#it's been so long since interview season that i can't remember the feeling of

[pocketgalaxies]

the fun thing about crippling imposter syndrome and ridiculously prolonged delayed gratification is that they do this cool combo move where they invent an especially ominous form of anxiety that is insidious and subliminal but reaches into me through to the tips of my fingers like an evil little poison impossible to ignore but also impossible to detect except in the way my jaw aches in the morning and the way i find myself unironically saying "this is the longest week ever" on a forking monday afternoon

[rafescvntyclubgf]

𝓻𝓪𝓯𝓮𝔂𝓼𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓫𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓼

𝙽𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚒𝚜𝚝 | 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟: 𝔸𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕖

𝙽𝙷𝙻!𝚁𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚡 𝙹𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

❕Warnings Contain Spoilers ❕

warnings: rafe’s pov, reader’s pov, dark!rafe, possessive!rafe, obsessed!rafe, graphic violence, mentions of blood, rafe considers kidnapping the reader, rafe beats up his co-captain and ties him up, oral (male + female receiving), dark!reader, ownership kink, pet names, swearing, dirty talk, kissing, unprotected p in v, praise, rough sex, cum tasting

This is an ask from my baby starkeysbabygirl for dark NHL!Rafe 💋 thank you for your ask, hun!!! The premise is reporter!reader, Rafe’s ex, interviews him and the other captain ahead of Friday night's big game. Rafe can't help but see the spark between them, and he wants to let her know who she belongs to

Rafe’s POV:

The camera light flashes; a typical pre-game interview, but my heart is beating out of my chest. I lean back slightly, relaxing on my leather couch. My co-captain Nate laughs, elbowing me playfully, joking about something, but honestly, I can’t fuckin’ hear it.

My girl… Well, at least she was.

She’s stunning, polished, and professional. She glances at Nate, then me, her face unchanging, calm, and collected, completely detached as I’m losing my goddamn mind at the sight of her so close to me.

She adjusts the microphone clipped to her blouse… red. My favorite color, especially on her, and I can’t help but wonder if she remembers that.

It’s been six months since we broke up. Six long months, but each passing day only made my obsession worse. She had a jealous streak that drove me insane, questioning every woman I so much as glanced at from the ice. Blowing up my phone to the point of exhaustion on away games just in case I found someone else. I tried to reassure her I was loyal, but it was never enough. And that exhaustion I felt didn’t even begin to cover it. I was over it completely.

Eventually, I snapped. I told her I was over her and the drama, the fighting; I was done trying to convince her she was all I wanted. That day, I broke her—shattered her heart completely—and when she walked out the door, I told myself it was for the best.

Or, so I thought.

But the truth was she never really left… I started following her career from afar, curiosity getting the better of me. I selfishly wondered if she was as affected by our breakup as I was, but she wasn’t. That curiosity turned into something darker—something I didn’t even recognize myself.

She'd landed the gig at ESPN she’d been working for, climbing the ladder from short vlogs to TV interviews. Every interview, every appearance, every event—I consumed it all, taking what crumbs I could get. I even started showing up where I knew she would be, affairs I would have skipped before, all in an attempt to catch her eye, but I never did.

All I want is her. All I want is to be close to her. Tonight’s my fuckin’ night.

To her, it’s just some informal interview—a change from her regular rinkside report or studio sit down. But to me, it’s one step closer to getting her back; she’s sitting in my place, on my couch, sipping a glass of water from my cupboard. It’s like she’s coming home.

“Alright, gentleman,” y/n smiles, pulling me out of my mind. Her voice was honeyed and dripping with confidence. I shut my eyes, hanging my head momentarily, trying to collect myself as she continued. “The Winter Classic is one of the season's biggest games; the match-up is electric on its own. Fans are buzzing about the drama between you and the Kings. How are you both feeling tonight?”

My lips curl into a smile as she asks me a question; well, us—regardless, the attention had me feeling like I just snorted a line. Riding high off the attention I had been craving for for months. My fix finally met. “Excited,” I blurt out, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks as she cocks her eyebrow at me. “Focused… This is the kinda hockey you look forward to playin’.”

“Absolutely,” Nate adds, cutting in, stealing her focus from me in the process. Her gaze flickers to him, the corners of her perfect lips curling into a slight smile that I didn’t get. A sharp sting of jealousy stabs through my heart. My blunt fingernails dig into the armrests of my chair, trying to stay composed.

”And you, Rafe,” she sings as she looks back at me. Fuck… My pulse spikes as my name passes her lips for the first time in months. She hasn’t mentioned my name once in any interview, podcast, or vlog. "As one of the league's top performers, do you feel the pressure to lead your team tomorrow?”

I draw a deep breath, thankful that I hung on to her every word instead of focusing on the sound of her voice alone—like music to my fuckin’ ears. “Pressure is part of the gig. I’ve always thrived on it.”

She nods, living in my words for a moment. “Spoken like a true captain,” she praises. Her compliment hits me harder than it should’ve, but I can’t help but blush at her words.

The interview presses on as the tension between her and me simmers beneath the surface. Even Nate can tell, his eyes moving between us when her gaze hangs a little heavier on me.

And then, something shifts.

Her attention pivots to Nate; the scales of her focus weighing in his favor. My heart breaks with each smile, each glimmer in his and her eyes. I watch her fall through my finger again, right into his hands.

And Nate—that motherfucker—he’s eating it up, flirting shamelessly, and worse, she doesn't seem to mind in the slightest.

By the end of the interview, I had all but fallen apart. Nate stands up, rolling up the sleeves of his button-down shirt as he looks at her from across the room, no doubt eye-fuckin’ the shit out of my girl. I sip my coffee, observing her from across the room as she packs up her equipment, leaving my place with a little wave, nothing more, nothing less.

“Fuck, she’s stunning,” Nate hums. “Do you have her number?”

“No,” I press the word past my lips. Drawing a deep breath, I roll out my neck, trying to let his comments go.

"It’s alright. She probably has an IG account or somethin’. I'll just slide into her DMs. Probably safer that way anyway," he says with a smug smile, looking over with a wink like he’s talking to a friend, but that ship has fuckin’ sailed.

My jaw clenches tight, and every muscle in my body twists tight. I can’t let him see how much he’s getting to me… His words make me feel like I could lose my last shred of sanity.

Nate walks toward the door, slipping on his jacket. He digs his phone out of his pocket, sliding his finger across the screen before looking up at me again. “How do you spell her first name again?”

She’s probably gone by now. My hear’s racing. What the fuck am I doing? My mind pinballs between a dozen possibilities. What if it’s too late? What if she doesn’t want to talk to me? Do I take her? Take her, Rafe… What the fuck am I thinking? No… No. Talk to her? Yeah—Yeah, just talk. For now.

SCREECH.

She slams on the brakes as I stop her in the parking lot— thankful she parked in valet and not on the street, giving me a little extra time to get to her.

"Rafe?" She asks, her voice gentle and uneasy. “Are you ok-“

"Can we talk?" I cut her off with a breathless request, trying to sound calmer than I am as my heart pounds in my head.

She looks around the lot before turning her attention back to me. “… Sure.” She bends around, returning to the valet, before handing him her keys.

She walks toward me, doing nothing for my nerves as her jacket blows slightly with the breeze, the winter wind whipping her hair, making her look like a goddamn angel. My eyes stay locked on her, unblinking, not wanting to miss a moment as she clears the gap between us.

“What did you wanna talk about?”

"Upstairs…” I choke out. "Just for a drink."

We walk toward the elevator. The ride up is silent; tension between us, thick with unsaid words.

She walks into my apartment, stopping dead in her tracks.

The living room is wrecked. A lamp knocked onto the floor—glass shattered. Decorations are strewn and thrown to the floor. Sitting in the far corner of the room is Nate: tied to a chair, beaten face smeared with blood, his head hanging low.

She turns around, her trembling hand covering her lips, her wide eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Her gaze darts from mine to my hands. Shit… I look down, catching the blood; my knuckles split and broken.

“Y/n,” I start, and just as I do, her hand falls—from her smile.

She walks toward me, slow and deliberate, as my heart swells. Her heels click against the marble floor as she gets closer and closer. "Rafe," she hums, looking up at me through her lashes. "You did this for me?"

I draw a deep breath, looking down at her before me, completely overwhelmed. I don't know what reaction I was expecting or what thoughts went through my mind when I brought her back here, but a part of me knew this was what she wanted.

“I hated the way he was talkin’ to you,” I whisper.

She looks over her shoulder, taking in the chaos silently. Every piece of broken glass and a crimson streak of blood was just a reminder of how far I’d go, and still, for me, it was not enough. “I can't believe you did this for me,” she says the words weakly as a tear tumbles down her cheek.

“I’d do worse if it meant keeping you.”

She bites her lips, holding back her emotions. My stomach flutters as her hands slip into mine. “I missed you, Rafe. I think about you all the time,” she smiles.

“I can’t tell you how much I missed you… I’m sorry for following you—”

“I wanted you to,” she assures, giving me the answer I was hoping for.

"You started this career to be closer to me," I ask as I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into me, my voice slow and steady, “didn't you?" She takes a little breath, looking down at the space between us, smiling before looking back up at me, nodding ‘yes.’

"I was hoping we’d run into each other and I’d get to apologize for how I acted-”

"Stop," I interrupt, my voice hoarse and broken with feelings. "I don't care about that shit. I’ve been messed up since the day you left."

Her eyes blink as she looks up at me lovingly. I cup her cheeks in her hands, brushing away her tears with my thumbs. "You're mine," I whisper. "No one else's. Say it.”

"I'm yours," she breathes. I look out of the corner of my eye, watching Nate struggle against the binds, breaking up our moment, making my blood boil.

“Let me go take care of him. Yeah?” I rasp, and she smiles.

I step toward him slowly as he battles even harder, that cockiness that he had in the interview stripped away. “Rafe—Rafe… I don't know what the fuck is goin’ on, man. Just let me go.”

I kneel beside him, looking him in his eyes, ensuring he hears every word. “Nate… You fucked up, man,” I chide. “You pushed me… And if you do it again, you’ll find out just how far I can go, bitch. This is nothing…”

“I didn’t know, Rafe. Fuck—I didn’t know you were together,” he rambles as blood trickles out of the corner of his lips.

“You couldn’t feel it? Bullshit. I know you saw it. Stop fuckin’ lyin’ to me,” I hiss. “And you… What if Ally found out you were about to slip in my girl's DMs, huh?” I ask, my voice low and lethal. “What if your wife found out about that little Instagram model in Montreal? One word to her, and you’re done.”

Nate shakes his head ‘no’ fast, his bruised eyes pinched shut. “I’m not gonna say shit!” He huffs.

The second I untie him, he’s scrambling toward the door. A wicked smile twists on her lips as she looks back at me, hanging onto every word I said to him, the threats leaving my tongue nothing but foreplay to her. She turns on her heels, beckoning me with her dark gaze.

Y/n smiles at me, biting her lip as she looks down at the floor. My Boston College jersey lies in a pile of glass; the collectible frame knocked off the wall in the fight. She bends down, picking it up, giving it a few shakes before disappearing into my dark room.

I smile to myself, giving her a moment. I know what she’s gonna do. That’s my girl.

Walking toward my bedroom, I follow the trail of discarded clothes: her jacket, skirt, and that satin blouse I wanted to tear off, but this is so much better. I chuckle sleazily as I see her pretty red bra on the floor, my eyes lifting to my bed, seeing her sitting pretty on the edge of the bed, waiting for me.

Before I can even ask, she’s on her knees, crawling slowly toward me. My eyes roll back seeing her like this… Like a goddamn dream. I rip off the buttons of my shirt, tearing it off my shoulders as she kneels before me, pawing for my belt, tugging my pants around my ankles.

I wrap my fist around her hair, pulling after gaze away from my cock to my eyes. “C’mon, pretty… I remember what this mouth can do,” I mumble as my thumb brushes along her bottom lip.

She lays out her tongue, and I slap my tip against it, moaning at the contact. She wraps her lips around me, eyes fluttering shut like it’s all she needs. The vibrations of her pleasured sounds about sends me. I use the hold on her head to pull her into me, watching tears spring in the corners of her eyes again as my fat tip kisses the back of her throat.

Reader’s POV:

“Atta girl,” Rafe hums, his praise only fueling your frenzy. You bob up and down on his long cock as he guides your strokes. “You like that shit?” He breathes a sigh of relief as he watches you work his dick in your mouth.

“Suckin’ my dick with my name on your shoulders, princess… You know how many times I’ve thought about this? Fuckin’ dream girl,” he groans hazily between thrusts.

Rafe blows out a breath as you release his cock with a pop, causing him to let out a grunt for more, almost instantly eased by your fist, jerking him off. You can feel your wetness, trickling from your pussy, seeping down your inner thigh. "I can't wait to fuck you, princess."

You moan, feeling the weight of him on your tongue, Rafe’s precum swirling with your saliva, making your arousal pool in your panties. You lift his jersey slightly, giving him a glimpse of your round ass, a tiny number two embroidered on the back of your thong.

“Fuckkk,” he groans at the sight, tossing his head back; the salty taste of his precum intensifies as he cum in thick ropes, painting your throat. You wrap your hands around his body, nails scratching down his thigh, making his muscles clench.

Rafe’s cock throbs on your tongue, blood pumping in his shaft as you cup his balls in your hands, rolling slowly, not wanting him out of your mouth just yet.

“Co’mere,” he breathes as he helps you to your feet, pulling you to his lips. He kisses you deeply, walking back with you to his large bed, pushing you down before mounting you fast. “These panties… You fuckin’ kidding me,” he mutters against your lips as his thick fingers shove the satin aside, running up your soaked slit.

You start to rock with his thrusts as Rafe swallows your moans. He pulls away, pushing his fingers between his lips, sucking off your wetness, looking down at you underneath him.

“Hands and knees, princess,” he smiles.

Before you can comply, he grips your hips, flipping you over. You arch your back for him, and he grabs your ass, circling his hands before spanking you once, then twice.

He squeezes your curves, pulling you apart slightly, running his tongue from your clit to your entrance. You whimper as his fingers press against your aching pearl, tongue pushing into your soaked hole.

Rafe swirls his tongue and fingers with precision, eating you out from the back, moaning into your cunt as he laps up your arousal. His free hand tugs your panties to the side, using the hold to pull your warmth closer to his face, the man drowning in pussy.

”Rafe… Fuck. I’m close,” you whimper.

"Cum for me," he whispers between tongue flicks. You cum fast and hard, fluttering as your pleasure courses through your veins.

Before you can even come down from your high, he sinks into you, making you cry out, sliding into your sloppy core until his hips nudge your ass. He grabs your body, pushing his cock even further, making you bury your face in the comforter.

“Oh my god. Shittt,” he grunts as he circles his hips, his voice deep and dripping with sin. You lift your head as he pulls almost out, fucking back into your fast. “Tell me whose pussy this is, baby. Fuckin’ tell me…”

“Yours, baby,” you squeal, body shivering at the feeling of him buried to the hilt.

“That’s right…” He mumbles as he pushes the jersey up your back.

He rolls and snaps his hips into you, making the fat of your ass recoil with each thrust. He grabs your curves in his hands, spreading you wider, watching the way his thick dick gets swallowed up, wet, and sticky with your slickness.

He builds up to a punishing pace; the sounds of your wet skin slapping against each other fill his room. His fingers dig into your supple flesh as you start to meet him thrust for thrust, gasping as he hits that special spot, your heart rate frantic—your body desperate to cum around his big cock.

Rafe’s movements get a little rougher, his pace quickening. “Mpfhh… You’re gonna cum?” He groans, desperation clinging to his tone as he tries to hold back his pleasure. “Been thinkin’ about that feelin’ for six fuckin’ months,” he mumbles. “I know you are. Cum on my dick, princess… I need it—Fuck. I need it,” your eyes roll back in your head as your pleasure surges through you, crashing over you like a wave.

“Rafe, fuck-”

“That’s my fuckin’ girl,” Rafe pants, answering your cries as he throws his hips. “I’m gonna fill up this tight cunt. I want you dripping out of me tomorrow.” He reaches for you, pulling you back to his chest, pressing his face against your cheeks. “You’ll always remember who owns this pussy.”

Rafe’s body tightens as he grabs your face, pressing his lips against yours. “You're mine,” he whispers against your mouth as his body shudders, filling you with his heavy load.

His tongue slips between your lips as he rocks his hip, smiling through panting breaths, pushing his cum deeper and deeper. Tears of pleasure and happiness roll down your cheeks as he keeps you standing, your legs feeling like they could give way at any second. Rafe chuckles darkly, letting out a satisfied sigh at his cockdrunk girl. “Say it, baby…”

“I’m yours.”

[psychopomp-namine]

YE6's butterfly effect. AKA: how did vein "die"?

I'm trying to puzzle out the butterfly effect in YE6, and here is my interpretation so far. if this theory is correct, it would also answer the question of who has the faking death ability and what exactly was liu xiao doing during the whole arc.

of course, feel free to correct me if I got this wrong. I could be missing some key information. I'm just writing this in an attempt to figure it out myself. also, this is gonna be a long post, sorry.

a lot of people are speculating that lu guang directly killed vein somehow through an ability, but I don't think that's what actually happened (although I wish that was the case). I also don't think the situation is as simple as "lu guang wanted vein dead" because I also think that liu xiao is interfering with the same events. there are two puppeteers in YE6, imho.

let's start with lu guang. for one thing, we know he can't directly kill vein with any of the abilities he has, since both scanning 12 hours of photo history and diving into the past require, well, a photo, which lu guang did not have. yingdu even stressed the rules of how both abilities work. if lu guang directly killed vein through ability use, this would imply he has another ability up his sleeve, and I really don't think we've been given enough evidence that points to that. if he always had this ability, why hasn't he used it before on vein in other timelines?

remember that yingdu has a lot of visual metaphors in its storytelling compared to other seasons. I believe lu guang caused the chain of events to happen in such a way that vein would die, but he was not the one to kill him, and that's why there's the animation of him orchestrating vein's death through wang qing, like a ventriloquist would control a puppet. in fact, I would go even further: lu guang and wang qing never got the chance to kill vein, although lu guang certainly thinks he did. we will circle back to this under the cut later, once we've built up the evidence to reach this conclusion.

another thing is the info we learned from an interview with director li. it is unfortunate, imo, that we had to learn this through an interview and not from the show itself (I feel this is yingdu's biggest writing flaw), but whatever. here are the key points to know though:

vein doesn't have an ability during yingdu arc

liu xiao has more than one ability (we know one of them already, which is interestingly enough, heartbeat related)

(not from the interview, but hinted in the show) someone has a "faking death" ability

before we go into the butterfly effect and how vein died, let's go over the details of his death:

from the autopsy report: vein's cause of death is myocardial infarction. aka a heart attack

xia fei later says there were no external injuries and no signs of poison

also, tiny detail, but vein was holding something like a tranquilizer gun in the clinic. the "bullets" he fired on both wang qing and cheng xiaoshi were meant to put them to sleep, not to kill them.

finally, let's lay out some character motivations. this will be important later.

liu xiao wants to get the notebook that belonged to cheng weimin. vein is working with him on this.

lu guang wants to avoid cheng xiaoshi's death node, and he plans to do it by killing vein

now, for the analysis. how did vein "die"?

let's establish something first. since xia fei doesn't know what happened to vein and is looking for the true culprit, we can rule out his involvement. he probably doesn't have the faking death ability, since it was used on vein. and vein doesn't have an ability. so the most likely person to have this ability would be liu xiao. he is also most likely the one to open the body bag with vein in it.

so we can now assume that liu xiao has two abilities:

he can sense someone's emotions and intentions through hearing their heartbeats

he can "fake death" (it is unclear how this works)

well. what an interesting combination! let's put a pin on that for now. remember this for later.

okay. now. let's switch over to lu guang. the big important question here is this: how did lu guang know that delaying vein from entering the clinic would lead to his death through a butterfly effect?

for full context, let's look at what lu guang says in his conversation with vein (I'm using ani-mi's translation, but I watched the bilibili one first and there aren't any drastic changes imo):

do you know the butterfly effect? in a dynamic system, event the smallest changes in initial conditions can lead to vastly different outcomes. I've been wondering, how do you alter a destined ending? what would happen if, before the conclusion, we added another fixed point? another unchangeable node? instead of avoiding deviations, why not let it deviate completely? I know I can't stop you. but I can make you stay a bit longer. now, you can go in.

two things here. first, the mention of an unchangeable node. aka a death node. lu guang for sure wanted vein to die. because if vein dies first, he can't kill cheng xiaoshi. simple logic; great plan.

next, from this speech, we can infer that lu guang planned to create a small change (a butterfly effect) that will lead to a big consequence (vein's death).

it's the second part that should clue us in. he said, "I can make you stay a bit longer. now, you can go in." he knows he can't stop vein from entering the clinic. but he can stall him. he can add a small bit of delay, long enough that it actually matters that vein went into the clinic later than usual.

lu guang knows the effect he wants (vein's death) so how does he know what event (stalling him) would cause the domino effect that leads to it? why does that small delay matter?

let's look at what that extra bit of time actually changed. by delaying vein, another important event happens: cheng xiaoshi has extra time with wang qing, long enough for him to meet his mom, shao yuanyuan. cheng xiaoshi then learns that shao yuanyuan is trying to save cheng weimin. he promises to wait for them and to stop investigating. it is after he makes this promise that vein enters.

we can now infer one more thing here: cheng xiaoshi did not meet his mom through wang qing in the original order of events. this event only happens because lu guang stalled vein.

most likely, in the original order of events, vein incapacitated wang qing too early for her to do anything to him. we don't know what her ability is, but it doesn't matter for this post. all we need to know is that lu guang believes wang qing could kill vein if she was never put to sleep. that is the point of stalling vein from entering the clinic early.

so here's part one of my theory. from lu guang's perspective, this is the plan to kill vein:

stall vein from entering the clinic

because vein entered late, wang qing was possessed by someone with better fighting abilities, allowing her to hold out during the fight

she is then freed from possession, and is still awake when vein tries to leave with the notebook

I don't think we have enough information to really explain what happens next, but what's supposed to happen, imo, is that wang qing kills vein, either through her own ability or someone else uses her to do it. it doesn't really matter how, but this is what is supposed to happen. this is what lu guang wanted to happen. for the sake of this post, we will assume wang qing has an ability to kill vein

vein dies, therefore he can't go to the time photo studio in the future to kill cheng xiaoshi

that's lu guang's butterfly effect. stall vein -> vein dies -> cheng xiaoshi lives.

simple? not quite. I did mention there's another person interfering with these events.

everything I mentioned above is from lu guang's perspective, and that this is what's supposed to happen. but let's look at the actual order of events.

wang qing wakes up (is freed from possession), notices the notebook on vein, and calls his name (interesting point: she knows his full chinese name). at this point, her eyes have NOT changed color yet.

vein gets a heart attack

only after that does wang qing's eyes change color

we know that changing eye colors is not diegetic, meaning this is more for the audience's benefit. their eyes don't really change color in-universe. sometimes they don't even show us eye colors changing. but when they do show us, we have to pay attention.

therefore, I believe that the timing of the shift in eye color matters.

so here's part two of my theory. liu xiao knew lu guang is going to interfere, so he already arranged a "fake death" for vein in advance (which he doesn't tell vein about lmao, but he seems to have figured it out when he gets the heart attack)

this is how, I believe, yingdu happened from liu xiao's perspective:

he wants cheng weimin's notebook. wang qing has it, but would never give it to him. but she might for cheng weimin's son

he baits cheng xiaoshi into going to bridon

he heard lu guang's heartbeat in the airport, which tipped him off that he's someone he should watch out for

he confirmed that cheng xiaoshi and lu guang are investigating cheng weimin

he assigns xia fei to keep an eye on their progress

he planned to use cheng xiaoshi to bait wang qing into giving up information about the notebook. this is why when xia fei told him that cheng xiaoshi was about to meet her, liu xiao reacts like this is the expected outcome

he assigns vein to get the notebook because wang qing is about to reveal the location. but he also knows that lu guang is kinda shady, so when lu guang stalls vein (and tells him! bro don't tell your plans to your victims! don't tell him you're trying to make a butterfly effect!), liu xiao either just knew this would happen or vein tipped him off before going in

now, notice that vein gets a heart attack before wang qing uses an ability (or is used, whatever) to kill vein. and what have we established before at the beginning of this post? liu xiao has a heartbeat related ability and can fake a death. we don't know the mechanics of the second ability, but we know that compatible abilities can combo with each other. it's not far-fetched to think that liu xiao can fake death with a heart attack

later, we see vein wake up after someone (most likely liu xiao) opens his body bag

so now who's fooled? the police arrives and even does an autopsy. they declare vein dead. lu guang is relieved, and for years he believes this. vein doesn't even visit the studio in 2021 (though li tianchen does, through liu min, but that's neither here nor there). he avoided a death node by creating another one. we can let him believe this lie for a little while...

TL;DR lu guang created a butterfly effect by stalling vein, and that creates a domino effect that should have led to vein's death. except he's not the only one interfering with the timeline. while this is happening, liu xiao orchestrates a fake death for vein before his supposed death actually happens, allowing him to act dead during the autopsy and "revive" later

EDIT: this post was written before the interview translation came out, though I don't think this it contradicts anything here; if anything, this post is in line with the interview.

if you're interested, additional thoughts on vein's death can be found in the following links:

reblog of this post: the fake death ability might be wang qing's, or an effect of a combination of wang qing and liu xiao's ability. I posit in this post that I think liu xiao has the ability; in hindsight, it probably relates to wang qing, though I still think that the "heart attack" is related to liu xiao

thematic analysis (as opposed to plot analysis) on vein's death. I am a huge believer that link click is best analyzed through themes than plot tbh

additional thoughts on lu guang's characterization throughout all of this

[buddiebeginz]

Everyone who watches 911 is entitled to have their opinions on the show. Good, bad, or indifferent. This goes the same for Buddie. But don't assume you can make posts talking about how "willfully delusional" you think people in your own fandom are simply because we're talking our cues from the show (and the people involved in it) and seeing the signs of Buddie canon without any push back.

I‘ve been watching this show for years and in my opinion we have never been closer to Buddie canon than we are now. This isn’t just fans seeing what we want to see this is everything that’s gone on with the show, it's creators, and cast since the promo for s7 started.

Before s7 even started Ryan and Oliver were doing tons of press together. There was more talk of Buddie than had ever been previously. We had Ryan and Oliver talking at the s7 premiere about how Buddie's relationship was changing and how they were going to be getting even closer.

During s7 we had more Buddie scenes than we had in recent seasons and not just like scenes of them working together but scenes that cemented their relationship and showed them becoming even closer than they'd been. Scenes like Eddie relying on Buck to help with Chris (multiple times during the season). Scenes like Buck talking about how worried he was about Eddie during the Kim stuff.

It's even more clear that Buddie canon is where things are headed when you look at how Tim chose to handle B/T vs Buddie in s7. If Tim was planning on making B/T a long term ship there were so so many times he could have done more to develop them and he didn't instead the development was put into Buddie.

704 was not about Buck trying to get T*mmy's attention it was about Buck having these big intense emotions he didn't know how to deal with or really understand (because they were about his best friend) and misplacing them onto T*mmy. If Buddie wasn't a part of the plan I don't believe Tim would have ever even included Eddie in that episode especially not the way he did. It would seriously be one of the stupidest moves the show could make. They know how much of their audience ships Buddie, hell people who don't even watch the show talk about Buddie.

Plus it's obvious that Buddie's karaoke scene in 706 was supposed to be a parallel to Maddie and Chim starting to realize their feelings for one another in 208 (when they did karaoke). But the karaoke scene was pulled once they were renewed for s8 when they likely decided to pause on Buddie happening and Eddie coming out until they had more time. Why else would they have them singing a karaoke duet to a love song (in Madney's wedding episode no less) if Buddie canon was never going to happen?

Then you had the very domestic scene in 707 with Buck commenting on Eddie's cologne and throwing food into his mouth. And zero mention of T*mmy in the entire episode. Then in 709 you had Buck looking at Eddie (not T*mmy) when he got his award. In 710 it was Eddie by Buck's side the whole time Bobby was at the hospital and the only scene B/T got was that dinner scene which didn't do one single thing to further develop that relationship.

Back to the bts of it all. Oliver liked and commented on Buddie stuff throughout s7. He also posted Ryan often on his stories. Most importantly he posted a pic of him and Ryan on the basketball court after the B/T kiss in 704. If I remember correctly after the B/T dinner scene in 710 he also posted something to do with Buddie too.

You also had Oliver saying in interviews that he sees what Buddie fans sees and we're not wrong. He also talked about Buddie as how it could work if it happens. Ryan also talked about Buddie happening and said it was baby steps for them to get there. Ryan also said in one interview (can't remember the exact wording) but it was something about who should lead like who should come out first and it was decided it was going to be Buck. But the way he worded it was very clear that both of them are supposed to come out not just one. Lou also talked about how it was originally going to be Eddie getting the queer storyline (with T*mmy) and instead they decided on it being Buck. Lou also talked early on about Buddie and B/T as T*mmy being someone that is basically getting Buck ready for Buddie.

I firmly believe that Oliver would not be interacting with Buddie stuff nor talking about Buddie as much as he has in interviews if he knew Buddie was never going to happen. He's said point blank before he stopped talking about Buddie in the past because he didn't want the fans to feel led on. I think this is part of why he hasn't really interacted with B/T shippers or anything much to do with that ship. He knows it's not meant to last and he doesn't want those fans to feel like he's lying to them.

I know people look at Ryan calling Eddie heterosexual during some of his s7 interviews as a sign that Buddie isn't going to happen but as soon as s7 was over and he had a couple of interviews he started using gender neutral phrasing and saying things like "partner". There was also an interview where he talked about how Buck is basically taking Shannon's place.

Now as we've started to get promo stuff for s8 a lot of the social media stuff has been revolving around Ryan and Oliver with it leaning more towards Ryan. This is similar to how it was for s7 only things were leaning more towards Oliver because of everything that took place with Buck. It's clear that Eddie is going to have a big storyline this season and it can't just be that he's missing Chris or going back to religion.

ABC and Tim know how popular Buddie is and they know how huge it will be for the show and their network to have Buddie go canon. It's why they're handling this very carefully. Honestly I don't think they would have even had Buck come out if they weren't at least considering Buddie because they would have known that the fans yelling for Buddie would only get louder once one of them was confirmed queer. And like I said earlier if they had no intention of Buddie they would have at the least been distancing Buck and Eddie and certainly wouldn't have made Buck's entire coming out episode all about him.

They also would have told the actors to limit talking about Buddie in interviews and the journalists wouldn't have been allowed to ask about Buddie. If you look back at previous seasons and the kind of interviews Ryan and Oliver had Buddie was rarely if ever talked about. That's because Fox did not want it to happen and networks can control what is talked about in official interviews. There's a reason Buddie was talked about so much during the s7 interviews. It's the same reason B/T has barely been talked about even though it should have been a much bigger deal being Buck's first relationship with a guy.

Oh also there was the person on twitter who claimed to have inside info for the show and proved that at different times during s7 with how they seemed to know stuff long before the episodes would air. They said that people behind the scenes had been trying to have Eddie come out in s5 and again in s7 it just hasn't worked out yet. This also fits with what Oliver said that Buck was originally supposed to come out in s4. This fits too with the shooting storyline and the panic attacks early on in s5. Buck would have had his bi awakening in s4 and maybe his feelings realization after the shooting. This would lead to Eddie having his queer awakening during the whole Ana storyline in s5. But Fox shut all of that down.

My point in all of this is that there's a lot of evidence to back up why Buddie fans are so sure about Buddie canon this time. More so than any other season. It's not just us seeing the show through our buddie tinted glasses. It's the most logical outcome at this point. Sure we could all be wrong and the show could leave us heartbroken but at the same time it's still fun to be excited and hopeful about the show.

Oh and one more thing. I get it if you don't like Eddie's mustache, we all have things we find attractive or don't for whatever reason. But continually comparing Eddie, a Mexican man who many lgbtq people relate to and see as queer coded, to characters you describe as "violent and abusive" or a "corrupt cop" just feels all kinds of wrong to me.

Again like I already stated above Buddie canon and Eddie being queer might not happen but there is plenty of evidence to back up why people see Eddie as a queer character. In some ways he's been far more queer coded than even Buck has been. To get upset at people for seeing the mustache as another sign of queer coding makes zero sense to me. You can think it looks unattractive but mustaches have a long history of symbolism in queer men's culture. This isn't just about thinking it looks like Freddie Mercury it's that mustaches (especially ones that look like Eddie's this season) have often by used by queer men as a signifier of their sexuality to other queer men. So the idea that the show is using it as an early sign to the audience that that's where they're taking his character isn't totally out of the realm of possibility.

You are free to disregard all of the facts I just pointed out. You are free to see the show how you want. But you're not free to insult the people in your own fandom and then act surprised when people don't want to follow you or even go so far as to block you because they're tired of the negativity. I mean we get enough of that from B*mmy stans we don't need it in our own fandom too.

If the fandom and the show is causing you to be unhappy it might be time to consider taking a break.

[flownwrong]

chaotic ckr c6d squee propaganda (?) post

This, started half a year ago for @ds30below, was initially a general c6d short reviews post but kinda skewed majorly towards CKR's repertoire and wasn't too review-y. So I gave up on making sense and on including the non-CKR works. I don't know who the audience for this is, because I never give basic details for people who don't know about this stuff but say too much for those who do. I giffed what I could and tried to avoid what I know a lot about but haven't actually seen. Here goes.

Frank's Cock (1993)

Not much to say. It's only 8 minutes, it's beautiful and you should see it if you haven't. I won't spoil the subject, but you can likely guess. Watch it, cry a little. Then go watch some more of Mike Hoolboom's stuff, the vimeo link above is from his channel.

Two X-Files episodes (1994 – 1995)

Well, I haven't actually seen X-files since I was about fifteen and watched the like two seasons, and I remember none of it. I rewatched the two early episodes CKR appears in and they were fun. I did not watch the, the movie or whatever where he's doing the evil gay thing. But really, this one is on the list so I can show you this self-indulgent gif of him being Very Long:

Double Happiness (1994)

You shouldn't watch this one for CKR. I mean, you absolutely should see him here, looking like he's barely out of his teens and playing up the insecure act and having devastating chemistry with devastatingly beautiful Sandra Oh, but this is not why it's great. And it's really, really great. It's touching and funny and sincere. If you wanna have some feels about complicated family relationships and identity and growing up (at any point in life), you'll find them here.

Curtis's Charm (1995)

Don't regret watching it, can't recommend. Not gonna lie, I was emotionally affected. But I usually am by things as in-your-face bleak as this. Mostly, it's trying very hard to be smarter than it is, I think.

However: CKR's One Wild Curl is everything to me (see above, on the right. It was, like, actually curly. I was rendered speechless). And like two seconds of Hugh Dillon made me do a double-take, lol. Incredibly weird knowing this was shot like half a year before HCL began shooting. Feels like it must've been a decade earlier.

Hard Core Logo (1996)

I could make three separate posts about this one, so of course I have no idea what to say.

This one, you should watch for CKR, actually, he's something, but so is every single other aspect of this film. I wouldn't change a thing about it. It hits you like a 16 wheeler. Perfectly cast, unimaginably beautiful, hysterical and melancholy and disgusting and compelling.

Related recs:

A wonderfully fun article/retrospective/interview for its 20th anniversary a while back.

You should also absolutely read Hard Core Roadshow if you enjoyed the film. It's a book documenting the whole thing from conception to release. It touched me for its own sake, not just a backstage glance, full of love for the craft and the people and carrying this tangible bittersweetness about the heightened and fleeting nature of this kind of work.

(here, I feel compelled to include a quote from another c6d-related interview on Slings & Arrows, which I read after the book and went like man, it's really a universal experience isn't it.

Coyne: <...> But I also think, and this is my experience, what we were all experiencing, because we were all talking about our lives, our life in the arts — there’s something very melancholy about doing something you love, because it will never be good enough, it will always break your heart.

McKinney: Or it will be fleeting.

Coyne: It’ll be fleeting. You come together with people you feel passionately connected to and two weeks later they’re tearing down the sets.)

Quotes from the article and the book respectively include:

McDonald: So there was a kind of mutual dependency society with Hugh telling Callum, “Don’t worry, man, I got your back, I’ll tell you how high or low to wear your guitar, I’ll tell you how you should dress, I’ll tell you what you should drink…” and Callum was like, “I’ll tell you what hitting your mark is, I’ll tell you why they pull out fucking tape measures, I’ll tell you why you have to do it again, I’ll tell you about not overlapping dialogue..” and you know they clung to each other, like the other one was gonna fucking save them.

And:

A final gathering at the back of the tour bus with Bruce, Callum, Hugh, Bernie. We listen to the tape of HCL songs, all the way through, one last time. And we belt the words out. Bernie sings loudest, performing for Salerno's camera. Hugh and Callum sit back, looks of sadness. I get the sense that if they could do it, they'd chuck their lives and be Joe Dick and Billy Tallent forever. Callum leans to Bruce and says exactly what everyone else is thinking: "I don't want it to end."

There's much more to both texts than *gestures* the whatever those two had, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

And Xeriscape is the best HCL fic I've read. Granted, I read very few because it's not a source that creates in me a craving for fic. But this one perfectly matches the film's fucked up beauty with its language while also adding a quieter, more fraught layer of humanity that we only get glimpses of in canon and that perfectly fits John. 10/10, would recommend.

Anyway. Watch it. Read it. If you haven't. Otherwise, come scream with meeee! And go reblog my gifs or something. Idk.

Letters From Home (1996)

Mike Hoolboom strikes again, with another short. This goes into the "don't watch it for CKR, watch it because it's great" box. Yes, you will cry.

For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down (1996)

Another bleak one! It sucked to watch, I mean, on purpose. There were a couple of very effective scenes. I really enjoyed the opening. They say the book is decent too, I haven't checked that out.

Actually, let's just switch back from coherent thought to undignified staring at his mouth with this one. What the fuck is that cigarette thing. I couldn't help myself.

Last Night (1998)

These gifs are not representative of the whole movie. There is more happening than CKR kissing or hugging people. He's also doing more than just kissing and hugging. It's all very... impressive.

Guess who's also here again? Sandra Oh! And say hi to Don McKellar, who is an absolute champion for writing/directing/starring. You'll be seeing more of him.

Another one for the "watch it for its own sake" box. Seriously, that late 90s indie stuff is banger after banger. It's so beautiful! Look at those colours! Look at those shots! It's very uneasy and charming and melanchioly and itself in the best way.

Twitch City (1998 – 2000)

Don McKellar is back to murder you with discomfort! Bruce McDonald lends a hand. Molly Parker is also here. And Daniel McIvor, who'd go on to direct, for example, Wilby Wonderful. It's a party. If you watched some stuff from above (or below) on this list, most faces and names will be familiar to you, tbh (another Hugh Dillon double-take happens).

If you liked Spaced, you'll love this. You might also love it because it commits to its weirdness with an admirable resolve and is genuinely hilarious. (Honestly, CKR's outfits alone warrant a watch.) The idiosyncrasy is definitely Don McKellar's doing 200%. It couldn't be more different from Last Night, but if you've seen one, you'll recognise the other.

Battlestar Galactica (2003 – 2009)

I don't think a person should be allowed to look this pretty in the sweaty-and-dying makeup in that light (this sentence probably looks very weird to those not under the CKR magic spell).

I don't know what to say about BSG because I really, really enjoyed early it initially, but by the middle of S2 it got... well, whatever that was. If you know you know, if you don't, still give it a go. You might get invested enough to suffer through it all, as I have been, slowly.

The unfortunate thing is that CKR got to be there mostly in the "what the fuck" years and not the "wow that's so cool" years. That, as you might be aware, is a pattern with him. But! When he was here, he was so genuinely, wonderfully creepy not in the typecast-baddy way, but in this slow, half-absent way, which really worked. You can also see him tortured a little, as a treat!! <3

Also, a wild John Pyper-Ferguson appears! If you're looking at him thinking you know him from somewhere but not immediately remembering, you'll figure it out, I believe in you. I was very happy to see him.

Wilby Wonderful (2004)

Another win for the put CKR in more good shit team!!! Guess who's here again? Sandra Oh! Also, Paul Gross. Don't watch it for him either though haha.

Another one for whoever wants to look at pushing against the weight of others' (or your own) expectations and growing into who you are or reconsidering who you are or finding meaningful connections with others even when you're kind of a mess and they are too.

Not nearly the first time CKR's gotten to play a queer character, but man, this one really is the heart of the in-universe community, and, through that, of the film. A rare chance to see him so far out of the prickly persona! He's just so solid and calm and there for others in this one and, and soft, ough. It's awesome.

By the way, if any of you have the commentary track or know someone who has, please drop me a line here or on discord (emotionalrisotto), I really wanna hear that.

Supernatural (2005)

I love Supernatural a lot. It was a formative experiences (albeit a very late one) and I owe a lot of my favourite stuff about fandom-ing to the buddies I met through it. I can't believe I'm telling you this (because who hasn't seen it, not because I'm reccing it), but you should really try it if you haven't. It's pretty rad.

I had no idea who this guy was when I saw that episode (the second ever one!), though. I simply cannot fathom what @nigeltde-fic felt when she first saw it. I think I personally got very lucky she didn't combust on the spot. It would've been unfortunate.

On a sillier note, CKR's character has weird tension with both Sam and Dean in this episode, which is par for the course. I personally think they should've... no, I shan't say it. You can probably imagine.

Californication (2008 – 2013)

I haven't actually seen it, lol (and I suspect I won't enjoy it, but I'm very curious and also CKR looks really really good).

The real reason for this one on the list is to share a fic rec. Really, it's a due South F/K fic featuring Lew Ashby. It's ridiculously hot and very satisfying in its romantic resolution, too (but then, I'm kind of big on selfcest. And consensual voyeurism. And pretend relationships when done like this. And sublimated yearning. Erm.)

Shattered (2010 – 2011)

I wish this never happened. I badly, badly wish this never happened. I can't turn back time, but I can warn those luckier than me: do not go there. Yes, even for this dude. You'll sleep better not knowing just what it is he was the EP on. And the only important part — the mascara — can be seen above (yes, the show does look that bad, it's not just the gifs).

Just kidding — I watched it, didn't I? You'll have fun hating it! Just prepare for industrial grade cringe, lower your expectations (No, lower. No, still lower than that. And just a bit more.) and you'll have a great time!

Star trek: Discovery (2024)

Or, as I call it, Star Trek: The Mediocre Show. Discovery S5 was... what it was, but it was a wonderful viewing experience — mostly thanks to the gang (@kittkatk and @feroxargentea especially!)

What a joy it is, to follow a show week by week, yelling and laughing and discussing the whole time. And giffing, too. I was very happy to contribute to the Disco fandom from my own little obsessive corner, and I was glad to see people adoring Rayner, haha.

He's a pretty neat character — very much a stereotype, yes, but with CKR's usual twist of odd vulnerability and weirdness. Also, I loved the ears. I miss the ears. The ears were great.

I even wrote a fic! Although it's not within my usual range to write for canons and universes I don't know well — and back then, I'd only seen S5 of Disco. It was a lot of suffering, and a lot of fun.

Closing thoughts

I'd really love the dude to get a better agent. And possibly better taste, but I realise that's a tougher ask. Seriously, it's been too long since he was in something majorly cool. I'm grateful to him, at least, for not making terrible music on the side. And I still have a lot of his back catalogue to get through, some of it even good, so there will be more insanity. Until then!

[precioustarkey]

journalism at its finest

summary: you have made a career for yourself by interviewing celebrities, but are feeling a little uncomfortable when one hits close to home.

warnings: none

i nervously climbed into my car. the engine only makes my nerves rattle more. growing up, i was infatuated with actors and musicians. i found myself watching movies for the actors instead of the plot. listening to songs for the singers instead of the message. i can't explain my relationship with the media. i guess being online a lot as a teenager is to blame.

regardless, i knew from an early age that i wanted to work in the industry. not as an entertainer, but in the background. i wanted to observe the lifestyle up close. going to college for journalism was the best decision i have made for myself because now i get to live out my fantasy. 

i get paid to interview these people. and though i find a lot of them uptight and spoiled, the nosy side of me loves picking them apart. because of my job, i try my best to stay neutral on these celebrities so that they don't feel uncomfortable. apart from the research i do in order to come up with my questions, of course.

today is different. there is a show called "outer banks" that came around during quarantine, so with my free time, i binge-watched the entire first season. as i mentioned, normally i watch tv shows and movies for the actors, but i hadn't seen anyone in this show. 

however, when i delved deeper into google, i found the name of one of the actors to be familiar. drew starkey. i quickly found out that he grew up in north carolina, as did i. confused, i pulled myself from my cocoon on my couch to find my old high school yearbooks. grabbing one at random, i see him grinning in his senior photo. how could i forget? 

ever since i discovered this, i avoided the show like the plague. even though i had been surrounded by celebrities for years now, i had never known one of them personally. it almost ruined the glamorous aura surrounding them. imagining him as a regular teenage boy in the classes we shared was humbling. he wasn't mean in high school, not at all. if anything, i remember finding it odd that he hung around the theater kids because he was a total jock.

because of quarantine, i knew that press would be difficult for the actors, and because of this, i never anticipated having to interview them. which helped ease my nerves. moving to los angeles meant that i would interview every celebrity on the new up-and-coming shows. part of me hoped the hype surrounding the show would die down before the lockdown did.

the entire ride to the studio, i told myself over and over again that there was no way he would remember me. he was a jock, and i barely spoke. it wasn't the fact that i was shy, high school just wasn't for me. i counted down the days to graduation. i was only there because i had to be. i put more focus on my studies than my social life. 

in the back of my mind, i can't help but fear that seeing him will bring back memories of being the closed-off kid i was back then. as long as no one mentions it, everything will be okay. i repeated that to myself a few times before parking my car in the lot. removing my seatbelt as slowly as possible to buy time.

my hands are shaking as i walk to my studio. i send passing smiles to my coworkers as i make my way to the bathroom. i confirm that my hair, face, and outfit look presentable, and read over my questions one last time. 

the cameraman walks up to me as i take my seat to wait for the cast to arrive. "i just got a call; austin and drew are going to be the only ones you're interviewing today. madelyn, rudy, and  madison will be interviewed tomorrow," he says, looking for any sort of confirmation. "that sounds perfect," i say, smiling, still looking at my cards. 

i hear footsteps coming from the hallway and quickly stand up. austin and drew emerged into the room with their crew. "hello! so nice to meet you, my name is y/n," i say with a grin as i hold out my hand to them. they do the same, introducing themselves as they take turns shaking my hand. 

all three seats are now filled, so we can begin the questions. the first fifteen minutes go perfectly; we're laughing, they're thoroughly interested in the questions, and they're giving great answers. turning my attention to drew, i ask, "has this sudden change in lifestyle been difficult for you at all? to go from putting your all into basketball, to then deciding on theater in college?" 

he looks taken aback by my question. that nervous feeling in my stomach is slowly creeping back. i made sure that his sports background was easy to find online, so i was confident he wouldn't be too surprised. "wait a second. y/n? y/n y/l/n?" i can feel my cheeks flush at his realization. 

"can i be honest? i was hoping you wouldn't notice," i said, covering my face with my note cards. we are now sharing smiles. "oh my god. i sat behind you in algebra, you're the only reason i passed that class," he says in between laughs. seeing him in person has brought all of those little memories flooding back. 

after a minute or so of catching up, their team urges us on. "we've got other interviews, guys," the man says impatiently. we carry on for an additional fifteen minutes or so before i have run out of questions to ask. we said our farewells, and i thanked them for coming.

just as they were leaving, drew turned around, brushing past the guys they had walked in with. "y/n can i get your number? i would love to catch up properly whenever we both have time," he says, pulling out his phone. "yes, of course!" i smile, quickly typing in the numbers before they are once again rushed away. 

it felt like no time before my phone started dinging.

part two is here!

[bellezaycafe]

Get Your Shit Together - Chapter 3

genre: 2024 Season AU

pairing: there will be romance but I haven't finalised who yet. platonic! oc x literally the whole grid.

warnings: swearing

context: Sadie, a 20 year old university student from Melbourne, decided to take a gap year and volunteer at 2 Formula One races in different countries.

Sadie's Faceclaim: Maia Mitchell (but you can visualise her howver you want :) )

comments: I guess this is a series now. I'm keeping the title Get Your Shit Together because I think Sadie is the kind of person who pretends to have her shit together but doesn't, so she helps everyone else get theirs together.

Part 1 | Masterlist

----$----

Max Verstappen was in a paddock interview when someone caught his eye. Dark brown hair, round face, sharp nose and a confident aura that compared to no others.

“Wait- hang on. Lewis, Lewis.” The older man looked over and his gaze followed Max’s pointed finger. “Mate, is that who I think it is?”

“Yeah mate, I think so.” Lewis’ smile only grew as he agreed.

“Who are you pointing too?” the interviewer asked.

Max hoped that she was just out of view of the cameras as he said, “the volunteer from Australia. The good one.”

He didn’t know how else to explain his respect for her in English; to him, she was good.

“It’ll be good to finally learn her name,” Lewis mused, scratching at his neat stubble.

“None of you know her name?” The reporter asked.

“No,” Lewis said into Max’s microphone. “I never had the chance to find her after the interviews.”

“I saw her the next day, I apologised for my behaviour to her,” Max commented. “But I forgot to ask her for her name.”

The reporter shook his head. “Alright well, thank you both for your time.”

Max nodded respectfully while Lewis said, “thank you.”

Then they both charged through the crowd towards the last place they saw the woman.

“Bets on her name?” Lewis asked.

“I don’t know. Something very Australian?”

“I feel like she’s a Layla or a Nira.”

"I think it's Sadie," came Lando's voice as he squished himself between the champions. "I asked Dave, one of the McLaren staff."

But when they reached the spot she had been, she'd vanished.

Max frowned and tried to use his height to see her but it was hopeless. Lewis pulled his phone out of nowhere and dialed a number. Lando just sat on the edge of a nearby pot plant.

"Heya," Lewis said into his phone. "I'm gonna need a paddock pass for our garage."

A pause.

"No, ass. I haven't found someone for the weekend and I don't intend to. It's for the girl from Melbourne, the volunteer George told you about... Yes, I know Carmen wants to meet her, that's why I'm asking you for a paddock pass."

Lando laughed from his seat, something boisterous and loud that had surrounding staff glancing over. Max was glad to hear his laugh again, it had been too long since they had hung out.

"No, I don't know her last name. I haven't even confirmed her first name... I can't ask her, she's not in front of me... I don't know where she is, we saw her from a distance... Max and Lando... Alright, fine. We'll find her."

Lewis hung up and sighed with a glance to the sky.

"They won't give you a pass?" Max guessed.

"They need her name first."

"Did you see who she was with?" Lando asked.

"Yeah," Lewis said. "Some paramedics. I recognised Mark, he's been the on call medic for years."

Max mulled over the fact he hadn't noticed anyone around her. He also mulled over the excitement little Lando Norris was trying to squash.

"I know where the medic tent is." He almost leapt up from his perch.

Lewis gave Max a knowing smirk as they disappeared into the crowd.

——$——

Sadie had no idea they had seen her. She was hoping that none of the drivers would remember her. She still hadn't seen their interviews from Melbourne and was clueless about the actions the FIA had taken to hand out penalties directly after the race.

"Hungry?" Mark, a middle-aged paramedic with greying blonde hair and smile lines besides his eyes, asked.

"I am starving, please tell me there is somewhere I can get a decent sanga."

Mark frowned. "Sanga?"

"Sandwich," Sadie corrected. She was almost bouncing as she spotted the food trucks.

"You Australian's are weird," Mark commented but he couldn't hide his smile.

"And you English are uncultured," she returned.

She liked Mark, they'd met yesterday during practices and clicked. He was her supervisor during the free practice sessions and qualifying but she'd stuck by his side off track too. He didn't mind, he knew she was there, on the other side of the world, alone, to work for a sport she loved.

He'd told her at the volunteer's group dinner last night that she was living the dream he had wanted to at 20. He'd had a couple wines and would not shut up about how much his wife would love to meet her.

"Mark, what do you want?" she called over her shoulder as the reached the sandwich truck. When he didn't reply, she glanced behind her.

He was 100 metres back, talking to none other than Sir Lewis Hamilton. Sadie turned back around, remembering their interaction in Melbourne.

Another body stepped up beside her, swathed in bright orange.

Correction: Papaya.

Sadie didn't turn, assuming it was a McLaren employee looking fro some early lunch.

"It's a surprise to see you here." Lando offered the icebreaker.

She turned at his voice and fought to keep her composure. His brown curls swished as he turned his head towards her.

"I didn't think you'd remember me," she said truthfully. Sadie focused her eyes on the bridge of his nose as she spoke, she didn't want to meet those ever-changing eyes. She'd already noted that they matched the day's grey sky.

"Most of us did." The driver shrugged. "Carmen, George's partner, wants to meet you. Lewis is trying to get you Mercedes paddock passes."

Sadie groaned at that, stepping closer to the food truck as the line moved forwards. "I'm not stepping near any of your garages unless I'm doing my job. Too many cameras, too many people."

Lando laughed. "Understandable, but Lewis is determined."

Sadie paused for a moment as the line moved again. "How about, I will come and meet George and Carmen after the race? I'll meet Carmen while Lewis and George do their interviews and debriefs?"

The same brown curls swayed as Lando nodded. "I think they'll agree to that. All the cameras will be focused on the interviews and top three."

Sadie made an 'exactly' gesture and stepped up to the food truck with a goodbye wave.

By the time she had ordered her sandwich and Mark's signature wrap, the drivers had finished speaking with the paramedic.

He joined her while they waited.

"You never told me it was you who scolded Max in Melbourne," Mark noted.

Sadie muttered a curse. "I was hoping that everyone had forgotten about that. I lost my temper and I'm not proud of it."

"Lewis said that you stood up for yourself."

"I scolded him like a school teacher."

"You did call him a child."

"Angry, remember?"

"Sandwich and wrap for Sadie!" the food vendor shouted.

She stepped up, collected their food and handed her wrap to Mark.

"I didn't tell anyone about it because don't like media attention," she told him. "I hate how how the media follow the drivers. They have to fight for a private life, and I hate that. Max was angry, I was angry, and that interaction was something between the drivers and I. It had nothing to do with the fan's consumption of the race."

Mark hummed his agreement around his wrap.

"The media circus doesn't know what happened, and they don't need to. His reaction was fair, and they don't need to be involved."

Sadie watched something pass over Mark's face but she couldn't place what it was. She devoured her sandwich instead.

----$----

Please let me know about how you feel about the direction this thing is going!!

[lastofthewardens]

after tonight's episode, i'm just kind of sat here

thinking about why it's so hard for adaptations to just respect source material these days.

not really related to anything that happened. i don't watch the episodes, i won't do it unless i hear foggy is back. i read about what happened and see some relevant clips on social media and that's it.

i know the original show wasn't perfect in this regard but it captured the spirit of many things imo. it's certainly not above criticism, but i think they cared, generally speaking. and there are many adaptations in the past that have made changes but still largely functioned as love letters to the source material. i think the original show did a good job at balancing things, for the most part.

so i don't expect 1 to 1 adaptations of stuff. i really don't. but i do expect respect, and for certain ingredients to be included and matter, because otherwise, what's even the point, right?

the reason this came up is, i was on twitter today and saw some clips from a k*tie c*ssidy interview talking about when her character got killed off on arr*w, and it made me remember how mad that made me. i started reading gr*en arr*w comics specifically BECAUSE i was so pissed about that choice when it happened in season 4. (at which point i learned much more about the source material and had many other issues but still).

it's funny because.. i remember so clearly that when arr*w killed off bl*ck c*nary, the arr*w subreddit changed to be a daredevil subreddit for a while. it was funny as hell, just everyone united under the idea that killing her off was just wildly stupid. the ratings of the show went down when she died! that's how much people cared about comic book integrity and respect for the source material.

and make no mistake, killing bl*ck c*nary in a gr*en arr*w show was WILD. most of the fandom KNEW that was an insane choice because of how important she is to arr*w lore. but foggy gets killed in daredevil and parts of the fandom.. what? praise the show so hard you can't say anything bad without getting downvoted on reddit? lmao

truly the meme of die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

i don't know. foggy is a necessary part of daredevil to me. i don't want to watch a show without him. i don't feel that killing him off shows an understanding of any of these characters or the things that matter to daredevil as a character/story/source material. sure, it's nice to hear matt say wonderful things about foggy, and even i have to admit that that one particular scene was well done, but i don't want that in retrospect, i want matt to be able to say those things to his face. i want foggy to be there in all of the places he should've been in all of these plots. i don't think telling another story about grief is worth losing his entire place in the narrative.

like even if i somehow eat my words and foggy comes back alive (i'm not letting myself hope and i got bad vibes that it's going to stick after watching that scene with frank because that was A Lot for a fake death), i'll be happy to have him back, sure, i'll go back and watch the show, yeah, but.. it doesn't really erase all the problems that exist from this choice being made at all. it just makes them slightly more tolerable because there'd be a light at the end of the tunnel. but this show will never be the same again. they've already covered things and plan to cover things that foggy should be there for, and it's just so noticeable to me that he's not.

my wife and i have been discussing this pretty much since ep 1 came out basically because i've been very upset. i keep telling her that this show is "missed opportunities: the show", and i really believe that. every time i hear about something that happened, or a plot point that could've been cool, or an adaptation that missed something out, i can only think of how much better it would've been in the hands of the old team or even just a different team.

but these days, they don't care about these things. they're not hired to care about these things, they're hired to make something that will make as much money as possible. arr*w only brought back k*tie c*ssidy because their ratings went down.

it's just a huge shame that adaptations now just constantly want to do their own thing and subvert expectations. like.. i guess it's just me, but that's absolutely not what i want. i don't want my expectations subverted, i want to see my favorite stories either continued or brought to life in ways that show love and care. i know i can just watch the original show or read the comics or whatever, but man, i miss adaptations being made by people who just genuinely love the source material. you can always tell the difference, always.

[woozvc]

notice you

1.0 (season finale)

word count - 1.8k ish

you keep your phone down for a while. me and vernon replays in your head. maybe it's the stress from the interview being released or maybe it's something else, suddenly you're laying in bed like a motionless doll staring at the ceiling. events from your meet up with vernon replay in your head.

how when he saw u walk over to him he broke out in the biggest smile ever. how he didn't immediately hand you your wallet, instead took his time to ask how you were and if you had eaten. when you said no he responded

" I know a place nearby let's go"

"oh it's okay we don't have to I've already made u come all the way here just to give me my wallet"

"I want to hang out with you let's go"

I want to hang out with you. he wanted to spend time with you with or without the wallet. but surely it didn't mean much?

you guys stop by a nearby cafe, it's small with no one around. the smell of freshly made ramen fills your nose as u remember you hadn't eaten at all.

both of you sit down and make small talk about life, goals, the future and what not. vernon is genuine in his answers, that's something you admired about him since the first time you both met.

admire, that's the word u use when u see vernon.

admiration fills your eyes when he talks about his love for music and his passion.music has been your life goal since forever, and you wouldn't give up being an idol for anything. it was nice knowing that someone you look upto also feels the same. it felt comforting that he also felt the effect of music.

admire, that's the word you use for vernon when he offers to take a walk around the river after you finish eating.

he's a bit awkward, it's very evident. both of you clueless as to if this is okay, adrenaline pumping in your blood at the thought of being caught. but for some reason you didn't care, not when you're with him.walking around with him felt natural, something about him feels familiar, it feels comfortable.

admire, the word both of you use when you finally say goodbye.

it's around midnight and the river area is getting crowded with college kids having picnics with their friends. that's when you both decide to head home. it's comfortable, but there's a feeling of longing. you want to stay there with him but you know u can't. "I'll see you around" leaves your lips as u walk away, clutching your wallet in your hand.

admire, that's the word vernon used for you when he saw you debut showcase for the first time on his YouTube for you page.

he was bored, he has nothing else to do. autoplay helped though, he heard an unfamiliar melody fill his ears and suddenly he was watching all your videos on your channel for the next 2 hours.

admire, the word vernon uses to hide the fact he didn't just notce you, he admired you.

"sometimes things are better left unsaid" you both think as you turn your phones off, last texts never getting sent.

synopsis - you get invited to your first MAMA awards after debuting as a soloist. a dream come true for u. your fans are ecstatic but they can't help but notice how this one idol keeps stealing glances at u......and you can't ignore it either.

pairing — vernon x gn!reader

genre/s — smau, idol au, fluff, minor angst

warnings — a lot of cursing

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note — Y'ALL I'M SORRY FOR MAKING THE FINALE SO ANGSTY BUT I PROMISE SEASON 2 WILL BE BETTER PLEASE FORGIVE ME. but yes omg we finally ended season 1!! I didn't know this series would blow up as much as it did and I'm so grateful. this series will be on hold for a while, I'll focus on my other series which is coming up and more one shots but this WILL RETURN!! thank you for loving notice you as much as I do <3

anyways as always id love to know your thoughts on this chapter!

tags —

@spilled-coffee-cup @atinytinaa @matchahyuck @wonwoos-wineparty @kawennote09 @weird-bookworm @idkwwhatimmdoiing

@maiamorrrrrrrrrrrr @thehao8 @blurryriki @atinytinaa @delicatewinterenthusiast @stqrrgirle @cloelinnnnn @sp1ng @venusprada @hellohannie

@ddokye @jeonghansshitester @cienlvrs @vernyangel @thefroggybazaar @wondering-out-loud @mxnhoeuwu @ahuihoeeee

[thorias]

Lenore Zann: That was a very clever question, and I'm not going to completely answer it other than to say there are Easter eggs in there for fans to follow up. In season 2, I have already recorded season 2 and I love Rogue's journey. She is continuing on her journey and she wants justice for Remy, and she won't let anything or anyone stop her.

Does that include her fellow X-Men?

Lenore Zann: I'm not going to say. (x)

-----

I've been thinking about this quote from Lenore a lot for the last few days. Also about that interview with Matthew Waterson where he said that with Gambit dead, the love triangle isn't an issue anymore, hinting that Magneto may try to shoot his shot at Rogue again (ugh).

I keep picturing a scenario wherein Rogue tries to make that deal with En Sabah Nur to get Remy resurrected and either Magneto finds out about this and tries to stop her or he blabs to the others and they all try to stop her. I mean, Lenore not answering the question means that it almost has to be something like that, right?

Presumably, Magneto's reasoning will be that they can't trust Apocalypse, (hypocritical af since he literally worked for Apocalypse during 'Beyond Good & Evil' on the condition that Poccy resurrect Mags' dead wife) but in the back of his mind, maybe he's thinking that he still has a shot with Rogue as long as Gambit stays dead.

If Waterson is to be believed, then I'm not sure how else things would play out. 1x10 was pretty clear about Magneto not being at peace with Rogue's rejection, so he may very well try to revisit the issue, but I really can't see her falling for his bullshit again, especially if she sees a chance to get Remy back (then again, I really couldn't see her signing up for Magneto's kill-'em-all-and-let-God-sort-'em-out plan in 1x09 and that still happened, so who the hell knows) and I doubt it would be as simple as him asking Rogue if she's reconsidered her choice in 'Remember It,' her slamming the breaks and him being okay with that either.

Lenore keeps saying that Rogue is laser focused on getting justice for Remy, which, at this point, I'm 100% convinced is code for "bringing Remy back from the dead, come hell or high water." But apparently there's still something left unaddressed with this Rogue/Magneto garbage, even if it's just about putting the definitive final nail in its coffin.

Honestly? I want to see them fight. If we have to go down this road whether we like it or not, then I think it would be really cathartic to see Magneto try to stop Rogue in some deluded, petty attempt to get her back, while self-righteously acting like he just wants what's best for her, but Rogue sees right through him this time, becoming super pissed off and violent. Magneto doesn't realize how strongly Rogue feels about Remy and she hates him for getting in her way.

Sure, on the one hand, I really want that final nail hammered in hard enough that Rogue ends up hating Magneto's guts, so I never have to worry or even think about that revolting storyline ever again. But also, I see this as kind of a substitute for the story that we're unlikely to ever get where the X-men acknowledge Magneto's grooming of Rogue as the abuse that it was and he's held accountable for it; because of the optics of the whole thing, (as well as all the stuff coming out about Demayo) I suspect the writers will just want to move on from that fiasco asap and never mention it again. But having Rogue finally recognize that Magneto is really just a manipulative piece of shit, even if she comes to that realization in a different way, could still accomplish this.

[whineandcheese24]

I know everyone is excited about the threesome (I am too), but I feel like we need to slow down a minute before we get our hopes up. The way the dynamics between the three of them have been portrayed since the beginning make me hesitant to believe this is a lasting thing.

Max and Avery are shown to be The Couple. The longing looks, the emotional conversations, the adultness of it all. Everything about them points to them being the show's intended endgame (currently). Meanwhile, Avery and Tristan's relationship has been shown to be a playful friendship, with Tristan having a puppy-love type crush on Avery that is largely unrepciprocated. And though Max and Tristan have been very flirty with each other, there's nothing that points to it being anything other than friendly banter. Neither man has explicitly expressed interest in other men, and in network tv land, charged looks and flirty banter are not indicative of the show's intentions.

Not to mention, the episode at large and the threesome are still mostly focused on Avery and Max. Avery and Max are the ones getting "married." They have their own one-on-one conversation about love and marriage where Avery mentions something Tristan seemingly doesn't know. In the threesome, Avery is looking at Max while Tristan is kissing her, which convinces him to join. And when he does, he starts kissing Avery only. We don't know if he and Tristan even did anything together.

So what does this mean? Well, I think there are two outcomes. Max says that when he had a threesome the other two were all over each other and he was more of a spectator. If we're meant to see this as a metaphor, that would likely make Tristan the outsider given the framework of their relationships. So they can either go the route of saying that, yes, Tristan is an outsider and the two of them only have eyes for each other. Or they show that Tristan is just as important in the relationship. They can even make it an anxiety of his that the three of them have to overcome.

Personally, I think the first scenario is more likely for a few reasons.

First of all, this is network tv. a threesome for drama's sake that doesn't amount to anything is not far out of the realm of possibility.

Second, the show is currently only focusing on Max, Avery, and Tristan, with a minor focus on the captain. Putting all three of them in a relationship with each other closes doors down the road to have individual romances for each of them. And it closes off a large audience that is uncomfortable with a throuple. Were it to be side characters, or a main character and 2 side characters, it would be ignoreable. But with 3 mains, it just becomes the premise of the show, which would likely be a deal breaker for a lot of people.

Third, Tristan has his own love interest. Vivian is not a main character, and she wasn't even in this last episode. But she does exist and is shown to have a reciprocated sexual/romantic interest in Tristan.

Now, it is possible that they really would go through with it. For them to do this so early in the show, it was most likely pitched with the show. It's possible this show was pitched as "doctors on a boat are in a throuple". And having the main characters in a poly relationship would certainly put this show on the map and differentiate it from every other procedural medical drama out there.

the tldr is; they can't ignore this, Ryan Murphy (i think) acknowledged it in an interview, and they've gone through with having a threesome. But remember, threesome does not mean throuple. There are still several backdoors out of this situation, and there's still plenty of time left in the season to backtrack. I'm excited, but i'm also not waiting with baited breath

[seriouslycromulent]

5 Questions I've been pondering since reading the Parade mag article on JL

A couple weeks ago, I shared an article in Parade magazine that came out in early 2023 featuring John Larroquette. In the interview, they covered a lot of new info, in addition to promoting the new Night Court series, which was set to premiere its 1st season when the article was published.

Ever since reading that interview, I've had a few thoughts and a few questions that have stayed with me. And now I feel like the only way to exorcise these thoughts and questions from my mind is to share them here:

It seems like John and Elizabeth, his wife, relocated from California to southern Washington state shortly after the filming on The Librarians wrapped in 2017. (The article mentions they moved there 5 years ago, and 2023 minus 5 is 2018.) My question: Did they plan to move there regardless of whether or not the show got picked up for a 5th season? I know it's none of my business, and I can see JL fitting in with the area -- it is beautiful up there -- but I'm just curious was it to be closer to his then-job? Or was it just a new found appreciation for the Pacific Northwest?

In the article, he mentions a lot of his former cast mates had passed away over the years, including Harry Anderson, Charles Robinson, Markie Post, and Kirstie Alley. I can't help but notice that he once again didn't mention Richard Moss. My question: Does anyone know the story behind the two of them falling out? Is it mentioned anywhere? Or is it just hearsay? Why didn't they get along? I ask because I was/am a fan of them both, and it kind of sucks that they never reconciled before Richard passed away. [Upon re-reading this, I remembered that Richard was still alive when JL did that interview, so it makes sense that he didn't mention him in that context. But I still have those questions because I'm nosey. 😉]

They described how JL likes to spend his free time at home, and much of what they mentioned matches what we've heard in the past. But they also claimed that John likes to narrate plays in his home recording studio. My question: Is he narrating these for fun? Or is it for a job that he's been hired to do? And if it's the latter, are these audio recordings for sale? And if they are, where can we buy them?

He mentions his kids during the interview: Lisa, Jonathan and Ben. I know he worked with Ben on The John Larroquette Show when he was just 9 or 10 years old. And he's "technically" working with him now on the new Night Court. And he's worked with Jonathan on one of the McBride movies. I think Jonathan worked on the music for McBride: Requiem, which incidentally is my favorite of the McBride films. My question: Has he ever had an opportunity to work with his daughter Lisa? And if so, was it on an acting project that he was a part of like he did with his sons? I know she's a graphic designer, so that might be a little different than bringing on your sons to act or create music, but it would be nice to know if he's invited her to work with him in the past as well.

He acknowledged that he's lived a long and successful life for someone who grew up where he did and the culture he grew up in. I love these little tidbits and glimpses into his life, but of course, it begs My final question: Has anyone ever talked to him about writing an autobiography? Or would he ever consider someone else writing his biography for him?

OK. That's it.

Now my brain can return to its regularly scheduled program.

[taiyaki-translations]

Happy Charm - Educe 4

Season: Spring Characters: Sora, Subaru, Jun, Eichi, Yuzuru Translators & Proofreaders: taiyaki-translations, citrinesea, toujokaname

<The day of recording for the treasure hunt show>

Sora: HaHa~♪ The cherry blossom petals are sparkling!

Subaru: Mm hm! It's the perfect starting point for a treasure hunt, right? The staff has good taste~☆

Sora: Yeah! Our adventure starts here~♪

Subaru: But for that, we need to meet up with our last team member ASAP. He's not here yet?

Jun: Sorry to keep you waitin'. Did I make it in time?

Sora: Ah, Jun-chan-senpai! Hello!

Subaru: Junjun, yaho~☆

Jun: Haha. You guys are as lively as ever, huh.

Sora: HiHi~! Sora is always full of energy, right~?

Subaru: If I remembered correctly, you had another job in the morning, right? Looks like it went smoothly?  

Jun: Yeah. I wrapped it up quickly for this~

Naturally, I didn't cut any corners, so don't worry.

Sora: HuHu~♪ Sora is happy that Jun-chan-senpai is looking forward to the treasure hunt!

Jun: Well, you invited me, Harukawa-kun. It's only natural, right?

Though I did only get invited 'cause I happened to be there asking about the next ASOBI Club activity.

Subaru: It was nice timing, Junjun ☆

We asked a lot of people, but everyone’s schedules were full. 

But it was then that Junjun appeared gallantly before us!

Sora: Yeah! You really were our savior then… A hero~! 

Jun: Callin' me a hero's an exaggeration, though. ...Well, I'll do my best to meet your expectations~♪

In Eden, we usually show up in talk-based variety shows...

But bein' on this kinda recreational show's pretty rare.

The fact the other teams aren’t just idols is refreshing too.

Subaru: Now that you mention it, that's a trio of comedians over there, isn’t it? 

And that guy… I think I also saw him in a drama that Hokke~ was in before? 

Jun: I think he's an actor that's been gettin' popular. It also looks like there's a team of just child actors.

Sora: Hmm~… Would it be childish of Sora if he went all out against children that are younger than him~? 

Subaru: Hm? This is a competition. On the other hand, wouldn’t it be more disrespectful if we just went easy on them? 

Jun: Well, how about we just enjoy the treasure hunt without overthinkin' it?

From what I saw in the rules, the way they do the ranking’s not about finding the treasure chest first, but about how many chests you find.

Subaru: Ohh, is that so? I thought there was only one treasure.

Jun: No way, it was clearly written in the project proposal~?

Subaru: Ahaha ☆ The only thing on my mind was finding the treasure.

But I do remember how to get clues to locations of hidden treasure chests.

We'll be given hints if we clear missions from the staff around town, right? 

Sora: HeHe~♪ That's right!

Clearing missions and collecting lots of hints will tell us where the treasures' locations are~

Subaru: Ahaha, when I hear the word "mission", it makes me feel like a spy ♪ What kind of things will we have to do? 

Sora: Hm? "The missions are simple quizzes and minigames"?

Subaru: Ah, it's Anzu! Yaho yaho ♪ Did you come to see me? 

No? …You're coming along for the treasure hunt!? 

Jun: So you're joining as part of the ES team’s staff.

Sora: HoHo~! More friends are joining! 

Subaru: Yay~☆ With Anzu, it's like we have the strength of a hundred men on our side! First place will be ours! 

Eh, you can't help us with the missions?

No, no, that's okay! As long as Anzu is by my side, I'm invincible ♪

Sora: HaHiHuHeHo~! Sora is also fired up~!

Jun: Since I was chosen for this party, I've gotta show my good side ♪

Subaru: Al~right, let's find the most sparkling treasure together ☆

Yuzuru: Thank you very much for your hard work with the interview, Eichi-sama. 

Eichi: The same goes for you, Yuzuru.

When it's just the two of us, we sure can finish the job without a hitch, hm?

Yuzuru: The way you say that makes it seem as if you'd rather have some sort of incident occur though, Eichi-sama? 

Eichi: Hehe, oh, it's nothing like that ♪

Thanks to you, we finished the job earlier than planned.

Time is money. It's delightful when we have the luxury of time as a resource.

Yuzuru: It's my honor to be of assistance to you. 

What are your plans after this, Eichi-sama? This should be your last bit of work for today. 

Eichi: I plan to return to ES to tidy up some affairs... But first, I do have an errand to run.

Yuzuru: An errand? …It seems you will be having fun with it.

Eichi: Oh? Does it look that way?

Yuzuru: Indeed. You look like a child who is planning a prank ♪

If I may, I can arrange a car for you. 

Eichi: No, you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of the errand near here. 

Rather, shouldn't you join Tori at his job site? It'd be best to get there quickly. He's sure to be delighted.

Yuzuru: Understood. Then, let us be off. 

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[jedijenkins]

hi i noticed your post abt cassie's sexuality and I wanted to ask about that. i thought it was interesting you had mentioned her feelings for jenkins in and the eternal question since I had always interpreted that as more her clinging onto smth esp since he's immortal after hearing her tumor had gotten Worse. like, they're close friends, but I never really saw that as her actual feelings, but I also noticed you had said this wasn't the only time, and I can't remember any other time. Sorry if this sounds like I'm pissing on the poor, and I'm really happy lindy has found so much joy in bi cassie, ig I'm just what I'm forgetting lol

Cassandra's attraction in Jenkins is genuine and she's been into him since the first season. Dean Devlin and Lindy Booth had a personal dinner early on in production of the show where Dean asked her which of the other main characters she would be in love with, alongside her single episode love interests. (As she's canonically polyamorous as well and her romantic feelings for multiple people don't contradict.) Lindy Booth, who has had a celebrity crush on John Larroquette because she is Night Court stan, immediately said Jenkins. She also said that she feels Cassandra is attracted to and fascinated by immortals and immortality, because of her own relationship with her mortality. This is why the Eternal Questions has her confessing her long existing crush on Jenkins at the same time she starts to fall in love with Estrella (another immortal) - and the two don't contradict each other. Jenkins returns those feelings but is held back by his oath to Charlene and feeling like he can never break it, but when Charlene dies she essentially tells Jenkins that he needs to let go of her and that oath and live his own life. It's after this that we see Jenkins start to openly return Cassandra's attempts to spend time alone together more, which we see throughout season four.

They literally have a fake out scene that makes the audience think they're doing something sexual lol, I'll have to track it down and add it to this post afterwards. And then in the Cassandra centric episode, the person she mentally imagines to calm herself down and tell her what the right thing to do is - an extremely romantic trope - is Jenkins. In the Trial of the One, Cassandra volunteers to DIE because she would rather die than live in a world WITHOUT JENKINS specifically. Because she is in love with him. Then she is the one framed as the widow in the funeral scene, showing the most anguish, betrayal and grief. All the others treat her like she has lost something even more than they have, because they know she was in love with him. Jenkins, in his dying moments, chose to look into Cassandra's eyes, hold her and and tell her that spending time with her was worth dying for.

I've said it before back in the day, but the only reason people don't treat Casskins like any other mortal/immortal ship is because Jenkins actually looks old and doesn't look like an eternally sexy 19 year old lmfao. But Cassandra is literally in her thirties with wrinkles on her face as well and she wants that old man in ways unspeakable to mankind and i'm shocked people manage to miss it. If you go back, she literally checks him out on a regular basis in s1 and s2 lmfao. Now, i'm not saying anyone has to like this ship. If it's not for you, that's fine. But Cassandra being in love with Jenkins is extremely canon and that's just fact, and it was planned from the start. Lindy and Dean have both talked about this on Lits of the Round Table, as well as at ElectricCon.

here is the link to our interview with lindy booth on lits of the round table, and some of the panel questions and interviews with actors from electriccon where uploaded to electricnow here

since i cant embed videos in tumblr posts it seems i posted the scene i was talking about here

[buddiebeginz]

you are so right about eddie! the way he more or less deliberately self-sabotages to avoid thinking about or dealing with the actual root cause of his problems (shannon and his sexuality) is just so poignant and will make for some delicious episodes.

Thanks Anon and thanks for taking the time to read my post. ❤️ I'm hoping that we're going to see Tim and the other writers really take this cheating arc somewhere meaningful for Eddie eventually hopefully leading to his queer awakening.

I remember back in like season 4 when there was that scene when Buck talked about the universe screaming at Eddie and I think the universe has been screaming at him for a long long time now that he's not straight. So much of Eddie's story would make so much more sense if they can connect it to him being in denial about his sexuality.

I'm not happy they're doing a cheating storyline but I do think it has potential especially for a character like Eddie "I'm a nester" Diaz where it feels so against who he is as a person. If you're going to take a character so far in the opposite direction from where they would normally go you really need to have a good reason for it. For me that can't just be Eddie grieving Shannon because we're in season 7 now the time to do a storyline like that was years ago and they already kind of did that with the street fighting stuff.

I'm not saying you can't still be grieving someone you loved years later or that the trauma from a death like Shannon's wouldn't affect someone years on. I just think it doesn't make sense for the show to wait five years and then do a storyline that is exclusively about how Eddie isn't over his dead wife especially the way they've chosen to do it too, there has to be more going on here and it feels like there is. This all feels like it's leading somewhere with Eddie especially since Buck has been brought into this story too. We also know Buck is going to be a part of things even more as it plays out since he's going to have a scene with Kim and from interviews it sounds like some kind of issue is going to come up between Buck and Eddie likely connected to all this.

So just like they connected Eddie to Buck's bi awakening and his relationship with T*mmy I think they're connecting Buck to what's going on with Eddie which I think will eventually lead to his own journey of self discovery.

Sorry this got rambly I started to have more thoughts as I typed stuff out. Message anytime :)

[itsasweater]

I'm honestly not bothered by Portwell's shipping Mack and Gina because they are doing exactly what I expected lol. Portwell's have always been very transparent.

I remember posting on here during season 3 if people ship Gina and EJ because they actually like them or if they just did it because it kept Ricky and Gina apart, it certainly seemed like the latter to me. The reason for making that post was because I got the feeling that many Portwell's were just undercover Rini's shipping Gina and EJ together because of the same fact that it meant keeping Ricky and Gina away from each other. I got some responses to that post denying that was case and that they actually really did like Portwell for legit reasons, which is fair enough. However, after the season 3 finale and the way it ended with Ricky and Gina kissing, my suspicions seemed justified because Portwell's started posting the Rini finale kiss from season 1 comparing the two. Even that hqportwell twitter page was tweeting about Rini and Portwell's liking a bunch of Rini posts, the likes are visible to the public people if your account isn't private lol.

Also, after season 3 all I saw from Portwell's was that the show made Gina totally different from season 2 and that she was not the same. Mind you these comments were only made once she broke up with EJ and kissed Ricky, funny that. If you actually cared about Gina as a character and actually understood her you would realize she was not her actual self in season 2. I mean, Gina had a song called Balance in season 3 where she mentions that the real her is going to shine, not the old her (season 1) or the 2.0 her (season 2) but the combined version. Also Sofia even mentioned in an interview how Gina wasn't herself in season 2, she knows her character better than anyone else. Let's be honest, yall only liked her in 2b once she cut off Ricky because it meant she was no longer a threat to Rini. Even during season 3 I remember people shipping Ricky with Jet and Val but once the show started hinting at him and Gina again it changed, all of a sudden it was Ricky needs therapy before he is with someone else lol. If Ricky needs therapy before getting in another relationship because of his home life, why was it/is it not the same for EJ? Is his relationship with his dad not terrible and strained? He should be in therapy as well according to yall instead of being in a relationship. This way of thinking is also very dumb, to suggest that someone who needs or is in therapy can't also be in a relationship or in love.

So, this was a long way of saying that I'm not surprised that Portwell's/Rini's/Jolivia's are shipping Gina with Mack because they have always been very transparent. They don't care about Gina or her happiness, they care about her not being with Ricky be any means necessary. This was obvious by immediately blaming Gina for everything during and after season 3 while believing EJ handled everything perfectly. Once Gina was not paired with EJ anymore, propping him up or giving him more screen time they went back to hating her. I know it can be annoying for some people to see Gina being shipped with Mack but try not to let it get to you, they refused to see or just didn't understand the story the show was telling with Ricky and Gina since the homecoming episode. This fandom has a big media literacy problem.

While I love Rina, Gina is more than just who she is with. I think she is the best character on the show, she is super talented and a star. I'm excited too see the show finally dive into more detail on her home life with her mom and how that has affected her.

I seem to always go on a tangent and these posts end up being longer then I intended them to be lol My apologies. Thanks for reading all of this if you did.