#or by cutting 1/3rd of the plot points

[jupitermelichios]

the creators haven't said anything about it afaik, but having now finished arcane s2, i'm absolutely certain they had planned for 3 more seasons, and got told pretty late into pre-production that it was only going to be 1.

you can even see pretty clearly where the season breaks would be - s2 would end with the vander/warwick reveal, s3 would end with the attack on victor's commune, and s4 would be the robot apocalypse stuff. (alternatively it might have been 2 seasons, in which case you could break it at either warwick or the commune, depending on how much time they were planning to spend on the multiverse stuff)

you wouldn't even need to add all that much completely new content to make it work, there's so much stuff that's fudged or skipped over for time, and multiple montage sequences that could be entire episodes by themselves. (in the case of martial law being implemented in xorn, multiple entire episodes). there's also moments and characters that feel like they should be entire episodes or major storylines that just aren't - vander's flashbacks really feel to me like they were once an entire episode. likewise, i cannot believe there was never a plan for an episode focussing entirely on isha, she has the weird quality of being super important and yet a total stranger to the audience at the same time. I can't believe we weren't supposed to get to know her properly.

my biggest evidence for this theory is the black rose stuff, which just screams 'multi season subplot that got condensed into a couple of episodes'. it has '30 volume manga gets 90 minute movie adaptation' energy. there's no set up for it, which i assume was going to be a season long arc that got cut entirely, then mel is captured and escapes in the course of 2 scenes, which again feels like it was probably a season long, or at least multi-episode, arc being condensed. that shot of mel walking out of the prison now with magic? you cannot tell me that wasn't at one point a season finale moment. then we never actually get a satisfying answer for how ambessa is involved or how mel's brother died, which is compounded by the fact that we really have no idea how magic works in this world or what being a mage actually means in any meaningful sense, all of which could have been very easily solved if we'd had a season, or at least a bunch of episodes, in which mel figures out how to navigate now being magic and learns to use her powers.

there's also so many instances of the show assuming we remember everything from s1 despite the multiyear gap between seasons in ways that are frankly just bad writing, but which make total sense if you assume they're desperately trying to find anything to cut or condense for time. is not reminding the audience of jayce's magic bracelet backstory before it becomes plot-relevant bad writing? yes. is it one of the first things i'd cut if i was condensing this severely? also yes.

like i said, i don't know if that's what happened. but as much as i hate good shows getting screwed over by networks, i kind of hope it is, if only because i don't want to believe these writers are capable of making those mistakes without outside interferance.

[yourcutelittlegayfriend]

TRANSFORMERS ONE X READER

Old Title was "Three Birds on a Wire" then got change for general (just letting you guys know)

Not really a fic I'm planning to do anytime soon but it's something that was cooking in my head after the 5th(?) time I've watch Transformers one and I just need to put it somewhere before I lose my mind.

Warnings: few headcannons, angst, Out of Characters moments, Panic attack, mentions of death, torture and familial loss, Bad English/Typos (We die like real AutoBots), sudden change of POV from 3rd to You (Watch out when the sentences either says You or Me/I).

Note: Long ass fic, Implied Reader is a Cybertronian Femme Bot, There's few weird plot holes but Reader is born from a Carrier while some are born from Forging (Transformers lore is fucking up my brain and it shows) and some dialogue might not be accurate since I'm writing this in like 1-2am and lots of cuts basing on the movie.

Pairings: (Main) D-16/Megatron x Reader, (Slight possibly maybe) Orion Pax/Optimus Prime x Reader, (Mentions) Megatronus Prime x Solus Prime and (Jokingly put for plot but like only a pinch) Sentinel Prime x Reader

--

From the Beginning it was always the three of you together, D-16 the stick to protocol one but always finds himself yielding to the shenanigans of Orion Pax, who was the more taking risk bot and the one who always makes trouble and get to be scolded by You, you who was the one looking out for the two bot everyday and takes care of them when the two of them both get caught together.

Everyday in the mines was tiresome and Dangerous frequently taking life or cause more harm to the miners from unstable minings, Cogless bots who were told to be the lifeline of the city and where the only point of being online was to provide energon everyday.

But it was tolerable when you're with the two, especially with your sparkmate D-16 who tries his best to make you happy everday, Giving you compliments and find you valuable scraps to use for things you build after you confess to seeing Solus Prime as your idol and D-16 who admires Megatronus can't help but feel like it was fate that you two love the primes who has the closes relationship together.

You and Orion Pax has the same spark to learn about different knowledge and discoveries which in turn gives you a chance to invent/build stuff and using Orion as your personal test dummy and Orion who just let's it happened as long as you help him get to the archives and not get more scoldings from D-16 since your the only one who could really stop him.

Life was simple, repetitive but happy nonetheless until-

----[0]----

"Second Place isn't that bad-" D-16 reasoned before getting cut off by racing bot who drove/flew by.

Laying on the track I laugh when it happened as I hold my leg that was almost ripped from my socket when we roughly landed.

Now sitting on Medbay after Ratchet took care of our injuries I sat in between the two as they bicker to one another making me shake my head.

"Ok that's enough-" but before I can push D away from Orion a tall black painted femme bot appeared from the open MedDoors and scanned us.

Soon as she scanned us Sentinel Prime appeared shocking us, He called the two bots before noticing me who was still struggling from standing since my leg was newly wielded.

"Please my dear don't strain yourself hahaha" Sentinel said before suddenly holding my arms and gently sat me back to the chair, I can feel D-16 stare so I looked at him and laid a servo on his arm as he side-eye the prime before nodding and sit back a little closer to me.

----[1]----

After getting forcefully sent by Darkwing to the lower levels and meeting B-127, a sweet bot who was probably a little younger than us is helping us get to the surface after finding the distressed signal.

Getting to the train was easy but with Elita-1 discovering us became a little more harder than we thought.

Arriving at the surface we admired the beautiful sceneries with the terrain simingly terraforming on it's own that is until one behind us burst the train and throw us off.

D-16 quickly grab me and the two of us hold to one another as we crash in the ground, a few moments he woke me up and help me stand as we perfectly timed seeing Orion getting Right hooked by Elita-1

----[2]----

Arriving at the cave we saw the offline bodies of the primes laying around with this organic stuff covering them showing how long they have been here......waiting.

Finding Alpha Trion and putting him online as he told us the truth was the most spark breaking thing you have ever felt in your life.

"He......he took our cogs?....w-why? I-i....what about the once born from Carriers?! surely he-.....he wouldn't right?". I asked the old prime who just looked at me with sadness.

"N-no......so all this time.....I thought my carrier......I thought she left me....i-i..." I turn away and kneel to a boulder shaking in sorrow now knowing how cruel Sentinel really was, Killing Carriers with new sparklings for their T-cogs.

D-16 wasn't really doing well either all our life and for the 50 cycles of Cybertron and Iacoon City living under a lie of a fake prime.

I was shaking and almost to a point of breaking down, realiving all the loss we have endure and the miners I have to painstakingly tried to save or build scrap prosthetics to the servos, arms, legs or pedels they loss in mining, all were sacrificed for nothing.

The rest were fighting until D-16 heard be gasping for pain as they look and see me holding my chasis as I try to breath through my vents.

My sparkmate quickly race to me and tried to calm me down as he holds my servos and leaned his helm on mine.

"All!......all this time!... all those energons!....everyone!...FOR 50 CYCLES!!-" I screamed and gasp as D-16 shush me and whispered as his optics shining a more orange hue looks into mine.

"He'll pay for what he did to us, to me and to you" He harshly spat as he laid a servo on my cheek as he tilts his helm as I nod.

He helps me stand up as we look to Alpha Tron and received the T-cogs of the older primes, coincidentally I received Solus Prime's T-cog.

As we all upgraded and slightly got bigger, I hear a gasp and turn to see D and Orion looking at me.

"W-what? do I look bad?". I asked as I tried to look at my new form.

"No! you uh look-" Orion tried to say but D beat him to it.

"You....you look just like her.....Solus Prime that is". D looked at me with those optics that I knew so much it's colors slightly lighting from it's orange tinged to yellow before going back.

----[3]----

Running away and trying out our T-cogs me and the rest tried to find away to get back to the city when we got caught and held in a High Guards hidden HQ.

Orion tried to get them on ourside but D was pulling me away to leave as I feel his annoyance and anger through our bond.

"D- wait let's-". but D snap when the guards stop him and he turns back to StarScream and tried to fight him.

It happened too fast and the next thing I know was D aiming a cannon to StarScream who was begging for mercy.

He turned to the rest and pledge his revenge to Sentinel and I stare at him as I hear the muffled chant of the High Guards around me as he stand in front of me before holding my cheeks with both of his servos as he looks into my optics as I see his finally becoming orange.

"Follow me, and I promise you all the pain and suffering you have endured..... I'll avenge you for it as long as you stay with me" There it is, the last part of rite to be conjuxes that I've been waiting to hear from him ever since we become sparkmates, the very last one I imagine where we'll be alone and spending another romantic moment and not surrounded by screaming bots as I see his angry yet desperate face.

I close my eyes before trying not to cry before reaching out and lean close to him, our lips almost touching when an explosion erupted from the roof as D quickly hide me behind his back as he prepared to take fire.

----[4]----

Waking up from my unconscious state I opened my optics and get blinded by brightlights as I turn and see my arms and legs are bound on a metal table.

I look and see Arachnid and Sentinel stand near a panel as they watch me struggle from my binds.

"It's no use in trying to escape my dear". He said as he walks closer and stood beside the table and reach out a servo to my face.

"Look at this, seems you and your little friends got a little upgrade" He smirks as I tried to tear away my face from his hold.

"Tell me how does it feel? to be better and stronger than your old look? feels great doesn't it?" He laughs before shaking my head from side to side.

"Now tell me- where's the rest of your little friends".

----[4]----

As Sentinel arrives to taunt D-16 he tells them about what's going to happen when D-16 stand up to him.

"I got nothing left to lose" He said as he glares at the false prime.

"Oh I sure did- bring her in". Sentinel said to Arachnid who nods and a bunch of bots entered and tossed something at Sentinel's pedels.

"Look at what you made me do to her" He whispered as he kicks you right in the stomach making you scream in pain.

D-16 looked horrified at the state you're in, the new paint from your new form slightly chared and a few sparks flew from your joints and optics as you groan in pain.

Sentinel only looks at him with this sadistic look before noticing the sticker Orion gave him and put on his shoulder.

"Ah Megatronus Prime-" He said before punching D down the ground.

"of course you're a fan, Megatronus is the Coolest bot, Biggest, Baddest and Toughest-". He says before leaning down to smirk down at us.

"That's why after I killed him-" then opened his chasis to show us the red T-cog of Megatronus slotted inside.

"I took it for myself". He said before turning to me.

"He was greater than you'll ever be!". D roars as he watches Sentinel drop a knee closer to me.

"Now that I think about it, It's unny how fate works huh- me having Megatronus T-cog while your little sparkmate has Solus? it was like were meant to be!". He laughs when D trashes and tries to stand up.

"Maybe this cover up story wouldn't be so bad, The traitor's sparkmate running to my arms after she finds out your little plan, and I- Sentinel promise to protect her from the derange traitorous little miner". He laughs before grabbing a hold of my head to forcefully make me nod.

He chuckles before harshly turning my head to look at D who stared back at me with worry.

Sentinel then stands back and rip off the sticker from him and inspect it.

"I'm pretty great myself but I can understand why you wanna wear his face over mine, Here-". He puts the sticker back now on D's chasis.

"Let's make sure it doesn't come off". He grins before Arachnid hands him a laser cutter and proceeds to carve a crude drawing of Megatronus symbols.

I tried to stop Sentinel but Arachnid held me down as I scream for D, feeling his pain too

----[5]----

Optimus arrived by bursting through the window with a train alongside Elita and the rest of the High Guards.

I groan before helping D up and check his chasis that has the still cooling down mark.

"Oh D.....I-i...... I'm sorry". I said as I gently tried to caress it trying to ease his pain.

D only frown and hold my servos before roughly turning me and force me to sit down on the side.

"Stay. Here". D growled before backing away as he looks at the state I'm in with anger and disappointment - to himself or me?-

He shoves off Orion who tried to stir him away from fighting off Sentinel, Orion sighs before seeing me on the side still in pain from what Arachnid and Sentinel did to me after our capture.

"_! Are you alright!". Orion panicked and kneel to me as he checks all my injuries.

"No!.... I'm fine O-orion.. please go and get Arachnid..... She's the only bot that has been around Sentinel.....use her memory and broadcast it out to Iacoon......". Orion looked at me with wide eyes.

"Wait that's-!". He said before I chuckle and cough from the pain.

"Smart? I know......been smarter than you since day one Pax". I smiled as Orion laid a servo on my shoulder pads.

"And you will always be......Friend". Orion said his optics looking sad and his voice sorrowful when he called me his friend.

"Go! I'll stay here with D! Go!". I pushed him away as I stand up and limp to find D, Orion nods before running away with B-127, who after excitedly showed me his knife hands.

----[5]----

Everyone now knew what Sentinel did to us as I watch the repeated broadcast on the holograms and screen shown around the city.

I sigh in relief as I turn to D and tried to reach for him, He looked at me but his eyes has other plans.

"NO! D! DON'T!". I screamed as he tackled Sentinel through the glass and fall through the ledge as I limp and jump after them.

Roughly landing on the platform of where the golded carvings of the 13 primes stand, I painfully watch D rages and tries to kill off Sentinel.

I watch as he aims to blast Sentinel until Orion jump the last second to take the devastating hit.

I screamed as me and D look at him in fear as I see the whole part of his left chasis and arm get blasted to nothing.

I tried to crawl toward the edge where D was holding Orion who fell but I could only look with my sparkbreaking again when D stood back up without Orion.

"No.........". I whispered as I lean my helm down as I covered my mouth to silence my cries.

I force myself to watch my sparkmate, who was kind, calm and sweet become someone that I don't recognize anymore.

Watching him become someone else, watching him become Megatron.

I kneel on the ground as everything around me distorts and get muffled as I hear thudding of heavy pedels towards me.

Looking up I see Megatron, not my sweet D-16 kneels to me and reaches for my cheek.

I should have flinch, I should have tried to move away from him, I should have leave him but.....

I couldn't stop myself from hating him, I couldn't help myself but close my eyes and lean to his palms.

"Stay with me" He says as he moves closer and leans close to me.

I look into his optics now having a deep and angry red and yet still holding an adoring emotion swirling inside, only for me.

"Remember the day we became sparkmates?". I asked him as he keep looking at me not saying anything to stop me.

"I said I'll always stay and love you now matter what.....for better or worse, that was the day I started the rite for us to be Conjuxes.......". I said before holding his face and nod.

D- Megatron smiles, deep inside was my dear D-16 as he held me close as I lean on his shoulder before looking up when I see a blinding blue light flying up in the air.

----[6]----

Looking at Megatron who limps pass now Optimus Prime, He glared at his old friend in anger before turning to me.

"_, It's your choice to follow Megatron but know that you will always be welcome back here with us" Ori- Optimus said as he looks at me with sorrow, I look at him in sadness before saying.

"I'm sorry.....Or- Optimus...for everything". I turn away before reaching for Megatron and putting his arm over my shoulders as I help him to the tracks as he shouts for the High guards and he transformers along side with me as I follow them to back to the surface.

----[Notes]----

I ain't finishing this btw, it's all I got and my writing juices are spent hahaha so sorry my fanfiction days are way too over and I just 'go, random bullshit go!' my ass haha.

[holllandtrash]

fragile line | daniel ricciardo

pairing: daniel ricciardo x driver!reader

You and I walk a fragile line I have known it all this time But I never thought I'd live to see it break

what happens when the driver daniel falls in love with, ends up being the one who brings his career to a screeching halt? word count: 7.7k (im so sorry) warnings/tags: fluff-ish, plot with implied/very little smut, angst, mclaren danny, zak brown (gross), some incorrect f2 stats but whatever, time jumps, really just a lot of angst, its a rollercoaster

“What do you know?”

“What do you know?” Daniel repeated the question back to you, the emphasis making it clear as day that you both carried the same career-altering information. 

His signature grin and comforting optimism were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Daniel’s expression could be described in a variety of ways. Solemn, disappointed, hurt. 

“What was I supposed to do?” You asked, going straight to the defensive. You couldn’t be helpful in this scenario, you just needed to explain yourself. He wouldn’t understand it from your perspective, but you had to try. 

“Not take the seat,” he offered a solution, as if it was that simple. “My god, I mean, they’re cutting my contract early, Y/N. For you.”

“For the sake of the team,” you corrected. You had no say in this. McLaren had plenty of driver options for the 2023 season. There were rumours of Daniel’s contract coming to an end a year early anyway, everyone heard them, everyone ignored them. The only thing that remained uncertain for a while was who would replace him should the rumours be true.

You. 

“You don’t even like McLaren.” You told him, voice raising a little as if that helped get the point across. “You’ve struggled with this team since day one.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to stop racing.”

“McLaren is not the team for you and you know this.”

Daniel scoffed, eyebrows twitching, “Did Zak tell you to say that?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Daniel noticed the way your bottom lip quivered. He caught the way your eyes dropped from his, even just for a split second. There was something unspoken between you, something that weighed on your mind and Daniel stepped forward, wanting to know what exactly it was. 

“Zak-” you started, reluctant to even say this. “-he doesn’t know I’m here. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to talk to you or anyone about it, not until your announcement comes out.”

Here meaning Daniel’s flat in Monaco. The place you spent more nights at than your own. You played it off by saying his view was better but that was such a bullshit answer. Daniel’s flat always felt more like home than yours ever did. 

You had formally met the Australian driver a few years ago, but god did time fly. It was at a race in Monza. You could pretend you didn’t know the date but of course you did, you had it memorised. September 3rd, 2020. There was no way you could forget the day your life changed for the better. 

Or possibly, for the worse. It was up in the air at this point. 

You were new to the Formula 2 series. The only female driver on the grid as you raced with Prema alongside Mick Schumacher. F3 proved to be quite a successful stint for you and you had your eyes set on the coveted Formula 1 series. You wanted to be in the big leagues. 

Daniel saw that. He saw how determined you were to not only make waves in Motorsport, but to make something of yourself. You trained just as hard, if not harder than the other drivers in the junior series and Daniel had seen that for a while. He was often surprised to see you at the hotel gym, already working up a sweat when he walked in at a little after 6am. He would be even more surprised when he saw you there in the evening when other drivers went and called it a night or even went and celebrated. 

Your race weekends were the same as F1 weekends, but you just had limited ones. It was a shorter season, less intense, but whenever you were there. Daniel saw you. He saw you and he paid attention. He even rooted for you, very publicly as well whenever he could, despite the two of you never having exchanged a word. 

The first time you heard about Daniel cheering you on was after the Monaco race, quite early on into your first season. You qualified 7th, not ideal for a track like Monaco where the opportunities to overtake were far and few between, but somehow you did it. And then you did it again. And you could say it was luck but it was really smart strategy and an insane amount of driver skill that had you finishing fifth. In Monaco. 

Those were Daniel’s words. He was asked pre-race if he watched the F2 run and he said of course. He said he “wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” wanting to see what you could do this weekend. 

“It’s not luck, she’s incredibly talented,” Daniel had told the Sky Sports reporter. “She’s doing big things in the series, and I’m rooting for her. Truly. It’s rare a driver comes around with such raw natural talent, where you look at them and you know racing’s just in their blood, but it’s in hers. I would love to see her in Formula 1 one day.”

You watched that interview clip about twenty times. Daniel Ricciardo, the Daniel Ricciardo who had won Monaco a few years back, was complimenting you. He was rooting for you. 

It wasn’t until Monza, nearing the end of your season that he finally approached you. 

“I want to work with you,” Daniel said, straight to the point. You were in the middle of stretching in the hotel's fitness centre. It was only Thursday, the race weekend itself had barely started but Daniel knew he’d find you in there. 

You pulled your airpods out and looked up at him in the mirror, “You what?”

“I want to work with you,” Daniel repeated, this time sitting down on the floor next to you. He kept your stare in the reflection. “I’m not a trainer by any means, but I want to work with you. I want to see you in Formula 1.”

You were flattered, honoured really, but you didn’t know what that entailed. “Work with me how?”

“Well, regular fitness training for starters,” he said. “But managing, really. I want to help you with everything that it takes to move up. Media training, mental preparedness, finding sponsors, getting you in touch with the right people. Let me help you, Y/N.”

You weren’t sure what brought this on. Part of you was convinced it was because he knew this would look good on his behalf. If you did make it to Formula 1 and Daniel’s name was attached to yours, he’d look like a genius. A hero. He would be known as the first person from F1 to publicly support you. 

But that wasn’t what it was at all. When you agreed and accepted his help, you soon came to learn that Daniel didn’t want to be in your spotlight at all. He found the opportunities that you needed and then stepped back. He didn’t mention to the media at all that he was helping you, he didn’t see a need to. He saw your potential and he truly wanted to help you make something off.

So there he was during the off season, meeting you in London where you resided. He trained with you, set you up with the right people, did weekly check-ins, he really was like a sort of manager. 

He was there during pre-season testing the following year, literally. He stood in the Prema garage like he was just another member of the team. No one really questioned it, not when you said he was acting as a mentor to you. Everyone loved Daniel’s presence there and he was told he was welcome whenever. 

He was there during race weekends whenever he could find time in his own busy schedule. He was never there during the actual race, needing that time to prepare for his own, but he always watched from his drivers room or had someone in his ear updating where you were and what was happening.

He was there in Silverstone, when you crashed during Saturday's Sprint Race.

It was one of the last sessions of the day, Daniel had already finished qualifying and he was standing in the back of your garage, arms crossed over his chest, eyes glued to the screen. 

He was the first voice you heard when you spun, losing the breaks in mere seconds and all you could do was brace yourself for the impact of the barriers. 

“Tell me you’re okay.” Daniel’s voice came through your radio. Not your engineer, not your team principal. Daniel. “Say something, sweets, tell me you're okay.”

Sweets, he called you. But only ever in private, or in front of close friends. What started as a joke when you complained about him not having any sweets in his flat the first time you visited in Monaco, stuck. 

But everyone had access to the team radios. It could be heard by other engineers, other teams, fans even and those watching at home should F1TV choose to broadcast it.

Of course they did. They aired the exchange for everyone to hear and it spread like wildfire. It was all anyone on social media could talk about. 

“Say something, sweets. Tell me you’re okay.” 

“I’m okay,” you sputtered out, hands shaking as you unclenched them. It was an instinct to pull them off the steering wheel and tuck your arms to your chest, physically bracing where you could. 

“Good,” Daniel breathed out a very obvious sigh of relief. “Good.” He paused, and then with a quiet chuckle added, “What the fuck was that then?” 

You laughed in response, needing the humour at such a traumatic time. You had crashed before, but this was a bad one. You didn’t even need to step out of the vehicle to know you were lucky to not feel any immediate injuries, but there was a ringing in your ear and the adrenaline was preventing you from really understanding the damage your body had sustained. 

It wouldn’t have helped, though, to have gotten an earful, not like it was your fault anyway. It also wouldn’t have helped if you were asked again and again if you were okay. The more people asked, the more stressed you would grow. Daniel knew you needed a bit of lightheartedness at this time. 

“No brakes, Danny,” you answered through a soft laugh.

“That just sounds like an excuse to me,” he muttered, the sarcasm evident even through the crackling radio.

“Are you going to continue to question my driving abilities or are you going to send medical out here to help me?”

That whole interaction went viral. From the radio message, to the clips of Daniel accompanying you to the medical centre, to the photos of the two of you smiling in the paddock despite the bruising on your body, the concussion you were diagnosed with and the instruction from the doctor that you were not stable enough to race on Sunday.  

Which sucked, to put it plainly. But you were with Daniel. He made the situation bearable. With his arm around your shoulder, he walked you to the car at the end of the day, having waited with you the whole time. 

People speculated, of course. Questions were asked. 

Why was Daniel Ricciardo paying such close attention to you? Why did he get over the radio when he crashed? Why did it sound so flirty? Had he been in your garages the whole time and no one noticed? Was he a mentor? A friend? More?

You had put out a statement when you got to the hotel, thanking everyone for the kind words and well wishes. You shared that you would not be driving on Sunday and you also shared that you were thankful for the support of Daniel Ricciardo, your mentor, who reminded you that even the best of the best crash out sometimes. 

Mentor, you publicly called him That’s what he was, right? Or trainer. Or Manager. Or friend, really. There were a lot of words to describe his relationship to you. 

People online didn’t believe it. They thought there was more because, who looks at each other like that if they’re not fucking? 

But you weren’t. Honest to god, that line with Daniel was never crossed. You never even considered it. Always content with his companionship and his advice, you didn’t want anything physical or romantic. 

At least, you thought you didn’t. 

Daniel dragged you into his room instead of letting you go up to yours because you were under strict instructions to not be left alone for the next twelve hours should the concussion worsen. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, handing you a glass of water. “I know I joked over the radio, but I was worried. It wasn’t a pretty crash.”

“Are any crashes pretty?”

He sat down next to you, closer than normal considering when he rested his arm over the back of the couch, his fingers were within the distance needed to play with the strands of your hair. 

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, “I guess it depends on the driver. I make the crashes pretty.” 

The comedic gasp you let out as you clenched your chest had him laughing. 

“Daniel Ricciardo, are you calling me ugly?”

“Don’t twist my words!” He exclaimed, eyes squinting as his smile widened. “I said I was pretty.” 

You hummed, “You pretty much said I made the crush ugly.” 

“I didn’t say you were ugly,” Daniel playfully tugged on a strand of your hair. “You’re not- I mean, you-”

And then the humour faded. He met your eyes, his hand fell to your shoulder. He was still smiling but it was the sort of gentle smile one wears when they figure out the answer to a question that had been eating at them for a while. 

Something clicked for Daniel. At this very moment. 

He wasn’t going to let it escape him. 

“Pretty doesn’t do you justice,” Daniel told you, voice lowering. “You’re breaktaking, Y/N. On the racetrack, at home, at events, you put everyone around you to shame. And it’s not- it isn’t just your appearance, it’s you. Everything about you. Your heart, your charisma, the way your eyes light up when you smile but only if you’re talking to people you like,” he chuckled, having experienced it first hand and having seen the way you don’t look nearly as pleased when someone you dislike approaches you. 

You were speechless, though. Frozen where you sat as this admission came out of seemingly nowhere. 

And Daniel was attractive, that was an undeniable fact, he was everything anyone could ever want in a man. But you never allowed yourself to look at him the way other people would. He was your trainer, manager, mentor, friend. 

You had no words to explain the way he was staring at you now. Nor could you explain why it made you feel more alive than driving a racecar at inhumane speeds ever could. 

Daniel took another breath, eyes never leaving yours. “You are unlike anyone I have ever come across and I know, in my lifetime, I will never find someone who could ever compare to even a fraction of who you are.”

There was no way you could continue to be just friends after those words passed his lips. 

You kissed him. You had to. It wasn’t like there was anything you could say that would match what he had already said, nor could you even find the words. 

You kissed him and Daniel pulled you onto his laps, your legs moving to straddle either side of his hips. His hands roamed your body, sliding up the Prema shirt you still had on as your tongue roamed every possible inch of his mouth. 

His hand gripped your waist, rolling you over top of him so you could feel in a matter of seconds how this conversation had now taken a turn. His cock started to harden, constricted by his pants, but you still felt it underneath you each time he shifted, each time you grinded against him. 

When you reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, Daniel leaned back, both of you taking that second to catch your breath and question if you were really going to do this.

“Is this a mistake?” You whispered, your thumb gently tracing over his lips. Your working relationship was perfect. This could ruin everything. You had fears, doubts, worries. One night could lead to dozens of complications. 

But Daniel shook his head and all of those thoughts vanished.

“No,” he said, sounding so sure of himself with that one syllable. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life but you are not one of them.”

That was the only validation you needed. You kissed him again, more lust, more passion, than before as Daniel stood up, carrying you towards the bed at the back of the room. He dropped you down on the edge of it, smiling at the squeal that escaped your lips.

Daniel wanted to worship you every way he could. He was gentle with you, with your body, as he dipped his head between your thighs, making you feel a wave of euphoria that no one had ever brought you too before. 

It wasn’t until you were begging for more did Daniel realise he didn’t need to be gentle the entire night. He slid two fingers past your folds, lifting his head and hovering his body over yours, wanting to feel your desperate breaths hit his face as he rapidly thrusted his digits in and out of you, your walls clenching around him.

When he attached his lips to that spot on your neck, his teeth pressing against your skin, you saw stars. Daniel’s motions didn’t let up as you came around his fingers, loving the way your legs shook and how you dragged your hand through the hair on the back of his head.

He was cautious about doing anything else, knowing you were injured, he didn’t want to overstimulate you or cause any more pain. 

But you needed him. You reached for the zipper of his pants and tugged it down, telling Daniel you wanted this, as if the way you looked up at him didn’t already make that perfectly clear. 

He was careful when he entered you, patient. The tip of his cock slid past your folds slowly and he kissed your collarbone so gently you almost didn’t feel it as you adjusted to his size, quiet moans emitting from the back of your throat. 

He had praised you before, but only ever at the race track, so there was something so familiar yet so foreign about the way he whispered against your skin. It lit a fire within you.

“You take me so well, sweets,” he fought back a groan as your walls tightened around him when you clenched your legs. “So good for me.”

It was safe to say the dynamic between you two changed after that night. 

Daniel adored you already, admired you greatly for your achievements and growth in the sport. But now he fought with himself every weekend, knowing that he couldn’t touch you how he wanted. He couldn’t show you the attention he so desperately wanted. He couldn’t kiss you when you got that podium in Belgium, despite finding a way to sneak out of the pre-race duties for a second to run to the barrier to be there for you with the rest of the Prema team. 

Whatever was going on between you, it was unlabelled and it was private. The rest of the world didn’t need to know you were sleeping with the man you looked up to, the one who helped you become a great athlete in such a short period of time. 

People continued to speculate. You were private, sure, but you weren’t overly careful. 

You were seen landing in Monaco over the summer. You were spotted hanging out with Daniel on plenty of occasions. Even though you kept your hands off of each other and refused to act like anything more than friends out in public, you were different when you returned after the break. You both were. Everyone noticed. 

Daniel was, if it was even possible, happier. And you were less stressed it seemed. While you were still fighting a constant battle of being the only female in F2, it no longer seemed as heavy because the weight of it wasn’t just on your shoulders anymore. Daniel was there too. 

It wasn’t just physical, what you had. The emotional connection you shared was undeniable. Daniel was always there for you, and you, him. During the bad days, the good ones, and everyday in between. 

When you finished the season 5th in the drivers championship, the only person you wanted to celebrate with was Daniel. He was so proud of you. He watched you go from finishing 13th last year to 5th. He played a huge part in that, but when you tried to tell him that, he only brushed it off, saying that it was all you, he was just happy to be there for the ride. 

It was his idea for you to test drive for McLaren at the end of the year, too. ‘We’ll get you in a real F1 car’ he said. And you didn’t question it when the offer was brought forward to participate in a few practice sessions. It was exhilarating and terrifying and you cried tears of joy when you stepped out of his car because this was what you dreamed of. Driving a Formula 1 car. 

Now you just needed a permanent seat and Daniel wanted that for you too. He was your biggest supporter, and you only grew closer as the days went on.

You met his family over the holidays. He spent New Years Eve in London with you. 

When the season started again, he spent more time with you and Prema. When there were no scheduled F2 races during F1 weekends, you accompanied him in the McLaren garage. 

At this point, quite a few people knew you were together, or at least they assumed it.

You didn’t post about it, you didn’t want to, you didn’t need to. Daniel didn’t need to show you off, nor did you feel obligated to let everyone know you were with him. What you had was private, it was sacred, it was only for the two of you. 

But of course whenever you had a good performance, whether it be from a practice session, qualifying or a race, he’d share your celebration picture to his Instagram story. 

“Would you ever do a shoey?” Daniel asked you one Tuesday night, zooming in on a photo of you, more specifically on the smile on your face as you clenched your second place trophy from Imola on Sunday. 

You rolled your eyes but the smile was impossible to hide as he came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, tugging you into his chest. 

“Next time you win,” Daniel suggested with a laugh. “I expect a shoey.”

“I’m not Australian.”

“You’re dating one, sweets.”

You never actually discussed what you were. The term boyfriend-girlfriend seemed so childish. Dating was, in a sense, accurate, but again, there were no labels. He had your heart, you had his. That was the only thing that mattered. 

“The world doesn’t know that,” you pointed out. 

“They kind of do,” Daniel kissed your cheek, giving your side a squeeze as he stepped aside to help you prepare dinner. 

You weren’t even sure when you fell into such a domestic lifestyle but there you were, practically moved into Daniel’s place in Monaco at this point  and he was at your side, chopping carrots for the salad while you prepared the chicken breasts. 

“A shoey would confirm it,” you glanced up at him, but the smile on his face told you he wasn’t completely against the idea. 

Daniel stepped behind you, fingers playfully pinching your waist, “Just think about it. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I just reckon it would be entertaining for everyone.”

He didn’t bring it up again, not even when you got third in Spain and didn’t do it. It was your first time getting a back to back podium since you started racing and of course it was something to celebrate, but the idea of a shoey made your stomach churn. You weren’t sure if you were ready for the world to know about your commitment to Daniel. 

You walked a thin line, being with him. And while you enjoyed every possible minute spent with him, you knew the world was cruel. The second you officially went public, you’d lose respect in the motorsport industry. 

The only female F2 driver dating an F1 driver? How scandalous.

Despite the rumours, the correct rumours, you were still in a bubble with him. You could pretend you were just friends, close friends. The tabloids had nothing to go off except your polite interactions and maybe a little too friendly smiles and so what if you were there in the McLaren garage cheering him on? 

You were his biggest supporter and he was yours.

But it didn’t help that while your performance was improving, his was rapidly declining. While you had less races than his, already your stats were better. You qualified in the top 5 for the first three races. You finished second in Imola, third in Spain, already better than how you started the season last year.

Monaco was next. Daniel loved Monaco, you both did. Everyone did, it was the pinnacle of Formula 1. 

It was unfortunate that your weekends ended up so drastically different. 

Daniel qualified 14th and then finished 13th. He wasn’t proud of it, but he did his best to hide his disappointment for you, especially since you were starting on the front row, P2, for the feature race. 

And somehow, you won. 

After trailing behind Drugovich for the majority of the race, you were starting to believe you would finish behind him too. And you probably would have, had there not been a safety car almost six laps after he boxed for fresh tyres, giving you the advantage of newer tyres and less wasted time. It was a strategy your team was banking on, waiting for a safety car. It was risky, but it paid off. Overtaking was nearly impossible with Formula 1 cars, but you had a better chance in your series and somehow, by the grace of god, you did it. You pulled ahead and swiped the lead from Felipe. 

You made history that weekend. The first female F2 driver to not only podium, but to win at Monaco. You gripped that first place trophy so tight your hand turned red. 

Usually, F2 didn’t draw nearly as big of a crowd, but this weekend was different. Everyone was a fan of the series after that performance, a fan of you. You saw people in the crowd wearing Red Bull gear, Ferrari merch, McLaren hats, and they were all applauding you. 

Of course, you were blown away by the support. Hearing your national anthem play was an incredible sound. There were tears in your eyes and your entire body was trembling, yet somehow you managed to find Daniel. Right in front, with your team. 

He was so proud of you. 

Despite his shitty qualifying, despite knowing he had such a low shot at earning points at his race that was in just under an hour, he was there for you. You couldn’t tell if he was cheering the loudest, or if you were just so prone to finding him in a crowd that you couldn’t process anything or anyone else. 

You weren’t sure what came over you, but once you grabbed the champagne bottle, you found yourself taking your shoe off as well. As Felipe and Théo started spraying their bottles in celebration, you poured the bubbly liquid into the sole of your racing shoe and lifted it up to your lips, pointing directly at Daniel who couldn’t believe what he was watching. 

It was rancid, as you figured it would. It was champagne out of a sweaty shoe, you knew it wouldn’t taste good, but it was a shoey and it was for Daniel. Felipe patted your back, laughing at your reaction and muttering something about how Daniel would get a kick out of that. 

He was right, but Daniel wasn’t the only one who found it entertaining. 

Your name was once again trending following the Monaco Grand Prix. Not Checo’s, even though he won the F1 race. Your name. 

Not that you really cared that night. How could you care about what the internet was saying when the man you were with told you that he loved you for the first time? Nothing online mattered, not when Daniel took your face in his hands and told you he was madly in love with you. He was proud, he was happy, he was in love. 

And you knew you loved him too. You had known this for a while. Monaco was just the perfect time to say it. 

After going about as public as you could without physically coming out and saying you were dating the Australian driver, Monaco was the perfect place to tell him you loved him. You were on cloud 9, you were making history, you were in love. 

You continued to deny, or at least ignore, the rumours that followed, still. You both did. You were in love with each other, not the whole world. Things would get complicated if you announced you were dating. You were vying for a Formula 1 seat and you wanted it without Daniels’ influence. 

But at the following race in Baku you were asked similar questions. 

“Your shoey last week, did that have anything to do with Daniel Ricciardo being there to cheer you on? You two have gotten pretty close in the last few months, he’s one of your mentors, isn’t he?” 

You shifted your weight to one leg, wondering what the fuck kind of post-qualifying question that was. You had just completed three back to back podiums, you were on a hot streak now, starting third at this next race and the reporter only cared about what happened at the podium celebration last weekend.

“Sorry, did you have a question about this week's race?” You asked, and when he stammered over his words, you just nodded and walked away, a tight smile on your face. 

Daniel’s conversation went a bit differently. 

“Y/N’s shoey last week, we all saw it. Was that your influence?”

“Yeah I never thought she’d actually do it, it was sweet,” Daniel laughed. “It was great though, I happily pass the tradition onto her.”

“She’s really come along in Formula 2 since she started back in 2020, do you think she has what it takes to be Formula 1’s first full-time female driver?”

“Absolutely,” there wasn’t a shred of doubt or hesitation. He was happy to talk about you, to explain to the rest of the world why you were up and coming and should be taken seriously as a real contender for a Formula 1 seat. He probably would have continued on if his PR rep hadn’t pulled him away, reminding him of other duties.

The next few races were similar to your first ones. A couple more podiums, some outstanding qualifying sessions, more history being made. Your phone was blowing up weekly, everybody wanted to talk to you now and you knew Daniel had something to do with it. Him constantly sharing the faith he had in you did wonders for your reputation. 

You might have been on top of the world, but you were well aware you were alone up there.

Daniels’ performances were anything but newsworthy. He had gotten a few points in Austria and France, but nothing to be extremely proud of, especially when he compared his 9th place finish at the Red Bull Ring to your first place podium, making it your second one this season. 

He never let his disappointment for himself and McLaren stand in the way of your achievements. In fact, you didn’t often speak about the races when you were together. You were aware Daniel was having issues with the team, with Zak, with the car, but he didn’t want to weigh you down with his own problems, even though you assured him time and time again you could handle it. 

Really, if Daniel had come to you with his struggles, you would have thought twice when Zak Brown approached you prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix. You probably would have slammed the door to your drivers room in his face if you knew how Daniel was being treated at McLaren. 

But Daniel held his cards close to his chest while Zak laid his all out on the table.

“If a spot opened up for you,” he said, after spending the last ten minutes talking about the rich history of the team and praising your accolades. “Would you consider it?”

It wasn’t an official contract, just the start of a conversation that could lead to one.

Of course you thought of Daniel. And Lando, having grown close with him simply through Daniel. 

“For 2024?” You asked, knowing both of them were set to continue driving through to at least the end of 2023. 

“No,” Zak shook his head. You didn’t like how harsh his tone had turned, having no remorse for what he was about to say. “Daniel’s contract would be ending early.”

You leaned back in your chair, fingers tapping the table as you tried to recall Daniel ever telling you that he was leaving McLaren. “Is he- he wants out?”

“It’s mutual,” Zak assured you. “He knows we can’t give him the car he wants and unfortunately, he’s not delivering what we need. We had high hopes with Daniel, but the working relationship isn’t what any of us thought it would be.”

It’s mutual. Those two words was all it took to convince you that Zak Brown and Daniel had already had a conversation about this, about terminating the contract a year early. 

It didn’t help that Zak brought up your test sessions in the McLaren from last year, pointing out that you had better times than Lando, even. He went on to praise what you were doing this year at Prema and said, multiple times, that you would be an asset to McLaren should you choose to go that route.

And who were you to turn that down?

A team principal of a Formula 1 team wanted to sign you. Was it unfortunate that it was Daniel’s seat? Yes, obviously this situation was less than ideal, but he wanted out. You were convinced he wanted out, that he was done with McLaren. A 45 minute conversation with Zak Brown convinced you of that.

You should have been wary when at the end of the conversation he said, “Don’t tell anyone about this, yet. You know how the public can be, let’s just keep this to ourselves for the meantime.”

“But I can talk to Dan, right?” You asked. 

Zak knew you were dating Daniel, it was a little harder to hide that from his team than it was the rest of the world. Maybe that’s why hesitated before answering, knowing that keeping a secret, something as big as this, from a partner had the potential to cause chaos.

But he shook his head, “Between us, yeah?”

And you listened to him. You wanted that Formula 1 seat so of course you followed orders. 

You desperately wanted to talk to Daniel about it, but you knew you couldn’t. And either he sensed that something was off, or he was dealing with his own problems again and wouldn’t share, you really couldn’t tell when the summer break started and things just seemed…different. 

You didn’t go to Monaco for starters, even though Daniel invited you to. But there were so many meetings with Zak and the board at McLaren that it made more sense for you to stay in London for the start of the break. 

Daniel didn’t call as often and you wanted to give him space, knowing that this break was probably needed for him. You expected he was out with friends, letting loose, getting the weight of a horrible season off his back even if just temporarily. 

The plan was to go to Monaco for the last week and a half and then travel to Belgium together. You had to delay that plan, however, when Zak called you and said it was official.

The 2023 seat was yours. 

You wanted to celebrate, with Daniel, but how could you celebrate with the person you were replacing?

It was strange that Daniel had said nothing to you about leaving the team during the summer break, especially since Zak had said time and time again they were on the same page, that Daniel was ready to leave. The only thing that crossed your mind was he was given strict instructions to not say anything to anyone either, at least until McLaren went public with the news. 

But with it being official, with you having just signed on the dotted line, you were tired of keeping it to yourself. You may not have been able to share the news with anyone else, but you had a right to have a conversation with Daniel about it.

You didn’t know how he would react. Surely he’d be happy for you, right? You were getting a seat in Formula 1, something that both of you desperately wanted to happen. And again, you were under the impression the departure from McLaren was mutual. He would be happy that someone he loved was taking his seat, right?

Right?

You had to tell yourself that the entire ride over to his place. You unlocked the front door to his building and took the elevator up to the fourth level. You didn’t think to knock, knowing he never locked it when he was home so you pushed open the door and stepped in, your suitcase trailing behind you.

You were happy to see him. He was always a breath of fresh air, despite the odd distance between you, you still loved him. You always would. He muted whatever was playing on the screen and stood up from the couch when he heard you walk in.

Usually, Daniel would greet you with a kiss.

Usually, he’d be smiling so hard his jaw would be hurting.

Usually, he was happy to see you.

You left the suitcase by the door and met him halfway, only he stopped walking when there was about a foot of space between your bodies. To you, it felt like you were still miles apart.

“Do you have something you want to tell me?” He asked, arms crossed over his chest. 

Your heart sank. 

You had convinced yourself, Zak had convinced you, the whole back of house team had convinced you, that Daniel was aware of this upcoming change. That the termination was mutual. You taking his seat might have been a surprise, but it was never supposed to be a blindside.

“What do you know?” you asked. 

“What do you know?” Daniel repeated the question back to you.

You were both fully aware of the exact same information. Daniel was leaving. You were taking his seat. Only, you had been informed this much earlier than he had.

“What was I supposed to do?” 

“Not take the seat,” he scoffed. “My god, I mean, they’re cutting my contract early, Y/N. For you.”

“For the sake of the team,” you said and then added, “You don’t even like McLaren. You’ve struggled with this team since day one.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to stop racing.”

“McLaren is not the team for you and you know this.”

Daniel scoffed, eyebrows twitching, “Did Zak tell you to say that?”

“Zak-” you started, finding it difficult to hold his stare. This wasn’t the Daniel you knew. “-he doesn’t know I’m here. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to talk to you or anyone about it, not until your announcement comes out.”

He rubbed his hands over his face, taking a few steps away from you. It hurt, watching as he tried to physically distance himself from you. Like being in too close of proximity would set him off.

“I struggled with the team, yes, but I’m not ready to give up racing. You have now left me without a seat.”

It was easy for Daniel to blame you, you were standing right in front of him. You were quite literally the driver set to replace him.

But the real villain was Zak, for not having opened up this line of communication earlier. For making you believe everyone was on the same page. It was Zak’s fault for rushing to end the contract with Daniel instead of putting in the effort to work with him. He saw the shiny new toy that was you, that Daniel helped create, and he wasn’t going to let someone else take it first.

Daniel wanted to blame himself too, but he wouldn’t let himself think about that until much later. He was the one who did everything he could to help you grow in this sport. He was the one who introduced you to Zak and the rest of the McLaren team. He was the one who got you in the car for the practice sessions, his car. Foreshadowing at its finest.

“You are unbelievable,” Daniel spoke quietly, heated with anger but his words were like ice as they sunk deep into you. “After everything I’ve done to help you for you to betray me like this, I just- I don’t think-”

You knew where this was going and you wanted to put a pin in it before he could finish any of his thoughts.

“Don’t finish that sentence, Daniel,” you whispered. “Please. Please, we can figure something out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” his mind was made up. “You took my seat.”

“Wouldn’t you rather it me than someone you don’t know? Someone you don’t trust?” You tried to turn this around, have him look at the positives, if there were any. “Daniel, everyone on the grid loves you, you’ll find a new team. One that helps you grow and get to where you want. McLaren isn’t that, we both know it.”

“I think you should go,” was his only response. 

“If I hadn’t signed that contact, someone else would have,” you pointed out, grasping at straws here, painfully honest straws, but straws nonetheless. “Piastri, O’Ward…McLaren had options, Dan. Aren’t you at least happy for me that I out-qualified all of those guys?”

Daniel actually laughed, “You want me to be happy for you? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Dan-”

“Leave.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“You need to,” he was stern. He was angry. He was done. With you, with the team, with everything he used to love and cherish. He was done. 

You thought you knew Daniel. You thought you knew how this conversation would play out. You figured it would still be rocky, but god you now realised how naive you were to believe you could still make things work. 

“I love you,” you told him, because what else could you say except remind him that you were so hopelessly in love with him, that he was all you would ever want in life. 

Except, that wasn’t exactly true, was it?

You wanted a seat in Formula 1 too. You just never thought you’d have to sacrifice one dream for the other. 

Daniel’s stare was cold. He only looked away for a second to nod his head towards the door behind you, “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have done this.”

You stepped forward, desperate at this point because how could he do this? How could he throw away what you had, over a seat?

Or was it you, who had ultimately thrown away what you had when you sat down with Zak Brown all those weeks ago?

It pained you to think about the strong possibility of that being the case.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, because you were. You were sorry about how this turned out, how he was betrayed, how this was coming to an end. You grabbed hold of your suitcase and nodded, backing up towards the door, “I really am sorry, Dan.”

He didn’t believe you. Why would he? In his eyes, Formula 1 was more important to you than he was. A career decision that benefited you, but ruined him, mattered more than your relationship. It was a bold move, a cold move, one that you didn’t think would lead to this.

Neither of you could have predicted this. On September 3rd, 2020, when Daniel first said he wanted to work with you, neither of you thought it would end like this.

Just as you grabbed the handle of the door, Daniel opened his mouth, wanting to get the final word in. And you really wished he hadn’t because those final words destroyed you. 

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, but I never thought you would turn out to be one of them.”

You said nothing. You walked out of that Monaco flat with your head low and your heart even lower. You couldn’t even be excited about the next season, or the remainder of this one where you had the potential to finish in the top three. 

You weren't happy, you were empty, you were defeated. And painfully so, you were also still in love.

Despite what was said, you knew it would take a while to get over Daniel. He was your rock for so long, he was always there for you and even though he could disappear without so much as a second thought, your feelings couldn’t, the memories couldn’t. It would take a long time until you felt whole again.

You didn’t know it yet, but the decision to take that McLaren seat would haunt you as you moved forward in your career. 

This was not going to be the last time you ever saw Daniel. 

part 2 haunted

[rosemariad]

THE BITTER END | SPN 15x18 DESPAIR: About that Destiel moment in 15x18

Oh boy…the scene that sailed a thousand memes (and counting)…the scene that made us all go feral in the midst of a contentious presidential elections in one of the most disruptive, chaotic years in recent memory (2020 you son of a bitch)

Now i am super late with this since it’s nearly been 4 years since this was aired live on TV and posted like crazy all over the internet BUT…y’all Destiel shippers got robbed. Not just with this scene but the whole Destiel ship in general - just done so dirty.

I started watching this show on and off back in 2021 and I finally got to finish over the summer this year (2024) taking my sweet time, even rewatching certain episodes (for some fanfic writing 😁). I went into this to settle the debate for myself - is this Destiel stuff legit? Or was it taken out of context? Misconstrued.

No. It really wasn’t. They (the powers behind SPN) tried it, tried to pull the wool over people’s heads, with certain fans chiming in (the destiel haters, the homophobes, the anti-mishas, etc.) but no. The SPN showrunners fucked all this up.

From the beginning….

So it’s 15x18 despair - we’re in the last act - shit’s popping off, everything’s going tits up - Billie is trying to hunt Dean down, calling him chaos incarnate. Dean & Cas get trapped in a room with no apparent means of escape or defense - probably should’ve headed for the exit - but I guess since it’s the 3rd to last episode and the execs clearly want things to go back to the status quo 🙄 now’s as good a time as any to cash in on that plot thread from last season and kill Castiel once and for all 😭 (as 1 person pointed out, given the prior context they probably could've just waited Billie out, since them being trapped in that room - Cas was the one that blocked the door anyhow - but I get it SPN showrunners you wanted to get rid of Cas somehow - what a mess)

If you haven’t watched it - here’s where I gasp and scoff in disbelief - please watch it https://youtu.be/l_r9GZeQl1w?si=uVox8PlXByYEYKci

Basically Cas tells Dean he’s the greatest guy he’s ever known, that he fights for love and that Cas lurves Dean 😭 and he’s not the bad things enemies say Dean is. That he’s more than the worst parts of himself - oh Cas.

This was Castiel’s one moment of true happiness - telling the one person whom he adores more than anyone or anything else in the entire universe - that he is loved by Castiel himself.

The confession that triggers Castiel’s demise to go with the empty, takes Billie with him and before Dean can process the massive TRUTH BOMB Castiel just dumped on him, Castiel is gone.

Despair indeed.

They made too many fucking cuts to this scene, at least for Jensen’s coverage. Like if you don’t want Dean to reciprocate…fine. Don’t. But let him fucking respond! Let him use his words. Castiel just told Dean he was in love with him, that is one of the BIGGEST things you can say to somebody in your life. EVER. Especially on TV. And yes it was in love, like romantically. Not platonically because why make such a fucking fuss over fucking platonic friendship! There’s always been a tension between these 2 characters, it hung over between them since season 4. They just made it into a joke, never expecting to get the traction it did over the years. They even tried writing Cas off the show for good back in season 7. But they got stuck with Cas and never really made proper use of him. They literally just waited until the last minute to get rid of him in a way that couldn’t get the show cancelled until that decision had already been made by the network. to make things worse - COVID happened

So don’t tell me the confession doesn’t merit a response, either for or against on Dean’s part - whether he returns Castiel’s affection or not is another story but dammit let Dean speak! How could you not? Cowards!

And Would it be so terrible if Dean did feel something MORE than friendship for the only other individual that has stood by him for so many years? Like really? A relationship doesn’t demand sex (but let’s be honest, Cas probably wanted to fuck the shit outta Dean 🤣) it’s whatever the people in the relationship want! Dean isn’t young by the time s15 rolls around. Older people tend to just want someone to come home to, settle down with. Companionship. Cas fits that to a fucking T. When Dean dreamed of a future, Cas was right there with him (and Sam, cuz Dean always wants his family close as much as he can, given how he grew up).

Couldn’t find a gif of Dean talking about taking some time off after all the craziness of the hunting they do but I’m not crazy I know he wanted it.

The team behind SPN could have finished Dean’s narrative beautifully as man who was driven by fear all his life and opens himself up to a relationship he never saw coming but when the time came he didn’t run because he grew to love more than fear (and choose to live a life of peace after stuck in one of violence for so many years).

This is why Hollywood is shit! Great beginnings, shitty endings. But in this case, it was because they consistently chose NOT to indulge in queer-like narratives with enough care (aside from some other problematic stuff like the treatment towards women being more negative than positive, the inconsistent writing for characters and plot, etc.)

BUT not when it’s the main character 😡 Charlie can be gay AF but not Dean, seriously? That’s fucked. Like at least let him fucking explore/consider it. So people stop watching it who gives AF?! I never even watched the show when it was on air for 15 years, tons of people didn’t. There are still people out there watching SPN for the first time today! People who started but stopped because it’s a show that ran WAAAY longer than any other normally does.

Idk who made it so that Dean couldn’t explore his sexuality or fucked up the Destiel of it all but they SUUUUUUUUCK! You really shat the bed! at least explore it cuz at the end of the day, it may not work out. Gay relationships aren’t that different from straight relationships in that sometimes it just doesn’t work out BECAUSE we’re ALL people. And who knows maybe they could’ve been happy but we’re not allowed to know that canonically because Destiel was never given a CHANCE!

I mean if it was REALLY that big a deal – why introduce it? By making these little suggestions that (in a way that's funny but why would Dean be queer be haha funny - no that's not okay, queerness shouldn't be a joke) furthermore we’re talking about a show on basic cable - all it would’ve taken was fucking hand-holding or the same routine of staring into each other’s eyes like they’d been doing for 12 fucking years already! Just not shying away from the queerness that time. Legend of Korra did it. That 1 Disney show did it (i don’t remember the name). No kissing would’ve been necessary - nice, wishful thinking but not necessary if the kissing became an issue (but seriously it was 2020 man but ofc - that is a year where a pandemic that required social distancing decided to kick in during the final arc of this show) - just so we’re all clear COVID cock blocked Destiel lol jk 🤣

All those times they had Dean & Cas stare into each other's eyes – the forces at work – showrunners, writers, directors AND editors & the network who is showing this to audiences – if its such a big fucking deal - Don't leave it in. By leaving it in, you're allowing people to make assumptions about the relationship – it happens literally every time in every story ever told. You put 2 people in a scene and they're not family (though not always the case) or JUST friends (explicitly proven) there's a chance SOMEONE is gonna wanna ship them no matter how likely it is (OR NOT) they'll hookup or become a couple. That's just how it is. So don't fan the flames and then turn it around on fans that they're wrong, crazy or misinterpreting. If Wincest can exist, so can Destiel and any other ship. That being said, y’all Destiel shippers were ROBBED but I don’t need to tell you that.

I don’t think the relationship would’ve been perfect or smooth sailing - their friendship as it was on the show sure wasn’t. And Dean wasn’t the only one with issues - Cas had some bad qualities too - the angel liked to lie and for a while there he was extremely averse to conflict. And Dean…he gets real fucking angry 😬 not a good mix for a relationship- hell even a friendship.

But the two had a profound bond, with a great deal of affection for one another and that’s what got them through betrayal, fights, amnesia, curses, apocalypses, and all the ugliness in between. They could’ve made it. Or they could’ve just had Cas and Dean stay friends - but we’ll never know since Cas was pretty much omitted after 15x18 - there were references - like only 2 though 😒

Really SPN? 😒😔 so lazy. But sure, go ahead, blame COVID. It’s not like phones exist. It’s not like the actor couldn’t have just recorded Castiel’s voice nope. Totally not an option 🤦🏾‍♀️ same goes for the other characters - Jody, Donna, Eileen - you know all the other characters Sam & Dean cared about but sure - fuck ‘em too. Status quo is the only thing that matters - SMH.

[socialistexan]

With the new season of Doctor Who now out and the big promotional push it has gotten, I'm sure some people are interested in jumping into the series, but that can be very intimidating for new viewers to get into a 60 year old show.

Luckily, I have - just a few months ago - watched every single episode of Doctor Who and can tell you where to start, and what are the essential episodes to watch.

Let me say up front, this new season is a jump on point for new viewers. There are some plot points that might hit slightly better or small references you'll get if you've seen more of the show, but it's not necessary. It doesn't matter if this is the 40th season of a 60 year old show, the 15th Doctor is a new beginning.

Also, generally, Doctor Who, especially the Classic Series, is very episodic. While there may be some season long arcs (particularly the Steven Moffat era, 2010-2017) and a lot of character and villain arcs, it is generally made to be able to hop in and enjoy a single story on its own.

Just know there is a mysterious character named the Doctor, who is a time and space traveler from a different world who has a fondness for Earth and can change their appearance and likes to help species across the universe, and they usually travel with 1-3 human (but not always) companions. There. You're set.

If you are interested in the show as it was before now, there are 3 points before the new season I can recommend jumping in on if you want to watch in order (though I recommend jumping around to really good stuff in the classic era because stories were generally 2-10 30 minute episodes):

Season 1 episode 1, An Unearthly Child: Honestly I only put this on here because it's the literal beginning, I only recommend this if you really like 60's TV or have enjoyed the Classic (1963-89) already. Slower and a lot of the series elements are not set in stone yet. Keep in mind a lot of 60's episodes are missing and exist only in audio or with animated reconstructions. I recommend not doing those until you know the show better.

Season 12 episode 1, Robot: While I have a soft spot for the 3rd Doctor and there's a lot of great stories people should watch from him, the 4th Doctor is *the* iconic Doctor of the Classic Series, and probably the best one to start with, I would recommend Pyramids of Mars if you want a very beginner friendly story that is one of the best ever made.

Series 1 episode 1, Rose: The start of the Modern/Revival era, generally seasons made starting with the 2005 revival are called "series" (really this is season 27), this introduces a lot of the modern story elements people are familiar with, and the show becomes a lot more serialized and less episodic going forward with season long arcs and recurring plots.

I will also include a list of episodes I recommend watching below the cut:

[rebornofstars]

hi everyone i need advice. cursebreaker chapter 22 is about 1/3rd done in terms of wordcount but progress has slowed to a halt because the tone is too lighthearted for the emotions people are supposed to be feeling and its like 90% banter. and banter is good and fun and i love it and i dont want to get rid of it BUT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING DINK AND NONE OF MY PLOT POINTS ARE HAPPENING. WHAT DO I DO. SHOULD I CUT IT. SHOULD I TRY TO MAKE IT SAD. SHOULD I INTERSPERSE THE FIGHT BETWEEEN IT. TETRA PLEASE I'M BLAMING THIS ON YOU. also i have the flu and i think i'm losing my mind a little. its funny

[hampink]

Kingohger G Rosso Show #3 Summary (1/2/24 & 1/3/24)

i went to see the g rosso show with @valentinezlove! recap/summary on the whole show + my thoughts below~ ❤️🤍 (warning: spoilers, really long)

SPOILERS AHEAD for basically the whole plot of the g rosso show (though i left some stuff out) i believe this show is going to be livestreamed at some point so pls be aware if you're going to watch that and don't wanna be spoiled!

also, despite seeing this show TWICE i am so bad at remembering things and get distracted way too easily. i left out details and scenes im not confident in my memory abt😭 also this recap is a personal account so its probably jeramie heavy and there Will be giramie ramblings from my annoying ass

THE SHOW

the show starts with kamejim scheming evilly, as kamejim does. he calls forth grodie (!) to do his thing, and he appears as a recording on the big screen. grodie begrudgingly brings some dead sanagims back to life and he's like “ok go crazy/好きにして” and then kamejim orders them to go forth and destroy humanity/the whole planet. the sanagim are about to attack the audience on the front row when suddenly we hear giras WAHAHAHA and the five kings, gira, himeno, yanma, rita and kaguragi descend onto the stage!!

cue really epic fight

at this point i was like ah i see i guess jeramies coming in the middle of the show… but then NUH UH. SUDDENLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES A SPIDER DROPS DOWN FROM THE CEILING ON HIS WEB IN THE AUDIENCE!!

the first time we saw the show on the yan/hime/gira day, our seats were a bit further back so when jeramie came down it was in a perfectly clear view in front of us!!! i SRSLY GOT JUMPSCARED I THOUGHT I HAD A HEART ATTACKK on the 3rd we were sitting really close to the front so i kept looking behind us in anticipation when i knew jeramie was going to make his appearance eheehe..

also when jeramie appeared he said “otto! dont forget about me!” and gira was the first to go “jeramie! you came!” 🥺

anyway they finish beating up the zombie sanagims and kamejims all like fufufufu i am cooking up an evil evil plan to destroy this planet Best Beware u silly kings and then disappears

after the fight the kings convene and discuss what they should do abt kamejim and the new super villain threat that is the galactinsect king and the jesters. but how could they ever beat them? what power is possibly strong enough?? wherever will we find a source of such power?

suddenly kaguragi goes aha! and he begins to recount to everyone an old myth he’s heard about a village back in toufu

apparently theres a 2000 yr old legend that a comet once fell near a village and it left behind an object the village ppl called the "star drop" (星の雫), which looks like a magical orb

the village ppl have kept the star drop for generations and legend has it that the orb has mysterious powers to grant anyone a wish, perhaps we can use it to defeat kamejim

upon hearing the wish part the kings all go WHAT!! and lean in with interest except gira who doesnt react and just kinda stands there (he doesnt seem that interested …?)

the spotlight goes onto yanma and we hear him monologuing abt how he wants to use the wish to make his super computer (i think its hilarious he never gives up on this)

the spotlights goes on himeno and she says she wants a cure all that can cure any wound (🥺)

the spotlights on rita and they wish for a super deluxe limited edition something something moffun 

the spotlights on jeramie and he says, in a very dramatic voice, この2000年生きる語り部が知らない伝説なんて、気に入らない、気に入らないぞ！💀 (a myth that I, this 2000 yr old storyteller has never heard of? i don't like that!)

we dont get to see what gira thinks regarding his wish 0_0 and technically jeramie too bc THAT WASNT A WISH KHGDDDH and also kaguragi because obviously we can never look into his mind hes sussy! (more on dat later tho….)

unbeknownst to the kings, kamejim was hiding and listening in to their conversation the whole time. an orb that can grant any wish…? interesting…

cut to the team arriving at the secluded, very hidden away village. its full of old looking tombs and temples overgrown with vines and such

suddenly from the audience a bunch of people come in parading one of those long dragon puppets and doing a festival-like chant. apparently this dragon is a symbol of the village spirit/guardian born from the comet myth. i think???? i cant remember this part really well because Both times i saw the show i was ALWAYS distracted by gira playing with the dragon really cutely in the background (he’d ruffle its hair or pat its head and the actor would hit gira on his head not to touch it and he would bow in apology😭 🙏)

also upon arriving the village jeramie says "in all my 2000 yrs of living, even i never knew about this place" (i love how they bring up his thousands of years wandering as a cryptid and how much he loves chikyuu and knows it so well,,)

they meet the village elder, whom kaguragi greets but instead of welcoming his king the elder yells at all of them to go home, you shouldnt be here and theres no such thing as the star drop here!! leave us be!! the myth that theres a power that grants wishes here is just that, a myth!

and the teams like zamnnn so we went all the way out here for nothing…? yanmas like kaguragi im gonna beat the shit out of u and in the end everyones like Welp i guess we should go home and everyone except jera start to exit the stage. gira is like wait guys are u sure!?! and watches them go off one by one. in the end jeramies like come on now and either drags gira away or on the show i saw on jan 2nd he casually gently pushes gira on the chest (?) WOULD BE BETTER IF I DREW IT TO EXPLAIN BUT IT WAS CUTE😭)

and then jeramie leaves the stage too but then a few seconds later he walks backward and reappears from the curtain and goes な~んてね (just kidding/as if)

he says “honestly, those kings really cant read between the lines huh? this village is obviously hiding something they dont want us to know”

and so jeramie alone walks in the other direction and leaves to the right of the stage

~the middle of the night~

the village elder is sneaking about, two other village men join him, theyre all whispering very discreetly

the elder is like “are they gone yet?”

“sir yessir theyve gone.”

elder says smth like “good! we cant let any of them get their hands on the village treasure that weve guarded for generations''

the elder decides to go to the tomb to ensure the star drop is safe

cut to jeramie sneaking around trying to find where theyre keeping this dang orb. while he’s looking for it he suddenly hears footsteps, turns out its yanma and himeno who ALSO came back to sneakily look for the orb themselves , jeramies like oh crap seems like theyve caught on as well, he goes to hide behind a platform and this part is absolutely ridiculous like whats wronggg w him tbh

like at first when jeramie goes to hide he lies on his side and had his whole one leg up before belatedly putting it down. yanma and himeno are fighting above him and each time they get closer jeramie would flinch dramatically and at some point hes just striking different poses 😭😭😭 also the one i saw on january 3rd when yanma and himeno get way too close to jeramie, yanmas actor accidentally hits jeramie with his sword probably bc he didnt know what improvised pose he’d be in lol…

we cut back to the elder at the tomb, he says some spell in an unknown language and the tomb opens up and reveals the orb (sitting on a pedestal) he goes to take it but doesnt realize that rita was standing there the whole time

the elders like “what are u doing here!!” rita says something abt how they can tell when ppl are guilty of hiding something/lying 👁👁

then suddenly gira waltzes in and is all like “wooow the stars are so pretty…. wait rita? and elder? hi!! man the stars are just so pretty out here i that i got lost wandering around, can u show me the way back? wait a minute whats that youre holding? :0” (note: GIRA WHO LOVES STARGAZING REALLLL)

elders like NONE OF U CAN HAVE IT!! BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN IF THIS FALLS INTO THE WRONG HANDS! 

ritas like anyway whatever give me that orb, and lunges at the elder to grab it

at this point himeno and yanma arrive to the scene and himenos like that orb is MINE!! and they all fight over it 

rita ends up getting it and IMMEDIATELY they wish for “moffuns warmth” and then moffun actually appears fr on stage 😭😭 while rita is busy going crazy over moffun and hugging it the elder chants another incantation which appears to have reversed the wish and moffun goes away.  yanma gets a hold of the orb next but right at that moment jeramie swings by on a cord and snatches it from him!! 

jeramie lands on the ground, orb in hand all pleased with himself but then.. someone sneaks up from the shadows behind him and its kaguragi!!! and he has his sword to jeramies neck while hes backed against a wall and jeramie goes otto~ (it was sexy as hell tbh)

so kaguragi has the orb now and hes like “so it seems the myth is true. thank you everyone for confirming this for me”

everyones like kaguragi... could it be…? u were just using us to get the star drop yourself this whole time!!!??

and kaguragis like maa maa dont worry abt it (FORGETTING A LOT OF DETAILS HERE but something abt how if a village in his country has been keeping an object so powerful it only makes sense it should be in his hands or something , maybe?)

but anyway no one wins this round because THEN suddenly kamejim appears and takes the hot potato orb from kaguragi 

and hes like ufufufu and then uses the star drop to make his super evil plan to destroy the planet come true, and when he says his wish suddenly the orb starts going crazy with an immense dark force , its glowing purple and its all crackly like a thunderstorm is inside it, the ground shakes and everything around them starts falling apart

the elders like nooooo and tries to take the orb back but kamejim flings him away and the elder is knocked unconscious

in the end, gira manages to get a hold of the star drop but he struggles to keep it still in his hands bc of the wild dark energy, gira tries to repeat the incantation he heard the elder say earlier but it isnt working, then gira is like “i have no other choice!” and it looks like gira holds the orb close to his chest and the stage goes dark as he screams and then a few moments later he reemerges as…… ~Dark Gira~ 

Gira is silent for a moment but then he growls in a rlly low voice “i am the tyrant king… and i will destroy this planet!”  and starts blindly attacking everyone

evil gira doesnt do the classic evil laugh at all… hes eerily silent and mostly growls and groans a lot. he moves creepily like hes possessed, sometimes he crouches rlly low as if hes on all fours like a wild beast, he pounces on kaguragi and pins him to the ground like a predator 😱 (it was scarYyyy). his evil voice is also super super deep (huge win for the actual!evil tyrant gira enthusiasts…)

everyones like gira whats wrong with you!! gira snap out of it!! dont you recognize us?!?! but it seems gira has completely taken in the dark energy of the orb into himself

giras so powerful in this state that he defeats all the other kings. jeramie was the last to try and fight gira and smth ppl pointed out that Indeed i noticed was true on my rewatch is that evil gira mercilessly went for jeramies bugnarak arm 😭(AAAA)

in the end everyone can only lay defeated on the ground. jeramies dramatic ass says “ah, is this how the story ends? what a tragedy..” 

the curtain slowly closes on evil gira standing alone center stage as he once again yells “i will destroy this world…!”

later, kaguragi, yanma, and rita gather together to reassess their plan. himeno joins in late, she just got done treating the elders wounds. he should be fine, and jeramie is looking after him now.

(note: i was internally screaming at this. ever since ep 42 when himeno was taking a look at injured racles and went “jeramie” and jeramie immediately knew to Web up his wounds i was like oh… theyve done this before. himeno and jeramie have been spending time tgt treating ppl/himeno has been teaching jeramie things and vice versa OOUGH MY BELOVED HIMENO AND JERAMIE FRIENDSHIP. JERAMIE NURSE IN TRAINING REAL) (also fuel for my 1677282 different headcanons regarding jeramie and how he deals with his own injuries... himeno getting mad at this 2000 yr old spider w 2000 yr old habits and teaching him how to take care of himself..)

rita is like no wonder the village ppl guarded the star drop so fiercely… 

its a great, dangerous power that no one person should wield..

ah… so the myth is actually a burden/responsibility kaguragi let his ppl carry for 2000 yrs…. kaguragi wanted to help his own ppl, not selfishly use the wish for himself..

yanma deduces that the orb takes on the intense feelings of whoever makes a wish, and to cancel out the dark energy in gira right now, they need a feeling thats more powerful than That

but what?? from where and how?? 

then suddenly, evil gira reappears, still possessed by the dark energy

himenos like i know!! surely his feelings for us kings/our memories together as his friends are stronger!!

(the kings look at the audience)

OF COURSE!! we’ll use the power of everyones emotions here!! everyone, lend us your help, at the count of three, everybody shout gira’s name!!

whenever the audience shouted giraaaa, he gets hit with a sparkly effect, its working!! yanma goes hypeman cheerleader mode and is like CMON IS THAT ALL YOUVE GOT!! SAY IT LOUDERR

and we shout gira a couple times and finally we shout the incantation (it was rlly cute and sweet sobs)

a transition, gira is back to normal. the orb is also back in one piece

jeramie conveniently comes in after the whole thing all “ah, is gira back to normal already?” 💀💀 tuxedo man meme ass…

anyway now that they have the star drop again hot potato is BACK on and they fight kamejim for it one final time.

gira chases after kamejim and theres a funny bit during the chase where kamejim goes into the audience and gives the orb to one of the audience members and hes like “that persons holding it” and giras like oh sorry excuse me! could u please give me that orb? KHAHSHSJSN

then FINALLY once they got the orb back, they manage to actually destroy it for real so that smth like this never happens again. and thus the kings save the village from ruin! the elder is thankful to kaguragi and the others for saving them but ah… now this village no longer has a legend of its own. but then jeramie says “but we have rewritten it by creating a new legend! the story of the six heroes who saved this village!” our 思い (feelings) will be a new legend~

jeramie has this long winded ass curtain closing speech, going on abt probably the power of friendship and 思い and stories that we have to 心に刻まないとね♡ (carve it into our hearts) . i didnt see it on the show i saw but yes, this is where the infamous giramie hug happened :') the one i saw on the 2nd, jeramie said this while putting his hand on giras shoulder and leaning into him, on the 3rd he put a hand to his heart and looked into giras eyes…or visor. he titled his head all cutely and shit too ARGGGHH

and of course jeramie finishes the entire show by going …とさっ♡ (or so the story goes) and since gira and jeramie are standing next to each other center stage the curtain frames the both of them right before the show ends... aaa...

END!

G ROSSO WAS SO GOOD AND FUN AND CUTE, HIGHLY RECOMMEND! if you can, def tune into the livestream theyre doing at some point which is gonna feature the non suit actors in the show!!!

thanks again @valentinezlove for going to see both days w me~ because these days had the special stage greeting from the actors (and thats a WHOLE NOTHER THING IVE MADE SEPARATE POSTS ABOUT), there was no after show handshake with the suit actors but i still got to shake kuwagata-ohgers hand walking into the venue ;7; i will never emotionally recover...

(also i pulled jeramies trading card twice thank you shugods for looking out for me ahsjkd!!!)

[bylerficrecweek]

The themes are out! As a reminder, the event will be running from the 3rd of March to the 9th of March, so you have plenty of time to get lists together or go searching for that one fic you forgot to bookmark. Since the titles are a little vague, there's an in-depth explanation of each below the cut.

Detailed explanations of each theme

Day 1: Post-canon

Fics set after the hypothetical events of S5, where the canon plot has already been resolved. Examples include stories about their late highschool years post-Vecna, their college experience, and their lives in the current day.

Day 2: Season 5 speculation

Fics that follow on from the end of s4, where the canon plot has not yet been resolved. They can pick up directly after the final scene of s4 or be set after a timeskip. Examples include apocalypse Byler fics, some gate fics, and Vecnafication fics set after s4. The focus doesn't need to be on wrapping up the Vecna plot, as long as it's part of the setting.

Day 3: Written pre-season 4

Fairly self-explanatory. Since the popularity boom Byler experienced when S4 released, most of the fandom's older fics have been buried beneath all the new content and can be quite difficult to find. The plotlines and backstories they show won't necessarily match up well with the current canon, but that doesn't devalue them as stories. Examples include any fics that began before Volume 1 released. Longfics that started before S4 but are still ongoing count for this category.

Day 4: Friends & family

Fics with a strong focus on the party, the Byers' family, the Wheeler family, or any other platonic relationships. Other ships still can't be a central focus, but it's okay if Byler takes a backseat in fics that fall under this category so long as it's there in some capacity. Examples include coming out fics, outsider POV fics, and sibling bonding fics.

Day 5: Full AU

Fics that place the characters in a completely different setting to canon, rather than adding AU elements to the canonverse. Their setting s and storylines are either completely original or follow the format of another piece of media. Examples include fantasy AUs, SpiderWill AUs, and historical AUs.

Day 6: Canon divergence

Fics that follow canon up to a point, before splitting. Examples of this could include S4 rewrites, fics based on popular theories and gates, Will/Mike gets Vecnaed fics... Fics that include an element of AU while still following the structure of canon, such as soulmate AUs or time travel fics, also fall under this genre.

Day 7: Free day, post anything you haven't already or self promote

Anything goes. Any fics that you want to rec but didn't think matched any of the other categories can go here. Alternatively, if there's anything you meant to rec on a previous day but forgot, then now is your chance. If you're a writer yourself, this is also the day to post your own works and have them shared by the blog.

Exceptions

There are plenty of stories out there that could fit the criteria for multiple categories. If there's a story you want to rec that fits the criteria for more than one day, just use your best judgement about what category it's the most like. For example: a full AU fic written pre-s4 is going to be much more focused on the AU elements than the time that it was written, so it's best to rec it on day 5. If you just can't make up you mind about what day you should rec a fic, either rec it on day 7 or shoot us an ask for advice.

[cumulo-stratus]

Spencer Reid x fencer!Reader

(GIF NOT MINE)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Male!reader

Description: reader is a fencer and is competing in the 2023 mens saber nationals and spencer invites the team to cheer on his boyfriend. (Could be read as ftm) (Also spencer is like low key autistic in this)

CW: slight swearing

A/N: i am a saber fencer, and i have been for years lol, so dont worry abt any mistakes in technique although its not gonna be accurate of an official tournament because it just makes more sense for the plot. (but if yall have any questions feel free to ask in the comments!), and tbh this fic is completely self indulgent lol, bc i couldn’t find anything like this so i decided to make my own :)

(NOT FULLY PROOF READ)

3rd person POV:

The days was finally here, after months of training and practicing for hours every week. There were so many nights Spencer had seen you walk through the door so tired and sore that you coud barely stand too many times to count. But it was all worth it, because today, Y/N Y/L/N was competing for wold champion.

Spencer decided to surprise his boyfriend by showing up with the whole team, decked out in French flags, showing their pride for him and his team. Y/Ns first semi-final bout was starting soon, and spencer was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he and his friends filed into the reserved seats for people related to the fencers. Spencer starts rocking in his seat and Derek looks over at him and says “hey pretty boy, you seem pretty excited, but you’re gonna fall out of your seat if you keep rocking like that!” With a wink. Spencer looks down shyly and says “Sorry, im just excited for his first bout.”

“Dont worry about it genius, im just teasing.” Derek responds. Then Rossi speaks up with “Am I the only one who’s confused as hell on what a bout is?” Small laughs erupted from the team at Rossis comment. Spencers eyes light up as he gets ready to tell him all about what he learned in his research of fencing. “A bout is combat between two fencers in competition. When score is not kept, friendly combat between two fencers is referred to as an assault. A single bout can go to 5, or 15 depending on the situation.” Spencer stated as if he was citing a book, because he probably was.

Finally the lights over the audience dimmed and the lights come over the strip. And then the 4 fencers came out of the back in their whites with blades and masks raised in the air. When Y/N finally comes out last, the entire team cheers and yells and whistles at the top of their lungs, even though the team got a few weird looks for their enthusiasm they didn’t care. And when Spencer and Y/N made eye contact Y/N blew him a little kiss, and spencer practically melted. “Ooh! Looks like pretty boy over here's got heart eyes for his little boyfriend!” Said Derek teasingly and spencer gets even more flustered. But theyre conversation is cut off as the first 2 fencers come out onto the strip, and the team got excited looking for your French flag patch and imposing Ukrainian coach who they’d heard a lot about from Spencer, (who’d in turn heard from you) but failed to find it, and they realized since there was 4 semi finalists there would be at least 1 bout without you in it. But the profilers still watched the bout intently, amazed at the ref calling points for seemingly simultaneous touches, with spencer explaining what the refs thought processes most likely was as they watched. And finally the bout came to a close with the Hungarian Aron Szilagyi losing 15-12. And then came out Y/N, ready for his first bout of the day. He was facing Ziad El-Sissy from Egypt. After about 10 minutes of hard fencing the score was 14-14. And after a small break and talking to his coach, Y/N walked back up to his en garde line and shook his arms out and took a deep breath in before going to en garde position. "En garde! Prêt! Allé!" And you burst forward convincing your opponent that your were going to attack, so in return they lunged forward with a double advance lunge. But you knew that's what he was going to do, so you made him fall short with a couple retreats before pushing him to end of the strip and striking with a quick and strong lunge to the chest. The crowd went wild at your attack and the referee called the point, " attack touché, point!" With their left arm raised towards you. You had won the bout and you were so happy. After meeting with your coach taking a water break and watching the next bout, it was your turn again. This was your chance to win, and become the national champion. The team went wild when they recognized the familiar patch on the young mans knickers and the imposing Ukrainian man standing off to the side. Y/N was facing Sandro Bazadze from Georgia. At first he was losing, bad. You could see spencer and the rest of the team sitting quietly watching in the hopes that the score would improve. It was currently 10-4 and you were down, but slowly you started gaining back points. A feint attack here, a quick sharp attack in the middle, a long attack down the strip with a sharp lunge to finish it off. And suddenly the score was 13-12, you. And with every point you won, spencer and his friends cheered louder.

The score was 14-13 and you just needed one more point, the audience fell silent as the ref called, “en garde, prêt, Allé!” And you sped forward with your arm starting to extend, and then you pounced into a lunge and the referee called halt, to the crowd it looked like a Simultaneous. But as soon as you heard the word you stopped and immediately came closer to the edge of the raised strip where the referee was standing slightly below you, your mask off to the side, discarded and forgotten in anticipation for the call. And as you and your opponent discussed with he referee, spencer began to wring his fingers so tight it was hard to tell if any blood was getting to them, he seemed more nervous than you. But finally the referee took a step back and announced “attack, touche, point!” With their arm raised above their head to their left. That was your side, it was your point. Spencer jumped up and start he’d cheering loudly with the rest of the crowd as you jumped and started crying tears of joy as you hugged your opponent who you’d known from your old days at junior Olympics. Spencer could believe it, he was so happy for you that the muscles in his jaw hurt from smiling so big.

(TIME SKIP)

Spencer's POV:

I had watched the medal ceremony and I couldn't wait to see Y/N. I decided to meet him in the locker room area before he went out and got crowded by people. I just wanted a moment alone with him and I was gonna get it.

when I walked into the room y/ns back was turned to me while he took off his lemme (pronounced le-may) and all that remained where his whites. I walked up behind him quietly and hugged his waist while snuggling my head into his neck despite his sweatiness

y/ns POV:

I felt arms snake around my waist and immediately knew it was Spencer. "Bonjour mon Cherie. Qu'est ce que tu fais ici? Tu n'as pas besoin de m'embrasser au fait, je suis très en sueur Chérie." (Hello my darling, what are you doing here? You don't have to hug me by the way, I'm very sweaty.) I said with a smile in my mother tongue as I was to tired to remember speak in English. But Spencer didn't mind, he knew French anyways. "Ça c'est bon mon amour, Tu as fait un incroyable, et tu mérites un câlin" (it's okay my love, you did amazing and you deserve a hug) Spencer responded while turning me around and unzipping my jacket for me. I kissed him and mumbled a "merci" as he pulled it off my shoulders and folded it up to put in my bag. After placing down the carefully folded jacket he lifted his head and placed his lips on mine. I could smell the faint scent of coffee and the paint he had used to draw the flag on his face. I licked his bottom lip asking for entrance as our lips danced together in sync as our tongues danced to their own tune, we were making out.

(Back with the team)

"What is taking them so loong?! I have a figurine of them fencing I had specially made!" Complained Garcia as she held up the figurine that had yet to be given to y/n. "mama it's a couple in a locker room what do you think they were doing?" Derek said with a sly smirk. "Ughhh I don't need that image in my head right now!" Replied the technical analyst just as y/n and Spencer walked up to them continuing their conversation in french forgetting about the language barrier between them and the rest of the team. "Ce dernier point était incroyable cependant!"(that last point was incredible though!) spencer said. "Je sais! Je pensais que j'allais le perdre!" (I know! I thought that I was going to lose it!) you responded. Hotch cleared his throat loudly and looked at the young pair. You both looked at each other looking like they just been caught. “Déso- sorry!” (Sor-) you apologize. Morgan just shakes his head and chuckles. Finally Rossi speaks up, “well it seams like congratulations are in order.” And starts to make his way over to Y/N for a hug but gets stopped partway there. Y/N put his hands out in the universal signal for stop, and said “thanks for the congratulations but i think everyone should stay at least a couple feet away cus i am stinky! I dont wanna kill anyone’s noses”

“That didnt seem to stop pretty boy over here” said Derek with a smirk gesturing to his mussed up hair and smudged face paint. Both spencers and Y/Ns face turned bright red as the rest of the team laughed at the teasing.

(Small time skip)

After lots of congratulations, good jobs, high fives, and handshakes from the team The group started walking out to their cars after deciding to meet up at a pizza place for celebratory dinner afterwards and Y/N decided to lean on his boyfriends shoulder after his knees buckled multiple times in just a few minutes (istg this happens to me all time after fencing and especially after tournaments). When they got to the car and sat down with he bag in the back, Y/N fell asleep almost as soon as he sat down. Spencer looked over at his boyfriend and admired him in his candid state. “World champion…” mumbled spencer to himself with a small smile, he was just so proud of y/n. And spencer thought about that the whole ride back to the hotel.

The end… :)

[mr-bisk]

Fukkkkkk I want to spoil the surprises of my fics but i don't want to ruin them for who follows me on tumblr.... I guess fuk-ich, idk how to format a post, but it cant be that hard, am I Right!?

Spoilers and HC's under the cut:

Also TW: i can't continue w/o advising: if u got a cringe allergy, ingestion might block your throat. I don't want to kill anybody(yet) so maybe skip this one.

CW: Spoilers for the chapter amouts and last chapter; Transphobes DNI lol, I made all of them Queer and I'll die on this lane; Little Vents(more than one, kinda?); Mention of Fan-Childs.

First of all: The ending. The fanwork just will get 4 chaps cuz i can't drag stuff yet. To spoil the ending, Bill will have a panic attack upon not being able to avoid feeling queer at Josh's presence, gets a hold of his mother's whisky, drunkly and pathetically call Josh to come to his house and out of pity he will attend. They end up alone in Bill's room and end up kissing. It doesn't stop Josh from going to college, much for the opposite effect as he gets scared and confused, but plans to come back to Eltingville soon with a clearer mind.

Pete HC: 🅱️ete is transmasc, stealth-trans. His parents saw it coming from a young age and are actually supportive. They help him hide away his deadname and other stuff that would direct hate towards him. His dad loves having a male son that is interested in helping him with brute shit, although he doesn't endorse his interest in horror and nerd stuff, it is the exception.(also Jer knows his deadname as they are childhood frens.)

Jerry HC('s, theres A LOT of stuff): 1st, Jerry is transfem. 2nd, PeteJer is real. 3rd: I made BillJer virtually impossible timeline-wise bc Bill assumes himself as gay a little after Jer's Egg-Hatchin', also he has the fastest but most oblivios gaydar(maybe queer-dar, idk??) and never felt attracted to Jer.(also yeah, i hold a grudge for the flood of billjer we had when eltingville blew up. Like, Frrr? the whitest, most bland ship u cold think off got popular!?! No hate if u like it, theres loads of gr8 stuff under the umbrella, I'm just not kin.)

Vent: I still love eltingville, don't see the end off the brainstorm/interest flood on the horizon yet- ....Buuuuuut I can't hold myself from feeling like I'm making a disservice to the BillJosh tag. I just begun to write again and posted it on AO3 to prevent me from quitting, and The Damn™️, I feel like my work is meh at best. I'm a perfecctionist, and there are plans of it being re-written, so if u like it, hop in the future when i got enough EXP. and writing turned into a pleasure again.

Bacc to the fanfic. There will be at least 3 more projs. after I conclude this one: A continuation where Josh comes back to Eltingville to see Bill and ends up dragging him to Boston; A PeteJer bittersweet tale with two parts in which(as it is in my brain rn, change might come) mirrors the BillJosh plot, you'll have to wait to see; And a Jane-centered story BECAUSE I 💜 HER!!1!!

I.... Okay.... Last one. The cringiest and most personal yet: There will need to be a Miracle, a fucking change of heart of me to not put Fan-Childs at some point.... yeah. Look, I myself plan of becoming a Father/Ba irl and it pours in the way i see relationships. If thats a big ass No-Hell-No! to u, Maybe do not hop into the fishing line of my fanworks, because it is a big factor in the way i view it's development.

[wassupmygays]

Secret Life HG!AU : Tribute Profiles

Geminitay: District 1

Gem Tay is the youngest career in these games. Volunteering at 15, she is very clearly seen as the underdog of the careers. However, she quickly knocks down that image with her fire, determination, and skills. She may be smaller than the other careers and most of the other tributes, but she is one of the most capable.

[Longer explanations under the cut. Asks are open if there's any questions about certain plot points or prompts :D]

District 1 is surprised by Gem's volunteering, but she is very popular in the grand scheme of the show. She makes connections easily with the other career tributes, and makes sure to show that she is just as capable as the others. She has her own strategies that end up making her the leader of her alliance.

For a second, her district partner Scott underestimates her. He doesn't know how capable a tribute of her age can be. He quickly figures that out and sees just how valuable and strong she is; she can easily out-maneuver him in a fight, and she sees strategies and angles that he can't. She is the one to suggest recruiting an outsider district tribute when the career pack splits up. She is the one to convince Scott that the split-up careers can be a great angle to play, as its interesting to the audience.

However, Gem is still young. Career training can't always protect you from the mental toll of the games. She begins to crumble towards the end, like after letting BigB go, where she panics that she made the wrong decision, that she let her district down. that she can't actually handle this. And she definitely can't handle killing Scott in the end, not that she gets the chance to dwell on that for long. She places 3rd

Gem is in District 1 for similar reasons as Scott; she is part of the "career pack" that Scott mentions in the finale. She is known throughout the group for her fighting. GeminiSlay screams career tribute. Her name also lends itself to the trends of the luxury district; Skizz even calls her Gemstone. She is the newcomer, everyone is unsure of how she will do, but they quickly see that she isn't to be underestimated.

[steve0discusses]

Ep 45 Part 2: I, Again, Did Not Expect Ryou

The revolving door of characters wandering into this boss arena continues, and this time it’s Pharaoh who is trying to catch up to the plot with the dead woman on the ground, the giant tablet to the side, and Seto who is cackling to himself in a corner.

And Seto does a big ol laugh and it’s been a while since we got a villainous laugh out of Seto. Been a LONG TIME. Probably felt great for this voice actor to go back to his roots.

(read more under the cut)

Y’all.

It’s been a while I’ve been doing this blog, right? And I take it slow, especially right now with chronic fatigue stuff, but MAN I really thought we’d be dueling SETO. Not Aknadin in a Seto Bean! That’s a different guy!

Yugioh! That’s a completely different guy!

And there’s time for the big showdown between Pharaoh and Seto to actually happen. But trying to write it so we no longer develop this rivalry between Seto and Pharaoh feels like...they had to do that because Seto became a friend maybe kind of unintentionally.

It still works, they haven’t lied to us, I just...I have mixed feelings about it.

Mimicking Blue Eyes in Season 1 and Season Zero, this dragon will not work for you if you are not Seto Kaiba. Or Yugi. She’ll sometimes allow Yugi to play her in his deck. But definately not Seto Imposters. And like that, Aknadin is dead by his own hubris.

Hubris be killing a lot of billionaires lately, amiright? Yugioh just leaning into my love of killing billionaire gentry with hubris.

This romantic moment somewhat ruined by the animation team refusing to draw fingers and always keeping everyone’s hands clenched like they’re gonna furiously poop.

Yami watches as Seto recreates the vision that Kaiba had seen several years prior on the blimp. And Yami I’m sure felt entirely 3rd wheel. But he’s used that. He lives in Yugi’s bean. He probably thinks 3rd wheel is normal and how everyone feels all the time.

And then THIS HAPPENS.

Seto decides he’s had enough of watching behind a pillar, and now that everyone is dead and sobbing he should go out and harass Yugi. Youknow, at this funeral. The funeral of his beloved from like a previous life or whatever. Seto is kind over it and for once he is the one that needs a ride home.

And he’s like “hey so...I noticed that guy looks like me”

And then, when you think “well I guess Seto joins the party?” they just start screaming at eachother, within earshot of Seto, within earshot of the dead dragon card, within the earshot of like the entire world.

Remember that no one can actually see Seto but Pharaoh, which makes it even more funny.

Bakura segue’s us back to Yugi and his cursed friends, where he’s trying his best to explain the logic of cursing your classmates with dark magic so you can go on playdates.

The idea that you go through all the trouble to curse people into liking you, but the puzzle itself is made of dark magic, so it finds the most terrifying people to make your friend, is funny to me although it is completely my headcanon.

Anyway, get ready for the still my computer caught for this next one.

(it’s “surprise” but eh I don’t feel like fixing it at this point.)

It DOES look like Tristan is doing a weird cross punch, he’s actually tossing both of them and his hands over extended to the other side, which is a thing we do in animation, we go past the point you intend to go so it looks more fluid--but it does make the tweens funny.

The floor gives way and creates scales made out of the eyes.

Will Yugi leap from his scale and send his friends to purple doom, or will he find Pharaoh’s name and save the world?

which like, wouldn’t be a good episode of Yugioh unless multiple people were asking to die, and Joey nailed it in the most Brooklyn way this Japanese boy knows how.

And so Bakura was like “never mind.” which I guess was an option in the footnotes that only he could read.

Not shown is a hard to cap animation where Yugi leapt from his edge of the scales and just clung to Joey’s waist and Joey was like “gotta hang on to your friends, right Yuge?” And Yugi was like “Does that mean you forgive me already? Or are you being sarcastic right now?”

Inside of the room is this.

I LOVE the outline tool in photoshop. Good stuff. I LOVE it. and so does this animation team. Outlined the HELL out of those birds.

They leave the name zone room, with no idea at all how to say Pharaoh’s name. Where, they ran straight into Tristan and decided enough was enough, it’s time to have a chat. Because no, they haven’t figured it out.

You may be asking “so where did Tristan go?”

I DON’T KNOW.

He’s probably not fine. But um. No idea where Tristan went.

Also, guess who we haven’t seen in like 20 episodes since Seto stepped over his prone body on the steps?

Ryou! Little Ryou is back!

This guy who we...thought was a good guy? Anyway he’s off to literally kill Yugi, just like he’s want to do.

Straight up...I can’t fully predict Ryou, mostly because we rarely ever see the kid, but damn, he sure did wake up just ready to do a murder today, didn’t he?

And yes, this does mean that Ryou was pretending to be Bakura pretending to be Tristan, just so we the audience could get a fun triple reveal in this episode.

For some damn reason Ryou brought a duel disk to ancient Egypt. So we WILL get actual proper cards. And by proper cards, I mean Yugioh TV show cards, which line up not at all with the actual card game. Can’t wait to spell FINAL and then die.

Anyway, here’s the link to read these in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

We are quickly running out of people in this season to kill, but we still got a few of Pharoah’s ancient friends left, and as for who dies next episode? My bet is on...Isis. Sorry Isis, I know you got a cool hat and you’re the token girl but, she’s super dead next right?

[puhpandas]

In the case of the movieverse (future trilogy) how do you realistically think Gregory and Cassie could be integrated into the plot? At least for my part,I like them a lot as characters but it is difficult for me to see them integrated in an organic way because,apart from Abby,I do not see other child characters (alive) that serve the main plot set in the era of FNAF 1,2 and 3 and I see it focused more specifically on the guards (Mike,perhaps Jeremy Fitzgerald or Fritz Smith in the case of FNAF 2),the Aftons and the MCI.

I think cassie would be a lot more difficult to do than Gregory. gregory has a connection with vanessa and also a canonical relationship ship along with just similar stories. they could do something with their similar backgrounds in the movies that would not only be faithful to gregorys character and a good adaptation, but also serve Vanessa's character in the movie and make both of them better because of it

it's a lot harder to say because cassie would have a connection with Gregory over anyone else, so itd have to be in the 3rd movie if Gregory was incorporated in the 2nd. its rlly difficult bc I would bet money on the idea that cassie is becoming the new vanny in the story right now, but that would just be impossible in the movies since Vanessa's vanny was just serving her dad and being under her thumb

you could say that cassie could be in a similar situation since she canonically has a father, but Gregory would probably have used that in the 2nd movie bc of how similar he'd have to be to vanessa

also since the 3rd movie would the end of a trilogy itd be really hard to incorporate a whole new character at that point since itd be the end and mostly just use the characters they spent the other 2 movies developing. I dont want her to get the short end of the stick but just having a friendship plotline with Gregory in the 3rd movie would be how it would have to happen

it's not that it's a bad story it's just underwhelming compared to the others ig lol. friendship isnt underwhelming tho and theres definitely wouldnt be. cassies story revolves so much around friendship and trust and ride or diehood in the games anyway that it wouldnt feel out of place for her to just have a bff forever plot. depending on who's revealed to cut the elevator this could go in very different directions lol. but I highly doubt Gregory if he was similar to vanessa in this case would do that to her

it would also be satisfying on both ends bc of Cassies plot of being abandoned all the time where shed find her best friend in Gregory, and Gregory would have a chance to do something kids like him should be able to do and making a friend in cassie is not only really good for him but it would be one step closer to him becoming a 'normal kid'

I totally agree with what u said about child characters not serving fnaf 1 2 and 3. but also I think that theyve made room already by adding vanessa in and they could find a way

[spacehostilityy]

NNT Rewatch s2ep1-6

(This was written weeks ago but was in my queue. I am moving back to my college town Saturday so busy days are to come but now I have things to procrastinate 😈)

So YAYAYAY time for season 2 (my fave season overall) !! I’ve rewatched this one before, so i actually remember some of this lol

Ban: I quit

Meliodas: your face is the only joke we can handle

HE GOT HIS ASS DAMN

i love both of diane’s orange fits, but s1 leotard hits different

i have thots abt the introduction of power levels that will be told beneath the cut

i mean it’s all very dragon ball (which i love, but in a very different way). I feel like they are just better executed in manga format, because saying the numbers out loud just kinda breaks up the flow of dialogue and action. Plus the numbers never stay accurate since the characters are always powering up and nakaba lowkey just stops using them at one point. so like assault mode!Meliodas has a power of 142,000. BUT he defeats enemies with powers higher than that and is shown to gain even more power. But this is the highest number we have for him. Overall, theyre clunky, not updated enough to be accurate, and just kinda cheesy :/ I feel like plot could have been added to justify and explain the eye of Balor (AKA Drole if i remember correctly) but it’s just used as an excuse to quantify the characters’ strength since this season is mainly focused on physical and emotional growth, as seen by the Ishtar Arc (one of my fave arcs hehe)

merlin’s friendship with hawk is actually so cute tho

so Meliodas’s beginner stats (still missing his powers) are magic 400, strength 960, spirit 2010. The way I see it, his insane spirit strength could mean one of two things: bitch is just hella determined in his quest to end their curses and protect his friends (likely) or merlin taking away his power only affects his strength and magic since spirit has to do with your mind (also likely) anyway what do y’all think?

how the fuck is gowther’s strength 500??? The average person who can lift 50-100 lbs has a strength of 30. HOW IN THE FUCK?? IS GOWTHER SECRETLY SWOLE????

Meliodas being like “no idk who the ten shadows could be haha” when he and merlin literally formed the sins to fight them and HE WAS THE LEADER OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS is so funny like so tru king lie to their faces

the first thing Zeldris says is “3000 years... please tell me that he’s still alive” which tells me two things: 1) he doesn’t know about Meliodas’s curse, which could explain why estarossa kills him when he’s just going to come back a rival to the throne of the demon king and 2) the listed life expectancy of 1000 years for demons is probably not accurate lol

maybe it’s driven down due to number of battle deaths like the mortality rate of the middle ages lol

we are introduced to a demon who hopes mel is alive, shares a voice actor, AND HAS THE SAME FACE yeah the brother coding is very thick

AJSDBJKBHJEBFNWKFH YESSS THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVE INTRO SONG AND ANIMATION

ban’s refusal to get jericho’s name right makes me laugh every time

Jericho: is scared and runs to Ban

Ban: 🤨 yeah. i don’t remember asking you to grab my arm🙄

im sorry but king rlly was a bad fairy king like mans didnt even know the forest was there 😭 its ok tho i love that for him

King hating Ban at first bc he “killed elaine and destroyed the fairy kings forest” only for Ban to pull THE BIGGEST uno reverse on him will never not be funny

wait does that mean ban is technically the 4th fairy king and king is both the 3rd and the 5th bc that would be rlly funny and does happen quite a bit historically

I love how as much as a smug asshole Ban is, he’s not rubbing it in King’s face and is showing him he’s still his friend

so if Gil is Margaret’s guard and Griamore is Veronica’s, does that mean Howzer was Elizabeth’s ?? bc that would be so fucking funny

Helbram got King’s ass with “and you’re short”

KASBDFNJBSDKF HE LOOKS SO GOOFY😭

MY BABYGIRLS ARE HEREEEE

Best girls Melascula and Derieri fr

i love that they said slader is gay, how can we let the audience know and then gave him the smoothest, gayest voice imaginable

merlin calling og gowther a great magician when we know he was the one to train her is actually so sad, i want to give baby merlin a hug

slader is hot, thanks for coming to the ted talk

how the fuck does he walk like this tho??

is there a reason i just don’t remember why they never really bring up albions again or do they just ~disappear~ conveniently from the story lol

So the whole concept of sacred treasures is really cool to me because they are clearly something unique to the Sins, despite all of the sacred treasures being very different and made of different materials. I mean Gowther’s is straight up made of light Still, them having weapons that serve as a constant and grow with them as they become more powerful is just a neat concept to me. I just wish we could have seen Ban use Courechouse more than just a few episodes. There really isn’t a plot reason he couldn’t have had it beforehand.

Gerheade being a bitch to Ban bc he’s a human makes literally no sense when we learn her backstory with Rou. Like NO sense at all lol

I honestly love that Meliodas destroyed the albion on his own. Like yes, he is my OP blorbo BUT he’s also supposed to be incredibly powerful in canon, which we haven’t seen him go all out with an enemy yet. Not only does he know all about albions (bc he’s a demon), but as leader of the 10 Commandments, he probably was on the controlling side of the golems. Then, as a member of Stigma, he fought against them. Not to mention, this is when he finally gets Lostvayne (the DEMON sword) back. This moment for me is when he gets to show off the perks of him being a powerful and high ranking demon. Might fuck around and do a full post later on Meliodas’s relationship to his own race and what/who he is lol

Ban screaming “you bitch!!” is... a wonderful experience

Yass king (hehehehe get it? bc his name is king? hehehe)

Galand petting Gloxinia is actually so cute lol

Merlin covering Arthur’s eyes 😭😭 she’s his mom fr

“its been a while meliodas” oop galand just let the Meliodas is 3000 years old cat out of the bag ehehe

(stay with me bc im about to get delusional) WAIT so galand says “to think that after all this time has passed youd still be in that form” in this essay i will prove that Meliodas looks like a young teenager because he essentially is biologically young for the demon race. Galand doesn’t know Mel was cursed, so he would think that he had aged in the past 3000 years. Plus, I think the demon king’s possession of Meliodas AND Zeldris can be (somewhat) compared to Sariel’s aging up of Solaseed. Anyway, i feel like this can support my hypothesis of Zeldris and Meliodas are just babies who will eventually look like adults. Also, I think them being super young just enhances the angst quite well.

everyone is fucking terrified of galand but hes just a silly foolish little fellow to me lol

ban and king being brothers-in-law makes my heart happy like theyre so cute

Ban threatening Gerheade and actually being pissed and serious has suddenly reminded me that if i saw a grown ass man who couldn’t die and was a 7 foot tall violent alcoholic i would be fucking terrified

like a demon 14 year old? creepy ig but not a 7 foot tall masochist with an 8 pack

I love how hard Diane always goes for the ones she loves, she’s just so devoted and passionate Best Girl tm behavior

*Merlin being incredibly confidant and nonchalant starting a proposition*

Meanwhile Merlin’s thoughts: SHIT SHIT I HAVE 10 SECONDS TO THINK BEFORE EVERYONE I LIKE DIES

Meliodas doing the same thing Hendy did by reattaching his fucking arms using Darkness and the sins still being like wait?? is Meliodas?? a... demon ??? 🤨

okay so we DO see him in this mode again. But what is it called? and why does he become no thots head empty? its not like he died. and even in assault mode, he has thoughts and emotions (when they’re not stuck in purgatory) 

Im ngl, i forgot everything about this episode entirely lol

obvi i hate that derieri died, but at least the souls she fucking ate got returned lol

do we think arthur has a tiny teenage gay crush on meliodas? Discuss.

(the answer is yes ehehe)

gowther walking around with his dang a lang swangin hehe

Gil crying in annoyance and defeat as griamore and howzer bicker is literally so hashtag real

HENDYYY MY BABYGIRL IS BACK BAYBAYYYY

very suddenly realized that Hendy’s probably only like in his 30s. Mans is just not that old

exactly 3 seconds after I had that though Howzer calls him old man LOLLL

i forgot about hendy’s childhood trauma. damn. thats actually rlly sad :/

look how cute he is tho 😭😭

hendy and dreyfus are in love. thanks for coming to another one of my ted talks

so do we think dreyfus is half druid (and zaratras is full) or zaratras is half druid? i mean they’re half brothers but only one is a called a druid sooo

IM SORRY BUT THIS IS THE FUNNIEST FUCKING SCREENSHOT ASDFFHSLDH elizabeth scandalized, meliodas accepting his fate, slader leaning in closer and blushing ITS JUST SO GOOD

The ass shot of Diane 🤨😑

Damn Idk how i never realized that all of them pretty much only call Meliodas captain. Merlin, Ban, and Elizabeth are the only ones who will call him Meliodas, but even merlin and ban typically go with captain.

“im a giant, why arent you afraid of me?” hes a fucking demon. lol

[thekaijudude]

Ultraman Arc Episode 1 review

I don't usually do this for the first episode but I noted that there were a few aspects that's really unique to a first episode that Arc did here that I really want to talk about

Right away, it does not begin with Yuma's "first contact" with Arc, but 3 months after. Which is refreshing for Ultra-Host arrangements cause it does subvert expectations as I was honestly expecting the familiar first episode, first contact episode plotline. Tho it's probably also due to its unique character setting that Arc arrived as Rutian 16 years ago on K-Day but I believe this can work for future series as well.

Secondly, episode 1 provided many but cohesive plot points. I highlighted all of those that I caught in my commentaries, all of which paint a very solid understanding of the rules that that series are gonna follow, specifically with respect to how the Ooze works. In fact, usually series like Great, Cosmos and Decker would spend at least the entire first half or 2/3rds just trying to have the same level of knowledge that our characters have about the Ooze parasites just in episode 1 alone. Along this line of thought, we literally got a mother Ooze already, which would usually be at least a mid boss for the aforementioned series with similar antagonist settings. This means that this series is obviously going to do things differently if we've reached this development in ep 1 whereas other series would've taken at least 12 episodes.

Lastly, is how natural the merch are. An example would be Arc literally just pulling out the Arc Eye Sword and using it without the episode giving it special attention as if it's an inserted bandai commercial like most of the other New Gen series which often time ruins the immersion of the fight sequences. This honestly mightve been what the Blazar series should've incorporated as if u recall, Taguchi wanted a "realistic" series but man every time Gento swaps a Blazar Stone I just skip the whole thing. But I believe I've also pointed this out in the 1st PV where Arc just slot the Arc Cube into the Arc Eye Sword himself without cutting away to Yuma doing it in his inner space.

But of course, I'm well aware that it's still too early to judge as like back in Blazar ep 1, the tone of which dropped drastically after. But Arc seems like it has a very sustainably strong start.

Overall, I really like how Arc Episode 1 just hit the ground running as it actually speedruns alot of plot points that other series might take the entirety of the first half to progress to. It has incorporated elements such as not cutting away for merch to make the flow of the show seem far more natural than other series. With all being said, I look forward to seeing how these new characteristics would influence the series going forward

[buckybarnesss]

on fire: a teen wolf novel chapters 4-6 chapters 1-3 here

cox communications doesn't respect 3rd shift workers so last night i had to go into my brick and mortar office. i was able to get a lot of reading done but due to rules and regulations i was unable to write down my thoughts as i went. instead i used those little sticky note tabs to mark passages of interest so that's why this post took a little bit longer as i had to review what i had marked.

anyway.

our national nightmare continues.

ngl this book is weird. it's bizarro season 1.

it's non-canon compliant post-episode 5 the tell. i genuinely do not understand why they just didn't tap nancy holder to write a novelization of season 1.

warning: kate argent's existence and general grossness.

so buckle up buttercups here's a preview of what's to come:

we start this chapter from kate's point of view and it makes me feel dirty already. cast it into the fire, isildur. she’s just vile. just look at these nauseating quotes that she has all within the first page: 

“nothing beat the feel of cold, hard steel -- unless it was the rippling muscles of a well-built man.”

this bitch.

”god, all those muscles. the last time she’d seen him, he’d still been in high school. still a kid. a stupid, gullible kid, who should have died in the hale house fire along with the rest of his family.”

tell me again how the intention wasn't for derek to have been a minor when kate was grooming him? tell me fucking again.

“maybe she should’ve taken advantage of derek while he’d been down on the floor, writhing from the nine hundred thousand volts she’d sent skittering though his kick-ass body. for old time’s sake.”

chris and victoria are there too, being way more normal about things. they brought egg salad and cold cuts which feels like it’s hitting the beat where victoria comes in with cookies in the show. 

despite having grounded allison for her skipping school with scott on her birthday they are perfectly fine with her having not only a study date with lydia but allowing her to sleep over. it’s apparently to cover the arrival of a shipment of weapons. kate isn’t impressed that they’re still hiding everything from allison and disappointed there isn’t some super-special weapon in the shipment. 

this entire time she’s being weird and kind of sexual about an uzi. like, fuck off kate. 

now we’re back to scott and allison at the seedy motel plot where they are trying to locate jackson. “scott’s first instinct was to throw his arms around allison and duck, but she yanked the door open and barreled inside the motel like a superhero.”  uou are goddamn right, scott. that is ally a. 

the motel is basically an off the books brothel. one of the patrons supposedly saw something in one of the windows when he went open it for a smoke but saw something that scared him causing a heart attack. allison and scott ask a few people if they’ve seen jackson then have to book it when sheriff stilinski shows up.  these two idiots duck down in her car. i think we see stiles and scott do this a few times in the show.

lydia calls allison freaked out that she hadn’t called her back yet and harkens back to the tell by saying “a....window?” when they tell her about the man having a heart attack and scott describes her as sounding odd. i appreciate that lydia's trauma isn't being ignored because that just happened to her in the tell.

all this use of the generic where’s my phone app and using conference calls to sneak around feels like an adaptation of the plot beat in wolf’s bane.

the sterek agenda continues. derek and stiles spend a significant portion of the coming chapters together much like they do in the back half of season 1. it starts with the possible origin of the derek being in stiles’s room trope. stiles muses over the text he’d received from scott about the incident at the motel and as if being summoned derek is just suddenly there in his room. look at this bullshit:

he texted back, muttering, “so, scott, saw what? saw derek?” “yes?” derek said from behind him. “yeaoww!” stiles shouted. he turned around to find derek leaning against the wall. he did that on an irritatingly frequent basis, both at scott’s house and casa stilinski. he was wearing his black leather jacket and he looked especially pouty and broody. “could you not do that anymore? it is so not cool.”

irritatingly frequent basis? how many times has derek randomly appeared in your room stiles? and i’m sorry “especially pouty and broody”? what a totally super casual observation that is.

it gets even better. derek questions what scott is doing and stiles deadass answers “doin’ stuff.” which naturally irritates derek and derek requests stiles tell scott he wants to meet him. they’re interrupted by the sheriff calling for stiles to which we get:

“gotta go get that.” Stiles pointedly shut down his desktop -- Derek actually growled -- and slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans. “don’t touch anything.”

derek why are you growling? weirdo.

stiles talks to his dad and probes for information about the motel guy and they discuss his homework. it's actually a pretty great conversation between the two and pretty much the only time it occurs in the book.

there’s a mention of stiles’s mother and the sheriff asks stiles if he’s taken his adderall that day. so again, clearly whatever notes holder received very much indicated stiles's ADHD.

back in stiles’s room we get derek pointedly having ignored stiles’s directive to not touch anything: “he zoomed back into his room to find derek clacking away on his computer keyboard.” and “hey,” he said. “keep your paws off.” derek gave him one of his trademark sour glares.” this just continues to confirm for me that holder received some kind of outline of character and plot beats. casa stilinski? sour glares? derek and stiles doing investigative work and going to a hospital? stiles having a low key bisexual crisis over derek? it’s all there. i mean bro look at this:

“look,” derek leaned toward him and the hairs on the back of stiles’s neck stood straight up.”

and the banter:

“but don’t do anything wolfy in my jeep,” he said, opening his door and peering into the hallway. the coast was clear. “like stick our head out the window to let your tongue hang out --” “shut up,” derek said. 

here's another werewolf moment i find rather intriguing. scott and allison have made it to the preserve by this point still hot on the trail of jackson who lydia had told them was somewhere in the preserve. scott has a moment where in his mind he hears the how of a wolf. it says “an echo inside an echo” and “one wolf calling to another. seeking the pack.” that's pretty cool and it's not something shows up in the show.

jackson has finally arrived. i miss this asshole. he's in the woods being pissy about meeting the private investigator that had left him a note and a picture of his supposed biological father.

jackson’s perspective on what happened in magic bullet is just [chef’s kiss]. he refers to derek as scott’s drug dealer.

“mccall’s creepy drug dealer had shown up at school. when jackson had stood up to him, he’d grabbed him by the neck, and, like, gouged him with his fingernails.”

in jackson’s narration something caught my eye. “things had been fine before the start of the school year. Then it was almost as if McCall had concocted some kind of scheme over the summer to ruin his life.” so not only is this book an AU of season 1, the time frame seems off. the show starts the first day after their winter break in january. wolf moon takes place during the episode. the book places this before wolf moon has occurred which comes up later in derek’s narration. 

 this is such a good line and is a window into jackson’s mentality: “everyone wanted something jackson had. it was usually money or popularity. the secret? they were exactly the same thing.”

allison and scott are still in the woods. they’ve been kissing for a while but then they run into a wolf. they are really so soppy in this book and it's both accurate and annoying. allison is awed and scott is quietly panicking. allison goes on about how she thought it was beautiful and scott’s mind wonders if he’ll ever turn into a wolf like how Laura did. which, lol, no baby because you never make peace fully with being a werewolf. 

annnnd we’re back to the stiles and derek plot line. they’re playing dress up. i kid you not. these two are pulling a dean and sam. 

“my new best friend and i are at the hospital.” stiles said, twirling the listening end of a stethoscope in a little circle. so far he’d been unable to hypnotize derek with it.

there’s another small dig about derek not being a real person in stiles’s narration. this book hates derek, okay but i have a lo more on that later. for now these two idiots infiltrated the hospital by pulling the old stand by of Looking Important. stiles has a conversation with scott which is invoking wolf’s bane so hard:

“and you’ll never guess what. you can get past hospital security if you steal a white coat out of the storage room and parade around with it and a clipboard.” derek grunted. he was the one holding the clipboard, but he had passed on wearing a lab coat.”

stiles continues his observations of derek like the freak4freak he is:

“stiles covered the phone, “he can’t talk about wolfie matters,” he reported back to derek.  “because he’s with her,” derek said, looking even more dour than usual. stiles had never realized there were so many degrees of the brood until derek hale came into their lives.”

there’s a bit of back and forth regarding scott reporting that he and allison saw an actual wolf. derek’s disbelieving and cranky to which stiles ponders this totally normal thought:

“maybe if he gave derek a sugar cube -- or threw him a piece of raw meat -- derek might cheer up. stiles would have to try that someday. but today wasn’t looking good for that.”

derek then snatches stiles’s phone to question scott’s whereabouts. he is still cranky. meanwhile stiles is reading derek’s body language and it’s way too detailed for a normal person. like, stiles no one cares derek’s hand is in his jacket pocket while he grumps at scott and emphasizes “like always”. stiles how hard have you been watching derek? he may have complained about derek showing up in his room unnaounced but he's like

before we get into derek’s narration which ooh boy guys you aren’t ready. stiles and derek have their classic bickering-bantering some more. 

derek’s insisting stiles take him to the preserve so he can scent scott out. stiles is appalled and is like “oh my god derek you weirdo there’s an app for that.” and gets a little red riding hood dig in.

derek refuses to admit stiles has a point but orders stiles to give him his phone. stiles all but says Fuck You No and derek brings out his oldie but goodie:

“tell me or i’ll rip your throat out.” 

stiles probably thinks “don’t threaten me with a good time” but instead he says that he knows derek’s not telling him everything and insists he’s going with derek to find scott. 

it ends on this exchange:

“all right,” he said, “but we’ll take your jeep.” stiles huffed. “why can’t we ever take your car?” 

alas the camero. we barely knew her.

now we switch to derek’s point of view to narrate and so begins a piece of characterization that i don’t like, isn’t actually accurate to the character at any point in the series and frankly chaps my ass. i’m just going to give you all the paragraph as a whole.

“hey, you have to take me with you.,” scott’s annoying little sidekick insisted as derek stalked out of the hospital. derek took a tiny bit of satisfaction in the way the human had to trot along to stay abreast. he was sick to death of taking the weakness of humans into account while formulating his plans. de respected power, and few humans had any.”

besties, this book may very well be the origin of Derek Thinks Humans Are Weak trope. now, i’m sure some of you are like heather aren’t you perhaps being a tad dramatic? 

no. no i’m not. at first i considered this might be because of derek’s experience with kate. it would make sense that perhaps based off the information holder had that derek might be wary but than this fucker drops this line:

“werewolves didn’t share information with humans, ever.”

but he follows this thought with this:

“except for him, derek hale. he had shared information with a human. he hadn’t meant to. and the results had been disastrous.”

i will definitely get into more detail about this attitude he has because it really comes out in some later chapters because ooooh boy y’all ain’t prepared for the nonsense ahead. in actual canon derek never behaves this way or express this kind of opinion about humans. it stands out starkly in contrast to the episode this moment is paralleling in wolf’s bane. derek thinks stiles is annoying but not because he’s human. 

we end this chapter on jackson’s point of view. de had met with the so-called private investigator and they tit-for-tatted and jackson bolted when he sensed danger in the woods. now he’s lost in the woods. he’s scared, doesn’t want to admit it and sends a text to lydia.

it's here in these chapters where i realized that the character of deaton is missing entirely. since all of season 1's plot past the tell is omitted deaton's significance went with it.

also the mystery of the alpha is present but she's unable to really do anything with it so peter's presence is still regulated to comatose burn victim.