#half an episode for tom still counts

[sihtryggr]

The Last Kingdom → House of the Dragon

Osferth + Ælfwynn stills credit: @emilyhufflepufftlk

[cerastes]

I still think it's really cool how Amuro starts as the shittiest pilot alive (because he's a 15-year old) that only gets carried because he's in the biggest, fattest stat stick in-universe at the time (a few retroactive additions made in the future notwithstanding), enough that even its crappy vulcan guns are tearing Zaku IIs apart, and when he starts getting a bit too cocky, Char and Ramba Ral show up in objectively inferior pieces of junk and absolutely deliver his pizza, they just drag his face across every available surface in Planet Earth like he's a Yakuza mook, all because they are simply that much better at piloting, and the thing is, Amuro takes that very seriously.

He goes from shitass kid in an unfortunate situation that doesn't want to get in the robot to the most unwell child soldier in the war, which is really saying something, but most importantly, becomes so good at piloting the Gundam that the Gundam physically cannot handle Amuro's piloting. They need to apply "Magnetic Coating" to its joints so they don't fucking snap away from the main frame because Amuro, one, moves too damn well but also in too extreme a way for the frame to handle it, two, despite being equipped with two sabers, a shield, a beam rifle and vulcan guns, Amuro is a stern believer in introducing most everyone in thagomizer range to his Rated Z for Zeon hands, the single most official pair of hands in the business, tax free. He KEEP going Ip Man on these dudes, he does NOT need to do a Jamestown on these mother fuckers but he INSISTS. Somehow even the Gundam Hammer, which is a giant Hannah Barbera cartoon flail-- Ok, look at this thing, words do not do it justice

Even this god damn Tom and Jerry prop is less savage that whatever Amuro decides to do the moment he's done throwing his shield to get a free kill on someone and it officially becomes bed time forever for the unfortunate sap at the business end of his ten-finger weapons of mass destruction.

The RX-78-2, "Gundam" for its friends and family, even has a top of the line cutting edge Learning Computer that 'learns' alongside the pilot and their habits. This data extracted from it was so absolutely fucked up that it completely revolutionized Mobile Suit combat afterwards, which is a wholesome thing to think about when The Best Combat Data Ever came from a really angry, really stressed 15 year old that doesn't even like piloting. He was 15! He made Haro with his own hands! Amuro literally just wanted to make funny cute spherical robofriends! Amuro was out there trying to make Kirby real, but fate had other plans for him. His cloned brain put in a pilot seat is one of the setting's strongest 'pilots'.

They made fucking Shadow the Hedgehog with his brain, god damn.

By the end, Zeon is rolling out Gelgoogs out of its mass production lines. These things are in the Gundam's ballpark in terms of overall specs (or "power level"). Amuro is bodying them as if they were episode 1 Zaku IIs.

AND THEN HE GETS FUCKING PSYCHIC SPACE POWERS. Not that he needed them, he bodied a couple Space Psychics without any of those powers before awakening to them. But heaven's most violent child was not done evolving, whether he liked it or not.

Char bodied him in a souped up Zaku II at the start, a machine objectively inferior to the Gundam. Amuro more or less one-sidedly beats the shit out of Char when he's in a custom Commander-type Gelgoog that you could consider to be equal spec-wise to the Gundam. Amuro is the embodiment of Finding Out. He is Consequences. You tell him he better make it hurt, better make it count, better kill you in one shot, buddy, he needs half a fucking shot. The complete transformation. One could consider the central 75% of the show as long drawn out training montage turning a kid into the Geese Howard of giant robots.

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Bullies - Peter Parker x fem!reader

Pairing: Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None! Super fluffy <3

Word Count:

Description: Peter comforts reader after a hard day at school. It can be any Peter btw but I imagined it as Tom :)

Peter knew things at school weren’t good. They never had been. I had six weeks left before I graduated and we’d been counting down the days together, despite being at different schools. Peter was the smart scientific boy who I’d met at the library and I was the music obsessed girl who was brutally bullied for who I was. I’d been shoved up against a locker before my English class by Carson, the boy who was committed to ruining my life. I had banged my head badly and was sent to the nurse’s office after passing out in the lesson. My mom had been called and I was sent home. After watching a couple episodes of (your favorite tv show), there was a sharp knock at my window. Spider Boy. Peter. I stumbled out of bed to unlock and open the window so he could come inside. 

“What are you doing in bed?” he asked, crawling in next to me. I rubbed my eyes, hoping the throbbing sensation would stop. 

“I came home from school early. Had a headache,” I muttered. He knew full well I never got headaches, which was reflected by the conflicted look on his face. 

“Tell me the truth y/n, why are you in bed at 3:00?” I tried to figure out a decent lie but had absolutely nothing. Maybe I’d fallen down some stairs, maybe I’d accidentally broken my nose in dodgeball. He wouldn’t believe that, he knew I never showed up to phys ed. 

“Remember how I told you about Carson?”

“Oh so that’s why you currently have a black eye and a half,” he seethed. Well guess that answered the question of whether I looked as bad as I felt. “Are we going to talk about it?”

“I’d rather not,” I responded, cuddling closer to him. His arm was around my shoulders, body turned into mine.

“Did he hurt you?” Of course he hurt me. No one else would’ve done this to me. 

“I just said I don’t want to talk about it,” I looked up into his glowing brown eyes, not able to tell if he was worried or raging. 

“Fine, we don’t have to talk about it. But just know Spiderman is going to have a very stern conversation with Mr Carson,” Peter spoke with severe clarity, “he’s not going to hurt you again y/n.” I knew he meant what he had said. We sat there in silence while my computer continued to play (your favorite tv show). He watched the episode with me, occasionally asking questions so he could catch up. Once the episode ended I turned off my computer and put some music on. 

“How was school today Pete?” I asked. School was much easier for him, his teachers actually cared, he had his friends MJ and Ned, and he didn’t need to study to get an A. 

“Not too bad, we’re just getting ready for finals and prepping grad stuff, y’know,” he explained. I nodded, excited for the short period of time we had left before college. 

“What time do you have to get home?” Aunt May always knew Peter was at my house, but she had standards, especially knowing Peter was Spiderman, and a high schooler. 

“Like 10:30, we’ve got time,” he pressed a kiss to my temples and ran his fingers through my hair. I could feel the tension in the air, I wanted so desperately to cry over the day, over how much pain I was in. 

“I’m going to hurt you y/n. I’m going to hurt you as much as I can. And once school is out I’m going to fucking kill you,” Carson had whispered into my ear as he pressed me into the lockers. I could still feel the padlock being pressed into my back. My eyes started to water and a few tears slipped onto Peter’s shirt. 

“Hey, hey, are you okay?” He sat up and held me back so he could get a proper look at my face. I shook my head, letting the floodgates slip.

“H-he told me he was going to kill me Peter. I can’t go back there,” I sobbed. He pulled me in close, his forehead resting against mine. 

“He won’t lay another hand on you ever again. I mean it y/n.” I could feel the tension in his body. 

“You promise?” I cupped his jaw, my fingers resting behind his ear. 

“I promise. I’ve got you.”

//

Please submit any requests y'all have! I love to write so let me know if you've got any!

@urmykindofwoman let me know if you like this! I haven't written to Peter in a wee bit

[galexystern]

easy - 18+

pairing; actor!steve harrington/fem!reader

warnings; smut (MDNI), angst, tooth-rotting & v cheesy fluff, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), squirting, unprotected p in v, creampie, jealousy, kinda hurt/comfort, one use of y/n near the end

word count; ~4.3k

desc; while on a press tour for his latest movie, steve says something that sends you into a spiral. something that forces him prove his undying love for you when he gets home.

a/n; based off that interview of tom blyth and rachel zegler on the tbosas press tour. you know the one

read on ao3 / masterlist

You come upon it without trying. Dating an actor can be hard, watching them experience whole lifetimes and romances in a tight two-hour movie or eight-episode show, and your boyfriend Steve Harrington feels things deeper than others, you know. Thus why you never search the press Steve does for any project—you don’t need to hear it.

Of course, if something pops up on your feed, you���ll watch it. It’s impossible to swipe away from his lovely face; you’ve missed him so much as he’s worked on his latest movie, and any whiff of him is captivating. Which is how you see one specific interview he did with his co-star, Nancy Wheeler, the female love interest.

“Who wouldn’t love her? It’s so easy to fall in love with Nancy.”

As soon as you hear it, the words embed themselves. They echo within you all the time. You try to forget them, distract yourself, but it’s useless. You’d hoped they’d go away when Steve comes home, but they’re still there, bouncing around your brain like the world’s most annoying song. When he’s hugging you so tight you can barely breathe. When he’s smiling uncontrollably at being home. When he’s talking nonstop about his adventures on set.

“It’s so easy to fall in love with Nancy.”

“It’s so easy to fall in love with Nancy.”

“It’s so easy to fall in love with Nancy.”

You shake your head to get rid of the phrase, and take Steve into the dining room, where the table is ready with all his favorite foods. You’d prepared them in another attempt to quiet your mind, not that it had worked, but it makes him smile so it was worth it anyway. You sit him down and then slide into your seat across from him, watching as he dishes out onto his plate and digs in. You don’t touch it. You’re not hungry.

“And then, believe it or not, I slip on the goddamn banana peel. Can you believe that?” He laughs at his own bad luck. “They used that take for the final cut. Can’t wait for you to see it.” He’s been talking about taking you to the premiere since the date was set. The idea of being in front of reporters and cameras and the movie’s other stars is kind of nauseating.

That’s when you hear yourself blurting out, “Are you in love with Nancy?”

As soon as the words have left your lips you want to suck them back in. Your boyfriend’s eyes have widened astronomically and his hand is frozen, fork stuck halfway between the plate and his open mouth. Convenient, you think helplessly.

“Never mind,” you rush out before he can say anything, “forget it. I’m sorry.”

Steve blinks a couple times, seeming to come back into his body, and then carefully lays his fork down, bite of food unconsumed. He laughs awkwardly, and you cringe. Your fault for ruining the mood. “Can’t really forget that, can I?” He half-jokes before wiping his face with a napkin and then putting it on the table. His chair scoots back as he stands, and for a moment you’re terrified he’s going to walk out, insulted beyond belief that you would ask something so wild, but he just rounds the table to your side and sits in the seat next to you. He angles his body towards you, and maneuvers your chair to face him. You sit there like dead weight.

“Now, my love,” he starts gently, “what was your question?”

You don’t really want to repeat it, but you’ve never been able to deny him anything. “I asked if you were in love with Nancy,” you answer, almost inaudible.

He nods thoughtfully. “And why would you think that?”

He’s not being accusatory, but you still clam up, afraid of what could come next. You shrug instead.

“Angel, I’m not going to be mad at you. I promise.”

You meet his gaze, seeing love and sincerity shining brightly, and finally explain quietly, “I saw that interview you two had. Where you said that it was easy to fall in love with her.”

Steve exhales heavily. “I was afraid that might be it.” Your expression sharpens and he rushes to add, “I’m not in love with her. I was just worried this exact thing could happen after I said it.”

“Why’d you say it then?” You ask petulantly.

He runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I was thinking more in terms of my character instead of myself, truthfully. And I meant more in terms of her character too. Ryan would—and did—find it easy to fall in love with Sarah,” using their character names.

“But you said Nancy’s name.”

“I know,” he sighs. “I’m so sorry. You don’t usually look at my press so I wasn’t sure if you’d seen it, and I didn’t wanna bring it up and worry you. I know it sounds like an excuse, sweetheart, but I meant what I said. I’m not in love with Nancy.”

“Okay,” you reply, not fully convinced.

Steve can tell. “Baby, look at me, please?” You lift your head to meet his pleading stare. “I’m not in love with Nancy,” he says firmly, drilling it into you. “I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for a long time, and I’m going to stay in love with you for a long time. Forever, if you’ll let me.”

Again, words fly out before you can stop them. “Please don’t tell me that’s a proposal.”

He’s caught by an unexpected laugh. “No, honey. When I propose to you, you’ll know it.” A thrill runs through you with the use of “when” and your lip quirks up. But it’s quick to pop back down, and Steve notices. He pats his thighs. “Come here, angel.”

It takes a few seconds, but you eventually drag yourself from your chair and into his lap, letting your legs dangle and wrapping your arms around his neck. He secures his own around your waist, not letting you fall or slide backwards. You’re close enough that he can nuzzle his nose against yours, and you huff a giggle at the movement. His lips curl into a smile on your cheek.

He moves so that your foreheads are resting together and he can gaze deep into your eyes. You can’t look away. “I love you, baby. Only you. And you can always come to me if you’re upset or unsure or whatever. Okay?” You nod hesitantly. “Do you need me to prove it? That you’re the one for me?” You go breathless when his hands dip down to your ass and press you more firmly against him, feeling his hardness and making your underwear go wet in response. You nod more quickly this time and he smirks.

“C’mere then,” he whispers and you waste no time meeting his lips with yours. He kisses you, slow and languorous, taking his sweet time swiping his tongue across the seam of your mouth and exploring inside when you eagerly open for him. It’s like a dance, how it weaves with yours. This isn’t a time for domination.

You slide your hands into his hair and tug at the strands, swallowing his resulting moan. He seems to know innately when you need air and pulls away, only to come back and run his mouth along your jaw sweetly.

“Such pretty noises,” he murmurs, referring to the little whimpers you let out when he nips lightly at your skin. “Music to my ears, baby.”

If that’s the case, then you can only think he has to be delighted at your whiny moan when he sucks a mark into the pulse point on your neck. Sure enough, he thrusts into you at the sound, hitting your clit perfectly and soaking you further. You want to keep the friction going so you continue the grinding, Steve’s hands fully clutching your hips now to help you along.

Unexpectedly, he stands, bringing you with him. You squeal and wrap your legs around his waist desperately, not really believing he would drop you but feeling a tad scared anyways. He chuckles as he walks the both of you out of the dining room and up the stairs, nudging the bedroom door open with your hips. It’s dark, but the moon is shining in through the open window, creating a soft glow that compliments your boyfriend’s skin and shadows that outline his firm jaw. He sets you down slowly, letting your feet drag down until they softly land on the floor, and once you’re standing securely, he slides his hands up your body until they’re cupping your cheeks.

“My beautiful girl,” he whispers, and you heat at the praise. He must be able to feel it, burning underneath your skin, but he doesn’t point it out.

He dips in and kisses you again, hands going to the hem of your shirt and pulling it up, up, up, over your head, interrupting the kiss for just a moment and then he’s back on you. His fingers explore the newly revealed skin, caressing it reverently, like you’re made of the most precious substance and might break if he presses too hard. Shivers fizzle wherever his touch goes—across your stomach, over your hips, up your back. He finds your bra strap and unhooks it, moving back a touch so he can pull it off along with his own shirt. He comes back immediately, and you gasp into his mouth as your breasts make contact with his chest hair, the wiry feeling of it rubbing against your nipples deliciously.

You break from his intoxicating mouth to whine his name. “Sh,” he soothes, “let me worship you. My angel from heaven.”

Your heart practically melts at the words and all thoughts of pouting disappear. You let Steve push you backwards and sit you on the edge of the bed. He stands above you, two fingers under your chin to angle your head up towards his. It’s almost impossible to look directly at him, the level of love and adoration in his expression blinding in its intensity.

“Love of my life. Can I taste you?” You nod dazedly at his question, unable to do anything else, unwilling to do anything else. “Lay back for me.”

Following orders, you do so, and he slips off your pants. His fingers stroke down your legs as they go, tugging off your socks as well. He kneels and you prop up on your elbows just in time to watch him bury his face between your legs, smelling you through your underwear. They’re already soaked, but he doesn’t seem to mind: he laps at the wet spot and moans. “Missed this so much, baby. Your taste, your smell. Couldn’t stop thinking about doing this the whole time I was gone.”

His fingers hook into the waistband and drag it down, infuriatingly slow, and you’re thinking of whining again when he licks a line up your slit. The intended whine comes out as a moan instead, spurring Steve on to press into you even deeper. You lose yourself in his ministrations, as he swirls his tongue across your folds and up to your clit. When he sucks it into his mouth, you collapse backwards, unable to hold yourself up any longer during this beautiful torture.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he says, hand drawing in and rubbing a finger against your entrance. “Let yourself feel it. Feel how much I missed you. How much I love you.”

Your eyes roll back when that finger breaches you, pushing inside and crooking upwards to catch that spot he always knows how to find. “Oh,” you breathe, “finally.”

His lips quirk up and you can tell he must be smirking. “Finally, huh?” You shake your head; he’d misunderstood. “What then, honey?”

“Couldn’t do it right myself,” you pant. “You do it—” your breath hitches as he brushes that spot again, “better.”

“Is that right?” As much as it irritates you, his smug tone is deserved.

“Yes…oh!” You exclaim. He’s inserted another finger, and now both are thrusting inside you, picking up their pace. Little noises fall from you as his tongue flicks your clit in time with his fingers, going deeper with each hit.

“Is my pretty baby going to cum for me?” Steve asks. It’s rhetorical—he can feel you clenching around him, can tell you’re right there on the edge. He knows your body like the back of his hand; he took his time memorizing everything that makes you tick and that knowledge is always tucked away for safekeeping in his head. He’s not in danger of forgetting any of it. So he knows you’re on the precipice. A few more seconds should do it. “Come on,” he urges. “Cum for me, my love. I’ve got you.”

As he suckles your clit, you explode, climax rushing through you like a drug and you float upon it. Your boyfriend works you through it, continuing to curl his fingers inside you to keep you going even higher. All until you’re whimpering from overstimulation—then you think he’s going to remove them. Instead, they increase in speed. You yelp as his mouth dives in again, tongue moving quickly.

“Steve!” You half-shout, eyes squeezing shut as the brilliant torment goes on.

“I know you’ve got another for me, princess,” he says in between licks. “Been wanting to make you squirt again. Got off to the memory of the last time you did every night I was away from you.”

“I can’t,” you cry. You grab his wrist but don’t move it, feeling the orgasm he wants hurtling towards you.

“You can, baby, I know it,” he coaxes. “Gimme another. Just one more and then you get my cock, okay?”

You throw your head back as liquid gushes from you, all over Steve’s face. “Oh, fuck!”

“That’s my girl.” He moves his hand away and sticks his tongue in, gathering up all your climax and swallowing it down, moaning at the taste he’d missed so much. When you’re squeaky clean, he stands above you, and you watch with hazy vision as he sucks his fingers into his mouth and groans in pleasure. “Always taste so good, princess.” You’re so fucked out already that you can’t even feel embarrassed. He wouldn’t want you to anyways.

You weakly lift your hands towards him and make grabby motions. He smiles and does as asked, leaning to hover over you and give you sweet kisses. You wrap your arms around his waist and tug him down, and he collapses on top of you in a huff. You hum contentedly and snuggle into him, making him chuckle fondly and lay on you like a weighted blanket.

“Missed you,” you mumble into his neck, “so much.”

“I missed you too. I’m sorry I said that stupid thing and got you all worried.”

“‘S okay. I know what you meant once you explained. You’ve always been almost a method actor.”

“Maybe, but full method acting is freaky and I’m good without.”

You giggle. “Me too.”

He shifts and you feel his cock on your leg, still hard and without relief. You subtly lift your thigh to rub it and he moans, dropping his head to your shoulder and biting lightly. “Aren’t I supposed to get that now?” You tease. “I gave you what you wanted.”

“And now you want in return?” His tone barely contains the smirk he’s definitely sporting. He lifts himself up to look at you and groans a little at your pleading pout.

“I’ll even wet it for you,” you add while batting your eyelashes. Truthfully, your mouth has been watering ever since he’d first mentioned it.

He kisses you deeply. “An enticing offer that I will take you up on next time, baby. I think I might die if I’m not inside you immediately.” You giggle again as he stands and shucks off his pants and boxers, the sound hitching when his large, red, throbbing cock slaps against his abdomen. He smirks at you unknowingly licking your lips when you spot the precum beading at the head. “Like what you see, angel?”

You nod, eyes still locked on his cock. “Gimme, please,” you whine.

“Anything for you, my love.” He climbs over you again and lines up. Your hips cant forward to urge him on, but his hands clamp down and pin them to the bed. “Gonna savor this,” he murmurs, rubbing his cock through your folds. Electricity bolts through you when it grazes your clit, teasing. His eyes are magnetized to where you’re about to be joined, awed at how beautiful you are for him.

Eventually, his cock notches into your entrance and you gasp lightly. That turns into a drawn-out moan as he takes his time sliding inside, one he matches as soon as he bottoms out. He’s so deep you think you can feel him in your stomach.

Then he’s gone, pulling out almost all the way before pushing back in, slow but hard, and your back arches. “So responsive,” he coos, and does it again and again, until he’s moving at a steady pace and driving you crazy. Taking advantage of the leisurely tempo, he ducks his head down and sucks one of your nipples into his mouth, making you grip the bed sheets with tight fists. He swirls his tongue around, biting gently every now and then to make you jolt against him.

Going so slow grows maddening. “Faster, please, baby. Need more of you.”

“Your wish is my command,” he vows. Soon, he’s moving so hard and fast that the sound of skin slapping fills the room, oddly erotic. You look at him with half-lidded eyes, unable to do anything but take it, be Steve’s little plaything. It feels so good you can barely stand it.

You’re admiring how your boyfriend looks in the soft moonlight, making his eyes shine in an otherworldly way, when he says reverently, “You’re so beautiful like this, sweetheart. Lookin’ like an angel sent just for me. Because you’re all mine, right?”

“Yes, Stevie, all yours,” you moan.

He growls at that, putting his hands on your thighs and pressing them to your chest, allowing him to go even deeper. You keen at the new angle, sound cutting off as he kisses you desperately, and you throw your arms around his neck. He pulls back, much too quickly in your opinion, but you forgive him because he does so to say, “And I’m all yours, baby. You’re the only one for me. Only you make me feel this good. You’re all I think about, all I wanna think about. There’ll never be anyone else, princess. I love you and only you.”

His words push you closer and closer to your release, even more intense than the first two. He knows, urging you on by snaking a hand between your bodies and rubbing quick circles on your clit. “That’s it, soak my cock. Wanna feel you again, honey.”

“Love you, love you, love you,” you say over and over as your orgasm comes upon you. You scream Steve’s name when you finally cum, climax like a cascade, nails dragging down his back like they just might draw blood.

“Yes, angel, I love you too, missed you so much, oh my god, you’re so tight, love you, love you.” He’s babbling, finally cumming too, spilling hot and heavy. When he pulls out, your combined liquid pools out of you, and he groans one last time at the sight. He scoops some up with a finger to taste, eyes closing in delight. He opens them to look at you mischievously. “Wanna try?”

It should sound gross but it’s not. You nod and he repeats his motion. You suck his finger, pleasantly surprised by the enjoyable flavor. But it’s the essence of you and Steve–why wouldn’t it be good?

You must’ve fallen asleep after that, because the next thing you know Steve is wiping you with a warm washcloth, being as gentle as possible. You hum as he pulls the covers over you, but whine when you hear him step away. “It’s okay, angel,” he says softly, “I’ll just be a minute.” You listen to the dresser drawer opening and closing, and then Steve padding out of the room. You doze until you hear him come back and close the door. At long last, he slides into bed and gathers you in his arms. You curl around him like moss on an old building, and he buries his face in your hair.

“Thank you,” you whisper, half-asleep.

“You don’t have to thank me, baby,” Steve replies. “It’s my job to show you how much you mean to me. I love you so much, you know that? It’s the easiest thing to do, loving you.”

“Mm, I love you too.”

“I’m yours for good, angel. And you’re the only one for me. Promise.”

;

“It’s gonna be bright out there, angel, but just keep holding onto me, okay? I’ll get you there in one piece. All you have to do is show off that pretty smile. Sound good?” You nod at your boyfriend, smiling shyly. Steve grins. “There she is. Now, kiss for good luck?” You give him a kiss and then he’s out of the limo. Less than a minute later, he’s ducking back in the open door and holding out a hand for you. You take a deep breath, grab it, and slide out into the flashing lights.

A wall of sound hits you, and you try not to cringe against Steve. So many voices layer over each other, you don’t know what anyone is saying. But you just remember what Steve said and think of him on the night he came home and a smile forms on your face at the memory.

Steve helps you walk carefully down the red carpet, stopping you here and there to pose for the cameras. He wraps an arm around your waist to keep you stable and so you can focus on looking natural. “Doing so good, baby,” he murmurs in your ear at one point, kissing your temple. You close your eyes when he does, hoping one of the photographers got a shot of it. You think you’d like to frame that.

Eventually you reach the end of the carpet, and Steve’s agent ushers you two into the building. It’s a whirlwind in here too, but more manageable, loud but controlled. Your boyfriend turns to you. “You okay?”

You sigh happily at the love and concern in his eyes. “I’m good,” you promise, and he smiles.

Someone shouts his name, and you both turn. None other than Nancy Wheeler is rushing towards you, a tall and lanky man being dragged behind. Steve automatically steps closer and holds your waist again, nodding back at his costar but only thinking about how you might feel. Your heart warms at his attention, and you meet Nancy with a genuine smile.

She stops and grabs your hands. “Oh my gosh, you must be Y/N! I’ve heard so much about you, Steve mentioned you every chance he got. I’m so excited to meet you!”

“I’m excited to meet you too,” you reply.

“This is Jonathan, my boyfriend.” She motions to the boy beside her, who smiles awkwardly and holds out a hand. You shake it, as does Steve.

“Heard a lot about you too, man,” he says to Jonathan, making you feel even better.

“Are you excited for the movie?” Nancy asks, just to you. She’s barely even looked at Steve.

You nod. “Steve says it’s one of his favorites that he’s made.”

“Mine too! It’s such a sweet story. It’ll have you bawling by the end. I hope you brought tissues.”

You peer up at Steve, who had not told you that you were in for a crying fest. He laughs. “Don’t worry, angel. I got some.” He pats his jacket pocket.

Nancy’s eyes are glittering when you look back at her. “We gotta find our seats, but let’s talk at the after party. I have to put a face to all the stories Steve’s told!”

You agree and watch as she and Jonathan walk away into the crowd. You turn to Steve and he draws you close. “Are you sure you don’t wanna just go home and skip this whole thing?” He whines quietly.

You smirk. He’s been asking a variation of the same question ever since you stepped out of the bathroom in this dress—which accentuates your chest and ass “magnificently,” as Steve put it. He’d even tried starting something in the limo, but all that had accomplished was leaving him high and dry after you’d made him keep his hands to himself.

“You wanted me to see the movie,” you counter now.

“Yeah, but we could stream it later. It’s not like I’ll win an Oscar for it or anything.”

You roll your eyes. “You might! It’s prime awards season, babe. And you’ve been getting a lot of acclaim for this role. And you know the academies love a tear-jerker.” He blushes at your argument. “Plus,” you whip out the doe eyes, “I wanna see you on the big screen.”

He sighs in fake annoyance, a fond smile giving it away. “I did say your wish is my command, didn’t I?”

“Yup.” You smile triumphantly.

Steve grins back before kissing you soundly. “I love you, angel.”

“Love you too, Stevie.”

He gives you one last peck, and then grabs your hand and leads you into the theater.

[turtletaubwrites]

My Crew Needs Me ~ Part 25

Pairings: Zoro x Fem!Reader, Sanji x Fem!Reader, Robin x Fem!Reader, Sanji X Robin

This is part 25 of the poly series 'We've All Got Needs,' linked below:

Word Count: 3593

We've All Got Needs Masterlist

Ao3 Link (Ch. 15 of We've All Got Needs cont.)

!!SPOILER WARNING!! Spoilers for the anime for the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc (through episode 288).

Summary: The Straw Hats infiltrate the Tower of Justice, and they race against time to find Robin before she's taken through the Gates. CP9 holds the keys to her freedom, and the crew will win or die trying to get her back.

Rating/Warnings: AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Polyamory, Kissing, Canon Typical Violence, Blood, Injuries, Pet Names, Swearing, Angst, Mild Body Horror (I guess? it's in the show)

A/N: Sorry for the longer wait on these chapters, friends! Apparently action takes me longer to write than smut, lol.

Luffy’s rallying call was followed by the creaking and scraping of the drawbridge, excitement and hope stunning you.

“Our reinforcements pulled it together after all. And just in time too,” Sanji praised, his words fading out at the sound of the Franky Family yelling that it was up to all of you now.

Luffy crouched down, yelling one more time to your crewmate across the waterfall.

“Hey Robin! We’ll save you no matter what!”

Shouts from marines below were followed by the booming of weapons against wood and stone that dashed your hopes. 

Luffy and Sanji yelled down at the enemies, and you saw the bridge stop halfway, all of that work for naught. 

You almost didn’t catch the sight of Franky lighting something on fire, burning pieces of paper floating away in the wind. 

“We were passing down the blueprints to that ancient weapon to make sure it wouldn’t get used by scumbags like you. But I know Tom would have done the same thing.”

You saw Spandam, and all of CP9, staring open mouthed at the blue haired shipwright, and you knew you were missing something big.

“If you guys make a weapon now, we won’t be able to fight back,” Franky continued, ignoring Spandam’s quivering threats.

“But that’s only possible if you take Nico Robin through the Gates of Justice. I was wrong about you, Robin. You’re not a monster. And you’ve got friends willing to fight for you. Everything’s resting on the Straw Hats now.”

He looked over at you all with a nod, and you swore you saw him wink.

“And I’m betting on them.”

Voices of the Franky Family carried up to the tower, cheering, yelling that they were coming for him. He leaned over the edge to call back to his people, still ignoring the wails of Spandam as he mourned over the loss of those burnt papers.

Ignoring that pathetic man was a mistake, and you gasped as Franky was flung over the side of the building, Spandam’s arms shaking after shoving him over. 

You watched in horror, hoping he would survive, until a voice called out of your pocket. 

With a jolt, you pulled out the snail, Nami frowning at the grating voice berating you.

“Kokoro,” Nami questioned as you lifted the snail so you could hear her better.

“I left it on, I heard everything. Why are you all just standing around?”

“The bridge broke.”

“There’s no way over!”

You and Nami explained at the same time, yelling over the shouting voices of the rest of the crew.

“Jump into the waterfall! Give it all you’ve got, trust me!”

A train whistle blasted from below, moving closer.

“It’s the sea train,” Luffy laughed, the mischievous sound sending off alarm bells in your mind.

“What’s with that devious chuckle,” Usopp questioned, but he was too late.

Luffy’s arms stretched out behind the whole group, shoving you off the building.`

Plummeting toward death with nothing but Luffy’s arm at your back, and the screaming and crying forms of your crew, you braced for the end. 

The end appeared as the beat up train charging over the half lowered bridge, flinging through the air toward the tower.

Tears were streaming from your eyes as you landed on top of the train, body aching with more bruises as you scrambled to hold onto something. 

Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck!

Nothing ever felt real with this crew. Especially as the train slammed through the wall, stone bricks turning to dust and debris as this miracle train skidded to a halt.

Your head swam, dizziness and nausea making you feel like you were still flying after your body left the train, scraping through the rubble.

“Hey, hey, Granny? You okay? Answer me!”

Franky’s voice confused you, and you groaned as you heard Kokoro answering him. 

“Alright, we made it! Come on, you guys, get up already!”

You groaned louder at Luffy’s enthusiasm, hearing your hesitation echoed amongst the crew.

“Come on, you’ve been through worse than that!”

“We’re not all made of rubber, you know,” Sanji grumbled, more groans filling the room.

You didn’t know where to hold, pain dotting across your body. You could feel the tickle of blood from a scrape on your shoulder, and your right knee felt like it was hit with a hammer.

Robin.

She was waiting. You stood up, shaking it off, watching your crew do the same. 

Chopper and Usopp yelled, hyping themselves up, while Zoro growled, preparing to draw his swords.

You couldn’t help but smile at everyone, determination set on all your dusty, bruised faces.

“See, you’re all just fine,” Luffy complained. 

“You know, you guys are a bunch of weirdos. I felt like I should point that out,” said the blue haired man in a speedo with guns in his arms. 

“There’s a staircase,” Luffy pointed, already running. “We’d better move it if we’re gonna find Robin.”

“Not so fast,” came a strained voice, high, but rough. 

The group spun, finding the source of the voice in the corner of the room, pressed against the ceiling. He was dressed in a black suit, his body so round that your mind couldn’t shake the image of a balloon that had lost its string as he stared down at you. 

As he began to speak again, you noticed the dangling of what looked like a golden zipper pull at the corner of his mouth, and wondered what sort of teeth you were seeing behind his lips. 

“So you’ve invaded the Tower. There’s no point in going on. Lucci’s already taken Nico Robin to the Gates of Justice, along with Chief.”

“Oh really,” Nami asked with a smirk. “Thanks for telling us where we should start looking.”

You tried to cover your laugh with a cough, but didn’t think you were successful.

Why do so many bad guys love to just tell us everything?

“Why’d I tell them that,” the zippered man muttered to himself.

“He’s not too bright,” Chopper grumbled your thoughts, and you started to get angry again. 

Angry at the stupid, evil government, and their stupid, evil agents.

He pulled himself together, puffing his already puffed up chest before spewing threats down at you.

“If you want Nico Robin, you’ll have to fight through all five of our agents.”

“Duh,” Luffy said, and you had to turn around, chewing on your lip to fight your laughter this time. 

I’m going insane. 

Zoro touched your shoulder, pulling his fingers away with blood from that fresh scrape.

You tried to listen as the group kept talking to that idiot, but Zoro’s worried look distracted you, his eyes and gentle fingers roaming over your banged up body. 

“I’m okay,” you whispered as he kissed your forehead.

We don’t have time for this. 

“This might be the key to Nico Robin’s sea prism stone handcuffs,” the ceiling creep teased as he held an ornate key up into the light.

“Sea prism stone,” Franky questioned.

“It’s a stone that nullifies devil fruit powers,” Nami explained. “It’s like she’s trapped in sea water.”

Ice filled your gut at the thought of your powerful Robin, so helpless with these monsters.

“So be my guest. Go try to save her if you think you can. But without the right key, she’ll be trapped in those cuffs for the rest of her life. Mine might be the right key, but you’ll have to fight all the other agents for their keys just to be sure–”

Luffy’s fist was there, smashing into the stone, dust falling from the ceiling. 

“Damn,” he complained, as the man had escaped at the last second. “I guess all the CP9 guys can use that move.”

“So we’ve gotta beat every CP9 agent, and get all their keys before we can grab Robin,” Zoro asked, frustration in every word.

“What a stupid way to keep us busy,” Sanji grumbled. “While we’re wasting time on this key hunting game, the chief is going to escape with Robin.”

The zipper man was kicking through the air, floating somehow as he continued to taunt you. 

“Our first priority is Robin. Let’s ignore that weirdo, and get her first.”

You nodded at Nami’s words, the group already moving toward the stairs.

He tsked at you all, dangling the key out before him.

“If you do that, you’ll leave me no choice. I’ll toss this key into the ocean. We’re kind enough to give you a sporting chance. See ya!”

He buzzed off through the air, as if the balloon just released its air, quickly flying away.

Zoro grabbed onto Luffy before he could follow, trying to wrangle Luffy into deciding on a plan before splitting up. 

We’re splitting up.

“He said there’s 5 agents with keys, we need to spread out. Let’s take them down, then meet up.”

Sanji’s voice was strong, reassuring, especially when his warm hand found yours. 

Zoro gripped Luffy’s shoulders, tilting his head down to look in his captain's eyes.

“That pigeon guy, Lucci, is with Robin. You take care of him, and we’ll meet you up there. 

“If they drag her across those gates, we’ll never get her back! It’s a race against time!”

Usopp’s Sniper King voice had practically echoed, and it rallied the group.

“We’ll take ‘em down, or we’ll die trying.”

Zoro’s eyes fell on yours as he made that vow. You nodded with him, and felt that nothing in this moment mattered except for those words. 

The Straw Hats would save Robin. Or you’d all die here. No going back.

Fire burned through you as you charged toward the stairs with your friends, your family. 

Sanji still held your hand, but you pulled it away. 

“Angel, let’s–”

“I’ll go with Chopper,” you said, waving your friend down.

“No, we can–”

“No, Sanji. I need you to fight. I need you to save Robin. I won’t be a distraction for you.”

You turned, jogging toward Chopper to get away from Sanji’s pleading eyes. He caught you, pulling you to him in a desperate kiss. It lasted just a moment, but the heat of it was in your throat, and you shook your head to fight the tears. 

“We’ll get her back, Angel. I promise.”

You gave him the best smile you could, shaky breath leaving faster as you watched the group dispersing. 

You turned so you wouldn’t have to watch your boys running away from you. Chopper was waiting, and he patted your back with his big human form hand before running up the stairs.

“This way?”

More fucking stairs. 

If CP9 didn’t kill you, it felt like a heart attack just might. 

But adrenaline was doing its thing as you and Chopper made your way room by empty room. The floor you’d chosen seemed to be a bust.

Heading back for the stairs, you stumbled into each other as the building rumbled, something crashing up above.

“What do you think that is,” Chopper asked, eyes wide. 

“Hopefully it's our friends kicking someone’s ass,” you replied, trying to sound more confident than you were.

“Right!”

More stairs, more empty rooms, and so on.

Until more crashes and yells filled the hall. Nothing could have prepared you for the sight you saw when you looked through the noisy door. 

It was a large room, with high ceilings, making the cacophony of noises bounce off the walls. 

Zoro and Usopp were together. They were running side by side, yelling and looking back toward…

A humanoid wolf, and a fucking giraffe? With a baseball cap? 

Did I accidentally dose myself with Daydream?

Your worry was cut short when they caught sight of the both of you in the doorway. Zoro and Usopp started screaming for you, waving their arms in the air.

Chopper raised his hand in the air, laughing, and you touched his arm to pull it down. 

“We’re handcuffed together,” Zoro yelled, waving the hand that was stuck to Usopp.

“Get key number two, or we’re gonna die!”

Usopp’s wails died down as they continued to run from what had to be devil fruit users. 

Giraffe’s aren’t supposed to look like that…

“But we can help–” 

“No,” Zoro shouted, cutting Chopper off. “We can’t fight ‘til you get the key, and if they take you down, we’re screwed. Somebody else has to have key number two, just find it!”

You’d never heard that level of frustration in Zoro’s voice before.

“Got it,” you agreed, dragging Chopper from the room. 

More stairs, more rooms, until you heard voices. Nami’s voice.

Nami’s scream!

Skidding around a corner, you raised your tonfa, but couldn’t tell where to shoot. There was a swirling mass of what looked like pink hair. Nami was held up in the air, twisted and writhing in it. 

You charged forward, but Chopper was faster. 

“Cloven Roseo!”

He leapt through the air, his hoof smacking into the face of a huge man, his pink hair swirling aside as blood shot out of his mouth. 

Nami crumpled to the ground, coughing as you helped her to her feet. 

Chopper rushed to her, looking her over.

“Are you okay Nami?”

“I’m okay. Thank you for saving me.”

“How was he attacking you,” you asked, leaning to look where the man had fallen across the room. “Was that his hair?”

“Could be a devil fruit,” Nami rushed, picking up her Clima-Tact. “Don’t know, don’t care. Once he grabs you, you’re done for. Come on, this is our chance to get away. The less we see of that guy, the better.”

You grabbed her elbow as she moved toward the hall. 

“We can’t, we need to get his key,” you reminded her, Zoro’s demand ringing through your head.

“Oh, you mean this little thing?”

Nami’s smirk as she held up the key made you love her even more.

“Stealing the key was the easy part,” she bragged, leading the way out of the room. “I just couldn’t deal with that guy’s hair.”

“What number is it,” Chopper asked, his hooves tapping a frantic beat as he ran in his reindeer form. 

“Uh, three,” she said, squinting at it while she ran.

“Damn,” you cursed, picturing Zoro and Usopp running from those beasts. “It’s the wrong one.”

“What do you me–”

Nami’s voice cut off, just as the three of you skidded to a stop. You’d reached the massive tower room of seemingly endless staircases climbing toward the sky.

From floors above, something fell hard, crashing onto the stone at your feet.

Covering your eyes from the dust, you leaned forward at whatever it was that had fallen.

“This place is falling apart,” Nami complained, coughing.

Chopper was closest, and let out a horrified gasp, his eyes wide as he shook his head slowly.

“What is it…” you trailed off, mind unable to process what you were seeing.

“Is it a doll?”

You wished that Nami’s question had been true, but then Chopper said the words you didn’t want to believe.

“No. It’s Sanji!”

Disgust and horror almost spilled out your throat in noxious bile. You stumbled, falling to your knees beside this figure that couldn’t be your Sanji. It couldn’t be.

It looked like a poorly drawn picture of him, his hair, his suit, his blood pouring down his face. But it was deformed, almost balloon like, completely smooth and shining in the light.

You were frozen, staring down at him with your mouth opening and closing uselessly. Your hands were just above his chest, but you couldn’t touch him. It can't be him!

Nami and Chopper joined you, yelling for him. Chopper pushed against his chest, and you sobbed as this unreal figure moved, turning its head to cough blood beside you. 

“N-No, Sanji? Fuck, baby, is that you?”

Nami and Chopper joined you in your cries for him, and you sat back on your heels as he rolled on his side, pitifully failing to lift himself up with his stretched and wobbling limbs.

“I’m sorry… I lost,” he choked out, every word sounding painful as blood kept dribbling from his lips.

“I couldn’t get the k-key.”

“Hold on, okay,” Chopper comforted him, looking over Sanji’s body as if there was something he could do to help. 

You were too stunned, still scared to touch him, when Nami’s sharp voice cut through.

“Hey, Sanji,” she started, standing with her weapon gripped in her hands. You followed her gaze up floors of stairs. Your blood ran cold at the sight of Kalifa, the blonde CP9 agent smiling down at you all.

“You really couldn’t win,” Nami continued, her questioning tone forcing denial to build in your stomach, but her words felt too true. 

“You really gave it your all? You fought that blonde woman, didn’t you? I see. You must have gone easy on her.”

“Sanji, please,” you denied, shaking your head.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t get the key,” he choked out.

“Forget the key,” Nami yelled, anger flinging toward the man at her feet. “This fight is a matter of life and death. You can’t stick to your stupid code of honor, okay? Is chivalry really worth dying for? People are counting on you!”

Your mouth opened and closed again, but nothing came out. Part of you wanted to defend him, and part of you wanted to slap him for not giving his all for Robin, for everyone, for himself.

But mainly you just wanted to fall onto him and cry, to find some way to fix him.

“I don’t want this,” he coughed again, voice so weak, it hurt. “I don’t want to die. But I was raised to never hit a lady, no matter what. So even at a time like this, even if it kills me, I won’t kick a woman.”

“I see... That’s stupid,” Nami judged, voice deadly calm. Then she hit him on the head with her Clima-Tact, and you choked out a surprised laugh as Chopper yelled at her for hitting him while he’s wounded.

“Is running away against your code of honor too? Because that’s not worth dying over either. Nobody wants to see you throw your life away in vain. Leave that woman to me. You try to get better.” She looked back down at him with a soft smile. “And by the way, even if it’s dumb, I do like that chivalry of yours.”

You looked down at him, and shook your head, disagreeing.

“I don’t think I like it anymore.”

He tilted toward you, voice soft.

“What was that, Angel? Did you say you love me?”

Before you could kiss him, or wring his neck, Nami cleared her throat. You turned to her as she stared up at the woman that had done this to Sanji.

“For the record, I won't play nice,” Nami threatened, confidence radiating from her as she smiled.

“Neither will I. We’ll get along fine.”

“Nami, hold on,” you called, rushing to her side.

“We’re running out of time, Y/N,” she reminded you, holding her palm out to stop your movement. “You guys go get more keys. I’ll be okay, noodle arms.”

You huffed a laugh as she frowned at Sanji.

“Well, I guess he’s noodle arms now.”

You gripped her in a quick hug, hating letting her go. Your mouth was dry as you watched her run up the stairs. 

“Hold it! I won’t let you get away!”

You swiveled around, blocking Sanji from the new voice.

“Don’t worry, Nami. We’ve got this one,” Chopper shouted, facing off with the large man from before, that mass of pink hair swirling around him as he brandished a staff.

Readying your tonfa, your heart raced through you. You wanted to run up and help Chopper, but you were terrified of leaving Sanji’s limp body exposed for attacks.

I never thought I’d be the one worried about protecting my partners in battle. 

Gritting your teeth, you watched Chopper land a powerful hit with two hooves, preventing the agent from getting past him to chase after Nami.

Pride filled you as Chopper stood strong, staring the man down.

“That’s right, now you’ll be fighting me. Bring it!”

Chopper using his rumble balls was always a sight to behold, and you hoped that it would be enough. You felt your hands shaking as you held your weapons, wondering if you could use the darts without risking Chopper. 

The agent landed some heavy hits on your friend, and you itched to move in, but felt trapped in place.

“Angel, go. I’ll be fi–”

“No,” you cut him off, not taking your eyes off the fight as they slammed each other into the wall.

“Please, mon coeur, I look dead already. No one will care about me. I just need to rest. The crew needs you.”

Chewing your lip, you hated that those words you’d wanted to be true for so long came at the cost of all this danger and pain. 

You looked away from the fight just long enough to touch his face, your skin crawling at the sickly smooth feel of his. 

“I love you. I’ll be back.”

“Love you, Angel,” he coughed, what looked like a smile pulling weakly at his lips. “I know you will.”

Running toward the fight, Chopper caught your eyes for a moment and shouted.

“Two minutes!”

Two minutes? Two minutes…

The rumble ball!

“Got it,” you yelled, calling out your poison thorns.

Two minutes left for Chopper’s rumble ball. You had no idea if you could defeat this CP9 agent in two minutes.

But I’ll do whatever it takes. My crew needs me.

Likes and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you so much!

a/n: Oh our sweet, pathetic Sanji 🤦🏼‍♀️

Tag List: @astheni-a | @ferns-fics | @heilee | @iamn1ya | @ghostfacefricker6969 | @onlybassoon01 | @apothicgloom | @slyhersophia | @cyberaestheticals | @nothing-but-brass

Part 26

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 | ko-fi |

[janicho88]

When It All Falls Apart - Chapter 9

Pairing- ex!Jensen x Padalecki Reader

Word count- 5,300

Warnings- Some language. Dealing with a breakup. Sad reader. Angst, If I missed something let me know!

A/N- Back at a convention we go. Someone lets the cat out of the bag here with the breakup. A little off canon, SPN ended after 10 years. We still got all the characters in during that time though. Thank you to @writercole and @leigh70 for your help with this. You two are amazing!!

Summary-Y/N Padalecki loved acting on Supernatural.  Working alongside your older brother and your boyfriend, but after ten seasons the guys have chosen to hang up the guns.  Now the three of you are moving on to other projects, but that’s all that needs to change right?  While you have moved to Austin to be closer to your family and boyfriend, Jensen is working elsewhere.  Distance is only the start of your troubles.

Series Masterlist

Turns out you really didn’t have a lot of time to think things over once you returned home.  Jared was at the studio, and Gen had her hands full with a wild child and a smelly dog.  You leave her with Tom and take Sadie outside for a bath.  When you come back inside Tom wants you to play with him.  

Jared comes home with your script for the first episode, they had to rework a few things for it.  Before bed you spend some time reading it over and making notes for yourself.  

When you wake up and go down to a late breakfast on Thursday, Gen starts asking about your flight.

“What flight?”

“Aren’t you flying out today, so you can be there all day tomorrow?”

“What are you…OH CRAP THE CONVENTION!”

Jared comes back from his run just as you finish yelling.  “What happened?” he asks, looking between you and his wife before you are dashing from the room.

“I think she forgot it was convention weekend, and that she is supposed to leave today,” Gen tells her husband.

“Got it.”

After a quick shower you are running around your room picking out clothes.  Someone knocks and you holler at them to come in.  Gen walks in looking at the clothes thrown on the bed and the open bathroom bag on the dresser.

“Do you have anything around for this weekend yet?”

“Um, no.  Do you remember ever seeing con pictures of me in this top?” you ask her, holding up a black dress shirt.

“Yes, but only because there is a picture of us together, I have.”

“Crap.”  Throwing that in the no pile you move back to the closet.

“What time is your flight?”

“4:15, should probably leave here around 1:30.  Which is oh, about two hours away now,” you reply with a grimace. 

“What can I do to help?” she asks.

“My bathroom travel things are in the bathroom cabinet.  I hope.  I don’t know why I unpacked that stuff.  Could you throw it in the travel bag please?  There should be hair crap, body wash, face cream, lotion. Whatever makeup is on the counter. Oh and toothbrush and paste.  Will definitely need those, no one wants to get close to the girl with morning breath.” 

Finally figuring out 2 outfits for the days you are there, and one for karaoke, you run out to the pool building to grab your swimsuit.  You never know if you will have time for a swim, but you would rather have it with you and not use it than leave it at home and have free time.   Throwing in some workout clothes and pajamas you are finally good to go.  You pack your carryon bag with your wallet, computer, headphones, a book and some snacks.  

Thirty minutes later your bags are sitting by the bedroom door.  “Okay, I think I’m good to go.”

“Only a small tornado left in your wake.”

Raising an eyebrow you look at Gen, not sure what she means.  She points her finger around your room and you look with a groan.  You currently have more clothes on the bed and floor than are likely in the closet.

“I’ll help you pick ‘em up.”

Half an hour later the room is back together and you won’t have to worry about it when you get home Saturday night.

“Gen, I ever told you you are a lifesaver?”  You ask your sister-in-law as you walk out of your room.

“Eh, it’s been awhile,” she jokes with you.  “But I’m happy to help.”

Taking your things downstairs, you find Tom and Jared on the living room floor building with legos.

“Aunt Y/N, wanna build with us?”

“I can for a few minutes.”

“Are you leaving again?”

“Yeah, I’m off to Orlando, Florida this time.”

“Where’s that?”

“East of here,” he just looks at you, “not that that means anything to you.”

He turns to his dad, “are you leaving too?”

“Saturday morning bud.  That’s in two days, and I’ll be gone for two days.”

“You’re flying out in the morning?” you question.

“Yeah, figured I’d come a little earlier.  They moved some of our stuff around to get more in on Saturday since you won’t be there Sunday.”

“Oh, thanks for doing that.  Sorry you had to.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

After spending a few minutes building a Lego town, you all break for lunch before Jared drives you to the airport.  He tells you to have a safe trip and gives you a hug before getting back in the car and taking off.  

Once you clear check-in and security, you walk around the familiar space, before sitting down and pulling out your book.  It’s finally time to board and you are ready for takeoff.  You’re a little nervous about how this weekend is going to go, and the sooner it’s over with the better. 

After collecting your luggage at the Orlando airport, you look around for Mike and finally see him hurrying through the doors.  You wave at him to get his attention, he slows a little but is still moving quickly.

“Sorry, traffic was a lot worse than I thought it would be.”

“It’s no problem, I just got my bag.  How are you doing?”

“I’m good, thanks.  How about you?”

“I’m fine.”

The trip to the hotel took longer than usual also.  Mike was right about the current traffic.  While the convention and most of the guests were staying at the Doubletree Hotel, they had the cast at Embassy suites.  It was a few minutes away, but not too bad.

Mike had your hotel key with him, and asked if there was anywhere you needed him to stop before dropping you off.  You told him no, and he went right to the hotel. 

You found your way up to the room without any problem. It’s close to 9, and your stomach is grumbling.  You head down to the cafe in the hotel before it closes to grab something for dinner. The dining area is in the middle of the main floor. 

Looking up you can see the walkways on every floor around it.  Instead of sitting at the bar, you grab a table off to the side.  While you are picking at your sandwich, two hands clamp down on your shoulders and whisper “gotcha.”

You can’t help but scream out.

“Oh shit, way to go Bri,” Kim says as she sits down across from you.

You hold up your hand and repeat, “sorry, sorry,” to those still dining around you.  At least this late there aren’t too many people around.

Briana sits down next to you and picks a fry out of your half eaten basket, “sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t even see you two walk in.”  You look at the pajamas they’re wearing, “how was the pj party?”

“It was good.  Lots of fun, like usual,” Kim tells you.

“Yeah, I get alcohol in there now, it’s fuckin great,” Bri agrees. 

“So what are you doing here so early?” Kim asks.

“I had to change my schedule around because I can’t stay on Sunday.”

“Oh something exciting going on?  Has to be to pull you away from Jay,” Briana questions.

“Not really exciting, I just have to leave Saturday.”

The girls look at each other, then back at you.  “You aren’t telling us something.  We’ll let it go for now, but we will get it out of you,”  Kim says in her best Carrie Martin voice.

“Okay, mom.”

Thankfully, they change the subject and talk about what has been going on with themselves the last few weeks.  You are pretty vague when it comes to yourself.  Before long, you are all calling it a night and heading up to your respective rooms.

The beeping of your alarm wakes you Friday morning, with a groan you get up to start your day.  It’s early enough, you can make your way to the second floor where the outdoor pool is located.  Hopefully a few laps will help you wake up.  Back in the room you go through your morning routine of making yourself presentable for all the photo ops you will have.  Your cell notifies you of an incoming text, letting you know Mike is on his way.

He drops you off at the convention hotel, at one of the back entrances.  Chelsea is waiting for you at the door.  

“Hey!” you greet her with a hug before moving inside.  “Nice to see you again.”  You never know who your handler will be until you arrive at the conventions.  You work with Chelsea a lot, but it’s not uncommon to have one of the other girls.  As long as it’s not Victoria, you’re good.

She hands you a coffee and starts going over your schedule on the way to the green room.  First up on the schedule is a 10 am Meet and Greet (M&G). She leads you down when it gets closer and takes her seat in the corner as you greet the fans and answer the questions.

As that half an hour winds down, Adam Fergus comes in the side door.  “Someone’s got an early start to her day.  I don’t usually see you around this early.”

“Yeah, my schedule is a little off this weekend.  I’m guessing if you’re here then our time is up.” With a frown you turn to the group of fans.  “I had a lot of fun with you all, thank you.”

You wave to them as everyone gets up and they are being led to the exit.  Walking over to Adam you give him a hug in greeting, you don’t have time to catch up because his M&G group is being brought in.

Back in the green room they have some pictures for you to sign. You hear DJ Qualls take the stage for the first panel.  Julian Richings, has the second.  He doesn’t make it to many conventions, so it is always nice to see him.  You mentally make a note that you want to get a picture with him before he leaves. 

You have various photo ops, and a panel with Kim and Briana later in the afternoon.  After the day programing wraps up, a good two hours of autographs.  It’s a little after 6, by the time you are finished.  Bri and Kim are already done, Adam and David are also finishing up, everyone else is gone. A group text had gone out earlier about ordering dinner to be delivered to the hotel tonight.  As the three of you get in the car to go back to the hotel, Bri lets you all know it’s on the way now and there are some tables by the pool where you can all eat.

Arriving back at the hotel, the three of you all head to your rooms to change before meeting them for dinner.  You throw your suit on under your clothes, and head to the outdoor pool area. 

Rich is still at the convention center for Dick chat, but you, Kim, Bri, David, Adam, DJ, Julian and Sam Smith are all back at the hotel.  Conversation flows a little more freely when there isn’t anyone else around.  They do have some questions about Jensen and his new suit you have to field.

“Did you get to see him in that suit when you were in Toronto?” Kim asks.

“What she really wants to know is, did you get to do him in that suit?” Bri interjects, and the guys all groan.

“No, I never made it to set, they keep things pretty tight up there,” you tell them.

“Yeah they do.  Suit couldn’t have been much tighter.”

“Not what I meant Bri.”

“Has he told you any behind the scenes secrets?” Sam asks.

“Nope, I know probably as much as you guys do.”

You do your best to turn the conversation to other topics and away from you or Jensen, when it seems to quit working you go hop in the pool.  Before too long you need to get ready to go back for Karaoke.  

Adam, David, DJ, Julian, Sam and you, all are going back.  Bri and Kim are bowing out of this one.  When you arrive back, the fans are still watching the screening of ‘Yellow Fever.’  There are a variety of drinks set up in the green for you all. 

Adam looks over the table, “what flavor of ‘apple juice’ shall we start with?”

“Something we aren’t going to regret tomorrow morning, would be great,” you tell him.

“Chicago was your own fault Lil Pad, you all were shooting them back a bit quick,” he fires back.

“I blame Bri,” you say with a shrug.

It isn’t long before the film is over and the stage is set for karaoke.  With your red solo cups the six of you make your way on stage, while Adam draws the first name.  Those that come on stage give it their all, and the crowd is singing along too.  Adam is all over the stage and starts running up and down the aisles as well, which keeps not only his handler, but others busy watching him as well. 

An hour and a half later, the event is winding down and you’re definitely ready to get back to the hotel and relax before bed.  Well, after you pack.  You aren’t used to leaving on Saturday afternoons.  

The next morning there are two cars to take nine of you over to the convention hotel a little after nine.  Adam, David and Jason don’t have to be there until ten.  There is breakfast waiting in the green room along with the group's Starbucks order.  Rob is talking with the band before looking for you.

“Y/N, did you text me the song you wanted to sing tonight?  I can’t seem to find it.”

“I won’t be at the concert tonight, sorry guys.  I head out this afternoon.”

“What?  That is unacceptable,” he jokes with you.  “Is your other half going to cover for you?”

“I have no idea what they are doing tonight.”

Rob, Rich and Louden Swain soon take the stage to start the day and then they call you, Bri, Kim and Sam to the stage.  Things are going well, you all are talking, joking, and occasionally answering questions.  At least until a little over halfway through when you get a question that catches you completely off guard.

A girl comes up to the mike and looks right at you.  “My question is for Y/N.”

“I know her, she’s right here,” Kim jokes, pointing to you.

“What do you have for me sweetie?”

“How could you break up with Jensen?”

The whole room goes quiet, you stare at the girl, and everyone else is looking at you. “What?” you finally stutter.

“He announced it this morning during an interview.”

Everyone is still looking at you,  Sam is one of the first to recover.  “Um, maybe this isn’t the…’

“Thanks, Sam, it’s alright.  I don’t know what Jensen said about this.  But we both have different projects we’re working on.  And um, I guess you hope things are going to work out one way, but sometimes life has other plans.  I would appreciate though, if um, there weren’t any more questions on this right now.  It’s supposed to be a fun weekend, let’s not bring it down okay?”

You try and focus on the last twenty minutes of the panel, but your brain keeps going back to that girl's question, and how could Jensen do that today?  Why did he feel the need to announce it during an interview even?

When Rob and Rich come back on stage with the band you barely wait for them to start singing you off before you are gone down the steps.  You see your brother right behind the curtain, he pulls you into a hug and walks with you back to the green room area.  

“Are you alright?” he quietly asks.

“Just great.  Have you seen the interview?”

“Not yet.”

You ignore Victoria sitting in the corner with a smug smile and go to the opposite side of the room with Jared.  Pulling out your phone you search for the interview.  Bri, Kim and Sam had been following you two, but they realize what you are doing and move to give you some room.  Finding the video you push play.

Jensen is with Karl, Jack, Chase, Anthony, and sitting right next to him is Claudia.  Watching the interview from this morning's talk show appearance, you aren't really paying attention to what’s being said, just trying to find the spot where Jensen throws you under the bus.  

The interviewer makes a comment about how some of them have said they don’t want their parents to watch, but what about their significant others? 

Claudia is the first to do anything, she laughs before speaking.  “Well, Anthony is the only one of us currently in a relationship, so he’ll have to take that one.”  

You notice Jensen makes a slight movement to look at Claudia out of the corner of his eye, and some of his castmates are looking at him as Anthony answers.  When he’s finished the interviewer turns it back to Jensen.

“Aren’t you dating your former co-star, Y/N Padalecki?”

Claudia speaks up before Jensen can say a word, “ not any more she came up here just to break up with him because he was working.”  She leans closer to your ex, and you can’t help but notice the way she is rubbing her hand up and down the top of his leg.  Yeah, you aren’t so sure something isn’t going on there.

“We’re so sorry to hear that,” Don, Dan, whoever says to Jay.

“Long distance doesn’t work out for everyone, and I guess we just wanted different things,” Jensen finally speaks up. 

The interviewer moves the topic back to the show and continues on.

“I cannot believe him.”

“In his defense,” your brother starts, “he didn’t really announce the breakup.”

“He had to have been talking about it with her, and he didn’t make a move to stop her, did he?  Didn’t take him long to move on.”

You turn around and notice your friends on the other side of the room trying not to look at you.  With a sigh, you drop your head back and know you have some explaining to do.  Before you can get very far, a nervous Chelsea comes and tells you you are needed for your VIP M&G and then photo ops.

 After your solo ops, you have photos with the ladies.  Even though they want to ask, there is no time for questions now.  Jared comes down for his ops with you, when those are finished you are done with photos for this convention.  You give Chris a hug and tell him thanks before you follow your brother and handlers out of the room.  The last of your autographs are next, it takes well over an hour for you to finish up.  There are some comments about you and Jensen, mostly I’m sorry to hear you broke up.  But a few rude ones, that couldn’t understand why you would do that.

Walking into the green room you notice almost everyone is in there, since there is a little bit of a break.  Grabbing a water you sit on the edge of a table, with Jared coming up next to you.

“I know you all want to know what’s going on, so here it is.  Yes, Jay and I aren’t together anymore.  No, I didn’t go up to Toronto just to break up with him.  It just happened while I was up there.  I’m just not really ready to talk more about it right now.”

They all nod, Sam comes over and gives you a hug, Bri and Kim are right behind her.

“This the reason for the schedule change?” Bri quietly asks.  You just nod.

Looking at the time, you make sure everything you were supposed to have autographed is done.  The few things you have gotten out of your bag are packed back up.  Jared is about to head to one of his M&G’s, you give him a hug before he goes.

“You alright?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“Liar.  Have a safe flight.  I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Thanks.  Hope all goes well here.  Have a safe flight tomorrow.  See ya soon.”

You tell the rest of the group goodbye before you head out.  You still have a little time before your 3:30 flight, but you want to get out of there before Jensen arrives.  Once you are all checked in at the airport, you find a quiet spot to sit, and go through your phone.  You know you shouldn’t, but you bet the comments are flying about you right now.  You aren’t wrong.

Earlier that morning up in Toronto, Jensen is boarding the plane for Florida.  He finds his seat, throws his bag up top and sits down with a huff.  He hadn’t had the morning he was expecting to.  

His phone went off early this morning, someone from the show calling to tell him he was needed for an interview at the studio.  Jesse was sick and unable to make it, they were asking him to fill in.  He hurries to get cleaned up and make sure he has everything he needs to fly down for the convention.  

Everyone else is already at the studio, they do a quick hair and makeup fix on him. Karl comes over to see how he’s doing.

“Ready for ya trip?”

“I think so.”

“Ya talked to her since she left?”

“No.  But I don’t know what more she wanted from me. I haven’t figured out if I want to see her or not.  Haven’t talked to Jared either.  That’ll be interesting.”

“Maybe, ya just needed some time apart, and you two can work it out this weekend.”

“If it was space she needed, she wouldn't have broken up with me when she came up here.  We had plenty of space living in two different countries.”

What neither man notices is Claudia hanging around behind them.

When it’s almost time, they have the cast take a seat and the interviewer comes out and sits across from them.  Getting the cue from the studio they start rolling. Everything was going fine until the question about spouses came up and Claudia started talking.  Jensen is too busy trying to figure out how she knows to even speak.  He looks at her out of the corner of his eye before slightly looking at Karl, who is also looking at him.

Once his mind catches up he tries to shut the topic down before anymore can be said.  When the camera moves away from him, he moves Claudia’s hand off his leg.  By the time the interview is over, he can’t stay and question her about it, he has to get to the airport.   He sends Karl a text on the way.

Any idea how she knew that?

Karl and Eric are the only two up here he had talked to about this.  He gets a reply a short time later,

Not a bloody clue.

Once he gets to the airport, he doesn’t have a lot of time before the plane is supposed to take off.  He is hoping since a number of fans will already be busy at the start of the convention day, word of the interview will take awhile to get around.  There is nothing on his phone when he powers it down before takeoff.  Sitting back he spends the flight looking over the final script of the season.

Arriving at the hotel, Mike gives him his room key and Jensen tells him he'll be back down in ten minutes.  That gives him time to find his room, leave his bag, and change out of the airport clothes.

Clif is waiting at the back entrance of the convention center when he is dropped off there. He follows him up to the green room, where Victoria is waiting.

“Jensen, great to see you again. Hope you’re doing well.”

“Fine, thanks. You?”

“Good.  I’m happy to be here.  The suit reveal you posted on Instagram was amazing.  I can’t wait until the show premieres.”

“Thanks. So, what’s first on my schedule?” he asks when she doesn’t tell him.

“Oh, solo pictures in a few minutes, then with Misha.  You have a short break before the VIP M&G, then the regular one.”

“Ok. Do you know where Y/N is?”

“She’s around somewhere.”

He gets through his photo ops, and looks for you on his way to the M&G’s.  He doesn’t see you around anywhere.  It’s about halfway through the main M&G when someone mentions they are sorry to hear about what Y/N did.

He’s slightly confused, “what did she do?”

“How she came up to Toronto to, well you know…”

It suddenly clicks, the interview.  Guess word got around.  “Y/N’s an amazing woman, but unfortunately things didn’t work out.”

“How does this affect you and Jared?”

“If one of us comes on stage tomorrow with a black eye, you’ll know,” he tries to joke.

Finally making it through that half an hour he is escorted back to the green room.  Sam is the only one in the room and she is getting ready to go back to photos.  He grabs a water and sits at one of the tables, pulling out his phone and scrolling through it.  Opening twitter he receives a notification he’s trending, and so are you.  “If we’re both trending, I bet I know what that’s for,” he mumbles.

“Who’s fault is that?” a voice behind him asks.

Taking a deep breath, he readies himself to turn around and face his best friend.  Who also happens to be your older brother.

“Hey Jare.”

“Ackles.  You didn’t answer my question.”

He holds up his hands, “Look man, I never intended for that to come out this morning.  I don’t even know how she knew.”

“You didn’t tell her?  The two of you seemed pretty close.”

“The only two I’ve talked to are Karl and Eric.  I haven’t talked to you, because she’s your sister, so I didn’t know where that put us.”

“That makes two of us.  What happened between you two, Jay?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t know what more she wanted from me.  I thought we were fine.  Then she comes up to Toronto and tells me she can’t do it anymore.  Where did that even come from?”

“She’s been hurting for awhile, but the one person who was supposed to notice it, didn’t have a fucking clue.  In case you were wondering, that was you.”

“Then why didn’t she talk to me about it earlier?”

“Did you two even talk anymore?”

“Of course we did.”

Jared raises his eyebrows and slowly nods.  “Really? All I know is, I’ve heard her cry, both before and after she went to see you.  Gen and I were hoping going up to visit would have made things better, but it didn’t.  I’ve seen the hate she is getting today, she was blindsided in her morning panel because of your interview.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s gone.”

“Back at the hotel?

Jared looks at his watch, “no, she should be landing in Austin in about 30-40 minutes.”

“She left the convention?”

“Yeah.”

In that moment, knowing you were already gone, he had his answer.  He had been hoping to see you.  “Was it because of the interview?”

“No, she had already planned it.

“She didn’t want to see me.”

Jared shrugs, but they both know the answer.

“What about you?” Jensen asks him.

“Your mug is pretty ugly to look at.”  Jensen rolls his eyes before Jared continues.  “She keeps telling me not to let what happens with the two of you interfere with our friendship.  But it’s hard not to be upset with the guy that hurt my sister.  You have no idea how much I would love to take a swing at you right now.”

He nods in understanding, “I guess I could possibly deserve that.  But she isn’t the only one that was hurt here.  She blindsided me with that breakup,” Jensen tells him before he walks over to where Victoria is signaling him from.

The two men go out for their autograph sessions a little quieter than usual.  Clif asks them after what their plans are for the night, but both just opt to go back to the hotel and their respective rooms.  The next morning is a quiet ride with Clif back to the convention hotel.  

The guys are in the green room waiting for the start of the Gold Panel.

“I, uh, talked with Gen last night.  Y/N, got home safe last night.  She was still a bit upset at being caught off guard like that.  I told Gen what you said about the interview.  Not sure Y/N will believe us though.”

“Thanks, man.  Um, how’s Tom?”

“Good.  Keeps us on our toes, for sure.  I can’t imagine how crazy it’ll be with two.  He asked yesterday before I left when he could talk to you again.”

“I miss my buddy.  Wait.  Did you say two?”

“Yeah.”

“Gen’s pregnant?  Congrats buddy.”  Jensen moves to give his friend a hug.

“Thanks.  I thought we talked about this a month ago in Chicago?  Hasn’t Y/N said anything to you?”

Jensen is quiet for a few minutes, he can’t believe he missed this news.  Had the two of you talked about it?  Did Jared already tell him?  

They continue talking before going on stage.  The conversation doesn’t get deep, but they are trying to find their rhythm and work past this sinkhole in their friendship.  They have to make it work on stage very shortly.  It will take some time before things are like they were before, but neither one wants to lose a 10 year friendship.

The gold panel questions aren’t vetted first, so anything goes.  Which of course means there is going to be a question about the breakup eventually.

“Jensen we are so sorry to hear about what happened between you and Y/N, it’s just awful.  How are you holding up?” Someone questions.

He knows he needs to try and nip this before it keeps going.  “Thanks.  I will say this, and then I would appreciate it if there weren’t any more questions on this subject.  I had no intention of that coming out in the interview yesterday.  What’s going on is between Y/N and I.  Long distance can really suck.  You guys wouldn’t want to talk about your relationship troubles in front of hundreds of people.  I would hope you understand that we don’t either right now.”

When their afternoon panel comes around he has to make the same announcement at one point.  Jensen swears during photos and autographs that more fans than usual seem to be trying to flirt with him.

When they are finished for the day, Clif takes them both to the airport.  Their flights aren't too far apart in departure time.  Jensen tells Jared he’ll be back home in two weeks, and they talk about meeting up once he’s back in Texas.  After checking in, they head to their respective terminals.  

Jensen is waiting for his flight, feeling a little disappointed.  It would have hurt, but he would have liked to see you this weekend.  He’s spent a good part of the last 24 hours thinking about what Jared told him.  How you had been hurting for a while.  How had he not realized you weren’t happy any longer?

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 10

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[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Warner Bros Animation, favorite character from the 2002-08 half of the Kids WB shows with: Mucha Lucha, Ozzy & Drix, What's New Scooby Doo, Xiaolin Showdown, The Batman, Johnny Test (this oughta be interesting since it aired on three different networks with varying seasons of quality with seasons 1-3 premiering on Kids WB, seasons 4-6 being produced for Cartoon Network, and the revival seasons being produced for Netflix), Loonatics Unleashed, Tom & Jerry Tales, Shaggy & Scooby Doo Get a Clue, and Legion of Superheroes? I skipped Coconut Fred since everyone and their mother despises that show (one of the worst of all time).

Jesus Christ that's a lot. Also look given some past entires here, Coconut Fred is being kept on the grounds that it shoudn't be forgotten just for being horrible. like da boom crew which I thankfully haven't seen. So anyways..

Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island: I saw it at the time and it.. sure does exist. It's a half hearted spongebob ripoff. I'm talking about it because it did exist but don't have much else. Maybe I shoudl've left it out but i've let worse shows have an entry. This is just.. ntohing.

Mucha Lucha: IT'S A WAY OF LIFE! Senior Hasbena who just had a fun voice and a great early spotlight episode. The show itself is one I need to revisit but is awesome as hell, having a nice respect for luchadore culture while also being pretty nonsesically fun. While I would love a full on wrestling action series, this one was still good fun and needs ot be avaliable to stream in some fashion.

Ozzy and Drix: Drix if only because he was my faviorite in the movie. This series feels.. unecessary. It's not a bad idea but both frank's state at the start and Ozzie and Drix ending up elsewehere make it feel like the first film didn't matter and it feels weird to just.. not keep the setting. If they wanted kid plots, Frank has a daughter. That gripe aside the series was ... eh. Not terrible, but nothing really super special either.

Xiaolin Showdown: Jack Spicer. The boy, the myth the legend and Danny Cooksy's best role by a wide margin. A fun villian who was laughable enough to never get boring and stick around long after he'd been outclassed by newer big bads. Xiaolin Showdown is one of the best cartoons of this era, one of the best of this action show block and one of the best. I rewatched it in college and was amazed it held up so well. The show is genuine about our four heroes working, said four heroes while having familiar archetypes for the most part, are great characters who are a load of fun to watch and the format of the showdowns is engagin: while it does usually lead to some form of fight the contest format adds a nice wild card to it: our heroes can end up in a game where telling the truth is the only way out, a soccer match for OMi's soul, or a battle royale with all present. IT's a wonderful show I wish would get a proper revivial. And no Chronciles dosen't count, chronciles can go fuck itself.

The Batman: Another one to revisit and i'd say clayface as the twist of him being someone batman knew and trusted is utterly guttnig. I gave up on this one early for petty reasons depsite having most of the toys: I hated what they did with mr freeze and felt it couldn't compare to btas. Time has passed and with the later seasons adding some nice swerves i've accepted the show is it's own thing, trying to be a more action oriented shonen to forge it's own identity from the more moody btas. And it did apparently get better and better as it went and having seen a later episode or two casually , I can agree. Plus I admit to loving the touch of having batgirl join up before batman. Also the movie where he fights dracula is fucking dope and wel lworth your time.

Johnny Test: I'd say the twins for being usually hilaroius. As for the show.. it's eh. I used to hate it

But I now see it as an okay show that had some fun bits, and what I saw of the revival, as sadly short lived as it was, was better. It's still not AMAZING, but it wasn't the mindless garbage it got labeled as either. Nor a dexter's lab ripoff.. I do think they took some inspriation from it clearly, I mean look at the twins... but when you look at the cast none of them really match up to dexter's aside from the twins, whose crush on gil and age diffrenate them just enough. It's not an amazing show but it's hate was overblown.

Loonatics Unleahsed: Look the base concept of "The looney tunes as superhero: could be fun. I have a batman daffy and superman bugs on my desk as I type this. They did skits of the kind. The problem is lonatics wanted to be batman beyond with looney tunes and it never worked as a kid and dosen't work now.

Tom and Jerry Tales; I love tom and jerry but i've barely seen this.

Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue: The timing on this one as good as i've been watching through this on and off with @jess-the-vampire recently. I don't really have a faviorite. As for the show itself it's overhated like the last two entries and honestly.. it's okay. It's nothing amazing thus far, trying to be venture bros by having henchman 2 be an obvious ripoff of 21. Which wouldn't bother me if they did it right but instead he's just annoying. That being said it's still not a terrible series: the theme song is terrible but the show itself is solid, having intresting sometimes bonkers plot and shoudlnt' be vilified for breaking formula. It may not entirely work.. but I can respect TRYING something new an dhope go go mystery machine is a better version of this.

Legion of Super Heroes: Bouncing Boy: this series kept his goofy powers but also what works: someone who badly wanted to join the legion, never gave up and then threw in his reboot self's pilot skills and flsehd out his perosnality.

As for the show i'm a big legion of superheroes fan and this show is part of what brought me to the clubhouse. It's a slick show that nicely merges the two continuties it had to work with: the pre zero our one from the silver age and beyond and the reboot that helped ground things (The third reboot, yes three and there was a fourth long after, was just happening around this time so only star boy being black made the cut from there), while keeping the silver age namesan dastetic from before.

The result is a fun show that loves the legion dearly, has a great cast of characters and despite being made to have a teen superman show dosen't let clark overshadow everyone else: he's the lead.. but most of the main cast get a focus episode over the course of season 1. I"ll admit season 2 isn't quite as good as due to executive mandates the female cast is sidelined in places and imperix is a boring villian, while superman x, superman but EDGGGYYYYY just isn't that intresting. But season 2 isn't all bad with some standout episodes, the addition of chameleon boy and a truly chilling arc with brainy and an old friend I won't spoil for those who haven't seen the show. This series is a little seen gem that needs more love.

I realized as we worked on this I almost forgot something important, a series that begs for the spotlight so..

What's New Scooby Doo: We're comin after you, we're gonna solve that mystery. This is a hard one as the gang is reinvented well but i'd have to go with Fred, whose goofiness begins. After the great prequel that was pup named scooby doo and the success of the live action movie, What's New was a reinvention of the franchise in an odd way: it goes back to the gangs old actors , minus grey delise making her debut as daphne, and old style of writing thigns but updates it in a way that dosen't feel too dated now: sure the gang does extreme sports, but it's not to rocket power levels and fits for Daphne.

This series also cements fred and daphne's new roles going forward, roles that helped keep the character fresh despite the dozens of films and handful of series to come. Fred was dialed back from teh conpsiarcy theroist of pup, but instead became the bumbling tourist, a tad awkawrd in places and a tad over excited in others. It added nice layers to him besides solving mysteries and bullying his best friend and it left the door open for him to get reinvented a lot. Daph meanwhile, got a welcome reinvention that let her fit into the classic gang better: like her pup counterpart she often uses fashion, her wealth is more displayed (if not used as a fucntion) but her friendly nature and willingness to get into things (or easliy getting into activties she hated at first), all debuted here.

What's New is a fun series: shorter than you'd think, but having watched it about twice with jess , it holds up really well, combinging the usual formula with some fun hyjinks and creative setups. Sometimes it was bonkers, but it was a solid return to form that let the series experiment more with the next few, and deserves more credit for helping codify a lot of the modern franchise.

[animesavior]

“Find your dream, Akira. Find the biggest one you can. Your dreams keep a man solid; don't you ever forget that.” -          Teruo Tendo, Zom 100 (Ep. 12)

“If that's the case, I think it's time I leave the village. If what Shizuka's said was true and the zombies are caused by a virus, I'll travel the country and look for a cure to it. they'll convince dad to get surgery for his hemorrhoids, yeah. Do your best to help humanity and do what you can for the world. Those were dad's last wishes after all.” -          Akira Tendo

This Toonami Trending Rundown is a double feature for June 28 & 29-30 and July 5 & 6-7, 2024, as these two weeks marked the season finale of Zom 100.

In regards to trending, during both Toonami Rewind broadcast of June 28 and July 5, #ToonamiRewind would trend in the USA. And for both nights of June 29-30 and July 6-7, #Toonami would trend in the United States alongside My Adventures with Superman and Zom 100. #Toonami would also trend on Tumblr during the latter week.

The Zom 100 manga continues on Akira, Shizuka, Kencho, and Beatrix’s storyline, which is also being published stateside by Viz Media, which is still going strong with 17 volumes and 67 chapters and counting. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on when and if we’ll see a second season of the Zom 100 anime as of now. As previously mentioned, the anime saw numerous production issues and setbacks that regularly delayed the release of episodes during its original Japanese run, most notably with the final three episodes being delayed for over three months. So even if a second season is already greenlit, it’s quite understandable that the animation studio might need some time to get things back together. Nevertheless, Zom 100 sure was a fun ride, and hopefully we’ll see this show return in the future. In the meantime, feel free to check out the manga, in addition to a live action film by Netflix, that has been on their service since August 3, 2023.

This week’s feature was a game review of Animal Well, a platformer developed by Shared Memory and published by Bigmode. It received an 8/10 score.

During the Production I.G panel on the Saturday of Anime Expo 2024, the panelists revealed the voice cast of the upcoming anime adaption of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki. The English cast will include:

Abby Trott as Kirie Goshima

Robbie Daymond as Shuichi Saito

Cristina Vee as Azami Kurotani

Doug Stone as Kirie's father

Aaron LaPlante as Shuichi's father

Mona Marshall as Shuichi's mother

Max Mittelman as Katayama

As for a potential release date, In an interview with The Japan Times released on June 29, Ito revealed that “the first of four episodes is complete, and lives up to his expectations.” The article also mentioned that Uzumaki is set to air later this year. During San Diego Comic-Con, Toonami announced that Uzumaki would indeed be premiering this September 28, 2024 at 12:30 a.m., following premiere episodes of Rick and Morty: The Anime.

Speaking of Comic-Con, we also got some news regarding several original productions and acquisitions. We got a new show announcement in Rooster Fighter by Shū Sakuratani. Rick and Morty: The Anime will also be premiering on Adult Swim on August 17, with the Japanese with English subtitled version of the episode premiering on Toonami starting August 19. Lazarus by Shinichiro Watanabe will be premiering in 2025. And finally, Aniplex has announced that Toonami will be airing Demon Slayer’s Swordsmith Village arc on August 10 at midnight, with successive episodes airing on 12:30 a.m, at least until September 28.

Crunchyroll has revealed a new trailer, key visual, and release date for the third and final season of Fire Force. Season 3 will be split into two cours (roughly around 24-26 episodes combined), the first half premiering in April 2025, while the second premieres in January 2026. In terms of trending, #FireForce would trend in the USA as a result.

As I attended San Diego Comic-Con in person, unfortunately, we’re running a bit behind on posting the most recent trending rundowns. We’ll have the trending rundown for the rest of July, featuring the season finale of My Adventures with Superman, up in the coming days. And be sure to tune in tonight for the premiere of Demon Slayer’s Swordsmith Village arc. Until next time, stay gold, be sure to register to vote for this year’s elections if you’re eligible and haven’t already, and let’s go Team USA.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

June 28, 2024 Toonami Rewind Trends

United States Trends:

#ToonamiRewind [#13]

Tweet Counts:

#ToonamiRewind [1,435 tweets]

#Naruto [6,288 tweets]

June 29-30, 2024 Toonami Trends

United States Trends:

#Toonami [Trended with #MyAdventuresWithSuperman]

#MyAdventuresWithSuperman [#5]

#Zom100 [Trended with #MyAdventuresWithSuperman]

Tweet Counts:

#MyAdventuresWithSuperman [3,128 tweets]

July 5, 2024 Toonami Rewind Trends

United States Trends:

#ToonamiRewind [#24]

Tweet Counts:

#Toonami [1,218 tweets]

#SailorMoon [3,321 tweets]

July 6-7, 2024 Toonami Trends

United States Trends:

#Toonami [#8]

#MyAdventuresWithSuperman [#9]

#Zom100 [#9]

Tumblr Trends:

#Toonami [#5]

If you wish to send me a tip for the work on the trending rundown, donations can be sent to https://paypal.me/DanielLimjoco.

Secrets upon secrets. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

[truetalesteam]

Season 3 Crowdfund - 50% Funded, 13 Days to Go!

We've still got our noses to the crowdfund grindstone over at True Tales of the Illuminati HQ. We've now hit 50% funded, which is amazing! But of course we do still have 50% left to go, and every night our chief producer looks at that little bar on the crowdfund and cartoonishly mops his brow.

Why are tiny blue cell-shaded drops appearing on his forehead, you ask? Because we have only 13 remaining days to raise a little over 4k for our stupidly ambitious 5-episode season two. 

We're so excited to bring another season of this (twice audioverse finalist!) show to you, our favorite yet, and bring it to life with the help of our incredible voice actors. Who, by the way, your can get to say whatever you want* as one of our backer tiers. Note that our limited-backer tiers for those of you who were wise enough not to invest in bitcoin are still completely untaken, including the chance to pick a minisode for our next season's crowdfund(you can even pitch one for our consideration!)

If you can't back, we'd love if you shared on social media! Our backer count spikes every time we pop up on people's feeds, so it really does make a difference. We live in a hell future where our success or failure is determined by complex marketing algorithms! Just like the Illuminati envisioned. Or as the motto goes, "Obey the algorithm and you'll be in heaven!" I guess we should just be proud they managed a slant-rhyme

Our next milestone is at $6k, when we’ll be releasing the minisode Basket Case, which sees Beck and co go up against the Druids and their many nefarious stone calendars. It also features another guest, our good friend Taqi Nazeer as High Druid Corbin. You may recognize Taqi as the voice of mechanical mage Eisen from fellow historical adventure-comedy The Kingmaker Histories.

After that we’ll have one more at the final goal of $9k, written and starring Wooden Overcoats’ own Tom Crowley! That’s right, we’ve got guest stars for days!

If you back us at $5 or more, we guarantee that regardless of the money we raise, after the crowdfund closes you’ll get to listen to all of the minisodes that we’ve produced. But if we don't make it to our funding goal, then only backers will get to listen to the full complement of the minisodes that we’ve prepared for this crowdfund, and all of the rest of you will have to live a twisted half-life without the sensual tones of Tom Crowley saying classy, poetic words in British English like "beastial mentality" and "phantom dolphin". We wouldn’t wish that on anyone!

So, if you’ve read this far and we haven’t completely lost you with talk of druids and dolphins, then please, please head on over to truetalesteam.com/crowdfund and pledge today.

Illuminati Ollominoto, The True Tales Team

*Be cool or we will say no

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 9

woah, how strong is Tess/how weak is Aiden? i guess it's probably that Tess is jacked. non-digital art supplies are heavy.

he truly is the worst dad ever. no wonder Fiore constantly faceplanting never raised any alarm bells for him. it does make him being so worried about Fiore being attacked by the scorpion/alone in the dark in S1 all the sweeter, though :) (or all the more fucked up, from his son's perspective.)

WHERE THE FUCK DID YUL GET KAI'S SHIRT FROM SHKHSLKJASLDJASLD. i guess the last time we saw Kai he was shirtless so i guess his shirt must have wound up somewhere???

this makes sense, kind of. although, i maintain that Grett's actual gameplay in S1 was ATROCIOUS. anyways i love supportive Riya!!! just like Alec and Riya, this is a really fun pairing that i hope they expand upon more.

this was just by unabashedly being himself, i imagine? i can't picture Yul supporting Grett being herself, no matter what her true self is. he's too appearance-discriminatory for that.

thank god it's not another split personality plotline; i've had enough of those from other series.

top 10 photos taken seconds before disaster

WHEN WILL YOU LEARN? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!?!?! (/ref)

something about Aiden saying "sexy" really caught me off guard. anyways, woahhhhh whaaaaat oh my godddddd i can't believe Tom's boyfriend was fake!

yeah... because cops never lie 🤨

this really is therapy: the episode, huh? it's fine, i like the character work. also, Trevor's feelings reveal! this was pretty obvious, especially once they showed it in the trailer, so i'm not at all surprised. what i am surprised about is that we didn't see any of Derek and Kristal getting a drink or playing pool this episode. did it just happen off screen, or was it canceled/postponed? i'm sure Kristal's reaction will have some kind of effect on how Derek takes the news whenever Trevor decides to tell him.

Trevor is an honorary member of the Magenta team :) also, i would've thought slip-n-slide was a copyrighted brand name. then again, i have no idea what they'd call it otherwise.

we see later that other people do miss their shots fairly frequently. thus, this is proof that Grett is 100% baller.

mad at her (/j) for this one because my first thought when Tess and Ally wound up on top of each other was "this, too, is yuri."

*adds one tally to the "Yul lines that made me laugh out loud" counter*

maybe they are soulmates

HKSDLKJDLFJSDF GET HIS ASS

THE GIRLIES ARE WORKING TOGETHER AGAIN!!! and for real this time!

mildly disappointing-- with the episode playing out this way, i was kinda hoping that it would have been Aiden instead of Tess. however, for as much as you can argue that Aiden is just an obstacle in the Jake/Tom plot, Tess was pretty much only acting as a counselor in the Gabby/Ellie plot. and, while you could argue that Tess still had more potential to be explored in her relationship with Ally, Aiden still has more potential to be explored in his relationship with Riya. the biggest shame, in my opinion, is that they're favoring Aiden and Riya, who placed 3rd and 2nd, over Tess and Ally, who placed 9th and 6th. i should probably save more of these thoughts for my next power ranking instead, but, these ARE my initial thoughts on the elimination.

and she doesn't even get her gf to see her out? what is this cruel world?! (/j)

this is a really great expression. Tom and Aiden, watch your backs >:)

overall, a really fun episode! we got some nice character check-ins at the beginning, followed by some enthralling strategy at the end. watching Gabby fully and openly devolve into villainhood is a treat. super excited to see where we go next! if you count Gabby in with the villains, we've got 5 villains versus 5 non-villains... will a merge pit the two sides against each other, or will we wait until there are 9 players left to create an even half? until next time!

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

Here You Come Again [Part Nine]

Fandom: Elvis Presley, RPF, American Actor

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Original Female Character

Characters: Elvis Presley, Addison Goodwin, Original Female Characters, Priscilla Presley, Colonel Tom Parker, Vernon Presley, Gladys Presley, Minnie Mae Presley, Marci Cunningham, Jerry Schilling, Red West, Sonny West, Marty Lacker, Joe Esposito, Charlie Hodge, Lamar Fike, Alan Fortas, George Klein, Memphis Mafia

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 5072

Summary: When Addison Goodwin was seventeen years old her life was turned inside out after a chance encounter with her past. Now, fifteen years later her life is the best it’s ever been. She has a home, a good job and a daughter she loves more than anything in the world but will all that remain when an old familiar face rolls into town.

Tags: Angst, Fluff, Graceland, Las Vegas, The International Hotel, Elvis In Vegas, 1970s, 1970s Elvis, Friends To Lovers, Rekindled Romance, Parenting, Time Line is Sketchy, Guilt, Betrayal, Teenage Pregnancy, Hawaii, Hidden Pregnancy, Jealousy, Sex, Absence of Parent, Single Motherhood, Trauma, Oral Sex, Tension

Notes: Honestly FCK tumblrs new post editor its a load of fckin shite

Anyway here's a small one. An additional Addie/Elvis fic will be out this week.

LINK TO ALL PARTS // LINK TO AO3 // LINK TO PINTEREST

The ride back to the hotel was a quiet one. All the excitement of the day had seemed to catch up on everyone meaning that all were now tired and hungry and so spent most of the drive listening to the radio or in half-hearted conversation. Even Lisa, who had been the life and soul of the party, had waned as she fought to keep her little eyes open though eventually fell asleep tucked up between Elvis and Jess. 

Elvis however was wide awake, everything that Addison had told him churning around inside him. He had been longing to know what had happened in their lives since the majority of it was still fuzzy with bits filled in here and there from Jess. And whilst he was glad she had Marci, that overall she hadn’t been on her own, it also reassured him to know that she had loved him. That as he lay in the depths of despair after his mother’s death she had wanted to come back. Yet the more he thought of that the more anger he felt at the Colonel. With one callous act, he had robbed them both of so much.

When they got to the hotel the four of them headed back up to the suite whilst the others went to their own rooms to get ready for dinner as planned. However, Elvis hadn’t yet mentioned the dinner idea to the girls so as they headed inside Jess and Lisa flocked to the TV whilst Addison gathered their various souvenirs, coats and candy so she could put them away. As the girls watched an episode of ‘The Partridge Family’, with Jess laughing along and Lisa laughing a fraction of a second later once she heard Jess’ giggle, he stood behind the couch pretending he was watching too though he kept glancing at Addison.

He watched as she stacked all the toys and teddies Lisa had managed to get him to buy in the gift shop neatly on the bench in the dining room where they were tidy but still accessible. He watched as she disappeared into the kitchen taking the mountains of candy the girls had begged for and not eaten with her, no doubt saving it for later. And he watched and she folded Lisa’s fur-trimmed jacket coat over her arm and then hung it neatly in the hall closet. It was all normal stuff and yet it felt alien to watch her do it. After all, he never really had to do mundane normal things like that anymore.

For a moment he wondered if he would’ve been more like that if they were still together. It wasn’t that he had lost touch with reality, but Addison had always seemed to ground him in a way as if he was tethered to her. If they were still together now would he be a bit more normal? Or would his life have pulled her with him? At that thought he had to fight a snort. He doubted it. Even now she wouldn’t let him show off or buy her things, that damn pride in the way. Though he supposed she was right they didn’t technically need new things. He didn’t need to spoil the kids as he had today, yet he wanted to and had done so though under her watchful gaze it had been more within reason. No, she wouldn’t have been pulled with him if anything she would’ve brought him a little more down to earth.

Once she was finished she came to stand beside him looking at the girls as she said, ‘so what are we doing for dinner?’

‘Ooh, can we get pizza?’ Jess asked tearing herself away from the screen.

‘I want pizza too!’ Lisa said excitedly. Addison looked at Elvis as though she was waiting for him to give the go-ahead, but he paused.

‘Actually, I’ve arranged for us to go to dinner,’ he said clearing his throat nervously.

‘Oh? You didn’t say,’ Addison said wondering why he hadn’t mentioned it.

‘Must’ve slipped my mind,’ he lied, he hadn’t mentioned it because he hadn’t wanted to give her any wiggle room. Addison observed him curiously but said nothing.

‘I just thought what with it being Lisa’s last night in town we could do a big,’ he was going to say ‘a family thing’ but he couldn’t bring himself to, so instead he skipped over it, ‘get together sorta thing. Daddy, the boys, and some other friends. I mean if that’s alright?’

‘Um sure,’ she said before she added hesitantly, ‘like in public?’

‘Uh private suite,’ he said, ‘and there’ll be plenty of folks there so…’

‘Yeah…right,’ Addison nodded looking at the girls who were watching them, ‘you two okay with this?’

‘Yeah, fine by me,’ Jess said.

‘Me too,’ Lisa smiled.

‘Well looks like we’re going out for dinner,’ Addison said with a smile as she looked back at him, ‘where did you have in mind?

‘Golden Steer,’ Elvis said making Addison’s face fall into shock.

‘Golden Steer? As in exclusive booked out for months Golden Steer?’ she asked.

‘That’s the one,’ Elvis smiled, ‘table is booked for eight.’

‘Wait what?’ she said grabbing his wrist and looking at the watch on it, ‘that’s in thirty-five minutes.’

‘So?’ he asked.

‘So? I’m not exactly dressed for a place like that,’ she said.

‘Huh,’ Elvis said as if he hadn’t noticed. She had been going through her options in her head but at his faux naivety, she paused, her eyes narrowing as she watched him.

‘You bastard,’ she whispered shaking her head, ‘you did this on purpose didn’t you?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Elvis said with a smug smile, ‘oh girls you should probably get changed. It’s kind of a nice place.’

‘Okay,’ Jess said eyeing her mother who was still pouting before she climbed up off the couch and headed to her room, followed by Lisa.

‘I can’t believe you,’ Addison said, her tongue in her cheek at the sheer idiocy of her thinking he wouldn’t try and win their little bet.

‘Like I said I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Elvis said with a little smile as he moved away from her heading towards the door.

‘You know I don’t have anything to wear,’ she said following him.

‘Wear that,’ he said, ‘I mean you wouldn’t want me buying you something new, right? That’d be showing off.’

‘Fine I will,’ she said folding her arms across her chest.

‘Great,’ he smirked, ‘I’m gonna go get changed.’

‘You do that,’ she said coolly.

‘Oh I will,’ he chuckled as he headed to the door though as he opened it he paused, looking back at her in the entrance hall, still pouting with her arms folded across her chest, ‘though if you do change your mind, there might be something you can wear in your room.’

And with that he threw her a wink and headed out into the hall, closing the door quietly behind him. Addison watched him go, a mix of irritation and foolishness for not anticipating him trying to win the bet. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought it was a serious thing but she should’ve known he’d do something like this. He always was stubborn. Then again so was she.

But now he had her over a barrel. She had teased him because buying something new just to go to the zoo seemed extravagant, but this wasn’t the zoo. It was a fancy, high-end restaurant, one that was normally booked out for weeks. She couldn’t exactly roll up in jeans and a shirt, but she didn’t want him to think he was getting away with it either. She had seen the way he had thrown his money around today and though she knew it was because he wanted to make the girls happy, she worried about it. She worried about him. She had never been interested in the money but that didn’t mean others weren’t. She just hoped he realised that those that mattered didn’t want fancy cars or high-end clothes. They just wanted him, the real him.

Still, as she made her way into the room and spotted the outfit that had been laid out on her bed she couldn’t help but feel in awe. The dress was gorgeous with an air of simplicity and though its tight black velvet material made it look sexy it still felt elegant. As she ran her fingers across it she wondered who had chosen it. After all, she couldn’t see him rifling through any boutique clothing rails, he didn’t have the time, but it was so her she couldn’t see how he didn’t pick it out. She looked down at her outfit. It wasn’t bad but it definitely wasn’t fancy restaurant material and so with a sigh she started to get changed and as she looked at herself in the mirror she couldn’t help but curse him. The dress fell like water against her skin enhancing every curve and even the shoes weren’t too awkward or painful to walk in. He truly had bested her this time.

Fortunately she didn’t have time to dwell on her loss or her new physique as she heard chatter out in the suite meaning she needed to grab her purse and head out the door. As she got to the entrance hall though she found she was the last one there. Elvis, Red, Sonny, Jerry and the girls were all sitting in the lounge waiting for her. Jess however was the only one that heard her approach and she looked up as she heard her heels clacking against the marble floor.

‘Wow Mom you look pretty,’ Jess said watching her with awe. Jess knew her mother was pretty, it was something she had been told many times – many people likening the pair of them, but the woman in front of her now was stunning.

‘You too sweetheart,’ she said taking in Jess’ new outfit with a smile. As Jess spoke the men looked towards her each looking a little taken aback at the new attire. Elvis felt his heartbeat quicken. When he’d told Patsy what he wanted he hadn’t been too specific but he knew there would only be certain things she would be comfortable with. It was a simple black dress, not too flashy or overstated as his own outfit was, and yet she was the best dressed in the room. Feeling everyone’s eyes on her she shifted, tucking her purse under her arm as she said, ‘you guys ready?’

‘Yeah,’ Red said climbing up out of his seat, ‘you look nice by the way.’

‘Thanks,’ she said, ‘you guys clean up pretty well yourselves.’

‘Have to when he insists on dinin’ at fancy places,’ Sonny chuckled, ‘like he ain’t gonna ask them to cremate a steak anyway.’

As everyone started to file out Elvis climbed out of his seat though his eyes didn’t leave Addison. He didn’t even clock the slight ribbing over his preference of having everything charred within an inch of its life. Instead he followed them, unable to speak as he watched her as conversations carried on around him. When they got to the door she paused, holding it open for everyone until he was the last one out.

‘Addie,’ he said capturing her attention as she stroked Lisa’s hair as she passed, her hand in Jerry’s. As he neared her she rolled her eyes, an action that caused a fire to brim inside his lower belly.

‘Don’t say anything,’ she said with a smile, ‘you won, okay? No need to rub it in.’

‘I wasn’t going to,’ he said in a somewhat serious manner that threw her joking tone off, making her eyebrows knit together, ‘I was just gonna say…you look beautiful. Really.’

‘Oh,’ she said a blush creeping up her neck, ‘uh thanks.’

He nodded suddenly feeling his own blush creeping in on him and before she could see it he fled past her out into the hall following the others down towards the elevator. She appeared beside him in an instant, something that must have been a feat given the height of her shoes and tucked her arm into his offering him a small smile as she did so. They were still behind everyone, and he was sure once they got to the elevator she would pull away but until then he was going to enjoy every damn second she offered.

✵✵✵

Dinner went well much to Addison’s surprise. Where she had thought she and Jess might feel exposed she hadn’t as the bonus of a big group meant they melted into the background. There were a few curious glances from those she knew from way back when, ones that told her that Elvis hadn’t yet told them of her position back in his life but she tried not to let them get to her. Not that they had much of a chance to, not since she was having so much fun. Elvis seemed to be on a real high which in turn was creating an atmosphere of merriment. It was a feeling that stayed with Addison throughout the night and it didn’t even wane as they headed back to the hotel even though their party was disbanded as Elvis took to the stage and the group split off into various factions. In fact, the only time it did ebb was when a familiar face appeared.

It was midway through the show, Jess was talking to Vernon about something she couldn’t quite hear which meant she was forced to watch rather than try and join in. He looked amazing on stage. Though he had looked good in the outfit he had worn tonight she couldn’t deny the elaborate suits he had adapted into his stage persona were something to behold. Each one housed intricate details that could mesmerise a person just by looking. She found herself mesmerised as she watched him sing a song she wasn’t familiar with. She thought it was one of his newer ones given that she knew the melody but not the words, probably from hearing Jess play his entire back catalogue upstairs in her room.

She was watching him, her eyes fixated on every movement as his voice rang out purer than ever, which meant she was distracted so much she barely even looked up as someone approached the table, that was until she heard that familiar nasal voice echo out. When she looked up she saw him. The Colonel. He was on the other side of the booth, leaning over and whispering into Vernon’s ear.

It made her blood run cold.

He didn’t even seem to notice she was there; he didn’t even seem to notice anyone else was even at the same table though she supposed they would’ve been insignificant to him seeing as he didn’t need anything from them.

‘I don’t know. I’ll have to ask him,’ she heard Vernon say tightly. The song had ended and though Elvis was now speaking, his voice echoing through the speaker system, she couldn’t hear him. Her ears were fixated on every word uttered on the other side of the table.

‘Well see that you do,’ the Colonel said, ‘it’s been over a damn month!’

‘Yeah, uh I’ll do it tonight,’ Vernon said glancing towards Addison, something that made her have a sneaking suspicion whatever issue the Colonel was having somehow coincided with her arrival.

‘You have to,’ the Colonel started though noticing Vernon’s inattention he trailed off glancing towards her. He looked as though he was going to go right back to whatever chastising he had lined up but she could see the cogs click into place after a moment, his eyes going wide as he looked back towards her. She felt knots in her stomach as she took him in but she refused to let them overwhelm her. Instead, she stared at him, her hazel eyes boring into his face which made him straighten up uncomfortably.

‘Colonel, you remember Addison,’ Vernon said quietly after a moment of them staring at one another.

‘Miss Goodwin,’ he said quietly, ‘long time no see.’

‘Not long enough huh?’ she said tightly. He stood more upright at her words, seemingly noticing her attitude wasn’t going to be one of understanding, not that she could see how he could even fathom that would be the case.

‘I didn’t know you and Elvis had…reacquainted,’ he said. It was a laced statement, accusations woven throughout it but she didn’t respond. She didn’t even want to look at him. She didn’t want to tell him anything about her and Elvis. She hoped it was driving him crazy trying to piece everything together. Beside her she could feel Jess’ eyes on her, watching the pair of them but she refused to look in her direction. If she didn’t want him to know anything about her and Elvis she certainly didn’t want him to know about Jess, but her façade was shattered however as she heard Jess say, ‘Mom?’

She glanced towards her, trying to silence her with a look that willed her to ask questions later, but when she looked back the Colonel was watching them bewildered. It was the first time she had seen him falter. The first time she had seen that cold calculating stare break, if only for a second.

‘Uh I’ll tell him to give you a call,’ Vernon said trying to diffuse the palpable tension hanging over the table.

‘What?’ the Colonel asked, ‘oh, uh, sure. Yes. See that you do.’

And before Vernon could respond he scuttled away his mind no doubt boggling at the situation that had unfolded in front of him.

‘Mom who was that?’ Jess asked leaning into her closely.

‘No one baby,’ Addison sighed as she placed her arm around her daughter, pulling her to her side as she kissed the top of her head. Jess seemed taken aback by the sudden act of PDA but she didn’t protest. In fact, she seemed to sense that this display of affection was more for her Addison’s comfort and allowed her mother’s arm to remain around her shoulders. Vernon watched from the side-lines as Addison bit her lip trying to will herself not to cry.

She didn’t know why. Maybe it was because after so many years of anger and fury, after the number of times she had pictured just what she would say to him if she had the chance, she had said nothing. It made sadness flow through her even though she knew it was probably the right thing to do. Going off at the man in a room full of people would only draw unwanted attention but still it felt like she had been cheated. Still, as her daughter cuddled into her side and Vernon placed his hand on the back of hers she was comforted.

After their little meeting however, she couldn’t shake her frustrations. The high of the night had been well and truly stomped out and by the time Elvis came off stage she wanted nothing more than to go home and climb into her own bed. Unfortunately, before that could happen they needed to say goodbye. He knew something was off from the moment they came into his dressing room. He had been expecting to get changed and head upstairs where they could hang out for the night so seeing them emerge through his dressing room door made him nervous, as did the sombre look on his Daddy’s face as he bid his son goodnight.

‘Hey, you enjoy the show?’ he said, pulling Jess in for a hug which she pulled out of quickly, her nose wrinkled at how sweaty he was.

‘Yeah,’ she said though there was an air of doubt in it that made his nerves bubble further.

‘Everything alright?’ he asked, looking at Addison who seemed deep in her thoughts. As he spoke though she looked up and said, ‘what? Oh, yeah fine.’

‘You sure?’ he asked.

‘Yeah,’ she said glibly, ‘we just came to say goodbye that’s all.’

‘You’re going home?’ he asked glancing at Jess who shrugged which only reinforced the notion was something wrong. It had to be if Addison was calling the shots.

‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘I mean Jess has probably got homework and stuff and I’m sure there’s a mountain of laundry waiting for me tomorrow.’

‘Can’t you just go home in the morning?’ he asked. He knew it was dumb of him to push but if he could keep them around, even a little bit longer, he would. Addison shifted uncomfortably. His request wasn’t unreasonable, but it was making her heart ache all the same and tonight that was something Elvis couldn’t help with. Though she had told him so many things she wasn’t sure she was ready to talk about it just yet. To talk about him.

‘You should spend the day with Lisa. She’s leaving tomorrow, I bet she’d like to spend some time just you guys before she goes,’ Addison said with an air of finality in her tone that Elvis knew was better than to fight.

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘you’re probably right.’

‘We can do something in the week though, right Mom?’ Jess said.

‘Of course,’ she said with a weak smile.

‘Maybe we could do something else like the zoo again?’ Jess asked looking at Elvis who smiled at her.

‘Sure honey,’ he said, ‘I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? We can figure it out then.’

‘Okay,’ Jess said with a smile as she leaned in to hug him, again briefly due to his sweaty nature. Addison however didn’t move in for a hug and instead made a beeline for the door waiting for her daughter. Elvis tried to ignore the disappointment in his stomach as she said goodbye before the two of them headed into the corridor and eventually out of sight.

He flopped down in his chair, watching himself in the large vanity as he did so. His hair was damp and sticking up off his head from where he had pushed it back so he could see and he had slight bags under his eyes from where he had grown tired from a long day of exertion. And yet he was happier than ever. Well, he had been until five minutes ago. He wondered what had happened to make her turn so quickly. Even their little back and forth about the dress hadn’t been a real argument if anything it was kind of well, fun.

He didn’t have long to dwell on what the problem was though as there was a knock on the door which opened before he even had time to tell whoever it was to come in. It was then he knew what had happened as coming into his dressing room with a severe scowl on his face was the Colonel.

He stood in the room as if waiting for Elvis to speak or at least greet him but Elvis didn’t. Instead, he stood up and moved to the small drinks cart in the corner of the room where he busied himself with a glass of bourbon. When he turned back the older man was still watching him.

‘Can I help you?’ Elvis said snarkily.

‘What is going on?’ the Colonel asked sternly.

‘What do you mean?’ Elvis asked.

‘You know what I mean. What is Addison Goodwin doing here?’ he asked. Elvis watched him for a moment taking a sip of his drink as he did before he placed it down on the drinks cart and shrugged, ‘she lives in town.’

‘And you two are what? Back together?’ he asked.

‘What do you care? Thought you didn’t get involved in my personal life,’ Elvis said making the older gentleman hesitate. He could see the cogs turning in the man’s mind, the realisation that he knew everything, that he had for a while dawning hence why he had been refusing to see him.

‘Elvis,’ the Colonel said.

‘What? Are you going to lie to me again? Tell me you didn’t have nothing to do with it?’ he said, ‘because spare me the bullshit.’

‘I thought I was doing what was best,’ he said.

‘And making my daughter grow up without a dad was what was best?’ he spat. He could see the information land, the realisation crossing his face in an instant. Quicker than it had for anyone else in fact. At that Elvis moved towards him staring directly at him whilst he probed further, ‘did you know?’

‘What?’ the Colonel asked.

‘About Jess did you know?’ he asked narrowing his eyes as he scrutinised his face.

‘Of course not,’ the Colonel said. Elvis didn’t seem convinced but he pulled back all the same moving away to take another swig of his drink.

‘My boy-’

‘Don’t you my boy me,’ he said looking back at him, ‘you’re lucky I haven’t shot your ass.’

‘I honestly thought I was doing what was right. I didn’t know about, Jess you said, if I had do you think I would’ve kept it from you?’ he asked. Elvis watched him closely as he moved towards him, placing a hand on Elvis’ shoulder which he looked upon with disdain, ‘this is just as much of a shock to me as it is to you.’

He watched as he looked up at him with eyes that seemed to be begging him to listen. But that was what Elvis had done the last time. He had been lured in, convinced to listen by a man who spewed lies so easily it was hard to figure out which bits were true. A man who through all the love and loss he had had in his life he had clung to, like a second father, a guiding hand that he could trust to navigate him through the best and worst of it.

But that was gone now. Whatever bond they had was gone, extinguished the minute he saw Addison at that club. When he saw how frightened she was at the mere thought of their worlds colliding again because of what he might do. That was why the hand on his shoulder brought nothing to him. He didn’t feel comfort. He didn’t even feel rage. His feelings were now one of disinterest. He didn’t want the Colonel punished he just wanted him gone. Yet the plan he was forming was taking time and he knew that to blow up in his face would do him no favours. He had played this game before and he had made all the wrong moves, this time he was determined not to.

‘Yeah, well you better get used to it,’ Elvis said slipping out of his grasp as he dumped himself back into his seat.

‘You don’t mean to say you’re keeping this girl around?’ he asked.

‘My daughter?’ he asked.

‘My boy, do you think that’s wise? I mean think of the press-’

‘We’re keeping it under wraps,’ Elvis said.

‘And when it gets out?’ he implored as he started to pace, ‘you cannot hide these things forever. Say a nosy reporter gets a hold of the story what then?’

‘They get a front page spread and a promotion no doubt,’ Elvis said.

‘And what do you get? People will be able to work things out you know. A bit of quick math and hey presto. Ticket sales through the floor. God forbid a tour cancellation-’

‘You don’t get it do you?’ Elvis said making the Colonel slow in his tracks as he looked at him. Elvis stood up, coming towards him again as he continued, ‘I don’t care.’

‘But-’

‘I don’t care. Colonel you can moan all you want about ticket sales and merchandising but there is nothing that is going to stop me from seeing my daughter. I’ve missed too much of her life already I ain’t going to miss any more,’ he said.

‘And if it costs you your career?’ he asked.

‘Fine,’ Elvis said, ‘I already lost most of the things that are important to me. My mama, my wife, hell I’ve probably spent about as much time apart from Lisa than I have with Jess and I’ve only known her a month. So I’m not going to bend. I’m doing this my way.’

‘And if they end up hurt?’ he asked making Elvis’ jaw clench. It was a dirty tactic and they both knew it. Yet Elvis didn’t yield. He didn’t allow the man to get in his head and confuse him about what he should be doing, not when he knew what he was doing was what was right. What he wanted.

‘If everyone keeps their damn mouth shut it won’t come to that,’ Elvis said leaning in towards him, ‘so, are you gonna do as I ask? Or are we going to have a problem?’

‘If that’s the way you want to play it,’ the Colonel said coolly.

‘It is,’ Elvis said firmly.

‘Well then I can only hope that you’re right,’ the older man said as he headed to the door.

‘I guess we’ll see,’ Elvis said as the Colonel paused, offering Elvis an understanding look though behind it Elvis could see fire in his eyes. He wasn’t listening to him. He wasn’t bending to his will. And that was pissing him off.

‘I’m sure we will my boy,’ he said and with one last glance he left, closing the door with a slam that betrayed his cool demeanour.

Elvis waited for a moment though he wasn’t unpacking what had just happened he was merely waiting until he was sure the Colonel wouldn’t be lingering by the door. Once he was sure he was gone he moved to his couch, dropping into it with a thud as he dialled Jerry’s number. He had handled it well. He hadn’t been lying when he mentioned shooting the old coot. A month ago he might have but he’d had time to think since then. He didn’t have a doubt that the Colonel would be making his plans. Snakes always protect themselves by attacking others so it wouldn’t surprise him, but he was making his own plans too.

‘EP?’ Jerry said as the line clicked on.

‘Yeah, it’s me,’ Elvis said, ‘Jer I need a favour.’

‘Hit me,’ Jerry said.

‘Get me Mr Kohn,’ he said, ‘tell him it’s important.’

SERIES TAGS

@girlblogger2002 @sania562 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley  @artlesson8892 @18lkpeters​ @velvetelvis @jaqueline19997 @elvispresleyxoxo @amydarcimarie @presleyenterprise @everythingelvispresley @elvispresleywife @lillypink @richardslady121 @lettersfromvenus @louisejoy86 @ccab

[vendingmachinesoundeffects]

i havent told you guys this but i got my wisdom teeth out like a week and a half ago and decided i was gonna watch every movie kyle gallner's been in as a kind of gauntlet while i was recovering and i'm up to my 23nd now. not counting tv show episodes. it started as like a 'oh this guy was really impressive in the passenger and elevated a pretty mediocre script to a really compelling performance i wonder what he's like in other movies' thing but now it's mutated into this morbid fixation. i have to see it through. i've watched more shitty c-listers in the last 13 days than i have in the preceding 20 years of my life. ive watched movies so bad that 'cougars inc.' registered as a charming teen comedy to me. and the worst part is that he's good in all of them. it's like watching a murder or a robbery or a lamb getting killed or something he's such a talented actor and for some reason he's consistently giving these great, earnest, clever performances in these awful fucking movies. since 2004 he's been doing this, when he was on smallville age 17 running rings around tom welling. this guy is like 37 now and jennifer's body is still the best project he's been in and that was fifteen years ago. if smile 2 is bad i'm going to blow something up

[meljwrites]

Hi, new Hollyoaks watcher here (thanks to Hayray and your and @harmonytheme lovely posts about it). I haven‘t really watched a lot of the pre-June episodes apart from the Hayray storyline so Cindy going off at Ste‘s party confused me quite a bit. From what I know she and Ella had sort of a mother daughter bond so I get that she is still grieving but I thought it was an accident and Ella had been wandering on the road drunk and therefore unnoticed by Ste? I am guessing I missed something because her telling Lucas and Leah and family and friends that Ste would be assaulted in prison seems very cruel to me (or does she have a grudge against Leah and wanted her to hurt as well?)

PS: is the discord open for anyone? I am not fully caught up on the whole backstory so I might just be a silent member 😅

Thank you for your posts they always brighten my day when I’m at work😊

I'm so glad we got you into it!!

Ah, I've not seen much more than you (unless you count 2012 episodes) - but from what I can gather Cindy's half brother (Tom)'s half sister is Ella's mum, and she considered herself her aunt and Ella lived with her for a bit. And I think the fact that it was a child that died and no one was around to see what happened means that Ste is fighting an uphill battle to try and convince people that it was completely an accident.

Also from what I have seen Cindy is a very passionate character and is easy to anger.

Yes, the discord is open!! Anyone can join :)

Thank you for the sweet message, I'm glad I could brighten your day!

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch: season 2 recap

Voyager's second season was a real mixed bag. Numbers wise, I actually ended up liking more episodes than I disliked, but the ones I disliked, I really hated. In fact, some of my most hated stories in the whole series were this season. But it says a lot about how strong the show's concept and characters are that all the bad apples in this bunch couldn't put me off the show. In fact, despite only liking half the episodes, I still finished this season loving this show just as much, if not more, than last season. I have to give so much credit to the actors for that- the writers don't seem to have thought very hard about these characters in a lot of places, but the actors held some of these stories together seemingly through sheer force of will. Their charisma and chemistry with eachother in the little moments made the bad stories worth watching, and I'm very grateful for that.

Interestingly, appparently episodes 1-10 were actually filmed during season one, and meant to be the end of that season, but for some reason were held back and aired as the beginning of season 2. The original order is included on the DVDs:

Projections ep 17

Elogium ep 18

Twisted ep 19

The 37s ep 20

Initiations ep 21

Non Sequitur ep 22

Parturition ep 23

Persistence of Vision ep 24

Tattoo: ep 25

Cold Fire: ep26

Since five of my most hated episodes are on that list, I know it would have lowered my esteem for s1 if they had aired then, so in hindsight, I'm glad they were held back until the audience had time to build up more goodwill for the characters and the show.

Things I liked this season:

B'Elanna at her little engineering station on the bridge- I love that she had this during early seasons, why did they do away with it later?? it was nice to get everybody on the bridge together during important scenes.

Tom Paris getting a more heroic plotline and some respect at the conclusion of the Kazon spy arc. There's been a lot of disconnect on the show so far between how everyone talks about Tom versus how he actually behaves, and it's nice that he actually got some recognition from other characters for his many good qualities. Everyone needs to appreciate Tom more tbh!

Captain Janeway's bun hair continues to be a delight; keep slaying, Queen!

While the Kazon are not my favorite antagonists, and I don't like where Seska's storyline went, I do actually kind of appreciate that they tried an ongoing story arc this season. The way it was woven as a subplot through otherwise standalone episodes and then picked up on as the main plot in later episodes was a nice way to do it. It found a nice balance between standalone and serialized formats that gave us the benefits of each.

Things I disliked this season:

We still can't manage to have a story where B'Elanna and Kes interact beyond two or three words?? I think every character has been in at least a scene or two one on one with all the other characters, except for them. On a show with only three women in the main cast, not having two of them even talk to each other, let alone develop a friendship, is an egregious omission. They could have had at least one episode where they went on an away mission together or something. It would have been way better than all the episodes where men treat Kes like an object to possess, which leads into my next point of dislike:

Way too many romantic subplots. It felt way too high-school with all the secret crushes and jealousy and rivalry nonsense. Kes was the writers favorite target, with a grand total of 4 romantic subplots, including Neelix, plus another guy who was just straight up obessesed with her kinda counting as 5? At any rate, she had the most romances, and she's clearly older mens vision of a manic pixie dream Ocampa, which is super gross. Watching Kes get treated like crap by almost every male character she comes in contact with, and yelled at by Neelix, wasn't pleasant either, and kind of ruined Neelix for me. I'm glad that they decided to finally give it a rest this season, but the way they attempted to resolve it wasn't believable, and actually very misogynist, and thus not a satisfying conclusion. Neelix was nice to Kes in a few eps here at last, and it would have been fine if he'd been like that from the start, but the memory of him yelling at her, and her crying over it, is kind of in my head now, and I can't shrug it away. It makes me sad how they saddled these characters, and consequently, us as the audience, with all this unnecessary baggage.

Janeway and the Doctor both clock in at number two in the romance derby, with three romantic subplots each this season. The character with the most on screen kisses is the Doctor though, with three this season. (Giving the middle aged bald guy all the chicks sure makes it feel like there's some wish fulfilment going on in that writers room lmao)

Season stats:

They started the season with 154 crew in 'The 37s'

Crewmembers killed: 6

Crewman Kurt Bandera and 2 more unnamed (Alliances)

Lt. Darwin (Meld)

Crewman Michael Jonas (Investigations)

Ensign Bennet (Innocence)

Romantic subplots:

The Doctor: 3 with kiss (Projections) (Twisted) (Lifesigns)

Kes: 1 with kiss (Projections) 1 without kiss (Parturition) 1 with cheek kiss (Tuvix) [I'm not counting her ongoing romantic subplot with Neelix since it's been a main part of her plot since the beginning of the show]

Harry: 1 with kiss (Non Sequitur)

Tom: 1 without kiss (Parturition)

Captain Janeway: 2 with kiss (Persistance of Vision) 1 without kiss (Resolutions)

B'Elanna: 1 with kiss (Persistance of Vision)

Chakotay: 1 without kiss (Resolutions) [I'm not counting Persistance of Vision on Chakotay's list, since it was a hallucination of him and not the real Chakotay that kissed B'Elanna]

Number of shuttles destroyed/lost: 3 (1 for sure, 2 probable)

1 (Initiations) [destroyed]

1 (Non Sequitur) [presumably destroyed, since Harry is beamed off shuttlecraft Drake before imminent hull breach, though whether the shuttle actually exploded and/or was unsalvageable isn't made clear]

1 (Parturition) [again, presumably destroyed, since it crashed and was damaged, and recovering the shuttle was never mentioned]

[shuttlecraft Cochrane was presumably recovered intact from the planet of lizard babies in Threshold, though we never saw it]

Number of episodes I liked/disliked/mixed reaction:

Liked: 13

Disliked: 9

Mixed: 4

[adultswim2021]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job #50: “Man Milk” | May 3, 2010 - 12:30AM | S05E10

Tim & Eric wish you happy holidays in this special half-hour series finale (unless you count specials) of Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job. In this episode, we get a little bit of everything. But is any of it classic or good?

Yes, one is, it’s the sketch where Paul Rudd plays a businessman who who sits down at a computer to view virtual dancers, all of whom resemble himself. They have names like Celery Man (a skinny tie, shiny-suit wearing slickster), Oyster (a rough-around-the-edges-but-slightly-contrived punk), and Tayne (a hedonistic hat-wearer with a vaguely mambo flavor). He is turned on by these sexy dancers to the point where he ignores an emergency phone call from his wife. He asks the program for a print out of Oyster smiling, and, most controversially, to generate a nude Tayne. The computer warns him that it’s not suitable for work, but he presses ahead.

To my knowledge, this is the only thing Paul Rudd ever appeared in that was Tim & Eric related (Tim does show up in one of the Ant Man movies, but that’s On Cinema Tim, so I won’t count it). This one’s really great, and pretty irresistible. Silly dances with silly names are pretty standard fare in the Tim & Eric universe, but this is basically a one-man show with Rudd being hella charming and legitimately very funny. This one has absolutely earned its reputation as a viral hit, which is why I’m naming it the Talk Soup Clip of the Week. 

There’s the Italian Massage sketch, which is fairly funny but nothing too deep. Tim & Eric do dumb accents and pour pizza toppings on a fat guy and rub it around. It’s brief, and features a cameo from Fred Armisen, but I like it anyway. This one is reprised in one of the weaker “Great Job” interludes, where we see a man in the restaurant react to multiple hairy bites of his nasty pizza slice. I’m not even sure why they bothered shooting that.

Another sketch features Tim & Eric pitching a partnership with Ben Stiller and their freak slave Ben Hur. They show him a jingle proposing that Ben change his name to Ben StillHur. Stiller is baffled, because there’s no actual project attached. Ben Hur just sits there and winks at Stiller in a flirty manner. Stiller does his Hollywood prick shtick that we should all be tired of by now, but it’s not too bad all things considered. Later, Stiller chases down Ben Hur in the parking lot to become partners, but cut Tim & Eric out of the action, and the entire time you can see a disgusting redspot on the back of Ben Hur’s head, which Stiller gets perilously close to when he starts stroking Hur’s bald head during a spirited hug. 

This one hearkens back to their Rolo jingle from, I think, season one, and the Tom Skerrit jingle from not season one. Tim & Eric’s old website had a whole section with bogus would-be jingles for various companies, and those sketches (and this one, too) are a continuation of that. This isn’t that great, but I guess it’s exciting to see another movie star being bad on TV.

The Cinco Privacy Helmet brings Tennessee Winston Luke into the Tim & Eric fold. This product is a helmet that plays a loud beeping noise and sprays vision-obscuring fog in front of your eyes while your head is completely encased in an unwieldy spherical helmet. This is so you can hang out next to people having sex. The commercial specifically advertises its intended use for guys sharing dorm rooms (“Cinco helps you bang girls in your dorm”).

Despite that last bit coming off sorta college-humor-esque, this is maybe another highlight for the episode. It does return to the well of having weird old guys act like college dudes like in the Cinco Sleep Watching Chair (Doug Prish-Preed saying "they gotta be hot" is funnier than anything in this). Those two sketches might have benefited from airing in separate seasons. Still, I like this one quite a bit. The more traditionally-college-looking guy is truly a terrible actor. Also the girl in the sketch is actually pretty hot, tell her I said wazup.

Richard Dunn gets one final starring role in Bald Face Predictions, where Dunn shaves a child’s head in order to show them how they’re going to go bald as they succumb to old age. I am a sucker for comedy where grown men disappoint children, and I think this one plays to Dunn’s strengths. Him gleefully growling about the kid becoming a weird-looking old man some day is pretty fun, and him offering to see him every week so he can “bald (him) out” is also good. He kisses the boy’s head and throws his head back and utters the line “hairy LIPS!” which I’m not sure is actually funny, but that line comes into my brain every time I kiss a beloved pet on the head.

Short/bad-sketch speedrun: Quallstions has James Quall answering sincere questions. It’s not funny, but it seems like it’s meant to be not-funny, but it’s still not funny. One last “Where’s my Chippy”, which was nice to see. I like when Eric crosses out the chipmunk on screen. A Brule sketch where he briefly discusses the difficulties of e-mail. Finally: a medical-themed sketch about what to do if you suspect that you have pools of blood in your stomach. That one’s total nonsense and it doesn’t pay off, and it rehashes the “be provocative, be organized” chant from Crows. 

The wraparound for this one is fairly mixed; not exactly a home run but not terrible. Both Tim & Eric develop long swollen nipples and start lactating. Their milk is indisputably delicious, so they decide to bottle it up and give it as a “gift for free”. Luck would have it, Eric’s little nephew Koy is in town, hiding behind their Christmas tree, and they have him hand-deliver their Man Milk to various Tim & Eric cast members. Eventually, they realize that all the milk they sent out was unpasteurized, and it proves to be fatal for all involved (except Tim & Eric themselves). Merry Christmas. 

This one has an air of effort to it; it’s shot particularly well, almost seeming like a dry-run for their upcoming feature Billion Dollar Movie. The things that fall flat are some of the horse-around aspects, as well as the unfunny, musical number. It feels like padding. Also, the use of the word “tit” just sounds wrong for some reason coming out of their mouths. You expect “bubs,” “bub-bubs,” “blobs”, or maybe even “swollen hammers” to come out of their mouths before the unrefined “tit.” But in the spirit of Christmas, I will forgive them. The montage of their misfit character actors all succumbing to their lethal juices is pretty satisfying, even though it’s a little sad to see Dunn die on screen in retrospect. Guy died for real a little over a month later. RIP pep-pep.

That’s roughly the end of Awesome Show. Scrappy and imperfect, and sometimes fairly lazy, but when it was funny it tickled me like nothing else. I always found the show charming enough to watch even when it was at its worst. Not sure if I can do my customary “top ten” until sometime later. I just don’t have it in me right now. Maybe for…Chrimbus? Oh! Maybe I’ll wait for the 10th anniversary special! 

Okay you know what actually I just did one just now without really putting a ton of thought into it. If I were to mathematically go through every episode and rank each sketch and weigh each episode in some highly scientific way, it’d probably shake out differently. I just went by what grabbed me after going through the episode guide real quick. It's in airing order, not preference.

S01E01 Dads

S01E08 Anniversary

S01E09 Hamburger

S02E05 Forest

S02E10 Embarrassed

S03E02 Chan

S03E06 Jim & Derrick

S04E03 Universe

S04E09 Brothers Cinco

S05E09 Greene Machine

[questfriendspodcast]

best hereafter ship? doesn’t have to be canon, because there are not a lot i think

HALLIE It's true this is a ship-light arc It's not Sparquique even though it has the best name

TOM Sparky x Self Respect

HALLIE It is 8:55 am This is unfathomably rude

KYLE A side effect of two children and one aromantic character, I suppose. Although I'm curious what the other reasons are.

I'm just gonna make a list of canon ships: -Sparky x Lucas Bang -Oset x Sammy -Alina x Yulia -Irene x NO ONE. NO ONE AT ALL -Quique x Mateo, if queerplatonic partners count

I think that's it?

OH WAIT AND THE BOATMAN X BABA YAGA There we go there's my favorite ship

HALLIE They're called the Baba Boat

HALLIE I guess Sparky and Big Jake? That's barely even real at this point

EMILY I mean I was the instigator for Sparky x Big Jake Hell and I am still all in but also Booker x Spoon and Irene x don’t worry about it it’s not relevant right now but I have my opinions

KYLE Is "Irene x don’t worry about it it’s not relevant right now but I have my opinions" the full name?

EMILY Yes Can we call Sparky x Big Jake Hell Sparkell Or if you prefer Big Jarkey

KYLE I do not prefer

HALLIE For mine put Sparky x [wink emoji]

KYLE What does that MEAN

HALLIE Exactly

KYLE Sparky x Socks Sparky x Maybelline we know what Elliot's favorite ship is

HALLIE Gross

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SECTION INVOLVES US DEVOLVING INTO DISCUSSION OF EPISODES THAT HAVEN'T RELEASED YET

KYLE Xochi x JFK

HALLIE XOCHI X JFK Give no context for that

KYLE Sparky x Big Jake Hell is trailing behind Sparky x Stella in realness how does it feel knowing that half of the Hawthorne siblings have the hots for Sparky

HALLIE Uh Upsetting I hadn't considered it

KYLE Also Hallie’s favorite ship is Adrien and Adrienne, the random skeleton NPCs mentioned in a single line of little mon, big city

HALLIE THATS RIGHT HOW COULD I FORGET