#thanks for making 2024 hilarious and wild

[wisteriagoesvroom]

in theory i should despise you

🍊🍎 a carcar fic 💆‍♂️ in which carlos is a private banker, oscar is his EA, and oscar finally quits 📝 11.1k words 🌶️ rated E 🔗 read on ao3

preview:

On Christmas Day, Carlos stands in Oscar’s doorway. He sighs and pushes a small bag into Oscar’s hands. “My mother made tiramisu,” Carlos says, by way of explanation. Oscar blinks at the glass tupperware – of course, it’s glass, not plastic – and glimpses its cake-y contents. “Isn’t Tiramisu Italian?” “We are Spanish, Oscar. We are patriotic, not allergic to good food.” “Did you get my email?” Oscar says, ignoring the snipey comment. He leads the way to the fridge and puts the tiramisu away. He’s not even sure if it’s safe to eat after four hours in transit, but it does seem like Carlos in his infinite wisdom did pack the tiramisu-from-Spain in several coolant bags, and there’s dried ice in there too. Either that, or someone else (like Carlos’s mum) was actually well prepared. Story of Carlos’s life. “You came all the way, with a tiramisu on the twenty fifth of December, to tell me you received my message?” Carlos doesn’t answer, so the question stretches out between them. Oscar lets it. He senses that Carlos came here with an intention, even if Oscar for the life of him can’t work out what it actually is.

or, for those of you who enjoyed this headcanon, here it is now as a full(er) fic

also thank you x1,000 to the amazing @miamimaiden for betaing this in record time !!

and edited to add: this little carlos POV for those interested

[yeahxsurexokay13]

bragger, lando norris

summary: fans constantly tease yn for always bringing lando up and being a bit of a simp for her boyfriend - which only gets worse after his first f1 win - so she writes a song about how if they were her they'd do the same.

warnings: none i think??? but let me know if i missed any. the song mentioned is 'bragger' by kelsea ballerini!! (((:

IN HONOUR OF LANDO'S VERY FIRST WIN !! 🥇

y/n.updates

Liked by fan22 and 1.340 others

y/n.updates Y/n's interview with WIRED where she answers the web's most searched questions about her is now out! Go give it a watch 😄

view all 208 comments

fan1 she looked painfully beautiful in this

fan2 how was lando in the answer for questions like 'does y/n speak spanish?' or 'is y/n a good singer?' lol

fan7 she said she didn't remember much from high school but knew some words lando had been taught by carlos sainz and that her boyfriend tells her she is... it kind of isn't that weird if u think about it haha

user1 The more I see of her, the more I like her

fan7 i spy with my little eye 1.6K people with no taste

fan3 interview was everything I hoped for and more! she's hilarious and relatable as always

fan4 new drinking game: take a shot every time she mentions lando

fan5 I've watched it like 5 times already lol

fan6 we need a tally for how many times Y/n drops 'Lando' in her interviews. can someone make that happen?

y/n.y/l

Liked by carlossainz55 and 1.890.321 others

y/n.y/l the vibe i bring to the function (ugly crying on facetime) !!! so incredibly happy for you @/landonorris. you did it 🧡🧡🧡

view all 3.501 comments

y/n.y/l also congrats @/oscarpiastri and everyone else at mclaren for an amazing race ((((:

oscarpiastri thank you Y/n! 🧡 ❤️ by author

landofan4 ok this is very cute and nice of her🥺🥺

fan1 ARE YOU STILL CRYING ? BECAUSE I AM DEFINITELY STILL CRYING

y/n.y/l started crying on lap 54 and haven't stopped since

fan2 new post from my fave lando norris fan account yay (also go lando!!!!!!)

user1 Well deserved 👏🏼👏🏼

landofan3 soy lago

y/n.y/l same

lnfour LFGGGG ❤️ by author

fan3 How many times do you think Y/n's going to mention Lando's win in the next week? Taking bets now

maxfewtrell It's the messy hair and smudged mascara for me

y/n.y/l knew i should've gone for the 'perfectly composed while crying' look instead 😔

landofan1 rip lando nowins: 2019-2024 ❤️ by author

landofan2 "you were scared? i wasn't. i was ok (laughs). thank you. i love you" lando 🥹🥹🥹

fan5 when did he say that? omg

landofan2 f1 posted a reel on their profile and you can hear him talking to her!

mclaren LANDO NORRIS IS A FORMULA 1 RACE WINNER 🏆

y/n.y/l I AM SO NOT CALM ABOUT THIS ??!!?

user2 i could've sworn i saw her at the race? why are they facetiming?

fan4 they could barely speak after the win tbh! this is probably a call in between interviews

user2 today's bottle smash hit different ❤️ by author

landonorris I've said this like a million times already today but I love you so much

y/n.y/l i love you i love you i love you i love you

y/n.y/l

Liked by pietra.pilao and 1.809.896 others

y/n.y/l if he was yours, you'd do the same without apologising... new single 'bragger' out now!!!! 💋💋

view all 3.890 comments

fan6 WHAT HAPPENED TO HWLLO ?? HOW ARE YIU ??

y/n.y/l 🫢🫢

fan1 "he's just too damn good not to mention" .....................i mean she is right we'll give that to her ❤️ by author

landofan1 USING THESE SPECIFIC PICS OF LANDO TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF A SINGLE ABOUT BRAGGING ABOUT HIM IS WILD !!!!

landofan5 that last video is doing things to me.........

landonorris i'm confused does anyone know who this is about?

y/n.y/l no idea 🤷🏽‍♀️ but let me know if you find out xx

landofan4 apparently about some guy named bob?? I'm not sure

fan8 HAHAHA I LOVE THEM

fan2 she really wanted to make sure she'd made her point clear with this dump omfg

fan3 her point: she has a hot bf and we don't

user1 Well played, Y/N. Well played. 🥸

fracisca.cgomes On repeat ❤️❤️

y/n.y/l lindaaaaaaa ❤️

landofan2 knowing all she's saying is about lando makes the song x1000 times better

fan7 so she saw the tweets... 😐

y/n.y/l i saw everything 👀 they were actually hard to miss hahaha

user2 "i understand why you would want him (i don't mind)" queen behaviour !!!!!! 👑👑

fan4 So this is how she gets back at us for all the teasing lol not complaining at all

landofan3 I can't believe this new song is actually inspired by the fans' teasing about Lando!!🤣

fan5 we joked, she delivered!!! bragger is actually a banger👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[philon-awards]

Philon Awards 2024 Shortlist

(in alphabetical order of the title; shortlist based on the results of the nominations phase)

Short fic (word count under 10K):

And Filled With Tomorrows by Android_And_Ale

A Perfect Fit by ThereBeWhalesHere

Cherubim by vanilla_extract

Engineering a Fantasy by CampySpaceSlime

Fly Over My Grave Again by gunstreet

Harrekh t'Harrekhi by CampySpaceSlime

How to Win Plants and Influence Lizards by indeedcaptain

Seeing, Unseeing by Jenna Hilary Sinclair (JennaHilary)

The Mess Hall Incident (or why Bones really wants to eat his salad alone, thank you) by discorporating

The Sight of a Touch, or the Scent of a Sound by Moreta1848

Long fic (word count 10K-50K):

All Things Fall and Are Built Again by spaceisgay (ChancellorGriffin)

DESK JOBS by WerewolvesAreReal

How Do I Know He's Mine by HDDrabble

Hurt by ThereBeWhalesHere

Please Don't Take Him Just Because You Can by spaceisgay (ChancellorGriffin)

Space age country girl, stone cold miracle by thembonesthembones

the fine print, and other things james t. kirk doesn't read by onlyafterhours

the yeomen of the garden (and laundry) by cicak

Way from Within by gunstreet

Novella/novel (word count over 50K):

Bodyguard by BurningAmber

Grief as a four-dimensional figure by Moreta1848

I Shall Do Neither by onwhatcaptain

It's Not An Illusion by Borealisblue

mol-kur by uhuraprime

Quell the Cosmic Tides by Plus3Charisma

Regulatory Relations by indeedcaptain

The Exiles by Moreta1848

The rebel and the nerd by Moreta1848

The recitation of names by Moreta1848

Podfic:

Blood Fever (written by T'Lara) by 1lostone

I must confess (written by USS_Queertastic) by 1lostone

milk and honey (written by spaceisgay) by foundbyjohndoe

milk and honey (written by spaceisgay) by cookiemom6067

The 1,000 Hour Sleep (written by spqr) by cookiemom6067

Traditional art:

Alright mr Spock by knezidon

kiss by vanilla-phantoms

Parading with Pride by Purple_Enma

Spock's Tattoo by SButler (Shelley Butler)

Tender Hands by Purple_Enma (Tumblr post)

The Ritual by Purple_Enma (Tumblr post)

Digital art:

(untitled Spock nude) by spirk-my-love (Florian Gray)

By the Fireplace by lorvee

Captains' Gambit (comic) by lorvee (Tumblr post)

Commission for BurningAmber's fic "Bodyguard" by asyncamestel

Harrekh t'Harrekhi by Purple_Enma (Tumblr post)

Mess by eldar_of_zemlya

Morning Sex by nightcrawler1

TALKING TO GHOSTS by emilinqa

Vulcan's Forge by CelestialVoyeur (Tumblr post)

Poetry:

all of me, unguarded by indeedcaptain

blanket me by USS_Queertastic (BoldlyQueertastic)

Shared Space by CelestialVoyeur (poem is chapter 6 in a collection of poems)

The Curious Case of Captain Kirk by CelestialVoyeur (poem is chapter 5 in a collection of poems)

to have and to hold by CateAdams

Zines:

KiScon 2023 Official Zine (editor: 1lostone) (download link)

Wild Heart – A NSFW AOS Spirk zine (editors: borbtrek, remylebae, nicbutnasty) (download link)

You can also see the shortlist on this Google spreadsheet. Make a copy to have your own spreadsheet to keep track of what you've already read and how you liked it.

Voting will open on 10 September 2024! Stay tuned for the announcement. You can also find this shortlist plus the rules and explanations concerning the voting process on the KiScon website.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm having a GREAT time

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Aug 2024 Week 5

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7-8 of 12 - I do love these 2 a lot. It’s such a slow burn sweet comforting quiet little romance. It’s not complicated, it’s not stretching my thoughts or imagination, but it is easy and absorbing. I'm entertained by it without being taxed. And sometimes that’s nice. It's what Thailand does best.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 3 of 10 - Oh I’m still enjoying it. It’s only episode three and they’re basically boyfriend’s palling around shopping together and hanging out on a bicycle. What’s not to love? Also he got to meet the in-laws. Well… eventual in-laws. Also the girlfriend character. I totally forgot about her. Good times.

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 12fin - Baby faints. Bad guys caught and beat up a bit. Lots of romantic moments, come checking in with ALL the sides, and it ends.

Summary?

Classic CEO meets ingenue archetypes make for a somewhat banal and simplistic romance. This could’ve come from an 80s Harlequin, except that they’re gay. It's... old fashioned. There was nothing meta about this, there was no subversion or commentary on anything BL, queer, or beyond. It’s just a straight up (okay not straight) romance. I was not wild about these characters for this particular pair, but that’s not the pair's fault, they did a decent job with their parts and I look forward to their next show - here’s hoping it’s a bit more meaty. I preferred the side couple because they were more complex and true to BL archetypes, even if they were also a bit miss-handled. A serviceable show if somewhat lacking in its convictions, but with some beautiful sex scenes, people, and fashion. I was a particular fan of Lin‘s gender bending femme style. It’s groundbreaking to see that aesthetic on one of the leads. There were multiple times they could’ve leaned into well established plot points, paranormal elements, and character tension, and instead just glossed over them.

This should probably get a 7/10, but I’m giving it an 8 because of that one oppa line at the beginning, Tenon's tatas, and the call back to Big Dragon with that iconic musical refrain in the final episode. It was a pretty fun ride, emphasis on pretty and ride. 

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 5 of 12 - Lots of kissing this episode. And lots of different kinds of kissing from the same two actors in various different forms and characters. I really liked it. It’s nice to see that this pair can mix it up a little bit, even if it's just with their lips.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - OK the leg care massage was so boyfriend I can’t even. Who are they trying to fool? I love the way Ing always knows exactly what is going on. Thank goodness for that confession! I’m very much looking forward to the next episode.

(The socratic method, is it?)

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 9 of 12 - Still couldn’t care less about the hets. Yawn. Ah Jane’s ex shows up. (Is that Green? Hi baby!) Meanwhile, Jane gets worried and jealous. I loved Pah in this ep, and almost wish this were a show just about him. Like a grown-up Green Fictions. (Where tf did Poon COME from allasudden? He’s a killer actor. GMMTV better use him wisely.) Also, in that scene with Pat and P’Jo, they’re eating some of my favorite food. I got a little bit of linguistic negotiation with Khun Par Phi. Cuteness. And we end with some actual communication. Yay!!! It’s kind of hilarious to see OffGun in a tentative hug. I don’t think they’ve been that way for a years.

In fact, this whole episode was pretty much about communicating properly between ages and ranks within an office and social structure. I loved that. I’m liking this one more this week. It’s still not my favorite currently airing, but I think that mostly has to do with how much other good stuff is on right now.

SPEAKING OF...

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 3-4 of 12 - Uh huh, a game of one-up-man-ship is it? I think not. That boy wants to jump his cute stepbrother’s bones so bad that big brain of his is starting to melt. I'm here for it. Also, said sunshine cutie is clearly a big old cock tease. Everybody is happy about this. They sure know how to end these episodes on cliffhangers too. I don’t know how I’m gonna wait until next week.

I’m legit mad about how fucking good this is. After Unknown too?! Taiwan is spoiling us this year and THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT ALL ALONG.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 3-4 of 10 - Oh my goodness do I love this show. It makes me laugh, I adore the premise, I'm wild over the characters, and the acting is killer. I’m just really happy about this show, OK? I tend to sing and clap: Oh they so cute.

Baby got his first crush and he has no idea what to do about it. I ADORE how angry he is about it. Like... How dare I even consider falling in love with somebody? How annoying of me. It’s great. I even liked the girl in the confession and how cool and sweet they both were to each other over his rejection. Bang up job. This is fantastic BL of the newer modern style. (As contrasted to On1y)

These top two shows are neck and neck for best of the week, for entirely different reasons. But I love all my sons.

Speaking of...

Cosmetic Playlover (Japan Tues Gaga) eps 7-8 fin - Oh it’s so adorable with the drama and the little subordinate coming to their rescue, and them meeting each other’s family. "I want to become someone who is essential in your life" = peak romance.

Summation?

I loved this little show. It was a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Plus the kisses were good! I can’t ask for anything more, utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What a great time! 9/10

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - The lack of communication between these 2 may actually drive me insane. But I still love them. Such a sad ep. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 3 of 8 - Argh but also oooooo. I bet the uncut version was fantastic this week.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I'm starting to like this better. I’m still not convinced, but I did enjoy watching it this week. I’m getting some chemistry off the leads. Admittedly. that’s because they both behave like 16-year-olds. Surprise MosBank cameo - looking handsome as ever, boys. (Honestly, Taiwan really wants that King of the Cameos crown.) And FINALLY our side couple. I’m looking forward to next week primarily because of them. And I don’t even have them yet!

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - OK the lap cuddle was v cute. As was the handholding. But hiking with a metal griddle? Insanity. Might be the craziest thing in a BL this year. And The Sign aired this year. Meanwhile, not a dead fish kiss! Yay! 

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

9/1 Live in Love (Thai Sun Gaga) 5 eps - Short series featuring and online romance turning IRL.

9/3 Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Here it is!

9/6 Kidnap (Thai Friday GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - Ohm Pawat is back for Frigays it's gonna be a blast.

9/7 The Hidden Moon (Thai Sat ????) 10 eps - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast.

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

Adventures in miss-captions

(been a while since we had one of these)

SNICKER "nail you" and a "nail you down" = completely different things. But this being Japan they might have met either or both. (Cosmetic)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Why yes, you do have the prettiest lips in the biz. No need to tease us like that. (Battle)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

[doubledeadstudio]

Hello, happy holidaysヾ(＾∇＾) I apologize for this being a long question but I've been thinking for a long time and I really have to ask if you would ask the RH crew (Mars, Abel and Fleur too if that's okay) for book and/or movie recommendations, what would they give ? If it's not a spoiler, what media inspired their depiction, if any? I want to practice English so I find new things I like, and I hope my words make meaning when I use translation. Have a happy holiday (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡

Happy Holidays! This is so sweet. Good luck on your language journey.

Recommendations:

Crux Hertz - The Ritual (2017) or Bones and All (2022) (movie), Siddharta by Hermann Hesse or No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai (books)

Black Lumaban - Mad Max: Fury Road (movie), The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin (book)

Vincenzo Fontana - Possession (1981) (movie), The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde or Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (book)

Florentin Blanchett - The Substance (2024) or Dead Ringers (1988) (movie), Stiff by Mary Roach (book)

Abel Valencia - American Psycho (2000) or Wolf of Wall Street (2013), no books because he's stupid but I will give a TV show... Desperate Housewives

Inspirations:

So, the thing about this is really complicated because I'm an avid art fan and I consume all sorts of media, from books to movies to tv shows and music. Generally, I get a concept then my brain starts piecing things together. (Crux is the hardest to explain because he originally started off as the child of two of me and my husband's oldest OCs... and he became a whole separate beast on his own.)

But I can give characters that really remind me of them!

Crux - Sans (Undertale), Gojo (JJK), Loki (Marvel), Shawn Spencer (Psych) (This is the worst list of all time), also Markus (Red Embrace:Hollywood), and Lee (Bones and All). Hozier and Will Wood remind me of his aesthetic.

Black - Guts (Berserk), Lio Fotia (Promare), Fenris (Dragon Age), Warren Peace (Sky High), Bigby (Wolf Among Us), Juri (Utena). For music, grandson has his vibes.

Vincenzo - Lestat (Interview with a Vampire), Orin (Baldur's Gate 3), Gilbert (Kaze to Ki no Uta), Mahito (JJK), Alois Trancy (Black Butler), Ryo Asuka (Devilman Crybaby). His storyline was largely inspired by HP Lovecraft's Dreams of Witch House. For music, near everything by Emilie Autumn and Mindless Self Indulgence.

Abel - Ashley (The Boys), Rhys (Tales from the Borderlands), Nathan (Life is Strange). (I won't lie, a huge part of him is directly inspired to parody Right Wing pundits lolol) For music, no lie, Laufey and Lana del Rey, LMAO.

Florentin - Griffith (Berserk), Viktor Frankenstein, Dr Herbert West (Re-Animator).

~~~

For Mars:

Hello, Clovis here, creator of Mars! Thank you for the interest! Mars likes classic films with lots of sexuality and violence. Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Chicago (he loves a good musical if it isn't too sugary-sweet). He'll go for the stereotypical Dad Movies too as long as he thinks they're suave enough, like James Bond and Indiana Jones. For books, he reads a lot more than you'd think and enjoys being well-read, but let's say A Song of Ice and Fire, because there's political drama and everyone's suffering. (Their misfortune and crushed innocence amuses him.)

Mars is inspired heavily from the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood depiction of Greed. While not a direct inspiration (I've had the character for years), Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen is hilariously similar to him. Vintage mafia movies are where a lot of his aesthetic comes from. If you like crime thrillers, I would highly recommend the television show Fargo for bastard men that you love to hate, are scary as hell, and are darkly comedic. — Clovis @VileFable

[brucebocchi]

Ranking 2024 anime, Pt. 3: #30-21

hey, this post is also available on my ko-fi, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i do this for free and am currently between jobs. you can find part 1 of the list here and part 2 here. thanks!

We're chugging along. I'd say we're finally getting to the good stuff, and there is plenty of good at this point in the countdown, but I also just really like complaining.

Let's get it.

30. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!, season 3

I have a tendency to refer to the more brainless and/or trashy anime I watch as “junk food.” You know the kind; the ones that don’t really add anything to your life and don’t stand up to the more fulfilling series, but still get the job done when you go into autopilot. I’ve found that, as a habitual (non-metaphorical) snacker, I tend to just reach for something when I’m bored so I have something to do. And looking at it objectively, I don’t tend to enjoy myself while doing it and I usually don’t feel good afterwards.

I feel much the same way about watching KonoSuba.

Not that I think it’s ontologically evil or anything, but KonoSuba often has just as much going against it as it does working in its favor. For every joke that hits, and some of them absolutely do hit, there’s another that makes me question why I’m even watching it. I’m not against dark or even occasionally offensive humor; I adore It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a show to which KonoSuba often draws comparisons. The issue is that, at its worst, KonoSuba defaults to either “this person is a pervert,” “this person is a pedophile,” or “this man got sexually assaulted.” My issue isn’t with the subject matter so much as the fact that they rarely rise above the level of base shock value and that they keep happening like that. It almost feels perfunctory, like the writers had quotas to meet.

It’s not all bad, though. Even having only gotten into KonoSuba in early 2023, I still found myself lamenting its hiatus, and An Explosion on This Magical World somehow only made the heart grow fonder for the party members that weren’t Megumin. I appreciate that Darkness plays a pivotal role in the third season, because Darkness is hilarious and terrific. This season had a couple of the best jokes and goofy facials in the series. 

Overall, it’s a bit of a wash, but I can’t be too upset. It’s more KonoSuba, and it’s reached the point where that’s practically a value-neutral statement.

29. Wistoria: Wand and Sword

I don’t really have much new to say about Wistoria. It’s not the best magic school anime I watched this year and certainly not the best fantasy, but it looks terrific and it’s a fun enough time if you turn your brain off.

And turning your brain off is a necessity here because Wistoria’s story is as basic as it gets. It’s more or less Mashle if it wasn’t a comedy, and it’s such a transparent, dirt-simple power fantasy that it might as well be an isekai. Guy’s trying to keep a promise to his childhood friend, he sucks at the one thing everyone else does to the point of getting bullied left and right, but he’s super crazy strong in a his own special way. Actually, shit, I just described Kaiju No. 8.

Rule of cool wins out here, and this show does look phenomenal, but it might be better enjoyed via YouTube clips. I’m curious to see where the story goes from here, but I’m not completely sold yet.

28. Chained Soldier

Chained Soldier is horny isekai trash. Chained Soldier fucking rocks. We got big monsters, wild action sequences, unique and memorable character designs, casual femdom, solid comic relief, interesting (if predictable) twists, uncensored boobs, it’s got it all! 

It’s not the best-looking show in some parts, but that’s forgivable. The production values were fine, all things considered, and the action sequences in particular were terrific throughout, but I’m really glad this series is changing studios for the second season. I’ve read ahead in the manga (don’t judge) and Passione is gonna do a bang-up job as the action and shameless fanservice both ramp up.

It’s early in the story and a teensy bit shaky, but Chained Soldier is already a fun time. I have reason to believe it’ll only get better as it goes. And not just because of the boobs.

27. Suicide Squad Isekai

You wanted an isekai starring the Suicide Squad, and by God did you get one. This is a perfectly serviceable series by Suicide Squad standards and a pretty middling isekai otherwise. Nothing about the world in which this series is set is all that interesting or groundbreaking, but you’re here for anime Harley Quinn (and a few other DC villains I guess), and this show delivers.

Fluid, expressive character animation (when the studio wants it), a terrific Japanese voice cast, and entertaining hijinks among Batman’s infamous rogues’ gallery combine for a plenty fun time that ultimately doesn’t have much staying power. If you liked the James Gunn movie, you’ll have a decent time here. No more, no less.

Between Uzumaki’s disastrous production, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’s apparent mediocrity, and last year’s unwanted, execrable FLCL Grunge, I’m just glad that at least one recent anime production with Jason DeMarco’s fingerprints on it came out unscathed.

26. ‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

I ended up watching so many discrete series during the winter season that it’s probably not a coincidence that my bottom four series on this ranking (and six of the bottom ten) all aired during that season. When you filter feed, you’re gonna take in a lot of garbage. Sometimes you need some stuff that’s “just fine” to clean the palate.

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess is probably a bit better than even “just fine,” but it’s not gonna be a ready recommendation. The premise is pretty one-note on paper: Warrior princess got captured by demons, they try to coax intel out of her via temptation, she folds, the intel is worthless, and the cycle begins anew. But if a run of over 250 manga chapters and climbing is any indication, the series manages to keep it fresh. Time for “Torture” works because it isn’t beholden to its premise and instead decides to play hopscotch with its own framework. Gradually but noticeably, the unnamed princess and her inquisitors and “torturers” become friends, they all enjoy the spoils of her snitching together, and they really just keep it up because that’s how this stuff is supposed to go. 

Nine months later, I still don’t know why I liked this show so much. It’s just the right amount of silly to me, and it’s cute as hell where it counts. Not the best thing I watched this year but far from the worst. If you want something dumb and weirdly wholesome that’ll make you chuckle here and there, it’s a good pick.

25. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night

This is one I’m still agonizing over a bit. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night is a terrific show on so many levels, but I still felt let down by the end of its run. It wasn’t even in the same ballpark of disappointment as Uzumaki or Metallic Rouge, thankfully. Like Uzumaki, it couldn’t live up to the promise of its all-timer debut episode, but on the flip side, Jellyfish largely maintained its high production value. Like Metallic Rouge, it felt like the narrative largely spun its wheels until the writers realized they only had two episodes left, but Jellyfish didn’t leave me feeling like I’d just wasted four hours of my life.

This series already had massive shoes to fill if it was going to be the best showbiz anime produced by Doga Kobo airing this year (“I’d have two nickels” and so on and so forth), but Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night unfortunately ended up getting outclassed on several fronts by shows that just did almost every element better. It looks terrific, it has a memorable cast, the music’s great, and it’s a welcome entry in the “Girls Doing Things” anime canon, but it was outclassed in its own broadcast season by Train to the End of the World, Girls Band Cry, and Yuru Camp. The real shame is that it seemed to have designs on being a tremendous LGBT show if it played its cards right, and instead opted to throw those cards in the air and walk away by the end.

I’d still recommend this show if you temper your expectations of any real narrative punch. There were some tremendous original series that aired this year, but Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night just didn’t reach those higher levels. There’s a whole bunch of good in there, but they couldn’t quite piece it all together.

24. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, season 2, part 2

I’m gonna be real here: I’m sick of writing about this show. It’s exceptionally well-made and, on balance, easily one of the best anime of the decade so far, but the subject matter can touch such controversial and uncomfortable territory at parts that I can’t recommend it to anyone. 

The back half of Mushoku Tensei’s second season actually did a lot of work towards making up for a lot of the less-tolerable moments in the preceding ¾ of the show, even delivering a couple of the spring season’s best episodes, and then it gets weird again near the end. Not nearly as bad as it gets in the first season, nor in the worst moments of this season’s first half from 2023, but still off-putting, even for people who stuck with it for this long. I expect this to continue.

Mushoku Tensei is a great show. Don’t watch Mushoku Tensei.

23. Undead Unluck, second cour

David Production’s adaptation of one of Weekly Shonen Jump’s most inventive and ambitious action series continued into the start of 2024 as the story just continued ramping up and getting wilder.

Undead Unluck had an interesting, if occasionally uncomfortable start, with a fascinating power system and tons of secrets left to be revealed, and as it continued you could start to see the camera slowly pulling back. Midway through its second cour, shit completely hits the fan and any expectations you may have had fly out the window. Undead Unluck’s debut season was an amusing curiosity for most of its run, but the status quo is upended so effectively midway through the second cour that I was completely hooked. There were some infuriating pacing issues at those exact moments that were enough for me to dock it several spots on this list, but it’s still absolutely worth watching.

I decided to read the Undead Unluck manga a couple months ago and for as wildly as I thought the anime ramped up its scope by the end of this run, it turns out that the series as a whole goes to even crazier lengths than that. I’m completely sold now and cannot wait for more.

22. Kaiju No. 8

Counter to the series I just talked about, Kaiju No. 8 is one of Shueisha’s least​​​​ innovative battle shonen series. And that’s okay! Nothing wrong with wanting to see people fight giant monsters and one who can turn into a giant monster himself, and maybe you don’t want to have to deal with Attack on Titan’s incoherent politics to get there.

There is fundamentally nothing special about Kaiju No. 8, but I do appreciate that the protagonist is an out-of-shape thirtysomething desperately clinging to his hopes and dreams. No particular reason. There’s some interesting worldbuilding early in the story, and although it does lend itself to protag Kafka’s strengths in battle (non-”turning into a monster” category), it all falls to the wayside when it’s time for monsters, guns, and explosions. And I’m fine with that stuff, but I was hoping for a bit more of a hook.

All in all, this is a very well-made show, if a little muddy-looking at times. I wouldn’t have chosen YUNGBLUD and OneRepublic for the opening and closing themes, but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the show. I just like complaining about that stuff. Looks good, sounds good most of the time, and endearingly dumb. Can’t go wrong with that.

21. Mashle: Magic and Muscles, season 2

I ranked this show’s first season pretty low on my 2023 list, but I was willing to stick it out for another season, and I’m glad I did. Mashle really finds its footing during the Divine Visionary exam arc and irons out a lot of the issues I’d had with the first season, primarily how little the comedy initially landed for me.

A series that initially had my eyes either rolling or glazing over quickly recovered my attention early in the second season. Creepy Nuts OPs are a cheat code, I swear. Even putting the killer music aside, Mashle looks a lot better as well and has a much more engaging story in its second season. You can really feel it gaining its footing and finding a bit of swagger as the season goes on. The fight sequences are much more engaging this time out, and sometimes you get all the satisfaction you need out of seeing an emotionless weirdo punch the shit out of a mean nerd. A bunch of the jokes even land this time around!

I’m glad I stuck this out. Mashle is, at the end of the day, a hilariously blatant Harry Potter send-up, and frankly has no good reason to hit like it does, but I’m finally sold. At the rate it’s been going, Mashle seems to be set to adapt the entire manga, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of it.

[dickgraysonwayne]

Today? Yesterday?

Ao3

Summary: Of all the things to kick off a time loop…

@dickgraysonweek 2024, Day 3: DILF Dick Grayson | Apologizing To Dick | Time Loop

Day 0

Dick knows it’s bad news when the man shrieks “A curse upon you!”

He changes course mid-flip, trying to predict where he’d be hit. He feels nothing, so he lands on the ground steadily, looking up at the platform where the man stands: finger pointed in his direction and a wild look on his face.

“Whoa,” Dick says, putting his arms up. “I didn’t know we were rolling like that.”

For all he had figured, this was supposed to be a quick grab-and-go rescue of a Blüdhaven mayoral candidate. She’d made a promise to clean up the city and, of course, certain groups weren’t very pleased with the concept.

Instead, he’d run into an armed-to-the-teeth gang that were not making this rescue any easier. So, he’d opted for a more subtle approach, sneaking around on rooftops until he was able to maneuver his way into a large warehouse. He’d wandered through, found a locked room in the corner, and then—

And then he’d run into…whatever this was, and the situation turned from guns&gangs to curse&magic territory.

He really hadn’t been ready for curses.

“Okay,” Dick says, eyes darting around. He needs to get to that door. “So, um. When you say curse, do you mean a plague on both your houses lamenting type curse or may you turn into a frog type curse?”

The man doesn’t clarify. “A curse,” He screeches again. “May you never find satisfaction in validation. May you be locked in a cycle of discontent. May the one who you need the most from—”

The man squacks as he’s interrupted by a Batarang to the head. Stunned, he falls backwards onto the platform and stays there.

Dick puts his arm down. “Well,” He says. “That was more…high minded than curses usually are. Very psychological.”

He hadn’t seen any physical indications of anything actually happening, but you can never be sure with this kind of thing. He hopes that whatever this was didn’t take.

“Okay,” He mutters to himself. He wishes Roy would’ve seen this, he would’ve found it hilarious. “Let’s finish this.”

He runs towards the door probably holding the promise for Blüdhaven’s future, hoping that the rest of the day goes by without any further incident.

Day 1

They’re not even in costume when it happens.

Hell, they’re not even working when it happens.

Instead, Dick finds himself making the long trip to Gotham the next morning, called in to assist with something Tim is working on. It’s something from your files, back in the day, Tim had said over the phone. Can you make your way over?

He’d slept in a bit, hoping to enjoy his Sunday. But getting to spend time with Tim is always great too, so he had agreed to make his way over.

It had taken maybe a few minutes to explain the case (Two-Face, now that was a time), before Tim had gotten what he needed. “Thanks, Dick,” Tim says, scribbling down in his notes. “I think I just need to set up a trap, and then we’ll be all good here.”

“Need any help?” Dick asks, tapping his fingers on the table, feeling restless.

“If you’re staying,” Tim says. “I’ll be going out at, like, 2300 so. You sticking around?”

Dick shrugs. “Sure,” He says. “Since I’m here. B around?”

“Yeah,” Tim says, sitting back into a stretch. “He’s workin’ on something else, I dunno.”

“Look at you!” Dick says, messing with his hair. “Solo mission guy over here!”

“Quit it!” Tim says, batting his hand away. “I’ve been solo mission guy!”

Dick laughs. “Hey,” He says, getting off of the chair. “You wanna go get some burgers or something? There’s still a long way to go til 2300 hours.”

“Sure,” Tim says, languidly getting up. “Man, I feel like I’ve been sitting here for ages.”

-

And that’s when, whilst heading over to grab a burger in town, Dick tells Tim about his encounter the day before.

“It was pretty insane,” He tells him as they pull out of the manor’s driveway. “The whole curse thing made me a little nervous, not gonna lie. That stuff gives me the heebie jeebies. But I got up just fine today, everything totally normal. So either the dude didn’t actually get me, or he was talking a big game.”

Tim frowns. “That’s a little weird,” He says, taking a sip of water from his Robin branded water bottle. “You should be careful though. You never know with magic.”

Dick nods vigorously. “Exactly!” He says, making his way to the manor’s large gate. “There aren’t any rules or anything to watch out for. You just gotta wait and see for something to happen before you can do anything about it.”

Tim’s frown only deepens. “I don’t know about that,” He says. “Maybe you should go talk to Zatanna. I dunno, I wouldn’t mess with this stuff. Have her check you over or something.”

“Yeah, but it’s not even a guarantee with her,” Dick says, waiting for the gate to open. “Sometimes magic doesn’t show up or whatever even when she checks. It’s a total crapshoot. But the smart idea still would be to check anyway—”

He jumps as Tim loses his grip on his water bottle, spilling it over his lap and the seat. “Ah, shit!” Tim says, hurriedly picking the bottle back up.

“No worries, Timbo,” Dick says, grabbing some tissues from the side of the door. “It’s just water.”

“I know,” Tim says. “Even so, though, I’m sorry-”

Everything stops.

Day 2

Dick wakes up.

He blinks up at his apartment ceiling. Damn, he thinks, yawning deeply. That was one hell of a dream. He feels around on his bedside table for his phone, then blinks at the numbers on top: 08:04

Damn. Slept in.

That curse must’ve really been playing in his thoughts, to follow him into his dreams like that. Unless it was a curse about dreams, which means it was now starting to work…

Dick shakes his head. He can’t think like that. If he does, it’s never going to end.

He levers himself up, stretching again. He’s going to enjoy his Sunday morning before updating his reports on the night before, maybe figure out what to do about the whole curse thing…

His phone buzzes, and he picks it back up. Tim.

Curious, and trying to push away the ominous feeling in his gut, he answers.

-

Okay. So this is a little weird. But, hey. It’s not like he’s never had a dream about hanging out with Tim before. It’s a perfectly normal thing for him to do. Plus, well, he has been keeping an eye on Gotham. Maybe he’d subconsciously known that something was going on, that Tim would reach out to him for help…

And then it had gotten weirder. But. Still explainable. If he’d been keeping an eye out on Gotham, maybe he’d figured out somewhere back in his mind that Two-Face was going to be the problem…

“Thanks, Dick,” Tim says, scribbling down in his notes. “I think I just need to set up a trap, and then we’ll be all good here.”

“Hm,” Dick says. He taps on the table, feeling off. “Okay.”

“Dick?”

He looks up. Tim is looking at him, concern in his eyes. “Everything good? You seem a little…distracted.”

“Oh,” Dick says, trying to pull himself together. “Yeah. I’m good. I’m just…you know. In my head a little. There’s a whole—” He waves it off. “I’ll explain later. Um, you gonna need any help on your mission?”

“If you’re staying,” Tim says, still eyeing him with concern. “I’ll be going out at, like, 2300 or so. You sticking around?”

The Deja Vu hits him even harder. “Sure,” He says. “Hey. Is this a solo mission?”

Tim gives him a small smile. “Yeah,” He says. “I’ve been doing them for a while now. B’s working on his own thing, I’m working on mine.”

“Nice, Timmy,” Dick says, finding a smile for him in return. “Hey, wanna go get something to eat? I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” He shoots to his feet, needing to move, needing to do something.

“Um,” Tim says, stumbling up with him. “Yeah, sure. Yeah let’s get…let’s get burgers, or something.”

Dick nods, fast walking his way out. An icy feeling grows in his stomach.

-

“What were you saying earlier?”

Dick starts, looking away from the slowly opening gate. “Hm?”

“You had a whole,” and Tim makes a circle gesture with his hands. “Thing you were thinking about. What was it?”

“Oh,” Dick says. “Well. Um. I had a little…run-in yesterday. Some guy yelled that he was gonna put a curse on me. And, like, I didn’t feel anything off or anything like that. But today…I don’t know. It’s all weird today. Like majorly Deja Vu or something.”

Tim frowns. “That’s weird,” He says, taking a sip of water. “You should be careful though. You never know with magic. In fact, you should probably—”

“Go to Zatanna, I know,” Dick says distractedly. “I will. I think I should. After our mission today, I will. It’s just…nothing specific, you know? Just an off feeling.”

The gate opens, and Dick quickly turns to the side. “Hey—”

He catches Tim’s water bottle, just as Tim drops it.

“Oh!” Tim says, flinching back. “Hey. Nice catch.”

Dick hands it back to him, mind spinning.

“I don’t know what happened,” Tim continues. “I wasn’t paying attention, I guess, sorry—”

Everything stops.

Day 3

Dick wakes up.

He shoots up in bed with a gasp. He throws his sheets off of him then lunges at his phone, unlocking the screen to check the day and time. Sunday. 08:04.

He falls back into bed, phone clutched tightly in his hand. Okay, He thinks, slightly hysterical. Okay. This is…this is probably the curse, huh? This is probably the curse.

What had the man said again? Something about…validation. Satisfaction in validation. And a cycle of discontent.

Well. That’s the cycle part figured, then. He’s gonna keep resetting until he breaks whatever curse this is. So, all he needs to do is figure out exactly what it is that’s going on that’s causing the resets, and he should be good to go. Right?

“Okay,” He tells himself. “Okay, what were the factors that set this off? What made me reset?”

The obvious answer, is, of course, Tim.

He thinks on this for a moment. He’ll need to tell Tim everything, brainstorm through the issue with him. He’s smart, he’ll probably help him figure this out…

His phone rings. He looks down. Tim.

He picks up.

“Hey, Dick,” Tim says. “So, I’m working on something—”

“I’m on my way,” Dick says, running to his closest to grab something. “Just gimme a—”

“Hey,” Tim says, confusion clear in his voice. “It’s okay, there’s no emergency or anything, I just need your help with something.”

“I know,” Dick says. “And I can do that. But I need your help with something too. Buckle up, it’s a weird one.”

-

“Time loop?” Tim says, eyes wide.

“Time loop.” Dick confirms with a nod.

Tim sits back in his chair, baffled. “Well,” He says. “The good news is that you’ve only just started on this, I guess. Maybe you won’t have to deal with it for much longer.”

Dick groans, going facedown on the table’s surface. “Don’t do that,” He says, voice muffled. “You just jinxed me.”

“Shut up,” Tim says, but he sounds distant. “What did the guy say again?”

Dick lifts his head. “He cursed me with never finding satisfaction in validation,” He says. “And told me I’d be stuck in a cycle of discontent. And then he started saying something about a person I’d need it from before I stopped him.”

“Hm,” Tim says, steepling his fingers together. “And when you went through the days with me, it reset at about the same time both times?”

“Yeah,” Dick side eyes him. “You’ve got your I-have-an-idea face there, Timbo.”

“I do not,” Tim says, making his I-have-an-idea face. “Well. I do have an idea…not a very specific one, but still.”

Dick raises an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“There’s a specific series of events,” Tim begins, “That lead to your reset. I speak with you, you come here, we discuss the case, we go out to get food, I drop my water, and then you wake up. Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Dick says. “That’s right.”

“So,” Tim says. “What if we disrupt it? We break the chain of events. And then we can see from there. It could be time related. Did we leave at about the same time both days? Did the reset happen at about the same time both days?”

Dick thinks about it for a second. “You know what…” He says slowly. “Yeah. It did. Around…12:30, I wanna say?”

“Okay,” Tim says. “So let’s stay in. And then wait for 12:30. Disrupt the chain of events, and then see if you reset or not. And if you don’t…we’ll know it’s not time dependent, and we can try to work on it from there.”

“Timbo,” Dick says, beaming at him. “That’s a great idea. You’re great!”

Tim blushes. “Come on,” He says. “Stop it. It’s just an idea. I didn’t even think about what the actual phrasing of the curse could actually mean.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Dick says, grinning. “It’s a start! And if I don’t reset at 12:30…it means we’re making progress! And maybe I won’t have to be stuck in this, which I would very much appreciate.”

Tim smiles back. “Well,” He says. “If you do reset, come find me, okay? We can pick up where we left off, and you can explain everything we’ve tried so far.”

“You’re the best, Timmy,” Dick says. He checks his phone. “I think we’ll find out soon, anyway. We hit 12:30 in about half an hour, so. We’ll know then.”

Tim nods at him. “Okay,” He says, sighing. “So. We wait.”

-

Half an hour passes with the speed of molasses. Dick can’t sit still the entire time: his knee jumps constantly, he fiddles with anything he can get his hands on, he gets up and paces on occasion.

Fifteen minutes in, Tim looks at him askance. “That isn’t helping you, Dick,” He says, clearly trying to be patient with him. “Sit down. Nap, or something. Wait, actually don’t. Go watch puppy videos on your phone, or something.”

“As cute as that sounds,” Dick says. “I don’t think that’s gonna help.”

Tim sighs. “You’re so fidgety,” He complains. “You must have been such a nightmare child. I feel like apologizing to Bruce on your behalf.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Dick defends. “If anything, Bruce needs to apologize to me for not being able to manage my energy.”

Tim grins. “Well,” He says. “Can’t say I disagree with you on that.” He checks his phone. “Okay,” He says, countenance turning entirely. “Minute to go. Tell me if you start feeling weird, or something.”

Dick nods, shifting nervously. “Will do,” He says, then starts counting time in his head. 60, 59, 58…

He makes it to the last few, 4, 3, 2, 1, then braces himself.

Nothing happens.

Dick turns to Tim. “I feel normal,” He tells him. “No resetting feeling or anything going on from here!”

“Let’s wait a little longer, Tim says, eyebrows furrowed. “Maybe there’s a specific time to the minute or second to hit, and we haven’t gotten there yet.”

Dick groans. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” He says, sitting down again. “Okay. Let’s wait.”

Another fifteen minutes pass. Then twenty.

And still nothing.

Dick turns to Tim again, eyebrows raised. “It looks like I’m still good,” He says. “I think we can say that I’m in the clear?”

Tim nods. “Looks like,” He says. “So it’s not time dependent. Nor chain of events dependent. There has to be a trigger here. We have to find out what it is.”

Dick nods, tapping a finger to his knee. “Satisfaction in validation,” He mutters. “So that means…it’s something where I got validated for something? When did that happen in the previous resets?”

Tim frowns. “Let’s try to go through your day,” He says. “Specific things you did. Specific things you said. Maybe we’ll figure it out that way.”

Dick sighs, running a hand through his hair. “My memory isn’t as good as yours,” He says, running through his days in his head. “And…I don’t know, the details are kinda fuzzy. But I’ll try.”

“I know, Tim says, not unsympathetic. “It’s not easy, sorry—”

Everything stops.

Day 4

Dick wakes up.

Shit, he thinks. It’s unnecessary at this point, but he checks his phone again. Sunday. 08:04.

He taps his phone to his chin, frustrated. Right. So, it clearly isn’t a Tim-specific problem. Or, maybe it is? Maybe it’s the combination of location and person?

If that’s the case…maybe if he just doesn’t go, then he doesn’t reset.

Satisfaction in validation.

He still isn’t sure about that one. But if he can hack it by breaking the curse without figuring that out, then he’ll take it.

Anyway, if he stays away from Tim for the day, he might figure out how long it’ll let him go before it resets. Will it go on forever, until he sees Tim. Will he have to avoid him for a while? Can’t let that happen, He thinks. That would be ridiculous.

He really should give Zatanna a call. She might be able to break the curse without even needing to figure that part out.

His phone rings, and he picks up without even looking the screen. “Hey Timmy,” He says, deciding not to try to tip him off that anything was amiss. “How’s it going?”

“Hey Dick,” Tim responds, “I’ve got something here—”

“Okay Tim,” Dick says, going to get his day started (again). “If you need my help with something, I’m all in. But I’ve got something I gotta go do, so I can’t actually come over. Is it something you can send me? Promise I’ll help out.”

“Sure,” Tim says, sounding a bit taken aback. “Yeah, no worries. Thanks for the help, Dick. I’ll send it to you now. Standby.”

“Thanks, Timmy. See ya.” Dick says, disconnecting, and feeling a little bad about the whole thing. He’d usually jump at any opportunity or hang out, which Tim knows. He doesn’t think he’d hurt his feelings or anything, but he still does feel a bit guilty for blowing him off like that.

It’s for a good cause, He thinks. I’ll come by to see him when all this is over.

He thinks about Tim’s directive to come see him during the next reset. Sorry, buddy. Maybe if I reset again. So, what can he do? How does he go about solving this problem?

He gets ready, thinking about how to go about his day. Maybe I should call Zatanna, He thinks, putting his jacket on. And hopefully she’ll be able to see me now.

Dick heads out of his apartment, not having a particular plan in mind. He pulls out his phone, considering giving Zatanna that call. He scrolls through his contacts, hovering over her name, conflicted.

As he goes to open the doors to his building’s stairwell, they suddenly swing open in his direction. Startled, he steps back, just about missing being flattened by the door.

One of his neighbors emerges, almost bumping into him. “Oh my god,” The man says. “I didn’t see you there, I’m so sorry—”

Everything stops.

Day 5

Dick wakes up.

Sunday. 08:04.

He sighs, leaning back against his pillow. Take 5, I guess.

Right. Okay, so. It’s pretty clear what’s causing this now.

Satisfaction in validation. Apology.

If he receives an apology, no matter who it’s from, then his day resets.

He can’t believe he hadn’t noticed before. Both times with Tim and the water bottle, he’d apologized to trigger the time loop. In the non water bottle day, Tim’s “sorry” had triggered it. With his neighbor, the apology from the door had triggered it. Getting it from a new person had really brought it home.

So, solutions?

He sits back up, holding his phone, waiting for Tim’s call. The obvious play would be to just…not receive any apologies. While it’s easier said than done, it would definitely give him an idea of what’s going on, and help him test how far this loop is going to let him do. Could he go days, weeks, even years without an apology, then receive one and loop back around? That would be a problem.

Well. Maybe he can test it out, just for today. A no-apology-day.

The phone rings. He picks it up. “Hey, Timmy,” He says. “How’re you doing?”

“Hey Dick,” Tim responds, “I’ve got something here—”

Well. If he wants to be left alone today…

“Oh yeah, Tim,” Dick says, trying his best to remember his earlier statement. “If you need my help with something I’m ready. But I’ve got something i have to do today, so I can’t actually come over. Can you send me the files and I’ll give you a call about them later? I’d come if I could, promise.”

“Sure,” Tim says, and he sounds the same as last time, excellent. “Yeah, no worries. Thanks for the help, Dick. I’ll send it to you now. Standby.”

“See ya Timbo,” Dick says, disconnecting with a sigh. It’s more waiting, then. And this time, he’s gonna have to do it alone.

-

Staying away from people all day is difficult.

He knows he’s got a reputation as a people-person, but that’s only because he has the fortune to be in probably the most socially awkward family in history. He actually doesn’t mind a little alone time every now and then.

This, though? This is total isolation. And, while he’s wired and worried and anxious, is a tough thing for him to overcome.

He spends the first part of his day working on the stuff Tim sent him. He’d seen it all before, of course, but he makes sure to really pour over the information, adding a lot of very detailed explanations and analyses. He hopes this doesn’t make Tim suspicious (who is he kidding? Of course it will) but hopefully he won’t have enough time to actually act on his suspicions before Dick can hopefully move on to phase two of his curse-breaker plan.

After he sends all his notes to Tim, he finds himself left with hours and hours of time and people to avoid. Which, actually, is harder than he’d anticipated.

He spends the rest of the day from late afternoon fielding calls. As a general rule, Dick always picks up (just in case. You never know who’s using a burner). But man, he hasn’t realized exactly how many people call him until he wanted to avoid talking. After checking to see if anyone was in any immediate danger (they were not) he’d make his excuses and hop off swiftly before anyone got it their minds to give him an apology of some kind.

Not to mention the texts. And half of them aren’t even work stuff: just Wally sending him memes, or Donna sending him memes, or Babs sending him another article on the activities of the Red Hood, or Amy sending him memes, or Clark sending his weekly “good afternoon 😊” texts that he somehow manages to stick to every single week. Dick doesn’t know if apology-by-text would count here, and it is a minefield navigating conversations to make sure that the word is never sent from the other end.

“Sorry” is, in Dick’s opinion, very overused.

As for the rest of his time in self-induced isolation, he tries to keep himself busy. The TV is on, and he scrolls through all the things he’d put on his watch later list on streaming services (he watches nothing). He picks up a book he’d planned to trying (only to put it down minutes later, unable to concentrate). He tries stretching and running through some gentle warmup exercises (this one takes).

Overall, it’s not an experience he’s keen on repeating. If I make it 24 hours without looping, he tells himself firmly. I’m going to call Zatanna.

It probably would’ve been smarter to start with her, like Tim had said, but hey. The more info he can give her about how this works, the easier time she’ll have lifting it.

He makes it to the evening, and then into the night without further incident. Thankfully, Tim hadn’t tried to call him back. Nor did, to his relief, Bruce. Bruce would probably see through him in a heartbeat, and involving him in this would be a headache and a half to deal with.

As time ticks down to midnight, Dick feels exhaustion wash over him, thanks to the nervous tension he’d held on to the entire day. No he tells himself, staring at the blurry numbers on his phone. Stay awake.

Once midnight passes, maybe he can take a nap. Then he can figure out what to do next.

He rubs at his eyes, glancing at his phone again. 23:59.

Well, he’s almost done with the full day. This should give him a good idea of how this curse wo—

12:00

Everything stops.

Day 6

Dick wakes up.

Sunday. 08:04.

He doesn’t even wait for the phone call this time. Instead, he scrolls through his contacts, tapping on Zatana’s name with a determined finality.

-

“Ah. Well, that seems like an issue, doesn’t it?”

Dick groans, putting his head in his hands. “Yeah,” He says, voice muffled between his fingers. “It really is. Thanks for coming to help break it. I couldn’t risk going out to you.”

A hand pats his head. “No problem,” Zatanna says, sounding amused. “And, look. Could be worse. You’re, what, a week in? Not too bad. And with the myriad of curses out there? This is a pretty light one, comparatively speaking.”

Dick sighs, dropping his hands on his lap. “I guess,” He says. “So. What’s the deal here? Can you break this…whatever it is?”

“Let me check,” Zatanna puts a hand on his head and closes her eyes. Her hand glows into a warm, white light, and he feels a sense of peace wash over him…

She takes her hand away. “There’s definitely something there,” She says, sitting back down across from him. “But. I’ll tell you right now, it’s more risk than it’s worth to break from my end.”

Dick frowns. “What’s the risk?” He asks.

Zatanna shrugs. “Since I don’t know the magician, or the source of the magic,” She says. “I’d have to go with a general curse break. It would require a lot of energy from both our sides, and then you would need to keep feeding the break from your own energy. It takes too long, or you don’t have enough? Well…it would be risky, let’s just say that. It wouldn’t be worth it for a relatively low stakes curse like this.”

“Okay,” Dick says. “Yeah. I see your point. So,” He crosses his arms. “What do you think? How would I break this and resolve the time loop normally?”

Zatanna goes over to his fridge, pulls out a water bottle. “Here,” She says, giving it to him.

Dick takes it, confused. “Will drinking this solve it?”

Zatanna laughs. “It’s just water,” She says, sitting back down next to him. “You look dehydrated. Okay. I need your memory recall.”

Dick takes a sip. “Okay,” He says.

“We need to go through the exact wording of the curse,” She says. “Figure out exactly what you were cursed with, and then resolve it. Probably the best way to deal with it would be to confront it directly.”

Dick frowns. “Okay,” He says, going through the memory. “Exact wording? I went through this with Tim earlier. Um,” He thinks for a moment. “May you never find satisfaction in validation. May you be locked in a cycle of discontent. May the one who you need the most from—” He stops. “He cut off there.”

“Huh,” Zatanna says. She looks elegant even when she’s confused. “That’s…verbose.”

“Tell me about it,” Dick says. “Anyway. I think I’ve figured out what the first two parts mean. Satisfaction in validation probably refers to the apologies, because every loop occurred right after I got one. Cycle of discontent is probably the loop, because, well, I’ve been looping. The third part got interrupted, so I don’t know if it went through…”

Zatanna gives him a piercing stare. “Interesting,” She says. “Wait a moment. Let me try something.”

Dick nods. “Go for it.”

She looks directly at him, mouth curled up in a slight smile. “I’m sorry,” She says.

Dick flinches, slamming his eyes shut. A moment later, he opens them to find Zatanna still sitting across from him, eyes sparkling.

“Why’d you do that?” Dick demands, heart pounding. “At least warn me first.”

Zatanna laughs. “I know,” She says. “I needed to check something. So. It looks like the apology needs to be sincere in order to trigger the reset.”

“Oh,” Dick says. “Okay. I see what you did. So this is better, right? Just hearing sorry won’t be enough to catapult me back?”

“Yes,” Zatanna says. “I have to tell you, though. I think this just made the curse break a lot more complicated.”

Dick frowns. “How so?”

“Well,” Zatanna says. “The third part of the curse. That’s the key to breaking it. He may not have finished the phrase but he started it, which should’ve been enough to make it stick. It looks like you’re gonna have to hear an apology from a specific person, a sincere apology, in order the break the curse.”

Dick breaks out into a smile. “Thanks, Z,” He says. “Should be easy enough, right? I have to tell you, I was expecting something a lot more—”

He trails off at the sympathetic look on her face. “What?” He asks, an ominous feeling settling over him. “What is it?”

“Well,” She says. “The wording says ‘the one who you need the most from’ is the person you’ll need to get the sincere apology from. Tell me, who do you think that is?”

Dick turns it over in his mind for a moment, then…

Bruce…A voice in his head whispers. It sounds like his own, but not.

He freezes. “Oh no.”

“Yeah,” Zatanna says, exuding sympathy again. “I think we both know who that should be.”

“How do you know?” He asks, heart pounding. “Are we even thinking of the same person?”

“Oh, please,” Zatanna says. “Who else could it be? We can confirm it though. Does he dress like a bat and fight crime?”

Dick groans. “Oh my god,” He says. “How am I even gonna do that? Get a sincere apology from him? I can’t even talk to him most of the time.”

“You’ll have to, to break the curse.” Zatanna says. Dick takes another sip of water. “And remember, you only have til midnight of the same day to do it.”

“A deadline,” Dick says, despairing. “Even better.”

“Right,” Zatanna says. “So you have a plan, then? Know where you’re going?”

“Yeah,” He says. “I just have to come up with an idea…”

“You’ll probably need the full day,” Zatanna says. “So allow me, okay? Good luck.”

Dick frowns at her. “What do you mea—”

She looks him right in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

Everything stops.

Day 7

Dick wakes up.

Sunday. 08:04.

He groans, considering just going back to sleep and dealing with this again tomorrow. Today. Yesterday. Whatever.

Because, well. Getting Bruce involved? That’s gonna be a whole ordeal.

Not to mention, getting Bruce to give him a sincere apology in less than a day? Talk about an impossible task.

He might as well get started now. He’ll need all the time he can get.

The phone rings.

“Hey, Timbo,” Dick says. “How’s it going?”

-

In many ways, this day plays out a lot like the first one.

He shows up at Tim’s invitation, then takes him through the case that he now knows like the back of his hand. Tim’s shocked but impressed, and it’s really amusing even though he’s kind of cheating.

“Thanks, Dick,” Tim says, scribbling down in his notes. “I think I just need to set up a trap, and then we’ll be all good here.”

And here’s where the divergence has to happen.

Dick nods. “No worries,” He says. “Hey. Bruce around?”

“Yeah,” Tim says. “He’s around here somewhere, probably down in the Cave. Why?”

“Gotta talk to him,” He says, standing up. He ruffles Tim’s hair on the way. “See you later.”

He can’t tip them off. If the apology needs to be sincere, Bruce cant be aware that it has to be, or the sincerity is gone. Right?

It’s gonna be a challenge either way, and he takes the route down to the cave in a grim sort of silence.

He taps on the large wall twice as he walks in, sound echoing across the cave. “Hey, Bruce,” He says, heart pounding. “How’s it going?”

Bruce is sitting at the computer, staring at bits of data that only make sense to him. “Dick,” He acknowledges, without turning around. “Working on this. You been hearing about what’s going on in New York?”

“Hm?” Dick goes through his non-time-loop-related memory bank. “Oh. You mean…the alien incident? Yeah. Why, is that relevant to us?”

“Maybe,” Bruce says, still staring at the screen. “Possibly. There’s something there…”

He trails off. Dick is familiar with the pauses, so he waits patiently.

He’s putting it off. Time is of the essence, and he’s putting it off. But goddamn. He really does not want to do this.

The only thing he can think of doing at this point is to go in bluntly. He doesn’t have time to plan a more nuanced approach, and Bruce’ll probably see right through it anyway.

Here we go, Dick thinks, before taking a deep breath. “Bruce,” He says, and he can barely get the words out. “We need to talk, okay?”

He’s not sure if it’s the words or the tone that gets Bruce’s attention, but it works. Right away, Bruce whirls around in his chair. His focus, previously fully on the screen in front of him, is now concentrated entirely on Dick. “What is it?” Bruce asks, and he staring at him like he’s able to see right into his brain, like he’s reading through his thoughts one by one.

The weight of his attention is almost too much to bear. “Um,” He says, taking another breath. “It’s. Well. It’s kind of a long story.”

Bruce isn’t moved. “You’re sacred,” He observes, leaning closer. “What is it? What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

Dick lets out a shaky breath, trying to regain his composure. “Do you trust me?” He asks.

This probably doesn’t help with Bruce’s concern. His eyes narrow. “Why?” He asks. “What’s wrong?”

“If you do,” Dick says. “I need you to trust me on this. Um. I need an apology, okay?”

Whatever Bruce had anticipated he’d say, it was clearly not this. “What.” He says flatly, more of a statement than a question.

“I…” Dick says, feeling like he’d made a mistake with his approach. “I need you to say sorry, okay? To me.”

Bruce is, uncharacteristically, shocked into silence. He sits back, face impassive, eyes confused. “For what?” He finally asks, when Dick doesn’t elaborate further.

Of all the questions…“Anything,” Dick says, and he feels his face grow hot. “Pick something. There’s a lot… I just need a verbal apology from you, okay? And you need to mean it.”

Bruce’s face finally cracks, settling on a frown. “What is this?” He asks, voice rising. “Where is this coming from?”

“You trust me, right?” Dick says, an edge of desperation to his voice. “I need you to do this. Please.”

He thinks the plea will be enough. It isn’t.

Bruce just stares at him. “What is this?” He repeats, then: “Tell me this: how old were you when I fired you?”

Dick’s stomach drops. “Bruce,” He says. “It’s me. I’m me, you don’t need to check—”

“How old?” Bruce snaps. Dick can see his hands drift to his belt.

He exhales. “Seventeen,” He says, conceding defeat. “It was after I got shot.”

Bruce’s hands pause right before they get to his weapons. “Then,” He says. “Why are you asking this? You’re not making any sense.”

“I know,” Dick says. “But…I’ll explain later. I just need this from you. Please.”

Bruce grits his teeth. “I can’t do that unless I know..”

Dick stares at him. “You won’t?” He asks. “You’re not gonna trust me on this?”

Bruce doesn’t answer, still eyeing him suspiciously.

Dick tastes defeat on his tongue. Embarrassment, rage, and sadness battle in his throat. “Fine,” He says shortly, turning around. “I’ll…I’ll go then. See you tomorrow.”

Bruce doesn’t go after him.

-

Dick gets back home and goes right to his apartment, slamming the door shut as he enters.

He’ll need another plan tomorrow. Today. Yesterday. But, for now…

For now, he sits and stares at the time until it hits midnight.

Day 8

Dick wakes up.

He doesn’t even bother to check the date and time, jumping out of bed and grabbing for his clothes.

Okay. New plan. New approach. But what? Straightforward isn’t going to work. Subtle isn’t going to work. What’s left to him now? How can he possibly get Bruce to apologize to him and mean it?

He freezes in the middle of putting on a sock. Maybe…maybe he wasn’t doing enough earlier. Maybe he needs to get more straightforward. God knows Bruce can pull out sincerity when he needs it. Maybe hearing that the world is in a time loop that only he can break will do enough.

Grimly, he pulls the rest of the sock on. He’ll be able to tell Tim this way too, and maybe the both of them can convince Bruce of doing this together.

The phone rings. He grabs it. “Timmy,” He says. “It’s Two Face, by the way. Your case. You’ll just need to set your trap for tonight, and you’re golden.”

There’s a short silence, then: “How did you know that?” Tim asks, baffled. Dick can practically hear him peering at all corners of his room. “How—”

“I’m on my way, okay?” Dick says, grabbing his keys. “I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

-

“Time loop?” Tim says, eyes wide.

“Time loop.” Dick confirms with a nod.

“Damn,” Tim says, shaking his head. “And I told you to keep coming to me to figure this out and you didn’t? Lame. This could’ve been over by now.”

Dick huffs a laugh. “Honestly,” he says, shrugging. “You might be right.”

“How’re you gonna…you know?” Tim says, giving him a sideways glance. “Get Bruce to agree? Think cluing him in to all this is gonna help?”

“It has to, right?” Dick says, sighing. “I mean, asking him to do it didn’t work. If he knows it’s a time loop, then he’ll try.”

“But what if trying is the problem,” Tim says, and Dick stops him before he can continue.

“I know,” Dick says. “I considered that one too. But we have to try. The other way didn’t work, and if this does then we’re golden. If not…then I guess I’ll have to try something else.”

Tim rubs his head. “Well,” he says. “At least you get a bunch of do overs, free of charge. It’s not even a this-place-kinda-sucks Groundhog Day situation.”

Dick can only laugh. “Yeah,” He says. “We’re only on round 8, too. Haven’t even reached double digits yet.”

“Light work,” Tim scoffs, then stands up. “C’mon. Let’s go tell Bruce now.”

“Yeah,” Dick says, the familiar dread starting to form in his stomach. “Okay, let’s go.”

When they make their way down to the Cave, Bruce is exactly where Dick had left him. Staring at the a screen, contemplating the information within.

“Dick,” Bruce says, almost like an announcement. I know that you’re there. “Come take a look at this. You been hearing about what’s going on in New York?”

“Yeah,” Dick says, making his way over. He doesn’t look at the screen. “I couldn’t tell you if it’s relevant or not to us, though. But, Bruce. Listen. I need your help with something.”

“Hm?” Bruce says. His eyes stay on the screen, but Dick can tell that he’s listening. “What is it?”

Dick gives a side glance to Tim. Tim gives him a thumbs up. “Well,” He begins. I seem to have found myself in a…time loop situation. Groundhog Day style.”

This interests Bruce enough that he turns around, pinning Dick with a very familiar searching look. “Time loop?” He asks, then. “Report.”

“I got cursed,” Dick says, keeping it short and simple. “In Blüdhaven. I’ve completed about 7 resets so far. The loop triggers whenever I get an apology, and when the day ends. I spoke with Zatanna during one of the resets, and she told me that I essentially got cursed with needing to hear a sincere apology from…well, you. And if you do that, it’ll stop the loop.”

Bruce barely flinches. Dick’s kind of impressed despite himself. “Hm,” Bruce says, eyeing him critically. “Is this verifiable?”

“It is,” Tim chimes in. “He knew about the thing I’m working on. Knew the questions I was gonna ask him before I was able to do it.”

“Interesting,” Bruce says. “Well. An apology, you say?”

Dick shrugs. “Yeah,” He says, “Should be easy enough, right? It had to be sincere to work, though. The word itself doesn’t trigger anything. It’s more like the word plus the intention.”

Bruce considers him further. “Right,” He says, almost to himself. “Well then. My apologies.”

Dick waits. Nothing happens.

“You have to mean it, Bruce,” He tries. “Just…anything. Anything you have any guilt about. It should work.”

Bruce looks him in the eye, holds contact for a few second, then darts a glance to the side. “I’m sorry,” He says. It sounds somber, real.

Another beat. Nothing happens.

“Are you sure?” Bruce says, and Dick makes an annoyed sound. “That this is supposed to be me?”

“Pretty sure,” Dick says, already tired of the conversation.

“Why?” Bruce says. He gets up, clearly getting into detective-mode. “What did the curse say exactly? I need precise details.”

Dick sighs. “Bruce…”

Tim sidles up to him. “Dude,” He says, sympathetically. “Sorry.”

Both their eyes go wide at the same time before—

Everything stops.

Day 9

Dick wakes up.

He knows what’s gonna happen, but feels the need to check anyway:

Sunday. 08:04.

Great.

Well. He’s still chasing this Bruce angle, so he needs to up back to the manor for take 3 there. One more round of loops, and I’ll hit double digits. He thinks.

The straightforward approach didn’t work. Telling him the situation didn’t work. So he’s going to need to be more subtle with it, try to manipulate the situation into getting an apology.

Dick shakes his head. How is he going to do that, when Bruce has never apologized to him for anything big that he’d done?

Well. He doesn’t have a choice, does he? If this fails, maybe he’ll make a PowerPoint presentation of all the relevant points, and maybe Bruce will be convinced enough to apologize…

He’s getting ahead of himself. He should just try this round and see…

He grabs his phone, dials Tim.

“Hey!” Tim picks up. “I was literally just about to call you.”

“Oh, great,” Dick says, grabbing his shirt. “What a cool coincidence. I just wanted to check with you if Bruce is around, I wanted to talk to him.”

“Yeah,” Tim says. “Mind if I pick your brain before you go in?”

“Sure,” Dick says. He doesn’t want to alert Tim’s suspicions. “I’m on my way.”

-

Dick stops right outside the Cave, indecision burning away at him.

He needs a battle plan. If he doesn’t go in fully prepared, Bruce is gonna pry him apart in seconds.

Okay, He thinks to himself. Be friendly. Be open. Be helpful. And then…pick a fight. But don’t yell. Act hurt. And see

Oh, this is gonna go great.

Before he can talk himself out of it, he saunters into the cave, tapping at the wall twice. “Hey, Bruce,” He greets. “What’s up?”

Bruce is sitting at the computer, staring at bits of data that only make sense to him. “Dick,” He acknowledges, without turning around. “Working on this. You been hearing about what’s going on in New York?”

“Yeah,” Dick says. He approaches the screen, actually looking at the information this time. “Why? Think it’s something we should look at?”

He tries to include himself in the discussion, signaling to Bruce that he’s here to help.

It works. “Maybe,” Bruce thinks. This time, he gestures to Dick to come forward. “If you look here,” He points. “The origin of these beings seems…oddly familiar.”

Dick nods, barely processing the information. He keeps looking for a way in, a way to fall into an argument. “Sure,” He says. How is he going to do this? How is he ever going to get Bruce to say sorry? “You think it’s…uh….”

The words get stuck in his throat.

Bruce looks at him. “Dick?” He asks.

His voice sounds so genuine in that moment that Dick almost can’t handle it. “I’m good,” He says. His voice cracks. “Yeah, I’m good. Just…uh. I’m good.”

Oh boy. This is going great.

Shut up. He tells himself. Pull yourself together.

He looks down at his hands. They’re shaking.

He feels himself being pushed into a chair. “Dick?” A pair of hands grabs his face, lifts it up. He sees Bruce peering into his eyes. “What’s going on?”

Dick chuckles between breaths. “Nothing,” He says, trying to get himself back under control. “I’m good.”

“Clearly not,” Bruce eyes him. “Hold on. I’m going to do an assessment.” He pats Dick’s shoulder. “Stay calm.”

“I am,” Dick insists. He’s mostly embarrassed, really. His hands are still shaking.

In no time at all, he feels his head being yanked back over the top of the chair. A bright light is shined in his eyes.

He hisses, the sudden change in position confusing him. Pain radiates through his neck. “Sorry,” Bruce says, offhandedly, peering into his face. “Need to do this. You don’t look like you have a head injury…”

But Dick…

Dick has…

Sorry…

The word echoes in his head. Did he just…

He gets a feeling like a bucket of ice water has been thrown on him. Everything around him comes into focus with a scary amount of clarity.

Bruce clearly feels a difference, because he pauses. “Dick?” He asks again.

Dick blinks. Once. Twice. “I’m okay,” He gasps. He thinks he means it this time. “I’m okay.”

-

Bruce had been reluctant to send him home after that.

Dick doesn’t blame him. He’d completely fallen apart right then and there and probably scared the shit out of him, so.

And, well. His panic had been clear in the fact that. That he’d apologized. And…and it may have broken the curse? He thinks? He’s no expert, but there’s only one way to find out, really.

So, Bruce’s absolute insistence that he stay the night didn’t push his buttons the way it usually would. Instead, he gives in to the pushing. He’s too tired not to.

Plus, once Bruce got Alfred involved…there was no way he was gonna get away after that.

That’s why Dick finds himself in his childhood bedroom hours later, staring at the stick-on glow-in-the-dark stars and moons on the ceiling.

Satisfaction in validation. He thinks, then. Suck it.

He should probably go back to the warehouse anyway. Can’t have the dude going ahead cursing other people willy-nilly. Next time, he’ll bring Zatanna.

Bruce apologized. He thinks. It still blows him away. He actually apologized.

Not for anything major, either. Just…just in the moment, not even thinking about it. The words slipped out, just like that. Like he did it all the time.

Dick thinks he should be feeling some type of way about that. That it should resolve at something inside of him, at the thing that’s been there ever since he was seventeen years old.

May you never find satisfaction in validation..

He shakes it off. Maybe he would feel differently if it was a bigger apology. Or maybe it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Either way. He’s pretty sure that the curse has lifted, but he’s not gonna count it a done deal until he hits the next day without incident.

May you never find satisfaction in validation…

Dick keeps an eye out on his phone, trying his best to stay awake.

The time ticks down…

12:00.

He draws a breath, then another. He waits.

Monday. 12:01.

He drops his phone on the bed, breathing deeply. I did it. He thinks. I did it.

May you never find satisfaction in validation

He swallows all the feelings still simmering below the surface, then drops off to sleep.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 04/04/2024

Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Jiko Music (@jikomusic)

Requested by Memmy! (Discord)

Well, would you look at that: It's a rip request six months in the making!! I hope the wait will have been worth it, Memmy! And thank you endlessly for championing the blog so early on in its life <3.

Now - I recently spilled a lot of words regarding SiIvaGunner's fifth annual April Fools event back with Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale, just four days ago. It is arguably one of the channel's all-time high points, an event that I still see discussed from time to time by random internet dwellers, even now three years later. And its clear to see why: akin to something like Mega Man Dropping January 7th‼️from earlier this year with Hella Pummel, Mario's "Death" on March 31st was an event that a huge part of the internet was already keenly aware of, one we'd all been anticipating, and one that SiIvaGunner in turn had a golden opportunity to leverage for an amazing channel event. From March 31st to April 3rd, we got to see Mario's existence as a figment be celebrated for one final day, then be entirely erased from the SiIvaGunner channel's reality at the day's end, only to then begin fighting tooth-and-nail in Your Best Nightmario for his memory to live on - a battle that, through our continued support as YouTube commenters, he was able to win in Bowser's Finale. A storybook journey, a clear beginning/middle/end structure, with a clearly-told message by the end of it all - Super Mario was back.

Yet, it still wouldn't be complete without that one last touch. Any book needs a back cover, any film its credits roll, any game a return to the title screen. Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess, then, was what truly closed the whole event out - and in typical SiIvaGunner fashion, did so in a deviously clever manner.

A lot of the appeal in this event as a whole, I feel, is just how easily understood the bit was at a moment's glance. Without even clicking on the videos, a viewer will notice Mario's gone, it's IMMEDIATELY apparent that something is wrong - and that likely drew a lot of eyes to the event that may have otherwise missed it. This shift in dynamics with how viewers engage with the SiIvaGunner channel is practically what this year's April Fools event, from just a few days ago, was entirely built on, yet there it was done in an incredibly tounge-and-cheek way. Because really, what it pretends to be doing almost goes against everything the channel is meant to be! The bait-and-switch, though not nearly as effective as it once was back in Season 1 with rips like Be Cool, Be Wild, and Be My Girl, IS core to what the SiIvaGunner channel is all about. It has always been a channel all about surprising you with something delightful, be that with surprise bangers like Beyond the Floating Isles, hilariously executed bits like ​THIS RIP WAS MADE BY TEETH GANG, or everything inbetween. There's a reason why I said that this year's event only *pretends* to be going against this - because the bit with this year's overly-explained, corny titles, is that the rips themselves still hold a secret bait-and-switch bit within them. Even when it appears to be quite literally explaining the joke, the channel hides further layers to rips just out of sight.

But what does all of that have to do with Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess? Well, what I'm trying to say isn't that the Season 5 April Fools day event betrayed the essence of SiIvaGunner or anything - rather, that by intentionally breaking its own rules for an entire day's worth of uploads, rules it had otherwise kept up for five whole years prior, it made this sudden subversion and the stakes of the event hit all the harder. That part may be rather obvious, sure, yet the brilliant thing here is that as a closer to the event, Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess employs the exact same trick in reverse order. Because after an entire day's worth of rips going against the grain, a storyline clear as crystal to follow no matter what rip you've landed on - the LAST thing anyone would've expected would be for it to close with something so seemingly low-key, standard-fare, outright NORMAL for the SiIvaGunner channel, as a single rip of Super Mario 64's Staff Roll theme. I'm sure many were expecting a grand fusion collab, some sort of CCC-esque lore video, a true mind-blowing celebration of the journey's end...and yet, to me, this return to normalcy is absolutely brilliant in so many ways, both as a subversion of those expectations, but on so many layers yet deeper. Yes, it marks the return to the SiIvaGunner status quo, it marks that Super Mario has finally been remembered - yet look beyond that, and you may just realize that Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess's one joke subtly hides layers of meaning, that almost recontexualize the entire event.

But, alright, let's get the ground rules set first - Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess is an absolutely lovely rip as is in isolation. Jiko Music is no stranger to the channel nor to the blog, having worked on several hidden-gem favorites of mine such as Trail on Powdery Snow Halation and YACKER TOILET - they very clearly know their way around a rip, and have a stellar track record over their seven years of activity. Super Mario 64's Staff Roll theme is a lovely piece of music already, one I covered a fair bit already with Staff Roll (SM64) Fusion, and Jiko Music absolutely leverages that quality to full effect here - its nostalgic percussion, melody, and instruments that sound so indescribably "Nintendo 64" push this arrangement to some truly excellent emotional heights. The original song's vocals are no longer here, akin to rips like Blessing the Dire, Dire Rains - yet through changing the lead melody's instrument from section to section, from verse to chorus, Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess is able to elegantly replicate how the original song's vocals would change per how many of its six vocalists were singing at any one time. It's a great rip!! ...but wait, what exactly IS the original song its arranging?

Alright, here we go - Fukashigi No Carte is the ending theme to the anime series "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai", a story about many things, yet primarily about a mysterious girl suddenly made invisible to the world around her, dressed in the titular "bunny girl" costume. The immediate surface-level box to tick is, of course, that it's the ending theme to an anime, a credits roll to match the dramatic storyline of the event - but you may also start connecting some other dots, too, hm? Mai Sakurajima, the titular bunny girl, isn't merely made invisible to the world - she is FORGOTTEN by the public consciousness, her existence at all erased from all's mind, save for the series' protagonist who works to get the rest of the world to acknowledge her existence. Sakurajima's curse in the series is, effectively, that of a forgotten Figment - the fate that befell Mario in this very event, with us as the audience taking the role of the story's protagonist, together helping Mario win the fight against his fate by collectively remembering him.

That's a great reference all on its own, but there's another part left to discuss - the coolest part, I'd argue! Unlike comparable events such as Season 7's with ...of 2023, the Season 5 April Fools event spanned a total of five days - from the day Mario's execution was scheduled on the 31st, to April 1st itself when the event of his disappearance kicked into gear, a day-long break of April 2nd leaving his fate uncertain, the final push to resurrection on April 3rd, and the credits rolling on April 4th - which, during 2021 in particular, just so happened to be Easter. And do you notice anything in particular about this timeline of events? Executed on the 31st of March, brought back from the brink on April 3rd: Mario, just like Jesus Christ himself, AROSE ON THE THIRD DAY. Almost through sheer luck, the holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ fell *right* next to Mario's great story of returning from public execution - allowing the whole event to come to a close on the most perfect day imaginable. And aside from Jesus himself, what is THE thing that defines Easter as a holiday?

That's right - The Easter Bunny. Bunnies. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

The way every single puzzle piece clicked into place for Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess to work is genuinely incredible and some of the coolest shit I've ever seen the channel pull off. Not only is the rip itself a beautiful listen, it nails the landing on every single imaginable front: Subverting the expectations of the entire event's premise by its return to the status quo of rips, connecting the very lore that the SiIvaGunner channel is built on to an anime series with a rather iconic and recognizable ending theme - and connecting the event's storyline to the very foundation of the Easter holiday, and one of the Bible's most well-known events. On the very last video of the event's runtime, Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess made SUPER FUCKING MARIO into a Jesus allegory within the SiIvaGunner channel - and if that's the case, does that make Grand Dad the holy spirit? Is SiIvaGunner ITSELF a loose allegory for Christianity?!

...Mamma Mia, this post got long. But I hope you've been able to understand why I have so many words to say on it - so many thoughts finally able to spill over in the three years I've spent ruminating on this incredible event. Mario's return itself after Bowser's Finale was already pitch-perfect, featuring a sudden reappearance of The Reboot from Season 1 (don't get me started, I'll be here all day) - but ending it all off with something so seemingly plain, yet hiding so many layers of beauty and connective tissue, as Mario Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Princess...it, to this day, blows me away how perfectly the pieces clicked into place.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, October 10

The Mayor: And what exactly did this demon look like? Faith: Demonic?

~~Enemies~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Angel why did that siren take on my image to try and seduce you, Is there something you should be tellin’ me ? (Angel/Spike, G) by GroundControltoMajorTom06

[Chaptered Fiction]

Unconditional, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Blade Redwind

A Tumble in Time, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by thedoppleganger

Not Ready to Make Nice, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by tragic

Drawing a Blank, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, R) by EverythingElse

Waiting for You, Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Enchanted Dawn, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VeroNyxK84

Chamption of War, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Desicat

To All We Guard, Chapter 28 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by simmony

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:I drew Giles and Buffy by casthecorpse

Manip: Collage #191 by thedecadentraven

Manip:Collage #192 by thedecadentraven

Gifset:'cause that's just the way life goes; i push my luck, it shows, thankful you don't send someone to kill me; i love you, i'm sorry by clarkgriffon

Gifset:buffy rewatch -> The Pack (1.06) by creulsummer

Gifset:Kali Rocha as Halfrek in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER by 5bi5

Video: PCRC Visits Buffy: The Slayer Experience by Pop Culture Role Call

[Reviews & Recaps]

We Aren't Special | Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7x12 "Potential" | The Normies Group Reaction! by The Normies

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4x17 & 4x18 REACTION | "Superstar" & "Where The Wild Things Are" by The Horror Bandwagon

Lies My Parents Told Me: Buffy 7x17 Reaction by Dakara

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 Episode 4 - Beauty and the Beasts by Sh*t 90s Shows Taught Me

Episode 012 - Prophecy Girl | Boys Watching Buffy by Boys Watching Buffy

Buffy S03E03 "Faith, Hope and Trick" Spoiler Review by LGRN - Entertainment

1-04- Teacher's Pet BUFFY REACTION PODCAST by Definitely Doomed

Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Eldridge & Monroe Horror Show

Episode 011 - Out of Mind, Out of Sight | Boys Watching Buffy by Boys watching Buffy

Episode 010 - Nightmares | Boys Watching Buffy by Boys Watching Buffy

[Community Announcements]

James Marsters Adelaide & Brisbane Supanova Expo 2024 Schedules by DontKillSpike

James Marsters Winnipeg Comiccon 2024 Schedule by DontKillSpike

[Fandom Discussions]

It's so heartbreaking to see all the moments in which Spike offers Buffy such a understanding and tender love [...] by hellmouthe

I keep thinking about Buffy's refusal to believe that Spike is capable of love or goodness without a soul [...] by thequeenofsastiel

Scoobtober: Most Dangerous Villain in the Buffyverse? by multiple authors

Why are they acting this way towards buffy early on in season 3? by multiple authors

Most Iconic Season ? by multiple authors

What if Jenny Calendar was in band candy? by multiple authors

Angel - smiletime by multiple authors

Hilarious Fear Itself Mark of Gachnar Irish translation is about a bus route by multiple authors

First time watcher, finally reached 'The Body' by multiple authors

Wesley "killing" his father by multiple authors

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Publication: "Buffy: The Slayer Experience" via WGN News

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[thealmightyemprex]

Halloweenathon:Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Ahhhhh Tim Burton.One of the first filmmakers I knew of and one of the few where I have seen pretty much every feature film as well as some of his shorts and TV projects .There are admirers of his work,there are those who despise his work,but no matter which camp you fall into most seem to agree.....His early stuff is better then his later stuff ,which is where I am .Yeah Burtons last good movie,for my two cents was Big Eyes in 2014.....and his last REALLY GOOD movie was 2007's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street .Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah its been a while since Burton really wowed me ,with his films either being forgettable or just plain bad .So for Burtons latest film he decided to go back to basics and do a sequel to his second ever feature ,Beetlejuice.Now I ADORE the original Beetlejuice,its a childhood favorite ,a unique spin on the Haunted house idea with a tour de force performance by Michael Keaton .....And a film I neve thought needed a sequel .So the big question going into this is.....Does this work

In this 2024 film Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder ) now host of the TV show Ghost House ,goes back to Winter River with her stepmother Delia (CAtherine O Hara) and her estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega ),for the funeral of Lydia's father Charles Deetz ,when Astrid is lured to the underworld and Lydia must make a pact with Beetleguise (Michael Keaton ) to save her daughter

So there is a huge flaw in this film.....Its story is a mess .The actual PLOT of the film doesnt kick off till an hour in ,theres like 4 villains,and theres a whole subplot with Monica Bellucci that so unnecesary it could be cut an nothing would be lost .Its all style over story.....AND THANK THE GODS FOR THAT.Twist here,the fact this film is very flawed does not bother me at all .Thing is Burtons strength has never been story,it is visuale and atmosphere and a big problem with later Burton is he seemed to lost that and focus too much on story which is a weak point for him .This film is Burton going back to his roots and what works for him,we got puppets ,stop motion,wild lighting ,ghoulish makeup and a bunch of great actors just hamming it up .I can see this being a deal breaker for some but me I just kind of rolled with it.I like the crazy visuals,I like the dark gags ,I like that iut randomly becomes a Mario Bava film for a flashback ,I like Monica Belucci as this stapled together soul sucking monster gal ,I like Willem Dafoe as awannabe Clint Eastwood with an exposed brain ,I really loved how they handled the character of Charles (That was fucking hilarious ) ,I loved Bob the shrunken headed zombie ,I like Justin Theroux as Lydias asshole boyfriend ,I....Well honestly Astrid felt like a 60 year old mans understanding of a teen girl ,but I like Ortegas performance and reconciliation with Lydia .I adore seeing where Lydia is 30 years later and of course Ryder is amazing ,O'Hara is HILARIOUS As Delia (And I adore how they end her story ,it makes sense ) and The Ghost with the Most ,the same gross perverted chaotic creep from the first film ,and while I think its kind of lame the climax of this film is the same as the first ,Keaton is still funny and I like that while spin offs have softened Juice,movie Beej is still a bad guy

So is this one of Burtons best.....No,not at all .Did I enjoy it and think its good,oh hell yeah ,if you like Beetlejuice,these actors or have an admiration for early Burton,this is a fun blast.At the very least McArthur Park is now stuck in my head

@the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland @ariel-seagull-wings

@amalthea9 @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @princesssarisa

@countesspetofi @filmcityworld1 @barbossas-wench

[secret-third-thing]

just a very silly, sappy post

Two years go, my relationship with my long-term boyfriend (A) was in shambles. I was still recovering from a horrible back injury, and I had just started a job that turned out to be rather lackluster (read: sexism abound!)

I got the sense that A and I were going to break up soon, so I scrolled through Libby and picked up this book called ACOTAR that tiktok was raving about, thinking that if I was going to be alone, I may as well start doing "alone" activities. I read the book in a day.

A broke up with me within the week. I read the entire ACOTAR series shortly after. Then TOG. (And eventually CC.) I maybe cried over A twice. I was too busy with fae men, I guess. 🤣

Now, I'm living in my favorite city with my best friend, working a job I adore. I'm writing again; I've found other new hobbies that bring me joy.

And it's wild that this fandom has been part of this healing journey. Running Eris Week was so much fun - watching so many creators come together over this JERK (affectionate) was hilarious and inspiring. He'd be SO embarrassed, and secretly flattered.

Anyway, there was really no point to this post other than just getting the good vibes out there. If no one reads this, that's fine. I'm simply ecstatic to be here and I am thankful for all the friends I have made and will make in the future.

Here's to a massively creative 2024 (and an even sluttier Eris Week 2024 🧡)! 

[everythingbap]

📸 Kpop Concerts: [RECAP] Bang Yongguk Concludes “‘III’ THE US TOUR” with A Bang in Hollywood A/N: posted on 240511

After completing 10 shows across the United States, Bang Yongguk met Los Angeles fans for the final show of ‘III’ THE US TOUR 2024 at the Vermont Hollywood on Sunday, April 28. This tour is a follow up to the successful The Colors of Bang Yongguk Tour last summer and is centered around his latest and third EP, 3. 

Many fans first got to know the deep-voiced rapper Bang Yongguk from his time in the K-Pop boy group B.A.P which debuted in 2012.Since pursuing his solo career, he has been releasing new music and making a concerted effort to connect with international fans.

Despite his dominant stage presence, Yongguk humbly introduced himself and politely bowed to the audience. He quickly went back to his performing persona for “Ride or Die,” “IXLU,” “RACE,”and“NUMB”where he had fans jumping up and down alongside him in excitement. Fans did not let a single moment go to waste as they used any silence between songs to bark affectionately and cheer for Yongguk as he drank water.

Yongguk shyly asked fans if they listened to his latest album and was met with loud cheers and fans proudly waving their newly bought albums in the air for him to see. He thanked fans for listening to all his new songs and explained that this album is filled with things he’s wanted to say but hasn’t said before. Hilariously, when he prefaced giving advice to fans with “I’m not your teacher but…” fans went wild at the thought of him as their teacher. Confused but amused, Yongguk held back his laugh with a “whoa, relax” before proceeding with his advice. He encouraged fans to take on challenges they have not done yet because you only live once. He also reassured fans that there are more new songs coming their way and to not forget to get his new album and merchandise.

Fans did not want the night to end yet and quickly began chanting “Bang Yongguk!” and “Encore!” Yongguk then reemerged on stage sporting his tour merchandise t-shirt and beanie for the party anthem “Rain On Me.” He performed “MOVIMENTO” again where he poured water on both the audience and himself. Fans cheekily threw various undergarments onto the stage and Yongguk gathered up all of them and held them out for everyone to see. After an encore performance of “BUSS IT DOWN,” he performed his final song of the night “Orange Drive” with lots of fan service as he pointed directly to fans for the lyrics “I love you.” Even after the song ended and he said his final goodbyes, he lingered on stage to sign fans’ albums and touch fans’ hands.

Bang Yongguk and his fans were beyond delighted to be reunited and share a memorable night together after a year apart. It definitely won’t be long before Yongguk returns with new music and sides of himself to share with U.S. fans!

[bllsbailey]

AmFest: Rob Schneider Helps Out Clueless Dems Who Still Can't Figure Out Why They Lost to Trump

Comedian and actor Rob Schneider is no stranger to speaking out about conservative principles; you might even say he has found himself caught up in the modern battle between wokeness and the First Amendment while going about his life and making stand-up tour appearances.

The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and star of such hilarious comedies as "Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo" and "Grown Ups," wrote and released a book about standing up for free speech, titled "You Can Do It!" in late 2023

He's also, according to this clip from a show, courtesy of our Canadian friends Rebel News, been banned from an entire country for alleged hate speech--no mean feat:

Warning: video includes sexual references

While speaking at TurningPointUSA's AmericaFest in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon, Schneider referred to the just-completed continuing resolution fight, urging Americans who pressed their representatives to scrap Speaker Johnson's first few stabs at a CR deal to do the same on President-elect Trump's nominees for his administration:

Read related: NEW: US Senate Passes Bipartisan Continuing Resolution Bill

BREAKING: Second House CR Spending Bill Vote Fails. What Happens Next?

Then the comedian turned his attention to the 2024 elections, and clueless Democrats who still can't understand why Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump. He helped them out with a short list of reasons:

He said:

The Democrats still seem confused about why they lost this election. They want to think it has something to do with misogyny or racism. Well, let me clear it up for those still-bewildered Democrats: You lost because you tried to tell the American people that the economy was great when they couldn't afford to buy groceries. You lost because you ran a moron in place of a president you knew was a cropse attached to a car battery. Even the Amish, who never vote, voted.

The crowd screamed in peals of laughter at that last, truthful jab. The truth hurts.

More AmFest coverage: WATCH: AmFest Crowd Goes Wild When Trump Brings Up His Plans for 'Woke' in New Term

Trump Delivers Triumphant Rally-Style Speech at AmFest, Says Dems 'Don't Know What the Hell Happened'

Fittingly, Schneider not only thanked TPUSA's Charlie Kirk for inviting him to speak, but X owner and incoming DOGE co-administrator, Elon Musk for a pretty sweet share of an X post with his remarks--and for saving free speech for all of us:

Thank YOU, @charliekirk11 for inviting me to America Fest 2024! And thank YOU, @elonmusk for the retweet and SAVING FREE SPEECH! https://t.co/69osrEzZ5M— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) December 22, 2024

[linuxgamenews]

Introducing Crane: The New Brawling Stage in Gang Beasts

Crane is the first new content update for Gang Beasts silly multiplayer party game on Linux, Steam Deck, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the creative geniuses at Boneloaf for making this happen. Which is out now on Steam, itch, and Humble Store. There’s some great news for all of us who can’t get enough of the goofy, chaotic brawls. Developer Boneloaf just released Update 1.25, and it’s packing some serious heat. Doing so with a brand-new stage and exciting features. Whether you’re battling it out, this update is ready to shake things up on Linux and Steam Deck. Let’s talk about the star of the show: Crane! This fresh stage takes the brawling action to the docks of Beef City, where you’ll find yourself balancing (or flopping) on a massive boom. The best part? For the first time in Gang Beasts' history, you can actually jump into the cockpit and take control!. Yes, you can mess with your friends — or enemies — by swinging that boom arm around. But don’t get too comfortable. This stage introduces a wild new mechanic: birds. Yup, flocks of birds will slowly invade the stage as the match goes on, swooping in to grab unsuspecting players and hurl them off the crane. It’s chaos in the best way possible and adds a whole new layer of ridiculousness to the game.

Gang Beasts - Update 1.25 Crane Stage

Of course, the update isn’t just about the Crane stage. Update 1.25 also brings new costumes and hazards to keep the brawls fresh. Plus, Boneloaf has squashed a ton of bugs and optimized the game across all platforms. So your fights will run smoother than ever. If you’re a long-time fan, you’ll remember the Trawler stage from back in December 2021. The Crane is the first big content release since then. It’s also clear Boneloaf hasn’t lost their touch for creating stages that keep us coming back for more. Oh, and in case you missed it, Boneloaf also launched the Meat Co Test Laboratory for the Apple Vision Pro headset earlier this year and sponsored the A MAZE Sheffield festival in August 2024. So, grab your friends, fire up Gang Beasts, and get ready to duke it out on the Crane. Whether you’re dodging birds, wrestling for control of the boom arm, or just trying to stay on the platform, this update is packed with everything we love about the game. It's hilarious chaos and unforgettable moments on Steam, itch (local only DRM-free), and Humble Store. Priced at $19.99 USD / £15.99 / 18,99€. While offering support for Linux, Steam Deck (verified), Mac, and Windows PC.

[starseedfxofficial]

Trump Wins Again: Wild Market Reactions & Secrets Forex Traders Need to Know Trump Does It Again: Market Trends, Forex Shenanigans, and Ninja Moves You Can't Miss They say the only thing predictable about the markets is their unpredictability, and today, we got a perfect dose of that. Donald Trump is back in the White House, and he’s brought along a political rollercoaster that has both traders and analysts gripping their seats tighter than a kid in a candy store. If you thought 2024 would be any different—that it might be more stable, perhaps a bit chill—oh, you sweet summer child. Buckle up, traders, because what follows is a hilariously insightful dive into the day’s market twists, strategic gems, and the kind of tips that most gurus would prefer you didn’t know. The Trump Card You Didn't See Coming: Winning the Presidency and Senate Yes, the hair is back, and so is the man who loves making deals. Donald Trump just managed to snag the presidency—again—and has taken the Senate to boot. While most folks were still deciding if they preferred regular or decaf, Trump was winning over North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, enough to put him at a projected 285 electoral votes. And let’s not forget the Senate flip; Republicans snagged two extra seats, taking it to 51, which means a few things for us in the financial world—mostly that our Twitter feeds will remain spicy. If you’re thinking, “Well, how does this affect me, a humble trader?” let’s peel back the curtain and expose a few of the hidden mechanics at work. Under a Trump presidency, expect to see a “drill, baby, drill” resurgence—which, funnily enough, is great news if you know your way around the crude oil futures market. Hint: you might want to look at accumulating more oil options while the sentiment is still fresh. And if you think this volatility doesn’t touch Forex, think again—USD is suddenly as desirable as a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory. Pro Tip: Keep an eye on safe-haven assets. With the DXY flexing like a bodybuilder at a competition, there are whispers about a liquidity squeeze. This is prime time for anyone thinking about snapping up EUR pairs, especially since the euro is taking hits like a prizefighter in the twelfth round. The House Still Playing Hard-to-Get: When Political Drama Meets Your Portfolio While Trump may have won the Presidency, the House is still undecided—like a college freshman trying to pick a major. California should’ve tipped the scales one way or another, but alas, we’re stuck with a cliffhanger. Republicans are at 200, Democrats at 188, and the game is on with no clear end in sight. Decision Desk’s projection meter is on overdrive, showing a 58% chance of a Republican win. Expect a few sleepless nights and more conspiracy theories than you’d find in an Area 51 fan club. The Market Reaction: More Bouncing Than a Beach Ball at a Nickelback Concert It’s not just politics; it’s market mayhem. US equity futures are acting like they just downed an espresso shot—ES +1.8%, NQ +1.7%, DJIA +2.0%, and RTY outdoing them all with a whopping 4.3% gain. European futures, meanwhile, had a brief “Oh no, not again” moment and dipped before rallying, perhaps realizing that life’s too short to fight the bullish sentiment. APAC couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. The Hang Seng closed down 2%, while the Nikkei—that sly fox—sneaked in a 2.2% rise. What’s the secret sauce? A little help from our friend the JPY, which got a good old-fashioned slap thanks to market expectations for tighter Fed policy. Hidden Gem Alert: Don’t let the APAC markets fool you. Those who understand the underlying monetary policies know there’s a golden opportunity hidden in the yen right now—shorting it before the Fed puts the hammer down could just be your next ticket to the profits express. Fixed Income and FX: When the Dollar Struts, the World Watches Over in fixed income, USTs were under marked pressure, leading to a steepening yield curve, which—let’s be real—is giving traders that unsettling feeling of someone rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. USTs are at contract lows, and there’s still talk of a 25bps rate cut by the Fed, keeping us all guessing. For European bonds, we’re seeing bids across the curve, with yields falling like it’s 2008 all over again—ah, memories. Markets are already pricing in odds of some front-loaded action from the ECB, which means, my friends, it’s time to think about how much risk you’re willing to take on. The EUR/USD spread against the US 10-year note is getting juicier, and this divergence could be your golden goose…or a frying pan, depending on how you play it. The real kicker, though, is FX. With the dollar flexing so hard it should have a protein shake sponsorship, the DXY saw its largest jump since March 2020. EUR took the brunt of it, while the Aussie and Kiwi dollars struggled under the weight of China’s endless economic drama. Expert-Level Insight: If you’re thinking of playing the AUD/USD pair, you might want to consider where China fits into the equation. Watch for signs of increased stimulus from Beijing—any indication, and the Aussie could bounce back faster than my mood on a payday Friday. Commodities: Gold's Tantrum and Oil’s Swagger Gold had itself a little hissy fit, dropping in response to the dollar’s strength, and let’s not even get started on base metals, which were battered and bruised by market anxieties over a Trump presidency. And then there’s crude—good old crude—which seems to be weighing its options between increased supply from the US and the strong dollar. The market expects more “drill, baby, drill” from the States, and if you’re positioned right, there’s money to be made on both ends—shorting when the sentiment changes, going long when optimism spikes. Crypto, on the other hand, enjoyed a short-lived high. Bitcoin hit a record before fading, seemingly dancing to the tune of House politics. If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that BTC loves uncertainty—and right now, there’s plenty of it. But a word to the wise: don’t get suckered into hype. Instead, keep an eye on macro signals—any whiff of institutional buying, and BTC is going to the moon faster than Elon Musk with a booster rocket. Ninja Tactics for Your Trading Playbook So what do we do with all of this? Easy. First, recognize that volatility is your friend if you’re prepared. Second, keep your emotions in check—markets are reacting, not planning. Trump’s presidency may spell a boon for equities, a mixed bag for bonds, and chaos for commodities. But for Forex traders, this is the time to shine. Find your entries, play the volatility, and remember, it’s not about how loud you can yell “buy the dip”; it’s about knowing why the dip happened and when to get out. Want to stay ahead of the game? Check out our latest economic indicators and Forex news for real-time updates at StarseedFX Forex News Today. Expand your trading skills with our Forex Education resources, or join our Community Membership for expert analysis, daily alerts, live trading insights, insider tips, and elite tactics. Sometimes, the smartest move is to get the right tools, and we’ve got just what you need at StarseedFX. Don’t just trade—trade smarter. Need a little extra support in managing your trades? Check out our Free Trading Plan to set goals, manage risks, and track your progress effectively. And don't forget to enhance your performance with our Free Trading Journal, providing real metrics to refine your strategies. Looking to optimize further? Our Smart Trading Tool will help you with automated lot size calculations, insights, and order management. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[josepheconnell]

#minecraft #minecraftshorts Meet the Minecraft Animal Whisperer!

Discover the secrets of taming, breeding, and caring for animals in Minecraft. From adorable dogs to majestic horses, learn everything you need to know to become the ultimate animal lover in the blocky world! Join us on this paw-some adventure and share your own animal stories in the comments below. #MinecraftAnimals #AnimalWhisperer #PetCare #minecraft #minecraftshorts Welcome to the enchanting world of Minecraft, where creativity knows no bounds and adventure awaits at every turn! In today’s exciting episode, we introduce you to the one and only Minecraft Animal Whisperer! Join us as we dive into a realm filled with adorable creatures and learn the secrets of taming and understanding them like never before. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting your journey in this pixelated paradise, our Animal Whisperer will share tips, tricks, and heartwarming stories that will make you see Minecraft animals in a whole new light. What to Expect in This Video: – Discover how to communicate with your favorite Minecraft animals! – Learn the best ways to care for and tame pets like dogs and cats. – Watch as our expert demonstrates unique bonding techniques that will leave you amazed! – Get ready for some hilarious moments as our Animal Whisperer interacts with the wild side of Minecraft! If you love animals, creativity, and all things Minecraft, this video is a must-watch! Don’t forget to stick around until the end for some surprise bloopers that are sure to bring a smile to your face! Subscribe for More Amazing Content: Join our growing community of Minecraft enthusiasts by hitting that subscribe button! Stay updated with all our latest adventures, tips, and tricks. Click here: [Subscribe Now!](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCde68JxF6O9SG00Ll3IE6vg?sub_confirmation=1) Join the Conversation: We want to hear from YOU! What’s your favorite Minecraft animal? Have you ever tried whispering to them? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Thank you for watching, and remember – every great adventure starts with a single block. Let’s build something amazing together! #Minecraft #MinecraftShorts #AnimalWhisperer #GamingCommunity #MinecraftAnimals #SubscribeNow #abc123 https://gabbyandmercy.wordpress.com/2024/09/27/minecraft-minecraftshorts-%f0%9f%90%b6%f0%9f%90%b1-meet-the-minecraft-animal-whisperer-%f0%9f%90%b1%f0%9f%90%b6/