#guess they'll just work on top of each other when they get together

[blazeturbo102]

Hey, remember when they made Hen confirm that the way Buck and Eddie work with 0 personal space all the time isn't actually normal and it's just a Them thing!?

Insanity

[ventismacchiato]

O8.5 stuck with you — idols inferno !

scaramouche x gender neutral reader

YAE MIKO: Welcome cuties to "Idols Inferno," or I², where idols ignite sparks in a tropical paradise! Here’s a comprehensive guide on how our upcoming and hot dating show will unfold!

1. Island Oasis: Our contestants, members from two different idol groups, DELUSION AND WINDBLUME, will embark on a journey to a stunning island getaway. They'll leave behind the glamor of the stage to immerse themselves in the raw beauty of nature.

idols inferno island! doesn’t seem like much…

2. Living Arrangements: While they compete for hearts, our idols reside in a cozy dormitory area. Each contestant will be able to enjoy their own private rooms, but will be sharing a dorm building with all the other contestants. Don’t get too excited, these dorms are designed to be as uncomfortable as morally possible in order to motivate our idols to work harder for the rewards!

an adjustment from the life our idols are used to!

3. Survival and Romance: Here’s the twist! Our idols aren’t just here for love—they’re also here to survive. From beachside cookouts to forging alliances, they'll fend for themselves while navigating the highs and lows of island life. The kitchen will be replenished with ingredients every two days, but contestants will be expected to put together meals on their own everyday. A water well will be located a mile away from the kitchens, contestants will have to trek to fill up their containers everyday. 

4. Games and Challenges: Throughout the journey, our contestants engage in thrilling challenges designed to test their teamwork and chemistry. Picture competitive strength challenges like partner piggyback rides or hilarious two-legged races on the beach! Make sure to tune in because the weather is hot, which means less fabric to wear! ;)  

5. Confession Box and Matchmaking: After every activity, participants visit the confession box to anonymously choose another contestant they are interested in. Matched pairs have the chance to enjoy better food, upgraded accommodations, and even a night in a nearby five-star hotel instead of the usual shitty dorms!

note: example image does not depict show events

6. Contestant Dynamics: With a total of 13 contestants, including 3 mystery guests to be revealed at a later date, tensions and emotions run high as new arrivals shake up existing connections. 

oh whoever could these be?

7. Interviews and Real-Time Updates: The end of every episode features intimate interviews with one of the contestants, offering viewers insights into their thoughts and emotions. Episodes are recorded and edited the following day, ensuring they're posted by midnight for viewers to keep up with the drama and romance in real-time.

Amidst palm trees and pristine beaches, bonds deepen and sparks fly as our idols explore their connections. Will they find lasting love or simply a lifelong friendship?

In the end, hearts will be won and memories made as our idols return home, forever changed by their time on "Idols Inferno." Tune in to not miss a second!

stuck with you!

masterlist — prev | next

guys i drew/edited that map myself cus i wanted this to make sense pls tell me you like it i know it’s extra but 🤗

short mini chapter to explain the show i’ll explain anything else if i need to in later chapters xx

also pretty obvious if ur chronically online but can you guess who the mystery guests are? 😍

synopsis after the disaster that was the live award show, where you and scaramouche got into an argument on stage after both of your groups got a tie for top artists, your guys' PR teams have been in shambles trying to scrape up your mess. that's when the idea to send you both off with some other idols to a remote location for a survival dating show to mend your public image comes up. before you know it your bags are packed and you’re on a plane to a remote island. the only obligation is you need to end up with scaramouche at the end of the show, whether you end up liking him or not doesn’t matter to your managers as long as the show’s ratings stay high. whatever you do in between to get there is up to you!

notes — after this ad break we will get back into the story xx

taglist closed — @na1lea @cindywasneverhere @lunavixia @aestherin @mlaakai @camvrin @retiredmommylover @iheartpieck @jangyung @cartierfiles @loveariel @silly-ez @mochipls @pomeiu @chuuismylife @flowerypesky @creammpuff @justanothertiredreader @boxdisappeared @kissmiere @kissingkzuha @webbywill @kazusboyfriend @s3xpistolss @pjsucks @bunns-wonderland @lordbugs @localgirlywithnolife @kosumos @danfelions @featuredtofu @pinxeajin @herebyaccident0 @haeunoo @scaradooche @pglt19 @chemiru @childesbabygirl @simonisferal @shutingstar @vxcmx @domimiki @ttalgi @esuz @tokkishouse @kitsuvil @scarasmood @ihearttori @nomurahayami @starringyau @androxphobic @kazuhasbabe

[worstghost]

Poly!Lost Boys thoughts NOW !! nsfw under the cut. (can you guess which is my favorite u_u)

🤍You're still human (for now). You told them you have a little more life to experience before you're ready, and the only one that was understanding was Dwayne, the others were incredibly impatient.

🤍Dwayne asks you to lay with him and describe how the sun looked that day when you come back to sleep. You talk to him for over an hour, telling him what you did, how warm it was, the colors of the sky as it set. The other 3 boys sit outside the room and listen as well but don't want to ruin the moment for you.

🤍They watch you sleep every night, taking turns before they all go out to eat. Marko and Paul will wake you up every few hours to ask if you'd come out with them. It doesn't work every time, but if you're rested enough, sometimes they can get you to hang out on the beach with them for a bit.

🤍David isn't outwardly affectionate, usually only spending time with you when it's just the two of you. He's not a fan of sharing, but he'd never deny his brothers the pleasure of your company. For that reason, time spent with David is usually well spent. Talking, reading, slow kisses and much more if you beg.

🤍You can get overwhelmed, and these boys don't understand personal space. They take it personal when you leave them on their own to enjoy your day, but you make it up by bringing back food and a new cassette to listen to.

🤍They love to gather in one bed and hold you, making sure they're all touching some part of your skin. You're typically laying your head against David's thigh, combing through Paul's hair, while Marko lays on your chest and Dwayne holds your legs across him.

🤍You're so well loved you forget sometimes what they are. They'll come back some mornings covered in blood, fangs out, hissing and shoving each other aggressively. Something caused an argument and you have to watch silently while they work it out themselves, knowing better than to get in the middle. You just close the curtain and lay back down, knowing they'll come to you when they've sorted it.

🖤NSFW🖤

🖤Marko loves to make you cry. Not by being mean of course, just by teasing you until you can't help it. He loves to bite and pinch you until you're whining, and then tease you about it and call you a baby in your most sensitive moments. He's always smiling and will make it up to you by overstimulating you until you're full out sobbing. You go to him when you're already emotional and need some relief.

🖤Paul likes to do experimental things- bending you in odd positions, fingering you after he's cum in you and then making you lick it off. Watching you fuck yourself, and then getting jealous and breaking the vibrator. He's a biter, and every now and then he'll have to put himself in a corner to cool down after he vamps out and very nearly drains you.

🖤Dwayne isn't as gentle as he seems, but he is just as attentive. He loves to be able to see you, so missionary and having you on top are his favorites. Also loves to have you sit on his face, kneeding your ass and never closing his eyes because he's scared you'll dissappear if he does.

🖤David is the gentle one. He goes slow, makes you ask him for every little thing, he wants you to know he's in control and you can't make him do anything he doesn't already want to. So get on your knees, rub his thighs, look up at him with puppy eyes and ask him nicely to take you right there on the floor before the boys get back. How could he say no?

🖤When you have them all together its a frenzy, hands and teeth and tongues all over your body. You're so high you don't even know which one is eating you out or which cock is in your mouth. They do get jealous easily, impatiently pushing each other out of the way to get a turn kissing you or fucking you.

🖤Sometimes, rarely, they'll let you take control, telling each of them exactly what you'd like them to do and how to do it. David typically watches for this part, he doesn't listen to what he's told so you banish him to the couch to watch. You smile over at him often, watching the way he eyes you angrily, adjusting his too-tight pants. He knows you'll get to him when you're done, if you're not too exhausted.

[thatmexisaurusrex]

Lol so @buckhastwohands has asked me to ask myself this so 😂

Okay, new ask game! Top three dates you'd love to see Buck and Tommy go on 🥰

So, uh, I guess I'm doing my own ask game? 😂 Thank you so much for tagging me in 🥰

Flying lessons. I want to see Buck excitedly studying up on piloting in his spare time during his shift. I want to see Buck and Tommy excitedly infodump at each other about flying and what they will do during the lesson. I want Buck to do his best to be the best student Tommy ever had (even if Buck is the only student Tommy's ever had). I want Tommy to be impressed by how good Buck is from the jump. I want Buck to be impressed by how amazing Tommy is at flying in general. They're both into competency and they're both excited to have these long periods of time together alone in a helicopter. They just hope they don't get too distracted with one another 😂

I feel like they would both be zoo people. "I Go to the Zoo" vibes, but it's more like they've both had times of intense loneliness; had found themselves gravitating to the zoo. So much so that they both have people they know there; they have connections; probably the same connections, as they'd find out when they go on the date. And they both get really happy and excited to share a night at the zoo with each other with the help of those connections, visiting their favorite animals and getting lost in the happiness the other has at the zoo.

Cooking together at Tommy's home. Buck shows up with all the supplies and equipment they'll need for the recipe, and while Tommy's a little overwhelmed and it's one of the few times he's more fumbly than cool, well, he's excited to do something Buck likes to do. He's excited to learn from Buck too. Buck gives Tommy pointers and it's cute and intimate and wonderful. They make one of Bobby's best recipes, and it's complicated, but well worth making together. They finish the night watching a romcom (they're currently working through a list of them). They head to bed together afterward.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

me: don't think about it

me: Charlie going to the demon over lords like "hey look! heaven attacked and we fought and (mostly) didn't die and a sinner got yeeted up to heaven! Will you please support my (newly rebuilt) hotel now??"

(most) demon over lords looking at charlie like: shit the second most powerful person currently in hell, who was BORN with that power, is trying to fuck up the power that WE clawed our way to the top of (she's ruining it by giving sinners hope) (meaning they won't be so eager to sell themselves off to bigger demons) (meaning bigger demons will have less power) (if she has it her way they'll be fewer sinners at ALL) (which won't work) (bc this is all still Stupid) (BUT) (if the people of hell start thinking they have a chance...) AND she wants us to stick OUR necks on the line in the fight against heaven (who don't traditionally go after her or her family anyway but love hunting US) now she's also got her dad actively backing her up, so we can't just say a flat "no" or try fighting her over it, especially not since she's shown herself to be not so lame after all.... we need a way to get all of hell doubting and mistrusting her, so they don't go to her hotel thing instead of to us... but what can we use against her? what weak spot does she h-

over lords, looking over at charlie's girlfriend vaggie, and her newly returned, never-before mentioned angel wings: ......Hmmm...

charlie: trying to explain that her gf WAS an exorcist yes ok, and sure she DID kill lots of sinners but- No charlie didn't know that when they started dating but they've worked through it and vaggie- look she fought on hell's side during the hotel battle she was right there with charlie up in heaven advocating for sinners getting a second chance-

What? Yeah she, she went back to heaven that one time. No I guess she's not banished exactly, they just tore off her wings and left her to die here after she- NO she does NOT want to go back- yes ok she COULD but she doesn't WANT to, the hotel is her home now and- look she almost died fighting for it-

it wasn't a LIE, she just, she was scared and didn't tell the truth! What do you mean "can't trust your judgment"? I know her and I knew she'd have my back and she DID, the whole POINT of the hotel, which WORKS by the way, is that people can change-

NO SHE ISN'T SPYING ON US FOR HEAVEN! she hates them! no I'm not "just" saying that because "she said so" I can TELL we've been together for THREE YEARS- YES FINE SHE WAS HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME ALL THAT TIME OKAY but look at what she's done and been DOING! Yes, thank you Caramilla- she got her wings back and used them to fight for- she- WHAT?! NO! She's the hotel manager- she's OUR hotel's manager- she can't leave, that's- wh- fire her? It's her HOME! I'm her partner not her boss!! No I'm not listening to this! This is stupid- the whole hotel wouldn't even BE a thing if I hadn't MET her and it wouldn't work without her! I-

vaggie: I'll go vaggie: charlie's being modest. she's got things covered here vaggie: I'll be hell's spy in heaven, if it'll help. IF you all support the hotel.

and the overlords smile and promise-

(of course of course they will, really, it's nothing against her just a little PR issue, a matter of building trust, so naturally she'll report only to them yes? she and charlie will make a little deal not to contact each other otherwise? they're just worried, you see, wouldn't want an angel taking advantage of the princess of hell's confidence again, so glad she understands)

-nice and sharp and already watching eagerly as charlie's newfound backbone crumples while she stares at vaggie, wordless again just like up in heaven, and doesn't react when vaggie takes her hand and gives her a pleading look-

back at the hotel, alone, vaggie is swapping out her hotel vest for the clothes she was in when they met, wrinkled and crammed at the bottom of drawer, while charlie sits on their bed refusing to watch. vaggie doesn't pack for heaven. she walks over with just her spear and holds it out- here. she'll feel better, about being away, if charlie keeps this with her. charlie doesn't take it. charlie doesn't answer. charlie's crying and she latches on tight when vaggie drops the spear to hug her. she should've been able to stop this- she can't keep the hotel running on her- she doesn't WANT to TRY doing this alone-

she won't be. vaggie reminders her, lucifer and the others are all here, charlie isn't alone anymore. she's got the hotel. she's GOT this. and vaggie will come back

but she's tired of being scared and she's not gonna risk both their dream because of it. not again.

so, vaggie goes to heaven, supposedly to help sir pentious settle into his new life up there, with the help of emily to smooth things over and the fact that adam and lute swept her under the rug instead of making her fall an official thing- and considering the circumstances, emily argues, they were in the wrong anyway, especially now a sinner HAS been redeemed

meanwhile charlie stays in hell, at the hotel, without her.

and she's short tempered with worry, impatient with the everyday problems of the hotel- vaggie up in heaven with LUTE the woman who ripped out her eye ripped off her wings tried to kill her- all because charlie couldn't convince the overlords- couldn't convince (wasn't enough to convince?) vaggie to STAY- and,

the other's notice, notice that asking how things are NOW is too raw but asking about the past is easier, lighter, get's charlie lost in memory instead of on of her worry spirals, and there's flashbacks of them getting together- there's vaggie up in heaven quiet and listless as she shadows sir pentious around keeping lute at bay and he looks over at her nervously, he brings up how much he misses cherri, and how he could use a few relationship tips for when she (surely) eventually ends up here too-

charlie and vaggie, both of them apart in the present, neither of them okay, maybe vaggie's snooping up in heaven leads her to lilith and gets her in trouble- maybe charlie makes deals she regrets down in hell trying to keep things going without her- but we see them in the past, together, and them pulling on those memories now, trying to get back to each other again

or something like that.

[samoankpoper21]

With Love, Oikawa

A/N Still reeling from the loss of my cousin '^^ It's not an easy experience to lose someone, it never will be. Surround yourselves with your loved ones, tell them you love them daily because you never know when they'll pass. I'm glad I was able to tell my cousin that I loved him before he passed so please don't mind this post '^^ I just needed to get this out of my system ^^ hope that makes sense and as usual hope y'all enjoy this drabble. T/W: Small mention of unaliving oneself

Word count: 1880

It was a freak accident. At least that's how the doctor's described it.

Morning of you woke up and your inner being was off, something felt misaligned. You peered over to your smirking husband as he reached over to tuck a stray hair behind your ear. "Morning love."

"Morning." you whispered. Years of dating and 2 years of marriage Oikawa could sense when something was bothering you. His eyebrows scrunched together studying your face. "What's wrong?" Taking a shaky breath you answered, "Honestly I don't know. I woke up feeling...weird."

"Anything I can do to alleviate that weirdness?" he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively pulling you closer to him. You giggle giving him an eskimo kiss. "I'm sure it's nothing babe." You both lay there staring at each other, the love for one another apparent in your eyes. He sighs contently kissing your forehead. "What did I do to deserve you?" you hum in response. "Come on babe, gotta get ready for work." He groaned, interlocking your legs together. "Gimme 5 more minutes. 5 more minutes."

"Babe I would love to but I have an important meeting today." He pouted hugging you impossibly tighter. You couldn't resist his pouty face so you chuckled, hugging him back promising, "5 minutes top Toru."

"Yes!"

15 minutes had passed and Oikawa was walking you to the door watching as you slipped your flats on. "What do you feel like eating for dinner babe?"

"You know I'm fine with-you know what, scratch that. Maybe bone broth soup? It's starting to get cold."

"Ok love, I'll get it from that shop in town."

"You're a god send."

"You're just now realizing." You pinched his arm pulling him close. Leaning down to your height, cupping your face, he says, "I love you you know that? Not more than myself but you're alright." You giggled lightly smacking his arm. "I guess you're alright too." He pecked you once, twice, the third time his arms snaking around your plush waist pulling you close, your hands instantly weaving in his light brown locks, his cologne and scent filling your nostrils. "Okay, okay I have to go. Seriously Toru." Trying to pry his arms away from you he pouted dramatically. "What am I gonna do without you for 8 whole hours?"

"Babe you're more than enough entertainment for yourself. Chill."

"You're right. I am pretty awesome." Chuckling, shaking your head, you gave him a quick peck again turning around to wave at him. "I love you."

"Love you more."

The meetings seemed to drag forever. You just wanted to rush home into your husband's arms as he held you. Just one more hour. This was the mantra that was getting you through this work week. It finally hit 5PM and you rushed to the kiosk swiping your card. "Bye everyone! Have a good weekend! Good work today!" you rushed out bowing to your superiors before rushing to your car pushing on the accelerator. Pulling into the driveway you noticed Toru's car not there. Probably went to get dinner. Stepping out you couldn't help but notice how eerily quiet your neighborhood was. Usually there would be some type of noise but everything was...still. You tried shaking off the anxious, dreadful feeling that stayed with you since the morning but it just wouldn't dissipate. Slipping off your shoes at the entrance you changed into your house slippers when the shrill notes of your ringtone broke the silence. Frowning at the unrecognized number you debated on whether you should ignore the call but something in you urged, nagged, you to pick up. "Hello?"

"Hello is this Mrs. Oikawa?"

"This is she."

"My name is Ito Asahi. I'm calling from Midori hospital in regards to your husband." With a quivering voice and shaky hands you ask, "Is...is he ok?"

"Your husband was involved in an accident."

"I don't-I don't understand." the dispatch cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the news he was about to deliver. "Mrs. Oikawa, your husband was hit head on by a drunk driver and was pronounced dead-" the phone dropped, everything sounding muffled, your breathing ragged. You clutched at your chest, tears falling down your eyes, trying to focus on what to do next. Why was it so got damn hard to breathe? "Mrs. Oikawa? Mrs. Oikawa? Mrs. Oikawa?!" Ito's voice slowly brought you back, your hearing now accompanied by a ringing in your ear. "He...he's dead?"

"I'm sorry." you broke down sobbing clutching at your chest. Fumbling for your phone you dialed Hajime. "Hey Y/N-chan."

"Ha-Hajime," your voice broke.

"Y/N? What's wrong? Are you ok? Is everything ok?"

"T-T-Toru,"

"What about him? Did he hurt you?" shaking your head you continued. "T-T-Toru -hic- i-is -hic gone. -hic- He's gone Hajime!" The sound of shoes fumbling and keys being thrown into a pocket could be heard when Hajime blurts out, "Stay there I'm coming to get you."

Hajime found you sitting on the floor in the dark staring numbly ahead. Gently he helped you up, put on your shoes and coat, and asked where Oikawa was. Surprisingly you were able to utter, "Midori Hospital." The drive there was silent, Hajime having already called your mother-in-law. You watched as the green trees and pink hued sky zoomed by, your ears still ringing. The emergency room doors slid open, the bustling of the the patients being wheeled past and nurses zooming by brought you back to the present. You could hear monitors beeping, the intercom paging a doctor to the maternity ward, nurses taking note of vitals from patients sitting out in the lobby. Hajime lead you to the reception area stating, "Hello. We're looking for an Oikawa Toru." the nurse quickly clacked away at her keyboard when she affirms, "Go through the double doors on your left hand side, his room is 1-B which will be on your right. We were waiting for next of kin before wheeling him away."

"Thank you."

You were numb. Everything felt off. It was as if your body was merely a shell and you were just a third party watching, observing as you and Hajime made your way to his room. With shaky hands, Hajime slowly peeled the green curtains back only to find Oikawa's lifeless form covered by a white and green plaid blanket. "Oi," Hajime's voice broke. "Oi trashy-kun wake up. Wake up! Oikawa Toru wake up!" the sobs began racking through Hajime's body, you began rubbing his back. Shortly after your mother-in-law appeared beside you, her shrill wailing piercing the air, your tears silently falling.

The funeral procession went by smoothly and quickly, you being on autopilot. Former and present teammates came to wish their condolences. You instantly recognized the short, orange haired wing spiker and Oikawa's junior setter looking down cast for the first time. "Thank you for being here." you mutter. Numbly you watched as the casket lowered into the ground, the thud of the casket deafening. Iwaizumi escorted you home. "Are you sure you'll be ok Y/N-chan?"

"I'll be fine thank you Hajime."

"Are you sure? If you need anything-"

"I just...I just need time alone." Worried he gave you one last glance before engulfing you in a hug. "Call me? For anything."

"I will." The door silently clicked close as you dragged your feet towards your shared bedroom. Plopping down on the bed you clutched and inhaled Oikawa's San Juan jersey. You got a whiff of his scent and cologne, the dam you tried to hold in your chest finally bursting. Your sobs came out in waves racking your whole body folding the jersey within the confines of your pudgy body, your chest.

4 months later

Since Oikawa's passing you have been on leave for bereavement; you weren't ready to face work, reality really. Hajime and your mother-in-law made it a habit to check in on you; concerned when you brought it to their attention that you would be taking a trip to Kamakura. You reassured them that you would be okay and that you had no intention of ending your life. Walking the shores of Kamakura you peered out towards the ocean with Oikawa's jersey in your beach bag. Laying your towel down in a spot near the shade, you took out your notebook, his jersey and began journaling.

Hi babe, it's me again. It's been 4 months since you've been gone and I can't say that it's getting easier. Hajime and mom have been checking up on me regularly, making sure that I put a little something in my stomach, especially on the days that I don't feel like it. Remember babe when you promised me that we would go to the beach? You kept telling me about how beautiful the beaches in San Juan were and how they don't compare to your beauty so I'm taking a solo trip to Kamakura. I figured this beach is probably on par as San Juan and your essence ha ha ha. How are you? I miss you. I'm taking it minute by minute, the whole bullshit about taking it day by day is hard. As each day comes to a close it gets hard to sleep because I'm always expecting you to come through the door yelling, 'Baaaaaaabeeee I'm hooooooomeeeee.' Each day has its struggles. Some days I'm okay, other days I find myself sobbing nonstop, others I sit there numbly staring at the wall. Pathetic huh? I just know you're probably giving me shit about not doing things extravagantly ha ha ha When is this gonna end? This empty feeling I mean. Since you left there's a gaping hole in my heart that will be tough to fill. Tough but not impossible. You wouldn't be you if you didn't leave me with a little surprise. I found out earlier this week that I'm pregnant. We're having a boy baby! Can you believe it?! When the doctor told me I had tears of joy, sadness, and just remember this feeling of being scared. How am I gonna do this without you? :(( I'm thinking of naming our son either Touki for winter pleasure since that's when he's due or Towa for eternal peace; I'm leaning towards Towa kekeke Oikawa Touki? Oikawa Towa? Has a funny ring to it ^^ What do you think? I've already told mom and Hajime that I have news for them once I get back home late tonight. I want them to be the first to know. I miss you babe. I love you. I will tell our son all about how flamboyant, egotistical, loving, and romantic his dad was and how amazing of a setter you were. Are you playing up there? Wherever you are. Every time I see a clear, starry night it takes me back to when you asked me to marry you^^ Sorry. I know I'm going all over the place but I just really, really, really wanted to let you know that I love you. so so very much. And I miss you more than words can describe. Talk to you later. Sending kisses to the sky. Wait for me my love. I have a lot of work to do here before I can join you^^ love love love you. With love, Y/N.

[tyrantisterror]

Top ten favorite Orcs? Either specific characters or a given setting’s take on the species as a whole.

I'm not sure I have enough strong feelings about Orcs to really make an interesting list of ten, but what the hell I'll try.

Tolkien's orcs - not just LOTR orcs, but specifically orcs as written by J.R.R. Tolkien - are pretty high up there for me. I've probably mentioned this more than enough on this blog, but I'm still moved by the moment in The Lord of the Rings where we get this conversation between two orcs when their bosses aren't around, where both of them commiserate with each other about how shitty being drafted into Sauron's war is, how they long to go back to their simpler life as mountain bandits, and how, maybe, if they could find a way to escape being caught by their superiors, they could run off and find someplace far from the war to settle down together. Their names are Shagrat and Gorbag, and later in the book one of the heroes finds them among a pile of dead orcs, their dream of a simpler life tragically unfulfilled. I bring this up because, for all the flak Tolkien's cosmology gets for codifying the fantasy trope of "Always Chaotic Evil" races, there's a lot more moral complexity to his "evil" races than most people think. The orcs we meet in his stories are universally pretty nasty people - even Gorbag and Shagrat can't conceive of a simple life that doesn't involve killing people for their valuables - but it's very clear this is a result of the culture they are living in, which, if you get nerdy and read up on the Lore (TM), is one that has been specifically designed by the Middle Earth equivalent of Satan to turn all living things in it into tools of warfare - a world that exists solely to serve as a vast machine of industrialized conquest and mass murder. And it makes them miserable. Orcs don't like living this way, even though it's the only way they know how to live. They are at once victim and villain, and that's explicitly the canon way to look at them in the text. So it kind of sucks that their reputation in pop culture - and how they're presented in most adaptations, including good ol' PJ's film trilogy - is as one-dimensional evil henchmen, because they do have more going on than that in the books themselves, and it enriches the themes of the story when those dimensions are included.

The orcs in Rune Factory are probably my favorite from a design standpoint. I'm kind of neutral at best with the standard "green skinned humans with optional tusks" look of most orcs. There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't thrill me either, existing in the same nebulous space as, like, traditional fantasy elves, dwarves, and hobbit expies - I understand why they're classics, but they feel kind of boring when you've got other options on the table. So seeing these guys when I booted up my first Rune Factory game was a revelation - finally, orcs that look INTERESTING! And they're so cute, these gnarly little Jim Hensen/Brian Froud style pig people. And they'll help you water your plants! A+ Tier orcs as far as I'm concerned.

Dungeon Meshi found a good middle ground between "gnarly boar people" and "humans with tusks" that I really like, and while the orcs aren't given a whole lot of focus, what world building we do get about them is pretty great, taking a lot of the classic orc tropes and giving them that Ryoko Kui caliber thought and detail that makes them so wonderful.

What else... well, ok, my brain still categorizes these guys as "goblins" rather than "orcs," but since the two are more or less synonymized in both Tolkien and the Rankin Bass adaptations of his work, I guess I can include them. They're one of my favorite designs for goblins of all time, and since I generally like goblins more than orcs, I guess this makes them my favorite orc design by default? I just love them, nasty little toad people.

The 1980 Return of the King movie in particular is one of the few adaptations that keeps Tolkien's sympathy for the orcs in tact, with Frodo even having a dream sequence about living in a world where his run in with orcs is fully pleasant, each of them waving at each other as they cross paths, content to share a beautiful world together.

And while it adapts the parts of the text that take place after the deaths of poor Shagrat and Gorbag, it still manages to work in a moment where the orcs lament their lot in life by way of the infamous "Where There's a Whip There's a Way" song written just for the film. I know this song is generally viewed as "bad" and corny and whatever, fuck that, I unironically love it. It's my wakeup alarm for workdays. I am these orcs five days out of the week.

What else...

So, like, kind of a cheat I suppose, but the Darkspawn in Dragon Age take a lot of cues from Tolkien's take on orcs, right down to seeming like they're just always chaotic evil at first glance, and also being the product of Supernatural Crimes Against Nature by semi-divine powers. And indeed, in Dragon Age Origins you're basically given no reason to view them as anything but evil obstacles to destroy, especially when you learn the body-horror involved in how they reproduce (it's more in the vein of Slither than Goblin Slayer, for those unaware - grotesque but, thankfully, not in that way).

But the big ol' DLC for the same game, called Dragon Age Awakening, throws a big monkey wrench in that view of them. We meet Darkspawn who are capable of speech - ones that have been broken free of the evil hivemind their species is ruled by, and, like freed borg drones, are now at a loss of what to do with themselves. They are, like Tolkien's orcs before them, a people who were made for war and violence, and yet still crave something more than that when given the chance to think about it. It's something that hasn't been followed up on much since, sadly, but it's a damn cool take.

What else...

I'm probably the only person who still remembers this movie, especially with any fondness, but I liked the orcs in the Warcraft movie directed by David Bowie's son. They were given a lot of nuance and I honestly think their parts of the film were by the far the best. Actually I remember liking that movie a lot despite some of its pacing issues, I should revisit it.

Ok that's not ten takes but I feel like there are at least 10 designs on display here so I'm calling this done.

[edwinspaynes]

What are your top 5-10 Thomastair headcanons?

Oh my God lmao I have SO many Thomastair headcanons. Not sure I can pick a top 10, but here are my 10 favourites. Some of them you may recognize as recurring things in my fic!

If you have read one of my best fics, this is one you'll recognize: film junkie Alastair. He's so interested in movies as an art form, and his interest and passion get Thomas into cinema, too. At the start of their relationship, they go to films around London, but they branch out pretty quickly. They go to places like New York, and Boston, and LA. Matthew even gets them into a Phantom of the Opera premiere in Paris and orchestrates a meeting between them and the director. It's something that Thomas and Alastair do together for their entire lives until they finally get a TV when they're 70 and in their little condo.

Thomas still retains his schoolboy diaries... and they are completely filled with, like, "La la la Alastair is so funny... and so amazing.... he spoke to me today..." etc. Alastair discovers this while they're moving and, with Thomas's consent, conducted a hilarious dramatic reading for just the two of them. To this day, he still does this sometimes, and it always makes them laugh.

Thomas and Alastair learn to cook all of each other's favourite meals. Usually Thomas makes breakfast and Alastair makes dinner, but sometimes they'll switch it up. Or they'll cook together. But yes I think that they learn all of the other one's favorite recipes and surprise the other one sometimes. I think that Thomas learns from Sona and Risa, and Alastair learns primarily from Eugenia.

Thomas scratches his nose when he feels awkward in social settings. It's a tell that no one notices besides Alastair, who is both observant and emotionally close to Thomas. He teases him about it excessively, but he also will use it as a cue and like, keep him comfortable when in group situations.

You'll be familiar with this one if you've ever read my smut. When Thomas and Alastair first started to get physical post-infirmary scene, Thomas was uncomfortable with speaking about sex and Alastair noticed. So he started using outdated sex euphemisms to get him to feel comfortable and laugh with him so he can feel safe talking about it. And it WORKED. Over time, though, after a couple of months, Thomas became more naturally comfortable and confident. But the euphemisms stayed. And they made it a game to one-up each other in weirdness and entertainment value of the antiquated terms. And then it became "no matter what we are currently doing, pause and guess the year the term is from." It's like this huge private inside joke for them that's intimate and hilarious.

Thomas and Alastair are both extremely close to Zachary. When Zachary is a young child, he genuinely believes that both Thomas and Alastair are his dads. Sona has to correct him, and he is floored.

One of Thomas's biggest flaws is that he's super petty. Like, if Alastair does something minorly annoying, he will passive-aggressively hint to it. I wrote a fic where Alastair accidentally eats his truffles so he decided to get back at him by putting some of his things too high for him to reach around the house. But he's also just as ridiculously doting. Like. He goes to replace his truffles and also brings Alastair a second box because he loves him

I think one of the best things about Thomastair is that they're always like. Teammates. Even when they're upset with each other, it's like, they will support each other through anything. It is a kind of love you don't see very often. I feel like the ONLY other time I've seen this is with Herondaisy, but yeah.

This is totally canon, but they're the capital-C PDA Couple. I love this about them. Booo. Get a room.

Eventually, when they're in their late 50s, Thomas and Alastair retire to Paris together. They get a condo high above the Champs Elysees and fill it with books and artwork, and there's a passage from their room to their roof so they can go up and look at the stars.

[nikethestatue]

So there’s a Reddit post out there talking about the great theories of Elain being able to shapeshift, along with Nuala Cerridwen taking the form of priestesses to assist Elain.

I found a commenter that was unhappy that I guess felt the post was taking away from the accomplishment of Gwyn and the valkeryies by giving credit to Elain and it didn’t sit right with me.

This comment bothered me because it’s always about Gwyn. So I responded with a comment a long the lines about how the stans are obsessed with Gwyn’s accomplishments but never acknowledge Emerie is the first female Carynthian to complete the blood rite.

They then accused me of weaponizing Emerie because the OP did mostly acknowledge Gwyn. I’m sure more context would help but I would like to know if this is true because I would like to find a better way to approach this. I’m not going to engage further.

Did I weaponize her? Because that really wasn’t my intention and I want to be more mindful moving forward.

The word 'weaponize' is usually a bit overkill, but in this context, what exactly are you weaponizing? I've not seen the post, so it's hard for me to judge, but if the discussion is only about Gwyn--that Gwyn's contribution/achievement in the BR was the only thing mentioned, then no, you didn't weaponize anything. The Valkyries were a team, but ultimately, it was about Nesta--we see everything from Nesta's POV, Nesta's power was imbued into the bracelets that allowed them to find each other, Nesta (and Balthazar) saved Emerie, Nesta stood at the Breaking, allowing the other two to continue up the mountain and Emerie carried Gwyn who was unconscious.

BR is definitely NOT about Gwyn at all. First and foremost, it's about Nesta. And then it's about them working together and using their skills and abilities to reach Ramiel.

When it comes to ACOSF, the story is about Nesta. It's HER journey. Gwyn and Emerie are supporting cast. The IC, for example, is about Rhysand. The others are supporting him, until they get their own stories (IF they get their own stories).

We'll see what happens in the future with the Valkyries and if Gwyn and Emerie will take a more central role, but as it stands right now, the story in ACOSF is about Nesta and her accomplishments.

(Interestingly, when it came to the Mountain itself, Gwyn's role was minimized. She was knocked out, and it was a clipped Illyrian woman who carried her. It was Emerie who reached the summit and touched the stone. Nesta didn't get the privilege. Gwyn survived only because of Emerie and reached the top as well, so if acknowledging Emerie's accomplishment is 'weaponizing' her, then go ahead and continue weaponizing, because she deserves it.

For the record, I think SJM did it on purpose. I think Emerie will have a bigger story in Illyria (again, a story they are trying to give to Gwyn (absurdly). And the fact that ultimately she is the one true Carynthian and she is Illyrian and she is a female is something that SJM did for a reason. She gave that 'win' specifically to Emerie.

As we all know, Gwyn rejected the title and said she didn't want to be a Carynthian, but she was a Valkyrie.)

PS I am personally NOT a fan of the whole 'Elain shapeshifted into something/someone during the BR' theory. It's not Elain's story, and for her sake, I wouldn't want something so monumental to be told in some flashback or something. Therefore, I feel that this idea is not appropriate for either sister's storyline. BR, climbing that mountain, surviving, finding her strength and her friends was Nesta's story.

Just like I don't want Nesta in Elain's story and her journey, I don't feel like Elain is needed in Nesta's.

Eventually, they'll all come together but not yet.

[project-sekai-facts]

thinking about it stresses me out and i can't explain it well but making the world link events take up an entire event slot instead of it running alongside a different event is such a horrible idea imo, especially if it takes this month's lim banner entirely. and i think it's impossible considering vbs's one is in january and there's the new years fes anyways? unless they make new years perm again like in 2021 but it's going to be so fucking annoying and predictable for any fan that's been waiting for a lim for a while, especially vsers because it basically confirms that the devs STILL aren't treating them like the actual characters and putting them in events with the ocs (let alone having to wait until AUGUST for more fucking lims, yea like we need another fucking one-year gap /s). its genuinely irritating for me if they end up deciding that and not making next event lim. plus it makes the next event from now only six days considering this gacha ends October 31st, and with the event gap, the event has to end November 5th or 6th. and this wl event lasts 12 days and no event has lasted either of those lengths in jp (not to mention the weird fucking chapter-by-chapter thing going on?). sorry for acting angry but i really am disappointed if this ends up being the case without any fucking warning it makes no sense!

yeah the WL event just feels like it needs some work. obviously this is the first one so there's gonna be some problems here and there but this feels like it's pretty messily put together, even for a first run. i understand it taking an event slot because otherwise you'd have to tier two separate events at the same time and that'd just be difficult, but just the sheer amount of time it takes up is too much. maybe shorten the chapters to 2 days from 3, 12 days is too long. it's just gonna be really draining and a pain in the ass to tier, plus it makes the event before it really short. like seriously, 7 days for the MMJ event? i mean the current event is only 8 but normally cheerful carnivals last about 10 because of the format. i mean MMJ wouldn't perform as well as a N25 banner anyway so maybe they're just throwing the 7 day event on them for testing purposes.

since VBS is directly after new year colofes+lims I'm guessing WL lims don't count as actual lims. maybe they don't have hairstyles, i mean they said about MR2 unlocking special cut-ins, so maybe they do that instead of hairstyles. i wonder if they'll be like a bday card where they have their own rarity or something because if the game is willing to run them directly after a fes banner they can't be all that rare? maybe they reappear on future WL events like how all fes cards are on every colofes banner.

i get the feeling that the WL event won't have a specific character focus. they didn't announce a song other than the 3rd anniversary campaign one, so unless they're deciding to count that as Kanade's 4th comm then it doesn't look like this has a specific focus. well, apparently each part of the event/story is focused on a different character so that makes sense I guess. also the 3rd anni campaign commissions are meant to release monthly, and these events are getting dragged out until well past when all unit will've gotten their comm.

i think a lot of adjustments are gonna have to be made to the event starting from the VBS one. like the whole thing feels messy right now. and maybe it's because they haven't really told us a whole lot about how it works still, but there's obvious problems from the get-go like the duration and the amount of gacha cards on top of the fact they're now rerunning 3 lim gachas at a time. how badly does this game want our money they earn way more than any other idol game on the market.

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 26

All right, let's put this to bed.

There's a lot of text in this episode, and it opens with a "recap" of the previous episode, claiming that we're witnessing the realization of the Human Instrumentality Project, which is apparently the unification of all human minds into a single merged consciousness. But Episodes 25 and 26 only depict the process through a single individual, Shinji, because "there is not enough time to show the entire process". Well whose fault is that?

Tell you what, let's take this at face value for a minute. I refused to accept that this is really what the HIP was supposed to be, because the information is coming to me in a pair of episodes that appear to be set in Shinji's imagination. At best, it could only be what Shinji thinks the Human Instrumentality Project could be, but I doubt he's even heard of it.

But let's accept that it's true, and right after Shinji killed the last Angel, Gendo put into motion his master plan, which was apparently some application of the Evas' ability to synchronize the thoughts of different life forms. He flips some switch, and now all humans everywhere are suddenly linked together. Shinji experiences this and is horrified, because he's still coming to terms with killing the last Angel, on top of all the other issues he's been wrestling with his whole life.

I guess it makes a measure of sense, because this would be Gendo's only hope of seeing his dead wife again. I think she was accidentally absorbed into the Eva she was working on, and they tried to restore her body like they did with Shinji several episodes ago, but it didn't work. So maybe Gendo figures if everyone merges together the same way, they'll all be reunited, and Yui can be part of that communion, even if she can't get her body back.

At least, that's a plausible motivation for him to want to do all of this. Gendo's never really fit into the world, and maybe he sees this as the only way to find peace. This way, he doesn't have to worry about being offputting and cold, because we're all one, and the differences between us no longer exist. But while Gendo finds that desirable, Shinji finds it horrifying.

Yeah, this is starting to make a little more sense. In this scenario, Shinji and Asuka would find it difficult to adjust, because they've each placed so much of their perceived self-worth into their careers as Eva pilots. Shinji hates himself a little less when he's piloting the Eva, and Asuka feels like she has an identity of her own when she's piloting the Eva. But in this unified consciousness, that distinctiveness is stripped away. They don't to be with their parents because they've put so much effort into getting away from their parents, and now this situation forces them to confront all the things they used to easily avoid.

I guess maybe Rei has an easier time adjusting to this status quo, since she was already a sort of collective organism, and didn't have much self-identity in the first place.

So in his panic, Shinji closed his mind off from the others. He wished for a haven apart from everything that caused him pain, but that just means he's alone and apart from the rest of the world. The others--or perhaps his imaginings of the others-- convince him that this is useless. Shinji worries about being liked and appreciated and understood, and defines himself by how others perceive him, but ultimately one's self-perception isn't all that different from the perception other's have of you.

To illustrate this, they show Shinji floating in a white void. It's unlimited freedom, because there are no obstacles to impede him. He can literally go anywhere he wants in any direction, but there's also nothing there, so there's no point to any of it, and nowhere to go and nothing to do.

But draw a line on the space, and now he has a floor. It gives him a reference point. Now he can walk around and there's a ground and a sky. There's finally a sense of place, but it costs him a degree of freedom.

By extension, the additional boundaries imposed by others is what shapes and defines the self. In a world all by himself, Shinji is completely undefined. Surrounded by nothing, he may as well be nothing, because there's no point of reference.

And that's a salient point, because it calls back to Kaworu's final words before Shinji killed him in Episode 24. According to Kaworu, only one life form would survive their conflict--the Angels or the Humans. But if the Angels prevailed, then what would remain? Kaworu was the last one, so with humanity's destruction, he would inherit an empty world. That's why he was happy for Shinji to win, because at least his victory could actually mean something. And while Shinji was upset about killing him, I think he also respected what Kaworu was trying to say. At least, I think he gets it now, in this empty world, where he's getting a taste of the fate Kaworu wanted to avoid.

So Shinji finally imagines something else, and wakes up in a different world, one where he and Asuka and Rei are ordinary schoolchildren. He even does the thing where he collides into the new girl (Rei) on their way to school, and Rei's got the toast in her mouth and everything. Misato's their teacher, and it's all a little too idyllic, but that's not the point.

The point is that Shinji can imagine himself in any kind of reality he chooses, and still retain his sense of self in such a world. He doesn't pilot an Eva in that world he just envisioned, and he was still himself. Asuka was still Asuka. So the idea that his identity is bound up in piloting an Eva is false. He doesn't need a particular job to matter. He just needs other people around him to define who and what he is.

So that seems to resolve part of Shinji's trouble, but there's still a catch: He hates himself, and thinks everyone around him hates him as well. But that's just a matter of perspective. He hates himself because he chooses to hate himself, and so he chooses to believe himself worthy of hatred, so he assumes everyone else hates him too.

And slowly, Shinji starts to consider loving himself, and wanting to be himself, and wanting to exist in the wider world. As he does, the cracks start to form in the barrier he's created around himself, and...

He's here. Wherever here is. I'm going to stick with this premise and say that he's finally accepting his place in this collective consciousness that his father has put together. That's why everyone is here to meet him, and why they're all congratulating him for figuring it out. Perhaps everyone in this new merger has had to go through a similar process to make it to this stage, and so they understand what Shinji just went through to make it this far.

Of course, Kaji's supposed to be dead, so I can't quite explain why he would be here, unless his existence in this world is just the memories others had of him. Or maybe he didn't die after all. We never saw a body.

And Pen-Pen isn't human, so I don't know how he got in. Maybe there was a Penguin Instrumentality Project that we didn't know about.

I could just be blowing smoke. My gut tells me this episode is a train wreck, like Episode 25. I'm having to do a lot of heavy lifting to make this fit into some coherent narrative. It would have helped if Gendo had discussed what HIP was before Episode 24, so we could recognize any of this as what he had been aspiring to achieve.

But, it's appealing to try to take this literally. To say "That's not just Shinji imagining his parents in some dream, that's actually his parents, reunited in an artificial heaven of their own design. Their family was broken in the past, but in this reality, they can heal." At least that's a compelling notion, and a somewhat satisfactory ending to the series.

I don't know that I buy it, though. Asuka deserved a more focused resolution to her character arc than this. They sort of tacked her identity crisis onto Shinji's, but that doesn't work for me. In a better planned series, there would have been enough episodes left to give each of them their own moment of growth.

Mostly, this ending blows because there was so much lore that didn't get explained in this show, and I don't know if that's because they thought it wasn't worth getting into, or if they were just too fixated on Shinji's turmoil to prioritize anything else. I really wanted to know what the deal was with the Second Angel, and this show totally blew it off.

Or did it?

Now that I've finished the box set, I decided to look in the character bios on the last disc, and I found this one, about Lilith, the Second Angel. This is great, because it confirms what I thought was going on in Episode 24. Everyone called this guy "Adam" and assumed he was the First Angel, but it was actually the Second, Lillith, and no one knew the difference until Kaworu got close enough to notice.

I mean, maybe SEELE, Gendo, and possibly Ritsuko knew who it really was, but that's why Third Impact never happened whenever the Evas or Angels approached it. Apparently the purple on Lillith's face is a mask depicting the SEELE coat of arms, so maybe they put that on her as a disguise, which is why the Angels never knew the difference until the very end.

Adam is the forebearer of the other Angels, and Lilith is apparently the progenitor of humans, so I guess that explains why the Evas made from Lillith were like Angels without being Angels themselves. I still have other questions, but at least I'm somewhat satisfied.

So that's it. I finally finished the NGE TV series. Now I want to check out End of Evangelion, and maybe start perusing the fan wikis for other information I missed. This is nice. I have to say, this series has been kind of uneven. Great in some places and downright crappy in others. But it's very gratifying to have finally experienced it for myself. I've been curious about it for a long time, and sating my curiosity feels more rewarding than the actual quality of the show.

Play us out, 4kids.

[formulaorange]

2023 Summer Anime

This is the anime season I've been waiting for this year:

Jujutsu Kaisen - Season 2 speaks for itself, long awaited, goated characters, fun action packed story

Bleach: Thousand year Blood War - Season 2 One of the best come backs of all time for an anime, the first season was absolutely worth waiting 10+ years for. Season 2 back to kill it again I'm sure.

Horimiya: Piece - 13 Episodes One of my favourite shoujo romance series. This isn't the second season but it's a lot of new content that didn't make it into the original series. Another one lots of people have been waiting for.

Another one of my all time favourite shoujo (?)/fantasy? series is coming back this season as well: Sugar Apple Fairy Tale This was such a brutal cliffhanger to leave us on in the first half and I honestly cried so much. This is a highly anticipated second cour for me. We also have Mushoku tensei season 2 coming this season. While I feel like it's definitely one of the top isekais out there, I'm not too sure how this second season will do, it seems a bit darker and has a different vibe to it. We'll have to wait and see. There's also a bunch of series that attempted to air in the winter series but were halted for one reason or another: The misfit at demon lord academy - season 2 The devil as a part timer!! - season 2 After watching what they did release originally, I feel like these series could honestly have been left alone and been such solid series. Who knows if they'll redeem themselves. NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a - it seems like this is only going to be 4 episodes, not too sure what's New Series:

The Girl I like forgot her Glasses A new romance series that looks straightforward and wholesome. Pretty much what the title says. It's done by an older studio, known for the 2012 anime "K". It seems like they're trying to make a comeback as they're also releasing the following show this season: The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today I've heard of the manga for this series and it's supposed to be quite highly rated but I honestly know nothing about it. My guess is that it'll be popular with the manga readers but likely won't get too much traction in the wider audiences. My Happy Marriage Historical romance series that honestly looks like it checks all the boxes for me. Arranged marriage by evil step-mother of a quiet girl to a supposed cold hearted commander with money. The quality animations are honestly a bonus.

Zom 100 I think this is exactly the kind of show that'll do well as an anime, it's big, loud, and stupid (in a good way). A 24year old salaryman realizes he never has to work again when the zombie apocalypse hits japan. Definitely a fun one to watch this season.

Helck This is a new fantasy/comedy series where a human - Helck, is nominated as demon lord. Big muscle brain who hates other humans and wants to destroy humanity. The manga was just released in english so I've heard the name around recently and think it'll be a fun watch. Dark Gathering A new horror/supernatural series where a shut in start working for a child prodigy psychic who wants to hunt down the spirit related to her mothers disappearance. Seems like it could be a half-decent supernatural series, it's been a while since I've watched one so i'll likely check it out.

Undead Girl Murder Farce Another interesting dark looking series. It's about a disembodied head who's a detective who travels with her half-demon friend and maid around Europe solving supernatural related mysteries. Liar, Liar A big brain battle anime about people faking each other out to win some kind of tournament (?) I know people like this kinda series quite a bit, like Classroom of the Elite so I figured I'd throw this in incase you're interested. Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero A new comedy fantasy series that's popular in the manga realm. After 10 year the hero and the retired demon lord room together as the Demon lord tries to get the hero back in shape. What I wanted from Devil as a part-timer. Record of Ragnarok - Season 2 I honestly have so much fun with this series and have no complaints about the animation style, looking forward to the new battles. Along the same lines: Hanma Baki- Season 2 Easy brainless violence/entertainment Link Click 2 I really need to get to watching the first season, I know this is supposed to be an incredible series with solid animations. Fate/Strange Fake A new season of fate, animated by A-1 who'll be doing solo leveling. I've been putting off watching the series but honestly will likely try and catch up for this season. Sequels: Masamune Kun's Revenge R (season 2) Rent-A-Girlfriend Season 3 BSD Season 5 The Duke of Death and His Maid Season 2 Spy Classroom Season 2 Others/Isekai/Fantasy: The Gene of AI - technically just sci fi - detroit become human meets medical show Hero Classroom - honestly the one that has the most potential out of this list - Hero/Fantasy/Ecchi/School Genre Atelier Ryza - looks a little promising, new alchemy apprentice in fantasy world Reign of the Seven Spellblades - Harry Potter type fantasy school (but not really in a good way)

[hannahssimblr]

After doing that 'top posts of 2023' or w/e post from yesterday I was asking myself what my absolute favorite moment was from Lucky Girl

I can usually tell by looking at the stats what are the most popular chapters (the ones with sex - nobody is surprised that y'all are coming back to re-read those 2/3 times each lmao I see you) and this one is up there.

I was so happy with it when it was completed, because I thought it caught Evie and Jude at their best and most themselves in the whole thing - those moments where she's worried about asking him for what she wants for fear that he'll get too excited and intense, and him trying to hold himself back for fear of overwhelming her. Both knowing each other well enough by now, while doing this silly little dance around each other instead of just admitting what they want. - They're still doing this in the epilogue. They've learned to be indirect with one another in their relationship and they know that they'll always have to do this little dance with one another to make things work.

Anyway, you've guessed it, it's 3.16 - the Arcade chapter <3

“Good game, Evie.” He concedes, after a long, anguished pause. “But I’m not playing against you again.”

“Good. I absolutely hate your play style, and you’re a sore winner.”

“From now on we should only team up”

“I agree, we’d be horrible and unstoppable.”

“Do you still fancy me after witnessing me at my worst and most toxic?”

I grin. “If that’s you at your most toxic then I think I fancy you more, actually.” I push past him towards an old jukebox by the wall. “Which probably says something about me, I don’t know. Maybe I should be psychologically assessed.”

“For liking bad boys?”

I snicker. “You think you’re a bad boy?”

“I think that you think I’m a bad boy.”

“No, I think you’re very sweet and kind and quite soft, actually.” I dig around in my pocket for a spare coin or two. “Sorry.”

He leans against the wall next to me like a quarterback against some cheerleader’s locker in a high school film, and it shouldn’t make me feel girlish and shy, but it does. My whole body tingles even though he’s not even touching against me. “Is that really what you think?”

“Are you flattered or insulted?”

“Well I’m flattered. I think that about you too, coincidentally.” 

“Pick a song.” I tell him. “Let’s see if this thing even works.”

“Give me the old classic, Surfin’ in the UK.”

“What?” I chuckle. “I think you’ve got that wrong.”

“No, look.” He points to the song selection at the front and I run my eyes down the most egregious list of knock off hits I’ve ever seen. There’s Hotel Florida, Puppy Dog, Nine Days a Week, Free Tumblin’, and somewhere near the middle is Surfin’ in the UK. “This is ridiculous.” I say as I hit the button and the speakers crackle to life. “Why don’t they just get the real songs?”

“Cheap,” Jude explains, and bobs his head as though he’s enjoying the strange song that almost, almost sounds like the Beach Boys, only for its weird, tuneless melody that never quite progresses to the expected or most obvious chord. 

“My God, this is awful,” I say, and he’s already doing a silly little shuffle dance across the worn out carpet. “What are you talking about? It’s a certified banger,” He reaches out his hand to me and sings in falsetto “And all the blokes are surfin’, surfin’ in the UK.”

“Don’t make me dance to this.”

“What? Nobody is watching.” He takes my hands in his while I laugh, and he laughs too, because it’s just funny. There’s always something funny about being together, even when I know that everyone else would think we’re being stupid, but when I’m around him I always feel just a little less embarrassed of myself. The same kind of childish, light headed giggliness I get when I breathe helium from a balloon.

The arcade machines and the neon on the walls blink and flash bright colours against his skin and his sleek, glossy dark hair, and everything is noise, light and sensation. Beeps and bings and 8 bit graphics and electronic chip music, all blend discordantly with the tinny music from the jukebox, but when he holds my waist and kisses me slowly everything else fades away. 

My body surrenders to him immediately, but this is what he does to me. This is why I feel afraid of the ways that I feel, because with him, as with nobody else, I feel like I can understand better why people do insane things for sex. How a person can just forget where they are and do it wildly and indiscriminately in cars or public bathrooms or in other kinds of places that used to make me feel confused and disgusted. I always knew, as I know right now, that it wouldn’t take much convincing on his part to get me out of my jeans. 

Lucky Girl, 3.16

[erikandersonsspouse]

hello! I saw that your ask box is open and was wondering if you have some platonic headcanons or short general scenarios for the brothers with mc. like gardening with James for example.

Platonic headcanon's my beloved! Yes I do have some platonic headcanons for the boys with mc and I'll list as many as I can think of below!

~~James~~

~James and MC love to garden together, as you've pointed out! Just taking time to weed, prune, and water the garden. Whether they work in silence, put on some music, or chat about anything at all, they love taking the time to be in the garden together. It's also quite soothing for both of them, a stress reliever from the worriers of the world

~ If they do put on some music, they absolutely dance around the garden together and occasionally fall over and just have goofy silly fun and it's so cute and platonic. (I personally adore dancing with my friends, slow dancing or otherwise doesn't matter)

~They'll also go shopping for seeds and gardening tools and that is how they now have an inside joke about the gnome in the front garden. No one understands why James and MC crack up every time it's mentioned or even see the ugly thing

~James and MC also love to just read quietly in the library together. Sometimes they'll read the same book and have like a mini book club with snacks and drinks and it's great fun for them.

~Sometimes Damien joins them and they help teach him how to read better.

~Other times, if MC has college homework to do, they'll sit in the library to either both do work or they'll work while James reads. It's normally a quiet time. James also helps MC is they need it.

~~Erik~~

~Erik loves to play the piano, and MC enjoys listening to him play. Sometimes they'll sing, sometimes Erik will teach them how to play the piano.

~They also enjoy just putting on music and dancing, it's fun and goofy and they can just be themselves.

~Erik will also rope MC into fashion shows. Whether they raid the mall and find things they feel like modeling for each other, or Erik has a few designs he was opinions on and convinces MC to try, they absolutely have put on mini fashion shows and have an absolute blast

~From those mini fashion shows come hundreds of goofy pictures saved to both of their phones, and MC very often cycles through them as their lock screen. Erik has a photo album of them saved to his phone.

~I also think MC and Erik would love to watch fashion shows or shows like Eurovision and make fun of everything together. Just two best friends being absolutely petty and making fun of people who will never know and won't care anyway. (This is mostly when one of them has had a bad/stressful day)

~They have spas days planned weeks in advance, at least once a month. Just a day they take to hang out and treat themselves.

~~Sam~~

~100% one way they hang out and show they care is MC asks Sam to teach them self-defense (or better self-defense). Which Sam is only too happy to do, even if he pretends to grumble

~These also spend a lot of time on the roof, doesn't matter what they're doing. Listening to music? On the roof with the music coming from one of their phones speakers. Taking a lunch break? Yep they're on the roof. Truth or Dare? You guessed it roof top

~They both have fallen asleep on the roof before and worried the hell out of the James, and the boys at first. Now they're used to it and will either leave them there or fetch them if they have too.

~There are also a number of hilarious photos/videos of the absolutely stupid stunts Sam and MC will pull while on the roof. Mostly Sam because he's less likely to get hurt by being an idiot on the roof.

~If one of them has had a bad day, the other will drag them to just sit up on the roof and watch the clouds. Eventually whoever is having a bad day will open up about it.

~The roof is Sam and MC's space, everyone knows that. Like a club house for the two friends only.

~~Matthew~~

~Matthew and MC love playing games together. Board games, video games, card games, doesn't matter, they love it.

~These two started a Youtube Channel where they play games together. Their videos of playing scary games are the most popular because both Matthew and MC get so freaked out and it's hysterical.

~They also have TikTok, and post the stupidest content ever. But it's always funny.

~MC and Matthew enjoy cooking together. They'll find a recipe they want to try and go shopping together. And when they do cook they often have music playing in the background. On more then one occasion a spoon has been used as a microphone as they sing and dance while cooking/baking together.

~Simon Tabby often makes an appearance when Matthew and MC play games together to mess with Matthew by stealing pieces pieces or jumping at poor Matthew during tense and or scary parts in games. Just anything to rile up Matthew and make MC almost bust a rib laughing.

~MC and Matthew also prank Matthew's brothers sometimes, never anything super mean but ya know. Water bucket over a doorway and other mundane pranks.

~~Damien~~

~MC absolutely teaches Damien how to read. Makes it their personal mission to give Damien something he was denied for so long as soon as Damien makes a comment about wanting to learn.

~They love making blanket fortes together with lots of pillows and cozy stuff and watching a movie marathon. Doesn't matter what movies, but they marathon them!

~They also both enjoy taking walks together during the warmer months.

~MC took Damien and his brothers apple picking for the first time and Damien thought it was really cool. He even put MC on his shoulders to help them pick apples really high up.

~When it snowed for the first time MC took Damien outside and told him all about snowball fights and making snowmen and snow angles. He was fascinated and found them to be a lot of fun. The Hot Chocolate MC made when they got inside afterward was really good too. They make it a tradition to have at least one day every winter where they go outside to play in the snow like they're 5 years old with no cares in the world.

~MC is the one to introduce Damien to a lot of music, due to playing music on their walks. He finds he's not really picky about what music he listens to but does enjoy when MC dances to it, and sometimes he'll join them in their dancing.

[chaotic-aro-incarnate]

Only Friends main cast and how & why they hook up with each other headcanons

Boston & Nick, Sand & Ray, Boston & Top: already happened so we know how that'll go

Top & Mew: with all their 4D chess that they're playing, something's gotta give at some point and that's how they'll finally have sex

Top & Sand: Sand mentioned being hit on a lot + having one night stands somewhat frequently and Top goes to the bar that Sand works at. Totally feasible that they hooked up at one point. Though in the preview for Ep 3 Sand says that he only has sex with someone once if it's just a hook up, which I wonder became his rule before or after Top

Ray & Boston: messed up proxy fucking where they're both thinking about Mew and Top respectively and are making things worse for themselves by doing it

Mew & Boston: happens after Top hooks up with Boston again and before Mew and Top actually have sex. Mew finds out about Top and Boston and gets revenge on Top by hooking up with Boston instead of him (also a very pointed "well I had to see what was so good about him that you'd pick him over me" from both parties)

Mew & Ray: alternate way where Mew gets revenge on Top for cheating on him, sine it seems like Boston is planning to play on Mew and Ray's relationship to make Top sleep with him instead (Mew: oh you thought I was messing around with him so you got with Boston? well, I guess now I actually do need to hook up with him). Poor Ray doesn't know how to say no to Mew, even if he knows he's just being used to get back at Top

Sand & Boston: similar situation to Sand & Top. Boston is a frequent customer at the bar where Sand works and hooks up with people all the time, statistically it probably happened and neither one thought too much about it and have kinda forgotten it happened and only remember when Boston runs into Sand after hooking up with Nick at their apartment.

Sand & Nick: they're roommates who have both been dragged into this mess of a friend group and are both in less than ideal situations with their fuck buddy/friend with benefits. enough depressed heart-to-hearts about the matter and they decide it might be better to simply fuck each other instead

Ray & Nick: Nick finds out that Boston is still sleeping with other people and has a crisis, Ray is being self-destructive and gets into an argument with Sand. they run into each other without knowing all the connections between them and hook up in a hopes of solving their problems, completely unaware how many more problems that they are causing for themselves

Top & Nick: Nick finds out that the guy Boston is still hung up over is Top and decides that he's going to fuck him as well because why shouldn't he? If Boston can do it, he should be able to do it too and maybe he'd find out what all the fuss is about. Probably after Mew found out about the cheating so he's not talking to Top at the moment, and Top figures out that he might as well sleep with the guy propositioning him because how much worse can things get?

Ray & Top: this is just straight up hate-fucking, no two ways about it. Ray resents Top for hurting Mew, Top doesn't like Ray due to the jealousy as well (since Ray's closeness to Mew seems to be what breaks him with Boston). Mew is mad at them both and off doing something (or someone) else. They run into each other at the bar while drunk and then pick a fight that escalates to them having sex

Mew & Sand: I don't know exactly how this would happen, I just know it's probably the worst thing to happen to Ray and he will make some bad decisions if he finds out it happened

Mew & Nick: .......ok I've been thinking but I seriously can't come up with a situation where they would end up hooking up together. they might be the only ones who won't have sex within the main cast because I'm at a loss of thinking how this one would happen. unless Nick and Top hook up and Mew finds out and then goes on a mission to have sex with every boy that Top has in order to prove a point to him

[alphinias]

If you accept a different argument for Chenford ;) - I actually don't agree with you and your anons about Chenford. Sure Tim almost dying in the last episode was anticlimatic and it had big potential but the scene that followed where they went into a flirty banter with smirking was top notch and showed their chemistry and their good old banter really well. I also think they used that scene to show Aaron's mind and character. He seems to be the one who's clearly onto them, whether he thinks they're together or just have feelings for each other. They've established similar reactions from Tamara and Angela and i think they'll play important role in the upcoming episodes when they'll either come out with the truth or be exposed by someone else.

I also think not all love declarations in fiction need to be big and dramatic. I think fans often want stuff that come across as too dramatic or fanfiction-y. And in Chenford's case they have years of friendship going on. They don't need to dramatically explode, telling each other they're in love. They already know they the other one has feelings based on ep1 and2 when they were about to have sex and then acknowledged it, followed by all the angst in s5. They're actually really good at communicating. Even when Tim doesn't want to show his vulnerability, Lucy always gets it out of him. He doesn't share his stuff with anyone but her. They know each other inside out. So I don't think they needed a more dramatic first kiss. That whole last scene was the sweetest ever - they were both just really content and secure with each other. Could they have done with more angst in the previous episodes? Sure. But i think that's because it's an ensemble cast and there's not enough time (i wish there was less Nolan scenes lol). Right now, let them have a few episodes of pure bliss. Drama will hit them soon enough. And it may not just be work related - there's also Chris, her past relationship with Nolan, Isobel could come back, Lucy could go UC for a longer period and it'd mess with Tim's head due to his history... Also, people want slow burn but this is season 5 already. There's nothing worse than waiting for this long for a ship with the best chemistry to finally happen only for it to be canceled/actors leaving with hardly any happily together time :)

Sure- and honestly I’m happy that the people like you who love it are satisfied and happy with the result of the slow burn they’ve been waiting on. I mean that. I like to see people happy with their ships. And I realize I seem to be in the minority with being underwhelmed with Chendord’s canon. That’s fine. I’m happy for the fandom that I am.

Most of this stuff we just have different opinions on and that’s not gonna change. I have mine so I’m not gonna yammer on for too long about what I think and all the things I think could’ve been better because I already have. I think the scenes needed to have more weight, and you don’t. We just don’t agree. But imo (okay I guess I am gonna yammer a bit) BECAUSE we waited so long for the slow burn, we deserved something more substantial and not just “cute”. They could’ve gotten together at the exact same time and it could’ve been ten times more satisfying, easily. It’s CHENFORD. They deserve a memorable canon scene/turning point and not to get together basically like any old ship on the show.

I respect your views but the only thing I’m gonna totally call BS on is the ensemble cast not having enough time thing. That’s just an excuse and they DID have enough time, had they used it in a different way. Plenty of my favorite ships do not involve the main character and had huge emotional arcs to getting together, like Stydia. It’s the writers’ job to utilize all their characters and scenes in efficient ways.

And just to make it clear, I do think the chenford scenes are cute. Their chemistry is excellent so of course they’re cute. It just feels unsatisfying to me in the lack of impact and fulfilling storyline. You see it as not needing to be fanfic-y, and I see it as it’s a television show and the whole point is to be entertained. These emotional moments between your biggest ship should be a little more magical than real life, and it doesn’t have to be fanficy and stupid to reach that.