#hold over promo tbh but

[demacianbrawn]

#DEMACIANBRAWN / an independent low activity & selective portrayal of GAREN CROWNGUARD of LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.

Written by DJ ( they/them ) / 28 ( blog is under HEAVY construction. )

a study in choosing family over duty, the burdens of said duty, the morality of the man beneath the armor, overcoming one's hypocrisy and biases, a brother's love, star-crossed romance, hiding emotions behind real and metaphorical armor, and toxic family trauma.

[awsugar]

And I forgot about the DRUMS!!! I think this is an album they may have been working on for years. I think they are going for a magnum opus

yea so i read this went you sent it at 6am cause ive been out of work sick for a few days now and my sleep is allll messed up. and i tinhatted EXTREMELY close to the sun on this one. but i kind of think im cooking. so let me explain.

also ill just say i think because we know somethings coming but we dont know what BUT we know there are threads throughout somehow connecting things from years prior like. all tinhatting is plausible until proven otherwise. if we want to draw a connection between two things we CAN. and i think thats why im so on board with mcr5 now when i havent been since 2019. bc ive done this before. i was in the trenches for the danger days rollout/promo and the transmissions on the website and everything and THAT was one of the most exciting times of my life and THIS reminds me of that. im glad people never gave up on mcr5 but they never gave me ENOUGH before now to really run with. and now they have and its a free for all. THIS is what being an mcr fan is about. tbh. this is what this fandom has been missing for AGES. when they dont give us teasers and lore and crpytic messages we devolve into like theorizing and arguing with each other about who they are as people. but this is the basis of mcr community to me....getting together with your pals inside your phone and inside your laptop (who now have grown ito irl friends for so many of us) and dissecting every shred of info they give us. thank god for my chemical romance.

ANYWAY sorry that. went down a path i didnt intend when i started. so yes um so what you said about them going for a magnum opus. let me tell you a little story. when i was in my first year of being a my chem fan, i was 13, i became QUICKLY obsessed, first with the black parade and then after i spent i think 2 months straight listening to nothing but the black parade on repeat all day every day (literally) i ventured into their other stuff and got like really sucked in to everything else, reading articles and interviews and watching every video of them youtube had to offer and talking about them 24/7 on the forums instead of doing homework, i would sneak the family laptop into my room at night so i could keep reading about them and talking about them instead of having to go to sleep it was THE most exhilarating and exciting time of my life. anyway. i remember (16 years later) reading a specific review of the black parade that said something like "my chemical romance will never top this album and they know it" and i STILL REMEMBER sitting on the couch and crying over it. because i had never listened to music that had made such an impact on me as the black parade IN MY LIFE. nothing had ever made me feel that way and that strongly as listening to that album. you know how we all always say we wish we could listen to my chem for the first time again just to have that feeling again. that was me. i had never experienced an album of their when it came out and i felt like the author of the article was telling me that i would basically never acheive that high again. it was devastating. i promise this is relevant. bc regardless of your PERSONAL FAVORITE my chem album, it is generally agreed upon that the black parade is their magnum opus. it just is. both in scale and musically and its impact on pop culture and its the best known to a general audience.

so you say they're going for a magnum opus. when the black parade is DEAD. they killed it. (in the new lore they were sent to the MOAT which i assume is some kind of exile and stripping of their status as the national band)

and so i started thinking about "in the face of extermination say FUCK YOU" and i think this applies here two-fold actually. MAYBE 3-fold. on one hand, in-universe. extermination being the concrete age, the dictator holding the people down and exterminating their livelihood. but also the extermination of the black parade! and then - irl - we have the extermination of mcr's chances of doing something huge again like this. music publications resigning them as soon as the album came out to never achieving something as epic and grand as that again.

and the FUCK YOU being, the opposition of the dictator from the people, the black parade being reinstated but? maybe they have plans to overthrow the dictator? IRL mcr saying fuck you, we can actually use the concept that you said was the best we would ever do, completely turn it on its head, and make something even more grandiose and epic and MAGNUM OPUS.

and also hail just reminded me obv of the UNKILLABLES drumhead in sydney. which both relates to franks personal experience there but also like. with this concept of in the face of extermination say fuck you. along with his end of tour post being a cockroach, notoriously unkillable! notoriously a target for extermination!!!!

god theres so many layers to this but i needed to get it off my chest do you still like me

[the5thcellar]

I actually think Luke is serious about A. That age gap is typically what men marry these days. I think he's crazy about her and was taking it slow after a long term break up before going official. That shows intention, planning, and wanting her. I wouldn't be surprised the official IG couple post is coming soon.

I'm just upset that they took it this far with promo. Tom and Z were meeting each other's family outside of work early on, so to say you are officially brining him to meet the fame was a bit much. Closing your eyes when she touches your face? Grade A acting. I hate that it makes me believe he was never attracted to an amazing woman like Nicola. I feel dumb for falling for it all. I hope Nicola finds a handsome guy who will love her proudly.

that's a really interesting take tbh! ive actually never considered he was serious about her in the sense of marrying - but of course this is purely based off the vibes I get and is entirely my own view.

one of the reasons i say this is because luke doesn't seem too inclined to keep a completely friendly distance between himself and nic - i heard that the QC leads india and corey were shipped really hard by fans as well and he had a gf during the whole press run - and towards the end india and corey started posing separately on carpets (i.e. no touching, no friendly hand around shoulder even during photos etc) because they wanted to emphasise that they were really just friends.

luke in contrast seems to have no qualms about blurring lines - and one of the reasons the more rabid fans kept insulting Antonia was a direct result of the fact that he kept stating his "single" status to press. I think he could have helped Antonia avoid a lot of the flak she drew by just stating that he's seeing someone. but maybe he felt it would draw even more attention to his private life and her? idk. i don't want to puzzle over his motivations because I don't believe they are too complex - I've said this many times before and I'll keep saying it - no matter how good a man seems (and I do believe Luke is very good and sweet), trying to justify anything they do is still a sure path to disappointment.

more importantly: please don't feel dumb for falling for the hope that nic and luke could be together! i really don't think they were being deliberately disingenuous - i actually think the opposite - i think they themselves are often confused about what they really are and it's just easier to define it as being great friends. it's strange but i get the feeling that they see each other as a source of potential - it's simultaneously impossible and also the easiest thing in the world for them to envision a reality where they're together - there just seems to be many barriers to it happening for real. they're comfortable living in the liminal space between great friendship and great romantic love - it definitely explains why nic said she doesn't have a relationship in her life that's anything close to what she has with luke. I think there just needs to be a decisive push for them to ever move out of this grey area. it'll have to be something massive for it to ever happen... and it's not something I hold out hope for (again, just to avoid disappointment!)

this got really long; I wish nic and luke all the best and I think they have something very special with each other. I think life has many many stops along the way and I don't think luke has found a final stop in his romantic journey with antonia - they are both very young and they don't have the vibe of "together forever" couples - if they did (since luke is such a big believer in love at first sight) - he'd have laid down a commitment a lot sooner.

again I want to emphasise that this is all MY POV - it's the vibe I get. I'm WELL AWARE I don't know these people irl. There's always criticism of how parasocial fandom and stan behaviour are but I think most fans - myself included - are very conscious of the fact that the way we perceive and interact with celebs is completely one sided. I'm also not a psychic or clairvoyant or anything of the sort. i just strangely feel a lot of things all the time and ive never been chill a day in my life 😂

sending you lots of good feelings and healing - I feel your hurt and unease and disappointment because I feel the same, but it gets easier to accept with each day that passes.

[herejusttosufferalong]

OG 2016, tomdaya here.

Shipping them was fun from the beginning. They were both 20 years old filming their first major movie and they were WILD. During filming of the first movie Tom rented a house in ATL and they would host cast parties to build chemistry, they fell for each other then. Tom's first post of Zendaya was in 2016 during one of these parties of her pouting in the pool. Their crushes were immediate. Snapchat Zendaya era was everything. They would post every cast moment and flirt heavy. Fans noticed something more was going on after fliming wrapped in September 2016 when they would catch Tom visiting Zendaya on set of her show, hanging out for hours. What really set it off was thanksgiving 2016 when Zendaya's cousin accidentally posted a video of Tom at her house sitting side by side on a small couch, no space between them head tilted towards one another having a private conversation, in their own world. Quickly deleted. Disney star Sky jackson's mom outed they were dating and then people magazine outed them as well and Zendaya's team went into complete denial mode. After that everything was discreet but fans still picked up on everything from jewlery, to tom getting papped leaving her our in the middle of the morning ,etc.

If you check the blog Spidermaninlove on here they've archived every moment from 2016-now.

The only time fans were off was summer 2019 when they were promoting the second film. Their chemistry was still there in interviews but something was off as well, tension and annoyance sometimes. Then we received the shock of our lives, after promo ended Tom was seen late July holding hands with a family friend at a concert and we realized they broke up. They both jumped into rebounds, Zendaya with Jacob Elordi and Tom sleeping around until Nadia in 2020. Lots of fans moved on, however the OG shippers always felt even though they broke up it wasn't really over.

My only concern with Luke/N is that they don't have any moments like this. Luke and Jade probably give off more Tom and Z than anything.

Thanks for sharing!

I know nothing about tomdaya tbh

very illuminating

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

TBB S3 Ep 5 Thoughts!!

Love Omega’s new outfit

Batcher hanging out with Cross then, I see

Cross is like the dad who continuesly goes “NO PET” and then when you do get a pet they’re suddenly besties

“ITS ECHO” “perfect”

Ah, the duality of man

Love how there’s no end to this dynamic

“What? No hug for me?” “That depends how good your intel is.”

LOVE Echo matching Cross’s causal sass

These two are gonna push against each other a lot huh?

Yanno, given all the promo material, I was kinda expecting Rex to be with Echo when he arrived (hoping phi, the word is hoping.) (she’s delulu.)

“Especially without Tech” 😭😭😭😭

No surprise reactions from Cross through. Means he already knows.

But also, Cross coming in with the solve <3

Is Hunter,,,, JEALOUS??? of the fact that Omega is spending so much time with Cross? Like that SIDEYE when they walked past each other on the platform

Like, God forbid Omega spent time with the member of the squad who everybody is always suspicious of and spends the most time alone

BUT ALSO!!!

“Don’t hold it against him. His only worried about you.” CROSS YOU BIG ‘OL SOFTY!!!

“I’m older than you are, little brother.”

THE CHUCKLE

AND WRECKER GIVING BACK CROSS’S ARMOUR AAAAAAAHHHH

oooohhh the girls are fighting

“Hey, kill each other later.” SIR THE WAY I CACKLED BYE ✋🏻

“He started it.” Sir, are you 5?

MAYDAY’S HELMET

Echo not wanting Omega to see the straight up Bitch fight between Hunter and Cross

TELL HIM CROSSHAIR!!!!!

Jesus Christ, fucking finally

I wrote a post at some point about Cross becoming the mirror held up to Hunter in which he can view his own shortcomings because of his adamant refusal to change AND ITS HAPPENING

“I risked everything to send you that message and you ignored it.” THIS

Hunter’s mistrust in Cross played a big part in Omega getting captured, but also ofc Cross thinks the message was fully ignored, because no one came to save him either

Also Cross just not hiding anymore that he’s always cared for Omega too I LOVE

Love how quick they put that plan together

Batch is Batching :) (almost) (Tech, my love, come back)

“We’ll try to dig through.” “You’ll try?” “Glad you heard me properly.” I AM WHEEZING

Cross patting Batcher

BIG ‘OL SOFTY

Say did Hunter abandon the bandana for a god damn leather strap

wtf

Cross and Hunter walking back to base side by side, when the last time Cross was walking back to this base was with Mayday dying in his arms🥺

Wrecker hugging them both

AAAAAHHH

“See? They always work it out. And I don’t even see any blood this time.”

EXCUSE ME??

i am worried.

Blood??

Was typical??

Jesus Christ

Don’t know how much I appreciate Hunter getting on a high horse and giving Cross advice

Bird flying away from Cross After always being with him on that base, like the shadows of his past leaving his life, now that this period of his life is over (also sun setting, signifying the day is over)

Good symbolism yes

Okokok good episode! Tbh I thought “The Return” would be Echo’s permanent return to the Batch, but narratively that wouldn’t’ve made sense for him anyway. And I am LOVING the fact that it is actually Crosshair’s return to the turning point in his life, followed by his full return to the batch. Like yeah, last ep they re-met, but he hadn’t fully arrived until the end of this episode and GAAAAHHH I love it!

Also the dialogue is just totally A1 chefs kiss mwah this season (or maybe I just appreciate sarcasm)

Loved this one!! Would love to tag Saturn and Steph because I wanna see their thoughts of Echo being back but idk if they’ve seen the ep already and I don’t wanna spoil them so,,, idk guys if you see this hmu lol

[chesacakeripper]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Oh oh, I love a bit of self-promo - sorry it took me so long to answer this, I'm currently envirused but cognitively I'm feeling a bit better today (even if I did wake up with a temp of 39.4°c) 

In no particular order: 

> Taste Me, Drink My Soul - Buddy Daddies - Kazurei (explicit)   

For a bit of comedy size queen Rei and kazurei first times 

And one of its follow ups:

> You Let Me Desecrate You - Buddy Daddies - Kazurei (explicit)

Because we love on-mode Rei and those wonderful black leather gloves of his 

Moving to Yu-Gi-Oh! 

> About to Break - Yu-Gi-Oh! - Violetshipping (mature)

Because who doesn't love a kidnapping fic with some gratuitous violence? 

And its follow up: 

> Punch Drunk - Yu-Gi-Oh! - Violetshipping (explicit)

For all your favourite dubcon subspace Jounouchi needs 

And finally, digging into the archives a bit, 

> Temptation Waits - Legends of Tomorrow/DCTV - ColdAtom (explicit)

Originally written for the unofficial Snart in a Skirt week, Leonard Snart goads Ray Palmer into bending him over in the cargo hold. Some of my finest work tbh. 

Enjoy!!

[cleoselene]

don't know why it took me so fucking long to add this pop-goth masterpiece to the vinyl collection but the situation has been corrected

as a snobby 90s goth when these lovely folks came out in the early aughts, my kneejerk reaction was to gatekeep because that's one thing goths are REALLY good at lol. I was a Tampa Goth (yes, Goth Talk being in Tampa really fit lol it's like the goth capital of the world) who went clubbing 4-5 times a week, smoking clove cigarettes at The Castle (though I liked the DJ better at The Edge, DJ Nemesis who is still out there spinning all kinds of futuebop jams in clubs) and when the WWF (at the time was still called that I believe) used "Bring Me to Life" for a promo I realized it was a pop-goth outfit and was enraged like any dumb young snobby music gatekeeper could be

what I only admitted to myself (not even my boyfriend who honestly didn't evne care lol) was how much I loved this album. I may or not have shoplifted it from my job so no one caught me buying it (I'm not being coy here lol it was 20+ years ago I don't remember but I think tha'ts how it went) and listened to it secretly when the boyfriend was working and remembered every lyric marry me amy lee you're so pretty

anyway the albums till holds up great. "Tourniquet" is my favorite even though it's probably the most obvious of the album that is a Trojan horse of a goth song that's really a Christian song. That's the other thing lol this band is supposedly covertly doing Christian messaging and tbh sometimes between goths and Catholics it is genuinely hard to tell the difference.

It's a stunning album and I feel like the numetal era of the 2000s was really the last time a rock subgenre took over pop on that level. We could really use a rock renaissance in popular music. There were more explicitly rock pop projects but with the rise of alternative as a genre rock drifted further away from pop during the 90s and 00s

[tonydaddingham]

sideburn theory strikes again

idk if its just that i have been fully driven around the bend by this show or is this is Big Brain special, but if all fails this is the lore of a crossover you might not have known you wanted.

so i posted way back in the bygone era of pre-s2 that i felt that there was something potentially behind the different sideburn lengths in the trailer and first promos, and my darling @theeminentlyimpractical added into this, plus the added spot of crowley's sunglasses changing. now this appears to have been debunked by further s2 content (and indeed s2 in its entirety), because there didn't appear to be rhyme nor reason to the sideburns, but there was to the sunglasses. so we kinda left it alone (although people keep rb'ing the original theory, frankly god knows why).

now we kinda came up with some explanation for this, which ive summarised in this ask earlier, but then. then. we saw this brilliant observation by @rebeccasteventaylor, and thought - well, fuck it, let's take another look.

note: reference screenshots of nearly every crowley scene, per episode, at end of post.

so main observations so far:

crowley seems to exclusively wear the silver sunglasses in ep1 and ep2

then switches to the new grey sunglasses from ep3 onwards

he has a mix of long and short sideburns ep1 to ep4, and switches sideburn lengths in those eps between scenes

then seems to exclusively have long sideburns in the 'second half'* ep5, and in ep6.

then i have the following thoughts from both seasons:

we know that crowley is a singular demon in that he has an imagination

we know that he is pretty powerful, including the ability to stop and hold time

there are indeed plenty of doctor who references which - absolutely, may be an innocent homage to david tennant - but seem so pointed in s2 that it's almost unnerving

two quotes! first: "if any harm comes to aziraphale because of this, i will... oh, it doesn't matter, it's too late for that now, isn't it?... its always too late."

second: "i know... looking at/working out where the furniture isn't..."

the crow road by Iain Banks is introduced at the very end of s2, being read by muriel, and has very prominent features on screen when metatron asks them about it. crow road plot involves the main character piecing together notes/sketches left by their late uncle. (by the by, very purposeful feature in s2 that aziraphale keeps multiple diaries, and can sketch real good - including specifically a picture of gabriel)

now, before i start parsing out the theory (though tbh, by this point, i imagine you can see where im going with this), i will add that as i said in the above linked ask, im fully on board with the sideburn thing being bc of AP/confines of filming in COVID, and so it may just be a detail that had to slide or was missed. but that isn't as fun as putting on the tinfoil hat.

the main thing for me is that the long sideburns seem to consistently appear on screen after aziraphale and crowley talk in justine's restaurant in ep5*. once crowley goes over to the bookshop to confront gabriel, the long sideburns seem to remain. this is also where crowley appears to be at his angriest which, tbh, is kind of at odds with how he seemed to speak about and treat gabriel in ep3 and ep4.

let's start with ep3 (ill come back to ep1 and ep2*). in the vavoom scene, crowley almost seems quite chummy towards gabriel, perhaps slightly condescending, but warmer than he is after shax arrives. now, shax turning up to remind crowley of the stakes involved (ie threat to aziraphale) is completely trackable against how crowley then speaks to gabriel afterwards. but it is this quote that has baffled me slightly:

"if any harm comes to aziraphale because of this, i will... oh, it doesn't matter, it's too late for that now... its always too late."

and the reason it baffles me is because... well, i don't really get what crowley is talking about? he's rescued aziraphale on plenty of occasions, and seems to always be in the nick of time (or stopping it, if you consider 1793), and aziraphale has previously rescued crowley back with impeccable timing.

aziraphale hasn't actually come to much harm in any of the story we've seen so far; the only time crowley wasn't on time was with the bookshop fire, and whilst that was resolved, it would match up with what crowley's saying about being too late... but 'always too late'? ie, more than once? seems like there's been a pattern where crowley is too late.

the other thought i had on this is that crowley says "too late" in reference to saving morag in the same episode (but in the resurrectionist minisode within) but that was on aziraphale himself for dithering - why would crowley talk about it? so it seems to me that there are other instances where crowley himself has been too late to save aziraphale. the only time i really think this happens, where aziraphale ends up in danger, is the Domestic at the end of ep6 when crowley is too late to tell aziraphale how he feels - which probably would have influenced his decision to stay and not walk willingly into the clutches of the metatron... but in the s2 narrative, that hasn't happened yet.

furthermore, @theeminentlyimpractical brought up this little detail up from the book:

which doesn't necessarily mean anything in this theory's context, that crowley has one of his watch's clocks programmed to hell's timezone, but appears to be a detail specifically related to crowley nonetheless; futile fight, helplessness, the concept of always being Too Late.

the last thing however to mention about ep3 is that there appears to be a very clear before and after where the sideburns are concerned. where muriel turns up, and crowley and aziraphale talk in the back-back room, crowley is sporting shorter sideburns. but after aziraphale leaves, crowley comes down from upstairs carrying books, and has longer sideburns. i don't necessarily have any explanation for this, but do observe that it seems quite deliberate for the episode that he has the longer ones once aziraphale leaves, and continuing into ep4 when aziraphale comes back from edinburgh.

ep5 however, crowley arrives on whickber street, and is back with ye old short sideburns again. the only time this changes in the beginning half(ish)* is when he and aziraphale visit Arnold's. once again, don't really have any theoretical explanation for this, but one thing i will say is that when crowley and aziraphale approach the archway/alley that goes to Arnold's (just after "can i watch?"), they're in step with each other... but when aziraphale gets to the window, he's alone for a good few seconds and crowley doesn't appear - he might be out of shot, but then does appear just as aziraphale enters the shop... just an odd amount of time to have not followed aziraphale to the window.

in any case, crowley then follows around, gets waylaid and epiphany-slapped by nina, gets somewhat pissed in justine's, and then heads over to the bookshop. where he next appears upstairs, and suddenly sporting long sideburns again. it then seems somewhat pointed that this is where he really lays in to gabriel - now, contributory factors here are he's just been hit with the realisation that he loves aziraphale and aziraphale loves him, and he's probably about five sheets to the wind.

but it's particularly venomous and angry which - yeah, tracks - but i wonder if this is in response to something more? that crowley has more to be angry at gabriel over, more to be resentful of, than just that gabriel's presence in the bookshop could bring harm to aziraphale, and gabriel's involvement in the botched execution?

add to this, the line that we're all losing our heads over?

"i know... looking at/working out where the furniture isn't..." (subtitles conflict on amazon re: the first bit vs what im personally hearing, but neil has confirmed it's at least 'where the furniture isn't.')

now this all relates in the conversation back to gabriel's analogy of his missing memory feeling like a house with missing furniture, and trying to work out what in fact is missing. many have speculated that crowley might have gone through the same predicament of forcibly losing his memory (and s2 certainly does set it up like that), but i do wonder if it in fact twists that crowley is actually investigating the missing furniture, piecing together his own clues?

his tone being resigned and bitchy, even mocking, could well just be him laying on gabriel again, or indeed he could be empathising because he too has lost his memories, or because he's in the same boat and trying to piece things together... just, not in the same way?

so let's come back to what im actually getting at here; does crowley expand on his time-stopping powers, and does he essentially step back into his own timeline? and has to piece it together à la crow road?

was there an alternative timeline that still resulted in aziraphale going to heaven, but under different circumstances, and crowley comes back to change it to no avail, and that's where we leave s2? or, in this aborted (?) timeline, does aziraphale get got by hell, or gets taken out of the BOL (and falls?), crowley is trying to work out how/why, tracks it back through to the events we see in s2, ends up helping to hide gabriel (eg. he comes back after the So Did I argument), but then that leads down the path of losing aziraphale to heaven anyway, just in a different way? "it's always too late"?

now, don't let it be said that i won't poke holes in my own theory, because this is absolutely crazy and relatively baseless... and is so easily explained as just being One Of Those Filming Things (i simply felt it was slightly remiss to not mention these thoughts floating in my noggin).

the main issue of course is that *ep1 and ep2 are literally a mess where this theory is concerned. there are some short/long sideburn differences that can't be explained away, because the scenes literally follow in succession to each other - eg. ep1 goes from leaving the coffee shop (short), to the gabriel reveal (long), to So Did I (short again). another eg. ep2 goes from leaving the pub (long), to the walk across the road (short), to the job segue (long again). i could try to explain this with "oh crowley stopped time and switched", but that would probably be a bit of a cop out, however possible it might technically be within the narrative.

i don't even really know where to leave this off, but im still just of the mind that for a show where attention to detail is Everything (take the neil ask about the records, for example; he immediately spotted that the holes weren't right for jukebox compatibility, but they had to accept it as a good regardless), this feels like a pretty Big Goof?

alternatively yes, it might be AP whereupon david was going into another job fairly shortly after reshoot work was needed, or there were COVID related filming issues, but a) seems like a lot of reshoot work/pickups, and b) couldnt they have just trimmed the 'burns/be able to fake the length? idk but my brain is scrambled and im so confused.

screenshots!

S/L (red) - short/long sideburns, S/G (grey) - silver/grey sunglasses

episode one:

episode two:

episode three:

episode four:

episode five:

episode six:

[lunarheslwt]

Hi! I'm back with the first 28th appreciation fic recs of the year! I wanted to put together all the fics I've read and loved over January for this month's 28th appreciation, so here they are! Click on the links for full tags and summaries. If you read any of these make sure to show the authors some love by leaving kudos and comments!

🌿Is it a sign? by @greenblueish

(25k | E | deaf character au)

the one where Harry meets a certain handsome alpha at his sister's wedding and learns that speaking verbally doesn't have to be the only means of communication.

Thoughts: incredibly sweet, a perfect light and easy read, the way they connect in this story just feels so real and so wonderful!

🌿Stroke of twelve by @larry-hiatus

(2k | E | new years eve pwp)

He was close, he was so close, and he knew it was much too soon; the countdown to midnight hadn’t even begun yet.

Or the one where Louis wants Harry to hold off his orgasm so they can come together at the stroke of twelve on New Year’s Eve.

Thoughts: so bloody hot, top notch desperation, for some reason I was holding my breath till the countdown hit one which really says something

🌿Whoever, however by @brooklyn-babylon / @twopoppies

(8k | E | amateur porn filming au)

Louis could feel his heart rate pick up as he positioned the camera and Harry slowly stood up. They both knew what came next –– it had been clearly outlined in the advert Harry answered. The studio Louis worked for was filming a new series of camboy videos. Louis’ job was to make it look like amateur porn –– sweaty, sensual, dirty –– but well lit and edited. He was an artist, thank you very much.

—-

Or: Louis has a much better day at work than he’d expected.

Thoughts: incredibly hot, desperate Harry is so >>>> the descriptions in this are amazing, I just love the idea so much. The visuals!!

🌿Pretty miscalculations by @hellolovers13

(5k | E | Dom/sub pwp)

After rudely interrupting Louis’ Christmas shopping, Louis offers Harry a choice and an opportunity to try out his new purchases.

Thoughts: so hot, love how caring L is yet willing to push Harry a lil, how sweet and shy Harry is, I'd read more in this universe any day

🌿Take care by @sun-lt

(4k | M | service top L)

“What do you want, then, beautiful?” It’s a silly, cheesy pet name, but it feels so very true when Louis says it. He hopes Harry knows that he means it, that he means every pet name he’s ever called Harry. Doll, beautiful, love, baby.

“Want you to take care of me,” Harry repeats.

_

Or, Harry’s exhausted and needy and Louis loves him entirely too much to ever say no.

Thoughts: the softest thing I've ever read, incredibly comforting, tender and so so lovely pls go read!

🌿in the pub that we met he’s got his arms around you by @onlythebravest

(13k | T | best friends to lovers au)

Harry's best friend Louis comes to visit him where he attends uni, meets Harry's friends, who point out that they don't know what platonic means.

Thoughts: comfort read!! Incredibly soft, realistic friendship dynamics, 10/10 read if you're touch deprived tbh these are very soft boys and a very soft story

🌿Sweaty palms and racing hearts by @onlythebravest

(1k | G | first date au)

A short story of two shy, nervous and blushing boys on a date at the cinema

Thoughts: so pure, so sweet, these shy boys have my heart, the author writes fluff in the softest ways

🌿Printed against the sky by @larrysballetslippers

(4k | M | non sexual age play, canon compliant)

after some intense weeks of promo, Harry really wants his daddy. Louis happily fulfils his needs, but it wasn't the best day to do so.

Thoughts: everything she writes is gold, this is so pure, and so very sweet

🌿Lust for life by @maroonmoonlouis

(32k | E | 1970s Hollywood starlet au)

or the 1970s au where the pressure of being an aging starlet begins to weigh heavy on Harry's heart before he meets Louis

Thoughts: a gem!! Very much sucks you into the era and story, so much preciousness in this little beauty!

🌿Bless you! by @neondiamond

(2k | G | kid fic au)

Harry and Louis’ young daughter, Ava, really enjoys when Harry says ‘bless you’ after she sneezes.

Thoughts: the most precious little fic ever, so so so sweet and it made me smile bless

🌿All the lights are sparkling for you, it seems by @thebreadvansstuff

(3k | T | disaster birthday au)

Harry is determined to make Louis' birthday count, but his plans turn into a fiasco.

Thoughts: so fucking precious, I could hug Harry in this, sweet and funny

🌿the prettiest customer (and the cutest barista) by @onlythebravest

(1k | G | awkward coffee shop flirting)

Louis is the pretty customer that comes in and orders hot chocolate while Harry is the cute barista that takes his order.

Thoughts: so very precious, awkward shy Harry has my whole heart, the cutest lil thing you'll ever read

🌿Leather over lace by @larry-hiatus

(4k | E | pwp)

Harry wasn’t planning for his trousers to rip on stage. He also wasn’t planning for everyone to see his lace knickers when it happened. But what he really wasn’t planning on was his boyfriend punishing him for it.

Thoughts: so fucking hot. Begging y'all to go read it. Em deserves so much credit for how quick this was and how unbelievably good it was.

I probably would've read way more too but the second half of that month had me using all my free time to finish up my own fic. But anyways if you check these out please show the writers some love. @ writers: kisses for y'all bc I appreciate you and your work sm 💗

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I don't think Layover did great tbh. Terrible on YouTube (including all his MVs, Tiny Desk, and music show performances), underperformed in the biggest music markets, did poorly on k-charts (that debut was abysmal compared to the other members), predicted for less first week albums in the US than D-Day despite an extra version (but waiting on chart). Here’s a chart I’ve seen floating around Twitter that gives a good idea. Probably need to verify some of it, but I think it’s mostly accurate...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6LDbz4bYAADB7M?format=jpg&name=medium

His fanbases started working really hard on his first week Spotify streams when they realized he wasn’t doing great anywhere else, so he ended up with higher first week streams than FACE and LC, but barely, and most of his streams came from SEA (which isn’t a big deal or anything, but a lot of it was definitely from mass streaming farms). He also had a massive day 8 drop and allegedly way lower than day 8 for FACE. And let’s note that Layover has one extra song instead of an interlude too. He’s also higher on some official album charts, but that’s only because FACE wasn’t eligible because it’s an EP. He had much bigger overall album sales, but we were expecting that with vbar. I think they bought like 840k? So over 1/3 of his sales.

Unless I’m missing some achievements or got something wrong (I haven’t kept up with everything), I think it was a pretty meh debut considering all the promo he did and the fact that he’s “the most popular member”. They only have those first week streams, pretty sure. LMA has had good longevity though, so I guess we'll see. And BTW, they’re saying his hot100 performance was hurt because of DC2 sales being gone, which, sure, but he had 50k Slow Dancing CDs to compensate, way more than LC, and they couldn't even completely sell them out. I think his stans were using VPN to buy on iTunes in the US too because a few days in he went from 1 to 44 on iTunes chart with no explanation and never recovered. Curious what his final sales end up being. I'm not saying he did bad, but I don't think it's really anything to brag about either... I haven't seen a ton of objective people talking about it though so idk for sure.

The spreadsheet is killing me hahahs #dedication. I would like to know the missing numbers and positions, tho! Still, thank you.

I knew about kcharts, youtube, albums, and first week on spotify for the album. I saw some number that I assume included his prereleases, and it really is nothing major considering the first tracks released, and the fact that it had one more song than face. Just five minutes ago I saw that on their 8th day, like crazy (combined) had the same number of streams as Taehyung's entire album??

Sidenote: if there's one thing I was forced to learn this year, is how much difference combined versions of a song can make.

I don't think he had that much of international promo, or at least I didn't see it. I know he's been to A LOTTT of korean shows, and also his promo for pre-releases was already longer than Jimin's, but I think he just comes across as a really uninteresting person so I don't know if people would actually tune in to his music, no matter how many times they see him on TV. He definitely got more than Jimin, that's 1000% for sure, even if we consider the MVs alone; he got the same thing Jimin was denied.

I knew he'd get more albums sales, because past experience. And I knew they'd try hard to stream to break some "records", even if it won't hold up for too long. I also knew he doesn't really have many fans in the US, (I still think Jimin's the most popular member there). I've also been saying since the day I opened this blog that his "popularity" is overrated and he's never really been in the same league as Jimin when it comes to music. I blew off so many people here who would come up to me and try to convince me he was competition to Jimin or better than him in some way.

I guess the only thing I'm surprised with is youtube. I got his tiny desk video on my homepage today (saved it to watch later) and it has less than 300k views.......... It's kinda crazy. I wonder if part of the reason he got his visual album was because his youtube numbers were usually better than everyone else's combined and they believed he'd do good.

Oh, and the songs credits. It's unbelievable to me that he did NOTHING on it. People who work on songs get credits even for writing two words, so I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that he didn't do anything at all.

I'm also curious if they would've restocked the digital CD had it been sold out, but my gut tells me they wouldn't have, or it would've been just one more, and a smaller batch.

[padmesbox]

Woke up way more pissed off that Hangman didn't go over last night and won't be main eventing all in when I actually thought I'd sleep it off but nope. I am furious tbh and seeing the 'if Kenny is not cleared, have Hangman vs Okada at all in!!' takes make me wanna go ballistic like shut the FUCK up, Hangman is a main (and SHOULD be treated as such, fuck you, Tony) character, not a back up plan while someone else considered a better fit for a match returns, and he also has the best storyline going on (along Toni and Mariah) and now it will have to be put on hold (again) to be having random matches just bc they sound cool, tbh I prefer he skips all in entirely if these are the ideas around him for the event.

They shouldn't have revived fhe feud if it was not gonna main even their biggest stage. They shouldn't have had Hangman cut that amazing promo after the Jay match if this was not gonna lead to all in.

And no, idc if they wanna make him ~spiral down further~ like having him lose was not the right call at all no matter how you wanna justify it.

[deviousomens]

tbh I feel like Michael has already toned it down a bit. when you compare the s1 press tour with the (ofc much shorter) s2 press tour then I sometimes get the feeling that he is deliberately not staring at David as much as he used to. he still makes his very obscure sex jokes and David doesn't seem to mind at all but it's still a bit of a difference imo.

I'm not sure if im supposed to respond to this or not but here we go....

To be honest with you Anon, when GO2 was getting closer to being released I blocked all tags for it on here because I wanted to stay as spoiler free as possible which meant I also missed any and all of David and Michael's interviews. With the writers/actors strike I know a lot of things were put on hold as well so I'm not sure how much I've missed.

With the strike officially being over as of 9-27-23, I'm wondering if there will be anything released for Good Omens 2 involving Michael and David or if that time has passed.

But I will try my best to see what promos David and Michael have done for GO2 and see if anything with them has changed. Though from what little I've seen so far, I still see Michael being himself, if that makes sense.

------

[discluded]

🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

🫂🫂🫂 right back at you friend

also omg OK hold on I'm just gonna answer all of you at once

@ shit talk in person anon - yes, some of that but also there didn't seem to be a single person he didn't have something negative to say about either. I'm kind of surprised Poi thought she'd be exempt from all of it. Listen, piece of life advice, if there's someone in your life (usually a friend) who seems to shit talk like dozens and dozens of people they interact with to you, especially when you don't know them or are questioning why that annoys them, then there's a 100% likelihood they're also trash talking you behind your back too. Dump those people.

@ how can you love someone you don't know anon & @ adamant that he is innocent anon - they don't really love him or know him, they treat him like a doll they can control. I believe you sent this before the new text leaks today, but Bob continued to encourage them to give him expensive gifts and form these parasocial bonds with him while others like Apo intentionally try to draw these lines between the personal and the professional and discourage this kind of fan behavior. A lot of times, these types of "fans" (stalkers, tbh, maybe digital stalkers) don't really have control over negative situations in their life and want to treat someone famous like a doll they can control and claim they're the reason that idol/actor/musician is famous. It's for their own psychological gratification. That's also why they see exposing Bob's behavior is a direct attack on them personally.

@ fandom isn't what it used to be anon - i don't think it's meaningful to say things are worse or better, let's just say that things will always continue to change. People who loved KinnPorsche were around more when the show was airing and then left (reasonably because the project finished), people split off to support their own favorites' new projects, which is also reasonable! Sooner rather than later now, there will be MA fans who have never watched KinnPorsche, there will be Jeff fans who're only around for his music, etc. New projects will bring in new fans to the actors, and bring those fans to their old projects too. That's why it's important to keep supporting their work.

But I will say how factious the fandom is directly caused by Bob intentionally sowing discord and tension between different fan groups. The translated texts show that he was purposefully initiating it and gleeful that it succeeded 🤷🏻‍♀️ You can't save things that are rotten at the core and he rotted it.

@ nobody spoke up anon - i don't like to give attention to toxic solos (and they locked their account anyway) but from what I understand, they meant no one spoke up for A not being at the promo shoot because Daemi intentionally booked it on a day he had other professional obligations. It's one of those "we need to protect Apo boo hoo it's us (his fans) and him against the world" in their usual deranged strain. Apo did take to Twitter to criticize Daemi when it originally happened which was in April, and Daemi was finally ousted from BOC in July after the SH situation on set was exposed.

Given that Bob intentionally told Poi to make up some excuse as to why Apo couldn't be at the shoot and then make BOC (who was unaware of this situation) take on the burden of explaining it, they probably had as many excuses lined up the day of the shoot as needed in preparation for any questions other actors might have had about why Apo wasn't there. Of course all of us are angry Bob did this to Apo, but to criticize the other actors, who had no final say in the product or knowledge this was happening, is absurd. Why Pond went along with it is another question

[samobservessonic]

This News Zone page I’m more excited about than the actual issue tbh. On the left, we get some talk about some Sonic books, which do actually exist and I’d like to read one day. But on the right, we get an advert for The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which was due to start the following week from when this comic was published. Now, this was definitely an ad for AoStH as we know it, since we see that familiar art of Robotnik and Sonic on the bottom, but the top image shows a bunch of characters who were never actually featured in the cartoon - including a take on Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot, who are both wearing similar clothes to what they would go on to wear in StC. Also shown is Princess Acorn, one of the many early designs for Sally Acorn Now, there was a bit more to these lost concepts than this one image. We’d get a few more images from StC itself and there’s been other stuff found from it over the years. But the whole thing just fascinates me. Like, clearly AoStH was ready to go at this point and someone somewhere knew these characters wouldn’t be used, yet somehow, StC was sent this image and believed it was going to be a genuine part of the cartoon when they put it to print. If not for that, then we might not even know about these concepts at all

Not only that, but I assume that Johnny and Porker will get their StC design updates soon based on this, which I’m going to guess was done to match them to what the comic believed would be their cartoon counterparts. I honestly don’t know when their design update happens, so I’m looking forward to seeing if that theory holds water

But beyond that, nothing from this promo gets adapted into StC - they even make a point of saying in this article that the cartoon is unrelated to the comic. We never see StC versions of Princess Acorn or any of these other characters. StC already knew that Amy was coming soon in Sonic CD at this point, so perhaps that’s why they held off on giving the series a female lead until she arrived. Regardless, for whatever reason this image appeared in this issue, I’m glad that it did, so we can look back on what could’ve been all these years later

[outrunningthedark]

The mideseason finale makes me think that knowing who writes/directs an episode does not really factor into whether the episode will be good or bad anymore, except for those who are notoriously bad at their job (*cough*NADIA*cough*). When you (gen.) prioritize making false incentives rather than thinking up a plot, you know your own work is bad. Now I'm not sure if Juan and Bradley being here around midseason premiere will be anything worth celebrating if they're given bad materials from their superiors because let's not mice the words, Andrew's work at 6x08 is terrible.

NGL I'm still mad over KR saying she'd write a musical episode so that she doesn't have to work. This and the clearly deceptive promo picture releases they have been doing is so infuriating. For the record, I'm still blaming Tim for leaving the show under KR's "care," but whether she has always been meant to be a scapegoat from the start or not, it doesn't diminish the fact that she's done an increasingly terrible job.

First, Nadia may not be my favorite writer, but I still think she showed promise in her early episodes.

Pinned had Michael pondering a future where he isn't around for his kids, especially Harry, who was only 10 when Michael's tumor was discovered. Eddie told Chim "Tomorrow isn't promised...so if you love [Maddie], tell her." Which Chimney did. Then Madney were able to work together to save the woman at the restaurant during their date. The ending set up the hostage situation at dispatch, which Nadia also wrote. I don't think many had complaints about that episode unless they don't care for dispatch-centric plots. 9-1-1, What's Your Grievance? had great work all around during the Buckley family "reunion". A mother people wanted to cuss out. A worried sister. A heartbroken son. And there was a bit of humor to be found re: Chim knowing the secret about Daniel and struggling to keep it to himself. Once it got to 4x11 and having to put TayKay front and center...idk, man. The quality went downhill. (Maybe because her strength is writing for Maddie?) The "Josh Begins" story wasn't awful, IMO, but was received poorly because Josh is a secondary character - as in, 'why are we spending time on this guy's background?' - that is *not* loved by everyone. If it was a story about Linda...probably a different reaction because fandom finds her more likeable. (Let's not forget that Kristen helped co-write that one! So she was on board with, if not suggested, Josh getting the spotlight!) The fact that it happened during an episode where BT was unavoidable...not helpful. People focused on that more than anything no matter whether they were applauding TayKay's "good looks" or cursing the show for bringing her back again. (Now that I've got that out of the way...) IA with you that knowing who the writer is/writers are doesn't hold as much weight as in previous seasons. We might be able to get an idea of what an episode will involve, but since Kristen's visions and the fandom's are miles apart, there's no guarantee that the final product will resonate. TBH, though I enjoyed the Eddie and Athena "detective work" the week before in Cursed, having an entire episode dedicated to one character that has no relation to anybody took me out of the story during the original airing. Taylor should have been given more to work with. (Sometimes running an expensive show is the opposite of a good thing. Gotta cut corners whenever possible.)

[rahleeyah]

My wifi wasn’t totally working last night so I missed about 15 minutes of the svu episode. And tbh because over on Twitter everything was negative and my wifi situation being so frustrating I think I made too many snap judgements about the ep. Now that I’ve come over here and have you doing what you do best aka making my brain think with different lenses about different scenes and character interactions I def like what I saw of it a lot better! When I rewatch I’ll be like see now Leah’s perspective was this and think about it that way. Sometimes snap judgements come from confusion as well I think…

Anyways this was just a thank you for all your posts and your ability to make me rethink things in a good way! You do that a lot for me! Have a happy Friday and a good weekend!! 💕💕

Thank you so much for this!!! The morning after dissections we do here are so important for me bc we move through forming opinions in stages. Our knee jerk responses don't always hold up as we discuss and consider and review and that's true of all of us, and it's ok!!! An evolving perspective based on developing information is healthy. We should all allow ourselves the grace to process things and change our minds. I've been thinking about this all day and turning over everything everyone is saying in my head like a rotisserie chicken.

One thing I wanna mention is that this is the start of an arc. And for the first time in a very long while we have a writing team that appears interested in consistency and following up on the threads they've woven into earlier episodes. Olivia didn't solve anything in the Bronx bc she's just getting started, she'll be there for two more episodes. Elliot wasn't there in this episode (spoilers look away if you don't want) but we know he's gonna be there in episode 12. Noah was unintentionally cruel to his mother at Christmas but last night we saw him telling her he loves her and that he wants to stay with her - what do you want to bet the Noah arc this season culminates with him making it clear she is the mother he wants? Olivia has been hurt - tho not nearly as badly as we thought she was gonna be based on the promos - and we actually get to see her react to that, and it feels like she is gonna dig deeper into her trauma before she finds her way out.

This is cohesive, long form storytelling and I love that. No, every question doesn't get answered right away, it's unfolding across multiple episodes. That's a good thing. It's something we've been missing, as we've spent much of the last few seasons begging for some fucking follow up on literally anything. We have been trained not to trust that they're gonna follow thru bc they didn't, but the new leadership is making itself known and I have faith.