#i might do others! i know webbers will be fun

[percervall]

till morning comes, let's tessellate

Pairing: Mark Webber x fem!reader Words: 1219 Warnings: flirting, dirty talk, bratty behaviour, cockwarming

In which you're willing to play with fire

---

It’s far too hot, is the only way you can describe the weather. Having grown up in Europe, it always messes with your brain a little whenever you and your husband spend the better part of January in his home country of Australia, where it’s very much summer instead of winter. Mark doesn’t mind; he will happily work out in the garden while you prefer to remain in the shade of the plum trees as you read a book in the hammock Mark had hung for you. Which is what you had been doing until watching your husband doing manual labour proved too much of a distraction. You can’t help but clench your thighs together as he walks back towards the house, wiping his brow with the shirt he had taken off already. There is no way you can continue reading now, not when Mark lifts one of the logs of a fallen tree up onto his shoulder to carry it into the shade. The threadbare fabric of the oversized t-shirt you found in the back of his closet rubs over your nipples and you can’t help but bite back the whimper that’s threatening to come out at the feeling. Fuck, you are so turned on already and all he’s done is carry wood. Mark looks up at you, giving you a knowing smirk.

“What’s a girl gotta do to get her husband to give her attention?” you pout, e-reader now forgotten in your lap. 

“You always have my attention, sweetheart,” Mark responds, dropping another log next to the ones already there. 

“Besides, you were reading,” he adds, an eyebrow raised. He has you there; the world could go up in flames without you even realising whenever you’re engrossed in a book. Whatever witty retort you might have come up with dies on your lips as he swings the axe and chops the fire wood for the pizza oven you had surprised him with for your anniversary. Your breath catches in your lungs and your clit throbs as you watch the muscles in his back move under his bronzed skin. 

“I’m sure Fernando would’ve,” you say instead once you’ve found your tongue. Mark just hums, amused at your sudden brattiness. 

“I wouldn’t bet on that, but sure darling,” he says, raising the axe again. Mark’s got a point, even if it pains you to admit that.

“Jenson definitely would,” you counter instead. At this point you might as well fully commit to riling him up.

“Sweetheart, you work with him and know just as well as I do, he would not give you the attention you need,” Mark replies. Damn this man, you think as you grow hot all over at the implication of his words. Jenson is just as much a tease as you can be, and while this makes for great TV as you wind each other up, you need a man who-.. Well, frankly you need a man who can put you in your place, sometimes literally. Just the memory of Mark throwing you onto the bed as if you weigh nothing has you clenching your thighs to alleviate the ache you feel. 

“That’s what I thought,” he muses as he watches you. You huff, folding your arms over your chest which causes the shirt to bunch up a little higher up your thighs. Mark’s eyes catch the way it shows off your legs, lust quickly replacing the bemusement in his eyes. Oh, you’ve got this man right where you want him. Trying not to show just how smug you’re feeling, you place your e-reader on the little side table as you sit up on your knees –which, given the fact that you’re in a hammock, is easier said than done.

“Maybe I should give Sebby a call. If all you’re gonna do is talk, I might as well have a little fun,” you taunt, shrugging a shoulder as you give him your most innocent look. You know you’re playing a dangerous game, bringing up his last teammate. Mark and Sebastian were competitive to a fault, and while you never even considered giving in to Sebastian’s advances on you, you know the fact they vied for your attention always brings out this possessive streak in your husband.

Mark drops the axe and saunters over to you.

“Is that so, sweetheart? What exactly do you think Seb can give you? Hm? Bees?” 

“Among other things,” you quip, anticipation swirling low in your belly as he towers over you. One hand comes to rest on your chin, lifting your face up so he can look you in the eyes. His thumb drags on your bottom lip, making your eyes flutter closed, and for a brief moment you think he will make you suck on it. Your eyes snap open as soon as you hear his chuckle.

“You always talk such a big game, but as soon as there’s even a possibility of me giving what you want, you fold so quickly. What happened to using your words, darling?” 

“‘S more fun this way,” you mumble, and you feel your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. 

“Getting punished for being a brat is your idea of fun?” Mark asks, eyebrow raised. You shrug once more. 

“You know how much I love it when you spank me,” you say as plainly as you can while you need to fight the urge to squeeze your thighs shut. One of Mark’s hands drags up your thigh and under the t-shirt. Biting your lip, you look at him waiting for the moment he will realise this t-shirt is the only thing you’re wearing. 

“You are incorrigible.” “Mm, that’s a big word for you, baby.” 

“It’s not the only thing that’s big, sweetheart,” Mark says with a grin that has your heart beat stuttering. His hands move to your ass and you have just enough awareness to wrap your arms around his neck before he lifts you up. In hindsight, it’s quite impressive how he manages to get in the hammock with you. 

“Wha- what are you doing?” you ask as he moves you into his lap, both your knees bracketing his hips.

“Oh sweetheart, wasn’t this your plan all along? So desperate for my cock that she forgot all her manners,” he coos, pulling his shorts down just far enough to free himself. 

“Oh, fuck,” you whisper as he drags it along your slit, rubbing over your clit with each pass. 

“Mm, thought so,” Mark muses, lifting you up slightly so he can align himself with your entrance. He slowly sinks you down onto him, and you can’t help but pant at the stretch when he bottoms out. 

“Mmhmm, that’s right sweetheart. You just wanted to be full, didn’t you?” 

“Uhu..” you whisper, unable to come up with any sort of comeback or sassy remark. Placing your hands on his pecs, you try to roll your hips to get some friction, but Mark halts your movements. 

“Mark,” you whine, “please, need you..” 

“Oh but you have me, sweetheart. Only good girls get fucked. Naughty girls will just have to make do with cockwarming.” 

“So mean,” you pout, earning you a kiss.

“Make you a deal, read your book like the good little girl I know you can be, and maybe I’ll let you come.” 

written as part of @footballffbarbiex's kink bingo challenge

Well. There you have it. My descend into madness has lead me down a semi-smutty path. Y'all have @norrisleclercf1 to blame for the existence of this fic

Please let me know what you think! Your comments, tags, and likes mean the world to me 💜

[lucyrose191]

hi!! can i request something with Kimi or Mark Webber x driver reader?

SILENT ADMIRATION| K.RÄIKKÖNEN

Author’s note; I didn’t know if you wanted a specific scenario or if you were fine with me choosing so I wrote this and if you want anything specific feel free to send a request!

Pairing; Kimi Raikkonen x fem!Driver!Reader

Summary; Kimi’s got some deep feelings for the reader but plans to do what he does best, keep silent. Until, Sebastian manages to persuade him that maybe melting his icy exterior might work in his favour for once.

Warnings; Implied age gap but not specifically mentioned.

F1 Master List , Part 2

Y/N L/N. 3 time world champion and first female formula one driver; a few years ago she had shown up out of nowhere and taken everyone by surprise as the new RedBull racing driver.

There were a lot of similarities between her and her teammate, Max Verstappen. They weren’t here to mess around, they were here to win and that’s exactly what they were doing together.

It was clear that she had tunnel vision, Y/N didn’t spend a lot of time with the other drivers, albeit she was very friendly and polite to them whenever they were together, she was laser focused on her career and had no time for distractions.

Hence, there had been absolutely no sign of a possible lover on the scene whilst she had been on the formula one track and she left no room for speculation either, repeating the same words constantly to the nosey reporters and journalists.

My private life is none of your business, you’re here to ask me about racing.

I’m here to race, not to find a husband.

Her attitude towards the press reminded Kimi a lot of himself, their distaste was matched and it was always fun to watch the frustration on the journalists face due to the lack of answers they were receiving when both Y/N and Kimi where in the same press conference.

Right now, Kimi was standing at the entrance of the Ferrari garage, leaning against the wall as he looked out into the pits. He was simply watching the rustle and bustle of the Friday morning before a free practice session but found that his eyes kept straying towards the woman stood just a garage away.

Wrapped up in a large RedBull raincoat to protect herself from the cold, Y/N was stood with her race engineer, as she spoke her hands were raised into the air making all sorts of gestures to back up her words. He found that it was a common habit of hers and it always conflicted him when he felt a tugging at the corner of his lips whenever he saw her doing it.

Kimi wasn’t against feeling things, he just wasn’t good at it, they were out of his comfort zone. The feeling in his chest that he felt when he saw her wasn’t bad and he didn’t not like it, he just didn’t know how to deal with it or if he should deal with it.

It wasn’t often that Kimi thought about his future, he preferred to just tackle things as they came rather than trailing after things that were only possibilities.

He wasn’t a guy that sought after love, he didn’t crave it but he certainly wasn’t opposed to it. He had been married before and well, it wasn’t what everyone made it out to be but could that just be because it wasn’t with the right person?

Kimi scoffed at his own thoughts, how did he get from Y/N to thinking about love and marriage. What he felt for her wasn’t love, it was simply an admiration. A silent admiration that would be kept that way, silent.

"Are you going to keep staring at the poor woman or are you going to ask her out?"

Kimi turned his head to the side, coming face to face with a smiling Sebastian Vettel, whose eyes were filled with mirth and amusement.

"What?"

Sebastian wasn’t put off by the bluntness in the Finn’s voice, he never had been, instead he embraced it and nodded towards Y/N’s direction. "Y/N, you fancy her right?"

"Don’t be stupid." Kimi replied, voice gruff as he looked away from Sebastian’s burning gaze, turning back to the paddocks, though he made sure his eyes didn’t stray towards Y/N’s direction, not wanting to give Sebastian the satisfaction.

"You’re being stupid." Sebastian rolled his eyes, "It’s very clear you like her, stop standing here staring at her and go and tell her."

Instead of responding, Kimi simply continued staring out of the entrance of the garage causing Sebastian to sigh. "Why won’t you?"

It was silent for a solid minute and when Sebastian thought that he wouldn’t be getting any answers from Kimi today, the man spoke up. "She’s a good driver, she’s got a successful career ahead of her, mine’s close to finishing. She doesn’t need or want distractions, she’s said it plenty of times."

It was a reasonable excuse, there were no lies in his words but there was something deep inside Sebastian that needed him to play Cupid between the pair. Kimi and Y/N would be one of the most bizarre and unexpected pairs but he had a feeling it would work so well.

"The right person would be no distraction, it doesn’t matter what she’s said before. People change and so do their opinions. Think about it this way, there’s more of a chance of her saying yes if she knows you like her than if you don’t tell her."

"What would she want with a divorced man like me? Everyone thinks I’m a heartless arsehole."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "No one cares that you’re divorced and what do you think people think about her? Have you heard the things she’s said to the press?"

Kimi smirked, of course he had and shockingly her words had made him laugh. She was a firecracker of a driver.

"Just give it a try, i think she’d be good for you." Sebastian patted his shoulder before walking away.

Kimi didn’t really register his teammate leaving, his eyes focused on Y/N’s figure just a couple metres away.

That Sunday, Y/N had qualified and finished on pole, leading the entire race by a large gap between her and her teammate, sharing the top three with Max in second and Kimi in third.

She stood on top of her car and waved at the crowd briefly before jumping down, she made her way to Max and congratulated him with a pat on the back before making her way over to Kimi who was still in his car, probably purposefully taking his time to try and prolong the post-race interview.

She would’ve done the same if she wasn’t too eager to go home.

"You good?" She asked, leaning her body over the halo of his Ferrari, she was smiling at him underneath her helmet, even though he couldn’t see.

Kimi nodded, removing his steering wheel, setting it onto the front of his car. Y/N stepped back so he could pull himself out. "You did good," he told her when he landed two feet onto the ground.

"Thanks, I heard you had a small battle with Max out there." Y/N reached up and began unbuckling her helmet, Kimi following her lead and doing the same.

"It was okay," he shrugged.

His response wasn’t anything other than what she was expecting, it was short and straight to the point but Y/N didn’t take it to heart like most would, in fact she actually preferred it. She liked that he was always clear and confident in his words and didn’t waste time with unnecessary explanations or apprehensions about other’s feelings.

Besides, there was no need to fill the space with uninteresting conversation to be able to enjoy a person’s company.

The three podium achievers got weighed before they were lead to the cool down room where they had water waiting for them and the screen that showed the race highlights.

Being able to share the podium with the woman that was all bright smiles as she was soaked in champagne was more enjoyable that Kimi ever thought it would be.

Seeing the utter happiness in her eyes caused a light curve to form at his lips, a greater reaction than gaining third had achieved, the smallest smile of his didn’t even dim as she emptied an entire bottle of champagne over his head, instead it caused an entire opposite reaction as the words spewed out of his mouth before he had even had time to realise he had spoken.

"Do you want to get a drink with me?"

Y/N had almost dropped her champagne bottle in surprise at his words but her smile seemed to grow even wider as she nodded at him, she was clearly confident in her response but her eyes had glanced down to the ground shyly.

"Not out though, yours or my hotel room?" She bravely suggested, not feeling going out but also taking the opportunity to spend some time one on one.

Kimi glanced away from her for a moment over the edge of the balcony before quickly turning his eyes back when he saw Sebastian who looked like he was seconds away from bursting with excitement as he looked at the pair.

"Mine?" He shrugged.

"I’ll see you there, Iceman." Y/N smirked and walked past him off the podium, patting his shoulder as she did so.

She didn’t see the real smile that had shown on Kimi’s face that day and she didn’t hear Sebastian’s shouting amongst the crowd of fans, the man cheering for an entirely different reason than everyone else was.

[mayabunny23]

Cringe ass Headcanons about the Don't Starve Together Gang's gender and sexuality

Wilson - Aroace He cares more about science and being a smart ass than he does romance or sex.

Willow - Lesbian She seems like the type of girl that scares men away on purpose... Gremlin woman.

Wolfgang - Aroace He would rather settle down with a friend than a lover. The man also sees most of the people in the group as friends.

Wendy - Aroace She is a kid but even if she was an adult, her grief for her sister is stronger than any love for someone (be is romantic or what not)

WX-78 - Non-binary & Aroace They are canonically non-binary so the obvious is obvious. They don't feel romantic feelings but they can feel many other forms of love... they are not truly emotionless.

Wickerbottom - Asexual Biromantic She wouldn't mind a partner to help her at her library but she might not go with any of the people here... except maybe Wanda.

Woodie - Pansexual More like axe-sexual... Wait wouldn't that make every ship with him a polycule? He loves Lucy but if he was to love someone that wasn't a talking axe, he wouldn't care what gender they are.

Wes - Demiboy & Asexual Wes feels like the type to be referred to with he / them... Be it because of the character he plays or because that's what they refers to themself as.

Maxwell - Bisexual "I miss my wife, Wilson... I miss her a lot... I'll be back." he swings both ways but uh... who wants this pathetic man outside of Charlie?

Wigfrid - Demigirl & Bisexual This queen of theater (Sorry Charlie) uses she / them much the same way Wes does... that and she is just cool like that. Oh and she likes people.

Webber - Demiboy & Aroace His reasoning for being demiboy is because he is literally two beings and the spider is a they / it... also same thing as Wendy, his fixation on bugs and critters is stronger than dumb romantic love. (If he was like an adult)

Winona - Butch [Lesbian] Obvious thing is obvious, she has a girlfriend back on Earth that thinks she's dead. Also like look at her, she is straight up very butch leaning.

Warly - Gay The other side of the spectrum, Warly is probably gay... Totally not because Waokevale and another person influenced me with Warly x Woodie...

Wortox - Aroace Mortal concepts as "love" and "sex" doesn't interest this imp, he is only after chaos and fun.... Also Wortox gives zero DAMNs what pronouns you use on Wortox.

Wormwood - Non-Binary & Aroace The lad doesn't know or really feel that type of stuff [And it's not because he is a "kid", he is an adult.], Wormwood only uses he / him pronouns on himself because they sound nice but he doesn't mind any pronouns really.

Wurt - Aroace Wurt is a kid and she's more focus on creating a merm kingdom and learning to really care.

Walter - Aroace Kid doesn't care about romance but probably had a crush at some point.

Wanda - Asexual Lesbian Wanda doesn't have time to have sex with your mother, she is trying not to turn into dust.

Wonkey - Literally not even a real character.

If you scrolled down this far or read this, thanks! this is probably hell to read for people with like... reading issues (I have some form of it, don't worry)

I might do the DLC characters from Don't Starve next but uh... maybe never, just need to remember they exist.

ALSO!!!!!!! If none of the headcanons suit you then be happy knowing they are HEADcanons and are not real...

ALSO Also... sorry for no art bros, been doodling ocs shit for discord server and no one would be interested in that.

[lcnleyisthemuse]

secret account | of!jake Webber

Pairing: of creator!jake Webber x reader

Summary: requested, Jake is an onlyfans creator who is friends with the reader. Reader isn't aware that the person she follows on onlyfans is Jake. Also Jake and Tara never dated in this. And oops there might be a part 2 later

Warnings: onlyfans account, embarrassment, Jake's a cocky flirt, uh I think that's it

Word Count: 962

You were hanging out at your friend, Tara's place for the millionth time. Hell, At this point you practically lived there with how often you were there. You two hung out all the time, doing random things and talking about god knows what for hours. This time though, she had invited some of her other friends to hang out too. Jake, Carrington and Johnnie. You'd spoken to them a couple times, you would say you were all friends, you just didn't hang out with them without Tara. You were all going to watch a movie together, some horror movie or something. You weren't sure, you weren't fully paying attention.

You kinda had your eyes stuck on Jake, every time you had seen him, he wore a jacket but today he wasn't. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt that showed off his arms and his hands. You stared at his hands for a bit too long, the tattoos on his wrists and chipped nail polish seemed all too familiar to you but you couldn't quite place it. Maybe you were just overthinking it. That was until he sat down on the couch, laying back and stretching his body out. His shirt rode up and that's when you saw a glimpse of the star tattoos and your heart started to race.

Your eyes widened and you quickly looked away, looking down at your hands and hoping and praying no one noticed the flush growing on your cheeks. "What are you blushing about?" Tara asked as she sat next to you. You were thankfully she was being quiet and discreet about it or you would've had a full breakdown. You looked around, grabbing her arm, you pulled her up and to her room. "Woah, what's wrong?" Tara asked as you closed her bedroom door. "Jake- how well do you know Jake?" You asked, pulling out your phone. "Pretty well.. why? You're freaking me out." She said, looking at you concerned. "Is this him?" You pulled up the page, it was an onlyfans page. "No fucking way.." Tara took your phone, scrolling through the page. "No fucking way!" She started laughing. "You follow him on onlyfans!" She said a bit too loudly making you quickly shush her. "Shut up! Is that him?" You asked again. "Yes, oh my gosh this is hilarious. I'm telling him," she said, heading towards the bedroom door. You grabbed her arm tugging her back towards you. "You are not telling him! This is embarrassing!" You said, grabbing your phone from her and turning it off.

"Oh my gosh, do you like get off to those videos?" Tara asked, starting to giggle. "Tara! Stop!" You groaned, covering your flushed face. "Oh, you have! And now you have to sit in the same room as him. This is hilarious!" Tara said, making you groan again. "This isn't funny! It's embarrassing! I've seen his dick! I've seen him do things!" You said, letting your hands slide down your face. "Oh my gosh, do you want to fuck him?" Tara asked. "If you say oh my gosh one more fucking time," you threatened, it was an empty threat that made Tara giggle. "I'm just saying, he's right out there... what if I-" you cut Tara off, "You are not doing anything. We're going to act like nothings going on. Understood?" You said. "Fine." Tara said, pouting. "You're no fun." She said making you roll your eyes.

The two of you left her room, the boys staring at you two. "Girl talk," Tara said, walking over to the living room. You hoped and prayed she'd sit next to Jake and let you sit in the empty chair but of course, that didn't happen. She sat in the empty arm chair with a smirk, leaving you to sit next to Jake. You glared at her, sitting next to Jake but leaving plenty of room between the two of you.

Jake wasn't blind, nor was he deaf. He heard what Tara said, she wasn't exactly the quietest and now he could see how you sat away from him. He wasn't sure whether you were uncomfortable or embarrassed or both. So he decided to test the waters. He spread his legs a bit more, relaxing further into the couch and letting his hands sit on his lap. You looked over at his hands in his lap, eyes widening and blushing heavily. He looked over at you, smirking. You made eye contact before quickly looking away. Now you were fully embarrassed.

The movie felt like it lasted forever with how Jake kept stretching out and letting his lower tummy show off before putting his hands back in his lap near his dick. Once the movie ended, you were quick to get up and go to the kitchen to get water. You felt thirsty, in more ways than one which was even more embarrassing. "You know, you're not good at being discreet." A voice startled you making you turn around to see Jake. "I-I don't know-" you stuttered over your words. "youre subscribed to my onlyfans?" He asked, being nonchalant. You coughed slightly, looking away and avoiding eye contact. "You can admit it, im honored, truly." He chuckled. "It- it was an accident." You lied. "Do you have a favorite video?" He asked, being way too chill for what he was talking about. "That's not- no I don't- I-" you stumbled over your words, you didn't know what to say.

He chuckled, "It's alright, im just fucking with you." He said. "Oh," you said softly, awkwardly giggling. "It truly is an honor," he added. "You know... if you ever wanna experience the stuff in real life, just give me a call." He said, winking before walking off, leaving you speechless.

[sapphire-drawings]

So A few questions about the swapped au

1 do Wendy and Webber get along here? Cause of Wendy is in Maxwells role…

2 what is Warly doing here

3.is Wx still the same?

Ohhh boy. . . Here we go

LONG SWAPPED DST POST AHEAD

do Wendy and Webber get along here?

Basically the same as Wilson and Maxwell tbh. Well. . . The same but with no sanity regeneration for Wendy and low sanity for Webber (boy I do enjoy to play with that concept)

2. what is Warly doing here

(might scrap him in the future if I get better ideas for Warly so don't pay too much attention to him right now)

Fisherman/sailor teenage boy

Also spent most of his lives in "shipwrecked"

Cooking amateur

WAAAAAAAAAAY less picky with food (thank god)

Aaaaaand. . . Yeah that's Warly

Ideally swapped with Walani but I know nothing about her and she's not part of Together soooo. . . Yeah she's not part of the mix

3. is Wx still the same?

sighs. . .

They could stay the same with no problem I think. . . But that's not fun. . . But. . .

Human Wx could be interesting. Just hating everything all the time with no other excuse other than they're a jerk but then who do I swap them with then? Winona? Wagstaff?? IDK

BUUUUUUT Maybe

Bear with me. . .

Does it makes sense??? I don't know

Will I keep them? I don't know

Will I ever use them? I don't know

This post is long enough already so. . . There's that!

MORE SWAPPED DST AU SHIT!

Here's your cookie 🍪

[storiesofsvu]

Weird ask ig idk

What would the characters from criminal minds greys anatomy specialties be/ who would be friends with who?

not weird at all nonny! we love a good crossover! shout out to @swimmingstudentchaos891 for talking through this with me!

Starting off with some of the one that instantly came to me;

Garcia: She's in dermatology. We all know she doesn't like the ick and gruesome of crime scenes, so she wants to stay away from all the blood and gore of surgery. And the ep when they discover the derm floor? it's all happy and calm and rainbows and sunshine and I just think she would fit in well there!

Spencer: he's nuero. It just makes sense, he's super smart, with his memory would be able to excel in that field. While schizophrenia is a mental illness it's still likely the most linked to neurological and that's gonna be a big motivation there too.

Tara: girl's ortho. Don't ask me why. She just is. She's the one out of all of them I think would love breaking bones the most. She can't help but feel cocky when the big football players come in with dislocated shoulders and they're all manly about it until she's shoving it back into place and they're screaming like babies. She'd also be so soft and so good with kids who come in who fell off the monkey bars or something.

Alex Blake: psych. I think that's pretty self explanatory. she'd excel there, or possibly be the hospital's therapist cause lord knows those dr's need fucking help. lol

Emily: Cardio god. She just has that power and you know she's the cocky, sometimes the god complex comes out. She'd be incredible. (she'd also be the McSteamy of this universe but less of a dick, and with a bigger dick. i don't make the rules)

Hotch: he's gonna be chief, or like, the head of the resident program thing. Something similar to Webber. He just has the upper level authority that people respect.

JJ: pediatrics. She's so good and soft with the tiny humans. If she hadn't fully decided on a specialty it was after having Henry that she realized she wanted to be able to help kids and she's super good with keeping parents calm.

Morgan: Hear me out. He's either an EMT or a nurse. Cause we all need a hot boi nurse in our lives. Or he's the super hot emt that rolls up with ambulances and just knows all the nurses are heart eyed for him. He flashes that cocky grin, sticks around for a coffee, little flirt master.

Rossi: i came up blank, but Lu says optometry so I agree. He's probably just around doing consults and hanging out, not as much surgery anymore. Still a published author but this time medical books, has a plethora of knowledge when the younger dr's are looking for something specific in a medical journal.

Luke: I've put him down for trauma. I think he'd be able to do that really well, his experience in the field, he's quick on his feet, not afraid to improvise kinda thing.

As for who'd be friends with whom and other little headcanons, I don't have much because there's SO many characters on Grey's and it's been a while since i've watched it (this ask literally made me restart s2, so i might have more thoughts as I go through LOL)

-Garcia and Arizona are absolutely gonna be besties. They both love all things fun and pink and adorable.

-Spencer and Lexi are 1000% going to find a bff in each other. They've both kinda grown up the "weird" kid who graduated super early and shit, so they've finally found someone else who's like them and the same age.

-Rossi is going to find himself immediately adopting the Deluca siblings. At first it's just because he hears them arguing in Italian and is able to cut in and calm them down but after he hears about their dad/family dynamics he's just all "nope, i am your papa pasta now"

-Spencer & Meredith are going to have some dark and twisty bonding over their mothers and how trying to help them is honestly exhausting and draining but they're gonna keep doing it and trying to find cures/treatments.

-Rossi and Luke are going to have some form of boding with Teddy and Owen over their various times serving and the trauma/ptsd and shit that comes with that.

There's probably SO much else i could get into but that's all I've got for now. Loved the ask! Love shit like this! thank you nonny!

[necromancers-incorporated]

Magnus Protocol Thoughts So Far (by episode)

EPISODE ONE: FIRST SHIFT

1. Alice and Teddy obviously quite close

2. Reference to app — Colin outright angry at someone

3. Alice created them???

4. Alice spoken about Sam a lot

5. WHATS WITH THE FOOD LENA

6. Lena on about importance of organisation

7. Never getting out of here Colin?

8. Gwen vs Lena go go go

9. Alice accusing Gwen of nepotism

10. Pub name is Steward

11. DID THE WORK STATION TURN ON BY ITSELF LIKE THE TAPE RECORDERS

12. Response one to one? Hm? Old response department??

13. Colin what do you know about Freddy!?

14. Norris = Martin's voice – strangely human

15. Figure in cemetery = stranger and/or flesh?

16. Email from H? Who is H? Suspicious.

17. Gwen likes her job? Hates it?

18. Enemies to lovers Gwen and Alice go go go

19. Gwen vs Lena again go go go

20. Get her ass Gwen go get that job girlboss

21. What does climbing the ladder entail Lena? Hm?

22. Camera zooming noises!!!

23. Colin does not sound pleased about the app

24. Colin and Alice clearly close

25. Colin speaks German and is vegetarian funsies

26. AWFUL TERRIBLE THINGS LAND PEOPLE THERE WHAT WAS GWEN'S HELP

27. RED CANARY RED CANARY GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT

28. Mag Institute in Manchester?

29. PICTURES DONT WORK AND PARANOIA

30. Burnt down 20 years ago hmmmm

31. ASYLUM OR PRISON HM?

32. Brutal pipe murder stains?

33. Camera not working? Distorted?

34. Got doxed hm interesting interesting

35. Yes. Yes they should. Keep canaries above ground please.

36. EYES

37. Aw Gwen checking on Sam

38. Chester = Jon's voice saying GET THE FUCK OUT

39. What do you know about the institute Sam?

40. Hah! Gwendolyn

41. Hmmm Alice talking about having victims...

42. Colin talking to the fucking computers who are you trying to find

43. GWEN BOUCHARD FUCKING *BOUCHARD

**EPISODE TWO: MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

1. Gwen why do you know all this shit

2. Hm how long have you been there Gwen?

3. Obsession with perfectionism

4. What the fuck do you mean Lena is firing people!?

5. Why isn't Gwen respected? Hm? Nepotism reference again?

6. Alice's brother in a band?? Dredgerman?

7. Sam why are you so curious hm!?

8. DO NOT FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT DO NOT

9. Ink5soul definitely going to come back, love them for that

**EPISODE THREE: PUTTING DOWN ROOTS

1. A dot jmj error? Hm? Colin thinks it's sentient?

2. Alice and Colin buddies love that

3. Colin doesn't like central IT hm I wonder why

4. Why is he so against giving the computer a personality?

5. Colin is so fucking Scottish istg

6. Dr. Samuel Webber has a grief counsellor

7. 13 Marigold Drive (Webber's address), 12 Castle Hill Avenue (Gerald Andrews), Madie Webber is deceased

8. More paranoia nice

9. Community watch you say?

10. Hmmm corruption vibes...

11. I feel like the garden might come back later like Ink5oul

12. ALICE STOP PREDICTING YOUR OWN DEATH PLEASE

**EPISODE FOUR: TAKING NOTES

1. Sam what are you looking into hm!?

2. MAGNUS AND PROTOCOL WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

3. Why were other people looking into it?

4. Alice what do you know about the Magnus Institute!? WHAT IS STARKWALL!? MASSACRE? PRIVATE MILITARY SHIT!? WHAT

5. Why is Gwen so against naming the voices too? She knows something I'm sure of it

6. Augustus hmmm who are you

7. Go old man go, go murder your teacher slay

8. STRANGE MUSIC YOU SAY HMM LIKE THE CALLIOPE

9. BEING PUPPETED ABOUT HM? WEB MUCH!

10. Evil violin man in the woods he will return again

11. The face of fortune? Is Fortune a new entity or something?

12. Player and instrument roles are blurred hmmmm

13. Hmmm murdering students HOW

14. Violin = ye old Grifter's Bone

15. Violin more like violence (aka mass murder)

16. Ooh yay more eye gore FUN

17. I wonder what the nephew did with the violin

18. WHAT OTHER STORIES HAS AUGUSTUS READ

19. Gwen and Alice's vibes I eat that shit up

20. LENA WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU KILL KLAUS!?

**EPISODE FIVE: PERSONAL SCREENING

1. What the fuck is wrong with you Colin (affectionate)

2. CAMERAS CAMERAS CAMERAS PARANOIA EYES EYES BEING WATCHED LENA IM WATCHING YOU

3. WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS LENA HM?

4. Sam what have we said about fucking around and finding out. Just gonna fill it out anyway ffs goddammit

5. Lonely you say? Interesting.

6. ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TRERROR TMA EP 5 REFERENCE

7. Why are all the posts deleted?

8. Voyeur? Hm. Ha. Eyes.

9. 2009? The same year you started your horror blog?

10. Oh they just found your address did they? Not raising any suspicions?

11. HA ITS THE SAME CINEMA THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS CLOSED HOW NORMAL

12. Adding "getting babadooked" to my vocabulary now

13. My guy is just insulting the cinema alright pal

14. Oh haha unintelligible hmmm. No.

15. ITS WHATS ON THE INSIDE THAT MATTERS IS IT

16. SAME OLD GUY DOING EVERYTHING

17. Stop it with the fucking "unintelligible"

18. SOUNDS FAMILIAR DOES IT HM I WONDER WHY

19. YES YOU FUCKING KNOW THAT ROOM OF COURSE YOU DO

20. Fuck off who is there watching you. I'll put money on the fact that it's Lena or smth

21. Oh, definitely not him posting that last message

22. More Alice and Luke, giving some real Tim vibes now. Living jn FEAR

23. Gwen stop lurking and being secretive

24. You're right Alice, something is very wrong.

**EPISODE SIX: INTRODUCTIONS

1. Aww sleepy Sam

2. Why are you warning him against the coffee Alice?

3. WORKED THERE FOR ALMOST A DECADE ALICE? SERIOUSLY?

4. Ah yes. The true enemy is the sun. Of course.

5. Sam is a cat confirmed (mlem)

6. NEW HIRE NEW HIRE NEW HIRE

7. Haha eating people. Fun. Christmas party episode?

8. Gwen is not pleased by the new hire, who is shocked

9. I've decided that Gwen = Jon, Alice = Tim, Sam = Martin

10. Fuck me I hate needles so much they freak me out god (haha phobias being played on now)

11. Needles is such a funky little guy he is trying his best and is so calm and chilled

12. Creepy creepy creepy

13. HOLES AND NEEDLES STOP PLEASE

14. Oh you grew up there? Are we gonna get some lore?

15. Ah. You are the reason it is unsafe.

16. WHAT DO YOU MEAN MARKED? MARKED BY WHAT?

17. Definitely feeding on something. Hahahaha. Stop.

18. STOP WITH THE NEEDLES IN EYES I FEEL SICK

19. Poor Needles no fear for you to eat :(

20. Needles is going to fuck me up

21. "You're clearly not well" STOP

22. This man has fear maths

23. Ha. Cuddles. No.

24. I feel very unwell

25. "Maybe they'll kill again" ALICE PLEASE STOP

26. IS THAT SCARY ALICE? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?

27. Ha. Lena the big bird.

28. CELIA FROM THE CULT WITH MELANIE AND GEORGIE

29. WHAT'S WITH THE FUCKING FOOD LENA WHY MUST THEY BEEN EATEN ON SITE

30. Why do you know what's in the interviews Alice? Why do you know it changed?

31. Nightmares?

32. Gwen is so fucking mean I love her

33. "Four weirdos in a basement reading scary stories" my my isn't that familiar

34. Celia = Sasha

35. Hm yeah sure you won't get attached Alice

36. Food as a love language Sam

37. ALICE WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN HIDDEN FOOD

38. Sam with a crush on Celia funsies

39. Tall Alice confirmed

**EPISODE SEVEN: GIVE AND TAKE

1. Celia why are you asking so many questions about the voices?

2. REFERENCING THE FUCKING FEARS ALREADY OKAY (defo tma Celia)

3. Big sister Alice

4. HILLTOP HILLTOP HILLTOP

5. WHAT HAPPENED AT HILLTOP

6. This one is reading a lot like the old statements

7. No name? Hm? A...stranger?

8. Another stranger? Interesting.

9. Weird fucking donations. OK.

10. Ha! Teeth.

11. Are these the kids from Dr. Elliott's class?

12. Haha. No keys. That's not disturbing at all.

13. All for a good cause? I think the fuck not.

14. MOULDY FOOD PLEASE NO

15. Okay. Stop. Freaking out with this claustrophobia.

16. Gunshots? Excuse me?

17. Very very much like the old statements. Celia, want to tell us something?

18. HILLTOP ON FIRE IS IT? OH. I WONDER WHY.

19. OH MY GOD WAS IT STARKWELL IS THIS THE STARKWELL GROUP

20. YOU RECOGNISE CHESTER'S VOICE!? FUCK OFF

21. NOBODY IMORTANT NOBODY FUCKING IMPORTANT

22. JON! WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT JON, SAM!?

23. GWEN WHAT DO YOU HAVE!?

24. OH YOU ARE SHOWING ALL YOUR CARDS RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW BITCH

25. LENA WHAT THE FUCK

26. Okay so she killed him in self defence.

27. WHAT SOURCE GWEN!?

28. Ah. Of course. It's all for the job.

29. Oh, Gwen. Don't get involved. Please don't.

30. EXTERNAL LIASON? REAL WORK?

[antialiasis]

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/Evita

As you probably know by now, Jesus Christ Superstar is my favorite musical, and the main reason I developed any sort of interest in musicals generally. I have also mentioned before that other popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals have not tended to do much for me. The Phantom of the Opera is too florid and lengthy and the characters don’t interest me enough, Cats is amusing fluff but has no real plot or character depth.

But also, perhaps that shouldn’t be very surprising. After all, I tend to be interested in media for its stories and characters more than presentation or spectacle - and Cats and Phantom don’t actually share a writer with JCS. The stuff I love about Jesus Christ Superstar includes the songs, sure, but I wouldn’t care so much about them in a vacuum. The guy who wrote the lyrics, made the story what it is, is Tim Rice.

So a little while back I figured it was high time I actually looked into at least the other well-known Webber/Rice collaborations, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Evita. (I gather abroad Joseph is like, a play every middle school puts on, but not over here; I had never heard of it until I looked up stuff about Jesus Christ Superstar, and never heard a song from it until I went and listened to it recently.)

(Some 5000 words of rambling under the cut, about these two shows, comparisons to JCS, and some character analysis, plus a bit of a digression about the trouble with translating musicals to film!)

Joseph is a pretty amusing one. It’s a show originally written as a fun retelling of a Bible story for kids to perform, before JCS, when Webber and Rice were 17 and 20 years old - specifically, it’s the story of Joseph, not the father of Jesus but Jacob’s favorite son from the Old Testament. Once I listened to it I did vaguely recall hearing the story before, in religious education classes as a kid: Joseph has prophetic dreams about greatness, is betrayed by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, eventually ends up the Pharaoh’s right-hand man after deciphering his prophetic dreams about an upcoming famine, then reunites with his contrite brothers and father.

It’s pretty wild, but you can definitely see the seeds of JCS in it - an isolated story from the Bible, told through a series of songs with very modernized, casual lyrics with a bit of a cheeky satirical energy with regards to some of the source material. But where JCS is a dramatic, emotional reinterpretation, Joseph has very little interest in drawing out the drama of the story it’s adapting, for the most part, and sticks with just retelling it with tongue firmly in cheek and a deluge of indulgent pastiche of a dozen different musical genres. The Pharaoh? A shameless Elvis parody, because why not. The brothers? Sing an over-the-top country song about how Joseph was heroically killed by a goat after they have sold him into slavery, and then later a parody French ballad about how much they miss him.

I quite enjoy just how plainly it presents the whole Joseph being Jacob’s favorite son thing, the narrator talking cheerfully about the coat his father gives him to make it clear that Joseph was the special one, and him telling his brothers about all these dreams he’s having that are clearly symbolic of how much greater he will be than them:

I dreamed that in the fields one day, The corn gave me sign Your eleven sheaves of corn All turned and bowed to mine My sheaf was was quite a sight to see A golden sheaf and tall Yours were green and second-rate And really rather small

What a hilariously smug-slash-oblivious little prick. The brothers are still obviously the villains here, but without exactly commenting on it per se, the musical cheerfully leans into the things a modern audience might find kind of preposterous or silly reading this story, and thus sort of subtextually asks but honestly, wasn’t it kind of dickish of their dad to just pick a favorite son and lavish him with special gifts for it? Isn’t Joseph himself being kind of a dick with this thing of telling them repeatedly about how hey guys I had this dream that I’m way better than you and in the future you’re all going to bow down to me?

And Jesus Christ Superstar does essentially the same thing - though often in a less humorous and more simply speculative way. It asks things like, isn’t it kind of weird and morbid of Jesus to tell the apostles that the bread they eat is his body and the wine they drink is his blood? What if it wasn’t a grand metaphor, but just him expressing his disillusionment with everything, and with them; what if in this moment he just feels like they wouldn’t even care if it was, and he’s right because they don’t even react? Or what if he’s just sort of morosely hoping maybe at least it’ll make them remember him when they eat and drink?

Joseph does have a little bit of a character arc going, which saves it from being entirely fluff. After we’ve seen his (possibly oblivious) self-aggrandizement at the beginning, Joseph gets betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers, then jailed on false charges, where he goes through a lowest point in the song “Close Every Door to Me”, about how he’s insignificant and it doesn’t matter what happens to him, but he’s holding on to the thought of the Promised Land for strength. After that lowest point, he’s learned some humility - not long after this, when his fellow inmates ask him to interpret their dreams, he agrees to try but isn’t sure he’ll get it right, and is almost sheepish about admitting that well, he hasn’t been wrong before. So by the time Joseph actually gains the glory and prestige that he dreamed of, it feels reasonably earned, not only because he’s been to hell and back, but because he’s stopped being the kind of insufferable, arbitrarily privileged ass he was at the start in the process. (Or, at least, that’s what I get listening to the 1991 London cast recording that I picked somewhat arbitrarily on Spotify. I also watched the 1999 movie with one eye while drawing, and there Joseph honestly kind of felt like he was still pretty smug by the end. I like it better if there’s a character arc.)

At the end, his brothers come from Canaan, which is suffering from the famine, to Egypt to beg for food. Of course Joseph is there to receive them, only for them to not recognize him there in his Egyptian finery. Joseph decides to take them for a bit of a ride, to test whether they’re still the dickheads who tried to kill him and sold him into slavery; he responds to their groveling with angry fake skepticism - telling me that you are hungry! That could be lies! during a famine, sure. They grovel all the more, and he makes a show of saying they’ve moved him and that he’ll give them what they came for and more. Only he slips one of his golden cups into his younger brother Benjamin’s sack, then angrily stops them as they’re trying to leave, theatrically searching their bags until he finds it in Benjamin’s and demands to lock him up and throw away the key. And the brothers throw themselves at his feet to say there’s no way Benjamin did this, and to please have mercy on him and jail them instead.

This whole bit, the brothers groveling and Joseph putting on this charade, probably taking out some justified anger through scaring them and the power he wields over them, while also legitimately trying to test their characters and whether he can forgive them, is my favorite chunk of this show. “Grovel, Grovel” just has a melody I like, the energy and tension of the music for “Who’s the Thief?” is great (and amusingly reminiscent of the motif I dubbed ‘Authority’ in JCS), the character dynamic of what’s happening is just interesting and more layered than anything preceding it, and it sort of drops to a bit of a more serious and tense feel there in general, the brothers genuinely desperate and Joseph pushing mercilessly to learn who they really are and whether he can ever trust them again…

…and then we launch into “Benjamin Calypso”, a sudden jarringly upbeat number where the brothers continue to argue that there’s no way Benjamin stole the cup and he should take them instead in the most nonchalant, utterly unserious way possible. The mood whiplash is something. After that Joseph reveals who he is and the brothers get like two lines to ask if it’s really him, we explain their father came and joined them in like five more lines, and then it’s time to reprise the early number about Joseph’s vision at the beginning of the story for the finale. There’s no followup on the reunion or what just happened at all!

And I guess that’s fair. The entire rest of the show is deeply silly, exaggerated pastiche where the brothers act like the snidest of villains, and we aren’t supposed to care about them. But one way or another, I find myself honestly wanting a more cathartic resolution here. Judah does offer himself up in exchange for Benjamin, sure, but in that song where he’s otherwise busy jauntily comparing Benjamin’s honesty to coconuts and palm trees because Caribbean music, it’s impossible to take that at all seriously, or actually feel like it means anything about his character or ought to move Joseph to forgive them. And then we don’t get any followup, and all in all it just means it sort of starts to present an actually interesting dramatic situation, in its slightly tongue-in-cheek way, and then goes, “Never mind! Anyway, more pastiche!”

In the original story in Genesis, Joseph was explicitly feeling a lot of emotion during all this - he overhears them talking in Hebrew about their regrets over what they did to Joseph, and from there he multiple times has to excuse himself from everyone’s presence to weep, until he’s fully sure that now his brothers would rather sacrifice their own lives than sell another brother. I honestly think that makes sense, and that it would have worked (and probably worked better) to include more emotionality here. But oh well! It’s a pretty fun silly show with some fun songs in it, and that’s all it really wants to be. What If Joseph But We Took It Seriously is basically what JCS is, and I for one am happy with what we got there.

Evita is quite different, a more ambitious and very much adult-oriented show postdating JCS by several years (like JCS, it was first released as a concept album, in 1976). It’s about the life of Argentinian First Lady Eva Perón. I don’t know much about the real-life history or how accurate it is to the actual woman, but the musical at least depicts her with a sort of blend of deep cynicism and a degree of twisted admiration for her sheer ruthless drive and ability to win influence. After an opening framing device, it starts with her as a working-class country girl forcefully persuading a singer she’s had a fling with to bring her to the big city. Once there, she immediately ditches him to pursue her own ends, freely using sex with men for whatever advantage it would get her until she has a popular radio show. After that, she begins a relationship with future president Juan Perón, with the express intent that it would be mutually beneficial to both of them, by leveraging her popularity with the public for his political endeavors while giving her access to further power and influence through him.

(I’d be surprisingly good for you, she proposes; would you be good for me too? In the Icelandic cast album that I found on Spotify, she just proposes that I’d be a pleasure for you, which misses the entire point. Similarly, his subsequent verse where he agrees that I can understand you perfectly / and I like what I hear, what I see, and knowing me / I would be good for you too is rendered as I feel my heart pounding / and I like your words, this sight, and believe me / I’d do anything for you. According to this translation this was just an average love at first sight thing I guess? He’s not even calling back to her own words or acknowledging that he gets what she’s after? Good job, guys. It’s a pretty good translation in terms of the poetry and phrasing and all, but man do they drop the ball on conveying the correct narrative here. Overall I get the impression from the album cover and song choices that the people behind this Icelandic production thought the core of this story was supposed to be the romance between Eva and Juan? Which I truly don’t think is meant to be the point, at all.)

They go on to campaign and win despite that Perón thinks the whole concept of having to get votes to get into power is needlessly annoying (her radio rhetoric for him involves claiming that he loves you, understands you, is one of you; if not, how could he love me?). Eva becomes massively popular in her home country but doesn’t succeed quite as well on a European tour where the Italians compare her husband to Mussolini; they make a bunch of money ostensibly for charitable causes, some of which winds up back in their pockets through secret Swiss accounts (apparently this bit is historically dubious and that verse is cut from later versions of the show), all while Eva is venerated as a saint; but finally she starts to grow weak with cancer and then dies, her life deliriously flashing before her as she thinks about how in the end her choices were hers and hers alone, and she chose to burn bright and briefly, even if perhaps becoming loved by so many didn’t quite add up to being loved more. It ends with a statement that money was raised to build a monument to Evita, but only the base was ever completed, and her body disappeared for seventeen years. I guess the implication is that the monument was a scam to some degree too?

As a plot it’s a bit unfocused. There isn’t really a proper climax to the storyline here; “they make a bunch of questionable money, she goes on a tour that’s neither successful nor a total disaster, and then she happens to die a while later from cancer” is kind of an anticlimax, lacking any kind of cohesive overall punch that’d make it resonate by itself (and to be clear, that’s usually the case with real events, which is why fiction based on true stories tends to change bits around to make them work better narratively; I get the sense from Joseph and JCS as well that Webber and Rice like to stick very closely to the actual series of events they’re adapting even if presenting them liberally, but that can unfortunately be a bit of a detriment when they’re trying to adapt straight-up recent history instead of a myth). Instead, this musical is more about its themes and the general character study going on.

In particular, our narrator is not Eva herself but “Ché”, a man who may or may not have been modelled after Ché Guevara. For the purposes of the musical he is mainly there as a representative of the general Argentinian working class, telling the story after Eva’s death after becoming disillusioned with her and her husband’s reign. In a way he is Evita’s Judas: the cynical POV character observing the eponymous subject of the show from a critical point of view, who is given a chance to comment on them and their legacy with the benefit of hindsight. Unlike with Judas, though, Ché in the musical is speaking only from that perspective of hindsight, not actually present during the story’s events other than when he briefly reenacts attending Perón’s rallies at the time - mostly he’s an immaterial narrator giving sardonic commentary on the events of the show.

(On Wikipedia and Genius, there are both people insisting that on the original concept album he was definitely meant to be Ché Guevara but that element was removed later when it was staged, and also people insisting that he was never supposed to be Guevara originally until the director of the first stage production decided to dress him like Guevara. On the original concept album he has a whole weird unclear side-plot going on, concurrent with the main events of the show, about his efforts to produce and sell insecticide, which Wikipedia suggests is based on Guevara’s life. As best I can tell the point of this subplot for the album’s narrative is to portray Ché as motivated partly by personal spite/jealousy/misogyny in his criticisms of Eva - towards the end of the first half he gets excited about the prospect that surely if some girl can rise so fast by her efforts in the sack then a man who offers more could do the same, and at a later point, during the song “The Actress Hasn’t Learned the Lines (You’d Like to Hear)”, Eva coldly dismisses him when he tries to sell her on his insecticide, which makes the critique that Eva didn’t do much for the working man sound more like he’s just kind of mad about that. I guess in some sense that adds a layer of ambiguity to it, unreliable narrator and all, but it feels very muddled and mostly just serves to make him seem like a dickish weirdo, undermining his character and everything else he has to say; I’m not surprised this subplot got removed entirely in every version after that. There’s another little bit later on the concept album where Ché declares he used to be loyal to his country, but for all he got out of it he might as well have been loyal to some other country, which I guess is imagining that this spurned Ché Guevara into traveling and instigating revolutions in different countries, giving up on his birth country of Argentina. This seems like pure baseless historical speculation and again is just weird and muddled by the whole portrayal of the insecticide thing, and again got ditched from later versions.)

My favorite song here is probably “Waltz for Eva and Ché”, which I’d argue serves as the real climax of the musical, even though it isn’t even a literal thing that happens. (The aforementioned Icelandic cast album does not include it; in fact, there’s barely any Ché on it generally. Again, it feels like someone thought this was supposed to be a grand romance and this guy constantly criticizing the heroine in the background was just spoiling the mood, I guess.) In this fantasy sequence, Ché finally interacts directly with Eva, challenging her on her corruption and broken promises, while the unfazed Eva staunchly defends her actions and approach in her own pragmatic sort of way:

There is evil Ever around, fundamental System of government quite incidental So what are my chances of honest advances? I’d say low Better to win by admitting my sin Than to lose with a halo

[…]

Allow me to help you slink off to the sidelines And mark your adieu with three cheers But first tell me who'd be delighted If I said I'd take on the world's greatest problems From war to pollution, no hope of solution Even if I lived for one hundred years

As far as Eva is concerned, idealistically trying to work on big problems she’ll never magically solve doesn’t actually make anyone happy, so what’s the point? Ultimately, she doesn’t care about causes or governance or politics per se, really, but she cares a lot about being a figure that inspires the common people of Argentina. And sometimes that involves being as glamorous as possible, living the high life as a working-class girl turned first lady, and sometimes it involves charity work that’s very showy and feelgood even if it doesn’t exactly make the best use of the money, and that’s all kind of the same to her; there’s corruption and evil everywhere in every political system, but at least she made people smile to the point that they chant her name. What else is there, really?

In the final verse of “Waltz for Eva and Ché”, she admits for the first time that her body is falling apart, and she wishes she had more time. And in her final lament, where she speaks of how she thought the more that loved me, the more loved I’d be, she wishes she’d had children of her own. She does have some regrets, in the end. But while she lived she committed so hard to everything she did that she’d just suppress any such thoughts out of existence. And as a result she played the game so well she was possibly the most powerful person in her entire country by the age of twenty-six; who else could say that?

As a character she’s a bit of a puzzle, but definitely intentionally so - I get the sense most of this musical is just Tim Rice trying to figure out what might have been going on in this woman’s head. (And, yeah, this is obviously just an interpretation of a woman who was an actual person, and all my commentary on her is strictly about the character as portrayed in the musical, and not about the actual woman, about whom I know very little.) One is never quite sure how much she means of what she’s saying - a distinctive feature of her character is that she constantly says things with what sounds like total conviction and sincerity that we know are lies, or stretching the truth, or are connected lyrically and musically to times she was definitely lying or stretching the truth. You could definitely argue for an interpretation where she’s doing that in “Waltz for Eva and Ché” too - just unflinchingly saying whatever justifies her actions as if she believes it, even in an imaginary confrontation. But my read is it does seem that one way or another it comes to matter a great deal to her that the working-class people of Argentina love and adore her, in a way I’m not sure much else matters to her. She has some base craving for being loved, and even if in the end all the love and adoration of the masses can’t quite satisfy it, she was still driven to a large extent by that craving.

Class is a running theme here. Eva comes from the working class, as I mentioned, and her family were thrown out at her middle-class father’s funeral, as mentioned offhandedly near the beginning of the show (her mother was his mistress); from there, she seems to have developed a determination to show them, to be better and get further and be more known and adored than any of the people who dismissed her for her origins. She climbs the social ladder relentlessly, but continues to be scorned by Argentina’s upper class no matter what she does, simply because of where she comes from, and for all of the musical’s cynicism about Eva herself, that’s one thing that it definitely sides with her on. Similarly, the powerful woman getting where she is by sleeping her way to the top is kind of a misogynistic trope that I can’t help but side-eye a bit (I suspect it’s probably a pretty direct reflection of the apparently very merciless biography that the musical was supposedly based on, given what I mentioned earlier about the way they tend to stick quite closely to the events they’re adapting, but nonetheless), but at the same time the sexism and misogyny that Eva faces wherever she goes are also a recurring theme, both from the upper class, in Europe, and from the soldiers of the Argentine Army who think she should just shut up and spread her legs. Eva’s unrelenting defiance in the face of this adversity and refusal to bow to it, and continuing success despite that, is ultimately something I feel the story kind of admires in her, in spite of the many ways it’s harshly critical of her. She saw something she wanted, and she simply did whatever she had to do to get it in her not very advantageous situation as a woman in the 1940s, and successfully made it to the top that way despite being disparaged and scorned at every turn, without ever giving in.

So that’s the overall picture I get of her character here: the formative experience of being treated as lesser and unworthy at her own father’s funeral spurned this woman into obsessive unflinching determination to make it in the biggest way possible and earn the public’s love and adoration, at whatever cost, with very little regard to what she had to do or enable to get there, and while the deepest core of that drive may have ultimately been a longing for more personal love and acceptance, she channeled it into an incredibly successful drive to be loved by her people. For all its flaws and questionable elements I do think it’s an interesting character study, hence the rambling; I’m often drawn to characters whose actions might seem puzzling at a glance but have a coherent core driving them that makes the character click if you think about it, and while Eva doesn’t press my personal character buttons super hard otherwise, I think she’s definitely an example of that.

We watched the 1996 movie based on Evita, too. It leans away from the Ché Guevara thing, with Antonio Banderas portraying Ché as simply an everyman (he gets whumped a little bit, which was fun). The performances are good overall, and it’s more faithful than I was expecting; aside from lyrical tweaks and adding a song that’s incorporated into later stage productions as well, the main notable deviation is that “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”, a song originally sung by Perón’s mistress (a one-scene wonder), is moved earlier to be sung by Eva as Augustin Magaldi (the singer who brought her to Buenos Aires) ditches her, and is only briefly echoed later by the mistress. This is a significant shift because originally Magaldi is firmly meant to be someone Eva is simply using for her own ends and immediately ditches when she’s made it to Buenos Aires with him, while in the film it tries to make this a sympathetic moment for Eva, and thus implies she actually did naïvely love Magaldi and think they’d stay together - starkly different from her original characterization, where her proclamation that Would I have done what I did if I didn’t think, if I didn’t know, that we would stay together? is one of the establishing moments of that thing where she states things with total conviction that are shown to be not even a little bit true.

I can imagine three reasons for this change. One, they thought having another actress playing a bit character sing this famous solo song before never appearing again would just feel weird in a film, which is valid; it definitely does feel like a storytelling choice that happens in musicals but really goes against what anyone would expect in film. Two, they just wanted to give the more famous actress the song (Eva is played by Madonna). And/or three, they wanted Eva to be more sympathetic and Magaldi less so, which I can also understand, particularly given she is explicitly fifteen years old at the time and “musician who sleeps with a fifteen-year-old girl is the one being used and manipulated actually” is undeniably a bit hmm. But it kind of contradicts the rest of how it all plays out a bit - I didn’t really get the sense from the lead-up in the movie that she actually loved Magaldi or wanted anything from him other than the ticket to the city, and in general Eva is still just as ruthless! All in all, I sort of get the change, and it creates sort of a neat parallel where Eva inflicts the same humiliation on this other girl that she’d suffered herself back when she had nothing, but I’m not sure they entirely pulled it off in a way that makes sense.

I think the film also suffers from a sense that many shots are simply filling time as they want the music to play for exactly as many bars as originally written; the pacing feels glacial a lot of the time as a result. I wasn’t quite devoting my full attention to the Joseph movie so it’s hard to entirely have an idea of how it compares in that regard, but I feel like that one did this more successfully, with more energetic shots and staging.

I’ve come to feel increasingly that musicals are just quite hard to film well; Joseph really leans into being super stylized and framed as a sort of heightened version of a stage production, which is one way that I think can work pretty well, but it’s just a lot easier to get restless watching a film than actors on stage, and if you’ve got a song playing and cut to different shots while it’s happening, those shots really need to be interesting and hold the viewer’s attention, rather than just arbitrary filler. In something stylized along the lines of a stage production, you can sometimes get away with doing that with cool choreography and spectacle, but if you’re going for something more grounded and realistic, like Evita, you need to figure out how to make interesting, meaningful shots out of the moments where a song is having an instrumental interlude or repeating a verse or a chorus (assuming you don’t simply cut those bits out of the song), and that’s just a lot harder than saying it.

(Incidentally, we also watched the 2021 West Side Story film recently, and I think Spielberg absolutely nailed doing this in an overall realistically styled and toned film - it does feature people doing group dance choreography with perfect seriousness as if it’s a normal thing to do, but both there and in other songs it carefully makes sure the characters are always doing something, with a flowing character dynamic that maintains a sense that something is happening and keeps it from feeling like we’re filling space or waiting for the song to be done. Tricky thing to do, but absolutely possible!)

All in all, neither Joseph nor Evita are making it onto my favorite musicals list, but they’re interesting in their own very different ways, and I enjoyed diving into them and rambling a bit. Musical rambling, I have missed thee.

[she-karev]

The Wingman (Jackson Avery x Alex Karev's Sister Friendship Imagine)

 Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

AN: I decided to do another fun chapter that focuses on Amber developing another friendship with another main character.

Summary: Amber acts as Jackson’s wingman at a bar while Andrew is in Italy and they get along.

Words: 2371

I sit at the table in the cafeteria alone studying the case notes from Webber’s surgery. I am munching on an apple while I read the material trying to comprehend the steps of the procedure. Normally I would have a study buddy with me and that buddy would relieve my tension with soft glances but I am alone.

Andrew and Carina are visiting their uncle in Italy who is getting his hip replacement. He said he would be gone a week which is fine I can survive on my own I’ve done it before but I just didn’t expect to miss him so much. After the ordeal with Paul, we’ve gotten closer when I saw how protective he was over me. The sex is more tender, we talk to each other and he doesn’t see me as a mess like I do.

It's been two days since he left and I’m already antsy with boredom. I would call him but we agreed to do it at night during Seattle time because of the 9-hour time difference. I calculate he’s already in bed hopefully thinking about me like I’m thinking about him. God, I miss having someone in my bed.

Tonight is my night off and I have no one to spend it with. Alex and Jo are busy, the other interns are working the night shift and beyond them I don’t have much friends. I munch on my apple harder this time as I hear two people behind me sitting down and talking. I register them as Alex and Jackson the latter who is begging Alex for some reason.

“Come on man please.”

Alex chuckles, “No I am not going to some pop up with you just because you’re bored. Jo and I have plans tonight and you need to ask someone else like Warren.”

“He’s training all night.”

“DeLuca.”

“He’s visiting family.”

“Hunt.”

“Already said no.”

“I can see why.” Alex states mockingly.

“It’s trivia night.” That calls my attention as I stop reading and listen in, “The pop up is 90’s theme it’ll be good for us.”

“No, it’ll be good for you. I’m not going so save your dignity and just go in alone.” Alex tells him coldly. I stand up and approach them as Jackson responds.

“Come on man can’t you just-”

“Hey guys.” I greet them with a smile and they look at me saying hi back, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation over there.”

Jackson notices my table with books, “Oh um sorry we’ll move somewhere else.”

“Actually, I was wondering if I might go with you instead.” Jackson raises an eyebrow and I explain, “To trivia night.” Alex snorts and I see him tenting an obvious grin with his hand.

Jackson glares at him and looks back at me bashfully, “Um…I uh I appreciate the offer She-Karev but uh-”

“Oh come on.” I cut in anxious for a fun night of 90’s trivia, “I’m bored out of my mind with Andrew in another country and it’s my night off. Besides I owe you a drink for saving my job after telling off Jennings winning trivia night will be a bonus.” Alex keeps grinning for some reason but I ignore him and continue to butter up to Avery, “I’m a 90’s baby your gonna win with me especially the grunge category I still listen to Nirvana and know who died. And you were there we can’t lose.” Avery still looks uncertain so I turn to Alex for support, “Alex back me up here.”

Jackson’s eyes widen, “Okay that’s not-”

“You know what?” Alex says with a chipper tone as he turns to me, “I think it’s a great idea, you two should definitely do this it’ll be a fun night.” He still grins even as Avery glares at him, “Unless you want to tell her why that’s not a good idea Avery.”

Avery looks conflicted but turns to me with a grin, “No now that I think about it it’s a good thing you came when you did. Okay I guess I’ll pick you up at 8 and drive you home after.”

I grin at finally having plans tonight, “Great! I’ll text you when I clock out and you can meet me in the lockers, it’s gonna be great!”

“Great.” Avery repeats unconvincingly but I ignore it and turn to go to my table. It’s not a night with my boyfriend and it definitely won’t end with sex but at least I’ll have company. I look back at the guys and see Jackson slapping Alex against his head in frustration but Alex laughs hysterically. I narrow my eyes at them but I chalk it up to guy stuff and sit back down at my table.

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

After work I go to the lockers and put my casual clothes on. I know a black crewneck shirt, torn jeans and black converse aren’t clubwear but this is last minute so I’m making do. I wish the same could be said for Avery but he planned ahead as he stops by the lockers in a gray suit and black button down that fits him perfectly.

“Are you ready to go?” Avery asks me as he enters the empty room and I snort at the sight of him, “What is it?”

“Why do you always look like your about to do a photoshoot?” I ask him amused at our differing outfits.

Avery narrows his eyes confused, “What?”

I shake my head, “Nothing let’s go, your driving, right?” Jackson nods and we both head out of the room side by side. We head to the parking lot in the night light and we stop at his car that I gape at, “Holy crap! Is that a Lexus LC 500? Is it the latest model?”

Jackson unlocks the beautiful car, “It is actually.”

“Is it a V8 engine?”

He looks at me confused, “I uh I don’t know actually I just got the latest and it felt nice to drive so I bought it. I think you know more about it than I do.”

I feel the roof marveling at the sleekness and shine, “Jesus how many boob jobs do you have to do to make this kind of cash?”

Jackson chuckles, “Actually it was from the money my grandfather left me after he died. I would give you a number but I don’t know you that well so let’s just say I bought this and a boat on the same day.”

I gasp at the boat, “God I wish I had rich relatives that died after putting me in the will.” I wince at the comment I made and rectify it, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

He looks at me more amused than offended and opens the driver door, “Come on let’s buy me that drink you owe me.” I nod and open the passenger door. I sit in the seat moaning in pleasure at the 100 grand I’m sitting on.

“If you ever need someone to valet your parking, I am your intern.” He chuckles and turns the engine on making a roaring sound that compares to a lion and enjoy the ride as we head to the club.

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

As soon as we enter the small pop up we are overcome with the 90’s as No Scrubs by TLC blares from the stereo. The bartenders are in baby blue and orange tuxedo’s respectively that I assume is from Dumb and Dumber. Most of the people in here are dressed in 90’s fashion from neon jackets to slip on dresses over shirts. I think me and Avery are the only ones in here dressed like we’re from the 21st century. We look at each other amused and chuckle lightly.

“Come on let’s find a table.” I follow Avery to an empty table by the bar and he signals the bartender, “Can I get a vodka tonic here please?”

I read the instructions for trivia night and see that we have to pick out a name, “Okay what’s our team’s name gonna be?” The bartender gives Avery his drink that he immediately takes a big sip from, “I’m thinking Nirvana, or maybe The Rembrandts they did the theme from Friends or how about Wayne’s World?” Avery looks at me surprised by my last suggestion and I explain, “I watch a lot of SNL videos on YouTube. Now I’m good on music and movies, how’s your history? I’m thinking we can go over the CliffsNotes on my phone or-”

“Amber I’m sorry.” Avery tells me genuinely and I raise an eyebrow confused, “Look um…I didn’t come here to win 50 bucks worth of margaritas I came here to meet girls, women I mean.”

I look at him shocked and I chuckle uneasily, “I see and the reason you were asking my brother to come is because?”

“Because…” He tries to find the right words, “Because I haven’t been out on a date since before my divorce and usually I don’t have a problem with this kind of thing but it’s been a while and I’m really rusty.”

“Ah.” I understand now, “You need a wingman.” Avery nods as he sips his drink and I shake my head at Alex for getting me in this pickle for kicks, “Remind me to kill Alex.”

“I put it down on my calendar actually.” Avery looks at me apologetic, “Look I’m sorry I know picking up girls for me isn’t how you envisioned your night going. I-I should’ve said something when you offered to come it’s okay. I’ll let you pay for my drink and drive you home right after it’s nothing really.”

I look at him in sympathy over his inability to get back on the horse and genuine apology. I shouldn’t want to do it…but a part of me wants to get back at my brother by upping his average, “When my brother was your wingman what was his success rate?”

Avery stops drinking and looks at me confused, “What?”

“How many girls did Alex pick up for you when he was your wingman?”

Avery calculates, “Um like 4 I think in total why?”

I chuckle at the low number and stand up eyeing the table with about six girls drinking and talking, “Dr. Avery get ready to have your world rocked.” Avery tries to stop me as I walk away but I ignore him and head to the table where I calculate the girls are in their 20’s and 30’s which is the right age for him and introduce myself, “Hey guys how are you doing?” They all say good and I smile, “Well you’re about to be great because I’m here with a co worker of mine. If you look two tables ahead, he’s the one in the gray suit with the dazzling blue eyes.” They look at Avery who nods sheepishly before finishing his drink.

“He’s cute.” The girl in the baby girl costume says approvingly, “What does he do?”

“He’s a surgeon.” Some of them look away dismissively that I catch, “I know a hot surgeon, it’s a cliché but you know not only does he save lives and look good doing it he goes home with his daughter and spends the night as a doting single father.” I scroll through my images and pull up the selfie I took with Harriet while I was babysitting her, “She is so cute you guys look.” I hand them the phone and they aww and gush over baby Harriet, “I know she’s an angel.” I leave out the hellish day she gave me and how I had to sing to get her to calm down, “He is so devoted to her, he spent all day yesterday looking for her stuffed bunny knowing she can’t sleep without it.” I made that story up but that’s the point in being a wingman, “Now I don’t know if he has a free night, I mean a surgeon and dad it’s a busy schedule but he is always up for texting and setting up a date on a free night. Just write your numbers on my notes and I’ll pass it along to him.”

They all type on my phone and I smile victoriously as I head back to my table where Avery looks at me dismissively no doubt missing what happened, “So how bad was it?”

“Oh I don’t know.” I show him my notes with the names and numbers of all six girls, “How bad would you put six numbers from six different girls?”

He looks at me shocked and grabs my phone to see if it’s real and stammers in disbelief, “H-How?”

“I lived in New York for four years and I was a phenomenal wingman in two of those.” I sip my beer, “Also I’m a woman, I know what women want unlike my brother who probably overused the ‘He’s a doctor’ card too many times.”

Avery narrows his eyes confused, “I thought women liked doctors?”

“We do like the lab coats but in this age women have grown smarter and are able to hold down steady jobs.” I inform him, “We think the hot doctor thing is a total cliché but the single dad thing you’ve got it’s a god send my friend. Women like responsible men and what says more responsibility than fatherhood?”

“Wait a minute?” Avery looks up at me, “You used my daughter to get me strange girl’s numbers?” I shrug nonchalant unashamed and instead of being mad he’s laughing in joy, “You are some kind of evil genius you know that?”

I chuckle, “Oh I know. Okay pick a table and I’ll get you more fish to draw in.” He looks at me confused, “It’s a numbers game, you gotta draw the line multiple times so you can better your chances of not having a cold bed in the morning. Now come on pick a table it’s my treat.”

He relents and scans the area, “The table by the jukebox.”

I sip my beer to pump myself, “I’ll be right back.” I stand up and look at him slouching, “Sit up straight.” He follows my command and I walk towards the table to reel in some fish.

Next Chapter Here

[onlymorelove]

Thank you for the tag, @greyhavenisback! xoxo

Getting to Know You

Three ships: Only three?! I have an armada. :D

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (MCU and comics)

Lan Mandragoran/Moiraine Damodred (The Wheel of Time) I watched the show's first season in July and fell ass over teakettle for them. The show made me ship it; I've only read a little of the first book in Robert Jordan's series. I know, I know, they're supposed to be platonic, and I respect anyone who only sees them in that light. Sue me for being a contrarian shipper.

Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire) The show ultimately did them dirty, but until then, they were perfection. "It's yours. It will always be yours." *sigh* Kill me now. I ship them in the books, too, but I haven't read all of them—yet.

Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken (Teen Wolf)

Bill Tench/Holden Ford (Mindhunter) They were super messy and compelling and I will forever be bitter they canceled Mindhunter.

First ship: Hm. I'm not sure, but I think the first ship I wrote fic for was either Jason Morgan/Brenda Barrett (General Hospital) or Jason Morgan/Elizabeth Webber (General Hospital). The first ship I shipped was either Jo/Teddy (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott) or Anne Shirley/Gilbert Blythe (Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery). ;)

Last Song: Lover, Don't Leave by Citizen Shade

Last Movie: Red, White & Royal Blue It was okay, but even though I started but didn't finish the book a while ago, I still think I preferred the book.

Currently Reading: I finished They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us by Prachi Gupta a few days ago and am still recovering. I don't usually listen to audiobooks, but I decided to check one out from our library using Libby, and am currently listening to Educated by Tara Westover while I do other things. And I'm reading The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown.

Currently Watching: DH and I are slowly and occasionally watching Better Call Saul. We watched Breaking Bad years ago but never got around to trying BCS until recently. DH, my kids, and I are slowly and occasionally watching Abbott Elementary. I've seen it all already; the rest of my family only recently discovered its greatness. ;)

While doing cardio at the gym, I recently finished watching Good Omens and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. Good Omens is a fun romp. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, a Korean drama, is funny, sweet, and chock full of small-town, found-family vibes. Not sure what I'll watch next. Does anyone have any recs for me?

Last Thing I Wrote: The last thing I wrote is a Steve Rogers/Tony Stark fic that I posted on AO3 in June.

I'm really fortunate, and I have a great life, but it's also really stressful; I haven't figured out yet how to manage the stress so I can be creative more consistently. So while I'd love to write more and write more often, I don't know how—at least not yet. But it's October now, which also means it's Flufftober. I might try to fill some Flufftober prompts.

Tagging: I always worry about unintentionally excluding people or pressuring them with these tag games, so please consider this an open tag. If you see this and want to do it, go ahead—and @ me so I can see your answers. :)

[yournamelesswriter]

Weekly Prompts (2022-2023)

I might bring back the weekly prompts me and my friends used to do so I can continue the series because this was so fun honestly.

Small update: We're bringing it back! People agreed since it's summer break and people really missed it so we're starting all over again! Cheers to the return of Weekly Prompts!

Week 1: Eldritch Horror

Funny shapeshifter side

Week 2: Elements

Phoebe the Fire Element

Week 3: Furries

My little fursona that I really need to update

Week 4: Acceptance (Un=traumatize your OCs)

Hyacinth Kovac and Catalyst Tinig

Week 5: Post-Apocalyptic

Our ponytown AU thats been left in the dust and we really need to get back to it at one point.

Week 6: Draw your sona/oc with a crush/significant other

Beta designs for me and my partner's pokemon characters

Week 7: Cat (Neko-fy your character)

Can you tell I had extra time this week?

Week 8: Victorian Era

More Hyacinth art with a little bit of lore

Week 9: Weapon of Choice

My little jester

Week 10: As a child

Jaynica Webber and Therence Garcia with the comparison of my art from 2019!

Week 11: A Cozy Night In!

Persephone's Coventry featuring some of my friend's characters for this story. This is on the list of revival but our schedules are too busy to keep up a collaborative story :')

Week 12: Halloween

I know I'm hilarious

Week 13: Scrunkly (Draw something ugly)

Ngl I couldn't because I was too motivated to draw at the time that this prompt came around so I just drew on Mspaint with a mouse as a disadvantage

Week 14: Cartoon Network Palette

14 hours spent on MSPaint all spent just using a mouse because I wanted to see how far I'd go with it. It's pretty but I wouldn't do it again without a tablet

Week 15: Angst, Baby! ANGST!!!

Can you tell I love this character? Hyacinth Kovac and Catalyst Tinig

Week 16: Album Cover

YCGMA and MIWB by an asshole who doesn't need clout and needs to disappear from the face of the Earth

Can you tell I love music based prompts? I don't think its too obvious.

[racingliners]

F1 Re-Watch 2013: Round 17 - Abu Dhabi

"Back in my day Abu Dhabi wasn't the final race of the F1 season" "Okay Grandma let's get you back to bed"

The way AD has been the season finale race for 10 years and I'm still not used to it dfvhdfjv. Anyway, This is another "no thoughts, head empty, Seb won" race for me - I'm 90% sure I only saw the BBC highlights programme of this race.

The only other memory I have apart from Seb winning is Kimi Raikkonen going over a bump that was so bad he ended up having back surgery that meant he missed the last two races of the season.

So this might be boring, but let's jump in:

If I'm to be brutally honest Abu Dhabi's only redeeming feature is that it looks very pretty at sunset.

(2010 and 2012 will forever be the best AD races though)

Lewis had broken suspension on his car after quali???? yikes

with that mildly cursed fact in mind, starting grid over view!: a Martian 1-2, Brocedes second row, Alonso P10 (???), Jenson P12 and JEV P13 (pain 😭)

Helmet watch: Lewis helmet has a gold sheen on it, it's very pretty. As is Seb's black and gold helmet. (GOATs always have the prettiest helmets)

Tyre compounds for this race are the Softs and mediums

[Formation Lap]: I'm still not over the fact that Lewis' suspension broke after quali. This is not the Mercedes AMG Petronas I know and love.

Apart from Seb I cannot remember who the other two podium finishers were so that'll potentially be fun seeing that unfold.

That shot of Alain Prost standing in the RBR garage feels very fake

Shoutout to Bernie Collins at McLaren though!!

[Start/Lap 1]: oh the Mercs were FAST off the line

It was almost a Merc-RBR sandwich

and there's Kimi on the side of the track out his car

Nooooooo Jenson has a damaged front wing

[Lap 2]: And Seb already has a 1.9 second lead because of course

(that's my goat!!!)

Top 5 is: Seb, Rosberg, Webber, Grosjean and Lewis

[Lap 3]: and after that first lap absolutely nothing has happened.

well apart from Jenson being called into the pits

[Lap 4]: And already we have a Seb fastest lap

he's also 3.2 seconds ahead of Rosberg 🏃‍♂️💨

"Good news, it [Jenson's stop to change his front wing] only took them 9 and a half seconds which is pretty quick!" The way Ted said that still made it sound sarcastic despite that legit being a good stop for a front wing change (the joys of Southern English accents)

[Lap 5]: Anyway Jenson's running in last so the grid is now a Séanagh's favourite drivers sandwich

[Lap 6]: Webber is already reporting KERS problems, who hexed him?

oh another Seb fastest lap!

[Lap 7]: Perez makes his first stop for the mediums.

Grosjean has caught up to the back of Webber! The gap between them is about half a second

[Lap 8]: Lewis makes his first stop! Also softs for mediums, and he comes out in 12th

And we're starting to get golden hour lighting on the track 👌🌇

[Lap 9]: Webber and Grosjean both pit! Both softs for mediums and their order remains unchanged (and they just came out ahead of Lewis)

[Lap 10]: Jesus Seb is 8.8 seconds ahead of Rosberg 😳

[Lap 11]: and Nico adds himself to the "first stop softs to mediums" crowd.

meanwhile Lewis' tyres aren't doing so great.

I mean I know that seeing Seb on the podium will be worth it but like... I'm almost a quarter of the way through the race and I'm rather whelmed

anyway we persevere

[Lap 12]: So because Seb hasn't stopped yet he has enough of a gap to the cars behind to pit and still be in the lead.

to quote Taylor Swift, that's my man

also the floodlights on the track are once again reminding me how much I miss the grid having glossy liveries. Matte F1 cars my beloathed.

"He's [Seb] lapping faster on old soft compound tyres than the rest of the field on new tyres" THAT'S! MY! BOY!!!

[Lap 13]: Meanwhile Lewis is still stuck behind Gutierrez who hasn't stopped yet

(and I think it's lap 13 bc the timing and position graphics have disappeared from the screen so I have no idea what lap I'm actually on. If it helps anyone I'm at 32mins39 seconds on the replay)

Seb finally pits! And he's also gone from softs to the mediums

And there's Kimi leaving the track dvhfduvhdfu

#JustKimiRaikkonenThings

[Lap 15]: yay the graphics are back

still a few cars to make their first stops so I'll wait until then to do a top 5 overview

[Lap 16]: Lewis is still behind Gutierrez

[Lap 17]: meanwhile Alonso makes his first stop for, you guessed it, mediums

[Lap 19]: Lewis got past Gutierrez everybody clap!! 👏

and he somehow managed to stay ahead of Massa

[Lap 20]: Bono immediately telling Lewis to cool the car 😭

Webber gets past Rosberg for provisional P2!!! (di Resta ahead has yet to stop)

[Lap 21]: Okay so with almost all the first stops completed, the top 5 is: Seb, Webber, Rosberg, Grosjean and Sutil (yet to stop, started on the mediums)

Seb leads by just over 27 seconds which is quite frankly insane but again, that's my goat!!

[Lap 23]: gosh the RBR livery under the floodlights, we used to be a proper country

(begging the powers that be at Red Bull to bring it back, it's so superior to the matte navy blue)

[Lap 25]: Sutil in P5 and yet to stop, Team Silverstone be Team Silverstoning

Make that P6, Lewis just got past him.

...oh not Lewis losing two places in one corner thanks to DRS.

ouch

[Lap 26]: Not Hulkenberg getting past Alonso.

Oh, my beloved midfield spice, welcome back to the party

so after all that the top 10 is now: Seb, Webber, Rosberg, Grosjean, Massa, Sutil, Lewis, Fernando, Hulkenberg and Perez

That was a rather eventful lap and a half

And Lewis is back into P6!

He got a better exit so wasn't as vulnerable on the second DRS straight and was able to stay ahead of Sutil

[Lap 28]: oof not a potential unsafe release by Sauber, Perez had to stamp on the brakes to avoid going into Hulkenberg

and at long last:

🚨HALF-DISTANCE KLAXON🚨

[Lap 29]: Jenson's still down in 17th 😭

[Lap 30]: And there's the unsafe release investigation notification for Hulkenberg

And Lewis makes his second stop! He's onto another set of medium tyres

[Lap 32]: aaaaaand another Seb fastest lap 🥰

and a Seb sighting!!!!!!

the TV feed has barely shown him all race

probably because he's 30 seconds ahead of Mark 😅

(when Seb and Lewis do this it's sexy, when anyone else leads by 30 seconds it's boring, fwiw)

[Lap 34]: drive through pen for Hulkenberg for the unsafe release

meanwhile Webber and Rosberg make their second stops

my eye twitched upon seeing the track limits investigation for Sutil and Maldonado. Curse you Austria 2023.

[Lap 37]: You wait all race for another Seb sighting and you get two in five laps.

(sorry pals there really isn't much happening)

Oh wait a minute, a lesser spotted Rosberg fastest lap.

[Lap 38]: And Seb makes his second and I assume final stop, again he's staying on the medium tyres

and Grosjean stopped immediately after, also for another set of mediums, he comes out just ahead of both Ferraris

[Lap 41]: Jenson's up to P14!!! this is genuinely a very good improvement!!

also hi Force India mechanic who waved at the camera!! 👋

[Lap 45]: Lewis overtakes Jev to move into 7th!

and Fernando bails out of the one-stop and pits for a set of softs, he comes out in P8 but almost took out Jev in the process

[Lap 46]: Somehow, Di Resta is in P5. I have not been paying attention to him so I've zero idea how that happened.

[Lap 49]: Meanwhile Jev is dropping down the field and is in 11th, the one-stop strategy clearly wasn't the bets call

[Lap 50]: Also also Fernando is catching Lewis who's catching Di Resta 🍿

ah Di Resta stopped on lap 20 and is also on a one-stop

[Lap 51]: 5 laps remaining!

And Fernando overtakes Lewis for 6th

[Lap 52]: And he gets past Di Resta for 5th

[Lap 54]: oh, Niki sighting 🥺

quickly followed by another Seb on-board

[Lap 55]: FINAL LAP!

Lewis please be serious and get past Di Resta

aaaand SEB WINS!!!!!!!!! 🥳🍾

Rest of the Top 10: Webber P2, Rosberg P3, Grosjean P4, Alonso P5, Di Resta P6, Hamilton P7, Massa P8, Perez P9 and Sutil P10.

Well, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but hey ho. Seb was very iconic and I will always support him winning by a stupidly large margin. Next race, USA!

[weaselbeaselpants]

Annotated.

-Going in depth on Lady Eboshi is pointless when so many actually good critics have done a better job. In either og Japanese or the english dub she is an ex-courtesan/pirate trying to rise up and never be hurt again and also get the forest spirit's head to get the emperor to leave her and her village alone, because she does not know or respect nature like many of the humans do. How much she really does care about the rest of Irontown is 'ymmv'-territory but that's why she slays as a character.

-Again, sympathy =/= having a point. In the cases of Harley Quinn, Baby Doll and the Penguin especially they stand out. Penguin has a whole episode where he nearly changes over for the sake of a woman conning him only to forfeit and go back to his old ways once he figures out he's been had. "I suppose the old saying is correct; society is to blame. HIGH society"- Oswald Cobblepot.

--If Sweeney were written as an original character by Sondheim and not a preexisting psychopath from victorian penny dreadfuls that he is, Lily might have a point with the "and then the writers throw away his reasons by making him kill innocents". She doesn't though. Sweeney Todd is right about the world being wicked and vile and corrupt based on what it did to him and his family. His reasoning for wanting the rich dead is because he wants revenge on a guy who is rich and ruined his and his family's lives, obv; his reason for wanting poor people like himself dead isn't simply for 'practice' till he gets to Turpin. It's because HE wants to be dead too. As some fellow musical theater nerds have noted on TV Tropes, there's an implication/fan theory/way of playing the character that insinuates Sweeney wants to kill his daughter to prevent her from suffering anymore like him Nelly Lovett's more on the 'using a point to justify my actions'-side of things when it comes to poverty, but it's never the less her motivation for tricking Sweeney and Toby. Sorry to go on SO LONG there, but I know my Sweeney Toddisms. Don't Todd-splain me. Stage productions are also a tricky business because part of the fun of them when the performances are good is how great and how different a character can be through their performer. My parents are thespians.

-"The world showed no compassion to me!!!" -Erik. Erik isn't just being his incel-self here. He is right that the world was awful to him because of his face alone which is what made him lash out; that doesn't mean the lashing out or entitlement to women is good and that's the goddamn point. Webber is the fast food of musicals. His work should not be too hard for you to understand.

-I've gone on about the Wretch (Frankenstein og book) enough I think so I won't go on about how his, Eriks and other incel's reasoning for hating the world is correct, just that it does not in itself justify lashing. I should mention though something pointed out to my sister and I recently: the Wretch's first intended murder started because he wanted to kidnap William Frankenstein and 'raise him right by good teachings', until of course he realized that William was Victor's brother and murdered him instead. Even before his murders, the Wretch has a warped idea of morality because he only knows it and what amounts to compassion through eavesdropping on people's reading of romantic literature like Paradise Lost. Now don't ever talk to me or my franken-sons EVER AGAIN, gooner.

-"I'm not good I'm not nice I'm just right." The Witch not only did what she did to Rapunzel out of quasi-hate/shelfishness, she also, at that point in the play where she says this, wants to murder Jack, a child, for bringing the giant's wrath upon them even though Jack was himself a desperate broken child who did what he did for his mother. Her reason does ethically make sense but she isn't morally good. That's the goddamn point.

-Whether or not Holden is the devil or not, the whole point is that he makes as many good points about the world as he also participates in their evil, which is one of the many reasons he and Blood Meridian is considered so disturbing.

-Hama is more of a villain than Jet and so an even better example I think to use. Jet was an angry boy who you could argue the story is punishing for being radical and asserting that rebellion ultimately leads to bad things; Hama was an absolute victim of the culture that took her prisoner and did god knows what to her offscreen. While her wrath at the fire-nation soldiers and government is completely justified, it's her extending that to the fire nation citizens whom she also violates the bodies of that is not.

-1st movie Mewtwo is a killer who surmises that clones are superior and should kill other pokemon and humans all to justify his existence to himself. He is the villain even if Giovanni is an even bigger one. It's Ash's sacrifice and the pokemon's revival of him, cheesy as it may be, that has him spell out the whole damn made-for-ten-year-old message of the movie.

-I know you want urself some Disney villains, Lils. Yzma is great because while she is a selfish person and bad ruler, she's right in calling Kuzko out for being both a bad person and a bad ruler. Could not possibly get more basic than that.

-The priests less so since they're still villanized and (so possibly antisemitic -_-) because of it, and yet theirs and Judas' conflict is the same: Jesus is calling himself the son of god which is blasphemous in their culture and is going to get their culture more scrutinized by the Romans who are occupying him. Again, Webber is better at this than you.

-72' animated Onceler is truly the best example both as a character and as a point. By the time he's made his thneed operation he has workers and employees who need work under him and firing them by shutting down his factories would be bad for them; and he is right (even if he uses it to justify what he's doing)- "If I didn't do it, than someone else would". That's the whole point of the Onceler character. Dr. Seuss was a cartoonist and a satirist who used his know-how from his propaganda days to make the parallels he did. The Onceler is one of his most complex characters because of the story being told by him as a warning to the audience not to be like him.

--Good god Patrick Bateman and Hannibal. Not much I can add that again hasn't already been said. Vicious awful people who go on the attack either to make a point or because they think they are owed as much by the world that 'made' them this way. Keep in mind my interpretations are based on the movie of American Psycho and just the Silence of the Lambs though I do know from reading up and watching essays that these character's are different in the books and in other adaptation. If any Hannibal stan wants to shoot me an essay on what I got wrong and what to watch instead genuinely do. I don't mind.

-This actually fitting text-to-speech breakdown of the character of AM is genuinely so good. I have no words and I must listen.

-The undeniably ablist Nemurr and Strauss are also, at the time period of the novel, wanting to help Charlie and help him function. Their problem is, like everyone else, they didn't respect him as a human before his operation and worse they realize the error they've made and that they've killed him far too late. God damnit this story is so good. Find a copy or the audiobook of Flowers for Algernon I beg you.

-If Lily can use b-grade family films than so can I. 2000s Grinch is not only a villain with a point even if he has his own villain, he's also a villain with a point who gets fugging REDEEMED. You don't get more "villain has a point to be pissed at the 'heroes'"-than that.

----All of the Lannisters are awful for a reason but in the context of Game of Thrones and why they do what they do, they all also have points about the choices they make. Tywin is ruthless and wants power for him and his family. Yet he does NOT want destruction outright, he wants order above all (under him, still)and for the realms to not be at war and destroy themselves as they do in the series and as they did under Ares. He's an intensely pragmatic bastard even to those he hates like Arya and Tyrion for the reason that he knows killing them would not do anything good. Prior to the show's downfall in writing Tyrion was also a manipulative bastard holding things out for a corrupt government because he wants to prove himself and have genuine power in the world. Show!Tyrion slayed for being a person who wanted to be better than the world around him but still did what he did for power but was not mean or ruthless about it, just smug. He was still on the bad side in seasons 2 and 3; Jaime made the right call in killing Ares to save countless lives and, like his brother, did not want to commit heinous acts on the small folk just cuz he could. As other GOT fans have pointed out before me, Jaime's also the only Lannister to not want for power and control of anything; Cersei is easily the least point-having of the Lannisters, but even she has one as early as season 1 when she tells Ned about how the real game of thrones was inside us all along'. GOT here will be my first real example of "yeah it ultimately wasn't 'good' in the end. Still, it understood the assignment, Lily".

-2016 Sher Khan is the most accurate in his prejudice against humans and Mowgli, who is a human that does not belong in the jungle with the animals whom he ultimately is going to rule over if he keeps going and living 'among' them. Of course all of this is due to Sher Khan's preexisting need for being the apex predator feared by all NOR does it mean Mowgli is evil and shouldn't carry his jungleisms with him to human society. Now please stop having me talk about a live action Disney remake with praise.

-Literally the whole reason Fight Club and Tyler Durden happens is because the injustice/mundanity of life is killing people and someone out to do something.

--I'm not gonna go into Undertale since we all know what Lily's op on the no mercy route being 'dubbed the bad one' is; Pacifist Flowey isn't just sympathetic he's aware of the world and how humans are the reason he is what he is after being tricked by his adopted sibling. No Mercy Sans is calling out the player for choosing this route in the first place.

-The Wizard of Oz is a bad person and that's the point and no not just for being a humbug in the og book and 39 film. In the og books he up and usurped the ruler of Oz and hid the princess with an abusive witch so he could have power. The Wicked books made him truly awful, rapey and fascist while the musical made him still fascist but also still a pawn in a way and a showman at heart: "Is one an invader or ruthless crusader? It's all about which label is able to persist" -quote from the musical which still portrayed him as sympathetic as he finds out he killed his own daughter at the end and is sad about it. Nearly EVERY adaptation of this character makes the Wizard out to be pathetic as he is, but also wise in how he can read other people, both earnestly and to trick them. Absolutely on the "has a point but is using that point to manipulate"-side of things with a dash of 'earnest point-making' depending on what you do with him. That's what makes the Wizard fascinating and horrible; a nicer pre-Emperor Belos.

-Child murdered by puritans who cursed them and her descendants in her justifiable rage. Abigail is my favorite part of this movie which I otherwise dislike for reasons that aren't relevant here, both because her story I think is more realistic than Norman's, but also because her situation is an example of how much forgiveness isn't about letting your abusers off the hook but actually about letting yourself free. Abigail is literally trapping herself in her own rage and misery with the curse she set.

-Serial killers in true love with each other in a world that's only slightly more exaggerated than our own about criminal-worship. Not that I don't expect Lily to like Natural Born Killers. Seeing a truly non-enmeshed happy couple might confuse her and also none of her rage-ocs would ever have the moment they do where they kill someone and don't like it.

-Her devout fanaticism not withstanding, Olivia's both a victim of her husband while also mad that her daughter ran away with and had kids with her same-age uncle. Even if the Foxworths weren't high society douches incest is still bad and the Dollangager kids are horrified to realize they are a product of it. Where Malcolm is just a son of a bitch who felt entitled over his daughter, Olivia's complexity is in how she's likely angry at Coreen for not being better than the whole of the family in committing a genuine sin. Even if everything else in the novels can be blamed on her and Coreen's self-fufilling prophecy of selfishness.

-ALL OF the diamond-headed members of the Sugarman/Horseman family have definite points in what they do even though what they do is heinous: Joseph is the most unlikable sob, but from his dialogue and what's shown of him he genuinely thought that a lobotomy was good for Honey and was fixing her 'like she wanted'; ALSO he's very understandably mad at Honey for endangering their surviving child; the best thing Beatrice did was assure Hollyhock escaped from the cycle of abuse that was the Sugarman/Horseman curse. As many people, myself included believe, she did love and want to help her son to the best of her abilities (showing up to his show, apologizing for her abuse when he's an adult) but the reality is the person she was meant this was never even closely enough, especially a mother. She literally tells him she's sorry for what she did in his childhood and in the same breath talks about how it's technically his fault for being 'broken'. And then Bojack himself. If Lily somehow wants to @ me that he's not AT LEAST an antihero with some downright villainous moments to him, I'll be waiting to @ her with a bunch of quotes and instances disproving this.

-You could not get more on the nose with how a violent person sees what they do as 'okay' than fricken Alex. In either the original text or the Kubrick film, ESPECIALLY the film, it's an important detail that he's both responsible for all the horrible things he's done and wants to do AND ALSO that he's a child who should be treated better by the state but isn't.

-Chiaroscuro is yet another children's medium character who's right about the hypocrisy of the aristocriscy. He my little guy. All he wants is satisfaction and happiness in himself and to see beauty in the world; his whole arc is how he going on the path of revenge and hatred is NOT inevitable just because he's a rat. He literally begs Despereaux to KILL HIM when he's reminded of the whole reason he ventured out of the dungeon in the first place.

-(cw: Animal abuse/death) Literally listen to his last words said before he's attacked by his killer.

-Like Paranorman or Jungle Book 2016 it doesn't mean jack shit if I particuarly like the og material or not, Lily. Verosika is a demon bitch in her own right but even within the realms of a Spindlehorse show is shown to still ultimately be a victim of Blitzo's behavior.

-"All you've done is lie to the people"- Rattlesnake Jake spitting straight facts. As @sillygoblinantics already pointed out, a definite villain's-villain who also has a code of his own AND a point. It's implied that, while on a payroll from the Mayor, his whole reason for showing up at all is to reprimand Rango for lying about him and by virtue lying to the town about their fate. AND THEN Rango one-ups him three times by tricking him, proving he is willing to kill and then exposing the Mayor for also using Jake.

-Grand Council Woman and Gantu are both examples of a wrong-at-the-moment but ultimately in their right authority. GCW was literally ready to attack earth and in the end eliminate Stitch before Stitch suddenly talked to her directly. Gantu gets off pretty easy considering all the crap he did in the show AS WELL AS BEING a bad cop, and yet again- Stitch is a pint-sized superweapon who learned love made by an intergalactic terrorist. At the beginning of the story they have MORE THAN A FEW justified reasons to want him detained.

-Even if the film ultimately should have had Chief die which would have really furthered his point, Amos Slade is right that Widow Tweed shouldn't keep a wild animal and to be angry that it's messing with his. No Lily, you can't go "he hunts animals though". Him being a dumb ass hunter while loving his hunting dogs does not make him any less complex.

--While Mina has less of a point than Toffee (*sigh* why SvtFoE??) they are both victims of the same self destructive magic system. Toffee's whole deal (which would have been even better if the show had a good ending) is that he is mostly right about magic and Mewmans but all for the wrong reasons as he really is to blame for his own predicaments (killing Comet and ruining a truce; messing with Glossaryk just for being there and wanting to be cool). Mina is a tool of a broken government that knows nothing other than the old propaganda that originally fueled her. Even her own influence, Queen Solaria, disowns her because she and not Mina sees just how redpilled she's become.

-I know only the movie Akira which I've seen three times now. Doesn't this guy not want another nuclear bomb to strike Japan or for the kids to hurt themselves like Akira ultimately did.

-OG movie Beetlejuice and his episodic baddie bits from the cartoon are more on the side of "creep using other people's hardships to his advantage"-side of the villainwithapoint pool. I've yet to see the sequel yet. But, in especially the musical, ANOTHER property I don't like but still understood the assignment better than you do Lilz, the whole point is that Juno's system and the bureaucracy of the dead is unfair and it too needs to be stopped, not just Beetlejuice himself.

-Mysterious Woman in season 1 is absolutely an antagonist with a point. She's trying to stop Horse from getting home and saving Rider all because she knows the Nowhere King ought to be locked away. Come season 2 it's pretty well established that she's on the right side of history and good by virtue of being the unwanting catalyst for Nowhere King+The General's destruction of their worlds, EVEN SO- she's an antagonist with a menacing villain beatdown number in the first season.

((Elktaur/Nowhere King/General is another character(s) who I'm so thankful is not a woman. If any of them were and their relationship w. Mysterious Woman was an abusive quasi-predatory lesbian romance, good GOD I'd hate to hear Lily's thoughts on it because you know she would have some...))

-Really half of this list was just solidifying how bad Lily is with media and finding media with villain protagonists. Oh Dae-Su is in his right for wanting revenge, both for himself and his ruined family, he just happens to be his own greatest enemy by the end. And also, he's not exactly a stand-up guy despite the clearly awful thing done to him.

-Ramses and the Egyptians as a whole know no other way and shouldn't have to give up their religion or beliefs just because Moses came in to demand they stop their whole enslaving them thing. For all the faults that may or may not be with Prince of Egypt, the greatest line the movie has about the nature of dynasties and kingdoms is one that's taken from abolitionists: "No kingdom should be made on the back of slaves"; a think Ramses is not evil for not understanding but doesn't understand none the less. The same way American patriots can not understand what's wrong with this country and what about it must be abolished, the same way Zionists can not understand that what Israel has done/is doing is wrong.

-One of the best 'bad guy with a point but for the wrong reasons' characters I can think of and again from a Burton/Thompson script so Lily can eat it. Esmerelda, for those unfamiliar, is the religious crank neighbor in Edward Scissorhands who's the only one of the neighbors to not fawn over Edward and instead calls him evil for being different. In the end when the rest of the neighborhood breaks through to the castle to get Edward but Kim convinces them he's dead, the rest of the neighbors all look ashamed and embarrassed for realizing they were the ones who made Edward what he is while Esmerelda is the only one happy that Edward is dead. Truly the most basic straight-forward example of a villain being right for all the wrong reasons.

-Stay mad, Lily. JD dealt with his problems better than you did and also had a better relationship with his partner in the musical than you do, Lily. He's a broody loner school shooter who rationalizes his violence and self-hatred the same way all shooters do, but that's why Veronica is pissed at, breaks up and even faux-kills herself just to get away from him. She actually sees the school and her peers for what they are, but she doesn't succumb to the fate that JD does.

Hope you enjoyed that.

Arbitrary 50 'villainy-villain antagonists who have a point'

Lily, if you know what's good for you you don't reply to this at all just like you shouldn't have the first time.

Lady Eboshi. (Princess Mononoke, aka Lorch's favorite kid's movie)

Nearly all of the Rogue's gallery at some point. (Batman TAS)

Sweeney Todd.

Mrs. Lovett. (Sweeney Todd)

Erik. (Phantom of the Opera)

The Wretch, aka Frankenstein's monster.

The Witch. (Into the Woods)

Judge Holden. (The Blood Meridian)

Hama. (The Last Airbender)

Mewtwo.

Yzma. (The Emperor's New Groove)

Judas and the priests. (Jesus Christ Superstar)

Onceler. (Lorax 1972)

Patrick Bateman. (American Psycho)

Hannibal Lector.

AM. (I Have no Mouth and I must Scream)

Professor Nemur and Strauss. (Flowers for Algernon)

The Grinch (2000 How the Grinch stole Christmas)

Tywin Lannister.

Tyrion Lannister.

Sher Khan. (Jungle Book 2016)

Jaimie Lannister.

Cersei Lannister.

The Narrator/Tyler Durden. (Fight Club)

Flowey. (Undertale, Pacifist Route)

Sans. (Undertale, No Mercy Route)

The Wizard (Oz books and the Wicked musical)

Abigail Prenderghast. (ParaNorman)

Mickey and Mallory. (Natural Born Killers)

Olivia Foxworth. (Dollangager series)

Joseph Sugarman. (Bojack Horseman)

Beatrice Horseman. (Bojack Horseman)

Bojack Horseman.

Alex DeLarge. (A Clockwork Orange)

Chiaroscuro. (The Tale of Despereaux)

Col Kurtz. (Apocalypse Now)

Verosika Mayday. (Helluva Boss)

Rattlesnake Jake. (Rango)

The Grand Council Woman. (Lilo and Stitch)

Gantu. (Lilo and Stitch)

Amos Slade. (The Fox and the Hound).

Toffee. (Star vs the Forces of Evil)

Mina Loveberry. (Star vs the Forces of Evil)

Colonel Shikishima. (Akira)

Beetlejuice. (og movie, tv show AND musical)

The Mysterious Woman. (Centaurworld season 1)

Oh Dae-su. (Oldboy)

Ramses. (The Prince of Egypt)

Esmerelda. (Edward Scissorhands)

JD. (Heathers, movie and musical)

For your sake, Lily, I made some rules; the characters I chose can't simply be sympathetic with an excuse for what they do ala Nowhere King/General/Elktaur and they also can't be only a manipulative bastard who literally doesn't care about anything but their own glory like Emperor Belos/Philip. No Jack Skellingtons or Syndromes either. I tried my very hardest to follow your "has to be good"-rule, which in my hands is "can't be written in a way to which the writer is either forgiving the character's shortcomings OR villainizing a specific mindset."

A villain with a genuine point to make can be a really compelling, tragic, WONDERFUL character as that's almost always some kind of person with a level of self-awareness, pain and even good in their heart still who has fallen HARD. A villain with a point can also be an absolutely horrifying obstacle for your heroes, because just like in real life, awful people will use your own faults and the preexisting misery of the world to justify their own actions.

Thanks for the fun writing prompt, Lillian.

[teethcake]

Pirate skins? Pirate skins! Got inspired by playing the recent DST update to make some pirate skins for Wilson and Willow!

 Also a bonus Captain Maxwell doodle for a friend!

[lewierre]

How did Nico ruin the friendship and why is he always thinking about Lewis? Thanks

hello anon! welcome to the sunshine and britney club <3 (respectively lewis and nico - nico is called britney since mark webber did in 2006 lmao)

read at the risk of obsessing over two idiots who can't communicate </3

the beginning

nico and lewis have been friends since they were kids. they started karting together and were a team.

they always had always a strong bond animated by competition, but it was always a fun rivalry between two best friends

(lewis comes from a working class background while nico’s father is formula 1 wdc keke rosberg so he was raised in a rich environment - lewis used to convince nico to buy him sweets all the time lmao)

nico and his dad always had lewis’s back back then helping him when his kart was broken and adjusting settings on his kart for him when lewis broke his wrist (and still went to win the race starting from 8th wearing a cast) - and they even went on holiday together in greece one summer

what happened in greece? we may never know (unless that 6 hour brocedes podcast happens sometime in the future - who knows)

but just the fact they went on summer holidays together at 14 tells you just how close they were

“Fifteen year ago Lewis and I were on holiday in Greece, saying 'imagine if one day we fought for the F1 championship in the best team against each other' - and now we are doing it. That's incredible!”

nico always likes to mention it for some reason

karting years

people who knew them from back then always point out how close they were

they’d have a competition even when eating pizza at the restaurant

"As a kid, I didn't like pizza, but I remember often going out for dinner with Lewis and Nico, they would even have races to eat pizza, always eating two at a time” - from robert kubica who used to race against them - “There was always competition. They always wanted to win, to beat each other. But they didn't fight. It was friendly competition. There was always laughing afterwards.”

from dino chiesa, their karting boss "Many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise or they might have broken something. They would never sleep, so they were always tired the next morning.”

"Both liked ice cream so much, particularly vanilla. During the night, they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere and find some to keep them happy. They were just kids”

according to nico they shared rooms and had wrestling matches

the unicyle™

"Probably the first bit of real competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere, So I thought I've got to learn to ride this unicycle. I've got to be better than him'. I spent all my time outside the go-kart learning to ride this unicycle."

according to nico, it took lewis 2 hours to learn

formula 1

nico started in f1 in 2006, lewis in 2007

toto on them: "What is the past between the two? There was a lot of historical context that none of us knew, and will never know."

they had their first shared podium at the australian gp in 2008

look at them! they were so excited about it! (the gif is mine)

lewis even called dino to tell him about it

in 2013 lewis took a gamble and joined mercedes and became once again nico’s teammate

at the malaysian gp - after the team ordered nico not to overtake lewis - this is what lewis said

“If I'm honest I feel Nico should be standing here. He had better pace through the race. Nico deserved to be where I am. Would I let him past in the future? I probably would."

2013 went really good, they had fun, filmed a lot of cringey commercials and helped develop the car. it was mostly fun and games

they are still to this day neighbors in monaco, but back then they used to hang out all the time and eat burgers together

in 2014 is when shit started happening

monaco quali

during quali at the monaco gp 2014, nico missed a breaking point and went to the run off area. but because he had the provisional pole and lewis was on a faster lap just at the end of the session, people accused him of pulling a shumi™ and doing it on purpose

when asked about it nico obviously said that it was not on purpose. he was investigated, but the stewards cleared him

“Of course I’m sorry for Lewis, I didn’t know where he was. Yeah, it’s not great.”

while lewis when asked if he believed it was on purpose he said “Potentially”

spain but the s is silent part one - spa 2014

trying to overtake lewis from p2, nico caused a punture and caused lewis to dnf (he finished p2) it was the first real accident between them. both of them admitted to being wrong, and toto said disciplinary measures were taken towards nico

lewis: “The fans want to see a clean fight until the end of the season and that's what we want to give them […] we have both made mistakes.”

“We had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he could have avoided it, but he didn't want to. He basically said, 'I did it to prove a point'."

and then in 2016 everything went completely wrong

the atmosphere was horrible according to people working with them

niki lauda: "In the beginning everything was fine but as it got more competitive, they both got against each other. The competition was only between Nico and Lewis who was going to be world champion.”

“They had no relation, which is always bad. They were so bad that they didn't even say hello in the morning to each other. I don't expect them to have breakfast together if they don't like each other, I don't expect them to sit down and have breakfast, but the relationship was really bad.”

"It affected Lewis mainly and Nico, so it was fine but not easy. Lewis got so upset about it that sometimes on the performance they lost because they played tricks on each other. One didn't show the other what set-up they were using, which is bad for the team again because we both want to go forwards.”

"They played all the tricks in the book. But for the team it was pretty tiring."

lewis too said nico and him were not friends

"Nico and I can count our friends on one hand, Nico does not come into those five friends I have, and I don't come in the five friends he has."

mercedes even threatened to sack them both at a point in 2016, right after barcelona

spain but the s is silent pt 2 - spain gp 2016

nico had started the race in a wrong engine mode, causing him to be way slower than lewis so he decides to overtake, but as he did, nico pushed him off the track where he spun and they both ended up in the gravel.

neither were penalized by the fia as it was a racing incident tho niki lauda and most of the media blamed lewis for this one

N: “I made it very clear I wasn't going to leave any space on the inside and I was very surprised he went for the gap".

lewis apologized to the team but never accepted the blame

abu dhabi gp 2016

season finale of the 2016 championship, lewis is leading the race, nico is second. in order not to lose the championship, lewis slows down, trying to get nico overtaken by other cars

it was a controversial move, and it divided public opinion

L: “I did nothing dangerous so I don’t feel I did anything unfair. We were fighting for the world championship. I was leading. I control the pace. That’s the rules.”

N: “You can understand the team’s perspective and you can enjoy Lewis’s perspective, There were many moments that were not enjoyable.”

the team got upset but someone else defended him

someone named christian horner (yes - that horner)

“Winning the race wasn’t going to be enough for him today, he needed cars between him and, if he’d charged off into the distance, he wouldn’t have created that possibility. So he won the race as slowly as he could. It’s like in a football game where the team might protect from the opposition by kicking the ball around and not enabling the opposition to get hold of the it. I didn’t see that he did anything wrong today.”

he even asked lewis to race for redbull

in the end, lewis won the race but nico won the championship. the celebrations were dry and everything - with nico straight up ignoring lewis on the podium

post season 2016

nico retired just after winning his first championship

L:“I’m probably one of the only people that it was not a surprise to. This is the first time he’s won a title in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop. He’s also got a family to focus on, and wants more children, and Formula One takes so much of your time. Will I miss the rivalry? Of course.”

2016 - now

nico immediately said after retiring that he wanted to make amends. he admitted to having played mind games and said it was the only way

he said: "I'm open to finding our way, y'know, and even having a good relationship again in the future. why not?"

i can’t cite this whole interview cause it’s long, but you should watch it. they way he talks about lewis is fascinating

nico follows lewis on ig, made multiple posts to congratulate him on all his major achievements - and there’s been many - and is basically his number one fan and cheerleader - watch this video by yours truly if you want to see for yourself the heart eyes this motherfucker has - the dude is obsessed but aren’t we all

lewis on the other hand kinda pretends nico doesn’t exist really, doesn’t follow him back and doesn’t acknowledge nico’s posts about him and nico has said they don’t have each other’s number

this is why we kinda lost our minds when lewis mentioned nico and called him his best friend back then in drive to survive season 3

“There was a period of time the guy that has been my teammate has been my best friend. but when you work your life to win, and only one of you can win, it brings a lot of friction.”

this happened last year too but we shall never know what they talked about

now for the plot twist! lewis was photographed hanging out on a yacht with nico (and susie and toto) in the year 2021

i lost my mind over this tbh - hopefully this is a sign of reconciliation, i truly hope so for them both <3

here is the sunshine and britney tag, which i made to talk about our favorite ex-besties - you can find a few of us crying whenever nico says anything about lewis (he even went “can we go back to lewis hamilton” when the cameras changed from lewis’s lap he was commenting - poetic cinema), finding way too specific lyrics that hurt so good, and lose our minds over old pics of them cause they’re stellar

hope i was exhaustive enough! (if you have any other qs please leave them to my inbox! i promise i won’t write you another essay i just love them so much!) :,)

[benwvatt]

Grey’s Anatomy Has a Toxic Workplace Problem in Season 18 - aka why everyone keeps bullying Meredith into staying in Seattle

(Why is no one talking about this???)

Read my grey’s anatomy meta on ao3! Same format but I would love hear your thoughts

I can’t believe my biggest gripe with Grey’s season 18 is… fair labor practices? I mean, it’s usually more soap-opera stuff. Dead fiances come to life, disappearing girlfriends, surprise pregnancies, etc. etc.

But I keep seeing the same subtle problems arise. I’m going to call this the Webber-Bailey-Fox problem, because it seems that the ‘leaders’ of Grey Sloan Memorial are the most egregious and at fault. In short, why on earth do Webber, Bailey, and Catherine act as if the entire fate of this hospital hinges upon Meredith? Why won’t they let her leave for Minnesota?

She’s a famous surgeon who works there, not a goddess. The hospital isn’t going to magically disappear into dust and shadows if she moves to another state with her kids. If other key characters who are part of the Grey’s universe (Cristina, Alex, Jackson, Arizona, April, Callie, etc.) are allowed to move away and find new jobs, why do her bosses keep guilt-tripping Meredith into staying?

In general I’d give Season 18 a B+. In general my rule about TV is ‘keep watching if you’re having fun. Quit if you’re not!’ and I enjoy spending each Friday morning watching last night’s episode of Grey’s. I thought that many parts of S18 (like the introduction of Kai! Or letting us explore Bailey’s burnout and Maggie’s marriage to Winston!) were handled delicately. But at the same time, Webber, Bailey, and Catherine 一 mostly Webber and Bailey, obviously, since they’re series regulars 一 are just being manipulative toward Meredith.

Again and again on Grey’s, we see management whining whenever people don’t agree with them. In season 2ish, when Bailey considered switching from general to pediatric surgery, Webber was consistently whiny and cruel to her. He acted like she was throwing her career down the drain for changing. Bailey also sort of did this when Jo switched to OBGYN, and when Ben decided to become a firefighter instead of continuing his residency.

The Grey’s timeline is a bit wonky since seasons 1-3 take place during intern year (which I assume is 12 months), but I’d wager Meredith’s literally been working at this hospital for 16 years, give or take. She had her children here. She lost her husband. She dated and re-realized what it means to find love after loss. Is it so wicked and awful that she might want to move to Mayo Clinic instead of growing old and (pardon my pun) grey in Seattle?

During all of season 18, Webber and Bailey are just awful to Meredith. They treat her like a traitor and whine that she isn’t being ‘loyal’ to the hospital where she grew up (reminder: Meredith literally grew up here. Ellis trained at Seattle Grace and there are flashbacks of Meredith as a 6-year-old walking the halls.) If it’s indeed true that Meredith has lived much of her entire life in this one building, why on earth do her bosses keep manipulating her into staying? This is a textbook hostile work environment and it’s so puzzling that no characters in the Grey’s universe are acknowledging it.

A workplace culture where your bosses call you ‘disloyal’ for wanting to submit your 2 weeks’ notice is… not good. No wonder Meredith wants to leave if Webber and Bailey, who are supposedly her old friends and mentors, are so willing to turn on a dime and snarl insults at her.

Don’t even get me started on this Accreditation Council Lady in the finale, who acts as if Meredith’s departure is a key reason why the hospital is unstable. Sure, I assume Mer is good at bringing in fundraising money and good PR (and I know Council Lady feels that she’s been lied to so she’s lashing out), but Mer’s just the chief of general surgery. There are plenty of good general surgeons who can take her place.

And I know, the show is called Grey’s, not Pierce’s or Shepherd’s Anatomy. We all know Meredith is important. But it feels cruel to tell Meredith that she matters so that we can guilt-trip her into staying at Grey Sloan instead of moving away. When does it end? Will Meredith be tied in one place and forced to work at the hospital forever just because they can’t afford to lose her? What kind of awful workplace is this, where you aren’t allowed to leave because people seem to need you too badly? It’s kind of like a desperate boyfriend or girlfriend who refuses to let you break up with them because “they’ll fall apart without you.”

This is an incredibly toxic position from Webber and Bailey, and it makes me dislike them. They’ve been written so oddly this season, acting as if they’re gods who are above criticism and flaw. Their inability to recognize their own flaws is actually the reason they keep hurting the people around them.

So the Minnesota plotline may have its flaws (I’ll get to that later! What on Earth does Mer actually do at Mayo?) but it’s Meredith’s right to leave if she wants to. It’s not like she’s signed some lifetime contract or a blood oath tying her to one place. She’s successful, she’s excited to travel and spend more time with Nick, and the city of Seattle is always going to be haunted in some part because of Derek’s death. Why shouldn’t she get to leave? Why are Webber, Bailey, and Catherine allowed to intimidate and jeer at Meredith? Why do they feel entitled to her time and work? It’s starting to feel like Bailey and Webber are just bad bosses. If you can’t handle the fact that your employees may get a better offer and leave you, you shouldn’t be an employer.