken up five months now so I’ve healed.” You replied and Tom smiled to himself.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Tom sent, then typed out “I miss you”, but he deleted it.

“i’m kinda glad you reached out. i miss you.” You went and Tom nearly threw his phone.

“You do?” He asked.

“we were best friends before we started dating and I thought we always would be. it’s been super weird without you this past year.” You sent. Tom didn’t know how to respond. His thumbs danced over his keyboard until you sent a follow up text. “i don’t like it.”

“Tom, you’re wanted on set.” Someone knocked are his trailer door.

“Listen, I’m on set right now and gotta go but I’m gonna text you later okay?��� He sent. “I want to finish this conversation.

“okay” you wrote back, and Tom smiled.

“And btw, I’ve hated every second we’ve been apart.” He sent quickly and left to go on set.

Later that night, Tom got a text.

“are you there?” You sent.

“Always.” He replied.

“can you come over?” You asked, and Tom looked up to Heaven with a smile.

“I’ll be there in ten :)” He sent and quickly put on his shoes. He pulled into your driveway in no time and walked into your house with his spare key.

“Hey.” You came out of the living room in sleep shorts and an old T-shirt. You looked timid and a little worn down.

“Hey.” Tom said back and gave you a gentle smile, which you returned.

“How have you been?” You asked as you took a step closer to him. You rubbed your arms from the cold and Tom wished he was still the one who warmed you up.

“Do you want an honest answer?” Tom laughed halfheartedly.

“Yeah.” You nodded.

“Terrible.” He said, and heard you sigh.

“Why?” You asked lamely. You knew why.

“Because I just had to drive ten minutes to see the love of my life when I used to be able to roll over and see her asleep next to me.” Tom shrugged sadly. He looked small all of the sudden, and your heart began to break as tears stung your eyes.

“What happened to us?” You croaked.

“He did, love.” Tom whispered.

“He didn’t do anything to us. He just magnified problems we were already having.” You said and Tom knew you were right.

“I shouldn’t have gotten jealous or tried to control you. That’s toxic behavior and I know that now. I have no excuse for it.” Tom apologized for the first time and a weight came off his shoulders. All his guilt was coming to light.

“No, you shouldn’t have.” You agreed. But I should have talked to you first before making plans with Brad. I knew it made you uncomfortable but I did it anyway, and I’m sorry for that.”

“I’m sorry too.” Tom sniffled.

“Where do we go from here?” You asked.

“I just want you to come home.” Tom pleaded.

And so you did.

But the songs didn’t stop after you got back with Tom.

The Vamps released Same To You a week after you posted a picture of Tom kissing your cheek on your Instagram, a song asking if the love from your new boyfriend felt the same to you as Brads love did.

The Missing You EP was full of songs about losing your girlfriend and regretting it, making Tom wonder what actually happened between you and Brad. Lyrics like “maybe I should’ve loved harder, checked if you were all right” and “I’m a fool. I let you down, I messed around, I made waves. I’m ashamed.” made it seem like Brad seriously messed up and broke your heart. As much as he wanted to know, he didn’t dare ask. It wasn’t his place. He didn’t need to know how Brad Simpson had broken your heart.

Then, Stay dropped.

It was another song about begging a certain someone to come back and how sorry he was for his mistakes. Tom couldn’t help but notice how longingly you looked at the radio when it played and wondered if Brads songs were the only apology he’d ever given you. Tom felt his chest tighten at the lyrics, “darling, won’t you stay here? I promise I can change” ,and wondered if you had told Brad about the fight you’d had with Tom in the dressing room of the Graham Norton show all those months ago.

Tom never thought too deeply into the song until he saw his name and Brads name in a headline on Clevver News. A picture of you and Tom was in the thumbnail, as well as a picture of you and Brad. He looked around to see if you could hear and clicked the video.

“Watch Brad Simpson change the lyrics to “Stay” to diss Tom Holland in an attempt to win back Y/n L/N.” A perky “news” reporter said at the start of the video. Tom bounced his leg as the video played. He saw a sweaty Brad sitting on a stool with his guitar in his arms.

“And darling if you stay here, it won’t be a mistake. We can hide under the duvet, and Tom will have to wait.” Brad sang and let out a laugh. The audience laughed as well and Brad kept singing.

“Now, if you didn’t catch it, Brad clearly said “Tom will have to wait” instead of “time will have to wait”. Fans were quick to notice this little dig at Tom Holland while other fans denied Brad saying it. What do you think? “Did Brad change the words? Is he still trying to win Y/n back?” The news reported asked. Tom junked when he heard you enter the room.

“What are you watching?” You wrapped your arms around Toms neck from behind and kissed his cheek.

“He’s still singing about you.” Tom grumbled as you rubbed his shoulders, showing you the headline on his phone.

“Let him sing.” You shrugged as you sat in Toms lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

Tag List 🏷

@maybemona @sunrise-shawn @foreverxholland @writing-for-hours-on-end @lavender-writer @captainmandeestudent17 @whatareyouhidingpeter @takenbyheartstrings @ultrunning @imyourliquor-youremypoison @theolwebshooter @andreasworlsboring101 @guksmyfav @waiting-to-be-myself @letsloveimagines @ho-ho-holland @peterparkoure @a-villain-vying-for-attention @m19friend @justcallmehitgirl @iamanerdot @averyfosterthoughts @jackiehollanderr @tiny-friggin-human @celestial-skylines

[stxphxn-strange]

i want to start posting from my ironstrange college au (remember the makeup fic i posted in like november? i’ll link it below but it’s from that verse) so! let me explain it:

reminder that this is an au and it’s my au, so i decide how this all goes!

Ships:

IronStrange (duh)

ThorBruce

Valcarol

Sambucky

Christine x Hope Van Dyne* (this gets complicated)

Eventual Pristine

Past Stony, Past Stucky

(Lowkey I’m also figuring out if Rhodey x T’challa could be a ship? they both seem too independent but i also might add it in)

Character Notes:

Tony deliberately never specifies if he prefers to go by Anthony or Tony. People call him both, or also his friends call him Ant. Stephen does not/has never called him Tony, he’s always known him as Anthony.

Happy just tends to go by H or Harry (anyone who calls him Harold receives a death glare, but as a joke Rhodey got him a T-shirt and the pattern is just name tags that say “hello my name is Harold.”)

Rhodey just goes by Rhodey bc Tony *insisted* that all their friends call him that and plus he doesn’t hate the nickname.

Natasha is part of this but she doesn’t go to school with the rest of the group. She’s Tony’s half sister and is the biological daughter of Maria Stark and her best friend. She lives in Italy with some of Tony’s extended family and her bio dad. Few people know of her existence, or they know her as Maria’s niece (for her own protection). It doesn’t rly matter that Howard has no idea who she rly is, he wasn’t with her the entire time Maria was pregnant w Natasha bc she was in Italy (and brought Tony with her)

Roommates:

- Tony and Rhodey are roommates, and they live two floors above the four suitemates. The four suitemates are: Christine and Pepper (who share a room) and Stephen and Wong (who share the other room) despite that, the six of them tend to move fluidly in between both spaces.

- Hela and Carol

- Val and Hope

- Thor and T’challa (Bruce spends a lot of time w them)

- Bruce, Sam, and Loki (as chaotic as it sounds btw)

- Bucky and Happy, who I’ve decided are very close. (btw nobody particularly enjoys the fact that Sam and Bucky live next door to each other, when they’re Busy their roommates can be found w Stephen and Co. or one of the other Odinson siblings).

Friend Groups (note: people overlap/belong to multiple groups, this is also not the full list bc that could go on for a long time):

- The Main Six: Tony, Rhodey, Stephen, Wong, Christine, and Pepper.

- Team Big Brain: Tony, Bruce, Stephen, Hope, Carol, Christine, and Bucky.

- Doctors: Stephen, Tony, Christine, and Bruce.

- Dumbass Protection Squad: Hela, T’Challa, Carol, Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper (usually).

- Psych Majors: Pepper, Wong, T’Challa and Loki.

- Stark Industries: Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy.

- People who Like Astrology: Loki, Bucky, Val, sometimes Christine.

Storylines (There’s no established time frame for this really, but it doesn’t follow mcu canon or any canon):

- Stephen and Tony are lifelong friends. They met on the first day of kindergarten and went to school together in NY (where both their families lived at the time) until middle school. For unspecified reasons, Stephen’s parents opted to move the Strange family to Nebraska before the start of 6th grade. Stephen and Tony were Devastated but were already inseparable at that point and stayed in touch. A business opportunity moved the Starks from NY to California. Stephen stayed in Nebraska for high school but Tony’s parents sent him to boarding school (read: Howard sent him away to avoid having to actually parent, and he thought he was lifting a burden from Maria. This was Not The Case, as she loved her son dearly and would call him everyday. Tony appreciated this more than he ever thought possible.)

- Howard and Stane viewed boarding school as a chance to groom Tony into something malleable and submissive enough to take orders from anyone. His obvious feelings for Stephen (with whom he was still incredibly close) were a Great Concern, so the executive decision was made to set Tony up with Steve Rogers, a blond athlete from his school. It was a way to keep Tony’s sexuality controlled, and Howard didn’t think Stephen was anywhere close to the level he wanted Tony to be (of course, Howard didn’t think his son lived up to his expectations anyway. It was more about control). On the surface, Steve was sweet and everything you could want in a partner, and he even charmed Maria into liking him. She genuinely believed he’d be a good match for her son, so it hurt when she found out what he was really like. Rhodey was Tony’s boarding school roommate for all four (4) years. They met and hit it off overnight, Rhodey instantly feeling brotherly love and the need to protect Tony (or “Tones” as he called him. Rhodey is usually the only one to call him that). Rhodey and Steve did Not see eye to eye on anything, least of all how Tony should be treated. Steve was terrible to him, and Rhodey’s heart broke when Tony admitted he was too scared to break up with him.

- Reenter Stephen. After a particularly bad day, Tony called Maria and Stephen sobbing, missing the two (2) people he talked to more than anyone except maybe Rhodey. It was then he confessed what kind of boyfriend Steve was, and Maria gasped before saying, “Dump him. Let me handle the rest.” That very day, Stephen left school early and traveled to see Tony. It was 2am when he finally arrived, throwing rocks at the window and then scaling the side of the building once he had Tony’s attention. Stephen and Rhodey met the next morning, when Rhodey came back from classes and found his roommate asleep him.

- “So you’re the one who climbed in through my window,” Rhodey said. “For a good reason, I assume.” Stephen confessed it was because he loved Tony and wanted to be there for him, didn’t want him to hurt. (It’s fair to say, though, that Stephen visited before/Tony went to visit him, and they’d spent secret time together over the summers). Tony, believing himself incapable of love, didn’t reject Stephen’s confession but assumed it was only love between friends. The summer before they all left for college (Rhodey, originally from Texas, was also going to school in NY with Tony and Stephen. NY was a big part of who they both were, and they both dreamed of studying there together), they finally started dating at Maria Stark’s motherly demand.

- This demand came a short time before Howard and Maria died, and it also came with admissions of guilt and lots of tears. “I was wrong about Rogers,” she said. “You don’t have to accept what I say or forgive me, but I know Stephen is the right one for you. I think I’ve always known.” (No shit, everyone knew) Knowong she was genuinely sorry, Tony forgave her not knowing that she would die a few months later.

- Most of this canon I’ve created takes place starting in their junior year of college, so everyone has gotten to know each other quite well. I’m sure the more I write from this the more I’ll flesh out relationships between certain characters, but one I want to mention is that Tony and Bucky are very close and co-presidents of the “I Dumped Steve Rogers for Peace of Mind” club. Steve goes to college in the next state/a little further north (that’s as specific as it’ll get for now) and dated Bucky the group’s freshman year. Tony didn’t know any of this until Bucky brought him over one day, and after they (Tony and Bucky) had a talk about the way Steve is as a partner, Bucky realized some things and dumped Steve. He remains angry at them both, especially Tony, from a short distance away which terrifies Tony.

- Sam and Bucky kissed for the first time at a truth or dare night Thor and T’Challa hosted in the group’s sophomore year. After they kissed (Sam initiated) they both shyly admitted feelings for each other.

*Now here’s where things get a little dicey. I started this au with Christine and Hope together for no particular reason, maybe they were on a club sports team together and started dating from there? But Pepper fell in love w Christine at first sight, and it got worse and worse the more they got to know each other. Much like Stephen and Tony, they’re the kind of people who meet each other and just click, even if the eventual path to Pristine involves lots of tears and jealousy for Pepper that Stephen never really experienced. He didn’t feel jealous of Tony and Steve’s relationship, because he wasn’t at boarding school with Tony and there wasn’t much he could do. But as a supportive and concerned (and honest but kind) friend, he was always encouraging and there to listen to Tony. Is Pepper going to be as good of a friend to Christine as Stephen was to Tony while Christine gets ready to marry Hope after undergrad??? that’s the question my forthcoming college au fic will answer.

Also mentioned in my forthcoming fic (which I’m still writing rn)

- post undergrad Wong works as a museum director/curator (havent decided yet, maybe he works his way up the ranks) and double majored in psych and history.

- Stephen, Tony, Happy, Rhodey, and Wong all live together and the rest of the group lives around NYC.

- Stephen, Christine, and Bruce (The Doctor friend group) are all pursuing medical degrees while the SI friend group is transforming the company completely.

++++

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk! Congrats on reading all the way to the end lmao. I second guessed posting this a lot but then i remembered that it’s mine and I’m just sharing pre-fic thoughts lol. Thanks for reading/for your support of my work y’all!

Read the makeup fic (it doesn’t have a title) here.

💜💜💜💜

[pies-writes-and-more]

PIES’ FIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAY 2020

So I’ve never done one of these fic recommendations lists before but I really want to share some of the amazing work that I’ve read this past month! I’ve definitely read a whole ton more but I was dumb and didn’t think to like draft this list and then just keep adding to it... so I’m just attempting to go through my tags LOL please be patient with my dumbass. 

NOTE: Since I only started doing this recently, a lot of my recommendations are gonna come from a lot of my mutuals but I’m always open to hearing more about other fics!!! If you’ve got an incredible fic that you are super proud of or if you think that I should read something you’ve read, PLEASE SEND IT TO ME! I’m really big on StevexFem!Reader, BuckyxFem!Reader, WandaxFem!Reader, CarolxFem!Reader, and Stucky fics!!!

If you do end up reading these fics, please tag me if you reblog them or comment on them!! I’d love to see your guys’ reactions :) 

ANYWAYS THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE HAVE CRUSHED MY HEART WITH AMAZING FICS, RUINED MY IDEALS OF WHAT LOVE IS, AND/OR BROKEN MY HEART WITH ANGST ONLY TO REVIVE IT WITH SOME FLUFF. I love you all so very much.

PS. if these links dont work for some reason, please let me know so I can update this list because I was very distracted halfway through making this so it might not be perfect!

1.Walpurgis Night by @anika-ann​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “In which Steven volunteers to find a long-lost princess of Starkerbürg. (Fairy Tale AU)” I have no clue why this fic is not given more goddamn attention because holy shit yall, I have never been so grasped by a fic before. If you love medieval/fairy tale type things, you will love this fic. And if you don’t, you’re gonna love it anyways because @anika-ann​ writes SO. FUCKING. WELL. 100% fluff and love.

2. Abs Aren’t Always the Answer by @its-not-captain-america​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “Steve asks Y/N what girls are interested in, trying to impress her. Several shirtless pics later it’s not working.” Y’all want hilarious shit??? What about Steve Rogers always trying to take his fucking shirt off because he has the DNA (and the body) of a stripper? JK that’s not the actual reason but this fic is so funny, I died reading the first 700 times (and the 701st time too... and every time after that). 100% hilarious.

3. Challenge Accepted...? by @anika-ann​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader ”Steve’s never been good at quick decision-making when it came to his own safety. After one particularly horrible experience, you find a way to remind him every day to think twice the next time he’s faced with a tough choice. He is not amused.” Steven Grant Rogers you stupid dumb hoe lol. That’s all I’mma say about this fic because it speaks for itself when you read it haha. Banter is iconic in this fic. 100% hilarious.

4. A Matter of Trust by @anika-ann​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “You and Steve get to go to a mission together after a while; free drinks, partying, dressing-up nicely, stealing blueprints, the usual. You might even enjoy this as a couple.“ This time it’s Y/N that’s kindof a stupid dumb hoe but like that’s okay because when Y/N is a stupid dumb hoe, it’s not as stupid or dumb as when Steve does it. There’s a bit of a carry on between Challenge Accepted...? and this fic! So I would suggest reading that one first and then this :) 100% hilarious.

5. For a Smile by @anika-ann​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “You see him run past every morning. So you smile, because he looks like a nice person. How could he not be when he smiles back and the world stops for a while to pay respect to such beauty?” So you know how Disney movies totally screwed over some of our perspectives of how guys were gonna come and sweep us off our feet? Yeah. This fic did it too. I’m still waiting for my fairytale fucking moment like this fic but if it never happens, I’ll settle for just reading this over and over again LOL. 100% F L U F F and LOVE.

6. Grease and Pearls by @anika-ann​​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “All you know is uptown; fancy clothes, expensive cars, jewellery outshining one’s personality and exhausting dinners with family acquaintances and business partners. Your life is all planned out; one day, you’ll marry Howard Stark’s son and you’ll be the golden couple adored by press.” This 3-part series slayed me. Like honestly, I’ve never been so torn apart before. Y’all lucky that if you read it, you get to read all 3 parts right away whereas I had to sit and wait for my heart to be torn apart and then stomped on. (Jk anika i love you you know that). Super amazing thing I love about this fic: it’s got links to the dresses that Y/N wears (super cute btw) AND it’s got two different endings so you can decide!!! 100% ANGST and 100% FLUFF? At the same time??? Because of the two endings?!?!?!? NOTE: part 2 got some steamy smut in there so 18+ readers only. I had to take a cold shower after reading it like goddamn.

7. Be Alright by @kayteewritessteve​ ​| Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “Steve goes through a bad breakup, but a sweet voice and a friendly smile helps him realize he can begin again, and that he definitely should.” God this fic. I can’t with this fic. It’s based on the Dean Lewis song Be Alright, which is already one of my favourites, but this fic, ugh, Kaytee knows how to hurt you that’s for sure. It’s so pure and so wonderful. 100% SAD but like it gets better promise.

8. Cold Feet by @anika-ann​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

“After two months of dating, you’ve come to a conclusion as exciting as well as a bit irritating: Steve Rogers is a perfect man. He simply has no flaw.Or does he?” Mother. Fucking. Adorable. I dunno if there’s anything else to say except that anika really knows how to make me wish I was Y/N adsoifhosd. 100% F L U F F

9. Hot Chocolate by @vodkaxtonic​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “Steve gets sick and Y/N takes care of him, which involves a lot of Steve’s whining, hot chocolate and cuddles.“ Steve Rogers is a little shit who won’t just accept that he’s sick and needs to be taken care of BUT IT’S SO CUTE AND THIS FIC IS THE BEST!!!! 100% FLUFF!!

10. Home by @evanstush​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “It’s been 2 years since the last battle and it’s now Morgan’s 7th birthday, and well, Tony being Tony, he prepared a small party for her little girl, inviting everyone from the team, including you.” Hnnnggg this fic. Okay so. I love @evanstush​ with all my fucking heart because she’s always been so supportive of me and my fics. That being said I WAS NOT EXPECTING HER KIND ASS TO HURT MY HEART LIKE THIS. But again, it’s okay because it’s got fluff guys. 50% ANGST and 50% FLUFF. Well like it’s 100% both but like I have to split it haha.

11. Cocktails by @writeyourmindaway​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “ ~i really don’t know what to write i’m sorry~ DRINKS!” That’s okay, darling, I’ll write the summary you. HILARITY. WONDERFULNESS. THE WORD BLOWJOB WRITTEN SO MANY TIMES AND IT’S FUCKING GOLD. This is so funny i love it haha. This fic killed me. I should’ve seen it coming (hehe) but i didn’t lol. 100% HILARIOUS.

12. Unadulterated by @writeyourmindaway​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader No summary for this one but again, I shall do the honours haha. It’s part 2 of ‘Cocktails’ and this one is just as adorable and hilarious as the first part! Steve is a cheeky little soft boi and the flirting just makes me feel all sorts of ways <3 100% ADORABLE.

13. Water Wars by @writeyourmindaway | Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader “The team finds a new way to unwind” I love fics where you just see the team get to be normal people!!! Plus haven’t we all thought about how the Avengers would are in a water fight? Is that just me? Don’t have to fantasize about it now because @writeyourmindaway wrote it for you :D 100% FLUFF.

14. Slow Like Honey by @heli0s-writes | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “The gossip that buzzes around in the teacher’s lounge is that sweet, sensitive, divorcé Steve Rogers is hot-for-teacher. His daughter’s first-grade teacher, to be exact.” I binged this whole fucking series. 8 parts of PURE. EVERYTHING. I have never so badly wanted a happy ending in my fucking life. This is an amazing series with so much love put into it, you can tell. I really can’t explain this fic because you really need to just go read it to know how amazing it is. NOTE: Part 4, 5, and 8 have some serious love smut in there so 18+ readers only please. UGH. I love this fic so much. I will continue to keep daydreaming about it and thinking about it all the time. God I love me some Dad!Steve. 50% FLUFF and 50% ANGST (which seriously tore my heart out like I cried).

15. You Make My World Spin by @anika-ann | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “After the Battle of New York and all the mess Tony gets involved in later, Pepper believes he is in a need of an assistant slash tech genius. Enter you. While Tony is not amused by Pepper’s idea at first… he soon warms up to you.” So many insanely wonderful references in this fic, it’s hilarious. Also, Tony being a little shit LOL. Such a hilarious fic!!!! 100% AMAZINGLY HILARIOUS.

16. If You Stumble... by @anika-ann | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “If you stumble…make it part of the dance. In which you ask Steve what your date would look like if you lived the forties. He decides to show you instead. There are few flaws, holes to see through to glimpse beyond that illusion. But what life would be besides boring if everything was perfect? Perfect dress. Perfect date. Perfect gentleman…?” So my dumbass was so excited to read something that anika put out that I didn’t realize this was part 2 of a 3 part series lol I’m dumb yes I know. Anyways, this is part 1 so please don’t be like me and read the first part LOL. ANYWAYS, this was so fucking wholesome. This is definitely one that I need to read again and fully read in order (she’s got part 3 on her AO3, I believe) but ugh. I love the idea of Steve dating in this century, comparing things to how things were done in the old days ufglasodfhsd. I love it. Amazing. 100% FLUFF (I think because well my dumbass hasn’t finished but this part was fluffy :3)

17. @wxstedhexrt‘s poems | Read Them Here! | Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes I don’t think Destiny ever gave me a summary of these but (and Destiny, please correct me if I’m wrong in how you want these to be portrayed!) I believe they’re poems written throughout the whole Steve and Bucky timeline. She’s used the Winter Soldier’s words and turned them into a gorgeous set of poems. 100% My favourite thing in the whole fucking world. 

18. The Lonely Tree by @sarahwroteathing​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “You have a favorite tree which you make sure to pass every day on your way to class, but one day you find you’ll have to get used to sharing it with a friendly art student.” Holy shit guys this 15 part series was so amazing. It’s 100% PURE FLUFF and PINING and gorgeous. Holy shit. Like I screamed reading the whole goddamn thing. Amazing writing by an amazing human being with some awesome humour haha.

19. @sinner-as-saint​ responding to an anon request? Amazing. | Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader Request: May I just spice up your day with the thought of best friend/roommate bucky being jealous when you bring someone home HOT. AS. FUCK. Holy shit. It’s such a short little list of things that Bucky would do but ugh. I was dying reading it. I love me some jealous Bucky smut. 100% angsty fluff? With smuttiness ;) 18+ readers please!!

20. @alloftheimaginesblog​ prompted fic | Steve Rogers x Reader (I could be wrong here but I believe the gender of the reader is never specified? But the ring is a woman’s ring so?? @alloftheimaginesblog​ pls correct me if you want!) Prompt: Finding an engagement ring in one of their drawers. So fucking fluffy I needed a cavity filled after ugh. I loved it so much it was just a gorgeous piece of writing. Steve is a little piece of poop for not hiding that ring better I mean come on, you’re telling me you couldn’t have punched a hole, put the ring there, and then cover it up with like a cabinet or something??? jk i still love you steeb. 100% fluff!

21. Laser Tag by @stargazingfangirl18​ | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “You play laser tag with your boyfriend Steve and his best friend Bucky. Since you’re just a plain ole civilian, you gotta use what non-Avenger skills you have to avoid losing. Hint: those skills involve Steve and kissing.” Iconic. Everything. Wonderful. There is nothing I love more than Steve Rogers being a little sucker for making out with his girlfriend even when there’s a competition. 100% fluff!!!!

22. Under the Rainbow, Draga mea by @binkysteebnpewter​ | Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader I don’t think there’s an official summary ( @binkysteebnpewter​ pls correct me if I’m wrong) but my summary is this: GAYNESS <3 I love me some wlw content so when I saw this pop up on my dash, I couldn’t NOT read. It’s soooo good. This is a Social Media AU and the amount of meme usage in there I- it’s fucking wonderful. It’s still in progress though so you guys will have to pine after this relationship with me. I FUCKING LOVE IT. 100% GAY LOVE <3

23. A Fic in which Peggy Carter plays wingwoman because these two idiots are in love with each other but they can’t see it so our Queen needs to throw it at them by @1she1hulk1​ (please note I made this title by myself because I don’t think there was a title LOL @1she1hulk1​ lmk if you want me to change this xD) | Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader “the plot is bacially you and Steve go to see Peggy and she tells Steve to finally make his move” Peggy Carter is a fucking Queen and she knows that Steve is falling for you, because he just won’t stop fucking talking about you LOL. Anyways, this is a super cute fic!!!! Please go give it some love because this human being who wrote it doesn’t think she’s a good writer?????? Crazy. 100% FLUFF!!!!

OTHER FICS THAT DESERVE MENTIONING!!!!

So because this is my first recommendation list on this site, I know I’m definitely missing some amazing fics that I’ve read but never saved (I’m a terrible person I know). So I’m just gonna add them in this list here because they deserve love and attention too!

@wxstedhexrt​‘s poetry. Period. End of story lol. JK. So the ones that I’ve read that are on Destiny’s tumblr aren’t all fandom related (besides the one that I posted above) but they’re still really amazing. I’ve never felt so captured by poems before (mostly because i’m stupid and don’t understand a lot of poetry). Ugh anyways I love her poems so much so please go check them out! CLICK HERE FOR BEAUTY <3

Alright so I know a lot of you guys know @kayteewritessteve​ but if you don’t, she’s this super amazing writer with INCREDIBLE series. (CLICK HERE TO SEE HER FULL MASTERLIST). But one of my most favourite series by her, and one of my favourite series of all time, is: If Only You Knew “You arrive home one day to find a wedding invite for two of your best friends from high school. You knew this day was going to come eventually, but even with that said, you weren’t prepared to return home. At least not after 7 years of avoiding Buckhannon, West Virginia. Or rather, avoiding him; your ex-best friend and the secret love of your life. But maybe it was finally time to face your past, to face him and everything else that happened on that horrible night.”  This 18 (plus an Epilogue) part series will literally have you screaming at your screen being like WHY YALL CANT JUST TELL EACH OTHER HOW YALL FEEL?!?!?!?! 75% angst (because Kaytee likes to hurt us) and 25% fluff BUT the fluff is SOOOOO worth it so it’s like 100% angst and 200% fluff (i was never a mathlete). NOW since, we’re on the topic of Kaytee’s writing, I’d also like to mention: Love and War  “In a harsh medieval world, you set out on a perilous quest that will lead you onto a forbidden land. A land ruled and controlled by a ruthless Warlord King, one who does not look favourably upon trespassers of any kind, and punishes all with an iron fist. You may not know exactly where this quest will end, but what you do know is you will forever be altered by it. And that knowledge alone is what truly terrifies you the most.” so I read this while Kaytee was writing it about a year ago and holllyyyyyy shit. Okay. So. Listen. Fantasy? Check. Romance? Check. Amazing writing? Well it’s Kaytee so yea obviously check. I want to list more things but I don’t want to give it away! This is a 15 part series (plus an Epilogue and Outro) but it goes by so quickly once you’re stuck and waiting for more!!!! 

[ommsims]

story process challenge

i was tagged  by @xldkx​​ to do this challenge, created by @herpixels​​​ , like a month? a month and a half? ago and it’s been sitting half finished in my drafts for nearly as long. *sigh* (regardless, i love stuff like this so even if it takes me forever to get to it, i appreciate the tags! 💕). 

i decided to answer all the qs because it took me damn long enough to get to this, so i might as well put some extra elbow grease into it (plus it was fun!). btw it’s all going under a cut b/c it is long. i apologize in advance.

1. My Writing Process - used to be a hot damn mess. literally word docs strewn throughout my pc. However, I recently switched to using Onenote (it’s what i use to organize my d&d campaign notes) and hoo-boy is it so much nicer. this is how it’s set up and it’s honestly night and day. i can have a page with outlines, a page to organize & order screenshots, and a separate page for drafting text, and i can easily toggle though them without having to switch windows? a big thumbs up from me.

When it comes to actual writing- I used to write my drafts in novel format, which i enjoyed but it made “converting” them into tumblr posts time consuming and frustrating. I ended up scrapping most of the text in the process, retaining pretty much only the dialogue. 

Anyway, nowadays I write in more of a screenplay format: dialogue only + key scene information with the occasional note to self. 

I do keep a master “arcs” page with key events and each individual character’s arc from beginning to end and secondary “outline” pages with slightly more detailed outline for each leg of the project. No screencaps b/c spoilers galore! 

My typical work flow process for a scene goes: (1) brainstorm scene ideas, (2) take screenshots, (3) organize screenshots into a rough storyboard, (4) add 1st draft of text, (5) edit photos, (6) edit text, (7) upload to "drafts” here on tumblr, (8) let sit for a bit (9) take a final look at things/proofread and edit as needed. It may sound counterintuitive, but i find it much easier to write dialogue for a set of images rather than attempt to take images based on prewritten text. I feel more comfortable editing and tweaking tone and content in the text this way. Otherwise, I get frustrated when I “can’t” shoot a scene exactly as it appeared in my head.

2. How I build my scenes - A lot of what i do is rooted in gameplay, therefore my sets are usually (a) play-tested and (b) not super pretty. I’ve certainly improved at decorating & building over the years but more often than not I download lots off tumblr and the gallery because I don’t have the patience, aptitude, or time to build all of my own sets. That being said, I frequently gut builds only to build a number of completely unrelated mini sets inside to reduce the number of times i have to replace lots. I also keep a list of “important locations” and where certain characters live / will move to, to help keep this all straight as there aren’t nearly enough lots per neighborhood or even per world in this damn game...

my least favorite part of scene building is actually decorating. lol. Don’t get me wrong, I love clutter. I honestly do. but fuck me if i expect myself to spend hours meticulously decorating a set, spend another 3 hours toggling back and forth b/w BB & live modes adjusting things to get rid of the damn routing errors. (yeah, yeah, i know i could ignore them, they’re not important, especially in those scenarios where i’m using a set for screenshots and nothing else, but idk. it really grinds my gears.) and then have to replace the lot like a week later because there aren’t enough lots in the game. *sigh*

3. CC/Pose Making - i do not consider myself to be a cc creator nor a pose maker but i do dabble occasionally. And to be completely honest i’d much rather spend my time doing other stuff, so it’s not high on my list of priorities atm. plus there are so many talented cc creators in this community; i can usually get by with what’s already out there.

4. Getting in the zone - Honestly, I do a lot of brainstorming for plot & dialogue in the shower. I don’t have any particular playlists to get me “in the writing mood” but I do enjoy listening to music as I work. Either instrumental stuff or simply artists/songs I like. If something just so happens to “fit” a scene I’m working on, one i’ve got planned, or even just gives me vibes for a certain character or group, I add a quick note to the top of said scene’s draft. Most of the time I stick it in the recesses of my brain and add a quick link when I finally get to the point of posting the draft to tumblr. For whatever reason, when I have one of those “oh this song is perfect for X” moments it’s essentially ingrained in my mind for the rest of eternity. 

5. The screenshot folder - this will most likely give some of you out there major anxiety. but i swear it’s an organized chaos. :)

yep. 32.9gb of screenshots & related things... 

So with the raws from a single random scene selected, you can see i take roughly 10 screenshots per image posted. not terrible i guess but i’m working on it. Typically I take screenshots and once I’m done editing a scene I’ll move them from the general folder to a more specific project folder.

6. Captions - I’ll answer this in three parts:

for my townie story. not really. I prefer using the text box. I tend to write (& re-write) the dialogue for each one of these scenes several times over as I add more “scenes” into my drafts. It would be incredibly inefficient, time consuming, and would waste a lot more space on my pc to have to save .psds of each image just so i could edit dialogue when I decide: “oh hey maybe so and so needs to bring up X in this scene” and then change my mind an hour later.

for niko, noor, & co. I’m a text on image type gal here. don’t really know why, but it gives the project a different energy. ironically it makes it feel more laid-back to me. which i guess makes sense, it’s a much more light-hearted “story” than my townie project. which is, imo, very soapy haha.

for legacy stuff. all text goes below the images in the text box. reasoning: it’s gameplay, I don’t brainstorm, outline, or pre-write for this. I play the game, take screenshots, plug ‘em into my drafts and write some commentary / dialogue to go along with it.

7. Editing - i am a creature of habit and have not majorly changed my editing process in probably a year and a half (when I began using reshade and had to adjust my color correcting psd). it’s a super basic system:

drag & drop my “color correction” psd.

run actions in ps. (i made my own “all-in-one” actions to really streamline the process; i have different “actions sets” for my premades’ story and for other things that get posted to tumblr. even if no one else notices it, i like the little details that keep my projects separate and “identifiable”. 

voila. all set to upload.

sometimes i crop images, add “text effects”, or do more in depth editing (i.e. editing a phone screen or adding rain etc.) but overall i try and keep it simple for myself. 

8. Throwback - i posted an image of one of the first (but never posted) scenes I’d written for my townie project up above. but as for how would i redo a scene i’d already posted. well i’m currently re-doing my townie story so i guess i’ll just say you’ll see how it’s redone when i get to part 1! 😉

anyway, no tags because i’m so embarrassingly late to this party but if you hadn’t gotten around to this tag, wanted to do it but didn’t get a tag, or started it and left it to sit and now you’re thinking “oh god that was months ago should i even post this anymore?!?” consider yourself tagged by me and go ahead and post it for all to see!

[godlydolans]

Can you do a part 2 to the angst with Ethan please?!! Love your work btw 🥰

After you left the house that night, you didn't allow Ethan to see you. Yes he called and called and called. He left thousands of messages but you were adamant on ignore all of those attempts. You've had way too many fights because of that girl and now you can't deal with her or him.

"Gray I really have nothing to say to him." At 2 am one night, you find yourself explaining to Grayson why you can't talk to his brother. "He pretty much told me that she is more important to him. Had she been just his best friend, I would have had no problem with them hanging out-hell I would have joined them too- but she isn't just a friend, Gray. They have history together and she has consistently tried to break us up." Even talking about this makes your heart break. You love him so much, value him so much and he doesn't even care about you? "He's allowed her to meddle into our relationship for so long and now it doesn't even exist. He doesn't want me, Gray."

"He wouldn't be acting like the walking dead ever since you left if he didn't want you, Y/N." Grayson sighs, tugging at his hair in frustration as he tries to get you to atleast talk to Ethan and clear the air. He can't see his brother suffer like this, even though it was his fault that they broke up. "He isn't talking to anyone-"

"Where is Allana now when he needs someone with him?" You seethe, spitting her name out of your mouth like it's a curse. "Didn't she shoot her shot yet?"

"Y/N..." Grayson really doesn't know what to say anymore. He tried everything he could. You seem hell bent about your decision of not giving Ethan a chance.

Ethan was really down and depressed with you not around. Your clothes were gone from his closet, your favourite lipsticks whose backups you used to keep on his dresser not there anymore. The necklace that you took off is sat on his bed side table and he picks it up and stares at it now and again whenever he can't sleep. Which is most nights now. Your pillow that he cuddles to sleep has stopped smelling like you and he contemplates going out and buying the perfume you use and spraying the pillow, the bed sheet, some of his hoodies that you loved to wear, his whole room so he can still smell you in the air surrounding him.

He also goes to see Allana on one of the days where he absolutely needs to leave the house for some work. She has been calling him and requesting to meet up for the longest time and Ethan has been declining the request, saying that he doesn't feel like going out. But today, he decided to finally go visit her.

The meeting he had to attend today was close to the area she lives in so he decided to go. Meeting her would do him good, considering how she literally always knows the right things to say when he's feeling low. Some would say he shouldn't even be thinking about meeting her if he wants to mend things with his girl (he can't and he won't call her his ex) but Allana is the best freaking friend in the world! And he loves her just like he loves Cameron. Yeah, they had a brief thing way back in the day but that didn't last very long because Ethan quickly decided the love he had for Allana wasn't romantic. She had pretended to understand back then, but little does Ethan know she had cried about the break up for months on end.

Now she just hates the thought of her Ethan with someone else. In her twisted mind, if Ethan can't love her romantically, then he can't love anyone like that. She won't let him be anyone's if he can't be hers. Growing up an only child to wealthy parents, Allana didn't have to try hard for mostly anything. She was always very possessive about her dolls, never wanting to share them with her cousins and friends. Same was the case with her school supplies. She only ever shared her things with Ethan, the cute little boy that lived next door to her and was the son of the sweet lady who used to cut her hair every three months.

She didn't even realise when she became more possessive over Ethan than she ever was about anything else. Now that possessiveness is turning to borderline craziness and Ethan still doesn't see that.

"I don't understand why she hates me that much, E. What have I ever done to her? I just wanna be your friend, that's all! I've never wanted to take her place or whatever it is she believes to be true. I can't believe she broke up with you over something so silly. And you are sitting here shedding tears over that bitch? She doesn't deserve you, Ethan! Look how she hurt you?!" How dare she make her Ethan cry? How fuckinv dare she?!

"Don't call her names, Al." Ethan pleads through a blocked nose. His tears made his nose runny and a headache is slowly approaching as he sits on the carpet floor of Allana's penthouse. "She just had some misunderstanding and I just need to clear some things to her. If only she would talk to me."

Her eyes harden when he says he wants to make things right with her. "You shouldn't be the one to apologise! It was she would broke up with you, don't you dare go begging at her doorstep to take you back. You aren't at fault here!"

Ethan isn't even listening to her at this point. His head is starting to ache and he just wants to sleep. "Can I crash on your couch tonight?"

"Of course, E! Sleep in the guest room, I'll get you a spare blanket."

Sometime that night, when Ethan woke up to get a glass of water, he got the scare of his life when he found Allana's face just inches away from his with her lips almost about to touch his.

"What the fuck?!" Ethan exclaims, sitting up and getting away from her. His sudden movement combined with his voice startled her and she stumbled back.

"Ethan! I just came in to give you the blanket!" She points to the blanket that sits on the edge of the bed.

"Why were you trying to kiss me?!" He gets out of bed, suddenly feeling weird in this house alone with her. There is no way she wasn't just about to kiss him while he was unconscious and nothing she says will make him believe otherwise.

"What?! What are you talking about?! Why would I wanna kiss you?!" Her eyes are wide as she tries to defend herself.

"You tell me that!" Totally fuming now, Ethan looks around for his wallet and his car keys before he makes his way to the door. "Is this what you wanted all along? To get me away from my girlfriend so you could do that?! I thought you really cared for me!"

"I do care! I care about you more than I've ever cared about anyone! You think that bitch loves you more than me, Ethan?!" There she is, flawless facade stripped off. She can't fake it anymore, her truth is out. "No one can ever love you the way I do! I've dreamt of having you be mine since we were kids, E! I've known you longer than her, I've loved you all my life! I deserve you more that she does!"

Ethan shakes his head in disbelief at her words. She looks like a crazy woman, yelling at the top of her lungs. The wild look in her empty eyes makes his stomach churn. He doesn't feel safe in this house, alone with her at all.

"You're a sick person, Allana! Stay away from you from now on, alright?! I can't believe I lost the love of my fucking life because I was too much of a fool to believe you could ever do me wrong. I thought you were one of the only true friends I had. Thanks for finally making me see the truth though."

He walks out right then and there, leaving her a screaming, crying mess behind. He can't believe he was wrong about Allana. He fought with you over that girl and she turned out to be such a black heart.

"What have I done?!" He slams his hand against his steering wheel in frustration, gritting his teeth till his head hurts even more. He gotta make things right with you and he will, even if he has to get down on his knees before the whole world and beg you to come back.

Tag list: @pgm-dolan

[shinjukuspiritcommittee]

Health and Sports Team Building- Prologue

Here it is, the fruits of my labor and my passion project I hinted at in my update post the other day. I’ve been always meaning to write an event around my Housamo OCs (btw I have fan OCs for this game) and after some planning and delving more into how they’d fit into the world that is Housamo I decided to write this kind of event. Yoyogi has my favorite cast of characters as you may know, and I feel they’re the perfect cast for events like this since they tend to shine well when it comes to friendship and such. I hope you guys will bear with me and this project of mine for about 5 parts or so.

~~~

“Have you peeked through a window before? It could be for any number of reasons- because something caught your eye, maybe you were looking for something specific or maybe just on a whim. What did you feel? … I see. While it depends on what you look at, I often find myself curious. I can’t really say I know why. But I just want to see what’s going on… what it’s like on that side of the window. Maybe I’m just nosy. Or maybe… uh, it’s nothing…”

~~~

It was quite the busy week at Yoyogi Academy now with summer closing it’s doors and autumn in full swing. Plenty of the student and faculty were quite excited for a certain day that was coming up and quite a longstanding tradition at the school. This day was really one of the handful of days Yoyogi students excelled at- the national Health and Sports day, so naturally the school was alight with excitement and everyone buzzing around to get their preparations in order. There was one student in particular who had been eagerly awaiting for a chance like this…

He had finished packing all his repaired work orders into his ever reliable duffel bag and put away all his supplies back into their proper closets and shelves. It was definitely a hefty workload to manage as of late, but somehow Tatsuya managed to clear it all before club practice ended for the day. You see, Tatsuya is a member of the Yoyogi Kendo Club. However it’s a club consisting of only two people, one of whom already had arrangements with Tennis club, so as of late he found little reason to attend practice. Even less with the fact they don’t attend competitions as nearly as often as they should given their low head count. His peers live and breathe off these competitive natures which he understood and totally supported, but he didn’t have that edge with Kendo. He had begun to question why he didn’t have any attachment to the sport recently which led him to smaller revelations…

As he was locking up the room a familiar voice called for him. “Tatsuya!” He turned to find Yui, his club mate, peer, and close friend, coming to him from down the hall rather excitedly. “Oh, you’re all done for the day?” Tatsuya nodded in response. “Perfect~. That means you can come out with us. Since we finished practice early, the seniors and a few of our classmates invited me out for some food, wanna tag along? You can be my plus one~.” She made sure to add extra emphasis on that last bit as though it was supposed to be incredibly enticing.

“I’ve got these orders to deliver.” Tatsuya answered with his usual calm manner.

“Well, duh. We’d go after you’d do all of that. We could even lend you a hand. If not, then I don’t think they’d mind the wait.”

“Nah, it’s alright. I wouldn’t wanna make them wait on me. You enjoy yourself though.”

“Oh…” Yui was disappointed in his response, but she did her best to not let it show beyond her initial reaction. “A-Alright then. Just um… text me when you’re done. I’ll bring you something on the way back, yeah?” Tatsuya gave her another nod and watched her off. There wasn’t any super serious reason or thought process why he turned her down. As of late they hadn’t been hanging out as frequently, in no small part to Tatsuya’s workload ever since classes started back up. Not only that, their peers have really started taking a liking to Yui and he wouldn’t want to drag her down or embarrass her. After all, he was the dorky kid brother in her eyes.

Tatsuya went about his deliveries practically routine at this point. Often giving the uniforms to the team captains or instructors around campus, and delivering individual orders personally. While his work couldn’t hope to compare to Ms. Arachne’s, he still helped students maintain their clothes for as long as possible. While he rather enjoyed spending hours working on these sort of things, the one part Tatsuya absolutely dreaded was the delivery part of the day. Not necessarily because he had to run around campus and praying his clientele hadn’t run off for the day, though still being a minor annoyance, he more dreaded what would happen if he did find them.

Wow, thanks! Another great job done by the Den mother!

You really are like a Den mother you know? It suits you!

I can see why the upperclassmen call you Den mother, thanks!

“Den Mother…” Tatsuya found himself murmuring it with a displeased tone. It seemed that stigma was starting to bleed into the underclassmen as well. He didn’t mind helping his peers or the heavy workload, but did they really have to call him that? What a frail title that was. How gentle and unintimidating that name was. He could’ve had a cool nickname like a superhero or something more run of the mill for his talents. But no, his peers had to start calling him Den Mother…

On his way around campus he noticed one of the underclassmen coming back onto campus seemingly out of breath. He recognized them as Kyuma Nakatsugi, a baseball player from the first year class. Out of concern Tatsuya rushed over to the first year rather quickly. “Ah, Noboru! D-Don’t scare me like that!”

“What are you doing, Nakatsugi? I thought baseball practice wasn’t on today.” Tatsuya asked, still keeping his usual demeanor.

“W-Well, I...” Kyuma struggled with coming up with an answer for his upperclassmen. In part due to how tired he was and not being the best liar when on the spot.

Tatsuya noticed him struggling and decided to cut to the point. “Never mind all that, you’re exhausted. Here, let me help you to the infirmary.”

“N-No, it’s fine really.” Kyuma panted out. “I just forgot my water and… didn’t realize the jog without it would be this intense.” Typical attitude of a first year. Totally ignoring the necessities when starting out new regiments. Taking pity on the first year, Tatsuya reached for his own water bottle and silently handed it to him. Kyuma’s eyes lit right up. “Oh wow, thanks!” He said before gulping it desperately. When Kyuma had sufficiently quenched his thirst he let out a big sigh and panted one final time. “Thank you, Noboru! You’re really kind. I’m starting to get why Gunzo refers to you as Den Mother.” There it was.

“No need to thank me. Just don’t forget your essentials when you go to train or whatever.” Tatsuya sighed. “You can keep the water bottle, I have a spare.” With that Tatsuya went on his way briskly. While it was subtle, Kyuma couldn’t help but notice a twinge of something in Tatsuya’s expression. Maybe it was because Tatsuya forced out a smile… Anyways, now that he had water, he didn’t want to keep David waiting…!

Tatsuya was able to shake off most of the frustration from the day. He had to stop by the infirmary today anyway, not because of a delivery, but a… requirement of sorts for the upcoming Health and Sports day. He entered the Nurse’s Office making sure no one really saw him enter on his lonesome. The school’s medical doctor, Mineaki Arima. He was rather busy as his desk with numerous papers flitted about. “Instructor Arima?” Tatsuya said as he wandered inside.

“Ah, Noboru. All done for the day I’m assuming?” Tatsuya nodded. “Good, good. Please have a seat.” Mineaki gestured to the chair right in front of his desk. As Tatsuya did so, Mineaki fished out for a particular file he had kept away in his desk. “This is the list of all your approved activities…” Judging by Mineaki’s tone it wasn’t something to be happy about.

Sure enough, the list was a lot smaller than what he was anticipating. “Seriously…? Only that much?” His heart sank at the list. Just a mere handful of activities.

“I’m sorry, but those are all the activities I was able to approve you for. Your health comes first, after all.” Mineaki explained. “Even then, I wouldn’t recommend you partake in all of them just because I’m worried about the strain you might put yourself under.” As he tried to soften the blow with concern, Tatsuya had fallen silent, eyes unable to tear away from the list. “Are you alright?”

“…Thank you for getting me this much.” Tatsuya said rather softly.

Mineaki took a moment to think before he spoke again. “To drop formalities for a second Tatsuya, I do understand where you’re coming from, but as your doctor I can’t put a risk to your health. Please just try to enjoy yourself during the day.”

Tatsuya paused for a moment trying to process what was being said. “I guess you’ve got a point. I’ll do my best.” While it may not have been the best chance in the world, it was still a chance.

~~~

“Have we… met before?”

[aharris00britney]

                                                                                                                                ASKS 14

Ok so 24 hours after I planned to do this but... last time I answered stuff was January(5 months ago). There is a lot under the cut ;n; sims, nonsims, other games, all kinds of stuff ya know

Anonymous said: Hi! Wcif the shirt you used on your Belle hair post? (Btw, that hair is GORGEOUS.)

I have the cc I use in my previews linked on Patreon. Makeup/skin and all that will be on my resource page once I get around to updating it for my 2 new models (who will be up for download soon hopefully). Also ty <3

Anonymous said: What make-up do you use for most of your posts?

The only eyeshadows I use are by @crypticsim or @catplnt. The makeup I use on Macie/Taylor are listed on my resource page. The other two models makeup will be added once I get them added on there but I know they both use similar stuff to Macie/Taylor.

@thatsimmergirl91​ said: Just wanted to take a moment out and say how amazing you are ! I love all your stuff and your blog. Never forget how awesome you are 💗💗💗💗🙌🏻🙌🏻

Thank you so much. Like I know I am going to be typing a lot of thank yous in this post, but I truly mean them. Playing Sims/Making cc is something I did not think would be such a big thing in my life but god is it and I love doing it. Thank you again <3

Anonymous said: You're incredible and I love all your hairs! In fact, you're my favorite cc hair creator. My question is are you planning on making any hairs with the Island Living meshes anytime soon?

Thank you! I am glad you enjoy my hairs <3 I am planning some stuff with the island living meshes. Probably just a conversion to toddlers if I am able and I might do something simple with the adult meshes to release outside of my Patreon stuff. We shall see though! Ty again

@ayoshi​ said: When are you opening an Onlyfans?

idk babe when are you posting your birthmarks? ;)

Anonymous said: Heya! Love your cc! You're real talented

thank you! <3 It isn’t so much talent, more or less just a lot of practice and time. I appreciate the compliment though

Anonymous said: any tips to get high quality sims screenshots??

I have 2 methods I use. When I am taking CC previews I rotate my screen using Ctrl + Alt + the ◄ key. For my lookbooks/upcoming Sim downloads I use a method by foursims who deactivated?? This is the method/video <3

@verdeclaroangels​ said: What skin do you use??💕PS i love u

I use @luumia​ newest vanilla default, alongside his Smooth Butts overlay, and my own fruitpunch overlay. All are linked over on my resource page <3

@vhlori​ said: Austin queen of pop!

q king of edits! <3

Anonymous said: i love your creations and i appreciate the time you put into your cc, i wish i could support you 💕

Thank you!! Sometimes the time crunches can be stressful but I put them on myself so I survive haha. Don’t feel the need to support me please <3 I make sure everything is public eventually so that people dont feel like they are missing out on anything by deciding not to pledge. Thank you for wanting to though, I appreciate that a ton.

Anonymous said: Just a rant here. I'm annoyed that there are no rings in the glove category or some other category. The reason I want this is because I use eyelashes that are in the skin detail section and rings don't work and I don't want to use the accessory eyelashes because my sim wears glasses. It annoys me but that's all.

i... rant away luv i feel u

Anonymous said: What do you do besides sims? That is all you post about and I was curious if that is all you play?

I play Roblox with @ayoshi sometimes, cause that is about all my computer can handle lmao. I have a switch so I play some Nintendo titles on there like Zelda, Splatoon 2, and other stuff. I also have been plying Fortnite recently with @imvikai @greenllamas and @pinealexple. That is about all I play right now lmao. I play Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and Pokemon Go on my phone.

Anonymous said: Hi there ! Just wanted to say I've also been experiencing that problem with your 'downloads' page. I don't have a Tumblr account so I had to tell you this way. Perhaps it's a MacBook issue ? I'm not sure, but I'm using a MacBook Pro. Anyways, thank you for all the beautiful cc you provide us with, you're the best.

Yeah I got another ask about them using a Mac for it. That seems to be the problem. I am not a coder, nor do I know a single thing about coding. All I can suggest doing is going to http://aharris00britney.tumblr.com/tagged/s4cc and using that which sucks to page through I know :( I am sorry

Anonymous said: This is really random, but I love your Sims! I normally don't like Sims with Clay hair, but GIRL, you make them work. Just want to say to keep it up, and if I had money I would support you <3

Thank you lmao <3 stan clay hairs

Anonymous said: Literally im in this sims discord nd they were DRAGGING how you make the same sim in different skin colors and how you make such cookie cutter sims and honestly i felt bad

Meanwhile me in CAS:

Anonymous said: This may be a strange request but what does that one alien toddler you've used on multiple occasions to model hair look like when he's older?

He uuh... idk where they are in my library tbh I can’t find them cause I was going to age him up and show ya but.. yeah idk what happened RIP alien toddler

@amorimlulu said: Hi! I love your creations, they're incredible! I'm completely in love with two of your sims: the asian woman from the patreon 06-16 post and the woman from the ava hair post. Could you, pretty please, upload them on the gallery? I'm dying to play with them. Thank you ^^

I am planning to in the next month! I have the photos taken I just need to get the CC list together and plan it around Island Living posts, CC posts, all that jazzzzzz

Anonymous said: Hello Austin! I really like the way your sims look, so I was wondering if you can tell me where to get the skins and lashes, please? I am new to the Sims 4 and searching for some cute looks :)

Hey! I have this stuff listed on my resource page, and I have over 100 WCIF’s I have answered along with my lookbooks for some clothes. My cc finds blog is @aharris00finds​ if you want to look there :D

Anonymous said: can i just ask? how do you remove the shadows on hair with S4S? im a complete noob at s4s and i was wondering how you would do it?

You just need to click shadow, then make blank :) pic below

Anonymous said: Hi, just a quick message to say THANK YOU for all those beautiful creations. You are so talented and I want you to know that. Thank you so much for making my sims look way more beautiful !

thank you so much <3 I have said it before and idk if anyone will be able to convince me, but I am not talented lmao it just is experience :)

Anonymous said: hey, could u pls make a tutorial abt how u make ur mesh?? i love ur hair meshes so much

I have tried filming a tutorial before and I will just have to wait til I get a good mic lmao. My speed meshing videos are somewhat useful for learning but they are sped up and without instructions so take it with a grain of salt

Anonymous said: would you ever try to recreate lydia martins hair in 3.04? sorry, but you're the only teen wolf fan thats a simblr that i know and i desperately need that lovely hair in my game. thanks!         

tbh I never finished Teen Wolf XD I stopped at the end of season 5 I think. Idk I just lost interest as I grew up :(  Also I have no idea what hair that is sdfgfvb and google isnt telling me either. If you can send a link to a picture or DM me a picture I can see if I can make it <3

Anonymous said: Hi, could you please please upload this sim post/183989453251/e41 ! She's just too pretty

Anonymous said: please upload this sim from your post/183989453251/e41 for download? Thanks   

Idk if I still have her saved but if I do I might upload her. I will check and see later tonight lmao                    

Anonymous said: Is there any way to put everything you make into a .zip file. I really like what you make and I wish there was a way to mass download it. It sounds dumb but really I enjoy your content

Tbh since I post hairs 3 times a month it would be hard for me to keep everything up to date. I might do something like all my CC from 2017 in one zip, and all my cc from 2018 in another? and then make one for 2019 at the end of the year. I’m not sure though.

Anonymous said: Wheres the hair in yo profile pic? And will you upload that sim? AND can you make more clothes ur amazing at it!!! (Also, asking 4 my bff <3 r u boy or girl?)

the hair in my current profile pic is Maddie Hair, the sim is already for download, and I will have some clothes coming next month :) I am a boy :P

Anonymous said: hello! is the model sim in your eve hair valentines special downloadable? I find her really pretty. I really enjoy all of your cc!! I love all of them soooo much.. :)

I will check if I saved her to my library, if so I will add it to the list of stuff I wanna try and do <3 also thank you

Anonymous said: Hey! Love your hairs! Can I request a Riley hair without the hairclip?

the riley hair doesn’t have a clip so I am going to assume you mean the Peyton hair since it was released in the same month. It wouldn’t really be possible to do Peyton without the clip since it has a part of the hair going up into the clip. Without it there would be a hole and if the hole was filled in it would still look weird since the hair would be going up into nothing. I’m sorry <3

@lacr1mation23​ said: Kinda not a question. But, i'm gonna fangirl all over you. You ROCK!!! I LOVE your CCs. BEST. HAIRS. EVAR.   Impressed like woah from Florida. 

thank you so much ;n; this made me smile lmao I appreciate stuff like this a ton

Anonymous said: Hey I think there's something wrong w/ your Lydia hair.. could u fix it?

I’m not sure what the glitch is, so if you could send me a photo or an explanation of what it is then I could help.

Anonymous said: I'm sorry you're having a bad day! I want to let you know your CC is lovely and I hope you have a better day tomorrow! Lots of love and if you like chocolate then I'm sending you plenty of virtual chocolate to help you feel better!

lmao idk what ‘bad day’ I was happening when this was sent but thank you!! I had a rough semester but I am doing a lot better now I think :)

@simsloverlilian​ said: Hi lol I just think this is really funny, my friend asked me where do you get your cc? and I was like: "oh.. ahoob's WCIF place xDDDDDD" and we both died laughing.. at your place you can get amazing hairs, accs, shirts! (lol love your cc keep it up! ;))

thank you so much! I love that yall use my blog for finding cc :)

@raha-plays-the-sims​ said: Okay... I actually want to take a screenshot of my Sim with your new Riley hair on to my hair dresser and tell her to cut my hair that way XD I love it so much! Thank you for continuing to make amazing content!

lmao i have wanted to do this before with a male hair i found for my game. I never went through with it though XD thank you for the compliment <3

Anonymous said: Everyone!!! Stan LOONA for clear skin and good health...

stan red velvet and WJSN

Anonymous said: I just want to say that "EVERYTHING" about your blog/cc/sims is absolutely immaculate. Your CC is like renaissance to Sims 4 modding(I ain't even kidding).Thank you for sharing/uploading them here on tumblr.  Would you be uploading any video on how you create your sims on youtube anytime soon? And what sliders do you usually use in creating sims if there are some?

thank you so much!!! I have tried recording my game before and the footage just comes out super lag. Hopefully later this year I will be able to get a computer and I could record something then. Also I don’t use any sliders or presets on my main Sims :)

@lllac-lady786​ said: This isn’t a question, but your sims are just so pretty and you are so talented 🤩

thank you <3

Anonymous said: Did something happen to your Lydia hair?

I don’t think so? It seems to be fine for me

Anonymous said: How are you able to edit the new game pack when sims4studio hasn't been updated yet? I am itching to edit some stuff but I can't yet :(

I use CAS Tools! I might make a tutorial this week depending on how busy I am. Not sure though <3

Anonymous said: How likely would you be to recommend the new pack to another simmer out of 10?

(this was sent during Strangerville) I would say 8/10 recommendation. But I love storylines and stuff in games so my opinion is very based on that.

Anonymous said: Would you ever make male hair or recolour some of ea's so they work with your ombre accessory?

I am thinking of doing some ombre accessories for the new Island Living pack for the two ombre hairs. I am not sure if I will be able to or not but I will see :)

@milugameplay​ said: Hello sweetheart, I just like to say that I love the hairs that you create. Thank you for sharing them with us.            

thank you <3 i appreciate the compliment

Anonymous said:Hi! When you uploaded peach earrings, the blonde sim had a braided hairstyle. Was it cc or a maxis one?     

hey! It is from outdoor retreat GP :)     

Anonymous said: Have nothing to ask. Just want to tell you that you are amazingly talented. ❤ I have been playing the sims since its original Sims 1 release, and have always been a heavy CC user. (Upwards of 50GB in sims 3). Never have I ever felt the need to download EVERYTHING a creator has ever made, until I found you.  So, in short, you are amazeballs. Keep it up.

this is so sweet lmao. Even I don’t have all my own CC in my game <3 I appreciate this so so much. Thank you for this

Anonymous said: How did you learn to create custom content??Did you see any video tutorial? I'm trying to create a hair but I can not get it :(((( help me please

most of the stuff I have learned from trial and error, or help from S4S fourms and friends :) Feel free to message me with questions on tumblr or discord

Anonymous said: I know Sims 5 is still so far away, but I still have a question! With the release of Sims 4 so many awesome creators for Sims 3 just stopped creating from one day to another. So my question is: Could you imagine yourself creating Custom Content for Sims 5? I'm asking because I seriously love every single piece you create for Sims 4, and I really wish the glory era of Ah00b won't end with the release of Sims 5. Ily! <3

it depends on the style that TS5 goes for tbh. I love Sims 4 style and I don’t know much of anything about creating alpha hairs so if TS5 goes that direction I doubt I would be able to create for it. also thank you for calling it the glory era of ah00b lmao

Anonymous said: You have hairs named after all the girls in black pink except Rosé. Is there a reason for this?

Well I named a hair Rosanne thinking it was close enough to her name lmao. I might name a hair coming in July Rosie. We shall see when it gets to July XD

[fanfics4all]

To Love Is To Lose

Request: Yes / No Hello! Can I please request #75 (“ You’re one hell of a girl. ”) with Oliver queen or Barry Allen where the reader is also a vigilante and Oliver/Barry slowly fall for her when they end up doing a few missions together? Btw, I love your writing, it’s always so good ❤️❤️❤️ Anon

Request are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Barry Allen x  Fem!Reader

Oliver Queen x Fem!Reader

Word count:  3695

Warnings: Death, gang

Y/N: Your Name

A/N:  I based the Reader on the DC vigilante Shado (I know she was in Arrow but in this she was never in the show!) But the backstory and everything is from Shado and I just changed it a little bit. I wanted to use an already existing vigilante because I’m a HUGE DC nerd!

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

Before I was born my father was part of the Yakuza. He was sent to America sometime before World War Two had broken out. He was sent with a large amount of gold to establish Yakuza operations in America. Because he was Japanese, my father was placed in an internment camp when the war broke out. A group of soldiers suspected him of having Yakuza ties, but my father was strong and loyal. No matter how much they tortured him he wouldn’t tell them where any of the money was located.

Years after the war my father met my mother and they had me. We were living a normal life, until some retired soldiers decided to try again. They threatened me and my mother. My father didn’t want to see his family harmed so he turned over the gold. They didn’t keep to their promises and hurt my mother, she died because of them. My father had committed seppuku not long after to atone for failing the Yakuza. His disgrace then fell upon me. The Yakuza had taken me back to Japan where I was raised to kill the Americans who dishonored my Yakuza family. They had trained me in martial arts and Kyūdō, which is the Japanese art of archery.

Once I was eighteen, I left to return to America and started killing the men that disgraced me. Two of the former soldiers used the stolen gold to build a shipping business, as well as a drug trafficking operation. The blood that followed me got me into the view of a local vigilante, his name was the Green Arrow. I had evaded him for years, he even recruited, what people call metahumans, to aid him in catching me. Not even the so called fasted man alive could catch me. Our paths did cross however, an ally of his, the Black Canary, was captured by one of the men I was after. Him and his people had tortured the poor girl. I had showed up almost at the same time the Green Arrow and his team did, he even brought his little speedster friend.

“What are you doing here?” He asked me with a growl.

“Doing what I was trained to do. What are you doing here?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

“A member of my team in in there and I’m getting her back.” He said drawing his bow and aiming it at me.

“So I don’t have time for you tonight, get out of my way if you don’t want an arrow in your skull.” He growled and I smirked.

“You’d never hit me, I’m here to kill the men inside.” I said and went to go in.

“Wait!” The voice of the speedy guys said.

“What if we work together?” He asked and I raised my brow at him.

“Work together?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yeah, we all want the same thing right? So why not?” He asked and I looked at them.

“I work alone.” I said and turned my back on them.

“Extra hands couldn’t hurt.” He said and I rolled my eyes.

“If I say yes will you shut up?” I asked annoyed and he nodded.

“Fine. But I kill Lawton.” I said and the Green Arrow nodded.

“Fine.” He said and I nodded. We all went inside and did our things. The speedster distracted them, while Arrow and I shot arrows at them. He was aiming to wound, I was aiming to kill. The Green Arrow’s friend shot at them also only wounding them. Arrow went to get the girl that was tied to a chair and I saw Lawton running. I ran after him and decided to get the high ground. I ran above him and dropped down in front of him. I looked up at him with a glare and he pointed his gun at me. I grabbed it from him and knocked him to the ground. I aimed my bow at him and he looked up at me with fear.

“Please! I have a family!” He begged and I narrowed my eyes at him more.

“So did my father!” I growled and he looked at me confused. I pulled down my mask and his eyes widened.

“You’re Yao Fei’s daughter… You look like your mother…” He said shocked and I pulled my bow back more.

“Don’t you talk about my mother! Or my father!” I shouted at him, apparently this caught the attention of Green Arrow and his friends.

“You killed them! You and your friends hurt my mother and killed her! You made my father kill himself to atone for what he did!” I shouted and he cowered in fear.

“I’m sorry! Please I have a daughter!” He said and I gave a humorless chuckle.

“Then she will grow up without a father.” I said and pulled my arrow back once more.

“You die in the name of the Yakuza.” I said and released my arrow. It hit him right in the left eye and he was dead within seconds.

“That was a little harsh.” I heard the voice of speedster.

“He deserved worse.” I said pulling my arrow out.

“Awww gross!” Speedster said.

“Get over it speedster, it’s just a little blood and his eye.” I said pulling his eyeball off my arrow.

“It’s actually Flash.” He said.

“Well, I must go.” I said turning and walking away.

“Wait!” Green Arrow’s voice said.

“I’m not letting you catch me Arrow.” I said and rushed off. That was the last man. I sent his eye back to my Yakuza family and they were pleased with my work. They said my disgrace from my father was repaid. I had finished my mission and I was able to come back. I didn’t want to though, I didn’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps. I just wanted to fix his mistakes, but I had become the best of the best. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to escape this life. But because I was the best of the best, I knew I could hide from them.

Oliver’s POV

I watched as the mysterious vigilante fought with us. She was a killer, but she was amazing. She was like what I use to be, but ten times more violent. Once we took care of everyone I went to get Loreal. She was in bad shape, but she would live. Once she was safe we all heard yelling coming from one of the halls and I noticed that the girl was gone. We all followed the shouting and saw her holding a man at arrow point.

“You killed them! You and your friends hurt my mother and killed her! You made my father kill himself to atone for what he did!” She shouted and he cowered in fear.

“I’m sorry! Please I have a daughter!” He said and She gave a humorless chuckle.

“Then she will grow up without a father.” She said and pulled her arrow back once more.

“You die in the name of the Yakuza.” She said and released her arrow. It hit him right in the left eye and he was dead within seconds. My eyes widened when I heard her say Yakuza.

“That was a little harsh.” Barry said.

“He deserved worse.” She said pulling her arrow out.

“Awww gross!” Barry said looking away.

“Get over it speedster, it’s just a little blood and his eye.” She said pulling his eyeball off my arrow.

“It’s actually Flash.” Barry said.

“Well, I must go.” She said ignoring him and turned walking away.

“Wait!” I called out to her.  

“I’m not letting you catch me Arrow.” She said and rushed off.

“Who is that exactly?” Barry asked.

“I have no idea, but I think I know how to find her.” I said and we left to get Loreal help.

Y/N’s POV

It’s been a month and I’ve avoided any contact with the Yakuza. I was free. I didn’t want to give up my alter ego, well my main ego I suppose. After all this is what I was made to do. I would take care of some of the criminals in Star City, the Green Arrow wasn’t too fond of this. He’d have to catch me to make me stop and we both knew that was impossible. Or so I thought… I had gotten a lead about a criminal and was following it. Unfortunately I came to found it was false and the Green Arrow was there waiting for me with speedster.

“We meet again.” The man in green said with his deep voice.

“You set me up!” I growled and he nodded.

“So what? Gonna take me to jain now? Or am I going to have to kill you both?” I asked holding up my bow.

“Whoa! We just wanna talk!” The guy in red said with his hands up. I narrowed my eyes at him and he took off his cowl.

“See? Trust.” He said and I raised my brow. I looked at the Green Arrow and he took off his hood and mask.

“Oliver Queen? Interesting.” I said with a smirk, even though they couldn’t see it with my mask on.

“We’ve already seen your face so there’s no need for your mask.” Oliver said. I lowered my bow and took off my mask.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Your help.” He said and my eyes widened in shock.

“The Green Arrow wants my help?” I asked with a smirk.

“We need help. We can’t do it alone and we need someone skilled.” He said and my smirk grew.

“What’s in it for me?” I asked.

“The feeling like you did something good.” Barry said and I rolled my eyes.

“What’s the job?” I asked.

“We’re going after a man named Constantine Drakon. He’s an incredible martial artist and has outwitted us far too many times.” Oliver growled.

“I can tell you right now I’m way better than him.” I said and they nodded.

“That’s why we need you.” The speedy guys said.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Barry Allen.” He said with a smile.

“You look like a Barry.” I said looking at him.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Y/N Fei. But you probably know me as Shado.” I said.

“Shado. That’s what you call yourself?” Oliver asked.

“Most people don’t see me coming.” I said with a wink.

“So will you help us?” Barry asked with a small blush.

“Sure, I get to kill some baddies.” I said with a shrug and a smile.

“We’re not killing.” Oliver said and I gave him a look.

“They deserve it.” I practically growled.

“Y/N, we don’t kill.” Barry said softly and I rolled my eyes.

“Fine.” I said and they smiled.

“Well I have to go.” I said putting my mask back on and turned away from them.

“Wait how will we get in reach with you?” Barry asked. I smirked and hopped up the building next to us. I shot an arrow at their feet with my number of my burner phone on a piece of paper wrapped around it.

Three Weeks Later

The two boys were texting me nonstop. It was kind of cute. They both had asked me to help them on missions besides the one they actually asked me to help with. They were actually sweet and wanted to be friends with me. This was new to me, I never had a friend before.

Finally they told me where to meet them to talk about the mission. I arrived at the location and Barry was standing outside.

“Hey Y/N!” He said with a huge smile on his face.

“Hey Barry.” I said with a small smile.

“How are you?” He asked slightly awkwardly.

“Fine. You?” I asked.

“I’m good! I mean just catching some mettas, but I guess you knew that seeing as I am a hero and all…he…” He said scratching the back of his neck and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Did anyone ever tell you you’re adorable?” I said without thinking. He looked at me with wide eyes and a blush.

“U-um no…” He said nervously.

“Well you are.” I smiled.

“T-thanks.” He said.

“So what is this place?” I asked looking at what looked to be an abandoned building.

“Oh! This is the Arrow cave.” He said and I looked at him like he was crazy.

“This place?” I asked and he nodded.

“Come on, it’s way cooler than it looks.” He said opening the door. He walked inside and I followed him confused. He walked into what looked like an old office and smirked at me.

“This is the Arrow cave?” I asked confused.

“No, this is how we get to it.” He said and then a wall opened up to reveal an elevator.

“What the hell?” I asked shocked. Barry just smirked and walked in.

“Well, are you coming?” He asked and I nodded. I walked in next to him and he pressed a button. We went down and the doors opened up to a huge area with computers, weapons, a lab, and a few other rooms.

“This is the Arrow cave.” He said still smirking.

“Whoa…” Was all I could say.

“Oh! You two are here!” A blond girl said getting up.

“Um, who are you?” I asked confused. I’ve never seen her before.

“Oh right! I’m Felicity, the one they all call Overwatch.” She said with a kind smile.

“Right… I’m Y/N, the one they call Shado.” I said and she smiled.

“I know, you’re really incredible with a bow, ya know, minus the whole killing part.” She said and I nodded.

“The bow and martial arts is all I’ve ever known.” I said with a shrug.

“Your parents didn’t let you have fun?” She asked and I tensed up a bit.

“My parents are the reason I do what I do.” I said coldly.

“Hey, Felicity, don’t you need to check on the plan?” A man said walking over.

“Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah! Nice meeting you Y/N.” She said and walked off.

“Sorry about her, Y/N.” He said with a smile and Oliver walked over beside him.  

“It’s fine.” I said.

“Y/N, this is John Diggle.” Oliver said introducing him.

“Hello.” I said with a small smile.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, but I should go help Felicity.” He said and walked away.

“What’s the plan?” I asked Oliver and Barry.

“First, I want you to meet my team.” Barry said and dragged me away from Oliver.

“Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris.” He said and I gave a polite smile.

“You’re the girl who can shoot better than Oliver!” Cisco said.

“She is not!” I heard Oliver shout and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“I’ll out shoot you any day Arrow!” I called back with a smirk.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Caitlin said with a smile.

“Yeah, happy I can meet the girl Barry can’t stop talking about.” Iris said with a smirk.

“Iris!” Barry said with a blush.

“She’s joking, I don’t talk about you a lot.” He said and I nodded with a smirk.

“Right… It’s nice to meet you guys.” I said to his friends.

“So shouldn’t we get this plan going?” I asked.

“Yeah.” The two boys said.

We all went over the plan a few times and where everyone was going to be. Once we finally all got on the same page we all started to get ready. I grabbed the bag I brought and pulled out my costume.

“Where should I go to get dress?” I asked.

“Oh, right over there.” Oliver said pointing to a room.

“Got it.” I said and walked into the room. I put on my tight black pants, my black and red top with one sleeve so my dragon tattoos with my parents names showed, my black boots, and my black mask that covered the bottom half of my face. I put my hair up put it in a tight braid. Once I was finished I walked out and everyone was looking at me.

“You guys okay?” I asked confused as I walked over to my bag. I pulled out my bow and knives.

“Yeah, we were just waiting for you.” Barry said with a blush.

“Okay… anyway, ready to go?” I asked and everyone nodded. We all left, except for Felicity, Iris, Caitlen, and Cisco. We got to the location Felicity told us to go to, it was an abandoned warehouse.

“Barry, check the perimeter.” Oliver told him.

“On it!” He said and he was back with in seconds.

“All clear, but there are a few guys in the back room.” He said.

“I’ll take care of them. I said walking over to the building.

“No killing Shado.” Oliver said and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Arrow.” I said and hopped up the building. I walked over to the back of the building and hopped down through the skylight. There were six guys and they all looked at me shocked, I had the upper hand. I grabbed two of my knives and tossed them into two guys legs. They fell to the ground and by then the other guys came to their senses. They all took out their guns and started shooting at me. I jumped, weaved, and dodged all of them to get to a safe spot. Once I was out of their fire, I pulled my bow back and shot three of them in the knees. There would probably be permanent damage, but at least I didn’t kill them! There was only one guy left and he tried to sneak up behind me. He grabbed me and I smirked. I pulled out one of my knives and stabbed him in the arm then flipped him on his back. I pulled back my bow and shot him in the leg and his other arm. Finally they were all down and I opened the back door for everyone else.

“Whoa…” John said impressed.

“This was nothing.” I said with a shrug.

“You’re one hell of a girl.” Barry and Oliver said at the same time. I smirked and then they glared at each other.

“Guys, Constantine just arrived.” Felicity’s voice ran through our ears.

��We’re on it Overwatch.” Oliver said still glaring at Barry.

“Come on boys, you can fight later.” I said with a smirk, they couldn’t see it with my mask on. They snapped out of it and we all went to our positions.

“Everyone ready?” Oliver asked.

“Yep.” Barry said.

“In position.” John said.

“Ready.” I said with my bow at the ready.

“On my go.” Oliver said. We waited for a few minutes and then he jumped down. We took out the little guys while Oliver was dealing with Constantine. Once they were all dealt with, Oliver was on the ground with Constantine’s foot on his throat.

“Barry!” I shouted and he looked at Oliver. He nodded and ran at Constantine ready to take him down, but he was punched in the face.

“Goddamnit!” I growled. I jumped down and shot my bow at him. He caught it and looked at me with a smirk. He got off Oliver and ran at me. He grabbed me by my throat and lifted me off the ground. He looked at my exposed arm and then back at my face.

“Yao Fei… Your father?” He asked like I could answer. I glared at him which he took as a yes, by his smirk.

“You’re Yakuza.” He smirked again.

“You’re going to be one of my finest kills.” He said and I smirked. I grabbed one of my knifes and plunged it into his side. He dropped me and I took a deep breath.

“Not today.” I said and he growled.

“You’ll pay for that!” He shouted, but before he could even get up Barry put handcuffs on him.

“You’re never going to hurt anyone ever again.” He growled and Oliver walked over. He shoved him against a pole and shot rope to tie him to it.

“Overwatch. Tell the police they have some guys here.” Oliver said and she notified them. We all left and went back to the Arrow cave so everyone could get looked over.

“Y/N, we should really check you out.” Barry said.

“I’m fine.” I said undoing my braid and letting my hair down.

“You were almost killed.” Oliver said and I rolled my eyes.

“If you think that was almost killed you’re insane.” I said looking at the two boys.

“You’ve had worse done?” Barry asked shocked and worried.

“I was part of the Yakuza Bar, their training is serious.” I said and Oliver looked at me.

“I thought you were part of the Yakuza?” He asked.

“I was, I’ve been hiding from them for months now. I cleared the wrongs my father did to them the night you got your friend back. They wanted me back in Japan, but I do not wish to follow in my father’s footsteps.” I said and they looked at me.

“I’ll keep you safe!” They both said at the same time then glared at each other again. I smirked.

“I don’t need protection, but thanks anyway.” I said.

“Well if you ever need a place to hideout, this place is yours.” Oliver said.

“No way! Star labs is way safer and in another city!” Barry said.

“Right… Well thanks for the offers, but I don’t think I’ll need them.” I said smiling.

“See ya Arrow, Speedster.” I said picking up my bag and walking away.

“You know they’re both head over heels in love with you right?” Iris asked when I walked by her. I looked back at the boys and sighed.

“Yeah, but relationships and friendships are just more people you can lose, or people can use against you.” I said and walked out of the Arrow cave. I can’t be with anyone. I’m just a shadow in the background. Someone no one can actually know…

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @xrosesareredx @herokyolachan @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @alex--awesome--22 @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @tigermillionaire-philanthropist @marveloverdcsstuff   

[mlmdarkfiction]

Oh man I'm so into Josh Washington (I just rlly love Rami Malek tbh) and that short fic you wrote was so good!!! Would it be okay to ask if you could add/write more? I'm totally down for it getting darker (I'm not the original anon btw) also I totally love your blog!!! (P.S. I haven't seen BtD and I have no idea who Strade is but that "you're doing so good buddy!" murder scene you wrote reminds me SO MUCH of Trager from Outlast and it's def a 10/10 from me)

Dude agreed, I was talking recently and I wouldnt say I have a celebrity crush on anyone but if i had to pick it’d absolutely be Rami Malek tbh. I’m totally down for writing continuations of fics, this sadly didn’t get very dark, and kinda still left it to interpretation and where it can get continued so maybe it will lol

also that Strade piece is like…one of my favorite things I’ve written tbh?Tag List: @datenightfrightPart One: Here

Read Bellow:

The first thing you do after the realization is call your best friend Ashley. She’s able to calm you down, thankfully, after all she’s okay friends with Josh and Chris, and explains that it’s not all that weird. In all likelihood she’d probably mentioned where you lived once or twice, and Josh just remembered, according to her he’s good at remembering little details like that.

Thanks to her you’re able to spend the rest of the day in relative ease. You call someone to tow your car from the school parking lot toy our house until you can bother to get it looked like, do homework, and relax. A part of the time there’s a nagging guilt in the back of your mind.

From here on out you have to be nicer to Josh. After all he helped you today, even though he was under no obligation too, and for free.

-

You wake early the next morning wanting to prepare for the obnoxiously tedious, but totally doable walk to school. However when you open the door to leave you’re met face to face with Josh Washington. He looks equally surprised to see you, even though it’s obviously your house, and he looks to be mid knock.

Transfering your hanging poptart from your mouth to your hand, you finally ask,

“Josh? What are you doing here?”

He looks like he’s been caught doing something he’s not supposed to, eyes looking everywhere but you, and you have to admit, in a weird way, it’s cute.

“I just thought…if you couldn’t drive your car home yesterday, you probably didn’t have a ride to school today so…I thought I’d give you a ride?”

Oh.

Yeah, he’s much more thoughtful than you had originally thought. You really do have to be nicer to him from now on.

“That’s really sweet Josh.”

He seems to perk up entirely at your words.

-

Your cars been in the shop a whole week now. Meaning that you’ve been going to and from school with Josh for a whole week.

Despite what you may have originally thought about him, you’ve actually found yourself growing closer to him, and liking him. Hell, you’d even go as far as to call the two of you friends.

Still, aside from the rides, and the couple of classes the two of you share with one another you hadn’t actually seen eachother often, or really outside of school at all.

That’s why it’s kind of surprising to you when Josh stops you before you get out of his car this time.

“Hey, ____?”“Yeah?”“Would you want to like…see a movie with me this weekend?”

Does he mean like a date? Or just as friends?

Really, you aren’t sure, but…you don’t think you’d mind if it was a date.

Grinning, you decide to take the initiative,

“Sure…It’s a date!”

Not giving him time to react to your comment, or be forced to deal with your own humiliation, you practically bolt out of the car and up the steps to the home.

You’re still grinning, feeling bubbly and happy from the daring action and the butterflies in your stomach. You notice the light on the phone blinking, and with a sigh, let go of your happiness to check the message left behind on the voice mail.

It’s from the mechanic.

You don’t care to listen to the full thing after you hear it will take even longer for them to fix it, you delete the message, and move on.

However that just means you missed the part when the repairman mentions it looks like someone specifically sabotaged your car.

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

Gonna write my scatterbrained Spicy Hot Takes on Agartha before the news is stale and I delete this annoying and boring chapter from my mental landscape, so bear with me:

I think Agartha’s main issue was just straight up poor writing. The Japanese direct translations being as downright offensive as they were is one thing - but overall, the chapter is just one plot contrivance after another. It tries so, so hard to go for a certain tone but can’t seem to stick to any one thing or idea. Disregarding themes about sexuality probably would have been the very best way to go about this chapter, since I think the most interesting part was the theme about storytelling and in-authenticity - we all know that That Line was annoying af in a game like FGO, but it CAN work in a series like Fate as a whole. I had a helluva long day at work so allow me to explain in the least scatter-brained way I can manage right now:

Here’s what I’m thinking: Scheherazade, whose name I guarantee I will spell wrong/differently every time I write it even though I’ve been able to pronounce it properly since I was thirteen (I was in a speaking competition and told some of the Thousand and One Nights using her framework as the opening monologue, long story short ANYWAY -) is traumatized by her ordeal with the king. This is a really good and interesting thing to explore! Fitting it in with the theme of storytelling - Scheherazade is deeply afraid of dying and will do whatever it takes to live, so she makes a fantasy world and fills it with legends, and feeds their energy to a Holy Grail. With this, and the power of a Demon God at her side, she plans to reveal magic to the human world in the most destructive fashion possible, allowing the fantastic to become ordinary, and destroying the Throne of Heroes itself in the process. Fate is a series were stories have power - but Scheherazade survived basically by telling the most fantastical, interesting tales she could and never finishing them. She always would pause in the middle, and say, “That’s all for tonight.” I think this is the kind of thing we can run with in terms of setting.

Dahut is the weirdest example because it’s the one story in the chapter that I know next to nothing about. At one point it’s mentioned that Dahut is impossible to summon as a Servant, and so Drake was “forced” into the role of the Pirate Princess. Ys is probably the weakest part of the chapter for that, but I did like the idea of her being “Drake Alter,” where Drake vibrantly pursues her goals and desires but takes nothing for granted; Dahut gives into her every whim and takes absolutely everything for granted. The conflict between “Drake” and “Dahut” should have been emphasized more instead of having the player/Da Vinci dismiss her as “Oh, it’s not Drake, except when she conveniently comes back to delivery us the MacGuffins Ex Machina in the eleventh hour.” Dahut has little connection to Drake - it’s not her story, but a role she was forced into because Scheherazade was building a very specific kind of world. Therefore it is inauthentic. Perhaps that’s all it needs to be in this context. 

This can also work with the Amazons. Scheherazade never told stories of the Amazons, but she has access to basically all stories in the world through her Noble Phantasm - she learns that they are a society of warrior women who live without men, and so decides that they will be a society which oppresses men due to her fear/bitterness towards men after the ordeal she suffered through. The “oppressing men” plotline was honestly dumb all around but using the Amazons as a mechanism to explore Scheherazade's trauma would’ve been more interesting than just having them be the Big Bad before the Big Bad Columbus Reveal: Scheherazade doesn’t like fighting, but wishes that she had been strong enough to protect herself. Because she views herself as a coward and her ordeal with the king has complicated her view of sexuality - “I’m better suited to a bedchamber than a battlefield” - she uses the Amazons of Agartha as a mechanism to cope. 

This brings us to Wu, whose design I’m still not happy about even though I think the in-story justification is somewhat fair. (Let Helena and Wu be gray-haired grannies together or so help me!) Wu was absolutely an authoritarian ruler who did, in fact, invade and conquer several nations and institute a terrifying network of secret police. In her later life, she was given to decadence - but her tenure on the throne showed her to be a highly competent administrator. Notably, she ruled over an era of religious tension and balanced matters quite well, and though she was accused of undoing meritocracy to put her supporters into power, many of the men she appointed held positions in government long after she’d died because they were actually good at their jobs. Wu has been heavily mythologized over the years - later Tang emperors and Neo-Confucian scholars wrote her off (Wu founded her own dynasty under her own name, so they kind of had to legitimize it somehow), she became associated the nine-tailed fox spirit thanks to a few popular novels and poems, etc., etc., etc. The crazy thing is that Wu actually left very few records of herself behind, apart from some poems. Even the inscription on her tomb is blank! People can say whatever they want about her - it’s extremely difficult to know the full truth of the matter without any objective observers in the field (and without Wu’s own words to give context/another story), especially if you don’t read any Chinese. 

BTW - the first thing I learned history class is that when you’re dealing with primary sources, you must always remember that translators have agendas. Every word is a deliberate choice, and it changes the meaning from the original text. When dealing with historical documents, this is not always a good thing. 

Scheherazade reads some, but not all of these stories, and integrates Wu into her world as the sadist empress with an iron grip on her decadent mythical city. 

Do you see what I’m getting at here? It’s a lot, but I’m not done. Now we have to deal with Columbus - there’s “In Defense of Columbus” video is floating around in the Agartha tag, but I haven’t watched it in full and haven’t done like, any intensive research on Columbus in particular, so I’m going to apologize right now for any historical inaccuracies/misconceptions that I’m about to write. The point I want to make here mainly is that Columbus, like Wu, has been heavily, heavily mythologized for both good and evil at various points. The thing about Columbus that is also interesting is that the authenticity of his journals is or was apparently a subject of debate. The man who published most of them actually happened to be Bartolomew de las Casas - one of the founders/first vocal supporters of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The reason de la Casas supported this is because he believed that using African labor would be an improvement over enslaving the native populations of the New World. Soon after, he had a change of heart and devoted the rest of his life to fighting against slavery in all forms. De la Casas went on to be named a saint, and was possibly the first person in history to propose the idea of universal human rights - which is how I had heard of him until literally just this afternoon; I had no idea he’d ever supported the slave trade until I was looking up basic info about Columbus’s writings so I could write this long-ass post. History is full of complicated people. 

But as I mentioned in Wu’s bit, it’s very important to note that in many ways, Columbus is literally just whatever people decide he is. Like, he never even set foot in any land that would become the United States, and yet he’s a huge symbol here! Along these lines, his amnesia would fit the theme of inauthentic storytelling, choosing what to read and what to believe in. Columbus regaining his memories was an understated moment, which is actually fucking fantastic because it could be used to really emphasize the choice that is being made here. He’s a Heroic Spirit who can choose to be whatever he wants. He can choose to be the simple hero-explorer that schoolchildren sing about, or he can choose to be the Big Bad, the first and perhaps most infamous conquistador. And he chooses to be the bad guy. That is so fuckin’ fantastic, y’all! I honest to God love that not only did FGO portray Columbus as a villain of history but that the bad reputation is something he chooses to maintain! I can write a list of Servants who were less than stellar people and got a makeover for Fate. Nero is probably one of the worst examples but like - Ozymandias absolutely owned slaves in his life as a pharaoh. Hercules and Medea murdered their own children. Asterios literally ate humans as the Minotaur. Gilles de Rais exists as a playable character. Jack the Ripper is your daughter. Hell, Nobunaga burned temples with the monks still inside - but she feels bad about it now! Enough digressing but I a hundred percent get why Japanese fans found Columbus “refreshing” at his introduction. He owns his cruelty, his desire to exploit others - he challenges the narrative that everyone is redeemable because he doesn’t even want to be redeemed, he just wants to get rich and famous, and he doesn’t give a shit who he steps over in the process! Like, Columbus said, “I’m just doing what comes naturally,” at one point when he still had amnesia, so when he got his memory back and turned on the player, I really would’ve liked for him to say is something like, “You’ve already decided that I’m the bad guy, right? You know my story, and I’m nothing if not a man of my word.”

These kinds of questions/debates could have been used to emphasize the themes of Agartha. Legends are what people decide they are. People make choices and history decides whether they were good or evil or important retroactively. Can you know what someone is like by reading a translation of their poetry? Can you judge a king’s reign by the words of their successors or their rivals? Does the context of a story matter? This all could have been super interesting to explore!

Like I said, the main theme of Agartha being “inauthentic storytelling” could have been hella, hella good considering that this is a world created by Scheherazade’s fears and trauma feeding into her escapist desires. But Minase’s incompetence as a writer made everything so hamfisted and awkward that everything just suffered under his desire to insert his fetishes at every moment. It was so obvious that he didn’t read any material for old Fate characters - like Astolfo you poor sweet thing, you deserved so much better! - and even the new characters that he clearly did research on, like Columbus, fell flat because he couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say beyond mildly-to-extra offensive sex jokes.

[wisebrokenwallflower]

bangtan fic rec

I can be kind of particular when it comes to what I’ll read and I hold a special appreciation for well-written fics with good plot and dynamic characters. I’ve started to accumulate a fair number of fics in my bookmarks, so I think it’s time I start sharing some gems with whoever cares. I highly recommend all of these since I think they are all beautiful in their own unique ways, but I will list the ships. I know certain things can be triggering to some people, so please read the fic tags in case.

the italics are my thoughts, the normal text is the official summary, bolded fics are the ones that had significant impacts on me and or I feel discuss something really important

(this may or may not kind of be an open love letter to all the authors on here lol)

same damn hunger by marienadine [Yoonseok]

When it comes to fucking around with his best friend, Yoongi follows two rules:

1. They must be inebriated.

2. They must not kiss.

okay this fic is heartbreaking? it’s really smutty, but it’s also super poetic and angsty. it’s just really good, I’ve read it a ton of times : ))

Let’s Not Hurt Anymore by exfatamorgana [Namjin]

They don’t talk about it, and usually no one thinks to ask. But if you did, Namjoon and Seokjin would tell. They aren’t keeping secrets, and if you asked them, they’d answer. It just so happens that on a Sunday, not much different from any other Sunday, the other boys think to ask.

So how do two people who are always together end up… together?

two things: 1) this fic is part of a larger series, but I have not read the other parts 2) you do need an ao3 account to read this fic.

besides that, this fic is so beautiful and holds an extra special place in my heart. this fic isn’t really about Jin and Namjoon, it’s more about everything else surrounding their romantic relationship; their friendship, their internal struggles, the other impactful people in their lives. it’s about their personal journeys, but the fic is also a platform to discuss some really important issues in a very thoughtful way. I’m not sure how to explain it well, but even though this fic is really sad at times, the parts that made me cry were the hopeful ones, the parts that made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

I Don't Regret a Thing by  HeavenlyHell [Yoonseok]

Hoseok is a host working in a shadier part of town, living in a small apartment complex just away from the main and busy buzz of the big city. All he really was planning to do was get some gross food and continue his gross life, but he also manages to spot a very gross (and bloody, which is gross) body on the ground. Except, the body is alive, and upon closer inspection, isn't as gross as it seems.

this fic is actually kind of funny and cute. if you want something lighter (especially compared to the previous two) this is a good option. also I want Yoongi’s hair.

Creating a Home by CheekyBrunette [Namjin]

(I didn’t put an official summary for this one because it’s actually a series)

Foster Care AU- it’s literally the softest, cutest, sweetest thing you will ever read oh my god I love kid fics so much they’re so cute. this one actually deals with some heavy stuff since it’s the foster care system, and so there’s tough situations that put them in the system, but many of the kids also find new difficulties once they’re in the system. but seriously, nothing will make your heart suffer more than little kid bangtan. btw, Namjin are the parents. IT’S SO FLUFFY. like, even when Jin is losing his mind and it feels like shit is falling apart, it is immediately fluffy after.

On Patrol by  Ragi [Jikook/Yoonseok/Namjin]

Officer Jeon has his eyes on Mr. Adorable.

Officer Min has a strange neighbor he can't seem to keep out of his life.

Captain Kim finds comfort in his son's homeroom teacher.

Well, cops need some loving too, right?

that’s the summary for part 1, but it’s actually a two-part series. the summary makes it sound super fluffy, but there’s actually a fair amount of violence and angst. it’s all happy in the end though, don’t worry. (I basically only read fics with happy endings) also, kid Tae is so cuteee.

i've been drinking, i've been drinking by decompositionbooks [Jikook]

Jungkook tries to figure Jimin out with Yoongi's trademarked "What Your Drink Says About You" alcohol psychoanalysis.

All he knows is that Jimin likes fruity little drinks.

this one is really cute and a little sad. the best part of this fic for me was the fact that it really improved my knowledge of drinks lol

doubt thou the stars are fire by iwillalwaysbelieve [Jikook/Yoonseok]

Jeon Jeongguk's got a Reputation™. Park Jimin learns how to not give a shit about it. 

this one is really short but really cute : )

White Chalk by g_odalisque13 [Taegi]

Yoongi had been aware of the shadow for as long as he could remember.

Sometimes he went months without feeling like it was just a few steps behind him or waiting around the next corner. But no matter how long he was able to avoid it, it always came back. Always.

It's 1993, and Yoongi is a music major starting his sophomore year in college. A bunch of stupid dares from his friends aren't supposed to turn his world upside down. Then again, maybe it's not the dares. Maybe it's just Taehyung.

I don’t know how to effectively describe how much I love this fic, but I love this fic so damn much. it’s just so well written and funny and genuine and it’s really honest and nice and it makes me happy

tie the knot by jivenchys (bareJinerals) [Jikook]

Either stay married to an arrogantly conceited billionaire for one year and get a million dollars in return, or drown in his father’s debt with the risk of ending up on the streets. Signing the prenup suddenly seems harder than it looks.

mate let me tell you, this is the slowest fucking slowburn you will ever read in the history or slowburn. every other fic on this list is complete except for this one, but even though this one is still in progress, it’s so fucking good that it’s definitely worth the wait. I have not felt excitement equivalent to that when I saw that this fic was updated recently. even though it’s still in progress, this is one of my all time favorites

hey, you never walk alone by deuxoiseaux [Yoonseok]

"Are you stalking me, or something?" Hoseok demands, more than loud enough for his voice to carry to the roof of the two-story building overhead. "This is seriously the fourth time I've seen you today alone! What is your deal? Why are you always everywhere I go lately?"

The man in the red and blue suit peeks down at Hoseok from the rooftop ledge. "...I thought I was being stealthy," he answers, and Hoseok can hear the pout in his voice even with his face hidden behind that mask. It's kind of endearing, even if it's still annoying.

(or: the spiderman au nobody asked for but exists now, i guess)

this is so cute! it’s a really short fic, but I love the characterizations a lot : )

a sugar coated pill and a pick me up by whomstisthis [Namjin]

As Namjoon stood slightly removed from the scene, bemusedly watching the six-year-olds swarm around his cooler (which he had borrowed from his mom), he didn’t even notice that someone had sidled up next to him until he heard the tiny, but undoubtedly exasperated, huff.

He followed the sound, turning his head to the right. A guy was standing there, arms crossed, lips pursed. He let out another huff, louder this time, but only slightly.

Namjoon refused to acknowledge him. What the fuck was this guy’s deal? Was he really that bitter that his six-year-old just lost a soccer game for six-year-olds?

One more huff from the guy.

He was beginning to think this guy’s lips were just perpetually pursed and would simply never, ever unpurse themselves, when he, the guy, finally unpursed his lips to speak.

“I just think it’s pretty irresponsible to bring Gatorade to a soccer game for first graders,” he said, huffily, “No offense.”

(or: namjin are soccer dads who fall in luv)

kid!tae and kid!kook are friends and it’s really cute and also I love Jin and Joon’s banter. also, this is explicitly set in new york, which makes for an interesting cultural cross. (and completely unrelated, this fic taught me about Richard Siken, who is a heart wrenching poet)

Of Lace Panties and Accidental Magic by jonghyunslisterine [Jikook]

In which a meddlesome teenage witch makes a considerable mistake mixing her potions.

(Or; Jungkook can't lie, Jimin's not looking like himself, and everyone knows Jungkook's in love with Jimin - except Jimin.)

this one of the few cisgirl!bangtan fics that I like (even though Jimin’s not technically a girl). often the whole “bangtan as girls au” thing feels kind of forced, but here Jimin’s gender thing is actually constructive to the fic rather than distracting. it’s really cute and jikook are a whole mess but it’s fine

hounds of love by fitzgarbage [Namjin]

Seokjin hasn't been back in a long time.

it’s kind of melancholy but it’s really well written. the last tag is “some characters are sad”. yeah. a large part of this fic is about growth and self discovery and I think that’s really why I like it.

girls just want to have fun by fitzgarbage [Yoonseok/Vmin/Namjin/Jinkook]

“Namjoon told me you’d probably be haunting a corner. I didn’t know what he meant, but I think I get it now.” He’s breathing hard. “I knew you right away. You look really good, by the way.”

transgender, intersex, and nb characters. I have a lot of things to say about this fic but my brain isn’t really working right now so I may end up having to make a separate post. I just have a lot of things to say about this fic. there are some fics that aren’t just enjoyable to read, they’re also important to read. that’s this. fair warning, you’re going to want to wrap everyone in blankets and protect them from the world forever after you’re done reading this.

Internecine by jawsbar (GryfoTheGreat) [Yoonseok]

Everyone gets a soulmate. You don't get a choice in the matter. Fate decides who you love, whether you like it or not, and to her credit, she usually gets it right.

This time, Fate fucks up. Like, majorly.

(Or: Failed idol Jung Hoseok is bonded to the very person who destroyed his dream.)

HOLY SHIT. SO FUCKING GOOD. READ THIS. JUST DO IT. I DON’T CARE IF IT TAKES YOU A WEEK. JUST DO IT. there’s a lot of real issues within the industry that the author talks about and it’s things that you might already know about and things that you may not know about. it’s really informative and beautiful and amazing and just go read it. (also the author is a sweetheart, super nice person : ))

harvest moon, recall your youth by blackranger (robpatFF)[Taegi/Namseok/Jikookjin]

“How drunk was I?” Yoongi asks. “Did I seriously tell you my whole life story before we hooked up?”

“No,” Taehyung giggles. “Silly Min Yoongi. You told me your life story before we got married. Then we fucked. Like a honeymoon, you know?”

Or, Yoongi and Taehyung get drunk married in Las Vegas.

the taegi is really sweet and the namseok is nice too

the waiting game by bonnia [Jikook]

It’s a waiting game. Jimin knows that Jungkook doesn’t have to come back, but with every little touch, every time Jungkook does, and every time Jungkook lies down right next to him, pressed up close, torturously warm and smelling like cigarette smoke and cologne, Jimin can’t help but feel like he could — would — wait years just for Jungkook to come back to him again.

(Or: In which Jimin is a prostitute and Jungkook is his favourite customer.)

it’s really sad and then it’s really sweet. Kookie is a sweetheart and Jimin needs a hug

boy, you got my heartbeat runnin' away by 777335

Summer before his third year, Hoseok says he wants to move out of the dorms and Yoongi replies easily, “My lease is almost up, wanna get a place together?”

Hoseok can’t speak for a second, just wants.

“Seok?” Yoongi says, pushing his glasses up with the heel of his hand, tongue poking into his cheek nervously. “We don’t— we don’t have to, never mind.”

“No,” Hoseok says, taking the half step to their table, sliding Yoongi’s beer toward him, settling on his stool with his caipirinha. He chews on the straw. “No, no,” he can feel the smile breaking across his face, “that sounds great, that sounds really nice. Holy shit, yeah, let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” A shy smile touches the corners of Yoongi’s mouth. “Yeah? Okay. We could get a couch for Holly.”

//

or hoseok and yoongi meet on the internet, become friends, both end up in seoul, become better friends, move in together, and then eat some pancakes. oh, also they make out.

it’s really cute! they’re so sweet and they actually communicate and it’s nice and they kind of remind me of my relationship with someone very close to me ; )

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I have some more recs, but I wanted to post these so that this didn’t sit in my drafts forever lol. happy reading! dm me if you love any of these a lot and we can gush together : )))

[garyfuckingking]

My 10 pages long essay and Powerpoint on The World’s End and Gary King

(aka why The World’s End and Gary King are two of the most precious things that exist, aka why I love The World’s End and Gary King)

(Based on my own original idea and written after I read this post - @ineverhadadoubt thanks again for sending it to me-

Also please check out this amazing post about the pubs in the movie.)

(I thought I’d tag some people that seemed to agree with my original post and might be interested in reading this. It’s fine if you don’t btw: @smashing-anarchist-poet @jessefandomunited @shakespeareanmemes @jesusinanalcove @aknownlegend @snovyda @smuggsy @immortal-gamora @doodlerdoodle @zane-garrett @lady-dragonfruit @nogoatshere  @hum4n3rror @theforceawakcns @duskteeth - wasn’t gonna tag everyone, some I couldn’t even tag so that’ll do-)

Before I begin, I’d like for you to be aware of a few things. 

First off, this is gonna be a very very veeeeeery long post so bare with me if you can. I’m probably gonna keep apologizing for the lenght of it in between two things I’m talking about but I’m passionate, sorry.

It’s also a very big post because there’s pictures and a lot of gifs tbh. 

Like... i think like, don’t even try to read this on your phone? Idk what it will do to it. tumblr mobile ain’t that strong i think

There’s so much to be said about this movie.

TW: There’s going to be mentions of suicide, depression, addiction, ...

Also, I’m probably going to forget a lot of the points I’d like to illustrate and talk about, that’s one of the downsides of running on a three hours of sleep schedule. 

You can check the tags for some trivia on this whole post.

So if anyone wants to add something, feel free. I’d love for people to give me their opinion on the movie, etc. 

I’m also probably not gonna mention the direction of the movie too much. I love Edgar Wright with all my stone-cold heart but if I have to talk about how much of a fucking genius he is when it comes to comedy and his movies, we’re literally gonna be there all week, plus I’m not actually planning on writing a 10 pages long essay -or am I?-.

If you haven’t seen the movie, SPOILER ALERT. Seriously though. There’s some stuff in the movie you probably don’t want to know by reading this if you’re planning on watching it and I’m going to talk about everything so.

Finally, I’m going to talk about why I think the movie is not as popular as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and the rest will mostly be about Gary King and why he’s a great character but also why he’s an important one.

Well. Let’s go. This is gonna be a wild ride.

In this essay, I will...

Ok, in all seriousness.

So I guess there’s supposed to be an introduction here. This is very unprofessionnal, and I’ve learned how to write essays so shame on me. Oh, well. We’re here to talk about Gary Fucking King. It’s ok if it’s a mess, the guy’s a living mess on his own. So, when Simon Pegg comes to mind, the Cornetto Trilogy usually does as well. At least, the first movie that you probably think of is Shaun of the Dead. And often, Hot Fuzz is mentionned as well. But I never ever hear anything about the World’s End. God, even Stephen Colbert got the name wrong while talking to Simon, calling it “The End of the World”. Granted the movie wasn’t the subject, but... Why did it happen? Why is The World’s End seen as “the weakest one”, as “not as good as the first two”, is the one people don’t remember, and is assimilited to other weird claims of the sort? 

I personally feel like it’s because it’s more layered than the other two movies, actually, it’s a bit more complicated. I’m not saying here “if you didn’t get it you’re dumb” or “only smart people will get the message”. Not at all. I had to watch it a couple of times before I started to get a lot of things about Gary and the movie in general, and even today, when I watch it, I notice new things and tiny details that I never realized were there before. That happens with the whole trilogy because the three movies are amazingly well done, but I feel like it’s harder to grasp with The World’s End. But why? 

I think it’s because we directly know what Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are about. The three movies are about more than an apocalyptic scenario or living surrounded by a cult made of murderers. There’s always a message behind the main themes. 

With Shaun of the Dead, it’s kind of a given, really. The little introduction of the environment shows you that it looks like the town is filled with z****es before they even actually arrive and just with that, the scene is set, we know what -behind the parody and other elements of the film- Simon and Edgar decided to criticize about society (it becomes deeper with Shaun’s character but I’ll get to that later, same with Angel).

In Hot Fuzz, the critic of society is a bit more subtle, but still there for people to see. That’s the point right? Send a message without making you feel like you’re “being thaught a lesson”, or something like that, and these movies do it brilliantly. Because that’s the thing. People watching the Cornetto Trilogy sit down in front of their screen to have a good time, have a laugh and go one with their day. But The World’s End is different. It’s still extremely funny, but it doesn’t give off the same vibe as SotD and HF. You feel like there’s something more, you feel that it’s actually a tragic movie. 

Yes, it still has the same kind of message, here with how much of a fuck up a human being can be, how humans are stubborn even if they make mistakes, but that it’s part of life and a word with “perfect beings” wouldn’t necessarily be better. It’s about growing up and accepting that you have to leave your childhood or teenage years at some point, and all that stuff surrounding these themes. You think it was the better part of your life, but often... it isn’t (again, I’ll come back to this later). It’s just harder to grasp because of the tone and maybe because people don’t like to hear this kind of things.

So the problem is, people often miss (or dismiss) the point. 

I don’t think you know about this but there’s this French website called Betaseries. 

On it, you can have an account and have a list with the tv shows you’re currently watching or the films you’ve watched or want to watch.

You can download subtitles for the new episodes you wanna watch if you need them, you can rate movies, comment to give your opinion, you can tick which episodes you’ve seen so that you can keep track of what you’re watching and not forget where you’re at, etc. Pretty useful website, I’m always on it.

So, I obviously went to see what people thought of The World’s End. It’s got a good enough rating, really, 3.62 out of 5 stars. It’s not a four or a five but only because of two users who didn’t like it all that much. So I read their reviews. One was a 2/5 and one was a 3/5: 

“To summarize the movie: the world is invaded by a pacifist extra-terrestrial entity that kills human to exchange them with clones but that accept to leave the planet if you ask (with insults, please!) ???

To use one of the movie’s favorite expression: WTF?????!!!!!

I liked the story of “Shaun of the Dead” better ^^”

“Having liked "Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, I was impatient to see Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s new movie, unfortunately, it isn’t as “good” as the last two. Technically perfect, the story drags on and the mid-life crisis Simon Pegg’s character goes through becomes tedious after some time… but not everything’s good for the trash! The English humor is really present, the play-on-words, the references… you don’t mind watching it. I feel like you need to watch it a second time to appreciate its real worth.

Naturally, watching it in VO is absolutely necessary.”

The other people that commented had all 4 or 5 stars and were only saying that the movie was very funny, therefore enjoyable and good.

I think that’s the thing. When you think “Cornetto Trilogy”, you think “having a good time”. You watch it, you can see that there’s a message behind it, but you don’t spend your time focusing on it or looking for it, because it’s usually pretty simple to get. You pay more attention to the comedy, the references, etc.  

And that is where The World’s End becomes different. It’s not focused on the comedy or the references (well, yes it is and it’s still incredibly funny, it was meant to be), but you have to focus on what is actually going on with Gary King to get it all. That’s why the big meanie leaves “just because they asked”. Remember what it says before leaving (and destroying the world btw)?

That’s something that’s been said to Gary a few times throughout the movie, but here, it’s clearly aimed at the three of them, hence at the humans, because they’re speaking for their entire race. That’s why it leaves. Because the message is “it’s pointless arguing with humans, they’re going to do whatever they want anyway, you can’t change their mind, etc., they have to learn thanks to their own mistakes so you have to let them make them, not force them to be perfect.” This kind of things. 

But when you read the reviews above... These are the only two reviews where you can see that they really tried to get what was going on, but maybe missed it, and because of that, they didn’t like the movie all that much and rated it badly. Gary King isn’t just going through “a mid-life crisis”. He really isn’t. There is so much more to him that it drives me actually crazy that this movie isn’t as praised as the rest of the trilogy. Literally nuts.

With that being said, I think it’s time to really get into who Gary King is, why he is such an amazing character and why there’s more to him than a “mid-life crisis”. So I’m going to talk about him (obviously), about his effect on others, about his relationship with his friends, his addiction, etc., and why it just makes the plot so much better. I hope you’re still with me. And that it’s been understandable up to this point because I really can’t express my ideas the way I want to easily, sorry about that.

The Cornetto trilogy doesn’t just have these hidden messages, morals, … A common thing between these movies is that the characters played by Simon Pegg are all flawed. They’re just flawed human beings. And these characters have to work on themselves to become better. The plot is usually what makes them realize things and help them grow to become their best self.

In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun is going nowhere with his life, he’s stuck in a routine with a dead-end job and a relationship he’s screwing up because Liz is the only one working on it. It’s not that he hates his life, but he doesn’t do anything to make it better either, he doesn’t really see the point. . He’s just there so he does what he’s got to do, but he doesn’t get out of his way to do more. And like Pete says, Shaun needs to sort his life out and do something. Here, killing z****e is apparently the way to a healthy and more positive life. (and no, I will not say the z-word and you shouldn’t either)

In Hot Fuzz, Nicholas Angel puts his work before anything else. That’s why his very serious relationship ended, it even caused him to be disliked by his colleagues and superiors. Like Janine says, he won’t ever be able to turn off if he doesn’t find someone he cares about more than his job. And throughout the movie, you see how Nicholas becomes, but also how other characters become thanks to him. I could talk about this masterpiece, about the foreshadowing in it and especially about Danny Butterman for hours on end but I’m not here for that today.

Also, Shaun had Pete to tell him what was wrong with him. Nicholas had Janine to tell him what was wrong with him. Who does that for Gary King? Because again, Gary is a very flawed character who needs to change as well. But first, we have to ask ourselves one question:

Who is Gary King?

Let’s get some answers.

Well, I’d give you a lot of answers if I had them but… we don’t really know much about Gary King, do we? Well, what we know about his past is what he told the people in the rehabilitation session. That he was The King. But it’s only later on in the movie that we’re able to get new details about him that help us get a clearer idea of who he is. 

The King, the leader of their little group, the popular kid, is also selfish and self-centered. He’s injured his friends with his reckless behavior, he injured himself, he was already a heavy drinker and was using drugs. We don’t know much about his real past, about his family, or else. We know he hasn’t spoken to his mother in eight months when the movie takes place. He arrived in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt but hasn’t told anyone, clearly. His mother doesn’t even know. He doesn’t like the way the hospital was “helping” him and after a quick decision, he got out of it to regroup his old friends and make an attempt at the Golden Mile again. 

We know he isn’t happy. He’s bitter and sad, clinging onto a past he thinks better than anything else he could ever have. Addicted for most of his life and depressed to the point where he tried to kill himself. In the movie, he clearly just tries to reassure himself about his life, always lying to himself and to others.

Whenever reality catches up to him, he shies away from it, he’s not even able to look at Andy anymore. And the problem is, his friends are the reality and he’s the lie. He’s convinced himself of things so much that he believes in them and he can’t hear another version of the events that have happened, he needs to keep his embellished memories intact because he’d rather believe in a lie than in what he is.

He desperately needs the attention, because he’s so alone. He needs to live in his lie, to relive that great night, that moment when he could seduce Oliver’s sister, when his friends would have followed him to the end of the world, to finally prove himself right. And like Andy says, he’s never wrong, is he? He’d rather lie about his mother dying than face rejection and where he’s at. He’d rather have people stay with him because they pity him than because they want to be with him.

He lies about it as a last attempt to convince Andy to come along to Newton Haven, after also giving him money he had been owning him. (I’ll talk about the rest of this scene later on, it’s a very important thing to mention.)

And then, when reality is thrown at his face by Andy again, he miserably tries to get his sympathy once more, despite Andy not having it:

Just after that scene and right before they find out the truth about his mother, Peter says “I can’t help but feel sorry for him”, what Gary intended to do. He manipulates and is upset that things don’t go his way, no matter for what reason he is actually manipulating them. He wouldn’t admit it’s because he’s lonely and unhappy and that because he needs them to feel better, he’s fine with hurting their feelings again.

When he leaves the table to go to the restroom, he looks at himself and finally lets some real emotion out, only to realize what he’s doing.

He’s not proud of it. His friends have changed, yes, but he hasn’t. He’s still the same impulsive and selfish young man he used to be, but now he realizes that’s not how life works. Life doesn’t just go his way like it used to, or like he thought it used to. Life happens to you, you're not in control, and he probably realized that months ago, as he tried to end it.

Still, when the teenager arrives in the restroom, he puts his walls back up again directly, tries to show off and to befriend the young man by impressing him. He sees himself in him, a young and free man who just enjoys his time with his friends. 

That’s why he was looking at them this way earlier in the pub:

Or when both groups crossed path outside in the afternoon. Yet, when the boy doesn’t respond and ignores him, he gets upset again and is ready to provoke a teenage boy for not paying attention to a drunk guy inviting him to drink with him and his friends. 

Yes, the alcohol and the built-up frustration of the evening made him provoke that boy, but it doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the gravity of his actions every time he does something. He’s clearly aware that he manipulates his friends, that he only thinks about himself. It’s always in very short moments that you see him look away or having a hard time processing everything, because he knows the way he acts and as much as he hates himself for it, he can’t help it. To the point where he uses the terrible situation of Newton Haven, no matter if they might die, to finish the pub crawl. Why? He doesn’t care if he dies. At all. It’d probably be easier for him. 

He can’t stand himself, but he can’t be someone else. He got upset at the boy’s silence, taking it as an insult, a way of being disrespectful towards him and in his head, no one should disrespect Gary King. There was a time when he loved being himself but like Sam rightfully says:

So with that in mind, what is Gary King? 

That, I believe, is one of the most exciting part of the character. He’s as much the villain as he is the hero of the movie. 

He’s a villain in his behavior, always has been. He liked being a “bad boy”, but he really did hurt his own friends and has been selfish for a long time. A lot of things that he did and still does make him a villain in this story. Yet, he doesn’t flinch in front of danger, he throws himself in battles the way he used to when Peter would get bullied. He fights for his life and stands his ground in front of the “big boss”, speaking on behalf of the entire human race so that the enemy would leave them be. He’s obnoxious, but he’s also very lovable. Again, like Sam said:

He wouldn’t be able to make someone else happy, or maybe for a while, but he probably wouldn’t be able to resist getting back to his old antics. He’s not meant to live a quiet life with a family, he needs his freedom, as he calls it, but deep down, he’s never actually been a Bad Person™ . He does care about his friends, in his own fucked up way, but he’s too damaged to do any good around him, it doesn’t matter if he’d like to or not.

That’s why he leaves again in the end. He can’t stay there and face everything that has happened. He saw his chance to start all over again and let his remaining friends be happy together, without getting in the way. He did the right thing by getting sober, but he regained his freedom, is still a rebel by staying with a bunch of blanks and not humans, and he’s with the version of his friends he’s always wanted to be with again. Maybe it’s a bit unhealthy for him to stay with these specific blanks, but it’s a better coping mechanism than alcohol and drugs. He’s his true self, but he’s sober and definitely feels better, like he belongs there.

Now, the time has come. Let’s really introduce his friends, talk about his relationship with them before talking about how he takes responsibility for his actions and how he deals with change. (yes I’m sorry this is endless)

All his friends have little stories to tell about his behavior during the movie. He injured all of them as well as he injured himself, and even if Oliver is the only one who didn’t receive a scar, he got his own birthmark removed because of the nickname they would always use. Gary was the only one using it still during the movie, despite being told off.

I’ll introduce them using Gary’s words in the beginning of the movie. It allows us to see the way he perceives them. Keep in mind that it’s the only way he could ever see them at that point, as he doesn’t know what they became and who they really are at that point in their lives. What we, as viewers, know, is that they seem to have all become pretty successful when it comes to their careers, and they just seem to have a good life in general, compared to Gary who is in that hospital and dealing with his addictions.

So, we’ve got Oliver Chamberlain. Gary introduces him by saying: “Ollie was funny, he fancied himself as a bit of a player, but really, he was all mouth. We called him O-man because he had a birthmark on his forehead that looked like a six. He loved it.”

He certainly did not love it. Like I said, he got the birthmark removed because it annoyed him so much to be called O-man. We don’t know much about Oliver, really. He manages a boutique estate agency in North London, he’s doing good, he’s always working. His sister is Sam Chamberlain, Steve has had a crush on her since high school and Gary had sex with her in the disabled. He’s in a sort of competition with Steve to win her over. We know Oliver was already acting like a business man in school. During their first attempt at the Golden Mile, he was out of commission after the 6th pub.

He’s also often mentioning Gary’s drug abuse throughout the movie. 

He was clearly uninterested in going back to Newton Haven, he was very reluctant at the idea, but Gary succeeded in tricking him to go back. During the movie, Gary says a couple of times that Oliver is doing really good, as he didn’t go that far in the crawl the first time. He obviously doesn’t know he has been replaced by a blank in the middle of the crawl but he does say that he likes the new Oliver, the one that seems to be fine with following him around, who is able to go on with the crawl and encourages the others to join the party.

Now, Peter Page. Gary says: “Pete was the baby of the group. He wasn’t the kind of kid we’d usually hang out with, but he was good for a laugh. And he was absolutely minted.”

The cool guy hanging out with the most bullied kid in school? He indicates there that his wealth was one of the reasons he was friend with Peter, despite saying that “he was good for a laugh.” You can see that they get along pretty well during the movie, once Peter is relaxed with the alcohol. They joke around and laugh together quite easily. During the first attempt at the Golden Mile, after smoking marijuana in The Smokehouse, he was left on a park bench while Gary, Steve and Andy kept on going. He still works with his father and became his business partner. He’s the one who sold The Beast to Gary back in the day.

The scar Gary gave him was when Peter let him drive his 50cc Suzuki. Gary rolled over his leg.

He clearly was looking up to Gary at the time, probably because he was defending him whenever he’d get bullied.

There are a few moments where you can also see how submissive Peter still is, traumatized by the extreme bullying he went through in high school. He hates confrontation. He hides behind his newspaper when his kids are “fighting” at the table. It’s impossible for him to say anything when he meets his bully in one of the pubs and whenever a fight explodes, he’s the first one to try and hide, not fight.

He was killed and replaced after finally standing up against the blank that replaced his bully.

Steven Prince. Gary doesn’t have much to say about him: “Steve was a pretty cool guy. We jammed together, chased the girls. I think he saw us as rivals. Sweet, really.”

Like Oliver, we don’t have many information about his life. He had his own construction company, and he was bought out in ’05. At the beginning of the movie, he’s going out with a 26-year-old fitness instructor but the person he truly loves is Oliver’s sister, Sam. Gary and Steve got along just fine, but with what Gary says, you can see he thought he was better than Steve in different ways (shocking, I know). Gary and he used to play music together but stopped when Gary sold Steve’s bass to buy drugs.

In 1987, so when they were around fourteen, while they were playing cricket, Gary accidentally pushed Steven onto a broken bottle and Steve was left with a scar… well, on his ass. Now, we don’t know the origin of the bottle, but you certainly don’t need it to play cricket, from what I know? We also don’t know what they were drinking, so maybe I’m reaching by saying it could have already been Gary’s if he was already drinking alcohol, but we wouldn’t know so again, I might just be reaching! not confirming anything. Still, Gary injured him as well.

He wasn’t really happy when he saw Gary again for the first time, but still ends up going back. During the first Golden Mile, Steve was still there at the end. Even if they didn’t finish it, he was with Andy and Gary on the hills at sunset. 

Now, Andy is the most important one, obviously. It wasn’t a surprise. Simon and Nick always play the two main characters and they always have a very strong bond. And Gary’s relationship with Andy is quite fascinating to say the least. For someone with as much pride as Gary King, talking about the way he feels is not all that easy. At least not without disguising it a little. Before we get into that part, here’s Andy’s introduction. This time, I’ll just explain who he is, and then show Gary’s words because I’ll talk about them more.  

So, from what we know, Andy used to play rugby when he was younger. When the film takes place, he’s a corporate lawyer, he’s married and has kids. He seems to be doing quite well, even though we learn he and his wife are separated at the moment and that he's trying to get her back.

During the first pub crawl, he made it to the end of the night with Gary and Steve, ending up on the hills at sunset and failing the Golden Mile. Back in ’86, Gary injured him as well when they reenacted the knife game from Alien. Gary accidentally stabbed him in the middle finger.

We know that he remained friends with Gary until December 1997. Gary overdosed and Andy, while being extremely drunk, attempted to drive him to the hospital. He crashed his car and he had to go through a life-saving surgery that lasted for 12 hours before getting arrested. At that point, Gary who had made a “miraculous fucking recovery”, as Andy puts it, had abandoned him on the scene of the crash. After these events, Andy stopped talking to Gary and also stopped drinking.

It seems that “the accident”, as it’s referred as in the movie, drove them amm apart. We at least know they were still talking to each other in ’92, two years after they left school, because that’s when they decided to stop calling him “Fearless Leader”.

So they probably kept hanging out until the accident. Gary was certainly the glue sticking the group together but finally took it too far.

Now, when talking about Andy, Gary says this: 

“And Andy. Andy was my wingman. The one guy I could rely on to back me up. He loved me, and I’m not being funny, but I loved him.”

Why would he be funny by saying that? Because admitting he loves his friend makes him less of a badass? No, he really liked his friends. But he loved Andy so much.

And I’m not talking as a shipper or anything. I’m really not. Actually, I’ve never shipped Gary with anyone if I have to be honest. Like Sam says, he’s not boyfriend material. I’m talking about platonic friendship. A very strong friendship that still existed despite “the accident”. That’s why Andrew keeps following Gary until they arrived at The World’s End, because he still cares, and he can’t watch him destroying himself like that. That’s why they all went back. Because in a way, they cared. They kept complaining but seeing everyone wasn’t that bad. They did laugh together, even with Gary, despite being pissed at him. They also weren’t expecting much of him, they know him:

But Gary’s relationship with Andy is special.

Andy is kind of the one who made everyone come back. They clearly didn’t go back for Gary. They went because of Gary, but each of them has asked if Andy would be there first. Probably because Andy’s presence would mean that if he could get past Gary’s mistakes, then maybe they could and should give it a try. And Andy went back with the hope that maybe Gary has changed, even just a little bit. When they are sitting outside while Gary’s playing Need for Speed (for someone who hasn’t seen it, this might sound like a weird as fuck movie), he says this:

Well, of course, he then learned he got money from the other three and gets mad, but you know. He did hope for a split second that he wasn’t exactly the same and that maybe, it was really because of what he told him in his office that Gary wanted to do that again. That’s also why he cuts him some slack at the beginning)

Speaking of the dialogue in his office! Remember I said I would come back to that scene at some point? Well, here we are. Yes, you might have forgotten because this post is very long and I ramble but if you’re still with me, well… it’s not almost the end but we’re getting there.  Anyway! So, Gary lies about his mom dying and that’s the following conversation:

Again, maybe I’m reaching, but he seems so honest that I wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually using his mom’s death as a metaphor for his own suicide attempt. It got him thinking about the old days. He never really stopped thinking about them. He still has The Beast, he still has the tape Steve made him and that he was still always listening to, but these last months were probably extremely rough for him and got him really thinking about all of this in a more depressing way than he ever did. His life had been going downhill since he got out of school, but he finally hit rock bottom really hard.

He says his mother has always really liked Andy, but he might as well be speaking about his own feelings. He even says that he likes the guys, but that Andy was the best friend he’s ever had (and probably the only one he ever felt this way for.)

He has a weird behavior around Andy. He’s always acting so confident, but throughout the movie, he keeps seeking some kind of reassurance from Andy. Either because he wants his approval but also because he wants to prove himself right, or because he wants to believe everything is fine between them.

He has a really hard time expressing his true feelings, probably because he’s used to hiding them all the time. Every time he does express them, we can see how miserable he is and why Simon calls him “a walking tragedy”.

This leads me to the three most powerful dialogues in this movie, I think. I mean, in my opinion, they are the most telling about Gary’s truth, even though the movie is sprinkled with hints on what’s going on, like with this very obvious line:

We clearly know that it was something that was told directly to him, we know where, despite him acting like it’s just some trivia.

So the first dialogue I have in mind is the one with Sam. Sorry, loads of gifs are coming your way:

I feel like for the first time in the movie, he’s kinf of done with his own behavior and he’s ready to have a serious talk and admit some important things. Like when he says Steve is better than him, because he knows he’s a fuck up but now he’s ready to admit it. And in a few lines, you see something else. No, it’s not all about that night, it never was. Life doesn’t have purpose for only one night in your life. Yes, maybe it was the happiest night that there ever was, if it even was, but it doesn’t mean shit, really. But Gary holds on to it like his life was depending on it. Well, in this scenario, it kind of is. Sam tells him that it doesn’t have to be all about that night, kind of letting him know he has the choice to leave it behind and finally move on. And she can see that he gets it. But then, if Gary can’t hold onto that night, he at least wants to keep some things from it, hence his questions about the disableds. Sam agrees, giving him at least that because either way, he’s losing against his own life. If at least he’s trying, she can let him hold onto that memory.

It makes me think of the moment Gary tells Andy that the Golden Mile is all he’s got. There could be so much more, but Gary feels like he’s got nothing else, unlike his friends who have “everything”, like he says. That’s wy he fights for it, because it’s what’s important to him, like Andy is fighting for his marriage.

The second dialogue would be this one: 

No, it wasn’t his fault that Andy crashed the car. He didn’t overdose on purpose, and Andy chose to drive him to the hospital while drunk and driving four times over the limit. But he did choose to flee the scene and leave Andy to die. And Andy wouldn’t be so angry and resentful if it hadn’t hurt him so much. It hurt him because he loved Gary. 

Remember, when introducing Andy, Gary himself says that Andy was the one guy he could rely on. You’d think it would be the same for Andy, but Gary betrayed him.

Before the third dialogue, I want to elaborate on this, on Gary taking responsibility, kind of? He doesn’t talk about his mistakes.

Every time someone points out one of his past mistake or how his behavior is inappropriate, he changes the subject or tries to get his way.

He doesn��t want to face the things he’s done because he knows he can only blame himself for these situations and he already hates himself enough, he doesn’t need to be reminded of these things again and again.

And it’s also because he wouldn’t like to see his friends discover the way he really feels. Whenever his suicide attempt could get discovered or whenever he thinks about it, he quickly tries to hide the truth.

At first, I’m pretty sure he thought that Andy knew about his attempt, because he’s so surprised when he asks to see his arm. Then, when Andy tells him what injury he wants to see, he’s in full defensive mode and changes the subject again, trying to prove he’s him thanks to his memory, and not a scar.

Andy was ready to bash his head right in if for one second he believed he was a blank, but even then, Gary won’t show his arm, because he can’t let them know he hit rock bottom.

It’s the same with Sam:

The same old gary. Gary doesn’t like change. He hates it. He hates to see that his friends have changed and he knows that in a way, he changed as well, no matter how hard he tries to remain the same old Gary, the one that was happy.

When he learns that there are robots and that it’s not them that have changed but the town, he’s ecstatic.

And finally, the third dialogue I was talking about:

Getting help put Gary in emotional pain, even worse than what he already had before, because of the way he was treated. He hated it, he felt so miserable. Feeling like he’s living a lie, like nothing is what it’s supposed to be, feeling like he has absolutely no control. He doesn’t, not on life, but he could decide to do better. He just doesn’t have the courage.

Andy was already caring, way before that. And he’s always known Gary needed help. At that moment:

Andy wants to finally put the limit. It’s true, it’s the last one. Then, Gary will have completed the Golden Mile. Then, what? That’s not the point but what would Gary have done after that? He would have no purpose and like he says, the Golden Mile is all he’s got. Still, Andy doesn’t let him have one more drink.

Back in the tenth pub, he seemed to happy that Gary was accepting to let it go, to have one last drink and put an end to the crawl. He was still hoping for change.

I feel like this scene just shows how hard it is to overcome addictions just by yourself. He tried, when he got in the hospital, and he ended up leaving. He was really drinking his last beer, at that moment, but he couldn’t resist, once again, and had to have the other two. He really wanted to try, but the temptation was so strong.

Andy follows him because like his marriage, Gary is important, and he fights for what’s important to him.

Maybe Andy was able to make it on his own after the accident, but Gary isn’t Andy. He knows that Gary can’t make it on his own. He was never able to. It doesn’t mean he isn’t strong. Andy knows how strong Gary is, living through his addictions for so long, seeing that he tried to kill himself. He knows he’s strong, but it doesn’t mean he can’t have some help from people who really care about him. Now, he knows that can’t happen unless you force him to. So if he has to actually physically fight Gary to stop him, he will, because he knows his friend wouldn’t be able to stop unless being actually knocked the fuck out. He could let him have the last pint of the Golden Mile, but it would mean he allows him to do what he wants one more time. He puts a stop to it because the Golden Mile doesn’t matter, Gary matters. If he has to shatter his last chance of completing the crawl, even if he’s so close he can almost feel the beer on his tongue, he will if that’s what it takes to make him come to his senses.

Besides, he knows that Gary regrets what he’s done, both in the past and that day. He doesn’t constantly mean to hurt his friends. He does it because he can’t help it, but like Sam says, he’s not a bad person.

By the way, I often wonder what would have happened if they had forced him to show his arm when checking everyone’s scars. If Andy, Peter and Steve had discovered about his suicide attempt at that point.

Would they have understood that Gary was on a suicide mission, at that moment?

And that it was only making it all the more exciting for him?

This is Gary King, everyone. 

Also, funnily and terribly enough, he relieved the night the same way he first lived it back in 1990. Some gifs and images as evidence:

Which begs the question; was the first night even that great to begin with?

I think I covered everything I had in mind (not bloody quite but well). I don’t even know. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this but I’m glad it did, I got to ramble about my favorite trilogy for hours on end so. And also... I’m pretty sure I was trying to prove something with all this but my point is: I’m in love with Simon Pegg. 

No, ok. Again. Seriously. 

The World’s End is such an underrated movie. And Gary King is such an important character. The movie depicts human nature in the realest way, with all its flaws. And Gary King is depicting mental illness, was written by someone who went through this kind of things. The movie is very personal for both Simon and Edgar, actually. I don’t know much about Edgar, to be perfectly honest. I love his movies, he’s an genius, but I don’t know much about his personal life. I just do know this movie is important for him too. I do know that Simon has dealt with alcoholism, if I’m not mistaken he’s been sober since 2010, he knows what it’s like to battle addiction and depression.

The movie doesn’t romanticize these problems one bit. It shows how bad it can be, and how it can be perceived as by people not knowing much about these things. Remember that comment talking about the fact that the “mid-life crisis” Gary’s going through gets annoying after a while? Welp.

Could you imagine actually living in Gary King’s head for more than an hour. Unbearable. Especially since he’s aware of some of the fucked up things he’s doing and must hate himself for it. 

Yes, there’s the humor and the crazy robot stuff going on on the side, but that was my point at the beginning. That’s why the big weird entity that invaded earth isn’t the big villain of the movie.

I always say the same thing about villains. Take Thanos in the MCU for example. He’s the fucking worst and yet, his actions are justified. Careful. Not excusable, justifiable. You understand that there’s a point for him, that he firmly believes in what he’s doing, that he’s sure his actions are what’s supposed to be done to make Earth a better world, that what he does is right. Yet, because we’re rational and fucking decent, we know that’s not the way you solve problems. Here, the enemy believes it needs to replace humanity with perfect beings, to… make Earth perfect, or something. You know that it’s pointless, because like they show, only three humans in Newton Haven were spared. Earth is filled with flawed humans, you’d have to replace everyone to make it better. And yet, these actions are “justified” by a thought process. Doesn’t mean turning humans into compost is excusable. That creature’s definitely a villain, but not the main one in the movie.

The end of the world ain’t even a bad thing in the movie. On the contrary. A lot of people survived and Andy himself says things are simpler. They’re kind of back to the Dark Age and they realized that all their problems seemed very small in comparison to such events, and they’re happier.

Here, Gary is his friends’ enemy, he’s the blank leader’s enemy, and he is his own worst enemy. He hurts absolutely everyone, himself included. Because of his own addictions and depression. That’s what can really happen in real life and that’s something I really like about the movie.

And he ends up alone. He took the decision to leave but you don’t have a dumb female love interest that falls for the bad boy and make the worst decision she could by getting with him at the end so that we’d have a happy end and so would Gary. Sam’s very honest with him, she tells him how things are until he finally understands and agrees with her. He makes the right choice (“for once,” like he says) and makes her save herself and is fine with her ending up with Steve.

He’s always known the truth, but he had to accept it and he does. It’s difficult, but he does.

I don’t think Gary’s end’s a happy one. I have mixed feelings about Gary’s end because I don’t think he’s going to be satisfied on the long term and he does deserve some happiness at that point in his life. He excluded himself from everyone and is still stuck in that circle of not growing up. He’s definitely happier and he’s sober. But what is going to happen? He’s going to grow old and the blanks won’t change and then what? How is he going to feel about that? 

It’s a real ending, not a cheesy one. But at least he always has that option of coming back at some point. He did once. And he would be more welcomed, and he’d act the right way.

Like he told his teacher back in high school, all he ever wanted was to have a good time. With the four blanks, he’s traveling and having his own fun, he does what he wants, he has the freedom he always wanted to have, he kind of found his path. That’s all he ever wanted, he just found a new way to do so. At least, he’s got that, and he knows his friends have what they want as well. Earth is destroyed but Steven is with the love of his life, and Andy got back together with his wife and lives happily. 

Well. I think that’s about all I wanted to say. I hope. That was long enough. I just hope you guys are still reading, and that you “enjoyed” this thing that took me forever to write. I’d love your opinion. I’d love it if it made other people watch the movie or enjoy it more than they did at first. I just love this movie so much. And I just love Gary King so much. 

I rest my case. Lets’ Boo-Boo.

[fuck-customers]

FAQ’s

I decided to get around to making a full FAQ to add to the sidebar. If I’ve missed anything, let us know.

Do you accept fuck coworker and manager submissions?

Yes we do! A while back we tried running a couple of separate blogs on the subjects but they weren’t successful because we continued getting asks and submissions here about coworkers and managers. Instead of just rejecting these we decided to accept them because they are a part of why customer service sucks. Changing the name of the blog isn’t necessary and would hinder the ability of our old and even new followers to find us if we suddenly just changed. We’ve been Fuck Customers for years, and it’s going to stay that way no matter how the blog evolves.

Why is the inbox/submission box closed?

We need to catch up because we’re neck deep in back log.

Can I use fan mail to submit my stories since the inbox is closed?

For the love of God no! This clogs the inbox up so bad and makes the process of catching up so much harder! Please be patient! We can’t reopen in a timely manner if we have to sift through and delete fan mail submissions that had no place being submitted in the first place in that format. Even when the inbox is open we delete those. The faster we can reopen the better. That all depends on our inbox remaining closed and uncluttered by fan mail. I may seem rude saying this, but it has become a serious problem and is hindering progress a LOT.

Why hasn’t my submission posted yet?

See here.

Who are the mods?

Abby, and Rodney.

Can you tag (insert thing)?

We used to, but with how big the blog has become it is unrealistic to be able to tag absolutely every single thing. We’re going to have to trust that our followers will be able to put trigger warnings before their own asks and submissions. We get up to 200 new asks and submissions a day on top of our personal and professional lives, so keeping up with posting/queuing is top priority.

Do you need anymore mods? Can I be one?

Ultimately this is up to Mandie, but at the moment the answer is no. Three is more than enough. You know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen.

What don’t you post?

Anything racist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, etc for starters. Anything not on topic to customer service is a big one too. We also don’t accept customers whining about employees. There is a line where it might be acceptable, though, like a case where a customer may see a manager or coworker abusing an employee. But if you’re bitching because someone smashed your bread then you are in the wrong place. Go to yelp. Fan mail is not the proper course of submitting your questions or stories. Use the ask or submission options and if the inbox is closed then check back later. Finally, hate mail. We get a lot of it and it’s a waste of space. Now, sometimes we do post one of any of these simply to drag your ass through the coals. Catch us on a bad day and expect to get roasted. Don’t be an asshole and you’re fine. We also try not to post anything that includes real store names, so try to use a fake one.

Why have I been blocked?

If you said anything offensive in a note towards us or another follower then you will be blocked. That could be death threats, telling someone to kill themselves, racism, homophobia, basically being an asshole. If you’re dumb enough to send hate mail without being anon, whether it’s to us or another follower, you’ll also get blocked. We do not tolerate that shit.

I requested my submission be posted anonymous! Why did it get posted or why wasn’t it posted?

It is your responsibility to submit anon. We post what is given to us in a format that tumblr allows(why we don’t post fan mail btw). If we were to post your submission anonymous we would have to cut and paste. Multiply that by 100 per day and we’d be swamped. If it accidentally gets posted that is on you, but most of the time we just delete it.

I found something on here offensive! I’m sending hate mail right now!

You know that is the equivalent of asking to see the manager, right? Just skip the post and move on, you’re holding up the line.

*This does not include reporting posts that were accidentally posted that we would definitely remove. If you’re polite about it that is fine, but if you’re going to yell at us and tell us you’re unfollowing then that’s customer like territory. We get a lot of hate mail when all you need to do is point it out nicely. We also don’t condone sending hate mail to other followers. Maybe what they said was offensive, but sometimes good people don’t realize that their wording wasn’t that great. Sending hate mail isn’t the proper way to get your point across and help them learn from the situation.*

If I’ve missed any questions that need to be added let us know. These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Why hasn’t my submission posted?

We get this question a lot so I thought I’d compile a list:

1.) You sent it through fan mail. We do not post anything sent that way since it does not include an option to queue or post it, just reply. We stopped copy pasting submissions a long time ago.

2.) You included a store name. Some of these slip through, but for the most part these get deleted for the safety of your job and this blog. There are actually people whose job it is is to hunt down stories like these and punish those who tell them.

3.) You requested to be anonymous without actually submitting on anon. Again, we do not copy paste submissions.

4.) You said something extremely offensive. Such as racist, ableist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. Sometimes you might find we will call you out on it, but for the most part these posts are deleted.

5.) You sent hate mail. We will sometimes destroy you in response, but we delete 99% of these.

6.) The subject matter has been talked about to death. After a while we stop beating the dead horse with a stick.

7.) You posted a customer complaint. Yes, we will post good experiences praising an employee, but if you’re here to complain about an employee from a customer point of view then you’re in the wrong place.

8.) Rarely tumblr will eat the post. If your submission hasn’t posted in a month and it does not fit the rules above then resend it.

9.) Also extremely rare we might have accidentally deleted it. Again, if it hasn’t posted in a month and doesn’t fit the first 6 rules resend it. I think this has only happened twice to me personally though.

10.) It’s already queued or still in our inbox waiting to be queued or posted. We get a lot of submissions and asks, so you’ll need to be patient.

11.) Also, if you send a long submission through several asks instead of the submission link then we’ll delete them all. It is difficult to find all the parts.

12.) It isn’t on topic for the blog or any conversation happening on the blog.

13.) Asking to become a mod. We’re not accepting new mods.

14.) Complaints about what has been posted that does not fit the criteria on this list. This is rare, but it happens.

15.) Anything that seems like it’s an advertisement.

16.) Your post did not seem like it was related to customer service in any way. If you did experience at work then you need to make it clear.