#meanwhile this season is some serious shit

[confoodles]

TUA SEASON 4 SPOILERS ❗❗❗

Lila's and Diego's pipeline from flirty, might possibly kill each other, bi4bi, malewife and girlboss couple to way too realistic married couple, who resents each other and is clearly struggling and teethering on the edge of a divorce is sth that is so devastating to ME specifically

[idkshithead]

having a bad day .ೃ࿐

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

╰┈➤ ❝ seong gi-hun x fem!reader ❞

ʚɞ ๋࣭⭑ — tws: age gap (reader is 25, gi-hun is 47) mention of murder, mention of self-harm, pts.

ೀ ⋆.˚ — genre: fluff!

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ — summary: you've had a really shitty day so when u get home from university your bf is there to comfort you and cheer you up.

・❥・ — a/n: hii! i’m new here and this is my first time publishing a ff🥹 i wrote this out of boredom so idk if it’s good. also my first language isn’t english so i’m sorry for eventual mistakes, i appreciate every kind and constructive advice on how to be better(no insults or hate tho!)<3 if i think your comment is hateful or disrespectful or anything like that, i’ll delete it! so be nice pls🫶🏻

❕ — warnings: timeline is season 2 but i changed his age. if you don’t like age gaps/have problems with them GET OUT👉🏻

enjoy! ❤︎

It was 9 PM in Ssangmun-dong and you were walking down the empty, rain-soaked street you travel every day. You were carrying a heavy backpack, the straps digging into the skin of your left shoulder, a sign that it was full of notebooks. The dim streetlights flicker, casting a dull glow across the wet floor and your footsteps were covered by the constant "pats" of the rain drops falling to the ground. The downpour was rentless and it was drenching your clothes and your nice hair but you barely seemed to notice cause your mind was wrapped up in something else. It had been a very tough day and you wanted nothing more but to be in your boyfriend's comforting arms.

His name was Seong Gi-hun. You weren't korean but you thanked God you moved there when you were 18 cause if you didn't, you probably wouldn't have met him. The day you two crossed paths was almost 4 years ago and you remember it like it was yesterday: he used to have a gambling addiction and thanks to your friend, who brought you with her to gamble, you found him. Or even better, he found you cause the very first time he bumped onto you as he was getting chased by some men; meanwhile the other times, you went to talk to him cause you found him pretty cute and...pathetic.

At the time you were 21 and he was 43 but you really didn't care about the age gap. Plus, he looked younger than he actually was. The first weeks you two started to date as close friends and soon you learned he’s got a 10 years old daughter and an ex-wife. They divorced because of his addiction which led to him having several debts that he couldn't pay. His daughter's name was Ga-yeong and she was very sweet, just like her father. She liked you even and you, of course, liked her back. As the days went by, Ga-yeong revealed you her father's secret: he liked you and every time he knew he was going to see you, he would put up nice clothes and adjust his hair; and she hoped you would like him back but God, how could you not like him? He was such a gentleman, so sweet, so respectful, so caring; this headed to both of you starting a relationship (a serious one too), and at first it was hard due to his addiction. Firstly because every time he didn't pay his debt in time, he would get beaten up and threatened to be killed. So many times you would yell at him cause he spent all his money, and the one you gave him, to gamble but you understood that yelling and getting mad wasn't the right solution of solving this, thus you got used to it and you were determined to help him go through that shit. Later you met his mom and his childhood friend whose name was Sang-woo and you were actually surprised they didn't think less of you just because you were younger. If you were in your native country, everybody would look at you as a person of no value and would think he was a pedophile, even tho you were a grown ass adult. Before him, you've been in a toxic relationship for 2 years; between cheating, threats and punches, you managed to leave that guy.

Gi-hun, on the other hand, treated you so good it was overwhelming, to the point that you didn't even think you deserved to be treated like this, to be loved and you were glad he proved you wrong so damn sure you weren't gonna let go of him just because he was older. He helped you going through your self-harm addiction, he helped you with your traumas and insecurities. Basically, he was a mix of the perfect yet worse man to date.

Not even a year later tho, he disappeared for a whole week without any news or informations. You were so fucking worried about him and you never stopped calling him and searching for him. You even talked to his mother every day but she always said she had no clue of where he was and the police, of course, didn’t give a shit. Often times you thought that he got himself killed due to his non-paid debts but you really didn't want to think about it so you liked to think that maybe he was out of town and didn't call you. Or maybe he just decided to cut off contact with everybody and left. In that time, your own self-harm addiction got worse due to the stress and the fact that he had left. Everything went down once more. Your life was falling apart and you didn’t know what to think at this point. Was it your fault? Was it his fault? You didn’t know.

Yet he eventually came back to you, all injured as if he had been in a rough fight and apologized to you so many times as you cried and punched his chest due to the all the overwhelming emotions you didn’t manage to let out. He told you he found his mom dead in his house. In some ways, you felt guilty that you didn't help him with the medicines for her cause you had some money but most of it would go to the men he had to repay. He talked about the games he’s done, about all the murdered people.

You couldn't believe him, of course and thought he was just very drunk but the day after you realized it wasn't like that.

A year later he wanted to move in America to go to his daughter but soon changed his mind when he knew that the recruiter of those games was still out there so you both moved to a motel as he searched for him all day, every day.

He barely slept and he started to smoke more, which broke your heart to see him like this. So tired, so traumatized and you realized that the old Gi-hun would never come back, even tho a part of him was still the same when he was with you. When he finished to pay his debts, thanks to the money he earned from those sick games, he called Mr. Kim, the boss of loan sharks, to help him find this recruiter.

The only times you saw each other, tho, was in the evening cause in the morning you went to university while he kept searching for that man among the city. He always apologized to you for never spending much time together but you always reassured him that it was completely okay and that it was nobody's fault. You knew how insecure he got after that traumatic event tho you tried your best to comfort him. After he lost Sang-woo, Sae-byeok and Ali; after he saw so many innocent people die because of the God called money. They all died in front of him and sometimes he could still see their blood on his face, on his hands, on his body. Everywhere.

He became even more possessive and protective over you to the point that he made you install a gps on your phone or any other device you owned, in case you’d be in trouble or something and he eventually taught you how to shoot cause you asked him.

So here you were, 2 years later, having a shitty, rough day, soaked wet due to the rain, heading back home and already feeling guilty cause Gi-hun had to comfort you from your stupid, dumb and idiotic problems. You didn't even know if he was home by that time and if he wasn't, you would go take a shower and eventually fall asleep on the couch while miserably trying to wait awake for him. As always.

When you approached the motel you both lived in, you grabbed your keys from your pocket and opened the principal door. You entered and closed it before taking your way up the stairs. Once you reached the door of your shared apartment you opened that one too, slowly closing it behind you. You weren't expecting Gi-hun to be home but when you heard his voice, you felt kinda relieved.

"Y/n? Is that you?" you heard him say. You didn't answer and you didn't know why. Maybe cause you were so tired you didn't even have the strength to breathe, to say the least.

You took off your shoes and walked through the small corridor before reaching the living room and put the keys on the round table at the center of the room. You quite ignored your boyfriend who was very worried when he saw you completely drenched.

"Hey..why didn't you bring an umbrella with you this morning?" he asked softly as he approached you and rubbed both of your shoulders. You were glad to hear his loving voice after a long day.

You let your backpack fall on the ground, causing it to make a loud noise and grabbed a small, broken umbrella which was in a side pocket of the backpack, before placing it on the table, too.

"I did." you managed to say. Your voice was barely audible and you were on the verge of breaking down, thing that he immediately noticed but before he could talk, you threw yourself onto him to hug him. Your arms wrapped around his body tightly as you cried quietly. His nice yet smokey smell invaded your nose and you took all in. You didn't pay attention to his outfit but you were so sure he was wearing his usual baggy pants and large jacket.

He didn't think twice before holding you tight against him and his right hand found its way to rub your hair while the other rubbed your back. He had this way of hugging you, of comforting you as a way to shield and protect you from the world that you didn't even know how it was possible but that's how his hugs, his touch made you feel. It has been a long time since you last cried and let go of everything in front of him but that night you really needed it.

"It's okay baby, I've got you. I'm here." he mumbled softly to your ear. He slowly started to rock himself back and forth, as if you were his little child afraid of monsters hiding under the bed.

He didn't ask you what had happened cause he knew it wasn't useful in that moment. He knew that all you wanted was comfort and reassurance. He didn't care that you were all wet and soaked, he cared about trying to make you stop crying and he managed to do so since you calmed down after some minutes. He pulled back slightly, enough for him to be able to see the sad look on your face.

He cupped your cheeks and wiped your last tears away.

"It's okay. You let it all out?" he kindly asked you and you slowly nodded. He wanted to make sure your chest didn't feel as heavy. Then he leaned in and placed a soft, tender kiss on your forehead.

"How about you go take off these wet clothes and take a shower while i prepare the couch for some cuddles to cheer that sad pretty little face up, hm?" he asked while moving a strand of hair out of your face.

"And then maybe, if you feel like doing so, you tell me what's gotten you so upset." he then added.

His voice was so soft, sweet and full of love it made you want to cry again out of happiness but you fought the urge. He somehow always knew what were the right words to say and in which tone he had to pronounce them. It was incredible. That man was incredible.

You slowly nodded and he escorted you to the bathroom as he told you to call him for anything you needed. He didn't hurry anything, he told you to take your slow and nice time, he would be there waiting for you.

You softly thanked him and closed the bathroom door, opening the water in the shower. You really didn't know what good things you did in life to have someone as loving as him as your partner but you preferred to not question anything and to just appreciate everything he gave you, everything that life (or God) gave you.

You knew he told you to take your time and to wash yourself slowly and stuff but you were so happy and enthusiastic to cuddle with him, that your shower lasted 10 minutes. When you got out, you could hear him doing stuff on the other side of the wall and you called out his name.

"Yes, my love?" said he while opening the door. He had a small yet genuine smile on his face and you knew he was doing all of that just to make you feel better.

"Can you...bring me one of your shirts..?" you mumbled.

"I know they're much larger than my size but-" you were cut off by the door closing. You didn't know exactly why he shut the door on you talking but you really hoped he didn't mean to do so. Later, he returned in the room, holding a stuffed clothed in between his hands, turning out it was one of his large shirts.

He walked towards you and handed you the cloth, before cupping your cheeks again and kissing your temple.

"You know you don't owe me any explanation. Whatever you want, i'll give it to you. You could ask me to wear my underwear and i wouldn't question it." he explained gently.

"Even tho that would be weird." he continued and chuckled slightly and you did so. You felt a warm feeling in your chest. A feeling that only he was able to bring you and you will forever be grateful to him.

"Thank you.." you murmured and smiled.

"There it is that pretty smile." he said and pinched your cheeks gently, causing you to widen your smile.

He then told you he would wait for you as you got dressed and later he dried your wet hair cause he didn't want his girl to make such efforts when she was so tired already.

A few more minutes passed by and after you got all showered, dried and dressed, you were both laying in each other's arms on the couch. Your head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped around your body while one hand stroked your soft hair.

"You feel like telling me what's wrong?" he asked softly, in which you answered with a nod.

You began by explaining that you hadn't slept much the night before, which was the main reason you woke up already feeling upset and exhausted. You were so tired that you really didn't feel like going to university, but you had a test and knew you had no choice, so you forced yourself to get up. Just when you stepped out of the apartment, it started raining heavily, and you got all wet because your umbrella wouldn't open properly. Once you finally made it to the university, you sat down to take the test, but you were so distracted by your exhaustion that you were sure you had messed up every single question. Your mind wasn't in the right place, your eyes felt heavy, and you couldn't focus. Everything felt like a disaster. After the test and the rest of your lessons, the wind picked up on your way home and your umbrella finally broke so you had nothing to protect yourself, leaving you even more soaked. And as if your day hadn't already been terrible enough, a car sped through a puddle and splashed you completely. You felt overwhelmed, defeated by the anger and stress that had built up throughout the day.

As you were telling all of this you still felt kinda upset but when he spoke again, you really forgot the reason of why your day went bad.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, my love. You should’ve called me, i would've picked you up with the car." he said with disappointment. Not towards you, but towards all the factors that made you so sad and also at himself. He could’ve gave you a call instead of focusing on finding that son of a bitch.

"I didn't want to bother you..." you mumbled, as your fingers traced comforting circles on his clothed chest.

"You know you never bother me, y/n." he said firmly. He didn't like the fact that you could even think you were a bother or a burden to him.

"Yeah but what if right when i call you, you find the guy you've been searching for years?" you asked and got your head up slightly to look at him. You could feel his hesitation before answering but when he did, you knew he was sincere.

"I'd still pick you up. As much as i wanna find that man, you come first. I didn't put so much effort in us for nothing, you know." he smiled slightly at his last sentence and placed his large hand on your face, brushing your cheek with his thumb.

"Hmm.." you murmured and sighed. You gently rested your chin on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breath beneath you and the warmth of his body comforting against your skin, while your head remained slightly turned to face him, allowing you to study his face closely. Your gaze lingered on each feature—his relaxed yet tired expression, the curve of his jaw, the corners of his lips slightly turned upward—capturing every detail that made him, him, as if you were memorizing them.

You didn't know how he managed to look that handsome for his age. Not that he was that old, but still.

"Have you been sleeping these days?" you kindly asked him. You knew, deep down, that he would always look after you, putting your needs before his own, but at the same time, you saw how little care he took of himself. It was as if he neglected his own well-being in favor of focusing on everyone else; you, above everyone. Every time you noticed him pushing himself too hard or ignoring his own health, you'd find yourself gently scolding him, urging him to take a moment for himself, though you knew he'd brush it off. In the end, this was just who he was.

"Yes, a bit." he answered and you could feel he was being honest but still decided to make sure.

"Are you sure?" your tone was low and comforting, yet full of worry. You noticed the small bags under his eyes, you noticed his tired expression and often times you would feel guilty that he had to reassure you while he was feeling so defeated.

"Yes, i'm sure." he said sweetly and pinched the tip of your nose softly.

You subtly pushed yourself up, enough to lean your face closer to his, and pecked his lips. Your chest was now in contact with his and your hands were placed one between his hair and the other on the soft mattress of the couch, surrounding yourself.

"You look so tired..." you whispered while caressing his scalp. Your faces only inches away. He moved his hand to grasp your waist while the other was still on your cheek.

"Yeah but you always bring all my energies back.." he whispered back, causing you to smile a bit.

Your eyes wavered all over his face, admiring everything about him as your pupils dilated some more, as if turning into a heart shape. You didn't know exactly what did u see in him, but you saw something. Maybe that's how real love feels like: inexplicable. Almost as if it's no sense.

Then, you sighed and looked away from him.

"I'm sorry." said you while resting your head next to his. He looked at you confused.

"For what?" he asked and adjusted himself so that he could look at you but also be in a comfortable position. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

You swallowed hard.

"I don't know..that you gotta take care of my shit while you're already feeling defeated and stuff.." you explained, almost whimpering.

"I notice how tired you are every day..we barely see or talk to each other before the evening and when i see you like this i feel like a burden or like i'm not doing enough for you...i don't know, i just miss you.." you added. You didn't want to add more pressure and stress on his shoulders but you needed to tell him.

You saw his expression on his face, focused on listening to you and all your rantling and he looked sad.

"Y/n..." he started.

"Honey, don't say that again. Yes i am tired but that doesn't mean i don't gotta take care of you when you feel down as well. Just because we're both not having the best of the days, it doesn't mean we gotta ignore each other or something like that. I take care of you cause i want to. Cause it makes me feel better when i manage to bring your smile back." he gently explained while playing with some strands of your hair, in a desperate attempt to soothe you.

"I'm sorry we barely see or talk to each other during the day, i wish we both had more time one for the other even tho at night i try to stay up as much time as possible, even if you are asleep cause i wanna make up for lost time." he continued, hoping you'd understand his words. You lowkey wished things went different. Wished that he never went to play those sick games.

"Yeah but...i don't know, i just wish i could do more for us, for you. You always take care of me but i never do enough to take care of you.." she said. Your tone of voice hid a hint of sadness in it.

"No, y/n. You do more than enough and that's what matters. I will always appreciate the little things you do cause i know how much effort you put into them. I know you love me, i know you care about me. I don't have to worry about anything else." he said. He knew you wouldn't believe him but he hoped that he managed to reassure you even if it was just for the moment.

You nodded slowly at his words and accepted them. You hid your face into the crock of his neck and snuggled against him, holding him as tight as you could, wanting to enjoy his company, his warmth for the night. His fingers found their ways in between your thin hair and caressed your scalp while the other hand was busy holding you against him. He wanted to protect you from everything and everyone. He wanted you to feel safe and he'd do anything to not let you get hurt.

He started to whisper reassuring words in your ear to facilitate your sleep.

“Please don’t ever leave me, Gi-hun.” you mumbled.

"I won’t, I'm here, love. I'm not going anywhere. I've got you." those were the last words you heard from him before you sweetly murmured: "I love you.." and drifted off to sleep.

He kissed your head tenderly and whispered an "I love you, too" muffled before closing his eyes and fully relaxing his body under yours, feeling his thoughts drifting away into dreams.

So there you were, both laying in each other arms after days full of stress and pressure, you allowed yourself to be vulnerable and to rest for the night.

[shiftermia]

— Swimming Realizations

jj maybank x reader

pouges x reader ( pre-season one )

where the Pogues just had a peaceful lake day and your boyfriend came to the realization that you’re it for him.

a/n: It’s been so long since I’ve written anything. But I went a different route and wrote a maybank blurb since us obx fans need a pick me up. And A told me that there’s no fluff, just smut of jj on this damn app. So you’re welcome.

“Oh my god, JJ, be careful!” You exasperatedly shouted to your idiot of a boyfriend, watching as he balanced himself on one leg on a wooden beam of the dock of the chateau.

“He’s fine,” John B argued with a grin, gesturing to him.

“He’s one hundred percent going to fall,” Pope immediately disagreed with a dry nod.

Kiara, from beside you looked up at the blonde, squinting from the setting sun, “I hope you fall backward!”

The four of you were in the lake behind the Chateau, simply hanging out, having some beers that Kiara stole from The Wreck. It was relatively peaceful until JJ came bounding from the kitchen with a sandwich in hand and declared himself a ‘Multitalented King.’

JJ scoffed, mouth full of bread. “You guys have no faith in me. I’m like—” he fought to balance himself, making you watch carefully. “The most balanced guy ever.”

John B chuckled, brushing his wet hair off his forehead and shooting a weary glance at you. It was a well-known fact amongst, well, everyone, that you were very protective of the blonde. And also someone to stand on edge— all the time.

You couldn’t help but be easily stressed by something so mediocre as JJ balancing himself over water. But what if he fell backward and hurt himself? What if he fell wrong and hit his head on the dock? If no one else would worry, you would. Let’s say it was your official job.

“Did you not fall out of a moving van two days ago?” Pope remarked, skin glowing as he swam to lay on his back.

“Okay, that was like— a complete accident.” JJ poorly excused, eating the last of his sandwich. His blue eyes were squinting down at you all, water dripping off his lean frame. “Kie pushed me.”

“Wha—” Kiara’s mouth dropped open and she looked at you. “That wasn’t me! It was probably John B and his iron foot!”

John B’s grin dropped, “You serious?”

“J, you were hanging out of the van,” You interrupted their blaming fest. “Now, get down, I’m not gonna help you if you get hurt.”

He laughed, a warm, heart-full sound that made you want to hear it again. “As if you wouldn’t be the one to fish me out of water.” He switched legs, stretching his arms out to balance himself.

You rolled your eyes, suppressing your own smile. “Okay, fine. Stay up there, I don’t care.”

“Oh, you don’t care?” He raised his brows before doing a front flip into the water, making you exclaim and outstretch your arms.

The pouges laughed at you, making fun of how you acted like you could catch him as JJ resurfaced, shaking his head in your direction like a dog.

You sighed, shaking your head and swimming over to him. You wrapped your arms around his neck as one of his clasped your waist, the other holding you both afloat. “You make my heartbeat rise way too much.”

“You make something else rise,” he bluntly commented.

The pouges groaned, “C’mon, man seriously?”

“I don’t need to hear about that.”

“Disgusting.”

Meanwhile, you smiled wildly and avoided all eye contact. “Shut up.”

He ignored everyone, who honestly should’ve been used to it by now, and pressed a wet kiss against your jaw. “Pretty baby.”

John B splashed water at him, igniting a splash war for a little too long for your and Kiara’s liking before everyone had settled down, simply floating as the sun disappeared and the moon rose into the sky.

Until Pope cursed, “Shit, I gotta go home.” He swam to the ladder, ignoring everyone’s groans of displeasure. “My pops is gonna kill me, I got curfew!”

“Ugh, that reminds me,” Kiara rolled her eyes, heading to the ladder. “My parents are making me help out at the restaurant tomorrow.”

John B closed his eyes, floating starfish in the water. “Well, see you guys tomorrow, I guess.”

You tilted your head, feeling JJ hold you bridal style in the water. “Um, hello? You have to drive them?”

From where you were, you could see his face drop and could visibly see him about to consider a swim further down the lake before he loudly groaned. “You guys are the worst.”

“You drove ‘em here, B.” JJ retorted, chuckling at his best friend.

Though, John B ignored him. “How is it that the rich one doesn’t have a car and me, the poor one does?”

Kiara curled her lips, blinking down at him. “Um, because my parents don’t trust me and you guys are bad influences.”

“You’re the one stealing beer from their cooler,” you retorted back with a chuckle, earning a quick obscene gesture from the girl.

The trio waved to you both, John B shooting a quick wink to JJ that none of you noticed before it was just the two of you.

You let out a content sigh and detached yourself from JJ. Quickly, you dunked yourself in the water, but when you resurfaced he was gone too.

You looked around confusedly, sniffling from the warm water. Not a second later, though, hands grappled at your legs and settled them on a pair of shoulders.

You giggled as JJ lifted himself out of the water with a gasp and you helped move his wet hair from his forehead as he wiped his eyes.

“What’re you doing?” You giggled softly, leaning down to try to meet his eyes.

“Nothin’,” he shrugged, tilting his head back on your thigh to look up at you. “Swimming.”

“Well, I can see that,” you bounced your brows, grabbing his hands that were on your legs and holding them up.

He began spinning around in the water and you let out a small squeal before he abruptly threw you off his shoulders and into the water.

JJ laughed, sniffling and watching you sputter out of the now lit-up water from the makeshift dock lights.

You splashed water at him, “you dick!”

He covered himself but didn’t throw any water at you like you expected him to. Instead, he let out a deep breath, staring at you, eyes so dilated that you could barely see the blue you adored so much. And if you hadn’t spent the entire day with him, you would’ve thought he was high.

“What?” You asked breathlessly, bobbing in the water in front of him.

JJ shook his head, he never was good with words. Just something so minuscule as this, messing around and laughing with each other… it was so natural— domestic.

He’s never felt anything like this. He blinked adoringly at you, “I just—” he cut himself off with another shake of his head. Breathing heavily, he could feel it deep in his chest. In his soul.

You swam a little closer to him, feeling him grasp your waist and pull you closer.

JJ looked into your eyes and grinned— softly, lovingly, intensely— it made your heart stutter and had you feeling awfully shy.

“What?” You asked again, quietly.

His fingers trailed upward, innocently gliding over your body until they pushed your wet hair back and cupped your cheeks. He then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead— as if to steady himself, before he pecked your cheek, jaw, and the corner of your lip before he littered kisses over your face.

You giggled, eventually tucking your face to hide in his neck.

But he didn’t let you, pulling your head up to finally kiss your lips. It was soft at first, conveying what he wanted to say— I love you, I’ll never let you go, I love you, only you.

You felt your closed eyes tear up, he’s never kissed you like this.

Then it got a tad harder and he let out a breath, whether of relief or utter devotion, neither of you knew. But you rubbed your thumbs on his face, wrapping your legs around his waist.

You parted, mainly for air, and JJ tucked his face in your shoulder, wrapping his arms around you, somehow keeping you both afloat.

You tenderly ran your hands through his blonde strands, “J?”

He sharply inhaled, but didn’t reply. Instead, pressing more kisses on your neck and shoulder, fingers gripping you like you were about to leave, though you would never.

“Are you okay?” You mumbled, lifting his head to look into his eyes, tracing his features with your light touch.

For a long moment, he simply stared into yours, then clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “ ‘m gonna marry you.”

A wide smile stretched across your face and you let out an incredulous laugh. Not because his words were unfathomable, but because he said it like it was a fact. There was nothing you could do about it, he was going to spend the rest of his life with you.

You pressed your face against his, “Really?”

Honestly, the way you asked made his heart squeeze in his chest. So tenderly, so sweetly. JJ nodded, one hand coming to cup your cheek again. “Yeah, baby.”

You laughed again and pressed a hard kiss on his cheek and lips. “Well, I can’t wait.”

“Me neither.” He kissed your jaw once more and hugged you, the two of you floating in the warm water, orange and blue lighting up the sky and soft lighting in the water.

It was a promise. And he would hold himself to it.

[pixi4]

**OBX SPOILERS**

Can we talk about the fact that Obx4 is not about good plot, writing or character based story. It's about shock value and fan service.

JJ Maybank, who literally hasn't had a moment of happiness in the 4th season, gets killed by the end so that were shocked and hooked for the next season.

We get one shot of him dead, his friends barely even crying and them BOOM gets buried in the fucking ground in the place that's not even his home, literally plopped into the fucking ground like a piece of rock. Audiences don't even get time to process his random ass death and suddenly John Bs stupid ass monologue shows the flashbacks of JJ and how he was a good friend and all that shit.

If people who WROTE this fucking show can't understand that JJs character goes FAR beyond just being a good friend, then I guess I'm not even surprised by the end.

We were CONSTANTLY shown aspects of JJ that in some other universe would've been properly explored. He's clutches his chest constantly, perhaps suggesting he's got a heart thing or breathing difficulty, his home life is shit and not a single adult gives a fuck. John B is practically stalked by the CPS in season 1, but no one bat's an eye at the fact that Luke abuses JJ. He's got dyslexia and kleptomania which is only ever played for laughs meanwhile Cleos kleptomania is regarded as a serious thing she had to do to survive. He can never sit still and constantly switches back and forth, obviously ADHD coded. Whenever gang argued before, JJ used to pace around and put hands over his ears suggesting he has some bits of PTSD from unstable home environment.

All of THAT exists and is true about JJ yet in John B fucking monologue he's reduced to just "a good friend" ????

Literally NOTHING of his trauma is explored or even touched upon aside from that bit in season 1. NO ONES trauma is explored except for Sarah's (no hate to her) and John Bs.

Fuckin bs.

Imagine being given up by your dad (who killed your mother btw) to a morally questionable man such as Luke, who then proceeds to beat you and emotionally manipulate and torment your for years, neglecting you and abusing you. To then suddenly being told you're not actually his and that all that beating and abuse COULD'VE been avoided had someone actually wanted you. Then you meet the said biological father only for him to lie to you, manipulate you, gaslight you, scam you, attempt to kill you once and then fucking succeed in killing you..... The amount of disrespect for JJs character.

Fuckin Luke, the biggest abuser is JJs story is alive and well and FUCKING JAIL FREE??? WHILE JJ IS IN THE GROUND???

The angry faces of others and Kiaras "revenge" implies that season 5 will be about seeking revenge and sinking further into darkness in order to right the wrongs of JJs murder. But guess what?? Sarah's pregnant. That storyline itself is basically ensuring that happy ending is in sight. For basically all of them, because as Kie said: takes a village (to raise a baby). Motherly vibes are gonna spread their positive energy and then they'll heal and John B will most likely give another boring ass monologue about how People die but they also live and heal and shit and how everybody deserves happiness with shots of the gang raising the kid and riding off into the sunset....

Guess who fucking deserved happy ending THE MOST out of all of them???

JJ fucking Maybank.

Every season of obx focuses on on Pogue. 1.- John B, 2.-Pope, 3.- Kie. Imagine waiting for your own season only for your character to constantly be dealt the worst of cards, be perpetually disregarded and have shit go from worse to worse to in the end fucking die randomly???? If I was Rudy Pankow I'd fuckin sue.

The shit that pisses me off the most is that it's so painfully obvious that Rafe will inevitably get a redemption arc and his own happy ending, possibly even with Kie since people love to ship her with a man who's a) mentally and emotionally not at all alright b) is a murderer who never served his time and got one of her friends framed for it causing him to literally be chased out of his own home for crime he did not commit while he was still a minor c) has tried to kill her d) has tried to kill her best fucking friend, who is his own fucking sister

Infatuation with sociopath men in media HAS to stop. But it most likely will not stop any time soon and JJ is yet another victim of shipping wars.

I can't even read stupid ass fanfics anymore because I'll always remember that JJ is not alive in the Canon anymore.

Who ever gave the green light in the making of the end of season 4, sincerely and disrespectfully, I fucking hate you.

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

[chefkids]

Have you considered making a list of all the predictions/possibilities and then checking off which are right?

Some of these are serious and some of these are not so serious

Tina goes full Mom on Sydney

We see flashback of Tina being a mom and starting off at The Beef

Mikey trying to set shit on fire

Richie flashback to Tiff leaving him because he's spending so much time trying to take care of Mikey

Richie accepts that it's over with Tiff

The staff hates Carmy, loves Syd

Richie plans on quitting but is convinced not to

Sydney gets sick/burnout and is forced to take time off

Carmy is put on time out for being insane

Nat, Tina and Richie threaten Carmy about how he's acting and how Sydney will leave him

Carmy meets Emmanuel

Syd meets Donna

Carmy helps Syd move to her apartment

Sydney throws up on Carmy

Sydney avoids signing the partnership agreement

Syd gets him to write up a new partnership agreement in her terms at the end of the season

Sydney calls out the I'm sorry sign for being useless

Carmy draws something specifically for Sydney, not just using the menu planning as an excuse

Carmy makes an overtly romantic move on Sydney

Nat, Tina, and Richie makes comments about the nature of Syd and Carmy’s relationship

Nat asks Carmy why he’s actually doing all of this when he had said “Fuck stars” and why he’s doing all of this for Syd and he finally opens up about his feelings to her

Carmy cooks for Sydney

Syd and Carmy table scene part 2 things go bad and she turns Carmy down

Big sydcarmy fight happens about her leaving and he basically says "I can't do this without you" and she says "Well I can, I did do it without you"

Sydney is offered a job somewhere else, tells Carmy she’s going to take it, but doesn’t in the end

Carmy tries to shut down The Bear cause he doesn't want to do it without Syd

Sydney has a feelings realization moment like Carmy did with the panic attack

Carmy tells Syd "I love you" while apologizing

Sydcarmy kiss goddammit!!! It's time!!!

They receive bad reviews that send Syd and Carmy in a spiral

Marcus receives some sort of high praise or award

Carmy gets credited for Syd's dish, rivalry/jealousy conflicts for how he's getting recognition and she's not

Power outage at the restaurant again

Carmy/Syd starts a fire at The Bear, probably Carmy sleep cooking

Carmy hallucinations/sleepwalking nightmares while cooking

Carmy ingests hallucinogenic mushrooms, accidentally

Sydney stabs Carmy

Someone yells at Sydney and then something awful happens to them #sydkarma

Carmy has a dream about Syd

Carmy's old Chef actually comes to The Bear

The Bear Cookbook offer

Natalie is mad at Donna because she thinks she didn't show up to F&F night

Ebra's sandwich window is popping off

OG neighborhood locals hate on the restaurant and try to sabotage it

Marcus makes a new donut

Marcus handles grief pretty well actually, meanwhile Syd and Carmy respiral with their own mommy issues/death grief

Carmy becomes paranoid about every guy after he finds out Marcus ask Sydney out

Luca offers Marcus a job

Carmy avoids going into the walk in for a while

Richie/Fak try to secretly set Carmy and Claire up in a “chance encounter” so he’ll see her again

Claire tries to get back with Carmy because Fak tells her that he loves her

Carmy turns down Claire and tells her he was not in love with her

The extended Faks try to beat up Carmy

Claire connects the dots between Syd and Carmy

Fak realizes Carmy likes Syd and is completely shook

Pete tells them they have a very very small chance of meeting Jimmy's payment deadline

Donna apologizes to Nat and Carmy

Donna gives them the money to save The Bear. Sells her house?

Chris Storer is forced to respond to his crimes

[sans-undertales-pussy]

Now I'm going to say sm extremely cringe about smiling friend and y'all have to promise not to beat me with baseball bats but I honestly have the teeny weeny itty bitty headcanon/theory/fcked brainrot thought about Charlie being a closeted gay man in deep denial

EXHIBIT A:

The whole random gay/homoerotic acts running gag with this dude

Meanwhile as of seasons 1~2 this dude has YET to show attraction to another female character despite openly doing it with dudes. The only two examples of it being with the Mustard coming onto him (which he bluntly rejects) and his girlfriend (she is irrelevant and he has never shown any form of affection towards her)

Regarding his girlfriend (apparently her name is Zoey at least according to some of the credits this is never mentioned in show) specifically- She just exists to be Charlie's girlfriend. She isnt even acknowledged by any of the cast. Theres a tickle in me bones that tells me this gal is just his beard

EXHIBIT B:

Charlie having a shit ton of internalized homophobia he's covering his ass for just legit makes a lot of sense for his character

Being both christian (this is a lot more present in S2) and his obvious insecurities with his masculinity.

Shit like him unironically using terms like "alpha male" and having to verbally compensate for not being what he thinks an "alpha male" is

^ Making excuses for why he didnt fight a dude 5x his size and strength, or him laughing at people getting scared but when he gets scared he gets defensive and pissed off

With that said I'm not trying theorize this as if it's a serious dramatic thing. Smiling Friends is the most unserious show ever. More like the subtext gives a bit more depth to Charlie's character. And it makes his actions an extra layer of comedically pathetic. Like dude acts like he knows the chicks meanwhile he kisses his male coworkers casually and has never kissed his supposed girlfriend he probably forgets exist sometimes

[oscconfessions]

"II should've ended in II17"

Well, if you watch through the whole show with your ears shut, completely missed that the whole message of the show, ignored the existence of 4 whole characters and a whole alien species then yeah, I GUESS II18 could work as the ending.

I swear, from both sides of this shit, from people who think that it should've ended on II17 and people who are happy with its current, everyone never mentions that fact that MEPHONE4 AND COBS WEREN'T THE ONLY ONES LEFT. Nobody ever mentions MePad, Bow, Dough, Bot, the SHIMMERS when talking about this. I feel like some of y'all don't give a fuck about the story and just it to have a sad ending for the sake of it.

"There weren't any major loss" MePhone4 lost MePad, most of the people he created are still stuck inside the MeAfterlife, Knife became a ghost, and 90% of the places he created are gone like the Hotel. While stuff like the Purgatory Mansion got rebuild, there's still alot of places that are just permanently gone. The ending is perfectly bittersweet.

I've also seen people compare Hfjone's ending and II17, i'm sorry but they are not at all similar, atleast with One, it perfectly fit with the tone of the whole show and honestly it was more ambiguous, meanwhile if II ended in 17, it would just throw every single thing that show had established out of the fucking window but ehhh who cares, season 2 was dark (It really isn't that dark) so a dark ending would perfectly fit, right??? I swear, some people act like Season 2 became Adventure Time-levels of dark when in reality, it just became more serious and story-driven.

Yeah, that's all I wanted to say.

TLDR: II17 would not work as the ending and people need to get a grip and realized that not everything needs to be sad and depressing.

.

[piracytheorist]

FINALLY

Thoughts on episode 2x01!

I'm so making a crack recap out of this. Idk if it's going to be this week, but I may have to skip all the other episodes up to this point XD

Ok for those of you who don't know, the bullet-in-butt date (which I can finally mention openly as it's not manga spoiler anymore!) was the only manga chapter that hadn't been adapted that I read from very early on, way before I decided to stay anime-only so I knew everything about it. So I expected the beginning. I actually like that we don't see Yor do her slaughter at that place. She's like a ghost, or a legend, as the short-lived survivor calls her.

Look at her! So cute, covered in the blood of her victims 😌

I do have to say, I was surprised by the amount of blood they showed. I think they actually put the violence up a notch in comparison to the previous season, bringing it much closer to the manga levels of violence.

It's also a bold choice to like, actually open the season with this. It's serious business and I appreciate that. I'm not too big on violence but I also don't like it when it's "purified" or whatever. We're watching a show where two of the main characters kill people left and right. Blood is a prerequisite at this point.

Anyway! GRANDE upgrade on the animation, oh my god! It's all in the little movements and additional "swerves" of the characters' forms. I don't have the time to make a gif now showing that but it's obvious they took the money they made the previous year and put a lot of it on animation budget! Love it!

Aaaaaaaand new music! Most of the new stuff is quirky and funny, perfect for Anya and Franky's shenanigans :D Looking forward to see what new pieces we'll get with this season!

I had some frail hope they would have titled the episode "Date with a Bullet in the Butt". Can you imagine. We were robbed. Robbed!

Ever since I read that chapter I went like, Yor says she treated the wound... does that mean she got the bullet out? Or is she actually walking with the bullet in her buttcheek all this time? I mean... it is called the "bullet-in-butt date" after all...

The way all of this could have been solved by Yor going like "I tripped down the stairs and fell on my butt and now it hurts to walk and sit". But then we wouldn't have this! It's the funny miscommunication that makes them, really <3

The way Anya worries about her! I felt a little sad for her because this is the first time she sees her mama so beaten down by a job, I think?

One of the ways you see the upgraded animation: the way Yor trembles as she straightens up after reassuring Anya, and then the dizzy walk to her room as she goes to rest. Awesome.

Yor just walks it off and Anya is like "Mama is actually immortal, wow" meanwhile Loid is losing his absolute shit

"WIFE IS SAD. THE WORLD IS ENDING. I SHOULDN'T HAVE ASKED HER TO GO GROCERY SHOPPING. I AM A HORRIBLE HUSBAND."

Oh, I adore the different colouring on the memory scene. I also love how the gossip trio just falls on Yor the moment she slips out that oh no they don't do all the conventional couple things!!

Dude is genuinely confused. BestTM SpyTM of WestalisTM, flabbergasted by a woman with social skills in the negatives.

It was eight in the morning. On a weekend. Yor was way too excited for the date she ran to get ready and they were out all day. My god. When am I gonna get my learning date with my emotionally constipated fake husbando

Twilight has a smug grin on his face as Franky accepts the cheque as payment to do chores. I love that addition!

As I love this

Franky grabbing Anya's hand and waving to them for her. They really knew how to handle an already funny chapter and use animation to add more humor to it!

Look at him, starting off so smug but then

He's truly an intelligence agent, trying to work with the information he has on hand. Since he doesn't have the information that Yor is injured, his plans are doomed to fail.

The way Franky is down with everything crazy Anya proposes. I love that duo.

I also liked the way they allowed Bond to sit this episode out, since that manga chapter takes place before the Doggy Crisis arc and Bond is not yet part of the family. I do have some thoughts about the timing of this episode but I'll get to that later.

And here we have the angst punch in the gut, as others talked about it, it's a point in Twilight's character to not see anything fun about the spy work that it's not even fun to play spy. Since one of the moments adding to that is an anime only scene (from the part where Anya makes secret codes) and the dialogue here is just slightly different from the same scene in the manga, it looks like it's a deliberate choice to make anime Loid more sensitive about this specific thing. Interesting!

I gotta say, it would be so easy to objectify Yor and her body with where her wound was. But even though they showed her in a pants-tight-enough-to-hurt-your-butt-wound situation, it was still pretty clear what the focus was. I really appreciate that.

Yor says no to the tight pants and Loid apologizes??? Why wasn't that in the translated version of the manga??

Like here especially, with the face they gave him and the way Eguchi delivered that line it was pretty clear that Yor's reaction made Loid feel like he crossed a line with what he told her. What happened in the manga translation???

VERY interesting picture choice for the movie poster! Ostania gots propaganda to do, after all!

I love how Anya fell asleep during the film while Franky cried his eyes out. Poor sap XD

And LMAO Anya seeing her parents leaving from the spa and trying to get Franky to move but he's too busy getting a massage! And then some added wackiness with Yor being so tense from her wound that she made a murder glare enough to scare a bear!

And Loid is still like DAFUQ AM I DOING WRONG

I like though, that he is not blaming Yor at all. He doesn't consider her irrational or ungrateful for the date, he just sees it as him not having done enough research... and in actual reality, he doesn't have all the data needed, specifically the whole "bullet-in-butt" thing. I'm sure he would have planned differently had he known that XD

Poor Franky XD at least he's finding ways to vent XD

The way they animated Yor's reluctance to sit was great, lol. I'm not sure it was clear she was "hover-sitting" but it was funny in any case.

I loved the tension when we saw the surviving Red Circus member! It was handled so well dropped right in the middle of a funny episode.

This had no right being this funny. But also. Anya is imagining a "default" kind of guy because even though she's reading the guy's mind she doesn't know how he looks like, so she's just making up a face to play out her imagination. Great detail from the manga already.

Anya imagines Loid saying he'll abandon her if he finds out about Yor being an assassin. That's another angsty punch in the gut but also for another post probably XD

The timing here feels a little weird. This chapter was supposedly long ago, when the family was still getting used to living together. Franky sees Anya worried and goes like "Even though they're a fake family, she worries so much?" and seeing that in the anime, practically two episodes before this one he went like "Hey do you love your dad and mom" and she said she does... idk maybe in the adaptation process some things could be left out so that they can make more sense.

How did neither Yor nor Loid suspect something wrong with the suddenly very thick and muddy cocktail she was offered?

Once again, upgraded animation as Yor drinks the pufferfish poison! I love it! Hopefully it'll keep being that good for the rest of the season :D

I remember the tension I felt when I first read the manga in that moment. I was like oh no! And then I was Anya

Gremlin Anya is back and I love it

Anya goes ahead and Home-Alones too close to the sun and fucking makes a bomb. That's a whole other level. You really don't want this girl turning evil, she'll take over the world XD

She should have seen her entrance as Thorn Princess' ally! She was epic!

There was some violence censorship there, as the bad guy in the manga is shown a little burned and bleeding after the explosion, but in the anime he's just... ruffled or whatever.

Idk they probably decided it would be too much to show that a child caused such violence XD

So does Loid go on thinking that Yor was in a super bad mood and then everything went away as soon as she downed a glass of cocktail? I also just realized she just went bottoms up on it, lol.

The episode was great and the date was funny and cute at the end. But.

GIVE ME BLUSHING LOID YOU COWARDS. SHOW ME THAT BLUSH. YOU GAVE US "HIS SMILE HIDES A HINT OF REAL EMOTION" YOU CAN AFFORD GIVING US A BLUSH. *screams* *eats drywall*

The date ends well and with fun! Then the monster wakes up again the next day.

Loid's got a lot to learn. Who knew humans can be complicated!

Overall, a great introduction to the second season! I'm happy we got the bullet-in-butt date and I'm so excited to venture into new stuff that I know next to nothing about :D

[tevanbuckley]

If you could take Tims place for 8b how would the rest of the season play out? Would you put Tommy and Buck back together and if so, how?

oh where to begin...

tbh i think the bucktommy stuff is the easiest to fix, because the biggest problem (outside of needlessly losing an interesting new character) is it puts buck back to square one, so it could be solved by pretty much any variation of them getting back together. personally, i think the cleanest way would be to have tommy reach out after the kidnapping. would that be the most satisfying resolution? no, but it would stick with the theme of tommy showing up for buck and could be nested within the maddie storyline without taking up a ton of limited screen space. then i'd have buck actually think about his sexuality for thirty seconds (and say the word bisexual).

eddie is difficult bc his arc is dependent on how much truth there is to the speculation of ryan wanting out, but either way for the love of god PLEASE bring up shannon! my thing with that situation has always been eddie's refusal to accept that for all intents and purposes he didn't lose his wife, he lost his ex-wife, and i think having him finally grapple with that would be a good way to conclude his arc (whether he moves to texas or not).

athena is...frustrating, i think there's maybe something in her training new recruits. it would certainly give a bit more structure to her storylines than "random cop shit." i know a certain amount of copaganda is inevitable but 911 is especially bad for it (and imo has actually gotten worse over the years), partly because they refuse to take an actual stance (like why tf was the lady who got shot a sovereign citizen? the audience isn't stupid we know that's not the average victim of police violence). in theory the training stuff could help illustrate how policing is rotten all the way down the chain and potentially challenge some of athena's beliefs (i will be shocked if this happens)

for bobby i'd bring back some of the stuff that was touched on last season. he was an active suicide risk for christ's sake and are we really gonna drop all the tragic backstory about his family and then do nothing with it? perhaps his brother reaches out and causes problems or passes away.

madney and henren meanwhile i fear are a bit of lost cause this season. presumably madney is gonna be wrapped up with the kidnapping/pregnancy shit, which again forces chim into the position of "maddie's worried husband," don't get me wrong i think we'll get some stellar acting from kenny (and jlh) but "madney being sad," is not particularly interesting at this point.

similarly all the really juicy stuff with mara/ortiz/gerrard has already been pissed away — could've been especially interesting if hen and chim were still on the outs during the kidnapping but oh well — if tim's serious about wanting to "blow stuff up," one way to do that would be having hen consider a move to captain at another station. which (assuming they get s9) could even facilitate bobby taking a promotion down the line and her coming back to the 118 in his place.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2024 Anime Overview: Mayonaka Punch and SHY Season 2

Mayonaka Punch

Masaki runs a successful YouTube (or ‘NewTube’ as they call it) channel with her two friends, however arguments arise, and she ends up punching one of her friends during a stream. She’s dropped from the channel and the internet turns against her, dashing hopes of starting over. Meanwhile, a vampire, Live, is dreaming about a beautiful woman offering blood to her and she discovers the girl of her dreams is Masaki. So Masaki strikes a dangerous deal with Live so she can start a brand new YouTube channel with the vampire as the star...

Canceled Youtuber x Loser Vampire yuri. This is the kind of shit I watch anime for.

Do you support women’s wrongs? Are you an appreciator of female characters who are loveable shit heads? This is the show for you! I love that Masaki is absolutely in the wrong, her punch is not justified and the show never pretends it is, she’s unabashedly selfish and the show loves to point that out, yet she still has a lot of pathos, and you really begin to root for her and her budding friendships (or possibly more with Live?) The four vampires Masaki team up with (and one vampire desperately trying to keep them in line) are all unapologetic disasters, and they make a fantastic ensemble comedy.

The dynamic between to group and the way they form strong bonds with each other through the chaos is fun to watch, and almost every vampire gets a nice focus episode where you come to feel for them. Fu’s episode is a highlight here, being so devastatingly sad and sweet I believe the people who say they cried over it. While the show never gets that intense again, we do get to see these ridiculous assholes put themselves in wacky situations for the sake of clicks, from stranding themselves on an island or getting in an ill advised garlic eating challenge.

But the core relationship is obviously Live and Masaki. Live is downright horny for Masaki’s blood, from the moment she imagines Masaki coming to her in the nude in a dream. The blood=sexual lust metaphor is...incredibly thinly veiled. Masaki is completely willing to take advantage of the down-bad vampire, even seductively baring her shoulder at one point to make Live do what she wants.

But of course, it’s not all horny antics…we slowly watch Masaki warm up to Live, meanwhile Live come to love Masaki as a person, going into a depression whenever she and Masaki are separated for a while, only to be all blushes and on her way to confessing when she gets a phone call before Masaki cuts her off. Masaki helps Live and the other vampires come together, and the vampires help Masaki out of her creative breakdown in return.

And Masaki really is going through it, getting so much criticism from and hate from the internet she doesn’t feel she can show her face again. She did do the bad thing, but it’s hard to not feel sorry for her when all the criticism beats her down, and the show subtly gets across that the performative internet outrage accomplishes nothing but being detrimental to the target’s mental health (and how often the target is not an evil irredeemable person). It’s great that Masaki is by no means the “perfect” victim, but the show still invites you to empathize with her. The way the comments are represented as swirling around her head wherever she goes, forming a cloud of smog she can barely see through—it really captures what that's like, as someone who's also been bogged down by internet drama

But the show also doesn’t group in all the negative criticism as vile bullying either, showing how some people can think their comments aren’t that serious, and think of it as regular criticism or playful ribbing that's tone gets lost over the internet…the show seems to understand internet (or at least YouTube) culture a lot better than a lot of anime do, showcasing the way it brings out creativity and comradery and also the way it can make you forget the joy of creating in your desire to please the fickle masses, and the way net users can twist and misconstrue things.

I thought the finale was very strong, but I’ll admit a tiny part of me was hoping for romantic catharsis between Live and Masaki or at least something more explicit and charged than what came before, and yeah, I didn’t get that. But I fully expected not to get that, as the many hits I’ve taken over the years as a yuri soldier have toughened me into the cynical woman I am today. Aaaand the show makes it pretty obvious they’re trying to leave room for a sequel, so that softens the disappointment a bit. I’ll also admit I was a little disappointed some angsty backstory that was teased ended up…not amounting to much, to put it in a non-spoilery way. I think the direction the show chose to go in for the finale was for the best and perfectly fitting for the story it was telling, especially considering the time constraints, but man, I am a sucker for some angsty gay backstory so I couldn’t help imagining could-have-beens.

However, it was a great series all the way through, and I’d love to get that sequel, even if I’m not holding my breath for all my yuri dreams to come true. It’s a solid, funny, well-animated good time with some messy, relatable adult women, many of whom are incompetent gay vampires, and honestly, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Shy Season 2

The second season of Shy was a disappointment. While the first (review here) was a little rough around the edges at times but had a lot of charm and a strong emotional arc, this season’s conflict was extremely repetitive and dragged out. The show is suddenly about ninja family drama, which would have been fine if the ninja characters added something new to the mix, but they really don’t. Fights go on and on with the same sentiments repeated over and over again by multiple characters. The comedy sometimes feels awkward when the next minute the show tries to get you to take the goofy villains seriously. The show has a big cheesy save-this-person-with-the-power-of-friendship anime finale…only to suddenly decide next episode “whoops they weren’t saved after all that was all for nothing tragedy time now” YOU CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS SHOW, it isn’t a tragic twist, it just feels like you wasted our time.

The anime’s strained resources are really showing this season too- it held together reasonably well in the first season despite being a clearly modest production, but is more and more off-model throughout this season, with a lot more obvious shortcuts.

It’s such a shame, because Shy was a female superhero show with so much potential and endearing characters and huge yuri undertones, so I wanted it to do well. There are still moments of charm, but if the writing stays this level, not even a hero can save it.

[annabelle-creart]

Reader: Hey, Drawer, have you seen Writer- WHEN DID THAT HAPPENED?!

Drawer: what?

Reader: THAT!!

Drawer: …since a week?

Writer: Hi, Reader- Drawer! You actually did it!

Drawer: indeed. How is it?

Wrath: Blades’ so fucked up with that character choice, oh my gah

Drawer: oh, shut up!

Close ups, Image References and some fun facts/history under cut

History did I said? Well, yes! (This will maybe be long)

Season 1

First Act

In the big city of Griffin Rock emerged two towns united by a bridge: Piltover and Zaun. Almost Everything was cute and nice. Until it wasn't

Kade and Cody's mom literally just died, so, her best friend in the world, Charlie, finally seeing he fucked up INCREDIBLY with that attack, he decided to take care of the two boys

Years later these boys would grow up, a lot stupid, but they were just kids

Kade, Dani, Graham and Cody one day went to Piltover to steal some things because Frankie, Cody's best friend and Ezra's daughter, passed the fact that house had special things

Wrong move, something made boom and they had to run as much as could, almost being caught but NO! but then they were caught by another kids (idiots) and Cody drowned all the things they had stealed to the sea... fuck

But what else could they do? So, they went to home, to Zaun, shitty place but it was okay

Meanwhile, Hector (Heatwave) literally just saw how part of his investigation went to shit because of fucking teens that stealed his things. Assholes

Because of the explosion, enforcers had to investigate, and because what he was investigating was technically ilegal, so, he got kicked out of Academy and with 0 financial resources of his best friend's parents

Hayley Kiraman, Hector's best friend, wanted to help, but she was still young to have anything on her favor to help him. And on the edge of self-homicide, an angel came: Vernand (Boulder), they were deeply fascinated by Hector's investigation, so, despite everything, Vernand decided to help him, and that's the story of how they became boyfriends- JUST FRIENDS... yes...

Meanwhile, because of serious shit regarding the explosion, Ezra and Charlie got interrogated, and they were about to fight with a police-woman when BOOM, a weird strange human beast attacked Ezra and killed him in front of Frankie's eyes, same did to the police-woman and took Charlie away, to bring him to Thadeus Moroco, Charlie's old friend that now dedicated to Shimmer (drugs) buissneses on Zaun, thanks to Chase's (Sevika) betrayal, she wanted to change everything, but made it wrong

Meanwhile, Hector and Vernand finally discovered how to make Hector's magic shit work, so, they sneeked into the Academy, discovering Queenie (Quickshadow) by accident (yes, the pale-skinned are now black and the black girl is british), she's noxian and a very important lady, and interested in Hector's work, she helped them sneek on the place, and yes, they were sucessful, starting a really good friendship between the three of them (and a threesome- I MEAN!!-)

Meanwhile, Kade, Dani and Graham went to save Charlie and almost were sucessful too

But Cody didn't knew how to wait and went with fucking explosives and made everything blow up... including Dani, Graham, Charlie and Chase's arm...

Kade gets mad when he realizes it was Cody's fault and after a good punch, he went out and leave him, calling Moroco's attention, so, Cody seeks comfort in him and finds it (this will end SO SO wrong, holy shit) and now Kade can't come back because he was kidnapped by an asshole of a police man to get arrested

You already know what happens later, I resumed the first act so you can see the paralels and shit, the rest as I develop this will be more dynamic and funny, I promise

And that's all by now, bye bye!!

[screamlet]

9-1-1 Tag Game

tagged by @rcmclachlan and @sorryimlatecapt

Rules: answer your opinion on these nine topics, then tag nine (ish) other people to give their opinion as well

what's kind of sad about writing this out is that i think none of the things below apply to 8A, which has been such a fucking horror and a slog to get through. ugh. anyway.

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Favorite Character: peter krause. no but for real, i love peter krause and i have forever. i think bobby is the character they've put their back into over the course of the series, and then actually succeeding in making him a real presence and character is peter krause. i still think about 4x09 and the drunk driver who caused the pile-up (thank you for the reminder @rcmclachlan) "bobby, you are nothing like that woman" "i am exactly like that woman. the day i forget that will be a very dangerous day." ugh bobby FOREVER!!!!

(runner up is season 1 buck, my beautiful nightmare boy, my god, i love him forever.)

Character You Relate to the Most: the buckley siblings, like, as a unit. i have a younger brother, we have not been through All That Trauma but we've had our own, and sometimes tv and movie siblings are so mean and mean-spirited that i just turn it off. but buck and maddie (especially in those Buckley Family episodes) shatter me, i love them so much. they love each other as family and like each other as people and i deeply relate to that. WHERE IS MADDIE BEGINS.

Favorite Episode: i reblogged this last night because 4x4 and 4x5 (the daniel reveal, buck begins) are Absolutely It. that gifset was what got me to start watching because who was the beautiful now-bisexual man that yelled so good???? and ugh, listen, tolkien/the silmarillion was one of my first fandoms, i fucking love backstory and LORE, just give it to me!!!!!!!!!

Hottest Take: i think they've wasted eddie every single second he's been on screen. have they ever known what they wanted to do with him? have they ever come close? i would love even one or two of the things ryan g. says about eddie tackling toxic masculinity to make it into the show, ever. give me anything!!!!! i want some canon crumbs!!!!!

meanwhile: i reread this shannon meta once in a while and it's a glimpse into a character and dynamic that would have been amazing to explore as part of eddie's story. hey. give me this fucking story. give me anything like this. GOD. what a waste.

Favorite Lone Star Character: ummmm the handsome gentlemen who are married. them. (i think i saw half of s1 of LS and got distracted, then haven't gone back to it, but i support those men and their homosexuality!!! god what you have done for those tv gays-)

Favorite Ship: yeaaaah that's bucktommy for me

Most Underrated Character: are any of them underrated??? i want more karen. i always want more karen. KAREN, MY BEAUTIFUL SCIENCE LESBIAN WIFE, COME BACK TO ME. in a world where someone gave me millions of dollars to play with, there would be a three-part opener where karen and tommy are at some aerospace conference or whatever, and then Disaster Strikes and they have to team up and save the day from the inside. they put on goggles and flight suits and do some crazy shit in a shuttle. vote for me.

Most Underrated Ship: bobby/athena/married hijinks :( i was promised (among other things!!!!!!!!!!!!) that after the serious cruise ship stuff they'd get to have a little fun!!! WHERE'S MY LITTLE FUN.

One Thing You’d Love to See: good writing

tagging: who hasn't done this yet??? do iiiiit talk at me @geddyqueer @chamacafeahorrible @dadvans @iphyslitterator @stars-inthe-sky @thetouchof118

[moonshynecybin]

hyped to find out if bez’s very transparent desire to befriend marc/make marc fond of him will win him over(or at least get him remembered) by the end of the season. will it get him judged by vale? who knows! definitely not bez hes just doing whatever he fancies

i dont even know if bez wants to be friends i think its something much more subliminally horny and intertwined with like. a need to be liked or at least held in SOME regarded by marc. like i think when bez was doing his hungover postrace/gala/test instagram trawl after valencia 2023 he saw marc's ice brittle PR smile say i dont have time for that person. next. to a reporter dead fucking serious like bez was NOBODY, and the bottom dropped out of his stomach stone cold. what do you mean he doesnt like me or care about meeee??? energy. marc didnt even do him the dignity of shit talking him to the press :(

and now hes all aflutter because hes actually fr battling THE marc marquez (even WITH the rivalry blinders on its like. fighting with an icon of the sport. the same sport youre obsessed with. truly. hes real and hes here and im good enough to be on a podium with him which means IM good type insanity) anddddd the postrace endorphins slash puppy dog tail wag need 2 please instincts took over and he started to truly smooth over valencia in his brain like the memory erasure device in the men in black movies. beep. never happened. crucially he DOES want to win him over in the sense that he wants to be NOTED and RESPECTED. HORNILY. meanwhile marc is adding bez's actions to his carefully curated mental catalog of Enemy Infractions to Be Noted at Later Dates on Various Racetracks

[hawkinsunderground]

every time i start to feel like i'm deluding myself about byler happening, i give myself a reality check using the classic 'if they were all straight' scenario, and then i stop doubting. if everything remained the same--same relationships, same dynamics with friends--with the only difference in the show being that Will was a girl, it's almost painfully obvious. And because all a m/f couple has to do is be in the vicinity of each other to get shipped, byler probably would have been more popular even in the earlier seasons.

Mike spending an entire season right by his girl best friend's side, desperate to help and fighting to stay near her as she slowly gets possessed. Then at the end of it all he gives her a whole speech crying and saying that choosing to be friends with her was the best thing he's ever done? I guarantee you even with milkvan developing a bunch of people would have jumped on the byler train, and more others would be thinking that Mike and Willow or whatever would eventually get together later on, with warring opinions on who the better ship is.

Mike neglecting his girl best friend who is now hinted to have a crush on him in s3 while trying to get over being kidnapped and everything she went through? Spending all his time with Eleven even though byler had just been so close the season prior. There's no way at least some ppl wouldn't be thinking romance. The whole 'Mike's probably repressing his feelings and pushing Will away because he's scared' idea that a lot of bylers believe suddenly wouldn't be a reach anymore if it was a straight pairing.

Sectioning the two of them off to have their little cali romance all the while hinting at serious relationship troubles and conflicting character arcs for Mike and Eleven. Meanwhile the shrouded love confession from 'Willow', the obvious flirting. You can't look me in the eyes and tell me that people wouldn't be losing their shit during the entire apology scene if Will was a girl. The flirty smiles, the "I didn't say it." "You didn't have to.", the intimacy of his apology to 'Willow' in comparison to the apology from Mike to Lucas in s1. Along with all of the other scenes where Mike is clearly different with 'Willow' compared to the rest of his friends, he's always near her, etc.

Atp I feel like the general consensus would be that they're setting up a Melvin breakup and Byler endgame. Mike putting his hand on Willow's shoulder and promising they'll get through this together while literally showing Midleven crashing and burning in the same scene? In one of the final scenes? You're gonna tell me that people wouldn't be thinking along the lines of romance, with the love triangle pointing in byler's favor?

Mike's 'love' confession would come across as the lie that it was and a lot of people would probably be saying that Mike is not confronting his true feelings. They would be drawing the same comaprisons we are--that it didn't even work and the gates opened, that his (girl) best friend had to tell him and guide him to confess to Eleven, with them finally as close as they were around s2 again and Melvin not even really getting back together, with clear issues still present in the finale. The direction they are going to take things in s5 would become obvious without the straight goggles blinding people to some of the most obvious character and relationship arcs that have been done a million times.

The only difference would be the lack of struggle due to homophobia and would probably be more centered on Mike's inability to confront his feelings due to a fear of messing things up between himself and Will, along with losing el because he doesn't love her the way she wants him to, keeping to the core of his character in either scenario

You're gonna tell me that if people saw this and it was mike's girl best friend sitting next to him, they wouldn't be jumping at a romance arc between the two of them?

or his reaction to them being friends again, a smile and voice we've never seen used with any other character, noticably different?

the physical proximity, the fact that they seem equally flirtatious and affected by the other despite Will being the only one with confirmed feelings atp it's too obvious--if it were a girl sitting next to mike people would definitely be drawing some conclusions Anyway, byler endgame

[phatburd]

For shits and giggles, I fed the idea of Napoleon’s Marshals done Bridgerton-style into ChatGPT. It started kind of normal, and then went further off the rails deeper I got into the first season. I felt this gem should be shared with everyone. Enjoy. I will be posting one episode a day, if I can remember it.

Title: The Marshal’s Court

Genre: Romantic Dramedy (In the style of Bridgerton)

Setting: The First French Empire, Napoleon’s Marshals as the central characters

Season 1, Episode 1: “The Batons and the Blows”

Episode Synopsis:

The episode opens in 1804, a glittering ceremony at the Tuileries Palace, where the newly created Marshals of the Empire gather to swear their oaths and receive their Marshal’s Batons. This distinction marks their official ascent to the highest ranks of Napoleon’s army. Most of these men have fought together for years—some since the Italian campaigns—bound by loyalty, shared triumphs, and bitter rivalries.

Opening Scene:

The lavish atmosphere hums with tension. Each Marshal’s uniform is pristine, their batons shining in the candlelight as they await their moment of glory. But beneath the surface, there’s more than just military ambition on display—old grudges, simmering jealousies, and complicated friendships run deep. The camera pans to Marshal Davout, standing stiffly near Murat and Bessières, already casting suspicious glances at Murat’s flamboyant attire.

Marmont, denied a baton, leans in to Junot, whispering, “If Bessières can be made a marshal, then anyone can.” The camera catches Bessières overhearing the remark, his face darkening with wounded pride. Junot smirks, but there’s something unsettling about his grin—hints of his impulsive, reckless nature already showing, though his more troubling mental decline remains subtle for now. The men are unaware that Napoleon himself watches them closely from a corner, ready to intervene in their personal lives as much as their professional ones.

Lannes exchanges a glance with Bessières, their once-close friendship clearly fractured, a remnant of the Consular Guard budget scandal that saw them at odds. Lannes’ temper is barely restrained as he grips his baton, every movement purposeful and aggressive, setting the tone for his character as a man of passion and action.

Meanwhile, fan-favorite moments develop:

• Murat swaggers with confidence, already half in his mind imagining himself as a king, while Bessières watches him with conflicted admiration. Fans begin noticing lingering glances between the two, the first on-screen hints of the clandestine romance that has been a subject of fan theories for months. The ship, known online as Bessimu, starts gaining traction.

• Ney, standing near Soult, mutters something under his breath about Soult’s ambition, adding fuel to their historically documented rivalry. Soult glares but remains silent, plotting.

Junot’s erratic behavior hints at future struggles. He interrupts a serious conversation between Davout and Masséna, challenging them to a random duel of wit that leaves everyone bewildered and concerned about his judgment.

As the ceremony draws to a close, Napoleon makes his rounds, offering calculated words of encouragement (and veiled meddling) to each Marshal. He gives Lannes a sharp look, clearly intent on sending him to Portugal soon, much to Lannes’ irritation. Napoleon is later seen commenting to Duroc, his loyal aide, that “These men will tear each other apart without me. Just as I planned.”

Fan Reactions:

The episode sends fans into a frenzy. The Lannes fan club, already upset over his eventual historical fate, celebrates his brash, sword-banging diplomacy. #LannesLives trends on social media, with fans demanding a fictional rewrite to spare him from his historical death. Bessimu shippers are overjoyed by the subtle but unmistakable romantic tension between Murat and Bessières, creating a storm of theories about where their storyline is headed.

Online debates about the accuracy of Marmont’s snark, the portrayal of Soult’s cunning, and Davout’s icy demeanor dominate forums, with some fans pointing out that the show has taken slight creative liberties, but to thrilling dramatic effect.

Historical Easter Eggs:

• Marmont’s bitter comment about Bessières’ promotion references real-life tensions in the ranks.

• The Lannes-Bessières fallout, stemming from the Consular Guard budget scandal, is rooted in true events and marks a key point in their strained relationship.

• Napoleon’s meddling in his marshals’ lives, especially his push for marriages of convenience, is a real-life tactic he used to secure alliances, adding layers of historical drama to the romantic subplots.

Next Episode Teasers:

• Murat is seen leaving Bessières’ tent at night, a secretive and tense interaction that leaves viewers speculating on how their relationship will evolve. Will Bessières continue to wrestle with his devout Catholic guilt, or will his heart take the reins?

• Lannes is summoned by Napoleon to discuss his new diplomatic assignment in Portugal. Will Lannes’ fiery temper clash with his new role, or will his sword-banging diplomatic style pay off?

• Junot’s mental decline begins to surface in more overt ways—he challenges Marmont to a duel in a fit of impulsive rage. How will his peers react as his once celebrated impulsiveness becomes more concerning?

• The brewing rivalry between Davout and Bernadotte reaches new heights as Bernadotte schemes to undermine Davout’s position. Sparks fly at a banquet where both men attend with their wives.

• Historical nod: The Marshal’s next military campaign looms, with the possibility of them fighting side by side—or against each other.

[king-of-wrath]

Analysis

Naturally, spoilers below

Throughout the trial in Mastermind, Hell's racial caste system was on full display. Satan openly stated that Goetia are "valuable" and for that reason, Stolas would NOT be executed---despite being convicted of the same crime Blitzo was initially accused of and was barely a second away from being executed for

While Blitzo's execution was filmed publicly "to remind all imp-kind why our [Sins] power should never be challenged", the trial itself wasn't recorded. As much as the trial was an obvious sham, Blitzo wasn't being made into a spectacle until Satan gave the guilty verdict. But even though Satan decided guilt without seeing any evidence---just going off Andrealphus' dramatic claims and Striker lying his filthy rat ass off---and presided over a complete miscarriage of justice, the demons in the audience were just as responsible as Satan

When Ozzie and Bee asked for Blitzo to be heard, Satan didn't immediately refuse them. He instead put it to a vote, asking "Who wants to hear hours of testimony?" and "Who wants to kill this imp bastard and get home in time for lunch?". Though Satan was clearly in favor of execution, he didn't decide it himself or give himself a vote. Apart from Ozzie, Bee and IMP, every other demon in that courtroom said "Forget about testimony, kill the imp". While it can be reasoned that the audience were all Goetia of varying rank, it was their collective apathy that spelled doom for Blitzo

But Ozzie and Bee didn't oppose either the ruling or the sentence. While Ozzie frowned at his phone, reading pleas from Fizzarolli begging him to do something, he didn't and neither did Bee. Even when Satan stood and proclaimed "I am the law", the other Sins present---including Ozzie and Bee---reaffirmed it with "He is the law". Meanwhile, they only showed true disagreement when Satan claimed he had ruled Hell before Lucifer's fall (which Vivzie herself went on Twitter to confirm "was full of shit")

Granted, there are reasons why Ozzie and Bee wouldn't publicly jump to Blitzo's defense (especially if romantic relationships between high and low-class citizens is a serious taboo) and in the next episode, they might appeal to Satan. They might convince Satan to view imps as more than mere servants and/or prove that Andrealphus and Stella are the real criminals, but we'll have to wait and see

When Blitzo was released, walking home from the courthouse, imps waved and cheered at him. Some even held a banner saying "We <3 Blitzo" outside their window. It's likely that when Blitzo screamed "All I did was try and rise above the place you all [royals] forced us [imps] into", it resonated with them. Of course, Blitzo also showed a sense of honor by taking full responsibility to save the rest of IMP---effectively sacrificing himself for imp-kind, in a way

But when the crowds saw Stolas (self-proclaimed mastermind of the scheme, the Goetic noble who used and abused IMP), they threw shit at him. As far as those imps seem concerned, Blitzo was truly innocent and got saved at the last second by a sudden confession from the actual criminal. However, they weren't calling for Satan's downfall or the abolition of the caste system. They may have only viewed this moment as "a near miss"---an instance where an innocent imp nearly got axed, but because of "scheming Goetia" rather than a serious flaw in the justice system or anything Satan did "wrong"

While outright rebellion could POTENTIALLY happen in future episodes (since Vivzie has said that she intends for Helluva to be a 5-season project), the imps don't seem very energized to do so right this moment