#like i get it it's not their fault they had to cancel it but they've had 3 days to figure out how to deal with customers

[thedawningofthehour]

My mom was going to go to Wisconsin with her bff for two days and I was gonna get the house to myself, but then bff's flight got cancelled so now I have this old lady talking about politics next to me.

Also I accidentally put my computer down on Angel's tail tip and tugged his tail slightly and he bit me so hard he drew blood.

[softdykellie]

ੈ✩‧₊˚ illicit affairs | ellie w.

PAIRING : dealer!ellie x fem!reader

SUMMARY : ellie williams has been in love with her best friend for as long as she could remember, there was only one problem: her girlfriend. that is until reader finds herself needing some comfort.

WARNING : cheating and somewhat nsfw!

WORD COUNT : 1,027

Your head was in Ellie’s lap for the fourth time that week, the familiar smell of weed and sandalwood overwhelming your senses as she exhaled the cream smoke facing towards the ceiling. Abby had cancelled on you again, urgent basketball practice, desperate excuses, bashful nicknames, a promise that would not be kept of making it up to you. Ellie passed you the blunt placing it right between your softly opened lips and watched with eager green eyes as you inhaled, her teaching, as you could finally avoid the embarrassing coughs rejecting the substance from your throat. Nothing could get past your best friend, especially not the tears that prickled your eyes in abnormal gloss.

“Hey” she said softly, taking hold of your chin between her fingers, squinting eyes as you exhaled directly at her face as a failed distraction tactic “Abby’s a fucking asshole, alright?”

“Don't talk about her like that” you defended instinctively.

Ellie raised both her hands in defense before snatching the blunt from you and placing it down, unusually letting it go to waste and bringing a pout to your face in response “All I’m saying is if I had a pretty girl like you waiting for me to get back every day I would do absolutely nothing of my life except going home to you”

You had kissed once, years back. Two sixteen year olds who had gotten into the liquor cabinet blissfully unaware of when to stop, challenging each other for one more chug. When the world spun out of control, a staring match bloomed for grounding. She’d figure you’d both burn out laughing at the nothingness, but your irises turned out to be magnets. Twenty seconds you stood in silence, basking in each other's personal sunlight beaming of indecipherable desire. You leaned in first, she remembered. Strawberry lip gloss like an ode. She still licked her lips after every taste of strawberry milk– remnants of you. You never spoke of the kiss again.

“She's got half the cheerleading squad chasing after her at every game, way prettier girls at every corner-”

“They've got nothing on you, have you seen you? Fuck, you are breathtaking. I'm a fine arts major and half a blunt away from going asthmatic, trust me I know breathtaking when I see it”

“What did you lace your smoke with, I think it's messing with your brain”

“I’m not being funny” she said seriously, scooting in a way that forced you to sit up from her lap and face forward. You weren't entirely oblivious to the romantic undertones of your friendship with Ellie, it had been there long before either of you fully knew what it meant and it would likely stay long after you have decided to act as if it wasn't there, this was just the first time you felt impulsed to act on it. The way she looked at you drew shivers up your spine and tired your eyelids, feeling completely seen and understood under the warmest gaze. You had thought yourself insufficient many times, unloveable a hundred more, and though not fully anyone's fault but your own, those doubts seemed to only slip away when Ellie had you trapped by her gaze. You watched intently as she lowered her eyes towards your lips. Your voice reacted before your body could.

“Ellie we can't-”

“Shh” she mumbled, leaning in “tell me when to stop”

Her lips ghosted over your own and you closed your eyes at the feeling of her warm breath so close, you were only children when your first and only kiss had occurred and Ellie has had plenty of experience afterwards, nowhere near as shy as you had remembered her to be. Her nose caressed your own in the lightest of touch and her hands reached up behind your neck, gripping you. You whispered her name in disapproval as it was all you could bear to do with the fast approaching lump in your throat blocking all senses. She hushed you again, leaning against your face and getting abnormally close to your ears, taking a strand of hair and placing it behind it.

“Tell me to stop and I will” she whispered in a low voice.

Before you could process anything her lips sucked in your earlobe softly, you let out a gasp that only made you feel her smile against your skin, slowly trailing wet kisses down your neck stopping by the clavicule. She stopped herself to look you in the face, demanding softly you opened your eyes and against all judgement you complied. Inches stood between you, there was still time to look back. Except maybe you didn't want to. You were desperate for attention and there it was, being handed to you on a silver platter by someone you so dearly trusted. It had been the second time you were first to lean in. You captured Ellies lips in the softest of kisses, melting into her touch that held you at the waist as though any gust of wind would carry you away from her reach. Soon enough the kiss was hungry, desperate even, your hands at her hair pulling it down, letting her groans echo inside your mouth, she leaped you into her lap and traced the arch of your back underneath the oversized shirt you wore till it reached and undone the clasp of your bra.

“Breathtaking” Ellie mumbled against your lips, grabbing a fistful of your breast and squeezing it, proud of herself at the moan you let out. She kissed down your neck once again, pulling on your shirt so you'd raise your arms and allow her to pull it off you. She wanted to hear her name come out of your lips, wanted to claim territory in every inch of your skin and dip herself between your legs with such earnest desire you'd know deep in your bones your girlfriend had never touched you this way.

And then your phone rang. The pet name baby lighting up your screen. You looked between your phone and Ellie for a moment, and then you picked up.

“Hi, yeah, I'll go find you. I missed you too.”

[qqueenofhades]

I'm a little confused by the left's repeated assertion that they're "trying to hold Biden accountable" and push him left, things they've been talking about since before he was elected, and the ramifications of that at this point in time. I do think we need to be calling out things we disagree with and making our feelings known, but seeing people like Nina Turner complain about student loan forgiveness when it's been made abundantly clear Biden is doing all he can and he can't actually cancel anything as just the President (without being sued or having it reversed by Republicans - please correct me if I'm wrong and there's more he could do here?) doesn't feel like it's that? I just don't understand the logic behind people on the left adding to this narrative that he isn't trying hard enough on what we want, rather than the Republicans are preventing things from being done. We need to not sit back and get complacent, yes, sure, but I feel like the line where it goes from helpful and necessary to harmful and more beneficial to the right was crossed a while ago.

The thing is, you're confused by it because it's a bad-faith argument. Actually "holding someone accountable" means honestly assessing what they can do, what they have done, what they can be expected to do in the future, and if they haven't done it, what's stopping them (i.e. have they just not done it or are they being actively stopped from doing it by factors beyond their control)? It doesn't mean "constantly moving the goalposts to constantly criticize someone if they don't magically get everything done immediately, regardless of reality." The way Online Leftists use it, "holding Biden accountable" means "relentlessly criticize him every instant he doesn't magically transform into the Socialist Messiah overnight, the end." That's not actually a useful, honest, reliable, or constructive metric.

This is also the case because their version of good policy is "someone thinks the Correct Thoughts all the time and any failures to achieve it means they are not thinking the Correct Thoughts hard enough." I'm not sure how anyone could have missed what SCOTUS is doing right now, but Online Leftists remain determined to discount, minimize, or otherwise totally ignore its role, because that would mean a) there is in fact a difference between the parties, b) Hillary Clinton would not have made the same appointments Trump did, and c) they might therefore have some responsibility in not voting for her, none of which can be countenanced. As such, if Biden has failed to wave a magic wand and get all student debt erased for everyone overnight, He Is Just Not Trying Hard Enough. SCOTUS very notably outlawed his first forgiveness program? BIDEN'S FAULT!

Even though Biden extended the Covid-era payment pauses as long as he could (it was Congress that passed the law mandating an end to them, because THE PRESIDENT IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE MONARCH!), and even though he's now rejiggered the entire repayment program so that your monthly payments can get lowered to $0, these count as payments, and no interest accumulates as long as you "make" them, which in practice adds up to full forgiveness -- this still isn't good enough for the Online Leftists, because it happened after trial and error, is a partial solution, doesn't snap its fingers and erase everything, and relies on slow and careful policy work. And yet, it's going to be a lot harder for SCOTUS to overturn than just "the president forgives your debt," which was the first thing he tried to do and it didn't work! With a different SCOTUS, it might have! But we have this nightmare court BECAUSE OF TRUMP, and all the Pure Thoughts in the world won't get rid of it!

Biden is the most liberal president we have ever had, period, full stop. It's not sexy and it's not exciting and it's not something the Online Leftists will ever acknowledge, but it's the truth. And whenever he is actually and extensively pushed, he goes more left, not less. I suspect at least part of the recent negative press barrage he's gotten is because he's openly come out with a plan to raise the tax rate on billionaires to 25%, and the corporations and oligarchs that own the mainstream media Really Don't Like That. (They've always been unfair to Democrats, but look for it to be especially so.) That would be, BY FAR, the highest the top-rate tax bracket has been since Reagan. Biden is the first president ever to actually address the scam of "Reaganomics" and take credit for "Bidenomics," which actually does represent a major rearrangement of the way capital is envisioned and distributed in this country for the first time in the 40+ years since Reagan wrecked it. That's why the capitalist media is really, REALLY determined to muckrake him as much as possible, and to do Kamala even dirtier than they did to HRC in 2016.

Anyway also: Holding someone accountable also implies that you're working with them and will reward them (i.e. voting for them, engaging with them) if they do the things you expect, which is another thing the Online Leftists won't do. So yes. This. The end.

[matchabelly]

So I literally just returned to this site last week to follow a person who shall not be named for GO3 updates (worst timing ever ik) and maybe what I'm about to say is a hot take and super long-winded but I need to get it off my chest here since no one in my personal life is as emotionally invested in this as I am. I have been an obsessed fan for almost two decades, but one thing I will not be doing is defending a powerful individual who by their own admission abused said power and is now trying to gaslight the victims. From what I've read these past few days, it seems their inappropriate behavior has been an open secret for some time now. I will no longer support their work. I am thoroughly disgusted and these allegations paint this person's every past word/action in a new, manipulative, and disturbing light for me. That being said, while I will actively be both avoiding any new content from this individual and trying to find ways to "read another book," I cannot overstate the profound effect their work has had on my life and identity. Humans are fallible and complicated. Art is transcendent. Once it is given to the universe it changes into something that is special and unique only to the beholder. It is OKAY to continue enjoying and identifying with art made by a problematic creator, as long as you are able to enjoy it with a critical eye and do not in any way support or promote the individual responsible. And for the love of Someone, do not blame the victims. Here is where things might get spicy but I'm gonna say it anyways. I hope Good Omens 3, The Sandman, and all this individual's other projects get cancelled. Or, at least the person in question is removed from them altogether, since the other artists who have worked tirelessly to bring these works to life should not have to be punished unless they were in some way culpable or privy to these incidents before the news broke. Victims getting justice and a sex offender facing the consequences of their actions is more important to me than getting another season of a TV show, even if it's one I'm obsessed with and adore. Sadly, I don't think the person who did this will be facing justice at all. They are financially and socially powerful enough for this to get swept under the rug. If the mixed responses I have seen across various platforms is anything to go by, their legions of impressionable fans are already prepared to defend them to the death. Wrong hill to die on, folks. All I can hope is that everyone does not let themselves be manipulated by this grown adult who made the wrong choice to violate consent when they clearly know better. Just remember that even though the news didn't come out until this week, this individual didn't try playing the neurodivergence card until after the most recently reported incident occurred. Whatever they are, it does not excuse them of responsibility for what they've done. They are a dangerous, narcissistic, manipulative person and that is their own fault. They do not need you to defend them, they need to recognize they are the problem, face justice, and get help, hopefully while fading into obscurity for the rest of time. I hope that all the hurting people in the fandom out there can find solace in whatever way they see fit, and if that includes continuing to enjoy the art (seriously, though, pirate it instead) that is okay. We are all deeply affected by these events and how you cope is up to you. But lastly, and most importantly, I hope the victims of these awful crimes can move forward from the trauma this has undoubtedly caused, and that the cruel, misogynistic hand of the internet can leave them alone so they can heal. Can't believe I have to say this in 2024, but blaming the victim is NEVER OKAY even if the perpetrator is someone you like.

[themultifandomgal]

Yn is the girlfriend or kelly severide they've been together during academy it's their 3-year anniversary, but kelly just has to work and yn is a bit mad at kelly and leaves for molly's where she finds support from Erin Lindsey.

And then Kelly also arrives at Molly's and Kelly gives a whole speech and he asks her to marry him

While planning the wedding, kelly brings to make up for the fact that he didn't so really help the co-planning the wedding

And the wedding is at a very beautiful venue, and when the father daughter dance is she asks hermann or Wallace

With some angst and fluff thank you

Kelly Severide- An Unforgettable Anniversary Pt1

YN woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, today was her and Kelly's 3rd anniversary, and she had planned a dinner at the restaurant where they had their first date. Feeling giddy she rolls over to face her boyfriend who was still fast asleep. Leaning down she places a kiss on his cheek which stirs him

"Happy anniversary" she smiles

"Happy anniversary babe" he replies "what time is it?"

"7"

"Shit, I've got to be at the station for " "I thought you were going to get the day off?" YN pouts

"I tried, I'm sorry"

"Please be back for 6 though tonight"

"Of course" and with that Kelly gets out of bed and gets ready for work, leaving a disappointed YN in bed.

Being a firefighter, Kelly's schedule was unpredictable, and sometimes duty called even on the most important days. YN knew this since she and Kelly actually met during the academy, it just so happened that YN works at a different station which meant her days off can sometimes be very different to her boyfriends. Despite Kelly's absence, she spent the day preparing a surprise gift for him, a handmade scrapbook filled with memories of their time together. YN spent most of the day gluing and sticking, then a good part of the afternoon getting ready for the date she had planned, but when 5:30 came and there was no sign of her boyfriend, YN checked her phone to see a few missed calls off him. Her heart sank knowing why he was calling. Taking in a breath she phoned Kelly back to be told that they had been called out to massive job and probably wouldn't be home un until gone 8. YN tried to not let her voice waver, but Kelly could clearly hear disappointment. She had been looking forward to this evening for weeks, and now it seemed like all her plans had been ruined. As the phone call ended YN felt a wave of sadness wash over her. She knew that Kelly's job was important, but she couldn't help but wish that they could have celebrated their anniversary together. Feeling the weight of disappointment settling in her chest, YN decided to not waist the evening and phoned her friend Erin. She knew that Erin, being a police officer, would understand the sacrifices that come with loving someone in a high-stress, unpredictable profession, and of course her friend didn't disappoint saying she will meet YN at Molly's in 15 minuets.

As YN walked through the door, the familiar sounds of laughter and clinking glasses washed over her, momentarily lifting her spirits. Spotting Erin at their usual table in the corner, YN made her way over and sank into the chair across from her. Erin looked up

"Hey" she gives YN a weak smile handing her a bottle of beer

"Thanks" YN replies taking the bottle and taking a sip

"How are you feeling?" "Disappointed I suppose, but I know what the jobs like and how important it is to him. I just wished that he could have gotten the day off"

"I'm sorry, YN. I know how much this day means to you," Erin said, her voice filled with understanding "were you able to rearrange the dinner?"

"No" shaking her head YN replies "I had to cancel it and pay a fee" "What! seriously?"

"Yeah well it was an expensive restaurant. I guess part of it is my fault, I should have told Kelly about the dinner months ago when I booked it"

"These things happen, Jay and I missed a reservation because we were to busy...."

"Ok thank you Erin I don't need to know about what you and Jay get up to" YN jokes

Not realising how long the 2 had been sat at the bar chatting, it was only when the familiar sound of the bar door opening caught her attention. Turning to look, she was met with the sight of Kelly, standing in the doorway with a nervous stance. Looking down at her phone YN can see that its now 8:30, she wasn't expecting to be out as long as she had, YN wanted to be home when Kelly got back, but here she is instead drinking her sorrows away. Kelly made his way over to YN, his eyes never leaving hers as he knelt down on one knee, a small velvet box in his hand. YN's hands immediately cupping her mouth supressing a gasp

"YN, these past three years with you have been the greatest blessing of my life. Thank you for your love, your laughter and your unwavering support. You have been my rock over these few years and I can't imagine my life without you by my side. So YN my beautiful, gorgeous, funny, sexy girlfriends, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife and marry me?" Kelly asks, YN stands there speechless, tears threatening to spill. Not trusting her voice in that moment all YN could do was nod, causing Kelly to chuckle "is that a yes then?"

"Of course its a yes" Kelly slips on delicate ring on YN's finger, small but elegant, before picking up his now fiancé and twirling her around. YN can hear cheers and clapping around, but her focus solely on the man of her dreams, the man she will now marry and spend the rest of her life with.

[eddo-tensei]

More thoughts on Derision (Spoilers, obviously)

I think it's amusing that the default counter-argument to anyone who criticizes this episode boils down to "Well, you're just a Chloe Stan!" Which is something I had to deal with myself recently. Apparently, you can only hate this episode if you're a Chloe apologist. First off, hi, I'm Eddo. I wrote a fanfic where Chloe literally gets thrown into the dirt and suffer an allergic reaction to cacti, both times being her own fault. I feel like my Chloe Stan license should be revoked after that.

Anyways, I'm not surprised with the direction they went with Chloe in Derision. It's been stated since around Season 4 that Chloe was on a "Damnation Arc", so they've been doing everything they can to make her worse and worse. So, I'm not surprised or even angry that they continued this here. I'm annoyed, but not angry. What I AM angry about would be the other characters who got mangled in this shitshow.

Writers? Could you please stop having Chat threaten people with Cataclysm after he's shown regret doing it to people by accident TWICE?! This has happened three times now, counting what happened with Scarabella. Yes, I know he did this before with Darker Owl, but that just makes it worse because that happened right AFTER he regretted doing this to Monarch. You know, the guy who's been tormenting and attacking everyone for over a year? I guess to Chat, Damocles and Kim deserve it more for ripping away a fantasy and pulling a shitty prank respectively.

I know I complained about this a lot already, but this needs to be stressed upon. If we're going to take Cataclysm seriously, especially with what later episodes showed us, maybe DON'T have your hero threaten people with it for relatively petty reasons? "BUT IT'S FOR TRUE LOVE!!!1!!" Yeah, no. When he tried to do it on Darker Owl, Ladybug told him to cut that crap. It then happened again with Dark Humor with Ladybug telling him not to do it. It doesn't matter if it's for "true love." Both times he did this so far, Ladybug made it clear that this was a bad idea. So, maybe you guys should stop trying to encourage it. I refuse to believe that Chat believes that Monarch is more deserving to live after everything that he did than Kim after what he did. Speaking of Kim...

My friendly neighborhood dumb jock, why would the writers do this to you? When we only had the leaks to go by, I actually tried to scour for any interactions Kim had with Marinette and I can confirm that with the revelations we got in Derision, they REALLY don't make sense. Yes, Kim was a bit of a douche in the first season. Origins had him push Ivan around to the point of being the trigger for the Akuma. But he wasn't THIS much of a douchenozzle. Moreover, I have a hard time believing Marinette would be as friendly as she is with Kim throughout the series given what he did to her as revealed in this episode. Also, I know this is going to sound offensive, but...Kim was Marinette's first crush? Really? That's what you're going with? I'm not trying to insult Kim, but there was NOTHING that hinted to this. I can't help but think this was the thought process of the writers when they brought this up:

"So, we need to have Chloe do something to Marinette that would explain why Marinette struggles to be with Adrien. It has to be something big and traumatic. More importantly, it has to involve Marinette actually having a past crush that Chloe ruined and it has to be a character we're familiar with, so we can't make up an OC for it. We can't use Nino because he had a crush on her and it wouldn't make sense for her to reciprocate. We can't use Nathaniel because his crush went almost completely unnoticed by Marinette and he's also gay now. We can't use Ivan because he likes Mylene and we can't complicate that. We can't use Max because most people think he's ace and subverting that would piss a ton of people off. Oh, and we can't have it be any of the girls either because our show would get cancelled if Marinette isn't straight. So, let's just make it this guy."

"This. Fucking. Guy."

I'm having a hard time thinking of any other reason. I know some people theorized in the past that Kim and Marinette might've had a thing, but I don't think they held any water. Even now, however, I really don't think people should be happy it was canonized in this way.

I always held the belief that Chloe was responsible for Marinette's behavior, but my idea of it was that Chloe had been bullying Marinette for a long time and those years of sustained bullying took its toll on the poor baker girl that made it difficult for her to not only open her heart to people she loves, but have difficulties making friends in general until Alya came along. Yeah, Chloe doesn't look good in this case either, but it would've been more reasonable and would probably resonate with a lot more people who probably had to deal with bullies messing with them for a long time because these effects usually aren't instant. They get built on for a long time and it can really mess up their perception on things.

I think a good story would've been Marinette having to heal from that sustained trauma and while it is difficult since nobody can just quickly heal from trauma, it'd be a good journey for Marinette to be able to open up again with Alya and Adrien being just the first two pieces Marinette needs for her recovery.

But now, instead of all that, it turns out Chloe just pulled a prank that just unleashed a cavalcade of trauma on Marinette all at once that is hyper-specific to how she handles her crush that Adrien and ONLY Adrien can heal. All the while, it turns out that the prank was actually pulled by a guy who I really thought was just kinda fun and cool, but now I can't talk about him in the same way again because he's been thrown under the bus for the sake of this nonsense plot that's difficult not to call a full-on retcon. Do you know what I can call a retcon, though? Or rather who?

I am sorry to all of the people who are probably stanning Socqueline right now, but I CAN'T vibe with her. I'm not saying you're not allowed to like her either, because that would be dumb, but I DON'T like how she was presented in Derision. First off, to get this out of the way, we're no strangers to characters being introduced out of nowhere. Felix and Zoe are both characters that come to mind. The thing is you can at least explain their respective absences easily. Felix had likely been distant from Adrien for a long time with him only coming in out of obligation with Amelie. Zoe is actually even more easy to explain given that she was shoved into a boarding school by Audrey and wouldn't really be able to connect with any of the characters until she was forced to transfer. Socqueline, however, does not have that luxury and cannot be easily explained away not only with how we found her, but for the fact that there was NO hint to her existing until Season 5 and that is inexcusable given how much importance this character now has. To put it in perspective, this is how we are introduced to Socqueline in Jubilation:

Marinette: That fake Ladybug from this morning, I think it was Socqueline, a school friend from last year. Knowing her, I’m sure she means well. But I have to convince her to stop putting herself in danger like that.

That's it. She just calls her a school friend. Yes, it's clear that she's at least important enough for Marinette to remember her name, she was just called a school friend. At the very least, she did have an interesting story with her trying to be Ladybug in order to help people. Of course, she had to be talked out of it because it's causing issues with the real Ladybug, but it's a decent story and Socqueline had only made a few appearances here and there.

And then Derision.

Yes, Socqueline referred to Chloe as "that monster", so it's clear that they planned her to have something against Chloe since her first appearance. However, Derision showed us that Socqueline wasn't just a school friend. She was Marinette's closest confidant in the school years prior to the start of the series. She actively protects Marinette from bullies, particularly Chloe, and was clearly a huge inspiration for her until Chloe got her suspended from school.

First off, in case I haven't made it clear, we haven't seen Socqueline AT ALL until Season 5. Not even a hint to her existence. So given how significant she was made out to be in Derision, WHY HASN'T SHE MADE ANY APPEARANCES IN THE SERIES BEFOREHAND?! She doesn't even have the excuse of being outside of Paris like Felix and Zoe do because she's STILL there and in an arts and crafts store no less, which probably would've been a great place for Marinette to hang out in with her friends if the writers thought this through. But they didn't and Socqueline's debut comes off as severely jarring because we have this character who was really important to Marinette's life just not show up until she started cosplaying as Ladybug.

Secondly, it muddles Marinette's own backstory as well as severely hampering the significance of Alya. Now instead of being alone with nobody to help her against Chloe, which makes her friendship with Alya all the more stronger, Marinette just had this super cool friend who was always there for her until mean ol' Chloe got her kicked out of school. Doesn't that sound like something you'd see in a fanfic, specifically one that's salting Alya given how Socqueline was depicted as Marinette's BFF?

Thirdly, if Chloe was able to get Socqueline suspended so easily, then why hadn't she been able to do that with the other students? Yeah, she got close with Alya, but that didn't stick. If Chloe really had the ability to just make students disappear even if it happened once, she would NOT hesitate to try and do this again with any other student who slighted her, ESPECIALLY Marinette. But she doesn't. Once her attempt on Alya failed, she didn't try again. Hell, LILA had more attempts to get Marinette kicked out of school than Chloe did and actually got closer to doing it than Chloe would ever get, which is weird since she doesn't have the title of "Mayor's Daughter" to throw around like Chloe would. This just feels like something done to explain away why Socqueline didn't show up in the series which doesn't work because she's STILL IN PARIS and I'm pretty sure Marinette would be more than happy to meet with Socqueline given how close they were, but that never happened.

Fourthly, I'm guessing nobody felt like pointing it out because it felt too obvious, but doesn't Socqueline just come off as the writer's answer to Bridgette? You know, the older Marinette based on the anime PV that some fan writers implement into their own stories? Yeah, she's not one-to-one similar to Marinette like Bridgette is, but it definitely feels like another instance of the writers pulling stuff out of fanon just to put a canon spin on it. And like all the other instances, it's a bad spin.

Lastly, this whole incident with the prank and Socqueline's suspension took place a few months before Origins. Not even a year at the earliest. It was specifically stated that Socqueline was suspended three weeks before the end of the school year. Given how close that time gap, the way everyone behaves in Origins makes almost no sense. Marinette would be a lot more horrified of Chloe if Derision was anything to go by and Chloe would be more willing to try and cast Alya out so Marinette doesn't have any allies given that Derision showed Chloe REALLY wanting to make sure nobody helps Marinette. The only point I could even give any leeway to is Kim and even then, again, he's not that much of a douche in Origins as he was in Derision. So, really, it all just comes off as a blatant retcon specifically to try and explain the new direction the writers are taking with certain characters. And do you want to know the dumbest thing? Apparently, Socqueline was such an inspiration to Marinette that the latter changed her hair to be more like Socqueline's.

No, seriously. That's also how they explain why Marinette has different hairstyles. I know Expository Hairstyle Changes are a thing in fiction, but this is just awkward as hell given how traumatic and melodramatic the whole thing is. You don't need to say that Marinette's hairstyle came from someone who she considered a hero because nothing about Marinette indicated that her hairstyle is important. This isn't like Josuke changing his hairstyle to be based on the man who saved him as a child. It's a purely cosmetic change that's suddenly given a shit-ton of significance because now it's connected to this horribly traumatic incident. In fact, you know what this reminds me of?

Actually, the whole segment where this Linkara clip came from seems to sum up a lot of things wrong with Derision. It's not just bad because it makes some characters look bad or introduces stuff out of nowhere. It's bad because now everything in the flashback is now part of all of the characters! Every prior episode will now have to be viewed with a lens tinted by the events of this episode. Now nobody can discuss Kim without people salting on him for the prank, now nobody can talk about how important Alya's friendship with Marinette because of Socqueline's sudden boost in significance (In fact, it's very likely that Alya salters will try to use Socqueline as a replacement friend), and now nobody can speculate the intrigue of Marinette's past because EVERYTHING about her behavior is linked to this specific incident and nothing else. That's what pisses me off about this episode. That's why I share that Double D meme so frequently. I could care less about how much of a monster Chloe was depicted to be in this episode, but I am going to complain when other characters are butchered in the process. I will complain about one thing concerning her, though.

Isn't it amazing that you can tell the writers are trying DESPERATELY to squish any and all positive interpretations of Chloe, even trying to downplay parental neglect because "this character also didn't have a mom and they didn't turn out this way" even though Mylene's and Chloe's situations are still VASTLY different? You can make the argument that Audrey's absence doesn't excuse Chloe's actions. In fact, I don't think it really does either, but saying that there's only one valid response to an absent parent is EXTREMELY insensitive to people who might be going through similar situations.

Oh, and to cap this all off? This is the favorite episode of one of the main writers. Said writer possibly being considered to be the new director for Season 6 of Miraculous and onwards. I'm not gonna name which one for obvious reasons, but it's been confirmed.

I feel like this is a good indication that you need to hop off this series.

[leegemma]

hihihi!! love your so much >.<

can i ask something about lee!kim seungmin und ler!han jisung?? i really love this boys couple!!! and i love your works! maybe it can be something about favourite/melting spots or enjoying, just your wish :33

thank you for tour time!

Hello anonnnn... Thank you for the request! It took me a while to get to this one but here it is, I think it's the first one in a while that's turned out okay! I hope you like it too!!!

Enjoy:)

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

It all happened a few hours before the boys had to go on stage. They've just all finished getting their makeup done and taking pictures, and because they still had some time left they decided to take a nap.

And so the 8 members were all provided with one dark room to sleep in, which they were very grateful for. There were 2 sofas and a few mattresses on the floor. They all paired up since it was just a short nap.

Minho and chan were given the sofa ("For the sake of their backs" as seungmin mentioned), chagbin and I.N slept on one mattress, Hyunjin and Felix on one, and Seungmin with Han.

They were all laid back and already quiet when suddenly seungmin started to... bark? Which obviously made I.N burst out laughing, causing the older boys to groan.

"It's not my fault!!! He's barking!!" Jeongin complained when changbin smacked his arm lightly.

"Yah! Shut up Kim seungmin!" Lee know demanded.

Chan took to softer approach. "Come on Minnie, we all have to rest."

Seungmin started whining and twisting around, noting how Han was just trying to ignore him. "But I'm not tired!"

Han turned around to face the younger, face looking a bit annoyed. "Then just lay quietly while we sleep!"

"Or go do something else." Felix suggested while hyunjin nodded in agreement.

"Noooo" seungmin shook his head, still twisting and turning.

"Seungmin." Han warned. "If you don't stop moving I swear to god-"

"You'll do what?" Seungmin teased with a confident smirk.

Han went quiet for a moment, then looked over to chan. "Premission to tickle the shit out of him?"

Chan shrugged grabbing his noise cancelling head phones. "Go ahead, we'll all just wear our headphones."

All the boys nodded in unison, hyunjin adding sending Seungmin a little "good luck" Before closing his eyes.

This was all happening way to fast for poor seungmin, who soon enough found himself laying flat on his back, a tired looking Han Jisung ontop of him.

"W-wait!" He tried to twist away.

Han shook his head, immediately digging into seungmin's sides. "Nope. I need sleep, and if you're not tired, I'll have to make you tired."

Seungmin burst out laughing, his eyes squinting shut. "You cahahahant- thihis wihihil waHAKE THEHEHEM UHUHUHUPPP"

Han teasingly looked around at the already sleeping boys. "They look fine to me."

"STAHAHAHAHHAP!!" Seungmin shook his head back and forth. Catching his breath when Han stopped, giggles slipping out of his mouth when the older started wiggling his fingers infront of his face. "D-don't dohoho that.."

"You tired yet?" Han asked. Suppressing a yawn of his own.

Seungmin didn't know how to answer this, he just knew for sure that he couldn't fall asleep right now even if he tried. "Mmm..."

Han groaned, then turned to look back down at seungmin. "That's all I needed to hear." He then started wiggling his fingers into Seungmin's neck. Going back and forth between his ears and neck.

Seungmin completely melted at the soft tickling, letting cute giggles and scrunching his nose up while his eyes slowly fluttered, face flushing red.

Han almost blushed himself while looking at his best friend. He grinned. "That is the cutest thing into the world. I found your melting spot, didn't I?"

"Stohohop" seungmin let out a squeal when Han poked his tummy.

"I'll never forget that spot." Han promised the both of them. Promoting seungmin to blush deeper. "You're ready to go to sleep?"

Seungmin huffed slightly and nodded. "I'm ready..."

The two boys laid down, all the other members were already dead asleep. After a few moments of silence Han turned to face the boys next to him. "Seungmin?"

Seungmin answered right away. "Yeah?"

"I don't think I'm tired now..."

An evil smirked creeper onto Seungmin's face. He sat up, wiggling his fingers in Han's direction. "I think I know what can help..."

[eskawrites]

23 👀? (if ur feeling up to it ofc 💖)

23. "Just a little longer."

(oh i was hoping i could do a lil cfdau for one of these)

-

January 1998

Robin's house is cold.

It's a nice place. It really is. It has the coziness of her place with Steve, with Robin's favorite blankets and too many couch pillows and the lamps always on instead of the overhead lights. There are touches of her here that didn't shine through as much in her old apartment. More photos on the walls, more vinyls piled on the shelves, way more candles. A stack of comics that Steve has certainly teased her about--obscure titles that Nancy suspects are Will's influence, given how close he and Robin have gotten lately.

It's nice. It's so Robin, so of course it is. But it's also cold.

It doesn't help that the winter has been bitter so far. They've gotten more ice than snow. The wind has been brutal, the sky pale and sunless. Every day since Christmas has been in the single digits.

They go out anyway, holding hands while they wait for coffee or meet for dinner. Paparazzi photos keep showing up of the two of them, and though no one ever dares to say something for certain--girlfriend seems to be a dirty word to the press--everybody loves to speculate.

It's not just the press, though. Nancy had a meeting scheduled over dinner just last night. It had been a big deal, with big names she'd been looking forward to potentially working with. An assistant had called her last minute to cancel. There's no way to know for sure why, but one look at Robin when Nancy had told her confirmed that they were thinking the same thing.

Robin had offered to take her out, to take care for her, to do anything she could to cheer Nancy up. They'd ended up curling up in Robin's bed, huddled beneath the heavy comforter, Robin's arms strong and warm around her.

They're there still, because even though the morning is half gone, the house is so damn cold, and the world beyond it is even colder. Nancy burrows further into Robin's embrace, pressing her cold nose against Robin's warm collarbone, and pretends like she can weather the winter if she just stays here forever.

"I'll make us breakfast," Robin offers, though she makes no move to dislodge Nancy and get up. Nancy makes a soft sound, something pathetically akin to a whimper, and digs her fingers into Robin's sleep shirt to keep her in place.

Robin's sigh is soft, understanding, but she tries again. "And coffee. Warm coffee, Nance."

Robin knows exactly how she takes her coffee, makes it so perfectly that Nancy will sometimes drag her feet in the mornings just so Robin will make it for her. Robin sees through her, of course, but she always presses the mug into Nancy's hands with a smile and a kiss on the cheek, so Nancy supposes she doesn't mind.

It's almost tempting, but it's not enough to make her want to move. So she doesn't. She lies there, eyes closed, not even trying to summon the energy to shake away the hollowness that has been in her chest since last night.

Robin rubs her hand up and down Nancy's back. "I'm sorry, Nance. I really am."

That makes her stir. She lifts her head to press against Robin's neck instead.

"Not your fault," she says, quiet but firm. She presses her lips against Robin's skin, just as soft, just as certain. Robin sighs again.

"It still sucks, though."

Nancy hums in response. Hence the moping in bed.

"But we both have the day off," Robin continues. "We can do whatever we want."

"Don't want to," she mumbles. She's distantly aware that she's pouting now, but she can't bring herself to care. Not when Robin is all she wants, and Robin is all she has, and Robin is the only person who really, truly understands.

"Nance..."

"Can we just--can we stay here?" Nancy pulls back to look up at her pleadingly--desperate, suddenly, to cling to this moment beneath the covers, this one chance to shut out the chill of the world. "Just a little longer?"

She's never had to ask, though. Not really. Robin's eyes are soft when she nods. She pulls gently on Nancy, and Nancy rises enough to kiss her softly, slowly, with all the warm, steadying assurance she's still getting used to having.

"We can stay as long as you like," Robin whispers when they part. Nancy hums again and settles back against her. Her fingers come up to comb lazily through Robin's hair.

"Will you still make breakfast when we get up?"

Robin smiles. "I'm sure I can be convinced."

[skaruresonic]

The idw discourse is so bad, I feel caught in the middle because each time I express how bad the storytelling is, in a new issue or how off model the characters are drawn, idw fans gang up on me. But on the other hand I don't want to be associated with the people who think think it's funny to tweet how Flynn should die or make weird assumptions about Stanley being a bad person ? Like that's weird and cruel. Hate their work not them as people.

I just decided to pretend the comic doesn't exist and it helps lol.

I'm sorry that happened to you. Idk if anyone else will tell you that, but I will, because I know how much it sucks.

One time, I saw a guy on Twitter blame us for his inability to criticize the book in what he believed was a much more "balanced" manner without getting harassed by people.

Digest that for a moment. It's our fault for other people's reaction to us. And instead of rubbing his brain cells together for a moment and questioning the reasons why this knee-jerk reaction occurs, or even reflecting on the fact that it occurs at all and perhaps realizing that the call is coming from inside the house, he fell back on old biases and decided it was the haters who were wrong.

The mental gymnastics on display here are unreal.

In this case, I think people are stumbling into the usual fallacious trap of assuming both sides carry equal weight, and thus believe that defaulting to a position of "neutrality" makes them morally superior somehow.

That's kind of what I hate about this fandom - the utter superciliousness. The rotten shit we as a fandom get up to (and no, being a little snarky in a reblog does not count as harassment) while proclaiming love and light uwu. Be nice to everyone, except those freaks over there.

"Neutrality" is in scare quotes here because it's not true neutrality, but a way of posturing to the in-group that you're not Like Us. As demonstrated by my Twitter-user anecdote, people around here don't want to say anything hater-flavored because it risks intense ostracization. That's why you have people jumping down your throat for presenting even mild criticisms. It'd be pathetic if it weren't so annoying.

I'm not talking about people who let well enough alone. I'm talking about centrists who sneer "both sides are bad," as if by distancing themselves from the situation in a smug manner, they're declaring themselves more enlightened than the rest of us.

Honestly, the other side should be just as insulted, but they're not, because this attitude only helps them in the long run.

In reality, this is more like the fishhook situation centrists have with antis vs. proshippers. Saying "this whole thing is stupid" really only benefits antis because they now have grounds to reply, "Yes, this IS stupid, don't you think proshippers are crazy for being upset at something so trivial?" while conveniently omitting the part where antis routinely send proshippers death threats and other heinous material.

Look at it from this angle: the most concrete harm I have seen their side say they've suffered is a deep discomfort and estrangement from the book. Which, yeah. That sucks. But it's also kinda on you to just click away if it makes you uncomfortable.

On the other hand, I have had legitimate crying fits because of horrible messages I received and have told people multiple times about the anon who mocked my recently-deceased mom. Which, unlike clicking away from a blog, I had no choice but to see sometimes because I was still naive enough to believe people would behave themselves in my inbox. In fact, a mutual were recently discussing our anxieties over retaliation should IDW be cancelled. There's stuff about this that you just don't want to think about because dwelling on it will freak you out.

"Both sides are bad" stings, especially in light of knowing the measures I have taken to walk on eggshells and draw proper boundaries. I literally cannot know if someone in this fandom will consider my explanations harassment and dogpiling, so I try not to reblog with commentary. On the reblogging site.

Reflect on how fucked-up that is, to feel uncomfortable adding a tag to someone's fanart because you're worried they might realize you're One of Them(tm) and shun you on that basis alone.

I won't sit here and say I've always been perfect in my conduct, but at the same time, it's just the infuriating experience of double standards all the way down. Somehow it never occurs to them that if I held them to the same standard they hold me, I could call them all out on intellectual dishonesty for refusing to engage with any of our points no matter how calmly or clearly stated because "lol ur just a hater," and tar them with the same brush as those who sent me death threats.

But ofc, things don't work out like that in the calculus of Le Sonic Discourse. It's just a rotten experience to the core.

[irithnova]

Looking at her(?) post, myrddin is the incarnation of the stereotype of the american who thinks their country only do good vs the evils other dicatorships. I saw that post not long ago where she was talking about rusame fans and basically she saids it brushed her the wrong way that people where making content about this meanwhile russia is a pariah/mafia state waging a genocidal war since 2014 (or before if you go back to chechnya and georgia). Considering she lost a friend in ukraine it's understable that she has these feelings. The problem is that it became very hypocrite when someone pointed out that she don't gave a fuck about the countries her nation had destroyed and the thousands of civilians merely considered as collateral damage, (so it was kind of weird to ask people to cancel a country because they do horrible things but it surprisingly doesn't apply to your). And she answered by posting an article about a russian nationalist killed and called the poster a vatnik. adding the facts that often she post about nato that she considere a 100% peaceful organisation (hi libya and afhganistan who were NOT asked by UN),Usa (hi MeNa/LatAm), that people who posted about iraq war where russians trolls (no way it's people who gets hurt by us intervention, huh ?) everyone who disagree with her is paid by the kremlin and because usa are the 1st global power they should be kind of the world police. It looks like she just is an american nationalist who doesn't aknowledge that her country is as much of a terrorist state as russia, and the millions lives who gets destroyed are barely collateral damages(or they deserved it, these damn 7 yo jihadist).

Sorry for the long post and for the possible non-comprehension, english is not my first language and i wanted to talk about it without being treated as a russian agent.^^'

Disclaimer: Do not send threats to myrddin ffs

The myth of American benevolence and American exceptionalism is a plague lmao. Yeah as someone who's country (Philippines) was directly affected by American imperialism and who's suffering under American imperialism is constantly downplayed because of the myth of American exceptionalism I really don't appreciate any mention of America's imperialist reality being met with "YOU'RE A VATNIK! YOU'RE A RUSSIAN SPY!"

Yeah it's incredibly hypocritical to get mad at people for drawing hetalia Russia art because of the invasion of Ukraine but be completely fine with hetalia America art despite... Everything about America's imperialist legacy which persists to this day. The U.S helped implement a racial hierarchy system in the Philippines and the affects are still felt to this day. American imperialism/interventionism is still tearing people lives apart.

I do sympathise with the fact that they've lost a friend in Ukraine - that's terrible. However that doesn't mean that in some sort of logical sequence it then justifies running around with a blindfold on trying to ignore America's faults.

I admit that I get annoyed myself when people woobify Russia too much because surprise - I'm not a fan of the Russian state either (I despise it) despite the vatnik accusations, and I've been quite vocal about my distaste for their actions myself, but unless the content is crossing the line into Russian (or American) imperialist apologia, it's just content that annoys me/is annoying at the end of the day and that's that. By their logic they should not be America posting then? They hate rusame art/content because of Russian imperialism but... Nothing about American imperialism?

But wait - the U.S and NATO have done nothing wrong, right? And anyone and everyone who levels well founded criticisms at them MUST be being paid off by the Kremlin, right? Including people whose families' lives, countrymen's lives, and even own lives who were ripped apart due to their actions? Right?

Their lived experiences = Russian agent now I guess.

The fact that it got to the point where myrddin defended what they thought was a Ukrainian using "Mongol" as an insult towards Russians because I said it was racist/had it's basis in Nazi eugenicist science and that it should not be tolerated, and accused me of spreading Russian propaganda of "Ukrainians being Nazis"... Yeah myrddin, you're just racist lol. The fact that they had the gall to make (really bad) posts about hetalia Mongolia beforehand too. The gall of it all.

Considering English isn't your first language - if you sent an ask into Myrddin anyways they'd probably point that out and laugh at you. Because they're like that (saying this because they've explicity made fun of a LatAms grammar before when they sent in criticism) I guess.

If you're so American imperialist brainrotted that it comes to that, please get the fuck off my blog.

[ashxketchum]

HI BEYFAM

I want to share some updates for those who are not chronically online on japanese beytwt about Beyblade Bar, since some shit went down this weekend.

On Friday around 6PM JST, a link went up showcasing the menu and goods for the collaboration cafe...and it was lackluster to say the least. The link was very quickly taken down, with some doubt casted over whether it was a mistake of the info being released too early or the images were not the finalised ideas but something early on from planning stage. I myself wasn't online at the time this happened, so I didn't see the exact info but I got to know through artists I follow that the menu was very overpriced for basic stuff like croissant was priced at 1500 yen and roll cakes at 1000 yen.

Most Japanese fans felt that compared to the Bar that took place in 2019, there was no creativity used for the menu plus the difference in price was astounding. I did not myself see the goods images uploaded but from what I have gathered, it had used the basic profile art of the characters we've seen for years (S1 design for Takao and Kai that too) which isn't anything to be happy about either because if you see the other collabs organised by andGallery on their twitter page, you can tell that they do know how to put in proper effort.

After people started posting about getting cancellations, 'cuz even if they do want that Black Dranzer X, it seems wasteful to join the collab cafe for just that prize, the link was then taken down, but I'm assuming that some Japanese fans did go ahead with cancelling their reservations.

Which is what most likely prompted this apology posted by the organiser a full day later. They've said that the info shared on the link was incorrect and based on prototype ideas. They've prepared a Beyblade experience area, an exhibition of all Beyblades from each gen, a display featuring artwork/original autographs by all manga artists from Beybalde franchises and they'll reveal all the official information by 2nd August. After this tweet, Adachi sensei (Metal Fight mangaka) also tweeted saying that he's worked hard on the new art for Beyblade Bar and he's looking forward for fans to experience it.

Adachi sensei's words at least add some weight to andGallery's claim, but fans are not happy yet. The event starts on 10th August, revealing the info just a week-10 days before of the event is inconvenient to the people who are planning trips from afar for this experience, if the quality is still not worth it, their plans would sort of go to waste. Especially when the norm is to post goods picture at least a month prior to the event start date.

Considering that this is the 25th Anniversary event for the franchise and the only collaboration cafe planned for the year so far, the handling is just extremely shoddy and honestly disappointing for many fans. andGallery also celebrated Digimon's 25th Anniversary earlier in the year but things were smooth sailing with that event. So either the fault lies with Takara Tomy/Beyblade team coordinating with andGallery or the cafe itself.

Either way, this has turned out to be a disheartening affair for most fans, and I hope andGallery + Beyblade staff pull it together to organise a collaboration worthy of the 25th Anniversary tag.

[mickyaltierisgf]

Hii! I really enjoy you're Romickey posts (i think thats how their ship name idfk) I was thinking to do a little angst and fluff

Basically Roman comes home after a long day upset (maybe a little teary eyed) and he just had a rough day in general, so Mickey and the reader basically comfort and make him feel special <3

Take you're time btw!! You're so cool ❤️

I wasn't sure if I should go with headcanons or a fic, but it ended up as a fic so...enjoy!

romickey x gn!reader

the greatest films of all time were never made

A bad day on set was, unfortunately, the norm for Roman.

Working at a studio seemingly fraught with misfortune was sure to be stressful, and dealing with a character like John Milton didn’t help matters. Usually, Roman’s moodiness manifested itself in frayed nerves and sometimes mild headaches. He always settled pretty quickly when he got home, though, and it didn’t take much to sooth him, unless he’d had a particularly long and difficult shoot that day. So you could tell right away that this wasn’t the usual ‘bad day’ you were all used to.

Roman was silent and didn’t pay you or Mickey much mind as he walked past you to the bedroom. You wanted to follow him and find out what was wrong, but you figured he would appreciate a bit of privacy right now. When you looked around, you realized Mickey had followed him instead, and you facepalmed.

You walked into the room and saw Mickey rifle through the drawers looking for a fresh shirt for Roman. He ended up handing him one of his own shirts, which you weren’t even sure was clean, and amazingly, Roman put it on without fussing. You grabbed his discarded shirt, one you had gifted him, and noticed the large stain on it.

"What’s wrong?" you asked, concerned, knowing the shirt couldn’t have been the sole reason for his somber mood.

"They cancelled the movie," he answered dully. You had never seen him so dreary. He was always very vocal and dynamic, qualities that were maybe in part due to his profession but also seemed inherent to him. But now he was pale and almost curling in on himself, and it was so far removed from his usual behavior that you felt a bit unsettled.

"Cancelled? But the movie was done, wasn’t it?" You asked, puzzled.

"Almost. We were about to go into post-production, but Sunrise pulled the plug," he explained. He looked at you for a few moments before turning away again, and you noticed how glassy his eyes were.

"There’s going to be a lot of backlash for this; maybe it’ll convince them to reverse the decision," you commented with a hopeful lilt in your voice.

Mickey came to sit next to Roman on the other side. "They won’t care about the backlash. It’s Hollywood; the only bad press is no press. Besides, people are gonna forget all about it as soon as the next bit of trashy gossip comes up."

"What about all the money and time lost?" you argued.

"They've got a bunch of other movies lined up for release. They’ll make the money back easy."

"This isn’t going to look bad for anyone but me. I’m the director. If they thought the movie wasn’t good enough for release, it’s gotta be my fault, right?" Roman said, despondent. He was avoiding looking at you or Mickey, and the way he clenched his eyes shut suggested he was trying to keep tears from falling.

"Hey..." Mickey nudged him lightly. "They’re all full of shit, anyway. Variety’s trash; you’re not a parasite," he said softly.

You looked at him quizzically, and as Roman turned to him slowly as well, you coughed into your fist to smother laughter.

"He’s right," you said, still covering a chuckle. "You’re not a parasite or a pariah. Who even reads Variety anyway?" you scoffed. "But you could be anything else you wanted to be, Roman. Even a pirate," you added teasingly, trying to get your dejected boyfriend to crack a smile. "We’ll support you no matter what,” you affirmed encouragingly.

"I’d let you plunder me," Mickey agreed with a lecherous grin.

"That is the worst pickup line I have ever heard," you snorted, but you were relieved to see Roman roll his eyes slightly and a half smile tug at his lips. It was only a small sign of positive emotion, but more than you'd seen from him until now.

"It’s not a pick-up line if the person in question is already picked up," Mickey says contrarily.

"Anyway, I’m going to draw you a bath and wash the shirt, okay?" you ask, grabbing Roman’s hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"I’m not sure that stain’s coming out. You might just have to throw it," he says, the half smile falling off his lips again, making you almost frown as well.

"If it won’t come out, it’s no big deal. I’ll get you another one," you promised.

You got the stain out for the most part, but there was just the faintest bit left if you squinted at it in the right lighting. You resolved to get Roman a brand new shirt, though you still held on to this one, figuring he’d like to keep it anyway. You laid out some clothes for him while he was getting out of the bath and went to greet Mickey, who was coming through the doorway with food.

"That was pretty quick. I thought the traffic would be killer," you commented, helping him with the bags.

"Not if you don’t let traffic lights stop you," Mickey said flippantly.

Roman joined you, looking a bit refreshed but still rather downcast.

"I got your favorite from that place over on Kinney Blvd," Mickey said to Roman. "And some booze," he said, holding up two bottles of wine. He put them down on the table.

Roman didn’t speak much, but you were glad to see him eating contentedly. You only took a few bites of your desert and pushed the rest towards him. Before he could fully voice his refusal, Mickey grabbed it and scarfed it down instead. You shook your head a bit, but you grinned at him anyway.

"Thanks," Roman said, perking up a bit. He sat at the table and grimaced as Mickey bent down to lay a wet smack on his forehead and cheek. He didn’t swat him away, though; in fact, you almost thought he leaned into the touch a little bit. So you and Mickey shifted your chairs closer to him and dug into the food.

Later, you sat on the couch together, your hands carding through Roman’s hair gently. He was usually meticulous about his hair, but he did occasionally let you and Mickey touch it. It was particularly soft and fragrant now as he laid his head on your shoulder. He completely relaxed against you, and if not for Mickey occasionally feeding him chips, you’d think he was asleep. Roman made a few off-the-cuff comments about the movie, but rather than bicker, Mickey looked pleased as he laid his own head in Roman’s lap and stared up at him instead of at the TV.

Later still, when you all retreated to bed, you and Mickey laid on either side of Roman. The middle was almost always reserved for you since Mickey tended to shift around and cuddle and would inevitably disturb Roman’s sleep. He put up a tiny protest now at being relegated to the middle, but he settled in quickly and seemed perfectly cozy between the two of you.

"We’re supposed to start shooting another movie in a few weeks. But right now, I don’t even know if I want to," Roman confessed quietly.

"I’ll kill Milton for you," Mickey proclaimed suddenly.

"It wasn’t his call," Roman sighed.

"Give me the names," Mickey demanded.

"Tarantino," you declared with a false, ominous tone of voice. "He was the fiend behind this."

Mickey went silent for a beat at this proclamation, then stated confidently, "Hell, I’d kill him too. Say the word, and I’ll send you his feet," he said, sounding almost too serious compared to his usual jokey speech.

"I might not jump straight to homicide, but I’ll key his car or like, graffiti a giant dick on his garage door," you offered Roman, tucking your face against his neck and inhaling his scent.

"Yeah, well, thanks for offering to murder Tarantino and deface his property, but I really don’t want his feet," Roman said deadpan.

"Can we at least send him some hate mail?" you asked.

"Now, that’s taking it a bit too far," Mickey interjected gravely. "We have to at least respect the man’s artistic integrity."

"You literally just offered to kill him for no reason."

"Yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still admire his work," Mickey argued.

You snicked, and Roman followed suit, and you couldn’t see each other that well in the dark, but you were sure Mickey’s beaming smile matched your own.

end

[goldenpinof]

Wait what’s the situation with Oxford and Cambridge? I know the dates had to be moved because they were outside of term time for the unis there so no point doing it when there were no students but… isn’t that Dan’s teams fault?? Not the promoters?? Im not sure how it works so please explain to me because surely there’s a bit of collective responsibility there. Like multiple, interconnecting failures have occurred over the course of the tour

considering how small Dan's team was (3 managers that actually could make decisions, but also had other clients as well (correct me if i'm wrong though!)) i'm almost sure booking was on promoters. also because they were the ones who suggested moving the shows to February and "they've decided to do this" in the beginning of September. even if Dan's managers were involved in making calls (reaching out to the venues) and signing papers, etc., etc, it's kinda promoter's job to look at the list of dates and think about how you as a promoter are gonna handle each show for them to sell out. and if you see that something isn't adding up (September and uni terms) you have to stop this at the stage of development and NOT after everything is already approved, printed, and went to sales, and after people started complaining. it's not Dan's job to look at the calendar and think what months are better for what shows. he is paying others to do that. anyways.

my main problem was the time it was told and how it was told. Dan told us about it on Sept 4th, in a liveshow. the Oxford show was initially booked for Sept 13th, Cambridge for Sept 22th. so 8-9 days to change your plans, basically. it got worse though. people had to wait for official emails for another 2 days, and those emails didn't even have the text written correctly ("the show has been rescheduled to Saturday 11th 2023" Saturday 11th of what, bro?). and i'm 99% sure it's not AXS providing texts for the emails they send. so it's either the promoter (AEG) or Dan's managers were taking so long and still fucked up. and i'd bet on promoters, otherwise why are they even getting paid? there's a chain of people these things should go through to be approved and posted/sent. and promoters are 100% involved in these approvals. but for some reason there's always something done wrong in communication and in marketing. the promoter communicates with people (us) and makes decisions related to the shows, we saw that clearly during the Auckland show. so they are very much responsible for rescheduled and therefore booked shows. and for cancelled shows. i'm not saying Dan's managers were innocent during the tour, far from it. but why would Dan need promoters if his managers could do the job? bruh.

[whatyourusherthinks]

My Adventures With Superman Review Wrap Up

Final Summation

Roan, skip it. We know you think this show is good. You only spent god knows how many paragraphs gushing about every single detail in every single episode, and the only things you complained about were things only people obsessed with Superman would complain about. I now know more about you're opinions on a fictional flying man than I know about my wife's political affiliation. You obviously recommend the show, what more do you even have to say? ...Buggnutz, you make an excellent point. So let's move on to...

Episode Rankings

Season One is in red while Season Two is in blue pppbbblllttt...

Olsen's Eleven

My Adventures With Supergirl

My Adventures With Mad Science

The Death of Clark Kent

Two Lanes Diverge

The Machine Who Would Be Empire

You Will Believe a Man Can Lie

Pierce the Heavens, Superman!

Zero Day: Part Two

Full Metal Scientist

Zero Day: Part One

Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal

Let's Go To Ivo Tower, You Say

Hearts of the Fathers

Adventures With My Girlfriend

Adventures of a Normal Man Pt. 2

Adventures of a Normal Man Pt. 1

More Things in Heaven and Earth

My Interview With Superman

Most Eligible Superman (This placement is all your fault Cat Grant)

What I Want From And For Future Episodes

BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING BUGGNUTZ I know this is selfish. I know that this isn't the purpose of reviews, I know that creators shouldn't be hamstrung by the wishes of fans and should do what's best for the story they are making, and I know that just because I'm a big fan doesn't mean that I deserve to have my voice heard in the creative process. I know all of this. But I had some ideas/wishes for things I'd like to see in future episodes and maybe the readers will agree and the creators will take inspiration from. I just wanna have fun and excise some ideas from my head. Okay, anything you want to add? ...You're a massive nerd.

Anyway, the first this I want is for the show to have

Massive. Nerd. Yeah I know. Actually, I don't want a movie necessarily, I actually just want 10+ seasons or however many the creators want. I feel like so many shows that are beloved are cancelled before the creators are ready to end them, and I really don't like it. This is just hoping everyone gets a fair shake in working on this show and telling the story they want to tell.

Second thing: Lex needs to start wearing more green. Oh god, really? Yes! He is a green villain, he should at least accent his clothes with the color! The guy wears green mech suits and has a green trench coat for Rao's sake! Yes, true, he doesn't ALWAYS wear green in the comics, but it's the color most associated with him. I guess they didn't make Alex wear so much green because they wanted the twist to not be more obvious than it was, but he's been revealed now. Seriously, I want this more than I want him to go bald. Why does Lois Lane wear more green than Lex Fucking Luthor? Actually, y'know what would be a funny way to do it? If Lex steals Lois's coat and just starts wearing it to be a petty bitch. That not only would be incredibly funny, but it would perfectly in character with the version they've presented for the show. AND SPEAKING OF DUMB ASS COSTUME CHANGES.

Third, give Clark his shorts back and Ma also makes a skirt for Kara. I am not ride or die on all super heroes having the "underwear on the outside". Batman looks fine without the black shorts, so does Wolverine without the blue, the Fantastic Four, and whoever else got that costume change. That is, except for Superman. Superman needs the red shorts for his costume. His design just isn't complete without it. Not only does it break the main blue coloring of his costume in a way that looks so much better than the quasi-belt every did, but the illusion to circus strongmen is something I think is essential to the character. And if you do it for Clark, you should absolutely do it for Kara. I was so excited in the second episode when Ma makes additions to Clark's costume, but now with the new costumes at the end of the second season, it just feels like fanservice inclusion that the writers forgot about. Well it wasn't to me, and it should be brought back. You don't even have to change anything else about the design. I've seen some artists draw mock-ups of the new costume with the shorts/skirt added, and it looks great. If the first scene of the third season isn't Clark and Kara standing awkwardly at the farm while Ma takes their measurements for additions to their costumes, I might actually throw something at the screen. Calm down dingus. NO THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Fourth thing, since the Newskid Legion are a major supporting characters, I want an episode with the Guardian. Hell, Cadmus was also introduced in the first season, and how badass would it be if Monsieur Mallah and the Brain met the Newskid Legion? I can totally see Mallah getting concerned about these kids getting into dangerous Superman situations by themselves and coming to the conclusion that what they need is a genetically modified clone to hang around and protect them. Besides, this is probably the closest we could get to having one of the best versions of Superman teaming up with Captain America (who also happens to be one of my favorite superheroes), and that would be awesome. Unlike my other wishes here though, I don't really need the Guardian to be a reoccurring character, I guess, I dunno I would like it but if they just wanted to make him a one-off that's fine too. But it would be awesome.

My fifth thing, and honestly I'm surprised I want this, is I want Krypto and Streaky to make an appearance. See, here's the thing with all the Kryptonians in the comics. It diminishes Clark's status as the last Kryptonian if every other decade they introduce more of them. The comics pull this a lot, and it honestly is kinda dumb. MAWS right now has only Clark and Kara, and they hammer it in the second season that there is not a single other Kryptonian left and that they just have each other. I'd bet dollars over donuts that Zod and his posse will show up if the series continues past season three, so do we really want to just keep saying "Oh... uh... more rockets left Krypton or that other Krytonians were just off planet." or whatever? Not really. But Superboy is getting introduced next season. And it's clearly supposed to be Conner Kent (or Kon-El), the clone made from Clark and Lex's DNA. He's even got the leather jacket and the shades like from the 90s comics, I can't wait to see what they do with him. So here's my proposal. Lex has to test his cloning experiments, and before he moves on to attempting to clone a human, he tries to clone a dog and a cat. And that dog and cat happen to have superpowers just like Superman. The writers could even be cute about it and have a horse and a monkey be previous attempts too. And then at the end of that episode Clark gets a puppy and Kara gets a cat. You can probably already see the potential. This Clark would be adorable with a dog, and there is such an easy b-plot to have Jimmy or Lois or whoever have to pet sit for Kara and deal with an asshole cat with super powers. Yeah you could stick with the comic's origin for Streaky and expand that to Krypto, but that would involve expanding Kryptonite to including a bunch of different types and that's another kinda stupid thing the comics do. Also, if Lex is cloning Superman, Bizarro better show up. I'm dead fucking serious. (Actually how funny would it be if all of next season is just Lex making a bunch of superman clones in various to try to kill him and they all go out of control in various ways. You already got Hank Henshaw as a pre-existing character who already hates Superman. This could be like Reign of Supermen but with the intention of killing Superman before replacing him.)

Sixth, and hear me out on this one. I already mentioned Conner Kent/Kon-El Superboy will make an appearance next season. Outside of the comics, most people know this Superboy from Young Justice, and in that show he is dating (or was, I stopped watching after the second season) Miss Martian. But, she's kinda got her own baggage that would be a bit to hard to bring into a show that's exclusively based in the Superman mythos, so here's my pitch instead. After Superboy eventually gets redeemed and joins Clark and the team, he should meet and fall in love with... Martian Manhunter HEAR ME OUT! Out of every DC hero that I would consider to be their own property (i.e. not other Superpeople like Supergirl or Steel) Martian Manhunter is probably the easiest to incorporate into the show. The comics and other animated properties constantly draw parallels between J'onn's and Clark's situation, and there is so many interesting directions you could take this in this particular show. Clark's constant emotional journey is about acceptance on his adopted planet and while Kara being around is great and I'm sure we'll get some great drama and introspection from both characters in the next season, he still considers earth his home. He doesn't remember anything from planet of origin. J'onn does. That's always been a point of contention between the two and it leads to some really interesting drama if the right writers utilize it. Can't you totally see a Clark who, in future seasons, feels more secure in his place on Earth having to help a new alien with a similar but way worse situation with the same problems he had at the beginning of the show? Now I can hear what you're saying... Martian Manhunter has always been a fairly asexual character, and a major part of his backstory is that he has PTSD about his wife and kid. Thank you Buggnutz, and you're right! But MAWS changes every character to fit better with the storyline, and I think the changes are always for the better. So do the same with J'onn. Age him down. Instead of him being rescued as an middle aged adult by a random scientist who then dies immediately, maybe this is teenager or young adult J'onn is accidently rescued by Star Labs, or the Brain and Mallah, or Lex Luthor, or whoever, and his PTSD comes from losing his parents instead of his wife and kid. You can still keep his personality the same, just adjust the anime knob a tad. Everyone already lost their minds with twunk Slade Wilson, can you imagine the pop-off for emo twink J'onn J'onzz? And then he can meet Conner and they can have a meet cute and it can be the new relationship to hope for after Kara and Jimmy inevitably hook up. Plus, DC already changes the sexuality of pre-existing characters, including Superboy (kinda sorta), in the comics so this wouldn't be the first time they've done something like this. And while the show is already a huge diversity win in general, if it's raining why not let it pour hm? This is the only outside hero I want added to the show by the way. No Batman, no Wonder Woman, none of that. Keep it to obscure easter eggs and references. Let the Superman show be about Superman please.

And for sure don't bring in the Doom Patrol. Or, at least, not every member of the Doom Patrol. Who the hell are the Doom Patrol? They are my favorite superhero team. They've changed a lot over the years, but the basic gist is that they are a team of regular people who got into horrible accidents which gave them powers, but also made them freaks in the eyes of society. They've been everything from black ops earth defenders to psychedelic dimensional travellers. Heck, their most recent series makes them a metahuman government support network. The reason I bring them up is that the Brain and Mallah are frequent enemies of the Doom Patrol, so if they were to bring them into the show, they'd probably make them enemies of the crew. I don't wanna see my boy Robotman be evil, aight? However, there is one member of the Doom Patrol that could possibly work as a one-shot antagonist, if they really wanted to do it. That is the Doom Patrol typical defacto leader, the Chief. Nile Caulder, a.k.a. the Chief, is a super smart guy in a wheelchair. Yeah that's it. His big thing in the comics is he usually engineers the accidents that give the various members of the Doom Patrol their powers, as a sort of sociopathic experiment. So he's already evil, canonically. It would be an easy thing to turn into "oh he's a scientist for Task Force X and he specifically wants Brain and Mallah because history or maybe ego" but eh... They're is probably too much history in the comics for it to fit. I'm just asking that the writers not make the Doom Patrol evil.

One final thing... Darkseid is gonna show up eventually, right? There was the lasers in flashback during 'More Things in Heaven and Earth', so there has to be plans way down the line for the New Gods. Right? Well if they do, I hope for two things. One) Mister Miracle is involved somehow. Even if it is in a limited capacity, I'd just want to see him. Mister Miracle is awesome. And two) Only give us sparing glimpses of the big man, at least until the finale of his storyline. Here's the thing, Darkseid is a big deal. He's literally the god of everything evil, and a character like that loses his gravatas if you keep bringing him back. So save him for like the final fight. Which isn't to say never show him or mention him. Darkseid is a force of evil, he has armies of minions on his literal beck and call, and Desaad is just his hype man. Darkseid shouldn't tussle with wannabe heroes unless they attack him first. Darkseid is greater than these lesser being. Darkseid is Omega. Omega is Antilife! ANTILIFE IS DARKSEID! DARKSEID IS-

[murfpersonalblog]

You definitely did your job right, Rolin, cuz wtf. Yes, 2x5 was a tour de force of acting & writing, bravo bravo. But 2x7 keeps me up at night, istg. 👌 That Trial pisses me right off, and I'm disgusted by how accurate 2x2 was about the audience being COMPLICIT, cuz this rancid fandom's been proving Santiago right every dang day.

And some of that IMO is the writing's fault, where things aren't messy for the sake of drama & good tv, but are messy as part of the strike's fallout. I truly hope they've been taking fans' feedback & critiques to heart, cuz people are running around with all kinds of conclusions & assumptions about 2x7 and 2x8 that y'all need to address in S3.

I'm glad he's aware that some of the writing makes no effing sense.

I never liked using memory is the monster as a crutch for plot holes & retcons, but I commend Rolin for the clever things he did do despite the strikes & budget/production issues, to still stick the landing in S2. We'll have to see where S3 takes it, but i do have faith that if anyone can pull it off, Rolin can.

"Everybody in the [writer's] room relives their worst fight with someone they shouldn’t have been in love with but wanted to be." I love this. Cuz people wanna act like this show isn't a deliberately literal mirror of IRL relationships, and the monsters within us that make us say "ugly words." That's GOTHIC literature 101. It's not subtle at all. The absence of metaphor is so striking.

You pissed off EVERYONE--me included--and I love you for it, RJ. Is this the best vampire show I've ever seen? Not quite--Bram Stoker's Dracula is near & dear to my heart; and Castlevania S1 was a revelation. But this is HANDS DOWN the best fantasy book adaption I've seen since Lord of the Rings. IWTV's way better than Game of Thrones (I hear House of the Dragon is mid AF, which I expected). This is "harder to swallow" cuz it puts the onus on lazy AF viewers to not turn their brains off & put in actual legwork to look things up themselves. (Plus there's Bipoc leads, which also grates racists. I guarantee that S3 will have a very different reception since Lestat's the lead.)

Yaaaas~! SUFFER!

AMC should 100% release the full footage of the plays on their website or on Youtube or SOMETHING, wtf!? I thought the plays were so cool! WEIRD, ofc, but so cool!

STFU, Rolin--you should ABSOLUTELY do Forrest Gump, LOL. XD Y'all had Sartre eavesdropping on Loumand, and Lestat ghostwriting for Jelly Roll Martin, and Tom Anderson thirsting after Louis--PLEASE keep going, you sicko, yaaas~!

It's so sad that Rolin keeps repeating this, that he thought AMC would cancel them. WTF is going on over there? Y'all spent all this money buying AR's estate--RJ also often talks about their budget issues--just to cancel it? WHY? And why TF has it taken y'all so long to get on other streaming platforms like Netflix? The business moves & marketing has been dog trash since Day One, and it boggles my mind. But thank god AMC's going forward with it--they'd be dumb AF to let this diamond slip through their fingers, just cuz it's not doing HotD numbers.

This makes me feel most insane of all. ROBBED, I tell you!

[onewomancitadel]

Okay if you guys are scared about RWBY renewal this is a collection of thoughts which may or may not be reassuring:

CR was never a good choice. Finding alternate funding opportunities is preferable e.g. ideally not cutting a deal with a streaming service which subsequently leads to cut episodes. Streaming services are conservative to the point that successful shows do not often get renewed as it is. There are other issues there like I don't think the CR audience was ever one to crossover enough with the RWBY one.

RT seems to be looking at more local funding opportunities (drawing in sponsorships for RVB; RVB renewal playing on drawing back fans in - I know I haven't watched it consistently since Season 13). They've cut back on RTX (major money drain - events such as these tend to just about break even, speaking generally, if not work at a loss) and this was likely a decision made at the beginning of the previous fiscal year, which was around when CR did not renew RWBY. They've explicitly said they're looking at getting more sponsorships lol. Raise your hand if you cancelled yours because you thought they didn't own RWBY anymore

From what I can see a lot of people are concerned about the silence regarding renewal and from my personal perspective is that there are NDA's involved (I know for a fact that Miles has this in his Tumblr description, or at least did at some point), the year-long exclusivity with CR, etc. as well as the fact that with this type of money that RWBY is throwing around now as what is effectively more of a serious production than it was six, seven years ago means that you can't really admit to too much weakness in public (speculative investors), nor can you speak strategy. I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, but just potentially par for the course, especially because I'd argue the closeness RT had with its audience did not end up being for the best for many different reasons.

It's probably very likely that based on the success or failure of the new RVB, RWBY will or won't be renewed. I'm not saying you are personally responsible for making RVB succeed. There's no responsibility of the fan here. But if we look at the avenues they've taken to draw in money: crossovers (comic book audience), manga, novels, anime (Beacon era nostalgia), the CrunchyRoll audience of honest otakus, etc. they've cycled through to trying to re-establish their RT fanbase to offset RWBY production. RWBY fans are good for RT and RT fans used to be good for RWBY. RWBY was made because Season 10 of RVB was very successful.

It's no coincidence that RT's relative decline in years (I stopped watching around 2015, if that's anything) has led to this. I'm kind of at the point where I wouldn't even say any of this is really RWBY's fault because it's a very weird production (I say this as a fan). There are plenty of influences I've failed to cover here because I'm trying to keep this contained to my honest assessment - there's obviously something not quite adding up with the numbers of how many RWBY fans there are vs. its renewal dangling in the balance. They struggled with monetising way back when during the adpocalypse on YouTube which led to episodes not being uploaded on there anymore. RWBY has been a cult sensation and it owes its success not just to a loyal fanbase but taking risks. RWBY itself was a risky endeavour. I'm not sure if people remember but by that point RT was doing pretty well, but not corporate money well, and its flagship show was a Halo machinima. They were doing crowdfunding/Patreon before it was a thing, they were doing podcasts before they were a thing (obviously radio existed, but you know what I mean). When Fullscreen acquired them I remember thinking 'hm this feels weird' and I was about right.

I don't have any conclusive remarks here but I would say that I would really start to doomer worry by the end of this year. I imagine that between the exclusivity of a year (and how much that does or doesn't influence contract negotiation with other funding sources) and RT currently overhauling its strategy we won't really know until six months from now, let's say optimistically. It probably does in part hinge on RVB and getting back that sponsor base, but I'm not sure I perfectly understand it because I would sign up for sponsor if I knew we'd be getting RWBY, or something specific to RWBY only on RT - which is seemingly not possible right now. I don't know the full ins-and-out.

Of what's going on behind the scenes, we know less than drop. It's six to one, half a dozen the other, but my overall summary would be that CR was always the wrong move and RT needed an overhaul in its approach to sponsorships and funding as well as establishing its brand and regaining audience trust/transparency. RWBY should have stayed on RT and other sources of revenue needed to be pursued. I couldn't even figure out how to buy DVD's of the show a few years ago because it was so hidden. (Am I even suggesting something like Patreon here? Hell, maybe). We're not going to see the result of their developed strategy for some time. This is my tentative speculation.