#i just wanted to make a gifset about all the times she's been at his competitions

[cerealbishh]

"Whoever put you on that bull screwed you over, you're better than that. Unless you've gotten a lot worse over the last five years."

"... I was surprised to see you there."

[orionsangel86]

Death Appreciation Week!

With Dead Boy Detectives hitting our screens on the 25th April, and with our girl Death of the Endless making a guest appearance, it seemed only fitting that we should celebrate her in the run up to the show's release.

So I will be running a Death Appreciation Week from Thursday 18th April to Thursday 25th April which will be a celebration of all things Death of the Endless!

Participation is easy. You can go through the prompt list below, and choose to create in whichever way you feel most comfortable. I am keeping this event as flexible as possible so the prompts aren't tied to set days, you just go for whatever you feel most inspired by whenever you can make the time and ideally if you are able to complete a prompt of your choosing each day of the event well then you are a star and I love you!

Prompt List

Death and Family - Dysfunctional as they may be the Endless are a family unit, and their parents are even worse.

Death and Mortals - Some have won her favour, others have slipped through her grasp.

Death and Immortals - even the God's must meet her in the end.

Death and Relationships - Who doesn't flirt with Death on occassion?

Lessons Learned - Death's words of wit and wisdom.

Death the Fashionista - She's rocked many looks over the years, but she's always been a goth fashion icon.

A Day with Death - every 100 years she takes mortal form.

The Sound of Her Wings - lets not forget she has them!

"A Cold Stuck-Up Bitch" - It's a long endless lifetime - Death's early years and how she's changed.

Death Tarot - a symbol of transformation, of change, and even of hope?

Rules for Participation

All types of fanworks are permitted. Fanart, fanfics, gifsets, meta analysis, polls, even just sharing your fave comic panels or official artwork is fine. The goal is to celebrate this amazing character in all her forms.

For your work to qualify for submission to the event, it has to prominantly feature Death of the Endless as the primary focal point. Whilst I encourage exploring her relationships with other characters, the point is to highlight Death as the central character in the work.

the hashtag #Death Appreciation Week must be tagged in all works for the event.

Anything goes! I welcome all ships, all types of work, all themes and content. NSFW is absolutely fine if that's your jam. We don't kinkshame here either. So long as everything is clearly tagged you can literally create what you want.

The prompt list is just a guide for inspiration but literally any fanworks that focus on Death can be included. You don't have to follow prompts if you don't want to.

This is a love fest for Death - which means no hate, discrimination, exclusion, etc. Please also keep criticisms and complaints out of the event tag.

Death of the Author - this is my Neil Gaiman Keep Out sign. As much as I love the guy, this is a fan event and I do not consent to anyone tagging the author in my posts. If he somehow finds it on his own thats on him lol, but please don't tag him.

Most importantly HAVE FUN - and share this post. Signal Boost please!

If you have any questions about the event, the prompts, or anything, please send me an ask or a dm. I'm happy to answer anything and help as much as needed.

With love and thanks to @seiya-starsniper for the awesome banner, and @marlowe-zara and @tryan-a-bex for their ideas and support. <3

[thy-lovelylionheart]

inspired by this gifset

it’s still so wild to me that, if they’d focused on Mike’s POV during Rink o’ Mania, it would be so clear how he was just as miserable as Will and El the entire time.

We focus mostly on El struggling to keep up the facade and stressing over it, with some POV moments of Will feeling like a third wheel/being upset about El’s lies. But we don’t get a POV shot of Mike until the wipe out bullying starts and the first real POV shots we get of Mike are when he’s looking for El and arguing with Will.

And that’s when we hear how he’s really been feeling for the first time all day. How hung up he’s been on Will not talking and moping.

But even before that, if you focus solely on Mike, it’s clear that Mike is also putting up a facade. The way he asks questions about their activities that days—questioning burritos for breakfast, even asking if they come to the rink often—is stilted and laced with discomfort. He’s trying to be a good boyfriend and enjoy the day El planned, but let’s be real, does anyone actually think that Michael Wheeler would want to go to a roller rink?? I personally struggle to see him opting to go there if given the choice, but if anyone else thinks differently I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Mike is dressed unlike himself, he smiles when El’s looking and drops it when she’s not, just like she’s doing, he tries to make Will smile or laugh and Will just looks straight past him at El and you see Mike just wilt and try to keep up the facade but it doesn’t hold, it can’t hold.

And if Mike had had a POV focus during Rink o’ Mania prior to wipe out/his fight with Will, it would be so much more obvious to the GA. But I’m personally glad they did it this way. I think it has phenomenal rewatchability as-is and I think keeping Mike’s true feelings more in the background, with them peeking through to the foreground intermittently, is fantastic because that’s what Will and El are experiencing. They’re trying to figure out and understand how exactly Mike feels and where he stands, and so is the audience.

I really want, hope, and frankly expect (knock on wood) that we’ll get more of Mike POV’s when it comes to these feelings in s5. A pipe dream of mine would be for them to have filmed some Mike POV shots during Rink o’ Mania that they’re sitting on for s5, but again, fully aware that’s a pipe dream lol

[neyafromfrance95]

what's wrong with haladriel tag today? everyone is spreading hate or getting baited by the antis. doom and gloom. only a few posts are of the shippers goofing or discussing the ep in a way that doesn't feel like the show ended haladriel for good.

yeah, idk. i try to not scroll down the tag nowadays. i finished the episode and it was fine to me. i understand everyone's complaints and frustrations as i myself wished for sauron to see galadriel being in captivity at least (and my main issue is galadriel's shortened screentime), but i feel like we might be overreacting a bit and ruining our own shipping experience?

what saddens me the most is that i don't see the fan creations getting appreciated. the shippers would make great gifsets, edits, art - no reblogs. write fics - no comments or kudos. maybe the fandom is still small but i look at the stuff from s1 and it had so much more interaction and encouragement from other shippers.

even the metas from s1 aren't all about "when will celeborn appear and can galadriel be shipped with sauron when she is married to celeborn?" it seems like haladriels didn't give a f about that forced discourse back then and were just wholly enjoying the ship.

as i've said, i think elrond kiss is not the worst thing for haladriels. it might indicate that celeborn won't be introduced (yet), so galadriel won't have to "go back to being his wife". elrond/galadriel won't turn any more romantic than this, at most it will be ambiguous. and they might be testing the waters for how the audiences react to canon divergence. if elrond can be galadriel's jacob, why can't sauron be her edward?

listen, so many of the most iconic ships have never kissed or were never officially a couple. if the dynamic is shippable then why stop shipping just bc a season doesn't go exactly as the fans wanted it to go in their wildest dreams? we still have s3, there still might be the mind-palace communication explored in s3. after all we know the whole show was inspired by the idea that sauron ever so gropes to see galadriel and at some point galadriel closes the door on him but he still allows her to roam his mind freely!

+ this season still was like a continuation of sauron and galadriel mirroring each other, it confirmed that galadriel has feelings for sauron and that sauron is obsessed with her. there is still one ep left where this slow-burn build-up is supposed to climax.

my point is, let's try to be more positive? and being positive isn't necessarily confined to being delulu. it means creating fan content or hyping up fan creations, it means taking what we get in the episodes and dissecting it with passion, engaging with analysis, having fun!

i have been in many other fandoms and i know that a fandom can't be longevous if it's sustained on frustration and negativity and discourse 80% of the time.

for what's it worth, let's let the creators know that we want haladriel, not that we hate the show the same way the lorebros hate it. yk?

[ace-of-spaders]

*taps the mic and laughs nervously because of the major stage fright*

Lizzington shippers, fam, grandmas and grandpas, can I have a moment of your attention, please?

It's not a secret that, while some people in Lizzington community are still active, whether they write or make gifs or keep our dash full of Lizzington even in this trying times ( @melbob26-blog, thank you for this! ), Lizzington community as a whole went into hibernation over the last couple of years.

And I get it, interests change, especially when one show ends and there's another ongoing, moving on from the show that ended is totally natural, especially when it didn't give your favorite characters the happy ending they deserved.

I get it.

Hell, for a pretty lengthy while there I focused on other ships and shows, too, especially after TBL ended ended last year.

But you know what I realized earlier today, when I reread some of the old fics, browsed through gifsets and text posts, watched some fanvids?

It's the show that ended, for some in 2021, for others in 2023. And the only thing that means is that it cannot disappoint us anymore.

( it's not like we were suddenly deprived of quality content, because let's face it, the fans have been the main source of the quality lizzington content for years now, while the show gave us mere crumbs, on a good day )

But Red and Liz?

They are still out there, fighting criminals, catching Blacklisters, travelling the world, shamelessly flirting, toppling shadow organizations, raising Agnes and/or any other children they have, and generally being the sexy badass power couple they are!

Nothing changed in that regard.

So why would we mourn them, when they are out there, healthy and happy and in the middle of yet another adventure? I'm sure right this moment Red is drawing Liz into another one of his heists and she's only too happy to join him, even though she pretends that she's not, for the sake of the game.

There's literally no reason for us to stop writing, giffing, editing, sharing theories and headcanons and memes and just talking about our favorite couple.

And by writing all of this, I want to propose something daring to you:

Let's revive the Lizzington community!

Let's rewatch earlier seasons and gif the hell out of them because it's been a while and because precious moments between these two are not going to become less precious even if it's giffed 10 or 100 more times, not to mention that ever gifmaker's style is different, so there are virtually no two identical gifsets as there are no two identical snow flakes.

Let's make fanvideos, picspams, picture edits, fanart, moodboards! The amount of songs, quotes, moments etc that can inspire you is virtually endless!

Let's write fics, let's explore AUs, let's give each other prompts and challenge each other to try something new or practice some aspect of writing, like writing kisses or AUs or hugs or making up Blacklisters etc!

Let's share headcanons and theories and ideas and what our versions of Red and Liz are like, because everyone has their own unique versions of Red and Liz living in their head, and it's just beautiful, if you ask me!

Let's reblog stuff, filling each other's dashes with Lizzington!

Let's scream about Lizzington because no one does it like them!

Let's revive the Lizzington Community, we all miss it!

PS. Feel free to reblog this post – spread the suggestion!)

PPS. To assure you that I'm not the type of person who encourages others but doesn't do anything themselves, I can tell you I've already got some ideas for a couple of Lizzington events in mind. Those include challenges, thematic weeks etc.

PPPS. I'm not sure how many people are checking the tags these days, so I'm gonna tag some people I know under the cut, just in case, to spread the suggestion. If you weren't tagged, trust me, it's nothing personal!

@meetmeatthecoda @iwouldlovetoeatyourtoast @agxntkeen @factoseintolerant @tale-xistime @james-baeder @lettie1609 @withwhatiam @peace-love-on-planet-earth @missourired @felilaprivada @strawberry-pills @roominthecastle @codewordpumpkin @my-robot-heart @kitkate91060 @imyourplusone @shelly1952 @itsjustme-itsmylife @castle2cute @nancyjocom @cress-26 @lunaarlilacs @femaleoptimistic @scifi-gk @greeneyedsoul88 @figureofdismay @shippinglizzington @kissthefuture @thetwistedargent @actuallylorelaigilmore @sorrydearie @turningtimeinthetardis @buildinggsr @apicturewithasmile @windfalling @piketrickfeet

[saltpepperbeard]

Poison into Positivity: A List of What I Liked in OFMD S2

Hello hello everyone! Things have been a little rough around here. Even away from the more heated takes, I've still seen a few "down in the dumps" murmurs. To which, I'm giving y'all big hugs, but also offering up some little bits of warmth! I wanted to share quite a few bullets of the things I enjoyed about this season. Maybe it'll serve as a reminder, or maybe it'll just serve as a chaotic, silly little read as per usual PFFF.

But I invite you to read along, and even add some of your own points should you feel inclined! Also, this might not even be my full list; these are just the ones that came to me quickly/off the top of my head. Still, let's dive on down like a fantastical, dazzling goldfish, shall we?

All the callbacks/parallels. My goodness. When I tell you I'm a SLUT for metaphors/parallels/callbacks/etc etc. Seeing so many things and being able to just *Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme.* I know people might not share that same opinion because some might view it to be excessive, but I personally LOVED being able to point at my screen and be like "oH EYYYYYYY!!!" Maybe because it makes for such immaculate gifset/meta material <3 SJKJDLHSK

The costuming and makeup. WHEN THEY TALKED AT ECCC ABOUT EVERYONE GETTING HOTTER, THEY WERE NOT KIDDING LMAO. EVERYONE LOOKED SO, SO GOOD. and listen, i am on my knees begging for them to give ed with his hair up back to us. i need Her back,,,ALSO, SOMETHING SOMETHING COMPLICATED EMOTIONS TOWARDS STEDE'S LATTER HALF LOOK, BUT ALSO...GOD DAMN, MR. DARBY,,,,,,

Speaking of Mr. Darby, the acting in this season. The ACTTTINNNGG. Everyone acted their ASSES off. Everyone put their entire piratussies into this season. Though, I'm PARTICULARLY impressed with Taika and Rhys, because again with their "oh we're comedians lol so idk drama can be Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult." MMMM I THINK THE FUCK NOT, MY GUYS LMAO??? They both did SO well with all the drama and painful moments. The acting in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7 in particular like...God. GOD!!!

I loved so many characters in this season, and I'll of course have to give two individual shoutouts to my two favorite new ladies, but man. LET'S GO FRENCHIE!!! ALWAYS A DELIGHT!!! FANG/KEVIN MY ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART. JIM SERVING ABSOLUTE FUCKING GENDER THIS SEASON. OLU OLU DARLING OLU. PETE NEVER MISSING WITH HIS ONELINERS. LUCIUS BEING SO THEATRICAL AHDJKSDK LIKE NATHAN PLEASE YOU KILL ME. ROACH MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES AS HE DOES. WEE JOHN AND HIS KNITTING AND DRAG!!! AND THEN OF COURSE MY DEARLY BELOVEDS, ED AND STEDE. I JUST LOVE THEMMMMM!!! But okay okay okay-

Zheng my beloved. I just love this badass pirate queen with her sweet little pigtails and her IMMACULATE LINE DELIVERIES SDHJKSKL. A lot of my favorite deliveries from the entire season came from her quite honestly. Please see: "Girl, how ARE you?" and "Hiiiiiii. I KNOWWW it's been a day" and "I've killed mediocre men. I've killed exceptional men. But you're the worst kind: a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional."

AND ARCHIE MY BELOVED. She kills me because I remember seeing like, those ~*~audition tape whispers~*~ WAY back in the day, and subsequently thinking she was going to be quite a different character. Only for this silly goofy bubbly energetic darling to pop up and snag my heart. HER deliveries kill me also, like when she goes "Like...STEDE Stede?" and the whole "I was IN the fuckin' snake!" also hhngngngngnershkfhslkds tattooed ladies Hot :(

Speaking of which, the comedy. THE DELIVERIES. THE WAY I LAUGHED OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT, EVEN WITH THE DEEP UNDERCURRENT OF DRAMA/ANGST. The whole bit where Stede is in hysterics over his cursed coat is just hsjkdhsklds; it will NEVER not make me wheeze. And then, like I said, almost EVERYTHING Pete says this season kills me; another thing that will never not make me laugh is "a doggie...?" weird little pirate show with weird little humor my beloved

The ROMANCE??? I genuinely was going into the season with the expectation of getting maybe like, one or two Gentlebeard kisses. Imagine my shock and utter delight when we ended up with FOUR, AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE SCENE, THE LETTER SCENES, AND THE LOVE PROFESSIONS. Like, one of them dropping a legitimate "I love you" felt like an unrealistic expectation--the HIGHEST dream tier really. And then wouldn't you know it. And that doesn't even account for all the rest of the couples either! The murder wives having their chaotic little moments of fucked up affection??? LUCIUS AND PETE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEN MARRIED??? HELLO??????

The sets! I know people have pointed out that the world felt a bit simplified this time around, due to budget restraints and what have you. But I still loved what they did with the world even with the various constraints. The market in episode 6 is a PARTICULAR favorite of mine; it's just so lush and colorful. I also love what they did with The Revenge during episode 6 too!

Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really actually liked that they filmed on location. First of all, love that the Kiwis got to be right at home in Aotearoa. Love that they have an even more special connection to the show now. But second of all, I just like when scenery is...actually THERE? It feels way more TANGIBLE. Don't get me wrong; that hugeass wraparound screen that they use to film a lot of sets is a technological marvel. But I'm a sucker for practical.

The deeper and more complex dives into character motivations/trauma. Like, homie lol...When I tell you episodes 6 and 7 utterly set my brain alight in the best way possible. I was CHUGGING through thoughts. You know those gifs where someone is walking around and ranting/passionately talking,,, yeah. Yeah. Maybe because a lot of it "struck a chord" with me indeed, but I love love LOVE getting brain food like that.

Speaking of brain food, in PARTICULAR, the deeper dives into Ed's self-loathing and into Stede's troubles with confidence and masculinity. A lot of Stede's choices were fueled by those two things, and it was SO friggin fun to catch all of them, put them in a jar, and shake them around. I've seen a lot of people fearing his actions in the latter half were out of character, but to me, I don't see it that way. I just see a man who has been so spurned, so left behind, and SO deprived, a man who is stuck thinking he has to be someone else to mean something. And I think that plays a lot into even the EARLIEST developments we saw in season 1, so it was just so intriguing to watch everything messily play out.

THE INNKEEPER. THE INNKEEPER MY BELOVED. SO much about that episode absolutely has my heart. All the different developments, the stakes, the pacing, and the payoff at the end. Not to mention that I had a FEELING that mysterious figure in the trailers was Hornigold, so it was so SO validating to see him pop up PFFF. And also, all those dream/gravy basket sequences were so so good too. I don't know if it's the chemistry between Taika and Mark, or the deeper symbolism, or the lines that have become vocal stims for me SJKDLS (please see: ooOOoooO eddie eddie eddie...you're laying some heavy shit on me, bro), but man. MAN.

And this one gets its own bullet because of course it does: the fucking mermaid scene. Like, are we kidding. ARE WE KIDDING. THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL? THE FANTASTICAL-NESS INDEED?? THE WAY IT WAS ALL FUCKING PRACTICAL AND RHYS SWAM DOWN TO TAIKA AS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GOLDFISH AND THEY HAD TO THROW HEART EYES AT EACH OTHER UNDERWATER??? WHAT THE FUCK!!! And don't even get me started on Kate Bush lol. This Woman's Work might easily be one of my favorite songs, if not my FAVORITE song from the season. And man. Man. The whole meaning behind Ed seeing Stede as this beautiful, sparkly being, and not some hypermasculine/extraordinary thing. He fell in love with Stede for who Stede really is. And so I ADORE that acknowledgement.

Speaking of songs, the MUSIC!!! Absolute bangers all throughout. And I loved how there seemed to be even more intermixed within the episodes. Like God... "These are the kids..." 🗣️ HELLO MY LOVE I HEARD A KISS FROM YOU 🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟 . And all the beautiful classic piano pieces and NINA SIMONE AND JUST HSJKDHSFJKLHSKD????

Okay, I've always had and STILL have complicated thoughts and opinions on Izzy, but man, seeing him interact with the Revenge Crew was really something. Seeing Stede's influence come over the lot of them like a warm blanket, extending its welcoming and familial hands...It was just lovely. I love seeing our little sea family care for each other so much. They've probably all hurt so so much in different ways, so to see them all being a collective heart is just so nice.

Speaking of which, the queerness of it all, the queer celebration of it all. The way the whole crew is just...a representation of queer people finding each other, and subsequently finding love and family in each other. Like, when the whole world wants to cast you out, you pull each other in. When no one else wants you, you take refuge in each other. And just...the joy, beauty, and wonder that can be found in that.

And speaking of which x2, the overall care that was put into the entire thing, the effort that was put into the entire thing. I know Max fucked us over with the budget, which subsequently fucked things like the intricacy, the amount of characters, and especially the pacing. But, I don't know; I personally could still tell everyone involved was trying so so hard to deliver for us. Based on the little details, the little callbacks, and the little moments that felt so catered to us, it just seemed so...gifted to us. Not to mention of course, the way they so deliberately chose to end on a hopeful note in case we never get a third season. They care about us. They've always cherished our excitement and passion, so it just...idk; it feels so special to have a bit more of an intimate connection like that. I've never been involved with a piece of media that so avidly SEES its audience, and celebrates along with us. So, despite everything, despite any sort of troubles, despite any sort of lows, that's a big part of what has me clutching all of this so closely to my chest. And I really hope they can still see that love, because I want nothing more than for them to see this beautiful story through.

Also, getting to enjoy this with everyone. Getting to ride the wave from the beginning of filming, all the way through the finale. Getting to see all the excitement, all the theories, all the art, all the fanfiction, all the gif sets, all the meta, and everything in between. It has carried me through some nastiness in my personal life, and has subsequently served as a very welcomed distraction. It's been such a pleasure getting to delight in this new content with you all, and I hope we get to do so into the future. <3

[quietlyimplode]

ignite your bones

After the fall of General Dreykov, and the remnants of the Red Room still at large, Natasha first year at SHIELD is anything but healing. Labeled a traitor and a turncoat, Natasha tries to find her footing in a strange new world.

Whumptober 2024: Day 7 - unconventional weapon

Warnings: red room violence, child death, minors fighting,

Word Count: 2.1k (gif not mine - from @notahammer form this gifset- I hope it’s okay that it’s borrowed)

Summary: Natasha tells a story of her past.

Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

A/N: this one delves into Natasha’s past, it’s not a happy chapter and sits heavier. Also, thank you for all the comments on the last chapter - I will reply to them - also dw in this house we love Maria Hill (she just has some distrust to work through) <3

.

Dostoevsky sits on the table and Natasha wonders at Maria’s choice of Crime and Punishment.

A Russian author and a title that mirrors herself seems a little too on the nose.

She appreciates the gesture though.

She didn’t know what had happened in the day between Maria seemingly wanting to torture her for information, to not asking her questions at all.

Debrief hadn’t touched on Odessa, but instead moved to code words and languages.

This she could easily talk on.

This was something she gave up readily.

She appreciated the reprieve.

Clint had returned to find her and Maria eating breakfast in her cell, as they had done for the three days prior. The mood more comfortable than the first time and, seeing Clint, she had smiled a genuine smile. She’d missed him.

With Clint back, he would resume the role of handler, changing the routine once again.

Whilst Natasha would miss the fresh air of the morning shooting range with Maria, she prefers Clint and the safety that his presence entails.

Will the debrief continue to avoid Odessa?

She’s sure Maria told him what had happened.

For now her voice had been heard, when she said that she couldn’t talk about it. But she’s not ready to trust they’ll avoid it forever, especially when she feels it could be used against her.

Today’s debrief looms.

Clint glances down at her in the elevator, catching her eye and smiles.

As usual, they enter the small office and sit with the two way mirror on the left.

He hands her two pictures.

Natasha’s blood runs cold.

“Who is that?”

The woman in the picture on the left has her black hair pinned back.

Memories flash.

“Stand straight.”

“Again.”

“Widows are marble.”

“You will not break.”

There’s a taste of poison in Natasha’s mouth and she wants to spit.

“Um,” she says swallowing, “she runs the widows. Trains them. Keeps the girls in line.”

She moves her hands under the table, clenching hard to keep herself present.

“What do you know of her?”

Clint asks the question slowly, like he knows what it will cost.

“The trial of the silent knife.”

Natasha doesn’t want to talk about this.

She looks at the second picture.

The branding mark embossed on skin.

“What is the trial of the silent knife?”

Natasha forces herself to calm. Forces air in her lungs and her mind to clear, even as images assault her, the cut of the knife and scar on her calf glisten.

“How did you learn to fight?” she asks, voice low.

Clint smiles easily.

“Back yard fights with my brother. My father, school, the military. You could say my learning was… eclectic.”

Natasha hears him in what he doesn’t say.

“How do you think I learned?”

Clint doesn’t answer straight away.

A question he’s likely never considered.

She sighs.

“We are trained in very specific ways. Ways to make prepubescent bodies strong. Running in mountains, strength training, exercises in multiple martial arts by different teachers. Each with their own style of reward and punishment.”

Natasha considers the questions about the woman and wonders where to start.

“Once we reached a certain age, the skills we learnt were tested.”

She knows he wants to ask more.

“I was 8.”

“The trial of the silent knife is the test.”

.

Natasha stands with the other girls.

She feels excited, adrenaline running through her body, as she wants to show her skills.

She feels ready.

The other girls look cocky. No one looks scared except Sasha, who always looks like she’s going to wet herself.

Natasha’s not sure how she hasn’t been kicked out yet.

There had been other girls who’d left. Bed empty after being injured, or crying, or talking back in ways that, even to Natasha, had felt rude.

The wind is cold. Though the ice has melted the world still holds a chill.

They’d been to this clearing before, fought here before, and Natasha was accustomed to fighting bare footed and without weapons.

“Line up,” the command comes.

The girls do as ordered.

Natasha exchanges looks with Freya, her friend looking determined and fierce.

She notes her friend’s bravery and uses it to calm her own fluttering heart.

It’s different today and they all know.

The twenty four girls are made to spar, lightly until they’re warmed up, going through the motions of hitting and being hit.

Four adults stand to her left, and she sees Madam and Dreykov standing behind them.

Her body feels cold, fear of both of them allowing one of the girls to sweep her legs.

She falls heavily.

Helped up, she whispers to her what she saw, and the message gets passed down the line.

Natasha often feels targeted by the two adults. They stare at her and she feels frustrated at the higher standard she’s seemingly held to.

She stands straighter as the round ends and they’re lined up again.

Now separated, they stand on either side of two lines marked in the dirt.

The adults move closer and Madam claps twice.

The girls stand straighter, eyes forward just as they’ve been trained.

“This is a test,” she announces. “You will fight until one of you wins.”

She walks between the lines to look at all of the girls.

“How you do that is up to you. You will be marked on how you do this. This will be done in silence. You must not scream, or cry or ask for help. Once in the arena, you are on your own. No one will help you except yourself.”

Natasha’s nerves rise.

She’s glad she’s not at the front of the line.

Briselle, one of the older girls, steps forward; her opponent is Sasha.

Natasha knows the outcome before they even fight.

A single knife is thrown in the middle of the arena.

Madam steps forward and Dreykov and the other four sit on chairs set up for them.

The girls sit along the outside, still in their lines, legs tucked under, fists on top of knees.

Briselle smiles as Sasha lunges for the knife.

She lets her pick it up and then kicks out at her.

Sasha moves back, using her momentum to feint left and swipe right.

The knife passes close to Brisselle’s neck.

The shock on her face pronounced, as Sasha presses her advantage.

Natasha had fought Sasha before. When Sasha was scared, she became desperate.

Briselle shouldn’t underestimate her, just because she looks like a scared little girl.

Briselle kicks out and makes contact with Sasha’s chest.

The kick is clearly winding, as Sasha gasps, her fist tightening harder around the knife. Brisselle presses the advantage, throwing another kick at her prone body on the floor. Sasha scrambles up, blocking it with her forearms, grabbing at a leg and attempting a throw without conviction.

Briselle’s weight seems an advantage as she holds her ground, her held foot flips up, catching Sasha under the chin.

The girl’s body sprawls, knife flying from her hand.

Briselle picks it up, kicks her and points it at her neck.

“Until one of you wins,” Madam reminds.

Briselle’s smile falters.

She doesn’t know what that means; but Sasha seems to. The crack of Briselle’s leg is loud, she shouts in pain. Sasha’s movements are quick. The first cut along her thighs and the second along her neck. Bloor pours from the wounds.

Natasha looks on in shock.

Sasha’s desperation to win had come at the cost of Briselle’s life.

The girl was dying in front of them.

Natasha feels sick.

An adult that Natasha doesn’t know pulls Briselle’s broken, gasping body away. Sasha looks at her bloody hands and is ordered by Madam to line up.

The girls hear a gunshot and all know what it means.

Sasha’s eyes go wide as she watches, her mouth opening with an outward breath. Tears leak from her eyes.

Two girls look wildly around and cry out.

Natasha’s head doesn’t move, but her eyes scan the other girls, some of whom were also crying, their predicament clear now. The years of training culminating in this.

The next two opponents stand, legs shaking, fear on their faces.

“Fight.”

Madam’s voice breaks the silence.

An endless minute seems to pass before one of the girls lunges for the knife.

The fight is short.

Clearly overpowered, the younger girl sobs as the other girl cries that she’s sorry.

The arena is bloody by the time it is Natasha’s turn. She rises on heels but doesn’t look at the girl in front of her. She knows her, but in those moments, she knows that she cannot acknowledge her.

“Fight.”

The knife is the obvious play, but the other girl is taller and reaches it quicker.

Natasha runs through the knife defenses, anticipating the lunge forward. She sidesteps, bending the girl’s wrist, and using her momentum against her. The angle of the wrist weakens her hold onto the knife and it drops to the bloody floor.

She kicks it out of the way, and slaps her heavily, knowing if she punches she’d hurt herself.

Her palm stings.

Avoiding the next punch, then kick, Natasha fights back, returning with a kick to the girl’s head.

It hits with a resounding thud.

The girl stumbles back, tripping on the knife.

Natasha lunges for it and the girl wrestles her for it.

Then arms back, the girl reaches for something that Natasha can’t see.

Natasha grabs the knife, but a rock smacks her in the head.

Natasha collapses.

Dazed, Natasha's vision blurs. She feels the girl climb on top of her, raising the rock again, readying to hit Natasha a second time.

But Natasha’s holding the knife upward between them, and as the girl leans forward it sticks between her ribs, killing her with a quiet “oh”.

The rock drops.

The unconventional weapon falling next to Natasha’s head as she huffs breaths.

Panic.

She has no thoughts in her head as she’s told to stand, her opponent dragged back.

Blood drips from her forehead and she touches it blankly.

The rest of the battles finish without Natasha registering who is still alive.

All she can think of is the knife pushing into the girl’s body.

Her chest feels so tight. Only the slightest amount of air seems to break through.

Her hands shake and she sits on them to hide it.

Natasha wants nothing more than to be left alone.

The knife.

She focuses herself by biting the inside of her mouth.

Her head hurts.

Still bleeding, she blinks it away from her eyes.

Madam stands in front of them.

“Do you know why it’s the silent knife?” Madam asks, picking the weapon up.

Twelve girls, bloody and bruised and traumatised, stare into space.

The four adults stand, Dreykov in front of them.

“You are part of the Red Room. Silent killers. You must know how to kill; friends, family, foe.”

She paces.

Placing a knife in front of each of them, Madam motions to it.

“You have passed this test. From now on, this knife is yours. Your right to own. From now on, the training will only get harder.”

Natasha eyes the bloody knife in front of her.

Sniffing, and wiping her face, she decides it was a friend and not a foe.

She picks it up cleans it with her clothing.

.

Clint sits back, his heart hurting at her story.

“Once we passed, we had to mark ourselves. The first kill. The mark, the one you see there, that’s the brand. That woman was a widow.”

She bites her lip.

She hates the story.

Telling it felt like it was someone’s else’s story.

“Can, uh, can we stop?”

Clint nods, not asking any more questions.

She’s sure it’s been recorded, but in that moment she doesn’t care. She wants to return to her cell. In that moment feeling, more than ever, like she belongs in one.

She’s made peace with most of her other kills.

But that first one…

Natasha clenches her fists and lets them go in time with her breathing.

She just feels old and tired.

.

[pynkhues]

(x)

Oh my gosh, okay okay okay, anon, I've had a few wines after a friend popped by unexpectedly, sorry in advance, but she's gone now so hear me out, haha. I'm putting my crime scene investigations hat on and I can tell you after watching the scene *mumbles indecipherably* times, Lestat has at least two visible bites in the scene on his throat, not one. We all tend to look at the one on the left, but he actually has one lower on the right too.

I feel like I'm presenting evidence in a court of law right now, haha, but I've lightened the cap a bit, so hopefully you can see the one we're all normally talking about on the left here, but then, on the right, you get a hint of blood? (And you can actuall see it in that gifset too)

And when he tilts his head towards Claudia, oh! There it is! Second bite:

Which brings me back to the scene itself, and I hear you, I think maybe it was meant to be the upper left bite scarring there, BUT I'll also counter with the very fun (to me, haha) argument that the first bite we saw through the window was actually a different bite entirely given Louis seemed to go for the join of Lestat's neck and shoulder, which in the aftermath scene, would be covered by his shirt.

In other words, I think Louis bit him more than once, and I want to have been a fly on the wall in the make up team's meeting as they decided when and where to place the bites / bruises / wounding.

But anyway, YES, I love on soooo many levels that the show broadcasts that they have insane sex in Lestat's lover's house, probably break her bed, given the bruising, only for Louis to immediately take Lestat home and declare it's time, after five years, for a family meeting? Deranged behaviour! And he's there smelling at the very least like the Mississippi River and clearly glowed up from vampire / soulmate blood after years recovering on a strict animal diet, and Lestat's there looking well fucked and fed on, and their daughter is forced to just sit there and act like this is Completely Fine. A resentment probably aggravated by the fact that we know Louis threw Lestat's coffin out the window, so presumably they're sharing one tonight! She deserved to murder them both so many times over, but honestly never more so than this night!

[angelsdean]

you probably noticed this but: right after dean finishes telling the CBGB story, he says “john friggin winchester” and takes a shot, and the jacting joices in that moment are… god. i mean the jacting joices are there the entire time ofc but they kinda give *overemphasizing this as a ‘cool john’ story* to me at first, but in that final moment—dean purses his lips, he shifts in his seat, he stares into the distance… he looks bitter. it’s like dean allows himself to feel bitter about this story for just a second, when sam and cas are no longer looking at him ://

(the exact moment i’m talking about is in a gifset you reposted recently)

Yea there's definitely a vibe throughout the whole thing that he's like, telling it as this "funny anecdote" but underneath there's more feelings brewing about this story. Like the story itself comes up because Sam prompts him to tell it, so it's not even Dean's first thought.

Even Cas asking them "You loved your father?" and Dean's response, "With all I had" is like, on the surface you can take that as a positive statement but it's also pretty vague when you really poke at it. It's like, okay and how much love for your father DID you have? It's not the same as a resounding "Yes, of course!" It's more, "I loved him as much as I personally could, given everything." And I do think Dean loved his father. Dean is full of love and he cares even when people might not deserve it. But, we also know he's no stranger to criticizing his father (as he literally says in the next breath that John was not winning any Dad of the year awards) and acknowledging that he was put through shit he did not deserve at way too young of an age.

Even him saying "damn if he wasn't there when we needed him" it's, I mean, he's literally criticized John for being a deadbeat and leaving them and not answering the phone and putting them in danger before so this line immediately rings hollow. And in the context of the scene it makes sense that he'd say this to Cas because Cas is specifically asking them about John as a way of understanding what a father is supposed to do. He prefaces his questions about John with the fact that HE never knew his father and thus has little experience with this whole Claire situation. He's looking for guidance, so it makes sense that Dean would over-embellish a little and want to paint John in a better light for the sake of telling Cas that "yea a good dad is there for their kids." Which we Know John wasn't always there for them. (Side note but all of this ALSO ties into Rowena and Crowley's subplot this episode, how she abandoned HER kid, wasn't there for him, left him vulnerable but is trying to be there now etc etc. Thematically it's an episode abt imperfect parents and their children). And the fact that Sam prompts the story to me says that Dean was probably just going to leave it at that, simply giving his advice to Cas that good dads are always there for their kids.

But anyways, all this to say, I can definitely see Dean feeling bitter about the story at the end there. Especially as the happy little mood drops and he's no longer trying to "give advice" and is reminded of the case, Claire, and how his own experiences actually relate to hers. It's like he finishes telling the story Sam prompted him to tell in the first place and he remembers, "yeah and that was fucked up. and dad might've been there THEN but what about all the other times he left us vulnerable and open to be preyed on. and now Claire is in the hands of this pseudo-guardian who is also putting her in dangerous and vulnerable situations, and and and."

[hotvintagepoll]

Welcome to the HOT AND VINTAGE MOVIE STARS tournament! We are currently on a break between tournaments, having just finished the Hot & Vintage Movie Man Tournament last week. The Hot & Vintage Movie Women Tournament starts next week on February 29th (Leap Year Day) MARCH 2ND. The submission form for the ladies is now closed.

All polls—including ongoing polls, previous rounds, old tournaments, the various shadow brackets, and fun mini polls—can be found in the #hotvintagepoll tag. Every poll in the Hot & Vintage Women Tournament will be tagged with the hot woman in it if you need to search for a hot woman in particular. There have been around 400+ submissions, so Round 1 will probably be posted over the course of a few days.

FAQs:

“I have propaganda for the hot women!” Great! Please don't send or tag me in any hot women propaganda until the poll including that hot lady is posted.

"....but you're posting gifsets of hot ladies?" Yes. As a special treat to myself I get to post a little additional propaganda of my own between tournaments. (Once the tournament begins I am sworn to neutrality and only post the propaganda sent to me.) The gifsets I reblog are not representative of my own views—ie I reblog both my secret favorites and other hot ladies who were submitted numerous times—and are intended just to get us in the Hot Lady spirit™.

“How do I send in hot women propaganda once the tournament starts?” Send me an ask, or reblog the poll and add your propaganda to it. I don’t boost all the propaganda I see or receive, but I try to boost the best of the best.

If you’re submitting propaganda for your hot lady, I don’t accept propaganda that’s from beyond the end of this tournament’s era (ie don’t send me pics of them from after 1970). I also don’t accept them acting in TV shows unless it’s clearly a cameo where they’re playing themselves (ie, no I Love Lucy or Catwoman appearances). I'm more likely to post your propaganda if it's not extremely long.

I don’t post or boost negative propaganda about any hot woman. If you really hate that a certain hot woman is winning, send me positive propaganda for their hot opponent. If you think a hot woman shouldn’t even be included in the tournaments because of scummy things she did in her lifetime, please read my take on it here.

"Can I still submit propaganda for the hot men?" You can, I guess, but it's a bit pointless because there's no tournament for the hot men going on right now, and I won't post it. Toshiro Mifune was crowned winner and every other nominated hot man was sent to the shadow realm. "I'm catching up on the brackets now! How do I find out more about the Hot Men tournament?" You can do a tag search for a specific hot man if you want to see if he was included and all his propaganda, or you can just go into the #hotvintagepoll tag in my archive and dig through the old posts to see everything. I've turned most of the rounds into featured tags in the archive to make it easy to follow the tournament (#round 1, #round 2, etc).

If I see repetitive, trolling, and/or bigoted remarks in the comments, I may block you from this bracket. If you want to point out a hot woman’s flaws or misdemeanors, that’s fine, but if I see consistent bad-faith trolling, you will be blocked.

On that note—if you have an issue with a poll, don't be a dick and I'll try to solve it. If you hate a poll pic, complain AND send me something I could use instead. I'm not going to go hunting for new photos on my own. In general I try to keep this poll fun but I will block if I see thoughtless bitching.

“I KNOW THEY'RE ALL IN THE SHADOW REALM BUT I want to see all the hot men who competed in one place!!” You can find all the round 1 matchups here (thank you @markwatnae!).

“My FAQ isn’t on here :(” send me an ask! I love hearing from you guys—just please check these basics first.

Thank you for being here! Enjoy the tournament.

[stardustloki]

Get hugged, Echo!

No one had ever really hugged him before. The vode were affectionate, and he’d been on the receiving end of many an arm round his shoulder, slap on the back, or a playful punch to his arm. Roughhousing was pretty much routine. This… wasn’t…

Or: Echo gets used to Omega hugging him.

Tags: Echo & Omega, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, written for @summer-of-bad-batch

Inspired by @ffdemon's awesome gifsets of all the Echo and Omega hugs here. It has been living rent-free in my brain since I saw it! It makes my heart melt!

Read it under the cut, or on ao3 here.

It caught him by surprise, the first time she did it, and it took him a couple of seconds to realise that she’d launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck, because she was trying to hug him, not attempting to inexpertly execute a grapple that she didn’t have the strength for.

Huh.

He crouched, frozen, as Omega tightened her grip, sniffling slightly into his neck, before abruptly realising that he should probably be hugging her too. He did so, hesitantly, unsure of how he was meant to be doing this, how tightly he should be holding her.

No one had ever really hugged him before. The vode were affectionate, and he’d been on the receiving end of many an arm round his shoulder, slap on the back, or a playful punch to his arm. Roughhousing was pretty much routine. This… wasn’t…

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it yet.

When she let him go, leaving him reeling for reasons that weren’t solely his decision to leave the Batch behind, he noticed tears gathering in her eyes and his heart clenched.

“Yes, sir,” she said, voice wobbling as she responded to his earlier order that she should keep up with her training. The order he'd given before suddenly finding Omega launching herself around his neck. She rubbed a hand across her eye.

But no, this wasn’t the time for doubts, there were a lot of his brothers out there who needed saving, just as the Batch and Rex had saved him, and he knew it. He also knew getting emotional about goodbyes never helped anyone. So, he made himself keep calm for Omega, shooting her a slight smile.

“Keep an eye on them,” he told her, satisfied when Omega gave a slight nod. Good, she’d handle this better if she felt useful.

It didn’t stop him feeling regret when he watched the ship take off, wondering if - despite what he’d reassured his sister - this might be the last time he saw this family - his family - ever again. Still, this wasn’t enough to make him rethink his decision. They had each other, who did the other clones have apart from Rex and the small team that Echo was going to be part of? No one. He couldn’t turn his back on the others. 

This was something he had to do.

—

It took him less time to adjust when Omega leapt onto him under the bright sunlight of Pabu. He still felt himself freeze, but less than a second passed before he’d wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and preventing her from falling to the ground.

“We’ve missed you!”

He could hear the warmth and emotion in her voice and it was like being hugged all over again. It felt good. No, more than that it felt incredible, and he found himself smiling like he hadn’t done in months as relief flowed through him.

It turned out he hadn’t lied when he’d told her they’d see each other again. And he hadn’t realised how uncertain of this he’d been until now.

“It hasn’t been that long,” he grinned, setting her down safely on the ground. With everything that had happened to him and his new team since he’d left, it felt as if he’d only been gone a day, though, staring down at Omega now, he wondered if there wasn’t a part of him to which it had felt like years.

He’d missed them, a lot more than he’d realised.

—

Echo didn’t want to say that he’d given up hope on finding Omega, because he hadn’t. He’d figured she’d still been alive, out there somewhere, but they’d searched and searched and searched and searched, and the Empire’s security had just been too good.

At some point, you had to get pragmatic about things.

So, that was what Echo had done, he’d fallen back on his training. Brothers died, all the time, that or they were captured, or suffered grievous injuries that made them unsuited for life on the front. Sometimes, they just got transferred somewhere different to you. The point was, never at any point in any of their lives had it been guaranteed that whoever mattered to you would be with you the next day. And you could grieve, you could rage about how unfair it was, but at the end of the day, you had to pick yourself up and keep going.

It had felt like a betrayal to Tech, a betrayal to Hunter and Wrecker, a betrayal to Omega, but as the weeks passed, it had been obvious that it would take a miracle to find her.

Echo couldn’t work miracles, but the more time he spent lamenting that, the less of his brothers he’d have been able to save with Rex. So, finally, he’d left, in order to do something that would actually help people.

And now, with the knowledge that Omega had been found, he was feeling like more than a bit of an idiot. Though, he supposed that, from what Hunter and Wrecker had told him, she and Crosshair had rescued themselves, so perhaps it didn’t matter that he’d all but given up on his and his brothers’ ability to locate her.

When Omega raced towards him, he was ready for her this time, holding out his arms so she could rush into them, and then hugging her tight.

She was here.

And she was alive.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

help the buckbuckymarge gifset is making me think about the fact that they're all so incredibly stupid (affectionate). gale and marge are like "hello we love you so much please let us keep you forever" and bucky is like "who are you talking to" lmaooooooooo

You gotta understand, it's that Marge and Buck are IN LOVE with Bucky, but he's always been a gigantic slut (affectionate), and they don't want to scare him with the fact that they want him forever.

But also, Bucky adores them both and wants to run away and be ONLY with them, but also, they are SO IN LOVE with each other, and he doesn't wanna make it weird. Watching them love each other makes him want to be with them and just them.

And they all LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH so just being together is wonderful and fun and perfect, and if they could all live in the same house in the same bed? Perfect. Wonderful. No notes ever.

But you can't just SAY THAT to your best friend. So, you know. Um. Marge, what if we set him up with someone? But, like, in the most half-assed way ever so we can PRETEND like we're not being possessive but are actually being possessive.

And Bucky, what if you always go out with them whenever possible and maybe you actually sneak a few hints of Marge's perfume off her letters by reading over Buck's shoulder??? What then???

And then what if Marge finds out Bucky's not getting letters in the Stalag and that's it. She snaps. By fucking god she will write the letters herself, raised eyebrows from anyone be fucking damned. She gets green paper for John, but she scents it with her same perfume.

On one of their many meanders around the camp, Bucky says, "What the fuck, Buck."

"We want you to come home to us," Buck says. "We've always wanted that, but we didn't know how to tell you. So, now you know."

"You fucking asshole," Bucky hisses, wishing he could tackle Buck, but he can't. "You use your fucking words, Buck."

"Oh? Is that what you were doing all this time, Buck? Using your words? Because it seems your problem isn't that MY GIRL is writing you love letters but that she hasn't been doing it BEFORE."

And Bucky deflates because, that's fair. But also. "What if the boys ask?"

"Make something up. Or tell them the truth. I don't fucking care."

Bucky asks Marge what to say. She suggests that he just tell the boys she found him a Marge of his own. Which. Bucky and Buck swap letters, and Marge writes him a little differently. It's all her, but her tone with Bucky is a bit different. It's really nice. So, that's what he goes with. Until Brady goes, "Uh-huh. And they have the same handwriting. What a find."

And Bucky kicks him out of his chair, and everyone laughs.

And Bucky greets Buck via air traffic control, then drives alongside him, then meets him by the plane, and then when it's the two of them alone again says, "So, I should warn you. Marge proposed to me."

"Did she now?"

"Said if I was gonna be your best man, you should be mine."

"Seems all right."

[kandadze]

FoF rewatch ep 5: or, Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This (gifs and loose thoughts) ... part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Y'allll, I ended up with nearly 300 gifs for this...

There's so much juxtaposition in this ep. The contrast between the nightmares Ran Yi created for PSJ and WX and the dreams he gave the brides and Miss Qi.

PSJ and WX need to die in their nightmare to wake up - the brides fall into a happy dream never to wake up again.

Ran Yi killing people for a specific purpose - Master Qi killing people just to vent his anger; the former was to face death or a thousand years of imprisonment, the latter... we never find out what DHB was going to do to punish him?

ZYC's big brother taking away his nightmares with a help of a demon, and ZYZ creating a waking nightmare for ZYC by taking his brother away.

A demon dreaming of being with a human vs apparent inability to fit in the human world.

Miss Qi wanting to escape her prison vs Ran Yi willingly confining himself to her fish tank to be with her (ahhhh Qing Geng parallels!)...

And of course the usual (and our favorite), dreams and memories vs reality. Or is it reality? Poor Bai Jiu lol

Anyhow, back to the beginning...

We get a first glimpse into PSJ's inner world and boy is it depressing... this is her little brother. That she draws her bow at. And calls him "unforgivable." And-

She shoots him. Her live reaction to her own deed:

It's like a freefall from a skyscraper, the finality of what you've just done hits you way before the ground does, and harder.

Meanwhile, ZYC has to deal with his own bad dream personified...

Thankfully they don't waste much time on foreplay their bickering, and get down to business by powering up that bad boy miraculous sword...

The flashback to their conversation about it is absolutely hilarious, and has been giffed before. Here is the recent set :)

In that same flashback, ZYZ gets to fuck with Bai Jiu's head just a little by making him doubt whether he's awake or no, and I love how promptly Bai Jiu freaks out... XD

Back to PSJ. (She'll be absent for most of this ep and the whole of 6, so I'm putting more of her here.)

WX doesn't seem to react to the sword though, so ZYZ goes inside her dream to help. Here's a gifset of that whole sequence, let me just linger for a moment on his face right afterwards...

... and then when she mentions her other nightmares. This is not the same guy who waltzed into DHB in ep 1... the cracks are really starting to show.

Also look at ZYC not quite sure what's going on between WX and ZYZ in that moment but sensing that something's off... you'll get your own private trauma moment with the demon real soon, not to worry, babygirl.

Girlfriends!

Boyfriends? XD

Everyone in competition to make sure PSJ is well taken care of (and stays put):

Look at her, all cozy in the Leomund's Tiny Hut demonic dome of protection, looking at the word WX wrote on her palm...

Aaaand I've reached the image limit. I'll see you in part 2 I guess XD

[daydreamgoddess14]

Could you do a River x Reader mistletoe kiss for Ficmas 2024?❤️(Maybe with some smut…🫣)

Mistletoe Magic

River Cartwright x F!Reader insert. No y/n, l/n.

This one was so much fun to write! I had the time of my life on this, you might be able to tell?! 😅

I took some inspiration from this (surprisingly not Jack Lowden) gifset (phew! 🥵) and from some slightly feral conversations...

Really hope you like it Anon 😘 Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals! 💜

The YouTube tutorial was giving you a headache. 

It kept going too fast, so you slowed the video down, only for it to then be going too slow. 

Blowing your hair from your face you stand up to admire your handiwork. 

It's… not great. 

The white icing is too runny and the red too thick so the red keeps forcing the white off. The green beads slide off to the side, and there's more icing on you than there is on the biscuits. 

“Fuck offfff!” You huff, slamming the piping bag down on the counter. 

It squirts icing over the tray. 

“They look good,” River says, looking over your shoulder.

“They look like Freya made them,” you mumble, thinking about how your niece is probably better with a piping bag than you are. 

“She’s two.”

“And a half.”

“Come and sit, I've found us a new Netflix show?” He asks, taking a beer from the fridge. 

“In a minute, I just want to get this right.” 

He sighs heavily and turns to leave, walking straight into the sprig of mistletoe that's been hung in the kitchen doorway for the last two weeks.

He bats it away, rolling his eyes. 

“Why is this still in the fucking way?” He mutters.

Your bad mood is clearly contagious. 

“Because, for the millionth time, it's romantic.”

“It's not remotely romantic, it's a parasitic plant that relies on a host to stay alive.”

“So it's codependent,” you bite back. “Mum hung it in our kitchen all year to remind us we're not too busy for each other.”

“Your dad told me it's because she forgot to take it down every year.”

“Well then you should be able to walk through a door without walking into it, shouldn’t you?”

“It’s a weed, you’re hanging the shittest plant ever in your kitchen.”

The biscuits, the arguing over mistletoe, it was all too much.

You march over to where River is still standing by the door and tug the sprig from the little hook you'd wedged it onto. 

“Fine, River. Fuck the fucking mistletoe,” you throw it on the top of the recycling pile. “And the fucking biscuits,” you tip the tray towards the bin and watch the iced biscuits slide in. “Shall we just cancel the lot, Ebenezer?” 

He watches you drop the tray loudly into the sink. 

“I'm going for a bath,” you mutter, squeezing past him in the doorway.

Your first Christmas together. 

You wanted it to be perfect, a mix of old and new traditions.

You'd put so much pressure on yourself to really embody Christmas.

Making iced biscuits to take to your first introduction to River's colleagues, running around sorting things for your mum and grandma, endless shopping, wrapping, decorating…

Roll on Boxing day when it would all be over. 

You sit miserably in the bath. 

The candles aren't giving ‘cosy and relaxing’. 

More like stressed and inadequate. 

Slowly, in the tepid water, you realign your thoughts enough to know that you should apologise to River. 

It's not his fault you're trying so hard. 

You want his colleagues to like you, you want his grandfather to like you. 

You especially want him to see a future with you in it.

A festively deranged dream girl.

Yeah, maybe not. 

This would be your first and last Christmas together at this rate. 

With a sigh, you let the bath water drain away, mustering the energy to move before you get cold. 

The bedroom is littered with fairy lights.

You'd left the box on the kitchen table to somehow hang around the window if you ever had time, but River, in the time you were stewing in the bath, had looped them around the headboard. 

The real fire in your bedroom had been lit and the bed was a haven of blankets and cushions. 

Your eyes swam with tears. 

“Oh shit, you're out already,” he joined you in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand and the mistletoe in the other. 

“You didn't need to do all of this,” you start, a wobble in your voice. 

“I wanted to, I was a dick earlier -”

“No, no you weren't, I was wanting everything to be perfect, and I just went so overboard. Not everything needs to be so festive all the time, and I'm not Mrs fucking Claus, and I'm sorry for trying to force you to like Christmas.”

His quiet laugh forces you to look up at him. 

“There's no need to laugh at me -”

“I'm not, I promise I'm not. Babe, you haven't forced me to like Christmas. C'mere,” he nudged you with his elbow to the bed, his hands still full.

You eyed the wine and mistletoe with suspicion, wary that he was actually just taking the piss. 

He put them both down and turned to face you, lifting your chin.

“I swear I'm not laughing at you,” he tells you sincerely. “It’s important to you, so it’s important to me.” 

“I just wanted your colleagues to like me,” you mumble. It feels like a pathetic admission. 

“I don’t,” River laughs. Your eyebrows knit in confusion. “I want you all to myself.” 

He trails his hand from your chin and down the column of your throat, stopping where you'd twisted the edges of your towel closed. 

With a swift flick of his hand, the twist is undone and the towel pools at your feet. 

Your breath hitches at the unexpected action.

“I want to make you happy,” he says.

A shiver races down your spine, raising goosebumps along the way.

He watches you intently, waiting to see whether he has been forgiven.

Whether you’d forgiven yourself.

“And I think,” he guides you to sit on the bed, “it’s time I got into the festive spirit, don’t you?”

River reaches for the bottle of wine and pulls the cork from the top.

He takes a drink straight from the bottle and then offers it to you.

He keeps his hand on the bottle, tilting it towards you. 

Sitting on the bed, you’re able to clamp your thighs together to try and elicit some friction.

Despite the goosebumps, heat rushes through your body as he dominates your space.

You feel exposed, your body bared to him while he remains fully clothed. 

He casts his eyes over you, the blue irises darkening.

The only indication that his composure is hanging by a thread is the tiniest tremor in the wine bottle tilted above you.

Holding his stare, you open your mouth enough for him to pour a splash of wine onto your tongue.

He tilts the bottle again, waiting for you to be ready.

The second time, he misjudges the pour slightly and drops of red wine spill down your chin and drip into your lap.

You manage to swallow the wine that did make it into your mouth before the giggle that’s bubbled inside you spills out.

It’s contagious.

Both laughing, you reach up to wipe the spilled wine, but his spare hand grips your wrist delicately.  

He moves towards you, encouraging you further back onto the bed to make room for him.

Once he’s finally alongside you rather than towering over you, River drops your wrist and leans into you. Careful to make sure the wine doesn’t spill again, he catches your eye as he kisses where it splashed onto your chin. 

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” you whisper, your eyes twinkling. 

He returns the grin and passes you the bottle.

Your old bed frame complains as he hops off, pulling off his thick knit sweater and kicking off his jeans.

You can’t tear your eyes from him, watching him as you take a swig from the bottle.

Before you can swallow, he climbs onto the bed, a knee between your legs, and kisses you.

The wine is shared between you in the kiss and it’s so intoxicating, the bottle almost slips from your hand as you try to reach for him.

He takes it back from you and sits back on his heels so he can hold it above you again.

You shake your head a little, laughing at his new favourite game. His eyebrow arches, challenging you.

You open your mouth for the wine, but he deliberately misses this time.

A trickle of red wine spills down your neck and between your breasts.

“Oh no,” he murmurs mischievously. “I’d better clean that up.” 

Your laughter dies in your throat, replaced with a shaking breath when his warm tongue devours the stained liquid from your skin.

“Fuck, River -”

When he sits back up, you take the wine from him and take a long drink.

You hold it on your tongue and tap your lip. With a grin, he barrels into you, pushing you both backwards.

With his mouth still on yours, he takes the bottle back and blindly manages to put it safely on the table beside you.

When he breaks the kiss again, his attention is fully on you, trapped beneath him in the pile of blankets he’s created for you.

“Still not festive enough,” he declares, sitting up again. You move to sit up alongside him, but he gently nudges you back down. “Stay there, you.”

“What are you up to?”

“You’ll see,” he teases. “Close your eyes.”

“Thought I was going to see?” you giggle.

“No need to be cheeky, I’ll keep you waiting even longer -”

“Keep me waiting for what?” 

He doesn’t respond so you experimentally open one eye to find him still watching you.

You feel your cheeks flush pink.

“You should have more patience,” he says in a low voice. 

Your eyes widen in faux shock.

“Me? Patience?” You query the most impatient man you’ve ever met.

He raises his eyebrows, waiting for you to close your eyes again.

You do as you're told.

It feels like an eternity until you feel his hand on your calf.

Your breath trembles with anticipation while you wait for more.

It’s almost impossible to tell exactly where he is.

His lips ghost over your earlobe as he whispers, “keep them closed.”

The first graze over your thigh makes you jump - it’s not his hands, or his mouth… 

Your eyebrows pinch together and nervous butterflies swarm your belly.

Then you feel the heat of his mouth in the same spot, and you relax.

You’ve no idea where the next touch is going to land until something tickles across the sole of your left foot.

“Don’t kick me,” he whispers with a little laugh, replacing whatever it was that touched you with his lips.

“River -” you hiss, doing your best to not kick him. 

When it’s against your neck, you try harder to identify what it could be.

It scratches a little, it’s neither warm, nor particularly cold…

When it’s once again replaced by his mouth, you realise what it is.

Mistletoe.

“I know what you’re doing,” you murmur, arching your body to meet his kiss.

“Do you, now?”

The plastic sprig drags over your lips and is immediately swapped out for his mouth, his tongue gliding along your bottom lip in search of access.

You pull him over you with arms looped around his neck, but he resists.

“I’m not done yet,” he tells you. “Eyes closed.”

The next graze goes from under your right breast and up to scratch roughly over your nipple.

It sends sparks down your back as you eagerly wait for the kiss that follows.

When it doesn’t, you open your eyes.

He pauses, his eyes locked on yours. 

You arch your back, silently begging for his mouth to replace the soft brush of plastic, but he resists.

"Please," you urge, "more."

With your eyes open, you can see him move the mistletoe to the birthmark on your hip. 

A delicate scratch, and then a lingering kiss. 

"You missed a bit," you giggle, referring to the kiss he hadn't placed on your breast. 

He grins, his lips still against your hip, as he looks up at you. "I didn't miss a thing," he murmurs, his breath hot against your skin. "I told you, you're just impatient."

He trails a series of kisses up your stomach, his tongue tracing a path towards your breast. 

He deliberately slows as he gets closer, his mouth hovering just above the sensitive skin.

The mistletoe scratches again, a little harder, making you gasp. 

He watches your reaction with a satisfied smile, his eyes fixed on your face as he continues to tease you.

"You like that, hmm?" he asks, his voice low.

He moves the mistletoe down to your belly button, the tips of the leaves gently scratching your skin as he follows the path with his lips.

He looks up at you again, his eyes burning with desire. "You look so beautiful like this," he murmurs, his voice thick with need.

You shiver, anticipating where his next stop might be, but he skips past where you need his mouth the most, and pulls the mistletoe down your thigh.

He plants a trail of kisses in their wake, his lips brushing over your sensitive flesh, but still not giving you quite what you crave.

He uses it to tickle the back of your knees, a breathless giggle erupting from you.

He grins at your laughter, enjoying the reaction he's getting from you. 

"Someone's ticklish," he teases, his eyes filled with amusement.

"You know I am," you huff.

River lifts his head, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

He lets out a low chuckle, his eyes roaming over your body, taking in your needy pleas.

"I do think my festive spirit still needs some work," he muses as you squirm underneath him.

He moves the sprig of mistletoe up your body, the plastic leaves brushing against your skin. 

He looks down at you with a sly smile, his eyes roaming over your body as if searching for any missed spots.

"Let me think..." he starts, his voice playful. "I don't think I did, but just in case, did I miss anywhere?”

You instinctively arch your back at his words, trying to divert his gaze.

He notices your attempt and lets out a soft chuckle.

"Eager, are we?" he teases, his eyes flickering down to your chest before moving back up to your face.

He drags the sprig up between your breasts, the plastic scratching just enough to send a shiver up your spine as he brings it up over your pebbled nipple. 

"Ahh here we are, I haven't been here yet," he dips his head lower, bringing his mouth to the sensitive skin under your breast. He plants a series of soft kisses following the curve. 

He licks a spot of red wine left on your skin, his tongue hot and insistent.

"You're cruel," you sigh. 

"Cruel?" he echoes, feigning innocence. "Me? I'm just trying to spread some Christmas cheer, sweetheart."

He grins down at you, his expression both playful and mischievous. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help you feel Christmassy?”

"I thought I was the one helping you," you huff impatiently.

He gazes down at your body, the trails of red wine staining your skin.

His eyes wander over your body, following the trails of red wine staining your skin. 

"Oh, you definitely are," he says, his words carrying an edge of possessiveness. 

River places the sprig of mistletoe in your hand, closing your fingers around it. With a quick kiss to your lips, he murmurs, “Hang onto this for me.”

His voice is low and suggestive, his eyes filled with unspoken desires.

He guides your hand down to rest on your hip, the sprig of mistletoe strategically placed above your core. He looks down at you with a satisfied smile, clearly pleased with what he sees.

"Perfect," he whispers, his voice low and filled with admiration.

He pushes your legs apart, settling himself between your thighs with a sly grin. His eyes lock with yours as he glances at your hand, still holding the mistletoe in place.

"Keep it there," he says, his voice slightly cocky. "Just let me take care of the rest.”

"That's my girl," he murmurs, getting comfortable. You ache with anticipation, desperately waiting for his touch.

He takes a moment to admire the view before looking up at you.

"Working so hard to make sure everyone else gets what they want," he kisses the birthmark on your hip again, his beard scratching your thigh.

"Always putting everyone else first. Always making sure everyone's taken care of before yourself.” 

You feel seen, at last. 

"Time for some new Christmas traditions, just for us?" he wonders, glancing up at you, his expression thoughtful. "Yeah," he says, his voice growing softer. He moves closer to you, his lips hovering just above your skin. "Just you and me, creating our own special traditions.”

He covers your hand with his own, his fingers wrapping around the mistletoe you're clutching tightly. He looks at you with a smile and says, "The mistletoe should definitely stay." He pauses for a moment, his eyes flickering to the kitchen where the mistletoe used to hang. "But instead of hanging it in the kitchen, let's hang it in the bedroom," he says with a wicked gleam in his eye.

He releases your hand, looking down at the mistletoe still held firmly in your grasp. He looks up at you and asks, "Are you keeping that there?"

When you nod firmly, he grins. "Good girl," he murmurs, satisfaction evident in his voice.

He glances back down, his tongue tracing the curve of his lower lip as if savoring the thought of what's to come. His eyes are dark with desire as he looks at you, his breath quickening in anticipation.

Your hips arch up towards him, a desperate attempt to find the contact you crave. He catches the movement, his hands tightening around your hips as he holds you steady.

"Patience, sweetheart," he whispers, his voice low and filled with need. "I want to take my time.”

"Please, River," you whisper hoarsely, your voice desperate and pleading. The feeling of his warm breath against your core is almost too much to bear, and you find yourself on the verge of begging for him to take you.

"Please what?" he asks in a low, gravelly tone. "What is it you want?”

Your voice trembles as you plead for his touch. "I need you to touch me," you say, the words tinged with desperation.

He moves his hands to spread your thighs further open, his touch both gentle and firm. His lips brush against the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, leaving a trail of hot kisses as he moves closer to your core. He nips at the skin lightly with his teeth, a playful gesture that only heightens the anticipation building within you.

His nose brushes up against your clit, the rough texture sending shivers up your spine. You gasp at the contact, your body trembling. Its almost too much to bear, and you wonder if you'll be able to hold on much longer.

"Yessss," you sigh, your voice a desperate plea. "Please, there… please," you beg, your body arching towards his mouth.

He chuckles softly at your lack of composure, enjoying the way you've come undone under his touch. "That's what I like to hear," he growls, his breath hot against your skin. "Beg for me.”

"I need you," you cry, your free hand reaching for him, the other still clutching the mistletoe.

"Yeah?" he asks, his voice dripping with satisfaction. Your voice trembles as you speak. "I need you every day," you say, your words laced with desperation. "I need this every day."

His smile widens at your pleading, and he responds in a low, seductive tone. "Every day? Greedy,” he teases. 

Your free hand drifts closer to your core, your body aching for release. You're so desperate and needy, wanting nothing more than to find release at his hand.

"Please, just touch me, River," you beg, your voice strained and pleading. He watches your hand as it moves closer to your core, unable to look away.

Finally, he relents to your demands and gives you what you've been begging for. He drags his tongue through your folds, the feeling sending jolts of pleasure through your body.

You moan at the contact, your body arching towards his mouth. "Oh," you gasp, your voice breathless.

He goes to work, his tongue moving expertly over your sensitive flesh. He revels in the sounds he pulls from you, relishing in each moan and gasp as your body responds to his touch. 

He teases your clit with a featherlight touch, but it's not enough. It's never enough. 

“Riverrrr -”

The bastard laughs, knowing exactly what he's doing to you. 

“You try telling me you're the patient one again, I'll willingly demonstrate that you're not.” 

You gasp as he seeks to prove his theory, sucking on your clit while he drives two fingers into your soaked pussy.

Any argument to the contrary evaporates from your mind, all you can focus on is your blood roaring in your ears. 

You reach a point of no return, your body shuddering with pleasure as you crumble bonelessly beneath him. 

He gently extracts the crushed mistletoe from your hand, tossing it towards the table with a careless flick of his wrist. He looks down at you, filled with satisfaction and desire as he takes in the red scratches marking your lower belly.

He moves up your body, his lips tracing a path from your stomach up to your neck. "Looks like you got a little carried away, sweetheart," he murmurs, soothing the scratches with his thumb. 

He captures your mouth in a passionate kiss, his body pressing firmly against yours as his weight settles between your legs. The taste of you on his lips only serves to ignite your desire even further, and you find yourself arching up to him, desperate for more contact.

With your knees at his hips, you attempt to flip him over, but he quickly catches on to your plan. He laughs into your neck and surprises you by rolling over instead, pulling you on top of him in a swift move.

"You're in charge now, are you?” he teases, his hands resting on your hips as he holds you against his body.

You roll your hips against him, seeking more friction and more pleasure. "I want more, River" you say, your voice full of need.

He grins at your insistence, his hands tightening on your hips as you reach over for the wine bottle. He sits up as you lean into him, aiming a well placed bite under your breast as it brushes past him. He pulls you with him and settles you in his lap. This time, the tables are turned, and it's your turn to hold the bottle to his mouth, watching as he takes a gulp of the wine.

You take another swig of the wine, deliberately letting it dribble down your chin and onto your chest. He watches with a predatory gaze as the liquid trails down your skin, his eyes darkening with desire.

He leans in and captures the dribbling wine with his tongue, licking up the droplets as they trail down your skin.

You gasp and moan as he drags his tongue over your sensitive skin, trailing a hot, wet path between your breasts and up to the hollow of your throat.

Your hips buck against him involuntarily at the feel of his tongue on your skin, your body yearning for more contact, more pleasure.

You shift on your knees, positioning yourself over him. You take another swig of the wine, feeling a bit tipsy as the alcohol warms your body.

With a smile, you lean down to kiss him, sharing the wine between you as your lips lock together.

There's a cheeky grin on your face as you murmur, "New party trick."

He responds with a low growl, his hands rubbing and kneading the flesh of your thighs in his large palms. "Private parties only," he clarifies, his voice gruff with desire.

Without warning, he suddenly pulls you down, his hands on your hips guiding you to where he wants you. You gasp at the sudden shift, your body tensing in anticipation as he splits you open on his cock. 

He gives you a moment to adjust to the feeling of him inside you. You take another mouthful of wine, feeling the alcohol burning a path down your throat. He watches with hunger in his eyes as droplets trickle down your chin, unable to resist the urge to lap them up with his tongue.

"So beautiful," he murmurs huskily, his hands gripping your hips as you undulate against him.

"You're so good for me," you whine, your voice filled with need and desire.

He responds with a low growl, his hands tightening on your hips as he starts to move against you. "That's it, sweetheart," he encourages, his eyes locking with yours. "Just let me take care of you.”

You lean in, holding his gaze and pressing your forehead against his. 

"You already do," you whisper, your voice trembling with pleasure. 

He responds with a fierce kiss, his hands sliding up to cup your face, holding you close as you continue to move against him. 

You rise and fall on his cock within his tight embrace, sticky with wine and slick with sweat.

The near empty bottle drops onto the bed. 

You cry out, his name tumbling from your lips as waves of pleasure ripple through your body. You're completely overcome, your senses consumed by the intense sensations he's stirring within you.

He holds you close, whispering words of praise and encouragement as you ride out the waves of ecstasy. "That's it, sweetheart," he murmurs, his voice low and gravelly. "Let go”

You continue to thrust against him, wanting him to find his own release "come for me, River," you beg, your voice filled with need and desire.

He groans at your words, his eyes darkening. His hips stutter, losing their rhythm as he approaches the edge. "I'm close, sweetheart," he grunts, his voice strained. "I'm so close.”

"Let me feel you," you say, your voice urgent and needy.

His body tenses at your request as you rock against him. "You want to feel it, sweetheart?" he asks, his voice rough with need.

His fingers dig into your hips, holding you tight as he teeters on the brink. Your name becomes a mantra on his lips, his breath coming in sharp gasps as he reaches the brink, filling you up. 

Finally spent, he collapses against you, his face burying into your neck. You quickly catch the wine bottle before it can spill everywhere, sighing contentedly as you feel his body pressed against yours.

You glance around at the scattered pieces of mistletoe on the bed and the splashes of red wine staining the sheets. A satisfied smile graces your lips as you turn your attention back to him, running your fingers through his hair.

"Feeling festive yet?" you tease, your voice full of affection.

"I think I do see the appeal, actually," he smiles against your skin and you can feel the warmth of his breath on your neck. "I can't believe you threw the biscuits in the bin though." 

His warm hands glide up and down your back, holding you close in his lap. You feel him stir against you, and you can't help but let out a soft groan at the sensation.

"Ready for more already?" you murmur, wiggling against him teasingly.

"Always," he murmurs. "That shit wine we brought tastes much better when I drink it off you," he licks your neck where no wine remains, but your skin is stained.

"Maybe we should try icing next time," he suggests, his lips lingering at your ear as he whispers, "chocolate, perhaps?"

You shiver at the thought of him licking chocolate off your skin, the mental image sending a wave of heat through your body. "Think I prefer the wine," you giggle.

He grins against your skin, his hands tightening on your hips. You feel him hardening again inside you. "You just like it when I have an excuse to get my tongue on you," he murmurs, his tone cocky.

"Your confidence is well placed, for once," you tease, smiling up at him.

His hands sliding up to cup your face. "Cheeky," he responds, his eyes sparkling with affection.

He grins at the way your bodies fit together, "I get plenty of good feedback."

You moan in response as he rolls your hips into his, the friction shooting sparks through your body. "I can see why," you breathe, your head falling back.

"I'm very results-driven," he teases, his tongue following the path his teeth have made along your jawline. "I always strive for excellence."

You gasp as he continues his trail of kisses, your body heating up under his touch. "You certainly deliver on that," you manage to say, your voice shaky.

“Under promise, over deliver.”

"And here I thought you were just being a grumpy Scrooge about Christmas," you murmur.

He laughs at your comment, his hands rubbing small circles along your hips. "Exactly, that's what I wanted you to think. I can be festive," he grins, "I just have my own way of celebrating. And this is far more fun than carols and mistletoe.”

"I think the mistletoe had its benefits, actually," you admit, the memory of his kisses trailing over your skin.

His hands continue to roam over your body. "Who knew, eh?" he teases, leaning in to place a kiss on your collarbone.

Your hips begin to move against him again, reigniting the fire in your veins as you feel his desire for you still burning strong.

His grip on you is tightening as he responds to your movements. He lays back, a wolfish grin on his face as he watches you take charge. He enjoys the view of you straddling him. "You look so good up there," he murmurs, his hands resting possessively on your thighs. "I think you're more than enough to make me appreciate Christmas," he decides. 

[buttercuparry]

I just added a few tags to a gifset and it made me want to write a post.

(SS of gifs by @/poomphuripan )

This is what Ming tells Joe over and over again. He has said something similar before too. In episode 5 when Ming kept Joe chained- he offered his resources to push Joe into fame, in exchange of which he demanded that Joe let go of the project he had with Sol.

Now at that time Joe wasn't doing anything in want of fame. He had just found out that the guy he thought to be his boyfriend, was merely using him as a replacement for an actor...the same actor for whom Joe was a stand in to professionally. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that Tong became famous by taking all the credits of the stunts Joe did. So to show Ming that he is as talented as Tong, if not more- Joe said yes to Pao's offer.

( a digression: even Tong is not mighty in the industry, Wut says that the CEO of the company would side with Pao in firing Tong because big men stick together. Tong had to humiliate Pao for Joe to be blacklisted).

Now in this new life after the soul transmigration and all- we have Joe wanting to stick to the shadows even more than before: content in working in the props department of all things, even when Wut offered him some work as a model. It is after Ing got roughed up by the debt collectors that he approached Wut to beg for a chance to be a stuntman again. And even then he refused Joy's offer- only rushing back to her to offer himself up to Tong once again, when it became clear that the only way to save Ing is if she goes to daily dialysis.

So what I am trying to say in rehashing all of this is that money is a huge factor now. It is what motivated him to make a deal with Ming for one year- the debts accrued by Ing and Ing's well being. Joe worked in Sol's music video because he needed the money for his new mom...none of it has ever been for fame.

And Ming knows Joe needs the money- fame brings in money. The first time he goes to Ing's house is after knowing that she has been hospitalized- he offers Joe fame/money etc in exchange of him being a stand in.

Ming is doing the same thing here too. Cornering Joe with "you are new to the industry, you don't want to appear hard to work with in front of the paparazzi" and offering his resources up once again for Joe- so that Joe may come back to him and accept him as his lover.

And I know all of this is sounding repeatitive but what I am trying to say is so much of Ming's power over Joe is materialistic. This is what he offers Joe again and again as something tempting...and it makes you wonder- had Ing not being indebted to loan sharks/ had Ing not being sick, how much of this would Joe put up with?

what would have happened if Joe was transmigrated into the body of a rich man- what if in this new life he had amples to his name. What would then Ming have to offer Joe to coerce him back?

In an industry where poor newbies are pimped off to rich men by CEO himself- how much of Ming would Joe have put up with and what else would have Ming had to do, what work would have Ming had to put in for Joe to even consider talking to someone he holds responsible for his death...

Another question I have is, had Joe not been a mere stuntman and instead were someone important in the industry- would Ming dare to be so callous to him previously? Ming could do what he did because he clocked in on Joe's loneliness and his desire for Ming...So my question is how much would have material wealth changed Joe's life? Would Sol be more receptive to Joe's advances? since then he wouldn't be suspicious of Joe's intentions about using his fame...would Joe and Sol be a thing then?

I find so much of this storyline is based on the difference of social status and exploitation of that...

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Tricking Ben

This does deviate from the watching as aired schedule, but since the Candle Wasters sent out an email for it at this point in NMTDaily, I will liveblog Tricking Ben.

The short film style makes this the only piece of canon NMTD/LLL content that isn't shot in vlog format. Instead we have the omniscient view on characters who don't know an audience can see them. I am still so sad that I will never see any more scenes shot like this for these characters, because that's the only way I'd have gotten to see all the serious Beadick conversations in Lolilo that I wanted to see.

The film still starts with a fakeout vlog beginning, which is interesting. This is the only time we ever see Pedro independently starting to make a video himself, apart from his appeal to John later on in NMTD, and of course it's to show off Balthazar's music.

HOW is Balthazar allowed to just start playing guitar in the library? How are the boys allowed to have a loud conversation in the library? This whole part is just an exercise in suspension of disbelief that a librarian didn't yell at them.

I like that the colors of the Tricking Ben title card match the colors on Ben's shirt! Fun little detail.

Ben is very awkward around Hero here. They're not yet the friends they will one day be. Aww.

"I bet he has your name saved in his phone with little hearts around it." Yeah, and I bet post-NMTD Ben will have Beatrice's name in his phone with little sparkle-heart emojis all around it!

Ahh, Claudio couldn't meet Ben where he said they'd meet, because then he'd have to walk him right into the conversation instead of letting him overhear it. I see.

Ben is so confused, poor baby.

The books are an Easter egg! The one on the bottom of the stack is called "Benediction", and the next one up is "The Dating Game", I think? The next one up is called How to Love, and the top one is clearly a romance novel by someone called Catherine Coulter, though I can't make out a title. Google says she writes romantic suspense and historical romance. Fitting.

Was that girl looking at books the same actress who played Claudio's new girlfriend in Lolilo? It looks like her. Can you imagine going to the same school as the NMTD crew, hearing all the gossip about what happened to Hero, and then still choosing to date Claudio the next year? Damn, girl.

It's definitely her, that's why they have her say hi to Claudio and Claudio run away from her awkwardly!

Claudio is hardcore panicking. He is not good at being sneaky. So that'll be the other reason he couldn't see Ben face-to-face before the overhearing happened- he wouldn't have been able to act normal enough to avoid making Ben suspicious.

"You know how everyone's unnecessarily obsessed with you?" OMFG the song is An Ode, this is not a drill!!!

Ben just drops his entire bag next to some random kid before going to hide? Take that with you, you don't know when you'll be able to go back for it!

His immediate panic face is excellent, lol.

Here is a gifset I made commemorating Ben's excellent faces in this video. It's basically my analysis of all his faces right in one post.

Leo saving the day! Claudio blurted out that thing about Bea making a vlog, so of course the first thing Ben does is get his phone to look for the video. And Leo thinks fast enough to clarify that she never posted it. That could've totally compromised the plan.

Claudio is SO bad at this.

The book that falls on Ben is called L-L-L-Loser, a Lolilo reference.

John is here! I love how he looks up, like, "Is this intel I'll need for my Plan? Oh, no, nevermind."

There are so many other people here, how did this conversation not get reported back to Beatrice? I bet it's because people who don't know her are wisely too scared of her to bring it up.

"Ben is so brave, and funny, and tall, what shall I DO??!!" Matthew J Smith is the MVP of this one, folks. Hilarious. Also, why would Claudio's first thought be "brave"? Ben hasn't done his brave thing yet, and it's standing up to Claudio!

Okay, thank you, the librarian DOES yell at them. Realism.

I just can't get over how terrified Claudio looks right now. He is so stressed. He looks like he thinks even moving a muscle will blow the secret right now.

I will never get over Ben hiding in the tree in this bit. He has to know they could see him by just turning around. Comically bad hiding place.

The way Ben is holding himself as he sneaks over to the tree, too. It's like, "if I just make myself small and quiet they won't notice me." You are too tall for that, honey, it's not helping.

He did remember to go back for his backpack, though!

It's cute that Balthy and Pedro's outfits match! Red and blue!

Balth is so bemused by Pedro asking about and complimenting the chord he's playing, aww.

Ben's like "SHIT no if he texts me they'll hear my phone!" The facial expressions in this video, truly gold.

His shirt brings out his eyes. Even when they're bugging out in panic, lol.

Awww I love how sad Ben looks at the idea that he'd ruthlessly tear Bea apart for liking him. In my gifset, I summed it up as, "No, I wouldn't enjoy hurting her, and I'm sad you all think I would." <3

"Poor little Ben just can't see what's right under his nose." Says Pedro, while sitting right next to the boy he doesn't know he has a crush on. And while, from Ben's point of view, not realizing Ben himself is right under his nose (or above his head) as well.

"She's so smart." "Yeah, except for loving Benedick." We love lines adapted directly from the play!

"Having a crush can be a nice thing, though." "I don't think it's that kind of crush, Balthy-boy." This makes me so incredibly sad, because it HAS to be foreshadowing to Lolilo and how Balthazar's crush on Pedro goes from something nice that feels good to something incredibly angsty and drawn-out and painful for both of them. :(

Ben's watch going off and the boys pretending not to notice, lol

Like Hero and the girls' conversation for Bea to overhear, the boys' conversation also involves pretending to consider telling one person about the other's crush, then deciding they shouldn't interfere.

I do love imagining the boys pitching this whole thing to Leo, though. And Leo being all in because he and Hero have been saying to each other for months that Bea definitely secretly likes Ben.

Ben sneaks off with the MOST ADORABLE little smile! He loves her! Awwww I wanna squish him!!!!

Hero and Claudio debrief and Claudio calls her a legend for stealing Bea's phone. It hurts my heart how cute they are right here. There are no undertones of Claudio's possessiveness and misogyny present, they're just two kids who like each other. If they'd gotten together after Claudio grew up more and unlearned some stuff, they might even have worked out. :(

Of COURSE Bea has Ben saved in her phone as "Dickface". As soon as they get together I bet she changes it to read just “💕Dickface💕” 😆

Shut UP the end credits music is the instrumental to Way To Tell You!!!! Beatrice’s song for Ben! Ending with an acknowledgement that her feelings for him really do turn out to be real!!!

The comments say there’s also an instrumental of Beatrice You’re Vivacious near the end of the short before the credits, which is precious too.

Oh my god, end credits shot of the books, and the historical romance novel is called THE DUKE!!! Amazing. Also the How to Love book is by Katie Cotugno! I’ve read one of her other books, it had bi rep and I liked it a lot.

Harriett as Director of Photography! I love that these projects gave her a place to learn she prefers to be behind the camera and practice that. I hope she’s doing well.

The credits end on a picture of Harriett and Jake hugging, NO ONE TOUCH ME

They had the sweetest friendship and I hope they still do. Angels.

I am now in mourning again because this is the last time I ever got to see Benedick Hobbes on my screen, and the last time I ever will, so far as I can guess. *cries forever* MY BABYYYY

You all already know I have no chill when it comes to him, don’t look at me. *burritos up in a blanket to sulk*

No but I love Tricking Ben so much and I am so glad they made it for us!!!

Wait, shit, since when did TCW have a patreon?! I’m sure it’s defunct now, but did anyone used to subscribe? Were there any good extras on there? DID I MISS ANY BEADICK CONTENT????!!!!

Comments roundup: Balth was the first to play off the Ode as a joke here; Ben’s “what? What?” was a Tenth Doctor reference; just so much love for these characters and series; Matthew J Smith responding jokingly to a Claudio-centric comment!

💖🥭🦩