#hey i think this guy has a comedy background.

[saulgoodthem]

[eveningepiphany]

lessons | H.S

my masterlist <3

summary: sitting on harrys couch, he gets it out of you that you have never intimately touched someone else, and he offers straight up for you to learn off him.

warnings: SMUT, m receiving handjob and blowjob, heaps of dirty talk and praise, gentle dom! harry, virgin! y/n

a/n: I have to be up early in the morning so I haven’t done a final proofread since it’s nearly midnight, so sorry for any mistakes. this trope with h makes me weak at the knees 😵‍💫

———

“No way…” His tone is hard to dissect, it’s filled with emotions.

You purse your lips, looking to the grey of his couch beneath you— immediately regretting admitting the truth to him.

He’s your best friend, but god you do not venture into territory like this. Hence his shock, and disbelief at the admission that had come out of your mouth.

You were close next to his side while chatting that evening, a romantic comedy playing unnoticed in the background.

He joked briefly about himself, something about his… size. You hardly recall what he’d exactly said about it, other than him remarking about how ‘large’ he is.

Your eyes widened at the words, and he smiled a bit at the reaction.

It’s rare he gets to see you flustered, and if an opportunity has presented itself he can’t help but use it.

“What? Does that rile you up a bit?” He’d smirked, green eyes trying to find yours.

“No!” You’d hissed, glancing at the TV.

“Why’d you go all shy then?”

“Because you’re talking about your dick, and I don’t wanna know!”

He laughed at your rushed response, “anyone would’ve thought you’d never seen one in your life.”

Your response is delayed, in all truth you had— briefly, an unwanted showing at a college party, one of your ‘friends’ drunkenly trying to get in your pants. He’d pretty much flashed you before you got the fuck out of there. So how much it counts, is more the part you were hardly sure about.

“Of course I have.” You’d said, trying with your all to sound convincing— like as if you’d done more than just see one.

But the energy had shifted the second you’d paused, and the words pouring out your mouth were not helping your case.

“Wait— have you not actually seen a dick bef—“ his brows were furrowed, lips quirked, still unsure how serious you were until you cut him off.

“God, no— yes— shut up!“ you’d cupped your hands over your eyes, wishing to go back and just laugh at his stupid joke instead of getting all flustered and ending up here.

“You haven’t?” He pushed a more little.

A sigh had pushed out your nose in defeat, “hardly.”

So now it leaves you here, staring anywhere but at him as he mutters a ‘no way’ to you.

You felt more than embarrassed, you were mortified at this point. You and Harry had been friends since your first year of primary school, so to have him find out something you have kept to yourself for so long and was so personal was terrifying.

Having never really covered this topic with you, he was undeniably curious, “so you’ve never touched one…?”

“You’re making this so much worse.” You scrunch your eyes closed.

“Ok… so that’s a no.” He laughs a little, and all you could do was nod. He nudges you with his shoulder. “Hey, yknow it’s ok right? M’not judging you or anythin’”

You take a careful glance to see his expression, it’s sincere and you take in a careful breath.

“I know. It’s embarrassing though.” You advert your gaze back to a thread on the soft fabric of your sweatpants.

“S’not embarrassing love, I was just surprised. You’re a gorgeous girl— y’know I think that— so I just assumed some guy was lucky enough to have been with you— intimately that is.” He says casually, then adding, “and y’ve had a few guys, so I just thought…”

Your stomach fluttered at his compliments, even though he never shied away from giving them to you.

“Those relationships never lasted long enough for us to, uh, get to that point.” You clarified, clearing your throat.

“I don’t wan’ you to feel uncomfortable, or like I forced you into talkin’ ‘bout it by the way.” He quickly clarifies, “jus’ was curious, is all.”

You find the courage to lock eyes with him again, “i wish I wasn’t so… inexperienced— I really do. But it’s beyond the point of awkward when people find out, you know?”

You were on a rant now, he’d officially opened the door to all your thoughts, “and now it’s like, I have no real way to learn. Unless I go out and hookup with a random, but I’m not desperate enough for that yet— nor comfortable with the idea.”

“And being a uh, a virgin this late in college is— not really common. So automatically people kind of get weird about it.”

He wished he could say the hardening of his cock was just from the fact they were talking about sex— and that he had been sticking to his hand for a while now— but he knew that the real reason was much more related to you, which he felt almost guilty about. You sitting here opening up and all his prick can think about is how gentle and unsure your hands would be around him.

Keyword being almost.

“Y’know you can always touch me… right?” The words spilled from his mouth before he could stop them, a vague innuendo laying between each syllable.

“I- pardon?” You stuttered, uncertain if he meant what he just said in the way your brain had processed it.

“Like, if you ever want to learn or do anything. I’m here.”

Your eyes fell to his groin without a thought behind it, and you could see he was perked up in his sweats. He watched immediately as your gaze travelled down there.

“Just an offer. Don’t have t’take up on it now— or ever if y’don’t wan—“

In the few seconds of him talking you’d got a rush of confidence to do this. He’s practically handing himself to you on a silver plater.

“Can I?” The words were a fast question, a lingering hope behind them.

He almost groaned at them, the fact you were comfortable enough to be seemingly following through with his offer.

“‘Course you can, darling.”

You shuffled a little next to him, reaching to brush your hand over the fabric covering his groin, watching as he lifted his hips so you could pull his pants down.

You did it carefully, and your lips parted with a little gasp as his cock slipped out— he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

The tip of him was flushed to the same colour of his lips, and he wasn’t kidding about his size. At the base he had neatly trimmed hairs with a tiny curl to them.

You glanced back up at him, unsure what to do now. You almost had whiplash, because a minute ago you have never thought you’d see— let alone be able to touch his cock— and now you seem to have freedom to do whatever you please with it.

“S’alright darling, touch me however you want.” He reassured you, pressing his shoulder into you again. Solidifying the fact you really could do whatever you wanted with him.

Your hand hesitated a bit as you reached out to run a gentle finger on the underside of him.

Your hands were so fucking soft, softer than he even imagined, so he knew already this was going to kill him.

Going off the only kind of sexual experience you had— which is obviously with yourself— you didn’t want to be too gentle, so you wrapped your hand around the base of him and gave an experimental pump of his cock.

He groaned at the contact, not expecting it in the slightest. You were surprised at the sound that you’d just elicited from him, and the way he jutted his hips up to your touch.

“Fuck, sorry.” He carefully apologised, not wanting to scare you off. You were anything but scared though, more so fascinated, and frankly a bit turned on.

You said nothing as you continued to touch him, trailing your fingers up to the head of him. A small drop of precum seeping out.

He looks at you intently as you stare, “taste it, if y’want, love.”

With his prompt, you swipe your thumb gingerly across his tip, gathering up the few beads and lifting it to your lips.

It was a small portion, but he watched to see your micro-expressions at the taste. It was nice—really nice, in all honesty— compared to what you expected.

It was easy to see on your face you wanted more.

“Can I, uhm…” you paused, trying to figure out a way to word it, “taste you…?”

He pinched his eyes closed, running a hand through his now unruly hair. It was hard to control himself, he just wanted to pin you down and please you himself— thank you for making him feel so good already. Wrap his mouth around your probably puffy clit and make you come before he showed you what it feels like to be fucked.

Obviously he couldn’t do that. And not that he wanted to act like you were a delicate flower, but he was trying to keep you feeling comfortable— and that everything could progress at your pace.

“Jesus, love. ‘Course y’can.” He groaned, struggling to peel open his eyes.

“Can you tell me how you… how you like it? Show me even?” You ask, gently.

He shifts his hips, “Anything you give me I will like. But I can kind of direct you, tell you what feels good, I guess? If I can form a coherent thought with y’mouth ‘round me.”

You nod slowly, feeling the wetness gather between your thighs at his praise.

Deciding it would be easier, you slip off the couch onto your knees, placing yourself between his legs. You felt intimidated a little, the sight of his pulsing cock this close infront of you.

Yet still, you were salivating over it. Grateful you had a secure enough relationship to be able to do this. Especially with someone you felt so much for.

You glanced up at him, watching as he tracked your every move. He could’ve moaned aloud at your soft eyes looking up at him like that.

Your hand runs up his leg, resting to bracket the side of his thigh as you lean forward, gently kissing his tip.

A puff of air sounded from his lungs, egging you on just enough to keep going. You swept your tongue over the same spot you kissed, but trailing it down along his shaft.

You felt a little clueless as to what you were doing, in all honesty. So you glanced up, looking for a prompt on what to do next.

You wished it would just come to you naturally. Obviously in all the porn, they took the cock all the way down their throat, bobbing their heads and sucking like it was on their life. But you had no idea what your limits were, and how realistic half that shit is anyway.

“Sorry…” you muttered looking away, feeling your face flush with a tinge of embarrassment.

“God, Y/N. Don’t apologise, doing well for me baby. Just take me into your mouth, if you can.”

“Ok, I just want to make you feel good. So please tell me if I do something that has the opposite effect.” You sigh.

“I will, even though I highly doubt I’ll need too. Y’have such a nice mouth. Never knew it’d feel so good wrapped ‘round my cock.” He says this while cupping your cheek, and a part of you wants to just bend over and let him take you right there on the floor.

You never knew it could be like this. So open and filled with reassurance.

You lowered your lovely warm mouth back over him, sliding his tip past your lips, flattening your tongue on the underside of his smooth head.

“Fuck, so warm.” He whispers before continuing, “try and suck on me, hollow out those pretty little cheeks.”

You slide further down before you do, filling up your mouth with him, “don’t take more than you can handle sweet girl, use your hand for the rest.”

You nod around him when he says that, merely to show your taking his advice, but he groans loudly as you do.

So you do as he asks, wrapping your hand around what’s left of him and begin to suck.

He’s immediately lost in the sensation, digging warm fingers into the grey of the couch beneath him.

He can’t lie, you’re an attentive learner. You listen to the sounds he makes as you try something, like pulling your mouth all the way to the tip before gliding back down— or how you take note the way his body reacts with a shudder when you squeeze the base of his cock with your warm hand.

His directions are quickly falling away, into the back of his brain as you let your mouth explore his cock. It seems you’re fairing ok, now you’ve had proper encouragement.

You had been so in your head about making a mistake, now that you finally weren’t as worried about that, you could just focus on his body. Be intune with his reactions.

“Baby, you are so good at this.” He moans, driving his ass into the couch to keep from bucking up into your throat.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the image of him fucking your throat comes to fruition, and he has to shove it away. Leave it as something to jerk off to later, when he starts to miss your hot mouth, which probably won’t take all that long.

“Told me y’never touched anyone like this before. Think that’s a lie, how good your little tongue is working me. Y’gonna have me coming soon.”

His words bring a flutter to your core, the way his accent is all husky from pleasure. Pleasure you’re giving him.

“Such a good girl f’me, hmm?” He asks, and you hum a yes. The vibration of it flys through his cock, constricting around his spine as he moans out.

He stares down at you, eyes glazed with pleasure. Spit is glistening around your chin, and no doubt when you pull off his cock will be coated in a thick layer of it.

“Christ, faster for me baby. Moan all around my dick.” His thoughts start to spill from his lips, and your brain lags trying to process how filthy they all are.

Not that you’re surprised he’s like this whatsoever, but to be hearing it with your own ears, and it to be directed toward you makes it a whole other ballgame.

“This mouth is mine.” He curses, and you dig your fingers into his thigh as you feel your cunt throb.

“All fuckin’ mine. Trained up just for me.” He groans, and you slip off him just enough to get a few words in.

“Yours, Harry. Please… pull my hair.” You plead, wrapping your mouth over him after a short second, quickly jumping back into the fast rhythm you’d built up.

“Fuck, not sure gonna be able to be gentle f’you if I do that, darling.” He hisses, clenching his fist, imagining your hair between it.

You whine around his cock, looking up at him, desperate for it.

At this point, you don’t care. He can be rougher. You pretty much have instilled every ounce of trust you have in him— which you had done prior to this, but especially now.

Your hand scrapes up his shirt, nails clawing at his taut abs, pleading for this.

He thinks he could almost just die, seeing your needy side quickly being unleashed per his undoing.

His resolve caves, his hand coming to nestle into the hair close to your scalp. You moan at the feeling of it merely being there, his cock pulsing on your tongue.

“More dirty than I ever could’ve thought, Y/N. Wanting me to pull your hair like this, begging. M’trying to be gentle with you— making it so hard for me.”

You suck harder, and he sticks to his word of being careful, his hand tight around your hair— but never forcing you down.

Even though you don’t think you would have minded if he did, he was clearly getting close.

“Love, shit!” His legs were shaking, and his face was flushed a gorgeous pink.

“You’re gon’ make me come.” He grunted, “Hard.”

He told you this so you could pull off, maybe finish him with your hand or something. But you didn’t budge, you just kept sucking and sliding your perfect tongue all over him.

He couldn’t imagine finishing this fast with anyone else but you. Your messy, virgin mouth making him nothing short of a train wreck.

“Y/N, baby, I’m— holy fucking shit—“ you squeezed his balls in you hand, and he was hurtling toward his high.

“If you don’t pull off I’m, god, god I’m gonna come down your throat.” He rushes out, whole body ready to snap.

You don’t budge, you take as much of his dick as you can, wanting to feel his warm come shoot into your mouth.

The second he realised you wanted him to finish in your mouth was the same second he felt an indescribable pleasure hit him.

His jaw dropped, and stomach muscles clenched so hard he would’ve keeled over if he was standing up.

You pulled back. Hand coming to stroke where your mouth had left. But you kept his tip in, which was still spurting his come, placed on you tongue.

It coated it, dripping down onto your bottom lip and chin. And just the sight of it would be enough to get him off for the next 5 years.

His Y/N, his best friend, who he not even 10 minutes ago found out was a virgin, had just taken his load half down her throat and half smeared all over her tongue.

“Fuck me, baby. That is so unbelievably hot.” He almost whined, completely out of breath.

“Rub it in with my cock. Then swallow it, love.” He said, watching as you immediately did so, coating your tongue with him.

“Such a good girl. Swallow.”

You did that too. Placing a little kiss on his thigh after, and standing up.

Your knees felt a little weak, and you sat down next to him again.

He reaches over, kissing you without shame of where your mouth just was.

His hand slipped to your waistband of your probably soaked-through sleep shorts, and you halted it, “You don’t have to, Harry.”

“I know love, I want too though. But if you don’t, then that’s ok.” He caresses your hip.

You take your bottom lip between your teeth, thinking. You do. But at the same time, maybe not just yet.

Despite what just unfolded on his living room couch, you still feel almost shy. Not ready.

“Maybe not yet… that was— it was a lot. And very unplanned.” You purse your lips, worried he’ll be offended or something.

“Of course, darling.” He scoots his hand away, laying it on your cheek instead.

“We’ll take it at whatever pace you want.” He smiles, kissing a quick peck onto your lips.

“How about, i turn that off,” he gestures to the TV, “‘n we go cuddle?”

“That sounds great, H. Thank you. For everything.”

He chuckles, plucking his sweatpants from the floor and slipping them over his legs, “I should be thanking you. Thank you for trusting me. And for giving me probably the best orgasm I’ve had in ages.”

You flush, harder than you’d like to admit. Maybe this won’t be a bad impulsive arrangement after all.

———

[albertdabuttler]

Zombie | K.H.

MASTERLIST

fandom: 80s

pairings: Kirk Hammett x F!Reader

WARNINGS: This story starts with a plot. Friends to lovers, LOOOTS of fluff, kissing, kind of having someone throw themself on the reader (???) more fluff, smut, fluffy smut, fingering, p in v, (safe sex dw 🤣) overstimulation, some form of comedy…

summary: An initially boring Halloween night takes an intriguing turn when a game of spin the bottle has you hoping your kissing skills are good enough for your best friend.

WC: 6.6k

gif not mine!!

A/N: Hi losers, finally posted yayyyy! I wrote and posted this on wattpad and think you guys deserve to see it too! And guess what??? I have another story coming right after this 😍 Also I kinda add detail to what you wear like those corny wattpad writers… I’m sorry…but I swear its all inclusive!!

———————

10:47PM, October 31st, 1979.

Here you sat on the kitchen counter of one of your classmates homes, loud booming music all around you, drunk teenagers making out with each other everywhere and some game going on in the living room.

You were dressed as a ghost, pale makeup across your face, black shadow around your eyes and white clothing, ripped and stained to make it look old.

"That guy over there's been looking at you all night," said Jocelyn, another one of your classmates and your best girlfriend since seventh grade. She was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein.

"Don't look now, but he's totally checking you out!" She said, standing in front of you while trying to subtly look at the guy over your shoulder.

"What's he look like?" You questioned, hoping it was a certain long, wavy-haired brunet you had eyes for since second grade.

"Blond hair, brown eyes and he's jacked. He's dressed like a surfer." She smirked. Hearing her words, you whipped your head around to see the boy she described smile widely at you, sending a small wave your way. He was dressed like a stereotypical surfer, medium shaggy hair, sky blue swim trunks, a white muscle shirt and pink sunglasses.

You politely smiled, waved back and turned back around, "Not my type... You know I like brunets."

Jocelyn groaned in disappointment and annoyance, "Okay well the one you're thinking about doesn't look at you like most of the guys here."

"That's because most of the guys here can't keep it in their pants." You rolled your eyes, hopping off the counter and making your way to the living room. You spotted Tom dressed like a basketball player on the couch with his arm around a girl. She was dressed like a devil, laughing at the game they were playing. Sitting a couple feet away from him, you asked, "What game are we playing?"

"Spin the bottle," the boy replied, the alcohol making his words slur with a smile. You internally praised yourself for going to the bathroom when they were making all the girls play a drinking game.

"Hey!!" you heard someone call out for you, turning to the group whose eyes were all on you. Feeling an intense wave of embarrassment, you spotted the beer bottle on the coffee table turned towards you.

"Fuck."

Looking up to see who spun it, you lowly groaned when it was the surfer boy. He was a pretty attractive guy, above average looking, nice bod, so things could be way worse. You really didn't want to kiss the guy. Your gut told you he was a creep. But of course you knew there was absolutely no way in hell you could get out of this without drinking, so you stood up, walking towards him with an awkward smile on your face.

Standing in front of him for a couple seconds, you leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, quickly turning around to sit again.

Everyone in the room booed at you before the tall blond grabbed your wrist and kissed you with a little too much tongue. You cringed and pulled back, but he didn't let go. He tried to kiss you again so you shoved his face away with excessive force.

The room was quiet. The upbeat music in the background making it that much more awkward.

"That was gross," you chuckled, scoffing and turning back to your seat.

"Don't eat the garlic bread before the game, guys." You said, earning a few laughs.

I mean, the guy was being far too desperate for a silly game of kissing random people. You had the right, especially if the kiss was bad.

It was when you sat down that you noticed him. He was dressed in a zombie outfit, makeup of fake scars on him. Finally you found him after almost the entire night of looking for him, or rather waiting for him to pass by near you, but it's the same difference.

Kirk stood by the doorway in the corner of the room, a smile with a look that mocked you.

You subtly stuck your tongue out at him, earning the finger in return.

It was Jocelyn's turn next, she kissed a random guy, and the turns kept going until it was your turn to spin.

You really, really hoped it landed on Kirk.

So you spun it hard and fast, the bottle sitting there spinning for longer than usual until it finally slowed down, landing on the other side of the room.

It was him. It landed on Kirk.

He stared at the bottle, scratching the back of his neck with a cringe on his face.

Now what? Surely you didn't think it through, how would you kiss him? Would it ruin your almost lifelong friendship? Would he see you differently and finally acknowledge his feelings for you? Or would he dislike it and judge you based off the way you kiss?

You didn't realize the moments that had passed until Kirk was standing right in front of you.

"We don't have to do this if you don't wanna." He whispered as he looked down at you, awkwardly pursing his lips.

"Nah, gotta play the game," You took his hands and almost jumped up with excitement despite your nerves.

Kirk cleared his throat, turning to the guy you kissed earlier and in a mocking tone, "Watch and learn, motherfucker." He said, giggling at the guy.

He turned his head back to you, trying to hold in a laugh. But he hesitated, finally realizing the spot he was in. A light pink dusted his cheeks. He ignored it and moved one of his hands to cup your cheek, the other to the back of your head.

The moment felt like it was going in slow motion as he leaned in, gazing into your eyes and then looking straight at your lips until his lightly pressed up against them.

Wow.

Kirk was a great kisser. It made you wonder how much experience he had.

He was quite smooth with it, slowly moving his lips against yours. He pulled away for a short breath and your reaction, until he turned his head the other way, leaning back in to kiss you again at another angle. Just to see if it was any different. People began to cheer.

Moving your hands up around his neck, you surely didn't expect anything like this, if anything you expected a short, boring kiss.

Your heart was racing, you felt your face become hot as you nervously played with the hair on the nape of his neck. He pulled back, his eyes widening in horror.

He quickly let go of you and moved back to his place, leaving you standing there as the game continued on.

You looked at him confused. It was just a kiss right? Part of a game. You didn't have to act like it had to be special. But why'd he kiss you like that, then act like it was gross?

Standing up, you made your way to the kitchen, "I'm gonna get a drink." You stated in slight disappointment, swerving past Kirk and earning 'Oo's' from the crowd.

Now Kirk felt guilty for pulling away so fast.

Kirk always liked you. Just not in the way he thought he did. Yes, he'd occasionally feel the room get hot when you checked him out, thinking he wouldn't notice. Or get nervous when you looked too pretty... But that meant nothing. It would be the same if you were a stranger.

However, he really liked that kiss. The sweet taste of punch with a hint of alcohol. How soft your lips were. How your hands felt as they lightly tugged his hair. He wondered what other situations you'd pull his hair in... Maybe when he made love to you... Physically showing you, and verbally affirming how much he really did love you. How close your body was to his. That was the closest proximity you two had ever been in. He really enjoyed it.

Wait.

Fuck, does that mean he likes you now?

He couldn't stop thinking about it. About how the kiss made him feel. About how you were literally perfect for him. You knew everything about him, and he knew everything about you. He loved everything about you, there wasn't a single thing he could think of that he didn't like about you. God it was all so cheesy and gross. How could he let himself think like he was in a high school Rom-Com movie.

All these thoughts overwhelmed him with excitement, making him smile widely and get up to look for you. Just then remembering you were probably upset or something by the way you left so abruptly.

You sat on the kitchen island counter again, facing away from the living room, watching as a few couples kissed and giggled around the room and you sighed in annoyance.

"Hey."

The familiar voice made you freeze. You knew he was standing behind you, waiting for you to acknowledge him but you pretended like you didn't hear him over the music.

Your eyes followed him as he passed in front of you, leaning on the counter across from the one you sat atop, crossing his arms.

He cleared his throat.

"Hi," you said with a plastic smile, your voice cracking.

He smiled back genuinely, "Sorry if that was... Weird. We had to, otherwise we'd have to drink."

"Yeah... It's fine. Just a kiss," you laughed awkwardly, staring at the boy in front of you, hoping that he might actually like you. Just because of the way he kissed you.

He looked great in his costume. Fake bite marks on his neck and arms, his hair was messy. He had a white tee with faux blood stains and rips in it, revealing some skin and the light definition of his muscles. Over that, he had a leather jacket, the sleeves rolled up, with black ripped jeans and a fob too.

"I thought you came for a drink," he said, grinning with his stupidly cute crooked teeth and that annoying little dimple, licking his dumb red and plump lips. "Right," you chuckled, hopping off at the same time he stepped forward, nearly bumping into him.

You wanted to be as far from him as possible.

"Hey," he called out your name.

"Yeah?" you replied, turning back around to look at him.

"The drinks are over here," he chuckled, pointing his thumb behind him where there were a couple of large coolers on the ground.

"Right," you mentally face palmed. He handed you a bottle of beer and you reached for the top to avoid coming in contact with his hand.

It still had the cap on but you couldn't take it off and chuckled in embarrassment. Why was it so awkward now?

"Here," he took the bottle from your hand and popped the cap off on the edge of the counter, handing it to you.

When you reached to grab it again, he pulled back.

You paused, moving to try and grab it again but he held it away from you.

"Kirk."

"Yes?" He smiled cheekily.

"Give me my beer."

"Well it's not yours until you've taken a sip from it, am I right?"

You sighed, "Just give me the bottle, Kirk," going to reach for it again but he held it behind his back.

"Kirk!" You chuckled.

Now he reached his goal. Finally a smile.

Trying to attain for it for the third time, he moved it away once again, holding it above his head this time.

"Come on," he chuckled, "If you want it you just have to take it." He stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Gripping his shoulder, you got on your toes trying to reach for it. He watched your hand as it was a couple inches from the bottle, "Ugh, you almost have it!" He mocked, turning his head down to look at you.

Locking eyes with him for a second, his breath hitched as his eyes flickered to your lips once more. An intense wave of desire for another taste, he slowly leaned in.

You did notice this but decided to be oblivious and ignore it. Kirk was a ticklish guy, so you poked the side from which arm he was holding up, causing him to immediately flinch and bring his arm down. You quickly snatched the bottle from his hand, "HA! Loser."

"Hey, that's cheating!" He said, laughing nervously, hoping you didn't notice his attempt.

"Losers, weepers." You said, turning around to grab a piece of candy from a bowl.

Taking a long sip of your beer, Kirk spoke up before the silence became awkward.

"So about that guy you kissed earlier,"

You almost choked on your drink but kept it up to your lips to avoid having to say anything.

"Was my kiss better than his?" he raised his brow playfully.

This time you did choke, coughing for air as you set the bottle down. Kirk hurried to you and softly patted your back.

"You okay? Sorry..." What a stupid question, he thought.

Grabbing the bottle again, you took another sip to stop the itching in your throat.

"Are you good?" He cautiously let go as you cleared your throat.

"Uh-m yeah..." Speaking was uncomfortable, so you cleared your throat once again.

"Sorry. Uh, what were you saying?" You knew exactly what he was saying but hoped and hoped he forgot about it.

A sadistic smile grew on his face.

"My kiss was better than the other guy's, right?" He sat atop the counter.

You stared at him in disbelief.

"What do you think, Kirk?" You asked him genuinely.

He threw his hands up in defense, "Hey, you're my best friend so you've gotta be on my side."

You rolled your eyes, thanking the lord for his lighthearted personality.

"Yes. Your kiss was better. He used too much tongue." You cringed.

"Good..." He chuckled, clearing his throat. His palms were getting sweaty.

"...Did..." He hesitated.

"Did...you like it...?" He kept his gaze on you for any kind of response or reaction.

You tried to look away from him, but his eyes kept you in a trance.

"Uhm... Yeah. You're not a bad kisser, y'know." You smiled, playfully hitting his shoulder. An attempt to lighten the mood.

He smiled back. "Alright, good." He laughed lightly, "I know that if you liked it then it really was good."

"What makes you say that?" You questioned, a little confused.

"You're brutally honest with me."

You paused. Maybe you weren't as honest as you should be. You've been lying to him since the second grade. Or rather keeping something from him. Which is still dishonesty.

But you couldn't tell him now. I mean, you got over him a ton of times, so you could do it again. And you've liked other guys more than you liked him... But you still always had a little thing for him in the back of your mind when you had those other crushes, you hated how smitten you were.

"Yeah, I am aren't I?" You smirked. "That's why I'm better than all of your friends." You joked.

He only smiled at you.

"I love you."

You turned around just in case your blush was noticeable.

"Good."

Turning back around, "I love you too," you lifted your bottle up to him, "but remember you're still a loser."

He playfully rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever."

Walking towards the living room, it had seemed that the game was still going on.

"Wanna get outta here?" He asked, walking up next to you, motioning his head towards the general area in which the front door was located.

"Sure. It's kinda boring here anyways."

Kirk chuckled, looking at Tom and mouthing to him that he was gonna leave.

"I'll go warm up the car," he informed.

"Alright," you responded, walking up to Jocelyn to let her know you were leaving with Kirk, since she was your ride there.

“Let me know if he makes a move," she whispered, winking at you.

"Oh shut up," you scoffed.

"What? He looked real into it when it was your turn. One would think he was in love with you!"

"Stop it, Jocelyn!" You giggled, getting up to leave.

"Use protection!" She yelled rather loudly.

You gagged in response and turned around, lifting your hand next to your head and flipping her off.

The walk to the car was difficult. At first you had to swerve through a crowded foyer in order to leave the house, and the walk to the car was cold. It was windy, but thankfully Kirk had driven up to the front of the house from where he was parked. Which was kind of far.

As you reached for the handle, you heard a click and pulled, only to find it was locked.

You groaned loudly, "Kirk, it's cold as shit out here! Stop it with your stupid games."

He rolled down the window a crack, "Only if you say the magic word."

"Please."

"No, the magic word." He smirked.

"God, you're such an asshole sometimes." You sighed.

He made a buzzer sound, "Wrong."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, you dragged your hand across your face, knowing he wouldn't budge until you played along. "Abracadabra."

The door clicked and you wasted no time in opening the door to sit down.

"Fuck you."

"Thanks." He said, shifting into gear and driving off.

"Wanna get ice cream?" He asked.

"Uh... Yeah but I'm pretty tired. Could you just drop me off at home?" You replied.

"Mhm."

The ride home was a little quiet, so you decided to turn on the radio. Damage Case by Motörhead began playing at full volume, causing the both of you to jump as you quickly reached for the volume to lower it.

Turning the knob for a different radio station, you found one with a softer tone of music.

How Long by Ace was playing. The romantic vibrations it gave off caused you to quickly switch the radio station, but Kirk grabbed your hand.

"Go back, I like that song"

"You do?" You questioned, scoffing as if he was a weirdo for liking it, even if you did too.

"Yeah." He chuckled, his eyes still on the road.

So you went back, and the song played.

A short moment passed and Kirk spoke, "You know you're my best friend, right?" He said.

"Uhh, yeah...? Where's this coming from?"

There was a light ahead going from yellow to red.

As he came to a complete stop, he turned to you, "I know this is real corny, but I would do anything for you. Anything. Just say the word. Okay?"

"Okay...." You dragged out, letting out an awkward laugh. "Thanks Kirk."

"Anytime." He clicked his teeth and winked, pointing a finger gun your way.

The light turned green as you chuckled.

Finally you turned the familiar corner onto your block. It wasn't long until Kirk pulled over to the curb in front of your home, "Thanks Kirk, see ya," you said as you opened the door.

"Hey, wait," he called, "Could I maybe spend the night? My dad said it's best I don't go home tonight..." He pursed his lips.

"Oh yeah, sure. My parents aren't in town until Sunday, so... We can watch as many scary movies as we want without getting yelled at to go to sleep," you chuckled.

"Wicked," he pumped his fist, turning off the ignition and hopping out of the car.

"Whaddya wanna watch?" He asked as he followed you to the front door.

"You already know." You turned to him, smirking as you unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Right." He giggled, "Classic."

It wasn't long until the both of you were in your room, Kirk sitting on the bed while you put in the VHS for Creature from the Black Lagoon.

"I'm gonna go change real quick," said Kirk as he stood up, grabbing clothes he'd left there before and walking out your room towards the bathroom.

You also quickly got changed into sweats before he returned. Suddenly hearing your door open, you saw Kirk standing there shirtless, holding his shirt up in one hand.

"Have you been wearing this?" He asked, hiding a smile.

"...No." You replied, trying so hard to keep your eyes on his, but you couldn't help when they moved down to his bare torso. He had already taken off all his makeup

"Okay just making sure you're not the one who absolutely drenched this in vanilla perfume."

You cringed. "Sorry. I mean it's your fault for leaving it here." You held your hands up.

He scoffed and went back to finish changing.

He threw the clothes from his costume in one corner of your room, hopping back on the bed as you left for the bathroom too, to wash your makeup off and brush your teeth.

"Alright, you ready?" You questioned, shutting the door to your room and turning off the light, leaving a little lamp on your desk in the corner of your room.

You sat with your back on the headboard, Kirk laying down, his head in the pillows.

When it began playing, you felt Kirk lay his head in your lap and you instinctively began raking your fingers through his hair. He brought up one of his hands to rest on your shin. At this point, you couldn't help but just look at him, his side profile from above, how perfect he was. Like fuck. Why the fuck is he so perfect?

There wasn't a moment of the day in which you didn't think about him. It made you sad sometimes, that he never acknowledged or noticed it. But then again, you weren't really making it obvious either.

But what made all that disappointment go away was that kiss. You were so annoyed that you kept thinking about it.

You thought about what Jocelyn said. About how he looked "so into it" or whatever. It was hard to forget the feeling of his soft plush lips on yours. Goddamn. And the way he held your face, with such gentleness. How he went back in for another like the first one just wasn't enough.

Here you began thinking about kissing him again. Right here, right now. And if it would get intense, what it could lead to... How good he was in that department.

Trying to pay attention to the movie, you clenched your jaw hard, trying not to let yourself think about those things.

No, not with him right there. When he was gone yes, but not now.

Those thoughts didn't give up. The image of him on top of you just popped into your mind. It wasn't your fault. Your mind trailed off thinking about his hand on your leg, if he got up and moved it up to your thighs... How his calloused fingers would feel touching you in all the right places... It felt like only five minutes had passed but the movie was suddenly over.

"Did you enjoy the 87th time of watching that movie?" He asked out of the blue, lifting himself so that his face was at your level.

"Yes, I did." You replied after a moment.

He got off the bed and walked to the little shelf you had with all your VHS tapes. He bought one for you not too long ago, of a movie that had come out earlier this year called 'Alien.'

You had watched it with him in theaters a few months ago and immediately fell in love with it. That Ripley chick was such a badass.

He put that one on, the package still hadn't been opened so this would be your fourth time watching it. You already watched it three times at the movies.

It began playing and he walked back to sit on the bed again, only this time he sat against the headboard, to your left. Of course you had to lay your head on his shoulder otherwise it would feel weird.

He wrapped his arm around your shoulders, laying his chin on the top of your head, sighing in exhaustion.

Woah, your hair smelled really nice, he noticed.

Now it was Kirk's turn to think about you. That kiss. He had been thinking about it all night since it had happened. It pissed him off that he never thought of you that way and suddenly out of the blue its like all he wanted to do was you. And god, why did he have to go in for another? He thought maybe that gave it all away. Oh but the way you held his hair, god that felt so good. He wanted you to pull his hair and tell him how good he made you feel.

Well shit, Kirk might actually be in love with you too. Hell yeah he's loved you his whole life, but never like this. It's like that kiss opened his eyes or something.

He lifted his head to look at you, just to admire you. You felt this movement and looked back up at him.

Shit, should he say something?

"Is everything okay?" You asked.

He couldn't respond, he opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. God that was embarrassing... All he thought about was kissing you again. He's never been so obsessed over something so little but here he was.

He wondered if you wanted to kiss him as badly as he wanted to kiss you right now.

"Kirk?" You pulled back a little, "Are you okay?" You asked with sincere concern.

"I wanna kiss you again right now." He didn't hesitate.

You just sat there flabbergasted.

Never in a million years would you have thought to hear those words from Kirk.

"...What?" You felt like you heard him wrong.

"Are you messing wi-"

That's when he cut you off and pressed his lips against yours again.

Pulling back, he watched for your reaction.

All you could do was stare between his eyes and lips.

"That was nice." You finally said.

He just smiled and went back in. This time he held the back of your head and pushed your face against his in order to kiss you harder, your hands lifting to rest on his chest. His head turned, syncing the movement of his lips with yours as his free hand slid down to your thigh, dragging it up and down. He slowly slipped his tongue past your lips, teasing yours as you pushed yours against his.

As your tongues danced, the hand on your thigh moved closer to your core, but it felt wrong to touch you before you said he could. So he moved it to your jaw.

The two of you were finally running out of breath so you finally pulled away.

Neither of you said anything, the only noises in the room were that of the movie and both your heavy breaths.

Kirk had finally caught his breath, "I like you. I like like you. And now I really wanna...Touch you..."

You smiled, "Took you about ten years."

"Ten years...?! What?" he looked at you surprised.

"Kirk," you laughed, "I've liked you this whole time, and you notice now?"

He stared at you in disbelief, his face slowly turning a shade of red.

Just the thought of you constantly having him on your mind turned him on. He looked at your lips again, "Sorry," he said before kissing you again. "My whole life has been a lie..." He joked, smiling, pushing his lips against yours once more, then moving to press kisses on your cheeks. He pecked a trail of small kisses all along your jawline, causing you to giggle, until he licked a stripe along your neck.

His hand moved from your face down to your torso, your heart skipping for a second as he began to kiss all over your neck, searching for that one spot until he reached one and you tensed up a little. That's where he decided to suck and bite at, leaving a quite obvious and visible bruise.

He subtly lifted the hem of your shirt, moving his hand under and finally coming in contact with your bare skin, continuing to peck at your neck.

His hand lightly squeezed your waist as he let out a heavy sigh, leaving lingering kisses on your jaw, moving back to kiss your lips once more.

"Can I?" He whispered, his fingers barely sliding under the waistband of your sweats.

"Yeah." You answered, watching his hand as it moved lower. It was then that you noticed a bulge in his pants, it made your face get hot but you didn't say anything about it.

He purposely made his movements slow, his fingers never quite giving you any relief. He liked to tease. But of course, like all horny teenage boys, he was beginning to get desperate. His fingers found your bundle of nerves and he began to rub small circles over the cloth of your panties.

You let out a heavy sigh, "Is that good enough?" He asked, moving his head up to look at you, making sure he was doing a good job.

"Yeah... Feels good, but... More please.." You breathed heavily in between words.

His hand moved up and his fingers reached under the band of your panties, two of his fingers slowly moving up and down your lips, "You're so wet..." He whispered in excitement, a small smile on his face as if he was surprised.

Finally he pushed his middle finger inside you, slowly pumping in and out until he added another. He began moving a bit faster, curling up into just the right spot, making you to let out a small groan.

"Oh, fuck." You said, your eyes shut in pleasure.

His palm began rubbing against your clit, making your legs slightly come together.

"Does that feel good?" He breathed, watching your face just to make sure once again.

"Yes, fuck yeah... Keep going," you moaned quietly.

The movements in his hand quickened, his eyes still on your face as it contorted into visible pleasure, causing him to softly smile to himself.

You leaned up to kiss him and he sighed into it, his fingers scissoring inside you as he kept pumping them in and out. He pulled away and looked down at his hand only to see it disappearing into your pants.

"I'm gonna stop for a bit, okay?" He said, slowly pulling his fingers out.

"What happened?" You asked nervously as you watched him move off the bed.

He began pulling his shirt over his head, and your legs instinctively parted, "What are you gonna do?" You questioned.

"Do you have condoms...?"

You blushed and quickly got up, "Let me go check," you said as you walked out the door, your knees already a little weak.

Kirk noticed this and laughed.

"Shut up," you said as you walked towards your parents room.

It was a little odd thinking that your parents might have this kind of thing and you would actually die if you found what you were looking for on a different occasion, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

You checked your dad's drawers and surprisingly found nothing, so you moved to your moms side and the first thing you saw was exactly what you needed. You grabbed one of the condoms and immediately ran back to your room, closing the door and locking it even if no one would come home.

When you turned around you were met with Kirk sitting on the edge of your bed, propped on his elbows with his head thrown back, waiting for you.

Now there was a very obvious tent in his pants.

"Does this work?" You sat behind him on the bed, holding up the condom as he turned to look at you.

"Yeah..." He leaned in to kiss you again, slowly pushing you to lay back. He lifted himself and helped you take your shirt off, leaving you in your bra and pants.

His pupils dilated, "You're so beautiful," he said as he looked down at your body, leaning up to kiss you for the umpteenth time.

He tugged at the waistband of your pants and pulled them down, you lifted your hips and he was able to pull them all the way off. He then got up and pulled his own off, along with his boxers.

Kirk had a big dick when he was hard. And it was slightly intimidating too.

He leaned back down, keeping one hand free and the other next to your head.

"Will this hurt?" You asked.

He looked at you confused,

"Are you a virgin?"

"No, your dick is just bigger than the others," you replied.

His face got beet red, "Shut the fuck up," he laughed, leaning closer to you and pulling your panties down, inserting his fingers into you once again, making you gasp.

He didn't keep them in for long before pulling them out and bringing his hand down, using your wetness to begin stroking himself. His eyes closed as he sighed.

He opened his eyes again, "Can you open the..." he huffed, "the condom," he asked, watching your hand as you grabbed the small package and ripped it open with your teeth.

"Can you help me put it on?" He looked at you helplessly. He was playing a game and he was good at it.

You moved your hand down and he let go of himself, grabbing onto your wrist as you rolled it on.

It's been so long since you wanted to do this, to have him in your grasp, so you spit on your hand and began slowly jerking him off. He let out a low groan before wrapping his hand around yours and squeezing a little tighter.

Looks like he likes it rough, you thought.

"Oh my fuck, " He whined, shutting his eyes tight and throwing his head back, then leaning down to bury his face into your neck.

Not long passed before he pulled your hand away and huffed, "You ready?" he asked, holding himself closer to you, "Yeah," you answered. Kirk brushed his tip against your entrance, sliding it up and down and smiling at your reactions. He then pushed himself in an inch at a time.

Your jaw fell open along with his, the two of you looking one another in the eyes, your eyes fluttering shut as his own rolled back.

Once he was all the way in, he stopped, moving down to press his lips onto yours.

"You feel so warm..." He breathed.

"Please," you whined, hoping he would understand it was for him to move.

Kirk slowly began pulling out before he pushed back in, slowly picking up his pace until he was thrusting steadily. He bit his lip, trying to suppress a groan you figured. One of his hands brushed down your side, stopping at your thigh to pull it around his waist and give himself more space.

His thrusts got harder before he hit your g-spot. Letting out a low moan, you moved your hands up Kirk's chest and around his shoulders to rest on the back of his neck.

"Kirk," you whimpered and he released a heavy breath as he began to repeatedly hit your sweet spot again.

"Right there," you whispered closing your eyes and grabbing a handful of his hair.

"You're so soft," he sighed. He was slipping in and out fairly easily.

You pulled his hair with one hand, digging your nails into his shoulder blade with the other, causing Kirk to stifle a moan.

Kirk tried going faster, harder, in order to give you the release you needed. He finally let out a high pitched whine, "Fuck," he said with a heavy breath, the sweat already starting to form on both your bodies, his hair sticking to his forehead.

"You—" you cut yourself off with a gasp, "you feel so good," you groaned, tugging harder on his hair.

"Yeah?" He whispered, his exact wish from earlier tonight was actually coming true.

Opening your eyes, you were met with his, gazing at you.

"Hi," you breathed, smiling softly at him.

Kirk slowed down, "Hey," he grinned, leaning down to kiss you once more, his movements coming to a halt.

His lips lingered on yours for a while before he finally pulled back again.

Moving his hand between your bodies, he began rubbing little circles on your clit again before resuming his thrusts. The feeling of his hand along with the movements in his hips caused you to clench around him, squeezing your thighs around his waist.

Kirk weakened at the feeling, his head dropping to your shoulder as his thrusts became sloppy.

"I'm getting close," he whispered next to your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

"Me too," you admitted, running your hands through his hair.

You could feel his burning hot, bare skin sliding against yours. Suddenly your breaths got quicker, your heart rate increased and the coil in your stomach tightened.

"Kirk—" you paused,

"I'm gonna cum," Kirk moaned before you could finish your sentence.

His hips stuttered and he tensed up, finally letting go and relaxing on top of you.

Your back arched as you felt him fill the condom in you, "Kirk please go just a little more," you begged.

He lifted his head to look at you with worry, like he felt he wouldn't be able to do much for you.

Yet he still tried to move, the sensitivity taking over all his senses making a moan escape his throat. His body was quivering along with his movements, "I'm almost there," you said before he released a sigh, continuing his movements. His hand grabbed one of yours, interlocking your fingers and holding it next to your head, squeezing tightly,

"Come on, baby," He groaned, closing his eyes like he was getting dizzy.

Finally you came, your back arching as you clenched around him once again.

Kirk slowed down and finally stopped, "Thank you..." you sighed softly. "Sorry if it was too much."

"That's okay," he smiled up at you, blowing a stray hair from his face, "I told you I'd do anything for you, just say the word. Remember?" he chuckled.

He pulled out slowly before taking off the condom and disposing of it.

Lying next to you, he put his arms around your waist and kissed your cheek, causing you to giggle.

"I love you." He lifted himself to look down at you.

"I love you too, Hammett." you smirked jokingly.

He laughed and plopped back down next to you.

"I can't believe we just had actual sex." He said while staring at the ceiling.

"It sounds odd when you say it like that..." you said as you turned to him, looking at his beautiful profile again.

"Like... I just put my penis inside of you—" You smacked his arm, cutting him off.

"Kirk! Shut up!" You laughed.

He turned to look at you, "I want to be your boyfriend."

You blushed, "...And I wanna be your girlfriend..."

He smiled, a light pink showing on his cheeks.

"But seriously, you tell me that now instead of before you," you held up quotation marks, "put your penis inside of me?"

Kirk let out a loud laugh, holding his hands over his face, "Shut the fuck up."

He sighed, "I love you. Again. Sorry, I don't know how many times I'm gonna say that," he chuckled, looking away a little embarrassed.

"Kirk," you grabbed his face and kissed him, "I love you. You're my best friend. I always have and I always will love you, okay?"

He looked at your lips, "Good," he joked, going back in to kiss you.

Suddenly you heard a scream, the both of you sat up, noticing the alien on the screen of your tv.

"I forgot that was on."

———————

thank you for reading 😙😙

[pure-jeff-ward]

Infinity Con BLISS ! Looking at you Jeff Ward!! :D

Hi dear Jeff Wardians! I also wanted to share my Infinity Con experience with everyone. This was my fifth Con in general (one of them being NYCC!), but this one was genuinely the most chill and best organized one I have been to! When I was in line for the picture with Jeff, I loved that he had Bon Jovi and glam rock music on in the background (although he said he was into Hip Hop also); and I knew he wasn't particularly tall but then again, I'm from the North and men here are around 6.33 or 190m, hehe. So, he looked so dashing in his red sweater and I LOVED his very dark brown, tousled hair, which make his green eyes stand out. I could hear him speaking with people and he was very professional, but also "loud" like the American that he is. Hehe. He said "thank you" to every single person. Such a cutie. When it was my turn, I asked him if he would mind me standing on his other side and he said: Oh yes, of course. Naww. And then the picture was taken, but the photographer checked her camera to see if it was usable and I thought, he would let go immediately after the click, but he kept his arm around me for those 5 seconds more until the photographer nodded her okay that the picture came out usable. And those 5 seconds. Oh boy. How very approachable and sweet of him. He felt soft and smelled absolutely heavenly. Haha. Sorry for the graphics here. Then, there was the autographs. And I must say, each person would have had the time to talk that they needed. Yes, it always feels rushed with the queue/line behind you and I always try to be polite and be quick, because everybody wants a turn. So the guy in front of me had Jeff sign like seven boxes of FunkoPops and Jeff was such a good sport about it and used every pen that the fan handed him etc. I also heard Jeff say to a fan, as I was standing in line, "how can I help, what can I do in whatever way you want" - or similar. Naaw. And when it was my turn, he greeted me and I asked him, if he could write a sentence on my picture and he said: Of course. And I told him what to write and I said: If you remember the lyrics? And he paused and then it hit him and he BEAMED at me and said: Ohhh yeaaah, she is great, isn't she?? (He meant Bat For Lashes, the singer. He was in one of her music videos and I made him write a line from the song on my picture). He told me that his friend directed the video. And after he said the second time: She is such a great artist. I replied: So are you. :) And he looked abashed and said thank you, then I left. <3 What a charming guy. So open and chatty and he asked everyone who came to the table: Hey, how are you? Naaww. And he looked so handsome! I could watch him a bit as he was signing and believe you me, he has a very sharp jawline. And here is something I would like to add. During the Panel someone asked Jeff, if he was feeling better. And told him that a rumor went around that he had been ill and looked it, too, but also looked "fine". I thought that was extremely unnecessary and rude and also a bit dumb to be honest. The way that Jeff replied indicated that he actually had been a bit under the weather, but not ever in a million years, would I speculate on someone's well being, assuming something according to their LOOKS and then saying it to his face! The hell?! I thought he looked absolutely, genuinely healthy and exactly like I imagined he would look like from on screen/pictures. And I felt for him when he tried to ridicule the "you look fine" comment, because that man has humour (!), but it was still unnecessary and I thought he was beautiful. And the Panel was like a 40 minute stand-up comedy show. I think I loved Jeff even more after that, because the energy he had with Taz was so intimate, it was like looking in on an evening they may have had at a bar, joking around. And Jeff had the entire room in stitches! I laughed so hard the entire time. He ripped one joke after the other, he was on fire. Love how quick witted and eloquent he is. Thank you for reading! <3 Oh, and do follow me on Insta, please: bendarkling_fiction

[iced-coffee-jesus]

https://www.tumblr.com/iced-coffee-jesus/767235683936075776/yall-watch-one-episode-where-we-dont-get

Except the majority of the complaints aren’t about buddie?

They are about the lack of progress regarding Eddie and Eddie and Chris.

But some of you guys sit here and think it’s fine to ckmpl about Bucks storylines and keep it separate but the moment people complain about how things are being handled with Eddie it’s an immediate “omg it was one episode not everything is about buddie chill out”

Eddie has had almost zero development. The only thing that has had less development than Eddie at this point is Eddie and Chris’s relationship. Way too much focus is being given to side characters at the expense of the mains. And Eddie is taking the brunt of it.

Another way to look at it? Buck has had some story focus in every single episode this season so far. Including the majority of 8.5 and a chunk of 8.6. With a big thing happening to him at the end of 8.6.

Eddie has been basically background comedy every episode except for a moment or two here or there and then we were told by Tim after 8.5 Eddie would be the focus as he’s now the next big part of the story. Hell even Oliver said in a post 8.5 interview that 8.6 was Eddie’s. But then oh hey it wasn’t. Not really. It was Madney (super excited for their second child 🥹) and BT with some Eddie thrown in. And a big thing happening to him at the end of 8.6.

And this is now where the frustration boils over for 8.7. Buck had at least 3 full scenes given to him as he talked about Tommy, was sad about Tommy, tried to figure out what to do about Tommy. His big thing was addressed. Eddie’s? Not a word. Not a single thing. No one mentioned the mustache being gone. Eddie didn’t mention his new lease to find joy. Not a single word about Chris. Just more comedic relief Eddie in the background. Chris has been gone for month and months now. And per both Peter and Angela in post 8.7 interviews we are getting a time skip when we come back from the winter hiatus which will put Chris as being gone for 10 months when we come back in March. He’s been separated from Eddie that long and zero progress has been made. And that circles back to the frustration with Eddie’s lack of storyline attention because Chris can’t come back till Eddie is taken care of because that’s the entire point of Chris being removed from the narrative. But instead of focusing on any of that at all we get 3 scenes of Buck sad baking over a man who dumped him two different times. We get a scene of Gerrard crying over Brad not liking him.

That’s what people are frustrated about. The only ones making “one episode not about buddie” are those of you who keep saying that and refusing to acknowledge we can be unhappy about the way Eddie is being handled separately from buddie because you refuse to separate Eddie from buddie.

This is such a long rant that I almost didn't answer it, but you pissed me off anon so I will!

The post that you linked to doesn't mention either Buck or Eddie's individual storylines you'll notice, because that isn't what that post is about! I am specifically talking about people freaking about about not getting progression in the buddie storyline in one (1) episode when we had a lot of development in 8x05 and 8x06. That is what that post is about, so please calm down and re-read the post.

I'm not sure if you follow my blog or have seen my posts, but I haven't been complaining about Buck's storyline; I have been annoyed by fandom response to Tommy and people willingly ignoring what has been shown on screen. I think Buck's bisexual storyline has been handled relatively well and I hope to see him casual dating different genders to hammer home that he's bisexual. I am desperate for more resolution on the Chris and Eddie front, but I am also aware that the actor who plays Chris moved away, creating problems for the show that make it harder and not as satisfactory to write a storyline for. I would have loved to see Eddie go to Texas in 8x04 to go get Chris back, but Gavin's availability is different now. I'm also not throwing in the towel when we have an episode left and then the whole of 8b to resolve and get more Eddie episodes.

I completely disagree with you about the Eddie development we have gotten so far. Eddie had more storyline in 8x04 than pretty much anyone else but Hen and Karen, with Eddie seeking out Weston's dad and having moments where we see him missing Chris and feeling like he failed him. We see more of that in 8x05 when he talks to Hen about Chris thinking that Halloween is 'cringe' now, and that he feels like that door has closed and worrying about other potential doors closing. We also see that scene at the end with him taking down the Halloween decorations and the pictures of him and Chris on the mantle, paired with Buck's voice over about dying alone. Plus, the way they show Buck leaning on Eddie and trusting him over Tommy felt important, even if that was more of Buck's story.

And then 8x06 we had very big movement in learning that Eddie is punishing himself and finally decides to choose joy. Eddie has historically been hard on himself and doesn't live for himself or make choices that are about what he wants. He and Shannon got married because they felt pressure from the church, he enlisted to provide for his family, he dates people he thinks would be a good replacement mom for Christopher. I wanted to see Eddie realizing that he needs to value himself and his desires and that doing so doesn't make him a bad father. Seeing Eddie choose joy was huge for his character, and something we saw in bits and pieces in this episode with him being silly and joyful with his teammates. I think Eddie deserves that at this point.

Eddie is my favorite character on 9-1-1, I always want to see more of him. And then episodes like 8x07 happen and I remember it's an ensemble led by Angela Basset. She gets top billing and we are going to have episodes that feature her heavily, even at what may feel like the expense of other characters. In my experience, that's how it is on all shows with a cast as big as 9-1-1's.

I don't know, anon. It feels like you're mad the episode didn't put Eddie back into the torment nexus for one episode and decided to yell at me for fandom takes I don't agree with and didn't say.

[variablejabberwocky]

started watching delicious in dungeon/dungeon meishi (sp?). or as i like to call it

~*AUTISM COOKING DUNGEON*~

dear god y'all have undersold this to me. and like i get it. spoilers and all that. but holy shit

our boy isn't like... "tee-hee little-bit of autistic, just a smidge" like you were all making me think. no no. no, this guy is DEEPLY autistic. we're talking "normally we only give THIS much autism to aliens and robots" kind of autism. the "i need an allistic translator for my social fubars" autism (rip your sister dude). the "i learned a thing! so now im not gonna shut up about it for at least an hour" autism.

and they gave this to THE ONE SINGULAR HUMAN IN THE PARTY. this guy is a HUMAN FIGHTER/KNIGHT-type that is like the MOST BORING/NORMIE shit in a d&d style setting. that is "why are you even playing a fantasy game?" level of normie shit.

and THAT is who gets to be The Party Freak(tm)

i love it. completely unironically/unsarcasticly i love it. they took the "that much autism isn't human anymore" bullshit thats so prolific its basically a trope and went NOPE FUCK THAT NOISE

what i find unforgivable though is that none of you mentioned he's a Kronk too.

boy sounds SO SO STUPID but is so so smart when you actually listen to what the fuck he's on about now (and think on why he's on about it right then). he's a big tank (literally in the fantasy class sense) that just wants to help everyone and do his little special interest shit on the side. and it is on the side because the other two seem like they had no idea it was more than trivia until he didn't have to help micromanage a massive party. like this shit has clearly been on repeat in his brain in the background for A WHILE but he was so busy helping/keeping everyone alive it got shoved aside of his outward behavior unless it was useful. he is a lovable dorky himbo and NONE of you mentioned this.

anyway, i'm also loving the way this whole show is basically only like this because him and senshi are vibing on the same wavelength and the other two are basically just along for the ride to save their friend/part member

the whole thing has a Green Eggs and Ham kind of thing going on with it too. but like...environmentalist about it? like it was more subtle about the whole "hey maybe work WITH your current environment rather than against it" bit and then we found out what senshi normally does and subtlety just went right out the fucking window on that front.

i'm also liking the way it both explores the horrors of dying in a world where being brought back to life is common, while also kind of...poking fun at it? like its reminding me of a thing i heard something like "the difference between comedy and tragedy is how far from it you are" kind of concept.

like they are so fucking ... how the fuck do you spell it blase? with the little "/" over the e. that. the story is so bland in how it handles how people came back from horrific deaths and yet when the characters have to face things that remind them of their own it gets heartbreaking very quickly. but like...chillchuck. goddamn. we get just enough from his perspective that its harrowing but the way its shown to us the reader/viewer is like a comedy skit

cause like...its both.

these guys keep dying/nearly dying to THE. SAME. FUCKING. SHIT.

mage elf is slimebait, chillchuck is basically Dungeon Canary with an emphasis on mimics, and himbro over here is gonna get himself killed trying to pet/eat a new monster no one else knows about at some point. probably why his sister seems to have specialized in healing magic.

i know the fandom is thinking once they get his sister back that she's gonna be Just Like Him but i think it would be much funnier AND more 'realistic' if they were classic autism-adhd alliance but siblings about it. like him being better at staying on a task and her being better at navigating social cues and shit. and both of them with their own little special interest energy. i'm betting her's is magic. and thats why even magic elf is like "omg shes so good at magic i'm no where near that level" about it. i mean its also the lesbianism but there IS more to that than thirst from what i've seen.

anyway i'm 6 episodes into what seems to be 12 available on netflix and i'm already hooked. might have to see if i can get my hands on the manga or something too

[trans-het]

Transmasc Manga Reccomendations

OK so I have a anime planet list of transmasc manga but since anime planet doesn't have every manga that features a transmasc in it, I'll be putting it here! This is specifically transmasc cuz A. I am transmasc and B. if I tried to name every manga with a transfem this post would be too long, if u want good resources on how to look for trans characters in manga I'd recommend checking the transgender character tag in baka updates manga!

I'll also add TWs in case u need it though in general these stories deal with topics of homophobia and transphobia

After School Mate:

The final chapter just came out so now's a good time to read it! It's sweet, not the best tbh (very simplistic and the story is kind of boring) but it's a wholesome slice of life

Bokura no VR

One shot, a comedy but doesn't treat the trans character like a bit, pretty good, but doesn't focus on transness

Boys Run the Riot

I (personally) don't like Boys run the Riot BUT it does the job! It's nice, the themes are a bit heavy handed and it makes some....shitty ass points but hey I'll take any representation !

Claudine

TW for suicide if reading

Personally, I didn't really like it LMAO just cuz of how wordy it is (a lot of old, historical manga is incredibly wordy, take Paris no Ken as an example) but it's pretty good !

Family Compo

TW for sexual assault

Ok so like. This is bad <3 Read it if u want but don't expect anything

Fire Punch

TW for sexual assault, zoophilia/beastiality, a LOT of gore, nudity, and a lot of sex jokes LoL

Fire Punch is very good, if u haven't heard of it it's the first serialized manga by the Chainsaw Man guy ! It's better than Chainsaw Man imo but I have terrible taste and I think a trans person being in a story elevates it to god tier status LMAO but there's also a lot of heavy subject matter (if u couldn't tell from the TWs) so read with caution (but it's very good if u do choose to read it, it's my favorite manga)

G. I. D

Not translated BUT I have raws if anyone wants to...y'know...translate it.....hi :3

Haikei Seken Sama

Also not translated (except for a shitty translation I made I never uploaded cuz it's bad) but it's pretty good!

Heart no Daiya

The transmasc in this manga is a very minor character but I actually really like him LMAO would recommend

Honey & Honey

Mainly about a sapphic couple BUT a LOT of the secondary cast are trans men (also I think the writer ends up getting with one of the trans men in the story so good for her!)

Level E

Would heavily reccomend! It's good and has a happy ending :3

My Hero Academia

Never watched or read but Tiger exists so I have to put it on here LoL

Orange Sweet Olive Blossoms

Ok so this is incredibly debatable BUT the main character declares they are a man and had seen themselves as a man for their whole life so.....I'm counting it

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare

Tbh this is a good manga I just remember none of it ! The trans character is a background character with a pretty short plotline but it's a good read regardless

Paros no Ken

Same case with Claudine of being really wordy, but still good! I really like the main character LMAO

Sakura-Chan to Amane-Kun

My icon.....um I like this one a normal amount ! Please read it it's so cute

Seton Academy: Join the Pack

Don't read <3

Shonen Note: Boy Soprano

Also debatable, but a character is implied to be transmasc (though never fully stated)

Sket Dance

REALLY minor character who shows up in the last dance arc, but really cute story! Would recommend

Stop!! Hibari-Kun

Trans guy only shows up in one chapter but also I love him, please read

The Gay Who Turned Kaiju

Good manga! Have only read once, but I liked it :3

To Strip the Flesh

ALSO really good! Would recommend. I'm running out of things to say

Villain

Main supporting character is transmasc non-binary I think ? Idk there's only been four chapters so I'm not too sure

Wandering Son

TW for sexual assault

Kinda boring but I'd still give it a shot! I have never fully read it through tho LMAO

Welcome to room #305

Pretty cute! I never read the full manga (only the arc about the trans character) but I liked what I did read

Yuureitou

TW for sexual assault, a lot of nudity, a lot of blood/death, trans misogyny

I wish I could recommend this one cuz I LOVE THIS MANGA but also.....a lot of it is terrible....but I love it.....if u wanna read it I'd recommend it just heed the warnings please!

Yuzu no Koto

Pretty cute! I'm running out of things to say LoL

Zenbu Kimi No Sei

TW it's an ecchi manga....so....nudity and fan service...a lot of it

A gender bender ecchi manga BUT it does have two transgender characters (one of them got a major plotline recently) and tbh it's pretty well written! I'd recommend it

Chiguhagu

Good! I liked it

Silkscreen

Only read this once but it was really good from what I recall!

Croquis

TW for sexual assault

Ok so this is gay porn so be 18+ to read it, tho it's cute!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Off to London tomorrow, then to Edinburgh. Middle of the night, I can't sleep, I'm re-watching those ACMS 2019 videos to try to mentally prepare myself for whatever's going to happen when I go see ACMS this year.

I listen to a lot of audio-only comedy, I think it's often the best way to enjoy comedy if you can't physically be in the room. An audio recording with nothing cut out from the beginning to the end, I can close my eyes and feel like I'm there more easily than I can while watching a video special that's been edited and keeps interrupting the flow with changes in the shot or cuts to the audience (or, more egregiously, things like commercial breaks or swear words getting censored). Not to mention the knowledge that I'm seeing an edit, even if they haven't cut out much. Livestreams like what you get on NextUp can get around this nicely, I like those much better than a special that's been cut up for TV, because at least I know that what I'm seeing is exactly what happened on the night. But still, I find audio versions more immersive in some ways. As I said some time ago, if you can't be in the actual room where stand-up is happening, the way to go for experiencing it has to be the two Bs of audio-only comedy - Bandcamp and don't worry about the other one.

Obviously the exception to this is comedy with a lot of visual elements, which will be better in video form than in audio-only. There have been times when I've heard an audio comedy recording, thought I didn't miss anything because I didn't hear any cues that suggested an important act-out was happening, but then I've been able to see a video of that show and realized there was a lot going on with facial expressions and things that I'd missed on audio. So I guess video does help, even with straightforward storytelling comedy. But it definitely helps with less straightforward stuff, anything with more physical comedy.

I've seen videos of clowning-type comedy, and I often don't get it, though that's not universally true. I liked Laid and Nate by Natalie Palamides. I definitely did not get everything out of them that a person with a proper understanding of theatre would, but I'm not a complete Philistine, I could see what she was doing and that was fun. Then again, last year I watched the NextUp stream of that guy who falls over on banana peels and could not for the life of me understand where the comedy was. I did try. I made myself watch the whole hour of Elf Lyons' Swan, in case you need to see the whole thing for it all to come together, and by the end still did not get it one bit. I'm sure she's very very good at what she does, but I don't understand it.

I wonder, for some of the really physical things like that, if the issue is that to get those, audio-only isn't nearly enough, but video-only isn't really enough either, you just need to be in the room. Maybe if I were physically in a room with a guy falling on banana peels, I'd understand exactly what it's funny. That is why I have booked a ticket to ACMS this year. I figure I'll go be in a room with lots of different types of comedy, some accessible and some experimental clown things, I hope no magic or puppets that night I go because I really struggle to get on board with that but I'll do my best to have an open mind, and I'll see what it's like to actually be in the room. Surely a basement room (I don't know if it's actually a basement, sure looks like one in the videos) room that seats 100 people, at 2 AM at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has to be the best way to see experimental physical comedy. If I can't get into it then then I'll accept I just do not have the theatre kid background for this.

Anyway, I'm re-watching bits of the videos from when they streamed ACMS online from Edinburgh 2019, and I like John-Luke Roberts (hey there's some experimental comedy that I'm into, I've seen a few of his solo shows and enjoyed them, though to be honest I didn't get much out of the physical setup in those shows and I mostly just laughed at the words he was saying in a way that would have been just as good on an audio-only recording) and Thom Tuck, but I have been reminded, by that one night where they both had to use stand-ins, that Alice Fraser and Andrew O'Neill are a great double act.

I was going to cut out of a bit of their co-compering to make this point, but then I realized I didn't have to, I already had the above clip cut out. Which I cut out a while ago so I could post it on Tumblr and say it made me want to get a tattoo on my forearm that says "If Daniel Kitson were here, I'd be trying a lot harder." That's a good rule for life.

That, of course, led me to re-watch some of the other videos that initially sparked my unaccountable obsession with Chocolate Milk Gang-era Edinburgh Festival history, the time about two years ago when I accidentally came across these two videos in the middle of the night and vowed not to rest until I find out everything related to whatever the fuck was going on in them:

I've just watched that second video - entitled Cowgate because it occurred in the rebuilt venue after a fire in a Cowgate neighbourhood and also because there's a cow in it - to check and see whether I've built its weirdness up in my head too much, and on watching it back it's not a big deal. Nope. Still the weirdest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life. I still feel just as much of a need to understand it. I have more questions than ever.

I did almost buy tickets to Adam Hills this year, just so I could say I'm going to the UK and seeing everyone involved in Cowgate that I can (I'm seeing Kitson in London, DO'D in Edinburgh, John Oliver and Demitri Martin and Flight of the Conchords have moved on with their lives, but Adam Hills is performing in Edinburgh this year). And not just for that, I did watch several hundred episodes of The Last Leg and all of Adam Hills' previous stand-up specials because I like the guy. But I also stopped watching The Last Leg last year because I couldn't take their pro-monarchy stuff around the queen death and coronation, Hills in particular got really annoying about it, and there were a few other things that added up to make me go off him, and I can't use up Edinburgh time on a guy I've gone off just because he sang the wrong Eminem song while some guys tore apart a facsimile cow in 2003. I mean, you can't live your life that way. Maybe I should get that rule tattooed on my arm too.

I still don't think anyone has ever looked happier about anything, than Daniel Kitson did about David O'Doherty accusing him of lying about having a stutter on stage in 2003. It's the happiest anyone has ever looked.

I've gone down a small rabbit hole of other old Edinburgh YouTube clips that I found when I first fell down that rabbit hole 2 years ago. Falling down it tonight was far easier because I don't have to search YouTube for it, I've got them all saved now. I'm a big fan of the moment in this video where you can see Andy Zaltzman look like he's suddenly realized where he is and no idea how he got there or why he would have appeared in the middle of this crowd:

There's an extended version of that clip in the Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy, a 4-part BBC Scotland documentary about the show that I was also re-watching bits of tonight, in which you can see the set-up before they started that song. There's a hilarious moment where Adam Hills is yelling into the room that every comedian needs to come on stage for the big finale, and while he's yelling this, Daniel Kitson is conspicuously walking across the stage and disappearing into the wings, not to be seen again during that song.

This post started out being about one thing and ended up being about other things. That happens sometimes. All things I've posted before, but the night before I fly to the UK seemed like a good time to go over them again. There are a million more things, but I don't need to post them all again. There's a lot of stuff in the YouTube rabbit holes.

[theheromira]

Nimona appreciation post Part 5

Hi Guys, it's me again. The last weeks were a bit stressful, but hey, know I got my drivers license (I'm a bit old to do it now, but welp, never really needed it) ^^ Anyway, let's go right in with part 5 :)

- starting the next part and the first thing I'm hearing is Todd, greeaaatt (not) - nice that Mansley has a guest appearance - and Todd being an immature child right after trying to be mature, not surprising… it's kinda funny how he says butt tbh - the dialog of the knights in the background also is kinda fun, especially that "so sad though" - aaand, now the knights in the background already start accusing of Amb helping Bal, which got me really feeling like he also wasn't liked by the knights that much - liking the look on the directors face when she looks up to see the giant whale-shaped hole - nice that they clarify it, that the showers are destroyed (I just like little comedy-quibs like that, which you don't entirely expect) - Amb being in the literal spotlight while Todd accuses him of workingwith/helping Bal - Rhinos will now forever be big fat unicorns to me, change my mind - that emphasis on "common" in common children makes me feel like the director (and the institute for that matter) see commoners as less than them or not even really as humans - no way, Todd was born?? (don't know if that's a dig on the guy who wrote that dialog or if it's probs for howing how dumb Todd is lol) - ngl, that Todd doesn't say "one" when he say there are two things he wants and then omitting the two entirely triggers me everytime… like: my guy, count correct or not at all - also his sword doesn't look that big tbh - you can literally see the moment Amb decides to be the boss of the hunt on Bal, when Todd says he's gonna make it hurt - Todd being all like: yeah, yeah, you're not gonna get that role and the director being blinded enough by her little blood purity thing that she literally glosses over the fact that everyone there prob knows he and Bal were very close - Nimona doesn't do "drawing no attention" - that poor mouse btw, it's gotta get a heart attack any second - love the "I was going for the hurting people version" - "Buh! I'm a ghost." lol and it works to not draw the attention of the guy walking past lol - Love the line delivery right after the ghost part and Nims slap to his face as a reaction lol - "unclench your mustache" is now one of my favourite sayings when someone is behaving as if he/she has a stick in their butt - she had to ask what the worst that could happen would be - the attack wasn't bad enough to be called horrific, was it? - love that she again tries to let Bal question the stuff he learned from the institute - he thinks like two seconds about her "Soo, maybe there's nothing there." and you can see for a split second how he slips before he irons himself out and gets back in his brainwashed "knowledge" - love how she looks a bit sad there when he tell her no wings he will want them later 100%

Soo, that was a short one again. Next one will come out this weekend, promise. Until then, bye bye :)

[silent-raven13]

On Wednesdays we wear pink

Pavtri happily showing Gwen his update vlog on his life: Hehehe, look I totally added this cute cat holding a cup of Chai character on the side! I'm loving this new feature for Spdr So-City app! Lyla is a genius. -Lyla heard this went she sent a happy chibi sticker in his Smartphone being pleased by the new update-

Gwen saw his socials being completely customize: Wow, I just put a black background filter with white fonts, the bright white hurts my eyes at night. -Pav's background had a colorful Mandala pattern and his profile picture being updated-

Pavtri: Awe, no cool posters? No Barbie. Dats pretty boring... it's giving basic!

Gwen fake gasps: Not you calling me basic! I got no time to go all web design like you!

Pavtri: But it's so much fun. Lyla made it like Myspace, very old school but better and advanced!

Gwen: Myspace? Wow, that's so crazy! I wasn't even there when dat happen.

Pavtri giggles: Me neither. Anyway, I'm seeing everyone's page and some of them had already updated their page! -Showing Gwen of their close friends' So-City pages- I really like Peni's

Gwen nodded: Yeah, I think her's is pretty sweet. -Her blue eyes spotted Hobie wearing pink along with Miles- Ohh looks like the love birds are here.

Miles holding his boyfriend's hand with a smile on his face: Hey guys, what's up!

Pavtri: OMB, you two look so cute in pink! What's the occasion?

Hobie shrugs: On Wednesdays we were pink! -This made Miles laugh-

Gwen caught the joke and giggle: Ohhh I get you.

Pavtri looks confused: What? Is that a thing?

Miles: You never watched Mean Girls?

Pavtri: No! What is dat? Wait, I don't think my world has that... maybe... ugh, curses multidimensional changes!

Hobie chuckles: Neither my world. Sunflower was joking around with Ganks and I was miffed.

Miles: I had to explain to him about some Mean Girls joke since Danika, Ganke's girl loves that movie. We always watch it when she's in the mood for it. Anyway me and Hobie watched it, and he thought it would be funny to wear pink since today is Wednesday.

Hobie: Movie was okay. Not my cup of tea. Found the jokes tasteless.

Gwen: I never knew she would like Mean Girls then again, she does like Heather.

Hobie arched his eyebrow: What's that one about?

Miles rub his chin: It's an 80s movie and I think you'll like it. Same concept three mean girls name Heather and a girl name Veronica. Veronica like this bad boy and they kill the main Heather, it's focus on toxic love? -He eyes Gwen thinking he got the movie-

Gwen: Kinda. There's a lot going on.

Hobie didn't look pleased: I can't stand Bullies, Sunflower.

Miles: Then maybe you'll like But I'm just a cheerleader. -he knows his boyfriend has a complex taste in movies. Sometimes he criticize the shit out one if he doesn't like it and he rarely watches them. If anything he mostly stick to Horror/thriller or psychological films. Anything that he can dissect. Comedy is always a hit or miss, he did find Hangover assuming.-

Pavtri whines: I wanna see Mean Girls! Can we have a movie night to watch!

Miles: Sure! It's a cult classic!

Gwen: Maybe we should watch Rocky Horror Picture Show, too. I know, you haven't watched it yet.

Hobie gasps at his Sunflower: LUV, you never saw it! -Now that's one of his favorite movies-

Miles: Sorry, bae! I never felt ready to watch it... I dunno doesn't-

Hobie cut him off: No, we're gonna watch it! You'll find it amazing! In my world, we do a full blown show and wreak havoc on the streets all for Anarchy! We'll watch it tonight!

Gwen: Maybe we can do Saturday? I'm free that time.

Pavtri looks at his schedule: Me too!

Miles nodded: Same.

Hobie: Alright, Saturday. At your place, luv?

Miles agreed: Sure, I'll let Danika know. She loves that movie like gurl will make a Mean Girls party. I wouldn't be surprise if we have to dress up.

Pavtri's eyes gleam: I still have my Barbie shirt! We can all wear pink!

Gwen: I totally want to be Janis.

Miles: Hahaha, I'll let ya know.

Hobie kisses his boyfriend's cheek: Luv, you would have to wear the Christmas outfit. -His body turns even more brighter and sparkling hearts appeared-

Pavtri blushes: Opp! I dunno what that means but by the looks of it, it gotta be dirty!

Gwen cracks up seeing Miles' shocking face: Hahaha, Miles have to do the dance and wear knee high boots!

Miles flick his boyfriend's forehead: BONK! Go to Horny Jail! -he huffs-

Hobie whines and begs for his sweet Sunflower to wear the outfit, but Miles ignores him. Gwen had to show a picture to Pavtri about the outfit and dance scene so he understood. Of course, the two were teasing Miles to do it, too.

[mx-piggy]

I've decided that I'm going to be reviewing every episode from the new season of Futurama. No one asked, but, hey, it's my blog and I like to think people may have mild interest in my opinion. So, here are my thoughts on 'Children of a Lesser Bog'.

Once again, if you wanna chat about the episode in the notes (comments, rbs) or via DMs, feel free!

I really enjoyed this episode, I think more than I enjoyed the Impossible Stream. With the Impossible Stream, you had the novelty of 'hey, new Futurama!', with an okay story and some good jokes. But, I feel like this episode worked better for me because I adore when Futurama allows itself to examine its characters in stories that have a genuine sense of emotion. Plus, I'm biased because I love Amy and it was really great to see a rare moment of her explored in so much depth. I feel like there are only a handful of episodes that focus on Amy, and even fewer that are so genuinely touching.

The plot was actually really good, in my opinion. I assumed the writers were just going to do something a little sitcom-y with Kif and Amy becoming parents and struggling to balance everything, so I liked the way the story went with Kif being away from his family and trying his best to get home to them, and Amy struggling to cope with motherhood as well as experiencing insecurity. I like how the plot was resolved in a genuinely heart-warming way, with the conclusion of Amy's love for her kids being more important than any biological link to them she lacks. Also, I'm interested to see how they handle this idea of Kif and Amy being parents going forward. In the Comedy Central years, they preferred to maintain the status quo of the show (hence Fry and Leela's muddled relationship), so I'm wondering if being on Hulu will mean that the show will be less afraid of shifting the status quo.

So, I want to get my more negative thoughts out the way before moving onto things that I liked/loved, since I'd rather emphasise the positives of the episodes considering I had a very positive opinion of the episode overall.

I only really noticed it in this episode, but a lot of my issues with the animation/writing from the Comedy Central era of the show, and probably before then, too, is how the show has a tendency to have very limited animation when a group of characters are gathered together but only a few of them are actually talking. It always feels clumsy and odd because there'll be so many characters just standing there, not reacting to what's going on, which is out of character for most of them. I understand that it's not really the fault of the animators and that it's a tough industry. It only really registered in this episode because of how it was strange to see Zapp just standing there in the background expressionlessly, without having said anything in the episode (or even this season, to my recollection) prior. Also, it was odd to see the Planet Express crew just watching on with unchanging expressions and without saying anything as the Grand Midwife threatened to take Amy's kids away in a genuinely heart-wrenching scene. I just wish there was more reactivity to the characters in the background, to make the characters feel more fully realised and as though they have meaningful relationships to one another. Otherwise, it has the same lifeless quality to most of Family Guy and its various knockoffs.

A problem I had with this episode specifically is that I found it a little contrived that Leela would forget that she knocked up Kif because the writers needed an excuse to exposition dump information that a lot of the audience would remember. It felt very out of character for her. In general, not a lot of this ‘reminder’ dialogue felt natural. I'm worried that this will happen in the show going forward when it continues plotlines from previous episodes (e.g. Parasites Regained). I feel like it's kind of a time-waster to have them spend almost five minutes of a 24-minute-long episode reminding the audience of information they could easily access from rewatching Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch if they don't remember it. I feel like they would have cut this part of the episode out if it was airing on TV rather than on a streaming service, because of the differences in time-strictness.

That said, Sex Across the Universe and drunk Leela were pretty funny to me, so I guess I can somewhat get over this issue.

This is a very personal issue for me, and it's that I feel like Zapp didn't have as much of a presence in this episode compared to previously in the show. Don't get me wrong, I think it's fine for there to be an episode that has Kif and Zapp in it but has Kif be the focus rather than Zapp. What I mean is that Zapp is this larger-than-life character who has some of the funniest lines in the show even when he's a minor character in an episode, and I just didn't get that from him in this episode.

The show feels very different just vibe-wise compared to the original run and the Comedy Central run, but I feel like, at times, the CC run could also feel a little lifeless, if that makes sense. I don't know how to describe it, really. With the original run, there was always a sense of life to it, without any moment feeling like 'dead air'; maybe it was because of the animation had more of a human touch- or feels that way, anyway- than the more recent instalments of the show. But, the style and delivery of jokes at times have felt increasingly slow and empty to the point of feeling clumsy. It's something I've always felt about Futurama as well as the Simpsons, but I have no idea if I've effectively articulated it.

Now, onto the more positive things!

I'm so happy that they've finally figured out how to handle Amy and Leela in a way that doesn't feel irritating and at least mildly sexist. In the past, I've really hated how they've had the two main female characters of the show be so unpleasant to each other, whilst the male characters can get along just fine and have close, meaningful bonds. Like, it just felt like a bunch of male writers saying 'we think women are two-faced and catty so Leela and Amy will just be like that'. I'm in the process of writing a fic that explores Amy's harsh treatment of Leela as a result of the envy Leela causes her, because I'm so unhappy with their canon relationship and I wanted to see them to have a kind of meaningful relationship. Actually, I found it interesting that the conflict between Leela and Amy in the episode is sparked by Amy's jealousy.

After this episode where they have some of the most pleasant interactions between them out of the whole show, I'm actually optimistic that the show will make Amy and Leela have a pleasant relationship after this episode, though I can only hope they can have a somewhat meaningful relationship going forward, in the same way Fry and Bender have one.

I actually think the conflict between Leela and Amy in the episode is perfectly understandable and logical, more so than the random catty comments Amy would make at Leela's expense in the prior seasons. This time, Amy's actually really hurt and insecure about her kids favouring Leela over her. I feel like it was a good, compelling storyline, not only looking at Leela and Amy's relationship to one another but also examining the broader theme of motherhood or parenthood as a whole, and how Amy may not be the kids' biological mother, but she is their mom and she loves them. And, I really like how they didn't go down the route of Leela trying to take the kids away from Amy. I feel like it's a plot line you could kind of justify because of Leela's own issues with being an orphan and whatnot, but it wouldn't have been in character for her, at least in my opinion. I really liked how they positioned Leela as the kids' aunt, rather than her being jealous of Amy for having kids.

There were a lot of funny jokes in the episode, and I've compiled them into a bullet point list:

Bender coming third in Masterchef Junior.

The noise the Professor makes when his mouth is stuck together by the honey.

‘Buy A Church’ and ‘reassure Kif’ on Amy's schedule

Axl (the biggest of the three kids) in the stroller was a funny visual gag.

Kif being one of those wine moms with his mineral water.

Zapp's pleading cries as he is dragged into cave- it reminded me of Love's Labours Lost in Space, with Billy West's hilarious delivery of 'oh, God, no!'

“AND STAY AWAY FROM MY SCROTUMS!!”

"Daddy’s coming to tuck you in. To your graves.”

“Scruffy’s stuff gets around.”

Visual gag of Kif ripping off his shirt and proceeding to fold up his skirt.

“I did what a daddy had to do.”

Other little things I liked, compiled into a bullet point list:

I'm happy that they replaced Billy West as Mr. Wong’s voice actor. Sort of unrelated, I'm hoping that the King of the Hill revival does the same for Kahn.

I really liked how the kids kept going over to Leela. The first time especially, it was really funny.

Also, the kids were really cute! I like how they were different ages (physically/developmentally, anyway), because I feel like it'd feel too cliché if they were all babies. I don't know why; I think it'd just make it feel too sitcom-y having Amy and Kif take care of babies.

I loved Aunt Leela; it was nice seeing her interact with them.

I really liked seeing Zapp and Kif in action together. I feel like it's something surprisingly rare on the show to have Zapp and Kif doing something that doesn't directly involve the Planet Express crew, so it was interesting to see them together on a DOOP mission.

[roopnavarro]

Speculation: Bullet Farmer Recast

As of the time of this writing, we don't know who will be playing the Bullet Farmer in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." We don't have hard confirmation that the character will even appear, but since we're seeing a younger Joe and a location that could be the Bullet Farm, I think it's reasonable to speculate that our dearly beloved bandolier-clad warlord could return. And speculation can be fun, so let's dive in.

Who would be playing the Bullet Farmer? Glancing at the cast list on IMDB and some leaked photos, something stood out to me. I think it's possible that David Collins is our new Kalashnikov.

Let's start with some basics. Collins is a 54-year-old Australian comedian. Richard Carter, the OG Bullet Farmer, also had a background in comedy. (Hoping this means we get some more deadpan snarking and hammy moments in the film.) Also, Collins' facial structure is vaguely similar.

A degree of likeness is no guarantee, of course. However, there are some leaked set photos and social media posts that have me wondering about the nature of Collins' character. Mad Max Bible, a fairly reliable source for leaks, has speculated that Collins could be playing the Farmer. (Again, just speculation.)

Let's see how Collins will look in the movie.

These are images he posted on Instagram. Seems like his character will have long-ish hair and a beard. Not very Kalashnikov, so who knows. Now let's look at some leaked set photos.

Interesting goggles, wish we could see them better. Here's another look.

...Interesting headgear. The headgear, goggles, and overall outfit are kind of giving Kalashnikov. Kind of like a stripped-down, bullet-free version of his usual look, with the baggy combat fatigues seen below all those bandoliers.

It's also worth noting that Collins was flown to the set along with Matuse Paz and CJ Bloomfield, two guys who would look fantastic as Bullet Farm imperators. These three seem to be hanging out a fair bit, based on what Collins has on his Insta page.

And again, it's entirely possible that we haven't seen the Bullet Farmer yet. Or that the character won't be in the film. Collins could be playing someone completely unrelated. But hey, no harm in speculating, especially if we acknowledge we're just taking shots in the dark. Pun intended.

[bluepoodle7]

#Shezow #ThinkingAboutReviewingEachEpisode #MakinBank #Sheviews #MyThoughts

This is the only episode I remember watching during the summer when the Hub network first aired Shezow.

This title card gives me Sonic the hedgehog 1 start screen vibes.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) - The Cutting Room Floor (tcrf.net)

This show has a guitar hero like VR game and I also like guy's green spikey hair rock star hair.

I had to look up if there even was a VR guitar hero but there is a game similar to it.

I like it that when when Guy grabbed Maz into camo outfits he already had a sidekick character ready called Dan-o-flage.

Maz just saying there's a changing room while Guy is in Shezow form yet Maz is wearing stolen camo outfit.

I didn't see him pay for it unless he got it off screen.

Anyways the Little Moochers remind me of the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz but do crime and they all have helium voices.

I like it that Shezow just joke about the bank not having a drive thru while also causing property damage by hulk smash breaking in the bank.

Couldn't Shezow just sneak through the vents or sneak around the back to cause less property damage?

Guy almost blew his cover as Shezow since he didn't do the fake female voice but good thing everyone was too busy with the crime to notice.

The battle music gives me Splatoon vibes 2:51-3:14.

I like it that Maz is useful and helping the bank hostages leave the scene safely while the battle is still happening.

I like it that it's canon that everyone knows that Shezow is sidekick less and gets called out on why Maz is here.

But I'm glad this cartoon gave the sidekick something to do instead of just having them be there.

My favorite pose for Shezow and the guard keeps messing up Dan-o-flage's name by calling him something other than his sidekick name.

Maz gets no credit since he helped move those people to safety while Shezow was busy fighting villains but all he gets is a pity clap from a random background character with no name.

But life be like that though.

Guy's expression is like "Hey there some money under my boot and don't mind if I do."

Which he shouldn't do and also where are the camera's in the bank that would catch Shezow stealing?

Also the autograph paper is the beta pitch design for Shezow which is a nice touch.

I remember seeing that design online when looking up the show at the time the show got cancelled and wanted to know more about it.

SheZow – Moody Street Kids (moodystreetproductions.com)

SheZow on Behance

This has the beta Shezow design photo as a silhouette that Shezow was signing as a autograph.

DHX Media Acquires Rights to Australian animated comedy series "SheZow!" (cartoonbrew.com)

Also there is a Shezow Cosplay outfit online but no bootleg plush of Shezow yet that I know about.

COWOWO Game SheZow Cosplay Costume SheZow Jumpsuit Bodysuit Cloak Halloween Uniform Men Carnival Cos Party Outfits Clothing - AliExpress

I like that the cops come in at the last minute to try to stop the crime but Shezow and Maz already got it.

Also I want a episode where it's just Guy's cop dad and his cop sidekick in a episode.

Like Shezow (Guy) just let's him have a cool hero moment to make him feel better maybe his dad would be less angry at Shezow.

I like it that the background music in the bank is just the Shezow theme but a elevator version of it and slower in speed.

It's a nice touch.

I like it that Guy's guitar strings broke in the VR game which symbolizes his guilt for stealing the money.

The only way Guy could get the full money back as a refund he might need the receipt but if it's a game store the game console might lose value.

I know from experience.

Apparently in Megadale 500 dollar bills exists but I'm not sure if the USA $500 is a thing you can still use.

Maz says "That's gangster." like a nerd thinking he's cool.

Also the show mentions that the cameras were on to record Shezow stealing and the secret identity thing which is a first for a cartoon calling itself out.

Most just pretend that cameras at the bank are not everywhere but the show did the oh yeah the bank didn't see the video so now you have a time limit thing.

This is before Tik Tok was a thing where everyone had cameras and recorded everything.

Oh yeah Shelia says there is a rule if Shezow steals literally anything then the shero will just shrink out of existence.

This is another reason I remembered this episode.

Later Guy proceeds to make fun of leprechauns and jockey's so basically small people.

I like how Guy is not freaking out that he is becoming Ken doll sized and is like this is fine then gets told it's a Shezow side effect that Guy will become Antman small.

Guy calls it Sherinkage and Shelia calls him a thug to his tiny face.

It's cool that the store returned Guy's stolen money VR game consle with a full refund even though Maz had the receipt.

Most stores wouldn't take it back without the receipt or give store credit instead of the full amount.

Also Guy returned it as a tiny being and I'm surprised no one thought he was a bug and tried to squish him or any animal wanting to eat him.

I would love to see that side of the episode.

Also the ring doesn't work when the side effect is in play so that's a nice touch to the lore.

Also is it double stealing if you destroy the bank camera footage?

Also the short jokes are everywhere and I like how Guy's voice is normal while the Little Moochers voices where helium sounding.

Also the cops like donuts joke thing.

Also Kelly holding mini Guy is a weird out of context image if you have never seen the show.

Oh the show found a loophole where someone else or a outside force has to destroy the evidence.

Also the show called out Maz for not paying for his outfit and gaslight him like the police is there.

But Maz still got away with not paying for his outfit but Maz doesn't have powers so it's good.

I give this a 8/10.

Fun Fact in the dub of the anime Mix Master there is a character called Chino who has the same voice actor as Guy Hamdon.

I got a request a long time ago that doesn't exist anymore of Guy in his VR rock gear guitar rocking with Chino from this anime.

They were both on model but in sketch form not colored in.

This episode made me remember this anime was a thing and I might review this too.

Chino (Card Wang: Mix Master) - MyAnimeList.net

---------------------

Some weird gross bootleg apps I found for Shezow but I wouldn't upload them if I were you.

Little Doctor Ear For: Shezow Version | Apps | 148Apps

Dentist Game for Shezow Version | Apps | 148Apps

Quiz Game for Shezow | Apps | 148Apps

---------------------

A Shezow plush that might be either Etsy made or fanmade.

I'm trying to find this plush but I found the store that is a spanish store that is in the red and white color with the price tag.

Resultados de la búsqueda por: 'felpa' (laparisina.mx)

Image not mine but link is there.

shezow peluche - Meme by GrillAndEggs :) Memedroid

(Images and video not mine but links are there.)

SheZow S01E02 Making Bank & Super Sidekick - YouTube

Mix Master King of Cards | Episode 01-1 | NEW Episode | Cartoon | Animation | Anime - YouTube

[hbmmaster]

I posted 2,809 times in 2022

That's 1,025 more posts than 2021!

209 posts created (7%)

2,600 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@396

@ellielol

@hotvampireadjacent

@dingdongyouarewrong

@metroid-fusion

I tagged 442 of my posts in 2022

#always reblog - 88 posts

#hbmmaster - 53 posts

#cute - 39 posts

#long post - 12 posts

#ai generated - 6 posts

#world heritage post - 4 posts

#tgp spoilers - 3 posts

#girl - 3 posts

#great post guys - 3 posts

#me i love leaving - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#it's because of the scene where the employees of warioware seize the profits wario made from their unpaid labor by force

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

6,645 notes - Posted November 4, 2022

#4

mario movie predictions

(for context I’m writing this before the trailer has been released)

this will not be a “good movie”

unfortunately, it also won’t be bad in interesting ways

you’ll definitely be able to tell that many people who worked on this care about the source material. background details will be filled with deep-cut references to things from across the whole franchise, including things nintendo hasn’t acknowledged in decades

those will be completely overshadowed by the lore references in the script, which are the most Dorkly-ass nostalgia bait “hey remember Mario?” type gags a committee of soulless writers could come up with

it’s (at least partially!) an origin story, obviously, but they’re not allowed to deviate from established “canon” enough to come up with anything interesting. the best they can do is reference relatively lesser-known games like Wrecking Crew. they won’t reference Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) because they’re cowards.

it’s a comedy, but they only have like five good jokes. all five of those jokes will be featured in the trailer, so a bunch of people who don’t know how trailers work will think it looks good

the majority of the gags are jokes you’ve heard a million times before. peach sure gets kidnapped a lot! did you know mushrooms are also drugs? if you’re the Mario Brothers does that mean your name is Mario Mario? hey what if “cake” is a euphemism for something!! mario eats mushrooms he’s on shrooms get it

chris pratt’s mario voice is okay. it sounds kinda like mario’s voice in hotel mario, but with less personality

charles martinet’s cameo is as mario. the first time mario says something, it’s in martinet’s voice, then he clears his throat and has a more boring voice for the rest of the movie

princess peach girlboss moments

there’s a “mario is a bad brother” subplot. mario mistreats luigi consistently, and it’s not resolved by mario growing as a person it’s resolved by luigi doing something cool and “earning” mario’s respect

coincidentally mario DOES grow as a person, when he eats the super mushroom : )

in accordance with the Post-Frozen Law of Animated Villains, there will be a surprise bad guy reveal. there are several ways this could go:

bowser as a villain is played straight for the first act, then mario rescues peach and that’s the end of the Origin Story portion. afterwords, the REAL villain comes in, and the gang has to team up with bowser to stop them! and that real villain, of course, is

Foreman Spike, from Wrecking Crew

Donkey Kong

Yoshi (revenge for being thrown into pits)

Wario (wahahahaha)

Luigi (mario is a bad brother subplot final form)

Waluigi (featuring meta jokes about how waluigi hasn’t been in enough games)

Peach (girlboss moments)

ALTERNATIVELY, one of the above is the villain at first, then there’s a third-act twist that. bowser is the villain.

there will be one shot, somewhere, where the super crown powerup appears in the background along with a bunch of other items, and people on twitter will freak out about how this is a canon reference to bowsette

7,287 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#3

Do you have tips for how to familiarize yourself with the tumblr ui for those migrating from twitter

Remember, if you like a post, it's important to share it with your followers so they can see it too!

(Sharing a post, huh? I think I can do that with the Reblog button...)

The Reblog button is located at the bottom of a post. Be sure to press it whenever you want to share a post! Your likes are not automatically shown to your followers, so pressing the like button alone isn't enough.

7,928 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

#2

baba, tbh, and soweli are the same aminal I think

16,529 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

THERE IS NO EASTER BUNNY

31,684 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[dorizardthewizard]

HSM (2006) rewatch pt 5

5: Audition time!

The ad cuts are taking me out hahaha

We see Sharpay give Darbus some sort of gift, we can guess she’s one of those students where the teachers think she’s the most loveliest thing on the planet but to other students she’s a nightmare

Ah, the first of the classic silly Chad shirts – “I come with my own background music”. How much time does he spend picking these out? And the watches from earlier?? If you think about it the only other guy with an outfit quirk is Ryan- /shot

Chad you’re a terrible spy

Obsessed with this kid who can’t speak because otherwise they’d have to pay the extra more. They actually try to dub over with a voice but it’s so faint it's not even subbed, looks like this kid just randomly grabs Chad’s hand to greet him it’s so funny, but Chad is just like “Oh, hi! :D”. Actually I am now proclaiming this guy is mute.

There’s an auto shop in this school???? So apparently some schools with a focus on trades do have these, huh pretty cool

I love Kelsi’s fit. It’s just so her <3

The first girl is me when I try to sing

Girl with the pink flower's singing skills are about right for the plays I did tbh, it was a small thing in a church hall and not a single one of us kids were actually good at it. But it was fun!

Hey what was with the 2000s and thinking bad opera singing was the height of comedy? We’re only missing their glasses breaking

Darbus: What... courage! To pursue a note that has... not been accessed in the natural world! Bravo, uh, brava! Darbus: Perhaps the spring musicale?

SAVAGE. Also, spring musicale? SO THERE IS A SPRING ONE. WHEN?? If you’re doing AUDITIONS for the winter one in JANUARY, when is the spring one supposed to be??

Mad respect to this ballet guy. Maybe they let him join the ensemble? This reminds me, I caught Billy Elliott on TV the other day and I'm planning on watching Jump In soon, I'm just watching the same old themes this month huh

Darbus: Well that was just... very disturbing. Go see a counsellor

HELLO??? 😭😭😭 I mean I see they were going for the originality points and tried to do some interpretative dance, honestly it’s not too far from GCSE drama productions that always seem to have something to do with peer pressure, drugs or a car crash lmao

Reaction montage because same:

OK now that Gabriella’s here I want to point out that Troy did actually come here of his own accord, of course he’d hoped Gabriella would be there as he was checking the audition sheet earlier, but I see this as being an “it’s less scary if it’s the two of us” thing, rather than him only being interested in the musical because of Gabriella. Sure, she sparked his curiosity as he realised how much he enjoyed the karaoke singing, but once he got to the theatre he wasn’t looking around searching for her - I think due to the sequels where Gabriella has to convince Troy to do the performance and he’s all reluctant at first, we kind of forget that initially, he was the one to take the first step, even if he’s too scared to actually audition here. I kind of wish they’d kept this and progressed it into the sequels so he’s more confident with his love of theatre going forward, but instead they keep repeating the whole “ahhhh I don’t sing” thing.

Gabriella: So you decided to sign up for something? Troy: Uh... no. You? Gabriella: No...

Hahaha Troy and Gabriella are basically like “No I won’t do it uh, unless you wanted to”

Haha, little callback to when she asked him why he's whispering and he said his friends don't know about the singing thing.

RYAN DID THAT CARTWHEEL ONE HANDED??? KING!!!!

Okay Sharpay and Ryan’s version of What I’ve Been Looking For is more fun than Kelsi’s original for sure, but look Kelsi wrote the song that way for a reason – it probably fits the vibe of the scene and the emotions of the characters at that point in the story. So to see your vision ignored, and your song reworked without consulting you, that’s a pretty big insult for an artist. Like, that’s her song! Her creation! Also Sharpay and Ryan don't have the chemistry for the roles for obvious reasons, and their choreography can be a bit… idk... literal? At the line “that you were always there beside me” they often look at each other like “Oh! Haha there you are!” which is a bit of a shallow interpretation of the song imo. Like I get their limitation because they’re siblings, but that’s just showbiz you can’t expect to fit every single main role you audition for? Anyway it’s B tier for me, catchy enough but nothing show-stopping.

I like how there’s little hints at conflicts between the two though, like Sharpay stopping Ryan so she can walk out first, bumping into him during the number and her telling him not to do the jazz squares but Ryan doing it anyway. He’s not completely subservient to her.

Sharpay is so mean to Kelsi and y’all wanna say she was the victim here? She’s an elitist that doesn’t encourage new talent or cooperation, she just likes to be on top.

Gabriella: I'd like to audition, Ms Darbus!

I feel like they could have portrayed Gabriella’s motivations a bit better because they’re a tad unclear for me – with Troy we had scenes about his conflict and we can see he’s genuinely curious about singing on stage, but Gabriella seemed pretty certain she didn’t want to do anything like that right at the start of the year, plus she’s got major stage fright. So what exactly got her to go to the audition? Did she guess Troy would be there? If anyone's got any thoughts or meta on that I'd love to hear it

Troy is so kind to Kelsi aw, taking the time to boost her confidence. It’s not like he knew she’d play them the music, he genuinely just saw someone being mistreated and wanted to boost them up. In the novelisation, Kelsi is freaking out because THE Troy Bolton is talking to her and turns out he's just a nice sweet guy who doesn't think he's above everyone else, it's sweet.

OK I know people laugh at them being able to sightread here, but they already heard how the tune goes as they saw Sharpay and Ryan’s audition, and this is essentially just the same thing slowed down, with some prompts from Kelsi. It’s not thaaaaat farfetched.

So for Troy and Gabriella’s version of the song? I’m sure this version suits that part of the musical more, they have great chemistry when singing it and they can sing well, so I can see why Darbus would consider them. It’s just that in my personal rankings I wouldn’t really listen to this so it’s C tier, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. The song does exactly what it needs to do at this point in the story.

Aw Kelsi’s so excited! Even inviting them to her house for breakfast practice ^^

[sokkastyles]

On some level, I can understand where Azula stans are coming from, and I mainly blame the recent shows and movies that have been released. For a long time villains have just been evil with no remorse as presented in media, but recently we have seen movies that are like "hey actually this guy isn't that bad and they are a prodict of their surroundings and its not their fault they are evil" like the movie malefecent or alice into the looking glass. Not to mention, redemption arcs are super popular like Loki, kylo Ren, catra, and the diamonds from Steven Universe. I specifically named these character because i feel like they have done so much bad that it will take a lot more than just a sorry and a tragic backstory to make up for all the bad they did. Maybe Loki is okay, but he did some really terrible things, and i am on the fence about him. Not to mention the joker sympathy that has been rampant for a while because of the movie blaming society, and that is someone completely irredeemable except for the Harley Quinn show, apparently, but that is a comedy.

What im trying to say though is that there doesnt seem to be just straight up villains now and consatnt blaming of outside forces for a the bad villains do saying it's not there fault because they only blew up a children's hospital because they were hurting, not to mention medias constant depiction of toxic relationships and friendships that keep getting talked about like they are completely normal. I know some Azula stans are just kike that but some i fell are misinformed and seem to surround themselves with so many like minded individuals that they truly believe what they think is true and are hard pressed to change their opinion. (Also, pretty privilege exists)

Well, redemption arcs and villains with complex stories are hardly new. I haven't seen the most recent MCU stuff but has Loki been redeemed? In the comics, and in Norse mythology, he has always been something of an antihero, a character who would be good or bad depending on the occasion. I grew up on comic books and those kinds of characters frequently occur there. Magneto is another example of a character who would sometimes side with the good guys but also inevitably go back to being a villain. They're complicated characters with sympathetic pasts, but their pasts don't excuse their actions. And there's an important distinction there that I think is lost on a lot of people. Another example that comes to mind is Billy from Stranger Things, who I often see idolized on tumblr as if he had become a hero by the end of the story, or should have, just because he had a sad background and then sacrificed himself for the heroes. His death, and life, were tragic, and we understand by the end why he was the way he was, but he was still an awful, unpleasant person, and the show never suggests that we should see him as good now, nor should it.

A lot of the examples you mention with female villains I blame on the rise of liberal "girlboss" feminism. That goes with what you say about pretty privilege. Pop culture "feminism" wants to convince you that being pretty is empowering, the weaponized femininity thing, eyeliner so sharp you can kill a man, etc. When in reality, we're still catering to patriarchal ideas of desirability. And what's especially insidious about this kind of feminism is that it's often other women or other marginalized groups who are the targets of it. Pop culture puts this stuff out to pander to women by presenting a "feminist" ideal that is still non-threatening to the status quo. The idea that Azula or Harley Quinn, who in her first appearance in BTAS was a character who became a villain due to being manipulated and abused by a man, are empowering female characters is bananas. That's not to say they are bad female characters, and Harley is another comic book character who has always been likeable for her propensity to gleefully straddle the line between hero and villain, but I despise the girlbossification of these kinds of characters the same way I despise people making them into poor widdle innocent victims.

The heroization of the joker comes from red pill weirdos primarily, and those have also existed for a long time. See Fight Club for another example, but anyone with a brain knows that Tyler Durden is the bad guy, and that the stuff he's spewing about being woke and masculine is all just nonsense in the end. So I don't necessarily buy that it's all media's fault that people don't understand the point of these characters.

And there are absolutely still just "straight up villains." The obvious answer just by looking at ATLA is Ozai, but even then, the show still does a lot to tell us why he is the way he is, and implies he was once a victim of his family not unlike Zuko or Azula. People often ignore that, especially Azula stans who make such a distinction between Ozai and Azula in order to prove that Azula deserves redemption. I'm not saying that Azula and Ozai are the same in terms of how much sympathy the narrative gives them, by the way, just that I think it's odd that one is seen as so much more redeemable than the other, when their backstories are so similar. Ozai often gets labeled as one dimensional not because he is less complex than Azula, but because people don't want to see him redeemed and are uncomfortable with the idea, so they want to see him as less complex and more villainous. Which to me misses the point of the fire family dynamic and how the cycle of violence was perpetuated in that family.