#haha maybe I should make Triple Star next Who knows

[cezij]

Dust off my WIP and finished another TravETS au

Pro wrestling AU (I can hope they being partner did I?-)

Possibility of ETT feature Travis might be low but possibility of me make more stuff about them is high-

[anothertimdrakestan]

Light Of My Life Jason Todd x Reader

LINK TO PT 2

Words: 2.7k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!

“Hello! May I have a Jason Todd x reader where the reader is a really powerful superhero from the avengers and is well known and she met Jason when she was hopping on rooftops in Gotham (for fun idk haha) and the reader feels lonely and they bond over that with Jason and they start dating and when Jason’s brothers find out they’re dating (a few months later) they freak out and say things like “YOURE DATING THEM?! How did this happen?!” Thank you!”

LINK TO PROMPTS  -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

Ok so I took this as a new avenger I hope that’s okay :). It’s mostly selfish that I wanted to write my own badass hero for Jason to simp for... can you blame me? She’s basically a heroin Livewire for those of you that watched Supergirl. Also you really set me up for a long fic so strap in anon, you did this to yourself by giving me an amazing request! Hope you enjoy! xoxo

“You’re kidding right. Gotham? Mr. Seclusive Bat Brat’s turf? Not a chance in hell.” you groaned hearing your newest mission. “Sorry Y/H/N you’re headed to nut-case capital” your comm buzzed back and you rolled your eyes. At least it was a short trip right? Confirm with Dr. Strange exactly the newest magical item you needed to look for, find it, and get out. Maybe zap a couple villains for shits n giggles. Grabbing your motorcycle you headed out, praying for a short trip. 

Arriving at your hotel you began to set up, having powers meant no bulky suit which was nice but Strange had set you up with about a million photos, books, and what looked like scrolls about a stupid helmet. Apparently all the helmet did was let the wearer float and see in the damn dark, half of the avengers could do that shit already. But when THE Dr. Strange makes a request of the Avengers, they comply. 

You’d heard about a drug leader with an eye for shiny objects, and you decided to start there hoping you could really give him a show. Waiting for night to fall you headed out, appreciating the constantly terrible weather in Gotham, lightning cracked in the sky exhilarating you, taking it as a sign from your gods that they liked this mission you felt the electricity run through your veins as you sped towards the ring a friend of yours had tipped you off about. Propping your bike up on the side of the building you felt the electricity dancing through the wires of the building and you zapped into them, travelling in to the main room.

Jason just about pissed his pants. He watched this hot motorcycle chick park her (sexy ass) bike outside the drug ring he was busting that night and right when he was about to put on some Red Hood Charm™ he watched her turn into a giant spart and shoot into the building through the camera system. Realizing she was going to do his job for her he decided to watch from above, trying to figure out who the mystery meta was. As he sat perched on the top of the building he couldn’t help but hope it was Y/H/N, one of the most prominent new Avengers but what was she doing in Gotham? Regardless he sat, ready for the lightshow.

What you saw inside the building was horrific. Disgusting men were throwing cash around to take home young, terrified girls. Disregarding the mission at hand you flashed into the middle of the “show”. Immediately guns were out but that had never stopped you. Dissapaiting into one of the lights you enjoyed how some of the men shrieked at your powers. “Shit dog I think it’s Y/H/N but what’s she doin in Gotham?” never able to pass an opportunity to boast you appeared behind the group smirking “hey boys. Don’t there girls look a little young for you? That said, you should let them go or I’ll get angry. And you’d be shocked with how angry I can get - literally.” you held up a hand letting sparks dance in you palm. What you didn’t expect was to see a blundering idiot in a red mask crash through the ceiling. 

Before you could light him up he called “uh hey! It’s Y/H/N right? Big fan. Red Hood pleasure to meet you. See, this is usually my territory, drugs and all, but I’d be happy to share with a lovely lady like you so-” you scoffed. “Shut up BatBrat I don’t intend on swinging minor league with you tonight, I just want these girls out of here and to talk with you” you gestured to the drug lord, annoyed this Red Batman or whatever his name is was getting in your way. “Minor leagues huh? Princess if you think this is any type of game you’re wrong, we don’t play by the rules here.” and he pulled out two guns and began firing. This shocked you. You thought the bats held the same standards as the majority of the Avengers, no killing. This clearly went down the drain as you watched him blow the brains out of the majority of the drug dealers. 

Deciding this wasn’t the night for you to successfully capture the man you needed, especially because Stark would kill you if you got in a fight with another vigilante on an away mission. While Red Mask went hand to hand with the guards you helped the girls escape, shooing them towards the exit and making them promise to be safer. After securing the public’s safety you took a moment to watch Red Armour fight. He was trained you had to admit, he ducked and punched like he’d been doing in for years, he was refined in skill but reckless and practice, it was fascinating. “You gonna help or is that not in the Avenger’s handbook?” you smirked as he got pinned by a couple guards. As he was preoccupied you zapped to the drug lord, shocking him enough to put him down long enough to move him. Forming an electric rope around his limbs you began dragging him out. “Sorry RedBat I got what I came for, you make a good side kick though” with a wink you walked out, not before hearing him shout “ITS RED HOOD SPARKY” 

In one of the Avenger’s safe houses you’d tied up your captive. “This is super easy buddy, all I need to know is where to find the Helmet of Razadazar” what a stupid fucking name, it doesn’t even sound cool. Knowing he’d feign innocence you prepared yourself for light, pleasure for you, not so much for him...

“You’re. Lying. Todd.” Tim’s fingers flew across the BatComputer. “Y/H/N in Gotham? EPIC!” Jason rolled his eyes. “Drake she definitely wasn’t all that amazing, plus she gave the impression she wasn’t long for Gotham so it’s probably nothing. Newbie training for the A list.” Tim sighed, Jason was probably right, the Avengers left Gotham to Batman, no one wanted a piece of it. “Alright, but you gotta tell me everything, I think she shorted all the camera footage so you better use all the detail.” Jason agreed, secretly excited to recount his experience, maybe fangirl a little. All he knew was that he was going to find you, the only game he wanted to play was chasing you.

After taking a short lecture from Captain A about aggressive torture techniques and why they should be AVOIDED you had gotten your answer. Apparently an underground auction with other-worldly treasures was the place to be. At least Gotham’s wealthy were making everything easy for you tonight. 

Jason adjusted his bowtie as he waited to enter the auction. Attending as Bruce Wayne was easy, he did owe Damian a barn now, but it was a worthy pay off for Damian to endure some father-son time as a cover up while Jason played billionaire. Finding an excuse to go other than finding Y/H/N wasn’t hard either, and now here he was, hoping you’d stand out. Let’s just say fate helped a little.

Sitting at a table with your fake identity as Ms. Stark was equally as easy. Excited to be meeting Mr. Wayne the Gothamite who was seated next to you. As he sat down he looked younger than the paparazzi pictures showed. You stuck out a hand to shake and he took it gently, kissing it, to your surprise. He looked at your smirking, “looking lovely tonight Sparky” you’re jaw dropped. Mr. Wayne I had no idea Red Cap was your speed” you whispered, shocked, but slightly comforted to know you had your sidekick here.”It’s. Red. Hood. And just as you Ms. Stark, this identity is not my own.” it made sense, but it was still impressive. 

Having exchanged pleasantries with the table the auction began. Item after item went, you and Hood slid in low bets to seem interested, but you wondered why he had came. Then the helmet was up. You sucked in a breath knowing the plan was to win the bid then snatch the helmet. You bid politely against someone at table 37 until it was yours. “Going once” “Going twi-” the auctioneer stopped as Mr. Wayne raised his paddle, tripling your bet. The auctioneer looked shocked at the amount, not letting you bid again before he shouted “SOLD to the sir at table 14!” For the second time that night your jaw dropped. “I need that helmet!” you whisper yelled. “That old thing? Sure princess. You just have to get dinner with me tomorrow” you realized he just spent millions and millions of dollars just to win your time. “Deal” you hissed. 

Jason decided not to tell his brothers about his date. Feeling like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity he wasn’t ruining it. After hiding the helmet in the BatCave he was waiting for you at a candle lit table for two. When you walked in he knew it was love at first sight. Sitting down across from him you smirked. “You clean up nice..” he finished for you “Todd. Jason Todd.” taken aback you’d heard about him, the kid that lived, part of the Wayne family. “Well if we’re going real names Mr. Todd what do I have to lose, y/n l/n” you smiled, drinking in his appearance. He was dashing you had to admit, confident and laidback it was alluring. “Beautiful name to fit a gorgeous girl” he winked, to your shock, making you blush. 

The two of you spent the night throwing snide comments, compliments, and flirtation between you. Something about Jason just clicked, it felt right. After hours at the table you and Jason went for a walk around Gotham while he showed you his most memorable spots. Somehow the two of you wound up on the top of a skyscraper staring at the stars. Finally having a person who understood the burden of heroism but wasn’t judging you for being new was refreshing. Only knowing each other for hours it felt like it had been years, confiding in each other about some of your deepest secrets. Jason was amazed with your powers, but you explained that they were hard to control, bottling electricity up in anything was difficult, batteries rotted, lightbulbs broke, and sometimes it felt like you were no different. He watched as you showed him how sparks danced across you skin and though he didn’t tell you, they’d been sizzling around you since dinner, an aura vibrating around you as you laughed, cried, and smiled with him.

“So Lightning McQueen, what do the sparks do when you’re happy?” you grimaced at another of his nicknames and explained how they crackle and pop sometimes taking on certain weather-like patterns. “Huh, well let’s see some lightning then” Jason grabbed your hand pulling you into his chest, using the other hand to lift your eyes to meet his as he leaned in. You sped up the process, hands wrapping around his neck, crashing his lips on yours. He was right, lightning struck across the sky as sparks danced between the two of you. Pulling away he grinned as he breathlessly looked at you. “Beautiful” You pulled him in for more, deciding maybe Gotham wasn’t so bad if he was here. 

“Why does Y/H/N always get the Gotham missions?” Peter Parker groaned. “Well seeing as she practically lives there it’s easy” the rest of the gang retorted as you blushed. “I guess I just really like the weather” you grinned while everyone rolled their eyes knowing the reason Gotham was having more lightning than ever was no coincidence. 

“Honey I’m homeeeeee” you squealed as you zapped into your kitchen. Jason had learned not to be alarmed when you appeared out of thin air and he opened his arms as you fell into his embrace. “Hello to my favorite double A” he grinned when you gave him a zap, he knew you loved all his nicknames. He pulled you out of his embrace looking you dead in the eyes. “Sparky it’s time you meet my family, you know Tim is going to kill me for hiding you” You were so excited, timing never aligned or one of you was injured or not on Earth but finally, it was time to meet the family. 

You’d snuck into the manor before, but everytime it seemed to get bigger. Jason squeezed your hand warning you about how annoying his family was. As you entered you took in everything. The cutest little boy was chasing a grown man with a sword, a teenage boy sat on a kitchen cupboard shotgunning an energy drink, all while a nice elderly man chopped carrots calmly in the kitchen. Breaking the silence you began to name each boy “Uh hi guys! I’m y/n you probably know me as Y/H/N but I’m so excited to be here! I’m guessing Damian, Dick, Tim, and the wonderful Alfred!” all the boys froze. Alfred smiled and continued chopping.  “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” Tim jumped off the cupboard wide eyed staring at you. “Todd how do you know her?” Dick looked at you, shocked to see an Avenger not in costume next to his brother. 

“Actually guys I’ve known Y/N for a while, remember Tim that night? We’ve kept in touch since and I’m lucky enough to be her boyfriend!” Jason kissed you on the cheek and immediately Tim passed out. As Dick poured water on the teen Damian walked up to you and you bent down to look him eye to eye. “Prove you’re Y/H/N because I don’t believe Todd could pull a famous hero like Y/H/N” Jason started “No y/n it’s fine” but you wanted to make a good impression so you zapped into the light fixture, counted to 5, then appeared on the cupboard Tim had been on, only to zap back nex tot Jason. “TT I’m impressed Todd. Y/n let me say I’m impressed with your recent activity with the Avengers. I know what it is like to be surrounded by older, entitled idiots.” Damian stuck out a tiny hand and you shook it, making sure to give him a little shock. 

Having woken up Tim began rapid fire questions. “So Todd lied you’re here? And you like him? Can I just say you’re so cool. Would you let me run some tests on your powers? What’s the biggest lightshow you’ve done? What is spiderman like? I feel like I’m quicker than him but I don’t know. Do you love Jason?” you tried to take in all the questions. “Yes I’m here, yes, thank you, sure I guess, biggest was cracking a small moon in half - don’t asl I was mad, spidey is cool kind of a dweeb but, he’s pretty quick but I haven’t seen you, and yes I do love Jason” you took a deep breath. Jason smiled at you, glad you could keep up with Tim’s q & a. Suddenly Tim grabbed Dick’s arm and started running to the BatCave, “okay y/n I’m gonna go set up some tests come down in a minute. Todd you lucky asshole you bring her down in five okay?” before you could reply he was gone. 

Taking a deep breath Jason wrapped his arms around you. “I’m so glad you can deal with them, but if Drake gets really bad knock him out cold” you chuckled, knowing that dealing with the Wayne’s was more difficult for Jason than it was for you. “Anything for you babe” you grinned. “Always the light of my life y/n” you rolled your eyes knowing the jokes would never stop, one of the many reasons you loved Red Hood with all your heart. 

haha I never do A/N but do y’all get the pun in the title hehehehe wow I need to go to bed. Also check out the pun in my masterlist lolz. Now, dear reader, that you read this post we have an inside joke together hehe... love you! xoxo

[whindsor]

the trials of online dating, part 2

hey @witchofinterest you’re still inspiring me btw

Swipe left, swipe left, swipe left-

Mika thought, with all the options available to her, that online dating in NYC would be a breeze. In truth, it didn’t even have to be dating. She just needed friends that weren’t her sister or her sister’s boyfriend.

Swipe left, swipe left, swipe - oh, hold on.

Mika furrowed her brow, glad that the handsome man on the screen couldn’t see the double chin she sported as she curled up on the couch. James Bucky Barnes. She’d heard that name before. Where had she heard it before?

A quick google search reminded her, making her sit up and stare down at her phone. Now when she looked at his picture, she remembered how sad he looked during the trial, how tired he was when he took the stand to talk about all the things that happened to him. TIME magazine ran article after article about the years he lost.

And now he was trying online dating? Good for him.

Mika stared long and hard at the screen. He was cute, and he also probably felt a little misplaced here in New York. Or, this was a fake account, and she would be disappointed. Again.

Hiking. Technology. Reading. Well, they had two out of three things in common.

Fuck it.

She swiped right before she could think too hard about it, going through a few more profiles before deciding that no one was going to strike her interest until she figured this James Bucky Barnes situation out. So she put her phone down and went about her afternoon, baking some bread for the week and cleaning the fridge out. She hated cleaning the fridge out, but since she was currently mooching of her sister in the studio apartment, she needed to do a little extra work.

She wasn’t surprised when her phone dinged later. She was surprised to find that it was James Bucky Barnes, accepting her match.

Interesting.

Her stomach did a flip. She wasn’t cool enough to match with the former Captain America’s best friend, and definitely didn’t expect him to go for the Romanian girl.

Had to be a catfish.

Mika: Is this really Mr. Barnes?

She was going to get to the bottom of this. If he messaged her back, then she could get on the web app and trace his IP address and see where it was registered. She wasn’t positive on the legality of that action, but safety came first. Her phone dinged again. A message!

James: Unfortunately.

The response made her laugh out loud, any thought of tracing his whereabouts fading. A catfish wouldn’t respond like that.

Mika: Deciding to try online dating? You’re becoming a real modern man, James! James: My therapist made me.

Ouch, okay, so maybe he wasn’t into the dating part. Mika was about to switch her tactics when he messaged again.

James: Sorry, that was short. Still getting the hang of this. James: You can call me Bucky. James: If you want.

Mika smiled down at her phone. There was something magical about the guy not caring about sending multiple texts in a row. Any girls she dated didn’t mind it, but men were always wanting to look all stoic. Mika found that the less they talked, the more desperate they were.

Mika: Nice to meet you, Bucky. I’m Mika. James: Nice to meet you, Mika. James: I saw you’re from Romania. Have you lived in New York long? Mika: Just a couple months. Moved here after the Blip. James: Oh, I’m sorry. That must be tough. Mika: Could be worse. I’m staying with my baby sister who is now, technically, older than me. Mika: How is it being back here?

Well if he didn’t think she was a creepy stalker, he did now!

James: Weird. So many things are different. James: But even weirder, some things are the same.

When Mika blipped back, it was hard enough to figure out everything that changed in five years. If the TIME articles were correct, Bucky was back in New York after leaving eighty years ago. She couldn’t even imagine how weird everything felt for him. And how lonely he must be.

Mika: So what’s the most important thing for me to check out? Mika: You know, since you’re a true New Yorker.

That was a safe enough topic, right? She hoped so. Centenarian or not, he was the first person to message her that didn’t ask for pictures, and she was in desperate need of someone chill. It took a while for Bucky to respond, long enough that she was utterly convinced that she’d said something wrong.

James: Totonno’s is where we used to go for pizza all the time. If you want good cheesecake, Junior’s is the best. Mika: Oh, I like both of those things!

She paused, hoping that the next message would be him asking her out. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

James: Let me know if you like them. James: If it’s any consolation, they still taste the exact same. Mika: Good to know. I’ve also been on the hunt for a Romanian place. Mika: Know of any? James: Not right off hand, but I can do some research. James: I spent some time there, before the Blip. Mika: Really?? Where?? James: Bucharest. Mika: No shit! I lived there! Mika: I was on the south side, in Rahova. James: …so was I. Mika: What apartments? I was Bloc 70 B.

The dots hovered, then disappeared, then hovered again, then disappeared again. Mika held her breath, but couldn’t maintain it long enough before having to take in a gulp of air. Bucky still didn’t respond. Was that too intimate a question? God, she hated this online thing sometimes.

Finally, her phone lit up again.

James: Did someone send you. Mika: What? No. Mika: I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? Mika: I know they weren’t the fanciest apartments, but…

Another ten agonizing minutes, then,

James: I’m sorry. I lived in those apartments too. James: I get spooked pretty easily nowadays.

Mika let out a huge breath of relief. Okay, good, so she wasn’t some inconsiderate asshole. Her and Bucky just had the weirdest coincidences.

Mika: That’s fair! Mika: How do I know you’re not the one following me?

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

James: I don’t do that anymore. James: That…probably didn’t help my case.

Oh thank God, he was just as awkward as she was. And at least he had the excuses.

Mika: Meh, not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. James: Same. James: Wish I could even say getting blipped was.

Don’t do it, don’t ask it, don’t say it -

Mika: What’s the weirdest thing then?

Fuck.

James: When Steve tripled in size. James: Thought I was hallucinating. Mika: Oh God, I can’t imagine! Mika: It’s weird enough that Nicoletta is a year older now Mika: At least she’s the same size James: Do you have other siblings?

Mika tapped the edge of her phone. She never did figure out how to word this without eliciting a pity party. But hey, Bucky of all people would probably understand.

Mika: We had an older sister. She passed away. James: I’m sorry to hear that. Mika: Thank you. James: My sister passed away about 20 years ago. James: Obviously, I was not there. Mika: Have you visited her grave? James: Yea, in the first couple weeks I was here. James: Will you think I’m an asshole if I say it was anticlimactic? Mika: Not at all. Mika: Last time I visited Raisa I called her a selfish bitch so Mika: You’re in good company

Too much information, that was too much information.

Bucky sent back…a laughing emoji.

James: That’s how you know you were close. James: My mother got mad at me because Rebecca thought her name was “Stupid Baby” for a long time. Mika: Aw, you were much nicer to your sister than I was haha James: Well, it was the ’20’s. James: Things were a little different. Mika: Were you a flapper? Mika: Don’t lie. James: I would never. James: Lie, that is. James: I was definitely a flapper. James: The cutest damn toddler flapper you’d ever see. Mika: Pics or it didn’t happen. James: I don’t know what that means. Mika: It means I want photographic evidence. James: Cameras weren’t invented yet. Sorry.

Man alive, James Bucky Barnes was funny.

They kept going back and forth, attempting a more normal conversation. It was, Mika found, a very nice conversation. He was someone she liked talking to, and he seemed to enjoy talking to her too. Or at least he was really good at faking it. 

“Why are you smiling so much at your phone?” Nicoletta asked later, giving her an odd look from her easel. Her boyfriend had already gone to bed, leaving them to watch whatever they wanted on Netflix. Of course that meant they put on a baking show and proceeded to do anything but watch it.

“Huh? I’m not smiling at my phone.” she said, tucking said phone into her lap.

“Don’t be dumb.” Nicoletta said, brandishing her paint brush like a knife. “Who are you talking to? You better not say-“

“Ew, no, not him.” Mika said, cutting her off before she could utter the name of her ex. “Just…someone I met on HiLove.”

“I thought we talked about those dating apps.”

“I’m lonely! I need friends.” she said. “He passed the background check.”

“Let me see a picture.” Nicoletta said, coming over. Mika sighed, thumbing through the app to find Bucky’s profile, and the one picture he had. She hoped her sister didn’t notice the two unread messages in the corner. “Hmm. Okay, he’s handsome.”

“Yes.” Mika agreed. In fact, he was becoming more handsome as the afternoon went on. “And he’s funny too. And smart.”

“Ok, calm down. You just started talking to him.”

“I know! I’m not like, proposing marriage.” Mika said, rolling her eyes. “I just like talking to him so far. That’s all.”

“Uh huh. I know how it goes with you ‘talking’ to good looking people.”

“About as well as it does with you.” she pointed out. “Pre Steve, of course.”

“Of course.” Nicoletta said. “Have you discussed future plans? Deepest fears? Favorite sexual positions?”

“I hate you.”

“These are important questions!”

“I’m going to bed.”

“No phone sex on the first day!”

“I really hate you!” Mika sang, pulling the curtain around the little area in the studio apartment that counted as her room. It was late, and she probably should go to bed anyways. But Bucky was still up, and they were currently discussing movies. Turned out, he was way behind.

Mika: Star Wars? James: Nope. It’s on the list. Mika: Star Trek? James: Also on the list. Mika: Pride and Prejudice? James: Isn’t that a book? Mika: And a movie! My favorite one. James: Guess I’ll move that to the top of the list then.

Was he…flirting? Mika couldn’t deny the smile on her face now, even as her eyes struggled to stay open. Nicoletta went to bed, and with the light off, staying conscious was becoming a struggle.

Mika: Good answer. James: Ever seen Wizard of Oz? Mika: …no. A little before my time. James: Ouch.

Despite the humor and the fun conversation, she could feel the fatigue setting in. She was so afraid to stop talking, afraid that tomorrow he would change his mind, or find someone cooler than her. But she couldn’t stay up all night anymore, she wasn’t in her 20’s.

Mika: Unfortunately, I think I need to sleep. James: I understand. It is really late.

She paused, tapping the edge of her phone. What was the worst he could say? No?

Mika: Talk to you tomorrow?

Apparently it was his turn to pause, long enough that she nearly fell asleep before her phone buzzed again.

James: I’m looking forward to it. James: Goodnight, Mika. Mika: Goodnight, Bucky.

She went to sleep with a smile.

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 17: 2x07 Catspaw

It’s not Halloween but it is my mom’s birthday so a very good opportunity to watch Catspaw.

So we start with Sulu and Scotty missing on an away mission but why exactly the Enterprise is here and what the away mission was is not explained...

Also speaking of interesting and unusual combos--Scotty and Sulu!

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

I like Uhura’s nails. They go so well with her communications board. Even her job is stylish.

Oooh, possessed dead mannequin crew member warning the ship that it has been cursed?? Very promising.

Also falling like that was an impressive stunt.

Lol Assistant Chief Engineer Dealle is in charge because the first and second in command are going after the third and fourth in command. What would TNG have to say about that??

According to the Amazon trivia, Uhura was supposed to be the next in command and in charge of the ship in this ep but NBC didn’t want a woman in charge and can I just say that if this is true we were ROBBED.

Oooh mysterious fog.

Chekov and his terrible wig. Should have left him in charge.

Also it’s interesting that this is the first Chekov episode in production order and he’s actually not the navigator. He’s Spock’s backup.

This is like a game of telephone: Chekov tells Desalle to tell Uhura to tell Kirk.

This is a very serious, creepy, mysterious opening in a lot of ways (the dead crewman mystery) but I remember this as more of a goofy, silly episode. (But actually upon having now seen the whole thing... it’s more serious than I remembered in its sci fi concepts! I guess I was just remembering the witches lol.)

Honestly those witches... I guess Macbeth is a pretty big part of Earth Lore lol. I think McCoy is alarmed and unsettled by this while Spock is more intrigued and Kirk just thinks it’s dumb.

I love Kirk’s face when Spock’s only comment is “bad poetry.” Hilarious. Like “I love you but please be more helpful. This is Serious Time not time to play games and fuck with me.”

I really like Kirk in this episode. He’s giving off smart, curious explorer vibes. (Although I will say, with the whole episode down... he is very harsh on the aliens. I mean he lost a man in the opening and so he’s not down to clown but still.. I think he overestimates their hostility some.)

Creepy castle. Trick-or-treating. I want the deleted scene where Kirk explains Trick-or-Treating to Spock.

Kirk looks so frustrated by the cat.

“I’m not that green.” Lol.

What a talented cat actor!! Trot trot trot.

“Bones? I mean...the other Bones?” Maybe a different nickname today. That’s a really underrated joke.

I wish they’d picked up on Spock and put some Vulcan horror in there too. (Although I guess creating horror tropes wasn’t exactly their intention...) I wonder what Vulcan subconscious horror is like.

That was actually a pretty cool transition from the dungeon to the dining room.

Kirk would be more impressed with all this if they hadn’t killed someone. He’s never up for fun and games when someone’s dead. He’s very dubious about all of this, especially the cat.

Hmm, they are not native.

Kirk’s face just screams: “So the cat...is talking...to you?” (Actually you know what, I do think it’s very interesting that Korob can understand Sylvia even when she’s speaking in a different language.)

I bet young Spocks read about wizards and familiars and was super taken with the idea.

I don’t believe for one second that Spock’s thoughts are black and white lol. This decadent bitch? No way.

None of this is Kirk’s interest. Illusions, weird tricks, people who don’t give straight answers. This is not the way to impress him or make him want to help you in any way.

McCoy the jewel expert. These look real!

You like shiny stuff right humans? Pretty crystalline forms for you?? Not in a post-scarcity utopia!

McCoy has just realized this woman IS the cat.

Hmmm, telepathy, like Spock’s?

I want that Enterprise necklace!!

“You do with your minds what we do with tools.”

Lol at Kirk thinking he’s won because he can send another search party. Like... how’d the last search party work out for you?

Mmm, Kirk looking at the necklace. That’s some Acting.

Credits to navy beans.

“An Earthman like yourself...”

These aliens are very interesting. Very, totally alien, as Spock says. This idea that they tried to read the humans’ minds and missed their target is just so cool. Like, they weren’t trying to create a weird Halloween experience, they thought they were creating a familiar home for the aliens. “Oh, a castle, just like home!”

So it sounds like this planet is not that far away from Earth. The aliens are coming closer...

Haha Sylvia says she’s not a puppet but ironically--she is exactly, literally a puppet.

I’m just going to say it: Sylvia is one of the best female characters in TOS. Like should I be insulted that the lady alien went insane and emotional and messed everything up? Probably but I prefer to think of it as her being intrigued and invested in her own power and possibilities and then she goes overboard.

Anyway this is Macbeth whoops

“You torture our specimens.”

So what is their mission??

Hmm, she’s really into Kirk. And he knows just how to manipulate her: telling her she’s not really a woman, she’s not real, then transitioning into Honeypot Mode.

“I can be many women,” she says and just puts on different wigs.

Whoops she found his conscious mind. So much for manipulating her.

And so the familiar becomes the wizard.

This is sad; they could have become friends with the aliens. Korob doesn’t seem so bad.

Big cat!! Really big cat! Not the most terrifying creature at all; the nicest and softest. I'm not convinced that cat is big; I think it's pretty obvious the hallway is just small. However, I like the idea. I wish I had a super big cat to be friends with.

[Cat screams continue]

“Well at least we found them.”

Spock is so unruffled. "Hmmm, this is most unpleasant. If only we had some kind of weapon or something..."

“I got the transmuter. It’s mine now.”

Sylvia is obviously still into him lol.

“Don’t let her touch the wand.” It’s a transmuter Spock have you not been listening?

THE PUPPETS.

Spock wants to study them. Of course he does. And so the specimen becomes the scientist and the scientist the specimen.

...Overall an interesting ep. But I do have some questions. One of those eps that leaves a lot of world bulding unsaid, which leaves room for fun speculation.

So, first, these aliens came from very far away, and now they’re in our galaxy. Mom question if it was an “invasion.” I think so, at least in a neutral sense. But what was their purpose? Why were they traveling to new planets? Do they need something their planet can’t give them? Or are they just exploring for fun/curiosity--as we ourselves do?

Sometimes they’d speak as if they had some greater mission--the references to the old ones, their insistence on getting the humans’ help as if they relied on it, their “tests” like they were looking for something specific--but the actual mission was never stated or even hinted at. So I guess it’s just as possible they were exploring as intelligent beings do, and then found these humans, and came to really like them and just thought the alliance (or possible further study) could be advantageous.

Are these two the only aliens left or are there others back home? I assume there are others but it wasn’t completely clear if the “old ones” were memories or beings with, like, literal oversight.

Also, why were Scotty and Sulu on the planet in the first place? Spock says the planet has never known to have beings on it. So was the Enterprise just like triple checking that or did they have a reason to go down? Did Korob and Sylvia lure them? Because I felt like Kirk's annoyance with them was rather unfounded if his men just invaded their home first. I tend to think that they were in the area and something on the planet attracted them--that the aliens specifically wanted them to come down. That, and the killing of Jackson, would make Kirk’s reaction to them more reasonable.

I’m not saying I don’t have sympathy for the aliens because I definitely do. Like, we would absolutely do the same thing: find the interesting specimens and examine them. These are curious aliens. A lot of what they do seems to be in fun also--providing the humans with a setting they think the humans will like; offering them things; playing around with illusion. Of course then there are hostile actions--like killing Jackson, manipulating Scotty, Sulu, and Bones, and harming the Enterprise. But it’s not entirely clear to me if these are meant to be hostile actions, or if they just don’t see them as that serious--or perhaps, serious but worth it. Also some of it might just be Sylvia going power-mad (like the Enterprise torture, which Korob didn’t like).

I wonder what the aliens were doing on the planet before the Enterprise arrived. Were they in their real forms, or were they creating other illusions? They took these forms (human and cat) from the Enterprise crew’s mind so one would assume they looked different before the Enterprise got there. Were they on their way somewhere else? Could they have already known about Earth, even?

I like these aliens because they really do feel alien. I think that’s very difficult; a lot of sci fi (including Star Trek, often) presents aliens against the bar of humans: how are they different from humans, as opposed to, what are they like? These aliens have some very impressive powers: mind-reading, mental control, shapeshifting, “magic.” But their powers also have limits: they don’t always read minds correctly, for example, and Sylvia is so easily corrupted by her newfound love of sensation. And like I said before, their actions seem erratic and the morality of them hard to parse, perhaps because they’re just operating on a completely different moral plane than people.

Like, why DID they kill Jackson? Did Sylvia do it just because she could? Was it part of the test? Korob says later “you were warned not to come and you came anyway, that shows loyalty,” and the nature of the warning--the curse--was also taken from the horror subconscious. So maybe they thought this is how you communicate with humans, and the idea that killing one of them was so egregious didn’t occur to them, either because they see the humans as specimens, and would no more mourn our deaths than we mourn the deaths of lab rats (or than Kirk et.al. mourned the aliens tbqh), or because they just have a different relationship to death on their planet.

And what was the purpose of taking control of Scotty, Sulu, and Bones? Some of the dialogue implies that control is part of their telepathy--and yet they seem more than capable of reading minds without actually altering what the object of the mind reading does. Do they gain control when they go particularly deep in their interrogations? Why are they interrogating that deeply at all, and what are they STILL looking for after taking control of 3 people?

Another possibility is that they had too many specimens and didn’t know enough about them to feel comfortable letting them all roam free. They were outnumbered 5 to 2. The fewer people who are free, the easier to interrogate them and learn about them--they also use physical restraints at times, and after they try talking to 3 and find it too much, they switch to talking to 1 at a time.

And then finally, as with the killing of Jackson--it might just be something they did because they can. And I have to say, humans would be the same. Like if we had a group of aliens, we’d use the tools at our disposal to corral and restrain them and then learn about them, not necessarily malevolently, but for our own safety and sense of power and control. And some people probably would cross lines. Like, Korob and Sylvia aren’t entirely benevolent OR malevolent. They’re just alien.

The transmuter was very weird. I have to say, it didn’t really make sense. They seemed to use their powers just fine without it most of the time, which is why I’m inclined to think Sylvia wasn’t lying when she said it just magnified their abilities. BUT then why did destroying it destroy all the illusion? It seems pretty obviously just a plot device that would allow the episode to wrap up in an hour.

I’m also confused and intrigued by the line that they used the transmuter to get to the planet. How do you use it to travel?

And...why did they die in the end? If those were their real forms, you’d think being returned to them wouldn’t harm them in any way. And yet they seemed to disintegrate right there. They did seem very delicate and we don’t know what their native planet was like. Perhaps they needed the transmuter/their shape-shifting abilities to survive on this planet at all.

Actually just occurred to me--the transmuter. Maybe their mind reading abilities are inherent but their shape-shifting isn’t. Although that raises the question of how they could have built something so big when they are so small--does the wand itself change shape and size?

One interesting thing about these aliens is that even though they appear as humans without being humans, they are NOT energy beings like a lot of other aliens who shape-shift to human forms. They haven’t transcended to a state beyond teh physical form. Unlike the Organians or the aliens from Return to Tomorrow, there’s no sense that they are purposefully evolving or striving toward being so mentally powerful that they no longer need the body--they do have bodies and they are physical beings, but one of their, imo, inherent powers is this extreme mental capacity, including a version of telepathy and a version of shapeshifting.

The Amazon summary says they are “aliens on a mission of conquest” but I don’t think that’s true.

Anyway idk if I had other thoughts but I’m becoming decreasingly coherent so I think it’s time for bed!

Next up is I, Mudd. I’m not a big Harvery Mudd fan but I seem to remember there were some funny bits in that ep so it should be fun.

[goddamnsuperman]

The One Where Henry & Lily Interview Each Other.

@mslilycollins

Lily: Hello Henry! I must say i feel very honored to be interviewing the Man of Steel himself, and for that i begin with interview with the following question. How does it feel to be seen by kids as a role model, an inspiration?

Henry: Hello Lily, Thank you, that's very sweet of you. I didn't realize I was a role model until I dropped Alma off at school and would be recognized. It's a humbling feeling and I'm glad to be an inspiration to many.

Lily: It makes us be more aware of our actions and what we want to show to the world because there are so many people looking out for us. You have mention previously that your dream role to play is Alexander The Great. What is there about this King that capture your attention? Why not another King?

Henry: Oh you remember that? I just think his story is something that needs to be told, we already have reign of the Tudors with Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth and all of the other royal stories and with flop of Collin Farrell's Alexander, I've just always had a soft spot for the King.

Lily: Oh you know, it just came to me. Haha no, all part of the research i made before this interview. I'm a serious journalist today. I completely agree with you, we see films and television projects about a certain era only or a royal family, but there are more out there that can be a lot more interesting.

Lily: Picture this - You are picked to play James Bond after Daniel Craig retires, and have the chance to pick a Bond Girl. Who would you pick? You can’t pick your wife!

Henry: Exactly, it's nice to see directors and screenwriters branch out and think out of the box. Oh that would be such a dream role! I'd want Idris to play him before me though, he'd be great for the role. I would have to choose, hm can I ask for three options?

Lily: Idris would be fantastic as Bond! But i did hear you audition for the role, did you not? Figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Well... Yes, you have three options. We'll just make a poll later on asking for feedback haha.

Henry: He would, right!? Haha, I did but obviously didn't get it because I believe I was too young. Sounds good. haha

Lily: But hey, you tried! That's all that matters. So, who are your three options?

Henry: I thought we were polling? Hahah, I have no idea. I'm drawing blanks on women.

Lily: Ah, fine! You win this round. I’ve read that you used to play rugby until you suffered from an injury. Before any injury, did you ever thought of playing rugby professionally? If not, was there any job you would have taken on if acting didn’t work out?

Henry: You really do your research, I'm a major nerd, so I would probably be doing something in the computer world. I wanted to keep playing but everything happens for a reason and I'm glad that acting worked out for me.

Lily: Thank you, i like to believe i did my best at researching. I'm happy to see that acting did work well for you because you are a very talented actor. Not only that - You’re a knack for languages, something we should all be jealous about. I know i am [laughs]. But, is there any language you don’t know and wish you did? Or a language you tried out but it didn’t work out?

Henry: You're very welcome. I do, I love learning about different cultures and learning the languages. Well my wife is as you know from Israel so she's been trying to teach me for months and it is nearly impossible to grasp but one day I'll master it

Lily: I'm sure you will master it! Let’s go a bit back to Superhero land, once more. You play Superman, and you’re pretty amazing at it. But was Superman the role you first auditioned for, or was there another superhero you wanted to play but damn, they wanted you for Superman instead?

Henry: I never picked up a superman comic before I auditioned and I kind of just went in as myself and hoped for the best. I had such large shoes to fill with Christopher Reeve that I was intimidated but here we are with two movies under my belt, hoping for more. I didn't audition for anyone else to be quite honest.

Lily: Really? That's interesting. I watched some interviews and was always under the impression you got the whole superhero nerd on control. Clark Kent’s vulnerability is kryptonite. What is Henry Cavill’s version of kryptonite? What’s your vulnerability, something that can stop you on your tracks no matter what?

Henry: Yeah, I didn't know much about the comic going in and it wasn't until after Man of Steel that I started reading into the comics and that universe, I didn't want to ruin anything or my portrayal of him. Without a doubt computer games. Did you see the pictures of me in the Flash's star lab at the press tour? That set up is almost identical to the one I have in I guess I'd call it a man cave.

Lily: I did! Whoa you have a man cave. I did not expect to hear that. What do you essentially look for when reading scripts? How do you pick your next role? Is it at random or you get that i-want-to-play-this-kind-of-role feeling that doesn’t go away until you find a script in which that role is in?

Henry: It's just a lot of computer screens and I have almost all of the computer games out there. Hmm, those are good questions. I look for character growth, how strong the plot is and if I can possibly play the character in a realistic way. My agent knows what I like and what I can do so he gives me the best scripts. I definitely fight for roles I really think I'm good for.

Lily: Spoken like a true actor if i say so myself. One of the things i came across while doing my Henry Cavill research was that you played Sonny in Grease! Was that an experience you’d like to repeat? To be in a musical again?

Henry: [laughs] Oh my god, you really dug deep into my past. It was an interesting experience, I'm not that strong of a singer, well my own self critic analysis but I don't think I'm that great. I would probably stick to just Shakespeare and save everyone's ears.

Lily: Am i good or what?! [laughs] Well, i'm sorry ladied but looks like we won't be listening to Henry Cavill's angel voice anytime soon. Booo you, sir. Last question, and i want to thank you for letting me question you and show you how much of a stalker i can be. It was a pleasure to speak to Superman himself. Many years from now your life surely won't be the same as it is now, some things will change. But how do you want people - The public, the ones who don't know you personally - to remember you by?

Henry: [laughs] no worries, maybe one day I'll sing but until then I leave that for the shower, sorry ladies. [laughs] No problem! I had a great time and I hear I get to show you how much of a stalker I am myself. It was a pleasure speaking with you as well. I know they'll remember me as Superman, one of the many lucky ones to play the roll. But I hope they remember me by my humility and hopefully my legacy will live on.

Lily: I wouldn't say it better myself, really. [laughs] Once again, thank you. I'll let you question me now. Let's see how much of a stalker you can be ha!

Henry: Oh how the tables have turn! [laughs] Okay, so if you're just tuning in, it's me. Henry Cavill and the incredibly talented Lily Collins. Alright, Lily. The people want to know, what is it like to be a triple threat now? Let's see you wrote a book, you act and occasionally model?

Lily: They have, haven't they? Let's see how much of a stalker you are. [laughs] It feels normal? I suppose in a way, you feel more responsible for your actions. Writing essays on my life, on stuff that was very private to me has changed things in a way. I've always knew that there were girls who looked up to me, as any of us knows. But with Unfiltered, lots of fans have approach me, telling me how much it means to them to know this much about me which puts a lot of pressure, in a way. But it's also something i'm thankful for because i've got nothing to hide. I'm as human as any other person, and honesty is the key. Because these things happen to people and they think we're perfect because we're celebrities but we're not.

Henry: [nodding] That is very inspirational, why aren't you a prime minister? I'm only joking but you have a brilliant way with words. So in your book, you talk about your relationship with your father. How has that book changed your relationship with him? Was that a the beginning of a clean slate?

Lily: I don't know! I suppose it's because i don't know how to keep my mouth shut. [laughs] I suppose it was, a clean slate. I wrote things that i had never told him before, and after he read the book we got to sit down, speak. In a way it was the most open conversation i ever had with him you know?

Henry: That's good, I'm glad you two worked things out. So you had a little role in The Blind Side, what was it like working with Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock? Did they give you advice that you still follow until this day?

Lily: It was absolutely amazing. Such a good experience and yes, they gave me some advices. Always be humble, not expect too much. You know, what we usually tell each other. They are both such inspirations i am very happy that i got the chance to work with them.

Henry: Do you still keep in contact with them? What is your dream role?

Lily: Not much, no. I just wrapped up Tolkien and that was surely a dream role of mine, i'm such a fan of his and Lord of The Ring it was just an honor to be in a biopic.

Henry: Did you have a difficult time doing To The Bone? I caught that film on Netflix the other day, you were phenomenal and I can only imagine how much it took for you to go there. What was it like working with Keanu? I hear he’s great to work with.

Lily: I can't say it was something easy. After all, i was reviving my own history - In a way, but i also felt proud of myself for doing that. I felt that it was something i needed to do, speak out and show people this is a real topic. It shouldn't be a taboo, it shouldn't be unspoken. It needs to be spoken about. It was a challenge for me, but also something i am very proud of. Keanu's amazing, he's everything you expect him to be if not more. The entire cast and crew were amazing, and i hope i get to work with them once more someday.

Henry: It's an incredible movie and should be something everyone should watch at least once. Okay, now on a lighter note, would you ever play a superhero? if so, who and why?

Lily: Thank you, that is so kind of you. Oh, absolutely! You know i'm a huge fan of working out and since i'm seen going to the gym a lot, people have ask me if it's for a superhero movie. Which is very funny because i'm not preparing for a superhero movie, just working out. [laughs] I'd love to play Batgirl? I think it's such a challenging role, considering the history. And i'm age appropriate right?

Henry: I wish I had noticed that before I asked that question. [laughs] Well hmm, why not Supergirl? Too cool for the Super fam? You'd be a great Batgirl? It is challenging, you might be, you're not a forty year old playing a nineteen year old. So it should be great. Okay, who would you say is your biggest inspiration?

Lily: Ah ha! You forgot to do that bit of your homework. [laughs] Oh no, no. I love Supergirl, but would i pull off blonde? Supergirl is blonde, isn't she? I think so, wouldn't i? I've been redhead once and it went just fine! Are you playing a nineteen year old though, because i'd assume you were playing a mid-twenty's character? No? My mom. No doubt, she's my inspiration, my role model.

Henry: Touché! I think more like early thirties since he was going to marry Lois. Tom Welling played him in his mid twenties I believe. Okay we only have two questions left, we have to make this good. I do like that answer, Mum’s are the greatest. Would you ever want to work with me on a movie?

Lily: He did! Did you ever felt like you had big shoes to fill? Sure there were many other Superman before but Tom Welling was the man who played the longest. Oh look at that, i'm asking you more things and this is no longer my turn! [laughs] They are. I'd love to work with you on a movie, we should make that happen. Spy movie what do you say?

Henry: [laughs] You just can't stop, huh? Well I mean, I had Christopher Reeve to speak to before he passed and it was a great meeting him. It was difficult but I made it work. We should do a spy movie! I had fun working on The Man From U.N.C.L.E and I had a great time filming MI6 so we should definitely make a spy movie together! Okay final question. What do you hope to leave behind when you leave this earth?

Lily: I can't help myself! [laughs] That must have been quite a meeting, and you got to learn a lot from him right? I could join The Man From U.N.C.L.E 2? I mean we need a sequel! Wow hmm... I hope that my words will inspire the next generations, like we have so many good actresses who sadly are no longer here with us and we appreciate them for who they show to me, their words. Such an inspiration."

Henry: I did, he was a brilliant man. Hmm, we'll have to see about that. [laughs] But it would be great to have you aboard! That was very profound, thank you for that. I look forward to hopefully being in a movie with you! Thank you for meeting with me and chatting with an old man like myself.

Lily: Thank you for meeting with me! Please you are definitely not a old man. It was a pleasure to meet and be able to speak to you.

[aghostnotaguardian-archive]

ALLOW ME TO LIST MY FEELS (AGAIN) 2/2: 

If anyone’s been getting a laugh outta watching me trying to beat my feelings for fictional characters into submission and failing, you might want to take a peak at this.  Maybe NOW I can get some sleep. >B{

Still spoiler-heavy!

Alrighty, now that the general stuff is been taken care of, time to move on to my two favorite categories!

Lotor’s Generals (Yes they feckin’ EARNED the right to have their own category)

-In general (hmm I’ve been using that word a lot...): they’re Lotor’s four top generals (obviously) and they’re basically all the fighting power he needs to reconquer the planets recently freed by the Voltron Lions. No. No you did not read that wrong. Just the four of them are enough to crush any sizable rebellion that stands against them.  They’re also ALL women, and they’re ALL at most half-Galra, they’re ALL trusted by Lotor enough to be know about his plans, and they’re all spectacular to watch on the screen (so spectacular that I’m compelled to do at least one sketch of each of them @A@). Now, onto the specifics:

-ACXA (Auxia? Axia?): She’s Lotor’s right-hand general, leader of the four, and also seems to be their science officer (wow, talk about a triple-threat).  Be it in space or on the ground, with her gun or without, she’ll be tough to beat (just ask Keith and Lance), and is capable of combative acrobatics that would put Cirque du Soliel to shame.  She’s very serious and no-nonsense, but there’s still hope for a bit of the Comically Serious trope (but just a bit). Possibly half-Altean due to having pointy ears and the colored pupils that Allura and Coran have.

-EZOR: Can a female villain character be cheerful AND a sheer badass? OK, Ty Lee blew that question out of the water in Avatar, but Ezor is quick to follow. She’s the group’s Spy Extraordinaire and has my favorite character design following Narti.  She also shares the role of the comic foil with Zethrid, and taking on the good guys in battle always puts a smile on her face~ I love all of the generals, but if anything were to happen to Ezor in particular, I would feel the need to wreak unholy vengeance. Just a thought. @w@

-ZETHRID:  The Muscle of the group.  She’s always in the mood for warmongering and carnage, very occasionally to the point of comedy (”BRING THE PAIN!!”) Not that I’m complaining. I know how you feel, Zethrid. I do. Just look at 2016.  She doesn’t let her blood thirst get in the way of the team, so A+ for self-control.  When the group’s not on a mission, Zethrid does what many of us would do if we were there and plays with Narti’s cat.  Definitely the most fun to watch~

-NARTI:  She, by far, has THE Coolest character design of the crew - Lotor included (sorry, babe).  She looks like a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Star Wars, that should give you a pretty good idea.  She’s blind, but she has a seeing-eye gremlin-cat who also helps her out in battle (and does not like being tempted with treats, ZETHRID).  She’s got a tail that if it hits you at the right angle, you will not be walking for MONTHS, and is capable of possessing people with just a touch - which, honestly, if I had that sort of power, I would need to make a quick trip to D.C. ...

And those are the badass generals...

Now, for the category I’ve been the most excited for AND dreading...

L O T O R

OK, lemme just work on the super-basic facts so I can get my defenses up:

-He’s the prince and Emperor Pro Tem of the Galra Empire, the son of Zarkon, he has his own space cruiser that he uses to travel the universe, and - 

Oh God that’s all the basic information I have without going nuts NO WAIT I’M NOT READY -

OK YOU KNOW WHAT?! I NEED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DREAMWORKS OR NETFLIX BECAUSE I GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS - 

This-th-this this DEVIOUS, THIS CONNIVING - 

T-this so strong THIS BRUTAL. T-THIS CHARMING SNAKE-IN-THE-GRASS -

-Whispers- Beautiful~+*# -SMACK-  THIS EVIL GENIUS, THIS LYING - 

This...this...

If You can hear me, O Merciful Lord on High, I need H E L P.

HOW IS THAT EYE COLOR POSSIBLE IT’S BLUE AND PURPLE?!!!!!!

I - 

I give up. I give up, OK? Pretty Fictional Villain Prince with Gray Morality: 1, Bru-Mun: 0. Zilch. Nada. Farewell, I say to my treacherous heart. That’s All She Wrote. Now STOP IT. 

-FRUSTRATED SCREAMING- 

OK, now onto the...more serious stuff. 

Yes, Lotor is the temporary Emperor while Zarkon is taking a big snooze from the last season’s finale, he’s (sorta?) confirmed to be half-Galra like his generals as well as half-Altean, and...honestly, they’re making it damn hard to hate this guy, aside from the reasons I’m sure most of you have already deducted from this post.

For starters, his introduction to the series is the best I’ve seen YET.  How does he come into the picture, you ask? First of all, he’s fighting a Galra gladiator THREE TIMES HIS SIZE in the area (while wearing a mask), while in the meantime two Galra commanders in the audience are talking about fighting Lotor for the throne (as well as badmouthing both him AND his generals for being half-Galra), unaware of the asskicking the mastermind, Throk, is about to receive. Lotor defeats the gladiator, then removes his helmet revealing who he is.  Lotor then proceeds to point his sword right at where Throk is in the audience, and what are his very first words of the series???  

“You wish to challenge me? Then come down and claim your crown!”

Yep, this badass fucker (no pun intended) just gave the guy who was trying to pull the wool over his eyes an open invitation IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE GALRA EMPIRE to try and take the throne from him through combat.  Throk accepts (with a little incentive from Lotor’s generals - who were hiding in the audience right next to the guy while he was talking about stealing the throne), and Lotor beats him, AND ON TOP OF THAT, he openly points out the weaknesses in Throk fighting style throughout the fight.  

After winning the match, Lotor turns his attention on the audience, which leads to his big speech they showed at SDCC about how the Empire needs to change how they rule the planets they’ve conquered, and how trying to keep the planets fighting for their freedom under their boot is a waste of energy. But how do they keep their planets from leaving, then?

Smooth af. Wait...THAT’S NOT A PUN.

It’s hard to imagine a planetary system would become loyal to the Galra after everything they’ve been through, but keep in mind one of the reasons the commanders were bad-mouthing him was because, and I quote, “He allows the planets he conquers to continue to rule themselves! Can you imagine?” 

Actually, yeah, yeah I can, but you keep doing that thing imperial-based closed-minded thing you guys do. B/ 

So, the scene ends with the audience chanting his name (naturally). Yeah, you can say that he only said that speech to manipulate the Empire (hell, he even says that the masses are easily manipulated to his generals once they’re away from the crowd [smooth-talker], but since this is the Galra Empire we’re talking about, we’re not going to feel that badly for them), but he actually meant AT LEAST SOME of the speech he said??  We see him basically doing that same thing the commanders were bad-mouthing him for in the next episode, with the offer that the leader will never need to rely on Voltron for protection again, as shown here: 

Throwmeoveryourshoulderalready.

Here’s hoping we get to see more of that gray morality in the next season. Moving on. 

Lotor is a master at combat, and it’s hard to say which he’s better at fighting in space or on the ground because he’s that effing good. 

He can wipe the floor with his opponents with a sword - 

Oof.

And with his own fighter, which, by the way, is the coolest that I’ve seen aside from the Lions themselves. 

The wINGS ROTATE. IN SPACE. HE CAN DO THOSE ART-NOVEAU SPINNING TOP FANCY LOOP-D-LOOPS IN SPACE HOW COOL IS THAT?

I wonder how it works - 

Oh. Oh, that’s how. Haha, Iregreteverything.

Okay THAT LOOK ALONE SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH HANDS TO FAN MYSELF OVER THIS F*CKER. 

And part of what makes him a skilled combatant as well as a skilled leader is his intelligence and skills of observation.  Can he see what strengths and weaknesses your particular way of fighting has and know when and where to strike based on that knowledge? YES. Was he able to see the Voltron Lions were disorganized due to having new Paladins AND a new leader and was able to lead them into a trap by luring them to a planet with extremely dense gases and would have captured them all one-by-one starting with the weakest (Allura at the time) had said space princess NOT connected with her lion? YES. Did he play them (by “them” I mean KEITH) like a fiddle in the meantime? YEAH. Was he able to lure them into ANOTHER trap during ANOTHER episode where he was able to make off with the piece of comet that Voltron had acquired? Does space have stars??? 

Yet, I should point out, that for all his strengths and skills, he does know how to accept when things don’t go his way - mostly probably because he knows how to turn any outcome to his advantage whether he loses a fight or chooses to retreat before it has the chance to get any worse. It’s still something I love seeing as opposed to more typical villains.  One example is when Allura beats him on the gas planet by freezing one of his fighter’s wings; all Lotor gives Allura for that is a resigned, “Well-played Paladin,” before he’s forced to retreat, nary a lion in his net.  Another example is after the team is FINALLY able to form Voltron in the same episode; Lotor’s ship is retreating, and his answer to Zethrid saying they should fight Voltron right then and there was that they will fight Voltron on a day they’re best prepared for (or when Voltron is LEAST prepared, or not at all). Acxa asks if the Paladins being able to form Voltron will be a problem, and Lotor’s response? 

“No. An opportunity.” 

Villain, thou art a Schemer AND a Devil. 

khfkrhrjhfsjfhdkp STOP THAT. 

Yes, Lotor is a talented combatant and leader, and he’s sharper than a brand-new set of butcher knives, with all the wickedness that comparison entails. In addition to all that, he’s as calm and collected as calm and collected villains come.  Like I said before, whether his plans don’t go as well as expected or he’s in the heat of battle, it’s hard to get him riled up at all... 

Except for this scene: 

(Crap, hold I forgot the subtitles): “I am the leader!” 

What are your secrets? 

Allow me to explain. 

Haggar tried to have a spy monitor Lotor’s activity, but he quickly caught on, had the spy captured, and personally threw the spy’s severed mechanical arm at Haggar’s feet.  He warns Haggar to back off, to which Haggar responds that the Empire needs Lotor’s leadership, even though many ideas are floating through his head “just like [his] father.”  That leads to the above scenes with Lotor making it VERY clear to Haggar that he hasn’t forgotten his role, is about to leave, and then makes it a point to actually STOP and tell Haggar of the last line.  That’s when he does leave with such a look on his face that had me thinking he was trying to forget Haggar had compared him to Zarkon.  

This was the ONLY scene throughout the entire season that we see such a strong emotional reaction from Lotor.  Haggar had more or less jabbed her finger into a raw nerve, and now it’s got me asking questions about Lotor’s history with his family that I’m not entirely sure if I want the answer to and then I’m horrifically reminded that these are the same people who came up with ZUKO FOR CRYING OUT LOUD and DAMMIT NETFLIX THIS NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED IN SEASON 4 - FOR SCIENTIFIC REASONS. 

OK, so those were my...observations on Prince Lotor. Let’s see, any final thoughts from me about him? 

-He has an impossible dual eye color. 

-His voice is smoother than a silk-and-satin sheet. 

-I didn’t fall for him, the jerk tripped me. 

I hate you. Marryme. 

[voltageinc-oneshots]

Christmas - Leon x Reader (Star Crossed Myth)

Today is Christmas eve, the day before Christmas. You’ve always stayed home and hardly celebrated with your family or friends. This year many things had changed. You meet the 12 zodiac gods and fell in love with one of them and it turns out to be the sadistic and arrogant one called Leon. You don’t know if you should be proud or disappointed in yourself for attracting such a man.

A week ago, you sacrificed your eyes containing the stars to help the gods and giving them more power. This had a side effect in which no one knew about until it happened. It caused you to lose your eyesight for who knows how long.

“Hey is (Your Name) still depressed?” Dui asked with a worried expression.

“Tch this is why humans are so annoying.” Scorpion replied.

“We can’t blame her, she lost her eyesight to allow us to use our powers.” Huedhaut said.

“By the way where is Leon when (Your Name) needs him the most.” Teorus added.

“Leon went to see the King early this morning.” Carno replied.

“The king? For what reason, he has never requested to see the king.” Ichthys said shockingly.

Carno grins and laughing he said. “Leon went to ask the king to give (Your Name) her eyesight back because it’s Christmas soon.“ 

"Christmas?” Teorus questioned. 

“It is a yearly event called Christmas. This where human celebrate with their families and friends while doing many things such as decorating a Christmas tree, Christmas cooking and unwrapping gifts they got for each other. This holiday is her favourite, knowing that Leon went to the King for help.” Huedhaut said.

“Well then let’s go pick (Your Name) up and we can celebrate Christmas with her.” Teorus replied.

“I’ll go and in the meantime I’ll expose what Leon is doing for her.” Carno said with happiness, knowing that he can us this to tease Leon now. 

[ At your place]

“What can I even do. I have no site to see anything, meaning I probably can even go out or even walk in my own apartment.” You said quietly sighing. 

Suddenly you see bright light filling every brim of your room. The bright light stung your eyes, forcing you to blink them. After you blinked a few times, your vision slowly became blurry but soon after you could see clearly. Your eyesight had come back. “How?” You questioned with confusion.

“That’s because Leon went to ask the King to give your eyesight back.” Carno said walking into your room through your closet. 

“Leon? I can’t believe he would do that for me.” You replied with a small smile.

“Since that’s out, let’s go to the mansion. Everyone was really worried about you.” He said.

You chuckled and quietly whispered to yourself. “Maybe I won’t have to be alone this Christmas.”

“You said something?” Carno asked.

“Nope nothing to worry about, let’s go!” You replied.

[At the Mansion]

“(Your Name)!” Ichthys yelled as soon as he saw you walking into the room.“

You walked in with a happy smile on your face and said. "I’m back, did you guys miss me." 

"We did, it was so quiet and lonely without you here.” Teorus said.

As you walked towards them, you looked around trying to see if Leon was there. “Is Leon back yet?” You asked.

“He should be back soon.” Huedhaut answered.

You paused for a minute thinking what you could to do to make this the best Christmas. An Idea just went pop in your head. You looked towards them all and said. “Hey, since I saved you guys from trouble can you grant one of my wishes?" 

"Why not. You did save us after all. Right, guys?” Dui replied.

Everyone then answered with a yes. At that moment you smirked and this was where they knew they just dug their own graves. “I just want you guys not to use your powers for today and tomorrow. Then just do everything I tell you to do” You said with excitement. 

“Huh!” They all yelled out. 

You looked at them and laughed. “Why do you guys look as if you are going to die. You’ve survived without using it for years until you met me. Not using it for 2 days should be easy and besides, I won’t asked for the impossible." 

"What do you want us to do.” Dui asked.

You just smiled and said. “Christmas stuff. All we need to do it decorate a Christmas tree, make food, wrap presents and have lots of fun.”

“How do we do that when we are cannot use our power?” Teorus asked.

“It’s simple, I have everything already. All we need to do is assemble together.”

“You sure are excited.” Dui said.

You smiled and replied. “Of course, I haven’t celebrated Christmas with so many people. By the way Carno, can I ask for a favour.”

“Sure, what would you like me to do.” He replied.

“Can you please try and get me a chance to meet with the King.” You said.

“What! Why would you want to meet the king.” Carno asked.

“You’ll see but for now can you please try. I really need to see him.” You answered. 

Carno looked confused but agreed to at least try. He went back to heaven and you went home using the closet and grabbed everything. You went back and you saw Carno and Leon waiting there. “Leon! Your back!"You yelled with happiness.

"I came back as soon as I heard you wanted to speak to the King. For what reason?” He asked.

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything dangerous?” You said giving him a big smile.

“Okay if you’re done, let’s go. The King agreed to see you but keep in mind don’t say anything that would make him angry. He can easily kill you.” Carno said, opening a portal to heaven.

“Okay but wait, don’t I have to be dead to be able to go heaven?” You said.

“Oh no, not this time just because the King is allowing it himself.” Carno replied.

[At heaven: Meeting King]

“Human what is your reason for coming to see me.” The King spoke while sitting on the throne.

“I have a wish that I would like you to grant me because only you can do it.” You responded.

The King laughed as no one has ever dared to ask him to grant a wish. “Hahahahha, my child. You have saved my people from danger so I shall grant you one wish." 

"All I want is for the five zodiac gods who are in heaven to come to earth for 2 days starting today.” You said.

“You want all the 12 zodiac gods to gather up today and tomorrow.” The King answered.

“Yeah! But I also need you to prevent them from using their powers for the two days” You stated.

“If that is your wish I shall grant it, I’ll send the 5 of them to earth and seal all their power temporarily.” The King said laughing.

“Thank you!" 

[At Mansion]

After a while you arrived back at the mansion, carrying bags of baking ingredients. Soon after the 5 gods appeared, Zyglavis was pretty unpleased while the others really didn’t care much. So you decided to heat it up a little. "So if anyone tries to be the grinch I will tell you off to the King, asking him to triple your workload and punish you in some sort of way.” You said with a scary face.

“Wow (Your Name), I never knew you had this character.” Dui said.

“I don’t want to hear that from Dui.” You replied.

“Haha, that’s true.” He said.

“Okay then let’s start, first is the Christmas tree!” You said talking out a big box of ornaments for the tree. Everyone started to do something as they didn’t want extra work cause who does. You already had boxes of presents ready for all them so you asked Karno, Tauxolouve and Krioff to wrap them. They may be gods but damn they learn fast. Next, you asked Scorpio, Teorus, Huedhaut and Partheno to do the cooking. Then you asked Leon, Dui, Ichthys, Zyglavis and Aigonorus to decorate the Christmas tree. You showed them all that to do and they are sure quick learners. 

You went to everyone and helped them all out. There was, of course, many problems as Leon and Zyglavis were fighting over what to put on the tree, Scorpio yelling at Teorus for playing around, Ichthys getting yelled at for trying to play pranks on everyone. These include throwing flour into people’s faces, unwrapping the wrapped presents and taking the things put on the Christmas tree down. 

 You went to Christmas tree with a medium sized box and starts opening it. While looking at these you laughed at how cute they were, seeing you laugh everyone came to you trying to see what you are holding. They were all shocked to see what was in the box. Inside had 13 little cute chibi version of them and you. 

“How did you get this?” They all asked.

You laughed and replied. “I got them from the King as a Christmas presents.” You start to take them out one by one as you hang them on the Christmas tree. You had never had this much fun at Christmas since you were a child. While everyone was enjoying and having fun, you were pulled outside the room. He then covered your mouth to prevent you from screaming. Standing there was Leon. “Leon!” You quietly whispered.

“You having fun?” He asked.

You replied with a big smile. “Yeah, I am!” When you said that you could see Leon lips turning into a smile. “You’re smiling.” You said with shock. 

“Hmph, just your imagination.” He replied.

You knew he was worried about you from what the others told you. They said that he was so worried that he kept making mistakes while working, he’s mind kept drifting off somewhere and he looked worried. After hearing that it made you really happy. Leon soon after took you to the rooftop. It had the prettiest view of the stars and moon. You turned towards him and gently you put your arms around him and snuggles your face onto his big and warm chest.

“Thank you for worrying and thank you for getting my eyesight back.” You said.

“I wasn’t worried and besides I didn’t give your eyesight back.” He replied.

You quietly laughed. “ Don’t lie the others already told me he went to ask the King for help and how you couldn’t focus. It’s Christmas so you can’t lie.” You could feel that Leon hugged you back, holding you close in his arms. He then buries his head onto your shoulders.

“You know how worried I was, I thought you would die and when I saw you lose your eyesight I wanted to punch myself for not being to protect you.” He said quietly.

“In my eyes, you were able to protect me and if you didn’t I would be here would I. Thank you for everything, because of you I had the best Christmas ever. ” You replied.

Leon then took out a small gift wrapped and gave it to you. You opened it and inside was what you would never have expected. "A ring!“ You said with your eyes getting teary.

"I asked Huedhaut what humans liked and he said to get you a ring but are really satisfied with this. I could get you anything you want” Leon replied.

You laughed with tears rolling down your eyes. “Thank you. This is more than I could ever ask. I love you so much.” You said. He then proceeded by pulling you close, putting one hand on your head and the other around your waist he slowly pulled you into a kiss. The sky then brightened up with fireworks and shortly after that little white flakes of snow started to fall from the sky. You looked up and saw it was snowing. “It’s a white Christmas, even better. Merry Christmas Leon!” You said with the biggest smile. 

“Merry Christmas.” He replied. 

“Do I even know you. I never thought you would this sweet.” You said laughing.

“It’s only for today so you better take all in cause this will never happen again.” He replied. 

Later you heard little whispers. “Don’t Push! I can’t see.” Soon you realised everything you two did was seen by the others. “Hahaha, you guys can continue.” One of them said. “Pretend we’re not here.” They added.

“As if we can do that!"You yelled blushing.

Leon smirked and grabbed your chin. "Why not, shall we continue." 

When he said that your face just turned into a burning volcano that’s about to erupt. "NOOOO!” You yelled smacking Leon’s face.

“Ohhh he got slap didn’t he.” Teorus said.

“He sure did.” Everyone replied.

“I HATE YOU, I TAKE EVERYTHING I SAID BACK!” You yelled with embarrassment.

Leon got mad and yelled back “FINE, GIVE THE RING BACK THEN!”

“NOO! THERE IS NO TAKE BACK IN GIFTS.” You replied.

“Oh, Leon you have (Your Name) a ring!” Carno said.

Zyglavis grins and said. “Oh, he got her a ring. Isn’t this interesting." 

Everyone just stood there enjoying the snow and fireworks while Leon and you are arguing like little kids. 

[bigbrotherorre]

FINAL EPISODE: “DENNIS IS SUCH A KING” - ALI THE REST OF THE GAME.

WEEK 13 

if someone who doesn't love me wins this week then bye bye ashvika 

annoyed that sammy nominated me because i kept him safe last week whereas i could have just as easily flipped to keeping alivia and he could've left...but more than that, i'm annoyed at his speech. i dont think he should've used "you nommed me" as an excuse bc that's lame and he was the first to nom me and i nommed him back so we were even, and then i let him have veto pick when he was nommed and i made sure he got taken off. also conversation is a two way street and i dont see him trying to make a conversation with me either, he could have just said the real reason....i love hearing about how good of a player he thinks i am.... the worst case scenario is if bryce or zeezo win, i think even if the noms stay the same that i have a good chance of staying? granted that autumn and ali don't decide to turn on me and evict me 

why is bryce spreading lies :( i didn't tell ali to nominate sammy.... 

ive made a lot of mistakes this game and there all coming at me now.. my position in the game is terrible and i can blame it on ppl playing not to their win condition or on just the wrong ppl winning comps at the wrong time, but ultimately i could have tried harder convincing ppl to see the light or to do better in challenges so ultimately its on me. feeling really hopeless this week even tho i avoided being a preveto nom i think ill be a post one if literally anyone but me wins veto. and i flopped veto (cwl). i cant wait for after the game for ali to admit that he did tell me that ashvika pushed for sammy to be nommed. order in which id vote ppl zeezo- always worked with me and if she makes it to the end she truly DID THAT ashvika- really took control of the game with her hoh win and after jose left smartly picked up the goats and became the biggest threat randy- a king love us working with/against each other throughout the game and even tho he was voted out im not one to discredit buyback winners autumn- never spoke to me but guess she didnt need to KASDHFK ali- fakest person ive ever met dennis- knows how to get to f2 at least sammy- ignores obvious facts and always makes the wrong move  but good at comps so wooh (me teas too tho...)

somehow i didnt get nommed but like so sad what the heck zeezo is going home like why is everyone so jealous that shes prettier and funnier than them :( why cant we all be her goats <3 i guess its good bc like i cant win with zeezo in the game and i can vote to keep her still, but honestly if i lose in f2 with zeezo itd still be fun bc she has had my back all game :] I AM SO SAD UGHHHH GOD HATES GAYS AND HES TAKING MY TWO WOC QUEENS BACK TO BACK. Now i have ashvika who is a queen but not my queen!! And autumn yikes hates me always :(

SORRY IVE BEEN GONE!!! I did one video confessional for Week 11 and just like never posted it lmao but I will haha and that's all behind me. But anyway I just have so many feelings. Live  night is about to begin, me and Zeezo's war is finally concluding, IM STILL TRYING TO GET MY FIRST COMP WIN, and I'm trying to protect my allies at all cost. Some cracked shit is about to go down and I'm so excited and so so glad I took a nap before this cause I'm ready for anything wooo

RANDY: WIN SAMMY: ... ALI: FAKEST PERSON IVE EVER MET MAYBE TALKS A BIG GAME AND SAYS HES SUPER NICE AND EMOTIONAL BUT SUDDENLY CAN TURN THAT OFF. HE WOULD BE A GOOD VILLAIN BUT HE ACTS NICE AND DOESNT OWN IT AND MAYBE ITS JUST BC ITS SO SOON BUT I HOPE HE CHOKES AND HAS HAYFEVER FOREVER! WHAT EVEN IS HAYFEVER??? HORSE BOY AUTUMN: NEVER SPOKE TO ME BUT NICE DENNIS: FORGOT TO PUT SOMEONE ON THE LIST, KNEW HIS WAY TO F2 AND IF HE DOESNT TAKE CREDIT FOR THINGS ICON AND ID VOTE FOR HIM.

AFTER THE TRIPLE EVICTION...

OK BUT DAT TRIPLE DOE http://media2.giphy.com/media/xUA7aViRhBQPzXNAAM/giphy.gif It was dramatic, over the top, emotional, satisfying, show stopping, gut wrenching- literally everything you want out of a triple. I... don't feel bad for Breezo lmao, not after all the messiness they've caused. But doing Ashvika dirty is literally the hardest choice I've had to make in Orre. Sis I am so so sorry. I should've thrown you a vote but you know how Randy is and you really know how Dennis is. I just--- that was something I like wasn't prepared to ever do, break Ashvika's heart. But like in my beautiful dark twisted mind? It was perfect because I knew I couldn't go to the end w/ Ash but I was never going to nominate her. So here we are rip ALSO LAB AND BREEZO ALL SITTING IN JURY??? BIIIIIIITTTCCHHHHH https://media.giphy.com/media/zcAii7T9JXezS/source.gif If you're reading this, you know I sure did say I would wipe that whole group out and send them to jury and it really did come to pass. John sure did gas all of them up to win and I sure did tell him in my Week 10 goodbye message that they were all bout to walk in behind him. So in the spirit of prophesizing, let it be known that Auli aka Ali and I will make Final 3 because we are the strategic dynamic duo y'all slept on. Like correct me if I'm wrong: we've been on the right side of all 8 "merge" votes (there's no word for like opposite of pre-jury lmao), we ain't been on block since Week 6/7 and it's now Week 14, and we've downplayed our iconicism left and right so we're the last duo standing at Final 5, and no one wants to take a shot at us. BUT YALL STILL SLEEP CAUSE THE MIST IS THAT STRONG. That's ok though! When Randy and Sammy walk into jury next y'all will see Also I'm  dead at how much jury hates Ali hahaha. Deadass he has to stay in the game for safety reasons. Like soooo many jurors wanna kill him. That's my ride or die though so I can't let that happen. Anyway I still feel like shit for obeying Randy, which hurt Ashvika, made Dennis cry, and further dragged Ali's corpse. But the good news is woooo it's Final 5 and these boys all want to take Auli to the end. So do I NEED to win this HOH? No not really. Am I still praying and pleading with God like I do before every comp? Absolutely https://media1.tenor.com/images/1a11748f0c7ce30ab4afd057fab66751/tenor.gif?itemid=5677211

Me when I shocked the nation and won HOH and finally had power in the house after 13 weeks https://78.media.tumblr.com/2a8c6d7cc298da364a847f8f9d767c7c/tumblr_opiih6Z7tB1ub3fcfo1_500.gif Me then using said power to target my baby Randy for the greater good https://media.giphy.com/media/hic9t15zsdwfC/giphy.gif And now me that I'm selling my entire family, land, soul, and wig collection to get Dennis to keep me and kill Sammy so that I'm not Ika Wonged because I know for a fact Ali would take me to F2 and Dennis would be a dumbass not to take me too. AND I ALWAYS BELIEVED IF I WENT UP A FOURTH TIME THAT WOULD BE THE TIME I GO UP ON THE BLOCK AND DONT COME BACK DOWN SO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DENNIS BE STRATEGIC AND KEEP ME https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/53/9d/23539d4ab6c13adab50940426d73ed6e.gif

[AFTER F4 EVICTION]

WAIT WHAT HOW AM I ALIVE?? https://media.giphy.com/media/TZ388aYpsLMcM/giphy.gif AND HOW THE FUCK DID I MAKE FINAL 3??? https://yiaelxzosjw9p4bs-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/happy-crying.gif Pray for me if I win Final HOH cause fun fact: I, the strategic legend, have no clue who to fucking take to the end and that's the biggest gag of the entire season BECAUSE I DIDN'T PLAN OUT THIS FAR GODDAMMIT AND I WISH I HAD. Ok that's not entirely true- I knew I should either sit next to Dennis or Ali because ya know contingency plans matter. BUT NOW??? Bitch ion know I just wanna win

CLICK HERE & HERE TO SEE DENNIS’ VIDEO DIARY ROOMS!

i've never seen a better reflection of the emotional rollercoaster that is my mental state than these two being filmed less than 12 hours apart jasldfa

CLICK HERE AND HERE TO SEE ALI’S VIDEO DIARY ROOMS!

okay i have lots of post finale thoughts but i need to type them up tomorrow. i just hope the jury knows how sorry I am if I ever upset them, because I love them all so much and would never want that :(

time for my post finale wrap up and.... whewie. This is so upsetting because, I just did this for all stars. Like it's looking like my track record is LITERALLY going to be 2nd 9th 2nd 2nd 2nd, I CANT COME 2ND AGAIN. I really can't take this. Here is the bigger problem though and this is why Orre will be my last game whether I win or not. I can't keep playing these games when I upset so many people. Like it honestly broke my heart yesterday hearing how much I upset people like Bryce & Ashvika, people I love SOOOOOOO much. I don't want to upset people. Like... what upset me about finale is I don't think the jurors realise that.... I didn't just upset people for the sake of it and ahhh. Honestly, I'm really upset, like not even that I'm coming second but that I upset people. So with that said, I really apologise to the jurors. I got the impression that I hurt you all so bad that you are giving me 2nd as like.... punishment? And while I hate that, if I hurt you all that bad I really owe you all an apology. Anywho, since this is definitely my last game, I've played 183 days worth of games to just come 2nd, and that's just too much. I'm too flawed of a person and player to continue playing these games and just keep coming 2nd. Like it just hurts. so yeah, i'm sad but mainly because this is deja vu. I'm so proud of Dennis for winning, he is such a sweet genuine guy and when he was complimenting me during the finale, it was the nicest thing I've ever heard and I'm so greatful. No matter my game or his, I'd be happy to see Dennis represent our season.

Can I just say... Dennis is such a king. What a kind-hearted, genuine guy. A true king.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH DENNIS’ VIDEO DIARY ROOM!

okay so I lost.... and I'm weirdly at peace with it. I know I answered the jury questions terribly and I had... some jurors that would never have it in them to vote for me and would actively campaign against me. Dennis is a king, and in a cast with toxicity and SUCH bitterness, I think he is a phenomenal representation for the season. Otherwise, I am really honoured to get Ashvika's vote, she is such a deserving POTS, and to get POTS' vote is always an honour. Autumn and Jose are amazing friends and I am so happy to have got to work with them, John is a player with SUCH potential and he is WINNING BOTS & Zeezo I'm really honoured to get her vote too! For the others, Bryce is a KING and so is Blake (they both seemed really upset by me so I hope we can be friends). Lynn I never spoke to and seems... very bitter about the season's result, but I hope she gets over it because she is also a QUEEN. Randy is a funny one and I'm starting to worry all his friend talk was just him playing into my emotional side, but he is a good egg really I know it. Sammy is a ghost king. I kinda want to end on Alivia. Alivia is a person whose personality is obviously very different to mine and the way she speaks to me and others really upsets me a lot of the time. However, her bitterness against me is understandable and I hope she gets over it, because she defines herself by anger and bitterness when she is such a funny and likable person and doesn't need to do that. but woo... to wrap stuff up, I'm so grateful for Nicholas & Julia for casting me, Owen & Emily for being amazing.... OH, I forgot what I wanted to say. Autumn is a queen, a legend and amazing. She is honestly soo soo amazing, like... someone I really admire and see as a rolemodel? she is inspirational, a queen and a legend. Dennis is the nicest, most well intentioned guy ever SO sweet and really just a genuinely nice guy. I have made lasting friendships with some members of this cast and I'm so happy. so yeah.... i'll probably do another one of these in like a day or so, but if not.... ali out woo

we love coming to jury and being told about my ""showmance""".... wanna die jadfkl. my only showmance was to snakery, my way of life. blake was robbed but also is a broccoli. last words? autumn and dennis are my faves, best F3 ever.

FINAL CAST ASSESSMENT

[leighleighpresents-blog]

Ashley from Operator Please

Bursting onto the music scene in 2007 with their smash hit “Just A Song About Ping Pong”, Operator Please have become Australia’s hottest new band.  With their new album, “Gloves”, out now, and a tour happening, I got to chat with bassist Ashley McConnell about the new album, the tour, and his love of Mariah Carey.

GQ:  How’s your day been so far?

AM:  Good, thank you.  I just went and watched Sex and the City 2.  It was pretty good, but not as good as the first one, but you have to be a fan to watch this one.

GQ:  Fair enough, I’m not really a fan, so I won’t be watching it, haha!  Now, Operator Please have just come back with the new album “Gloves”, with the first single being “Logic”.  They’re doing pretty well on the charts at the moment …

AM:  Yeah, it has done.  I was actually surprised, cos the one thing I never worry about too much is charting, cos it’s a thing where no one really buys cd’s anymore, so it’s kind of hard to take the charts too seriously.  Whenever you look at the charts, it’s all pop stars and rappers, so when “Logic” got to 40 or something, which sounds kind of bad, but for us, it’s really nice.

GQ:  With “Just A Song About Ping Pong”, that reached #12 in Australia, and #10 in UK, and “Get What You Want” reached #1 in the UK on the Indie charts …

AM:  Yeah, those two songs were the two highest sellers, so it’s tough to beat those now, but “Logic”, I was thinking the other day, is our 3rd highest single, which is really good that it’s been able to beat two other singles from a record that was really popular, and we’ve been really lucky that “Gloves” debuted at #20, which none of us were really expecting.  We were just putting it out, and weren’t too worried about where it was going to place, so getting a high number like that straight away was really good, and it had already beat our last record.

GQ:  Yeah, definitely!  How did it feel the first time you heard “Just A Song About Ping Pong” on the radio?

AM:  Oh, pretty exciting.  I guess, technically the first time we would have heard it would have been the old version, on Triple J forever ago.  It’s exciting hearing any of your songs on the radio the first time, then after that, it’s still cool just to think that someone likes your music enough to be bothered putting it on the radio.  No matter how many times you hear it, it’s still a nice compliment.

GQ:  True.  Now, since this is the first time we’ve interviewed you, we might go back a little. I understand Amandah formed the band to compete in a Battle Of The Bands contest, and it’s all gone from there …

AM:  All true.  At our high school, they often have a Talent Contest or Battle Of The Bands, and Amandah did lots of music stuff previously, so she wanted to form a band, and most bands would do songs by Blink 182 and AC/DC, so she wanted to do things that were a bit different, so we did Kings Of Leon and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and things that were a bit different to the norm, so we did that and got along really well, and decided to keep going from there.

GQ:  There’s not a lot of other bands out there like you either.  I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but most bands have a lead singer who is really hot or whatever, but, with you guys, you’re all just yourselves, just everyday people.  On top of that, you also have a violinist in the band …

AM:  Well, yeah, that’s something that we’ve always stuck to.  I don’t like to really glorify other bands.  Especially in Australia, everyone’s just a regular person, even if you look at Silverchair, they’re really popular, but they were just kids in a Newcastle high school once too.  I’m the same person at home as I am on stage, that’s why when people say “oh, what’s it like being famous?”, I’ll just say “well, I’m not really famous, I’m just mildly more noticeable than I used to be”, haha!

GQ:  Do you get recognised in the streets or anything?

AM:  Very, very rarely.  Amandah does the most, obviously.  She’s the most recognisable, not many people look like her and have the style she has, and I guess Tim gets recognised because the little girls love him …

GQ: … and a lot of the guys …

AM:  Yeah, I know, it’s really funny!  So yeah, they do get recognised.  I do sometimes, we all do, but not in a way that it’s ever annoying.  We’re never going to be snobby to anybody, if someone wants to chat to us, we’ll chat to them.

GQ:  That’s good.  That’s something you have to keep.  So many celebrities out there think they’re better than everyone else, and forget where they came from.

AM:  Yeah, well that’s something we never want to happen to us, because we’ve seen it.  We’ve met some people that we admire, and they’re just dicks.  It ruins your thought of them, and it’s hard to go back and think of them how you used to.  We just be ourselves, and, for us, it could just end at any moment, so there’s no reason to let it go to our heads.

GQ:  In terms of the music side of things, who are your influences?

AM:  I guess, as a band, we don’t really have a list of influences that you can pick out, it’s more what we’ve been listening to while we’ve been making the record.  For this record, Amandah and I were listening to a lot of Prince, and one of my icons, Janet Jackson, so there was a lot of that kind of vibe in our music.   For me, I love the 80’s slow jam sort of stuff, the 90’s hip-hop and r’n’b, like TLC, Salt’n’Pepa, and I love Mariah Carey, Amandah and I love our diva music, like Beyonce and stuff.  In terms of bands, I still love bands like Interpol, and just a whole mix.  That’s why whenever someone says “what’s your music like?”, I just say I have no idea, because it’s just so varied.  I think that’s what it comes down to, we all have such vast tastes that it all just mixes together to become Operator Please.

GQ:  I see you have done some covers on stage, such as “Push It” and “Whip It” … maybe you should do a cover of “Obsessed” or “Touch My Body” …

AM:  No, we want to do “Heartbreaker” or “Dreamlover”.  “Heartbreaker” is our favourite at the moment, but it’s so hard.  There’s just some people that you can’t touch, and she’s one of them, especially with her vocals.  You have to do a song in a completely different way to pull it off.  We probably won’t touch Prince or Michael Jackson, cos it’s just sacred territory, and if you screw it up, there’s this big bad mark against you …

GQ:  True, haha!   Speaking of big things, when you first came out with “Just A Song About Ping Pong”, you were named as “Our Favourite New Band” and “The next big thing” by Perez Hilton .  Now THAT’S pretty big …

AM:  Haha, yeah, that was really odd and out of the blue.  Usually he’s writing about what Paris Hilton got up to on the weekend or whatever, you don’t expect to look at his blog and see yourself there, so that was a really big one.  He put our video up on there, and we were super grateful to him, cos it spread our name a bit further in the American market.

GQ:  That’s true.  Coming back to the new material though, how long did it take to make “Gloves”?

AM:  A while.  Technically, the recording took about 2 or 3 months, but we started writing for it and putting the songs together around November or December 2008, so it’s been around for a while, and it took a lot longer to do.  The first album was a lot of songs that we’d had for a long time, like “Ping Pong” was with us from around the end of 2005, so this one took longer for that reason.  In taking the time we took to make it, I think we made the perfect record for what we wanted at that time.  I don’t think any of us looked back and thought of anything we wanted to change about it.

GQ:  You mentioned before about the 80’s influence, especially for yourself.  You can hear that on this album…

AM:  Yeah.  I guess, it wasn’t an intentional thing, like we didn’t want to do an 80’s re-hash album, cos there’s too many people doing that, we just wanted to have that vibe, and more the production values of the 80’s and 90’s.  Getting back to what was not there, than what is, like having the gaps between the songs, and not trying to fill every single gap with something.

GQ:  I also noticed one of the songs, “Losing Patience”, was co-written by Ben Lee …

AM:  Yeah, a lot of the songs, when you read the co-writes, they’re all at different levels.  With that one, I think the only thing he put in that is remaining is, I think, just the chorus melody or something.  Amandah went on a writing trip around January last year.  It wasn’t for her to go and intentionally write for our record, but just to get ideas, and learn more about the process of writing, so she could bring it back to us, and we could be more efficient in what we were writing.

GQ:  Do you write anything yourself?

AM:  Not really, my brain doesn’t go that way.  I mean, we all sit there in the studio, and someone might ask “what should we put here?” and we all put in our little parts and ideas, or I’ll make up a bit here and there, but when it comes to the lyrics, the melody, the structure, especially on this record, it’s been all about Amandah and Tim.  My personal thing is that, if they’re going to do such a perfect job of it, there’s no reason for me to come in and muck it up or whatever.  The same goes for all of us, if we have a good idea, we’ll put it forward, but most of the writing comes down to Amandah, cos she’s just a songwriting genius, and none of us can compete with that.

GQ:  That’s fair enough, I guess.  One thing I have to ask about, and I’m sure there’s a story behind this … on your Facebook profile, it says the genre of the band is rap.

AM:  Hahahaha, yeah.  I guess that’s because, well, I really hate genres, and I intentionally remove the genre category from my iTunes, because I don’t want to put anything into just one genre, and because we have so many different things, you could probably pick out a rap element in our songs.  My favourite song on the album, “Volcanic”, has a little hip-hop/rap breakdown in it.  We just like to have fun with that kind of thing, we never take it seriously.  There’s no reason to.  I mean, if someone calls us Indie-Pop, or Alternative, I’m not going to bite their heads off or anything, because genres are such a subjective thing.  I’m not going to tell anyone they’re wrong.  We just say we’re a pop group cos it falls into so many categories, it could be pop-punk, pop-rap, pop-rock, whatever … so I guess that’s why we make our Myspace and Facebook a bit more stupid and stuff.

GQ:  That’s true.  One thing a lot of people forget now is that the word “Pop” is short for “Popular”, so it could cover pretty much anything on the charts.

AM:  Yeah, and that’s what it comes down to.  Pop never used to be a dirty word.  In the 80’s, everything was popular.  The Cure, The Eurythmics, they were a band band, they used proper instruments, and so do we, but they made popular music.  Pop music, to us, isn’t so much about the sound as it is about the structure.  That’s what it comes down to, and a lot of people don’t realise that.  It’s about how it’s structured, and making it immediate and catchy.

GQ:  Yeah, definitely.  Well, we’re just about out of time, so I’m just going to ask something that a lot of our readers might want to know.  Being the only gay member of the band, are you single?

AM:  Hahahaha!  Yes, yes I am, actually all of us are single at the moment.  We’re all free agents at the moment.  It makes things easier on tour though.  It’s hard enough to keep up with my family and friends on tour, so we’re all just having fun at the moment.

GQ:  Sounds good.  To wrap up, is there anything you want to say to our readers?

AM:  Well, we’re all really excited about the tour we’re doing.  We’ve never done a proper national tour before, apart from festivals over the years, so everyone needs to pop down to our gigs, we’ve got two great supporting bands with us who are good friends of ours, and they might pop up on stage with us for a cover or two.  It’s just going to be really fun, and will be great to see what everyone thinks of the new songs, cos we’re having a lot of fun playing them.

[grapsandclaps]

GRAPS AND CLAPS DOES ALLY PALLY PROGRESS

Hello again everyone and welcome to the story of Show 70 of the #100showyear which took me to the Christmas darting mecca of Alexandra Palace for Progress Wrestlings biggest show of the year - Chase The Sun.

But first of all it was the longer than usual travel down to the capital via trams, trains and tubes with the added entertainment of our group doing our best Pete Dunne impressions supposedly "Everything is mine" in a dour brummie accent.

Arriving in Wood Green before the 20 minute walk up Muswell Hill we took in a decent little pub called The Jolly Sailor or something to that effect and was greeted with very good beer prices for a London boozer - £3.60 for Coors, £4.10 for Wolf Rock and £4.60 for Blue Moon, the bar lady overheard of my liking for slices of orange in a pint of Blue Moon so out of kindness and service she sent her faithful bar assistant out to the local grocers for some oranges, low and behold a slice of orange ended up in my drink 😍.

Drinks done it was time to take the hike up to Ally Pally which on a nice day is a lovely walk to do with views of the London skyline to the left hand side of you which in the evening can be a fantastic sight to see. Arriving at Ally Pally it was time to find our seats which due to arriving an hour before the show started meant we were more to the back of row 11/12 with a central view, the set up was very much like the set up WCPW does with their seating in the aircraft hangar called Bowlers. Atmosphere wise it was much noisier than the previous years Brixton Academy show with it making it more accessible for people to mingle with their wrestling friends. The option to stand up at the back was there if you couldnt see anything from your seats which i took advantage of, but our Geoff stopped in his seat all night and seemed to like it there.

Pre show match was Chuck Mambo beating Spike Trivet in what i was told was a short affair but missable , because i had gone to get beer refreshments at the nearby bar before the main show had started.

Hop House Lager - £5, Fosters £4.80, Deuchars £4.50

Show started with a great video package to the familiar tune starter Started From The Bottom by Drake, and after the usual opening dialogue from Jim Smallman it was time to get on with the show with the visible ladders around the ring it was time to start with the Progress Tag Title Ladder Match with British Strong Style (Champions) vs CCK.

This was a fine opener with the early stages of the match based more around wrestling than using the ladders. Once the ladders came into play some cool offence was used including back suplexes on to the ladder, Kid Lykos being carried whilst on the ladder by Bate and Seven and then flung over the top rope to the Progress security below. The ending came when Brookes and Tyler Bate were fighting atop of the ladder with Bate being backbody dropped on to a raised ladder which was held on the ropes. With the prone Bate on the deck, Brooks climbed the ladder to grab the belts and your new champions - CCK to the satisfaction of the 2,500 strong crowd.

Next up it was a battle of Australia vs New Zealand with Womens Champion Toni Storm vs Dahlia Black. Again another good match here with both women having opportunities early on to take the upper hand, Toni Storm hit a piledriver on Black for a close 2 nearfall to the amazement of the crowd. The finish came when Black got crotched on the top rope and was prone to a nasty german suplex from the top by Toni who then proceeded to finish Black off with the match winning piledriver. After the match Jinny came in to attack Dahlia clamping Blacks previously injured leg in a chair and stamping on it, so it looks like it will be Dahlia vs Jinny for the near future leaving Toni Storm opponentless for the time being which is a bit strange.

Zack Sabre Jr was next for his mystery opponent challenge which was answered to a huge pop - i had goosebumps for this moment just wow by Marty Scurll returning for the first time since January where he was eliminated from the ThunderBastard Match but since being away from Progress has become a huge star thanks to his association with The Bullet Club - they are a huge cash cow. Anyways this match was another great match in the Sabre vs Scurll story lasting 20 minutes both guys going hold for hold knowing each and every step their opponent would make. Eventually Sabre Jr got the win with the bridging roll up for the 1-2-3, Scurll after the match then gave what looks like to be his farewell to Progress for good - make your own mind up on why, but Scurll is certainly someone who Progress could do with at the top end of the card once British Strong Style decamp to WWE.

Deathmatch time with perennial moaners about who is the rightful no.1 contender Jimmy Havoc vs Mark Haskins. I might be in the minority on my opinion here but even though it was a good match at times, i did feel the atmosphere went a bit flat here after following Sabre vs Scurll. It did have its moments with Haskins using The Death Valley Driver on Havoc off the stage through a table, many thumbtack spots and even Vicky Haskins getting involved passing a barb wire bat to Mark Haskins and then proceeding to walk off which was a bit head scratching, surely you stay there to help your husband lay the beatdown to Havoc. Havoc because of this took advantage winning with a barb wore assisted rainmaker for the win. Ok match but as explained bloody head scratching stuff with Vicky Haskins more the baddie in this piece than Mark Haskins. Seeing Ben and Chris at half time they uttered many a "Shit" "Crap" and "Fuck" about this match.

Back from half time it was time for a big announcement with Progress's big show in 2018 taking place at Wembley Arena, very ambitious as per ICW doing the Hydro. I think sleeping on my opinion from last night Progress will easily get 5/6k to the show but i am all of the worry that the boom of the UK scene can all come to a halt like that, hopefully it doesnt but with Progress they seem to have a great relationship with WWE at the moment so all looks rosy.

Three way Atlas action next with Champion Matt Riddle vs Walter vs Timothy Thatcher. Cracking hard hitting 3 way match with the basis of the action being Walter and Riddle hitting each other really hard with Thatcher playing the third wheel. There was one spot in this match which Progress have on their twitter timeline with a massive triple german suplex being performed - Riddle went flying nearly out of the ring, the finish came with Walter choking out Matt Riddle to get back his Atlas title which he lost in the States to Riddle. A new contender them came down to the ring to face off with Walter - it was ICW and WWE UK star Wolfgang to a decent ovation, dont get me wrong i think Wolfie is very good and provides a different challenge to the Atlas division but the WWE UK fingerprints were in the back of my head seeing this.

The 8 man no.1 contenders scramble match was next with Mark Andrews vs Damien Dunne vs Eddie Dennis vs Jack Sexsmith vs Strangler Davis vs James Drake vs Flash Morgan Webster vs Zack Gibson. Good action as you would expect with the 8 men involved, looking at the match beforehand i would have gone for a Morgan Webster or Zack Gibson win here with the probable Travis Banks win in the Main Event in hindsight but sadly i was wrong with regular no.1 contender Mark Andrews picking up the win here, don't get me wrong i think Andrews is fantastic to watch and is a great babyface but he is rivalling Mark Haskins for No.1 contender opportunities. After the match a shock heel turn here with Eddie Dennis turning in his FSU partner to the boos of the audience, i suppose FSU have done everything as a team in Progress and it brings a new side to Eddie that hasn't been seen in ages but so soon after The Riots split up this is now 2 long standing teams gone from the tag division.

Flash Morgan Webster i dont know where they go from here with him, another failed opportunity missed here for him.

Now The Main Event with Pete Dunne (Champion) facing Travis Banks for the Progress World Title. A very good main event here but one spot that did cheese me off a bit was a point where British Strong Style hit a Piledriver/Tyler Driver 97/Bitter End Trifecta and Travis kicked out at 2 which sounds as silly as it reads. That aside it was fantastic to see Travis Banks submit Pete Dunne to end the near year long reign of The Bruiserweight to a huge pop, this was the natural result that should have went down and it did. It now sets up fresh matches at the top of the card with Jimmy Havoc and Mark Andrews vs Banks but with Pete Dunne maybe gone for the moment it leaves a gap for a tosser at the top - maybe Webster/Brookes or TK Cooper when he returns but we will just have to wait and see.

Show done it was time to make the walk back down Muswell Hill to Wood Green and a stop off in the Wood Green Wetherspoons for some tea - Beef and ale pie for £6.99 and a pint for £2.18 all good quality fare. Sink it in £2.18 FOR A PINT IN LONDON!!!!

Overall a great show but with a couple of gripes as described above (The Progress Fan Forum Police Siren will be sounding haha!) but certainly betfer than Brixton last year. Was great to see a lot of the graps gang make the trip to Ally Pally and they were rewarded with a fantastic venue.

Next trip is to 53two in Manchester on Sunday for Futureshock Reloaded with the main evemt of Pete Dunne vs Soner Durson. #grapsandclaps