#get hype for season 2 yall

[supercalime]

i personally cannot wait for s8 to start with an episode that focuses on the new normal under gerrard and on the eddie drama potentially. just for a small (or big?!?) bucktommy hint to be dropped in the middle or end to say that we are SO back!! 😍

Gosh, i am truly excited for whatever they do with the plot and arcs for the characters. It’s 911 so we know what we are in for. I worry about bucktommy for many reasons. I mean, we still have zero confirmation about Lou being back, and I don’t want to get my hopes up by going “when x happens” like certain unhinged fans of a certain fanon ship that shall not be named act. I want it so bad to see buck and tommy navigate through their relationship this season (I’d love to see them on a call together or maybe tommy gets hurt and we see the effect it has on buck), I really do, but unfortunately I will hold on expectations until there’s a undeniable confirmation from the 911 gods.

But we can manifest, besties. I’d love a big or small hint throughout the episode too!

[famousblueraincoatmp3]

i really hope yellowjackets doesnt go in the W/ndigo direction that would be so trashy. i hate how butchered and appropriated it has become. 

[hiddenzev]

Take A Shot : Chapter 1 [ Kick Off ]

Pairing: Joel Miller x soccer player f!reader

Chapter Summary: You return to your hometown where your history with Joel started.

Chapter Warnings --- no beta, fluff, light angst, Idiots in Love, childhood friends

WC: 7.7k

series masterlist, AO3

A/N: Finally another fic is out! I've been busyyy and I know this is not going to be a consistent updating as my previous fic but I will try my best because this was more fun to write. Also, my favourite football (soccer) team is not performing well since a few weeks ago and it's been depressing yall...im not okay...fuckkk Hope yall enjoy this one even tho yall may not be soccer fans.

— May 2024 —

"Dad! Let's go!" 

9-year-old Sarah stood by the truck, waiting for her dad to get out of the house. She tapped her foot restlessly, annoyed that Joel was taking longer than expected to get ready to go. She was excited to watch her favourite soccer team, Austin Violet Football Club, play the first game of the new season. She was dressed in the home jersey and shorts, pairing them with the team's scarf around her neck, hair styled as space buns with the help of Joel. The club director invited her to watch the game after signing a 2-year contract for the Austin Violet Football Academy—a part of the Austin Violet FC consisting of both men and women. 

Sarah was an aspiring soccer player. She fell in love with the game at 6, when her great-grandmother played it on TV while she was babysitting her. Since then, she had been going on and on about soccer, and Joel signed her up for a youth soccer club nearby that honed her soccer skills to be selected for Austin Violet Football Academy. It was the most ecstatic she had ever felt in her 9 years of a lifetime when Joel told her that she was selected to join the youth academy. Nothing could compare to the endearment in his heart when he witnessed Sarah explode with joy. 

"The game ain't going nowhere, baby girl. We still got time." Joel said over his shoulder as he locked the door. 

Sarah groaned loudly, exasperated, seeing her dad taking the whole time in the world as if he were doing it intentionally. Her shoulders slumped forward, the AVFC scarf around her neck swaying slightly at both ends to her movement. With keys dangling in his hand, he opened the passenger door for Sarah, and she side-eyed him before climbing into her seat, complaining under her breath. Joel sighed heavily, having to deal with her daughter's attitude again. 

-----

The Violet Crown Football Stadium was almost packed with thousands of supporters from the home and away teams. Everyone was hyped with the anticipation of the first game, chanting endlessly, as loud as they could. The setting sun painted the field orange mixed with the green grass, blanketing it with warmth. The smell of summer is swaying to the beat of the surrounding air. Sarah looked around in awe, watching the fans around her cheering for the team. She could not help the smile appearing on her face as she immersed herself in the moment. 

They were seated in the suites section, which was where other VIPs, players not in the squad, players' family members, or other relevant individuals were seated. The suites were at the middle level, where the game could be clearly viewed. While Sarah was busy scanning everything around her, Joel was on his phone, talking to Tommy about work.

Even though Joel was supportive of her passion for soccer, he did not take the time to be fully invested in AVFC. He knew the rules of the game and only of her favourite player at the time, Kiara King, the striker for Austin Violet women's team. He supported the team in his own way. Without Sarah's love for soccer, he would not have watched soccer but be indulged in baseball instead. There were underlying emotions and memories stuck deep inside him that he did not want to resurface again whenever soccer came to mind.

"Enough about work; Sarah must be real excited about the game," Tommy said.

"Tell me about it," Joel sighed. "She was rushing me until we got in the stadium today." 

Joel turned his head to look at Sarah, whose eyes were sparkling with admiration as she watched the players walk out of the tunnel. The whole stadium roared with claps and howling cheers. It was getting harder to hear Tommy through the phone, with the loud noises filling the stadium. 

"I know you don't follow the team that much but they signed a new player at the end of the summer break," Tommy updated him with the news.

"Oh, really?" Joel said in a disinterested voice as he looked down on the field. Due to the distance, he could not see the players' faces.

The display screen started to show each player of the home team while the announcer introduced them one by one, starting with the goalkeeper and slowly progressing to the attackers. The stadium erupted with cheers for each of the players that had been introduced.

"You won't believe who their new signing is," Tommy's voice sounded distorted in Joel's ear.

"I'll call you back later! I cannot hear you right now! The game is starting already. Bye!" Joel shouted into his phone before ending the call without waiting for Tommy's response.

Sarah stood in her seat, jumping up and down, shouting excitedly with the rest of the supporters while Joel stared at her lovingly. The announcer started to announce the midfielders and the name he had long forgotten blasted through the stadium speakers, catching his attention back to the screen and confirming his doubts. 

There you were, waving to the crowd that welcomed you with big arms and a smile on your face. The smile that played a significant role in his childhood was now back in town. He was confused with the longing he did not expect to feel as he looked at you, guilt on his face. Suddenly, the noises around the stadium died down—muffled in his ears—the long lost memories with you that he continuously tried to lock away flooded his head. He could not erase the image of you, eyes brimming with tears as you turned to leave him 12 years ago. Out of his life. Now, you were back to haunt him.

"Dad! Look! She's wearing my number!" Sarah shook him out of his thoughts, pointing at your jersey number—20–the same as her birthdate. 

What kind of a sick game is the universe playing with him, seeing the coincidence of you wearing Sarah's favourite number on your back.

-----

23 years ago, your family moved from Dallas to Austin due to your father's job, and moving into a new home brought you a lot of emotions. You were excited to live somewhere new but also sad to be unable to be with your friends anymore.

It was the first day of school. You were sitting at your table, waiting for someone to sit beside you as your table partner. The kids in the class looked wary as they came in, not knowing what to expect for the first day. A few kids had reddish eyes because they were crying and were not emotionally ready for 1st grade. You were not one of them. 

Your father had already trained you to be tough from the get-go. He was teaching you soccer right when you started learning to walk. Little did you know, he did it to live his dream through yours. He was the definition of tough love. He did not go easy on you during his home training. Sometimes, losing his patience, hurling insults and hitting you, but you took everything like a champ because if not, the anger in him would be thrown toward your mom. 

Growing up, you witnessed the treatment that your mom got from him. You got in between them most of the time, wrapping your body around your mom to protect her, but what can a small and frail kid like you could do compared to the tall and big figure of your father? 

"Hi! I'm Joel. What's your name?"

A voice beside you brought your mind back to the classroom. You turned your head to find a boy with a smile that could light the whole classroom brighter than it already was. His hand is out towards you, expecting a handshake.

"Hi, Joel." You replied, taking his hand as you gave him your name.

"That's a pretty name," he said, his dimples on display as he smiled, which rendered you speechless. Your heart stopped for a beat at that moment, and it felt very strange because it was the first time you had felt that way, especially by a boy. 

"Thank you." You thanked him with a shy smile sent his way. 

From then on, the two of you were inseparable. He followed you everywhere you went, and you did not mind him at all, enjoying his company. He talked to you about everything, be it his favourite TV show, his favourite animal, or even his embarrassing moments. He was not afraid to tell you about his grandma, who was taking care of him and his baby brother once his mom left after their dad's death the previous year.

You saw his forlorn eyes as he told you the story. You empathised with the amount of hurt in his voice as you listened. In return, you confided in him about your parents. About how strict your father was towards you and how it pained you to see your mother's suffering, not being able to stand up for herself. 

You were surprised when he pressed himself against you, arms circling your body. He was hugging you, and you learned that it was his way of comforting not just you but himself as well.

The two of you bonded through the traumas and the amount of time you spent together during and after school. Although, most days after school, you couldn't play with him and the other neighbourhood kids due to your father's intense training sessions, he always filled you in on the things you missed. He always welcomed you like no other kid does. He did not judge you because of the circumstances that you were living in. 

Even though he lived at the other end of the street, he would cycle past your house just to see how your training was going in your front yard. Your father had noticed him cycling past a couple of times, but he did not say a word; he only sent his hardened glares towards Joel, which the brave 7-year-old did not cower away from.

There were times when you got distracted by Joel, which resulted in you receiving harsh punishments for not focusing on your training. Tears formed in your eyes from the pain in your body whilst you carried on with the punishments, but that didn't stop you from secretly waving at Joel as he passed by, smiling at you. 

On days without training, you joined Joel and the other kids cycling and exploring the neighbourhood. Not afraid to get dirty, you found yourself rolling around in the grass field as you looked at the boys who were playing fights or flying kites. Joel never left your side—always making sure you were taken care of, not wanting you to get in trouble with your father if you got injured while messing around. 

Sometimes, he can be too much about the little things—constantly wiping dirt off your face and other parts of your body as if you are not used to it, trying to carry you when you were perfectly fine with walking, or even worse, covering your ears whenever the boys said a bad word which didn't even come close to what you have already heard from your father. You were an independent kid, so you were annoyed when Joel started to treat you like a baby, but you didn't call him out on it, knowing that was just his big brother instincts. 

You shared everything about school with your mom whenever you reached home. It was the only time you could comfortably talk with her without Dad's presence in the house. She would coo when you told her about the things Joel did for you, finding it sweet that there's a kind boy out there taking care of you. You complained to her about how Joel was treating you like a baby, thinking she would take your side, but you found her laughing softly at your annoyance. 

"I like Joel. He sounds like a good friend, " your mom said softly, caressing your head.

"He is." You nodded your head, looking at her with your big round eyes.

"I'm happy you found a good friend, bubba." She kisses the crown of your head, lips lingering there for a while.

"He found me first, mama." You innocently corrected her, and she just smiled to herself, hugging you tight.

-----

— June 2024 —

Players were lined up in the tunnel, getting ready to get out to the field for the match. According to the positions you play, you were standing in the middle of your team's line, shaking your limbs to rid the nerves away. Each player was allocated a child mascot to walk to the field. There was a girl around the height of your chest, standing beside you. You noticed her staring at you with admiration in her big, round eyes. You instinctively smiled as you bent down to meet her eyes. 

"Hi! What's your name?" you asked her in a higher-pitched voice, similar to that you used when talking to kids. 

"Sarah," She meekly replied with a bashful smile, still maintaining eye contact with you.

Her smile reminded you of someone, but you could not put a face on it. You ignored the thoughts of her looking familiar to you for some reason.

"Is this your first time being a mascot?" 

"Yes," Biting her lip out of being scared. 

"You don't have to be nervous, okay? You got me." You reassured her, seeing how nervous she looked. 

She nodded her head slowly, trusting you with your words.

"I like your hair, Sarah. It's pretty." Pointing at her space buns as you compliment her, trying to distract her from her overwhelming feelings. 

"Thank you. My dad helped me with it." Her eyes widened. She tilted her head towards you to show the work of art her father had created. 

"Your dad?! Wow! He did a pretty good job." Your smile grew wider, and you adored how she was bragging about it. 

The image of your father crept up in your mind. You cannot help but compare your father to hers. From just hearing that Sarah's father did her hair, you knew that he must be a wonderful dad to her. He definitely adores her so much, even to master the hairstyles for his daughter. 

Meanwhile, your father was still psychologically and emotionally abusing you at 30. You were glad to be able to make it to pro, leaving the house, away from his grasp. He will call you after every game—whether your team loses or wins—he will criticise your mistakes. Not once has he said that he was happy and proud of you despite your achievements. After some time, you don't even expect or want to hear that from him. There were times you purposefully ignored his calls, but a few hours later, your mom would be calling as she sobbed, begging you to just listen to what he had to say. 

After you left Austin at 18, you told your mom that you would do whatever it took to let her be free from your father. However, she insisted that she loved him too much and could not bear to leave him alone, knowing he would suffer from the fallout. You get that he is the love of her life, but it hurts so much to see the relationship infested with so much toxicity that she thinks it's better to hold on to it instead of letting go. 

"Does your dad do your hair, too?" Sarah pointed at your hair, which you had braided.

"No, I did it myself. Is it nice?" You let her touch your hair as you answered her.

"It's so beautiful!" She adoringly exclaimed.

"Aw, thank you!" 

You heard the shuffling of the players at the front of the line, starting to move out of the tunnel. 

You held out your hand for Sarah to take. "Are you ready to make your dad proud?" You raised your eyebrows expectantly.

She nodded her head vigorously, moving along by your side. The cheering slowly got louder as you walked out, and when you finally stepped into the field, you felt Sarah's hand gripping you tighter. You placed your other hand on hers, caging her hand between both of yours to let her know that you were there with her. You know it's not easy for a kid to walk out to a full stadium that is overwhelming with shouting and cheering. 

Eventually, everyone was lined up perfectly, side by side, facing the cameras. The children were standing in front of the players, and you placed your hands on Sarah's shoulders, ensuring she was okay. You noticed her looking up towards the suites section when you followed her gaze. She was probably looking at her father, you thought. However, there were so many faces everywhere that you could not search for and focus on just one person. Hell, you did not even know what her father looked like. 

After shaking hands with the opponent team, Sarah and the other kids had to return to the tunnel. Before she went off, she turned to hug you.

"Thank you!" she said while her cheek was pressed in your chest. Her eyes closed as she embraced the moment. You wrapped your arms around her shoulders, swaying her from side to side. 

"Well, aren't you our lucky charm? Just watch because we're gonna win this game for sure."

She grinned from ear to ear, slowly letting go of you. Ugh, it's annoying that she looked so much like someone you know, but you don't know who exactly it was. 

"See you around, you lil angel" You pinched her cheeks before returning to your starting position.

Sarah must have been your lucky charm because your team won that game. Since then, she has always been in your mind whenever you stand in the tunnel before a game. She had quite an impact on you. You never figured out why she looked familiar to you until the day you met her again.

-----

Joel and Sarah were walking hand in hand through the hospital corridor, the unmistakable sterile scent present in the space weighing heavily on their shoulders. The floor was quieter than usual—visiting hours were finishing in a few hours. Sarah was still in her soccer fit from earlier training while her bag was swaying along on Joel's shoulder. Trudging into the wardroom at the end of the hall, Joel let go of Sarah's hand, who ran inside as soon as she saw her great grandma, Nana.

"Nana!" She shouted, rushing towards the bed. 

"Look who it is! My bunny!" Nana excitedly opened her arms, waiting for Sarah's hug.

They stayed embracing each other for a period of time—Sarah pressed her cheek on Nana's shoulder while Nana slowly stroked the back of Sarah's head. Joel witnessed the moment that had been a usual occurrence for him recently.

The first time when he got the call from Tommy on the day Nana was admitted to the hospital, he had almost forgotten how to breathe. His stomach plummeted to the ground-hearing the trembling in Tommy's voice saying Nana could have died if he had been late to come back home from work. He did not know how he got to the hospital with Sarah when his head was clouded with worry. He carried Sarah on his back when they got out of the car and went inside as fast as possible.

It was as if someone had ripped his heart out and left him to bleed out alone when his gaze landed on Nana's lying form on the bed with tubes sticking to her body. Nana was his grandma who literally raised both of the Miller brothers—single-handedly—after her daughter left them in her care. So, to see the person who was very dear to him go through something that horrible—heart failure—altered something deep in him for a while. 

It had been a week since she was admitted, and Joel was still processing that. This was the second time she had to go to the hospital because her condition seemed to worsen over time. He knew he had to prepare for the worst scenario sooner or later, but he was still in denial about it all—he didn't want to let go of his constant. In a way, he didn't want to face his abandonment issues from the women in his life—his mom, you and Talia.

"How are you, Nana?" 

"Never been better." Nana gave Sarah a cheeky wink.

"I saw you on TV yesterday. I'm so proud of you, bunny." Nana leaned in to kiss Sarah on the crown of her head. 

"Did you see her? She was standing with me." Sarah was elated to share her experience as a child mascot with you.

"I did! Did you talk to her?" Nana asked.

"She was so nice, Nana. I like her. I think she's my favourite player now." Sarah's eyes were dreamy as she gushed about you to her great-grandma.

"C'mon now, you change your favourite player every month." Nana's voice was flat as she rolled her eyes jokingly at Sarah

"No I don't," Sarah argued, lying through her teeth. Nana was speaking the truth. Sarah changed her favourite player almost every month according to her mood, but this time it was different. To be physically in the presence of the team and the good impression that you made on her struck a chord in her to choose you as her number one player no matter what.

"Whatever you say, bunny." 

Joel was already sitting beside the bed, listening to his daughter talk about his childhood best friend. For the past 12 years, he had reflected on what had happened throughout high school. It was a terrible experience for him when he looked back on it—chasing popularity, peer pressure, toxic masculinity, and, for the worst part, leaving you alone in your misery when you needed him the most. His apology was long overdue, and he thought he had already lost the chance to speak to you until you returned.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Nana lowered her voice, which made Sarah lean in slightly, curious about the secret. "I've met her as a kid before." This fact made Sarah part her lips in shock, and her eyebrows shot up fast to her forehead. 

"Really?" Sarah's voice was barely louder than a whisper while she stared at Nana.

"Nana—"Joel spoke for the first time to interrupt Nana. He was slightly afraid to let his past and current life crash, not knowing how to handle it if it came to light. 

"She is a friend of your father." Nana ignored his warning and continued to tell Sarah the facts about the past.

"She is? You didn't tell me."  Sarah swiftly turned around to Joel, furrowing her brows, feeling slightly betrayed that her father had known you personally all this while and kept it a secret. 

Joel gave Nana an annoyed look, disappointed that she told Sarah about his connection with you. His jaw tensed before he opened his mouth to explain himself.

"That was a long time ago. We are not friends anymore." That was the best he could say, and he could tell from Nana's expression that she was disappointed in him as she recalled the time she had heard what had happened to you. 

"What happened?" Sarah questioned him, paying full attention to him, hearing the story for the first time.

"She left Austin to play professional soccer, and we didn't talk anymore." He shrugged his shoulders as he explained to Sarah in the simplest terms. If it was laid out on the table, the truth was that he fucked up. He did not want Sarah to know that because he wouldn't be able to handle his daughter's disappointment in him. 

"Was she a nice person back then, too?" Her big round eyes were still lit with curiosity as she learned new facts about her favourite player.

Joel reminisced about the time he spent knowing you with a longing look in his face. His eyes looked out the window by the bed, absentmindedly, as your face came into his mind, hitting him with all kinds of emotions. Your petite hands were in his as the two of you walked together after school, the soft glow on your face from the warm sunlight and your hair flowing tenderly with the breeze. 

"She was," he whispered. A slight curl on one side of his mouth appeared that was not unnoticed by Nana. She had been holding on to the hope that the both of you would make amends someday, and it warmed her heart that the time had finally come closer for it. She missed you a lot. You were like her granddaughter that she never had, not like her mischievous grandsons that gave her headaches. You brought a different kind of joy to her life, and when you told her that you had to leave, both of you were crying in each other's arms. She knew she did not have much time left in this world, and she hoped it wouldn’t be too late to see you again.

-----

— July 2024 —

"You know the drill, right? Just interact with the kids. Watch how they play, give them some advice, and remember to smile. The cameras will follow you around during the shoot." The team's social media manager, Emma, briefed you again as you came into the facility centre to prepare yourself for the shoot.

Filming with kids has always been your favourite. It allows you to stay in touch with your roots and serves as a reminder that there are kids who look up to you, so you have to always set a good example for them. 

"I heard that their parents are here too?" You looked at Emma for confirmation.

"Yes. They are sitting in the stands. It will be a surprise appearance for them as well. After the filming, you will take pictures with the players and their families. Got it?"

"Okay, got it."

You got mic'd up while the filming crew settled everything else. Once they were set, you moved quietly to the training field where the young academy players were having a small match amongst themselves. It stroked a sense of nostalgia in you, seeing them running and kicking with their little limbs. Your heart warmed with the memories of you being in a young girl's team, dreaming of being a soccer star.

You heard some murmuring when you walked past the stands where the parents were, but your focus was fixed on the young players. Walking faster as you neared the sideline, one of the girls spotted you and squealed, causing them to stop their actions. 

You continued walking towards where the coaches were standing, trying to hide the excitement on your face.

Some of them gasped, covering their mouths, not believing that the first team player had come to watch them. 

"Come on, girls! Keep playing!" You clapped your hands, signalling to them to continue playing. 

They looked at each other with smiles still stuck on their faces as they slowly moved their bodies again.

You shook hands with the academy team coaches and manager, who were also glad to see you. They talked to you about the players and the drills they went through, so you got the gist of how they ran things. You did a quick scan of all the players, and one of them stood up to you. That player was Sarah. It had been a few weeks since you met her, and you thought about her more than you know. You were enamoured by her innocence that you don't experience in your daily adult life. Wearing the same hairstyle, the blurry mystery face you cannot put together to match her face appeared in your head. 

Sarah was playing as the right winger. You were impressed with her movements, especially for someone that young. Both of her feet were well balanced; one leg was not significantly stronger than the other, which meant that she had more of an advantage in her dribbling skills. Her focus on the ball once she got the ball controlled was unwavering, and she was not afraid to take her chances at shooting. You saw the massive potential of a player in her and hoped to see her grow as time went by.

As the game continued, you tried your best to watch the other girls, but your eyes followed Sarah. Compared to the rest, she was significantly versatile—being able to defend as well as her attacking skills. Unbeknownst to you, she was slowly gaining your heart even though you had only met her once.

After the game ended, the girls sat together for debriefing; exhaustion was evident on their faces flushed, strands of hair sticking to their sweaty faces, and eyes fixed on the grass below them. The team's manager and coaches said a few words before letting you take the stage. When it was your turn, the girls turned their heads to you as if they forgot you were there momentarily. Having their full attention, you started talking.

"What do y'all feel about the game?" You asked them. 

"Bad." One of the players in the front spoke up, and you later found out that her name was Ellie. 

"Why do you feel that way?" You raised an eyebrow at her, not expecting the quick acknowledgement of your question. 

"Because Sarah overtook me a few times, and that means I sucked at defending today." Her eyebrows furrowed as she explained—displeased with her own mistakes. 

"We all make mistakes sometimes; of course, we feel disappointed when they happen. Even a professional player—like me—makes them. But the mistake is what make us strive to be better. We reflect on it and improve from there." You explained to all of them.

 "And the fact that you are aware of your own mistakes tells me that you are one step closer to being a better player than you were before." You smiled reassuringly to Ellie, liking her boldness in speaking her mind. 

It's ironic that when you were around their age, you were very critical of your own performance—beating yourself up over something so small because you knew your father would never let it go. You never come around to look at things positively until you meet the other professional players—who became your good friends—during your career. 

"Now, tell me what you did good in the game?" You squatted down to be at the same eye level as Ellie. 

Ellie opened her mouth but closed it instantly, unable to think of an answer. Her eyes darting around, away from making eye contact with you. 

"You've had a couple of good long passes to the forwards, and your tackling form is pretty great,"

"Really?" She said softly—not believing what you said. 

"Absolutely! Why would I lie?" Cocking your head to the side, with one brow raised. 

Her cheeks raised slightly, tugging the corners of her mouth into a small smile that she tried to hide from you. 

You spent another 20 minutes answering the girls' questions—how you first started soccer, how you recovered from your bad injury, and even what boots you wore for your games. You took a group photo together before they dispersed to their parents, waiting for you to take pictures with each family. 

You were already halfway done with the team when you spotted Sarah among those in the queue, and you noticed two men standing by her, but it was a quick glance before you were able to take a long look at their faces. The line of players you were taking photos with kept moving slowly as you took your time to get to know each of them properly. 

Once you said goodbye to one of the girls, you saw a small figure rushing towards you in the corner of your eyes. As soon as you turned back around, you felt a pair of arms encasing your waist. You looked down and recognised the same space buns that Sarah had when she was one of the child mascots. She looked up at you, chin resting on your stomach while she portrayed a big grin. You cannot help the adoration that came into view on your face while you hugged her back. 

"Hi, lil angel!" 

"You remember me!" She looked with a mix of surprise and joy on her face.

"How could I forget our lucky charm with this pretty face?" Sarah stared at you with her big, round eyes sparkling with so much admiration that you almost felt guilty for being the subject of that look.

Her grip on you loosened when she turned around, gesturing for-you assumed-her family members to come closer.

"Come and say hi!" She moved away from you to let the two men near you.

Maybe it's the athlete in you that made your eyes move towards their physique first. You noticed they were both almost the same height, taller than you by a couple of inches. Their toned muscles, which were on display for you, seemed to be earned from hard labour instead of the gym. Catching you, scanning their bodies, one of them cleared their throat, making you shift your focus towards him. 

He looked way younger than you—clean-shaven with curly, medium-length hair, passing his ears. You sensed that he had an easygoing and friendly demeanour when he introduced himself.

"Hey, how r' ya?" He sounded nervous but still was able to confidently reach out to shake your hand, with an unexplainable look on his face. 

You returned the handshake with, "Hi, nice to meet you." You cocked your head slightly to the side, sensing the weird awkwardness coming from him. 

You pulled back and looked at him for a moment before glancing at the other man who was standing beside him. You had to do a double take when your gaze landed on that man for a few seconds longer. Your heart suddenly picked up its speed from the recognition. Unexpectedly, a face vaguely reminiscent of your time back in Austin was here. 

Joel fucking Miller—the reason for your happiness in Austin, but he was also the one that injected bitterness in your heart in the last few years in it. 

His face was different than the one you tried to erase 12 years ago, to no avail; you didn't succeed. Time clearly had worn out his face a little bit—the clean-shaven face back then had been filled with scruffy facial hair, creases on the forehead, and noticeable crow's feet by his eyes. Even so, it only enhanced his features to be more attractive than he already was before. 

Joel could not maintain eye contact with you like he used to. You noticed his tensed jaw and darting eyes towards everywhere else except you. He seemed like he wanted to hide in a hole somewhere. Seeing him not in the slightest bit happy to see you again stung you a little. You could not blame him for how he was acting, knowing how bad things were left between you. 

You had long moved past it after going to therapy. As time went by, you saw things from a different perspective, in a more mature way, to understand his position at the time. You took the fact that you won't see him again and did your own healing by trying to forgive him for his immaturity back in the day on your own terms since you were not able to talk openly with him.

Now, he was standing before you, and somehow, you felt relieved to see him after all those years.  

"Do you recognise me?" The younger man asked you, giving an expectant smile as he waited for you.

You turned your head back to him, still speechless from seeing Joel. He could only be that one person. 

"Tommy?" You asked with one brow raised at him.

"Oh! I thought you wouldn't remember my name!" His jaw dropped, and he slowly crept up to a broad smile, a result of the fact that you remembered his name. His hands were rested on his chest from the shock.

"Of course, I remember you. It just took me awhile to recognise you because you look different," you looked at him up and down. "Look at you! You're taller than me now." You gestured at him with your palms opened, waving your hands over his grown body.

"More handsome now, am I right?" He struck a pose, hands bending upwards to point at himself with both thumbs. He sneaked a wink at you, making you jog down memory lane, remembering how his brother winked at you during your younger days. 

You huffed a laugh at his boldness, "I see that you never change." You smirked at Tommy, who had just shrugged his shoulders at your remark.

Your ears perked up when you heard Sarah giggling as she watched your interaction with Tommy. For a moment, you had totally forgotten where and what you were doing while talking with Tommy. You glanced at Sarah briefly before looking at Tommy again.

"She's your daughter?" You asked Tommy.

"Ew, no." Sarah scrunched her face in a disgusted way at Tommy. Tommy rolled his eyes at Sarah; you could tell they had a slight sibling-like relationship. From the realisation of their age, you knew that Sarah could not have been Tommy's daughter. 

"This is my dad!" She told you proudly as she slid her hand into Joel's. 

Your eyes slowly moved up to see Joel staring at you with an unreadable gaze. You used to be able to tell what he was thinking just by looking at him, but the time apart had faded your ability to do so. 

You did not know that he had a daughter. You wouldn't have known because you had cut off contact with him and the people who had wronged you after you left. After a few years, when you had moved on with the past, you were tempted to know how he was doing, but you did not bother to do anything about it, afraid of what feelings might come to the surface.

You wondered who Sarah's mom was, and guessing her age, you assumed that Talia might have been the one. Talia was the cause of your nightmare in high school. Thinking about what she did always made your blood simmer with hatred. You could forgive Joel, but Talia was that mean bitch that would take you so much longer to make peace with. With Sarah coming around, you assumed that Joel must have made her his wife, and it almost made the food that was processed in your stomach come back up your throat.

"I-I didn't know that," you tried to hide your surprise but the way your voice strained at the start was obvious to anyone. Your eyes went back and forth between him and Sarah. Finally, you could see the unmistakable similarities between them as they stood side by side. 

You squatted down in front of Sarah, gazing up at her with newfound adoration. "So you're a Miller, huh?" A soft smile on your face as you stated the information that you had just learned.

"Sarah Miller," she nodded her head.

"Well, I should have asked for your last name. You looked so familiar when I saw you that time," you tilted your head as you slowly traced her face with your eyes.

"I did?" She looked up at Joel for a few seconds, and you followed her gaze. Joel was standing still, eyes darting between you and Sarah. 

"I'm way prettier, though." She blurted out after turning back to you.

You involuntarily snorted, hearing her comparison with Joel. "Of course you are," you beamed at her confidence which she definitely did not inherit from her dad, "but you both have the same distracting smile." 

"What does that mean?" She furrowed her brows.

"It means that you have a beautiful smile, just like your dad when he was your age." You gently poked her cheeks with your index fingers, which made her smile.

Both of you were smiling to each other when Emma reminded you to quickly take the pictures. You stood up and held your hand out at Sarah, who gladly took it to follow you, standing in front of the camera.

"Okay, what serious pose do you wanna do?" 

Sarah crossed her arms without hesitation and puffed out her chest as best she could. She lifted her chin up, pursing her lips with knitted brows to seem fierce. You smirked at her actions, finding her adorable, before striking the same pose beside her. 

The second one was a fun pose. She had you piggyback her, and the two of you were laughing as the photographer caught the moment. Your eyes flicked at Joel and Tommy, who were looking on behind the photographer. Joel was staring at you with a forlorn look, which you did not miss before he tensed up when he caught you looking at him. 

"Good. Now, with the family." The photographer said, turning to Joel and Tommy.

The Miller brothers stepped forward to stand beside you, one on each side. Sarah was standing in front of you with your hands on her shoulders. Your heart started to beat faster as Joel came near you. He put a certain distance between you both when he stood beside you. 

"Closer, please." The photographer gestured with one hand at Joel and ordered him to stand closer towards you. 

Joel reluctantly took a step closer, which resulted in his arm brushing against yours. That made you stand still as you felt tingles running up your arms to your neck. Sarah turned her head slightly from the instinctive tightening grip of your hands on her shoulders. You relaxed your hands in a flash when you realised that you could have hurt her. 

"One, two, three!" The photographer raised his voice slightly, and you heard the camera clicking away. He stopped and lowered the camera, not satisfied with your expression.

"You gotta smile," He portrayed his own smile, looking at you and Joel. 

You turned your head to glance at Joel, and you saw him looking at you from the corner of his eyes when he noticed your movement. In an instant, you looked back at the front to see that the photographer was ready to continue taking photos. This time, you smiled without fail. 

Once it was done, Sarah turned around to say goodbye. You bent down slightly with open arms, and she gladly reached around you to snuggle against your chest. With warmth enveloping your heart, you closed your eyes and rested your chin on her head, taking in the sweet moment with her.

Tommy looked at both of you with eyes representing relief. He remembered you fondly because he regarded you as his older sister. You had come over to the house often to play with him and, oftentimes, look after him when Joel was not around. Unlike his older brother, you were gentle and kind to him. He was 11 when you left, and it broke his heart that his caring older sister was moving away. He blamed Joel for it for a while and showed resentment towards him. He heard rumours about what had happened from the kids in the neighbourhood who went to the same high school as you and Joel. He didn't know the truth of it all until he was grown enough to learn about the whole story from Joel.  

Tommy took a peek at Joel, who was standing beside you. He could tell that Joel had missed you too, even though he had not said it out loud for the past 12 years. He did not have to because with one look in his eyes, Tommy could feel his longing. He knew that his brother still felt guilty about what had happened, but all that he wanted was that the both of you could make up for it because he missed his family before the emotional hurricane happened. 

You cleared your throat from the awkwardness after Sarah held her dad's hand again.

"So, y'all heading straight home after this?" You tried to find the courage to look at Joel, who was already staring at you but failed to do so, finding comfort in Tommy instead.

"We're going to the hospital to visit Nana," Sarah blurted out which made you snapped your head towards her with a frown on your face.

"Sarah—"Joel quickly

"Nana is in the hospital?" Your voice was high-pitched when you took in the new information. You were still frowning when you shifted your gaze to Joel.

"You don't need to worry about it." Joel tried to dismiss it, but you were obviously not satisfied with his answer.

"What happened to Nana?" You took a step closer to him, which caused him to instinctively move a step away from you.

"Nothing." He avoided looking at you and gripped Sarah's hand tighter, pulling her away to escape. You stood there, watching him leave.

Tommy hesitated to move as he witnessed what had just happened. He touched the side of your arms to lessen your worry. Then, reaching into his pocket, he took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to you.

"There's my number in there, so feel free to call anytime. You can ask me about anything, and I will try my best to answer it. I miss you, sis. It's great to see you again." Teary-eyed, Tommy opened his arms slightly, wanting to hug you after 12 long years.

You welcomed him by wrapping his neck with your arms, tip-toeing slightly from his height. His grip around you was tight as he swayed you from side to side. 

"I miss you too, baby boy," you whispered in his ears, tears lingering on the edge of your eyes.

"I'm not a baby," he argued with an annoyed tone, just like when he was younger, fighting that he was just a boy and not a baby.

"You're still a baby to me." You pulled back with a tight-lipped smile, not wanting to cry, while you looked at his 24-year-old face. 

Tommy let you go and returned to a mischievous look, "Call me, okay?" You nodded. "I'll see you around." He winked before jogging away to catch up with his brother and niece.   

next part

[justfandomwritings]

An essay on why I won’t be watching next season.

1. Obviously actors have to promote their shows and hype them up. But the interactions between Nicola and Luke during the press tour were, in retrospect, clearly also acting performances, and it is rare to see acting within the press tour to the degree that those two put on while grossly exaggerating things like how sexy this season would be or how much Polin we would get. I don’t blame them. It’s clearly what they were told to do. And it’s fine to hype a show, but I think a lot of people felt genuinely lied to with the WAY this season was hyped.

2. The casting has been color conscious and inclusive in a way I greatly admire. But they have not been inclusive in other ways. And that’s not to say they should have to be. One show shouldn’t bear the responsibility of being inclusive to everyone and making up for an industries worth of exclusion. But we have exactly one size inclusive character in this whole show, and I’m not even demanding more, but to butcher the season of the only size inclusive person in this show this badly and in these ways sends me a clear message of what the writers thought they could get away with with a curvy actress and how they saw her.

3. The wait times for this season and next season are just too long. The hype dies down too much between seasons such that we care less and less each time we get a new one, especially when you only give eight episodes, regardless of their length. You know who also gave us a season in 2022 and then an eight episode season this year? house of the dragon. And they have to CGI a fuck ton of dragons. Yall were sitting on this season being done filming for over a year and for what? What did you do in post? A bee? And then to have the audacity to do it in two parts? Fuck off.

4. Add to that. The costumes and new sets looked so much cheaper this season than previous seasons. Where did the budget go.

5. The plot is too crowded. Maybe you thought a curvy girl couldn’t carry a season. Maybe it was bad writing. Obviously you needed Cressida and Eloise to have decent amounts of screen time but you also did half of Francesca’s story and set one up for Violet and Benedict that collectively took the majority of the screen time and left us with very little Pen and Colin. Which was a disservice you never gave Anthony or Daphne’s seasons and was why they were good. We got enough crumbs of the others to tell us what was happening but not enough to make them feel like main characters or to make it feel like an ensemble show. There were leads in season 1 and 2. This season it was an ensemble with too many moving parts. But everyone’s said that. It’s not surprising.

6. My biggest problem is the tone. The blame. Admittedly I’m a woman who relates strongly to Penelope so I’m not impartial here. But for a character who spends her entire life being abused by every single person in this show, who is pushed to her absolute breaking point before finally giving her mother and the tonne a taste of their own medicine. For that character to receive no grace, no understanding, no respect, for the vast majority of the season hurt. To not only have zero understanding of her situation but to frame the entire plot of the show around the fact that SHE alone should be sorry. To have minimal to no groveling from Colin over what he said last season, to have no acknowledgment of how he treated her as a safety net, to humanize Cressida who made her life hell with minimal acknowledgment of that fact, to have Eloise get ONE comment from Cressida of all people about her friendship with Penelope but no real reflection from Eloise or acknowledgment on her part or apologies for what a truly SHIT friend she was for DECADES. That hurt. Because the message is that sure, they can push you to your fucking limit, you can break after years of being bullied for your weight and your looks and your status. Your own mother and sisters hands can be filthy with insults and abuse. Your friends can treat you like utter garbage for years. They can befriend your bullies. Your soon to be husband can, very recently, insult you to his friends behind your back. But you owe them the apology for breaking after years of abuse. It’s not that the tonne couldn’t be angry or that they all should’ve fallen at Pen’s feet. It’s that those arguments never happen at all because once again, just like when she was being used and abused by everyone, everything was put on Penelope. And the cycle continues.

7. Colin should’ve groveled more. I know I said that in the previous point but it really ruined things for me so I want to emphasize it. I wanted that man on his knees the whole season, and I should’ve known I wasn’t gonna get that when y’all dropped the list of songs and there wasn’t any of the A List Yearners on the list. But I’m still mad.

8. Actually that’s a good point. Did anyone else think the songs didn’t go as hard this year? Except Pitbull were we excited about any of them?

9. You did the Pride and Prejudice ballroom trick with the dancing alone thing and you didn’t nail it. If you’re gonna do that trick it has to fucking HIT. (And it has to be enemies to lovers.) And you did it half assed. You should be ashamed.

10. There was a two second window there when Cressida asked the maid for help where I thought they were gonna swap lives and the maid would go with her aunt and Cressida would become a maid and I was like “holy fuck is Cressida gonna become Bennys love interest?” and that would’ve been better than what y’all did I think. And it would’ve justified her excessive screen time.

11. I love gender swapping Michaela and making Francesca bi. We love it. But why was Francesca immediately interested. Once again the writers don’t understand pining. Michaela is PINING for Francesca and can do nothing but love her from afar. Francesca loved John completely and whole heartedly. Michaela was a beautiful love story for her but was also a second chance. She loved John completely. She would never have an emotional affair on him. How did you immediately ruin such a beautiful second chance romance?

12. Where was Pen’s friendship with Anthony or Lady Danbury? Why wasn’t Colin proud of Pen the way he was in the book? To make her even more alone? To emphasize that she was alone and at fault and helpless? Fuck off.

I just don’t have it in me to watch this show deteriorate further.

[helluvapurf]

*deep breathes* Sooo, those last couple mins from the latest "Full Moon" ep... lets talk about that🍵🍵

Welp, here it is folks... the ep that finally gave us that hyped up "Asmodeon crystal" exchange teased at in the S2 Pt. 2 trailer. And... hooooo boi, I have formed so. many. thoughts. upon rewatching that scene a few times. Some that are... kiiiinda on the rant-y spectrum the more I lingered on 'em, so how bout I share them here lmao

Fair warning in advance, this maaaaay not be particularly "nice" to Stolas in these rambling thoughts, so if anyone out there's a big Stolas(+itz) fan... yall might wanna skip reading ahead- lol .w.;;

*claps*

Okay, so to start things off on a (semi?) positive note, the animation & lighting here is quite beautiful to look at. The glittery curtains, the shine in Blitz's eyes throughout his shifting emotions, even the shots of that one broken chandelier (which I thiiink might've been the same one him & Stolas played under as kids?) was a neat bit of symbolism ngl.

Props to Brandon Rogers as well for his voice-performance on Blitz here cause... gawd did it hit me in the heart how much hurt you feel from his yelling ;-;💔

Curious to see more of the use of Blitz's new Asmodeon crystal in future adventures (esp from that one shot in the trailer w/ him using the portal effects against the DHORK crew), it looks cool~ ✨👍

....ummmm, ok I think that about covers my positives atm. Onto the problems I have with this exchange:

Stolas... okay, you were this close to actually doing a good job ending the Full Moon deal. Admitting to how "wrong" the transaction part of their dynamic was, allowing Blitz more "freedom" via-the crystal (that could also help avoid any legal issues that the Grimoire gave), even wishing him good luck with his I.M.P. business as the night drew to a close... ...buuuuut then Stolas just had to muddle everything up by his whole "even tho you don't have to be with me, I want you with me if you want it~🥺" ...which honestly came off selfish to me than anything else?? Like, dude... if you really ARE regretful of how long you let this deal go for, and truly DO want to let Blitz go... you CAN'T throw in such sappy, lovey-dovey words on top of that?? Otherwise, how can one blame Blitz for getting as confused & flustered as he was throughout that convo... you've basically just sent even more mixed-messages in the grand scheme of things, my dude-🤦‍♀️

"I have wanted you for SO long, the fact that you couldn't believe that I might have these feelings about you, that your first instinct is that its always about sex..." ...Ummmmm Stolas... did you seriously forget HOW this whole deal of yall's started?? 🤨 Waaaay back in the initial-series pilot, to the first official ep, and pretty much the majority of Season 1:

As far as I checked, Blitz wasn't the one who kept making everything about sex... that. was all. YOU. 😒Heck, literally one of the first things you told Blitz upon reuniting as adults in "The Circus", was that you expected he wanted to "ravish" you-

-so like, get outta here with the whole pushing-the-perv-responsibility-bs onto Blitz... you ain't helping your case >>

Finally... like, it was already getting bad enough by the point of Blitz begging & pleading out of fear he'd lose his livelihood without the book, AND not being allowed space to breathe after getting further pushed away (and thus, more pissed off-)... but THEN on top of all this, Stolas just haaaaad to throw in this lil gem: "Blitz... I think so very highly of you. I didn't realize you think so low of me..." ...Stolas, with all due respect... stfu with that lousy, last-minute uwu-ing self-pity party crap😑Just because you TRIED to show more attentive care & concern post-"Ozzie's", outside of the typical bedroom stuff... that ain't gonna prove shit if you're not gonna be consistent with it. Where was that "high opinion" of Blitz during the two of you getting stuck in the sitcom set during "Seeing Stars", when Blitz was having that panic attack performing live, where all you ended up doing was... just hitting on him/praising his bedroom skills again?? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Like... couldn't you have just, I dunno... TRY to actually cheer him up/comfort him like an actual friend, would? Encourage him on his jokes, "just be yourself", promising another way out of there on his own merit... literally, anything could've worked fine and it wouldn't have come off so skeezy imho >>;;

...*sighs* so, yeah... thats basically what I had to get off my chest regarding the ending of "Full Moon". Honestly, had the writers actually committed to Stolas cutting off Blitz (even if harsh), giving the crystal with no strings, then going about their separate ways afterwards, I would've been totally fine with the scene tbh. But all this... odd lowkey-blaming of Blitz thrown in, the sappy words, and Stolas not once actually-apologizing during all this (Like, literally I checked and the only utterance of "sorry" seemed to come from Blitz's end before he got kicked out... for what, I dunno- 🤷‍♀️). Sorry for the length btw, but hopefully that about covers my thoughts on the matter-

[nikaglazr]

The Party - Nika Muhl

Synopsis: Nika and Y/N had been rivals since Freshman season. Nika being the defensive presence of UConn, while Y/N was the same for Virginia Tech. Now, in their junior seasons, both face off in the final four. But the night before the game, the two teams find themselves in the same club.

“You always come to the parties, to pluck the feathers off all the birds.”

PART 1 !!

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/nikaglazr/750590525468491776/the-after-party-nika-muhl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N’s POV

The flight to Cleveland was uneventful. Most of the team slept and the ones who didn’t just sat in silence. Not me and Georgia though

“You pumped for this game, eh?” The shorter Australian girl says as she pushes my shoulder lightly.

“Super. Feeling even better now that we’re going up against UConn.” I respond, smirking a bit.

“Speak for yourself, I have to guard Paige! She’s like 6 foot!”

I laugh at the girls comment before checking the time. 5:30 pm. I look back up at the girl before saying,

“We should go out tonight, like you, me, and whatever girls decide to tag along.” I tell her. I shift in my seat to adjust my seatbelt before turning back to her.

She laughs before responding. “That’s actually a great idea. I’m sure Eliza and Gabby would say yes.” She smiles.

I nod at that as we both go back to our previous activities, talking momentarily every now and then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Time Skip: At hotel*

When we get to the hotel, me and Georgia immediately decide to room together. After getting out the elevator, and Georgia struggling to unlock the door, we finally get in our room. I instantly drop my bags on one of the beds, my body going with it.

“Want me to text the gc to see if they want to go?” I ask pulling out my phone.

“Yeah, we should go to that Bird of Paradise place, they have hella cool lights” Georgia voice echos from the bathroom.

I pull up the gc and type out a quick messege.

~~~~~~~~

Hokie Hoochies 🐱🖤

Y/N: Yall wanna hit up birds of paradise at like 9 w me and Geo❓❓

Kit Kat: oohhhh yes 👍👍

Tilda: I got a assignment i cant 😔

Lanna: OUU YUHH 🗣️

Sam Suff: Trust I WILL be there 🙏🙏

Gabber: Yessss I need it

Carys: Can’t im T’s partner on the assignment

Mack: I cant im so so jetlagged

Y/N: Alr alr bet we loadin in this rental coach bought be ready by 8:30

~~~~~~~~

I turn my phone off and yell at Georgia about what the girls said.

~~~~~~~~~~

*Time Skip: 8:00 pm*

Me and Georgia decide to start getting ready since we have to go pick up the car. I decide to put on i black fitting leather long sleeve with dark green cargos, finishing off with black chunky sneakers and light makeup (or wtv you want).

After Georgia finishes getting ready we head out to the rental car in the hotel parking lot. In a few minutes all the other girls arrive and we all pack into the car, Georgia driving.

“I got aux!” Samyha yells, earning laughs from the other girls.

The ride there was hype. We were all getting ourselves ready for tonight. It was probably for the best that Sam got control of the music, she has really good taste. As we pull up we all hop out the car and head to the door.

“Slim thick, caramel skin, 5 5 this bitch a ten!” Alanna sings as we get in.

“Hair done bills paid catch me slidin inna benz!” Samyha finishes as we make our way to the bar.

We all order various drinks before I decide to get a private bench.

We all sit down and talk for a bit as we take in the environment. After a few minutes some of the girls like Gabby and Elizabeth were out on the floor. The remaining five of us were just chilling and laughing until I hear a familiar voice. Nika fucking Muhl.

Suddenly a group girls come around the corner, my head turns to look at them. Identifying them as Paige Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin, Azzi Fudd, Ines Bettencourt, Ice Brady, and Nika Muhl. I sigh heavily before getting Georgia’s attention.

“Geo, guys, look who decided to show up.” I point the group of girls across the rather crowded club.

“You got to be fucking kidding me” Georgia says, her accent standing out over the loud music.

The girls grunt as we decide to let it go, hoping they didn’t wander over here.

Everything was fine until we heard Elizabeth and Gabby call out to us as she was over with the very set of girl we didn’t want to see.

Some of the girls put on believable smiles while I just sit monotone as they close in on the table.

“Look who I found!” Elizabeth says happy, you can tell she’s at least a bit tipsy.

“We decided that we would be nice and they could share the booth with us.” Gabby finishes the slightly intoxicated girls thoughts.

“If that’s okay with you guys, we can totally get one if it’s not.” Paige buts in.

My distaste must have been obvious as my least favorite person to see points it out.

“Well it’s obviously not, Right Y/LN?” She says with a attitude, her Croatian accent showing boldly throughout each word.

She’s already pissing me of but I keep my composure and mask my hatred, “no no, it’s perfectly fine. Go ahead” I say dismissively.

A few of the girls went to hang out on the floor with Eliza and Gabby, leaving only me, Georgia, Nika, Paige, and Samyha at the booth.

Nika has been giving me looks all night and if there wasn’t so many people around than I would confront her about it, but for the time being I just stay silent and look down at my drink.

Georgia clears her throat before speaking.

“So are you two hyped for tomorrow?” She asks, looking between Paige and Nika.

“Definitely, it’ll be fun.” Paige says comfortably as Nika just nods.

“Where are ya’ll staying?” Sam asks, looking at Paige since she is the more responsive out of the two.

“The- uhhh- Ritz Carlton I think? Yeah that one.” The blonde answers.

As my eyes travel up to find Paige, they meet a glaring Nika. I roll my eyes at her before getting up and heading back to the bar. After I get my drink I turn around only to see Nika coming up beside me.

She orders a drink before looking at me.

“I know you don’t want us there.” She says, taking a big drink of her cocktail.

“Is it that obvious princess?” I say with faux shock.

She just gives me the same glare from earlier.

“We’re gonna win you know?” She says bluntly.

That comment makes my blood boil as I meet her eyes.

“Yeah we’ll see. I might get coach to put Georgia on you so I can get Paige, since- you know- you don’t do to much offensively.”

“Whatever. We’ll let all this talk settle after tomorrow.” She says sighing angrily.

“Aw, sorry princess, didn’t know not being a good scorer got to you so much.” I pout teasingly at her.

The Croatian looks mad but she plays it off alright. After a few minutes of silence and drinking, you can tell she’s a bit intoxicated.

I suddenly feel a tug on my hand, I look and it’s Nika leading me out to the middle of the club. I give the girl a confused look but I end up following her anyway.

Once we get far enough she turns around and looks at me, but it’s not an angry look, it’s a lot more welcoming than that.

“We should dance.” She slurred slightly, her Croatian accent hanging off every word.

“I thought you hated me princess?” I ask playfully.

To be honest, Nika was never the ugliest person. Dare I say she was easy on the eyes. The only reason we didn’t get along was because during our freshman year, when we first played each other, she assumed I didn’t know Croatian. Which led to her saying some things she thought I couldn’t understand. Ever since the trash talk had reached an all-time high.

As I snap back to the scene in front of me, I see Nika taking off her coat.

“You’re a lot cuter off the court.” The girl replies simply, grabbing my hands and swaying gently.

Deciding to entertain the girls actions, I slowly sway with her. I decide to keep at least a little distance just to be respectful.

After a moment she steps closer and before I can react she just hugs me, hands going around my waist.

My breath hitches momentarily as the girl continues to sway back and forth to the music. I decide that her behavior will wear off as I slowly sway with her. I’ll take her to the rest of her team later.

After minutes and a few more songs, I decide that it’s time to head back to the booth. My hand goes to her lower back as I lead her through the buzzing crowd.

When we near the table I make eye contact with Paige. She seems to alert the other girls of our upcoming presence as they all look our way.

“I was wondering where you guys were.” Paige chuckles a bit as I help Nika sit down.

“She’s a little drunk so I brought her back.” I respond looking at the brunette beside me.

I look around the room to see a few UConn girls still dancing. They don’t look like their ready to leave, but Nika needs to get home.

“Hey Paige, if you guys wanna stay here I can run Nika to yalls hotel.” I offer, voice straining over the music.

“That would be great, i’ll give you the key. You know where it’s at right?” She asks while trying to pull, what I assume to be the key, out of her pocket.

I just nod before looking towards Georgia.

“I’ll be back with the rental, love ya.” I say quickly before grabbing the key off the table and helping the drunk girl up.

As we get out to the car I start to hear slurred mumbles from behind me. I smile a little, realizing what happened tonight. That was the first non-hostile encounter i’ve ever had with Nika.

When we get to the car I open to door for her and she stumbles into the car silently. I walk around to the drivers side before getting in and starting the car. I turn on my gps to their hotel and start driving.

After a few minutes of driving, Nika starts talking- well more like mumbling to me.

“Thank you baby.” She says looking at me.

I know shes drunk but god is she hot right now. I look over to her quickly before looking back at the road.

“Course.” I respond simply, a light pink hue coating my cheeks.

Unfortunately, she seems to notice as she shamelessly points it out.

“Don’t be nervous baby, it’s just us.” The Croatian slurs, touching my unoccupied arm.

“Nika sto-“ I barely get out.

“We all know you want me. You want my body don’t you?” She teases. “I bet when you heard me cuss you in Croatian that one time you only got mad because you were turned on, right baby?”

At this point my brain is foggy, whether it’s from the alcohol or the girls bold teases. Probably both.

“You’re drunk and delusional.” I respond surely.

Nika giggles quietly before turning back to the window.

“You so were.” She giggles again.

I decide to ignore her as we pull up to her hotel. I get out first, walking to the other side to help her out.

Once we get in the hotel she immediately runs toward the elevator, pushing the up button multiple times.

The ride in the elevator was boring, thank god. As the door opens, Nika leads me straight to her room. I open the door and she goes straight to her bed.

“This is me.” She giggles, kicking her shoes off.

I laugh quietly before walking up to the now laying down Nika.

“Bye pretty girl.” I whisper as I kiss her forehead softly and quickly.

She only hums in response. I make my way over to the door, but not without taking one last glance to the, now, half asleep girl.

After getting back to the club I see all the girls waiting by the other team’s car. When they see me they all seem to run in at once. As everyone I came here with gets in I see Paige walking up to me.

“Thank for taking Nika back. You’re not as bad as you are on the court, y’know.” She says standing outside my car window.

“No problem. And you’re pretty cool too Paige.” I respond before driving off.

After getting to the hotel, we all part into our respected rooms.

Georgia, around as sober as me, helps a few of the girls into their rooms before coming back to ours.

We both make eye contact as we get ready for bed.

“Good game tomorrow Geo.” I say getting settled in.

“Good game Y/NN.” She mumbles back as she gets in her bed.

I think about the events of tonight. I can’t let Nika’s comments distract me tomorrow. Im sure she won’t even remember it by then. After a few minutes of thinking in the dark, I feel sleep overcome my senses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THATS THE END OF PART ONE !!

I yapped a bit but I hope yall like 😝😝

//////////////////////////



[soyeonsbabygirl]

Cheers and Pom Poms

Cheerleader! Yeh Shuhua x Reader

Practice had been going on for at least an hour now. You guys were all tired, but your first game was in 2 days. To say you were stressed was an understatement. You guys had 2 days to make sure all the cheers were right , moves were tight, and everyone’s voice was being projected properly. Then there was the dance for the halftime show. The dance was cute and sexy at the same time, overall something that would get the crowd hype and excited.

You had made them start the routine over 4 times. Telling the girls “Yuqi you’re being sloppy! Tighten up!” “Miyeon turn to the left not the right!” “Minnie you’re behind a beat!” “Soojin you’re going too early!” “Don’t overthink it Soyeon! You’re getting too much in your head!” Everyone knew you were stressed.

Being the captain of the cheer team was a big deal, but the stress of it being your guys first game of the season and knowing hundreds of people would be there since it was against the rival school with their cheerleaders. You were absolutely stressed beyond point. You were sitting on one of the bleachers in the gyms as you told everyone to take a break.

You were panting trying to catch your breath as Shuhua handed you a water bottle sitting next to you. Shuhua had noticed the amount of stress you were under and badly wanted to help you. She hated when you would stress yourself out this much, she especially knew how important it was to you that they all preformed well. You put everything into this team and it showed at every practice.

You had called practice telling everyone to go home, Shuhua stayed back waiting for you as she saw you staying back doing the dance again. Only difference is you had Pom Poms. When you had stopped she came behind you wrapping her arms around your waist. “Baby…You should really take a break. You’ve been working so hard…” She said as she traced small circles on your skin. You gently removed her arms from you as you turned around to look at her “this routine has to be perfect! I can’t mess up!” You said back to her about to pick up your poms when she stopped you.

“As Co-Captain of the team as well as your girlfriend, I order you take a break…trust me you won’t regret it.” Before you could protest she began kissing you. You kissed her back feverishly as her fingers went inside the tight tank top you were wearing feeling your sports bra. Her touch made you shiver as she parted her lips making out with you making you moan softly in response. She felt the tension in your shoulders ease as you both made out. She pulled away smirking as she looked at your flushed expression and swollen lips.

“See pretty? Don’t you feel a bit better now?” She stroked your cheek with her fingers as you leaned into her touch, desperate for more. She shook her head no as she gathered your guys stuff. “Come on~ I wanna go home and shower. I hate when we get all sweaty and shit.” She complained making you laugh as you held her hand walking out of the gym.

“No, No, No, No!” Your yells could probably be heard by anyone who was passing by the gym. You glared at the girls as you looked back trying to figure out who made the mistake. “Guys the words are ‘H-Y-P-E , Hype is what yall got to be!’ Not ‘Hype is what yall ought to be!’ And who the fuck is adding an extra stomp!?” You yelled at the girls who all were shocked since you’ve never gotten this upset. You were obviously way too stressed to function. The girls especially Shuhua knew this which is why everyone was quiet as you yelled. You left the gym going to the locker room to calm down, Shuhua directed the girls to go home as well as practice the cheers and dance for halftime. She went to the locker room and found you sitting on a bench upset.

She rubbed your shoulder trying to help you calm down, you looked at her about to complain but Shuhua kissed you before you could. Her hands found their way to your ponytail as she took it out messing up your hair as you subconsciously pulled her closer loosing yourself in the kiss. She pulled away placing kisses to your neck making you stifle a moan.

Her hands went to one of your breasts cupping it making you moan softly. “I’m gonna help you relax. You’re way too fucking stressed to even think straight clearly.” She mumbled against your neck, she slipped your shorts off with ease as she made small circle on your inner thigh. You let out soft sighs in response to this as you bit your lip looking at her as your thoughts weren’t even thinking about the cheers and halftime dance, only what she was gonna do. She kept teasing you as her fingers made circles around your ckit til you began to squirm a little like a little kitten in heat as a wet spot formed on your panties.

Shuhua chuckled darkly at this taking in the site of you soaking your panties, “I’ve barely fucking touched you and you’re this wet?” She teased. You began to whine subtly grinding your hips against her fingers desperate for some kind of friction and attention from her fingers. “Please Shu Shu…I need you…need you so badly…please help me..” you whined while you begged her making her smirk as she ripped your panties off and pushed her fingers inside you.

You moaned when you felt her begin to move her fingers moving in and out of you with ease from how wet you are. “Shit baby. You’re so pretty like this. A complete slut in the locker rooms.” She smiled when you moaned even more as she went deeper with each word she spoke. She made you lay down on the bench using your shirt and jacket as cushions.

She spread your legs so you were on full display if anyone were to come in and walk in on you too. She smiled as she watched your greedy little hole swallow her digits as she sped up moving in out of your pussy as you moaned even more not even trying to hide your sounds. “My baby has been so stressed…Forgetting that she also needs to relax..it’s good I’m here to help you.” With each word she said her fingers went even faster making you mewl and squeal.

She felt your velvety walls clench on her fingers as she went down to your lips swallowing your moans. With a loud moan you came all over her fingers making her smile against your lips, she pulled away from the kiss while she pulled out her fingers putting them in her mouth to suck them.

Her eyes darkened with lust as she immediately went down, latching her mouth on your cunt. She stuck her tongue in and out of you as she would look up at times loving the face you made. Your mouth was agape as your pretty moans fell from your lips. Shuhua would often suck it as well as she switched between the two as the lewd sound of her eating you out could be heard throughout the whole locker room. Her tongue hitting all sorts of spots inside you didn’t know it could reach as your hands went to her head only slightly tugging.

Your moans and mewls became whiner and more high pitched the closer you got your second orgasm. She sucked harder her tongue moving faster as you mewled. She held your thighs open harshly as your eyes rolled back making you see white screaming her name in ecstasy. You came hard all over her tongue getting some of it on her face as she came back up looking at you with a smile.

She held your face as she kissed you. She cleaned you up saying multiple praises as you caught your breath. Needless to say you were very relaxed now.

At the game you all performed flawlessly. Everyone on the team could tell you were more relaxed and the girls didn’t mess up once in the cheers or the halftime dance. After the game when your team had won you dragged Shuhua to the locker room making out with her.

“I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet have I?” You pulled away from her lips smirking. She smiled shaking her head as she watched you lead her to a random bench in the locker room. You got on your knees looking at her as she smirked watching you. Now it was your turn to thank her for helping you relax.

-

-

This might be my second favorite shuhua smut I’ve ever written. Cheerleader Shuhua goes hard ngl maybe I’ll do another one with Miyeon one day ? Anyways hope you guys enjoy this!

[viridian-tay-leaf]

General messages from spirit:

Pile 1 Pile 2

Pile 3 Pile 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 1: 🧡🧡🧡

You guys are hard workers at heart. You've probably been the caretakers, the people pleasers, the adults even as a child in your family. People look to you for advice and are upset when you don't have the answers. You're either learning or have learned that this isn't the most healthy way to go on. You have to set boundaries and work on taking care of you, you can't pour out of an empty cup. So do some self care today, whether it's taking a walk, saying no, respecting your boundaries, dancing, sleeping, or simply doing nothing. Take some time for yourself to acknowledge what you've done and how far you've gotten. Then take some time to realize how powerful you are and that your possibilities are endless. You got it already so don't worry about it, just be.

Channeled songs:

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Pile 2: 💛💛💛

You guys are busy bees, huh? Always on the go go go. But is it fun for you? Do you enjoy what you're doing all the time for you or others. Is it improving your daily life or your health? If not, stop doing it or atleast slow it down. Life isn't going anywhere no matter how old you are, you still have time. Be present for today. (You could've resonated with Pile 1 so go back if you feel the need) Seriously though, when was the last time you had some fun. Some real fun, the type of fun that is careless and childlike. The type of fun you had on the playground in elementary school. Whatever brings you joy in that way do it, and do it in the most carefree way as possible. You deserve love, you deserve happiness, you deserve to have your actions, talents, and feelings reciprocated tenfold. Whether you get it from someone else or yourself. Take yourself on a date today and find out what makes you, you. You'll never know if you don't try? What's the worst that could happen? You fail, someone says no? Oh no whatever will you do, it's not like you've gotten up and done this battle before. You're stronger than you think, act like it bitch (affectionately)!

Channeled song:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 3: ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Are you okay? Do you need a hug? Come here bitch lemme give you a virtual one. Seriously tho, get one asap. If no one is around hug yourself or a plush, or a pet. You need to comfort yourself today, getting cancer energy, motherly or caretaker vibes. "I can be needy"-Ariana Grande. Take a long hot bath with some music or candles in the background. Cook something you only make for special occasions. You may feel like the world is chaos/ending or the tower is crumbling but it's not as bad as it seems. Death is just a rebirth and right now you are going through it. I'm hearing "pluto transform me"-Melanie Martinez. Y'all are in your transformation era. Big Hermit vibes. Take it slow and take your time. You'll soon rise from the ashes like a Phoenix babe. You got this!

Channeled songs:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 4: 💙💙💙

You guys are in your bag this season. It's been messy for some people around you, but not you bitch. Y'all are thriving in your energy and you know it. Main character energy. I'm getting Cancer, major Virgo & Leo vibes aswell. I'm hearing that yall don't even need this reading, it's just a confirmation that you're on the right path and you're doing you. Okayyyy go ahead besties be you and be proud and loud about it. Go off loves and do it unapologetically. I'm done here, yall don't need me to hype you up cause you already know you're that bitch. Beware of jealousy, envy, and other negative energies from others around you though. There are people who see you thriving and hate it, misery loves company so you best avoid those energy vampires. Cleansing and protections will help you stay in this energy. I don't even need to tell you to be grateful and honor yourself cause you're already doing it. Okayy, I see you sis!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[stanheightis]

ok im done yellowjackets and i have a LOT of thoughts! (MAJOR YELLOWJACKETS SEASON 1&2 SPOILERS!!!!)

- why do yall hate travis sm?? like i KNOW he said some shit in s1 that was unfavourable, but hes not THAT BAD??? had me thinking he was gonna be evil NO!! hes a CHILD!!! on top of this, why is travnat like shunned in this fandom, i dont think its THAT bad, but im not their biggest fan

- i dont get the hype over lottienat.. 😓 i think its js cause i dont really like lottie that much and i LOVE nat like shes so me but i dont get it truly (i take it back lfmao, lottie is NAWTT my gal)

- JACKIE. FUCKING. TAYLOR. i love you, you died too soon queen rip ✊ jackieshauna u will always be famous

- I WILL BE A D1 SHAUNA DEFENDER IDCCC when i watched the first episode like last year i didnt rly like her WHAT WAS I DOING i love u shauna shipman u deserve BETTER.

- taivan… my beloveds taivan… you are too beautiful for this i love you so much taivan. doomed yuri at its finest

- i saw someone said travnat is just straightified toxic yuri and i cant unsee that lmfao

- do people hate callie??? if so, i will be her BIGGEST FAN IDCCCC im that entire families n1 defender ok like they deserve betterrrrr omfggggd like callie is just a teen!! shes a KID!!! she wanted to HELP!!!

- if this show ends up being a supernatural type show i might deadass drop it, like i think it would be SO much more interesting if it was psychological instead of supernatural

- LOTTIELEE!!!! lottielee my babies they were just the first 2 to go insane and found solace in each other and laura lee haunts lottie!! i am a sucker for haunting other characters

- what ben did was justified i understand him cuz i KNOW their asses were gonna eat him next

- okay i might be wrong but if they had actually been MOVING in one direction since the start of the show, they wouldve had to have found civilization by that point. ik theyre deep in the canadian wilderness but people still live somewhere up there/people wouldve been up there during summertime, they were bound to find SOMEONE but NO!! they stayed in one spot and resorted to eating each other. i dont wanna say its their fault but..

- this one might be a little controversial and contrary to my previous posts, but i found the adult storyline more entertaining a few times as opposed to the kids one.

- misty.. i have such mixed feelings on her, i dont think a character has ever pissed me off while simultaneously rootinf for her sometimes ever wtf what an amazinf character

- i think jeff was unironically the funniest character in the show soley due to his line delivery

- shauna going from protecting javi to having to be the one to cut him up 🙁

- actually, i think ill forever hold a grudge against all them (besides nat and shauna) for WATCHING JAVI DIE??? man fuck the opps fr

- ok i see people sayinf that 8 people survived the wilderness but whos the last like ks the 8 ppl thing fake?? cuz ik shauna, nat, misty, tai, van, lottie and travis all survived then whos the 8th?? (hoping its ben🙏)

- we need more confirmed sapphics

- last thing i think but whats up w tai and the “other one”?? cuz i looked up if it was DID, and it was confirmed no (rightfully so, that would be a HORRIBLE stereotype) but im so confused on what it COULD be 😭

- OKAY ONE LAST THING the alive ones always talk about “what they did” in the wilderness, and how they dont want the secret out, but was it actually confirmed on what it was?? cuz it doesnt rly make sense if it IS the cannibalism because i dont think people are that stupid, and probably just ASSUME thats what happened. is it the cult maybe?? it could be HOW they went on deciding who would be eaten next maybe, cuz thats probably not how others would decide??

- speakinf on the choosing scenes, both had me STRESSINGGG

[alwaysalir]

The way people are hyping up the trailer saying we will get hints of the spicey scenes…..have yall forgotten the season has two parts? Most of the spice is probably inpart 2. If the other promo is any indication the trailer will probably lean into the love triangle which is why I’m not that excited. Hopefully we get some good Polin moments to balance out the unnecessary bs

[thefringespod]

Finally got smart enough to make my #AudioDramaSunday list ahead of time so I wouldn't forget anything for once! We're gonna start today with the newest Magus Protocol episode which was phenomenal. Cole Weavers wrote this one and I just adore his writing. Also: Augustus is here 👀

Early access for the newest ep of @souloperatorpod was this week and y'all have a TREAT waiting for you tomorrow. Tot continues to astound me with her many talents and we also get to meet a new character who I'm already in love with

@tellnotalespod has brought us back to Julia and Riley who are overworking themselves (especially Riley. Let them sleep.) I love getting to hear from them in these mini eps but they DO make me want to shake Leo even harder Leo please talk to your friends please

@camlannpod episode 2 released this week and my gods it was so much fun. A blend of deep and emotional scenes and comedy (I'm still thinking about "The CW lied to me") I love every character with my whole heart and have been loving all the theories on tumblr about the show

New @innbetween was so sweet I love hearing the Lowlifes become actual friends. Phoebe thinking that everyone wanted her to leave squeezed my heart so hard and everyone insisting she stay because she was the one that they wanted for the quest??? Just so so good

@somewhereohio has once again knocked me flat with this episode. The worldbuilding around Jasmine and what's going on with her memories is incredible! I am an Orange Splice stan 1st and person 2nd. Also the Nadia/Alex scene breaks my heart because I know how they end 😭.

New Technomancy Project was SO GOOD!! And I was FUCKING RIGHT!!! I said this before but I love having all of them play Belial's game this time around and I don't think there's a single EPO agent who didn't make me cry this ep. The Technomancy Project continues to kick ass

Caught up on last weeks @thesiltverses and gods it fucked me up (affectionate) B Narr does such a fantastic job with Faulkner. I love him. I hate him. I want him to get whats coming to him & I want to protect him from it at the same time. B's performance knocks me flat every time

There was another special episode of @wakeofcorrosion this week featuring the Fringes' very own @totcoc0a and @taytayheyhey! I will never forgive them for what they did to my heart <3 Shaun Pellington wrote a killer script and deserves none of the blame even if it did break me

Continuing to make my way through the Storage Papers this week and episodes 13-19 were VERY good. I said "Nope, don't like that" out loud multiple times while listening to 19 which is the exact reaction you want from a horror pod.

This isn't a new episode listen but @wpwcpod has announced their existence and cast and im SO FUCKING EXCITED!! Not only do I love CL Hendry's writing but it will also feature the Fringes' very own Ollie Bannerman and @chainofbeing Cai Gwilym Pritchard I'm so hyped

Also not a new episode listen but Athan (creator of The Grotto) has announced that his album is coming out on March 29! If you've listened to The Grotto then you know Athan writes killer music. And if you dont listen to the Grotto: DO IT GO LISTEN RIGHT NOW ITS SO GOOD

Here on the Fringes we're preparing for the second half of the season! Episode 19 is available RIGHT NOW at patreon.com/PineTreePods and will be available to the public this Wednesday! Also gearing up to finish the last 3 episodes of season 3 which I'm super excited for

And over on @forgedbondspod the first half of the show is written! The cast has been thrown into a discord and has access to scripts now which is super exciting, I can't wait for yall to hear what's going to come from the first 24 eps

And that's all for this week! It's a long audiodrama Sunday post but there's just. So much good stuff going on. Every day I'm so grateful to exist in this audiodrama space and to share my work with yall <3

[fazbearedits]

OK YALL SO APPARENTLY (THIS MAY NOT BE TRUE) BUT YK THE TEASERS WE’RE GETTING WHERE WE SEE NICKY AND TRINITY GET LOCKED IN MR PETERSON’S HOUSE TO HYPE UP SEASON 2 APPARENTLY THATS GONNA BE EP 9 BUT IM NOT ENTIRELY SURE AS IT MAY BE A LIE‼️‼️‼️

[olberic]

ranking anime i’ve watched in 2023:

as expected, here’s this year’s top 10 for how much i personally enjoyed the anime i’ve watched this year. ive watched more than this, but god i watched so many bad ones…. even number 10 sucks but everything else was worse. sad!

as always thank u gifmakers for ur service 🫡 the world would be nothing without u all

10. the legendary hero is dead! (2023)

dont watch this show. it sucks and its bad. hey. come here. hold my hand. now lets just watch and enjoy the OP ok? don't worry about the rest.

9. my daughter left the nest and returned as an s-rank adventurer (2023)

i have to admit this show charmed me. its not the best thing ive ever seen but its nice. comfy. yknow? i haven't finished it but it's enjoyable. can't rank it higher until i finish it

8. sabikui bisco (2022)

if it werent for the positively nonsensical jump in the middle of the show and the way theres just like. a lot of gaps? it’d rank higher. it’s a very cool premise for a show and i like the bisco/milo dynamic, and [SISTER] is fun as hell. it didnt wow me though overall, and while i enjoyed it i was hoping for more.

7. trigun stampede (2023)

im sorry trigun stans i simply didnt love it. i see the appeal i really do but it just didnt hook me. i really liked the animation and the storyline. im intrigued by whatever the fuck is going on with those plants and yall have said theres a tallgirl in the next season? so i’ll keep watching. i just didnt love it

6. that time i got reincarnated as a slime (2019-2021)

in contrast to #7, i can see why this show is weak HOWEVER i just enjoyed it. i like it. huge fan of how much gender the protag has. i love how they get new powers. i enjoy that it can be interpreted as an extremely bisexual show. it was well paced and the slime diaries OVA was a great addition. a lot of the characters really stuck with me too and its like. idk. one of my favourite isekais i guess

5. buddy daddies (2023)

this should rank higher. its so fun. its SO fun. its silly and it doesnt take itself seriously. i laughed in every episode. the dynamic between the guys is great. the dynamics between them and the kid is great. just a really solid show if you can stand the queerbaiting. i dont even care

4. bocchi the rock! (2022)

the bocchi side of tumblr is right this show rules. i like how real bocchi’s social anxiety feels (literally how it felt when i had it). the characters are entertaining, the show’s well done, they even have solid music (which band-based shows dont always do right!). its really funny and its really earnest and its a joy to watch

3. demon slayer: swordsmith village arc (2023)

i included the entertainment district arc in last year’s list so this arc makes the cut. im always late getting around to watch the new stuff and i dont want to read the manga but god DAMN does this show hit different. incredible fight scenes. i loved everything they did for the hashira backstories. i love whatever the fuck is up with genya. it even gave me some akaza to sustain me for the next year or whatever. ik this show gets overhyped but its normal hyped. to me.

2. frieren: beyond journey's end (2023)

oughhh frieren… ive only known this show for a few months but it means to much to me… i dont even wanna talk about it because its so good i just wanna watch it again. go watch frieren if you havent already its anime of the decade. to me

1. gundam: the witch from mercury (2022-2023)

ive never seen a gundam before but i will be watched them after this! what can be said about it that hasnt already been said on this site. the romance storyline is impeccable, the fights are awesome, the moral questions it posed were excellently covered. by the end of the first episode i was speechless. by the end of the last episode i'd cried like 4 times over the course of the show. this thing made me cry to happy birthday. what the fuck

[av-royale]

so what do we think about campus 4???

my thoughts below >_<

i initially assumed that everything the devs were building on streams [ex. barbie, vioncii] was for RH3, but i just learned thisll be a whole new campus! with how new RH3 still is [time wise!!!], i was kinda shocked.

BUT… im actually not mad, and here’s why:

i think RH3 was kind of messy from the get-go.

don’t get me wrong, the hype was real, and being a part of the 500+ beta squad was great, but it all felt rushed. the locker courtyard was pointless outside of quests. ‘class’ was completely optional. running dorms, esp on mobile was a trainwreck, and dorm decoration was broken beyond belief. it was unoptimized, chaotic, and honestly, boring at times, especially in the beginning, being able only to run 1 quest at a time. then, it all came to a grinding halt and updates beyond seasonal events ceased.

after grinding out 300+ levels [often by being bad and using the game as an idle timer for things like chores shhhh], the game itself started to feel more like Chores Simulator than magic school. people have nothing better to do than grind and haze new players.

i think returning to the old system [that is, a 1 map, day-night cycle schedule system] and starting anew will definitely help RH when it comes to general enjoyability. the player connections and ease-of-play from everyone being on the same page were what made the game what it was. and the minigames!!! i love rh2 potions. as in. still do. and i miss dressing up for the ball. anyway the progress and concepts the devs have shown look great, and i cant wait for RH4!!!

thats my 2 cents. whatre yalls thoughts on RH4?? is it a mistake or a massive improvement?

[kiynania]

Ranking every ninjago season and why :3

(Yall are gonna 100% hate me for this)

(Spoilers for Dragons rising kinda)

I hate it sm, it literally could've been one of the best seasons in ninjago history, but there was WAY too much filler and was so underwhelming and predictable. Didn't even feel like a Zane season during the second half it felt more like a Lloyd season. ALL of the ninja should've fought Zane + Pixal, and she should've come as well. AND THE FACT THAT ZANE'S TRAUMA WAS NEVER BROUGHT UP. LIKE HUH????? I will forever hate this season with a passion no matter what anyone says.

18. Forbidden Secrets of Spinjitzu

17. Prime Empire

I really can't care for it at all it just feels like the ninjago writers ran out of ideas(which I completely understand, but still) you could literally skip the entire thing and the whole plot line would STILL make sense. The only time I genuinely rewatch this is if I'm THAT bored. Really should've stuck the to idea with Jay's mother running away from something(which they 100% should've done in the first place)

16. Skybound

Before yall come to my house and beat the shit out of me, HEAR. ME. OUT. Kinda the same situation with Prime Empire. You could skip it, and the show would still make sense. It's never addressed after the season, and all of it is just...wack. Nadakkan is a fucking creep towards Nya, like mf BACK OFF. And Jay isn't any better. He's constantly disrespecting Nya's boundaries throughout a majority of the season, and I do NOT understand how Jay fans justify that. And the amount of sexism in it??? I just don't like this season in general and would very much like to stay away from it.

15. The Island

It felt like it was just there for the purpose of being there. It's important to the plot the next season but I felt like that could've been resolved with a little b plot. Ik it's technically not a season but idc. That's it. Nothing else I can say abt it.

14. Crystalized

It had sm potential, but the second half felt so rushed. The first 12 eps were really well paced, but the last 18 felt like a whole other season. The entire ending was rushed, and it was so hyped as well. I was at the edge of my chair waiting and waiting but....nothing. I never really believed that Pixal was gonna die, but I 100% expected Wu to die or SOMEONE to make a huge sacrifice. The original ending wouldn't have been much better bc at that point, there would've been only 2 eps left. AND NO ONE BROUGHT UP THE FACT THAT ZANE DEFEATED THE OVERLOAD. NOT EVEN LLOYD???? "Third time's the charm," MF ZANE DEFEATED HIM THE THIRD TIME FOR WAY LONGER THAN YOU DID AND NOT EVEN THE OVERLOAD MENTIONED IT LIKE WHAT??? AT LEAST REFRENCE IT OR SUM.

13. Hands of Time

To get something out of the way, the animation reminded me of Miraculous Ladybug.(IM SORRY) The season felt odd but in a good way. And knowing that Pixal was in that Samurai X suit makes her personality in s7 10× more funnier. I don't hate it but I don't love it at the same time. It's a 50/50

12. The Pilots

Since it's the start or it all, it's going to get a decent ranking. I really like it and it did just fine for a pilot ep(s) But other seasons are just better :3

11. Master of The Mountain

It's a really nice season to get back at I fricking LOVE the little flashback of Cole's mother. But at the same time it's a bit forgettable.(don't come for me) That's it. :3

10. Legacy of The Green Ninja

One of the classic seasons. It's good enough to make it to the top 10. This was where ninjago was originally supposed to end. Its really nice and seeing Lloyd battle his dad was sad :,) All the episodes are really fun and entertaining but other seasons are just better :3

9. Rise of The Snakes

The first season of ninjago where it all truly started. Much like s2 all the episodes are really entertaining. It's really heartwarming to watch all the ninja grow up and change throughout the rest of the seasons. It's always a classic you can come back to. But other seasons are still just better

8. Possession

It's a really nice season and the pros outweigh the cons but I really don't like Morro(atp yall finna hate me) He's like Kai if his "I'm supposed to be the green ninja" phase never left. His redemption arc was so fricking boring and forgettable that I don't even REMEMBER what happened and i'm too lazy to go back. But the episodes are also really entertaining and a bit funny.

7. Rebooted

TOO MANY PPL DONT LIKE THIS SEASON AND IDK WHY. Okay the love triangle was extremely unnecessary and didn't help progress the plot at all. But all the good really outweighs it. It's the birth of the best Canon ship(which is pretty much all I post abt here) Really entertaining. AND HAS ONE OF THE BEST SCENES IN HISTORY. Ik yall were in TEARS after the last ep.

6. Dragons Rising

It's a really well paced season and MASSIVELY improved from crystalized. THEY ACTUALLY GIVE ZANE A PERSONALITY AND I AM HERE FOR IT. It gives off a really well based story, and it's really entertaining. Ik a majority of Jay fans were upset bc he only got like 14 seconds of screen time if that, but with everything going on and at that point there were 3 eps left. The story pacing would've been extremely rushed, so I'm kinda glad that happened. Nothing else to say.

5. March of The Oni

Really great season. Just really hits you in the feels. Nice season you can always rewatch. I love the Pixal/Cole/Zane interaction in the first ep really funny. The rest of the season is pretty self explanatory

4. Tournament of Elements

This season is one of the best in the show. Like S10 it's pretty self explanatory. Introduces us to a bunch of new concepts. GARMADON SACRIFICING HIMSELF WAHHHHHHH. The only thing I genuinely have a problem with is the Zane amnesia part. I really wanted it to last the whole season like make Zane have little flashbacks bit by bit. That could've been really interesting. The rest is amazing.

3.Sons of Garmadon

SO MANY PPL WHO STOPPED WATCHING AFTER THE REDESIGNS MISSED OUT OMG. It's so good. Good characters. Good villains. Good story concept. GREAT execution. Just mwah. Crystalized kinda ruined Harumi's arc. Like I would've been fine if she stayed dead. HER ARC WAS PERFECT. I love her sm. Also has one of the best outfits/weapons. THE REDESIGNS DID THEM JUSTICE THEYRE SM BETTER THAN THE OLD ONES(don't find me pls.) It's great would recommend :3

2. Seabound

ONE OF THE BEST SEASONS JUST MWAH. Nya's arc was really nice, and her merging with the ocean pulled on my heartstrings istg. HER INTERACTIONS WITH HER MOTHER JUST...*cries forever*

1. Hunted

MY FAVORITE SEASON OMG EVERYTHING ABT IT IS FUCKING PERFECT. The music. The characters. EVERYTHING. Has one of the best intros in ninjago. I love how Lloyd was trying to cope with his friends being "dead" and being so relieved that they're actually alive. The designs are so good. The story progresses really smoothly and just...*chefs kiss*

Okay bye now.

[mimis9thcircle]

dumb idea + some dumb hcs to go with it

post canon persona au but it follows the characters who work in law enforcement (katsuya, akihiko, chie, naoto) and its one of those really dumb 90s sitcoms where instead of them solving/fighting actual crimes its just them doing wacky hijinks and accidentally committing the crimes. (this takes place in that one au from my ask blog lol).

Headcanons for this bc why not.

Ages

Katsuya: 50

Akihiko: 32

Chie: 29

Naoto: 28

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Katsuya:

-The mom of the group, is the oldest and helped mostly everyone get their jobs.

-The police chief with a lot of experience and burnout.

-Has had Akihiko arrest Tatsuya at one point for speeding (it's ok they still have a healthy sibling relationship).

-The character that can be logical and reasonable but stopped caring 3 seasons ago.

Akihiko: -Barely 32, yet has had more midlife crises than the average accountant.

-Stopped shaving consistently after 23 and as such has a lot of stubble.

-He cuts his own hair because he doesn't trust anyone with his hair (Naoto, Shinji, and Ken beg him to go to a barber).

-Probably shows off his scars to random people who ask about his pre-police career.

-Gets paired up with Chie a lot and drives the car when this happens.

-Kotone sometimes makes food for him because he will blow up his kitchen if he tries to cook.

-Katsuya introduced him to Ulala and they are besties.

-The older brother of the group that gets involved in the hijinks.

-Misses his husband very much (the akimina tease is strong).

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Chie: -She and Yukiko are failwife #1 and failwife #2 respectively.

-Katsuya probably got her the job and taught her stuff so she sees him like a dad.

-The reason why she doesn't drive the cop car is because she will crash into something if she tries.

-Unarmed and very dangerous.

-Did I mention she never skips leg day?

-Got a wolfcut because she wanted to try wavy hair and it stuck.

-The wild child of the little sitcom group, starts most of the episodes plots.

-Also met Ulala and really admires her and Maya.

-Yu probably wonders how she even got the job sometimes.

-Rise sometimes asks her to go to concerts as a bodyguard.

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Naoto (I like genderfluid Naoto because I project I'm sorry</3) :

-The one character tired of everyone's shit.

-Kanji worries for her sanity sometimes, and ykw he's completely valid for worrying about his husband.

-Probably gets along with Katsuya the best, and they probably vent to each other about their jobs.

-A detective but works somewhat closely with everyone, she says she hates it but she loves everyone.

-Went to college for 8+ years and he has burnout.

-Will probably snap, fight, and win if provoked enough.

-Is the one character in the show with logic and reasoning to show how dumb the comedy is.

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Misc stuff: -Sae and Makoto are the one characters that have 5 minutes of screentime every 3 episodes, but the sfx hype them up like they are gods among man.

-Dojima is the one guy always talked about in the background and shows up for a cameo but has no plot significance.

-Naoto gave Akechi some tips on being a successful detective because he seemed reasonable (oh how wrong he was...).

-Mitsuru tells Katsuya to stop Akihiko from doing anything stupid, yet when she shows up in episodes she ends up doing stupid shit with everyone.

-Adachi is still in jail and he gives Chie and Naoto the worst advice known to man when everything goes to shit.

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Thats pretty much it, might draw some stuff for it but we'll see... until next time denizens of tumblr love yall <3