#but its not grabbing my attention the way season 1 did

[thebadgersknackers]

can i be vunerable for a second and admit that season 2 just isnt hitting the way season 1 did and it makes me feel so :///

[logansargeantsbabymom]

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

Oscar Piastri x Fem!Reader , Lando Norris x Fem!Reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Warning: cursing, douchebag Oscar, cheating

A/N: I definitely did lie to you guys, I promise you that I am working on TGTSG pt 8, it's just taking more time than I'd like to admit! Sorry and I hope this makes this situation better <3

Follow my instagram account (THATS STRICTLY FOR THIS BLOG) for updates on when i post and fun stuff like that!

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F1 Masterlist

Was any of it true? Gazing at me starry-eyed. 

“Oscar, c’mon we’re going to be late!!!” I said ushering my boyfriend out of our bedroom closet. 

A light chuckle left his lips as he emerged from the magical sliding mirror doors “Babe, it’s only the car reveal. It’s okay if we’re a tiny bit late” Oscar said as he walked over to me, rubbing a hand up and down my shoulders

An unamused look became present on my face “Baby, you know how much I can’t stand being just a millisecond off schedule, right now you have us 10 minutes behind! You’re killing me here!!” I added a bit of an exaggerated sigh as I dragged out that last sentence. 

I wouldn’t say I had OCD or whatever but if anything and I mean ANYTHING was just the slightest bit off, I wouldn’t be able to focus on whatever task was at hand before it was fixed. 

“Okay, okay. Let’s go. Thank god you’re dating a Formula 1 driver who knows a thing or two about driving fast. I promise we’re going to be there on time.” A small smile made its way on the corners of Oscars mouth as he grabbed my hand and guided me out of the house and to his McLaren.

And your Jehovah’s Witness suit. Who the fuck was that guy?

We’d arrived at the headquarters just under 2 minutes till Zak had to go up and make his big speech before revealing the 2024 season’s car.

Oscar and I tried to make our quiet entrance as to not draw attention to us being technically 30 minutes late. 

See the drivers and the workers that didn’t help set everything up had to be there at 8:00pm whereas everyone else who had a special invitation had to be there at 8:20pm and then Zak’s speech would take place at 8:30pm but thanks to Oscar just NEEDING to find the perfect outfit himself instead of just putting on the one that his assistant brought him, he made us super late. 

Lando was the first to notice our not so subtle attempt at being sneaky “Mate, if you wanted to shag your girlfriend you couldn’t given me a heads up so I could’ve made up an excuse as to why you weren’t here when you were supposed to.” 

Embarrassment flooded my cheeks at the thought of more than half the people in our vicinity thought that t and I were late because we wanted to have a quick fuck before we left 

“No Lando!! We’re not late because we fucked! We’re late because Oscar here,” I started, gesturing at the handsome man next to me “decided he didn’t like the outfit that his assistant brought for him so he had to spend an hour picking and changing his clothes until he found what he thought was best for him.” 

My answer seemed to satisfy Lando enough because he wiggled his eyebrows at us before nodding, taking a sip of his very much alcoholic drink before walking away from us. 

“Oh my gosh Oscar, never again am I being late with you. I can’t have people thinking we fuck like rabbits all the time!!!” I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face.

You tried to buy some pills. From a friend of friends of mine, they just ghosted you. Now you know what it feels like. 

Oscar left to go get both of us a drink before the lights dimmed and a spotlight was shone on Zak, who was standing at the top of the steps.

Zak looked around to get a good feel of the crowd’s energy tonight “Hey guys, I’m the McLaren CEO, Zak Brown. I’m sure you all know why you’re here tonight but in case you don’t, let me tell you why. You’re all here because you either work here or was invited. Either way, tonight, we’re all going to witness the unveiling of our 2024 seasons formula 1 car! But before we get to that part, I want to call up my two Formula 1 drivers to say a few words. Lando, Oscar, please come up here.” 

And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know if rusting my sparking summer was the goal. 

I clapped and watched as my boyfriend and our best friend walked up to make their speech, Lando being the first to take the mic.

“First I just want to say: Thank you everyone for being here with us today to do this reveal, none of this would be possible without any of you guys and that each and every single one of us here at McLaren are extremely grateful to you guys. Thank you to Zak for believing in me enough to resign me for the next 2 years and uh yeah, I’ll pass it on to Oscar now.” That last part came out with a little awkward chuckle as Lando scanned the room before passing the mic to Oscar 

“Hello, Uh Lando said the majority of what I was going to say but I also want to thank my beautiful, wonderful, loving, thoughtful, talent girlfriend for sticking by my side” Oscar started as he looked deep in my eyes as the crowd around us ‘Aww’ed us “oh and thank you to Y/N for being there too.” he added with a laugh that caused the crowd to also erupt in fits of laughter.

My face turned red and my blood began to boil. Did he really just say that? I mean I could be making this a bigger deal than it is but to me, Oscar just embarrassed me in front of maybe 250+ people, who mind you might do a little ‘story time’ on their experience there and would add that part which means hundreds of thousands of people are going to hear about how Oscar embarrassed me. 

The rest of Oscar’s speech was a blur and I hadn’t even notice that him and Lando had left the top steps until I felt his arms around my waist and my body tensed at the feeling. Oscar’s touch right now made me feel sick, who did he think he was embarrassing me like that in front of hundreds of strangers and then acting like nothing happened? 

And I don’t miss what we had but could someone give a message to the smallest man who ever lived?

I shrugged Oscar’s arms off of me which earned me a confused glare from him which I quickly shut down

“I’m going to grab another drink. Do you want anything?” It was the best I could come up with. 

It got Oscar’s touch off of me and it gave me some space away from him, which I so desperately needed right now.

“No thank you, just hurry back” Oscar said sweetly as he attempted to place a kiss on my lips that I quickly dodged. 

I saw another look of confused flash across his face but I was too busy getting far away from him as possible to notice how long his face had stayed like that. 

Over at the makeshift bar they had, I poured myself a half cup of punch before making my way to the other end of the bar to fill the rest of my cup up with tequila. I closed my eyes as I took a sip of my alcoholic punch before letting out a satisfied sigh while feeling the drink burn its way down my throat, my solo bliss didn’t last long before I felt the presence of someone near me. Opening my eyes, I was met with one of my dearest best friends: Lando. 

“Having fun?” Lando said as he grabbed himself a cupful of punch awaiting my response 

“So much fun, I totally don’t want to be at home with a (favorite/drink) eating (favorite/food) while watching (favorite/ show) right now.” I said as I let out a sarcastic laugh which earned me a glare “I’m kidding Lando. I’m having a good time, what about you?” 

“Just a good time? Why not an amazing time?” Typical Lando to only catch the first half of my sentence 

“I have a mild headache right now, that’s why it’s just a good time I’m having right now. I didn’t have time to grab or take any medicine so I’m suffering right now.” that was the best lie I could come up with, let’s just hope that he believes it. 

By the look on his face right now, he was starting to believe the lie I just spewed to him. “I think Zak has Ibuprofen in his office, let me ask him to grab you some” before I could protest, he was gone. 

You hung me your wall, stabbed me with your pushpins. 

I realized that I was spending too much time at the bar and that Oscar was going to come looking for me soon so to save him the hassle, I made my way back over to him. 

Turns out he wasn’t going to be looking for me soon because he’s too busy having some blondie all over him. She’s running one of her hands through his hair while the other is resting against his forearm. The sight made bile rise in my throat as my stomach churned, I can’t be seeing this clearly right? Maybe I actually was suffering from a massive headache and that’s causing me to see all these things, right? This wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened, granted I’ve only ever heard of a ‘headache so bad you’re seeing things’ in movies before so I can’t really rely on it being a real thing. 

Once Oscar’s gaze quickly fell on me, he pushed the blonde off of him and quickly made his way over to me. 

“Hey beautiful, you were gone for a while.” He tries to plant a kiss on my lips but I placed a firm hand against his chest to leave a gap. 

Apparently me dodging his kiss for the second time tonight really upset Oscar because he rolled his eyes before bringing his concerns to my attention 

“What is wrong with you? This is the second time you dodged my kiss, what’s going on?” I could tell there was hints of an attitude lacing his words.

“Oh geez Oscar I don’t know, maybe it’s because I come back over from getting punch and I see a blonde girl all over you and you’re letting it happen?” I can’t believe he really has the audacity to question why I’m dodging his kiss when he quite literally was probably cheating on me in public less than 2 minutes ago. 

A scoff left Oscar’s mouth as he rolled his eyes at my comment “You’re kidding right? That’s what this” he gestured in between us, “is about? C’mon Y/N, she literally is my race engineer trainee, we were literally talking about work”

“Oh yeah because talking about work requires her to be handsy with you in public in front of your girlfriend?” I can’t believe Oscar was trying to downplay this right now. 

I watched as Oscar shifted on his feet before crossing his arms “First of all, you weren’t in front of us and second of all, she wasn’t being handsy. Sarah just asked what shampoo and conditioner I used because her brother needed recommendations and I told her the ones you buy me.” 

“That doesn’t give her the right to run her hands through your hair while holding your forearm, are you kidding me?” Everyone around us could feel the tension thickening. It was so thick that you could break 2 machetes trying to cut through it. 

“Go be insecure about our relationship elsewhere, I don’t have time to deal with this right now.” I didn’t even have a chance to get a word in before Oscar stormed away from me, leaving me alone in a crowd full of his co-workers and fans with nothing but my hurt feelings and confused thoughts about what the fuck happened in the last five minutes. There was only one thing in my head right now that was clear: I need to get the fuck out of here now before I make this a bigger deal than it is.

In public, showed me off. Then sank in stoned oblivion cause once your queen had come, you’d treat her like an also-ran. 

I don’t know when I got home nor do I know how I got home, all I know is that I’m home and home is where I’m free to drown my sorrows with a nice bottle of Brothers Bond bourbon in peace. Only, I wasn’t able to have a second of peace because a rapid set of knocks were being banged against my front door which caused me to jump at the sudden sound and tighten my grip on my drink. Walking to the door with an annoyed expression on my face I was met with Lando’s somber expression. 

“Lando, I’m sure you heard about the fight and I just really want to be alone right now.” I said as I attempted to slam the door in his face but was blocked by his foot.

“Ow, I didn’t expect that to hurt that bad.” Lando started as he tried to shake the pain out of his foot “Everyone knows about the fight-” 

“Ugh, great” I scoffed

“That’s not why I’m here though-” Lando didn’t get to finish before I cut him off again

“So why are you here? I mean no offense but I want to be alone right now”

“Stop cutting me off then. I’m here because, gosh I don’t know how to say this to you” He took in a deep breath before letting it out in one long exhale “I’m just gonna show you” I didn’t get to process the words that came out of his mouth before he flipped his phone showing me a video of Oscar and Sarah making out in the corner of the room before Sarah dragged him out of the frame. 

It doesn’t take a genius to know that they we’re going to find somewhere there to have sex. The video was a total of about 10 seconds and by the end of it, tears had already fallen. It’s funny how in a span of ten seconds your whole life could change, one minute I was upset over an argument I had with my boyfriend and the next I’m watching a video of him cheating on me. The sight before me made bile rise in my throat as I felt my heart shatter into a million tiny pieces.  I never knew that loving someone could cause so much hurt, that if they did wrong by you it would feel like you were dying. I couldn’t breathe, it felt like my whole world was caving in on me and I couldn’t do anything to stop it, that I was just there to watch this tragedy unfold. I never knew that someone who claimed to love you until the end of time could do something so terrible to the one person they promised to never hurt, that even after you watched video proof of him cheating on you that you didn’t want to believe it. I shared a lot of firsts with Oscar, the most important being that he was my first love, he took my virginity from me and that’s one that’s one thing I could never get back from him. Despite everything I’m feeling now, I wish there was someone who could tell me why my heart wants to go back to him. My heart yearns for Oscar’s touch, his love, his time, my heart just wants it all, everything Oscar is willing to give it. 

You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man. And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal. 

It’d been 15 minutes since I found out about Oscar cheating on me and the whole time Lando’s been holding me as I sobbed into his chest, I was so hurt by Oscar that I couldn’t find any sense of comfort in Lando’s touch. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to find comfort in anyone’s touch because of how bad Oscar hurt me and that’s not how I wanted to live my life. That’s not how anyone should have to live their life, surrounded by so much hurt that you can’t find joy in anything. The pain was consuming me so much that I felt like the only way to make it go away was to drown it in alcohol and that’s what I intend on doing. 

Pulling myself out of Lando’s grasp, I leaned forward and grabbed the bourbon bottle on mu coffee table and brought it up to my lips. I took one big gulp, enjoying the burning sensation I was feeling as the liquid ran down my throat. I took another long sip before the bottle was yanked from my hands. 

“Lando please, give it back I don’t want to feel this. I don’t want to feel anything, I cant live like this.” I started to sob again, hoping he would feel bad enough to just let me drink the whole bottle. ‘

Unfortunately Lando didn’t cave into me “I know it hurts but you have to feel the pain. You have to feel all your emotions in order to get past this, I know Oscar hurt you but I’m here to help you. I’m your best friend and I want everything for you but you can’t drown your feelings in liquor, I love you too much allow that.” I almost wanted to believe the words coming out of Lando’s mouth because I know he’s not Oscar and that I can trust him but a part of me doesn’t want to trust him and Lando could sense that

“Y/N/N, I need you to believe me. I want the best for you and you know that, you know that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you but right now I need you to trust me. Alcohol isn’t the solution.” The look in his eyes were sincere and I knew I could trust him.

I buried my face in my hands as I reluctantly let the bottle go and allowed Lando to take it from my hands to lock it away in Oscar’s liquor cabinet. By the time Lando had returned to the living room   and saw my state he could obviously tell that at any given moment, I would start spiraling again and that was the last thing either of us wanted right now. I felt the sofa dip next to me before abruptly being pulled against a body.

“I’m going to hold you like this and you can talk about any and everything or we could just sit in silence but I can see it in your eyes that you want to be held.” Lando said as he rested his chin against the top of my head which I moved to look at him in his eyes.

I was able to whisper a faint “okay��� as I looked in his aquamarine eyes, I never realized hoe beautiful they were until right now. Now that I think about it, everything I’m noticing on his face right now, I never had noticed before. I never realized all these little features in his face that made him beautiful, actually, I never realized how beautiful Lando was until right now. How plump his lips looked, how soft and fluffy his hair must feel against the palm of my skin, how the gap between us seemed to slowly disappear as I looked at him looking down at my lips and how soon the gap between us closed as our lips met. This kiss I was sharing with Lando felt different from all the kisses I’ve ever shared with Oscar, this one kiss alone had butterflies lighting fireworks in my stomach as I felt my broken heart mend. It sounds crazy, I know but something about this moment with Lando felt raw and real, it felt like everything I was missing in my relationship with Oscar was just found. 

The kiss consumed my whole being, I never want this moment to end. Everything felt right and nothing could ruin this moment. 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”

taglist:

@luckyladycreator2 @itsmiamalfoy @jeffs77 @ilivbullyingjeongin @forevercaffeinated-lee @daemyratwst @gulphulp @callsignwidow @f1wintermoon13 @teenwolf01 @victoriassecret101 @hiireadstuff @formulaal @eddieharrington @kazza72584 @zabwlky1999 @dark-night-sky-99 @rougekiki @xoscar03 @jess-wither @bountychanti @dhanihamidi @Ggasly.p @tellybearryyyy @a-panseuxalmess @love-simon @tallrock35 @iiaik0ii @Milkyymelanine @ilovsyou3000morgan

[mareastrorum]

These are just initial thoughts, and perhaps I’ll learn something that changes my mind on it, but I’m glad to see Critical Role making the leap to their own subscription service with Beacon.

As a lead in: I’m an attorney that has some background in IP law, though it isn’t what I practice currently. I’ve kept in contact with several active practitioners, particularly those that represent small-time creators either in their own independent practice or via nonprofits. I do not have an extensive Rolodex of IP peers, nor do I spend the money to keep up on IP CLEs. I’m just someone who used to know a ton because I did heavy research and work in that space, and that hasn’t been the case for years.

So here’s my thoughts a bit on the IP angle:

The primary reason I’m happy to see this leap is that CR is taking active steps to keep control over its IP. It’s a boring thing to most people, but when I start paying attention to a specific creator (authors, directors, companies, etc.), I tend to be very attentive to how they use their IP. How freely do they license their marks to partner with other creators to make merch? How often do they allow others to make adaptations or derivatives of their copyrights? What is the quality of those products? What is the supply chain like? Are those third parties objectionable in some way? Were the other parties faithful to the original works or marks? Was this a cash grab or an earnest effort to make something worth the price tag?

Honestly, I like how CR run their business. They have a history of tapping fans and fellow small businesses when making new merch or spinoffs. They embrace the culture of fan-made derivative works, both by featuring fanart/cosplay and by sharing their success. Do you know how rare it is for a company to pay fan artists for their already-made and freely posted work and then sell books of it? Let me be clear: CR bought a limited license from each artist so they could print and sell each work in a physical book, then paid the cost of publishing that book with no guarantee that CR would make that money back, let alone profit. I have a copy of the collector’s edition art books: they’re actually very well made and the packaging definitely cost a pretty penny. That’s not a rainmaker idea, that’s genuinely risking financial loss to sell something people could access for free if they wanted to.

The art books aren’t a one-off either. Darrington Press is CR’s separate LLC for tabletop games. (It’s good business practice to split off companies that handle products in different industries.) CR has also made shows based on those games, and the Candela Obscura series has quite a dedicated audience. Everything about Candela belongs to them: the game itself, the rule book, all the art in the book, the web series based on the game, and merch. It’s so successful that they invested in scheduling a live show for Candela later this month. That’s HUGE.

Contrast that with the distribution of Campaign 1 and the first 19 episodes of Campaign 2. CR cannot host those videos themselves; Geek & Sundry still exists and still holds what I presume to be distribution rights (but I don’t have the contract to review). So G&S gets to host those videos on YouTube and reaps the advertising. I can’t speak to whatever share CR gets from that, but considering that CR is locked out of hosting their own copies of those videos, I doubt it’s much, if any, revenue. (If you’re wondering why CR just didn’t buy those rights back, I ask: what incentive does G&S have to sell something that’s making them money for no cost?)

Knowing that background about G&S, I was wary of CR choosing Amazon to host and distribute The Legend of Vox Machina. Originally, TLOVM was not the plan; CR had a kickstarter for an animated special based on C1. It was only because they blew past the goal that CR was able to make an entire season. The reasonable assumption is that choosing Amazon had to have secured CR additional funding for future seasons of the show, which seems evident from how quickly season 2 was announced, Mighty Nein Animated is also going to be a thing, and that season 3 of TLVOM is scheduled for fall 2024. CR had the option of just doing 1 season and keeping it purely in their control, but going with Amazon meant they could animate more of their works. Animation is expensive. I cannot stress enough how doubtful I am that CR would have been able to afford this many episodes and both campaigns if they had not gone this route. As wary as I was in the start, it paid off, and it’s going well—so far. Hopefully CR doesn’t regret that decision if Amazon tries something sleazy. But, as before, we don’t have the contracts and can’t know how secure CR’s position is if any dispute came up.

CR also partnered with Dark Horse Comics to make Vox Machina comics and Might Nein Origins comics. What’s especially surprising is that each of the cast had a hand in writing the MNO comics for their characters, with Matt listed for multiple. That isn’t very common with comic adaptations. Often times, IP owners let comic companies go ham with minimal oversight. Being listed as one of the authors comes with IP rights that have to be negotiated. That means that Dark Horse had to talk with CR about whether that warrants more or less revenue going to which party in exchange for that—or, alternatively, whether the comic gets made at all. That’s a ballsy move. You think people can just demand to write the comics that a publishing company is going to pay to print? Pffft. CR wanted some creative control, and that is a big ask. However, Dark Horse still has the distribution rights, both digitally and for physical copies. You couldn’t buy the comics from CR until they came out with the library edition, a book bound compilation of 4/8 comics. But the publisher is still Dark Horse; CR is just allowed to sell the book directly from their own site as well.

Contrast that with the novels about CR characters. CR partnered with Penguin Random House to publish novels about Vex and Vax (Kith & Kin), Lucien (The Nine Eyes of Lucien), and Laudna (What Doesn’t Break). Liam and Laura were vocal about having some say in K&K, whereas Madeline Roux said in an interview that she had full control over TNEOL. Both of those novels were narrated with CR voices, but narrating a book doesn’t come with IP rights, it just brings in a paycheck. There’s a lot less IP control in there compared to the comics, but this isn’t abnormal for book publishing. To be blunt, I doubt PRH would have agreed to publish the novels if anyone from CR had been a co-author or had heavy oversight over the author or the editing. I don’t think PRH even considered that as an option. Either an author that has already managed to sell X number of copies or nothing. Creative control over a book a huge ask, asks come with reduced revenue, and switching to books from a web series is already a leap. The fact that Laura and Liam had any say is surprising, really.

That was a long meandering tour of what we’ve seen CR do with its IP. The reason I bring up each of these things is that navigating the way to protect an IP in this space is rife with challenges. Different types of IP warrant different strategies because of the cost involved in creating each medium and the challenges placed by industries that have already sprung up around them. Any time that a third party is tapped to create an IP, it’s usually because they already have the funds and resources to create the work, and CR has to negotiate for revenue, creative control, distribution, and—the big one—who gets to be the owner. These are not easy, quick, or fun conversations, and CR is always going to be the smaller company at the table.

Knowing that, I’m not surprised or worried that CR is creating its own independent subscription service with Beacon. It tells me that they’re being careful with their IP whenever they can. A subscription service means they don’t have to trade away distribution rights or give up ad revenue to a third party. They’re in this for a long term investment, and that requires solid income not tied to third parties that can definitely outspend them in litigation in the event of a dispute. A subscription for bonus content is one of many parts in a diverse revenue stream.

(All that said, this isn’t meant to criticize creators that cant afford to do this type of thing. It took 9 years for CR to get to the point where Beacon is financially feasible and a desirable business decision. They have enough ongoing, popular content to warrant paying for a subscription, and they’ve built sufficient trust with their audience that more will be added. That takes time and an awful lot of money.)

As a final note, I take this step as a sign that CR definitely intends to stick around. This isn’t a move people make when they plan on ending the business after the current campaign. I’m glad to see CR is taking steps to secure their foundation and keep making new content.

I’m sure people will chime in on other issues (cost, content exclusivity, etc.), but I hope my perspective gives an idea of why this sort of thing is good for business generally and why it would be good for CR.

[vanishingcherry]

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

pairings: f1 grid x leclerc!driver reader, charles leclerc x sister!reader

warnings: sexism, hugging, talk about the possibility of a car crash, 2021 f1 grid

authors note: i was thinking of making this a series, so let me know if thats something you would be interested in! (like leclerc driver in different situations throughout the seasons after her debut in 2021)

masterlist

๑ ⋆˚₊⋆────ʚ˚ɞ────⋆˚₊⋆ ๑

Sitting on a flight to Bahrain, it would be an understatement to say that Y/N was nervous. She sat next to her brother, Charles, with Arthur sitting across from her, fast asleep against the headrest of the plane seat.

Charles was going into his 4th season in Formula 1, his third with Ferrari. Y/N, however, was going into her first, following her older brother's footsteps as she started out her rookie season with Sauber, or Alfa Romeo as it was now called.

Looking out the window, she watched in amazement as the city lights sparkled in the night. She had been to Bahrain before, during her time in F3 and F2 with Prema, but landing as a Formula 1 driver was a different feeling altogether.

Y/N was confident in the car. 3 days of preseason testing allowed her to get accustomed to all the differences from the F2 cars. While it definitely wasn't at the level of Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, she was sure that she would be able to get at least a few points over the course of the season.

She was also extremely lucky to be paired with Kimi for her rookie season. The seasoned driver was known to be extremely less talkative, but she was sure she would pick up a few tips by just being in his presence. They had even had a short conversation during the pre-season testing during which Kimi told her that he was glad to have her as a teammate. Y/N never really realised just how much that statement meant to her until now, easing some of the nerves.

After landing, she and Charles walk through customs and head outside together, Arthur and Lorenzo following not too far behind. Immediately met by thousands of fans, she watches an unfazed Charles make his way towards them, smiling and signing posters and caps. She watches in awe for a second before a voice calling her name catches Y/N's attention.

"Y/N! Can you sign my cap please!"

She looks over to see a young girl amongst the crown and makes her way to the barrier. Kneeling over, she grabs the pen and signs the cap with a big smile.

"Are you going to watch the race?" Y/N smile turns even bigger when the girl nods.

"We've got seats at turn 3. I hope you get points! I love you!"

She laughs at the response, giving the girl a quick hug before making her way down the fans lined up.

There were dozens of people there, waving flags and notebooks for her to sign. Others just wanted a quick hug or a picture, which Y/N quickly obliged to. While she couldn't interact with everybody there, she made sure to as many people as possible.

Almost all of them were shouting words of encouragement and support, compliments hitting her from all sides. Surprised by how many people wanted her to sign things and take pictures, it was almost half an hour later when she finally sat down in the car, slumping against the seat as it made its way to the hotel. Her hand hurting from the number of autographs she had given out.

"There were so many people who wanted me to sign stuff" She said to Charles. "I didn't think there would be that many. All the girls were so excited."

"You're the first female driver Y/N, of course they were excited. I'm so proud of you, everyone is." Charles smiles as he replies, knowing just how hard it was to make it to F1, even more so as a girl. "Papa and Jules would be so, so happy."

"Thats P12 Y/N! Great job!"

The engineer's voice comes through the radio, conveying to Y/N her qualifying results.

"Oh my god! 12th is crazy, thank you! Where did Charles place? And Kimi?" Happy that Charles qualified 4th she celebrated, although she was slightly confused as to how she qualified ahead of Kimi who was 14th.

"There was an issue with his car." Her engineer explains, before telling her to switch off the engine and prepare for strategy discussion.

Y/N was just a few tenths off from making Q3 in her debut. Nonetheless, P12 was an amazing standing for the start of the race, and she was overjoyed at the prospect of getting points at her first ever F1 race.

As she makes her way to the driver rooms, Charles catches up to her, giving her a quick hug. "Xavi told me you qualified 12th! Congratulations! Get points tomorrow okay?"

She nods in response, congratulating him for qualifying P4 before once again making her way to the driver's room. She received many pats on the back on her way there, some from drivers and others from reporters and general people around the paddock.

Walking into the motorhome, Kimi is quick to congratulate her. Y/N expresses her sympathy for his qualifying position, but Kimi is quick to brush it aside. Having been in the sport this long, he knew that a bad qualifying doesn't mean a bad race.

After the discussions with the team for the next day's strategy had been closed, Y/N heads out, wanting to get a good nights rest before her first race.

The only goal for the next day was to race well and hopefully get a few points. Y/N knew that Alfa Romeo was feeling the pressure just as much as she was, being the team that signed the first female driver. All she wanted was to learn as much as possible while proving herself to the world.

"Just learn", is what the team principle had said not an hour ago. "Learn as much as you can, enjoy, and try not to crash the car."

Just as the rookie opens the taxi door, a voice calling out her name makes her turn around. At the sight of Sebastian, she pulls out her earphones.

The driver had just made the switch to Aston Martin, being Charles's teammate the year before. "I heard you qualified 12th! Thats amazing!"

Shyly she laughs. "Yeah, thank you so much!"

"Is anyone giving you a hard time?" he asks, fully prepared to defend Y/N. Sebastian had been an advocate for women in this sport for a long time, and was truly delighted that the step had finally be taken. Truth be told, he was honoured that he would be getting the opportunity to race against Y/N, even though she would insist it was the other way round.

"Not really," she replies. "Just a few fans on social media and stuff, saying it's a 'mans' sport."

"Ah, I think Hanna showed me a few of those posts." Sebastian mutters, thinking back to a weekend ago when his wife showed him the latest news, courtesy to the driver not having any social media accounts of his own. "Ignore them, we all know that you're amazing and believe me, you absolutely deserve to be here."

The 4 time world champion was speaking from experience. He had kept an eye on her the previous year. Although they hadn't talked much, other than when she was in the garage to visit Charles, Sebastian was ecstatic when he heard that the young girl had won the F2 Championship.

"I bet you'll get points tomorrow, you're just that good."

"Ah thanks Seb!" Y/N is close to blushing at that comment, overwhelmed with the number of compliments she had been receiving over the course of the day.

After another few moments of chatting, Sebastian walks away to his own car, leaving Y/N to get in hers and get back to the hotel. Popping her earphones back in, she relaxes against the seat, ready for what the race would bring.

"It's lights out and away we go for the first time in the 2021 season!"

The voice of David Croft is heard all around the world, thousands having tuned in to watch the start of the new season. Y/N gets a good start, overtaking Perez and moving up to P11 by turn 1.

Ahead of her now was Stroll in the Aston Martin. Staying close to him for the next few laps, she manages to overtake him on the straight when DRS opens.

"You're in the points! Push!" Her engineers voice comes through. Behind him the team was watching the screen in suspense, hoping that she would be able to keep the position. They jumped out of their seats nearly every time she got close to another car, worried out of their mind for the driver but excited nonetheless.

Choosing to stay out on track for an extra few laps earns her another two positions as most drivers go in for their pitstop, putting her at P8. Y/N manages to defend her position for majority of the race, keeping the Aston Martins and Red Bull behind her.

Towards the second half of the race, Y/N went in for her pitstop, unfortunately losing a spot in the process. Still, just 13 laps later, Y/N crossed the finish line in P9, having gotten 2 points for the driver standings and the team.

"Thats P9! P9 Y/N! Amazing, amazing job!"

Body in shock, she thanks the team and engineers profusely, jumping out of the car the second she parked it.

"Y/N Leclerc crosses the line in P9, an absolutely stellar performance. The first points scored from a woman in decades, and that too in her first race. I'm sure we can expect nothing short of brilliance from her in the future." Martin Brundle's voice can be heard by all watching.

Still in awe at the moment, all Y/N can think about is the fact that she got points. You did it, you did it, you did it. She runs into the barriers, giving a hug to everyone from Alfa Romeo standing there.

Behind her, Charles comes in for a hug, having heard from his engineer that Y/N placed 9th. "Je t'aime, je suis si fier" i love you, i am so proud

The next few minutes were a blur. Waving to the fans, Y/N can hear them cheer in the background as more and more people come up to her. Lewis pats her helmet on his way to the podium, Max and Valtteri doing the same. Sebastian walks by and offers a hug, widely grinning as he winks and says a quick "Told you so."

It was an out of the world experience. While not everyone may see the importance, everyone on the grid knew exactly how she was feeling. Having worked your entire life to reach F1, the feeling after getting your first points is one that no one would ever forget. One that Y/N would never forget.

"So Y/N, how does it feel having won points in your debut race?" The reporter asks when she enter the media pen. Replays of her crossing the checkered flag in P9 can be seen playing on the television in the background.

"There was a lot of pressure on me to perform well, being the first signed female driver and of course Charles being in Ferrari. People expected a lot. So, I am extremely happy that I was able to deliver."

Her response is short and sweet, as directed by the PR manager, but true nonetheless. There was a lot of controversy when Sauber announced that she would be joining F1 that year, with people on both sides of the spectrum making statements. It meant heaps to her, knowing that she had already started proving the haters wrong.

Toto and Susie Wolff were in support, both mentioning how important it was for more females to enter the sport. The Mercedes Principle having mentioned how "proud" he was, and how her presence would likely "encourage more girls from around the world to enter motorsport."

Susie being having participated in motorsport herself had reached out to Y/N when the news broke, sending her congrats and sharing her enthusiasm. Y/N and her still stay in contact, having just replied to another congratulatory message from Susie before coming out to give interviews.

On the other hand, there were also people who were doubtful of her. "She's entering a sport that has been predominantly male for over 7 decades. The way I see it, I'm not sure she'll be able to handle the needs of this sport. It's a tough sport, and there must be a reason females have never lasted long before." The statement that Red Bull released via their team principle was nothing short of enraging for Y/N, but she knew that she would have to stay calm and prove them wrong on track.

Nonetheless, Y/N knew that she had the support of all the drivers on the grid, all of them having talked to her and shown support during the pre-season testing. It meant a lot to her knowing that world champions like Lewis, Alonso and Sebastian were all rooting for her.

"And how did Charles react to you coming P9?"

"He was very happy," she exclaimed. "A bit jealous I think, because he didn't get points in his debut." Y/N adds, softly chuckling before moving on to the next reporter.

The rest of the media session went well, all the reporters being respectful and truly happy for Y/N. Finally, once the day was over, she went back to the hotel, ready for a night of relaxation.

Not too long after settling down on the couch, she heard a knock and the door handle turning. Charles walks in.

Falling back onto the couch next to her, he says. "The reporter told me what you said to her."

Frowning in response, Y/N pauses the movie. He elaborates. "About me being jealous? Because I didn't get points in my debut?" He gently elbows her in the rib and she laughs in response.

"But its true, no?

๑ ⋆˚₊⋆────ʚ˚ɞ────⋆˚₊⋆ ๑

[juniperskye]

Why are you in my head? Pt. 2

Sneak Peek: Eddie and you are soulmates. The legend of soulmates is that you start to hear one another’s thoughts around age 16 – not all the time, but when you’re feeling a strong emotion. It simply flows out of you and into the other, the legend also states that the closer you are, the more you can hear them. **The events of season 4 did NOT happen** I did also use some of the dialogue

Bold are Eddie’s thoughts; Italics are reader’s thoughts. (mind you, they are essentially hearing both sets of thoughts)

Eddie Munson x Fem Sunshine! Reader (Soulmate AU)

Fluff/Angst - Part 1 Part 3 Part 4** Part 5

Word count: 2255

REQUESTS ARE OPEN - not edited - please be kind. Feedback is welcome if it's constructive!

Warnings: My blog is 18+, minors DNI, explicit language, no use of y/n, fem reader, mentions of drugs/sale of drugs/drug use, arguing, mentions of Eddie’s drug addict parents, teeny tiny glimpse into reader’s past, let me know if I missed any!

That being said I do not own the characters portrayed in this story.

So, I have 3 more parts mapped out for this story, making it 5 total parts. Please, Please, PLEASE let me know if you want it!!? I would love to write it.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

You both let out a quiet chuckle.

All at once, colors were brighter, smells were sweeter, touches were softer. Everything came together in that moment; you couldn’t believe it. Here he was.

Before either of you could introduce yourself, the bell rang out, signaling that lunch was over. How long had you been standing here? Looking at him, seeing him for the first time, it made time stand still.

Don’t go. Not yet.

Neither of you made a move to leave. The cafeteria was slowly emptying around you, the reality of this moment creeping in. The second bell ringing brought you out of your thoughts, you looked into his eyes again and pulled back slightly.

“Shit! I can’t be late on my first day!” You hissed.

“Oh god O’Donnell is gonna kill me!” He facepalmed.

“You have O’Donnell this hour too? Also, you seem to be late to her class a lot.” You giggled.

“You’re in O’Donnell’s right now?” He questioned.

You nodded in confirmation. A grin took over his face, he grabbed your hand and began speed walking to her classroom. As you came up to the door, he looked over at you and nodded.

“Follow my lead.” He whispered.

You walked into the classroom, and everyone fell silent. Mrs. O’Donnell looked over at the two of you, and judging by her expression, she was less than impressed by your tardiness.

“Eddie Munson. I told you that if you were late to my class one more time I would be forced to fail you.” O’Donnell croaked.

“Mrs. O’Donnell, I understand that, but I couldn’t possibly let our new student wander the halls aimlessly.” He explained.

She looked at you, awaiting some sort of confirmation. When she was met with an enthusiastic nod from you, she finally relented. She looked down at her attendance chart and took note of the new student listed on it.

“Welcome to Hawkins High. Now both of you have a seat. Don’t make tardiness a habit.” She bit.

Eddie gestured for you to go first toward the back of the room. Once seated, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. You couldn’t help the blush that crept its way onto your cheeks. His stare was keeping you from concentrating on Mrs. O’Donnell’s lecture about the debates you’d all be writing and then acting out in a week. You had no clue what the topics were, and you only hoped that she had put all the information on the handout that had been passed back to you.

God you’re so cute. I am so glad it’s you.

A giant shit eating grin enveloped Eddie’s face and you realized he must’ve heard that thought. You realized that you knew his name now, thanks to Mrs. O’Donnell, but he still didn’t know yours. You decided to pull out a pen and your notebook so you could write it down for him.

You caught his attention as you scribbled your name onto the paper, making sure to add a tiny heart next to it. You folded the paper up and passed it to him. If you thought his smile had been big before, well you were wrong, because you were sure this one would split his face in two.

A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

Your face immediately heated and turned bright red. You just had to make it through a few more minutes, then this class would end, and you get to really talk to Eddie before your next one. Only a few more hours and you might actually get to spend some time with him.

You had called your parents after O’Donnell’s class to let them know you’d be getting a ride home with a friend. You didn’t want to tell them that you had met your soulmate just yet, you figured you should get to know him a little bit first.

When that final bell rang you all but ran out the front doors of the school. Eddie had told you to meet him at his van. As you glanced around the parking lot you could see the cliques, jocks hanging out by fancy sports cars, theater kids sitting on the picnic tables in the courtyard, and the Hellfire boys, well, they were loitering around Eddie’s big beat-up van.

His face lit up when he noticed you, that’s when you ran towards him. As you neared closer, he opened his arms and you leapt into them. He spun you around once before letting your feet land back on solid ground.

I want to kiss you so bad.

Please kiss me.

With that, Eddie leaned down and captured your lips in a sweet kiss. Eddie’s friends whooped behind you, which caused you to blush. You could see the confusion on some of their faces.

“Guys! This is her; this is my soulmate!” Eddie announced.

“Holy shit dude!”

“No way.”

“How much did you pay this girl to fake it for you?”

“Dude she’s way out of your league.”

“That’s awesome man!”

Eddie’s friends all spoke at once, it was hard to understand what any of them were really saying. But the gist of it was that most of them thought you were joking. You figured that his friends probably messed with him like this a lot, perhaps this was how their friendship was, lots of joking and messing around. Your heart hurt a little that his friends would assume you guys were lying, but you figured he’d tell you if it had upset him.

“Guys I’m serious! This is her, we met at lunch!” Eddie exclaimed.

“Hi.” You gave a small wave.

Eddie’s friends were bombarding the two of you with questions, faster than you could take in. It was pretty overwhelming, the way they were all talking over one another. Eddie was spitting out answers as fast as they were throwing questions, and your mind could not keep up.

This is…ok. Woah. Slow down. What is happening?

“Hey guys, I would love to sit and chat with you, but I think I am going to take my soulmate here out for a drive.” Eddie said, as his hand moved to your lower back, and he led you to the van.

“Thank you.” You whispered.

“You don’t have to thank me; I could hear how anxious you were. They can be a lot, especially when you’re not used to being around them all the time.” He laughed sheepishly.

“I appreciate it either way. The whole shared thoughts thing really comes in handy!” You huffed a laugh.

Eddie put his hand out to hold your as he drove you to wherever you were going…you should probably ask him where he is taking you.

That night, you and Eddie were out well passed curfew. You had talked about nothing and everything. You shared all your favorite things, your hopes and dreams, your deepest secrets. Sharing with Eddie was easy. Talking with him was like breathing, it came naturally – you guessed that was the whole “soulmate” thing at play.

It had been one week since that night and honestly, things had been really good. Eddie picked you up for school (he had yet to meet your parents yet), you sat with Eddie and the Hellfire guys at lunch, he walked you to your classes and waited for you at his van after school.

Things were perfect…or so you thought.

Soulmates had this sort of stereotype behind them. People always said soulmates didn’t fight, that the shared thoughts sort of helped to clear things up before they escalated to a full-blown argument. Things were meant to be easy, simple even. It was the fault of this stereotype that the argument threw you off guard.

The thought had slid into your mind during your last class of the day. You were sitting in history, listening to Mr. Warner drone on and on about a war, you were too distracted to remember which one it had been.

Two pre-rolls and a small baggie of shrooms…shit I gotta meet her in 5 minutes!

What the fuck is that about? You couldn’t help the upset feeling creeping into your veins. Pre-rolls had to be weed, and shrooms? Was Eddie buying drugs? And who is the girl he is meeting to get them from? Your mind was racing with all kinds of questions, you felt guilty about being mad at Eddie, but why would he keep this from you? You two had shared so much with one another in the last week.

When the final bell rang, you took your time getting your things from your locker and then slowly made your way to Eddie’s van.

As you approached it, you noticed a severe lack of brown curls. Your stomach sank, realizing that he still must be with her…whoever she was, buying drugs.

Why would he keep this from me?

The thought had hit Eddie like a freight train. He immediately kicked himself, he knew he should have told you about this side hustle of his, but he was scared you would judge him…but now you’d found out because his thoughts are so fucking loud and he’s a total jackass for keeping it from you.

He made quick work of the deal, it had been with some random theater girl and her boyfriend wanting to enjoy their weekend.

Eddie practically ran to his van to meet up with you and he noticed the far off look you were wearing.

“Hey baby!” Eddie reached to pull you into a hug.

“Hi Eddie.” You returned his hug with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

“Let’s go for a drive yeah? I want to talk to you about something.” Eddie suggested.

“Oh, yeah, okay.” You nodded.

The two of you got into Eddie’s van and he drove you to the clearing by the lake. There was a heavy awkward silence for a bit, your thoughts just circling round and around in your head. And judging by the look on Eddie’s face, he was clearly experiencing the same thing.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Eddie started.

“Okay…” You waited.

“I realize that a thought of mine may have made its way to you. A thought that had to do with something I have neglected to share with you yet. Listen sweetheart, I uh, I deal. It’s just to make some extra cash, ya know, to help Uncle Wayne out and to save until I have enough to get the hell out of this place.” Eddie rambled on.

“Wait a second. You’re the one dealing the drugs?” You asked.

“Yeah…did you think I was buying?”

“Eddie, you sell drugs? That’s illegal! I don’t understand, you could get a different job if you want to save money. Why would you do something so reckless?” You questioned.

“Woah. What the hell. I know it’s illegal, but I’m smart about it and didn’t you hear me? I am doing this for Wayne…and for us! Dealing makes me way more money than flipping burgers at big boy or renting out movies to asshole pre-teens. You’re my soulmate, I thought you’d at least try to understand!” Eddie snapped.

“Eddie, you purposely kept this from me. Which just proves to me that you know that this is wrong. I know that other jobs may not make you as much money, but at least they’re legal and don’t run the risk of you being sent to PRISON. Because that is where you would end up if you got caught Eddie. Prison! Did you ever stop to think about what that would mean to the people who care about you. To your uncle Wayne, to Dustin, to me? How could you be so careless?” You waved your arms as you spoke, growing more and more frustrated.

“Jesus. Of course you don’t get it!” Eddie sighed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You couldn’t believe him right now.

“You were born with a fucking silver spoon in your mouth babe. You have never wanted for anything. Your parents are well off and you have always gone to good schools with new supplies and a nice backpack. I mean fuck, your parents moved you here, set up this incredible room for you, bought you a car, and still ask you what you need or want. I live in a trailer and before that, I was growing up in an even smaller trailer that my parents were doing and selling crack out of. I am doing what I have to, to make sure I am set up when it comes time for me to leave Hawkins.” Eddie was practically yelling by the end of his rant.

You sat there, your mouth opening, then closing again. You weren’t sure what to say. Eddie had clearly gone through some really difficult shit that you hadn’t been aware of, but he was also assuming that your life had been perfect, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

This conversation had truly made you feel sick to your stomach. How was this meant to work. How was Eddie meant to be your soulmate if he thought so little of you. And how were you meant to be his soulmate if you couldn’t agree with what was obviously a part of his life. You clearly had a lot to think about and you couldn’t do that right now, not with the tension that was beginning to suffocate you in Eddie’s van. So you did what you thought best.

“Take me home please.” You whispered.

[itsghvstfvce]

WHAT'S IN A NAME | PART 2

pairing : tara carpenter x fem!reader

summary : you can keep running, but you can't run from who you are. | read part 1 here!

word count : 4.1k

warnings : scream vi spoilers but anika lives here bc she deserves better, violence stab stab stab, mentions of blood, swearing, reader is momentarily athletic, and as usual, shitty non-proofread writing lmao

Tara drags you back to her apartment with Sam and the rest of her friends that evening.

As you expected, Sam was not on board with you staying with them since you were practically a stranger to everyone. But once she saw Tara beg with the cutest pout on her face, Sam knew there was nothing she could do. She did, however, stick to your side for the entirety of the trip home to ensure you don’t do anything funny which was pretty damn intimidating; after seeing what happened at the frat party, you knew better than to fuck with the older Carpenter. Tara, Mindy, and Chad all snickered at the obvious nervousness that was evident on your face despite your protests of not feeling nervous at all.

At the apartment, Chad and Mindy set the table for dinner while you and Tara prepare the food. The two of you steal quick glances at each other, smiling as you silently check each other out.

“So where’d you learn to cook?” Tara finishes chopping carrots then drops them in the pot and you start stirring, adding a variety of seasoning at the same time to enhance its flavour.

“Self-taught. Ever since I came to the city, I had to learn how to live on my own which meant learning how to cook.”

“Where’d you move from? Do you keep in touch with your parents?”

You halt your movements at the mention of your parents and Tara takes immediate notice of this.

“Sorry, I must have hit a nerve. You don’t need to answer, I get-”

“No, you’re good,” you place the ladle down to the side and face the younger Carpenter to give her your full attention.

“Most of my life I stayed in Cali. I decided to leave for college because I wanted to see what else the world had to offer.”

“And you thought New York was the best place to go?” Tara raises her eyebrow.

You chuckled at Tara’s remark, “well it did lead me to you so yeah, I think it was,” you didn’t mean to come off as flirtatious but it’s the truth. Running away and coming to New York allowed you to meet Tara, who is now all smiles and tries to fight the pink tint that was making its way onto her cheeks, causing you to smile too.

“And your parents?” Her smile fades slightly, knowing she may be treading in dangerous waters. You take a deep breath in before answering her.

“My parents are good people. I have nothing against them.”

“Then why do you get tense when I bring it up?”

“It’s just that we haven’t talked since I came here. I’m sure they didn’t want me to move out but I pushed for it anyway, so I’ve been hesitant to reach out; only because I don’t know if they’d want to talk to me after leaving them,” Tara takes notice in the way your breath hitches slightly, trying to hold back the tears from falling. You really missed your parents; you didn’t want to run away but you couldn’t handle the life you had at home.

Tara walks towards you and grabs your hand that was gripping the counter. You relax at her touch, and she leans her head into your chest.

“I’m sure they miss you as much as you miss them, Y/N. They’re your family and family is always going to be there when you need them to be, whether you like it or not,” Tara then takes a quick look at Sam who was placing extra pillows and blankets down for everyone and a small smile makes its way onto her face. “But just know that you don’t need to contact them right away. Do it when you feel ready.”

“I honestly don’t see that happening anytime soon, but I’m definitely thinking on it.”

She takes her head off your chest and looks at you, eyes darting between the both of yours and you find yourself getting lost in her dark brown orbs once again. But to your surprise, the shorter girl takes a step back, her gaze moving from your eyes to the ground and the hem of her shirt suddenly becomes more interesting.

“I think you should get out of the city, though. Like, the three of you I mean, I wouldn’t blame any of you if you wanted to go. We put you guys in a lot of danger and-”

“That’s very thoughtful of you Tara, but I don’t think I’m going anywhere,” she glances up from her shirt to meet your eyes again but the sudden sound of fake gagging catches the both of you off guard.

“Will you two just make out already?” Mindy complains while setting the cutlery on the table.

“Mindy that is so inappropriate, come on dude!” your face heats up at the embarrassment while Tara and Chad just laugh at the current scene in front of them. But the atmosphere immediately changes when Anika points out the news being reported - Sam was being accused for the killings that took place last year in Woodsboro and they claim she placed the blame on Richie and Amber. When Sam mutes the TV and marches to the dining table, you plant yourself beside Anika while Tara, Mindy, and Chad try to comfort the eldest, deciding that it wasn’t your business to meddle in right now.

“So you and Tara, huh?” Anika asks out of the blue, nudging your arm with her elbow.

“Nah, I think it’s way too early to be saying there’s anything between us.”

“But you like her, don’t you? I mean come on, you look at her the way Mindy and I look at each other.” You simply smile and shake your head. You knew what the truth was anyway and judging by the smile on your face, Anika probably knew the truth now too.

Then multiple phones start going off at once, including yours. Hesitant, you pull out the device from your sweater pocket, and once it’s unlocked, you’re greeted with a picture of Quinn being attacked by Ghostface in her room. First you whip your head towards her door, then turn to the four still sitting at the table before all of you get up and crowd in front of Quinn’s room, grabbing Tara by the arm and pulling her close to you to stop her from doing anything irrational.

The screaming and the banging suddenly stop. The silence is eerie. The six of you stand outside Quinn’s room waiting for any sound or sign of life.

You wait.

And wait.

And wait. Until Mindy finally breaks the silence.

“Run!”

The door opens and Ghostface shoves a butchered Quinn towards all of you. The corpse falls on top of Anika and she lets out a blood curdling scream, leaving you frozen in your spot. Chad grabs Tara and they sprint towards the exit, the younger Carpenter yelling for you to follow but the rest of you couldn’t. Ghostface was right in front of you, and if any of you tried running, he could tackle you immediately.

You’re still frozen. You want to move but your feet are stuck to the ground, and you feel helpless. But you finally gain control of your body when he comes forward and slashes Mindy in the arm. As Sam frantically looks for a knife and you apply pressure to Mindy’s arm, Anika tries to hold onto his legs to stop him from hurting Mindy any more, but it backfires when he wraps his hand around Anika’s neck. She visibly turns red and struggles to get him off of her, but it was no use; he's much stronger than she is. Ghostface effortlessly picks Anika up, hand still tight around her neck, and slams her right against the brick wall where he plunges and twists the knife right into her abdomen causing another scream to escape from her throat. He mercilessly sinks the knife even deeper into the girl, making her scream even louder than she already was.

You glance towards the kitchen to find Sam still trying to find any kind of weapon. Realizing she was taking too long, you release Mindy’s arm and rush towards Ghostface, grasping his shoulder and turning him to face you before swinging a right hook right to his face. With no other option, Sam grabs the knife block and knocks Ghostface in the head making him fall to the ground. You help Anika up while Sam assists Mindy, and the four of you run into Quinn’s bedroom. Meanwhile, Tara realizes none of you were behind her and yells at Chad to go back upstairs, but to her demise, the door was locked and she left her keys inside. She begins to panic, worried about what could happen to her sister, her friends, but most importantly, you. Chad wraps his arm around the girl and starts leading her down the stairs.

You plop Anika down beside Mindy and watch as Sam holds the door closed. The banging stops after a while, but Sam notices the bathroom door was open.

“Y/N, the bathroom door, hurry!” Sam whispers, and you rush to go close it.

“Oh fuck! That guy’s dead,” you cry out loud, frightened by the sight of a carved up man in a literal blood bath. Distracted, you nearly miss Ghostface at the door and you frantically try to shove him out of the bathroom, slamming the door onto him multiple times. He manages to plant his knife into your left shoulder, luckily missing your carotid artery due to the awkward angle. You scream out in pain but still push with all your might to get him out the door. Sam comes to your side to help you push, and when he’s finally outside, you lock the door and help Sam push the dresser to block it. Ghostface doesn’t stop banging and kicking the door so you lean against the dresser to add extra weight. In the corner of her eye, Sam catches sight of Danny in the neighbouring building and he brings out a ladder for the four of you to climb across. With no other choice, Sam reluctantly agrees with his plan.

“You guys go first, Y/N!”

“What? No! Somebody needs to hold the door, let Anika and Mindy go first, then I’ll be right behind you Sam. Go!”

Just as you instructed, you watch as the three of them slowly but safely make their way across the ladder. Once they were all in the safety of Danny’s apartment, they all cry out for you and you look at the door one last time before rushing to the window.

“Come on, Y/N! Slow and steady, you can do this!”

You were never really afraid of heights, but the thought of having to cross a very unstable ladder that was high up in the air just to escape a killer heightened your anxiety by tenfolds. You breathe in deeply before taking your first step, carefully shifting your body weight as needed to avoid making the ladder more than it needed to. The encouraging words that were once spilling from the audience standing at Danny’s window start to become less frequent and eventually stop all together, causing you to stop in your tracks. You look up at them for the first time and find all of them looking like deer caught in headlights.

“What?”

“Y/N, you have to move right now!” Mindy yells almost in desperation.

You turn your head and you find the familiar black and white mask managed to make it into Quinn’s bedroom. You’ve only made it just halfway across and with Ghostface now trying to throw you off the ladder, you tried to pick up your pace.

“Come on Y/N, you gotta move!” Sam yells as Mindy and Anika watch nervously, trying their best to help Danny weigh the ladder down and keep it stable. Despite their efforts, it becomes harder to keep yourself steady. Ghostface repeatedly tosses the ladder up and down and he eventually gets it to turn over on its side so it’s no longer parallel to the ground. Everyone who was watching scream and cry in horror, fearing you'd fall right off but you maintain a solid grip. You looked down and watched how your legs dangled in the air. Your hands were getting sweatier with each moment that passed by and Ghostface clearly wasn’t going to stop until he saw your body smothered on the ground beneath you.

“Y/N you can do this, we got you! Don’t look down!”

Their voices made you look up and you can see the desperation they had to keep you alive. Gathering all the energy you had left, you swing your body to give yourself momentum and cross the remainder of the ladder Tarzan style. You’re finally able to reach for Sam’s hand but you lose your grip on it when Ghostface gives the ladder one last toss, leaving you to hang on the ladder with one hand. The blood and sweat that was on your hand was making you slip more and more until you could no longer hold yourself up. As your hand releases the ladder, Sam, Mindy, and Anika scream at the sight of your body falling in the air. You curl yourself up in attempts to protect your head and break the fall using your left shoulder by making direct contact with the dumpster that was beneath you before rolling off of it and onto the ground. Your entire left shoulder, along with some of your ribs and God knows what other bones in your body, were definitely shattered from the impact and you also felt extremely light headed, but the important thing is you weren’t dead. You deliver that message to Ghostface when you catch him looking out the window, flipping him off with a smirk on your face as the three girls sob and breathe a sigh of relief.

You wake up on a stretcher just outside an ambulance to find Tara, Mindy, and Anika sitting in the back of the vehicle itself with its doors opened. You carefully try to move but pain shoots through your entire body like lightning. The younger Carpenter shoots her head in your direction when she sees you move and she’s quick to grab ahold of your hand.

“Y/N, you’re awake!”

“Hey there daredevil, how you holding up?” Mindy asks.

“I can’t lie, I'm pretty fucking high right now,” you smile and the three of them giggle.

“What you did back there was seriously insane. Like you wouldn’t believe her upper body strength, Tara! She deadass looked like Tarzan or something,” Anika explains excitedly, but it quickly dies down when Mindy starts to talk again.

“Okay but even though it was sort of impressive to watch, you’re still on my suspect list. That could’ve just been a little act to throw us off our tracks. We still don’t know a whole ton about you, other than the fact that you’re part monkey.”

“Hey, I’m no monkey, I'm a human being!” the amount of drugs in your system cause you to slightly slur your words. Mindy smirks and decides to use your woozy state against you all while Anika shoots her girlfriend a knowing smile.

“Hey Y/N, what do you think of Tara?”

“Mindy!” the girl in question protests.

“Tara? Oh golly, she’s an absolute gem!”

“Yeah? Think she’s pretty?”

“Pretty damn gorgeous if ya ask me!” Tara starts to blush at your honesty.

“Okay Mindy that’s enough, let Y/N re-”

“Chad..” Ethan emerges from the crowd and cautiously makes his way towards all of you, worried about the state of his friends at the moment. Chad, however, was unhappy to see his roommate and he slams Ethan against a car to question his whereabouts the previous night. Even after letting him go, Mindy doesn’t allow Ethan to step foot near you.

“Step the fuck back. You’re at the top of my list.”

“I had econ!”

“Ohhhh, econ!! What's econ?” you ask, clearly still in a drugged state.

-

You spend the day in the hospital trying to recover, immense pain still spreading through your body. But when Tara tells you about Gale getting attacked and their plan to try and catch Ghostface, you beg her to let you help out.

“Are you sure you want to be discharged now? You still have a long way to go before you’re anywhere near being fully healed,” the charge nurse asks as she hands you a few papers to sign.

“I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t important. There are lives on the line and I need to help out. Thanks for everything though.”

“Just be sure to take your meds and show up to those follow up appointments, young lady.”

You smile at the lady before making your way down to the hospital lobby where you meet Tara and everyone else.

“You look like absolute shit,” Chad teases.

“Yeah, well you try falling off a ladder then pretty boy” you retort, and he playfully lifts his arms up in surrender.

“Alright captain, where we headed?” you turn to Tara.

“I’ll explain everything along the way.”

“Wait, where’s Anika?”

“I told her it was best if she stayed out of it. She’s safe with her parents,” you nod your head in approval seeing as you definitely didn’t want to see more people getting hurt.

The seven of you travel through the streets of New York City until you’re met with the busy atmosphere of the subway stations. To what you were able to get from Tara’s explanation, there was a massive theatre that held Ghostface memorabilia from over the years, and you were going to try and lure him there so you could all attack him. Although some were protesting against the plan, you thought it was better than just standing around and waiting for his next attack.

The subways were particularly packed with commuters trying to make their way to the different Halloween parties being hosted all over the city. Almost everyone around you was wearing a costume so technically, you were the ones who stood out in the crowd. It was easy to get lost with the amount of people around, so you held onto Tara’s hand as tight as you could but you didn’t miss the glare burning into the back of your head from her sister.

Despite your efforts to stay with them, the number of people made it extremely difficult to keep up. Mindy trails behind you and calls out for Chad to wait up while you call out for Tara, but Danny and other civilians push their way onto the train to force you, Mindy, and Ethan to stay back on the platform and wait for the next one. You watch the train pass by before taking a look at Mindy who lets out a sigh of frustration. The two of you are startled by a hand that touches your shoulder which just turned out to be Ethan.

“Get your Ghostface ass away from us, Ghostface.”

“Wait, so you trust her but not me?”

“I saw Y/N fall off a ladder last night so I know where she was. I can't say the same for you, though.”

“I keep telling you guys I had econ!”

“Just keep your distance, Ghostface,” Mindy pulls you away from Ethan and you two walk further down the platform as you wait for the next train.

“Hey, did you notice his eye?” you ask Mindy while she tried to make him look away from the two of you.

“No, why? Did you see something?” she turns to you.

“It looked like it was starting to bruise. And if I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure I landed a right hook onto Ghostface last night. You think it’s a coincidence?”

“That’d be one hell of a coincidence. He definitely has to be Ghostface, I’m calling it right now. But you’re still not completely off the hook, got it buddy?” you give Mindy a tight lip smile and nod almost immediately, causing her to giggle at your nervous reaction.

-

The train ride was anything but pleasant. With the success of the Stab films, there were a number of Ghostface costumes on the train, causing you and Mindy to be on edge the entire time. Unfortunately, you and Mindy couldn’t stick close together due to the number of people separating you two, but you made sure to keep a close eye on her and to your surroundings.

But thanks to the flickering lights, it was hard to pay attention to your environment when you couldn’t see anything. You frantically turn your head in every direction to ensure you had every space covered and checking on Mindy if she was okay. When you turn your head to the left, you find a Ghostface mask who happened to be staring right at you. You want to think it’s just another random in a costume but the way he keeps his gaze fixed on you gives you the feeling it’s not just a random person.

Anxious, you try and make your way closer to Mindy so you could stay together but as soon as you started to move, he did too. There were a bunch of people in your way, leaving you no choice but to push through them and not even bothering to say sorry. At one point, the lights shut off and it takes a while for them to come back on. You continue your trek to Mindy but it’s no use because people were being bitches stubborn and wouldn’t move out of the way. You look back to see if Ghostface caught up to you, but you can’t make out anything in the dark. The lights finally come back on and Ghostface is nowhere to be seen, confirming your suspicions that it was most likely a stranger.

But when you turn back around to push your way through to Mindy, Ghostface is right in front of you. You attempt to scream but his hand is faster and immediately covers your mouth before pushing his knife right into your stomach. A muffled scream can’t be heard with how loud the train was and the people around you were, so you were left there to struggle and Mindy didn’t even know. He shoves the knife deeper into you and the two of you slowly fall to the ground, yet no one around you seemed to notice what was going on. Ghostface finally pulls the knife out and starts walking towards Mindy but you can’t get up to stop him. The announcer on the train comes on to indicate that the train will be arriving at the platform soon which catches him off guard, and you think he won’t have enough time to attack Mindy, but you were wrong. Ghostface quickly stabs Mindy approximately in the same area as he did with you before he makes a swift exit off the train. The two of you are clutching your stomachs, putting pressure to try and minimize some of the bleeding. Ethan notices both of you and immediately calls for help while he tries to drag both of you out of the train at the same time. He drops you by a nearby post where security guards gather and call for medical services.

“Are you guys okay?!”

“Yeah, we’re so good” Mindy’s sarcasm doesn’t fail to make an appearance despite being in pain.

“Goddammit. I got it wrong again! What the fuck?” she grunts in pain. You, on the other hand, start struggling to keep yourself awake. Your eyelids feel heavy and it’s becoming harder to breathe, the rest of your body feeling limp until your head crashes onto Mindy’s shoulder.

“Y/N, stay with me, come on!”

“I’m just gonna take a nap Min, don’t worry, I’ll be up in no time.” Mindy can feel her heart break hearing the nickname come from you for the first time. Her voice is the last thing you hear before finally letting your eyelids close themselves.

“Fuck this franchise.”

a/n: hello again, reader >:) i'm giving y/n some of chad's armor plot bc let's bffr, anyone would die falling off a ladder like that lmfaooo anyway, thank you guys for all your patience! the next part will be the last one and you will finally get to know who y/n is :) hope u enjoyed!

[azure-firecracker]

The X-Files Season 3 Review (First-Time Watcher)

Wahoo, we’re back! And just in time before I head off to school. I don’t know if it was the pre-college nerves or just the consistency of this season, but I blazed through this. It’s either the fastest I’ve ever binged a season of this length or close to it (barring times where I’ve been sick).

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure where the show was going to go following the high drama of season 2. I said in my Season 2 Review that the season resembled an alien soap opera, a tone I felt suited the show extremely well. But the events of Season 2 were so incredibly high-stakes that I wasn’t sure the show could keep up the high-drama tone. I mean, you can’t get much more high stakes than the Season 2 abduction arc.

As it turned out, the show’s solution was yet another tonal switch. While Season 1 (read my review of that here) felt like a riff on campy sci-fi stories, and Season 2 felt like a dark alien soap opera, Season 3 adopted the tone of a fast-paced film-noir action style movie. Our agents were in fights! They were running after villains! They were firing at bad guys!They were jumping onto trains! It was very high-stakes and exciting, but in an adrenaline-rush sort of way rather than mimicking the desperate, melancholic vibes of Season 2.

While my personal subjective tastes do tend more towards the high-drama vibe of Season 2, I think the action-movie energy suited the show (and the writers) well. The episodes in this season were consistently good at grabbing my attention and keeping it. Due to the fast pace and the constant reveal of new information, I felt like I was always running right alongside Mulder and Scully, racing to find new information and uncover each twist and turn. And if I were to describe this season in one word, it would be consistent. The show writers clearly perfected this fast-paced-film-noir vibe and found a comfortable rhythm creating it. This season had the longest unbroken stretch of fantastic episodes yet, and VERY few misses. More on that in the individual episode reviews.

I think this season’s new energy served Scully well as a character. I said in my Season 1 review that I was irritated with Mulder always taking the lead in investigations, and I felt like it was his mental journey that we were watching, since he was the believer and always right. While that wasn’t my main problem with Season 2, the Mulder-sole-protagonist feeling was still somewhat present. It makes sense: Mulder, as the more angsty and openly emotional of the two, is well-suited to being the main character of a cosmic drama. But Scully, with her sharp observation skills and calm demeanor under pressure, is well-suited to being the main character of a film-noir-action case. I was happy to see her taking the lead several times this season, both in solving cases, but also in becoming more assertive in going after information and figuring out a ton of clues. Her intelligence was showcased so well across so many episodes! I even felt like she got more camera time this season - a testament to the fact that she and Mulder are becoming equals in the eyes of the show. This was the first season where I 100% felt like they were equals (and the first season where Scully outnumbers Mulder in rescues! Yahoo!)

My whump-addicted heart did miss all the saving each other, but at the same time, I’m glad we got a break after Season 2. (A WHOLE SEASON WITHOUT SCULLY GETTING KIDNAPPED! I REJOICED!)

I don’t have many gripes about this season. It was just very consistently high-quality and consistent with itself, though I will say that its consistency made me more irritated with less stellar episodes than I would have been in Season 1 or Season 2. This is probably reflected in my episode ratings. I also think that, while it made sense to do a tonal shift, I could have used just a few more emotional moments in the vein of Season 2. While the stakes aren’t quite so dire this season, it’s still MSR and raw moments between them are part of what keep me coming back to the show. I could have used a little more of that.

My biggest complaint is that I felt like the mytharc episodes got a lot worse after Blessing Way/Paper Clip. I loved the Season 2 mytharc episodes because they directly tied into Mulder and Scully’s story, and the emotional stakes were just as high as the physical ones. Season 3 mytharc episodes had a little too much infodumping and not as much emotional weight as I would have liked. We got SO MANY scenes of Cancer Man or someone else from that group of old white men that I don’t care about talking on the phone and being ominous. A little bit is okay, but at a certain point, I ceased to care.

But overall I felt that this season was VERY strong and VERY binge-able (look no further on your next sick day!) Especially the middle-end of the season I felt was pretty damn near flawless.

Individual episode reviews under the cut:)

The Blessing Way/Paper Clip: A BANGER of a season opener. Easily the best opener the show has done so far. This is what I mean when I talk about balancing infodumping with emotional stakes. We learned so much about the government’s shady behavior and its history, but its ties to Mulder’s father and Scully’s abduction kept it emotionally relevant enough for me to stay invested. Mulder’s borderline-afterlife stint was giving hardcore protagonist energy in a bit of a clichéd way, but it’s okay because at least the Blessing Way ritual is real and they didn’t just make it up (I wouldn’t put it past them). Skinner came through this episode - I know he’s a bit morally ambiguous but I like him! And God, Melissa😭 This death hits so hard because it’s deeply unnecessary, and that’s what makes it so tragic. The scene at the end with Mulder and Scully in the hospital was absolutely beautiful. 10/10

D.P.O: This is what I mean when I say this season made me less forgiving of mediocrity than I would have been back in Season 1. This would have been a totally fine Season 1 episode, but here, especially coming off of Blessing Way/Paper Clip, it was just kind of meh. Not much to say about anything here (except Jack Black! Cool!) 4/10

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose: Hooray another comedic episode! But also deeply emotionally poignant, and walking the line very well. Peter Boyle was a phenomenal guest star, bringing a mix of humor and genuine grief that was absolutely perfect. Also my comments about Scully being more of a leader this season? This is what I meant! She got so much camera time! She was the one bonding with their important magic person! She solved the case based off of A THREAD OF FABRIC LIKE SOME AGATHA CHRISTIE DETECTIVE! She shot the killer and saved Mulder! What an icon she is. Obviously 10/10

The List: I know this is a well-liked one, but for me, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it. I watch this show for supernatural angst and escapism, not to watch prisoners get unfairly treated and beaten up in a way that feels a little too real. Plus Scully was acting lowkey OOC this episode. I just didn’t enjoy watching prisoners get horrifically beaten up, and even though I’m not supposed to enjoy it and the episode is making a point, what can I say? I didn’t enjoy it. Objectively this is probably an 8/10 but closer to a 5.5/10 for me subjectively.

2Shy: Another one where I have to admit my own biases. I did not appreciate the way this episode treated fat people, as a chubby girl myself who can get a tad insecure when watching shows from this era. The episode kept trying to pretend all of these not-even-that-fat women were ugly when they were not (not that being fatter is bad, but it just goes to show how insane 90s body standards were). It just…was not a good time for me, even though it’s objectively a decent monster of the week, I guess. I propose this alternate ending: the fat women being targeted all actually have fulfilling lives, do not need this creep for anything, they all band together and get to beat him to a pulp. Army of beautiful fat women saves the day. Anyway, objectively probably a 6/10, subjectively at more of a 2/10

The Walk: What happened in this episode? I think I fell asleep. But also it was yet again unnecessarily dark and realistic! This is a 2/10

Oubliette: I have mixed feelings on this one. I know what it was trying to do, but for the first time in terms of Mulder trauma episodes, I think it missed the mark a bit. Scully was acting weirdly mean for half of it, and I wish that they’d developed Mulder’s relationship with Lucy a little more. The ending scenes were fantastic, but would have been even more fantastic with the proper buildup. I’ll give this one a 7/10

Nisei/731: And so begins this season’s phenomenal streak! This was an excellent two-parter! While not as emotional as the opening episodes, it was a well-done, high-stakes, fast-paced action story with lots of twists and turns. I loved the ambiguity around what was aliens vs. the government, those super tense scenes between Scully and X (that’s what we call him, right?), Mulder jumping onto the train, Scully getting the exit code from the tape (another noir detective moment!), and of course, X getting Mulder out of that train, adding to the moral complexity of his character. I did feel that Nisei was mostly 731 setup and couldn’t stand as well on its own (a theme of this season), but I still adored this. 9.5/10

Revelations: An episode I don’t see brought up a lot, but I adored! I loved the role reversal of sorts between Scully and Mulder, the episode really allowing Scully to take center stage and be the hero, exploring her relationship with life and religion and her job and her science…all wonderful! Also her relationship with Kevin was so sweet, and her getting the answer off the recycling bin…once again, noir detective moment! And the ending confession scene? Poetry. This was a 10/10 for me!

War of the Coprophages: Comedyyyy! Lmao this was hysterical from start to finish. Some of the scientist scenes were a little boring, but every scene Scully was in was comedic gold. She’s so funny, and we don’t talk about it enough. Her at home is such a mood. Also some truly iconic lines. “Her name is Bambi?” *said with barely concealed jealousy* and of course the iconic “this is no place for an entomologist.” Hilarious. 9.75/10

Syzygy: Apparently this isn’t very well-liked, but I found Mulder and Scully’s bickering to be hilarious. Every duo fights sometimes! And I appreciated the withering humor of this whole episode. Also I liked that the villains were two teenage girls. Given the way they were talking about the other girls in their class…did they even need supernatural involvement to be pure evil? 9/10

Grotesque: I am immediately filled with a deep need for more Mulder profiling. I loved how much it brought out his darkest instincts, and how obsessive he can get about it! What an interesting and phenomenal character exploration! And I really didn’t know if he was possessed or something! Wonderful suspense! And some nice MSR moments, too! This one opens the door to SO MANY fanfic possibilities. Honestly 10/10

Piper Maru/Apocrypha: This is where those problems with the mytharc episodes that I mentioned began to show up. I loved Piper Maru, and thought it was an intriguing setup with lots of suspense, but the payoff in Apocrypha was less fulfilling. Possessed Krycek was such an interesting idea, but we barely got any of him, and the climax of them going to the empty silo was very weak in my opinion. We also got WAY too many old white men on the phone scenes to keep my interest. On the bright side, I loved everything Scully did in this two-parter. Her speech to Skinner at the beginning, her childhood nostalgia, standing guard over Skinner when he’s been shot, and then fully taking down and SCREAMING at Melissa’s killer. We NEVER hear her yell like that - major props to Gillian Anderson. Anyway this was a mixed bag. I’ll give it an 8/10

As I write this, I’m realizing that this is just Scully’s season, isn’t it? As it should be after what they did to her in Season 2.

Pusher: Favorite episode of the season (tied with one other, anyway). I love a Sherlock/Moriarty cat and mouse dynamic, and this pulled me in just like a good old murder mystery novel. Modell is a terrifying villain, his roots in normalcy just as horrifying as his power, and the way Mulder just walks right into his game because he can’t refuse, even though he knows the extent of the danger - DAMN good writing. Plus the way Scully follows Mulder into that hospital without a second thought-her loyalty knows no bounds, and Modell knows that and it makes everything so much worse. And the climactic scenes in the hospital are some of the series’ best (probably the show’s best climax so far). Of course this is a 10/10

Teso Dos Bichos: And so ends the longest streak of greatness. Oh well! This episode was pretty boring, apart from me yelling at the powers that be to please keep the composers away from what I have dubbed the ethnic flute (you know, that one instrument they play every time they’re dealing with a non-White culture). Killer cats is kind of funny I guess? And I do appreciate murdering colonizers. I guess I’ll give this a 4/10

Hell Money: Once again, please take that flute away from them. They need to stop trying to make political episodes about non-White cultures. They’re not good at it. At least they used a real Chinese festival (I looked it up!) and all of the episode’s side characters were actually engaging. I thought Detective Chao’s speech about being American-born and not fitting in with American or Chinese culture was actually pretty interesting and poignant. A small detail, but I also appreciated the use of the lesser-known Cantonese rather than Mandarin (at least according to the subtitles). I’ll give this one a 6.5-7/10 for effort.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space: My mom said this was her favorite episode and I can see why! Some of the show’s absolute best comedic moments (all of Blaine’s narration, and of course the phenomenal pie scene-which I saw in a compilation and mentally inserted into S1 for months until I was corrected). I will say I got a little too tripped up in the unreliable narrations and alien plot to 100% appreciate the comedy, but I guess that’s kind of the point. 9.5/10

Avatar: I don’t know what the general consensus is on this one, but I really enjoyed it. I think that we’ve now spent enough time with Skinner that it was time for a look into his life - and what a compelling look it was! Characters who close themselves off seemingly for the greater good but end up damaging what matters most are so fascinating, and I liked the moral ambiguity of his guardian spirit thing. My favorite scenes were the ones in the hospital with Sharon - some DELICIOUS parallels to One Breath that had me screaming at the television. 8.5/10

Quagmire: Okay, this was hilarious and poignant and so quintessentially X-Files. But why did the dog have to die? I loved Mulder being sort of desperate for there to be a horrific monster so he could catch it. But why did the dog have to die? The conversation on the rock was amazing and has so many implications for Mulder and Scully both as individuals and as a pair. But why did the dog have to die? Scully winking at the sheriff to get resources was hysterical. But why did the dog have to die? 9.5/10, especially for the 1000/10 conversation on the rock. But why did the dog have to die?

Wetwired: My one complaint about this is that the emotional climax took place so long before the end, and I think the scenes with Mulder and X could have been in the next episode. But GOD, the rest of this?! The ACTING?! The PARANOIA?! The TRAGEDY?! Everything Gillian Anderson did in this episode was perfect. Mulder’s quiet but profound pain when he goes to ID the body, and the way he abandons his quest for her sake in a heartbeat even though he thinks she’s already dead. The scene where Scully tears her room apart, and my God, she’s got SO MUCH trauma for this paranoia thing to tap into, and holy shit Gillian Anderson. The emotional climax. “He’s never trusted me.” “Scully, you are the only one I trust.” And what if I died? Right there? Tied with Pusher for season favorite. 10/10

Talitha Cumi: As a precursor to Herrenvolk, this is fine. As a season finale, it’s weak. Not much happens, most of it is setup, and it doesn’t feel epic. Yes, Anasazi is impossible to follow as a season finale, but this feels the least like a finale of all 3 finales so far. I think Wetwired (with a few tweaks) should have been the finale, and this along with Herrenvolk should have been the Season 4 opener. As a 2-parter with Herrenvolk, maybe an 8/10. As a season finale, 6/10.

That’s it for the season review! Once I go off to school, I’ll be posting much less frequently but still around, so please feel free to send asks, fic requests, etc. Keep an eye out for more meta, fanfic, live reactions, a master post of all my content, and a special post to celebrate 3 seasons (vote on that here) in the coming days:) Until then, the Truth is out there👀

[hugmekenobi]

Wardrobe Change

A Bad Batch Series interlude oneshot

Image from the Popverse courtesy of Lucasfilm (my gif searches were being very uncooperative)

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Summary: Times change, uniforms change and this new design has its fair share of admirations.

Warnings: No use of y/n, pet names (sweetheart), Cid being Cid, I make up a timeline, affectionate possessiveness, fluff and feelings, Force communication working how I say it does, PDA in the form of making out and affectionate biting, spicy/suggestive dialogue, getting caught/interrupted, awkwardness

Masterlist for Season 1 chapters

Word Count: 4.7K

Rating: 18+

Author’s notes: It’s the last of the oneshots before we get into S2! This was purely because I wanted to start S2 off with the armour changes being understood and so I didn’t have to describe them lol but I hope there’s more substance for y’all to enjoy! Big shout out to @hugmedin who helped me when I got hit with a bad bit of writer’s block and wrote a section of this, including my favourite line in this fic that had me freaking out when I read it, love you my guy!! 

“Okay! I have them! Ugh this is so heavy!”

You all turned your attention over to the loud thud and you smiled as you saw Lyra collapsed over the container she had previously been carrying. She’d only just managed to get it through the doorway. “You should’ve told us. We’d have helped you bring it over.” You said as you stood up and walked over to her.

“It’s part of the service.” Lyra panted as she stood up and smoothed down her top. “I think you guys will like what I’ve done.”

“Can you get that out the way? It’s blocking the entrance! We don’t have all day for this. I have my own business to run!” Cid said by way of greeting.

“You weren’t exaggerating.” Lyra muttered.

“Give it 6 months and you’ll be on mildly better terms.” You uttered back with grin.

“Oi! Either help her or get out of her way. It’s bad enough you’re using my place as your fitting rooms!” Cid barked over at you.

“Better terms?” Lyra said with a small laugh.

“I did say mildly.” You replied, grabbing the other side of the box, and lifting it over to where the rest of your squad had congregated in the corner.

“Are they finally ready?” Omega asked excitedly as she gave Tech the datapad back.

“Omega, we haven’t finished-”

“Come on, Tech! I can do it later!” Omega griped.

Tech sighed in defeat.

“A quick break won’t hurt Tech.” You appeased.

“Let me see!” Omega said.

“Okay kid, hang on.” Lyra said with a smile. She opened the box and began the process of handing the updated armour out. “I played around a bit with them.”

“How much?” Hunter and Echo asked warily as they took theirs from her.

“Don’t stress. It’ll all look perfect. I changed the colours and symbols as requested but I got rid of a couple things that weren’t really necessary. You guys have more civilian type clothing to wear underneath now, rather than just those blacks you’d handed over. And that means you don’t have to always change into these clothes you’re wearing now if you want to take your armour off. Oh, and your codpieces are gone.”

“You took away a whole section of our armour?” Tech asked sceptically as he took his.

“They were annoying me.” She replied simply. “And I don’t think you’re in a position to act like it’s a super crucial piece you’re missing. You don’t have any thigh armour. That wasn’t a change I made, that was all you.” She added pointedly.

Tech opened his mouth to protest but he couldn’t think of a rebuttal fast enough.

You chuckled as you watched Tech walk away, mumbling something under his breath about how it suits his needs just fine.

“Where’s mine?” Omega asked eagerly.

“Alright kid. Here you go.” Lyra passed the pile of clothes over to Omega who grabbed them keenly and dashed off to change.

“Did I see a hat?” You asked as you watched her turn the corner.

“It makes the outfit.” Lyra replied with a smile.

You laughed. “I won’t question your style.”

“Good. Cause now it’s your turn.”

“You only changed the colour, right?”

“In a way…”

“Lyra…”

“Calm down. It’s nothing crazy. I still kept the hood and mask element you like. I just started from scratch. The top you bought from me before isn’t really suitable for what you do. I didn’t realise you operated with no armour at all. If I gave you the original one back, it would only be a matter of time before you had rips in it. I’m surprised it was in one piece for so long.”

“Okay… so?”

“So, I got my hands on this new material that is generally just sturdier so that’ll help, and you have some armour of your own.”

“Armour?” You said sceptically as you watched her reach down.

“Not a lot.” She reassured you. “I figured you liked the freedom of movement, it’s just a couple of things. Here’s the top.”

You took it from her, and you could already tell that it was better quality. The black fabric was thick but when you put it over your head, it fit snugly but still allowed for flexible movement. The mask and hood were indeed still there and where your previous top had red lining on the outside, this one now had a turquoise. Your eyes also noted the small white half skull that seemed to have been another element that was carried over. “And this was an essential thing you needed to keep?” You said, pointing to the sign.

Lyra grinned. “You both like it and don’t try to deny it.”

You rolled your eyes but smiled with her. “This is perfect though, thanks!”

“I’m not done.” She handed over the additional pieces to your ensemble.

You took the small parts of armour she’d give you. They were black and decorated with a mix of white and turquoise stripes. You also realised they were like the ones Hunter wore on his forearms. She’d also added a pair of black gloves.

“This means you’re also getting rid of that horrendous thing keeping that vibroblade on your thigh.” Lyra ordered.

“There’s nothing wrong with it!” You said defensively, glancing down to your thigh where your vibroblade was encased. Sure, the strap was fraying, and it was no longer the same colour as it was when you had first got it and some of the leather was showing cracks, but it served its purpose just fine. Plus, it had been with you through a lot of highs and lows and although a mantra throughout your life had been ‘no attachments,’ you had found that both Hunter and this strap were exceptions to the rule and you were rather fond of it.

Lyra just gave you a sad look. “Look at it. It’s disgusting. Throw it in here and never think about it again.” She insisted, turning the box towards you.

You sighed and chucked your vibroblade on the table before you threw your old strap into the empty container. You attached the new pieces to your forearms before you sheathed your vibroblade into the one on your left arm. You then put the next pieces that ran from your shoulders to the end of your upper arm. You were annoyed to find that Lyra was right, and you didn’t feel restricted by having them there.

“And you told me yourself your blaster holster is a hand-me-down from Tech. Put that one away too.”

“You were just waiting for a chance to upgrade my stuff weren’t you?” You grumbled as you took your blaster out and removed your holster. It joined your old vibroblade strap.

“Oh yeah.” Lyra said with a smug smile.

You attached the new holster to your thigh and put your blaster in it. “Happy now?” You asked, gesturing up and down your body.  

“You look hot!” Lyra said as she circled you, studying how you looked with the new parts on.

“Shut up.” You laughed, slightly flustered.

“Your sergeant is a lucky guy. How’d your secret project got by the way?”

Before you could reply, a shout got both of your attention.

“We’re ready! I love it!”

You turned to the sound of Omega’s voice, and you grinned as you saw her delighted expression. It had been a while since Kamino and Omega had definitely grown so it was about time she had something that fit with that, and she did now. She had grey bottoms and a red top which was worn underneath a light blue layer, and she had red fabric wrapped around her right wrist. The hat was a cute touch as well. The rest of your squad also looked pretty good. It was odd though, seeing them in colours that weren’t the signature ones they used wear and any insignia illustrating them being Clone Force 99 being gone.

Lyra clapped her hands together. “I truly outdid myself! You guys look fabulous!”

“Yeah, you guys look great!” You added.

Wrecker and Omega beamed, whilst Tech and Echo merely gave small nods.

“You look great too!” Omega said as she walked over to you.

“Yeah, Hunter’s got colours like that too. You guys’ll look good!” Wrecker added.

You smiled and rolled your eyes. “Speaking of that, where is our fearless leader?” You asked.

“He wanted to rearrange the scarf.” Echo replied.

“Scarf?” You repeated, your throat going dry. You looked over to Lyra.

She shrugged. “I like accessories. Sue me.”

You turned your head over to the sound of Hunter coming back into the main area and it took everything in you not to stare at him for an abnormal amount of time. His armour, like the rest of theirs had maintained most of its original structure-minus the codpiece- and his colours were indeed similar to the ones you had. He had the more civilian looking clothes underneath with the rest of his armour donning a mix of black, white, and turquoise. He had the same bit of orange running down the centre of his chest plate like his brothers had and his helmet still had half of it painted white to match the skull tattoo on his face. The red wrappings around his wrists mirrored the one Omega had and the red scarf… well the scarf was definitely a nice added feature.

Hunter nearly did a double take as he saw you. You looked… well you looked powerful, capable. Not that you didn’t look like that already but there was something about seeing you with actual armour that accentuated that part of you. Plus, the fact he was wearing colours that matched with yours was an added bonus.

“Well, my work here is done!” Lyra said cheerily as she bent down to grab the now empty case.

Hunter tore his eyes away from you and nodded his thanks to her before he saw that you were still looking at him. “What?” He asked as he joined the others and grabbed a drink. He brought his cup to his lips.

“Nothing. Looks good.” You said casually, turning away to follow Lyra out. Just thinking of all the things a scarf can do that a bandana can’t.

The choked splutter that followed had you smirking to yourself as you walked out the door.

--

“You sure we don’t owe you anything for this?” You double checked as you both stood outside the entrance to Cid’s.

Lyra shook her head. “You guys helped me out when I was being harassed by Marco and his goons. We’re even now.”

“Yeah, but getting to beat up Marco and Co is fun.” You said lightly. “You don’t need to repay us for that.”

“I wanted to. Besides, it was actually kinda fun. I haven’t had a project like that to work on in a while. Just point people in my direction if they ask who did this fabulous work and we’re all good.”

You huffed out a laugh. “You got it. I’ll see you around, Lyra. Thank you.”

“Yeah, see you around!” She grabbed her stuff and walked away.

You fished the necklace out your pocket and studied the small symbol on the end of the black leather cord.  It wouldn’t be noticeable under his clothes and armour. You just hoped he would like it.

--

You and Hunter seemed to find any excuse to gravitate towards one another and touch each other, even if it was nothing more than a simple touch that lasted a matter of seconds. Yes, you’d started it with your comment about the scarf, but he really wasn’t helping with things. The air between the two of you had been charged ever since you’d walked back down those steps and now every touch sent warmth flooding through you, and you were sure it was the same for him. To the others, the hand wrapped around your shoulder seemed completely innocent since you were all engaged in casual conversations, but it sent a thrumming through your veins you couldn’t control. And, judging by the way he’d tensed up when you’d laid your hand on his thigh, you weren’t the only one. You all had shed your armour since Cid didn’t have a mission so that definitely wasn’t making things any easier for you.

It felt like a test. Who was going to be the one to give in first? You really didn’t want it to be you and you think you had a way to do that. As Wrecker and Omega got up to go play a game of Dejarik, with Tech and Echo going to watch, you turned to face him. “Can I talk to you outside?”

Hunter looked at you quizzically but nodded and followed you as you stood up.

You made your way to the exit.

“Where are you going?” Omega asked as she waited for Wrecker to make his move.

“We’ll be back.” You replied.

--

“Everything okay?” Hunter asked as you began to pace in front of him.

“Yes. I just- Look I’m- What I’m trying-.” You stopped with an aggravated huff. You’d rehearsed this countless times in your head, and it wasn’t a big deal, worst he could say was no.

“Sweetheart.” Hunter grabbed your wrist to get you to stop walking. “Take a breath, look at me.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Don’t call me that.”

Hunter tilted his head. “Why not? You usually don’t mind it. In fact, you tend to quite enjoy it.” He added with a smirk.

You shot him a playful glare and removed his hand which had worked its way to your waist. “Yes, exactly. You’re distracting me and I have a plan here. You’re not going to ruin it with your-” You didn’t finish your sentence, you just gestured to him.

Hunter held his hands up in mock surrender and leaned against the edge of the entry way.

You inhaled deeply and started pacing again. “I consider myself a pretty independent person, you know? Not one to be dependent on much, certainly not a man in my life. But then you come along, and suddenly I’m finding particular things I thought I would hate, quite, well, quite attractive. Take this for example.” You pointed to the half skull on your top. “I was convinced I would hate it, but I don’t. I don’t mind the message it sends.” You stopped and faced him. “However, I can’t just be what this suggests. You’re a part of me, the whole squad is, but I don’t want to be seen as someone whose only purpose is to belong to you.”

Hunter straightened up as he addressed you. “I know that. If I’ve given you reason to believe otherwise, I’m sorry. I’m sure Lyra could change it. I didn’t mean-”

“Hunter, I know.” You reassured him. “That’s not what I’m saying. I only mean I thought it would be nice if you maybe had something that- uh.” You broke off with an awkward cough before you continued, “Represented me.”  You brought the necklace out and handed it to him.

“Where’d you make that?” Hunter asked quietly as he studied the necklace which had attached to it a tiny metallic symbol. A symbol he’d seen many times during the Clone Wars. It was the symbol for the Jedi Order.

“Lyra gave me access to her stuff. Don’t worry, she didn’t know exactly what I was doing.” You added quickly as you saw the concern that flashed across his face. You looked down at the ground and scuffed the toe of your boot through the dirt. “Do you like it? I know it’s a bit risky but figured you could conceal it easily enough and I-” The strong hands on your waist that guided you backwards to the wall cut you off. You glanced up but before you could take your next breath, Hunter’s lips met yours and what little resistance you had left crumbled, but hey, technically he kissed you first, so you counted it as a win. You let him press his body tight to yours and you kissed him eagerly. You like it then?

Hunter didn’t answer directly. He just kissed along your jaw and nipped the skin by the spot behind your ear that he knew would elicit a moan from you and you didn’t disappoint. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” He said, still out of breath and his voice even lower than what it usually was.

You released a sigh and your head fell back against the wall as he continued to leave marks on the skin of your neck. I have a pretty good idea.

“I’m serious.” He slid his hand on your cheek, so you were forced to look at him and he very nearly lost it. Your eyes were wide, and your breathing was still uneven, and he wanted nothing more than to continue but he needed to say this first. “From the minute you showed up on Devaron to help, I was enthralled by you. You took out a line of droids with nothing more than a slightly longer vibroblade on your back and acted like it was a regular day. Sure, later on we discovered there was a bit more reason behind that.”

You smiled slightly but your eyes dipped down as a wave of guilt washed over you at the memory of your dishonesty.

“Hey.” Hunter said softly as he saw your mind leave the current moment. He tucked his finger under your chin and angled your face back up. “That’s not why I brought it up. Don’t go back there. Stick with me here cause there’s a point to all this, I promise.”

You sighed and nodded.

Hunter breathed deeply. “You were incredible and there was no hesitation from me, or the others quite frankly, when it came to offering a place with us. I just underestimated the impact you were going to have on my life. It didn’t take long for my brothers to start giving me a hard time, but I was too stubborn to listen.”

Join the club.

He smiled at you before he continued. “Remember, when there was that stampede of Reeks and I got hurt. It was about two months after you’d joined us?” When he saw you nod, he carried on, “You remember how I got injured?”

“The last dregs of the Separatist droids sent a final charge our way. The blast meant I slipped and fell into the cavern where they were running. You came after me and pushed me out the way.” You said softly.

“Yeah, I did. I- I was in love with you then.”

“Well, then we were on very similar timelines.” You revealed with a smile.

Hunter huffed out a laugh. “So, fast forward to now. You’re wearing something that ties you to me and I don’t think you realise exactly the effect that has on me. And then I come out to see I’m wearing the same the colours you are. And to top it off, you’re asking me to wear something that ties me to you? I can say with no hesitation that you’re a part of me too.” With that, he looped it over his neck.

You took a shaky breath as you watched him put it on and you understood why the half skull on your top had meant so much to him. “You think the colours thing only mattered to you? Why do you think I had to give it to you now?” You murmured. “You were killing me in there.”

Hunter nuzzled into your neck. “That why you dragged me out here? Couldn’t wait?” He muttered into your skin and began to place light kisses on your neck, altering what side had his attention.   

“That why you followed me out here?” You countered as you struggled to keep your composure. 

“I thought you wanted to talk.” Hunter replied, his eyes lifting to yours, an unspoken challenge behind them. 

“I-I did talk.” You maintained. 

“And now?”

“And now I’m done.” You grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him with fervour. And I’m counting this as a win. You broke first.  

Hunter chuckled and moved so his lips brushed against your jawline again as his hand trailed from your cheek down to your neck where it stopped for a moment before he continued, and his palm came to rest on the left side of your chest. Your heartbeat pounded beneath his fingertips.

You didn’t let him linger there too long. Wrapping your hands around the back of his neck, you pulled him in even closer and bucked your hips forward into him in an attempt to banish the remaining space between the two of you. As you did so Hunter let out a moan into the crook of your neck and the resulting vibrations sent your mind to mush. Your hands frantically grabbed at his shirt, the fabric bunching in between your fingers as you tried to bring him even closer. You let out a frustrated moan, you felt like he was holding back, and you were losing patience. 

Hunter let out a soft chuckle and you could feel his smile against your skin, genuine and unfiltered. “Relax.”  he whispered into your ear. “I’m right here.” 

Your hands slid from his waist up the length of his back, his muscles rigid but warm against your palm. You nipped at his ear, your hips still bucking into him, and you’d never been more thankful that Lyra had gotten rid of the cod pieces, but it also meant you became more and more desperate.  

“I need you closer.” Your voice came out strained as you looked up at him and you made no attempt to disguise your desire as you continued to press yourself against him.   

“That can be arranged.” 

The lights in the alleyway were dim but you could have sworn you saw a glimmer form in his eyes, the kind that only appeared when the two of you were alone. Upon seeing that, all sensible thoughts about the risks of doing this in public left your head completely. 

Bending down ever so slightly he brought both his hands to the back of your thighs lifting you up against the wall in one swift movement. Instinctively, you wrapped your legs around his waist as he held you in position against the wall. Your fingers found themselves wrapped up in Hunter’s hair which you used to gently tug his face away from where he was placing deep kisses along your collarbone. He let out a deep sigh which caught in his throat and resembled something close to a growl. As you held his head there you allowed yourself a moment to admire the way his eyes had grown darker, and his chest and shoulders heaved as he caught his breath. His lips remained parted as he patiently waited for instructions from you. Removing your hand from his hair you brought it back to caress his tattooed cheek, this time allowing your thumb to softly trail his lower lip.

He drew you into a deep kiss, the kind that left your lips raw and your lungs begging for oxygen that you swore you could definitely live without - but eventually you had to give into your reflex and come up for air. 

Hunter broke away first, bringing his forehead to rest tenderly against yours. His hands reached under your top; his gloved hands caressed your skin. “You sure about doing this here? I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop once-”  

Yes. You nodded eagerly but before you were able to continue, a horrified shout got both of your attention. 

“Ugh are you kidding me! You two really couldn’t wait?! Ugh my eyes!” Wrecker complained as he instantly turned away from the scene in front of him.

Hunter quickly let you down and he was sure your mortified expression matched his and you both turned to face the backs of Wrecker and Echo. 

“Oh, uh, hey boys. What, eh, what brings you out here?” You winced out as you adjusted your top.

At the sound of your feet hitting the ground, Echo turned to face you both and gave a disapproving stare. “Omega is about to play Tech and wanted to see if any of you wanted the next round so, we came out to ask. She nearly left to ask herself, but I figured based on past experience-”

“Okay.” Hunter interrupted him before he went any further.

You can turn around, Wrecker.

Wrecker took you at your word. “What happened to talking?”

“I mean… we did talk. Just got a bit carried away.” Your eyes focused on fiddling with the end of your sleeve.

“I’ll say.” Wrecker griped. 

“That’s the third time this month. We’ve talked about this. It was bad enough when Tech interrupted you guys in the cockpit.” Echo chastised you both.

Hunter couldn’t find any words. He just kept his eyes on the ground. 

“Hey, you didn’t have to listen to the lecture he gave afterwards on the importance of hygiene and sanitation.” You grumbled. 

“You’ve been lucky it hasn’t been Omega yet.” Echo continued, paying little attention to your words.

You knew he was right. The two of you had been pretty reckless lately and the very fact Omega hadn’t been one of the unfortunates to witness said reckless moments is something you thanked the Force for. “I’m sorry, we’ll be better.”

“Yeah, sorry boys. It won’t happen again.” Hunter said firmly.

A few beats of uncomfortable silence passed.

“You guys aren’t coming back down any time soon, are you?” Echo asked reluctantly as he nodded to where both of your hands were.

The two of you hadn’t noticed the new places your hands had found themselves in. Your fingers were lightly tracing up and down Hunter’s arm whilst his had found itself around your waist again and his thumb rubbed up and down your side. Upon hearing Echo’s words, you both glanced at each other. Tell Omega I owe her a game. We’ll be back later tonight. You said in a way of reply, your brain slowly starting to block the presence of the other two out.

Echo sighed tiredly. “Just get out of here. Come on, Wrecker. We probably don’t want to linger here much longer.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Wrecker hastily turned on his heels and walked back down the steps to Cid’s, with Echo following close behind.

“Well… that could’ve been worse.” You mumbled into his shoulder after they left before you trailed a line of kisses along his neck, your teeth lightly grazed his skin.

“I can’t say I can see how. That was- that was pretty awkward.” Hunter managed to stammer out.

“I could’ve been in a more compromising position.” You purred as your hand trailed down his chest and you made to kneel in front of him. You knew he was feeling more sensible, and you definitely knew it was better to head back to the Marauder but that didn’t mean you couldn’t have your fun.

He swiftly tugged you back up and shook his head at you as he saw the cat-like grin on your face. “Careful, or I’ll have to continue this here anyway.” Hunter groaned as you slowly ground your hips against him.

“Promises, promises.” You whispered back, tugging his lip between your teeth and you took pleasure in the low moan that left him. Your hands kept a tangled grip in the scarf as you kissed him and tugged him to you.

Before he really did get too carried away, Hunter pulled away, but he still kept you tight to him. “I believe you had some thoughts for the use of this scarf? I got some ideas.” Hunter rasped.

“Hmm, I’m much more of a practical learner.” You hummed against his lips.

Stifling a groan, Hunter kissed you once more before he wrapped an arm around your waist and the two of you hustled away to the Marauder.

Masterlist

Tagging@ @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @a-streakofazure​, @ladytano420​, @dragonrider9905​, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf​, @yyourmotherr​, @xxeiraxx​ 

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: April 2024

oh my god you guys I've read SO MUCH this month!!! I got BIG into reread N.K. Jemisin's tremendous Broken Earth trilogy and it's been jaw-dropping, and I have been reading a HEAP of comics and manga a

on the extremely off chance there's anyone following me who doesn't think comics, manga, graphic novels, etc don't count as "real reading" lmao lol get out of here??? you're on the Reading 1000s of Pages of Old Batman Comics blog. go feel the whimsy of reading a whole graphic novel in one afternoon and maybe you'll calm down.

ANYWAY!!! what have we been reading?

Earthdivers Vol. 1: Kill Columbus (Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice, Joana Lafuente, 2023) - Stephen Graham Jones is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I was super excited to check out his first comic series. Earthdivers takes place in the wasteland of the 22nd century, where four Native survivors have hatched a plan to try to stop the disasters that are killing the world: use a time-travelling cave to send one of their number back in time to kill Columbus before he can launch the colonization of North America. it's a one-way trip, and the time traveler will have to be ruthless to achieve their goal. beyond the attention-grabbing hook of killing Columbus, this story dives (you see what I did there) deep into an exploration of what it means to sacrifice everything for a cause and find the will to be ruthless in pursuit of the greater good. I'm not 100% sure I tracked all of the twisting threads of time travel in this first volume, but the hook is compelling and Gianfelice's art is beautiful, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the series progress!

Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade, 2020) - at this point I've written 8000+ words about this book on my patreon and it's becoming difficult to figure out what else to say or how to say it briefly. this book ties itself up in knots with its contrivances and makes both of its protagonists look dumb in the process. I don't like either of these people but - spoiler alert! - I still think April can and should do better. Olivia Dade please call me I just want to talk.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1-3 (Ryoko Kui, trans. Yen Press, 2017) - I don't need to explain Dungeon Meshi. surely you've seen the gifs of Dungeon Meshi. all that matters is that I fucking love Dungeon Meshi, this shit rules and it's going to be so hard to hold off on reading Volume 4 while I try to prioritize some other books first. this world is great, the characters are a delight and a joy, and the way that Kui is so fascinated by the food and biology and exploration of adventurer fantasy tropes in her world makes my brain go wheeeeeeeeee!!! I'm having so much fun.

The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin, 2015) - historically I've very seldom reread books, but I'm starting to think that I need to change my stance on that. revisiting the Fifth Season years after I first read it, with the time to really enjoy it and also the maturity and perspective to actually appreciate what Jemisin is cooking, has enhanced the experience immeasurably. a thing that really struck me this time was how artfully Jemisin depicts the way orogenes are conditioned and groomed from the jump to be subservient and scared and willing to settle for life at the margins of society; it's not something that I could totally understand the nuances of when I read this book fresh out of my first year of college. this novel and its sequels are so brilliantly devastating, I cannot say enough great things about them.

My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better (Nagata Kabi, trans. Jocelyne Allen 2022) - I did it, I'm officially caught up on all of Nagata's works that have been translated into English! and man, I'm still worried about her. the experience of reading My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness hasn't quite been replicated for me; I think that was a once in a lifetime event, although I've certainly found a lot that I relate to in Nagata's subsequent struggles to sort of out anxiety, independence, art, and figuring out what kind of relationships she event wants to have in her life. at this point I feel like I'm just reading the illustrated life updates from a friend I haven't seen in a long time who stresses me out because her life is a mess. which is still interesting! but god I hope something good happens to this woman soon.

The Obelisk Gate (N.K. Jemisin, 2016) - The Fifth Season is a book about the end of the world and of one woman's personal apocalypses that happened prior to that. its sequel, the Obelisk Gate, is a book that's extremely preoccupied with the tedium of figuring out how to run a halfway-functioning society in the midst of the apocalypse, which is genuinely fascinating stuff. and it's also a book about the fear and desperation and sheer levels of exhaustion that might drive someone to decide that, fuck it, maybe the world should end and we should be done with all of this, actually. it's also a book about devotion and dependence and destruction and devouring people you love in a VERY literal way, which it must be said is pretty sexy. the stuff that pops off between Essun and Hoa in this book makes me think of Octavia Butler in the best way; I think she would have adored them. I'm so excited to get to the final book and see how this all pays off, because the first time I read it I barely understood a single goddamn thing that was happening.

I Hate This Place Vol. 1-2 (Kyle Starks, Artyom Toplin, Lee Loughridge, 2022-2023) - a short and spooky comic series that wraps up in two tight little volumes. I have some gripes with the pacing, but it makes for a fun afternoon read. a mid-tier streaming service is going to adapt this into a live action series within a couple of years, mark my worms. personally I'm fancasting Mackenzie Davis as Gabby and Samira Wiley as Trudy.

[bvbygrl-writes]

Summer Lovin': Chapter 1

Pairing: Dilf!Draco Malfoy x Blaise's Daughter!Reader

Series Summary: After years of being unhappy and doing what everyone else thinks is best, Draco decides to finally learn what he wants in life. Little did he know what he wants would walk in wearing a cute little dress.

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Age gap (Draco is in his 30s reader is 18), unhappy marriage, reader is black, a bit of drinking

A/N: I haven't written a series in a while so brace yourself. If this chapter does well then I'll continue with it but if not I'll probably just drop this in the vault.

THIS FIC WILL BE 18+!!! MINORS / ACCOUNTS WITHOUT AGE DNI YOU WILL BE BLOCKED WITH NO WARNING BUT THIS ONE.

Draco could say with certainty that his marriage with Astoria was loveless from the beginning. From the outside, it looked like the perfect marriage, the perfect life. He was wealthy, his wife was beautiful, and they had a son who had grown into a lovely young man. But, if he had a choice in the way his life had gone, it wouldn’t have been like that. From the time he was a young boy till the time he was an adult, he had practically every decision made for him. He had hoped after Hogwarts, after he distanced himself from his father a bit more, he would have the rest of his life to figure out what he wanted to do. His likes, his passions, his interest for something outside of pureblood society or whatever agenda his father had pushed on him.

But over time, he had grown a distaste for the way his life was. While Scorpius was still growing up, he and Astoria had a common goal and interest: making sure their son grew up to be a well rounded individual. While their marriage and practically their whole lives were orchestrated, they made sure to give their son something they never had, his own choices and options. However, as he got older and started to attend Hogwarts, their attention had to be focused on one another and what they came to find out is that they couldn’t be any more different.

Constant fights, arguments about little petty things were the only things they could throw at each other (besides the dishware). If it wasn’t one thing, it was another and if Draco was honest, he couldn’t stand Astoria. Her laugh, the rude way she’d speak to the house staff, and constantly bringing up the stupidest of things that happened when they were still in school however many years ago. It was though she was still a rotten and nasty little girl instead of being in her mid 30s as they were. He found himself drinking quite a bit just to tune out the sound of her droning on and on about something he couldn’t give a singular fuck about.

“Did you hear me, Dray? This is important! The elves didn’t add enough salt into the soup so-”

“Add your own fucking salt then, Astoria! Are you so incompetent that you can’t even add your own salt into the meal? The soup tasted bloody fine to me.” he groaned, standing from the table. It was a long, dark oak table that seemed to go on for eternity. They both sat on separate ends and even then, it still didn’t feel like he was far enough. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he began to pace back and forth, sighing as he tried to calm down. A deafening silence fell over the room. He kept praying to a force that something, anything would end this moment.

And like clock work, in came his owl with the daily post. He stroked under its chin affectionately before grabbing the mail. With most of them, he read who the sender was and just tossed it onto the table. But one caught his eye. It was sealed with a dark blue wax with the initials B.Z pressed into it. A barely noticeable smile made its way into his face as he walked a few feet away from the table, ripping open the letter. The smile grew more and more as he read the contents.

Dear Draco,

How’ve you been, mate? I’ve been quite busy and I apologize for me and my small family for not being able to attend your residence during the Christmas season like you requested. However, my wife will be out for the summer visiting her family so I thought it’d be nice if you came to visit the manor and we can catch up like old times. Plus, from the sounds of it in your last letter, you’re very much overdue for a vacation of your own. 

Your friend, Blaise Zabini

“Rue!” Draco called out. The elf in questioning came scurrying around the corner, bowing before the man. “I’ll need you to pack up a few suitcases, I need about 3 months worth of clothing. Please and thank you.” the elf nodded, running off quickly with a few ‘right away sir’s and ‘a pleasure sir’s as he disappeared up the stairs.

“Three months?! Where do you think you’re going?” Astoria shrilled, standing up to cling to his arm. She had an overly dramatic pout on her face, lips quivering as fake tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

“Away from you!” he yelled before sighing. None of this was her fault. She was forced into this connection as much as he was. He gently removed her hands from his body before turning to face her. “Astoria, let’s be honest with ourselves….neither of us are happy. We’ve been at each other's throats for years and if it wasn’t for Scorpius, the two of us would have separated years ago. I’m going away for the summer to spend some time with Blaise to have fun for once and I hope in this time you have some fun too.” his voice was full of sincerity and deep down, she knew he was right. So without another word she offered him a tight lip but understanding smile, walking off towards one of the many living rooms in the house.

“Your bags are packed, Master Malfoy.”

Draco sighed in relief as he stood on the porch of his dear friend’s manor. It was made of light stone and marble, a nice change from the darker style of his own home. He reached forward to use the door knocker but was shocked as the door popped open revealing a familiar face.

“Malfoy. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come or not but I had a room prepared for you anyways. Lyra, fetch a bottle of the good scotch, will you?” he yelled, turning around and beginning to walk further into the house. Draco followed behind him, admiring the carvings on the border of the ceiling. After a few minutes of walking, they reached a living room. It had many windows causing the room to be well lit with natural lighting. But what caught his eye was the set of double doors. Outside appeared to be a garden with lots of greenery and an outdoor dining area.

“I’m impressed, Zabini. I didn’t know you had taste at all.” he chuckled, sitting down on the soft white couch. Blaise scoffed at his words, chuckling as he poured their scotch into two crystal glasses.

“As much as I’d love to take credit for this, a lot of this was the doings of Pansy and (Y/n). She was just starting Hogwarts when we moved here and we wanted her to feel at peace when she was away from the stress of school. It’s crazy to think she’s all done with it now.” Draco hummed at his words, sipping on the scotch. It was nice and smooth. He made a note to ask him about it at a later time. “Oh! Speaking of (Y/n), it seems her summer plans fell through and she’ll be here for the next few months. I hope that’s alright. Although, with the size of the house I doubt we’ll see her much but for meals.”

“That’s quite alright. I haven’t seen my ‘niece’ in quite some time. I believe she was six or so, still asking for us to check for the monsters under her bed." They both laughed at that. (Y/n) was a sweet and bright young girl. When the two families lived closer together, Scorpius and her would often have playdates together. (Y/n) would always call him Uncle Dray, begging to spend the night just so she could spend a bit longer with her favorite ‘uncle’.

“I’ll call her down so we can all catch up. (Y/n), princess, we have a guest!” Blaise called, his voice echoing off the walls. The room went silent for a bit before a faint ‘Coming, Dad!’ could be heard along with a set of footsteps clambering above them. The sound trailed from one end of the ceiling to the other before bouncing steps could be heard from the stairs.

Draco chuckled, sipping on his scotch which he soon began to regret as he choked on it a bit. His gray eyes practically bulged from his head at the girl, no, woman who was standing before them. Was this really the same girl, his little (Y/n/n)? This couldn’t be the same little girl he helped raise, the same one who always needed a flashlight in order to sleep, the one that’d fall asleep in his lap when he was finished braiding her curly hair. His eyes raked over her appearance. She took after her father in terms of complexion, rich brown skin but he had no idea who she had gotten that body from. It most certainly wasn’t Pansy’s. And her eyes? They were the most lovely shade of (e/c) he had ever seen. She had a set of fresh braids that complimented her face well and along with the bright yellow dress she was wearing…she looked nothing short of a doll. He felt his chest grow tight and his nose burned from the alcohol that had managed to make its way back up a bit. The summer had barely begun but he knew it was going to be the best one he’d had in a while.

[beauty-and-passion]

TMA - Chapters 31-40: One mystery solved, 300 left

And so, here we are. We reached the end of season 1.

Let’s not waste too much time here: I want to see what it will be about and if there will be any juicy foreshadowing of season 2.

<< Main Masterlist < Previous post 

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MAG 31 - First Hunt

“Hunted. Yes, I think I’m starting to know the feeling.”

Are you, Jon? Are you? Then why are you still recording statements in this goddamn Institute? Have you not listened to all the times I told you to go away?

I don’t understand what is he doing: he knows there are worms everywhere, he knows they’re surrounded, he’s not even leaving the Institute anymore. And he is the one asking what is Jane Prentiss waiting for.

No, Jon, the real question is: What are YOU waiting for? Why are you still here? Is it possible that the “crimson fate”/curse/whatever is keeping him there? Did the curse activate already? Can someone please grab this man and ran out of the Institute?

Speaking of the statement… it’s so useless, even Jon refused to pay attention to it. And if Jon didn’t care, then why should I?

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MAG 32 - Hive

Wow. Wow. That was truly something else.

Seriously, I love the emotional rollercoaster that is this series: if one statement is meh, the next one is a bomb. If one is forgettable, the next one is memorable.

And this is no exception: if the previous statement was boring, this one is huge. Honestly, I didn’t expect Jane Prentiss’ statement now… and I definitely didn’t expect it to be like that! I think this is the most captivating statement so far and not just because of its content, but especially because It’s different, both in style and structure.

It’s different in style because if all other statements have this problem of sounding all very similar to each other (and not because Jon reads them, but because the vocabulary and the stylistic choices are the same, no matter if the statement comes from a student, a criminal, or an old guy), this one has its own voice: Jane Prentiss’ voice. This writing style is unique to her and to her only.

And it’s different in structure because, unlike all others, this isn’t an account of events but rather a stream of consciousness, that offers us a wonderful insight into Jane’s mind and feelings.

And, at least in my case, it made me think about a couple of things:

*

1) The humanity in the supernatural

Until now I saw Jane just as another supernatural creature, detached from us and from any other human being. She isn’t like us. She is clearly alien to humankind. She is something else.

But here, we see her being a human, just like all of us. She is fearful, doubtful, scared. Just like any of us would be. She has conflicted feelings: she wants a connection with the hive, she feels it’s the right thing to do. But she’s also very scared. It’s so simple and yet, it conveys her humanity so well.

Especially because she does what everyone else would do: she searches for help.

*

2) Prey or predator?

It’s very interesting that Jane decided to go to the Institute to ask for help. Until now, we have seen a lot of people going to the Institute to record statements - in some cases, even right after something happened. In a way, it’s as if they all subconsciously feel like it’s the best thing to do. As if the Institute can “protect” them from whatever they met. As if, by giving their stories to the Institute, they have an “immunity” from the danger.

If my theory is correct (i.e. the Institute hides the scariest supernatural shit of them all), then Jane went to the Institute because she subconsciously knew the thing hidden inside it was more powerful than the hive. So she did what prey do: they hide behind a bigger predator.

But Jane isn’t a simple prey anymore: she is becoming a predator. She is connecting with the predator. So she can see further than a prey and recognize the real prey:

This part is wonderful, because I can perfectly picture the scene in my mind. I can see Gertrude Robinson giving Jane a pen and paper, then leaving. I can see Jane looking at Gertrude through the glass. I can see her gaze. It’s so powerful and stylistically perfect. 10/10, Love it.

*

3) Food or connection?

Another element that caught my interest is how Jane always refers to “the song” the hive sings: a song that talks to her, reassures her (“Sings that I am beautiful”) and promises her good things (“I can be consumed by what loves me”).

But do you know what this song doesn’t do? It doesn’t lie. It doesn’t lure Jane into a sense of false security. On the contrary: even if the song tells her good things, Jane is still scared and full of doubts, to the point she asks for help.

That's strange, isn't it? If the hive just wanted to eat/consume Jane, then why scare her? Why give her the understanding that something awful would happen and that she would take part in the violence? Why didn’t the hive sing just to deceive her? It could’ve just sung that she was beautiful and perfect and they would’ve been happy together forever.

But no, the hive’s song was honest. It was a song that helped her understand the hive.

Hence why I don’t think the hive ever wanted to hurt Jane. On the contrary: the hive wanted to find someone receptive enough to “resonate” and “understand” it.

*

4) All other supernatural shits

If I am right and all the hive wanted was to find a human being who better resonated with it… then was it trying to do the same with every human being it “latched to”? Was it trying to do the same with the girl from MAG 6? And with Timothy Hodge?

In MAG 26, Michael said that “the flesh-hive was always rash”: is it because the hive latches to human beings without truly connecting with them as it did with Jane?

But also: if this is what the hive tries to do… is this what every other supernatural shit tries to do too? Is every supernatural shit “singing a song” and trying to find the human being who will better resonate with them?

And if this is what they’re doing, then how many of the previous statements I read were not just recordings of weird events, but actual attempts to connect? Is this what Simon Fairchild tried to do with Robert in MAG 21? Is this what the supernatural shit in the Institute tried to do with Gertrude Robinson? Is this why she died? Because she didn’t connect with it? Is this the “Archivist’s crimson fate”? A sort of test to see if the Archivist can resonate with the supernatural creature in the Institute?

*

5) These little shits have names!

If this one is called “the hive”, then I suppose everyone has names. Micheal already has a name, but considering the MAG’s name is “A Distortion” I suppose his name is… idk, Mr. Distortion? That’s kinda funny, but I prefer Michael: it better shows how much of a good boyo he is.

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MAG 33 - Boatswain’s Call

Mh, there’s a lot of interesting stuff here.

First of all, we have Tim. Hi, Tim! Glad to know you’re the organized guy here.

This, again, makes me think: this series started with Jon being all like “This place is a mess, I’m here to organize everything and put some order”. But now we find out Jon made a shit ton of mistakes. Very weird, coming from the guy who talked so big about being precise and organized.

So now my question is: was it done on purpose by TMA’s author? Were the mistakes intended to be there? I’ll admit it, I didn’t notice them because I suck with dates and numbers, especially if they have no sense like the case numbers (by the way, I appreciate the explanation, because I thought they were just random numbers).

If these mistakes were made on purpose, then it was a clever writer's choice, because it showed us more about Jon as a character. Now we know he’s not as perfect as he seemed. He can make mistakes. He can be faulty. And being faulty is what makes a character more real, so extra points for that.

However, these mistakes made me think about something else: what if they are proof that Jon isn’t as qualified for his job as he seemed? I mean, Tim looks like a more proper Head Archivist to me: accurate, detail-oriented and with a good memory. Still, it was Jon who got this promotion.

Before MAG 32, I would have joked about Elias being so useless as head of the Institute to hire the less qualified candidate, but now, there could be another reason why Elias chose Jon despite (probably) more competent people. Maybe it’s because Jon has something that can better resonate with the supernatural shit in the Institute.

Ah, so Martin is so scared by the worms to show his tongue to Tim all the time and asks if “it’s infested”. Nice try, bro, next time tell him that you’re oh-so-very-infested and only a French kiss will save you.

O-oh, so this statement features another member of the creepiest family of all time: Peter Lukas. Is he Evan Lukas’ dad, uncle or grandpa?

And, again, the Lukas family appears associated with a fog. Is the fog a supernatural shit? After all, weird things happened in the fog with Naomi too, so maybe it really is the fog.

Also because the fog kinda ate Sean Kelly. Just like the tomb at the cemetery in the fog tried to “eat” Naomi. It’s also very interesting that the third mate refers to this event as “a hard choice”, as if they were forced to feed someone to the fog.

Is this how this supernatural shit in particular works? It needs to be fed? Well, after all, I think that the supernatural shit in the Institute needs to be fed too, so maybe that’s another aspect of these things. Just like they need a human to resonate with, they also need to eat. I really want to know more about them.

One last thing: Elias “gets very twitchy when we look into anything that might conceivably have funding repercussions”. I’m starting to think he gets “very twitchy” not because of money, but because he knows something/he’s in cahoots with the Lukas family and doesn’t want anyone to look too much into them. I want to know more about this guy, he’s just too suspicious at this point.

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MAG 34 - Anatomy Class

This statement was weird.

I immediately noticed something was wrong with these names, mostly because I knew John Doe is the placeholder name usually used to refer to dead people whose identity is unknown. I searched for Erika Mustermann and found out it was another placeholder too. So I asked myself: what if all of them are placeholders? It was extremely satisfying to find them all.

And it was great from a writing perspective too, because it perfectly explains why Dr. Elliott doesn’t remember what these guys look like: it’s because they’re all unknown. And since these names are usually used for dead people, it also explains why they’re all very silent and soulless.

I also really liked the idea of them “adjusting their bones” and asking simple questions, because it plays around the concept of “unknown figures” who are trying to look human/alive by asking things and trying to “replicate” them.

It’s a great idea, so the statement should be great too. But it’s not. It’s barely interesting. And I don’t know why, but it’s just… okay.

However, I would give a point for the heart lesson, because it was hilarious. Just imagine, a class with seven creepy figures, each of them with a beating heart in their hand, spraying blood everywhere, trying to look as scary as possible… and Dr. Elliott just points at one heart, then leaves. It was very silly and it made me smile.

Speaking of the apple: it’s weird, fine, but it’s just an apple with teeth. Again, not creepy enough to get my interest.

_______________________________

MAG 35 - Old Passages

“He was dressed all in black, with heavy looking boots and a T-shirt with the logo of some band emblazoned on it”

One sentence and I just knew it was him. My man, the searcher of Leitner’s books, the rebel goth/punk of my heart. The man who just appears and deals with the shit, because mommy “knows everything of this stuff”, but she clearly taught him everything too.

And, since my man Gerard is back, my other favorite man is here too: Jurgen Leitner, aka the menace for mankind. Of course he’s from Norway, I can bet everything he’s from Alesund and he probably looked the supernatural shit of the Institute in the eyes and this is why he has this weird power of creating creepy books. I love him too.

Also, how hilarious it is, to see this man being all like: “Sure, sure, I have all the permits you want, just dig a goddamn hole in my office. What? Do you still want to talk to the owner of the building? But I have everything! Listen, you don’t deserve explanations, powerful shits are working in the back. Okay, you know what? Fuck you in Norwegian”. My man Leitner has business to do and chaos to spread, how dare they stop him from doing his job.

I also loved how Gerard apparently has a sixth sense about where to find Leitner’s books. Or he can smell them like a dog. Still love him.

So today's Learner book was hidden in the shadows and little bones fall from it while Gerard runs away with it. Mmmh, where have I heard something similar?

“Mary Keay took the book back from me and passed it through the shadows once again. More bones fell.” (MAG 4)

So that’s how Gerard found it. He stole it from… Leitner’s weird hidden library or whatever? What an absolute boss: he went, took the book and vanished with some weird magic. I love this rebel boy.

And in the end, even more familiar people: Breekon and Hope deliveries are back! And they have voices! And they talk in the creepiest possible way, almost overlapping the end of Breekon’s sentences with the beginning of Hope’s. And there’s a package for Jon.

How much are you gonna bet that it’s more silver worms? I can almost hear them crawling inside that box, ready to jump on him. Gosh, I really hope that I’m wrong. But in any case, please, do not open the package. If MAG 2 taught us something is: do not open the weird shit delivered at your door.

_______________________________

MAG 36 - Taken Ill

Another okay statement about a weird illness that takes control of a building, the obligatory Guy Who Doesn’t Exist (John Amherst, in this case) and lots of dead people.

But hey, we have something very interesting here: an old man and a young woman with a deep scar over her right eye. Who are these two? And why did Jon immediately think about Trevor Herbert, the Vampire killer from MAG 10? Could it be that he’s alive somehow? Well, I won’t be too surprised: after all, I think Gerard is alive too, so why couldn’t Trevor be alive as well?

And since we’re fishing people & stuff from previous statements, what better way to end this one, if not with more connections? As soon as Tim said they got a table, I KNEW it was the one from MAG 3. I asked for it to come back, and here it is: my beautiful table with the missing piece.

While speaking of the Zippo with the spider web design, there are two possibilities:

the Zippo is a reference to Spider Mom from MAG 16

the Zippo has been delivered by the spider lady I vaguely remember. And that means she will come soon. And if it’s true, can’t wait to meet her.

_______________________________

MAG 37 - Burnt Offering

Well, Jon, if Elias told you to burn the damn table, you burn the damn table. If even this guy, who is suspicious AF tells you to get rid of it, you do it without a second thought.

But nooo, let’s “preserve the knowledge”, “self-preservation is overrated” and “Andorra isn’t a nice place to live”. Goddamit Jon, don’t make me enter the story and throw you out of this Institute.

Speaking of the statement itself, it would just be “guy finds a random circle in the woods and suffers the consequences”, if it wasn’t for two details that caught me by surprise.

The first is that despite Jason North’s concern, it wasn’t his son Ethan North to die, but Jason himself. I wasn’t expecting this, I almost expected Jon to say that “oh look, this poor alcoholic took the life of his son”.

The second thing is, of course, Gertrude Robinson’s photo in that weird ritual circle. Why was her photo there? Who put it there? How many supernatural shits were messing with her? I thought it was just the one in the Institute… but this circle? Really, I don’t know what to think :/

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MAG 38 - Lost and Found

I vaguely remembered the name Salesa because it was just too weird to go unnoticed and I was right: he’s the same guy from MAG 14. And if Gerard can smell Leitner’s books, Salesa seems to have the same power of attracting weird supernatural shit.

Also, he has “several crates packed to the brim with heavy-looking volumes” and I can bet everything that in these crates there are at least a couple of Leitner’s books, waiting for their chance to spread chaos in the world as their author intended.

Speaking of the statement, the idea that a supernatural creature lives inside the vase and steals stuff from whoever owns said vase is pretty funny. In the end, it literally said: “Jeez, fine, take back your book and your shoes. I’ll steal yo husband instead”. Adorably stupid, it put a smile on my face.

what an ending! First the epic return of Spider Mom or one of her friends, then Jane Prentiss’ worms: there are too many creatures in this Institute and they’re not cute at all. Gosh, I hope Jon and the gang are all okay.

_______________________________

MAG 39 - Infestation

All the stuff that happened here. ALL THE STUFF THAT HAPPENED HERE.

Let’s take one thing at the time:

*

Martin is insane (and yet, perfectly IC)

This man spent his time in the Archives analyzing how the worms were moving and the angle and the speed, trying to find out the best weapon to get rid of them. He’s insane.

But you know what? It’s actually coherent with what we saw from Martin until now: he is an anxious guy, he overthinks stuff and he has no self-preservation instinct at all. It’s not so strange that he kept thinking about the worms and tried to find weapons to protect himself - and using them too.

*

Jon and skepticism

I’ve spent my previous post repeating that everyone had to leave this godforsaken Institute asap, but I was still accepting them not doing it because I know it’s necessary to suspend my disbelief for a while, in order to enjoy a story.

However, since the author of this series is a competent writer, he knows insufferable readers (like me) will probably question why these lovable idiots are still in the Institute and find it annoying/boring/clichè too.

So, he provided an answer. An answer that:

shed some lights on Jon’s character

is coherent with what we know about him until now

Now, I understand why Jon kept recording statements despite all the weird shit happening around him. Now I know and I understand. He’s not doing it because he’s blinded by skepticism: he’s doing it because he wants to know what happened to Gertrude and because he doesn’t want to leave a mystery behind. If he dies, he wants other people to know.

And yes, this is coherent with what we saw until now! Just think about it: at the end of every goddamn statement, Jon always tried to add evidence and make some research: he always tried to bring something real, concrete, tangible. Something that would prove these statements are not just shapeless words.

Speaking more about skepticism: I love that someone finally addressed Jon about it and I love it was Martin, who has proved to be much more prone to believe in the supernatural.

And I love Jon’s answer. Again, it’s very realistic: they have a storage full of supernatural shit, of course Jon believes it’s real. They have actual tangible proof.

So he pretends skepticism. And he has a very valid reason to do it.

*

The supernatural shit in the Institute is watching

Now I am 200% sure that Jon is actually being watched. There are too many eyes in this series to be a coincidence and I’m starting to think they all belong to whatever supernatural shit is hidden in this place. That thing watches Jon and it probably “possesses” him or similar considering he “loses himself a bit” whenever he reads and I LOVE LOVE LOVE he mentioned it, because I noticed how Jon was getting too much involved every time he read, but I didn’t say anything.

One example? MAG 38:

“I’ve been in the antiques business for a long time. It’s not what it used to be. [Nervous chuckle] I’m sorry, I know.”

This statement isn’t being recorded by the person involved, Jon is reading it. But the nervous chuckle isn’t something someone who is reading would do: this is a reaction someone who is speaking would have. Someone who is telling their story.

When I listened to it, I immediately found it a very odd detail and I thought it was just a writing mistake from the author. But now, I find out it was made on purpose.

TMA’s author is more competent than I thought.

*

Jon and Martin are the best couple

They’re already bickering like an old couple. I love them. And yes, I’ve decided to ship them. Don’t care if they don’t end up together, still ship these two.

*

“Real statements”

Jon’s words about the real statements are extremely enlightening and, again, they make the whole series much more realistic.

Until now, I supposed Jon is just a vintage guy who likes to record stuff on a tape recorder because it was more fitting with the atmosphere of “uuuh, old Archive” and because there was no Internet connection at all. Sure, in MAG 1 Jon talked about bringing a laptop, but he also said: “I believe the first computer to ever enter this room is the laptop that I brought in today.” So I simply assumed this place hadn’t a connection. After all, we’re talking about an old place: it’s plausible there’s no Internet.

But now, we have a much better explanation about why Jon uses a tape recorder! And it’s because of the nature of the statements themselves. Only the real ones can be recorded on tape.

I was very pleasantly surprised when Jon said: “Of the hundreds I’ve recorded, we’ve had maybe... thirty, forty that go on tape.”. Not only it’s much more realistic that, in all these months, he didn’t record 38 statements only, but hundreds, but it’s much more immersive too: we are not listening to all the useless pile of stuff, we are listening to the “selected” material.

*

Tim is my new favorite character

Tim is the best character. Sorry Gerard, sorry Leitner, sorry Michael: as soon as Tim did this, I fell in love. He’s a wonderful idiot and he deserves the world <3

*

Martin and Jon are the best couple part 2

They are the best couple, period.

*

A lighter?!

Sasha needs a lighter? I know one, I know one! the spider Zippo! Use that one! Will someone use it? I hope that.

*

Elias is finally here

Finally, Elias decided to show up. Thank you, Elias, for honoring us with your presence. Where have you been until now? To the Suspicious Guys Anonymous Club?

I mean, just look at how he expresses his concern: his new Head Archivist is trapped with most of his staff and they will probably die if he and Sasha don’t do anything, it’s a dangerous situation, they should do something immediately… and his main concern is that he doesn’t really want to find another Archivist so soon.

Wow, a man who truly values human life, now I definitely trust him, yes sure.

Tim is the best character

I love how Tim casually addresses being surrounded by death, before tripping on a shit ton of gas cans Martin hid “from the worms”. The beautiful clash between Martin’s insanity and Tim being the best character <3

I also love how he just… pulled down his pants? To make them check if he was bitten?

Tim is the best character, period. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

*

WHAT THE FUCK

So Sasha found the table from MAG 3… then Not!Sasha found her.

What.

The.

Actual.

Fuck.

Is… is Sasha alive? Is she dead? Where is she?!

*

Final showdown!

Jon VS Jane Prentiss. I didn’t know I needed this fight, until I reached the end of this recording.

I am ready.

_______________________________

MAG 40 - Human Remains

Wow. What a ride has it been.

So, let’s examine every statement:

Elias: he’s still the most suspicious guy ever but you know what? I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Show me your innocence, Elias. Show me you’re a good guy.

I mean, he seems surprised about the discovery of Gertrude Robinson’s body. And he seems to know nothing more aside from “Gertrude wasn’t there and her desk was covered in blood”. Let’s see how innocent he is.

Tim: my new favorite boy got attacked by the goddamn worms, even though he did some pretty cool stunts. But he also said something very interesting about them: it’s as if there is something in the Institute that makes them “sluggish”. Yes, I’m pretty sure that it’s the supernatural shit of the Institute that did that.

Also, the worms tried to make a doorway for a weird room hidden in these passages? What? How? I don’t think I understand, but my explanation is still the same: the goddamn supernatural shit of the Institute. All its fault.

Sasha: if my boy Tim got hurt, at least he’s still alive and in one piece. Can’t say the same about Sasha. Where are you, Sasha? Have you completely been replaced by Not!Sasha? Where did you hide her, you impostor?

Also, Not!Sasha literally called Michael “Yes, Michael... With the bones in his hands.”. So that’s basically a confirmation that he really is the one mentioned in MAG 8. And she said: “We still don’t know much about him, do we?” which, translated from author-to-reader means “Michael will come in season 2 and we will learn about him”. Yes, please, more of my Best Boyo.

Martin: poor Martin, he really REALLY doesn’t deserve any of this shit. He needs a proper vacation, away from all this shit, where there are no worms and no problems. My offer still stands: Andorra is still a beautiful place to live.

Vacation aside, just how many goddamn rooms are hidden here? Tim found a room, Martin found a room, if we’re not careful we will find 200 rooms hidden everywhere.

And in this room, here she is: Gertrude Robinson. And she’s not dead because the supernatural shit in the Institute ate her, not because some other shit sucked her blood or made something else. She has been shot. Just shot. Three times in the chest. It was a goddamn execution.

…

Welp, sorry Elias, you had your chance. I can already see you with the gun in your hand, pointing it at Gertrude. It was you, you goddamn suspicious man. I know it was you.

Jonathan: so, some tapes have been stolen. What a coincidence, they are the tapes of MAG 24 “Strange Music” and MAG 26 “A Distortion”. What a coincidence, they’re the only two tapes in which Sasha talks. Wow, I wonder why these two tapes in particular disappeared, I wonder who made them disappear…

Not!Sasha, I know it was you. Everyone knows it was you.

And Jon, instead of being satisfied with this resolution of Gertrude’s “case”, he’s even more determined to get to the bottom of this.

“I’m going to figure this out, and I’m not going to stop. They’ll have to kill me first.”

Just… don’t tease them, Jon. whoever is behind all of this (read: Elias and the Lukas family) I doubt they would think twice before shooting you in the chest like they did with Gertrude. Don’t test your luck too much.

_______________________________

In conclusion

Update on my theory about the supernatural shit in the Institute:

This shit (which I will call “Big Brother” for obvious reasons) is watching everything. The Lukas family brought it from Norway and uses the Institute as a “feeder” to feed it. Gertrude Robinson, as Head Archivist, was supposed to be “tested” and see if she resonated with it, to become… I don’t know, Big Brother’s new body or something similar.

But before the right time came, she found out what Elias/the Lukas family wanted to do. And she tried to defy them/escape from her fate. First, they tried to get rid of her in some magic other way (like the ritual circle from MAG 37), but when they somehow failed (maybe Gertrude had someone protecting her, just like Jon seems to have some “protectors”), they resorted to a good old gun and bam, problem solved.

And yes, I’m sure it was Elias who shot her.

So, since Gertrude was dead, Elias & the Lukas family decided to just feed the rest of the staff to the supernatural shit and find a new Head Archivist that will resonate with Big Brother and, hopefully, become its new body.

Jane Prentiss was somehow okay with Big Brother - or just with the idea of bringing more violence. While Michael wants to protect Jon. And same goes for the Spiders Gang, which includes the spider lady I remember and Spider Mom - who I think are the same person. Maybe the lady can turn into a spider, why not?

And since I’m speaking of turning into other things, I have a theory on Michael. Since TMA’s author seems very competent and creative, I want to give him more credit. Hence, I believe there is a reason why this season has been packed with a lot of people named Michael. And no, I don’t think the reason is a sudden lack of creativity - especially coming from a guy who invented a ton of different stories and names. I think there’s a reason if all these guys are named Michael and the reason is that these Michaels are all the same Michael: Michael the Supernatural Shit.

After all, this Michael can warp/twist/change his bones and (probably) body too, so would it be so impossible that all the random Michaels in several MAGs were always him, just with a different appearance?

One last thing: my impression about the series until now is still positive. This first season served as a introduction to the characters, the mysteries and the structure of the series itself and did its job very well. There’s a closed ending with the resolution of Jane Prentiss’ mystery and we find out how Gertrude died too. But there are also enough open questions to keep you involved: what really happened  to Gertrude? What is the Institute hiding? What about Michael? What about all the other mysteries?

Sure, not all statements are perfect and the writing isn’t perfect either - and it’s a shame, because considering all these statements come from different people, it would’ve been a great writing exercise to give a different voice to each of them.

However, I’m not too critical of this. Mr. Sims (TMA’s author, not the character) wrote 40 statements each with its own kind of horror/mystery and they are all connected to the main story that will develop throughout 5 seasons. That’s A LOT of work: expecting perfect writing from each statement would be unattainable and, from my side, unreasonable.

What’s more important, for me, it’s the attention to details and boy, there’s A LOT of it. When I started this series (and like I do every time I start something), I didn’t give any trust to its author: it’s too easy to find sloppy works made without any care, than find something meticulously organized.

With these 40 statements, Mr. Sims is proving to me that he has a vision, a big picture and that he knows how to put it into words. There is love and care, there is attention, coherence and internal logic.

Hence why, now I want to give him more credit. And with that, my expectations are rising as well: first I just wanted something good, now I want backstories. Why? Because backstories explain the present. Decisions, personalities, events even: all can be explained with a logical, coherent background.

Let’s see if Mr. Sims really thought about everything ;)

So, one season done, four more to go. How many things will happen? Will Sasha ever come back? Will Elias stop being suspicious for five minutes? Will Martin take a vacation? Will Jon survive all of this? And what about my favourite boys? Will they come back too?

I am hyped for season 2 and ready to start, so I’ll surely be back in a week with more posts.

>> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

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[ms-cartoon]

Usually, I wouldn’t post about this kinda thing... I’m not even sure this is fully necessary to be posted. I don’t wanna make it seem like I’m trying to grab attention or pity or anything like that just so someone could feel bad for me. No, that’s not the point of this post. But its mostly to show how sensitive and toxic fans could get about a youtube show that’s not even that good. 

I’m sorry to all the Vivzipop stans, but whether it’s a fact or opinion of mine, Helluva Boss is NOT the greatest thing on earth people. And it’s not just because of the writing or the characters. It’s just not that good. This web series is not pitch-perfect! It should not be that great to where you should feel the need to go after people who don’t like it.

If you love this show to death to the point where you would call it your most favorite series, then fine. It’s whatever. LOVE the show. I really don’t care. I’m not gonna judge someone for liking something I don’t like. I’m not THAT immature! I’m not gonna make a comment on someone’s post, calling anyone stupid or crazy for shipping Stolitz or saying Stolas or Blitzo are well-written characters or that Stolas makes a great father. I don’t even bother to make a comment on a post about people not liking critiques about HB/HH, saying something like, “Those haters don’t know what they’re talking about!” “What is wrong with these critiques??” “This is a bad take!” Mostly because I would just be wasting my breath.

So with that being said, why make those same comments on a simple critical post!!??

So I made a post about the recent gif of the new and upcoming episode of Helluva Boss. It’s shown with Striker capturing Stolas and they make a ride somewhere on a horse (which is a complete waste of time. Your main objective is to kill him. Just shoot the frikin bird!) And I was mainly ranting about how it didn’t make sense that Stolas was getting captured. I was saying that despite being tied up he could’ve used his abilities and turned Striker into a stone like he did with an imp in episode 2 of season 1, or not even just that, just any of his powers. Though I did make a fair statement saying that whatever was tied around him could be some sort of special angelic rope that could be keeping him from using his powers. All while also pointing out that he is still free to move his legs cuz they don’t appear to be tied together. And his hand is free; he’s on the phone with Blitzo. I also opinionated that this might be another Stolitzo-centric episode and I was not going to like it. And THAT was when the hate comments came my way (No kidding, honestly)

One of them didn’t even seem like it was harassment, but it still annoyed me how they said I was just whining and complaining. They said, “Duh! Blitzo and Stolas are the main couple!” and “If you don’t like it, then don��t watch!” “What’s the problem with it?”

You wanna know why that’s a problem?

Okay. First off... Stolas and Blitzo are NOT EVEN A COUPLE! I don’t know where the crew is going with these two, but they’re not even official yet. Plus, there is no point continuing with the Stolitz-centric BS if it’s going to take long for them to become a thing. And how can they be?? How would it even make sense? I highly doubt Stolas would even make a good boyfriend. Stolas being the horny perverted dick-for-brains that he is does nothing but flirt with Blitzo and makes inappropriate remarks at him to the point where they have to censor his words. All he ever did was make Blitzo uncomfortable, and he knew that!! 

Not to mention he forced Blitzo into an agreement to have sex with him each month in exchange for a book which is totally pointless now! Especially when there’s this thing called asmodean crystals, where you could use them to go to the living world anytime you want!! And at that moment, he saw through one of the bath bubbles that Blitzo was in the middle of a dangerous predicament and STILL decided to call him at the worst time just to make this deal. Since it was in the heat of the moment, Blitzo felt he had to agree with him just so he could end the conversation and get back to finishing his job while staying alive. That just goes to show me that Stolas was using this to his advantage to make Blitzo agree with him since he saw what was going on and decided to call him while his life was on the line. He totally knew what he was doing!! And since being caught by humans is SUCH a bad thing and would cost your reputation, why risk that kind of possibility with no ounce of concern for your “boyfriend’s” safety?

And instead of seeing Blitzo as a person with FEELINGS, why does Stolas call him his, “Impish Little Plaything”? He’s practically telling Blitzo, “I OWN YOU!” He was literally taking advantage of him and manipulating him!!! And if he loves Blitzo oh so much, why does Stolas still feel so entitled while looking down on the imp race! He’s not even as nice to Moxxie or Millie. And he even abused his butler!!

And then there was that time on their date when Asmodeus was calling him out on having an affair with Blitzo and had the absolute NERVE to try and hide his face!! Why was he suddenly embarrassed about that anyway? This was NOT the first time where he was seen in public with him. He was fully obligated to show himself at the door with Blitzo in front of that guard that wouldn’t let him in. He even flirted with Blitzo in front of everybody at that Harvest Moon Festival!! And now, all of a sudden, he’s embarrassed to be seen with? And he had the AUDACITY to invite Blitzo into his home to cuddle with him!!! 

It’s not like Blitzo is innocent in this either. He also manipulated Stolas just to get what he wanted. Not once, but twice. He tricked Stolas into stealing all of his father’s belongings when they were kids. Tricked him ONCE AGAIN when they grew up, seducing him as a way to distract him while stealing his grimoire. Blitzo didn’t even care about him. He probably didn’t even want to see him after all those years! He was just there to take the book and LEAVE!! And he only went along with having sex with him out of pity.

How can we even call these two a couple, yet Blitzo was so quick to let Sharkboy bang him in his room! And why did we hear Stolas call Striker “sexy” while on the phone with Blitzo in one of the leaks???

Yeah... main couple my ass....

These commenters go on to say something like, “You’re not critiquing! All you’re doing is complaining! You’re just being a hater!!” 

Now, let me explain the difference between criticism and hate:

Criticism - the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.

or 

the analysis and judgment of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work.

Criticism can be positive or negative. I mostly give negative criticism while also showing some irritation and annoyance about whatever I’m talking about. I’m pretty sure that’s mostly where they think I’m just complaining or hating on it.

 Okay, so I like to express my feelings... so what??? EVERYONE does it when they give a critical analysis. And I’ll admit, I do hate the show. I definitely don’t feel for it like I did when the pilot first came out. But at least I actually have A REASON for hating it. More than a few reasons in fact. 

Speaking of hate -

Hate - the feeling of intense or passionate dislike for someone or something.

People always say that hate is a strong word, and I can agree. But the difference is that when you hate something, there is no reason or logic. When you hate something, you don’t care at all about wanting that something to improve or get better than how it is. It doesn't matter, because you just hate it that much! All there is is mockery and disrespect. And when you express hate, you’re attacking someone or harassing them with your harsh words.

And me hating something is different, cuz at least I’m actually expressing the reason why I don’t like it. And I’m not trying to harass ANYONE!! I’m just saying what I think is wrong, why I think it’s wrong, and that I don’t like it! And I actually WANT HB to get better.

Some may think I’m complaining about something when really all I’m doing is stating a fact or opinion.

"the writers will come up with a stupid bad reason” is not a good critique, it's just complaining.

Well sh*t, am I lying??? Man cheats on his wife, and we all know cheating is wrong, no matter why he did it. Oh, but wait- turns out she’s very abusive toward him and doesn’t love him at all! So now, it’s suddenly okay that he cheats. And despite hating him, she still decides to stick around and not divorce him just because she likes to torment him. Why does she like to torment him? Who knows! She’s just evil by nature as it turns out! Man could divorce said wife himself, but only sticks around for the sake of his daughter so she could live a normal life even though he and his wife already constantly fight in front of her. Can’t ignore the fact that he flirts with someone in front of her and continues his affair with that someone despite how she felt about it.... and he just wants her to be happy....

Yeah... definitely makes total sense.

Then they say this, “Maybe Stolas isn’t escaping because it’s a comedy show, DUH!! Things aren’t supposed to make sense. Sometimes things happen and you have to go along with it.”

No...No, sweetheart. That’s not how things work. Besides, for a comedy show that’s not supposed to make sense and be taken seriously, they really try their hardest to tackle some serious moments that are supposed to be soo emotional. And with the way THEY’RE doing it, it’s not very easy for me to just go along with it. There are some things I just can’t ignore and I’m going to feel annoyed by them. I’m sorry (I’m really not)

And as for, “If you don’t like it, then don’t watch it!”

Let me tell y’all somethin’.... If I wanna criticize and post about shows that I think need criticism, then I’m gonna continue to watch the show. If I wanna put anti-tags on posts, then will do that. And if I wanna watch something simply to laugh and make fun of it, then I will. If YOU don’t like that, then that’s on you. Just know that all you’re doing is wasting time typing your butthurt comments about me “complaining” about something knowing damn well I’m going to continue making criticism regardless of how you feel when you can simply just ignore me. Better yet, just BLOCK ME so you won’t have to see me complain about your precious favorite show ever again. I don’t understand what’s so hard about that. It won’t take but a couple of clicks of a button. 

And lastly, one of these comments go on to harass me, calling me pathetic and mentioning this, “How could you hate on something, make art of it and sell it?? You can’t even come up with anything creative on your own! How pathetic!” And it is a VERY stupid reason to come at me over a criticism post. I don’t like HB, there are a lot of people who don’t like HB, but lots of other folks do. So I make art of it and I sell it. And it’s not like I’m intentionally stealing anything. I know I’m drawing the same art style, but I’m creating my own designs of my OCs. I’m not the only person who does this, mind you! I’ve seen plenty of artists do this on Twitter and Deviantart. So what this person is trying to point out here is completely irrelevant!

I may have replied back and said, “There are other people who do this kinda thing. So go and harass them! Go back and forth on their post!” I really didn’t wanna recommend they do this to other people, so I apologize on behalf of the people who sell art with this style or criticize this show for saying that. I was mostly just telling them what’s the point of coming at me for this reason when other people do it too. Like I said, all they’re doing is wasting their time knowing we are never going to hear them out.

So yeah, I just wanted to put this out there. These guys really irritated me. Looks like I joined the club, being harassed by toxic fans. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered replying to them and going back and forth with them. These guys were probably twelve years old. There’s no point in me arguing with children, cuz they never admit when they’re wrong. But if I feel that someone sh*t-talking me, then I won’t let it slide!!

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 05/08/2024

Super Ludacris JB World

Season 8 Featured on: The Joke-Explainer 7000™'s Highest Quality Rips: Sunrise

Ripped by Sponge Lord

Tentative rip name: Super Ludacris JB World

Y'know, I really wasn't expecting to cover another rip from the Justin Bieber event from earlier this year. I felt as if I said my piece on the song and its place in internet history back with BELIEBERDANSEN, written just a short while after the event ended. It's definitely true that the event had a lot of fantastic rips, yet a lot of them managed to slip my mind when the event was over - in part, of course, because I don't exactly have a huge emotional connection to Baby to begin with. Yet in casually revisiting the event for old times sake, I was reminded of one of those rips that had - wrongfully - slipped my mind, one that leverages Baby's qualities in a completely different way from BELIEBERDANSEN. We're back to Bieber, and I've got yet more to talk about - let's get started with Super Ludacris JB World.

On first pass, the rip isn't really anything special or grandiose - it's the kind of rip that the wiki can summarize within a single row of text, mashing up the source track Champion Road from Super Mario 3D World with the aforementioned JB song. Mashups are fantastic, of course, and we've featured plenty on here from Stickerbrush Queen to Logan Paul's Shop - but as ripping has evolved, in the years from Season 1 to Season 8, the attention to detail and focus on quality in them has grown in ways you might not initially pick up on. A low-effort mashup is incredibly easy to do, through just taking the instrumentals of one track and the vocals of another - just look at Snowball Park - Super Mario 3D World - but with each year that goes by rippers have grown more and more apt at adapting and adjusting mashups to sound far more seamless in execution. This extends as far back as with Hoopache daring attempt to mash up a 3/4th time signature song with Space Jam's iconic 4/4 rhythm, but most recently we of course have rips like Beautiful Dreamer - that not only attempt the same time signature mixing, but go above and beyond in layering vocals and pitch-shifting them all to fit the source track used. For what many will see as a simple novelty, there's layers upon layers of ways to make mashups sound far above what they did back in 2016 - yet at the same time, not every rip made necessitates such excess extravagance as Beautiful Dreamer has. Sometimes, simplicity really is key.

Which is really the key point with which Super Ludacris JB World grabbed my interest - it at once has all the spit-shine and ripping know-how reflective of a team that's been doing this for eight years, yet understands the pure joy that comes from a simple-but-effective rip. I mean, think about it - Kill & Learn (Recut Ver.) wouldn't be sitting as this blog's most-shared post if there wasn't something worth adoring in these kinds of mashups. Both Baby and Champion Road are 4/4 songs, and their moods are similar enough to where it isn't exactly a gut-busting concept for a rip to begin with - so instead of focusing on those aspects, ripper Sponge Lord zeroes in on just making these two songs sound as crystal-clear perfect together as possible. At the rip's start, this is done just through Baby's unaltered vocals and clap-percussion being added on top of Champion Road, somehow slotting right in with an orchestral backing - but as the rip goes on, extremely subtle pitch-shifting is done to have JB's vocals play along with the orchestral melody's highs and lows in mood. In having Baby's usage in the rip start out so natural, it makes the gradual use of pitch-shift sound just as natural, and it takes until when Champion Road reaches its chorus at 1:30 for Sponge Lord to fully drop the act and have the vocals fully pitch-shifted in tune to the orchestral backing. It's a surprise in some ways, yet it simultaneously feels so very earned, as if the entire rip had been building up to that point, like the 180 in sound done within Poké Village yet done so gradually as to where it feels like the most natural outcome the rip could've had.

I mentioned above that Champion Road and Baby don't exactly have the sort of tonal contrast that would automatically make a mashup between the two funny, in the same way as rips like My Dr. Eggman Can't Be This Evil! and Loopdeloop Griddy. Yet I do still feel like the two tracks help enhance one another through the differences they do have in tone: Baby, as I talked about back on BELIEBERDANSEN, is mostly a song remembered for being lambasted in early internet culture, which was due to a combination of factors that basically boiled down to Justin Bieber and his song being terrible and not deserving of its radio time. We can retroactively find appeal in that obnoxiousness, the same way that the scene-kid aesthetic and 2000s vibes are coming back in vogue recently, yet very few times have I found myself actually considering Baby to be a genuinely good song. That was, at least, until the rips on the event which Super Ludacris JB World was part of, finding tons of mileage from this worn-out tune - and, through this rip's use of Champion Road in particular, made it sound almost...triumphant, even bittersweet? That may of course be in huge part due to my nostalgia for Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World as games and for their soundtracks, yet Champion Road's orchestral swells and hopeful overtones manages to somehow make Bieber's vocal performance resonate in some sort of emotional reaction from me.

It's very possible that various factors are resulting in me overhyping a rip like Super Ludacris JB World, which simply aims to achieve the goal it set out to do with as much spit-shine and polish as possible. Yet in doing so, through its combination of an artifact from the old internet's golden years, and an orchestral piece that's practically synonymous with childlike joy and hope for the future as Gusty Garden Galaxy...Sponge Lord created something that's just genuinely really pleasant to listen to, elevating Baby to a level of unironic, outright *pleasant* listen-ability that I never thought it had. Put simply, it's just a good ass rip - the kind that's never in short supply on SiIvaGunner these days, yet also the kind that deserves just as much praise and attention as the channel's most ambitious projects.

[eskelsgirl]

Acting Strange part 1

Main pairing: Geralt/Jaskier Characters: Geralt, Jaskier, Eskel, Lambert, Vesemir. Warnings: None so far Geralt was acting strange, not in the normal silent brooding strange that Jaskier had come to be familiar with but a new strange that was, well, very strange. Ever since the two fell into bed together, Geralt has been more… considerate. No, that wasn’t the word. Attentive, maybe? Anyway, the word didn’t matter; what mattered was that Geralt was acting strange, and Jaskier was going to get to the bottom of it. 

It started strangely, with dried and pressed flowers appearing in his bags. Shortly after, the two parted for the winter. The flowers were hidden away in Jaskier’s things, so he’d spend weeks finding them: roses, Lavenders, and Tulips, to name a few. Next was when they joined together during spring, a few weeks after the snow melted. Geralt was well rested after his season away, while Jaskier was jumping with energy after spending his time cooped up teaching. Jaskier would kiss Geralt upon first meeting, and his witcher would kiss him back, but he’d go no further till they were alone. Where Geralt would take his time, taking Jaskier apart. This, while amazing, was strange to Jaskier; they were just friends, now with benefits, right? No real emotion attached. But laying awake a night held tight in Geralt's arms makes Jaskier feel something tight in his heart, a familiar feeling in its own way. Jaskier has fallen in love before and has been loved in return, so why was this so different?

—---

Geralt started with a plan. It is a very straightforward plan to court a human bard. Geralt did all the research on courting customs, preparing for the perfect winter. Geralt had already proven to be a phenomenal hunter, dropping trophies and likes from his kills, and he’s proven himself a valiant protector from jealous husbands and monsters alike. Next was an invitation to spend the season with him in Kaer Morhen, setting the stage for the trials. Now, he just needed to show Jaskier he could provide a safe home to raise their pups - not that they could have any, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Jaskier would be his, and he would be Jaskiers. Kaer Morhen was a welcomed sight; after the march up The Killer, Jaskier was nearly frozen when they passed the gates. “Geralt, you made it!” Eskel greeted them first, pulling Geralt into a quick hug before sweeping Jaskier off his feet. “And Geralt’s bard.” “I know you know my name, Eskel. You should start using it.” Jaskier laughed, knocking his fist against the bigger witcher’s shoulder. “Of course, bard,” he teased, throwing his arm over Jaskier's shoulder and pulling him close to his warm chest. “Let's get you inside before you freeze.” “But Geralt-” “Go, I’ll settle Roach in,” Geralt tells them; he must unpack secretly.

—--------- Jaskier was two bowls of soup with a blanket draped over his shoulders. Geralt found them there, drinking by the fire in the kitchen. Lambert's smell permeated the place, meaning the younger wolf must have been here first, cooking up a storm. Despite what some people think, Lambert was a surprisingly good cook when he wasn’t experimenting with ingredients like he does with his Alchemy. “What’s on the fire?” Geralt asked, grabbing a bowl and a chunk of bread to eat. “Venison.” Eskel answered, “And some root vegetables,” “Hmm,” Geralt takes a small taste before downing the bowl in a few gulps. “Hungry, I take it,” Lambert teases, walking to the room with a tray of fresh bread. Eskel makes to grab one but is swiftly kicked in the shin. The bread smelled incredible, with hints of brown sugar and cinnamon that had everyone’s mouths watering. “Hands off, you bastard,” Lambert orders, setting the tray on a cooling rack. “They’re not ready yet.” “Sure, little wolf.” Eskel teases, this time prepared for Lambert's retaliation. He uses his sheer size and strength to maneuver Lambert into a headlock, placing a loud kiss against the younger wolf’s head. “Mwah!” “Get off!” Lambert growls, trying to bite and wiggle his way out, but Eskel had a firm hold.

Jaskier chuckled at their antics, a bright smile across his face that had Geralt staring. Suddenly, Geralt’s lap had an angry little wolf in it. Lambert was cussing up a storm as he was dropped in Geralt’s lap. He was about to get up and dive at Eskel if Geralt’s arms hadn’t automatically wrapped around him, giving Eskel time to escape.  “That’s right, you better run!” Lambert yelled back, jumping out of Geralt’s lap and chasing after his brother. Jaskier could tell this was going to be an exciting winter. 

[burnwater13]

Concept art by Ryan Church. The Mandalorian and another fighter take on an AT-ST on the planet Sorgan. The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 4, Sanctuary.

“Grogu! Come on, buddy! It’s time to go!”, Din Djarin called out as he walked through the small cabin, looking for his apprentice. 

It was clear that Grogu wasn’t ready to go anywhere. His silver ‘ball’, which was really one of the knobs from the Razor Crest was still sitting in his hammock, as was the toy rancor that Boba Fett had given him the last time they were on Tatooine. The Mandalorian was surprised because he knew that Grogu was looking forward to going back to Sorgan.

Grogu had been bugging him practically non-stop over that wretched AT-ST and what it was doing on that peaceful planet since they had first seen it. Pointing out that they had both been very busy since that day did nothing to appease the former Jedi youngling. Grogu had made it plain that they had a duty to return to Sorgan and explore the planet and make sure no other Imperial junk had found it’s way there. What if there was another cloning lab? Or a secret base? Or a Sith temple? For a person who generally refused to speak Gal Basic, Grogu had found a way to make sure that Din Djarin understood his concerns. 

The Mandalorian’s counter argument had been that if the Imps had an active base on Sorgan they wouldn’t have let the Klatooinians capture the AT-ST to begin with. While Grogu grudgingly accepted that, it was clear that he thought it would be appropriate for them to confirm that condition and not just hope that’s how things might have gone. 

He had a point. Although Din Djarin didn’t believe that they’d find an active base, they could still find an old one. Or an abandoned or even hidden transport ship. They could find other Imperial detritus that could create problem for those farmers. He didn’t want that any more than Grogu had. 

Which begged the question, where the heck was Grogu? He’d wanted to make this trip and now he’d gone missing. Well, not missing, but he wasn’t in the cabin. And he didn’t have his favorite stuff, so where would he go? It had been a while since the Mandalorian had turned his bounty hunter’s mind back on and now was a perfect time to do that. 

Grogu liked to collect data, evaluate maps and star charts, and he liked to consult with people who were not his dad over them all. One deep sigh later and the Mandalorian was striding out to the N-1. Grogu was very likely talking to R5. He had a real affinity for droids and mechs and they seemed to like him right back. 

But, to his surprise, Grogu was not talking the sensors off of R5. The droid was puttering around the ship and performing minor maintenance tasks. At least the mech hadn’t decided to field strip the port engine control system. That would have slowed them down significantly, like it had the last time it happened. Now R5 consulted with the bounty hunter about all pop-up and preventative maintenance so they weren’t delayed in meeting with Captain Teva again.

He asked R5 if he’d seen Grogu and the mech nodded it’s body in the affirmative. That was good. Where did he go? The mech seemed to shrug. When did R5 last see Grogu? R5 beeped at him and the Mandalorian sighed. Apparently Grogu had been trotting toward Nevarro City an hour or so ago. Dank Farrik. 

A few minutes later, as he was grabbing his flight pack and checking the status of his personal weapons, the Mandalorian heard a knock at the door. 

Din Djarin yanked the door open and practically tore it off its hinges. 

He found himself looking IG-11-M in the optical sensors, while Grogu stood behind the Marshal.  

“Din Djarin. Apprentice Grogu has brought to my attention that equipment installed by the former Imperium may be present on the arboreal planet of Sorgan. As a duly authorized Marshal of Nevarro City I have notified the High Magistrates office of the condition and asked for direction in how to manage the request for assistance that Apprentice Grogu had made. It is my duty to notify you that this request is number two thousand one hundred and twenty forth request for assistance being evaluated by the High Magistrate’s office. It may take some time to evaluate Apprentice Grogu’s request.”

“Dank Farrik. Grogu, I told you we were leaving for Sorgan today to perform that evaluation. IG-11, you may cancel my apprentice’s request. It is not necessary.”

The Mandalorian was both annoyed and proud of Grogu. No, he didn’t want Greef Karga dealing with potential problems on Sorgan. He had enough to do on Nevarro.  But, Grogu had shown real initiative in trying to obtain assistance from their friend.

Grogu chirped at him and then ducked around the droid and jumped up to give his mentor a hug. 

“Very well. I will be tracking your progress and will re-initiate the request if you fail to report back in a timely manner, as your apprentice requested as part of his application.”

“Grogu requested that?”  Din Djarin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Affirmative. He reported that sometimes he needed to use both beskar and a lightsaber to accomplish his goal. I presume you understand his meaning, as it is not recorded in my data structures.”

“Yes. I know what he means.  Thank you, Marshal. Grogu, I suggest you pack your bag and make sure you wear your beskar. As I recall you don’t currently have access to a lightsaber.”

The Mandalorian watched IG-11-M set off toward Nevarro City while Grogu zipped into the cabin and went right to his room. Din Djarin closed the door to the cabin and walked towards his own room when he heard another knock at the door. He wondered if IG-11-M had forgotten something, but that didn’t seem likely.

He opened the door and exclaimed, “Dank Farrik!”

“Is that some sort of Mandalorian greeting? Grogu contacted me and I came here as soon as I could.” Luke Skywalker replied, looking confused. 

“Grogu!”

[luvmagician]

Ok, I'll be the one, Fubuki!!

you didnt say which number so i answered all 30 of them

1. My first impression of them

me and GX really had an enemies to lovers arc i could barely sit through the first episode after finishing DM the guitar stings were too much. i did not care much for any of the characters. it grew on me though we are besties now obvs

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

i think i realized how much i liked S1 nightshroud first bc i love campy and ostentatious femme villains and then my love spread to regular fubuki around the time i got to s4 and then he graduated to a proper Blorbo and well the rest is history…

3. A song that reminds me of them

go fish by cub (ask me no more questions / ill tell you no more lies / about my sweet little trip to the other side) also obligatory fubuki playlist link

4. How many people I ship them with

off the top of my head 4 (ryo yusuke reggie manga!jim) but my interpretations tend to stretch the definition of “ship”

5. My favorite ship of them

idols hehe ^_^ lh4wds couple (lighthouse 4 wine dark sea)

6. My least favorite ship of them

theres not any i particularly dislike to be honest. hes a charismatic guy.

7. A quote of them that you remember

WHEN STAGE LIGHT HITS YOU THAT WHICH IS BEHIND YOU IS SACRIFICED TO SHADOW ! 🌟

8. Your favorite outfit of them

first i have to come out as an turn 60 austin powers cosplay enjoyer so sue me the purple looks nice on him secondly HIS LADY OSCAR OUTFIT!!! I WISH I COULD PICK THE BRAIN OF THE ANIMATOR WHO PUT HIM IN HER OUTFIT SOOO BAD ITS EVERYTHING TO ME

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

nightshroud outift but only when its lit by cool lighting and looks gray thats when its ugly when its lit warm and looks brown its flattering!! see theres a stark difference here!!

10. Describe the character in one sentence

11. What's the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

“BUKI!!! :)” <- too happy to formulate coherent thoughts

12. Sexuality hc!

little bisexual weirdo

13. Your favorite friendship they have

manjoume and him are so sweet and funny thats his little guy. thats the chihuahua to his valley girl

14. Best storyline they had

season 4 makes me screammm its about absence as a presence its about how running from something only gives it more power over you its about confronting the horrors and chosing to live with them instead of dying to escape them…

15. Worst storyline they had

the jokes around his treatment of asuka in the show proper arent Great but i have a thick enough skin to slough through it… that being said the flanderization he endures in the spinoff games especially cross duel SUUCCKKK the “trying to marry off my bitch sister” jokes werent funny in 2004 they arent funny now STOP TRYING TO BRING THEM BACK. even more of a bummer bc i think his love for love and romance are such endearing parts of his character seeing them flattened down into bad jokes makes me -___-

16. childhood headcanon

regularly held concerts for an audience of his stufffed animals drew flyers to hand out and everything it was a whole production.

17. What do you think their first word was?

he needs attention. something attention grabbing like “HI” or “HEY!” or “ME!” something like that

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

he was just as outgoing and chipper but also.. yk he was an emotional feminine kid with long hair who didnt like conflict and kids are mean.. but i think asuka looked out for him a lot and beat up his bullies

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

fubuki/shoji (manjoumes older brother) is so funny. i love it btw i think its such a serve and there are interesting ways you can spin it like yess fubuki chase the childhood you barely got to live by hooking up with a man who looks eerily like your highschool protege and maybe gold dig while your at it

20. A weird headcanon

i think him and asuka grew up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere (nowhere near the ocean he just picked up surfing really fast his freshman year) and them and the marufujis have a lil country mouse city mouse thing going on. and i draw him with rubber bands on his fingers to help with his memory issues :)

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

freshman year of duel academy he was on top of da world baby

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

the almost two years he spent in the nihilism nightmare depression hell dimension or the day he found out Prince died

23. Future headcanon

he does acting and entertainment dueling and shows up on variety shows and keeps teasing his album but refuses to release it until he he can get asuka to feature on a song. if he did ever release music all his music videos concepts would have a rich interlocking story ala the loonaverse

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

he dodges questions about the darkness BIG TIME and even lies about like the time he lies to judais face about how oh im fine :) the darkness isnt in me anymore :) he really doesnt want to worry people i think he goes to his grave with just how much his time there sucked and how he suffered afterward. i dont think he would ever tell ryo or asuka how bad it really was

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

this is hard hes on screen like 4 times

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

fubuki is always himself even at the absolute height of his performance and apparent detachment from reality because the act of performance is so baked into his character he would not be truly “himself” without it. he is both the mask and the wearer.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

HE SHOULD MEET JOEYYY i think joey wheeler is his personal hero… also him and ryan akagi from infinity train book 4 could absolutely kick it. two dudes who want to become rock stars and were trapped in hell/purgatory for a while

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

the pensive ukulele strumming to punctuate his revenge monologue to kagemaru

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

I THINK HED BE A GREAT PARENT !!! a bit overbearing and doting but only bc he loves so so much.. hed be so good with young kids until they grow into teens and realize hes cringe

30. The funniest scene they had?

gotta be dropping down from the ceiling to call gay people “taboo and thrilling” and his sister homophobic

if you made it this far.. thank you for indulging my craziness 💖