#here's an angsty gifset no one asked for :))

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, July 24

FAITH: Anyway, for real now. I wanna ask you something, and I want you to promise to be honest, and to not spare my feelings just because I could kill you. You promise? JOYCE: I promise. FAITH: OK. (Finishes with hair) How do I look? (Poses) JOYCE: Psychotic. FAITH: Mmmmmmm. I was shooting for sultry, but hey.

~~This Year's Girl~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

BtVS Triple Drabble: Distance by badly_knitted (Buffy, PG)

Weekly Drabbles #152 - Pretend by veronyxk84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Infinitely - ch. 62 by Laragh (Willow/Tara, M)

Do We Serve Water In This Bar? - ch. 7 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, Buffy/Riley, Willow/Tara, E)

Situation Normal - All Faithed Up - ch. 1 by QuillBard (Buffy/Faith, Giles/Jenny, Faith/Lilah, M)

Icing and Ink - ch. 2 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, E)

Collision of Universes - ch. 1-2 by Aragorn_II_Elessar (Tara, multi xover, T)

In Case You Haven't Noticed... - ch. 28 by Sdhuskerfan (Buffy/Giles, E)

I Can Show You Lies - ch. 3 by tragic (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Wedding Belles - ch. 4 by buffy_loves_spike (Buffy/Spike, R)

Beer Bad, Spike Good - Ch. 4 by Maxine Eden, ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Spiked - ch. 12 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2] - ch. 35 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Guitar Villain - Ch. 6 by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Love Lives Here - ch. 89 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Memory Lane. - Ch. 13 by FireDragon (Buffy, Smallville xover, FR13)

Rebirth: A Stargate Tale - ch. 7 by Buffyworldbuilder (Buffy, Stargate xover, FR13)

Old Fashioned Romance - Ch. 12 by calikocat (Xander, Captain America xover, FR21)

Arrive Before the Birds - ch. 1-6 by EverythingElse (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Crave - ch. 2 by NautiBitz (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

What the Drabble? Vol. 2 - Ch. 52 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Love Lives Here - ch. 89 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Genderfuck Spike by isevery0nehereverystoned (Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: Anya Jenkins + Outfits (Season 3/4) by clarkgriffon (Anya, worksafe)

Gifset: Ranking Buffy Summers' hair evolution (as voted by my followers) 1/11 by buffysummers (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: James Marsters... had assumed [Spuffy] would be one-sided... by ladyverdance (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: [parallels with life serial and i fall to pieces] by bocadelinfierno (Buffy, Angel, worksafe)

Artwork: Further buffyversing your Hatchetfield with Slayer ! Lex... by fallinginaforrest (worksafe)

Artwork: more like FLUFFY the vampire slayer... sort of like a desert fox... by eggiecatifieddesigns (Buffy, worksafe)

Digital: 🐴 BTVS 520. Spiral 🐴 by tmcarlee (Buffy, worksafe)

Digital: Der Kindestod [demon] by thedemonglitch (worksafe)

Digital: [Kendra Young fan art] by herakles_love (Kendra, worksafe)

Digital: [stickers of Oz, Larry, and Kendra from The Wish AU video] by herakles_love (Oz, Larry, Kendra, worksafe)

Digital: [still from 3D video in progress of The Wish AU] by herakles_love (various, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

[the nightmares in Nightmares] by redhatmeg

The Official Grimoire [Willow focused novel] by ceecee1909

PODCAST: Episode 66: "The Bachelor Party" by Gym Was Cancelled: A Buffy Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

fic rec and Bangel gifset: countdown to iwry 2024 — iwry2023 most angsty fic: being known by kean recced by iwillrememberyoumarathon

ISO: GrumpyMule seeks dragon statue that was in No Place Like Home

ISO: Kat-Attack-52 seeks feedback on their Willow/Tara fanfic plot outline

[Fandom Discussions]

I'm new here, has anyone else noticed that trophy with the eyes that follow you? by sunnydale-high-school-rumors

Another one of my favorite things in the Buffyverse is just how Angel is portrayed between the two shows. by sadisticretrieverbf

still the most unserious attempt at a dramatic introduction from angel here. [Buffy, Angel] by bloodraven55

[what were the] writers'/actors'/directors' influences... for the faith/buffy relationship by lesbianmarrow [with discussion in the tags]

If you had to pick between spuffy and cangel, which one do you find more interesting? [ask answered] by initiumseries

[discussion about] joyce telling buffy "if you walk out that door..." by five-gays-in-a-trenchcoat and moistvonlipwig

how about an AU where cordelia stayed in sunnydale? [ask answered] by coraniaid

AU where S4 meaningfully explores [the fact that] the government has a prison full of demons [ask answered] by coraniaid

elaborate on the leverage/btvs sophie [ask answered] by lindseymcdonaldseyelashes

[anti Xander Harris] by esperanzacboronial

POLL: Vampire Media Guys Round 21: Spike or Oz Osbourne? by vampirewrestlinglover

POLL: WLW Ships Poll Round 1 Part 1 [Willow x Tara] by mildlyinterestedcreature

What If: There was no Kennedy? by nightshade and others

Top 5 Season 1 Episodes updated by Stake fodder

Change one thing about season 1 updated by Stake fodder and Joan the Vampire Slayer

Why do you love season 1 of BTVS? updated by Stake fodder

The Hottest Vampires by Priceless and others

[what improvements would you make to a remaster of the 2002 Buffy video game] by Patermoushka

If You Had The Opportunity To Create And Produce An Episode Of Buffy, What Would It Be About? by Past-Throat-6788

Brooding vs Boring [Angel vs Riley] by bangeldreamer

The Riley Finn appreciation slideshow by drawandpaintbyfire

Let's talk about Dawn's S08 phases [in the comics] by zarif_chow

[Lilah appreciation post] by SpikedIntuition

What if... the original plans for Faith? by willingyoungster

[what song would Faith sing if she was in "Once More With Feeling" ?] by southsideserpent18

Would Faith get along with Fred and Cordy? by LightBlueSky55

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

James Marsters News: updated James Marsters upcoming events via dontkillspike

James Marsters to Star in Animated Sci-Fi Movie ISLA MONSTRO via dontkillspike

New Audio Book with J. Landau: VAM PD from Big Finish Productions via GreyWalker1958

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[glassprism]

As an ace person, what are some of the best Final Lair kisses? Whether it’s chemistry between actors, or the finest damn pity kiss acting, or something else I haven’t thought of.

As an ace person I am possibly the worst person to judge which are the best kisses... but I can certainly say which are my favorites! I made a nice gifset of some of them here, and added a few more recent ones in this ask. I'm also fond of Killian Donnelly and Lucy St Louis's rendition.

With the kisses in general, I'm usually looking for something unique, something that puts it apart from the usual smacking of lips we see between actors. It can be more passionate or more sad or more angsty, I don't really have a preference, just so long as it's different: a full on make-out, a cradling of the Phantom's head or chest, a tender look, whatever, I like 'em all so long as they deviate from the norm.

[ruanbaijie]

Thank you so much for The Spirealm post each time😍 Look forward everyday for new update hehe😁 Can I ask a few things that I don't quite get it? The drama didn't explain about the ring, kaleidoscope and there's light in you. Can you share a little bit if there's explanation about this in the book?

Already watch the last ep. The ending kind of confusing😵‍💫

hello! thank you to you too ^^ (I really am spamming the gifsets at this point, I have so many more waiting in my drafts 😅) here are my thoughts on those points!

the ring: yeah I think the drama left it open to interpretation, but in the novel rnz gives lqs a ruby earstud - I read the novel a while back, so I can't for the life of me remember if there's some practical purpose behind that earstud (e.g. whether he can feel his feelings through it) or if rnz also kept the other earstud (I might be confusing this with another danmei I love). so I think the ring in the drama might just symbolise that part in the novel

kaleidoscopes: in the drama I think they explained this in passing - gao dawei (lqs's friend who supposedly created this game) put in so many kaleidoscopes in their on purpose to "remind" lqs that this game is actually about him, since it's mentioned that lqs really loved kaleidoscopes when he was a child. I also noticed that the door area (yknow that dark blue "room" with the church-like painted glass before they enter each door) looks kinda like a kaleidoscope with the doors all facing one another (resembling the cross-section of a kaleidoscope) and the painted glass (resembling the colours of a kaleidoscope) vs. in the book, iirc it's mentioned the doors are a long corridor instead of facing one another. tbh, I think they just included all these kaleidoscopes in just as a nod to the original novel name (kaleidoscope of death)

light in you: this is an actual novel quote! in the novel there's a line that rnz says: “身上光越明亮，受到门的影响越小，你是我见过的，光最明亮的那一个，所以，你非常适合门。” ("the brighter the light on someone shines, the less affected they are by the doors. among all the people I've seen, you are the who has the brightest light. so, you are extremely suitable for the doors.") also! another quote I really love that's also from the novel is the one where rnz goes "I will protect you for a lifetime, whether it's for your lifetime, or for mine."

ending: man...... I don't even know where to begin with this. *spoiler alert for the novel ending below!* the novel ends with the revelation that rnz was the "door god" of the 12th and final door - what really happened was lqs had gone through doors 1-11 all by himself and founded and headed the obsidian group all by himself, there was no such person as rnz in real life. but in door 12, rnz the door god saw him, fell in love with him, and wanted to spend more time with lqs, so in the novel, door 12 was lqs redoing all of doors 1-11, except with rnz in the story now (i.e. the novel is entirely about door 12 pretending to be doors 1-11). the show's ending is kinda similar to that in the sense that rnz was part of the "game" (it's not a game in the novel, the "origin story" of the doors is very different) all along, but that's where the similarities end. the show kinda took that happy ending in the novel and twisted it into this bittersweet painful angsty ending where rnz is the code that "purifies" the distorted game. but the twist that I have even more trouble (i.e. pain) getting over is how it's kinda implied that the whole thing was in lqs's mind in the first place, like how when he re-emerged from that final door it turns out he's been in the same car accident from episode 1 and no one has any recollection of the game and his friend gao dawei didn't even invent the game. I say implied because it's never really specified if the games really happened or not, but I'm a pessimist (even though it is kinda strange that lqs would have managed to "dream" the personalities and appearances of so many different people he would later meet in real life after coming out from the final door). did the game really happen and everyone just conveniently forgot about everything and history somehow got rewritten after rnz purified the game? or was it all lqs dreaming it all up in his head after he got into a car accident and in the split second he almost died? they do seem to imply it's the latter, which is *painful* because it means rnz never existed in the first place, and even if they ended episode 78 with them meeting again after 50 years, that rnz wouldn't be the same rnz that lqs had supposedly dreamed up; he would just be a copy that lqs had programmed to be that way based on that one wild dream he had after an accident _(:3 」∠)_

ANYWAY angsty depressing thoughts aside, I hope this helps clear up some things about the show!

[kinnbig]

i have finished my engineer and i am humbly asking for all your ramking fics bc i need more of them desperately, im chewing on my drywall over here

OMG hi hello! yeah uh. idk if you'd been warned about that ending in advance, but if not I'M SORRY 🫣 here are the ways I have tried to fix it:

silence and patience (series):

Venus Flytrap (oneshot, rated E) - my first RamKing fic! set a few days post-canon. King returns from his grandma's. also! the very talented (and lovely) @aikinn made a gorgeous gifset for this fic here🥺

Hold Back (oneshot, rated E) - the angsty prequel to Venus Flytrap. it's Ram's POV of the end of episode 14, including an extended (much smuttier) tent kiss scene. this one and VF can be read in any order - I wrote VF first, but this one is set earlier.

Let Me Live in Your Mind (2/2 chapters, rated E) - this one is my baby. early relationship RamKing featuring lots of fluff, smut, switching, and Ram overthinking.

then outside of this series I have:

Anywhere (oneshot, rated T) - a little ficlet set immediately after King leaves the campsite in episode 14, written for a prompt on Tumblr

this snippet of a wip featuring Ram in a skirt and King losing his mind about it

this post that is just me rambling about my established relationship headcanons lmao

aaand a whole bunch of WIPs🫣

I hope this helps ease the need to chew drywall just a little lmao 💀

[izloveshorses]

I'm in a bit of an in-between period rn of what i'm focusing on writing, so.... do you guys have any preferences what i work on updating next? (no promises, i cannot write on command/ i do not control what daydream we hyperfixate on etc etc but i can at least Work On what you guys vote for) so peruse the list of drafts here, some published, some not quite ready yet, and pick something that sounds intriguing.

propaganda under the cut if you want something a little more descriptive! otherwise you're welcome to ask questions/ leave your reasons in the replies :)

sleep on the floor: angsty road trip, modern au, etc. i made a whole gifset for this and a pretty banger playlist if i do say so myself.

notting hill au: anya is a famous movie star, dmitry is a nobody bookstore owner, and they cross paths randomly one day when anya is hiding from paparazzi, they hit it off right away, but dating is hard. just one chapter is up so far. i gotta decide on something that happens in the film i was thinking about changing but we could write some other things in the meantime

art heist au: unpublished! anya works at a distinguished gallery, a painting from her late parents' collection they thought had been lost in a tragic fire just recently sprung up into the public eye again, but it's being auctioned off soon and anya isn't happy about it, since she thinks it contains the secrets of what really happened to her family. dmitry visits the gallery in attempts to steal it, but she catches him in the act and they decide to strike up a deal-- if he helps her forge a copy, she'll let him have the original to sell once she does more research and sees if it actually ~contains the secrets~ she's looking for. it's about the intrigue, the drama, the mystery, the reluctant alliance turned romance. good stuff. as long as i can figure out a plot structure aslhkdf

post breakup/get back together fic: unpublished. slightly inspired by the song 'if the world was ending,' but instead of an earth quake it's a snow storm and talk of the world ending with the new year. set during new years eve, anya visits him for the first time since they broke up a year ago and Talk about things that happened, interwoven with some flashbacks of their relationship from beginning to end. i also made another banger playlist for this guy.

equestrian au: dmitry and vlad are show jumping trainers down on their luck, anya is the new stablehand dmitry finds sleeping in the stall with her ugly horse (pooka <3). but when vlad decides her hidden talent is worth sculpting into a refined show jumping career, the three of them team up to make it to the FEI world cup in Paris, where Marie Feodorovna will be watching and contributing to the winning purse. maybe anya will find the home love family she's looking for idk.

crazy rich asians au: inspired by the movie, but without the hazing and the drama and the angst, so it's mostly just a meet the parents au of a sort with some nice and fluffy established dimya. anya's sister is getting married and she wants to use the event as a way to introduce dmitry, her long time bf, to the family. dmitry is excited about potentially asking for the Family Ring (👀) and leaving new york for the first time to visit the homeland (would the wedding be in russia? or would they get married in the french riviera or something a bit warmer?) until he figures out just how wealthy anya's family is. he knew she came from wealth, but not quite to this extent, and gets a little insecure about it. shenanigans ensue.

[rmd-writes]

hi rae i love your fics 🌟⭐️❤️ do you have any must follow blogs or writers on ao3?

hi nonnie!

Thank you so much, I'm really glad you've liked my fics and I always appreciate hearing that so, so much💖

As to your question, I did try to confirm which fandom you were asking about but you mustn't have seen my posts! So, I'm going to assume you're asking about LS fandom because that's what I've been posting the most about here and in terms of fics lately and hopefully I'm not way off track 😅

I do want to preface this by saying that there are a lot of very talented creators in this fandom, so I know I'm going to be missing people off this list and I'm sorry for that! But I'm doing this off the top of my head and there's just no way I'm going to be able to include everyone.

So, a list of blogs that I rec:

@welcometololaland first and always 💖💖 she is my ride or die, we share a brain and I love her to bits because she's a superb human being, but objectively, she is funny as hell and one of the best writers around, and if you don't read her fics you're missing out

Blogs for cast content, bts content, promos, stills etc:

most of the cast/characters have source blog type blogs, and there are a bunch of tarlos/show ones as well! these are the ones I tend to check for content most often

@911lsbts @rafaelsilvasource @ronenrubinsteinsource

Blogs for gifsets and edits (either because they make them or share a lot of good content, or both!)

@strandtk @maxbegone @danieljradcliffe @reyescarlos @guardian-angle22 @lutavero @tailoredshirt @angeltk @velvet-ink

Blogs for meta posts that will make you think, laugh or cry (or all of the above)

@doublel27 @goodways @guardian-angle22 @reyesstrand @strandnreyes @beautifulhigh

be sure to check the tags, sometimes the things that make me feel the most are in the tags and not the posts!

Blogs for fics

this is the one I'm most scared I'll forget someone for, but I'll do my best and also preface this by saying that as someone who reads fic in three fandoms, I know there are a lot of great fics out there that I miss because a) I just don't have time b) I don't actually check the ao3 tag very often and c) I don’t tend to read whump or very angsty fics which there is a lot of in this fandom. To find fics, I tend to rely on ao3 subscriptions, seeing fics on my dash (this is why it's important to reblog fic we like!) and recommendations from friends.

Having said that, here are some blogs/writers I definitely recommend, (and you'll find links to their ao3 on their blogs):

@welcometololaland @liminalmemories21 @iboatedhere @strandnreyes @reyescarlos @reyesstrand @goodways @doublel27 @maxbegone @sunshinestrand @heartstringsduet @lovesgalores

There are many other writers whose fics are languishing in my open tabs or whose wip snippets I’m enjoying and I've generally reblogged those snippets so if you have a scroll through my page on wip wednesday/snippet sunday you'll see those too!

God, I know I'm missing people off this list (I'm sorry, I've done my best late on a Sunday night!) but it's worth checking the blogs I've linked out and seeing whose creations and thoughts they're sharing too!

Nonnie, if I've done this and you were actually asking about one of my other fandoms, I hope you enjoyed this anyway and please let me know if you wanted recs for another fandom! 💖💖

[h0mocorrectus]

is Jesus Christ Superstar your favorite musical?

OMG IT WORKS! HI!

Yep, my mom is a big fan and I listened to it (the original cast recording) as soon as I learned some English (my first language is Russian), so I think at 8?

My faves are the 1973 movie (cuz classic) but I don't at all like Ted Neeley, Питерская Рок-опера (st Petersburg Rock Opera) but it has to be with Bayarunas as Jesus and Kazmin as Judas, and the Swedish version from 2012 in Stockholm. I am completely in love with Peter Johansson's Judas and this musical is actually the reason I got into Scandinavian languages! I'm studying Norwegian now, not Swedish, but there are a lot of similarities so I understand a pretty big part of the words. Also I have a life-sized cardboard version of Swedish Judas in my room (I'm moving in with my girlfriend @furciferangeli rn so ya better believe Judas is coming with me. I showed her the thing and she has a giant crush on him as well, so he is now ✨OUR✨ cardboard husband).

I am so mentally ill about Chriscariot (Jesus/Judas) that I wrote a very short angsty-ass fic in Russian about them at some point, but I've only showed it to the aforementioned girlfriend so it's just chilling in my notes app for now✌️

My blog was even named after JCS: it was originally scripturethumpinghack from the line "He's just another scripture-thumping hack from Galilee" from "Then we are decided", a duet between Caiaphas and Annas (it was only included in the st Petersburg version and the movie, it's not even in the original album), but I decided it would be easier for my ADHD brain to remember my usernames if I had them the same across the board :) I also had a TikTok account called jaded-mandarin I think, but I don't use it anymore for reasons of Russia lol

Also here's a gif of Swedish Judas singing Superstar because he is gorgeous and y'all deserve a treat (I think the gif is from @mgmpluto they had like a bunch of gifsets, but I've had this specific one in my gallery forever to stare at during lonely winter evenings ;)

Thanks for the ask uwu I think it's actually my first one! And happy new year!

[solivcgant]

my url :3

SEND A URL AND I WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING;

Do I Follow Them?: yes

Why Did I Follow Them?: i was informed of the return and naturally followed to continue to support the angst brand (*￣▽￣)b 

Do We Role Play?: yes, angst for our muses to grow.. cries 

Do I Want To Role Play With Them: of course, bc there are a lot of plots to explore. but i have to use self-control and limit my meme spams  

An AU Idea For Our Muses: just one--? i guess let's go back to our humble roots and focus on aiko and eiji. i think it would be interesting to explore the idea you brought up. with eiji and aiko drifting apart after highschool/uni. and while everyone knows aiko bc she works at the local hospital. eiji is just.. a vague memory to all their old friends uvu;; but that seems very angsty so perhaps.. lets just keep that as an idea.

A Song For Our Muses: 君色の魔法 - 宮川大聖 fitting for all the angst we put them through. looking at you alt!ceo uvu. but here's a nice line from the song that's not TOO sad. a future that comes true with your muses beside eiji (￣▽￣*)ゞ 僕が描いた未来は雪の夜に君が隣で叶えてくれた

Do I Ship Our Muses?: haha what a funny question to ask. eiji vc: that is my wife

What I Think About The Mun: a angst playlist queen. i enjoy our ooc and ic talks about our muses. it's very easy to talk and throw ideas around with you and see what works for us to write. or i guess you to write. i just sit back in awe and admire your writing via memes heh. anyway i still think it's crazy how you're able to grab plots from literally anything like songs or gifsets and instantly bring them to life.

Overall Opinion: a solid multi muse blog with canon and oc characters. every muse is well thought out so you know who you're writing with. in this case quality and quantity are both great, so for once that statement is wrong. but if you haven't followed yet, this is a sign bc you can't really go wrong.

Blog Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 1∞

[sakurasou]

insp.

[jaimecerseidaily]

HAPPY JAIME AND CERSEI WEEK!

Hello JC stans, are you ready to have some fun? Because I'm very excited to announce the first JC Week!

I have selected 14 different prompts, 2 per day. For your entry, you are free to fulfill one or both prompts, there is no limit. Here is the prompt list for the week:

Day 1 - November 8th: Golden or Masquerade Day 2 - November 9th: Sun or Letters Day 3 - November 10th: Fire or Scar(s) Day 4 - November 11th: Pregnancy or Secret Day 5 - November 12th: Storm or Tears Day 6 - November 13th: Morning or Ring Day 7 - November 14th: Treasure or Garden

🦁 You are free to interpret those prompts the way you want and to use them as loosely as you wish. You can go Canon, Pre-Canon, AU, Modern AU... Be smutty, fluffy, angsty... You are free.

🦁 I will track #jcweek and jcweek2022. Remember to use those tags so I can find your creations and reblog it here.

🦁 All kind of fanwork is welcome. Be gifsets, fanarts, fanfictions, fanvids... even playlists!

🦁 Please, don't forget to start your caption with:

JAIME AND CERSEI WEEK 2022:

🦁 If you have any question about the event, feel free to send me an ask on my personal blog. [here] The answer will be reblogged this blog.

🦁 No time to post your entry on the right day? Don't worry, late entries will be accepted.

🦁 Reblog this post to spread the word.

🦁 Hate won't be tolerated.

🦁 And last but not least, have fun little lions and let's celebrate our favorite twins!

[wonderlandleighleigh]

OKAY! So @lovepollution made a whole bunch of really excellent Midge/Lenny gifsets not too long ago, and told me to go ham on some fic based on them.

But they really did look like Midge was having the saddest Hanukkah ever.

So if you’re not ready for some angsty stuff, I’m sorry. But here’s some angsty stuff.

She’s not certain how things got so turned around.

Well, she knows, really, she just wishes things were different. 

Her relationship with Gordon imploded a year in, not that she had any business dating him, but it ended badly.

So badly, that as of now, she can’t find stage or television work in New York.

If she thought Sophie’s reach had been broad, she wasn’t prepared for Gordon’s. 

Midge has been nuked.

And so, she’d had choices to make.

She could have let her mother find her a husband, gone back to that life. Taken Joel back, gone back to that lie of a life.

She picks a third option: She leaves the kids with Joel and disappears to LA. She still can’t really find gigs, but there’s plenty of writing work. She doctors scripts for TV and films. She’s even helped out on a book or two.

It’s not what she wants, but it’s something.

And in the meantime, she goes to shows. Mort Sahl. Even Lenny, a few times, though she sits at the bar in the back, out of sight.

He looks good. Stable. And he’s so funny.

He has no interest in seeing her, she knows. He has a shiny new life out here. His daughter. His mother. A younger girlfriend.

Lenny has no use for Midge.

So she lets it be. She keeps her head down. Maybe Gordon will get over himself and end the blackball, but it’s possible she’ll never do stand-up again, despite the five full notebooks of material she’s generated in the last six months.

Hanukkah roles around, and she’s not going home. There’s too much writing to do, and from the last few times she’s spoken to her parents and Joel,  it’s evident that no one wants to see her. 

No one misses her.

Susie is still pissed, too, about Gordon. About how dumb Midge was. They still aren’t really speaking. 

Sometimes she gets a postcard from Noah, but that’s rare. 

She has made a couple of friends out here in LA, but Midge mostly keeps to herself, wary of hurting more people; ruining more relationships. 

So on the first night of Hanukkah, she makes herself some latkes and she takes comfort in the candlelight of the Menorah, and decides on an early night.

Or she means to, before there’s a knock on her apartment door. 

She frowns, no idea who it could be, and when she opens it, there stands Lenny, looking sheepishly with his hands shoved into his pockets. 

Midge takes a breath, her whole body tensing up, ready for what will likely be some sort of argument. “Lenny.” 

“Midge,” he responds, looking…

Worried. Mostly. 

“Got a minute?” he asks. 

She sighs softly, tugging her robe closer in, nodding reluctantly, letting him in.

She watches him look around at her small one bedroom apartment. It’s not much. It’s certainly not the Riverside Drive apartment, but it’s what she can afford, with most of her funds going back to New York to help pay for her parents and children to stay on the Upper West Side.

“I have some leftover latkes,” she offers hesitantly. “If you’re interested.” 

Lenny shrugs in a “sure why not” kind of way, and soon, they’re sitting at her little table, and he’s eating. Midge isn’t. 

She doesn’t feel like she’s been hungry in months.

“Rose called me,” Lenny tells her. His voice is soft, but conversational. “She’s worried about you.” 

Midge doesn’t respond. Her mother is not worried about her. Her mother has no interest in her life, since she’s not actively searching for a husband. 

“She was hoping you’d go home for Hanukkah,” Lenny goes on. 

“Why would I?” Midge asks quietly. “No one wants me there.” 

Lenny puts his fork down, narrowing his eyes at her. “Midge, this isn’t the first time you’ve been blackballed.” 

She takes a breath. “What are you doing here, Lenny?” .

“I told you-” 

“Why do you care?” Midge cuts him off. “You told me you wanted to be friends, and then you completely disappeared, until you heard I was dating Gordon. And then you yelled at me, and then disappeared again.” 

“I was still right,” he snaps, pointing a finger at her. “Don’t fuck your boss. Don’t shit where you eat.” 

“Thanks for the nugget of wisdom,” she snaps back. “Anything else to make me feel like crap about, while making yourself feel superior, or are you ready to leave?” 

He deflates a little. “Midge…” 

“I can’t work,” she tells him. “I can’t work anywhere. Not on television. Not in clubs. He completely burned me, so congratulations on being right. Again. I’m sure it feels great.” 

“Actually, I feel like shit about it,” he admits. “I felt like shit about it after I yelled at you, I just- you had made up your mind, and I…didn’t want to watch.” 

She stares at him, confused. 

“I didn’t want to watch you with him,” he explains. 

“You wanted to be friends.” 

“I did.” 

“And now you have a pretty young girlfriend,” Midge shrugs. “So you’re over it.” 

He stares at her seriously, silently. 

She shakes her head. “No. You don’t get to come here and try to save me, when you closed the door on us in the first place!” 

Lenny blows out a breath and leans forward. “I’m not here to save you. I’m worried about you. No matter what we have or haven’t been to each other, you’re still my friend, Midge, even if you don’t believe that. I don’t want you to be so miserable.” 

She closes her eyes and sighs. “I’m really okay, Lenny. I just- things are tough right now, but I’m okay.” 

He lifts an eyebrow at her. “Then why are you here instead of back east with your family for the holidays.” 

“Because no one wants me there!” Midge cries. “God knows Joel would rather I stay away. Susie still hates me. My only use to my parents and children is sending home a paycheck.” She looks him in the eyes. “No one. Wants me.” 

He gazes at her sadly, reaching out to rest a hand on top of hers. “It’s not true.” 

She pulls her hand away quickly. “You should go home.” 

“Midge-” 

“Go home, Lenny. You have a whole life. You don’t need me around to fuck it up.” 

“Is that what this is?” he asks, getting to his feet as she gets to hers to start clearing the food away. 

“What?” she scoffs. 

“You’re convinced you’ll destroy everyone around you, so you’ve gone into self-imposed exile?” he asks. 

She gives an exaggerated shoulder shrug. “Joel, you, Susie, Gordon, my parents, my children - all seem just fine without me - have always been just fine without me! Better, even! So yes, I stay away!” 

“They all miss you, Midge,” Lenny says softly. “I miss you, too.” 

“Go tell your girlfriend that,” she says, stacking the plates and carrying them into the kitchen. 

“It’s over,” he calls after her. “It ended months ago, because she wasn’t you. And she knew it, and I knew it, and…anyway. It’s over.” He slowly follows her into the small kitchen. “And even if it wasn’t over, I’d still be here, because I still care.” 

Her hands tremble as she starts washing the dishes, but she doesn’t reply. 

Lenny stands behind her, resting his hands on her elbows gently. “I got us two plane tickets back to New York,” he tells her quietly. “Leaves in a few hours. I’ve got a bag packed in my car out front, and we can pack a couple for you. We’ll be in New York by sunrise.” 

Midge remains quietly frozen, her eyes closing, letting herself enjoy how close he is for a moment. 

“Please come with me, Midge,” he says quietly. “Please let me help you fix this shit.” 

She lets out a strangled combination laugh-cry, and finds herself nodding in agreement. 

[theboysfanfic]

'Baby, Talk To Me' | Drabble

Homelander X F Reader

Notes: Just something I wrote very quickly, inspired by my subconscious/conscious obsession with the Vought Tower roof. You know the one. 🙃🌇 Fluffy, angsty reaction to a smutty situation.

Rating: ☑☐☐ = A bit dodgy. Mentions of sex.

Words: 418

Credit: Gifset X by @homielander. Homelander X dividers by @firefly-graphics

'What's the matter John? Hey, hey.' you draw a finger over his chin.

'Baby, talk to me. I love you, I will always love you. Talk to me. You know you can tell me, what do you want to tell me?'

He just looks away and back down shaking his head, tight lipped. You draw closer running your hand through the fallen strands over his brow.

'I was gone for only two days.'

'You were gone for all those days. I needed to touch you, I wanted to have sex with you, I missed you.'

'Baby why are upset then?'

He rolls his eyes and stays silent.

'I missed you too, I was thinking about you. I'm always thinking of you. I'm here now.' you whisper in his ear.

He doesn't say anything.

'You can't be upset if I'm away from you for a little bit.'

'Come.' You pull him by his hand to the sofa. You sit down and lead him to sit down next you. You reach around the side of his head and guide him to lie down onto your lap. His face in your lap, his hair floofy, he sighs and you start stroking his hair, starting at his temples behind his ears. He closes his eyes basking in the feeling of the touch of your fingers. Helping him relax, you ask again.

'John, tell me why you're upset?'

He opens and closes his eyes again. Embarrassed to look at you, avoiding your eyes. Palms on either side of his face, you gently turn his face up to you so you can see his eyes.

'I went up to Vought Tower.'

'Ugh huh?'

'At Vought Tower, I went to the very top, the roof.'

'Yea.'

'I couldn't stop thinking about you, I was so turned on , I was on the roof..'

'I'm listening.'

'I just...' he starts. 'Nah..' shaking his head, his eyes darting to yours.

'Tell me.'

'I was jerking off over the edge of the tower over you.'

You jump in your seat, and start laughing.

He glares at you, 'I shouldn't have told you!' he snaps back.

'I'm laughing cause you were moping around over this? John..' you rake through his short undercut . He side eyes you carefully from his position, as your hand runs over the side of his head and onto his cheek.

'Homelander,' you put on your best fan voice. 'I do find that kinda hot, y'know. Really hot.'

He leans into your palm, intrigue in his eyes.

💙🩹 Masterlist

Thank you for reading.

[dietrocksoda]

Happy holidays, Peripheral fans! With the first season quickly coming to an end, what better way to celebrate and speculate than with a Peripheral Prompt Fest?! 

For the uninitiated, The Peripheral is a science-fiction series that debuted on Amazon in October of this year based on the 2014 novel of the same name by William Gibson. From what we’ve seen, this fandom is small but mighty, and we’d love to help bring more fanworks to everyone!

For this prompt fest, all kinds of prompts and welcome — gen, shippy, smutty, angsty, etc. Fills can be fanfiction, fanart, playlist, icons, gifsets, headcanons, whatever you can think of! Because all kinds of prompts are allowed, we ask that people who consider joining be eighteen years or older. 

To join, just click here and share what you’d like to see! If there’s something you’d like to fill, reply with your content! Everything will wrap up on December 14th, so have fun until then!

Just to be clear, this isn’t a secret Santa. No one is being assigned anyone; it’s more of a free-for-all for everyone to enjoy!

[sophsun1]

When Justin tells Brian that him cheating with Ethan was about more than sex and that Ethan loves him, you can see Brian stop dead in his tracks for a split second. Even though he has his hangups abt love, at that point it had been shown that he does love Justin (the silent admission w/ Debbie, the rules, helping Justin recover and paying his tuition) so hearing Justin basically say this guy I just met loves me more than you ever could must've hurt. And ofc instead of verbalizing his feelings (which is what Justin needed to hear in that moment) and fighting for their relationship, Brian goes into defence mode and pushes him away. Then Justin asks him would he care if he were to leave and Brian doesn't answer this directly, again giving him an ultimatum. But this eventually gets answered at the start of s3 when we're shown how much of a mess Brian is with Justin gone, and honestly any time Justin leaves. The man cannot function without him and yet he would rather sabotage his own happiness. If you can't tell I'm on their first breakup era on my rewatch so I have a ton of feelings right now lmao

Hey anon!

Yesss to everything you said!

God I love those moments and how they feed into season 3 and all it's angsty glory I absolutely live for that era. Brian freezing the moment Justin says "he loves me" and then literally grabbing his face and having the most INTENSE eye contact/forehead touch when he asks him if he cares whether he leaves or not!!!! The heart stopping tension of yelling through the screen JUST SAY YES YOU IDIOT. I'm here for it all. Not to mention the Oscar winning scene of Justin returning in the night and Brian pulling back the covers and just holding him whilst they're both having silent breakdowns and I'm sobbing over it all.

Some breakup eras you just can't watch because they're so painful or badly written but with this one I honestly love rewatching it. It probably helps that I didn't see it live but had the magic of knowing that they got back together lol and that the third wheel in this relationship ie Ethan is such a non threat. He makes me laugh and the only reason I haven't watched his and Justin's scenes is because I die of cringe sorry not sorry :))

Brian's love for Justin is so strong that even though it kills him they're not together he never tries to force him to come back or guilt trip him in any way. He actually ends up helping both him and Ethan out lol I mean hello, who would do that?!! But it's a testament to what a kind heart he actually has. To us it's as simple as just tell him you love him like Lindsey advises him to but deep down he fears that no one could actually love him like that and ultimately they'll always leave. Ugh Brian's characterisation makes me weep there's so many layers to it. Brian being the most insecure yet owardly confident person ever how I love and relate to him <3

One of my favourite things about his story arc is how every moment of change or growth from him across the show can be tied back to that iconic I don't believe in love speech from 1x02. And when he finds himself in situations where it goes against his belief of love being for fools and how it'll hurt you we see he will get it wrong or self sabotage because of his fears or not knowing how to handle it. I seriously need to make a gifset someday of those parallels.

[oficmag]

Contributor Spotlight: JJ

Now that Issue #1 is live, we at OFIC Mag are excited to shine a light on some of the amazing contributors from our inaugural issue. We hope you all love them as much as we do!

Today’s spotlight is on JJ | @JJLinwood and @trickybonmot, who wrote “The Attended” for Issue #1.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I'm a mother of two and a slow but passionate fanfic reader and writer. I've had many a hyperfixation over the years, from spinning wool to baking macarons. I'm currently really into photographing moss. I'm also finally getting into vidding, after years and years of listening to songs on repeat and thinking "Who can I get to make a vid of this???"

How did you find fandom?

My first brush with fandom was the snailmail newsletter for Queen's Own, the Mercedes Lackey fan club. I definitely had my own self-insert character and privately wrote fic about her being lifebonded—I mean, soulmates—with angsty side characters, without mailing in a release form, which I felt very guilty about. Once the internet came along I fell into fannish things so gradually that I really don't remember how it happened. Usenet and Livejournal were involved.

What fandom are you in now and what brought you here?

I'm STILL deep in Modao Zushi aka MDZS aka The Untamed aka CQL fandom. I was brought here by...a tumblr gifset! I could probably dig up the exact one. It hit me like a lightning strike. I mainlined the series as fast as I could and never looked back.

What’s your favorite book of all time and what do you love about it?

I'm so excited to tell you that my favorite book is The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin. I love it because it is so gentle, a story of monumental events told through the most humane, compassionate lens. The conflicts are so delicately wrought, the characters so carefully chosen. There's no violence in it, not one fist or sword or even really a spell, although it concerns magic deeply. Not to mention that the prose is absolutely pure, and the landscape is so beautiful and familiar to the heart. The epigraph is a poem that belongs to the book's world, and it makes me cry all by itself. This book sent me on a journey of reading Le Guin's early works, and it's an absolute delight to see how her approach changed over time, the things she got good at, the things she came to believe were important. 

What projects are you working on right now?

I'm working on a fantasy novel that has been with me for a long time, about two boys who discover they can do magic together and how they change each other's lives (spoiler: they're in love). Also, a fanfic inspired by “Papa Don't Preach,” some simmering ofic short stories, and did I mention I'm learning to vid??

What are your aspirations as a writer, big picture or small?

I want to express myself honestly, and I want to have my stuff out there being read by the people who need it in that moment. I think that's the best I could ask for.

If you could give one piece of advice to beginning writers, what would you tell them?

I sort of still feel like I am one, even though I've been at it for a while! I learned a lot about writing from knitting. I learned that as long as you keep going little by little, it will get done. If you don't, it won't. And mistakes are part of the process.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THE OFIC FAMILY, JJ! WE’RE SO THRILLED TO SHARE YOUR WORK WITH THE WORLD.

[blueeandyellowmakesgreen]

can you explain more what the secret santa would look like? esp for ppl who are not artistically/writing inclined 😂 i saw memes was an option but i’m not understanding how exactly that would work!

hey anon!

as much as possible, i want to encourage everyone to join, so that means its completely okay if youre not much into fanart or writing. since its a digital event, youre more than free to explore different and creative ways to gift someone. it can be a variety of ways such as types of edits, gifsets, etc.

someone actually put in a really cool entry where they said they can go to someone’s blog and make a personalized moodboard out of it based on what they see! theres no bounds here ✋

when it comes to gifts through memes, i can understand how that can be confusing, but its merely an example. our intended process is to match people up depending on their prompts, so everyone will get a gift they like. so if someone has an angsty prompt, we wont give it to the meme gifters; we’d give it to the ones who have lighthearted ones. we also have an option for people who are willing to make multiple gifts as a note so we can explore.

hopefully that answers your question anon and clears things up! thanks for asking 💙