#during geeked week too which is SO good

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[harmonictechnicality]

Eddie develops a strange habit after sex. It’s not exactly cute or romantic or nice. Nothing bad either. It’s just… well, Steve isn’t too sure what it is. But every time, it’s the same damn thing.

He collapses onto Steve’s chest and says:

“My boyfriend is a cyborg.”

Usually, Steve is still recovering from the fucking downpour of post-orgasm endorphins. So he doesn’t question it. Hell, he stopped challenging Eddie’s tolerance to geek out months ago. Dude holds fantasy knowledge in his brain better than he holds his liquor.

Which is saying a lot.

Anyways, Steve never has the mental capacity to react or respond. Instead, he runs his fingers through Eddie’s sweat-soaked hair for awhile. Scratches out little patterns on his scalp because it always makes Eddie go limp. Quiet.

Quiet is a rarity for him. And while Steve is totally weak for Eddie’s chattiness, the quiet can be nice too.

The only reason Steve finally decides to ask about it is because Eddie slips up. Says it before they have sex.

Steve is against the bedroom door, his nails dragging down Eddie’s back. God, he loves this kind of kissing. The lung draining kind. The type that’s sort of filthy from all the heat and grinding. 

Eddie hasn’t marked him up this bad since that time someone at work noticed his neck. Asked if Steve was having an allergic reaction during an office-wide meeting.

And this is going to be even worse. Steve can tell by the sounds and the soft pricks of Eddie’s teeth. He can tell by how long Eddie spends over each spot, like the bruising skin needs more attention than the rest of him. Like licking them over will make the colors last longer.

The damage has been done. Really no point in stopping him when it feels so fucking good. Steve forgets to worry about  how mauled he’s gonna look tomorrow because his head is swimming with Eddie’s lips on his neck. His collarbone. His chest.

That’s when it happens. That’s when Eddie’s strange habit makes an early appearance. 

He kisses over the blistery mess he made, practically growls the words out this time: 

“My boyfriend is a cyborg.”

“Okay, time out.” Steve says. Heaves some air back into his lungs. Pulls Eddie’s face up before he can continue making Steve look like goddamn target practice. 

Eddie blinks a few times. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” Gonna have to wear fucking high-collared shirts all week, but whatever.

He’ll bring that up some other time. “Why do you keep saying that?”

“Saying what?”

“That… thing.” Steve barely can spit it out.  It’s like his throat is physically rejecting the nerdy shit he’s about to say. “You keep calling me… a cyborg or something.” 

“Oh that.” Eddie sighs. Casually shrugs to one side. “It’s your fault actually.”

“How is it my fault? I don’t even know what fucking language you’re speaking.”

Eddie walks over to the bed, chanting Steve’s name over and over. Definitely not in the way Steve prefers him to chant his name. Very un-sexy chanting.

“Remember that day you asked me to grab your car keys?” He asks, patting the bed for Steve to join him. 

No. “Kinda?”

Steve hesitates before walking over. He didn’t necessarily wanna stop their primal makeout session. But it was bound to lead to the bed at some point, so…

Just not like this. Not talking while fully clothed. Blech.

He sits next to Eddie. Hands awkwardly fidgeting in his lap.

“Well, I couldn’t find them.” Eddie admits. “So I ended up going through your desk drawers.”

Of course he did. Perpetual snooper.

“Ended up finding a binder full of medical records.”

Well shit.

Steve’s throat tightens. Swells around the sudden guilt he feels for keeping this from Eddie. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a metal plate in your head?”

“Dunno. Hardly even remember it.” That’s only partly true. Steve doesn’t remember the surgery or much of the recovery process. He was only a kid when it happened.

But he does remember the hospital smells. He remembers the sounds of his IV bag dripping throughout the night. All the sensory indicators are still fresh in his mind.

“Well, that’s why. You're part-machine.” Eddie points to Steve’s head, expression softening. “And every time we fuck around, I think about your bionic skull. And how glad I am that it keeps your brain from leaking out when I bend you over the way you like it best.”

Steve laughs. The jokes help lighten the mood. Not enough to replace it entirely, but enough for it to be easy to swallow again. 

They’re both quiet as they get ready for bed, folding the covers down. And yeah, sometimes quiet can be nice. Just maybe not right now.

“Hey, Eddie.”

“Yeah?”

Steve stares hard at the pillows. “Are cyborgs like… cool?”

Eddie pauses for a moment, then hops onto the bed. Starts crawling over to Steve with a smug grin. He lifts up to meet Steve’s lips. Kisses him sweeter than normal. Lighter. Starts nodding his head mid-kiss, keeps nodding as he breaks away.

“Yeah, babe. Cyborgs are so fucking cool.”

[bluesidez]

Gym Rat Miguel Part 12

content warning: Miguel is very dramatic in this one, mentions of food

word count: 4k (SHOUTOUT TO MY BETA!! @slushycoookie 🩵)

Prev | Next ✩°｡ ⋆⸜ 🎧✮ Masterlist

DISCLAIMER: This story is not canonical. 😒 Most, if not all, of the characters used are OOC. I literally can not stress this enough.

GymRat!Miguel who tries not to dwell on the fact that it’s been just about a month since he’s seen you. It’s the middle of the week and if he thinks about it too much, he’s going to go crazy.

It feels odd because you’re on the same campus as him. You’re not across the country. You’re not out of the country. You’re literally a short walk or drive away and neither of you have time to see each other.

He’s considering printing your pictures out and walking around with them like a forlorn lover looking for his lost soulmate. It feels like he’s back in his bedroom staring at your pictures for hours like a man at war aching for home.

He’s exhausted all of his options.

The couple-lunches have all been rain-checked, the weight of your workload trapping you in the Art building.

Your sleep schedule was terrible, if the late night TikToks and reels were anything to go by. He knew you had morning classes too so he could only assume you’ve had a few hours of sleep during the weeknights.

The weekends were for rest and he didn’t want to disrupt yours.

Your dorm tracked visitors which means he’d only have a few hours with you before curfew if you were even there.

GymRat!Miguel who misses you so bad he’s temporarily replaced his gym playlist for the one you gifted him.

His face is set hard, feet heavy as he sprints over a curved treadmill. After a few minutes he stops, takes a small break, and runs again.

Even the melodic and somber voice playing over a groovy piano couldn’t soothe his thoughts.

His heart rammed in his chest as sweat trickled down his face, his tank drenched and clinging to his chest.

Just a few more sprints to go.

GymRat!Miguel who slides the ear of his headphone off because Xina is standing in front of him, blocking his path.

“Anymore sprints and you’re going to pass out,” she hands him a towel.

“Maybe I want to,” Miguel grumbles, nabbing the towel and rubbing his face like someone spit on it.

Xina grabbed her ponytail and pinned it up, loose hair sticking to her neck. “Don’t say that. It’s not funny. I can only manage pulling your body to the entrance to the gym.”

Miguel snorted.

GymRat!Miguel who fills up the time that he used to spend with you to get to know his friends and meet others.

This meant having game nights with Peter and Ben. They were so close, not really, to convincing him to join their DND parties.

If he wasn’t with them, he was occasionally calling The Geek Squad and catching up. A Friendsgiving date was now tentatively on his calendar because of it.

Of course, his robotics team was still going steady. Aaron was interesting, if nothing else, and Margo was like the little sister he never had.

Then, there was checking up on Gabriel like a Tamagotchi. Was he eating ok? Did he need some money? Is he trapped in the subway? Did a rat eat him?

Gabriel had sent him a screenshot of his contact with his name being changed to “Mom #2.”

Miguel only scoffed and told Gabriel his name was going to get changed to “pain in my ass.”

The newest development, however, was Xina. Her transferring here felt like middle school when they used to be attached at the hip.

They had their programming class together two days out of the week, biweekly study sessions, and the occasional late night excursion.

It also explains why she’s eyeing him from the stairmaster while he heaves over the handles of the treadmill.

GymRat!Miguel who thanked Xina as she handed him his jug of water. He sat up from the bench to let her take a seat.

“So,” she started.

“I’m not helping you hack your professor’s dashboard. While you could do it, it’s not a good idea and quantum physics isn’t that-“

“It’s not that, you dick,” Xina pinched his side. “It’s you. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing is up with me.”

“Miguel.”

“Xina.”

“Now, you’re being a brat. Something is definitely wrong.”

Miguel picked at the peeling Game Over sticker on his bottle. He needed to tape it down or he’d lose it.

“I miss her.”

“Miss who? Your mom?”

“What? No. I miss my girlfriend.”

It was quiet between them, the sound of chatter and the clanking of equipment filled the white noise.

Xina tilted her head, “That bad?”

Miguel nods.

“When’s the last time you saw her?”

He takes a dramatic breath, “Our anniversary date. Last month. I feel…”

“Like you can’t function? Like it’s hard to think?”

“Is that pathetic?” Miguel winces. “I have a feeling you’re going to say that it is.”

“No, I don’t think that.”

Miguel pouts as he looks up. Xina shrugs and slides her hands on down her leggings.

“Remember the times I went boy crazy? All the times I came crying to you after they screwed me over, even when you already warned me they weren’t good guys? I think you deserve to be crazy about your girlfriend.”

“Thanks,” Miguel blinked. “You were way too nice to those first guys.”

“I learned though, didn’t I? I know a good guy when I see him, now,” Xina pushed at Miguel’s shoulders with hers.

“And now those self-defense lessons won’t go to waste, right?”

Xina snorted as she recalled the time she managed to flip Winston on his back at Miguel’s instruction.

GymRat!Miguel who watches Xina’s eyes grow in shock when he tells her how long he’s been dating you.

“Dang,” Xina stops in her tracks. “A year?”

Miguel puffs up his chest and stands a little straighter, a confident stride in his step, “One year and counting.”

“That’s,” Xina turns and waits for a car to go by. She readjusts her gym bag. “That’s awesome, Hare-Hare.”

GymRat!Miguel who feels the mood shift by the time he drops Xina back off. He’s not sure what’s brought it up, but now he’s nervous about upsetting her more.

He taps on the wheel, after he pulls into a park.

“You sure you don’t want me to get you anything? You don’t need to go anywhere?”

Xina unbuckles her seatbelt, “Nope. All good. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” he watches her close the door before he can even finish. “See you.”

GymRat!Miguel who obliges when Xina texts him the next day to switch up their study session location.

Miguel wanted to keep the busy calm of the 1st floor of the library but Xina insisted on giving him a change of scenery.

“It’s good for you! You stare at the screen all day when you’re coding,” Xina slams Miguel’s car door to which he sneer at her for. “You need to look up and smell the coffee sometimes.”

“You just want a reason to not do your work.”

Xina turns around and walks backwards in front of Miguel, “And that’s completely fine. We should live a little.”

She trips over the edge of the sidewalk with a yelp and Miguel is quick to catch her, the panic on his face evident.

“See,” she grins as she pulls herself up by Miguel’s shoulders. “Living!”

GymRat!Miguel who lets Xina order for him while he finds a table.

The cafe was bright, white wood accenting the walls with vines and plants adorning the area. Salmon pink brought a pop of color to the sandy-looking tables and fairy lights hung in the corners of the room.

Miguel’s eyes grew as he saw the variety of desserts on display, his mouth itching to take a bite.

“No, no, no. Go away. I’ll pick something you’ll like,” Xina blocks Miguel’s lingering eyes.

Miguel clicks his teeth, “If it’s not good, I’m going to be really upset.”

“I doubt it.”

GymRat!Miguel who walks deeper into the cafe. He’s dodging ceiling plants left and right, but he’s sure that the best seats are in the furthest of the building.

He shuffles around a corner, eyes adjusting to the sun coming through window.

He blinks a few times and takes in the spacious area.

That’s when he sees you.

He walks fast, the strides of his steps wide.

The closer he gets, the stronger the smell of peaches builds. The sun was shining down like it granted Miguel one the greatest gifts of his life. Its rays danced across the spot that you're in.

He gets to your chair and pulled it out with ease, the sound disrupting the hushed corner.

A pen falls to the floor, voices are cut short, and arms are flailing but Miguel’s nose is buried deep into your neck.

Your arms tighten around his neck and your voice skips across his ears.

“I-” a kiss across your face, “missed you so much.” Miguel looks at you like you hold the stars in the sky within your palm.

“You scared the shit out of me, Miguel,” you say with no really malice in your voice. Your thumbs run across his cheeks, watching as he beams at you. You kiss him once or twice, heart fluttering as your feet dangle in the air.

“I hope there aren’t many people picking you up in the middle of establishments,” Miguel mumbled across your lips.

“Guys, there’s people staring at us,” a voice creeps in from the side of Miguel.

Miguel’s eyes follow it to see a deer-looking kid with hoodie pulled up over his ears.

“Who is this?”

GymRat!Miguel who is introduced to Miles, your freshman classmate that you’ve taken in.

He’s sitting across the table nodding along to you as you rave about Miles’ work. The entire time, his right hand didn’t leave your left one.

“So,” Miguel chimes in when there’s a pause. “Have you both been coming here a while?”

“Nah, I just dragged her out here recently. She never leaves the art building when a deadline is near. It’s kind of depressing-“

“You know, Miles.” You're holding back an eye roll. “There are times when you could just not talk.”

“No, actually tell me more,” Miguel insisted, attentive.

GymRat!Miguel who hurries to help a struggling Xina when she rounds the corner with a tray full of goodies.

A cinnamon roll, a lemon tart, a tall purple drink, and some warm tea is placed on the table while you and Miles clear the area.

You sit up straighter to watch Miguel pick up the tea cup and blow over it. “Tea? No milk with a pinch of coffee?”

“Amor…”

Xina looks over to his cup, “Did you want something else?”

“No, this is good, I haven’t had this in a while,” he takes a sip and hums while explaining to you. “I’ve been on this sweet drink kick since she let me try her frappe last year.”

“That’s rich because you always hated it when I got those.”

“To be fair, you downed like four of those in one day. I’m surprised your body didn’t go into shock.”

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “Four in one day must have meant you were going through it.”

Xina smiles and nods her head, “Exactly. And I told him-”

“We’re not doing this,” Miguel grumbled and stabbed his fork into his roll. “Four was way too much and she was bouncing off the walls all day just to crash and throw up on my shoes.”

“I said I was sorry about that!”

GymRat!Miguel who cuts pieces of his dessert to feed to you. You look at him incredulously as he insists on giving you bite after bite.

“Is it good?” Miguel asks chewing his own piece. You nod and he grins, happy in the bubble he’s created.

When Xina reaches for his plate for a piece he slides it away with ease, a move he knows too well.

“Why can’t I have some? I bought it.”

“You didn’t even ask!”

“Neither did she!”

Miles leans over to you, “I feel like I’m watching a fight between me and my baby sister.”

Miguel is pushing Xina’s hands away from his plate while she laughs up a storm. You think that it does mirror something like Gabriel and Miguel’s relationship, but something about Miguel isn’t the same.

GymRat!Miguel who continues his Tom and Jerry act with Xina even when the food is gone.

They were bickering over some formula that you couldn’t begin to figure out by yourself. To Miguel, it’s easy. To Xina, the setup makes no sense.

“How did you survive Ivy League without me?” Miguel asks as he reaches over and erases an error on her page.

“Like I do anything else, with peace.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Miguel points his pencil at Xina, “you hate me and I am not needed for problems 4 through 10.”

“No!” she panics, pushing his pen back to the paper. “I need you to start this one. I don’t understand it.”

“We just did one like this, though. It’s just the imaginary number all over again.”

Xina groaned and slumped in her chair while Miguel just turned back to his on work.

GymRat!Miguel who peers up from his computer to watch you work. You eyebrows pinch as your wrist moves across the large sketchpad in front of you. Your hand is moving fast and you’re so focused. Miguel hasn’t seen you like this before. In your element.

He leans his head on his hand, cheek squished and staring at you like he’s never seen you, like you were something to be admired.

You were pretty today, a sweater with some cartoon on it and some jeans that flared out at the bottom. Your bunny necklace was dangling around your neck and your glasses were falling down your nose.

You push them back and a smudge of charcoal from moving Miles’ artwork gets on your cheek.

“Stare at her any harder and she might grow something freaky,” Miles whispers.

Miguel falters and grabs a napkin, leaning to wipe your cheek, “She has something on her face.”

GymRat!Miguel who tries to be even more discreet as he watches you fill up the page. It’s mesmerizing seeing what you come up with.

He’ll type a little bit then look at your sketches, he’ll click a few links then look at your face. Sometimes, you would catch him looking and smile at resulting in his heart picking up.

Occasionally, Miles would ask your opinion on something and you would give him pointers, the two of you discussing something about focal points and rule of threes.

Miguel just wanted to put his stuff up and listen to you all day.

“What are you working on?” Xina asks, her voice breaking the silence. She’s staring directly at your drawings, fingers tapping against her notebook.

You perk up and flip your pad around, “It’s some ideas for one of our bigger projects! The theme is reinventing a classic, so I’m thinking something like a spin on Lady Godiva with a haunted theme and darker palette. Or The Fallen Angel with a bird’s eye perspective of him on the ground.”

You took a breath and flipped the page, “And then there’s The Kiss which I wanted to actually do a glaze to really give it that ‘mosaic’ look.”

Miguel leaned in with Xina to take a closer look.

The sketch was exceptional to say the least. Miguel wasn’t too sure how the original painting looked, but your drawing detailed a woman wrapped in these angular, moving shapes. Her face was angled up and a far-off look adorned her features. To her right sat a man whose lips were on her neck and his attention solely on her.

It was soft, yet strong. How you managed to put so much intimacy onto a single page was beyond him.

The feeling of it was familiar and when he looked up at you, he knew.

Miguel opens his mouth, “It’s..”

“Boring.”

“Beautiful.”

He turns to Xina with a frown on his face as she flips back to the front page.

“I mean, I think one of the other two is better, you know? More of a twist on the originals. The last one feels safe.”

The table is quiet as Xina’s comment marinates. She’s flipping further into your book and Miguel promptly snatches it from her and closes it a bit harder than he needs to. Miles shifts in his seat, chewing on the straw of his drink.

“Can you explain why it feels safe to you?” your fingers pick at a nail.

She looks up, “Well, don’t you want to stand out? Out of the others, I don’t think this one is that unique.”

“The point isn’t to stand out,” Miles chimes in. “The assignment is about remixing a classic and all three of these do that pretty well.”

Your smile is small, “Thanks, Miles.”

“So which one do you think is better?” Xina asks.

“The last one,” both Miles and Miguel say.

“It carries the emotion of the original while also bringing more focus to couple rather than the abstracted cloth. You can see the love between them in a way that the original doesn’t have and it’s not even painted yet,” Miles talks with ease. “But! That’s just my opinion.”

“I think it’s powerful,” Miguel hums. “You should go with that one.”

You nod, thumbing over the corner of the pages.

GymRat!Miguel who watches Miles nearly fly out of the cafe.

Something about catching the bus to go see a friend perform.

“Poor thing,” you mumble. “He didn’t even buy the tickets yet.”

GymRat!Miguel who can almost see the stress coming off of you in waves the later it gets in the evening.

“Are you alright?” Miguel places his hand over yours.

“Yeah, I think I need a nap.”

“Need me to drive you back?”

“No, it’s fine. You need to drive Xina back.” You start to pack up. “I brought my car anyways.”

Miguel follows your movements, hands putting his laptop up as well.

He hurries to pull your chair out and you thank him with a quiet voice. He follows you from the table to the door to your car. The scene is almost comical the way he’s in your peripheral.

“Will I see you again soon?” Miguel leans on the hood of your car, body practically falling onto you in the driver’s seat. “We gotta set up a date.”

“I’ll see what I can do, baby,” you rub his face and kiss the kicked-puppy look off of his face. “I’ll text you once I get back.”

“Please.”

GymRat!Miguel who throws his backpack in the backseat and slumps over the wheel once he’s certain your car was down the road.

“What now?” Xina patted Miguel’s back. “You miss her again?”

Miguel just dug his head onto the horn, the effect alerting anyone within 50ft radius.

“Ok, ok,” Xina yanked him up by his shoulders only for him to drop back down again. She sighs and grabs the back of his head with a slight yank to his hair.

Miguel swats her hand away with a grit to his teeth and a pinch to his brows.

Xina only holds her hands up with a grin lining her lips, “Calm down.”

“You’re really annoying me today.”

Xina drops her hands and her smile falters. Miguel straightens up with an apology on the roof of his mouth before Xina picks back up with joy.

“What I think you need is an awesome rager for your birthday.”

“No.”

“Why not? It could be fun!”

“I’m all partied out until next year.”

“Not even with your friends? People from your department? A couple of classmates? The robo nerds?”

“That’s robo rockstars to you.”

Xina laughed and buckled her seatbelt.

“I think it could be great, seriously. We’re doing it.”

Miguel only groaned and turned on the ignition.

GymRat!Miguel who wanted to use his Sunday for relaxation, a cheat day, maybe a game or two with Gabriel, Peter, and Winston.

Instead, he’s lying on his bed listening to Xina rant about one of her roommates using the sink as a trash can.

“Like we have a ridiculously expensive trash can that’s less than a foot away from the sink. It’s a simple spin and drop.”

“Ok, I get this is really gross, but don’t you have other friends you could bother?”

Xina pauses, and points her finger at him, “Hey, I’m here to help you out. If I wasn’t here, who knows how down in the dumps you’d be.”

“This isn’t helping me.”

GymRat!Miguel who answers his phone while Xina has managed to pull Peter into a game of Overcooked on his Switch.

“Hey, Ma.”

“Miguel! How do I connect your father’s computer to the TV? He found a movie that we could watch but the screen is so small.”

“He found a movie but can’t connect cords?”

“Just answer the question, mijo.”

Miguel sits up, prepared to spend at least forty minutes trying to explain what an HDMI cord is.

“Yeah.”

Xina gasps, pauses the game leaving a displeased Peter, and hops into the corner of Miguel’s phone.

“Hi, Mrs. O’Hara!”

“Hola, mi dulce niña! Hace mucho que no te veo. ¿Que tal te ha ido?“ (Hello, my sweet girl! I haven’t seen you in a long time. How have you been?)

“Más o menos, pero me alegro de verte.” (So-so, but I’m happy to see you.)

“No, Xina! ¿Qué tienes?” (What’s wrong?)

Miguel just plopped the device in Xina’s hand, “I like how you both started a conversation on my phone.”

“We’ve got important things to discuss,” Xina waved him off while she and his mother continued to fawn over each other.

Miguel just slid off the bed and joined Peter.

GymRat!Miguel who doesn’t get his phone back until curfew hours are around the corner.

Xina and his mom discussed everything from reality TV to recipes to her time up north. Xina left happier than when she came in which Miguel didn’t mind. He just wished he could have had the room to himself.

GymRat!Miguel who doesn’t see your message until he’s about to go to sleep.

“Baby”

“Let’s do something together on your bday”

Miguel unpeeled his eyes and typed swiftly.

“YES”

“YEESSSS”

“Best birthday ever already”

“Someone’s excited”

“I haven’t even said what we’re doing yet”

“What are we doing”

“Tell me please”

“Pleasepleasepleaseplease”

“Mmm”

“No”

“It’s a secret 🙂‍↔️”

“I can wait”

“That you are”

“Sometimes”

“😗”

“But mi luz I think Xina is trying to plan something too”

“Oh”

“Should we raincheck then?”

“NOOOOOO!”

“I can do both”

“I’ll literally split myself in two”

“You don’t have to choose”

“My gift is small”

“I want you to have fun on your special day”

“Can you come to the party?”

“I don’t want to miss it but I’ll have to see”

“If anything it’ll be much later”

“As long as I get to see you I’ll be happy”

“Good night bebé”

“Night!”

"Love you"

“Love you more"

divider by: @plutism 🩵

a/n: I have no notes other than school is starting back up so my posting schedule will be even more irregular. 🤠 Please bear with me.

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[bet-on-me-13]

Cass joins Team Phantom

So, we all know how Cass escaped her terrible dad at the age of 8 right? And how she is adopted by Batman at the age of 16-17 right? Well, what happened in between that time?

Cass has been on the run for Years now. She is 13, and at this point she has been on the run for nearly half of her entire life. So it's really no wonder that when she finally got to a relatively safe place after weeks of little food, little rest, and constant attacks by her pursuers, she accidentally fell asleep.

She woke up in a nice comfy bed, in a room that looked like an Astronomy Geek's dream. Once the people who found her noticed she was awake, they explained what had happened.

Their son, a boy named Danny, had found her passed out in their Shed the previous day while cleaning up. He had quickly brought her in and offered his Room so she could rest comfortably.

Cass doesn't really trust them, and tries to run more than once, but her weeks of constant exhaustion have finally caught up with her and she is stuck staying with them until she is fit to leave.

And unfortunately for her, the Fentons are very Endearing.

By the time she is healthy enough to leave, she genuinely wants to stay. So they unofficially adopt her, letting her stay in their house and sharing a room with Jazz (Danny did kind of need his room back, and Jazz was a good sister like that)

She ends up going to the same school as Danny and ends up befriending both of his friends, Tucker and Sam.

The day of the Accident, Cass is right there alongside Tucker and Sam as the Portal kills Danny.

After the Accident, she is a great help in teaching him some calming routines and meditation techniques so he can get a handle on his Powers much easier.

They also find out that standing in front of a Portal as it rips reality apart is just as bad as being inside of it. They all end up extremely liminal and get Powers. Tucker has Technomancy, Sam has Plant Powers, and Cass gets Shadow Manipulation (or whatever you think fits her)

She is having the best time of her life, but unfortunately it can't last forever.

About 2 years after the Accident, the GIW get a lucky shot on Danny. They were using one of the inventions the Fenton's had made before the Reveal (which was a good one) one that made Ghost Powers weaker for easier capture. While it didn't hurt Danny too much, it did weaken him enough that he flickered into his Human Form for just long enough for the GIW Agents to see him.

Now with Danny's identity exposed, the GIW could track down the Identities of the Humans who had been helping him all this time, aka, Tucker, Sam, and Cass.

During a Raid on Fenton Works, they all got seperated somehow.

Danny got injured protecting the Team, and had to be rushed to the Ghost Zone by Jazz, a stray shot from the GIW blowing up the Portal behind them. They ended up in the Far Frozen, to get Danny fixed up.

Tucker was arrested and sent to prison for a little while before a glitch in his cells Security System allowed him an opening to use his Powers to escape.

Sam was chased out of the Town by the GIW and ended up in the Forest nearby. She had to use her Powers to run away, disappearing too deep into the Woods for the GIW to follow.

Cass managed to sneak out, and ended up trying to save Tucker on his way to prison. She failed though, and the GIW chased her all the way to New Jersey before loosing her trail.

This is how she ended up in Gotham, and got adopted by Bruce Wayne. But she would never forget her first Family, and would try for years to see if she could find where they ended up.

Potential Part 2? Maybe, I have some ideas...

What do you think?

[avelera]

Oh GOD you, too, are an online lectures geek pls consider this your invitation to talk about favs--ones that stuck with you, current obsessions--the more the better! In trade, I'll tell you the two things I'm currently adoring: Yale's Open Course podcast on The Civil War to Reconstruction done by David Blight (man forgot more than ten other civil war historians know even if he mumbles *constantly*) and A History of Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch (so! worth the Prime BBC free trial <3)

Hiya! Don't mind if I do!

So 99% of the lectures I've watched lately are on the Great Courses Plus which was recently and stupidly renamed "Wondrium", which I find profoundly stupid because instead of just saying, "Hey, check out the Great Courses, yeah you can kinda guess what the streaming service offers," I have to instead explain what this nonsense term "Wondrium" means, ANYWAY, they've got lectures about basically everything.

Essentially, it's Netflix but for college lectures. YouTube has become so unreliable as far as what's actual information and what's completely made up or even racist conspiracy theory BS that I find it completely untrustworthy. Also, most documentaries are trying to prove something new, or offer a new angle on something, OR they're SO rudimentary and 101 that even for topics I know less about in history I tend to already know everything they're going to say.

So I pivoted to college lectures because 1) it's a whole series so like, dozens of hours I can just throw on in the background while doing something mindless and 2) I know it's going to be trustworthy, reliable, and provide me a baseline on a topic instead of some "new controversial spin" on it. Like, goddammit, sometimes I just want to better understand the history of Ancient Egypt, not your stupid theory about how they were secretly all space aliens or that we've got the carbon dating all wrong or whatever made up nonsense.

So, here's a list of some of my favorites!

Hannibal: The Military Genius Who Almost Conquered Rome - I consider myself about as near an expert as a non-academic can get on Rome and this lecture actually taught me some things, which is rare, so I recommend it as a fantastic deep dive!

How the Crusades Changed History is a pretty good short version that I recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Old Guard's Nicky and Joe BUT, for the best Crusades lecture, I'd recommend this History of the Crusades podcast. Sharyn Eastaugh is not just insanely informative, but her dry wit made me laugh out loud at least once an episode at the sheer hapless ineptitude of the Crusaders.

In the Wake of the Plague is a fantastic new lecture by Wondrium, the lecturer is amazing and it provides a lot of objective insights into how humans react to plagues that is VERY relevant to current events, BUT their lecture on **The Black Death in general is the one that got me obsessed with their lecture series. I watched it in the first week of Covid lockdown and let me tell you, having this super in-depth, objective look into how people behaved during the Black Death was incredibly valuable (and chilling) going into those years because it all played out with astonishing similarity. Also, anything by that lecturer, Dorsey Armstrong, is awesome. She's a Medievalist of the highest order. I also recommend her lecture on King Arthur.

**The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries - this one wins the award for "Lecture I thought most likely to bore me to tears that ended up being the single most fascinating I've heard in YEARS." Seriously, the way it explores the evolution of how we think in the modern era, through the philosophers who first conceived of these ideas, was jaw-droppingly fascinating. I also recommend it to writers of historical fiction and fantasy for a crash course, by proxy, of how to write people who think differently than you.

The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World - I once had beef with a post here on Tumblr that claimed that academic Classicists don't care about slaves or normal people during the Roman Empire, which is just profoundly absurd. I pointed out this lecture to them if they actually wanted to learn more about the subject instead of complaining that an art history professor may not have been prepped for a lecture about the lives of enslaved people in Ancient Rome. If that is a subject of interest, this lecture is great.

The Real History of Pirates - a must-listen for OFMD fans who want to get an introduction to historical pirates and the history of pirates in literature, which "Our Flag Means Death" owes as much if not more to than the historical figures.

**Turning Points in Middle Eastern History - One of the first lectures I listened to and still one of my enduring favorites. It's the first one I picked up for writing my Old Guard fic, Lights Out, when I wanted to write Joe from a more informed angle and I learned so much.

Understanding Japan: A Cultural History - One of my favorite lectures based on format, the lecturer picks a literary work or cultural concept as the entry point to explore the timeline of Japanese history. It's a fantastic way to give a wider and more holistic look at each era, pairing it with a cultural touchstone.

Shout-out to "The Mysterious Etruscans" because I just think they're neat. The lecturer is also very good and I highly recommend his lecture on ancient cities as well which taught me a lot that I didn't know.

Also a shout out to, "Warriors, Queens, and Intellectuals: 36 Great Women before 1400" for its subject and the lecturer who is great and she also has a really fascinating talk about the history of Spain.

Ok, I THINK that's some of the top ones! ;D

[eskawrites]

okay i’m officially obsessed with robin’s high school band experience (i say officially, i’ve been thinking about this for a while and now i’m finally caving and writing about it), so here are my Robin Buckley Band Geek(TM) headcanons for you to enjoy or ignore at your leisure

Robin is actually surprisingly into basketball. did you see her at that game? yeah, she’s there to shred the melody line on 25 or 6 to 4, but she’s also here cheer on/laugh at the Hawkins High team

you bet your ass she has had a crush on like half the girls’ basketball team btw

some of her first jabs at Steve were actually about some of his worst moments on the court. until she saw that those actually hit kind of hard, and then she laid off and started mocking his inability to talk to girls instead

once she and steve become friends, he’s actually surprised when she can keep up with his and lucas’s basketball chats. they ask her to practice with them exactly once, and it goes as terribly as you’d expect. but she still hangs out sometimes and gives lucas pointers when steve isn’t there

her favorite pep band song is Sweet Caroline. it just is.

sweeeet carolliiiiiiine. dun dun DUNNNNNNN

she is not supposed to be standing next to Vickie during Lucas’s game (seriously what even are their lines?? trombone trumpet clarinet? a random baritone row behind them? @ hawkins pep band wtf is going on here)

but she’s a senior and she can do what she wants

Vickie lets her, which is very cute imo

she has a vendetta with the percussion line

this is band kid law. you have to have a vendetta with either the percussion line or the trumpet section, and since she plays trumpet, she only has one option

she’s actually not bad at marching band. she has the discipline, she can think on her feet, she can focus on her steps and the angle of her trumpet and the set list and everything all at once with no issue. it takes her a while to stop stumbling over her feet freshman year, but once she has the fundamentals down, she’s absolutely fine

she took a french horn solo to state contest her junior year and actually ranked pretty high. but between the stress and the ptsd, she just didn’t have the motivation to do it again her senior year

it’s just as well. contest would’ve been after the events of spring break, and even if hawkins high had the resources to send a group of band and choir kids to contest after the “earthquake,” she definitely would’ve backed out

speaking of spring break, the first time she tries to play trumpet again after facing vecna hurts. that’s a lot of air to get through a throat that’s been nearly crushed by upside down vines. she fakes a lot of her playing for a few weeks, and by the time graduation rolls around, she’s mostly just going through the motions

it’s another thing the upside down has taken from her, and it makes her livid

Nancy absolutely understands why Robin is pulling away from band, but sometimes she thinks back on her vague memories of Robin in the bleachers--the crisp jacket, the clean white gloves, the sharp angle of her shoulders as she snaps her horn to attention--and she wishes she’d paid more attention to her back then

Will joins band his sophomore year! he wants to try something that’s just for him. he asks Robin for advice and she tells him how to get on the director’s good side as well as which kids to avoid. she also tells him that if he joins percussion she’ll never forgive him.

i think he’d play sax personally--lots of melody, great for solos, but also not the center of attention and really good at blending in

Robin finds herself going to a lot of hawkins high games during her gap year, which is completely unexpected but also a lot of fun. she and Steve sit in the stands and cheer Will and Lucas on in equal measure

(Will being there for all of Lucas’s games, too <3 it’s what he deservessss)

Robin’s parents are broke and she never ever spends any of her money on herself, so she doesn’t actually own any of the instruments she’s played. which means after high school, she has no access to any of it even if she wanted to keep playing

Nancy, Steve, and all the kids pitch in to get her a really nice trumpet a couple years after high school. we’re talking King brand, silk-lined case, the works. she cherishes that thing like it’s the fucking crown jewels

if/when Robin goes to college, she won’t join band but she’ll befriend a lot of the band kids. they’ll find out she used to play a couple different brass instruments and encourage her to pick it up again, even if it’s just in her free time

she does, and she joins some small groups--not class related, just having fun and performing with her friends

(steve goes to every single performance, even if it’s not even a show or anything. he’s been known to sit in on practices and grin at her with the proudest, dorkiest look on his face)

(Nancy also goes to every performance she can. she surprises Robin once, flying in at the last minute to go to one of her concerts. she shows up with a bouquet of flowers and it takes all of Robin’s willpower not to fall to her knees and propose right there)

[home-of-renn]

Lame HC: Dash is popular cause he's mean and rich and good at sports. His parents don't pay attention to him and he's dating Paulina cause she's cheer captain and the prettiest, most popular girl at school. He and the A-listers dropped Valery cause she's poor now and they all bully the trio cause they're weird and a bunch of geeks.

Totally Rad HC: Dash has parents who do pay attention to him and while he certainly is very comfortable he isn't a millionaire and his family is honestly pretty average, all things considered. He's not even dating Paulina, they were a short-lived item but are now just good friends. People still think they're dating cause people love making assumptions and gossiping about other people's business. He plays football cause he genuinely enjoys it and while he isn't stupid he worries he's not smart enough to get into college with just his grades alone - he knows it makes him a cliche. He's not a part of the A-listers cause they're all popular - he's actually friends with everyone. He and Kwan used to be neighbours and grew up together. Valery had always been judgey and a little volatile so they were never really that close - she was more Star's friend that anyone else's. You could never bring anything up around her without it being interpreted as an insult. He has an actual reason for disliking the weird trio. Sam is somehow even judgier and entitled than Valerie and is always going off at Paulina while being a complete hypocrite. Dash knows that eating less meat is better for the environment and has considered eating less meat during the week. But Manson's condescending, saviour, holier-than-thou bullshit makes him want to eat a steak right in front of her face just to piss her off. Tucker's turned down his pervy comments but is just cringey in his attempts to flirt. He tries way too hard to be seen as 'popular' and his borderline inappropriate obsession with his tech is just way too weird for him - and it's not like Dash has to like every person he's ever met. In all honestly, he's got nothing wrong with Danny - at least not personally. They'd been going to school together since forever and he'd always been a quiet, surprisingly funny kid who was always top of the class. But now Danny barely passes, even though everyone knows he could if he just put in the effort. Now Danny keeps skipping class, only to turn up with busted knuckles and terribly hidden bruises. He's a Fenton, which means he probably hates ghosts just as much as his parents and Dash has no problem with the ghosts who don't go around messing up their town and bothering Phantom. That and there's just something not quite right with Fenton. Dash isn't sure when that actually happened - when Danny went from being someone he could walk away from without a second thought to something that makes his forehead sweat from the mere thought of showing him his back.

[reniworks3106]

My Thoughts on The Cuphead Show

Wow, cuphead is trending?! Well, in that case, it is a good time to discuss my latest podcast.

I loved The Cuphead Show! I first discovered it during its development stage in like May 2021 (or something?) and when I saw the leaks, I figured that I would love The Cuphead Show and I'm glad I was right! The problem was at the time the Cuphead Show came out in 2022, I didn't had Netflix, so I watched clips of the show posted on YouTube. Then, fast forward to June 2022 during Geeked Week: I got to see a sneak peek of "The Devil's Pitchfork" Table Read and let me tell you my reaction on how that episode ended (Spoilers): When I realized that the Devil kidnapped Mugman, I was shocked to sickness, as my stomach got really sick!! I didn't feel well for a few days. It took a lot for me to process what happened and then wait for what happens next.

As I was predicting what happened next prior to the release of "The Devil's Revenge," my thoughts were that once Cuphead found a way into hell, he would have to face Vile Mugman in an epic battle to get him back to normal before facing off the Devil. However, too bad it didn't happen, but despite that, I kinda liked how it actually ended. Looking back, I could see why Vile Mugman wasn't added yet: it's only the 1st Season and it's way too early to add serious epic battles in this Season, such as a would-been Vile Mugman battle. But nonetheless, I loved the Pitchfork Saga as it is (as well as the rest of the other episodes).

Now if the Cuphead Show were to be renewed, I had an idea on my mind: remember how in Cuphead's Nightmare that Elder Kettle became a skeleton? Well, since Mugman being kidnapped in the game came true, what if (since it's confirmed that Evil Cuphead and Vile Mugman will be added in the possible 2nd Season) the Evil Cup Bro. clones would kidnap Elder Kettle too, which would then result in a dark tragedy of Elder Kettle by either the Evil Cup Bros. or the Devil (in my opinion, it would definitely be the Devil!)

Well, that's all I wanted to say. I just hope the Cuphead Show gets renewed next year (fingers crossed) since it's the key part of me to finish up my Cuphead AU called "The Inkmaster Chronicles". My pilot of it will be on AO3 by the end of this month (or the end of this year). Thanks for reading my ramblings!

[sleepy-vix]

hello hello hello!! i hope this day is treating you well <3

so. erm. i finished if we were villains one second ago. there are tear tracks still glistening on my face. and i have Thoughts TM

to be frank i wasn't a fan of most of the book (i found the very excessive shakespeare-quoting stilted, pretentious and cringey — and i'm saying this as a person who quotes shakespeare too much for the average sane person and is very annoying about it) but something changed when i was reading act five. i then proceeded to cry through the end bit of act five and the whole epilogue.

i have no idea what i feel about it skjfksdfj i have no idea when i started caring about these pretentious ass bitches enough to cry over them, seeing that for most of the book i was just incredibly annoyed by all of them. although i am proud to say i clocked james and oliver for what they were in their first few interactions. the power of the gaydar ladies and gents

i think part of the problem was that i was comparing it to the secret history so much in my mind (which is practically literary perfection in my mind. i personally believe that donna tartt is a greek muse in disguise and should be treated as such/j) it just paled in comparison — honestly, people need to stop comparing the two or just lumping them into "dark academia" (i'm personally not the hugest fan of aesthetic-based grouping for book recs, but that's a rant for another day)

i think it's a one-time read for me. like yes it was definitely an... interesting experience but probably not good enough to reread? i don't know?? i have zero idea if you like this book or not i just know that you've read it — so apologies if i accidentally offended you or something 😭😭 i would love to hear your thoughts on it though (especially the ending)!

I READ IT BACK IN GRADE 8 DURING THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS AND I WAS JUST DEPRESSED FOR THE WHOLE 8 WEEKS LMAO

im like ehhh about it now 😭 which is sad because i was so obsessed with it i made a playlist for james and oliver (im such a geek it's actually so embarrassing 💀)

also i completely agree with you about the shakespeare quotes. it got to a point where i would just skip the quotes and only read the actual writing because is it ever THAT serious?

also i have a few other icks about the book:

- oliver and meredith getting together (that was so ???? like i lowkey hated oliver for that)

- filippa's character. it was so ?? like m.l. rio did such a bad job writing her... the idea of her character is awesome but the execution was really not, which was disappointing.

but in general i really liked it :) i read it before the secret history, so thankfully i never unconsciously compared them with eachother (which i've heard is actually really common between people who read tsh first).

i agree with you in the dark academia lumping thing sooo much. like, you often see them side by side, but the only thing they have in common is a friend group + one person dies + school setting. which really doesn't mean much considering that alot of stories are set in schools and include friend groups.

also not to mention that tsh is twice the size of iwwv 😭 idk i get so defensive when ppl bash iwwv for being worse than tsh (even tho i agree)

tbh i loved it alot but i wouldn't reread it either because the oliver and meredith parts where so 💀

m.l. rio is writing another book btw! its called grave digger. im looking forward to it because i'd like to know if she's actually a good writer or if she was only good in my 13 year old mind.

im so happy that u sent me this ask :)) its not very often that i get to talk abt iwwv with a person who agrees with me that the book is sad but not that good

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Hey Ralph! I was wondering if you have any advice on dealing with the new year coming. I often get really anxious around the new year bc of all the productivity, must be better, must level up, must change yourself tremendously, must learn new things and try new hobbies and don’t quit kind of atmosphere that comes around this time of year. I hate it but fall for it every year and just feel bad about myself. I always with resolutions with things I genuinely want to do, but it always feels so daunting. I always feel such immense pressure to be better but never actually stick to it anyway so I feel like a failure. I feel like there’s something wrong with me. But I can’t accept that there are other perspectives. I also get a lot of pressure from family to get a new job, make more money, read self help books, etc. all throughout the year and it just ramps up during this time. I hate it but still feel the pressure to follow these ideas. Have you ever experienced something like this and if so how do you deal with this?

Oh anon - I'm so sorry your brain and people around you are fucking you up in this way. Sending heaps of love. Sorry this is too late to help with the specific new year's resolution question - but I hope it's helpful.

I definitely have had feelings like this, particularly this time of year. I remember a couple of years where I started feeling like things were going well and then when I hit any obstacle it felt like the entire year was ruined

You're feeling anxiety. And the thing about anxiety is that it's very easy to think that if we just do what it wants - it'll go away. But it doesn't - it asks for more. But at the same time if you fight anxiety it also gets worse. It's very easy to be anxious about something and go "I shouldn't be anxious" and be off in an anxious loop.

The goal, unfortunately, can't be to eliminate those thoughts, but to accept them and therefore minimising their power. It's really hard, and super annoying, but I do think it's the main way through.

A few bits of practical advice:

If at all possible stay away from the worst bits of social media for the next week or so (keep to tumblr where the only new year content I've seen is Virginia Wolf's New Year's Resolutions which were very wholesome). Not in a commitment to improve yourself - but just to stay away from media that reinforces your brainweasels while it's at its worst.

Create space away from your family. What this looks like will depend on what your life looks like. But their pressure will

I really enjoy Oliver Burkeman for this (this is a good sample - there are heaps of his columns at the Guardian and his book 4,000 weeks should be accessible on libby). He's a reformed productivity geek and he's providing an alternative perspective - while acknowledging their power. He has a new year podcast.

If you're thinking about New Year's resolutions next year - maybe think specifically about how to make things easier at this time of year (could you resolve to minimise your exposure to New Year content?)

I hope this help - but the important thing to remember is that you will find your way through this. It might be hard and feel hard today - being a person is often hard. But however this new year's goes, or next, you will learn how to make things work for you a little bit more.

[lestappenforever]

Quick and Weekly (or rather race week specific) kind of analysis, basically just my takes on what went on during the race.

WE NEED TO GET THE YOUNGER ROOKIES SEATS. Ollie was an absolute beast yesterday, finish p7, managing the tyres, MANAGING A 7 TIME WORLD CHAMPION BEHIND HIM, holding off the rest of the pack, close to overtaking george, just Nico with his experience was able to hold him off a bit longer. Scoring more points in F1 than F2. Scoring more points than almost half of the grid. All with just one free practice session. This kid has a future (the only driver I could actually call kid😂)

Ferrari look fast. Finally being able go see Charles’ pace yesterday, in addition to not being fucked over by strategy or any shit, they’ve done a pretty good iob on that car. I mean, a rookie scored on his debut, and so far, a Ferrari’s always been on the podium. Of course this is just the second race, but still.

Haas aren’t that shit this year. The car looks good. Kevin was an absolute MENACE yesterday. Holding off Yuki, Esteban, Zhou, Valtteri, Alex, Logan, Daniel ALL WHILE HE KNOWS HE HAS A 20 SECOND PENALTY. Also Nico’s pace was pretty good, holding off Zhou and Alex, and kind of with ease. Apparently having a TP other than Guenther is proving to something quite positive.

RB are in shambles. Like, Yuki was pretty good, but wasn’t able to convert his p9 quali to points, and Daniel is just not doing well, that even with that 20 second penalty to Kevin, he’s still dead last. (Maybe it wasn’t McLaren, it was the choice of leaving red bull back in 2019) (I have a whole thing in my head about Daniel, and I still want to make sure if the facts and data before sharing it). But it might have been a miss that RB didn’t get Liam in this season, but we never know. I mean, Helmut Marko did say that there could be mid season surprises. And so far, non of the RB drivers seem or look to be even in contention for that Red Bull seat, in all honesty, it appears so far that Checo is more likely to keep his seat for 25!

I am not 100% convinced with either McLaren or Mercedes. Like yes both are consistently scoring points, and gaining, but I can’t really find that speed. Like they are okay, better than last year, but not Ferrari level improvement. Also, the strategy that both teams put Lando and Lewis on (especially Lando) cost him a better position, more points, maybe even a podium let’s be real.

Williams are okay. Ngl, I love James Vowels, his technicalities and as he said in DTS his geek-inees (hoping to be like him honestly one day). I feel like, Saudi and Bahrain aren’t really their tracks, because they did well, both Logan and Alex gaining positions. They are a team I’m waiting and hoping to see thrive, because Alex and Logan both deserve it.

Stake were okay, especially with that Zhou crash in FP3, like he couldn’t even qualify, but strategy kind of wasn’t ideal, and in all honesty, they’re just kay, not too fast, but not too slow.

And finally, our leaders. Despite everything, they do be cooking (Adrian and Max, you’ve both done it). That speed, the tyre deg, just everything about that car is phenomenal. And Max deserves it, after everything he’s gone through in his life, and he deserves to re-write the history books, which he already is, with re-reaching seb’s record not even 6 months after breaking it. This man who everyone is bored of his dominance are all going to be crying and missing him after he retires (I DON’T WANT TO THINK OF THIS DAY, BECAUSE I’LL BE THE FIRST ONE IN TEARS) but Max Emilian Verstappen is something that hasn’t come and probably won’t come again in Formula 1 and Motorsport history.

So yeah, that’s kind if my inital takes in the race, kind if a mini summary as well, and may we always listen to the Dutch National Anthem because I’ve been emotional this week with Max and everything happening around him.

This is such a wonderful analysis that really doesn't need anything added to it because you've got this spot-on, so I will try to keep my own thoughts relatively brief.

Ollie did incredible and I am so excited to see him in F1 permanently. Him and Liam? The future is bright.

I am cautiously optimistic about Ferrari and I really hope that, for once, they won't fuck themselves over which is in no way, shape or form a guarantee.

K-Mag did so fucking well, and it brings me so much joy seeing my fellow Scandinavian putting on such a performance. And Nico had a decent race, which also makes me happy. It's obviously far too early to be sure, but their new team principal seems to have been a good choice.

VCARB are just... Well, I'm not even going to utter my thoughts. All I will say is that there is no way in hell Daniel will be a good replacement for Checo. Claiming Daniel is better than him is just laughable.

McLaren and Mercedes are giving Ferrari 2023 vibes with their strategy calls yesterday, and it will be interesting to see how they develop over the season.

I truly hope Williams will improve over the course of the season, because I want to see Alex and Logan do well so fucking badly.

As for Stake: they were unlucky, and I'm just glad Zhou made it out of that crash unscathed. It's a shame he missed out on being able to qualify because holy hell did that team do their fucking best trying to get his car ready. I want to see him, and Bottas, do well.

As for Red Bull, they are as impressive as I hoped they were going to be so far this season, and as a Max girl it makes me laugh seeing Max haters bitch about his dominance making the sport boring. I, for one, am having the time of my fucking life. I won't even think about him retiring at this point, and will just keep enjoying every race for as long as I can. And seeing Checo starting off the season in such a strong manner fills me with joy. I am by no means Checo's biggest fan, but the shit he went through last season at the hands of disgusting Helmut Marko and the F1 community at large has me wanting him to suceed. Put some respect to his name because God knows he's fucking earned it.

Thank you so much for sharing yet another wonderful analysis, my darling. You have no idea how happy it makes me, and how much I appreciate it. ❤️

[agapi-kalyptei]

happylog, week 35/2024

still riding that high from the last pancake party. it's good to feed people and make them meet other new friends

gave away some more Red Gold and I'm left with just two last tubes that are already booked, so nothing goes to waste

i was greedy/naughty though and opened the Erős Pista jar for myself and wow it's so so good. so worth the [bodily function censored]

I actually opened MuseScore and worked on my quartet piece for a few hours, for the first time since like April/May

mental clarity is slowly returning. I might write about it separately but antidepressants+adhd+long covid combo really did make me delusional in the past few years

as the weather's slowly getting colder (NOT you, thursday and friday!! gross.) the migraines are also going away

asked in work if I should work on any other tasks and they said no. so I'm just geeking out about PostgreSQL internals and thinking about to make videos for youtube shorts about it (and a longer one later)

dinner with an old friend in V! can't believe we've met what... 9-10 years ago?

dinner in V! have I mentioned? V? food? great food? In V? the restaurant? that has good food? gosh i love this place. the staff still recognizes me even if I haven't been there much in the past few... yeah. you know

got new sweatpants. they're not as soft and stretchy like the old ones, but that's a good thing because they're 100% cotton and 0% microplastic, hopefully

just tried out the new running shoes. gosh they're instantly comfy, they're easy to put on and off,I can't believe I scored them on literally the first try in the first shop, even the size was just right.

not-so-happylog week 35/2024

skipped Kommi's party on Friday I kinda wanted to go, kinda enjoyed my social anxieties, but ultimately got a migraine which solved the problem for me

skipped ERSO Day on Saturday health was bad, it was a nice sleepy weather I didn't really plan to go, but also felt wrong not to go also felt wrong to not finish the footage I promised, uh, two years ago

ultimately, it's good that I have something firm to measure my level of delusions against. I'll still have to make a formal apology to K2rt, and I still want to finish the footage, but at this point I'm pretty sure the audio from all the chamber concerts is just too garbage to be salvaged for anything other than like 15 second fb/insta stories, and hopefully the main concert is still doable, but most of it is probably copyright-unpublishable because ContentID sucks

I'm still mulling over the encouragement I received during the dinner. To be myself, to create something, without expecting adventurous life or aiming too high or trying to be someone I'm not. To just record or share a piece of my life that's mine, without worrying whether it's better than what others are doing. FOMO is just wasted energy.

[extramundi]

Sorry Arnold, Michael Biehn is the real star of The Terminator.

Biehn initially perceived the script as potentially cheesy and worried it could result in a silly sci-fi movie if handled by a less skilled director. However, he was drawn to the complex character of Kyle Reese and believed he could deliver a strong performance regardless of the film's success.

He told SyFy in 2019: "In the hands of anyone other than Jim Cameron's, it probably would've been a silly movie. This story about a man sent from the future to 1984 to save a woman from a robot also sent from the future.

"The reason I took the role was because I really liked the character of Kyle Reese and I knew I could play that character really well. Even if the movie didn't do well, that was a really good character: a great fighter in love with the woman he was sent to protect. That part made me think, 'Well, I can probably come out of this unscathed.'"

Biehn says his memorable audition for The Terminator saw him initially bring a Southern accent from another role into the reading. It didn't go down too well and he thought he had blown his chances of the part. Yet, despite this hiccup, he impressed Cameron.

Biehn's confidence in the project grew after spending time with Cameron during a delay in production. He was impressed by Cameron’s serious approach and deep understanding of the story, which gave him more assurance about the film's potential.

"[Cameron] could answer any question I had about the story and how he was going to shoot it. When you're around Jim, even for a little while, you're quickly aware of how extremely talented he is. And so I had a little more confidence when we started making the movie than when I first read the script."

Yet, despite the film being iconic today, it didn't make Michael Biehn a star. It did enjoy a solid performance at the box office, making around $40 million on a $6.5 million budget, but The Terminator did not initially rank among the top 20 films of 1984. It received mixed reviews, including criticism from major outlets like the Wall Street Journal.

Biehn recalls, in an interview with Den of Geek: "What happened was that everybody starting getting their VHS recorders, and they started buying the tapes, and the video stores started opening up right around 1984, 85, and that’s where everybody saw the movie, on their cassette players.

"So it was a hit, but it had been a slow build. You know, people talk about it being an iconic movie, with iconic characters and so on – it was never that back then, and you have to remember, too, that Arnold was not a superstar. He was basically a body builder and Mr Universe and, with all respect due to him for being Mr Universe, but all he had done at that time was Conan, and people didn’t take him particularly seriously as an actor. And he only had two lines in the movie!"

Biehn believes the film's popularity grew in popularity as Schwarzenegger's celebrity grew. "It wasn’t like that movie came out and [people thought] “Oh Michael Biehn’s a star! He’s getting offered stuff right and left!” It just didn’t happen that way. It just came out slowly, and so I didn’t realise it was going to be anything until… I don’t even know when!

"Maybe, like, the early 90s, when they made T2, I figured, 'Okay, they’re gonna make T2, that’s Jim… and then they’re gonna make T3.' And then you realise this is a big deal, but it’s very hard to pinpoint the time when I knew it was going to be very good."

One of Biehn's favorite stories from making The Terminator was when he was called by Cameron to watch a rough cut of the Tech-Noir shootout.

"We worked eleven weeks on The Terminator, and they were hard: streets of Los Angeles, night shooting, etc. We finished shooting on a Saturday morning (when the sun was coming up) and I got a call from our producer, Gale Anne Hurd, on Sunday. Jim had a rough cut of the Tech-Noir scene and he wanted me to come to see it. I wanted to stay in bed all day, but I went over to his office.

"When I arrived, he was manically typing something, and he didn't even realize I was standing in his doorway, watching him for about thirty seconds. Before he showed me the rough cut of the Tech-Noir scene, I asked him what he'd been working on. He said, "Well, 20th Century Fox is interested in doing a sequel to Alien, and they've asked me to write a treatment." That's Jim Cameron for you. He doesn't have an extra 10 minutes."

[suspectjpg]

HURT　ME?　　♫　　KNOW　YOU　WON'T　HURT　ME!

[     lola tung ,  cis  woman,  she/her   ]     ⸻     have you seen CRYSTAL "MOONEY" SONG?　yes,　the TWENTY - ONE year old JUNIOR that’s usually wandering around campus? they’re currently focused on BIOLOGY,　so we’re sure they’ve been super busy with studying.　according to rumors, they were michael’s HALF - SISTER and he knew they GRAVELY INJURED SOMEONE IN A HIT - AND - RUN.　does it make sense considering they’re known for being DRIVEN as well as BLUNT?　either way,　the phantom is threatening to bring scary things to light,　but let’s hope whatever they’re hiding stays in the dark.  [  maria,  21,  she/her,  mst,  body horror ]

rly quick stats

introducing crystal moon song

known as. mooney

dob. 2003 march 23

zodiac big three. aries sun, scorpio moon, virgo rising

sexuality. bisexual

extracurriculars. model un, book club; i think she'd also be in an intramural soccer or volleyball team and i am *palms out* asking for her teammates

inspirations. kim kelly (freaks and geeks), mandy milkovich (shameless), kat stratford (10 things i hate about you), jade west (victorious), miranda hobbes (sex and the city)

biography

tw car crash

mooney was born crystal moon song to her mama, esther song. the way she came wasn't very conventional. esther & michael kepler's father were friends from college, still so close decades later that esther asked him to be the sperm donor for the child she was hellbent on having after coming out of a loveless marriage and a career she hated. he agreed! it went well, and esther moved to cottonwood, arizona as soon as she knew she was pregnant. while mr. kepler wasn't involved in her life all that much, mooney and her mom would often make the drive to california to pay the keplers a visit during school breaks, and even christmas/thanksgiving a couple years.

if mooney's full name didn't gave it away, just know that esther is like the final boss of all hippies. she moved to cottonwood to start a psychic business in downtown sedona, which was only a short drive away. she's big on spirituality, connecting with nature, mediation, and whatnot.

esther always said that mooney was the universe's ultimate test of patience for her, with her sarcasm, dry humor, and iron will-- all decidedly the very opposite of esther. but mooney would argue that she needed traits like that, to keep her mother's feet planted firmly on the ground and reel her back in through every disastrous fling.

mooney always had a bit of a temper too, and she started playing soccer to have some kind of outlet for it. she's good too! really good. esther's got the money to really pimp her out, with her own soccer coach, soccer camps during the summer, etc. she plays all the way through high school, team captain and the whole nine yards.

it ends badly. mooney was only 15 when she gravely injures a pedestrian during a hit-and-run. she had taken her mom's car to go to a party. it was dark. she was still a little drunk. it's bad. it's worse because she ran away. three weeks later, and she finds out that the person suffered a head injury that landed them in a coma.

much to her luck, esther used to be a judge. she talked and talked and pulled strings she hadn't pulled in years to get mooney out of the situation scot-free, all on the condition that esther pays for the family's medical bills. that meant no more investing in mooney's sport. it also meant dipping into her college fund. it was tragic, but it was also esther's version of a 'lesson' for mooney.

slowly, she fell out of love with the sport. all of her club friends drifted away from her and she quickly found out that the only reason she really liked playing it was because she liked the people she was playing with. that, and the guilt just weighed on her. she looked elsewhere for her passions, for her comforts.

she just so happened to find them in the sciences, specifically biology. it turns out she got more out of the hikes and the camping trips her mother forced her on as a kid than just realigned chakras, or whatever her mom said. she loved nature above all else! wanted to understand the why behind everything she saw and so she saw to it, devoting a huge chunk of her time to academics through the rest of high school.

she gets a pretty nifty scholarship from golden state for her stellar grades. it's not everything she hoped. it's not playing on the women's soccer team for some ivy league miles away from home, but it's fine. she hustles to pay for what her scholarship doesn't cover every term, and that's been her life for three years.

personality

mooney is aggressive. in everything she does. she's abrasive, irritable, rough around the edges, and highly! judgemental! can come across as a know-it-all, and a snob, but it's just because she knows better than you do and she can prove it. her words. has made her fair share of people cry because of her need to punish idiocy.

but she's also incredibly loyal to the few people she's got in her corner. while she will go to extreme lengths to get revenge, she won't shy away from helping her loved ones with the same ferocity. she is equal parts brave and hard-working. an academic, even now. definite gym bro too, with the highlights of her workout pics and everything.

loves fiona apple and mitski and telling people 'you just don't get her like i do'.

wordle and duolingo streak warrior!!!

doesn't wanna admit it because she's so science and logic driven but she so buys into the whole nature-spirituality-yoga-pilates-green-juice-every-morning schtick her mom's got going on. she's the plant mom friend. she's a birder too, like seriously. has a note on her phoone full of all the different birds shes seen.

doesn't drive anymore. could never get over that mental block to get behind the wheel again; it makes her too anxious. so she either walks, skateboards, or ubers everywhere.

[goddesspharo]

EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

@earnmysong tagged me for this. Feel free to do it if you want!

This was surprisingly difficult because I decided to go with shows that had finished their runs and am in an extremely nostalgic mood about tv today. I think I watched more TV in my youth and now I am more of a movie gal. (Haha, too bad the meme isn’t 8 movies to get to know me!) I don’t know if these are my favorite favorite shows, but either I was ridiculously into them (ah, fic) or I genuinely loved them or they hold a special nostalgic place in my heart.

The X-Files

Alias

Freaks and Geeks (A perfect one season show that fully captures its perfection in the finale when a Grateful Dead fan says she wished she had never heard the band so she could experience it again for the first time ever.)

Beverly Hills, 90210 (The OG, of course, and only the Brenda Walsh years. If you were not raging when HER BEST FRIEND and HER BOYFRIEND hooked up with each other during Brenda’s summer abroad and then made it seem like SHE was to blame for not being supportive of THEIR BETRAYAL, then I don’t even know what to say. Team Brenda always.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (If we’re being honest, it’s probably just the first three seasons after which my viewing dropped off to sporadically at best.)

House, MD (The first two seasons of this show were so good and happened to coincide with when I was in med school so it hit differently when I was studying different pathway deficiencies at 3am just as it also happened to be the answer to the case of the week! Also lupus was never that rare, you dorks! Unfortunately, this show also has the distinction of disappointing me so much - I don’t even think I watched the last few seasons - by giving me the thing that I wanted back when it was a thing that was never actually going to happen and morphing it into this soul-sucking beast that devoured the show in a really terrible way when it happened. I am, of course, talking about when they made House/Cuddy canon and turned them into needy people in a fundamentally unpleasant way that didn’t work.)

Happy Endings

Gossip Girl (The OG, probably the first two seasons although realistically I am going to say that this show was great just during the first 13 episodes of the first season before the writer’s strike. Again, I didn’t even watch the last few seasons except for that Dan is GG reveal. But in the halcyon days of ol’ LJ, I was all about the fic and picspams and the mixes for these terrible idiots. Why doesn’t Leighton Meester have a better career than what she has when she was the best out of the nonjudgmental breakfast club? She has Adam Brody so she wins in that regard, but I need her to have gigs that are not bad made-for-Netflix movies!!!! Did Cobra Starship break up? Can we get a sequel to “Good Girls Go Bad,” which is somehow still a banger whenever a clip randomly makes the rounds on Twitter?)

This is my warning that I’m going to be feral about it when Succession and Yellowjackets come back at the same time at the end of this month.

[1950-hatter-critiques]

Other than overuse of the Protagonist-Centered Morality trope, there are other issues with The Girls' personal lives in the show "Totally Spies". This post is about the times their lives shouldn't have played out like that because of things in the real world not working like that.

Season 1

The Eraser: My only problem with this episode is at the end, when The Girls jump up right as the class picture's taken & they block Mandy out of the shot. Anyone who's ever been in a class photo knows that's not allowed. The point of a class photo is to have a visual record of the students who were in the class. The school would not have allowed use of a photo that blocks out one or more students. The photographer would definitely have to re-shoot that, & The Girls would have been told to stay seated.

Abductions: I'm glad Clover didn't get the role, because she didn't really deserve it. She didn't even bother to learn more than one line & only felt like she deserved the role because she 'has great hair & perfect teeth.' Someone who dreams of being an actress, like Clover does, should be willing to put in the work to be a good actress. I did feel that it was a bit out of character for Sam to be taken in by the idea of stardom, especially since she normally runs from the spotlight, but I suppose even Sam can have her moments. At the end, when the drama teacher decides to give the role to Mandy, is where another problem arises. While I can see Clover deciding to attack Mandy over this, I can't see Sam going along with it, especially since she & Alex are normally stopping Clover from attacking Mandy. Also, deciding to chase someone around a stage, trying to hurt them, would've gotten them banned from being in any other school plays & is not funny. Your protagonists shouldn't be trying to hurt people just because they're succeeding where the protagonists didn't.

Queen for a Day: I know I mentioned this in another post, but it works here too. Here's my problem: Arnold should not have agreed to help Clover. He's right, she's a very mean person, so give the guy some self-respect. He should've stuck to his guns & refused to help her, even if she would date him. No one should ever be so desperate for a date that they'll date someone who treats them so horribly, & no guy should be coercing a girl into dating them in return for a favor that's so important to her. It was a nice dose of karma to have Clover win but then have to date Arnold, but it would've been better karma to have Mandy win thanks to a campaign run by Arnold, who agreed to help Mandy after Clover turned down his generous offer. I mean, his original offer didn't require Clover to date him, so it didn't make sense to turn him down. Clover just refuses to associate with nerds and/or geeks. I mean, I would definitely take all the help I can get if I had a job that could require me to travel abroad at a moment's notice. Clover's own attitude should've been her downfall. Would've been a good moment to start giving her some character development.

Soul Collector: This episode has Sam worried that she's prematurely aging, & during the week of the school's Youthful Spirit contest. In the end, the school's elderly lunch lady, Mrs. Muckle, wins. My only issue is my confusion about a member of the school faculty being allowed to enter the contest. Usually, school-sponsored contests are for the students, not the staff. I mean, school staff are generally ineligible for school-sponsored contests, as their being employed by the school gives them access to the votes, which would be unfair.

Malled: My problem with this episode is that Mandy frames Clover, even though Sam was the one who insulted her. Mandy seems like the kind of person who would make sure to get revenge on the right person.

Do You Believe in Magic?: The problem I have with this episode is that they accuse Mandy of sabotaging their photos for a photography contest. First, Mandy has never resorted to sabotage to win, so it's unfair to assume she was deliberately trying to ruin their work, especially since she's also entered in the photography contest & would've had a legitimate reason for using what appears to be the school's only dark room. The door wasn't even locked, so it'd be reasonable for Mandy to assume no one was using it. My sister took a photography class in high school, & she can confirm that while there is a light above the door to let people know that the room's in use, it doesn't turn on automatically. Someone inside the room has to actually flip a switch. Also, most photographers prepare more than one batch of prints FOR THIS EXACT REASON!

Season 2

Starstruck: My biggest issue with this episode is that neither Clover or Mandy knew what the Happy Burger ad was going to look like before they auditioned. I'm pretty sure that violates industry regulations. The models in the ads have a right to know what the ad is going to look like. It's just sketchy to hire someone to model for you but they're not going to know what the ad looks like before it premieres.

I Want My Mummy: I'm just wondering how Mandy didn't notice that her ring was a fake. As big a deal as she makes over authentic designer brands & never buying knock-offs, she seems like someone who would be able to tell a fake gem from a real one. Or at least would have it authenticated.

The Yuck Factor: Considering how harmless the frogs were, it seems a little out of character for Alex, the animal lover, to be freaked out by them. I could understand wanting to get out of dissecting them if it was because she didn't want to hurt them, but Alex was avoiding them because they freak her out, which seems like a weird thing for an animal lover to get freaked out over. Also, I want to point out that most, if not all, frogs used for dissection are hatched in labs & are dead before they're even sent out to whatever school or lab is using them for dissection.

Here Comes the Sun: David breaking & stomping on his easel seems a bit out of character, as he's normally a gentle guy. I can understand being frustrated, but not everyone reacts with violence or aggression. Also, decent art supplies are expensive. There's no way a serious artist would just mindlessly destroy their supplies just because they're frustrated. If they did, they'd be out of supplies before they could finish a single project.

Boy Bands Will Be Boy Bands: First, I'm confused that Mandy didn't know her tattoo wasn't real. It came out of a box, she applied it herself, & everyone else seemed to know that needles are used for permanent tattoos. Mandy is normally very in-the-know about fashion, makeup, & all the latest trends, so it seems unlikely that she wouldn't know how real tattoos work. Second, it doesn't make sense for Mandy to invite Clover to her party that's only for cool people. Even if her reason for inviting Clover was a literal insult, it doesn’t make sense for Mandy to even consider it. Clover is Mandy's biggest rival for fame & popularity. Inviting Clover to her party would be like inviting her to try & upstage Mandy, & Mandy would never give her that opportunity. Also, Mandy loves to make fun of Clover for being left out of things, so she would never actually invite Clover to anything. It would make more sense for Mandy to find a reason to invite Sam & Alex and leave Clover out. Third, Mandy's idea of flirting with David is just...yuck! If it were anyone else, I would've written it off as them being awkward. But, it's Mandy, & we know she's got more flirting experience than that. The writers really should've run that line by an actual teenager before putting it in the show.

I, Dude: My biggest problem with this episode is the machine. Both the options it provided include meat. That would not go over well, considering schools are required to provide alternative meal options for people with dietary restrictions. How was Clover ok with this, since she's a vegetarian? The school could be subject to a lawsuit with a machine that doesn't provide adequate meal options for alternative diets. Also, I'm not sure I'd consider anything that comes out of that machine to be edible. The pancakes came out of a tube & made a 'splort' noise, which means they weren't solid. The tofu burger seen at the end is tofu goop on two slices of white bread. No lettuce, no tomato, no condiments. It's plain & disgusting. Also, it gave all three of The Girls the pancake meal, even though Clover was the only one who ordered. A machine like that wouldn't actually be very popular in real life.

Season 3

Physics 101 Much: It doesn't make any sort of sense for The Girls' parents to decide to let them all live together in a beach villa, with no adult supervision, while they're in Europe. I'd believe that Sam is responsible enough to live in a beach villa by herself, but not with Alex & Clover; they would definitely be problems. Sam would end up being responsible for them, & no one should have to be responsible for people their own age. Also, given what Stella thinks of Clover, I find it very hard to believe that she thought Clover was responsible enough to live anywhere unsupervised. I get that the creators were trying to give a reason for The Girls to not worry about being caught by their parents, but the whole thing just doesn't make sense.

Freaky Circus Much?: I have many problems with this episode, but my biggest one is that Sam & Alex are still friends with Clover after this episode. She signs them up for a reality TV show without telling them & brushes off their anger & concerns over their privacy being violated. The camera crew caught Sam naked in the shower & filmed Alex sleeping. Both of those things are illegal & creepy.

Forward to the Past: I don't think anyone should be doing 'hyper-sonic dating,' but I will discuss this some more in my upcoming Clover-centric post.

Planet of the Hunks: Sam & Alex should not have read Clover's diary. Clover should not have stolen their clothes. Sam & Alex should not have spilled Clover's secrets at school. Clover should not have publicly humiliated them with the blimp. Everyone was bad in this episode & I think the series would've been better if it never happened.

The Incredible Bulk: Honestly, I don't blame Raymond too much for breaking up with Alex. As a personal trainer & bodybuilder, anyone more ripped than him is probably scary & unnatural. I mean, bodybuilders aren't even that ripped most of the time, I'd be super concerned about anyone as ripped as Alex was, especially since she wasn't that ripped when he saw her earlier that day. My problem with this episode, was that Alex apparently faints around cute boys. I'm not sure what kind of help she needs, I just know she needs help.

Super Nerd Much?: Class President may be an elected position, but school mascot isn't. At least, not at any school I've been to. Mascots are chosen based on who does best at tryouts, just like any athlete because mascots do athletic stunts to rile up the crowd at games. Also, mascot costumes are designed to hide the wearers identity, so we shouldn't have been able to see that guys face. Their identities are meant to be kept secret from rival schools, as people might decide to kidnap their rival school's mascot. Also, there's likely more than one so that someone can fill in if the first guy is injured, sick, or otherwise unavailable. Basically, the writers really don't understand mascot culture.

Dental? More Like Mental: First, the writers are clearly unfamiliar with U.S. schools. Someone should tell them that in the U.S., school buses aren't considered part of the public transportation system. Second, Alex's toothache is supposedly cured by the laughing gas she was given as part of the villain's plot, but that's not how that works. Unless she went to an actual dentist to get her cavity taken care of, she should be in pain again by the next day. I have issues with how Clover acts in this episode, but those will be covered in my upcoming Clover-centric post.

Evil Promotion Much? Part 1: Rabbits don't actually eat carrots very often. Carrots contain a lot of sugar (for a rabbit) so they're only used as a sometimes food. Also, even rabbits eat more than one vegetable.

Evil Promotion Much? Part 2: It is very out of character for Sam to be concerned about her looks, but at least Clover points out how inopportune the timing is.

Evil Promotion Much? Part 3: Clover suddenly has a debutante ball coming up. Why was this not mentioned in either of the previous two parts? It's so sudden, it doesn't make sense.

Season 4

The Dream Teens: The spread for "Most Photogenic" would not have actually happened at a real high school. Merging two people's photos into one is not something yearbook staff would actually do, not to mention that it defeats the purpose of "Most Photogenic". At a real high school, they would've just shrunk the photos to fit them on the same page. Or they would've put the photos on adjoining pages & made the yearbook slightly longer. No one would look at that problem & decide that the only solution is to merge these two people's photos together. Also, Mandy's on the yearbook staff, but somehow didn't know what they did for the "Most Photogenic" spread. That doesn't sound like Mandy at all.

Alex Gets Schooled: I find it hard to believe that Mandy could get all F's. Her mom seems pretty strict about her grades. Plus, Mandy is often determined to prove that she's the best at, well, lots of things. Someone that determined to be the best wouldn't allow herself to have such horrible grades. Also, report cards generally have the student's name on them, so that mix-up should've been caught immediately. Also, why does Alex's dad look like he could be related to Jerry?

Sis-KaBOOM-Bah!: I wish that the school would've decided to reschedule the competition when it became clear that Clover & Mandy were too tired to compete. Also, Arnold shouldn't have won. That competition was to pick a new Head Cheerleader, which is always chosen from within the squad. Arnold wasn't even on the squad, he shouldn't have even been in that competition.

Spies on the Farm: My only problem (that I'm mentioning in this post) is that it took Sam & Alex this long to call Clover out for the way her attitude & behavior interferes with their missions.

Season 5

Evil Professor: It's not fair for The Girls to be possessive of jobs they didn't want & think are lame. Also, a decent manager wouldn't fire employees that are actually working & are happy to be there in order to re-hire employees that complain, left early on their first day, & called out on their second. I don't care if they gave him a giant bean, he should've stuck with the employees that are actually working.

Evil Pizza Guys: It is so unfair that they didn't let Sam see Rome. I mean, they didn't have to leave just because Alex wasn't feeling well. She could've just recuperated in the car. Or, Clover could've just taken Alex to Euro W.O.O.H.P. & come back for Sam later. Or they could've checked into a motel. Basically, there were other options, they didn't have to deprive Sam of the trip she's been dreaming of.

Evil Shoe Designer: It is so unfair for Sam to get mad & throw Guillaume in the fountain. It's not his fault that they don't speak/understand French & assumed he was asking Sam on a date. He didn't do anything to deserve the way she treated him.

Evil Mascot: No respectable university in the U.S. would have a 'can of dolphin-safe tuna' as their mascot, & Mali-U seems very respectable. A mascot needs to be something that can move & interact with the crowd, a can of tuna can't do that. I could see them changing the mascot to a dolphin, but not a can of tuna. Also, in college, mascot identities are kept secret, so there wouldn't be a big ceremony in front of the whole school. Although, since their original mascot costume didn't really hide the wearer's identity, I guess I can see them deciding to make a big deal of it. But, they would still have to pick more than one person in case Alex can't fulfill her duties.

Ho-ho-ho-no!: How did no one notice that Mandy's name was entered multiple times? Every method of Secret Santa that I know of involves there being at least one person ensuring that it's fair & no one's name is entered multiple times. Perhaps their dorm is unorganized, but surely all those people handing Mandy presents had questions. Also, when the snow floods the dorm & Mandy's presents get washed away, exactly how far are they going? Why isn't she going after them? We've seen what she'll do for designer clothes, there's no reason she wouldn't be running down the stairs to go get them.

Totally Dunzo Part 1: The school really allowed a student to put themselves in charge of parking assignments? Even if it is just for the dorm, there's usually an employee for that. There's no way Mandy had any actual authority to move The Girls' parking spot, which is probably why she didn't get any actual campus authority involved.

Season 6

The Wedding Crasher: Why does Sam's dad look like if Jerry had a kid? Also, how is Sam able to afford all those expensive gifts she's gotten her parents? Her family must be very rich.

Evil Ice Skater: Alex's dad in this episode looks nothing like her dad from 'Alex Gets Schooled'. Did the animators forget that we've already seen him? Or does Alex have two dads?

Inferior Designer: I already made a post about this episode, but I'll summarize. Clover is terrible at fashion design & should NOT have gotten an 'A'. She also should've been dropped from the class a long time ago. Sam, Alex, & Mandy are all better at fashion design than Clover & should've gotten the best grades.

So Totally Versailles! Part 1: First, a single piece of oversized luggage moving around in the cargo hold is unlikely to throw off the weight distribution of the plane so much that the plane is at risk of crashing, unless it was poorly made or the pilots are terrible at their jobs. Second, I'm pretty sure the airline would've preferred an employee to handle the issue, instead of three random strangers. An airline employee could've resecured the luggage, instead of The Girls' solution of dropping Mandy's entire wardrobe into the ocean. What is she supposed to wear on the trip? Or even when they get back home? The Girls really need to think about long-term consequences here.

Phew! Sorry about the long post, I just have a lot to say. I would like to point out that I don't hate Totally Spies or The Girls, I just think there are times when things just don't make a lot of sense. Also, I understand that cartoons don't need to be realistic all of the time, but they should still be realistic some of the time so that the audience can relate to it.

Now, I know I mentioned an upcoming Clover-centric post, & I just want to warn you guys that it's not positive. I wanted to be like her when I was little, but as an adult, I realize that she's not a good role model. I could go on, but I'll save it for the post. Anyways, thanks for reading!