#dear FUCK its been SO LONG since i watched a good fucking show........ i feel like a dying man in the desert who just stumbled upon

[im-smart-i-swear]

got to the ressurecting falin episode!!!!! SO MUCH FLESH AND VISCERA I LOVE FLESH AND VISCERA<333333333333333

marcille ily i hope youll get to do more dark forbidden magic<3 they just sat there............ doing a giant human skeleton sized puzzle... i know in the manga falin becomes a giant bird monster but she was ressurected w dragon flesh sooooo idk???? i dont know my dunmeshi lore:/ well either way i cant wait for her to maim someone!! also. the bathtub scene. god.

[beforeimdeceased]

IM SO HOOKED ON CRYBABY I NEED MORE OMG

CRYBABY! - (E.W) PT6

pairing: mean/cruel ellie x sensitive/emotional reader.

synopsis: you’ve had enough at this point.

a/n: the next chapter is already in the works and guys…things get so… like there’s no going back i think this is the end point 😭

i don’t care if it hurts

masterlist.

no one can get a word in before jesse breaks up the fight. “we go on in two minutes. get it together. fucking get cleaned up.” he pulls at ellie.

you’re baffled, really. such a silly word but it’s the only one you can use. abby never really got into fights, that you’d known of. she was one of your best friends. and you never had the heart to tell her about what ellie had done, so how did she figure everything out? why are you spiraling? ellie probably said or did something to get herself punched. maybe this has nothing to do with you?

“and i’m very excited to introduce our next performers. watching them go from garages, to performing on stages, to signing record deals has been a beautiful journey. i’m happy to say i’ve been here since the beginning. now please make some noise for, seattle revival!”

you and abby are sat backstage as you dress her wounds. you wait to hear a familiar string of notes from jesse as he starts their first song, but you’re surprised by ellie’s voice on the mic.

“guys i just want to start the show off by apologizing to someone very near a dear to me. a very special person in my life who i’ve hurt—“

“we love you ellie!”

“aww i love you too. i want to say i’m sorry to her because i did some really fucked up shit in the past and i hope that she can forgive me and that we can move past it.”

the crowd cheers.

“and go back to being lovey dovey girlfriends. please forgive me babe. it’ll never happen again.”

abby’s mouth falls so far to the ground you could stick your fist in it. her face has never turned red faster. “what the fuck is she talking about? you guys were—are dating?”

you frantically shake your head. “no abby she’s lying. i don’t know what she’s gaining from it either. i think we should go now.”

“and this next song is dedicated to her—“ she points to you, an employee tugs at you to make you more visible, pulling you to the stage. a spotlight falls on you. everybody’s phone is up. everybody’s flash is on. here come the waterworks, fuck. didn’t you say you weren’t gonna cry today?

and then a familiar string of notes plays. jesse and dina catch on quickly, and your heart seeps. there was no way she was playing this song right now.

“when you were here before.”

you’re taken back to that first rehearsal. stuffed in jesse’s parents garage on a gloomy day. you were sitting on a scratched up couch, petting his cat. ellie looked over to you with a smile on her face. “you listen to a lot of music?”

you nod. “i love music. i was honestly so excited to hear you guys are starting a band. i’ll be your first groupie! handmade merch and everything.”

she laughs before whispering something to jesse and dina, then returning to the mic. “we’re gonna dedicate this one to our first groupie.”

“couldn’t look you in the eyes.”

dina and jesse slipped off after that practice and you knew they’d gone to go fuck somewhere, so you stayed with ellie. “they have no idea how to be discreet about it.” you laugh. she shrugs. “good on them, atleast i’m not alone dealing with it anymore.”

she’d convinced you to grab icecream with her. nestled in the booth of the old restaurant over an icecream sundae. soft music playing from its speakers. it was nearly empty, and it had started to rain outside.

“so how long have you known jesse and dina?” you ask, dipping a spoon in your side of the sweet treat. she grabs a cherry from the top, popping it into her mouth. “since we were kids in highschool. those are my best friends. i’m excited to be starting a band with them, and i’m glad i got to meet you.”

you blush.

you’re crying now. onstage, you’re crying. you can feel the tears slipping down your cheeks and underneath your chin. you wipe at them but they just won’t go away. she was so sweet to you a couple years ago. she was the sweetest person you’d ever met. how could you even compare the person singing to you now, and the person you’d met back then?

then you get a glimpse of her. it’s in her eyes. you’re flashing back between that memory and now. her hand in yours, running through the rain. catching the bus back to jesse’s. staying up and watching movies all night. waking up the next day to the lovebirds apologizing, while you and ellie laugh about it so hard your stomachs started to ache.

and you’re conflicted because this is the same ellie that got drunk at a party and threw up all over you. twice. then the next day said, “atleast it was better than what you’d been wearing.” jesus, she was addicting. she’d hooked you in and completely destroyed you. your self esteem. and now she was trying to play nice?

out of the corner of your eye, before you can catch it, abby is walking onstage. she takes a moment to look at you, tears streaming down your face, and decides to turn around. she walks away and it takes you a minute to follow behind. calling for her. begging her to come back.

“abby stop. where are you going?”

“no, just stop. you’re pathetic. why do you take the shit she does? don’t you have any respect for yourself?”

you’ve never heard her speaking to you this way. between your head rushing from the crying and the whiplash you’re getting from her harsh words, you feel like you’re going to pass out. “i don’t just take it abby. how do you even know about that stuff—“

“because jesse and dina told me! i’m supposed to be your best fucking friend but you can’t even communicate the simplest of things. the things i know are hurting you inside. i was gonna— never mind. fucking forget it.”

and then she walks away, disappearing into a hallway. fading away slowly like a ghost. body blurred from your tears. you feel your feet get weak first, then you drop to your knees and onto the ground. huddling within yourself. letting all your tears fall.

the “seattle revival’s last show after party” is one you refused to miss. with everything happening between abby and ellie, you were more than prepared to let it all go. to get drunk or high or whatever the fuck, and stop feeling. this very thought picked you up off that floor, and led you to the dressing rooms. you enjoyed the rest of the show from there, wiping at your face so hard you felt like it would bruise.

when the band found their way into the dressing room, dina and jesse rushed over to comfort you. “i swear i’d bash her head in if it didn’t interfere with the tour. i’m sorry, i shouldn’t be apologizing for her but it’s the only way you’ll get a real one. i’m sorry.”

you had sat with the pain for long enough. you’d cried enough. you didn’t know where abby was or why she said what she did but it was your breaking point. if you were a house, she had pulled a loose brick. making everything collapse within itself. and tumble over everyone else in its path. you felt like…ellie. the world had darkened. the small light, the tiny bits of happiness in you, had melted away. you didn’t care anymore.

you get up to face ellie, her smile fading when her eyes meet yours. everything had left them. all that purity. all that love, was gone.

“honestly i’m over it. let’s go to the after party.”

[boobi-boy]

HOT TAKE. As a society, we are conditioned to hate final seasons. This is fair. We were all betrayed by Game of Thrones and Supernatural and whatnot. As someone who has never watched these (I have only heard generalised complaints about them), let me (drunkenly) yap about the Umbrella Academy s4.

I'm gonna try and keep this vaguely organised.

Luther

I was an adamant Luther hater back in season one and two, I will admit, meeting his actor at Comic Con in 2021 did colour my opinion a little bit, but I loved him in season three. I mean, his romance with Sloane always felt a little rushed to me, but it was certainly sweet, and their wedding was a nice tie in to the "we only see each other at weddings and funerals" thing.

Pros;

In season four, I loved him. He's optimistic about life and goes to great lengths to brighten the moods of people around him, which is the kind of person he lacked all his life. He's being the person he always needed and I love that for him.

The implication that he's pushing aside his festering feelings of dissatisfaction for his life to be there for other people is so moving, and also I love those moments where him and Allison get to just be normal siblings, showing that he's moved on from that toxic era of his life.

His fight scenes are epic and he's all round a good character this season. I understand people's disdain for being sidelined, along with his grief for Sloane, but there are a certain two factors that should be taken into consideration here. The first being that, by s4e1, its been six years since he lost her. He has probably processed that grief and moved on by now, despite how profound the loss. Obviously he still thinks about her, which is why he occasionally brings her up, but it's been a long time. Additionally, he's semi-sidelined because his character arc was pretty well rounded by the end of s3. He's moved on from Allison and was on a trajectory for a healthier life. Its tragic that he lost Sloane, but good that he continued trying to be happy.

Cons;

I do wish his relationship with Ben had been more developed this season. To me, I think the implication is that he's hanging on to Sparrow Ben as a brother (in-law) because he's the closest remaining connection to the Sparrow Academy, therefore Sloane.

Why is he living in the decrepit Sparrow Academy house? Why? Literally why??? This needed more explanation.

Diego

My mother hates him. I lowkey love him. In season two, his character plus his saviour complex was explored so fucking well. I loved him then. I think his character in season three is a decent testament to how boring 'settling down' can be.

Pros;

He reacts very well to everything that happens. That's the best way I could explain it. The realisation that sometimes life is just normal. Its a sweet plotline and I enjoyed it

I loved his relationship with Luther, his visit to the CIA and the fun approach to his power this season.

His final words to Lila, that he knew she didn't mean to hurt him, were so mature and a brilliant way of rounding off his character with a sense of satisfaction and finality. I loved it so much. In that moment, before everything, he was her husband, and that was beautiful.

Cons;

I have very few. I think his depiction as a mailman is silly. I just wish it had been a different job.

Also I wish he'd spoken more Punjabi because I'm pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong) he learnt that to converse with Lila and her family in their native language, despite Lila's family speaking English.

Why was he immature enough to fight with Five over his wife when the literal world was ending? Not very consistent with his character development but I still liked that scene. Honestly, that was obviously written in as a segue to Five going back to the subway so I guess it did have to be there it just felt a bit weird.

Allison

Oh dear God. Allison Hargreeves, what happened to you? I loved her so much in seasons one and two. Season three Allison ruined everything ever forever. Not through bad writing. Through very good and despicably devastating writing. She has lost so much and she coped with it so badly that she altered all of time to avoid her grief. The evillest girlboss of all time.

Pros;

CLAIRE! Claire Bear. I love you. Thank you season four for giving us Claire and Claire/Allison bonding time.

Also the fact that she's coping with her being a terrible human being by babysitting Klaus for five years (which she is obviously very spiteful about) is very well written.

I like the return of Allison badassery when she shows up and literally busts a man's balls.

I like how she ends the show being physically vulnerable and now Klaus is taking care of her now. That was cute.

Also I love that she's being held accountable for her actions and it makes her a slightly better person! That was fun.

I like that we learn that without her power she was a B-list actor at best.

Cons;

What the fuck were her powers this season? I know they got janky marigold but why is she literally just telekinetic now????

Why didn't they tell us why Ray walked out? She literally altered time to get him back. Like, I know Allison has fucked up every relationship she's ever had but PLEASE tell us what happened.

Also fuck you for what you did to Klaus.

Klaus.

Oh, Klaus Hargreeves, the man that you were. Season one. TRAGIC. I loved it. Season two, the exact same commentary. Season three, I loved him so much, he keeps being my FAVOURITE and also the idea that the drugs and trauma thwarted the full potential of his powers, but the drugs was the only thing that could keep him sane because of his trauma and his powers was so cool. Well done for beginning to overcome your rampant daddy issues Klaus. Season four. He is still my favourite.

Pros;

Having him sell his body in the weirdest way possible was amazing. I love to see it.

The moment between him and Claire where she knew exactly what was happening and he just repeats 'it's too late' and swears at her. Beautifully devastating.

Him getting buried alive was so fucking fitting I can't properly explain it I just love it.

His final line, and the third-to-final line of dialogue in the whole shows being 'I just wanna say, I love you guys, but you're all assholes' sums up perfectly. And it just had to be him that said that. He can never escape his nihilism and I love him for it. Its who he is.

Learning that the 'real' Klaus is a total germophobe was fun.

Cons;

Give my man more screen time. I beg. I am on my knees begging. Please Mr Blackman. Please Mr Way. Give the love of my life more screen time.

I wish Dave had been mentioned once or twice. Dave is forever a part of Klaus. Why didn't he try to contact him when he got his powers back? Why has he forgotten him? If Luther gets a Sloane mention then Klaus should have gotten a Dave mention. I guess Netflix hates the queers unless they're from Heartstopper (/j)

Five

Five is my mother's favourite and she was vomming this season because of you-know-what. The poor woman. She still loves him though, So did I. Five defines The Umbrella Academy. He spent two seasons wearing the uniform, he got the first f-bomb, he was responsible for SO much exposition. All in all, he is quintessential to the aesthetic, plot, and entire existence of the series. Did season four give him justice?

Pros;

I love Five being a CIA agent. This is so him.

Jerome is a funny name for him.

He doesn't ever stop being himself and I love that.

I like how blunt he is about the fact they all have to end their existence. He understands existentialism and his place in the universe more than his siblings (and most people ever) can fathom. It had to be him to deliver that news and he does it so well.

Cons;

The elephant in the room. Him and Lila. I see it. I see the vision. Yes. If two people spend seven years with only each other for company, suspended in time, they will probably develop a romantic relationship. That doesn't make me like it. It is in character for him to lie to Lila (or withhold information from her)about knowing the way home. I just hated every second of it. I thought they were going to steer clear of Five romantic relationships because of how weird his ageing is. He's mentally more than twenty years older than Lila and physically more than ten years younger than her. It is gross. I hate it. It was a reasonable plot choice Honestly, their relationship remaining strictly platonic would have been less realistic than what happened but when has this show ever been realistic? I will say, it makes sense for Five to revert to old coping mechanisms (I am referring to Delores) in a time like this, it's just that this time he had a real person to enact them with. In times of utter distress, Five is a romanticist, so at least his character is consistent.

Why didn't they let him wear a suit that fits him? That was not nice.

Ben

Sparrow Ben is a sexy cunt. I love how much of a knob he is. All the time. This season was a slay for him. We heart assimilation allegories for love and obsession.

Pros;

I repeat - I love the assimilation metaphor. He didn't get to go with grace. I've seen people criticising that he got no meaningful death scene but that's the point. His meaningful death was stolen from him because of his unhealthy obsession with Jennifer and how deeply in love with her he was. It's a commentary of how toxic and co-dependant relationships will destroy a person. I love it.

I love the scene where him and Jennifer are sat either side of the wall watching the same movie. That was so fucking cute.

Cons;

The CGI for his powers was shit. He looked like the squid version of She-Hulk.

Why have the Umbrellas just adopted him into his family? That was weird.

Victor

I have always loved him. Best trans representation I've ever seen. Autism coded. The amount of times I said 'His powers are just autism sensory overload' or 'his powers are just anger issues' has probably burned the phrase into my mother's mind.

Pros;

I like that he was a manwhore in Canada.

I love him having control over his powers this season. We support self control my man.

I love how adamant he is to save Ben. All this man has ever wanted was to save someone. And he never could. So he sacrificed himself to save the world.

Cons;

I was not here for the fit this season. The boots. The jean jacket. Not a serve. I am sorry.

He was kinda cringe and irrelevant this season I'm not gonna lie.

Lila

Thank you Lila for being what I picture when I hear Golden Brown. It makes me happy.

Pros;

A devoted mother. We love her. I also love that her character involves her children but she's more than that. But she still sacrifices everything for them. "Make sure to read to Gracie every night! And don't let the twins fight!" absolutely destroyed me.

I don't know what it is but her fit ate this season.

Her final words being 'Fuck you!' was fun.

Cons;

Her 'LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME' personality got annoying after about four episodes. Not even in s4, just in general.

I wish her backstory had been more addressed this season. It was just completely ignored. Sad.

The Plot.

Pros;

If this show is anything, it is self aware. It makes fun of itself for just doing the apocalypse four times. I love it.

The tragic ending. Too many shows have happy endings these days. I need my bittersweet tragedy and the Umbrella Academy delivered. It actually made me bawl because these characters meant so fucking much to me.

I always said that Klaus's story couldn't end without him dying. I also felt like Five dying would work. Now I think that if one of them goes, they all have to. They were born at the same time and they died that way too. It explains WHY they keep ending the world. Their very existence is apocalyptic. They are a collective incarnation of the apocalypse and that just rounds off the show in such a meaningful way.

I know people hate the 'one true timeline' thing and the 'they all die' thing and feel like its a copout, but its so beautiful to me. They were the problem the whole time. They can't just find some creative and resourceful way out of it this time. This is the end. That's WHY the SONG in the TRAILER WAS 'THE END' by My Chemical Romance!!!!!!!!!!!

Cons;

The plot holes like why does Luther getting his powers back give him his monkey body back when the life-saving surgery that he didn't need in this timeline didn't happen???

Along with many other plot holes that have already been pointed out within this post and by other people a million times so I won't go through the tedium of doing what has already been done.

Special mentions!

The Gene & Jean dance scene! The show knew they couldn't get away with making the Umbrellas dance again but they needed an obligatory Umbrella Academy dance scene and they ATE IT UP.

The song they danced to was also a banger, which segues nicely into my next mention which is the SOUNDTRACK. It SLAPS. Muse! Bloodhound Gang! Cher! ALL IN ONE SHOW. The Umbrella Academy's soundtrack has always been amazing and season four is not any different.

The closing line "On the eighth of august 2024" etc. DESTROYED ME.

THE USE OF 'I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW' KILLED ME.

THE POST CREDITS WITH THE MARIGOLD FLOWERS AAAAGHHH.

ALL THE SIDE CHARACTERS UGH.

Also, the production photos from across the years in the credits. I loved them so fucking much.

They kept handling Victor's trans storyline well, not pretending he was never a girl and including him in flashbacks. Idk I liked it.

Diego naming his daughter after his mother is so sweet.

Random criticism though - the casting for the teen versions of the Umbrellas was ATROCIOUS. Klaus somehow looked five years old and in his mid forties at the same time.

[anystalker707]

"Show me how to kiss?"

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x [gender neutral] Reader Summary: Two imagines one in which you ask Sanji to show you what it is like to kiss and another one in which he's the one to ask. Tags: Gentleman Sanji !! / Also babygirl Sanji, ofc / Very sweet, y'kno / Sanji can't help himself / You can't either, but it's nice seeing him caving in / Very romantic Check out (Roronoa Zoro's version)

MASTERLIST

If you’re the one to ask him...

          All of that kind of got you frustrated. Robin had recommended you a book, a book that was too immersive for its own good. Since living as a pirate took most of your time, you’d never really thought about it until you started reading that; the book stuck in your mind a little too long, hence it wasn’t difficult hearing the others once in a while telling you to come back to earth.

It was difficult not thinking about the book the entire time. The way the couple kissed... What did it feel like? Having the lips of someone you like pressed against yours, their tongue running against your lip...

“I told you to pull the halyard, (y/n)! Are you listening?” Nami’s voice cut through your thoughts. Fuck, you spaced out again.

“Sorry, Nami-san!” You shout in return, finally doing as said. Damn it. That book really caught you, leaving you wondering whether you liked the story itself or if all those descriptions just caught your attention. A sigh escaped your lips as you finished pulling the sail and, along with Nami and Zoro, you finished preparing the ship for the night.

With dinner already being served, it didn’t take long until everyone was going back to their quarters—or just falling asleep wherever, in Luffy’s case. All the lights were off, only with a dim beam coming from the window on the door of the galley. Today’s night watch was Sanji’s. You sort of had been waiting for that.

Sanji had always been there for you, really—aside from all the flirting, he did take his time to check up on you and hang out, sometimes inviting you to help him finish decorating whatever dessert he was preparing for the crew just so you two could talk. It was something else, so you couldn’t really help looking at Sanji with a different tone after you started reading that damn book Robin recommended to you. His lips seemed extra attractive as he talked to you yesterday when you made him company while he prepared lunch, shaping nicely around every word he spoke. Sometimes you asked him to repeat himself; he probably thought you were dumb, damn.

Only the soft sound of the waves filled the ambient aside from the occasional creaking of wood under your feet as you started heading upstairs to reach the galley. You stood there for a long moment before you finally knocked on the door, sighing, and walked in.

“Sanji?” You closed the door behind yourself; Sanji was by the sink and looked back at you over his shoulder with a smile.

“(Y/n)-chan! What brings you here?” He grinned. “It’s already late, y’know? Why haven’t you gone to sleep already? Such a pretty warrior like you needs a good night of sleep, my dear.” And even if he just had his back to you at the moment, you could still picture how he would’ve winked otherwise. Why did Sanji have to be so charming? He kinda reminded you of the guy in the book you were reading, all romantic, with those kisses... But better, of course.

Okay, whatever, that’s not the point.

You clear your throat, shaking your head as you lean forward with your forearms on the cold surface of the counter. “Right. I want a favor.”

“A favor?” Sanji turned off the sink and turned to you, wiping his hands dry on his apron. He had no blazer or tie this time, with the top buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Your eyes quickly met his again and you nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah. Something simple, but... Like, you can refuse it.”

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows. “Right, but what’s it?”

Fuck. That was going to be harder than you thought. Your eyes averted away. “Yeah. You’re, like, the only person I trust and also the one who’s probably the best for this,” you mumbled, but immediately paused again—rambling wasn’t a good idea—, “like... Could you show me how to kiss? As I said, it’s fine if you don’t accept it, but it would be really nice if you—”

“...You’ve never kissed anyone before?” Sanji blinked a couple of times.

“Don’t tease me, Sanji,” you sighed, standing up properly and scratching the back of your neck. “I never really had the time, never really thought about it, y’know, but...”

“No, no,” Sanji sighed as he stepped closer. “That’s not what I mean, darling. The thing is, are you sure you’re going to give your first kiss to me? It’s something special, after all. You must think really well about it.”

Why did Sanji have to complicate things? It felt like you’d just explode at some point because of the whole tension, even more with how he acted. You just wanted to vanish or something, pretend that never happened.

“Sanji... You’re, like, special enough.” You shrugged, but then the way he started to blush made you rethink your words. Could that just get worse? “Ah, c’mon, I just...”

“Right, right.” Sanji quickly nodded—maybe he knew what you thought, since he was good at reading you and catching onto clues in general. “I’m honestly honored. You’re very sweet, my dear. I’m going to make it simple, okay?” He grinned wide as he usually did and walked around the counter to come closer, standing right in front of you after you turned around, leaning back against the counter and holding onto the edges.

You nodded, your eyes catching onto every little movement, from the way he adjusted his clothes out of instinct to the way there was a nervous trembling tugging onto the corner of his lips.

Sanji’s tongue poked out, running between his lips as he leaned in, a hand gripping onto the edge counter by each of your sides. His breath fanned over your face, and the smell of his cologne with a hint of tobacco filled your lungs. “Just try to go along with what I do, okay?” He whispered, waiting for you to nod before he finally closed the distance between you two.

Sanji’s lips pressed to yours softly, warm and gentle, as if he was afraid to do something wrong. His mouth broke the contact only for a second as, instead of having your bottom lip between his, he had your upper lip now; you tried to follow his gentle motions, your lips clumsily moving against his. Sanji still remained calm, keeping the same slow pace of the kiss until you could finally kiss back properly.

It was a hard task, actually. How could you keep yourself calm while you finally kissed someone? And, hold on, it wasn’t anyone. It was Sanji.

“Good?” Sanji whispered, his eyes looking into yours so intently you could feel your heart beating more while your face felt so hot; still, you nodded. He smiled in response. “Can I do it again, my dear?”

How were you even supposed to handle that? “Yes, yes,” you whispered, maybe a little more excited than you intended, but it didn’t matter.

Sanji soon pressed his lips against yours again, and things were smoother this time. The kiss felt different, even if it all was essentially the same thing as before. Your heart fluttered in your chest, your fingers tightening a little around the marble as you tried to focus more on how his lips felt against yours; from the way your lips slid together to how his breath fanned against the space between your upper lip and your nose— And oh, also how his mustache would tickle whenever it grazed your skin, the same way it would tickle when his goatee brushed your chin. It was fucking better than anything you could ever have imagined. Better than what the books could have described.

You sighed softly, about to move your hand to his shoulder when Sanji pulled away a little, but he quickly kissed you again, making you gasp when his tongue ran against your bottom lip. It made a shiver run down your spine, having something stirring in your chest as your lips parted slightly.

The kiss finally broke, and your lips still felt tingly even so. You caught your breath, blinking before you finally looked at Sanji, your heart still beating fast and face still warm.

“Sanji—”

“Was that good, my dear?” There was something different in his voice.

“Of course.” Admitting it out loud made you want to disappear again.

Sanji smiled, exhaling in relief. “That’s great.”

“What’s wrong?” You furrowed your eyebrows; your hand met Sanji’s so easily, just with a light shift as you just wanted to adjust your hand against the counter. You keep it there, though, on top of his.

Sanji’s eyes averted away, a sigh escaping his lips. “It was wrong of me.”

“...Hm?”

“Wrong to enjoy it while I was just doing you a favor. I’m so sorry, my dear,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?” You glanced away. “I... Sanji, that was so... Like, you made my heart skip beats, that...”

A red tone took over Sanji’s cheeks and his eyes widened before he looked at you. “Really?”

You nodded, chuckling. “Really.”

“Would you mind if I did it again?” He grinned again, wagging his eyebrows a little.

Your eyes averted away and you tried to bite back a smile. “...Of course not.”

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

If he asks you...

          Sanji didn’t fucking know what he was going to do. The crew had been staying on an island for a while, partying away and relaxing after they saved yet other people from someone who threatened their peace. Unexpectedly, it earned him a date with one of the girls in the city that he met in a local bar through his characteristic flirting. So far so good, right? Actually, no. That was the first person who actually got that far with him, so he didn’t even know how to kiss—the only experience he had was pecking lips with whoever he got closer with, never actually kissing.

Maybe someone would help him with it? Because Sanji sure as hell didn’t want to lose that opportunity. It really was the first time he had gotten that far. He could ask Nami, right? Only if he was ready to hear her teasing at him the whole time and still dare ask him an immeasurable amount of berries for the ‘favor’. Robin would be nice, but it still wasn’t a great choice—she would be a tease in her own, harsh way, and Sanji didn’t want to lose the bit of respect he had with her. The men—out of question. No.

Then... There was you.

It didn’t seem like you would refuse his request, and Sanji was—almost—sure you knew how to kiss. Not to mention that you had such pretty lips that he couldn’t help imagining how they would feel against his and— Okay, that’s not the focus. He just had to get ready for a date, that, shamefully, wasn’t with you.

Sanji stood there in the kitchen, polishing glasses as he observed you finish eating breakfast while the rest of the crew already started to leave the galley; Zoro had chased Usopp and Luffy out of the kitchen most of the others was already off to their duties, only leaving you talking with Robin about a book she had in hand. Robin would lift her book or open at specific pages to show you something while you sipped on your juice until she eventually stood up with a sigh and left, waving at you.

Now was his chance.

“(Y/n)-swan...” Sanji’s voice cut through the galley in its mellow tone, almost as if it were a plea already, making you raise an eyebrow at him from your place at the table. “I may need your help with something, my dear.” He was thankful he was behind the counter so you wouldn’t have a full look on how weak you made you.

“What’s it?” You sipped on your juice as you looked at him. It was normal seeing Sanji blushing and fawning over people, but it wasn’t exactly your case; he used to be shy around you, though not really as squirmy as he was at the moment.

Sanji took a deep breath in a fruitless attempt of easing the fluster. “You know how to kiss, right?” He remembered you would talk with some people whenever the crew would party on islands, which was enough to make him jealous and worsen his nervousness in a way his flirting just stopped working with everyone else. Until now, it seemed.

You furrowed your eyebrows. Why was that even important? “...Yeah, I do.” The way Sanji looked at you made you rethink the events of the last week to check if you’d done anything wrong. Had you? Maybe last night when you—

“I...” Sanji sighed. “Can you come here?”

With a quick look around—was it a prank?—, you downed your juice before standing up. “What’s it?” You stood across from him, on the other side of the counter, resting your forearms over the cold marble.

Sanji took a deep breath. “I would like you to show me how to kiss.”

You blinked. Show him how to kiss. Him being Sanji. Sanji and you with your lips pressed to each other. Kissing. “What?”

“I got a date, but I... I don’t know how to kiss. I would only trust such a sweet person like you with teaching me how to do such an important thing, you know? I really hope you can help me....” His rant faded away into the back of your mind as you could feel your cheeks start to heat up while you digested everything that he said.

A string of curses escaped your lips as you let your head hang, staring at the marble in an attempt to ground yourself to reality. Like, Sanji was cute, of course, with that characteristic grace that laced his movements whenever he cooked and the cute way he smiled at you while saying something reassuring. Still, he never really paid attention to you like he did to the others, but he was there asking you such a favor. It was just a simple favor. Nothing more. Nothing deeper. Nonetheless, the fact he had a date still made your heart sink a little.

You exhaled slowly, nodding as you brought your head up again. Sanji was still speaking. That stupid fuck.

“Sanji,” you cut him off, watching him gulp, his cheeks red. “I can help you. Chill. I’ll help you.” You cleaned your throat because. After all, it was just a little favor, right? Right?

Sanji looked at you with wide eyes, incredulous that you’d actually accepted. He was very convinced that you’d accept it, of course, but not really. Like, maybe you would, but also— Okay, okay, focus. Sanji took a deep breath again and nodded, pressing his lips together. He quickly put the glass and the cloth away. What if he took too long and you changed your mind? He couldn’t risk that.

With quick steps, Sanji walked around the counter and stood in front of you. “Right... What do I need to...?” Despite how serious he tried to seem, he still held onto his apron tightly and his cheeks had that red tone while he looked at you.

It made your heart flutter a little, even if that wouldn’t matter a lot to him. Breathe deeply, (y/n), don’t make it a big deal.

“Relax, okay?” You cut off your own thoughts, cupping Sanji’s face gently. He bit on his lip, and the general way he acted almost made your heart ache. “No, don’t bite your lip.” You chuckled, running your thumb across his cheek in an attempt to help him calm down, but the way he reacted, damn... “Okay, better. Can I?”

Sanji blinked and quickly nodded. “Yes.”

Spending a little while longer looking at Sanji was a strong temptation, but it wasn’t like you were kissing a partner or something like that; there was no need to admire him and take in each detail of how pretty he was before you kissed him. You swallowed dryly and nodded, closing the distance between the two of you. Sanji gasped once your lips met, but you still held the kiss for a little before pulling away, furrowing your eyebrows.

“Is there something wrong?”

Sanji blinked a couple of times. “I—I was a little out of it. Can you do it again?”

Out of it? Or maybe he disliked it? You slowly nodded and kissed Sanji again and, this time, he tried to kiss back, though it was a little messy since he tried to rush things—you pulled away with a chuckle.

“Easy! You need to follow the pace or at least slowly establish one. Also, don’t try to use tongue out of sudden— No, you didn’t do that, but that’s just a tip.” You explained, furrowing your eyebrows a little at how his face fell a little. “Just simple kisses, okay? I kiss your upper lip while you kiss my bottom one and vice versa. No rushing.”

Sanji’s gaze averted away and he sighed, pressing his lips together, but he still nodded. This time, there was no warning before you pressed your lips to his, and he seemed to hold onto what you said, moving his lips—or at least trying to—in the same rhythm as yours, which was quite slow. His lips were warm and smooth against yours, and there was the sweet taste of whatever fruit he had eaten for breakfast earlier along with tobacco, of course. It wasn’t the best mix ever, but there was something about it that had you needing more.

You pulled away, your breath picking up a little; Sanji’s breath fanned over your face, also somewhat uneven. “Was that okay?”

“...Yeah,” he whispered.

“I will try something else,” you added. Why were you still so close while talking like that? Why were you still cupping his face? “Try to copy.”

All Sanji did was to nod this time, already closing his eyes.

It was a little better this time, smoother, since Sanji already started to get used to it, but he still faltered when your tongue slid against his bottom lip. Sanji gasped softly but accepted it, letting you trace his lip with your tongue until you went back to kissing him like before. His hands suddenly wrapped around your shoulders, squeezing them a little with the firm grip he used while trying to run his tongue against your lip as naturally as you had done to him.

If you had opened your eyes, you would see Sanji furrowing his eyebrows gently, focused as he tried his best. He wondered if you could hear how loud his heart was beating because, fuck, that was finally happening. He was finally kissing you.

Sanji’s breath was shaky when the kiss ended again and he could feel his heart fluttering with how your thumb ran across his cheek gently before your hand dropped to cup the side of his neck. His eyes met yours and he gulped.

“Ag—”

“Want one more thing?” You suggested and he couldn’t help but nod, biting his lip, and he was the one to lean in this time.

Something was different about this one kiss, and Sanji couldn’t really find out what it was—he just hummed softly, trying to follow your pace and letting your tongue run against your lip until you managed to slip your tongue into his mouth. Fuck, his brain just went blank when your tongue pressed against his, gliding against it and deepening the kiss. He was still trying to process it when you pulled away, hence he couldn’t even take in whatever you said, just able to mumble “again.”

Who were you to deny the request? Your free hand rested on Sanji’s waist and his hands adjusted their grip around your shoulders as your lips met once more. More confidence laced Sanji’s actions this moment, his tongue running against your lip as he kissed you, but you couldn’t help yourself, just pulling him a little closer and nibbling gently on his bottom lip, enough to snatch a quiet sound from him.

Both of you breathed a little heavier, holding onto each other even after the kiss was over.

“Y’know?” Sanji said, making you hum in response. “I don’t think I want to go out with that girl anymore...”

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

[mt-oe]

its finals season (again..) and huge projects for classes right now. can we get a stressed reader x modern mizu where reader is like actually tweaking out? like I mean pulling our energy shots, shivering hands, 'gotta lock in', hysterically crying on snapchat video and sending it to their groupchat for moral support type of tweaking out and the reader is going BANANAS over all the final papers, and studying for finals and mizu helps comfort reader?? i hope this would be a silly little write but also helpful to anyone going through finals season right now. much love! xoxo <3

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hey dears!

To start this, I am absolutely sorry for being gone for so long. I had my thesis defense, practicals, laboratory works, deadlines, and my finals all in the span of two weeks AND I fainted twice, got sick twice, and nose bled a LOT.

I was chugging 3 cans of energy drinks a day, eating one meal per day, sleeping minutes less than how long I showered, and smoked quite a lot. Someone even caught me sleeping on the fire exit stairs (istg so embarrassing ;;). Honestly makes me wonder how I'm not six feet under by now.

To those who are going through their finals, please don't follow my lead. Vomiting at 3am from how dizzy you are while some Sepultura song plays in the background is NOT the experience you'd think it was. Try to plan when you'll tackle your work and get some sleep as much as you can, on your free time, on your commute. I swear, answering tests are SOO much easier when your vision isn't spinning or tunneling.

Chose to do this request first to remind you all to take care amidst your finals (or as a reward if your finals are finished, good job dear!).

Hope you enjoy! Mwa mwa <3

warning: not proofread, my corny jokes, she/her for mizu, implied afab reader

Blue orbs watched as you cracked open another can of Red Bull. A small grunt leaving your throat as the fizzy caffeinated drink went down your esophagus. Was this your second? third..no wait..fourth?

Damn.

How are your blood vessels surviving this onslaught of caffeine you've been shoving down your system? She had no clue. But what she did know was that you've had enough. This wasn't healthy at all. Your lips were already as pale as the palms of your hands which were trembling to the point where you couldn't stop writing because that meant you'd feel the quivering of your hands even more.

The two of you had decided to slave off at Mizu's apartment for your finals. It was mostly Mizu dragging you there since your friends have been bombarding her to take care of you since she had the closest to what was considered a free schedule. T'was something about you freaking out and crying over the finals. She didn't have a Snapchat account so she didn't know.

Usually, she wasn't even interested in these stuff, but when Akemi showed her a picture of you with a thumbs up, holding a can of Monster, dark circles under your bloodshot eyes, tear streaks on your face, with the caption 'Boutta pull another Kay Chung tonight', concerned didn't even begin to describe what she felt.

Boutta pull a Kay Chung?

What or who was this Kay Chung anyway?

She knew you were a hard worker, probably one of the most studious people she knew, so she already expected you to be busy studying. What she didn't expect was the mess you were in.

The moment she stepped into your unit, cans of energy drinks, bottles of energy shots, cups of coffee, and random paper strewn randomly littered your apartment. The only source of light was your window and a small dim lamp you had.

Was that cup noodle container growing mold?

Ew.

It was like the Capital Wasteland in here, and she was the lonesome wanderer, awaiting the dangers to come.

And you were a radiated ghoul hunched over your desk with the emptiest gaze she has ever seen. Your head in your hands, as you scrunched your eyebrows together, trying to figure out what the fuck was wrong with your equation.

Now she understood the bombardment of messages from Akemi and the others, and damn was she grateful for the heads up because you looked like you were at death's door and death... Death just thought you looked too pitiful to let in.

The two of you were now sitting on Mizu's carpet, books, papers, and gadgets on the smooth wood of the coffee table. In her mind, she thought a bit of companionship would comfort you like it usually did. But she was wrong.

The shaking grip you had on your pen and the occasional 'what the actual fuck?' or 'the hell?' already told her that you were too locked in to relax even just a bit. You looked like you were losing it.

Her eyes peered over your review sheet before she raised an eyebrow at how scattered your handwriting looked, numbers and symbols italicized to the left and to the right as if they were dancing and your solutions scattered. Add this value here..derive the formula there..problem 3's solution is somehow on the back of the paper even though problem 5 was solved on problem 1's spot. It looked like a shit show.

"What...problem is this for? You did it wrong." Her tongue clicking as a slender finger encircled a formula you derived wrong, making you look at her with a mildly bothered look. Your eyes tiredly scanned your review sheet, looking away to the side to blink the heaviness of your lids away, then looking back at it before letting out a strangled sounding groan, shoulders slumping back onto the sofa as you covered your eyes with your hands before looking at your own solutions again. "I don't fucking know..maybe it's for..umm..for..fuuuuuck," you sighed defeatedly, realizing that you couldn't understand your own handwriting either.

You wanted to strangle yourself so bad right now or like, strangle your professor until they give you a passing grade. Maybe the threat of arson would scare the university admins into passing everyone for the semester???? The prospect of being a sugar baby is starting to sound better than trying to finish this degree.

It wasn't like you were an absolute idiot. You could solve these problems no problemo. However, your vision was already lagging and tunneling. Whenever you tried to read the problem or your own handwriting, it was like your vision was hyper-focusing on one spot and the areas around it were...spinning or it'd focus on everything else EXCEPT the ones you wanted to focus on.

The amount of caffeine you had consumed wasn't even helping anymore. Instead of waking you up, you just felt jittery like a hyper-charged toy. Before you were sleepy and slow, now you were still sleepy but faster.

And when was the last time you even ate anyway? Was that moldy cup noodle your last meal? You didn't even know anymore at this point. You could barely feel anything aside from the fear of your impeding academic doom. Not even hunger was strong enough to stop you.

Mizu's eyebrows furrowed at how miserable you looked before sighing and pulling a sheet of paper out of her own notebook. "Here," she sighed out, sitting beside you and scanning each problem you had printed out before re-writing each question you looked like you struggled with. Her eyes occasionally glanced at you, unseen worry rising with every hitch of your breath and every twitch of your eyebrow as you looked at the questions she rewrote.

"Mizu..I don't want to do those all again," you groaned frustratedly, ruffling your hair own hair aggressively, strands falling to the carpet below. A hand held yours firmly, preventing you from tangling the ends of locks even more. "I'm going to teach you, dumbass. We can't have you failing and dying at the same time," she huffed, grabbing your calculator and placing it in front of both of you. She leaned closer to you, hand on your waist to pull you closer before taking the pencil and pointing to the first problem she rewrote.

"I'm not going to repeat my explanations, so listen well,"

...was what she said.

However, Mizu was a big softie when it came to you. Every time she caught you spacing out or having a hard time in general, she took her time and explained it to you again, even explaining it slower, simpler, or more detailed as needed. She really made sure that you understood the principle of the problems and the process of solving them, handing the pencil and calculator to you to make sure you actually understood her.

After a while, you were slowly starting to understand you earlier mistakes, and with her help, you were able to finally solve the review sheet. Thank god for hot smart women.

A look of amusement crossed her face as she watched you slump back onto the sofa with a loud sigh of relief. Shaking her head with a small lop-sided smile, she took the pen again before grabbing your laptop and searching for similar problems. "Here," she said, turning the device towards you. "Solve these. I'll be back in a bit."

You looked at her in confusion before letting out a tired groan. The exhaustion was starting to let itself be known through the heaviness in your lids. Another problem set was the last thing you wanted to do right now.

Oh wait.

Fuck, you still had to edit your methodologies and results, and you haven't even started on the discussion yet. Oh god...

'Better get started, I guess,' you thought with a defeated sigh. Muttering a string of curses under your breath, you picked up your pencil and calculator and began solving yet another set of hellish questions while the dark-haired woman stood up and walked off somewhere in her apartment. Silence filled the room aside from the aggressive scritching and scratching of lead against paper and the sound of clacking from your calculator.

Every now and then, Mizu would come back with something to comfort you. May it be a cup of water, a bigger pillow, a hair tie, or to charge your phone for you. She didn't really speak though, fully wanting you to focus on your work.

It was like her quiet little way of telling you that she was here and that she cared for you.

Amidst your problem solving, the smell of something being fried hit your nose, making you look up. It was a bit oily, but at the same time, homely and savory. Your stomach growled slightly at the smell, reminding you of that uncomfortable feeling of hunger that you were somehow able to ignore during your study sessions.

Just as you had finished writing your answers, Mizu came out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice and a plate of what seemed to be fried fish. Kinda burnt but maybe that's a charm point...or something. At least she tried.

She set it down on a clear space on the coffee table and gently urged it towards you. "Here," she mumbled, looking at you expectantly. You stared at the food she prepared, snorting a bit at the charred skin, some bits missing which obviously stuck to the pan while she was frying it. "Err..Mizu...?"

"Don't mind how it looks just..just eat, okay?" she groaned, sounding a bit embarrassed, a bit of pink dusting her cheeks. Her eyes looking away as her hand went up to cover half her face. You couldn't help but laugh a bit. Mizu? Embarrassed? God that woke you up, didn't it?

The sound of your laughter made her feel even more embarrassed but at the same time relieved. Your laugh was so fucking cute. She was glad that you were starting to sound a bit more like your usual self. Hell, you were smiling now. A big improvement compared to the face of misery you were making earlier.

Eventually, your laughter subsided upon the realization sinking into you. She really did all this just to take of you. Dragging you to her apartment, tutoring you, fetching things for you, cooking for you...

She really does care. Doesn't she?

Your hands picked up the chopsticks before breaking into the soft flesh of the food in front of you, picking off the bones before taking a bite. It was salty, the char even made it a bit bitter, and for god-knows-why, even a bit spicy?? But it tasted so good to you. Heavenly, dare I say.

As you continued to eat, bite after bite and scoop after scoop, the shakiness in your hands slowly calmed down. You couldn't help but look up at your friend who was now checking your answers, the ghost of satisfaction making itself known through the barely visible smile she had. "Mizu..."

She looked over at you, raising an eyebrow to indicate that she was listening. "Thank you for uh..taking care of me," you said shyly, giving her a small smile. A low chuckle escaped her throat as she shook her head slowly as if in amusement. "At least you're not shaking like a leaf anymore," she joked, followed by you letting out a small 'hmph!', making her chuckle yet again.

Though she wouldn't tell it to you right now, she'd be more than happy to take care of you anytime you wanted or needed it.

The sound of your pen tapping on the paper filled the room again as her eyes narrowed at your answers, checking it carefully. After a while, she handed the paper back to you, looking very much satisfied. "Looks good," she said, eyes watching the proud smile on your face. "How 'bout a reward?...Some rest I suppose?"

Your smile faltered at the sound of rest. "I can't...my manuscript is due in a couple of days and I haven't even finished editing my methodologies and results," you explained, opening the files for each of your chapters. "The data isn't even tabulated in the required format. It looks like shit."

She stood up from her spot and sat next to you, placing a hand on your head to pat it gently as she looked at the screen. Her eyes narrowed again while you scrolled up the file for her before she sighed. "Yeah, it does look like shit," she agreed before suddenly grabbing your laptop and setting in front of her. "Go and take a nap or something. I'll do whatever I can to...whatever this is."

"But Mizu, this isn't even your field. I can't—" She cut you off with a finger to your lips before gesturing towards the sofa behind the both of you. "Nap," she ordered firmly. You sighed before standing up and laying down on the sofa. You knew there was no use arguing. When Mizu makes up her mind, she's deadset on it.

Her eyes scanned your figure for a moment, taking in every curve of your body and the way your face relaxed. Then, she took off her jacket and draped it over you, before giving you a small loving pat. Before you could even open your mouth to protest, she immediately shushed you and turned to your manuscript, scanning over it.

Your eyes observed the way her eyebrows furrowed and the way her eyes darted from word-to-word. The sound of her typing and clicking filling the room, oddly relaxing you.

It didn't take long for you to drift off to sleep. And for the first time since hell week started, you finally relaxed.

No frustration, no stress, just...sleep.

You did nap for hours longer than expected though.

Don't worry.

Your methodologies were now updated, results properly formatted, and ideas in bullet points for your discussion were laid out in a new file. Even your references were fixed.

Damn, you really wanted to smooch Mizu reaaal hard after this.

[gloster]

FAVORITE FANFICS OF 2023

We did it. We made it. We made it through the end of 2023, and BOY AM I HAPPY AS HELL TO SAY GOOD-FUCKING-BYE TO IT. I don't know about you guys, but this year- particularly the last quarter- have been a lot to say the least. A lot of headaches, a lot of mental breakdowns, a lot of emotional gymnastics, and more.

But thanks to good friends, good shows, good music, and of course good fanfics I managed to see it through the end.

One of my favorite New Year's Eve's traditions where I do my annually fanfic recs/favorite fanfics of the year. This marks a whooping 5th year doing it, YAY 🎉💃🏿 If interested, check out 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 lists.

Please know there's no real ranking, despite the number ordering. Loved all these stories listed. Loved all the fanfics writers featured. And of course highly highly highly recommend

Without further ado, here are my favorite fanfics of 2023:

1). Something Good by @no-net-ensnares-me (kathony/kanthony)

Summary: Eager to earn a wage that would provide a more suitable life for her family and prepare for Edwina’s debut in a couple years, Kate accepts a position as governess for the Bridgerton family and moves to London, where she finds herself thrown into the chaos of living with the severe yet handsome Viscount Anthony Bridgerton and his seven siblings.

or

The Sound of Music AU

The Hills are aliiiiiiiiiiiiive with the sound of music/and the feels are FEEEEEEEEEELT with each new chapter. LOL, but all jokes aside, yes it's been a year since we saw our dear Viscount and Viscountess yet I still ride hard for them like it's their season premire all over again. Thanks of course to the awesome fic writers who keep us well-feed as we wait for season 3, such as this gem right here

Seriously, I cannot stress how insanely good this was. A good retelling where you see elements of Sound of Music while also being its' own thing. The longing, the longing between Kate and Anthony is so good. READ IT.

2). A Devil's Love by FormerlyIR (Irony_Rocks), Irony_Rocks (kathony/kanthony)

Summary: When Kate's sister goes missing, she gets herself a waitress job at the Pebble Lounge to track her down, working under London’s seedy underbelly to find the only person she has left in this world to love. And Anthony Bridgerton? No matter how alluring and distracting he may be, he’s just a means to an end, his life defined by his family business built on corruption.

Kate won’t dance to that tune. She’s just trying to find her sister.

Two in a row. A win for kathony/kanthony. Where the first one for the most part is cozy and light, this one is dark. Not surprising since this story, according to the author, was inspired by the 2022's The Batman, focusing on the electric dynamic between our favorite Bruce and Selina Kyle. Or rather in this AU, the dynamics between a dangerous mob boss and a woman going undercover as a waitress to figure out what happened to her sister.

It's got everything. Protective/possessive Anthony. Stubborn, witty Kate. Great sexual tension. Fair warning, there is an unplanned pregnancy so keep that in mind. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride

3). Intent to Cherish by iffervescent (kinn x porsche)

Summary: A mouthy beta runs off with Kinn's watch. He goes to get it back.

4 chapters this story is. 4 chapters of hilarious back and forth. 4 chapters of Porsche keeping that stubborn streak in tact with Kinn trying to chip his way through. 4 chapters we get to watch Porsche go from intriguing thief, to Kinn's employee, and finally intended.

This story checks off so many boxes. ABO AU, which is always a favorite. Sugar Baby and Sugar Daddy dynamic- never get tired of that. And of course Porsche being spoiled rotten. What more could you want?

4). burnt cotton series by taetaehland (taekook)

Summary: here's a series featuring your favorite bratty taehyung and his whipped husband, jeongguk (plus their adorable pups)

Once again, we got ABO and we so far have 11 stories of it featuring our favorite BTS as they grow more of their little family, grow more in love, and of course Tae growing more crafty and poor Kookie growing more insane. I love it.

Not to mention seeing all the ways Jungkook becomes more and more whipped for his husband is just the icing on the cake.

5). 'Tis a Far Better Thing by @the-sinking-ship (drarry)

Summary: 'Tis a far, far better thing doing stuff for other people — or however the Muggle saying goes — because Potter is in need of professional help, and Draco is just the man to give it to him.

A Drarry Clueless AU.

Sometimes you come across two things, such as two fandoms that on the surface seem so far farfetched until one ambitious fic writer creates a story that combines elements of the two and creates a wonderful gem of a story. Which is exactly what happened here.

Draco Malfoy and Cher Horowitz are so much alike, it's not even funny. Thus enhancing my enjoyment for this story to outright love love loving.

Again, elements to a famous story that brings on the nostalgia and enjoyment while also being it's own fresh spin. Plus FASHION. Draco as a Fashion Designer with Harry being his newest client. Along with Draco massively simping- always a win in my book.

6). Tracklist by Mia_Moon (sukuita/sukuIta)

Summary: Singer Sukuna x Fanboy Yuuji

Where they do kinky stuff together first and then get to know each other later.

Sometimes you have that fandom with an OTP that's set and your loyal ride or ship. Then there are other fandoms, where you love most of the characters, see the chemistry between them, love the dynamics, and it's fair game for shipping season. Jujutsu Kaisen is one of those fandoms, and sukita/sukulta was one of those ships that I just ended up falling in love with it.

Listen. Listen. Listen. I know the synopsis just give smutty smutty good time, but you get that and MORE.

What more you say be asking? Well, for starter our dear boy Yuuji who gets spoiled rotten, pampered, and yes, also gets sexed up 7 ways to Sunday- featuring some of the hottest smut I've read so far might I add. Mia_Moon did their thing, and I definitely will be reading more of and more of their works.

I don't know why to explain it, but there's something about a celebrity AU, where we have one half of the ship be this famous celeb and the other being this outsider getting pulled into their world. I ate it up every single time.

7). I'm Only Going to Heaven (If it Feels Like Hell) by stereobone (eruri)

Summary: "Are you saying you want to be my sugar daddy?" Levi says.

This story, I kid you not, came at the best timing, especially as I still try to untangle my very tangled feelings regarding the final season of Attack of Titan. But one positive that came outta it was my ulitmate love for Levi Ackerman, along with rekindling my love for eruri.

Good to note, one of the quickest quickest ways for me to immediately read a fanfic is if I see the keywords: Sugar Daddy.

What can I say? It gets me everytime. And this one was no different. This story not only came to my radar at the perfect time, but it also was just so damn perfect. So damn good. And of course had me looking through whatever other eruri stories the writer had under their belt.

8). Minor Family Supremacy by @yoonmoonbii (vegaspete, kinnporsche,payurain, prapaisky)

Summary: Like Vegas, Venice Theerapanyakun was born into a dangerous world of crime and power plays. And unlike Vegas, he is well protected by his family who shelters the little boy and spoils him to the core. However, in a day like every other, Venice is kidnapped.

Oh dear lord, where do we begin with this one? Well, much as 2023 was a hot flaming mess, it also became the year of Love of the Air (my new comfort show) and Kinnporsche. For not only me but also for my dear friends @littlenightdragon & @kila09. And what does one do after getting into a new show/fandom? Find fanfics to satisfy the fangirl cravings.

Minor Family Supremacy, or as me and @littlenightdragon often like to call it, the Minor Family Saga was the fanfic for us. And deliver what we needed after finishing Kinnporsche and wanted more of Vegas, more of Pete, and see the other side of the Minor Family.

This one, massive massive props, praise, and all the kudos for @yoonmoonbii for putting this series together because wow. Series starts off with Payu aka Venice as a kid, best friends with his cousin Prapai, being protected by his loving parents until one day changes their dynamics forever- and further widen the gap between the two . But quickly as each story goes on, the two find themselves being more aware of their positions, the complicated histories of their families, and how to stay on course of their own lives without falling into the trappings of Korn's narcisstic chesse game.

It's that good. Each story is like a TV season to the vegaspete spin-off we were so badly owed and sadly weren't granted.

9). Haute Couture, Mon Amour by @goldentruth813 (sheith)

Summary: When a scruffy stranger walks into Mamora Designs, personal shopper Shiro decks him in finery instead of sending him away. Little does Shiro know there’s more to this man than meets the eye and while trying to give him a picture perfect moment he just might find his own instead.

When it comes to @goldentruth813, you can count on several things. Amazing sheith stories. Incredible moments that will make your heart swoon or flutter (depending on the rating). And of course for Shiro to be spoiled rotten and given more depth than the show did.

This one, one word: FASHION. Fashion, fashion, with a lot of a Cinderella-ish vibe, only slightly if you catch it.

Honorable mention:

Wishing on a Frat Boy

10). He's The Bride by @sashadistan (tododeku)

Summary: Fae Prince Shoto has been waiting his whole life to marry his betrothed. As it turns out, a few interesting details were lost in translation, but Shoto still thinks his bride is worth the wait.

Oh @sashadistan, how I adore thee. For the way you just drop these amazing stories for us peasants, feeding us with wonderful content one story at a time. I always love your stories whether it's sheith, tododeku, and more.

This one was no different. This story has everything I could want: Fae Shouto, possessive Shouto, body worship, Izuku being his stuttering and flustering mess, and arranged marriage.

If y'all told me 5 or so years ago, I'd get into arranged marriage, I would have been dumbfounded. Or wonder if you were trying to be funny. Now? I love it. Just goes to show that sometimes it takes a good writer to make something you don't like a win in your eyes.

And now for the Honorable Mentions that were insanely good but due to time & length, couldn't go into full depth:

Just Breathe by @icecream-suga (2 part series w/1st part focusing on yoonmin & the 2nd on taekook; gangsters, drugs, gunplay, OH MY. So goooooood)

Right at Home by cmere (firstprince, alex x henry; grad students in a non-royal AU, fake-dating, and hijinks)

Hair Ribbons and Silk Ties by writer_of_passion (tiana x nanami/tianami; loving husband goes bonkers seeing his wife's curls loose and it GOES DOWN, so so so good)

Bedroom Hymns by Writcraft (drarry; daddy kink w/dom & sub undertones, insanely HOTTT)

Like, Comment, and Romance by @xskyll (tododeku; Youtuber Deku, pro-Hero Shouto, mutual longing and pining wrapped in a insanely fun read)

And there you have it. As usual, thanks to the awesome fanfic writers who do what they do. Fanfics, literally, is the only thing keeping us sane. And please check out all these stories.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, GUYS

[villain-sympathizer]

Thank your that smutty skeptic headcanon and prompt.

Now, if it’s not much to ask? Skeptic with a vibrator being strapped to his already, dripping red cock. Since the reader has been teasing him for hours. After begging like a good boy, the reader puts the vibrator in max. Making Tomoyasu let out the all his pent up stress as he cums string after string of thick cum as he lets out a sob or pure bliss with tears streaming down his face.

ooohohoohoo >:)

────── ･ ｡ﾟ: .☽ . : ｡ﾟ･ ──────

[NSFW Skeptic x Reader/Significant Other drabble]

[Minors DNI]

“You’re holding up pretty well for someone who hasn’t gotten off in what, two weeks?” [Name]’s voice was taunting, almost a sneer as they watched their lover writhe and squirm in his kneeling position on the floor beneath them.

Tomoyasu was kneeling on the floor, knees spread but ankles bound, showing his messy cock on full display as the bullet vibrator strapped to the underside of its tip buzzed away at its lowest level. His hands were also bound behind his back, a precaution in case he decided to be devious and touch himself. Sweat dripped down his face and torso, making his long hair cling to his skin in various spots, which only added onto his messy and depraved look.

“Just look at the mess you’ve made,” [Name] continues, regarding the ever-growing puddle of precum that had formed on the hardwood floor beneath Tomoyasu’s weeping cock. More beads of precum continued to run down his cock, giving the low   buzzing sound a lewd, wet tone whenever they ran alongside the vibrator. It made the dark-haired man keen, the sight of his cock in such a state only adding on to his pleasure.

[Name] huffs at the state of their partner, a grin creeping across their face as they absentmindedly thumb at the remote to the vibrator. “You have some real resilience, don’t you? Or maybe… you’re jacking off in your office, thinking about how much you’d rather be at home, balls deep in my guts,” they tease him, almost giggling at the way he bucks his hips as his cock throbs, more precum leaking from his tip. “Oh? Are you close?” They hum their question in fake innocence, as if they haven’t been edging the other for nearly an hour. 

When Tomoyasu doesn’t respond, [Name] decides to ‘accidentally’ turn the vibrator up a notch. His reaction was immediate, sucking in a gasping breath as his hips begin to thrust into the air in a messy rhythm. 

“Go on, you know the drill,” [Name] urges, their foot reaching over to gently caress the side of his cock. “Beg me to cum.”

“P-Please,” Tomoyasu manages to croak out, head hung low in an attempt to hide what's left of his shame. He was so, so close, he could feel it. With the way he could feel his balls tighten against him, he knew his partner could tell, too.

[Name] doesn’t respond, merely raising an eyebrow before turning the dial back down. A breathy curse that molds into a desperate whine comes from the other.

“Wait- no- please…!” Tomoyasu practically whimpers, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he feels his approaching orgasm start to die down again and leave him on the edge of climax. “Please, dear- darling- I need to… to cum! Please, oh fuck, please, please!” He nearly cries out, throwing his head back to gaze up at the other, finally showing off his deeply reddened face as his bangs are tossed to the side.

[Name] gives him a wickedly sinister smirk. “Good boy,” they coo, and with that, they turn the dial up to its highest setting.

Tomoyasu’s mouth hangs open in a silent cry, body arching into itself as the feeling of the vibrator completely consumes him, launching him into an intense and prolonged orgasm. Cum practically sprays from his twitching, throbbing cock, passing through his curtain of hair and nearly hitting him in the face. Cum lands in thick, heavy globs across the floor, some even managing to hit his partner’s legs. Choked gasps and whimpers the only sound he could make as his hips frantically thrust up towards nothing.

As he slowly comes down from his high, [Name] turns the vibrator down to its lowest setting while he rides it out, but not turning it off completely. When Tomoyasu starts to keen and try to writhe away from the vibrations as over-sensitivity begins, [Name] merely snickers at him.

“Very, very good boy. Now… do it again.”

[cloverdaisies]

hi.. please could you do a juyeon angst with the song nearly witches by panic at the disco i love your writing by the way, thanks

sending all my love ;)

🧸 - anon

NEARLY WITCHES ☆ L.JY

a lee juyeon angst ! only read if you would like to shed a tear or two ! f! reader !

# GHJH 🧸 anon you little gem, thank you so much! i love this song a lot as well i couldn’t believe my fkn eyes when i saw the request ! how do you know i liked p!atd ?? WHO ARE U ?? YOU ACC KNOW ME but sorry for the long wait! here it is <3 THE SENDING ALL MY LOVE?? MY SIGN OFF?! reveal yourself at once ?? who are you >:(

Ever since you’d met, he’d only shoot up with your perfume, it was the only thing that made him feel as good as you do. The sweet scent of vanilla, pine, sandal wood surfaced every sweet memory. The exact way the little things in life would bring the biggest smile to your face, holding hands walking through a local park lit up in a pinky-tangerine blend from the sunset. Watching as you giggled when a small butterfly landed on the tip of your little nose lightly blowing it off with loving laughter. Or how you'd huff and puff in little fits of cute frustration when things didn't go your way, because there sure was one thing, you never admitted when you were wrong.

After what seemed like heaven, a relationship gifted to you by god's most important angels, things soon turned into glamorous hell. You two fought over trivial things like money, who is cheating on who, where the fuck had he put your car keys. Arguments soon outweighed the bliss, going to sleep on separate sides of the bed and failing to whisper goodnight to each other. The little actions, that made you leave him, forever.

A small envelope had been shoved through the metal slot of what used to be both Juyeon’s and yours home, but now it was just him the entire place was desolate. Like Jay Gatsby, the grand walls of his home were built entirely for you, his Daisy. Without you, between the polished spruce walls of your victorian style home, it was completely empty, eeringly quiet. He never let a spot of dust touch your paintings, inspecting them everyday knowing how hard you’d worked on him. The hole in his heart couldn’t bare to remove them, it was the only thing you’d left, along with a small bottle of your perfume which he sprayed when he felt he was the most lonely. The pain he felt without you, was unbearable, everyday he perfected his appearance hoping one day you’d show up at the door and return to his arms - but after 5 years, he decided there was no hope.

Juyeon reached to pick up the letter, immediately recognizing the handwriting on the front and scrambling to tear the envelope.

DEAR JUYEON LEE

you have been cordially invited to a night service to celebrate the wedding of:

(your name) & partner

at: oak tree hall, west avenue

date/time: Wednesday 17th January, 7:00pm

RSVP: 000-000-000

Immediately, he felt his heart shatter like fine glass, falling to his knees, with tears threatening to spill from his familiar cat-like brown eyes. Crumpling the page into a tight ball before booting it across the halls, landing with a light thump on the preserved wooden flooring.

You’d found someone knew, even worse, you’d been planning to marry someone that wasn’t him. He’d tried to do the same, but every woman that lied in his satin sheets were gone the next day because they could never compare to what you were, an angel sent especially for him - you were perfection in its finest form, everything he ever wanted and he still couldn’t give in after all these years. He only had one regret, and that was you. The love he felt for you, he would never feel again.

For days, Juyeon moped in your memories, finding a small scrapbook of yours that he’d kept neat ever since you’d left. With messy black hair laid between the pillows of the bed that once belonged to both of you, he flicked every page of photos that captured your happiest memories. With a bitter sigh, he reached to his night stand to grab that small bottle of perfume you’d left, which he used so sparingly to prolong its life. However, as he held the bottle up in front of his face and whined to himself when he saw that there was no more than a small drop left in the bottom of the glass container.

4:00pm, the miniature grandfather clock on his bedside chimed, it was Wednesday 17th January, while Juyeon refused to accept the invite you’d sent him, thinking it was above unordinary that you’d dare invite your ex to a wedding with your new partner, he was still in cahoots with his conscience on showing up.

He’d waited years to see you, despite the setting, it was his only chance to see you after all this time and perhaps maybe there was just one chance he could win you back, however he knew that was impossible, this was you showing him that you’d moved on, this was your spiteful move after all this time, the pain he caused you, you were giving back after years and yes it hurt him - like a shit load of bricks collapsing on him all at once, that was your intention, despite the fact you didn’t know that all he wanted was you, he waited all this time.

Juyeon couldn’t pass up on the chance to see you, for the first time in 5 years, probably the last time he’d see you in many to come. So he rose from the cream satin sheets of his grand bed and waltzed to the bathroom with a glint of ambition in his once dull eyes.

Showering, shaving the stubble he’d grown after days of not looking after himself so much since he knew you wouldn’t be visiting anytime soon. He neatly organized every strand of his hair to perfection before sighing and observing himself in mirror. A gorgeous man, he was, however over the years he was seeing that less and less, feeling more lonely and unwanted everyday which made him lose any sense of esteem he had left.

Juyeon had collected a huge wardrobe of clothes for himself, filled with neat shirts which the maid had ironed every day by his request, along with dresses for you which he’d bought in your size to surprise you with when you returned. Browsing each suit he owned, navy, maroon, pin stripe, grey, he eventually settled on a neat black suit he’d bought in case he ever had to attend something like a wedding - never guessing it would be yours. It had double rows of buttons and was paired with a long sleek black tie, the color complimented his every feature.

And by the time, he’d decided with himself it was around 6:20pm, he went to collect the chauffeur from his quarters and was met with a high look of confusion from the man when Juyeon had mentioned he needed to attend a wedding.

“Who’s wedding are you attending sir?” The chauffeur noisily asked from the front seat of the car, the sound of rain pattering on the metal roof drowning out his gruff voice.

“It will be (your name) and her new fella of sorts.” Juyeon attempted to separate his emotions from his speech, using a calm tone in order to avoid spitting the words from his lips.

“I’m so sorry sir, I thought one day she would return to you, not dare meet somebody new.” He replied with a saddened tone in his voice, attempting not to sound like he was sucking up to his employer in any way.

“Yeah, well I guess it’s life, people move on.” Juyeon grumbled closing off the conversation as they arrived outside Oak Tree Hall, the place you’d always decided you would be getting married. An old but grand building decorated in marble, surrounded by foliage and every kind of flower the earth has to gift.

Exiting the car and telling the chauffeur to come back at a certain time, Juyeon took a sharp breath of hesitance before taking another step towards the building. Guests spilling into the building from the ceremony which he wasn’t invited to, the chaos of jazz music sounding from every window that had been pushed out ever so slightly.

The bar was a disaster, with men and women queued chaotically trying to purchase an ounce of liquor. The dancefloor already full with people jovially swinging to the tunes in the background. To Juyeon, it was a huge mess and could never imagine this is what his own wedding would be like, he knew deep down that you probably thought that too. You were a character of elegance and class not whatever this disaster in front of him was.

He looked around for you, scanning the crowd with hopeful eyes until he saw the beautiful satin white gown fit for the most gorgeous bride trailing across the ground. You too were looking around over the crowd, as if you were trying to spot someone, he noticed how gorgeous your every feature still was, unchanged, his heart felt as if it was putting itself back together until he met your gaze. Your eyes landed on him, you couldn’t believe he was there, how badly you wanted him there, yet you thought he wouldn’t show. He looked the same, unchanged, he was gorgeous, his every feature still perfect. You wished you could run to him, you wished you could escape what you’d fallen into but you were frozen in time.

“My parents are over there darling, shall we go see them?” Your newly wed, pulled at your arm it wasn’t a question it was a demand and you were ripped from the gaze of your past lover.

Juyeon sighed to himself, however this seemed to bring him some clarity, you had moved on, now he can too, there was no way he would be getting you back and that was how he saw the close of your relationship together.

He sat down at one of the tables, where his allocated seat seemed to be, retrieving a glass of red from one of the servers waltzing the room.

He watched you greet each table, anticipating your arrival at his own, eventually you would be walking over slightly not managing in the little heels you’d worn. You smiled politely at him when you caught his eyes, he smiled back with no concern as the groom looked him up and down with slight jealousy in his eyes.

“Who’s this?”Your new partner asked, pointing towards Juyeon with a stern voice, noticeably irritated by his well kept demeanor and good looking features.

“This is Juyeon, an old school friend of mine!” You lied, Juyeon didn’t react physically but was confused with the false introduction, yet he went along with it nodding to your words.

“Congratulations.” Juyeon smiled, shaking his hand firmly, seemingly shutting the mouth of your partner with a polite yet passively aggressive interaction.

“Thank you.” Your partner smiled, looking behind him slightly to roll his eyes before snapping back to the conversation.

“Mày I have this dance?” Juyeon asked bravely as the song changed to a slower ballroom song, looking at your new husband for approval before he nodded and Juyeon took your hand.

His hand cupping yours, set sparks flying through your every vessel and his too, the shear feeling of his warm skin refreshed every memory. His scent was masculine, the same aftershave he’d always used overwhelming your every sense. You’d also always worn the same perfume, Juyeon being able to take in the scent as he closed into your neck, clasping one of your hands with his and placing another hand on your waist.

“Hello there, liar.” Juyeon spoke first, causing you to chuckle slightly as he’d always maintained the same humor over the years.

“I had to lie, if he knew I invited my ex he’d kill me.” You replied, with a sad laugh looking up at his concerned expression.

“He doesn’t need sorting out does he? He’s not hurting my sweetness is he?” He asked snidely, almost hissing out the words, the terms of endearment flipping your guts upside down in excitement.

“N-no, nothing like that he’s just a bit of a control freak. I love him though, it’s tolerable.” You replied, squeezing his shoulder in reassurance, unable to look at him as you think you may pass out if you did, due to his beautiful face and nature.

"That's not something you want to be saying about someone you've just married." He laughed, sending joy to your heart with the shear sound of voice.

"I guess not, is it?" You replied sarcastically, still not being able to look him in the eyes, as you swayed on the dancefloor.

As the both of you moved across the dancefloor, it was evident the song was coming to a close. It’s been years since you’ve felt the comfort of him, years since you’d felt this way. Finding the strength to look him in the eyes and almost melt into his touch. It was magical, the way he held you, the way he looked at you as if you were the only woman in the world.

"I've waited years for you." Juyeon replied shortly before going to speak again. " So if you change your mind you know where I am. Goodbye my sweetness."

With one last squeeze of your waist he let you go on the last string of the song, stunned for words, you wished you could run after him and kiss him until time ended, but your new husband had already whisked you away. Pulled away from what you didn't know you'd always wanted. You’d made a huge mistake, and as you watched Juyeon leave the room you couldn’t help but feel your heart break. Years were wasted with a man that could never make you feel the way he did, an unforgivable amount of time had passed and it was your fault. You’d put him through so much pain you wished you could take back, but you were trapped, it was too late.

It was too late for you both, hands in his pockets he walked out into the night, maybe one day you’d return, a singular tear fell from his eye. It was time to move on.

[gabessquishytum]

Re: Mob boss Hob, im not the og anon but I want to add on

I am obsessed?? With Mob Boss Hob getting the shit dommed out of him, but poor Cori! The dear tried so hard to be good for Hob and give him what he needed but no matter how hard he pushed it wasn't enough :( he knows that and he's grateful he had an excuse to see his hot ex-boss again and even happier that he made the right call and Hob's managed to relax for once in his life, but the whole situation's hurt his pride a bit. He's been in the business long enough to know not to let it show while he's working though, he doesn't want to look weak in front of Hob (and he's already on thin ice after Hob found out Cori told Dream about him...)

Dream knows, though. He brought Cori into the business, he knows Cori's moods like the back of his hand. So he asks Hob if there's anything that happened recently that would change Cori's mood, and Hob shrugs like "well its probably because we haven't been having sex now that you're here."

Dream gets concerned at that. Because he also knows that Cori, for all his bite, and as decent as he is at domming, is at heart a very dutiful sub, Dream trained Cori himself after all. So he pulls more info out of Hob and realizes that his ex-sub hasn't been getting his needs met! And that just won't do at all, especially considering how considerate and loyal Cori's been to Hob. So he brings Cori into Hob's room with him and Hob and tells Hob to apologize.

Hob is. Not pleased. He's still a huge brat and he's still really upset that Cori told Dream about his moods (even though Dream's one of the best thing's that's ever happened to him since...well, a long time). He's even more upset that Dream's asking Hob to apologize to Cori for wounding Cori's pride and still being curt to him even though Cori's helped him so much. And while Cori knows that it's a nice gesture from Dream to bring him in here, he kinda knows Hob's too stubborn to apologize to him for anything, and he's not looking for a fake apology. He tells Dream as much and goes to leave.

The moment Cori turns his back, Hob stops. He doesn't know why, maybe it's his own pride, maybe its the fact that he finally realizes he's been mistreating one of his best men for making one of the best calls of his life, or maybe its because he realizes that he hasn't been that considerate of Cori in bed, but he realizes he has to make it right. He reaches out and grab's Cori by the wrist, making Cori turn around. Hob's looking at the floor, too embarrassed to look into Cori's eyes, but he turns his head towards Dream and asks him if he could help? With his apology?

Luckily for the both of them, Dream would be more than honored to.

Still obsessed with Bratty Sub Mob Hob and oh, you are so right!! Cori did so good. He deserves a reward <3

Hob is quickly tossed onto the bed and finds his legs and arms locked in Dream’s favourite spreader bar. He puts up a small show of resistance but mostly he's just watching, curious as to how Dream is going to make him apologise.

"I hear that you were very greedy and unappreciative when Cori was kind enough to give you his cock." Dream says sternly. "You can begin by servicing him properly. Let him fuck your mouth."

Hob objects strongly to this - he finds the idea humiliating (and therefore it turns him on a lot). But he can't do much about it, so when Cori straddles his chest and smears the tip of his cock over Hob’s lips, he begrudgingly opens his mouth.

Alas Hob’s mouth is still very much untrained, but Cori helps by holding his jaw open and fucking through his gag reflex. Dream hums out his approval - he's busy between Hob’s widely spread legs, idly nudging the grip of Cori's handgun inside his hole. Hob knows that it's Cori's gun (he can feel that it's different to the one Dream carries) and fuck, it really does turn him on. Having the weapon that Cori uses regularly to defend and carry out Hob’s orders is... hot. He suddenly gets a whole lot more interested in sucking Cori off properly.

...the idea of having Cori AND Dream to meet his needs in the bedroom is looking increasingly attractive, in fact.

[alstroemerian-dragon]

theres something that really bothers me about the way a lot of people talk about and write peko re: her place as fuyuhiko’s “tool,” especially when it comes to like. despair. and i feel like it stems from a few different places and one of those is definitely uh. distance from the source material. because. w. did we play the same game

like. the second trial is a lot of things. annoying. about the death of a character i dont really care about. kind of confusing. Very Sad At The End. but the one thing it shows beyond any shadow of a doubt is that peko Does Not Want To Be Fuyuhiko’s Tool. she leans into it a lot in that trial, past the stupid. serial killer shit. which is literally just desperation and quick thinking on her part (and non diagetically meant to parallel the first game but whatever). but she does that because it is the only option she thinks she has if she wants to keep fuyuhiko alive. because thats her ultimate goal, right? sure, she’s his tool. sure, theyre Badly and Unhealthily codependent. sure, she was basically groomed to stay at his side no matter what. but…

she also cares about him. genuinely. she loves him. for all that teenagers can properly conceive of love in all its forms, but she at least think she does. but she does truly care about him.

did anybody do her free time events other than me? genuine question. because i dont think someone who wants to ask the guy shes sworn to protect on a date would be content being just his tool. that sure sounds like someone who wants to be on equal footing with him.

like. look. say what you want about the anime. take it with a grain of salt. cherry pick what you like and toss the rest of it out. that sure is what i do!! but even if you do that, youve got to take the text of the game itself into account if you want to have any semblance of regular characterization, and the game makes it clear that she hates this!!! she doesnt want to be his tool! she will fight him on things if she has to! she will disobey him if she has to!!! thats the whole point of the trial!!!!! he told her to run and that he would take the fall and she told him no!!!!!!!!!

and you cant ignore the fact that the time between them starting at hope’s peak and the tragedy hitting the ground running was two whole years. people can change a lot in two years, especially teenagers, and especially high schoolers. idk how long its been since you were in high school (unless you currently are in which case. dear gd im so sorry. good luck) but your mental state in high school is so fucked. you have no idea who you are and neither does anybody else and can you even imagine the kinds of pressure the ultimates would have been under?? again, taking the anime with a grain of salt, but even if you go along with it and think the school was barely a school at all, the pressure from society, from family, from peers still has an impact. everyone was telling them who they were and that thats who they were going to be for the rest of their lives and i doubt ANY of them felt like it.

and even if you subscribe to the idea, like me, that their second year was a downward spiral because of junko’s presence and influence, they still needed somewhere to fall from. the idea that peko was uniquely comfortable being quiet and violent and doing whatever fuyuhiko wanted so she didnt need despair to be his tool is ridiculous. i see the argument of “well watching her friends fall into despair and spiral made her spiral in turn and grow numb to it and retreat into herself until she needed to become fuyuhiko’s tool again as a coping mechanism” but. buddy. That Is Despair.

sometimes i feel like the only person who thinks about despair complexly and maybe thats its own post because this ones too long already but. despair isnt just Being Brainwashed Into A Monster. ignore what the writers told you. okay? look at me. Look Into My Eyes. The Writers Are Fucking Idiots And Dont Know How To Write Good Drama With Genuine Stakes. despair as a nuanced concept is so much more horrifying. different post. sorry. peko.

if peko had not been pulled down by despair just like the rest of them she would have fought tooth and nail to keep fuyuhiko above it. she would have demanded he explain to her why he was doing what he was doing. and she would have told him no.

and of course heres where i get into the accusatory part because the other place a lot of this comes from is, and im sorry, an unwillingness to write complex or nuanced women. not pointing fingers, but reducing peko down into “fuyuhiko’s tool” and “she does whatever he says without question” completely destroys any minuscule amount of agency she has. shes a fucking person. yes, shes pixels on a screen. yes, shes a representation of tropes. but diagetically, within the fiction of the game, she is a human being, and if you want to write her, and not be puppeting around a gddamn cardboard cutout, you have to think of her as a person with agency who makes her own fucking choices. sometimes those choices are taken away from her. but they shouldnt be taken away by you.

[dainesanddaffodils]

Friends, Romans, Countrymen. I did it. 

I rewatched Strange Magic late last night on a whim.

It’s been, as far as I can determine, at least four years since I had last seen this movie. Probably closer to five. It’s been. A Minute. And I was so horribly worried that I would find all of its faults far more glaring than I had when it first consumed my life back in 2015. That I wouldn’t find the magic in it the way I did before. 

I was both right and wrong. 

I did, indeed, find some things more flawed, to the point of genuinely cringing in a couple places. However, I also came out remembering exactly why this movie captivated me for as long as it did.

I’m going to ramble in more detail about both things, if you’re so inclined to read more.

Things I found as bad or worse this time around:

The pacing. Dear lord, the pacing of this movie is a fucking trainwreck. I knew it the first time I watched it and it was the one critique I would always agree with. It’s just, it’s so bad. I can’t even tell you how I’d fix it but it just. It needs an overhaul please. 

Like, in my memory it was just the first half that was paced poorly. Once you got into the second half, things improved. 

My memory was wrong. It’s a mess the whole way through.

Tragically, Griselda. I always found her character a little grating but at least sort of endearing...  but it has. gotten worse. The matchmaking was only good in providing the backdrop for Bog and Marianne to rant about how much they hate romance but every other scene with it made me feel like Bog must. I lowkey wanted to put my head through a wall. 

Plum, too, was a little more annoying than I remembered. In general the whole “Love is Strange” scene is probably the one I struggled with the most on this rewatch. 

The kaleidoscope bit at the end. Which again, I was always kinda... unsure about but like, everything else about the ending is so good and then that just really. throws the whole groove off and it’s sad. 

Also, I wouldn’t necessarily call it bad but like, all of Bog’s scenes in the first half of the movie are so melodramatic and I know that’s the point but I was still like ‘christ my dude we get it you’re ~evil~ now please chill for five seconds’ 

- and that’s really it. All told, while these were definitely more noticeable faults upon watching this movie again, I don’t think they were enough to truly hamper my enjoyment of the rest of it.

Speaking of...

Things I found as good or better this time around: 

Marianne. My beloved punk rock fairy princess. I absolutely adore how three-dimensional she is as a character. They give her the whole badass makeover training sequence and then spend the rest of the movie showing you its cracks. Showing you that she never fully outgrew the romantic she was at heart. She was just scared of letting people see that side of her after being hurt. She’s bitter and angry and touch-starved and sympathetic and caring and she’s allowed to be all of these things and none of them contradict each other. 

Marianne and Dawn’s relationship. Holy shit I forgot how good that was. We see only glimpses of it but every single one of them is perfection and so realistic. This is how sisters behave. They drive each other crazy and point out each other’s faults and make each other want to tear their hair out and if anyone hurt them there would be hell to pay. All of their conversations feel so... grounded in reality for a fairy rock opera musical. 

On that note, a lot of the dialogue is just, well delivered and sounds incredibly natural. It took me by surprise. 

Sunny! Sunny also surprised me with how much I liked him. His humor is one of the things that has aged the best in this movie and I really enjoyed his character. You can really see how he is a good guy who was just, very easily manipulated and spends the rest of the movie trying to fix his fuck-up. 

The singing. Similar to my point about line delivery, the... way the characters sing in this movie is really well done. I don’t know how to explain it but the way they use songs in this movie really feels like they’re using it as dialogue. Like, there’s plenty of meta jokes about people breaking into song but it also feels like it’s a natural part of this world. People just sing their feelings here, and it feels believable. It’s fascinating. 

 The animation - specifically the character animation. (Like, the movie has gorgeous background shots, we all know this.) I won’t deny that the detail in the faces gets uncanny valley in places but it’s worth it for the expressiveness that it allows. There are so many incredible face journeys, so many subtle shifts in body language, so much that gets to be said without words - either spoken or sung - and it’s just as good as I remember it.

Speaking of things that are just as good as I remember. Yeah, you guessed it. 

Bog and Marianne’s relationship is still just, top fucking tier. 

Like, it goes back to what I said about expressiveness in the animation. I remembered the big things about these two. I remembered the sword fight flirting; I remembered the ranting about hating love together; I remembered the declaration of love at the end set to “Wild Thing” which perfectly encapsulated their personalities. 

I had forgotten how much of their relationship is progressed through small gestures and lingering looks. Things like Bog leaving his staff behind after their fight, and later returning her sword to her - both shows of trust and respect that Marianne is clearly unused to. Things like the way he looks at her throughout the entire “Strange Magic” sequence as he shows her his home and hopes she’ll find beauty in it. Things like the whole face journey she goes through when it’s revealed he survived his castle collapsing, realizing that she loves him. Things like how you can see on their faces that they’re constantly torn between hope and absolute terror at their growing feelings for each other. 

All of these things are done wordlessly and it’s very well done.

(also man, having re-read a bunch of my fics ahead of this I was kind of like ‘wow a through-line throughout all of this is Bog being just, like, absolutely whipped by Marianne from the start’ and friends, upon rewatch it hit me that that was not just some romance novel tropes sneaking into fic - I took that shit straight from the source. My goblin man really was enamored with her INSTANTLY. It was fucking hilarious.)

- 

Anyway, thanks for coming along with me for this journey. I came out of it just kind of accepting, yeah, this is not what I would call a Good Movie. But it gave me so many things that I loved, and still love, and really, that’s what matters. 

Also now I wanna fucking draw fanart again. That’s wild. 

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here my dear, celebrating that its (almost) 2 weeks till we're back and feeling the need to cackle with you over today's events. Look you and I are salty benches at heart, so I'm unreasonably gleeful over the fact that not only did Timmy more or less say that TK-2 is a plot device, but he's a plot device specifically for the purpose of keeping Buck and Eddie apart so Eddie can "discover himself". Like he could have made him a plot device for the Gerrard of everything (and yeah, maybe he is aware enough that he realized two white men getting "affected" and needing to deal with the racist, misogynistic captain was too much but I doubt it) since he has some experience there but nope!! He specifically brought Tommy Boy up in the context of Buck and Eddie and you just have to laugh. Tommy is unofficially the new Marisol, no job or last name necessary he just has to be around. Meanwhile Eddie is missing Buck so badly he has to go to church about it, something he didn't even do about the literal nun he was dating, which also makes me giggle. All of this is of course is speculation at this point but fuck it, I'm having fun, family feud is in 5 days, and the best damn firefam crew is soon to be on my screen again, so cheers friend, here's to a new season of nonsense where we can get unhinged about two idiot boys while reserving our hater vibes for their crappy partners 🥂.

OH MY GOD HIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Today has been WILD because on the one hand, my irritated petty bench self is going "I hate being fucking right" about the fact that bees were just a distraction and we're apparently doing season 5 "it's all about Athena's past" opening instead of being focused on the 118 (and Athena) ACTUALLY doing first responding and saving people. I am gnashing my teeth over the knowledge that the show just is not committed to focusing on what truly made those first couple big disasters GOOD and memorable, and ENJOYABLE to watch. Instead we're doing 70s movie remakes for the fun promo material they provide and then turning into a detective show again instead of focusing on first response and disaster rescue. Which, it might all be fine and the plane stuff will also be about disaster rescue (tornado would have been better though as bees can act weird around weather phenomenons so at least they'd tie together sensibly), but I'm still gonna be 😒😒😒 about it until they prove me wrong.

ANYWAY.

On the other hand, my happy petty bench self has been *cackling* about Tim talking in depth about Eddie most of the paragraph after the most generic blanket statement about BT, like. That man has nothing to say about it because there's so little there he probably CAN'T say anything without spoiling the little that's going on.

The cast looks happier on set than they have in a LONG time, the plot devices are plot device-ing, hot priest is back?! as Eddie examines himself and who he is?! We're getting a meaty Henren/Madney storyline it sounds like, Bobby is gonna be a NIGHTMARE as technical advisor and I'm so excited to see that, plus the chance to do fake Buddie on Hotshots is RIGHT THERE and even if the show doesn't do it, I KNOW we are gonna get some super fun fics about it.

I'm feeling super 🙄 about the Gerrard stuff revolving around Buck because they have proven especially recently that they can't handle these storylines well and keep centering the white men instead of COC so like, not holding my breath it's gonna be done well. But also, they didn't have Buck do anything 98% of season 7 so he doesn't have anything else going on. If we're lucky, it gets handled well and will also lead to an examination of T's behavior, BT's relationship, and eventual reason for breaking up. But again, not holding my breath. This show just loooooves to pretend shitty people never did anything wrong so they don't have to spend time on the character, and then expect the audience to be on board with Evan "loyalty streak a mile wide and loves his family more than himself" Buckley to be perfectly fine dating them like they never hurt anyone and the notoriously nosy, bitchy, petty firefam to never ever bring it up or say anything bad about them ever. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

But overall, I'm excited and I know you always have my back when it comes to being an equal opportunity hater for the shitty people they keep sticking our boys with.

ALSO! In news that I've been saying forever but actually kind of mean it this time, I have been working on my Countdowns fic! It's currently over 12k words and I'm still only on part 2 (of like, 7? maybe?) and I need to rewatch 2x01 to clarify some stuff, but I AM writing! I planned to do more this summer, but we had some unexpected out of town trips and a new baby that needed some crochet projects done, and also I need to just get a little bitty tablet and keyboard so I can sneakily write at work now that I'm not so busy. It's not super edited so I haven't been sharing any snippets but maaaaaaybe if everyone asks nicely, I'll share a little something that I know I like and am going to keep.

It was such a delight to see your ask pop up today!! You've given me the serotonin to actually open my inbox and see what's in there, so everyone say "thank you Sleeping at Last Anon!" for any other asks I get around to answering today. And send me good vibes to work on this fic because I think if I can pull it off, it's gonna be something I'm super proud of. But I gotta actually, ya know, write it.

Cheers, bestie! I can't wait to watch this season with you!

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Megamind 2

I remember many moons ago that I reviewed Dreamworks's Megamind in all its brilliance. I remember around that same time spitballing about a sequel. Cut to 2 years ago where they announced one and my optimism was in it. I wasn't expecting much, I had simple expectations of this since Dreamworks never slacked when it came to their sequels, you know? Now we're here... and it's like how am I meant to feel? Should I feel grateful for this sudden monkey's paw, this baboon's dishwater soaked digits for giving us this take on Megamind? [sigh] I don't want to be too sour about this though.

Still better than what Wreck-it Ralph fans got, I guess

Now I'm not bothered by them making a film that's essentially a backdoor pilot to the TV series, nor that the original cast's been replaced, introducing new characters, and that the series itself isn't theatrical tier animation wise. That has always been an acceptable given with Dreamworks shows vs movies. What bothers me is that the new "film" couldn't have the same quality as before. Like this is unprecedented, where a sequel doesn't get the same stellar animation as before but is basically just episode 0 of the TV show. This never happened before, The Croods, Trolls, and Boss Baby never got downgraded to direct-to-DVD status with their sequels's animation looking worse than the fucking Paw Patrol movies. We JUST got Puss in Boots: The Last Wish couple years ago, so can you imagine how this kinda bothers me? I'm cool with it not having the same great writing and worldbuilding as the OG film, but this felt like the biggest disservice to any Megamind fan, heck any animation fan in general.

Presentation was the ONE thing this should have had

But I've been sour enough, is the film/show actually worth it story and character wise? Dear lord, it's corny. It makes 60s Batman feel like a Christopher Nolan production. The characters you know are basically the only reason to watch this as none of the new ideas given are compelling enough that makes this feel justified. It's nice getting a series about heroes and villains, and Megamind himself is the most enjoyable part about all this, but it's like even I can't sift out the hidden gem this could have with what I've seen. It's like kids will enjoy this as is like the other Dreamworks shows, but it's hard imagining any older fan of the original movie being ecstatic enough to even bother past the film. I'm sorry, it's overall serviceable but I can't offer any silver lining that can prove this was worth it.

Again, I can't even be mad. I'm used to this pain.

I don't know what else to say. Do I just lie to you all and say this wasn't a massive disappointment? This hasn't soured my feelings for Dreamworks, I'm still a believer given they aren't exactly the studio I go to for long running streaks of quality compared to others. It's not like Megamind was the biggest thing in my life, that goes to Shrek and Bluey, but I kinda wanted... more from this? This just barely does anything for me. I'm gonna watch a couple more episodes and honestly not look back when this weekend's over. What sucks the most is that this isn't the first time a sequel animation has made me feel this way, but this is a newfound low for me.

I give Arzette: Jewel of Faramore a 9 out of 10. Just a fantastic blast from the past.

Megamind 2 gets a 2 out of 5. Fucking fiasco.

[rillils]

RILLLLLSSSSSSSSS

ITS BEEN SO LONG HOW R U

YOUNG ROYALS.

SEASON 3 IS DONE 💞💞💞💞💞

SEASON 3 IS DONE 💔💔💔💔💔

ALSO THE NEW SEB PICS??????? BEEFY BUCKY WITH THE LONG HAIR 😍😍😍

ive been watching the last season if merlin 15 minutes at a time because i am not about to lose me sweethearts rn oh my lord

OMG SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE GJDHDK

Okay, first things first, HELLO MY BABY 💕💖💕💖💕💖💕💖 I've missed you a lot around here, honey!! I'm doing alright, just the usual amount of stress - but let's be real, that's my default state of mind xD I hope you're doing well, my dear 🥰🥰🥰 Hopefully school is over (or will soon be over) so you can rest and enjoy your vacation 💕💕💕

NOW: HOLY PATCHOULI RAGU AND RAVIOLI, I JUST SAW THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND EDVIN AND OMAR'S VIDEO MESSAGE AND AHDJAGDKSLDJK *SCREECHES* I'm getting a bit emotional here ngl 🥺🥺🥺 I can't believe that the show is actually over now, even though it's probably gonna be a while before we can watch s3, since they just finished shooting 😭😭😭 I'm hoping with all my heart that s3 will give us what we desperately need!! A happy ending for the boys pls!!!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

As for one Sebastian Mcfreakin' Stan, I simply can't look at those pics and videos without WEEPING, HONEY, LIKE I'M TALKING LEAKING FAUCET, OPEN BAR, LEMME CRY IN YOUR COCKTAIL REAL QUICK KIND OF WEEPING HERE

he looks. so good. my brain cannot comprehend it. I look back and then back again and the little lightbulb in my skull keeps flickering on and off because?? Is this a real human??? Does anything remotely similar to This Man truly exist??????? With those arms that look like they could engulf you so sweetly and protect you from all harm, and those boobs- sorry I mean tits- sorry I mean chESt, that CHEST that looks like it was only made for your cheek to lie upon it, and be the firmest pillow you ever slept on? and the hair??? The stubble?? The high-waisted pants?? I've seen people slander those pants, right, but as far as I'm concerned they just enhance his whole I'm Too Hot, Hot Damn™ vibe these days. make the tiny waist look even tinier and the broad shoulders look even broader and omg I can't think about this for too long or I will spontaneously combust 🔥🔥🔥

Should I also mention that white tank tops never really did anything for me until this man came along?? AND THE RINGS. THE MUMMERFUCKING RINGS. It's like. Every now and then Mr Stan-Lookin-Good-There-Man decides to accentuate his long, nimble fingers with pretty glinting metal and my brain fucking short-circuits like "NOPE - WHAT DIS - CANNOT COPE"

I feel he has awakened a monster in me *flies into the sun*

As for Merlin, oh babe, I feel ya 🥺🥺 Take your time with it, honey, I'm sure your heart will thank you for it 💖💖💖 I love you very much bby 💕💕💕 I hope you have a super nice day 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

[its-the-cat-queen]

*flutters down on iridescent wings*

It is me! The Infodump Fairy! I have come to cast a spell upon you that will cause you to ramble for way too long about Trolls! Please, o’ talented one, tell me why this series has captivated you so!

(Ok but seriously I’ve seen your stuff for it (which fucking SLAPS btw) and this is a series I’ve never really been very interested in, so I’m very curious about what draws you to it! Only if you want to share, of course! As you can see, I am not a real fairy and my spells are fake lol)

Oh dear Infodump Fairy! Your spell is taking its effects!

Asfdhgd seriously though, believe me, I have no problem rambling about Trolls all day jvjfjhf. This is not gonna be very coherent, so sorry in advance. 😅 (Also, thank you, I'm so glad you like my work! <3)

Okay so. I've actually been here since the trailer for the first movie came out (I wasn't very active in the fandom back then, though). I was already invested from that moment on, specifically in the two main characters, Poppy and Branch, and their dynamic, who I took one look at and said, "yeah, I ship that" hfjhf. I think what mostly got to me was the characters, the designs, the fact that it's such a fun and colorful world, and of course, the music. The songs are so good! Like, all of them. Yes, they are mostly just covers of already popular songs with some word changes here and there, but my GOD, are they good covers! But anyway, love me a musical with fun characters! Personally, I think all of the characters have deeper issues about them than what you can see on the surface and what you would expect from a children's movie franchise. Like, Branch has so much trauma it really just feels like in every movie they are just trying to give him more and more problems hdkhdjd. Which of course, makes him a pretty compelling character altogether. Do other characters have as deep issues as him? Some of them. But like, they don't really have that much screentime, sadly. While Poppy and Branch are equally important characters in the first movie (and well, in all of the movies, imo), the second movie is what I would dub as "Poppy's Character Development - The Movie" jgkjfjfj. While the first movie operates with the whole "happiness is inside of all of us, we just need someone to help us find it" kinda message (which doesn't fully stick the landing but oh well), the second goes for stuff like differences, equality (of sorts), and tbh some kind of colonialism metaphor?? It also widens the world of trolls as we've known it, as we learn of other tribes of trolls, who are all connected through different kinds of music. So the whole worldbuilding here just makes things even more interesting.

Now the third movie. In the words of youtuber Mann of 1000 Thoughts, it "gives no fucks in all the right ways". Tbh the Trolls timeline has already been questionable, as is, with the Netflix tv shows that came out after the first and second movies, but this just throws another ranch in the system, and says fuck you to the timeline altogether jckbfh. Like, I managed to make it work once I dedicated a good half hour figuring out how Branch's secret long lost brothers who he was in a band with when he was a baby fit into the picture, but it's not perfect even then. There would definitely still be plotholes gkfhfgf. But at this point you just gotta turn your suspension of disbelief on and just go along with it, cuz it is SUCH a fun experience besides all that. (This goes for all the movies btw. Turn your brain off, you're gonna have a great time jfkhf.) Ngl this is the movie that really got me to jump right back into the fandom with full force, and now I'm back to thinking about all of the previous movies as well and appreciating all of the characters. Tbh when I watched the trailer for the third movie, I thought that the whole long lost brothers storyline was the worst idea they have ever come up with, and then I watched the movie and I was like, "fuck this is the best thing ever" gjfgdhd. Idk, we learn enough about Branch's brothers for them to be compelling characters of their own, while we also have a 20 year old gap in which we can pretty much imagine anything into, cuz we don't actually know all the details about how they got to where they are today after the band broke up. Idk, it's like a sandbox you can play in. And that is so much fun. Also, yeah. The music in the third movie also SLAPS! I listened to the soundtrack on loop for a week after watching it jfkhfh.

The humor is also great in all of the movies, in my opinion. I think my humor operates on Trolls standards at this point, which everyone can decide for themselves if it is good or not hkfjfj. I'm having fun so that's all that matters to me.

But yeah, it's just. Idk. It's difficult to pinpoint something very specific that lured me in. Although, I did mention quite some stuff altogether jfkjjf. It's all about the experience for me. The movies are just filled with so much energy, which I love, and they are, in my opinion, the perfect combination of that energy and emotional impact. Are they perfect movies? Absolutely not. But I'm enjoying myself immensely while watching them, and that's l that matters. Soooo yeah. That's about it for now, I've already been talking too long hkfhfjf

Hope some of this made sense, at least jkfjfj. Thank you for the ask <3 You sadly had no idea about the beast you would unleash fjdgdhd.

[stevethehairington]

1, 2, 3, 8, and of course... 11 for the ST ask game ♡

ahh blakeeee!!! ty for sending so many!!! 💕💕

(also omg i was almost entirely finished answering all of these and then i fAT FINGERED MY KEYBOARD and it deleted everything 😩 i tried my best to rewrite them as best as i could but damn. rip to anything that slipped through the cracks)

1. Favorite character and your favorite outfit of theirs?

ooh okay i think i have to go with steve harrington as my favorite character, because as much as i love eddie, steve has been IT for me since the beginning. steve has taken me on a whole journey, i have been right there with him since the beginning. i am ride or die for that bitch!! lkdfjsl.

and as for favorite outfit, ohhhh man that's tough. he's got a LOT of good ones!! but. if i had to choose one, it would probably be that cute little bubble vest fit he wears at the end of s3 when he and robin are bring their resume in to family video. it's just so cute and he looks so good in it, and also his hair with it is Thee Perfect Length for me, like i love steve with his hair long enough that it starts to curl at the ends. the whole Look is just too good.

(this one!! i couldn't find any good photos so this gif will have to do)

2. Favorite season of Stranger Things and your favorite scene in it?

this is another hard question because my answer totally depends on what exactly is meant by favorite lmao. like, if favorite means which season is the one that i love most and has captivated me the most then the answer would be season 1, because that one is just next level!! like, the vibes, the relationships, the mystery, the conflicts, the discoveries!! it's all so good and s1 does a FANTASTC job of setting up the whole show!! but then if we're looking at favorite as meaning which one did you have the most fun watching and enjoyed a lot then my answer would be season 3, because that season is just SO fun!! it's so vibrant and bright and it truly encapsulates summer so well!! not to mention it gives us scoops troop my BELOVED, and we see more of the relationship between steve and dustin my beloveds, AND there's more erica!! AND this season gives us ROBIN!!! AND ROBIN AND STEVE!!! so!!!! its a huge win and its a great season for those reasons!!

3. Favorite scene in the entire series?

i think this is probably going to be SUCH an obvious answer because it's probably the one everyone and their mother gives, but, i HAVE to go with robin's coming out scene. like, it's just one of the best coming out scenes i've ever seen. and that is ENTIRELY because of maya hawke. like god, her expressions throughout that whole scene? as steve describes the girl he likes and it becomes strikingly clear that he's talking about robin and robin is sitting there like how do i break it to him. god her face is just. SO REAL. and then when she says "steve" in that tiny whisper of a voice, and her eyelashes sort of flutter like she's trying not to cry and she gives him that LOOK. MY GOD ITS GOLDEN ITS SO FUCKING GOOD. im tearing up rn just thinking about it. and then steves reaction too!! his little oh, and the way he just immediately starts making fun of robin's taste in girls, just steadfastly accepting her and not making it into something huge and scary. just treating her like shes robin and not anybody or anything different. the way robin feels SO much relief and joy and safety there. god its just such a beautiful scene and so powerful too and i just love it so so much.

(i do HAVE to give a shoutout to the running up that hill scene at the end of dear billy because NO scene has EVER given me chills the way that one did. the way max's grief has been drowning her and the complete turning point this scene was for that. like this was the first moment that she chose to not let that grief win. she fought it and she fought it hard and she pulled herself out. she had help, of course, the memories of her friends, the ones she loves, but it was ultimately HER that saved herself in that scene. and godddd its SO powerful and its SO well done and just the way they used that son is INCREDIBLE and also sadie's acting in that scene is just PHENOMENAL, and then when it ends and max is in lucas' arm with dustin and steve surrounding her too and the soft instrumental version of running up that hill plays as the screen goes black. C H I L L S!!!!!!)

8. Favorite weapon/power?

another super basic answer probably but what can i say? my favorite weapon is 100% the nail bat. i mean, who wouldn't want a wicked baseball bat full of nails to swing at monsters?? i mean come on that is so badass. but ALSO i love that the bat has a little bit of all of the original monster hunting trio in it? like it's nancy's baseball bat, but jonathan is the one that put the nails in it and it was meant to be his weapon, but then steve claimed it as his own and used it and bam now it's his. i just love that symbolism!!!

11. Your opinion on Tommy Hagan?

HAHA I LOVE THAT YOU ASKED ME THIS ONE FKDDSFLKD (also the "of course" sdkfjdslf i am THAT transparent huh 😂)

nah but i fucking LOVE tommy hagan. he's just one of those characters that isn't necessarily given a firm backstory or anything, but there is juuuuuuust enough personality that it is SO easy to build your own backstory and mold it and him into something you want it to be — and boy oh BOY have i done that with tommy myself lmao.

but yeah it's like — the tommy we see, sure, he's an asshole, and yes, he says and does some really shitty things, BUT i don't think anything he's said and done has reached that level where it's like totally and completely irredeemable, yknow? like he's not so far gone that he can't turn himself around (hello!! steve did!! and sure, maybe steve is a kinder, nicer person at his core, but if he can do it, so can tommy, especially given that tommy idolized steve so much.)

there's just something to me that is so fascinating about taking a very simple one dimensional character and giving him layers. giving him three dimensions. putting him in scenarios and giving him motivations that explain WHY he is the way he is and HOW he got there and WHO influenced that? filling in those gaps makes him a MUCH richer character and in turn makes his interactions with the other characters SOOO much more interesting and layered.

like, i love to think that tommy is the middle child in a large family of all girls. he's got two older sisters and two younger sisters. i oscillate between liking to think that his parents are still together but overwhelmed with work and the girls and other responsibilities, or that theyre divorced so tommys grown up with a single mother in charge. either way, tommy ends up sort of forgotten, just a bit. there's not enough attention for him, which is why when STEVE gives him attention for the very first time, when he CHOOSES tommy for the first time, tommy is stuck on him for life.

their friendship grows and so do they and steve stays this constant through it all, and that means so much to tommy. i think that once girls start to show an interest in steve and once steve starts to show an interest back, tommy gets jealous, because that means that steves full attention isn't on him anymore. (and whether you look at it through a 'tommy has a crush on steve' lens or not it still applies either way ((though as im sure you're all aware i DO look at it through that lens LOL))).

carol joins their group, and either steve nudges tommy towards her or tommy nudges himself towards her because, well, if steves gonna get himself a girlfriend, so is tommy because he's not getting left behind. and he loves carol, he does, but also it's a lot more complicated than that (see the beginning of my latest fic, keep me on a rope, for more on The Complicated Relationship of Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins because ohohoho boy do i have THOUGTS on that).

and then nancy wheeler happens and steve gets his heart broken AND his world rocked AND the biggest thump on his head of his life and suddenly he's not tommys best friend anymore. he's not even his friend. and that fucking HURTS tommy. because look at that? even STEVE left in the end. and so tommy lashes out. he gets meaner. he latches onto billy hargrove, but he doesn't give a shit about tommy. he puts up that protective shell so he can't get hurt again, and that means never letting anyone in again. that means settling for what he has, who he has. that means stewing in these hurt feelings and this awful grudge and the hatred for years and years until—

somewhere down the line (way waaaaaay down the line) tommy gets tired of it. he gets sick of being bitter and lonely and miserable. and he finally gets HIS thump on the head. he does some digging deeeeeeeep into himself and he does a lot of self reflection and he realizes that fuck. he's been an asshole. he's been a jerk. he's been a total dick. he's hurt people he loved, people who didn't deserve it. he's pushed them away. he's isolated himself. he's turned into this shell of what he could have been.

and so he starts to work on himself. starts to make amends.

or he doesn't. that's a possibility too. he can get stuck in his ways and he can live out a bitter lonely miserable life too!

but that's the thing about tommys character — he can be and do and say whatever you want!!!! and THAT is why i love him so much.

(plus, as i said it is just SOOOO fascinating to explore his relationship with steve and with carol because BOTH are SOOOO complicated and SOOOO layered and there is just SO much going on in that little brain and body of his that even HE can't sort through it all.)

stranger things ask game