#like why has this year just felt like a glee episode

[ecstarry]

every headline i read about the U.S. is just a fucking ryan murphy plot

[lichenes]

!!! SEASON 2 ACT 3 SPOILERS !!!

Could I request Silco x reader where the reader has been transported from the show’s timeline to the au episode where everyone is alive and happy and she finally gets to see her love again. Mix of fluff and angst plsss 💞

Thank you for the ask anon!! Happy Silco THE love of my life. I hope you like it!!! CW: established relationship (kinda not since hes dead... but... yk...), petnames (dove, sunray), parental!reader x jinx mentioned like once. wc: 525 .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚

You were in the malaise of the Hexgates for what felt like centuries. Your senses - not quite with you, sudden pangs of hunger like you’ve never felt before and a constant feeling of pain circulating like blood in your veins. Then, light.

You were panting when you ‘awoke’. “You okay?” Said someone you haven’t heard in a long time. Aged, tired but you knew it was him. You were in bed with silk sheets, ones you’ve asked your husband for, once or twice, as a birthday gift. The undercity was quite hot when the summer months ruled so it was a perfect gift. A perfect gift you never got, at least- in your reality.

“Hey.” Silco said putting his hand on the small of your back, moving it up and down to comfort you. After a moment of disbelief you turned to him abruptly and launched yourself at his neck, wrapping your hands around it. Quiet comfort. 

“…” Unbridled silence.

You pulled away from him and cradled his face as if to check if it wasn’t some twisted dream the Hexgates bestowed upon you. 

“Dove, what’s wrong?” He asked, genuinely concerned. Your eyes were full of tears threatening to spill as soon as you spoke up. You were hysterical from joy. “Silco- I’ve- I’ve missed you so much.” 

“You’ve seen me not hours ago.” You were crying, the tears staining the silk sheets you’ve dreamed of for so many nights. Cold, lonely nights without him. “I can’t believe you’re actually here and… and you look so beautiful- so happy-” He cut you off. “Dove- dove.” You looked at him, your vision blurry from crying. 

“I’m here, I didn’t go anywhere. I’m here.” He assured you, trying to calm you down.”

“...” You couldn’t utter a word. You knew what happened. Jinx was inconsolable. So were you. “I didn’t… I-” She tried to explain herself. You were both suffering, her maybe more than you, maybe… It wasn’t time to compare levels of ache. “Honey.” Jinx looked at you. “We need to get rid of-” the body. You couldn’t say it but she got what you were trying to convey.

After a while of sheer uncontrolled, frenzied glee you were experiencing you calmed down. “It was just a bad dream.” He said hugging you tighter than ever. “Nothing to be scared of my sunray.” He accentuated the possessiveness of the statement.

“My condolences.” Said someone random on the street. That was why you didn’t leave your house anymore. That was why Jinx had to force food into you and why you knew this stupid fucking walk wasn’t worth shit. Sun didn’t reach Zaun- what were you saying? The only person who had any chance at making Zaun reality was d- 

Now, you were eating breakfast with Silco. You could feel the warmth radiating from him, both physical and metaphorical. “You’re staring dove.” You chuckled. “Sorry, you just look so good in your robe.” I haven’t seen you in years. He looked at you, daringly. “Is that so?” You hummed affirmatively.

“I’ll never get enough of you, dove. Never.” A smile creeped onto your face. “Oh, is that so?”

.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ .  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚.  * 　　 ✦ . 　⁺ 　 .⁺ 　　 ˚ masterlist

[h50europe]

8.06 post mortem - Buck/Tommy - General - 9-1-1 Zombified

Many of us wondered why a cut emergency case from episode 7.04 was used. A novelty and if you look closely, you'll notice that the characters appeared very different from how they did in the rest of season 8, and the scenes felt erratic. This inconsistency is reminiscent of the writing from Andrew Meyers, who also wrote episode 7.04. However, in that episode, he had a co-writer who was clearly more talented. Episode 8.06 was poorly written compared to 7.04. Alone the scene in the beginning. Buck could have pointed out that this chick was interrupting the date he had with his boyfriend. Tommy then mentioned the Kinsey scale

Our walking encyclopedia had no idea what his boyfriend was talking about. Seriously? Also, Buck doesn't want to buy a present for their 6-month anniversary, and Tommy gives him 2 Lakers baseball cards and awkwardly mentions that Buck could go with Eddie? Is this dinner supposed to be romantic? Well, they could have gone to McDonalds. Meyers should have consulted his co-writer at this point; we're heading straight for disaster. Then Tim had this wonderful idea with Abby and thought it was hilarious. The guy's humour isn't just weird, it's kind of crude. Abby never mentioned that she went out with another guy from the 118. Isn't that weird? No one ever knew about it? Not Hen, not Chim? For two years? Did Tommy keep her locked in his basement? This plot is so poorly constructed that it's cringe-worthy at best. And that's when Himbo's jaw hit the floor… along with the audience.

The only good scene was Josh's GLEE speech. And I may be reading between the lines, but I felt that the way Josh talked about post and past GLEE and how Buck can't blame Tommy for his actions because times were different was a wink and a nod to the haters. I really had the impression that this was a cunning move to address why Tommy was who he was back then and why he has changed now.

But seconds later I nearly choked on my drink, and I can tell you it's orgasmic when a sip of Pepsi comes out of your nose, when Maddie said, "She wondered how many men Abby had turned gay." Because I was chatting to a friend before I watched the episode and I almost said the same thing. I live in Europe, so I watched it the next day, knowing what was coming, but nothing about that particular scene. Which, frankly, was terrible.

Forgive me for ignoring the emergencies in this episode. They were repetitive, to say the least, just with different protagonists.

So far we have a recycled episode, a recycled ex, a recycled emergency and a recycled scenario, Maddy is pregnant (hooray). It begins to reek of decay.

Brownie points to those who aren't already traumatised or bored to death. Now for the highlight: Tommy shows up at Buck's apartment in a great mood. He is looking forward to a date with his friend and hot sex as the icing on the cake (that's what I had in mind). Tommy gets suspicious when Buck asks him to sit down. It doesn't take long before he pulls out his phone and shows his friend photos of Abby and a younger Buck. This is followed by an awkward explanation of why he didn't share the news in the restaurant, and Tommy's reaction is a little awkward too. But this is only the overture to the worst retconning I have seen on television in a long time. The coincidence is swept under the carpet in the blink of an eye, and now it gets creepy.

Compare the scene in the coffee shop with this one. It has the same structure, bit by bit. Buck invites Tommy to the wedding in the coffee shop, and Tommy says, "What?" Here it is: "I want you to move in with me." We have a mashup of the first kiss and the coffee shop scene, and Oliver plays it similarly. The worst part is when Tommy turns into his zombie version. Excellently played by Lou. No doubt about it. He gave it his all. He maimed that shitty script, which felt like Meyers had raided AO3, picked the worst written fics and went for the most cringe-worthy insult he could find for a bisexual. "I was your first, but I won't be your last." Hello? This topic only comes to Tommy's mind after he is asked to move in together? I was expecting "I can't move in with you because I wouldn't know where to put my car lift and Muay Thai studio". No, it's because all the trust and love Tommy put in Buck is wiped out by the retconning of Tommy's personality. He succumbs to total chaos. This is not the Tommy we met in S7 and certainly not the one we met in 8.05. Fuck me! It didn't make sense. We would have needed a lot more background information ON SCREEN to make it believable. A scene from Tommy's past. Who hurt him so badly? It wasn't Abby. She only managed to traumatise Buck. Was it after he met Abby? Was it another guy?

Hello writers, are you still in your right mind? We have no clues. Neither the loyal fans and certainly not the new ones. You're reducing a character to a sad laughing stock. You rob him of all his merits, which you had Buck recite like a poem in school. And then you expect us to believe it? You steamroll over everything that's been painstakingly built up to this episode? It's actually convenient, I let the whole relationship run off screen. We don't see any flying lessons together, no training together, no cosy get-togethers in front of the TV, no exchange of affection, nothing. It's all headcanon. Guys, I've seen shows and movies where a sequence like this lasted five minutes and you knew where the couple stood. Maybe a flashback or two into Tommy's past would have helped. But no, instead the audience had to put up with the same old nonsense. A ridiculous story about an urn, a guy who sneezes and his intestines fall out, a kid who doesn't fall down a drain but slips down a pipe. They give us nothing, but we're supposed to believe everything, retconning is so great. If any of us wrote fanfiction like that, we'd be banned from AO3. And as if that wasn't enough, Tommy stands up and says, "Believe me, I didn't see this coming either. Tell me, were you on drugs when you were writing? There are a thousand ways to respond sensibly to "Let's move in together" without turning it into such a dumpster fire. The crowning glory of all this madness is when Tommy says "I'll see you around Buck" instead of Evan (the same words he said to Evan when he left him standing outside the restaurant on their first date). Where did that come from? It's as if Tommy had lost all respect for his lover, or as if he wanted to punch him in the face while he was already on the ground. We, the viewers, also had this feeling. And Tommy's behaviour was completely disturbed. I wonder if he checked himself into a mental facility right after that.

I won't say anything about the rest of the episode because I'm a polite person.

Conclusion: Please take the pen away from this lunatic and never let him write anything again or give him a co-writer like in 7.04. The guy is totally unhinged.

Extra brownies, you made it!

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

ok so ive been rewatching psychoville and saw on the wikipedia that there were a bunch of websites made for the series (they were all written by reece and steve btw) which i've been looking through cos they are genuinely SO fucking funny & also just amazingly creative lol!

anyway i know people in the fandom probs already know about this (since the show came out literally 15 years ago pfft) but i thought i'd share some of my fav bits (but honestly would just recommend just checking them out if you haven't i have been crying with laughter for literally hours lol)

i will say that a lot of the media (videos, games, etc) no longer work on the archived sites rip but i'm sure people have uploaded some of the stuff (vids especially) to yt or other places lol

so a) i love that we get some background stuff on jelly and 2) 'captain CRACKERS' bernie clifton's dressing room reference question mark ??????? (ofc bcdr was AFTER this but i know love the idea that mr jelly trained under len pfft)

what that red raw stump do though 👀 (sorry pfffft)

mr jolly's website wasn't that interesting soz tho i did like him comparing being a doctor to being a clown lol

the comment about fag bears did make me wheeze i'm afraid lol i also loved the blurry photos of lomax's commodities lol (kinda reminded me of the bit in tlog w/ that terrible old photographer guy lol)

when i tell you i DIED with laughter at the 'now known as hull' bit like u just know reece wrote that bit pfft

not really a funny thing but this poem written by david honestly kinda breaks my heart lol... i think it also a lot of additional context to david's guilt when he thought he'd killed his father(faver) because perhaps he felt guilty about NOT feeling guilty you get me? like, it felt to me that when maureen told david it was SHE who killed her husband, it didn't feel like he was mad at her for doing it, but more that she kept the fact from him. it's about... the mutual oedipus-coded obsession with one another that couldn't even be destroyed in death and in this essay i will....

ghoul_lass23 is just like me but about tumblr lol fr

nothing feels more cursed than the phrases 'the river minge has burst its banks', 'crying creamy tears' and 'fleshy rapunzel' (which i've just noticed they misspelt lol... don't think that was intentional lol?) so if i had to read this so do you <3

the way that i kinda wish this actually existed tho pfft... also, it does kinda remind me of that video where jenny nicholson talked about that insane reality show 'opposite worlds' lol

'cross between seven and glee' is honestly sending me pfft

also on this part there was a script from stinkfinger (which is a show mentioned on the show) which sounded suspiciously like a reference to tlc lol

the less said about swastknickers the better

(will say i did nearly piss myself laughing at the nazi section of the hoity toity website lol which wasn't a sentence i thought i'd type today lol)

i just love these kinds of jokes pfft

also the whole biography sections of each of the pantomime cast are fab lol tho i AM kinda pissed they made debbie from yeovil and yet didn't give her a west country accent lol!!! (i guess they thought it'd be a bit much w/ joy being bristolian but i'm still mad about it lol)

also i know people have probably already pointed this out but i do find it funny that brian in the in9 episode last night of the proms is a closeted gay guy who likes watching drag was probably a reference to brian in this show that was a drag queen like... is anything these guys do NOT a reference??? u know those gaylor fans who obsessively look for clues in her songs about her apparent secret sexuality? all i'm saying is that i think they'd really like the extended reece shearsmith & steve pemberton universe pfft

all three of these made me cry with laughter lol

ohh this is interesting lol so obviously they suspected that some people might be all 'um why didn't the sprinklers go off during the fire at ravenhill? plot hole much!' so they wrote this into one of the websites so they could be like SEE! WE'RE ONE STEP AHEAD OF YOU DUMBASSES lol

both the jeremy kyle reference (remember when that was a thing? yikes... my mum used to watch his show CONSTANTLY...) and nurse kenshington's thoughts on david and maureen are interesting lol.. also there's a reference to the serial killer top trumps in this bit lol! (do people still play top trumps?? man i LOVED top trumps lol...)

the entire sunnyvale care home section is so fucking funny (both the website AND in the show lol mrs wren/mrs ladybird face is unironically probably my favourite character on the entire show) these were just some of my fav gags lol...

ok but why is this the SECOND reference to a guy punching a child who was apparently looking at his dick lol!??!! did this happen to one of you ??!!?!? reece did you punch a child ??!???!?!??

&&&& that's it lol

there were a few websites i didn't spend long on or generally weren't that interesting (coughmidgetgemscough) but honestly? i was really captivated with just how funny and well put together all these sites were! you can tell they had a lot of fun making it and i'm sure fans at the time LOVED being able to have this semi-interactive element of the show lol

there was just something so wonderfully late 00's about these websites lol i genuinely don't think i've laughed this much at anything in literal months and all of this is just solidifies that psychoville is a criminally under-appreciated masterpiece lol

[buckevantommy]

100% serious, swear to god, asking this in good faith —

not that i disagree with how fucking stupid it was for tommy to have been abby’s tommy ~all along~, because i was a staunch opponent of that theory until i was watching it unfold in real time on my goddamn television, but: like, obviously, we don’t need the whole himbo conversation, but i personally feel like buck wouldn’t go full-on speechifying and talking about how ~brave~ tommy is unless he got that speech from josh earlier.

(side note: did buck need to hear what josh was saying? absolutely. does it make any sense to say that glee is what changed the fucking world??? no.)

and i … idk. i feel like he doesn’t get to that point where he’s at dispatch and spiraling at maddie unless he just found out that tommy used to be engaged to a woman and ended up breaking it off. (tbh there’s no reason it needed to be abby! considering who tommy used to be, i don’t at all find it hard to believe that he would’ve tried to “make it work” with a woman before he finally came to terms with who he actually was, instead of who he wanted himself to be.)

i swear i started this with a question. it feels like it’s disappeared. i think what i was going for was, more or less: if we’d gotten different tommy lore, like you said — an ex-boyfriend or an ex-fiancé — how do you think the episode would’ve played out? like, does that still wind up with them breaking up?

(feel free to ignore, if you want to, i just — god, there really are so many problems with that episode, aren’t there?)

Omg i don't understand why they hyped that Glee speech fr?? I lived through that era as a queer teen and the show didn't change the world for queer folks like they think it did imho - not to stir up shit about stereotypes but it was more geared towards musical lovers as well as a generation of people who were like 10-20 years younger than Tommy. It also felt more poignant for Josh to say (for himself) than it was relevant to Buck's issues.

We should've gotten Buck talking to Hen (and Karen) because they're also queer and they know both Buck and Tommy and it's the conversation we were hoping for/that would've made sense.

I understand the need for a catalyst in how they wrote the conflict and the breakup, but I think Buck would've freaked out about a broken off engagement between Tommy and a man just as much as with a woman, as well as the Kinsey stuff (not that I really believe his cluelessness btw given his tendency for research binges and excitement for learning and knowledge i think he would've been trying to find out as much as he could which could have been an interesting point of tension between them if Tommy didn't really know as much or care to) and the fact he hadn't explored his own identity instead just enjoying his relationship with Tommy.

We should have gotten Tommy talking about a serious male ex because he's gay and deserves to have his identity acknowledged through past gay relationships, instead of the fucking terribly campy throwaway line of him complimenting Abby's hair, like wtf was that?? Also: no fucking way they didn't talk about past relationships before that point, no way oversharer Buck didn't tell Tommy about his first love.

The show committed to the breakup and I'm okay with that because 1) Tommy's reasoning gives us more insight into his character that is feeding the fic and meta writers, and 2) it gives Buck the opportunity to date other guys (and women) for a time and compare his experiences to his emotional connection with Tommy ie. Love, and then it allows for them to get back together stronger down the line (my preference is they become friends first and feelings inevitably come to a head).

I can handle temporary pain but i cannot abide terrible writing. Abby's Tommy is actually Thomas Flores and was some guy she met at a grocery store or bar and owns his own business and has brown eyes and short straight hair and drives a tesla.

[shammers86]

Alright here goes. Buddie and BuckTommy.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m very very neutral on BuckTommy. I am happy Buck is bisexual. I just don’t see what fans of BuckTommy sees and that’s ok. But I am gonna tag it anti BuckTommy because my God I don’t want any hate. That being said, I am and always will be a Buddie shipper.

I also just finished my rewatch of season 5 and gasp, I found out that BuckTaylor wasn’t as bad as I thought it was then. EddieAna was *checks notes* just boring. Anyways, let’s get thoughts written down about what I expect the first three episodes will bring Eddie and Buck.

The first time I read this paragraph, I rubbed my hands together in glee because of angst. When was the last time Buck and Eddie were apart where Buck doesn’t see or have time for Eddie?

If you say season 5, I would say no. Even when Eddie left the 118, Buck was still in touch with Eddie. He had dinner with him and yes, Buck also imploded without Eddie there, they were still Buck and Eddie in 5B.

I think season 3 and the lawsuit was the last time where Eddie couldn’t reach out to Buck. And it seems like maybe this could be the case here. It would great to see Eddie and Buck figure out why they are miserable if they can’t see each other.

Onto BuckTommy. It seems like not much time has passed and this means… Buck and Tommy are still getting to know each other.

However, the word comfortable doesn’t sit right with me. Yes they are a couple but getting comfortable is like when you cat finally gets comfortable in a new setting and starts doing cats things.

Buck, by his definition, is a settler. When his life is in upheaval, like Maddie and Chim leaving and Eddie leaving the 118, he doubles down and settles. It’s those pesky abandonment issues rearing up again.

I think the same is true here. This time, his surrogate dad isn’t there and an asshole takes his place and causing Buck’s world view of the 118 to go sideways. Bobby, for the most part, has been the most consistent things throughout the years for Buck. So replacing Bobby with Gerrard is going to make Buck’s issue more prevalent than they were in season 6 and 7.

We also have the emotional upheaval of Chris leaving. I say this because if there has also been one consistent thing in the past 6 years is that Chris is always there. They have their own special relationship outside of Buck and Eddie. Chris leaving also affects Buck, not as much as Eddie but still makes him feel enough to settle.

Getting comfortable means Buck is going to be like well, these other aspects suck and maybe this could go somewhere.

And then there is Eddie. The Eddie of it all. Buck has always lost it when something happens to Eddie. This time, it isn’t Taylor but a man. A man that by all means friends with Eddie first.

It will interesting to see how Buck juggles Tommy and Eddie and if he realizes that he pulled away from Eddie unintentionally. Mirroring the lawsuit maybe. I do think Eddie is going to be a sore point in the BuckTommy relationship and it should be.

Buck’s entire coming out was centered around Eddie. Tommy was Eddie’s friends, Buck felt bad about lying to Eddie and came out intentionally to Eddie. Then they partied together like it was 1995. Then Eddie blew up his own life and Buck was there to see it happen.

The other thing that could come between Buck and Tommy is Gerrard. I don’t know if Tommy is gonna be like keep your head down, don’t make waves, which I think might be the case. This would make Buck very unhappy and act out a little more. And Eddie can’t really be the emotional support he would need because well.. Eddie is suffering too.

Anyways, the question was about BuckTommy and Tim went oh hey here’s how Eddie is gonna be affected! Tim is Eddieblr. He loves him just as much even if he did come up with than damn doppelgänger story line.

And now it’s time to delve into my favorite character, one Mr. Eddie Diaz.

Oh Eddie, my beautiful, guilt ridden mess of a man. How are you going to be dealing with all of this? First and foremost, his son, his good luck charm decided to leave with his parents. Who should have asked if Eddie needed help too instead of absconding with their grandson.

Yes Eddie is gonna be reeling from this. He has lived most of his adult life for his son, not for himself. Season 5 kinda dipped into this and started him on this journey but he never really dealt with… you guessed it the Shannon of it all.

I’m kinda excited to see Eddie figuring who he is without Chris around. We love the Diaz boys but Eddie deserves to be like “Who am I without these people? If I wasn’t a father, what would my life look like?”

I also think it’s important for Eddie to this out without Buck. He leans on Buck a lot especially when he’s in emotional turmoil. And he can’t hide behind his son either.

Buck having less time for him means Eddie is flailing around and it also seems like the mustache is part of this self discovery.

Maybe he follows Chim and Hen’s lead with Gerrard but then realizes Buck needs the backup. I want to see Eddie really pushing the boundaries with Gerrard after a few weeks when he starts going after Buck.

Petty, jealous Eddie is one of my favorite things about him. And I do see this side of him coming out around Buck and Tommy. It will entertaining to watch.

I do hope that eventually we do have Chris ready to start talking things through with Eddie and that his dad isn’t this perfect man but a man who has repressed so many emotions in his life.

That being said, the above quote about figuring out who the hell he is with everything stripped away is very queer coded and I hope we finally see the Eddie we know is there come out and shine.

To summarize, I don’t think BuckTommy will last and I think we may have some hints as to why Eddie could be feeling jealous of Tommy and not any other love interests Buck has had.

One can only hope.

[sillyname30]

I just listened to the latest episode of and that's what you really missed on Glee. Now I know why Jenna was so positive about the Warblers for the first time ever in the Dynamic Duets recap. They had Curt Mega as a guest.

Curt met Starkid through Darren. Curt: First convo I ever had with Darren was like him being 'oh dude, I'm working on songs for this show and they're mad because I haven't finished everything.' He was the one who introduced me to all of them. It's become my creative family in LA.

How did it all start out for you? Curt: I don't know if you guys remember this at all, but they did a MySpace contest. Months went by and I got a call out of the blue one day.

Curt auditioned for Sam who was supposed to become Kurt's boyfriend at the time. Curt: Then fast forward a few months later I think I also taped for Blaine, didn't get it. And then in November I got a call and they're like they want see you today. I went and read for whatever Warlber and then the next week there I was on set. When I first booked it, it was a one episode one line co-star. And that somehow turned into 16 episodes. I got to sing and became a guest star and got to go on tour with you guys which is the coolest thing I've ever done.

Everytime I did an episode it was just that episode. It kept us sort of grateful and just like 'oh my God, we're back' and it never felt like there was an expectation.

Jenna: Then only recently with rewatch have we been 'oh, wow, they were awesome'.

Curt: And I always appreciated it was Darren every chance he got, he would go out of his way to talk us up to people. That really meant a lot to me, because that's an intimidating set to walk on.

It's like a lot of shit that has to get done in a very short period of time. So have somebody there to kind of just be that voice for us. It's a gift that I'll never be not grateful for.

Kevin: He really did feel like the leader on set and on screen of the Warblers. He was like the dad. He took care of. It's just good energy all the time.

Jenna: He was acutally genuinely happy to be there. Sometimes it was so annoying because you're like shut up. Like you're too happy right now.

When the Glee tour was in Chicago everybody was going to some night club. Curt: Darren texted the Warblers and was like ditch that party and come meet my Starkid friends. And that's where I met literally all the people that I now see every single day of my life and work with creatively.

Curt: What's so funny about the Starkid thing is we (Warblers) got invited to some fan conventions, but the conventions were Harry Potter themed. Which makes no sense aside from Darren.

One convention Evanna Lynch was there and Curt changed the lyrics of What Makes you Beautiful to What Makes You Magical. They got invited back year after year. Starkid was also there and they started hanging out.

What is the feeling Glee leaves you with? Curt: I really don't mean this to sound cheesy, but I really would say gratitude, because when I think about it sometimes I have these feelings of like, oh God, could I have done more to impress certain people to get a bigger role whatever, and then all that goes away when I go hold on, I got to do this incredible thing, and I got to meet all these people that I'm now still getting to make stuff with and often making this stuff with now that I'm the most proud of. And so I think that the biggest takeaway I have is like gratitude. I think at the time it was in the middle of it, I felt a little anxious of like, am I doing enough? And now I'm just like that was awesome. Yeah, wow, I can't believe I did that. So I'd say gratitude because it really did change my life and continues to in many ways.

[eyeslikewatercoolers]

If Found, Please Burn- Chapter 3

Daya helps Jasmine with babysitting, and then they have a talk about their friendship after Delia goes to bed.

Thank you @imtooobsessedrn for proofreading this chapter. Also small Wedding Planner AU cameo in this!!

Read on ao3

Dear Daya, 

First off, fuck you. 

I’m way too pissed off to write about you. You locked me out during a fucking storm at the beach house, as a stupid joke. I barely even want to think about you right now, it’s just going to make me more pissed off about last night. 

I bet you didn’t even know that I’m terrified of thunderstorms. Or if you did know, it’s a joke to you. 

Anetra brought Delia here this morning since she wanted to see me and Kerri, and I need a distraction. So Dee and I are going to the beach to play princesses and collect some seashells. Hopefully, you’ll be off my mind by the time we’re back. 

Once again, fuck you, 

Jasmine

Daya finished reading the letter on her phone, waiting for Jasmine to text her the address of the Colby’s house. Now she felt like an even bigger asshole. 

She had no idea that Jasmine had a big fear of thunderstorms. Daya realized now why she looked so pissed off when she found a way back inside that night. 

Also, Daya knows the one secret that Jasmine has kept guarded for two years. That made her feel like an even bigger asshole. 

Daya felt her phone vibrate as she closed the photos app with an incoming text of an address a couple of miles away, followed by a few more messages.

Jasmine: They just left, so come over whenever. 

Jasmine: Also, don’t park on the street.

Jasmine: The neighbors will immediately call the cops if they see that. 

When Daya pulled into the driveway, she saw manicured nails and a pair of green eyes peeking through the blinds. Jasmine watched her as she got out of her truck and started walking up the driveway, but disappeared from the window.

Before Daya could raise her hand to knock, Jasmine pulled open the large wooden door for her. Daya stepped inside and started to take off her shoes as Jasmine looked at her up and down.

“What’s with the once-over?” Daya asked as they both stood in the foyer. 

“Just making sure you’re dressed somewhat normal today. Some of your outfits might scare Dee.” Jasmine explained as she peeked around the wall to the living room. Daya heard the faint sounds of Austrailian accents from where she stood.

“How could I possibly scare a six-year-old who watches Bluey all day and collects seashells for her moms?” 

“My point exactly.”Jasmine sighed as she led Daya into the living room. 

Daya saw a young girl with long dark hair and bright green eyes sitting cross-legged on the couch with a stuffed yellow duck in her arms. Delia hummed along to the theme song as a new episode played, enthralled by the television. 

“I brought a friend,” Jasmine cheerfully said as she sat on the other side of the couch and pointed to Daya. Daya found a place on one of the armchairs nearby as she settled into her seat. 

Delia looked over at Daya in the chair, and her eyes widened slightly, “You’re one of Kerri’s friends, aren’t you?” She asked as she turned closer to look at Daya. 

Daya nodded slowly, not used to talking with children “I am, but I’m also Jasmine’s friend too, you know.” She leaned slightly to look at the same eye level as Delia (as well as avoid eye contact with Jasmine).

The young girl immediately shook her head, “You aren’t Jasmine’s friend. I saw you two fight about that one singing show before Mama told me to stop staring at you two.” she said matter-of-factly before turning her attention back to the animated dogs on the television.

Daya and Jasmine looked over at each other across the room. Daya remembered that argument, it was a petty argument they had over what year Glee came out. Daya was certain that it premiered in 2008, while Jasmine was sure it was in 2010.

“We were both wrong,” Daya said out of the blue, looking back at Jasmine. Jasmine tilted her head in confusion as Daya continued, “Wrong about Glee, it came out in 2009. So we were both wrong that time.”

“That argument was months ago.” Jasmine pointed out. 

“Right, but isn’t this turning over a new leaf?” Daya asked. They never actually talked about anything since Jasmine returned to LA, but this felt like a good starting point. 

 Jasmine thought for a moment, “Maybe we can talk about it after Delia goes to bed?” She suggested. 

Daya was about to agree with Jasmine when the young girl between them spoke up, her attention away from the television.

“But I wanted to stay up with you, Jazzy!” Delia said, leaning closer to the copper-haired girl. 

“If I don’t make sure you get your sleep, your mom is going to kill me,” Jasmine responded, glancing at the Colby family photo on the wall. 

Daya followed Jasmine’s line of sight, “Anetra does seem like she would be more strict, now that you mention it.” she said.

“Anetra isn’t the strict parent in this house,” Jasmine quickly corrected while shaking her head.

Hours after the sun went down, Jasmine came out from the hallway bathroom, hair in Dutch braids and wearing a pink satin pajama set. In the dim lighting of the living room, her green eyes complimented her chestnut-colored hair. 

Daya muted the television, now playing the local nightly news instead of the cartoon dogs it had been playing earlier. Moving to the far end of the couch, she sat cross-legged as she waited for Jasmine to sit next to her. 

“She’s fast asleep, so we’ll be good until the morning,” Jasmine said as she settled into the other end of the couch. She folded her legs in front of her while facing Daya. Her hands loosely joined in the middle, gently holding herself as she looked at Daya. 

They both looked at each other for a few moments before either of them spoke. Daya wasn’t sure if this was an awkward or comfortable silence. 

“So...this is us turning a new leaf?” Jasmine asked, head resting on the back of the plush couch. 

“I think that it was about time that we did so,” Daya said, finding that eye contact was the hardest thing to do now. 

Jasmine took a deep breath, “Kerri mentioned that you started acting nice to me suddenly.” she said.  

“Suddenly? What did she mean by that?” Daya tried to calm her voice but felt slightly worried when she mentioned Kerri. 

“As soon as I got back to LA, she thinks you’ve been acting weird. You haven’t fought with me, then you complimented me, and you’re even helping me babysit.” Jasmine explained. 

“And?” Daya asked. 

“So why are you acting so nice to me? We’ve been fighting since the day we met. What’s with the change?” Jasmine asked, looking directly at Daya.  

That was the question that Daya had been avoiding, especially from Jasmine. She had no idea how she would answer this, so she better put her high school improv skills to use.

 Which wasn’t much, but it was all she had at this moment.

“I don’t know what started it, I guess. I think I just felt a little off after the weekend at the beach house.” Daya said. 

“You mean when you locked me outside?” Jasmine said, her tone flat.

 Daya gave a meek nod as she let Jasmine continue, “I think this is a good first step for us. I don’t think you have any ulterior motives like Kerri was worried about.” Her lips turned up slightly, and Daya saw a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. 

Except that Daya has been holding Jasmine’s biggest secret for weeks. But what Jasmine doesn’t know won’t hurt her, right?

“What was your favorite part of the park from today?” Jasmine asked Delia as Daya walked by her side down the sidewalk the following afternoon. Delia rode her pink tricycle a few feet in front of them but still listened to the two adults behind her. 

“I think when Daya was showing us the different flowers, and then the bee strung her on the finger.” the young girl said before giggling. 

Jasmine couldn’t help but smile as well while Daya grumbled, “That wasn’t my favorite part at all.”, as the taller girl gently rubbed the string mark.

“I’ll find you some calamine lotion when we get back inside, you big baby.” Jasmine teased. 

“Don’t make fun of me, I’m the injured one here,” Daya said as she showed off her bee sting like she was showing off an engagement ring. Both laughed as they reached the end of the block, looking for incoming traffic.

For the first time in the years that they had been friends, Daya felt calm around Jasmine. Usually, she felt slightly on edge, like she always expected to be in an argument with Jasmine. But since they talked it out the night before, Daya realized she was missing out on having Jasmine as an actual friend. 

All the years of fighting and bickering didn’t seem as worthwhile as this feeling Daya gets around Jasmine now. It was a feeling she couldn’t exactly describe just yet. 

Spotting a familiar SUV in the driveway, Delia started pedaling her tricycle faster, “Moms are home!” as Jasmine and Daya picked up their paces to keep up. 

After a few minutes of putting away the tricycle and Delia pulling off her shoes, the two women followed Delia running into the rest of the house, in a search.

Soon, she turned into the kitchen and her green eyes brightened “Mommy!” 

Daya and Jasmine turned the corner to see Anetra kneeling on the tiled floor as Delia ran into her open arms. Both were smiling as Anetra pulled her into a hug,

 “Mama and I missed you so much. Were you a good girl for your babysitters?” The older woman said as she glanced at the two girls in the doorway.

Delia nodded and her mother continued, “Mama has something for you upstairs. Why don’t you go see her while I start making dinner?”

As Delia disappeared up the stairs, Anetra dug through the purse on the counter and pulled out an envelope of money. “Thanks again for watching her. She wasn’t too much trouble, was she?” She said as she gave Daya and Jasmine even stacks of the bills. 

“Nope, she was perfect for us,” Jasmine said as she slipped the money in the pocket of her leggings. 

“Oh, that reminds me.” Anetra took her phone from where it lay on the counter. “Daya, you’re in a band, right? I think Kerri mentioned it one time.” 

Daya nodded, “I am, why do you ask?”

“The DJ at the club I work at is on vacation all next week. Could your band fill in on some of the days?” She asked. “Irene is looking for anyone available at this point.”

Daya and Jasmine shared a look, and Jasmine gave her a small nod of encouragement. Daya looked back to the red-headed woman in front of her “We would love to.” 

“Great, I’ll let Irene know that you’re interested, and you get to bring a plus-one with no cover,” she said as they all heard two pairs of feet walking down the stairs. 

As Daya and Jasmine made their way with their packed overnight bags to the front door, they waved goodbye at Delia, who now carried a stuffed pink cat. 

“Thank you again for watching her. All she talked about upstairs was how much fun she had with you two.” Sasha said from where she stood behind her younger daughter, gently moving the hair out of Delia’s face. 

“No problem, we would love to watch her again,” Daya said before they all said their goodbyes, and she and Jasmine walked towards the driveway.

“I’ll give you a ride home if you need it.” Daya offered with the keys to her truck in hand. 

“I’d appreciate it,” Jasmine said as they climbed into the cab. 

Soon Daya pulled into the parking lot of Jasmine’s apartment complex, and before Jasmine could thank her for the ride, Daya spoke up.

“So I can bring a plus one for free to the club next week. Do you want to go with me, as friends?” she asked.

“Count me in,” Jasmine said with a bright smile. 

[ambitionsource]

i dont know if you still answering this but I just finished reading the finale. life has been insane. I finished my freshman year of college, among other things in my life. I loved it so much. The finale was such a rollercoaster. RL breakup gave me Finchell Season 3 break vibes. at first, I was surprised when I read the episode. the ending got spoiled acdently just there ending by how I read the chapters. and I was WHAT. then, it made sense after reading it and while I was reading. they have to grow apart to be better together. " ITS REALY GOOD TO SEE YOU." What does Zay mean to Charlie when he said What do you mean it's really good see him? there not dating. there not friends I NEED MOREEEE. ALSO MAYA WHAT HAS THIS INDISTURY DONE TO YOU. I LOVED IT AND HATED IT I NEED MORE IT WAS SO BEAUTIFULLY WRRITEN OMG. now after reading and looking at everyone thought and thinking of my one the only thing I'm surprised other then Zay and charlie and Maya of it all. is how much or not all things have seen to change. because in your adultife esacpliy when your growing up 5 years is a long time. they were like 18-19 and now there 23-24 is that right. also it seems like a lot has changed also is there any reason why you didn't want to focus more on there college years? so another question is how much will season 5 differ from past seasons or even season 4? sorry this is long lol

first of all, BIG HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on finishing freshman year!! that is a great accomplishment, i hope you're proud of yourself and are enjoying your studies so far. 🌟

i am so sorry the finale got spoiled for you, but i'm glad it all felt like it made sense in the end. that has been the biggest relief to es and i with all major storytelling decisions that we've made -- does this feel earned? have we done the work to get from point a to point b, where it feels understandable (if not always preferable)? as long as we can keep doing that, we know we're on the right track, and it's always so nice to hear from you all as readers when it lands exactly how it's supposed to. that will most certainly be true for season 5... which is partially why it's taking a while to get everything just right lol. we know we have your trust, and we are going to do our best to show we've earned it as we follow through on the remainder of this story.

(also, to the finchel shoutout -- very good callout. can you tell that episode of television fundamentally altered me? one of the best storytelling moments in glee, without a doubt).

as for your comments on zc, i just read it in this voice:

but i will say, it's interesting that you interpreted their interaction that way. it was certainly meant to be vague and leave questions in the air -- all things from that quick and disorienting flash forward were -- so i suppose we'll just have to see what the true status of everything is once we get context. context is everything, isn't it...

as for the time jump, yep, you've got that right. the time jump is five years, so we'll be going from spring 2022 to fall 2027 at the start of season 5. the ensemble will be between the ages of 23 - 26 (setting aside outliers like josh). and you basically hit the nail on the head as to why we made that choice: so much happens in this time of our lives, particularly when you're thrust out of collegiate comfort and into the real world. we felt like there wasn't as much compelling story to tell in the span of yet another year of college -- there's things going on, of course (and we'll get to all of that, rest assured), but the true STORY laid beyond that horizon and in the trenches of adulthood. all the tangles that were twisted over the course of the last five years, we'll be jumping back in at the perfect moment to (hopefully) untangle them. and maybe it's just speaking from experience, but once you hit your mid-20s, so many of us just have this big moment of "what am i doing? am i doing what i want to be doing? is this enough? am i enough?" it's kind of this quintessential turning point in your young adult life -- and we knew it would be even more important in the lives of our beloved ensemble.

(also, to be honest, there's not a ton you can do with college, esp given half our cast isn't even in higher education. it wouldn't be especially riveting storytelling to watch charlie write a 10-page paper LOL).

to that end, though, your question about how much season 5 will differ from the prior seasons is really, really interesting (and a good one). because i've been thinking about it a lot, as i've been working on the season, and it feels like... both? neither? season 5 is somehow totally different from everything that has come before (the natural result of characters aging up and confronting different challenges), yet, at the same time... it feels like it's going back to our roots at the same time. it feels like the older sibling of season 4, but with the grit of season 2, the ensemble importance of season 3, and the roots of what started it all back in season 1.

i'm sure that gave you no greater clarity as to what to expect HAHAHA. i can only hope that once you begin to experience it, you'll inherently get what i mean -- you all ambition warriors have always been really amazing at just Getting exactly what this series is all about.

final note, to highlight your very apt comments: "how much has changed? in your adult life, especially when you're growing up, five years is a long time..."

-- Maggie

[spaceorphan18]

@kurtsascot - To answer some of your questions

I realize this was for @redheadgleek but: baby got back being the plagarism scandal? or something else ?? how many episodes did they have prefilmed before a season aired??

Writing it down before I manage to forget about it. Adam wasn't cast until rather late in the game. We had spoilers for Christmas -- and there's a lot of stuff around the filming of White Christmas (Chris and Darren had film - and fans had film, and omg it was the best time.)

(Also - I'll have to do a longer post - because there was some gossipy Chris stuff going on, too.)

Anyway - fun fact: Adam's Apples was originally Paul's Peaches. And "Paul" was going to be a three episode guest star the same way Darren was contracted that way for Blaine. However, a few things happened.

RIB and Co did not get permission to use the version of Baby Got Back that they used, and it was a huge ordeal, and the show got sued (I believe) for it. And that soured people on the character -- before he really had anything to do.

Also - there was enough fan backlash, and all the stuff with Cory going on, that I'm sure they just didn't want to deal with the character, and he was kind of unceremoniously written off.

Unfortunately, the actor also gave this awkward interview where he tried to talk up how important he was and while I'm sure the guy is a nice guy, the interview didn't exactly paint him in the best light, so that didn't help.

this is all very interesting bc brody to me is sm more interesting than adam ???? like at least he has a personality other than British and Beanie.

There was a lot /a lot/ of Rachel hate in Season 4. Somewhat because Finchel was so irritating during Season 3 we were all collectively done with it. Partly because Rachel's storyline, when told week to week, is much more irritating than when you can see where it's headed when you watch it in bulk. And... at least from the Klaine side of things -- he was just another character taking up space and detracting from Kurt/Klaine/Whomever's story.

(I do feel differently about a lot of this stuff now - I'm just kind of giving insight as to what was going on back then.)

were the newbies just disliked bc they were new ? watching it this year they were just…not fleshed out and thats why a lot of them didnt stick. do u think if they were fleshed out early fandom would have received it better, or it would have mattered?

There were a lot of reasons the newbies were disliked.

-Part of it was because the Glee Project kind of shoehorned some of them in, and the cast was already bloated enough

-Part of it was because they felt like carbon copies of characters we already liked and enjoyed -- and now we can't see a lot of those characters and we have these pale in comparison copies.

-Part of it was because the marketing team was shoving them down our throats before the season started -- no joke, the season 3 dvds had a 'Jarley' featurette on it.

-Part of it was because we knew the break ups were happening, and it sucked to not only have screen time taken away from your favorites, but now they're miserable when they are on screen, so it made people feel resentful.

-Part of it was that they just weren't well drawn characters, and my god, the last thing we wanted was another love triangle.

-Part of it was because a lot of the stories they were telling had already been done.

-Part of it was because the newbies really did not interact with the old cast (in any meaningful way). Their stories were segregated, and it felt like a different show.

-Part of it was because it felt like the Newbies stories were being pushed to the forefront, and characters like Sam, Tina, and Artie were still sidelined and sacrificed (not to mention favorite characters leaving the show all together.)

-Part of it was that Season 3 had been so tiring (and was so not good -- don't let people today fool you on that) that a lot of people were just done with the whole thing.

The Season 6 newbies were much better received. Not only were they fresher characters, who didn't resemble old ones, they were integrated much better. The old cast didn't take a backseat to them, and instead they were used to further the plot of the old cast. If they had done with the Season 4 newbies what they did with the Season 6 newbies, I think they would have been better liked.

[gleetournaments]

Well if we’re thinking of Rumours v 2009 - as someone said many fans just haven’t made it to season 6 or watched 2009 more than once. It’s an enjoyable episode, the main fascination being Kurt’s story and his glow up, but this tournament has all other ships and stans voting. Is there any britanna in there? Season 2 remains popular. Rumours is popular for Songbird especially plus other extra songs plus the Britanna Artie plot, plus the Sam of it all - the story is cute. Klainers love to laugh at the stupidity of people thinking Kurt is cheating on Blaine.

Nbk v hos - well someone pointed out in comments only good thing about Nbk is Klaine meeting. And theres been a lot of anti Blaine stuff around this week on twitter so that’s changed again. The beiste plot is horrible and puck is an ass, and it’s not really Britanna focussed. hos is a competition episode which people tend to enjoy and you’ve got one of the sancedes mashups in there too.

I think, and I mean no disrespect to you, but we do know ultimately there’s a handful of episodes which will be in the top 4. Pq and Os have been long term fan faves and have won many times over the years, I’m not convinced it’ll change now. I’m interested to see what fills in the spaces 3-28 or whatever.

But I love you doing this. It’s fun. It’s not to be taken too seriously. It’s interesting to hear PoV even if they’re wrong (I jest) . I’m not commenting or reblogging because people can be so rude or shoot people down for having a different opinion.

I don’t want you to stop it. Plus you’ve worked hard on it.

Hi Nonny!

Sorry - I am finally getting around to addressing all of this.

First of all, I just want to say, even if I'll campaign passionately on my own blog, I completely understand that this blog's intention is to service the wider glee fandom, and not one particular corner of it, therefore the opinions are going to be different. That is usually part of the fun of it.

What isn't fun is when there's an obvious bout of cheating going on and all of sudden those numbers get skewed in a really wonky way. And as I said before, I know there's always some form of cheating going on in these things -- especially in polls that reach a huge audience. But this particular blog really only gets out to 200-ish people, so when someone spams it with an 100 extra votes it feels really noticeable.

And, at the moment I discovered it - it felt... idk violating in a way? It's like someone did it intentionally to make some sort of statement?

Most of the polls they did it on, the episode in question was already winning. So, why even bother?

That said - I do agree that we're hurdling towards a pre-determined endgame. I've ran this particular poll maybe four times over the course of the years, and it's always ended the same way. But the real fun is getting there, and seeing where everything else shakes out.

I'm glad you are having fun, and I think overall, most people are, too. As of now, things seem to be normal again, so I'm continuing on with the tournament. But if things seem suspicious again, I may decide to pull the plug then.

As an aside -

I’m not commenting or reblogging because people can be so rude or shoot people down for having a different opinion.

I'm sorry to hear this, and this is a good moment to remind people that everyone is entitled to have their own opinion. No one is dumb or stupid or whatever if they like something else. It's a TV show, and subjective to each person. Someone not liking your favorite isn't going to hurt you, and people should feel safe to state opinions without getting ridiculed. I realize this is the internet, and the anonymity makes that hard. But c'mon. This is so not worth getting into it with people over.

Thanks for dropping a line! I do appreciate hearing from you guys. <3

[noxsoulmate]

Tagged by @chaotictarlos, thank you my friend 😘

Rules: Post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics. I only used my Tarlos fics.

Valentine’s Match

TK knows better than to check his phone while walking. He actually has been dispatched to scenarios in which walking while looking at the phone had ended in tragedy in one way or another. So clearly, he should know better.

But that doesn’t stop him from answering Nancy’s text while he’s in the middle of the supermarket, walking along the cereal aisle. The moment he hits send, he’s reminded just why it is so bad to not look where you’re going.

PS: I still love you, too

Even though it was one in the morning, the unexpected phone call was a welcome distraction from TK’s fitful slumber. Why he even bothered really trying to sleep was beyond him – he never truly found any rest nowadays.

Still, it was rather unusual for him to get a call this late, and most of the time, it didn’t mean anything good. Especially not when it came from an unknown number. Bracing for the worst, TK tried to shake out the cobwebs in his brain and answered on the fifth ring.

All I Want for Christmas (and Hanukkah)

“You know, you should remind me to stop letting you out of the loft in the winter anymore.”

TK chuckled as he leaned heavily on his husband, knowing full well that Carlos was only half-joking. He did seem to build a habit of ending up in the hospital around this time of year… well, not that he was all that safe any other time of the year but… yeah.

“Last winter, you almost freeze to death, this year you fall into the water during a damn flood–”

“Which means you only need to keep me away from any sort of water during this time,” TK interrupted with a cheeky grin that earned him an unimpressed look from his husband.

Ahh, yes, his husband.

Sweet Honeymoon

“Okay, but you seriously have to try this,” TK commented, holding out another pastry to Carlos. The look he gave him was so full of glee, Carlos simply couldn’t tell him no even though he was stuffed.

So instead, he leaned in, a fond smile on his lips as he licked the pastry from TK’s fingers – instantly moaning when the sweet flavors hit his taste buds.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“This is so good,” Carlos agreed, licking his lips and still savoring the taste. “Damn, we’ll need to smuggle some of these back to Texas.”

You’re my Haven of Peace in a Stormy Sea

one

The episode was coming to a close when Carlos realized that the weight against his shoulder felt more like dead weight than someone snuggling up against him. Looking down without disturbing the man in his arms as best he could, his suspicion was quickly confirmed and he chuckled softly.

TK had come from a double shift but still insisted on the plan of watching a few episodes of their TV show and Carlos had been powerless to say no. Ever since their relationship had tentatively moved from… whatever they had been in the beginning, to… whatever they were right now, TK had come over more often to just hang out. Oh, there was still plenty of sex. Amazing sex. Mind-blowing sex. But it wasn’t all about the sex anymore and while Carlos tried not to get his hopes up over what exactly they were doing and what that meant for them, it was hard sometimes.

When Love is Hard

TK was dog-tired. He hadn’t slept well in a few days, and he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why. Well, no, that was a lie. He kinda knew but there were so many factors to the situation that it was hard to point out just one of them. 

… and honestly even that was a lie because the entire situation came down to this: he and Carlos had gotten into another fight. Another one that could probably be solved quickly if they would just talk.

Sweet Moments

The party at the Reyes farm was in full swing, laughter surrounding them along with music, dancing, and chatter. The whole family had gathered, celebrating Andrea and Gabriel’s golden anniversary.

TK sat in the middle of it, taking it all in with a smile. After all the years with his husband and this big, big family, it was still overwhelming at times, if only a little bit. He’d never had this big of a family – though he’d always wished for one. And the reason he now had it was currently in the middle of the make-shift dance floor, twirling around their seven-year-old.

A Mother’s Love is the Secret Ingredient

He’d made this before. Or… well… at least he’d watched it being made before and had helped. He’d been part of the process. He remembered many nights of standing in the kitchen with his mom and making this dish with her.

So why? Why on earth wouldn’t it turn out right? Why couldn’t he cook a dish that he helped make a ton of times before?

Now my heart is in your hands

[TK] Carlos!!

[TK] I’m on a lunch run right now, waiting for the order

[TK] And two folks just sat next to me

[TK] It’s their first date

[TK] They met online!!

[TK] Carlos!! It’s so adorable!!

Carlos chuckled as he read the text messages while waiting for the coffee maker to finish its work. The messages were merely five minutes old and Carlos could easily imagine TK still watching the couple, checking their interaction as if they were part of his favorite Telenovela (yes, Carlos might’ve been a bad influence on TK in that regard). 

Campfire Wishes

TK clearly tried to suppress the involuntary twitch and the slight jerk of his head but Carlos still caught it both and winced in sympathy.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he murmured, pulling the antiseptic wipe away and pressing a soft kiss against TK’s hairline instead.

TK leaned into the touch as he sighed. “No need to be sorry. Not like it’s your fault.”

“I mean, I’m the one who dragged you out here, so… Guess I feel a little bit responsible.” 

Bonus because fic 11 is a personal favorite of mine:

5 times TK didn’t spend the night +1 time he did

one

“Will you stay the night?”

TK looked back down at the man in the bed, rumpled sheets just barely covering his perfect abs, leaving enough of his finely toned chest bare for TK’s eyes to linger. The question had been asked lightly, a bit drowsy as if Carlos was still too far gone to filter his words. It was asked that way, yes – but the words felt heavy in the space between them. They were loaded, somehow, and TK had to swallow the lump forming in his throat.

Part of him wanted to say yes. Wanted to crawl back into bed with this fine specimen, this handsome stranger – well, barely a stranger anymore but considering all they knew about each other was either work- or sex-related, ‘stranger’ was a word he could still use, right? If only in his mind, to keep the walls surrounding his heart up, right?!

And that inner conflict right there was why the bigger part of him knew that he shouldn’t give in.

The first art was made by me, all the others by the wonderful @chaotictarlos 💕

Not sure who was tagged already, so... @detective-giggles, @ravens-words, @lightningboltreader, @strandbuckley, @rmd-writes, @paperstorm, @actuallysara, @unstatedmartini, @doublel27, @bonheur-cafe, @just-inside-her, @alidravana, @heartstringsduet, @wtfuckevenknows, @morganaspendragonss, @meditating-honey-badger

[dezz111]

Do Or Do Not, There is No Fighting Disney

((For context, I wrote this for class and decided to share it here.)

Ron DeSantis, take your L and do it well.

The LGBTQ+ community has been parked pretty with our bucket of caramel popcorn and Mickey Mouse pretzels. Because one does not simply go against Disney lawyers and expect to win. It is as simple as do not or do not. There is no try. And by the Magic Kingdom, did DeSantis try?

Pardon my glee, but this is up there with Trump being indicted and Stacy Plasket throwing back papers on national television. (Count your blessings, Elon. You were supposed to be on my chopping block this week.) Now I can understand if I’ve lost you like DeSantis did. But give me a second to give you all the details of the royal smackdown presented by the House of Mouse.

Now, as some of you may know, Florida has become something a…. What’s the word? Joke. And a terrible one at that. With a “man” like DeSantis in charge, the state has become the subject of more memes and episodes of The Daily Show than any other. The increasing bans on anything that will hurt a Karen’s feelings or call out a Ken on his bullshit are slowly lowering the state’s IQ. No one wants little Timmy to feel bad about history or come home asking his parents the hard questions, so it's easier to make sure he won't ask them in the first place. Because guilty consciences usually fight the hardest. And heaven forbid the people in charge of serving the people follow the proclamations of the good book that they so claim to follow and wield as a weapon of self-righteousness. For why would they love their neighbor who has no bearing or effect on their personal lives when they could just as easily let their blind hate lead them by the nose? Because heaven forbid that a rainbow, a symbol of peace, love, and acceptance be used for just that. Let’s simply ban it altogether.

Let’s make sure no one can say, Gay!

Heh. No. While I normally don't support multi-billion dollar corporations, I will gladly give Disney my vote when they inevitably run for President. Because Disney most definitely said, Gay.  Especially with the main character of their hit show, The Owl House, being openly bisexual with a lesbian girlfriend. Let’s not forget the married gay couple and the non-binary representation in the show. The company simply told Florida that they will stay in their self-governed lane and say, Gay. 

DeSantis took offense to this and decided to make Disney his new campaign promise. Because nothing screams competency and a desire to serve your eg- I mean the people like squaring up with the House of Mouse. Especially when you're pulling books like Maus off the shelves because you don't want to acknowledge your own hypocrisy. Now, I would like to point out that this was the moment when most of TikTok knew that he fucked up. Because everyone and their blind cat know that Disney lawyers are paid too much to lose. Ronny Boy thought he had one when he was able to take away Disney’s self-governing status and turned Reedy Creek over to his specially selected board (Swisher). The plan was to basically gain all the money and royalties they felt entitled to and make bank off of Disney. That is not what happened. 

Instead, Disney pulled out the biggest UNO reverse and slammed several draw four cards with an additional wild draw four card.

The board, and by extension Florida, has inherited Disney’s billion-dollar debt. Not only that, but the board has zero control over any of the entertainment mogul's intellectual property and has no right to make any changes to its parks until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England living as of the date of this Declaration.” (Cho). This means until the last of the British monarchy dies out, Florida cannot touch any of the characters of influence that DeSantis oh so desperately tried to put his fingers on without the most cutthroat lawyers known to mankind coming for his neck. Disney tied its fate to actual royalty in a power move that will be taught in law schools for decades to come. 

In the end, DeSantis fucked around and found out. And Disney said, “You’re welcome”.

Works Cited

Cho, W. (2023, March 30). Florida gov. Ron DeSantis' board outmaneuvered in wrangling 

over Disney Special District Control. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-desantis-

board-special-district-control-1235363643/

Gay, R. (2023, April 2). The Audacious Roundup. The Audacious Roundup - by Roxane 

Gay. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://audacity.substack.com/p/the-audacious-roundup

-469?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Gregg, A., Rozsa, L., & Pietsch, B. (2023, March 31). Disney quietly dodged DeSantis's 

Oversight Board, appointees realize. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/30/desantis-disney-world-board-loophole/

Swisher, S. (2023, March 31). DeSantis' Reedy Creek Board says Disney stripped its 

power. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.orlandosentinel.com/

news/os-ne-disney-new-reedy-creek-board-powerless-20230329-qalagcs4wjfe3iwkpzjsz2v4qm-story.html 

[my-fragment-of-peace]

So if you've been around here for a while, you'll know that I have a love/hate relationship with DTS. I love it because it came out soon after I became an F1 fan and through it, I was able to learn a lot of the technicalities of the sport much quicker than I would've otherwise. I love it because of the funny moments we get from Guenther Steiner and the moments we got from Cyril Abiteboul (iykyk) and the moments we get from Toto Wolff. I love seeing all of the intricacies of the sport and getting to see what it's really like to behind the scenes and I think, in this aspect, the show has and has had a lot of potential. That being said, I hate that they overdramatize the show and I hate that they bring in plot lines that don't need to be there. For example, family/relationship drama, random statements that don't need to be made, when they show drivers at their absolute lowest, and just when they do things that are completely unnecessary in general. I also hate it because it seems as though the sport is now trying to stage dramatics in order to create a more interesting reality show. But anyway, I love the tea I love the chisme I love the educational moments and I hate what it's done to the sport. Let's get into it.

Drive to Survive Season 5 Episode 1 "The New Dawn" Thoughts & Opinions (Below the cut if you want to avoid spoilers)

Excuse me but why tf are we getting flashbacks to AD21? At the same time, I'm glad no one is forgetting. Good. Let them keep showing it. But I still hate to see it.

GUENTHERRRRRR I love that it's opening with him after that mess. A ray of pessimistic sunshine I adore him.

I had no idea Haas and Ferrari shared components until now, but looking back at last season, the math is indeed mathing, unfortunately.

Just learned Binotto makes wine as well. News to me. Only a few minutes in and already so many new facts.

This vineyard looks so beautiful and peaceful. Mentally I am there.

Now they're flashing back to all of Charles' downfalls last season. Why does DTS insist on giving me montages of pain?

"This is more close to Top Gun than a documentary." - Toto Wolff, DTS Season 5 Ep 1. Remember this moment. Icon. Legend.

Will Buxton literally always looks like Will Schuester from Glee in a way and it bothers me.

Lewis looks so cool. Like he can just be standing there, sunglasses on, minding his business, and he's still effortlessly the coolest person in the room.

Carlos talking about how good the Ferrari car is, is giving me literal pain. Little did they know. Little did we know.

Charles saying that he thought they'd have the opportunity for the world championship. More pain.

Nah Chr*stian, we don't hate because you're winning, we hate because your team and more specifically the winner on your team repeatedly says racist, sexist, and ableist things. But sure, think it's because people are jealous.

MAGNUSSEN. Honestly bringing him back was such a good call. He did phenomenally well last year in that shitty little car. Good for him.

Daniel talking about trying to find balance in the car. Pain once again.

Not gonna lie, I zoned out for a minute. It's late here and I'm starting to get sleepy lmao.

Haas with the hydraulic leak. I forgot this even happened tbh. It feels so long ago.

Rbr honestly seems so toxic to work for. Their drivers still did well, and they're only talking down to them/about them. Like...y'all have a good car. You have fast drivers...like...calm down and be at least a bit more decent and respectful. Fuck's sake.

Hearing Guenther speaking Italian is a new experience. I'm sure he has before, I just don't remember hearing it until now.

Zoned out for a minute again. May have slept for a moment idk.

DOUBLE FERRARI AND LEWIS PODIUM. I forgot how beautiful this moment was I swore this would be the best season it all felt possible in this moment.

"That's exactly how we should start a season." Yes Charles, it is. Now let's do it again this year please.

FORZA FERRARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well. That's over. I'm gonna go to sleep now. I was so hyped for this, but tbh, the show is kind of boring. It's just kind of pointless. It's different from what I remember. Do I no longer enjoy the tea or the chisme? Maybe not. Maybe I just want to watch the sport and let that be that. I'll have to keep watching tomorrow when I'm more awake and figure out the verdict then.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

I talked about this like... 2-3 years ago, but in Glee, we've had 4 people who have been actually pregnant (Quinn, Sue, Emma and Rachel) and two who have thought to be pregnant but weren't (Brittany and Rachel).

Now, I had this idea... what if both Brittany and Rachel actually turned out to be pregnant those times it turned out their were not?

I'm thinking this scenario where the show tackles three unplanned pregnancies with teens, and they all have different outcomes.

Quinn ends up pregnant, and puts her baby up for adoption.

If Brittany turned out to actually be pregnant, I think she'd be the one to keep the baby to raise.

And if Rachel turned out to actually be pregnant, she'd have an abortion.

I know for a fact that just with Sue's daughter, Brittany's child would possibly just disappear and not be mentioned for longer periods of times. That's Glee for you. However, Brittany still lives at home and thus we can assume that while she's at school, maybe her parents are helping to take care of her baby, or the baby is at daycare. Or Lord Tubbington is the babysitter.

Either how, Brittany being pregnant could also cause some drama. Artie would most likely be the father, and it could cause a lot of arguments between them. Also, Santana wants to be with Brittany obviously, and if I know my girl, Santana would be like "Brittany, you and me run away, we raise this baby together, let's go". The baby would be born sometime in early S3; and it is another reason to Brittany having to repeat senior year, because during S3, even if the baby is not present in every episode, they are mentioned constantly. Brittany is tired, she's a new mom, and she will absolutely make the most odd comments about it because she is Brittany. I think, just like how she treats Artie later in the show, she also this time legit forgets they ever dated. I think that he's sort of an absent father, but occasionally he checks in. Maybe he uses their kid in one of his short films, or is seen cuddling with them on occasion. However, I honestly believe that Santana has decided to be a self-proclaimed second mother to this child. I bet she's even actively trying to convince them from birth that Brittany got pregnant by her and not a boy. I imagine shortly after the baby is born, Artie is sort of wanting to at least connect with them a little bit. He's not into Brittany anymore but yk, he wants to at least see the little one. And then this happens:

Artie, rolling up to Brittany and Santana: Where are you going now? Brittany: Oh, to my house. Why? Artie: Can I come with you? Santana: We're gonna be kinda busy, four-eyes. We have a child waiting for us at home that we need to take care of. Artie: Yes, that's why I wanted to come along. I want to see my child. Brittany: But... you said you weren't ready to be a father. Artie: I know, but... I still want to spend some time with them. Santana: Sorry, but you're too late. This child doesn't have a father. They have two moms now. Artie: But- Brittany, shrugging: Sorry, Artie, Santana called dibs. - The girls walk away - Santana, in the distance: I should get a breast pump so I can breastfeed, too. Brittany: Good idea!

Now, this sounds absolutely ridiculous, I know. But remember that this is Glee, where weirder things have happened, so if this happened, it could absolutely have been played out like this. I also think that in later seasons, her kid sometimes just hangs out in her room, maybe is included randomly next to Lord Tubbington during Fondue for two, and maybe is seen dancing at the wedding in S6.

But... while that storyline would be all funky, a bit weird but also a bit wholesome, if Rachel turned out to be pregnant in S4, I am a bit eerie how well they would have made an abortion storyline. Cause to me, that's the road I felt like they were heading on if she had turned out to be pregnant. And Glee, while it can be absolutely insane, can also at times tackle serious subjects. It's just the question if they always can tackle it well. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't.

I think, for Rachel's character, an abortion storyline could be a good character progression for her. But knowing the show, what could happen would be that they had a good episode of her struggling, having lots of emotional moments and talks about it, and then end the episode of her going to have the abortion, probably with some very touching song sung in the background. But then they'd just forget about it in the next episode, acting like nothing happened. Or they would totally screw it up. Actually, maybe it was good that they never tackled it...

Now, these were just ideas I had on what could happen if the two characters who thought they were pregnant but weren't actually were, and how I think that would have gone.

Also I don't count Bree thinking she was pregnant in that one episode because Bree is a very uninteresting character to begin with.

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of the Jane Lynch in "Ask Me Anything!" episode of the podcast.

This is going to be a lightening round. Kevin said it should be no problem since Jane hosts the Weakest Link.

How much was improvised and how much was in the script? Jane said all in the script and very little improvised.

Was there a favorite track suit? A shiny navy blue one with neon pink.

Do you remember Super Bass? Yes! She doesn't remember the lyrics. She does remember the outfit and that Darren was in that scene with her. Jenna says they shot it on a Saturday. They didn't generally work on Saturday but did a lot towards the end of the show.

What was filming Vogue like? It took forever. Ryan directed it so everything was meticulously done. A lot of the original set pieces were at Paramount. Lou copied Jane's wardrobe was copied from the actual Madonna wardrobe. It was fun. Ryan had the monitor of what was being filmed an a monitor of the original music video. They basically remade it frame for frame.

Do you have a favorite Sue Sylvester rant? I am no longer going to carry picture id, poeple should know who I am. Also, this reminds me of the couple that bought my house. I salted the backyard so nothing could grow there for a hundred years. Why? They wanted me to pay their closing costs. Jenna says it feels relevant. Kevin said when they were watching the show back for the first time for the other podcast Sue's lines felt relevant. There was so much stuff Sue would say. They had a segment of did Sue say it or Trump. Sue is funny on tv but not in real life.

Who was your favorite guest star? Carol Burnett. Everyone was so good. Kristin Chenoweth. Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson) the character was so inappropriate but he knocked it out of the park. Some of the things he did probably wouldn't be allowed. Ryan gets bored easily and then moves on to something else. Jane said they should have kept Stephen's character.

How did it feel getting to work with Michael Hitchcock again? Fantastic, just the best. He was the choir director for the deaf choir and a writer on Glee.

Are people surprised when they meet you and realize you are nice and nothing like Sue? Jane says she doesn't think anybody expects the person in real life to be like they are on television. People generally get the separation.

Are Sue and Sue happily married? Yes. It was rough going in the first couple of years but they found piece. They work very well together and are great partners.

Jane had some wild storylines. They had Sue run for Congress and ended it with Sue holding a newspaper that says Sylvester Loses. It became a part of the island of lost storylines.

Did she take home any tracksuits? She took home 4 of them. She gave them to charities things and they were raffled off. She sent one of them to a fan on twitter who lost weight so she could fit in a track suit. She sent Jane a before and after picture and Jane sent her a tracksuit.

Did you take anything from set? She didn't take anything. Kevin took his wheelchair. Jenna took a clock. Darren took the sound proofing from the choir room. (I think Chord took some too.) They are very expensive.

Are there any songs you wish Sue could have sang? Is That All Their Is? She wanted it if she had won the seat in Congress. It would have cut to her dancing with Coach Beiste. It would be so funny.

They just watched the episode with Sue and Matt doing the swing dancing. Jane hated the dancing. Kevin said it was complicated. Jane said it was so beyond her skill and she worked so hard. The I'm In Heaven ballroom dance with Matt was fun.

There have been a lot of questions asking for favorite memory of working with Naya. They got to work a lot together. Sue called Santana a lot of things especially with her boobs. She liked the scene where she got to basically ask why she would get a boob job. Santana got to rip Sue a new one in the Cory Tribute episode. She actually threw Jane into the wall. No one has talked to Sue like that. There was such in inherent goodness in Naya and Santana.

Ryan is smart and has a gift for seeing people's Achilles heal. He could see what people were ashamed of and things that made them wonderful. He would highlight all of it. Jenna said Ryan could see right through them.

Jenna loves the scene where Sue makes Brittany and Santana take out their fake boob cutlets and and smack themselves with them. There was also the I want you to smell your armpits. That is the smell of failure and its stinking up my office. Santana runs out of the office because Sue takes away her tanning privileges. Sue had the cheerleading uniforms sent to France to be dry cleaned. Ian is absolutely insane.

Do you think Sue is a hero or a villain? She is a hero, she's not a villain. She's outwardly a villain. She could be mean. The great thing about Glee was that no one took it to heart. She had crazy nicknames for everyone like wheels and porcelain. She would never let it get too far and would apologize. she was a defender and a warrior that was flawed. She was so protective of herself and people and her tender heart that she was meaner then she needed to be. Jane will never play an outright villain. She will always find something or someway to humanize them.

What was your favorite nickname for a character? Frankenteen for Cory. He was so tall and goofy. He didn't fit in his body. He was gangly and like a puppy. He was like a lab puppy. She also liked Asian 1 and Asian 2. Kevin liked that Sue never called Emma by her name. Jane did improvise one time when Emma was wearing a bow and said that bow is insane.

Do you have a favorite episode or season? Season 1.

If Ryan Murphy wanted to do a Sue Sylvester spin-off, would you do it? Jane said she would do it in a second. In a hot minute.

Naya played the scene in the Cory tribute episode beautifully. She was one of those people that could look at the script in the morning and be off book and play it perfectly. Kevin could never understand how she could do that.

Do you think your portrayal of Sue evolved or changed over the seasons as the character became more iconic? Jane said even in season 1 she knew there had to be a reason Sue was so mean. She came up with Sue being bullied in high school. We then got Sue's sister and Becky which deepened it for Jane. They always kept her mean but they gave her more redemptive, heroic, courageous, and honest moments that kind of balanced things out.

Jane said her last scene in the auditorium was hard.

Was there a Glee character you were like in high school? No, not really. Jenna said she was Rachel. Jane flew under the radar. She was also the class clown but kept herself safe. Kevin said he was exactly the same. She figured out she was gay when she was in high school. They joked that she caught the gay.

Jane is the best. She's glad they are doing this show.